THEOPHILUS
(Working Title)
Lucas, a brilliant medic in the Roman 5th Legion, discovers a cover-up that threatens the Emperor, and places him and his trusty guardian Quatrus as witnesses to events about to turn the 1st century world upside down.
Film comparison: Think the wit and intrigue of Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law combined with the stylized action and compelling drama of Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning film Gladiator starring Russell Crowe.
Synopsis (Season One)
Lucas, an aspiring physician from Antioch cuts his teeth as a medic in the Roman 5th legion under the protection of his family’s slave. His forensic investigation into a rebellion during the brutal Battle of Baduhenna puts him in good graces with battle-tested General Lucius Apronius who helps to fast-track his medical training after the war.
As he ascends the social ladder of Rome he is placed on a high-stakes mission to bury unsettling rumours creating political scandal in the Capital when strange reports of the undead being sighted in a far-off and volatile Roman outpost. The pressure to solve the supernatural mystery with scientific evidence thrusts Lucas into a series of adventures that could shake the very foundations on which Rome was built.
Character Descriptions
LUCAS
Smart and young, Lucas has aspirations to be a medical doctor, but it’s difficult to train as a surgeon in Antioch. He takes a role as a medic in the forests of the Northern fringe of Rome’s sprawling Empire as a way to learn about human anatomy and help the sick. From wealth, with a Greek father and Jewish mother, his natural curiosity is his greatest strength, and liability.
QUATRUS
A veteran of Caesar’s army, like most soldiers who made it out of the ranks alive QUATRUS dreamed of farming a swath of land on the edge of the Mediterranean. But hard luck and tragedy brings him to Antioch where he becomes private security for a wealthy family, and ultimately, LUCAS’ friend and charge.
THEOPHILUS
Is THEOPHILUS (which means “Lover of God” in Greek) the code name for a group of a new religious sect in hiding, whom the government perceives as a threat to Rome, or a close friend to Lucas who needs to remain anonymous in order to protect their life?
Whoever THEOPHILUS is, they are constantly on LUCAS’ mind and the audience he addresses as he records his adventures throughout the Roman Empire. As LUCAS gets to the bottom of the mystery driving his travels, THEOPHILUS becomes and indispensable link to the world LUCAS left behind in search of the evidence that just might change the power structures of Rome.
Production Details
Description: Episodic Series (6 episodes per season)
Production Status: Pilot is Script-Ready; S1:E2-4 are Script-Ready
Film Locations: Canada/USA, Europe
Relevance + Delivery
With the popularity of binge-worthy content available on streaming services, this series will deliver action, humour, adventure and drama to a global audience.
With surprising twists and turns, each season reveals jaw-dropping surprises for audiences as new historical characters appear in what is a unique and unprecedented origin story of one of history’s most consequential times.
Story Outline (Pilot Episode)
From a family of wealth, LUCAS has aspirations to pursue a medical career, not the family business of trade that built its wealth in the port city of Antioch. In order to be an effective physician, LUCAS seeks to truly understand the workings of the human body with surgical precision.
Because strict Roman law bans dissection of the dead, the only place to legally learn the skill he would need to properly treat and heal patients is on the battle field or at the Games. Despising the blood lust and cruelty of the arena, LUCAS convinces QUATRUS, hired by his father to protect LUCAS since childhood, to pull some strings to enrol him in the army as a medic.
The plan lands LUCAS and QUATRUS on the edges of the empire in the northern forests of Germania. The year is 28 and TIBERIUS CEASER relocates to Capri to avoid the troubles of Rome. SEJANUS, his trusted adviser quietly secures power and alliance throughout the empire, but especially in Rome where he moves the PRAETORIAN GUARD within the city.
It’s not only SEJANUS who makes power moves. Other politicians defy the Emperor’s command that Governors not impose too harsh a taxation on their conquered subjects. And the Frisii have finally had enough. Over-taxed by a greedy Governor, the Frisii refuse to pay tribute to CAESER any longer. The incident that triggers the battle in which LUCAS will cut his teeth not only as a doctor but as a soldier.
Though they are at the farthest reaches of the Empire, leagues away from the corridors of power, LUCAS and QUATRUS unknowingly step into political intrigue that originates in Rome. The Fifth Legion engage the rebelling Frisians, who unexpectedly put up a fight that nearly overthrows the disciplined and powerful ranks of Rome.
In the midst of the brutal battle, LUCAS is pulled into the fight, trading his medical equipment for a sword. Pulled under the wing of the protective QUATRUS the two ingeniously defend the flank by picking off sniping archers disguised in the trees.
Separated from the army who secure a victory, but quickly pull from the battlefield, they must find a way out of the Wood of Baduhenna where they are left alone to hide from the retreating Frisii.
As they make their way back through the forest to the legion, they discover the Roman consul’s household where another battle has taken place. A horde of barbarians lay dead, as do some 400 Roman soldiers who made an apparent suicide pack.
When they come upon a single survivor, LUCAS and QUATRUS discover information that suggests the battle was triggered unnecessarily by Rome itself.
The forensic evidence LUCAS provides that to the commanding officer shows his loyalty to the Emperor and puts him in good graces with battle-tested General Lucius Apronius who recognizes LUCAS will be a valuable asset in Rome where the fight for the throne is being played out under the surface of Senate meetings and clandestine conversations in the Roman baths, social events and private dinners where men and women conspire.
It will be LUCAS’ first trip to Rome, a consequential journey that will thrust him to investigate other strange occurrences throughout the empire.
Filmmakers
Andrew Kooman
Screenwriter, Producer
Andrew Kooman is an award-winning writer and producer who writes for the page, stage and screen. His critically acclaimed work has been produced around the world and translated into more than 10 languages.
Andrew wrote the screenplay and produced the Unveil Studios’ film She Has A Name which is based on his critically acclaimed stage play.
With his brothers Matt and Dan, Andrew was given the New Filmmaker Award at the 2018 ICVM Crown Awards in Nashville, TN.
Andrew’s follow-up screenplay, Delft Blue, was a Finalist in both the 2019 Pitch Now Screen Play Competition and the 2018 Upper Room Screenplay contest in Texas, a Semi-Finalist in the Filmmatic Screenplay Contest in Los Angeles and was nominated for Best Screenplay in the 2018 Top Indie Filmmaker Awards.
Matthew Kooman
Producer
Passionate about the art of telling a good story, from original concept to the screen, Matt’s journey as a filmmaker has taken him inside straw huts in rural Kenya, to squatter pipe-villages in Hyderabad, India while directing and producing his first feature film E for Everyone.
His second feature She Has A Name played in theatres and festivals around the world and was named a “fast-paced, political thriller.” The film is currently available on Amazon Prime. Matt is currently editing the new documentary series Dream which he directed with Daniel Kooman.
As editor of The Ladder of My Life Matt told the true story of a child soldier from Sudan who against all odds, after 20 years, returned to help rebuild his country.
A co-founder of Unveil Studios, Matt continues to pursue remarkable stories and well crafted film.
Daniel Kooman
Producer
As a cinematographer and director, Daniel Kooman has traveled to more than 25 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America to document stories.
Daniel has worked as both director and editor on The Story, A Filmmaker’s Search for Revival and the documentary Africa Sing Me Your Song.
The Story was his feature film directorial debut. Driven to tell stories that challenge and inspire, he is a cofounder of Unveil Studios.
She Has A Name, his second feature film, won 5 Top Indie Film Awards, including Best Feature and was called a “cinematic triumph.” It is currently available on Amazon Prime.