Synopsis

The Ascent twins were drafted into a war in which humanity became it’s own worst enemy. When their home planet begins to burn from the misuse of advanced A. I. weaponry, the pilot-navigator team is sent to find a new home for Earth’s survivors.

Following an ancient star map through a portal behind the moon, Lani and Leon discover Nedan, Earth’s beautiful sister-planet.

The twins are received by rapidly aging inhabitants, who live within white marble ruins of a past far too grand to have been so completely forgotten.

Lani and Leon find an ally in another stranded son of Earth, Ryonel, an outcast of the people who blindly worship the Bell of their ancestors.

As they rush to repair a damaged ship, the three must evade Bartroles, the twisted ruler of Nedan, a mysterious disease killing the inhabitants, and the giant predators who live in the surrounding dark forest.

Ancient carvings in stone indicate a gift of value and power was given to the children of Nedan in the far distant past. Now it lies hidden somewhere beneath the Bell of the Ancients. Lani, Leon and Ryonel believe the lost gift of the Elders will change the outcome of Humanity’s future.

Short Interview

In order to better position the screenplay on the web, I asked a producer I know if he would do a little interview. He obliged. Thanks, Joe!

So, Bell of the Ancients is a pretty unique concept. I’m assuming it’s Action-Thriller?

I would call it Sci-Fi/Adventure because it is a space odyssey adventure sort of like Star Wars, with a lot of action and adventure.

But not a lot of tension or horror?

There’s some. Again, like Star Wars – tension, bad guys, touchy situations.

I’m assuming it’s probably not going to be a cheap film. It reads like a fantastic spectacle

Hopefully. Yes. It is visually fantastic. For the few people who have read it, the main comment is that “this is visually incredible” which is funny since no one has actually seen it yet. The descriptions of the other world, the cathedrals, the sculptures and fountains, this crazy combination of Jurassic Park jungle, old world Rome and Greece, and Space adventure all mixed in together. So it’s a very exciting film visually. I expect it will take a lot of CGI and some fantastic sets.

Do you imagine there is more story than what you have written so far?

Yes, so I am working on the sequel, The Burgeoning Gods, about the continued adventure of trying to live on a somewhat hostile planet. But there is also more to the story of what happened to those presumed dead on Earth, and also what happened to the groups who went to Mars and Saturn to try to colonize and what happened to them.

Are there any supernatural aspects to the Bell? Or is just perceived that way by the people?

The Bell is not supernatural really – like in a religious sense. It’s just a physical artifact that was made by the ancestors and is now currently worshiped. The ignorance of the worship results in sickness and death, which is simply caused by their misunderstanding and ironically stupid actions.

What would you say the visual tone of the movie is? Like is it dark and mysterious? Is it spectacular? Happy or sad?

It is grand – impressive in the way that only a big screen film can be like, Kingdom Heaven, Titanic, Avatar. It’s like, breathtaking in the scenery and in the ideas. Every new scene is visually amazing and a surprise.

What do you feel the message of the movie is?

This idea that religion often takes the place of the pursuit of truth, the pursuit of a relationship with the Creator or with other people. And that we protect ourselves with a set of rules and beliefs that ultimately limit our expression and our gaining of knowledge and experience. That religion can become so confining that ultimately it kills us. It becomes an enemy. And we prefer that over the jeopardy of seeing with our own eyes, and continuing to learn even though it may make us uncomfortable with ourselves. So the message is, don’t be afraid. Be honest, good, and never chose religion over the truth.

Any idea how many of the other involuntary repopulation missions made it? The other pilot and navigator teams to other planets?

Yeah.

I assume most made it, in spite of the new environments and their ignorance. I think the universe is more habitable that we are led to believe. Ignorance can always trip you up, but I think most of them made it, but not necessarily with the same success of Lani and Leon, the main characters in our story.

Where did the humans that are on the planet Nedan come from, how did they get there, and when did they arrive?

The basic idea is that Earth – original name being, Eden – and Nedan are sibling planets connected when the planets align, through a portal behind the moons. They are closely connected and the humans are “the same” on both planets. And there have been times, possibly thousands of years ago, when travel was common between the planets. There was a way to skip from moon to moon to get almost anywhere fairly quickly. But now it has been a long time and no one living remembers when travel between Earth and Nedan was common.

How do you imagine Nedan to be? Is it like Earth or different? More lush? Are the trees and animals bigger?

Earth is very diverse. There are a lot of different climates even on our planet. But where Lani and Leon have landed on Nedan is going to be similar to a tropical climate with really big trees and animals – like Jurassic Park big. But the cities are white stone similar to ancient Rome or Greece. Big beautiful cathedral type buildings. The people living there have no memory of how they were built and have no longer the ability to build that way themselves. So there is a lot of lost history there.

So Earth’s technology is set forward a few years ahead of where they are now?

You could say that, but the advancement of technology on Nedan is different from that of Earth. The knowledge is different. For instance, they know how to make stone levitate. They don’t necessarily still understand the science behind it, but there is an inherited knowledge that with resonance, stone will levitate. So the buildings and conveyance is different from ours on Earth.

And the space battle that happens above Earth is also more advanced than the technology than we have now?

Possibly. The inference is that even now there is technology that is not commonly known to regular people. And the corporations of earth have more ability to travel off and above the earth than we know or understand.

Okay, do you have anything else to add?

My hope is that The Bell of the Ancients falls into the hands of some great artists: creative, bold, and …

Extravagant?

Yes – extravagant people who love the scenes and are into communicating this message to be true to yourself, and honest, and always choose the evidence over the religion. Maybe people who are interested in further movies too – to make this into an ongoing saga.

Alright. Cool. Thanks.