In The Works/The Third Eye

For the past year, I have been learning this interesting blog tool, called WordPress.  Tonight I think I have figured out a way for you to read what I am working on.  Something I call In The… Sourc…

Source: In The Works/The Third Eye

In The Works/The Third Eye

For the past year, I have been learning this interesting blog tool, called WordPress.  Tonight I think I have figured out a way for you to read what I am working on.  Something I call In The…

Source: In The Works/The Third Eye

Kitty Lange’s Backstory.

Tonight I started Kitty’s backstory.  I decided to do something interesting.  Throughout the series, I tell each story through Drake’s point of view, utilizing voice over technique.  Tonight, I decided to do this with Kitty.  I am not sure it works, but we will see.  It is indeed a compelling backstory as Kitty is a compelling character.  Kitty is tough as nails, brash, opinionated and won’t back down from a fight.  As I have gotten to know this character, I have found myself laughing with her at her quirkiest moments and cheering for her in her most downtrodden times.   There are some interesting similarities with her and a British Snooker Player I created for the sequel to my screenplay Derby Double, but I think Kitty is far more polished.
She is a character that would like to change her past and make a better life for herself.  Drake gives her that opportunity and she is loyal and someone he would be happy to share a foxhole with.  She has his back and he definitely has hers.  I have never written a character quite like Kitty Lange.  She is Fiona Glenanne times five. The story of how Kitty came to be, along with how I  came up with her backstory are interesting.
A number of years ago, I was reworking Drake’s original screenplay.   During one my rewrites, I brought in a character who I planned as Drake’s temporary girlfriend.  I wanted a jealousy factor for his ex wife Harriett.  The original intention was to have her in a few scenes and then it would end as Drake realized he always loved his wife. How things have changed.  That’s not my idea at all now.
One day I was re-reading a scene where Harriett meets at Drake’s yacht.  It becomes apparent that Drake has moved on from Harriett and she doesn’t like it one bit.   I’m not sure what it was about this scene, or whether Kitty was talking to me, but the possibilities to expand Kitty’s character into something much more, intrigued me.   So I trashed my draft and rewrote my movie so I could utilize her.   Doing this meant I had to come up with a backstory. However, this backstory had to mean something.  It couldn’t be something put together haphazardly.  After the backstory Kitty became  a character that was much more alive, gave some punch to the movie and provided some kick ass humor when needed.  All good strong qualities.  One thing was missing, I needed her vulnerability, because there is a facade with Kitty.  She appears all tough on the surface, but it’s a defense mechanism, so Drake won’t think she’s weak and that she can handle anything that’s thrown her way.  She hides that weakness through her outer strength.  Her weakness is the part that aches for Drake.
Kitty’s backstory came to me around the time I had become fascinated with Joe Capeci’s organized crime website.   I found a story on the New England Mafia.   This brought back memories of my time living on the North Shore of Massachusetts.  Genarro Anguilo and one of his main guys Ilario Zannino had just been arrested on Rico charges.  Anguilo was the Patriarca Under boss.  He pretty much he ran the North End of Boston, while Whitey Bulger ran Southie.  Of course now we all know from Martin’s Scorcese’s The Departed(Loosely based on the Bulger story) that Bulger fed Whitey Bulger John Connolly huge information on Anguilo to get him out his hair.  Then the big scandal happened.
It was the summer of 1986 and Zannino’s trial was televised on the news.  It was riveting and very frightening.  The man barely spoke English and what little he did say was terrifying.  He went as far as to threaten the Judge.  I remember thinking, thank God this guy is behind bars.
The same year, I had met this really strange friend of my roommate.  A very hyperactive fellow.  His mother had dated New England Mafia Don Raymond Patriarca. His stories were definitely riveting.   As this all came back to me,  I remembered how I loved the Mass accent.  It was fresh and rich with flavor.  There’s an interesting twinge of Irish and Italian twang to it.  Even parts of New Hampshire have it, and I love it.  This had to be where Kitty was from.
When I write, I love irony.  Most movie and television ideas come from irony.   Irony or what I like to call the  what if factor become a large part of the story.  This is what came out.
What if Drake had a female partner with a checkered past?   Her name was Kitty Lange, but that wasn’t her real name.  She had an entirely different name, not by choice, but by circumstance.
Kitty’s life had not been easy.  Like Drake, she grew up an orphan, (She relates to Drake.) due to her parents deaths.  Her father, Little Louis Faltagio a mob associate, had a passion for classic cars.  He ran an auto body shop as a front for a chop shop operation.  He married a mob Capo’s sister.  Big Pauli Petrocelli.  A fair Capo, who prefers a sit down to killing anyone, unless it is completely necessary.(In a future blog I will talk about Big Paulie and how he impacted Kitty’s life and many other characters in the series.)
Kitty’s mother Serena is hit by a drunken Bus Driver.  Before he is arrested, the Bus Driver mysteriously disappears.  Her father Louis, turns to drink and becomes sloppy with stolen cargo.  Mob Boss Carlo Bonavigna orders Big Paulie to kill his brother in law.  Paulie won’t.  He’s seen too much violence in Vietnam, and feels Louis made a mistake and should get a pass.  Carlo feels he has been disrespected by Big Paulie and has Little Louis whacked anyway, enraging Big Paulie.  Now he wants the top seat and he plans to get it.  Barbara Faltagio(Kitty) and her brother Matty, move in with her Uncle Paulie and her Aunt Marie.  Barbara pretty much grows up around the mob lifestyle and of course is introduced to up and coming mob stars during her formative years.  She meets Carlo’s son, Ricky a bad egg.  She falls for him and the two start dealing drugs.  The FBI pinch them and present compelling evidence to prove Carlo killed her father.  She flips, enters the federal witness protection program, is given the name Kitty Lange and she moves to Baltimore to be near her brother Matty. The FBI help Kitty look for work.  Her skills are pretty limited.  However, Kitty has someone watching over her.  An Uncle she has never met.  Behind the scenes, this Uncle calls on a priest he knows, named Father Michael Barry.(Originally from Kitty’s neighborhood.)  Father Mike, hires Kitty as a secretary, but after a few months, she is so bad, he can’t take it anymore.  He pawns her off on Drake, looking for someone to answer the phones.  The first meeting between the two definitely makes an impression on Drake.  Kitty calls on him while he is being ambushed by some mysterious men.  Rather than sit by and let Drake be beaten to a pulp, Kitty uses all her street smarts from Medford Mass and kicks the snot out of them.  Drake is suitably impressed.  He figures she is too valuable to waste on the phones, so he makes a deal, she can be a PI in training if once in a while, she can take a few phone calls.  This leads to a new life for Kitty.  One where she can redeem herself and give back.  That is, if her past doesn’t come back to haunt her and Drake must never know about her past.
This evening, I touched up a rough draft of Kitty’s back story.

EPISODE 3.

 

ACT ONE

KITTY LANGE driving fast, eyes straight ahead on the road.  SPEEDOMETER, 95.

KITTY.(OS)

My Aunt Marie always used to say, be

careful what you wish for, you just might

get it.  She said it to me a thousand times

and she was always right.  I should have

listened to Aunt M.

THE LIGHTS OF MOSUL.

KITTY.(OS)

My Aunt Marie Petrocelli, she’s what you

call clairvoyant.  She’s gets these feelings.

I don’t know where they come from, but she

knows.  She certainly saw my Ma’s death

before any of us.

FLASHBACK.

INT. MEDFORD MALL GROCERY STORE SOMETIME IN THE 1980’S-DAY

SERENA FALTAGIO, a petite woman with long dark brown hair, wheels a GROCERY CAR through the aisle.   TWO YEAR OLD MATTY FALTAGIO a handful.  He grabs at cookies, crackers and anything that interests him.  SERENA snatches the cookies and puts them back.

SERENA.

No Matty, you can’t have that.

SERENA TOSSES PASTA items in the cart.  She looks up.  Panic.

SERENA.

Oh Jesus Christ!  Barbara where are you?

SHE WHEELS MATTY around the store, until she sees her FIVE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BARBARA staring at a BIKE in the store across the mall.  She longs for it.

SERENA.

Barbara!

5.

SERENA, throws her hands up.  BARBARA too entranced with the bike. SERENA snatches BARBARA’S HAND.

SERENA.

Barbara!

A firm tug.  BARBARA’S not budging.

BARBARA.

I want a bike.  That bike.

BARBARA, a hopeful glint in her eye.

SERENA.

Barbara you’re not getting a bike.

BARBARA.

I want a bike.

SERENA.

When your older.  Now come along, we

have to get home and get super on the

table for your father.

SERENA tugs her back into the store.  BARBARA breaks out in a wild tantrum.  SERENA slaps her across the face.

SERENA.

Barbara, I’m not putting up with it.

CUT TO.

EXT. MALL PARKING LOT-MOMENTS LATER

SERENA WHEELS HER CART OUT OF THE MALL INTO THE PARKING LOT.  MATTY holds a balloon.  A BURST OF WIND snatches it and escapes to the sky.  MATTY soft sobs and then screams.

SERENA.

Matty stop!

She follows his finger to the sky.  The balloon hangs in a tree and the a loud POP.  MATTY still screaming.  SERENA offers MATTY a lollypop.  MATTY grabs it and the the tantrum stops.

CUT TO.

EXT. MEDFORD STREET-DAY

 

A BUS swerves wildly and speeds through a red light, missing a collision by inches.  CARS BLARE.  AM IMPISH BUS DRIVER offers his finger in response.  The BUS DRIVER in his rearview mirror.  PASSENGERS occupied with the sights.  The BUS DRIVER reaches into his coat pocket.  A FLASK OF ALCOHOL,  Another look up.  PASSENGER’S OCCUPIED.  Good.  A quick snort.  An increase of speed.  A sharp wild turn into the MALL PARKING LOT.

CUT TO.

MALL PARKING LOT-DAY.

BARBARA steps off the curb and runs towards a beat of CHEVY.

SERENA.

Barbara, what are you doing?  I’ve told you

to look both ways.

BARBARA defiant turns around and sticks her tongue out.

BARBARA.

I’m going to the car.

BARBARA runs into heavy traffic.  SERENA PANICS, leaves MATTY in the cart and tears off after her.  THE BUS speeds.  A wild turn.  BARBARA reaches the CHEVY.  She turns, looks back.  A loud bump. SERENA thrown into the street.  THE DRIVER, a look of panic.  PASSENGER’S horrified.  Screams.  “PULL OVER, PULL OVER.”  He turns a deaf ear and drives wildly out of the parking lot.  BARBARA, eyes wide open.  Horror.  SERENA, in the street.

BARBARA.

Ma!!!!!

MATTY screams.  BARBARA runs to SERENA’S side.  BLOOD everywhere.  Bruises on her head, face and lips.

BARBARA.

Ma!!!

BARBARA shakes her.  Nothing.  A crowd forms.  A kind ELDERLY GENTLEMAN approaches.

ELDERLY GENTLEMAN.

Someone call 911.

A YOUNG WOMAN dressed in JEANS bolts into the MALL and enters a clothing store.  She approaches THE STORE CLERK.

WOMAN DRESSED IN JEANS.

There’s been a hit and run.  Someone call

THE STORE CLERK gets on the phone.

STORE CLERK.

Yes I’d like to report an accident.

THE ELDERLY GENTLEMAN reaches down for BARBARA.

ELDERLY GENTLEMAN.

What’s your name precious?

BARBARA.

Barbara Faltagio.  I live on Cornsilk Road

in Medford.

ELDERLY GENTLEMAN.

Now don’t worry, we’re going to get your

Ma some help.

MOMENTS LATER an AMBULANCE FOLLOWED BY POLICE.  The POLICE OFFICER pushes through the crowd and interrogates witnesses.

CUT TO.

MOMENTS LATER, A DODGE ROADSTER screeches into the parking lot.  LITTLE LOUIS FALTAGIO, a young man with a pudgy build with thick dark hair pushes through the crowd.  He reaches the AMBULANCE.  PARAMEDICS WHEEL her to the AMBULANCE.  LITTLE LOUIS firm grip on the gurney.

LITTLE LOUIS.

That’s my wife.  Is she gonna be okay.

The PARAMEDIC blank stare.  He rolls a white sheet over her face.  LITTLE LOUIS knows what that means.  A sharp pain inside.

KITTY.(OS)

My father, Little Louis Faltagio ran a chop

shop for my Uncle Paulie.  He was a good

earner and always was one step ahead of the

cops.

LITTLE LOUIS falls on top of SERENA and sobs.

 

KITTY.(OS, cntd)

Paulie always thought highly of my father.

He thought he was smart enough to run his

own crew, but he declined when the books

were opened up.  All he wanted was to work

on his cars and he did a job and saw a small

taste that was fine.

The PARAMEDICS pull LITTLE LOUIS away.  He drops to his knees.  His life has been ripped apart.

CUT TO.

EXT. BIG PAULIE’S MEDFORD.

A nice house with a POOL.

KITTY.(OS)

The night my Ma died, things changed.

My father devastated.  He knew what

was to happen and he thought he should

do it.  But blood runs thicker than

water.

INT. BIG PAULIE’S LIVING ROOM.

LITTLE LOUIS paces and clenches his fists. BIG PAULIE, as large as his name with fading brown hair, a big nose and LARGE crystal blue eyes.  He studies LITTLE LOUIS, he’s on edge, ready to blow.

LITTLE LOUIS.

You have to tell me his name Paulie.

I want this son of a bitch!

LITTLE LOUIS, losing it and ready for action.  BIG PAULIE grabs him and gives him a warm hug, lets him go, stares at him a moment and cracks him hard across the face.

BIG PAULIE.

What have you got?  Nuts for brains?

Tears well up in his eyes.  LITTLE LOUIS doesn’t understand.

LITTLE LOUIS.

Paulie, haven’t I always been loyal to you?

 

BIG PAULIE.

Louis, understand I’ll do what we can for

you, but Barbara and little Matty, they

have to have their father.

LITTLE LOUIS.

It ain’t right Pauli!

BIG PAULIE.

Louis, How’s this gonna look?  Serena

was my sister.  If I don’t act…Jesus

Christ, that stugots Carlo is gonna see

me as soft. I got a reputation here as

as a fair Capo.  We will handle this Louis,

the way we always handle it.  Come here.

BIG PAULIE puts his arms out.  LOUIS receives a giant bear hug.

BIG PAULIE.

You go home.  You do what’s right.  You

take care of my niece and my nephew.

They’re gonna need you, like I do.

BIG PAULIE hands him a handkerchief.  LITTLE LOUIS wipes his eyes.

LITTLE LOUIS.

Thank you Paulie.  I don’t know what I

would do without you.

BIG PAULIE watches LITTLE LOUIS leave.  The phone rings.  BIG PAULIE picks it up.

BIG PAULIE.

Marco, you got him?  No, I just didn’t

expect it to be that fast.  Don’t worry I

have that worked out.

CUT TO.

EXT. SHORELINE BAR HARBOR MAINE-EVENING

A secluded BOAT DOCK.  A LINCOLN pulls up.

KITTY.(OS)

True to his word, Big Paulie did make

the drunk disappear.  No one knows where,

 

KITTY.(OS)

Big Paulie took the story to his grave.

BIG PAULIE gets out, followed by two MUSCLE BOUND THUGS.

They open the trunk.  THE HACKED BODY OF THE BUS DRIVER.  They wrap him in a sheet and tie him with chains and cement and carry him onto a boat.  BIG PAULIE behind the wheel steers the boat to the middle of the water.  He turns off the engine and the three men dump his body in the water and watch him sink. MARCO, sneers shakes his head and laughs.

MARCO.

Bon voyage.

BIG PAULIE slaps his face.

BIG PAULIE.

You think this is fun and games for me

Marco.  I don’t know why he drank, he

obviously had problems.  He probably had

a family.  Kids maybe, who knows.

MARCO.

Sorry Paulie, I was just…

BIG PAULIE.

Have a little respect.  He was victim of

circumstance.  Dumb luck.  Sometimes it

happens, but this is what is our life.

BIG PAULIE starts the engine and steers the boat back towards shore.  BIG PAULIE, a long remorseful stare at sea.

KITTY.(OS)

Don’t get me wrong, I will never condone

the sins of my Uncle.  He and Aunt M

adopted me.  To my brother and I, Uncle

Paulie was the best.  He did what he

had to do.  If he could do it with

a sit down rather than violence, then

he was knew he had respect and he was

doing his job right.

CUT TO.

EXT. LITTLE LOUIS BODY SHOP-EVENING.

 

A LARGE TRUCK with brand new fancy cars pulls in front of the  shop. LITTLE LOUIS in the front seat staring at a picture of SERENA.

KITTY.(OS)

My father never did get over the death

of my Ma.

LITTLE LOUIS snatches a bottle by the seat and guzzles.

KITTY.(OS)

He started drinking, which didn’t sit none

too well with Uncle Paulie. one night he

got sloppy and left a shipment of stolen

cars for the cops to find.

LITTLE LOUIS passes out at the wheel.  The HORN BLARES.  Lights from the neighborhood turn on.  A police car pulls up and finds LOUIS passed out.  They drag him out and question him.  They take him away in cuffs.

KITTY.(OS)

Everyone in the chop shop was pinched, except

Big Paulie.  When Carlo Bonavigna found out,

the traditional sit down had to happen.

EXT. CESARE’S RESTAURANT-MALDEN

Two solid gold Cadillac’s pull up.  BIG PAULIE, dressed to the nines gets out followed by a heavy crew of men dressed equally as sharp.  He enters the restaurant and finds CARLO BONAVIGNA, a tall wiry man, the same age with slicked back hair and a nice pressed WHITE SUIT WITH A RED CARNATION in the lapel.  STANDING around are his own men, just as rugged at BIG PAULIE’S.  A WARM HUG AND THE TRADITIONAL HUG and kiss on the cheek.

CARLO.

Paulie.  So good of you to come.  Let’s mange

and then we’ll talk.

THEY SIT DOWN.

We watch them eat converse and drink wine.

KITTY.(OS)

It was all about my Father.  Carlo was a

stubborn bastard and if you didn’t respect

12.

KITTY.(OS cntd)

him, you had problems.  He wasn’t above

whacking anybody. Carlo didn’t care if

it was in the papers.  He wanted everyone

to know who the big boss was.  Paulie

wasn’t like that.  He didn’t want

the feds prying.

A heated conversation.  CARLO throws down his napkin in disgust.

CARLO.

You got a lot of palle Paulie and I

don’t like it.  Are you gonna do this

thing for me or am I gonna have to

solve your problems for ya.

BIG PAULIE.

Carlo in Nam, all I thought about when

was family.  You ain’t got nothing if you

ain’t got family.  Louis lost his wife,

my sister.  He wasn’t thinking straight.

He should be given a pass.

CARLO.

You know this thing of ours.  You took

a blood oath.

BIG PAULIE rises to his feet and throws his own napkin.  He towers over CARLO.

BIG PAULIE.

Times have changed, maybe some rules should

change.  Capiche.

CARLO holds a steely gaze on BIG PAULIE.

CARLO.

You got big trouble my friend.  Big

trouble.

BIG PAULIE.

Always gotta have the last word Carlo

right.  You know I’ve never taken crap

from you.  When you used to steal milk

money from Father Michael Barry, I kicked

 

BIG PAULIE.

your ass.  I’ll do it again.

BIG PAULIE throws some money on the table for a tip.

BIG PAULIE.

There’s your meal Godfather, have a nice

evening.

KITTY.(OS)

After the meeting, the result was inevitable.

Big Paulie paid my father’s bail, so he could

work on the cars.  My father loved the cars.

 

LITTLE LOUIS works on THE ENGINE of a beautiful CAMERO.  The back door busts open, two masked men draw pistols and rain bullets into LITTLE LOUIS.  LITTLE LOUIS lies on the floor, BLOOD all over.  The smaller of the MASKED MEN, stuffs some money in his mouth and we hear a car tear off.

CUT TO.

INT. JEEP-EVENING.

KITTY glances behind her. The SUV barrel down on her tail.

KITTY.(OS)

Big Paulie never told me what happened to

my father.  I didn’t find out until I

took up with Carlo’s son Ricky.  Paulie

wasn’t happy about that.  You see Ricky

and I started dealing smack.  It didn’t

take the FBI long to pinch us.  They had

an informant who knew how my father died.

That’s all it took to cut a deal.  For

the last five years I’ve been in the

federal witness protection program

repenting my sins.  Be careful what you

wish for you just might get it.  Aunt

Marie was right, I wanted to change my

life and I can’t seem to get away from

my past.

 

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In The Works

Here I will have some updates about The Third Eye and how I am coming along with it.  I may post a scene or two, once I a get a copy-write on it and figure out how to link those scenes on he…

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Shadow, Drake’s Nemesis

There is nothing I enjoy more than writing a good villain.  I think I am on my way to creating that character and his Enforcer.   The  Enforcer appears to be more ruthless than the Protagonist.
I finished the first act of my second episode, which ends with Drake’s nemesis threatening a Senator from the state of Michigan.  The mysterious man we call Shadow, or some people call him the Man in the Shadows.  After I finished the act, I was happy with it and I knew I was going to be writing this post.  Shadow is far too interesting, not to talk about.
Shadow is a character, I created after I ditched my movie idea.  I always wanted to do something on Illuminati and Skull and Bones.  Since Drake was screwed by Military Intelligence, I thought why not have him fight the Secret Government that helped put his Physics career to an end.  It was perfect for him and me.  This way I could explore a fascination of mine, Government conspiracies.  You may think Shadow is a carbon copy of the Smoking Man, but he is not.  I had this idea before I began watching the X-files.  My idea was Shadow  was more ruthless than The Smoking Man.  He came from privilege.  His father was a media mogul and had a long history in influencing Politicians and the business industry.  Although we see the Smoking Man in the first episode of the X-files, I wanted my villain to remain in the Shadows, like he is the man pulling strings.  My plan is to reveal him in the second season.  I want the suspense to last as long as possible.   Shadow knows Drake, he’s been following him since he was born.  As the series moves along, we find that there is a connection between these two, but we are not sure how they are connected.  There are few who know of this man.  One, is Father Michael, who believes that this Shadow is so ruthless and powerful that he will destroy Drake.  Father Michael will stop at nothing to keep Shadow from him, even if he has to keep Drake’s past from him.
The only information we have on Shadow is that he was educated at Yale and that he was a member of the famed Skull and Bones society.  He has a ruthless Assassin on his payroll, who he is quite close with.  He met Shadow at Yale, the two were
members of Skull and Bones.  The man’s name is apropos, Mordecai Morphine, because his weapon of choice is untraceable narcotics.  Morphine has the look of an Assassin.  He short with dark beady eyes, a receding hairline and a bushy mustache.  Morphine’s backstory is quite fascinated.  He’s an ex marine, who moved on to be a Navy Seal.  After that he was recruited for the CIA Black Ops program, where he was involved in all kinds of covert operations, that have been blotted from existence.  He has thousands of identities and many are not sure if his real name is Mordecai Murphy.  Whenever Shadow needs to keep the truth from coming out, Morphine is given a call. He is also used to extract the truth, or at least put a good scare into someone.
I cannot wait to explore these two fascinating characters and see what golden nuggets they have for me.  I will surely write more on these two.  Look for future posts about Shadow and Morphine.