East Of Paradise EPISODE 1: 322 Dedicated to Tim Jones and Gaddis Farley, who survived and continue to live. OPEN ON CAR WINDOW- RAIN FALLS ON IT, COVERING IT. In the rain fall the opening credits appear. The JDawg Junction films logo appears on the screen first, followed by the cast, director, and writer. CUT TO: INSIDE CAR In the car JON HAMMAN, 23 sits patiently. He has a box of Chinese take out sitting in his lap, and is looking over his fortune cookie. The passengers side door opens and in the car comes 26 year old CODY FARLEY. He has a back pack on. Jon Took you long enough. Cody smiles. Cody It's gonna be worth it. I got Gaddis's Sony 8mm camera. Jon Good shit. Jon reaches in the back of the dirty and cluttered car, and pulls out the Chinese Take out bag. Jon Got you some food. Cody frowns and pushes the bag away as Jon hands it to him. Cody Can't eat that stuff, Jon. Jon I forgot. Jon starts the car up. CUT TO: CITY STREET- DOWNTOWN The car pulls off from the side of the street, splashing water from the gutter onto the street as Jon hits too much gas and would have hit the car in front of him, if there was one there. They are down town, so it seems. The place is run down, and the rain adds to the empty and old feeling of the place. All the buildings are old. Cody lives above one of the shops, in a small apartment, with his dad. We look into the sky, as more dark rain clouds are moving in. CUT TO: INSIDE CAR Cody is changing the radio station, he stops it at 104.7 The X. The DJ is talking about a new concert that's coming to town. D.J. (V.O.) So mark it down on your calendar, March 22nd, Bandage Head at Coleman Coliseum, we should have some win em' before you can buy em' tickets tonight. Jon looks at Cody. Jon March 22nd. 322. Cody Yeah, so? Jon 322 is showing up too much here lately. CUT TO: QUICK CUT A smashed car laying on the side of the road, it's destroyed beyond imagination. CUT TO: INSIDE CAR Jon is shaking his head. Jon Something bad is going to happen. Cody Every time 322 comes up, I have to hear this shit again. Noah and David are dead, nothing we can do about it, and no matter how much you want to believe you could have stopped it- He's interrupted by Jon. Jon Don't try to tell me 322 doesn't scare the living fuck out of you. Don't try to tell me that it doesn't mean something. Jon stops at a stop sign. Cody Alright, it does scare me. It scares me because it reminds me of the past. A past I want to forget. They are dead Jon.... they aren't coming back. Jon I don't think they are coming back, I never said they would come back, You don't come back from death. Death is the end. But it's pretty weird don't you think? Cody I know you believe that every time you see 322 it means something...and I understand how it can traumatic to you, but don't tell the others about it. It's nothing, it's a goddamn concert date. Let's just film, ok? Jon Alright, and I'm not going to tell them, they don't understand. INT: WAREHOUSE Jon and Cody enter. A group of their friends are sitting around a long table, talking with each other. They are GADDIS JONES, 19, JENNIFER SOUTHERN, 23, and ANDREW CROSS, 20. Jon Hey everyone. Jennifer gets up, giving Jon a kiss. Jennifer Hey baby. Jon Hey Jen. Cody takes off his back pack and puts it on the table. Cody You guys know your lines? Gaddis, you're not stoned are you? Gaddis laughs. Gaddis Yeah, man, I'm stoned. BEAT I'm not stoned. Andrew The newspaper guy called, should be here any minute. Jon and Jennifer are still talking to each other. Cody pulls him away. Cody Damnit Jon, this is our day. Jon smiles. Jon I know. Let's go ahead and get in position. They all walk over to a sofa and T.V. that are in the corner of the warehouse, carpet is laid down under the sofa and TV, stretching about 25 feet, it's the only place that has carpet in the entire building. Gaddis and Andrew sit down on the sofa. Gaddis Want us to start the lines, so you can see if we know it? Jon Yeah. Cody, get the camera. Cody has the camera in his hand, Jennifer has the tripod set up. Cody puts the camera onto the tripod and sets up his angles. He turns it on. Cody I'm just seeing how it looks, it's not on. Gaddis nods, and Cody pulls out the flip screen, the colors look a little weird. Jon Action. Gaddis looks at Andrew. Gaddis (As Rod in script) Scott..has your dad ever hit you? Andrew (Scott in movie) looks shocked. Andrew (Pissed) Why would you say anything like that? There's a knock from the door. Andrew That's not in the script. Jon runs over to the door, opening it. Standing there, with an umbrella is JOHN HODGES, a newspaper reporter. Jon John Hodges? John smiles. John Yeah, that's me. Jon motions for him to come in. Jon Come on in, man. John comes inside, closing the umbrella. Jon I'm Jon Hamman, you spoke with me on the phone. The rest of the group has gathered around Jon and John. Jon looks back. He points to Cody. Jon This is the vice president of JDawg Films, Cody Farley. John shakes Cody's hand. They continue through the introducing, and proceed with an interview. CUT TO: TABLE Jon is talking, while John quickly writes down a few of the notes. Jon So, we pretty much started off making Blair Witch style movies, but that got old fast. I met Cody at the local Blockbuster video putting up ads for Actors, I told him I made movies, we started talking. We're pretty much best friends now, and I introduced him to all my actors and we made our first big movie, Slasher. John And Slasher is available on video? Jon Yeah, every Blockbuster in this county has it. John Alright, I've got everything about the new movies, It looks like I have everything I need. The photographer will be here soon. Jon Alright. John gets up. John It was great talking with you guys, the article should be in the paper soon. The rest of the group gets up from the table. CUT TO: DOOR John is about to go out. John Could I talk to you outside for just a second, Jon? Jon looks a little bit shocked, not sure what to think. Jon Yeah, sure. They walk outside, John gets his umbrella out. CUT TO: OUTSIDE They walk over to the side of the warehouse, the rain still pouring down. John pulls out a pack of Marlboro reds. John Want one? Jon Yeah. John hands Jon a cigarette. John pulls out his lighter, lighting Jon's cigarette. Jon takes a drag. He then lights his own cigarette. Jon So what do you need? John takes a big hit. John Have you ever had a weird feelings? Seen the future? Jon looks at him. Jon Sometimes, I think I see the future. John Beware 322. Jon looks at him, shocked, in dismay. Jon What does it mean? John I....I don't know... Jon How did you know? John I always do.... John smiles at him, and walks off into the rain. Jon walks out from the side of the building, the rain beating down on him, he watches Mr Hodges as he goes. CUT TO: INSIDE Jon enters. The group is still standing pretty much in the same spot, talking to each other. Cody What was that all about? Jon Nothing...Let's just get the scene set up so the photographer can take his pictures. Cody Alright..... CUT TO: HOUSE- NIGHT Jon walks out of the bathroom, wearing a T-shirt and some shorts. All the lights are off except for one in another room, Jon enters it, it's his bedroom. He walks over to the bed and lays down. He lays there for awhile, closing his eyes, he opens them again. He cuts off his light and we settle into the darkness. CUT TO: QUICK CUT- JON AND CODY SITTING ON A SOFA WATCHING TV. Jon glances at Cody. Jon I..had a terrible nightmare...Noah and David were in an car accident and died. I kept seeing the numbers 322. Cody You and your imagination. CUT TO: CRASH SITE Jon is looking at the crashed car, police lights reflect into the camera. Cody walks into the frame with Jon, they both look shocked. Jon looks at Cody, shaking his head. Jon walks up to the car. A few police officers see this and walk over to him. A small slip of paper is laying by the car, Jon picks it up. CUT TO: JON'S POV It's a receipt. We see the total is $3.22. Jon puts it in his pocket. CUT TO: BEDROOM- DARKNESS The light comes on, Jon darts up in the bed, swearing. Jon Jesus.... He gets out of the bed, walking over to his filing cabinet, which is by his computer. He opens up the top drawer on the filing cabinet and pulls out a folder. He opens up the folder. A small slip of paper walls out and Jon picks it up. It's the receipt. Jon puts it on the desk. He think for a second and goes back over to the bed. We look at the clock by his bed, it's 3:22 A.M. Jon sees this, a grim statement covers his face. We zoom in on one of the 2's in 322, then pull back to see it's now 2:00 P.M. Jon is still asleep on the bed. We look over to the computer, where Cody is at the JDawg Films movie site, updating it. We watch Cody for a second. Cody is startled by- Jon (V.O.) How did you get in here? Cody turns around. Cody About time you got up. BEAT I know where the spare key is. Jon puts his hand on his face. He takes it off and moves his neck around. Jon I had more 322 dreams. Cody Really? So what is it this time? Jon They were just like flashback dreams of when we discovered the wreck. Cody picks up the slip of paper. Cody When you took this? Jon shakes his head, for a Yes. Jon John Hodges knew I could predict the future. Cody Creepy. BEAT Do you not get the paper? I've been checking and no luck. Jon Nope, never subscribed. I doubt they put us in there today. Cody We should go pick one up anyway, don't wanna miss it. Jon nods. CUT TO: INSIDE CAR The car is pulling up to a gas station. Cody gets out and goes over to the paper machine. He gets the paper and comes back. Once inside the car Cody starts flipping through the newspaper, he stops. Cody Oh god. We see the head line is simply "322 Spells State Champions" in giant letters. He shows it to Jon. Jon Coach Watson Jones wins his 322nd career win as Lincoln High School wins the 4A State Championship. CUT TO: JON'S HOUSE Jon and Cody enter. Cody It just doesn't make any sense, what does High School basketball have to do with anything that could possibly happen to any of us? Jon shakes his head. Jon It doesn't always relate to what's going to happen. When I saw it with David and Noah it was in an ad for J.C. PENNY'S merchandise. Cody So what's so special about 322 anyway? Jon That's what I'm trying to figure out. CUT TO: KITCHEN TABLE Jon is looking over his birth certificate, he also has a folder with a lot of other baby stuff in it. Cody sits by him. Cody I can't find us anywhere in today's paper. Jon isn't paying attention. Jon I never knew this..It says here I was born at 3:22 A.M. That's got to be the reason this number keeps appearing. Cody You've got a gift. Jon I just can't put it all together. Cody You'll figure it all out. Jon Yeah, I just hope it's not too late. The phone starts to ring. Jon quickly gets up and goes over to the wall where it is located, he picks it up. Jon Hello? BEAT Oh shit...I'll be there as soon as I can. Jon hangs up. Jon The warehouse is on fire! Cody puts down the paper, getting up from the table. CUT TO: INSIDE CAR Jon drives the car down the street quickly, finally making his stop at the warehouse, it's consumed in flames. CUT TO: BY THE WAREHOUSE It's gone now, nothing left but ashes. Jon, Cody, Jennifer, Gaddis, and Andrew stand in front of it, looking it over. Jon is on his knees, looking at the place in tears. CUT TO: FLASH BACK Jon and DAVID DOWNING looking over the warehouse, it's empty, nothing in it. Little did Jon know at the time, but only three months later he would have this place turned into the headquarters of his movie company. And David wouldn't be with him. Now the whole thing is gone, memories can be burnt too. CUT TO: BY THE WAREHOUSE- THE GROUP STILL IN THE SAME SPOT Jon gets up, walking over to his car, it's an old Nissan. Cody joins him. Jon looks up at Cody. Jon So many memories, gone..just like that. 322 strikes again. Cody That fire can't take away the memories. It can't take away the memories of me, you, David, Noah, and the others turning that place into a great office... Jon In time, even memories fade. Jon gets in the car. Cody does too. CUT TO: CU OF NEWSPAPER STAND IMPOSE: THE NEXT DAY On the FRONT PAGE is a picture of Jon, directing a scene with Gaddis and Andrew, in the back Cody is holding the camera, with Jennifer watching. The last picture of the warehouse. CUT TO: JON'S HOUSE Jon sits at the kitchen table reading the paper, looking at himself on the front page. Jon We will move on... BEAT We will rebuild. BEAT 322 is just a number. We slip into the darkness. Jon (V.O.) 322.....is....just....a fucking number... THE END Writer Notes- While Episode 1 doesn't take charge and have someone's life put in danger, it does set the tone for the following Episodes, Episode 1 is nothing more than an introduction to the lives of Jon Hamman, Cody Farley, Andrew Cross, Gaddis Jones, and Jennifer Southern. I hope you will continue to read the series, if you even read this. Jon Burleson