Hell Creek

TAGLINE: The Impossible Becomes The Unthinkable.

LOGLINE: Academic freedom is at stake in a race to either document or destroy a controversial fossil in the Hell Creek region of Montana.

  • James Houston Turner
    Writer
    Square Pegs. The Talanov series of action novels.
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Genres:
    Action, Thriller, Political Thriller, Government Cover-Up
  • Number of Pages:
    106
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Writer Biography - James Houston Turner

Winner of numerous awards, including "Best Thriller," bestselling author James Houston Turner is known for his Aleksandr Talanov series of spy novels. A native of Kansas, James Houston Turner has been writing since he was ten. He attended high school in Kansas before graduating from Baker University with a bachelor's degree. He then moved to Texas, where he earned his master's degree from the University of Houston (Clear Lake).

James worked as a smuggler into Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe, where he transported tons of food, clothing, Bibles, and medical supplies, to needy hospitals and churches. While there, he interviewed many heroes of death camps, gulags, Siberian exile, persecution, illness, hardship, and torture, including assassination squads.

James is also a cancer survivor after doctors in Australia removed a tumor the size of an orange from his face. "I was told if I lived eighteen months I would probably live to be one hundred. That was in 1991, so I am happy to report I am well on my way toward that goal. These experiences influenced my storytelling, whether in magazines, novels, or, now, in film. My stories are 'overcomer stories,' because that's what I've had to do, and is why I want my stories to leave people with the same hope and faith that strengthened me."

He has written several screenplays, and produced his first feature film, Square Pegs, in 2022. After nearly twenty years in Australia, James and his wife, Wendy, now live in Austin, Texas.

Add Writer Biography
Writer Statement

I remember when The Da Vinci Code came out. Having studied the same ancient documents in college that Dan Brown had studied, I admired the way he had turned those documents into a blockbuster novel. Dang! Why hadn’t I done that?

The Da Vinci Code had a lot going for it, including a hot-button topic that was both mysterious in its academic complexity yet personal in that it challenged the fundamentals of faith and religion. That same dynamic is what motivated me to write Hell Creek.

The foundation for Hell Creek began years ago at the University of Houston, where I earned a master’s degree with a thesis that compared creationist and evolutionist interpretations over the fossil evidence for the origin of man. I am therefore not writing from an over-caffeinated imagination – not that my morning espressos did not play their part – but from an academic perspective with which I am familiar.

A tempting way for me to have approached this would have been as a classroom presentation, or a debate. Instead, I chose to weave creation v evolution threads into the fabric of a murder-mystery-cum-government-cover-up action thriller, with a heroic young couple facing off against a villainous United States Senator and her minions.

Without doubt, the subject is controversial because it addresses the subject of academic freedom in light of a controversial discovery, which is a good thing because the prospect of such a discovery will generate discussion and debate in the wake of such a film. “People talking” is what marketing is all about. In terms of rating, I wanted the film to have a four-quadrant appeal. It was therefore my deliberate choice to avoid vulgar language, gratuitous violence, and sex, but not at the expense of a thrilling, whitewater ride.