Queen of Spades - Pilot

A hostage negotiator, scarred by a family tragedy, is dragged to a series of kidnappings orchestrated by a genius crook who knows everything about her. In this duel between a woman willing to die and a man willing to kill, who will win?

  • Rafael Peixoto
    Writer
    Histórias do Lixo, Like a Boss, Dois Barcos
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Rainha de Espadas
  • Project Type:
    Television Script
  • Genres:
    Drama, Police Procedural
  • Number of Pages:
    54
  • Country of Origin:
    Brazil
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Canada International Film Festival
Writer Biography - Rafael Peixoto

Advertiser with 21 years of experience, Rafael began his career as a musician. In 1997 he became a producer of international concerts, curator of Banco do Brasil Cultural Center in Brasília in 2000 and curator and producer of Banco do Brasil Cultural Circuit in 2004. From 2007 to 2011 he coordinated cultural sponsorships in Banco do Brasil, as well as advertising and live marketing campaigns. After producing more than 8 thousand artistic presentations and hundreds of communication actions, Rafael created Wikishows in 2011 and permanently moved away from Banco do Brasil the following year.

As CEO and Creative Director of Wikishows, Rafael has carried out live marketing actions for companies such as SEBRAE - Brazil's official bureau for entrepreneurship, Banco do Brasil, Mapfre Insurances, Caixa Econômica Federal, Ambev, Fundação Alphaville, Walmart, Baidu, Estácio, and many others. He created in 2012 the Web Reality Show Web “Like a Boss” for SEBRAE, a branded content experience and promotional activation that generated one trending topic on Twitter and a flashmob with more than 3 thousand people. Rafael also wrote and directed branded content for Ambev and Alphaville Foundation. In 2014 Rafael coordinated the communication of political campaigns.

Rafael studies scriptwriting since 1997. He was one of the 40 screenwriters selected by award-winning author Aguinaldo Silva, among almost 600 postulants, for his Master Class of Soap-Operas, held in 2016, and was publicly praised by Aguinaldo. He has original three original series and two feature films sold to Brazilian production companies and waiting for green light to go under production.

Rafael currently writes and pre-produces a musical scheduled to debut in 2020. He’s also writing two feature film scripts, commissioned by relevant Brazilian production companies, and has just written and directed the short film “Two Boats”, starring Rainer Cadete, Rocco Pitanga, Paula Jubé, and Fernanda Junqueira, scheduled to premiere in 2019.

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Writer Statement

Queen of Spades is the story of a struggle on multiple levels. Regina, the series' protagonist, is in conflict with Bernardo, her nemesis. But she is also in conflict with herself. She doesn't trust her judgment anymore. She's a cop that doesn't kill, what puts her on a collision course with the entire police force and with a society that is increasingly intolerant and violent. Also, she's no longer a mother. In her mind she let her daughter die, what is, in a certain way, a complete failure as a human being. She lost everything that defines her as a person: her family, her job, her self-confidence. Now she has to stand up, to face and to win depression, just to fight once more. And this fight will change her in ways she could never imagine.

Designed as a strong serialized police procedural series, "Queen of Spades" is influenced by "The Blacklist" and "Criminal Minds", but its tone is more violent and dark. People die, many times in graphic and violent ways. There's a lot of research behind the scripts, so audiences will see what really happens in a hostage crisis. The creator had the consultancy of a police psychologist and a police sergeant, bringing a crude and realistic shade.

"Queen of Spades" also has an underlying plot that deals with the lack of faith that we, common people, have with regards to our representatives. Although there are inspiring characters, sometimes this inspiration comes from the least expected: Bernardo, the sadistic enemy that uses the most terrible ways to make justice. But justice, outside the system, is no justice at all. And that's another war that Regina will fight: keeping justice in the hands of the system, and not in the hands of a lunatic.

Besides its episodes for TV - so far the author has created 4 seasons with 13 episodes each - the series has specific material designed for the internet, with new dramatic approaches and points of view over the plots, creating a parallel storyline that sometimes converges, sometimes diverges from the original one, making audiences always involved with "Queen of Spades" dramatical universe.