The Savage Grant
Historical Drama • Frontier Adventure • Western
1775
Beyond the settled colonies lies a vast wilderness where land is plentiful, government is distant, and survival belongs to those willing to fight for it.
Jonathon Buffington inherits a piece of the Savage Grant—frontier land carved from the rugged mountains and river valleys of western Virginia. Tired of war, taxes, and bloodshed, he moves his family west hoping to build something increasingly difficult to find in colonial America:
A peaceful life.
But the land he has been given is already home to another people.
As settlers push deeper into the frontier, old grievances erupt into violence, and Jonathon’s dream becomes a fight for survival that will cost him nearly everything he loves.
He came to the frontier searching for freedom.
He found a land fighting for its own.
Logline
In the turbulent years surrounding the American Revolution, a war-weary settler moves his family to inherited land on the western Virginia frontier, only to become trapped in an escalating conflict between settlers and Native peoples that forces him to confront the true cost of freedom, vengeance, and survival.
About the Screenplay
The Savage Grant is a historical frontier drama inspired by true events surrounding the settlement of land granted to Captain John Savage and his soldiers following the French and Indian War.
After inheriting his father’s portion of the grant, Jonathon Buffington travels west from Pennsylvania to claim land near Leading Creek on the Virginia frontier. A veteran of earlier fighting, Jonathon has experienced enough violence to want something simpler—a home, fertile land, and a future for his wife Ann and their children.
But the frontier is far from empty.
Settlers are pushing into territory claimed by Native peoples, isolated forts provide fragile protection, and men such as frontiersman Jesse Hughes carry personal histories that have transformed fear and loss into hatred.
Jonathon nevertheless builds his cabin and brings his family west, convinced they can create a new life away from the political turmoil and growing revolution in the colonies.
Then everything changes.
Returning from a journey, Jonathon discovers his homestead destroyed, Ann and two of his children dead, and his young daughter Wendy taken captive by a Mingo war party.
Grief sends him into the wilderness after her.
What begins as a desperate rescue becomes something more complicated when Jonathon discovers that the people he considers his enemies have suffered losses of their own. His encounter with a woman living among the Mingo—and his determination to recover Wendy—forces him to confront the cycle of revenge consuming both sides of the frontier.
Against the backdrop of the emerging American Revolution, The Savage Grant explores a more personal battle over freedom: who possesses it, who pays for it, and what happens when two peoples believe the same land belongs to them.
It is a story of settlement and survival, but ultimately one about whether hatred inherited through generations can ever give way to peace.
Screenplay Details
Author: James Leach
Genre: Historical Drama • Frontier Adventure • Western
Format: Feature Screenplay
Page Count: [Page Count]
Setting: Pennsylvania / Virginia Frontier / Ohio Country
Time Period: Colonial America / American Revolution Era
Based On: True Events
Status: Completed / Available for Option
Available Materials
Screenplay
Synopsis
Treatment
Character Sketches
Pitch materials / Storyboards
About the Screenwriter — James Leach
James “JC” Leach is a U.S. Air Force veteran, technical writer, and screenwriter who has been developing original screenplays since 2008. His work spans historical drama, military and geopolitical thrillers, science fiction, suspense, horror, and stories inspired by real events.
With a professional background in technical writing, instructional design, and simulation development, JC brings extensive research, technical authenticity, and a disciplined approach to storytelling. His military experience in electronic warfare and aviation provides an additional foundation for stories involving military operations, technology, and high-stakes environments.
JC has developed a diverse portfolio of feature-length screenplays. His work includes original material as well as two adaptations of public-domain literary works, giving him experience translating existing stories into cinematic narratives.
He is currently adapting his screenplay portfolio into novels, expanding his stories across both film and publishing. JC is interested in connecting with producers, representation, and creative collaborators seeking distinctive, character-driven material with strong cinematic potential.
JAMES LEACH Author • Screenwriter 