Serpentine

A champion figure skater finds herself in a government conspiracy involving her missing mother and a Cold War mystery that culminates at the world championships in Moscow.

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Suzanne Wilson, a champion figure skater whose mother disappeared fifteen years ago, believes all her hopes are answered when Philip Harrison, a mysterious businessman, arrives out of nowhere to sponsor her through to the world championships in Moscow. But Marlene Baxter, a friend of the Wilson family and president of the national skating federation, doesn’t believe in coincidences and questions Harrison’s motives to Wilson’s coach Elizabeth Rogers.

No sooner does Harrison arrive in the picture than the FBI reopens the classified files of Wilson’s missing mother and her occupation as a cryptologist for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), an agency that specializes in military intelligence.  When the FBI learns that Wilson’s mother discovered a code black nuclear program called Serpentine right before her disappearance, a musical code embedded in Wilson’s program reveals itself at the sectional championships, a code that points to Rogers, Baxter and other sports officials who are part of an intelligence organization based in sports federations around the world.

With a win at sectionals, Wilson is destined for the national championships, but soon the FBI and Baxter learn operatives within the DIA and Baxter’s organization have turned against them and are working towards a plan to kidnap Wilson to compel her missing mother to disclose her knowledge of Serpentine to foreign powers for financial gain. When the code in Wilson’s program points to her mother’s whereabouts in North Korea, Baxter finds an ally in Harrison and believes that Wilson will be kidnapped once she leaves the United States for a non-extradition country like Russia.

Fearing for Wilson’s safety, Baxter sees that Wilson is prevented from advancing to the world championships through an act of sabotage, an action that unites their adversaries resulting in the death of another skater and the revelation of another crime long past but still under FBI investigation – the murder of Wilson’s grandparents who discovered Serpentine during the Cold War when they worked at Army Intelligence.

After Baxter confesses that she ordered the sabotage to protect her and reads her in to the plot against her family, a distraught Wilson finds herself training in France with Rogers under tight security. While Harrison finally makes contact with North Korean authorities, Baxter and Rogers devise a plan with the FBI to expose a government conspiracy found to be rooted in both the United States and Russia.

Arriving in Moscow, Baxter’s intelligence operatives secure a meeting with the North Korean Ambassador, while the FBI testifies at a closed door senate hearing in Washington about Serpentine and a similar nuclear program that exists in Russia. On the eve of Wilson’s performance, Baxter confronts the traitor in her own organization as operatives in the United States soon find themselves taken in the same fashion they took Wilson’s mother and secretly transported out of the country.

With a covert trade deal secured, Wilson skates a new encoded program to thunderous applause that insures detente between the United States and Russia that brings forth a reunion and the revelation of who betrayed them all.

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Project Status

Serpentine is a 154 page political thriller screenplay written by Mark Lund (markashtonlund@gmail.com).

As Lund accomplished with his feature film Justice Is Mind, he put into production a short film version titled The Short Program to develop interest in the project.

Serpentine: The Short Program consists of the first ten pages of the script that introduces the primary characters and storyline. The Short Program was produced in central Massachusetts at Northstar Ice Sports in Westborough, MA, The Verve, Crowne Plaza in Natick, MA and a private residence in Sturbridge, MA. Foley Motorsports of Shrewsbury, MA provided automotive services to the production.

Serpentine: The Short Program premiered on March 6, 2017 at the Strand Theatre in Clinton, MA. On March 7 the short premiered on Amazon. With part of the story taking place in North and South Korea, along with United States intelligence agencies and Russia being in the headlines, Serpentine is well timed.

If the feature film is produced in Massachusetts, the production would qualify under the Massachusetts Tax Incentive of 25% payroll and production credits.

Concept poster designed by Adam Starr of Zone 5 Pictures.

Serpentine © Mark A Lund # I-3933515911