AMY´S CREEK - S01E19 - ARE SECOND CHANCES AN ACTUAL THING?
1. Int. CLP Productions Office. Day.
A young female reporter is visiting Melina, Todd and Dawson at the office with her photographer.
Melina (voice over):
I didn´t think about it, before I said yes, because I was too caught up in the moment. Isn´t that the story of my life?
Reporter:
Even after everything you´ve done in the business, aren´t you more excited than usual?
Dawson:
This has been a dream of mine for over a decade. I can´t even describe how it feels, to live it out.
Todd:
I´m with Dawson. I can honestly say, that I haven´t been this excited about a project, maybe ever.
Reporter:
What about you, Melina? It has to be thrill to work with these guys.
Melina:
I pinch my arm every morning to make sure, I´m not dreaming!
Melina and the reporter laugh.
Melina:
Seriously, I´m just enjoying the ride and hoping, it´ll never end. I would be more than happy, if I could continue working with these two inspirational men, for the rest of my life.
Dawson:
Speaking for myself, I can only say that the feeling is mutual. She´s become like a new little sister to us.
Todd:
One with a big mouth, just the way we like them.
Reporter:
It certainly feels like there´s a ton of love in this room. Is that why you think, it will be a success?
Todd:
It will succeed because we have a life time of experience between us, we know what we´re doing and we have the best movie we could, to start off with. The love is what makes it fun.
Reporter:
That´s it for my questions. Can we have a group picture, before we leave?
Melina:
I can´t see why not?
They pose for a picture and the photographer takes a few pictures.
Reporter:
Thanks. Good luck with the new company. I hope to be back here, to talk about your massive success.
Todd:
You and us both!
The reporter and the photographer leave them.
Todd:
Back to work. I want to see you with a phone to your ear all morning, Mel.
Melina:
It´s why I´m here, isn´t it?
Dawson:
I took some pictures of locations, we could use.
Todd:
Show me.
They head into Todd´s office. Melina gets behind her desk and sits down.
Melina (voice over):
I never in my wildest dreams thought, my life could be this great! Of course, since we´re talking me, things can´t be that easy.
OPENING CREDITS
2. Ext. Playground. Day.
Melina is scouting locations with Todd and Dawson.
Dawson:
It isn´t used too often, so we can probably shoot here for free.
Todd:
There´s a word, I like to hear!
Dawson:
Plus, it´s got that worn look to it, we need. It wouldn´t look right if a girl with no money, was playing in a brand new playground.
Todd:
What do you think, Mel? Does it look the playground, you used to play on?
Melina:
More or less.
Todd:
Find out who we need to talk to and get the permit.
Melina:
I´m already on it.
She grabs her phone from her pocket and starts looking into it.
Todd:
Where´s she been all my life, Dawson?
Dawson:
Let me know, if you need help.
Melina:
That´s okay. I´m on top of it.
Todd:
I say what I want and the girl gets it done! How hard can that be? Why did I have to go through dozens of assistants, to find one that could?
Dawson:
What about me? I was alright, wasn´t I?
Todd:
You were alright, but not like this girl! Keep it up, Mel.
Melina:
I´ll try my best. I have a number here.
Todd:
Already? Even I´m impressed now!
Melina smiles, as she calls the number. She puts the phone to her ear.
Melina:
Hi, you´re talking to Melina Perez from CLP Productions. We´re a production company here in LA and we´re wondering if we could shoot some scenes on one of your playgrounds.
They guys lets her get to it and walks a little away to talk.
Dawson:
Where do you want to go next?
Todd:
Let´s have a look at those pictures again.
Dawson pulls out his phone and shows him.
Dawson:
These are within a few miles from here. It won´t take more than an hour or two, to scope them out.
Todd:
I know you´ll want to use all of them, but we have to keep it within reason. Some it will have to be shot on set.
Dawson:
Wouldn´t it be amazing, if we didn´t have to?
Todd:
I can think of a lot of things, that could be amazing, like Freddy bloody Mercury coming back from the grave, for one last tour! that doesn´t mean, it´s gonna happen!
Melina comes over to them.
Melina:
She´s sending me the forms on a PDF file. It shouldn´t be a problem, from what she tells me.
Todd:
Brilliant, Mel.
Melina:
It´s nothing!
Dawson:
Trust me, it isn´t. Not when it comes to him.
Todd:
I wasn´t that bad!
Dawson:
I used to call him Satan behind his back. None of the, what was it, five or six before me, lasted a week?
Todd:
It was only four! The first one lasted almost two weeks, so he doesn´t count!
Dawson:
My point is, you´re succeeding, where everyone else have failed. You should give yourself credit.
Melina:
Shall we?
Todd:
Indeed we shall, luv.
Dawson:
The next two are within walking distance. We can circle around and get back to the car.
Todd:
Lead the way!
They head off to the next location.
Melina (voice over):
It´s funny to me, how Todd calls me Mel. I´ve been called a lot of things, but it´s the first time in a long time, I´ve had a boyish nickname. I kinda like it. He told me that it´s a British thing to automatically give someone a nickname, but it´s the same, where I came from. Those nicknames weren´t nearly as nice though.
3. Int. Melina´s Parent´s House. Evening.
It´s 2007 and an eleven-year-old Melina is lying in bed and trying to cover her ears with her hands. It´s clearly a very poor house. We can hear her parents fighting and it sounds like something is smashed.
Melina (voice over):
My parents had plenty of them for each other. His favorites were whore, bitch and soul sucker, often in some sort of combination. Hers were simpler. Dickhead, jerk-off and worthless loser topped her list. They only stayed together because of the lack of other options. I guess they both figure that it beats being alone. It´s hard to say who of them I disliked the most, my dad for never giving a rat´s ass about his kids, or my mom, who would slap us across the face for the tiniest of things, we did wrong. Sometimes they would bring dates back to the house and told us to stay out of the living room. As if we couldn´t hear, what they were doing with these strangers. That´s the kind of house, I grew up in. One I couldn´t wait to get out of, from the time I was born as Manuella Esposito in a small town in Arizona, on April 3rd, ´96. I could tell you where, but I don´t like speaking the name of that place. Some people shouldn´t be allowed to have kids. They´re too selfish to be any good as parents. That perfectly sums up my parents.
Her 14 year old brother Roberto comes in.
Roberto:
It sounds like a big one.
Young Melina:
If we´re lucky, he´ll move out.
Roberto:
You know, that´ll never happen, Manny.
Young Melina:
Is this ever gonna end?
Roberto:
It will, when we move out. When I´m 16 and I can buy a car, I´ll be out of here.
Young Melina:
Can you take me with you?
Roberto:
No, but I´ll come back to visit.
Young Melina:
Where are you gonna live?
Roberto:
Phoenix, maybe. Any place is better than here. You´ll get out too someday.
Young Melina:
I wish, that day could be now. I hate it here.
Roberto:
I know, you do. Things will get better, when we get older. They have to.
He sits down on the bed next to her and gives her a hug. She still looks upset.
Melina (voice over):
My brother Roberto is the only part of my childhood, I have any desire to re-visit. He stayed two more years, than he had to, just so he could protect me, until he finally had enough, got behind the wheel of his car and left town. He left me a long letter, but he didn´t have to explain. I knew the same thing, he did. That the place we lived was sucking the life out of us and we had to leave to find some sort of normailty. I haven´t seen him since he left and it worries me, especially since I can´t find any traces of him on-line. Everyone has some sort of digital footprint except for him, it seems.
4. Ext. Graveyard. Night.
It´s 2013 and a very drunk 16-year-old Melina is out with another girl, 18-year-old Hannah. They´re looking at tombstones, while holding each other up. Both of them have a half empty bottle of vodka, that they toast on.
Hannah:
To death!
They drink.
Melina (voice over):
After he left, I tried to find another guy, who could take care of me the way he did. Not having a lot of choices, I went for the one, who looked the toughest. He turned out to be an A-Hole that was even more slap-happy, than my mom was, but it meant that I met Hannah, his sister. If it hadn´t been for her, I probably would have lost my mind in those years. She was a few years older than me, but she´d been held back twice. It wasn´t that she wasn´t smart. She just didn´t care about her future, because she didn´t think, she had one. When you envy the dead, then it´s time to take a close look in the mirror.
Hannah:
This one, I´m thinking went down with a cruise ship!
Young Melina:
She was ... 98 or 99? I can´t count right now, but I don´t think people that old go on cruises!
Hannah:
Can you imagine having to suffer through 99 years in this place?
Young Melina:
I´ve been thinking about leaving. No planning, just board a bus and see where life takes me.
Hannah:
Don´t you think your parents will come looking for you?
Young Melina:
I´ll leave them a letter that tells them to leave me alone. If I never see either of them again, it will be too soon. They can continue slowly to kill each other and I can find something better.
Hannah:
What makes you sure, it´s out there? What if every place is like this?
Young Melina:
It can´t be. Somewhere out there, there has to be a place, where I will be happy. Like the Disney version of happy!
Hannah laughs.
Hannah:
You´re drunker, than I am!
Young Melina:
This next one died, when he was 19. I say, death by cop!
Hannah:
There´s the way to go! It´s fast and you get to be cool for all eternity. I´m bored. Let´s find something else to do.
They start to stagger through the graveyard together.
Melina (voice over):
I found her Facebook page a few years ago and she´d hooked up with a guy, she used to gush over all the time. Her bio said that they live in Phoenix, so it looks like she got out eventually. I hope she isn´t as obsessed with death, as she was in the two years, we were best friends. It wasn´t in me however, to wait around for "Eventually" to come along. A few days later I did exactly, what I told her I would, only with one small change. I told my parents. My dad was cool as a cucumber and said, he understood why our town wasn´t for someone like me. He shook my hand, told me good luck and gave me a hundred dollars. My mom told me, I would come crying back to them in no time and slapped me as hard as she could across the face for being ungrateful for the sacrifices, she´d made for me. What sacrifices? That woman never gave a damn about anything, except for her own sorry ass! I told her that she would never get to hit me or speak to me again, thanked my dad for the cash and left. Since that moment, I´ve never looked back. I also left my name behind. I never liked it anyway.
5. Int. Showroom. Day.
18-year-old Melina is waiting with her friend, 19-year-old Jessie, to try out for a stage production in Las Vegas with dozens of other hopefuls.
Melina:
My next name was Gracie Ford. Kind of corny, I know, but I liked the ring to it and don´t you think it sounds like someone, who could be a star? Gracie first tried her luck in Reno and worked as a waitress for a few weeks, while she slept at a youth hostel. Then she got herself in trouble with a pair of girls, picked up her few belongings and hitch hiked her way to Vegas, where she caught a ride with a very nice trucker named Allie, who told her, that she reminded her of her daughter. I wouldn´t have minded having Allie for my mom, that´s for sure. It so happened that her daughter Jessie lived in Vegas and before I knew it, I had a place to live and a start of something. That was more, than I´d ever had before. She got me a job as a telemarketer at the same place, she worked, while we both dreamt of something bigger.
Jessie:
How´s the foot?
Young Melina:
I won´t know for sure, until I test it out. Typical, that it should happen right before my first audition in months!
Jessie:
It isn´t like we stand a chance. I´ve seen nearly everyone in here in big productions.
Young Melina:
We can´t give up without trying!
Jessie:
I wish, I could be more like you, Gracie. I´m almost ready to give up and save myself the embarrassment.
Young Melina:
Jessie, you were born to be a dancer! They´ll see it too.
The girls smile at each other, as the casting director comes in.
Director:
I need the girls, whose last names start with the letters A through E to come with me.
Young Melina:
Good luck, Jessie Adams.
Jessie and her fist bump, before Jessie heads off with the other girls.
Melina (voice over):
I never got to audition that day, thanks to my foot. I wouldn´t have got it anyway. I simply don´t have anywhere near the same amount of talent, she has. She blew them away and has been getting steady work in big shows down there ever since. It´ll end, when her looks fade, but she loves it and should be allowed to enjoy her success, while it lasts. She´s the only one from my pre-LA days, that I´m still in touch with. It´s funny how fate works out that way. It also meant that she was on to bigger and better things, while Vegas was turning out to be another wash and when she like Dawson also fell behind on her rent and got threatened with eviction and being taken to court, if she didn´t pay up, it was time to make another run for it and take a new name again. Gracie Ford couldn´t get it done for the three years, I was her, so I left her behind, when I passed the California state limits. There´s no hiding, that I´m Latino, so why not pick a good Latino name? I stole it from a professional wrestler, my brother had a big crush on, when he was 13. In that way, it feels like it´s a nice salute to him, in case I never see him again.
6. Int. Damon´s Office. Day.
Melina is meeting with an acting agent, a young man is his mid-20´s named Damon Carter the Third. His small office is very messy and he seems very disorganized.
Melina (voice over):
Do you want to know the biggest lesson I´ve learned in my twenty years on earth? That you shouldn´t always take the first offer, that comes along. I moved to LA a little over a year ago and moved in on the couch of an old friend of Jessie´s. So far, so good, right? I´d only been here a few days, when I was spotted by Damon Clarke the third, up-start acting agent and con-man extra-ordinaire! He filled my head with everything I wanted to hear and I agreed to sign on with him. I was so excited, that I didn´t read a word of the conract, before I signed it. I wish, I had.
Slightly Younger Melina:
I was wondering if any work was coming up?
Damon:
Tons, babe. When pilot season starts, I´ll get you auditions for all the biggest ones! Your face will be on TV this fall. Mark my words!
Slightly Younger Melina:
If there´s anything before that ...
Damon:
Nothing, you would be interested in.
Slightly Younger Melina:
I am! I can play anything!
Damon:
I have a friend, who runs a small production company. Strictly low budget stuff for the internet.
Slightly Younger Melina:
What kind of stuff?
Damon:
Wild party scenes mostly. With nudity, but tasteful. Not like porn.
Slightly Younger Melina:
It´s not like I would be completely opposed to doing nudity, if it´s in the right context.
Damon:
I can give you his number, if you want. It still counts as an acting job.
Slightly Younger Melina:
Of course! It´s acting, isn´t it?
Melina (voice over):
I want to punch myself, when I think back on that day! How could I be so dumb? Duh, I´ll believe that it´s tasteful and not like porn at all! Was I born yesterday or just a complete moron? Damon had me under contract to pay him fifty percent of my acting take, so of course he would send me into it, the scumbag! I wish, I´d never met him!
7. Int. House. Evening.
A very nervous looking and scandily clad Melina is with three other girls and half a room full of men, at least ten of them.
Melina:
Ehm, what´s about to happen here?
Girl #1:
What do you think? It´s an orgy!
Melina:
An orgy? I´m at an orgy?
Girl #2:
You didn´t know?
Melina:
I thought it was an acting job!
Girl #3:
It´s gonna be on the internet, so you could say it is!
Melina:
You´re fine with this?
Girl #1:
Sure! This is the third one I´ve shot this week! Only the second one with guys, though!
Girl #2:
Was that the "Five Guys, One Girl" shoot, I had to say no to?
Girl #1:
Yeah! I owe you one.
Melina:
Did you say "Five Guys"?
Girl #3:
It´s this site that specializes in videos, where it´s always ...
Melina:
I don´t need a mental picture!
Girl #1:
If you´re going to be a prude, then you´re in for a long evening!
Girl #2:
Yeah! Stop acting like some prude virgin!
Melina:
I am a virgin!
The other girls laugh.
Girl #3:
That is so cute!
Girl #1:
Run away then, little virgin.
Girl #2:
Go and find a prince to pop that cherry for you.
Melina hurriedly makes her way through the men.
8. Int. Damon´s Office. Day.
Melina isn´t looking too pleased with him.
Melina (voice over):
Needless to say, I had some issues with the path my career was taking!
Melina:
You told me, it wasn´t porn!
Damon:
I thought, that was pretty clear.
Melina:
You said straight out, that it wasn´t!
Damon:
I´m sure, I didn´t. Other actors did porn, before they became famous.
Melina:
And they all regret it! I want out of my contract!
Damon:
No can do.
She looks angry at him, but he doesn´t seem to care.
Melina:
What?
Damon:
I own your career for the next five years. Even after that you still have to pay me twenty five percent of everything you earn in the entertainment industry for oh well, the rest of your life! You should have read the contract.
Melina:
Even if it´s not acting?
Damon:
Bingo! Fifty percent for the next five years, whether you´re the star or the watergirl. That could be a lot of money, if you by some miracle should make it. Did you think, I´d give that up, out the goodness of my heart?
Melina:
You slime ball!
Damon:
It´s your own fault for not reading the contract through. I´ll be the first to tell you that it´s extremely unfair. There´s no way I would have signed it! Don´t blame me, because you were dumb enough to do it!
Melina gets up from her seat.
Melina:
This isn´t the end of this!
Damon:
You have that absolutely right!
Melina storms out of there and he looks pleased with himself.
9. Ext. Street. Day.
Melina is walking up the street, frustrated over what happened.
Melina (voice over):
He had me by the ta-ta´s, and I knew it. Getting out of a contract like that could cost hundreds of thousands, if you succeed at all. I asked my former roommate, and she told me, it wasn´t even worth looking into. I felt like such an idiot! My acting career hadn´t even yet started and I´d already signed over a great deal of the money I could make to a guy, I never wanted to see again. It surprised me, when he got me an actual audition. For a small movie, of course, but it was a real acting job! It also meant that I would get to meet the guy, who wrote "The Creek", my biggest guilty pleasure, when I was a kid. It was silly sometimes and overly romantic, but Sammy, the main character, reminded me of myself. To meet the guy that created her, was bound to be a thrill in itself.
10. Int. Warehouse. Day.
The set is being build up. Dawson and Susanne are auditioning Kathy and Melina.
Melina (voice over):
Kathy is the only other girl, who´s unlucky enough to have signed Damon´s contract from hell! He sent us to the same acting class, and we quickly hit it off. She´s a lot like Jessie in many ways and that can never be a bad thing. Like me, they´re small town girls, who came to the city to chase what seemed like an impossible dream. It isn´t her fault any more than it´s mine, that we put our faith in the scum of the earth. I had seen pictures of Dawson on-line and always thought, he was cute. I saw a few interviews with him on YouTube, the day before the audition and was glad to see, that he seemed like a nice guy. Isn´t that an understatement of epic proportions?
Dawson:
You know each other?
Melina:
Yeah, we go to the same acting class.
Dawson:
Which one would that be?
Kathy:
The Storch School of Acting.
Dawson and Susanne laugh.
Susanne:
Old Ernie is still scamming the youth?
Dawson:
How much is he charging you?
Melina:
Thirty dollars a class.
Dawson:
Susanne, no matter what, we should help these two find a school, that isn´t a con job!
Susanne:
I can get you in touch with schools, that don´t compare to ole Ernie´s scam operation. You can tell him from me personally. that it´s time to retire.
Kathy and Melina look pleased, that Dawson and Susanne are so nice to them.
Melina (voice over):
I had only met him two minutes before and already he was helping me and Kathy more, than Damon had in a year. They made us feel completely at ease and the audition flew by in no time. We were both over the moon afterwards, since we finally had a positive experience after all that time. We spent the rest of the day together and Kathy couldn´t help squealing out with joy, when they told us that we had the jobs. We spent the rest of the evening fantasizing about where it would take us to. Two weeks later, it was all over and if felt like we couldn´t sink any lower. Thank God, the story didn´t end there, right?
11. Int. CLP Productions Office. Day.
Melina, Todd and Dawson are all busy working.
Melina (voice over):
Which brings us back to today. I had been ignoring Damon´s calls, since the movie was shut down and I moved in with Dawson. In my own foolish mind, I thought for a second, that I could leave my past behind and go on, being the perfect Melina, they saw me as.
Todd:
How would you feel about auditioning Natasha?
Melina:
An ex-girlfriend?
Dawson:
Yeah, sort of, from back, when I was starting out. I haven´t seen in her since the last movie we did together.
Todd:
Well? She never was a half bad actress and we can´t afford to be choosers.
Dawson:
Is she still in the business? It must have been ten years, since I saw her in anything.
Melina:
I can check. What´s her last name?
Todd:
Kelly, wasn´t it?
Melina:
Natasha Kelly, let´s see.
She types it in and looks the result over.
Melina:
She hasn´t done much, that´s for sure. A guest appearance on an Italian TV show last year, an uncredited role in "Beast Grinder 4" two years ago. Before that we have to go back four more years to find a two episode stint on a show called "Up With People" that ...
She clicks on the link.
Melina:
Only lasted two episodes and gets a big, fat zero percent on Rotten Tomatoes! Damn, it must have been bad! If she still wants to act, then she´ll probably jump at the opportunity. Let me check ... it doesn´t look like, she has an agent anymore. I could contact her through social media and see if that works?
Dawson:
Just be upfront that we can´t pay her much.
There´s a knock on the door and Damon walks in.
Todd:
Who the hell are you?
Melina:
That´s my agent.
Damon:
Damon Clarke the third, pleased to meet you.
Dawson:
She doesn´t work for you anymore.
Damon:
Is that true? I happen to have a piece of paper, that says otherwise. Isn´t that true, Manuella?
Todd:
What´s he on about, Mel?
Melina:
Manuella is the name, my parents gave me. I hate you!
Damon:
Like it or not, I´m your new business partner.
Melina (voice over):
This could ruin everything!
She gives Damon the evil eye, but he doesn´t seem to care.
CLOSING CREDITS
