Lesson 2

[Melanie Berlier]

“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
This assignment helped me think deeper about my characters and the core of the story that will drive the characters and scenes.

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Logline: A grumpy Maine lobsterman is roped into helping his sister’s eccentric, shellfish-allergic city friend save the island’s worst seafood restaurant — but between quinoa specials, a vengeful health inspector, and a barefoot mystery chef, falling in love might be the least predictable thing on the menu.

Theme: You don’t have to change who you are – just what you are afraid of.

Main Conflict: Can a grumpy lobsterman and a food trend–obsessed outsider save the island’s worst restaurant before it’s shut down by his vengeful ex — or will their differences ruin everything, including a shot at real love?

Stakes:
• The restaurant closes permanently, and the island loses a local landmark — even if it's terrible, it’s their terrible.
• Gemma loses everything — her investment, her pride, and her fresh start. She’s back to being a punchline.
• Eli’s sister is furious — her attempt to bring people together (and maybe set up a romance) fails, and Eli’s stubbornness is to blame.
• Vanessa (the ex/health inspector) wins, proving to herself and others that Eli is still a flake and a screw-up.
• The community loses its only source of social drama, which oddly might matter in a tiny island town — especially with Toonie fanning the flames.
Romantically – Eli & Gemma personally stay stuck in misery & wonder what could have been.
The island goes back to status quo — no surf, no turf, no heart, no change.

Transformational Journey:
Eli is stuck, deeply traditional & allergic to change. He transforms from reluctant involvement to Annoyed Mentor to Curious Partner. He is a man who has learned that holding on too tightly to tradition is just another way of hiding. He still loves the sea, but he’s no longer afraid to grow past it.

Gemma is optimistic, performative, full of ideas but secretly terrified she doesn’t belong. She fears that if people see the real her, they’ll realize she has no idea what she is doing. Confident outsider to Clumsy dreamer to Honest Collaborator. She becomes a woman who understands that authenticity is braver than branding and that love doesn’t require a curated identity.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 6 hours ago by  Melanie Berlier. Reason: formatting

[Jo Ann (Jodie) Randisi]

What I learned: I have to admit, the process is easier with AI. I asked ChatGPT to define the theme and I couldn’t have said it better…though I was thinking it, I just couldn’t have said it so succinctly. Which will be helpful if (or when) I get to pitch this to a producer or manager, etc.
• Genre: Female-led buddy comedy
• Logline: Two wildly mismatched real estate agents are forced into an uneasy partnership by a scheming psychologist—leading to sabotage, self-discovery, and some extremely chaotic open houses.
• Theme: Human connection defies categorization.
• Main Conflict: Opposites are forced to work together so an industrial psychologist can study them.
• Stakes: Personal Stakes: Identity & Self-Worth, Each character is being observed, categorized, and judged—often unfairly—by someone in power. They’re being reduced to labels: “Type A,” “Slacker,” “Entitled,” “Unstable,” etc. The fear: What if I really am the label?
• Transformational Journey: The reward: breaking the stereotype and proving they’re more than the sum of their dysfunctions

• This reply was modified 2 days, 17 hours ago by  Jo Ann (Jodie) Randisi.

[orlando Chavez]

Subject Line:

• This reply was modified 2 days, 12 hours ago by  orlando Chavez.

[Ian Patrick Williams]

What I learned doing this assignment is to choose my story components to better understand my direction.

Genre: Comedy

Logline: A mild-mannered accountant must navigate a corrupt hip hop world when a gangsta rapper/ music mogul forcibly recruits him to cook the books of his criminal empire before an upcoming audit.

Theme: Standing up against corruption; risking one’s career (or hospital visit) for a just outcome

Main Conflict: A law-abiding tax consultant being coerced into committing a crime

Stakes: Possibly going to prison; or at least losing one’s sense of ethics

Transformational Journey: Going from being a poetry-loving pushover to standing up to crime (and possibly finding a new career as a rapper.)