Finding Shakespeare

Bill had a rough upbringing, his mother died when he was young and his father abandoned him, forcing him to grow up on the streets. But through his own resourcefulness he got himself to LA and used his imagination to break into television as a writer. He is now the Head Writer and Producer for a “Life on the streets” Television show. He lives in a nice house and has a beautiful girlfriend who is one of the stars of the show. However he has writer’s block, lost the respect of his writing team and to make matters worse, declining ratings are threatening the chance of a second season. With the fate of the entire cast and crew on their shoulders, his producing partner convinces the Network to hear the pitch for season two. But there is no pitch for season two yet. Bill is given the weekend to come up with a compelling story to save everybody’s jobs. Enter William Shakespeare. He has been playing four handed whist and discussing art in the afterlife with Anton Chekhov, Jane Austin & Hunter S. Thompson. He has materialized to help Bill out, but also to experience some of the modern delights that he has heard so much about. However Shakespeare’s idea of help and Bill’s are very different. In the course of the weekend, Shakespeare manages to drain Bill’s bank account on porn, download a virus and wipe out his computer, destroy his phone, and when Bill finds out that he also slept with his girlfriend it all becomes too much. Bill snaps and Shakespeare takes off in his car, ultimately crashing it, leaving Bill stranded in the wrong part of town with no money or transport. Here, at his lowest ebb, he meets a homeless man named Gary Shakespeare, an English teacher who lost everything due to gambling and drinking. With nowhere to go and no way to get there, Bill opens up and tells him his life story. Bill, with Gary’s help, finally realizes that his was the story that he needed to tell all along. Gary helps him get home, he gathers his writing team together and is able to make the pitch to the network. He brings Gary on to the show as a consultant and William Shakespeare is returned to his game of whist in the afterlife!