Swan Valley (Working Title)

AFF Submission Description Draft

Title: SWAN VALLEY
Writer: John Rider
Format: Drama Teleplay (Pilot / Limited Series)

Writer Background: I am a Texas-born writer and current VP of global operations for a major US Energy Services firm, based in the UK. My professional background managing complex operations in remote, high-pressure environments has given me a firsthand understanding of the institutional friction and human stakes that drive survival narratives. To write Swan Valley, I spent time on the ground at the massacre site in Montana and utilized archives preserved by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) to ensure the narrative is anchored in uncompromising geographical and historical reality.

Synopsis:
Based on the documented, yet untold, 1908 Swan Valley Massacre in Montana. When a corrupt state Game Warden murders a Salish hunting party in the freezing, deep timber of the Swan Valley, the sole survivor a pregnant woman named Clarice must navigate the brutal winter wilderness and a rigged American justice system. As federal agents clash with local politicians desperate to cover up the slaughter, Clarice must decide whether to trust the fragile laws of a changing nation or take survival into her own hands before the town can bury the truth.