John B MacNeil
ACTOR • WRITER
FILM • TELEVISION • SCREENWRITING
ABOUT JOHN
John B. MacNeil is a Canadian actor and writer working in film and television.
Drawing on a lifetime of experiences, John brings a grounded, natural presence to the screen and a passion for character-driven storytelling to his writing.
Alongside his acting work, John develops original film and television projects ranging from comedy to drama and thriller.
ACTING
SELECTED FILM & TELEVISION
TRAILER PARK BOYS: JAIL
Mayor DodgeFROM
MechanicTRACY & MARTINA: DIRTY DEEDS
WilkesSULLIVAN'S CROSSING
BidderVIEW ALL CREDITS ON IMDb
ORIGINAL PROJECTS
Original film and television concepts created and developed by John B. MacNeil, ranging from science fiction and comedy to provocative dramatic storytelling.
SPACE GRAVEYARD
SCIENCE FICTION • DRAMA
Science Fiction • Drama • MysteryWhat if death wasn't the end of the journey?When NASA shuts down before aspiring astronaut Scott Adams can fulfill his lifelong dream of reaching space, he is recruited by a mysterious private company to lead an unprecedented venture: placing the deceased in transparent chambers in orbit, allowing their families to look to the stars and see their loved ones again.The revolutionary Space Graveyard becomes a worldwide success—until bodies begin mysteriously disappearing from their chambers.
What begins as a groundbreaking commercial space venture soon uncovers a secret that could change humanity's understanding of life, death—and its future in the universe.Original Screenplay by John B. MacNeil
SPACE GRAVEYARD
Science Fiction • Drama • Mystery
FONE GUYS
COMEDY SERIES
Two brothers. One telephone company. Absolutely no idea what they're getting themselves into.
Set in 1997, Fone Guys follows brothers Johnny and Tommy Sullivan after they're laid off from Canadian Tel Corp and thrown into the unpredictable world of independent telephone contracting.Joined by a collection of colorful coworkers, questionable technicians and an absentee boss calling the shots from Florida, even the simplest telephone job has the potential to become a complete disaster.Fone Guys is a workplace comedy about friendship, family and trying to make a living when almost nothing goes according to plan.
Original Series Created by John B. MacNeil
THE ROW
DRAMA • THRILLER
Where death, morals and integrity are tested.
A powerful congressman, a federal prison warden, a scientist and Big Pharma become entangled in a controversial program that uses death-row inmates for experimental medical research.
The prisoners are offered an impossible choice: face execution—or participate in dangerous human trials that could advance medicine and potentially save countless lives.
But as politics, money, science and personal agendas collide, the line between medical progress and exploitation begins to disappear.
THE ROW asks one disturbing question: How far should humanity go to save humanity?
80's Island the Movie
LOGLINEAfter winning a massive lottery jackpot, an ordinary middle-aged man reunites his old friends to transform a forgotten Caribbean island into the ultimate all-inclusive 1980s getaway. But when they discover young drug smugglers have been using the island as a secret transfer point for years, the aging friends must stop reliving the movies of their youth and start living one—fighting to save their island, their dream and one last chance at the good old days.SYNOPSISRoger has spent most of his adult life working, paying bills and watching the years disappear faster than he ever expected.
Like a lot of people his age, he sometimes wonders when everything became so complicated.
Roger remembers a different time.
The 1980s.
The music was loud. The clothes were ridiculous. Nobody carried a phone everywhere. Friends actually showed up at your house. Friday night meant something. And Roger and his buddies genuinely believed the best years of their lives were still ahead of them.
Then Roger wins a massive lottery jackpot.
Suddenly, he has enough money to do almost anything.
Instead of buying twenty cars, a mansion or disappearing onto somebody else's private island, Roger decides to build his own.
But this won't be another luxury Caribbean resort.
Roger is going to build 80's Island—the ultimate all-inclusive escape into the decade he never wanted to leave.
He recruits his recently divorced best friend, Snoop, a successful construction contractor who thinks Roger has completely lost his mind—until he sees the island.
Then Snoop is in.
Roger also brings along Moose and Turbo, two rough-around-the-edges childhood friends who somehow never completely grew up. Between them, they've worked enough strange jobs to build, repair or improvise almost anything. They've spent most of their lives being regarded as screwups.
For the first time, somebody actually needs them.
Together, the old friends begin transforming a neglected Caribbean island into Roger's dream.
Neon. Arcades. Boom boxes. Cassette tapes. VHS. Classic speedboats. Tropical bars. Retro hotel rooms. Aerobics. Roller skating. Giant speakers. 80s movie nights. Ridiculous drinks. Staff dressed like they walked out of a television show.
A massive faux tropical mountain and volcano becomes the centerpiece of Roger's loving tribute to the tropical television fantasies of his youth.
His rule is simple:
When guests arrive at 80's Island, the modern world stays behind.
Roger also needs somebody capable of actually running the place.
Through mutual friends he learns that Kelly, an old girlfriend he's remained in contact with over the years, has unexpectedly found herself looking for a new job.
Roger doesn't tell her the resort belongs to him.
Snoop hires her.
Kelly believes she's accepted a management position with an eccentric investor's new Caribbean resort. When she arrives on the island and discovers Roger standing on the dock in a Hawaiian shirt, she's stunned.
When she learns he won the lottery and owns the entire place, she's even more stunned.
But Roger has his reasons.
Since becoming rich, he has begun wondering whether new people are interested in Roger—or Roger's money.
Kelly accepted the job before she knew any of it belonged to him.
And Roger quietly likes knowing that.
Everything appears to be falling into place.
Until supplies begin disappearing.
Equipment is sabotaged.
Strange boats appear offshore at night.
Roger and his friends eventually discover something their island's previous owners conveniently failed to mention.
For years, a crew of drug smugglers has been using the isolated island as a transfer point between Caribbean trafficking routes and the mainland.
They don't care that Roger legally bought it.
As far as they're concerned, the island is theirs.
The young smugglers, led by the arrogant and increasingly frustrated Dante, initially find Roger and his middle-aged friends hilarious.
To them, these guys are dinosaurs.
Their music sucks. Their clothes are ridiculous. Their technology belongs in a museum.
They expect a few threats to send them running home.
They are very wrong.
Behind Dante is someone far more dangerous.
Vicente "Vic" Santoro, an old-school drug kingpin who lives in luxury on his own private island, never personally enters the chaos.
Vic operates from a distance.
And unlike his young employees, Vic remembers the 1980s very well.
In fact, he loved them.
As Dante's reports become increasingly unbelievable, Vic develops a strange fascination with the men destroying his smuggling operation.
Roger, Snoop, Moose and Turbo don't initially understand how serious the situation has become.
But Roger has nearly everything he owns invested in 80's Island. More importantly, the project has brought his oldest friends back together and given all of them something they haven't felt in years.
Purpose.
Roger refuses to leave.
Kelly is given every opportunity to get off the island before things become dangerous.
She stays.
And that tells Roger everything he needs to know.
As Roger repeatedly risks himself and his fortune to protect his friends and employees, Kelly begins seeing the same reckless, optimistic man she fell in love with decades earlier.
Unfortunately, that man still has absolutely no idea what he's doing.
With opening day approaching and authorities unable to solve the problem in time, Roger and his friends decide they'll defend their island themselves.
That's when the ultimate 80s vacation turns into the ultimate 80s movie.
The very attractions they've spent months building become their weapons.
Smoke machines. Sound systems. Construction equipment. Fireworks. Golf carts. Speedboats. Hidden maintenance passages. Arcade machines. Lighting systems. The fake volcano.
And Moose and Turbo discover they may have spent their entire lives preparing for exactly this moment.
The young smugglers have technology, weapons and youth.
Roger's guys have experience, stupidity and absolutely nothing left to prove.
What began as one man's attempt to recreate his youth becomes the adventure Roger and his friends always imagined having when they were young.
And somewhere across the Caribbean, Vic Santoro sits in his mansion listening to Cheap Trick while receiving increasingly unbelievable reports about four middle-aged idiots dismantling his operation.
Roger eventually realizes something important.
You can't actually go back.
The 80s weren't magical because of cassette tapes, neon signs or Hawaiian shirts.
They were magical because Roger had people around him he loved, the future was still unwritten, and anything seemed possible.
Maybe you can't relive the old days.
But you can still make some new ones.
Against every reasonable expectation, 80's Island survives.
The resort opens.
A boat filled with the first paying guests approaches the dock.
Music blasts across the beach.
Roger looks around at Snoop, Moose, Turbo and Kelly.
They're bruised, exhausted and probably wanted by somebody.
But they did it.
Roger turns toward the arriving guests.Welcome to 80's Island.
Paradise was simpler in the 80s.
I own these screen properties. They are available for development, option and production.CONTACT FOR RIGHTS / OPTION / PRODUCTION INQUIRIES