Summer Of Scott

“Summer Of Scott” is a two-hour feature screenplay, the very first to document the tumultuous three months of the summer of 1935, a crucial period in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life, which until now, has gone completely undocumented by visual media. Scott Fitzgerald became a worldwide celebrity in 1925, when “The Great Gatsby” was published. He and his wife, Zelda, personally defined the liberated values of “The Jazz Age,” but their lifestyle brought on mental and physical breakdowns for both. It took Scott 9 years to complete his next novel, “Tender is the Night,” because Zelda was diagnosed schizophrenic and put in an asylum in Switzerland. He moved her and himself back to Baltimore in 1935, committing her to Johns Hopkins. Fitzgerald hit bottom, and knew he had one last chance to pull out of his tailspin. In June of 1935, Scott Fitzgerald moved to Asheville, North Carolina, living in a two-room suite at the Grove Park Inn, aching to pull himself together and rediscover his creative spark. Two members of the community… his secretary, Laura Hearne, and a local bookstore owner, Tony Buttitta… connected closely to Scott, documenting their experiences in parallel, writing a diary and a book. Scott confided in them completely, giving us access to his innermost thoughts. “Summer of Scott” focuses on deep, personal connections Scott had with two women, One was the first true love he had found since his wife, Zelda. Beatrice Dance, married, from San Antonio, accompanied her ailing sister Eleanor to Asheville to “take the cure”. Beatrice fell in love with Fitzgerald at first sight, pursuing and eventually winning him, starting a foolish, carefree love affair. Scott Fitzgerald is saved when Beatrice goes back to Texas, ending the affair. But Scott ends up turning to a local call-girl, Lottie Stephens, for companionship. He finally faces his inner pain, inflicted by his wife, and starts writing again. His post-slump articles bring newfound respect, leading to a contract with MGM. In Hollywood, he begins his final novel, “The Last Tycoon.” Summer Of Scott is an often startling window into the life of America’s greatest… and most tormented… modern author.