Hey all!

I am Alden Tan, an aspiring screenwriter from Singapore.

I guess if there's an introduction for me, it'd be that I spent my writing career as one of those annoying bloggers and ugh... internet marketers who wrote contrived bullshit just to make a quick buck.

I hated all of that and it has directed me back to my core as a writer who loves to create stories.

I am now writing tales everyday and I hope to put them on the big screen one day.

How's that for an introduction? Better than merely, "My passion is writing" eh? 

So here's a movie idea. I intend to make this a series. Let's go and let me know what you think!

Movie Title: Inspire

Logline:  A depressed and mentally unstable teacher targets two high school girls and makes plans to kidnap them for his twisted desires. 

Synopsis:

Sal, a high school teacher of Westmont High is depressed and seemingly mentally-unstable. The other teachers dislike him. He is however, a very intelligent teacher who actually cares for his students, so much so he gives personal tuition to underprivileged students. 

At home, Sal leads a very isolated life. He spends most of his time chatting with a female student named Natalie Watts. He uses a fake Facebook account by the name of Michael and chats with her everyday. They get close online, but Natalie never spots him in school, much to her amusement.

Sal learns about how Natalie is constantly bullied by another student by the name of Yolanda Jacobs. This upsets him greatly. He tried to get something done about it by bringing it up to the principal, but nothing was done. Sal even threatens Yolanda's father. Natalie puts two and two together and believes that Michael tattled for her to Yolanda's father. This makes her extremely upset. She scolds Michael and blocks him on Facebook. The bullying continues. One day, in school, Sal witnesses the bullying. He snaps and physically attacks Yolanda. As a result, he gets fired.

Overwhelmed by the loss of his job and his connection to Natalie, Sal kidnaps both Natalie and Yolanda and brings them to an unknown location.

Soon after, Sal turns himself in.

The twist: Sal is not a pedophile nor a sexual predator. He did not sexually assault the girls. Sal actually had a daughter from long ago, who resembled Natalie. He was very strict on her as a father. However, unbeknownst to him, his daughter was also heavily bullied in school. She eventually couldn't take the torment any longer and killed herself. Unable to get over the loss of his child, Sal tries to bond with Natalie as a way of trying to relive his life as a father. 

During the kidnapping, Sal apologizes to Natalie, an act of redemption. Sal does nothing further to Yolanda for she is already scared and fearing for her life, an act of revenge against bullies.

Significance behind the title: It's just my satirical take on the idea that teachers in movies are inspiring figures. This is a not an inspirational story.

Script progress: I'm almost done with the script. I am at the final act as it is. I've written it such that we explore Sal's character and how he lives as a creepy sociopath as we lead up to the twist. A lot of the dialogue is him as Michael, my take on the issue of online grooming (Google it.)

Other movie inspirations: 1-Hour Photo, The Machinist, Nightcrawler, The Wrestler.

If you haven't seen any of these movies we really shouldn't be friends! Lol. 

That's it!

Please let me know in the comments what you think!

Any screenwriters or people in the movie business? Let's connect! I'd love to learn more about screenwriting!

Peace,

Alden