Network

INT. HOWARD BEALE'S OFFICE – 5TH FLOOR – 9:20 A.M.

A small, unpretentious office, cluttered with books, magazines, periodicals, photographs and awards on the walls, various mementos here and there. Howard (necktied and in shirtsleeves), behind his desk, rattling away his copy for that evening's broadcast on his typewriter – pauses to pour himself a quick shot of Scotch –

INT. THE NIGHTLY NEWS ROOM – ROOM 517 – 10:30 A.M.

The common room off which Howard's office debouches. A large room compactly filled with the desks of producers, associate producers, head writer and writers, production assistants, etc. The walls are festooned like bulletin boards with sheaves of newspaper pages and cutouts and reams of wire releases (there are two wire machines in a corner). Large blowups of Howard Beale are prominently displayed. There are small, shelved libraries of books, directories and magazines here and there. And the ever-present bank of four television monitors; and, Since it is 10:30 A.M., Tuesday, September 23, 1975, and, since the AUDIO is OFF, the screens silently flicker with whatever was on that day at that time. Howard comes out of his office, crosses through the general HUM of informal industry, an occasional TYPEWRITER CLACKING, a more than occasional phone ringing, as the Nightly News Room PERSONNEL, all in their 20's and 30's, move, MURMUR, confer about their businesses. Howard Beale makes for a ledge of reference books to check out some fact. He spread the reference book out on an unoccupied desk. SOMEONE in b.g. tells him he's wanted on the phone. He nods, takes the call at the desk he is at. Throughout, he belts away at his glass of booze –

INT. OFFICE OF THE EXEC. PRODUCER OF UBS – NETWORK NEWS – UBS BUILDING – 5TH FLOOR – 1:00 P.M. – TUESDAY

Another smallish office debouching off the main room like Howard's, absolutely jammed with nine PEOPLE, a couple of them standing, the others sitting wherever they can. The executive producer, HARRY HUNTER (early 40's), is behind the desk. Howard Beale sits on the small, Finnish modern couch, flanked by an ASSOCIATE PRODUCER and a MAN from the Graphics Department. Aside from Beale and Hunter, everybody else is in their 20's or early 30's, and, with the same exceptions, they're all casually dressed. This is the daily run-down meeting at which the schedule for that evening's broadcast is roughed out, and it sounds something like this –

HOWARD

(reaching for the bottle of booze on Hunter's desk to refill his glass)

– let's do the Lennon deportation at the end of three –

HARRY HUNTER
That strong enough to bump?

HOWARD

(sipping his booze)

In one then, I'll do a lead on Sarah Jane Moore to Mayberry in San Francisco –

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

The film I saw was the Chief of Detectives –

GRAPHICS MAN

I think we got maybe ten seconds on the shooting itself –

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

The whole thing is one-twenty-five –

HOWARD

What does that come out?

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

About four-fifty –

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Are we using Squeaky Fromme?

HARRY HUNTER

Let's do that in two – Squeaky – Ford at the airport – bump. Now, we using a map going into San Francisco?

GRAPHICS MAN

I prefer a news-pix –

Howard pours himself another shot of booze and sips it –

HOWARD

What've we got left?

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Gun control, Patty Hearst affidavit, guerillas in Chad, OPEC in Vienna –

INT. 4TH FLOOR CORRIDOR – UBS BUILDING – 6:28 P.14. – TUESDAY

LOOKING INTO the small network-news make-up room where Howard Beale is standing, Kleenex tucked into his shirt collar, getting a few last whisks from the MAKE-UP LADY. Finished, Howard pulls the Kleenex from his collar, takes a last sip from a glass of booze on the make-up shelf, gathers his papers and exits, turns and enters –

INT. NETWORK NEWS STUDIO – 4TH FLOOR

Typical Newsroom studio – cameras, cables, wall maps, flats and propping, etc. Howard nods, smiles to various PERSONNEL – CAMERAMEN, ASSISTANT DIRECTORS, ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS – as he makes his way to his desk facing Camera One. He sits, prepares his papers, looks up to the control room, nods –

MUSIC ABRUPTLY OUT.

END OF CREDITS

INT. CONTROL ROOM – 4TH FLOOR
 

The clock wall reads: 6:30. Typical control room. A room-length double bank of television monitors including two color monitor screens, the show monitor and the pre-set monitor. Before this array of TV screens sits the DIRECTOR, flanked on his left by the PRODUCTION ASSISTANT (GIRL) who stop-watches the show, and on his right by the TECHNICAL DIRECTOR who operates a special board of buttons and knobs. (On the TECHNICAL DIRECTOR's right sits the LIGHTING DIRECTOR). At the moment, the show monitor has the network's Washington correspondent, JACK SNOWDEN, doing a follow-up on the attempted assassination of President Ford in San Francisco –

SNOWDEN (ON MONITOR)

– the first attempt on President Ford's life was eighteen days ago – and again yesterday in San Francisco –

DIRECTOR

(murmuring into his mike)

– Lou, kick that little thing shut on ground level –

SNOWDEN (ON MONITOR)

– In spite of two attempts –

The show monitor screen has switched over to show film of President Ford arriving at the San Francisco airport –

SNOWDEN (V.O. ON MONITOR)

– Mr. Ford says he will not become –

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

(murmurs)

– forty seconds –

DIRECTOR

(murmurs into mike)

– twenty seconds to one –

DIRECTOR

– one –

Howard Beale's image suddenly flips on-screen –

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

– thirty seconds to commercial freeze –

DIRECTOR

– head roll –

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

– rolling–

The Director and Technical Director turn in their seats to join Harry Hunter and his Secretary in a brief gossip –

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like at this moment to announce that I will be retiring from this program in two weeks' time because of poor ratings –

The Director has whispered something to Harry Hunter's Secretary which occasions sniggers from the Secretary and from Harry Hunter. The Technical Director stands to get in on the joke –

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

(to Director)

– what'd you say? –

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

– and since this show was the only thing I had going for me in my life, I have decided to kill myself –

Harry Hunter's Secretary murmurs something which causes Harry Hunter to burst into laughter –

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

(to the Director)

– so what'd she say? –

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

– I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to blow my brains out right on this program a week from today –

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

(frowning and very puzzled indeed by this diversion from the script)

– ten seconds to commercial –

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

– so tune in next Tuesday. That'll give the public relations people a week to promote the show, and we ought to get a hell of a rating with that, a fifty share easy –

A bewildered PRODUCTION ASSISTANT nudges the Director, who wheels back to his mike –

DIRECTOR

(into mike)

– and –

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

(to the Director)

Listen, did you hear that? –

DIRECTOR

Take VTA.

The monitor screen erupts into a commercial for cat food.

AUDIO MAN

(leaning in from his glassed-in cubicle)

What was that about?

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

(to the Director)

Howard just said he was going to blow his brains out next Tuesday.

DIRECTOR

What're you talking about?

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Didn't you hear him? He just said –

HARRY HUNTER

What's wrong now?

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Howard just said he was going to kill himself next Tuesday.

HARRY HUNTER

What do you mean Howard just said he was going to kill himself next Tuesday?

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

(nervously riffling through her script)

He was supposed to do a tag on Ron Nesson and into commercial –

AUDIO MAN

(from his doorway)

He said tune in next Tuesday, I'm going to shoot myself –

Everybody's attention is now on the double bank of black-and-white monitor screens showing various parts of the studio, all of which show agitated behavior. Several of the screens show Howard at his desk in vehement discussion with a clearly startled FLOOR MANAGER with headset and no less startled Associate Producer –

DIRECTOR

(on mike to Floor Manager)

What the hell's going on?
 

On the pre-set monitor screen, the Floor Manager with headset looks up –

FLOOR MANAGER (ON SCREEN)

(voice booming into the control room)

I don't know. He just said he was going to blow his brains out –

DIRECTOR

(into mike)

What the hell's this all about, Howard?

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

(shouting at the floor personnel gathering around him)

Will you get the hell out of here? We'll be back on air in a couple of seconds!

DIRECTOR
(roaring into the mike)

What the fuck's going on, Howard?

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

I can't hear you –

DIRECTOR

(bawling at the Audio Man)

Put the studio mike on!

AUDIO MAN

We're back on in eleven seconds –

SLOCUM

(on floor)

They want to know what the fuck is going on, Howard.

HOWARD (ON MONITOR)

I can't hear you.

DIRECTOR

(bawling at the Audio man)

Put the studio mike on!