LOOKING FOR PARTNERS
FEATURE FAMILY FANTASY
by SASHA KIRIENKO
STORY
CONCEPT
Trying to prove the flying suit of his father-inventor works, 11-year-old Mak jumps from the roof. Falling through the ground he enters the Dreamy World — a waiting place between life and death, which looks like Elysium version of Disneyland. To get out of the place he will have to find friends, overcome his fears and defeat the evil Minister SHHH, who rules the Dreamy World.
Combining mesmerizing CGI visuals and original script, we aim to create thought-provoking entertainment for the whole family. Tackling the topic of socially introverted kids and addictive ‘imaginary worlds’ of games and VR, we want to remind the kids that they are loved, and to remind parents how important is their attention.
GENRE:
Feature fiction, fantasy, adventure
AUDIENCE:
Children 8–14 and their parents
STATUS: Development
BUDGET:
4 000 000 EUR LOOKING FOR:
2 400 000 € (60 %)
SYNOPSIS
Mak is an 11-year-old boy with unparalleled desire to become an inventor. He is dreamy and kind, but has issues with socialization. Mak doesn’t tolerate large crowds or strangers' touches. Maybe, it's because he grows up without a mother, whom he only knows through his father’s stories. Mak tries to follow his father in everything. Since his father is an inventor, Mak is fond of science and tech. Our story begins when Mak tries to impress his father, having secretly finished his work on a flying suit. After the successful test in father’s lab, Mak, in the suit, runs to the roof and jumps off the edge. But there is some glitch—the suit malfunctions, and Mak falls from the sky... However, instead of hitting a lawn, Mak pops through it unexpectedly! Surprised and scared, the boy falls into an endless cloudy tunnel.
But in reality, Mak lays on a lawn in front of his house. The fall plunged the boy into the state of Long Sleep, and he's taken to the hospital. At the same time, in a parallel world, Mak lands in a gigantic pool. Having emerged from it, he finds himself in a Dreamy World. It looks like a giant amusement park, divided into different Zones. There are a lot of children, busy with entertainment. And above everything towers a monumental building of the Ministry... Minister of the Dreamy World—SHHH—is a grand sorcerer and a grand villain. Everyone is afraid to say his name, so they just put a finger to lips: shhh. Nobody saw his face hidden under the hood of the mantle. The main purpose of SHHH is to keep children in a Dreamy World, forcing them to forget about the reality. Illusions created by the Minister in the form of an amusement park distract children from the thoughts of returning from the Long Sleep. Sometimes the petitioners come to the Minister—children who remembered the real world and want to return. But never has the Minister given a pass to the portal to reality—the Ring of Life—inventing new orders and prohibitions. Minister SHHH is the only one allowed to use magic in the Dreamy World, and he brutally punishes those who try to violate
this rule. With the help of magic, SHHH created a loyal army of scary creatures—the Guarrrds. Deputy Minister Victoria is his complete opposite. She does not like the brutal reign of SHHH. Secretly from the Minister, Victoria uses his magic screen to observe her inventor husband and her son, Makar, left in the real world. One day, the screen doesn’t show her son and Victoria understands something is wrong...
and a teacher to Mak, helping him to improve the flying suit, and will play one of the key roles in the final battle between Good and Evil. When Mak enters the Inventors' Zone, he forgets about the reality for a while. Enthusiastically embodying his technological dreams, he creates many interesting and unusual gadgets. But when Donut tells Mak the truth about the Dreamy World, Mak recalls the reality and realizes he misses his father. He makes a firm decision to return, and to help other children to return. From this point the path of a hero, full of dangerous adventures, begins.
Mak's adventures in the Dreamy World begin with meeting Donut and Bombula. Mak's peers, they have long been in the state of the Long Sleep. Bombula is a hurricane girl. She loves all sorts of gadgets and whizzes around the Dreamy World on magic rollers, violating all possible laws. She is one of the few who remembers the real world and desperately fights for return. Piece by piece, she gathered knowledge about the Dreamy World: how to deceive the Guarrrds, how to turn off Illusions, and how to get through the Gate of the Worlds. Being secretly in love with Bombula, goodhearted and chatty Donut helps her in every possible way. His knowledge of the Dreamy World will succour Mak more than once on his path home. Donut introduces Mak to his favorite part of the Dreamy World, Inventors' Zone, and to his mentor, Olgovich. Olgovich will become a friend
From a shy, timid boy, Mak will turn into a confident and purposeful teenager, who will endure all the trials and defeat the evil Minister SHHH (who will turn out to be a little frightened boy himself). An important role in this transformation will be played by Mak's mother, Victoria, who will be near him in the most difficult situations and will sacrifice the most important thing for her son—her permission to return to the real world.
One of Ukraine's leading film companies, producing high-quality films, TV series, documentaries, and shorts for over 15 years. Our films participated in numerous festivals, including Rotterdam, Warsaw, Leipzig, Palm Springs, Chicago, and Shanghai. 2 our film were Ukraine’s Oscar submissions. THE GUIDE by Oles Sanin set domestic box office record for Ukrainian film. We have experience in co-production with USA, Canada, Australia, Poland, Germany and other countries.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR CO-PRODUCERS, INVESTORS, AND CREATIVE PARTNERS.
OUR TEAM
SASHA
MAXIM
KATERYNA
Director for many popular TV programmes, Sasha worked for the top Ukrainian TV channels. Since 2000, he is the director of his own production studio Propaganda House. His film ‘Illusion of Fear’ was official Ukrainian submission for Oscars in 2008.
Owner of Pronto Film since 2004, Maxim has been producer/executive producer at more than 30 films and TV series. Co-founder of Film Industry Association of Ukraine, he has Ukrainian national TV award ‘Teletriumph’ for the best producer of TV Film/Series.
Head of Ukrainian State Film Agency 2010-2014. One of the key figures in the launching the new wave of Ukrainian cinema, Kateryna served as a head of State Film Fund for 4 years, after 2 years as an executive producer of Novy TV Channel.
CONTACT US
MAXIM ASADCHIY
SASHKO CHUBKO
maxim@pronto.kiev.ua +38 (067) 465-02-12
sashko@pronto.kiev.ua +38 (095) 576-77-43
KIRIENKO D I R E C T O R
ASADCHIY P R O D U C E R
KOPYLOVA
C R E AT I V E PRODUCER