OFFICIAL SELECTION “300 YEARS AND COUNTING” WRITTEN BY IZZY & VIC VAUGHAN (UK)BIO: Izzy Vaughan born in the UK she spent many years as a professional singer, actor and voiceover artist, performing in numerous international opera and musical theater productions. She was the Head of the Voice Department at Germany’s largest performing arts academy, The Stage School in Hamburg. Izzy recently adapted her first novel into a film and has been writing screenplays ever since. Vic Vaughan has stage directed/produced over 70 operas, musicals and world premiere productions including the acclaimed 'Feynman' and 'Leave Me Alone!' (written by and starring Harvey Pekar) and co-directed the onstage video for the opera version of 'Lost Highway' at the Miller Theatre in NYC. She now writes and directs exclusively for film. “300 YEARS AND COUNTING” WRITTEN BY IZZY & VIC VAUGHAN (UK) LOGLINE: (Genre: Historical Adventure) A Time Machine propels three children back to 1681 where their parents must save them from the guillotine for a crime they didn’t commit. SYNOPSIS: After their teenage children mysteriously disappear, Louise, a famous stage actress, and her husband David use a Time Machine to travel back to Paris of 1681 to save their teenage children from the guillotine for a kidnapping crime they didn’t commit. Here they learn that their Time Machine was devised to remove King Louis XIV from the throne by his step-brother and would-be Royal Pretender, Monsieur Mazarini. The teenagers and their parents are imprisoned, along with the Time Machine’s designer/builder, Fanny. In an attempted trade-off, David and Fanny take the King off to 1981 in return for the release of Louise and the kids, only for Mazarini to instantly renege on his promise. But he hasn’t banked on the fact that Louise looks almost identical to the King, and she uses her acting experience to win over the Royal Court in time for the King to be restored. STORY OUTLINE: The Man in the Iron Mask’ and ‘A Little Chaos’ mixed with hints of a 17th century ‘Devil Wears Prada’, 300 YEARS AND COUNTING is jam-packed with colour, fashion, music and plenty of historical and time-travel nerdiness. A fun sci-fi romp that takes the Ducos family from present day London, to the Royal Court of Louis the Fourteenth, and back to London and Paris of the 1980s, it contains contemporary themes of motherhood and ageing, the d/evolution of racial discrimination, and gender equality. Louise Ducos, a well-known stage actor and mother of teenagers Isabelle and Henri, is married to David, a theatrical period costumer and expert swordsman. A small child (3-year-old Sophie) time travels into the Ducos house and then returns to 1681, taking Isabelle and Henri with her but leaving behind a mysterious wooden Box. Louise and David learn that the Box is a Time Machine and are instructed by Professor Tiffany Gardiner to save their kids. They travel back to 1681 and arrive at the Palais Royale in the midst of a Baroque opera production only to discover that King Louis XIV himself is performing onstage and he bears a shocking resemblance to Louise (both roles are played by the same actor.) Meanwhile, Monsieur Mazarini has imprisoned the kids for kidnapping little Sophie and they are due for execution. Mazarini has designs on the throne and commissioned the time travel Box to get rid of the King. Louise and David escape the palace to find Fanny DuJardin, a jewelry designer whose help they need to mend the Box. They plan to break back into the palace but are foiled by Mazarini who forces David to take the King away into the future, while Louise, Isabelle and Henri are held hostage. David insists on taking Fanny with him for technical support and they travel with the King to 1980s London. But the Box is broken and they must return to Paris, so they head off on a cross-channel ferry. Meanwhile, in the palace, Isabelle and Henri find a miniature portrait of little Sophie and her father… David. In 1681, David had saved the King from being transported by the Box, only to find himself stuck in the year 2000, where he met Louise and they had their family. Louise is distraught by this discovery but faces a bigger challenge: the role of a lifetime, playing King Louis XIV. Mazarini is about to uncover her secret when David returns and challenges him to a sword fight among the crowd of theatre-goers. David is about to lose the duel when the King appears onstage and Mazarini is removed on charges of treason. |