Midnight Pass…a screenplay
by M.D.Sacca
Midnight Pass is a multi-dimensional character driven one hour
drama about a middle aged white man who confronts racism in
a small town. It is set in Florida in the present time with periodic
flashbacks spanning four generations past. It was inspired by the
recent rise of white nationalism that is threatening the progress
of generations of blood spilled in the fight for civil rights.
It has the racial divisiveness of The Help, the desperation of Celie
in The Color Purple, the romance of The Bodyguard, the musical
genius of Crazy Heart and the humor of This is Us. It is emotional,
dramatic, at times dark and brooding, at times full of optimism.
It is a balance of good and evil, wisdom and ignorance, love and hate. A marriage of human
drama and common misconceptions. It is a generational study of what it means to be black
and white in America. An irresistible story about second acts told against the backdrop of
a little town called Sanctuary.
The Story
MICHAEL’S on the edge. His blue collar career is coming to an end. He has to make a change.
But he only knows how to do one thing and he’s getting too old to do it. His wife is no help.
She’s too consumed with saving the planet. Her vegan cooking and sugar-free diet are really
starting to annoy him.
Forced to have surgery for a work related injury he is confined at home for several weeks of
recuperation. Boredom sends him to the garage one day where he picks up an old guitar, a
guitar he never learned to play. But on this day something magical happens, something clicks,
and his life will never be the same.
When there’s an opportunity to buy the family homestead MICHAEL let’s his wife talk him into
it. The deal is too good to pass up. But there’s one little problem. It’s in Sanctuary, Florida,In the
middle of nowhere.
Built on the banks of the Peace River is the little town of Sanctuary. With its quaint houses and
wraparound porches. But there’s something ugly hiding just below the surface and it’s wrapped
in a package of southern hospitality and black eyed peas.
MICHAEL’S transition to middle age comes with an obsession to play guitar, harness his dream
and discover his passion…no matter what the cost. But when he makes an unusual alliance with
a black woman who teaches him how to sing from his soul, sparks begin to fly and the racial
tension is off the charts.
Midnight Pass is an epic tale spanning four generations of two very different families, each with
a matriarch that establishes a rivalry and a long history of racial tension. It’s all about diversity,
love and loss, family relationships, faith, voodoo, infidelity and the American dream. It’s about
middle age, second acts, finding your talent and reaching for the stars. It’s a generational study
of civil rights intended to show how far we’ve come and how far we have yet to go with a POV
that looks at both sides of the racial divide so that by the end of its run the viewer will realize
we all bleed red. We all taste rain. And together we make beautiful shades of gray.
Midnight Pass the book…coming soon.
