The first pilot I wrote was based on my novel, North Shore / South Shore. I wrote it with Danielle Evenson (THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE). It was fun to write the show with Danielle. Besides being awesome to chat with on the phone, Danielle taught me lots about how a teleplay is structured and how to grab important notes from the novel and turn them into great scenes.
Here’s our one sheet.
North Shore South Shore
By Kristin Sample and Danielle Evenson
Based on the Novel by Kristin Sample
Logline: Kylie Baines is everything a twenty-something wants to be: bright, attractive, and about to takeover Long Island’s most powerful crime family.
Synopsis: Kylie has a keen business sense—too keen for her own good. Barely old enough to drink, she runs the hottest club in Queens—the Loose Moose. She’s brilliant at it. Even though her plan is to get out of the family business (she’s been accepted into one of the hardest writing programs on the East Coast), running a New York nightclub comes second nature to her. She can do it better than anyone else, AND she can do it legally. This is helpful since The Moose is the front for the Baptiste family’s under the table operations.
Just as she’s about to commit to a clean life and a possible rekindled romance with her high school sweetheart, Kylie’s job description expands big time. Kylie’s uncle, Long Island’s public enemy number one, is arrested for a series of charges…including murder. How long can Kylie, her wayward cousins, and mysterious family associate Diablo keep Denis Baptiste’s empire afloat? It all depends on Kylie’s brain and nerve.
By the end of the pilot, Kylie orchestrates her ailing uncle’s house arrest so he can await trial in comfort, navigates Baptiste family politics, and confronts the man who seeks to take Uncle Denis down—his own son Assistant District Attorney Brice Baptiste. She even manages to throw a party for her old friends, keep her cousin Colette from too much debauchery, and revive a romance with high school sweetheart Matt Tracy.
Over the course of the season, Denis Baptiste’s health worsens as the drama of the trial builds. We follow Kylie as secrets of the family unravel and her role in the scandal that could bring them down becomes clear. By the season finale, Denis’s death leaves the family business on shaky ground. Kylie angles to take her place as leader because she knows no one else can do it.
And Kylie realizes…she loves it.
To complicate matters further, Kylie falls in love with Matt Tracy, the North Shore’s most eligible bachelor. She knows it’s going nowhere but she is intoxicated by the nostalgia. However, Matt’s reappearance sends Kylie’s life into an emotional tailspin. The Tracys and the Baptistes have hated each other for a long time. Long Island’s Romeo & Juliet will have their work cut out for them if they want to change the ending of their story.
Throughout the course of the series, Kylie evolves from a fresh-faced co-ed to a strong, complex woman who lives life on her own terms. North Shore South Shore is Gossip Girl meets The Sopranos. It is a Long Island family saga at its best.
Similar shows: Revenge, The Sopranos, Empire
*All of my projects are registered with the Writer’s Guild of America. North Shore South Shore is copyrighted material.