"Commune"

Open Access
- Author:
- Winitsky, Ezekiel
- Area of Honors:
- Film Production
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Kevin J Hagopian, Thesis Supervisor
Maura Shea, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Script
Screenplay
film
communism
corporation
farming - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT Commune is a story of university politics, corporate monopolies, and a 'wannabe’ communist revolutionary learning to live in a capitalist world. Manny Drogos is a college senior who runs a struggling socialist commune off campus. Isabella Chinea is his tenure-less conservative economics professor looking to leave her position and climb the corporate ladder. When 50 acres of land are willed to the Berriesville College of Agriculture and Design, their priorities are pitted against each other. Manny and his ‘comrades’ lobby to use the land as a student-run co-op. Isabella facilitates a connection between BCAD and international farming conglomerate O’Donnell Produce in hopes of a future job offer. Their ideas are put to a school-wide vote and O’Donnell’s power and resources become too much for Manny to defeat. O’Donnell moves in and takes over BCAD and the surrounding land, decimating small town farms in the process. Manny’s commune dwindles to one member while Isabella learns the gruesome truth of corporate monopoly and greed. One late night, wandering with disillusionment, Manny and Isabella run into each other. They share a cigarette and, feeling vulnerable, share some truths about their experience with O'Donnell. They connect and agree to meet once again at the commune. There, Isabella tells Manny about a group of struggling local farmers who have been uprooted by O'Donnell. Manny and Isabella devise a plan to help these farmers using the commune's land. Manny is forced to make some compromises about his beliefs while Isabella must reexamine her plan for the future of her career. Manny and Isabella find common ground in learning to prioritize helping people who really need it. Commune examines the contradictions between personal ethics and individual success in a world where corporations have the final say.