Choosing Your Children
writer, 2012
A screenplay about a couple given software to design a child, focusing on their inability to agree on what a perfect child should be.
Claire and Hugh consult a specialist in Beverly Hills to design a child genetically. Their Visual-Child-Affect tests produce incompatible results: a profile Claire views as an athlete is seen by Hugh as a meathead, while a profile Hugh regards as a prom queen is characterized by Claire as a slut. The doctor sends them home with customization software to settle the selections themselves. Adjusting the genetic parameters to extreme values produces emo jocks, goth cheerleaders and muscle-building nerds.
The narrative is a dark satire about a relationship, combining elements of Gattaca and Almodóvar. Dr. Astrov’s office combines the architectural features of a Louis Vuitton boutique, a surgery and a Church of Scientology. Claire and Hugh live among the one percent of 2046 in a loft that looks designed by Apple, where harsh light exposes every flaw in the saturated baroque aesthetic and the camera functions as the source of truth.