THE "IT" GIRL
By David S. Freeman and Glen Richardson

LOS ANGELES...ROD TRENTON has been a Junior Editor at a half-dozen trendy magazines. He's got wit, he's got sharp, off-beat insights into contemporary life...and he's got a little too much cynicism and attitude. That's why he's never been promoted to Managing Editor. (It's also why he's single). His latest haunts: "Center" magazine, peeling back the onion skin of pop culture.

Media mogul DALTON QUINCE-TAYLOR, whom rebel Rod hates for his renowned anti-humanism, just bought "Center." Dalton gives his Managing Editor a mandate: increase profits by downsizing staff.

Rod learns he's next to go. He's desperate to save his job, for he's burned bridges everywhere else.

Rod decides to do a story on "The Most Irresistible Face In the World." Together with a Photoshop-literate friend, he merges the faces of five beautiful women... Rod gives this captivating, phantom woman a name: "CHRISTIANA SARINS."

Rod writes his story on "Christiana" (a.k.a. "The 'It' Girl"). Using some nefarious antics, Rod gets "Christiana" on the cover. The face captures the imagination of the public -- and the magazine issue sells like crazy. The Managing Editor, who thinks Christiana is a real woman, demands a follow-up "interview" with the young woman, and soon "Entertainment Tonight," "Oprah," David Letterman and other shows demand Christiana.

But, since she's not to be found, people begin to suspect a hoax. The Mannaging Editor gives Rod an ultimatum: produce Christiana or he's fired. Rod's desperate, for he's burned too many bridges to land an equally good job elsewhere.

Rod spends a frantic week crisscrossing the South and Midwest, locating any small-town beauty queen who might look like Christiana. No luck. Gloom overcomes Rod.

Then he discovers TAMARA MILLS, a sincere wanna-be actress from a white-trash neighborhood outside of Cincinnati. She looks close enough to the mythical Christiana that she could pass. While some might dismiss Tamara as unsophisticated, she more than compensates with her love of life, her quirky charm and her corny but endearing sense of humor.

Rod spills his predicament to her. Will she pretend to be Christiana? She'll be thrust into fame. Tamara's reluctant... this violates her ethics and her beliefs. But the idea of a short road to Hollywood is too tempting. She takes the deal.

In a "My Fair Lady" type of development, Rod becomes her mentor, giving her a crash course in civilization, Los Angeles style.

Making Rod’s job more difficult is the contempt he feels for her small-town ways. However, Tamara's great qualities soon win him over – especially her guilelessness and her emotional responsiveness. She's very present and very genuine.

Rod's defenses can't hold out forever, and soon it's unclear who's recreating who. If he's turning her into an urban sophisticate, she's softening his rough edges and thinning out his protective coating. In truth, he's falling in love. They both are.

The one thing that Rod can't teach Tamara is how to be a Hollywood starlet. He calls on his CAA uber-agent friend JASON KAROW, who takes over Tamara's "education." Jason teaches her survival skills for the upwardly mobile actress in Tinsel Town, like how to walk into a room and capture every man's eye while pretending to be totally ingenuous; how to laugh so that everyone else wishes they could be as happy as they think she is; or how to use a Little Black Dress as a weapon.

The big evening arrives, although Rod is merely a spectator. Jason takes Tamara to a fancy movie premier. "Christiana's" appearance causes a sensation. As the paparazzi's cameras snap away, Tamara handles the "audition" with splashy aplomb. She's a hit!

Rod's life is a dream. Things are going well at "Center" and he's got a woman he loves. But the bloom is soon to fade from the rose...

Tamara adjusts to the high life very quickly, and she adjusts to Jason Karow just as rapidly. Rod's bright, sure, but Jason can take her right into the middle of a world she's always dreamed of. Nothing compares to the fun and glamour of Hollywood.

What's happened is that, in a way, Rod and Tamara have changed places. He's learned to open up and become genuine; she's learned to how to bask in the superficial. Or at least that's how Rod sees things when she breaks off their budding relationship. She tries to let him down easily.

Rod is devastated. That short burst of warmth that Rod had bathed in disappears and is replaced by bitterness. As for Tamara, the world's her oyster as she becomes a hot item and signs on the dotted line with CAA. Next comes Leno and Letterman and magazine covers. She fails to notice the irony in how she occasionally acts superior to those around her, just the way others used to act superior to her before she was "remade."

Tamara is in such demand that Jason lands her a movie role in a film with a big male star. The rehearsals are very rough. Although Tamara studied acting in Cincinnati, although she has talent, and although she gets help from an Acting Coach and others on the set, she knows she's over her head. She needs time to bring her acting skills up to the level demanded of her.

Back at the magazine, Rod's writing has become more cynical than ever.

Tamara becomes increasingly ambivalent about being surrounded by people who just want her stardom to rub off on them. She tries in vain to find someone real she can talk to. Of course, there's Jason...until she catches him having sex with another woman. And so ends another Hollywood romance.

Tamara has a crisis of the soul. Tired of living a lie, the next day on the set she spills the entire truth about her past announces that she's leaving the picture. She wants the roles, the stardom, the whole works — but when she's earned it, as herself, not pretending to be someone else. She's going to concentrate on her acting craft for a year. And then she'll return – as Tamara Mills, not as Christiana Sarins.

The tabloids make humiliating fodder out of her story, although some admire her courage and honesty.

Tamara, having regained her integrity, wants to give it another go with Rod. She tracks him down in Aspen, where he's having discussions with Dalton Quince-Taylor, the hard-edged publisher of "Center." Dalton is about to fulfill Rod's dream by giving Rod his own magazine to helm. The magazine will bear the stamp of Rod's incisive, increasingly sarcastic wit.

When Tamara approaches Rod, he brushes her off. He tells her that he did love a woman once, a small-town girl with a radiant smile. But she turned into Christiana Sarins, who opted for glamor over substance. He dismisses her and turns away.

Later, Dalton commends Rod for putting women in second place. Hearing this, Rod realizes that he's turned into Dalton, whom he has always despised. Rod's out of there in a flash. He abandons "Center;" he even abandons this new magazine which was going to be his own creation.

Rod flies to Cincinnati to pursue Tamara. When they connect, Rod is awkward. This time it's his turn to bare his soul. Tamara listens, torn. Tamara is hurt and reluctant...but love will not be denied.

A few months later, we see Rod pitching an idea for a new magazine. Cynicism is out, he argues; it's an occasional fun indulgence but no one wants it for a steady diet.
His new vision for a magazine is one that examines the scope of our lives, and all the seeming impossibilities of living a balanced life in our modern world. How do you find passion for life if you hate your work? How do you love your body if all the commercials and movies say that only young is beautiful? How do you stay honest when your political leaders tell lies? How do you stay genuine and still climb the ladder of success?

This is the focus which Rod pitches...to a group of IMPRESSED INVESTORS. And so Rod's new magazine, "Scope," is born. Tamara, whose acting career has been revitalized, is at Rod's side when it happens.

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ABOUT DAVID S. FREEMAN AND “BEYOND STRUCTURE”

David S. Freeman, a working writer, teaches “Beyond Structure” (www.beyondstructure.com), LA’s most popular screenwriting and fiction workshop.

The spring dates for “Beyond Structure” are:
L.A.: April 1-2
N.Y.: April 8-9

The workshop takes a radical approach, skipping all theory. Instead, it focuses on proven screenwriting and development techniques to vastly improve a person’s ability to craft compelling characters, dialogue, plots, and scenes.

There are many examples of these techhniques on the “Articles” section of the “Beyond Structure” website.

Past students include the writers, directors, producers, actors, and key executives from the companies which make or made:

The "Austin Powers" films, "Good Will Hunting," "Runaway Bride," “Meet the Fockers,” "The Wedding Singer," “Sling Blade,” "The Fugitive," "Total Recall," “The Simpsons,” "E.R.," "The X-Files," "Law & Order," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Rush Hour" 1 & 2, "American History X," “12 Monkeys,” “King of the Hill,” "Pleasantville," "Roswell," “Lords of Dogtown,” "Thirteen Days," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Frequency," "Angels in the Outfield," "Star Trek: Voyager / Deep Space Nine," "Married With Children," "12 Monkeys," "Saturday Night Live," and many other films and TV shows.

Contact Info:
www.beyondstructure.com
From outside California toll free: (866) 239-2600,
Inside California, at: (310) 394-6556

SPECIAL NOTE: If you mention “Inktip” when you register, then at the class you’ll receive a free “Treatment Pack” (norally sold at the class for $20) with samples of treatments from many genres.

ABOUT DAVID: David has had projects bought or optioned by Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, MGM, Castle Rock Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, Hearst Entertain-mentt, Allied Stars (at Sony), and many other major production companies. He co-wrote a $50 million film currently in post-production.

Feel free to email David at freeman@dfreeman.com