COLD OPEN. INT. AUDITION ROOM DAY Three HEADS on the foreground, watching the AUDITIONEE.

. The AUDITIONEE is XANDER, early 40s. His audition piece: a scene from a Wenn Deramas film, featuring three actors XANDER does all the roles alone. Hes untalented but passionate - in short, hes irritating. He sucks. OPENING BILLBOARD 1. TALKING HEAD: TINA. - DAY. TINA, the Stage Manager, always has lipstick on her upper teeth. She carries a bilao of kutsinta. TINA Yes! - call me Tita Tina. Today, may auditions for our Lenten community play, "The Ten Commandments" and our director, I knew him way back - hay And I just cant hide it!" (Heartily laughs at herself.) This time, stage manager ako. Basically, ako naghe-head ng things. Whispers; subtly bragging.) Without me this play? nako...(Shakes her head.) I love my job, actually - SO FAR!(Laugh heartily again.) You want kutsinta? I made kutsinta. 2. INT. HALLWAY BEFORE THE AUDITION ROOM. - CONT. TINA is handing out kutsinta from her bilao to the AUDITIONEES who are cued up for their auditions and preparing with their scripts. A MALE AUDITIONEE refuses TINA is obviously hurt. She walks away. 3. INT. AUDITION ROOM. - CONT. XANDER, TINA, and NICCO (late 20s) are on mono bloc chairs behind a long table. XANDER (to NICCO) Nicco, I think you should consider trimming the bush. NICCO (to XANDER) Anong "bush" po, Direk?

Continued: XANDER Yung burning bush scene. (To CAMERA) This is our writer, Nicco - genius, pero young. My protege (pronounced as "pro-tezh"). NICCO shakes his head in denial at the camera. The DOOR opens. JAZZ, an auditionee, (pretty, early 20s, enthusiastic actress) enters. XANDER What are you doing here? JAZZ Hi po! Im Jazz. Im 21! I did some acting back in college po. I was handmaid no. 3 sa school production namin ng Romeo and Juliet. Tinuloy ko yung craft ko hanggang graduating year, where I eventually landed the role of Romeo XANDER So it was a lesbian interpretation? JAZZ Hindi po. Taga-all-girls school po ako XANDER Youre a lesbo? REACTION SHOT: TINA offended. JAZZ (flustered, embarrased) I may have experimented a in college XANDER Shut up! I dont care. So how passionate are you for theater? - Does the sight of a stage make you cry? Have you ever done nudity? REACTION SHOT: JAZZ uncomfortable. 4. TALKING HEAD: JAZZ. - CONT.

[Countinued]

Continued: JAZZ Trisha, was my first love. 5. TALKING HEAD: TINA. - CONT. TINA Alam nyo...yung mga bakla sa theater... I respect them. But mga tibo? Lesbians?...It doesnt make sense. 6. INT. REFRESHMENT AREA. - CONT. XANDER helps himself with coffee - he spills it - he burns himself. He shouts in pain. XANDER Guys! Bakit mainit to!?!? ANG INIT! SHIT! 7. TALKING HEAD: XANDER. - CONT. TINA is treating XANDERs burnt fingers while he addresses the camera. XANDER (To TINA.) Di ba I said slight hot lang? (To CAMERA.) Anyway - yes, Im Xander Beldiga, call me Direk Xander. I graduated Political Science. Ive been directing plays for...well Ive never directed a play, for se (sic) I write poems din sometimes. You can say Im a jack-of-all trades and master of all. My all-time inspiration? It has to be Brocka...uhmmm, Michael Spielberg...and, and, si - Vincent Tarantino - Vhong Navarro - and of course: Direk Wenn Deramas. Talagang from the heart siya gumawa e. Social realism genre ko. I advocate a lot when I direct videos. Ill show you my work. I have it in my USB. (XANDERs USB hangs on his lanyard.) 8. INT. ROOM WITH A DESK. - CONT.

[Countinued]

Continued: XANDER shows off his video, playing in a laptop, to the camera - its a music video of a song he composed. The video sucks - pretentious shit. Its a song about abortion. XANDER I made an anti-abortion song. Its very timely, given Church issues, flooding, yung barrel, and patriarchal system. I call it..a...a "visual poem in music." XANDER begins to mouth the lyrics. In the video, we glimpse XANDER as a priest, fondling an aborted baby. XANDER Gripping no? He begins to sing the song aloud. 9. INT. AUDITIONS ROOM. - CONT. A GOOD ACTOR, male, 20s, is auditioning a piece from Hamlet. Hes awesome. REACTION SHOT: NICCO is impressed. XANDER, glances at the camera, checking if he has the cameras attention; then, he gingerly grabs a mono bloc chair, then throws it at the GOOD ACTOR. XANDER CLASSICS!? GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW! 10. TALKING HEAD: XANDER. - CONT. XANDER I love, love, LOVE challenging my actors! Talagang push them to their limits! Parang Wenn Deramas. 11. INT. AUDITION ROOM. - CONT. The Audition room is pitch-black. An ELDERLY ACTOR, 60s or older, enters the audition room. ELDERLY ACTOR Tao po?

[Countinued]

Continued: XANDER (British accent) Enter. ELDERLY ACTOR Auditions po? XANDER Yes. Enter. ELDERLY ACTOR Buksan ko po ilaw? XANDER LET THERE BE LIGHT! TINA switches on the light. XANDER, in flamboyant make-up with aborted baby from the video, shocks ELDERLY ACTOR. XANDER Death to the first born! ELDERLY ACTOR drops to the floor. He has a stroke. XANDER is applauding him. XANDER Brilliant! We have a THESPIAN!

NICCO rushes and pushes XANDER to back-off from the ELDERLY ACTOR. NICCO Tawag kayo ng ambulansya! XANDER What are you doing! This is his performance of a lifetime! NICCO Putsa Direk! Inaatake siya! XANDER is confused. TINA and OTHERS rush in to help NICCO. TINA Kailangan namin ng ambulansya! REACTION SHOT: XANDER is shocked. 12. TALKING HEAD: XANDER. IN THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE THE AUDITION ROOM. - CONT. [Countinued]

Continued:

XANDER is speechless, in shock, while behind him, MEDICS are pulling out a stretcher with the ELDERLY ACTOR on it. REACTION SHOT: AUDITIONEES, etc. witnessing, panicking, tweeting, etc. XANDER (V.O.) Acting is about truth, real people reacting to real life situations. Amidst all the theatrics, the director should constantly instill reality to his actors. Thats how crucial cheter is. Cheter: its bigger than life and death. (A beat.) The director is the conductor...and the actors...are the passengers in the jeep that is the stage. Kailangan niya kontrolin yung mga tao - ang jeep, waluhan yun e. 13. INT. AUDITION ROOM. - CONT. CAMERA EAVESDROP: The producer, RICKY (late 40s) is speaking to XANDER privately; they speak in hushed tones. XANDER What, Sir Ricky? Hes old. Name on old person na hindi namatay sa stroke. RICKY Nelson Mandela. XANDER He died of a stroke. RICKY He did? XANDER I dont know. (To TINA.) Pa-check nga Tina. TINA googles it on her phone. She shakes her head. XANDER So youre right, Ricks. Hindi nga stroke. Congrats. RICKY Exactly - BUT THATS NOT THE POINT!

[Countinued]

Continued: 14. INT. TALKING HEAD: RICKY. - CONT. RICKY As producer, I had to fire Xander. What he did - potential lawsuit yun. And - this is just community theater...! 15. INT. TALKING HEAD: XANDER. - CONT. XANDER Yes. It hurts. But life goes on. The world is my oyster. There are a million other plays out there. XANDER walks away; he encounters TINA. She gives him a hug; XANDER breaks into tears and wailing in her arms. TIME CUT TO: 16. INT. AUDITIONS ROOM. - DAY. A NEW DIRECTOR is on the auditions panel table, with NICCO and RICKY. TINA enters the room. TINA (excited) Hes auditioning! RICKY Who? TINA Xander...! RICKY (frantic) Direk, whatever you do - dont get the next guy. Muntikan na siya makapatay ng tao...! XANDER enters the room. He approaches the panel table to submit his form - TINA goes to him and gives him a HUG: full of sexual tension. TINA eventually backs off, astounded by XANDERs intensity. The NEW DIRECTOR takes XANDERs resume. XANDER stands on the audition spot, turns his back, internalizes, then faces the panel. XANDER Curtain.

[Countinued]

Continued: We hear a few lines from the COLD OPEN scene. REACTION SHOTS: a) TINA is happy, b) RICKY is pissed, c) NICCO is perplexed, d) The NEW DIRECTOR is cool, watching. 17. INT. TALKING HEAD: NEW DIRECTOR. The NEW DIRECTOR is shaking his head, almost dismayed, but then: NEW DIRECTOR I think this Ten Commandments has just found its Moses. CUT TO: 18. INT. TALKIND HEAD: XANDER. XANDER (teary-eyed, proud) They got me. Ive auditioned so many times before. Finally got my first one. My first acting role. Its my time to shine, baby. Bongga. END.

[Countinued]