The Rotary Club of Lake Kitchigami

Format: Short Film / Anthology Episode | Est. Length: 10-12 minutes

Series Overview

Imagine an anthology series titled The Thin Places, where each episode explores a location where the veil between past and present, memory and reality, is unusually permeable. Set against the vast, forgotten landscapes of North America, the series follows disparate individuals who stumble into localized pockets of magical realism, confronting personal grief, historical secrets, and the encroaching forces of a mundane world that seeks to exploit or erase these wonders. While each story is self-contained, recurring elements—like the shadowy Northern Dominion corporation or whispers of other "thin places"—could connect the episodes into a larger, thematic tapestry.

Episode Hook / Teaser

A car struggles down a remote, snow-covered road, its driver, MAIA, isolated and tense. She arrives at a cold, silent cabin, the silence pressing in on her as she confronts the fresh reality of her grandmother’s death.

Logline

To process her grandmother's death, a grieving woman retreats to her isolated northern cabin, where she begins pulling impossible, pristine artifacts from a frozen lake. She soon discovers the objects are from a drowned town, and she must embrace her grandmother's secret legacy to protect the site from a corporate mining operation.

Themes

This story is a quiet exploration of grief, memory, and legacy, wrapped in a shell of magical realism. It posits that memory is a tangible force, capable of physically resurfacing, and that places can hold the imprint of lives lived long ago. The central theme is the transition from passive mourning to active remembrance; Maia doesn't just remember her grandmother, she takes up her mantle.

A secondary, potent theme is the conflict between preservation and profit, the past versus the future. The drowned town of Auden’s Hollow represents a history that is fragile and easily destroyed by the brutal, forward-looking pragmatism of the Northern Dominion Mining company. The episode uses the surreal mystery of the artifacts to frame a very real environmental and historical struggle, suggesting that some things are more valuable than the minerals buried beneath them.

Stakes

The personal stakes for Maia are profound: if she fails, she remains lost in her grief, disconnected from her grandmother’s memory and the one place she should feel at home. By embracing the mystery, she has a chance to heal and find a new purpose. The external stakes involve the very existence of Auden’s Hollow; if the mining company proceeds, the unique conditions preserving the town will be destroyed, and its history will be lost forever, first to the drills and then to the mines.

Conflict / Antagonistic Forces

The primary external conflict is Man vs. Corporation, pitting Maia and Andrew against the impersonal, well-funded, and legally-sanctioned Northern Dominion Mining survey team. This force is indifferent to history or sentiment, representing a modern world that paves over the past. The internal conflict is Maia’s struggle with her own grief, apathy, and sense of powerlessness. Her initial impulse is to retreat into her sorrow, and she must overcome this inertia to become the protector her grandmother knew she could be.

Synopsis

Maia, a young woman reeling from the death of her beloved grandmother, Elspeth, drives to her remote, snow-covered cabin on Lake Kitchigami to confront her grief. The silence and memories are suffocating until, in a penitent attempt at ice fishing, she reels in an impossible object: a pristine, 1950s-era rotary telephone. Her strange discovery is compounded the next day when she catches a vintage toaster, just as she meets Andrew, a cheerful grad student studying the lake.

Andrew reveals the source of the artifacts: Auden's Hollow, a logging town flooded by a dam in 1962, is perfectly preserved at the bottom of the lake, and changing currents are now releasing its contents. Their wonder and excitement are cut short by the arrival of a corporate mining survey team, whose work threatens to destroy the underwater site. Faced with a two-week deadline, Maia and Andrew engage in petty sabotage to slow the miners, but realize they need a permanent solution. Desperate, Maia finds Elspeth’s journal and uncovers her grandmother's final, brilliant act: she had intentionally curated the "archaeological site" to force its protection, leaving one final, personal artifact for Maia to find—a compass that sets her on a new course.

Character Breakdown

MAIA (20s): A city dweller, sharp and sarcastic, but currently shrouded in a deep, isolating grief.

* Psychological Arc: Maia begins the story numb and disconnected, performing grief rather than processing it. Her journey takes her from a state of passive sorrow to one of active purpose, transforming her inheritance from a burden of memory into a mission. By the end, she has found a way to connect with her grandmother not by looking back, but by fighting forward, becoming the fierce protector she was raised to be.

ANDREW (20s): A bright, enthusiastic grad student in "Limnology and Regional Anthropology." He is a force of optimistic, scientific curiosity.

* Psychological Arc: Andrew starts as an outside observer, a scientist cataloging a fascinating phenomenon. He is quickly drawn into Maia's personal struggle, and his academic interest evolves into a passionate commitment to protecting the lake. He serves as the story's source of logic and exposition, but becomes a true partner in Maia's fight, his scientific zeal tempered by a newfound sense of moral responsibility.

ELSPETH ROSS (Posthumous): Maia's grandmother, a fierce, brilliant, and unconventional woman who was a force of nature and a dedicated environmentalist. Though deceased, her actions, intentions, and wisdom drive the entire narrative, making her the story's most powerful character.

Scene Beats

BEAT 1: THE SILENT CABIN. Maia arrives at her late grandmother's isolated, snow-covered cabin, the profound silence amplifying her grief. She struggles with the cold and the memories, feeling like a ghost in a place that was once a sanctuary. The weight of her loss is a physical presence in the empty, frozen landscape.

BEAT 2: THE IMPOSSIBLE CATCH. To occupy herself, Maia attempts the ritual of ice fishing, a task her grandmother loved. After hours of miserable waiting, she gets a powerful bite and reels in not a fish, but a heavy, black, perfectly preserved rotary telephone. The sheer absurdity of the object shatters her somber mood, replacing it with surreal disbelief.

BEAT 3: THE DROWNED TOWN. After catching a vintage toaster, Maia meets Andrew, a grad student who provides a stunning explanation for the objects. He shows her old maps of Auden's Hollow, a town flooded in the 1960s, and reveals that changing currents are pushing its perfectly preserved contents to the surface. The mystery deepens from a personal oddity into a historical phenomenon.

BEAT 4: THE INTRUSION (Midpoint). The arrival of a Northern Dominion Mining survey team shatters their peaceful discovery. The crew, led by an indifferent foreman, announces their intention to drill the lakebed for mineral deposits, an action that will destroy the underwater town. Maia and Andrew are given two weeks to clear out, transforming their project into a desperate race against time.

BEAT 5: OPERATION MINOR INCONVENIENCE. Maia, channeling her grandmother's defiant spirit, convinces Andrew to engage in a campaign of petty sabotage. They move survey flags and disrupt seismic readings, finding a shared purpose and a grim humor in their small acts of rebellion. This sequence bonds them as partners fighting a common enemy, but they know they are only delaying the inevitable.

BEAT 6: THE GRANDMOTHER'S GAMBIT (Climax). Desperate, Maia finally goes through her grandmother's desk and finds a private journal. She reads that Elspeth knew the miners were coming and, in her final months, had deliberately collected and placed the artifacts in the current's path. It was an audacious, brilliant plan to create an undeniable heritage site and protect the lake forever.

BEAT 7: THE COMPASS. The journal gives Maia coordinates to find one last item. She goes out alone and retrieves a brass compass—one she herself had lost years ago, now found and returned by her grandmother. This final, personal message solidifies Maia’s resolve; she accepts her inheritance and her mission, ready to lead the fight.

Emotional Arc / Mood Map

The episode begins with a tone of deep melancholy and isolation, mirroring Maia's grief against the stark, monochrome winter landscape. This shifts to surreal wonder and a touch of dark humor with the discovery of the telephone and toaster. The arrival of Andrew injects energy and intellectual curiosity, before the mood curdles into tense urgency and simmering anger with the appearance of the mining company. The final act resolves into a feeling of quiet, determined hope, as Maia's grief is transmuted into purpose and she finds connection and a path forward.

Season Arc / Overarching Story

If expanded, The Rotary Club of Lake Kitchigami would serve as the inciting incident for a season-long arc. Maia, now the custodian of the Auden's Hollow site, would become the central figure in a larger fight against Northern Dominion Mining. Andrew's research would uncover evidence that the unique properties of Lake Kitchigami are not isolated, leading them to other "thin places" that Northern Dominion is also targeting, believing their strange electromagnetic or geological signatures indicate valuable resources.

The season would see Maia and Andrew traveling to these other locations, meeting the subjects of other anthology episodes, and forming a loose coalition of protectors. Maia would evolve from a reluctant heir to a strategic leader, using her grandmother's research and her own ingenuity to fight a legal and clandestine battle. The overarching story would explore whether these pockets of memory and magic can survive in a world driven by exploitation, with the fate of Auden's Hollow hanging in the balance until the season finale.

Visual Style & Tone

The visual style will be grounded and naturalistic, emphasizing the stark, austere beauty of the northern winter. Cinematography will use wide, static shots to convey Maia's isolation against the immense landscape, contrasted with warm, intimate, fire-lit interiors of the cabin. The color palette will be dominated by cool blues, whites, and greys, making the rich colors of the unearthed artifacts—the deep black of the phone, the chrome of the toaster, the red of a tricycle—pop with surreal vibrancy.

The tone is one of contemplative magical realism, akin to Tales from the Loop or the quieter moments of Station Eleven. It balances a deep emotional core with a sense of wonder and mystery, treating the impossible with a straight-faced pragmatism. The score should be minimalist and atmospheric, using sparse piano or cello to underscore the emotional landscape without becoming intrusive, allowing the natural sounds of the environment—the wind, the cracking ice, the fire—to dominate.

Target Audience

The target audience is adults aged 25-55 who appreciate character-driven, atmospheric dramas with elements of speculative fiction and magical realism. This includes fans of thoughtful, high-concept shows like The Leftovers, Devs, and Russian Doll, as well as films like Arrival or A Ghost Story. The episode is for viewers who prefer emotional resonance and thematic depth over fast-paced action, and who enjoy stories that blur the line between the explainable and the miraculous.

Pacing & Runtime Notes

For a 10-12 minute runtime, the pacing must be deliberate yet efficient. Act One (Maia's arrival and the first catch) should be slow and atmospheric, establishing her grief and the setting's mood. Act Two accelerates sharply with Andrew's arrival, the exposition about the town, and the inciting incident of the mining company's appearance. The final act, covering the discovery of the journal and the compass, should return to a more contemplative pace, focusing on Maia's internal resolution and newfound purpose.

Production Notes / Considerations

The primary production consideration is securing a location that can convincingly portray a remote, snow-covered lake and cabin in deep winter. The harsh conditions will present logistical challenges for cast and crew. The success of the story hinges on the verisimilitude of the artifacts.

The props team will be crucial; the rotary phone, toaster, jukebox, and other items must appear both vintage and miraculously preserved, requiring careful design and treatment to look as if they've just been pulled from an anoxic, underwater environment. While no complex CGI is required, subtle visual effects could enhance the sense of cold, such as digitally augmented breath vapor or snow patterns. The contrast between the vintage, analog artifacts and Andrew's modern digital equipment (tablet, scanners) is a key visual motif that should be emphasized.