Against All Odds, The True Story of a Champion.
Set against the backdrop of California's Jesus Movement in the late 1960s, Wonder Horse is an award-winning screenplay based on the remarkable true story of a determined blue-collar family, an unlikely little horse, and an impossible dream that changed their lives forever.
ABOUT THE FILM
Set in the late ‘60s at the start of California’s Jesus movement. Wonder Horse, is a faith-based sports drama, inspired by a true story about a short, fat, ornery, mutt of a horse - and the resourceful blue-collar family 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 (15) who has a dream, and will not let it die.
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A fear-full LITTLE BROTHER (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 (37) who finds solutions for every problem.
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A hard-working DAD (40) who protects and 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 quirky little horse who doesn’t see a wall - he sees an opportunity!
It's not easy. They face laughter, mockery, humiliation and intense pressure to succeed in a world populated by living legends. And when they start winning, they make as many enemies as they do friends.
But when these underdogs finally succeed –
we believe we can, too.
Newspaper Clipping from 1971 of Robin on Wonder Horse.
Poster & Media
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
Former river-runners and longtime pastors of a church near Yosemite, the Falanys worked with Mary for 8 years to develop this story. Together, the trio drove all over California, finding old friends, 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 released over Memorial Day Weekend, because
"it has wide appeal and will have legs all summer long."
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."