Change Your Life - Draft Version

Jack, a well-dressed young man, is seated at a large, round table at an upscale restaurant, looking tired and lost. Ambient noise of a raucous scene can be heard, and then fades. Queue music.

Rotate around the table to see Jack's friends laughing, eating and drinking. Stop on a pretty blonde woman who pauses to answer her cell phone with an over-ear headset. Continue to pan around the table to the rest of the party, settling back on Jack who forces a smile and enters the conversation.

The entourage barrels out the door into the night and turns down the lighted sidewalk, running past bars and clubs with Jack in tow. A light rain begins to fall as they enter a coffee bar with a sign that says "The Bohemian."

Jack picks up a glass of wine at the counter and turns to see Jill standing nearby with a mug of coffee in her hands. They look at each other in surprise with big smiles. They instinctively walk up to each other and exchange a brief, emphatic greeting. Jill motions Jack to join her in a private booth.

They sit down and Jack tries to charm her with some line, but she frowns. She gently, but directly begins to lecture him. Astonished, he looks down in apprehension. She pulls out a photograph and shows it to Jack as she explains. Jack looks at a happy portrait of his parents, him and Jill, and rolls his eyes a bit. Then his expression changes to thoughtfulness and an acknowledgement of fond recollection. She implores him to keep it and hands it to him, and then leaves concerned and disappointed. He is left looking down at the table immersed in thought.

Jack walks down the street in the morning with a crowd of professionally-dressed people on their way to work downtown. Many appear uncomfortable, disinterested, and labored. Some look snobby and rich. Jack looks longingly at a fluorescent race yellow sports car, and then repentantly shakes his head.

At his cubicle in an office building, Jack is concentrating intensely on a spreadsheet on his computer monitor. He loses focus, and turns to look at a framed picture on his desk.

Jack confidently gives a presentation with projected slides in a conference room to a variety of mostly older and senior businesspeople. He fields questions and tries to answer them, but does so unsuccessfully.

Jack rushes back to his cubicle to look at the family picture, but Jill is no longer in it. In horror, Jack rifles through his rolodex, then scrolls through his cell phone in vain. Jack looks at the picture again, where he and his parents now wear neutral expressions. Shocked and desperate, Jack quickly leaves the office. He rushes back to the coffee bar at dusk to look for Jill to no avail.

At night, Jack attends a formal corporate social event, but is alone. Determined and focused, he rushes out as one of his female friends looks disappointed to see him leave. He heads out the door, into the rain, down the street, chasing after a taxi. Jack gets out of the cab in front of the coffee bar and rushes in.

He spots Jill and smiles. She notices him but tries to ignore him. He puts his thick metal watch down on a table, where it is quickly pilfered. Jack undoes his tie and drops it on the floor. He tries to speak with Jill, but she rebuffs him and turns her attention back to her friends. He persists. Jill finally engages him, and they start laughing and enjoying themselves.

Enthralled with each other, Jack and Jill leave the coffee bar holding hands loosely and running out into the rain together.

Jack and Jill are working in a shared office. Back out the door to reveal a placard that reads "Jack and Jill Charities."

A large group of festive people of all ages gather. They warmly, ecstatically and audibly interact with each other before posing for a camera. Pause to a still shot, closing in to frame an image of Jack, Jill and parents, which is identical to the picture Jill first showed Jack at the coffee bar.