Redline Press
The Hollywood Dognappers
WGAW REG: 2104781
FADE IN:
EXT. It’s nighttime in Southern California, in Los Angeles. The air is cool and the sky is a bit overcast. The traffic on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood is moderate with the usual TOURISTS, LOCALS and STREET DENIZENS milling about up and down the street, some in shallow enclaves, a few HOMELESS PEOPLE sitting on the sidewalk by their carts full of belongings; OTHERS camped out and sleeping in makeshift cardboard tents.
Walking east toward town on the south side of the boulevard is RONNY, dressed in a pair of short red jogging briefs, a dark stylish sweatshirt, a rather Truman Capote type hat and high-top sneakers. Trailing RONNY are three very expensive small dogs, all on leashes; at least two of them from their immediate appearance are well-bred and even more well groomed. RONNY walks up to Martin’s Liquor Store and enters.
INT. Behind the counter, JOCELYN is ringing up a CUSTOMER as RONNY walks in, the dogs trailing behind him.
RONNY
Hi Jocelyn.
JOCELYN
Hello Ronny, say those are some fine looking little doggies you have there.
CUSTOMER stuffs money in pocket at the counter, grabs beer and cigarettes, exits.
RONNY
They belong to the pop star, Lady Agga, she’s over in Europe working on a new film and asked me to watch them for her.
JOCELYN
That’s great! I read in TZM that she was going to star in a film about a fashion queen but I didn’t know you are taking care of her pets!
The dogs trot forward, as if waiting to be introduced.
RONNY
Oh excuse me, where are my manners? Jocelyn, I want you to meet Krulak, and this is Gaston. And this little one is Miss Aspen.
JOCELYN walks out from behind the counter as the dogs surround her; she proceeds to pet them.
JOCELYN
What adorable little pups. How long do you have them?
RONNY
Lady Agga isn’t due back from Rome in two weeks, so I will be spending most of my time taking care of them.
JOCELYN
Say, it’s almost closing time and I have to do some work. Maybe you can bring them by earlier tomorrow night. My friends would be so jealous if I got some selfies with Lady Agga’s pets and put them up on my Instagram account!
RONNY
No problem. I just stopped in to get a tall one. The walk up the street has made me thirsty.
JOCELYN
Sure, no problem.
RONNY hands the leashes to JOCELYN, walks over to a coldbox, grabs a beer, returns to the counter as JOCELYN returns the leashes and goes back to ring him up
RONNY
Thanks Jocelyn, see you tomorrow.
JOCELYN
It’s a date!!
EXT. Cars whiz up and down Sunset Boulevard as RONNY finishes off the beer, tosses the empty can into a nearby trash bin and walks west back towards his apartment. Unnoticed as he walks, dogs trailing silently behind, a white sedan slowly paces him as he walks, on the north side of the boulevard, also heading west.
INT. Sedan. GANGBANGERS observe carefully as RONNY crosses one sidestreet and continues to walk up the boulevard.
BANGER001
They’s some of them rich people’s dogs right there.
BANGER002 (in back seat)
Yeah. What say we have a talk wif that gentleman.
BANGER003 (driving the sedan)
I’ll go up a block and turn around.
White sedan pulls past RONNY who is busy escorting the dogs, waiting briefly as they stop, sniff, then continue to walk. White sedan goes unnoticed in the flurry of cars on the south side of the boulevard heading east.
RONNY crosses yet another sidestreet, reaches the opposite sidewalk, then turns south into the dark street. The white sedan pulls up cautiously and turns into the street.
INT. At a house near the corner, with a white picket fence out front, ALFONSO is sitting on the couch with his PAL, they are watching some corny sci-fi movie on a pay-per-view channel. ALFONSO happens to glance up and notice RONNY walking by with the three dogs, not paying much attention until he notices the white sedan pull alongside RONNY and stop.
PAL
What’s up?
ALFONSO
Don’t know, looks like some tourists asking directions.
ALFONSO watches as two BANGERS jump out from the passenger side back door and surround RONNY, a violent scuffle breaks out.
BANGER002
Give it up!!
RONNY
No, no!!
ALFONSO (watching through the window)
WTF??!!
ALFONSO rushes over to his CCTV system near the television and observes the struggle between RONNY and the two BANGERS. He is joined by PAL.
PAL What’s going on out there?
ALFONSO
They fighting, don’t know what it’s all about but my camera is recording it.
EXT. The fight becomes even more violent with screaming, shouting and sounds of the struggle. As ALFONSO and PAL watch on the CCTV screen, BANGER001 pulls out a pistol and waves it in the direction of RONNY. Suddenly, a loud bang is heard and ALFONSO and PAL hit the floor.
ALFONSO
I think someone just got shot!! Get the phone call 911!!
PAL crawls over to a coffee table and grabs a cellphone, fumbling and dialing.
EXT. On the sidewalk, BANGER002, who was holding RONNY, throws him to the ground, having been shot at close range by BANGER001. The two GANGBANGERS grab two of the small dogs, Krulak and Gaston, hop back into the sedan and it speeds off toward Hollywood Boulevard. RONNY lies bleeding on the sidewalk; Miss Aspen trots over and stands silently next to him.
ALFONSO appears outside, walks cautiously up to RONNY, notices he has been shot.
RONNY (gasping for air)
Help me, help me! I’ve been shot and I’m bleeding out!
Another NEIGHBOR walks over and, with a towel, presses it against the wound to slow the bleeding. In the immediate distance, sirens are heard growing louder and eventually a police car pulls to a stop. More sirens, more police cars as COPS hop out and begin to cordon off the street.
COP001 (to ALFONSO)
What happened?
ALFONSO
These guys pull up and start fighting with this man, then they shoot him and take his dogs.
COP002
Dogs? They shot him over a couple of dogs? Did they rob him?
COP001 (assisting RONNY lying on the sidewalk bleeding.)
RONNY (choking, gasping for air)
The dogs, they were after the dogs. They were Lady Agga’s dogs.
COP001
The pop star? The pop star’s pets?
RONNY
Yeah.
COP002 (to ALFONSO)
Did you see who did it?
ALFONSO
No, but I got it on my CCTV. One of them had a hoodie and the other dreadlocks, couldn’t see much else.
In the sky above, a news chopper begins to circle around as an ambulance, siren loudly signaling its arrival, pulls to a stop. MEDICS hop out, rush over to RONNY and begin to administer life support. Audio over of NEWSMAN in chopper above as spotlight trained on RONNY
NEWSMAN
There appears to be one man down, lying on his back on the sidewalk, looks like he’s bleeding from a chest wound. (PILOT points at a small dog by RONNY) There appears to be a small dog next to the victim. Don’t know what that’s all about. Our team on the ground should be there any minute and we’ll get the details.
EXT. Some time later, on the other side of Hollywood, a white sedan pulls to a stop in an alley, the engine is cut and the lights turned off. Inside the sedan, a heated discussion is taking place, the voices are familiar.
BANGER002
Why hell you have to shoot that honky?
BANGER001
He was kickin yo butt, thas why!
BANGER003, the driver is looking at his phone.
BANGER003
What? Hey man, look what I just seen on Twitter. (Shows phone to BANGERS in the back seat who are holding Krulak and Gaston.
Closeup of phone and Twitter screen:
@TZM
Late news coming out of #Hollywood; two dogs belonging to pop icon #LadyAgga heisted, dog walker shot!
With the tweet is a photo of Krulak and Gaston. The two dogs being held by the BANGERS in the back seat look at their pictures on the phone, look at each other, then look at the BANGERS.
BANGER003
We jes dognapped Lady Agga’s dogs!
BANGER002
What we gone do?
BANGER001
Don’ axe me!
BANGER003
Hey look at this (holding up phone and reading another tweet)
The pop star is just put up a half-million reward for getting her dogs back, “no questions asked!”
BANGER001
These is some hot mutts. We gotta get rid of them, fast!
INT. Later, somewhere south of Koreatown in a run down house, outside the white sedan is parked hidden behind a fence. The BANGERS are watching the ALFONSO video being broadcast on a local news channel.
BANGER002 (hollering to BANGER001)
Hey there we is, on TV!
The video shows a repeat of everything that happened on the sidewalk off Sunset the night before. It’s followed up by a police briefing and a short clip of Lady Agga, in tears, offering up the reward.
BANGER002
Hell, I didn’t know someone taped us, now we’re really in for it. What we gonna do?
BANGER003 (sipping on a beer)
We have to cut the mutts loose.
BANGER001
Maybe we should waste ‘em.
BANGER002
We in enough trouble with yo gunplay, home! We cut the mutts loose!
BANGER003
We kill that woman’s dogs, she’ll send every honky bounty hunter from here to Compton out lookin’ for us. We cut ‘em loose.
EXT. Morning, Pico Union ‘hood. GOOD SAMARITAN is casually walking down the street when she hears a whimper from a nearby alleyway. She stops, peeks around the corner and there tied to a post, are Krulak and Gaston. She cautiously walks over to the two pups and is greeted enthusiastically by them.
GOOD SAMARITAN
My word, what do we have here? (examines them closely) You two look familiar, now where have I seen you before?
GOOD SAMARITAN fishes into a coat pocket, produces a cellphone and brings up her Twitter account. Hashtagging around, she eventually arrives at the photo posted online by Lady Agga of Krulak and Gaston, holds it next to them. Krulak and Gaston look at the photo, look at each other, look at GOOD SAMARITAN
GOOD SAMARITAN
Well look who I have found! Guess what, you two are going to make someone a very happy person today!
INT. Hospital room. RONNY lies quietly in bed, surrounded by DOCTORS, NURSES, FAMILY and REP.
NURSE (to RONNY)
The dogs have been found, unharmed, Ronny. Your bravery the other night has obviously gotten through to the dognappers and they were found.
RONNY is too weak to speak but nods in agreement.
REP
Yes, and Lady Agga will be picking up the bill for your stay in the hospital. She wishes you all her love and will come and visit as soon as she gets back from Europe.
EXT. Later on that night, near the beach on Santa Monica Boulevard. TOURISTS, LOCALS and STREET DENIZENS populate the night with their usual activity; HOMELESS INDIGENTS are busy setting up cardboard tents near shopping carts full of their worldly possessions. Traffic on the boulevard is as usual, somewhat tangled, frustrating, with honking horns and burning rubber.
On a sidewalk heading toward the beach, DOGWALKER slowly escorts several very expensive pets that stop infrequently, sniffing and checking the territory. Unknown to the DOGWALKER, a white sedan paces his every move from the other side of the boulevard, moving slowly, stopping and starting, waiting for yet another opportunity.
FADE OUT
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