Billy's Choice by Fork in the Road - A Japanese man's life might have turned out very differently.  Short, Drama

That was well written and I love the Japanese cultural aspect and the comic book, Magic the Gathering touches. They added a nice layer to the script.

I just couldn't figure out the story. I followed it to page 2 and then couldn't quite figure out what was going on after that or what the story was. I'll check back on this to see what other people think as I may have missed something but I read it twice.

It’s official – creative fonts and pictures on the title page no longer forbidden. I think this is the 4th one in this challenge and I liked them all.

Error on the first header

Quoted Text INT. HI-RISE CONDO ORNATE LIVING ROOM – DAY

Should be:

INT. HIGH RISE CONDO-  ORNATE LIVING ROOM – DAY

Same error throughout.

Supers would help you here – I have no idea the time setting for these scenes and that makes the story very confusing and disjointed.

This:

Quoted Text beloved husband to Lauren, father to Charisma and Logan.

Is mostly unfilmable.

There's something here - but it's a bit dense and a bit chaotic at the same time. Hard to get my mind around. Like I said - I think something explaining where we are in time would have helped.

Meets all the parameters.

Nice. One guy, two possible futures, all of it depending on which door 16-year-old Billy chooses to enter. Though both lives end tragically, Bill at least something important behind to be proud of (his kids), while William left a comic book collection.

Working the lives backwards, but still linearly, seemed like a way to meet the letter of the challenge, if not the spirit. But it turns out that was the only way to lend significance to the choice Billy had to make.

I liked the Bill side of the story. Couldn't care at all about the William side of the story. Just had no feelings for him/his wife whatsoever.

I believe what you're trying to set up is this: Bill makes an early choice. Then we watch how both would have played out for him. Except, the William side of the story doesn't feel like how it would have played out for Bill. He wouldn't have been a completely different kind of person.

If that's what you were going for, I think it would have been far more interesting to see a version of Bill's life that was broken, but broken in a way that made sense for him.

If that's NOT what you were setting up... then I'm sorry, I completely whiffed. :)

Writing is a bit messy, but nothing too bad.

Another one where the story is just lost on me. The structure just keeps pulling me out, if that makes sense. Makes it very hard to focus.

Sorry, but this one doesn't work for me. Good effort though.

Liked this one, two realities playing out backwards to the point where they could have diverged.

Feels a little over written in places, but only a little and made up for with two interesting version of what could be.

Good effort

Hi Writer

Quoted Text Lauren lays on the sidewalk

Quoted Text chubby man laying in a pool of blood

I'll get there before Libby does - she lies on the sidewalk, and the chubby man is lying in a pool of blood.

Quoted Text LAUREN It was a fucking hate crime! They thought Bill was Chinese... She sobs when she turns to a somewhat chubby man laying in a pool of blood, beaten beyond recognition. This was BILL (44), beloved husband to Lauren, father to Charisma and Logan. LAUREN ... and beat him to death. How does this happen in broad daylight?!

This is an odd conversation to have whilst still lying prone on the floor.


This is a great idea, like a reverse Sliding Doors. A lot of overwriting and I'm not entirely sure why a lot of things happened - both suffer tragic endings (although the getting beaten because of his perceived race didn't really seem like a consequence of his life choices, like how William died - but maybe that was the point, I don't know. Would seem more fitting if he was beaten because he was dressed up for comic-con, some people get really don't like anyone who dresses alternatively)

This is a great idea and is worth a rewrite or two - as it is it feels messy and lacks "something" that should bring it all together.

It also makes the opening scene a little odd, looks like both timelines have merged into one, unless Lauren is talking about a different husband or the broker is talking about a different William.

Nice effort though

I really struggled to keep my bearings in this tale, had to go back and forth a few times but I think I get the gist of it. It’s thickly layered with characters, names, and multi-cultural diversity that may or may not be required to successfully move the story along – keeping it less confused that is. I get you needed a racially motivated hate crime to move the story along at some point, but there are people out there who are ignorant enough of minutia outside of their own perceived beliefs, that they would easily harm someone from just looking at them the wrong way, different race or not.

Not saying you went the wrong route, just wondering if trimming the fat in places where it’s not needed might enable a less confusing read. The script itself sends a message of morality re: the collector and the treasures pursued, but never in a sense that you should lose sight of the most important things in life, the comic can be replaced after all.

In the end, as you’ve stated here, it all comes down to choices, and I think the choices you made regarding the overall structure and story are up to par for the challenge. Best of luck.

Man, that Billy can figure shit out better than Sherlock Holmes. I take it he's psychic.

I really dug the story of a boy having to choose two separate paths, though it's obvious which one he should lean into since the comic guy is the one with a lot more story devoted to. My only criticism is both stories end pretty badly, one a cocaine overdose and the other a hate crime. I would think Billy might try another direction unless there is something in the story limiting him to those two choices.

Still, a very interesting read that uses non-linear storytelling very well.

So, I get it. You made me work for it instead of just telling us that Bill and William are the same person from the start. The reader shouldn't have to figure that out or else you'll lose their interest (see some preceding comments). That said, I liked it. It needs a rewrite to make it more clear. Funny that they both named a son Logan but with different mothers. Did they look the same (same casting?) or totally different?

I have no idea what this story is about. As an Asian American, it was cool to have Asian American characters... BUT... having two Japanese Americans with essentially the same name (William, Bill) confused the shit outta of me. And then there's a young Japanese American named Billy at the end... which I didn't quite get. The actual writing was very solid, but I just couldn't follow this. I didn't see a connection to the two parallel stories. Good effort, though. It just wasn't for me, though.

-- Michael

I think this would have been a lot clearer if you'd just said flat out that Bill and William are the same person.

What confuses is that you have them as distinct people interacting. We see one through the window of the other's home. One refuses the insurance of the other. So this becomes an allegory, where anyone could be William and anyone could be Bill, because it isn't about who they are, it's about the fallout of that one decision made by Billy at 16.

The most interesting thing here is that both versions die terribly at 44 years old. It doesn't matter which one Billy chooses, when your time is up, it's up. The allegory becomes clear here, it's about what we leave behind. Focus on wealth and a hedonist lifestyle and you leave stuff that's priced to clear. Focus on personal fulfilment and happiness and you leave behind a family who loves and misses you but who will go on after you're gone.

The writing is good, but it doesn't quite achieve the complexity of the story. It's a high bar to reach, but worth the attempt with a rewrite. Really focus on the purpose and bring visuals that reinforce the theme. This could be exceptional with some more work.

Writing is pretty good. I tried hard to follow this, couldn't quite get there. After reading what Rene said, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you were going for.

In which case, I love what you're trying to do here. It's complex and wildly ambitious. Also way out of my depth.

I'll throw the obligatory give both paths a clear goal - the Spawn issue #1 comic for example. The Bill version he could be searching for this rare comic as a gift for his kids. The William version he's desperately trying to sell it to pay debts/buy cocaine. I dunno, somehow the comic could be a greater focus in both paths and give a framework you can build around.

The idea here is very good. Sad Bill was doomed either way.

You describe Bill as "American-born", Japanese. How would we know that besides you telling us?

I think you chose a great way to approach this challenge, but honestly, I just wasn't pulled into either of Bill's lives. I felt bad for Bill the Dad, but still didn't really feel a connection.

Really good idea though. Just needs a bit more work to create a stronger impact.

This confused me until I realised what it was you were trying to achieve. Got there in the end.Nicely written although a little clunky for me at times. Good premise and with a little bi of tidying up could be a great story.
Well done.

Thank you suffering through this script, everyone. The scenes are exactly in reverse order, and other than a disjointed side-trip to two weddings, are supposed to be explaining the cause of the previous scene. Billy's predictions for his choices are exactly wrong: Bill does not live longer, nor does William leave a legacy, so the right answer would be to do what he wants rather than trying to optimize some kind of score.

The trait tying both versions together was a Hank-Hill-level of devotion to the employer, though obviously I failed to get that across in six pages. The William side in particular desperately needed some beefing up.

Dave, supers indicating the time would be an excellent idea... it just didn't fit with the page limitation.

Quoted from Matthew Taylor I'll get there before Libby does - she lies on the sidewalk, and the chubby man is lying in a pool of blood.

Never mind, changing "laying" to "lying" opens up so much space that supers would fit easily ;)

Of course Bill died due to his life choices... he should have chosen not to be born into a group that would be targeted by racist assholes many years later. This was an anyone-can-die-anytime bit of randomness. With extra space I'd've shown him putting off re-evaluating life insurance because he's constantly handling minutia at the store. As Rene put it, when your time is up, it's up.

The overwriting/unfilamble stuff is intended to help the actor and director know how to portray the character. Describing him as "American-born" is a description of his accent or lack thereof, since I really don't want the storytelling to get distracted by discussions about immigration and assimilation. As far as I can tell, no one actually describes themselves as "American-born Japanese," though the term "American-born Chinese" is common enough to have its own Wikipedia article.

It is unrealistic that the two timelines would actually intersect. Definitely happens at the end (opening scene) and implied with the business interruption insurance. I used some poetic license there :)

Quoted from ReneC So this becomes an allegory, where anyone could be William and anyone could be Bill, because it isn't about who they are, it's about the fallout of that one decision made by Billy at 16.

Or, yeah, totally did that on purpose to get people thinking about allegory. I was really shooting for a "that could have been me" effect, but Rene's idea is way cooler.

For anyone who was curious about what the "spooky purple bat" looks like:



This particular comic is rare, but not so rare that a comic book store owner like Bill couldn't find it. Plausible if Bill has his heart set on something with a CGC condition of at least 9.9 out of 10 because those rarely come up for sale.