Open Call: Rough Cuts

The Pitch:

In 1993, my good friend, George Phillips, and I ran for senior class government. I won my race to be treasurer and he won the presidency.

Fifteen years later, not only are we not on the same ticket – we are on the opposite side of the political divide. I am a fervent Democrat and precinct captain for the Obama campaign. George wears the most conservative values of the Republican Party on his sleeve. Ironically, we both teach high school: the Los Angeles public schools are my stomping grounds, while George Philips continues to be a leader at our alma mater in upstate New York.

George is also the Republican nominee for the 22nd District of Congress.

My proposed short, “My Best Friend for Congress,” will be an intimate look at a friendship which bridges the political poles. Much has changed since high school. Whenever we talk nowadays, we disagree on just about everything. I shudder when I see photographs of him shaking hands with Karl Rove. He chastises me for failing to condemn the pro-choice movement. Regardless of our debates, however heated they can get, our friendship remains strong. We both agree on one point: the running of the country is not the same as making sure the senior prom is not cancelled and enough money remains in the class piggyback.

More pressingly, our hometown of Endicott has hit rock bottom. Since our graduation, the region's biggest employer, IBM, has abandoned its birthplace, leaving little to fill the void. What was once a thriving town in the Silicon Rust Belt is now a major crossroads for heroin traffickers. And so, passionate Democrat I am, George’s candidacy puts the well-being of the home I cherish in Republican hands.

While I enthusiastically support George's candidacy out of loyalty and duty, at what point do I invalidate my own personal convictions by aiding his election? How do friendship and politics mix when the contest becomes “real,” especially when one’s hometown is at stake? Do I support my best friend, and consequently his agenda to slash government aid, fight for big business, and push pro-life legislation instead of drug rehabilitation and gun control?

The film will wrestle with this volatile conundrum of friendship and politics, starting where it all began: the high school campaign. Employing yearbook photos, old posters, and an interview with our beloved AP History teacher, the film briefly will show us then and turn to us now. I will pose my conundrum to George’s mentor, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), his Democratic-leaning parents, my Republican dad and mom, and our buddies from the "good ole days." I will raise it at the luncheons George organizes and in the family rooms of voters. I will even attempt to ask his Democratic opponent, the incumbent Maurice Hinchey, how he supports his friends on the other side of the aisle.

Most assuredly, I will challenge the candidate himself, in the areas hit hardest by the economic blight – as only a best friend and former running mate can. I want him to achieve his dream, but I also want to look out for my community.

“My Best Friend for Congress” will break through the standard political talking points to examine how friendship works in the hard world of politics – and if one friend can “influence” an election, for the better.