Parity Pipeline

Genre

Synopsis

Mitch, 30, sharp, edgy, bored, wearing a bikini, dances on a small shabby stage at The Baby Doll Lounge with her best friend Jasmine, 28, earthy artist with tattoos and a nose ring. Two Wall Street guys insult them. Mitch insults them back causing them to threaten the girls. The bouncer kicks the guys out. Mitch gets scolded by the owner, Vinnie, 45. He says she’s too angry to do this job. When Mitch and Jasmine get off work, the Wall Street guys jump them and slam them against a wall. Even though she’s frightened, Mitch distracts them by mentioning their children’s names. Mitch and Jasmine break away and run home. We later learn she got the names from a Christmas list in one of their wallets. As journalists pitch stories at “The Village Voice,” we learn Mitch is an unpaid intern who got in by writing a first-person piece about being a stripper in New York. The only problem – the Voice pegs her as their sex writer and she can’t get staffed or write about things she wants to, like the women who have gone missing. Editor, John Galway, 50’s, fatherly, believes in her but has to answer to his higher-ups. He assigns a story she pitched to BOB, 30s, ponytail, round glasses. Mitch is pissed. Bob shows up at the Baby Doll to antagonize Mitch. He flicks his tongue at her. She spits in his face and quits. Another stripper, Kitten, 30, shady, Russian, presents an opportunity where Mitch can sell her eggs for ten thousand dollars. At first Mitch balks, but she realizes this could be an article for the “Voice.” Mitch lives with Jasmine and Jasmine’s girlfriend, Shawna, 33, mixed race, confident and full-figured. Shawna works as a dominatrix and fetish designer and discourages egg selling for “moral” reasons, but Mitch and Jasmine decide to do it anyway. Jasmine has an art opening coming up and wants to splurge on refreshments. She could also use a break from dancing. Shawna has rich parents she can fall back on. Not Mitch or Jasmine. Mitch and Jasmine go to Dr. Vaznov, 45, warm and elegant who accepts both of them for the egg process. They rope Shawna into giving them shots since she’s good with needles. Mitch pitches the story as a weekly column. John approves. They celebrate by getting a drink at the Pyramid Club with Shawna and Fiona, 26, a trans sex worker who’s taking a break from her stroll. One of Fiona’s friends went missing. Mitch, Shawna and Jasmine worry. Hormonal, Mitch verbally spars with Shawna and continues to write her column. On the day of Jasmine’s art opening, Mitch and Shawna arrive and see her art on the floor. The gallery owner, Eva, 47, bright orange crew cut, is upset Jasmine’s art isn’t up. Shawna and Mitch notice her wallet, pager and coat on the floor, they realize she’s missing!