The Meeting, re draft of Pitch and Synopsis.

I have found this to be the hardest part of the unit, and still feel it is not quite right. Would really like some feedback from people, thank you :)

The Meeting Pitch

 “A twelve-year-old girl, living in a twisted world of fantasy and neglectful abuse, finds comfort in an older stranger. Will he save her?”

The Meeting Synopsis

Neglect is all Jessica has ever known. At twelve years old, living in England’s roughest council estate, she must fight to keep her dreams alive, clinging on to the hope of a brighter future.

This short film enters Jessica’s life at breaking point. Her mother, a raging alcoholic, subjects her daughter to endless abuse. Treating her own flesh and blood, with resentment, like a disease she has transmitted and cannot scrub away.

Their house is not a home. With strange men endlessly coming and going, Jessica must defend for herself, and her mother. In the face of abandonment and hopelessness, she holds on to the one thread of childhood she has left, her imagination. 

Whilst cleaning and cooking, Jessica whisks herself off into a land of castles, candyfloss clouds, lush green grass and bright blue skies. She sees herself as a princess locked in a tower, waiting patiently for a knight in shining armor to take her away. Her extravagant dreams bring bitter-sweetness to her pain and trepidations.

 An imaginary friend, Stan, also offers solace when things get too much and her emotions begin to drown her. He is an army general, helping her to keep everything in order. Like an older brother, he provides stability in the whirlwind of prostitution and alcohol addiction, which has become Jessica’s mother’s life.  The two are inseparable, but in her heart, Jessica longs for a real bond, to feel a human connection, to feel loved.

 One night, after making dinner for her mother, a grotesque man storms into the house, demanding money. In trying to protect her mother, fragile Jessica is flung violently across the kitchen floor. Running upstairs, she listens as her mother is beaten to a pulp.  Enough is enough. She must find her knight in shining armor, and he must come now.

This gritty drama, takes us on a heart-rending journey through resentment, naivety, poverty, abuse and escapism.  We see Jessica’s world start to crumble and the lines between fantasy and reality collide.

 
Jessica thinks she has found her salvation in a seemingly loving stranger she talks to online.  We watch uncomfortably as their relationship begins to grow. In her fragile state, all she sees is his caring words and promises of a brighter day.

Arranging to meet, Jessica soon counts down the days, hours and minutes.  Sworn to secrecy and not wanting to ruin their plans, she stays silent.  Is this her real life Knight, coming to save the day, providing shelter and protection? Or is he grooming her in an attempt to steal the one part of childhood and innocence she has left? It is their meeting that will ultimately decide.