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"OFF THE BOOKS"
By William Sowles

GENRE: Thriller
LOGLINE:

When the successful woman lawyer meets a Hollywood stunt driver, they find out that years ago their Dad's were shot down over North Korea, captured, then taken to the Gulags of Siberia. They go to Russia and uncover a major conspiracy that puts their lives in jeopardy. Even worse, they come up against the "Deep State." 

SYNOPSIS:

It's 1950 in Korea. CHUCK MCCREA and HARRIS POWERS, Air Force Pilots fly photo-recon over North Korea. In flight, Chuck informs Harris that false kill reports are coming in from the Squadron. Powers agrees to investigate when they return to Seoul. They are shot down, captured and carted off to the Gulags of Siberia. FORTY YEARS LATER, SONNY MCCREA still believes that his Dad was captured. All Sonny wants is to survive a cruel world bent on burying the truth. At his Malibu ranch, Sonny drinks and doesn't care about much. Unexpectedly, Sonny meets Harris Power's daughter, BARNABY, a smart, successful woman lawyer from Los Angeles. When they are at A.F. Records, ODDBALL, Sonny's buddy has documents that show their Fathers may have been captured.

JOE VERITY, Sonny's ex-stepfather from Chuck's squadron attacks Sonny, screaming: "Don't let him kill them!" Former Colonel, PATRICK MCGOVERN, now the Secretary of State nominee, who in Korea, masterminded false kill reports to make their records look good is about to be confirmed by the Senate. McGovern orders his cohorts to get that 'Hollywood stunt driver and that she-lawyer off his back.' Resolute, our two set out to locate Joe. They find him dead in a private rehab center. Barnaby and Sonny are followed, then he is arrested. Sonny wrecks his sabotaged stunt car. He is fearful of Barnaby's life. Following a hair-raising chase through the hills of Malibu, in Joe's sister's cottage, they find a yellowed photograph of Chuck and Harris as prisoners of the Russians.

Sonny and Barnaby go to Russia. Once there, DIMITRI DZHAGAROV, now a Russian Security Officer, confiscates their passports, then wishes them a 'happy vacation.' MISHA, their Refusenik friend takes them to an abandoned rail station where American Prisoners embarked to the Gulags. Sonny and Barnaby stay the night at OGLA'S Party Palace, packed with strange foreigners and Russian business types. The next morning, AK-47 toting Russians arrest them. Dzhagarov orders them to leave the country. Instead, Misha takes them to a cemetery, where they dig up graves that they believe are their fathers. In Dzhagarov' s Zil limo, the elderly Chuck and Harris watch them uncover skeletons with dog tags stuck in the teeth. Barnaby asks Sonny, "On which hand was your father's missing fingertip?" Instantly, they both realize that the dog tags are real but the skeletons are fake. At the US Council, sirens blare, bright lights emblaze our scene. Russian Thugs hold Sonny and Barnaby. Sonny tosses the dog tags to Council HUDSON, screaming, "Here's your evidence!" US Marines and Russian soldiers stare each other down. Dzhagarov rides up in his Zil. He orders his men to let them go. Back home in L.A. Barnaby and Sonny see Secretary of State, McGovern indicted for his Korean War scandal. Celebrating their partial victory, Sonny drives Barnaby from his ranch to the cliffs overlooking Malibu Beach. They congratulate each other with Champagne. As the Sun sets, suddenly a huge truck pulls up behind them, then pushes them over the cliff to certain death. At the Whitehouse, the President appoints a new Secretary of State.

Nathaniel Baker

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