BATTLE OF THE YEAR by Chris Parker Labrousse SCREEN GEMS CONTRAFILM Stephane 9.8.11 PLEASE NOTE: Dance sequences will be in italics Interstitials from PLANET B-BOY documentary will be in bold. OVER BLACK: Driving bass music. Follow that beat... FADE IN: 1 INT. GERMAN ARENA -- NIGHT 1 * A giant Sony plasma behind stage reads: BRAUN BATTLE OF THE YEAR. We see a crew of JAPANESE B-BOYS, MORTAL KOMBAT, attack the * stage... Super: BATTLE OF THE YEAR TOURNAMENT 2010. BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY PAN across to their KOREAN OPPONENTS, JINJO, unleashing a * Herculean response that bitch-slaps anything we’ve ever seen before. The Koreans are to b-boying what Russians were once to the Olympics, a potent, organized, fearless machine-- the best. PULL BACK TO REVEAL we’re no longer in Germany, but watching the frozen image on a plasma screenLabrousse at... 2 INT. BOARD ROOM - D-ENTERTAINMENT, INC. - LOS ANGELES - DAY 2 * Palatial. Walls of platinum records, movie posters, and urban pop art. Hip Hop’s equivalent to the Oval office. DANTE That right there... that’s a disgrace. The stylish man at the head of the conference table turns from the monitor to face a roomful of his EXECUTIVES. Meet DANTE, legendary hip hop mogul and charismatic captain of industry.Stephane He commands your respect. DANTE (gestures to the screen) We should be on that stage. We should own that stage! Goddamnit, we invented b-boying... TALL HIP HOP EXEC D, I’ve seen our crew, they’re doing great... 2. CRAZY-HAIRED HIP HOP EXEC We’ve got a good chance to medal-- DANTE You’re not hearing me! To hell with chances, I want results! Everything you see here was borne out of b-boying-- the record labels, production studios, clothing lines, b-boying, b-boying, b-boying-- I built a billion dollar industry out of that flavor. Our crews have been getting punished-- but that’s all gonna change. Tell ‘em... He nods to a BALD EXECUTIVE, who looks up from a blackberry. BALD HIP HOP EXECUTIVE D’s breaking new ground... DANTE (too excited to let him finish) That’s right. We’re gonna do something that’s never been done before. We’re gonna hire a coach. Tighten this up, get back to the roots, the grind, the essence of the culture, you feelingLabrousse me?! BAM! He slams a palm on the table for dramatic effect. The executives take this in. Up until this moment, there’s never been such a thing as a b-boy coach. But the mogul’s raw energy is infectious. HIP HOP EXEC So who’s going to coach the crew, D? Off his cat that swallowed the canary smile. Stephane CUT TO: 3 EXT. HAWTHORNE BLVD - SOUTH CENTRAL - NIGHT 3 * A row of rundown tenements rise above a rusty chain-linked playground. A couple drunks on a stoop argue about nothing. A black Escalade pulls to the curb. Doors open. Out step two beefy bodyguards followed by Dante. Recognizing the legend, the stunned bums react, shouting over each other. 3. THIN BUM HEADBAND BUM ** Oh, shit, you Dante! Check it, I got sick rhymes! ** CUT TO: 4 INT. SECOND FLOOR APARTMENT - SAME 4 * An outdated television tuned to ESPN. Snowy reception. KNOCK-KNOCK. Someone at the door. But no one answers. Dirty clothes, empty food boxes, unpaid bills, and booze bottles. Amid the mess, however, hundreds of books piled high. The apartment’s conflicted setting is a reflection of the tenant. On the couch, lies JASON BLAKE dressed only in boxers. Hasn’t shaved or showered in far too long. He pours gin into a 7-11 cup. Colorful tattoos run down his steel cable arms. But it’s his eyes that stop us, bloodshot, dull and empty. BZZZ-BZZZ-BZZZ! Blake is either deaf, or doesn’t give a damn. And he’s not deaf. KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK...! Surly and annoyed, Blake inches back his blind to spy the doorbell ringing asshole. To his surprise, Dante’s face is spying directly back at him. Two massive bodyguards in tow. BLAKE ...Dante? Labrousse DANTE (THROUGH THE GLASS) I guess your maid don’t do windows-- BLAKE What the hell you doing here, man? DANTE (THROUGH THE GLASS) You won’t return my calls, bitch! BLAKE Yeah, I been busy lately-- StephaneDANTE (THROUGH THE GLASS) Open the door, man, I’m not talking through this nasty-ass glass like this is a prison visit! ON THE DOOR OPENING - MOMENTS LATER Dante nods to Blake. The two old friends from divergent worlds and tax brackets stare at each other for a moment. Pulling Blake into a quick embrace, Dante regards the place. 4. DANTE Guess she don’t do floors either. Blake blocks the threshold, not allowing Dante inside. DANTE You look like shit-- BLAKE If you came here to sweat me, D, you and the gorilla twins can turn around, ‘cause- DANTE Relax, I’m here to make a proposition. (off Blake’s baffled look) I might be outta my goddamn mind, but I want to get WB back in the game. Scratching his scraggly beard, Blake huffs a boozy laugh. BLAKE It’s just Blake now. DANTE You gonna let me in or what? 5 ON BLAKE - SHORT WHILE LATER Labrousse 5 * From the couch, Blake watches Dante attempt to insert a disc into his archaic DVD player. The play button keeps sticking. DANTE Does this old thing still work? BLAKE Sometimes. If you bang her right. (confused, irritated) What-what the hell is all this, man? StephaneDANTE You’ll see, just watch-- Dante BANG-BANGS the DVD machine. Got it. A snowy image of Battle of the Year 2010 brightens Blake’s depressing living room. DANTE This is last year, Japan versus Korea. Blake’s gaze narrows on the Korean crew. He’s impressed. 5. BLAKE Those are some righteous ass Koreans. DANTE World champs. * BLAKE From Korea? DANTE It’s not like when we were b- boying. This shit blew up, WB, it’s global. In fifteen years, not one U.S. crew has even medaled. Nearly two damn decades of American humiliation and degradation-- BLAKE Well, somebody got a dictionary for Christmas. DANTE The Battle of The Year is coming up. (off Blake’s shrug) And I’m sponsoring the U.S. crew-- BLAKE What’s any of this got to do with me? Labrousse DANTE I’m getting to that part. The crew I got, L.A.’s Finest, they could take us back topside, they could... BLAKE (off Dante’s long pause) What? DANTE With you. BLAKE StephaneMe? DANTE I want you to coach my crew. BLAKE What are you talking about? A b-boy coach? That’s crazy... DANTE I’m willing to pay good money to prove it’s not... 6. Dante lays down a one page contract on Blake’s table. DANTE The Freestyle Sessions are next month. Prepare my crew to battle. BLAKE D, I left that game a long time ago- - DANTE You didn’t leave shit. You just changed the venue. Coaching’s coaching. Whether it’s ballers or b-boys. And you were the best I ever saw. BLAKE Yeah, well, I’m not that guy anymore-- DANTE Come eyeball my crew. You don’t like what you see, fine, you walk, no pressure. BLAKE You don’t want me, D, I can’t even get my own shit straight-- DANTE Labrousse This is your chance. Look, I’m not gonna pretend I know what it’s like to lose your whole world in one night ‘cause I don’t. But whatever that thing is you had inside, WB, that gift, that need to win, that’s still in there somewhere. Guy’s like you, you don’t ever lose that. Above the TV, Dante picks up a framed photo that’s been turned face down. A picture of Blake his wife and son. Dante sets the photo back upright. So Blake can’t escape it... DANTE StephaneThink Lori and Sean would wanna see you like this-- BLAKE (furious) Don’t bring them into this, asshole- - DANTE Somebody has to! Get yourself together, WB, you had trajectory- 7. BLAKE Well, life had other plans, didn’t it?! DANTE That’s just the shit that frightened people say. BLAKE (opens the door) We’re done here. Been good seeing ya, D- DANTE Know what, man, I was wrong. This was a prison visit. (re: the apartment) And you’ve made this your cell. Dante joins his bodyguards outside. Turns back to Blake. DANTE The only reason you and I took separate roads is ‘cause I started opening doors and you started closing ‘em-- SLAM. Blake shuts the door before Dante can finish. SERIES OF TIME LAPSES OF BLAKELabrousse OVER THE NIGHT Blake moves about the apartment. The ex-coach continues drinking as he walks past the frozen video image on his grainy TV. There’s a strange vibe going on. The video is a proverbial elephant in the room. Somehow, it’s taunting him, but he never attempts to unfreeze it or shut it down. He simply gives it passing glances. Gaze lifting up and down between the battle image and the photo of his wife and son. TIME LAPSE to Blake lying in a stupor on his bed. Can’t sleep. Hears the neighbors arguing through his thin walls. BLAKE (banging the wall) StephaneSHUT THE HELL UP, DAVENPORT! This only makes them SHOUT back at Blake through the walls. Burning with anger, Blake blares the music on his clock- radio.