SHADOWBOXING

The Award-Winning Screenplay

LOGLINE

George Dixon, c. 1894

Based on the true story of boxer George Dixon. In 1800s Boston, Dixon battles racism, alcoholism and hallucinations en route to becoming the First Black World Champion in any sport.

NOT JUST ANOTHER BIOPIC

This is a new script, but it is already the 2022 Shore Scripts Winner, in the top 1% of all Coverfly scripts, and has received the prestigious Reader Endorsed badge on the Black List.

SYNOPSIS

George Dixon is uprooted from his community of Africville, Nova Scotia, tumbling into the racially-charged streets of Boston. It’s there that he encounters Heavyweight Champion John L. Sullivan, the first sports star in American history…

Dixon is influenced into boxing, prompting the still-illegal sport into a Black vs. White divide. Dixon and Sullivan soon turn enemies as they jockey for underground supremacy.

As the founder of shadowboxing, Dixon makes a name for himself as a genius of visualization, but brain trauma and alcohol start to blur his reality.

He seeks to attain the first Black world championship, but his mind becomes increasingly untrustworthy.

CHARACTERS

GEORGE DIXON

Soft-spoken, small-frame. Through volatility in his personal life, George seeks stability in the profession of boxing. George is vying for the first Black world championship, even as drinking and brain damage seek to overtake him.

JOHN L. SULLIVAN

Cocky, Irish-American, Heavyweight champion of the world. Past his prime as George enters the scene, inducing jealousy and bigotry toward the Black fighter. His stardom and stature are idolized at first, but it's his excess that wins out.

KITTY DIXON

Fiery and outspoken. Kitty becomes George's future wife, in a time when interracial relationships are frowned upon. As the medic for the Dixon boxing team, she is one of the only people privy to George's illnesses. She tries desperately to fix him... a daunting task.

TOM O’ROURKE

George's longtime manager. He originally selects George so he can profit from the novelty, but soon finds himself intoxicated by George's potential. Tom ends up living vicariously through the boxer's achievements.

WOODROW

George's best friend. An eccentric and contagious personality, Woodrow is George's longtime companion and supporter. Although he provides comic relief in tense situations, he is also a passionate advocate willing to say the things that others won't.

WORLD & SETTING

There is a huge discrepancy between Africville (George's bright, colorful, community-minded hometown) and Boston, which is colder, grey, racially charged. George's unwanted removal from his childhood home becomes the catalyst for seeking stability for himself and his people.

TREATMENT

  The style should reflect the state of mind of George. When we're in Africville, things are seen through the POV of a child: Serene, comfortable, safe. The same goes for when George is in the company of Kitty. But when we're in the streets of Boston, things are harsh, cold, grey. Everything & everyone seem to be in a rush.
During the boxing matches, often we see things as George sees them: calculated and precise. He anticipates the moves of others. Things have a clarity to them.
This is juxtaposed by George's state of mind when he is seeing visions. His mental illness causes him to see threats from all directions. These are the opponents he can't defend against. They move with sinuous speed, disorienting & terrifying.

CROSS

ALI

meets

GANGS OF NEW YORK

WHY NOW?

WHY DOES THIS FILM NEED TO EXIST?!

The representation of such an important Black historic character resonates strongly in these times. Pioneers transcend time and are sources of inspiration for generations.

George Dixon is a name that should be known in every household.

CONNECT

L.X MITEV

📞 867-445-6686

📧 lmitev.work@gmail.com

NELO RANTSHO

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