Excerpt from the Lwanda Magere script.

I've decided to publish an excerpt from the feature script I have on Lwanda. I am still charging forward making this and not matter what the economy looks like or what people have to say....the story shall be told. Enjoy


EXT. LUO VILLAGE- DAWN.

The Luo men wake. Osogo is already awake. He stares at the rising sun.
The sun hits his face illuminating it. His expression is calm. Okoth walks up to him. They are silent for a moment as they watch the sun rise.

OSOGO
The winds have changed.

OKOTH
I feel nothing different.

Behind them one of the Luo men strokes the fire coaxing it to life. A loud shout. The men turn and see Nandi warriors rushing down on them.

OKOTH (CONT’D)
Gather your weapons. Fight!

The men stumble and trip over each other as they whatever they can find to use as a weapon. Ochieng scrambles under a bush and covers himself with an animal hide. Osogo begins to pray feverishly. Okoth charges directly onto the path of the approaching Nandi warriors. The rest of the Luo men hesitate and then follow. A fierce one sided battle ensues.

Suddenly a powerful gust of wind blows and the warriors are momentarily shocked into stillness. A massive shout sounds and a ray of sunlight blinds the men.
The men turn to see a COLOSSAL figure rushing down the direction of the rays. Even at that distance he is at least two heads taller than any of them.

OSOGO
Fight! This is our answer. Fight!
OKOTH
What is that...

Osogo grabs a weapon and begins to attack the Nandi warriors. Okoth turns back and begins to fight with renewed vigor.
The gargantuan figure reaches the men. He is powerfully built, his skin a DARK shiny ebony. He carries a mammoth spear and a shield large enough to cover two men. He throws his spear and it goes right through two men. He removes a club from his waist and lays another three men to the ground. He raises the club again.

BACK TO:
EXT. MEDICINE HUT-DAY

A club falls sharply and cracks open some nuts. Chep wipes sweat of her forehead. Kwoch walks towards the forest.

CHEP
Teacher!

He stops and turns around slowly.

KWOCH
What is it child?

CHEP
Do we begin the teachings today?

KWOCH
Not today. The gods have decided otherwise.

He turns and walks away.

CUT TO:

EXT. LUO VILLAGE- DAY

The stranger overwhelms the Nandi who fight desperately.

OKOTH (SOFTLY)
This is no man.

The Nandi turn and flee and the huge stranger follows them. The Luo men hesitate.

OKOTH (CONT’D)
Should we follow?

OSOGO
No, wait for his return.

The men look around astounded that they have not lost a single man in the battle. Suddenly the rushing wind returns and the stranger reappears.
He walks over to the men he slain with his spear and slowly pulls it out. The men slowly back away from him. He walks directly towards Osogo and stops in front of him.

OSOGO (CONT’D)
May the gods be praised.

STRANGER
Gather your weapons. We shall not give them a chance to
regroup.

The men do not respond.

OKOTH
Who are you?

STRANGER
Now!

The men jump into action. The stranger is several paces ahead of them and they have to jog to keep up with him. Ochieng crawls out of the bush he was hiding under. He begins to follow the men and Osogo turns around suddenly.

OSOGO
No! You remain here!

Ochieng waits until they are almost out of sight. Wilily he begins to follow ducking behind bushes.

EXT. NANDI CAMP- DAY

The Nandi warriors rush into the camp startling the men they left behind. The Luo villagers are sitting on the ground bound together. Some of the older men are tied to poles.

The stranger rushes into the camp with a large cloud of dust before him. The dust momentarily blinds the Nandi warriors. He swings his club knocking down warriors left and right. Okoth rushes in b and stabs a Nandi warrior with a spear. He turns to the Luo warriors running behind him.

OKOTH
The prisoners!

The Nandi warriors are quickly overcome and retreat back into the forest. The Luo men move around swiftly cutting the ropes that bind the villagers. Crying the women and children crowd around the men, clinging to them.

New Beginnings

Just a quick short update on Magere!!!!

Script has undergone a rewrite. I think I love this project way too much that I had to step away for a while so I could get a new perspective on it.

Anyway I may have a pitch meeting ( fingers crossed) in about 2 weeks. Can't talk much about it now but one day some how Magere will be made!!!!

Major Rewrite.

It has been a while since I last posted. I have been juggling a lot of things but Magere's story is always on the top of my list.
It is almost 2 months since I started this blog. I have managed to meet with some people and there is a very positive response to the script. My biggest coup was getting a sit down with a producer who gave me notes back on the script. Now unless the project has already been bought there are very few producers who would take the time to read and give notes back. And these were really amazing notes!
From that meeting I have decided to re-write parts of the script. Don't worry the story of Magere remains the same but there are going to be some very juicy twists!!
A rewrite doesn't take long and I am aiming to have it done in 2 weeks.
Still waiting to hear back on all the query letter I sent out. Hopefully there is a manager/agent who want to represent a writing African.

Sidede Onyulo

I was working on my cast wish list last week. Now a cast wish list if who you would like to see in your film. Now whether or not you get them is another story. But there was one character who I wrote around a great actor. Sidede Onyulo. Now if you do not know who this amazing actor is watch Nowhere in Africa and the Constant Gardener. He simply filled the screen with his presence in a quiet magnificent way. So imagine my ABSOLUTE dismay to be looking up his contact information to find out that this amazing actor died this summer. And worse it barely made headlines in the Kenyan media.
The one actor that I was going to go above and beyond to get on this project is gone. I need to wrap my head around this and figure out who else I can put down on my wish life.
A salute to the work Sidede did and the legacy he left behind.

The dangers of paper!!

I spent last night binding scripts. The result? The most paper cuts I have ever gotten in my life. But it is totally worth it.
I had an interesting conversation with a colleague of mine who is an independent producer. We were discussing the length of scripts and he reminded me about how distribution affects what scripts go into production. You are better off writing a project under 100 pages. Let me explain. Distributors make their money back from the number of screening a film does per theater. Meaning a percent of tickets sales and the snacks. So a script that is 95 pages long is more likely to be picked up than one that is 120 pages because a distributor can get more screening times in hence it is an easier film to sell.
Something to ponder about as I bind more scripts.

Week 1 Down-

Just a recap of last week. Two words. VERY PRODUCTIVE.
I have already spoken with two parties in regards to this project and other leads are coming in. Again everyone thank you so much for your support.
I drafted up query letters this weekend. Actually went better than I thought. I guess when passion is fueling the writing it flows much smoother.
I have worked up a first draft of the budget, cast and location breakdown.

Slowly but surely moving along.

Artwork

Here are some artistic renderings of some of my characters. We are working on some new artwork!!
There are several versions of the lead- Lwanda Magere and two other characters. ( Hey I don't want to give too much away now do I?)
All artwork done by Peter Gikandi. You can check out his work here