treatment sheets (resub)

TREATMENT SHEET (RAW) (RESUB)

'Thicker than Water' Treatment

Working Title: Thicker Than Water
Genre: Gangster Drama / Crime Drama
Duration: 6 Episode
Running Time: 1 Hour (Inc. Ads)
Target Audience: 16-40 Males
Main Characters:

• Vladimir (Son)
• Maxim (Father)
• Tulyana (Mother)
• Aleksander Kulyut (The Boss)

Location: Kamenka, Russia

Full Plot Synopsis:

Family of 3 live in a poverty-ridden village in a remote part of Russia. The Mother (Tulyana) falls ill with a form of muscular dystrophy which renders her completely disabled. With the family on an incredibly low income, Maxim must seek employment elsewhere, due to his special forces background he is then offered the opportunity to join the local Mafia syndicate as a low ranking foot soldier taking part in small time jobs, during one of these jobs he is betrayed and subsequently killed. With no-one able to fund Tulyana's treatment it falls to Vladimir to enter the Mafia syndicate to pay for the treatment she needs. He eventually uncovers the truth about his Fathers death and slowly works his way through the ranks of the syndicate and exacts revenge on the man who betrayed his father, however this has repercussions as the Mafia punish Vladimir for this action by killing Tulyana, this fuels Vladimir's anger and vows to end those responsible for his parents' deaths.

Character Breakdown of main Characters:

Name: Vladimir
Description: Son of Maxim & Tulyana
Narrative Arc: Aged at 16 at the beginning, he is slowly dragged into the world of the Mafia following his Fathers death to try and fund his Mothers treatment. Upon discovering the truth about his Fathers death, he embarks on a journey of revenge against the Mafia syndicate.

Name: Maxim
Description: Father of Vladimir & Husband to Tulyana, Ex-Special Forces
Narrative Arc: Maxim is ex-special forces, he uses these skills as a foot soldier in the local mafia syndicate to finance treatment for Tulyana. He is betrayed by a man he was on a job with and is killed on the job.

Name: Tulyana
Description: Tulyana develops Muscular Dystrophy which renders her disabled. She relies on Maxim and Vladimir to pay for her steroid treatment. She is caught in the crossfire when Vladimir exacts revenge on the man who killed Maxim, she is killed by the syndicate as punishment to Vladimir.


**UPDATE**

Maxim will now be killed by the Don at the very start of the show as the Don believes that Maxim has stolen from him when it was in fact someone he was on a job with.

Script Examples

Similar Scripts

The Godfather (.pdf)

http://www.public.asu.edu/~srbeatty/394/Godfather.pdf  

 

Scarface (.pdf)

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Scarface.pdf

 

 

Good fellas (.pdf)

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Goodfellas.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disease Research (Mother's Disease)

 

Muscular Dystrophy

 

'Types of muscular dystrophy

There are many different types of MD, each with somewhat different symptoms. Not all types of MD cause severe disability and many do not affect life expectancy.

Some of the more common types of MD include:

• Duchenne muscular dystrophy – one of the most common and severe forms, it usually affects boys in early childhood; men with the condition will usually only live into their 20s or 30s
• myotonic dystrophy – a type of MD that can develop at any age; life expectancy is not always affected, but people with a severe form of it may have shortened lives
• facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy – a type of MD that can develop in childhood or adulthood, it progresses slowly and is not usually life threatening
• Becker muscular dystrophy – closely related to Duchenne MD, but it develops later in childhood and is less severe; life expectancy is not usually affected so much
• limb-girdle muscular dystrophy – a group of conditions that usually develop in late childhood or early adulthood; some variants can progress quickly and be life threatening, whereas others only develop slowly
• oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy – a type of MD that usually doesn't develop until a person is 50-60 years old and doesn't tend to affect life expectancy
• Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy – a type of MD that develops in childhood or early adulthood; most people with this condition will live until at least middle age'

NHS.UK  MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY  SYMPTOMS
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Muscular-dystrophy/Pages/Introduction.aspx

'Treating muscular dystrophy

Although there is no cure for MD, a range of treatments can help with the physical disabilities and problems that may develop. These can include:

• mobility assistance, including exercise, physiotherapy and physical aids
• support groups to help deal with the practical and emotional impact of MD
• surgery to correct postural deformities such as scoliosis 
• medication such as steroids to improve muscle strength, or ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers to treat heart problems

New research is looking into ways of repairing the genetic mutations and damaged muscles associated with the condition. There are currently promising clinical trials for Duchenne MD. Search for clinical trials for muscular dystrophy.'

NHS.UK  MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY  TREATMENT
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Muscular-dystrophy/Pages/Introduction.aspx

 

Visual Elements

In this page I will attempt to gain some visual idea of what the characters / locations may look like so I can attempt to incorporate character appearance to develop realism.



Grunt / Muscle / Foot soldier


The following images depict how I wish to portray the 'muscle' in my screenplay, from the images they seem  to give off a rather hostile impression, dressed in black there is an air of mystery around them, but they seem to appear to be the 'strong and silent' type of people

Boss / Don

The Boss in Thicker Than Water will be written in the similar style Don Corleone was written in The Godfather; The character will be driven by respect and loyalty, but above all will be feared, even by those within his organisation. He will be clever and manipulative. This characters appearance is very formal and smart, the typical expensive black 4 piece suit, expensive watch and an overall look of class to him.





Poverty in modern day Russia

I will aim to use the following pictures as my setting for the conditions the family live in, as you can see the conditions are incredibly poor, miles away from any form of established society. Lack of employment opportunities in the area will lead the family to look to the mafia for money to pay for the mothers treatment.





News Stories / Russian Mafia Study

In this following post I will reference a number of sources that relate to the Russian Mafia organisations allowing me to find context and get a better idea of the nature of crime.

'Many Russian organized crime groups in the United States have ties to organized crime groups in Russia. A report on organized crime presented to President Boris Yeltsin by Russia's Analytical Center for Social and Economic Policies, stated "The growth of organized crime threatens the political and economic development of Russia and creates conditions that could help bring the national socialists to power."

 

An estimated 80 percent of the private enterprises and commercial banks in Russia's major cities are forced to pay a tribute of 10 to 20 percent of their profits to organized crime.

 

On April 21, 1994, during a Senate hearing, CIA Director R. James Woolsey said, "Organized crime is so rampant in Russia that it threatens Boris Yeltsin's presidency and raises concern that syndicates will obtain and smuggle Russian nuclear weapons to terrorists or foreign agents."'

Gangland.net

 

From this study into the Russian Mafia's activities in Russia it becomes apparent just how dominant the clans are, they appear to corrupt and influence every sector in the Russian economy, it is an eye opener to how dangerous and well connected the clans are. This will influence the way I will depict the Mafia clan in my screenplay as they are a clever, well organised syndicate.

 

 

'The downfall of communism left an economic, moral and social vacuum which the mafia has been only too happy to fill.

Hundreds of ex-KGB men and veterans of the Afghan war veterans offered their skills to the crime bosses. The mafia also provided money and jobs to young men in Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev who were struggling to cope following the collapse of the communist safety net.'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/russian_mafia/70095.stm


CURRENCY:

RUSSIAN RUBLES

54 RUBLES TO £1

This article is relevant to my concept as it shows the idea of the mafia offering jobs and money to people struggling with the tough economy, and somewhat justifies the decision to get involved with the mafia as it is essentially 'easy' money, despite being illegitimate, it is tough times to live in. The idea of the ex-servicemen offering services to the clan is an interesting idea I will follow, perhaps developing the Father to have those characteristics and backstory.

 

Script Concept

My concept can be defined as a typical Faustian plot, however I aim to focus more on the reasons why the ‘deal with the devil’ had to happen; exploring family bonds and how far someone would go to save a loved ones life. My idea is yet to be given a title but as the plot will involve a family member tragically being killed  the idea of calling it ‘Thicker than water’ came to fruition, with the idea being that the blood represents blood that will be spilled. The concept I have developed so far is inspired by the mystery and fear that surrounds the Russian Mafia, seeing an opportunity to show the audience some of the realistic brutalities some people are actually put through by these mass organised crime syndicates. 

INITIAL IDEA

Basing the script in modern-day Russia (Exact location yet to be confirmed) the story will by about a family of 3 (Mother, Father & Son), the living conditions they live in are extremely poor, the mother has an illness (illness yet to be defined) that disables her; making her unable to look after herself or her family, she is totally reliant upon her husband to pay for on going treatment, the only way he could possibly afford to take care of her is by working for the mafia and partaking in the more risky jobs set up by the mafia; through doing this he is tragically killed with the blame lying somewhere within the mafia. Now with his father dead and his mother deteriorating, the son (now older) must take responsibility in looking after his mother, and with no jobs available that will pay sufficiently he is forced into the business his Father got involved in and doing so will uncover the truth about his death. The Son will work his way up through the ranks and make more and more of a name for himself, but with the truth of his Fathers death still weighing heavy on his mind he must choose between possible riches or exacting revenge on those who ripped his family apart, with his mother being caught in the crossfire if he were to do so.