The Sunday Session is like a verbal jam session which has been captured in Final Draft and then pasted into a post. Enjoy!–ed
FRANNIE
Looks like a beautiful morning. Let’s head to the roof and hang for a while.
DOSSIE
Sounds good to me. Can’t beat this kind of weather in February, no less!
FRANNIE
Hey, Doc! You care to join us?
DOC
Of course. Saw some items online that we should hash out. Let me grab my notes and Joey. I’m sure he’ll have some thoughts.
And with that, the LP Gang from the Jedemi Cafe headed up to the rooftop to enjoy the beautiful morning while continuing their tradition of Sunday Sessions — lively discussions regarding timely topics from the news and other sources.
CUT TO:
EXT. JEDEMI CAFE – ROOF
Frannie and Dossie are admiring the colors in the sky when Doc shows up with Joey and Frankie in tow.
FRANNIE
Ah! Now we are outnumbered, Dossie.
DOSSIE
No worries. We know Frankie has a short attention span…
JOEY
Don’t be so sure, ladies. This happens to be something even our Frankie can hang with. The floor’s yours, Doc.
DOC
Today, we’ve got ourselves a Sunny, Sunday Session.
JOEY
Nice alliteration, but remember, we’ll lose Frankie if…
DOC
Got it. So, I was all ready to talk Olympic tech stuff — especially in light of the Under Armour issues with the United States speedskaters and how BMW created a screaming fast bobsled for Team USA. To me, these were great stories of contrasting corporate contributions to the Olympic…
Joey makes a loud, throat clearing sound.
DOC (CONT’D)
Oh right… sorry. So I just came upon this story in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal which seemed much more interesting.
He holds up the paper and points to the headline: “Double Debut for ‘Mars’ Film.”
Doc’s Sunday Session Inspiration
DOC (CONT’D)
Time Warner has decided to release its “Veronica Mars” film to theaters and for home viewing on the same day.
FRANNIE
Really? I thought there was some kind of rule against that sort of distribution arrangement.
DOC
They found an end-around. Time Warner decided to rent out 260 of AMC theater’s screens. So the theater makes their money up-front and Time Warner gets to keep the ticket revenue. Usually the theater and studio split.
FRANNIE
Interesting. No doubt AMC digs the publicity for this alternate approach…
JOEY
And they get to keep all the popcorn sales to themselves. I’d say that’s worth giving up the price of admission!
They all laugh.
DOSSIE
What makes this Mars movie so interesting that it would be worth spending… What ARE they spending?
FRANKIE
Yeah, Doc! What was the number again?
DOC
The story said screens run 5 to 20K a week. Figure… 260 screens at let’s say they got a deal, $10K, that would be…$ 2,600,000 a week.
JOEY
Offset by admission fees. We could do the math…
DOC
No need to. The story goes beyond the numbers. The Veronica Mars movie is an extension of the Veronica Mars television series that ran for three years, but was cancelled due to — low viewership.
JOEY
How low?
DOC
It ran on the CW network…
JOEY
Where?
DOC
Exactly… The story said there were ONLY 2.8 million viewers a week in 2007.
FRANNIE
Only?
DOC
Apparently a lot of those viewers were bummed and were really pushing to get the show back in some shape or form.
DOSSIE
Sorry… Let’s back up and start with who or what is Veronica Mars?
FRANNIE
Great point.
DOC
Forgive me. I should have established that in the beginning. And with your background, Dossie, you may find the lead character very interesting.
He pulls out a print out from a story (Reviving an Old Series the New Way: Fan-Financing) and hands it to Frannie.
DOC (CONT’D)
I’ve been talking a lot, so why don’t you scan through this. You’ll see the areas I highlighted.
Frannie scans through it quickly.
FRANNIE
Ah! Would you look at that? It says, Veronica Mars, starred Kristen Bell as the title character –the teenage daughter of a working-class private eye in wealthy, corrupt Neptune, California. She’s a high school student who, like her father, sleuthed.
DOSSIE
Oh? So it is like if my Lord Peter Wimsey had a daughter. Never thought of that.
JOEY
Interesting! Please continue.
FRANNIE
Says here the show was a descendant of both the Nancy Drew stories and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” only darker.
She pauses.
DOSSIE
Got it. I can check it out online. Let’s get back on track..
FRANNIE
Oh there’s more about the fan base here that makes the move by Time Warner makes more sense.
FRANKIE
That’s what caught my ear when Doc first mentioned it to me. The fan base seems to have had a ton of influence on this picture… starting with getting it made. Does that article provide details about Kickstarter?
JOEY
Kickstarter??
FRANKIE
It is a fundraising website. Apparently, the Mars project broke records — with $5.7M raised from over 90,000 backers which blew away the 2 million dollar goal they set. Crazy right?
FRANNIE
Says here it was the fastest campaign to reach its goal — in just 12 hours there was a commitment of $2 million. It also set a record for greatest number of supporters in Kickstarter history.
JOEY
Now that’s impressive!
DOC
So it has a built-in audience that pretty much deserves access on whatever platform they choose.
JOEY
I get it. So why not make it stream-able to mobile devices…
FRANKIE
Or viewable on a big screen at home without the distractions of all those Previews shouting at you? They are ruining the out of home experience. When my films…
FRANNIE
Another day, another topic Frankie. It’s a good one, mind you. Sorry for cutting you off.
DOC
Agreed. We’ve kicked that topic around a bit and I really want to revisit it after we see how this little experiment works out.
DOSSIE
Can’t wait to see that Mars pic. Tommie will hook US up right?
DOC
He always does. No worries there.
JOEY
We could be entering a new era of sorts regarding storytelling…
FRANNIE
Implying that the venue will impact the message. You’ve always used the Irish fireside chats…
JOEY
…As examples of how the way stories are told helps get the audience engaged… connected.
DOSSIE
That’s so hard these days too. Lots of distractions.
Just then, the sound of an airplane can be heard. They all pause and look skyward. Because of the sun, they can only see its shape. The sound of a mail tube hitting and rolling on the roof draws their attention.
FRANNIE
Here’s X’s contribution to our session.
She extracts a napkin from inside the tube and reads it outloud.
JOEY
So what does it say — the invisible to the eye thing? Seems like all our sessions deal with that essential.
FRANNIE
This says, “Only the children know what they are looking for…” Then 1 of 3.
DOC
There’s more?
He reaches into the tube to extract another napkin which he gives to Frannie.
FRANNIE
Oh… Okay, here’s 2 of 3: They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them…
Dossie pulls out a third napkin and reads it out loud.
DOSSIE
…and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry.
JOEY
Nicely done.
DOC
Again.
FRANKIE
Indeed.
JOEY
The fans of Veronica Mars DID something. Maybe they cried at first, but then saw an opportunity to bring their story — their rag doll — back.
DOC
Yes! Let’s keep an eye on this quote, unquote developing story.
FRANNIE
Thanks, Doc! Fantastic job as usual.
DOSSIE
Let’s tuck back inside and see what Viv is up to.
FADE TO BLACK.
If you want to view it in Script format, you can download it by clicking here: SundaySes0223-v2. The links don’t work in this PDF. We will update the file once we figure that part out.
Speak Your Mind