Creative Notes:
This is a first draft.
UNREQUITED
Brilliant at a job she resents and secretly in love with someone who's already taken, writer Anabelle Wentworth is stuck in neutral until an unexpected adventure with old friends sparks her imagination and her muse, catapulting her to places she never dreamed she could go.
Synopsis:
Aspiring Midwest screenwriter Anabelle Wentworth toils away in advertising, clueless about romantic relationships and unable even to take a vacation. She's hit a dead end in her creative life and life in general, trapped in the safe little world she's created for herself with her dog, Roger. Her current screenplay, detailing a romance between a knight and a maiden, serves as a bridge to her fantasy life, though even that's not going so well.
Anabelle volleys from work to volunteering in her best friend Rachel's English class to dysfunctional run-ins with her colorful, over-functioning mother. It's looking like business as usual until she receives a call from her buddy Randy, who begs her to come on a trip to Mexico with the old college gang.
Afraid to fly, Anabelle wavers, but finally decides to take the plunge and go. Unfortunately, trusty Roger has an emergency and she must drain her savings to pay for surgery. Enter her boss Gray, who has been encouraging her to use her vacation time and is clearly smitten with her - he cashes out some of her hours and comes up with the money for her to go.
Anabelle washes down a few sedatives with some martinis and flies out of the frozen tundra to Mexico, met at the airport by the roguish, charming Randy. Back at their fabulous rental house, she also reunites with Lewis, a buddhist travel agent and Jess, who runs a production company in LA. Here is where we come to realize the true reason why Anabelle has summoned the courage to make the trip: she's still secretly in love with Jess, who is now married.
Amid the misadventures in Mexico, Anabelle's feelings for Jess (sparked by the chemistry of a late night writer's roundtable with Randy) inspire her to write - really pour words on the page - for the first time in months. She composes a new script while she's in Mexico based on her feelings, calling it UNREQUITED. Unaware it's about him, Jess promises to get it seen by some producers he knows, and after an emotional goodbye, she heads back to chilly Minnesota.
Though she loves volunteering in Rachel's class, Anabelle can't help but feel out of place back at home. Her mother still drives her crazy, and work is as lame as ever. When Randy comes to visit with the amazing news that her screenplay will be produced, Anabelle is elated, but as it turns out, the gig reduces her to a modern vagabond - traveling back and forth from LA to the Midwest, not really fitting in anywhere.
One critical night, Anabelle's dear old dog dies and she's fired from a job because she flies home instead of finishing a draft due the next morning. Back home, she learns that she has been nominated for an screenwriting award for UNREQUITED, a prospect equally thrilling and terrifying in every way. Hilariously over the top, Anabelle's awards show experience ultimately leads her to confront her demons, teaching her lessons about friendship, courage and finally - finding true inspiration.
Anabelle volleys from work to volunteering in her best friend Rachel's English class to dysfunctional run-ins with her colorful, over-functioning mother. It's looking like business as usual until she receives a call from her buddy Randy, who begs her to come on a trip to Mexico with the old college gang.
Afraid to fly, Anabelle wavers, but finally decides to take the plunge and go. Unfortunately, trusty Roger has an emergency and she must drain her savings to pay for surgery. Enter her boss Gray, who has been encouraging her to use her vacation time and is clearly smitten with her - he cashes out some of her hours and comes up with the money for her to go.
Anabelle washes down a few sedatives with some martinis and flies out of the frozen tundra to Mexico, met at the airport by the roguish, charming Randy. Back at their fabulous rental house, she also reunites with Lewis, a buddhist travel agent and Jess, who runs a production company in LA. Here is where we come to realize the true reason why Anabelle has summoned the courage to make the trip: she's still secretly in love with Jess, who is now married.
Amid the misadventures in Mexico, Anabelle's feelings for Jess (sparked by the chemistry of a late night writer's roundtable with Randy) inspire her to write - really pour words on the page - for the first time in months. She composes a new script while she's in Mexico based on her feelings, calling it UNREQUITED. Unaware it's about him, Jess promises to get it seen by some producers he knows, and after an emotional goodbye, she heads back to chilly Minnesota.
Though she loves volunteering in Rachel's class, Anabelle can't help but feel out of place back at home. Her mother still drives her crazy, and work is as lame as ever. When Randy comes to visit with the amazing news that her screenplay will be produced, Anabelle is elated, but as it turns out, the gig reduces her to a modern vagabond - traveling back and forth from LA to the Midwest, not really fitting in anywhere.
One critical night, Anabelle's dear old dog dies and she's fired from a job because she flies home instead of finishing a draft due the next morning. Back home, she learns that she has been nominated for an screenwriting award for UNREQUITED, a prospect equally thrilling and terrifying in every way. Hilariously over the top, Anabelle's awards show experience ultimately leads her to confront her demons, teaching her lessons about friendship, courage and finally - finding true inspiration.
Latest Work
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Script 1 - Charis's Original Draft12/11/10
