© MMXXV WHITE LAKE PRODUCTIONS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
EXT. GIBSONTON, FLORIDA - DAY
​
WE OPEN on a suburban Florida home. On the front porch sits an elderly man, smoking a cigarette.
​
The yard is littered with rotting carnival signs and decaying trailers.
"THE SHOWMAN" tells the story of the last remaining sideshow ringmaster struggling to let go of his legacy. In Gibsonton, Florida, the winter home of sideshow performers, a man is restrained to his home due to his health and old age but his show continues to tour the country once a season. After a diagnosis that put an end date on his life, he decides to try and don the top hat one more time and uphold his legacy as "KING OF THE SIDESHOW".
CINEMATOGRAPHY STYLE
"THE SHOWMAN" would be shot on Super 16mm film and incorporate vintage anamorphic lenses. The shooting style would be inspired by Cinéma vérité documentary filmmaking, giving it a realistic feel.
​
Films like "The Wrestler" (2008), and "Red Rocket" (2021)
employ these techniques.
"Gibtown became a sanctuary, and the stigma associated with the trade was convenient as well: outsiders stayed away thanks to rumors about “carnies” stealing children. The world’s showtown capital remained a well-kept secret, purposely never a tourist destination.
​
Nowadays, Gibtown looks like any other American small town. If you didn’t know it was there, you might drive straight through."
