It can be very difficult to be an avid fan of anything without trying to emulate or copy it. As fans of the Godfather trilogy, gangster films, or maybe just movies in general, we here at the GangsterBB often seem prone to coming up with stories of our own. Whether its just a few chicken-scratch notes on bits of post-it notes or a full-fledged screenplay, we all seem to think we just may have what could be the next great work of fiction of our time.
After seeing several members here make vague references to scripts they were writing or ideas they had, I decided it might be fun to allow members to showcase and present their ideas in this little hypothetical situation.
Ok, so you have a friend who knows a guy who knows a film producer/literary agent. Through a few well-placed hand-shakes and some polite nagging, you are able to secure a meeting with this big-shot to present your idea for a book/film.
But hey, this guy's got to be busy, he's got places to be, so he gives you 5 minutes to present your idea. He wants a title, a quick story outline, description of your main characters, and to sum it all up, a driving question that will make the viewers/readers want more.
and................. GO!
(Here's mine
)
Jersey CityThe film tells the story of Sal, a chain-smoking mobster in his late 50’s who controls a small crew that runs organized crime activities in Southern New Jersey. Sal’s crew includes…
- Chris, Sal’s young protégé; a womanizing drug addict who is engaged to Sal’s daughter, in his late 20’s
- Vito, a portly hotheaded man who can be jolly at one moment and murderous in the next, in his late 30’s
- Eddie, a quiet and reserved faithful partner to Vito, in his mid 30’s
The story is told in non-linear form, with its 6 chapters split up and rearranged. The basic outline of the film sees Sal and his crew try to set up a drug-trafficking operation based in Seattle, Washington. Meanwhile, Sal must try to collect finances for his endeavor back in New Jersey, and also try to root out a traitor in his midst.
Additional characters include…
- Josie, Sal’s roguish daughter and Chris’ fiancé, in her late 20’s
- Tera, an Asian desk girl at an upper-class hotel in Seattle, in her early 20’s
- California, an exiled member of Sal’s crew on the run on the West Coast after a failed attempt on his life, in his late 30’s
- Spanish, a delusional Hispanic drug dealer whom Josie is having an affair with, in his early 30’s
- Marge, a high-school friend of Josie who lives in Seattle, simple-minded and naïve, in her early 30’s
- Norm, Marge’s husband, an equally dim-witted and contented man, an avid golfer and also a witness to a mysterious shooting, in his late 30’s
- Bobby, an associate of Eddie and a drug addict, in his mid 20’s
- Tony, a barber and long-time friend of Sal’s, owns his own barbershop in South Jersey, in his late 50’s
After the earlier attempted murder of California, Sal has to go to Seattle to try to eliminate the lone witness before he can testify. At the same time, Josie goes to Seattle to visit Marge and Norm without knowing her father is there. In the series of near-misses that follows, chaos ensues. After returning to South Jersey, Sal and Chris plan to rob a local high-rollers poker game to secure finances for their drug operation. Chris recruits Bobby to help him in the robbery, but things go awry when Vito is accidentally there. Josie, also back at home, carries on her affair with Spanish, who end up both accidentally getting mixed in with the poker game robbery. Meanwhile, California is making his way back to South Jersey to try eliminate Sal before he himself is killed.
Will the crew be able to secure finances to launch their Seattle drug operation? Will Josie have to pay for getting mixed up with her father and her fiance's business? Will Sal be able to eliminate California before he gets to him first? And who is the traitor in Sal's crew?
Find out in...
Jersey City Your turn.
