PACKAGING
A young couple’s stopover at an isolated mini-mart grows
more mysterious-and-dangerous-with each passing minute.

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  Halloween… Tis the season to indulge in all things spooky, scary, spine-tingling, and out of this world.

Cue one essential horror trope that I’m a big fan of: The road trip gone wrong. Oh, the perils of being on the open road, off the beaten track and far, far away from the safety of home. Flat tires, busted windscreens, an overheated engine? Those things are nothing compared to the terrors that can befall characters in horror movies.

Just look at the rather aptly titled: Wrong Turn; fill up the tank and stop off for a cuppa in The Vanishing, follow the mind bending puzzle of In Fear, hitch an ill-fated ride in Wolf Creek, or, if you dare, get out of the car and follow the trail of a demonic flesh eating creature to his lair in Jeepers Creepers.

Which leads us to: Taking a wrong turn, and the dreaded road trip pit-stop. Two things that should be avoided at all costs.

The characters in Packaging really should have heeded that advice and stayed in the car. But, a wayward GPS, the loss of cell-phone signal, and an ill-advised but much needed trip to the rest-room forces their hand. It’s a split-second decision that could lead to a detour to hell for one young man and his very pregnant wife.

Writer Rob Barkan knows how to craft horror so subtle it creeps up on you, and then shocks you when you realize exactly what you’re looking at. With an opening scene of deftly choreographed visuals and an unsettling sense of foreboding and fear, if you’re anything like me you’ll at first be not quite sure what you’re looking at or what you’re afraid of…

And then it’ll hit you. And you’ll just know, it ain’t going to end well.

We open on a close-up shot of a large spider spinning its web then segue seamlessly to a surreal scene in a parking lot:

A small, run-down  mini-mart tucked against the flank of a dark mountainside. Shreds of fog settle over gas pumps. A row of parked cars and SUVs line the storefront, lights on, engines (still) running.

In the distance … Headlights bathe the deserted highway. The purr of a Volvo’s engine as it pulls into the lot and parks next to the other vehicles.

Rob Barkan knows how to spin a yarn where nothing is as it first appears to be, where horror masquerades in the ordinary, where further inspection of the finer details reveals the true horrors that lie beneath - where two innocent characters are lured into a web of unsuspecting terror.

Filmmakers: Here’s your chance to take the right road, no detours along the way. Rob Barkan’s Packaging could be your big ticket out of town. Your ultimate destination: success.

Double-Booked
Due to a scheduling error, two agency hit-men are double-booked to take out the same target.

Everyone knows the usual cinematic tropes of the Hollywood hitman with their charm, sophistication, ruthless edge and perfect timing. Well, author Charles Scowsill is here with his highly amusing comedy, Double Booked, to dispose of those conventions.

We open on a young man in a sharp suit, Winston, who carefully enters a house and prepares for what is to come. He takes a seat, relaxes, pulls out his gun and gets ready to conduct his messy business, but just as he is set to go he is interrupted by a rather bumbling and familiar nuisance, his aging colleague Thaddeus.

There is the soft sound of clutter. Winston raises his pistol calmly into the light. Suddenly - to the left of Winston, a window slides open. A clumsy figure staggers through.

Winston hurriedly leans over to a nearby “pixar” lamp and switches it on. The figure is revealed to be Thaddeus Eulovitch (57).

WINSTON
What the fuck are you doing here!?

THADDEUS
What the fuck are YOU doing here!?

WINSTON
Only gonna tell you once Thaddeus. FUCK OFF.

THADDEUS
What was that kiddo?

WINSTON
GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

THADDEUS
Ah, so I did hear you right.
Haven't got my hearing aid in you see.

WINSTON
Back off Thaddeus this is my contract, you're past your time.

THADDEUS
I’ll give you five pounds to get and get some sweets from that off
license down the road.

WINSTON
Who the fuck do you think you are you withering asshole!?

Winston kicks over a nearby coffee table. The nonchalant Thaddeus takes a seat and lights a cigarette.

THADDEUS
Keep your diaper on. I guess the boffins at HQ screwed up our schedules.

WINSTON
FUCK!

As the two bicker, the plot thickens as the wife of their target, Georgia, stumbles across them, and proves to have deeper depths than either man was expecting.

Will Winston and Thaddeus figure out what to do, will the likely spanner in the works that is Georgia prove too much to handle, and will they finally manage to complete their job and remove the target? Download the script and give it a read to find out.

Aside from the comedic wit on show in the writing, Double Booked is only six pages long and largely set in one single internal location, making it a cheap and simple production. If you are a film maker looking for a comedy to get your name out there then look no further, download Charles Scowill’s work and let the hits fall where they may!

Plight
A young refugee fights to survive a storm in the Mediterranean sea,
but his real struggle rests on shore with his saviour.

A treacherous nighttime storm rages in the Strait of Sicily.

"Towering waves cut through a dark sea... and a violent wind swirls in the air. A bolt of lightning streaks through the air and for a brief instance reveals moving walls of water..." 

In Cam Gray's emotional screenplay, Plight, the scenario is dire. For scattered in the water "lie the pummeled remains of a wooden boat" -- and a panicked 7-year-old Libyan boy named Tareq.

Clinging to his teddy bear and struggling to keep his head above the waves, Tareq screams for help. There's no answer. But when lightning strikes again and illuminates the area, Tareq spots a tattered blue cooler floating in the water. 

By daylight Tareq is adrift on the cooler in a calmer sea, and now able to ride over the waves. He's more determined and shares his optimism with his teddy bear, Abu.

TAREQ
(In Libyan Arabic, subtitled)
Momma and Pappa haven’t come to
find us yet, but they will. They
had Aya with them, I saw them
together when the boat broke apart.
They will keep her safe.

Night falls again, and Tareq is soon shivering from the cold. But in the distance, he catches a glimpse of yellow light. And with it -- the sound of a ship's motor.

His rescuer, 60-year-old Italian fisherman Salvatore Cannizzaro, wraps the boy in a towel and hands Tareq a cup with hot coffee. 
                    

SALVATORE
(In Italian, subtitled)
It’s been an hour and you still 
haven’t said a word, not even a 
thank you! Why won’t you talk? What
is your name? What are you doing
out here with a teddy and a cooler box?

Tareq warms his hands over the steaming coffee. Frustrated by the boy's silence, Salvatore persists:

SALVATORE
Where’s the gratitude? I know 
you’re scared but you could at 
least tell me what the hell you 
were doing out there.
(beat)
Fine, keep quiet. I have to fish, 
then I’ll take you to land come sunrise.

When Salvatore throws his hands up and turns to leave, Tareq finally speaks --

TAREQ
(In Libyan Arabic, subtitled)
Tareq. My name is Tareq al-Libi.

Salvatore immediately recognizes Tareq's language and realizes, much to his dismay, the boy has come from Libya. And most likely, Tareq's family is "resting at the bottom of the sea."

Will Salvatore help the young refugee? 
                     
Plight is a riveting and timely story, resonating with hope and angst for both Tareq and Salvatore. 

If you're a director who can confidently navigate through waves of controversy, Plight is for you! The story's ending is guaranteed to initiate heated conversations in its aftermath. 

Butterscotch
A recently widowed father puts his parenting skills to the test
when his 11-year-old daughter gets her first period.

Butterscotch by Jessica Waters opens benignly enough.  Fifteen year-old Carson Slone at the kitchen table, ignoring homework in favor of messing around on his phone. 

Then his construction worker father Elwood rushes in, out of breath.  Elwood asks, “What’s wrong?”  Carson points to the ceiling. 

Elwood runs upstairs, knocks on the closed bathroom door, and asks his eleven year-old daughter Taisha if she’s OK.

TAISHA (O.S.)
There’s blood.  On my underwear.

ELWOOD
Oh, baby.  It’s okay.  I’ll…

Elwood doesn’t know how to deal with this kind of situation.  In life, he’s always been gruff and to the point.  A born disciplinarian.  His wife was the sensitive one.  But she’s dead now.  So Elwood springs into action, frantically rummages through his wife’s old things, and even miraculously finds a box of tampons. 

But after trying to read the directions, he has to enlist Carson’s help. 

ELWOOD
Writing's tiny as hell.

Carson reads the directions and grows nervous.  

CARSON
Is this safe?

ELWOOD
Of course, it's safe, it's...

But now Elwood’s not so sure, so in a mad dash, he races off to the local drug store to find something appropriate for Taisha to use for her first time.  There, he endures judgment inquiries from another customer. 

All the while, back at the apartment, Carson tries to comfort his sister as best as he can.    

Elwood and Carson aren’t perfect, but they’re trying.  This kind of plot could’ve easily been mined for laughs, but writer Jessica Waters instead chose to focus on the sincerity of the moment, and the result feels like an episode of This Is Us played out at a breakneck pace.

Butterscotch is heartwarming, sweet, and far from saccharine.