Pitch and Treatment Steps I-IV

I.Title and Producer: "Lost Cause" by Jasmine Elmiari
II. Genre: Neo-Noir
III.Log Line: A student trying to improve his life meets an unfair demise
IV.General Flow: Treatment: "Lost Cause"
Most of the class is goofing off, throwing paper airplanes and texting. An eighteen year old boy is avidly working on his assignment. This boy is wearing skinny pants, a black hoodie, and an Avenged Sevenfold shirt. The bell rings and the boy hands his work to the teacher, who looks questioningly at the boy. The boy walks out with his similarly dressed friends.

His friend, "Drake", tells him about his latest dealings with a drug dealer as they walk away from school through the glass doors. He say hasn't paid him back yet, but he probably won't get in too much trouble. Drake asks the boy if he'd like to go with him to get some weed later. The boy drops his skateboard to the ground suddenly, looks Drake intensely in the eye and says "Look man, I don't do that anymore". The boy gets on his skateboard and starts skating off. Drake yells from behind him "Look, I know that your still bitter about that, but you gotta move on!" as he jumps on his skateboard and follows after him.

Later that night, the boy gets a call from a cheerful sounding girl named Mel. They talk about random things while the boy awkwardly walks around his bed room. Mel comments that the boy has gotten a lot better at school, and that she really likes this side of him. Time seems to stop for a little bit as the boy works up the courage to ask Mel to the school dance. Mel seems to pause forever, but in a second she says, "Of course!" The boy shows utter happiness, and awkwardly ends the conversation and walks away.

A week later, as the boy is preparing for homecoming by adjusting his tie and combing his hair, his cell phone ring in the corner of the room. As he goes to pick it up, he accidentally knocks over a glass and breaks it. Visibly bothered, the boy picks up the phone, and Drake desperately tells him that he needs him to come to the bleachers at school with $50. The boy gets really angry and hangs up on him. The boy flops onto his bed and texts Drake, "I'll be there in 10 minutes. Don't ask me to do your crap again."

The boy drives up to the bleachers in a remote part of the school at dusk to find the familiar face of the drug dealer and Drake. The dealer smiles and comments on how the boys brother got beat up badly by the dealer when he did not pay. The boy physically winces in pain and throws the money at the dealer. The dealer catches the money and says that its not enough. The boy says forcefully that there's $50. The dealer smiles cynically and shoves the boy, saying "Add interest; $100." Drake interjects, saying no and starts fighting. Some students early for the dance gather to watch the fight, and start cheering. The boy tries to break up the fight as distant dance music plays in the background, but the dealer breaks away and pulls out a gun. Drake looks on as we hear a shot and the screen goes black. Sirens blare as the boy's voice says "Maybe I was always a lost cause."