Incarnations

Logline: Desperate to reunite with his deceased four-year-old son, a brilliant Ivy League biologist journeys to Tibet, sacrificing his career and marriage to obsessively pursue the meaning of a mysterious epigenetic marker—the “fingerprint of the soul”—that may be proof of reincarnation.

Comps: The scientific obsession and parental grief of ARRIVAL meets the beauty and spirituality of SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET.

Written by Albert M. Chan, Incarnations is a grounded sci-fi drama feature screenplay that is “Black List Recommended.”

Incarnations was recently selected for a 2022-2023 Humanitas New Voices Fellowship as a work that explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way.

Incarnations won First Place in the Best Screenplay competition at the Oscar-accredited Rhode Island International Film Festival. The screenplay was also a finalist for the Tracking Board Launch Pad Feature Competition, Screencraft Film Fund, Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Screenplay Competition, Emerging Screenwriters Genre Screenplay Competition, and Emerging Screenwriters Sci-Fi & Fantasy Screenplay Competition.

“THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MINDBLOWING, AND HEARTFELT, INCARNATIONS BLENDS SCIENCE-FICTION, SPIRITUALITY, AND PATHOS TO CREATE SOMETHING WHOLLY NEW AND MEMORABLE… INCARNATIONS HOOKS OUR ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY WITH ITS MINDBLOWING HIGH CONCEPT. THE EXECUTION THAT FOLLOWS IS THOUGHTFUL AND HUMAN… INCREDIBLY POWERFUL AND STIRRING, A UNIQUE CATHARSIS ONLY THIS SCRIPT AND THIS CONCEPT CAN DELIVER.”
– The Black List

“CLEVER, ORIGINAL, INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING, AND GRIPPING, A HIGH CONCEPT IDEA THAT TRANSLATES INTO A SMART CHARACTER- AND IDEA-DRIVEN STORY… THE PLOT TWISTS ARE CONSISTENTLY SURPRISING… THE KIND OF LOW-BUDGET, INTELLECTUAL THRILLER THAT PLAYS AT SUNDANCE… THE IDEAS ARE KING HERE.”
– The Black List

“SOARS EMOTIONALLY WITHOUT EVER FEELING SENTIMENTAL, CLOYING, OR FALSE… THE SCRIPT IS TRULY UNIQUE. IT’S UNLIKE ANYTHING THE READER HAS SEEN BEFORE: A FASCINATING PREMISE WITH AN ENTHRALLING WORLD.”
– Bluecat

“INCARNATIONS DELIVERS ON ALL THE BEST PARTS OF A GOOD CEREBRAL SPECULATIVE FICTION PIECE. IT DOESN’T SHY AWAY FROM THE HUMAN QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE PREMISE, INSTEAD USING THE CONCEPT TO GROUND A COMPELLING CHARACTER-DRIVEN NARRATIVE FRONT TO END… A WELL-CRAFTED AND DEEPLY INTELLIGENT PIECE OF FICTION, THOUGHT-PROVOKING IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS.”
– WeScreenplay

“THE CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE STRONGEST PART OF THIS STORY AND IT SETS A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR PLOT… SO MUCH OF THE DIALOGUE IS POWERFUL… REFRESHINGLY HONEST… THE ENDING WAS INCREDIBLY EMOTIVE… THERE ARE MEANINGFUL MESSAGES THAT WE’RE LEFT WITH, THAT WE’VE LEARNT ALONG THE JOURNEY WITH THE CHARACTERS.”
– WeScreenplay

The Verge of Seas

Logline: A grieving widower, struggling to raise two young sons, returns to his childhood lake house, where he becomes trapped in a parallel universe in which he’s been dead 30 years, his kids have a different adoptive father, and his late husband—the love of his life—is not only alive… but straight.

Comps: ANOTHER EARTH meets THE FUGITIVE meets BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

The Verge of Seas, a “Black List Recommended” feature screenplay written by Albert M. Chan, is a sci-fi love story that was a Second Rounder in the 2024 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition and a finalist for the 2024 Shore Scripts – OutHere: An LGBTQIA+ Screenwriting Contest.

“A BEAUTIFUL, GROUNDED SCIENCE-FICTION JOURNEY… RAW AND HEARTFELT… A UNIQUE VOICE AND CONCEPT THAT FULLY DELIVERS AN EMOTIONALLY-CHARGED STORY.”
– The Black List

“IMPRESSIVE AND ENTERTAINING… LIKE SOME OF THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION IN CINEMA, ITS STRENGTH DID NOT RELY ON EPIC BATTLES WITH MONSTERS OR MIND-BLOWING EFFECTS, BUT INSTEAD IN ITS ORIGINAL IDEAS, HEARTFELT MESSAGING, AND WELL-CRAFTED STORYTELLING FROM A WRITER WHO SEEMS TO ACTUALLY HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.”
– Austin Film Festival

“HEART AND EXCELLENT STORYTELLING… AN EMINENTLY ENJOYABLE ROMANTIC FANTASY FILM THAT’S WELL-PACED AND CLEVERLY PLOTTED… THE WRITING IS STELLAR.”
– The Black List

“THE SCRIPT BEAUTIFULLY COMBINES THE GENRES OF SCI-FI AND ROMANCE INTO AN INNOVATIVE NARRATIVE ABOUT THE POWER OF LOVE AND CHOSEN DESTINY… THERE IS A VERY PROFICIENT TALENT BEHIND THIS SCREENPLAY… ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING ELEMENTS… IS THE INTRICATE NUANCES CULTIVATED WITHIN THE DIALOGUE. THIS ALLOWS THE SCENES TO TEEM WITH SUBTLE EMOTION, MAKING FOR WILDLY ENTERTAINING EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS… IT’S PRETTY EASY TO ENVISION THIS BECOMING A HIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTER SCRIPT IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET… AN IMMENSELY ENTERTAINING STORY THAT DESERVES TO FIND SUCCESS IN A CINEMATIC MEDIUM!”
– The Black List

“A PRETTY EXCEPTIONAL SCRIPT. SUBTLE AND ELEGANT IN ITS HANDLING OF BOTH DIFFICULT SUBJECT MATTER AND A HIGH CONCEPT MYSTERY… IMMENSELY POWERFUL AND ENTERTAINING… THE STRENGTH OF THIS SCRIPT LIES WITH THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS WHO SLOWLY COME TO LIFE BEFORE OUR EYES, IMPERFECTIONS, CONFLICTS AND ALL… THERE’S PLENTY OF UNDERSTATED HUMOR WOVEN IN BETWEEN THE DRAMA.”
– The Black List

“WITH A BRILLIANT PREMISE, POIGNANT RELATIONSHIPS AND THEMES AT PLAY, AND STRONG WRITING THROUGHOUT, THIS SCRIPT DELIVERS A THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND ENGAGING READ… COMPELLING AND EXCITING FROM START TO FINISH… THE QUEER LOVE STORY AT THE CORE IS REFRESHING AND HEARTFELT.”
– The Black List