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SAMPLE OUTLINE
By
Steve Jones and Hayley Cooke
Vehicle: Feature Film Title: Rom-Com

(Working Title)
THE WORLD OF THE STORY
This story is set in London, mainly based around the office of a young, talented
screenwriter who specialises in romantic comedy. However, as successful she is
professionally, she cannot seem to be lucky in love, and dreams of a perfect
gentleman to come along and sweep her off her feet just like in one of her films.
The offices are just like the rest of the business – chauvinistic and dominated by
men, who think that a woman belongs on screen instead of behind a typewriter.
Those women who do make a success come across as power-hungry and
aggressive, jumping on any sign of weakness and seeing any other women as a
potential threat. They use sex as a weapon and in many ways cheapen
themselves to get ahead in the game. Our young screenwriter, inexperienced
and naïve, has not learnt the ways of the world yet and doesn’t want to be
dragged into the battlefield between the sexes.
THE CHARACTERS
SOPHIE CLARK (23) – The protagonist who has become a recent success by
writing one of the most promising romantic comedy screenplays for years. She
grew up in a small town in Kent with her father, her mother having left when she
was 6. They became understandably close and remain so through her newfound
success. However, her professional life leaves little time for the dream romance
she so desperately wants, and the only social life she can really enjoy is time
with her best friend Marcus, whom she has brought with her to London to work
with her as her manager and agent. We see Sophie change, because of her
friend (and true love) Marcus, from the naïve girl longing for the perfect love
story to a grown up (but not cynical) woman who understands what love truly
means.
MARCUS SANDFORT (24) – Sophie’s childhood friend, Marcus became her agent
and manager once her script became a success. Once he was totally in love with
her, but now he has accepted that friends is the best he’s going to get so he
concentrates on being a good manager and helping her any way that he can. He
is the product of parents who stayed together for the kids, but couldn’t hide the
biting resentment that bubbled underneath the surface. As such, he can be
pretty cynical about things and balances Sophie’s naivety well. As the story
moves on, though, we see his softer side as he strives to fulfil Sophie’s romantic
dream.
TONY HURT (57) – The producer of “Praise Love”, the film that came from
Sophie’s screenplay. He is a world renowned producer of this genre, but over the
last few years he has become more dated as younger, hipper producers have
worked their way up the ladder. He therefore finds himself a relic of the studio
system and resents all of the new players in the movie game for this (especially
Sophie). This film is his last shot at catching up with “Generation X” and
remaining a true success rather than become a dated legend.
KAREN ROBINSON (36) – The star of “Praise Love” and the uber-bitch who made
Sophie’s life miserable throughout filming and continues to do so throughout the
film. She is a typical type A personality; aggressive, domineering and controlling,
and she demands to be in control of the entire process, making her the typical
diva. She also maintains that women can only be successful in the movies if they
fight the “War of the Sexes” using their femininity as a weapon to destroy men.
THE PLOT
The opening scene sets the tone as a spoof of traditional romantic comedies,
with a clear take off of “Love, Actually”. Marcus is also included as the narrator
and the audiences sees the sometimes cynical side displayed from the start.
Sophie is introduced in bed asleep, before being waken up be an alarm and

showing her clumsy, almost slapstick nature.
Whilst eating breakfast and watching television Sophie’s views on the popular
image of women and their perceived responsibility to look good are made clear.
The television shows an advertisement for “Praise Love”, the film made from
Sophie’s screenplay, and we see more slapstick moments from the protagonist
before being properly introduced to Marcus.
Sophie realises she has missed the press conference and shows her reliance on
Marcus, asking him to stall everyone before racing down there as quickly as
possible, but to no avail – she is too late.
Later in the day Marcus and Sophie commiserate in a bar over the mess that was
the press conference, and we move onto a story about the awful blind date
Sophie went on the night before.
THEMES
The key theme in this feature is the idea of media dominating both male and
female perceptions of love and the traditional love story. Whilst traditional
romantic comedy deals with the idea of two people having a whirlwind romance
and ending up very much in love, this film examines the fact that this is a faulty
idea, as no one in real life falls in love so quickly. Therefore, Sophie, who wants a
classic love story more than anything, learns that love is not really like that but
instead has to be worked at and takes longer, and this is why she ends up with
Marcus.
The film also deals with the concept of celebrity and difficult it can be in the
public eye so constantly. Whilst Sophie stands in the background a bit, Karen is
the definition of diva and we see how she struggles to keep her image and
reputation in tact throughout the film.

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SAMPLE OUTLINE

Steve Jones and Hayley Cooke

Vehicle: Feature Film Title: Rom-Com

THE WORLD OF THE STORY

Sophie is introduced in bed asleep, before being waken up be an alarm and

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