I guess the secret is out, The Havenots is not the first screenplay any of us here have written. However, getting back into the swing of things helped me dig in the crates and skim through many screenplay’s past sitting in the hard drive (yes, as much as the image one would like to conjure as a writer is that of one surrounded by reams of paper, its also not the 1900’s anymore either). Many of these attempts to write what one random night was a great idea (while intoxicated probably), perhaps never quite made it, got abandoned 50 pages in, or never got that rewrite.
Some of them might be worth a revision now. I dug up a screenplay I wrote not too long ago called Small Town Stars and found a past logline/synopsis and even notes from a couple of contests that were entered with it. The screenplay managed to make the quarterfinals where it was entered which was not bad for something I felt needed a bit more polishing, but wanted to get feedback on. It certainly isn’t as polished as the Havenots, but definately worth opening the file and making some edits. And seeing it in the files sort of reminded me of The Havenots, as its a very middle of anywhere city plot where futures look far from bright.
The plot focuses on a couple of students who dream of making movies one day, but all they see are the grim stories within their own town. But they start to lose track of what’s fictional and whats real? Surrounded by dead end life in a dead beat middle American town, two teenagers (Ferdinand and Charlie) use their love for film as a ticket for their escape. But with scars from the past and the town they are in, sometimes it is hard to escape. Golden opportunities in life become downward spirals, as Ferdinand’s life becomes connected to incidents that happened a generation prior.
With knowledge starting to build of what is going on in the movie scenes, Ferdinand becomes a grown man behind the lens, but also realizes he has no way out. As a result, there’s only one way to go from here. If he can’t beat them, join them. Sort of a dark thriller/drama perhaps.
