Kevin Cunningham
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Kevin Cunningham’s Scene Requirements
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: Each exercise, while kind of arduous, deepens the story crafting. This went rather easily, though took time.
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Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Implicit Concept: Even when they try to help the Natives, the whites can’t help but try to screw them over.
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
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Act 1:
INT. BOSTON COURTHOUSE (1677) – DAY
Native John Wompas is interrogated by Daniel Gookin about selling Native lands inappropriately.
– Scene Arc: John Wompas, Native, admits he finagled land sales
– Essence: The Native land was transferred to whites in a variety of ways, including illegal
– Conflict: Wompas may be prosecuted if he can’t justify the sales
– Subtext: Wompas’s family may lose their home
– Hope/fear: Hope he gets away with it, fear he’ll be thrown in jail (prejudice)
INT. MUKKI BEDROOM – DAY
Mukki is wakened by his mother to prepare for the powwow; Mukki doesn’t want to go.
– Scene Arc: Mukki forced to wake up early – and dress funny
– Essence: Mukki doesn’t align with his tribal identity
– Conflict: Mukki lazy but compliant, Mother insistent
– Subtext: Mukki is ashamed of his identity
– Hope/fear: hope Mukki will come through, fear he will be lost in depair
INT. FOX LIVING ROOM – DAY
Mr. Fox declares that “land is everything” and Elizabeth makes him commit to retiring soon.
– Scene Arc: conservative Mr. Fox agrees to look into retiring soon
– Essence: Mr. Fox is motivated to do a final big real estate deal to close out his career
– Conflict: Mr. Fox loves his job
– Subtext: He will make the deal for a retirement home, he also cheated on his wife
– Hope/fear: hope father and daughter will get along, fear that they will be at loggerheads
EXT. FAIRGROUNDS – DAY
Mukki participates in the powwow Grand Entry – ineptly.
– Scene Arc: Mukki tries to do a good job, but keeps messing up
– Essence: Mukki reluctant about being a true Native
– Conflict: Mukki not adept with his own body
– Subtext: Mukki embarassed by his identity
– Hope/fear: hope Mukki will succeed, afraid he will be shamed
INT. HIGH SCHOOL THEATER – DAY
Progressive Jessie Masnubic directs Alison et al in a fiercely revisionist Thanksgiving pageant.
– Scene Arc: Jessie tries to persuade kids to align with her revision
– Essence: Alison faces questions about ultra-left
– Conflict: Alison tries to be balanced, but can’t find it
– Subtext: Jessie questions her own progressiveness
– Hope/fear: hope that Alison can win, fear that she will be overwhelmed by Jessie
INT. MUKKI BEDROOM – DAY
Mukki, humiliated, retreats to his room to play video games. Grandfather suggests that Mukki join his mother at Town Meeting.
– Scene Arc: Mukki retreats but is appointed to Town Meeting
– Essence: Grandfather takes charge of Mukki
– Conflict: Mukki wants to disappear, but forced into duty
– Subtext: Mukki knows it’s best for him
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will come around, fear that he will collapse
INT. TOWN HALL – DAY
Mr. Fox talks stealthily with an obscure man, then goes into town developer’s office, talks to the historian and town developer, who gives him bad news about his land request.
– Scene Arc: Mr. Fox sets things in motion
– Essence: Mr. Fox loses his legal attempt at land
– Conflict: The Zoning Board refuses his request
– Subtext: Mr. Fox is trying to arrange for his retirement
– Hope/fear: hope that Mr. Fox’s request goes through, fearful that he won’t get his way
INT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Jessie Masnubic corrals a cabal of progressives to insist on several progressive votes.
– Scene Arc: Jessie tries to persuade the leftists
– Essence: Jessie is dominating others through fear and intimidation
– Conflict: Jessie encounters some pushback but fights
– Subtext: Jessie is a bully, but why?
– Hope/fear: hope that others will overwhelm her, fear that she will bully them all
EXT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Conservatives hobble into Town Hall, concerned about town finances and opposed to progressive motions.
– Scene Arc: conservatives go to Town Meeting grousing
– Essence: conservatives are one down
– Conflict: they want to keep town spending down
– Subtext: they are afraid of losing their status/money/culture
– Hope/fear: hope they will be nice, fearful that they will be brutal
INT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Town Hall votes several progressive motions including Indigenous People’s Day, then unexpectedly votes on whether to give the land over to the natives – Mr. Fox casts the deciding vote, turning the town over to the Natives!
– Scene Arc: progressives sweep, but conservatives dare them to go too far – and Mr. Fox helps them!
– Essence: the town votes to give the land
– Conflict: the extreme sides of the town fight each other, creating a foolish result
– Subtext: they don’t follow their principles
– Hope/fear: hope they’ll be reasonable, fearful they’ll go too far to cancel each other
Act 2:
INT. NATIVE OFFICE – DAY
Grandfather assigns Mukki to run the town that has been ceded to the Natives.
– Scene Arc: Natives assign Mukki to run the town
– Essence: Grandfather once again pushes Mukki to leadership role
– Conflict: Mukki doesn’t want to do it
– Subtext: Grandfather continues to push Mukki to elevate
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will come through, fear that Mukki will be unequal to it
EXT. TOWN HALL – DAY
Alison offers to help Mukki run the town, but he rebuffs her.
– Scene Arc: Alison steps forward to help Mukki, but he rejects her
– Essence: Mukki keeps Alison at bay
– Conflict: Alison wants to help, but Mukki doesn’t want help
– Subtext: Mukki fears appearing weak
– Hope/fear: hope that Alison and Mukki will hit it off, fear that he will turn mean
INT. TOWN HALL SELECTBOARD ROOM – DAY
Elizabeth communicates to the Select Board that the town is in financial peril, threatening everyone’s wealth. Mukki, overwhelmed, commits to reaching out to all constituents to decide what to do.
– Scene Arc: Mukki reluctantly moves to run the town, only to find it’s a lemon
– Essence: Mukki saddled with a difficult task
– Conflict: Mukki faces a domain he’s not used to
– Subtext: the conservatives were fooling the natives
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki can manage the town well, fear it will destroy him
INT. FOX LIVING ROOM – DAY
Elizabeth gets Mr. Fox to commit to helping Mukki, then explores the budget further.
– Scene Arc: Elizabeth encourages Mr. Fox and Alison to help Mukki, for the town’s sake
– Essence: Mukki is assigned helpers
– Conflict: Elizabeth expects resistance
– Subtext: Mr. Fox wants to be involved, because it’s part of his plan
– Hope/fear: hope that ELiz can get folks onboard to help Mukki, afraid they’ll resist
EXT. CASINO – DAY
Mr. Fox meets with various people, for unknown reasons.
– Scene Arc: Mr. Fox continues his plan
– Essence: Mr. Fox is up to something, but what?
– Conflict: Mr. Fox sees that the developers are menacing
– Subtext: Mr. Fox is keeping his options open
– Hope/fear: hope that Mr. Fox is up to good, fear he is in danger, or a bad guy himself
INT. MUKKI’s BEDROOM – DAY
Mukki’s mom coaches him about how to deal with the people in town.
– Scene Arc: Mukki, desperate about his role, is consoled and educated by his mom
– Essence: Mukki learns things
– Conflict: Mukki wants to give it all up
– Subtext: Mukki is afraid he’s not worthy, wants a man’s lead
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will be freed of his burden, afraid he’ll mess up or get mad at his mom
EXT. GOLF COURSE – DAY
Mukki meets with the conservatives, with moderate success.
– Scene Arc: Mukki tries to ingratiate himself with the conservatives and appears to do so
– Essence: Mukki tries to win over the others by being what they expect
– Conflict: Mukki is turned off by their politics/orientation
– Subtext: Mukki is unclear of his identity
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki wins them over, fearlful he’s lost his identity
INT. JESSIE LIVING ROOM – DAY
Mukki meets with the progressives, and just can’t please them.
– Scene Arc: Mukki tries to win over progressives, but can’t get past their militant DEI orientation
– Essence: Mukki fails with those who should defend him
– Conflict: Mukki is reasonable, they’re intolerant
– Subtext: Mukki again thrown off his identity
– Hope/fear: hope Mukki will clear the hurdle, fearful he will be cancelled and lose the town
EXT. JESSIE HOUSE – DAY
Alison confronts Mukki, insisting that he has to up his game.
– Scene Arc: Alison exhorts Mukki to up his game
– Essence: Alison tries to help Mukki but frustrated
– Conflict: Mukki feels like a loser as someone tries to coach him
– Subtext: Mukki feeling despondent
– Hope/fear: hope Alison will support him, afraid she’ll just be mean to him like those people
EXT. TOWN HALL – DAY
Mukki tries to calm the anxious crowd who are losing their town jobs, but gets punched.
– Scene Arc: Mukki faces an unexpectedly belligerent crowd, tries to calm them but they lash out
– Essence: Mukki assaulted by frightened citizens
– Conflict: Mukki wants to be the nice guy, but citizens are fearful
– Subtext: people are worried
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki can comfort them, afraid they’ll tear Mukki apart
INT. TOWN HALL SELECTBOARD ROOM – DAY
Mukki finds out that the town is greatly in debt and needs to pay out now – by selling the land of his tribe – or lose everything!
– Scene Arc: Mukki learns the real threat to the town – loss of everything including his tribe’s lands
– Essence: Mukki finally faces an existential threat to his tribe
– Conflict: people around Mukki are all over the place
– Subtext: the tribe finally faces what every other tribe has faced – annihilation by the white man
– Hope/fear: hope that it won’t be so bad, fear that Mukki will lose it all
Act 3:
EXT. MUKKI HOUSE – DAY
Mukki encounters the Powwow Princess, now enamored of him, but is burdened by the town problems.
– Scene Arc: bummed Mukki can’t even accept a lover’s entreaty, he’s got man’s work to do
– Essence: it’s not fun and games anymore
– Conflict: would like to accept princess kiss, but internal struggle
– Subtext: Mukki is taking on responsibility
– Hope/fear: hope he’ll be able to solve his problem, fearful that he’ll alienate those who love him
INT. MUKKI HOUSE – DAY
Mukki despairs as Mr. Fox brings Grandfather up to date on the town issue.
– Scene Arc: Mukki goes from calmness to despair over the situation
– Essence: Mukki might not hold it together
– Conflict: Mukki wants to relinquish responsibility to the men
– Subtext: Mukki doesn;t want to fail before these two mentors
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki can pull it together/find a solution, fearful he’ll break down
EXT. MUKKI HOUSE – DAY
Grandfather cautions Mr. Fox that he knows he’s up to something.
– Scene Arc: Grandfather call Mr. Fox on hiding something, Mr. Fox notes this
– Essence: Mr. Fox knows he’s on notice
– Conflict: Mr. Fox did not expect to be seen through
– Subtext: Mr. Fox admires the Grandfather’s perspicacity
– Hope/fear: hope that these two will work together, afraid Mr. Fox will deny everything
INT. MUKKI HOUSE – DAY
Alison comforts Mukki, who appeals to Grandfather and Mr. Fox for help.
– Scene Arc: Alison comforts Mukki, who turns to the men for help
– Essence: Mukki accepts the responsibility, but needs help
– Conflict: Mukki squirms to get out of it
– Subtext: Mukki lets in other people
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will solve the problem, fearful he will give up
INT. FOX CAR – DAY
Mr. Fox reveals to Alison that he will try to help Mukki.
– Scene Arc: Mr. Fox and Alison agree to help Mukki
– Essence: Mr. Fox and Alison come to agreement on something
– Conflict: They’re coming from different sides
– Subtext: Mr. Fox has committed himself to a new course
– Hope/fear: hope they can get along, fearful they will disagree and both abandon Mukki
EXT. RIVER BANK – DAY
Grandfather teaches Mukki about canoeing.
– Scene Arc: Grandfather teaches a hesitant Mukki
– Essence: Mukki takes on training
– Conflict: Mukki doesn’t know what’s going on
– Subtext: Mukki accepts training from a mentor/father figure
– Hope/fear:
INT. STEAM TENT – DAY
Grandfather continues Mukki’s education about whites seizing their land.
– Scene Arc: Grandfather now educates Mukki about white land grabs
– Essence: Mukki learns of land
– Conflict: Mukki doesn’t know what’s happening
– Subtext: Mukki is learning patience
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will gain knowledge/skills of use to him, fear that he will not be up to it
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Mr. Fox [and Elizabeth?] coaches Mukki on financials and land.
– Scene Arc: M. Fox gives Mukki a municipal view of money/land
– Essence: Mr. Fox mentors Mukki on what to do
– Conflict: Mukki doesn’t trust Mr. Fox
– Subtext: Mr. Fox creates a father/son relationship with Mukki
– Hope/fear: hope that they will work together well to solve the problem, fear that Mr. Fox is tricking him for his own ends
INT. JESSIE LIVING ROOM – DAY
Alison defends Mukki against the progressive disgust with him.
– Scene Arc: Alison defends Mukki before the progressives
– Essence: Alison rejects hate
– Conflict: they want to cancel her
– Subtext: Alison is maturing
– Hope/fear: hope that Alison can convince them to support Mukki, fear that they will wreck her and Mukki out of spite
INT. ? – DAY
Grandfather completes his training of Mukki, clarifying that protecting his people is the most important thing. A mysterious stranger meets Grandfather, who suffers heart strain.
– Scene Arc: Grandfather completes Mukki’s training, and meets a mysterious man
– Essence: Mukki is ready
– Conflict: Mukki is fearful – or overconfident
– Subtext: Grandfather is blessing Mukki
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki is up for it, fear that the mysterious man brings bad news
INT. COUNTRY CLUB – DAY
The conservatives debate how to kill Mukki, but Mr. Fox stops them with a plan.
– Scene Arc: the conservatives mull how to replace Mukki, but Mr. Fox redirects them
– Essence: Mr. Fox inculcates the new plan
– Conflict: they really want to wreck Mukki
– Subtext: Mr. Fox is moving away from the conservatives
– Hope/fear: hope that Mr. Fox can lure them over, fear that they will threaten Mukki
EXT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Everyone piles into the Town Hall, fearful for the town.
– Scene Arc: people come into Town Hall apprehensive
– Essence: the crowd is on edge
– Conflict: both sides hate the other
– Subtext: people are afraid
– Hope/fear: hope they’ll be open to Mukki, afraid they’ll want to destroy
INT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Mukki proceeds in spite of the rancor, and gets the majority of the town to look hopefully to the future, but it turns out that the solution – selling the land – is not an option, so the mob falls apart. They attack Mukki, but Mr. Fox distracts them and Mukki escapes.
– Scene Arc: Mukki proposes a solution that unifies the town, but a legal problem dashes it to pieces
– Essence: Mukki wins over the majority of the crowd but has a major setback
– Conflict: the extremists try to get in his way
– Subtext: Mukki leads
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will bring everyone together and solve the problem, fear that the extremists will blow it all apart
Act 4:
EXT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Alison reaches out in support to Mukki, but he disconsolately storms off.
– Scene Arc: Mukki storms away, not to be consoled by Alison
– Essence: Mukki believes he’s tried his hardest and can’t win
– Conflict: Mukki doesn’t consider this his town anyway – he finds his Native identity
– Subtext: why is this Mukki’s problem anyway?
– Hope/fear: hope that ALison and Mukki can support each other, afraid he’ll hurt her
INT. TOWN HALL – NIGHT
Mr. Fox has convinced the town to vote to take the land back if they can, but this enrages the developers.
– Scene Arc: Mr. Fox proposes a real solution but meets with some opposition
– Essence: Mr. Fox fixes the problem, but alienates the developers
– Conflict: developers wanted the original plan – full sell-off
– Subtext: Mr. Fox has left his “side”
– Hope/fear: hope that this will solve the problem, fearful that someone will take a wrong step
EXT. MUKKI HOME – NIGHT
Mukki finds an ambulance parked at his home, races in.
– Scene Arc: Mukki returns home, only to find things messed up there too
– Essence: Mukki can find no solace at home
– Conflict: medical concerns
– Subtext: Mukki returns home
– Hope/fear: hopeful that Mukki will find comfort with his people, fearful that someone has died
INT. MUKKI LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Mukki finds Grandfather alive but impaired, is affirmed by Grandfather, and meets the mysterious stranger.
– Scene Arc: Mukki finds Grandfather ill, but is blessed by him, and meets stranger
– Essence: Mukki has succeeded in the important thing
– Conflict: illness, not knowing
– Subtext: Mukki belongs with his people
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki will connect with family, fear that medical danger and mysterious stranger will ruin things
INT. FOX LIVING ROOM – DAY
Alison wanders forlorn, then confronts her father for secretly planning the debacle to get land. She admits to loving Mukki.
– Scene Arc: Alison goes from depair to accusation, out of love for Mukki
– Essence: Alison confronts her father
– Conflict: liberal versus conservative, daughter vs, father
– Subtext: Alison is vulnerable
– Hope/fear: hope that Alison reconciles with father, fearful that she’ll wreck her relationship
INT. FOX LIVING ROOM – CONTINUOUS
Mukki enters, accuses Mr. Fox and Alison, and storms out, followed by Alison.
– Scene Arc: Mukki accuses Mr. Fox of secretly planning all of it, but Alison realizes that’s not true
– Essence: Mukki accuses Mr. Fox
– Conflict: Mukki rightfully confronts Mr. Fox, Alison
– Subtext: Mukki will speak truth to power
– Hope/fear: hope that they can all reconcile, fear that Mukki is right (those bastard whites messing up again)
EXT. FOX HOME – DAY
Alison races after Mukki as the menacing developers pull up.
Alison and Mukki fight, but she convinces him she loves him and that Mr. Fox is innocent, sort of.
– Scene Arc: Alison races after Mukki to let him know the truth
– Essence: Alison wants Mukki to be happy
– Conflict: Mukki is convinced otherwise
– Subtext: Alison really loves Mukki and fears losing him
– Hope/fear: hope that Alison can reach Mukki, afraid he’ll dismiss her
INT. FOX LIVING ROOM – DAY
The disgruntled casino developers – and an old flame of Mr. Fox’s – confront Mr. Fox, threatening to kill him.
Mukki races in and defeats the developers using native skills and video game strategies.
– Scene Arc: the developers threaten Mr. Fox, but Mukki and Alison defeat them
– Essence: Mukki rescues his loved ones
– Conflict: bad guys threaten violence
– Subtext: Mukki belongs here too
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki can rescue Mr. Fox, fear that the bad guys will kill them all
INT. NATIVE OFFICE – DAY
Mukki and Alison persuade the tribe to give most of the land back.
– Scene Arc: Mukki persuades tribe to return the land
– Essence: Mukki persuades the leaders against their history
– Conflict: lots of history of white men messing up natives
– Subtext: Mukki is a leader now
– Hope/fear: hope that Mukki can bring the tribe together, fear that they will choose wrong or alienate him
INT. HIGH SCHOOL THEATER – NIGHT
The town and the Natives together attend the Thanksgiving pageant. Mukki takes Alison’s hand.
The historian reveals that the land should not have gone to Mukki’s tribe in the first place, but another tribe.
– Scene Arc: the town and the natives gather together for Thanksgiving, together
– Essence: the people are united in good will
– Conflict: the performance still isn’t “the truth”
– Subtext: they are working together
– Hope/fear: hope that they will be nice to each other, fear that something will go wrong
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Kevin Cunningham’s Intriguing Moments
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: I think I could go further, but because I used the thriller model, there are a number of nice mysteries already embedded in the script. I think I could add more into the first draft, i.e., as little elements in each scene.
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Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Implicit Concept: Even when they try to help the Natives, the whites can’t help but try to screw them over.
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
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Act 1:
Mystery: Who is this John Wompas guy?
Mystery: Who is playing the Indian in the video?
Secret: Mr. Fox has been unfaithful to Elizabeth
Covert Agenda: Mr. Fox is planning to make a real estate deal
Secret/Coverup: Mukki’s secretly in puppy love with Powwow princess, and feels unworthy
Scheme/Hidden Identity: Mr. Fox executes his secret plan to obtain land
Scheme/Mystery: Mr. Fox votes yes – why?
Act 2:
Covert Agenda: Why is Grandfather appointing Mukki the town rep?
Coverup/Mystery: Why does Mukki rebuff Alison? (secret wound about fathers)
Covert agenda: Why is Mr. Fox interested in Elizabeth’s financial work?
Hidden Identity: Mukki pretends to be “an Indian” to both conservatives and progressives
Coverup/Mystery: Does Mukki like Alison?
Mystery: What can Mukki do to save the town?
Act 3:
Mystery/Intrigue: What does Grandfather know about Mr. Fox that we don’t?
Coverup/Mystery: What is Mr. Fox’s real attitude toward Mukki? IS he just using him – or helping him?
Mystery: Does Alison like Mukki?
Intrigue/Mystery: What is Grandfather doing with Mukki’s training?
Intrigue/Mystery: Who is the mysterious Native, who had been seen with Mr. Fox?
Scheme/Mystery: Why does Mr. Fox insist that the counsel reveal the secret about native land sales?
Act 4:
Coverup/Mystery: Why is Mukki so disheartened? What is his wound?
Mystery: What is Mr. Fox up to?
Intrigue/Mystery: Who is the mysterious Native, who had been seen with Mr. Fox?
Intrigue: What does Elizabeth know about Mr. Fox’s affair?
Conspiracy: What will the developers do to Mr. Fox? What did he have to do with them?
Mystery: Will Mukki pick the Powwow Princess?
Intrigue: What is the Historian’s news?
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Kevin Cunningham’s Emotional Moments
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: As usual, doing the exercise triggered another flow of creativity about the plot and characters, separate from the useful identification of, focus on, and elevation of emotional moments.
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Act 1:
Surprise: John Wompas – a Native – sells Native lands.
Distress: Mukki is clumsy and looks a fool in front of his love at the powwow.
Moral issue: Alison has to deal with older generation (father) who’s not PC
Moral issue: Should Alison portray a native?
Moral issue: should they diss Italians because of Columbus?
Winning: getting the holiday changed
Excitement: the possibility of honoring the natives through the legislation
Courage: Mr. Fox voting yes
Act 2:
Distress: Mukki appointed rep
Bonding: Alison tries to help Mukki learn the ropes
Wounds: Alison rejected by Mukki (because he wants a male figure)
Distress: the town is in financial trouble, and Mukki is overwhelmed by his new responsibility
Bonding: Mr. Fox and Elizabeth surprisingly work together
Distress: Mukki has to deal with both the conservatives and the progressives treating him as their idea of a native, not as what he is
Courage: Mukki stands up to the crowd (and gets punched in the face for his troubles)
Emotional Dilemma: to solve the town’s problem, they may need to sell all the land – his tribe’s land too!
Act 3:
Surprise: the Powwow Princess kisses Mukki, but in front of others so he’s embarrassed
Surprise/Betrayal: The grandfather knows that Mr. Fox is plotting something
Surprise/Courage/Hidden Weakness: Mukki asks for help, defying Mr. Fox’s assessment of him
Sacrifice: Mukki trains to be better
Courage/Moral Issue: Alison defends Mukki and risks cancelling
Surprise: An unknown native appears to Grandfather
Courage/Distress: Mr. defends Mukki when the arch conservatives threaten to kill him
Courage/Emotional Dilemma/Wounds/Sacrifice: Mukki leads the town in spite of no support and an intractable problem, willing to give up land to save his people
Surprise/Betrayal: Historian reveals the law forbids the transfer of land now
Act 4:
Distress: Mukki is in despair after attack by mob
Bonding: Alison fights for him
Courage/Betrayal: the developers realize Mr. Fox has betrayed them
Distress: Mukki finds his grandfather sick
Distress/Love: Alison forlorn about what’s happening, and Mukki rejecting her
Emotional Dilemma/Distress: Alison confronts Mr. Fox
Distress/Love/Betrayal: Mukki comes and accuses both Mr. Fox of betraying him
Excitement/Surprise/Winning/Love: Alison realizes her father didn’t betray Mukki.
Distress: The disgruntled casino developers threaten Mr. Fox
Success/Courage: Mukki defeats the developers
Success: Mukki convinces the tribe to give back most of the land
Love/Bonding: the natives attend the Thanksgiving play, respectfully
Surprise: the land never belonged to Mukki’s tribe, but another tribe
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Kevin Cunningham’s Reveals!
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: Looking to incorporate reveals does open up new threads and provides more depth to the story. Still wondering: who is the real villain in this story then?
[Note: there are a few other Reveals I have listed but not yet incorporated into the draft below]
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GOING NATIVE
Comedy/Satire
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
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Act 1:
– 1677 Boston: John Wompas alias White is confronted by Daniel Gookin about inappropriately selling Native lands, and other questionable behavior; he’s something of a rascal
– Modern Day: Mukki asleep awkwardly on his cot, his mom comes in and urges him to get up in Native language; “Speak English!” he insists petulantly; he reaches for his pants; she shakes her head no; she tosses him colorful native garb; Mukki frowns
– 1970s 8mm footage: 6-year-old Mr. Fox dresses in Indian garb, turns to face other kids, who are dressed as cowboys and move forward menacingly; Mr. Fox swallows hard, but declares “All this land is mine!” and runs headlong into them.
– The Fox family watches the video and laughs. Daughter Alison cringes to see how un-PC her dad is. Mr. Fox declares “Land is everything.” [scene: closeup of Mr. Fox giving “land is the future” scene (as if before a great crowd) – then reveal girls watching him; “yeah, we know that dad!” – if he could just set up that one great real estate deal before he retires…]
Wife Elizabeth takes him aside and says it’s time for him to retire: two beautiful daughters ready for college, and him getting on in years. He agrees to wind down to retirement: one last real estate project. She prepares for Town Meeting.
– Mukki stumbles toward a crowd of other natives, pulling on his colorful costume awkwardly; tumbles; gets up and races along: joins them just in time as they do a “Grand Entry” — it’s a traditional powwow; The grandfather extols the land they stand upon. In the audience, clueless touristy white folks (including one or two of Mukki’s high school classmates); Mukki tries to do the native dance, but is awkward and doesn’t seem to know it; Mukki stops short as he comes up to Alana, the Powwow Princess — beautiful in her native garb; Mukki is trampled by the tribesmen behind him; he looks up, mud on his face; the white attendees point at him and laugh.
– Jessie Masnubic directs a group of high schoolers in an all-white production of a play about Thanksgiving. Jessie insists that this is going to be a revisionist version, since the white settlers were all evil white men and the natives were pure as snow. Timid teens try to make fierce white faces, but are not feeling it. Jessie pushes them. Pretty Alison Fox plays Squanto.
– Mukki, humiliated, retreats to his room to play video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess. Mukki’s mother appeals to his grandfather about what to do with him. He suggests he be the representative to the upcoming Town Meeting.
– Mr. Fox talks stealthily with an obscure man in a dim alcove. They finish, and Mr. Fox walks into the town historian’s office. The Fox’s have lived there forever, but he’s got a question about the land. The historian starts to answer…
– Jessie Masnubic leads a cabal of rabid townsfolk in a plan for a big push on Town Meeting motions:
1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”
2. changing the state flag (Massachusetts) to get rid of the oppressed Indian image
3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”
Alison is in attendance, and wonders, “why stop there?” The others’ eyes widen: anything is possible.
[conservatives hobbling into town hall: town knows fiscal cliff is looming, and an override is planned for the November ballot – part of the vote for transfer is to get out of the debt. they’re not going to serve that – what, and let the libs have more money for their wicked ways? the developers smile]
– Town Meeting: the crusty old moderator confers with Elizabeth Fox, leader of the Town Finance Committee. The old white conservatives congregate around the periphery. Mr. Fox and the historian come in and sit near them. The Progressives stride in to the central seats, excited. Where’s the Native representative? Mukki comes in with his mom, greets the Progressives weakly. The session begins.
First: a declaration that “this is native land we’re standing on”, conservatives sigh.
Next: the Select Board name change. The extreme feminists support it, the conservatives weakly don’t. The speaker’s pronouns – we, us – cause confusion – will the speaker please clarify if you mean you singular or some group of people? “I mean we singular.” Oh just proceed…. They vote on their electronic devices. Mr. Fox’s doesn’t work. He gives a voice vote.
Next: the state flag. Nothing wrong with an Indian – “objection: Indigenous person” – on the flag: it’s shows inclusion. But what about that sword over his head? What does the Native think? Mukki says as an Indian – “objection!” – er a Native (?) I don’t have a problem with it. His mother kicks him and says “yes, we object, we object!” The motion passes. Again, Mr. Fox has to vote manually.
Finally: the Columbus Day proposal. “Whereas”es go on forever. Columbus is an evil hostile inhumane genocidal maniac. The amendment is proffered: let’s at least say we’re not anti-Italian, just anti-Columbus. Progressives: “you’re trying to water it down!” Um, yeah. What says the Native? Mukki says, sounds right to me, don’t want to offend anyone. Progressives freak out: Columbus Day offends YOU, you idiot! Mukki is indifferent. Amendment is defeated. Italians stew.
Another amendment is proffered by disgruntled conservatives: put your money where your mouth is – give back the land. Which land – just Town land? No, all of it! Fine! Amendment is accepted. Ha!
Town Counsel, can we do this? It’s a young kid, his dad put him in place. Well, I expect so.
Now the real vote: do we vote to change name of holiday, AND give the land back to the Natives? The vote goes ahead.
Electonic vote is tied. Everyone’s freaked out. Mr. Fox has to give the tieing vote. Of course he’ll say no. He owns land in the town. He looks at his daughter Alison. But he votes YES!
Mukki and his mom sit in stupor. What just happened? Well, you guys, you just got a whole town!
Act 2:
– Mukki’s small tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather (the sachem) assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative. But Mukki objects: that would mean running the town! What does he know about government? Does he know Excel? Yes. Then that’s good enough. He doesn’t know his tribe’s history or goals. He will have to learn. But how does he help the town work? Be like the white people: go native.
– Mukki approaches Town Hall. Alison intercepts him, calling him “Mr. Mayor” and saying she’s honored to help him. She offers to help him learn the ropes: there are different constituencies in town he’ll need to attend to. There are the Conservatives, and the Progressives, and–. Look, I’ll handle it myself. She is rebuffed.
– In a conference room, the Select Board (they keep saying Selectmen) introduces him to this delicate situation. Elizabeth Fox is there as Chair of the town’s Finance Committee. The first order of business is that the town was in dire financial straits due to a “structural deficit” and they were planning to put an “override” on the ballot to collect more revenue, but now weren’t sure what to do as they aren’t in charge anymore. They ask Mukki what they should do. Mukki is clueless. Elizabeth reviews the financial state of the town and points to a concerning trend: staff will need to be paid, but revenue has stopped. Should they be laid off? Many different opinions come his way, and he’s overwhelmed. He says something “sage” about “the crops will grow in time” etc. (echoing his grandfather badly). (Crops?) He plans to meet with different groups in town, then get back to them.
– Elizabeth tells Mr. Fox that he should try to help Mukki, because he knows all about land. Mr. Fox reluctantly agrees to touch base with him. But first he has some things to do in town. Alison complains about Mukki. But she has rehearsal tonight. Elizabeth decides to dig deep into the projected budgets, now that the land will be transferred. You probably think it’s a bad idea – why should I care any more? But Mr. Fox surprises her: no, it’s important.
– Mr. Fox meets with various people, apparently about unrelated development projects. Certain Town leaders are promoted or canned for obscure reasons, suggesting some kind of behind-the-scenes action. It is unclear by whom!
– Mukki’s mom coaches him about how to deal with the people in town. Be a mirror to them. We’ve spent generations making ourselves invisible, being what they expect. Just do that. Yes, says, Mukki sarcastically, it’s worked for hundreds of years. But he will try it.
– The conservatives: in a oak-walled room at the Sakkonet golf course, the conservatives crow about having escaped taxes etc. Mukki enters in a suit and tie, fully assimilated. The conservatives kowtow to Mukki, using all kinds of inappropriate words (powwow, chief, brave, savage, squaw, indian giver, on the warpath, low man on the totem pole, Indian summer, burying the hatchet, etc.). Mukki pretends to be clearheaded, and voices stock conservative phrases. They ask about his tribe’s history, but he is kind of clueless (the Historian is there, who knows more than Mukki does). They tentatively approve of him.
– The Progressives: at Jessie Masnubic’s little house, Mukki enters in full regalia, but it’s Western regalia (big bushy headdresses), not Eastern regalia. The feathers keep falling in his face and he has to brush them away. But the progressives eat it up. He makes up “native wisdom” as they try to push on him his own victimhood (he shares what the Historian just told him). He pushes way back on their construction, and their efforts to seize all power etc. Alison arrives quietly for rehearsal and watches. The progressives get more and more upset as Mukki fails to fall in line (pronouns, trans, DEI, ‘tribe”, social injustice “warriors,” etc.) and finally cancel him right to his face. They insist his tribe send someone else. He meekly leaves. Jessie transitions to rehearsals.
– Outside, Alison confronts Mukki: what the hell were you doing! You need to woo these people, to get their support. Mukki doesn’t want to woo anyone. Well, except… He moves closer to her, and they stare. Mr. Fox arrives boisterously, “putting the moves on my daughter?” The pair separate, “No sir!” “You wouldn’t be the first.” Alison is outraged (but thoughtful), but Mr. Fox continues and gives Mukki the word that there’s dire news- you’ve got to go to the Town Hall.
– They arrive at Town Hall in Mr. Fox’s car – a Jeep Cherokee – and see a crowd of people gathered out front, protesting. What do I do? Just comfort them. Mukki goes to the stone stairs and calls out to them. They say they want their jobs and wages. Well, what’s the problem? The Town Accountant has frozen all the accounts and will give out layoff notices. Don’t worry, Mukki says, my tribe runs this town now, and I’m sure we’ll fix everything. Someone cries out Mukki! Mukki! He turns to them and they punch Mukki in the face and race off. Mukki falls to the ground. Mr. Fox and Alison drag him up as he rubs his jaw and pull him inside. How’d I do? Alison rolls her eyes, and Mr. Fox assures him he’s well on his way to becoming a politician.
– Inside the Select Board room, they encounter the team leaders, who are desperate – by the terms of the vote, not only is Mukki responsible for the town, he owns all the land in the town. Mukki is nonchalant as they describe that the town is broke, and the debts are being called in immediately. Well, things go back to the earth. But the debt has to be paid off. The only way to pay it off is to sell off the assets. There’s the buildings, but that won’t be enough. Will have to sell the land too. Ok, fine. Not only the land of the town, but ALL the land: the Native land too. What?! Yes, it’s the tribe’s problem now, not the town’s: if Mukki doesn’t solve this problem, his TRIBE will lose EVERYTHING!
Act 3:
– Mukki walks toward his home with Mr. Fox and Alison. He meets Alani, the Powwow Princess, and gets disheartened. But she is all proud of him, for taking over a town and giving his people a new hope! She kisses him on the cheek shyly and scampers away. Alison takes note. Mr. Fox teases him. Mukki just sighs and walks into the building.
– The grandfather has heard all the Mr. Fox has had to say about the crisis, and is thoughtful. Mukki is all over the place: it’s terrible, it’s impossible, the whites are doing it to us all over! Alison stops him: it isn’t the whites, they gave you your land back! Yes, like they gave our forefathers cholera. (Oh you do listen.) We should give the land back. You really want to be an Indian giver? Whatever. Mukki is glad to hand over the problem to the grownups. But the grandfather turns to Mukki: what do you think, Mr. Mayor? This is your problem to solve. He resists. But finally turns to the grandfather and Mr. Fox: all right, advise me. Mr. Fox is quietly impressed at Mukki and the natives [here he changes his plans].
– Mr. Fox and Alison drive back into town. He can appreciate the sachem’s concerns: land is everything. Alison: Let’s just put a casino up, why don’t we? Mr F: Don’t tempt me. Tempt? Let’s get the figures from your mother. You know, I like Mukki. Alison rolls her eyes: he’s sweet enough, but he’s kind of an idiot. He lets her off at Jessie’s house. She is thoughtful about what her dad said. Outside the house, two little girls sit at a table with a sign: BAKE SALE, Save Our Town. She passes them and goes inside.
– Mukki is in a small tent that is super steamy. The grandfather gives Mukki pearls of wisdom as sweat drips down Mukki’s face and neck. He leaves Mukki to take it all in. Outside he encounters Mukki’s mom. What are you doing? Teaching him patience. We don’t do sweat lodges – that’s just the Plains Indians and some of the Western tribes. Yes, but he doesn’t know that. Mukki swelters.
[need scene of Mr. Fox coaching Mukki here, and trying to be a good “father” to him. maybe at first trying to get his way with the land, but realizing he likes Mukki and wants to save him and his people. Join with grandfather.]
– Alison enters a heated debate at Jessie’s house. They want to change the Thanksgiving show: maybe the whites weren’t so bad. Alison protests: you wrongly idolized them; the important thing about Thanksgiving is that people worked together. Yes, the Pilgrims were jerks, and they gave diseases, and they shot their helpers, and they swindled the tribes and set them against each other, and they took over all the land, but — silence. Well, okay, let’s just cut the show. But don’t cancel Mukki, he’s trying his hardest. We need to come together. But we’re all going to lose our homes! Can’t you stick to your principles for five minutes without cancelling someone?
– [Mr. Fox involved here?] The grandfather teaches Mukki about the history at Plimoth, and the years since. Different tribes squabbled too, this tribe took land from that tribe, we killed each other in our skulking way, but since the great apocalypse of European invasion they learned to work together. He explains what’s important, and what’s not. He coughs a little and needs to sit down. Mukki helps him. We’ve gotten by for years with a half an acre for the whole tribe. The land is sacred. But our life, our culture is more sacred. [if Mr. Fox there, leaves now, oh I have a meeting!] If you are strong and honor yourself in your tribe, then that is the only success needed. We’re still here. Now go forth. Mukki moves out, confidently, proudly. The grandfather comes out to see Mukki go – and a native from another tribe waits there, hat in hand. Grandfather looks at him curiously, but waves him in as he grabs his own chest in pain.
– The conservative group sit in their club and calmly discuss how to kill Mukki. It’s not right that the natives run the town, we stole it fair and square. Didn’t we? The town historian quibbles a bit, and says he’ll look at the historical record. Mr. Fox joins and tells them this: They discuss how it’s actually a great thing that the town doesn’t own the land anymore – no more property taxes! But they come up with a devious idea: if the town has to sell the land, who will they sell it to? To us, of course. We’re the only ones who can afford to buy it. But we have to be on Mukki’s good side. Don’t kill him then? No, best to wait and see how things go. They find out that Mukki has called a special Town Meeting in an hour.
– Everyone piles into the Town Hall, grumbling and voicing dire predictions. Alison comes in noticing.
– Inside the Town Hall, Elizabeth finishes telling the gathered town the state of affairs. (Mr. Fox off to the side consulting with the Historian. Nearby, his developer friends watch eagerly.) The townsfolk lament that their homes will be taken and everything gone. Mukki appears in the Town Meeting, in native dress, but appropriate to his tribe. He calmly takes them through his plan: we’ll all work together to get the town in order. We’ll work with the employees, the committees, we’ll work together. It’s stirring. People are electrified. He has almost won them over. Stirring.
But how will it work? I don’t know, we’ll figure it out. Should we build a casino? Maybe. But Mr. Fox stands up with a critical point: we can default, but we have to make an initial payment to show good faith. How? Sell the land by the river. How? I’ll buy it. Everyone is stopped. Elizabeth and Alison are surprised – that’s their life savings. Mukki says, okay. Thank you. This is how the town can work together! Cheers, huzzahs. The conservatives rush forward to volunteer their money too. The Progressives step forward and offer their money too, at double the cost! The dam is burst and the town looks like it’s saved by the outpouring of generosity (or venality…). [Everyone congratulates Mukki, Alison hugs him.]
Mr. Fox watches, then secretly kicks the Town Counsel/Historian, who looks up irritably. The Historian slowly rises and painfully raises a point of order: by federal law, and for their own protection, native tribes are forbidden from selling their land. Ah, distress again.
[Later: Mr. Fox explains that the tribe isn’t federally recognized, so this is wrong.]
The plan is crushed. The crowd halts, lost. Their expressions change. And the crowd transforms into a mob. They rend their clothes and rush Mukki and try to tear him apart, but he escapes. Alison races out the main entry to race around to catch up to Mukki. Partly to distract the crowd from their murderous intentions, Mr. Fox rises to the podium next to his wife, and makes the microphone squeal, halting everyone. He calls for their attention. (Developers surprised.) Listen to me. I think I know how to save the town.
Act 4:
– Outside the Town Hall, Mukki runs out, exhausted, clothes torn, tears in his eyes. Alison comes up to him and directs him out of the public eye. She appeals to him to keep at it. What he’s trying to do is noble. We’ll figure out something. No, it’s impossible, and he’s unfit for it. He storms away, but she keeps up with him. They fight, she says how she supports him, that he’s grown. He doesn’t care. He’s a failure and he doesn’t deserve her attention. Off he goes.
– Alison reenters the Town Hall. People are coming out smiling, relieved. What could have happened? She goes up to her mother and asks about it. [show this rather than tell it? and have the developers in the benches get very disgruntled at Mr. Fox’s betrayal…] Mr. Fox had convinced the town to vote to take back the town upon themselves. They’d taken the vote. Alison correctly points out that that doesn’t matter: the tribe has to vote to give it back. We’ll talk about it with the natives, but the town anyway reached consensus (it’ll cost them less in the long run that buying up the land). The ominous developers convene menacingly.
– Mukki walks forlornly toward his home. He notices an ambulance out front and people gathered, including the Powwow Princess, looking sad. He picks up his pace and walks directly into the house. His mother takes his hand and leads him in. On the couch, his grandfather is in a sorry state, but alive. The mysterious stranger stands off to the side. Mukki kneels before his grandfather. Did you succeed? Mukki hesitates, and starts to explain the failure of the attempt. But grandfather waves him impatiently: did you succeed? Mukki stops, and smiles. Yes. The grandfather relaxes, at peace, and closes his eyes. He clasps Mukki’s hand strongly, proudly. Mukki rises slowly and a EMT moves in, caring for grandfather. Mukki steps back next to his mother. I’m proud of you my son. Thank you, ma. So is grandfather. I know. Mukki, this man needs to speak to you. Mukki turns to the mysterious stranger, curiously.
– The next morning, Alison wanders her home aimlessly, forlorn, as her mother brings potted flowers to her garden. How can you just work on your garden after what’s happened?! Her mother reassures her. Life goes on, etc. But Mukki must be wrecked! You like him, don’t you? She doesn’t answer. Her mother puts plants into the ground. Stop! Elizabeth smiles and insists: look to the land (Morman Utah land story). Alison suddenly has an epiphany. The land? Mr. Fox comes in, cheerily looking at a text on his phone. Alison walks right up to him. It was you all along. What? You knew this would happen. You did all this so you could get in on a casino – or get the town changed. You say that like it’s a bad thing. They fight, she upset at him. You destroyed Mukki! We’ve messed over the natives for centuries! What do you care? I love him! She catches herself. The doorbell rings. Alison has confused herself. It’s Mukki. Alison goes all quiet. Elizabeth appears. Mr. Fox opens the door. Awkward. Elizabeth welcomes Mukki and offers him a drink etc. warmly. He’s touched by her kindness and comes in. He declares that he knows for certain that Mr. Fox has deceived him, had a plan all along that was designed to destroy his tribe. Elizabeth is shocked and looks at Mr. Fox, who says nothing. Alison looks on, already knowing this. But Mukki conveys that a native developer told him the whole scheme, so don’t deny it. Alison, aligning with Mukki, tries to take his side, but Mukki accuses her of being on her dad’s side the whole time. Mr. Fox asks Mukki if the tribe was going to give the land back. They are considering it, but even if they keep it, they’ll never have dealings with Mr. Fox. That’s too bad. Mukki says he doesn’t care about the plan, but he trusted him, looked to him as a mentor, and he betrayed him. And you– he looks at Alison, who is crushed that he thinks this sadly of her. Mukki storms out. The family discusses the events. Alison again accuses Mr. Fox, but Eliz realizes what she’s saying and defends Mr. Fox – she realizes he couldn’t be guilty, and reveals the telling change. Mr. Fox nods in acknowledgment. I liked the kid. You mean–? Alison hugs her father, then runs out.
– Alison races after Mukki. A car is pulling up as she races away from the house. Some dangerous men (the developers) walk up the drive.
– Alison and Mukki fight some more, but she convinces him she loves him and that Mr. Fox is innocent, sort of.
– Back home, Mr. Fox is met by the disgruntled casino developers, upset at him for undermining the plan. The try to turn him around. The developers include a sleazy fatherly figure, and a women — the women Mr. Fox cheated with in Vegas. The fact of the cheating is doled out as a one-up, but Eliz says oh I know all about that, surprising both Mr. Fox and the woman. They threaten to kill Mr. Fox. Mukki races in, sees the attempt, and uses skulking techniques taught by grandfather and coordination techniques used by Mr. Fox to defeat the developers.
[note: put more setup of the developers earlier in the story]
[older version: too on the nose] Mr. Fox says he’s sorry he thinks that, but he really came around and tried to make it work out for him. How can Mukki believe that? , but whatever. Don’t you think you should thank me? Thank you? for what?! For making a man out of you. Ha! I’m no man. You brought the town together, that’s not something a mere boy could do. Yes, I brought them together against me. Details. I’m proud of you. Join the club. Alison is surprised at this response.
[Somewhere: Alison: you had no right to control him, deceive him! Mr. Fox: he’s like a son to me. Alison: you don’t own him!
Also: Mr. Fox’s plan was to create a retirement community that he owned, to fund his own retirement…]
– Mukki, Alison alongside the Powwow Princess, has to convince the tribe to vote to give the land back. He tries various personas again, uselessly. Then he just acts as himself. ALison whispers to him. He turns to them and makes a now proposal: they will retain their original land plus the disputed part of the town green. To this they agree. The Powwow Princess pouts (thought she’s get a fancy house?) and Alison sneers.
– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt. Mukki can retire. Mr. Fox lands on his feet anyway – he was rich to begin with!
– The Thanksgiving show goes on. The grandfather is in attendance, recovering. Mr. Fox and Eliz sit with him. There are other native tribes as well. The natives pooh pooh the show goodnaturedly. Maybe that’s how it should have happened, but it damn well isn’t what did happen. After the show, the Powwow Princess steps forward for Mukki, but he takes Alison’s hand (awkwardly?).
– The historian in agitation arrives to meet Mr. Fox. At Mukki and Alison’s bidding, but against Mr. Fox’s advice, the historian reveals the rest of the story:
– 1677 London: John Wompas on his death bed signs over the land to his tribe (but it’s a lie. Meh.)…
– It was a lie? How so? The historian summarizes: though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. And the deed had been transferred by John Wompam anyway, illegally. This negates the original transfer to his tribe! A native of the “real owners” gulps.
-
Kevin Cunningham’s Character Action Tracks!
GOING NATIVE
Comedy/Satire
Act 1:
– 1677 Boston: John Wompas alias White is confronted by Daniel Gookin about inappropriately selling Native lands, and other questionable behavior; he’s something of a rascal
– Modern Day: Mukki asleep awkwardly on his cot, his mom comes in and urges him to get up in Native language; “Speak English!” he insists petulantly; he reaches for his pants; she shakes her head no; she tosses him colorful native garb; Mukki frowns
– 1970s 8mm footage: 6-year-old Mr. Fox dresses in Indian garb, turns to face other kids, who are dressed as cowboys and move forward menacingly; Mr. Fox swallows hard, but declares “All this land is mine!” and runs headlong into them.
– The Fox family watches the video and laughs. Daughter Alison cringes to see how un-PC her dad is. Mr. Fox declares “Land is everything.” Wife Elizabeth takes him aside and says it’s time for him to retire: two beautiful daughters ready for college, and him getting on in years. He agrees to wind down to retirement: one last real estate project. She prepares for Town Meeting.
– Mukki stumbles toward a crowd of other natives, pulling on his colorful costume awkwardly; tumbles; gets up and races along: joins them just in time as they do a “Grand Entry” — it’s a traditional powwow; The grandfather extols the land they stand upon. In the audience, clueless touristy white folks (including one or two of Mukki’s high school classmates); Mukki stops short as he comes up to Alana, the Powwow Princess — beautiful in her native garb; Mukki is trampled by the tribesmen behind him; he looks up, mud on his face; the white attendees point at him and laugh.
– Jessie Masnubic directs a group of high schoolers in an all-white production of a play about Thanksgiving. Jessie insists that this is going to be a revisionist version, since the white settlers were all evil white men and the natives were pure as snow. Timid teens try to make fierce white faces, but are not feeling it. Jessie pushes them. Pretty Alison Fox plays Squanto.
– Mukki, humiliated, retreats to his room to play video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess. Mukki’s mother appeals to his grandfather about what to do with him. He suggests he be the representative to the upcoming Town Meeting.
– Mr. Fox talks stealthily with an obscure man in a dim alcove. They finish, and Mr. Fox walks into the town historian’s office. The Fox’s have lived there forever, but he’s got a question about the land.
– Jessie Masnubic leads a cabal of rabid townsfolk in a plan for a big push on Town Meeting motions:
1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”
2. changing the state flag (Massachusetts) to get rid of the oppressed Indian image
3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”
Alison is in attendance, and wonders, “why stop there?” The others’ eyes widen: anything is possible.
– Town Meeting: the crusty old moderator confers with Elizabeth Fox, leader of the Town Finance Committee. The old white conservatives congregate around the periphery. Mr. Fox and the historian come in and sit near them. The Progressives stride in to the central seats, excited. Where’s the Native representative? Mukki comes in with his mom, greets the Progressives weakly. The session begins.
First: a declaration that “this is native land we’re standing on”, conservatives sigh.
Next: the Select Board name change. The extreme feminists support it, the conservatives weakly don’t. The speaker’s pronouns – we, us – cause confusion – will the speaker please clarify if you mean you singular or some group of people? “I mean we singular.” Oh just proceed…. They vote on their electronic devices. Mr. Fox’s doesn’t work. He gives a voice vote.
Next: the state flag. Nothing wrong with an Indian – “objection: Indigenous person” – on the flag: it’s shows inclusion. But what about that sword over his head? What does the Native think? Mukki says as an Indian – “objection!” – er a Native (?) I don’t have a problem with it. His mother kicks him and says “yes, we object, we object!” The motion passes. Again, Mr. Fox has to vote manually.
Finally: the Columbus Day proposal. “Whereas”es go on forever. Columbus is an evil hostile inhumane genocidal maniac. The amendment is proffered: let’s at least say we’re not anti-Italian, just anti-Columbus. Progressives: “you’re trying to water it down!” Um, yeah. What says the Native? Mukki says, sounds right to me, don’t want to offend anyone. Progressives freak out: Columbus Day offends YOU, you idiot! Mukki is indifferent. Amendment is defeated. Italians stew.
Another amendment is proffered by disgruntled conservatives: put your money where your mouth is – give back the land. Which land – just Town land? No, all of it! Fine! Amendment is accepted. Ha!
Town Counsel, can we do this? It’s a young kid, his dad put him in place. Well, I expect so.
Now the real vote: do we vote to change name of holiday, AND give the land back to the Natives? The vote goes ahead.
Electonic vote is tied. Everyone’s freaked out. Mr. Fox has to give the tieing vote. Of course he’ll say no. He owns land in the town. He looks at his daughter Alison. But he votes YES!
Mukki and his mom sit in stupor. What just happened? Well, you guys, you just got a whole town!
Act 2:
– Mukki’s small tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather (the sachem) assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative. But Mukki objects: that would mean running the town! What does he know about government. Does he know Excel? Yes. Then that’s good enough. But how does he do it? Be like the white people: go native.
– Mukki approaches Town Hall. Alison intercepts him, calling him “Mr. Mayor” and saying she’s honored to help him. She offers to help him learn the ropes: there are different constituencies in town he’ll need to attend to. There are the Conservatives, and the Progressives, and–. Look, I’ll handle it myself. She is rebuffed.
– In a conference room, the Select Board (they keep saying Selectmen) introduces him to this delicate situation. Elizabeth Fox is there as Chair of the town’s Finance Committee. The first order of business is that the town was in dire financial straits due to a “structural deficit” and they were planning to put an “override” on the ballot to collect more revenue, but now weren’t sure what to do as they aren’t in charge anymore. They ask Mukki what they should do. Mukki is clueless. Elizabeth reviews the financial state of the town and points to a concerning trend: staff will need to be paid, but revenue has stopped. Should they be laid off? Many different opinions come his way, and he’s overwhelmed. He says something “sage” about “the crops will grow in time” etc. (echoing his grandfather badly). (Crops?) He plans to meet with different groups in town, then get back to them.
– Elizabeth tells Mr. Fox that he should try to help Mukki, because he knows all about land. Mr. Fox reluctantly agrees to touch base with him. But first he has some things to do in town. Alison complains about Mukki. But she has rehearsal tonight. Elizabeth decides to dig deep into the projected budgets, now that the land will be transferred. You probably think it’s a bad idea – why should I care any more? But Mr. Fox surprises her: no, it’s important.
– Mr. Fox meets with various people, apparently about unrelated development projects. Certain Town leaders are promoted or canned for obscure reasons, suggesting some kind of behind-the-scenes action. It is unclear by whom!
– Mukki’s mom coaches him about how to deal with the people in town. Be a mirror to them. We’ve spent generations making ourselves invisible, being what they expect. Just do that. Yes, says, Mukki sarcastically, it’s worked for hundreds of years. But he will try it.
– The conservatives: in a oak-walled room at the Sakkonet golf course, Mukki is in a suit and tie, fully assimilated. The conservatives say this is a calamity, all their land gone, but they kowtow to Mukki, using all kinds of inappropriate words (powwow, chief, brave, savage, squaw, indian giver, on the warpath, low man on the totem pole, Indian summer, burying the hatchet, etc.). Mukki pretends to be clearheaded, and voices stock conservative phrases. They tentatively approve of him.
– The Progressives: at Jessie Masnubic’s little house, Mukki enters in full regalia, but it’s Western regalia (big bushy headdresses), not Eastern regalia. The feathers keep falling in his face and he has to brush them away. But the progressives eat it up. He makes up “native wisdom” as they try to push on him his own victimhood. He pushes way back on their construction, and their efforts to seize all power etc. Alison arrives quietly for rehearsal and watches. The progressives get more and more upset as Mukki fails to fall in line (pronouns, trans, DEI, ‘tribe”, social injustice “warriors,” etc.) and finally cancel him right to his face. They insist his tribe send someone else. He meekly leaves. Jessie transitions to rehearsals.
– Outside, Alison confronts Mukki: what the hell were you doing! You need to woo these people, to get their support. Mukki doesn’t want to woo anyone. Well, except… He moves closer to her, and they stare. Mr. Fox arrives boisterously, “putting the moves on my daughter?” The pair separate, “No sir!” “You wouldn’t be the first.” Alison is outraged, but Mr. Fox continues and gives Mukki the word that there’s dire news- you’ve got to go to the Town Hall.
– They arrive at Town Hall in Mr. Fox’s car – a Jeep Cherokee – and see a crowd of people gathered out front, protesting. What do I do? Just comfort them. Mukki goes to the stone stairs and calls out to them. They say they want their jobs and wages. Well, what’s the problem? The Town Accountant has frozen all the accounts and will give out layoff notices. Don’t worry, Mukki says, my tribe runs this town now, and I’m sure we’ll fix everything. Someone cries out Mukki! Mukki! He turns to them and they punch Mukki in the face and race off. Mukki falls to the ground. Mr. Fox and Alison drag him up as he rubs his jaw and pull him inside. How’d I do? Alison rolls her eyes, and Mr. Fox assures him he’s well on his way to becoming a politician.
– Inside the Select Board room, they encounter the team leaders, who are desperate. Mukki is nonchalant as they describe that the town is broke, and the debts are being called in immediately. Well, things go back to the earth. But the debt has to be paid off. The only way to pay it off is to sell off the assets. There’s the buildings, but that won’t be enough. Will have to sell the land too. Ok, fine. Not only the land of the town, but ALL the land: the Native land too. What?! Yes, it’s the tribe’s problem now, not the town’s: if Mukki doesn’t solve this problem, his TRIBE will lose EVERYTHING!
Act 3:
– Mukki walks toward his home with Mr. Fox and Alison. He meets Alani, the Powwow Princess, and gets disheartened. But she is all proud of him, for taking over a town and giving his people a new hope! She kisses him on the cheek shyly and scampers away. Alison takes note. Mr. Fox teases him. Mukki just sighs and walks into the building.
– The grandfather has heard all the Mr. Fox has had to say about the crisis, and is thoughtful. Mukki is all over the place: it’s terrible, it’s impossible, the whites are doing it to us all over! Alison stops him: it isn’t the whites, they gave you your land back! Yes, like they gave our forefathers cholera. (Oh you do listen.) We should give the land back. You really want to be an Indian giver? Whatever. Mukki is glad to hand over the problem to the grownups. But the grandfather turns to Mukki: what do you think, Mr. Mayor? This is your problem to solve. He resists. But finally turns to the grandfather and Mr. Fox: all right, advise me. Mr. Fox is quietly impressed at Mukki.
– Mr. Fox and Alison drive back into town. He can appreciate the sachem’s concerns: land is everything. Alison: Let’s just put a casino up, why don’t we? Mr F: Don’t tempt me. Tempt? Let’s get the figures from your mother. You know, I like Mukki. Alison rolls her eyes: he’s sweet enough, but he’s kind of an idiot. He lets her off at Jessie’s house. Outside the house, two little girls sit at a table with a sign: BAKE SALE, Save Our Town. She passes them and goes inside.
– Mukki is in a small tent that is super steamy. The grandfather gives Mukki pearls of wisdom as sweat drips down Mukki’s face and neck. He leaves Mukki to take it all in. Outside he encounters Mukki’s mom. What are you doing? Teaching him patience. We don’t do sweat lodges – that’s just the Plains Indians and some of the Western tribes. Yes, but he doesn’t know that. Mukki swelters.
– Alison enters a heated debate at Jessie’s house. They want to change the Thanksgiving show: maybe the whites weren’t so bad. Alison protests: you wrongly idolized them; the important thing about Thanksgiving is that people worked together. Yes, the Pilgrims were jerks, and they gave diseases, and they shot their helpers, and they swindled the tribes and set them against each other, and they took over all the land, but — silence. Well, okay, let’s just cut the show. But don’t cancel Mukki, he’s trying his hardest. We need to come together. But we’re all going to lose our homes! Can’t you stick to your principles for five minutes without cancelling someone?
– The grandfather teaches Mukki about the history at Plimoth, and the years since. Different tribes squabbled too, this tribe took land from that tribe, we killed each other in our skulking way, but since the great apocalypse of European invasion they learned to work together. He explains what’s important, and what’s not. He coughs a little and needs to sit down. Mukki helps him. We’ve gotten by for years with a half an acre for the whole tribe. The land is sacred. But our life, our culture is more sacred. If you are strong and honor yourself in your tribe, then that is the only success needed. We’re still here. Now go forth. Mukki moves out, confidently, proudly. The grandfather comes out to see Mukki go – and a native from another tribe waits there, hat in hand. Grandfather looks at him curiously, but waves him in as he grabs his own chest in pain.
– The conservative group sit in their club and calmly discuss how to kill Mukki. It’s not right that the natives run the town, we stole it fair and square. Didn’t we? The town historian quibbles a bit, and says he’ll look at the historical record. =[Mr. Fox joins and tells them this:] They discuss how it’s actually a great thing that the town doesn’t own the land anymore – no more property taxes! But they come up with a devious idea: if the town has to sell the land, who will they sell it to? To us, of course. We’re the only ones who can afford to buy it. But we have to be on Mukki’s good side. Don’t kill him then? No, best to wait and see how things go. They find out that Mukki has called a special Town Meeting in an hour.
– Everyone piles into the Town Hall, grumbling and voicing dire predictions. Alison comes in noticing.
– Inside the Town Hall, Elizabeth finishes telling the gathered town the state of affairs. The townsfolk lament that their homes will be taken and everything gone. Mukki appears in the Town Meeting, in native dress, but appropriate to his tribe. He calmly takes them through his plan: we’ll all work together to get the town in order. We’ll work with the employees, the committees, we’ll work together. It’s stirring. People are electrified. He has almost won them over. Stirring.
But how will it work? I don’t know, we’ll figure it out. Should we build a casino? Maybe. But Mr. Fox stands up with a critical point: we can default, but we have to make an initial payment to show good faith. How? Sell the land by the river. How? I’ll but it. Everyone is stopped. Elizabeth and Alison are surprised – that’s their life savings. Mukki says, okay. Thank you. This is how the town can work together! Cheers, huzzahs. The conservatives rush forward to volunteer their money too. The Progressives step forward and offer their money too, at double the cost! The dam is burst and the town looks like it’s saved by the outpouring of generosity. Mr. Fox watches, then secretly kicks the Town Counsel, who looks up irritably.
The Town Counsel slowly rises and painfully raises a point of order: unfortunately, a tribe is forbidden by federal law from selling their land. The plan is crushed. The crowd halts, lost. Their expressions change. And the crowd transforms into a mob. They rend their clothes and rush Mukki and try to tear him apart, but he escapes. Alison races out the main entry to race around to catch up to him. Mr. Fox rises to the podium next to his wife, and makes the microphone squeal, halting everyone. He calls for their attention. Listen to me. I think I know how to save the town.
Act 4:
– Outside the Town Hall, Mukki runs out, exhausted, clothes torn, tears in his eyes. Alison comes up to him and directs him out of the public eye. She appeals to him to keep at it. What he’s trying to do is noble. We’ll figure out something. No, it’s impossible, and he’s unfit for it. He storms away, but she keeps up with him. They fight, she says how she supports him, that he’s grown. He doesn’t care. He’s a failure and he doesn’t deserve her attention. Off he goes.
– Alison reenters the Town Hall. People are coming out smiling, relieved. What could have happened? She goes up to her mother and asks about it. Mr. Fox had convinced the town to vote to take back the town upon themselves. They’d taken the vote. Alison correctly points out that that doesn’t matter: the tribe has to vote to give it back. We’ll talk about it with them, but they reached consensus.
– Mukki walks forlornly toward his home. He notices an ambulance out front and people gathered, including the Powwow Princess, looking sad. He picks up his pace and walks directly into the house. His mother takes his hand and leads him in. On the couch, his grandfather is at death’s door, but alive. The mysterious stranger stands off to the side. Mukki kneels before his grandfather. Did you succeed? Mukki hesitates, and starts to explain the failure of the attempt. But grandfather waves him impatiently: did you succeed? Mukki stops, and smiles. Yes. The grandfather relaxes, at peace, and closes his eyes. He clasps Mukki’s hand strongly, proudly. Mukki rises slowly and a EMT moves in, caring for grandfather. Mukki steps back next to his mother. I’m proud of you my son. Thank you, ma. So is grandfather. I know. Mukki, this man needs to speak to you. Mukki turns to the mysterious stranger, curiously.
– The next morning, Alison wanders her home aimlessly, forlorn, as her mother brings potted flowers to her garden. How can you just work on your garden after what’s happened?! Her mother reassures her. Life goes on, etc. But Mukki must be wrecked! You like him, don’t you? She doesn’t answer. Her mother puts plants into the ground. Stop! Elizabeth smiles and insists: look to the land (Morman Utah land story). Alison suddenly has an epiphany. The land? Mr. Fox comes in, cheerily looking at a text on his phone. Alison walks right up to him. It was you all along. What? You knew this would happen. You did all this so you could get in on a casino – or get the town changed. You say that like it’s a bad thing. They fight, she upset at him. You destroyed Mukki! We’ve messed over the natives for centuries! What do you care? I love him! She catches herself. The doorbell rings. Alison has confused herself. It’s Mukki. Alison goes all quiet. Elizabeth appears. Mr. Fox opens the door. Awkward. Elizabeth welcomes Mukki and offers him a drink etc. warmly. He’s touched by her kindness and comes in. He declares that he knows for certain that Mr. Fox has deceived him, had a plan all along that was designed to destroy his tribe. Elizabeth is shocked and looks at Mr. Fox, who says nothing. Alison looks on, already knowing this. But Mukki conveys that a native developer told him the whole scheme, so don’t deny it. Alison, aligning with Mukki, tries to take his side, but Mukki accuses her of being on her dad’s side the whole time. Mukki says he doesn’t care about the plan, but he trusted him, looked to him as a mentor, and he betrayed him. Mr. Fox says he’s sorry he thinks that, but he really came around and tried to make it work out for him. How can Mukki believe that? And you– he looks at Alison, who is crushed that he thinks this sadly of her. Mr. Fox asks Mukki if the tribe was going to give the land back. They are considering it, but even if they keep it, they’ll never have dealings with Mr. Fox. That’s too bad, but whatever. Don’t you think you should thank me? Thank you? for what?! For making a man out of you. Ha! I’m no man. You brought the town together, that’s not something a mere boy could do. Yes, I brought them together against me. Details. I’m proud of you. Join the club. Alison is surprised at this response.
[something missing here]
– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt. Mr. Fox lands on his feet anyway – he was rich to begin with!
– The historian reveals that, though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. And the deed had been transferred by John Wompam anyway, illegally. This negates the original transfer to his tribe! Mukki can retire.
– The Thanksgiving show goes on. After the show, the Powwow Princess steps forward for Mukki, but he takes Alison’s hand (awkwardly?).
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Kevin Cunningham’s Beat Sheet – Draft 1
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: After I put the pieces together, there was actually a lot less to do than I thought (at this stage of the process). Normally I would labor over this intensely and “get it all right”, but there’s a solid set of sequences already, which is fine for now.
——
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Implicit Concept: Even when they try to help the Natives, the whites can’t help but try to screw them over.
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
——
Four-Act Structure
Protagonist: Mukki (Native American Teenager)
Antagonist: Drew Fox (Mormon Real Estate Entrepreneur)
Antag Beginning: Mr. Fox is at the top of his game, but his wife lays it down: time to retire and be with family!
Antag Inciting Incident: As a final triumph, Mr. Fox decides to develop town lands into retirement havens, so he can retire there himself.
Deeper Layer: Mr. Fox is actually running a detailed scheme to get possession of the land for himself – to develop a retirement oasis for his wife and family.
Antag Turning Point 1: Mr. Fox’s efforts at Town Hall are rebuffed in no uncertain terms by the woke tree-huggers there.
Antag Act 2: Mr. Fox schemes to get his development – meets with Native builder, undermines town development officer
Act 1:
Protag Beginning: Mukki lazily supports his marginal tribe’s trivial efforts to make money at the Powwow.
Opening:
– Mukki asleep awkwardly on his cot, his mom comes in and urges him to get up (in Native language); Mukki sighs; he reaches for his pants; she shakes her head no; she tosses him colorful native garb; Mukki frowns
– 1970s 8mm footage: 6-year-old Mr. Fox dresses in Indian garb, turns to face other kids, who are dressed as cowboys and move forward menacingly; Mr. Fox swallows hard
– Mukki stumbles toward a crowd of other natives, pulling on his colorful costume awkwardly; tumbles; gets up and races along: joins them just in time as they do a “Grand Entry” — it’s a traditional powwow; in the audience, clueless touristy white folks (including one or two of Mukki’s high school classmates); Mukki stops short as he comes up to Alana, the Powwow Princess — beautiful in her native garb; Mukki is trampled by the tribesmen behind him; he looks up, mud on his face; the white attendees point at him and laugh
– Jessie Masnubic directs a group of high schoolers in an all-white production of a play about Tom Sawyer — Tom, Huck Finn, and Injun Joe — all played by white girls, including Alison Fox as Tom.
– Mukki, humiliated, plays video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess.
– Mukki’s native tribe is troubled with opioid addiction, threatening their meager numbers.
– The Fox family prepares for retirement.
– Jessie Masnubic leads a cabal of rabid towsnfolk in a plan for a big push on Town Meeting motions:
1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”
2. changing the state flag (Massachusetts) to get rid of the oppressed Indian image
3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”
4. whatever else they can get through
Protag Inciting Incident: In school, Mukki’s peers decide to push for Native land recognition
Inciting Incident:
– Urged on by activist highschoolers, Town Meeting puts forward a motion to not only switch from Columbus Day, but to go all the way and turn over their land to the natives.
– The vote is even. Mr. Fox unexpectedly casts the deciding vote – and the motion passes! Everyone is astounded!
Protag Turning Point 1: The Town votes to not only recognize the tribe, but to hand over the land to them!
Antag Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Mr. Fox casts the deciding vote in Town Meeting to give the land to the Natives.
Surface Layer: The Town struggles to stand for “what’s right” – i.e., reparations for the conquered Natives. Mr. Fox, influenced by his family-oriented wife and progressive daughter, is finally persuaded to do the right thing and vote for the land exchange. But conservatives in town fight it, and strident Progressives want to go even further, so life is in upheaval.
Turning Point:
– Mukki’s tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather must cope with the opioid crisis.
– The grandfather assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative – and run the town!
– Mukki is appointed sachem (quickly co-opted to “Mayor”) of the town
Act 2:
Protag Act 2: Mukki is assigned to run the town by his grandfather, who is busy dealing with opioid issues in the tribe.
Reaction (new plan):
– Mukki tries to figure out how the town runs – everybody tries to advise him.
– Mukki decides it isn’t too hard, just run the meetings – but he has no clue how to do this.
Plan in action:
– Mukki doesn’t listen to the town employees, but instead tries to follow all the political groups.
– Mukki at a big meeting fails catastrophically – flails on all the issues.
Deep Story Influences Surface Story: Each sequence of the transfer of land proceeds according to Mr. Fox’s plan, but seems to be the “triumph” of this or that Town group – on one hand, conservatives, at other times, Progressives. Even Mukki thinks he’s being successful for a while, and Mr. Fox’s daughter congratulates him and falls in love with him – but Mr. Fox had arranged that victory too!
Hints: We see Mr. Fox meeting with various people, apparently about unrelated development projects. We know Mr. Fox is in the middle of plans by Mukki and the town, but is mysteriously above the fray; he seems resistant to being a visible leader – is it humility? that would be uncharacteristic…. Certain Town leaders are promoted or canned for obscure reasons, suggesting some kind of behind-the-scenes action. It is unclear by whom!
Protag Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Mukki fails colossally to bring the town together – but things get worse
Midpoint Turning Point:
– The Town Accountant reports: the town is deeply in debt, and will go broke soon if they can’t pay.
– Everyone in town turns against Mukki, fearful for the loss of their homes and their cherished projects.
– Because the natives own the town, the crisis is on them: if they fail, they will lose ALL their land!!
Act 3:
Protag Act 3: Mukki tries “Native ways” to get the town in order
Antag Act 3: Mr. Fox works with Mukki and others to transition the land successfully, while undermining it behind the scenes.
Rethink everything:
– Mukki decides to work with his peers and centrists, rather than the hostile grownups/politicians.
– Mukki turns also to his grandfather to seek out native wisdom, which he’s pooh-poohed his whole life. He awkwardly learns his native heritage; the grandfather rolls his eyes multiple times as he teaches the old ways.
New plan:
– Mukki tries to enact some simple approaches – a bake sale? selfless contributions?
– Mukki decides to work with the town employees and volunteers, who know how to run the town.
– The politicians and townsfolk try to take matters into their own hands – and anarchy ensues.
Protag Turning Point 3: Native ways too fail, but Mukki has to make it work or his tribe loses everything!
Antag Turning Point 3: The Town is desperately broke and the Natives will lose everything: Mr. Fox proposes a casino.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:
– Mukki and his new allies can’t figure out a way to pay the debts.
– Mr. Fox suggests a path: sell the land for a casino.
– To save the town (and the tribe) from massive debt, they have one choice: to sell off their homeland!
Act 4:
Protag Act 4 Climax: Mukki uses video game skills and his sleuthing friends to discover that Mr. Fox was behind it all.
Antag Act 4 Climax: Mr. Fox is revealed by his own daughter to be the schemer, and Mukki defeats him.
Major Reveal: Mr. Fox’s secret dealings are revealed upon investigation by Mukki and Mr. Fox’s daughter – from a shifty Native construction developer and Mukki’s Grandfather, they find that Mr. Fox intentionally put the land into Native hands, so they could default! Mr. Fox’s daughter confronts her father.
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:
– Alison (Fox’s daughter) is at home, forlorn, as her mother gardens. Her mother encourages her to look to the land (Morman Utah land story). “The land? Of course!” Alison has a suspicion and goes with Mukki to confront her father.
– Mukki realizes that Mr. Fox had engineered this whole crisis for his own ends: Mr. Fox owns the company that would make a huge profit out of buying up the land dirt cheap!
– Mukki brings the townsfolk together as a team in the common cause of saving their town. He uses the skills his grandfather taught him — and his video gaming knowledge.
– They discover that, though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. This negates the original transfer to his tribe!
– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt.
Protag Resolution: The Historian reveals that the town should really go to a different tribe. Mukki can retire.
Antag Resolution: Mr. Fox lands on his feet anyway – he was rich to begin with!
Changes Reality: Once it’s seen that Mr. Fox is in cahoots with sleazy developers, the whole sequence of action becomes clear. People all have contempt for Mr. Fox (do they burn down his retirement house?) But does Mr. Fox also have a change of heart (when his daughter talks deeply to him) – and arranges to send the sleazes to jail?
Resolution:
– Mukki has taught the town new ways of working together, discovered and valued his native heritage, and found new friends/lovers. Mr. Fox fails to destroy the town for his sneaky business deal. The Powwow Princess steps forward for Mukki, but he takes Alison’s hand (awkwardly?).
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Kevin Cunningham’s New Outline Beats!
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: I kind of skirted this exercise. But a key insight I got by struggling with the exercise was that I needed to account for more of the forces arrayed against Mukki – there are multiple forces of antagonism. For now, I’ve spent most of my effort on identifying those forces, but now need to integrate them into the plot structure. That’s a taller order than just working out the step-logic this second. I will work on it separately. That should also help me re-introduce the comic/satiric aspect of the piece.
——
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Implicit Concept: Even when they try to help the Natives, the whites can’t help but try to screw them over.
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
——
Forces Allied Against Mukki:
– Land Developers: Mr. Fox, Town Business Leaders
– Extreme Progressives: Left wing, want to destroy the “tyrannous patriarchy”, organized by Jessie Masnubic
– Extreme Conservatives: Right-wing, want to destroy the “radical Marxist left”, rally behind grouchy older selectman
– Moderates: “trying to do the right thing” but inept and impersonal, epitomized by buffeted selectman
– Older People: “our town is going down the tubes”
– Young People: “it’s our time, a time for change”
– Tribal Bullies: arrogant boys / pretty girls / conservative leaders who think Mukki is a joke
Forces Helping Mukki:
– Caring People: Mrs. Fox, the Selectman
– Wholesome Teens: Alison Fox, other teenage allies
– Mentors: Mr. Fox, Mukki’s Grandfather
Core structure of Mukki’s journey:
1) avoiding helping tribe
2) thrust into role of representing tribe
3) must fight mutiple forces (minor victories but bigger losses):
– bureaucrats
– conservatives
– progressives
– land developers
– all the while battling with self as well …
4) lets go of “what he knows” and tries new things
5) finds that the chief antagonist is more central/personal a threat than he thought:
– father of his love interest
– his mentor/father figure
6) finds that what he’s fighting for is more important than he thought:
– his tribe’s future is at stake
– his lover’s and friend’s homes/fortunes at stake
– his identity at stake
7) he defeats the enemy:
– overcomes the forces he lost to – wins over bureaucrats he spurned earlier
– wins over the important people, and the people important to him, esp. love interest
– even turns the villain
8) things ironically return to normal due to legal technicality
– but he’s grown now, in a more solid place, tribe’s future in his hands
Four-Act Structure
Protagonist: Mukki (Native American Teenager)
Antagonist: Drew Fox (Mormon Real Estate Entrepreneur)
Antag Beginning: Mr. Fox is at the top of his game, but his wife lays it down: time to retire and be with family!
Antag Inciting Incident: As a final triumph, Mr. Fox decides to develop town lands into retirement havens, so he can retire there himself.
Deeper Layer: Mr. Fox is actually running a detailed scheme to get possession of the land for himself – to develop a retirement oasis for his wife and family.
Antag Turning Point 1: Mr. Fox’s efforts at Town Hall are rebuffed in no uncertain terms by the woke tree-huggers there.
Antag Act 2: Mr. Fox schemes to get his development – meets with Native builder, undermines town development officer
Act 1:
Protag Beginning: Mukki lazily supports his marginal tribe’s trivial efforts to make money at the Powwow.
Opening:
– Mukki asleep awkwardly on his cot, his mom comes in and urges him to get up (in Native language); Mukki sighs; he reaches for his pants; she shakes her head no; she tosses him colorful native garb; Mukki frowns
– 1970s 8mm footage: 6-year-old Mr. Fox dresses in Indian garb, turns to face other kids, who are dressed as cowboys and move forward menacingly; Mr. Fox swallows hard
– Mukki stumbles toward a crowd of other natives, pulling on his colorful costume awkwardly; tumbles; gets up and races along: joins them just in time as they do a “Grand Entry” — it’s a traditional powwow; in the audience, clueless touristy white folks (including one or two of Mukki’s high school classmates); Mukki stops short as he comes up to Alana, the Powwow Princess — beautiful in her native garb; Mukki is trampled by the tribesmen behind him; he looks up, mud on his face; the white attendees point at him and laugh
[- Jessie Masnubic directs a group of high schoolers in an all-white production of a play about Tom Sawyer — Tom, Huck Finn, and Injun Joe — all played by white girls, including Alison Fox as Tom.]
– Mukki, humiliated, plays video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess.
– Mukki’s native tribe is troubled with opioid addiction, threatening their meager numbers.
– The Fox family prepares for retirement.
– Jessie Masnubic leads a cabal of rabid towsnfolk in a plan for a big push on Town Meeting motions:
1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”
2. changing the state flag (Massachusetts) to get rid of the oppressed Indian image
3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”
4. whatever else they can get through
Protag Inciting Incident: In school, Mukki’s peers decide to push for Native land recognition
Inciting Incident:
– Urged on by activist highschoolers, Town Meeting puts forward a motion to not only switch from Columbus Day, but to go all the way and turn over their land to the natives.
– The vote is even. Mr. Fox unexpectedly casts the deciding vote – and the motion passes! Everyone is astounded!
Protag Turning Point 1: The Town votes to not only recognize the tribe, but to hand over the land to them!
Antag Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Mr. Fox casts the deciding vote in Town Meeting to give the land to the Natives.
Surface Layer: The Town struggles to stand for “what’s right” – i.e., reparations for the conquered Natives. Mr. Fox, influenced by his family-oriented wife and progressive daughter, is finally persuaded to do the right thing and vote for the land exchange. But conservatives in town fight it, and strident Progressives want to go even further, so life is in upheaval.
Turning Point:
– Mukki’s tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather must cope with the opioid crisis.
– The grandfather assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative – and run the town!
– Mukki is appointed sachem (quickly co-opted to “Mayor”) of the town
Act 2:
Protag Act 2: Mukki is assigned to run the town by his grandfather, who is busy dealing with opioid issues in the tribe.
Reaction (new plan):
– Mukki tries to figure out how the town runs – everybody tries to advise him.
– Mukki decides it isn’t too hard, just run the meetings – but he has no clue how to do this.
Plan in action:
– Mukki doesn’t listen to the town employees, but instead tries to follow all the political groups.
– Mukki at a big meeting fails catastrophically – flails on all the issues.
Deep Story Influences Surface Story: Each sequence of the transfer of land proceeds according to Mr. Fox’s plan, but seems to be the “triumph” of this or that Town group – on one hand, conservatives, at other times, Progressives. Even Mukki thinks he’s being successful for a while, and Mr. Fox’s daughter congratulates him and falls in love with him – but Mr. Fox had arranged that victory too!
Hints: We see Mr. Fox meeting with various people, apparently about unrelated development projects. We know Mr. Fox is in the middle of plans by Mukki and the town, but is mysteriously above the fray; he seems resistant to being a visible leader – is it humility? that would be uncharacteristic…. Certain Town leaders are promoted or canned for obscure reasons, suggesting some kind of behind-the-scenes action. It is unclear by whom!
Protag Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Mukki fails colossally to bring the town together – but things get worse
Midpoint Turning Point:
– The Town Accountant reports: the town is deeply in debt, and will go broke soon if they can’t pay.
– Everyone in town turns against Mukki, fearful for the loss of their homes and their cherished projects.
– Because the natives own the town, the crisis is on them: if they fail, they will lose ALL their land!!
Act 3:
Protag Act 3: Mukki tries “Native ways” to get the town in order
Antag Act 3: Mr. Fox works with Mukki and others to transition the land successfully, while undermining it behind the scenes.
Rethink everything:
– Mukki decides to work with his peers and centrists, rather than the hostile grownups/politicians.
– Mukki turns also to his grandfather to seek out native wisdom, which he’s pooh-poohed his whole life. He awkwardly learns his native heritage; the grandfather rolls his eyes multiple times as he teaches the old ways.
New plan:
– Mukki tries to enact some simple approaches – a bake sale? selfless contributions?
– Mukki decides to work with the town employees and volunteers, who know how to run the town.
– The politicians and townsfolk try to take matters into their own hands – and anarchy ensues.
Protag Turning Point 3: Native ways too fail, but Mukki has to make it work or his tribe loses everything!
Antag Turning Point 3: The Town is desperately broke and the Natives will lose everything: Mr. Fox proposes a casino.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:
– Mukki and his new allies can’t figure out a way to pay the debts.
– Mr. Fox suggests a path: sell the land for a casino.
– To save the town (and the tribe) from massive debt, they have one choice: to sell off their homeland!
Act 4:
Protag Act 4 Climax: Mukki uses video game skills and his sleuthing friends to discover that Mr. Fox was behind it all.
Antag Act 4 Climax: Mr. Fox is revealed by his own daughter to be the schemer, and Mukki defeats him.
Major Reveal: Mr. Fox’s secret dealings are revealed upon investigation by Mukki and Mr. Fox’s daughter – from a shifty Native construction developer and Mukki’s Grandfather, they find that Mr. Fox intentionally put the land into Native hands, so they could default! Mr. Fox’s daughter confronts her father.
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:
– Alison (Fox’s daughter) is at home, forlorn, as her mother gardens. Her mother encourages her to look to the land (Morman Utah land story). “The land? Of course!” Alison has a suspicion and goes with Mukki to confront her father.
– Mukki realizes that Mr. Fox had engineered this whole crisis for his own ends: Mr. Fox owns the company that would make a huge profit out of buying up the land dirt cheap!
– Mukki brings the townsfolk together as a team in the common cause of saving their town. He uses the skills his grandfather taught him — and his video gaming knowledge.
– They discover that, though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. This negates the original transfer to his tribe!
– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt.
Protag Resolution: The Historian reveals that the town should really go to a different tribe. Mukki can retire.
Antag Resolution: Mr. Fox lands on his feet anyway – he was rich to begin with!
Changes Reality: Once it’s seen that Mr. Fox is in cahoots with sleazy developers, the whole sequence of action becomes clear. People all have contempt for Mr. Fox (do they burn down his retirement house?) But does Mr. Fox also have a change of heart (when his daughter talks deeply to him) – and arranges to send the sleazes to jail?
Resolution:
– Mukki has taught the town new ways of working together, discovered and valued his native heritage, and found new friends/lovers. Mr. Fox fails to destroy the town for his sneaky business deal. The Powwow Princess steps forward for Mukki, but he takes Alison’s hand (awkwardly?).
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This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by Kevin Cunningham.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by Kevin Cunningham.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by
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Kevin Cunningham’s Deeper Layer!
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: Each turn of this wheel clarifies the deep structure of the plot. It’s effectively a thriller structure, with family-love stories at its heart, and cloaked in a comic satire of clueless townspeople all ironically “finding their tribes” and asserting their righteous idiocy.
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Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Implicit Concept: Even when they try to help the Natives, the whites can’t help but try to screw them over.
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
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Surface Layer: The Town struggles to stand for “what’s right” – i.e., reparations for the conquered Natives. Mr. Fox, influenced by his family-oriented wife and progressive daughter, is finally persuaded to do the right thing and vote for the land exchange. But conservatives in town fight it, and strident Progressives want to go even further, so live is in upheaval.
Deeper Layer: Mr. Fox is actually running a detailed scheme to get possession of the land for himself – to develop a retirement oasis for his wife and family.
Major Reveal: Mr. Fox’s secret dealings are revealed upon investigation by Mukki and Mr. Fox’s daughter – from a shifty Native construction developer and Mukki’s Grandfather, they find that Mr. Fox intentionally put the land into Native hands, so they could default! Mr. Fox’s daughter confronts her father.
Influences Surface Story: Each sequence of the transfer of land proceeds according to Mr. Fox’s plan, but seems to be the “triumph” of this or that Town group – on one hand, conservatives, at other times, Progressives. Even Mukki thinks he’s being successful for a while, and Mr. Fox’s daughter congratulates him and falls in love with him – but Mr. Fox had arranged that victory too!
Hints: We see Mr. Fox meeting with various people, apparently about unrelated development projects. We know Mr. Fox is in the middle of plans by Mukki and the town, but is mysteriously above the fray; he seems resistant to being a visible leader – is it humiity? that would be uncharacteristic…. Certain Town leaders are promoted or canned for obscure reasons, suggesting some kind of behind-the-scenes action. It is unclear by whom!
Changes Reality: Once it’s seen that Mr. Fox is in cahoots with sleazy developers, the whole sequence of action becomes clear. People all have contempt for Mr. Fox (do they burn down his retirement house?) But does Mr. Fox also have a change of heart (when his daughter talks deeply to him) – and arranges to send the sleazes to jail?
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Kevin Cunningham’s Character Structure
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This helped clarify the antagonist’s throughline. More and more, Mr. Fox is becoming a structural antagonist. Yet he’s not really the villain in the piece – it’s all the venal or self-important townsfolk who are really the fools in this story. Mr. Fox is just a clever scamp. Perhaps I need another clear villain behind everything? For example, a cartel of rich white guys that Mr. Fox is himself serving, until, for example, he has a change of heart? Worth considering…
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Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen
Implicit Concept: Even when they try to help the Natives, the whites can’t help but try to screw them over.
Main Conflict: A slacker Native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
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Protagonist: Mukki (Native American Teenager)
– Beginning: Mukki lazily supports his marginal tribe’s trivial efforts to make money at the Powwow.
– Inciting Incident: In school, Mukki’s peers decide to push for Native land recognition
– Turning Point 1: The Town votes to not only recognize the tribe, but to hand over the land to them!
– Act 2: Mukki is assigned to run the town by his grandfather, who is busy dealing with opioid issues in the tribe.
– Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Mukki fails colossally to bring the town together
– Act 3: Mukki tries “Native ways” to get the town in order
– Turning Point 3: Native ways too fail, but Mukki has to make it work or his tribe loses everything!
– Act 4 Climax: Mukki uses video game skills and his sleuthing friends to discover that Mr. Fox was behind it all.
– Resolution: The Historian reveals that the town should really go to a different tribe. Mukki can retire.
Antagonist: Drew Fox (Mormon Real Estate Entrepreneur)
– Beginning: Mr. Fox is at the top of his game, but his wife lays it down: time to retire and be with family!
– Inciting Incident: As a final triumph, Mr. Fox decides to develop town lands into retirement havens.
– Turning Point 1: Mr. Fox’s efforts at Town Hall are rebuffed in no uncertain terms by the woke tree-huggers there.
– Act 2: Mr. Fox schemes to get his development – meets with Native builder, undermines town development officer
– Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Mr. Fox casts the deciding vote in Town Meeting to give the land to the Natives.
– Act 3: Mr. Fox works with Mukki and others to transition the land successfully, while undermining it behind the scenes.
– Turning Point 3: The Town is desperately broke and the Natives will lose everything: Mr. Fox proposes a casino.
– Act 4 Climax: Mr. Fox is revealed by his own daughter to be the schemer, and Mukki defeats him.
– Resolution: Mr. Fox lands on his feet anyway – he was rich to begin with!
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Kevin Cunningham’s Supporting Characters
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This was easy, and it clarified which characters are really essential to the telling of the human story, and which are more procedural characters. I know that, in the telling, many of the Background Characters will have their moments in the story, but it is clarifying to know who’s part of the central story – directly impacting Mukki’s, Mr. Fox’s, and Jessie’s journeys – and who is just needed to keep the actions going in the fictional world.
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Title: Going Native
Supporting Characters:
Mr. Fox’s Wife Elizabeth Fox
Mr. Fox’s Daughter Alison Fox
Mukki’s Grandfather
Jessie Masnubic’s Husband
Background Characters:
Mukki’s Mother
Town Historian
Powwow Princess
Mr. Fox’s Tribal Conspirator
Town Meeting Members
Progressives
Right Wingers
Moderates/Centrists
Town Moderator
Select Board Members
Town Legal Counsel
Town Administrative Staff
Mukki’s Classmates
Mukki’s Tribes People
Other Tribes
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Supporting Character Basic Profiles
Support 1:
– Name: Elizabeth Fox
– Role: Mr. Fox’s Wife, also Chair of the Town Finance Committee
– Main purpose: Mr. Fox’s loyal wife, whom he wants to do good by – his love for her motivates his actions
– Value: provides financial information in the story, and provides play-by-play on Town Meeting
Support 2:
– Name: Alison Fox
– Role: Mr. Fox’s Daughter, also classmate of Mukki
– Main purpose: becomes ally of Mukki, supporting him when others are contemptuous; also love interest
– Value: supplies a focus for Mr. Fox’s love, and also his conduit to Mukki through a non-political avenue
Support 3:
– Name: Nixkamich
– Role: Mukki’s Grandfather, tribal leader
– Main purpose: places Mukki in charge of the town as the tribe representative, and monitors his progress
– Value: stands for Mukki’s growth as a person, and teaches him invaluable lessons from tribal lore
Support 4:
– Name: Mr. X
– Role: Jessie Masnubic’s Husband
– Main purpose: to present an existential challenge for Jessie: a husband who wants a sex operation
– Value: he provides a human face that contrasts with the abstract causes that Jessie supposedly champions
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Kevin Cunningham’s Character Profiles Part 2
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: It’s easier to do these character traits when it’s clearly spelled out what they mean, in a simple way, even in the label. I got this by looking at a classmates answers – he had done this and it was eye-opening, so I did it here too. Really made it work much easier.
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Title: Going Native
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen
Genre: Comedy/Satire
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Character: MUKKI
A. The High Concept (this character’s role in the high concept): Mukki is the Native American teen called upon to run the town once it’s conveyed to the tribe – the foolishness of the town is shown in stark contrast to his earnest efforts to prove the land transfer honorable
B. This Character’s Journey: Mukki goes from an ignorant slacker, who would rather play video games than honor his culture, to a respected, mature leader
C. The Actor Attractors for this character:
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
Native American in a lead role, goes from slacker to hero. He’s like the “Mr. Deeds” or “Mr. Smith” of a Capra film: a good-hearted outsider who is challenged by, almost destroyed by, but ultimately wins over the town.
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
Defies expectations of a Native American in a movie – not a “brave” or an angel. A regular kid who’s faced with a huge challenge way way over his head. He connects to everyone for help, but ultimately finds it in himself, his peers, and his tribe.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
He pulls together the leading lights of the town to get things done. They fall apart, but he persists. He doggedly strives to make the town work.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
The boy who’d rather be playing video games gets dressed up in native costume for the tourists.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
He’s fundamentally sweet, but his placid surface is ruffled and he experiences fear, overwhelm, anger, wonder, and triumph in turn. Oh, and puppy love.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
As a fish out of water, he hides his disinterest in his own tribe — everyone relates to him as a representative Native American (to their own prejudices), but he’s pretending to be the person they’re expecting. The funny thing is, he’s growing into being a true reflection of his tribe: he’s growing.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
By dint of his circumstances, he gets to know lots of adults really well. He’s surprisingly mature –through simplicity rather than sophistication. Meanwhile, he’s looked up to by those his own age (even though he longs for the Powwow Princess). He creates a partnership with Mr. Fox’s daughter, and takes on a father-son relationship with Mr. Fox himself.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
He will have his native cadences in speaking, and will struggle to understand the world he’s in through a lens of native worldview. He’s a boy without a country, lost between two worlds.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
He’s repeatedly unexpected. And he sees things simply: why can’t we all get along? He’s not caught up in the divisions in white society, and naturally tries to do the right thing, while everyone else acts more and more “tribally”…
Character Profile Elements:
1. Role in the Story: Protagonist – the essential problem in the story is put firmly on Mukki’s shoulders once the town conveys the land to the tribe: how do you run a town? – it’s his problem to solve or fail to solve, and everyone’s fate is in the balance
2. Age Range and Description: Mukki is in his teens, a high school senior. He’s kind of adorable, but not classically handsome. He’s got a big tuft of curly hair, slightly dark skin, and a kind of dumpy frame. But by the time the story’s over, he gets fit and trim and commanding.
3. Core Traits:
– Lazy
– Good-natured
– Dogged
– Anxious
4. Motivation; Want/Need:
Want: to be left alone to just hang around – like any modern American kid – to be “free” (of responsibility)
Need: to have a real purpose in life, one that links him to his heritage and his real identity
5. Wound:
What they can’t face: that he’s worthless because his dad left him
6. Likability, Relatability, Empathy:
Likeability (outside affection): Clumsy, good-hearted, polite, helpful. Mukki is a nice kid, not malicious, kind to children, cute in his way
Relatability (something we experience): Mukki is kind of lazy, wants to just sit around, not interested in his cultural heritage – he’s just a teenage kid who wants to have fun. He’s forced to get to work on something that demands real energy, not just slacker passivity; he’s fond of several girls and doesn’t know how to behave; he’s pressured by different people to do things their way
Empathy (experiences hardship): actually vilified by people, excoriated in fear-based prejudice; and multiple betrayal by father figures – which he doggedly pulls up his boots after. Mukki’s dad left when he was young. Mukki is put in way over his head when he takes over the town: everyone is trying to manipulate him, everyone hates him (prejudice, fear of losing their land), and the success he has to achieve is way out of his reach.
7. Character Subtext (lesson 3):
Subtext Identity: Kid who doesn’t know his heritage (or who has an attention deficit disorder…)
Subtext Trait: Acting Stupid, Playing Around (Flippancy/Unseriousness)
Subtext Logline: Mukki doesn’t seem to know much of his tribe’s history, but that must be just because he’s kind of dumb –or is pretending to be to hide his shame
Possible Areas of Subtext: Mukki is lazy to learn his culture; pretends to know but is shown up by ALison Fox; turns to his grandfather eventually to teach him; turns to Mr. Fox to teach him math and stuff
8. Character Intrigue (lesson 4):
Unspoken Wound: Mukki’s father left the family when Mukki was young – a black father who did not feel that he belonged to the tribe.
Competition: Was always seen as a slacker – trying to prove them wrong, but he’s sluggish.
Hidden agendas: Trying to move forward the goals his grandfather had entrusted to him.
Deception: Pretends to be clever (but everyone sees through him).
Secrets: In love with the Powwow Princess.
Secret Identity: The hero of his video games.
How character’s subtext could show up: Mukki is vulnerable to strong men, father figures. He doesn’t know which to turn to, but they all entice him.
9. Flaw (how they sabotage themselves, shows up in times of stress): Mukki pretends stupidity – gives up easily, and undervalues himself – when he’s stresssed. But he doesn’t address the underlying issue – makes poor decisions –which would be to explore his ADHD, and take care of himself.
10. Values (believe in/care about): Mukki really does care about his culture (family), but just feels like he doesn’t belong. He is loyal, honest, and values true competence.
11. Character Dilemma (internal conflict causing them to vacillate between extremes): Mukki vacillates between wanting to do his duty (be a good boy) and systematically avoiding responsibility (to avoid failing).
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Character: DREW FOX
A. The High Concept (this character’s role in the high concept): Mr. Fox is the person who sets the whole story in motion, and who casts the deciding vote to transfer the land, for secret business reasons. This catalyzes the town turning upside down and revealing their inner madness.
B. This character’s journey: Mr. Fox triggers all this activity without a lot of concern – it’s just another business deal, although a big one and calling on all his skills. But once the transition is underway, he learns the value of fatherhood, of husbandry (being a good husband and stewarding the land). He helps Mukki master the town’s problems – and does he come through in the end to keep the land protected or does he choose in favor of his business deal?
C. The Actor Attractors for this character:
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
Mr. Fox is the charming rogue, controlling the board through the whole story.
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
Mr. Fox is extremely self-confident, and seems to be doing the right thing, but we can’t really make out what he’s up to. He seems to have a bigger picture than anyone else. He’s a devoted family man, but he has two secrets: he once cheated on his wife and is repentant over it, and he’s the person who is behind the transfer of land to the natives.
3. What are the most interesting actions the character could take in the script?
Behind the scenes, he’s arranging all the real changes in the story. And he’s the person who casts the deciding vote to transfer the land. Why would he do this? It seems antithetical to his worldview. Is he having a change of heart? It’s a deep mystery. Later he appears to side with Mukki and the progressives – but for his own reasons. But once he starts working with Mukki, he honestly starts to like Mukki and work for his future. Ultimately, he has to make a choice between his secret business deal and his loved ones.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
Mr. Fox gives a Gordon Gekko-like speech that “real estate is the future” – while a native leader tries to teach Mukki that we don’t own the land, the land owns us. And very soon, he astounds the whole town by casting the deciding vote.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
As a charming man with a secret plan, he’s funny and winsome, charismatic and a ladies man. But when his betrayals pinch him (against his wife, and against his fatherly tenderness to Mukki), he experiences deep pain. And sometimes he’s ruthless in his negotiations with his secret tribal partner.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
Mr. Fox knows things that nobody else knows. And we’re never sure what he’s up to! He has many schemes underway, and is a scheming rascal. Is he also a womanizer? Of course, he’s got his big plan underway, but we don’t know that until late in the story. He’s otherwise serene and passionate.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
Mr. Fox has three key relationships, and is connected to others for pragmatic reasons. He loves his wife, and feels he’s betrayed her. He loves his daughter, but misses having a boy. And he befriends Mukki, without realizing that this satisfies a piece of his soul that’s been starved for years: masculine paternal tenderness. Meanwhile, he pretends to work with Jessie, and plays the rogue at City Hall to get things done.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
This is a charming fellow, he isn’t intellectual but he’s smart, he isn’t a conniving businessman but he’s got a smooth voice. He’s a polished brilliant businessman/entrepreneur, way above everyone else in town on the ladder of success, in business and in life.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
Why is he doing all this? To preserve a legacy for his family? Mr. Fox had an overbearing father and fled into the Mormon faith when he met his wife. It made him a better man.
Character Profile Elements:
1. Role in the Story: Antagonist (?) – Mr. Fox is the one who sets the whole story in motion, and who casts the decisive vote. Behind the scenes, he’s really running the whole process. He helps Mukki succeed, but also might betray him…
2. Age Range and Description: Mr. Fox is in his early forties, but ready to retire as his daughter prepares to go to college. He’s a handsome man with a square jaw, dresses business casual impeccably, and has sparkly eyes. He’s just charming.
3. Core Traits:
– Charming/Charismatic
– Methodical
– Tender
– Ruthless
4. Motivation; Want/Need:
Want: To make a tremendous real estate deal, to set his family up for life
Need: To care for a wounded creature – a boy – so he can heal himself
5. Wound:
What they can’t face: His own acts of disloyalty – if they’re revealed, he might lose his loved ones.
6. Likability, Relatability, Empathy:
Likeability (outside affection): Mr. Fox is utterly charismatic, just comes across as a friendly guy, helpful, but confident, a man with clarity and a staunch contributor to his wife and daughter. A guy you look up to.
Relatability (something we experience): Mr. Fox is utterly charismatic, just comes across as a friendly guy, helpful, but confident, a man with clarity and a staunch contributor to his wife and daughter. A guy you look up to.
Empathy (experiences hardship): Mr. Fox wants to be a good considerate father to Mukki – he was himself raised to be a competitor to his dad, and he hated that. He’s also a man who failed his wife once in the past, and he suffers for that sin.
7. Character Subtext (lesson 3):
Subtext Identity: Real Estate mogul looking to make a last big score before retiring with his family
Subtext Trait: Charming/Easygoing, Manipulative, Plotting
Subtext Logline: Drew Fox looks like he’s ready to retire with his family, but he’s secretly manipulating everything to get the Town to make the public land available for a phenomenal development deal
Possible Areas of Subtext: feints of retiring; pretending to be swayed by his wife’s moral arguments; winning the favor of the progressives who stand in his way, and actually getting them to act in his favor; pretending to magnanimously help the people who have to struggle with the Town land switch; getting on young Mukki’s good side; siccing his daughter on Mukki, knowing she’ll fall in love with Mukki; meeting secretly with the tribe’s black sheep, though it appears to be in support of the tribe and town; going with the changes resiliently, even at the end
8. Character Intrigue (lesson 4):
Hidden agendas: He’s manipulating the whole town and the tribe to make the land available to him as a developer
Conspiracies: He’s setting up little subterfuges with various parties – all unknown to each other.
Secrets: He’d cheated on his wife years ago at a Conference in Vegas, and never told her, but it wears on him and he’s never forgiven himself for it (but he hasn’t done it again).
Deception: Misleads others to get his ways. Doesn’t let them know his fingers are in every pie.
Unspoken Wound: Father was a womanizer who he feels misled him down the wrong path; he wants to be a good father to his children – who are only girls, so no man he can bring up. He coached soccer – girls soccer.
Secret Identity:
How character’s subtext could show up: Mr. Fox is in the middle of everything, casual, charismatic. He tries to manipulate Mukki, but actually realizes he likes Mukki – he never had a son and it’s a deeply emotional experience for him to try to teach Mukki what he knows. Mukki, through Mr. Fox’s daughter, eventually accuses Mr. Fox of just using him, and this rocks Mr. Fox to the core: is it true? He’s not sure. Meanwhile, he’s cultivating relationships with everyone else in town and in the tribe, notably siding with a black sheep native developer who wants to make a real estate killing. Mr. Fox eventually has a change of heart and saves Mukki from the worst of the menaces.
9. Flaw (how they sabotage themselves, shows up in times of stress): Mr. Fox turns on the charm – overdoing things – when he’s stressed, but this leads him into sexual encounters with women rather than care and comfort. It also confuses his rational side – poor decision making – when he could use more reason when stressed.
10. Values (believe in/care about): Mr. Fox believes in family, and also in intelligently-informed success. Not so much winning per se, but exercising his skills successfully (competence).
11. Character Dilemma (internal conflict causing them to vacillate between extremes): Mr. Fox wants to be there for his family, but believes he has to succeed professionally to do that (so doesn’t spend enough time with them, and does spend time schmoozing others, including attractive women).
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Character: JESSIE MASNUBIC
A. The High Concept (this character’s role in the high concept): Jessie begins the process that leads to the land swap by taking on all the latest and greatest Progressive fighting points: feminism, Columbus Day, and now Land Acknowledgment. She is tricked into supporting the Land Return by Mr. Fox. She doesn’t realize that social change put too fast or based on illogic leads to chaos.
B. This character’s journey: Jessie starts strident, righteous, and she kind of ends there (some people are just cranky) – but she’s taken through the wringer in her personal life, and opens up to seeing multiple sides of things eventually.
C. The Actor Attractors for this character:
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
She’s an over-the-top progressive, with a complex family story, and a deep wound. (Cf. Annette Bening in American Beauty.)
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
She is always on the go, agitating for all the latest causes, so she’s constantly creating new drama everywhere she turns.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
She’s the one who pushes the effort to honor the Natives. And once the motion passes, she pushes her way into Mukki’s path, to insist he behave the way she wants him to.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
She never does anything halfheartedly. She’s like a force of nature wrangling everyone to her causes.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
She’s fierce, devoted, imposing, and eventually put out of sorts and depressed. She goes into despair when her life collapses.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
She’s full of ideas, but her marriage is in ruins, and her daughter is veering away from her. She loses herself in her activism, but has a deep wound underneath it all.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
She’s married to a man who contemplates changing his gender, and she tries way too late to help her daughter, but has no clue how to do it.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
She’s unremittingly strident, that voice in Town Meeting that makes you cringe — unless you side with her. Always caustic, until her vulnerability finally hits when her family troubles come to the fore.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
She’s a representative of everything extreme, but life hits her hard so we actually care about her!
Character Profile Elements:
1. Role in the Story: Antagonist – Jessie represents strident Progressive politics today: righteous, unapologetic, strident, caring, thoughtful, intellectually incoherent, keenly interested in power dynamics, committed to getting rid of the patriarchy and white supremacy, and somehow morally superior. For much of the story she just drives people crazy, and she’s a real pain to Mukki, but she learns some things along the way that broaden her worldview.
2. Age Range and Description: Jessie is mid-thirties, thin, harsh looking. She dresses deliberately to provoke, to show what side she’s on. Butch haircut, pink in hair. Almost systematically unfeminine, but just a wisp of vanity nevertheless in her choice of outfits.
3. Core Traits:
– Permanently Unsatisfied
– Tireless
– Fierce
– Hypersensitive
4. Motivation; Want/Need:
Want: To have her Progressive principles –her party – triumph: that will solve the world’s problems.
Need: To be appreciated, for her humanity.
5. Wound:
What they can’t face: Her marriage is a wreck, and she hates hates hates being a failure.
6. Likability, Relatability, Empathy:
Likeability (outside affection): She’s not very likeable, but is assertive and seems to be on the side of the good guys (if she weren’t so righteous about it!)
Relatability (something we experience): She’s up against these stodgy old white men all the time, must be wearing; she tries hard to keep her family together, with only moderate success – but we’ve all been overwhelmed by the career/life balance.
Empathy (experiences hardship): Her marriage is breaking apart and she’s kind of a jerk to her hypersensitive daughter, but she really does suffer with these losses (even if they’re often self-inflicted!)ccc
7. Character Subtext (lesson 3):
Subtext Identity: A radical overachiever, all to cover up imposter syndrome and perfectionism – she was never good enough for her parents and has been trying to prove worthy ever since
Subtext Trait: Rampantly Ambitious, Scheming, Undermining
Subtext Logline: Jessie is a strident righteous overachiever who is nevertheless vulnerable to accusations that she is not supportive enough by those whose approval she values; she will cut people down behind their backs – and sometimes to their faces
Possible Areas of Subtext: organizing the left for her trifecta of radical progressive proposals; cancelling people left and right; arguing brutally against people – a sore winner; trying to turn blame elsewhere when she overextends; complains and then breaks down when her own family members call her unsupportive; demands inclusivity but will exclude anyone at the drop of a hat; tries to manipulate Mukki to recover her primacy when the town is turned over – at her own instigation.
8. Character Intrigue (lesson 4):
Hidden agendas: She is angling for progressive values, inclusion and equity etc., but she kind of really just wants power –to quell the upset in her when she faces people who are different from her.
Competition: She’s trying to outdo everyone on the righteousness scale, and will reach into dark places to crush her competitors (as hypocritical as that is).
Secrets: Her husband wants to transition to a woman, and she doesn’t know what this means about her. Is her household missing femininity?
Deception: Pretends to be nice and caring, but is kind of a white savior rather than an empathetic helper.
Unspoken Wound: Her perfectionist parents were never satisfied with her – but maybe it was because she was such a selfish jerk? (Only child)
Secret Identity: The Town’s – and the planet’s – savior. Hero is Susan B. Anthony?
How character’s subtext could show up: Jessie is a strident basketcase, but she has many followers. She fights the good fight, champions progressive causes, but she’s never happy. Instead she excoriates her “enemies” and stands up for the “downtrodden”. She all into white fragility, but as a power play to deal with her guilt. Her marriage kind of collapses and she doesn’t know what to do so she throws herself into the town politics. She tries to control Mukki because he’s a stupid savage – she would never say this, she just thinks he’s had an unfortunate upbringing because of the white patriarchy.
9. Flaw (how they sabotage themselves, shows up in times of stress): Jessie becomes more strident and righteous – overdoes things, and says the wrong things – when she’s cornered or stressed out. This immediately removes everyone from her because they don’t want to be near the bear. This is her intention – but underneath it all she craves understanding and care.
10. Values (believe in/care about): Helping those less fortunate than yourself, being right, being seen to be right, and never losing.
11. Character Dilemma (internal conflict causing them to vacillate between extremes): Jessie tries as hard as she can to fix the world, but she knows she’ll never be good enough, so she sometimes spirals into depression. Is she bipolar?
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Kevin Cunningham’s Character Profiles Part 1
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This has always been the hardest exercise for me in all of ScreenwritingU, for several reasons: 1) there are just too many details to keep track of, it’s hard to locate my notes; 2) I have always felt that getting deep into character before getting deep into plot doesn’t work for me; the characters have to get the plot going, so they’re actions have to conform to that. Anyway, I got around these two issues this time, and felt I had a breakthrough by doggedly connecting the character traits etc. to the required action – i.e. the plot – of the film. Furthermore, I’m treating it as a brainstorm rather than the final say.
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Title: Going Native
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen
Genre: Comedy/Satire
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Character: MUKKI
A. The High Concept (this character’s role in the high concept): Mukki is the Native American teen called upon to run the town once it’s conveyed to the tribe – the foolishness of the town is shown in stark contrast to his earnest efforts to prove the land transfer honorable
B. This Character’s Journey: Mukki goes from an ignorant slacker, who would rather play video games than honor his culture, to a respected, mature leader
C. The Actor Attractors for this character:
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
Native American in a lead role, goes from slacker to hero. He’s like the “Mr. Deeds” or “Mr. Smith” of a Capra film: a good-hearted outsider who is challenged by, almost destroyed by, but ultimately wins over the town.
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
Defies expectations of a Native American in a movie – not a “brave” or an angel. A regular kid who’s faced with a huge challenge way way over his head. He connects to everyone for help, but ultimately finds it in himself, his peers, and his tribe.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
He pulls together the leading lights of the town to get things done. They fall apart, but he persists. He doggedly strives to make the town work.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
The boy who’d rather be playing video games gets dressed up in native costume for the tourists.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
He’s fundamentally sweet, but his placid surface is ruffled and he experiences fear, overwhelm, anger, wonder, and triumph in turn. Oh, and puppy love.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
As a fish out of water, he hides his disinterest in his own tribe — everyone relates to him as a representative Native American (to their own prejudices), but he’s pretending to be the person they’re expecting. The funny thing is, he’s growing into being a true reflection of his tribe: he’s growing.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
By dint of his circumstances, he gets to know lots of adults really well. He’s surprisingly mature –through simplicity rather than sophistication. Meanwhile, he’s looked up to by those his own age (even though he longs for the Powwow Princess). He creates a partnership with Mr. Fox’s daughter, and takes on a father-son relationship with Mr. Fox himself.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
He will have his native cadences in speaking, and will struggle to understand the world he’s in through a lens of native worldview. He’s a boy without a country, lost between two worlds.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
He’s repeatedly unexpected. And he sees things simply: why can’t we all get along? He’s not caught up in the divisions in white society, and naturally tries to do the right thing, while everyone else acts more and more “tribally”…
Character Profile Elements:
1. Role in the Story: Protagonist – the essential problem in the story is put firmly on Mukki’s shoulders once the town conveys the land to the tribe: how do you run a town? – it’s his problem to solve or fail to solve, and everyone’s fate is in the balance
2. Age Range and Description: Mukki is in his teens, a high school senior. He’s kind of adorable, but not classically handsome. He’s got a big tuft of curly hair, slightly dark skin, and a kind of dumpy frame. But by the time the story’s over, he gets fit and trim and commanding.
3. Core Traits:
– Lazy
– Good-natured
– Dogged
– Anxious
4. Motivation; Want/Need:
Want: to be left alone to just hang around – like any modern American kid – to be “free” (of responsibility)
Need: to have a real purpose in life, one that links him to his heritage and his real identity
5. Wound:
What they can’t face: that he’s worthless because his dad left him
6. Likability, Relatability, Empathy:
Likeability (outside affection): Clumsy, good-hearted, polite, helpful. Mukki is a nice kid, not malicious, kind to children, cute in his way
Relatability (something we experience): Mukki is kind of lazy, wants to just sit around, not interested in his cultural heritage – he’s just a teenage kid who wants to have fun. He’s forced to get to work on something that demands real energy, not just slacker passivity; he’s fond of several girls and doesn’t know how to behave; he’s pressured by different people to do things their way
Empathy (experiences hardship): actually vilified by people, excoriated in fear-based prejudice; and multiple betrayal by father figures – which he doggedly pulls up his boots after. Mukki’s dad left when he was young. Mukki is put in way over his head when he takes over the town: everyone is trying to manipulate him, everyone hates him (prejudice, fear of losing their land), and the success he has to achieve is way out of his reach.
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Character: DREW FOX
A. The High Concept (this character’s role in the high concept): Mr. Fox is the person who sets the whole story in motion, and who casts the deciding vote to transfer the land, for secret business reasons. This catalyzes the town turning upside down and revealing their inner madness.
B. This character’s journey: Mr. Fox triggers all this activity without a lot of concern – it’s just another business deal, although a big one and calling on all his skills. But once the transition is underway, he learns the value of fatherhood, of husbandry (being a good husband and stewarding the land). He helps Mukki master the town’s problems – and does he come through in the end to keep the land protected or does he choose in favor of his business deal?
C. The Actor Attractors for this character:
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
Mr. Fox is the charming rogue, controlling the board through the whole story.
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
Mr. Fox is extremely self-confident, and seems to be doing the right thing, but we can’t really make out what he’s up to. He seems to have a bigger picture than anyone else. He’s a devoted family man, but he has two secrets: he once cheated on his wife and is repentant over it, and he’s the person who is behind the transfer of land to the natives.
3. What are the most interesting actions the character could take in the script?
Behind the scenes, he’s arranging all the real changes in the story. And he’s the person who casts the deciding vote to transfer the land. Why would he do this? It seems antithetical to his worldview. Is he having a change of heart? It’s a deep mystery. Later he appears to side with Mukki and the progressives – but for his own reasons. But once he starts working with Mukki, he honestly starts to like Mukki and work for his future. Ultimately, he has to make a choice between his secret business deal and his loved ones.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
Mr. Fox gives a Gordon Gekko-like speech that “real estate is the future” – while a native leader tries to teach Mukki that we don’t own the land, the land owns us. And very soon, he astounds the whole town by casting the deciding vote.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
As a charming man with a secret plan, he’s funny and winsome, charismatic and a ladies man. But when his betrayals pinch him (against his wife, and against his fatherly tenderness to Mukki), he experiences deep pain. And sometimes he’s ruthless in his negotiations with his secret tribal partner.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
Mr. Fox knows things that nobody else knows. And we’re never sure what he’s up to! He has many schemes underway, and is a scheming rascal. Is he also a womanizer? Of course, he’s got his big plan underway, but we don’t know that until late in the story. He’s otherwise serene and passionate.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
Mr. Fox has three key relationships, and is connected to others for pragmatic reasons. He loves his wife, and feels he’s betrayed her. He loves his daughter, but misses having a boy. And he befriends Mukki, without realizing that this satisfies a piece of his soul that’s been starved for years: masculine paternal tenderness. Meanwhile, he pretends to work with Jessie, and plays the rogue at City Hall to get things done.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
This is a charming fellow, he isn’t intellectual but he’s smart, he isn’t a conniving businessman but he’s got a smooth voice. He’s a polished brilliant businessman/entrepreneur, way above everyone else in town on the ladder of success, in business and in life.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
Why is he doing all this? To preserve a legacy for his family? Mr. Fox had an overbearing father and fled into the Mormon faith when he met his wife. It made him a better man.
Character Profile Elements:
1. Role in the Story: Antagonist (?) – Mr. Fox is the one who sets the whole story in motion, and who casts the decisive vote. Behind the scenes, he’s really running the whole process. He helps Mukki succeed, but also might betray him…
2. Age Range and Description: Mr. Fox is in his early forties, but ready to retire as his daughter prepares to go to college. He’s a handsome man with a square jaw, dresses business casual impeccably, and has sparkly eyes. He’s just charming.
3. Core Traits:
– Charming/Charismatic
– Methodical
– Tender
– Ruthless
4. Motivation; Want/Need:
Want: To make a tremendous real estate deal, to set his family up for life
Need: To care for a wounded creature – a boy – so he can heal himself
5. Wound:
What they can’t face: His own acts of disloyalty – if they’re revealed, he might lose his loved ones.
6. Likability, Relatability, Empathy:
Likeability (outside affection): Mr. Fox is utterly charismatic, just comes across as a friendly guy, helpful, but confident, a man with clarity and a staunch contributor to his wife and daughter. A guy you look up to.
Relatability (something we experience): Mr. Fox is utterly charismatic, just comes across as a friendly guy, helpful, but confident, a man with clarity and a staunch contributor to his wife and daughter. A guy you look up to.
Empathy (experiences hardship): Mr. Fox wants to be a good considerate father to Mukki – he was himself raised to be a competitor to his dad, and he hated that. He’s also a man who failed his wife once in the past, and he suffers for that sin.
——
Character: JESSIE MASNUBIC
A. The High Concept (this character’s role in the high concept): Jessie begins the process that leads to the land swap by taking on all the latest and greatest Progressive fighting points: feminism, Columbus Day, and now Land Acknowledgment. She is tricked into supporting the Land Return by Mr. Fox. She doesn’t realize that social change put too fast or based on illogic leads to chaos.
B. This character’s journey: Jessie starts strident, righteous, and she kind of ends there (some people are just cranky) – but she’s taken through the wringer in her personal life, and opens up to seeing multiple sides of things eventually.
C. The Actor Attractors for this character:
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
She’s an over-the-top progressive, with a complex family story, and a deep wound. (Cf. Annette Bening in American Beauty.)
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
She is always on the go, agitating for all the latest causes, so she’s constantly creating new drama everywhere she turns.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
She’s the one who pushes the effort to honor the Natives. And once the motion passes, she pushes her way into Mukki’s path, to insist he behave the way she wants him to.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
She never does anything halfheartedly. She’s like a force of nature wrangling everyone to her causes.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
She’s fierce, devoted, imposing, and eventually put out of sorts and depressed. She goes into despair when her life collapses.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
She’s full of ideas, but her marriage is in ruins, and her daughter is veering away from her. She loses herself in her activism, but has a deep wound underneath it all.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
She’s married to a man who contemplates changing his gender, and she tries way too late to help her daughter, but has no clue how to do it.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
She’s unremittingly strident, that voice in Town Meeting that makes you cringe — unless you side with her. Always caustic, until her vulnerability finally hits when her family troubles come to the fore.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
She’s a representative of everything extreme, but life hits her hard so we actually care about her!
Character Profile Elements:
1. Role in the Story: Antagonist – Jessie represents strident Progressive politics today: righteous, unapologetic, strident, caring, thoughtful, intellectually incoherent, keenly interested in power dynamics, committed to getting rid of the patriarchy and white supremacy, and somehow morally superior. For much of the story she just drives people crazy, and she’s a real pain to Mukki, but she learns some things along the way that broaden her worldview.
2. Age Range and Description: Jessie is mid-thirties, thin, harsh looking. She dresses deliberately to provoke, to show what side she’s on. Butch haircut, pink in hair. Almost systematically unfeminine, but just a wisp of vanity nevertheless in her choice of outfits.
3. Core Traits:
– Permanently Unsatisfied
– Tireless
– Fierce
– Hypersensitive
4. Motivation; Want/Need:
Want: To have her Progressive principles – her party – triumph: that will solve the world’s problems.
Need: To be appreciated, for her humanity.
5. Wound:
What they can’t face: Her marriage is a wreck, and she hates hates hates being a failure.
6. Likability, Relatability, Empathy:
Likeability (outside affection): She’s not very likeable, but is assertive and seems to be on the side of the good guys (if she weren’t so righteous about it!)
Relatability (something we experience): She’s up against these stodgy old white men all the time, must be wearing; she tries hard to keep her family together, with only moderate success – but we’ve all been overwhelmed by the career/life balance.
Empathy (experiences hardship): Her marriage is breaking apart and she’s kind of a jerk to her hypersensitive daughter, but she really does suffer with these losses (even if they’re often self-inflicted!)
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Kevin Cunningham’s Likability/Relatability/Empathy
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: xxx
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Protagonist: MUKKI
Likability: Mukki is a nice kid, not malicious, kind to children, cute in his way
Relatability: Mukki is kind of lazy, wants to just sit around, not interested in his cultural heritage – he’s just a teenage kid who wants to have fun.
Empathy: Mukki’s dad left when he was young. Mukki is put in way over his head when he takes over the town: everyone is trying to manipulate him, everyone hates him (prejudice, fear of losing their land), and the success he has to achieve is way out of his reach.
——
Antagonist: DREW FOX
Likability: Mr. Fox is utterly charismatic, just comes across as a friendly guy, helpful, but confident, a man with clarity and a staunch contributor to his wife and daughter. A guy you look up to.
Relatability: Mr. Fox is a good family man, working to get enough money “scraped together” to make his retirement work.
Empathy: Mr. Fox wants to be a good considerate father to Mukki – he was himself raised to be a competitor to his dad, and he hated that. He’s also a man who failed his wife once in the past, and he suffers for that sin.
——
Antagonist: JESSIE MASNUBIC
Likability: She’s not very likeable, but is assertive and seems to be on the side of the good guys (if she weren’t so righteous about it!)
Relatability: She’s up against these stodgy old white men all the time, must be wearing; she tries hard to keep her family together, with only moderate success – but we’ve all been overwhelmed by the career/life balance.
Empathy: Her marriage is breaking apart and she’s kind of a jerk to her hypersensitive daughter, but she really does suffer with these losses (even if they’re often self-inflicted!)
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Kevin Cunningham’s Character Intrigue
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This exercise works better for me than the “subtext” exercise because here I can see goals and plans, and can immediately see how they would play out in conflict/plot. It’s interesting to invent characters whose secrets intersect with each others’ in complex ways – it drives story.
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Character Name: MUKKI
Role: Protagonist
Unspoken Wound: Mukki’s father left the family when Mukki was young – a black father who did not feel that he belonged to the tribe.
Competition: Was always seen as a slacker – trying to prove them wrong, but he’s sluggish.
Hidden agendas: Trying to move forward the goals his grandfather had entrusted to him.
Deception: Pretends to be clever (but everyone sees through him).
Secrets: In love with the Powwow Princess.
Secret Identity: The hero of his video games.
How character’s subtext could show up: Mukki is vulnerable to strong men, father figures. He doesn’t know which to turn to, but they all entice him.
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Character Name: DREW FOX
Role: Antagonist (?)
Hidden agendas: He’s manipulating the whole town and the tribe to make the land available to him as a developer
Conspiracies: He’s setting up little subterfuges with various parties – all unknown to each other.
Secrets: He’d cheated on his wife years ago at a Conference in Vegas, and never told her, but it wears on him and he’s never forgiven himself for it (but he hasn’t done it again).
Deception: Misleads others to get his ways. Doesn’t let them know his fingers are in every pie.
Unspoken Wound: Father was a womanizer who he feels misled him down the wrong path; he wants to be a good father to his children – who are only girls, so no man he can bring up. He coached soccer – girls soccer.
Secret Identity:
How character’s subtext could show up: Mr. Fox is in the middle of everything, casual, charismatic. He tries to manipulate Mukki, but actually realizes he likes Mukki – he never had a son and it’s a deeply emotional experience for him to try to teach Mukki what he knows. Mukki, through Mr. Fox’s daughter, eventually accuses Mr. Fox of just using him, and this rocks Mr. Fox to the core: is it true? He’s not sure. Meanwhile, he’s cultivating relationships with everyone else in town and in the tribe, notably siding with a black sheep native developer who wants to make a real estate killing. Mr. Fox eventually has a change of heart and saves Mukki from the worst of the menaces.
——
Character Name: JESSIE MASNUBIC
Role: Antagonist
Hidden agendas: She is angling for progressive values, inclusion and equity etc., but she kind of really just wants power – to quell the upset in her when she faces people who are different from her.
Competition: She’s trying to outdo everyone on the righteousness scale, and will reach into dark places to crush her competitors (as hypocritical as that is).
Secrets: Her husband wants to transition to a woman, and she doesn’t know what this means about her. Is her household missing femininity?
Deception: Pretends to be nice and caring, but is kind of a white savior rather than an empathetic helper.
Unspoken Wound: Her perfectionist parents were never satisfied with her – but maybe it was because she was such a selfish jerk? (Only child)
Secret Identity: The Town’s – and the planet’s – savior. Hero is Susan B. Anthony?
How character’s subtext could show up: Jessie is a strident basketcase, but she has many followers. She fights the good fight, champions progressive causes, but she’s never happy. Instead she excoriates her “enemies” and stands up for the “downtrodden”. She all into white fragility, but as a power play to deal with her guilt. Her marriage kind of collapses and she doesn’t know what to do so she throws herself into the town politics. She tries to control Mukki because he’s a stupid savage – she would never say this, she just thinks he’s had an unfortunate upbringing because of the white patriarchy.
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Kevin Cunningham’s Subtext Characters
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: Once I realized the core story is a “fish out of water” tale, I found several Capra movies that humorously focused on that. I like their moral tone, and I’m exploring my tone again. No doubt it has to be a little more modern…
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Movie Title: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
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Character Name: BABE BENNETT (Jean Arthur), Love Interest
Subtext Identity: Journalist who’ll do anything to get a good story
Subtext Trait: Manipulative, Pretending, Assertive
Subtext Logline: Pulitizer-Prize winner Babe Bennett is using all her refined skills to get close to Longfellow Deeds – but she finds herself terribly confused and afraid of losing him when she falls in love with him
Possible Areas of Subtext: pretends to be hungry/faints; shows interest in his taking her out; uses feminine demureness to attract him (where others are pushy); can’t confess herself even when she wants to for fear of losing him; cares about him so much she’ll face contempt charges at his sanity hearing; repoints her assertiveness to defending him rather than getting the story
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Movie Title: Going Native
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Character Name: DREW FOX
Subtext Identity: Real Estate mogul looking to make a last big score before retiring with his family
Subtext Trait: Charming/Easygoing, Manipulative, Plotting
Subtext Logline: Drew Fox looks like he’s ready to retire with his family, but he’s secretly manipulating everything to get the Town to make the public land available for a phenomenal development deal
Possible Areas of Subtext: feints of retiring; pretending to be swayed by his wife’s moral arguments; winning the favor of the progressives who stand in his way, and actually getting them to act in his favor; pretending to magnanimously help the people who have to struggle with the Town land switch; getting on young Mukki’s good side; siccing his daughter on Mukki, knowing she’ll fall in love with Mukki; meeting secretly with the tribe’s black sheep, though it appears to be in support of the tribe and town; going with the changes resiliently, even at the end
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Character Name: JESSIE MASNUBIC
Subtext Identity: A radical overachiever, all to cover up imposter syndrome and perfectionism – she was never good enough for her parents and has been trying to prove worthy ever since
Subtext Trait: Rampantly Ambitious, Scheming, Undermining
Subtext Logline: Jessie is a strident righteous overachiever who is nevertheless vulnerable to accusations that she is not supportive enough by those whose approval she values; she will cut people down behind their backs – and sometimes to their faces
Possible Areas of Subtext: organizing the left for her trifecta of radical progressive proposals; cancelling people left and right; arguing brutally against people – a sore winner; trying to turn blame elsewhere when she overextends; complains and then breaks down when her own family members call her unsupportive; demands inclusivity but will exclude anyone at the drop of a hat; tries to manipulate Mukki to recover her primacy when the town is turned over – at her own instigation;
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Kevin Cunningham’s Actor Attractors!
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: I’m deepening my feel for the characters. And I realize again that parts that appeal to actors are essential.
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Lead Character Name: MUKKI SEGENAM
Role: Protagonist
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
Native American in a lead role, goes from slacker to hero. He’s like the “Mr. Deeds” or “Mr. Smith” of a Capra film: a good-hearted outsider who wins over the town.
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
Defies expectations of a Native American in a movie – not a “brave” or an angel. A regular kid who’s faced with a huge challenge way way over his head. He connects to everyone for help, but ultimately finds it in himself, his peers, and his tribe.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
He pulls together the leading lights of the town to get things done. They fall apart, but he persists. He doggedly strives to make the town work.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
The boy who’d rather be playing video games than get dressed up in native costume for the tourists.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
He’s fundamentally sweet, but his placid surface is ruffled and he experiences fear, overwhelm, anger, wonder, and triumph in turn. Oh, and puppy love.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
As a fish out of water, he hides his disinterest in his own tribe — everyone relates to him as a representative Native American (to their own prejudices), but he’s pretending to be the person they’re expecting. The funny thing is, he’s growing into being a true reflection of his tribe: he’s growing.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
By dint of his circumstances, he gets to know lots of adults really well. He’s surprisingly mature. Meanwhile, he’s looked up to by those his own age (even though he longs for the Powwow Princess). He creates a partnership with Mr. Fox’s daughter.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
He will have his native cadences in speaking, and will struggle to understand the world he’s in through a lens of native worldview.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
He’s repeatedly unexpected. And he sees things simply: why can’t we all get along? He’s not caught up in the divisions in white society, and naturally treis to do the right thing, while everyone else acts more and more “tribally.”
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Lead Character Name: DREW FOX
Role: Antagonist
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
He’s a smarmy but charismatic businessman — like Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. He’s always charming, and way ahead of everyone else: he’s behind everything that’s going on.
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
He’s extremely self-confident, and he seems to be doing the right thing, so we can’t really make out what he’s up to. He seems to have a bigger picture than anyone else.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
He’s got all kinds of secret plans set in motion, but his most overt act is to be the deciding vote on turning the land over to the Natives. Why would he do this? It seems antithetical to his worldview. Is he having a change of heart? It’s a deep mystery. Later he appears to side with Mukki and the progressives – but for his own reasons.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
He starts off with a Gordon Gekko-esque declaration that “real estate is the future”, in contrast to the Native American love of the land. And very soon, he astounds the whole town by casting the deciding vote.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
He’s intense, then he’ll turn around and seem utterly casual. He’s loving with family, but fierce in negotiations.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
He has many schemes underway, and is a scheming rascal. Is he also a womanizer?
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
He has a complex relationship with his wife and daughter, and some town leaders, but he creates an intriguing mentoring relationship with Mukki.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
He’s a polished brilliant businessman/entrepreneur, way above everyone else in town. He also knowledgeable of classics, an encyclopedic knowledge.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
Why is he doing all this? To preserve a legacy for his family?
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Lead Character Name: JESSIE MASNUBIC
Role: Antagonist
1. What about this role would cause an actor to want to be known for it?
She’s an over-the-top progressive, with a complex family story, and a deep wound. (Cf. Annette Bening in American Beauty.)
2. What makes this character one of the most interesting characters in your story?
She is always on the go, agitating for all the latest causes, so she’s constantly creating new drama everywhere she turns.
3. What are the most interesting actions the Lead could take in the script?
She’s the one who pushes the effort to honor the Natives. And once the motion passes, she pushes her way into Mukki’s path, to insist he behave the way she wants him to.
4. How can you introduce this role in a way that could sell it to an actor?
She never does anything halfheartedly. She’s like a force of nature wrangling everyone to her causes.
5. What could be this character’s emotional range
She’s fierce, devoted, imposing, and eventually put out of sorts and depressed. She goes into despair when her life collapses.
6. What subtext can the actor play?
She’s full of ideas, but her marriage is in ruins, and her daughter is veering away from her. She loses herself in her activism, but has a deep wound underneath it all.
7. What’s the most interesting relationships this character can have?
She’s married to a man who contemplates changing his gender, and she tries way too late to help her daughter, but has no clue how to do it.
8. How will this character’s unique voice be presented?
She’s unremittingly strident, that voice in Town Meeting that makes you cringe — unless you side with her. Always caustic, until her vulnerability finally hits when her family troubles come to the fore.
9. What could make this character special and unique?
She’s a representative of everything extreme, but life hits her hard so we actually care about her!
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Kevin Cunningham’s Actor Attractors for “Election”
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This exercise brought to my attention the importance of having really intriguing actor roles. At the same time, I realized that for my genre — social satire / dark comedy — this is actually something of a challenge. But the movie I chose has “unlikeable characters” who still drive the story and which actors would love to play. My lead is a Native American, so it’s not really open to many actors. So I need to have some of the other parts be attractive, and I’m starting to think how best to do that.
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Movie: Election
Genre: Black Comedy
Big Actors: Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick
Character: Tracy Flick, overachieving student running for student body president
1 – Actor notoriety – Wants to be known for this part.
Tracy is an assertive self-directed young female. She is strong-willed and dominates every situation she’s in.
2 – Character that is most interesting in movie.
Tracy is brazen and over-the-top. She’s like people you know: string, scary, unbearable!
3 – Takes most interesting actions in the story.
Tracy is the one who creates the action of the movie. It is her choice to run for president, her wild responses to what’s happening that creates action. She’s the one who rips up the posters of her rivals, sleeps with the other teacher, and works like a force of nature.
4 – Outstanding Introduction.
First of all, Tracy introduces the story with strong assertive voiceover narration, then we see her first coming in like a hurricane, setting up her election station, attending to every detail: she’s ready in a way that no high school kid usually is: she’s going places and she knows it. Unstoppable from the outset.
5 – Range of emotions the actor can play.
Tracy is often just jarringly strong-willed, but she’s lso clever, and sometimes unexpectedly vulnerable. She appeals to God in need and ambition, and considers herself right, but has doubts.
6 – Subtext the actor can play.
Tracy has secrets: she’s slept with a teacher, she ripped up the posters, she has information she can use to manipulate others, and she wants to win even as she’s smiling politely.
7 – Relationships that are interesting.
She’s not a standard high school kid with just jock/nerd/clique friendships: she is different, has questionable relationships with teachers.
8 – Unique Voice expressed through dialogue and action.
Tracy is a dogged woman in a one-down environment (school, a woman, etc.). She is an embodiment of female power, but also insufferable.
9 – Something truly special about this character.
She won’t be stopped, and will do anything to win.
Character: Jim McAllister, popular social studies teacher
1 – Actor notoriety – Wants to be known for this part.
At first glance, not an attractive character. But in fact, this moral ambiguity is complex and delightful. He’s a schlub matching wits with an intense woman. Not a part perhaps for a newcomer, but someone who wants to go from doing only “nice guys” to a more complex portrayal.
2 – Character that is most interesting in movie.
Technically the protagonist. While Tracy may have the more fireworks, McALlister has to deal with an onslaught of crap hitting the fan — much of it self-inflicted.
3 – Takes most interesting actions in the story.
He’s a nice teacher, pushed by circumstances to violate all his ethical rules: falsifies the election, sleeps with his friend’s wife etc.
4 – Outstanding Introduction.
He tries to be a likeable guy, working out, saying hi, but is on his back immediately, metaphorically trampled by the arrival of his nemesis. He deals with the squalid numbing daily routine of the school. Kind of like Breaking Bad.
5 – Range of emotions the actor can play.
He will be in over his head, daring, a liar, angry, flummoxed, calculating, scheming, a jerk who thinks he’s a nice guy.
6 – Subtext the actor can play.
He has secrets galore, and will bend the rules to prevent his nemesis from winning: he’s petty and hides it.
7 – Relationships that are interesting.
He has shallow friendships with staff and students, and ill-formed liaisons with women that go off-kilter.
8 – Unique Voice expressed through dialogue and action.
As a fake, he’s smarmy, vaguely charming, and kind of a jerk.
9 – Something truly special about this character.
He thinks he cares, but he’s really a hack.
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Kevin Cunningham’s Genre Conventions
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: Comedy works on two levels: in the larger structure (absurd situations, quirks of character, etc.) and in the moment-by-moment scenes (gags, jokes, etc.) As I start to apply the genre conventions, I want to write clever scenes, and witty repartee etc. (i.e., dialogue and clever twists). But for this exercise, I’ve just made some adjustments to the big arc of the story. I will certainly add more comic elements in the details when I get there. I’m aware how to start scripting dialogue now might cement in those pieces, and I don’t want to do that yet. (Don’t want to be wedded to the little gags etc.)
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Title: Going Native
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen
Genre: Comedy/Satire
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Genre Conventions for Comedy:
– purpose: entertain, laughter
– key method: incongruence (in journey, world, character, perspective) – unconventional pairing
– setup/punchline
– toppers
– running gags
– sight/prop humor
– situations: fish out of water, incongruent pairings, hilarious purpose, absurd situation, misinterpretation
– Protagonist: deliberately or inadvertently triggers amusing situations
(via incongruent perpectives, choices, or reactions to events)
– Strong story: comedy is not enough, need engaging story
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Four-Act Structure (Protagonist’s Version) – Revised for Genre
Act 1:
Opening:
– Mukki asleep awkwardly on his cot, his mom comes in and urges him to get up (in Native language); Mukki sighs; he reaches for his pants; she shakes her head no; she tosses him colorful native garb; Mukki frowns
– 1970s 8mm footage: 6-year-old Mr. Fox dresses in Indian garb, turns to face other kids, who are dressed as cowboys and move forward menacingly; Mr. Fox swallows hard
– Mukki stumbles toward a crowd of other natives, pulling on his colorful costume awkwardly; tumbles; gets up and races along: joins them just in time as they do a “Grand Entry” — it’s a traditional powwow; in the audience, clueless touristy white folks; Mukki pauses as he comes up to Alana, the Powwow Princess — beautiful in her native garb; Mukki, stopped short, is trampled by the tribesmen behind him; he looks up, mud on his face; the white attendees point at him and laugh
– Jessie Masnubic directs a group of high schoolers in an all-white production of a play about Tom Sawyer — Tom, Huck Finn, and Injun Joe — all played by white girls, including Alison Fox as Tom.
– Mukki plays video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess.
– Mukki’s native tribe is troubled with opioid addiction, threatening their meager numbers.
– The Fox family prepares for retirement.
– Jessie Masnubic leads a group of rabid towsnfolk for a big push on Town Meeting motions:
1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”
2. changing the state flag to get rid of the oppressed Indian image
3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”
Inciting Incident:
– Town Meeting puts forward a motion to go all the way and turn over their land to the natives.
– Mr. Fox unexpectedly casts the deciding vote – and the motion passes! Everyone is astounded!
Turning Point:
– Mukki’s tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather must cope with the opioid crisis.
– He assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative – and run the town!
– Mukki is appointed “Mayor” of the town
Act 2:
Reaction (new plan):
– Mukki tries to figure out how the town runs – everybody tries to advise him.
– Mukki decides it isn’t too hard, just run the meetings – but he has no clue how to do this.
Plan in action:
– Mukki doesn’t listen to the town employees, but instead tries to follow all the political groups.
– Mukki at a big meeting fails catastrophically – flails on all the issues.
Midpoint Turning Point:
– The Town Accountant reports: the town is deeply in debt, and will go broke soon if they can’t pay.
– Everyone in town turns against Mukki, fearful for the loss of their homes and their cherished projects.
– Because the natives own the town, the crisis is on them: if they fail, they will lose ALL their land!!
Act 3:
Rethink everything:
– Mukki decides to work with his peers rather than the hostile grownups/politicians.
– Mukki turns also to his grandfather to seek out native wisdom, which he’s pooh-poohed his whole life. He awkwardly learns his native heritage; the grandfather rolls his eyes multiple times as he teaches the old ways.
New plan:
– Mukki tries to enact some simple approaches – a bake sale? selfless contributions?
– Mukki decides to work with the town employees and volunteers, who know how to run the town.
– The politicians and townsfolk try to take matters into their own hands – and anarchy ensues.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:
– Mukki and his new allies can’t figure out a way to pay the debts.
– Mr. Fox suggests a path: sell the land for a casino.
– To save the town (and the tribe) from massive debt, they have one choice: to sell off their homeland!
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:
– Alison is at home, forlorn, as her mother gardens. Her mother encourages her to look to the land. “The land? Of course!” Alison has a suspicion and goes with Mukki to confront her father.
– Mukki realizes that Mr. Fox had engineered this whole crisis for his own ends: Mr. Fox owns the company that would make a huge profit out of buying up the land dirt cheap!
– Mukki brings the townsfolk together as a team in the common cause of saving their town. He uses the skills his grandfather taught him — and his video gaming knowledge.
– They discover that, though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. This negates the original transfer to his tribe!
– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt.
Resolution:
– Mukki has taught the town new ways of working together, discovered and valued his native heritage, and found new friends/lovers. Mr. Fox fails to destroy the town for his sneaky business deal. The Powwow Princess steps forward for Mukki, but he takes Alison’s hand awkwardly.
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Kevin Cunningham’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: Being forced to identify structural turning points definitely helped me see how the concept plays out in the story. In particular, focusing on the hero’s transformational journey makes it a very specific story: it has a clear arc. It will be interesting to add the other dimensions of the story, to give it some surprises and reversals.
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Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen
Main Conflict: A slacker native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.
Old Ways:
– lazy, would rather just play video games
– inarticulate, mumbly, doesn’t even know his own language
– ashamed of his heritage, but also an outsider to mainstream culture
– awkward with the opposite sex
– buried in a “can never win” dead-end attitude
New Ways:
– visionary, responsible, moving forward great goals
– helpful to people, as a leader
– an honest, powerful speaker, including in his tribe’s tongue
– honoring all cultures deeply, including his own
– has mature relationships with women
– steeped in an “everyone can succeed” mentality
– does things, doesn’t just think things
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Four-Act Structure (Protagonist’s Version)
Act 1:
Opening:
– Mukki plays video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess.
– Mukki’s native tribe is troubled with opioid addiction, threatening their meager numbers.
– The Fox family prepares for retirement.
– The Masnubic family prepares for a big push on Town Meeting motions:
1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”
2. changing the state flag to get rid of the oppressed Indian image
3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”
Inciting Incident:
– Town Meeting puts forward a motion to go all the way and turn over their land to the natives.
– Mr. Fox unexpectedly casts the deciding vote – and the motion passes!
Turning Point:
– Mukki’s tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather must cope with the opioid crisis.
– He assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative – and run the town!
– Mukki is appointed “Mayor” of the town
Act 2:
Reaction (new plan):
– Mukki tries to figure out how the town runs – everybody tries to advise him.
– Mukki decides it isn’t too hard, just run the meetings – but he has no clue how to do this.
Plan in action:
– Mukki doesn’t listen to the town employees, but instead tries to follow all the political groups.
– Mukki at a big meeting fails catastrophically – flails on all the issues.
Midpoint Turning Point:
– The Town Accountant reports: the town is deeply in debt, and will go broke soon if they can’t pay.
– Everyone in town turns against Mukki, fearful for the loss of their homes and their cherished projects.
– Because the natives own the town, the crisis is on them: if they fail, they will lose ALL their land!!
Act 3:
Rethink everything:
– Mukki decides to work with his peers rather than the hostile grownups/politicians.
– Mukki turns also to his grandfather to seek out native wisdom, which he’s pooh-poohed his whole life.
New plan:
– Mukki tries to enact some simple approaches – a bake sale? selfless contributions?
– Mukki decides to work with the town employees and volunteers, who know how to run the town.
– The politicians and townsfolk try to take matters into their own hands – and anarchy ensues.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:
– Mukki and his new allies can’t figure out a way to pay the debts.
– Mr. Fox suggests a path: sell the land for a casino.
– To save the town (and the tribe) from massive debt, they have one choice: to sell off their homeland!
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:
– Mukki realizes that Mr. Fox had engineered this whole crisis for his own ends: Mr. Fox owns the company that would make a huge profit out of buying up the land dirt cheap!
– Mukki brings the townsfolk together as a team in the common cause of saving their town.
– They discover that, though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. This negates the original transfer to his tribe!
– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt.
Resolution:
– Mukki has taught the town new ways of working together, discovered and valued his native heritage, and found new friends/lovers. Mr. Fox fails to destroy the town for his sneaky business deal.
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Kevin Cunningham’s Subtext Plot
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: These plots are units of structure, that can play out at multiple levels – across the whole movie, in subplots/individual character arcs, in the design of individual scenes. One core of the story is fish-out-of-water, but I feel that there’s something else going on with the underlying social satire, perhaps by the lunacy of the competetive agendas; need to think about that.
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Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before, putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen
Subtext Plots: In order of importance in this story
4. The Fish Out of Water:
The main character is a Native American teenager thrust into leadership of a woke New England town, and he is clueless on many levels: he doesn’t know the culture, he doesn’t know politics, he doesn’t know government procedures. In addition, he’s a hormonal teen placed among adults when he’s naïve and doesn’t understand relationships.
7. Competitive Agendas:
The townsfolk form multiple groups all vying to tell the hero what to do, as a form of competing against their own opponents. The hero is caught in the middle, and they use wiles, deception, coercion, threats, and seduction to try to get their way.
1. Scheme and Investigation /
6. A Major Cover Up /
3. Someone Hides Who They Are /
2. Layering:
A critical character casts the vote that turns the town over to the Natives – but why is he doing it? His wife and others find it a mystery and try to solve it. He skirts their efforts and cozies up to the young hero. Ultimately it is revealed that he has a secret plan to make millions on the casino projects he expects will soon be underway.
5. Superior Position:
Think I’ll avoid this at the top-level, but will use it for individual comic scenes. Perhaps the Historian character can serve as narrator to the story, so that would give him a superior frame. But I don’t want to give away the big twists up front, so trying to not use this technique too much.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Kevin Cunningham.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Kevin Cunningham.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by
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Kevin Cunningham’s Transformational Journey
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: A transformational arc certainly gives definition to the story structure. It’s the backbone. I also saw how the other characters will echo this arc, because an arc suggests the theme of the story, and everyone’s progress or failures reflect that theme.
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Character: Mukki, the Native American teen called on to run the town (protagonist)
Arc Beginning: Mukki is an ignorant slacker, who would rather play video games than honor his culture; he has no responsibilities and no future
Arc Ending: Mukki is a respected, mature leader, who runs the town wisely, and profoundly honors his own culture and that of others
Internal Journey: from skillless, ignorant, clueless, to knowledgeable, brave, responsible
External Journey: from “low man on the totem pole” in his tribe, to leader of the town, defeater of the venal villains, and honored within his tribe
Old Ways:
– lazy, would rather just play video games
– inarticulate, mumbly, doesn’t even know his own language
– ashamed of his heritage, but also an outsider to mainstream culture
– awkward with the opposite sex
– buried in a “can never win” dead-end attitude
New Ways:
– visionary, responsible, moving forward great goals
– helpful to people, as a leader
– an honest, powerful speaker, including in his tribe’s tongue
– honoring all cultures deeply, including his own
– has mature relationships with women
– steeped in an “everyone can succeed” mentality
– does things, doesn’t just think things
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Kevin Cunningham’s Intentional Lead Characters
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This question forced me to think through many possible characters and many possible relationships and roles for the characters, which was really helpful. My story is still a “community comedy” in my head (a lot of the comedy is about the townsfolk the way that Blazing Saddles has a group of ridiculous townsfolk). In that setting, I put my main character, but a clear Protagonist/Antagonist story is still not fully formed in my mind. The Hero has many obstacles, but, as a fish out of water who needs to mature, he has to overcome his internal blocks even more so. I know I have to strengthen the central arc. Great to be stretched in this direction.
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Genre: Comedy/Satire
Title: Going Native
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker Native teen.
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This is a story about the ties to the land, and how that shapes one’s identity. So the characters need to express that theme. Still working on that, but here are some key characters:
– PROTAGONIST: Mukki Segenam, Native American teenage boy
– Logline: A slacker teenager who prefers video games over his native culture, thrust against his will into leadership of the town by his grandfather
– Unique: absolutely no skill at leadership, but no falseness to him; and sweet on the Powwow Princess
– Character [SECRET VILLAIN?]: Andrew Sawyer, Elizabeth’s husband
– Logline: Super smart angel investor on the brink of retirement, seen as a conservative, who unexpectedly throws his support behind the move at Town Meeting to transfer the town to the natives
– Unique: secretly owns a considerable part of the buildable land in town, and hopes to twist the Natives in a way he can’t seem to get Town Meeting to go
– Character: Elizabeth Sawyer, Drew’s wife
– Logline: Head of the town Budget Committee, which advises Town Meeting, who tries to balance the extremists at both ends of the town, and is utterly surprised at her husband’s move to give over the town just as they are winding down their time in town
– Unique: Mormon upbringing, so challenged by hyper-feminist culture around her
– Character [ANTAGONIST?]: Jenny Bonét
– Logline: The hyper-Progressive Town Meeting member who’s running for the Select Board to forward all kinds of woke agendas, who forces herself onto Mukki when the town is turned over to him, telling him how to run the town – or be cancelled (like everyone else who disagrees with her)
– Unique: married to a feminine poet who decides to transition to be a women, challenging Jenny’s core identity
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Kevin Cunningham.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by
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Kevin Cunningham’s Title, Concept, and Character Structure!
My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.
What I learned from doing this assignment: This is always an interesting exercise when I have a complex society as the setting: there are many obstacles to the hero’s journey, and many enigmatic forces at work supporting him and hindering him – sometimes simultaneously. But it makes sense to have a focused villian to give structure to the story.
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Title: Going Native
Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen
Character Structure: Protagonist versus Antagonist. The hero is the slacker Native teen who’d rather just play video games than honor his culture, the villain is the nefarious rich townsfolk who are manipulating the land turnover so they back a new casino and get even richer. Of course, there is also a romantic triangle (the hero is enamored of a white girl, and loved by a “princess” back home) and a dramatic triangle (the hero wrestles with his own family).
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Howdy, I’m Kevin M. Cunningham.
You may know me from such ScreenwritingU programs as Proseries, Bingeworthy TV, and the Master Class.
I’ve written two worthy feature scripts, a bunch of self-produced short scripts (48 hour or equiv), and a bunch of, well, let’s call them “training” scripts…
I want to write a sellable feature script in this class.
Something unusual about me? I was a Humanities Major — at MIT. (Psychology and Literature)
Looking forward to working with all of you!
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Kevin M. Cunningham
I agree to the terms of this release form.
GROUP RELEASE FORM
As a member of Writing Incredible Movies, I agree to the following:
1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, through social media, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, videos, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.
2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.
I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.
3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.
4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.
5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.
6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.
This completes the Group Release Form for the class.
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Thanks, Bobby. I’ll check it out. I’m certainly aiming to be an equal-opportunity satirist.