TREATMENT PACK This pack contains treatments in all major genres: comedy, drama, science fiction, and thriller, including: (1) Advice and tips about writing treatments. (2) 6 Feature Treatments. (3) 1 Movie-Of-The-Week Treatment -- broken down inte 7-act structure. (4) 1 TV Series Treatment.TREATMENT PACK Before reading the treatments in this pack, you might want to read the following, which will answer many of your questions about treatments and give you information about the treatments in this pack. WHAT IS A TREATMENT? ‘Often, in selling an idea to Hollywood, circumstances require that you write a “treatment” -- a synopsis of your idea or story. WHAT DOES ONE AiM FOR IN A TREATMENT? A treatment is a selling tool. You want to: 1) Relay the plot and make it sound fascinating; 2) Make sure the treatment is a “page turner” — that it’s a quick read; 3) Use colorful adjectives and especially verbs. In a treatment, a person doesn’t “sit down on a couch” — they “plop down on the couch.” 4) Quickly give the reader a sense of the main characters and their emotional growth as the story progresses; 5) Capture the “feeling” of the film or movie-of-the-week you're trying to sell. That is, a comedy treatment should be funny to read. An action treatment should be exciting to read. A thriller treatment should keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat. P2IF ’M WRITING A THRILLER TREATMENT, AND I’M SUPPOSED TO KEEP THE READER ON THE EDGE OF HIS OR HER SEAT, HOW CAN I DO THAT IF THE READER IS STANDING UP? THEY’LL HAVE NO SEAT TO BE ON THE EDGE OF. Good question. HOW LONG SHOULD A TREATMENT BE? Probably the biggest mistake people make in writing treatments is that they make them too long. Executives in Hollywood hate to read, for they always have so much reading to do. Don’t make your treatment overly detailed. A treatment can be single spaced if it’s 1 to 3 pages (with an extra space between the paragraphs) — ~ or up to 7 or 8 pages (although this is on the long side; 4 or 5 pages is much better) if you’re using 1 1/2 spaces between lines (it’s still good to insert an extra space between paragraphs). if you're double spacing your treatment, you can go up to 11 pages (although 8 pages is better). And it’s still a good idea to leave an extra space between your paragraphs. l usually use 1 1/2 spaces between lines, with an extra space between paragraphs (or almost a full extra space). Modern writing software allows one to adjust the space between paragraphs to whatever you find most pleasing. I do this even for short treatments. Not everyone inserts an extra space between paragraphs. However, | think it makes for an easier read. WHAT FONT SHOULD ONE USE? Once upon a time, treatments were done using 12-point courier font. However, there are no absolutes on this. Just be aware that most other PSfonts squeeze letters together more, so a 6-page treatment on another font (like Garamond , Palitino, Times Roman, or Optima, the font I’m using here) might equal an 8-page treatment in Courier. Though it is only 6 pages, it will still read like an 8 -page one. This makes for a long and fatiguing read, where what you want is a quick read. ‘A lot of Courier fonts these days are awfully light, and sometimes, when you bold them, they look funny because they insert too much space between words. {ve found a version of Courier that | can bold without it adding extra space between the words. When | bold it, it often comes out tog dark, so then | adjust my printer settings to lighten it up a little. This font is called “Screenplay,” and | believe you can download it from: http://www.mindspring.com/~plucky/screen.htm| You need to click on “Italian” version, as the American version doesn’t seem to work. There also seems to be many other darker versions of Courier which you can find and download on various sites listed http:/www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=screenplay+font&btnG=Google+ Search As things change quickly on the internet, and websites come in and out of existence, just go to google.com and search for screenplay font. WHEN WRITING A TREATMENT, SHOULD YOU INDENT THE FIRST SENTENCE OF EACH PARAGRAPH? Some people do, some don’t. There’s no hard and fast rule. WHAT TREATMENTS WERE USED IN THIS PACK? Before | became a screenwriter, | had developed the reputation as a very good treatment writer. Quite often cormpanies would come to me when they were trying to raise funding for a film. They'd have a script and some actors attached. b4They knew their financial sources and possible distributors often wouldn't want to read the entire script, so they'd provide a treatment. And I'd be hired to write the treatment. { wrote all the treatments in this pack, with the exception of “A Deadly Affair” and-“Wall Street.” However, even the treatments | wrote weren't my stories, with the exception of “The ‘It’ Girl,” which | wrote and for which | co-created the story. The rest of the treatments in this pack which | wrote weren’t my original stories. | was given a script and hired to turn it into a treatment (the reverse of what usually occurs), Some of the projects in this book were made (“Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman,” “High Spirits,” and “1 Come in Peace”). Others weren't. Sometimes people read the treatments in this pack and think that some of the stories aren't good ones. They're completely missing the point. How good any particular story is doesn’t matter for our purposes here. | just want you to see what a well-written treatment looks like, so you have a template for your own treatments. ARE TREATMENTS USED FOR ALL GENRES? Yes, but when you're using a treatment to sell a story, it's usually a “high-concept” story — that it, it's built around a catchy premise or a catchy plot. it’s hard to sell ideas via a treatment or pitch for “soft” stories — stories with little going for them in the way of an original premise or plot, but which instead focus almost exclusively on characters and relationships. ANYTHING ELSE? Remember to capitalize the name of a character the first time he or she appears in your treatment. This is similar to what you'd do in a script. PSEF TW Welcome to the small town of Amoid, California, perched in the middie of the desert. It's got-all the homey virtues one expects in a mini-metropolis -- petty corruption, senile civic leadership, cheating spouses, aspiring juvenite delinquents, slow-brained policemen -- you get the picture. Arnold is America at its best. There's at least one woman In Armold, however, who seems to be having @ hard time enjoying the good life. NANCY ARCHER, almost thirty, should be _ happy. After all, her father HAMILTON ARCHER is the most powerful businessman in the city. And her ambitious husband HARRY stands in line to take over Hamilton's fortune. Unfortunately, there's also a downside to all this good news. Hamilton is ‘an arrogant, domineering, misogynistic, and narcissistic petty tyrant who likes to boss Nancy around. And as for Harry -- he spends all his free time consumed in a tonid atfair with HONEY PARKER, the town's beautician. ‘At nineteen, she offers some things to Harry that Nancy con't -- such as a lithe, statuesque nineteen- year-old body that seems to defy gravity and could easily cause severe traffic accidents. And that's why Nancy is miserable. Everyone tells her what to do. Being one of those deluded (or frightened) individuals who always believed that the world would treat her well if only she was “nice,” Nancy's response fo being pushed around and abused Is to hold ail her pain and anger inside. Even when she passes by the motel on the outskirts of town and sees Harry's Porsche parked there, she can't get the nerve up to confront him. She just becomes more depressed. Harry knows his philandering is driving Nancy nuts. But he doesn't care. if Nancy goes off the deep énd the way her mother did (her mother committed suicide, emotionally pushed there by Hamilton), that only makes it easier for Harry to get a hold of the money Nancy inherited. PLHamilton knows that Harry is cheating on Nancy. Hamilton doesn't care ~~ like Harry, he believes women are more or less expendable. But he's mad at Hany for flaunting his affair -- it makes him (Hamilton) look bad, since Nancy's his daughter. Everything in the Hamilton's world only matters in so much as how it effects him, Nancy is seeing THEODORA GUSHING, a psychiatrist, on a regular basis. Cushing is pained to watch Naney, without complaint, take ceaseless abuse from Hamilton and Harry. When Cushing tells Nancy that she should speak up, express her feelings and respect herself, Nancy looks back at Cushing with a blank expression. To Nancy, that kind of assertiveness is unthinkable. But enough about Nancy. Let's talk a little more about Arnold, Nancy's home-town. It was pointed out earlier that Arnold was typical of small-town America in almost every way. Now, here comes a bit of a leap, so stay with me on this... While standing in line at the supermarket, have you ever noliced those tabloids by the check-stands with the bizarre headlines? They invariably include stories about UFO sightings. The UFO sightings are always in small towns, never in big cities. No doubt about it, small towns attract UFOs the way trailer parks attract tornadoes. And Amold? itis, of course, a typical small town. So perhaps that's why it only seems appropriate when one night as Nancy is driving along the ouiskiris of town, she's run off the road -- by a streaking UFO! Shocked, she turns around fo confirm what she saw. Sure enough, there's a small UFO:..and it's turning around...coming right back toward her! Passing overhead, the UFO bathes Nancy in light. The car won't work, and she finds that she's physically paralyzed. Then a huge spaceship -- the mothership -- descends over her car. The smaller UFO -- the drone -- moves toward the larger one. Suddenly Nancy regains the use of her limbs, and the car works again. Nancy, no dummy, hits the gas and speeds away. The SHERIFF and his female DEPUTY clock her doing ninety. When they finally get her to stop, she rambles on about the UFO. When Hamilton hears about Nancy's UFO sighting, he's furious -- at Nancy. By babbling.on about this nonsense, he's afraid she'll make him look bad. He fears that she's going crazy, just like her mother did, P2But when Harry hears the news about Nancy's close encounter, he's overjoyed. Nancy's cracking up. She'll be out of his life, cleating the way for him and Honey to stay together, unencumbered. Hamilton calls in a fancy-pants DOCTOR, who, after a brief discussion with Nancy, suggests that she needs rest. She should go away to a sanitarium. Naney's distraught at being disbelieved. No one ever listens to her, and now, when she needs most urgently to be heard, she's getting more of the same old treatment, Nancy's especially upset that Harry, her own husband, thinks she has gone nuts. On top of his cheating on her, it's like adding insult to injury. He wants fo send her to a sanitarium too. All she wants -- all she has ever wanted -- is for the two of them to be together. Nancy is sure that if Harry will go with her to the desert outside of town, the UFOs will come again. Harty makes a deal with Nancy: he'll go out with her fonight...f she'll go to @ sanitarium if no UFOs arrive, Nancy reluctantly makes the bargain. The pair do a good deal of driving around that night, but no UFOs appear. (Aside from only showing up over small towns, not appearing on demand is the second salient trait of UFOs.) But then, right before Nancy despondently concedes dete: @ mothership returns! Nancy, laughing, walks right out underneath it. She's laughing because for once she'll have to be taken setiously. Ot course, she's forgetting the third important rule about UFOs -- its best to avoid them. That's probably just whai’s passing through Nancy's mind as, ia state of utter horror, she’s beamed up into the UFO. And then the UFO flies away, leaving nothing but a silent, star-filled sky. Harry is dumbstruck. Sly weasel that he is, he quickly tries fo turn this event to his advantage. He reports fo the police that Nancy is missing. This might have worked, if Nancy, disheveled and disoriented, didn't reappear fairly shortly -- on top of Honey's hair salon! Nancy has no memory of how she got there. Nancy Is taken home. Hamilton is furious with Harry -- what did he do to Nancy out in the desert? He's sure it was something awful, As Harry and PSHamilton fight, Nancy tries to speak.up. She's ignored, os always. Once again anger wells up within het. ‘And then the strangest thing happens -- she begins to grow. Her shoes explode as her feet enlarge; her nylons are ripped to shreds; the zipper on the back of her dress flies apart; her beautiful body rips apart the seams of her dress... Hamilton and Harry watch in fear and amazement as Nancy grows to ten, twenty...fifty feet! Hamilton doesn't know what fo do with her. Nancy is put in the empty stable out back, and Hamilton has food brought in by the truckload for her consumption, as well as o truck of parachute silk so she can fashion some clothes, and another truck with makeup suppiies. Hamilton tries to keep everything hushed up. After all, there's his reputation fo think about. Naney, oddly, is at peace with her new condition. Leaning against the stable, she looks up into the night sky with a reverent calm. There's a new certainty about her, a kind of inner peace, a sense of emotional strength... She finds that the pool works quite nicely as a bathtub. Everyone -- Hamilton, Harry, and the doctor -- hes advice on what Nancy should do. But Nancy isn't listening any more. To her, all these men suddenly seem very...small. For Nancy, adding an additional forty-five feet or so has definitely been good for her self-esteem. But another change is also occurring. As night comes on, it's clear that growing has also made Nancy much more womanly. No doubt about it, wrapped in parachute silk like a skimpy Greek toga, the moonlight reflecting off her large, beautitul curves, Nancy is fifty feet of pure sex-bomb. And she knows: it too, That's why she prepares a romantic meal for two, and Invites Harry to join her. He climbs up fo the roof of a trailer near the pool, while she sits on the ground nearby. As the two relax after the delicious medi, she turns a sultry glance his way and issues her provocative invitation: *You don't want me in Loeb's sannitarium, or in some zoo... You want me the way I want you," she says. "Map this soft terrain. Explore me. You'll be famous, the envy of every man. There are pleasures waiting for you no one has ever dreamed of...” Ba‘And Harry is sorely tempted. But then he remembers that her heart has supposedly been weakened by her sudden growth. if he can get her angry ‘enough, it could kill h So instead of, accepting her offer and, um, diving in.,.he calls her pathetic, and adds, "What am | supposed to do? Get a wet suit and a flashlight?" Nancy gets furious -- and then collapses! Harry is overjoyed. He rushes to Honey, who's just closing up the beauty parior, to tell her that Nancy is dead. Honey, in a mood for celebration, pulls Harry down to the carpet and the two of them do what they do best... But Nancy isn't dead -- far from it. Her last burst of anger causes her to grow again...once again she expands, bigger and bigger...until she's one hundred feet tall! Oh yeah, and did | mention that she was mad? The town's teenagers at the local drive-in ate enjoying the local B-movie fare when they'te scared out of their minds. Walking past the theater.is Nancy, towering above them like a ten-story building. She reaches down, lifts suspicious car, checks to see if Harry is in it, and then sets it down again! As if being a teenager wasn't already difficult enough. Chaos ensues as everybody flees the theater. Nancy walks toward town, o fearful mob facing before her. The police spot her and caill in the National Guard, No doubt about it, « pissed-off hundred-foot woman is an emergency. Nancy passes by the motel Harry uses for his trysts with Honey. She peels back the roof of the building like a sardine tin, exposing ail the illicit, tomnicating couples inside. But still no Harry -- just a tot of people who will now probably be psychologically traumatized for the rest of their lives, Nancy again resumes her march toward town. The town itself has turned into Bedlam as people flee the towering, dishwater-blonde menace. Nancy walks down Main Street, a Goliath above the buildings. She stops at Honey's beauty parlor where she spots Harry's car, She flicks the root off the building, exposing Harry and Honey! Furious, she reaches down and grabs Honey. But then something overtakes her -- a new spitit of sisterhood. Suddenly compassionate, she gives PSHoney a brief lecture on the importance of women standing together in the face of oppressive men. Then she gently sets the surprised Honey down. As for Harry - now he's another matter. She picks up the rascal. But that's when the National Guard arrives. Suddenly Nancy is being buzzed by helicopters, armored personnel carriers encircle her feet, and huge military spotlights criss-cross that luscious body of hers. Nancy's trapped and she's frightened. Suddenly, they all open fire on her, and tracer bullets and missiles bombard Nancy. She struggles desperately to shield Harry from the incoming flak, The victim of a terrible onsiaught, Nancy takes a direct hit! She stumbles, her massive body falling back into some high-tension wires, as lethal electricity suddenly surges through her. "No!" screams Honey in despair. And then, something amazing occurs -- the mothership returns! It emits a beam of light, and Nancy and Harry disappear right before the astonished eyes of the military and townspeople. The. strange episode seems to be over... But not for Naney and Harry. We see them one last time, inside the UFO. Nancy is joined by hve beautiful, hundred-foot fall female COMPANIONS -- a Pair of very human-looking, and damn comely aliens, sporting the latest in elegant alien fashion. And, trapped in a little egg-like prison, is Harry. He's starlled when Nancy’s huge eye peers at him from outside his cramped high- tech cage Itlooks like Nancy finally got her wish. She and Harry will be together -- torever. PbTHE "IT" GIRL LOS ANGELES...ROD TRENTON (a Tom Hanks type) has been a Junior Editor at a half-dozen trendy magazines - "Vanity Fare," “Rolling Stone," "Buzz," “Premiere”... Time after time, other Junior Editors have moved up to become Managing Editors, while Rod has only moved laterally. He's now a Junior Editor at "Center," the latest word on the latest everything. What's kept him back? After all, no one disputes that he's one of the sharpest writers in the business. He's got an off-beat, incisive take on modern lite and pop culture, with a wilty, sardonic style that rings of edgy truths. He's funny, but his hurnor bites. Now the downside: that same attitude that fuels his dark humor and penetrating insights also tends fo alienate people. He's respected, even liked -~ but in small doses. He's an individualist, not a team player. This is why he never moves up. And this is why he's single. He's got a chip on his shoulder “ about both of these conditions. Media mogul DALTON QUINCE-TAYLOR just bought the magazine and has hired ARNOLD MacINTYRE as Managing Editor. Macintyre's mandate is clear: increase profits by downsizing staff. Rod meets Dalton and never has he disliked someone more. Dalton lacks even a shred of humanity; he's the quintessential "user," chewing people up and spitting them out. Speaking of being spit out...Rod leams he's about to be downsized right out of the magazine, This is his last stand: with a new crop of bright journalists flooding the work force every year, Rod's got nowhere fo go but down. Rod calls on his old college buddy, actor JASON KAROW, who you've probably seen in two dozen supporting roles. Rod and Jason often swap small favors - Jason leaks him Hollywood “inside baseball" gossip, and Rod gets Jason mentioned in "Center" from time to time. But Jason's got no stories big enough to save Rod's job. BIRod sneaks into Macintyre’s office and knows his time table: the axe falls in two days. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Rod decides to do a story on "The Most trresistible Face In the World." Together with a computer-literate friend, he merges the faces of five beautiful women... It's a disaster; the creation looks|like Michael Jackson with bedroom eyes. Rod and his computer friend try again using different faces for raw material...fantastic! The final face is riveting, beguiling, sexy. Rod gives this Phantom woman @ name: "CHRISTIANA SARINS.” Rod writes his sfory, using so-called Christiana as "the irresistible face." He calls her "The ‘If’ Girl." Macintyre loves the piece and is fascinated by Christiana. Who is she? Rod's piece does a lot of hinting but doesn't offer much substantia! information. : When that month's cover article mysteriously disappears right before press time (this wouldn't be Rod's doing, would it?), Macintyre, furious and frenzied, needs something pronto. He puts “the ‘It Girl” on the cover. The face captures the imagination of the public and the magazine sells like crazy. Macintyre demands a follow-up, and Rod "interviews" Christiana tor the next issue. Turns out, wouldn't you know, that she's as fascinating as she is beautiful. Who would have guessed? Rod opens that edition magazine and breaks Info a wide smite. His name is slowly climbing up the mastiff, He's now the top Junior Editor. But there's trouble in paradise, as "Entertainment Tonight," "Oprah," David Letterman and other shows demand Christiana; CAA and William Mortis both want to represent her. But, of course, Christiana is not to be found. People are beginning fo say it's a hoax. As this vile rumor spreads, Macintyre gives Rod the ulfimaturn: produce Christiana or he's fired. Rod spends a frantic week crisscrossing the South and Midwest, locating every small-town beauty queen and runner-up frorn the last five years that he can, trying to find a look-alike for Christiana. No luck. Gloom overcomes Rod. He doesn't have the will to freshen up another resume, And then he discovers TAMARA MILLS, a sincere wanna-be actress from a white-trash neighborhood outside of Cincinnati. She looks close enough to the Pzmythical Christiana that she could pass. Rod's at his last straw, so he lets down his usually tough guard and spills the entire story to her...his failing career, the hoax, the magazine cover. Will she pretend to be Christiana? She'll be thrust into tame. Tamara's reluctant...this violates her ethics and her beliefs. But the idea of the infinitely Jong read to Hollywood being shortened to nothing is 100 tempting. She takes the deal. Turning Midwestem white trash into Hollywood gold isn't easy. Ina "My Fair Lady" type of development, Rod becomes her mentor, giving her a crash course in civilization. Making his job more difficult is the contempt he feels for her small-town ways. Rod decides to keep his feelings to himself as he watches a SALESWOMAN at a chic boutique make a casual put-down of Tamara to her face, and Rod sees the hurt in Tamara’s eyes. However, though social polish might not be Tamara's strong suit, she more than makes up for it with her love of life, her off-beat charm and her comy but endearing sense of humor. But most of all, what gets fo Rod is Tamara’s guilelessness and her emotional responsiveness. She's very present and very genuine. His defenses can't hold out forever, and soon it's unclear who's recreating who. If he's turning her into an urban sophisticate, she's softening his rough ediges and thinning out his protective coating, Both are a little surprised about how easily they can talk for hours and still enjoy. each other.. Tamara even brings out Rod's playful side. If you asked Rod, all he'd probably confess to is that he feels relaxed round Tamara. In fact, however, he's falling in love with her. Her affection for Rod grows as well. These two are obviously heading toward a wonderful relationship. Rod is a new man. The one thing that Rod can't teach Tamara is how to be a Hollywood starlet. He calls on his actor friend Jason, who takes over Tamara's “education.” Jason teaches her survival skills tor the upwardly mobile actress in Tinsel Town: - How fo walk into a room and capture every man's eye, while pretending to be totally ingenuous; PS- How to seemingly imply to a man that a relationship might be possible, while really saying nothing at all; ~ Strategic use of lips and legs: How to smile, walk, and eat in a sexy way; ~How to laugh so that everyone else wishes they could be as happy as they think she is; ~ The ultimate weapon of the ferme fatale: the Little Black Dress; - How to put on attitude, and even how to throw a small tantrum; ~ How to cultivate a mystique, by doing such things as making innuendoes about complicated situations in her life but never spelling them out. Starlets need complicated lives. Rod hates taking a back seat to this critical phase of Tamara's crash course, but what choice does he have? She tries out all of her new skills on Rod. He's tom. He loves how quickly she's adapting; he's ambivalent about seeing the Tamara he first met fade from view forever. Finally, the big evening arrives. Red can hardly sleep the night before, even though he'll only be there as a spectator. Jason fakes Tamara to a big movie. premier. "Christiana’s" appearance is a sensation. As the paparazzi's cameras snap away, Tamara handles the “audition" with splashy aplomb. She's a hif! Rod watches Tamara with pride...and, for reasons he can't quite put his finger on, a little concern as well. Now that "Christiana" is proven fo be real, Rod's position at "Center" is secure. For the very fits fime in his life, everything is going his way. He's got o woman he loves and a dream job. No one can believe Rod's transformation. He actually seems fo have taken a liking foward his fellow man. He's invited to closed door conferences and power lunches from which he had always been excluded. Macintyre leans on him for opinions and strategies. No denying it - life is great. But the bloom is soon to fade from the rose, for new developments occur... PaTamara adjusts to the high life very quickly, and she adjusts to Jason Karow just as rapidly. Rad's bright, sure, but Jason can take her right into the middle of a world she's always dreamed of. Nothing compares to the fun and glamor of Hollywood. What's happened is that, in a way, Rod and Tamara have changed places. He's learned to open up and become genuine; she's leamed to get high on the superticial. Or at least that's how Rod sees things when she breaks off their budding relationship. She tries to lef him down easily. Rod is devastated. That short burst of warmth that Rod had bathed in disappears and Is replaced by bitterness. His humor is more barbed than ever. His articles attacking pop culture sting even more than they did when we first met him. As tor Tamara, the world’s her oyster as she becomes a hot item and signs on the dotted line with CAA. Next comes Leno and Letterman, a cover of “Vanity Fare" and, of course, "People." Christiana Sarins has arrived, big time. She fails to notice the irony when she puts down the MAKE-UP MAN who's preparing her for a photo shoot she's doing, in much the way she was put down by the Saleswoman in the chic boutique when she first came to Los Angeles. Tamara is asked to audition for a movie staring a BIG MALE STAR. "Audition?" her agent rebuffs. "This is Christiana Sarins. Everybody wants her. She does not audition.” And It's true, Everybody does want her. The rehearsals are very rough. Tamara studied acting in Cincinnati, but this is the big league. She's got an Acting Coach, and both the Director and other Actors all give her pointers. Everyone is helpful. But she's over her head ‘and she knows it. It's not that she doesn't have the ability; it's just happening too fast. She needs time to bring her acting skills up to the level demanded of her. Is that Rod watching her from behind one of the trailers? He's gone before we get a goad look. Back at the magazine, Red's latest article, "Five Good Reasons To Be Shallow," makes an argument that soulfulness and passion are just words created by depressed people to make themselves feel superior to everyone BS‘else. Shailowness is the best way to live, he states. Macintyre is surprised by Rod's new cynical edge, but he likes it, Christiana is ambivalent about the world she's thrown into. She's surrounded by people who cater to her every whim. On the set, she’s pampered by attendants. Out in-the city, people pretend to be her friend but there's no sincerity to them; they just want her starciom to rub off on them. She tries in vain to find someone real she can talk to, At least she has Jason...or does she? She comes home from rehearsal one day early, fo hear the sounds of sex coming through the apartment door. Jason's in there doing it with someone, and the only thing Tamara is sure of is that it isn't her. She enters the house just long enough to tell Jason that the relationship is over. Christiana has a crisis of the soul. The next day on the set, she announces that she's leaving the picture. She doesn't want to live a lie any more. She confesses to the Director and leading Star the whole truth about her rise to fame. They don't hold it against her; she's a sensation - who cares about her past? The answer is that she cares. She wants the roles, the starcom, the whole works — but when she's earned it, as herself, not pretending to be someone else. She's going fo concentrate on her acting craft for a year. And then she'll teturn - as'Tamara Mills, not as Christiana Sarins. The Director and Star respect her decision. Of course, the tabloids and talk shows eat up this new twist in “Christina's” life, but Tamara bucks up and weathers the humiliating storm. The fruth is, many admire her decision. Tamara seeks out Rod. She wants to give it another go. She heads for the magazine — Rod is gone! In fact, ha's left town. Has he gone off to write the Great American Novel or to slurn like a beatnik in San Francisco or Paris? Not hardly. Dalton Quince-Taylor, the media tycoon who had bought "Center," took an interest in Rod after his articles on "Christiana" caught public attention. He wants Rod fo edit a new magazine. He and Rod are in Aspen, hammering out a concept. Rod wants the new pSmagazine to be cynical and edgy; Dalton is in complete syne with Rod's vision. At long last, Rod Is going to have the Managing Editor position he's always coveted. And then Tamara shows up. Tamora’s become a pretty good actress, but the only way she can get through to Rod is abandon all pretense and show him that the woman who he first loved is still there. The truth is, though Tamara has lost her small-town mannerisms, she has returned to the genuineness of her small-town heart. Rod's foo cynical fo believe her. He tells her that he did love a woman once, a small-town girl with a radiant smile. But she turned into Christiana Sarins, who liked glamor over substance. Rod states that he's the unglamorous type, so that’s that. In tact he's never even wanted to be glamorous. All he's ever wanted to do was write stories that stimulated people's minds...or warned them of life's little treacheries. He dismisses her and turns away. Tamara is stung by the rebuff, but what can she do? It's over. Hurt and defeated, she leaves. Not just Aspen, but Hollywood itself. She returns home to Cincinnati. Dalton later reveals that he saw the entire exchange. He's a security freak, and caught the whole thing on a surveillance camera. “You're an idiot to ist a woman like that walk out of your life," he berates Rod. Then he smiles. “My kind of idiot." Dalton smiles and recounts how he never would have risen to the top if he had stopped to indulge in sentiments. Women-have their uses, but they've. atways.got to. take second position. Dalton is glad to see that Rod is cut from the same cloth. It hits Rod like a lightning bolt ~ Dalton once represented to him everything that he hated...and now he (Rod) has furned into Dalton! Rod's out of there in a flash. He abandons "Center," he even abandons this new magazine which was going to be his own creation. Rod flies fo Cincinnati to pursue Tamara. How odd it feels, knocking on her door just as did that first time a few short months ago. He wanted something from her then ~ her face, which resembled Christiana's. But he's a changed man, and this time he wants something eise - her heart. PTTamara opens the door. Rod is awkward, but just as Tamara had once come back to him, this time it's his furri to bare his soul. Tamara listens, tor. She's hurt-and reluctant...but love will not be denied. We see Rod pitching an idea for a new magazine. Cynicism is out, he argues; it's an occasional fun indulgence but no one wants it for a steady diet. His new vision for the magazine is scope ~ celebrating all the impossi- bilities of living. How do you find passion for lite if you hate your work? How do you love your body if all the commercials and movies say that only young is beautiful? How do you stay honest when your political leaders tell lies? How do you stay genuine and siill climb the ladder of success? How do you grab the 21 rst century and fill it with your own heart? Not only will Rod and other journalists address these topics, but celebrities, athletes, authors, and other luminaries will be interviewed on these penetrating subjects. ANOTHER ANGLE reveals that Rod is not pitching to Dalton, but rather toa group of WEALTHY INVESTORS. Impressed wealthy investors. And so a new magazine, "Scope," is born. And love is rekindled, for Tarnara, who's acting career has been revitalized, is at Rod's side when it happens. PBTHE "rp" GTRD LOS ANGELES...ROD TRENTON (a Tom Hanka type) has been a Junior Editor at a half-dozen trendy magazines. He's got wit, he's got sharp, off-beat insights into contemporary life...and he's got a little too much cynicism and attitude. That's why he's never been promoted to Managing Editor. (It's also why he's single). His latest-haunts: "Center" magazine, peeling back the onion skin of pop culture. Media mogul DALTON QUINCE-TAYLOR, whom rebel Rod hates for his renowned anti-humanism, just bought "Centre." Dalton gives his MANAGING EDITOR a mandate: increase profits by downsizing staff. Rod learns he's next to go. He's desperate to save his job, for he's burned bridges everywhere else. Red decides to do a story on "The Most Irresistible Face In the World." Together with a computer-literate friend, he merges the faces of five beautiful women. Rod gives this captivating, phantom woman a name: "CHRISTIANA SARINS." Rod writes his story on "Christiana" (a.k.a. “The ‘It’ Girl"). Using some nefarious antics, Rod gets "Christiana" on the cover. The face captures the imagination of the public and the magazine sells like craay, The Editor, who thinks Christiana is a real woman, demands a follow-up "interview" of the young woman, and soon “Sntertainment Tonight," "Oprah," David Letterman and other shows demand Christiana. But, since she’ not to be found, people begin to suspect a hoax. The Editor gives Rod an ultimatum: produce Christiana or he's fired. Rod's desperate, for he's burned too many bridges to land an equally good job elsewhere. Rod spends a frantic week orisscrossing the South and Midvest, Locating any small-town beauty queen who might look like Christiana. No luck. Gloom overcomes Rod. Then he discovers TAMARA MILLS, a sincere wanna~be actress from a white-trash neighborhood outside of Cincinnati. She looks close enough to the mythical Christiana that she could pass. While some might dismiss Tamara as unsophisticated, she more than compensates with her love of life, her quirky charm and her corny but endearing sense of humor. Rod spills his predicament to her. Will she pretend to be Christiana? She'll be thrust into fame. Tamara's reluctant... this violates her ethics and her beliefs. But the idea of a short road to Hollywood is too tempting. She takes the deal. PLIn a "My Fair Lady" type of development, Rod bacomes her mentor, giving her a crash course in civilization. Making his job more - difficult is the contempt he feels for her small-town ways. However, -Tamara's great qualities scon win him over — especially her guilelessness and her emotional responsiveness. She's very present and very genuine. Rod's defenses can't hold out forever, and soon it's unclear who's Eecreating who. If he's turning her into an urban sophisticate, she's softening his rough edges and thinning out his protective coating. In truth, he's falling in love. They both are. The one thing that Rod can't teach Tamara is how to be a Hollywood starlet. He calls on his actor friend JASON KAROW, who takes over Temara's “education.” Jason teaches her survival skills for the upwardly mobile actress in Tinsel Town, like how to walk into a room and capture every man's eye while pretending to be totally ingenuous; how to laugh so that everyone else wishes they could be as happy as they think she is; or how to use a Little Black Dress as a weapon. The big evening arrives, although Rod is merely a spectator. Jason takes Tamara to a fancy movie premier. "Christiana's" appearance is a sensation. As the paparazzi's cameras snap away, Tamara handles the “audition” with splashy aplomb. She's a hit! Rod's life is a dream. Things are going well at “Centre” and he's got a woman he loves, But the bloom is soon to fade from the rose. Tamara adjusts to the high life very quickly, and she adjusts to Jason Karow just as rapidly. Rod's bright, sure, but Jason can take her right into the middle of a world she's always dreamed of. Nothing compares to the fun and glamor of Hollywood. What's happened is that, in a way, Rod and Tamara have changed places. He's learned to open up and. become. genuine;. she's. learned to how to bask in the superficial. Or at least that's how Rod sees things when she breaks off their.budding relationship. She tries to let him down easily. Rod is devastated. That short burst of warmth that Rod had bathed in disappears and is replaced by bitterness. As for Tamara, the world's her oyster as she becomes a hot item and signs on the dotted line with CAA, Next comes Leno and Letterman and magazine covers. She fails to notice the irony in how she occasionally acts superior to those around her, just the way others used to act superior to her before she was "remade." Tamara is in such demand that: her AGENT lands her a movie role in a film with a BIG MALE STAR. The rehearsals are very rough, Although Tamara studied acting in Cincinnati, although she has talent, and although she gets help from an ACTING COACH and P2others on the set, she knows she's over her head. She needs time to bring her acting skills up to the level demanded of her. Back at the magazine, Rod's writing has become more cynical than ever. Tamara becomes increasingly ambivalent about being surrounded by people who just want her stardom to rub off on them, She tries in vain to find someone real she can talk to. Of course, there's Jason...until she catches him having sex with another woman. And so ends another Hollywood romance. Tamara has a crisis of the soul. Tired of living a lie, the next day on the set she spills the entire truth about her past announces that she's leaving the picture. She wants the roles, the stardom, the whole works — but when she's earned it, as herself, not pretending to be someone else. she's going to concentrate on her acting craft for a year. And then she'll return — as Tamara Mills, not as Christiana Sarins. The tabloids make humiliating fodder out of her story, although many admire her courage and honesty. Tamara, having regained her integrity, wants to give it another go with Rod. “She track him down in Aspen, where he's having discussions with Dalton Quince-Taylor, the hard-edged publisher of “Center.” Dalton is about to fulfill Rod's dream by giving Rod his own magazine to helm. The magazine will bear the stamp of Rod’s incisive, increasingly sarcastic wit. When Tamara approaches Rod, he brushes her off. He tells her that he did love a woman once, a small-town girl with a radiant smile. But she turned into Christiana Sarins, who liked glamor over substance. He dismisses her and turns away. Later, Dalton commends Rod for putting women in second place. Hearing this, Rod realizes that he's turned into Dalton, whom he has always despised. Rod's out of there in a flash. He abandons “center;" he even abandons this new magazine which was going to be his own creation. Rod flies to Cincinnati to pursue Tamara. When they connect, Rod is awkward. This time it's his turn to bare his soul. Tamara listens, torn. ‘Tamara is hurt and reluctant...but love will not be denied. We see Rod pitching an idea for a new magazine. Cynicism is out, he argues; it's an occasional fun indulgence but no one wants it for.a steady diet. His new vision for a magazine is scope — celebrating all the impossibilities of living. How do you find passion for life if you hate your work? How do you love your body if all the commercials and movies say that only young is PSbeautiful? How do you stay honest when your political leaders tell lies? How do you stay genuine and atill climb the ladder of success? This is the focus which Rod pitches...to a group of IMPRESSED INVESTORS. And so Rod's new magazine, "Scope," is born. And love is rekindled, for Tamara, whose acting career has been revitalized, is at Rod's side when it happens. PaHIGH Travel through the Irish countryside... Cross the mist-shrouded peat bogs, the green fields looking almost sinister in the windy twilight, the rolling countryside dark under the shroud of heavy clouds... Keep traveling to a small, one-street village, and then look up, There, perched high on a hill overlooking the hamiet is HAUGHLIN CASTLE. From afar, it seems almost magical, but in this gloomy weather it also looks a bit frightening. Lightning flashes, and torrential rains pour down, The inside of the castle has seen better days. Itis filled with faded rugs, cobwebs, wood rot, moth-eaten drapes, sepulchral light, and ceilings that drip when it rains. And since it's raining now, pots and pans have been placed everywhere to collect the falling droplets. Some of these drops fall onto the cheek of the man who stands talking on the telephone. They look like fears, and weil they might be. PETER PLUNKETT, a warm-hearted Irishman, wipes away the falling water drops as he talks on the phone. He's a man who is normally cheery spirits are being crushed bit by bit by the person on the other end of the line... ..Callous and calculating JEM BROGAN, a bully Irish-American who sifs in his plush Beverly Hills office. As he talks to Plunkelt, he shows no mercy. Plunkett owns Haughlin Castle, but Brogan holds the mortgage on it, Plunkett can't meet the payments, since his scheme to turn the castle into a hotel has flopped. so Brogan will be able to take possession of the castle in three weeks...untess Plunkett can come up with the money. Of course, Brogan intended all along to get his hands on the castle. Once itis his, he plans to move it, brick by brick, to Southern California, where he will reconstruct it and turn it into an amusement park, "ish World." Its a wicked scheme from a wicked man. PLIn the castle, Plunkett despondently hangs up the phone. His hopelessness is contagious, and seems to infect his entire STAFF. The staff is as odd (the polite would say "colorful") as the castle itself, except for lovely KATIE, a twenty-five-year-old irish beauty who works as a chambermaid and has had a crush on Plunkett since she was a child. Plunkett's.aged mother MRS. PLUNKETT also lives in the castle. Plunkett considers her a little strange. It probably has something to do with the fact that she often talks to her dead HUSBAND (Plunkett's father), claiming that he visits her as a ghost, which gives Plunkett an idea -- He'll advertise that the castle is haunted, and use that as a gimmick to lure curious, gullible, wealthy peapie fo come and stay. What kind of people could be that gullible? Why, Americans, of course... CUT TO: America. Specifically, the wealthy Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades. Specifically, the sumptuous bedroom of JACK and SHARON CRAWFORD. Specifically, Sharon's stunning body. You see, she won't share it with her husband Jack. She never does. Their sex life stinks. Sharon Crawford is a ravishing ice princess -- a teast for the eyes, buta heart of steel. But what would you expect from Jem Brogan's daughter? Her husband Jack is idealistic, playful, romantic...and very sexually frustrated. Brogan has told Sharon that he wants her to go to Ireland and check out Haughlin Castle, He's afraid that Plunkett might have some success with his scheme to lure tourists by claiming the castle is haunted. After all, people will fall for anything. Brogan wants his dalughter Sharon to sabotage Plunkett's endeavors. It's a secret between them. Jack doesn't need fo know. So Sharon suggests to. Jack that they take a vacation to treland. Great, Jack thinks, just what their love life needs -- a second honeymoon. There amidst the sparking green clover he and his bonny lass will surge with ancient Celtic passions and rekindle their ardor. Poor Jack. If only he had any idea what lay in store... R2A plane flies toward the Emerald Isle. Many on it are heading for Haughlin Castle, having read Plunkett's promotional literature about ii being the most haunted place on earth. Going to check out the castle are Jack and Sharon (although Jack doesn't know Sharon's secret purpose). Also on the plane, heading for the castle, is MALCOLM CLAY, an ill-tempered parapsychologist from Harvard. Malcolm takes great pleasure in disproving paranormal quackery. With all his sophisticated electronic gear, he plans to expose Haughlin Castle as a fraud. His wife MARGE and his three KIDS just want a good time. Also heading for Haughlin Castle is MIRANDA KUHL, a drop-dead beauty -- pure centerfold material. Although she may not be too bright, she sure is fun. Her only problem is that all the men she meets are only affer her body. Perhaps that's why she is eager to strike up a friendship with BROTHER TONY, who is in training to be a priest. She knows a man of the cloth won't make a pass at her. If only Miranda had any idea that het voluptuous body is the single greatest challenge reclusive Brother Tony has ever had fo face. He's not sure he can resist it. Brother Tony is also heading for Haughlin Castle. It's the only vacation spot he can afford. Plunkett and his staff have gone to great lengths to make sure that their guests will be spooked. Rickely, seventy-five-year-old DAMON MCARTHY, a receptionist at the castle, meets the aitiving Americans at the airport, and speeds them in a bus across the dreary countryside as the rain pours down. The thunder and lightning add fo the uncanny effect. So does Damon's costume -- he's made up to resemble someone who has recenily climbed out of the grave, Though intended to frighten, the tourists think Damon's attire is merely bizarre, not spooky. After a harrowing ride through eerie countryside, the guests arrive at Haughlin Castle, which looks particularly tertitying in the bleak downpour. Plunkett greets the guests as they file in. Their reactions are mixed to this decaying, leaky, ruinous dump. Sharon is the most upset; she's used to five star hotels, not cavernous moldy castles with no hot water. PSJack's got his own disappointments to contend with. He was hoping that this would be a.second honeymoon. But when he finally gets Sharon up into the honeymoon suite, sweeps away the cobwebs from above the bed and gets ready, tor a little romance, he finds that she still gives him the cold shoulder - = not fo mention the cold back, the cold thigh, the cold hip... He might as well be courting an igloo. At dinner, the other guests begin to share Sharon's discontent when they discover that there is nothing for them to eat but whiting, the local fish that infest the castle's moat. But that night things begin to look up, as Plunkett and his team try their best to scare the guests, and give them their money's worth of paranormal ectoplasmic delights. Katie, pretending to be a “flying virgin" (that's right, a flying virgin!) swings on a rope outside the windows of the guests, looking quite strange indeed. Damon has rigged up a mirror device that allows him to look like he's passing through walls. And PATRICIA, Katie's sister, walks around in a squeaky piece of medieval armor, looking very unearthly. Miranda bolts up in terror when her bed begins spinning around (as a result of an unseen pulley arrangement). Brother Tony comes fo her rescue and tries to stop the bed, only to be thrown onto the bed alongside curvaceous Miranda. They grip each other in terror as the bed spins ever faster. They press their bodies tightly together...then more tightly. Brother Tony begins breathing faster, and it isn't rom fear... Perhaps Jack has the most interesting supematural experience of all. Lying on his bad he sees MARY PLUNKETT, the beautiful ghost of an enchanting young women who was killed in the castle by her jealous husband MARTIN on her wedding night, wo hundred years ago. Then her ghost-like husband Martin approaches with a knife and goes to kill her, screaming, "So, my little harlot, if you'd not tup with me, then you'll tup with ne one!” Pretty good Job of faking an iilusion, thinks Jack, until he sees Marlin pull out a knife and prepare to plunge it into Mary! P4On impulse Jack heroically throws himself in front of the brute. The knife asses right through him, but Martin looks at Jack, confused. Then Mary and Martin begin to fade from view, with Mary giving Jack one last loving, longing look. He is immediately smitten. Finally she completely disappears except for pair of disembodied lips floating in space, which mouth a final "Thank you" to Jack just before vanishing, Plunkett and his employees soon lear that pretending to be super- fatural entities is hard work. Malcolm, that killjoy, breaks the mirrors which create Damon's ghostly effects. And Malcolm's kids end up chasing Patricia through the castle in her suit of armor. Poor Katie ends up crashing through the window and landing on the spinning bed with Miranda and Brother Tony. Just when they were getting to know each other, too. Sharon leads a revolt against the fake ghosts, and convinces all the guests to move out of the castle the next moming, But wall. Something stirs in yonder dark hallway -- GHOSTS! Real ghosts. And are they ever madi If they end up being shipped to California, it will be over their dead bodies, The next day all the guests prepare fo leave. They pile into a fimo, suitcases stacked on top, when the strangest thing happens... A strong wind whips up Ground the car, building to gale forcel Fist the suitcases are flung from the roof of the vehicle, and then the lime itself is ripped to shreds by the wind. The guests scream and huddle fogether as all their clothes are ripped off. And then the wind disappears, leaving a bunch of stark naked tourists huddled together in terror onthe sweetest sunny summer day Ireland ever saw. Everyone runs back into the castle. They drape anything around themselves that they can -- armor, chain mail, curtains, you name it. Decked in these odds and ends, they look strangely in keeping with the creepy surroundings, When one of them considers trying to leave, a flash of lightening outside reminds them all that they are rapped. The guests are hounded and scared by apparitions of alll sorts -- ghosts most foul, ghosts most wretched, ghosts most vile. The bizarre and hideous spirits soon-are chasing the guests all over the Castle. PSThe only one who seems to be having a good time is Jack, who has a series of encounters with the ethereal Mary. She explains how she was murdered on her wedding night two centuries ago, and how her husband Martin repeats the act every night. “it's awful to’be killed over and over, even if you're a ghost." But Jack's heroism the other night broke the cycle -- now anything can happen. Perhaps...even magic. Jack certainly hopes so. One time he and Mary even manage a passionate kiss before she fades away. "Come back," he cries. "| can't," she replies plaintively. “Skelping takes a lot out of me." As she disappears, Jack knows he is in love with this girl. Atter Mary, the mere thought of "skelping” with anyone else seems impossible. But he feels it is hopeless. "Ht will never work," he reasons. “After all, she's a ghost, and I'm an American." Sharan too has a weird vision. Martin, Mary's ghostly husband, spies on Sharon taking a bath, and thinks she's quite a sexy eyeful. Sharon shrieks for him to get out and wraps a towel around herself as he teases her by singing in his deep lusty voice -~ "Hl not have a maiden that's never been tried, But give me a wanton to lie by my side. And this have | used as the rule of my life: That wanton Is best that's another man's wife!" By way of a response, Sharon immediately knees him in the groin, doubling him ove’. But instead of dissuading Martin, this only further attracts him to this feisty, cruel, pouting damsel. And if the truth be known, Sharon secretly thinks Martin is a dashing Irish brute, even if he is dead. She's not used to the special tingle he makes her feel... Malcolm has got a hold of an old tome about ghosts, the "Book of High Spirits", and he reads out warnings to the other guests: Tornorrow night is Midsummer Eve, an enchanted time when ghosts can temporarily become corporeal. They will try their best to terrorize everyone, but actually they just teed off of the fear they generate in others. So; no matier what happens, everyone must try and ignore the spirits. PSThe next day arrives, and it is even more harrowing than Malcolm predicted. Ghosts are everywhere. We're talking slimy, smelly, fetid, flendish apparitions which could frighten you out of your skin ~~ =+ Chairs ane lamps come alive and iry fo torture the children. The ghost of an old chef chops off his fingers and eats them. A pool of blood cascades down the stairs, an evil face visible in the viscous fluid. Hordes of huge ghost rats begin gnawing away at everything and everyone in sight. Worse still are the hungry, rabid, grisly Pookhas and Madrallams, not to mention the screaming Banshees. The guests do everything they can to overcome their fear and ignore the ghosts ~~ carrying on as if the spirits aren't even there. They try singing old Irish ballads as the ghosts attempt to terrorize them. Finally Katie can't stand it anymore -- no, not the ghosts the old Irish ballads. She's sung old Irish ballads since the day she was born, and she's sick ‘of them. She changes the song fo the Bangles’ "Walk Like An Egyptian”. As the entire group begins singing and walking like Egyptians, the ghosts struggle pathetically to sing along... Being ignored is very frustrating for a ghost. The apparitions begin to fade away... Meanwhile, in an upstairs bedroom, Mary has become tangible. she and Jack lock in an amorous embrace. The only rule about loving a ghost is -- no sex. For in the "Book of High Spirits” it is writ: "Should a man tup a ghostly body, untold demons shall be loosed upon the world, And beware: He who fups the pure spirit finds only the grave." in any case, the advice about not "skelping" and "topping" is impossible fo heed. Just try to fell that fo a woman who hasn't made love in two hundred years. Or fry felling it to a man whose wife is a human icicle. Before long these two ate going at it like a pair of hormone-crazed teenagers, "skelping" and “upping” like there's no tomorrow. Suddenly, Mary begins aging...until she looks like a living, two-hundred- year-old corpses Jack springs up in terror, and flees for dear life, Now he knows what the Book meant about a man who fups a spitit finds only the grave, As he pTflees, he curses the day he ever laid eyes on Mary's formlessness. Mary Pursues, calling out his name. tn the middle of all this paranormal Pandemonium, Brogan arrives. (Remember him? He's Sharon's father, the nasty tycoon who wanted to ship the Castle fo California.) Brogan doesn't know that he must not show his fear when faced with ghosts. So when he is confronted by the grisly visage of PLUNKETT, SR., Plunkett's father, Brogan is literally -- scared to death! A strange ethereal form slips out of Brogan's body -- i's Brogan's ghost. Meanwhile, corpse-like Mary catches up with Jack and declares her love. Jack says he can't love her -- she's changed. (After all, turning into a two- hundred-year-old corpse is a pretty big change.) But Mary says that inside she in still the same person. Jack has to trust that. He can break the spell if he kisses her. Jack grimaces. Jack squints. Jack sweats. Jack closes his eyes. Jack puckers his lips...leans over...and kisses he decomposed Mary. Gross! When he opens his eyes, there stands Mary, in all her beautiful youthful tadiance: And best yet, she's alive and reall She's no longer a ghost. Martin has been following Sharon, and finally gets her alone. He suggests @ quick fup in the hay, Sharon is jus! about to knee him in the groin again when he protests, “Now if's true I'm a ghost and @ murderer, But forgetting all that, tonight is Micsummer's Eve, the one night in the year | become tlesh. The summer surely will wane; and I too may be gone the morrow. What say ye to abit of skelping?” Sharon considers as she looks over his strong masculine form. Maybe ‘one little skelp won't hurt... The next day, ail is better than ever, The guests prepare to leave. They all agree that, when it comes down to it, they've had a great time. Miranda and Brother Tony have fallen in tove, or in lust at any rate, Malcolm is quite impressed by the castle, and promises Plunkett that he will broadcast the building's supematural occurrences far and wide. Even Shaton is PBhappy. Could it have something fo do with Martin's invisible hancis which keep feeling her up? Talk about a secret love. Those remaining behind are in equally high spirits. Plunkett and his staff are ecstatic, since he gets to keep the castle, ‘And even the ghost of Brogan seems to be doing well. He's organizing the other ghosts so that they can do a first class, professional job of scaring future visitors. Brogan intends to make the haunting business into a profitable enterprise. But pethaps the happiest of them ail Is Jack, who, out amidst the flowering heather, eyes his bonny tuptress Mary as she slips out of her iace and ruffles to display the sexiest eighteenth century camisole and garters that ever gladdened the bahookie of a love-struck rambling rogue. What's that?" asks Jack, mesmerized by the sight. Mary gives him a beguiling smile, purses her lips and replies provocatively, "Tupper-wear." PgHUNGRY HEARTS” * By Glenn M. Benest Miles La Rue, our hero, thinks it’s just another big party, cooking for the rich and famous. Handsome and clever, Miles is a celebrated gourmet chef, who’s as well known as his clientele, But this week's blow out will change his life forever. Miles arrives at a luxurious Beverly Hills house to cook for a dozen party goers. Only four women show up. But that doesn’t stop them from eating all the incredible delicacies Miles has to offer ~ and then some. He wants his food to be appreciated, but this is ridiculous. ‘The party continues and these beautiful women, all best friends in the throes of a mid life crises, keep eating with appetites that go well beyond a simple need for food. Miles slowly understands; they're eating like there’s no tomorrow because there literally is no tomorrow, This is their final hurrah, their last blow out. Miles refuses to be a part of this. But the women know the popular chef has a secret. They have something on Miles which forces him to stay. He's furious, but trapped. As our twisted fable unfolds, Miles gets closer and closer to the pretty angels with broken wings. He begins by being appalled, he ends by willingly helping them, comforting them, even falling in love. with them. Not only do they have insatiable appetites, they have hungry hearts and Miles fills those hearts as well as their stomachs. Welcome to the ultimate feast! * (This indie film has been financed and shot, and distribution is currently being arranged.)col EACE Four black BROTHERS, all drug dealers, sit around a closed bar in Los Angeles, rejoicing over their latest heist -~ a million dollars worth of heroin, stolen from the Drug Enforcement Agency. Suddenly the door swings open. The dealers turn around and whip out their guns. But before they even have a chance to shoot, they all die horrible deaths. One has his hand sliced off and then his neck slashed, two others have holes shot through their heads, and the fourth is blown backward by some incredible force. And in a flash, all the heroin is gone... Assigned to the case is DETECTIVE JACK CAINE, a tough forty~ year-old cop. He's rumpled, sloppy, and dedicated to his job. Women find him irresistible. His partner is JEREMIAH SMITH ~~ young, impeccably dressed, and a computer cop. Caine can’t believe that he's going to be saddled with this stuffed shirt. It's a case of brain and brawn. The case becomes more mysterious when @ police autopsy reveals that the dead men were killed by lasers blasts! ! Caine and Smith return to the murder site. ‘hey find no bullets, but they uncover a thin metal disk-like weapon that can slice through anything. A UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER tells them that the metal is harder than any substance known to man. The technology doesn't exist on Earth to make such a weapon! More strange murders occur in the city. A PROSTITUTE is raped and killed, and a PIMP is murdered. Whoever did the murders’ seems to have superhuman strength. A WITNESS describes the "thing" which beat her up as huge and covered with scales. What is it, Cain wonders? Cain and smith are worried and scared. They know they can't count on the government for help no one would ever believe their story. PAThey tzack the thing to the tunnels underneath the city, and there Caine, confronts it ~~ a towering, seven foot MAN with bulging muscles, wearing a vest made from metal scales. The metal is the same hard alloy as the flying disk. The man looks exhausted and pale. He tells Caine and Smith that he is not the one they are looking for. Indeed, he too is a cop, but one from a far more violent place. Like Caine, he is seeking the one causing all the destruction -- a man called TALEC. Talec is an escaped criminal. The large man gives Caine a laser rifle and a small portable computer called a "tracker" which can help locate Talec. He explains that soon Talec will bring more of his kind to this place. Then it will be too late. The last thing the man requests is that, should Caine and Smith kill Talec, they must destroy the laser gun, the tracker, and the disk -- for if they don't, this technology will destroy Earth, just as it is destroying the place where the man is from. "Where is that place," asks Caine. "where are you from?" But before the man can answer, he dies! alec had mortally wounded him. ‘The tracker, which can talk, tells Caine and smith that Talec has killed nearly fifty men. It also tells them where Talec is now. At that moment, Talec is single-handedly destroying a Chicano GANG. He is even larger that the man who had been pursuing him, with long hair and vicious eyes which sneer at the world. ‘The gang members shoot at Talec with their guns, but the bullets bounce harmlessly off of his metal scale body armor. alec blasts the gang members with his laser rifle, and then plugs in a strange device. A second man begins materializing -~ one of Talec’s cohorts, crossing into our world! Just then, Caine and Smith burst on the scene and open fire with their own laser weapon! Its a fierce battle, and Caine is singed by Talec's laser. Talec grabs Caine and lifts him off the ground. The giant is about to snap off Caine's head when Smith shoots Talec through the head with a laser blast! Talec collapses, dead. P2This seems to open the memory of the tracker, and it finally answers Caine's question as to where Talec escaped from -~ "The Western Empire's Los Angeles Penal Colony, May 28, 3215." Caine and Smith exchange looks as the tracker begins voicing a countdown. It is going to self destruct! Caine and Smith throw all the advanced weapons on top of the tracker and make a run for it. ‘The machine explodes like a huge bomb, taking the futuristic technology with it. Later Caine reflects to Smith, who by this point has become 7, close friend ~- it's discouraging to know that the future will br: that grim. But it's reaffirming to know there will always be mn like the slain cop they met, who was willing to put his life o/ the Line to protect what good there is left in the world. PsMOViIE-OF-THE WEEK-TREATMENTS Treatments for a movie-of-the-week are sometimes broken down into 7 acts (the commercials go between each act). Usually, however, this isn’t done. That is, no acts are inserted. However, you might at some time be asked to do this, either in a treatment or ina pitch. Each act normally ends at a suspenseful point, so people don’t switch channels during the commercials.A DEADLY AFFAIR Actl LINDA ADAMS is age 35, mattied to a nice doctor and very, very bored with their new life in the country. Her husband SPENCER is a kind but intense man who is completely preoccupied by his work. Two years ago, he induced finda to leave her job in the city and five in rural Montana. He doesn't yet realize that she's not getting enough of him or anything else to make up for what she lett behind. Spencer vaguely supports Linda's desire to get work, but her background is advertising-- there is nothing for her to do out in the boonies. Asa last resort, she takes an art class at a smaii local college, where she meets NICK MULHOLLAND, a fellow student who is well off enough not to need employment but runs a small travel business as an income-producing hobby. Nick and Linda hit it off immediately. Linda tries fo tell Spencer about her new acquaintance, but he does not have time to listen. Nick on the other hand is very sympathetic to Linda's tales of marital neglect. He is also romantic and flattering, coaxing Linda to model for his sketches. He takes her to his cabin for an aftemoon and, swept up in the romance of the situation, Linda lets herself be seduced. They make love. Actil The romantic mood is dampened almost immediately for Linda when Nick becomes possessive, not wanting her to go home. What has started off as a very pleasant, mature diversion has become ever so slightly unsetiling by the time they part, though Nick assures Linda he understands her position and would never do anything to hurt her. Reassured, she concludes there Is nothing sinister In Nick's emotions-- he was just being vulnerable. She does not want to do anything to hurt him either. PlWhen Linda geis horne, there are a few little surprises waiting for her: flowers, wine and Spencer, who in a rare attamoon off work expected to find her waiting for him. When she was not, he begari fo wonder what it must be like for her to spend all her days alone, with nothing fo do. He hex resolved to cut back on work and spend more time with his wita-- since she fas ratocated for him, itis the least he can do. Linda is overwhelmed by Spericer's new found determination to: make their mariage work, She does not tall Spencer about Nick, hoping that what he does net know will not hurt him. But Spencer's well-intended plans are disrupted by the appearance of the local cops. SGT, GUNTON requests Spencer to lend his surgical expertise to @ neighboring hospifal that is flooded with survivers from a muiti-car accident. Alter having just vowed te spend more time at home, Spencer is indecisive, but Linda gives her blessing-this is an emergency. Gunton gets a good Impression of the doctor's wite. Linda intends to phone Nick, wanting to talk with him so she can gently break it off. However, he preempts. this by showing up at the deor. she is startled by his presence, and unnerved when he expiains he knew it was ail right fo come over because he saw her husband leave with the cops (which means he has been watching the house). Linda tells Nick that what they had weis great, but she is cornmitted to her martiags. Nick tries to persuade her otherwise and when that doesn't work, he threatens fo tell Spencer, Nick taunts her that after her husband throws her out, Linda will have ne choice but to be with hirn. Angry, Linda says she will always. have a choice- she can be alone. She is sorry she hurt Nick's feelings, but it is over, Nick nods, but quietly fells her she is not as soy as she is going to be. As Linda and Spencer prepare to spend a iong weekend together in Cabo Sen Lucas, an envelope arrives on the porch. If contains a very suggestive drawing of Linda done by Nick, Without showing it to Spencer, Linda throws the sketch in the trash. Then Spencer has alittle’ Gccident. The front porch steps collapse cind he twists his ankle, but it could have been much worse, Examining the steps, Linda thinks they may have been tampered with. She shametacedly tells Spencer that she thinks the steps may have been cut as a malicious prank by someone she knows. To back her accusation, Linda B2g0@8 fo retrieve the drawing from the trash, but though the trash is still there, the drawing is not, Linda hears the back door creaking and suspects that Nick has Paid another unannounced visit. She is starting to become truly scared. Actiil Spencer thinks Linda's imagination is working overtime. His ankie is well ‘enough for them to go to Cabo San Lucas and the couple is having a wonderful time -- for half a day until Nick unexpectedly shows up. He genially greets Linda, who is forced to introduce him to Spencer. Getting o moment alone with Nick, she demands to know why he is following her. Nick, ail , says he is on a business trip. He asks about Spencer's ankle-- but when Linda accuses him of sabotaging the steps, Nick tesponds indirectly saying, “It could have been worse." He tries to convince Linda that Spencer's change In behavior is only temporary, and pretty soon he will be gone. His Phrasing alarms Linda, but she still has nothing concrete on Nick. However, she fells Spencer she really is not feeling well and they cut their vacation short. Completely rattled by Nick's behavior, Linda decides to buy @ handgun. In the store, she handles the gun and fires the trigger. The salesperson tells her to always cheek the chamber first, This model is equipped with a hard rubber panel in the gun's chamber as an extra safety precaution. He warns her that if the gun is loaded and the rubber piece is in place, it can explode when she pulls the trigger. Tertified by little noises in the middle of the night, Linda wakes up, sure that Nick is in the house. But when Spencer indulges her by getting up and looking ‘around with her, they find no signs of an intruder. At work, Spencer confides in his colleagues that he is a litile worried that Linda is becoming paranoid. Nick phones Linda to ask if she has told Spencer about them yet. Linda retorts that she has told Spencer that Nick Is a lunatic, and she pians on taping his phone calls. Nick warns her that she will be Sorry and hangs up. PSSoon after, Spencer nearly avoids a fatal car crash when his brakes fail. A damage assessment reveals a hole in the brake fluid line. It could have been ‘an accident or purposely punctured. Sensing the magnitude of the situation, Linda takes Spencer for a walk by the lake near their house and confesses her affair. Spencer is hurt and shaken up, but agrees that they ought fo report Nick's harassment fo the police. Returning from their walk, Spencer goes to his study to get his car keys while Linda makes a call in the kitchen. However, Linda discovers that the phone has disappeared, though the ‘extension cord is still on the kitchen table. Linda realizes that Nick has broken. into their house again-- and maybe he is still there. As she calls out to warn Spencer, she hears a crash from the study. Tentified, Linda forces herself to open the study door... Activ Linda discovers Spencer's dead body on the floor. He has been hit repeatedly in the back of the head with the fire poker, which lies on top of the desk. Seeing the open window, Linda grabs the poker and goes after Nick, but there is no sign of him. Reentering the house, she finds the missing telephone under the desk in Spencer's study. She plugs if in and calls the police, linda tearfully tells the police everything, but they are dubious. Why didn't she call them earlier if she thought Nick was a threat? Linda tries to expicin that she was reluctant to jeopardize her marriage by confessing her affair. And until the incident with Spencer's brakes, she had thought Nick was merely a malicious nuisance. When she realized that Spencer was in danger, she had tied to call the police, but the phone had been removed. Naturally the cops are skeptical, more so when the poker comes back with only Linda's finger prints on it. Even her story about Nick following them on vacation does not hold up. There is ne record of a Nick Mulholland traveling by plane anytime near her trip. Linda protests that Nick probably used a Pseudonym through the travel business, but the police fake no notice. she is Pabooked on suspicion of murdering her husband. Nick expresses his incredulity to the police that Linda is trying to implicate him. Linda makes bail and discovers she has a possible ally in Sgt. Gunton. He has his own suspicions about Nick which stem from an odd fatal accident five years earlier involving the husband of a woman Nick was involved with. The husband died in a car wreck, and his wife was suspected of tampering with the brakes. The woman was eventually let off, Linda tracks down the woman and flies to Seattie to meet her, only to find out someone else has been there first. The woman has been killed in a crime that looks like robbery. Going to the local police, Linda finds herself in deeper trouble-- asa murder suspect she is not allowed to leave town. Gunton intervenes on her behalf to keep her out of jail. She wonders if the woman's death was a coincidence or if Nick was involved. Gunton telis her it is possible Nick knew she was going to visit the woman. AS a travel agent, Nick would have access to the airlines ticketing computers. And since it is a small airport, it is not hard to keep track of the people traveling to and fro. However, currently there is no proof linking Nick to any wrongdoing. if perhaps Linda can get him to say something incriminating while they are alone... while she is wired to o tape recorder... Linda agrees to Gunton's pian, though his superiors know nothing about it (it he had asked, they would have said no). She calls Nick, who is circumspect over the phone but agrees to let her come over. Linda prompts him by saying how "glad" she is to be free of Spencer, and how Nick was right in believing they belong together. Nick just smiles but won't say anything connecting him to Spencer's death. He does show Linda his sketch pad, which he has hidden from the police. Itis filed with drawings of her. In the drawer where Nick keeps the pad, Linda sees similar pictures of other women. When she asks about them, he simply says, "It's not important PSanymore." He pulls Linda to him for a kiss, though she is thoroughly disgusted by him at this point. She goes along with it in hopes of gaining his trust. However, during their embrace Nick feels the bulge of a mini-tape recorder. ActVl Nick casts Linda aside, There is an awkward moment where it seems he may strangle her, but it passes. He coldly asks why she is harassing him. It is not his fault if she had a bad martiage, the whole town knew about it. Nick says he is not going to be drawn into the mess she has macie of her life just because she has obsessive fantasies about him. She needs psychiatric help before she hurts someone else-- or even herself. Nothing Nick says can be construed legally as a threat, but his warning is clear. He can kill her and make it look like a suicide. He lets Linda leave, knowing It is Inevitable that he will see her again because legally she is not allowed to leave town. Shaken, Linda confronts Gunton, but he has already been trounced by his superiors. Nick called, complaining of harassment, He figured someone in the depariment must have helped Linda with the tape recorder. At first Gunton refuses to help Linda, but her fear gets to him. If only there was some way they could make Nick come after Linda... She fells Gunton about the sketch pad Nick has hidden away, Linda thinks she may be able to get him to come after her. She knows how much Nick's drawings mean fo him, if she can steal his sketch pad it could prove his obsession with her, or at least incite him to pursue her. Gunton uneasily agrees to tty fo keep Nick away from his house long enough for Linda to steal the pad. Gunton approaches Nick on the street as Linda, a novice, tries to break into Nick's house. Gunton is unsuccessful in detaining Nick. He retums home while Linda is still inside, having just collected the sketches of herself and the, other victims from his drawer, Nick notices signs of a break in, arms himself against the prowler and approaches Linda's hiding place BSActVil Gunton knocks on the door, then lets himself in and surprises Nick. Gunton says he too saw signs of a break-in and wanted fo make sure everything was all tight. Meanwhile, Linda escapes out the window. Nick starts to report the burglary, but once he realizes what is missing, he quickly changes his mind. He calls Linda and demands the return his sketch pad, Linda refuses, calling them her safety net. They are the only proof she has of her accusations that Nick was obsessed with her. They also prove that Nick has been obsessed with other women as well. Linda telis Nick that one of the women depicted in his drawings is the murder victim in Seattle. She tells him she plans on hanging onto the pictures until her trial. Nick tells her they are inadmissible, but Linda says she will take that chance. When she gets off the phone, she can only hope the ruse is working. Gunton, hiding in Linda's house, wails up all night, but Nick never shows up. Gunton finally leaves, and Nick emerges from his hiding place. He intends to tetrieve the stolen sketches and kill Linda. When she hears noises in the house, Linda knows Nick is coming after her. She retrieves her gun and is about to take out the rubber packing in the chamber when a thought occurs to her. She leaves the rubber packing in, loads the gun and wails for Nick. He finds Linda in her bedroom. They wrestle over the weapon until Nick finally gains control. Nick tells Linda he pians to finish her off, just like the other women who inferfered with his life, He tells her it will look like suicide and then he will be in the clear. Nick aims the gun at Linda, pulls the trigger and the weapon explodes. Nick lies dead on the flor. Linda, with the sketches in hand, calls the police. PB?TV SERIES TREATMENTS Treatments for TV series used to be called “formats.” Now they're just called treatments. There's no exact format for a TV series treatment, Short is good. The following treatment would be considered on the too-long side. I'd go with something shorter and less detailed. In general, you want to cover (1) A series overview up front, that gives a pretty good idea of what the series is about; (2) A description of all the characters, and (3) Five to nine sample episodes. You can put in other info too, if you think it will help. Just remember you're writing a selling document, not every detail of the series. When you write every detail, that’s called the series “bible” and isn’t created until after the series has been commissioned. The following treatment is for an urban soap, like “Dallas” but on Wall Street. If you were writing a comedy, you'd want something much more fun and punchy, obviously. If i was writing the following treatment, I'd make it shorter. It's too detailed. And, of course, as times change, what the networks are looking for changes too. A “Dallas” type of soap wouldn't fly at the moment. Some final thoughts on.treatments: as media evolve into new forms, treatments will continue to be needed. For instance, the turn of the last century saw a flurry of networks which sprung up on the internet. During PAthat time | sold a number of internet projects, creating new kinds of treatment formats which seemed appropriate. So, keeping selling in mind, don’t be afraid to be a little creative when faced with a new challenge, and | don’t just mean in bed, : Since this is the last time | (David Freeman) will be addressing you in this pack, ll end with this thought: a treatment, written well, shows intelligence. Intelligence, applied with discernment, brings wisdom. Wisdom, put in action, brings about a better world. A better world would also be a beautiful world. A beautiful world would include cities with lots of trees and shrubs. Shrubs, nourished with sunshine, need trimming. Trimming requires shrub trimmers. And shrub trimmers need something to protect their hands. So always remember, you're not just writing treatments — you're creating a huge demand for gardening gloves. P2WALL STREET ‘Treatment For A One-Hour Dramatic Television Series By David Shiiner and Alan PaxtonWALL STRE! ‘An American Fascination Where do thirty-year-old millionaires abound? Where do American Presidents seek out their most trusted advisors? Where are fortunes made and lost in a day? Where is the real power in America wielded? Riches are amassed and great destinies are forged on an imposing piece of New York real estate known as Walll Street. The excitement and the secrets of the people behind the power will entrance audiences in the new dramatic series, WALL STREET. PiMAJOR CHARACTERS Just as the real Wall Street makes for gripping drama, so too will WALL STREET, the television series. Two unyielding men -- two giants on Wall Street -- along with their families and firms, are pitted against each other to the death. However, they're also tied by a long, secret past together. Theirs is a history filled with passion, competition, and scandal. RUTGER STERLING -- Born into great wealth, Rutger Sterling heads the largest firm on Wall Street, Ethics don't exist for this intense, dashingly handsome Wall Street titan. Amoral, brilliant, a renowned womanizer, he rules his financial kingdom like @ ruthless Machiavellian wizard. His mental and financial scheming is spellbinding to behold. Despite (or perhaps because of) his ruthlessness, Sterling's name is hallowed regularly in the Wall Street Journal and in textbooks on the business. An entire upcoming generation of investment brokers views Sterling as the prototype of how the business should be run. But there is one thorn in Sterling's side, one old time enemy whom he has never bested. Destroying this man has become an obsession. This man is HARDIN CAREY. HARDIN CAREY -- Though HARDIN CAREY, like Sterling, is in his early forties, and though Carey once worked for Sterling, the men couldn't be more different. It's not that Carey is any less competitive than Sterling. How else could he have built the second largest firm on Wall Street? Carey, however, came from a poor background and fought his way to the top. Through this struggle he became a high-stakes risk taker atraid of no one, with a long memory for who his enemies are. More than once he's laid P2the substantial wealth of his firm on the fine, indifferent to the quite valid fears this prompts in his associates and subordinates. But Hardin's honest, humble background aiso ingrained in him a set of deep, ethical principles. He believes the strong should protect the weak. He believes that laws have a purpose, and that justice must be served. Once an underdog himself, he believes that all.men who struggle for their dreams should have their fair shot at success. Hardin genuinely cares about the common man. He's been able to ‘bulld his Wall Street empire without ever orchestrating the kind of hostile takeover which empties a company's employees into an unemployment line. Whereas Rutger's firm reeks of old waspish wealth, Hardin has a black, a Jew, and a woman (LOREN TATE) in high positions at his firm. Hardin's a man with an inner core of kindness...just don't cross him the wrong way. Between Hardin Carey and Rutger Sterling is a long history of hate. As a young man, Hardin worked for Rutger Sterling. It was bad enough that Rutger always fook credit for Hardin's astounding successes. Much worse, Rutger once almost got Hardin killed. Rutger executed a hostile takeover of an Atlantic City hotel/casino, which tumed out fo be owned by the mafia boss DONALD CALVETTI. Learning this, Rutger leaked information that the deal was Hardin's doing. This news inspired Calvetti's reckless SON, on his own initiative, to go after Hardin one night with a long, jagged edge knife. When the fight was over, the son was dead. Calvetii let Hardin live, but let Hardin know that Hardin owed him one for keeping the murder quiet -- and for not murdering Hardin right there ‘on the spot. Calvelfi knew that Hardin would be very useful to him someday. Rutger got his own comeuppance when his fiance and the only woman he ever loved, classy MELISSA DANFORTH, fell in love with Hardin and married him. Rutger hos felt only searing malevolence toward Hardin ever since. PSDDITI HOPE STERLING MITCHELL -- Rutger's sister Hope is decadent, sexy, fun, rich, and selfish. “For twenly five-years she's had the hots for Hardin Carey, and even seduced him as @ young man one night when he was depressed and drunk. Soon afterward Hope's (and Rutger's) dominating mother VERONICA STERLING mantied off Hope to Rutger’s nondescript partner, THOMAS MITCHELL. Hope's child from Hardin never leamed his tue heritage, and was named PRESTON MITCHELL. Preston, now twenty-five, has taken his place as a young, winning young member of the firm owned by Rutger and Thomas Mitchell, Hope knows about the murder in Hardin's past, and his debt to mafia boss Donald Calvetti. Hope's a selfish wild card, and Hardin secretly fears, with good reason, that Hope might use this potentially damaging information to demand something from Hardin someday -- perhaps even the resumption of theit long dormant relationship. VERONICA STERLING -- Rutger's and Hope's mother Veronica Is the steely matriarch of the Sterling family, a driven woman who has shaped both her own life and Rutger's to revolve around the quest for wealth and power. Long ago, when Veronica was a coed at Radcliffe, she supported herself with part-time work as a high-priced call girl. Knowing what she wanted out of life, she married LIONEL STERLING, senior partner in STERLING AND MITCHELL, Wall Street's largest investment brokerage fitm. From this mariage came both Rutger and Hope. Buried in Veronica's past are a number of scandalous secrets. Almost no one knows of her shameful past as a call girl, Another secret involves Hardin and Preston Mitchell. Veronica has always wanted fo be connected to political power, and Preston, she has decided, will Pabe the vehicle. Therefore it's important that Preston's history as a bastard be hidden from the world, and even from Preston himself. After Preston's birth, Veronica made Hardin a deal he couldn't refuse: even though Veronica's own son Rutger hated Hardin, Veronica nevertheless was willing to give Hardin enough money to start his own firm, on one condition: that he never acknowledge Preston.as his son. Furthermore, Veronica would always own a majority share of Hardin's firm. These were hurtful pills to swatiow, but Hardin knew they were his only ticket to success, Nonetheless, Hardin is continually fighting his powerful desire to claim Preston as his own, and every day grows closer to giving in to this impulse. But Veronica would be sure to lash out, and several houses of cards -- Hardin's firm, Preston’ relationship with his mother and with Rutger's firm -- would be sure to tumble. LEE CAREY -- Melissa Carey, the woman Hardin stole from Rutger and mattied, bore him a beautiful daughter KIM. Tragically, shortly afterward she died in a mysterious boating accident, an accident which Hardin has always suspected Rutger of being involved in. Hardin remarried LEE CAREY, a warm and tender woman content to play housewife on Hardin's sprawling ranch in upstate New York. Lee is thirty, while Kim is twenty-three, Their closeness in age often makes their relationship awkward. Kim works in Hardin's firm and sees Hardin much more than does Lee, a situation which makes Lee jealous, despite her desire to suppress such emotions. As a consequence Lee has secretly started sludying investment banking, determined to eventually join Hardin's firm as well. Hardin married Lee because of sweet domesticity; their marriage is in for a shock when Lee announces her professional ambitions. KIM CAREY -- Though Kim Carey's recent Columbia MBA degree hangs on her office wall, and though she's stepped into the fast lane at Hardin's firm with sophistication and aplomb, there's still something fresh and innocent about her. PSBut life for Kim is quickly getting complicated, for she has fallen in love with Preston Mitchell, not realizing the good looking young man is her half brother! Hardin, because of his deal with Veronica, can't tell Kim the truth, so instead he forbids Kim from seeing Preston, on the grounds that Preston works for Hardin's enemy, Ruiger Sterling. Kim thinks that Hardin is being archaic, and to make matters more strained, Lee sides strongly with Kim. The tension over this issue is escalating by the day; the Carey family is about to hit rocky ground. PRESTON MITCHELL -- Preston Mitchell, twenty-five, is dashing, debonair, and quick thinking -- an attractive blend of polish and spontaneity. His grandmother Veronica Sterling. hos always hoped that Preston would go into politics. (Preston doesn't know that Veronica's political ambitions for hirn are so strong that she even named him after her boyfriend in college, PRESTON WITMORE, now a distinguished senator. Preston Witmore dumped Veronica in college atter learning she was working as a call girl.) To be truthful, the idea of entering politics suits Preston just fine, and his eye is toward the senate. He's got the style, the connections, and money to pull it off. But his game plan is quickly developing some wrinkles. It's not ‘only that working under cynical Rutger Sterling and Thornas Mitchell (the man Preston thinks is his father) is taking a toll on Preston's idealism and spirit. Much worse, he's failen for Kim Carey, his hall sister. Only Veronica, Hope, and Hardin know that Preston is actually Hardin's son. Like Hardin, Veronica and Hope are aghast at the Possibility of a union between Preston and Kim, fo dissuade Preston, they've produced (ar maybe fabricated) evidence that in college Kim Carey had a year long lesbian affair with her ROOMMATE, a theater atts major. If Preston was to become involved with Kirn and this information teaked out, it would kill his political prospects. Preston is therefore frying fo hold back from Kim, but between these two attractive young peopie the passion flows deep and strong. How long will they be able fo force themselves apart? PSLOREN TATE -- Loren Tate is the sharp, stunning head of financial strategy at Hardin's firm. She's in every way his "right-hand man." But she's been concealing something from Hardin: for years, she's been one of Rutger Sterling's lovers! Though over and over her mind says no, her heart and body crave Rutger. Rutger.continually presses Loren for inside information about Hardin, information which could be used to help break the back of his long-time opponent. But Loren has not shared anything too damaging...so far. DEIRDRE SWENSON -- After Hardin stole away Melissa Denning, Rutger never fell in love again, However, he is passionately attracted to Deirdre Swenson, a sophisticated, erotically magnetic high priced call girl. Deirdre is also involved with a number of other Important Wall Street tycoons, and with enough money Rutger is able to pry her for pertinent inside scoops about upcoming Wall Street dealings. Deirdre's no dummy, though. That inside information could make her rich as well, And that’s exactly what she's done, Although no one knows, her portfolio is well into seven figures and growing all the time. Soon she will be able to enter the takeover game herself. Just as for Rutger, in Deirdre's eyes money and power overshadow romance, Ruger and Hardin will wake up one day to find ¢ powertul new player in the game -- a player who's got the goods on everybody. Amidst the shameful secrets, the intrigues, the strategies and the unstable compromises, there is one hidden scandal which eclipses all the rest: When Veronica's college boyfriend leamed Veronica was also a call girl, he dumped her. Veronica was pregnant at the time, but gave the baby boy up for adoption when he was born. She never knew the family which took in the precocious youth. Pp?has told him that it's all a lie? RIO That family, unknown to Veronica, gave the boy the name Hardin Carey. No one knows that Rutger Sterling and Hardin Carey are actually half brothers, least of all these two long sanding enemies. Bul secrets have a way of coming fo light. All hell is waiting to break loose ‘on WALL STREET. PBLOCATIONS WALL STREET will take place in a number of exciting locations, making the series a visual treat: += The insanity of the stack exchange trading floor, a cross between a casino and a bill ring; -- Board rooms with sweeping views of the Big Appl perches from which the fate of American finance is spun; ++ glass walled + Elegant restaurants and smoke filled bars. How many of the hushed conversations which take place here plot illegal financial dealings? -- Rutger Sterling's richly appointed Long Inland mansion, a living ‘embodiment of distinguished New England tradition; ++ Hardin Carey's spacious and modem Manhattan penthouse stylish, sleek, and sunny; -- Hardin's sprawling rural ranch in upstate New York, complete with pedigreed Arabian horses. (All the Careys are expert riders.) ++ The polo field where Hardin Carey and Rutger Sterling regularly meet in open combat, as captains of rival polo teams. PgRIES WITI Audiences will be completely hooked by WALL STREET, eager to follow the compelling web of secrets, scandals, intrigues, and financial power plays between Ruiger Sterling and Hardin Corey, along with their firms and families. This is @ world in such delicate balance that at any moment the characters might crush their opponents -- or be crushed themselves. Here are some of the hooks which will keep audiences coming back: Since Hardin is the enemy of Veronica's son (Rutger Sterling), will Veronica playher cards arid destroy Hardin? It kills Hardin inside to not claim Preston Mitchell as his son. Will he break down cind reveal the truth to Preston? How will Preston feel upon learning thai he's been working all this time as an enemy to his own father? Hope knows that Hardin murdered the son of matia boss Donaid Calvetti, and that Calvetti could demand and receive a big, and probably illegal favor from Hardin at any time. If she disclosed this information, it could ruin Hardin, Hope is also still attracted to Hardin. Will she hold the threat of disclosure over Hardin's head as a way of getting Hardin back in bed with her? When and how will Calvetti “collect” on the debt Hardin owes him? Will he be tempted to try and "collect" more than once? Who knows the reall relationship between Hardin and Rutger? Will the truth surface? If the two adversaries are indeed related, it would mean that Hardin and Hope, once lovers, would actually be half brother and sister. How would all those involved react to the news? What would it do to their financial empires? Despite her denials, was Kim once a lesbian as Veronica and Hope claim? if she was, what will happen If her ex-roommate/lover raappears at some time? How will Kim respond? How will Preston Mitchell respond, since Kim has fold him that its all a te? PIOWho knows about Veronica's shameful past as a call girl? Will they ever come forth and speak? What will it do to her standing as a luminary in high society? Preston Mitchell and Kim Carey are in love, Will they become lovers before they discover they are closely related? During the course of the series, these questions will be answered one by ‘one. The lives and fortunes of the Careys, the Stetlings, and the Mitchelis will soar to staggering heights, but will also suffer shocking reversals and be dragged tortuously through financial and emotional calamities. PuSAMPLE EPISODES Tightly interwoven with the scandals and secrets of the Sterlings and the Careys are their riveting dealings on Wail Street itself -- a land where money and power belong to the mighty and the cunning, where America's new outlaws and financial magicians have staked their claims. Here are a few of the power plays which the characters of WALL STREET will mastermind: 1) Rutger owns considerable stock in the Bank of Connecticut, which has depressed stock from bad bank loans to Brazil. Kim, Hardin's daughter and a financial analyst for his firm, checks out the books; thinking that the bank might be ripe for a takeover. But it is Lee Carey, who has been secretly studying investment banking, wha catches some suspicious transactions. Why is Rutger continuing to buy stock? Also, one recent large influx of money, masked asa - real estate sale, seems particularly dubious. Hardin and the SEC get involved, and discover the bank was holding laundered Columbian drug money. Rutger knew that stock would soar with the next earnings report. The SEC closes the bank, and Rutger forteits 200 million -- a heavy blow, which increases his hate for Hardin. Hardin finds himself plunged into a marital crisis as he is forced to deal with a wife (Lee) who is no longer content to play the simple housewife, but has high financial ambitions of her own and intends to pursue them. 2) PORTAPHONE, Siticon Valley's latest darling, has almost completed tesearch on a new system of portable wrist-talephones. Utilizing satellite up- links, the system will allow completely portable phoning. UTT United Telephone and Telegraph), America’s largest telephone company, will become an overnight antique. Pl2UTT engages Rutger to organize a hostile takeover of Portaphone. The purpose: to acquire the technology and then shelve it forever, thus ensuring UTT's continued supremacy. Portaphone engages Hardin to fight Rutger, and it's a battle of financial wizardry which Rutger wins. Hardin goes to a superior court judge, claiming the takeover would be an anti-trust-violation. The judge is close to ruling in Hardin's favor, but senator Stanford Mitchell, ‘once a member of Rutger's firm and a friend of the judge, convinces him to let the purchase go through. Preston, though a member of Rulger's firm, opposes Rutger on this one. He gets a harsh and cynical lesson on self interest vs. the interest of the American public. 3) A small, old movie studio in L.A. is just breaking even, because they only make "G" and "PG" rated films. They're the last studio left which makes exclusively this fare. Rutger wants to buy the studio, end all production, then sell the land for condos. while Preston is at the studio checking on it's books, he runs into KATRINA SHIELDS, Kim's old college roommate! He presses her for an answer -- were she and Kim lovers in cotiege? Katrina just laughs ambiguously and teases him, asking if he's angling for a threesome. The studio, which has employed Hardin to stop the takeover, is able to outsmart Rutger with some brilliant financial moves. Kim, meanwhile, is reunited with her old roommate, and they greet each other passionately. What does this spell for her future? Preston Hardin, and Lee all prepare for the worst... 4) Hardin is facilitating the friendly takeover of an automobile company. Asis the custom in these super-secret dealings, both parties enter the sound- proof conference room, the door is locked, concealed electronic bug- detectors are activated, and a remote video camera sweeps the area outside the door. That night Rutger and Loren Tate, Hardin's head of investment strategy, are locked in sweaty, sexual passion deep into the night. She accidentally lets PISslip a crucial piece of information which allows Rutger fo figure out the deal. The next day Rutger is glued to the phorie, buying up alll the shares in that company he can get his hands on. The price starts climbing and the Stock Exchange is ‘awash with rumors of a buy-out, making the auto company's stock the hottest thing on wall street. Stock Exchange officials try but can't figure out what the hell's going on. Rutger scores big, raking In millions. Hardin loses a major client and suffers a blow to his firm's reputation. Loren, hang-dog, tenders her resignation, and though Hardin is angry, he fells her she can stay if she breaks off her affair with Rutger immediately. She promises...but Hardin, and even Loren herself doesn't realize how deeply Rutger is under her skin. In real life, Wall Street teems with the kind of intrigue, power plays, and greed which makes for great drama. WALL STREET, the sories, will pull its audience back week after week fo watch its characters locked in white-hot conflict for weaith and power, against a background of forbidden passions and secret scandals. Pla