The Princess of the Bottom of the World

LOGLINE:
Scott Sullivan’s journey to investigate wildlife and climate change in the coldest and most remote regions on Earth reveals impacts that hit close to home but also melt his heart.

SYNOPSIS:
Based on true adventures of Dan Linehan and adapted from his novel “The Princess of the Bottom of the World” (book trailer: https://youtu.be/w3TYh6IG5dY), SCOTT wants to save the world but has put his personal life on ice. He travels to Antarctica and other spectacular lands, such as the Falklands and South Georgia, to write about climate change, wildlife, and the environment. While searching to better understand the world, he unexpectedly finds a better understanding of himself.

Comradery grows as Scott befriends fellow explorers. CASSANDRA, a quirky Chilean crewmember, begins to melt his heart. But this isn’t the only heat.

Nothing could have prepared him for the spellbinding beauty and heart-wrenching reality he encounters—penguin highways, painted birds, rock thieves, monstrous seals, and electric blue icebergs. Too young to cool off in the water because of their heavy down feathers, penguin chicks pant from the excessive heat, dangling their tiny red tongues. The next day while hiking up a glacier-covered mountain, Scott, drenched in sweat, sees his guide not even wearing shirt—topless in Antarctica!

Anchored in the Beagle Channel during the last night of the voyage’s, a comet draws Scott and Cassandra together for their overdue first kiss. But they are forced to say goodbye the next day. She must sail again, and he must continue his expedition inland into Patagonia and beyond.

After a cruise ship runs aground at Antarctica’s Deception Island—inside its volcanic caldera—Scott changes plans to investigate. Back in Ushuaia, he hopes to find Cassandra when she returns from sea. He infiltrates the seaport and unites with her, but the outcome crushes him. Making it worse, he uncovers that the cruise ship company lied about leaking dirty fuel into the pristine habitat.

Scott’s course changes under a map of shipwrecks where he meets MELINA, an Argentine filmmaker traveling on assignment. They immediately hit it off. After Melina returns from a day of shooting, they cross paths again then spend the night together. As the days go by in Ushuaia—known as “The Bottom of the World”—they fall deeper in love. Later, the passionate couple makes a video documenting the wild stories that ignited their romance.

Scott travels with Melina to her home. But their time together stops short. The most severe storm in the history of her city hits. Scott returns to the US to expose what happened and to help prevent other cities around the world from facing the same catastrophe.

Melina mysteriously ends their relationship. After a few years, Scott returns to Argentina to assist with a book about Antarctica. He discovers that Melina had died. But it would take many more years for him to learn her secrets.

When Scott is an older man, Melina’s sister JOSEFINA asks to meet. She requests to see the video. For him, watching it is brutal. Afterward, Josefina reveals the breakup was to protect him. She then introduces Scott to his and Melina’s twin children. Their love is renewed.