OFF THE RECORD (Act Two)
ORIGINAL PILOT: one-hour drama, newsroom procedural
OFF THE RECORD
(ORIGINAL PILOT: hour drama)
by
Edmund Lee
Catch up:
Read Prologue
Read Teaser
Read Act One
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
OVER BLACK
SUPER: “5:28:33 P.M. EST” (seconds counting up)
SUPER: “Time to deadline: 3 hours, 31 minutes, 27 seconds”
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — ABE’S DESK — LATER
Abe is on the COMPUTER, trying to hunt down personal details. We get to see a journalist in action.
ABE
(to himself)
Personal details, personal details. Alright. Kapler. Is he Jewish? From the Upper East Side. Graduated Buckley, St. Paul’s, Harvard. Probably not. And Google says--
Abe taps away at the keys.
ABE (CONT’D)
Wrote for the Crimson. Huh.
Abe dials PHONE. It RINGS, but no one picks up.
ABE (CONT’D)
Slackers.
He hangs up the phone, and picks it up immediately.
ABE (CONT’D)
I bet advertising’s still there.
He dials another number. PHONE RINGS.
HARVARD CRIMSON (O.S.)
Crimson. Advertising.
ABE
(on phone)
Hi, this is Abe Freeman from the Gotham Tribune, also class of ’05. I’m trying to find out who was editing the paper some years ago. Can you dig up an old masthead?
HARVARD CRIMSON (O.S.)
Uh, yeah, I think I can. What year?
CUT TO:
ABE
(on phone)
You edited the Crimson that year, when Jessie Kapler was on the paper, right?
PHONE SOURCE is a male professional.
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
I was one of the editors, yeah. Jessie wrote some stories for me. We were actually blockmates.
ABE
River or quad?
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
River. Did you--
ABE
0-5.
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
You know I really can’t give you much on Jessie, I mean we weren’t that close.
ABE
Well we can go off the record.
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
You should try Will Nygard.
Abe rights down the name on a NOTEPAD.
ABE
Will Nygard?
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
Yeah, he and Jessie, they were friends. They were close. They were in the Porcellian together.
This piques Abe’s interest.
ABE
The Porcs?
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
Yeah.
ABE
You wouldn’t happen to have Will’s--
PHONE SOURCE (O.S.)
All I know is he’s now at a law firm in the city. Don’t know which one.
MONTAGE:
A FEW QUICK CUTS of Abe on the phone talking to different people, tracking down Nygard’s firm. Abe is tired. He punches one more number on the phone. DIAL.
PHONE RECEPTIONIST (O.S.)
Case and Newburg.
ABE
(on phone)
Hi. I’m trying to reach a Will Nygard. N-Y-G-A
PHONE RECEPTIONIST (O.S.)
I’ll put you through.
We hear PHONE DIALING.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
Will Nygard.
ABE
Will Nygard?
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
This is he.
ABE
I’m Abe Freeman, I’m a reporter with The Gotham Tribune. I’m doing a story on Jessie Kapler. I understand you guys knew each other at college.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
Wow, that was fast.
(to someone else)
Yeah, Katie, can you get me the new projections for the-- Yeah. Thanks.
(to phone)
Listen, I’ve been in town just a few weeks-- I was in the London office the last three years. So when Jessie called asking me to help out I didn’t think it was going to happen right away. I mean, of course I’m going to help. But the thing is I don’t know what I can tell you right now.
Abe is a little confused.
ABE
Well, if we could just talk about you and he in college.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
In college?
ABE
Yeah. You guys were in the Porcellian together.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
(snickers)
I bet the campaign isn’t too happy about that fact. Not that it matters, but Jessie’s patrician to the core -- off the record.
ABE
(playing along)
The campaign, not too happy--
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
I can only assume. Again, off the record. He got his father to convince the State chair just last week, it all happened so fast. The campaign hasn’t had time to organize around things like this. Off the record.
ABE
Hey Will, before you continue, you should know I never agreed to anything off the record.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
What!?
ABE
Just-- You should know, anytime a reporter calls, it’s on the record. Nothing’s off unless I agree beforehand. And it’s not retroactive.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
Oh that’s crap.
ABE
Look, my editor would kill me if she knew, but I’ll still treat what you said as off record.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
Generous. Why?
ABE
(beat)
Fellow domus.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
You should have said so at the start. Look, off the record?
Beat. Abe gives it a second. Makes sure Will gets it.
ABE
Fine. I agree.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
Once they get some of the DC guys on board, we can talk for real. It’s going to be a circus. Or I guess you would be the first on this.
ABE
First on-- What?
Beat. Will realizes he’s said too much even off record.
WILL NYGARD (O.S.)
What I’m saying is this needs to be coordinated through the campaign.
ABE
I guess I should have called the campaign first. Do you have their number?
INT. BAR NEAR GOTHAM TRIBUNE — CONTINUOUS
Taylor is in a BOOTH. It’s crowded. HAROLD, 40s, a handsome editor for the Observer, walks over.
TAYLOR
I said 10 minutes. I’m on deadline.
HAROLD
I had to go cross-town then uptown. I’m going to get my drink.
Taylor picks up her CELL PHONE and calls.
TAYLOR
(on phone)
Abby? It’s me. Is he-- He’s left already? Is he-- Is he Ok? His mood, I just get the feeling-- OK.
Taylor hangs up and Harold returns with his drink.
TAYLOR (CONT’D)
How did you get it?
HAROLD
Are you asking me?
TAYLOR
I’m asking you.
HAROLD
I don’t believe this.
TAYLOR
I’m asking.
HAROLD
Taylor.
TAYLOR
Why? Because I’m a reporter?
HAROLD
Yes! Because you’re a reporter! For Chrissakes! One reporter asking another who their source-- Are you kidding me?!
TAYLOR
Harold.
HAROLD
You’re the managing editor of The Gotham Tribune. I’m the media editor at The Observer, which means I cover media, which means--
TAYLOR
Which means what Harold?
HAROLD
You know what I mean. You know what I’m talking about, and it’s unconscionable that you would even--
TAYLOR
That has nothing to do with it. That has nothing to do with it, and you know that. It has to do with the--
HAROLD
The fact that we’re seeing--
TAYLOR
--that we’re seeing each other.
Beat.
HAROLD
You’re worried it gets out, people will think you’re my source, that you’re the leak. You’re not the leak.
TAYLOR
Of course I’m not the leak. I know I’m not the leak and the way I know I’m not the leak is because I didn’t leak anything.
HAROLD
Then what?
TAYLOR
As soon as Manny’s thing went up on the wires, everyone assumed he was fired. Except you.
HAROLD
Taylor--
TAYLOR
You’re the only one who reported that he’d been relegated to the Entertainment beat. It’s up on your website right now. It was fast.
HAROLD
Your point?
TAYLOR
This just happened. This just-- There’s no way you could have gotten that without knowing--
HAROLD
It’s not what you--
TAYLOR
Aside from me Harold, who else are you sleeping with at the Tribune?
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — HEIDI’S DESK — LATER
David is seated in front of Heidi’s desk.
DAVID
I’m sorry about before. I just--
HEIDI
Don’t worry about it
DAVID
Really, I’m sorry--
HEIDI
This is going to sound boilerplate, but I think it’s important, and I always ask this: Why do you want to be a reporter?
David is caught a little off guard. He was expecting to be grilled about sports stats.
CUT TO:
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — ADAM’S DESK — CONTINUOUS
We see Eliza head on.
ELIZA
I’ve always wanted to. I like getting the story. I think it’s a--
CUT TO:
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE – SAMANTHA’S DESK – CONTINUOUS
We see Derek head on.
DEREK
--it’s a great privilege to be able to tell the stories. To inform the public. To get the facts--
CUT TO:
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — HEIDI’S DESK — CONTINUOUS
We see David head on.
DAVID
--get the facts and nail down the details. It’s essential work. People need--
HEIDI (O.S.)
OK. Why sports?
CUT TO:
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — SAMANTHA’S DESK — CONTINUOUS
DEREK
--I like personalities. I like pop culture, I’m-- I’m--
(beat)
Look, I don’t want to BS you. I really do want to be a reporter, but if I’m being honest, I like entertainment because–- My god, the hypocrisy. A class of people who get paid millions to do no work? And they complain about their lack of privacy? The inability to have a ‘normal’ life? The tough conditions on set? And they’ll have no shortage of political opinions. I mean-- Is there a better public service than exposing the sanctimony of a box office star who casts himself alongside a barely-20-something then talks about women’s rights?
CUT TO:
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — ADAM’S DESK — CONTINUOUS
ELIZA
I adore New York. Not just cops and courts. I mean, hidden, everyday New York life. I know-- I know papers have changed. That the reporter at the police bureau will be digging into the latest celebrity grope arrest before the latest mob indictment, or that the real estate boom garners more interest than the evil landlords driving it. But I still think these are the important stories. They’re the stories people want to know. And they’re the ones I want to tell.
ADAM GROSS (O.S.)
You want to be a journalist?
Eliza takes a beat to consider her answer.
ELIZA
Because of my family?
ADAM GROSS (O.S.)
Well, that’s not exactly what I--
ELIZA
It’s a standing question. It’s what everyone wonders.
ADAM GROSS (O.S.)
Online, bylines come cheap. But here, they’re everything. When people see yours, they’ll wonder--
ELIZA
Let me show you I’m serious.
INT. GOTHAM TRIBUNE — HEIDI’S DESK — CONTINUOUS
DAVID
You got me. I don’t know crap about sports. I mean, I know sports, I like sports, but I don’t know who hit cleanup for the Mets in ’06 when they went to the Series. I don’t remember who was starting guard for the Knicks the last two seasons. I don’t know who played left outside linebacker for the Jets in--
HEIDI (O.S.)
So why did you apply for this internship? You could have--
DAVID
I’ve been to Yankee stadium maybe a hundred times. And every time, the day after, I’d have to get the paper to read about the game I just watched from fifty feet off the third base line. I mean, I was there! But I still had to read about it. Like it wasn’t real until I saw it in print. The world has to be written down. And sports-- Sports is the world in a nutshell. The contest. The showdown. The battle. Every time one of these guys gets into a ring, or runs out on the field, or jumps onto the court, a big, big part of them inside is screaming: “Don’t mess this up. Don’t lose. Don’t let them take it away from you.” They’re not just talking about the game. It’s everything, a kind of madness. A beautiful madness. That’s why sports.
We see Heidi considering David for the first time.
HEIDI
Thanks for coming in. We’ll call you if something happens.
INT. OLD TOWN BAR — NIGHT
Manny is nursing a BEER. One patron pulls up a stool, a female bureaucrat in her 20s. This is Manny’s OTHER SOURCE.
BARKEEP sets down a NAPKIN.
BARKEEP
Can I help you?
OTHER SOURCE
Seven and seven.
BARKEEP
You have ID?
She’s miffed. She pulls out her ID.
OTHER SOURCE
You know I work at City Hall.
BARKEEP
Seven and seven coming up.
Manny sidles over.
MANNY
I’ve always protected you. On all of my stories.
OTHER SOURCE
Doesn’t matter.
MANNY
What?
OTHER SOURCE
You know when I got this job, I thought, this is temporary, right, like all jobs. I come in, I sit at my desk, I fetch coffee, I get yelled at, the usual. Then a reporter calls you one day, asking you for help, and you think, ‘I have something he wants. I’m important. I should stick around.’
MANNY
What happened?
OTHER SOURCE
I got the information wrong.
MANNY
You think?!
(beat)
Sorry. So what happened?
OTHER SOURCE
It was a test.
MANNY
A test?
OTHER SOURCE
They wanted to see how the state DNC would react to the mayor wanting to run. They never gave him a clear answer. Months went by. So Leslie figured she’d get the word out without saying anything. State DNC chair called right after your piece went out. Lacey’s too old; he doesn’t have the upstate vote. It was a test.
MANNY
(shaking head)
So they used me for the trial balloon.
Manny looks at her, considering.
MANNY (CONT’D)
They just fired you didn’t they?
OTHER SOURCE
You think?!
MANNY
Sorry.
OTHER SOURCE
It’s a job. It’s temporary.
MANNY
Wait. State DNC said Lacey doesn’t have the upstate vote? That doesn’t make sense. Lacey’s incredibly popular. All over the state.
OTHER SOURCE
That’s funny. That’s exactly what the other guy said.
MANNY
What other guy?
OTHER SOURCE
Um-- Someone from-- The Times, maybe.
MANNY
What?! What did you tell them?
OTHER SOURCE
Look, I’m tight with the mayor’s chief of staff’s secretary. So I bump into her at the end of the day and she looks real happy about something. She says she’s relieved the Mayor’s not running in another campaign. Said she couldn’t stand campaign hours. I asked her how she knows he’s not running. Then tells me--
MANNY
--she tells you DNC didn’t want Lacey because he didn’t have the upstate vote and you told that to The Times?
Other Source nods in affirmation.
MANNY (CONT’D)
Crap. They knew.
OTHER SOURCE
They, who? Knew what?
MANNY
State DNC. They must have found out Lacey was having an affair with Leslie.
Manny gets up to go.
OTHER SOURCE
An affair?!
MANNY
They’re having-- They were having an affair. The Mayor and Leslie.
OTHER SOURCE
Motherfu--
END ACT TWO
Tune in next week for Act Three.