How an interest in climate “doomers” inspired an exploration of a young, male character, who eventually became the core of a new screenplay, Doomer. But each story revision forced the screenplay to evolve into something I never expected.

A story idea can evolve into a finished product almost completely unrecognizable from the thing that first pops in your head. A couple of years ago, I read an article about “doomers,” people who have made a fetish of their pessimism about the future. They’re mostly millennials and Gen Zs who’ve grown up with dire predictions of environmental disaster, or more recently, apocalyptic disease scenarios. The polarization of politics adds an extra layer of catastrophic thinking.

At the time, I thought a doomer might make an interesting character that would encapsulate much of today’s anxieties about the real social, technological and environmental challenges humanity faces. I also saw him (yes, a male character) as a next step in my climate change-themed fiction.

Diving into my first screenplay

I started making notes, trying to flesh out the idea. Somewhere along the line, I thought the story might make a more interesting movie than novel or novella. In the spring of 2022, I dived headfirst into a screenplay. I’d never written one before, though I’d studied filmmaking for a short time in college.

Since then, the doomer idea has gone through several iterations, each one moving farther away from the climate change theme. One iteration was inspired by detective fiction characters, such as Philip Marlowe, created by Raymond Chandler in the Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely. That attempt birthed a finished script that I submitted for professional coverage. The notes were encouraging, but my attempt at a revision fizzled.

Finally, like the doomers that originally inspired me, I decided that I was taking the project a little too seriously. I started over, almost from scratch, and the result was a new script, number three in my portfolio, titled “Doomer.” The screenplay had almost no resemblance to my earliest notes. The pessimistic doomer had evolved into a man-of-action nicknamed “Doomer,” who goes up against a domestic terrorist. I wanted lots of explosions, fast cars, evil bad guys, and so on. Total escapism. A professional reader compared my screenplay to 24 (the TV series), as well as the movies Con Air and Speed.

Synopsis: ‘Doomer’

Here’s the logline: After a domestic terrorist takes hostages on a freeway, an ex-Army cop helps the President of the United States thwart the terrorist’s plan to finance a coup with a billion dollars in stolen gold. This is the first part of the synopsis:

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Sergeant Marcus Gatt, a military police officer, call sign “Doomer,” scans a cavernous pavilion in Afghanistan. He’s security for a transfer-of-command ceremony. As the ceremony starts, he notices a nervous Afghan officer. Seeing alarming signs, Doomer charges the Afghan, preventing him from triggering a bomb, saving an American general and his aide. A second bomber detonates his explosives.

Six years later, Doomer takes a break behind his parents’ tiny Seattle restaurant. A five-week-old kitten befriends him. As he feeds the kitten, a local gang attempts to extort protection money. Doomer frightens them off, but the leader vows to return.

At the same moment, President Benjamin Hayes lands for a visit to the city, tying up freeway traffic. On a bridge ramp, towering eighty feet off the ground, a group of terrorists has placed two truck bombs, one at each end of the ramp. They are led by Leylan Nazarov, a petty criminal turned political insurgent. The bombs explode, cutting off the ramp from the freeway complex, trapping a dozen innocents. As police respond, Nazarov demands the President in exchange for his hostages.

Aware of the attack, the President texts Doomer, calling in a marker. Doomer mounts his powerful motorcycle, tucks the kitten into his jacket, and finds the police command post. The police chief refuses his help, calling Doomer a “cowboy.” Doomer ignores the chief and reconnoiters the bridge ramp. He rescues two people, even as they come under fire from the terrorists. Infuriated, Nazarov destroys a helicopter sent to ferry injured hostages to a local hospital.

Observing the disaster, the President sends in the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, led by one of Doomer’s army comrades. They use cherry-pickers to assault the ramp, and they rescue another hostage, but at great cost. The hostage is comforted by Doomer’s kitten.

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If you’d like to read the whole synopsis, or the script, visit my profile on Stage 32, an online community of motion picture creatives. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

If you’re a producer, agent, literary manager, or actor interested in more information, you can reach me directly via my contact form.

Image: Pixabay