On the Verge

KALIKA KAPADIA (30), a talented writer, had one of those psychic melt down days and went on a tear. Attracting the attention of neighbors and her anal-retentive mother, she was placed in a mental facility. Immediately the staff of the facility realizes she is gifted as she urges a patient in perpetual fetal posture into social interaction with the use of a Tibetan bowl. Still, she is under the watchful eye of the facility’s head doctor, DR. PANDIT, who politely listens to her appeal of wrongfully ending up in the hospital, but declares that she must remain in his charge as her mother saw to it to sign off on her placement in the institution. Kalika is assigned group therapy. In group therapy she meets five other inmates, all with exceptional talent and creativity to go with their entertainment industry backgrounds, and all who claim they should not be where they are. Quickly realizing the talent at hand, and with the secretive involvement of the facilities orderlies, Kalika organizes a song and dance production of each of the inmates declaring their backstory (much like the prisoners did in CHICAGO), which the orderlies video tape. With Kalika’s encouragement the orderlies post the video online. In no time it’s viral. The facility is the talk of the mental health industry. Visitors flock in and online protests erupt demanding that these creative souls be released to put their talents in play for the benefit of the world. A documentary crew arrives to make a film at the same time Kalika’s mother comes to see the phenomena. So powerful is this group, Kalika and her cohorts become proponents of reform in the mental health industry (similar to the work of Nellie Bly). Inspiring and upbeat, this short script is a proof of concept for a feature film to follow. For more information contact: Rutger Oosterhoff, roosterhoff@outlook.com Philip C. Sedgwick, philip@philipcsedgwick.com