01
Your Own Roof
Jacob, a young man recently deceased, must come to grips with his new purpose, from the Beyond, as he witnesses his widowed wife pick up the pieces of her life and move past the loss of her husband.
INT. NURSERY - CONT.
Jacob, embodied, kneels down before the sleeping Camilla.
JACOB
Camilla, I need to tell you what I’ve seen. We’re playing a strange game.
CAMILLA
It is a strange game. I keep thinking of something my dad would tell me when I was little. When it rained, our house would leak. And on those nights, I’d lie awake, waiting for the roof to cave in. He’d say, “When the fullness of time comes, that roof will cave in. And then you’ll be saved.”
A beat.
JACOB
The dead just go on living, Camilla. But there seems to be some interplay.
Jacob lifts their sleeping daughter from Camilla’s arms and reverses through the window and back into space.
CAMILLA
So that’s the game. The losers don’t really lose and your end was the beginning.
02
The Experience of Attemping…
I am a lifelong resident of the Bible Belt and a person who values both religious devoutness and creativity. As I’ve witnessed the church’s relationship with the world become increasingly fractured over the last decade, I’ve found myself disheartened by a lack of artistic openness and an overvaluation of religious dogma. In making this short film, I was motivated to be an instigator of sorts. I wanted to provoke thoughtful reflection on the correlation between the creative process and religious practice.
03
Don’t Shoot
Jacob knows nothing about guns but must find a way to pawn one off for maximum financial gain in order to keep food on his young family’s table.
With this short screenplay, I was wrestling with familial legacy and the idea of breaking generational stereotypes, while at the same time acknowledging the hypocrisy that exists within us and rears its head in times of stress.
EXT. VIADUCT - NIGHT
Jimmy and Jacob walk across a field of grass, toward a viaduct on the outskirts of the downtown district. Each of them is carrying a duffle with their guns in it. Jimmy’s considerably bigger than Jacob’s.
JACOB
I won’t lie. This is a suspect venue for a transaction like this.
JIMMY
Hal lives in a house on the other side of the bridge there. His wife don’t like him buying and selling guns, so he usually says he’s going to the store, but does his deals here, so he don’t have to go too far.
The pair approach the arch of the viaduct. A tall slender man, 50s, wearing black jeans, a black button-up, and a cowboy hat is leaning against the arch but steps into the moonlight to greet them. This is HAL.
JIMMY
Hal, this is Jacob. He’s my new neighbor. He ain’t a gun guy, but he likes movies with guns in ‘em.
Hal nods at Jacob.
HAL
Jimmy tells me you have a 44 Mangum.
JACOB
Yes, sir.
HAL
Small-town boy, moved away and come back. Grandpa left ye’ a gun and you don’t see the need?
JIMMY
His dad left it to him, Hal.
HAL
Hmm. Well, I know Jimmy. But I don’t know you.
04
We’re Only Dreaming
Anthony’s group of friends hold a monthly Dream Watch Party, in which they take turns casting their nighttime dreams to a TV using a cutting-edge piece of technology. At the risk of creating a riff in the friend group, Anthony must decide whether or not to reveal the romantic dreams he’s been having about Cecily, who will be attending the watch party with her new boyfriend.
EXT. BACK PATIO - NIGHT
Anthony and Cecily stand on Anthony’s back porch under a pergola with string lights strung along it.
ANTHONY
We’re having the same dreams about each other? How can you have a dream like that and not feel the way I feel?
CECILY
I just don’t. I really like Patrick.
ANTHONY
But how could you possibly know enough about him to know that? We’ve known each other for so long. And have been so close. You just met him. You don’t know him. But you know me.
Anthony points back in the direction of the Living Room.
ANTHONY (CONT.)
And that was a sign. We’re supposed to be together.
CECILY
Anthony, a dream is what you make of it. If you want it to mean something, you’ll make it mean something. Otherwise, that’s all it is. A dream. And talk about a sign, maybe that’s the sign. That I could like someone I just met and not someone I’ve been close to for 20 years.
Anthony sits down on a bench and puts his head in his hands.
Cecily sits down on the bench as well, but not right next to him. She sits on the far side and begins scrolling through her phone, sipping her beer.
05
A New State of Affairs
Marie is committed to seeing her teenage son, Bethany, lead their small religious group to ultimate utopia, despite his frail and disabled stature and apparent lack of any spiritual attunement.
INT. BOOKSTORE CAFE - MORNING
Elder takes a sip of his latte from the bottom of the art. When he pulls it away from his lips, the latte art remains in the center of the cup, unbothered.
ELDER
...I wonder if we aren’t all just stand-ins for everyon else. On one hand, interchangeable, but when put more charitably, all working together. On the same team.
Marie sips her latte from the top of the latte art. When she pulls it away from her lips, the top of the tulip has dragged sloppily to the edge.
Elder’s comment is met with an empathetic nod from Marie.
MARIE
Respectfully, I’ve been through too much to be wrong about this, Elder. Bethany is singular. Singularly afflicted and singularly gifted.