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| 'AMERICAN
PIE' LYRICS Overall
idea for the Business Soap. Episode
one SITUATION:
Francesca is a young Italian
woman who will be spending 3 months in England (London) on a stage
with a UK company, Delaney Systems Incorporated. Before she goes to
London for the summer she has an opportunity to meet some of her
future colleagues as they are in Milan for a trade show at the
Fiera. Her contact is Paul White, who will be her immediate boss in
the UK.
She is a little bit nervous about her first meeting with them
all, and she just has to try to remember the words of Tom, her old
English teacher at the language school... (Francesca
arrives at the Fiera, thinks to herself) OK,
here I am, now where’s the stand for Delaney Systems Incorporated...
Ok, its over there, and that tall man with glasses looks like he’s
in charge, that must be Paul White, yes I think so, he’s looking
over at me. Right here goes the first test of my English... oh
please don’t say anything stupid, Francesca.
Just remember what my favourite teacher, Tom,
back at the school said to me… (Flashback.) ((TOM
Now,
Francesca, I’m sure that you will be fine when you go to England
and when you meet your colleagues.. Your English is really good, you
don’t have to worry about a thing… I f you don’t know exactly
what to say then just ask someone to repeat what they’ve said or
ask them to slow down a bit… You’ll be fine!)) (thinks
to herself)
FRANCESCA...er,
Hello, is this the Delaney Systems stand? PAUL:
Yes, that’s right. FRANCESCA:
and you ...er ...are Mr White? PAUL
Yes, I’m Paul, let me guess...... you’re Francesca? FRANCESCA:
(slowly) Yes, I am Francesca. How do you do? PAUL:
Er …, how do you do? Well it’s great to meet you after all those
emails... How are you? Nervous? FRANCESCA:
(nervously) A little, yes... PAUL(
in a friendly way) Don’t worry, I just wanted you to come here
today so you could meet everybody. Did you have any trouble finding
us? FRANCESCA:
(thinking in Italian) Sorry,
what did you say? Could you repeat the question, please PAUL:
Sure! Did you have any trouble finding our exhibition here? FRANCESCA:
(thinking in Italian) No,
no (laughs nervously) It was easy! PAUL:
Ok! Sorry if I was speaking a bit too fast, ok, I’ll introduce you
to some of your colleagues... if I speak too fast, don’t worry,
just ask me to repeat, or to slow down. FRANCESCA,
Sure! Thank you! PAUL:
Ok, well you see those two women over there at that display of new
products, they are Deborah and Julia. They are both from the London
office. FRANCESCA:
Ah, ok, er... which one is Deborah, which one is Julia (thinking
in Italian) PAUL:
Well Deborah Evans is the older lady, with dark hair and the red
dress. She’s our UK Sales Coordinator and Julia Denver is the
shorter, blond lady in the blue top and black trousers. She’s
Deborah’s assistant. FRANCESCA:
(thinking in Italian) -I
see. PAUL:
And over there at the desk you can see Robert, the young man with
the dark hair and the very bright green and yellow tie! FRANCESCA:
Ah, yes! PAUL:
...Robert has some crazy ties, that green and yellow one is one of
his favourites! He’s our Public Relations Manager and he’s with
Fabrice, he’s French,
that’s the shorter guy with dark brown hair, he works in
International Sales. FRANCESCA:
Ok. (thinking
in Italian) PAUL:
Oh and now here’s Alex, she’ll be working with us in the London
office, she’s my P.A. FRANCESCA:
Er, excuse me, P.A. What is that? Sorry, can you explain? PAUL:
Sure! P.A. Personal Assistant, she helps me with all my projects. I
don’t know if I could manage without her! FRANCESCA:
(laughs with him) Right! (thinking
in Italian) PAUL:
Alex, I’d like to introduce you to someone! This is Francesca,
she’s coming to work with us in London this summer. Francesca,
this is Alex Thomas, my P.A. FRANCESCA:
Pleased to meet you! ALEX:
Hi, Francesca! So nice to meet you at last, how are you? FRANCESCA:
Er, I’m fine, how are you? (thinking
in Italian) ALEX:
Great! Has Paul got you a drink yet? FRANCESCA:
Er ,…no ALEX:
Oh Paul! ( then to Francesca) Come with me, Francesca. I’ll get
you a coffee FRANCESCA:
Thanks that will be great! (
thinking in Italian.) PAUL:
Ok, Francesca, I’ll see you later, I have to make a quick phone
call... Alex will look after you. See you later, ok? FRANCESCA:
Ok! Thank you, er Paul. Can I call you Paul!? PAUL:
Sure, please do! FRANCESCA
(thinking in Italian) ALEX:
Ok, here you, a cup of coffee! So, did you have any trouble finding
us today? FRANCESCA
(thinking in Italian) ALEX:
Because you’re not from Milan are you? FRANCESCA
(thinking in Italian) ALEX:
Of course! You are not from Milan are you?
From Turin I think…? FRANCESCA:
Yes that’s right! ALEX:
How you did you get here today? By train? Or did you drive? FRANCESCA:
No I came by Metro. I’m staying with my friend here in Milan ALEX:
Oh that’s handy! Now I have something to tell you, our boss, the
Chief Executive of the company would like to meet you, just for two
or three minutes. FRANCESCA
(thinking in Italian) ALEX:
(laughs) Yes, don’t worry, it’s not a full interview, she’d
just like to meet you. She’s nice, she’s the tall lady over
there with the long blond hair. Don’t panic, it’s only for a
couple of minute FRANCESCA:
Sorry, a couple... ALEX:
Two or three, come on, I’ll introduce you, bring your coffee FRANCESCA:
(thinking in Italian) ALEX:
Ok, here we are, excuse me, Alison, I’d like you to meet
Francesca, she’s the Italian girl who’s coming to work with us
in the London office this summer. Francesca, this is Alison, our
Chief Executive. ALISON:
Hi! FRANCESCA
(thinking in Italian) (Flashback
)– ((Tom
(slowly,
as he is explaining this to Francesca in a lesson situation) “Now
Francesca, if it’s quite a formal situation, say talking with the
boss, you usually use “How do you do?” or “Pleased to meet you!”
Perhaps, that’s a little old fashioned though so maybe you can
just say “Good morning!” or even “Hello!”
Some people just say ‘Hi!’)) FRANCESCA:
(thinks) So what do I say now? TO
BE CONTINUED…
Characters
FRANCESCA
Age 22, she is a young
bright university student who will be working for the first time in
an office, also it will be her first time in England… in fact her
first time out of Italy. She
is going to work at XYZ company, based in the London office. She is
nervous about her English but she has just finished an English
course with Tom, her teacher at the British Institutes and he told
her that she would be fine!. She is intelligent and quite good at
English, but a little shy about making mistakes. PAUL:
In his early 30s, the head of
the small, but important London office, he is friendly and
approachable, he works hard but doesn’t knew how to relax
Sometimes he is a bit forgetful. ALEX:
25, a talented P.A. to Paul,
she is new to the job, but very energetic, she tries to stop Paul
working too hard, but secretly believes that she could do his job
better! She is very career-orientated and a strong character. She
often criticises Paul for forgetting things, but she realises he
works too hard. ALISON:
48, honest and open but very
determined and quite strong. She set the business up herself twenty
years ago and rules it completely. She is very down-to-earth and yet
many of her employees, such as Alex, find
her a bit intimidating at times. She is keen on informality
and promoting women in her company.
She tends to talk a lot! TOM:
Francesca’s teacher at the
language school she attended before the stage he will often appear
as a kind of genie in a “flashback” when she needs help with
something in English. However he is not always correct - he is not
infallible, but he does give good advice generally! Other
characters mentioned DEBORAH
EVANS:
52, UK Sales Coordinator, she
has been working in sales for almost thirty years and is very proud
of her job, can be a bit of a bitch! JULIA
DENVER:
32, quiet, efficient, not so
confident, D.E.’s assistant, she is overshadowed by her boss.
They have worked together for eight years. ROBERT:
28, young in spirit, wears
crazy ties, the office joker, works in public relations, sometimes a
bit irresponsible… FABRICE:
27, French, international
Salesman, snappy dresser, works with Robert, but doesn’t really
like him and often teases him! |
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