Sample One Page
  Posted on Wed 01 Sep 2004
The title of your screenplay is written in caps, and centered at the top of your page. Under that the single word "by" and under that, centered, your name. Drop down two lines and write a Log Line (see Sample Log Lines elsewhere on this site)or a brief concept that tells what kind of story it is. No more than 2-3 lines. I put mine in a box and write it in italics.

Drop down 2 lines and begin your One Page (summary of your entire story).




When drifter Dylan (RAINBOW) Maddocks kills a couple camping in remote North Carolina hills, SHERIFF BUDDY ROLAND uses tracking methods taught him by his Cherokee grandfather to aid in his search. Environmentalists and nonviolent militia groups are outraged that a man, any man, regardless of his crime, should be hunted down like an animal. As Rainbow runs from one of these groups to the other, a wall of protection goes up around him, so that they alone know his identity. Songs are written about the haunted, hunted Mystery Man. One even hits the charts.

As his fame spreads, reporters from every magazine, radio and TV station in the world, converge upon the tiny Carolina town to interview anyone who might know something about the romanticized killer. Movies-of-the-Week and quick-to-the-press books appear in rapid order. One network devotes an entire channel, six hours a day, five days a week, to news commentators and analysts, delving into the 'why' of the nation's fascination with this unknown murderer. Millions are made on tee-shirts, coffee mugs, and bumper stickers. Jay Leno has a thousand Rainbow quips in his nightly monologue.

The only true villian, according to the media (and most of the country), is the sheriff.

And then it happens. Buddy walks up on Rainbow fishing in a creek near the shack of friends who had been sheltering him. Buddy doesn't shoot Rainbow; he simply arrests him. Enter now high-powered, twelve-hundred-dollar suited lawyers willing to represent Rainbow for a percentage of book and movie deals. The media goes into a feeding frenzy. Rainbow's girlfriend JULIE sings a song she wrote for him when she guests on a national TV morning show; she becomes an instant star.

Held in Buddy's jail until Rainhow's hearing at the county seat, the men reach a grudging truce. They even, at some level, connect. Then the worst of Buddy's fears come true; Rainbow kills himself. Media attention flares - then falls away as an internationally famous sports figure is arrested on morals charges; Rainbow's fifteen minutes of fame comes to a crashing end. Another hero is created by the media for the sole purpose of being destroyed once ratings reach their peak and millions have been made. No one even remembers him, or cares, except ... of all people ... Buddy. Fade Out.
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