Outside In
GENRE
DRAMA
Core Theme
FINDING ONE'S TRUE SELF AFTER HITTING ROCK BOTTOM.
TIME PERIOD
Contemporary
COMPARABLE TITLES
LESS THAN ZERO, TRAINSPOTTING, THE BEACH
CHARACTER LIST
• BRAD: 28. AN EX-TEACHER TURNED BOUNCER FOR THE SUMMER ON A PARTY ISLAND. HE'S DESPERATE AND INSECURE ABOUT HIS FUTURE.
• CINCH STEVENS: 26. BRAD’S MANIPULATIVE ROOMMATE, GETS HIM HOOKED ON COKE.
• ASTRID: 24. BRAD’S FREE-SPIRITED LOVE INTEREST
Logline
Sometimes A Person Must Become The Opposite To Understand Who They Truly Are
Target Audiences
Age: 35-54
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
St Louis, MO; Key West, FL; Put-in-Bay, OH
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Year Published: 2013
Starting Description
The island community of Put-in-Bay thrives on alcohol, drugs, sexual experimentation, and any other means of forgetting responsibilities. To Brad Shepherd—recently forced out of his junior high math teacher job after the overdose death of a student—it's exactly the kind of place he's looking for.
Ending Description
Brad becomes lost in a haze of excess filled with romantic conquests, late-night excursions, and a growing drug habit. Eventually, the grim reality of his empty quest consumes him, and Brad must accept that identity cannot be fabricated, but emerges from within when one has the courage to let go.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
Information not completed
Mature Audience Themes
Language/Profanity, Substance Abuse, Nudity
Plot - Other Elements
Philosophical Questions, Happy Ending, Coming of Age, Meaningful Message
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth
Main Character Details
Name: Brad Shepherd
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Desperate
Additional Character Details
Name: Astrid
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Role: Tempter
Key Traits: Aspiring
Additional Character Details
Name: Caldwell
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Role: Mentor
Key Traits: Educated, Gracious
Additional Character Details
Name: Cinch Stevens
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Role: Antagonist
Key Traits: Manipulative
Brief
The island community of Put-in-Bay thrives on alcohol, drugs, sexual experimentation, and any
other means of forgetting responsibilities. To Brad Shepherd, recently forced out of his junior
high math teacher job after the overdose death of a student, it's exactly the kind of place he's
looking for
What We Liked
- Island location;
- Interesting journey, as most people have been in a similar position;
- The temptations of island/bar life threaten to bring Brad down in various ways and he
has to keep it together to come out in one piece;
- The journey to find one's authentic self is universal, and the paths are varied and many;
- Its characters evoke pathos, and they're in an compelling setting/lifestyle which the
viewers will enjoy watching;
- It pulls no punches at a quick pace.
Synopsis
BRAD SHEPHERD, 28, instructs his junior high class to break up into groups for an assignment.
BARRY is slumped in his seat and not breathing so another student is dispatched to get the
nurse. Brad tries to get Barry to wake up until the nurse flies in and administers CPR. Nothing.
Paramedics arrive and try. Nothing. Barry is dead.
Brad gets a visit from the principal a week later. Even though it was mom’s drugs that Barry OD’d
on, Brad didn’t let him go to the bathroom or the nurse and a lawsuit is pending. He’s being
offered paid leave. He goes to an island in Lake Erie, off Ohio that will be his new home until he
figures things out. He starts working as a bouncer at a local club.
His roommate Cinch gets him into using and dealing coke, and he has many ""all nighters"" with
various girls - but not the one he really wants. Energized by the cocaine, Brad doesn’t want the
night to end. His life becomes an endless sequence of partying, drugs, and sex. So much that
Brad simply forgets he moved to the island to do some soul-searching.
One night, someone comes to the apartment and tells them Cinch is missing. He jumped off a
cliff into the ocean, a cliff they’ve all jumped off before - but didn’t come up. They search as best
they can, then go to the police the next day. The Coast Guard will pick up the search. Word has
spread around the whole island. After a couple of days, two fishermen find Cinch’s body and
Brad goes to identify him, then tells his parents.
Grief stricken, Brad tries to enjoy the island at the end of the summer. He plans on going to Key
West with some other friends to find a place to live and work for the winter. On a windy night,
Brad goes to the beach. He jumps in the water and tries to drown himself, then has an existential
epiphany and surfaces. When his friends find him on the beach the next morning he says he isn’t
going to Key West, he’s going back into teaching. Later, Brad goes to his classroom of five
students on the island and introduces himself.