ANIMAL PEOPLE ‘PILOT’ by Chris Gilman [email protected] 908 447 5803 COLD OPEN OVER BLACK: SUPER: ”GRAPHIC WARNING: This video depicts unspeakable assaults upon the dignity inherent to all pigs.” ”The following footage was recorded during undercover investigations by the Nine Billion Ghost Front, an animal liberation group declaring war on speciesism.” These clips have LOWER-THIRDS: “Recorded Via Hidden Camera By NBG Investigators.” This is a PETA-esque exposé video edited by an iMovie amateur, scored with EERIE DRONE SOUNDS. INT. PASTURE - DAY CLIP 1: A pig sniffs around a field. SCIENTISTS and ARMY OFFICIALS (faces blurred) observe the pig from 100 yards back. SCIENTIST Effects of M320 Grenade launcher on adult Yorkshire pig. Test #74. A SOLDIER with a GRENADE LAUNCHER kneels, aims, FIRES. The pig looks up, tilting its head just as the grenade CONNECTS. The pig is OBLITERATED. The scientists jot notes on clipboards. SCIENTIST The M320 appears to have destroyed the pig. But would an infant pig also react by exploding? Hm. Further tests necessary. EXT. PETTING ZOO - DAY CLIP 2: A banner hangs from a fence, “PONDEROSA PETTING ZOO.” Nearby, a MOTHER holds a HYSTERICALLY CRYING little girl. The mother points at a PIG lying on its stomach behind the fence. MOTHER That pig was passive-aggressive to my child! How DARE you let my kid near an animal so quietly hostile? The pig SNORTS indifferently. The little girl WAILS. The mother SCREAMS in panic and shields her daughter. MOTHER Put that beast down! (MORE) 2. MOTHER (CONT’D) Before it silently judges someone else instead of being direct and honest! Bystanders TACKLE the pig. A man in a cowboy hat sprints over, aims a RIFLE at the pig, and FIRES. EXT. LUXURY APARTMENT - DAY CLIP 3: A food challenge YouTuber (think Epic Meal Time) stands at a table holding a PIG DEEP-FRIED WHOLE. We cut between the hidden camera on set and the finished video, in which crude ANIMATIONS show the meal preparation Garrett describes. GARRETT THE GLUTTON Sup fam! Today’s challenge is ‘The Family Reunion’: 3 generations of pigs, stuffed in their grandma, deep-fried, wrapped in bacon. TIME-LAPSE: Garrett GORGES on the pig. At one point, he vomits, but continues eating anyway. BACK TO NORMAL-SPEED FOOTAGE: Garrett’s half done. He’s covered in pork morsels. Then, a SQUEAL emits from inside the remains. GARRETT THE GLUTTON Damn, son! Baby pig still alive! (dabbing) Miracle dab! Miracle dab! FREEZE FRAME on the LIVE PIGLET Garrett frees from inside the fried monstrosity as his whole crew DABS behind him. SASHA (V.O.) A 2 week-old pig can recognize and respond to its name. Pigs are social, affectionate animals, who perform higher on cognitive tests than dogs, apes, and 3 year-old humans. Pigs have souls. Do we? SLOW-MOTION FOOTAGE: pigs frolicking in mud, eating, humping. SASHA (V.O.) Why did the lives of such beautiful, innocent animals end like this? The answer can be found where their lives began. LOGO for POWELL FAMILY PORKABILIA AND VISCERA MISCELLANY: a row of pigs in human clothes. One dressed like a CHEF. 3. One a SCIENTIST. One a FASHIONISTA. A FARMER PIG has a speech bubble: “All-purpose pigs, from an all-natural farm!” SASHA (V.O.) Powell Family Porkabilia. Once a small-scale operation, the Powell Farm has since industrialized to stay competitive. SERIES OF PHOTOS: the Powell property goes from a quaint farm to a massive complex over time. A RED BARN is replaced by GRAY INDUSTRIAL SHEDS. A pick-up truck holding a few pigs and hay becomes a line of 18-WHEELERS. AERIAL FOOTAGE: a BROWN LAKE on the farm. TEXT: “OPEN-AIR MANURE LAGOON. 3 MILLION GALLONS OF UNTREATED PIG WASTE.” SASHA (V.O.) Each year, 30,000 Powell pigs are bred and sold for a variety of purposes. Research. Entertainment. Fashion. And of course, meat. A Powell truck drives onto a slaughterhouse property past a sign marked “MEAT CENTURY PROCESSING CENTER”. PHOTOS: the glossy corporate HQ of MEAT CENTURY FOODS. A slew of meat products with its logo: an American flag made of meat. SASHA (V.O.) As the Powell Farm scaled up, they entered a contract with Meat Century Foods, the largest meat producer in North America. Meat Century pressures their suppliers to cut corners and engage in abusive practices to shrink costs, and grow revenue. At Meat Century, pork is cheap and life is cheaper. The next clips have lower-thirds “INSIDE A MEAT CENTURY FARM”: -A pig stands on its hind legs with a large black cloth over its head, Abu Ghraib-style. -A filthy shed over-crowded with pigs. A WITCH stands among them, casting a curse on one in a mystery language. SUBTITLES: “Pig by day, ogre by night, I hex you with all my might!” -A FARM WORKER looks around to make sure no one’s watching before he flips off a pig and sprints away. 4. INT. RUNDOWN CABIN - DAY That last clip of the Farm Worker running plays in iMovie on a LAPTOP. A MAN IN A BALACLAVA sits in a DIMLY LIT CABIN, editing that clip into the very video we’ve just been watching. We continue to hear the VOICEOVER/AUDIO from the video. SASHA (V.O.) How much suffering must Powell pigs endure to boost profit margins? How many more must die? A MASKED WOMAN makes MOLOTOV COCKTAILS at a nearby table. SASHA (V.O.) This moral atrocity cannot stand. We are prepared to take direct action to stop it. Who are we? EXT. POWELL FARM - DAY A WHITE VAN with TINTED WINDOWS rolls to a stop across the street from the POWELL FARM. The van’s side is labeled “UNION COUNTY SENIOR SERVICES”, complete with a handicap sign. SASHA (V.O.) By day, we are your family, your friends, your co-workers. INT. VAN - DAY A MASKED MAN in the NBG van notes the cars entering/exiting the Powell Farm property. With a ZOOM LENS CAMERA, he photographs license plates and farm workers. He’s casing the farm. EXT. CABIN - NIGHT SIX MASKED FIGURES stand around a bonfire. This is the NBG. SASHA (V.O.) By night, we fight for the 9 billion animals slaughtered on factory farms every year. We are the Nine Billion Ghost Front, and we are bringing the revolution to Powell Porkabilia. A FLYER for POWELL FAMILY PORKABILIA burns in the flames. END OF COLD OPEN 5. ACT 1 EXT. POWELL FARM - SUNRISE The sun rises over the hog farm. In a field adjacent to the pig sheds, SPRINKLERS with hoses leading to the MANURE LAGOON spray out LIQUID MANURE, fertilizing crops. It’s a beautiful day. The white NBG van rolls to a halt on the county road across from the farm. The van’s door slides open. A BLACK GLOVED HAND holding a SMALL CAMERA DRONE extends out. The camera drone takes flight. The van door slides shut. CUT TO: aerial drone footage of the farm as it surveils the property from above. EXT. POWELL HOUSE - SUNRISE At the center of the property is the POWELL HOME, a southern farmhouse. A second story window SLAMS OPEN. HAMILTON POWELL (20, incel: neckbeard, fedora, overweight, fingerless gloves), leans out, squints, and SNIFFS the morning air. HAMILTON Oh my GOD! It stinks like crap out here! Disgusting! He SLAMS the window shut, just before the drone zooms by. INT. POWELL FARM PIG SHED - MORNING IRWINA POWELL (13, buckteeth, pigtails) reaches her arms inside a PREGNANT SOW up to her shoulders, helping it give birth. IRWINA Babies kicking, daddy! JUG POWELL JR. (think bumpkin Josh Brolin) beams with pride as he guides Irwina. JUG JR. Good Irwina, real good! Now, grab one by the leg, and gently- The sow SQUEALS and TAKES OFF running towards the pig shed’s exit door. Irwina, her arms still stuck inside the sow, is dragged by the pig down the shed’s walkway and outside. IRWINA Wee! 6. EXT. POWELL FARM - MORNING The sow/Irwina dart in front of a pick-up truck driven by CASSARELLE POWELL (think Paula Deen) and knock over a sack- carrying farmhand. The truck bed is full of CORN. CASSARELLE You show them boys how it’s done, babygirl! Jug Jr. exits the shed and blows Cass a kiss. She catches it. CASSARELLE Taking a load to the farmer’s market. Supper’s at 6, y’hear? INT. POWELL HOUSE - DAY JUG POWELL SR. (70s, think Sam Elliot of the pig pen) pours over BINDERS AND LEDGERS in a cluttered home office. He keys a numbers into a PRINTING CALCULATOR, then buries his head in his hands seeing the results. He swigs whiskey from a tumbler. JUG SR. is startled out of his depressed stupor by the sow/ Irwina flying past the office window with a SQUEAL. As he peers outside, GIBLETTE POWELL (3, packs as much attitude as she does baby fat) pops into the window frame from outside. GIBLETTE All done granma. You pay me now. JUG SR. Done, huh? How many were there? EXT. POWELL FARM LOADING DOCK - DAY Seven dead piglets lie in a neat row next to a truck labeled “RENDERING PLANT” on its side. Gibby tugs Jug Sr.’s overalls as she proudly counts them out-loud. Jug Sr. shakes his head. GIBLETTE Seben! Okay, you pay me. JUG SR. You right, Giblette. 7 babies did not make it through the night. Jug Sr. fishes CHICKEN NUGGETS out his pocket for Gibby. She giddily accepts them and marches away, savoring her ‘payment’.