DeeJay Steele_half_hour_sitcom

One Sheet “DEEJAY STEELE” Half-hour sitcom series written & created by Lance Hinesman ©2021 Registered WGA/w 2111780 Log Line: A teenage fitness phenom/motivational speaker juggles high school, a popular workout website, and everyday life. Premise: Deejay Steele, teenage web-star, balances life in the spotlight, a demanding high school schedule, and his spirited family at the same time. Synopsis: DEEJAY STEELE is a keg of dynamite in a small package. At fourteen he already has over a half million social media followers on multiple platforms. He has a major fitness webcast, “Real Steele”, that he streams live from his website. Deejay has several endorsements, personally trains clients at the gym & school, and gives motivational speeches to people of all ages, and he can’t even apply for a driver’s license. Yet this hard-working teenager is not fazed by all of the attention he receives. It’s nothing for him to be recognized when out in public, or speak to a crowd of hundreds of people, sometimes twice his age. He actually enjoys the hard work, healthy eating, and rigorous training that goes into making him a young “Hercules”. With all of that said about young Deejay you’d think he’d be every parent’s dream, every teacher’s pet, and the kid voted most likely to succeed. Not exactly. He’s your average puberty- stricken teenager. Mischievous, curious, and often caught girl-watching with his friends. His mind for business comes from his parents, DAVID & TAKIRA STEELE. David is an ex-professional boxer that has now opened a gym called “The Steele Cage”. This is where Deejay trains his clients and streams his webcast. Takira, a teacher at the high school that Deejay attends, is often pressured by her boss to let Deejay join the staff and help in gym class. She doesn’t go along with it because she thinks it will interfere with his studies. Living healthy is a family affair in the Steele home. Deejay streams his webcast with the help of his two sisters, fifteen-year old TRISTYN, and twelve- year old TAHLIA. Tristyn does the workouts with him while Tahlia does the technical stuff, as long as she gets paid that is. Although David provides the facility and sponsors the overhead for “Real Steele”, he and Takira are not allowed by Deejay to be in front of the camera. That doesn’t mean that they don’t try to “Steele” a few seconds of fame whenever they can. Deejay's best friend and next-door neighbor, JORDAN, is his unofficial “manager”. He has no desire to eat healthy or workout. He unashamedly admits that his interest is money. He & Tahlia insists that if Deejay would stop being so nice, helpful, and motivating, they could make a fortune. To say that Deejay leads an interesting life is an understatement. His challenge is to normalize it. How to keep his parents out of his spotlight. How to keep his sisters motivated and committed to “Real Steele”. And most of all, to keep Jordan from seeing dollar signs in his sleep. He has a lot of responsibility for someone so young. It’s a good thing that his shoulders are made of “Steele”.

DEEJAY STEELE Proposal for a half-hour sitcom series. Written by Lance Hinesman In this digital and technologically advanced world that we live in, getting teenagers to be active and/or motivated to work hard is a task that most parents dread, and fall short of accomplishing, unless you’re DAVID and TAKIRA STEELE. They have caught lightning in a bottle. Their three children have embraced a healthy & active lifestyle, and even turned it into a thriving webcast that gets thousands of views each week. It’s led by their only son, DEEJAY. He is a ball of energy who enjoys working out and motivating others to join him. Since a younger child, Deejay has been talking to the public while his dad records him, he encourages people to make the most of the opportunity that life gives them. His passion and dedication have captured the hearts of many worldwide as they watch this young giant exercise, and kill any excuse to ever be lazy or settle for second best. Now that he’s a teenager, Deejay has a website and webcast that people can log onto to train with him, or be motivated by one of his fiery speeches. “The Steele Cage” When David retired from boxing his plan was to enjoy his small children and support Takira in her teaching profession. But not long after leaving the ring he missed the training, exercise, and energy that he experienced when he prepared for, or had a boxing match. He got the idea to open his own gym and call it “The Steele Cage’. It’s a popular neighborhood spot that the locals love to frequent to get in shape, have a healthy smoothie, or learn to box from someone who’s done it on the big stage. After seeing the success of Deejay’s social media posts, and watching his followers increase so rapidly, David turned part of the gym into a workout studio that Deejay can stream his workouts and motivational moments from. The name of Deejay’s webcast is “Real Steele”. TRISTYN, Deejay’s older sister, joins him in front of the camera as his exercise partner when he is streaming. TAHLIA, Deejay’s younger sister, films the workouts, and monitors the social media interaction that is going on during the webcast. The three of them are known as “Steele & Company”. “The Student-Teacher\" Deejay is entering his first year of high school. He is eager to experience all the things he’s heard about it for himself. Is there actually more freedom given to students? Can you really order coffee & smoothies and have them delivered to your class? Are high school girls prettier in person than online? All of the curiosities of a freshman leaving middle school. His plan is to fit in like the other ninth graders, but his reputation, though a good one, precedes him. Most of the student body follow and watch him online, so blending in or staying lowkey can sometimes be a challenge. Even the teachers know of his popularity, especially MR. BUCHANAN, he is the principal of the school. He would love to have Deejay join the staff as a student-teacher to help out in Physical Education. Mr. Buchanan feels that not only will this encourage more children to want to exercise, but Deejay may feel generous and share some of his sponsors with the school once he’s on the staff, you know, to help the budget. This all sounds good until Takira gets wind of it and shuts it down. Takira is a teacher at the high school that Tristyn & Deejay attend. She thinks that Deejay may become distracted with his studies by being treated as a staff member and having the responsibility of

teaching/training his classmates. However, her disapproval of Deejay being a student-teacher doesn’t stop Mr. Buchanan from trying to “butter” her up every chance he gets to persuade her to change her mind. Did I mention that the current gym teacher at the school is an over-fifty, 250- pound man who is always talking about retirement? “Life as Deejay knows it” With Deejay being in demand on his website and busy at high school, at least he can enjoy a quiet life at home, right? Wrong. Life in the Steele household has never been quiet. At anytime you might visit their home and walk in on the whole family doing a push-up challenge, or hear Tristyn & Tahlia grilling Deejay because they so love double-teaming their brother to show their “girl power”. A day in the Steele house can go from a disciplined study time inspired by Takira, the teacher, to a fun family Tik-Tok video triggered by David, the high-energy public figure. If it’s not Tristyn struggling between being a glamour girl or fitness buff, it’s Tahlia acting out to get more attention as the youngest child. There’s never a dull moment with this bunch. Deejay is the “man” in his social media world, but just a boy/brother/son in the Steele house. The least favorite thing for the Steele children is when they walk in on David & Takira being flirty with one another, or trying to use modern day slang to impress them, which happens far too often for their tastes. Takira brags that Deejay gets his handsomeness from her, while David brags that he gave Deejay his athletic gene. Both of them bring this up when they want to make appearances on “Real Steele”, but Deejay does not want them in his spotlight. “The Jordan Factor” JORDAN B. RICKS is the next-door neighbor and best friend of Deejay. Usually when you think of a hustler, your first instinct is to think of an adult that you know or have encountered at some point in your life, not a teenager. Jordan has aspired to be a young businessman since kindergarten. His parents tell stories of how he would watch Bloomberg TV and pretend he was a stockbroker with his toy cash register & calculator. When he was a third grader, Jordan would sell the items in his Lunchables a-la-cart, and take the money he made to buy more Lunchables! This worked well until the lunch ladies at his school found out about it and closed his store. So now that he’s older you can imagine that his brain never stops thinking about how to make Deejay the next sensation in the fitness world. As best friends, Jordan & Deejay can finish each other’s sentence. But as “business manager” & client, they struggle to see eye to eye. That's because Deejay will give you the shirt off of his back, while Jordan will sell your own shirt back to you “for a small fee”. Jordan is always trying to build Deejay’s brand by any means necessary. Whether it’s having him train senior citizens how to win a wheelchair race, or giving a motivational speech to a room full of toddlers about eating their vegetables, Jordan is always trying to rent Deejay’s services out, “for a small fee”. As much as Deejay disagrees with most of Jordan’s schemes, he ends up falling for his smooth talk & foolproof pitch that this is the idea that is going to make them rich. “Real Steele” This is where Deejay shines the most. His webcast is gaining momentum daily as more and more people login to train with the young “Man of Steele”. Deejay has gone from just putting up social media posts, to having a high demand website & webcast where he can become one with his followers, who he has dubbed “Steele Nation”. He gets viewers and interaction from all age groups. The teenagers love him because he’s turned working out into a wave of social media content. The parents love him because their children are putting down their game controllers, getting off of the

couch, and aspiring to be healthy. And the millennials love him because he is a shot of adrenaline into their dreams and goals. When Deejay speaks to encourage people, they feel his passion and trust his words, even though he is much younger than them. “Real Steel” is not just popular because of the workouts, it’s the interaction, the exercise challenges, and the motivation to succeed. Webcast Segments: • “Steele & Company” - Deejay & Tristyn interact with “Steele Nation” for their daily workouts • “Nerves of Steele” - Workout challenges that viewers can send in for Deejay to perform, or that Deejay challenges “Steele Nation” to participate in. • “Steele the Show” - Spotlight on kids that are excelling in fitness, gymnastics, and sports. • “Steele Away” - Deejay ends his webcast with a personal message/motivation moment to his followers. **All the segments of the “Real Steele” webcast will not air on each episode** “Deejay for Prez” Deejay is not a superhero, but he is an inspiration to many. In this mixed-up world & time that we live in, he’s a breath of fresh air to a society that finds it hard to exhale in such uncertain times. Deejay Steele is not fighting crime or exposing corruption, he’s encouraging fitness, bringing positivity, and leading by example. This kid Steele is the real deal. But he’s doing it all in a teenager’s way. Still getting into mischief, making wrong decisions, and having to be kept in line by his parents, just as any fourteen-year-old would. The fun part is that you get to go on this journey with him. You get to laugh at the crazy predicaments that he & Jordan get into. You get to experience life behind-the-scenes of an online teenage star as he butts heads with his siblings and keep his parents out of his spotlight. But most of all, you get to enjoy and appreciate the magic that makes Deejay Steele a “one-man show”.

CHARACTERS DEEJAY STEELE – This little guy at fourteen has already accomplished more than people twice or triple his age. Because of the positive nature of what he does, there’s not a lot of grandeur and stardom in the hard work that he puts in to hone his craft. The good thing about Deejay is that he doesn’t need or want it. His pleasure comes from knowing he’s effective when teaching fitness or motivating someone to believe in themself. Yes, he’s a rarity. His webcast and website get thousands of viewers & visitors each day. He has several endorsements, and owns his own clothing line. However, he’s not a perfect example or blameless. Deejay gets in his fair share of mischief. He doesn’t like doing chores or keeping his room clean, and he struggles with following every rule that his parents set, just as an average teenager does. But at the end of the day, he usually does the right thing, if it’s by way of an apology to his parents or teachers, or using what he’s learned from his bad decision to teach a lesson on his webcast. His busy life stays comical because of the characters he’s surrounded with. Being the only boy sandwiched between two feisty sisters can be more strenuous than his workouts. Sometimes they work well with him, and other times they can be a thorn in his flesh. As focused and resilient as Deejay is, his best friend Jordan is his weakness. Jordan can talk him into or out of most things that usually goes bad for Deejay or his webcast. Yet they have that best-friend bond that keeps them putting their heads together with wacky results. His relationship with his parents is good. His dad, David, inspires his drive to work out and stay fit. His mom, Takira, inspires him to want to make others better, as she does being a well-loved high school teacher. He communicates well with them and takes their advice, he just doesn’t want them sharing his spotlight when it comes to his webcast. TRISTYN STEELE – Enjoys working out and being a part of “Steele & Co.”. It gives her an opportunity to stay fit and help build her little brother’s brand. She is feisty and competitive. Her “fire & desire” sometimes put her and Deejay at odds. When they disagree, she reminds him that she’s the oldest, and he reminds her that she’s riding on his coattail. Just a year apart, they are very close to each other and she encourages Deejay to keep his head up when he gets down or needs a push. Now that Tristyn is a sophomore in high school she is becoming more self-conscious, and getting more attention from boys, which can sometimes distract her from her commitment to “Real Steele”. She is a beautiful young lady & a protective big sister. Sometimes she comes to Deejay’s rescue although he’s the “strong” one. TAHLIA STEELE – Sometimes when you think of the youngest child you think, “Aww, he/she is so precious”, or “Man, I know they get dumped on a lot”. But neither of these things are the case with this little “firecracker”. She holds her own, and makes you wonder, is she the oldest or youngest child. She’s witty, sarcastic, and stays loaded with insults & jokes to keep her older siblings in line. Sometimes she can be whiney because she’s the “baby” of the family, but even

then she’s a real character. Tahlia is the “tech support” behind Real Steele. She has one major problem though: It doesn’t pay enough! Even at her young age she has a keen eye for business, and has a hard time understanding why Deejay isn’t just rolling in dough. Her cuteness and small frame, coupled with her quick tongue often has her “steeling” the spotlight. JORDAN BAXTER RICKS – The CEO of “J.B. Ricks Enterprise” is trying to become a teenage mogul & land on the cover of Forbes magazine. He, like Tahlia, can’t understand why Deejay isn’t a millionaire with the popularity of his webcast. As Deejay’s best friend & “business manager”, his ideas and schemes carry a lot of weight when he smells an opportunity to make money. Jordan does his best to market the website and webcast to the max. This usually ends up with his well- laid plan(s) not going as he pitched it to Deejay in the first place. He’s a smooth talker with a natural ability to sell an Eskimo ice, or con an old lady out of her cane. Anything is negotiable with him, as he always says, “for a small fee”. Jordan always wears business or business-casual attire to compliment his mogul dreams. The Steele family is split on their take of him. Tahlia is his ally because of their mutual interest in money. Takira is his ally because he kisses up to and flatters her every time they’re in the same place. David is his skeptic because he sees Jordan as a baby conman. And Tristyn avoids him at all cost because he has a big crush on her, and she’s not feeling his smooth talk. DAVID STEELE – Is a former professional boxer. He owns a successful gym that is a neighborhood favorite. He was never a household name in the boxing world, but he is recognized, and the popularity of his gym comes from the fan base that he grew over his career. David is a fun- but-stern, corny-joke-telling parent that will do anything for his family. Although retired from boxing, healthy eating and exercise is still the standard he lives by, and insists that his family does the same. He is Deejay's hero and inspiration for being the young athlete that he is. The two of them share great father-son talks/bonding when Deejay encounters a problem that he can’t handle. TAKIRA STEELE – Does a great job of balancing being a wife, mother, and high school teacher, all without losing her sweet personality and thoughtfulness for others. She keeps the Steele household in line with a funny but stern way of getting her point across. Since her husband and children are usually in the spotlight, Takira keeps the practical things simple in their fast-paced home. As a teacher she is always motivating her students to try harder and become better. This is where Deejay gets his motivating skills. Takira is his biggest cheerleader and encourages him to stay humble and always consider others as he climbs his ladder of success.

EPISODE CONCEPTS 1. “Student-Teacher” - (Pilot) As Deejay prepares to start high school, Principal Buchanan pressures Takira to let him join the staff. Tahlia is sad that Deejay will not be attending middle school with her anymore. 2. “It’s A Paid Gig” - Jordan gets Deejay his first paid guest appearance, but leaves out some minor details that changes the dynamics of the gig. David introduces a new smoothie at the gym but no one likes it. 3. “No Bullying Allowed” - Deejay stands up for a freshman at school that is being bullied. Tristyn is running for class president. 4. “Girls On Strike” - A few sly comments and laughter from David & Deejay about things men do better than women causes the females of the Steele household to rebel on the things that they usually do around the house, and for “Real Steele”. Jordan steps in to cook for David & Deejay, and he’s no cook. 5. “Don’t Do Me No Favors” - While Deejay is bedridden because of a sprained ankle, everyone tries to take the lead to produce an episode of “Real Steele” without the star. 6. “Looking Over My Shoulder” - To get revenge for a prank from a while back, Tahlia makes Deejay & Jordan think that they are being stalked by an angry follower that wants to hurt them. David is doing some remodeling at the gym. 7. “She’s Spoken For” - Deejay is suspicious that Takira is getting too close to a male teacher at the school. Tristyn has to pair up with Jordan for a project at school. 8. “Rivals” - David & Deejay are challenged to a “Gladiator” style competition from a boxer & his son that David fought and defeated years ago. Jordan & Tahlia try to turn the competition into a paid event. 9. “Strength, No Weakness” - Takira signs the family up for the school’s blood drive, but David & Deejay are not too happy about it, they’re afraid of needles. Jordan’s sleepwalking keeps the Steele house up for a few nights. 10. “The Sublease\" - Deejay allows Jordan to talk him into subleasing the gym to a travelling circus act while David & Takira are out of town. Tristyn & Tahlia also try to cash in by having a “game night” at the house. Things change when their trip gets cancelled shortly after they leave.