A Whisker Past Midnight -- Annecy / MIFA submission

A WHISKER PAST MIDNIGHT Digital File for Annecy / MIFA submission 2018 NARRATIVE ELEMENTS: Capsule Synopsis: A Whisker Past Midnight takes place just after World War Two—a “simple” ocean crossing turns into a fight for survival.

Two mice--Frankie, just trying to get home to New York, and Laura, an heiress who's spent her fortune seeking justice for her murdered father--find themselves the last line of defense against an entire crew of Nazis who have turned an ocean liner into a floating mousetrap. One Nazi in particular has made it his personal mission to see them very, very dead. Jeez, stick a fork in a guy one time...

It appears that their sole ally on the ship is a wounded American operative whose deep cover has just been blown--and who may be more interested in taking the ship down with him than getting anyone out alive.

Big band music fills the air, a U-boat lurks just out of sight—and a femme fatale fox wants Frankie for lunch. When the New Year's Eve ball drops at midnight, it could be lights out for good.

Detailed Plot: The year is 1938, the eve of war. In a snowy Polish port town, mouse ship designer Stephan visits his sister Lydia, with his young American-born daughter Laura.

Their visit is interrupted by rat visitors claiming to be the investors Stephan is in town to meet.

Stephan goes by himself with the rats, who turn out to be Nazi agents bent on abducting him.

One, however, is Hermann—a double agent who attempts and fails to save him. Stephan is fatally shot but Hermann promises to watch out for Laura.

The Nazis finish Stephan's ship, and ready it for launch.

Fast forward to 1949, Southhampton, England. Laura, now a young adult, has identified her father's ship, and meets the ill-tempered Officer Rat while getting on board.

Frankie, another mouse around Laura's age, is boarding the ship with his Grandfather, headed back to New York. Frankie and Laura hit it off, and Grandfather lets Frankie make the trip on his own.

The rat Hermann—Stephan's failed protector—is part of the crew, and recognizes Laura. Hermann decides to help Frankie woo Laura. Hermann sees Frankie to his quarters, where an untuned piano turns out to be the first of many discordant notes.

Laura, preparing for a date with Frankie, scalds her paw when the hot and cold water prove to be reversed.

Frankie and the slightly injured Laura get to know each other over a dinner served too cold, and meet a femme fatale fox musician, Roxie. They decide to try their luck with room service.

Walking back to Frankie's room they take an unfortunate shortcut—Hermann, on the run from the Officer Rat who has uncovered him as a secret American agent, makes Frankie and Laura hide in a lifeboat.

Frankie and Laura intervene and save Hermann from the Officer Rat, who is set adrift in the nowbattered lifeboat. Hermann has been shot and incapacitated, so the mice drag him back to Frankie's quarters.

Hermann insists they avoid the ship's doctor, but he needs a blood transfusion. Frankie and Laura distract the rat Doctor, swipe some medical equipment, and hook Frankie up (he's a match).

A knock at the door turns out to be the Officer Rat, who bursts in and nearly kills Laura—who also has a disturbing fit of some sort. Frankie rams the Officer Rat with a nearby piano, leaving him pinned.

Hermann leads Frankie and Laura to a hideout he had prepared long ago—a secret room Laura's father had built for her inside one of the ship's funnels.

Hermann clues them in on the Nazis' scheme—they are using the airtight dining room to kill passengers, assume their identities, and provide safe passage for war criminals fleeing the manhunt in Europe.

Leaving them with a grim mission to sink the ship if he is not successful, Hermann escapes the ship in a concealed fighter jet, though Frankie and Laura believe a nearby U-boat has shot him down.

Seeking the explosive detonators hidden by Hermann, Frankie and Laura seek out the dangerous fox dame Roxie. After her nightclub performance, they meet her at her quarters but are followed by Nazis.

Hermann is shot down by an American warship but parachutes to relative safety aboard.

Roxie disguises Frankie, hides Laura, and they give the Nazis the slip. Roxie sends them back to Frankie's quarters, where the detonators are under the piano—in their attempt to retrieve them, the trapped Officer Rat escapes.

Seeking safety in a crowd, Frankie and Laura flee to the movie theater, but the flashing lights of the projector give Laura a seizure. The ship's Doctor—who is on their side after all—shows up to help.

The Doctor—Hermann's brother, as it turns out—has his own plans to stop the Nazis. He has half of the detonators, and sends Frankie after the plastic explosives.

Hermann convinces the captain of the American warship to track down the ocean liner.

Though nearly trapped by the Officer Rat, Frankie retrieves the plastic explosives and sets them up to destroy the Nazis' tanks of poison gas, which would otherwise flood the dining room at the midnight

New Year's Eve celebration.

The Doctor wheels Laura in a wheelchair to the dining room, and fights the Officer Rat. Laura is pinned under the New Year's Eve ball trying to buy time for Frankie. Frankie gets the drop on the Officer Rat and flees to the dining room with the Doctor just as the doors are sealed and the poison gas tanks explode.

In the ensuing chaos, the sealed dining room is the only refuge, and the Nazis flee the gas-filled ship.

The U-boat torpedoes the ocean liner but is forced to the surface by the arriving American warship.

The warship begins a rescue operation, but they cannot free Laura before the ship sinks. Frankie reseals the dining room—he and Laura go down with the ship.

Frankie finally frees Laura and they wait for their doom, but Hermann arrives with the captured U-boat and whisks them to (again, relative) safety. __ Project Progress: The script has been submitted to screenplay contests and development programs, placing and winning several. Please see the writer’s CV for detailed information.

The writer is currently seeking funding and other production assistance.

"NIGHTCLUB SCENE" from A WHISKER PAST MIDNIGHT Written by Andrew R. Garrett Storyboard by Hammad Ameen

Andrew R. Garrett 1915 Simmons St., Apt. 1173 Las Vegas, NV 89106 animwriter@yahoo.com

BASIC ADMINISTRATIVE ELEMENTS: Estimation of Funding Requirements: Animated features with similar targets and intended styles have been produced for a wide range of budgets; a general estimate for a feature of this scope would be 70-120M USD. Screenwriting Resume / CV: A WHISKER PAST MIDNIGHT by Andrew Garrett 2017:  Selected, Global Production Match Making Program (Stage 32, European Film Commission Network)  Semi-Finalist, Sacramento International Film Festival  Screenplay Award Grand Jury Winner, Los Angeles World International Film Festival  Finalist, Storyboard category, Script and Storyboard Showcase 2016:  Official Selection, Animation Day in Cannes /Animaze Daze in Cannes  Official Selection, Anim8Fest International Animation Film Festival 2014:  Honorable Mention, L.A. Neo Noir Novel, Film, & Script Festival 2010:  Finalist, ThrillSpy International Thriller & Spy Film Festival 2009:  Quarter-Finalist, Writers Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition LOCAL SUGAR by Andrew Garrett (Note: screenplay currently under option) 2017:  Semi-Finalist, Cinequest Screenwriting Competition  Semi-Finalist, Sacramento International Film Festival  Official Selection, Beverly Hills Film Festival 2016:       2015:

Official Selection, Glendale International Film Festival Official Selection, San Diego International Kids Film Festival Official Selection, New Animation & Cartoon International Film Festival Official Selection, Animation Day in Cannes / Animaze Daze in Cannes Official Selection, Anim8Fest International Animation Film Festival Quarter-Finalist (2015 Contest), ScreenCraft Family-Friendly Screenplay Contest



Quarter-Finalist, Shore Scripts

2014:    

“Best Screenplay – Animation”, International Family Film Festival Semi-Finalist, Screenplay Festival Semi-Finalist, Table Read My Screenplay Finalist, Golden Monkey King Award (China International Cartoon and Animation Festival)

2013:       

Finalist (Screenplay category), New Media Film Festival 1st Place, Family/Teen/Animation, StoryPros Awards Semi-Finalist, Screenplay Search Finalist, Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition Finalist, Moondance Film Festival Finalist, Creative World Awards Quarter-Finalist, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards

2012:  "Best of Fest Award in Scripts (Animated Category)", and "People’s Choice Award in Scripts (Animated Category)", Love Unlimited Film Festival & Art Exhibition  Finalist (logline), Three Lines or Less ONLY IN AMERICA by Arty Finkelstein and Andrew Garrett 2017:  Finalist, Global Production Match Making Program (Stage 32, European Film Commission Network)  Semi-Finalist, Sacramento International Film Festival 2015:  “First Round”, Adapted Screenplay Competition  Semi-Finalist, True Story Screenplay Competition 2013:  Semi-Finalist, Screenplay Search  Official Selection, Oaxaca FilmFest __ COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright in this project / screenplay has been registered with The United States Copyright Office. It is a wholly original work of fiction.

PRESENTATION STATUS: This project has not already been presented in Europe.

Signed,

Andrew R. Garrett 2/2/2018