SEASON 1 - What are we Doing?

EPISODE ONE - SCRIPTED

EP 1 opens backstage at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre. We find all our characters in the excitement and anticipation of the band’s first concert in the big-time. These musicians make up a large, diverse collective, or is it an extended family? Are they connected or disconnected? Just before they head onstage to play for a crowd of thousands, we flashback to 22 months earlier: Jade wanders around a display house; a model-home realtor, she is clearly a fish out of water. Her clothes don’t fit, the furniture doesn’t fit, the kitchen is too pristine. Time to set it all on fire. Her husband Edward, in the meantime, is immersed in the absurd world of advertising jingles — this is a soul-crushing way to spend his musical talent. Meet the kids, starting with fifteen-year-old Anna-Sophia, who cries over a wrong boba order, Issac, bi-racial with a big fro who’s busy sucking face with his girlfriend, and Lalou, a disabled eleven-year-old that everyone, not always lovingly, calls The Dictator. Somehow, this whole gang ends up on their roof, including Toni — how is she related? — and Poder the chocolate lab, all singing an improvised mash-up of words and sounds that morph into a Foreigner song. This is a tight, musically-inclined family that is yearning for more. But what?

EPISODE TWO - SCRIPTED

EP 2 we hear a piece of classical music and come upon a secluded wooded area. We see something emerging from the ground. It’s Toni, thick in dirt and leaves; she gets up and turns off her camcorder. Toni’s dance is linked to the music heard during a meeting, two weeks previous, between world-renowned conductor Michel and his mentee Benjamin. Callie—Jade’s estranged sister and Michel’s favored daughter— is there too. They are having breakfast in Michel’s home, the family home in Ohio, where we find out Michel is sick. Benjamin and Callie are asked to hide Michel’s health status from Jade. Love and secrets intertwine in this family. Back to Toni, returning to their LA house to find her conductor-husband Benjamin and daughter, nine-year-old Zora, along with their Haitian nanny/French tutor, Jan, already into a full morning swing, dealing with a troublesome pile of marbles. As a counter to Toni’s muddy mess, the house is pristine, organized, cultured. Issac shows up - Benjamin attempts being a father to his son he hardly ever sees and who is from his first marriage to Jade. But first, he must wrestle with the politics of the LA PHIL where he is guest conductor. His mentor never guided him through the red-tape but Toni keeps him focused. Michel phones his ex-wife ISABELLA to share an old memory; she senses something else is going on. Issac skips school with his girlfriend to explore an abandoned house, Zora and Toni have to deal with the chaos of a missing violin, and Jade takes down a fellow shopper at the local Ralphs. All this climaxes when we discover that Michel has died. Things are going to change.

EPISODE THREE - SCRIPTED

EP 3 Have you ever experienced stress traveling? Imagine airport maneuvering with two teens, one disabled pre-teen, and a large brown dog who needs to take a dump. Jade and Edward’s family is on the move to Jade’s childhood home where they discover her irrepressible sister Callie has camped out with an international musical band of misfits in the family’s gorgeous mid-century Midwestern house, complete with private lake. Jade is pissed and she takes her family to stay at a local hotel, but not before the kids discover the wonders of the lake and the allure of Callie’s free-spirited friends. Jade and Benjamin, once married, meet up and we see they still have a deep connection. Edward, (is he the perfect dad? or perhaps not) sneaks out to meet someone at a local bar, leaving young Lalou asleep and alone in her hotel bed with only the dog to protect her. Toni and Zora are in Ohio too; everyone has gathered for the memorial in honor of Michel. A trustee corners Benjamin, offering him Michel’s position as conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. During the memorial service, as we see Callie transform into a cello virtuoso and Toni blow us away with her powerful voice, we travel back in years to witness Jade and Callie’s youth, a sweet and bitter moment when Jade discovers that Callie was her parent’s golden child. We end, back in the present, at an evening lakeside bonfire with the whole gang finding music and food as their balm. Edward, inspired by the gathering, gets an idea to form a band.

EPISODES FOUR-TEN - Unscripted

EP 4 we find both sets of families debating whether or not to move to the Cleveland area, Benjamin to take his job, Jade and Edward, basically because they blew everything up back in Los Angeles. And, music is calling. And, a free, kick-ass house. The kids feel otherwise. Issac and Lou, out on a night-drive, get stopped by a local sheriff just because they look weird together. Awkwardly, the sheriff is an old friend of Jade’s. Toni doesn’t like it here and that might mean a long-distance relationship for their family. Transitions are full of potential, and really hard.

EP 5 is a flashback episode where we meet the young Jade, Callie and Edward. Edward, sitting in drafting class, often sees Jade through a glass door playing with the high school band. They form a tentative connection between jock and band geek. On the night of prom, as the girls get ready, Callie gets pulled aside by her father Michael to play cello for his new protégé, the young college student Benjamin. But Benjamin finds a natural connection and ease with Jade. Isabella, their opera-singer mom, is a powerful and gorgeous force that takes over any room she enters. She intimidates their dates and the girls just wish they had normal parents.

At the prom, although they are both there with different dates, Edward and Jade spend most of the evening talking in a stairway. A few days later, a freak accident on the baseball field alters Edward, and he emerges as a new-found musical genius. He seeks out Jade at a midnight after-party at the local water-filled quarry where Jade and Callie sing together. They are magical.

EPs 6 - 10

Edward, Callie and the misfits create a band. Jade starts writing songs all while trying to sort out social services for Lalou. Benjamin is faring in his new job as a mostly single dad while Toni often heads back to NYC. While away, Toni gets close to a fellow collaborator. Toni’s cousin from Nigeria comes to visit and she becomes an essential part of the band and mentor to Issac. Issac falls in love with Sahar, a young musician who travels with Callie, but Sarah, his hometown girlfriend, shows up for a surprise visit. Anna-Sophia misses her friends but discovers camaraderie+ with some older band-mates. Edward’s blue-collar midwestern family gets involved a bit too much. The band finds its groove. The sound takes shape. First gigs at festivals — some major screw ups, some flashes of brilliance. A Tik Tok video posted by Lalou gets millions of hits and they are too quickly on the map. Isabella, Jade and Callie’s mother, re-emerges after a long absence.

SEASON 2,3 & beyond - Listen up

The band starts to hit. One entire episode will be a gig on NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Benjamin wants Toni to settle in Ohio and arranges for her to get a job at the University. Toni feels pressured to take the job which does seem like an artistic dream, given what they are promising her. Promises aren’t fulfilled. Zora gets closer to her Nanny Jan and we explore Jan’s previous life in Haiti.

Jade, having been on the sidelines writing songs but mostly watching over the kids, takes a risk and joins the band. Now, they have their real SOUND.

Band’s first tour on a train with other name bands.

The spotlight is on Edward and he’s eating it up. Jade and Callie reconnect. Issac starts creating sound scapes for the band. Anna-Sophia begins to shine as an artist. Jody, Edward’s brother with a gambling addiction, is around for the ride, getting close with Lalou and Zora and taking on small responsibilities for the band. Lalou’s imagination runs free as she plans a way to go on a solo adventure.

As the band matures and gets more popular, Edward’s ego expands and things come to a breaking point. Will the band survive, grow or break apart? Toni, Jade, Callie and Anna-Sophia come together and find a new sound.