SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE SALES PLUMMET (LOCATION)
Script: Sam West. Idea: Sam West
11/5/07 (CLK)
NOTE: Alternates: write alternate closers.
INT. NEWSROOM
GRAPHIC: Business News
FOOTAGE: News stories about subway stations and airports
being shut down, areas roped off with police tape, etc.
ANCHOR
Since September 11th, increased
security measures have put a strain
on many sections of the economy,
but few have been harder hit than
the suspicious package industry.
GRAPHIC: A line graph shows suspicious packages sales
plummeting.
EXT. STREET
MAN
I still look at suspicious packages
in the stores, but I don't know
when the last time I actually
bought one is. Why spend the money,
if it's just gonna be confiscated
by the police?
GRAPHIC: Photoshopped mockup of the exterior of a suspicious
package store in a small or medium-sized city. (ALT: In Penn
Station)
ANCHOR
Plummeting sales have forced many
suspicious packages retailers out
of business....
GRAPHIC: A map of the U.S. with "Suspicious Package Store
Locations" represented by icons. A map of 2001 shows about
200 little dots. They disappear until the map says "Today"
and there are about 25. Map reads "Data: American Small
Businesses Association."
Incorporated in this graphic is a long list of Privately
owned suspicious package stores like "Crudely Duct-taped
Manila Envelopes 'n Things, Atlanta, GA" and "Just Weird
Boxes, Utica, NY". Names disappear off the list and float
away until there's only a few remaining. [Click here for
brainstorm list of store names: ]
Zoom into one suspicious package store on the map: 'All
Things Unattended' in Albany, New York.
ANCHOR (CONT'D)
...and those that remain are left
wondering if they have a future in
the post 9/11 world.
ALTERNATE:
ANCHOR (CONT'D)
...and those that remain are
wondering how long they have left.
INT. A SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE STORE
The shelves are filled with crudely wrapped packages.
B-ROLL: TOWNSEND stocking shelves with suspicious packages.
ANCHOR (V.O.)
Paul Townsend runs 'All Things
Unattended' on a bustling strip of
State Street in downtown Albany,
New York. He says he used to do
brisk trade to the steady flow of
pedestrians -- but no longer.
LOWER THIRD: Paul Townsend, Owner,
TOWNSEND
Used to be, a guy would come in
here and get a suspicious package
for his kid, maybe a nice
unidentifiable container for his
wife, too.
He shrugs, indicating his begruding acceptance.
ANCHOR (V.O.)
Townsend's family has been in the
suspicious package business for 50
years.
TOWNSEND
I always thought my son would take
over, but now I'm not so sure.
GRAPHICS: Photoshopped Photo: A photo from the 1950s of a
young Townsend standing with his dad in front of a shelf
stocked with suspicious packages. (ALT: in front of the
store).
ANCHOR
It's not just the mom-and-pop
suspicious package stores that are
in trouble.
GRAPHICS: Photoshopped Photo: A "Mysterious Bags and Boxes"
store in an airport. It has a corporate, chain-store look to
it -- this is the "Starbucks" of the suspicious package
industry.
ANCHOR (CONT'D)
Last month, Mysterious Bags and
Boxes Incorporated, the long
established giant of the industry,
filed for bankruptcy and the last
of their stores disappeared from
airports, train stations, and
malls. Their coporate headquarters
were closed down and imploded
earlier this week.
FOOTAGE: A huge building being imploded.
CHYRON: Mysterious Bags And Boxes headquarters.
INT. A SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE STORE
TOWNSEND
Pretty soon the last of us are
going to be gone. It's the end of
an era, I guess.
INT. NEWSROOM
ANCHOR
Business experts have suggested
that government subsidies could be
the only thing to save the ailing
suspicious packages industry. Next
up...
END.
----------
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES - ALTERNATES
10/27/07
---
MAN
I used to get my wife a suspicious
package every year for her
birthday, but it's become too much
of a bother. Now, I just get her
necklaces.
---
MAN (CONT'D)
I used to buy suspicious packages
all the time. But there doesn't
seem to be much of a call for them
nowadays.
---
MAN (CONT'D)
A friend gave me this great
suspicious package last Christmas
and I only had it for two days
before a policeman took it from me.
It's just not worth it.
--
MAN (CONT'D)
Back in the day, no one cared when
you were carrying around a
shapeless, possibly ticking object
covered disbelievingly in brown
paper and duct tape.
---
MAN (CONT'D)
When my supplier was detained after
taking his product samples on an
airplane, we all realized how
serious the situation really was.
---
ANCHOR
CEO of Mysterious Bags and Boxes
and great-grandson of its founder,
Ernest Claymoore IV, said in a
written statement…
SHOT of letter
ANCHOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
… " It is with much sadness and
dismay that, after 102 years of
high quality products and customer
satisfaction, we here at Mysterious
Bags and Boxes must close our
doors. We thank all of you out
there for your continued support of
and enthusiasm for our finely made
dubious parcels and inscrutable
containers."
--
TOWNSEND
I'll be sad when I have to close
these doors. It brought me real
happiness to look at the excitement
on a child's face when I'd hand him
an oddly weighty, strangely shaped
package that emanated a weird odor.
---
TOWNSEND (CONT'D)
Last year, I tried to play Santa to
some of the kids in the
neighborhood, but the police
stopped me once I handed a three
year old a bizarre box that was
leaking some sort of unidentifiable
liquid. Even the innocence of
Christmas is lost.
ALTERNATE:
TOWNSEND (CONT'D)
Pretty soon the last of us are
going to be gone. It's the end of
an era, I guess.
TOWNSEND (CONT'D)
I used to see the chain stores as
the biggest threat to my business.
I never thought I'd see the day the
demand for these would be gone
altogether.
He holds up a weird box with wires coming out of it.
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE SALES PLUMMET (LOCATION)
Script: Sam West. Idea: Sam West
11/5/07 (CLK)
NOTE: Alternates: write alternate closers.
INT. NEWSROOM
GRAPHIC: Business News
FOOTAGE: News stories about subway stations and airports
being shut down, areas roped off with police tape, etc.
ANCHOR
Since September 11th, increased
security measures have put a strain
on many sections of the economy,
but few have been harder hit than
the suspicious package industry.
GRAPHIC: A line graph shows suspicious packages sales
plummeting.
EXT. STREET
MAN
I still look at suspicious packages
in the stores, but I don't know
when the last time I actually
bought one is. Why spend the money,
if it's just gonna be confiscated
by the police?
GRAPHIC: Photoshopped mockup of the exterior of a suspicious
package store in a small or medium-sized city. (ALT: In Penn
Station)
ANCHOR
Plummeting sales have forced many
suspicious packages retailers out
of business....
GRAPHIC: A map of the U.S. with "Suspicious Package Store
Locations" represented by icons. A map of 2001 shows about
200 little dots. They disappear until the map says "Today"
and there are about 25. Map reads "Data: American Small
Businesses Association."
Incorporated in this graphic is a long list of Privately
owned suspicious package stores like "Crudely Duct-taped
Manila Envelopes 'n Things, Atlanta, GA" and "Just Weird
Boxes, Utica, NY". Names disappear off the list and float
away until there's only a few remaining. [Click here for
brainstorm list of store names: ]
Zoom into one suspicious package store on the map: 'All
Things Unattended' in Albany, New York.
ANCHOR (CONT'D)
...and those that remain are left
wondering if they have a future in
the post 9/11 world.
ALTERNATE:
ANCHOR (CONT'D)
...and those that remain are
wondering how long they have left.
INT. A SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE STORE
The shelves are filled with crudely wrapped packages.
B-ROLL: TOWNSEND stocking shelves with suspicious packages.
ANCHOR (V.O.)
Paul Townsend runs 'All Things
Unattended' on a bustling strip of
State Street in downtown Albany,
New York. He says he used to do
brisk trade to the steady flow of
pedestrians -- but no longer.
LOWER THIRD: Paul Townsend, Owner,
TOWNSEND
Used to be, a guy would come in
here and get a suspicious package
for his kid, maybe a nice
unidentifiable container for his
wife, too.
He shrugs, indicating his begruding acceptance.
ANCHOR (V.O.)
Townsend's family has been in the
suspicious package business for 50
years.
TOWNSEND
I always thought my son would take
over, but now I'm not so sure.
GRAPHICS: Photoshopped Photo: A photo from the 1950s of a
young Townsend standing with his dad in front of a shelf
stocked with suspicious packages. (ALT: in front of the
store).
ANCHOR
It's not just the mom-and-pop
suspicious package stores that are
in trouble.
GRAPHICS: Photoshopped Photo: A "Mysterious Bags and Boxes"
store in an airport. It has a corporate, chain-store look to
it -- this is the "Starbucks" of the suspicious package
industry.
ANCHOR (CONT'D)
Last month, Mysterious Bags and
Boxes Incorporated, the long
established giant of the industry,
filed for bankruptcy and the last
of their stores disappeared from
airports, train stations, and
malls. Their coporate headquarters
were closed down and imploded
earlier this week.
FOOTAGE: A huge building being imploded.
CHYRON: Mysterious Bags And Boxes headquarters.
INT. A SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE STORE
TOWNSEND
Pretty soon the last of us are
going to be gone. It's the end of
an era, I guess.
INT. NEWSROOM
ANCHOR
Business experts have suggested
that government subsidies could be
the only thing to save the ailing
suspicious packages industry. Next
up...
END.
----------
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES - ALTERNATES
10/27/07
---
MAN
I used to get my wife a suspicious
package every year for her
birthday, but it's become too much
of a bother. Now, I just get her
necklaces.
---
MAN (CONT'D)
I used to buy suspicious packages
all the time. But there doesn't
seem to be much of a call for them
nowadays.
---
MAN (CONT'D)
A friend gave me this great
suspicious package last Christmas
and I only had it for two days
before a policeman took it from me.
It's just not worth it.
--
MAN (CONT'D)
Back in the day, no one cared when
you were carrying around a
shapeless, possibly ticking object
covered disbelievingly in brown
paper and duct tape.
---
MAN (CONT'D)
When my supplier was detained after
taking his product samples on an
airplane, we all realized how
serious the situation really was.
---
ANCHOR
CEO of Mysterious Bags and Boxes
and great-grandson of its founder,
Ernest Claymoore IV, said in a
written statement…
SHOT of letter
ANCHOR (V.O.) (CONT'D)
… " It is with much sadness and
dismay that, after 102 years of
high quality products and customer
satisfaction, we here at Mysterious
Bags and Boxes must close our
doors. We thank all of you out
there for your continued support of
and enthusiasm for our finely made
dubious parcels and inscrutable
containers."
--
TOWNSEND
I'll be sad when I have to close
these doors. It brought me real
happiness to look at the excitement
on a child's face when I'd hand him
an oddly weighty, strangely shaped
package that emanated a weird odor.
---
TOWNSEND (CONT'D)
Last year, I tried to play Santa to
some of the kids in the
neighborhood, but the police
stopped me once I handed a three
year old a bizarre box that was
leaking some sort of unidentifiable
liquid. Even the innocence of
Christmas is lost.
ALTERNATE:
TOWNSEND (CONT'D)
Pretty soon the last of us are
going to be gone. It's the end of
an era, I guess.
TOWNSEND (CONT'D)
I used to see the chain stores as
the biggest threat to my business.
I never thought I'd see the day the
demand for these would be gone
altogether.
He holds up a weird box with wires coming out of it.
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