Echoes from the Farm
ADVENTURE BIOGRAPHICAL FAMILY MEMOIR
1960s & '70s,1980s & '90s
Jonathan T. Jefferson
Logline
Imagine if the "Waltons" were black, and living in "Little House on the Prairie". That was the reality for a large African American family from NYC in the '70s & early '80s. A Harlem-raised couple with eight children spent many summers on a ramshackle upstate, New York, dairy farm.
Genre
Adventure,Biographical,Family,Memoir
Short Summary
Eva and Tom thought they would have been able to find the open space they sought for their eight children somewhere in the Catskills. However, they could not afford what they wanted until they reached Hammond, New York, near Ontario, Canada. A 300-acre farm awaited them and their adventures.
Fourteen-year-old John-John looked woefully at the FOR SALE sign as his dad's Ford station wagon pulled out of their farm's driveway for the last time. Eva and Tom were headed back to Queens with their two youngest children. John-John did not know it then, but he was taking the farm with him.
Setting
Hammond, New York (rural St. Lawrence County)
Based on a True Story
Yes
Plot - Premise
Other
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age
Mature Audience Themes
Adventure,Biographical,Family,Memoir,Children's,Funny
Main Character Details
Name: John-John
Age: 12
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Aggressive,Masculine,Funny,Lone Wolf,Leader,Flexible,Engaging
Additional Character Details
Name: Mom
Age: 48
Gender: Female
Role: Logical
Key Traits: Aspiring,Complex,Empathetic,Engaging,Faithful,Flexible,Gracious,Honorable,Strong Moral Code,Visionary,Skillful,Selfless,Religious,Modest,Funny
Additional Character Details
Name: Dad
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Role: mentor
Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Complex,Confident,Decisive,Flexible,Leader,Unapologetic,Skillful,Masculine
Additional Character Details
Name: Ray-Ray
Age: 14
Gender: Female
Role: sidekick
Key Traits:
Development Pitch
Echoes from the Farm is ideally suited to become a family-friendly TV series. The true accounts of each family member's experiences alone could provide material for multiple seasons. John-John (yours truly) spent every summer on the farm during the time his parents owned it (ages 3 to 14). As his siblings grew older, they would not return to the farm; adulthood awaited. Similar to "Little House on the Prairie", this actually happened. An African American family from NYC engaged seamlessly with white dairy farming families and Amish communities. Each of John-John's adventures could be an episode (e.g. Wonder Years). Families can follow along together and find many characters to identify with. Two established producers have already found these memoirs intriguing. One has produced multiple episodes of Even Stevens and That's So Raven for the Disney Channel, and the other is an Academy Award winning producer of children's programming. He specifically stated that this project might interest him if it were purchased.