Francie's Writing Projects

The Projects

1. LIFE ON EARTH—Dramatic Scripted Series

    The word “homeless” conjures up a whole wave of preconceptions, stereotypes and emotions. This series turns them all upside down. Based on the real life experience of Francie Lora, the show follows Marina and Jim, a competent, attractive, well-educated couple in their 50s, who lose all of their material possessions. Set in Los Angeles against the backdrop of the rich and famous in their mansions and the down and out in their tents, Marina and Jim do not belong in either world, but have to navigate between both.

    Although we will see them living at the brink of survival every week, this story is not about the struggles of poverty. It is about the deeper meaning of this Life on Earth. When money is absent from the picture, the focus falls to other essentials: gratitude felt for the gift of another day, appreciation for the richness of relationships and the joy of following your dream.

    A one hour drama, true story, just as ‘Orange is the New Black’, acts as a Trojan horse, allowing the audience to enter an unknown world, ‘Life On Earth’  takes us into the world of our deepest fears: What would happen if I lost my home and everything else that I love and had no life raft in sight in sight? We enter the subculture of the homeless and simultaneously, a foray into the world of the extremely wealthy, as Marina’s solution to becoming homeless is to housesit for the ‘haves’.

2. INTO THE STILLNESS—Feature

    The true story of Sarah (20s), in charge of a ward of women condemned to spend their lives in an state institution for women. Working against the criminally abusive administrators of the institution, Sarah becomes the only advocate and witness, and a beacon of hope for the women, secretly helping them, until she is herself viciously attacked by a serial killer and ends up dying and going into the light. But it is the voices and the love of the women she has cared for that call her back to life and to the women to share in their journey of healing, and surviving a final dramatic tragic ending in the school, which then ignites positive change. This is the story of one woman’s journey from fear to strength; light to darkness; innocence to grace and wisdom; girlhood to womanhood; and discovery of self through passion and devotion to something greater than herself.

3. AROKIAM—Feature

    Ellona, a bright, vivacious 7-year-old, moves to India with her missionary parents whose work is to orchestrate health programs for the masses. On her first day in India, Ellona is drawn into a magical world, beckoned by a young neighbor boy who draws her to his village, where she finds her herself delivering a baby, and as a result meeting Arokiam, a ‘sadu’ or high Hindu holy man. Arokiam tells her he has been waiting for Ellona to come, and that her destiny is linked to his. He prophesizes that her life will be full of challenge and pain and suffering, and says he will teach her how to be okay with it. A magical relationship between the holy man and Ellona ensues, as he draws her into his world and teaches her the mysteries of the East, while her parents are mostly absent, busy with their humanitarian efforts. This is a magical story about the relationship of a young Western girl and her Eastern mentor/holy man as she grows and learns about about trust, healing, mysticism and a greater connection, as her surrender to her destiny begins.  This is a true story and spans seven years.

4. SCHOOL FOR THE ENEMY—Scripted Mini-Series

    A powerful, inspirational true story of Francie Lora’s father, Telfer Mook who, during World War II,  opened a school and impacted the lives of thousands of Japanese children being held in the prisoner of war camp on the island of Tinian, in the Mariana Islands, in the South Pacific. Set against the back drop of the capture of the island and the construction of America’s most forward air base in the Pacific, in the shadow of the Enola Gay and the unleashing of the atomic bomb. Providing education for 6,000 children, Telfer Mook wrote his own text books, trained the teachers, oversaw the building of buildings, built an outdoor theater, and taught the Japanese how to grow their own food. Meanwhile, Telfer’s own family has its drama, the struggles of his wife teaching school back in Iowa to children whose fathers are absent because they have gone to war, his own aristocratic family supporting the war efforts, and his own children growing up missing their father, in a tale laced with intrigue, betrayals, disease, romance, hilarity, heartbreak and friendships.

5. LAUGHTER IN THE IVY—Scripted Mini-Series

    ‘Laugher in the Ivy’, is a Downton Abbey American-style, inspired by Francie Lora’s own family saga. It shuttles through wars, depressions, riches, poverty, births, deaths, influenced by historical events, which carry this nation of immigrants one hundred and thirty years to the present. The upstairs, downstairs, ins and outs, agonies and ecstasies, heartaches and triumphs of one family that grows to the tune of its times, told in flashbacks, from Francie’s perspective in the present.

    John Campbell’s red hair was the filament for the first electric light bulb. And so the saga begins. John Campbell was Thomas Edison’s Scottish carpenter and friend. Ellona, his red headed daughter, was born with fire and electric laughter in her heart, a passion for horses and movement and a club foot. She challenged every boy in town to horse-cart racing, famous for the flaming curls that trailed behind her. And she always won. She captured the heart and passion of Walter Mook, the young son of a Dutch immigrant, a janitor at Standard Oil of New Jersey. It was 1885.

    Across the prairies, Addison Parker, a headstrong young Welshman, set out on foot from the Iowa farmlands, to go to law school in Des Moines. Knocking on doors, looking for work and a place to stay, he meets an established, wealthy woman, Mrs. Day. Mrs. Day’s son recently tragically died, and his vacated room and mother’s heart needed filling. Addison moved in. 

6. FINDING EVE—Dramatic Scripted Series

    1992-2002.  Rita, a grief counselor and single mother, and Kate, her rebellious teenage daughter, move from Charleston, South Carolina to re-invent themselves in New York City. The series follows a ten-year tale of complex intimacies and combative growth between the mother and daughter, supported by a glorious array of characters. Rita and Kate battle it out, as they both become strong women, endure tragedies together, and gain identities while finding loves and sometimes (inappropriately) sharing lovers, and find strength in each other’s love.  Until one day, on September 11^th, when Rita is summoned to downtown Stuyvesant High School where Kate has just begun a new job, and was killed in the terrorist attack. The series becomes the story of a woman dealing with her own grief while assisting others with theirs. The show explores the subtle and powerful ways loss of one human being affects others in unique and profound ways, and how everyone’s loss becomes a source of strength and growth.

7. NAKED ON THE TABLE—Dramedy Scripted Series

    A newly divorced single mother (40s) opens a massage practice to make ends meet, raising two teenage daughters, in her home in ultra-conservative Charleston, SC, drawing husbands who assume she is offering sex. When they realize she gives therapeutic massages only, they come back for a sympathetic ear, non-judgmental understanding, and to make their confessions. Soon their girlfriends, their mistresses, their wives, and men falling in love with her, come for massage sessions, all sharing their inner-most secrets and dreams and demons, while lying on the table. While becoming the “go-to” confessor in town, she has to deal with her own survival, a dying sister, meddling parents, her daughters’ budding sexualities, and her own need for healing and love, as she touches others and discovers her own power. Based on a true story.

8. WIND IN THE GARDEN—Feature

    Charleston, SC, 1989. Based on a true story. In the wake of heartbreak from her husband’s infidelity and bankruptcy, Lucy leaves her marriage and her insulated world of southern privilege, with two daughters (Eva, 8 and Lily, 11) to care for. With little qualifications, and desperate for work, Lucy lands a job selling vinyl siding for a sexist, Elvis-like character who is Charleston’s vinyl king. This colorful, hilarious relationship, fraught with fundamentalist Christian overtones propels Lucy’s into a whole new life, in which she rediscovers herself and her value as a person, after her the disappointments of her marriage. When Eva is suddenly diagnosed with juvenile diabetes while Lily is in her own personal crisis over the break-up of their family, Lucy needs to bring in extra income to make ends meet. She begins baking cookies and gives birth to her own Magic Cookie Company and stops selling vinyl siding. The business becomes wildly successful and Lucy, with her girls by her side, take over Charleston with their magic cookies, just before the onslaught of Hurricane Hugo’s devastation. Set against the backdrop of the seductive wealth of historic, conservative Charleston, South Carolina, this is a story about faith, family, love and overcoming obstacles.

“Out of the mud two strangers came…”   Two Tramps in Mud Time Robert Frost

9. TRAVELERS IN THE MUD–Scripted Dramatic Series

    Laurel and Samm—a child-like optimist and a manic-depressive genius—best friends and polar opposites—come of age at an elite boarding school for girls in Massachusetts, where strict rules and traditions clash with the lure of the 60s, and everything is life and death.

    Girls in the 1960s at the crucible for women—from Donna Reed to Women’s Lib—as everything breaks down at a time girls are their most intense, most passionate and most vulnerable. We’ve never seen a show about girls. Not truly, not ever. What drives them, what motivates them, what makes them who they are, at the most bewildering time in their lives—the transition from child to woman. 

    This show is about a love story of two best friends. Laurel and Samm. Two girls running from their past, finding refuge in each other when the world is going crazy.

10. JULIUS AND HAZEL–Animated Feature

    On a South Carolina beach, after a glorious romp in the sea with his brothers and sisters, Julius, a baby golden retriever, accidentally breaks his leg. During the isolation of his recovery, he and Hazel, a lop-eared rabbit, become best buddies. Upon Julius’ recovery, a celebratory outing to the beach leads to Julius being swept away by an undertow. Hazel, bereft and possessed with a determination to find his friend, sets out on a quest to bring him home.

    A story, beautiful and innocent, socially current and heart-warmingly told, appropriate for all ages, in the classic Disney-esque style and inspired by true events!