FLAMINGO LAND
FEATURE in development
Hello & Welcome To Flamingo Land,
WE ARE CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT WITH THIS PROJECT AND ARE LOOKING TO BRING A FEATURE-EXPERIENCED PRODUCER ON BOARD.
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LOGLINE
An estranged half-brother and sister are stuck on a journey up the spine of broken Britain. Will they ever make it to the mysterious 'Flamingo Land’?
SYNOPSIS
A beaten-up station wagon makes its way up the crooked spine of modern day Britain. Stuck inside, picking up rideshares to pay their way, are two of the most mismatched people you could ever hope to meet: Lucas, a young mixed-race man, suffering from chronic IBS, who avoids conflict at all cost and Ruby, a hyperactive, white teenager, who delights in playing games with people for her own amusement. In truth, they're estranged half-siblings heading up to Scotland to attend their absent father's funeral.
Along the way, through a series of encounters with confused and broken passengers from across the UK, Lucas and Ruby's relationship, or lack thereof, is laid bare. Lucas, resentful of being abandoned by his father, hollowed out by humiliating job interviews and being a perpetual outsider just can't deal with Ruby's hyperactive game-playing, tall tales and the pleasure she takes in being weird. Things come to a head when Ruby refuses to admit to a suspicious police officer that Lucas is her brother. How could she put Lucas in that position? Why does Lucas care when he doesn’t even want a sister?
The explosive row leads Lucas to driving off and leaving Ruby abandoned. When he returns, minutes later, shaken by what he has done, he knows things have to change. Lucas spends the remainder of the journey trying to open himself up, indulging in Ruby's weird antics as they play games on a particularly toxic rideshare passenger.
Their father’s funeral is sparsely attended and offers no big revelations. Outside, Lucas and Ruby catch the eye of the a few disparate strangers, who each look somewhat alike. They all share this silent moment with their hypothetical siblings, in the knowledge that they will probably never see one another again. As Lucas and Ruby stand at the grave of their estranged father, It is peaceful. No bickering. What has their father left them with? Not enough to quell Lucas’ sense of abandonment, or to give Ruby any great closure as to who her father was.
We leave the pair sitting side by side on a small amusement park ride, hands in the air, mouths agape, faces contorted between fear and ecstasy. We can’t see where they’re heading to. We just know they’re on this ride, stuck in this grotesque moment together.
attached CAST
BRADLEY JOHN
Lucas
Since graduating from The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Bradley has worked across theatre, film and TV.
On stage, he played the role of Timi in Ade Solanke’s Pandora's Box. He starred in BBC’s The Crimson Field and Sky One’s Stan Lee's Lucky Man.
His film credits include The Hitman's Bodyguard, The Runaways, and 90 Minutes, as well as a long standing collaboration with Laura Spini and Laurence Brook, with whom he made no fewer than four short films.
MIA QUINEY
ruby
Mia was born in Kent in 2006. At the age of 7, she made her acting debut in the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof.
Since then, she has appeared in a number of shorts, features and commercials. In 2017, Mia starred in the feature Ophelia, where she played a young Daisy Ridley. Recently, she was nominated in the ‘Best Actress’ category at the Independent Days Filmfest for her role as a suit-clad, ten year old motivational guru from hell in the short film Dumbboat.
SOPHIE THompsON
ANNABEL
Sophie Thompson is a London-born actress. A five-time Olivier Award nominee, she won an Olivier Award for her work in the London revival of Into the Woods. Her best known works in film are Gosford Park, Emma, Four Wed- dings and a Funeral. More recently, she played Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. She has had major recurring television roles in Eastenders, Coronation Street, Jericho and BAFTA-winning comedy Detectorists.
fred melamed
uncle lonnie
NYC-born Fred Melamed has appeared in seven Woody Allen films, including the Oscar-winning Hannah and Her Sisters. But it was for his portrayal of "sensitive" villain Sy Ableman, in A Serious Man, the 2009 dark comedy by Joel and Ethan Coen, that he became most widely known. On television, Melamed headlines with Maria Bamford on the hit Netflix series Lady Dynamite, and has recurring roles in Casual, New Girl, Girls and House of Lies.
JOE PERA
JERRY
Joe Pera is a stand-up comedian from Buffalo, New York who now lives and performs in New York City, New York. Known for his deadpan, grandfather-like delivery and his penchant for wearing sweaters, Pera is best known for his Adult Swim Infomercial Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep. His collaboration with the network developed into a ten episode television show, Joe Pera Talks With You, from 2018. Pera has performed on Late Night Shows CONAN and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
RICHARD GADD
CONRAD
Richard Gadd is a Scottish writer, actor and comedian from Wormit, Fife. He is an Edinburgh Fringe comedy veteran, having performed at the festival consistently since 2013. He was the winner of the 2016 Edinburgh Comedy Award for his show Monkey See Monkey Do, performing the show again as a limited run during the 2017 festival. Gadd is best known for playing Eddie McNally in the BBC drama Against the Law. He has also had roles in Tripped, Scot Squad and Vicious.
Detectorists (Mackenzie Crook, 2014-2017)
Paper Moon (Peter Bodganovich, 1973)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Taika Waititi, 2016)
Robinson in Ruins (Patrick Keiller, 2010)
Behemoth (Zhao Liang, 2015)
Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan, 2017)
CREw
laura spini & laurence brook
writer/director entity
A duo specialising in dark/weird/placid comedy. Their short You Are Whole, starring North American actor Fred Melamed, premiered at Edinburgh and Palm Springs. They just completed a new short, A Disappearance, set in the world of psychics and starring Sophie Thompson.
zoë payne
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
With a background in animation at the RCA, Zoë has designed two features, McKellen: Playing the Part and Film London's The Visitor. She was art director on Chicken, Fisherman's Friends, and Simon Amstell's Benjamin. She has exhibited work at the BFI, Courtald Institute, RSC and V&A.
giorgio giampà
composer
Giorgio has scored feature films, TV series, documentaries and shorts which have premiered at Sundance, Berlin, and Venice film festivals, amongst others. He has been nominated for an Italian Golden Globe, and was awarded Best Score at the Kinotavr Open Russia Film Festival.
TIAN TSERING
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Tian is a cinematographer and London Film School graduate. He spent seven years developing and directing Barley Fields on the Other Side of the Mountain, a Tibetan-set feature film shot in the Himalayas which premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2017.
rebecca morgan
LINE producer
In 2012, Rebecca moved from her native Scotland to London, where she produces commercials, corporate content and short films. In 2016, she won the BAFTA for Best British Short with Operator, directed by Caroline Bartleet and starring Kate Dickie and Vicky McClure.
Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
Lourdes (Jessica Hausner, 2009)
Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012)