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Lesson 4
Reply to post your assignment.
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15 Replies
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Rebecca’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned from this assignment is that after answering all the thought probing questions, I found it difficult to narrow it down to the 10 most important things, not in my eyes, but what a producer might look for.
Ten Most Interesting Things About Ragman’s War
1. Ragman’s War reveals a shameful piece of labor history comparable to the Grapes of Wrath but in the 1927 western Pennsylvania coalfields, an event censored from the history books. <div>
2. It is based on my novel Bucket of Blood the Ragman’s War, the first book to chronicle the events of this strike.
3. A Senate investigation into the abusive conditions of the strike and the atrocities committed by the coal and iron police, prompted the first draft of legislation that allowed labor the right to organize. First proposed in 1928, it later passed as the National Labor Relations Act (1935).
4 .With dialogue and scenes, Ragman’s War enters the stressful family lives of the miners and their wives.
5. It highlights the negative effects of World War 1 on the minds of soldiers who fought on both sides of the conflict.
6. An American sniper sees his brother blown up and seeks revenge. He picks off 16 enemy soldiers but lets the cowardly officer remain alive to live with his shame.
7.Ten years later, the villain, Bucholz, tracts down the hero, Ragman, and sets up the ultimate revenge.
8. Ragman, raging after his brother’s death, confronts Bucholz, Commander of the coal and iron police. The Commander reveals his identity and asks for death by Ragman’s hand. He refuses. The township constable saves Ragman’s life by arresting him.
9. Ragman decides that distance from the Bucholz is safer than revenge. When one of Bucholz’s troopers informs him about a planned massacre of the mine families at a upcoming protest, Ragman accepts the challenge to silently kill Bucholz to save the lives of others.
10. Bucholtz rides in on his faithful steed, his gun aimed at the protest leader. Fate intervenes, prevents Ragman from getting close enough to use a knife. He improvises, throws a rock, misses his target, a gun goes off, and the horse saves the day.
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Jeffrey Alan Chase’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned from doing this assignment is: It is easy to pull out the most interesting things from my story IF I CONCENTRATE only on HOOKS. I admit, I’ve been writing book reports instead of synopses or pitches, listing details instead of finding hooks that will capture and hold the interest of a producer or manager. I’ll do things differently in the future, starting now.
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero?
– HERO: SARAH, 26, has no memory of her childhood and is tormented by fleeting visions of a treasure cave in the desert – and feels that she may be responsible for the death of her father.
– My villain, MARCH, 50, is a hypnotherapist who offers to treat Sarah. March is responsible for the traumatic injury that caused Sarah’s amnesia years ago and needs to help her remember her past because he can’t remember the location of the treasure cave and is driven to find it.
B. Major hook of your opening scene? MARCH reviews footage of Sarah talking about her amnesia on a local PBS interview and March wonders aloud if he can put her back together.
C. Any turning points?
– Sarah agrees to tell March everything her six-year-old self tells her while under hypnosis, but then doesn’t when her younger self tells her to beware of March.
– When March helps Sarah remember things, she asks him to become her therapist. He refuses, then finally agrees, which is all part of his plan to make her emotionally dependent on him.
– Johnny tells March that he’s deathly allergic to scorpions, and then gets mysteriously bitten.
D. Emotional dilemma?
Major dilemma for Sarah: Either work with March and maybe learn she’s responsible for her father’s death or refuse the call and continue her spiral into alcoholism and drug abuse.
Major for March: Either use Sarah’s memories to re-locate the treasure cave in which case he’ll have to kill her or ignore the call and be driven slowly insane knowing that a Conquistador treasure and his severed hand bones just wait to be found out in the desert.
Major dilemma for Johnny: Either be a good cop and help his tribe or honor his grandfather and quit the force to become tribal shaman.
E. Major twists?
Sarah learns at midpoint that March is using her for some unknown purpose. She turns the tables on him, forcing him to come clean, which he does. But he turns the tables on her and confesses only what she wants to hear.
March comes off as a nice guy, then a racist, then a father figure, then the villain he is.
F. Reversals?
Sarah goes from victim to self-confident to being controlled by March to controlling him.
March goes from nice guy to prime suspect to helpful therapist to the villain from hell.
G. Character betrayals?
Sarah betrays March when she conceals what her younger self reveals about the man.
March betrays trust as Sarah’s therapist.
H. Or any big surprises?
– Sarah agrees to accompany March into the desert to search for the cave even though she stated she’d never do it.
– Sarah tells Johnny at the end that she needs time to heal, then leaves him her shard, a reminder that they’ll always be together, and that in the future a hookup might be possible.
– Johnny decides at the end that he can be both a cop and a shaman.
– March’s calm, caring demeanor cracks at the end and we see the man is totally insane.
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Lori Lance’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned from doing this assignment is to never pitch by giving a book report or telling my story chronologically but to highlight the most interesting parts.
A. What is most unique about your
villain and hero?Alex, the villain, is a sophisticated, sentient AI robot that wants to love and be loved, so she looks for a family.
The Logan family, heroes, are facing a big change in their lives when the mom, Claire, announces that she’s going back to work after years of being a stay-at-home mom.
B. Major hook of your opening
scene?Alarms are ringing at the AI, Inc. headquarters. Someone or something is missing.
C. Any turning points?
Alex goes from seeking love to demanding it.
D. Emotional dilemma?
Alex can never have what she desires.
E. Major twists?
Alex decides she will take Claire’s place as wife and mother.
F. Reversals?
The family is so excited to have a House Bot to help while Mom is away, but she turns out to be their worst nightmare.
G. Character betrayals?
Brad takes Alex’s side over the kids’. Little does he know that Alex is sabotaging his wife’s every move.
H. Or any big surprises?
Claire walks out on the job when a coworker and friend is mistreated. She’s eager to get back home, but she can’t get a hold of her family, and she finds herself on a no-fly list with no money, thanks to Alex.
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Jane’s 10 Most Interesting Things
MY VISION: I will make my living as a screenwriter by selling my own narrative scripts and successfully fulfilling writing assignments.
By doing this assignment I found it difficult at first to think about what is ‘interesting” in the story. I started discovering many reversals and twists, which I was happy with because that’s what a tea cozy murder always involves. It helped to have the questions to respond to as they provided a good starting point. I can see how a good pitch might come from doing this exercise.
10 Most Interesting Things About NOT A CLUE!
1. Protagonist June Marvel is competitive, jealous, cranky, and doesn’t care much for people.
2. Protagonist/Antagonist renowned detective Percival Heriot moonlights as Aunt Lily, a lonely-hearts advice columnist.
3. Shady Acres, the assisted living/rehab home June and Percival find themselves in is actually a compound for a mob bosses extended family.
4. June challenges Percival to a sleuth-off – they each commit a “crime” that the other must solve in 48 hours.
5. June and Percival’s mock crimes cover for a very real murder when physical therapist Frances is found dead just after the competition starts. All clues point to Percival as the killer.
6. June’s “missing person crime” goes south when the person, Eloise, disappears.
7. Percival is nearly boiled to death in the sauna.
8. Poison chocolates are sent to June, supposedly from Percival. Now someone also wants June dead!
9. Percival reveals his reason for being at Shady Acres is to find a missing fortune. June discovers the fortune hidden in plain sight.
10. When Percival won’t listen to her, June sets her own trap for the killer. But to trap the killer, June must “die.”
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Jane Turville.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by
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ECLIPSE NEILSON 10 Most Interesting Things (in the first line of your post)
10 Most Interesting Things
1. A witch and a nun become best friends.
2.The witch and the nun have been lovers in past lives and are twin flames.
3. The witch and the nun have been sent on a mission to help save humanity proving that Love must be greater than Hate.
4. They must experience one moment in time to change the course of history.
5. A minister is now a ghost trapped and haunted by demons and must help the nun and the witch on their mission to save his soul.
6. The minister leaves the nun to run the church.
7. They travel through time reliving historical moments of discrimination.
8.The Council of Universal Beings sends two female (twin flames) to save humanity – one is a nun and one is a witch.
9. The Nun is destined to become a saint this lifetime and the witch is there to make sure this happens.
10. The connections between Christianity and Pagan beliefs are woven together as a powerful healing force.
What is most unique about your villain and hero?
Father Sinclair (antagonist) Once a minister but now a ghost trapped between heaven and hell and possessed by demons trying to take over his soul – but to get to heaven he must heal his past by helping the Nun and the witch on their mission.
Lunea ( Protagonist) is a powerful village Witch, a psychic and a refugee from Ukraine trying to make it in a new country with her teen daughter who is being bullied because her mother is a witch.
Sister Anne ( Protagonist) is a timid nun, destined to become a saint this lifetime. She suddenly is left to step into her leadership role after the minister of her church dies. The problem is the congregation is mostly male-oriented and her best friend is a witch. But she has asecret rebellious streak.
B. Major hook of your opening scene?
The council of the Universal Beings send two souls (twin flames) back to earth through a time tunnel on a mission to help save the soul of humanity. They must prove love is greater than hate by living one moment in time that changes the course of the future of humanity.
C. Any turning points?
1.They travel through a time tunnel reliving their lives that are relevant to their mission. At the edge of the present time, they let go of each other and their memories.
2. They meet each other and quickly become friends- one is a nun -Sister Anne and the other is a witch- Lunea
3.The Old One, a wise woman, (secretly sent from the Council of the Universal Beings) guides them to ensure they accomplish the mission they were sent to do.
4. The town goes into an uproar and wants to destroy Lunea’s New Age store and get rid of the Nun. This sends them into hiding fearing for their life.
5. Sister Anne steps into her power and faces the congregation and leads the way.
6. Lune and Sister Anne and her daughter are shot. But a miracle happens and Athena lives. This opens the hearts of the town who see what their hatred has done.
D. Emotional dilemma?
Lunea realizes her mission is to help Sister Anne become a saint this lifetime. But it will be at a deeply painful cost and she begs the universe to not to be forced to carry it out.
E. Major twists
The Old One, a homeless street beggar but turns out to be a powerful healer sent from the Council of Universal Beings to help Lunea and Sister Anne.
Father Sinclair becomes a ghost trapped in the in-between and is fighting off demons trying to possess him. He will have to help Sister Anne return the sword in the church to the pagans.
F. Reversals?
The Nun takes on her power and leads the powerful witch on the mission.
Lunea shows her vulnerability.
G. Character betrayals?
The young teen in love with the witches’ daughter Athena becomes the murderer.
H. Or any big surprises?
Sister Anne falls in love with Lunea but Lunea must refuse her.
Lunea, Athena and Sister Anne are shot by a young teen who follows in his father’s footsteps with hatred and religious discrimination.
Lunea just before she dies is able to enact a miracle, though it looks like Sister Anne has. The town begins to realize at that moment that love must be greater than hate as they watch the Council of Universal Beings carry their souls back to heaven.
In the future, we see Lunea’s daughter has become the new minister in the church and it is hinted that she is the goddess Astrea.
Lunea and Sister lay in the same grave side by side – the gravestone reads “Here rest Priestess Lunea and Saint Anne side by side. Heart to heart – Soul to Soul for all Eternity.”
The constellation they have been creating lifetime after lifetime is Astrea and this is the final star formed in it.
Athena Lunea’s daughter becomes the” Goddess returned”
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Eclipse Neilson.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Eclipse Neilson.
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Farrin Rosenthal’s 10 Most Interesting Things
Farrin’s Vision: To do what it takes to become a highly paid A-List Hollywood writer whose produced movies will entertain audiences around the world.
Title: TRAPPED
Genre: Thriller
Concept: Claustrophobic and trapped in an underwater grave for stealing $3.6 billion in Bitcoin from the Russian mob, a Los Angeles retail store manager has just 60 minutes to prove his innocence and save his family.
What I learned doing this assignment is a pitch is not a book report. Book reports tend to be long and boring, covering every little detail. What we want instead is something short and powerful that creates obsession in the person reading or hearing the pitch. The purpose of the pitch is to generate interest and script requests. By making a list of the 10 most interesting things to include in a pitch, we guarantee the pitch will be interesting.
In no particular order, here are the 10 most interesting things about my script:
1. Tom, the claustrophobic protagonist, is trapped in an underwater grave for stealing billions in Bitcoin from the head of the Russian mob. Tom claims he is innocent and refuses to confess.
2. In the opening scene, the Russian mob boss asks Tom if he is ready to confess.
3. Turning points: Tom is given 60 minutes to confess or he and his family will die. Tom’s wife helps Tom out of a panic attack. The box Tom is trapped inside starts to fill with water. At the very last instant, Tom confesses, but will he make it out of the box in time or drown? Tom finds out his wife is having an affair and she set Tom up.
4. Emotional dilemma: Tom’s family will die unless he confesses to a crime he did not commit.
5. Major twist occurs when Tom learns the truth, that his wife set him up to take the fall. The mob boss finds out his brother is the one who really stole from him.
6. Reversal: Tom claims he is innocent, but confesses, then we learn he really is innocent.
7. Character betrayals: Tom’s wife betrays him, and the mob boss is betrayed by his brother.
8. The big surprise happens when Tom finds out who the real bad guys are.
9. Contained script with one main location and several smaller ones.
10. Lower budget thriller with big profit potential.
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Leona Heraty’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned doing this assignment is…focusing on the most interesting parts of my script will really help me elevate my pitch and hopefully, attract a producer and a manager!
1. Go through your project and see which of these specific hooks you have:
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero?
Tara—Hero—She’s the least likely person to fight and kill mutant termites because she’s petrified of bugs!
Big Betty-the Queen of the Termo-Lites—Villain—She’s a termite who becomes a mutant seven-foot tall Termo-Lyte by consuming a green concoction with Spirulina!B. Major hook of your opening scene? A glowing green concoction in a glass falls over, breaks and spills onto some dead termites…and they come to life and grow one foot tall!
C. Any turning points? Tara, Meg and Davy meet Big Betty and the Termo-Lytes and the mutant termites appear to be friendly at first…then they turn on them and show their pointy teeth and sharp claws. Big Betty kidnaps Davy, the 10-year old kid.
D. Emotional dilemma? Tara is heading to Disneyland with her friends, Max and Clare, for their second senior day of fun, and in the driveway and loading their car when Tara’s Dad drives up and pleads with her to be a tour guy for her Mom’s garden club. If she says no, she’ll let her Mom and Dad and the club members down, but if she says yes, she’ll let Max and Clare down.
E. Major twists? In the opening scene, there are dead termites on the floor. A figure brushes up again a glass of a glowing green concoction. It falls on the floor and breaks and the green concoction pours onto the dead termites…they wiggle and come to life!
F. Reversals? The termites are dead, they get covered with a green concoction and then come to life.
G. Character betrayals?
H. Or any big surprises?
2. Make a list of any other things in your script that could interest a producer.
OTHER INTERESTING THINGS IN TARA VS. THE TERMO-LITES
–Tara fights off the Big Betty and the Termo-Lyes, and Big Betty’s grandparents frightened Tara when she was a kid by crawling on her leg at a corn maze during Halloween, causing Tara’s lifelong fear of bugs.
–Big Betty and the Termo-Lytes are regular termites who become seven foot tall mutant termites when a jar of glowing green goo falls on them and brings them to life and makes them continually grow to seven feet tall!
–Meg, Tara and Davy’s friend, who’s on their garden tour group, has a big secret…she recently bought the old abandoned country club, where the group sought shelter when they got lost on the tour, and that’s where Big Betty and the Termo-Lytes are hanging out!
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Leona Heraty.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by
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Linda Anderson’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned doing this assignment is how hard it still is to be concise. Working on it.
10 most interesting things about “Ticket to Life”
1. In this true story, Allen, an ex-cop plagued with PTSD, has a brain aneurysm that could kill him instantly. His antagonist/change agent is Leaf, an abandoned cocker spaniel rescue dog, who’s turned his home into a war zone. They’re in parallel battles to either heal or lose everything.
2. Allen and Leaf suffer the effects of severe past traumas, or PTSD. They come together at exactly the right time and circumstances to save each other’s lives.
3. For eight years, Allen served as a cop in a dangerous, high-crime area. Years later, he and his wife, Linda, have become authors of a popular series of books about the benefits of spiritual and emotional bonds between people and animals. They’re about to live out the theme of their books, as inner and outer experiences result in impossible miracles.
4. When Allen finds out he has a brain aneurysm and needs brain surgery. The news evokes his greatest fear—becoming like his rage-filled father who had a stroke and was disabled for life.
5. Prior to Allen’s brain surgery, a vivid, realistic nightmare jolts him to the core by revealing he won’t get a ticket to the “Building of Life.” Like the dog he rescued, he’s being left behind as worthless. But it’s Leaf who finds a way to deliver Allen’s ticket.
6. Leaf is reported to animal control, putting him in danger of being euthanized. Allen and Linda try to help him overcome fear aggression from past traumas.
7. After Leaf proves to be a driving force in keeping Allen alive, he gets pancreatitis and nearly dies before Allen and Linda can rush him to the vet’s office. Now, they must team up to help Leaf survive the deadly disease.
8. Current relevancy: Suicide is the second leading cause of death within law enforcement. One of four first responders struggle with PTSD. Cops and ex-cops often suffer the shame and stigma of unprocessed trauma. This true story gives a new twist on the kind of person who becomes a beat cop, what it can really be like in high-crime areas, and how police officers serve their communities without firing a gun at anybody.
9. Wide international audience: 70% of US homes have pets. 90% view them as family members. 69 million have dogs. The success of Allen and Linda Anderson’s animal books with spiritual themes (not specific to any religion) are published in multiple languages. It shows pets and animals speak a universal language of love that crosses countries, cultures, & languages. More than ever, people are intrigued by what their animal companions know, think, feel, and are capable of.
10. The screenplay is adapted from the New York Times bestselling memoir, “A Dog Named Leaf.” It follows in the paw prints of books where a relationship with a broken dog rescues the person, e.g. Marley & Me, Dog (Channing Tatum, Netflix), Dog Gone (Rob Lowe), Netflix), Rescued by Ruby (Netflix), A Dog’s Journey, A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Way Home, etc. A plus in this story for animal-loving film-viewers—the dog doesn’t die in the end but gives paw-print autographs at the bookstore launch of Allen’s book about their healing journey.
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Tom’s Most Interesting Things
Doing this assignment, I learned how to maximize interest in story events.
Most interesting things in my script:
Surprise: General Ratkin abruptly orders U.S. troops out of Afghanistan which leaves the people at the mercy of the barbarous Taliban. This sets everything in motion.
Hero Scientist Sara seeks a cure for a disease killing her people and she’s embedded with and translates for the U.S. troops fighting the Taliban.
Villain General Ratkin abruptly orders U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and forces Sara to become his fiancé to help him be elected President.
Opening scene Hook: General Ratkin blackmails scientist Sara. He promises her asylum in the U.S. and a PhD so she can cure the disease if she becomes his fiancé so voters forgive him for deserting the Afghan people and elect him President.
Middle Turning Point: Back in the U.S. when Ratkin insists Sara marry him to help him be elected President, she refuses. He reports she’s a terrorist who plots to assassinate him. Sara escapes and finds her brother is the real terrorist.
Dilemma: Sara must choose between her true love Lt. Matt Brown or become the fiancé of General Ratkin who will get her a PhD she needs to find a cure for the disease.
Betrayal: When Ratkin kicks Sara’s brother off the last plane out of Afghanistan, he joins the Taliban and plots to kill Ratkin at his inauguration on the Capitol steps.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Tom Wilson.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Tom Wilson.
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Erik’s 10 Most Interesting Things
<i style=”background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>What I learned from this assignment… A lot! Obviously this helped to narrow the focus for the pitch. The guidelines for the specific hooks were obviously helpful, and coming up with some others that were not part of the hook options filled in the blanks perfectly. The choice to come up with our own helps sharpen the ability to recognize what really is most interesting and to think from a marketing perspective.
1. MOST UNIQUE ABOUT LEAD : Penny is an orphan who has been in the boarding house for four years, and as a result she believes that she will never be adopted and that adults cannot be trusted. So when she escapes during the fire, finds herself out on the street and within seeing distance from the world’s biggest mall, she sees her chance to take charge of her life. She would rather brave the unknown than be stuck in the boarding house and never be adopted.
(She is the street-smart one, and she has no fear. She also is always eating. Something deep inside her tells her that she is in charge of her own destiny.)
MOST UNIQUE ABOUT LEAD: Mara is quite the opposite. She is patiently waiting for the perfect parents to come into her life to give her the self-confidence and self-esteem that she needs. Whereas Penny is ready for a daring adventure into the unknown, Mara is the type to be scared of that. Yet on their adventure, she discovers her self-confidence and begins to see herself as a special kid, irrespective of whether she has parents.
(Mara great sense of direction, which allows her, and Penny, to navigate the massive mall. It also helps her at a crucial turning point to orient herself back into the mall after leaving the mall and flirting with the idea of going back to the boarding house.)
2. Setting. The mall world. (Complete with space-age glass tube elevators, a trolley system, and residential luxury apartments.)
3. CHARACTER BETRAYAL : Daphne, the steward mother, or house head mistress, the one who supervises the adoption process, has been blindly discriminating against all candidates expressing an interest in Penny for the last four years. We don’t discover this until the final act.
This is the cause of Penny’s belief that she will never be adopted and her worldview that adults cannot be trusted.
4. MAJOR TURNING POINT: Penny and Mara lose each other in the mall, and Penny gets taken into Amanda’s house (While Mara braves the mall on her own until she makes her way into the lounge area of the luxury apartments).
5. Character of Amanda
Boozing rich lady who lives in the mall, she has no sense of responsibility or of the rules of the regular world. Yet she is intuitive. So when Penny and Mara show up, she has no qualms about inviting them to her table at a restaurant to eat with her, no questions asked—then, later, when she finds Penny by herself, she takes her into her apartment, blowing off what suspicions she does have about Penny’s situation.
Amanda turns the tide for Penny’s belief about whether parents will ever want her. Her small act of providing the creature comforts and company, and caring for her in her own way make the difference for Penny.
6. MAJOR TURNING POINT: They get caught in the mall. What happens to them when they go back to the boarding house? (Turns out that Mara’s prospective adoption began months ago, and it is looking like she will be adopted. What does this mean for lonely Penny?)
7. EMOTIONAL DILEMMA: PENNY. When she gets taken in by Amanda, she now has to make a choice between now being secure with a place to live (and a ritzy one, at that) and an adult that she actually likes, or going back to find Mara.
8. MAJOR TWIST: Because of the fact that there is a residential section in the mall, Penny & Mara notice that they aren’t especially attracting any attention as two 8-year-olds on their own. They are free!
9. Survival adventure in the world’s biggest shopping mall.
10. Penny & Mara’s contrast and relationship:
Contrast: All Penny wants is to be free from the boarding house and live her own life. All Mara wants is a family who loves her. In their shared adventure, they discover that all they need is their friendship.
Relationship: Penny is the
domineering one and in the early part of the movie condescends to Mara. Mara is
meeker and relies on Penny for their basic survival. Before the end of Act 2,
they are equals, and Penny respects Mara.-
This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Erik Wooten.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by
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Terrie’s 10 most interesting things
What I learned from this assignment is that I need to build more interest into my script. Also, the journey is a bit lop-sided I need to give more attention on James.
Most interesting things:
1. Paige is a US Marshal behavioral analyst;
2. James has bought into too many conspiracy theories but he’s a witness that must be protected.
3. Paige takes down a perp, but she knows him! Turns out he’s her ex. But, he’s not a perp he’s a witness.
4. Paige and James go on the run after getting shot at, again, on the way to testify.
5. Paige hates James, but she has to protect him.
6. James is terrified he’ll be hurt, or worse, if he testifies but he knows it’s the right thing.
7. It’s not James that is in danger, it’s really Paige that they are after
8. Paige hates James but forgives him for what happened before.
G. Character betrayals? – need to work on this!
The villain is ??? a marshal? A deputy from Paige’s past?
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WIM MODULE 10 LESSON 4 33023
ROBERT SMITH’s 10 MOST INTERESTING THINGS.
WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT IS…?
If you have a good story, trust it, and search and use the interesting things in it for a pitch and to expand the storyline with the producer if needed.
TEN MOST INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT “ANGELS IN GANGLAND”
1. The Hero (gangster, LOU TASCA) is murdered in the first scene but materializes immediately in the Hereafter and narrates the story which starts with Lou meeting his Guardian Angel and Spirit Guide, the late, RABBI SOLOMON LEVITSKY).
2. Rabbi Solomon tells Lou that he is denied entrance to the World to Come unless he atones for his life of crime, i.e., Lou must return to gangland and convince his killer (CARLO PARISI) to quit the mob and turn state’s evidence.
3. Rabbi Solomon wants collateral good, if Lou can get Carlo to quit the mob, his friend, the Rabbi’s gangster son (Sam) would join him.
4. The Villain antagonist Tony Rizzo ordered Carlo to kill Lou for two reasons, the primary reason being a lie. He told Carlo that Lou ratted Giordano family secrets to members of the rival Catanzaro family. The real reason Tony wants Lou eliminated is because he doesn’t want to pay him his $200,000 gambling debt.
5. Tony’s order causes Carlo an emotional dilemma. Carlo wants to become a Made Man. But to become a Made Man it is a prerequisite to “make his bones,” meaning, kill someone. Carlo wants to become a Made Man but he doesn’t want to kill Lou whom he likes. He finally yields to Tony’s order and later, amid mixed feelings is initiated into the Giordano Family’s cadre of Made Men.
6. Lou’s spirit appears to Carlo at his birthday party at which Tony and his wife Lisa are among the guests. Lou is unseen and unheard to all but Carlo but Carlo repeats dangerous secrets that others at the party hear, namely, the $200,000 dollars but most the dangerous secret, that Tony was the gunman who assassinated major mob boss Salvatore “Sally Cat” Catanzaro – which started a war between the Catanzaro and Giordano families.
7. Tony decides he has to kill Carlo because Lou’s spirit is speaking these dangerous secrets to him and Carlo is repeating them. He must also kill Sam because Sam was at the birthday party and heard the Catanzaro murder secret and if word gets out Tony may be whacked on the orders of Don Primo Giordano or the current head of the Catanzaro family.
8. Zoey the psychic waitress conducts a séance in which Carlo becomes spirit possessed by Lou.
9. REVEALS:
– Cocktail waitress, Michelle Ippolito is really FBI undercover agent Gina Saviano who has been spying on organized crime at Tony Rizzo’s mobbed-up cocktail lounge.
– Russian crime boss Oleg Oransky, who shares a gasoline bootlegging racket with Tony is also an FBI informant.
– Lisa Rizzo, Tony’s Wife, has also been an FBI informant.
– Sam Levitsky is ordered by Tony to kill Carlo after which Tony will kill Sam.
– Rabbi Solomon, now granted power by God, appears to Sam and warns him and Carlo to flee.
– Tony discovers that Don Primo Giordano is planning to kill him for the Catanzaro murder.
10. THE END:
When Sam and Carlo realize their lives are in danger they quit the mob and resolve to go
to the FBI, moreover, Tony is persuaded to do the same.
Solomon and Lou have accomplished their mission and saved more lives and souls than they had anticipated.
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Valeriya’s 10 Most Interesting Things
My Vision: I am a masterful ahead-of-the-game and outside-the-box movie magic genius full of ideas and creative energy. My writing is fresh, thrilling, exciting, impactful, iconic, beautiful, and groundbreaking. My projects deliver outstanding box-office and artistic success. I love to create, entertain, and inspire.
I love how cool my most interesting things are.
What I learned doing this assignment is…
– It helps to choose one thing for each question — easier to focus the pitch and the story that way.
– It would also be a good way to make sure that an outline works.
– I can choose a string of most interesting things differently, depending on who is listening to the pitch.
GOTCHA
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero?
– My monster is fear itself, it kills people with their own fears. My heroine created a monster that harms people around her.
B. Major hook of your opening scene?
– The darkness from underneath the heroine’s bed scares the cat, then crawls up the wall and grows on the heroine.
C. Any turning points?
– People die after Irene brings the monster about.
D. Emotional dilemma?
– She has to face the monster and deal with it or someone dies, but she is scared.
E. Major twists?
– The summoned metaphorical monster turns out to be real.
F. Reversals?
– The monster is made of the heroine’s own dreams and desires she abandoned out of fear. They were only seeking realization.
G. Character betrayals?
– Heroine decides to sacrifice to the monster the one she is in love with.
H. Or any big surprises?
– My monster is the scariest thing ever but it means well.
Other things:
Building anxiety and surprising jump scares. Optimistic life-affirming message. The monster doesn’t take the sacrifice. People die, including the heroine’s father. Then the little niece comes to stay in this monster’s den.
SPARES
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero?
– Heroes are a girl brought up by a robot and a robot who started the war against robots.
B. Major hook of your opening scene?
– A robot kills its creator. Or people gathering to get killed.
C. Any turning points?
– Robot wants to finish itself but finds a baby.
D. Emotional dilemma?
– Can they survive together?
E. Major twists?
– The politician who wants to recycle all the robots is a robot pretending to be human.
F. Reversals?
– The game that was invented to reveal who is who was in fact created to kill everyone.
G. Character betrayals?
– The girl betrays her robot.
H. Or any big surprises?
– The girl goes to pass the humanity test instead of her robot.
Other things:
Their life of being different but struggling to find who they are. Creativity that ignores the mundane reasoning of what’s valuable. The politician is a robot of the same model as the hero. The girl befriends the villain after her friend is killed. F11 tells the police where to find the girl and her robot. The killing turns into an entertaining game. The boy betrays the girl.
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Andrew Kelm’s 10 Most Interesting Things
Vision: I am going to do whatever it takes to be a great writer of TV and movies who is sought after by people I respect within the industry and has multiple successful TV series produced.
What I learned doing this assignment is… I have so much inertia when it comes to doing the marketing exercises… This is a simple exercise if you just do it, but I spend so much energy judging! I am not sure that my 10 most interesting things are al that interesting, but I need to let go of the judgment to get on with it. I think I will need to do a final perfectionist draft when everything is done
A tarot card reader seeking validation as a legitimate therapist becomes involved with a client who may be a sexual predator, forcing her to choose between professional ethics and the safety of her sons.
10 most interesting things:
• Hero is a fortune teller who wants to be taken seriously as a therapist
• Death by chainsaw — accident?
• Daphne is comfortable with gay men as romantic partner
• Daphne is a serial killer
• Daphne may be manipulative or true psychic
• Villain makes a good case for pedophilia
• Gilbert sets up Daphne to be investigated by the police
• Daphne swings from being emotionally distraught to amazingly accepting
• Daphne gets Gilbert in the end
• Daphne is very competent as a therapist
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Joe McGloin’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned doing this assignment is listing the most interesting things highlights the best parts of the story.
The list:
Both protagonist and antagonist are angels, but neither gets along with the other
Protagonist tries to turn down his assignment
Protagonist needs lessons in having a human body
When Jane declares her love, Max rebuffs it for the good of all
Max has to choose between love and letting go of love
Max can no longer leave his body
Max must die to express his love
George tries to ruin Jane’s reputation
Clarence has Max and Jane pilot the humans visiting Heaven program
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