THE GIFT OF GIVING (6-page short drama screenplay) Written by John Staats
An elderly man and his dog enjoy another memorable Christmas Eve.
In our December, holiday-themed OWC, there were some really heartwarming, touching tales that really captured the spirit of the holidays and explored the importance of family and togetherness during this time of year. However, this 3rd place OWC winner, a mind-bending tearjerker, explores another common feeling many people experience during the holidays – loneliness. All while bending our perception of reality with unique storytelling and structure.
The tale starts off like many holiday-themed tales: Charley and his wife, June – an elderly couple – prepare a nice Christmas dinner, waiting for family to arrive. Charley sits in front of fireplace, looking over a gift box as his spry, energetic golden terrier, Sam, sits by his feet.
Soon their son, Bill, daughter-in-law, Mary and four-year-old grandson, Phillip arrive bearing gifts. Unfortunately, there’s a pretty bad snowstorm in progress outside and they need to get going before the roads get too bad.
But, before they leave, Charley’s son, Bill, gives him a Christmas gift he picked up from Romania while on business – a very unique crystal ball ornament.
CHARLEY
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen
anything like it.
BILL
It’s just a little something for
the tree. The old lady I bought it
from barely spoke any English. She
said something about the gift of
giving memoryor something like that.
I don’t know. I just thoughtit looked
cool.
And before we know it, Bill, Mary and Phillip leave. The abruptness of their stay and the way they leave, it almost feels like a dream, but in a very subtle way. But things truly get strange when Charley notices that his once-energetic dog, Sam, is suddenly walking with a limp, for reasons unknown. What is going on here, exactly?
I won’t give away the gut-punch of an ending. But I encourage you to check out this script and I highly recommend this to filmmakers. It really does tug at the heartstrings, but not in a conventional way. It carries a sadness to it in the way we see in Charlie Kaufman projects such as, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and, most recently, “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” on Netflix (though easier to follow).
BUDGET: Low. Minimal cast, one location (a house).
ABOUT THE WRITER: As a fly-fishing fanatic and skier living in the Arizona desert, John Staats finds plenty of time for writing. His feature Impasse was a 2019 Filmmatic Season 4 Drama Screenplay Finalist and has been published as an e-book on Amazon. In addition to features and shorts for the screen, John has found a niche writing for the illustrated page (comics!). John can be contacted at jestaats (a) hotmail.
Read: THE GIFT OF GIVING (6-page short drama screenplay)
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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.
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