CONUNDRUM IN REEL CITY
Original Screenplay by Mike Burdick
*** PRE-PRODUCTION ***
Logline
The stories of a filmmaker, a mute criminal fixer, an ex-government agent and a dirty cop collide inside the chaotic criminal Los Angeles underworld in a twisted quest of deception, violence and cinematic survival.
The Pitch
Writer/Director DANIEL J BIXBY (DANNY) has written a feature screenplay that he shouldn’t have, after learning about the classified missions of a discredited female former black ops agent and unstable drunk named THE PIGEON. In response, the Pigeon steals money from Danny’s film budget and sets Danny and his FIRST A.D. ASHLING on a chaotic series of events as they look to replace the green before anyone finds out it’s missing. On this outrageous crash course of bedlam, they tangle with numerous underworld figures including dangerous L.A. CRIME BOSS JULIA M who, unbeknownst to Danny, is hellbent on using his film set to settle a score with her old nemesis corrupt POLICE DETECTIVE DOMINGO FORTES. Worlds collide in the end when all interested parties find themselves converged — each trying to lay hands on their pound of flesh. Who will get theirs in the end?
Synopsis
After years of acclaim in the film industry, the sun is setting on the career of Writer and Director DANIEL J BIXBY (DANNY). The only thing standing in the way of this decline is his winning new screenplay, a story that he should have never written. It is a tale that was told to him firsthand during a night of heavy drinking and centers around the classified dark missions of a discredited female former black ops agent and unstable drunk THE PIGEON. After Danny puts story to page, the Pigeon responds by stealing money from his film budget, and now Danny and FIRST A.D. ASHLING must replace the funds before anyone finds out they’re missing or the production will be shutdown.
They arrange to borrow money from a volatile low-level criminal BOO BOO CLASSIE, and although they convince Boo Boo to give them the money, they must flee out the fourth-story window to escape FELICIA DECKER, a film executive who is trying to prove their breach of contract. In the process, Ashling accidentally drops the money off the ledge. Moments later during a scuffle against emerging rogue F.B.I SPECIAL AGENT TRACY MELIA, a dangerous man determined to stop the Pigeon’s secrets from becoming public as any cost, Boo Boo falls out the window and subsequently lands directly onto the money that was dropped.
Meanwhile, there is a power struggle brewing between the criminal enterprise of corrupt POLICE DETECTIVE DOMINGO FORTES and his dangerous business rival L.A. CRIME BOSS JULIA M, a conflict that became personal after Julia’s prized Rottweiler LOVELESS was accidentally killed while Domingo was stealing Julia M’s goods in a “police raid.” Although on the surface Julia M has extended a peace offering to her rival by getting the film-loving Domingo a Day Part on Danny’s movie, her real plan is to lead him into a false sense of security so that her ASSASSIN GINGER SUNSHINE can kill him. But the plan hits a snag when Julia M’s CRIMINAL FIXER MARVIN “THE MUTE” kills two of Julia associates PIXEL AND DINA DOPLETON (THE DOPE TWINS) in self-defense. Eventually, Julia M determines that Marvin’s penance will be to take over The Dope Twins original assignment and replace them as facilitator to get Ginger Sunshine onto the film set to kill Domingo.
As a result of Boo Boo’s death and the loss of the money they borrowed from Julia M, Danny and Ashling are forced to align themselves with the Pigeon to fix their Julia M problem. The trio plans to confront Domingo on Danny’s film set on the day he is scheduled to shoot his scene and offer him a bigger part in the film if Domingo will replace the money the Pigeon stole and kill Julia M. Matters truly spin out of control once Decker, Melia, Ginger and Marvin all show up to settle their scores. Then when Julia step onto the scene, all parties find themselves in a Mexican standoff against her and her entourage that can only end in total chaos.
Proof-of-concept sizzle scene at right.
