One in a Million

(Orginal)

Written by: Sienna Larney-Badani

 One in a Million

INT: Theater

A spotlight focuses on a girl. Her back faces the camera and all we
can see is the silhouette of her body. The camera switches to her
face. She looks dramatically out into the audience and in a second
she switches mood.

KADEN
Okay, are we good?

A man in a lighting booth gives her a thumbs up.

LIGHT GUY
Yeah, thanks.

KADEN
No problem.

The light switches off and it is complete darkness. She walks out of
the building and begins to walk home. On her way there she puts in
headphones and a song begins playing. She arrives and goes to her
room. There is a camera on a tripod in the corner.

She steps in front of the tripod and begins to set it up. She grabs a
script from her desk and glances at it.

KADEN
Adjusts. Okay take 1. Hi my name is Kaden, I’m 16 years old, I’m 5’6
and I’ll be reading for the part of Laura.

KADEN
“Wait, I thought you were supposed to drive him there. If you didn’t,
who did?” Alright, that was just bad.

Cut.

KADEN
“Wait, I thought you were supposed to take..” Take? Drive. Shoot.

Cut.

KADEN
“Wait a minute, I thought you were supposed to drive him there. If
you…” Breaks off into laughter.

Cut.

KADEN
Is this even focused?

Cut.

KADEN
“Wait, I thought you were supposed to drive him there? If you didn’t,
who did?” Not bad.

She shuts off the camera and lays on her bed. She watches an
interview with Jennifer Lawrence saying she never finished high
school. She turns to the other side and falls asleep. The lights shut
off.

CUT TO: INT - Morning - Classroom

Kaden sits in her classroom listening to a lecture. She taps her

pencil on her notebook and checks the clock repeatedly. She raises
her hand.

KADEN
Can I go to the bathroom?

Kaden walks quickly past the bathroom and towards the theater. She
steps onto the stage and lays down. She stares up at the ceiling. The
camera cuts to a guy sitting in the audience. He’s looking at his
laptop until he looks up and sees her. He’s amused.

GUY
You alright?

Kaden immediately sits up, unaware that he was there. She stands up
embarrassed.

KADEN
Yeah, sorry. I didn’t realize you were there. And you are?

He smiles and walks towards her.

DANIEL
Daniel. So is there a reason why you were laying in the middle of the
stage?

KADEN
Laughs. I was bored. Why are you here?

DANIEL
I’m supposed to be fulfilling a drama requirement. How often do you
come here?

KADEN
Everytime I’m bored, so you know, pretty often.

DANIEL
Laughs. Wanna go do something fun?

CUT TO: EXT - DAY - Outside an ice cream shop

Kaden and Daniel walk out of the ice cream shop with two sundaes.

DANIEL
So you’re an actress? Just theater or camera too?

KADEN
Both. But I haven’t actually done anything on camera yet.

DANIEL
So if I asked you to cry right now, could you?

KADEN
Laughs. Why does everyone always ask that question?

They both laugh.

CUT TO: EXT - Sunset - Viewpoint

KADEN
So what do you like to do?

DANIEl
I play soccer but both my parents are doctors so I’ll probably do
that too. And I have a legacy at Columbia so hopefully I’ll end up
there.

KADEN
 You’re already thinking about college? We’re only sophomores, it's
pretty far off.

DANIEL
Yeah, but it’s good to have a plan. Do you want to go to Juilliard or
NYU or something?

KADEN
I don’t know. Most actresses don’t go to college.

DANIEL
So you actually wanna be an actress?

Kaden nods her head. He looks somewhat shocked.

KADEN
Laughs. What?

DANIEL
Nothing. It’s just I haven’t met too many people like you.

KADEN
Is that a good thing?

He looks at her and kisses her.

CUT TO: A montage

We see them lying against a tree in the grass. They are reading a
script together. He starts distracting her and they stop reading.

She stands in front of her camera and starts recording a self-tape.

KADEN
Hello. My name is Kaden, I’m 17 years old, I’m 5’6, and I’ll be
reading for the part of Sarah.

Kaden and Daniel are sitting in a car. She looks at her email and
sees that an agent emailed her.

KADEN
*Starts tapping his arm aggressively. Daniel, Daniel I got an agent!

DANIEL
Congratulations!
They hug.

They are walking down a street at night together. Daniel stops and
looks at Kaden.

KADEN
What?

DANIEL
I love you.

KADEN
I love you too.

Kiss on forehead.

Blackout.

She stands in front of her camera and starts recording a self-tape.

KADEN
Hello. My name is Kaden, I’m 18 years old, I’m 5’6, and I’ll be
reading for the part of Jenna.

She turns off the camera and jumps onto her bed where Daniel is
already sitting.

KADEN
So when are you planning on visiting Columbia?

DANIEL
In the next few weeks. Speaking of college, have you thought more
about where you’re going to apply?

KADEN
Remember I said I wasn’t going to go to college.

Daniel sits up and looks at her confused.

DANIEL
Yeah, two years ago. I thought you would’ve changed your mind by now.

KADEN
 No...but my agent also agrees. She said going straight to LA and to
just start auditioning is the best option.

DANIEL
Kaden, that's insane. You can’t just not go to college.

KADEN
Why not?

DANIEL
Because it’s just crazy, you need a degree.

KADEN
You don’t need a degree to be an actress.

DANIEl
Yeah but what happens if it doesn’t work out? What’s your backup
plan?

KADEN
I don’t have one.

DANIEL
And you don’t think that’s an issue?

KADEN
I think that becoming an actress is more important to me than
anything else and if going to college isn’t going to help me get
there, I’m not going to do it.

DANIEL
Okay. I mean at the end of the day it’s your decision.

CUT TO: EXT - Backyard

Kaden is talking on the phone.

KADEN
Hi, yes my name is Kaden. I’m planning on moving to LA in August and
I was wondering if I could rent a room. Okay great, thank you.

CUT TO: Daniel is helping Kaden pack her suitcase.

DANIEL
 It’s just crazy to me that you’re actually doing this.

KADEN
Yeah, I know. I’m just as scared as you are.

Daniel comes over and hugs her.

DANIEL
You’re going to be okay. You have the talent and clearly the
ambition. Everything is going to work out.

KADEN
Smiles. I love you.

They hug. She gets off in her car and drives.

Driving montage to LA (find clips)

She parks in front of a dirty-looking apartment. She gets out and

walks inside. She looks inside and sits down. She immediately starts
setting up a camera for self-tapes and unpacking. She takes a deep
breath.

CUT TO: Montage - Daniel vs. Kaden

Daniel is sitting in a lecture hall taking notes. The bell rings and
he walks out of the classroom. Camera slides into black wall and
opens up to…

Kaden walked into an audition room and introduced herself. Black wall
to…

Daniel stayed up late to finish writing a paper. Black wall to…

Kaden quickly walked up to a table in a restaurant and asked for

their order. She writes some things down and walks back. Black wall
to…
Daniel called someone and talked about an internship at a local
hospital. Black wall to…

Kaden walked to more audition rooms and introduced herself each time.
Black wall to…

Kaden called her agent asking if she had gotten any parts yet. She’s
told no. Black wall to…
Kaden sitting on her bed, obviously tired with 3 different scripts on
her bed. She hears her doorbell and rushes to open it. Daniel appears
in the doorway and they hug.

KADEN
I missed you so much.

DANIEl
I missed you too.

KADEN
Hey, is that internship going well?

DANIEL
Oh, the internship is great, they’re wanting to move me up and start
paying me.

KADEN
That’s amazing!

DANIEL
What about you? Have you gotten any parts yet?

KADEN
Nothing yet.

DANIEL
But what about the one where you were a police officer or something?
I thought you said that one went well.

KADEN
I thought so but I guess not. I’ve gotten a few commercials but
nothing real.

DANIEL
It's been a year. Are you sure this is worth it?

KADEN
I’m sure.

DANIEL
I just hate watching you struggle with this so much. Do you maybe
think that…nevermind.
 KADEN
What is it?

DANIEL
Well, maybe you’re just not cut out for this.

KADEN
What?

DANIEL
I’m not trying to hurt your feelings but it's not like anyone can
just be an actress. People who are actually successful are one in a
million.

KADEN
I’ve been training for this my entire life. I'm not giving up because
of a bump in the road.

They stand up. It’s a fight now.

DANIEL
It’s not a bump, it's been a year.

KADEN
Yeah and I’ll wait another.

DANIEL
How are you going to make any real money? You can barely pay your
rent and it's not like you have a degree to fall back on. This is
what I was warning you about.

KADEN
I knew what it was going to take before I did this, Daniel. Yes it’s
uncomfortable but it’s the only thing I want.

DANIEL
You’re gonna ruin your life for a dream that’s never going to happen.

Kaden looks at him in disbelief. Her eyes tear.

KADEN
You don’t know that.

DANIEL
Yes, I do.
 KADEN
No, you don’t. This will work I just need to keep trying-

DANIEL
Kaden you can’t do this, please just transfer to a college.

KADEN
Why won’t you just support me?

DANIEL
I can’t support decisions that are going to lead to nothing.

KADEN
You don’t understand, this is my life and this is my career. If I
make a mistake, it’s on me.

DANIEL
Yeah and how well is that going for you? You need to stop this.

KADEN
No, I’m not going to.

DANIEL
Kaden I’m serious.

KADEN
So am I.

DANIEL
Fine. Then I’ll give you an ultimatum. Transfer to a college or we’re
done.

KADEN
Are you out of your mind?

DANIEL
Transfer to a college or we’re done.

KADEN
Daniel shut up, that's not funny.

He just looks at her.

KADEN
 Oh my god, you’re serious.

DANIEL
It’s me or this career. You have to choose.

She looks at him. Her eyes well with tears.

KADEN
I love you.

Daniel realizes. She’s not going to choose him.

KADEN
Please don’t make me do this.

Daniel stands there looking at her.

KADEN
I’m sorry.

They look at each other. He walks out. Kaden cries.

CUT TO: INT - DAY - Car

Kaden is driving in her car when she gets a call from her agent.

AGENT
Hey, I just got to you for an audition for a blockbuster. I really
need you to bring your A-game to this one, okay?

KADEN
Yes, of course thank you so much.

AGENT
I’ll send over the script. You need to be at the audition in 2 hours.

KADEN
Wait, 2 hours?

AGENT
Yeah, don’t worry you got this. *Hangs up

KADEN
Oh my god.
CUT TO: INT - Audition room

Kaden is performing her monologue.

KADEN
“...and don’t ever tell me that she’s coming back because I know
she’s not. She doesn’t deserve to be forgiven for what she did to me.
I just want her out of my life.” Thank you.

DIRECTOR
That was fantastic. You got the part.

KADEN
Sorry, what?

Screen goes to black. 2 years later flashes across the screen.

CUT TO: EXT - DAY - Street

Kaden is walking down the street talking on the phone.

KADEN
Yeah, mom, my flight is in a few hours. No, I don’t need guys to pick
me up, I already have a driver coming. Okay, I’ll see you soon, I
love you.

CUT TO: EXT - Car driving

A car zooms by with Kaden inside. She looks out the window and sees
her old high school.

KADEN
Could we stop here for a second?

The driver pulls into the parking lot and Kaden walks towards the
theater. She sees the same stage with a spotlight on it.
Kaden walks up onto the stage and stands in the spotlight as she had
done years before. Then takes the same position and the film ends the
same way it began.

KADEN
*Mumbles to herself. One in a million.

Black screen.
END