rocket summer

by Chip Street

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© All Rights Reserved

WGA Registered: 1138703

LOGLINE
Small town teens secretly build a rocket-powered car, but family troubles and a lack of mechanical know-how make staying secret, and staying safe, nearly impossible.

PRAISE

“This story is touching on many levels. You are a talented writer, with a wonderful unique style.”
- 2004 Monterey County Film Commission Script Competition

ATTACHMENTS
I am THRILLED to say that Miss Julie Brown is attached to Rocket Summer, in the role of Mercy. I’ve worked with Julie before (on Fat Rose and Squeaky) and would love to have a chance to work with her again!

[Rocket Summer] is great, I love it and would love to be in it! — Julie Brown

HISTORY
Twice optioned for a total of two years. I chose to turn down a second extension in favor of pursuing a more productive development partnership. Currently available.

SYNOPSIS
Charlie lost his Mom two years ago, and his stoic Dad is less than emotionally equipped to raise a teenage boy on his own. He wants Charlie to stop moping, man-up and get his first job this summer. But Charlie and his best friend Davey have other plans, and they’re about to tell Lacey; childhood friend, dreamer and Charlie’s secret crush.

They’ve found three military JATO rockets, and are going to build a rocket powered car on the outskirts of town. Lacey, rightly skeptical, points out the stupidity and danger of the scheme, as well as the impracticality: they know nothing about cars, and have no way to move the rockets.

Luckily, Davey’s delinquent older brother Mike does know cars, and he has a pickup. Plus there’s an extra perk in it for Lacey; Mike is her secret crush, which means Charlie is none too keen on Mike’s help. But Charlie is outvoted, and the kids scrounge for small change to keep Mike in hush money, as he helps them steal parts and tools from his drunken Dad.

Along the way, it becomes clear that Davey is being abused by his Dad. And Mike’s imminent plans to escape their small town only leave Davey feeling all the more vulnerable. It also means the kids are running out of time to finish the project before Mike and his truck disappear. All of which brings a new kind of urgency and importance to their crazy plan.

Growing concerns about safety demand ingenuity. Charlie finds a way to build an ejection seat out of an old barber’s chair, and the kids decide to use one rocket for an unmanned test drive. Daily trips to the work site in the desert outside town, loads of duct tape and a healthy dose of not-knowing-any-better result in a slowly evolving death trap with a rocket in the trunk and a pinwheel on the antenna.

Tensions rise as launch becomes imminent, and things come to a head between Mike and Charlie, pushing Davey to act out in a way that loses them a rocket… and nearly loses Davey his life.

But the hatchet is buried, the test launch moves forward… and then Mike’s troublemaker pals blow their cover just as the car is about to take off. Can they keep the Sheriff in the dark? Will the test drive remain unmanned? Will the rockets even work?

Life can seem complicated, but the answers are simple. Life is not rocket science.

With a tone that feels like Breaking Away meets October Sky, Rocket Summer is a family drama about the universal challenges of growing up and growing apart, told against the backdrop of the well-known urban legend of the JATO powered car. This quirky teen ensemble story investigates themes of love, humor and loss as the kids struggle to balance their own desires for escape and adventure against small town expectations of responsibility and tradition. Ultimately, the story is not so much about the rocket powered car, but about the revelations of family and friendship that the kids have along the way, as they learn that life is not rocket science.