AMY´S CREEK - S01E18 - WHY DO I SURROUND MYSELF WITH FOOLS?

1. Int. Bar. Evening.

Todd, Melina and Dawson toast on their beers.

Todd (voice over):

It started with a simple idea, one had in the company of chums.

Todd:

To a better future for all of us!

Melina:

Hear, hear!

They drink.

Dawson:

Admit it, Todd. You love being a family man!

Todd:

It is nice to have someone who loves you, to come home to.

Melina:

You big softie!

Todd:

It´s bleeding mental, is what it is! I should get home.

Dawson:

We´ll give you a ride. What´s our plan?

Todd:

I suppose, we sell it. If we´re lucky, we can get fifteen, twenty grand.

Melina:

Plus a percentage, right?

Dawson:

Even if we get one, it won´t amount to much.

Todd:

It´s a shame that someone else will make all the money off it. We´re probably missing out on millions.

Todd (voice over):

Two days later I own a production company! How in the bloody hell did that happen?

OPENING CREDITS

2. Int. Office. Day.

A real estate agent is showing Todd, Dawson and Melina a small office space.

Agent:

It was the only one in your prize range.

Todd:

How much is it?

Agent:

Two thousand a month.

Todd:

Two grand? For three bleeding broom cupboards?

The agent looks confused. Dawson and Melina try hard not to laugh.

Agent:

Excuse me?

Dawson:

Todd´s Britishness doesn´t always translate well. We´ll take it.

Melina:

I have a plan. Can I show you?

Dawson:

Yeah, sure.

Agent:

I´ll get the paperwork ready.

The real estate agent leaves them. Todd is still taking it in.

Todd:

Have we lost our minds, Leery?

Dawson:

You tell me. At least we can have fun along the way, can´t we? Are you coming?

Todd:

In a moment. I´ll check out my own broom cupboard first.

Melina:

If there´s one thing I´ve always been good at, it´s making a place feel like home. You´ll love it, when I´m finished with it.

They leave him to check out Dawson´s office.

Todd (to himself):

As long as you don´t spend any of my money.

He walks into his new office and looks unimpresssed.

Todd (voice over):

I miss LA in the 90´s sometimes! I was making ten grand in a bad week directing videos and didn´t have a care in the world. Went out on a boozer every night on the Strip and woke up with a new bird every morning. I loved it. It must have taken some years off, I had the time of my life! Then MTV started showing everything besides videos and the bottom dropped out, before it picked up with YouTube. It still isn´t the same money-wise, as it was in my day. The next stop was horror movies, which would have been a drab experience, if I hadn´t met Dawson. I finally met a guy, who knew when to listen and when to let it go in one ear and out the other. If I could find twenty others like him, I might even enjoy making movies!

He wipes some dust off the wall. "Opie was here" is written in black magic marker on the wall.

Todd (voice over):

Was Opie a fool too, I wonder? He sounds like one. My entire career has been simple. Do the job, get paid and on to the next gig. Wham, bam, thank you, maam! Not that I don´t love getting paid royalties, mind you! My dad wasn´t much for giving coherent speeches, even when he was sober, rest his soul. But one thing he told me, when I was around twelve or so stuck with me.

3. Int. Kitchen. Evening.

A twelve year old Todd in 1984 is enjoying a beer with his dad.

Todd (voice over):

I grew up in the middle of Lincolnshire. In a town, where following our lower league footy team and going to the pub were the only pass times. I´ve never missed it, since I left. My dad hated his job at the factory, so he drank his sorrows away, like most men in town did. His liver gave up five years before he could have retired, after a lifetime of solid abuse. My mum stuck with him, because even though he wasn´t worth much, at least he didn´t hit her and he had a warm heart. She never demanded much out of life, my mum. She died from Sclerosis, when I was ten and after that it was just me and him. I won´t say, he was a terrible dad, but I had to take care of myself most of the time. He tried, he just had no idea how to be a proper dad. The world had broken him beyond repair. I looked up to him until I saw, what a sad fate, the man had been born into. From the time he was born, his life had followed the expected route. Birth, marriage, work, death and don´t complain about it! It made me determined, not to be like him. That night happened to be the night, we were having my first beer. From what I remember, it was because our team had won promotion that day.

Young Todd:

I don´t want to work at the factory. It sounds dull.

His dad laughs to himself.

Todd´s Dad:

You sound like me, when I was your age. There´s the mines, if they stay open for much longer.

Young Todd:

Can you picture me working in a mine?

Todd´s Dad:

I suppose not. What would you like to do?

Young Todd:

Have you seen any of Queen´s videos?

Todd´s Dad:

The queen has made some videos?

Young Todd grins.

Young Todd:

Not the queen. The band Queen.

Todd´s Dad:

Can´t say, I have, lad.

Young Todd:

I saw some of them on TV and it gave me ideas. For other mini movies like them. With music in stead of words.

Todd´s Dad:

Maybe you´re a little young for beer.

Young Todd:

They´ve made these things since the 50´s, but they´ve only had Top of the Pops to show them on. I hear that over in America, there´s a station that only shows these videos all day long. Someone has to make them, don´t they? Why can´t that be me?

Todd´s Dad:

I suppose, it can´t hurt to dream, especially around these parts. No matter what you do, do it with heart, balls and swagger. That is what matters in this world. If they think you know what you´re doing, then you can make them believe, you do.

Young Todd ponders his dad´s answer.

Todd (voice over):

He must have stolen it from somewhere, because he wasn´t usually that clever. Maybe he had a rare moment of clarity. Whatever the case, bullshitting my way through life became my game. I lied until it was dripping off me, to get my foot in the door. Once I got in, there was no getting me out. The day after I took my O-levels, it was bye, bye rural Lincolnshire and hello to the heart of Manchester. A more fitting name was what the media called it. Mad-chester.

4. Int. Night Club. Night.

It´s 1991 and 19 year old Todd is partying with a pair of very attractive teenage girls. They feed each other an Ecstacy pill and one of them French kisses young Todd. Late 80´s/early 90´s Techno is playing loudly.

Girl #1:

My treat.

Young Todd:

Thanks, Luv. Do you want to go back to my place?

Girl #1:

The night has just begun.

Girl #2:

Can´t you feel the rhythm pulsing through your body?

Young Todd:

I think this music is ghastly!

Girl #1:

Too bad. Find us, when you´re ready to party.

The girls head out to the dance floor.

Young Todd (to himself):

Why did you eat that thing, you stupid bugger?

He starts to make his way out of the club.

Todd (voice over):

Manchester in ´91 was still a grey and dismal place, with drugs everywhere. Add that to half of my generation being unemployed, with no prospects for better times, crime and poverty reaching an all-time high and what you get is a city gone wild. Cocaine was for the few, who could afford it. Most kids were doing speed, LSD or Ecstasy, the cheap options, that still got your mind good and buggered. You didn´t know for sure, what you got and lots of us died. No one cared though. If you had a moment of guilt, all you did was tell yourself, that at least you weren´t doing anything as bad to yourself, as the junkies were to themselves. You knew, tomorrow wouldn´t be better than yesterday, so why not say to hell with it? If you died, then you weren´t missing out anyway. It would have been a bit better, if it wasn´t for the shitty music! I thank my stars on behalf of my countrymen, that Oasis came along!

5. Int. Pub. Night.

A very stoned looking young Todd is sitting at a table, trying to drink a beer and at the same time control his leg, that won´t stop shaking to the Irish folk music, that´s playing. A cute female server, 19 year old Emily, comes over to him.

Young Emily:

Do we have to nail the table to the floor?

Young Todd:

Sorry, luv. Can´t stop it.

Young Emily:

I´m surprised, you haven´t started river dancing! That´s usually what happens, ain´t it?

Young Todd:

I´m sick of this scene, Emily. There´s no future here. I want to get on a plane to where ever and never look back.

Young Emily:

Can you take me, while you´re at it?

Young Todd:

Are you serious?

Young Emily:

Are you?

Young Todd:

I´m thinking Paris, Rome, maybe Berlin.

Young Emily:

I hear that Amsterdam is nice.

Young Todd:

Why not Amsterdam? It´s a big world out there. No one says, we have to stay here.

Young Emily:

Let me get back to you on that.

She goes back to her job.

Todd (voice over):

I didn´t think she would, but when I came in the next day, it was all she could talk about. How did it end up being here? I honestly don´t remember. Once we made the decision, we were already on our way. We only worked together a few times, before our careers took separate turns. She took a safer job working for a movie studio, while I did my freelance thing. We´re still friends, though.

6. Int. House. Day.

Todd and Dawson are sitting across from a now almost fifty-year-old Emily. She´s flipping through the pages.

Emily:

Do you expect me to read this whole thing?

Todd:

What we need are investors, so we can make it ourselves.

Dawson:

We can make it for a hundred thousand.

Emily scoffs and puts the script away.

Emily:

Do you know why I like you, Todd?

Todd smiles at her.

Todd:

Enlighten me.

Emily:

Because you´re not a fool. What are you thinking? Don´t you have a family now?

Dawson:

We know, it´s risky ...

Todd:

Dawson, let me explain. I´ve made movies that have generated millions in box office returns.

Emily:

You´ve also made some stinkers, that didn´t draw a penny!

Todd:

I know why they bombed. They were utter shite!

Emily laughs. It lightens the mood a little.

Todd:

I said yes to most of them, before I´d read a word of the script. This could be a star maker for everyone involved. We´ll get it to play at Sundance, Cannes, Berlin and the sky is the limit.

Emily:

That´s for art movies. You´re making an art movie?

Dawson:

May I?

Todd nods at him.

Dawson:

This is a drama with a heart. One that will speak to everyone, in one way or another.

Emily:

He sure has an ego, doesn´t he?

Dawson:

We´ve both paid our dues on the bottom. It´s time we got a fair share of the pie. We make it, put it in a festival or two and sell it. We use most of the profit to finance our next project and the rest to pay ourselves. Todd and my name alone will get it considered.

Emily:

How does the wife feel about you gambling on your family´s future?

Todd:

It isn´t a gamble, if you´re sure. I believe in him.

Emily:

I can shop it around for you ...

Dawson:

It has to be us, who make it. You never know what a studio will do to it.

Todd:

Can you help us out, Em? For old times sake.

Emily takes a deep breath and sighs.

Emily:

I might know some people with deep pockets, but you´re heading up a long and risky road. I wouldn´t do it, if you had me at gun point.

Dawson:

That´s a yes?

Emily:

It´s a yes, I can help you. Only for your family´s sake, Todd. If you´re gonna do this crazy idea, then you´ll need someone with their head on straight! You´re both bonkers, you know that?

Dawson looks elated. Todd more relieved, even if he´s still torn.

Todd (voice over):

She´s right and I know it. This is crazier than Mad-chester was! How are we gonna turn a profit or keep up a steady income, if we have to pay ourselves on nothing? They didn´t accept air as currency, last time I checked.

7. Int. Todd´s House. Evening.

Todd comes home and hangs up his coat.

Todd (voice over):

In the old days, I never used to care about coming home to an empty house. If I had money to blow and my ego had been stroked, I was dandy. If it hadn´t, I would go out and find people, who would stroke it, even if I had to pay them to. What a fool I was!

He comes into the kitchen to find one of his step-sons, 12 year old Cameron sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of milk.

Cameron:

Hey, dad.

Todd:

Why aren´t you at the movies with the others?

Cameron:

I have a stomach ache.

Todd grabs a small package from his shirt pocket and throws it to him.

Todd:

Try one of those.

Cameron:

Mom says, I´m not supposed to.

Todd:

You mum worries too much. Taking an ant-acid doesn´t turn you into a druggie. The worst it can do is make your stomach regular. Try it.

Cameron takes one of the pack and puts it in his mouth. He smiles.

Cameron:

Orange flavor?

Todd:

Tasty, isn´t it?

Cameron:

Yeah. I don´t know why I was so afraid of it.

Todd:

It helps too. You´ll be okay in half an hour.

He sits down across from him.

Todd:

If I´d kept missing out because of a sore tummy, I never would have got anything done. How´s school?

Cameron:

Can I be honest?

Todd:

Of course you can.

Cameron:

I´m really bored in most classes. Did you like school?

Todd:

No, I hated it. I felt like it was put on earth to make me miserable. I spent most of my classes day dreaming about what I would do, when I got older. It´s probably why my grades were sh ... bad.

Cameron looks cheered up.

Cameron:

It´s not just me?

Tood:

Nah, kid. You´re a dreamer. There´s nothing wrong with that.

Cameron:

My teachers don´t think so.

Todd:

Most teachers don´t get guys like us, because they´ve stopped taking chances beyond what house to buy and whether to buy a new lawn mower or not. Where´s the fun in life, if you never take chances? I would have ended up bored to death, if I hadn´t taken a ton of them. I would have been stuck halfway across the world, wondering what I could have done.

Cameron:

Can you tell that to mom? She got pretty mad at the D I got today.

Todd smiles at him.

Todd:

She understands, she just doesn´t want you to know. Don´t you think I had to listen to people say, I was doing everything wrong? Everyone has to find their way.

Cameron:

That´s clever. I´ll remember that. You don´t regret anything?

Todd:

I wish, i would have made better movies! Your mum is doing you a favor and probably saving a ton of your brain cells, by not letting you watch them! Still, it all led me to here and now. How´s the tummy?

Cameron:

It´s starting to feel better. Do you want to watch a movie?

Todd:

"Bohemian Rhapsody" again?

Cameron:

Sure!

They head into the living room.

8. Int. Living Room. Evening.

Cameron and Todd are watching the Queen bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody again on the TV, getting some father/son time.

Todd (voice over):

I wonder if he can understand what a revelation it was, when I first saw Queen´s videos. Today they can click on to the next video and it pops right up. Back then, it filled my head for weeks. I would have given a finger to be able to re-watch them, any time I wanted to. I became obsessed with thinking about how they were made and from there it quickly changed to "Can I do it?" The first video I shot was for one of the better known bands in our area, who I sold my idea to as if it was the second coming. They paid me 60 quid up front to produce it for them. It sounded like a fortune, but I ended up spending over a hundred on it. It still turned out blurry and terribly edited. Mind you, all I had was an old camera from the early 70´s, my school had, some rolls of film, a few rolls of tape and a pair of scissors! A teacher showed me how to add the soundtrack and that was the start of my journey. The band were nice enough not to ask for their money back, even though they likely expected more. The first friend I showed it to laughed and told me, I was crazy. The next said, I shouldn´t fill my head with big dreams. What a stupid wanker, that kid was!

Cameron:

Were you at Live Aid?

Todd:

No, I had to settle for watching it on telly. I knew a girl, who went. God, I was jealous of her!

Cameron:

Do you think I could get a career in music?

Todd:

Like, in a band?

Cameron:

Maybe. I´ve been thinking about learning guitar or drums.

Todd:

I´d pick the guitar. It´s less likely to suddenly disappear, when your brothers and sisters have to listen to you practicing it!

Cameron:

That sounds accurate enough!

Todd:

We can get you a guitar, but only if you apply yourself. Deal?

Cameron:

Deal.

They fist bump on it and go back to watching the movie.

Todd (voice over):

That boy will be someone special one day. I can feel it. With support to replace the lack of it I got, who knows what he´s capable of? Then again, wanting to show them, they were wrong, has been a driving factor. Today I´m Todd Carr, maker of stupid commercials that don´t mean anything. They´re there to make money and have no other purpose to exist. I made some nice videos in the day, but what have I done since, I can be proud of? A bunch of schlock movies, most of which went straight to DVD? I couldn´t make myself sit through watching them again! Maybe that´s the goal in this. To make one more thing, I can point to and be proud to. To show Mary and the kids that I can be more than a guy, who shoots whatever he´s asked to.

9. Int. Office. Day.

Todd and Dawson are carrying a desk in, while Melina follows after with a chair.

Todd (voice over):

It´s insane, but I´ve made insane decisions before that paid off. Most of those I weren´t nearly as sure of, as I am of this one.

Dawson:

Over here?

Todd:

That´d be great.

They put the desk, where Todd wants it.

Melina:

That´s a new tone, compared to yesterday! What´s changed?

Todd:

Nothing really. I´m just in a better mood today, is all. Did Emily call either of you last night?

Dawson:

No, but she´s only had a day to work on it. Give her some time.

Todd:

Time is what we don´t have. Every second we can´t work on the movie is costing us money. Correction, costing me money, since neither of you have any!

Dawson:

I can ask my mom if I can borrow a couple thousand. She won´t say no.

Melina:

I wish, I had a mom like that!

Dawson:

We knew this would be the long route, but it´s also the right one. Can´t you feel it?

Todd:

So help me, I can! It would be great to know where we exactly stand, though.

At that moment, Todd´s phone rings. He puts it up to his ear.

Todd:

Éllo, luv. I can still say that to an old Manchester girl without offending her, can´t I?

Melina and Dawson look on in excitement, as he listens. He plays it completely cool, though.

Todd:

Isn´t that interesting. I see. I´ll tell the others. They´re right here with me. We´re filling up our new office. Later, luv.

He hangs up and puts his phone away, still playing it completely cool, while Melina and Dawson are about to burst.

Todd:

Should we get some lunch before the next one or ...

Dawson:

Todd, come on!

Todd:

I guess, we´re making a bloody movie!

He smiles and they celebrate it.

Todd (voice over):

I´m Todd mother flipping Carr! I started out from nothing and told everyone who didn´t believe in me, that they could kiss by British arse! I´m not ending my career doing sodding commercials! Not of your life, mate!

10. Int. Todd´s House. Day.

Todd comes home and we finally see the extend of his new family. Besides the two in college, Cameron and the baby, he also has a boy and a girl aged 6 and 9 respectively named Sam and Becky. His wife, a not particularly attracttive, but very homely woman, 43 year old Mary greets him with a kiss on the cheek and he gets big hug from his youngest daughter. Sam is busy playing Wii on the TV.

Todd:

What´s that for?

Becky:

I got an A on my report. I couldn´t have done it witout you.

Todd:

You wrote it. Give yourself a hug!

She does and giggles. It makes Todd smile.

Mary:

How´s the new office?

Todd:

Small, but we´ll manage. Do you want to come down and see it?

Becky:

I´d like to see it.

Sam:

Me too!

Mary:

Then, I guess, we´ll make a field trip of it!

Todd:

They´re nothing special. Just offices with furniture in them.

Mary:

It´s what they represent. A new start for you. We can all tell, that you´ve been leaving your heart here, when you go off to work. That isn´t the guy I fell for and it isn´t the dad, his kids love.

Becky:

We wanna see you happy, dad.

Todd:

Then, you´ll really like this. We have a backer!

Mary and his kids look happy. Sam even puts away his controller and walks over to him.

Sam:

So you´re making the movie, you want to make?

Todd:

Do you think I´m crazy, to do this at my age?

Mary:

You´ve always been a little crazy. Otherwise you wouldn´t be you!

Becky:

It´s official?

Todd:

It´s official. We´re making the movie!

His kids cheer and Cameron comes out from his room.

Cameron:

What´s happening?

Todd:

We´re making a movie. How would you like to be in it?

Cameron:

Seriously?

Todd:

Why not? It isn´t like we´ll have a million to spend on actors.

Becky:

Can I be in it?

Sam:

Me too!

Todd:

Sure! There´s parts for everyone! What about you, my love?

Mary:

I´ll pass! One of us has to maintain their dignity!

Todd:

What do say we celebrate with Pizza?

Mary:

Todd! You know how I feel about them eating junk food! It´s bad enough, that you still do!

Todd:

Let them for once. News like this doesn´t come along every day.

Becky:

Please, mom?

Mary:

Okay, but we´re eating healthy for the rest of the week!

Cameron:

I know exactly which one, I´m getting!

Sam:

Which one is that?

Cameron:

I´ll show you.

Cameron´s brother and sister follow him into the kitchen. Him and Mary make eye contact.

Mary:

What is it?

Todd:

If you´d told me thirty years ago that I would ever be this happy, I wouldn´t have believed you!

Mary:

Man, those were the days!

Todd:

No, they weren´t. These are.

They hug and follow the kids into the kitchen.

11. Int. Kitchen. Day.

The kids are huddled over a menu, trying to decide what to order, while Mary tries to keep some sort of control. Todd watches them with a wide smile on his face.

Todd (voice over):

My dad couldn´t have imagined buying Pizza for the family. To him the only things you spend money on was rent, cigarettes, booze, food from the grocery store and the most essential bills. We hadn´t spoken in years, when he passed away. My aunt somehow got in touch with my former agent, who told me. I had no clue how to react. I won´t even say, I was sad. It was more a feeling of "you knew it was coming". I didn´t go back for the funeral and chose to do a wild weekend in Vegas instead. If drinking had been his life, then I would salute him by getting plastered! I spent more than he made at the factory in a year on those two nights, but I barely remember any of it. It was another escapade at a time where I had them constantly. What happened exactly at what time is lost somewhere deep within my memory banks. I know that I drank all I could and made with several loose women of the night, still none it meant anything. Still, when I drove home, it felt like he was out of system. Nothing but a distant memory from a life, I left behind. I hope that my kids won´t ever look at me in the same way, I saw him. A broken man, who was waiting to die. Mary gave me a new lease on life. We met in a laundromat five years ago, a few months after her husband of twenty years had been killed in a car accident. I was screaming at the machine for eating my coins and she offered to help. It was half a year until we went on an actual date. By then I already knew, it was the beginning of something better.

Todd:

Are there any with gorgonzola?

Becky:

Number 19 does.

Todd:

I´ll have that one.

Todd (voice over):

I wish that my dad´s life could have been like this. You know what? I might even dedicate the movie to him.

CLOSING CREDITS