CreativeFeature Screenplay · 2018
JAMES THOMAS THINKS THE EARTH IS FLAT
Screenwriter
An unlikely buddy comedy about an 8th grade science student from inner city Detroit who crosses paths with the NBA's most notorious Flat Earther, and makes it his mission to win the National Science Fair by convincing the basketball superstar that the world is, in fact, an oblate spheroid. A funny, surprising, and heartwarming story that is deeply poignant in this moment: it's about how science has failed the Black community, and how we can start to change that.
Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Contest — WinnerTribeca Film Festival Sloan Screenplay Grand PrizeFilm Independent Sloan Award — WinnerFilm Independent Fast Track Finance MarketSupported by Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
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Essay Excerpt
Synopsis from the Sloan Prize-winning screenplay pitch deck
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Noah Roberson is a passionate and precocious twelve-year old physicist at a struggling public school in Detroit. James Thomas is a four-time NBA All-Star, an ex-Kardashian, and stuck in the worst shooting slump of his career on the eve of a new contract signing. At Noah's middle-school science fair, a Physics disagreement between James and Noah turns physical. When it looks like James' career is over, only one person is still on his side: his wannabe agent Dani. James is her only shot to make it to the majors as an agent -- but only if she can close his deal. She comes up with an out-of-the-box plan to fix James' shot and image, using Noah's physics expertise and feel-good story. In return, James has to help with Noah's physics demos on the playground, giving him the attention he needs to get to the National Science Fair and become a real scientist. Science is the greatest thing in Noah's world, but James has firsthand experience of science's failure to serve the black community: his grandfather was a subject of the horrific Tuskegee experiments. Together, they both evolve: Noah shows James the hope of what science can be, and James shows Noah he's already a "real scientist" -- and no award or exclusive institution will change that.