Herod

action-adventure

A young provincial general must enlist Rome’s help to save his country from a barbarian horde — and win the hand of a Maccabee princess.  (based on a true story)

Nicholl semi-finalist;  #1 on Zoetrope.com; Austin 2d round (top 10%); Praxis semi-finalist

Black List feedback on feature:

Strengths:

Herod is a great lead and the story never loses focus on his journey despite the scale. Manages to be both epic and personal. Moves at a great pace and never gets bogged down in exposition or political discussions. Explores the known world, going to recognizable locations and meeting characters from the history books.

Mocean Management coverage on feature:

I believe that there is a tremendous market for this film.  Gladiator, of a similar genre, did well and this idea is even better!  Underneath the incredible story there are issues which many people in the world take a great interest in today.  Ms. Donahue is an incredible writer and this script is highly effective and well told.

Austin Film Festival Second-Rounder feedback on pilot

This historical pilot was in the vein of Rome or I, Claudius. Not entirely unique but written with a strong voice and equally strong character development. A very ambitious project but extremely intriguing and well-written… The writing is stellar.

PLOT:  This historically-based story was well-told and extremely engaging with a solid base for continued story lines. The writer did an excellent job building the foundation of future episodes through not only character development but conflicting character goals as well.

STRUCTURE:  The story moved at a very good clip with no wasted scenes. The writer did an excellent job crafting the parallel goals of the characters in a way that kept it balanced and moving forward with ease.

CHARACTER:   The characters were robust and unique, each with his or her own motivations that were clearly presented.

DIALOGUE:  The dialogue was sharp and well thought out. Writer stayed firmly within the confines of the historical vernacular.

Black List feedback on pilot:

Strengths:

The piece is very well-written, with dialogue that is believable in voice and subject matter and clearly conveys the primary attitudes and standings of the characters, vivid action sequences and description that focuses on the relevant details of the scene, and strong transitions that make the piece flow at a swift pace and make for an engagingly cinematic read.

The authenticity of the setting and characters is top-notch, and the world of the piece is exciting, rife with conflict and highly cinematic – the many warring factions that make up this unique edge of the Roman Empire are explored with compelling and authentic detail, and are strong subject matter for a show that is sweeping in scope, historically relevant and explores many recognizable historical characters in a new light.

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