1. Lost In the Canvas
Treatment
For a feature film
Written by
Nick Hogle
&
Alex Mikelson

2. Page 1
While being an inspiring young artist in San Francisco California, Alex Wolfe learns the
challenges of living on his own while also in search for his biological father. Alex is 18 years old
and grew up in Lancaster CA with his Mother Susan. Susan is a recovering Alcoholic who
occasionally bends the rules of her treatment. While Alex is out with his best friend Chris, Susan
ends up drinking a little too much and as a result, she mistakenly swallows a large amount of
Librium. When Alex arrives home he finds his mother lying dead on her bedroom floor. He
rushes her to the hospital only to find out that his mother had overdosed on medicine that she
used to take for her alcohol withdrawal syndrome. This leaves Alex devastated and alone.
A few days after Alex gets notification to vacate his home. Without any family to take
him in and a small fortune that still isn’t enough to pay the remaining mortgage of the house,
Alex is forced to pack everything up and leave. While Chris, Alex’s best friend, helps him pack
everything up, Alex takes one last look in his mother’s room. Alex notices a very unfamiliar box
in her closet. When he opens the box he finds his birth certificate and a small stack of letters all
addressed to him. Each letter is dated back to his fifth birthday. Alex opens the first, then he
opens the second one, then the third, all dated a few months apart. At the bottom of each
letter there’s a name neatly written in cursive, David Walsh. This name sounds familiar to Alex,
he then takes a look at his birth certificate and that’s when he sees his answer. That same name
belongs to his father. After having a deep conversation with Chris, Alex decides to pack
everything up and journey to San Francisco with the small inheritance he received from his
mother.

3. Page 2
When Alex arrives to San Francisco, he finds himself a room for rent in a two bedroom
apartment with a very unique roommate. The next morning he begins his search by making his
first stop at his father’s company building. David Walsh is the CEO and Co-Founder of a high
tech company known as N.A.Tech. Without revealing his relation with David, Alex asks the
secretary if he can see him, but apparently setting up a meeting with David is a month long
process. So with that Alex is set back to step one. Before moving on, Alex stops at a restaurant
called J.C. to get a bite to eat. The waitress, Sophie engages himin conversation and the two of
them hit it off very well. She offers to take him to a beautiful view of the city called twin peaks.
There Alex tells her all about his discovery and the reason for him moving out here. The next
morning Alex receives a notice from his roommate that the apartment was broken into that
same night. Alex rushes home to find his paintings ruined and the rest of his inheritance gone.
Alex now has to find a job to help with his current financial problems. He stops by a
bunch of retailers and café’s but no luck. The last place he try’s is Francisco Canvas Art gallery, A
small time art gallery that specializes in Canvas Art. Francisco himself is the only one there. It
only takes a few minutes for Francisco to look at his paintings and a little convincing for him to
decide to hire Alex as an art dealer assistant. On his free time Alex visits the library to find out
more about his father. After a few hours on the computer, Alex comes across an address for his
house. Hoping that his father is still residing there, he makes a trip out to Sea Cliff

4. Page 3
Upon arriving to his father’s house, Alex becomes extremely nervous, He waits a while
before getting out of his car, not knowing at all what to expect and wondering how things will
turn out. Hoping for the best Alex knocks on the front door. While he waits patiently a woman
answers the door. Alex asks “Hi is David Walsh here?” The woman responds with a no and then
asks, “Is there something I can help you with?” Alex responds “Well I just needed to talk to him
but if he’s not here then I’ll come back another time.” Alex leaves and gets back into his car. He
sits their disappointed, thinking things over when David pulls into the driveway. Alex watches as
David is greeted by the woman at the door. Alex takes a deep breath before getting out of his
car. He then walks up to the front door and lightly knocks on the door. This time David answers
the door.
With the determination to find his father, Alex’s personal experiences grow fast with his
first roommate, love interest, and the responsibility of a new job while becoming more eager to
find the answer he’s been searching for. This story tells about a boy’s self-defining journey to
find his father.