A killer on the run holds a group of celebrities hostage in an after-hours club, each of whom has a secret that’s about to destroy their lives.  A psychological thriller with one location, told in real time.  90 pages. Optioned and in active development.

SYNOPSIS:

It’s 5:00 AM at The Exit Room, a trendy after-hours club in LA on the Sunset Strip. Seated at the bar getting very drunk are Bettie Black, faded but still-hot 40-ish alt rock star -- and Casey Montana, newly-minted ‘best screenplay’ Oscar winner, wasted after a night on the town. Bettie reveals that she’s ‘doing a Leaving Las Vegas’ because her record label dropped her after she beat up a kid in the audience at a concert and a video of it went viral on the web. Casey reveals she has writer’s block after getting so much attention with her first script and can’t come up with a new story.

Also getting hammered in a nearby booth are Easy Washington, pro baseball player and indie movie hunk Sky Masters. Easy reveals that the media is outing him as gay in the press in the morning, which will seriously affect his career, especially after being traded. Sky confesses he just found out he’s HIV-positive, is supposed get married tomorrow – and that his wife doesn’t know.

Angel Ruiz, the bouncer, sits behind the bar and chats with Mia Tanaka, the bartender-slash-actress/model. He’s worried that if he doesn’t make his latest payment to a loan shark his goons are going to come and hurt him. Mia chastises him for getting into such a stupid jam, but Angel assures her it’s gonna be okay. His dealer is giving him some credit in the form of coke he can sell.

Gay Silverlake hipster Mickey Mertz arrives to save the day with the blow. They go back to the VIP room to close the deal. Then the buzzer rings. Angel tells Mia not to let them in as they’re about to close, but the person ringing the buzzer won’t give up, claiming they’re in trouble and need help. Just as Mia goes to get the door, she gets a call on her cell from her sister telling her that her mother has just has a stroke and is being rushed to the hospital –

Just as two crazed gunmen covered in blood storm into the room with a bag of money and take the joint hostage. Danny Peel, the leader, is surprisingly friendly and buys the gang a round of drinks with the stolen loot. He and his partner Vin Vargas, a dirty cop with gambling problem take seats at the bar and join the celebs for a cocktail. Danny gets Angel to get the first aid kit to fix the duo’s gunshot wounds and proceeds to chat up the celebs. He especially likes Casey. The feeling is mutual. Suddenly Bettie vomits and passes out on the floor. Easy rushes over to help, finds out she has no pulse, and revives her. Casey carefully asks Danny why they’re on the run, smelling a good story.

Things start going from bad to worse. A former trauma nurse, Mickey tries to dress the gunshot wound on Vin’s leg, but Vin mistakenly thinks he’s making a pass at him and blows off his head. Easy whispers to Sky that they ‘need to come up with a plan.’ Danny apologies to everyone and berates Vin for killing Mickey because he was gay. Easy stuns the room when he comes out and asks Vin if he wants to shoot him, too. Danny loves it, makes Vin apologize – and put his pants on.

The crisis escalates when Easy and Sky try to jump Danny and Vin and Easy’s arm gets blown off. Then in a surprising twist, Danny gradually wins everybody over by providing them with coke, pot, food and money and helping them with their problems. He then reveals that Vin botched the home invasion they were trying to pull when he went in guns blazing. Danny and Vin get into a heated argument and Danny shoots him. Rushing on the adrenalin, Casey and Danny make love, and the circle becomes complete when the celebs bond with Danny and try to help him escape, becoming criminals themselves. But just as they prepare to leave, the cops show up, and things start to fall apart.

After the celebs reveal to the hostage negotiator that they want to go with Danny, things soon escalate into a SWAT attack that leaves everyone dead. Except for Casey – who now has her story.

AFTERHOURS