The alternative or alternate history film genre involves taking real historical events or people and giving them a fictionalized twist.
One recent example of alternate history success in film is the Brad Pitt/Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar-winning movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from Quinten Tarantino.
On the comedy side is Roku’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story starring Daniel Radcliff. which won the Producers Guild of America Award for the best streamed or televised movie.
I have my own connection to the genre.
The Cult Critic Movie Awards have announced my alternate history, thriller screenplay The Elvis Conspiracy as the Critic’s Choice Award winner. This is yet another huge recognition of the appeal of alternative history stories in cinema and a gigantic achievement for my script specifically.
The Elvis Conspiracy has also won top honors in the Dimension Independent Film Festival, Movie Play International Film Festival, Mojo International Film Awards, Virgin Spring Cinefest Film Festival, Bridge Fest Awards, Indo French International Film Festival, Golden Fern Film Awards, Rome Prisma Film Awards, Gangtok International Film Festival, Knight of the Reel Awards, and Royal Society of Television & Motion Picture Awards.
The script takes real conspiracy theories and reimagines the world of Elvis as if they were true. It’s a world in which Col. Tom Parker invents Elvis using multiple young men thanks to plastic surgery, lip-syncing, and an elaborate deception of the press.
Those twists and turns are exactly what makes alternate history such a fascinating sandbox in which to play.
The success of The Elvis Conspiracy is quite an honor after a lifetime of work in television, film, publishing, music, and theater. Currently, I am the writer and producer of The Polish Cooking Show on PBS and the publicist for Steven Adler of Guns N’ Roses fame.
Previously I have worked on projects involving Janet Jackson, Sting, Extreme, Scout Taylor-Compton from Halloween, Michael Dorn from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Peter Mayhew from Star Wars, Christian Stolte of Chicago Fire, and Chase Masterson from Star Trek: Deep Space 9.
In addition, I am the former head of public relations for such industry giants as Empire Today and Other World Computer, leading the companies to record media coverage resulting in record profits. I also host the popular weekly interview radio show and podcast It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee which invites listeners into the world of entertainment with a combination of celebrity and human-interest guests.
It will be interesting to see what happens next in this exciting genre. Will Tarantino’s rumored final film The Movie Critic again champion this fascinating branch of filmmaking? So many questions that can only be answered at the box office.
More information on The Elvis Conspiracy is available at www.RikkiLeeTravolta.com.
ADDITIONAL READING
Moria Reviews offers its fairly comprehensive list of Alternate History Films.
MovieWeb also provides a ranked listing of The Best Alternate Histories in TV and Movies.
Screen Rant offers its own view on alternate history in film with The 5 Best & Worst Alternate Histories Shown in Movies.
Game Rant provides an interesting take on the alternate history with the article Quentin Tarantino Perfected a Genre with Three of his Films.
CASTING
Interested in some of the casting possibilities for The Elvis Conspiracy? Check out this article: What Does Antonio Cipriano of Disney’s National Treasure Have to do with Elvis.
Be sure to share your thoughts on Alternate History and possibilities for The Elvis Conspiracy.
Peace. Love. Trust.
Rikki Lee Travolta
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