Project

Outline | Scenes | Screenplay

1. Opening Scene

A group of slackers—DYLAN, AMALIA, MAYA, LINCOLN, CATE, and MALCOLM—in their late teens, early twenties—work at a supermarket. We join them in the break room, where they’re screwing around, bitching about work. A few other employees linger in the background.

Their boss, CALEB, a mid-20s control freak—climbing up the corporate ladder, clipboard in hand—instructs them to be on their best behavior today, because a major corporation is test-marketing a new product in the store.

Two models will be walking the aisles with trays of samples, under the supervision of MALLORY, who’s the marketing director for the corporation and JUST HAPPENS to be Caleb’s girlfriend. Mallory is as domineering as Caleb, and sneers at our slackers, scorning them with stories Caleb has told her about them. (As in ‘Tsk. Caleb said you were the dumb one.’)

The food is for CUSTOMERS ONLY. Under no circumstances can the EMPLOYEES eat the samplers. Caleb makes them repeat the rule back to them, despite his employees’ eye rolling.

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2. Can't get enough

They set to work; the boys flirt with the models serving the food, but are chastised by Caleb. The models are lambasted by Mallory for consorting with the store workers. Amalia, who is dating Malcolm, is aggravated that he’s flirting so openly. Our heroes are sorely tempted to try the samples, but are foiled at every turn—either Caleb nears, or a customer grabs the sample before our hero can, or the models toy with them, snatching the sample away at the last minute.

The customers LOVE the samplers. They can’t get enough. They buy BOXES and BOXES of the product. The models have to keep running to the back to refill their trays; shoppers are chasing them down. Caleb and Mallory beam, planning what they’ll do with the promotions they’ll inevitably receive from their stunning success.

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3. Development

Late into the afternoon, Mallory runs out of product. Demand was too high! She casts a satisfied eye across the empty pallette where the samples were stored—they’d expected the supply to last a week! She directs her employees to take down the signs and pack up their gear.

One of the first customers returns; we remember her from earlier—a prim soccer mom who gorged on the samples and bought a dozen boxes. She’s now desperately searching the store for more. Caleb, the consummate professional, apologizes and offers her a rain check. Soccer mom won’t have it: she NEEDS more boxes NOW.

Caleb backs away, uneasy with the desperation in her voice. He motions to a large employee, who attempts to intimidate the soccer mom with his size.

Soccer mom persists. She NEEDS more boxes.

As the soccer mom pleads with Caleb, two models spill onto the floor in the freezer section. They’re yelling shrilly, and fighting over a BOX OF THE PRODUCT that one of them had hidden.

Seeing the product, the soccer mom throws herself headlong into the fight. Caleb and Mallory rush to break it up. The fight is surprisingly vicious, but they manage to restrain the women with the help of a few burly produce-department employees.

Caleb leans up against the freezer, breathing heavily—thinking everything is under control. BUT an employee calls to him, drawing his attraction to a MOB of unruly shoppers gathered at the front of the store, demanding product.

Caleb moves to the front of the store and jumps on a checkout counter. The mob gathers around him, shouting angrily. Caleb instructs them to step outside, where a new truckload of the product is about to arrive.

The crowd runs outside, and Caleb quickly LOCKS them out. The crowd starts to bang on the window.
Ashen, Caleb retreats to the back of the store.

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4. In the freezer

The group is gathered in the back of the store, near the meat section, warily unsure what to do.

SUDDENLY, one of the models starts to WAIL. She’s transforming into a ZOMBIE. The others stare, frozen in horror. The zombie lunges at one of the employees who helped break up the fight—a burly Latino man with who is SURREPTITIOUSLY eating from the box of product he wrangled from the model. The zombie kills the man, and gobbles the box—cardboard and all.

Everyone screams and scrambles away, except Mallory, who’s frozen. Caleb peers out at the scene from the back room (behind the milk!)—pointedly NOT HELPING his girlfriend. The zombie slowly approaches Mallory—about to reach her—when the zombie’s suddenly sliced IN TWO.

As the zombie falls apart, we see the BUTCHER wielding a zombie-yuk-covered blade. Just as the butcher offers a witty one-liner, he’s DEVOURED by the other model, who’s turned into a ZOMBIE.

Mallory screams in terror, and scrambles to the break room, where MAYA is smoking a cigarette. Thinking she’s busted, Maya quickly stubs out the cigarette. She doesn’t know what’s happening outside. She stumbles into an excuse, but stops when she looks closely at Mallory, dazed and splattered with blood.

Before Maya can say anything more, the SOCCER MOM bashes through the door, now a zombie. Maya screams, grabs Mallory, and runs through another door.

The zombie follows; Maya dashes through the backrooms of the supermarket—dragging Mallory behind her. Maya arrives at the meat locker, heaves open the heavy door, throws Mallory in, enters, and pulls the door closed after her—just as the SOCCER MOM ZOMBIE smashes into the freezer door.

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5. Freezer

The zombie scratches at the door, but is unable to enter. We can see the zombie through the frosted window in the door. Maya warily walks through the freezer—it’s a large room, with carcasses hanging on meat hooks. She shivers as she peers around the carcasses—a quick movement STARTLES her.

She screams, and sees DYLAN about to swing a butcher knife at her. He STOPS, just in time. They hug, and Lincoln and Amalia emerge from the shadows, each holding a knife. They all swap stories about how they arrived in the freezer.

They’re safe in the freezer for now, but it’s cold and CALEB, MALCOLM, and CATE are still outside. They gear up; DYLAN, LINCOLN, AMALIA, and MAYA put on chain mail (butchers use it to protect themselves when cutting up carcasses) and large knifes. There’s no chain mail for Mallory, but she’s barely coherent anyway. They stick a butcher’s knife in her hand and hope for the best.

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6. Rescue

The group rescues the others—but both Caleb and Mallory tried the product and turn into zombies—requiring their morally difficult (but somewhat satisfying) mercy killings. A number of the employees had tried the product as well, and must be killed.

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7. Battle for the Supermarket

The group manages to fight their way out of the supermarket, and discover that most of the town has become zombies because they’ve tried the PRODUCT.

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8. Clever plot development

The screenwriters think of a clever thing the product is made of, and clever rules that enable the zombies to be defeated.

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9. The rest of the movie

The group saves the world. With a little romance along the way. (We need a little help here)

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