Against All Odds, The True Story of a Champion
(Award-Winning Script.)
Based on a true story and set in the late '60s at the beginning of California’s Jesus movement, this is an inspirational sports drama about a short, fat, mutt of a horse - and the blue-collar Falany brothers who raised him and set horse-jumping records that still stand today, over 50 years later.
What does it take for country folk to succeed in a world
full of big money and tall thoroughbreds?
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A fear-less big brother - HENRY (15) - who has a dream, and will not let it die.
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A fear-full little brother - ROBIN (10) - who has dyslexia in a time where no one can help him. "But he can ride the hair off a horse!”
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A determined mom - MARNIE (37) - who will find solutions for every problem facing her family.
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A hard-working dad - JOE (40) - who provides for his family, despite battling PTSD from WW2.
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An uneducated, but praying GRANDMA (60).
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And a pudgy little HORSE who doesn’t see a wall - he sees an opportunity!
They face laughter, mockery, and pressure to succeed in a world populated by living legends. The brothers have to "ditch the sibling rivalry" and learn to work together. And whenever Robin goes off course, he gets disqualified - often. Then when Under Horse becomes Wonder Horse and they start winning - they make as many enemies as they do friends!
But when these underdogs finally reach the top –
we believe that we can, too.
Newspaper Clipping from 1971 of Robin on Wonder Horse.
Script Laurels
Meet our Development Team
Screenwriter
Mary Huckstep
Burbank, California
Mary holds an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and has worked in development on projects at Disney, Hallmark HOF and Lifetime. Her rom-com WILL YOU DANCE? is optioned, with Finola Hughes attached to direct. Mary is repp’ed by Alexia Melocchi at Little Studio Films (LSF).
Based on their true story
Grace (and Henry) Falany
Mariposa, California
Longtime pastors of a church near Yosemite, the Falanys worked with Mary for 8 years to develop this story. They drove all over California, reviving old memories, obtaining Life Rights, and revising copious drafts, till they had a polished script to share. Henry graduated to Heaven in 2024, but Grace is going strong, carrying on with their ministry and Henry's Wonder Horse Movie.
Manager & Co-owner at Little Studio Films
Alexia Melocchi, PGA.
Santa Monica, California
From book, to screen, to global distribution, Alexia works with creators and investors to develop stories that will reverberate across many markets and formats. After more than 3 decades in the business, Alexia has the relationships and creative problem-solving skills to make films succeed.
SCRIPT AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Received a DOUBLE-RECOMMEND from a studio-recommended reader who
advised that the movie be widely-released in late spring or early summer, because
"it appeals to family audiences and horse enthusiasts" and will have legs all summer.
10 /
4 /
6 /
9 /
Received a DOUBLE-RECOMMEND from a secular, Oscar-nominated producer who found the conversion scene to be appropriate because "it wasn't preachy and it fit into the era."