Out In The Open
by Samuel Jefferson
Richard and Bonnie Telling have been friends with Charles and Robyn Tate since university. The Telling children, Max, Claire and Jack have grown up with Charles and Robyn’s son George, and both families used to regularly holiday together. But over the last eight years the families have drifted apart, so it comes as a surprise when Max and George suggest a reunion at the villa to celebrate Charles’ sixtieth birthday. But things are not how they were before; Richard and the eccentric Bonnie have been divorced for three years and Richard has a young new girlfriend, Charles and Robyn are growing ever more distant after the surprise runaway success of Robyn’s first novel, and the children are all struggling to find their places in the world.
Arriving at the fairy-tale cottage, everyone is on best behaviour; smiles and hugs all round. But all too often clenched teeth or a subtle roll of eyes linger behind the pleasantries. Max and George do their best to keep everyone happy, especially as they know they are about to drop a bombshell. It seems everyone is struggling with something.
George, currently the number three British tennis player, must once again feel the full effects of his father’s controlling and pressuring expectations. Bonnie is struggling to re-define her life following her divorce, and she can’t help but envy Robyn’s recent success as a writer. With everyone’s true feelings bubbling under the surface, it isn’t until Max and George finally reveal their reason for the gathering, that the gloves come off and the fireworks start to fly. Max and George have been in a relationship for nearly three years, and they felt it was about time everyone knew the truth.
Samuel Jefferson is a qualified Medical doctor, and recent graduate of London Film School, where he gained a Masters with Merit in Screenwriting. He studied Medicine at Newcastle University, where he wrote for the Newcastle University Theatre Society, winning the Best Newcomer award at the University Writing Festival several years running. One of these plays, Dust, was taken to the Edinburgh Festival where good reviews lead to him being approached by a London fringe theatre to develop it further.
Following his medical training he spent two years working in a hospital in Leeds, before leaving to pursue a career in writing. He was accepted to LFS where he proved himself to be a diligent, passionate and reliable writer and wrote two feature scripts, several short films and a number of treatments for TV – several of which he has been developing further with Fox Cub Films since graduating.
Since leaving film school he works the occasional ad-hoc shift in A&E at Royal London Hospital, with the part time nature of the work allowing him to devote focus to his writing.