from J. Miller Tobin, Director, Cara Haycak, Screenwriter And Mitchell Waxman, Producer
Retired Buoys at Leisure.
WOODEN NICKEL is working class, action-drama about an uncompromising third generation Maine lobsterman who fishes the same territorial waters as did his father and grandfather in their time. Lucky Lunt is a charming rogue of a man, but his penchant for playing by his own rules gets him deep into trouble.
In a changing world whose economics rarely favor the working man, fate deals Lucky a series of bad blows, sending him on a downward spiral in a perfect storm of bad luck and worse choices.
Recovering from a heart operation, he can’t manage the heavy workload of lobstering alone, so despite his wife’s objections, he hires to stern for him a sexy waitress and his attraction wreaks havoc on his family life. When outsiders from another island set off a turf war by poaching lobsters on his family’s grounds, he escalates the conflict until his entire foundation is threatened with a war that would engulf the other fishermen in his cove.
During a single fishing season, Lucky faces the loss of his home, his marriage and family, his fishing license and territorial waters and the jewel of a boat, the Wooden Nickel, because of his misadventures on the open sea and in bed.
Will Lucky right his ways in time to hold together his life and family or will he succumb to his worst instincts and lose it all?
Novelist and screenwriter Cara Haycak.
Director J. Miller Tobin
Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by William Carpenter, the project is the inspiration of Cara Haycak and J. Miller Tobin, a husband and wife filmmaking team and producer Mitchell Waxman. Cara and Miller have a deep affection for the fishing villages of Down East Maine and long sought to make a film that expresses their love for the region and its people, their struggles, humor and pride.
Cara, a successful novelist (Red Palms, Living on Impulse) and screenwriter, has written a wonderful script that was a finalist for this year’s Sundance Screenwriting Lab and a second rounder in the Austin Film Festival Screenplay competition.
Miller is a sought after director of hour-long episodic television (Supernatural, Covert Affairs, Numbers, Revenge, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries and more). His first feature film directing credit, HOW YOU LOOK TO ME, starred Frank Langella and was set in the world of professional horse racing at Churchill Downs and he produced a documentary called LIFE BY LOBSTER profiling this generation of fishermen.
Producer Mitchell Waxman.
Mitchell is a successful independent producer who has worked with numerous award-winning filmmakers and whose short films have played in notable festivals around the world.
The project has an estimated budget of $7 million and the script is available for review. While set in Maine, the film could be shot in the nearby Gloucester, Massachusetts area where a Massachusetts Film Tax Credit of 25% can be earned by eligible productions. Next steps include hiring a casting director to assist with attaching notable actors.
We are currently looking for executive or co- producers, packaging/representation, financing, including foreign sales, and domestic distribution.
Contact Mitchell Waxman at [email protected] or call 917 882- 7841
All photos courtesy of the WOODEN NICKEL Production.
Lobster Boat at Sunset.
Lobster Traps on the Launch
Lobstering – a Family Business.
