01 Nov New Well Being

About a decade ago I had an idea for a script called New Well Being. The film was very similar in some ways to the new Mark Romanek film based on the novel by Kazuo Ishaguro, Never Let Me Go. My friend Alana just blogged about it and the trailer is INTENSE.

In my story two football stars- one the quarterback the other the receiver- have gone on to live wildly different lives. The Quarterback is a billionaire- a scientist who created a technology to grow organs in labs for transplant into sick people. The process is extremely expensive and only the wealthiest people can afford it. His friend, the receiver never amounted to anything. He’s a drunk who has intense nightmares and uses his herculean strength and fortitude to simply make it through the days.

The conceit of the story is that the wealthy slick quarterback used the DNA of his super healthy friend as the basis for the organs that he grew in the lab- and that the spiritual connection between his friend and his DNA is crippling. His nightmares consist of faceless beings that follow him like zombies… In the story this hero goes forth and destroys the lab freeing himself from the torture. Those long years ago I sent it to a friend in Hollywood and was told it sucked. A few years later a frighteningly similar- but bad- Arnold Schwartzeneger vehicle appeared. I’ve always thought it could still make a great film- and own the domain newwellbeing.com (that’s the name of his company- get some new organs and a new well being….)

When I wrote the script I wasn’t consciously thinking about my past as a donor but instead the dotcom billionaire rush that was taking place- as well as an article on cloning. Reading Alana’s account of the trailer and the connection to donor issues it struck me that in some ways I probably was working through some sublimated thoughts about these issues.

Now I just have to find that script…