Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Heartland Excerpt (Teleplay)

Here's the teaser from Cassady Dixon's television pilot Heartland. After reading, be sure to check out my interview with Cassady about his writing process and inspirations.  (Click here to read the interview!)         

Please note: The dialogue is centered a bit strangely at times - this is due to the blog format, not Cassady's script.


Excerpt from Heartland
teleplay by Cassady Dixon

TEASER

FADE IN

INT. SOONER DAIRY LUNCH BURGER JOINT - MORNING

Brothers JIMMY (40) and RANDY MCHUGHES (42) open their small burger joint, which is located in the college town of Norman, Oklahoma.

JIMMY
You see the game Saturday night,
Randy?

RANDY
Yeah. Ol’ boy from Tulsa made a
meal outta those Aggies.

JIMMY
Helluva deal. Heisman material if I
ever saw it.

RANDY
Mmm-hmm.

JIMMY
You know who in the heck’s been
puttin’ two extra tater tots in the
bags?

RANDY
Nope. How many of ‘em like that?

JIMMY
The whole God-dang box. Everyone
knows we serve eight tots a piece.

RANDY
Yeah. Probably George.

JIMMY
Eh. George knows the rules pretty
well, but....

Jimmy starts to re-package the tots.

RANDY
So, is Junior goin’ through with
it?

JIMMY
With what?

RANDY
Quitin’ the football team.

JIMMY
Oh, yeah. Appears so. I don’t like
it, but he says he ain’t
“motivated” no more.

RANDY
You know, Jimmy, maybe he should
try church. This new one me and
Linda started goin’ to is good.

JIMMY
Naw, it ain’t that. It just don’t
seem like he’s got direction
sometimes. Worried about what kinda
trouble he might get into.

RANDY
Got a good minister there.

Jimmy shakes his head to himself and continues with his work.

EXT. HIGH SCHOOL - CONTINUOUS

Jim, Jimmy’s son, known as JUNIOR (17) to his family,
finishes a joint underneath the bleachers at lunch with two friends. One of them hands Junior a bag of pot.

FRIEND #1
Here, put this in your bag.

JUNIOR
What?

FRIEND #2
You’re the only one with a bag.
Come on, Junior.

Junior sighs, then takes the drugs.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL - LATER

Junior stuffs the drugs inside his locker.

INT. CLASSROOM - LATER

Junior takes a test. An office aide walks in the room.

AIDE
James McHughes.

Junior looks up from his test.

INT. HALLWAY - LATER

Junior walks to the principal’s office. Along the way, he sees cops with K-9’s roaming the halls. As Junior walks into the office, the PRINCIPAL turns around to face him just as Junior sees the bag of pot on his desk.
His jaw drops.

FADE OUT

END OF TEASER

© Cassady Dixon


Bio: Cassady Dixon is a working professional in the entertainment industry while keeping his free time booked with writing and making contacts. As an assistant to three entertainment executives, he has grown to have a solid grasp of the business side of the industry. This has enabled him to infuse his writing with not only his natural creative pulse, but also a healthy concentration on what is marketable. He contributes regularly to the ezines Cinespect and Big Vision Empty Wallet.

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