Further announcing a new writing project I began last April and mentioned in a previous post about upcoming projects, a screenplay about a day in the life of a restaurant. Restaurants are dramatic places fraught with tension, conflict, demanding work conditions where ‘too fast’ doesn’t exist, clashing personalities that spill over into verbal and occasionally physical melees, and customers that must always be pleased no matter how insufferable they may act. Additionally, most restaurants fail so the looming fear of job loss is ever present.
What inspired me to pursue this project was the impact of the Hulu drama The Bear. I noticed the buzz around it and was intrigued by the idea of a television show set in a restaurant. I watched all four seasons and was taken by the multiplicity of flawed, sympathetic characters and their struggles to achieve their goals without losing their minds. I also enjoyed its subtle humor. I had worked in restaurants back in high school and college, witnessed the real drama that occurs those workplaces, and those long ago experiences gave me firsthand knowledge of the business.
having an emotionally charged moment.
I’ve never seriously considered writing for series television but all the developing ideas about the restaurant business did give me a notion to turn these ideas into a feature screenplay. After more pondering I decided to make my nascent project a day in the life of a restaurant, and for a model on how to construct a screenplay about a day in the life of a workplace I thought of 1976’s Car Wash, a movie chock full of interesting characters. Oftentimes movie idea are pitched as one movie or TV show meeting another movie or TV show, so now I have my Hollywood-esque pitch line: The Bear meets Car Wash. It just might work.
Clarence Muse, Garrett Morris, and Pepe Serna.
I don’t want to reveal the title or discuss the plot and main characters of this germinating project just yet, but I will when the time is right, which will be about the time I finish the screenplay. Admittedly it’s been more challenging to write than I imagined. Even though it has a main character and a plot line that carries the story, it has a lot of side characters and subplots which means lots of moving parts that need to be coordinated to fit into the entirety. As of now I only have 40 pages typed, lots of notes, and I’ve barely begun the third act. I know how it’s going to end (I’m an inductive writer) but I’ll make a lot more discoveries along the way to fill out the script.
A challenge can be daunting but it’s also an opportunity to succeed, and I hope the multiple challenges I’m facing (with this screenplay and elsewhere) lead to a fruitful conclusion.
More to come as this project moves ahead.
©2026 Robert Kirkendall
Robert Kirkendall 