OUR JOURNEY TO DATE
From Matthew Ryan, Aegis for Dreams screenwriter, Founder and Trustee of Aegis for Dreams Foundation
Thanks for your interest in our feature film project. I want to share a bit about this story.
What This Film is About
At the center of Aegis for Dreams is a personal story, set within a larger, epic story. The personal story is about the relationship between a young Alexander Hamilton and George Washington.
The backdrop for this central story is America’s War for Independence, and more specifically the internal challenges within the American Army. These two stories are tightly intertwined and together reach a dramatic climax.
Washington is the hero of both of these stories, due primarily to a personal trait viewed by many historians as his greatest strength: his emotional intelligence.
Writing the Script (2014-2016)
In 2014, I immersed myself in reading about the American Revolution. I was struck by the complicated relationship between Washington and Hamilton. I was compelled to write a script focusing on their relationship during the war. I was granted a Federal copyright over the script in early 2016.
Script Validation in Three Acts (2016-2019)
During this period, I honed the script via reviews from Hollywood professionals via The Black List, a well respected script hosting site. I also sought comment form nationally prominent Founding Era historians. Finally, I obtained an analysis of the script generated by a high-powered algorithm developed by film industry artificial intelligence firm ScriptBook.
The result of these independent reviews reflect the high quality of the script, both historically and artistically.
Navigating Between a Rock and a Hard Place (2019-2022)
The Hollywood dilemma
Because Hollywood does not make Revolutionary War-era films, especially historically accurate ones, I concluded the best way to get this film made — in an histrocially accurate way — was to create a charity and donate the film rights to it, In 2018, I created Aegis for Dreams Foundation and donated the film rights.
IRS Roadblock, Tax Court Victory
I then encountered another problem when the IRS refused to grant the Foundation tax-exempt status, stating that feature filmmaking is, per se, commerical and not charitable. After a two year period of administrative appeals, in 2021 IRS issued the Foundation a final denial of tax exemption.
In response to the denial, the Foundation (and myself as trustee) petitioned the United Stated Tax Court to reverse the IRS determination. The case gained attention in the national tax press due to the potentially broader implications of the case’s outcome to other actual and planned charities
In July 2022, the IRS and the Foundation settled the case. The Foundation earned its exemption and with it, the right to make this feature film in a charity. See the Forbes.com article on this case.
