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KarenBrandin

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  1. STORY STATEMENT: Air Force fighter pilot Captain Beth “Mustang” Ford chases her dream of becoming an AF Thunderbird pilot as she tries to live up to her legendary grandmother, and be successful in her own right, while battling some of the same sexist obstacles her grandmother did during her career. Female pilots, past and present, must be twice as good as their male peers to be seen as half as good. ANTAGONIST/ANTAGONISTIC FORCE: Major Garth “Vader” Lane Beth’s squadron commander at her first assignment. An Instructor Pilot (IP) during Beth’s F-16 training, he hates Beth and does all he can to ruin her career as she was instrumental in the loss of his IP job. Doesn’t conceals the fact that he thinks women should be relegated to ferrying aircraft versus flying in fighter aircraft. Large framed for a fighter pilot, he frequently uses his physical size to intimidate women and verbally abuses them to discourage women from staying in the Air Force in anything but an administrative capacity. The culture during the grandmother’s career was blatant sexual harassment, verbal and physical, which was largely ignored. The same culture exists to some degree, but has gone “underground” and relates more to prejudice against female pilots continuing to fly if pregnant or after they become mothers. TITLE: Twice As Good COMPARABLES: Difficult. Many non-fiction, including memoirs, have been published about the trials women have faced in the military, “Twice As Good” is a fictional combination of a modern female fighter pilot navigating sexual harassment and discrimination while living up to family expectations (grandmother-granddaughter relationship). I found nothing like this concept. LOGLINE: Air Force fighter pilot Captain Beth “Mustang” Ford fights sexual discrimination and harassment as she chases her dream of becoming a Thunderbird pilot while trying to live up to the expectations of her legendary grandmother. PROTAGONIST’S INNER CONFLICT Every day is a struggle to maintain confidence in her abilities in the face of daily sexual harassment and discrimination, both blatant and subtle. EXAMPLE SCENARIO: During a training flight, a substitute male instructor pilot tells Beth she’ll never be an instructor, or Thunderbird pilot; that the only reason she got into pilot training was because of her family’s influence. He throws jibes at her throughout the flight, including stating that if she does graduate from F-16 training it will be because she’s banging her instructor – untrue, but a common accusation encountered by female pilots. SECONDARY CONFLICT Beth and her grandmother, one of the first females accepted to the Air Force Academy and an outstanding instructor pilot, have always had an uneasy relationship. Raised by her father and grandparents after her mother’s death when she was eight, she always felt the need to be perfect in everything, like her grandmother. Discipline was required in the grandparents household for both Beth and her brother Simon throughout their childhood. Expectations have always been high as the siblings made their way through childhood and into their professions. Her life is further complicated when her two past loves show up, and try to become a permanent part of her future. When her dreams come true, only one of the men in her life supports her achievements. Pressured to choose between love and children, or flying, both grandmother in the past and granddaughter in the present must be twice as good to accomplish both, as they prove day after day they are equal to their male peers. HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO: Beth declares an in-flight emergency when a bird strike renders her instructor unconscious and damages her F-16. Beth flashes back to her grandmother’s stories of aircraft emergencies, but must block out her feelings of inadequacy to focus on landing the plane. Her training kicks in and she successfully lands on a foamed runway, saving her instructor and herself. Most peers celebrate her extraordinary piloting skills but as always, there are those who call it luck. SETTINGS: - “Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.” Flying sequences in the skies. - Luke Air Force Base (AFB), AZ F-16 training base and range, both in the air and on the ground. Interior and exterior cockpits of aircraft. The tarmac and hangers on the ground. - Nellis AFB, NV: Beth’s first assignment after training. Off duty socializing is in the bars of Vegas and physical competitions in nearby hills. - Forward Operating Base in wartime. American has been sucked into Middle East conflict where Beth, and her peers, get combat experience, including dealing with losses. - 18th Aggressors Squadron, Eielson AFB, AK: Beth uses her combat experience to fly as an aggressor against AF units to provide experience to other pilots. Dealing with the extreme cold is a major obstacle for all, but when Beth and two friends are stranded in a freak snowstorm her leadership and cold weather survival skills save their lives. - Nellis AFB, NV, Thunderbird training: Beth achieves her dream of becoming a Thunderbird pilot. All Thunderbirds have a two-year assignment travelling to many bases and civilian airports as ambassadors for the AF. After the assignment Beth realizes she has chased the wrong dream and returns home to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan to teach flying and follow in her Grandfather’s bush pilot footsteps. Flashback settings: - Small flight school in Michigan’s UP owned and run by her fraternal grandfather, “Pops”, who famously “runs the rivers” flying below tree lines. He taught teenage Beth to be a daring pilot. - The United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO: Grandmother’s trials as a member of the first class with female cadets in 1980, as well as Beth’s experiences there decades later. The Academy is set in the beautiful Rockies, where upperclass cadets ski, hike and run in the mountains. Parachuting and glider training are available to cadets – Beth is chosen for glider training.
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