Copyright (c) 1988 March 1, 1988 ABOVE THE LINE An Original Screenplay By Josh Becker Story By Josh Becker & Rick Sandford INT. LIVING ROOM - BLACK & WHITE - NIGHT We are in an old movie from the 1940s. A handsome male ACTOR and a beautiful blonde siren named SHEREE are doing a dramatic scene in a living room. SHEREE I'm telling you, after work he stops for a drink every night in the same bar, then takes the same route home. ACTOR And you'd bet your life on that? SHEREE I am betting my life on it. The Actor nods thoughtfully, then exits the living room. Sheree sits down on the couch and crosses her lovely long legs. Suddenly, Sheree gets an odd look on her face, then slowly turns and looks directly into the lens . . . INT. MOVIE THEATER - DAY Sitting all by himself in the front row center seat of a large old movie theater is AARON BROOKS, a handsome 29-year old man with dark curly hair. He is watching the movie and is slightly taken aback as Sheree in the movie seems to be looking directly at him. Sheree looks back toward the other room where the Actor just disappeared, then returns to looking right into the lens. She grins. Aaron grins. Sheree stands up from the couch, straightens her skirt and stockings, then walks forward, toward the lens. Suddenly, Sheree steps out of the screen and is actually standing on the stage in the theater, but she's still in black & white. Aaron is amazed at the special effects. She really seems to be there. Sheree steps forward, hikes up her skirt and seats herself on Aaron's lap, her arms around his neck. She pulls his head forward and gives him a long, luscious kiss. As Aaron's hands slide up Sheree's back and begin unzipping her dress. Sheree's hand slides down to Aaron's crotch and . . . ...Aaron groans and has his orgasm. His eyes slowly open as he turns and realizes... INT. AUTOMOBILE - DAY ...that he is in the front seat of a car bumping down a patch of bad road. Aaron gasps and coughs as he realizes that the driver is a bored-looking middle-aged MAN, seemingly oblivious to his wet dream. Aaron glances down at his crotch. AARON (hesitantly) Uh... Could we pull over at a gas station? The man doesn't look over. MAN Sure. Aaron looks out the window, blinks several times and shakes his head. DISSOLVE: EXT. RURAL COUNTRY ROAD - DAY Aaron walks up the road with his backpack on. Green rolling hills surround him. He passes a sign that says, "MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE." The sign is full of buckshot holes. Looming up from behind a hill is the parapet of a castle! Aaron's eyes light up. Soon the entire enormous stone castle is visible rising fifty feet into the air. It is three hundred feet wide. As Aaron comes up to the castle he sees that it is just a facade, a flat, with wooden supports. A carpentry crew is pounding nails into the back securing it in place. Aaron sees a tall, blond-haired fellow, just wearing shorts, barking orders to everyone with an Australian accent. He also sees a gorgeous, dark-haired girl in tight silk shorts listening to the orders. She turns to a another girl, a strangely scowling, very pretty blonde and says something. They all go back to work. As Aaron banks the next hill he sees a twenty foot crane glide past with a gold Chevy Impala swinging from the end of it. And then Aaron comes upon an entire motion picture FILM CREW -- lights, trucks, lots of people, confusion. Aaron walks right into the center of it. A thin, tall kid wearing shorts and a utility belt with a walkie-talkie steps up to Aaron. He is a production assistant, or P.A. P.A. Can I help you? AARON No thanks. Aaron walks right past him. The P.A. steps back into Aaron's path. P.A. Need some help? AARON Nope. P.A. You can't go this way. AARON Oh yes I can. Aaron walks right past the kid again and up to where the shooting is going on. There are thirty people, all in shorts, crowded around four cameras. At the center of everything is the crane with the Impala swinging from the end. The director, BEN STONE, a swirling mass of energy with unruly hair and a viewfinder around his neck, runs all over the place. The production manager, ACE, a big guy with a pot belly and a baseball cap, spots Aaron. ACE Bubbles. What're you doing here? AARON My big part's coming up. (Ace puts his arm around Aaron's shoulders) How's it going? The P.A. skulks away. ACE Like shit. We're behind schedule and over budget. AARON So what else is new? ACE We're almost done. It's the only thing that keeps me from quitting. AARON Yeah? Bullshit. You'll never quit. ACE Ain't that the truth. (something catches his attention) What the fuck're you doin' there? Ace runs off. Aaron sneaks up behind Ben. He taps him on the opposite shoulder so he'll turn the wrong way. Ben doesn't turn at all. Aaron rolls his eyes. AARON Ben. Ben turns and looks at Aaron and takes a second to recognize him. BEN Pal. AARON No, not pal. Aaron. Remember, we've known each other since we were little kids. BEN Yes, I know that. I'm just busy. What was your name again? Just kidding. Aaron, you made it. AARON I couldn't miss my big part, could I? BEN No way. What part are you playing, by the way? AARON Knight Number Three. BEN (nods) Right. That's a good part. AARON No dialog. BEN You don't need dialog to bring that part to life. It's you. (stands; shouting) Everybody ready? A chorus of "readys" and "yeahs" come back. BEN Okay. Roll cameras. All four camera operators reply... CAMERAMEN Rolling. BEN One, two, three, ACTION! The crane operator hits a switch, a charge on the cable holding the Chevy Impala explodes and the car drops twenty feet. It lands in the dirt with a crunching thud. Dust rises up around it. BEN (shouting) Cut! Perfect. That's a wrap for the day. I'm going to have a script conference with the author of this despicable piece of trash. We'll be at the hotel. (Ben puts his arm around Aaron) Come on, pal. Let's go talk. Aaron and Ben get into a car and drive away. The P.A. turns to the gorgeous dark-haired girl in the silk shorts. P. A. How am I supposed to know he's the damn writer? He looks like a bum. The pretty dark-haired girl watches the car go. INT. BEN'S CAR - DUSK Ben offers Aaron a cigarette. They both light up. BEN So, what've you been up to? AARON I've been hitch-hiking for the last four days. BEN Why didn't you fly, or take the bus? AARON I couldn't afford it. BEN What about what you got paid for the script? AARON Ben, that was only twenty-five hundred dollars and it was six months ago. I spent it. BEN Haven't you made any money since then? AARON Yeah, I got a thousand bucks for a rewrite. That's it. And that's long gone, too. BEN What's with all this writing anyway? I thought you were a director. AARON (adamant) I am, I think. That's all I've wanted my whole life. I'm just trying to use the writing as a route into directing. BEN Why don't you put the money together independently like we did? AARON For which script? I've got that African mercenary one, but it can't be done for less then three million. BEN (shakes his head) Naw, that's too much, it's the wrong script. Get another idea. AARON I know, I know. That's part of the reason why I'm hitch-hiking around the country -- I need a new idea. BEN Why don't you write another horror movie? AARON (desperately) I just wrote one. I need something new to do. Something real. Something I can believe in and get behind. Something I can attach myself to as director. BEN Horror movies sell. Particularly scary ones. AARON I know. The only script I've ever sold is a horror script. BEN And I bought it. AARON Right. It pays to have friends in the business. You just need to make more movies. BEN And hire you as director? You're going to be waiting a long time. Take my advice, write another horror movie. AARON (frowns) I'll think about it. BEN Seeing any chicks? AARON (sighs) Girls in L.A. are weird. They're basically just unfriendly. I can't figure it out. BEN What's to figure out, you haven't got any money. Besides, you're in Tennessee now. Here you're a big-shot Hollywood movie- maker. AARON (lights up) Yeah, that's right. BEN You bet that's right. EXT. LINCOLN MOTEL - NIGHT The Lincoln Motel is an average roadside hostelry with two floors facing in toward a swimming pool. As Aaron and Ben walk through the motel they see many crew members with "The Dead Don't Die" t-shirts, tans, work gloves, wind-blown hair and all talking and animated. Ben stops at a motel room door, and knocks. BEN Let's see what the producer's up to? VOICE (from inside) Come in. INT. TOM'S MOTEL ROOM Ben and Aaron enter. They find TOM KIDD, thirty-three years old with red hair, sitting at a desk covered with papers. He is staring down at one of them. AARON Hiya, Tom. TOM (looking up) Aaron. What brings you down here? AARON My big part's tomorrow. TOM Oh, yeah. Mine, too. BEN Me, too. We're all going to be in the scene together -- the producer, the writer and the director. AARON (to Tom) So? What're you doing? Tom lifts a sheet of paper. TOM This is the cast and crew list. They're all bad people and I'm thinking of bad things to do to them. AARON (smiling) Do I fall into that category? TOM Yes. But you already screwed me. These people are screwing me now. A contingent of the crew came to me yesterday and said that morale is low. I said, if you want morale they should go join the army. AARON That's very understanding of you, Tom. TOM I thought so. And another thing. You can't trust any southerners. They'll all stab you in the back. AARON Well, I'm glad to see things are going well. TOM As well as can be expected. A really dynamite blonde girl steps into the room. It is SHEREE. Aaron's eyes widen in shock. It's the same girl that was in his wet dream. BEN Aaron, this is Sheree. She's the star. This is Aaron, he's the writer. Sheree and Aaron shake hands and smiles at each other. AARON Hi. SHEREE Hi. (to Tom) I need to talk to you. BEN We were just leaving. AARON (to Sheree) It was nice meeting you, Sheree. SHEREE And you. Aaron and Ben leave. EXT. LINCOLN MOTEL - NIGHT Aaron and Ben walk to the bar. AARON I had a dream with her in it. BEN I've had a few myself. EXT. GRAVEL PIT - DAY Mayhem. Horses rearing. Dust. One hundred knights in full armor and chain mail carrying broadswords and shields are running around. Twenty horses gallop past them. In front of this pandemonium is the film crew. They are in a huge dusty gravel pit. The castle flat is visible in the distance. The action reaches a crescendo and... An ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (A.D.) speaks through a megaphone. A.D. Cut! Ben lifts his visor, which has a one inch slot to see out of, and waddles over to the camera in his armor. The camera is on a crane. BEN How did it look? The CAMERA OPERATOR shrugs. CAMERA OPERATOR It looked like mayhem. BEN That's what we want. CAMERA OPERATOR That's what you got. BEN Good. Let's do it again. Aaron and Tom have their visors up. They are both in full armor, too. They are gasping for air and blinking back sweat. A.D. (through megaphone) Back to one. All of the actors and horses turn around and walk back to where they started. AARON I'm dying in here. I've never been this hot in my whole life. And my mom won't even know it's me. TOM But we will, and that's what counts. Anyway, tomorrow'll be better. AARON (skeptical) Oh yeah? Why? TOM Because at least you'll know what you're in for. EXT. GRAVEL PIT - DAY Lunch is served in a big open army tent (like in "M*A*S*H"). Flies swarm everywhere. It's blazing hot. Aaron waddles over to a shady spot beside a bus in his armor, his helmet, sword and shield in his hands. He drops all of his stuff on the ground, drops his body back against the bus and slides himself down to a sitting position. He sighs deeply and wipes his face with a bandanna. The A.D. walks by. A.D. Want some salt tablets? AARON Yeah. Please. He is handed two pills which he tosses into his mouth and swallows. The A.D. leaves and someone else steps up. Aaron squints at them. It's the pretty dark-haired girl with the silk shorts. Right now, however, she is just a silhouette in the glaring sun. FEMALE VOICE So you wrote this movie, huh? AARON Yeah. FEMALE VOICE I like your script. I read it late at night and it scared me. AARON Thanks. Ben appears in his armor and sits down next to Aaron BEN How's it goin', pal? AARON Swell. I'll bet I've already lost five pounds. The girl in silhouette slowly walks away as Aaron and Ben keep talking. EXT. GRAVEL PIT - DAY The cast and crew, including Aaron, are assembled in front of the castle flat. A dark-haired actor, LOREN McCAY, stands on a pedestal dressed in shredded rags, a bloody sword in his hand. Ben addresses the assemblage. BEN All right, everyone. This is the big scene. This is the scene where Wilkes... (indicating the actor on the pedestal) ...looks into his soul and sees pure evil. This is going to be the most frightening scene ever filmed. What we are creating here is raw, grueling terror. When the audience sees this they will be quaking in unmitigated fear. Everybody got it? EVERYONE Yeah. BEN Good. Let's shoot it. Ben seats himself on the camera crane. BEN Roll sound. A man with headphones sitting in front of a reel to reel tape recorder replies. He is the SOUND MAN. SOUND MAN Rolling. BEN Roll camera. CAMERA OPERATOR Rolling. SLATE PERSON Mark! BEN And... Action! Loren looks up in anguish then drops to his knees. LOREN (bellowing) Noooooo...! The warriors and the horsemen all raise their swords, let out wild war screams and charge up the hill, past the anguished actor, toward the castle. The camera soars into the air... EXT. THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS - DAY Our view is now of the Hollywood Hills and we go swooping upward. Our view stops on an apartment building perched on the side of a hill. EXT. AARON'S APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY Through a picture window we can see Aaron seated inside looking out. INT. AARON'S APARTMENT - DAY Aaron's apartment is small. On his walls are two movie posters: "THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE" and "THE SOUND OF MUSIC." A Murphy bed is folded up into the wall. Aaron is seated in front of a desk with a computer, monitor and printer. He is facing out the window overlooking the city of Hollywood. He is wearing gym shorts, sneakers and a University Of Michigan T-shirt. He is drinking a cup of coffee, smoking a cigarette and talking on the telephone. AARON (into phone) ...So what you're saying is that Paramount's passing on the script even though the coverage was great. Well, that makes just about every single studio in town that's passed on this script. I guess we could start with foreign companies. Maybe the Israelis or the South Africans might want it? A gravely female voice responds. She is SANDY. SANDY (O.S.) Look, that's how it goes. Write another script. AARON Get me a development deal so I don't have to write on spec. I can't pay my rent. SANDY Development deals are very difficult to get. Write a great script and I'll get you a development deal. AARON (rolls his eyes) Write a great script? What do you think I tried to do with the last one? SANDY It wasn't great enough. AARON So, who says if I spend two or three months writing another script on spec it'll be great enough? SANDY No one. AARON It's a vicious circle. Have you got any suggestions for this great script? SANDY Yeah. Write a romantic comedy. That's what they're looking for right now. Good characters, strong female, make it contemporary. Make it funny. AARON Anything else? SANDY Have it done by Tuesday. AARON Oh, sure. A romantic comedy? What do I know from romance? Why can't a subject I know come into vogue? SANDY Like what? AARON Like despair. SANDY Move to Sweden. See ya. AARON Bye. (Aaron hangs up and it immediately rings) Hello? It's the voice of Ace, the production manager. ACE Bubbles. AARON Ace, how ya doin'? ACE Great, and you? AARON I'll live. ACE Live until Friday night, I'm havin' a party. AARON Great. What's the occasion? ACE It's Keith Richards' birthday, man, pay attention. AARON Sorry, I forgot. ACE So you'll be there? AARON Absolutely. Will it be a blow-out? ACE Absolutely. AARON Far out. INT. ACE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT Aaron sits bleary-eyed in a chair in a large living room with two other people -- a guy with long hair and a black leather jacket who is asleep and snoring, and a pretty blonde girl who is absolutely scowling at the floor. Aaron is half-crocked and takes a slug of a Corona. The sound of people partying can be heard coming from the backyard. Aaron glances over at the blonde and makes a face like, "She's not bad," but she won't look up. He shrugs and looks away. And then a really great looking girl comes walking in the front door. Long black hair, black leather jacket, black leather skirt, high heels and radiating a wildness, a drunken abandon. She steps into the living room and scans the premises. She and the scowling blonde look right at each other, but neither says a word. They just stare. The blonde finally looks away and continues to scowl. The dark haired girl turns her gaze on Aaron who is looking right at her. They look into each other's eyes, daring one another to look away. Slowly they both begin to grin. Aaron finally blinks, but doesn't look away. She steps forward until she is looming over him and she's only 5'2". She swings one of her feet over his legs and is now standing directly over him, all the while holding his gaze. She slowly lowers herself onto his lap. She is CATHY ANDERSON. CATHY Remember me? AARON Sure. She leans closer to his face, smirking. CATHY From where? AARON Marseilles, during the war. You wore blue, the Germans wore gray. She smiles and leans even closer. Their noses are touching. CATHY You have no idea. AARON Burton Elementary School? She moves her face slightly back and forth, indicating "No." AARON (shrugs) Who cares? He kisses her. It's a pretty long kiss. Their lips separate, but their faces remain together. CATHY You still don't know who I am? AARON Would the kiss have reminded me? CATHY No. AARON (shrugs again) I'll never forget you from here on out. Cathy shakes her head. CATHY It was in Tennessee making the movie. I was assistant production designer. We talked when you were down there playing the warrior. Don't you remember? Aaron is completely blank and can't hide it. AARON ...Wait a minute, yeah, now I remember. You were wearing shorts, weren't you? CATHY (amazed) You still don't remember. AARON There were lots of people and I was only there two days. But I'm really glad we met again. It was fate. CATHY I don't usually walk up to strange men at parties and sit on their laps. AARON You're just starting tonight? CATHY I want to go out with you. AARON Good. Let's go. CATHY Another night. I've got somewhere to go now. (she glances over at the scowling blonde, then back) This week. She takes a napkin off the side table, pulls Aaron's pen out of his pocket, puts the napkin against his chest and writes while saying into his face... CATHY Catherine Anderson. Four-six-four oh-eight- one-one. (she draws two stick people) These are two people dancing. She shows him her drawing. AARON It's beautiful. CATHY Goodbye, Aaron Brooks. See, I know your name. AARON Goodbye, Catherine Anderson. See you soon. CATHY (stands) Call me. AARON I will. CATHY I mean it. AARON Me, too. CATHY Okay. Bye. She turns and walks right out of the party. In her tight dress it quite apparent that she has a fine ass, too. Aaron takes a deep breath, sighs and smiles happily. He turns and the scowling pretty blonde is looking right at him.

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