Welcome to the Machine (6 pages in pdf format) by Dustin Bowcott

A Job Seeker looking to work for The Machine isn’t happy when she doesn’t get the job she wants.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – John Dalberg-Acton

Such is the theme of the great metaphorical script Welcome to the Machine, by talented writer Dustin Bowcott.

This grisly tale starts out with something we’ve all been through: a simple job interview.

A young woman named Angela waits nervously while Teufel, her potential boss, looks over her application. Lucky for her, she gets the job. Once Angela begins her job training, however, things take a… bizarre turn.

You see, in this world, a huge monster exists who must be fed to be appeased. And this monster is hungry… for human flesh. So Angela and Teufel head down to the cave and watch as hordes of people are herded into the creature’s mouth.

Images of Nazi Germany come to mind as Angela sees someone from her past, about to be fed to the monster’s cavernous maw. Will she be a hero and rescue the man from certain death? Or turn her back on humanity and embrace the beast?

The surprise comes when Angela finds out what job she’s really being offered. Spoiler alert: it’s not quite what she (or the reader) thinks.

Just know that the end highlights that age-old question: how far would YOU go to get ahead?

Budget: High, but still possible, and worth the bang for the buck. Lots of actors (though only three speaking parts) and some CGI or other effects for the monster. But a savvy director could probably make this for less, though there will still be some cost attached.

About the Writer: Dustin Bowcott is a self employed microbe retailer and father of four boys and a girl. He has enjoyed writing since the day he read his first novel. For Dustin, writing is something he has to do, when not writing, he’s thinking about writing and will absorb himself into multiple projects at one time. When he gets tired of writing one thing he moves onto another and has been known to work on three different stories in one day, writing for sometimes 12 hours straight and, on occasion, even longer. Dustin can turn his hand to any genre and has just finished first draft of a new children’s novel. Dustin is a BBC Writer’s Room finalist and a Shore Scripts finalist both in 2014. He is a produced and optioned writer, and has recently turned his hand to production, having produced his first short film with another in the pipeline that should be completed this year. Want to see what else he has in store? Give him a shout-out at dustin7375 “AT” gmail.

About the Reviewer: Mitch Smith is an award winning screenwriter whose website (http://mitchsmithscripts.wix.com/scripts offers notes, script editing and phone consultations. You can also reach him at Mitch.SmithScripts@gmail.com and follow Mitch at https://twitter.com/MitchScripts.

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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.