The Tarantino Heist
A Quinton Tarantino story written by Alan Nafzger
The Tarantino Heist
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The Tarantino Heist FADE IN
INT. – THEATER – UNIVERSITY FILM SCHOOL – 1996
A student film is being reviewed and it finishes. The student audience goes wild. Only one student doesn’t clap. The other students stand. JOHN MULLER (25) is surprised and turns to appreciate the recognition. He stands and shyly bows. The applause ends. There is a lot of chatter among the students. The PROFESSOR (72) stands in front. There is a long beat as the professor contemplates this rare ovation.
Professor
I have to say I’ve seen only one other standing ovation, and he never graduated (so we can’t officially say he is alumni), but he was something like a discipulus sine signo, he was around here for two years and the next time I saw the guy he was on “Happy Days”. So you are in good company.
The students are amazed and whisper. More applause.
Professor
And I have to say Mr. Muller, you are the most upbeat student I’ve ever… experienced. A bit hyperactive at times.
MULLER
Spirited?
Professor
Yes, we’ve had our differences but I will admit that.
The students all chuckle.
Professor
But, that being said. All fame is fleeting. This is solid work, actually fantastic and you are the “star” here today. Your talent is promising. But I get the idea you are impatient and clearly self-indulgent. Don’t let this be your fatal flaw. But for now congratulations.
After the showing, Muller is out in the hall and congratulated by many other students. He is very happy and charismatic looking. He clearly has a lot of friend and the future is bright.
INT. – OFFICE – PRODUCTION COMPANY
PRODUCER (59) is behind the desk and Muller has been pitching his script. The producer puts the screenplay on the desk.
PRODUCER
It’s too forward (or backward) thinking. I’m not sure which. I don’t think I can find the funding. Remember there isn’t any art without commerce.
MULLER
It’ll sell. It’s a tribute to the old classics people went to the theatres to see.
PRODUCER
To a small “art” group, movie enthusiasts. Remember the Ziegfeld Theatre is closed.
MULLER
What?
PRODUCER
It was an ornate movie palace in Midtown Manhattan, proof that the once-vital theatre-going culture is finished.
MULLER
It’s too bad. But there is still cable, pay per view and video.
PRODUCER
You are still in film school right?
MULLER
Yes, for another month.
PRODUCER
Graduate, work on it some more, I want to see some moderation; think box office. Think marketing. Come back then.
Beat. Inside, Muller is enraged (just a tiny amount of rage shows) but he calms and eventually smiles.
MULLER
Okay. I will.
Muller exits the office with a certain look on his face.
MONTAGE
The same result in numerous meetings.
END MONTAGE
INT. VIPER ROOM – LOS ANGELES
Muller and his film school buddies are at the drinking establishment, chilling out. Celebrating graduation. But Muller is depressed and drinking heavily.
There is a genuine MOTORCYCLE gang in the bar; they are rough looking but poor and have shabby biker gear.
In contrast, a rough group of young men (dressed in expensive biker gear) enter the bar. They are too affluent to be a genuine gang.
The affluent bikers’ leader is Murphy. Murphy knows Muller from the past.
Both Murphy and Muller are very drunk.
Murphy
Muller, is that you?
MULLER
Murphy? Yeah. It’s me.
Murphy
I haven’t seen you since high school.
MULLER
Damn, how you been?
Murphy
Good. I’m good.
MULLER
Good to see you.
Murphy
I got to piss.
MULLER
Me too.
They enter the restroom and stand at the urinals.
MURPHY
You making movies?
MULLER
Not yet. Been in school, fucking school.
MURPHY
Fuck college.
MULLER
(drunk)
Fuck film school. What a fucking waste of time.
MURPHY
Bunch of artsy fartsy bull? But, you like that shit.
MULLER
It’s more than that.
MURPHY
What goes on there?
MULLER
Basically?
MURPHY
Just curious, man.
MULLER
Film directing.
MURPHY
Shit.
MULLER
Organizing people not so creative as yourself.
MURPHY
Shit, I could use a little bit of that.
MULLER
Fuck, I need money.
MURPHY
Do you know that you live in the bank robbery capital of the world?
There is an awkward long beat.
MURPHY
You have a film you want to make?
MULLER
Fucking awesome idea. Millions if I can get it done.
MURPHY
Hey, I have an idea.
(half beat)
Give me your phone.
Murphy dials his number into Muller’s phone. The phone in Murphy’s pocket rings.
MURPHY
I’m gonna call you next week.
Later…
EXT. VIPER ROOM – LOS ANGELES
Closing time. The bar empties and everyone leaves at the same basic time. Murphy’s gang exits and we see a long line of motorcycles – five old junkers and five premium high dollar bikes.
Muller and his film buddies exit. Muller notices that Murphy’s friends are on the premium bikes. They start them up and the roar is impressive. Clearly the Murphy gang is successful at something.
Muller is in a drunken stupor, but he notices the contrast between the two bike gangs.
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (/ˌtærənˈtiːnoʊ/; born March 27, 1963)[3] is an American filmmaker, film director, screenwriter, producer, film critic, and actor. His films are characterized by nonlinear storylines, dark humor, stylized violence, extended dialogue, ensemble casts, references to popular culture, alternate history, and neo-noir.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tarantino grew up in Los Angeles. He began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of Reservoir Dogs in 1992, a crime thriller in part funded by the sale of his screenplay True Romance (1993); Empire hailed Reservoir Dogs as the “Greatest Independent Film of All Time”. His second film, Pulp Fiction (1994), a crime comedy, was a major success among critics and audiences and won numerous awards, including the Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.[4][5] He wrote the screenplay for From Dusk till Dawn (1996),[6] in which he also starred, while Tarantino’s third film, Jackie Brown (1997), paid homage to blaxploitation films.
In 2003, Tarantino delivered Kill Bill: Volume 1, stylized in cinematic traditions of kung fu films and Japanese martial arts, the animation sequences in the film were inspired from Aalavandan; Volume 2 followed in 2004. Tarantino then directed the exploitation slasher Death Proof (2007), part of a double feature with Robert Rodriguez released in the custom of 1970s grindhouse, under the collective title Grindhouse. His long-postponed Inglourious Basterds (2009) told an alternate history and explored subgenres of war films; it was followed by Django Unchained (2012), a Spaghetti Western, which won him his second Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Tarantino’s eighth film, The Hateful Eight (2015), was a long-form revisionist Western thriller with a roadshow release, while his most recent film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), was a comedy-drama which explored Old Hollywood. He published his debut novel, a novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, in 2021.
Tarantino’s films have garnered critical and commercial success, as well as a cult following. He has received many industry awards, including two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards,[7] and the Palme d’Or, and has been nominated for an Emmy and five Grammys. In 2005, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[8] Filmmaker and historian Peter Bogdanovich has called him “the single most influential director of his generation”;[9] Tarantino has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.
Tarantino’s works have been subject to controversy, including his depictions of violence and frequent inclusion of racial slurs, and alleged negligence in his handling of stunt scenes in Kill Bill: Volume 2.
Throughout his career, Tarantino and his films have frequently received nominations for major awards, including for seven Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, two Directors Guild of America Awards, and sixteen Saturn Awards. He has won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay twice, for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. He has four times been nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, winning once for Pulp Fiction in 1994. In addition to his recognition for writing and directing films, Tarantino has received five Grammy Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
In 2005, Tarantino was awarded the honorary Icon of the Decade at the 10th Empire Awards.[251] He has earned lifetime achievement awards from two organizations in 2007, from Cinemanila,[252] and from the Rome Film Festival in 2012.[253] In 2011, Tarantino was awarded the Honorary César by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma.[254]