Brief

An actor in his prime faces the destruction of his career due to his relationship with an underaged starlet. The photographer who unknowingly revealed the scandal finds his life completely upended as he’s dragged into the harsh reality of Hollywood's most elite -- and most ruthless.

What We Liked

- Gabe and Abbie's relationship has a charm similar to successful and enduring sibling relationships in TV and film. They're ride or die, and their love is clear through the sacrifices they're willing to make for each other. It's partially Abbie's choices that damn both of them, and leave them struggling to climb their way back out of the whole they've accidentally wound up in. Their dynamic has a very "us against the world" element to it, and it's endearing and heartening.
- Film: Told in a mixture of present day and flashbacks of each main character's backstory, this would be an ensemble film that draws everyone together in a messy, violent climax sure to have an audience on the edge of their seats. Discovering the true depths of depravity of these characters, and the Hollywood ecosystem they call home, would make for a thrilling film.
- TV: Adapting the novel for TV would serve to heighten the thriller aspects of the story, and to really create moments of suspense. Allowing the audience to slowly see Levi's mania develop, as well as disguising the lengths to which he and Eva are willing to go, would draw in an audience and leave them wanting more each episode as more is revealed.
- Key points: Easy to film in and around LA; Big cast creates more opportunities for A-list talent; Several strong female characters; Thriller elements; Forbidden romance between Gabe and Eva.

Synopsis

At a secluded waterfall outside of Los Angeles, young starlet EMILY JAMES comes onto leading man LEVI COMBS. Though Emily is only 17, Levi brought her here for the day to get away from the city and the pressure of their famous lives. Though he initially tries to resist Emily’s wiles, he gives in and the two have sex at the base of the waterfall. Nature photographer GABE ADAMS accidentally comes upon them, but he doesn’t turn back. Instead, he gets closer and takes several intimate photos of the couple. Levi sees the glare of Gabe’s lens and runs after him. He threatens Gabe and the two scuffle, but Gabe manages to get back in his car uninjured. As he takes off back for the city, Levi calls his longtime agent, EVA FLOREZ, to have her police friend run Gabe’s plates and get his information. 


Eva can do one better, though, as she already knows exactly who Gabe is. Though Gabe doesn’t know it, Eva nudged him in the direction of the waterfall. Gabe has a stand where he sells his photography, and Eva had someone tip him off to the waterfall near Levi’s land. Gabe is totally ignorant as to who Levi and Emily are, much less the illegality of their actions. He doesn’t realize until he goes to delete the photos and his younger sister ABBIE (16) sees them. An Emily James fangirl, Abbie insists that Gabe sell the photos to a tabloid site as they’d be worth a lot. Gabe refuses, and even considers going to the police since Emily is underage. He ultimately decides to delete the photos, but Abbie secretly sends some of them to herself before he does. Gabe has a big opening at a gallery that night, and he’s too distracted to take care of the photos quite yet.


It’s his first opening, and it’s a rousing success. There, Gabe meets Eva, who lies about what she does and gives him a fake name. She flirts with him, and the two go home together. Meanwhile, Abbie and her friend go to see the movie FOR LOVE, the new Levi Combs and Emily James vehicle. Levi plays Emily’s father, who is imprisoned for a murder that Emily’s character committed. The movie is getting Oscar buzz, both for Best Picture and Best Actor. Afterward, Abbie shows her friend the photos and contacts a gossip news site. Acting as Gabe’s assistant, and insisting his studio be credited for the racy photos, Abbie sends along five of them for a $10,000 paycheck. Not knowing that Abbie has already sold some of the photos, Eva attempts to locate them on Gabe’s computer after they have sex. He’s not suspicious, buying her excuse of needing to check her work email. Annoyed she can’t copy the photos in front of him, though, she leaves in a rush. 


Gabe is upset that Abbie sold the photos, but he understands he did it to try to help him. Gabe has been looking out for both of them since their parents died in a car accident the night of his high school graduation nine years ago, putting his own life on hold. Abbie feels guilty for everything he’s sacrificed, though of course Gabe doesn’t see it that way. He’s able to provide for them doing what he loves, despite how difficult it can be at times. The photos of Levi and Emily quickly grab headlines, and the stars themselves claim they were just swimming and nothing happened. The photos are highly suggestive, but the ones Abbie sent aren’t explicit. The photos catch the attention of MARCUS AMBROSE, a deputy district attorney who has it out for Levi. Several years earlier, his sister TAMARA was left as wreckage in Levi’s wake. The two dated when he was hired on for his first ever gig on her TV show, but he had her fired when they split up, as she was stalking him. Tamara turned to drugs and died of a heroin overdose, and Marcus has never forgiven Levi’s role in her death.

Despite being sexually abused as a young girl, Eva refuses to help Marcus build a case. Gabe refuses separately, and he claims there are no further photos. He’s worried that Abbie will reveal she’s the one who sold the photos, and that she knows there are more, so he takes total responsibility for selling them. Levi and Emily gather with their representatives to discuss a game plan. Everyone but Levi agrees that the two should stop seeing one another for the sake of their careers and the new movie’s success. Emily reassures everyone it was consensual, and she was the seducer, but Levi is hurt that she wants to distance herself from him. He confronts her at her hotel after, growing more and more agitated despite Emily trying to remain professional in front of a crowd of paparazzi. Levi breaks, blaming Emily for everything, and punches one of the men. Furious at Gabe for taking and selling the photos, thus ruining his new relationship, Levi hires some muscle to confront him and get the rest of the pictures.


The bruiser beats Gabe up, and steals the memory card from his camera before breaking it. However, it’s the wrong memory card. Eva calls Gabe after she finds out what Levi has done, putting on a sweet and concerned act. Though Gabe knows now that she’s Levi’s agent, he agrees to let her come over. He tells her there are more photos, and that Abbie’s the one who sold them in the first place. He even tells her that the DA has been asking questions. Eva again tries to steal the photo files, and Gabe again catches her in the act. He tells her to take them, wanting the whole business done with. He’s upset that she’s there for the pictures and not for him, and he was hoping she would come clean. When Abbie comes home to find Gabe badly injured, she calls Marcus to tell him everything: that she sold the photos, that there are more incriminating ones, and that Eva now has them.

Despite the possibility of being charged for statutory rape, Levi wins the Oscar for Best Actor. He’s booed when he takes the stage, and he makes a stir in his acceptance speech by all but professing his love for Emily. She’s embarrassed, and declines his invitation to any after-parties. The next day, Levi agrees to buy all of the artwork at the gallery where Gabe’s work is displayed, on the condition that the owner stop selling Gabe’s work. Though the owner feels bad, she can’t in good conscience deprive the other artists of the sales, nor the gallery of the money. Gabe comes in at the same time, and he’s furious. He and Levi have an altercation, but Levi is much stronger and subdues Gabe. Levi charms a young woman named MARA and takes her back to his place. He insists on keeping her phone while she’s there, before plying her with alcohol and tying her to his bed. He then lets his python HANNAH out of her cage so that she can be on the bed while they have sex. Freaked out, Mara uses the safe word they agreed upon, but Levi doesn’t stop. Afterward, Mara agrees that it was all okay.

Just as Eva facilitated Levi’s big break into show business, his fame catapulted her success as an agent. The two were intimate in his early career, though they haven’t been for awhile. Emily goes directly to Gabe to try to seduce him into giving her the extra pictures, not knowing Eva already has them. He protests that she’s a minor, but she tells him that she lost her virginity by her own volition when she was much younger to a 25-year-old who worked on the set of her show. She’s a woman and can make her own decisions. Gabe is uninterested, and Emily attempts to turn to blackmail, but Abbie comes home and interrupts them. At his mansion, Levi gets into a scuffle with a paparazzo. He knocks the man out and drags him inside. When the man wakes up, Levi, enraged, cuts off part of his ear before slicing his throat and killing him. He hides the body in a large freezer in his garage and cleans everything up. That week, his latest movie, which he invested everything, tanks. He fires Eva as his agent, and accuses her of arranging the whole scandal as a way to get them back together. 



Marcus and the DA’s office get a warrant to go back to Eva, and this time she’s forced to comply. She hands over the remaining photos, which are much more explicit. On his own, Gabe goes to Marcus and agrees to testify that Levi and Emily were definitely having sex when he saw them. Eva goes to Gabe’s home studio and buys three photographs, trying to help him out financially since he lost his showing at the gallery. Levi is arrested for sex crimes but released on bail. He gathers his gun and his snake and flees. However, he figures out why Marcus looks familiar, and his lawyers go after the DA because of Marcus’s grudge due to Levi’s connection to his sister’s death. Marcus insists he’s impartial and can nail Levi. Levi breaks into Eva’s house, snake in tow, and the two have violent sex. He grows angry when he realizes she’s working with Gabe, planning to hire him on as an in-house agency photographer, and leaves afterward. 



The paparazzo that Levi killed was known to be at Levi’s house before he went missing, and Marcus gets a warrant to search the property because of other charges. They find part of the man’s earlobe and traces of blood, before they find the body itself. Levi goes to Gabe’s house and kidnaps Abbie. He takes her into the countryside to an abandoned farm that he owns. Gabe and Eva race after them, and Eva secretly contacts Marcus despite Levi’s insistence they not go to the police. Abbie nearly gets away, but Levi catches her. He trades her freedom for Gabe and Eva. He drives toward the edge of a cliff with Eva and Gabe tied up in the car, dooming them all. Marcus shows up with the cavalry to find Abbie alone. Gabe and Eva are able to escape from Levi’s car, and Gabe insists they have to pull Levi out before the car goes over the edge. Eva grudgingly agrees, but she lets go at the last second without Gabe’s knowledge. Before she does, though, she tells Levi that she did send Gabe to the waterfall to take the photos. Then the car, with Levi and his snake inside, crashes to the canyon floor before bursting into flames. Gabe, Eva, and Abbie hold each other as Levi burns below.

About The Author

Doug Cooper is the author of the award-winning novels Outside In and The Investment Club. Always searching, he has traveled to over twenty-five countries on five continents, exploring the contradictions between what we believe and how we act in the pursuit of truth, beauty, and love. He has called Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, New York, Las Vegas, and Oslo, Norway home, and now resides in Vermilion, Ohio.