[REC.]
Our scene opens up in a suburban neighborhood. Panning through idyllic homes and meticulously-maintained greenspace, a soft, gentle instrumental remix of Down With Webster’s “Whoa Is Me” plays as we set our scene. As we cascade down from the cloudless blue sky towards a park bench, we ass “The All-Star” Gavin Taylor out for his morning jog. Nary a bead of sweat on his face, he moves up to the bench, placing his left foot upon it and resting his arms on his elevated knee. Gavin looks towards the camera, a million-dollar shit-eating smile on his face.
“Hi there… it’s me, “All-Star” Gavin Taylor.”
The scene shifts over to a busy community center. While people are busy in the YMCA swimming pools, visible from the lobby through large glass walls, Gavin Taylor steps through the door. His hair is still wet from his own previous swim, as he has a towel draped on his shoulder, and he walks over to the observation benches. He places his left foot upon one, resting his arm on his elevated knee as he looks towards the camera, a million-dollar shit-eating smile on his face.
“My entire life, I have worked towards being an elite athlete, a trailblazer, a leader… an All-Star!”
The scene shifts again to a baseball diamond, where manicured outfields and upkept pitchers mounds highlight an old-timey feel. Gavin Taylor stands at the plate as a pitch comes in and, with one swing of the bat, he sends it sailing over the freshly-painted fence in the outfield. Satisfied with his swing and his hit, Gavin walks back towards the benches, where he places his left foot on it, resting his arms on his elevated knee. He smiles his… well… you get it.
“I have taken great pains to succeed in my work. But what if I told you that you didn’t have to hit home runs…”
We switch back to the pool…
“…swim a perfect butterfly…”
… and back to the park.
“…or even complete a morning 5K to be an All-Star?”
Finally, we find ourselves in an office boardroom. Gavin Taylor walks into the empty boardroom and approaches the head of the table, where a screen is down with three initials: G.A.S. Gavin moves to the chair and takes a seat, spinning it around and propping his feet up on the table in front of him, expertly setting his heels upon a preset coaster placed just for this purpose.
“As founder and ambassador of the Global All Star Initiative, or G.A.S., I take the responsibility of being The All-Star with me every day. It does require dedication, but do you want to know a secret?”
Gavin holds his hand out, motioning for the camera to come closer. A closer camera cuts into the scene as Gavin faces it…
“You can be an All-Star too!”
The camera cuts back to the original feed..
“That’s right! Whether it’s in your job, your marriage, your little league coaching duties, the way you mow your lawn, or really just about anything, as long as you’re not a terrible human being like a redneck or something, you can be an All-Star just like me! How, you ask? Well, I would use a three word term to tell you how, but I’ve already been issued a cease and desist order from a shoe manufacturer that features a glorified checkmark for it’s logo, so I can’t specifically tell you how. But… you get it.”
Gavin looks back to the close-cut camera, winking into it with an audible *ding*.
“So go out there… the world is better off when we’re all at our best, and when we’re at our best, we’re All-Stars. So get out there and get your game on… go play. Because you are an All-Star, too! And you can trust me on that, because not only am I the founder and ambassador of G.A.S., but I am it’s first chartered All-Star! And you can too!”
A fast-talking voice cuts in…
“The Global All-Star Initiative holds no responsibility should anyone hearing this advertisement choose evil as their All-Star position. We are not legally liable for any criminal acts committed in the name of being an All-Star. Patrons wishing to publicly declare themselves to be All-Stars should go to http://www.GASI.org and fill out the questionnaire and registration. There is a small fee included in registration. I mean hey, this shit isn’t going to pay for itself.”
Finally, as Gavin sits back, the commercial fades to black…
[/REC.]
The TV screen is turned off. The table is set… Gavin stands at the head of the table next to the TV. Ava St. Claire and Sofi de Fabiani sit across from each other at the front. Jack and Karl Barker sit next to them at the back, and at the head of the table sits Network President, Michel Corbeau, who is stunned at the quickness and smugness presented in the “All-Star Too” ad. He struggles to get out some words, but it’s Jack and Karl whose commentary fills the room first.
“So you mean,” Jack begins, considering the message in the ad, “That Karl and I aren’t just the All-Star Security because we’re your security?”
“Does this mean,” Karl tries to fill in the rest of Jack’s thought. “That we’re the All-Star Security because we’re All-Stars at security work?”
“In a sense,” Gavin begins. “Yes.”
Jack and Karl look indelibly pleased with themselves, even going as far as to reach across the table and give each other a well-deserved high five. Michel removes the glasses from his face, setting it down in front of him as he pinches the bridge of his nose. This behavior catches the attention of everyone else around the table. Gavin smirks as he leans upon it, tilting his head to the side as he awaits feedback.
“Well?” he asks, prodding for a reaction. Michel looks up, returning his glasses to his face.
“What the hell are you doing?” Michel asks with unexpected bluntness. “All-Star Too? Telling people they can be All-Stars like you?”
“I can’t take all the credit for it,” Gavin confesses, looking over at Sofi briefly. “I mean I could take all the credit for it, but that would be dishonest.”
“Gavin…” Michel attempts to assemble his thoughts, though it’s a bit of a struggle. “You have marketed yourself for over a decade now as “The All-Star”… The! Just throwing the term around all carelessly and recklessly…”
“It’s a radical plan, I agree,” Gavin agrees.
“I’m just afraid that it waters down your brand,” Michel points out. “The Network has invested a lot of money in you and, now, are investing the time to compensate for that money. For you to water yourself down like that…”
“Well, I don’t see it as “watering down” anything,” Gavin responds. “I think that people love this silly crap, where they feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. Sure, it may put more All-Stars out there, but in the end it gives people something to relate to and, in effect, makes my stock rise. Rising stocks equal more money, don’t they?”
Gavin looks over to Ava, who nods in the affirmative. Gavin breathes a sigh of relief at the fact that he was right, but none of this works to allay the criticism of the Network head.
“Gavin, I want you to succeed here, I really do,” he says, prompting a collective eyeroll from everyone not named Gavin. “But I don’t think this is the way to maximize benefit in your appeal.”
“And I think that you aren’t here for my wrestling career,” Gavin indicates. “Sure, you may have helped me get the acting gig, but I’m an athlete first. Your work against that only undermines me and the most benefit I can bring to your Network. If you don’t agree…”
Gavin grins, glancing over to Ava.
“You can just sever ties right now.”
“Gavin, you don’t have any leverage,” Michel quivers, for the first time in this relationship feeling like he’s not the one in the driver’s seat. “No, that won’t be necessary. We’ll… uh… we’ll think of something.”
Flustered, Michel actually gets up and leaves the meeting abruptly. Gavin watches as he goes, reveling in the power surge he just felt as Jack and Karl burst out laughing. Ava sits back, looking over to Gavin with a bit of actual respect in her eyes.
“Okay, what now?” she asks. Gavin grins, handing a business card to her.
“Give this number a call,” he instructs as he heads towards the door. Jack and Karl each pop up to follow, as does Sofi. “We have a script to develop.”
The four exit the room. Ava remains looking at the card.
“Leviticus Productions?” she reads aloud. “H’oh boy…”
“HALLELUIAH!
After four long, grueling months of defeats, setbacks, and questions of my confidence, I dug down deep and ended the cold snap! And don’t get me wrong – if you think for a minute that I’m not about to sit here and gloat about defeating another Supreme Champion in David Helms, you don’t know The All-Star. Of course I’m going to gloat, in due time. I wouldn’t want you to be disappointed, tuning in for some patented Gavin Taylor trash talk only to be left with an empty, unsatisfied feeling, because The All-Star is all about satisfaction. But no… instead of taking the time now to revel in my greatness, I have to look ahead. The horse isn’t going to ride itself, and I have another match this week on Breakdown.
Glory Braddock… a big fish in a number of small ponds. I mean you hear her on Twitter crowing about how many World Championships she’s held, but let’s be honest: How many of those companies stand the test of time like SCW has? How many of those companies actually benefitted from Glory’s reign? See, where I’m from, a Champion should be able to lift those around him or her. But Glory… have you done that? When you were Adrenaline Champion, were you elevating that title? Or just using it as a step stool for the World Title? When you were World Champion, did SCW end up ahead?
Okay, that last one isn’t fair… you were only Champion here for a matter of minutes. But I digress…
At Breakdown, Glory, you’re not going to be using me as a step stool for anything. You’re not going to be using me to get momentum for yourself. All you’re doing is going to be standing in the way of the future… standing in the way of progress. Glory, instead if being the one looking to get ahead, all you’re going to strive to do is keep the company back in a position where you get ahead by keeping the rest of us back. Not me. See, I am the future. I am the one entrusted with the #2 spot in Taking Hold of the Flame because Mr. D sees something in me. I am going to reward his trust and faith in me with victories.
I’ve wasted too much time being what I was… it’s time to grow into the competitor and the CHAMPION I was always meant to be! Because I am The All-Star.
And you, Glory? You can be an All-Star too… but you’ll never be Gavin Taylor!”
"The All-Star" Gavin Taylor 