Discs

Written by: Norman Toy

DISCS, the series is a music-driven half-hour dramatic series that explores contemporary racial tensions through dark and sensuous stories that uniquely reflect today's American urban landscape. DISCS is a modern West Side Story where races collide, violence erupts, lovers meet, and music provides the atmosphere and backdrop to the stories of the people struggling in a fast-changing world. DISCS is set in a music store/cafe located in an integrated neighborhood in the throes of white flight. The resourceful owner Judd Gold has continually re-invented his store to keep up with the ever-shifting trends in music, music players, sources, and accoutrement, and serves up everything from hip-hop to retro punk. The electronic age of music with Internet downloading has motivated him to create his cafe in order to capture the lost revenue.

Pilot Synopsis 

Original music drives this dramatic pilot about Judd Gold, a record store owner who fights to keep his doors open. A dying record industry and boiling racial tensions have plagued him ever since his father’s death when he reluctantly took over the store. One thing the ethnic groups that patronize the store have in common is music. To compensate for revenues lost to electronic downloads and the shifting landscape of music delivery systems he opens what becomes a popular local cafe featuring “Friday Night Live,” a venue that showcases new bands. Rather than shut down and move out like so many other white shop owners he makes it a mission to create a safe haven for the blacks, Hispanics, and white kids who come to hear and play music. The son he had with a black teenage girlfriend, a boy he never knew, unexpectedly shows up at the store. When Judd reaches out he is met with the pain and hostility of a boy who felt abandoned.

A 5-minute Pilot Presentation for DISCS may be viewed at: http://www.3cmultimedia.com/discs/pilot_presentation.html 

Norman Toy can be reached at: (716) 400-1403; nuarts@roadrunner.com 

Bio:

Norman Toy directed a Pilot Presentation for the runner-up series DISCS. The 5-minute pilot presentation clip can be viewed at: http://www.3cmultimedia.com/discs/pilot_presentation.html

Historical projects Norman has written include the screenplay Alexander the Great which was optioned by Academy Award winning producer Gene Kirkwood’s Generation Films. He then explored 6th century Wales in his adaptation of the Newbery Honor award-winning novel String in the Harp. The protagonist in his original screenplay, Lunch on the Lawn, a romantic fantasy, travels back in time to 19th century Paris. The love theme continues in his latest script, a romantic comedy, Who I’m Not. Norman’s screenplay Yes, Paradiso! was a finalist in the 2009 Cynosure Screenwriting Awards contest for screenplays with strong leading roles for women. He has also written Breeders a thriller based on a story in The Los Angeles Times. Plays he has written have been staged in various New York City venues. He just finished his first novel, eLove. 

2009 Script Selections