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breakinglight11Another scene from the fourth episode of Dream Machine— which I'm planning on calling "The Opposite of People" in reference to how actors are characterized in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. This episode is about actors and casting, and the collaborative process of figuring out who characters are between the people who come up with them, and the people in charge of representing them.
This scene comes immediately after #13 - “Mobile Set Pieces” and sets up one of the problems in the piece. Leah's excited to get a chance to actually have a say over casting, but is struggling to really get a handle on who the characters are in this piece, and is resistant to having to collaborate with the actors to figure them out. Also, Meredith has her own ideas about who makes the most sense to bring into the show, but interpersonal issues make Leah resistant to the guy she suggests.
If you'd like to check out the episodes of Dream Machine so far, you can find them as follows:
1.01 - "The Show Must Go Off"
1.02 - "Requiem For a Dreamer"
1.03 - "Change or Die"
Day #16 - “Crawling Back”
From Dream Machine:
"1.04 - The Opposite of People"
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
LEAH LUCCHESI, a showrunner at Dream Machine, mid thirties
MEREDITH BARRY, her assistant, early thirties
DEVON CHAMBERS, a TV actor, early thirties
KRISTEN KRAMER, Dream Machine casting director, mid forties
Los Angeles, 2020
~~~
INT. PAMPLEMOUSSE HALLWAY - DAY
Meredith appears, arms loaded with tablet and notebooks, to match Leah's pace as she strides energetically through the studio.
MEREDITH: You ready for this?
LEAH: You kidding? I've been dreaming of this since I was four years old and deciding whether Mr. Teddy or Snuffles the puppy dog was getting the lead in my backyard play.
MEREDITH: Heh, I know what you mean! Still, we got to approach this carefully. These are some big decisions they're trusting us with.
LEAH: Yeah, can you believe it? Suckers!
They duck into the office of the casting director.
INT. PAMPLEMOUSSE CASTING OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Leah and Meredith enter the office of Kristen Kramer, who stands before a bulletin board already pinned over with actor headshots.
LEAH: Hey, Kristen, you miss me? I hope so, because this time, you have to listen to me! You can’t just have security escort me from the room!
KRISTEN: Yeah, yeah, I heard. You’ve just got to stop submitting Marvel actors without their permission. Agents have been sending us cease and desists.
LEAH: Hey, I had it on very good authority that Chris Hemsworth has been looking for a role where he can ride horses and also meet me.
KRISTEN: Yeah, well, since we’re doing IP here, we can get away with mostly unknowns. That’s good, because we’ve only got to the budget for one more name.
LEAH: (under breath) Chris Hemsworth’s a name, is all I’m saying.
KRISTEN: A TV name, not a real one.
MEREDITH: On that note— I have been doing research, and it’s given me thoughts.
She unpacks a very dense packet of handwritten notes.
LEAH: Thoughts? Uh-oh. Were you Reddit trawling again?
KRISTEN: Excuse me, what about Reddit?
LEAH: Meredith used to spy on the message boards where the West Chesterham fans go off. It was great; that way we’d know what the fandom was saying without me ever having to talk to any of them.
KRISTEN: You did that? Like, in your free time?
CUT to Meredith hunched over her computer in the dark of her apartment, illuminated only by the glow of the screen.
MEREDITH: What do you mean, the secret Coville heir saga was drawn out too long? Did you watch through an aneurysm, ChardMom97!? Wait, no— keep it together, Barry! Focus!
Back at Pamplemousse, Meredith’s hackles are raised.
MEREDITH: Hey, there was a lot of meaningful discourse among the ChesterFam Tumblr community! But it turns out that ever since the show’s cancellation, there’s a whole lot of restless Duke Winston fans who haven’t been getting their fix from his current work.
LEAH: In fairness, I don’t think Devon’s prestigious film career has really taken off like he planned.
She pulls up a video on her phone. Devon Chambers appears in a promo of a cheap cop show, dressed like a street punk being wrestled to the ground by a uniformed officer.
DEVON: (weird stilted American accent) You ain’t never getting me to talk, screw! Them drugs is halfway to Mexico by now!
KRISTEN: Yeesh. But what’s your point?
MEREDITH: If we cast Devon, we can recapture that old audience in addition to fans of the novel.
LEAH: Ughhh, really?
KRISTEN: Why not?
LEAH: Because he bailed on me like a diva to chase some movie career.
KRISTEN: And you won’t talk to him because of that?
MEREDITH: Are you kidding? She’s still hooking up with him. Didn’t you just see him this week?
CUT TO a tight closeup on Leah, eyes blindfolded, arms suspended up above her head.
LEAH: Get on with it, I haven’t got all night!
RETURN to Leah at present, eyes wide.
LEAH: No!
KRISTEN: Oh, so that’s how it is.
LEAH: Come on, this is my work!
KRISTEN: And none of it will matter if nobody watches it. If there’s any built in audience, we have to grab it. Why not at least see if he’s interested?
LEAH: So I gotta be the one to go crawling back?
MEREDITH: After how things went down after West Chesterham, it’ll be best coming from you. From what I understand… he’s pretty used to taking orders from you.
LEAH: You say that like that didn’t take years of training!
This scene comes immediately after #13 - “Mobile Set Pieces” and sets up one of the problems in the piece. Leah's excited to get a chance to actually have a say over casting, but is struggling to really get a handle on who the characters are in this piece, and is resistant to having to collaborate with the actors to figure them out. Also, Meredith has her own ideas about who makes the most sense to bring into the show, but interpersonal issues make Leah resistant to the guy she suggests.
If you'd like to check out the episodes of Dream Machine so far, you can find them as follows:
1.01 - "The Show Must Go Off"
1.02 - "Requiem For a Dreamer"
1.03 - "Change or Die"
Day #16 - “Crawling Back”
From Dream Machine:
"1.04 - The Opposite of People"
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
LEAH LUCCHESI, a showrunner at Dream Machine, mid thirties
MEREDITH BARRY, her assistant, early thirties
DEVON CHAMBERS, a TV actor, early thirties
KRISTEN KRAMER, Dream Machine casting director, mid forties
Los Angeles, 2020
~~~
INT. PAMPLEMOUSSE HALLWAY - DAY
Meredith appears, arms loaded with tablet and notebooks, to match Leah's pace as she strides energetically through the studio.
MEREDITH: You ready for this?
LEAH: You kidding? I've been dreaming of this since I was four years old and deciding whether Mr. Teddy or Snuffles the puppy dog was getting the lead in my backyard play.
MEREDITH: Heh, I know what you mean! Still, we got to approach this carefully. These are some big decisions they're trusting us with.
LEAH: Yeah, can you believe it? Suckers!
They duck into the office of the casting director.
INT. PAMPLEMOUSSE CASTING OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Leah and Meredith enter the office of Kristen Kramer, who stands before a bulletin board already pinned over with actor headshots.
LEAH: Hey, Kristen, you miss me? I hope so, because this time, you have to listen to me! You can’t just have security escort me from the room!
KRISTEN: Yeah, yeah, I heard. You’ve just got to stop submitting Marvel actors without their permission. Agents have been sending us cease and desists.
LEAH: Hey, I had it on very good authority that Chris Hemsworth has been looking for a role where he can ride horses and also meet me.
KRISTEN: Yeah, well, since we’re doing IP here, we can get away with mostly unknowns. That’s good, because we’ve only got to the budget for one more name.
LEAH: (under breath) Chris Hemsworth’s a name, is all I’m saying.
KRISTEN: A TV name, not a real one.
MEREDITH: On that note— I have been doing research, and it’s given me thoughts.
She unpacks a very dense packet of handwritten notes.
LEAH: Thoughts? Uh-oh. Were you Reddit trawling again?
KRISTEN: Excuse me, what about Reddit?
LEAH: Meredith used to spy on the message boards where the West Chesterham fans go off. It was great; that way we’d know what the fandom was saying without me ever having to talk to any of them.
KRISTEN: You did that? Like, in your free time?
CUT to Meredith hunched over her computer in the dark of her apartment, illuminated only by the glow of the screen.
MEREDITH: What do you mean, the secret Coville heir saga was drawn out too long? Did you watch through an aneurysm, ChardMom97!? Wait, no— keep it together, Barry! Focus!
Back at Pamplemousse, Meredith’s hackles are raised.
MEREDITH: Hey, there was a lot of meaningful discourse among the ChesterFam Tumblr community! But it turns out that ever since the show’s cancellation, there’s a whole lot of restless Duke Winston fans who haven’t been getting their fix from his current work.
LEAH: In fairness, I don’t think Devon’s prestigious film career has really taken off like he planned.
She pulls up a video on her phone. Devon Chambers appears in a promo of a cheap cop show, dressed like a street punk being wrestled to the ground by a uniformed officer.
DEVON: (weird stilted American accent) You ain’t never getting me to talk, screw! Them drugs is halfway to Mexico by now!
KRISTEN: Yeesh. But what’s your point?
MEREDITH: If we cast Devon, we can recapture that old audience in addition to fans of the novel.
LEAH: Ughhh, really?
KRISTEN: Why not?
LEAH: Because he bailed on me like a diva to chase some movie career.
KRISTEN: And you won’t talk to him because of that?
MEREDITH: Are you kidding? She’s still hooking up with him. Didn’t you just see him this week?
CUT TO a tight closeup on Leah, eyes blindfolded, arms suspended up above her head.
LEAH: Get on with it, I haven’t got all night!
RETURN to Leah at present, eyes wide.
LEAH: No!
KRISTEN: Oh, so that’s how it is.
LEAH: Come on, this is my work!
KRISTEN: And none of it will matter if nobody watches it. If there’s any built in audience, we have to grab it. Why not at least see if he’s interested?
LEAH: So I gotta be the one to go crawling back?
MEREDITH: After how things went down after West Chesterham, it’ll be best coming from you. From what I understand… he’s pretty used to taking orders from you.
LEAH: You say that like that didn’t take years of training!
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