sean francis ellis

THE LEGEND OF YAKATUTCH (FEATURE SCREENPLAY)

LOGLINE: When his girlfriend is abducted by a legendary creature in the Yukon wilderness, an aimless young First Nations man learns he is descended from a line of indigenous warriors, and must embrace his heritage to stop the creature, before it locates his mountain town.​

SYNOPSIS:  While snowboarding in the remote Canadian Yukon, Scott (19), is attacked by an unidentified predator and seriously wounded, while his girlfriend, Arianne (18), is taken by the animal and feared dead. Local authorities believe it was a grizzly attack, but Scott believes it was something far more dangerous, and tells his father, a Zoologist, who suspects a link to mutilated hunters recently found in a wildlife reserve. When Scott's wounds heal almost overnight, his father tells a pharmaceutical company, which wants to capture the creature and exploit its healing DNA.

Believing Arianne is still alive, Scott tells Matusa, a Park Ranger and First Nations man, who fears she was taken by Yakatutch, a legendary creature living in the ice fields. Yakatutch was once a fearsome warrior, who was transformed into a creature, centuries ago. Since then, his descendants have been trained to defend the village, if the creature returns. Matusa reveals a secret kept since Scott was born: Matusa is Scott's uncle, and they are descendants of Yakatutch, making them the only ones who can stop it. Joining his father and the trappers, Scott and Matusa fly to the mountains and find Arianne alive, inside the creature’s cave. But Yakatutch slaughters the trappers, demonstrating its intelligence and ability to heal itself. Returned safely to the town, Arianne warns the authorities that Yakatutch was protecting her, seeking to restore its humanity. As the creature approaches the town, Scott must embrace his mother’s heritage and destroy Yakatutch, before it finds civilisation.

Set in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon Territory, Canada, THE LEGEND OF YAKATUTCH is a feature screenplay, combining Action, Adventure & Horror.   Comparable films: ANTLERS, KING KONG, THE WHITE BUFFALO, JAWS, JURASSIC PARK, PREY (2022). A Creative Deck and Business Deck are available upon request.

SHADOW MEN (Feature Screenplay)

SHADOW MEN is an action-packed Science-Fiction / Thriller in the style of John Carpenter classics The Fog, They Live and Escape From New York.  The feature screenplay is co-written by Sean Francis Ellis & Kent Hill.  

SYNOPSIS: Hoping to start a quiet new life, retired Special Forces soldier, Tom Chambers, arrives in a small town where his friend (also retired Special Forces) recently settled down. But Tom’s friend has disappeared, and no one in the town seems to know anything. With local bar owner, Rachel, Tom uncovers the town’s secrets, which lead to a water-bottling plant where strange occurrences suggest extra-terrestrial activity, and a cover-up with implications for all of humanity.

Comparable films: FIRST BLOOD, THEY LIVE, FIRE IN THE SKY, SUPER 8, THE X FILES, THE FOG, RED DAWN.

The china club (feature screenplay)

SYNOPSIS:  Sam, 25, converts a run-down theatre into an up-scale new nightclub, but unwittingly provides a venue for his wealthy investor & silent business partner, who secretly intends to kidnap young women for sale into sex-slavery.  THE CHINA CLUB is a feature screenplay, combining Crime/Thriller elements with an edgy Coming-of-Age story.

Comparable films: RISKY BUSINESS, GO, 21, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, RUNNER RUNNER, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. 

Angel dust (short screenplay)

Inspired by Australia’s most notorious case of police corruption, ANGEL DUST is a short film screenplay, developed for director Toby B. Styling of Bluesteel Films. Kitty, a 20 year-old international law student, finds her boyfriend, Jackie, brutally murdered. When the police deem the case an accidental suicide by overdose, Kitty starts asking questions of her own. Kitty learns that Jackie was embroiled in Sydney’s criminal underworld, trafficking drugs for the Triads, to pay off his gambling debt.  

Before being murdered, Jackie revealed to his colleague, Alfonzo, that he recorded evidence to bring down the corrupt detectives who were framing him. Now, those same detectives believe Kitty knows too much and must be silenced. In a bold gamble to find justice for Jackie, and save her own life, Kitty and Alfonzo join forces to bring down the corrupt cops who murdered her boyfriend.  

CLAWS  (short film, 2011)