By Kathy Keller

An Adventure Comedy

An Adventure Comedy

Information

Registered with

WGA-Pending

Material Type

Script

Intended Medium

Television, Movie

Language

English

Location

Washington, DC Suburbs

Rating

General Audiences

Era

Present Day

Storyrocket Number

Pending

Logline—Where Spies Go to Die

Hypervigilant CIA operative learns of imminent cyber-attack; agency doesn't believe him; sends him to counselling “retreat” where he encounters others who unwittingly know other pieces of the plot. The race is on for them to put everything together and sidestep vengeful orderly and Russian agents to take evidence to the CIA.

Tag Line

Technology isn't always a replacement for man.

Comparatives

Hot Fuzz—overactive city officer transferred to sleepy town; unravels secrets.

Reds (2010)—targeted, retired CIA agent assembles team to foil conspiracy.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off—Dean determined to catch student escaping school.

Synopsis

WHERE SPIES GO TO DIE—low-budget, present-day dramedy located in northern Virginia. Available in screenplay by Kathy Keller.

CIA operative Harvey Gluck crosses line into hypervigilance. Learns of imminent, cyber plot; agency can't find evidence of it; sends him to Green Meadows, government counseling retreat, where he encounters others who unwittingly know other pieces of the conspiracy, and the race is on for them to figure it out and sound alarm.

After some overreactive incidents and Harvey's insistence of an epic plot, of which the CIA can find no evidence, the agency decides it's time to send him to Green Meadows, a secret government counseling retreat for high level intelligence employees—known to be the first step to retirement.

At Green Meadows, Harvey is assigned to a dining table with three other people with issues—Linda, high level CIA analyst, soft-spoken, mousey; Cilla, covert agent embedded in Prigozhin's Internet Information Agency and extracted upon his death, plain-looking, tough, chip on her shoulder, feels she hasn't received the recognition and pay as male agents;  J.D., CIA Cybersecurity Department tech, introverted, typical techie nerd.

Watching his table mates go through rituals, developed to relieve the stress of their jobs, Harvey thinks they're nuts--as he takes out his food and lead testing kits from his knapsack.

As they begin to talk, Harvey discovers he has only half the codename and that the others know pieces of the conspiracy, unaware of the threat due to government compartmentalization. To further unravel the plot, J.D. needs a computer. The group sets their sights on the one in the orderlies' office.

Todd, a Green Meadows orderly, has disdain for the quirky  “guests” and a particular dislike for Harvey—he bends the rules. Todd thinks they should all be in a mental institution instead of being charged with protecting national security. He works second shift in the office monitoring security cameras. After lockdown, Harvey spikes Todd's coffee with sedatives intended for him (Harvey). When Todd falls asleep, the group goes to work.

Unable to find anything by hacking into the CIA, J.D. hacks into Russian networks  with Cilla's help, as a member of notorious Russian hacker group Honey Bear, which has done much damage to U.S. in past attacks. It raises red flags.

Russians track computer's IP address to Green Meadows; zero in on Todd as the Honey Bear traitor.

Harvey and his group figure out the plot, sneak out to “borrow” Todd's car to race info to CIA director. In the process, Harvey sets off car alarm. As Todd tries to chase after them, Russian agents pull up in van, kidnap him, take him to warehouse.

Enraged, Todd thinks Harvey is playing a joke; soon realizes it's no joke and is terrified. Has no clue what's happening. In the course of interrogation, he mentions Harvey is a spy.

Russians track Harvey following Todd's car tracker. When Harvey unwittingly leads them to CIA headquarters, Russians believe this has all been a set-up and freak out. CIA security chases them, thinking they're giving a scare to thrill-seeking teenagers. When they end the chase, Virginia police pick it up thinking it's the van fleeing a jewelry store heist. Russians think the whole military complex is after them. They throw a drugged Todd out of the van and frantically call for an extraction, advising that Honey Bear has been compromised and should be terminated.

Harvey and his band, blithely unaware of the drama playing out with Todd and the Russians, have alerted CIA to the plot. They don't have a date yet and are returning to Green Meadows to figure it when they encounter a dazed Todd on the street. He passes out; they throw him in the trunk and transport him back to the retreat. Todd wakes up in the orderly's office as though nothing has happened; sounds like a raving lunatic as he insists he was kidnapped by Russians and is escorted out of the retreat by men in white coats.

Todd is released from mental institution and is Ubering back to Green Meadows to get his car, when he sees Harvey and his group drive past in his (Todd's) car, on their way to J.D.'s house to figure out date of the plot with unfettered use of J.D.'s computers. Beside himself, Todd orders driver to follow them.

Todd enters house through basement window; overhears Harvey and the others talking, concludes they're Russian agents, frantically calls 911. Police appear. Todd emerges from the bushes, disheveled, bruised, sounding unhinged and fingers the group as spies. Harvey infers that Todd is an escapee from the mental institution; police return Todd kicking and screaming to it.

Harvey and his group figure out the date of the attack, narrowly save the day, receive CIA award. In the process, Harvey proves that the days of “James Bond” and “Ethan Hunt” are not over. He also notices that Cilla cleans up nice for future reference.  Meanwhile, Todd is trying to convince review board at St. Elizabeth's that he's not crazy.

Although their credentials have been unblocked, Harvey, Cilla, Linda, and J.D. opt to retire. They believe they can better serve the country by continuing to secretly monitor intercepts to ferret out future plots, unhindered by government compartmentalization.

90 Second Pitch

WHERE SPIES GO TO DIE—low budget dramedy.

CIA operative Harvey Gluck crosses line into hypervigilance. Learns of imminent, cyber plot; unable to find evidence of it, agency sends him to Green Meadows, government counseling retreat, where he encounters others with issues who unwittingly know pieces of the conspiracy, and the race is on to figure it out and sound alarm.

Technology is the thing; the days of James Bond are over, Harvey is told. He and his Green Meadows team—Cilla, covert operative; Linda, CIA analyst; and J.D., cybersecurity tech—will prove that technology isn't always a replacement for man.

Todd Murphy, orderly at Green Meadows has disdain for the quirky “guests”; thinks they should be in mental institution; takes particular dislike to Harvey.

To unravel conspiracy, J.D. hacks into Russian networks as  “Honey Bear”—state-sanctioned hackers. Russians track I.P. address to Green Meadows.

Harvey and team “borrow” Todd's car to take evidence to CIA there is a conspiracy. As Todd runs after them, Russians kidnap him, thinking he's Honey Bear. Todd is terrified, interrogated, has no clue. Russians learn Harvey is a spy. Track Harvey and team driving Todd's car. When Russians blithely follow the car to CIA headquarters, they think it's a set-up; CIA security chases them thinking they're putting a scare into  thrill-seeking teenagers. Local police give chase--van resembles one in robbery. Freaked out, Russians throw Todd out of van, call for extraction.

Harvey and team save the country, unaware of Russian-Todd drama.

Todd has meltdown, recounts fantastical story; carted off to mental facility for observation. Harvey and team retire to ferret out conspiracies missed due to government compartmentalization and dependence on technology.