Spirit of the Rain

Spirit of the Rain is about Chico, a fledgling macaw, a.k.a., "Fluff-Head." It’s the evening before Chico’s first flying lesson with Dad. Word comes that Dad’s been taken by the “Ground Demons” who enslaved the ancient Guardians. In those days, Guardian prayers could call on the Spirit of the Rain to control the weather, but only when the birds carried the prayer into the sky. So, at last light, as the first drops of rain fall, Chico looks out of his nest hole and vows to find his dad. First, though, he must learn to fly.
Morning. Chico edges onto a branch, flaps his wings, and flips upside down, under the branch, face to face with a cranky sloth, who first tells him he can find allies if he asks, and then swats him off the branch. He’s flying! Now off to the morning gossip spot, the clay cliffs where he crashes, entangling himself with Amor, a young female just telling her girlfriends that she wants a boyfriend who could knock her over with a feather. Amor flirts. Chico, oblivious, explains his quest to find Dad. Amor says more are missing. She takes Chico to meet the human guardian who raised her at the bio-research station.
Chico freaks out at seeing Yako, Amor’s guardian. Enemy! But Yako, a scruffy, skinny native wildlife biologist, is the last descendant of the lost Guardian tribe. Yako is dealing with Carmen, a beautiful and officious visiting bureaucrat, who intends to turn the rainforest reserve into a tourist trap. She wears the same golden amulet of the Guardian priests that was handed down to Yako. Carmen’s family enslaved Yako’s ancestors.
Meanwhile, Amor calms Chico. They fly to a railing, near Yako. Chico flips upside down again. Yako helps Chico up. Chico explains that the flock is being taken by ‘demons’, like Yako. Yako understands, but Carmen hears squawks. Remembering her grandfather’s stories of the Guardian priests who understood these birds, she’s intrigued. Yako, Chico, and Amor then devise a plan to find the trapper camp and free everyone. Surprisingly, Carmen chooses to lose the suit, wear native clothes, cut her hair in the native way, and join in. She looks ridiculous. They split up to find the camp.
Chico finds some unlikely recruits, two pygmy marmoset guides and a huge Goliath Bird-Eater spider, named Weaver, who is promised a big meal for his efforts.
On reuniting, Amor is captured right in front of Chico. He feels crushed, but his pygmy marmoset guides convince him to continue. He finds Amor, Mom & Dad, and others in cages. Two trappers have gone to burn Chico’s Island, to drive the remaining flock into nets. The chief trapper remains on guard. Chico, the marmosets, and Weaver drive the trapper (Weaver’s dinner) into Weaver’s web and manage to free everyone.
Back to the island to save the flock. It’s ablaze. The flock takes flight. Now, only the Spirit of the Rain can quench the flames, but only a Guardian prayer can call the Spirit. Where’s Yako? Yako arrives flying an ultralight directly into the exploding net, sinking with it into the river. The flock is safe, but the island burns. Carmen watches from a rocky promontory and sees Yako crash. Meanwhile, Chico sees the golden glint of Carmen’s amulet. Another Guardian! Chico flies to her. He implores her to be the new Guardian, though her ancestors were the demons of legend. She hears only squawks. Carmen touches the golden amulet and suddenly understands Chico’s plea, “Say the Guardian prayer!” Carried on the wind, Carmen hears her grandfather’s last words, that she heals the sins of her family. She speaks her own Guardian prayer to the Spirit. Chico nods, then leads the flock in an upward spiral, chanting Carmen’s prayer to the Spirit of the Rain. Clouds gather. Thunder rolls and the tropical rains quench the flames. The two pet trappers flee. Yako makes it back to Carmen, amazed at who she has become. Now, Chico, and Amor and the rest of the flock look beyond the ashes to a future where the ancient power and partnership with the New Guardians is reborn.
Spirit of the Rain is about discovering that you are more capable than you think you are, that help is all around if you ask for it, and miracles can happen if you are willing to push beyond what you once believed possible.
Spirit of the Rain, though not expressly written as a musical, has at least a dozen scenes of emotional inflection points, funny character moments, romantic Amazonian legends and joyous introductions and climaxes that could be expressed in music.
Spirit of the Rain was the Winner of the Family Film Category at the Filmmatic Screenplay Awards, a “Finalist” in the New York and Hollywood Screenplay contests, and a Finalist at the Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship. It won the Silver REMI at WorldFest Houston, the Diamond Award at the California Film Awards, and was in the in the “Hot 100 List” of the Capital Fund Screenplay Contest.