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Witness Protection: Hawai’i
WGA Reg# 1091067 Effective Date 9/30/05 Exp.Date 9/30/10.
SCRIPT TREATMENT for WITNESS PROTECTION: HAWAII
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The pilot and series could be produced on a moderate budget. No special effects required.
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There are no elaborate sets or high-tech features.
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Interior sets would be easy to find locally or simple and inexpensive to construct.
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Exterior scenes could be shot on the streets and natural areas of the Hawaiian Islands.
LOGLINE
Attractive, thirty something, covert FBI caretaker of the Federal Witness (Fed Wits) Protection Program struggles to resolve the crimes, lost loves, domestic problems, runaways, frustrations and isolations of the Fed Wits on the Big Island of Hawaii; sometimes with violence; sometimes with compassion. His past as both an East Coast Organized Crime undercover FBI operative and a Navy Seal in the First Gulf War has made him cold and disillusioned; his resolutions of the Fed Wits problems help him resolve his own personal issues.
The show is "Law and Order" done by an "Undercover" "Magnum, P. I." who is "Lost" in the apparent paradise of the Hawaiian Islands.
SETTING AND CONCEPT
This story takes on a two part format; the new Fed Wit Situation is presented in the first third or half of the episode. The remaining time, the Resolution, is spent with Harold fixing things, making things right again. The Situations will be diverse; from white collar crimes and murder, to domestic problems with Fed Wit couples, to teenage run-a-ways, to drugs and terrorism. The action occurs mainly on the Big Island of Hawaii but can spill over to any of the Hawaiian Islands.
The Harold solution and Resolution of the Situation happens in the present. The Fed Wit’s Situations can be past or present.
A former Navy Seal in the First Gulf War, Harold joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation upon leaving military service. After ten years as an FBI undercover field agent Harold has now become the covert caretaker of the Federal Witness Protection Program based in the state of Hawaii based on the Big Island. Harold is not his real name. His real name is never revealed. Previously, Harold worked as an undercover field operative on the Eastern Sea board. He is in Hawaii for protection also; his last undercover assignment went very wrong.
Harold has the ability to mimic other people’s actions and voices. It made him a good undercover operative. He thus takes on various disguises to maintain his covert status when resolving the Fed Wit Situations.
Sheriff Tanakami is Harold’s constant adversary and antagonist. Sheriff Tanakami knows what Harold really is, not his cover as a private Investment Counselor. Tanakami tells Harold, “The Big Island is big but it’s still an island. Everyone eventually knows everything and Tanakami knows it first.” Tanakami rides Harold to keep the Fed Wits under control. Tanakami also sees Harold as a valuable asset for keeping the peace on the Big Island and calls Harold in on difficult police cases. Harold always voices reluctance, tries to keep within his cover story but always ends up helping Tanakami out. Tanakami is there when Harold needs him too.
In the first episode Tanakami calls Harold in to fix things. Harold has only been on the Big Island a month and is just getting his feet on the ground.
Aspects of the personality of Hawaii, its people (history, legend, back alley haunts, festivals, food, traditions, music, etc.) and the Pacific Ocean add color to each episode.
In each case Harold faces physical, political and psychological danger before the final scene and wrap-up of the mystery, crime or personal problem. Harold appears calm but is driven to solve crimes and will frequently clash with his Navy Seal and FBI training and what he thinks is right. Being on the Big Island and resolving the Fed Wit problems changes him.
MAIN CONTINUING CHARACTERS
HAROLD – Scottish / African American - late 20ish to 30ish.
Harold is half white and half black. His mother is white and his father black. Harold is thus of mixed-race appearance. He is tall, thin and very attractive; light tan skin color so that he could be of any race; Mediterranean, Latin, African, Middle Eastern or a deeply tanned white. He keeps his head shaved like so many 20ish males. He is bright, generally affable but needs to know as much as possible about a situation before he acts. He always asks questions of superiors and anyone else. His FBI bosses are constantly annoyed by Harold’s need to verify everything. Harold takes no ones word for anything. Harold’s undercover past has made him cautious, trusting no one.
Harold’s name is not Harold. His real name is never revealed.
Harold’s main strength is his ability to look at situations, determine what will happen next, adapt his behavior accordingly and then devise a quick and straight forward solution to the problem.
His other strengths are loyalty, love and attachment for his mother, toughness - he can put off pain/discomfort to get the job done, a charm with people, an ability to make strangers like and trust him, and his strong sense of justice.
Harold’s lack of trust and the covert nature of his job leaves Harold lonely, bitter and isolated.
When he was a Navy Seal one of his jobs was to abduct or assassinate enemies of America. He knew it was against federal law but he was protecting America. He retains that cold-blooded aspect when needed, he can kill without remorse. Hawaii and the Fed Wit Situations though start to soften him. It makes him question his own ability for cold blooded detachment.
HAROLD’S MOTHER – Scottish American - 50ish.
She is only a voice over the phone; Harold’s personal scrambled mobile phone. She is smart and loves her only son. She knows Harold works for the FBI in some capacity but she doesn’t know any details. She doesn’t even know that he is in Hawaii. Harold keeps her thinking that he is still living on the East Coast of the USA. She doesn’t even know that Harold calls himself Harold.
Harold’s mother’s name is never revealed either. She refers to herself as “Your Mother” and Harold as “My Son” or “Dearest” or other affectionate terms.
Harold’s mother calls him all of the time. She e-mails him three or more times a day. Harold calls her his Own Personal Spammer, because of all the e-mails. She knows Harold’s job takes an emotional toll on him, thus she is as ever present in his life as she can be, thus the phone calls and e-mails. It annoys Harold but he needs her, especially when he has done something extremely difficult, like killing a person. He calls his mom and chats.
FRANCIS (FRANK) TANAKAMI – Japanese Hawaiian – late 30ish.
Tanakami is the Sheriff on the Big Island. Sheriff Tanakami is a big man, both tall and wide. He has the look of a Sumo wrestler. He is tough and sarcastic. He has some odd habits. One is he rolls his eyes back into his head so you only see the whites of his eyes. As an adolescent he used to say to his friends, “Don’t shot until you see me!” and he would roll back his eyes and they would all laugh. It has become a routine habit he still does.
Tanakami is also a popular local politician. He has been re-elected Sheriff ever since he first ran for the office just after he graduated from the University of Hawaii. He only put his name down for the election as something to fill the time until decided what he wanted to do with his life. He didn’t expect to win and he still hasn’t figured out what he wants to do with his life.
RECURRING CHARACTERS
HAROLD’S FIELD CORRDINATOR – A Career Bureaucrat – 50ish
Harold’s field coordinator is a middle aged white male. Efficient and by the book. He always tells Harold to follow the FBI guidelines and then that Harold was put in Hawai’i to make problems with the Federal Witness Protection program disappear. Harold always wants verification of directives and orders. Harold annoys his coordinator. Through the Coordinator the inner workings of the new FBI are displayed.
ANGELA ROSETTI – Italian American– late 20ish.
Angela was Harold’s mainland love. He fell for her on his last undercover operation. She was one of the reasons it went bad. She was the daughter of one of the criminals Harold was trying to nail. She knows Harold only by his undercover identity at the time, Jackie Stanso. Harold interacts with her in his memories of their relationship. These memories come up as Harold deals with the Situations. A woman’s hand on Harold shoulder, the scent of a perfume, a voice calling, just when Harold gets lonely, his memories come back. With this vehicle some of Harold’s romantic past is revealed.
VINCENT VANCE – German American – late 50ish.
Vince Vance runs his dead wife’s burger place, Lucy’s Drive-Thru. The place’s name is meant as a joke because the place is surrounded by an old lava flow and you can’t drive through. He is an old surfer and doper. He smokes pakalolo all of the time. He is upbeat at times, depressed at others. Vince feels his whole life is just like the Drive-Thru, surrounded by an old lava flow. The locals call it kepuka, the hole where the lava missed. Vince says he has been kepukaed his entire life. He is happy that he isn’t dead but he feels trapped by the world, surrounded by its hard and cold nature. He has a guitar and sings happy then depressing songs. Harold goes to Lucy’s for the “Whatever is a Hawaiian burger?” This is another joke because Emily the cook makes certain that everyday it is made differently. Sometimes it doesn’t even contain any meat.
MINOR CHARACTERS
RAFFIE – A stray dog – 60ish in dog years.
Everyone knows Raffie but that doesn’t mean he likes them. Raffie belongs to no one and just shows up anywhere and any old time he pleases. He wanders all over the Big Island. He is old, experienced and tough. He likes Harold. They met at Lucy’s Drive-Thru. Harold would feed him. Raffie is one of Harold’s few friends on the Big Island. Raffie comes up to Harold even when Harold is in one of his disguise personae’s. Raffie helps Harold out of some tight spots by distracting or out right attacking people going after Harold.
OLD MAN KELIIHOOMALU – Hawaiian native – more than 70ish in people years
An old man that wanders up to Lucy’s Drive-Thru, walking slowly but noisily out of the black lava field like a battered apparition. He tells Harold stories about the volcanoes and Hawaiian ghost stories, so Harold will buy him a burger. Sometimes the stories are true other times they are purely fantasy. Emily, the cook and waitress, will at times call out, “Load of Crap!” as a comment on the old man’s stories.
EMILY – Hawaiian – 20ish.
Emily is a cook and waitress at Lucy’s Drive-Thru. Emily is always loud and laughing. She smacks Vince when he gets too depressed and sings downer songs. She likes to surf topless. She likes to do most things topless when she can. She is a new found Hawaiian traditionalist.
JANIS CHO – Chinese Hawaiian – mid 30ish.
Deputy Sheriff. She lives with Sheriff Tanakami but they both deny it. It’s an island everyone knows the truth. She is loyal and protective of Sheriff Tanakami but gives him a major hard time about almost everything, even him being Japanese. She is effective and efficient. She can shot better than Sheriff Tanakami can. She reminds him of it regularly.
DRAFT EPISODE SUMMARY/TITLE
<DIR>
Part I – The Situation - Hawai’i Exotic Toilet Paper Company
Hamilton Struges was an early entry in the Baby Boom after WWII; Ham, as everyone called him, is pushing his way through the dark jungle. Ham was running through the dark jungle on the southern part of the Big Island of Hawai’i with Elisabeth Schultz, an ex-beauty contest winner. Well, you can’t really run in this dense of a jungle even during the day and especially not at night. What Ham was doing actually was running away, escaping with MS Schultz from the Hawai’i Exotic Toilet Paper Factory and he hadn’t been able to grab a machete. The two bastard Fed Wits, east coast mafia type squealers, had taken all of the sharp and potentially dangerous tools away from him. Those scumbags had forcibly taken over his house and his company.
Now, he was running away from his home like a coward. Ham was certain his dad would emphasize that last word. Coward was a commonly used descriptive noun for his dad. His dad would shout, “Never let fear get the best of you! All that anyone sees of a coward is his ass running off into the distance!” Ham had always been a lover not a fighter, well, back in the ‘60s and ‘70’s, at least.
They had to escape by the jungle, they couldn’t take the road, escapes were supposed to be as inconspicuous as possible, not simply convenient. MS Schultz had wanted to take the Hybrid. Its engine was quiet, but it wasn’t as fast as the Cadillac. There were no outlets or turn offs on the road away from the Company to hide in. The Caddy could drive right through the back of the Hybrid.
The Fed Wits find Ham and MS Schultz and kill them.
Part II – The Resolution – Lost In Paradise.
Harold stood up and wiped his shaved head with his white handkerchief. He should get a hat. “So senseless, but I’m only an investment consultant. I don’t know how I can help you Sheriff.” Harold spoke directly to the tall and large Japanese-Hawaiian that stood on the other side of the unfortunate dead couple. Sheriff Tanakami rolled his eyes back into his head so only the white of his eyes could be seen. “Oh shut up!” He scratched his cheek with the knuckles of his right hand. “I know who you actually work for.”
“These . . .” Then he pointed at the two bodies between them. “And these were caused by your lawless Fed Wits bastards. I know it so don’t attempt to deny it and I want,” Now he pointed with both hands at Harold. “You to fix this before I have to.”
“Ham there. Hamilton Struges, the old guy on the bottom.” The Sheriff sighed deeply. “He was a good old guy. A raging pot head but so are half the people ‘round here and I don’t care about that. He and his toilet paper brought a lot of money into the area. God’s pockets, I told him to put it in the bank. Everyone knew he buried cash all around here. That’s likely why they were killed. Your bloodless beauties smoked all his stash too. Stayed in the house while doing it. Brazen bastards. They know I can’t touch them. They’re under federal protection.”
Harold find’s the two Fed Wits responsible for the killing, verifies that the evidence points to them; he gets clearance from his field coordinator and makes the Fed Wit problem disappear by finding and killing the pair.
CHARACTER GROWTH
Each episode will reveal the weak points and blind spots of attempting to protect society from itself. Harold’s cold bloodedness and distrust of people is chipped away. His dealings with the misplaced and uprooted Fed Wits make him more sympathetic to his own and other people’s flaws. Harold misses his love for Angela more and more.
Sheriff Tanakami is revealed as a person and politician that actually cares about his town and the people in it. He is easy on the personal conduct rules but hard on true criminals. The blurred definitions of the law and what is ethical are displayed. He also shows to Harold that there is more to the world than duty and training.
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