Yellowstone's Child
GENRE
ADVENTURE CRIME DRAMA FAMILY MYSTERY MELODRAMA YOUNG ADULT
Core Theme
FINDING YOUR TRUE SELF
TIME PERIOD
20th Century (multiple decades)
COMPARABLE TITLES
THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON, THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN
CHARACTER LIST
GLORIA & SAM GRAHAM/JOHNSON (30-60S) - BOLD AND SELFISH
SALLY GRAHAM (10) DAUGHTER - NAIVE AND SICK
SARAH JOHANSON (10-30) KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER- NAIVE & COURAGEOUS
TIM (13-33) SARAH'S BROTHER - SMART & PERSISTENT
ALLEN (50-70) GLORIA'S UNCLE - GOOD-HEARTED
BIG DEER MILLER (40-60) TIM'S UNCLE - FAMOUS
Logline
A married couple loses their 10-year-old daughter to brain cancer. Grieving at Yellowstone they find a 10year old girl with complete amnesia and kidnap her to replace their dead daughter. They become rich, change identities, and move to Ca. At 22 she gets her memory back and asks; "Who am I?
Genre
Adventure,Crime,Drama,Family,Mystery,Melodrama,Young Adult
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,13-17,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Female Leaning
Setting
Mississippi, Alabama, Nebraska, Ventura, CA. Yellowstone NP, New York
Based on a True Story
No
Starting Description
Sam and Gloria Graham, chicken farmers from Mississippi, lose their 10-year-old daughter, Sally, to brain cancer. After her death, they plan to sell their Mississippi farm and move to Nebraska. To help recover from their daughter Sally’s death; they take a short vacation in February at Yellowstone.
Ending Description
Twelve years later her memory of her life before she was 10 returns realizing she is not who she thought she was. The question: “Who am I?” sets her on a mission to find an answer. She reveals to her real family at a reunion that she did not die in Yellowstone
Pitch Adaptation
There are two underlying messages in Yellowstone’s Child. All my characters are human, so none is perfect. First, the reader will recognize mankind’s imperfection. None of us are infallible. Second, as the plot unfolds, the uncertainty and unpredictability of life is demonstrated several times in different ways. Since, as a Christian, I won’t use sex or violence to attract readers I opted for drama, plot reversals, and “the story” within the story to keep reader interest. One of my first readers complained: “Yellowstone’s Child made me cry five times, twice for sadness, and three times for joy.” It’s that kind of a story! It’ll make a great TV miniseries. If this story were a movie it would be rated “G” and is suitable for teens. It’s a GREAT read and doesn’t take long. Readers complain that they weren’t able to put it down once they got to Yellowstone National Park. One of my first readers complained: “Yellowstone’s Child made me cry five times, twice for sadness, and three times for joy.” It contains a timeline and a list of characters.
WGA Number
The author has not yet written this
Mature Audience Themes
The author has not yet written this
Plot - Other Elements
Happy Ending,Philosophical Questions,Twist,Meaningful Message
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth,Quest
Main Character Details
Name: Sarah Johanson AKA Sally Graham, Sally Johnson, Detective Elaine Scott
Age: 10-22
Gender: Female
Role: Emotional
Key Traits: Aspiring,Charming,Confident,Decisive,Engaging,Educated,Sophisticated,Selfless
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Additional Character Details
The author has not yet written this
Supplemental Materials
Information not completed
Genre
DRAMA, THRILLER
Brief
After losing their 10-year-old daughter to cancer, a couple on vacation at Yellowstone run into a 10-YO girl with amnesia. So they kidnap and pretend she is their deceased daughter until she regains her memory 20 years later and finds her lost family.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: FAIR
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: FAIR
Pace: FAIR
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
Genre is wrong, missing character descriptions.
Draw of Story
No.
Possible Drawbacks
The script is formatted wrong, it's very confusing, dialogue is on the nose and repetitive, it's hard to identify the characters.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
No.
Fanbase Potential
No, the story is not that good.
Awards Potential
No.
Envisioned Budget
LOW BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
THE FACE ON THE MILK CARTON
What’s New About the Story
This story has been done before, so it's not unique. If the characters were better developed, the script could work better overall.
Lead Characters
The parents' bold decision to kidnap a child.
Uniqueness of Story
No, it's not that original and it lacks depth.
Possible Formats
Film
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
The script needs to be fixed to meet the industry's standards.
Tips for Improvement
The premise is interesting, but it doesn't deliver. The script (which is not correctly formatted) narrates actions that are not visual (like characters' thoughts and their past). The film's main question is around Sarah's identity, but we don't see her suffer from this problem, only casually describe it. The script doesn't have a clear protagonist, we follow Gloria and Sam from the beginning, and then we switch to Sarah and don't even know how they end up. Everything comes very easily for them (money, another child, change identities), and we don't see them deal with any consequences of their actions. The dialogue is unnatural and often melodramatic; characters announce exposition as if they're in a play. Crucial plot beats are missing, and the story does not read like a movie.
Brief
After losing their 10-year-old daughter, Gloria and Sam replace her by kidnapping a little girl with amnesia in Yellowstone Park. But 20 years later, all their efforts to cover their lie are challenged when the girl recovers her memory.
What We Liked
This fascinating premise takes the viewers into a journey of mystery and adventure while raising a question we all have at some point in our lives: who are we really?
Key points:
- Premise
- Low Budget
- Interesting theme
- Happy ending
Synopsis
Gloria and Sam Graham are farmers and have a 10-year-old daughter, Sally, who dies of brain cancer. To deal with their grief, they go to Yellowstone Park. The Johanson family receives the red envelope with the invitation to the family reunion, which will happen in Yellowstone Park. The cousins go out to play in the park and accidentally fall onto a river; young Sarah hits her head and is taken by the river. Her cousins ask the park rangers for help. The Grahams find Sarah and take her to their cabin. She has amnesia, and they decide to kidnap her to pretend she's Sally. They rent a car and drive back home with the girl. The rangers can't find Sarah, and she is declared dead.
Back at home, the couple needs to sell their farm and move out before they are discovered. They leave the girl with relatives in Nebraska and go see about a bank account that Gloria's corrupted and now deceased father has left for them. They find out they're millionaires and decide to use the money to change their identities and disappear. The Grahams become the Johnsons and move to Ventura County, California, where they live a happy life. One day, Sarah/Sally is run over by a car and begins to recover her memory. Her parents dismiss this as confusion from the accident.
Sarah/Sally becomes an actor and goes to New York, where she is recognized by some people who say she looks like their dead cousin. With more memories coming back, she decides to go to Yellowstone, where she discovers everything about Sarah's disappearance.
Before confronting her parents, she auditions for a famous TV show, gets the role, and shoots the entire season. Meanwhile, her brother, Tim, who's now the only family survivor since their parents died of disgrace from losing Sarah, hires a detective to investigate Sarah's disappearance. But he finds nothing.
Sarah/Sally confronts Gloria and Sam, finds out the whole truth, and decides to abandon them and give back all the money she got from her deceased, fake grandfather. She goes after Tim and reveals the truth. They celebrate and redo all of the Grahams' steps to find how they were able to successfully kidnap Sarah.
Tim gathers his entire family (uncles and cousins) in Yellowstone Park to reveal his sister is still alive and is now a famous TV star.