James B Brandt

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Official Selection​ 2016 Berlin Film Festival.

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BEST FILM

Cyrus Parvini & James B. Brandt - Producers​

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BEST DIRECTOR     

Javier Ronceros

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREEN PLAY

James B. Brandt

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BEST COSTUME

Tabitha Orr

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The Miller Prediction

A screenplay by James B Brandt

WGA-W Registration #1775528

 

Genre: Historical/Action

 

Logline: An American Civil War veteran travels to the Middle East in 1867 searching for peace after suffering the horrors of the war and the ridicule of his peers over his "crazy Uncle William's prediction" that the world was ending.  What he finds is a beautiful Persian girl in the hands of vile bandits with most of her traveling companions slaughtered. Fleeing from the thwarted bandit leader's wrath, he unearths clues that help him solve a mystery that has plagued his family since 1844 and baffled the world for thousands of years.

 

Synopsis: Civil War Veteran MARK MILLER, 32, is torn with what he saw in the Civil War and with personal issues related to his Great Uncle William Miller's well-publicized belief that the world should have ended in 1844. He first took a job with the British Telegraph Company in Persia to finance his quest to see where his Uncle went wrong.

 

Not finding anything there, he moves to the Ottoman Empire and takes a job working on a German survey crew for the Sultan's brother, mapping potential train routes through what was then Palestine in 1871. Almost as soon as Miller and two team members arrive on their current survey line site, they hear gunfire from the direction of the team's base camp.  Miller, more accustomed to action than the others, is immediately off on his horse BUDDY.

 

Arriving at a vantage point overlooking the camp, he sees two other team members lying dead along with several Persian religious refugees who had shared their camp the night before. Other members of the group are held captive and forced to watch as the bandits struggle with LAYLA, 20, the first pilgrim to receive "special" treatment.

 

Acting from a strong moral sense of duty, Miller, and a few minutes later his companions DIETER, 29, and LENZ, 23 arrive and, killing several bandits, successfully chase them off, although Dieter and Lenz are themselves killed.

 

Miller decides to travel with Layla, Parisa, Amir, and Neda toward Haifa, a waypoint for the pilgrims and the survey company's offices. He is duty bound to report the attack and return the effects of his companions. While traveling, he discovers that Layla and the other survivors, NEDA, 14-16, Layla's sister, AMIR, 26, her brother wounded in the attack, and PARISA, 28, another pilgrim, are traveling to Akka to attempt to meet their spiritual leader, who is imprisoned there.

 

Meanwhile, ISMAIL, 50s, is enraged to learn his men failed to capture women and that his son was killed. He vows revenge.

 

At their first campsite, Miller reveals that he is in the Middle East seeking both peace and answers to how is Great Uncle William Miller could have so dramatically been wrong about world peace and the return of a messiah to lead an enlightened world. The Miller Prediction is well documented. Using Biblical references and prophecies from religions around the world, he determined that the world should have ended in 1844.

 

As a renowned Baptist Preacher, William Miller caught the attention of the world's intellectuals, including many famous people, so naturally the press followed. By Spring of 1844, most of the major newspapers were touting the end of the world. By Spring of 1845, Miller was an object of ridicule. Layla and Parisa suggest they have the answers and, after a heart-felt talk with Buddy, and soulful encouragement from traumatized Neda, Miller decides to continue with the group to Haifa.

 

 Finding the base camp empty except for the graves of the dead, Ismail renews his vow. The small band of believers, with Miller, continue their journey. The string of Biblical prophecies which led "Uncle William" to predict the end of the world are laid out and examined... and once again, Miller cannot find a flaw in his Uncle's reasoning: the world should end in 1844 according to the Bible and numerous other sources - except that the world did not end, peace did not come, and the religions did not unite.

At another camp, their discussion of the prophecies is once again interrupted as the bandits find them and attack.

 

The attack is made prematurely - they are out of range for most of the muskets - and poor Amir is wounded again, but Miller is able to kill two of the bandits, wound Ismail, and scatter the bandit's horses. The journey continues, but tension rises as Amir grows weaker.

 

At the next camp, their further discussions are interrupted by a MERCHANT, 60, who ignores their advice and travels on, believing he would be ignored by bandits. The next day, they encounter a group of refugees fleeing the Socialist take-over of Paris. These are Persians returning home with a mission: They have visited their spiritual leader in Akka Prison and are taking the word back to their home town, Shiraz.

 

This rekindles the girls’ desires to reach Akka, though Miller grows concerned for the women once he hears the conditions in the prison and surrounding town. He has come to realize - after another talk with Buddy - that he has grown quite fond of Layla and, we suspect, she of him.

 

The wagon reaches reach the far side of the Judea Mountains, where the climate is much dryer, but civilization is just a day or so away. But Ismail, enraged beyond reason over his setbacks, is not finished yet. He catches them at a rest stop where Neda is off gathering leaves to help with Amir's worsening fever.

 

Caught by surprise, Layla and Parisa rush to return Amir to their wagon and make a dash for the nearest town, a few miles away. Neda, in her eagerness to return to the wagon, manages to disturb a desert sand viper and is bit. Miller races to the rescue before the snake makes a second strike, but the situation is now desperate. To save Neda, Miller is forced to leave the others as they flee the bandits.

 

Miller pushes Buddy as hard as he can while Parisa urges the mules pulling the wagon to their best pace. Their only hope is for Miller to reach an Army Garrison where Neda can find treatment and a troop of cavalry can be dispatched. Fortunately, Miller runs into a military foot patrol sent out to look for signs of the bandits who have been plaguing the mountain passes. An ambush is arranged and Miller resumes his desperate race to find Neda a doctor.

 

Several days later, the pilgrims are camped outside a small Palestinian town adjacent to the fort. Denied admittance to the fort and town due to their status, they are awaiting word of Miller and Neda while Amir recovers from his infected wounds.

Miller and Neda arrive, to everyone's joy. While Miller moves off to take care of the horses, Parisa and Neda make Layla confront her feelings about Miller.

 

To Amir's surprise, she goes after Miller. Rather forcefully, she tells Miller he needs to visit with their messiah, Baha'u'llah, in the Akka prison. And, in the moment, reveals that she loves him. Miller, surprised and extremely happy, takes Layla in his arms.

 

While one aspect of his life now seems complete, the questions still remain:  Why does the world believe William Miller was wrong? Is Baha'u'llah truly the Glory of God returned, as his name implies? What really happened in 1844 if Miller's Prediction that the world as we know it would radically change? Has the ball started to roll that will forever end the horrors of war that Mark Miller witnessed; the religions merge into one; all people live as brothers?

 

Miller has found some answers but his quest has only found a single clue. The adventures in the Judea Mountains are no more than a road marker on a long journey for truth.

 

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Produced by Radiant Century Productions in association with Brandt Media

Directed by Javier Ronceros

Casting by Gabrielle Evens Fields

Story and Screenplay by James B Brandt

Produced by Cyrus Parvini and James B Brandt

Art Directions and Costumes by Tabatha Orr

Cinematography by Rhett Curtell

Lead Wrangler - "Cap" Wilson

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Shot on location in New Mexico and the Zia Indian Reservation