MONEY FOR NOTHING
Join Jess in her hilarious attempts to find and keep a job in a world where disability is stereo-typed and jobs are scarcer than hen's teeth.
PITCH
Jess has acquired disability. She uses a scooter - sometimes. Sometimes she is on a stick. Sometimes she can walk on her own. Jess is unemployed, multi-skilled and highly educated. Jess needs a job. Money For Nothing follows the hilarious trials and tribulations of trying to find a part-time job and get off unemployment benefits in a world where disability is stereotyped and part-time jobs scarcer than hen's teeth. Join Jess on a journey of mistaken ability, purloined skills, and entrepreneurial genius as she claws her way into the ableist work space.
EPISODES
Jess's journey towards employment is picaresque in nature. Episodes can be watched stand alone, but there is a narrative arc and some stories specifically may cross several episodes. Note: all episodes follow the same structure as this first episode.
1. Jess in job interview:
Jess has been sent to interview for the kind of job she did before her accident - full time live theatre lighting technician. Jess aces the interview until it gets to physical requirements. The interviewer gets more and more confused as she answers not to all questions about manual handling, walking and climbing. In the end the interviewer asks "Why are you here?". Jess's reply - "I don't know."
2. Timeshift back to job agency:
Jess meets her case supervisor, Kelly. The woman is brusk, barely stops talking long enough to listen, and spends her entire time looking at the screen. Kelly is a doomsayer. She goes through Jess's resume and is impressed. Notes Jess's experience and her recently acquired Masters degree and comments on how useless a degree in creative writing is. "No problem, we'll get you back in the saddle in no time! You don't look like there's much wrong with you. There must be something out there! Oh, here we go. I'll set up the interview while you sort things out with the OT."
3. Working with OT:
Jess meets her OT, Bella. Bella is outrageously optomistic and a slave to detail. Bella also talks non-stop without listening. She starts measuring everything about Jess including the length of her fingers and the width of her nose. "We must make your workspace exactly right, now mustn't we?" The details are put on file but she doesn't actually ask Jess anything about her challenges and pushes Jess out before she can tell her anything.
4. Jess at home with boyfriend:
Jess in loungeroom with boyfriend, Eddy. He helps her when needed and gives space when needed. Jess goes over the ridiculous happenings of the day. The phone rings. She didn't get the job. "Well, I can see this is going to be an adventure!" Jess and Eddy fall together on the couch laughing.
CHARACTERS:
Jess:
32 yrs old. Lively, upbeat, fit and generally healthy. Previously worked full time as a live theatre lighting technician. Had a car accident two years ago and has restricted mobility. She can't walk distances and is weak in her arms and legs. Depending on the circumstances she may use a scooter to get around (if there are distances to be covered), a walking stick (if there are stairs or uneven surfaces or a lot of standing), or nothing at all if it is around the house or short distances. During recovery she used the time to get a Masters degree in creative writing which was a lot of fun but generally unhelpful in the job market. Now she wants to get of government benefits and become an independent woman again but she is completely unprepared for how the world works when you have disability!
Kelly:
A job agency case worker. Kelly is a woman in her late 40s. She has been doing this job for a long time and has little to no belief in the employment market and does not want to get involved with her clients because she has been burned before! She pushes all her clients away, but there is something about the indomitable spirit of Jess and her don't give up attitude which draws her in and makes her look up from her screen to really see the woman before her. She is determined to never let Jess know she cares though!
Bella:
Bella is a 24 year old Occupational Therapist. Bella thinks all it takes to make a workplace sustainable for disability is the right chair and clear leg room. Bella knows this with the conviction of the divine spirit and spends her entire life swimming in a sea of upper leg, upper arm, and flexed foot measurements. Bella can recite to the very millimeter the correct chair arm length for every job under the sun. This has always been true in Bella's short but enthusiastic life so far but Jess is about to open her eyes to the ever-expanding and joyous nuances of work place sustainability!
Eddy:
A handsome man in his mid thirties, Eddy is long time live in boyfriend of Jess. He is a carpenter and loves nothing better than to modify furniture to make it easier for Jess to get around the house. He is the perfect man, always there for her when needed - and quite often hovering when not needed too... You might say Jess falls over Eddy more often than she falls over the furniture!
MISCELLANEOUS
The season will be full of miscellaneous job interviewers at various companies. They will vary between befuddled, bewildered, and downright bemused as they consider Jess as their next employee. At times they will be unrealistically optomistic about what is possible and at other times they will need Jess to help them see the picture - rarely with success.
SEASON ARC
12 x 30'
Episode 1:
Jess is sent to a job interview for the job she used to do. She meets her disinterested case worker, and over eager Occupational Therapist but neither of them listen to her. Her interview goes well until it gets to the physical requirements when her answer to every question is no, she can't do it. Confounded, the interviewer asks why she is there. Her answer is, she has no idea. She doesn't get the job and laughs with her boyfriend, Eddy, about what a crazy journey this is going to be.
Episode 2:
Jess's case worker, Kelly, finally realises Jess needs something part time and sends her to an interview for the same type of job, but part-time. At the interview Jess (with some help from her OT, Bella) comes up with some wild ideas on how to work within her disabilities but the interviewer is very dubious indeed. Eddy and Jess joke about her ideas at the end of the day, creating a zero gravity workplace where people float and everything is weightless.
Episode 3:
Jess gets Bella on side and together they convince Kelly to look for less physical jobs. Kelly gets on board, sees the Masters degree and sends Jess off to an interview as a Company Manager even though Jess knows nothing about contracts and the law. Things do not go well and Jess leaves the interview with her ears ringing about legal action against the employment agency for sending someone so under qualified. Eddy and Jess joke about moving all assets off-shore so she can't get sued for misrepresentation.
Episode 4:
Kelly is a bit sheepish and, after taking a proper look at her degree, sends Jess off to an interview for a journalist position. The interview starts well with Jess presenting writing samples but falls apart when it gets to writing in journalistic style and interviewing, and journalistic ethics. Meanwhile Bella has obsessed over the right kind and size of pen for Jess to get on with all that writing. At the end of the day Jess is offered piece work and she considers it with Eddy cracking jokes about peace work.
Episode 5:
Kelly decides Jess is aiming too high and Jess is sent to interview for a very dodgy job as a supermarket price checker. The job involves walking up and down aisles, noting prices for products and the emailing them to an on-line retail competitor. The interviewer sees no problem with using a scooter in the stores. Bella is still on the hunt for the perfect pen and we have a pen modelling montage. Jess gets the job and she and Eddy celebrate.
Episode 6:
Jess starts her new job and discovers going up and down the supermarket aisles is not as easy as it sound and she runs into displays and people as she takes photos and marks down prices and emails them to her employer. Shop security get suspicious and kick her out. Jess marches into Kelly's office and goes off on an unusual tirade about legal jobs only - not this dodgy bullshit and for once Kelly cannot hide behind her computer screen. Bella comes in and starts panicking about Jess's upset state and trying crazy calming rituals. Bella sends Jess home with a meditation goody bag and Jess and Eddy laugh at the contents.
Episode 7:
Kelly decides Jess is not quite work ready and refers her to some in-house training with Bella. Jess attends a nutrition class where Bella takes everyone through the food triangle and healthy eating gobbledy gook. Jess questions how this helps find a job. Jess is sent home with another goody bag. Jess and Eddy think of very sexy things to do with the contents.
Episode 8:
Kelly is unimpressed with Jess's attitude at the food seminar and decides to go through the rules and regulations. They do a skills checklist but Jess takes the piss out of it. Kelly gives up and Bella takes over. Jess convinces Bella Kelly needs some emotional healing and sets Bella the task of softening Kelly's rigid attitude. Jess and Eddy end the day joking about Jess's bad attitude which leads them to the idea of some roleplay...
Episode 9:
Jess's plan with Bella works and when she turns up for her session with Kelly, Bella drags them both out for a day spa. Drinking too many Mai Tais and exposed to the vulnerability of bathrobes and shared massages the barriers come down and Jess tells her story. They are all drunk as a skunk and many an inappropriate disability joke ends in eruptions of laughter between the three of them. At the end of the day Eddy finds a very drunk Jess passed out on the couch and jokes about long, hard days job searching as he helps her to bed.
Episode 10:
Kelly is unusually excited when Jess turns up because she has found a perfect job. It is part time administration for a disability organisation so they can understand Jess's needs. Bella gets very excited and starts measuring chairs and Jess's butt and back, etc. Jess's interview goes perfectly and the interviewer marvels at how ridiculously perfect she is. At the end of the day she is offered the job and Jess and Eddy celebrate.
Episode 11:
Kelly helps Jess negotiate her employment contract, but convinces her to work more hours than she technically should. Jess turns up for her first day at work and goes through induction which includes ridiculous policies and procedures and Bella turns up to assess Jess's work place. She measures everything and gets in everyone's way until she is eventually kicked out. Jess is tired at the end of the day and Eddy orders in dinner as Jess jokes about measuring the exact portion sizes.
Episode 12:
Jess goes in to her job agency for a final meeting and Bella and Kelly have brought in champagne. They laugh and cry as they celebrate the journey's end, but in drunken reverie they vow to be lifelong friends - which we know is true. They create a ritual for the closing of Jess's file and conga line out of the office together. They all pile into Jess's home and Eddy plays the butler as celebrations continue into the night. Jess is going to have a very big hangover when she turns up for work next season!
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