Dead East, (Feature)
Status: Commercial Rights Available for Acquisition
The Accolade: "A strong, entertaining pilot with a marketable high-concept hook... visceral and cinematic." — Scriptapalooza (Strong Recommend)
The world is looking up at the stars, cheering for a meteor shower that is actually the herald of the end. As the "world-eating" plague ignites, civilization fractures in a single night.
Dr. Patricia Finney is on the run, clutching a corporate secret that explains the horror—and makes her a target for the very people meant to protect the public. Her path collides with a cold-blooded CIA asset and a group of survivors, including Wyatt and Madison, who are forced from the smoke-filled ruins of Venice Beach into a landscape of scorched earth and societal rot.
From the claustrophobic terror of Nippon Flight 319 to the brutal lawlessness of mountain lodges, Dead East follows a desperate race against time. As biological warfare rumors swirl and resource scarcity turns neighbors into monsters, the group must decide what they are willing to sacrifice to stay human. The apocalypse isn’t just coming; it’s already here, and survival is the only currency left.
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Paul Alan GoberWriterDead East (Pilot)
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Project Type:Screenplay
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Number of Pages:140
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Language:English
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First-time Screenwriter:Yes
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Student Project:No
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Indie Vegas Film FestivalLas Vegas, NV United States
May 3, 2026
Finalist
Architect of the Dead East Universe
Paul Alan Gober is an award-winning screenwriter and author dedicated to the "architecture of dread." Known for crafting grounded, visceral horror that tests the limits of the human spirit within high-concept settings, Paul is the creator of the Dead East multi-platform franchise, which launched with his gripping novel, Dead East: Devil May Replace Me.
In 2026, Paul’s television pilot "Nippon Flight 319" became a definitive breakout on the international circuit. The project earned the title of Best Television Horror Screenplay at the prestigious Golden State Film Festival (TCL Chinese Theatre) and secured a Best Script Nomination at the Toronto International Short Film Awards.
A prolific creator with a disciplined "showrunner" mindset, Paul doesn't just write pilots; he builds worlds. He has already completed the full 10-episode inaugural season for the Dead East series, offering a rare "ready-to-shoot" package to the industry. His work is defined by intense, high-altitude tension and a relentless focus on the human heartbeat at the center of the nightmare.
A frequent fixture in the national horror community, Paul is a featured vendor at premier genre conventions nationwide, where he continues to expand the borders of the Dead East legacy.
The Architecture of Dread
I don’t write horror to show people how to die; I write it to explore the visceral, desperate ways we fight to stay alive.
The Dead East universe, beginning with Nippon Flight 319, was born from a singular obsession: the "claustrophobia of the inevitable." My background as an author taught me that true terror isn't found in the shadows, but in the person sitting next to you when the world stops making sense. By stripping away the "safety" of a modern honeymoon flight and replacing it with a cosmic, undead trigger, I wanted to force a conversation about human entropy at 30,000 feet.
As a creator, I operate with a "Showrunner" mindset. I believe a pilot is a promise, not a stand-alone event. This is why I have meticulously mapped the Dead East franchise through a completed 10-episode inaugural season. I build "ready-to-shoot" worlds where the science is grounded, the corporate warfare is cold, and the horror is relentlessly human.
Winning at the Golden State Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatre validated a core belief of mine: that international audiences are hungry for "elevated genre"—stories that marry the grit of 28 Days Later with the cinematic soul of Children of Men. I am not just writing a nightmare; I am architecting a survival guide for the end of the world.
