SOLAR STORM: Story Idea and Original Idea Joe Rabl Screenplay Thomas Rushforth © Joe Rabl and Thomas Rushforth Writing Team Introduction

SOLAR STORM Story Idea and Original Idea Joe Rabl Screenplay Thomas Rushforth © Joe Rabl and Thomas Rushforth

Writing Team Introduction Joe Rabl is an Actor and Producer from Graz, Austria. He moved to the United States attending acting schools in Los Angeles (Harry Mastrogeorge acting classes and Stella Adler classes) & New York (Lee Strasberg Institute) and made his début in the Hollywood production of "Godzilla" (TriStar Pictures, Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin) followed by "Breakdown" (Paramount Pictures, Dino de Laurentiis, Jonathan Mostow) with Kurt Russell. In addition he worked for David Geffen (Geffen records, co-founder of DreamWorks movie studios). As a commercial model and actor Joe RABL stands in front of the camera in Austria and Germany for photo campaigns, TV and print commercials and magazines. Since 2007 he is working for 3Austria, EnBW, Sixt Germany, DEKRA, Bang & Olufsen runs SAP worldwide, Mercedes, Württemberger Wine (Württemberg most beautiful sunset), Pro7, Sat1, Arte, ARD and ORF. In 2012 Joe has launched his production company Pelican Pictures to foster international collaboration and generate projects with commercial value and artistic integrity.

The idea of Solar Storm. I spent six months working on a trawler out of Dutch Harbour, Alaska in the Bering Sea and, apart from the savage beauty of the ocean and nature around me, my eye was drawn to the firmament above and the mystical wonder and spectacle of the Aurora Borealis. The shapes and colours of the Sun's charged particles interacting with the upper atmosphere producing what the Cree called the 'Dance of the Spirits'...It reminded me that despite our technological advances we are a part of Nature and its forces and therefore there are influences on us beyond our control. Natural disasters are all too obvious in the way they disrupt our lives but what about the more subtle unconscious effect of the environment on us. We are usually aware of how we feel when it rains or shines, if we're hot or cold and how our mood changes depending on how much light we receive to open our eyes, open our hearts...but can we be engaged at a level deeper than we suspect.

Having talked with a senior police officer I found out that it is no urban myth that the emergency services are more busy at the time of a full-moon...what if the Sun could have a similar effect on human behaviour...2013 marks the climax of the 11 year cycle of solar activity and there have been some amazing images captured by astronomers of solar flares this year but what if the Earth's natural defence of gravity deflecting the waves of coronal mass ejections to the poles is impaired either as result of man-made environmental impact or an unusual scale of event...what if our scientific studies geared to the protection of electrical infrastructure have ignored the 'danger' to the human being's physical and psychological metabolism...what if the all-pervasive commercial imperative behind the safeguarding of satellites, communication networks, power grids etc. is ignoring something fundamental...the effect on ourselves...this is the genesis of Solar Storm.

Thomas Rushforth is an Actor and Screenwriter based in London, United Kingdom. After studying English and Drama at university he went on to train as an actor at The London and International School of Acting, The Studio (Royal National Theatre) and The Company of Creative Artists (Claude Chagrin) and has participated in explorations of text and performance at Shakespeare's Globe, Soho Theatre, Actor's Centre, LoNyLa and the Shakespeare Readers' Society. His stage career has included a wide range of genre and style including the classics, physical work and new writing before moving latterly in to audio and film. During the last four years Thomas has had recognition at a number of international film festivals namely: WildSound Short Screenplay Contest, Mexico International Film Festival Screenplay Competition, European Independent Film Festival Much More Than A script Competition, Queens International Film Festival & Gotham Screen International Film Festival Screenplay Contest and received rare feedback on his first original feature screenplay from the B.B.C. In addition he provides feedback and analysis as a script consultant, copy for prospective advertisements, additional dialogue and has co-translated scripts into English across a number of projects. The writing of Solar Storm The story-telling maxim of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and/or doing extraordinary things is given a wonderful conceit in the premise of Solar Storm – the characters trapped in their different lives are given a licence to find a way out of their problems, doing things they wouldn't normally do and coincide because of the governing factors beyond their control – however they are not just pawns in some cosmic game of providence because what particularly interests me is the very personal way they try and understand and deal with what happens to them. If you contest the scientific interpretation of research done on the phenomenon of the effect on human behaviour by solar activity then this 'abstract' idea is made real by someone failing a test that they normally would ace...if there is a victim of the global economic downturn, losing their job having tried to better their life or someone seeking a new life and being exploited, there can be a tendency to be immune to these stories because of their regularity in our news-saturated lives...but to find a way to show these people as individuals with individual needs and concerns – to engage an audience with a dramatic style to enquire about the motivation of their actions then there is an invitation to think again, about the cause and effect flap of the butterfly wings, this time captured through the lens of a motion camera. So themes of financial crises, environment, abusive relationships, economic migration and human trafficking, social crises, identity and love are explored through the very personal journeys of the characters and identify things that affect us all.

Further Information https://www.facebook.com/Solastorm https://www.facebook.com/PelicanPictures www.joerabl.net http://thomasrushforth.co.uk