SYNOPSIS:

Everybody loves a good paranoid thriller… Whether it’s THE PARALLAX VIEW, ENEMY OF THE STATE or THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, we all root for the innocent hero battling overwhelming odds and attempting to solve the mystery of the conspiracy itself. STATE SECRET sees our hero, CHASE VERITY, a twenty-something insurance investigator in Washington, D.C. embroiled in a political conspiracy. One which could trigger the demise of America as a military and political superpower by destroying the financial infrastructure which underpins American power. As an insurance investigator, Chase is the best there is. He has a unique ability to see through deception and detect fraudsters. So when GREG FAIRLOP, a U.S. senator with a multi-million dollar life insurance policy, is found dead with a gunshot wound to the head, Chase has to be 100% certain that the cause of death is properly called as either suicide or murder. To complicate matters further, the senator is The President’s brother-in-law. And that’s when Chase's problems begin. The high profile nature of the case means he has to work alongside his own brother, DONNIE, a Washington, D.C. homicide detective. Their relationship can best described as hostile. These two have history. Unresolved history. But The White House has an interest in the cause of death too. As far as SHELDON ABBEY, The President’s Chief of Staff, is concerned, suicide is less damaging to the administration than murder. But that’s because he has an agenda of his own. So he arranges for SANDY LANE, a White House Secret Service agent, to be attached to the investigation to act as his eyes and ears. But it doesn’t take the investigators long to learn that the dead senator was in possession of a highly classified D-RAD report. One which he planned to take public in order to force The White House into a public course of action to avoid a financial meltdown. A meltdown which could cripple the entire American economy for fifty years and emasculate U.S. ability to 'project' its foreign policy overseas. As suicide begins to look less likely, unseen forces move against Chase, Donnie and Sandy as Abbey takes steps to ensure the real reason behind Senator Fairlop's death remains a state secret. Think STATE OF PLAY meets ENEMY OF THE STATE. STATE SECRET is a low-medium budget ($5m), feature-length screenplay for a political thriller set in Washington, D.C. The cast comprises one male lead, a strong female co-starring role and a strong male co-starring role, all within the mid-twenties to mid-thirties age range.