Miss Sloane Page #13

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RODOLFO SCHMIDT:

I liked you better as the merchant of

doom.

ESME:

Elizabeth. I’m familiar with the

Democrat campaign machinery in

Illinois, if I get out there, I can

deliver at least two-

ELIZABETH:

I want two phone pitches by end of

tomorrow. Clara, Brian, Lauren,

you’re team one, Cynthia, Esme,

Franklin, you’re team two. Ross,

provide stats to both.

(to Esme)

When you’re done here, you get

started in Illinois.

(to all)

Now, the second reason we’re here is

that I’d like you all to read

Packard’s expos. of psychological

techniques of commercial advertisers

from 1957

MASS GROAN. “Oh Gods”.

ELIZABETH (CONT’D)

-Which remains dead on point in

today’s world of i-nonsense.

57.

Clara’s attention is distracted by something on her SCREEN: a

friend request from ALEX DE JONG. The message reads:

Welcome back to civilization :)

ELIZABETH (CONT’D)

As you all know, good marketing

burrows insidiously into your

target’s brain and results in action,

for example, buying a Big Mac.

Clara glances to Alex, his laptop open in front of him. He

gives her a smile, knowing she got the request. Clara notices

Elizabeth eyeing them, and she expertly recovers:

CLARA:

Our phone pitch has to “burrow

insidiously into Floridian brains?”

ELIZABETH:

Yes. And so too your ad banners. They

must burrow so deep, your targets are

inspired to flood their elected

official with pro-Heaton-Harris

letters, and use those delightful

social networks to implore their

friends to do likewise. Now, read the

expos., and take to the media-verse!

CLARA:

Good thing I’m back on Facebook.

Clara didn’t do much to mask her supercilious tone. Alex

closes his laptop and gets up, a little smirk on his face.

It’s not lost on Clara.

ELIZABETH:

Super. Their pompous shareholders can

breathe again.

CLARA:

It’s a public company.

ELIZABETH:

Better still, I can profit personally

from your compulsion to tell the

world what you ate for breakfast.

(sarcastically)

I take it all back, God bless e-

America.

(on her way out)

Everyone, get to it!

GUN CONTROL MINI-MONTAGE:

-A strong turnout at a GUN CONTROL MARCH, anti-gun banners

waved, alongside pictures of a YOUNG GIRL.

-WORKERS plaster the finishing touches on a huge BILLBOARD in

Times Square. ONE KID KILLED BY A GUN EVERY 3 HOURS

-A van with a large billboard in its trailer tours a city

center. 150 AMERICANS SHOT DAILY // YOU COULD BE NEXT.

-A large and vociferous gathering outside a city hall.

58.

NEWS ANCHOR (V.O.)

Members of a group called Ceasefire

PA rallied outside Senator Jim

Mandel’s office in Philadelphia,

after a man opened fire in a park,

killing a fourteen year-old girl-

SENATOR MANDEL stands at a lectern outside his office, and has

to shout over chants of WE WANT CHANGE.

SENATOR MANDEL:

I’ll vote to put the issue of renewed

background checks on the Senate

floor, and I will support the Heaton-

Harris Amendment!

The crowd ERUPTS. The Senator beams. Everyone’s happy.

-A BIG GREEN TICK is stuck over Senator Mandel’s face.

- A BIG RED SLASH over another Congressman’s face. Dollar

signs drawn in his eyes. A GREEN TICK over another.

-11 VOTES LOCKED, 23 TO GO is scrawled on a whiteboard,

underneath -DAYS TO VOTE: 148.

INT. POSNER’S OFFICE - DAY - PRESENT

Back to present day. A muddle of boxes and files. Posner

crosses items off a checklist, while Elizabeth talks to

HARRISON (60s), a long-time ally.

POSNER:

(to Elizabeth)

Tax avoidance. Any offshore bank

accounts, undeclared income?

ELIZABETH:

No.

Posner crosses it off. He does this with every new query.

HARRISON:

(to Elizabeth)

Look, if I’m interrupting, I can-

ELIZABETH:

Not at all. What can I do for you,

Harrison?

HARRISON:

There’s no more you could possibly do

for me, Liz. Look, there’s no easy

way to say this-

ELIZABETH:

Oh, thank God.

HARRISON:

What?

ELIZABETH:

You’ve come to your senses. You’re

going to publicly flog me, and about

time too.

59.

HARRISON:

I was going to use the term “distance

ourselves”.

ELIZABETH:

Where’s the fun in that?

HARRISON:

I have shareholders to think about.

From a PR standpoint... You...

ELIZABETH:

Stop fumbling for a euphemism,

Harrison. I’m so toxic I glow in the

dark. You’re doing absolutely the

right thing, and you’ve nothing to

apologize for.

Elizabeth reaches into a folder, pulls out a stack of papers.

POSNER:

(to Elizabeth)

Recreational drug use?

ELIZABETH:

(to Posner)

No!

(to Harrison)

See these? Cards and letters of

apology from clients who felt they

had to do the same for the sake of

their business. Your corporate

spokesman will denounce me in the

strongest possible terms. I didn’t

help get you where you are only to

see you tarnished by this nonsense.

HARRISON:

This sucks.

ELIZABETH:

In your personal capacity as my

friend, yes. But you’re not

denouncing me as my friend, you’re

denouncing me as CEO of Harper’s,

who’s duty-bound to act in the best

interests of his company. And right

now, that entails running from me as

fast as you can screaming evil.

HARRISON:

You’ll get through this.

At that moment, Harrison goes to hug Elizabeth. She’s taken by

surprise, and panic flashes across her face for a fraction of

a second. She meets his embrace awkwardly, but begins to lean

into it. She closes her eyes, enjoying a fleeting moment of

release from the stress of her predicament.

The moment lasts a second too long, and Posner can’t help but

observe a side to Elizabeth he never knew existed.

Harrison smiles at her warmly, nods goodbye, and exits.

60.

POSNER:

Never? I mean on the drug use.

ELIZABETH:

(sarcastic)

Oh, I thought you were just talking

about this morning. No, never.

Posner sets down his pen and removes glasses from strained

eyes. He takes a moment to regard Elizabeth, who fastidiously

straightens papers on the desk to regain her composure.

POSNER:

I can’t believe you’re OK with your

most loyal client stomping on you.

ELIZABETH:

He should have done it weeks ago.

POSNER:

Why don’t you quit? This place?

ELIZABETH:

Sorry?

POSNER:

I’ve known you long enough now to

surmise your feelings toward this

city. Sitting in that hearing,

listening to them go over your

medical records...

ELIZABETH:

(stops; long pause)

I wanted to. But I can't. I can’t

imagine what in the world I would do.

I’ve been reading The Litigators for

the last two years, I haven’t made it

past a hundred pages. I’ve gone

through eleven doctors, they all want

rid of me for ignoring their

exhortations to slow down. I want to

slow down. But this job is the only

means I have of making myself useful.

She rests against the desk, stares reflectively upon the D.C.

cityscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

ELIZABETH (CONT’D)

Did you know, ideology is dead? The

philosophies of the left and right

are driven by the self-interest of

those who advance them.

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