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Showing posts from May, 2026

SWIMMING UP by Tommy Ross

  SWIMMING UP Screenplay Draft by Tommy Ross CHRYSLER BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY — 2002 FADE IN: EXT. MIDTOWN MANHATTAN - NIGHT Winter. The silver crown of the Chrysler Building glows over Manhattan. Steam rises from street grates. Traffic murmurs below. The camera slowly TILTS UP the stainless steel arches. TITLE CARD: CHRYSLER BUILDING NEW YORK CITY 2002 CUT TO: INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR - NIGHT An old freight elevator rattles upward. SANTOS, mid-50s, dark-haired and weathered, stands alone with a metal toolbox. Industrial fluorescent lights flicker overhead. The elevator numbers climb: DING. The doors open. INT. FLOOR 76/77 SERVICE LANDING - NIGHT A cramped mechanical room. The walls sweat condensation. Red steel ladders rise upward through darkness, their paint chipped and peeling with age. TAYLOR, early 30s, blond, athletic, nervous beneath false confidence, leans against the wall holding a deli coffee. Santos steps out. SANTOS You Taylor? TAYLOR Yeah. SANTOS First time I seen you up...