“ESCAPE FIRE”

FILM STORY SYNOPSIS (Writers Guild of America, West Registered #1810340)

Story and Screenplay Created and Written By

Joël de Wardeaux aka JW Zoom

All Rights Reserved ©2010-2015 JW Zoom Media, LLC

MYTHOLOGY: Tristan + Orpheus + Romeo & Juliet

GENRE: An epic historical drama of love, fear, tragedy and adventure set in 1949 Montana.

LOGLINE: He’s white, she’s not. Their love is on fire. The Montana forests are burning. Only one blaze will win.

PITCH LINE: The love between a young 1949 fire fighting Smokejumper and spirited Native American girl escalate cultural conflict over forest fire policies and racial tensions already boiling during one of history’s worst U.S. Forest Service accidents.

PREMISE: For love to survive, a young U.S. Forest Service fire fighter and local young Native American girl must overcome community prejudice and master their personal fears, using all they learn, their ingenuity and newfound courage, and together save their communities from certain calamity by fire.

CONTROLLING IDEA (THEME): Love Is Fulfilled When Fear Is Mastered.

SYNOPSIS: Set in 1949 Missoula, Montana, and inspired by, and in some cases based on, true historical events, cultural tensions and biographical characters, the forbidden love between Jesse Taberah, a local young college lad, and Skye-Feather Williams, a native American young woman of the Salish tribe on the Flathead Indian Reservation, is tested to its breaking point.

Jesse, nearly as much in love with his motorcycles as he is with Skye-Feather, is following in his father’s and grandfather’s deadly tradition of forest fire fighting for the U.S. Forest Service. Unlike the family men before him, Jesse is a Smokejumper in the government’s newest wildfire suppression program and is a member of the squad that jumps on the famous Mann Gulch Fire where the biggest smokejumping catastrophe in history took place: 12 of the 16 jumpers burn to death. This event is portrayed at the mid-story climax.

Escape Fire Synopsis by Joël de Wardeaux (aka JW Zoom)

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Skye-Feather loves her heritage, culture and traditions, but wants more. She loves flying and wants to follow in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart as a pilot at a time in history when it is most difficult for any woman to do so, let alone a Native American woman. Ironically, her part in a wild west show traveling the rodeo circuit provides her with just that opportunity. This, along with her mutual love with Jesse, in disregard of her family’s plans for an arranged marriage, brings hate and opposition from her own people, adding to the racial antagonism from the white community.

The will to continue their relationship, in spite of the trials they encounter, is put to the test as disastrous events unfold and bring loss too close to home. This is especially the case when Jesse’s younger brother, revealed to be a “half-breed” in the eyes of the community, is left for dead on his first fire, creating suspicion of foul play. The tests are unceasing as revelations of that tragedy open the door to other difficult surprises going back more than 70 years. Seeming insurmountable obstacles are encountered when Jesse and Skye discover events that have bound the two lovers’ families together in turmoil for generations.

Both the extreme wildfires and Skye’s grandfather, an old tribal SxWpaám (a fire chief or fire shaman of sorts), prove to be the toughest teachers for the two lovers. By each facing their own fears through ‘trial by fire’ they rise above the prejudice, embrace their fears and become masters of their destiny together. The final crisis that test’s their will to the limit comes when the unquenchable Hell Gate Fire threatens both of their peoples.

In the end, Jesse’s mastery of the physics of fire and new ability as a man/motorcycle smokejumping fire warrior, coupled with Skye’s extraordinary piloting skills, and with their daring will and undying devotion, create an unstoppable force. The two risk everything to save loved ones and their communities from the Hell Gate conflagration that has everyone trapped.

Defying authority, Skye flies the smokejumping aircraft and delivers to the Hell Gate Fire unapproved cargo that make the difference between life and death: men from her Reservation who have been denied the opportunity to work for the U.S. Forest Service Smokejumping program. Jesse puts everything on the line for a final saving act when he uses his modified motorcycle, with which he jumped out of the airplane onto the fire, in an ancient Native American life-saving technique called “escape fire.” Only this will be one that no native or white-man has ever witnessed before.

The heart wrenching loss of Jesse’s brother compels Jesse and Skye to take the ultimate risk to either find him or find the truth. Only then, racing through the literal fiery test of life and death, will their ultimate test of true love and mastery of fear be complete; resulting in their enjoyment of the reward for their courage and devotion and surviving this journey.

WGA West Registered #1810340