CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE HIDDEN GIFTS A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Screenwriting By Sean Flaherty May 2010 The thesis of Sean Flaherty is approved: Eric Edson Date Thomas McWilliams Date Date California State University, Northridge 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE 11 ABSTRACT lV Hidden Gifts 1 111 ABSTRACT PREMISE FOR HIDDEN GIFTS By Sean Flaherty Master of Arts in Screenwriting Hidden Gifts is a detective thriller about Yolanda Martinez, an angry young obituary writer with deep psychological wounds, who, upon being released from a bizarre "experiment", wants to find and bring to justice the man responsible for her ordeal. Dismissed by the authorities, Yolanda has no way to pursue this end, until her former captor returns her journal of the experiment in order for her to "write her story." Yolanda, however, chooses to locate her fellow ex-captives for help in her quest, which seems increasingly impossible because they prove unable if not unwilling to provide her with assistance. Yolanda's desperation grows when she discovers not only that the experiment's mastermind is a rogue CIA agent but that his experiment with Yolanda was merely a trial run for an experiment involving the country's top political and business leaders. We will know that Yolanda has succeeded when she finally meets the CIA man again, understands him, and even tries to protect him from the authorities, just before his corrupt superior has him shot to death. lV FADE JN: MOUNTAINS. FOREST. THE WILDERNESS OF THE AMERICAN WEST. EXT. FOREST CLEARING- DAY SHUDDERING, a top-heavy OAK TREE is about to break in two, its survival extended only by a taut, dew-beaded SPIDERWEB that ties it to an aspen. A MOTH flits in - scattering dewdrops, SNAPPJNG the web - and the oak TOPPLES in a wrenching crash. · Stillness - then from the dangling web the moth breaks free to flutter into the clearing by a DUFFEL BAG that hangs safe from bears on a ROPE tossed high over a pine branch. At the clearing's far edge, the moth is swallowed by FOG that encroaches on a TRAIL MARKER - usually three stones stacked large to small. Here, a BRIGHTLY WRAPPED PRESENT replaces the middle stone. By the toppled oak, TEN TREKKERS, all dressed in red alpine jackets and pants, tramp into the clear. As they shed yellow backpacks, we see that the group - six men, four women - represents American races and ethnicities aged 25 to 65 - a diorama of active adults from all over the U.S. socio-economic spectrum. Standing apart, YOLANDA MARTJNEZ, 27, a grim Hispanic, and "JAN OLSEN", 65, a self-possessed WHITE-ANGLO-SAXON-PROTESTANT, absorb their new campsite. On weary auto-pilot, the others start unpacking tents and cooking gear, when an ample AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN spots the duffel bag and lets her voice boom like song. BLACK WOMAN Fresh me-e-e-e-e-at! An effeminate ASIAN-AMERICAN MAN sees it too. ASIAN-AMERICAN MAN Fruit and veggies! 1 Yolanda and Jan watch the cheery pair go to lower the bag while a bookish AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN and a striking BLONDE, not cheery, walk over to receive it. Yolanda then studies BRAD, an early-30s white man. Clearly off, Brad compulsively hums a JINGLE and checks something cupped in his hand while searching the fog - for the present. FROM THE DUFFEL BAG the blonde pulls out a laminated square of topographical MAP. For her and the man beside her, deliverance from deprivation is long overdue. Both are pissy. BLONDE Our last map. BLACKMAN Two gifts and three days to go. BLONDE If the note's not lying. She then takes out a small KIT. BLONDE (CONT'D) What's this? Unzipping the kit, the African-American man stares at a syringe, a hypodermic needle, and an ampule of Darvocet. BLONDE (CONT'D) Doc? BLACKMAN A sedative. They regard each other wonderingly, when Brad, nearly hysterical, spots the present between the stones. BRAD There! Tension. Eight of the trekkers look where he points. But Yolanda's eyes meet Jan's, then turn to ROGER, a pinch-faced, mid-50s redhead, who drops his tent poles. 2 Brad starts to raise his voice but, seeing Jan, tones down. BRAD (CONT'D) The gift's over there, Jan. When Jan moves, the others converge on the present, their air routine but wary. Yolanda falls into step with Jan. YOLANDA (concerned) If it's not for Roger, it's for you. Jan nods. Brad removes the marker's TOP STONE - a crumbly, petrified waffie - and lets it THUD to the ground. BRAD (reading present's label) Finally, after a whole month ... Roger! Apprehensive silence. The group makes way for Roger. Brad, holds up a BLACK CAPSULE that he's been cradling in his hand. BRAD (CONT'D) And the Lord gave unto His chosen Roger a pair of holy tablets? Anti-sanctimony gel caps?! ROGER (with cynical dignity) I pray God love you all as much as I do. The trekkers exchange looks: fascination tempered by dread. Roger squats. He unwraps the box, revealing an old PHOTO ALBUM stamped "Grandma's Brag Book" and, underneath, SOMETIIlNG DARK AND SHINY. Jan and Yolanda watch as Roger, transfixed, fumbles with the album in his left hand, then takes into his right a 45-caliber POLICE SERVICE REVOLVER YOLANDA'S POV With hyper-intensity, she ZOOMS in on the gun, a sight that revives old trauma. BACK TO SCENE Roger peeks inside the album: the peek knocks him to his knees. Clutching, he 3 instead drops the album, which opens before everyone. Roger freezes: the album's pages tum, showing amateurish PHOTOS of Roger violating little boys who are blindfolded, bound, and gagged. Roger leaps up and waves the pistol at the shocked group. All.freak but Jan - and Yolanda, whose eyes tum inward. SMASH CUT TO: FLASHBACK Shit-storm central: the TERRIFIED, CRYING EYES of 10-year-old Yolanda stare at her FATHER, ERNIE MARTINEZ, late 30s, in his policeman uniform, desperately pointing his REVOLVER out of a living room window punctured by TWO BULLET HOLES. ANGLE OUT OF WINDOW SQUAD CARS fanned out in front of his house, Ernie is in a standoff with his police brethren. Air of extreme tension. Alone in a comer, the child reaches out to her daddy. YOLANDA Papa! Feeling the heat on them, Ernie shields himself with the wall. ERNIE (screaming angrily) Yolanda, get down! But the girl's too scared to budge. YOLANDA Papa! His eyes flick out the window, then back to Yolanda. ERNIE Down! BACK TO SCENE 4 Re-emerging with sudden icy fury, Yolanda breathes hard. In their fear, the trekkers raise their voices against Roger. GROUP Hold on! Don't, Roger! Put it down! Take it easy! etc. Beat. Then Jan closes the album with his foot, silencing all. His calm, authoritative manner compels attention. But Yolanda starts to SHAKE. JAN Good time to take a deep breath. Roger, what do you want to do? A 20s HISPANIC MAN makes the sign of the cross. HISPANIC MAN Take it easy, hue. What would Jesus do? Discarding all caution, Yolanda steps toward Roger, quaking. YOLANDA "Suffer the children to come unto" .. .you? She LUNGES at Roger. JAN Yolanda! Jan barely holds her back. But Yolanda froths in his arms, unable to stop. YOLANDA Fuck thy neighbor?! Roger, unraveling fast, aims straight into Yolanda's face two feet away. As Jan tries to immobilize Yolanda with a chokehold, Roger finds the pistol's safety: CLICK. ROGER "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." 5 JAN No stones, Roger. Your gift. What do you want to do? YOLANDA Do unto others - you fuck! As Roger YELLS and gropes for the trigger, Jan engulfs Yolanda. BAM. SCREAMS and EXPLOSIONS. Roger shoots at the Asian-American man and black woman. Stunned, Yolanda sees them likewise crumple to the ground. SMASH CUT TO: FLASHBACK BAM: a THIRD BLAST through the window, as SIRENS and RED LIGHTS rip the sunny suburban calm. The more Yolanda tries grabbing onto him, the more Ernie pushes her back toward the corner. YOLANDA (whimpering in Spanish) Papa, I'm afraid. OUTSIDE From a side angle, a COP glimpses father and daughter. COP Hold your fire! He's got a kid! Grasping nothing, Yolanda feels only her father holding her off. VOICE ON MEGAPHONE (O.C.) Ernie, come out. We can still protect you. Wild with desperation, Ernie's eyes flit constantly from Yolanda to the scene outside. ERNIE They wanna kill me. Turn you fuckers in! 6 COP (O.C.) (to someone approaching him) Where you going? He's got a kid! Yolanda looks up at her father as he holds her firmly at arm's length - but for her protection or his? ERNIE Gotta kid here! BACK TO SCENE Screaming. Jan, unharmed, rolls off of Yolanda and speedreads the spectacle. Yolanda, face down, moans. BLACKMAN Get him! More SHOTS as three trekkers tackle Roger. Jan stands. JAN They're blanks! He's shooting blanks! Lethim be! But a 40s ASIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN pins down Roger's pistol hand, the others taking his legs as the pedophile writhes savagely. The Asian-American man and black woman are amazed to find themselves unharmed. Hyperventilating, but unhurt, Yolanda lies face-down with her cheek in the dirt. YOLANDA'S POV Brad goes to pick up the waffle stone. Roger stops struggling to scream at the enclosing FOG. ROGER Who are you?! What do you want?! His words ECHO, cutting Yolanda to her core, then reverberate into an OCEAN-IN­ SEASHELL SOUND that mutes the scene and shifts it into SLOW-MOTION.