Offstage Created by Kayla Carden

Reality and fiction blur together as a young actress’s method acting takes her to a

fantastical world that makes her doubt its just a part of her imagination.

In this dramatic fantasy series, Rachael has just landed the role of a lifetime: she’s been cast as the lead female of the upcoming independent film, Radix. The director suggests that she try to immerse herself in the fantastical world of Radix in her free time to better understand her character. Taking his advice, Rachael builds the world in her mind, but for whatever reason, always imagines herself as regular Rachael in the dangerous world of Radix, not as Princess Blasme, who is mysteriously absent in her imagination. As Rachael falls under more stress getting to know her more experienced, way more complicated coworkers, her “imaginary” version of Radix begins to take on a life of its own, making Rachael wonder where the real set begins and where her mind's eye ends. There will be a cycling of scenes going from the real world to Rachael’s Radix, and the events in Rachael’s Radix are often subtly affected by the new relationships she forms and information she learns in the real world; brightness and tint tends to change between the worlds (real world duller, fantasy world brighter). Overall, Offstage would have heavy oneiric elements combined with dramatic realism, with dry humor and all kinds of non sequiturs abound. Offstage is similar to Once Upon a Time, as both tend to shift from reality to fantasy. However, in Once Upon a Time, the fantasy characters are real and struggling in the real world; in Offstage, the real characters are “stuck” in a fantasy world. Its ‘switching-between-worlds’ is also similar to Awake, but in Offstage, there is more emphasis on which of the worlds could be considered “real”. It is a bit of a “trapped in another world” series (think Lost, sometimes Stargate, and Farscape), although in Offstage, none of the characters are necessarily stuck in the fantastic world as they are stuck in the real world. The targeted audience for Offstage is for single, middle-class women ages 18-30. Geographically, the audience would be concentrated in the West. Audience consumer type would probably be personal and impulse consumers, so apparel, decorations, accessories, and other knickknacks relating to the show should be considered in merchandising. Possible networks to broadcast Offstage include the CW, Syfy, Fox, TNT, FX, and AMC networks. Shooting high, it could go to ABC, NBC, or CBS, as both are expanding to fit more fantasy/sci-fi genres lately. Perhaps any network used to drama shows could take on Offstage as one of its first fantasy-drama shows. Some suggested marketing strategies:

• “Trailers” for the in-story film Radix could be posted online as ads • An online website written by one of the writers showing development of the in-

story film Radix, including a multitude of interviews with the stars of the film and a general outline of the film. It would appear similar to

• Merchandising could have its own website with some of the following ideas: Rachael’s variety of boots, the Pick-up Line Apparel series.

Episode  Descriptions  Episode  One  

The  first  episode  introduces  the  overreaching  show  arc  about  the  conflict  over  Rachael’s  imagining  of  Radix  versus  the  “real  world”.  It  also  begins  Rachael’s  overreaching  character  arc  from  a  naïve  newbie  to  a  more  cynical,  albeit  more  considerate  protagonist.  The  internal  conflict  of  the  episode  revolves  around  Rachael  meeting  her  rather  harsh  coworkers  and  losing  confidence  in  herself,  while  the  external  conflict  revolves  around  Rachael  finding  herself  in  her  weird,  dangerous  version  of  Radix.  Rachael  has  her  first  day  on  set  of  filming  the  independent  film  Radix,  which  is  being  adapted  from  a  little  known  book  from  the  1950s.  She  finds  herself  a  bit  overwhelmed  by  the  chilly  meetings  she  has  with  arrogant  costar  Reece,  consummate  liar  PA  Lyle,  cynical  director  Gary,  and  cold  dress  room-­‐neighbor  Angela.  She  does  get  some  relief  by  speaking  with  her  mothering  agent,  Hannah,  and  adorably  awkward  2nd  Assistant  Cameraman,  Devon.  After  multiple  criticisms  coming  from  Gary  (who  never  offers  tips  to  improve),  Rachael  asks  him  what  she  should  do  to  improve  her  performance.  Gary  suggests  she  actually  build  the  world  of  Radix  in  her  mind  while  meditating  and  insert  herself  there  to  better  understand  the  world.  Rachael  tries  it  out  at  her  apartment  that  night,  and  finds  her  imagination  literally  taking  the  reins  during  her  imaginings;  while  she  does  see  an  elaborate  world,  she  finds  she  can  only  think  of  herself  as  normal  Rachael.  At  the  end  of  the  episode,  she  stumbles  onto  a  fight  between  the  elves  and  denizens  of  Radix’s  rival  kingdom,  Canope.        

Episode  Two  This  episode  continues  the  overreaching  story  and  character  arcs  revolving  around  Rachael,  while  also  introducing  the  supporting  character  arc  revolving  around  Gary.  Rachael  yanks  herself  out  of  her  meditation  after  almost  getting  hurt  in  her  imaginary  session.  She  is  understandably  startled  by  her  experience,  as  it  seemed  as  if  it  weren’t  controlled  by  her.  On  set  the  next  day,  Rachael  is  filming  her  kidnapping  scene  and  aces  it,  having  experienced  real  fear  in  her  imagination  the  night  before.  Gary  is  impressed  with  her  performance,  and  to  her  surprise,  gives  her  a  few  more  tips  on  acting.  Rachael  attributes  her  success  with  her  session  before  and  tries  it  again  in  her  dress  room  after  filming.  For  whatever  reason,  the  fight  scene  resumes,  much  to  Rachael’s  alarm,  and  she  flounders  badly  during  the  scene.  She  is  saved  by  an  elderly  man  on  horseback,  who  takes  her  away  from  the  field,  which  has  quickly  turned  gory.  When  he  lets  her  see  her  face,  Rachael  is  shocked  to  see  her  rescuer  look  a  lot  like  Gary.  The  man  quickly  leaves  Rachael  to  herself,  much  to  her  alarm.  After  some  serious  coaxing,  Rachael  learns  that  the  Gary-­‐look-­‐alike  is  named  Gheimr,  and  he  hails  from  Canope.  

 Episode  Three  

Rachael  is  still  in  her  imagining  of  Radix  and  is  following  Gheimr  around  like  a  puppy.  She  is  hard-­‐pressed  to  get  any  information  from  the  tightlipped  Gheimr,  who  is  ignoring  her  for  most  of  this  time.  Rachael  is  increasingly  interested  in  his  role  in  Radix  and  is  especially  curious  as  to  why  the  director  is  in  her  imaginings.  While  camping  in  the  forest  that  night,  Rachael  groggily  wakes  up  only  to  see  Gheimr  trying  to  kill  her.  Rachael  yanks  out  of  her  meditating  again,  and  sees  Angela  watching  her.  Angela  doesn’t  say  anything  to  her  despite  Rachael’s  attempts  to  talk.  The  next  time  they  film,  Gary  is  even  harsher  with  Rachael  than  usual,  and  scolds  her  for  wasting  time  in  the  dress  room,  threatening  to  fire  her.  Rachael  is  upset  at  both  this  and  that  Angela  has  told  on  her.          

Episode  Four  Rachael  is  reluctant  to  try  her  method  out  again,  believing  she’ll  just  get  a  game-­‐over  in  her  imagination.  Her  acting  is  notably  nervous,  as  she  is  frightened  of  getting  fired.      

Episode 5 Rachael, grateful to Devon for cheering her up, asks him if he wants to get lunch together sometime, but after a surprisingly cold response, “just get lunch as friends”. Rachael has a day off that Wednesday and decides to check out a new club. She is extremely surprised to see Gary wandering around the club and wonders if he’s there for her. She sneaks out of the club before having any fun and just passes out as soon as she goes home. In her dreams, though, she returns to her Radix; this time it’s slightly more messed up and illogical, as dreams should be. When Rachael wakes up, she can’t help but wonder why her dreams differ from her method world. Back at the set, Rachael is hassled by Reece. Gary surprisingly steps in and shoos Reece away. Rachael is a little shocked when Gary claims he was “testing” her the other day about firing. She brushes off the connection.

Episode 6 Rachael has lunch with Devon on Saturday, the two sharing banter. Rachael also learns from Devon that Gary is the father of Anthony Hayden, famous party-boy celebrity. Rachael tries her method again that night. This time, Gheimr is traveling again and Rachael is struggling to catch up with him. While traveling, they get assailed by a mysterious half-elf, who momentarily tricks Gheimr and kidnaps Rachael. Rachael goes back to the real world and panics momentarily, as she believes she’ll be kidnapped in real life now. She acts hilariously paranoid on set the next day and flips out when she is momentarily alone with Angela. Angela seems pleased by this. Rachael begins to cling to Devon, too, nominating him her guardian, to his annoyance. Gary tells Rachael to stop fooling around with Devon and focus, snapping her out of it for the day. After no kidnappings, Rachael locks herself up and does her method again. She struggles against her kidnapper for a bit and manages to reveal what he looks like: he’s an exact copy of Devon.

Episode 7 The Devon-look-alike calmly speaks with Rachael and introduces himself as Klisros, a half-elf who ran from his tribe. He explains to Rachael that she was traveling with a criminal. Rachael is shocked and disbelieving. Klisros claims he’ll take her to Radix, where she supposedly belongs, instead of in the dangerous Unmapped Wild. Rachael complies for a little while, but tricks him and runs back to Gheimr (hoping he followed after her). Angela jerks her out of the method by coming by her dressing room to borrow left over materials. Rachael tentatively asks Angela about everything she knows about Gary, but Angela gives her a scalding critique about her weak imagination in acting, shutting Rachael up. Gary notes Rachael’s quietness on set and, while not comforting, tells her a story of an actor he used to know who started like her and became a star. Rachael finds herself, for once, incredibly curious about her coworker’s lives – especially Gary’s.

Episode 8 Rachael is in her imaginary Radix and running around trying to find Gheimr. Unfortunately, she gets held up by a violent band of rogues. The episode cuts to the events of the real world, where Rachael is increasingly jittery around Devon and Gary. Devon is notably annoyed by this, and tries to pursue her throughout the day. At lunch, Rachael sees a middle-aged woman being held up by an annoying group of punks. She drives them away by being as frightening as possible. The stylish older woman thanks Rachael and introduces herself as an agent. She praises Rachael’s acting, but peppers her speech with some rather cold sayings, making Rachael uncomfortable. Devon comes by and “saves” her from the conversation. Rachael and he spend some time together going to an odd sculpture park. Rachael apologizes to him for acting weird. Back in Rachael’s imaginary Radix, Klisros rescues Rachael from the tough gang of rogues. He is flustered and angry at her. Rachael is unwilling to go with him, as she owes Gheimr, and is a little worries for his sanity. Before their argument can go any deeper, Klisros freaks out at seeing a band of soldiers leading the Dowager Queen of Canope towards them.