PRIME!

A Rock Musical Series

By Lucas Roy Lehman

Logline:

A Santa Cruz band with a rich history of love triangles gets famous overnight when an inmate escapes during their prison concert.

Unique Structure:

“Prime!” is a 10-half-hour-episode rock musical series which simultaneously tells the sexy origin story and the extraordinary breakthrough story of a quartet of musicians, aka the band “The Lost.”

Each episode features 3 music video/montage/band-on-stage segments sandwiched between extended live action sequences.  The unique structure of telling the band’s origin story (seven years earlier) overlaid with the band’s evolving breakthrough story (on tour in the present) creates a fresh way to avoid the typical musical’s corniness when characters unrealistically break into song after live action narrative sequences. 

In “Prime!” most of the songs/videos take place against the backdrop of the band onstage in the present, with the band members singing to each other (and the live audience) in the present, adding emotional emphasis to events (interwoven video flashbacks) that took place in the past.  Because the characters are songwriters, the songs organically emerge from the emotions and situations as the story develops, and as an added bonus, the viewer gets to witness the creative process of some of the songs being born, and life becoming art.

The two distinct time frames allow for the experience of rich character development, as well as the opportunity to explore the huge cultural shifts of pre/post marijuana legalization, the pre/post Trump political landscape, and pre/post coronavirus pandemic. With two main characters of color, along with the importance of the prison concert on the narrative, Prime! offers the possibility of cultural explorations around race and justice issues as well.

With its “Silicon Beach” merging of tech culture and hippie-surf counterculture, Santa Cruz provides a fascinating character-study in and of itself.  Uniquely perched on the cutting edge of the new consciousness movement of spirituality and holistic health, and the forefront of gender, sexuality and poly-relationship revolutions, this city of extraordinary beauty (where the redwoods-meet-the-ocean) feels like a real/unreal place that could be portrayed as a kind of 21st century Oz.

The cleverly written songs offer a wide range of emotional, lyrical and musical expression to deepen the storyline, and 3 songs per episode maintain the tight pacing.  Flavors of pop, rock, folk, blues, reggae, funk, and jazz infuse the catchy hooks, fresh love ballads, and rockin’ grooves with an uplifting energy that leaves you singing to yourself and wanting more.

4 Main Characters (“The Lost”):

Marianna – Puerto Rican/Jamaican, 29. Passionate, impulsive, raw, with a world-class voice.  Initially driven by selfishness and manipulation born of insecurity, betrayal and abandonment issues, she develops into a well-rounded singer/keyboard player, and an increasingly reliable and responsible friend, lover and mother-to-be.

Marco —  Filipino/African American, 34.  Santa Cruz native, surfer, entrepreneur, bass player.  He has the grounded confidence of a man who’s successfully taken on financial responsibilities for his family since he was a teen, and who truly loves where he lives.  His character arc is one of emotional growth from “player” to partner, from cockiness to vulnerability, from playing it safe in life to diving into risk and adventure.

Will —  Irish/Jewish, 36.  Classic singer/songwriter/artist type, grew up in LA and always dreamed of “making it” on his own terms.  Hugely talented on a variety of musical instruments, the narrow desperation of his vision for his life is both a blessing of unrelenting focus, and a curse of on-going disillusionment and self-medication.  External success comes only after he finally surrenders to apparent failure without needing drugs, and begins to learn unconditional love for himself.

Venus —  Will’s twin sister, she’s a woman who lives to give, the earthy, lesbian massage therapist who’s always there to pick up the pieces for everyone else.  Her ambition is to create love and harmony in the world, to be the ultimate team player, which initially led her to learn drums to support her brother back in high school.  Her transformation comes through owning that she matters, that her needs deserve to be met, and learning how to speak her truth.

Story Overview:

The show opens with the band playing a concert in a prison, launching the breakthrough story…

Meanwhile, 7 years earlier…

A young Marianna discovers her best friend and her boyfriend having sex. Out of her devastation she steals his vintage convertible, and drives cross-country to pursue her dream to be on the “America’s Got Talent” TV show.

On the way to LA her car breaks down in Santa Cruz, where she meets established local musicians Marco, Will, and Will’s twin-sister Venus, and quickly falls into a new life of music and musical lovers.

Her love affair with Venus burns hot and fast, and after a few months Marianna moves on, moving in with Marco, who wants her to forget her dreams of LA and share his life of surfing, playing local gigs, and growing his marijuana business. When Marianna doesn’t get the callback after finally auditioning for “America’s Got Talent” she begins to fully try on that vision of life in Santa Cruz for herself.

Will’s ambitions drive him back to LA where he hustles recording opportunities, touring adventures, and spirals into drug addiction. He ultimately lands in rehab before he redeems himself and gets a gig to be the opening act for an upcoming tour. He invites Marco and Marianna to join his band; Marco, after much soul searching, declines. Marianna enthusiastically accepts, leaving Marco behind (and breaking his heart).

Marianna and Will have the time of their lives and fall in love on the tour. But when the tour ends, and the next career step doesn’t materialize, the reality of being unknown musicians struggling in LA blows the fantasy. They soon break up and Marianna hooks up with a hip industry guy who promises to make her a star. Will spirals down again.

Back in Santa Cruz, Marco and Venus meet long-term partners, Danielle and Chantal, to settle down and build lives with.

Seven years later, Will has produced a popular YouTube music video and is financing his own summer tour on personal loans and credit cards. He persuades Marianna, Venus, and (eventually) Marco to put history behind them for this last all or nothing shot at glory.

Sparks fly as Marco and Marianna rekindle their romance, and Marianna quickly and accidentally becomes pregnant. The tour slowly devolves from glory to disaster, but nearing the end of it, when an inmate escapes during their prison concert (and remains at-large for weeks) the endless media coverage turns “The Lost” into a national sensation.

As a result of the publicity, the band gets invited to play Saturday Night Live. Two nights before the big show, Marco’s fiancée Danielle returns from her 3-month yoga training in Bali and informs Marco that she is (also) pregnant with his child, not having realized it before now because the 39-year-old vegan stopped having regular cycles a year earlier.

PRIME!

OUTLINE FOR 10 EPISODE TV SERIES

EPISODE 1

<SEPTMEBER, 2021>
“The Lost” perform an outdoor concert at Shenowah Valley Prison, South Carolina.  During their last song, shots ring out and the prison goes into lockdown.

SONG 1 – Shenowah Valley Prison  (Will, Marianna, Marco, Venus)

<3 MONTHS EARLIER>
Will is staying with Marco in Santa Cruz before the start of the tour.  When news come in that Clayton the bass player has gotten a DUI, Marco reluctantly agrees to fill in for the first few shows.  This development creates tension for Marco and Marianna, who haven’t seen each other since she left him 6 years ago.

<7 YEARS EARLIER — 2014>
Marianna catches her boyfriend and her best friend having sex and she steals his classic convertible and heads to California to pursue her dreams of fame and fortune as a singer on “American’s Got Talent” TV show.

SONG 2 – PRIME (Marianna)

Taking the scenic route down Highway 1 from San Francisco to L.A., Marianna’s car breaks down near Santa Cruz, where she is “rescued” by Marco, aka, the Starlight Man.

SONG 3 – STARLIGHT MAN  (Marco, Marianna)

Marco drops Marianna off downtown at the bus station. He invites her to a party where his band is playing that night.

When Marianna arrives at the party, she meets Venus’, Will’s twin sister, who gets her into the hot tub and begins her seduction.

<2021>
Before rehearsal for the opening night show, Marco and Venus sort through their feelings, motivations, and reservations about playing/touring with Will and Marianna.

SONG 4 – PRIME REPRISE  (Marianna, Will, Marco, Venus)

EPISODE  2

A YouTube video of “The Lost – We Love Money” begins to play on a cell phone screen.

SONG 5 – WE LOVE MONEY  (Will, Marianna, Marco, Venus)

The video includes surreal fantasy sequences of boats rising on rivers of money, etc, interspersed with the band live onstage at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz.

<2014>
The quintessential Santa Cruz naked hot tub/pool party.  Venus and Marianna have a great time dancing, swimming and hot tubbing. Will, Marco and “The Lost Boys” perform ESCALONA DRIVE, and WESLEY, the host of the party, a self-described sex-addict, makes a public declaration, in honor of his 40th birthday, vowing a commitment to one year of celibacy.

SONG 6 – ESCALONA DRIVE  (Will, Marco)

After the party, Venus gives Marianna a massage, and ultimately seduces her.

SONG 7  —  NUCLEAR BLUES  (Marianna, Venus)

Montage of Venus and Marianna making love, cutting to “The Lost” onstage at Moe’s Alley playing NUCLEAR BLUES.

Will and Marco have a nightcap on their front porch, noticing the flickering candlelight in Venus’ window across the street and speculating on what might be going on over there.

Marco is disappointed because he has fallen in “love at first sight” with Marianna. Will teases him that he’s fallen in love with a lesbian, and that he’s an even bigger dog than Wesley.

After Marco scoffs at Will’s drunken dreams of touring with “The Lost Boys,” Will coldy informs Marco that he is moving to LA in two weeks to work for his cousin’s record label.

The next day, Venus leads Marianna on a tour of Santa Cruz, ending up downtown on Pacific Avenue, where they run into Will busking on the street.

SONG 8 – DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ (Will, Marianna, Venus)

Venus, Marianna, and Will take turns making up lyrics over an evolving “Downtown Santa Cruz”, which ultimately builds into a montage/fantasy sequence parade a la “76 Trombones” from the “Music Man,” culminating with band milking it for all it’s worth on stage at Moe’s Alley, with the delighted hometown crowd singing along.

EPISODE 3

<2014>
Marco has a long conversation with Wesley about sex, love, and relationships, and concludes that taking a six month vow of celibacy himself would be a good way to change some of his old patterns around women and sex.

SONG 9 — GIRLS TOWN  (Marco, Marianna, Venus)

Montage of the band onstage at Moe’s Alley in 2021 and scenes of women (particularly Venus and Marianna) holding hands at different locations around Santa Cruz in 2014.

Marianna wonders if living with Venus now means she’s a lesbian? And is she still going to LA? Venus convinces her to stay with her awhile and just go with the flow.

SONG 10 — JOKER  (Marianna, Venus)

A few weeks pass. Marianna gets a waitress job; Venus gets them some gigs.

Will calls Marco from LA.  He wants Marco to drive down to do some recording with Joey “something or other” in the Rockville Desert.  Marco reluctantly agrees.

Venus is falling hard for Marianna, and writes her a love song.  Marianna is a little freaked out by this expression of love, and wants to run, but has nowhere to go.

SONG 11  —  JUST ONE THING  ​(Venus, Marianna)

<2021>
The evening after the triumphant Moe’s Alley gig, Marco, Marianna, Will, and Venus party at Marco’s place, and make plans for the next stage of the tour. 

Marco and Marianna end up in the hot tub, catching up on each other’s lives, and begin reminiscing about the past…

EPISODE 4

<2014>
Marco runs into Marianna on the street and asks her to look in on his cat while he’s away in Rockville.  They flirt a bit and make a date to go surfing when he returns.

SONG 12 —  ROLLING INTO ROCKVILLE  (Marco, Will)

Marco and Will find themselves in an ugly situation with Joey, as too much alcohol and coke doom the recording session.

Marianna also has a few too many drinks, and breaks up with Venus between sets at their gig.

SONG 13  —  LOSE CONTROL  (Marianna, Venus)

Marco and Will wake up on the floor after passing out at Joey’s and take off for home.

SONG 14  —  ROLLING OUT OF ROCKVILLE (Marco, Will)

On the ride back to Santa Cruz, Marco is angry at Will.  To pass the time, Will starts noodling on the guitar, and together they write a new song.

SONG 15  —  JIMMY Z  (Will, Marco)

Video montage of Jimmy Z’s fictional story cutting into the band on a stage in Oakland, and then Sonoma, where they wrap up the show and then awkwardly navigate the sharing of motel rooms for the first time.  Everyone is becoming aware of the steady rekindling of feelings between Marco and Marianna, but it’s still unclear where this is all going—Marco’s only doing Portland, and then Vancouver, before Clayton rejoins the band and Marco returns to Santa Cruz…

And what exactly is Marco’s agreement with Danielle while she’s gone?—and so for this night, they pair off boys in one room and girls in the other.

EPISODE 5

<2014>
Back in Santa Cruz, Marco finds Marianna crashing at his house, and he invites her to move into Will’s old bedroom.  They start surfing together, and begin to fall in love.

SONG 16  —  I THINK WE’LL FALL IN LOVE  (Marco, Marianna)

Venus gets a call from her mother that Will’s in rehab in Florida.  She shares the news with Marco and Marianna, and they’re all upset.

Marianna is reminded of her mother’s spell in rehab, and Marco comforts her, and eventually they start kissing.  But Marco stops the inevitable from happening by informing her that he’s only 3 months into a 6 month vow of celibacy—and he’s in love with her.  She loves him too.  So much for the vow of celibacy… 

SONG 17  —  JUNIOR (Marco, Marianna, Venus)

Venus is sad and leaves a voicemail for Will, and then goes out dancing alone.

SONG 18  —  AND THEN SHE DANCE (Venus)

<2021>
After the Portland show, Marco and Marianna spend the night in the motel together.

EPISODE 6

The band plays the gig in Vancouver against the backdrop of Marco and Marianna’s oxytocin/dopamine flush, and the reality that tomorrow he will be leaving to go back to Santa Cruz.

<2014>
Will is going through dark times in Rehab.

SONG 19  —  CIRCUIT CITY (Will)

Marianna goes to a huge open audition for the “America’s Got Talent”  show at the San Jose Arena.

SONG 20 – SUNRISE THIS MORNING (Marianna)​

Marianna is devastated after not making even the first cut at the audition.  Sharing her feelings with Marco and Venus, she comes to realize how happy she is with her life in Santa Cruz.

SONG 21  —  I FEEL LOVE (Marco, Marianna)

Will’s last night at the rehab center.  He leaves an emotional voicemail message for Venus.

EPISODE 7

<2021>
Performing on stage in Vancouver.  The band is on fire as emotions continue rising over the course of Marco’s last show.

SONG 22 – REDEMPTION (Will, Marianna)

<2014>
Will returns to Santa Cruz clean and sober.  He’s reborn with the news that he’s just gotten a gig to be the opening act for an upcoming summer tour.  He asks Marco and Marianna to be in the band.  Marianna is ecstatic, but Marco is lukewarm about going for multitude of reasons.

SONG 23 —  GENERATION   (Marco)

Marco goes out surfing at night and afterwards makes his decision not to go on the tour.

Marianna cries on Venus’ shoulder, and makes her choice to go with Will, and leave Marco.

SONG 24  —  PRIME REPRISE  (Marianna, Will)

EPISODE 8

Wesley directs Marco towards the practice of Tantra, and also back into his celibacy as Marco recognizes that he vowed six months last time and only lasted three, so maybe that’s why things didn’t work out…  Wesley talks about selling his pot business and moving to Maui.

Venus meets the love of her life, CHANTAL, during a lunar eclipse.

SONG 25 —  ECLIPSE (Venus)

Will and Marianna are having a great time on the tour in 2014.  He teaches her to play keyboards.

SONG 26  — THIS LOVE SONG’S NEVER DONE (Will, Marianna)

Marco meets DANIELLE at a Tantra workshop.

SONG 27 — TANTRAMAN (Marco, Marianna)

The video/montage for “Tantraman” cuts between Danielle and Marco at the Tantra workshop in 2015, and “The Lost” onstage in Vancouver in 2021; then, “Tantraman Reprise” provides the background groove for Marco and Marianna in the motel after the gig.

Lying in bed with Marianna after their epic lovemaking session, Marco decides he’s going to live life to the fullest!  He’s staying on the tour and he’ll run his business remotely, flying back and forth a few times when absolutely necessary…

EPISODE 9

<2015>
Marianna and Will struggle in Will’s shitty LA apartment after the tour. There’s no money, Will’s pot smoking increases while Marianna’s drinking also increases.  Then Will starts drinking again, too, but claims it’s just the coke that causes him the problems.

SONG 28  —  SMOKE ANOTHER BOWL OF WEED (Will, Marianna)

Marianna is singing with a wedding band where she meets a slick industry dude.  He makes hollow promises about making her a star, and takes her for a ride on his motorcycle.

SONG 29 — GOING FOR A RIDE (Marianna)

Venus and Chantal are doing great and move into a beautiful house in Santa Cruz together. Marco and Danielle are also falling in love.

SONG 30 — SO GOOD (Venus, Marco)

Marianna breaks up with Will.

SONG 31  —  SHE SAYS (Will)

EPISODE 10

Will is down and out and doing coke again.

SONG 32 — ONE MORE TIME (Will) ​

Will wakes up alone on the floor in his mess of pizza boxes, empty bottles, and a smashed guitar.  He pours the last of the vodka down the drain, flushes the remainder of his coke in the toilet, and crying in shame, calls his mother and asks if he can come home again.

<2021>
Marianna comes out of the bathroom in the motel room she’s sharing with Marco.  She has a pregnancy stick and it’s positive.  They’re both shocked and elated.  They’re nearing the end of the tour, which after the initial run of killer gigs, has become increasingly depressing, with smaller and smaller audiences. 

SONG 33 — SHENOWAH VALLEY PRISON (Will, Marianna, Marco, Venus)

A riot breaks out during their prison show, and an inmate escapes.  The inmate remains at large for weeks and the band becomes famous as a result of the non-stop media attention. The “We Love Money” video goes viral, and the “Shenowah Valley Prison Song” video they quickly shoot as a GoFundMe for a prison reform non-profit raises thousands of dollars. 

The band suddenly has offers coming in to continue touring at the next level, and gets invited to play Saturday Night Live.

Danielle returns from Bali two nights before the SNL show, and informs Marco that she’s 4 months pregnant. At first she didn’t realize it because her periods had been so irregular, skinny vegan yoga teacher that she is, and then she wanted to wait to tell him in person.

Somehow, through a long day and night of talking, crying, laughing, and processing in a fancy New York City hotel room, Marco is able to hold it together, and bring it all together for both of his pregnant goddesses. Finally, exhausted, as dawn is breaking, Marianna and Danielle fall asleep cuddled on either side of him on the king size bed.

The next night he makes love to both of them.

SONG 34 – TAKE 3 (Marco)

The SNL crowd goes wild as Marco spins the tale of the 3-way that has transpired only hours before.

The SNL guest host brings the “The Lost” out for their second song to end the show.

SONG 35 – PRIME REPRISE 2 (Marianna, Will, Marco, Venus)