Concept Worksheet 5 - The Treasure of Garbanzo Pass

Feature Film – 90 minutes – for festivals, the internet

Story Statement: Three friends find a treasure hidden in the desert, and their greed slowly tears them apart.

Visual Style: It would be shot like a classic western.

Story: While walking home from a party, three friends, Nathan, Sam, and John, are almost hit by a drunk driver. The driver, Rene, tells them about a hidden Confederate treasure. They decide to set out to find the treasure.

The next day, while shopping for supplies, each friend sees something expensive that want. They each realize that they would have to scam the others out of the treasure in order to afford it.

They all set out to find the treasure. It is exactly where the drunk man said. On the way back, Nathan slips away with the treasure. He runs to the road, where he hitchhikes. He is picked up by a car full of girls. They figure out that he has a box full of treasure, so they take it and kick him out of the car. Sam and John drive up behind him and pick him up. He apologizes and they set off after the treasure.

The girls take it to an all-girls school. They each sneak into the school their own way; Nathan sneaks around, John climbs the outside of the building, and Sam just asks a group of girls nicely where they went. They find the treasure and leave.

While walking away, Sam takes the treasure and jumps into the bed of a pickup truck. John and Nathan lose him, so they return to campus. There they meet Sarah, who mentions that her Grandmother is sick and needs an expensive surgery, but John and Nathan aren’t paying attention. They get a call from Sam, who asks that they come pick him up. They drive to where he tells them, and he comes running out of the woods only in his underwear. He refuses to talk about what happened.

As they drive through the desert, John’s car runs out of gas. Nathan mentions that the town is just on the other side of the desert, so John grabs the treasure and makes a run for it. They chase him across the desert. Eventually, John tires and gives up. As they get back to their car, Sarah comes to pick them up.

They drive to a pawn shop, whose owner explains to them that the treasure is actually worth millions. He also known’s someone who would buy the treasure for that amount, but they have to be at the pawn shop the next day at 5 exactly.

Unfortunately, on the way back to campus, they get run off the road by Rene. Rene is apparently part of a Mexican drug cartel, and they want the treasure. They are attacked by Rene’s gang, and they run into a canyon. As they get chased through the canyon, Sarah is captured and the gang members get the treasure, but the three guys escape in Rene’s car.

They discover that Rene’s trunk is full of guns, so they decide to take back the treasure. They raid the gang’s headquarters and find Sarah. Rene tries to escape with the treasure, but Sarah shoots him. Nathan, John, Sam, and Sarah have a classic Western standoff over the treasure, but when they fire they realize that their guns don’t have any bullets left.

Sarah remembers that they have to get back to the pawn shop before 5. They all frantically return to the pawn shop, getting there just in time. The buyer turns out to be a former western actor. He writes them a check and then walks off into the sunset.

Audience Appeal: Should be a fun and funny adventure. Also, everyone can relate to being a goofy college student.