Ella has just got her first big break as a television newscaster, and is dating, Ben, the man of her dreams. But Ella's past relationship with her father keeps her from committing to any man on a long-term basis. When Ben wants to make Ella his wife, Ella runs from the relationship, leaving Ben wondering what he did wrong, while pouring herself into her work. Will Ella take a chance on love or will she lose Ben forever?

SYNOPSIS:

Title: Miss Independent (Treatment)

Author: Stacy L. Thowe

Contact Information: stacythowe@yahoo.com, website: stacythowe.com, 785-845-4168

WGA#: 1452304

Copyright © 2013 Stacy Thowe. All Rights Reserved.

Genre: Full Length Film, Romantic Comedy

Setting: Modern Day. Large City, Television News Studio, Apartment, Park, Law Firm, and Ball Room

Target Audience: Families or families with children 14 and over, teens and young adults, adults

Predicted Rating:PG, PG-13

Premise:

Ella is a career minded, single, woman who has just got her first break as a news anchor and is about to lose the love of her life because she has commitment issues due to her family’s past.

Commercially:

This romantic comedy will appeal to all ages. It will be on the low end to produce depending on the casting, but will appeal to families, adults and young adults because of the rating. It will feature songs that are current and recognizable to the public such as, “Miss Independent,” by Kelly Clarkson, “One Step at a Time” by Jordan Sparks, “Miss Independent,” by Ne-Yo, and “I Turn to You,” by Whitney Houston and all songs tie into the theme of the film and bring in a young audience. Revenue can also be expected from the release of a soundtrack to the film. The film will deal with the time old issue of marriage and how it is slowly being disregarded because of the fear of failure. The story will show the fear of commitment from a woman’s prospective. It will be associated with films such as, 13 Going On 30, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, Sweetheart Alabama, Two Weeks Notice and Just Like Heaven to name just a few. Ella, my main character, I based on the actress, Emma Stone, and Ben, her love interest, I based on the actor, Chris Pine. I have Hector Elizondo playing the station manager.

Miss Independent

In the opening scene, Ella James wakes to the song, Walking On Sunshine, byKatrina and the Waves. Ella has just got her first big break as a news anchor for Channel nine. She also has been dating Ben since college and they are best friends. Ben is a lawyer and is establishing himself at a law firm. Ben and Ella are very much in love and seem perfect for each other except for one thing. Ben wants to get married. The song, Miss Independent, by Kelly Clarkson plays while Ella is driving to her first day of work.

Lauren, one of the producers at the news station, is giving Ella her big chance. Ella has to start at the bottom, pretty much filing and making coffee and anything else no one else wants to do. Ella is more than willing to pay her dues, confident that she will one day be a world famous anchor woman. Lauren is a demanding, no nonsense boss and lets Ella know exactly what she expects from her from the start. Lauren is based on the actress Holland Taylor to give insight into the character. Ella experiences a sequence of embarrassing, comic episodes while trying to learn the business. In one episode she is wheeling a cart onto an elevator and the door gets stuck, opening and closing onto the cart. Chad one of the co-anchors walks and hits the elevator door button to open the doors. Ella embarrassed, smiles and continues her duties. During these comic scenes, One Step at a Time, by Jordan Sparks is playing.

Ben picks up Ella from work to celebrate her first day.Ben is a hopeless romantic and goes out of his way to let Ella know just how much she means to him. Ben takes Ella on a picnic in the park and gets into a conversation with her about their future. Ella tries to avoid talking about making permanent plans between the two of them. Ben is more old fashioned and would like to know exactly where their relationship is going. He loves Ella very much and wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

The next day Ella meets the news crew and is introduced to Chad Montgomery who instantly takes an interest in Ella. But Chad tends to take an interest in almost every woman he meets. Chad is very charismatic and makes viable excuses about his womanizing. Ella finds him very good looking, but not her type.

After a few grueling weeks at the television station, Ben asks Ella to his apartment for a romantic dinner. Ella comes over excited about their evening, unaware that Ben plans to ask her to marry him. When Ben pops the question, Ella’s reaction is not exactly positive. She states her disbelief in marriage, because of her own parent’s divorce and her father abandoning the family.Ella doesn’t understand why Ben feels the need for her to commit to him more than she is already doing. She believes marriage to be just a lie. Ben feels rejected and grows angry. Ella ends up leaving the apartment in tears and Ben throws her engagement ring across the room.

Ella returns to work after the incident and will not take any calls from Ben. Ben, distraught, keeps trying to get her to speak to him, but has to eventually come to the conclusion that Ella does not want to be a part of his life anymore. Ella throws herself into her job. She fights her feelings for Ben and accepts a dinner invitation from Chad. Chad convinces her it will be nothing more than just two co-workers getting together for dinner.

Ella’s longtime roommate and friend Angela adds a comic device in several episodes, in that she is the opposite of Ella and has no real ambitions and has a kind of carefree attitude and tends to take life one day at a time. She immediately sees Chad for what he is and tries to warn Ella and doesn’t quite understand Ella’s need to leave Ben. Although she doesn’t really believe in commitment herself, Angela envied Ella and Ben’s relationship. Angela jokes with Ella about her upcoming date with Chad, telling Ella, “That loser you work with called.” Chad then shows up for the date with flowers and Ella questions him on the just co-workers comment. Chad responds with, “I always bring flowers to my co-workers, just ask Martin,” as Ella laughs. Chad takes Ella to a romantic Italian Restaurant and is trying to convince Ella what a great match they are and how much they have in common. Ella is not thrilled about the comparison. Chad explains to Ella that they both put their careers first and are not looking for a permanent relationship because it interferes with their careers. Ella’s attention is drawn to an elderly couple on the dance floor. Chad does not see the attraction of an elderly couple because he thinks that type of love is frankly, gross. Ella meets the elderly woman in the restroom and they have a conversation on how the elderly couple met and how long they have been together. Ella’s disbelief in marriage is questioned as she sees the love in this elderly woman’s eyes for a man she has spent an eternity with.

Ella’s hard work is slowly paying off as she learns to do almost everything behind the camera. The work scenes will be run while playing, Miss Independent, By Ne-Yo. Ella is looking forward to her first upcoming exclusive. Ella starts enjoying the single life for the most part and tries to put Ben behind her. She is at a Latin dance club with Angela and decides to leave. The song, Conga, by Gloria Estefan is playing at the dance hall. Ella heads out of the dance club to a busy street. Unbeknownst to her, Ben is just coming out of a restaurant across the street with some friends from work. Ella spots him and an attractive blonde woman on Ben’s arm. Ben spots Ella and tells his friends he will be right back as he dashes across the street being honked at by cars and almost getting hit. He yells for Ella to stop as she reluctantly turns around.

Ben begs Ella to tell him why she is running away from him. He tells her he can have a life without her, but he knows it is supposed to be with her and asks why she is pushing him away. Ella says she doesn’t quite understand it herself so how can she explain it to him. Ben fed up announces that this was the first time his friends could get him to go out with them and here she is in a dance club trying to put her faith in men who will never love her the way that he does. He tells her that if that is what she wants then she can have it. If she wants a succession of meaningless relationships, men who will never care about her the way that he does and that do not put any pressure on her than that was fine. He will move on with his life.

Ella rushes home after the episode. Throughout the movie Ella is unable to take Ben’s picture out of her wallet. Angela, her roommate, first brings this up when Ben and Ella first break up. Ella now tries to remove the picture, but puts it right back in throwing her wallet across the room. Ella then gets a message from her mother on her answering machine to call her.

Ella shows up at her mother’s home the next morning. Her mother is working in the garden. Ella’s mother unaware of Ben and Ella’s breakup asks about Ella’s new job and how Ben is doing. Ella tells her mother how wonderful her career is going and then must break the news to her that she has decided to break it off with Ben. Ella’s mother knows immediately why Ella is running from Ben. Ella was very close to her father before he left them. Ella’s mother tries to convince Ella that she shouldn’t be running from life and love because of what her father did. Ella refuses to listen to her mother and leaves abruptly.

Ella’s first interview is with the head of the homeless shelter Albert Donaldson. Albert Donaldson is a humble man who helps the city by running a homeless shelter. Each year a grand ball is held to raise funds for the shelter. Ben catches Ella’s interview on television and decides to ask Tiffany, the blonde woman who is interested in him, to go along with him to the ball. Ben realizes Tiffany has feelings for him and suggests that maybe it is a bad idea, but Tiffany, a confident lawyer, tells him she can take care of herself and agrees to go, hoping to win Ben over. Chad in the meantime talks Ella into attending the ball with him. Ella, Chad, Angela and Angela’s date are all at the ball when Ben walks in with Tiffany on his arm. Ella sees Ben with Tiffany and is immediately jealous. Ben and Tiffany immediately approach Ella and Chad making introductions and then Ben and Tiffany head out to the large dance floor. There is a twenties theme and a big band dressed entirely in white which stands off to the side. Ella watches Ben and Tiffany all night with Ben returning the glances toward Ella.

Ella goes out to the terrace for some fresh air and is met out there by Ben. Ben tells Ella how beautiful she looks and the audience gets the sense of the love that they still share. Ben tells Ella he has decided to move to London for work and will be there for about two years. He leaves in morning to check out the office. Ella shocked fights her feelings toward him and doesn’t tell him how she really feels. Ben wishes Ella the best and kisses her on the forehead and tells her goodbye and returns to Tiffany. Ella still on the terrace is approached by someone behind her.She turns thinking it is Ben. She is disappointed to see it is Mr. Donaldson, who asks her why she is crying. She tells Mr. Donaldson of her love for Ben and how she messed things up with him. She says there is no way he will forgive her. Mr. Donaldson, tells her to go to him and tell him how she feels and let him decide. Chad then reenters the scene and sees Ella upset. Ella asks him to take her home and he agrees.

Chad goes to get their wraps. After a few moments Ella goes to check and see what is taking Chad so long. Ella walks in to find Chad making out with Diane, a co-worker of theirs, who is jealous of Ella and wants to date Chad. Ella then flees the ballroom up the large stairs as Chad tries to apologize.

There is a long sequence here where the song, I Turn to You, by Whitney Houston plays as Ella makes her way back home. She again looks at her picture she keeps of Ben in her wallet and leaves her home in her evening gown to try and stop Ben from leaving. She is in such a rush that she doesn’t look at her speedometer and is pulled over by a police officer who makes her do a sobriety test in her ball gown, all the while she is telling him what an idiot she is and how she let the love of her life go. The officer annoyed lets her go, but says he doesn’t want to see her out again. Ella rushes to Ben’s apartment, but he has already left for the airport. Ella then rushes back to her car. She is then again pulled over by the same officer who comments, “I think what we have here is a failure to communicate.” Ella, upset and in tears, tells the officer to arrest her because she doesn’t deserve to be free. She tells him to lock her up, because of what she did to Ben. The officer, feeling sorry for her, allows Ella to follow him to the airport.

Ella gets out of her car and accidently catches her dress in the door and rips it. She then takes off her shoes so that she can run faster. She enters the airport running past the gates trying to find Ben. She reaches his gate and they are boarding, but he is not there. She looks around for him, but doesn’t spot him. She is discouraged until she hears a voice behind her calling her name. She turns and it is Ben. By this time Ella is quite the sight. She has mascara running down her cheeks and her hair is falling, her dress is ripped and she is barefoot. Ben stands there for a moment taking it all in and asking her what she is doing there. She explains she had to see him face to face before he left. She explains she had to tell him that she was an idiot and that she still loves him. He tries to be angry at first feeling that she has rejected him all this time and why should he take her back now. She says she understands, but had to tell him how she felt before he left. He then takes her into his arms telling her he still loves her ever though he tried not to.He asks her to never do that to him again because he couldn’t survive if she left him again.

A few months later they are getting married and the limousine is being led by the officer who pulled her over. There is a big party where Lauren and Angela fight over the bouquet. And the song, Kiss You, by One Direction is playing and everyone is dancing and celebrating.