The Lunar Hop Pitch

Transcript

2. Modern-day Earth girl Hattie is whisked across the galaxy to a planet obsessed with 1920’s American culture to run “The Lunar Hop” dance hall. Can she and her new friends return the failing club to its former glory, or will it fall into the hands of the notorious Holiday Gang? Alien flappers! Space mobsters! Swing musicians??
3. The Roaring 20’s in Space! Space! Space! After Hattie’s latest business venture literally goes up in smoke when her new hot dog cart catches fire, she receives notice that she is the sole inheritor of her long-lost relative Cecil T. Nicks’ estate, and is summoned to a mysterious office on the outskirts of town. Things aren’t as they appear, however, as the building suddenly takes off and starts hurdling into deep space. It turns out the real reason why Cecil was so long-lost was that he was abducted by aliens back in 1928! Now Hattie finds herself in a similar situation and becomes the new owner of The Lunar Hop, a failing dance hall on a planet obsessed with the style and pizzazz of Earth’s Swing era! With this new opportunity to achieve her entrepreneurial dreams, she’ll do her best to bring the once famous dance hall back to prominence. To do this, she’ll need the help of the close-knit staff and her new friends: the overly friendly flapper Georgia, the music obsessed lay-about Leon, and the prolific part-timer Gene. On top of trying to bring in business, she also has to contend with the notorious space mobster Hugo Holiday and his gang constantly trying to shut them down. Can Hattie save the Lunar Hop, or should she take the first rocket back to Earth instead?
4. Hattie Nicks -An Ambitious Little Astronaut- She may be small and cute, but Hattie has big dreams and a one-track mind. Despite being a compulsive list maker and over-planner, she has a bad habit of putting all her eggs in one basket and is devastated when things don’t pan out. Still, her optimistic outlook on life gets her back on her feet in no time at all! She has a burning entrepreneurial spirit and is always looking for her next side hustle. While she was originally reluctant to stay, Hattie takes her position as The Lunar Hop’s new owner very seriously. She is determined to return it to its former glory, but between dealing with Georgia’s antics and the Holiday Gang’s constant interference, she has her hands full. Originally a 21st Century Earth Girl Max & Sue Hattie’s best friends and neighbors. Max is sarcastic, Sue is optimistic. Mrs. Johansen Hattie’s eccentric landlady. Her Earth connections
5. Georgia -The Quintessential Flapper- Georgia is aggressively friendly, a meddlesome busybody, and a hopeless romantic. She will often scheme up new ways to force eternal happiness onto her friends, but is a notoriously poor planner. Disaster is her constant companion. Georgia is highly motivated by her emotions and is very empathetic, but is often too oblivious to notice when she’s inconveniencing someone else. Most of her crazier impulses are kept in check by her longtime boyfriend, Leon. An extrovert who thrives on being the center of attention, she is the lead singer of The Lunar Hop’s band where she performs alongside Leon and her father, Horace. She was quick to strike up a close friendship with Hattie, to the horror of her former friend, and current rival, Trixie Holiday. Leon -Professional Slacker- Cool, collected, sarcastic and often apathetic, Leon tries not to spend his time on much of anything. Though observant and great at problem solving, his perpetual laziness is by far his greatest weakness. He rarely has the motivation to keep up with Georgia’s high energy lifestyle, which is typically when she causes trouble for him and everyone else. Despite their frequent squabbles, they trust each other implicitly. Music is Leon’s only passion, and while he mainly plays the ukulele, he also knows the guitar, sings, and writes music.
6. Gene -Newsie with a Heart of Gold- Gene is a gentle soul and has a very kind and mothering presence. Slow to anger, not very assertive, and incredibly forgiving, he’s Georgia’s favorite doormat and often gets roped into her crazy schemes when Leon isn’t there to stop her. The middle child of 9, he lives together with his incredibly large extended family, so moments of privacy are rare. Honest, responsible, and hardworking, Gene has about a dozen part-time jobs at any given time. He’s an integral member of The Lunar Hop staff, though he has no official position. He fell in love with Hattie at first sight, but gets flustered even thinking about telling her. Plays the harmonica and can cut a rug like no other. Cecil T. Nicks -Businessman of Questionable Morals- Originally a broke musician, Cecil was abducted by aliens in 1928 and decided to establish The Lunar Hop as a way to share “Earth culture”. His charismatic personality, unbridled confidence, and trendy lifestyle made him a cultural icon and beloved musician, though most of his songs were ripped off from popular acts back home. He decided to fake his own death and retire, but still has plenty of life left in him...
7. Horace Georgia’s dad and resident tough guy. He’s into brawling, boxing, mushy romance novels, and fighting. Edgar Very proper, a true gentleman. Deserted the Symphony Orchestra years ago and has been on the run ever since. Melvin The Lunar Hop’s bumbling greeter. Often forgotten, but doesn’t seem to mind. He’s just trying his best. Alma Dainty, sweet, and soft spoken. She is a legendary baker and always brings snacks to practice. Lucy and Alma are married. Lucy The glamorous, poised, and incredibly smart manager of The Lunar Hop. She’s kept the club afloat since Cecil left. She gives spot-on advice and occasionally plays the piano for the band. - The Lunar Hop Staff- One Big Happy Family of Weirdos The StarLight Jazz Band Wallace He may be old, but he’s as trendy as any youngster. Never speaks, but everyone understands him (or they pretend to at least).
8. Hugo Holiday Charismatic and cunning, Hugo owns half the town. What he can’t buy, he runs out of business- and he’s set his sights on The Lunar Hop next! Perhaps it’s to get back at his old partner Cecil, or maybe it’s to get his hands on something he hid there... Slim Jack Hugo’s right-hand man, and the only one that’s good at his job. Enjoys making babies cry. Trixie Holiday Hugo’s daughter and the apple of his eye. Georgia’s former best friend and current arch rival. Deep down, though, Trixie might still like her. After all, she does keep her photo in a “Best Enemies” locket. Ricky the Weasel His hobbies include stealing, cheating, breaking and entering, swindling, and all around crookery. Crybaby Sal A tender hearted thug. No one knows why he turned to a life of crime, mostly because he cries whenever anyone tries to ask him. -The Holiday Gang- Basically the Space Mob, but Less Competent They want to SHUT DOWN the Lunar Hop?!
9. Sample Episodes Putting on the Ritz The Lunar Hop is getting prepared for its first big event with Hattie as its new owner. But trouble arises, when Hugo Holiday and his gang show up to boast about their own, larger event, at the High-Hat Club. Hattie gets competitive and is conned into betting ownership of the Lunar Hop on her event having better attendance. She realizes the gravity of her wager and begins frantically planning, taking on more and more work by herself. Georgia, Gene, and Leon worry that Hattie won’t get to enjoy herself at the party and make their own secret plans to make the night memorable. Georgia insists on pyrotechnics, which everyone else agrees is a bad idea, so they take her firecrackers away. The night of the event, everything is going well and the hall looks great! As the party gets into full swing, Ricky the Weasel sneaks in with the guests and finds Georgia’s box of confiscated firecrackers backstage. Meanwhile, Gene tries to find Hattie, who has been running around managing the event, to ask her to dance. As soon as he finds her, however, the firecrackers go off and the crowd panics and runs. As the dust clears, the Lunar Hop is in shambles and most of the guests have cleared out. A devastated Hattie hides in the back alley in tears, but her friends follow to comfort her. After being assured that nobody blames her, Hattie cheers up just a little, until she remembers the bargain she made with Holiday. Assuming there is no way they can win now, Hattie goes to apologize to the rest of the staff, but Gene says to leave the bet to him and runs off to make a phone call. Confused, she agrees. To Hattie’s surprise, everyone back inside is cleaning up cheerfully, eager to get back to the party! Hattie thanks everyone for helping, but her speech is interrupted by Holiday, who has returned to gloat. He announces that the High-Hat Club is at capacity and laments Hattie’s unfortunate firecracker incident. Everyone realizes he was responsible for the incident, and the mood gets tense. Suddenly, a mass of guests arrive and push their way past Holiday. After a moment of confusion, the band starts playing and the party is back on! Gene returns and explains that he invited his entire, shockingly large, family to the Lunar Hop. Guests continue to arrive until there is a line to get in. Holiday and his gang try to chase them off but are escorted out by some of Gene’s burlier cousins. The Lunar Hop has blown the High-Hat Club out of the water! Hattie thanks Gene and they finally get that dance together.
10. Sample Episodes (Cont.) Jeepers Creepers! When Hattie tells Georgia and Leon that things in her house have started to move around or go missing, Horace (Georgia’s dad) overhears and suggests that Hattie’s house may be haunted by Cecil’s ghost! Hattie and Leon are skeptical, but Georgia, lately obsessed with mystery novels, insists they investigate! They assemble later that night to explore, but after a bit of searching they find nothing out of place. As they decide to call it a night, however, something mysterious happens. The power to the house is cut and they can clearly hear ghostly Ukulele music; Cecil’s instrument of choice. As they look for the source of the music in the seemingly empty house, they hear knocking at the door. They cautiously answer it and are surprised to find that Gene is working part-time as a singing telegram. In song, he tells Hattie that her electric bill is overdue, which is why the lights went out. Insisting she put the payment in her letterbox, Hattie is cut short when the music begins playing again, this time from the direction of the kitchen. Gene joins the group and they hurry to investigate. The room appears to be in perfect order, except for an unexplainable partially eaten sandwich sitting on one of the counters. Footsteps can be heard upstairs; the ghost is on the move! They continue searching through empty rooms with occasional items out of place. Finally, they catch a glimpse of a shadow in the hall and chase it to a dead end. Hattie and Gene are convinced it’s a ghost, and Georgia (until now giving wild, illogical explanations) is beginning to agree. Leon has been calm the whole time and decides to speak up. He says he knows what’s been going on and leads them back down to the kitchen. Once there, Leon opens the door to reveal the “Ghost”. It is, in fact, a very alive Cecil, who has returned to finish his sandwich. Leon explains to his shocked friends how he put it all together. Growing up he used to visit Cecil for music lessons. The clues they found all pointed to things Cecil would have done: like making his favorite sandwich or stealing the money for the electric bill. There are also many hidden rooms and passageways in the house that Leon used to explore, which explains how Cecil remained hidden. Cecil good-naturedly congratulates Leon for figuring it out and explains that he faked his death to retire. After traveling the galaxy, he missed home and chose to “retire from retirement.” He announces that he’s back to stay!
11. Sample Episodes (Cont.) Glad Rags The world now knows of Cecil’s return, but he’s become a mopey shut-in. His slovenly, old man ways have turned him into a couch potato, and he has made a mess of the house. Hattie has had enough, but has no right to evict him, so she calls a meeting with the Lunar Hop crew. They decide the best way to return Cecil to his old, flashy self is with a party at the Lunar Hop where he can be the center of attention again. While the rest of the staff prepares, Hattie, Georgia, Leon, and Gene try to make Cecil look presentable. Seeing his disaster of a closet, Georgia decides that it’s best to get him a new wardrobe at the Flea Market. While browsing, Georgia bumps into Trixie Holiday. Trixie tries to impress Georgia by showing off all her new purchases (Crybaby Sal is holding her pile of clothes). When Hattie catches up to them, however, Trixie becomes insanely jealous that Georgia has a new close friend. Desperate for Georgia’s attention, Trixie challenges her to a fashion competition. They will see who can make Cecil, the most disheveled person at the market, look the most dapper. The loser must admit that the winner has the best fashion sense. Cecil tries to refuse but is intimidated into compliance by Sal. The competition escalates into a full fashion show, complete with stage. Hattie worries about missing the party and tries in vain to speed things along. Trixie secretly enlists her father’s goons to sabotage the competition. Meanwhile, Gene and Leon find Ricky the Weasel running a rigged 3-shell game. Leon outsmarts him and wins everything. Gene empathetically comforts a devastated Ricky, who tearfully thanks him for his kindness. He confesses that he rigged the stage to drop paint on Cecil when he models Georgia’s outfit. Alarmed, Gene rushes to warn her. Backstage, Georgia prepares to send Cecil out but loses her temper when the outfit isn’t perfect. Hattie snaps and reminds Georgia that they came to help Cecil, but she’s been making him miserable. Georgia apologizes to Cecil. He thanks her and decides to go ahead with the competition to help Georgia beat Trixie, whom he finds obnoxious. Gene arrives as Cecil walks on stage and tries to push him out of the way, but accidentally pushes him exactly where the paint falls. Trixie cackles and Gene is horrified! Cecil and Georgia surprisingly don’t seem upset and begin laughing, baffling everyone. Georgia sarcastically tells Trixie that she wins, and Cecil suggests they head out to “paint the town” in his new outfit. Leon and Hattie agree, and Gene follows, still confused. Trixie is enraged that her “win” doesn’t feel genuine and chases after them, demanding they get mad. Back at the Lunar Hop, everyone is waiting for Cecil and the rest to arrive. Balloons are deflating and falling off the walls. The party seems to have been forgotten.
12. Sample Episodes (Cont.) Charleston Fever Hattie is sick, and struggling through her morning duties. Everyone demands that she return home to rest, and she begrudgingly agrees. Outside, Slim Jack overhears this and cooks up a plan to run the Lunar Hop out of business by getting the whole staff sick! He sends Ricky the Weasel over, disguised as a refined lady, to drop a virus contaminated handkerchief on the ground as he passes by Melvin, the greeter. Being a helpful person, Melvin picks it up and tries to return it, but Ricky insists he keep it and flirtatiously departs. Melvin is flattered and happily returns to work, taking the hankie with him. As the day progresses, Melvin shows the first signs of “sickness.” He is suddenly overcome with the unstoppable urge to dance. It’s the Charleston Fever, and other members of the staff are beginning to show signs as well. Hattie is restless and gets up to check on things. She dizzily puts on her spacesuit and goes to work, but almost everyone is gone. She finds that Leon, Gene and Georgia are the only members of the staff left. The three explain that everyone has come down with Charleston Fever, which spreads to anybody who is impressed by an infected person’s dancing. Leon is not impressed by anything and Georgia is only impressed by Leon, so they are safe. Gene is impressed by everything, so the other two blindfolded him. Hattie remarks that alien sicknesses are weird. They head into town, surrounded by dancing townspeople. Leon finds Melvin, the first one to be infected, and learns about the “beautiful lady with a pencil mustache.” Leon comments that he only knows one person who might fit that description, and they head to the High-Hat Club to confront the Holiday Gang. Most of their staff is also infected, but the Gang is sheltered on the top floor. Hattie and company move through dancing gangsters and guests and bust in on Holiday and his main guys, demanding the cure. Holiday reluctantly agrees and explains that the only cure is to witness a fantastic dance number by an uninfected person. The virus will be so ashamed that it’ll die. Everyone heads to the town square, luring in all the dancers with music. The uninfected begin to dance, except for the sick Hattie and blindfolded Gene. It isn’t working, everyone is still infected. Leon insists that Gene join, as he’s the best dancer. He partners with Georgia, but the two trip over each other and Georgia hurts her leg. The Holiday Gang and Leon begin to show signs of infection. Gene removes the blindfold, but Georgia can’t dance anymore. Hattie volunteers, even though she’s feeling awful. They somehow manage a fantastic lindy hop, despite Hattie falling asleep halfway through! Everyone is cured and they begin to cheer! Holiday admits defeat and his gang clears out. The next day, Hattie is feeling much better after a good night’s sleep and some medicine. Georgia remarks how weird human sicknesses are.
13. Sample Episodes (Cont.) Fly Boys Gene is writing a song and wants Leon’s opinion, so he heads to the Lunar Hop. When he arrives, he learns that Leon is out of town for the weekend. Everyone else is excitedly discussing the news that a troop of bi-plane stunt pilots called the “Fly Boys” have arrived in town and are planning an air show. Hattie is instantly interested and decides it would be good publicity for the Lunar Hop to host an After Party. She strikes a deal with Jimmy, the dashing leader of the Fly Boys, and gets to work planning the event. Gene notices Hattie spending a lot of time around Jimmy and feels anxious that she will fall for him, so he asks Georgia for advice. She is ecstatic to be consulted and starts scheming up ways for Gene to become Hattie’s ideal guy. Georgia teaches Gene to act aloof and cool, like Leon, but Gene’s natural politeness makes him constantly apologize and stutter. Hattie, still in work mode, doesn’t seem to notice any difference. Georgia suggests that Gene get a tan, but he just looks slightly bluer. They try to get Gene to show off his manly side by getting into a fight with a “thug”, which is just Georgia in a bad disguise. Everyone thinks they’re preforming a skit and give them tips. Every plan is a total failure. In a final desperate attempt to get Hattie’s attention, Georgia dresses Gene up like one of the Fly Boys to show off his fashionable side, but before anybody notices, Gene is confused for a performer and ends up in the show as a wing walker! When the actual performer shows up a few moments later, everyone realizes that Gene is the one up in the air, holding onto the plane for dear life. As they try to stop the show, Gene loses his grip and falls. Jimmy catches him on his own plane and they make a rough landing. Everyone runs to the plane, concerned, but thankfully Gene and Jimmy are unharmed. After the initial wave of relief, Hattie demands to know how this happened. Georgia makes herself scarce and Gene apologizes for the whole situation. Before he can explain, the original performer catches up to the group, relieved to see that Jimmy is OK. They embrace. It turns out the two are engaged, and Gene’s original fear of Hattie and Jimmy falling in love was unfounded. Hattie and Gene talk it out and Gene explains the misunderstanding. He shares that he got jealous of how daring and cool Jimmy is. Hattie remarks that it was very brave of him to admit his faults, but to never do anything like that again. She adds that she prefers him as he is. After their talk, the air show finishes up and is an enormous success! At the After Party, Gene finds Jimmy, thanks him for saving his life and they share a round of juice as new friends.
14. A Kinder 20’s for the 2020's • A highly inclusive society! Vintage aesthetic with modern morality. • No Booze or Bootlegging, just good old juice. Space Juice. • There is a mob, but no guns or killing. Maybe some boo-boos. Demographic Target Audience Age 8-10 • Colorful and cute characters • Focus on relationships and friends • Ambitious and funny female lead Episode Format • Two 10 minute episodes • 90 second segment about roaring 20’s trivia, fashion, and slang hosted by Georgia.
15. -Contact Info- Antonia "Ando" Andros Andros.Antonia@gmail.com www.AntoniaAndros.com Thank you for reading! -Credits- Concept & Art: Antonia Andros Editor: George Andros