If the high school graduates voted “Least Popular Girl” and “Least Likely to Succeed Boy” don’t complete an ill-fated, less-than-epic road trip across Colorado, they may be defined forever by what others think of them. [Also written as a micro-budget one-hour TV Pilot]

SYNOPSIS:

MAXINE (MAX) RAMIREZ (17) is a pathologically shy, slovenly dressed Latina from a small town on the eastern Colorado plains. Informally, she was voted the least popular girl in her high school graduation class. BRANDON LANGLEY (18) is equally shabby, with long, ratty hair. Informally, he was voted least likely to succeed. Brandon decides to change his destiny by undertaking an epic journey across the state, his universe, along Innerstate 70. He doesn’t realize that it’s an Interstate highway. He posts an ad on Craigslist for a traveling companion, and is surprised that only Max answers.

Brandon has visions of a TV show his grandfather told him about, Route 66, in which two confident, competent men drive across the U.S. in a new ’61 Corvette, working odd jobs along the way. Brandon buys an ugly ’84 Chrysler LeBaron convertible with severe mechanical problems. Max has the $100, sleeping bag, and GoPro camera needed to document every part of their ill-fated trip. They have car problems from the start, and stop an hour away at the Sand Creek Massacre Site to let the car cool down. This isn’t going to be anything like Route 66.

They meet IRVING WILD HORSE (35), a Native American who goes berserk on their tour of the massacre site, but the two travelers learn plenty. Max and Brandon meet a few more oddball characters on their trip. There’s T. EDWARD DOWD (65), an old farmer near Burlington, who believes the Earth is flat. There’s NORM SANDERS (40), an ex-con hitchhiker, who pulls a pistol on them just to fulfill the stereotype. And, there’s ESTER (40), a junkyard owner near Denver, who needs help. They survive the oddballs, and Max learns to drive in Denver traffic despite a near panic attack, before they both see the mountains of Colorado for the first time. Slowly, the travelers gravitate to each other in comical ways. However, their trip is cut short when Max learns her immigrant parents might get deported.

Back in their hometown, the teens work through personal issues and financial woes to retrace and finish their epic journey, again documenting it with video. Unbeknownst to Max, Brandon has been uploading all the videos, making them YouTube sensations. When Max learns she’s “gone viral,” she slugs Brandon in the jaw. However, their friendship becomes stronger, and the relationship flourishes for the completion of the epic adventure of a lifetime. They prove to themselves and their massive YouTube audience that they won’t be defined by what others think of them, but rather, how they view themselves. They return to their small town, different people, and a couple in love.

INNERSTATE 70