Thunder Bay is a character-driven time-travel drama blending nostalgia, memory, and second chances. The project emphasizes cinematic storytelling, visual continuity, emotional realism, and grounded supernatural elements. Developed as both a completed novella and a visually storyboarded story world, it is designed with screen adaptation in mind.
After restoring his long-lost 1980 Camaro, a sixty-two-year-old mechanic is mysteriously transported back to the summer of 1984, where he is given a second chance to change the past — and possibly save the life of someone he cared for deeply.
Genre: Sci-Fi Drama / Nostalgic Time Travel
Tone: Grounded, emotional, atmospheric, and cinematic.
Comparable Tone (Not Derivative):
Peggy Sue Got Married
Frequency
Field of Dreams — emotional resonance
Back to the Future — nostalgia and time displacement
Set between modern-day Florida and the vibrant coastal world of 1984, Thunder Bay follows Michael “Mike” McKlinsky, a mechanic who discovers the 1980 Camaro he once owned in a local junkyard — a car tied deeply to his past.
While being moved to the car crusher, the Camaro is unexpectedly struck by lightning, followed by a cryptic message emerging from its radio. Intrigued and unsettled, Mike restores the car to the exact way it looked in 1984.
But it is only after taking the fully restored Camaro out for a drive that the true anomaly occurs — Mike is suddenly transported back to the summer of 1984, a time he never emotionally left behind.
With knowledge of the future and a second chance unfolding in real time, Mike must decide what to change, what to preserve, and whether rewriting the past will truly lead to a better future.
The story unfolds over a tightly contained timeline with strong emotional stakes and visually distinct cinematic sequences.
The Thunder Bay project has been developed with a cinematic structure from the outset. The official website features:
Major visual set pieces include:
This visual-first approach allows filmmakers to quickly grasp the tone, atmosphere, and pacing.
Thunder Bay unfolds over a contained timeline, primarily five days in 1984, with a limited number of core locations including an auto shop, junkyard, coastal town, and home interiors. The story features a strong emotional protagonist arc centered on second chances, visually distinct set pieces, and grounded supernatural elements with minimal VFX requirements. Its scene-driven structure and cinematic pacing allow the story to transition naturally to the screen.
Feature Film (Primary)
Limited Series (Secondary)
Estimated tone: Mid-budget, emotionally grounded sci-fi drama.
Original Novella: Completed
Visual Storyboards & Concept Development: Active website
Screenplay: Not Yet Adapted
Film & Television Rights: Available
Author Involvement: Open to Screenplay Collaboration
Thunder Bay was developed with a film-first narrative mindset, emphasizing visual continuity, cinematic pacing, and emotionally restrained storytelling. The project explores memory, regret, second chances, and the universal longing for a life “do-over,” presented through a grounded supernatural lens.
As one thematic line in the story states:
“A second chance isn’t lighter. It’s heavier.”
Thunder Bay is designed to appeal to fans of emotionally grounded time-travel stories, 1980s nostalgia, and second-chance dramas. At its heart is a universal fantasy that crosses generations: the chance to return to an earlier time in life with the knowledge and perspective gained from everything that came afterward.
Film, television, and screenplay inquiries are welcome.
Contact: thunderbaynovella@gmail.com
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