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When a teen learns she’s been living a lie she enlists her friends in a fantastical, frightening adventure into her dreams to unravel her family’s secrets.

Typically, a dream is like watching a movie. You’re an observer unable to control the situation.

The monster chasing you is getting closer, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

But in a lucid dream, you are aware you are dreaming. Everything becomes hyper-real and completely under your control. You can make the monster disappear. Or you can become the monster.

From Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed film Inception to Billie Eilish’s breakout album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Lucid dreaming is a phenomenon that captivates many but happens to few. It’s estimated that less than 20% of the population experience recurring lucid dreams.

An even more rare phenomenon: Mutual Dreaming or “Dream Sharing.” Dream sharing is when two or more people meet and interact within the same dream world. The concept of mutual dreaming was first brought to light in 1921 by neurologist Sigmund Freud and has been the subject of countless scientific studies and top-secret government experiments.

These phenomena: Lucid Dreaming and Mutual Dreaming, are the backbone of my TV show, All’s Not Lost.

All’s Not Lost is a sci-fi/thriller/coming-of-age epic.

Set in modern-day New York City, the fantastical meets harsh reality as we explore the power of the subconscious mind and test the determination of one twisted teenage girl.

A strikingly cinematic and extraordinarily moving adventure that transcends modern sci-fi but grounds itself in the reality of human ability. Like Nolan’s Inception meets Hanna, but written for teen/young adult audiences- with plenty of romance, drama, and relatable humor.

MEET OCTOBER “TOBIE” OWENS. Sixteen. She’s a military brat with a wild imagination.

Tobie’s life has been riddled with mysterious tragedy. Her mom was a high-profile military operator who went missing years ago and is presumed dead. Tobie’s grandmother also “disappeared” after she came to visit last summer.

Raised single-handedly by her Lieutenant Colonel father, Tobie’s life has always been filled with rules. Rules to keep her safe. Rules to keep her father happy. No public schooling. No

electronics. No friends outside of the military base. This year, Tobie’s intent on breaking every. single. one. because she feels it’s only a matter of time before she disappears too.

So when they get relocated to Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn, NY, Tobie sees this as the perfect opportunity to spread her wings.

And then her dad gets murdered.

With no other family to take her, Tobie is shipped off to the Upper East Side to live with a foster family - the Matthews. A wealthy, powerful couple desperate to become parents. But Tobie isn’t orphan Annie, and she isn’t here to play family.

Reeling and out for revenge, Tobie throws herself into finding the culprit. When all signs point to her missing (supposedly dead) mother - Tobie is forced to revisit her tumultuous childhood to find clues. She quickly realizes that the proof is in her most painful memories, which have been repressed and live in her subconscious memory. The only way to access them? Dreams.

As Tobie and her friends embark on an adventure through the fantastical (and often frightening) world of her dreams, the line between what is true and what is imaginary blurs. Tobie finds herself chasing maybes on a manhunt that forces her to reckon with everything she thought she knew about the past.

As the mystery unfolds, Tobie realizes that her mother and grandmother aren’t the only women in her family who have “disappeared.” And that her father, whose death is somehow connected, wasn’t the innocent man everyone thought he was.

What starts as a captivating whodunnit quickly becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse. As high-crime clashes play out in subconscious and real-world realms, we learn that Tobie isn’t innocent either.

When she’s not dreaming, Tobie will navigate her new reality - the world of New York City’s youngest elites. We’ll meet the celebrity kids, heirs, and trust fund babies that make up the student body of Tobie’s new high school. Surprisingly, they’re not all spoiled brats, and Tobie’s new friends have a lot to teach her. She’ll fall in love with classmate Drew, go to epic parties, and finally make an Instagram account.

Tobie will walk the line between fantasy and reality, genius and insanity. If she gets in too deep - she just might lose her mind. What Tobie and her friends discover will leave us shell-shocked.

And what they learn will stay with us long after the credits roll.

EPISODES

All’s Not Lost is a serial show spanning eight one-hour episodes. The episodes are listed in chronological order below.

MY FREEDOM IS FATAL SK8 THE CARNIVAL OF 1939 DAYMARES QUEEN OF CHAOS OJO MAMA HIGH ON HOPE

DREAM WORLD

Dream World is the center of our story. Each episode will take us further into the inner workings of Tobie’s brilliant mind. Dream World and the character of TJ are used to externalize Tobie’s inner conflict and personify her brain activity. Disney’s smash hit Inside Out achieved a similar feat.

TJ Think the Devil on Tobie’s shoulder.

TJ is Tobie’s “Inner Child.”

Everyone’s talking about the psychology theory of the “Inner Child.” The idea is that we all have a childlike aspect of ourselves that subconsciously influences our choices as adults. Adults with traumatic childhoods often work with therapists to heal their “Inner Child.” This allows them to let go of fears, negative behaviors, and trauma responses that still affect them as adults.

But what if an Inner Child doesn’t want to heal?

Meet TJ, an eight-year-old version of Tobie with a major head injury and an axe to grind.

There’s something sinister about her. TJ’s dad is dead, not cool. What’s worse? Her mom is alive. This means Mom didn’t die when TJ was five- she abandoned her.

Tobie doesn’t want to find Mom; she wants to move on. But why should Tobie get to move on with her new family when TJ never got a family in the first place? TJ doesn’t want to “heal” like Tobie’s therapist says she should. TJ wants payback. She wants revenge on everyone who ever hurt her. Most of all? She wants to find Mom. Once Mom realizes what a mistake it was to abandon TJ, she’ll beg for forgiveness. If she doesn’t? Then she’ll pay too.

TJ is a character to be played by a child who is seen in Tobie’s dreams. We’ll also see her in waking life from Tobie’s perspective. TJ “haunts” Tobie much like the dead people haunt Cole in The Sixth Sense.

TJ is a master manipulator. She’s behind every thought, action, and word Tobie has. She is the Creator of Tobie’s dreams. The dreams (and the memories hidden within) are curated so that Tobie only sees what TJ wants her to see.

Why? What is TJ hiding?

Perhaps our most complicated character, TJ will go to war with Tobie over the truth.

Eventually, she’ll become at peace as Tobie reckons and finally reconciles with her dark past.

SK8 At the heart of Dream World is “SK8”' or the School With Eight Floors - a high-tech, otherworldly institution that holds the key to Tobie’s repressed memories. Conjured by TJ, SK8 is representative of Tobie’s hippocampus and is the vessel for Tobie’s subconscious adventures.

There are Eight Floors. The first floor holds a database of long-term memories and lists where they are stored in the School. These memories hold clues (i.e., snippets of conversations, events, and people from the past) that will help Tobie find her mother. But because many of these memories have been repressed and are not easily accessible, Tobie must enter them in an altered state - a dream state.

She’ll need to locate the memories using the database to do this. Then, she’ll plug in the memory’s location and be taken via an elevator-like portal. From there, Tobie will unlock the

memory. The Delta Train will pick her up and take her to a dream. She’ll travel to otherworldly locations that the imagination could only conjure - an ocean dusted with stars, a desert filled with ancient ruins, a clock that turns back time, a terrifyingly twisted carnival, and much more. Here Tobie will find clues that unlock new memories and help her piece together the past.

Many of these worlds have dark undertones, and Tobie quickly realizes that nothing is as it seems. Memories are fabricated, TJ tracks her every move, and the students she meets at SK8 aren’t students - they’re watchdogs.

Tensions rise as dreams descend into nightmares and Tobie and TJ battle for control. Can Tobie use TJ’s subconscious weapons against her? Tobie will work to outsmart the Creator and uncover the real truth of her past.

Tobie’s Dream World is high concept, cinematic eye candy. The action, adventure, and fantastical nature of this world will transport viewers and keep them on the edge of their seats, but at the end of the day, our characters will keep the audience coming back for more.

CHARACTERS DREW TAYLOR, 16, the popular son of a top neurosurgeon and world-renowned artist, knows exactly what he’ll be doing twenty years from now. Drew has a plan: Go to Columbia, med school, and work his way up to becoming a neurosurgeon at New York-Presbyterian. Then he’ll get rich, get married, have kids, get divorced, have a midlife crisis, etc. Is this what he wants?

No. But he’d never tell you that. Drew’s plan is going perfectly - he’s applying to college, volunteering at the hospital, and juggling the care of his little sister on his own. Drew’s good at doing things on his own. He likes it - it means he doesn’t need to rely on anyone. So he puts his head down, gets shit done, and keeps his distance.

Then Tobie shows up.

Tobie’s loud, adventurous, and blunt - everything that Drew is not. She scares and excites him and brings out a side of him that no one’s seen before. Tobie finds her way into his dreams (and heart) as they blur the lines between fantasy and reality on a wild cross-country adventure.

Before he knows it, Drew is falling in love - not part of the plan. Throughout the series, Drew comes to terms with not wanting to achieve the plans he’s worked so hard towards. Drew is not sure what the future holds, but for the first time, he dares to dream of a life he can look forward to.

Meanwhile, as Tobie dives deeper into Drew’s world, she realizes that the Taylor family is keeping a terrible secret, and she might be Drew’s only hope.

MIA RODRIGUEZ, 16, is Type A, slightly neurotic, and the best friend you could ever ask for.

She was born and raised in Monterey, CA at Fort Hunter Liggett Army Base. Tobie moved down the street when they were eight, and the girls have been best friends ever since. Mia is prone to letting people walk all over her in the name of being polite. Despite this, she will do anything to make her dreams come true - she’ll just do it in a very non-confrontational, considerate way.

Mia goes to the ends of the earth to support Tobie, to be a perfect friend. So much so that she even gets involved in a high-stakes serial killer chase. But being perfect 24/7 is starting to take its toll. Mia is anxious, overwhelmed, and needs a friend too - but Tobie is wrapped up in finding her dad’s murderer and her new friends in Manhattan. Mia puts up with it for a while, but when Tobie’s selfish actions lead to an ultimate betrayal, she refuses to let Tobie trample over her. Mia finally starts putting herself and her happiness first - even if that means losing a friend or disappointing her parents.

Mia will take risks, break the rules, and stand her ground, discovering confidence she didn’t know she had.

ALLISON “ALLIE” MATTHEWS, the late 40s, is Tobie’s foster mom and the Principal of Louis Prep School. She’s whip-smart, confident, and charismatic. She’s also a little -okay a lotuptight. But behind a very put-together persona is a woman devastated by a decades-long struggle with infertility. Though she and her husband (Reginald) stopped trying for a baby five years ago, she hasn’t been able to move past the fact that she’ll never have a biological child.

A former foster youth, Allison was willing to give foster/adoption a try. Begrudgingly. But what starts as an emergency placement becomes something more, and Alison grows to love Tobie and her fiery personality. Over the course of the season, we’ll watch Allison open up, embrace the unexpected, and become the mother she’s always wanted to be.

REGINALD MATTHEWS, 60, is Alison’s husband and Chief of Department for the NYPD. Despite his high-up position, he’s warm, laid back and already working on his dad jokes.

Feeling like he’s running out of time, Reginald is desperate to move forward and become a father through adoption. His sense of urgency versus Alison’s hesitation puts their marriage on the rocks. The divide widens when Tobie asks Reg to help track down her mother. They bond over a love of mystery-solving and Skittles- meanwhile, Tobie won’t give Alison a second look.

But when Tobie goes missing, Reg realizes there’s much more to this mystery than meets the eye. And Tobie’s intentions are anything but innocent.

The Students of Louis Prep School: Emma Lavelle, 17, A-list actress, dancer, and singer. A nepo baby and America’s darling.

Souzan, 16, heir to a massive international fortune, radical thinker, and self-made multimillionaire.

Tyler , 16, sweet jock on a scholarship. Secretly in love with Emma.

Garrett, 17, Emma’s boyfriend, total douchebag. Ridiculously wealthy because of his dad’s shady investments.

The first three will become Tobie’s close friends. Garrett will try to ruin Tobie’s life.

STRUCTURE Our show is serial and structured like a long film with three acts. This will allow us to explore multiple storylines in depth. Stakes rise as the series moves forward, leading to an explosive finale and stunning cliffhanger. This takes us right into Season Two. STORY ACT ONE

MY FREEDOM IS FATAL (EPISODE ONE) ​ ​

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Tobie’s father is murdered in cold blood. When all signs point to Tobie’s missing (supposedly dead) mother, she will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.

TJ has been waiting a long time for this day. She waited and was so patient for so long.

Now, she is finally free. TJ is excited about this new life but mostly excited to help Tobie find Mom. The plan is going perfectly. In the past, Tobie wanted nothing to do with Mom because Daddy said she was a bad woman (not true). But by framing Mom, TJ piques Tobie’s interest and will hopefully lead TJ right to her.

Alison and Reginald Matthews’ life is turned upside down when they receive an emergency foster placement. What started as a temporary situation becomes more long-term, and Alison has doubts about continuing to foster.

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Drew meets Tobie when giving her a tour of Louis Prep. There’s something different about Drew; Tobie’s not sure what until she enters his dreams. For the first time - she gets caught. No one’s ever caught Tobie breaking into a dream before. Realizing they share a connection, Tobie confides in Drew about her dark family history and enlists his help on her subconscious manhunt.

By hacking into a criminal database, Tobie discovers pieces of her mother’s mysterious past. This triggers repressed memories and throws us into Dream World. As Tobie and Drew explore her dreams and unlock the memories within, they uncover Tobie’s mom’s true identity (Selena) and murderous past. Tobie realizes she is her mother’s next target.

SK8 (EPISODE TWO) ​

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Tobie starts school at Louis Prep. Tobie and Drew race to find Selena before she finds them. The teens discover a web of mysterious murders and realize this is much bigger than one woman- Selena was framed. But by who? Tobie and Drew will have to solve TJ’s mind games and break into SK8 to find out. As new memories are revealed, the teens get more access to SK8 and the floors within. But when they get too close to the truth, dreams descend into terrifying, out-of-control nightmares. They soon realize TJ is hiding something from them- a memory locked away on the Eighth Floor that stands to destroy everything Tobie has built her life around.

In the Waking World, we dive into the politics of Louis Prep- the most elusive and exclusive high school in the country. Here we get to know Emma, 16, down-to-earth actress and daughter of A-list celebs, Souzan, 16, self-made crypto multimillionaire and radical thinker, Tyler, 16, sweet jock on a scholarship, and Garrett, 16, total douchebag. The first three will become Tobie’s close friends. Garrett will try to ruin Tobie’s life.

THE CARNIVAL OF 1939 (EPISODE THREE) ​

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Dreams take Tobie back in time to the scene of the crimes. Spread out across states, countries, and time itself; these mysterious murders have something major in common they were ordered by the United States government. As Tobie examines the lives of the victims and their untimely demise, she learns her father was part of a government operation responsible for the murders.

A wild Halloween party hosted by Garrett leads to a total loss of Tobie’s innocence, resulting in a fallout between Drew and Tyler. Emma and Souzan get revenge on Tobie’s behalf.

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Mia comes to visit Tobie and grapples with her jealousy towards Tobie’s new life and feelings of being forgotten.

Drew confesses his feelings for Tobie, which terrifies Tobie and TJ. ACT TWO

DAYMARES (EPISODE FOUR) ​

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After a breakthrough dream session, Tobie and Drew uncover correspondence that proves her father killed Tobie’s maternal family and then framed Selena. Why? The answer lies with Selena herself.

When the Matthews ask to adopt her, Tobie sees it as a fresh start. An opportunity to leave her dark past behind, to build a life with the kind of family she’s desperately wanted for years. But on New Year’s Eve, a nightmare conjured by TJ drives Tobie to the end of her rope, leading her to betray Drew and the Matthews and forcing her to continue the investigation into her parent’s pasts. There’s something that TJ is running from - a secret bound to come to light if Tobie stays in New York.

QUEEN OF CHAOS (EPISODE FIVE) ​ ​ ​

A dead end leaves Tobie (and the audience) questioning whether this is all in her head.

TJ makes Tobie turn down the Matthews’ offer to adopt her. In her grief, Tobie throws herself into locating her mother. At odds with Drew, Tobie faces TJ and the treacherous halls of SK8 alone. Finally, after an anonymous tip and new memories come into play, Tobie discovers her mother is in California.

OJO (EPISODE SIX) ​

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Tobie becomes increasingly reckless, and Drew intervenes. They make up and enter the most high-stakes dream yet: The Desert of Ojo. Lawless, highly dangerous, and riddled with TJ’s undercover agents, this ghost town holds the final clue to Selena’s exact whereabouts. As they decode Tobie’s wildest dream, they pinpoint her current location.

With her mother located, TJ sets her sights on eliminating her.

In an attempt to reconcile, Mia invites Tobie to celebrate Mia’s birthday with her family in California. TJ sees this as the perfect excuse to take Tobie across the country to find Mom. Tobie, against TJ and Mia’s will, brings Drew along.

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Tobie and Drew ditch Mia, steal a car and head north for Tobie’s mom. Mia alerts her parents and the authorities.

ACT THREE MAMA (EPISODE SEVEN) ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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The Matthews leave for California, trying to get to Tobie before she puts herself in peril.

Back in Manhattan, Emma, Souzan and Tyler help Tobie and Drew remotely. A new romance begins.

Tobie and Drew navigate their way up the West Coast. They sightsee, roam creepy abandoned motels, and even take down a drug lord on their way to Monterey Bay. If there’s one thing they’ve learned, they work better together. Tobie tracks down her mom and finds that she’s been watching Tobie this whole time. Tobie will learn more about the nefarious motive behind her dad’s rogue mission, and the real reason her mother “disappeared.” In a shocking twist, Tobie’s mom proves not to be Dad’s killer.

In a stunning act of defiance, Tobie refuses to go through with TJ’s plan to kill their mother.

HIGH ON HOPE (EPISODE EIGHT) ​

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A series of clues throughout the show leads to a staggering discovery about Drew’s family. This discovery will force Tobie to become the person Drew and the Matthews. To do this, she needs to learn the complete truth of her past to confront it and move forward. But TJ won’t go down without a fight. An all-out war to control Tobie’s past, present, and future begins in the subconscious realm.

After Tobie wins control of the past, SK8’s Eighth floor is unlocked, and the secrets TJ was protecting Tobie from come to light.

Tobie explores her new memories and a traumatic childhood she had almost completely forgotten. Finally, with the help of her new friends, and the Matthews, Tobie begins healing.

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In the final dream, Tobie is revealed as her father’s killer. A secret hidden by TJ to protect Tobie. With this new information, Tobie must find a way to move forward without losing everything and everyone she loves.

TONE/STYLE

The visual style of the show is cinematic, moody, and compelling. The cinematography will be bold, vibrant, and dynamic in movement. The pacing is fast but allows important moments to breathe.

Because All’s Not Lost is set in the present day, it will feature many of our 21st-century constants like smartphones, the internet, and weed candy (just kidding - maybe). We can expect some early 2000s references because that is the period in which our characters grew up. This will also connect strongly with Gen Z, our target audience. However, the show should feel timeless, and these details will be used sparingly.

All’s Not Lost is a love letter to New York City and the way it inspires residents to move forward despite opposition and build the life they want. This is something Tobie learns. It’s something I’ve learned too since living in the city. So, even though the streets smell like piss and the subway is wild, the magic of Manhattan will play a big part in this show, and we’ll be romanticizing it.

SEASON 2 Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.

Just keep going.

No feeling is final.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

After Tobie is revealed as her father’s killer, we are launched into a dramatic trial.

Everything is at stake - she has to prove the killing was justified or lose decades of her life in prison. So Tobie and Drew dive into newly unlocked memories, searching for evidence of abuse to support her case.

Tobie’s mother is revealed as the leader of the Dream Keepers, a military intelligence operation gone rogue. The Keepers, once working with the government, are a group of individuals with abilities similar to Tobie’s. When the government tried to use the Keepers’ abilities to promote the Afghanistan War, they broke away. The Keepers want one thing - to inspire individual thought and personal liberty.

The Dream Catchers, a government agency actively working against the Keepers, uses technology to access dream worlds and subconscious realms. They steal, manipulate, and destroy dreams and memories to oppress opposing forces and stay in power. We discover that Tobie’s father was a Catcher and targeted Tobie’s mother, Selena.

The Catcher’s influence is more powerful than Tobie could have imagined. Suddenly jurors, the public, and even Tobie’s lawyers are turning against her. Tobie will lose friends, miss part of her senior year of high school, and have to take real responsibility for the first time. She’ll also grow into her abilities, fall deeper in love with Drew, and connect with the mother she barely knew.

The Keepers, stunned by the breadth of Tobie’s natural-born abilities, give Tobie the training and resources she needs to reach her full potential and hopefully, help them defeat the Catchers once and for all. They put Tobie to the test, pushing her to subconscious limits and revealing the Government’s best-kept secrets. Tobie and TJ will work together this season to counteract the Catchers influence and preserve Tobie’s dreams and memories.

In the waking world, we’ll follow Tobie’s trial as she fights like hell for freedom and a future with the Matthews. But when Tobie is given an opportunity to escape and live in the Keepers’ world, will she follow in her mother’s footsteps or risk everything for a chance at a life with the people she loves?

The second season will be gritty and rooted in character. Our characters will walk the line between hero and villain, and we’ll learn that there’s beauty and terror in everyone- it’s what side we lean into that matters.

Finally…

I hope you’re as excited about this story as I am. In a true exploration of human nature, we delve into everything that makes us human. The good and bad. The darkness and light in all of us. All’s Not Lost is thrilling, mysterious, romantic, and, most of all - hopeful and young.

While this show has sci-fi fantasy elements, it is not a fantasy series. All’s Not Lost is about a teenager struggling with her mental health. It’s about the impact our parents have on us. It’s about showing our audience that hurt people can heal.

The ability to connect with people makes our line of work so special. To make them feel less alone and give them something and someone to root for. This story shows that things, no matter how bad they seem, will get better. So look towards the future because all’s not lost.

- Caitlin Costello, creator of All’s Not Lost caitlincostello316@gmail.com Registered w/ US Copyright Office WGAW Registration #2136131