WGST Masterscript Script
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WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL By SCOTT MARSHALL SMITH Screen story by SCOTT MARSHALL SMITH & DAVID ZELON Based on the book WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL By NEIL FergusonHAYES MANDALAY PICTURESAndrew WHITE SHOOTING DRAFT - 4/16/2013 BLUE SHOOTING DRAFT - 4/20/2013 PINK REVISED PAGES - 4/23/2013 YELLOW REVISED PAGES - 4/25/2013 GREEN REVISED PAGES - 4/30/2013 GOLDENROD REVISED PAGES - 5/07/2013 BUFF REVISED PAGES - 5/14/2013 SALMON REVISED PAGES - 5/15/2013 CHERRY REVISED PAGES - 5/22/2013 TAN REVISED PAGES - 6/03/2013 WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL BASED ON A TRUE STORY AA1 INT. DE LA SALLE LOCKER ROOM - HALLWAY - DAY AA1 ALT ENTRANCE - BOB - Enters hallway - Strong and dignified - we reveal the players in the adjacent locker room - Bob enters locker room. A1 BLACK: FADE UP - CLOSE - BOB LADOUCEUR (43) - NONDESCRIPT A1 BACKGROUND LIT FROM ABOVE BOB I'm not saying I'm the best coach. I'm just saying I've seen a lot of teams. I think that's my strength as a coach. I'm not a genius. I'm not brilliant as a coach. But my strength is being able to tell you guys if you are playing up to your abilities. That I do know. (BEAT) One thing to understand is what I tell you will be my perception of the truth. I'm not going to lie to you or make up crap to try to fire you up - none of that stuff. I'm going to give you exact feedback of what I see and what I hear. Here's how the meeting is going to go. Don't anticipate some guy firing you up, whether it's a teammate or a coach. I don'tFerguson want to do it and I don't want them to have to do it. (pointing at his assistant coaches). Do it yourself. If you sit there and say, “I need somebody to fire me up,” that's horse crap. It doesn't happen that way. It all comes from within your own heart. Andrew FADE TO: 1 BLACK 1 In SILENCE, TITLES rise and fade... GREATEST FOOTBALL WINNING STREAKS: THE NFL - NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - 21 GAMES The noise of a DISTANT CROWD rises... THE NCAA - OKLAHOMA SOONERS - 47 GAMES A PROJECTOR LIGHT lances the darkness. GHOSTING UP ON-SCREEN, ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE chronicling an unknown team’s unprecedented rise into football history... Pg. 1 WTGST - Green Revisions (04/30/2013) 1A BLISTERING MONTAGE: NEWS FOOTAGE - GAME FOOTAGE - HEADLINES - WEB SITES; all spread the news as THE STREAK barrels from the 1980’s through 2003 with no sign of stopping. Ferguson Andrew Pg. 1A WTGST - Yellow Revisions (04/25/2013) 2 IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME: IN SLOW MO’ a RUNNER going on sheer determination leads five tacklers on a futile chase. He looks about sixteen.. CONCORD CALIFORNIA’S DE LE SALLE HIGH SPARTANS As the RUNNER scores and the CROWD NOISE crescendos - 150 GAMES AND COUNTING - SNAP TO SILENCE. CUT TO: 2 AN EMPTY FRAME 2 RISING INTO VIEW - A WORN 3X5 INDEX CARD: “WEEK 13 COMMITMENT CARD.” DANNY (V.O.) I have Chris’ card. Training commitment was 10 extra tire drags after practice everyday this week. Done. Practice commitment: 100% ball security and pick up blitzing Sam linebacker on passing situations, did that too. Game goal is two running touchdowns. 3 EXT. DLS PARENT’S BACKYARD -Ferguson SAME 3 FIFTY PLAYERS and COACHES sit in folding chairs in a parents’ backyard. A team meeting in progress. ANGLE - VARIOUS PLAYERS: FACES, HANDS, CARDS, and... BOB LADOUCEUR - HEAD COACH. BOB AndrewI think you oughta’ add a pass catching score in there too, Chris. Their middle linebacker’s gonna be covering you most of the time and you have way more speed than him. CHRIS takes his card back from DANNY and makes the adjustment. MANNY GONZALES, QB, stands up. MANNY I have Joshua’s card. Training goal - five extra gassers everyday. Done but it wasn’t pretty. (laughs around the room) ) Practice commitment - all perfect snaps in shotgun formation. (MORE) Pg. 2 WTGST - Pink Revisions (04/23/2013) 3 MANNY (CONT'D) Almost, just missed one yesterday, game goal - no sacks by their nose guard - a goal which I highly support. TERRENCE ‘TK’ KELLY stands. At 18 he’s a beautiful kid with the God-given body of an elite athlete. TK I have Cam’s card. Training goal was 15 extra gassers after practice everyday. Looks around the room - 15 - Whoa, that’s a lot! ANGLE - CAM COLVIN, 18, wide-out. A tall, thoughtful kid. TK (CONT’D) Done. Practice goal was to catch every ball he touches. Perfect. Game goal is 200 yards receiving, two touchdowns and average 15 yards after every catch. BOB Juniors - did you hear that. That is a perfect commitment card. Big goals that stretch his abilities but are do- able when giving a perfect effort. Go get those Cam. 4 MONTAGE - OTHER PLAYERS READINGFerguson CARDS 4 PLAYER 1 Keep my pad level low- PLAYER 2 Perfect first step off the snap- PLAYER 3 AndrewPlay through the whistle on every play- PLAYER 4 Perfect seal block on the 32 Veer- PLAYER 5 No missed tackles. 5 END MONTAGE - SAME SCENE - LATER 5 BOB paces thoughtfully. Talking more to the grass than anyone else. BOB This program’s a lot of things. It’s not just a football team or a win streak machine. It’s a family. (MORE) Pg. 3 WTGST - Yellow Revisions (04/25/2013) 4 BOB (CONT'D) In good times and bad, we have each other’s backs. Bob raises his vivid eyes and stares at Cam. BOB (CONT’D) All I am sure of is that adversity is inevitable. In 19 hours we suit up for our 12th straight championship. The game is long, over 100 plays. We’re not asking you to be perfect on every one. What we’re asking of you and what you should be asking of each other is to give a perfect effort, on every play from snap to whistle. If there's anything anyone wants to say, now’s your shot. Bob walks to the back corner of the yard joining the rest of the coaches there. The team is quiet, until TK rises. TK In my four years here I have played a lot of games but none is more important to me that tomorrow’s, my last game. I love you guys. We always say finish strong. I’m playing this game for Cam’s mom who loves this team almost as much as Cam does. TK hugs Cam, sits. MANNY GONZALESFergusonrises. MANNY I know I’m not supposed to say this, let alone think it. But this streak is our legacy. We will never experience anything like this again in our lives. You are all my family but after tomorrow night, it will never be like this again. I’ll never forget my time Andrewon this team or any of you. I love all of you. Spartans for life. 6 MONTAGE - SAME SCENE - OTHER SENIORS SPEAKING 6 SENIOR 1 My grandfather has cancer. Everyday he waits for me to come back from practice and tell him how I did. SENIOR 2 I learned so much from playing on this team, my mom and dad say that I’m twice the kid since I became a Spartan. Pg. 4 WTGST - Tan Revisions (06/03/2013) 5 SENIOR 3 The best years of my life. Not sure what I’m going to do without you guys in my life everyday. 7 END MONTAGE - SAME - LATER 7 Somber quiet. Bob and the coaches wait - anyone else going to speak? Silence. BOB says low to TERRY: TERRY Not one junior shared his emotions, just seniors. BOB studies the tight-lipped JUNIORS. BOB I know. CAM When y'all talk 'bout us being a family... Just make sure you mean it. 'Cause I do. And right now, you damn near the only family I got left. CAM holds a look with BOB. 8 EXT. ‘03 CHAMPIONSHIP - OAKLAND MUNICIPAL STADIUM - NIGHT 8 * HIGH, WIDE SHOT - The BIG CROWD buzzing for both teams. CLOSE SHOTS - Bands play. CheerleadersFerguson chant. A huge “STREAK” banner snaps in the wind. 9 INT. TUNNEL LEADING TO FIELD - NIGHT 9 BOB and TERRY walking in an outside corridor towards the field. The din of the stadium is distant here. Out of nowhere, a veteran local reporter, MARTY, ambushes them. TERRY Andrewscowls. TERRY Marty, what do you live under the stadium? MARTY shoves past TERRY to get to BOB who just looks weary. MARTY Bob, 25 years coaching this team, favored to win your 12th straight championship. 150 wins. How d’ya pull it off, undefeated year after year? BOB Winning a lot of football games is doable. Teachin' kids there's more to life - that's hard. Pg. 5 WTGST - Tan Revisions (06/03/2013) 6 MARTY You said that back when you won fifty games. Come on, Bob, you’ve turned this team into a winning machine. How long can you keep the streak alive. BOB The Streak was never our goal. MARTY Yeah, then why you keep winning??? As MARTY’S voice echo’s off, two by two the Spartan’s pass, hand in hand. 10 EXT. ‘03 CHAMPIONSHIP - OAKLAND MUNICIPAL STADIUM - NIGHT 10 * Excitement builds in the restless crowd. Among them, a pretty woman in her 40’s, BEV LADOUCEUR, is settling in when her son MICHAEL, 13, pops up and blasts his TRUMPET. The older guy in front of him gets it straight in one ear.