One Page

An Action/Comedy Screenplay by CG Zarbock

“Shannon Mullins meets Miss Marple”

Synopsis

Nearly 70-year-old police detective, Lydia Messer, is feeling pressured to retire, and she’s not ready. She loves her work and her friendships in the department.

After two of her childhood friends and academy graduating classmates were killed in the line of duty, a new and still green cop, Hannah Davis, shows up. Lydia and her unofficial sidekick, Zahra Kashif, suspect that Davis is Internal Affairs. And Lydia has a lot to hide. She is pseudonymously a best selling crime novelist and has just been diagnosed with macular degeneration—either could get her terminated immediately.

While trying to figure out who Davis is and what she wants, Lydia and Kashif stumble into a crime ring that may be connected to the deaths of her friends, and the new acting precinct commander, Lydon Ackerman, appears to be involved.

Lydia’s childhood sweetheart and fourth member of her gang at the academy, Detective Mitch Walker, still loves Lydia, even though she went on to marry someone else and have children before divorcing in her fifties.

Ackerman, suspicious of what Davis is up to, pairs her with Lydia to get them permanently out of the way. While Mitch, Kashif, and the FBI try to rescue them, Lydia digs deep to get them out of it, relying on her career as a cop and a crime novelist.

Ackerman runs. His involvement is revealed and law enforcement closes in. Mitch, a former Vietnam Huey pilot, and Lydia swoop in to take down Ackerman at his mountain hideout.

Instead of being forced to retire, Lydia is finally promoted to precinct commander, fulfilling a promise that the gang of four made to each other all those decades ago. And maybe, just maybe after a year, she’ll think about retiring on her own terms to reveal her other career and run away to Florida with Mitch.

Lead

• Lydia Messer, 65-70 Spunky. Mostly fit. Quirky. Loves cats. Wears granny panties.
• Hannah Davis, 28-35 Black. Iman-esque. Athletic. Imposing. Gorgeous. Confident

Supporting

• Mitch Walker, 65-75 Tall. Fit. Virile. Handsome. Strong. Long, gorgeous silver hair.
• Zahra Kashif, 25-35 Middle Eastern. Cute. Wears hijab. Diminutive. Geeky. Enthusiastic.
• Lydon Ackerman, 45-55  Handsome. Buff. Imposing. Slightly sleazy.

Nearly 70 herself, Zee embraces her age and gender to write empowering and thematically female-driven stories across most genres. Her lead characters are usually women of middle age or older—sometimes much older, like Lydia Messer.

Zee is an indie filmmaker and a recent graduate of the UCLA Online Professional Screenwriting Program. GRANNYPANTS was written during that program. Midway through the year, Zee’s instructor accidentally started calling her Lydia. Zee knew then that Lydia really existed and everyone needed to meet her.