Sidney moved slowly down the campus walkway, never taking her gaze from the camera. “Over this summer, and through the next ten episodes, we will become intimate with this once-promising couple. We will learn the sad events that led to Julian Crist’s death on St. Lucia’s famed Sugar Beach, and we will meet the girl who lovedhim. We will work to understand her, to show you the events that molded Grace Sebold’s life and sent her on a quest to become a surgeon. We will also delve into the last decade of her life, which she has spent in a foreign correctional facility alongside other convicted murderers. We will learn her story. A story rife with baffling twists and bizarre revelations. A story told both from Grace’s perspective and from those responsible for convicting her. We will examine the evidence that put Grace behind bars, and determine if it was based on science or fiction. This summer, we will look into the soul of Grace Sebold and finally discover the truth.”
Sidney stopped walking, the hospital and its brilliant glass façade shining in the background.
“I’m Sidney Ryan, and this isThe Girl of Sugar Beach.”
The DVD projector died and the lights in the media room came back on. There were more murmurs from the audience, and Sidney noticed that a larger crowd had gathered in the hallway during the screening.
“I love it!” Dante Campbell said. “It makes me want to know Grace’s story. Absolutely love it.”
“Thanks, Dante,” Sidney said. She shared a moment of eye contact with the network’s biggest star.
“Ray?” Graham said.
Ray Sandberg stood from the front row. “Helluva pitch.” He looked at Sidney. “Let’s talk logistics this afternoon.”
“Absolutely,” Sidney said.
The crowd thinned out as the audience shuffled for the doors.
“I don’t think Luke is a fan,” Sidney said when she and Graham were alone.
“Luke doesn’t sign the checks.”
CHAPTER 12
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
AWEEK LATER, AFTER SCORES OF MEETINGS WITH NETWORK EXECUTIVES, Sidney had her project green-lit for summer. She sat at her desk and edited a clip from the opening episode. Over the past seven days, the pilot episode was polished and pitched to the suits who made programming decisions, and to sales managers who decided on potential advertisers. In house, there was a general sense of excitement about the documentary and for the real-time format. Sidney had screened and outlined the guts of the first few installments, and as those began to air, she would work to put together new episodes from revelations she hoped to discover as she dug into Grace Sebold, Julian Crist, their pasts, and the events at Sugar Beach.
The anticipation over what she might turn up was the genesis of the buzz within the network, and the source of angst Sidney felt in her stomach. As she sat at her desk, she reminded herself again, as her heart rate began to rise and the voice in the back of her head whispered its doubts, she didn’t have to show the audiencewhokilled Julian Crist. She justneeded to present coherently the possibility that it wasn’t Grace Sebold.
The edit suggestions Sidney was working on came from Ray Sandberg, who didn’t have a creative bone in his body, but who felt the need to tweak the pilot before he wrote a check. Before Sidney could disagree with Ray’s suggestions, Graham Cromwell had given Sidney a discouraging headshake during the meeting that told her everything she needed to know.
Say yes to the edits in order to get the documentary off the ground.
Graham’s subtle gesture was a reminder that Sidney was not creating a documentary to be optioned for distribution, but was instead kowtowing to network executives to get her project approved. If she could hurdle this initial obstacle, Graham promised she’d have more creative control going forward. And so, with a broad smile, Sidney had spent the morning with the administrators, sales managers, and general bureaucrats of the network’s news division, listening to the suggested edits to the pilot episode ofThe Girl of Sugar Beach.And now, after these final tweaks, the documentary’s maiden episode was slated to air in the beginning of June.
The summary she had screened in the media room a week before had enough content for four one-hour episodes. Sidney’s goal over the next couple of weeks was to find enough material, and new and relevant evidence, for the next four installments. And then, somehow, create a conclusion that would span the final two episodes and turn up enough proof to show that Grace Sebold is not as guilty as the world believes.
It was a tall task, and not for the first time, Sidney considered that she had bitten off more than she could chew. And there lay the dilemma of trying to break into an industry: When your pitch is so strong that people like Dante Campbell start to believe in you, along with their confidence comesthe pressure to deliver. Today, after a year of reviewing Grace Sebold’s case and reading the hundreds of letters she and Ellie Reiser had written to her, after researching, interviewing, and creating the rough cuts of the opening episodes, and after her official pitch, Sidney was no longer chasing this project. The documentary was a go. Now she was chasing relevance. Now it was time to deliver. Her first deadline felt like a tightening noose around her neck, which was why, when she looked up from her computer to see Luke Barrington strolling into her office, she let out a long sigh.
“What do you need, Luke?”
“It looks like you need more than I do. You need a story, and I’m not sure you have one.” The Bear’s voice echoed off the walls of her office.
“Thanks for your concern. I’ll manage.”
“Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Have a story?”
“Yes, Luke. I have a story. And work to do, so . . .”
“You know,” Luke said.
Sidney heard his deep, fake voice begin, as if he were imparting some piece of wisdom to his audience.
