A Screenwriter's Spec Script:

SYNOPSIS

The immigrant children of abducted parents fall victim to human traffickers.

A 12-year-old shy chess prodigy from Long Island, New York, bravely takes the steps to escape with his siblings after they are separated and sold by their purported housekeepers, JOSË & CARLA to MACHO & RANDY. The abductors are part of an organized crime ring who confiscate undocumented immigrants’ homes, sell the children, and kill the parents after forcing them to sign and turnover their homes.

Minutes after the children are trafficked into Randy’s house, the abductors’ fuming arguments thunder from across the entrance door, causes Tomás to jump to his feet. He hurries through the hallway, utilizing the street-smart skills taught to him by his father and escapes with his siblings in Randy’s pickup truck.

But their overstayed visa status steers them away from going to the police. Stranded underneath Brooklyn bridge underpass, Tomás leaves his siblings inside the pickup truck and hurries on the early rush-hour subway train bound toward his Long Island home, to get hold of his father's work address and his petitioned H-1B visa notice letter. However, the announcement of the next stop gets him pushed out of the car and onto Wall Street, where he seeks desperately through building numbers to spot his dad's newly occupied office.

He further deviates into Zuccotti Park, where in midst of stunning chess games and a homeless man, MULLIE, begging for quarters, Tomás encounters TONY, a stockbroker dressed familiar. He cuts through his shyness and invites Tony for a chess game, but just as he is about to ask whether Tony knows his father, cops stroll over. Tomás blindly lowers his knight and slips away. He returns at twilight and buys Mullie a gyro. They bond.

The next day, the abductors track down the pickup truck in Brooklyn and follow Tomás into the subways. They lure and drag him up the staircase, but Mullie interferes and they escape inside a subway car. Tomás returns to his home and finds the house empty except for a faded Yonkers address given on a clue.

The abductors return at night, knock Mullie aside, and grab Tomás’s younger brother, SAVIO. Tomás retaliates the assault, escapes, and gets separated.

At dawn, Mullie gets hold of  a disheveled Tomás on Wall Street and they bump into Tony. The search is on. The NYPD receive a signal from Savio's emergency Bitcoin alert pendant and find him sedated in the abductors' warehouse. Tony takes in the children, Mullie comes along.

That night, Savio mumbles that he had seen his parents and watched his father play with one Rook and do the crazy Queen sacrifice. The NYPD ignore because of the sedation, but not Tomás. While the NYPD investigate the Yonkers address on the clue, Tomás gears Tony’s Mercedes up with Mullie inside to that address, and comes face-to face with his housekeepers who by now have moved to their next target under an alias.

Cops track down Tony’s Mercedes. To Tomás’s dismay, José & Carla are arrested but released so the NYPD can follow them. Unaware of the NYPD’s motive, Tomás pushes his distressed body through the downtown courthouse crowd and confronts José & Carla, demanding for an answer. José, an aggressive chess player since youth, challenges Tomás to win his answer. Tomás goes ahead and plays the biggest chess match of his life. He wins the game but the villain slyly walks away.

That night, Tomás redraws a map that he had scribbled down during his  abduction, then leaps Tony’s center Black knight over its circular squares while he ponders. A light slowly sheds over his tensed face and he reacts with a lightning speed.

A few hours later, Tomás slows down Tony’s Mercedes with Mullie inside in Brooklyn and recognizes Randy’s house. They sneak inside, Tomás finds his unconscious parents but they are caught and easily outwitted. The NYPD had José under surveillance and make their entry shortly after. 

Tomás’s bravery pays off. He gets to challenge Garry Kasparov in Zuccotti Park. BENICIO, a chess master, Wall Street newly hired Bitcoin Trader and stockbroker, and the children’s father, underestimates his son’s readiness and self-confidence. So then when Tomás is given the run by pushing his Pawn c7 down against his father’s warning, Benicio grabs his head and breathlessly watches the Sicilian defense opening unfold in midst of the cheering crowd.

SCRIPT REVIEWED BY:

Sony Jaquez -  Video & Film Producer. Sonia has been my great inspiration and motivation in writing Tomás's story. She enjoys wearing the many hats that come with video and film production. Studying film on the west coast, she took her skills to NYC and was thrust into the fast-paced management of small teams, big events, even bigger names, budgets of all ranges, and award-winning talent all around. Her passion was locked in to the entertainment world and she continues to produce projects as a freelancer, currently residing in Denver, CO. She works on project development, in both English and Spanish markets, travels for work often, and is excited for all opportunities to do her part in making Earth a better place for all Beings to enjoy and live in Peace.  

Terri Zinner – A FilmWriter.com

John Bowab – Retired Director of Television Shows.

The Black List – www.blcklst.com

Script Coach  – www.scriptcoach.com 

10-Page script REVIEWED BY:

Maria Baltazzi, Executive Producer  - www.stage32.com

Brad Wilson, Producer - www.stage32.com

LOGLINE and 2-Page PITCH  SYNOPSIS REVIEWED BY:

Libby Meyer /Masproduction – www.stage32.com

Jason Piette / Disrupting Influence – www.stage32.com

Dallaslyn Lamb Art/Work entertainment – www.stage32.com

Marina Deak / Wonder Worldwide  – www.stage32.com 

The story of Tomás was inspired by interacting with immigrant children for many years as a Yoga teacher and Chess mentor in the urban cities of New Jersey and New York City.

TITLE: Black In Beauty

WRITER: Sita K. Jagai

FORMAT: Feature Film (108-pages)

GENRY: Action, Thriller, Crime, Family

NUTSHELL: It's “Prisoners” or “Trade” meets “Searching for Bobby Fischer”

SETTING: Current/New York Tri-State Area

Earlier drafted video PITCH (old version):