Steve Jobs Page #8

STEVE hugs SCULLEY and they speak quietly-

STEVE:

Thank merciful God, the cavalry’s

shown up.

STEVE JOBS - Shooting Script 03/19/15 51.

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SCULLEY:

‘Cause I hear you’ve been worse

than usual this morning and I

didn’t think that was possible. So

I’ve been dispatched to be the

Steve Whisperer. This is a ‘55

Margaux.

STEVE:

It’s nine in the morning.

SCULLEY:

This is a ‘55 Margaux.

SCULLEY starts pouring two glasses-

SCULLEY (CONT’D)

Is it my imagination or have you

started to dress like me?

STEVE:

It was a bad idea to have Markkula

open with quarterly reports.

Instead of having Markkula open we

could have just dropped water on

the audience.

SCULLEY laughs a little-

STEVE (CONT’D)

You know, just big 10,000 gallon

tanks of cold water dropped from

the ceiling, save Mike some money

on index cards.

SCULLEY:

Just relax.

STEVE:

Why?

SCULLEY:

(pause)

I don’t know, no one’s ever asked

that question.

STEVE laughs a little.

SCULLEY (CONT’D)

There you go.

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STEVE:

You’re the only person who sees the

world the same way I do.

SCULLEY:

No one sees the world the same way

you do.

STEVE:

I’m like Julius Caesar, John, I’m

surrounded by enemies.

SCULLEY:

You’re not.

STEVE:

The board-

SCULLEY:

The board's behind you.

STEVE:

Only because you see to it they

are.

SCULLEY:

I think it’s a good board but if

you want me to push ‘em out one by

one we can talk about that.

STEVE:

I want you to push ‘em out all at

once. Through a window if it’s the

nearest exit. The looks on their

faces when we showed ‘em the spot?

SCULLEY:

I couldn’t see their faces ‘cause

they were banging their heads on

the table.

STEVE:

Some of them were frozen like

they’d just seen “Springtime for

Hitler.”

SCULLEY:

My highlight was the silence that

was broken by, “It’s supposed to be

a play on the Orwell book, right?”

Yeah, the spot’s called “1984.”

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STEVE:

Yesterday, the day after it airs-once--

the publisher of Ad Week

calls it the best commercial of all

time. Of all time. And it is and if

anyone ever does one better it’s

gonna be Chiat/Day who the board

wanted to replace and it’s gonna be

Lee Clow who the board thought was

out of his mind. Now listen to

this, you ready?

The “1984” ad starts playing on the screen--we’re seeing it

from behind--and as soon as it starts the CROWD ROARS.

SCULLEY:

Yeah speaking of the ad-

STEVE:

They wanted to fire Lee Clow.

SCULLEY:

Did we use skinheads as extras? A

couple of people have told me that.

STEVE:

Yeah.

SCULLEY:

We paid skinheads? I have skinheads

on my payroll?

STEVE:

(beat)

Not currently I don’t think, but-

SCULLEY:

Why?

STEVE:

They had a look he wanted.

SCULLEY:

The skinheads.

STEVE:

Yeah.

SCULLEY:

‘Kay let’s keep that to ourselves

‘cause it might offend some of our

customers.

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STEVE:

Which ones?

SCULLEY:

All the ones who aren’t skinheads.

STEVE:

My point is they didn’t get it.

SCULLEY:

They did not.

STEVE:

They didn’t get it, they didn’t

like it, they tried to pull it,

they were wrong, we were right and

that boardroom is a big bowl of

scares-the-living-sh*t-outta-me.

SCULLEY:

I’m running your pass blocking on

the board. Who else knows?

STEVE:

Who else knows what?

SCULLEY:

That we paid terrorists to be in

our TV commercial.

STEVE:

John-

SCULLEY:

They were wrong about the ad but

it’s a good board, they’re good

people.

STEVE:

Their only problem, their problem

is that they’re people.

People...the nature of people...is

something to be overcome.

SCULLEY:

(pause)

When I was running Pepsi we had a

lot of success focusing on 18-to-55

year olds who aren’t members of

violent hate (groups).

STEVE JOBS - Shooting Script 03/19/15 55.

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STEVE:

(over)

I get it.

SCULLEY:

You’re not surrounded by enemies.

(beat)

We’re almost there. About two more

minutes of quarterly reports.

They listen to Markkula’s remarks a moment...

STEVE:

(pause)

Chrisann came and she brought Lisa.

SCULLEY:

I had a hunch.

STEVE:

I’m going back and forth on the

Dylan. I might quote a different

verse.

SCULLEY:

What are the choices?

STEVE:

“For the loser now will be later to

win,” which is what we have now.

SCULLEY:

Or?

STEVE:

“It’ll soon shake your windows and

rattle your walls”.

SCULLEY:

No.

STEVE:

Why?

SCULLEY:

We’re leading a geek revolution and

not the French Revolution, what

else?

STEVE:

“Come mothers and fathers

throughout the land.

(MORE)

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STEVE (CONT'D)

And don’t criticize what you can’t

understand. Your sons and your

daughters--”

SCULLEY:

“--are beyond your command”, I just

lost a hundred bucks to Andy

Hertzfeld. He said you’d change it

to that verse. We’ve got 45 seconds

left and I want to use it to ask

you a question. Why do people who

were adopted feel like they were

rejected instead of selected?

STEVE:

That came out of nowhere.

SCULLEY:

“Your sons and your daughters are

beyond your command. Your old road

is rapidly aging. So go f***

yourself ‘cause my name is Steve

Jobs and the times, they are achangin’”.

STEVE:

I don’t feel rejected.

SCULLEY:

You sure?

STEVE:

Very sure.

SCULLEY:

‘Cause it’s not like the baby is

born and the parents look and say,

“Nah, we’re not interested in this

one.” On the other hand, someone

did choose you.

STEVE:

It’s a song about progress.

SCULLEY:

It’s about destroying the past.

STEVE:

As long as clocks work the past

will destroy itself by being the

past.

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SCULLEY:

No, you have to consciously get rid

of it or the past will be the

present as well.

And STEVE’s so happy that someone’s articulated this-

STEVE:

Yes! Yes! I was (testing you)-

SCULLEY:

(over)

Yeah.

STEVE:

That’s exactly--see?--that’s

exactly what--you’re the only one-God--

that’s what I meant. You’re

the only one who sees the world the

way I do.

(beat)

What inspired Hertzfeld to make

that bet?

SCULLEY:

He was warning me that being your

father figure could be dangerous.

I can start replacing the board

with more Steve-friendly members.

STEVE:

(pause)

It’s having no control.

SCULLEY:

You’re the company, you have

control.

STEVE:

I wasn’t talking about the company.

(beat)

You find out that you were out of

the loop when the most crucial

events in your life were set in

motion. As long as you have

control...I don’t understand people

who give it up.

(beat)

He said being a father figure to me

was dangerous?

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