PENNYVILLE PACKAGE
LOGLINE
Haunted by recent tragic events, Emily barker goes in search of details about her deceased birth mother who died in a fire at the notorious Pennyville Asylum, only to find secrets so sinister she becomes entwined in a dark world she will struggle to leave.
PREMISE
OBSESSION LEADS TO MADNESS
CHOICE LEADS TO STRENGTH
SYNOPSIS
PENNYVILLE IS A DESCENT INTO A WORLD OF GREEK TRAGEDY, LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR & PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA. POETIC, MYTHICAL & UNRELENTING
To some, the remains of the destitute hospital have become a fetishist shrine to commemorate the victims. To others- occultists in particular - it is an entrance into another world. A grotesque world.
It's been thirty years since a devastating fire killed all the patients and majority of the staff at the notorious PENNYVILLE psychiatric hospital. Amongst the patients that perished in the fire was the birth mother of Emily Barker, a young woman struggling to confront her own mental issues who has succumbed to addiction. The recent birth of HER daughter has prompted Emily to take a retrospective look into her enigmatic past. Following an investigation into PENNYVILLE, she stumbles upon PENNYVILLE's old care taker: the eerie Jeremy Hobbs.
An uneasy alliance will form as Jeremy recounts not only her mother's own shocking story but that of the other patients as well, every last disturbing and grim detail, but can Jeremy be trusted, will Emily discover the truth and be able to save herself or will malevolent forces break her both physically and psychologically?
Welcome to pennyville
we hope you enjoy your stay
DIRECTORS INTENT
Are mythical creatures just that, mythical? Or is there something more behind the myth? Could it be that some crimes are so heinous that it is unfathomable for mankind to comprehend that another human being was capable of committing such acts. Thus over the centuries through tales and folk-law were these criminals metamorphosised into mythical monsters? Did ever an event occur which was so miraculous that it was not plausible a human being could conjure such a deed and likewise it was then deemed a miracle, an act of god.
I grew up in a village in the south of England where the famous tale of the Witch of Nantucks Lane would terrify my friend’s and I as youngsters.
Legend has it that if you walk down Nantucks Lane at midnight on a full moon, you will witness a witch’s severed head roll down the lane. For it was on Nantucks Lane that a witch had been decapitated on a full moon. When I grew up I discovered that the real story was far from the tale that frightened us as children. In the 17th century, in a village close to Nantucks Lane a local mother drowned her three children. A crime so harrowing that the local townspeople couldn’t comprehend it. The only rational explanation was that she was a witch, a Satan worshipper, possessed by malevolent forces and thus this mythical monster was born. And so was my obsession with monsters and miracles.
Pennyville pays homage to both the believers and the skeptics. Those who believe there is more than just this plane of existence, that there is a heaven and a hell, that both good and evil spirits roam among us. And those that do not, the ones who will go to any lengths to find a rational explanation for every strange occurrence, the one who believe the only thing to fear is our own minds for that is where we conjure up these conspiracies of ghosts, monsters and miracles to disguise deeper psychological problems.
Writing Pennyville has been a long process, my original idea was to create a seven episode anthology series. The series featured nine short films illustrating the stories of Pennyville’s patients interwoven within the main narrative. As I developed the script overtime, I found that certain short films complimented the arch of the main narrative more than others. I made the decision to focus on these stories, it then became clear that Pennyville was meant to be a feature film. For me, an integral part of the process in creating Pennyville was to ensure the short films and the main narrative were as compelling and engaging as each other. The short films and main narrative had to be able to each stand alone as an enthralling experience and when brought together they create a seamless anthology film where each element compliments and enhances the story as a whole.
ELI BREESHAW
WRITER OF PENNYVILLE
CONCEPT BOARD
TARGET AUDIENCE
PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE
'Working Class, Millennial & Gen X Paranormal Fans'
Millennial and Gen X Paranormal Horror Fans
- Millennial’s make up 46% horror fans
- Gen X come in a close second 36%, this age group were also lovers of the classic anthology movies
- As this movie has a strong female lead it would be wise to also push towards women, who make up between 48% - 52% of the paranormal fan base
ETHNICITY
Caucasian 42% and Hispanic 31% of paranormal viewers
CLASS
Working class: VIEW HORROR AS A MEANS OF ESCAPISM
WHERE TO FIND AUDIENCE
- Online horror websites
- Horror magazines
- Video game websites
- City dwellers
- Social media Apps
- Dating apps/websites
SECONDARY TARGET AUDIENCE
The usual age for the target audience of a horror film is 15- 25. The most common reason for this is that young adults and teenagers enjoy thrills. They are more likely to go and watch a horror, even if they are not horror fans, just to be scared. These types of people tend to go to the theatre in larger groups for the thrill.