Sotto Voce Teaser
SYNOPSIS:
We enter a magnificent New York City church that is vibrating with music. Our protagonist, SAM, installed in a discreet pew, watches the induction ceremony of a new christer boy to the choir. The ceremony is ornate and grand, but Sam is distracted – anxious verging on distraught – as he stares at his phone. A tall column of green, unread text messages glows the same green as the stained vglass above him.
Sam arrives late to the Met at Lincoln Center where he is rehearsing Mozart’s, “The Magic Flute.” He is the first biological man to play the role of the Queen of The Night, due to his extraordinary voice. No counter-tenor has ever been able to sing the aria’s famous high F’s with such power and precision.
His unique talent is the only reason they put up not only with his tardiness, but him leaving early ... BLAKE, Sam’s manager, pulls him out of the rehearsal as he is late for an important interview.
Sam is attempting to balance a career as both opera singer as well as a pop singer & DJ. His new album is dropping soon, and he has been booked on Fresh Air, the legendary NPR radio interview show.
But Sam is not doing great. The pressure and relentless schedule are taking their toll and aggravating a deep emotional wound. To make things worse, his mother– with whom he has a fraught and complicated relationship on good days – has gone radio silent. Out of her guilt? Shame? Resentment? On a bender? All we know is that she is M.I.A. and Sam is starting to freak out.
Before the remote interview begins in Blake’s office, Sam decides to “take the edge off ” in the bathroom and downs some vodka and hits the vape pen ... hard.
As the interview starts off in one room, Blake meets with the social media team to discuss how Sam should handle making his sexuality public.
Sam talks about his process, and we see flashbacks to his strict music teacher, HANS. And then, just as the drugs and booze are taking full effect, the subject of the Castrati comes up and Sam reveals that he, in fact, was castrated as a young boy to preserve his singing voice. Unfortunately, he is slurring his words and the news is so bizarre and shocking that the interview ends abruptly.
In a flashback, we see the meeting between an 11-year-old Sam and his mentor, Hans, who explains to him that there is a way to preserve his voice, to become the world’s greatest singer. His mother enters late and it is clear that she has already been convinced (as well as handsomely paid).
It’s been a few weeks since the interview and no one knows exactly what to make of Sam’s bizarre statements. Is it even true? Hans shows up at Sam’s hotel suite and tries his best to contain the situation by gaslighting him, specifically telling him that it is all a figment of his imagination.
For a moment we think Sam will acquiesce to Hans’ manipulation, but instead he blasts a high note directly into Hans’ ear, breaking glassware and his eardrum. THE END. (Read full Script)
SAM
The Chosen One
The first time Sam ever felt comfortable, at ease in his skin, was when he sang.
It didn’t really matter where–concert choir, children’s theater productions, alone with his Youtube followers, or in the elite boys choir he joined when he was 8. Singing was both safe and engaging. The ceaseless discomfort of existence evaporated along with time itself.
And so when he was recruited into an elite musical conservatory at age 11, he felt absolution. He also felt like he had a family for the first time.
Sam grew up an only child in Manhattan. He lived in a small two- bedroom with his mother. The apartment belonged to his father who was well- meaning, but absent as he had moved to Nairobi to be a photographer when Sam was four. His mother (24 when she gave birth) was always convinced that “this next thing” (law school, a jewelry business, tech sales, whatever) would be the ticket, would finally get her life on track, clean up her act, stop the partying and the coke, and the drinking. Sam was one of those things for a while. But the drinking won out.
At the Conservatory, Sam’s training was beyond intense and he loved
it. And when he is presented with an opportunity to bottle the magic of his boyhood voice and grow it into something other-worldly, he is prepared to make the sacrifice, even if he doesn’t understand what that sacrifice fully entails.
He tries to numb the shame with drugs or project it onto the world, his teachers, his mother, but it always seems to boomerang back onto himself.
And as Sam the student becomes Sam the young adult, the artist, will he be able to face the reality of what happened to him? As the perverse reality of his situation comes into focus, the shame ovewhelms him. He tries to numb it with drugs
or project it onto the world, his teachers, his mother, but it always seems to boomerang back onto himself. It will be a long road before Sam can find peace.
HANS
The Profit
Hans is the Musical Director of The Conservatory, a pope-like position, elected by committee, but whose authority is absolute and whose duty comes directly from “god.” His sole job is to protect and perserve a Venitian institution which has been the Juliard for castrati since the early 1600s. As the school went underground when Napoleon took Italy, the running of a claudenstine conservatory requires both advanced study in music, art and philosophy (Hans went to Julliard, then earned a PhD from Cambridge in aesthetics) but also a knowledge of spycraft, or in Hans’ case, equal parts salesman, politician and master manipulater.
From his perspective, he is not sadistic or exploitative, rather he is 100% on the side of angels. He finds the rarist of talent and guides it to greatness. The castration bit is but a minor inconvenience when compared to the lonely, grinding, torturous years of devoted practice and study the artform requires.
Hans has a deep, beautiful baritone voice.
BLAKE
The Dealmaker
Blake could be played by a man or woman. They have a no-nonsense, seen-it-all cynicism, with a light comic touch.
ANDREW
Low-Key Oracal
The actual smartest guy in the room but no one, including himself, has fully realized it yet.
The castrati were male singers castrated before puberty to prevent their voices from dropping, allowing them to reach high- pitched notes that were particularly prized in the 17th and 18th centuries in Italy and across Europe. The practice had its roots in the Byzantine Empire, but it achieved its highest form in Italy, where the castrati became the superstars of their day, with the most famous among them earning fabulous wealth and prestige.
The castration was usually performed between the ages of seven and nine, before the onset of puberty, to ensure that the individual retained a childlike voice into adulthood. This procedure was dangerous, and mortality rates were high. The potential rewards for families were considerable, however, and so many were willing to take the risk.
Once castrated, the young boys would enter a rigorous educational and training regimen that could last for several years. Their education was primarily focused on developing their vocal skills, but also included training in music theory, composition, and often in playing musical instruments. They were taught by the leading music masters of the day in dedicated conservatories or in the homes of wealthy patrons.
Their vocal training was intensive and highly disciplined. They would learn to control their breathing, extend their vocal range, and perfect their technique. The most talented castrati often had extraordinary vocal ranges, with the ability to hit notes across several octaves.
The rise of the castrati coincided with the Baroque period, a time when the human voice was the central instrument in musical compositions. The castrati were celebrated for their ability to express the deep emotions evoked in the music of the time. However, by the 18th century, the practice began to wane, as evolving musical tastes and growing moral opposition to castration led to a decline in the popularity and acceptance of castrati. Eventually, in 1870, the practice was officially banned by the Vatican, marking the end of an era for these unique performers.
The subject is dark, but the mis-en-scène will be warm and rich with color.
Old ways –very old ways – in the modern world. The cult of beauty. The cult of fame. Cults in general. Men and their beautiful things. Talent ascendent.
Circa 2008, I recall sitting across from my former employer, the hotelier André Balazs, at a café in Soho and he was pontificating to the table about how his hotels are like movies that you can walk into, films you can inhabit, star in, etc. “Did you ever want to just make actual movies?” I asked him. “No, never. Everything in movies is fake. I always wanted to build real worlds.” I have come to believe that this is a false binary. Art can hold as much, sometimes much more, truth than any four walls.
I have been writing and designing for about 20 years now and film seems the natural next step. Film & television, in my opinion, are the highest form of storytelling, where all visual, sonoric and written crafts come together.
This is my third script, preceded by a one-hour TV pilot and feature-length film. Very consistent themes and passions have emerged in my work, and my life, which are:
1) Prenatural artistic talent: Where does it come from? Is it “god-given” as they say, or can it be forged into reality by hardwork, training and practice?
2) Natural beauty versus artistic beauty. (In
music these two ideas swirl around eachother with mathetical precision and vexing emotional ambiguity.)
3) How does art relate to “commerce,” as it were? A particulary acute question in cinema, but applies to all branches.
One word: Timely.
The ideas of gender and how it relates to the body.
The every shifting sands of the private and public life. How humans are both malleable clay and cast bronze from the day we are born.
What do any of sacrifice for greatness? And can there be happiness with such extremes?
The Glory (Pilot)
Two of fashion’s most famous designers, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, battle for success, inspiration and love in the impossibly glamorous and decadent fashion world of mid-century Paris.
The Glory (Feature)
When 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent, a French-Al- gerian fashion designer, rises to global fame over- night, he must survive not only the cutthroat world of haute couture but his homeland’s brutal war of independence.
The Gentleman Tramp (Novel)
Stillmanmeyer.co
Essays, Articles, Interviews, Musings, Brand Writings
Awards:
Clio Brand Design, Clio Packaging Design.
Production Notes:
Filming in New York City and surrounding area: Spring 2024
Larger Ticket Items that may or may not fuck the budget
“Opera House” Location or large theater
The Church - May or may not be expensive.
Child Actors: casting, logistics, paperwork, insurance, etc.
Sound Editing and Mixing
Music Licensing. Quality of tracks will make a big differerence.
Casting Notes
Finn Argus as Sam is the big reach
Christian Coulson, for Hans, is a friend.
Feature Version?
A treatment is in the works (hello Venice!) –
not there is any place for mid-budget films in the marketplace, but the story is certainly there.
Tiers
Generous Support — $20 & up
Perks: EP
Tier 1 — $10 & up
Perks: Poster
