I'm a big fan of Derrick Comedy, and loved their feature film Mystery Team.  One of the group's members, DC Pierson, went on to write an amazing young-adult novel, The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To.  The plot revolves around a high-school outsider and his friend who has the ability to manifest his thoughts into the real world.

What makes the book so terrific is that Pierson perfectly tapped into the reality of his characters.  It gave me flashbacks to my own time in high school by picking up on the little details like when someone tells you "You're a good drawer."  The book is also filled with great humor and is surprisingly bittersweet.  Reading it, I could easily see it becoming a great film, and that's what Pierson, Mystery Team director Dan Eckman, and producer Meggie McFadden are trying to do.

The trio has put together a proof-of-concept video to attract financing, and so hopefully this video will attract financier who are interesting in backing what could be a fantastic young-adult movie.  It doesn't have werewolves, vampire, or the post-apocalypse, but it does have rocket boots and ray guns.  I vote for rocket boots and ray guns.

Watch the video below.

THE BOY WHO COULDN'T SLEEP AND NEVER HAD TO proof-of-concept from Dan Eckman on Vimeo.

Here's more info about the film:

Director Dan Eckman (“Community,” “Mystery Team”) and his frequent collaborators Meggie McFadden and DC Pierson are adapting Pierson’s award-winning novel The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep And Never Had To into a feature film. The filmmakers self-produced this proof-of-concept short starring Tony Revolori (Best Picture nominee “The Grand Budapest Hotel”) and Jack Quaid (“The Hunger Games”), and are actively seeking financing for the feature film version.

 

The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep And Never Had To is a coming-of-age sci-fi adventure in the tradition of Back To The Future, with classic teen-movie themes like friendship, first love, and betrayal playing out on a superhuman scale.

 

Darren, a high school outcast whose only refuge is his homemade comic book, gets launched into an adventure way cooler than anything he could dream up when he discovers his best friend has no biological need for sleep and can bring their dreams into reality.

 

Composed of equal parts action, humor, and heart, this story of a comic book fan who finds himself in a real-life superhero movie will make audiences believe that anything is possible.

 

Dan, Meggie, and DC are repped by their lawyer Lev Ginsburg at Ginsburg Daniels LLP. Inquiries can also be directed to whocouldntsleep@gmail.com.

boy-who-couldnt-sleep