Welcome to San Clemente The Film

OVERVIEW

San Clemente the Film is a dark comedy that takes you on an emotional journey of a multigenerational family traveling from east to west in a recreational vehicle. Hold on to your seats, because this trip is a raw, "no punches pulled" look into the new, Modern American Family, a virtual roller coaster of events, chronically the highs and lows of this family's attempt to stay sane, happy and to learn to love each other, in spite of so many obstacles, past and present. With stops at the Badlands of South Dakota and Aunt "Wacky Jacky's" old ranch in Northern Nevada, not to mention, being chased by a swarm of Mormon crickets, a sorted affair, a girl's first kiss, a campground Talent show, a Casino Jackpot and so much more! 

CHARACTERS

Grandma Charlotte

68 years of age. White woman, white hair, average figure. Mother to Katie, Sam and Brad, grandmother to Harley, Nyla, Madison and Ray. Ex-wife of Charles Johnson, divorced some 20 years ago. Currently deceased in storyline but appears via filmed video to present her Last Will and Testament and in a few flashback scenes. Born in San Clemente, California, she is the catalyst for the storyline, to have her family spread her ashes on the beach of San Clemente. Her hope for this family trip is that they will be build lasting memories and take this time to heal old wounds. She is remembered and referred to throughout the film, always in a positive way.

Grandpa Charles

  72 years of age. White man, gray hair, stocky figure. Ex-high school football coach and middle school Social Studies teacher. Charles is gruff, crabby individual with ultra conservative views, he's a closet racist, has a habit of quoting Bible verses, talking about the ‘good old days’. Cares little for the opinions of others yet expects others to be highly concerned about his opinions on everything. Married to Charlotte Johnson for 30 years, divorced some 20 years ago. He takes issue with his son Brad, being a gay man, believes being a homosexual is a choice, a sin and as religiously affixed as Charles is, he had a secret affair with a school secretary, which only Charlotte knows about, that woman had a baby, which Charles and Charlotte secretly adopted, named her Samantha. 

Samantha Knox

Late 30’s years of age. White woman, dirty blonde hair, athletic figure. Stay at home Mom, married to Mitch Knox for 20 years, she has two daughters, Harley and Nyla. Spends the majority of her time with her new baby boy, Ray, in part because her husband is too busy with work. Sam is the classic “appeaser”, always trying to not rock the boat, keep everyone happy, she wants no drama. Sam is intelligent and caring yet takes a subservient role to her husband, Mitch, for the sake of keeping up good appearances in town, she excuses her husband by always saying, “but he’s such a good provider”. She posts all sorts of lovely photos on social media, convincing herself that she has a great husband, the American dream life, her story tells otherwise. Her mantra is "serenity now", which she mutters often, considering how unhappy she finds herself in her marriage. Samantha has never been told that she is the child of his father’s secret affair or that she was adopted, she finds out halfway into the story. 

Mitchell Knox

  Early 40’s years of age. White man, dark hair, stocky build, attractive but not overly handsome. Mitch owns a mold remediation business, he’s known as “Mitch the Moldman”, around town. He has the annoying habit of handing out his "Got Mold?" business card anywhere at any time, church, sporting events, any place to promote himself. His mold business is a legitimate front for his real money-making venture, window sales, or more specifically, selling “window insurance” to new building projects. If his windows aren’t purchased, he sends out his guys to break every window in the new home complex, until he makes the sale. But he drops a few Almighty Dollars in the offering plate every Sunday and all is forgiven. He is a womanizer, he’s sleezy, screwing Suki, the Japanese nanny/exchange student religiously every Saturday night. He loves football, guns, himself and money.

Katie Jackson

Late 30’s years of age. White woman, dark hair, average figure, cute. Katie is a high school physical education teacher, she’s educated, spunky and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She is married to Damian, she has one little girl, Madison. Katie and Damian have a mutually respectful, and mature adult relationship, classic “gender roles” are non-existent, Damian cooks and takes care of the laundry, cleaning, Katie loves to tinker on her classic Mustang in the garage, watching sports, she’s always betting on some game or another. Katie is progressive in her political beliefs, living with Damian in a predominately white upscale town, has its challenges. 

Damian Jackson

Late 30’s years of age. Black man, with athletic figure, attractive. Damian is more of a lean fit, than muscular, he loves running around his neighborhood, playing hoops. He’s a Sociology professor at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is originally from Barbados, he came from a poor upbringing, came to the United States on a basketball scholarship, met Katie, his wife at that same college. Living now and raising a 'mixed' race daughter, in a predominately white NJ town, his struggles are real, in spite of it all, Damian is the type of guy that you can’t help but like, he’s typically smiling, open to a good conversation and/or debate. 

Brad Johnson

Mid 30’s years of age. Kindly known as "Uncle B". White man, dark hair, athletic and handsome. Brad is struggling yet aspiring actor, working as a bartender at night, living in NYC. He is a gay man, recently single and kind-hearted. He loves to draw, and color sketch. He came out to his family and his father, Charles, who was also his high school football coach, as a senior, his father’s reaction was to have him taken from his home, in the middle of the night and admitted to a “conversion therapy camp” in Texas. He tries to mask his emotional scars and yet, his struggles as a "cutter", are not so easy to hide. Brad tries to forgive his father and accept that is "he is who he is” but his father still will not accept his lifestyle. He is the coolest uncle, his nieces and nephews adore him, he tries to be a better man than Charles has been to him. 

Harley Knox

18 years of age. White girl, dirty blonde hair, beautiful features and athletic figure. Harley can be found usually in a tube top and fitted clothes. Harley is finishing her senior year in high school, she’s street and book smart, great student, has a quick tongue, sassy Sagittarius and proud of it. She is a cheerleader, works part time at Ringwood Pizza and is Instagram famous. She does some "modeling", to pay for her tuition at her college of choice, New York University. Harley is an independent, progressive young woman, who believes that if she’s going to be sexualized and the object of men’s attention anyway, it might as well be on her terms and use it to her advantage. Harley comes off as a good girl, and she actually is, straight As in school and cares deeply for people.

Nyla Knox

15 years of age. White girl, dark hair, always in braids, quirky yet cute personality. Nyla is a freshman in high school, she’s very socially active in various causes, borderline genius. She has a “matter of fact” yet playful demeanor, mixing the two seamlessly. She takes a vow of silence every summer, writing everything on her Ipad, voiced to Alexa, to protest various current hot topic issues and/or “until she finds a boy worthy of her first kiss”. Nyla has an Instagram page, RATING RAs, where she stops on family trips to rate Rest Areas. She wears a different Tshirt each day, even to church, that have interesting and provocative sayings printed on them, such as “Make America Friendly Again”, “Today’s Forecast…Cloudy with a Chance of F You”. Nyla loves her Uncle Damian the most, finds any way to hang out with him and talk social issues with him. 

Madison Jackson

9 years of age. Mixed girl, very cute, lots of curly dark hair, great smile. Madison is going into 2nd grade, she’s a class clown, always quoting movie lines, she loves Star Wars. She loves to sing and is the comic relief of the story, she helps break tension and saves the day on several occasions. She finds herself quite hilarious. Madison has an amazing singing voice and her talent steals the show at her performance at the KOA Campground.   

Suki 

21 years of age. Asian woman, petite, shy and pretty. Suki is the family nanny/college exchange student for Mitch and Sam. Suki is smart and sweet. She cares for Ray, Sam’s new baby, throughout the entirety of the story, doesn’t speak much, always reading. Unfortunately, she knows in order to stay in the family, she has to give herself over to Mitch’s sexual advances, who has promised her a Green Card, if she does the right thing by keeping her mouth shut.