A few months ago I advertised for an artist to collaborate with on a 4-issue undersea horror/sci-fi miniseries that is currently in production with a well known UK Indie publisher. I was successful in finding someone (hooray!) and that miniseries should, all being well, be published in late 2016/early 2017.
I do have a few other stories that I want to develop and pitch to publishers in the period between finishing the last script for my miniseries and the eventual publication date.
I am seeking an artist for a crime/action/thriller 4 issue miniseries that I am developing. I have a pitch document written, as well as the first 8 script pages completed. I am now working on fleshing out an outline for the entire 4 issues and will complete the full script for #1 soon enough.
Here is a synopsis of the story, which is entitled 'Red Winter':
Eli Winter was a well-respected NYPD Detective who was idolized by his peers and feared by the criminal element in equal measure…until rumours began to circulate that Winter was corrupt, in the pocket of the Russian mafia in NYC – specifically the feared boss Nikolai Dubrovsky, of the ‘Rasplata Rytsari’ (The Knights Reckoning) gang. Before any charges could be brought against him, both Winter and Dubrovsky disappeared, eventually resurfacing in Moscow with Winter living under a new identity.
Our story picks up with Eli living in Kapotnya, Moscow and working for Dubrovsky. He hates it there. It’s too cold, he can’t stand the food and the fact he is now at Dubrovsky’s beck and call is a constant source of frustration. He knows he owes the old Russian bastard; after all, he’d be in jail back in America without him, but being his hired hand in a strange foreign country was not how he imagined spending his twilight years.
Eli is called to a murder scene at the beginning of #1. Several of Dubrovsky’s men have been gunned down at one of their drug labs and all the lab’s money/merchandise has been stolen. Dubrovksy wants Eli to investigate and bring him the people responsible. Eli actually likes this new task as it makes him feel like a cop again, not the ‘criminal with a badge’ he had become during his time with the NYPD. Of course, it helps if he doesn’t think about the morality of finding wrongdoers only to turn them over to Dubrovsky to, most likely, murder them.
It is revealed that the murders were actually committed by Eli’s son, Eli Jr (or Joseph, his middle name, as he prefers to be known). Joseph had always had a troubled relationship with his dad and Eli hasn’t seen his son at all in over five years.
Joseph says he was convinced to come to Moscow by his friend Yuri, who was going to vouch for him to join the lowest rung of the ‘Chistyye Krovi’ (Pure Bloods) gang. This gang is the main rival to Dubrovsky’s, and busting up the meth lab was Joseph’s way of proving himself to the gang. Joseph now realises he's in way over his head and needs his father's help.
Will Winter protect his estranged son and go against the man he owes his freedom and life to? How did Joseph know where to find his dad? And is everything as it seems with the young man? Clue: it's not.
For the pitch, we'd be needing those 8 script pages pencilled and inked initially, as well as potentially a cover (although that's not essential for every publisher's submission guidelines).
As of right now, drawing these initial pitch pages wouldn't be a paying gig. I'd love to be able to, but all my extra cash is going to my artist for the current miniseries in production. Sorry.
However, should the pitch be picked up by a publisher, obviously then the artist would be paid a page rate to continue on past those 8 pages and the project rights would be owned 50/50 between writer and artist.If anyone is interested, please send me a PM or e-mail mikeonfireAThotmailDOTcom with samples of your work and I can send you the pitch document and script pages to see if you like the sound of the project.
Thanks!