Pirates of the Pacific

Executive Summary

This proposal outlines the concept for a feature movie to be filmed in Los Cabos, Mexico and to be marketed worldwide. The movie, currently titled "Pirates of the Pacific," will highlight Los Cabos' buccaneer heritage and present-day "treasures" such as scenery (land and sea), tourist attractions (fishing and night life), year-round pleasant climate, and so on.

This proposal provides the rationale for the movie and benefits to audiences, local residents, and investors.

The authors of the proposal, Mark S. Belvedere, owner/sea captain of the Pirate Ship Cruises of Los Cabos, and John H. Prin, writer/director of Prinworks Inc. in the USA, seek to enter into discussions with an investor, or investors, for the purpose of forming a holding company that would own rights to the shooting script for "Pirates of the Pacific" created by this company.

Concept

The Los Cabos region is rich in pirate history, but this richness has never been leveraged in the commercial media. We propose that a movie that deals with this subject matter will reach a wide audience, provided it is entertaining and of excellent quality.

The storyline of "Pirates of the Pacific" portrays a modern day main character who comes to Los Cabos and re-lives actual historical dramatic moments. He is on a mission to explore his family roots and encounters many adventures in his discovery of the treasures, tangible and intangible, of the region. (See Story Synopsis following).

This project originated from the belief that the unique subject matter of Los Cabos' pirate heritage lends itself to dramatic story telling, especially in the form of a movie. Also, that today's tourist would be attracted to this region after watching the film and therefore find the destination desirable, thus leading to an increase in tourism.

Market for Film

"Pirates of the Pacific" will be distributed world-wide, in English, with name stars in the lead roles. For example, the main character could be played by Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Brad Pitt (Legends of the Fall) or Johnny Depp (Don Juan de Marco). Of course, several other possible movie stars could be listed — Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, Leonardo DeCaprio. The point is that this type of leading man — the same principle can apply for a leading lady such as Catherine Zeta-Jones — is the kind that will carry the interest of the viewer and make the movie successful.

Benefits to Los Cabos

1. The movie will highlight the area's outstanding natural beauty.

2. The movie will help increase awareness of the area's desirability as a destination for tourists.

3. The production of the movie will bring millions of dollars in revenues to local businesses for the cast and crew's accommodations, food, transportation, and hospitality.

4. The movie will hire hundreds of extras and behind-the-scenes locals during filming.

Story Synopsis:
Pirates of the Pacific

Written by John Prin
Based on events suggested by Mark Belvedere

During the opening credits, a plane lands at San Jose del Cabo airport. Aerial photography shows the gorgeous sun, land and sea features of Los Cabos, the famed tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. As tourists deboard the plane, we hear Mexican music. Gradually the camera focuses on one tourist in his mid-30s. As his American passport is stamped by customs officials, we see his name: Grant Cavendish.

On the taxi ride to a Cabo San Lucas beach resort, Grant looks out the window at the desert countryside and topaz shoreline while fellow tourists revel, drinking beer and crooning songs. Capturing his attention is the one-and-only El Arco, the distinctive stone arch in the sea water signaling the Pacific Ocean beyond. In his hand he holds a centuries-old silver coin. He squeezes it, as if for good luck, and joins the revelers as they depart the taxi.

Grant checks into the resort hotel. Unlike the other tourists who ask about sport fishing or parasailing, he asks where the library is. His luggage is carried by a local porter who leads him to his room past a huge, exquisite mural depicting fighting pirates, Spanish galleons, and similar historical sea scenes. He pauses, captivated. Opening his hand, the old coin in his palm no longer appears out of place. (He even bears a faint resemblance to one of the men in the tableau.)

Inside Grant's room, he unpacks and spreads out his things. An authentic old mariner's chart shows distinct characteristics — El Arco, the harbor, the town, and an "X" marked on the beach. He compares it to a modern tourist map showing the same details and the "X" corresponds with the site of his resort hotel. He appears excited and anxious to get down to business.

(Opening credits end here and the movie begins.)

At the library, he roams among the book shelves randomly, sizing up the place. Behind the "Information" counter works an attractive Hispanic woman. He walks up and practices his student Spanish by asking an innocent sounding question. She smiles a big smile (we see for the first time, as he does, how pretty she is). Her reply, in fluent English, sets him back only slightly. He persists in Spanish, she persists in English, and it gets comical. They both laugh, then he concedes and asks, in English:

"Local history? I'm looking for anything you've got, the older the better."

"Local history in what area of interest?"

"Shipping. Seafaring. Ships' logs. Records of any kind."

"Cabo has a very rich history of pirates and buccaneers," she says.

"Ah yes, buccaneers. That sounds like a good place to start."

She stands and leads the way to a rear corner. He (along with us) sees that she's not only pretty of face but shapely of limb. For his part, he is in fit shape, a tip-top 180 pounds. Both of them are similar in age, each about 35-40.

She pulls a dusty leather-bound volume off the shelf and we learn a little about piracy in Cabo, about the English and Spanish influences. At the moment, Grant is more absorbed in her than the old book, then he frowns about the date (1800s) and asks, "Got anything older from the 1500s or 1600s?"

"Sorry. Records that old have been moved to national archives in Mexico City." Dissatisfied, he asks about private collections.

She shrugs, "None, I’m sorry."

In an effort to keep his trip on an upbeat note, he asks if he can apply for a library card to check out a current bestseller. She gladly accommodates, asks where he is staying, etc. As he fills out the simple form, he learns her name is Serena. They chat about good restaurants and appear to be hitting it off. When he shows her his driver's license for verification, she reads his name and exclaims, "Cavendish! That's a very famous name around here!"

"I know," he replies. "I'm the black sheep of the family in search of my great-great-great-granddad's long lost treasure! It’s buried here somewhere."

She sits back, impressed, and is indeed upbeat and very curious to learn more.

After midnight in the resort's lobby, Grant stands before the huge mural, studying it in total absorption. The camera shows its details — cannons firing, sailors clashing at sword point — and we hear battle sounds, blood-curdling cries, etc. Grant's facial expressions indicate that he could be an on-site observer, and he carefully takes notes and sketches diagrams.

Behind him, two security officers approach, making rounds of the area. They seem harmless enough but, perhaps due to Grant's own sense of paranoia, he gets fearful. Not knowing where to turn in order to conceal himself or his activity, he looks in all directions for an "out." Meanwhile, the battle sounds from the mural get deafeningly loud and the security officers notice Grant's suspicious behavior. They approach more quickly and aggressively. Grant finds nowhere to escape, swallows a large lump in his throat, and makes a brash move — he leaps up towards the mural, disappearing into it and through it.

The security guards are astonished — their man has vanished!

Meanwhile, aboard an English buccaneer ship in the 1500s, Grant lands on deck amid the battle going on. He rolls to a stop, like a linebacker crashing into the earth, and goes unnoticed. He realizes, with astonishment, that he's dressed exactly as the sailors in the mural, in well-worn striped pants, leather belt, and loose shirt.

A midships officer barks orders at him to "Look alive and light the fuse!"

He shakes off his astonishment, tries to explain who he is, gets a slap across the face.

"Look alive," bellows the officer, "or you'll be next to board the enemy galleon!" Grant obeys as best he can, now part of the cannon-firing crew loading another round to assault the Spanish galleon only yards away (Grant has become part of living history).

Grant sees the comrades beside him lose life and limb but he survives the fight, with only a nasty powder burn to his eyebrows and hair. In the aftermath of the victory, the officer gives him orders to unload the silver cargo from the captured Spanish galleon along with his "mate," Spike Hale, a seasoned veteran "limey" who shows him "the ropes." He confides to Spike that he is a Cavendish several generations in the future but this soars right by his mate.

"First," says Spike, "you ain't the only bloke to claim kinship with the old man in order to get some of 'is riches. This here is Thomas Cavendish's ship." Second, Spike points out that it's 1587 and the 2000s haven't happened yet, "so your future claim is all balderdash." When Grant reveals his precious coin to Spike, Spike scoffs: "You and any of a dozen limeys on board 'ave one of them in 'is pocket — nothin' special about that." Spike reaches into a nearby fellow's pouch and produces an identical coin.

Grant settles into the routine of a common seaman as he labors aboard his great-great-great-grandfather's ship, glimpsing the noble gentleman only from a distance. Meanwhile, he hauls the chests of silver treasure ashore to the very same spot as his resort hotel. Exhausted, he lies down at night to sleep on the beach next to the cargo and... POOF!

...He's back in his own time lying asleep in his resort room. He awakens, feeling the painful powder burn on his face!

The remaining scenes of the movie follow a similar pattern, that of Grant's present-day search for clues to the lost treasure intermingled with his return to dramatic moments in pirate history, then back to present day and so forth. Each time the cycle repeats itself, new elements add drama, comedy, suspense, and intrigue.

In both stories, his relationship with the librarian Serena develops as she joins him on his "mural time travels." We learn of her Polynesian heritage while she enacts a key role in helping Grant hide Thomas Cavendish's treasure from native poachers and Spanish sailors who survived. All the while in both eras a romantic love story develops between them — to where Grant’s search for tangible lost treasure meets escalating obstacles to success yet his appreciation grows for the many other "treasures" of Los Cabos.

In the end, as he discovers in this action/adventure/romance tale, the more he probes, the more resistance he meets from strangers who track his every move because his efforts threaten an already existing search by secret rivals who will stop at nothing to block his progress.

If interested contact John

To be continued....