Dogs

Pitching: Stephen Kemp (creator)

Dogs
Clinging to the shore of Lake Superior, the Upper Michigan town of Superior Bay is on its last legs, kept alive as home to a small university and the businesses that support it. Amidst the wrenching changes of the early 2020s, the town seems stuck in time, a long way from the action – until a series of horrific attacks on local livestock lead authorities to authorise a rare wolf cull. But when a local wolf hunter is attacked and mutilated, deputy police chief Fran Forchette finds herself on the hunt for a killer unlike any she’s ever imagined.

Meanwhile, Fran’s husband, John ‘Fork’ Forchette, is an untenured college instructor desperate to revive his stalled academic career. Taking his cue from students on campus, he begins taking Sundrop, an illicit designer smart drug that enables users to perform at greatly enhanced levels. But as Fran slowly discovers links between Sundrop and violent attacks on locals, Fork finds that the drug’s powerful cognitive benefits are giving way to disturbing behavioral and physical changes that are turning him into something no longer quite human.

In the grip of powerful new instincts, Fork flees Fran to join the feral packs of fellow Sundrop victims (derisively known as ‘dogs’) gathering in the woodland outside of town. Sworn to serve and protect the people of Superior Bay, Fran is torn between her love for Fork and harsh new law-and-order directives to deal with the ‘dogs’.

As the series develops, we follow both Fran’s police duty as the mutations spread and Fork’s strange new life as a hybrid human living among ‘his kind.’ What begins as a small-town murder mystery mutates by turns into an altogether stranger and darker tale about humanity’s fight for survival against monsters of our own making.

Supporting materials:
Bible
Pilot Script

Project information:
Genre: Near-fi horror/dark comedy
Format: One-hour serialised drama
Created by: Stephen Kemp and Noel Baker
Produced by: Rarefish Films inc
Development stage: Pilot script and series bible complete. Seeking packaging and season-one development financing.
Shooting location: Ontario, Canada
Languages: English (and ‘Dog’)
Total Budget: US$15m per 10-episode season
Budget per episode: US$1.5m
Financing already in place: Potential Canadian production tax credit of 25% on production labour and Ontario production tax credits of 30% on labour and 18% on production services.

What you are looking for from the US and/or international business:
US production partner for Canada/US (and possibly UK) coproduction.

Company profile:
Rare Fish Films was established in 2017 to develop work by the writing team of Stephen Kemp and Noel Baker.

Stephen is a British-born writer/producer/director. He began his career as a writer and performer in theatre before working for various UK TV indies, including Wag TV and Raw TV. In 2013, he moved to Toronto where he headed scripted drama for Cineflix Productions. While there, he teamed up with Noel on two seasons of biker drama Gangland Undercover for History Channel. His 2016 Lifetime movie Girl In The Box adapted the true story of Colleen Stan, who was imprisoned in a box for seven years. Most recently he wrote, produced and directed a second Lifetime movie, Girl In The Bunker.

Noel began his writing career with the screenplay for the cult classic punk rock road movie Hard Core Logo, followed by his rollicking memoir, Hard Core Roadshow, recounting his experiences of making the film. This was followed by writing for directors Robert Altman and Terry Gilliam. He also co-created sex dramedy Show Me Yours for Showcase (Canada) Oxygen Network and the CBC limited drama series At The Hotel in 2007. Other credits include the screenplay for the hit Indo-Canadian hockey comedy feature Breakaway (2012, starring Russell Peters and Rob Lowe).

Contact:
Stephen Kemp
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 7848 329626
Noel Baker
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +1 416 509 0646