After his daughter is diagnosed with a rare cancer, a timid college professor and his jailbird uncle start a prostitution service in order to pay for her experimental treatments.
DynoPenpusher
After his daughter is diagnosed with a rare cancer, a timid college professor and his jailbird uncle start a prostitution service in order to pay for her experimental treatments.
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“After his daughter is diagnosed with a rare cancer, a timid college professor and his jailbird uncle start a prostitution service in order to pay for her experimental treatments.”
An interesting idea. Just some notes:
In the last version of this, you called the uncle “corrupt” which I think better conveys a sense of dangers for the college professor. I just don’t think ‘jailbird’ quite does it.
I’m just curious about the method, even though starting a prostitution service seems like a interesting angle, it seems a bit illogical. Sure, prostitution is a big business, but I sincerely doubt anyone just starts a service and then within a week or even a month would be rolling in the cash. Especially with established competition. So, while I think it is an interesting angle, it doesn’t seem plausible.(Though I know nothing about cash flow of new prostitution services so I could of course be wrong) The uncle is a criminal, what does he do? Is he a hitman, a thief? Drug dealer?
I think just describing him as ‘timid’ works, college professor doesn’t necessarily add to the logline.
You have the structure down, but I suggest making it so that the father has to work up the nerve to enlist the uncle, to get himself dirty doing the criminal’s job.
Something like:?After his daughter is diagnosed with a rare cancer, a timid college professor must enlist his criminal uncle to steal money in order to pay for her experimental treatments.?
Another angle you could try is to have white collar criminal, someone who steals money from businesses or whatever all while wearing a suit. Someone who needs savvy, charm. Someone who is slimy, slick.
I hope this helps.
IOW: ?he becomes a pimp.
My 1st reaction is that this is a clone of the “Walter White” scenario where the protagonist is a timid college professor instead of a timid high school teacher. ?And the illicit business is sex for sale?instead of cooking meth.
I dunno.
Walter White knew his chemistry. ?But what does the professor know about running a stable? ? Is it credible that the uncle would partner up with a “virgin”?
Why would an audience sympathize with a man who will be exploiting and oppressing women? ?How likely are they to buy into his rationalization that the desperate need justifies the utterly corrupt and illegal means?
I dunno.
Dyno:
My personal reaction to your concept may be unrepresentative in that it is conditioned by what I know from 1st hand observation about the real and really ugly world of prostitution when I worked for the LAPD in Hollywood. ?
I have to wonder if you comprehend how cruel and heartless, manipulative and deceitful your protagonist will have to become to run the stable ?– that’s what ?constitutes good “management” ?and “people” skills in that line of business. ?
Well, everyone has a shadow side to their character, so he could discover and tap into the dark side of himself just as Walter White did. ?That would be his character arc.
So, how likely is that to evince any empathy for the character from a movie audience? ?Or maybe you don’t think it’s necessary; perhaps you think the ?”voyeur” factor will be sufficient; that you can create a character and events that will be irresistible audience bait.?The obvious rebuttal is: “Yeah, but look at ‘Breaking Bad’ — what a phenomenally successful series it was.” ?
So, ?maybe, if the story is done right and gets outside the box of the usual Hollyweird stereotypes about prostitution, maybe there’s a market. ?I guess you’re about to find out.
For myself, I might be more positively disposed if the protagonist were, say, ?a single mother who, out of desperation, prostitutes herself to pay for her young daughter’s exorbitantly expensive medical treatment. ?By day, she’s a professor; by night a prostitute.
IOW: ?A protagonist who chooses to make herself the exploited victim — instead of one who exploits others. ?I believe that it would be far easier for a movie audience to root for a professor turned prostitute than for a professor turned pimp.
fwiw
The problem ?I see with ?your concept ? in terms of gay ?prostitution is that it’s a young guy’s trade. ? The most desirable “bun boys” and “rent boys” are just that, young men. ? Women have the “benefit” of a wider ?age spectrum, more years, into which to ply their trade. ?There is a market for 30+ women, ?MILF’s and cougars. ?The market for ?30+ ?men ?is ?small, a niche market.
The story concept of straight middle-aged males servicing women — as you noted, that’s already been done (more than once)