The beginning

I've been wanting to make a short for about two years now. I got quite excited about it about a year and a half ago but then I was not able to get any interest from anyone else and the idea sort of ended up getting put on hold, especially as my life went a bit crazy. My mum died, I got a new job and my son was born!

My girlfriend is in a play with a local Am Dram group and was talking to one of the other actors who is heavily into film and video. She mentioned me and my interest and suggested we get together. This happened and after our first meet up, we decided to go for it and make a first film. We agreed to start with something short, probably 1 to 2 minutes. We bashed some ideas around but didnt really come up with anything concrete and our conversation drifted off to discuss Lost and Battlestar Galactica.

The next morning during my drive into work, I had an idea for a short story. I had been working on developing my screenwriting skills for about a year before things went crazy and it was great to find myself resurrecting it. I got to work and scribbled down the outline I had come up with. I bounced it off my co-conspiritor (Rob). I sent him an email with it in.

Here's the idea chunk of the email:

The idea I had sort of goes like this.

Working title:
Hit me baby, one more time.

It opens it a restaurant or wine bar,
with a well dressed, businesslike woman and a similarly dressed man sat having
what looks like a romantic/couply meal.
They exchange a few
pleasantries. The man looks distracted.
The woman picks up the wine
bottle and moves to pour a glass for the man. He stops her.
MAN:
I don't
WOMAN: I forgot
He stands up suddenly, a decision finally
made.
MAN: I can't do this anymore.
WOMAN: We've talked about
this before.
MAN: It's over.
He pauses, checks the
waiter/nearby patron out quickly, then begins to walk out.
WOMAN: You
don't just leave like that. Not after 20 years.
A series of short
flashes of victims, i.e. people getting killed, flashs up, as if they are being
remembered by the man. The man winces. The last image is of someone
being held under water in a bath.
Cut to the wine being poured in the
glass.
WOMAN: You don’t do this kind of work and then just walk away
like that. Not in this Organisation.
He carries on
walking
WOMAN: You know we'd find you. .. but there is a way.
He
stops
WOMAN: We have a special job.
MAN: And…?
WOMAN:
If you do it, we'll let you go, forget you ever existed.
MAN: And if I
don't?
WOMAN: That would't make a good after dinner discussion.
He
returns to the table. She pushes a folder over to him. He opens it,
sees a photograph and is shocked.
Cut scene of the person in the
photograph. MAN and PERSON are together outside a house. MAN is very
shaken:
PERSON: Don't worry, we're all like that first
time. After 2 or 3 they all blur into one.
Cut back. As he looks
at the woman she blurs out and is replaced by several different victim faces one
after another.
WOMAN: It’s the only way
----
Dusk/dark.
Stairwell, up to a door. A light above the door lights the top part of the
stairwell. MAN emerges from the dark into the pool of light, a few steps
away from the top. He pauses. He checks his holster, the gun is
there. He checks for his backup weapon, its there. he takes another
step, then stops. He withdraws the photo and looks at it.
MAN:
This is a trap isnt it old friend. She said there was only one way out of
the Organisation, didn’t she.
He takes his gun out and lays it down on the
step.
MAN: I said I'm leaving and one way or another.
I will be, on my terms.
He straightens his tie, takes a deep
breath. He walks up the remaining steps, striding boldly into the
room. He stands in the pool of light. A pause. The room lights
suddenly go on. The room is full of suited people, all looking a bit
reservoir dogs, all staring at him, emotionless, all with their hands inside
their jackets. The man from the photo spots him. everything goes
quiet. All the people in the room look on. A moment of spaghetti
western style staring takes place.
There is a bang. .. a pause…
It’s a
cork from a champayne bottle, all the people in the room pull out their hands,
each holding a glass. They raise their glasses and shout hooray! The
rest of the lights go on and the "Sorry you're leaving" signs, etc can be
seen. The person from the photo steps out and is carrying a cake. On
it is a suited figure.
PERSON: Welcome to your retirement.
You're in good company.

He liked it and so I agreed to write it up as a first draft script.