The first black woman in the House of Representatives, SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, aims to make history again as the first black woman to run for President in 1972. She charges head-on against the mainstream political machine in a fiery underdog campaign marked with violence, mudslinging, racism, and sexism, where she learns the people are her strength.

-Nicholl Quarterfinalist

-Screencraft Finalist

-Humanitas Semifinalist

-Top 1% of projects on Coverfly

SYNOPSIS:

We already know how this ends. Shirley doesn’t win the nomination. The Democratic party doesn’t take back the White House. It’s not the outcome that’s important, it’s what Shirley does along the way -- meeting supporters and sending an inspiring message that we must fight to have our voices heard.

We meet Shirley Chisholm as an outspoken liberal member of the House of Representatives. She knows what it’s like to be powerless and has devoted her political career to standing up for those overlooked in our society. She rubs other reps the wrong way, with many of her own colleagues writing her off as a nuisance or simply looking for attention, but Shirley remains true to herself and her small but passionate following.

After dismissive remarks from the Democratic frontrunner Edmund Muskie, the Congressional Black Caucus forms a plan to run black candidates nationwide. If they spread the field thin, they can deny any white frontrunner the nomination, causing them to negotiate for delegates to get over the top and ensuring the CBC’s positions on the party platform. When Ron Dellums suggests Shirley should run, other politicians dismiss her outright. Run-ins with injustice in the real world and a push from supporters and her husband finally convince her to run on her own. Without mainstream support, she forms a plan to run in only a few key states across the country on a shoestring budget. When other candidates rent trains, she has an old repainted Greyhound bus; others fly private jets, she flies coach.

She has run-ins with enthusiastic supporters as well as angry dissenters of her candidacy. The most nefarious is Governor George Wallace, the dog-whistling segregationist candidate whipping up anger at his fierce political rallies. Shirley and Wallace go head-to-head all through the primaries, until an assassination attempt takes him out of the race. Shirley shows she is the bigger person by visiting him in the hospital, helping turn the tide of hatred within him.

With the system stacked heavily against her ever step of the way, the trail is rife with mudslinging, racism, political miscalculations, and violence - all culminating in the chaotic Democratic National Convention in Miami. At the convention, she fights hard against impossible odds. Even as the walls close in and colleagues shun her, battling against jaded political maneuvering and betrayed by some of her most high-profile supporters, Shirley stands strong and finally realizes it was the people that got her there in the first place. In the end, Shirley sacrifices her candidacy for the good of party unity, knowing she can do more good from within, inspiring hope for the future, knowing she made it easier for future candidates to fight alongside her.

• QUARTERFINALIST Academy Nicholl Fellowship

• FINALIST ScreenCraft Public Domain Screenwriting Competition

• SEMIFINALIST Humanitas New Voices Fellowship

• SEMIFINALIST Nantucket Film Festival Showtime Tony Cox Screenwriting Competition

• SEMIFINALIST ScreenCraft Drama Screenwriting Competition

• SEMIFINALIST Final Draft Big Break

• TOP Scripts of 2019 TrackingBoard Launchpad Competition

• TOP 1% of projects on Coverfly

• BLACKLIST Recommended Script