No place to land - limited series pilot by barbara g. Grant

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It's the end of the Cold War and the Peace Dividend is operating in full force, gutting the aerospace industry and wreaking havoc on local economies. Engineers and scientists on the technical staff at Los Angeles-based Taylor Aerospace live under the constant threat of job loss and joining the multitudes of unemployed professionals  in their home base of Southern California.  When a massive layoff rocks the company, engineers are left with two choices: quietly look for a job in a market having few--or organize, protest, and resist. 

60 Pages - Drama

(I) " LARA AND THE CONGRESSMAN"

INT. CONGRESSMAN MC MILLAN’S OFFICE - DAY

RECEPTIONIST

Right this way, Ms. Wade. 

Lara follows her to a brightly lit office where a tall, movie-star-handsome man wearing an expensive suit moves to greet her. He is TED MC MILLAN, Congressman for California’s 36th district -- the location of Taylor Aerospace as well as other companies. 

RECEPTIONIST

Ms. Lara Wade from Taylor to see you, sir. 

MC MILLAN

Thank you, Sharon. Ms Wade! Please sit down. 

He notices Lara looking at the large painting behind his desk, a man in FLIGHT GEAR standing before a 1930s-style aircraft.  

My grandfather, Jed Mc Millan, was quite the aviator. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. 

LARA

Of course! Instrumental in founding Taylor. 

MC MILLAN

I hear you’re an engineer. What may I do for you, Ms Wade? 

LARA

We’re suffering, Congressman. So many layoffs. It’s affecting our work, morale, and most of all, our families. We’re talented people! Educated, willing to work hard --just like your grandfather. And we need other options. 

MC MILLAN

(sympathetically)

I know. Every aerospace company in the Southland is going through the same thing, from McDonnell Douglas to Lockheed, and now, Taylor.  

LARA

But can’t layoffs be paused? They talk about training. What kind of training? For what jobs? 

MC MILLAN

Very few now, Ms. Wade, I’m sorry to say. As far as pausing layoffs, I’m afraid that’s not possible. Americans want to see their Peace Dividend! Many are delighted that we will never again face the threat of Soviet nukes. Do you realize how significant that is? Our children and grandchildren will not live in fear of what the Russians may do! They’ve been totally defeated. 

LARA

It’s come at a huge cost, that’s for sure. Many of my colleagues have children and grandchildren. And now their primary wage earner is out of a job, with nowhere else to go. We studied math and science when we were young because the government told us we’d find jobs that way. Engineers and scientists provided the technical skills that won the Cold War. Can’t the government help us, now, when we need it the most?   

(II) " WAITING FOR THE BIG DAY" 

INT. STUDIO - DAY

ANNOUNCER

Now to national news, and the ongoing defense downsizing affecting companies throughout the nation, but nowhere with a larger impact than in Southern California. As NewsPM has reported, three large aerospace firms are now in the running for a major satellite program that each hopes will stem the tide of layoffs and cutbacks that have gone on since the Cold War ended more than two years ago. We go live now to one of those companies, Taylor Aerospace in Los Angeles, and our correspondent, Geri North. Geri, what can you tell us about the mood at Taylor? 

EXT. OUTSIDE TAYLOR AEROSPACE - DAY

GERI NORTH (early 40s) appears before a camera.

GERI

Jim, the mood is tense, but as upbeat as it might be under these circumstances. Taylor executives tell me they feel confident about their proposal and emphasized the quality of their employees which they hope will tip the balance in Taylor’s favor. I talked with some of them this morning. 

BEGIN FLASHBACK:

GERI

What is going through your minds right now, as we await a decision on the contract? How does the waiting make you feel?  

LARA

Exhausted! I worked on that proposal. I’m very confident that we did the best job we could, and I think we’re in a good position to win it.  

GERI

You’re an aerospace engineer. Tell me about your background. 

LARA 

Well, I started with Taylor right out of school, bachelor’s degree from UCLA, and then they sent me to graduate school for two years to get my master’s. I got a lot of good experience, at Taylor and at school, but the thing was, I came back to a company that was very different from the one I left. Struggling ever since the Berlin Wall fell. And it’s been terrible to watch my colleagues laid off, one after another, with nowhere else to go. 

GERI

I’m wondering if any of you heard about the report that came out just this week, from the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. Unfortunately, it’s not good news. They report that 37% of the nation’s 342,000 defense engineering positions will be gone within 4 years. These are their words, “Because these engineers embody the skills needed to boost U.S. commercial competitiveness it is in the national interest to integrate these workers into the civilian sector as quickly and fully as possible.”  

TEX

Who wrote that? 

GERI

It’s from an article in “Science News,” subtitled “Side Effects of U.S. Peace Dividend” dated March 21, 1992. 

TEX

Ma’am, with all respect, succeeding in the commercial sector is exactly what engineers at Taylor and the two other companies competing for this contract would love to do! It’s not military, it’s civilian space, and we hope to open a way forward. But so far, there hasn’t been enough work, and from what you just said, it’s going to get worse. 

TONY

A lot worse! Do they give us any idea of where engineers can go to be integrated and earn a living? 

GERI

Not in the article, but I do hear that in Silicon Valley, up north, companies are desperate to hire people who code, and they just can’t find enough of them. 

LARA

Code? You mean write software code? Programming? 

GERI

Yes, computer programming.  

Silence.

TEX

(exasperated)

Anybody with an engineering degree, a math degree, or a PhD in physics like mine learned to code. Usually our first semester of college. 

LARA

It’s not a rare skill! And the people here, who’ve done it full time, designed software to control satellites and to guide missiles. They were some of the first to be let go.  

MARTA

Let me say something, please, Ma’am. 

GERI

Marta, please, go ahead. 

MARTA

I'm not an engineer. I work in Document Control, helping the engineers with the drawings and blueprints they need for their work. My parents came here from Mexico and worked very hard. They were so proud to hear that I found a good job at a good company like Taylor Aerospace. Two years ago, at our company open house, I brought my niece to visit. Her father -- my brother -- is disabled. He was a U.S. Marine wounded in Vietnam. My niece was so impressed with the satellites and all the technology here that she wants to be an engineer. She'll be the first in our family to get a college degree. But if we don't take care of people... if we can't find enough work... then what was all that sacrifice for? 

Determined to become an actress in her youth, Barbara G Grant ended up in front of the camera—as an engineering expert. She is an award-winning educational video creator and a writer who explores themes at the interface of character and technology. She studied literature in the Oxford/Berkeley program and graduated from The University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences. 

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ABOUT on this site

Dani MacGreevy is the young widow of a Silicon Valley investor, hoping to find closure years after her husband's tragic death by visiting a remote Gold Country mansion that she believes is connected to the incident. Instead of easy answers, Dani finds a house that locals believe to be haunted, and an owner who carefully evades her questions about his work, which has attracted the interest of the national security establishment. Within a short time, Dani realizes that any answers she’d hoped to find are overwhelmed by her experience of a house where visions can come to life. 

55 Pages - Genre: Silicon Valley Drama/Thriller

BEST TV SCRIPT, WIKI SCREENPLAY CONTEST, SEPTEMBER 2022

As a short film: 

FINALIST - Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, Summer 2022:  This is a very prestigious competition that recognized my short screenplay with this highly positive honor. 

WINNER - Script/Writer  - VEGAS SHORTS - June, 2022

AWARD of MERIT  - BEST SHORTS COMPETITION - June, 2022