When the new American President picks a small town political wonk and former election rival as the newly created Secretary of Arts & Culture, she’ll have to swim fast to prove to the sharks on all sides that she is suited for the job.
The pilot begins with repellent dweeb and popular conservative news personality, Chester Peters, having a conversation about the country's new Democratic leader, President Gorman with a randomly selected conservative legal mind on his show. To present the "other side" he brings on political wunderkind and former Gorman election rival, Bianca Cole. He tries to shock her into speaking ill of Gorman by accusing her of being his ally simply for a Cabinet position. Bianca holds her own in the interview, unflappable, empathetic and cool. Gorman watches the interview too, and decides then and there in the privacy of his office (surrounded by a dozen aides and his wife), that Bianca is the right person for his yet-unannounced SECRETARY OF ARTS, beating out people like Katy Perry and the Wall Banana Basel guy for the job.
Bianca, oblivious to Gorman's pending announcement, joins her dear friend (though he'd never admit) and former campaign manager Jacob Brennan at a bar in the small North Carolina town where she lives and where she used to be Mayor. They drink, and he tells her not to give up hope. Jacob and a local guy, Austin, flirt, so Bianca heads home. She hits a deer, but unfazed, takes it home for sustenance. She runs into Bobby, the local Conspiracy rag paparazzi who usually haunts her, and he helps her bring in the deer. The next day, Gorman announces the new Cabinet position and his selection of Bianca. She is shocked. Jacob takes her on an arts tour around the campus of the local college so she can think about what's coming and what's at stake. Meanwhile, Neo-Con CrossFit baddies plan Bianca’s downfall.
Bianca and Jacob get to DC, to meet with Gorman. Before she is sworn in, Bianca is kidnapped in an Uber by a theater personality and dressed down for taking a position rightfully meant for a person in the arts. Bianca, feeling doomed, goes to visit the not-quite historic Francis Perkins Headquarters of the Department of Labor for inspiration. She realizes she'll never please everyone and just has to do her best. And her best has always been pretty good. She heads to her confirmation and delivers a barnburner about playing French horn as a kid, the theater of war, and how the dreams you have a young person shape the person you become. She is confirmed, and settles into her new job on the Hill.
Julie Sharbutt is a writer, director and actor who uses Genre and Comedy to tell character-driven contemporary stories. Her most recent work includes writing, directing and producing the award winning horror short film SCAM, which screened across the world at Fantaspoa, Woodstock, Final Girls Berlin, Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase and more, and writing the short film BOTTLECAP optioned and produced by Director Barbara Brown. She co-wrote the short film CUPIDS which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a 2022 NAACP Image Award. Her short horror film 3 DAYS is on ALTER with over a million views, and her debut comedy feature film MOVED is on Apple. Other recent works include feature screenplays EXCELLENT FANCY (2023 Writers Lab Finalist, 2022 WScripted Cannes Screenplay List), CROW FLIES (2023 Austin Film Festival SemiFinalist), and original pilots SPORTS BRA, SALVAGED, SECRETARY OF ARTS, PLAYERS and others. Julie is a 2018 Warner Bros Discovery OneFifty New Storytellers alumni, where she developed her feature comedy screenplay COOL NEW TOWN as an episodic series. Prior to directing, Julie was a TV, film and theater actor in New York. She also performed improv at UCB and The PIT, and her humor writing can be seen in The New Yorker and McSweeneys. MFA in Acting from NYU, BA from Vanderbilt, member of Film Fatales, Women in Film, and Alliance of Women Directors. Current mentor in Vanderbilt University’s Vandy In Hollywood summer program, and longtime West Coast Board Member of the NYU Grad Acting Alumni Association. She loves hiking, volunteering, and ghost stories.
