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Proving Ground: From the Adventures of Captain Redlocks is a slam-bang, family-oriented space opera about a lone teenage girl aboard a decommissioned starship, who engages in a battle of wits—and photon torpedoes!—with space pirates! Synopsis: Holly Stephenson, 13, loves starships and space battle history, probably due to the fact that her father, Richard, is a lieutenant colonel in Earth’s Interstellar Defense, where he designs starship defense systems. Home schooled by their mother, Julia, Holly and little brother Noah often await the periodic return home from duty of their father, even at this the end of an interstellar war. And they get their wish, when he returns, promising a weekend of fun and family. Plans are dashed, however, when both Dad and Mom are recalled to duty that very night, and they leave the kids in the capable hands of the family sentry droid. During the wee hours, Holly concocts a plan to hold their parents to their word by venturing to their location: Terelli Prime. Stealing away in the darkness, the kids make their way to the space base and blackmail a freighter pilot, Quozzo, to take them to their parents. Ironically, Quozzo is freighting the Bradbury, a heretofore- decommissioned battleship, which has begun a refit to become an automated drone to patrol the demilitarized system where salvagers, pirates, have begun using the lax, end-war security to appropriate military vessels. Things spin out of control, when Quozzo’s ship falls under attack by pirates. Quozzo and Noah escape in an escape pod to Oblivia Two a hostile nearby planet, and, just before the freighter is destroyed, Holly manages to escape into the protection of the Bradbury. Both she and the warship emerge unscathed. Now the space around Oblivia Two becomes the proving ground for Holly and the Bradbury, as she uses her wits and the limited battle systems of the Bradbury to resist the Reticulan pirates bent on seizing her father’s ship, led by the coldhearted, Aria Krait, herself only a child, while Noah and Quozzo struggle to reach a communication system on Oblivia Two, before a searing fiery cyclone or the slathering jaws of one of the planet’s predators seals their fate. Will the Stephensons survive to ever see Dad and Mom again?
IDS BRADBURY As much a character in Proving Ground: from the Adventures of Captain Redlocks as the human characters, the Bradbury, the starship Holly Stephenson commandeers to battle space pirates, was designed after much thought. I did not want to emulate recognizable tv/film space ships of the past, yet I realized that there was a reason those ships were memorable. I made the decision to refer to the seagoing battleships of World War 1 and 2, yet take those designs into the future to some extent. What would be the logical progression of ship of war once we conquered space. And it had to look cool! I know that sounds silly, but if a ship looks awkward or stupid while soaring over the camera into space, people aren't going to be too capitvated by it, right? I wouldn't be. So, taking my thoughts, I went to my seven year old son, Tyler, and had him help me with the deseign. Now...you have to know Tyler. I can say, without any amount of stretching, that he ahs the real makings of an engineer. What the boy can build with LEGOS...and I don't mean just sticking things together, either. I mean, the boy's work has logic and reason and...they're beautiful! I went to him while he was in his Star Trek period, wherein he was building Federation starships and redesigning them for the generation after the Next Generation! Great work! After I filled him in on the Bradbury's specs and purposes, he went to work and came up with some very impressive initial designs. The final results were even moreso. I've posted two test pics below! I thought that the multicolored Lego tiles might be confusing, so I turned the pics blk&wht, to attempt a more uniform look. Above: Approaching from starboard bow. Above (r): Approaching from above and astern. Notice the dorsal torpedo launcher (the dome) and a separate control center for the aft weapon, so the bridge crew wouldn't have to worry about targets approaching astern. This was Tyler's own innovation!
Proving Ground: From the Adventures of Captain Redlocks, was written specifically for actress, Holliston Coleman, after her parents lamented the lack of quality and appropriate acting roles for their talented young daughter to accept. “What a ride!” came back the enthusiastic response from the family, along with a desire to see the screenplay produced. It has since been rewritten to include Holli’s brother, Bobby Coleman, himself a rising star, and yet again to include actress, Jennette McCurdy, also a busy young talent and a friend of the Colemans, after her several of her television performances were seen, and it was discovered the three actors have always wanted to work together. With such excellent talent firmly attached, I set about deciding how the movie might be made. Already, I had an excellent director of photographer, Andrew Shulkind, with whom I anticipate working with on Topworld, which was to be T E K’s first motion picture. I consulted with noted special effect supervisor, Gary Hutzel (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica), allowing him to review the screenplay, after which he gave me some solid advice on where to achieve the considerable special visual effects for the movie. When asked about the screenplay itself, Mr. Hutzel said he considered it a “Disney movie that reminds me of Spy Kids—not that it’s the same, but that sort of audience.” He went on to say he could see the commercial potential of such a production. The goal of T E K Productions is to create a truly moviegoing sensory experience that will have viewers coming out of the cinema saying, “We gotta go see that again!” The best story, the best acting, the best sound, the best visual! All married into one incredible package that has broad marketing potential. While a special effects laden movie, Proving Ground, is also character-driven, and the reception of the principal roles will depend upon the reliably strong deliveries of three of today’s most gifted young actors, all of whom have received raves reviews for their past and current performances.
WRITTEN, PRODUCED and DIRECTED by KEVIN M. KRAFT
STARRING:
HOLLISTON COLEMAN as Holly Stephenson Actress - filmography
Filmography as: Actress, Notable TV Guest Appearances Notable TV Guest Appearances
BOBBY COLEMAN as Noah StephensonActor - filmography
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