Projects
Big Wheel
TITLE: BIG WHEEL by Shauna Ray Ratapu
FORMAT: Feature | Nostalgic sibling period drama with humor & heart
LOGLINE: When a helicopter mom with PTSD takes in her recovering "asshole" brother, her suburban sanctuary begins to crumble with every reminder of the feral & fearless little girl she was in 1976.
COMPS: THE SKELETON TWINS meets LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
WORLD: Welcome to The Tale of Two West Coast Cities set thirty years apart: As an overprotective thirty-eight-year-old with three small kids, 2005 Olympia, Washington feels like a sanctuary filled with familiar faces, safe parks, and a comforting routine of school and healthy meals. In stark contrast, the wide-eyed wonder of an eight-year-old child in 1976 Huntington Beach, California paints a picture of a wild and unpredictable world, where freedom mingles with danger, and the beach becomes a vast playground of untamed possibilities.​
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BIG WHEEL explores the complexities of addiction and the power that perspective has on forgiveness. It takes viewers on a heartfelt journey of self-discovery, reminding them that by finding the funny in the darkest moments, hope and healing are within reach.
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Banking on Burlesque
TITLE: BANKING ON BURLESQUE by Shauna Ray Ratapu
FORMAT: Feature | Over 50 Coming of Age | Dramatic Comedy
LOGLINE: A widowed home loan officer and recent empty-nester, ditches her autopilot existence to explore the technicolor world of burlesque while trying to keep a long-distance relationship - with her late husband’s ghost.
WORLD: Meet Dee Dee, a drab, 55-year-old widowed home loan officer and recent empty-nester who eats her feelings. Since losing her funny French husband, Jacques, two years ago, she’s been stuck on autopilot, her life revolving around a job she hates, her distant non-binary child Franny, and a monthly non-book-book club with her high school frenemies. Oh, and Jacques, her cheeky cheerleader husband—or rather, his ghost. Or is he just a manifestation of her unprocessed grief?
As Franny heads off to college, leaving Dee Dee facing life alone for the first time, she gets a serendipitous invite to her boss’s engagement party at Big Betty’s Burlesque and BBQ. Suddenly, her drab existence is turned tits up and bottoms down as she rediscovers a world bursting with color and possibility!
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BANKING ON BURLESQUE is a heartwarming, TIT-illating reminder that life is messy, unpredictable, and beautiful. Until death, it’s all life, baby—and it’s never too late to rediscover the joy of truly living.
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PILOT in progress
Coming soon!! Strong roles for all genders & ethnicities ages: 50 -100+
