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    Y.M.I.
    Y.M.I.
    Y.M.I.
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    Y.M.I.

    By Will Todd

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Choir, listen to the pitch:

    A diverse chorus of teenagers unite during a whirlwind musical tour of Europe.

    “Y.M.I.” stands for “Young Musicians International”, based on an actual organization I traveled with during my own teenage years. The idea was to “promote fellowship through the international language of music”.

    At least, in theory.

    In practice, fellowship WITHIN the group was hard enough to maintain, while concerts were often the LAST thing on the mind of young men and women far away from home for the first time in their lives.

    Until, miraculously, it all came together at tour’s end.

    It’s not “High School Musical” nor "Glee", but it will be recognizable to anyone who ever sang in a high school choir.

    Or survived adolescence.

    [Note: I'm a screenwriter ("THE WONDER YEARS", "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES") and this story is presented in its original screenplay format. To learn more about me, or this title, please visit ToddTrumpet.com!]

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWill Todd
    Release dateDec 20, 2011
    ISBN9781465974730
    Y.M.I.
    Author

    Will Todd

    ALL ABOUT TODD1960: Born.1961-1982: Grew up. Did non-writing stuff.1983-1985: Worked with NASA as Aerospace Engineer. Started writing scripts part-time for no money.1986-1987: Started writing scripts full-time for no money.1988-1990: Wrote for first two seasons of "THE WONDER YEARS". Nominated for Emmy, Humanitas, and Writers Guild Awards. Won Humanitas and Writers Guild. Lost Emmy to pilot of "Murphy Brown" but I'm not bitter anymore especially since show never lived up to its potential.Wrote the first two "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" movies. Became rich, but with occasional pangs of guilt.1991-1992: Tried to elevate the quality of films coming out of Holywood by rejecting all script assignments and writing only on spec. I.E., Obscurity and Unemployment.1993-1995: Ran away to Europe for a few months, returned, wrote first play. Ran away to Asia for a few months, returned, directed first short film.1996: Stopped running long enough to get in line to write a feature film version of "I Dream of Jeannie". BLINK! Next.1997-1999: Completed Quest for Seven Continents with travels to Africa, Australia, South America, and Antarctica (whiter even than The Blank Page).2000-2002: Solidified reputation as International Man of Leisure. Blew it by writing a book in here somewhere.2003-2005: Nap.2006-2007: Wrote, produced, and directed a 90-minute compilation of comedy shorts called "42 STORY HOUSE". Sold very nearly that many DVD'S.2008-2009: Pangs of guilt concerning sudden wealth now a distant memory, sought status as "Too Big To Fail". Failed.2010: Attempted to finance an indie movie called "WHY THE SQUIRREL WON'T FRY". Fried.2011:Published first eBook "THE TELLING OF MY MARCHING BAND STORY". Fell.2012: Published some eScreenplays to see if anybody was interested in reading eScreenplays. Seriously, anybody. Hel-loooooooooo...?2013-2014: Started YouTube Channel "Todd Trumpet Videos". Reached "Blockbuster" (LLC) status.2015-2016: Wrote "A CHRISTMAS CODA". Received lavish praise from Dickens Experts. Who - "Bah! Humbug!" - apparently don't impress the General Public.2017: Adapted "A CHRISTMAS CODA" into a stage play. Learned Broadway and Hollywood, despite being on opposite sides of the country, actually share the same Welcome Mat.2018-2019: Achieved Complete World Domination. (Pending)

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      Book preview

      Y.M.I. - Will Todd

      INTRODUCTION

      Choir, listen to the pitch:

      A diverse chorus of teenagers unite

      during a whirlwind musical tour of Europe.

      Y.M.I. stands for Young Musicians International, based on an actual organization I traveled with during my own teenage years. The idea was to promote fellowship through the international language of music.

      At least, in theory.

      In practice, fellowship within the group was hard enough to maintain, while concerts were often the last thing on the mind of young men and women far away from home for the first time in their lives.

      Until, miraculously, it all came together at tour’s end.

      It’s not High School Musical nor Glee, but it will be recognizable to anyone who ever sang in a high school choir.

      Or survived adolescence.

      ******************************

      FADE IN:

      CLOSE ON - A CIRCULAR LOGO

      the Y for Young broken to form an M and i.

      It undulates, part of a patch sewn to the uniform pocket of a Y.M.I.er, eighteen years young, but younger still in the cradle of sleep.

      WIDENING REVEALS more uniforms, most frayed with age - black, European-cut blazers with white turtleneck shirts that encase their dormant teenage charges like cocoons. Perhaps fifty in all. Half boys, half girls. Some read, some converse in low tones, but most try to find comfort in the twenty-one inches between armrests on an

      INT. AIRPLANE - NIGHT

      where the cabin lights are dimmed. The first few hours of excitement have worn off and the group has settled in, allowing the DULL, MUFFLED ROAR of the engines to wrap them in a comfortable blanket of security.

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): Y.M.I. Good question. Why am I here? Why am I writing this down? Why am I up in the air with fifty other Y.M.I.ers?

      It's a BOY'S VOICE navigating the final days of adolescence, and its OWNER slowly comes into view beneath a small pool of overhead light that illuminates his notebook:

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): Actually, this diary was one of the few good suggestions made during Intensives. A lot of people say they're going to try and keep one while we're gone. We'll see.

      MARK COOPER (COOP)

      continues writing. Average size, average looks - average penmanship. Perhaps an early wrinkle or two on his brow.

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): But, anyways, you have to start somewhere. So like the song - which still needs work, of course - says... (singing) Let's start at the ve-ry be-gin-ning... (pauses to think) Y.M.I. stands for Young Musicians International...

      PRE-LAP

      MUSIC: Randall Thompson's ethereal Ye Shall Have A Song for SATB chorus SWELLING INTO A

      DISSOLVE TO:

      MAIN TITLES MONTAGE

      presenting a brief history of Y.M.I. that starts with

      AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF A CHOIR

      faded to sepia. Sepia eyes and sepia smiles top the familiar uniforms of a small group of teens on risers, flanked by a man with baton, and a beaming young couple. Y.M.I., 1965.

      More photographs follow, as the group increases in number over the years. The faces on the risers never age past high school, but the adults on either side - the baton and the couple - reflect the steady passage of time.

      Other mementos appear: Trophies and medals from international competitions; knickknacks from foreign lands; record albums from tours made around the world. It's soon apparent that these are all part of a carefully arranged

      DISPLAY CASE

      which finds the group at its zenith in a photo of both a choir and a band - over a hundred students - next to a plaque that reads: Your forthcoming tour this summer will do much to help create and solidify world friendships through your international language of music. Please accept my best wishes for a pleasant journey. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1969.

      But the next few portraits paint a different story. It begins when the couple is suddenly reduced to a now graying old woman. At first stooped, she soon straightens with an iron determination. Another photo shows the man with the baton looking her way, but he remains permanently affixed to the opposite side of the risers. The band has disappeared, and even the choir begins to diminish. No more trophies interrupt the flow of photographs.

      And finally, near the end of the case, the empty shelves support only dust and a few desiccated insects.

      But covering the last pane of glass is a modest flyer, announcing auditions for the next Y.M.I. tour.

      And as Ye Shall Have A Song BUILDS TO ITS PROMISING CLIMAX of And Gladness Of Heart!

      WIDEN TO:

      INT. HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY

      where a sunglassed student of the new millennium studies the flyer. He takes in the length of the display case and finally releases A SARDONIC PUFF OF AIR - dismissing decades of Y.M.I. without wasting a single syllable.

      He crosses OUT OF FRAME, leaving Coop next to the display case, seated against a wall in his street clothes. His leg vibrates like a jackhammer.

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): Up until six months ago, I didn't really know much about Y.M.I. - just that if you were a senior in high school, you could try out an' maybe get a pretty cheap trip to Europe over the summer.

      Coop looks around the hallway. A handful of other students mill about. Behind a table, two adults in Y.M.I. uniforms supervise a sign-up sheet.

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): The audition was no big deal, really.

      Coop's leg continues to vibrate. Another youth takes the chair next to it.

      YOUTH: Hey.

      COOP: Hey.

      The new arrival is JOE HEADLEY (HEAD): Rangy, amiable, and as comfortable in his own skin as any eighteen-year-old can be. MacGyver, The Early Years.

      His presence has momentarily stilled Coop's jackhammer, but it soon picks up where it left off. Head studies it out of the corner of his eye, then sees what he can do:

      HEAD: (re: school) You go here?

      COOP: (leg stops) Here? No. Farmington. You?

      HEAD: Dow.

      COOP: Pretty far.

      HEAD: Yeah, but it'll be worth it. Rehearsal's only gonna be once a week. I'm Joe Headley.

      COOP: Mark. Cooper.

      A door opens along the hallway and a uniformed adult calls for the next student:

      ADULT: Ian Pierce?

      Having just exchanged names, Coop and Head now spontaneously turn to each other and practically mouth the word Ian?. It provides the start of a bonding moment that only truly comes to fruition when they see

      IAN PIERCE:

      This is why girls buy Seventeen magazine. Though in their hearts, they know he must have a girlfriend somewhere named Lana.

      All eyes follow his stroll into the audition room, the door closing behind him.

      Then, with a new familiarity born of the moment, Head turns to Coop with a conspiratorial smile:

      HEAD: Okay. Here's the way I look at it. He's too good-looking. There's no way he can sing, too, `cuz... somebody like us would've had to kill him a long time ago, right?

      Their LAUGHTER seals the bond.

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): That's been one of the better things about Y.M.I....

      INSERT - AIRPLANE

      where Coop continues writing in his little pool of light:

      COOP'S DIARY (V.O.): ...you can make friends pretty quick.

      From the next seat, Head sticks his drowsy face into the pool of light and then buries it in Coop's notebook. He shakes his head in disgust.

      HEAD: Jeeeez, Coop, you got a lot to learn about goofin' off.

      He returns to his

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