Memory Tapes

by

Joon Lee

EXT. PIER - SUNSET

It is a quiet autumn evening. COUPLES, young and old, are seen taking leisurely walks on the boardwalk of the pier and down on the beach. We see the pier in first-person perspective from the view of ANTHONY. He walks across the boardwalk and down the steps towards the beach. He sees the back of ANNIKA, who is staring into the ocean. ANNIKA is a young twenty something, clad in a brown jacket and black leather boots. Her hair and skin are a radiant white color.

INT. POD APARTMENT - DAWN

ANTHONY LYNCH, a young man in his early thirties, awakes with a start. He is in an apartment complex modeled after a pod hotel, and his room resembles a coffin. He looks at his alarm clock. It reads 3:25. AN-THONY sighs and tries to go back to sleep.

Cut to:

INT. ANTHONY’S OFFICE - DAY

We see a dingy back room of what looks like a run-down movie theater. The wallpaper is gray and peeling, the single window is thick with grime, and all the furniture is cluttered with documents and video-tapes. In the center of the room we see the MEMORY CHAIR, an odd-look-ing apparatus that resembles a dentist's chair. The CHAIR is connected to a PROJECTOR that faces a large FILM SCREEN.

ANDREA, a woman in her late sixties, is currently sitting on the MEM-ORY CHAIR, with two suction-cup like cables stuck to each temple. ANTHONY is standing next to the CHAIR. He is wearing a powder-blue shirt that says “Rewind” on the front.

ANTHONY

So I'm going to start this on the count of three, okay?

ANDREA

Wait, please.

ANDREA takes a deep breath.

ANDREA

I'm just so excited.

ANTHONY

Are you ready?

ANDREA

Yes.

ANTHONY

Okay. One, two, three.

ANTHONY flips on a switch and the CHAIR begins to make a humming sound. ANTHONY then flips on the PROJECTOR. A wave of static is pro-jected onto the SCREEN.

ANTHONY

Alright, Andrea. I want you to concentrate. Tell me about your an-niversary. Anything you can remember.

ANDREA

Uh...it's a winter day, it's very cold. I, uh, I had just put a pot roast in the oven, because Richard loved pot roast. And, I think we

were dancing. That's all I can remember.

ANTHONY

I want you to think a little harder. How were you feeling?

ANDREA

Good. Happy. I just remember feeling so....so satisfied. Like every-thing I had been doing in my life had been worth it.

ANDREA begins to tear up thinking about her husband, and takes out a handkerchief to wipe the tears. ANTHONY sits apathetically and sighs, secretly rolling his eyes. It is clear he has done this many times be-fore. The static in the screen slowly begins to fade, and faint sil-houettes are beginning to emerge.

ANTHONY(Mechanically)

And Richard. What was Richard like?

ANDREA

He, uh, well, he liked to wear Christmas sweaters, even when it wasn't Christmastime. I have no idea why. And he liked scented candles, and he liked to fish. And, uh, he was a huge jazz fan. Louie Armstrong,

Buddy Rich.

ANDREA laughs.

ANDREA

He used to play Buddy Rich records late at night, woke up the whole damn neighborhood.

Soon, the image on the SCREEN clears. We can make out a posh living room. We see a middle aged man, RICHARD, standing with a wine glass in his hand, smiling. It becomes clear that the scene on the SCREEN is seen through ANDREA's perspective. RICHARD beckons ANDREA to come and dance. Jazz music can be heard playing in the background. ANDREA lets out a short gasp. Soon, she holds out her hand to the screen, as if to touch RICHARD. Tears are streaming down her face. ANTHONY still looks bored; this process is mundane to him.As ANDREA is enjoying the video clip, ANTHONY abruptly shuts off the projector.

ANTHONY

Okay Andrea, that looks great.

ANDREA continues to stare at the screen, dumbfounded and a little dis-appointed that the image has now ended.

ANDREA

Is that all?

ANTHONY

No, no. I'll have this rendered and I'll send it your way in around a week or so. Is your address Apartment 5B on 24 West 18th Street?

ANDREA nods her head. She then grabs her belongings and shuffles out, still shocked at the procedure. ANTHONY shuts the door and sighs.He takes a peak at the CLOCK in the back wall of his office. Suddenly. the PHONE rings. ANTHONY goes to pick it up.

ANTHONY

Hello, Rewind Clinic downtown. What can I do for you?

MARK

Anthony?

ANTHONY

Oh, uh, hi Mark. I just got here, and...

MARK

Yeah, yeah listen. I just got your customer evaluation sheets for the month, and

ANTHONY

Mark, please, let me....

MARK

Let me finish. I got them back, and look, they’re shit. And I’ve been cutting you amazing amounts of slack for the past three months. But

you’ve gotta get it together.

ANTHONY

I will, Mark, I’m sorry.

MARK

It’s not just that, Anthony. I don’t know what you’re doing up there but our inventory has been completely haywire for the past couple of

days.

ANTHONY

How do you mean?

MARK

Don’t give me that bullshit, you know what I mean. We’re missing film rolls, projection sheets, rendering solution.

ANTHONY

Are you sure?

MARK

The inventory’s just not adding up with what you log. Look, it’s prob-ably just you being careless as always, but headquarters had a meeting with all of us last month, and told us we had to be on the lookout for these kinds of discrepancies. Apparently a lot of idiots are stealing

company gear for personal use or whatever.

ANTHONY

I understand, Mark.

MARK

Okay, but I want you to know this is your last warning. If you let in-ventory slip again I will fire you.

ANTHONY

I get it.

MARK(dismissively)Let’s hope so.

MARK hangs up abruptly. ANTHONY puts the receiver down and sighs deeply. He takes a TAPE and loads it into the projector. Soon, the scene from the beginning of the film is playing on loop on the SCREEN. ANTHONY sits down on the MEMORY CHAIR and stares in the SCREEN, and soon begins talking at the projection of ANNIKA. He begins practicing what he wants to say if he ever meets ANNIKA. It is clear that this is a routine task for him.

ANTHONY(Nervously)

Hey, I’m Anthony, and...shit. Uh, hi, nice to meet you, are you An-nika?

ANTHONY sighs in frustration.

ANTHONYAnnika, right? Hi, yeah, it’s Anthony. How’ve you been? No, no, I’ve been great. It really is great to see you too, I see you’re still as

young as ever.

ANTHONY laughs.

ANTHONY

Listen, Annika. I’ve been thinking about you ever since we, you know.... And I wanted to talk to you, because... well... Shit! How

the hell do I say this? Because...I just feel so damn empty. So empty, and lonely, and desperate. And I want to feel like a real person

again.

ANTHONY stares wistfully at the SCREEN, as if he is waiting for the projection of ANNIKA to respond.

Suddenly, TATE MCCULLY enters the office. TATE is a sloppily-dressed, nervous-looking woman in her mid-thirties. ANTHONY hastily shuts off the projector. Fortunately for him, TATE does not notice it was on.

ANTHONY(Surprised)

Oh, hey. I thought you had work.

TATE

In about an hour or so.

ANTHONYWell, I’m free for the hour. You wanna grab a coffee or something?

TATEHow about a drink?

ANTHONY(Shocked)

It’s ten thirty.

TATE(Grabbing jacket)

Never too early to start.

INT. BAR - DAY

ANTHONY and TATE sit at a dingy bar. There is a football game playing in the background on a TELEVISION, which ANTHONY occasionally turns his gaze towards. 70's rock music is blaring on the radio. TATE is drinking a SCOTCH, while ANTHONY has a COKE.

TATE

So what's the plan?

TATE takes a swig.

ANTHONY

What plan?

TATE

You know, for me. Moving forward.

ANTHONY

Well, I've been kind of busy but I can probably get most of your stuff from last month rendered by tomorrow.

TATE

Okay.

There is a pause. ANTHONY turns to watch the football game on the TELEVISION.

TATE

Are we working on that session later today?

ANTHONY

What, the one about your fifth birthday party?

TATE

No, we did that last week, remember? I was talking about the one with my soccer game in tenth grade.

ANTHONY

Sorry, right.

TATE

So, are we good for that?

ANTHONY

Sure, I mean, I'll be down at Avery Pier later but I'll be back around six.

TATE

Avery Pier? Why?

ANTHONY

I'm uh, I'm meeting Annika.

TATE

Oh.

There is a tense silence.

TATE

So she called back?

ANTHONY

Yeah, finally.

TATE

What did she say?

ANTHONY

I don't know. Something about wanting to meet me at a park bench down by the boardwalk. She sounded really drunk, I couldn't make out what

she was saying half the time.

They both laugh.

ANTHONY

Hey listen, Tate. I was going to ask, who is this Lane guy? He keeps popping up in the renderings. It could help if you give me some con-

text when I'm running the analytical next week.

TATE pretends not to hear him.

TATE

What?

ANTHONY

Lane? Lane Stills or Lane Sellers or something. He keeps showing up in your renderings.

TATE sighs deeply.

TATE

Lane Stills. Lane fucking Stills.

ANTHONY

So you know him?

TATE

Yeah.

ANTHONY takes out a notepad.

ANTHONY

Alright, so can you tell me a little about him? I mean, it'll help with the process. Speed things along a little.

TATE

(Surprised and angry)

Why do you have a notepad out? What are you, a fucking journalist or something?

ANTHONY

(Shocked)

I...I just...

TATE

(Sighing, putting head in hands)

No, forget it. I'm sorry.

TATE pauses in thought.

TATE

Well, we were engaged for a while.

ANTHONY looks surprised, but controls his urge to speak and quietly takes notes.

TATE

And. Uh. He was from Chicago, and... Look, can we do this some other time?

ANTHONY

Yeah, yeah. Sure.

ANTHONY puts his notepad away.

TATE(abruptly)

I gotta get to work. So I’ll see you at six thirty, alright?

ANTHONY

Yeah.

Cut to:

EXT. PIER - LATE AFTERNOON

We see ANTHONY wandering across the boardwalk of the PIER. He watches with a smile as some CHILDREN feed pieces of bread to seagulls. After checking the time on a clock tower at the center of the PIER, ANTHONY begins to walk towards the BENCH.

EXT. BENCH - SUNSET

ANTHONY is sitting at on the bench with an empty cup of TAKE-OUT COF-FEE. He is visibly nervous, and begins playing with the cup, crumpling it in his hands. Soon, a woman walks up to the bench. It is clear that the woman is ANNIKA, although she has aged slightly and no longer has radiant white hair. ANNIKA looks tired and is carrying a BOTTLE OF VODKA in a brown paper bag.

ANNIKA

(Cautiously)

Hey. Are you Anthony?

ANTHONY

(Excitedly)

Yeah! Yeah, hey.

ANTHONY gets up enthusiastically and shakes ANNIKA's hand.

ANTHONY

You're Annika, right?

ANNIKA

(Slightly puzzled at Anthony's excitement)

Uh, yeah.

ANNIKA takes a sip from her BOTTLE.

ANTHONY

(Seeing ANNIKA does not have a jacket)

Aren't you cold? It's pretty chilly out.

ANNIKA

I'll manage. I've been living out in this dump for a while now, used to the shit weather.

ANNIKA takes another swig.

ANNIKA

Sorry, do you mind if I swear?

ANTHONY

Not at all.

ANNIKA

So, uh, I got your message last Tuesday. I just wondered why you wanted to meet me? I kind of forgot what you said to be honest.

ANTHONY

I uh... I just thought maybe we could reconnect.

ANNIKA

(Confused)

Reconnect?

ANTHONY

Yeah.

ANNIKA

Look man, I gotta be honest, I don't really know who you are.

ANTHONY

(Shocked)

Wait. What?

ANNIKA

I mean, did we go to school together or something?

ANTHONY

We, uh, we dated. For a bit. I met you around here actually, on the beach. Don't you remember that at all?

ANNIKA

I mean, we could have. I've been coming down here for the past eleven years. Lots of guys, believe me.

ANNIKA takes a drink.

ANNIKA

And of course, almost all of them were assholes.

Looks towards ANTHONY

ANNIKA

You know what, though? You actually seem like a half-decent guy. I wish I could remember who you are. How long ago was this thing we had?

ANTHONY(sheepishly) Eleven years.

ANNIKA lets out a hollow laugh. She lights a CIGARETTE and takes a long drag.

ANNIKA

Eleven years....Life’s funny, isn’t it? You wake up one morning and you’re twenty five and hungover on your best friend’s couch. You wake up another morning next to a husband and the sound of kids playing with Tonka trucks in the living room and you haven’t talked to your so-called best friend in nine years. And then you realize that the

next time you’ll meet her will probably be at somebody’s funeral. And then you realize that your knees hurt after just a few seconds of run-ning. And then you realize that you can’t make it past two PM anymore

without adding a few vodka shots to your afternoon coffee.

ANNIKA takes another drag. Suddenly, ANNIKA's PHONE rings.

ANNIKA

Hold on.

ANNIKA picks up the phone and begins screaming into it.

ANNIKA

(Angrily)

Robbie? Yeah, I did hear about that. No, I don't care. Get the hell out of my house you low-life piece of shit.

ANNIKA hangs up and gets off the bench and begins walking down the boardwalk into the distance, sending off ANTHONY with a quick, care-less wave. ANTHONY stares out into the ocean, alone.

CUT TO:

INT. ANTHONY’s OFFICE - NIGHT.

ANTHONY opens the door to his office, walks in, and turns on the lights. He grabs a BEER from the FRIDGE and sits down on the MEMORY

CHAIR, staring into the empty SCREEN. Soon, he grabs a TAPE and loads it into the projector.After a few minutes of scrolling through the footage, he hits play. A scene identical to the dream sequence at the beginning of the script begins playing on loop. ANTHONY watches with a wistful look on his face.

Suddenly, TATE enters, wearing an apron from her waitressing job.

TATE

(While untying apron)

What's up Anthony?

ANTHONY ignores her. TATE walks up to him, puzzled at his cold re-sponse.

TATE

Are you alright?

ANTHONY

Fine. Can you go away, please. I just want to be alone right now.

TATE

But, Ant, we gotta do that session. This one's really important.

ANTHONY continues to stare blankly at the SCREEN.

TATE

(naggingly)

Ant. Ant? Can you hear me? We gotta do the session.

ANTHONY

(Explodes)

Why? Do you have any idea what I go through to make those tapes for you? I could lose my job. Does that even matter to you? That my boss called me this morning threatening to fire me? I guess not, I mean, you’ve never had a legitimate job for more than what, two months? And what difference will the tapes make anyway? Why can’t you just move

on? Maybe you’ll come up with some reason why you’re life is this way. So what? Will the tapes get you a job? A boyfriend? Will it pay the rent on that shit apartment you have? No, you’ll probably come in again tomorrow because you’re unsatisfied, because you want another

reason, another tape. Just like all these miserable fucks!

Anthony picks up the CLIPBOARD from a desk and throws it on the ground. It falls and the pages scatter.

TATE stares at ANTHONY in horrified shock. She tries a few times to say something, but she can't. ANTHONY looks surprised, as if he cannot believe what he has just said himself. He picks up the CLIPBOARD, sits back down in his chair and puts his face in his hands.

ANTHONY

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I, uh. I didn't mean any of that. Fucking hell, I really didn't. Tate. Please.

TATE continues to stare at ANTHONY, and looks as if she is about to cry.

TATE

What's wrong with you?

There is a long silence.

ANTHONY

She doesn't remember. All I wanted was for her to remember. But, it's like... it's like I never even existed to her.

TATE looks at ANTHONY. She looks sorry at how dejected and pathetic he is. ANTHONY gets up and approaches the screen. The tape in the projec-

tor is beginning to fray, and static has started to gather on the screen.

ANTHONY(Gazing at SCREEN)

I spent two years going through this tape, calling every man woman and child in Avery County looking for the girl with the white hair. Two

years. And for what?

There is another silents as Anthony hangs his head low and sighs.

ANTHONYAnd you know what the craziest thing is? I actually believed that she would make things better. I was sure this random girl would be the one

thing that could save me from my own pathetic existence.

ANTHONY looks at the screen again.

ANTHONY

(turning his head to talk to Tate)

I just think I need to be alone right now.

TATE gathers her things. Just as she is about to leave, however, she approaches ANTHONY and gives him a short hug. ANTHONY, although ini-tially hesitant, soon embraces her as well.

TATE

(As she is leaving, worriedly)

Take care of yourself, Anthony.

TATE shuts the door to the office. ANTHONY stares blankly into the screen as it slowly fades to static. Suddenly, ANTHONY gets up, grabs his jacket, and runs out of the OFFICE.

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

TATE is walking slowly down the street. ANTHONY runs and catches up to her.

ANTHONY

(Panting)

Tate!

TATE stares at ANTHONY

ANTHONY

Tate, I'm sorry.

TATE

You said that already.

ANTHONY

No, I am. And I've been thinking Tate. I'm tired of everything. Of tapes, of this city, of my job. I'm leaving. You know what, screw it, I'm leaving tomorrow. It's not like I have anything to pack anyways.

TATE

Ant, I....

ANTHONY

Can you come with me? Please.

TATE sighs and looks down at her shoes.

ANTHONY

I'm going to take the car, and we can drive to the Catskills, or maybe Long Island. Find a motel, crash there and just keep on driving south.

Maybe even leave the country.

TATE

Anthony, I really don't know why you’re trying to do this.

ANTHONYWhy? There's nothing for me here. And to be honest, what do you have

to lose? Your minimum wage diner job?

TATE

It's not that, I...

ANTHONY

What is it?

TATE

Look, I realized something back there in the office. I don't know if I want to see you anymore, Anthony.

ANTHONY

(surprised)

What? Is it because I snapped at you? I promise, I’ll never do that again.

TATE

It’s not that, Ant... I’ve actually been thinking about us for a while, and... this isn't going to work. People like us...people like

us aren't meant to be in relationships.

ANTHONY

What the hell are you talking about?

TATE

You know, I've tried to start fresh, I've tried doing what you're do-ing now. I've run away with guys before. But eventually you sit down and you realize you never get away from any of it. The nightmares,

cold sweats in the morning, thinking about your childhood. Imagining

every single thing in your life that you could have done differently, trying to make things perfect.

ANTHONY

Tate.

TATE

You may think you like me now, Ant, but you don't. You like and idea of me. You like what you think I am to you. An escape. A way out of the past. A turning point. And you know what? That's why I liked you too. I liked you because I thought you'd help me finally make sense of

myself. Help me figure out myself, and what's happened to me, and about Lane and....

ANTHONY

That's not it at all, Tate I...

TATE

Eventually you'll get sick of me. And same for me, I'll get sick of you. And I'll hate you. Because you're not an escape, Ant.

ANTHONY

Am I not good enough? Is that why? Do you want me to be like that Lane guy?

TATE stares at the ground.

ANTHONY

What was he like for you to be so obsessed with him anyway?

TATE continues to stay quiet.

ANTHONY

I can do whatever you want, Tate, whatever that Lane....

TATE

(firmly)

Lane isn't a real person.

ANTHONY stares at TATE in shock. TATE begins to walk away from AN-THONY, who stays standing in place, dumbfounded.

TATE

(looking back)

Anthony. Look, I'm sorry things went to shit with us. But I..... you can do better than me.

ANTHONY looks back at TATE, hurt.

TATE

(sighs)

Don't call me ever again, please.

TATE walks away.

CUT TO:

INT. BEACH CONDO -- DAY

We see a shabby apartment with flickering lights. Outside the window, there is a dirty beach with a few tourists walking around. We see AN-THONY, sitting on a chair at his desk and smoking. ANTHONY is middle-aged now, balding and slightly overweight. He finishes his first ciga-rette and uses it to light his second one. Suddenly, the phone rings. ANTHONY picks up.

LANDLORD

Antonio! Cuando vas a pagar tu alquiler, perdedor!

ANTHONY

(In broken Spanish)

Pues......pues.... voy a pagar, mañana...

The LANDLORD begins speaking rapidly in Spanish. ANTHONY hangs up. AN-THONY stares down at his desk again. We see he is labeling tapes with an old SHARPIE PEN. He writes “TATE - 2021 WEEK 5” on one. He takes the tape and brings it to a massive FILING CABINET towards the back of his condominium room.

The CABINET is old and rusty, with dozens of separate drawers, each marked with a name. We see most of the names are female, such as An-gela, Daniella and Annika. Some other compartments are marked with events, such as “Christmas” and “Childhood Memories - Part III” AN-THONY opens the drawer marked “Tate.” Dozens of tapes are strewn about inside.

ANTHONY deposits the tape he has been labeling, and takes out a tape from the drawer marked “TATE - 2021 WEEK 1” on it. Anthony goes over

to a tiny, half-broken MINI-PROJECTOR which he keeps on his bedside table. He puts the tape in and hits play.

We see a diner through ANTHONY’s perspective. WAITRESSES in aprons identical to TATE’s are walking around, pouring coffee. TATE ap-proaches and pours ANTHONY a cup of coffee. Unlike the other wait-resses, who walk around with feigned cheerfulness, TATE is walking sluggishly.

TATE(Apathetically)

Welcome to Arnie’s. My name’s Tate and I’ll be your server. You come here before?

ANTHONY

Yeah, all the time. Why haven’t I seen you before?

TATE

I started last week.

ANTHONY

Ah. Just move into town or something?

TATEYeah. From Seattle, actually.

ANTHONY

Oh, I got some family over there.

TATE(Smiling)

Nice to hear.

TATE pours ANTHONY a cup of coffee. She notices his “Rewind” staff shirt, which has his name tag on the front.

TATE

That’s a cool shirt.

ANTHONY

Thanks, it’s for my job.

TATE

What do you do?

TATE studies ANTHONY’s name tag.

TATE

Anthony?

ANTHONY (with slight sarcasm)

I give people a reason to live.

After this, the TAPE stops. ANTHONY goes over to the CABINET, drops the TAPE, and picks out a new one. ANTHONY continues to chain smoke, and the CAMERA focuses on his face as he gazes at the screen. The scene with ANDREA from the beginning of the film starts to play. How-ever, instead of focusing on the SCREEN, the camera is fixed on AN-THONY, who stares at the screen with a wistful smile on his face.

ANTHONY

So I'm going to start this on the count of three, okay?

ANDREA

Wait, please.

ANDREA takes a deep breath.

ANDREA

I'm just so excited.

ANTHONY

Are you ready?

ANDREA

Yes.

ANTHONY

Okay. One, two, three.

Just as ANTHONY hits three, the screen cuts to black.

THE END