Brochure, Web and Press Release Copy

Proper billing:

TREASURE ISLAND REIMAGINED
Jane Hawkins and the Pirate’s Gold
A Live-Action Graphic Novel

Written and Directed by Jason Neulander
Art Direction and Illustration by Johnny Dombrowski
Coloring by Lee Duhig
Music by Sam Lipman
Sound Design by Buzz Moran

Produced by Chemistry Laboratories and Shaw Entertainment Group

[Please note: If billed in three lines, do as above. If one line, as in a press release, this: TREASURE ISLAND REIMAGINED: Jane Hawkins and the Pirate’s Gold — A Live-Action Graphic Novel. The title can be abbreviated Treasure Island Reimagined once the full title has been introduced, say in a e-blast. The above is mainly for billing, advertising, program.]

Brochure and web copy:

160 word description:

DANGER! PIRATES ABIDE HERE!

"High-seas skullduggery...bringing [Treasure Island] to vibrant, raucous and illustrated life." – The Austin Chronicle

The granddaddy of all pirate stories sets sail in a whole new format, the live-action graphic novel.

The year is 1754. The place, the western shores of England. Jane Hawkins, twelve years old, works at a sleepy seaside inn. When a sinister vagabond arrives with a mysterious trunk, Jane's humdrum life swerves towards adventure…

Treasure Island Reimagined: Jane Hawkins and the Pirate's Gold is the newest show from Jason Neulander, the mind behind the smash hit The Intergalactic Nemesis ("Something you must experience if you're a fan of awesome." – Collider). In this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, three performers provide all the character voices and sound effects – live and in front of your eyes – as more than 1,200 hand-drawn comic book panels blast one by one on a huge screen to tell an on-the-edge-of-your-seat tale of danger and adventure for the kid in everyone.

This production was created by real people. No AI!

[NOTE: please embed the video of the trailer for the show on your website, and a QR code for it on your printed materials]

100 word description:

DANGER! PIRATES ABIDE HERE!

"High-seas skullduggery...bringing [Treasure Island] to vibrant, raucous and illustrated life." – The Austin Chronicle

In this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, three performers provide all the character voices and sound effects – live and in front of your eyes – as more than 1,200 hand-drawn comic book panels blast one by one on a huge screen to tell an on-the-edge-of-your-seat tale of danger and adventure for the kid in everyone.

[NOTE: please embed the video of the trailer for the show on your website, and a QR code for it on your printed materials]

Exceptionally short description:

"High-seas skullduggery...bringing [Treasure Island] to vibrant, raucous and illustrated life." – The Austin Chronicle

The year is 1754. When a sinister vagabond arrives with a mysterious trunk, Jane's humdrum life swerves towards adventure…

[NOTE: please embed the video of the trailer for the show on your website, and a QR code for it on your printed materials]

Press quotes:

“[Jason Neulander has] a seemingly inexhaustible ability to surprise. And thrill. And horrify. And amuse. And intrigue.” — The Austin Chronicle

"High-seas skullduggery...bringing [Treasure Island] to vibrant, raucous and illustrated life." – The Austin Chronicle

(more press quotes coming soon)

Press release:

Danger! Adventure! Pirates!

Jane Hawkins Anchors in [CITY] on [DATE]

Avast! Pirates land here soon! Treasure Island Reimagined: Jane Hawkins and the Pirates Gold moors at [VENUE] on [DATE].

Written and directed by Jason Neulander, the creator of the hit touring show The Intergalactic Nemesis back in the 2010s, Jane Hawkins is inspired by the granddaddy of all adventure pirate stories, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, the book that birthed all the great pirate tropes: the one-legged pirate, the talking parrot, the map with the X on it, ‘yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum,’ ‘shiver my timbers,’ and, of course, the godfather of pirates himself, Long John Silver.

In this retelling, the protagonist is a girl. Neulander says that while the plot points of the original story remain the same, the character arc for Jane is quite different than if she were a he.

“Back in the 18th century, a girl couldn’t go on a great adventure. She had no hope, ever, of being captain of a ship — unless she became a pirate,” he says.

The character of Jane Hawkins is inspired by Neulander’s own daughter Scarlett. The writer/director read the story to Scarlett when she was nine years old. Ten years later, when he asked her what story she thought he ought to adapt into his new show, she didn’t hesitate: “Dad, you have to do Treasure Island.”

What makes the show so unique, though, is Neulander’s signature format: the “live-action graphic novel.”

“I stumbled upon this concept accidentally with The Intergalactic Nemesis, but quickly learned there was nothing else like this out there,” says Neulander.

In the live-action graphic novel format, a small cast of performers creates all the character voices and Foley sound effects live and in front the audience’s eyes while the story is told visually by projecting the artwork from an original graphic novel panel by panel without the word balloons on a huge movie screen.

Neulander specifically wanted to get a 1950s horror comic vibe with this new show. A mutual friend connected him with Johnny Dombrowski, who not only draws in that style, but creates a retro look in all his work using half-tones, the dot patterns that inspired Roy Lichtenstein.

Dombrowski says, “Comics have always been a huge inspiration in my work. Working in illustration for so many years, I started to really have a craving to work in comics books again. Then before you know it, Jason reached out with perfect timing to work on Treasure Island Reimagined.”

Marvel Comics colorist Lee Duhig then came on the project and Dombrowski taught him how to break down colors into dot patterns of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. More than 185 pages later, the artwork is ready for both publication and live production.

Music and sound effects are essential components of the live show. With this production, unlike The Intergalactic Nemesis, Neulander wanted an orchestral score. He hired Austin-based composer Sam Lipman, who composed and arranged more than 70 individual cues — 35 minutes of orchestral music — as a cinematic score for the show. In most presentations, the music will be pre-recorded, but because there is an orchestral score, the show can be performed with a live orchestra.

“When I tell people what I do, they always have two questions: ‘Wow, there are still composers alive?’ and ‘What's your favorite instrument?’,” says Lipman. "I always answer ‘the symphony orchestra.’ It's the greatest of all human inventions, and I seriously cannot wait for audiences to experience it live for Treasure Island Reimagined.”

Equally important to the storytelling are the live sound effects. 2026 marks the thirtieth anniversary of sound and Foley designer Buzz Moran collaborating with Neulander on dozens of film and theater projects.

From seagulls and the ocean’s waves to the creaking of wood on a schooner, to clashing swords and gunfire, every sound effect in the show is performed visibly before the audience’s eyes.

“I’m very excited to be working with Jason Neulander again, one of my favorite people, and literally the person who got me started in sound design,” says Moran. “This show presents a whole new set of challenges for live sound effects, particularly the ocean and ship sounds.”

A cast of three (Cheyenne Gibbs, Dane Parker, and Jason Neulander) perform the voices of more than two dozen characters while simultaneously creating the hundreds of sound effects that set the scene and tell the story.

Moran points out that “training actors to perform the sound effects is another opportunity to do something we’ve never tried before.”

“I wanted to make something for the kid in everyone with no boring parts,” says Neulander. “Let me know if we’ve succeeded!”

Tickets now on sale at [venue ticket page].