Six by Nine
WGAw Reg. No. 999291
Copyright 2004
Log Line: Wrongly imprisoned for 12 years and exonerated on DNA evidence, a legendary small-town criminal attempts to reestablish his life outside a 6×9 prison cell.
Synopsis
John Knight returns to his idyllic hometown of Eastport, Maine, after 12 years of wrongful imprisonment. But his exoneration on DNA evidence does little to overshadow the ghost stories that circulate in this small town about the Old Johnnie Knight—a former criminal and possible murderer with whom many now-deceased were last seen. John’s prison experiences have left him a changed man, however, and he’s determined to live his narrative of redemption as an upstanding citizen. We catch glimpses of the horrors of prison life through The Innocence Project, an organization committed to freeing and supporting those wrongfully imprisoned.
Steven Raeden—an arrogant, well-known photo-journalist whose career is on the wane—takes an interest in The Innocence Project, and John’s story in particular. Raeden is to shoot an exclusive for The New York Times Magazine on the haunting shells of life remaining for these innocent men. He follows John to Eastport after his release and adds friction to John’s already difficult reentry to society.
Though John has success in finding a part-time job and a potential love interest, nay-sayers heavily outweigh his supporters. Rumors of John’s former life of crime and “last-seen” stories envelop the town. Raeden begins to glean that this may well be his ticket back to the top: here’s a man with something to hide—innocent of one crime perhaps, but guilty in the truest sense of the word.
As John’s relationship with Raeden becomes increasingly hostile, things begin to unravel. One unfortunate coincidence after another calls John’s innocence into question and he faces serious charges once again. Has John wandered off the straight-and-narrow path—unable to live life outside a 6×9 prison cell—or has society crucified him, itself unable to think outside its own 6×9 mentality?
Lamina
WGAe Reg. No. I03925-00
Copyright 2002
Log Line: Max is a superstitious photo-artist who suffers from suicidal nightmares and two volatile relationships: one with her boyfriend Jesus, the other with her shrink. After Max meets Ronnie, a hedonistic ne’er-do-well, she ends those relationships, but her nightmares intensify. What is it that’s so eerily familiar about Ronnie, that makes Max relive a tragedy and the sins of her past?
Synopsis
Max is a photo-artist in her late twenties who suffers from recurring nightmares that shed light into a traumatic past. Max’s aesthetic interests lie in the photography of an earlier world, wherein people had photos taken of themselves with their deceased loved ones—as keepsakes, mementos, something to have and to hold. Max and her lover Jesus are well past the honeymoon phase of their relationship—so far, in fact, that we soon learn Jesus’ sexual predilections are not limited to women. Max is counseled by Anastasia, a Hungarian café owner and reader of tea leaves, as well as her psychotherapist, with whom Max is also well past the honeymoon phase.
Through her budding friendship with Ginger, a hooker she meets on the subway, Max begins to delve into an exotic and unfamiliar world in which she meets Ronnie—a ne’er-do-well who seems to know all of Max’s little secrets: her pet peeves, her psychological turmoil, the things that turn her on. Ronnie’s sexual interests lie beyond the male-female realm as well, and we soon learn that he’s a bit of a snoop—into what exactly, we’re not quite sure. As Max’s world begins to change and her nightmares increase, she terminates the ten-year relationship with her psychotherapist and gets together with Ronnie, who, unbeknownst to Max, has connections with significant people in her life, both dead and alive….
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