SILICON VALLEY

BY

Mike Judge, John Altschuler & Dave Krinsky

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

FADE IN:

CREDIT SEQUENCE:

WE SEE SHOT AFTER SHOT of what passes for exciting in the

Valley - Billboards about things we dont understand, packs
of geeks, Logo T-shirts. Road signs that read CUPERTINO,
MENLO PARK, PALO ALTO. The shit brown colored hills of
Mountainview and past the entrances to Facebook, Google,
CISCO, etc. We also see quick scenes of people pitching at
accelerators, and the video of Steve Balmer ranting onstage.
Larry Ellison. Elon Musk with a Rocket. Steve Wozniak trying
to groove on his Segway. All mixed together in a high energy
montage.

EXT. EAST PALO ALTO - HACKER HOUSE

WE PAN THROUGH a nondescript neighborhood and end on a not-

well-maintained house with a scrubby yard. This could easily
be the homestead of upwardly mobile white trash or downwardly
mobile professionals.

INT. HACKER HOUSE - DAY

We pan through the denizens of Hacker House: An East Indian

guy, DINESH, who always wears a rugby shirt and is now
punching away furiously on his laptop; CALVIN, a black guy
with braces and glasses who looks like a younger version of
Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger; a fat white guy with a pony tail
and a black shirt and black sweat pants, ROLAND, who seems to
be drawing a Celtic tattoo on his arm with an ink pen; oddest
of all is a skinny Asian fellow, JIN YANG, who is working
away at a stand up work station. No matter what they are
doing they also are plugged into something else and are
eating instant Ramen. We end on our hero, THOMAS. He is
incredibly focused as he rapidly types code on a computer
screen. His best friend, BIG HEAD (who does have an
unusually large noggin), comes up. Big Head is holding a
Perplexus (the small ball-shaped game these guys are all
obsessed with).

BIG HEAD
Hey, man, some guys from Zynga are
throwing an all-night Perplexus
tourney. Maybe we can find some
Stanford kids to hustle.

Big Head twists and turns the ball, finishing it in a

ridiculously fast amount of time. Thomas never breaks his
concentration.
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 2.

THOMAS
Cant.

Big Head takes a closer look at the screen.

BIG HEAD
Goddamn, Thomas, thats a buttload
of code.

This gets the attention of Jin Yang at the stand-up work

station. Tall and skinny, he has a thick Taiwanese accent
and pretty much every other word is shit, fuck, motherfucker,
and dude.

JIAN YANG
Sheee-it, mother fucker you can
like buy compression software. You
dont have to fucking write that
shit. You can buy that shit!

BIG HEAD
Or download a bootleg.

THOMAS
None of that CodeAcademy crap for
my web site. The whole idea of
Pied Piper is based on melody
recognition. If it doesnt work
perfectly, no one will want in. So,
I am making it perfect.

Thomas turns and calls off.

THOMAS (CONTD)
Hey, Dinesh, can you test this
module for me?

DINESH
Can I eat your salmon?

THOMAS
(grudging)
OK.

Dinesh takes Thomass lunch and sits down at the computer and
starts running tests.

Big Head looks a little hurt.

BIG HEAD
Youre letting him test your
module?
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
Thomas tries to put a positive spin on things.
 3.

THOMAS
Youve got the Perplexus tourney.
I want you to fuck those guys up.

This fires up Big Head. He uses some very awkward body

English to put a flourish on his Perplexus move.

The House Nerd, ERLICH walks in and sees this.

ERLICH
And you wonder why there are never
any girls around here.

We see that Erlich is wearing his favorite I Know HTML --

How To Meet Ladies shirt.

ERLICH (CONTD)
Hey Thomas, can we talk for a
second?

THOMAS
OK.

Erlich doesnt make much eye contact but is still somehow

very aggressive.

ERLICH
Thomas, Im gonna have to ask you
to vacate.

THOMAS
What? Why?

ERLICH
Youve been here six months. I
gave you place a to live and plug
in. Youve given me nothing.

THOMAS
Look, Pied Piper is going to take
off. The website is up and running,
it works great, it just needs--

Erlich cuts him off.

ERLICH
Pied Piper is crap. When you
pitched it you said, The Google of
Music. I thought it had
Applications.

THOMAS
It does! Have you been
TV on it since
Calling - For educational purposes only
I revamped it?
(MORE)
 4.
THOMAS (CONT'D)
Once it takes off Pied Piper will
be able to search the whole world
of recorded music to see if there
is a match. If youre a song
writer... or a band... or anything,
and you wanted to make sure you
werent infringing on copy righted
material, you could find out in no
time.

Erlich just gives his head a curt shake.

ERLICH
First of all, nobody cares about
stealing other peoples music.
Jesus, they do it on purpose! Jay-
Z and Puffy made whole careers on
it.

THOMAS
They didnt steal it, they had to
get permission from the copyright
owners...

ERLICH
They dont own dick. Theres no
money in music anymore. Everyone
involved in music is either
stealing it or sharing it. Theyre
all assholes. And theyre all suing
each other. To stay here, you have
to deliver. Or at least show some
promise for fucks sake.

Erlich motions to Big Head.

ERLICH (CONTD)
Like NipAlert. Big Heads app.
It gives you the location of a
woman with erect nipples. Thats
something people want. Hows that
coming along?

Big Head gives him two thumbs up.

BIG HEAD
Almost ready to enter Beta Phase.

Thomas turns back to Erlich. He is desperate and fishing.

THOMAS
Look, I want to change the world.
Make it a better place...
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 5.

Erlich knows he has to pay lip service to this trope.

ERLICH
We all want to change the world and
make it better. Like I did when I
developed Accutran. A lot of
companies use a lot of different
software to aggregate social media
feedback -- Frontier Airlines just
happened to like mine.

Thomas digs in.

THOMAS
You cant just kick me out. When I
signed up I was promised a months
notice if I had to leave. Its in
writing.

Erlich looks pissed.

ERLICH
Then I am giving you notice. I
hope youre happy. You know, when
I sold Accutran there were a lot of
things I could do with my money.
But I wanted to give back. I
started this place to do something
big. Really make a difference.
Like Steve.

THOMAS
Jobs or Wozniak?

ERLICH
(duh)
Jobs. Now, suppose Steve came back
to us all reincarnated, because he
was a Buddhist you know, and he
showed up here at The Hacker Hostel
looking for a place to help him get
on his feet so he could launch the
next big tech revolution. What
could I do? Theres no room for
STEVE. Can you believe this? I
have to tell Steve to fuck off
because there would be no room at
the Inn because you and Pied Piper
are here gumming up the works. See
what Im saying Thomas?

THOMAS
That Steve Jobs is Jesus?
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 6.

ERLICH
He was Buddist!

THOMAS
He was a poser! He didnt even
write code.

Erlich looks stunned -- this is the only thing that could

shut him up.

EXT. LUXURY SHUTTLE VAN - MORNING

Thomas rides the luxury shuttle van to work with Big Head.

The Boodle Channel plays on closed circuit TVs and on it we

see GAVIN BELSON, CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) of Boodle
and a true running sore of a human being. He talks about how
Boodle is making the world a better place.

GAVIN BELSON (V.O.)

Boodle brings the world to
everyone. Boodle is everything.
And thats what allows Boodle to
make happy.

Gavin then urges his workers to sit back and relax (but also
be sure to enjoy the complimentary energy bars and energy
drinks and energy gum onboard). We see everyone chomping and
drinking away as the channel then shows all the ways Boodle
Makes Happy.

Thomas is on his iPad looking at rentals.

THOMAS
These rents are insane. $2800 a
month, $4500 a month -- with five
people!

BIG HEAD
You forget how goddamn expensive it
is here.

Thomas looks miserable.

THOMAS
I dont want to have to go back to
St. Louis. I can barely talk to
people in St. Louis. My parents
still live in St. Louis!

BIG HEAD
You think Oklahoma Citys any - For educational purposes only
TV Calling
better?
(MORE)
 7.
BIG HEAD (CONT'D)
And Im going to be the next one
booted. Ever since GoolyBib landed
two million in seed money Erlichs
been on the warpath about
monetizing.

THOMAS
GoolyBib? That Indian guy from
Dropbox you were hanging out with?

BIG HEAD
No, its a startup -- GoolyBib. I
think its a real estate app... or
maybe its that traffic one.

THOMAS
Fuck. Every day somebody in the
valley is hitting it big. But not
me. If I cant pull it off now,
when there are billions of dollars
just LOOKING FOR A START UP, it
might not ever happen.

BIG HEAD
Yeah, no kidding.

THOMAS
What are you worried about? Erlich
loves Nip Alert.

BIG HEAD
Hes just blinded by boobs. Once
he scratches the surface hes going
to see theres giant holes in this
thing. Its based on self
reporting. I cant put sensors on
women to report when their nipples
are erect. I get one clown to send
out fake reports and the whole
thing collapses. I need something
to make it objective.

Thomas has calmed down now that he has a problem to focus on.

THOMAS
Maybe I could develop an image
recognition program, kind of like
the melody recognition in Pied
Piper.

Big Head is coming around.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 8.

BIG HEAD
Or infra red cameras that detect
changes in body heat.

They are both sold for the moment. But it soon fades.

THOMAS
Fuck, Im going to have to go to
graduate school. I cant afford to
stay here even if Im working full
time at Boodle.

Thomas looks down at the TV where Gavin Belson is still

talking.

GAVIN BELSON (V.O.)

That is how Boodle can change the
world.

THOMAS
Changing the world, one crappy app
at a time.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. BOODLE - MOMENTS LATER

Thomas and Big Head walk through the Boodle campus. They
pass by the play area -- climbing walls, paintball obstacle
course, fitness stations, all of which are being unused as
engineers stand around drinking energy drinks.

Big Head is clearly lost in thought. He turns to Thomas.

BIG HEAD
Hey, did you hear what Peter
Gregory is doing?

THOMAS
You mean buying that island in the
Pacific?

BIG HEAD
Hes building one actually. Its
gonna be this giant platform in the
middle of the ocean. And I think
hes designing a new monetary
system for it. But anyway, hes
also offering a hundred K to people
willing to skip or drop of college
to pursue any idea they have. I
mean, it has to be really kick -ass.
TV Calling For educational purposes only
 9.

THOMAS
Pied Piper kicks ass.

BIG HEAD
Hes speaking in Palo Alto tonight.
We should go. See if theyll let us
talk to him.
(musing)
I dont know what happened to that
guy, but he really hates college.

Thomas considers this idea. Big Head eats another energy

bar. Hes wired, tapping his hands, moving his legs.

BIG HEAD (CONTD)

Fuck, I dont know if its the
energy bar or drink or gum but I
cant wait for tonight. And I
cant sit still.

INT. BOODLE - DAY

Thomas gets out of his cubicle. It is painted bright colors

and has a rounded shape to the sides but it is still a
cubicle. He gets up and walks over to a nearby snack area.

SNACK AREA - This place has large glass-cased refrigerators

filled with anything with caffeine in it. They also have
fountain drinks. Thomas is making himself an energy swamp
water by putting a little bit of each drink into his cup
when two douchey programmers or brogrammers stroll up and
start using the Auto Barrista. (These guys act like frat guys
and clearly only work out their upper bodies and thereby
succeed only in making themselves look odder -- they have
huge biceps and skinny legs).

Thomas mutters to himself with disdain.

THOMAS
Brogrammers.

BROGRAMMER #1
A double machiatto for me.

He presses a button.

BROGRAMMER #2
Make mine a double double.

BROGRAMMER #1
Yeah!
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 10.

They are very happy with themselves. Brogrammer #1 one has

large side burns that actually meet under his chin.
Brogrammer #2 grabs Thomass skinny arm..

BROGRAMMER #2
Hey, To-mas -- you been working
out?

The brogrammers laugh at this. Brogrammer #1 then gives

Thomas a chin up nod.

BROGRAMMER #1
So how is every little thing?

THOMAS
Eh... not so good. Gotta find a
place to live, so if you guys know
of anything...

BROGRAMMER #2
Youre leaving the Hacker Hostel?

THOMAS
Getting kicked out. Ive got a
website that I think could be huge,
but nobody gets it.

These guys look very interested.

BROGRAMMER #1
We might get it. Wed love to take
a look. Whats it called?

THOMAS
Pied Piper.

The brogrammers try not to laugh but they are giddy. Thomas
is oblivious to their snarkiness.

BROGRAMMER #1
Sounds amazing. Why dont you
shoot it over to me and well give
it a look. Maybe we can help.

Thomas eagerly opens his laptop. As soon as he hits send

he looks up and sees their smirking faces. Clearly, they are
just fucking with him. He sags, closes his laptop and
trudges off.

INT. FOUR SEASONS PALO ALTO - EVENING

A large crowd watches as Peter Gregory

TV Callinggives
- For aeducational
speech. purposes only
Gregory comes across as a very focused accountant.
 11.

No matter what inflammatory thing hes saying, or what

epithets people are throwing at him, he never gets agitated.

PETER GREGORY
Gates, Ellison, Jobs, Dell. All
dropped out of college. Silicon
Valley is the cradle of innovation
because of DROP OUTS. We need
innovation and we need innovators!
Colleges are choking and strangling
with conformity what the drop outs
created through inspiration!

We see Thomas and Big Head watching from the audience.

PETER GREGORY (CONTD)

College has become a cruel,
expensive joke on the poor and the
middle class that only benefits the
perpetrators of it -- the bloated
administrations and the myopic
teaching staffs. Wages for
graduates are going down.
Employment opportunities for
graduates are shrinking, but the
cost of a higher education just
keeps going up and up and up.

The audience laughs in agreement but A BEARDED ACADEMIC looks

fit to be tied. He yells out.

BEARDED ACADEMIC
You are a dangerous man, spewing
ignorance!

PETER GREGORY
I dont think so. Im just saying
that people should trust themselves
more than a system that happily
churns out unemployed debtors and
provides dubious value.

BEARDED ACADEMIC
The true value of a college
education is intangible.

PETER GREGORY
The true value of snake-oil is
intangible as well.

The audience laughs again.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 12.

PETER GREGORY (CONTD)

If you have a truly unique and
brilliant idea I can promise you
that any university worth its
weight will crush it with their
lack of creative thought and your
now monumental pile of debt.

The Academic gets up and storms out.

BEARDED ACADEMIC
Fascist.

EXT. FOUR SEASONS PALO ALTO - LATER

Peter Gregory waits for his car. With him is his Head of
Operations, a very attractive, smart woman named MONICA.

Thomas approaches them with Big Head in tow. (Big Head is

mesmerized, staring at Monicas chest).

THOMAS
Hi, excuse me, Mr. Gregory? I have
an idea Id love to pitch--

Monica cuts him off.

MONICA
There were sign up sheets to have a
personal consultation with Mr.
Gregory.

THOMAS
There werent any slots left.

MONICA
Im sorry.

Thomas nods but he clearly has a plan.

THOMAS
I just thought I should talk to him
before I give up and... go back to
college.

PETER GREGORY
Dont! Wait, where?

THOMAS
I dont know, probably Boston
University.
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
Peter is practically spitting.
 13.

PETER GREGORY
Thats over fifty thousand a year.
Do not do that. Go work at Burger
King. Go into the woods and forage
for nuts and berries. But do not
go back to college!

At that moment, Peter notices that Thomas is smiling

slightly, maybe a little too happy with himself.

PETER GREGORY (CONTD)

I think I have been played. Fine.
Go ahead and pitch. You have until
I fasten the seatbelt in my car.

Thomas was ready and jumps right in.

THOMAS
Pied Piper is a proprietary site
that allows you to find if your
music is infringing on existing
copyrights. Imagine if you were a
song writer....

Peter is lost.

PETER GREGORY
I dont think I could write a song.

THOMAS
But if you did...

PETER GREGORY
I dont even know if I can say
Pied Piper is a proprietary site.
Well I guess I just did but it
wasnt easy.

Thomas is clearly thrown by Peters odd manner. At that

moment Peters car pull up. Thomas is about to pitch some
more but Monica steps between them.

MONICA
Crunching all those songs to find
matches sounds like a lot of data
flow.

This gives Peter a graceful exit.

PETER GREGORY
Yes. Yes it does.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 14.

It is then that we notice his car -- its a futuristic

Volkswagen personal mobility transporter concept car. He
hops in and hovers away. Thomas is crushed.

MONICA
Look, why dont you send me the
link for your project and well
take a look.

THOMAS
Great, if you give me your email
address Ill send you the link.

MONICA
(slightest beat)
Why dont you just write it down
for me.

Thomas is certain he's just being shined on so she can get

out of there, but writes down the info and hands it to her.
Big Head is still just staring at her chest. He notices
Monica noticing.

BIG HEAD
Sorry.. Im just thinking about...
image recognition.

INT. HACKER HOUSE - NIGHT

Thomas, defeated, comes home to find Erlich slurping ramen

and listening to people pitch their ideas so they can get
Thomass room. (NOTE: When Erlich eats ramen he clips his
hair back).

ERLICH
...the airlines had a problem, and
I had Accutran. So... wow me.

The pitcher starts pitching.

PITCHER
Ok, here it is: Bit Soup. Its
like alphaBET soup but its all
ones and zeroes.

Everyone waits expectantly but Erlich just stares at the

pitcher. The pitcher fidgets. Then:

PITCHER (CONTD)
(hopefully)
See its binary. Because binary is
just ones and zeroes TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 15.

ERLICH
I KNOW WHAT BINARY IS!!! Jesus!
Ive memorized the hexadecimal
times tables! Ask me what 9 times F
is!! I dont need you to tell me
whats binary and I dont NEED you
thinking about soup. I NEED you
thinking about code. This is
Silicon Valley, not...

He pauses a second as he punches something into his iPad.

ERLICH (CONTD)
...Paris, Texas.
(beat)
Thats where Campbells Soup is.

Erlich sees Thomas, then pointedly turns to the nerds.

ERLICH (CONTD)
Look, I got one slot opening up
very soon, whos gonna get it?

As Thomas retreats to his room we hear the nerds pitching a

battery of tech words like capacity and battery.

INT. HACKER HOUSE - THOMASS ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Thomas enters his room to find Big Head talking with Dinesh
and Roland. Big Head holds a sacbut, which is an old brass
instrument that sort of resembles a trombone.

ROLAND
So that thing is from the 1400s?

BIG HEAD
Not this one literally, but the
sacbut is the least evolutionized
of all brass instruments, so it
would be the same as one from the
14th century.

DINESH
So do you guys play anywhere? Like
clubs or anything?

Big Head uses his sacbut to point at Dinesh.

BIG HEAD
Not yet. Were trying to play
Street Fair this year.
(MORE) TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 16.
BIG HEAD (CONT'D)
Problem is, theyre more into
traditional Sacbut, which we can
do, but it seems like it would be
selling out or something -- just
doing what people expect.

ROLAND
I dont think anyone ever expects a
sacbut ensemble anywhere...

THOMAS
Everyone likes music. I cant
figure out what it is about Pied
Piper that people dont get?

DINESH
Applicability?

THOMAS
I dont know... Peter Gregorys
head of operations said to send her
the link but she was probably just
shining me on.

DINESH/ROLAND
She?

BIG HEAD
Man, she was hot.

ROLAND
Why didnt I see her on nip alert?

BIG HEAD
Because I was too distracted. See,
thats another bug I have to work
out.

Big Head looks around nervously to make sure Erlich didnt

hear that.

CUT TO:

EXT. LOS ANGELES - ESTABLISHING

INT. YOGA STUDIO - DAY

Two very attractive women, LANGDON and TANDY, are doing yoga
at the back of the class. Tandy looks likes she could be a
model, but probably just swimsuit or lingerie; Langdon has
more of a classic beauty. (ThisTV place
Callingis- almost depressingly
For educational purposes only
filled with hot, young women and one guy.)
 17.

LANGDON
This is probably the worst time
ever to be a laid-off publicist.

TANDY
Yep. Social media.

LANGDON
I know! There are no cool jobs
anymore because everyone is out
there blogging and doing it for
free! At least youre working non-
profit.

TANDY
Im working the phones for
mesothelioma for ten bones an hour
and there are no parties. No
galas. No deep pockets. No
connections.

Langdon shakes her head.

LANGDON
Remember those Pediatric AIDS fund-
raisers? Those were huge.

TANDY
Yeah, thats how I met Jerry
Weintraub. He took me to Cannes.
God, I miss the Hotel Du Cap.

Tandy and Langdon adjust positions.

LANGDON
Theres just no money in non-
profits anymore. Then I guess
theres no money anywhere anymore.
And I need a job.
(shakes her head)
Im in way default on my student
loans. Why the hell did they lend
me money to major in Art History.
Assholes!!

Tandy has an explanation.

TANDY
Its fucked up. Wanna go to Vespio
tonight?

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 18.

LANGDON
I dont know, we keep running into
the same guys. All the guys with
money in LA seem to be old and fat.

TANDY
Except for the professional
athletes.

LANGDON
Yeah, theyre hot but theyre all
rapists.

TANDY
(like its even worse)
Yeah, or Christians.

LANGDON
I would even settle for a guy who
wasnt rich as long as he wasnt a
douche.

TANDY
Keep telling yourself that. I
think you would be bored to death.
My mom always says its just as
easy to fall in love with a rich
guy as a poor guy.

LANGDON
Not around here...

The class ends. They roll up their yoga mats, sling their
towels over their shoulders and heads towards the adjoining
cafe.

INT. YOGA STUDIO - CAFE - MOMENTS LATER

Langdon and Tandy head into the adjoining cafe where they
serve teas and herbal drinks.

TANDY
I really should have married Tom
when I had the chance. Id be
living in a house in Malibu. I
wouldnt be worried about getting
older. Ive seen lines on my face.
Well, just around the eyes, but
they are there.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 19.

LANGDON
Eyes arent as hard to fix as necks
and hands but... Yeah, Im not even
getting carded anymore.

A TV is tuned to an MSNBC show about young rich Silicon

Valley guys.

LANGDON (CONTD)
Why cant we meet guys like that?

TANDY
Geeks?

LANGDON
Yeah. Theyre rich and smart and
theyre our age.

TANDY
(being swayed)
Yeah, and they dont look rapey.
But theyre all up North.

Langdon considers this a beat.

LANGDON
So a half hour plane ride away
theres all these gazillionaires?
What the hell are we doing here?

TANDY
Getting older. And poorer.

They look to each other then back to the TV.

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP OF A COMPUTER

We see the Pied Piper Logo. It's pretty bad as far as logos
go. PULL BACK to see we are

INT. BOODLE - DAY

The brogrammers who Thomas pitched Pied Piper to are calling

up the site to make fun of it.

BROGRAMMER #1
Lets look at this stupid thing.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 20.

BROGRAMMER #2
(snarky)
You have to download your own
player? Hey look at me, I traveled
back to 2009!

A song starts playing. Brogrammer #1s smirk suddenly turns

into a look of surprise.

BROGRAMMER #1
Wait a second. Look at this file
size. 1.2 Megabytes? No way! I
know that song. Thats at least 3
on itunes...

He starts playing it.

BROGRAMMER #2
Wow, that doesnt sound at all
downgraded.

DISSOLVE TO:

SAME SCENE -- MOMENTS LATER

They are testing the software, comparing file sizes, etc.

BROGRAMMER #1
I really cant hear the difference.

BROGRAMMER #2
And the file size is like, half.
How the hell did he do that?

BROGRAMMER #1
I have no idea. Some kind of new
lossy compression I guess.

DISSOLVE TO:

SAME SCENE - MOMENTS LATER

A larger crowd has now gathered around to look at Pied Piper.

We see that someone has plugged large speakers into the
computer. Music is playing but nobody is really listening,
theyre just glued to the computer. Everyone is asking
various questions about how many bytes and what the
compression is.

Brogrammer #1 and Brogrammer #2 look at each other, They are

humbled and impressed. Just then, a young business exec,
JARED DUNN, walks by and sees everyone
TV Callinggathered around. purposes only
- For educational
 21.

JARED
What are you guys listening to?

BROGRAMMER #1
Were listening to 1.5 gigabytes of
sound that should take up 4.5
gigabytes.

Jared leans in, intrigued.

CUT TO:

THE PERPETUALLY SCOWLING FACE OF GAVIN BELSON

He strides down a corridor of Boodle. Jared tries to keep up

while showing him Pied Piper on his laptop.

JARED
Do you realize how huge this could
be? With all the data storage and
data flow problems. The
applications could be endless.

As Gavin watches it, he stops walking. His scowl changes

into an expression of pure greed.

GAVIN BELSON
I want it.

INT. HACKER HOUSE - DAY

Thomas has got his stuff all packed up. Big Head holds some
of it. Thomas is arguing with Erlich over the various and
seemingly arbitrary move-out obligations he is insisting
Thomas takes on.

ERLICH
Hey, Im being a good guy here.
You can either get me a zip drive
with any and all code you worked on
or thought of working on while you
lived here, or you can just clean
the bathroom. Up to you.

Erlich leaves Thomas and takes a seat in front of an eager

young guy who is ready to pitch. Thomass phone rings. He
looks at it and turns to Big Head.

THOMAS
A Boodle number again. Its
probably those fucking
TV brogrammers.
Calling - For educational purposes only
 22.

Big Head nods at this then puts the tip of his thumb up
against his lips and blows -- with each blow he pretends his
upper body is inflating in a crude imitation of the
brogrammers.

THOMAS (CONTD)
They keep calling to tell me how
bad my website is. I really dont
want to answer just to hear about
what an asshole I am.

ANGLE ON ERLICH

He turns to the eager guy.

ERLICH
Youre on.

EAGER GUY
My site is called Mashville.

ANGLE ON THOMAS

His phone rings again. Its a Boodle number again.

THOMAS
(sighs)
I just want to put an end to this.
(answers)
Hi, Thomas Peckering, Im an
asshole, tell me how much you hate
Pied Piper.

His expression changes.

THOMAS (CONTD)
What? Really? Wait, is this a
prank? Can you prove its real?
OK, Ill call right back.

This has gotten everyones attention. They watch as Thomas

calls back the number.

THOMAS (CONTD)
Holy shit. OK... Ill be there.

He hangs up.

THOMAS (CONTD)
I have a meeting with Gavin
Belson... he likes Pied Piper.

The housemates are all freaking TVout. Erlich

Calling - For steps away purposes
educational from only
the guy pitching him and walks up to Thomas.
 23.

ERLICH
I own ten percent of Pied Piper.

THOMAS
You said it was a shitty idea.

ERLICH
It was a shitty idea. Im not sure
what it is now. Whens your
meeting?

THOMAS
Right now.

ERLICH
Ill go change.

Erlich hurries off. Thomas waits for a beat then turns to

Big Head.

THOMAS
What the fuck am I waiting for?

Thomas hurries out.

EXT. BOODLE - LATER

Thomas is admitted to the executive area.

INT. BOODLE - MOMENTS LATER

Thomas sits in the waiting area. Jared and a bunch of other

EXECUTIVES are with him.

JARED
Good to see you, Thomas. Now Gavin
is running about thirty minutes
late.

THOMAS
Well, its been forty minutes
already so does that mean another
30 minutes from now then...?

The other exec chimes in.

OTHER EXECUTIVE
You should know Gavin is very
excited about your site. Have you
met Gavin?
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 24.

THOMAS
Ive never even seen him in person.

The other executive steps in. The exec has the glow of a
cult member talking about a cult leader.

OTHER EXECUTIVE
Its amazing. Youll just feel so
energized after you meet him. Im
a VP here and I only see Gavin
about ten minutes a month.

ANOTHER EXECUTIVE
But that ten minutes is just
incredible. Indescribable.
Prepare to have your life changed.

A door opens and another SENIOR VP enters.

SENIOR VP
I heard Thomas Peckering was here.
Has he ever met Gavin? No?

OTHER EXECUTIVE
I told him its amazing.

SENIOR VP
That hardly begins to describe it.

INT. BOODLE - GAVIN BELSONS OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

A huge office. There are giant pictures all over the place --
and they are all of Gavin: Gavin in a hard hat pointing at a
giant crane as if hes telling it what to do, Gavin dressed
in his judo gi in full action pose, Gavin standing amidst a
group of starving people in Nepal, his hands outstretched
benevolently. WE WIDEN to see that Gavin is in his office
with a designer who is pointing out the window at a huge
blank wall in the entryway to Boodle.

DESIGNER
We really need to do something to
fill that huge space up there. Now
I know you wont like this idea,
Gavin, but how about a nice, bold
picture of you to fill it?

Gavin sighs and nods.

GAVIN BELSON
OK. But I dont want to just pose
this time. Maybe we TV
canCalling
get a -shot
For educational purposes only
of me... innovating.
 25.

The designer clearly has no idea what this will look like.

DESIGNER
Perfect.

EXT. BOODLE - CONTINUOUS

Erlich, now in a fresh blue I know HTML -- How To Meet

Ladies T-shirt, freshly waxed mustache, and what seems to be
a Greek fishermans cap, is shoving Big Head in front of him.
Big Head uses his pass card to get them in.

INT. BOODLE - CONTINUOUS

Thomas still waits with Jared and the other executives.

Gavin is still not there but theyre all still talking about
him.

SENIOR VP
(satisfied sigh)
Ah, Gavin...

Thomass phone rings. He excuses himself to answer.

THOMAS
Hello?

His expression slowly turns to one of shock. He looks up at

the others.

THOMAS (CONTD)
Its Peter Gregory.

The executives and Jared exchange a troubled look. The

Senior VP excuses himself and rushes out.

INT. BOODLE - GAVIN BELSONS OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Gavin is now meeting with two Powerade reps. Gavin is

looking out the window at programmers in the courtyard below.

GAVIN BELSON
Its weird. They always travel in
groups of five. Tall skinny white
guy, short skinny Asian guy, fat
guy with a ponytail, some guy with
crazy facial hair and then an east
Indian guy. Do they trade guys
till they all have the right group?
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 26.

POWERADE REP
Ummm... Im not sure, but we are
very excited about becoming the
official energy product of Boodle
Corporation. You know our products
are not just junk loaded with sugar
and caffeine. I mean of course
they have those but they really are
an excellent nutritional product.

GAVIN BELSON
When I first started Boodle I
worked those guys 24/7. Its
amazing what you can get human
beings to do for $45 worth of ice
cream. But the thing is, now
everyone wants to be healthy...

At that moment the Senior VP rushes in and whispers to Gavin.

He turns to the Powerade reps.

GAVIN BELSON (CONTD)

Get the fuck out.

INT. BOODLE - MOMENTS LATER

Thomas is still talking to Peter Gregory on the phone.

THOMAS
Im actually outside Gavin Belsons
office right now, Mr. Gregory.
Here he is! Can you hold on a
second?

Gavin strides in.

GAVIN BELSON
So, Thomas Peckering is here!

Gavin is looking at an overweight guy with a pony tail until

Jared guides him over to Thomas. Gavin acts like he has just
found a long lost friend.

GAVIN BELSON (CONTD)

There you are, Tom!! Im sorry
these gentlemen kept you waiting.

He gives Jared and the other executives dirty looks. They do

their best to look apologetic.

GAVIN BELSON (CONTD)

Heres the thing -- ITVlove what- For
Calling you educational purposes only
did.
 27.

THOMAS
You REALLY like Pied Piper?

GAVIN BELSON
LOVE IT! Fill him in Jared!

Jared steps in.

JARED
Now, Thomas, of course since you
developed this fantastic project on
the Boodle campus while employed by
Boodle, technically it is the
property of Boodle, but Gavin is
prepared to give you quite a nice
raise - and a promotion of course.

THOMAS
Oh, well actually Ive only worked
here at Boodle a few weeks. I
needed a job because things werent
panning out and... well I created
this site months before I got here.

ERLICH (O.S.)
Thats right! He created it while
living AT MY INCUBATOR.

They all turn to see Erlich and Big Head coming. Big Head
whispers to Thomas.

BIG HEAD
Sorry, he threatened to kick me out
of the house if I didnt get him
in.

ERLICH
(to Belson)
Scott Erlich.

Gavin ignores him, he is clearly figuring out a new way to

navigate the situation. He nods and looks as fatherly and
comforting as possible as he speaks to Thomas.

GAVIN BELSON
Ill give you $600,000 for it.

Thomas, Big Head and Erlich are shocked, but Erlich puts his
arm around Thomas as if he owns him. Thomas is stunned, a
grin slowly spreading across his face.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 28.

GAVIN BELSON (CONTD)

But I am not just giving you
$600,000, I am giving you the full
weight of Boodle. We have the
reach and the muscle and the
resources to take what you have
done and push it to the global
level. At Boodle we dont ask
people what they want. We tell
them what they want. And they thank
us for doing it. Boodle can bring
you the world.

Big Heads phone ring. He answers it.

BIG HEAD
Hello? Really? Wow. Sure.

He hands his phone to Thomas.

BIG HEAD (CONTD)

Its Peter Gregory. I dont know
how he got my number.

Thomas takes the phone.

THOMAS
Hello, Mr. Gregory, Im so sorry.
Oh, you heard that?
(listening)
Uh huh... Uh huh...

GAVIN BELSON
(blurts)
Ill give you ten million dollars
for it!

The room goes dead silent. Thomas is in shock. He speaks

half to himself/half into the phone.

THOMAS
Gavin Belson just offered me 10
million dollars for Pied Piper.

CUT TO:

PETER GREGORY

In his office with Monica standing by. They have Thomas on

speaker phone. Peter seems unimpressed.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 29.

PETER GREGORY
Ten million? Im prepared to give
you one hundred thousand dollars.

CUT TO:

THOMAS

Overwhelmed with stunned joy.

THOMAS
(to Gavin and the others)
Peter Gregory offered me one
hundred...
(realizing)
...thousand?

CUT TO:

PETER GREGORY

PETER GREGORY
File size is a problem that is
never going away. That makes your
compression code very valuable.
Ask yourself this, Thomas: Did you
come out to Silicon Valley to make
ten million dollars and disappear?
Or did you come to make billions
and leave your mark? You could be
up there with the greats.

Thomas tries to process this but just looks like he's in

clinical shock. Then something occurs to him. He turns to
Gavin.

THOMAS
Mr. Belson, I have a great idea!
Peter Gregory is only interested in
the compression algorithm I
created, so I could do Pied Piper
with you and develop the
compression technology with him.

GAVIN BELSON
(explodes)
The compression is the only thing
about the fucking stupid site I DO
WANT!!

Gavin comes up to him. TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 30.

GAVIN BELSON (CONTD)

Dont be an idiot. Im offering
you real money. Ten million, right
now.

Everyone is peppering Thomas with advice. His head is

swimming.

THOMAS
Excuse me... I...I need to use the
bathroom...

Thomas walks off. We follow him past the mens room and down
corridors and dead ends. Hes trying to get out but cant.
He finally breaks free and runs.

CUT TO:

A SERIES OF PHONE CALLS AND MEETINGS

--Thomas and all the hacker house residents sit around the
kitchen table. Everyone peppers him with advice.

--Thomas is sitting behind the desk in a big private office

at Boodle. Jared and the other execs surround him. Thomas
seems excited but overwhelmed.

THOMAS
So what would my position with the
company be?

JARED
Your position?

THOMAS
What would I be doing?

SENIOR VP
You could just think of something
else genius.

THOMAS
And you guys would own it?

SENIOR VP
Well, yes, as per the terms of the
contract. But--

He motions to a very thick contract in front of Thomas.

TV Calling - For educational purposes only

 31.

THOMAS
Yeah, I meant to ask you about
that, this contract is for thirty
years.

SENIOR VP
Yes, the ten million is paid over
thirty years.

All the execs nod happily as if this is the best news ever.
Thomas spots something else and points to a paragraph in the
contract.

THOMAS
This looks like a restraining
order.

JARED
Yes, well, Gavin is a very busy
man... and he doesnt want to get
in your way... or you in his.
(mutters quietly)
It's not necessarily a bad thing.

As Thomas looks through the voluminous document, we see his

excitement fading.

EXT. HACKER HOUSE - EVENING

Thomas is lost in thought as he walks onto the front stoop.

He is about to try the door when something catches the corner
of his eye. He turns and sees Monica is sitting there
waiting for him. He practically jumps in surprise. Monica
cant help but laugh. She is dressed casually now and
although she still has a professional polish to her she is
much more accessible than when in her normal business attire.

MONICA
Whoa, someones on edge.

Thomas tries to regain his composure.

THOMAS
Yeah, maybe. Wonder why.

MONICA
Well, I came by to let you know
that whoever you go with,
everything will be just fine.
Boodle is creepy and Peter is...
well nuts, but you have two of the
biggest players in Silicon Valley
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
fighting over you. Enjoy it.
 32.

THOMAS
Yeah, I dont see that happening. I
have to make the most important
decision of my life! And Im not
good at making those kinds of
decisions.

Monica moves over on the bench to make room for Thomas and
gestures for him to sit next to her but he doesnt seem to
notice. She nods slightly like okay then.

MONICA
So, what kind of decisions are you
good at making?

Thomas thinks about this.

THOMAS
Technical ones. Fixes. Cracking
code and making it work. And then
making it work better. I like
having discreet reducible problems
and solving them. Im not much of
a big picture guy.

MONICA
Maybe you are and maybe you arent.
Maybe you just need bigger problems
to solve.

Thomas gets an ironic smile.

THOMAS
So, Peter Gregory sent you here to
offer me bigger problems?

Monica gets up and moves towards Thomas. Thomas practically

holds his breath as she brushes past him. She lingers for a
second and looks him right in the eye.

MONICA
Nobody sent me over here.

And then she walks away.

MONICA (CONTD)
When you dont try to see the big
picture you miss a lot. Even
things that are right in front of
you.

And with that she walks down the steps and away. Thomas
watches her, she turns her head TVtoCalling
see him as educational
- For she gets to her
purposes only
car. He doesnt know what to do so he just waves.
 33.

Monica sighs and waves back as she gets into her car. She is
smiling.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. GAVIN BELSONS OFFICE - DAY

All of the execs we have met before are standing around

anxiously while Gavin talks on the speaker phone.

THOMAS (V.O.)
Ive been thinking about this a
lot, and I think Boodle is a great
opportunity, but Im a little fuzzy
about just what exactly I would do.

Gavin jumps on this but tries to sound pleasant.

GAVIN BELSON
You can do anything, learn to play
zithers, play D&D all day long.
Hell, grow a pony tail, grow
pigtails, I dont care.

Gavin is clearly getting revved up. Jared motions him to

calm down.

JARED
What Gavin is saying is that youll
have complete freedom.

WE NOW INTERCUT WITH THOMAS IN HIS ROOM PACING WHILE TALKING

ON HIS CELL PHONE.

THOMAS
Well, its just that I kind of want
to be a part of something. I want
to help take this to the next
level. So I was thinking maybe if
we became partners...

Gavin reacts to partners and turns to Jared.

GAVIN BELSON
I'm willing to give this dickhead
thirty million dollars if I never
have to talk to him again!

JARED
(whispers)
Gavin, were still on speakerphone.
TV Calling - For educational purposes only
 34.

GAVIN BELSON
I know!

And with that Gavin violently hangs up.

CUT TO:

EXT. FOUR SEASONS PALO ALTO - EVENING

Langdon and Tandy pull up, dressed to kill.

INT. FOUR SEASONS PALO ALTO - LATER

Langdon and Tandy are at the bar, baffled by this place.

There are some khaki pant wearing businessmen. Lots of
Asians, lots of glasses and lots of Ipads and notebook
computers. Everyone seems to be working like this is just
another office.

LANGDON
It looks like a Four Seasons but
sure as hell doesnt feel like one.

The presence of Langdon and Tandy has registered -- they are

attractive women anywhere but here they are almost like from
another planet. Guys actually stop working to look at them,
but whenever Langdon or Tandy simply make eye contact with a
guy he becomes completely flustered, turns away and stares
intently at whatever screen he has handy. Tandy looks beyond
confused.

TANDY
OK, I have never felt less sexual
energy in my life.

At that moment, a hopelessly nerdy GUY stumbles up to them.

Clearly he is really stinking drunk, cant handle liquor, and
awkwardly tries to hit on them..

GUY
Hey girls. My names James.
(hands them his card)
I started Zcranium.com. We just got
two million in start up money.

TANDY
Oh really? So youre like, a
programmer or...?

GUY
(insulted for no TV
reason)
Calling - For educational purposes only
Fuck yeah!
(MORE)
 35.
GUY (CONT'D)
I was writing code when I was 8. I
was a math wizz Sergie Brin?!
Larry PAGE?!! Fucking Larry
Elllison??!!! Theyre NOTHING!

Langdon and Tandy are stunned. At that moment a Hotel

Security Guard comes over and grabs the guy by the collar and
leads him out as he rants.

GUY (CONTD)
Im a tenth level magic user!!!

CUT TO:

EXT. DOWNTOWN PALO ALTO - EVENING

Langdon and Tandy stand in the middle of downtown Palo Alto.

They look around at the bland, mundane quality of the cars,
shops and people walking around.

TANDY
This is it? This is where all the
tech billionaires decided to live?

LANGDON
It cant be.
(stops a passerby)
Excuse me, is this Palo Alto?

The person nods and walks on. Langdon notices a Brew Pub.
She nods for Tandy to follow her.

INT. BREW PUB - MOMENTS LATER

Langdon and Tandy walk through the Brew Pub. Guys are
looking at them but it is that same flustered/terrified vibe
from before.

LANGDON
It looks like its all guys.
Thats gotta be good, right?

They come up to the bar where Roland and Jin Yiang are deep
in conversation. Jin Yiang looks angry and is oblivious to
the women, but Roland spots them and tries to play it cool as
Jin Yiang pays the tab.

JIN YIANG
This bullshit. Why I gotta buy
beers? That motherfucker just get
30 million dollars from Boodle.- For educational purposes only
TV Calling
 36.

This immediately catches Langdons attention. Roland tries

to sound cool, which sadly for him comes out sounding a bit
like John Wayne.

ROLAND
Cause you never pay for shit, Jin
Yiang. And this is a big night for
Thomas.

JIAN YANG
(confused)
Why you talk fucked up like that?

ROLAND
(gritted teeth)
Just cmon.

Embarrassed, Roland pushes Jin Yiang ahead of him. Langdon

watches them walk across the bar to a a group of guys heading
out. In the center of the group is Thomas. He is surrounded
by his housemates and other tech geeks, everyone still giving
him advice or just coming over to shake his hand. Langdon
watches as they head for the door.

LANGDON
(to herself)
Thomas.

Tandy has been oblivious to all this. Shes had enough.

TANDY
We can still catch the late flight
back to LA.

Langdon shakes her head, never taking her eyes off Thomas.

LANGDON
Were not going anywhere.

INT. HACKER HOUSE - NIGHT

Its late at night and Thomas sits all alone in the kitchen,
clearly conflicted. Erlich comes in and starts making
instant noodle ramen. Thomas is waiting for a jackass remark
from Erlich as he sits down next to him but Erlich just clips
back his hair and starts eating his ramen. After a beat
Erlich looks up at Thomas.

ERLICH
You don't want to work for assholes
and now you don't have to. You're
like me - you want toTVbuild
Calling - For educational purposes only
something.
 37.

Erlich goes back to slurping down his noodle ramen. Thomas

looks surprised by Erlich's comment but then almost relieved.

INT. BOODLE - DAY

Gavin looks like he is about to have an aneurism as he hangs

up the phone. Jared shakes his head in disbelief.

JARED
He turned down 30 million dollars?

Gavin shakes his head.

GAVIN BELSON
Well, look at it this way -- I have
30 million dollars that Im going
to use to destroy that sad,
pathetic, stupid prick.

This thought seems to cheer Gavin.

INT. HACKER HOUSE - EVENING

Thomas, Erlich, Big Head and the other hacker house residents
celebrate with pizza and beer.

THOMAS
With this new company were really
going to try and do things right.
First order of business -- changing
the name.
(off their looks)
Yes, I know Pied Piper sucks.

They all laugh and toast. Just then, Jared enters.

THOMAS (CONTD)
Oh... Hey. I turned down you guys.
And my decision is final.

JARED
I know. And I respect that. As a
matter of fact, thats all I can
think about... that you turned down
30 million dollars because you
cared about something. You were
passionate about something. I want
to feel that way. I want to work
for you. I dont know if Gavin
will give me a good recommendation
but Im really fucking
TV good at - For educational purposes only
Calling
business development.
 38.

Thomas looks around at his group and smiles.

THOMAS
It always sounded like bullshit
when every guy with a start up said
that they wanted to change the
world Okay, it still sounds like
bullshit... but maybe we can make
our mark.

The crew are swept away. It is clear that this is what they
all came out to Silicon Valley for.

ERLICH
AND MAKE SOME MONEY!!!

Big cheers from everyone. After a beat Thomas turns to Big

Head and whispers.

THOMAS
Were going to need some energy
drinks.

BIG HEAD
Big ones.

And as they all start chattering with excitement about the

future we...

FADE OUT. *

TV Calling - For educational purposes only