Miss Sloane Page #2

---

CONGRESSMAN SPERLING

Did you, November 29th of last year,

accept as a client the government of

the African Republic of Kenya, for

the purpose of campaigning against

the levy of additional Federal duties

on the importation of palm oil into

the United States?

ELIZABETH:

Upon the advice of counsel, I must

respectfully decline to answer your

question, based on my rights...

And so it continues.

INT. COLE, KRAVITZ AND WATERMAN LLP - BATHROOM - DAY - PAST

SUPER:
7 MONTHS PRIOR

Elizabeth, swamped and running on fumes, is followed into the

toilets by her young prot.g., JANE MOLLOY.

JANE:

Today’s a landmark day, you know why?

Because I’m free.

ELIZABETH:

Name one thing you can do today that

you couldn’t’ve done yesterday.

JANE:

Quit my job.

ELIZABETH:

You could have done that yesterday,

but it would’ve been stupid.

JANE:

But I can quit today and-

ELIZABETH:

It’ll still be stupid. You clear your

college debt and celebrate by

enrolling in post-grad and returning

to square one?

6.

JANE:

Academia’s more my scene.

Elizabeth enters a stall and latches the door.

ELIZABETH:

You didn’t follow me into the crapper

to gloat about freedom. Talk to me

about the Nutella tax.

Elizabeth reaches into her handbag for a bottle of water. She

takes two pills out of the TRINKET BOX we glimpsed earlier,

and gulps them down.

JANE:

We’re really calling it ‘Nutella

tax’?

ELIZABETH:

Palm oil is a key ingredient in

Nutella. If the Federal Government

taxes it at 300%, it’ll cost more for

us to gorge ourselves on it.

JANE:

Isn’t palm oil in pretty much

everything?

ELIZABETH:

We could have called it Soap Tax, but

the public cares more about Nutella

than it does soap. Ross did surveys.

JANE:

OK, Estevez, Frame and Albert are in

the bag, Hodges-

ELIZABETH:

See, that should elicit some kind of

reaction, but it just doesn’t.

JANE:

-is under pressure. The F&B sector

are organized. They represent 7% of

the North Carolina economy and

accounted for two thirds of job

growth over the last twelve months.

They’re getting loud and he can’t

afford to ignore them.

ELIZABETH:

Sounds like critical mass to me.

JANE:

What are you gonna do?

Elizabeth FLUSHES the toilet (she never went) and exits.

ELIZABETH:

It’s time we made our move on the

sallow little gimp who’s sponsoring

this larceny. Tell the Kenyans

they’re going to host Senator Davis

on an all-expenses-paid field trip to

one of their plantations.

7.

JANE:

You never washed your hands.

Elizabeth shrugs it off and washes.

ELIZABETH:

He’ll take the wife and kids, and

whatever luxuries the Kenyan

government confer on him will stay

between he and them. He’ll come back

hailing their conservation efforts

and his bill will die a quiet death.

They exit the ladies’ room into -

INT. COLE, KRAVITZ AND WATERMAN LLP - DAY - PAST

-- a stuffy, conservative stalwart of the D.C. legal industry.

Walk and talk:

JANE:

That’s legitimate? They can ply him

with champagne and truffles?

ELIZABETH:

And diamonds, gold watches, and

whatever else. The Congressional gift

ban doesn’t apply to sovereign

states.

JANE:

So a Congressman can technically get

rich by sponsoring bills that screw

foreign governments and wait for them

to buy him off?

ELIZABETH:

That’s a little too much work for a

class of people who exempt themselves

from insider trading laws.

JANE:

You see? This is why I’m thinking

about post-grad.

ELIZABETH:

Jane, we go to school because it

prepares us for the real world. You

happen to find yourself at the sharp

end of the real world at the age of

twenty-nothing.

JANE:

I’m not so sure I like the ‘real

world.’

ELIZABETH:

So you’re going to bury your head in

the Socrates?

JANE:

You know that Socrates never actually

wrote anything.

8.

ELIZABETH:

That’s beside the point. If you don’t

like it, strive to change it. Which

is what you’re already doing, that’s

why you’re here. See? You’re exactly

where you belong.

Reasoned into a corner, Jane is silenced. Elizabeth is hounded

by a young intern (SPENCER).

SPENCER:

Ms. Sloane! They’re ready for you

upstairs.

ELIZABETH:

Spencer, did you know that Americans

care more about Nutella than they

care about soap?

SPENCER:

(shrugs)

OK.

ELIZABETH:

(to Jane)

See that? No reaction.

They enter...

INT. STRATEGY ROOM - CONTINUOUS - PAST

Pins stuck in maps, files, boxes, C-SPAN and CNN on the TVs.

This is where the ritual morning meeting takes place between

Elizabeth and her team of around TEN LOBBYISTS.

Note that these guys are out of kilter with the uptight, wood-

paneled ambiance of the firm. Very few of them wear suits;

these aren’t old boys’ club lobbyists. They’re a young,

ambitious team of varying backgrounds who go harder than

anyone else and pay lip service to industry mores.

They continue to work and confer during the meeting, flitting

in and out of conversation with their leader. Elizabeth makes

her rounds. This happens fast, rapid-fire.

ELIZABETH:

Alright, this should be short.

LOBBYIST # 1 (ALEX)

You always say it’s gonna be short.

LOBBYIST # 2 (LAUREN)

It’s never short.

ELIZABETH:

It is today. Ross, how many are they

expecting at the IMF rally?

ROSS is the statistical whizz, early 30s

ROSS:

Between five hundred and a thousand.

9.

ELIZABETH:

There’s a margin of 100%?

(hopeful)

Does that technically mean nobody

might show up?

ROSS:

Five hundred is really a minimum. The

rest depends on things like weather;

seems more people hate banks when the

sun’s out.

Enter PAT CONNORS (40s, Boston-Irish, foul-mouthed and

fiercely loyal; the de facto second-in-command).

CONNORS:

Liz! It’s time we sold Davis on

Kenya.

ELIZABETH:

I know-

CONNORS:

When Hodges falls we’ve got critic-

ELIZABETH:

Critical mass, I’m aware-

CONNORS:

We get him a first class ticket, they

give him face and he’ll drop it.

ELIZABETH:

Did you just come from the ladies’

room?

CONNORS:

I have no idea what you’re talking

about.

ELIZABETH:

Ross, how’s the weather forecast for

later?

ROSS:

They put one of these over the whole

of Manhattan.

Ross draws a weather symbol on the whiteboard - a cloud with

rain falling and sunshine behind it.

ELIZABETH:

What the hell is that?

CONNORS:

It’s the internationally recognized

meteorological symbol for ‘we don’t

have a f***ing clue’.

ELIZABETH:

Alright, put Metro Talent on notice,

we may need reinforcements. And prep

non-disclosures.

10.

LAUREN:

We’re really gonna use movie extras?

ELIZABETH:

What’s the quickest way to end an

anti-capitalism protest?

CONNORS:

Throw a bar of soap in the crowd?

ELIZABETH:

Corrupt their message. Their

arguments are immature, but some of

these people make valid points. The

guy shouting about taxpayers

subsidizing bankers’ failure becomes

a lot less credible when he’s

standing next to a guy styled as a

hobo toting a banner that reads

“abolish money”.

Rate this script:4.3 / 15 votes