Screenplay: The Best Summer of My Life
In May 2006, I bought a 1964 red Corvair convertible. It was an impulse buy, and I never make impulse buys, except that I'd been in a retro stage for a while, and the thought of owning an old car really appealed to me.
Also, my father, who was a veterinarian but also a trained mechanic (he was a truck mechanic in the Philippines during his military service), had always loved old cars. At one point before I was born, he owned a classic Auburn roadster.
So, the minute I bought the car, I decided to write a movie about it, "The Best Summer of My Life." It's about a woman, loosely modeled on me, her two closest friends, her dog (Constant), and a red Corvair. I'm still working on the screenplay, although I set it aside for awhile to get this blog launched. I plan to get back to it within the next month or two.
THE BEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE
Genre: Comedy/Chick Flick
Log line: Jane, a 40-something Seattle writer, decides that the summer of 2006 will be her best ever. To get things started, she buys herself a classic red 1964 Corvair convertible, one of the sexiest cars ever made. But this is more than a chick flick about a woman with a new car: Jane has a painful secret that makes every moment in the sun doubly precious.
One of the subplots is Jane's learning to take care of the car. Here's a scene where a group of her friends try to teach her to jump the car after the battery dies.
JANE
So, who wants to jump the car? Tomo, will you do it?
PAT (a friend)
Wait a minute, Jane. You need to know how to do this.
JANE
I know how, sort of, I just don’t like to do it. Isn’t that why women have sons, so they can jump their cars for them?
TOMO (Jane's older son)
Ha, ha.
JANE
Joke, Tomo. Joke. I had you so you could cook for me.
ERIKA
Here you go, Jane. (Handing over the jumper cables.) Do you know how to do this?
JANE
It’s been a long time. I forget.
WARREN
Take the cable. Do you know where the battery is in the Corvair?
JANE
In the back. I know that much.
WARREN
OK, open the hood, and find the battery. Do that for both cars. Be careful—prop the hood open.
Jane raises the hood on the Honda, then raises the hood on the Corvair. Everyone else is clustered around, giving advice and talking over each other.
PAT
Red, positive. Black, negative.
JANE
You do the red ones first, right?
JAMES
Look at the battery—see those terminals?
JANE
This part scares me. What if I get a shock?
JEFFERSON
See the plus sign?
PAT
You’re making a circuit…
WARREN
Red to positive on the car with the good battery … Don’t worry, you won’t get a shock.
Jane attaches the first clamp, gingerly.
PAT
Now the other positive terminal …
WARREN
OK, attach that one here, see?
Jane attaches the second red clamp to the Corvair battery.
PAT
You’re making a circuit…
JEFFERSON
Red, positive. Black, negative.
ERIKA
Now the black ones…
WARREN
OK, black is negative, attach it here …
Jane attaches the next clamp.
JANE
This is the part that scares me, it can blow up, right?
TOMO
Really?
ERIKA
Can it?
LAUREL
Be careful…
WARREN
So, instead of attaching it to the terminal, connect it here, on this bolt on the engine. Then you won’t get a shock. Good, now start the Honda, someone.
Tomo starts the engine on the Honda. Jane starts the Corvair with a roar.
WARREN
Now, it needs to run for a while to charge. Who wants to drive around the block?
Tomo backs the Honda out of the way, and Warren, Jefferson, and Daniel pile into the Corvair and drive off around the neighborhood.
JANE
Wow. OK. Who wants more coffee? I need to take an auto mechanics course.
LAUREL
Yeah, when you have an old car you need to know this kind of stuff. Maybe you can find a cute mechanic to give you lessons …
Interested in producing my screenplay? Send me an e-mail at jeanne.sather at gmail dot com.
@ Jeanne Sather 2007.
Have you seen CORVAIR SUMMER? You'll LOVE it! Best wishes and best of luck to you on all your repair work! JM
Posted by: CORVAIR SUMMER movie | July 29, 2007 at 11:06 AM
I think I'm going to have to watch that!
The Corvair is in the shop getting the brakes done, sadly. But I should have it back in time for my trip to the beach!
Jeanne
Posted by: jeanne | July 30, 2007 at 11:08 AM