OFF SCRIPT
Season 1, Episode 1: "Day One" (Series Premiere)
INT.
BLACKRIDGE STUDIOS - SOUNDSTAGE 7 - MORNING
A huge
horror set. Half-built mansion. Fake trees. Fog machines. Cables everywhere.
HARRY
KENT enters with a backpack and coffee. He stops. Takes it in.
A CREW
MEMBER walks past carrying a fake severed arm.
Harry
stares.
HARRY: Jesus.
The crew
member looks down at it.
CREW MEMBER: Oh. Yeah.
Keeps
walking.
MAYA, a
PA with a headset, spots Harry.
MAYA: Harry?
HARRY: Yeah.
MAYA: I’m Maya. Here to help you through the entire movie production.
They
shake hands while she keeps moving.
MAYA: You’re early..
Harry
follows.
A scream
comes from somewhere on set.
Harry
stops.
HARRY: Was that…
MAYA: Aaron.
HARRY: Our Aaron? And why is he…
MAYA: Mask fitting.
Harry
nods.
HARRY: Right.
They pass
a half-built wall. Someone is holding it upright with both hands.
HARRY: Is that supposed to… look that broken?
The wall
collapses.
Nobody
reacts.
MAYA: Today’s schedule.
She hands
him a binder. Harry opens it. It’s full of crossed-out notes.
HARRY: This is all for today?
MAYA: Yup. You better start working.
Harry
looks up, already overwhelmed. He steps forward and trips over a cable. Coffee
spills everywhere.
Maya
looks down at him.
MAYA: You okay?
Harry
gets up.
HARRY: Yeah. That’s how I usually introduce myself.
TITLE CARD: OFF SCRIPT
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - TALKING HEAD AREA - MORNING
Harry
sits for his first documentary interview.
HARRY (to the documentary
crew): I made a horror short called The Night. It went viral, which sounds impressive until you remember videos of
raccoons also go viral. But Blackridge saw it, called me, and now I’m directing
The Red
Veil Returns. What could do wrong?.
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - MAIN SET - MORNING
Harry
walks through the mansion set with Maya.
HARRY: This is the main house set?
MAYA: Most of it.
HARRY: Most of it?
MAYA: The basement is back in Stage 4. The attic is in Stage 9. The kitchen
is… still a work in progress.
HARRY: They’re still working on it? What’s so complicated about a kitchen?
Maya
points.
A small
kitchen wall is being painted black.
MAYA: They built it too modern. Then someone said it looked like an Airbnb,
which doesn’t match the vibe from the movie.
Harry
nods, trying not to look worried.
They
approach ZOEY BUCKLEY, sitting alone with a script, pen in mouth, rewriting
pages.
MAYA: Zoey. Harry.
Zoey
looks up.
ZOEY: Hey.
HARRY: Hi. Big fan of the script.
Zoey
looks at the script in her lap.
ZOEY: Which one? The original screenplay or the twentieth draft I wrote?
Harry
pauses.
HARRY: That bad already?
ZOEY: We got new page requests at two in the morning.
HARRY: From who?
ZOEY: Management.
HARRY: What did they want?
ZOEY: Still trying to figure it out.
Harry
sits beside her.
HARRY: I read the draft from March. I assume that was your first one?
Zoey
softens slightly.
ZOEY: That was a good one.
HARRY: I thought so.
MAXWELL
WRIGHT approaches. Polished, calm, expensive.
MAXWELL: Harry. Welcome to set.
Harry
stands.
HARRY: Maxwell. Hi.
They
shake hands.
MAXWELL: Welcome to Blackridge.
HARRY: Thank you. This is… a lot.
MAXWELL: Good. It should be. This franchise is very important to the studio.
HARRY: Yeah. It means something to me too.
MAXWELL: That’s why you’re here.
Maxwell
notices Zoey’s pages.
MAXWELL: Still working on the script?
ZOEY: You sent me notes while I was asleep.
MAXWELL: I didn’t know you were asleep.
ZOEY: It was two in the morning.
MAXWELL: Right. But writers. Aren’t you usually… night creatures?
Zoey just
stares at him.
MAXWELL: We’re all excited. Fresh voice. Real horror fan. Viral momentum.
Harry
nods.
HARRY: I’m just here to make the best movie possible.
Maxwell
smiles.
MAXWELL: Exactly. And the most profitable version of that.
Harry
doesn’t quite know what that means.
Maxwell
walks away.
INT.
MAKEUP TRAILER - MORNING
TEGAN
YOUNG sits in a makeup chair. Early 20s. Nervous. Trying not to show it.
Harry
knocks.
HARRY: Hey. Tegan?
TEGAN: Hi.
She sits
up too quickly.
TEGAN: Sorry. Hi.
HARRY: No, you’re fine. Just checking in.
TEGAN: Good. Yeah. I’m good.
A beat.
TEGAN: I’m not good.
Harry
smiles a little.
HARRY: This is the first role you book in a movie, right?
TEGAN: First anything. I mean, I did a yogurt commercial once, but I don’t
count it because I didn’t say anything and I hated the yogurt.
HARRY: That’s fair.
TEGAN: Everyone keeps asking me if I’m ready.
HARRY: Are you?
TEGAN: No.
HARRY: Then don’t tell them that. Act confident.
She
laughs.
HARRY: You were great in the audition.
TEGAN: It took me twelve takes.
HARRY: Then we’ll do twelve takes for every scene in the movie.
TEGAN (laughs): Okay.
A scream
from outside.
Harry and
Tegan both look.
TEGAN: Was that Aaron? I keep hearing him scream.
HARRY: I guess they’re still doing the mask fitting.
Tegan
nods.
TEGAN: Thank god I don’t have to do that.
They both
laugh.
TEGAN: Thank you. For the words.
HARRY: Just doing my job.
INT.
CAST HOLDING AREA - LATER
AARON
SPENCER stands by craft services drinking green juice.
CLAY
BOOTH and NICK BAXTER argue quietly over muffins. LEAH WOOD is half-asleep.
LUCY COLE scrolls.
Harry
enters.
HARRY: Hey, everyone. I’m Harry.
General
greetings.
Aaron
approaches.
AARON: Harry. Man. Excited to work with you.
HARRY: Me too.
They hug
awkwardly because Aaron goes for it and Harry doesn’t expect it.
AARON: Sorry. I’m a hugger.
HARRY: No, that’s fine. I don’t mind a hug.
AARON: Quick thing. I’ve been thinking about my character.
Harry
glances to Zoey, who just arrived behind him.
ZOEY: Yes?
Aaron
ignores her.
AARON: I think I want to be more than just the comic relief.
HARRY: Okay…?
AARON: So I might try some stuff. Improv.
ZOEY: Please don’t.
AARON: I haven’t even said what stuff I was going to do.
ZOEY: Still… please, don’t!
Nick
raises a hand.
NICK: Are we allowed to improvise then?
ZOEY: No.
NICK: Why?
ZOEY: Cause I wrote this movie. Every piece of dialogue has some sort of
meaning to the story. So don’t mess that up… please!
Clay
looks at Harry.
CLAY: Can I ask about my death?
HARRY: Sure. What about it?
CLAY: Am I still going through the mirror?
HARRY: Yeah.
CLAY: Okay. I’m allergic to cheap glass. So please let’s avoid that.
Silence.
HARRY: What?
CLAY: Cheap glass. It’s no good to me.
ZOEY: Who has a cheap glass allergy?
CLAY: I do.
Harry
takes that in.
HARRY: We’ll make sure the glass isn’t cheap.
Clay nods, satisfied.
HARRY -
TALKING HEAD
HARRY: I don’t want to be one of those directors who comes in and acts like everyone else is the problem. That said, I did just learn a person can have a glass allergy.
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - MAIN SET - DAY
The crew
prepares for the first shot of the movie.
Harry
watches the monitor. The mansion hallway looks genuinely great.
Zoey
stands next to him.
HARRY: This looks amazing.
ZOEY: Yeah. It really does.
A beat.
ZOEY: Can’t wait to see this get destroyed.
HARRY: Don’t jinx us.
A CREW
MEMBER enters frame carrying a ladder.
HARRY: Hey! You there.
Harry
steps toward set.
HARRY: Can we clear the frame, please?
The crew
member freezes.
CREW MEMBER: Am I in it?
Everyone
looks at him. He’s directly in front of the camera.
HARRY: Yeah. You kinda are.
CREW MEMBER: Okay. My bad.
He backs
away slowly, still in frame.
HARRY: Other way.
He backs
the other way.
HARRY: Great.
KARA
SHARP enters, holding two phones.
KARA: Hey, everyone. So… small thing.
Maxwell
appears behind her.
MAXWELL: Not a thing. Something happened.
Harry
waits.
KARA: The Mask is trending.
HARRY: The Mask? We haven’t even revealed any promo pictures.
KARA: Correct.
She shows
him a blurry photo online.
HARRY: Is that from here?
KARA: We suspect it but... we can’t be sure.
ZOEY: That is the bathroom mirror from Lot B. It is from here.
Everyone
looks.
The photo
clearly shows the mask on a sink in a bathroom.
HARRY: Why was the Mask in a bathroom?
Maya
walks up.
MAYA: So… funny thing. Aaron needed space during the mask fitting and he
kind of took it as he went for a breather to the bathroom.
HARRY: And so everyone let him carry an important part of the movie to the
bathroom?
MAYA: Uhhhh... yes.
Harry
closes his eyes for a second.
KARA: Everyone’s commenting on it. But fans of the franchise think it looks
cheap.
HARRY: How can they say that when everything they saw was a super blurry
picture where you can barely tell that is the Mask.
KARA: I have no clue but they don’t like it.
Maxwell
remains calm.
MAXWELL: We’ll workshop it. We just need a clean first day. One good scene.
Something we can all feel good about.
HARRY: That’s what I’m trying to do.
MAXWELL: Great. Let’s avoid shooting the Mask too much today. Just in case.
Harry
looks at him.
HARRY: What? The Mask is EVERYWHERE during this scene.
MAXWELL: Right. But I’m sure you can get creative.
Maxwell
walks away.
Harry
turns to Zoey.
HARRY: What does that even mean?
ZOEY: It means he wants you to shoot the mask without showing the mask. In
case they change it.
Beat.
HARRY: That’s stupid.
ZOEY: Welcome to the movie business.
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - SHOOTING AREA - DAY
Tegan and
Aaron take their places in the hallway.
Harry
sits at the monitor.
HARRY: Okay. Quiet on set, please.
The set
slowly quiets.
Harry
takes a breath.
HARRY: And… action.
Tegan
walks down the hallway. Nervous, but focused.
TEGAN: Hello?
Aaron
steps into frame.
AARON: Hey, it’s me.
A beat.
Then
Aaron adds:
AARON: Unless it isn’t.
Silence.
HARRY: Cut.
Zoey
slowly lowers her head.
Harry
stands.
HARRY: Aaron?
AARON: Yeah?
HARRY: That last part…
AARON: Too much?
HARRY: That it’s just not the line.
AARON: Totally. I just felt like he’s unsure of himself.
ZOEY: He’s sure. Just read what is on the page.
Aaron
smiles politely.
AARON: I hear you. My bad.
HARRY: Let’s do it again. Just as written.
AARON: Of course.
TAKE TWO
TEGAN: Hello?
Aaron
steps in.
AARON: Hey, it’s me.
He holds.
Too long.
HARRY: Cut.
AARON: Too much silence?
HARRY: A little.
AARON: Okay. Good. Just finding the perfect length.
Harry
nods.
HARRY: Let’s just try this again.
Zoey
looks at Harry.
ZOEY: I’m going to jump off my trailer if this becomes the entire
production.
AARON -
TALKING HEAD
AARON: I’ve done television. I understand cameras. But film is different.
Film is the purest form of art. You say something on TV, people move on after a
week when a new episode drops. You say something in a movie, you become a
legend. At least, that’s what my internet guru says.
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - LATER
Harry
watches playback. Tegan was good. Aaron was… Aaron.
Tegan
approaches.
TEGAN: Was I bad?
HARRY: No…
TEGAN: You paused.
HARRY: Because I was thinking.
TEGAN: About how bad?
HARRY: About how we are super lucky to have you inside this movie. You were
really good.
She
doesn’t fully believe him.
HARRY: You were trying too hard in the first take. Then you stopped trying to
look scared and started trying not to look scared. That was better.
Tegan
nods.
TEGAN: Okay.
HARRY: Seriously. You’re very good, Tegan.
She looks
relieved.
Across
the set, Aaron watches this. A little insecure.
Zoey
notices.
INT.
PRODUCTION OFFICE - DAY
Maxwell
and Kara stand over a laptop. Harry and Zoey enter.
KARA: The Mask leak is getting worse.
HARRY: How?
KARA: Because people think we wanted to leak it.
ZOEY: We didn’t.
KARA: That doesn’t matter to them.
She plays
a fan video.
FAN VIDEO VOICE: So Blackridge clearly leaked the mask on
purpose because they know it looks terrible and they’re testing the fanbase…
Kara
stops it.
HARRY: That’s one person.
KARA: There’s 20.000 videos just like it.
Maxwell
sits.
MAXWELL: We need to control the story.
HARRY: We have barely started to shoot the film.
MAXWELL: That’s why we need to control the story. Better now than later.
ZOEY: The story is: Aaron left the mask in a bathroom. And someone took a
picture and leaked it.
KARA: That can’t be the story.
HARRY: Why not? It’s the truth.
KARA: Because that is embarrassing to the studio.
Maxwell
turns to Harry.
MAXWELL: Can you shoot something today that we can use as an official promo
image? Mainly of the mask?
Harry
looks at Zoey.
HARRY: Yeah.
ZOEY: Can we?
HARRY: We can.
MAXWELL: Great. I’ll be waiting.
HARRY: But I need the mask. To actually use it.
Silence.
Everyone
looks at Maya.
Maya
checks her clipboard.
MAYA: Yeah. So…
Harry
waits.
MAYA: We don’t know where it is.
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - MAIN SET - LATE AFTERNOON
Everyone
searches for the Red Veil mask.
Crew
opens boxes. Actors look under tables. Kara is on the phone.
Harry
tries to stay calm.
HARRY: It’s a mask. It
didn’t leave by itself. How did it move from the bathroom?
Clay
walks by holding a different mask.
CLAY: Is this it?
Harry
looks.
It’s a
werewolf mask.
HARRY: No.
CLAY: Okay.
Clay
keeps it.
HARRY: Why are you keeping it?
CLAY: Just in case I want to play a werewolf one day.
Zoey
approaches Harry.
ZOEY: I checked wardrobe, props, makeup, and the bathroom.
HARRY: Which bathroom?
ZOEY: All of them.
HARRY: Thank you.
ZOEY: I didn’t find it.
A beat.
HARRY: I’m trying really hard not to panic.
ZOEY: I can tell.
HARRY: Is it obvious?
ZOEY: You’ve been holding that same piece of paper for twenty minutes.
Harry
looks down. He is holding a blank call sheet.
HARRY: Right.
Zoey
softens.
ZOEY: This isn’t your fault.
HARRY: It’s my first day. And it’s all going awful.
ZOEY: Exactly. You didn’t have time. There’s plenty more days to come.
Harry
almost smiles.
Maya runs
up.
MAYA: Found it.
HARRY: Where?
MAYA: It was in Aaron’s trailer.
Harry
looks across the set.
Aaron
stands outside his trailer, sheepish.
INT.
AARON’S TRAILER - MOMENTS LATER
The mask
sits on Aaron’s table.
Harry,
Zoey, Kara, and Maxwell stare at it.
Aaron
stands by the door.
HARRY: Why was the Mask here?
Aaron
hesitates.
AARON: I was trying to connect with it.
Silence.
ZOEY: It’s a piece of latex.
AARON: Not to me.
Harry
keeps himself calm.
HARRY: Aaron. That’s not cool. That’s a huge piece of the production.
AARON: I know. I should’ve told someone.
HARRY: Yeah.
Aaron
nods.
AARON: I’m sorry.
Nobody
says anything.
That
lands more honestly than expected.
Harry
softens a little.
HARRY: Okay. Well. It’s done so let’s just get a move on.
Aaron
nods.
AARON: Fair.
Kara gets
a text.
KARA: Too late. Another leak. Someone posted a picture of you carrying it
into the trailer.
Aaron
closes his eyes.
AARON: Oh...
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - MAIN SET - EVENING
The crew
resets. The day is nearly gone.
Maxwell
checks his watch.
MAXWELL: We have maybe forty minutes left of the day.
HARRY: Then we shoot.
MAXWELL: Harry, if this doesn’t work…
HARRY: It’ll work.
Maxwell
nods and backs off.
Harry
steps onto set.
Everyone
is tired. Tegan nervous. Aaron embarrassed. Crew irritated.
Harry
gathers them.
HARRY: Okay. I know today’s been a mess.
Everyone
looks around.
HARRY: Very messy.
Small
laughs.
HARRY: But this scene is simple. Tegan, you’re alone. You know something’s
wrong, but you don’t know what it is yet. Aaron, you’re trying to help, but
you’re scared too.
Aaron
nods, quietly.
HARRY: And the mask… we don’t overdo it. It’s a glimpse. That’s why it works.
Zoey
watches him. He’s good.
HARRY: Let’s just make one good thing today.
Quiet.
The crew
settles.
Harry
sits at the monitor.
HARRY: Rolling?
CAMERA OPERATOR: Rolling.
SOUND OPERATOR: All good.
Harry
waits until the set is completely still.
HARRY: Action.
Tegan
walks through the hallway.
This
time, she is subtle. Real.
TEGAN: Hello?
Aaron
enters.
AARON: Hey, it’s me.
No extra
line.
A creak
behind them.
Tegan
turns.
Nothing.
Then, in
a dark reflection behind her, the Red Veil mask appears.
Just for
a second.
It’s
scary.
Harry
watches, locked in.
Zoey
watches the monitor too.
Everyone
is quiet.
HARRY: Cut.
Silence.
Then…
HARRY: Oh, wow. That was good.
The crew
relaxes. Tegan smiles. Aaron exhales.
Zoey
leans toward Harry.
ZOEY: Yeah. That looked great.
Harry
lets himself smile.
Then a
fog machine starts blasting way too much fog.
Everyone
coughs.
HARRY: Can we kill the fog?
CREW MEMBER: The machine is stuck.
The fog
gets thicker.
NICK: I can’t see my muffin.
ZOEY: Why do you still have a muffin?
NICK: I was hungry.
Harry
coughs, but he’s still smiling.
HARRY: We got the shot. That’s what matters.
INT.
SOUNDSTAGE 7 - NIGHT
The day
is over. Crew packs up.
Harry
sits on the mansion stairs, exhausted.
Zoey
approaches with two bad coffees.
She hands
him one.
HARRY: Is this the same type of coffee from earlier?
ZOEY: Probably.
Harry
takes it anyway.
HARRY: Thanks.
Zoey sits
beside him.
They look
at the set.
HARRY: Today was bad, right?
ZOEY: For a first day?
HARRY: Yeah.
ZOEY: No. It was fine. We shot something.
Harry
looks relieved.
HARRY: The scene worked really well.
ZOEY: It did.
HARRY: So there’s a movie in here.
Zoey
considers that.
ZOEY: Hopefully a good one.
HARRY: I’m sure of that.
Another
beat.
HARRY: I really don’t wanna mess this up.
Zoey
looks at him. More sincere now.
ZOEY: Then do your work... you’ll be fine.
Harry
absorbs that.
Maya
appears from across the set.
MAYA: Harry?
Harry and
Zoey look over.
MAYA: Maxwell wants to know if the killer can have a catchphrase.
Silence.
Harry
looks at Zoey.
HARRY & ZOEY: No.
They stand and walk off together.