Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their votes! We got the biggest voting turnout for any poll on MZPtv so far, so well done.
And without further adieu, here are our FOUR finalists (due to a tied vote for the third place spot), in no particular order.
"The Pirate War" (action/sci-fi)
"Utopia" (science fiction)
"R.I.P." (dark comedy)
"Guts" (action/black comedy)
Full pitches below.
Title & Genre: "The Pirate War" (action/sci-fi)
Logline: In the twenty-second century, a tyrannical government seeking to control all forms of media faces opposition from a global team of online pirates.
Summary: The World Government made the first blow, killing the world's largest social communications site without a single word one night. As the world's communications break down and are replaced by government-approved promotional sites, Leader assembles a group of the world's greatest minds and talents in order to take down the operation from the inside. Brains has the world's highest IQ, Ellen is a developer of mechanical superweapons, Plain Jane is an accomplished assassin and America is the strong-yet-silent type who uses brute violence to get his point across. Being dropped into the heart of the government's capital, the team must fight their way to freedom of speech and expression before the internet dies entirely.
Cast: Ellen (Catherine Tate), Plain Jane (Carey Mulligan), America (Colton Haynes), Brains (Benedict Cumberbatch) & Leader (Samuel L. Jackson)
Title & Genre: "Utopia" (science fiction)
Logline: A misfit in a peaceful, perfect future folds time to potentially ruin a virtual utopia by introducing the one variable that could destroy it... men.
Summary: It's the start of the 23nd century and life is peaceful, ordered and clinically pristine. The reason? All men mysteriously died 100 years before. But a loner, Jeminy, with the gift and curse of foresight, is compelled by an unknown force to defy everything she's ever known to bend time and rescue sixteen wildly different men from the past. She knows that the men are needed in her time for something on the horizon, but she also knows that they are destined to die again... unless they can discover the deadly secret behind the end of "mankind" before history repeats itself.
Cast: Jeminy (Julie McNiven), David Bay (Seth Gabel), Lewis Ryan (Dylan O'Brien), Mack Keyes (Keith David), The Regent (Gina Torres)
Title & Genre: "R.I.P." (dark comedy)
Logline: When the family owners of a down-on-its-luck Kansas cemetery discover that one of their long-buried corpses has returned from the dead, mayhem ensues and the media comes calling.
Summary: The Boglin family has owned Kansas Memorial Cemetery for generations, but with ground space at a minimum, the current owners -- boorish, womanizing Manny and his trans-gendered sibling Cambia -- had to declare bankruptcy. Then one night, they receive a strange knock on their door from one of the cemetery's oldest, and deadest, residents. As religious patriarch Gemino tries to make sense of the wickedness, the media hears word of the risen corpse and sends a curious reporter, Annabelle, who tries to help the Boglins uncover the secret that lies beneath the cemetery grounds.
Cast: Jorge Garcia (Manny Boglin), Kristen Wiig (Annabelle Sampson), Sofia Vergara (Cambia Boglin), and Danny Trejo (Gemino Boglin).
Title & Genre: "Guts" (action/black comedy)
Logline: A paranoid inventor creates a team of the formerly-dead to ensure the future he predicts does not come to pass.
Summary: In the future, Vince Clayborn is a born genius who spent his entire life hiding from the world, terrified that his great intelligence would make him a target for 'ownership' by the leaders of the new world order. He chose instead to amass a stolen fortune to fuel his inventions. One of these was a machine that predicted a disastrous future for humanity. Another, a method for cloning the dead. The only ones who can save the world have already been executed... thankfully, that's no longer an issue. Despite his fear of the world, in order to save it Vince has resurrected a full team with the secrets he needs: sharp-tongued Maura, a programming genius who is responsible for the creation of the enemy's most dangerous locks, but who can rarely be trusted; Mr. Nightengale, a manipulative businessman who knows many secrets, and lets them slip only when it's worth his while; Enoch, a hard-drinking, depressed assassin who, having worked for the 'new world order', killed the rest of Vince's team in the first place... and Joan, the executed wife of the new world's leader who, despite his betrayal, steadfastly refuses to betray him. But reviving these figures, and being able to control them, are two very different things... and time is running out.
Cast: Vince Clayborn (Idris Elba), Maura (Emmy Rossum), Mr. Nightengale (Hiroyuki Sanada), Enoch (Timothy Olyphant), Joan (Madeline Stowe)
Here's a breakdown of the rest of the entrants. The competition was fierce and the quality high, so don't be downbeat if your mini-pitch didn't receive many votes. Use this as a learning experience to come back stronger the next time we run this competition!
"Falling Forward" (mystery/suspense) 7 (8.3%)
"MurderBowl" (action/comedy) 7 (8.3%)
“Deadville” (Supernatural drama/comedy) 6 (7.1%)
"Klutz" (drama/supernatural) 5 (6%)
"EN1" (Anthology) 4 (4.8%)
"Glampires" (action/horror/musical elements when time-filling montages are required) 3 (3.6%)
"Human Remains" (Thriller / Horror) 3 (3.6%)
"Year in Souls" (Supernatural Horror/Drama) 2 (2.4%)
"Draper" (drama) 2 (2.4%)
"The League Unleashed" (Black Comedy Horror/Supernatural Action) 1 (1.2%)
"Life With Death " (Comedy/Supernatural Drama) 1 (1.2%)
“Guardian” (drama/action) 0 (0%)
The four finalists will be notified of the rules for ROUND THREE (aka the FINAL ROUND), and will be expected to have their full pitches completed very soon. Once they have been submitted to me, a new poll will take place whereby the community can vote for the winner!
A FEW RULES from here on:
-- If you're one of our unlucky finalists that didn't make the cut, you're free to either say you're one of them and let people speculate, or come right out and say which mini-pitch is yours. It's up to you.
-- If you're one of the FINAL FOUR, please keep it a secret!
-- You're also free to say who you voted for.Keep an eye out for the final round, coming within the next few days
