The Rendezvous, television series pitch/Episode loglines

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Anitque National television.
The Rendezvous Tavern with strategically designed look-out windows.
The Rendezvous Bar was wired into four other roadhouses with warning buzzers to alert them of impending police raids.
The Edgewater Thomas Inn was a high-class blind-pig in Riverside with secret passageways and hidden wine cellars.
Bertha Thomas was the eccentric roadhouse pioneer who ran the Edgewater Thomas Inn.

Based on The Rendezvous, screenplay, an unpublished feature script by Jason Carswell.

A logline (aka elevator pitch) is a one or two line plot summary.

First, the overarching series logline:

Respecting life, sacrifice, and a diamond treasure, The Rendezvous, a dramatic television series, centers around a fictional Black family's circumstances and drama across three generations working at a local historical roadhouse through three Windsor-Detroit intense events - rum-running of the 1920s, war-time riots of 1943, and the "peace"-time riots of 1967 in "Motown". Without being preachy or pedantic, issues like prejudice, domestic abuse, organized crime, fairness and ethics, personal autonomy, musical trends, and motor vehicles are fairly addressed and dramatized in evolving morals and culture across the decades.

The following episode outlines combined together may be considered the overarching series treatment - and/or an alternative 2024 treatment for The Rendezvous, screenplay.

Work in progress

At present, 12 or 13 episodes of about 10 minutes each (plus credits), would add up to 120 to 130 minutes - like a movie, but not.

Rather than directly adapt The Rendezvous screenplay, an unpublished feature screenplay by Jason Carswell, after many years of not looking at my script or copious notes I'm going to first outline (and maybe draft a longer treatment of) the story, in part from memory yet new in part, to fit this series format and dramatically limit the number of settings (and in preparation for a stage play version), to see what new gems may turn up before polishing begins. Instead of shooting around Windsor and Detroit, for this new economic revision (more appropriate for a stage play) locations have been reduced essentially to the family home, The Rendezvous roadhouse tavern, and a couple wide open exterior winter scenes. Both locations might simply be shot only as interiors, but could be improved by utilizing exteriors for shot diversity.

It's worth noting that through the eras, in addition to the family thread of principal characters (focused on in these outlines), are many reoccurring supporting roles, appearances, and background characters.

It's also worth noting that characters should not just be sitting around talking at each other, but many can be actively doing things, especially actions relevant to the era, particularly unfamiliar trends that have passed.

Historical accuracy

Great care was taken to have as few anachronisms as possible in developing The Rendezvous screenplay. In developing this television series we should try to avoid anachronisms as well, but may find more liberty in the oldest third taking place between 1922 and 1929, remaining undefined by not mentioning dates or precise current events.

The road now known as Riverside Drive East would have been a primitive road until it evolved from dirt to gravel then its current Tarmacadam surface, as would the road surface markings. Further local timeline research is required to apply to this story's three eras. Similarly, the interior and exterior of The Rendezvous Tavern evolved over time, as did the owners.

Copyrights

  1. Jason Carswell grew up on Lake St. Clair at 11080 Riverside Drive East, half-way between Sand Point Beach and The Rendezvous Tavern at the border of Windsor and Tecumseh, Ontario (across the lake from Grosse Pointe).
  2. Jason Carswell developed this story over decades into this original fictional story based in a lot of anecdotal and factual research.
  3. Jason Carswell is obviously sharing this story online on his Projex.Wiki website.
  4. Jason Carswell does not have an army of lawyers to protect this intellectual property.
  5. Jason Carswell requests that anyone who "borrows" elements or further develops his content would contact and include him in their projects, lucrative or not.

If recollections are correct, after decades of consideration and research the first draft of The Rendezvous, screenplay was finally started in 2010 or 2011 in Windsor and Dwight, Muskoka.

It might be worth noting that The Rendezvous, screenplay has been mentioned countless times in passing on SaidIt, including here and here on 2019-06-18. My focus then was on Bittersweet Seeds, screenplay, which was clearly then as now, a far more important and necessary near-future cautionary tale to develop.



Episode 1 - Sinking (1922 winter)

From the blustery winter outdoors, boys burst into The Rendezvous roadhouse tavern with alarming news.

Venturing out onto the frozen Lake St. Clair, the men and boys find a stuck old jalopy weighed down with whisky perilously in danger of plunging into the frozen depths.

"Don't fall in there - or they might find you 30 or 40 miles away in Lake Erie - in the spring."

Despite several attempts with different ideas, the subtle and not-so-subtle racist men in various states of sobriety finally free the vehicle to continue its smugglers' journey - thanks to the clever logical ideas of Cliff, the (fictional) Black employee of the (historical) Rendezvous.

Through the door, "You won't believe what happened..."

Episode 2 - Inciting (1943 June)

Through the door, "You won't believe what happened..."

We follow Cliff and Clay as they weave through the animated discussions at The Rendezvous. Topics include the ongoing world war, rising tensions at home, the many variables, circumstances, and escalating problems, as well as unfounded rumours circulating.

Some lads invite Clay to go along on a trip to Belle Isle to see first hand what all the hubbub is about. "Pack for war. Not that war."

Cliff insists he go along, "Just in case..."

Episode 3 - Grinding (1967 July)

"Just in case..." Old Clay and friends are wishing Rocky luck as he prepares to head a potential job cleaning ducts at Ford's Casting Plant, 5 or 6 miles away.

"The daily grind is bad enough - but to work night shifts. And in the foundry!"

They talk about the state of things in Windsor, Detroit, the US, and Canada - assassins, automobiles, Black Panthers, civil rights, economics, leaders, the paradoxes of life, peace, and rising tensions - including with his abusive wife from Chatham. The guys have various reactions from humour to sympathy and offer unsought advice.

"Why did I even tell you?..."

Episode 4 - Conflicting (1922, 1943, 1967)

Within the same family home we see their kitchen upgraded over the decades.

Episode 4a - Arguing (1922 winter)

"Why did I even tell you?..."

At home, Cliff's wife, Rose, incessantly challenges his manhood for failing to better stand up to the racists and get a pay raise.

Tensions rise.

She clips him with a cast iron pan and his response begins by smashing her head that creates a large hole in the kitchen wall as their children witness in horror.

Ruby, the girl watches with Clay, the boy...

Episode 4b - Dishing (1943 June)

Same place, two decades later, same cinematic framing, Clay, the man...

...is being assaulted at home by his pregnant wife, furious that he's off "to have fun picking fights in another country" leaving her alone, suffering.

Tensions rise. Dishes fly and smash. Punches fly. Cliff steps in, "You can be a better man, and father, than I ever was." The children are watching.

Clay, the man, "We can talk about this later. We have to go."

Episode 4c - Denying (1967 July)

Clay, the old man, "We can talk about this later. We have to go."

Rocky's wife is upset he didn't get the foundry job. In a similar move, she almost hits him with a frying pan, but impacts the wall. Clay is impressed watching his son, Rocky, maintain self-discipline.

"I won't [respond with violence]. We have more important things to fight about. You love On the Waterfront. Well that's just a movie - and this is real. History. And bigger. And we'll go see it together, again, when we get back."

She confesses that she's more concerned about him not coming back.

Clay and Rocky gather their things for the protest and leave - with musical instruments.

Episode 5 - Warning (1922 winter)

Touring musician Fats Waller is tickling the ivories at The Rendezvous as patrons drink.

Some sneaky fellas are setting up an important meeting that will soon take place at The Rendezvous. "So I says to him, see, I says, 'Handy to be so near the river's current that'll sweep away your trash.' You see?" They also talk about their jeweler friends in Manhattan, their media connections, their influence, and the next big thing to invest in before the market explosion - diamonds. It's a sure thing, but is gonna take a couple years to manifest. [It actually takes a couple decades.]

Cliff serves other patrons whose discussion covers the troubled finances of the proposed bridge.

The boys Peter and Clay come down from the upstairs lookout to announce the looming arrival of police, but skeptics wonder if the boys are just saying that for the reward of fries - and then the wire-light alarms everyone into panic mode. 

[ This may casually be discussed...
" A Toronto financier hired to sell its securities instead stole the money, ran off and ultimately committed suicide in a jail cell after being convicted of murdering a drugstore clerk. The bridge boosters turned to Joseph A. Bower, a New Yorker who specialized in rescuing mismanaged companies. Bower succeeded in raising the necessary $12 million. “The only way things can be done today,” said Henry Ford, who backed the project, “is by private business.” "
" The notion of private ownership for such a crucial piece of infrastructure was alarming to political leaders from the start. The mayor of Detroit, John Smith, sued to stop the project, but Detroit held a plebiscite in 1927, and voters favoured letting private funds build and own the bridge by a margin of 8 to 1. “I bow to the will of the people,” said mayor Smith. “They want a bridge and they must have a bridge.” "
~ Macleans.ca: Land of the freeloaders: The battle for a new cross-border bridge, 2015-05-21 ]

Episode 6 - Tensing (1943 June)

At The Rendezvous, the guys, and some women, plan their boat ride over to Belle Isle Park to see first hand what all the noise is about (and witness history).

Over food, accusations, inflammations, rumours, and a range of viewpoints are exchanged, but ultimately a consensus is reached and plans are outlined.

People discuss other trivial matters (Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, when Houdini did his water trick off the old wood Belle Isle Bridge, the newer bridge, the new bridge name, and Houdini's Halloween death despite not being a mystic) and progressively groups peel away to their boats.

Cliff expresses unheeded concerns, "Someone could be hurt or die," as the last group checks their weapons before leaving the roadhouse tavern.

Episode 7 - Frustrating (1967 July)

The seeds of discontent are boiling over and folks are gathering at The Rendezvous to meet before heading to Detroit for a variety of reasons.

Many people voice many opinions.

None of our business. Stay out of that country's problems. Let them sort it out.

"We don't have a choice. They've squeezed us nearly to death. They want to take my car. How can I find work and go to work without a car? What can I do with no car, no job, and a family to care for? 

We need to resist the tyranny!"

It's the Negros' fault. It's the Whites' fault. It's the establishment weaponizing culture in the classic Hegelian dialectic - problem, reaction, solution - and their solution is more centralized control and exploitation!

Some suggest blockading the bridge and tunnel. Some suggest watching the tanks from downtown Windsor, some want peace, and some just want to set the world on fire.

In the end, some discouraged go home, some motivated venture North to the USA, and some just sit, observe, and drown their sorrows.

It all just started with a speakeasy where people just wanted the freedom to drink, be merry, and carefree.

Episode 8 - Drinking (1922, 1943, 1967)

Episode 8a - Misbehaving (1922 winter)

Everyone pitches in to drink up, clean up, and mop up as the entire bar rotates to hide the blind pig in the wall while the sneaky fellas manage an unnoticed getaway.

Fats starts adlibbing what would become one of his famous tunes, as the police enter asking knowing questions that are only rewarded with fries, like the boys eventually get, along with a subtle bribe. 

[ The 1929 Ain't Misbehavin' will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025. ]

Some pontificate on the fact that so many otherwise law abiding citizens are peaceful smugglers and the ever-expanding government is just trying to control and exploit everyone. "No one believes in the legitimacy of corrupt systems."

After the police take their sweet time leaving, before re-setting the speakeasy bar, the bootleggers take flasks from their boots, "We need a drink!"

Episode 8b - Heartbreaking (1943 June)

Bursting in, "We need a drink!"

Most of the boaters who left to Belle Isle Park return, some mildly wounded, and some only stay briefly before heading home, to work, or elsewhere.

Having witnessed the beginning of the riot, different folks have different reflections, perspectives, and opinions on things. Rumours and war stories abound.

All the while Cliff, has not been doing well, clutching his left arm - since the tense conflict on the island. His health takes a turn for the worse and a doctor is sent for.

Gasping for Clay, a panicked Cliff aware it may be the end, manages to sputter out, "The kitchen... the wall...," before passing out as Clay misinterprets his meaning.

Episode 8c - Singing (1967 July)

[ Post-cliffhanger: ]

"You Keep Me Hangin' On*, from 'the girls' about Motown. Thank you! Before that, Love Is Here and Now You're Gone*. Folks, The Supremes will take a short break and be back with more."

"I saw you win the [ Detroit/Windsor ] Freedom Fest in '60!"
"They performed supremely."

Drama ensues as a drunken Florence Ballard shows up to confront Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and the new member, Cindy Birdsong, about kicking her out of the group as well as the recent name change to "Diana Ross & the Supremes".

They finally convince her to go not even a mile up the road to the house on the lake where they always stay the night, asking Clay's son, Rocky, to escort her there safely.

A racist gets put in his place. Everyone is on edge. The riot is not yet over. Horror stories trickle in. The future is uncertain. People are trying and failing to relax.

"And now - The Supremes' newest track, out any day now... Reflections*!" 

[ As the cliffhanger closing, preferably utilizing mirrors and reflections. ]

[ * Copyrighted songs can be mentioned, and perhaps the rights to play them can be obtained. ]

[ Potential dialogue:
- More puns: "You can't hurry, love."
- Intentional anachronisms with Member Berries of future hits: "Love Child", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Do You Know Where You're Going To?" ]

Episode 9 - Thriving (1800s)

[ Optional bonus 1800s episode. ]
[ Post-cliffhanger, preferably utilizing mirrors and reflections.  Ideally with some kind of echoes of Reflections, perhaps in melody, lyric, or even the original song recording. ]

Kids sit around the feet of their great-grandmother as she tells them her stories about the generations on the family tree quilt-tapestry hanging in the living room. Her stories include the War of 1812, the Underground Railroad, the American Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan, the Northern life being worse than the South, and Canada was often just as unwelcoming because "Blacks were stealing jobs from Whites and undercutting and ruining local economies".

Regardless, Black folks survived, and thrived, whether in the greater Canadian society or Black communities - in settlements specifically established for escaped slaves (ie. Chatham, Dawn, Elgin, Wilberforce, etc.). We all appreciated the new wonders of the world, like Kewpie dolls, Victrolas, telephones, and wonderful home appliances, like the Thor washing machine.

"Thanks a lot."

Episode 10 - Tanking (1967 July)

"Tanks. A lot. All over downtown Detroit."

Clay, Rocky, and the rest have just returned to drop some folks off, pick others up, eat, rest, restock, and prep to go back in solidarity.

"Okay smart guy, what's your grand solution you've been working on."
"You might think it's naive, but I've been thinking on it a while and it's the best I can come up with. FOEPATCHISM. Yes. Foe Patch Ism. It stands for Fair, Open, Ethical, Peaceful, Accountable, Transparent, Consistent, Honest, Inclusive, Social Management. It could work for collaborators, communities, families, governments, groups, homes, media, organizations, societies, teams, workplaces, etc. To the point, it's ethical community management, with the emphasis on voluntary ethical communities rather than controlling management."
"Impossible, peacenik."
"Not if you start with the media and counter-propaganda."
"Agitprop?"
"No, not for agitation. For greater harmony. The medium is not the only message. Almost anything can be weaponized, and almost anything can be utilized for good. We don't even need control or a strong signal - if it resonates strongly with people they will spread the frequency, man."
"You've almost got even me convinced."
"Look, I've not only been reading up on them but the Black Panthers are setting up a Detroit branch. I'm keen, man. No - they're not the violent thugs the liar media is claiming. You've seen how they cover this riot. The press only spins and misrepresents and lies. If the Black Panthers are so bad why do they focus so much on giving free breakfasts to Black children? And why is the government trying to stomp on that? And killing thriving communities? Not just here but everywhere?"

"Okay folks. Two hours and we go back. This is a happening. Meanwhile feel free to read Isaiah 21:5-9, all along the watchtower."
"Interesting. I think a thunderstorm's coming."
"Who you?"
"Bob. I was supposed to play tonight."
"Ah. Dylan. I've seen you, man. Well, I mean... My wife saw you live. You're always welcome in the righteous resistance."
"Sure man, but I'm just passing through. A low key stop on my way back home to two babies and the wife."

"Money can't fix this."
"It couldn't hurt."

Someone reads quotes from the papers about the riot. 

[ This may casually be discussed...
" The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar, known as a blind pig, on the city's Near West Side. It exploded into one of the deadliest and most destructive social insurgences in American history, lasting five days and surpassing the scale of Detroit's 1943 race riot 24 years earlier. "
" Governor George W. Romney [father of Mitt] ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit to help end the disturbance. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in the United States Army's 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions. The riot resulted in 43 deaths, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 400 buildings destroyed. "
~ Wikipedia ]

Crying people...

Episode 11 - Lamenting (1943 June)

Crying people...

The Rendezvous is hosting the wake for Cliff Sands where people express their sentiments, stories, and regrets about the trip to Belle Isle, follow up details about the riot they missed, the trauma of those riots, the outcomes, and overall despondence at the chaos raging in the wider World War II.

"I am the Rose with deep roots into my Cliff, my foundation, for better and worse, for all our faults, we were and are unstoppable - and our beautiful children are proof of that."

In the end is family, Rose, her children Clay, Ruby, and Stone, their spouses, and her grandchildren, Amber, Crystal, Jade, Pearl, and Rocky - with Flint on the way.

"Is there any hope left for this world?"

"Sure, there's always room for improvement. Things here may seem dark, but overall things are getting better. Just think of where we've been..."

Episode 12 - Rendezvousing (1922 winter)

"Where you been?"
"Did you notice the snow?"

The sneaky fellas are hosting a late night gangsters meeting, including representation from Detroit's notorious Purple Gang, Chicago, Winnipeg, New York, etc., mostly Jewish and Italian - all with lots of guns, left on the big table by the door at the insistence and pat-down of big thugs.

Apparently the owner of The Rendezvous has abandoned the place to them for the night - except he forgot Cliff was cleaning the windows and painting the loft where the boys, Peter and Clay, lookout for police to be rewarded with fries. Cliff quietly wedges the loft door shut, peers through a crack and is nervously able to see and hear all that transpires.

Wildly different personalities (including a few ladies, some infamous leaders and some molls, who went missing) make themselves apparent at the pushed-together meeting tables. The discussion ranges from smuggling to homosexuality to territory to diamonds to Jews to whiskey to The Real McCoy, and bricks.

Some fellas provoke, others get angry, some try to calm, some try to negotiate, but inevitably egos get bruised, ids get greedy, and things get heated until couple guns somehow missed in the pat-downs are brandished. The weapons table thugs are moved away from the door/table with their hands up.

A tense calm is restored, further discussions outline some plans, and presented beside stacks of cash are two generous heavy bags of diamonds, cut and uncut - "lent" from 6th Ave in New York. Despite the obvious imbalance of lethal power, egos are not capitulating.

A sudden flurry of fake out moves, counter-moves, lunges, fisticuffs, kicking, and shots fired, followed by a deafening silence punctuated only by short wounded wheezing and angry stares.

Traumatized, Cliff can't help accidentally letting a small noise escape. A weapons table thug is sent to check out the upstairs noise.

This distraction is an invitation for another volley of chaos, made exponentially worse as one fella shot in the back almost gets to the weapons table but falls on it to spill guns and knives across the floor as the others madly scramble to join the fray of paranoid crossfires. Early in they melee the brash homophobic guy laid out on the floor screams that he can't move his legs and eventually fades out from loss of blood - but not before the dapper gay weasel shot through the heart, lands face down in his crotch. The creative choreography of sensational violence is something to behold as the body count rises.

In short order, everyone is dead, except one whimpering moll who uncrouches, grabs some stacks, and almost makes it to the door before a dying gangster collapsed on a broken chair, missing half his head, unloads his gun into her leg, then head shooting off her wig.

Silence.

Episode 13 - Generating (1922, 1943, 1967)

Episode 13a - Healing (1922 winter)

Silence.

Through the soft thick snowfall Cliff trudges home alone, in the dark.

Cliff finishes patching up the wall, he quietly tidies the kitchen, and puts his tools away.

Cliff slips into bed, Rose rolls over, and they embrace in silence.

Sins are forgiven.

Sleep.

Episode 13b - Enriching (1943 June)

Awakening, Rose Sands, now a widow, finds some of her grandchildren bringing her breakfast in bed.

These are the real riches that make impossible and unbearable suffering worth enduring and persevering through.

The greatest wealth is appreciating our fleeting gift of life passed on through generations despite endless hardships.

Rose sews a Cliff addition to the family tree quilt surrounded by her family.

Episode 13c - Shining (1967 July)

Ruby sews a Rose addition to the family tree quilt surrounded by her family.

"I really should have done this sooner."
"You can't blame yourself. This month has been beyond crazy."
"I don't know if things will get any better."
"I think they already are. Maybe people just needed to vent."
"So many lives. So much loss. So much destruction."
"But as Rose said, the real riches of family make it all worth while. Plus Rocky got the casting plant job after all. We're gonna be okay."

"Hey! Get in here!" Rocky was finally patching the kitchen wall, only to find behind it stacks of cash and the two heavy bags of diamonds hidden in the kitchen wall...

The family celebrates and the camera slowly zooms in on the diamonds.

End


Reference

Wikipedia links, unless otherwise noted:

1800s plus

1922

  • Ain't Misbehavin' (song)
    "Ain't Misbehavin'" is a 1929 stride jazz/early swing song. Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics to a score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks for the Broadway musical comedy play Connie's Hot Chocolates (opened June 20, 1929). As a work from 1929 with its copyright renewed, it will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025.
  • Boardwalk Empire, an HBO television series, 2010-2014

1943

  • 1943 Detroit race riot, Sunday June 20 - Tuesday June 22, 1943
    • Belle Isle Park
    • MacArthur Bridge (Detroit), 1923+, replaced an iron bridge with wooden decking that accidentally caught fire and was destroyed in 1915. The bridge, popularly known as the Belle Isle Bridge, was originally named the George Washington Bridge and renamed the Douglas MacArthur Bridge after General Douglas MacArthur in 1942.

1967

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