DRAMA, WAR

Slavery is alive and well in America as it is on the cusp of the Civil War. Patsy's daughters are taken and sent to the South to be sold as slaves. Elias escapes his master to freedom. Irishman are also making there way in America, helping get enslaved people to freedom while dealing with prejudices against them.

GOOD

THIRD PERSON

Authors Writing Style: GOOD

Characterization: GOOD

Commerciality: FAIR

Franchise Potential: FAIR

Pace: GOOD

Premise: GOOD

Structure: GOOD

Theme: GOOD

Yes, the book profile accurately reflects the book.

The story follows African Americans and there experiences trying to flee slavery and get to freedom. It is always important to tell these stories. It also shows the Irish prospective who also faced prejudice in America. In this case, Devlin helped hide slaves on the underground railroad.

The book uses racial slurs excessively. It is trying to be authentic to the time period and those speaking but it feels harsh. It also was difficult to distinguish between the characters while reading.

THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS

The hook is the different stories of slaves and others during the time leading up to the Civil War. I would watch this for the strong characters who were slaves and fought to be free. It would be interesting to see their journeys.

This could have a large fanbase as it shed light on a horrific time in US history. There are some great characters that would draw the attention. On the other hand, many stories of BIPOC that are celebrated on screen tend to deal with oppression. Slave movies have been done before and this is not different from any others.

This could have award potential since films exploring the oppression such as slavery or the Holocaust do attract critical acclaim. It deals with heavy topics.

MEDIUM BUDGET

12 YEARS A SLAVE, ANTEBELLUM

The story is not original. It is about slavery and depicts life in the south under slavery as we have seen before. To make it more unique, there could be more focus on the enslaved characters and less with the white owners or white characters. The story would need a complete direction changed to make it more unique.

The lead characters are strong people who stand up for their beliefs. The black characters are persevering in the face of insurmountable adversity because they believe they deserve better.

This is an average film that mimics many other films like it. The theme of slavery and oppression have been done many times over. To be more unique, the perspective needs to change, something new and fresh, besides masters against slaves.

Film - Indie, Film - Streaming, Film - Studio, TV Series - Limited Run / Mini-Series, TV Series - Streaming

WORK IN PROGRESS

While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.

This tells the same story about slavery that has always been told. It also does nothing for representation of African Americans which it should at this point. The characterization could be more realistic.