Warner Bros. action script deal a dream come true for film school grads

HeatVision reports that Warner Bros. has optioned an action script project titled Family Getaway from newcomers Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer, who met in the MFA directing program at the American Film Institute and began writing together shortly after graduating in 2008.

The story is described as a Jason Bourne film crossed with Little Miss Sunshine, centering on a man’s Thanksgiving at his parents’ house, that becomes a lot more dysfunctional when rival assassins come calling, forcing him to take his family on a cross-country adventure in their station wagon.

The deal is the first sale for Friedman and Palmer, who have both worked various jobs while writing nights and weekends for almost two years on Family Getaway. Friedman was employed in the minimally invasive urology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and delivering catering for Joan’s on Third. He still works as an assistant at Atticus Entertainment.

“We both went into shock and are still shock,” Friedman said. “It’s a dream come true.”

Palmer has been teaching engineering and robotics in an after-school program.

“I put in my two weeks, obviously,” he said while conducting an inventory of Lego Robotics pieces, adding half-jokingly, “Now I can write about robots.”