{Ross absorbs this.}
KAGEN (cont’d): Remember this guy has been called the “venture capitalist” of terrorism. He’s got an extensive network and has been working out his strategies for a long time. He would have prepared for the contingency of capture.
ROSS: This is pretty, you know, out there, Walsh.
KAGEN: Jesus, Alan, the goddamn Producers is a fuckin’ comedy about Hitler.
ROSS: We’ve had decades of distance, Walsh.
KAGEN: That won’t bring back the millions who died in the camps or on the battlefields.
ROSS: So your point is?
KAGEN (enthused): It’s a great story, it’s got action and suspense, and a certifiable bad guy. See, the subtext is about how this isn’t about Islam versus the world, because of course these terrorists subvert any religion they purport to advance. This is about how an extremist of any stripe is dangerous. Because they feel they can do anything in the name of God.
{Ross puts the pen down, leans forward on his elbows.}
ROSS: Mid-East politics is a very touchy subject, Walsh. The Siege and Rules of Engagement didn’t exactly burn up the box office or make Arab-Americans all that slap happy either. We want heat, but not that kind of heat.
KAGEN: In this version of Bring Me the Head, the hunt for this bastard takes us to Paris, London, and out West.
{Ross taps his desk with his finger.}
ROSS: Here, too?
KAGEN: Yes, of course, this is where the third act will take place. And I see the lead as this semi-burned-out character who at first is hunting bin Laden for the money, the reward, you know. Then in the course of events, his arc is that his patriotism is reawakened. Not the stick-a-flag-on-my-car then put it away halfway into football season, kind, but real, tangible. (beat) Some of what was felt when we didi maued out of ’Nam. Even though by then, the grunts were disillusioned with our government and its policies
{Ross says nothing as Walsh shakes a faraway look from his face.}
KAGEN (cont’d): So here, try this. Our hero is a somewhat cynical, slightly burned-out veteran of Beirut or the Gulf War. This guy came home after doing his duty, wounded, you know, the whole bit. He’s drifted from job to job, but now there’s this opportunity within his grasp.
ROSS: Which is?
KAGEN: The twenty-five million dollar reward for bin Laden is reactivated when the rumors are confirmed that he isn’t dead. Like Stalin and Saddam, I’m going to posit in the picture that bin Laden uses doubles to fool his enemies. One of them is killed and at first everyone thinks the sonabitch is dead.
{Ross scratches the side of his cheek.}
ROSS: But we find out different. How can the hero, ah, what’s his name?
KAGEN: Flagg.
ROSS (nodding head): That’s good. Who are you thinking about for the lead?
KAGEN: Not sure, maybe Cage, or even Snipes, who needs a hit.
ROSS: Yeah, yeah, I can see that.
KAGEN: Like I said, Flagg has been going from job to job, more bitter each time, more withdrawn. He comes to a town in rural Illinois. A friend from the service has sent him a letter, offering some kind of a vague opportunity.
ROSS: But this friend has been tied into some shady stuff, right? Cut-out kind of work for our intelligence agencies.
KAGEN: Exactly. He’s a kind of NRA/soldier of fortune borderline nutzo.
ROSS: Bruce Willis? You know, he’ll work for scale if he likes the project.
KAGEN: I had in mind someone like Ben Affleck, or maybe make him Latino or even an Arab-American. Get Tony Shaloub or that tall good-looking guy from UnderCover, what’s his name? He was in the Mummy movies. This would show we’re not out to beat up the Arab community. Anyway, the friend has these on-the-ground contacts and now has a line on where to get bin Laden.
{Ross holds up a hand.}
ROSS: Look, I get it, all right? I know you can do this, but I need to talk this over with… (makes vague hand gesture) the others.
(smiles)
KAGEN (rueful smile): How well I know.
{Ross rises, signaling an end to the meeting. Kagen gets up, too.}
ROSS: We’ll noodle on it and I’ll get back to you. I like it, enough to maybe talk about it further. But as you’re well aware, it’s going to be tough to do in this market.
KAGEN: Think on it, Alan. Without going out of our way this could be entertaining, but a subtle take on the meanings or rather, the dimensions of patriotism.
{Ross shakes Kagen’s hand.}
ROSS: I will. I’ll be in touch.
{Kagen exits, a noticeable limp to his gait. Ross sits back down and starts fooling with his Mont Blanc again. He then buzzes his assistant, JOSIE.}
ROSS (into phone intercom): Get me Eddie, will you, Josie?
JOSIE (over intercom): No problem.
{Ross leafs through that morning’s Hollywood Journal, the industry newspaper. He begins to read an article that catches his interest when Josie buzzes him again. Ross presses the intercom button.}
JOSIE (over intercom): I have Eddie for you, Alan.
ROSS: Thanks. (he picks up the handset) Eddie? I just had a meeting with Walsh Kagen. (He listens) Yeah, yeah I know he hasn’t made anything in a while, but he’s got this crazy idea that, well, may be something.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. BILTMORE HOTEL, DOWNTOWN L.A.,
ESTABLISHING-NIGHT
ON SCREEN
{Three nights later.}
{Various limousines and trendy cars pull up to the valet parking at the swank hotel in L.A.’s downtown and disgorge smartly dressed men and women.}
INT. BILTMORE HOTEL, CRYSTAL BALLROOM
CU-SIGN
{Announcing the ninth annual Frontlines of Justice Dinner sponsored by the Legal Aid Council of Greater Los Angeles.}
{W IDEN to reveal many well-dressed guests milling about drinking and talking in the large foyer of the ballroom, the curtain still drawn as the space is readied.}
ROSS
{-sips his drink and spots IVAN MONK, whom he has met before.}
MONK
{-is black, six-two, built like an aging linebacker, but solid, despite the fact that he’s a private investigator who owns a donut shop. He’s casual in a dark Bironi sport coat, open collar, and cuffed slacks. His shoulders say he’s relaxed, but there’s an energy to him that’s notched in neutral.}
{Near Monk is a handsome Japanese-American woman with medium length brownish hair and alert eyes. She is JILL KODAMA, Monk’s significant other and a superior court judge. She is smooth in her St. John ensemble. They are chatting as Ross walks up.}
{Ross sticks out his hand.}
ROSS: Hi, you remember we crossed paths when I was with Exchange Entertainment?
{Monk blinks, then:}
MONK: Right, Alan Ross.
{The two shake hands. Kodama looks on.}
ROSS: Exactly. We had some discussions with you about turning one of your cases that got some ink into a movie of the week.
MONK: This is my squeeze, I mean, this is Judge Jill Kodama.
KODAMA: (to Monk) Be cool. (She and Kagen shake hands) Good to meet you. I recall you wanted to make my character a Latina beer truck driver going to law school at night, because that would make Ivan more down, more like the working man.
KAGEN: The demographics you know.
MONK: What brings you here?
ROSS: We donate to the Legal Aid Council.
{Monk and Kodama look equally surprised.}
ROSS (cont’d): No, really. I’m at Ten-Shun now and we were developing a show a few months ago and their attorneys provided technical assistance to the project. My boss, Eddie Mast, took a liking to them and there you go.
{Ross has some of his drink.}
KODAMA: I’m glad you do, the LAC fills a necessary need.
{The two men nod in agreement. SANDI LOFTON, an aging beach bunny and reporter with the Hollywood Journal, appears at Ross’s elbow, butting in.}
LOFTON (to Ross): Is it true you’re considering doing a picture about bin Laden?
{Monk and Kodama perk up.}
ROSS (smiling): I shall demonstrate my usual blasé indifference to you, Sandi.
LOFTON: I heard this from our friends at the American Jewish Association. More than one of whom sits on your board, Alan. And it’s not just Jews who will be upset if this project goes forward.
{She turns to Monk.}
LOFTON (cont’d): What do you think?
MONK: I’m not completely sure, but if other warped people and events aren’t off limits, then why bin Laden? Wasn’t there a musical about the hijacking of that ship, the Achille Lauro?
LOFTON (jerks head at the sign): Figures a lawyer for this group of worn-out hippies and disillusioned revolutionaries with law degrees, that helps welfare cheats and renters duck their responsibilities would say that.
KODAMA (to Monk): Doggone dewy-eyed Taliban simp.
{Monk and Kodama exchange shit-eating grins. Lofton is unsure what to think while Ross looks bemused and tips his drink to someone else from the “industry.”}