- Screenwriting -

Adaptations of Matt Zullo's definitive books about the On-the-Roof Gang - the true story of the birth of US Navy radio intelligence and the men who helped turn the tide of World War II in the Pacific.

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Best Screenplay Finalist

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Best War Screenplay

Best Student Screenwriter 

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Drama Screenplay Quarter-Finalist

The On-The-Roof Gang

Feature Film

Logline: After his cousin is killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, a US Navy intercept operator is driven by survivor's guilt to seek death in the Pacific's deadliest battles, only to find that his unparalleled skill keeps saving himself and his shipmates—until a kamikaze attack forces him to choose between his death wish or fighting for a future.

Synopsis:  Based on the declassified true story written by Matt Zullo.

Ray Rundle

Ray Rundle is a brilliant but cocky Navy radioman who volunteers for the "On-the-Roof Gang," a secretive unit of elite radio interceptors hunting the Japanese Imperial Navy through the airwaves. He is so skilled at his job that he treats it like a game — until Pearl Harbor. When his cousin Louie is killed in the attack, Ray is consumed by a survivor's guilt so toxic it feels like madness: he is secretly in love with Louie's fiancée, Bernice. Desperate to escape his shame and driven by a subconscious death wish, Ray volunteers for the Pacific’s deadliest deployments — Coral Sea, Midway, and the hunt for Admiral Yamamoto — hoping the war will punish him for his forbidden love. The irony is cruel: Ray is too good to die. His "golden ear" detects the enemy before they strike, saving thousands of lives, including his own. The more he seeks danger, the more of a hero he becomes. The breaking point arrives on the USS New Mexico when a kamikaze turns the radio room into an inferno. Trapped and ready to die, Ray finally realizes that dying would be the ultimate insult to his cousin’s memory and decides to fight. He claws his way to safety, not as a victim, but as a survivor ready to finally answer Bernice’s letters and claim the life he saved.

Comps: The On-The-Roof Gang is not just a war movie but a story about the cost of vengeance. It explores the psychological toll of being the "ear" that directs the sword. While the world celebrates the admirals, this film reveals the terrifying intimacy of the radiomen who monitored the enemy's communications. It is The Imitation Game with the visceral combat stakes of Greyhound.

The On-The-Roof Gang

TV Miniseries

Logline: A rag-tag group of U.S. Navy radiomen — trained in secret to intercept and decode Japanese communications — must overcome overwhelming odds, personal loss, and brutal captivity to warn of impending enemy attacks. The balance of the war in the Pacific hangs in the balance.

Synopsis: Based on the declassified true story written by Matt Zullo.

OTRG Chief Petty Officers

The On-the-Roof Gang is a true-life, untold World War II espionage action/adventure mini-series based largely on recently declassified information. After the discovery of Japanese telegraphic communications on the airwaves, the US Navy secretly trains 176 Sailors and Marines how to intercept and exploit these transmissions. These hand-picked radiomen receive their training on the roof of the Navy headquarters building in Washington, DC, earning them the nickname, the “On-the-Roof Gang.”

The miniseries has multiple parallel story lines that follow four of these men from their training to intercept sites in the Pacific – Hawaii, Guam, Philippines, and China – and into their harrowing wartime exploits, each of them facing life-or-death stakes. Many famous WW2 battles are the backdrop for their ultra-secret espionage that helps turn the tide of the war. Each of the protagonists forge their own path of survival through the war while applying their newfound intelligence skills to determine Japan’s next moves.

Comps:

  • Deep character explorations and emotional stakes of: Band of Brothers, The Pacific, & Masters of the Air
  • The codebreaking and intellectual intrigue of: The Imitation Game
  • The visceral naval combat danger of: Greyhound
  • The powerful redemptive survival of: Unbroken