Mr.

Daylight
a crime-thriller from Michael Bizzaco

A pediatrician lives a double-life as a black-market organ broker.

On a business-trip to Africa, the doctors guise is threatened when he
meets a man who claims to be his competitor.

Story Outline
The movie takes place in modern times. We open to the small town of Dalton, NH where were
introduced to the protagonist of the film, a man known as Dr. Clark Sauer. A handsome, tall man,
late 30s, Clark runs his own local practice, serving as a pediatrician for the community and
surrounding townships. He loves the job and loves the children he takes care of. In the first
moments of the film we are in a room alone with Clark and an organ-buyer. The two exchange a
subtle, yet heated conversation about kidney prices and the buyers last minute apprehensions with
the transaction, but Clark coolly closes the sale. Cash is exchanged and the two shake on the deal. In
the next scene, were then introduced to Clarks practice and social-circle his staff, a few patients,
and the members of the international clinic-team, Air Benevolent (AB). At a hotel charity event
hosted by AB, we learn that Clark and the team are embarking on a three-month trip to provide
volunteer clinical aid to low-income villages in the country of Zimbabwe. In a short scene after the
benefit gala, before leaving, Clark places phone calls to a few contacts in Africa to facilitate organsales upon his arrival with AB.
The team arrives in Zimbabwe and begins servicing the local village-communities. The local
families love the team; the children of course have a particular love for Clark. We see various
village-events unfold including services at vaccine booths, Clark and the team playing sports with
the local children, and a ceremonious birth-sequence where Clark delivers a newborn-baby during
the chaos of a tropical-storm. Meanwhile, Clark meets with his one of his contacts, Crota, in the city
of Harare to begin discussing incoming organ-flow and the types of clients interested in buying.
Crota introduces Clark to a very sick British client by the name of James Harter who is in search of a
complete heart-transplant. A deal is made and Clark begins his search for Harters heart. During a
community event, Clark provides emergency-service to a young African boy with leg-injuries. The
boy and his father thank Clark, but the father tells the boy to go and play with the other children.
Alone with Clark, the man, late 30s, tall, lean build, introduces himself as Nomusa Ibori and
promptly tells Clark to get the fuck off his land. Through heated conversation, Ibori reveals the
identity of James Harter and proclaims that he is a rival black-market broker to Clark.

Clark initially puts down Iboris threats and refuses to leave, to which Ibori promises that he and the
men behind his wings will promise to bring nothing but pain and suffering to their homeland and
to the Air Benevolent team unless Clark backs down. Wary of the danger that Ibori and his men
present, Clark goes to Crota who gets him a meeting with an ex-con that used to run with Ibori
named Abdul. Abdul informs Clark that Ibori has been a black-market power in Africa for many
years and that hes known about Clarks international-presence for quite some time. Abdul warns
Clark that he and his team should leave.
Weeks go by: Clark meets with a few clients, including James Harter, who informs Clark that he has
received better pricing on a human heart from another broker, most likely Ibori. Meanwhile, at the
camp of Air Benevolent, a gang of Iboris men pillage the local campsite, stealing a cargo-shipment
of food, supplies, while hijacking a number of the teams vehicles. They kill a number of the AB
volunteers, and take many others hostage. They also round up nearly all the children in the village.
Clark arrives back from meeting Hartar and is horrified by the campsite massacre. He witnesses one
of Iboris men trying to take a young child from his mother. Clark runs to stop him but is
apprehended by Ibori who knocks Clark unconscious and drives away with him into the sunset.
Clark awakens in a holding cell next to the body of James Hartar. Ibori confronts Clark and tells him
that he promised nothing but anarchy unless Clark were to back down but his will was too strong.
Ibori promises to reveal Clarks relation to the black-market and to frame him for the murders at the
campsite, as well as the hostages. He then leaves Clark in the holding cell to die.
Mr. Daylight

Major Roles
MICHAEL SHANNON Dr. Clark Sauer
With his uncompromising ability to deliver stellar, yet whole
and believable performances across a range of genres, I would
love to see Michael Shannon play the role of Clark Sauer.
Clark is an emotionally-challenged man, with a heart for those
he helps, both in the office and the back-alley. But most
importantly, hes a character that must constantly switch
personas based on the clients and patients he interacts with.
I look to Shannons performance in Jeff Nichols Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories respectively as
my summation of Dr. Clark Sauer. In both films, Shannons character is filled with an un-definable
love for those he holds close in Take Shelter, his wife and daughter, and in Shotgun Stories, his
brothers. Shannons complex-emotional palette in both of these pictures is the type of performance
Id like to see in Mr. Daylight. Instead of guarding his family-roots as Shannon perfectly does in
both Nichols films, Clark is in love with his job, with Africa, and with the children and families
hes surrounded by. Shannon is someone who undeniably would deliver such a complex-character in
a unique and passionate way.

DJIMON HOUNSOU Nomusa Ibori

Hounsou is all about the heartland of Africa, from birth
through his film work. Most of my influence for Ibori came from
Hounsous striking role as Solomon Vandy in Edward Zwicks
Blood Diamond. Vandy was an innocent, complex soul trapped
in the middle of ruthless, civil conflict; as Ibori in Mr. Daylight,
he would be the catalyst of conflict. As the films
insane-antagonist, Hounsou would deliver an unforgettable
portrayal of destructive evil but with a deep, emotive core.

Aesthetics / Design
The film needs to stay true to its locale. When I envision locations, I would love to stay in
Zimbabwe, particularly for the diverse environments and deep-rooted culture, city-access for Clarks
black-market trips to meet Crota, and for the village-locales where Air Benevolent makes their
camp. I am open to scout neighboring countries for similar settings, Zimbabwe is what comes to
mind first though.

A sample village in
western Zimbabwe

Harare, the capital

city of Zimbabwe

Three films come to mind when I think of the thematic atmosphere and form of production design
that has inspired Mr. Daylight; theyre listed below:

Fernando Meirelles The Constant Gardener and Edward Zwicks Blood Diamond both tell a
charged and emotional story set in Africa, Kenya and Sierra Leone respectively. The setdesigns are natural, and so are the characters and their conflicts. Im a huge advocate of David
Fincher tension and aesthetic, and I love the bone-chilling character emotions and backdrop of
his 2011 American remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. All three features tell seamless
stories of complex and corrupt people doing terrible things for terrible reasons, which is a large
part, if not the largest, of the character conflict in Mr. Daylight.

Budget / Marketing
Im not out to create a $90 million feature, Im confident that everything Im aiming to do with Mr.
Daylight can be achieved for around $25-30 million, give or take. Its a film about intrinsic conflict
between human beings in a place thats filled with complexion and beauty. Its not a pyrotechnic
show by any means. While I imagine there will be a few more active set-sequences, such as the
camp-raid and related vehicular action, I cannot foresee a large effects-team for any part of the film.
Any effects in the picture should be achieved naturally and on location. If a beautifully dramatic
piece like The Constant Gardener, with its various locations and actions in both the U.K. and Africa,
can be made for $25 million and recoup three times that at the box office, there is no reason Mr.
Daylight can and should not follow the same formula.
With marketing, I want to take an innovative viral approach. Ads on particular websites will display
a release-date for the film. When clicked, the user will be brought to a micro-site where a synopsis of
Mr. Daylight is laid out, below the synopsis would be a contest-entry link, along with accompanying
MPAA information and cast and crew-listings for the film. The contest will be called Whos Dr.
Daylight? Users will have the ability to film their own short-film, no longer than five minutes,
detailing their own fictional origin of Dr. Clark Sauer. Fans can tell a story of where the doctor grew
up, what got him into the healthcare field, how he became involved with the black market, who his
family is and what theyre like, etc. The winner of the contest will receive two tickets to the premiere
of the film, as well as a $1000 prize-bundle, with an endorsement from an electronics company (Im
thinking camera equipment, Go-Pro perhaps) memorabilia from the film, and gift cards.
The design below will be sold as stickers at various memorabilia/clothing outfits:

ORGAN
DONOR

HAVE YOU
SEEN THE
DOCTOR?

These chains should carry T-shirts as well, bearing the same design-concept.

Conventional advertising will be used as well, including trailers and TV spots over movie
networks like AMC, FX, Spike TV, regular web ads, and social-network ads on sites like
Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you for reading.
What are they singing?
Theyre singing about you, about your love, your care, theyre chanting a name.
A name?
Yes, they call you Daylight, their healer.