Well, here we are ladies. The house I grew up in. This was my bedroom...
Of course, this isn't at all what it looked like when I slept in it. With my two brothers, I might add.
JEAN
Must've been a little cramped.
CHRIS
A little.
EDIE
I can relate. I had a lot of siblings.
I was so cute! That's me in the center. Of course, that was all staged for LIFE magazine.
CHRIS
Hey, Edie...your dad was a Francis. So was mine!
EDIE
We called him "Fuzzy." Or "Daddy."
CHRIS
My mom told me when my dad was a lifeguard the girls called him "Teddy Bear" because he was, well, fuzzy!
EDIE
Do you have Daddy issues, Chris? I know I do!
CHRIS
Did you know that the name "Francis" is like the most off-the-chart name in The Book of Names?
EDIE
No...
CHRIS
Let's take a look!
Well, my daddy had charisma, that's for sure...
JEAN
I like this room. Why don't we continue the show from here?
Okay. I have a lot of great memories in this room. And here's the Zillow listing if you're interested in the grand tour.
www.zillow.com/homedetails/62-Saville-St-Saugus-MA-01906/56132211_zpid/
Is that a river I can see behind the house?
CHRIS
Yes. It's the Saugus river. It supplied the water power for the Saugus Ironworks, America's very first!
JEAN
I want to see more pictures later; but right now, Chris, I think we're all waiting for the Big Reveal! So spill!
CHRIS
Okay. So. Sometime in early 2023--no, make that late 2022--just about two years ago; I started writing this blog on my site called "Let's Write A Screenplay!" And, I proceeded to do just that. I'll provide links later--
EDIE
Oh, I loathe golf. Just everything about it!
JEAN
Never mind golf. Story!
CHRIS
Ah, right. So, I started writing this screenplay, taking the readers along with me as I did so; in real time. It was like a class, with notes and lessons and examples and lectures and so on and so forth.
JEAN
Yes. Go on.
CHRIS
It was; or rather is; called HEARTFIGHT and it's about these two guys named Henry and Paddy who become players in a new sport that combines sky diving and fighting; and they fall in love. Complications ensue.
EDIE
What happens?
CHRIS
I can't tell you that! You'll have to read it. I'm publishing it as a book as soon as I finish up a few things on my site.
EDIE
Is it a "ten minute" read?
CHRIS
No. Decidedly not. It turned out quite lengthy but everything nowadays is lengthy. Like Wicked, which is nearly three hours long and only the first half of the story. Wicked, by the way, is a musical version of The Wizard of Oz.
JEAN
But The Wizard of Oz already is a musical.
CHRIS
Oh, it's the prequel.
EDIE
The what?
JEAN
We can talk about The Wizard of Oz later. Let's stick to you. So, you wrote this long script and then published the final result on your "site"?
CHRIS
Yes.
EDIE
Did you say "skydiving"? LIke the video we just watched?
CHRIS
Yes, not only that; but Rob Gronkowski!
JEAN
The script was about Mr. Gronkowski?
CHRIS
Well, no. But I imagined him as a character in the story and put him, by name, into the script.
JEAN
That's rather unusual...
EDIE
Is it? When I did movies at The Factory, all the character's names were the people in the room at the time.
JEAN
Those movies had scripts?
Yes. I thought and still do, that Mr. Gronkowski has a natural comedic talent and instant likability and that magical "It" factor that you simply can't fake. And I said so in the notes; introduced him as the character "Kevin" and at one point, had him...guess what?
JEAN
Jumping out of an airplane.
CHRIS
Yeah. Here's the scene in script form and then the "notes" I wrote about him, excerpts in the order they were presented:
This is very interesting. How long from when you published your script pages and Mr. Gronkowski jumping out of a plane.
CHRIS
Well, March-ish of 2023 and then Gronk did his jump on November 12th of '23.
EDIE
Did you watch the live broadcast?
CHRIS
No. I had no idea it had happened until I saw the story about his recent leap into the Pacific from a helicopter. So, what do you think?
JEAN
Let's look at it objectively. You wrote about Rob Gronkowski, who was never known to be a skydiving enthusiast, jumping out of a plane in a tandem dive and seven months later he's doing just that on live TV? I don't know what the number crunchers in Hollywood would say, but it seems--
EDIE
Astronomical.
CHRIS
Do you think so?
EDIE
Does Andy Warhol wear a wig?
CHRIS
I thought this was interesting: I wrote about one of the parachutes having the flag of Scotland on it in the script and then check out Gronks parachute. Probably a coincidence--
EDIE
Why would the Air Force have it's logo on a parachute and alert the enemy?
CHRIS
Well...the colors are kind of...uncanny...
Okay, let's say they did get this entire idea from you. What do you hope to accomplish with this expose?
CHRIS
Well Jean, you know, this brings us full-circle back to mental health. I don't feel it's productive to go around "accusing" people of stealing from me. But, on the other hand, if this is indeed happening; why should I sit in the woods of Virginia and ruminate about it and drive myself crazy over it? Maybe I am in fact, an influencer of sorts. And with God as my witness; I despise that term.
JEAN
Is that some new, modern lifestyle term?
CHRIS
It's a current term for a person who has a presence in online and social media and "influences" contemporary culture in some niche, like fashion or beauty or media or whatever--
EDIE
Art?
CHRIS
Sure.
EDIE
I guess I was an influencer...(LAUGHS)...or a bad influencer. Or an under the influencer!
CHRIS
Yeah. Maybe one of the first. You were "Girl of the Year" in 1965, amongst other things.
You too Jean. How many women ran out and got a Pixie haircut because of you?
JEAN
Oh, one or two I suppose.
CHRIS
I was watching an old interview of yours and I was kind of shocked at how intrusive and insensitive the interviewer was; but you handled it amazingly well.
I mean, jeez. How many fucking times did you have to apologize for Saint Joan?
JEAN
I'm not gonna say it wasn't brutal. But let's not dwell on the negative. What can we do, moving forward?
CHRIS
I'm not sure. There's not much I can do, other than file frivolous lawsuits which would be a waste of time and money.
EDIE
I'm not sure they'd be all that frivolous. That's a fun word! I was kind of a frivolous girl; but I did have fun. Mostly. Well, some of the parts I can actually remember...
CHRIS
I think you would've liked the 80's, Edie.
JEAN
Chris, do you want to be an influencer?
CHRIS
Sure. If I can be a good influence. But what I'd really like is to receive the proper credit and compensation for my vocations in life.
JEAN
I would say that is what most of us want.
EDIE
Well, that last part, anyway.
ALL
Hear, hear!
CHRIS
I want to thank you ladies so much for talking me through this. I hope we can do it again; I mean, under different circumstances.
EDIE
Well, as long as it's not at that snake pit place. I like this house.
CHRIS
Yeah, I like it too, Edie.
Ciao! Bon soir! Let's have lunch! MWAH (Air kisses) Bye! Take care! Toodles...etc.
CFR 11/23/24