MARK MCQUADE CRAWFORD

MARK MCQUADE CRAWFORD was raised in a musical family, and devoted the first part of his life to playing percussion and drums at festivals in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

He developed a love for world cinema early on, spending countless hours in the darkened screening rooms of Berkeley's Pacific Film Archives. It was here that he first thought that movies could be a catalyst for social change.

As a writer, Mark has developed stories for Allegro Films, Paramount Television, and Walt Disney Pictures. He is currently in talks on several projects with Iceland's D&G films. "Out of the Blue" is his first screenplay with Trudy Happ.

Mark lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Amanda and their six year-old daughter Nora.

SYNOPSIS
Out of the Blue is a fantasy with a very real environmental message, a story of redemption and love... love of the planet, a father's love for his daughter, and a love between two young people that began over ten thousand years ago.

On the continent of Atlantis.

Once beautiful, Atlantis is now dying from neglect and pollution. As volcanoes erupt and earthquakes destroy it, three people try in vain to make their way to safety: a TEACHER, a young BOY and GIRL (the EMISSARIES). After pledging undying love and the promise of reuniting, the Emissaries jump into an oncoming tsunami...

And are reborn as dolphins.

We come to present day New England, where two teenagers from different backgrounds meet. NIKOLE lost her mother at childbirth and suffers from her loving but over-protective father. LUKE is a James Dean-type, handsome and troubled, and a state swimming champion.

Despite their differences, Nikole and Luke fall in love. This touches off a chain of miraculous events, which reveal them to be the reincarnated EMISSARIES from Atlantis.

Overwhelmed and yet strengthened by this knowledge (and by the guiding hand of their reincarnated TEACHER, a local artist), Nikole and Luke struggle to determine their purpose on earth. Meanwhile, at the coastal recycling factory owned by Nikole's father JOHN, his employee, LOREN, takes money to secretly dump toxic waste into the ocean, using John's factory as a legitimate cover. The waste is so foul that the surrounding waters are now poisoned, and the dolphin population is dying (much like the circumstances -- seen through flashbacks -- that brought about Atlantis's destruction).

The young lovers' true power as emissaries comes into play as their mission becomes clear: stop the illegal dumping and save the dolphins. But to do that means exposing Nikole's father to prosecution for the crime. Luke is injured fighting Loren from dumping anymore waste, and his future as a competitive swimmer is put in jeopardy. Despite John's denial about knowing of Loren's deeds, Nikole blames John for what has happened.
In order to repair their relationship, John takes the drastic step of taking full responsibility for his employee's actions -- including going to jail.

As Nikole and Luke try to put their lives back together, their bond grows deeper as they realize their work as emissaries is not over, and that their work to heal the planet will go on forever.

BIO
TRUDY HAPP is a writer and actress from California. She wrote, co-directed and performed in a one-woman show entitled "Greetings From The Other Side, An Evening With Ida Levy and Friends". Trudy organized a free, very successful fund-raiser for Dr. Patch Adams. Having been inspired by his work, Trudy and her thirteen year-old son, Lukas, participated in an international humanitarian trip to Russia. There, Dr. Patch, Trudy, Lukas and other talented clowns visited hospitals and orphanages spreading healing through humor.

Trudy's dream is to be a global ambassador of Laughter and Love.

Her screenplay, "Out of the Blue", co-authored by Mark McQuade-Crawford, speaks directly and loudly towards our personal accountability with what is currently happening to our green planet.
"We travel lifetimes to enrich our very own story. Piece by piece, lesson by lesson, the storyboard is created."

TRUDY HAPP Trudy lives in Ojai, California with her 3 dogs, youngest son and "Murph".