A school teacher commits suicide after she is arrested at a Miami swingers club. A young lawyer must prove the arrest was the cause of her suicide; not her alternative lifestyle.

SYNOPSIS:

Jack Perlman never let’s the truth get in the way of winning and never takes a case he knows he can’t win. Jack knows he damaged his marriage to Elizabeth before it began but rather than face the truth he hides from his guilt at the law firm where he is about to make partner. Jack is approached by Ron Coles whose wife committed suicide after the police raided a couples club in Miami called, The Ecstasy. Ron wants to bring action against the city but Jack turns down the case. The next day Jack gets a call from the Deputy Mayor with information about the raid that must be relayed face to face. Jack agrees to meet but the Deputy Mayor is killed in a mysterious car accident which ignites Jack’s investigation. The initial investigation leads to a dead end of police silence and shades Ron’s character as problematic. Searching for answers Jack and Elizabeth go to the Ecstasy Club where they run into Nancy, Jack’s ex-mentor at the firm, and her husband; there the four have an encounter which fractures Jack’s marriage. Further investigation causes an assault on Elizabeth and life threatening danger for both Elizabeth and Jack. At the Deputy Mayor’s apartment, Jack discovers a tape of the Mayor, the Chief of Police and a senior partner that connects them to the raid, organized crime and the assault on Elizabeth. Enraged, Jack convinces Ron to bring his claim against the city and as a result is fired from the firm. In a desperate attempt to tip the scales Jack sends a copy of the tape to the FBI and to the NYC crime boss. With everything on the line Jack turns to Nancy for help. As the trial begins an attempt on the Mayor’s life is foiled by the F.B. I. Now in witness protection, the Mayor testifies that the raid was a conspiracy to expose his political opponent. Now Jack must prove his client is neither a child molester nor an abusive husband. At the end in a twist that the defense counsel does not see coming Jack proves to the jury that his client is a good and faithful husband.

“The Ecstasy” Is the story of a man’s search to find the truth and in doing so discovers his own deceit.

FROM COVERAGE INK-OCTOBER 2017 CONCLUSION Based on the strengths of the premise and the current draft, future development is warranted on the project. This development would best start with the structure of the narrative to make sure that the details of the conspiracy are revealed slowly throughout the screenplay to keep the reader engaged. The story would also benefit from adding more danger, which can be used to raise the stakes. While adjusting the narrative, there is also room to spend more time developing an antagonist's personality (perhaps Mayor Garcia) and that individual's relationship with Jack, the protagonist. Despite the areas for improvement, The Ecstasy has great potential on a conceptual level and the current draft is at times engaging, in large part thanks to the well-written dialogue. Nice job, and best of luck moving forward! SCRIPT: CONSIDER WITH RESERVATIONS WRITER: CONSIDER WITH RESERVATIONS

ACADEMY NICHOLL FELLOWSHIP SEPTEMBER 2019

In the opening teaser we see Ron commit what seems to be a vigilante murder and then get involved in a public outrage story that sees his daughter run away from home and his wife kill herself then the narrative turns to Jack.

There’s a lot of things going well in this script, in particular the intricate plot that’s well-crafted and develops at a nice pace, the read is interesting and leaves the reader wanting to know what happens next. Jack, the main character, feels unique in that he doesn’t fall into the lawyer-with-a-conscience trope. The dialog is well done throughout and makes good use of subtext, the tone and the situation is consistent without being on-the-nose. The writing quality is good and there’s a nice confidence to the scenes that deal with legal issues and local Miami politics. The sex club scenes are also well done, feeling genuinely sexy without being gratuitous. This is something that can be hard to pull off. This was good read with a surprise twist ending. Job well done.

THE ECSTASY