Burned

Creator: Michael L Jennings
Age rating: 13 and older
Low on cash and on the run from the law, a Chicago gang botches a bank heist in Dodge City, Kansas. Divided, a narrow escape lands most of the gang at the farmhouse of Foster Cole, a retired Green Beret with extensive black ops experience. They picked the wrong farmhouse.
Project collaboration: Open
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Synopsis: Burned is a modern day story set in rural, western Kansas not far from Dodge City. A Chicago gang (the Fantoms) is on the run from the law after some ciminal mischief in California against a rival gang. Desperate to get home, but low on cash and reluctant to use their plastic, they resort to what they know. The bank heist goes sideways and the gang is back on the run, this time with half of Kansas after them. The ill-fortuned gang take their failing car up the driveway of the wrong old man, Foster Cole. Cole, a former green beret with extensive combat and black ops experience, sizes up his "kidnappers" before they can unload and shove their guns in his face. Cole draws them into his web, gaining their trust while planning their demise.

I love military history, especially from ancient times. One of my favorite films from the 70's was Frank Marshall's The Warriors, a film which was inspired by the Greek army under Xenophon. Like we find in the katabasis of Xenophon, the protagonists of The Warriors chose to fight their way home through the lands of their enemies. The Fantoms, however, opt for a different strategy, choosing instead to hole up and wait for the heat to die down. Bad call for the Fantoms. They’d have done better to have paid more attention in their History classes, or at least have had a Greek or two in the gang.

Though Burned is filled with numerous "edge of your seat" action scenes, these are not just insertions of gratuitous violence and mayhem. In every instance, the action is necessary to draw the audience into the story, to further the plot, or to better develop the characters. Plenty of humor to balance the tension, for all great stories must contain humor, lest the author be thought morbid or still worse, boring! Burned is actually a tale that is highly character driven (though perhaps action fueled). After reading this story, it is the characters you'll remember. Okay, and maybe the Ovaltine.

Latest Work

  • Script 2 - Michael's 2nd Draft
    05/23/12
    Creative Notes:
    {This screenplay has been revised to its final form (Draft 4) and can be downloaded at writetoreel.com. Look for BURNED v4 in the forums. This one really kicks ass.}

    Draft 2 is essentially the same story, with only a few minor tweaks here and there to dialogue. The goal was to convert the original (more of a "shooting" script) to a more standardized spec script.
    PDF

All Work