Cola Styles Story, The good, bad & ugly
GENRE
ACTION ADVENTURE DETECTIVE DRAMA EPIC FAMILY FANTASY MEMOIR MYSTERY POLITICAL RELIGIOUS HORROR ROMANCE SUSPENSE/THRILLER YOUNG ADULT FOLKTALE OTHER
Core Theme
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP, DRUGS, VIOLENCE
TIME PERIOD
1960s & '70s,1980s & '90s,19th Century,20th Century (multiple decades),2000s,Future
COMPARABLE TITLES
13 REASONS WHY, BERLIN SYNDROME, SLEEPING WITH ENEMY
CHARACTER LIST
NICOLE ‘COLA’ CHILDRESS. 6-30S. INTEGRITY, RELIGIOUS, HONEST, INNOCENT.
SALLY. 37-65. NICOLE’S MOTHER. ALCOHOLIC, DEVOTED TO HER CHILDREN.
MRS. IZONA CARTER. 65-UNTIL DEATH 96. NICOLE’S GRANDMOTHER. RELIGIOUS, STRICT, OLD-FASHIONED.
MISS CLAUDINE. 81. NEIGHBOUR. SUPERSTITIOUS, DISABLED, VERY SPECIAL TO NICOLE.
BILLY. 20S-30S. FIRST BOYFRIEND, FATHER OF HER TWO KIDS. AGGRESSIVE, MANIPULATIVE.
CHRIS. 20S. SECOND HUSBAND, FATHER OF ONE OF HER CHILDREN. AGGRESSIVE, MANIPULATIVE.
Logline
Sitting talking to my grandmother on visions and things I had over heard that I shouldn’t listened to. Six years old is when I learnt GOD is real, evil is real, drugs are everywhere & racism exist in some people still. I tell my encounter that should’ve stopped the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Target Audiences
Age: 13-17,18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
Milwaukee Wisconsin
Based on a True Story
Yes
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: Nicole Childress
Year Published: 2009
Starting Description
Moved to a new location in the city that was different, compact with lots of complexes. Developing relationships good and bad, trying to appear normal. When the knowledge of knowing was literally crippling me. Along with stress & life blows.
Ending Description
GOD is most definitely real, evil is real, drugs are everywhere & racism along with other things turnt my world upside down. But my faith & strength flipped me around.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
No
ISBN
Information not completed
Mature Audience Themes
Extreme Violence,Incest,Sexual Abuse, Language/Profanity
Plot - Other Elements
Meaningful Message
Plot - Premise
Overcoming Monster/Villain,Tragedy,Other,Quest
Main Character Details
Name: Me, Nicole Childress
Age: 6-30 something
Gender: Female
Role: Skeptic
Key Traits: Adventurous,Aspiring,Badass,Aggressive,Complex,Confident,Decisive,Empathetic,Engaging,Faithful,Gracious,Heroic,Insecure,Leader,Educated,Honorable,Modest,Obedient,Blunt,Heartthrob,Selfless,Skillful,Funny,Underdog,Visionary,Sophisticated
Additional Character Details
Name: Sally, my mom
Age: 37-65
Gender: Female
Role: Emotional
Key Traits: Aggressive,Badass,Blunt,Sophisticated,Underdog,Skillful,Complex,Crazy,Faithful,Narcisstic,Uneducated,Sarcastic,Unapologetic
Additional Character Details
Name: Izona Carter, my grandmother
Age: 65-until death 96
Gender: Female
Role: mentor
Key Traits: Aspiring,Aggressive,Confident,Educated,Obedient,Religious,Skillful,Faithful,Gracious,Honorable
Additional Character Details
Name: Billy, my kids father
Age: 13-30 something
Gender: Male
Role: tempter
Key Traits: Adventurous,Badass,Aggressive,Crazy,Charming,Narcisstic,Manipulative,Criminal,Power Hungry
Genre
MATURE AUDIENCE, DRAMA, ROMANCE
Brief
Raised by a single and absent mother and a God-fearing grandmother, Nicole learns at the age of 6 that the only way she can find her purpose in life is by relying upon God's will. In the midst of shame and hurt, hope and joy, The Cola Styles Story explores the twist and turns of Nicole Childress, a woman who survived abusive, toxic relationships, domestic violence, harassment and threats, and has not given up her faith and belief in God.
Overall Rating
FAIR
Narrative Elements
Authors Writing Style: FAIR
Characterization: FAIR
Commerciality: FAIR
Franchise Potential: FAIR
Pace: GOOD
Premise: FAIR
Structure: FAIR
Theme: FAIR
Accuracy of Book Profile
Not exactly. There is a difference between the cover and the book title: in the Book Profile is ‘Cola Styles Story, The Good, Bad & Ugly’, while in the book itself is ‘The Cola Styles Story, Glory to God’. Also, the genre section can be improved by only including drama, mature audience, and biographical. Logline, Short Summary, and Development Pitch should be rewritten to reflect more details about the book and story. Lastly, there is no author information.
Draw of Story
This is a story about a teenager in a dysfunctional family that faces adversities going through toxic relationships and dealing with guilt, loneliness, dying, lies, mistreatment, harassment and threats. A distinctive realistic tone carries through the narrative, making it both captivating and disturbing at the same time. Nicole’s journey is a touching, relevant story that reaches out to every woman who experiences (or knows someone whose been affected by) domestic violence and struggles with abuse from their partners and its long-term effects.
Possible Drawbacks
The story sometimes makes it difficult to determine whether what she's being told still holds true or whether it's just a belief from the past that she's describing her feelings at that time. A lot is going on, and some subjects shift or go back and forward, making it confusing to follow. Lastly, the narrative doesn’t explain who Jeffrey Dahmer was; for those who are not familiar with his story, it doesn’t make it clear he is a serial killer who murdered 17 men and boys. This encounter profoundly impacted her and left her traumatized, so it would be best to put the event in its proper context.
Use of Special Effects
THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS
Primary Hook of Story
The story portrays a teenager growing up in a dysfunctional family facing adversity, including toxic relationships, guilt, loneliness, dying, lies, mistreatment, harassment, and threats. And because of her kids, she thought she could never break down. Nicole's journey is a touching, relevant story that can speak to anyone struggling with domestic abuse and violence.
Fanbase Potential
This is not a story for fanbases, but narratives about acceptance, forgiveness, and redemption usually find a large audience. It allows people to identify with it and bear witness to the suffering of victims to find strength from such circumstances.
Awards Potential
There’s a great potential to get noticed in the awards, especially with a narrative based on a true story of a teenage girl facing adversities and addressing relevant topics, such as domestic violence.
Envisioned Budget
LOW BUDGET
Similar Films/TV Series
13 REASONS WHY, BERLIN SYNDROME, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY
What’s New About the Story
The story's distinctive realistic tone and disturbing nature make it both fascinating and scary at the same time. As well as being intense, it's somewhat terrifying what Nicole would encounter in her journey, leading to the audience becoming frightened for the different characters from time to time, such as Billy and Chris.
Lead Characters
Nicole was raised by a god-fearing grandmother and a mother who mentally abused her constantly and drained her of all her strength. Even though Nicole was involved with bad influences, fighting over boys, using drugs, and becoming a teen mom, she never gave up due to her children. The father of her children, Billy, is aggressive, manipulative, and abusive, making him a good antagonist
Uniqueness of Story
The story touches sensitive subjects and is an insightful narrative to show what an individual might be going through after a traumatizing event, mostly behind closed doors, and its long-term effects. There is room for exploring and bringing enduring life lessons to self-empowerment.
Possible Formats
Film: Studio, Indie, Streaming TV Series: Network, Cable, Limited Run / Mini-Series, Streaming
Analyst Recommendation
WORK IN PROGRESS
Justification
Nicole's journey is a touching, relevant story that can speak to anyone struggling with domestic abuse and violence. It also shows that even after forgiving yourself or others for reacting to a traumatic situation, things don’t just automatically go back to normal. But the story lacks a powerful or constructive message and doesn’t raise good awareness about abusive relationships. Instead, Nicole insists on forgiving her brutal abusers and allowing them in her life, blaming herself for her choices, and never setting boundaries.
Tips for Improvement
It would be interesting to see the author bringing awareness to protect the lives and well-being of those in abusive relationships, adding a message of self-empowerment and providing insight into the warning signs of domestic violence.
Brief
Raised by a single and absent mother and a God-fearing grandmother, Nicole learns at the age of 6 that the only way she can find her purpose in life is by relying upon God's will. In the midst of shame and hurt, hope and joy, The Cola Styles Story explores the twist and turns of Nicole Childress, a woman who survived abusive, toxic relationships, domestic violence, harassment and threats, and has not given up her faith and belief in God.
What We Liked
This is a story about a teenager in a dysfunctional family that faces adversities going through toxic relationships and dealing with guilt, loneliness, dying, lies, mistreatment, harassment, threats, and violence. Nicole’s journey is a touching, relevant story that reaches out to every woman who experiences (or knows someone whose been affected by) domestic violence and struggles with abuse from their partners and its long-term effects.
Film: This is the story of a teenage trouble life that highlights such issues as love as ownership, agreement as an ineffective quality, and the traps that girls fell into over caring. Nicole's story follows a drama structure that makes the audience go through so many emotions and has the potential to show the evolution of an abusive relationship and see how it can be easy to misjudge what's in front of you.
TV: As a TV series, the narrative presents several significant sub-plots that could be explored, such as her marriage, jobs, and relationship with her family. Additionally, it could be developed by dedicating each episode to a different character (from among those Nicole has encountered in her life), creating an emotional tension that invites audience participation (what would you do?).
Key points:
1 - True story
2 - A woman overcoming incredible hardship and mistakes on her way
3 - Many supporting female characters
4 - Relevant subjects
5 - Low budget
Synopsis
Nicole grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, very close to her grandmother Izona, a very religious woman. Nicole was spanked by Izona whenever she felt she needed discipline, and her mother, Sally, would comfort her afterward. Nicole was also very close to Miss Claudine, a disabled woman who lived downstairs from them. Nicole had to deal with death for the first time when she lost Miss Claudine. Sally was an alcoholic. Nicole’s stepfather Jeffery used to use drugs and hit Nicole. He got out of their lives when arrested for robbery and sentenced to 15 years for other crimes.
While in middle school, Nicole decided to lost her virginity to a boy named Billy. At 17, she got pregnant. Billy began cheating on her and verbally abusing her. The other girls that Billy was dating made Nicole a threat, even beating her. Then Billy began to force Nicole to have sex with him. He became extremely jealous of her and violent. Her second pregnancy occurred weeks after Billy forced her to have sex with him again. She decided to have an abortion. Nicole kept forgiving him because he was the father of her child.
One day, while in the car with Billy, Nicole saw someone naked on the street: a young boy covered by bruises and a man was trying to take the boy. After two months, Nicole discovered that the man was Jeffrey Dahmer, and the naked boy was Konerak Sinthasomphone, one of his victims. Cops had fabricated a story about the incident that day to clear themselves from any blame.
With pain in her hip, Nicole went to the doctor and was told she had cancer in its fourth stage and had 3 months to live (we found out later that she had been misdiagnosed). On that day, police took Billy to jail for homicide. She found out that Billy had conceived two other baby boys with different women, but she didn't hate Billy for his actions because she was taught not to hate people by her grandmother.
Nicole moved on and began dating a guy named Chris. Almost a year had passed before Chris started hitting her. After some serious episodes, Nicole broke up with Chris. In the following month, she found out that she was pregnant with him. She had another baby boy.
When Billy was released from jail, he was the perfect gentleman to her and the boys. After a while, Nicole got pregnant again (a girl). At four months pregnant, Billy started drinking again, taking drugs, and being abusive. Nicole got a restraining order from Billy.
Billy was always around, finding her even when she moved. He threatened her, hit her, choked her several times, and even put bleach on her contact lenses. During a time when she was taking hard medicines, he got into her house and raped her. A few weeks later, she went to a doctor and found out she was pregnant. For a long time, she was depressed. According to Nicole, Billy made her go through a lot, but she never wished any bad luck on him, always grateful for their children.
To pretend to be another person, she went by the name Cola instead of Nicole. She then started writing, rapping, singing, doing hair shows to move on.