Beacon Hallows (Supernatural/Drama)

[Matthew James]

“Every town holds it’s dark secrets”

SYNOPSIS

Welcome to Beacon Hallows, Maine. What’s in the brochure, it’s a nice place for families looking for a place to call home. What’s not in it, all are welcome, including Witches, Werewolves, and Vampires.

When Shannon Blackwell arrives in Beacon Hallows she forever changes the life of sixteen year old Matt Spencer who is in town after his father leaves him in his hometown with his sister. He quickly learns that his newfound friend Emily Ashford is a witch, and that the new girl is a cursed werewolf punished by ancient witches to live for all eternity for not being able to kill her vampire sister, Isobel. Who has recently escaped her prison beneath the town and sets into motion a deadly revenge plan that begins with the turning of a student into a vampire who bullies the Sheriff's adoptive son Justin Maddox. 

But the vengeful vampire isn’t out for just blood, hidden deep beneath the Hallow mine's is an ancient obelisk of untold power, that has cursed the town for hundreds of years, and if worlds collide, could spell doom for all.

CHARACTERS

| Kathryn Newton as Shannon Blackwell |
“My sister died a long time ago. I wish I’d realized that sooner.”

A werewolf, cursed to live for all eternity, Shannon Blackwell has lived a long time, under many names, and many places. Despite this, something always draws her home. She’s fierce, and quick tempered, and as a result struggles to control the animal within, especially under the effects of the full moon. Her fate was tethered to her sisters long ago, and she can’t rest until her sister is caught again. She feels responsible for all the lives her sister takes and will stop at nothing to find her, and her determination binds her to a few new friends along the way.

| Connor Jessup as Matt Spencer |
“ I’m luggage apparently. I’ll have to find a way to count on only myself.”

For sixteen Matt Spencer knows an awful lot about pain and abandonment, and it takes a lot to get through the armor he cowers behind, but put in the time and effort, and you’ll find a friend for life. Though overwhelmed by what he learns surrounding the world of the supernatural he quickly comes around and tries his best to protect those who can’t protect themselves, but he’s not a natural hunter, and fails more than he succeeds, and begins to feel the heavy weight of regret, as his losses begin to mount.

| Natalia Dyer as Emily Ashford|

“Why do you keep showing up in these -- dreams?”

Emily Ashford was raised a witch by her overbearing and cold mother, yet despite this, the teenage witch is deeply compassionate. In a town full of grey area’s Emily will always stir the ship due north. Lately she’s been plagued by dreams and visions of impending doom and dire warnings, though she doesn’t know much, she knows a threat is descending upon her small town, and it’s only hope is the werewolf with the golden eyes.

| Devin Druid as Justin Maddox|

“You know we have weird lives, right?”

Before all this happened, Justin Maddox biggest problem was being bullied by the twins. Now his life is constantly in peril, and he finds a new enemy around every corner. Though he isn’t the fighter his other friends try and be, he’s the first to look into an issue, or try and use logic to understand the crazy things happening around his friends, he’s not afraid to get answers from his Sheriff mother, and he’s always there to provide the voice of reason when all else feels lost.

| Madelaine Petsch as Harper Montgomery |

“My life was way easier before I met you freaks”

Queen Bee, Harper Montgomery had a good life, before the Blackwell’s arrival that is. Now she’s not much more than a pawn in the larger picture of a revenge driven hundred year old vampire. Pushed to her brink Harper decides to align herself with her childhood classmates despite their low status, in the hopes of one day getting back her normal life. But can things ever go back to the way they were? Because in some ways, maybe her life has changed for the better.

| Eliza Taylor as Isobel Blackwell |

“You want a monster. I’ll spend the rest of your pathetic life showing you a real monster.”

When she was human Isobel Blackwell had only one job. Care for her immune compromised sister, she cared so much she gave her love to a man who promised to use science and magic to save Shannon, but the results turned her into one of the world's most deadly and bloodthirsty creatures. Even worse it ended up dividing the sisters, who tormented each other for over a hundred years, Isobel has spent the last thirty locked up beneath her hometown, and a chance encounter will set her loose upon an unsuspecting town who once viewed her as nothing more than a monster.

| Sarah Drew as Haley Spencer |

“He’s so alone. I don’t want him to feel more alone.”

More of a mother than an Aunt, Haley Spencer, takes Matt in when his father takes a job overseas after the death of his wife. Thrown into the deep end, Haley must learn to balance her new found parental responsibilities with her demanding job of Nurse at Beacon Hallows General. Luckily, she can always turn to her fiance Deputy David Lopez, who is always ready to help however he can.

EPISODE GUIDE



01x01 “Town of Darkness”

On his first day at Beacon Hallows High School, Junior, Matt Spencer longs for the day his father will come and take him away from the boring town he's been left in. But he soon finds that the town is anything but boring, and that monsters, witches, vampires, and werewolves are all very much real, and each have their own plans for the town with plenty of hope.
Link to Pilot

01x02 “Bad Moon Rising”

After an incident between Harper and Shannon, the ladder goes missing after transforming into a Werewolf, which leaves her friends scrambling to save their new ally. Isobel's plan continues to unravel, aad Violet Ashford takes desperate steps to protect her daughter from her ancestors' plans.

01x03 “Deep Down Below”

While Violet enacts desperate measures to cut ties with threats from all sides, which causes division in her family, and leads to a captured Shannon. Her Friends, family and allies rush to save her.

01x04 “Nexus”

Isobel tests the powers of the Nexus, when Isaac Blake is killed in a tragic hit and run, which leaves his sister Dawn looking for anyway to save him, the core four learn more about the Nexus.

01x05 “One Night”

With the Centennial School Dance fastly approaching, Shannon wants nothing more than a night of normalcy. As the gang prepares by getting into the spirit of the event, Isaac slowly succumbs to insanity and what follows will leave all shattered.

Episode 01x06 “Here After”

Blinded by her rage over a friend’s death, Shannon puts a plan into motion to trap Isobel once more. Emily focuses on Nadiya and hopes to turn the Witch to their cause.

A death causes Shannon to become enraged which fuels the fire

Episode 01x07 “The Dead Don’t Always Stay Dead”

The birth of a new vampire in town brings our core four together to hatch a hasty plan. But when things go south, friends soon become divided as they fail to reach an agreement on how to deal with the night walker.

Episode 01x08 “Sacrifice”

Waking up in his family home, Alan Spencer is put through the ringer as his family attempts to break him from his compulsion, while Haley begins to realize something might not be right with David. Harper worries about Emily’s visions, while Justin and Shannon put together the final pieces of Isobel’s plan,

Episode 01x09 “For Whom The Bell Tolls”

With time running out, the Core four continue their search for the missing Bell, and turn to RJ for help, as Emily grapples with a devastating discovery. Still mourning a loss, Haley lashes out at Matt, and Isobel’s plan finally comes to fruition.

Episode 01x10 “Centennial Day”

It’s Centennial day and the core four and their allies find themselves scattered as hell reigns down on the town. One thing is for sure. Nothing will ever be the same.

OPENING CREDITS

Beacon Hallows Season 1 Opening Credits

NOTES:

This is an idea a long time in the making. I’ve worked on other projects and always found myself drawn back to these characters and this world of the supernatural.

A total of four seasons have thus far been planned out, each about 10-12 episodes, with the first season having ten episodes, which have already been written.

The show has been inspired by the darker elements of the Vampire Diaries, the more light hearted pace and speed of Teen Wolf, and as the show continues it will draw inspiration from Agents of SHIELD, in it’s never ending transformation into something just different enough to almost be a different genre.

The first and second season act as one story, with the first arc’s narrative focusing heavily on the different Supernatural factions, and their control of an all powerful obelisk. The second arc acts as a conclusion to the first and deals directly with the events following the finale, and closes out the story and not only wraps up some plot points, but opens our town up to new supernatural and human threats.

Special Thanks: On a side note, I’d like to thank Jay Paterson for the amazing design on the images, and Karl Hurd, who has always helped motivate me to keep the series alive!

[The Doctor]

You're Welcome dude

I hope everyone reads the pilot. I feel like your writing has upgraded from where it once was.

I hope this gets picked up. You deserve it!!!

[Jay Paterson]

The pitch looks great now that it's all come together. 

I think it's about time we had a supernatural show to sink our teeth into and these characters you have drum up seems like the perfect catalysts for this new adventure. Reading the episodes summaries and I can already tell this series will be shrouded in mystery. You already know I'm a big fan of Shannon and there are a bunch of other interesting personalities jumping out at us which is bound to cause a lot of conflicts. 

It's very impressive you've already written all 10 episodes prior to pitching, that's not an easy task. I don't know if I've missed it but is there a link to the pilot in the pitch? 

Good luck with this one. The graphics were my pleasure. 

[Matthew James]

Thank's Jay for your thoughts, and you know know what, you're right! I should have added the pilot in, I'll definitely make sure to do that!

[Brady Brown]

Hey Matthew!

I pretty much echo all of Jay's comments. I love a good, classic supernatural show, so I'm very curious on what about the pilot and story will set it apart from the stereotypes that have already been established in the genre.

Looking forward to the pilot!

[Matthew James]

Thanks, Brady for the kind words.

I'll be dropping the pilot in the next day or so! So keep an eye out

[Matthew James]

Alright everyone the Link to the pilot is now up and running! It can be found just beneath the Episode 01 description, just click on the "Link to Pilot".

[Brady Brown]

So excited to see a pilot posted! Hoping to get to it this weekend

[Brady Brown]

REVIEW: "Town of Darkness"

I want to start off this review by saying that I truly enjoyed a lot of the ideas and plots that were presented in this pilot! I think they all have a ton of potential to expand into a unique and captivating supernatural storyline. Beacon Hallows presents us with a ton of information in its pilot, which I think is both its strongest and weakest components. Overall, I think "Town of Darkness" has some really fun elements that, I think, with some fine tuning, can really be a lovely supernatural drama.

Let's get into the characters. Our main character, Shannon, is a really headstrong and determined lead. I really enjoy the fact that she's a werewolf and that seems to tie a lot into her personality and characteristics. I'm very interested to learn more about her and her story, as well as how her relationship with her sister develops. Something I'll get into a little later is that I wish there was a stronger focus on her in this pilot.

Another character I really liked was Emily. She's a great side character with a lot of heart. I was a little surprised that her identity as a witch was revealed so quickly and how big of an aspect that had in the pilot. I think the witch aspect took a lot away from the main plot of the episode, and I do think most of it could have been saved for future episodes. This episode was long, almost 80 pages, and I really think there needs to be a lot of slimming down. There are a ton of different plot points and exposition that didn't add to what the pilot was about, so I think going through and editing out a lot of additional scenes to save for later would be really beneficial.

Something else that seemed off was the pacing. There were some inconsistencies and a lot of things felt pretty forced. The main thing that comes to mind is Shannon, Emily, and Matt all becoming this trio that just blurts their entire supernatural lives out to one another in a couple of minutes. It just seemed really weird, especially from Matt's perspective, that he would just go along with everything Emily and Shannon asked; what felt as equally as weird was Shannon and Emily outing themselves as a wolf and witch to someone they just met. I think there could have been some more development of their friendship so it felt more authentic.

Overall, I did enjoy this pilot! Like I said above, there were a lot of fun elements, but I also think there's some things that can be improved upon with some more edits. I think re-examining some of the pacing, dialogue, and the length would be incredibly beneficial. Something I like to tell myself is to let the audience try and figure some things out without it being spelled out to them, because it's 100% more interesting that way. But yeah, nice first start, and it left me wanting to know what was going to happen next, which is exactly what a pilot is supposed to do!

[Jay Paterson]

Beacon Hallows 1.01: Town of Darkness, Review. (Contains Spoilers)

Matthew, this was a beast of a pilot. So much to take in and digest so I'll try and try and compose my thoughts as best as I can. 

First off, this feels like a good old fashion supernatural show that I've been missing and you've managed to your own put your own stamp on it. I'm glad that you decided to go ahead with, Shannon, as your main protagonist as the dynamic with her sister, Isobel, is by far the most interesting part of the story and having them on opposing sides will make for an interesting series. The pilot itself gave us a good sense of the world you've built but I'm worried it may be too much too soon and considering we have a full series to go. As you have 79 pages I do feel like it will need to be scaled back a little so it might be worthwhile looking at what we really need to know and what you could hint it rather before addressing in a later episode. 

You have a good bunch of characters here and they already all have their own voices. There is no one I don't like yet, except Chad and Thad but I'm assuming their not a permanent fixture. Lol. Justin intrigues me, its probably because we find the least out about him in the pilot. His mother is tied into this world and his best friend is a witch so it makes me wonder how much does he know if any?

Emily is the heart of the group and that scenic dream she had about her great grandmother has me all kinds of excited to know what you have in store. I actually enjoyed finding out that she was a witch in the pilot. I found it refreshing as we've seen witch origins stories play out in many shows before so there's no need to drag it out longer than needed. I do think how she trusts Matt and Shannon with her secret so quickly is a little surprising. 

Shannon of course is a standout, she's a force to be reckoned with a good leader for this group of misfits. Again though with her instilling such confidence in Matt so early on is surprising. I easy for her and Emily to open up to one another as their both from this supernatural world. But offering up all this information to a human they met hours ago does come across forced. Maybe a way around this is instead of Shannon telling him when they take her home, she could stay wary. I understand that Matt caught Emily red-handed so there's an excuse for that conversation to come up. There isn't much of a reason for Shannon to at this point. You could have her spill the beans before they go save Justin. As they need a third person to help with the rescue mission as they know they cannot go it alone. This gives her more of a reason to need him to know as well as using it to test his trust. Just some food for thought. 

Matt is really quiet and we've learned more about him from the family around him, I'm hoping this new group fo friends help him come into his own. The core 4 so far seem to be a good balance of characters. And now that they've buried a body together and I don't think anything is breaking that bond. 

I do agree with some of Brady's points when it comes to the length and structure of the script. The pilot needs to be trimmed down and I do think you can cut some of this or save some for later. A scene that really intrigued me was Emily's dream scene but it doesn't do much for the pilot so it's definitely something you could have saved for later. Another scene was when the girls picked Matt up in the car which was about 2 pages long. The only thing we learn from this is that Matt is grounded. But you could just cut to the three in the attic and Matt saying his line, "If I get any more grounded." That cuts more to the point as you don't need to explain how Emily got his number etc. There were also times you would "tell" within the action when you had already shown so it wasn't needed, so tightening up those bits will bring down the page count. These are just suggestions so take them as you will. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the pilot and I think you're on to a winner here. I cannot wait to see what Isobel's plan is and what she has in store and if/how Harper fits into this. How will Shannon deal with the death of Miss Potts? What was Aemilia trying to tell Emily and why is her mum so upset by this? You've raised so many questions that need answering which is what a pilot is supposed to do so well done. Good luck with the pitch and I hope you get picked up as I look forward to reading more.

[Matthew James]

Thanks, everyone for the kind words. I think the relationship between Isobel and Shannon is definitely a fun one. I always love a sibling relationship where the menacing sibling will sooner hug you as quickly as kill you!

I'm glad you guys like the ladies of Beacon Hallows! I see where you coming from on Matt. He's the hardest to write for, I'm always trimming down his dialogue so that he only speaks when needed or as little as possible. I always like the strong silent types cause we have to learn about them through actions rather than words. That's almost like his defining trait right now. And you're dead right, I think he doesn't know much about what it means to be a Spencer from Beacon Hallows, it's a name that holds weight, and as he begins to explore his hometown and his roots he'll get closer to these town folks, I think you'll see him start to let down those walls that have been put up from loss and abandonment.

I'm glad that Emily being a witch is so divisive, or at least her revealing herself so early. I agree with Jay that I wanted to quickly establish this world of Magic and the Supernatural as opposed to drawing it out like it's a secret, but I get where Brady is coming from though and I think there are some things that could be moved to later episodes, so expect those changes!

I hear where you guys are coming from on the episode count, and I think it can definitely use some trimming down, I promise only the pilot was this long! I'll also be working on ways to have the characters become closer without it being forced. I already have a few ideas that could help this.

On a final note, I wanted to thank everyone for their reviews and support it really means a lot, and greatly inspires me to continue! I love reading what you all think good and bad!

Thanks again, Everyone!

[Jack Malone]

REVIEW: Beacon Hallows - 1.01 'Town of Darkness' 

This pilot has all the elements of what would make a great supernatural drama series, with werewolves, witches and vampires being at the very core of it in a town that has a great deal of historical supernatural story to pull from in future episodes.

The strongest aspect of this story, for me, definitely came with that unfolding history surrounding those supernatural elements, how they exist in this world you're building, and how connected they all are, particularly when it came to witches and their role in being the protector of it all. With that, Emily was probably the most interesting character established in this episode, and provided us with a lot of the town's history and relationship with these 'monsters.' It was nice to see her powers/magic shown from the get-go, and I do appreciate a fresh take in a show like this where not everything is a secret amongst certain characters. I do think the plot and the pacing did suffer quite heavily from the deep-dive into Emily's story, though, particularly with the dream-sequence she had, and how much the story enveloped her (rather than Shannon and the conflict at hand) during the latter half of the episode. While it was all very interesting, it just notably diverged from everything else.

I have to echo all the comments about the length of the episode, but more importantly the consistency. Typically, an act should be anywhere from 8 to 10 pages long. In this pilot, the acts were: Act One (19pgs), Act Two (14pgs), Act Three (22pgs), Act Four (10pgs), and Act Five (7pgs). I think just showing how inconsistent each act length is highlights and explains the issue a little more clearly. The way it impacted the story was that the the first act took a little too long in setting the main story up - there were a handful of interactions/moments that lingered a little too long and didn't get the ball rolling in time. As for Act Three, the conflict had sort of just sprouted to the surface with Shannon turning, Emily having just revealed her powers, all the exposition being used to explain to us what was happening with our main characters, and then of course bringing Shawn into the central conflict of the episode. I do genuinely think going back over this script with an idea of making the act lengths consistent (give or take a page difference or two) would really help to restructure it and to look over your story with a sense of what fits, what's necessary for the plot to unfold and these characters to be introduced, and then it will become a lot more cohesive and a much stronger pilot to digest. 

All the stuff with Isobel and Shawn offered a fascinating conflict. Shawn, in particular, was a nice episodic way of introducing us to the stages of a vampire, in life and then death, while Isobel was being set-up to be the big bad and have this really complex relationship with the main hero. Both worked so well. I would suggest refining some of the other stories that divert from that conflict to really elevate this as the primary source of conflict, paired with the main characters merging together to learn about their place in the supernatural world and their burgeoning friendship/union. I think everything else (including establishing the parents and their relationships to their children, the dream/premonition, etc) should be secondary to those two key aspects of the story. 

Lastly, there's a great deal of exposition in this episode that involved more telling than showing. I think you've created some really interesting backstories for werewolves being cursed, and witches being these protectors of the supernatural world, and all the little intricacies you established to separate your world from other supernatural universes, but it's a shame that so much of it is just blurted out to us. I think with this being a virtual series with an endless budget provides an opportunity to show us a lot more rather than allow these fantastical elements to just be spoken between characters. Even if you don't want to dive into the history so much visually in the first episode, perhaps cutting back some of the heavier spoken introductions of these aspects would allow it to feel not as forced. There were times where it felt like you wanted to get all this information out as though there was never going to be another time to address or explain things, and that's where it can feel quite forced. 

Overall, I think this show has great potential. A lot was set up that has me excited for specific characters - namely Emily and Isobel, who definitely stole the show for me. There are some key dynamics, both with the main characters and our hero and villain, that was probably the biggest drive for me to want to see more. And I also just loved the effort made to deliver fresh takes on these incredibly familiar supernatural creatures/beings/monsters, whatever you want to call it. 

I'd probably give this a 6/10. I really think just going back in and editing the story down into a more cohesive, 55-60pg pilot would allow all the great aspects of the story to rise to the top and fix some of the things myself, Brady and Jay mentioned in their reviews. 

[Matthew James]

Thanks, Jack for the review.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read it, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the tips, it definitely helped that I read this as I was doing just that. I'm happy to announce that I've trimmed it from 79 pages down to 60 pages. Like you suggested I cut out a lot of exposition, most things Witch related, and as a result, cut out 3 characters. Moved around the First two Act breaks so they happen a bit more organically and sooner.

I'll post the 2nd draft in a day or so after I can run some edits.

Hope you guys like it! I can't wait.

[Matthew James]

Thanks Guys for your patience here is the 2nd draft

Click Link: Pilot - Draft 2

Not many changea storwise. But page count has been cut down from 79 pages to 61. Cut out Witches storyline (for now), and exposition.