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turning to page one
turning to page one
written by
2010
FROM THE BLACK WE HEAR--
MARK (V.O.)
Did you know there are more people with
genius IQ’s living in China than there
are people of any kind living in the
United States?
ERICA (V.O.)
That can’t possibly be true.
MARK (V.O.)
It is.
ERICA (V.O.)
What would account for that?
MARK (V.O.)
Well, first, an awful lot of people live
in China. But here’s my question:
FADE IN:
MARK ZUCKERBERG is a sweet looking 19 year old whose lack of any physically intimidating attributes masks a very complicated and dangerous anger. He has trouble making eye contact and sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s talking to you or to himself.
ERICA, also 19, is Mark’s date. She has a girl-next-door face that makes her easy to fall for. At this point in the conversation she already knows that she’d rather not be there and her politeness is about to be tested.
The scene is stark and simple.
MARK
How do you distinguish yourself in a
population of people who all got 1600 on
their SAT’s?
ERICA
I didn’t know they take SAT’s in China.
MARK
They don’t. I wasn’t talking about China
anymore, I was talking about me.
ERICA
You got 1600?
MARK
Yes. I could sing in an a Capella group,
but I can’t sing.
ERICA
Does that mean you actually got nothing
wrong?
MARK
I can row crew or invent a 25 dollar PC.
ERICA
Or you can get into a final club.
MARK
Or I can get into a final club.
ERICA
You know, from a woman’s perspective,
sometimes not singing in an a Capella
group is a good thing?
MARK
This is serious.
ERICA
On the other hand I do like guys who row
crew.
MARK
(beat)
Well I can’t do that.
ERICA
I was kid--
MARK
Yes, it means I got nothing wrong on the
test.
ERICA
Have you ever tried?
MARK
I’m trying right now.
ERICA
To row crew?
MARK
To get into a final club. To row crew?
No. Are you, like--whatever--delusional?
ERICA
Maybe, but sometimes you say two things
at once and I’m not sure which one I’m
supposed to be aiming at.
MARK
But you’ve seen guys who row crew, right?
ERICA
No.
MARK
Okay, well they’re bigger than me.
They’re world class athletes. And a
second ago you said you like guys who row
crew so I assumed you had met one.
ERICA
I guess I just meant I liked the idea of
it. The way a girl likes cowboys.
MARK
(beat)
Okay.
ERICA
Should we get something to eat?
MARK
Would you like to talk about something
else?
ERICA
No, it’s just since the beginning of the
conversation about finals club I think I
may have missed a birthday.
(can’t get over it)
There are really more people in China with
genius IQ’s than the entire population of--
MARK
The Phoenix is the most diverse. The Fly
Club, Roosevelt punched the Porc.
ERICA
Which one?
MARK
The Porcellian, the Porc, it’s the best
of the best.
ERICA
Which Roosevelt?
MARK
Theodore.
ERICA
Is it true that they send a bus around to
pick up girls who want to party with the
next Fed Chairman?
MARK
You can see why it’s so important to get
in.
ERICA
Okay, well, which is the easiest to get
into?
MARK is visibly hit by that...
MARK
Why would you ask me that?
ERICA
I’m just asking.
MARK
None of them, that’s the point. My friend
Eduardo made $300,000 betting oil futures
one summer and Eduardo won’t come close
to getting in. The ability to make money
doesn’t impress anybody around here.
ERICA
Must be nice. He made $300,000 in a
summer?
MARK
He likes meteorology.
ERICA
You said it was oil futures.
MARK
You can read the weather you can predict
the price of heating oil. I think you
asked me that because you think the final
club that’s easiest to get into is the
one where I’ll have the best chance.
ERICA
I asked--what?
MARK
You asked me which one was the easiest to
get into because you think that that’s
the one where I’ll have the best chance.
ERICA
The one that’s the easiest to get into
would be the one where anybody has the
best chance.
MARK
You didn’t ask me which one was the best
one, you asked me which one was the
easiest one.
ERICA
I was honestly just asking. Okay? I was
just asking to ask. Mark, I’m not
speaking in code.
MARK
Erica--
ERICA
You’re obsessed with finals clubs. You
have finals clubs OCD and you need to see
someone about it who’ll prescribe you
some sort of medication. You don’t care
if the side effects may include
blindness.
MARK
Final clubs. Not finals clubs and there’s
a difference between being obsessed and
being motivated.
ERICA
Yes there is.
MARK
Well you do--that was cryptic--so you do
speak in code.
ERICA
I didn’t mean to be cryptic.
MARK
I’m saying I need to do something
substantial in order to get the attention
of the clubs.
ERICA
Why?
MARK
Because they’re exclusive. And fun and
they lead to a better life.
ERICA
Teddy Roosevelt didn’t get elected
president because he was a member of the
Phoenix Club.
MARK
He was a member of the Porcellian and yes
he did.
ERICA
Well why don’t you just concentrate on
being the best you you can be?
MARK
Did you really just say that?
ERICA
(beat)
I was kidding.
Although just because something’s trite
it doesn’t make it any less--
MARK
I want to try to be straight forward with
you and tell you that I think you might
want to be a little more supportive. If I
get in I’ll be taking you...to the
events, and the gatherings...and you’ll
be meeting a lot of people you wouldn’t
normally get to meet.
ERICA
(smiles)
You would do that for me?
MARK
We’re dating.
ERICA
Okay, well I want to try and be straight
forward with you and let you know that
we’re not anymore.
MARK
What do you mean?
ERICA
We’re not dating anymore, I’m sorry.
MARK
Is this a joke?
ERICA
No, it’s not.
MARK
You’re breaking up with me?
ERICA
You’re going to introduce me to people I
wouldn’t normally have the chance to
meet? What the fff--What is that supposed
to mean?
MARK
Wait, settle down.
ERICA
What is it supposed to mean?
MARK
Erica, the reason we’re able to sit here
and drink right now is cause you used to
sleep with the door guy.
ERICA
The door guy, his name is Bobby. I did
not slept with the door guy, the door guy
is a friend of mine. He’s a perfectly
good class of people and what part of
Long Island are you from--Wimbledon?
MARK
Wait--
ERICA
I’m going back to my dorm.
MARK
Wait, wait, is this real?
ERICA
Yes.
MARK
Okay, then wait. I apologize, okay?
ERICA
I have to go study.
MARK
Erica--
ERICA
Yeah.
MARK
I’m sorry, I mean it.
ERICA
I appreciate that but--
MARK
Come on.
ERICA
--I have to study.
MARK
You don’t have to study. You don’t have
to study. Let’s just talk.
ERICA
I can’t.
MARK
Why?
ERICA
Because it’s exhausting. Dating you is
like dating a stairmaster.
MARK
All I meant is that you’re not likely to--
currently--I wasn’t making a comment on
your parents--I was just saying you go to
B.U., I was stating a fact, that’s all,
and if it seemed rude then of course I
apologize.
ERICA
I have to go study.
MARK
You don’t have to study.
ERICA
Why do you keep saying I don’t have to
study?!
MARK
Because you go to B.U.!
ERICA stares at him...
MARK (CONT’D)
(pause)
Do you want to get some food?
ERICA
I’m sorry you’re not sufficiently
impressed with my education.
MARK
And I’m sorry I don’t have a rowboat so
we’re even.
ERICA
I think we should just be friends.
MARK
I don’t want friends.
ERICA
I was being polite, I have no intention
of being friends with you.
MARK
I’m under some pressure right now with my
OS class and if we could just order food
I think we should--
ERICA takes MARK’s hand and looks at him tenderly...
ERICA
(close)
You are probably going to be a very
successful computer person.
But you’re going to go through life
thinking that girls don’t like you
because you’re a nerd. And I want you to
know, from the bottom of my heart, that
that won’t be true. It’ll be because
you’re an asshole.
And with that stinger, ERICA walks off we slowly push in on MARK. A fuse has just been lit.
CUT TO:
As MARK busts out of the bar and into the population of Harvard Square.
CUT TO:
As MARK continues on, he passes a group of people heading in the opposite direction for a party.
As MARK’s steady and determined stride continues, he’ll pass by all kinds of (seemingly) happy, well-adjusted, socially adept people.
The pulsing intro of a song crashes in that will take us through the following sequence
CUT TO:
TITLE: Harvard University Fall 2003
As the MUSIC CONTINUES and MARK busts into the lobby of his dorm. He doesn’t look at anyone as he heads up the stairs and we
CUT TO:
A bedroom that’s part of a three-bedroom suite. The MUSIC CONTINUES as MARK walks in, flicks his lap-top on without looking at it and walks out of frame as we follow MARK to his mini-frigde where he pulls out a Beck’s beer.
MARK’s fingers dance easily on the keyboard--like a Juilliard pianist warming up. The website he’s just called up gets loaded onto the screen.
Zuckonit.com
This is the only place he’s comfortable.
TITLE:
8:13 PM
He begins blogging.
MARK (V.O.)
Erica Albright’s a bitch. Do you think
that’s because her family changed their
name from Albrecht or do you think it’s
because all B.U. girls are bitches?
He takes a good gulp of his drink. We see the words we’re hearing filling up his computer screen--
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
For the record, she may look like a 34C
but she’s getting all kinds of help from
our friends at Victoria’s Secret. She’s a
34B, as in barely anything there. False
advertising.
CUT TO:
TITLE:
9:48 PM
MARK (V.O.)
The truth is she has a nice face. I need
to do something to help me take my mind
off her. Easy enough, except I need an
idea.
MARK takes out a keyboard for his desktop computer takes a drink from his beer.
BILLY OLSON walks into the room carrying a six pack. He sits on the bed behind MARK and opens one for himself.
MARK has moved his mouse to an icon on his desktop labeled “Kirkland Facebook”. He clicks and opens it. A menu of photos appear. He blogs again.
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
I’m a little intoxicated, I’m not gonna
lie. So what if it’s not even 10PM and
it’s a Tuesday night? The Kirkland
facebook is open on my desktop and some
of these people have pretty horrendous
facebook pics.
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Billy Olson’s sitting here and had the
idea of putting some of these next to
pictures of farm animals and have people
vote on who’s hotter.
CUT TO:
It resembles the kind of bus that would take you to the rental car place but on board are two-dozen COLLEGE GIRLS who are dressed for a party. Last minute make-up touch-ups are being done and a joint is being passed.
MARK (V.O.)
I think he’s on to something.
CUT BACK TO:
TITLE:
10:17 PM
MARK
Yea, it’s on. I’m not gonna do the farm
animals but I like the idea of comparing
two people together. It gives the whole
thing a very “Turing” feel since people’s
ratings of the pictures--
CUT TO:
A bouncer--a townie in a tuxedo and a headset--is manning the velvet rope that guards the thick, wooden, red double-doors that lead to, believe it or not, one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
Four college girls are already waiting in line but that number’s about to grow as the bus pulls up and opens its doors.
MARK (VO)
--will be more implicit than, say,
choosing a number to represent each
person’s hotness like they do on
hotornot.com. The first thing we’re going
to need is a lot of pictures.
Unfortunately, Harvard doesn’t keep a
public centralized facebook so I’m going
to have to get all the images from the
individual houses that people are in. Let
the hacking begin.
CUT BACK TO:
There are two more kids in the room with MARK--DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ and CHRIS HUGHES.
MARK (V.O.)
First up is Kirkland. They keep
everything open and allow indexes in
their Apache configuration, so a little
WGET magic is all that’s necessary to
download the entire Kirkland facebook.
Kids’ stuff.
On the computer screen, we’ve been seeing him download picture after picture of Harvard girls.
CUT TO:
THREE COEDS are talking to the BOUNCER. The BOUNCER looks up at TWO HANDSOME CLUB MEMBERS. The MEMBERS give him the nod and the FIVE COEDS are let past the velvet rope.
They’re led up a half flight of red-carpeted stairs to a party that’s about a half-hour away from being in full swing.
The CLUB PRESIDENT is addressing the GUESTS from the top of the stairs--
CLUB PRESIDENT
Excuse me everybody, you are at one of
the oldest, one of the most exclusive
clubs--not just at Harvard but in the
world--and I want to welcome you all to
Phoenix Club’s first party of the fall
semester.
CUT BACK TO:
MARK finishes another drink and gets back to his work.
TITLE:
1:03 AM
MARK (V.O.)
Next is Elliot. They’re also open but
with no indexes on Apache. I can run an
empty search and it returns all of the
images in the database in a single page.
Then I can save the page and Mozilla will
save all the images for me. Excellent.
Moving right along.
Flying by at super-speed on MARK’s computer screen have been commands and images that the rest of us can’t possibly understand.
CUT TO:
The best and the brightest are checking out the hottest and the easiest.
We see a shot of uniformed FEMALE BARTENDERS making a couple of drinks with top-shelf bottles, a DJ working the highest end equipment and 20 year old guys, some of whom look 15, in blazers, khakis and club ties.
CUT BACK TO:
MARK (V.O)
Lowell has some security. They require a
username/password combo and I’m going to
go ahead and say they don’t have access
to main FAS user database, so they have
no way of detecting an intrusion.
It’s on. Body shots. A couple making out in the corner. A matchbox gets slid open by perfectly manicured fingers that take out a few white pills. Two girls are dancing with each other and move into a kiss.
MARK’s voiceovers are starting to overlap and cascade into each other--
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Adams has no security but limits the
number of results to twenty a page. All I
need to do is break out the same script I
used on Lowell and we’re set.
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Quincy has no online facebook, what a
sham. Nothing I can do about that.
CUT TO:
MARK’S DORM ROOM - NIGHT
Instructions and images fly across MARK’s screen--
MARK (V.O.)
Dunster is intense. Not only is there no
public directory but there’s no--
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
Leverett is a little better. It’s
slightly obnoxious that they only let you
view one picture at a time and I’m not
about to--
MARK (V.O.) (CONT’D)
--definitely necessary to break out the
emacs and modify that perl script with--
EDUARDO SAVERIN, a sweet-looking Brazilian sophomore wearing a three-piece suit is rushing up the stairs two at a time.
TITLE:
2:08 AM
MARK (V.O.)
Done.
EDUARDO gets to the top of the stairs and hurries into--
EDUARDO
What’s going on?
MARK (V.O.)
Perfect timing. Eduardo’s here and he’s
going to have the key ingredient.
EDUARDO
Mark.
MARK
Wardo.
EDUARDO
You and Erica split up?
MARK
How did you know that?
EDUARDO
It’s on your blog.
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
Are you alright?
MARK
I need you.
EDUARDO
I’m here for you.
MARK
No, I need the algorithm you use to rank
chess players.
EDUARDO
Are you okay?
MARK
We’re ranking girls.
EDUARDO
You mean other students?
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
You think this is such a good idea?
MARK
I need the algorithm.
EDUARDO
Mark--
MARK
I need the algorithm.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO is writing an equation with a grease marker on the window. When the equation’s done it looks like this:
Girl A:
Ea =
1 + 10(Rb - Ra) / 400
Girl B:
Eb =
1 + 10(Ra - Rb) / 400
EDUARDO
Give each girl a base rating of 1400. At
any given time “Girl A” has a rating R-a
and “Girl B” has a rating R-b.
MARK
When any two girls are matched up there’s
an expectation of which will win based on
their current rating, right?
EDUARDO
(tapping the window)
Yes. And those expectations are expressed
this way.
MARK
Let’s write it.
CUT TO:
The two girls who we just saw get let in are now dancing on a table in their underwear.
CUT BACK TO:
MARK makes a few last key strokes and a new website comes up on the screen.
FACEMASH
MARK makes a few more keystrokes and two pictures of two Harvard girls come up on the screen.
After a moment...
ALL
The one on the left.
MARK clicks the girl on the left and another picture takes the place of the girl on the right.
ALL (CONT’D)
On the right.
MARK clicks the girl on the right while another picture takes the place of the girl on the left.
ALL (CONT’D)
Still the right.
EDUARDO
It works.
DUSTIN
Who should we send it to first?
EDUARDO
Dwyer.
CHRIS
Neal.
EDUARDO
Who are you gonna send it to?
MARK’s made the link to e-mail and hits send.
MARK
Just a couple of people. The question is,
who are they gonna send it to?
CUT TO:
We move to a room where there’s a co-ed poker game underway with the girls smoking cigars. A bra and a couple of pairs of stockings are out on the table. As we move through the poker room, we see a computer behind one of the players. The computer is indicating that there’s e-mail.
A PLAYER turns around and opens the e-mail as the poker game and the party go on behind him.
He hits a link and FACEMASH opens. He looks at it, then--
PLAYER
(to another player)
Check this out.
CUT TO:
TWO MALE STUDENTS at a laptop.
STUDENT
The one on the left.
CUT TO:
THREE MALE STUDENTS AT A COMPUTER
ALL
On the right.
CUT TO:
A bunch of STUDENTS around a computer.
ALL
The right.
CUT TO:
Dozens of partiers are around the computer.
FEMALE STUDENT
That’s my roommate.
CUT TO:
A bunch of students around the computer--
FEMALE STUDENT
This is pathetic.
CUT TO:
A FEW STUDENTS gathered at a computer--
ALL
On the left.
CUT TO:
Another computer--
ALL
On the right.
CUT TO:
This time just a single student in his pajamas as he looks at two pictures of girls side by side.
CUT TO:
And another single student voting and
CUT TO:
We should instantly know that this dorm room is different. It’s more modern and with less character and history than the others.
In the background a GIRL is at her computer and in the foreground ERICA is sitting in bed taking notes from a textbook.
GIRL (ERICA’S ROOMMATE)
Oh shit.
(to the other GIRL)
Albright?
ERICA’S ROOMMATE
He blogged about you.
ERICA looks at her for a moment, then gets up to look at her roommates computer--
ERICA’S ROOMMATE (CONT’D)
You don’t want to read it.
ERICA ignores her roommate. We see her mortification as she reads, and at that moment THREE GUYS appear in her open doorway. They’re baked and smiling and one of them is holding a bra.
COLLEGE GUY
Erica.
ERICA looks over at the guys--
COLLEGE GUY (CONT’D)
Is this yours? I stole it from a tranny.
ERICA’S ROOMMATE
Get the hell out of here!
The three guys go on their drunken way as we SLOWLY PUSH IN on ERICA who’s frozen in her humiliation and then
CUT TO:
STUDENTS
The left!
STUDENTS
The right!
STUDENTS
The left!
STUDENTS
The right!
As sets of photos go flying by on his computer screen.
MARK is staring at the chaos of activity he’s created in the middle of the night.
EDUARDO
This is an awful lot of traffic.
(beat)
Think maybe we should shut it down before
we get into trouble.
MARK ignores him as we pre-lap a PHONE RINGING and
CUT TO:
A man named COX is asleep next to his wife. It’s his phone that’s RINGING. COX wakes up and answers it--
COX
(into phone)
Hello?
(listens)
Wait, what?
(listens)
At 4 in the morning?
INTERCUT WITH:
A tired GRAD STUDENT who spends the night monitoring the campus computer system is looking at his computer.
GRAD STUDENT
(into phone)
Well there’s a very unusual amount of
traffic to the switch at Kirkland.
COX
You’re saying it’s unusual for 4 in the
morning?
GRAD STUDENT
No, this’d be unusual for halftime at the
Super Bowl.
COX
Alright.
COX hangs up the phone.
COX (CONT’D)
I have to go in.
COX’S WIFE
What’s going on?
COX
Harvard’s network’s about to crash.
CUT TO:
Pictures are flying by on Mark’s computer when suddenly they freeze.
Then an icon comes up telling him he’s no longer connected to the internet.
Everyone is frozen silent for a moment...
EDUARDO
You don’t think--
MARK
I do.
EDUARDO
Go see if it’s everybody.
DUSTIN, CHRIS and EDUARDO head out of the room. MARK waits as the guys start coming back in the room.
CHRIS
Can’t connect.
DUSTIN
The network’s down.
EDUARDO
Unless it’s a coincidence I think this is
us.
MARK
It’s not a coincidence.
EDUARDO
(bad)
Holy shit.
And we stay on MARK a moment before we
CUT TO:
It’s three years later and MARK is sitting with his LAWYERS at a large conference table. MARK is wearing a hoodie, sweatpants and Adidas flip-flops--a personal uniform that we’ll come to understand. And while it may take us a while to notice it, MARK’s a different person in these flash-forward scenes. Still tortured and complicated, but comfortable now with his own power.
His lawyer is SY, who’s accompanied by some junior associates, one of whom--a pleasant, pretty and professional young contemporary of Mark’s named MARYLIN, we’ll get to know.
On the other side are EDUARDO and his lawyer, GRETCHEN, also accompanied by some associates. A STENOGRAPHER is typing the record.
The room is glass on two sides and through the windows we can see the behemoths of Silicon Valley--Oracle, SunMicrosystems, Google, etc.
GRETCHEN is taking MARK’s deposition.
GRETCHEN
So you were called in front of the Ad
Board.
MARK
That’s not what happened.
GRETCHEN
You weren’t called in front of the
Administrative Board?
MARK
No, back, I mean--That’s--back at the bar
with Erica Albright. She said all that?
SY
Mark, I wouldn’t--
MARK
That I said that stuff to her?
GRETCHEN
I was reading from the transcript of her
deposition so--
MARK
Why would you even need to depose her?
GRETCHEN
That’s really for us to--
MARK
You think if I know she can make me look
like a jerk I’ll be more likely--
SY
Mark--
MARK
--to settle?
SY
Why don’t we stretch our legs for a
minute, can we do that? It’s been almost
three hours and frankly you did spend an
awful lot of time embarrassing Mr.
Zuckerberg with the girl’s testimony from
the bar.
MARK
I’m not embarrassed, she just made a lot
of that up.
GRETCHEN
She was under oath.
MARK
Then I guess that would be the first time
somebody’s lied under oath.
People are stretching and getting coffee and talking quietly. MARK stays in his seat.
MARYLIN, the attractive second year associate who’s on Mark’s legal team is still sitting too...about four seats down from Mark.
MARYLIN
The site got twenty-two hundred hits
within two hours?
MARK
(beat)
Thousand.
MARYLIN
What?
MARK
Twenty-two thousand.
MARYLIN
(pause--even)
Wow.
CUT TO:
The Harvard Crew is practicing on two-man sculls. There are three boats that are running roughly even with each other and the two-man crews are rowing with all they’ve got. We’re gliding along with them in the water--
A CREW MEMBER
Those guys are just freakin’ fast.
And we PULL BACK TO REVEAL that there’s a fourth boat which is already five boat lengths ahead of the other three.
The fourth boat is being crewed by CAMERON and TYLER WINKLEVOSS--identical twins who stepped out of an ad for Abercrombie & Fitch.
They know that the others aren’t in their class and even though they’re highly competitive athletes, they don’t like showing anyone up, least of all their teammates.
CAMERON
Is there anyway to make this a fair
fight?
TYLER
We could jump out and swim.
CAMERON
I think we’d have to jump out and drown.
TYLER
Or you could row forward and I could row
backward.
CAMERON
We’re genetically identical, science says
we’d stay in one place.
TYLER
Row the damn boat.
And the WINKLEVOSS twins kick into full gear and open up an even wider lead as we
CUT TO:
The room’s a couple of hundred years old and magnificent. Long, heavy mahogany tables are dotted with club members having breakfast. A PORTER in a white jacket is setting copies of The Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, at the table occupied by CAMERON and TYLER whose trays are loaded with mountains of eggs and pancakes and carbs.
DIVYA NARENDRA, a nice looking Indian student, sits down next to them holding a copy of the Crimson.
CAMERON
What’s up?
DIVYA
You guys hear about this?
CAMERON
What?
DIVYA
Two nights ago a sophomore choked the
network from a laptop at Kirkland.
CAMERON
Really?
DIVYA
At 4AM.
TYLER picks up a copy of the Crimson and begins reading while his brother and DIVYA keep talking.
CAMERON
How?
DIVYA
He set up a website where you vote on the
hotness of female undergrads. What were
we doing that none of us heard about
this?
CAMERON
I don’t know, a three hour low-rate
technical row before breakfast, a full
course load, studying, another three
hours in the tank and then studying. I
don’t know how we missed it. How much
activity was there on this thing that he--
TYLER
(reading)
22,000 page requests.
CAMERON
22,000?!
TYLER
Cam, this guy hacked the into facebooks
of seven houses. He set up the whole
website in one night and he did it while
he was drunk.
CAMERON
22,000.
TYLER
Yeah.
CAMERON
How do you know he was drunk?
DIVYA
He was blogging simultaneously. You know
what I think?
TYLER
I’m way ahead of you.
DIVYA
This is our guy.
CUT TO:
It’s MARK and his LAWYERS again but this time on the other side of the table are TYLER and CAMERON, DIVYA and their lawyer, GAGE, whose family had first-class seats on the Mayflower.
We’ll be back and forth between the two deposition rooms a lot.
CAMERON
(for the record)
Cameron Winklevoss. W-I-N-K-L-E-V-O-S-S.
Cameron’s spelled the usual way.
TYLER
(for the record)
Tyler Winklevoss. Tyler’s spelled the
usual way and my last name is the same as
my brother's.
CUT TO:
MARK stands before a panel of ADMINISTRATORS as well as COX, the systems manager who was woken up in the opening sequence.
ADMINISTRATOR
Mr. Zuckerberg, this is an Administrative
Board hearing. You’re being accused of
intentionally breaching security,
violating copyrights, violating
individual privacy by creating the
website, WWW.FACEMASH.COM. You’re also
charged with being in violation of
university policy on distribution of
digitized images. Before we begin with
our questioning you’re allowed to make a
statement. Would you like to do so?
MARK
(beat)
Uh...I’ve, you know--
MARK stands to address the Board.
MARK (CONT’D)
I’ve already apologized in the Crimson to
the ABHW, to Fuerza Latina and to any
women at Harvard who might have been
insulted as I take it that they were. As
for any charges stemming from the breach
of security, I believe I deserve some
recognition from this Board.
MARK takes his seat.
ADMINISTRATOR
(pause)
I’m sorry?
MARK
Yes.
ADMINISTRATOR
I don’t understand.
MARK
Which part?
ADMINISTRATOR
You deserve recognition?
MARK
I believe I pointed out some pretty
gaping holes in your system.
COX
Excuse me, may I?
ADMINISTRATOR
Yes.
COX
Mr. Zuckerberg, I’m in charge of security
for all computers on the Harvard network
and I can assure you of its
sophistication. In fact it was that level
of sophistication that led us to you in
less than four hours.
MARK
Four hours?
COX
Yes sir.
MARK
That would be impressive except if you’d
known what you were looking for you would
have seen it written on my dorm room
window.
CUT TO:
As the heavy wooden door from the hearing slams shut behind MARK. EDUARDO is waiting for him.
EDUARDO
So?
MARK
Six months academic probation.
They walk out onto--
EDUARDO
Wow, they had to make an example out of
you.
MARK
(pause)
They had my blog. I shouldn’t have
written the thing about the farm animals.
That was stupid. I was kidding for God’s
sake, doesn’t anybody have a sense of--
EDUARDO
I tried to stop you.
MARK
I know.
EDUARDO
How do you do this thing where you manage
to get all girls to hate us? Why did I
let you--
MARK
I know.
EDUARDO
You can’t do that.
MARK
Wardo. I said I know.
CUT TO:
MARK is in his Operating Systems class. This is considered the hardest class at Harvard and MARK is one of the 50 students with their laptops open as the professor takes them through an impossibly difficult lesson.
PROFESSOR
Okay, let’s look at a sample problem:
Suppose we’re given a computer with a 16-
bit virtual address and a page size of
256 bytes.
A GIRL scribbles something on a piece of paper. Then hands it to the student next to her and nods that it should be passed over to MARK. While that’s happening--
PROFESSOR (CONT’D)
The system uses one-level page tables,
that start at address 0x0400. Maybe you
want to have DMA on your 16-bit system,
who knows? The first few pages are
reserved for hardware flags, etc.
MARK opens the note. It reads “U dick”.
He looks over and sees a couple of GIRLS looking at him with contempt.
PROFESSOR (CONT’D)
Assume page table entries have eight
status bits.
MARK closes his laptop, gets up and starts to head out of the hall.
PROFESSOR (CONT’D)
The eight status bits would be--
(re: MARK)
And I see we have our first surrender.
PROFESSOR (CONT’D)
Don’t worry, Mr. Zuckerberg, brighter men
than you have tried and failed at this
class.
MARK
(calling back)
1 valid bit, 1 modify bit, 1 reference
bit and 5 permission bits.
PROFESSOR
That is correct. Does everybody see how
he got there?
MARK walks out of the lecture hall and we
CUT TO:
As MARK comes out and heads onto the quad--
CAMERON (OS)
(calling)
Mark?
CAMERON and TYLER have been waiting by the entrance.
CAMERON (CONT’D)
Are you Mark Zuckerberg?
MARK
Yeah.
CAMERON
Cameron Winklevoss.
MARK
Hi.
TYLER
Tyler Winklevoss.
MARK
(pause)
You guys related?
CAMERON
That’s good.
TYLER
That’s funny.
CAMERON
We’ve never heard that before.
MARK
What can I do for you? Did I insult your
girlfriends?
CAMERON
No, you didn’t insult our girl--
(to TYLER)
Actually, I don’t know.
TYLER
(to CAMERON)
We never asked.
CAMERON
We should do that. No, we have an idea we
want to talk to you about. Do you have a
minute?
MARK
(pause)
You guys look like you spend some time at
the gym.
CAMERON
We have to.
MARK
Why?
TYLER
We row crew.
MARK
(pause--then smiles a little)
Yeah, I’ve got a minute.
CAMERON
Great.
CUT TO:
As MARK is escorted by CAMERON and TYLER toward the club.
TYLER
You ever been inside the Porcellian?
MARK
No.
TYLER
You understand we can’t take you past the
bike room ‘cause you’re not a member.
MARK
I’ve heard.
The most exclusive of all the final clubs. DIVYA is sitting in the main living room with a textbook open as the heavy wooden door opens and the three of them come into the bike room.
CAMERON
Would you like a sandwich or something?
MARK
Okay.
CAMERON disappears for a moment.
DIVYA
Mark, right?
MARK is stealing a glance around the room.
MARK
Yeah.
TYLER
This is Divya Narendra, our partner.
MARK
Hi.
DIVYA
We were really impressed with Facemash
and then we checked you out and you also
built CourseMatch.
TYLER
I don’t know CourseMatch.
DIVYA
You go online and see what courses your
friends are taking.
(to MARK)
Really smart, man.
MARK is looking at the framed black and white group pictures on the wall of old Porcellian classes. He sees a bra hanging over a lamp.
DIVYA (CONT’D)
Mark?
MARK
Yeah.
DIVYA
We were talking about CourseMatch.
MARK
It was kind of a no-brainer.
CAMERON comes back in with a sandwich wrapped in cellophane. MARK opens it on his lap and eats it uncomfortably.
DIVYA
And you invented something in high
school, right?
MARK
An app for an MP3 player that recognizes
your taste in music.
DIVYA
Anybody try to buy it?
MARK
Microsoft.
DIVYA
How much?
MARK
I didn’t sell it. I uploaded it for free.
DIVYA
For free?
MARK
Yeah.
DIVYA
Why?
MARK gives a short shrug that says both “I don’t know” and “Fuck you” at the same time.
CAMERON
Okay, well. We have something that we’ve
been working on for a while, we think
it’s great. It’s called the
HarvardConnection. You create your own
page. Interests, bio, friends, pics.
TYLER
And then people can go online, see your
bio and request to be your--
MARK
Yeah. How’s it different from MySpace or
Friendster?
TYLER
Harvard-dot-E-D-U.
CAMERON
Harvard.edu. The most prestigious e-mail
address in the country.
TYLER
And the whole site’s kinda based on the
idea that girls--well...
CAMERON
Not to put anything indelicately.
DIVYA
Girls wanna get with guys who go to
Harvard.
CAMERON
Divya and my brother don’t have trouble
putting things indelicately.
TYLER
The difference between what we’re talking
about and MySpace or Friendster or any of
those other social networking site--
MARK
--is exclusivity.
(beat)
Right?
DIVYA
Right.
TYLER
(beat)
Yes.
CAMERON
We’d love fort you to work with us, Mark.
I mean, we need a gifted programmer who’s
creative.
TYLER
And we know you’ve taking it in the
shins.
DIVYA
The women’s groups are ready to declare a
Fatwa and this could help rehabilitate
your image.
MARK
(remembering what Erica said)
Wow. You’d do that for me?
DIVYA
We’d like to work with you.
CAMERON
Our first programmer graduated and went
to work at Google. Our second programmer
just got overwhelmed with school work.
We would need you to build the site and
write the code and we’ll provide--
MARK
I’m in.
CAMERON
--the money. What?
MARK
I’m in.
TYLER
Awesome.
CUT TO:
The WINKLEVOSSES and DIVYA with GAGE.
GAGE
That’s what you said?
MARK
It was three or four years ago, I don’t
know what I said.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO with GRETCHEN.
GRETCHEN
When did you come to Eduardo?
MARK
I don’t understand that question.
CUT TO:
GAGE
Do you remember answering in the
affirmative?
MARK
The affirmative?
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
When did you come to Eduardo with the
idea for Facebook.
MARK
It was called TheFacebook then.
CUT TO:
GAGE
This doesn’t need to be that difficult.
MARK
I’m currently in the middle of two
different lawsuits.
GAGE
Did you answer affirmatively? When Tyler
and Cameron Winklevoss and Divya Narendra
asked you to build HarvardConnection, did
you say yes?
MARK
I said I’d help.
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
When did you approach Mr. Saverin with
the idea for TheFacebook?
MARK
I wouldn’t say I approached him.
GRETCHEN
Sy?
SY
You can answer the question.
MARK
At a party at Alpha Epsilon Pi.
GRETCHEN
What’s that?
MARK
The Jewish fraternity. It was Caribbean
Night.
CUT TO:
The hall has been converted into “Alpha Epsilon Pi Caribbean Night, 2003” and the party is about as lame as it sounds. What’s important is that this couldn’t be less like the final club party we saw at the beginning if they were playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
Some potted palm trees have been brought in along with a steel drum set. The man playing the steel drum set has a yarmulke bobby pinned to his thinning hair. A table with a punch bowl and assorted cookies is nearby.
EDUARDO, in baggy cargo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt buttoned up to the top, is standing with a few similarly dressed friends, including DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ and CHRIS HUGHES, in the sparsely populated room. On the other side of the room are a few girls--all Asian. One of the girls is wearing a bikini over her clothes. A television monitor has been set up with a DVD running of Niagara Falls.
EDUARDO
It’s not that guys like me are generally
attracted to Asian girls. It’s that Asian
girls are generally attracted to guys
like me.
DUSTIN
I’m developing an algorithm to define the
connection between Jewish guys and Asian
girls.
EDUARDO
I don’t think it’s that complicated.
They’re hot, they’re smart, they’re not
Jewish and they can’t dance.
CHRIS
Mark’s here.
They see MARK come in and look around. EDUARDO waves him over...
EDUARDO
(calling)
Mark.
MARK sees EDUARDO and waves him over to where he is. He wants to talk privately.
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
I’ll be right back.
EDUARDO joins MARK in the back of the room and they take up a spot next to a bay window that’s covered on the outside with ice.
MARK
I think I’ve come up with something.
EDUARDO
Hang on, I’ve gotta tell you something
you’re not going to believe.
MARK
What?
EDUARDO
I got punched by the Phoenix.
MARK
(beat)
Are you kidding?
EDUARDO
No. I mean it’s just the first of the
four step process but they slipped the
invitation under my door tonight. I go to
the first punch party tomorrow and if
they like me--
MARK
You got punched by the Phoenix.
EDUARDO
(pause)
It was, you know...it was probably just a
diversity thing. It was just a diversity
thing. I’ll just ride that horse until--
what did you want to talk to me about?
(pause)
Mark?
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
You said you’ve come up with something.
It seems like MARK’s just made a small decision in his head.
MARK
(pause)
Yeah. I think I’ve come up with
something. Come outside.
EDUARDO
It’s 20 degrees outside.
MARK
I can’t stare at that loop of Niagara
Falls which has nothing to do with the
Caribbean.
CUT TO:
MARK and EDUARDO come outside and are immediately met by the freezing cold air.
MARK
People came to Facemash in a stampede,
right?
EDUARDO
Yeah.
MARK
It wasn’t because they saw pictures of
hot girls. You can go anywhere on the
internet and see pictures of hot girls.
EDUARDO
Yeah.
MARK
It was because they saw pictures of girls
that they knew. People want to go on the
internet and check out their friends. Why
not build a website that offers that?
Friends, pictures, profiles, whatever you
can...visit, browse around, maybe it’s
somebody you just met at a party. I’m not
talking about a dating site. I’m talking
about taking the entire social experience
of college and putting it online.
EDUARDO
I can’t feel my legs.
MARK
I know, I’m totally psyched about this,
too. But Wardo--
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
“It would be exclusive”.
CUT BACK TO:
MARK
You’d have to know the people on the site
to get past your own page. Like getting
punched.
EDUARDO
That’s good, that’s new.
MARK
Wardo, it’s like a Final Club except
we’re the president.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
I told him I thought it sounded great. It
was a great idea. There was nothing to
hack, people were going to provide their
own pictures, their own information. And
people had the ability to invite--or not
invite--their friends to join. See, in a
world where social structure was
everything, that was the thing.
(beat)
It was a big project and he was going to
have to write tens of thousands of lines
of code so I wondered why he was coming
to me and not his roommates. Dustin
Moskovitz and Chris Hughes they were
programmers.
CUT TO:
MARK
We’re gonna need a little start-up cash
to rent the servers and get it online.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
That was why.
GRETCHEN
Did he offer terms?
CUT TO:
MARK
We’ll split it 70-30. 70 for me 30 for
you for putting up the thousand dollars
and handling for everything on the
business end. You’re CFO.
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
And you said?
EDUARDO
I said “Let’s do it”.
GRETCHEN
Okay. Did he add anything else?
EDUARDO
Yes.
CUT TO:
MARK
It probably was a diversity thing but so
what?
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
Why do you think he said that?
SY
Gretchen, excuse me for interrupting but
whose discovery is this?
GRETCHEN
Sy, if you’ll let me continue with my
line of questioning--
SY
What are you suggesting?
MARK
They’re suggesting I was jealous of
Eduardo for getting punched by the
Phoenix and began a plan to screw him out
of a company I hadn’t even invented yet.
GRETCHEN
Were you?
SY
Gretchen--
MARK
Jealous of Eduardo?
SY
Stop typing, we’re off the record.
MARK
Ma’am, I know you’ve done your homework
and so you know that money isn’t a big
part of my life, but at the moment I
could buy Mount Auburn Street, take the
Phoenix Club and turn it into my ping
pong room.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO’s walking away and calls back to MARK--
EDUARDO
(calling)
I’ll let you know how the party is.
We stay on MARK for a moment longer, his wheels turning, before we
CUT TO:
EDUARDO’s in different clothes and being questioned by GAGE.
GAGE
We recognize that you’re a plaintiff in
one suit involving Facebook and a witness
in another.
EDUARDO
Yes sir.
GAGE
At any time in the weeks prior to Mark’s
telling you his idea, did he mention
Tyler Winklevoss, Cameron Winklevoss,
Divya Narendra or HarvardConnection?
EDUARDO
Yes. He said they’d asked him to work on
their site but that he’d looked at what
they had and decided it wasn’t worth his
time. He said even his most pathetic
friends knew more about getting people
interested in a website than these guys.
GAGE
“These guys” meaning my clients.
EDUARDO
Yes. He resented--Mark resented that they--
your clients, thought he needed to
rehabilitate his image after Facemash but
Mark didn’t want to rehabilitate anything.
With Facemash he’d hacked into the Harvard
computers, he’d thumbed his nose at the Ad
Board, he’d gotten a lot of notoriety.
Facemash did exactly what he wanted it to
do.
MARK kind of nods a little to himself.
It should be noted that these depositions have an extra element of discomfort as everything is being said within a few feet of the people being talked about.
GAGE
Were you aware that while Mr. Zuckerberg
was building TheFacebook he was also
communicating with the plaintiffs?
EDUARDO
Not at the time I wasn’t, but it really
didn’t have much to do with the
Winklevoss’s dating--
TYLER
You weren’t there!
GAGE
Ty.
(to EDUARDO)
Were you aware that while Mr. Zuckerberg
was building TheFacebook, he was leading
the plaintiffs to believe he was building
Harvard Connection?
SY
You’re offering a conclusion not found in
evidence.
GAGE
We’re about to find it in evidence.
MUSIC kicks in that will tie this next section together as we
CUT TO:
Two printouts of web pages are taped to a white board-- ”Friendster” and “MySpace”. Under the two pages, MARK draws a third page and titles it “NewCo”.
CUT TO:
GAGE
(reading)
From Mark Zuckerberg to Tyler Winklevoss.
November 30, 2003. “I read over all the
stuff you sent me re Harvard Connection
and it seems like it shouldn’t take too
long to implement, so we can talk about
it after I get all the basic
functionality up tomorrow night.”
CUT TO:
The whiteboard is filled with diagrams now--login page, profile page, create account...We move over to see MARK at his computer. He opens the Emacs program and then Firefox, hits a few keys and the diagram on the whiteboard comes to life on his computer as we
CUT TO:
GAGE
From Mark Zuckerberg to Cameron
Winklevoss. December 1, 2003. “Sorry I
was unreachable tonight. I just got about
three of your missed calls. I was working
on a problem set for my systems class.”
CAMERON and TYLER are looking blankly at MARK who’s giving them a casual “I’m not scared of you” look and we
CUT TO:
The MUSIC CONTINUES as EDUARDO and other prospective new members, all wearing tuxedos, are lined up in four rows.
The boy at the front of each row has a bottle of Jack Daniels and drinks as long as they can before passing the bottle, relay style, to the boy in back of him as a few seniors look on. EDUARDO gets handed the bottle and starts in as we
CUT TO:
It’s an Art History class and as we run past the rows of STUDENTS we see that they all have the same painting up on their laptops as the PROFESSOR gives his lecture. When we get to MARK’s laptop we see that he’s writing code and we
CUT TO:
GAGE
From Mark Zuckerberg to Cameron and Tyler
Winklevoss. December 10, 2003. “This week
has been pretty busy thus far with
classes and work so I think it’s probably
best to postpone the meeting.”
CUT TO:
CAMERON, TYLER and DIVYA are reading the e-mail.
DIVYA
(reading)
“I’m also really busy tomorrow.”
(beat)
Anybody else feel like there’s something
up with this guy?
CAMERON
Tell him okay but we’ve gotta make sure
that we meet up before we all go off for
break.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO’s at his desk on the phone when an envelope that says “Phoenix” is slipped under his door. He turns and looks to see it...
CUT TO:
Every available wall space is covered with a diagram or a printout. EDUARDO comes in with the envelope.
EDUARDO
Mark--
MARK
I need a dedicated Linux box running
Apache with a mySQL backend. It’s gonna
cost a little more money.
EDUARDO
How much more?
MARK
Two-hundred more.
EDUARDO
Do we need it?
MARK
Gotta handle the traffic.
EDUARDO
Do it.
MARK
I already did.
EDUARDO
Hey, guess what?
(shows MARK the envelope)
I made the second cut.
MARK
Good job. You should be proud of that
right there, don’t worry if you don’t
make it any further.
EDUARDO
I’ll get outa here.
CUT TO:
The MUSIC CONTINUES--
GAGE
(reading)
From Mark Zuckerberg to Tyler and Cameron
Winklevoss and Divya Narendra. December
15, 2003. “I have a cs problem set that
I’m just getting started with and it
should be about 15 hours of coding so
I’ll be busy tomorrow night.”
CUT TO:
DIVYA
(reading)
“I won’t really be free to meet until
next Wednesday afternoon.”
CAMERON and TYLER give each other a look--”Is this guy flaking out?”
CUT TO:
GAGE
(reading)
“...have to cancel Wednesday afternoon.
I’ve basically been in the lab this whole
time and also...”
CUT TO:
DIVYA’s reading off his blackberry to TYLER and CAMERON--
DIVYA
(reading)
“Won’t be able to do Saturday as I have
to meet up with my parents to...”
CUT TO:
The MUSIC CONTINUES--
It’s snowing and cold as hell. EDUARDO’s now with a smaller group of prospective members, most of whom are in their underwear with a couple of them wearing pants. They’re all blue and shivering. They’re gathered around a statue of John Harvard as a senior announces--
SENIOR
As the plaque reads, this is John
Harvard, founder of Harvard University in
1638. It’s also called The Statue of
Three Lies. What are the three lies, Mr.
Dowd?
(beat)
Mr. Dowd.
SOPHOMORE
The three lies--
(beat)
The first--
(beat)
Shit!
SENIOR
Take your pants off.
EDUARDO
I know.
SENIOR
Mr. Saverin.
EDUARDO
1) Harvard was founded in 1636, not 1638.
2) Harvard wasn’t founded by John Harvard
and 3) That’s not John Harvard.
SENIOR
Who is it?
EDUARDO
A friend of the sculptor, Daniel Chester.
SENIOR
Keep your jacket on.
And as another kid simply falls to his hands and knees and throws up, we
CUT TO:
GAGE
39 days after Mr. Zuckerberg’s initial
meeting with my clients and he still
hadn’t completed work on
HarvardConnection. But on January 11,
2004--
CUT TO:
A website called Network Solutions is up on Mark’s screen. He hits a couple of keys and waits intently.
Then the computer shows him what he wanted to see--
www.theFacebook.com--DOMAIN NAME REGISTERED
GAGE (V.O.)
Mr. Zuckerberg registered the domain name
theFacebook via network solutions.
CUT TO:
GAGE
To the best of your knowledge, had he
even begun work on HarvardConnection?
EDUARDO
Not to my knowledge, no.
CUT TO:
CAMERON’s looking at his e-mail.
CAMERON
What in the world is this?
(reading)
“Hey Cameron. I’m still a little
skeptical that we have enough
functionality in the site to really draw
the attention and gain the critical mass
necessary to get a site like this to run.
We’ll speak soon.”
CUT TO:
GAGE
This is the first time he mentioned any
problem?
DIVYA
Yes it was.
GAGE
You’d sent 36 e-mails to Mr. Zuckerberg
and received 16 return e-mails and this
was the first time he indicated he was
not happy.
DIVYA
That’s correct. He had 42 days to study
our system and get out ahead on--
MARK
Do you see any of your code on Facebook?
GAGE
(help me)
Sy, could you--
SY
(calming him)
Mark--
MARK
Did I use any of your code?
DIVYA
You stole our whole goddam idea!
SY
Fellas.
MARK
Match-dot-com for Harvard guys?
GAGE
Can I continue with my deposition?
MARK
You know you really don’t need a forensic
team to get to the bottom of this. If you
guys were the inventors of Facebook you’d
have invented Facebook.
DIVYA
I can’t wait to stand over your shoulder
and watch you write us a check.
MARK
No shit?
SY
(to GAGE)
Let’s continue.
DIVYA’s still staring at MARK, who just smiles a little as he looks down.
GAGE
(beat)
February 4th, 2004--
CUT TO:
MARK is working at a station. We can see through the windows that it’s a frigid, snowy February day in Cambridge but MARK’s in his hoodie and cargo shorts nonetheless. It looks like he hasn’t slept in days. On his monitor we can see that he’s working on the profile page for theFacebook.
DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ steps up to him quietly.
DUSTIN
Mark?
(pause)
Mark.
MARK turns his head and looks at him...
DUSTIN (CONT’D)
(quietly)
There’s a girl in your art history class.
Her name is Stephanie Attis. Do you
happen to know if she has a boyfriend?
MARK just keeps looking at him--barely even blinking--”Why am I being interrupted?”
DUSTIN (CONT’D)
(beat)
Have you ever seen her with anyone?
(beat)
And if not, do you happen to know if
she’s looking to go out with anyone?
MARK
(pause)
Dustin. People don’t walk around with a
sign on them that says--
And MARK stops short right there. Because in his head, he’s just discovered the cure for cancer.
DUSTIN
(pause)
Mark?
As MARK, with his backpack stuffed, comes flying out of the building and into the snow, barely keeping his balance on the ice and we
CUT TO:
The heavy door bursts open and MARK comes busting through. He makes his way with speed and intent up a flight of stairs.
Then another.
And then another until he gets to his floor. He sprints down his hall toward his dorm room and barely notices EDUARDO leaning against the door.
EDUARDO
We were supposed to meet at 9.
MARK is searching the pockets of his shorts for his keys.
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
Have you slept yet?
MARK opens the door and they go into his suite--
MARK
I have to add something.
EDUARDO
What?
MARK’s in his own world as he sits at the computer and calls up theFacebook. The home page fills the screen.
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
(simply)
Shit.
(beat)
That looks good.
(beat)
That looks really good.
MARK
It’s clean and simple. No Disneyland, no
Live Nude Girls.
The CAMERA surveys the screen as MARK slips through some functions to show EDUARDO and we see things that are now familiar--A photo, sex, a profile, a list of attributes, a poke application, etc.
MARK (CONT’D)
But watch.
MARK’s called up a the Emacs program and quickly writes out several lines of code...
EDUARDO
What’d you write?
MARK goes back to the profile page. There’s a new area to be filled in...
MARK
“Relationship Status”, “Interested In”.
(beat)
This is what drives life at college. Are
you having sex or aren’t you. It’s why
people take certain classes, and sit
where they sit, and do what they do, and
at its, um, center, you know, that’s what
theFacebook is gonna be about. People are
gonna log on because after all the cake
and watermelon there’s a chance they’re
actually gonna--
EDUARDO
--get laid.
MARK
(over)
--meet a girl. Yes.
EDUARDO
That’s really good.
MARK
(beat)
And that’s it.
EDUARDO
(beat)
What do you mean?
MARK
It’s ready.
EDUARDO
It’s ready?
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
Right now?
MARK
That was it. And here’s the masthead.
MARK hits another couple of keystrokes and the website’s masthead comes up.
EDUARDO
You made a masthead.
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
(reading)
“Eduardo Saverin. Co-Founder and CFO.”
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
You have no idea what that’s going to
mean to my father.
MARK
Sure I do.
EDUARDO
(pause)
When’s it gonna go live?
MARK
Right now. Get your laptop out.
EDUARDO
Why do we need my laptop?
MARK
Because you’ve got e-mails for everyone
at the Phoenix.
EDUARDO
(beat)
I’m not sure if it’s gonna be cool with
them that I spam their--
MARK
This is not spam.
EDUARDO
No, I know it’s not spam--
MARK
If we send it to our friends it’ll just
bounce around the Dworkin.
EDUARDO
I haven’t gotten in yet.
MARK
These guys know people and I need their e-
mails.
EDUARDO
(beat)
Sure.
MARK
Good.
EDUARDO takes out his laptop--
MARK (CONT’D)
Gimmie the mailing list.
EDUARDO
“Jabberwock12.listserv@Harvard E-D-U.”
MARK opens up an e-mail and is writing a short message, then includes a link to the site--
MARK
These guys. They’re literary geniuses
because the world’s most obvious Lewis
Carroll reference--
EDUARDO
They’re not so bad.
MARK
I’m just saying.
EDUARDO
You’re right.
He hits “Send”.
MARK
The site’s live.
EDUARDO
(pause)
You know what? Let’s go get a drink and
celebrate. I’m buying.
MARK is staring at the computer...
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
Mark?
MARK doesn’t hear him. We just see MARK’s head from the back and it’s ever so slightly bobbing back and forth...
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
(pause)
Mark?
(beat)
Are you praying?
CUT TO:
THE KROKODILOES, Harvard’s oldest male a Capella group, are singing at the front of the hall in their usual uniform of white tie and tails for a packed crowd of students and parents.
Incongruously, but with surprisingly nice results, the group is covering a song from All-4-One--”I Swear”--and the pub full of students is loving it.
We find a table in the back where DIVYA is sitting with his girlfriend and some of their friends who are having a nice time. Divya’s girlfriend, K.C., has her laptop open.
MALE FRIEND
What ever happened to Cole Porter and
Irving Berlin?
FEMALE FRIEND
It’s a Valentine’s theme. They’re playing
love songs.
MALE FRIEND
Good point, ‘cause Cole Porter and Irving
Berlin never wrote any love songs.
DIVYA
Honey, you should put the laptop away.
K.C.
Seven different people spammed me the
same link.
DIVYA
K.C.--
She clicks on the link--
FEMALE FRIEND
What is it?
K.C.
(dryly)
I don’t know, but I’m really hoping it’s
cats that look like Hitler ‘cause I can
never get enough of that.
(beat)
It’s not.
DIVYA takes K.C.’s hand and turns his focus back to the singers but only for just a second because whatever was on the screen gets his attention in a hurry.
He swivels the laptop toward himself--
He starts quickly scrolling and reading it and we PUSH IN on his face as the blood starts draining away...
K.C. (CONT’D)
Div!
(beat)
What?
DIVYA shuts the laptop, grabs it off the table--
Puts it back--
People are starting to turn and see what the commotion is about as the singing continues.
K.C. (CONT’D)
What is wrong?
DIVYA starts to bolt out of the pub. His foot gets caught on a chair leg and he falls hard face-first to the floor.
DIVYA
It’s fine.
He starts out again, then comes back for his coat, grabs it, starts out and falls down all over again.
Finally he’s got it together and flies out of the pub and we
CUT TO:
DIVYA’s running across the Charles in the freezing February air and we
CUT TO:
CAMERON and TYLER are rowing in a large practice tank--a simulator with a hull, oars and rowable water.
They’re focused and charging away in perfect sync when the door at the end of the century-old boathouse opens and DIVYA charges in from the cold with his laptop and a copy of the Crimson in his hands.
DIVYA
(calling)
Hey!
The twins are in the zone and don’t pay any attention.
DIVYA (CONT’D)
(louder)
Hey!
CAMERON
Not now, we need 20 minutes.
DIVYA
(calmly)
Okay. I just wanted to let you know
Zuckerberg stole our website.
TYLER stops rowing and then CAMERON. They look at DIVYA...
DIVYA (CONT’D)
Mark Zuckerberg stole our website. It’s
been live for more than 36 hours.
CUT TO:
They’re in gear. CAMERON’s taken a quick shower but didn’t dry off. He’s in sweatpants with a towel over his shoulder, talking on the phone with his father and holding the Crimson. DIVYA’s on his cell looking for MARK and TYLER, still in his practice clothes, has his desktop computer open to theFacebook and is studying it.
CAMERON
(covering the phone)
Ty, the lawyer’s on the phone with Dad.
(into phone)
I’m here with my brother, Tyler, and our
business partner, Divya.
TYLER
(reading off the computer)
“Welcome to theFacebook. TheFacebook is
an online directory that connects people
through different social networks. You
must have a Harvard.edu address to
register.”
CAMERON
(into phone)
That’s right.
DIVYA
(into cell)
I called earlier. I’m looking for Mark
Zuckerberg.
CAMERON
(into phone)
Yes sir, he’s quoted a couple of times. I
can read it to you, “’Everyone’s been
talking a lot about a universal facebook
within Harvard’, he says”--he meaning
Mark--”’I think it’s kind of silly that
it would take the University a couple of
years to get around to it. I can do a
classier job than they can and I did in a
week.’”
DIVYA
(into cell)
Tell him Divya Narendra called, I
appreciate it.
CAMERON
(into phone)
I know, that’s how he talks.
DIVYA
(off another copy of the Crimson)
“As of yesterday evening, Zuckerberg said
over 650 students had registered to use
theFacebook.com. He said he anticipated
that 900 students would have joined the
site by this morning.”
CAMERON
(into phone)
Yeah, Divya was just reading that 650
students signed up for it on the first
day.
TYLER
If I were a drug dealer I couldn’t give
free drugs to 650 people in one day.
DIVYA
And this guy doesn’t have three friends
to rub together to make a fourth.
CAMERON
(quieting them so he can hear)
Guys, please, come on.
(into phone)
That’s what we’ll do, Mr. Hotchkiss.
We’ll put all this together and we’ll
email it to you.
(listens)
You won’t be able to get on the website
yourself.
(beat)
Because you don’t have--a Harvard, umm--
You know what, it would just be easier
for us to email it to you.
(listens)
No, I’m sure you’re right, this is a good
guy--
DIVYA
(reacting)
Wow!!
CAMERON
(into phone)
--and he’s very bright and I’m sure he
didn’t mean to...do what he did.
(beat)
Thank you very much, and Dad--alright
love you too.
CAMERON hangs up.
DIVYA
This is a good guy?
CAMERON
We don’t know that he’s not a good guy.
DIVYA
We know that he stole our idea. We know
he lied to our faces for a month and a
half while he--
CAMERON
He never lied to our faces.
DIVYA
(DIVYA tosses the Crimson to TYLER)
He never saw our faces! He lied to our e-
mail accounts and he got himself a 42-day
head start because he knows what
apparently you don’t which is that
getting there first is everything!
CAMERON
I’m a competitive racer, Div, I don’t
think you need to school me on the
importance of getting there first, thank
you.
DIVYA
Alright. That was your father’s lawyer?
CAMERON
It was his in-house counsel, he’ll look
at it and if he thinks it’s appropriate
he’ll send a cease and desist letter.
DIVYA
What’s that gonna do?
CAMERON
What, do you wanna hire and IP lawyer and
sue him?
DIVYA
No, I wanna hire the Sopranos to beat the
shit out of him with a hammer.
TYLER
We don’t even have to do that.
CAMERON
That’s right.
TYLER
We can do that ourselves.
CAMERON
Hey--
TYLER
I’m six-five, 220 and there’s two of me.
DIVYA
I’m with this guy.
CAMERON
And I’m saying let’s calm down until we
know what we’re talking about.
DIVYA
How much more information are you waiting
for? We met with Mark three times, we
exchanged 52 e-mails, we can prove that
he looked at the code--
(then)
What is that on the bottom of the page?
CAMERON
(he’s already seen it)
It says “A Mark Zuckerberg Production”.
DIVYA
On the home page?
TYLER
On every page.
DIVYA
Shit, I need a second to let the
classiness waft over me.
CAMERON
Look--
TYLER
Cam. They wrote, “Zuckerberg said that he
hoped the privacy options would help to
restore his reputation following student
outrage over Facemash.com”.
(beat)
That’s exactly what WE said to him. He’s
giving us the finger in the Crimson. Now
while we’re waiting for Dad’s lawyer to
look this stuff over, we can at least--
CAMERON
No.
TYLER
--get something going in the paper so
that people know--
CAMERON
What?
TYLER
That this thing is in dispute.
CAMERON
We’re not starting a knife fight in the
Crimson and we’re not suing anybody.
DIVYA
Why not?
CAMERON wants to answer the question but doesn’t...
DIVYA (CONT’D)
I don’t understand, why not?
CAMERON
(beat--referring to TYLER)
He’s gonna say it’s stupid.
TYLER
Me?
DIVYA
Say it. Why not?
CAMERON
Because we’re gentlemen of Harvard.
(beat)
This is Harvard. You don’t plant stories
and you don’t sue people.
DIVYA
(pause)
You thought he was going to be the only
one who thought that was stupid?
CUT TO:
GAGE
During the time when you say you had this
idea, did you know Tyler and Cameron came
from a family of means?
MARK
(pause)
A family of means?
GAGE
Did you know that his father was wealthy.
MARK
(pause)
I’m not sure why you’re asking me that.
GAGE
It’s not important that you be sure why
I’m asking you.
MARK
It’s not important to you.
GAGE
(asking for help again)
Sy.
SY
(to MARK)
Did you know that they came from money?
MARK
I had no idea whether they came from
money or not.
GAGE
In one of your e-mails to Mr. Narendra
you referenced Howard Winklevoss’
consulting firm.
MARK
(beat)
If you say so.
GAGE
Howard Winklevoss founded a firm whose
assets are in the hundreds of millions.
MARK
Mm-hm...
GAGE
You also knew that Cameron and Tyler were
members of a Harvard final club called
the Porcellian.
MARK
They pointed that out.
TYLER
Excuse us for inviting you in.
MARK
To the bike room.
GAGE
(to TYLER)
Please.
(to MARK)
So it’s safe to say you were aware that
my clients had money?
MARK
Yes.
GAGE
Let me tell you why I’m asking. I’m
wondering why, if you needed a thousand
dollars for an internet venture, you
didn’t ask my clients for it.
They’d demonstrated to you an interest in
this kind of thing so--
MARK
I went to my friend for the money because
that’s who I wanted to be partners with.
Eduardo was the president of the Harvard
Investors Association and he was my best
friend.
GAGE
Your best friend is suing you for 600-
million dollars.
MARK
I didn’t know that, tell me more.
CUT TO:
SY
Eduardo, what happened after the initial
launch?
GRETCHEN
I’m sorry, Sy, would you mind addressing
him as Mr. Saverin?
SY
Gretchen, they’re best friends.
GRETCHEN
Not anymore.
SY
We already went through this on the--
nevermind. Mr. Saverin, what happened
after the initial--
EDUARDO
It exploded.
CUT TO:
DIVYA
Everyone on campus was using it.
“Facebook me” was a common expression
after two weeks.
SY
And Mark?
DIVYA
Mark was the biggest thing on a campus
that included 19 Nobel Laureates, 15
Pulitzer Prize winners, two future
Olympians and a movie star.
SY
Who’s the movie star?
DIVYA
(pause)
Does it matter?
SY
No.
CUT TO:
The lamps in Harvard Yard light the snow falling.
SPEAKER (VO)
The light bulb event--the inciting action--
was when he was at Out of Town News and
picked up a copy of Popular Electronics
that had the MITS Altair Kit on the cover.
There’s a lower-level and a balcony and both are full.
MARK and EDUARDO are sitting in the second to last row of the balcony.
We’ll hear the SPEAKER but we’ll only get to see him in a slightly blurry image as our attention is on MARK and EDUARDO.
SPEAKER
It was a beautiful day and I was in my
room at Radcliffe and he brought me the
magazine and he said, “Look, it’s going
to happen without us, we’ve got to start
it now.” And so I said, “Okay, you’re
right. Let’s get BASIC out there.”
He gets an appreciative LAUGH from the STUDENTS.
SPEAKER (CONT’D)
Most of you think you know the rest of
the story but you may not.
(beat)
The beginnings of this industry were very
humble. That kit computer on the cover of
that magazine--
We HEAR a little muffled giggling coming from the row behind MARK and EDUARDO. MARK is too into the speech to notice but the giggling registers as a slight annoyance on EDUARDO’s face.
SPEAKER (CONT’D)
--had an 8080 microprocessor in it,
unless you paid extra for a 1K memory
board, you had 256 bytes.
EDUARDO hears the giggling again and turns around.
In the row behind them and a few seats over are two beautiful Asian students--ALICE and CHRISTY. They’re a little overly made-up for a lecture. CHRISTY, the one sitting closest to EDUARDO, is wearing a short skirt with a white shirt open one button too far down the front and we can see a hint of the red bra she’s wearing underneath.
She leans forward and whispers to EDUARDO--
CHRISTY
(whispering)
Your friend--is that Mark Zuckerberg?
EDUARDO
(beat)
Uh...yes.
CHRISTY
He made theFacebook.
EDUARDO smiles a little...this has just never happened--
EDUARDO
Yeah. I mean it’s both of ours--but, yeah
we--yes.
CHRISTY
(still whispering)
Cool. I’m Christy. This is Alice.
EDUARDO can’t help noticing--just because it’s in his line of sight--that down the row from the girls, someone else is pointing at them and whispering to a friend.
Then back to the girls--
EDUARDO
(whispering)
Very nice to meet you.
CHRISTY
(whispering)
Facebook me when you get home. Maybe we
can all go out and grab a drink later.
EDUARDO
(whispering)
Certainly. Absolutely I will do that.
EDUARDO turns back to the speaker, who MARK hasn’t taken his eyes off of--
SPEAKER
There were a number of machines that came
next--the TRS-80, Apple II, Commodore Pet--
CUT TO:
As the CROWD from the lecture spills out onto the snowy quad. EDUARDO--always in his suit--is buttoning up his overcoat as he walks and MARK zips up his hoodie.
EDUARDO
She said “Facebook me” and we can all go
for a drink later. Which is stunningly
great for two reasons. One, she said
“Facebook me”. Right? And the other is,
you know--
MARK
They want to have drinks later.
EDUARDO
Yes! Have you ever heard so many
different good things packed into one
regular-sized sentence?
A group of guys hustle up to MARK and EDUARDO--
STUART
Excuse me. Mark?
MARK
Yeah.
STUART
I’m Stuart Singer. I’m in your O.S. lab.
MARK
Sure.
STUART
Awesome job with theFacebook.
VIKRAM
Awesome job.
MARK
Thanks.
BOB
I’m Bob.
MARK
How you doin’.
BOB
You know, I could swear he was looking at
you when he said the next Bill Gates
could be right in this room.
MARK
I doubt it.
BOB
I showed up late, I don’t even know who
the speaker was.
MARK
(beat)
It was Bill Gates.
BOB
Shit, that makes sense.
EDUARDO
(beat)
Alright, thanks guys.
As MARK and EDUARDO walk on, we leave STUART, VIKRAM and BOB in the background--with STUART and VIKRAM admonishing BOB with--
STUART/VIKRAM
(to BOB)
Are you a moron?/Are you medically
stupid?/You can’t recognize Bill Gates
when he’s standing in front of you for an
hour?/Mark Zuckerberg now thinks we got
into Harvard on a dimwit scholarship./I’m
gonna get a Glock .39 and I’m going to
kill you./I’m actually going to kill
you/etc.
CUT TO:
As the door opens and MARK and EDUARDO come into the overheated warmth of the room.
EDUARDO
It’s time to monetize the thing.
MARK
What were their names?
EDUARDO
Did you hear what I said?
MARK
When?
EDUARDO
I said it’s time to monetize the site.
MARK
What does that mean?
EDUARDO
It means it’s time for the website to
generate revenue.
MARK
No I know what the word means. I’m asking
how do you want to do it?
EDUARDO
Advertising.
MARK
No.
EDUARDO
We’ve got 4000 members.
MARK
‘Cause theFacebook is cool. If we start
installing pop-ups for Mountain Dew it’s
not gonna--
EDUARDO
Well I wasn’t thinking Mountain Dew but
at some point--and I’m talking as the
business end of the company--the site--
MARK
We don’t even know what it is yet. We
don’t know what it is, we don’t know what
it can be, we don’t know what it will be.
We know that it’s cool, that is a
priceless asset I’m not giving it up.
EDUARDO
When will it be finished?
MARK
It won’t be finished, that’s the point.
The way fashion’s never finished.
EDUARDO
What?
MARK
Fashion. Fashion is never finished.
EDUARDO
You’re talking about fashion? Really?
You?
MARK
I’m talking about the idea of it and I’m
saying it’s never finished.
EDUARDO
Okay, but they manage to make money
selling pants...
EDUARDO has seen something on the top of MARK’s mantle...
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
Mark, what is this?
MARK
What.
EDUARDO holds up a letter that’s on a lawyer’s stationary.
EDUARDO
This.
MARK
It’s called a cease and desist letter.
What were their names?
EDUARDO
Who?
MARK
The girls.
EDUARDO’s speed reading the letter.
EDUARDO
When did you get this?
MARK
About 10 days ago. Right after we
launched the site.
EDUARDO
Jesus Christ.
MARK
Hey, the girls. What were their names?
EDUARDO
They’re saying--the Winklevoss twins are
saying you stole their idea.
MARK
I find that to be a little more than
mildly annoying.
EDUARDO
They find it to be intellectual property
theft. Why--
MARK
Look--
EDUARDO
--why didn’t you show this to me?
MARK
It was addressed to me.
EDUARDO
They’re saying we stole theFacebook from
Divya Narendra and the Wink--
MARK
I know what it says.
EDUARDO
(pause)
Did we?
MARK
Did we what?
EDUARDO
Don’t screw around with me now. Look at
me.
MARK looks at EDUARDO--
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
The letter says we could face legal
action.
MARK
No, it says I could face legal action.
EDUARDO
It’s from a lawyer, Mark. They must feel
they have some grounds for--
MARK
The lawyer is their father’s house
counsel.
EDUARDO
Do they have grounds?
MARK
The grounds are our thing is cool and
popular and HarvardConnection is lame.
Wardo, I didn’t use any of their code, I
promise I didn’t use anything. A guy who
builds a really nice chair doesn’t owe
money to everyone who has ever built a
chair. They came to me with an idea, I
had a better one.
EDUARDO
Why didn’t you show me the letter?
MARK
I didn’t think it was a big deal.
EDUARDO
If there’s something wrong--if there’s
ever anything wrong--you can tell me. I’m
the guy that wants to help. This is our
thing.
(pause)
Is there anything you need to tell me?
MARK
No.
EDUARDO
What are we doing about this?
MARK
I went to a 3-L at Student Legal Services
and he told me to write them back.
EDUARDO
What did you say?
CUT TO:
GAGE
(reading the letter)
“When we met in January, I expressed my
doubts about the site--where it stood
with graphics, how much programming was
left that I had not anticipated--
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
(reading the letter)
“--the lack of hardware we had to deal
with, site use, the lack of promotion that
would go on to successfully launch the
website--
CUT TO:
GAGE
This was the first time you raised any of
those concerns, right?
MARK
I’d raised concerns before.
DIVYA/TYLER (NOT CAMERON)
Bullshit./Not to us.
GAGE
(quieting)
Gentlemen.
(back to MARK)
I’m talking about at the meeting in
January to which this letter is
referring.
MARK
Yeah.
GAGE
Let me re-phrase this. You sent my
clients 16 e-mails. In the first 15, you
didn’t raise any concerns.
MARK
(beat)
Is that a question?
GAGE
In the 16th e-mail you raised concerns
about the site’s functionality. Were you
leading them on for six weeks?
MARK
No.
GAGE
Why hadn’t you raised any of these
concerns before?
MARK
(quietly)
It’s raining.
GAGE
I’m sorry?
MARK
It just started raining.
GAGE
Mr. Zuckerberg, do I have your full
attention?
MARK
No.
GAGE
(beat)
Do you think I deserve it?
MARK
What.
GAGE
Do you think I deserve your full
attention?
MARK
I had to swear an oath before we began
this deposition and I don’t want to
perjure myself so I have a legal
obligation to say no.
GAGE
Okay. “No” you don’t think I deserve your
attention.
MARK
I think if your clients want to sit on my
shoulders and call themselves tall they
have a right to give it a try. But
there’s no requirement that I enjoy
sitting here listening to people lie. You
have part of my attention--you have the
minimum amount. The rest of my attention
is back at the offices of Facebook where
my colleagues and I are doing things that
no one in this room, including and
especially your clients, are
intellectually or creatively capable of
doing. Did I adequately answer your
condescending question?
GAGE just looks casually at MARK. MARK doesn’t meet his gaze, or the looks from DIVYA, TYLER and CAMERON...
SY
(beat)
I’ve got 12:45. Why don’t we say that’s
lunch.
GAGE
Back at 2:30?
Everyone gets up and we
CUT TO:
MARK
So, what were their names?
EDUARDO
(pause)
Their names were Christy and Alice. They
want to have drinks tonight.
CUT TO:
It’s a nice men’s room--mahogony stalls--in a nice club in Cambridge. We HEAR the thumping of the house music coming from the club.
And then one of the wooden stall doors flies open and EDUARDO is shoved in, followed by CHRISTY, who did the shoving. She’s all over him as she presses him back against the divider.
EDUARDO’s hands are sliding under CHRISTY’S white shirt and finding the red bra when they hear a noise.
Someone’s gone into the next stall.
EDUARDO
(whispering)
Shit.
CHRISTY
(whispering)
I don’t care.
CHRISTY keeps him pinned against the divider as she reaches down and unbuckles his belt.
And then he hears another noise from the stall next door. A thump against the divider. CHRISTY’s got his fly unzipped.
EDUARDO looks down at the space between the stalls. He sees a pair of Adidas flip-flops.
Then the sound of moaning. Before EDUARDO has time to say anything, CHRISTY pulls her shirt open, revealing the red bra, and puts her hand down his pants as we
CUT TO:
MARK and EDUARDO are standing guard outside the door. They’re silent but very happy.
A guy comes along to use the men’s room.
EDUARDO
Sorry. It’ll just be a minute. Some girls
are freshening up in there.
CLUB GUY
(nodding a little)
Sweet.
The guy goes off.
EDUARDO taps MARK...
EDUARDO
(beat)
We have groupies.
MARK can’t help a smile. Then he sees something...
MARK
I’ll be right back.
EDUARDO
Mark, where you going?
(beat)
Mark?
MARK makes his way through the crowd toward a round booth. A girl is sitting there and even though her back is to MARK he can recognize her. She’s with a girlfriend and three guys.
When he makes it to the booth he says--
MARK
Erica?
ERICA, from the opening scene, turns her head and looks up to see MARK. She’s looking sexy for her Friday night on the town and the three guys she’s with are studs. A few more friends of theirs are standing around at the edges of the booth.
ERICA
(pause)
Hi.
MARK
I saw you from over there. I didn’t know
you came to this club a lot.
ERICA
First time.
MARK
Mine too. Could I talk to you alone for a
second?
ERICA
I think I’m good right here.
MARK
I just--I’d love to talk to you alone. If
we could just go someplace--
ERICA
Right here’s fine.
MARK is aware of everyone else around the booth...
MARK
(beat)
I don’t know if you heard about this new
website I launched.
ERICA
No.
MARK
TheFacebook?
ERICA
You called me a bitch on the internet,
Mark.
MARK
That’s why I wanted to talk to you. If we
could just--
ERICA
On the internet.
MARK
That’s why I came over.
ERICA
Comparing women to farm animals?
MARK
I didn’t end up doing that.
ERICA
It didn’t stop you from writing it. As if
every thought that tumbles through your
head is so clever it would be a crime for
it not to be shared. The internet’s not
written in pencil, Mark, it’s written in
ink and you published that Erica Albright
was a bitch right before you made some
ignorant crack about my family’s name, my
bra size and then rated women based on
their “hotness”.
REGGIE (A FRIEND OF ERICA’S)
Erica, is there a problem?
ERICA
No, there’s no problem.
(pause)
You write your snide bullshit from a dark
room because that’s what the angry do
nowadays. I was nice to you. Don’t
torture me for it.
MARK glances at the table of Erica’s friends--
MARK
(pause)
If we could just go somewhere for a
minute--
ERICA
No, I don’t want to be rude to my
friends.
MARK
Okay.
ERICA
Okay. Good luck with your video game.
It was an honest mistake on ERICA’s part but a kidney punch to MARK.
MARK turns and goes and sees that EDUARDO has been standing and watching from a distance with CHRISTY.
EDUARDO
Hey, that was great. That was the right
thing to do. You apologized, right?
MARK
(ignoring him)
We have to expand.
EDUARDO
(over the music)
What?
And MARK heads out the door.
EDUARDO watches MARK and then looks back at the girls...
ALICE
Is he mad about something?
CUT TO:
The door closes behind DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ and CHRIS HUGHES. MARK and EDUARDO are waiting and CHRISTY and ALICE are sitting on the couch. Everyone’s got a beer.
Once the door is closed--
MARK
We’re expanding to Yale and Columbia.
Dustin, I want you to share the coding
work with me. Chris, you’re going to be
in charge of publicity and outreach and
you can start by getting a story in the
B.U. student newspaper. The Bridge.
CHRIS
They hate doing stories about Harvard.
MARK
Somebody at the newspaper will be a
computer science major. Tell ‘em Mark
Zuckerberg will do 10 hours of free
programming.
EDUARDO
Why do you want a story in the B.U. newsp--
MARK
Because I do. Here’s the arrangement.
Eduardo is CFO and owns 30% of the
company. Dustin is Vice President and
Head of Programming and his 5% of the
company will come from my end. Chris is
Director of Publicity and his
compensation will depend on the amount of
work he ends up doing. Any questions?
DUSTIN
Who are the girls?
EDUARDO
Christy and Alice.
DUSTIN
Hi.
CHRISTY
Hi.
ALICE
Hello.
CHRIS
Hi.
CHRISTY
Is there anything we can do?
MARK
No. That’s it. Yale and Columbia, let’s
go.
EDUARDO
And Stanford.
MARK
What?
EDUARDO
Stanford. It’s time for them to see this
in Palo Alto.
CUT TO:
MARK is sitting alone in the now empty room. There’s a computer on a table in the corner and MARK makes a few keystrokes and then reads the screen.
MARYLIN, the young lawyer we met early on, comes in with a plastic salad container in her hand and sits at the far end of the table from MARK, who doesn’t acknowledge her.
MARYLIN
(after a moment)
You don’t want any lunch?
MARK
(beat)
No.
MARYLIN
You’re welcome to some salad.
MARK
No thank you.
MARYLIN
This must be hard.
MARK
Who are you?
MARYLIN
I’m Marylin Delpy, I introduced myself--
MARK
I mean what do you do?
MARYLIN
I’m a second year associate at the firm.
My boss wanted me to sit in on the
deposition phase.
MARK nods...
MARYLIN (CONT’D)
What are you doing?
MARK
Checking in to see how it’s going in
Bosnia.
MARYLIN
Bosnia?
MARK nods...
MARYLIN (CONT’D)
They don’t have roads but they have
Facebook?
MARK nods...
MARYLIN (CONT’D)
You must really hate the Winklevoss’s.
MARK
I don’t hate anybody.
(pause)
The Winklevi aren’t suing me for
intellectual property theft. They’re
suing me because for the first time in
their lives, things didn’t work out the
way they were supposed to for them.
CUT TO:
TYLER and CAMERON are both studying when DIVYA busts in.
DIVYA
He’s expanding.
TYLER
What?
DIVYA
He’s expanding to Yale, Columbia and
Stanford, it’ll be in the Crimson
tomorrow.
TYLER
(beat)
Really.
DIVYA
Yeah.
TYLER
So that Cease and Desist letter really
scared the shit out of him, huh?
DIVYA
I want to hire a lawyer to file for
injunctive relief and get this website
taken down now!
CAMERON
Look--
DIVYA
Every minute the site is up, Harvard
Connection becomes less valuable. I want
an injunction, I want damages, I want
punitive relief and I want him dead.
CAMERON
I want those things too!
DIVYA
Then why aren’t we doing anything about
it?! Because we’re gentlemen of Harvard?!
CAMERON
Because you’re not thinking about how
it’ll look.
DIVYA
How’ll it look?
CAMERON
Like my brother and I are in skeleton
costumes chasing the Karate Kid around a
high school gym.
DIVYA
He’s violated Massachusetts state law.
When he goes to Connecticut, New York and
California he’ll have violated federal
law. And by the way, he’s in violation of
Harvard law.
CAMERON
There’s no such thing as Harvard Law.
TYLER
(pause--realizing)
Wait. Yes there is.
TYLER goes to the bookshelf and pulls down a manual.
TYLER (CONT’D)
Harvard Student Handbook. Every freshman
is issued one of these. Somewhere in this
book it says--
CAMERON
(eureka)
--you can’t steal from another student.
This is what we needed. We’re going to
Summers.
DIVYA
You can’t get a meeting with Larry
Summers.
CAMERON
My brother and I pay tuition at this
school, we carry a 3.9 GPA at this
school, we’ve won trophies for this
school and we’ll be rowing in the
Olympics for this school. I want a
meeting with the goddam president of this
school.
(pause)
Why Stanford?
DIVYA
Why do you think?
CUT TO:
A pretty 20 year-old co-ed, AMY, pulls a curtain open and the darkened room immediately fills with un-welcomed sunlight. AMY’s wearing nothing but a Stanford sweatshirt as a skinny 22 year-old guy who’s lying on her futon wakes up. There’s other evidence on the walls that we’re at Stanford University. There are also pieces of AMY’s clothing strewn about.
The young man on the futon is SEAN PARKER.
AMY
I’m sorry, I’m late for Bio-Chem.
SEAN
Okay.
AMY
You don’t know my name, do you?
SEAN
(off the sweatshirt)
Is it Stanford?
AMY
I should just kick your ass. How can you
go to a party, meet--
SEAN
Amelia Ritter but you prefer Amy. You’re
from Orinda, your father’s in commercial
real estate and your mother’s 10 years
sober.
AMY
(beat)
What’s my major?
SEAN
Trombone.
AMY
Really?
SEAN
I remember something about a trombone.
AMY
Tu fais l'amour à la jolie fille et la
mets de côté.
SEAN
French! Your major is French.
AMY
Oui. And yours?
SEAN
Mine? I don’t have one.
AMY
You haven’t declared?
SEAN
I don’t go to school.
AMY
You’re kidding?
SEAN
No.
AMY
Where did you go to school?
SEAN
William Taft Elementary for a little
while.
AMY
Seriously, you’re not like 15 years old
or anything are you?
SEAN
No.
(beat)
You’re not like--
AMY
No. So what do you do?
SEAN
I’m an entrepreneur.
AMY
You’re unemployed.
SEAN
I wouldn’t say that.
AMY
What would you say?
SEAN
That I’m an entrepreneur.
AMY
What was your latest preneur?
SEAN
Well...I founded an internet company that
let folks download and share music for
free.
AMY
Kind of like Napster?
SEAN
Exactly like Napster.
AMY
What do you mean?
SEAN
I founded Napster.
AMY
Sean Parker founded Napster.
SEAN
Nice to meet you.
AMY
(pause)
You’re Sean Parker?
SEAN
Ah ha. The shoe’s on the other...
AMY
Foot?
SEAN
--table which has turned.
AMY
I just slept with Sean Parker?
SEAN
You just slept on Sean Parker.
AMY
You’re a zillionaire.
SEAN
Not technically.
AMY
What are you?
SEAN
Broke. There’s not a lot of money in free
music. Even less when you’re being sued
by everyone who’s ever been to the
Grammys.
AMY
This is blowing my mind.
SEAN
I appreciate that.
AMY
I have to hop in the shower and get ready
for class.
SEAN
Bio-chem, even though you’re a French
major whose name is Amy.
AMY
You passed.
SEAN
I’m a hard worker.
AMY
There’s juice or anything else you can
find. Help yourself.
SEAN
You mind if I check my e-mail?
AMY
Go ahead.
AMY heads into the bathroom but leaves the door a little ajar.
SEAN steps over to AMY’s pink laptop and hits a key to wake it out of sleep mode.
The shower starts running in the bathroom.
The laptop springs to life and is open to something SEAN’s never seen before--a Facebook page.
He sees AMY’s picture and a short profile: Her major at Stanford, courses she’s taking, books she likes, clubs she’s a member of...
SEAN
(calling)
Amy?
She can’t hear him in the shower.
SEAN explores around a little more. He knows his way around a computer. He sees her “friends”. Friend after friend after friend.
SEAN (CONT’D)
(almost a whisper)
Jesus.
He gets up and goes to the bathroom door--
SEAN (CONT’D)
Amy?
AMY
(calling back)
Yeah!
SEAN
Can you come out here?
AMY
(calling)
Just a second!
SEAN tries to wait but can’t--
SEAN
There’s a snake in here, Amy.
AMY
What?!
AMY grabs a towel and jumps out of the shower--
AMY (CONT’D)
Where?!
SEAN
There isn’t a snake, but I need to ask
you something.
AMY
Are you kidding me?! I could have been
killed!
SEAN
(beat)
How?
AMY
(beat--not sure)
By running too fast...and getting twisted
in the curtain--What do you need to ask
me?
SEAN
I went to check my e-mail and there’s a
site open on your computer.
AMY
After you passed out last night I went on
theFacebook for a little bit.
SEAN
What’s that?
AMY
TheFacebook? Stanford’s had it for like
two weeks now it’s really awesome except
it’s freakishly addictive. Seriously, I’m
on the thing like five times a day.
SEAN
You mind if I grab a piece of paper and a
pen?
AMY
Is everything okay?
SEAN
Everything’s great. I just need to find
you, Mark Zuckerberg.
CUT TO:
CAMERON and TYLER, in dark suits, are waiting to see the president of Harvard.
The President’s office is in one of the two oldest university buildings in the country, and the SECRETARY sitting at the desk is even older. You get the sense that she thinks Harvard would be a better place if it weren’t for all these students.
CAMERON
(just making small talk)
I’ve never been in this building before.
SECRETARY
(without really looking up)
This building’s a hundred years older
than the country it’s in. So do be
careful.
TYLER
We’re sitting in chairs.
SECRETARY
(into phone)
Yes.
(into phone)
Very good.
She hangs up the phone.
SECRETARY (CONT’D)
You can go in now.
She points to a door and CAMERON and TYLER get up, quickly straighten themselves, and walk into
LARRY SUMMERS, a large man, is on the phone at his desk in his well-appointed office. A fire crackles in the sitting area and a 40-ish African-American woman, ANNE, in a pants suit is nearby going over some papers.
SUMMERS waves the boys in--
SUMMERS
(into phone)
That’s just their own stupidity, I should
have been there.
(into phone)
Darkness is the absence of light and
stupidity in that instance was the
absence of me.
SUMMERS motions for them to sit and they do. They take in some of the photographs around the room--SUMMERS with BILL CLINTON, etc.
SUMMERS (CONT’D)
(into phone)
Catherine, I have students in my office
now.
SUMMERS (CONT’D)
(into phone)
Students.
(into phone)
Undergrads.
(into phone)
I don’t know, from the looks of it they
want to sell me a Brooks Brothers
franchise.
(beat)
Alright.
SUMMERS hangs up the phone--
SUMMERS (CONT’D)
Good morning.
CAMERON
Good morning, sir. I’m Cameron Winklevoss
and this is my brother, Tyler.
SUMMERS reaches to the top of a pile of papers and pulls a ten- page letter off the top.
SUMMERS
And you’re here because...
There’s silence while SUMMERS appears to read over the letter...
SUMMERS (CONT’D)
Either one of you can answer.
CAMERON
I’m sorry, I thought you were reading the
letter.
SUMMERS
I’ve read the letter.
CAMERON
We came up with an idea for a website
called HarvardConnection--we’ve since
changed the name to ConnectU--and Mark
Zuckerberg stole that idea and--
SUMMERS
I understand. I’m asking what do you want
me to do about it.
CAMERON points to a row of Harvard Student Handbooks on the bookshelf behind SUMMERS.
CAMERON
Well sir, in The Harvard Student
Handbook, which is distributed to each
freshman--under the heading “Standards of
Conduct in the Harvard Community”--
SUMMERS can’t help an agonized sigh--
CAMERON (CONT’D)
--it says, “The College expects that all
students will be honest and forthcoming
in their dealings with members of this
community. All students are required to
respect public and private ownership.
Instances of theft, misappropriation--
SUMMERS
Anne?
ANNE
Yes sir.
SUMMERS
Punch me in the face.
(then to CAMERON)
Go ahead.
CAMERON
(beat)
...or unauthorized use will result in
disciplinary action. Including
requirement to withdraw from the college.
SUMMERS
And you memorized that instead of doing
what?
CAMERON
What my brother and I came here today to
ask of you, respectfully of course, is
that--
TYLER
(a little frustrated with this bullshit)
Sir, it’s against University rules to
steal from another student, plain and
simple.
SUMMERS
You’ve spoken to your House Master?
CAMERON
Yes sir, and the House Master made a
recommendation to the Ad Board but the Ad
Board won’t see us.
SUMMERS
Have you tried dealing with the other
student directly?
CAMERON
Mr. Zuckerberg hasn’t been responding to
any of our e-mails or phone calls for the
last two weeks. He doesn’t answer when we
knock on his door at Kirkland and the
closest we’ve come to dealing with him
face to face is when I saw him on the
quad and chased him through Harvard
Square.
SUMMERS
You chased him?
CAMERON
(beat)
I saw him and I know he saw me and I went
after him but he disappeared.
SUMMERS
I don’t see this as a University issue.
TYLER
Of course this is a University issue.
There’s a code of ethics and an honor
code and he violated them both.
SUMMERS
You entered into a code of ethics with
the university, not with each other.
TYLER
(beat)
I’m sorry President Summers, what you
just said makes no sense to me at all.
SUMMERS
I’m devastated by that.
CAMERON
What my brother means is that if Mark
Zuckerberg walked into our dorm room and
stole our computer that would be a
university issue, right?
SUMMERS
I really don’t know, this office doesn’t
handle petty larceny.
TYLER
This isn’t petty larceny.
CAMERON
(calming)
Ty--
TYLER
This idea is potentially worth millions
of dollars.
SUMMERS
Millions?
CAMERON
Yes.
SUMMERS
You might be letting your imaginations
run away with you.
TYLER
Sir, I honestly don’t think you’re in any
position to make that call.
SUMMERS
I was U.S. Treasury Secretary, I’m in
some position to make--
TYLER
Letting our imaginations run away with us
is exactly what we were told to do in
your freshmen address.
SUMMERS
Well I would suggest that you let your
imaginations run away with you on a new
project.
TYLER
You would.
SUMMERS
Yes. Everyone at Harvard is inventing
something. Harvard undergraduates believe
that inventing a job is better than
finding a job so I’ll suggest again that
the two of you come up with a new new
project.
CAMERON
I’m sorry, but that’s not the point.
SUMMERS
Please arrive at the point.
CAMERON
You don’t have to be an intellectual
property expert to understand the
difference between right and wrong.
SUMMERS
And you’re saying that I don’t?
CAMERON
Of course I’m not saying that.
TYLER
I’m saying that.
SUMMERS
Really.
CAMERON
Sir--
SUMMERS
Anne, how did they get this appointment?
ANNE
Colleagues of their father.
SUMMERS gives a quick nod--that’s what he thought.
SUMMERS
Let me tell you something, Mr. Winklevoss
and...Mr. Winklevoss. Since you’re on the
subject of right and wrong. This action,
this meeting, the two of you being here,
is wrong. It’s not worthy of Harvard.
It’s not what Harvard saw in you. You
don’t get special treatment.
CAMERON
We’ve never--
TYLER
Start another project? Like we’re making
a diorama for the science fair?
SUMMERS
And if you have a problem with that, Mr.
Winklevoss--
CAMERON
We’ve never asked for special treatment.
SUMMERS
--the courts are always at your disposal.
Is there anything else I can do for you?
TYLER
(under his breath)
Well you could take the Harvard Student
Handbook and shoved it up--
CAMERON
(stopping him)
Ty.
(to SUMMERS)
Thank you very much for your time, sir.
CUT TO:
As CAMERON and TYLER exit, TYLER closes the door a little too hard and the brass doorknob comes off in his hand. He drops it on the SECRETARY’S desk as he exits--
TYLER
I broke your 335 year old doorknob.
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
Eduardo, spring break, you and Mr.
Zuckerberg took a trip to New York.
EDUARDO
Yes.
GRETCHEN
What was the purpose of the trip?
EDUARDO
As CFO, I’d set up some meetings with
potential advertisers.
GRETCHEN
Who paid for the trip?
EDUARDO
It was paid for out of the thousand
dollar account I’d set up a few months
earlier.
GRETCHEN
At this point your thousand dollars was
the only money that had been put into the
company.
EDUARDO
Yes.
GRETCHEN
How did you feel the meetings went?
EDUARDO
They went terribly.
GRETCHEN
Why?
EDUARDO
Mark was asleep.
MARK
I wasn’t asleep.
EDUARDO
Can I re-phrase my answer?
GRETCHEN
Sure.
EDUARDO
I wish he’d been asleep.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO, in a three-piece suit, is pitching the EXECUTIVE. MARK, in his hoodie and flip-flops, is completely detached and staring at the floor.
EDUARDO
...and we’re at 29 schools now with over
75,000 members. People who go on
theFacebook tend to stay on longer than
almost any other site, now here’s the
most impressive statistic--91% of people
who try it once will come back. Now if
you’ll allow me--
EXECUTIVE
Excuse me one second.
(re: MARK)
What sound is he making? Is that like a
“tsk”.
MARK
It wasn’t a “tsk”, it was uh...hmm...like
a glottal stop. Almost a gag reflex.
EXECUTIVE
(beat)
Guys, what is this?
CUT BACK TO:
GRETCHEN
There was one more meeting scheduled for
the New York trip.
EDUARDO
Yes. It was a dinner. It was set up
through my girlfriend at the time.
GRETCHEN
Would you say that Mark was excited about
this meeting?
EDUARDO
Yes, very.
CUT TO:
66 is a hip and trendy restaurant in Tribeca. The young crowd is drinking cocktails of all different colors and wearing Prada. We FIND EDUARDO in a three-piece suit and MARK in his hoodie and flip-flops, along with EDUARDO’s now-girlfriend, CHRISTY, sitting at a table with an empty seat waiting.
CHRISTY
They’re not gonna card us.
EDUARDO
They might.
CHRISTY
Look around.
EDUARDO
It’ll be embarrassing.
CHRISTY
(to MARK)
Tell him they’re not gonna card us.
MARK
They’re not gonna card us.
EDUARDO
Mark--
MARK
Are you gonna talk about ads again?
EDUARDO
Unless you’re the Ballet Theatre of
Hartford, the purpose of a business is to
make a profit.
MARK
This isn’t a business yet.
EDUARDO
That’s tough for me because my job is to--
nevermind.
MARK says nothing...
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
(pause)
He’s 25 minutes late.
MARK
He founded Napster when he was 19, he can
be late.
EDUARDO
He’s not a god.
MARK
What is he?
EDUARDO
25 minutes late.
CHRISTY
I think Wardo’s jealous.
CUT BACK TO:
EDUARDO
I honestly wasn’t jealous. I was nervous.
GRETCHEN
Why?
EDUARDO
I didn’t know him at all but I’d done a
search and I’d asked around. He struck me
as kind of a wild card.
CUT BACK TO:
CHRISTY
Why?
EDUARDO
He crashed out of two pretty big internet
companies in spectacular fashion and he’s
had a reputation with drugs.
MARK
He also founded the companies.
EDUARDO
We don’t need him.
MARK
(nodding toward the door)
He’s here.
SEAN PARKER has stepped into the restaurant and is saying hello to the hostess while hugging a waitress.
EDUARDO
And he does own a watch.
SEAN stops at a table to shake hands with a guy in a suit and kiss his girlfriend. It’s sort of an incongruous sight--this 22 year old kid who’s able to work a room like Sinatra. Who the hell is this?
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
(quietly)
Take your time. And he does own a watch.
CHRISTY
Stop it.
SEAN makes his way over to MARK’s table--
SEAN
I’m Sean Parker.
EDUARDO
(shaking hands)
How do you do.
SEAN
You must be Eduardo. And Christy. And
Mark, it’s great to meet you.
MARK
(almost beaming)
Great to meet you.
SEAN
You guys don’t have anything in front of
you.
(to a passing WAITRESS)
Tori.
EDUARDO
We were waiting for--
WAITRESS
Hey baby boy.
SEAN
Can you bring out some things. The
lacquered pork with that ginger confit?
Tuna tartar and a lobster claws, that’ll
get us started. Christy, what do you like
to drink?
CHRISTY
An appletini?
SEAN
Great. Four of those.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
From that point on it was the Sean-a-
thon.
SY
The question was “What did you talk
about?”
EDUARDO
He took us through his episode with
Napster.
CUT TO:
The CAMERA is moving around the table as SEAN--in and out of MOS--is telling story after story while food is brought, drinks put down, more food brought and more drinks put down. MARK is enthralled, CHRISTY is sexy and EDUARDO is polite.
SEAN
I didn’t want to spend my 20’s as a
professional defendant. Who knew--the
music industry doesn’t have a sense of
humor. We tried to sell the company to
pay the 35 million they said we owed in
royalties but I guess to them that was a
little like selling a stolen car to pay
for the stolen gas. So we said screw it
and declared bankruptcy.
CHRISTY
But you made a name for yourself.
SEAN
And you are dry. Tori?
CHRISTY
No, I’m good.
EDUARDO (V.O.)
And then he went on to his second
business venture, which was an online
rolodex that he got thrown out of by Case
Equity.
SEAN
And I wanted to do it nice this time. I
put on a tie and I shined my shoes but
nobody wants to take orders from a kid so
let me tell you what happens to a 20 year
old at the top of a hot dot com:
CUT BACK TO:
EDUARDO
I’m not a psychiatrist, but--
SY
I’m glad we’ve got that on the record.
GRETCHEN
You’re not a psychiatrist but what?
EDUARDO
A psychiatrist would say he was paranoid.
CUT BACK TO:
SEAN
They’ll hire private detectives who’ll
follow you day and night. You’re a target
for high priced escorts. I can’t prove it
but I know they tapped my phones.
Whatever it is that’s gonna trip you up
you’ve done already. Private behavior is
a relic of a time gone by. And if
somehow, someway, you’ve managed to live
your life like the Dalai Lama then
they’ll make shit up. Because they don’t
want you, they want your idea and then
they want you to say thank you while you--
excuse me--wipe your chin and walk away.
MARK
That’s what happened to you?
CUT BACK TO:
EDUARDO
And delusional.
CUT BACK TO:
SEAN
Yes. There‘ll be payback at Case. I
brought down the record companies with
Napster and Case’s gonna suffer for their
sins too.
EDUARDO
You didn’t bring down the record
companies. They won.
SEAN
In court.
EDUARDO
Yes.
SEAN
You want to buy a Tower Records, Eduardo?
EDUARDO (V.O.)
And he told story after story about life
in Silicon Valley, and parties at Stanford
and down in LA, and friends who’d become
millionaires, but mostly how Mark had to--
had to come to California. And then he got
around to theFacebook.
SEAN
Tell me about your progress.
EDUARDO
Well...we’re in 29 schools now and we
have over 75,000 members--
SEAN
(ignoring EDUARDO and going for MARK)
Tell me about the strategy you’re using.
MARK
Okay. For instance, we wanted Baylor in
Texas but Baylor already had a social
network on campus so instead of going
right after them, we made a list of every
school within a hundred miles--
SEAN
--and put theFacebook on those campuses
first.
MARK
Pretty soon all the Baylor kids were
seeing their friends on our site we were
in.
SEAN
That’s called the Little Big Horn, that’s
smart, Mark.
EDUARDO
Thank you, it was mine.
CHRISTY
(to EDUARDO)
Easy.
EDUARDO
Settle an argument for us, would you? I
say it’s time to start making money from
theFacebook but Mark doesn’t want
advertising. Who’s right?
SEAN
Neither of you yet. TheFacebook is cool,
that’s what it’s got going for it.
MARK
Yeah.
SEAN
You don’t want to ruin it with ads
because ads aren’t cool.
MARK
Exactly.
SEAN
It’s like you’re throwing the greatest
party on campus and someone’s telling you
it’s gotta be over at 11:00.
MARK
That’s exactly right.
SEAN
You don’t even know what the thing is
yet.
MARK
I said exactly that.
SEAN
How big it can get and how far it can go.
This is no time to take your chips down.
A million dollars isn’t cool. You know
what’s cool?
EDUARDO
You?
CUT BACK TO:
EDUARDO
A billion dollars.
(beat)
And that shut everybody up.
CUT BACK TO:
SEAN
And that’s where you’re headed. A billion
dollar valuation. Unless you take bad
advice in which case you may as well have
come up with a chain of very successful
yogurt shops. When you go fishing you can
catch a lot of fish or you can catch a
big fish. You ever walk into a guy’s den
and see a picture of him standing next to
fourteen trout?
CHRISTY
No, he’s holding a 3000 pound marlin.
SEAN
Yep.
MARK
That’s a good analogy.
EDUARDO
Okay, but we all know that marlins don’t
really weigh 3000 pounds, right?
CHRISTY
Have you seen the big ones up close?
EDUARDO
I haven’t but I don’t think the guy’s
holding a marlin the size of a Range
Rover. That would be a really big fish
and a very strong guy.
CHRISTY
You think we might be getting away from
the point?
SEAN
I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’m
just a fan who came to say hi.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
He owned Mark after that dinner.
CUT BACK TO:
SEAN’s signing the check.
EDUARDO (V.O.)
He picked up the check, he told Mark
they’d talk again soon and he was gone.
But not before he made his biggest
contribution to the company.
SEAN
(signing the check)
Drop the “the”. Just Facebook. It’s
cleaner.
And SEAN heads out, patting backs and kissing waitresses along the way.
After a moment...
MARK
(knocked out)
Shit.
EDUARDO
That’s gotta be some kind of land speed
record for talking.
MARK
You want to end the party at eleven.
EDUARDO
I’m trying to pay for the party.
MARK
There won’t be a party unless it’s cool.
(beat)
What’d you think?
EDUARDO
Sure, let’s drop the “the”.
MARK
I meant catching the marlin instead of
the 14 trout. Doesn’t that sound good?
EDUARDO
If you’re a trout.
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
I’m going to enter this into the record.
Incorporation papers for Facebook, an LLC
registered in Florida--
(to EDUARDO for the record)
Why Florida?
EDUARDO
That’s where my family lives.
GRETCHEN
--and ask the respondent to stipulate
that the articles of incorporation state
the ownership as follows: 65 percent for
Mark Zuckerberg, 30 percent for Eduardo
Saverin and 5 percent for Dustin
Moskovitz.
SY
We stipulate.
GRETCHEN
And that was April 13th, 2004.
SY
You can mark it.
GRETCHEN
(to SY)
Do you have anything here?
SY
Yes, thank you. Mr. Saverin, have you
ever done anything that might be
considered legitimate grounds for
termination?
EDUARDO
No.
SY
You never did anything to embarrass the
company or even seriously jeopardize it?
EDUARDO
(beat)
No.
SY
No?
EDUARDO
No.
SY
You were accused of animal cruelty.
EDUARDO
(pause)
Wait--
SY
You weren’t?
EDUARDO
This isn’t happening.
SY
I have an article here from The Crimson--
EDUARDO
Jesus Christ--
CUT TO:
MARK
I can’t have this, Wardo.
MARK’s talking about the Crimson article in his hand. EDUARDO is standing next to a crate that’s holding--wait for it--a live chicken.
DUSTIN is sitting at the desktop computer staring at something intently.
EDUARDO
Oh come one, this is bullshit, this is
another club playing a prank.
CUT BACK TO:
EDUARDO
I’d gotten into the Phoenix. I’d been
accepted and as part of my initiation I
had to, for one week, carry with me at
all times and take of, a chicken.
CUT TO:
MARK
They identify you as one of the founders
of Facebook. “Junior Eduardo Saverin”--
I’m not the expert but being connected to
torturing animals is probably bad for
business.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
I did not torture the chicken, I don’t
torture chickens, are you crazy?
SY
No and settle down please. I have here
an article from the Crimson--
CUT TO:
MARK
This is scathing.
DUSTIN
(without looking up)
Nine-hundred and fifty-six.
EDUARDO
(trying to be calm)
I was having dinner in the Kirkland
Dining Hall with Mark and I had the
chicken with me because I had to have the
chicken with me at all times. This was
college.
CUT TO:
MARK
Somebody’s gonna have to answer for this.
DUSTIN
Nine--hundred sixty-nine.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
The dining hall was serving chicken for
dinner and I had to feed my chicken so I
just...I took little pieces of chicken
and I gave it to the chicken. Someone
must have seen me because the next thing
I knew I was being accused of forced
cannibalism.
At the end of the table, MARYLIN tries but fails to stifle a small laugh.
EDUARDO looks down the table...MARYLIN does her best to look serious.
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
I didn’t know you can’t do that. I dealt
with the various animal rights groups, I
dealt with the Associate Dean of the
College, this was all resolved.
CUT TO:
DUSTIN
Nine-hundred and eighty-eight.
EDUARDO
Someone from the Porc or the Fly must
have reported it. For all I know it was
the Winklevosses.
MARK
Alright, let’s just forget about it.
EDUARDO
This is absurd. I’m being accused of
animal cruelty. It’s better to be accused
of necrophilia.
MARK
It is better to be accused of necro--
EDUARDO
I’m going to have to explain this to my
father, I’m going to have to explain this
to everybody, I’m going to have to--what
is happening on that?
EDUARDO’s referring to a laptop that’s open and displaying images of four paintings.
MARK
I have my final coming up for “Postwar
and Contemporary Art” and I haven’t been
to class. I’m supposed to write about
those four paintings.
EDUARDO
That’s a Facebook page.
MARK
Yeah, I opened it under an alias. I
posted the paintings and asked people to
comment. Every once in a while I hop on
and stir the pot to get a good debate
going.
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
Mr. Zuckerberg was cheating on his final
exam?
EDUARDO
I’d rather not answer that, Gretchen.
GRETCHEN
Why not?
EDUARDO
Because I’m not suing him for cheating on
his final exam that’s not what friends
do.
GRETCHEN
Well you just told us he was cheating.
EDUARDO
Oops.
(to MARK)
You told your lawyers I was torturing
animals?!
SY
No, he didn’t tell us about it at all.
Our litigators are capable of finding a
Crimson article. In fact when we raised
the subject with him he defended you.
MARK
(beat)
Oops.
CUT TO:
DUSTIN
Nine ninety-three, we are so close.
MARK
That reminds me, we’re gonna need more
money, Wardo.
EDUARDO
Yeah, no, I agree. More servers, more
help--
MARK
--I’m interviewing two interns to come to
Palo Alto and we’re gonna have to pay
them something.
EDUARDO
What?
MARK
I already found a house for rent on a
street two blocks from the Stanford
campus. It’s perfect and it’s got a pool.
EDUARDO
When did you decide to go to California
for the summer?
MARK
(beat)
You mean when did I actually decide?
EDUARDO
Somewhere in the middle of The Sean
Parker Variety Hour?
MARK
He was right. California’s the place
we’ve gotta be.
EDUARDO
You’re Jed Clampett?
MARK
I didn’t know you guys got The Beverly
Hillbillies in Bra--
EDUARDO
Yes, we got the show in Brazil, it was
genius.
MARK
What’s your problem with Sean?
EDUARDO
He doesn’t bring anything to the table.
He doesn’t have money, Dustin’s a better
programmer--
MARK
He’s got connections to VCs.
EDUARDO
We don’t need VCs, we need advertisers
and I’ve got connections to VCs.
MARK
The real players and--
EDUARDO
Look--
MARK
--as someone who’s just really
embarrassed the company in a bad way I
wouldn’t--
EDUARDO
It was the Winklevosses, Mark!
MARK
Hang on.
(to DUSTIN)
Hit refresh.
DUSTIN hits “refresh” on the desk-top computer. Then smiles...
DUSTIN
150,004.
MARK
150,000 members, Wardo.
EDUARDO
(beat--sincerely)
Congratulations, dude.
MARK
Congratulations.
EDUARDO
(beat)
You don’t think it was strange that he
was followed by private detectives?
MARK
Who came up with nothing.
EDUARDO
Enough to get him out of the company. The
drugs, the girls--
MARK
We don’t know any of that’s true.
EDUARDO
You can read about it.
MARK
And I can read about you torturing birds.
Since when does reading something--
EDUARDO
Don’t fish eat other fish?! The marlins
and the trout?!
DUSTIN
What’s he talking about?
MARK
I’m interviewing interns at 10 tomorrow
night in the CS lab. Get on board with
this, man. You know, I don’t know what
else to say.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO steps through double doors and stops for a moment as he HEARS an odd sound--RAUCOUS CHEERING from a CROWD that’s gathered in one of the classrooms.
EDUARDO walks down to the classroom, opens the door and walks into--
--where 60 or so STUDENTS are in a semi-circle, five and six deep, cheering on the contestants for the internship.
All the desks in the room have been moved to the sides and five desks with laptops set up in the middle. Next to each laptop is a shot glass filled with Jack Daniels.
DUSTIN’s holding a watch and MARK is walking slowly back and forth behind the five “interviewees” who are intensely typing at their keyboards.
EDUARDO slowly makes his way through the crowd to MARK. He can see that on the computer screens are a whole lot of numbers and letters that neither he nor we can understand.
He stands next to MARK and watches this for a moment. Every once in a while, one of the contestants will throw back their shot of Jack Daniels which will instantly get re-filled by a PRETTY ASIAN GIRL. Throughout all this the CHEERING CONTINUES.
DUSTIN
(waving EDUARDO over)
Eduardo!
EDUARDO
(pause)
Yo. Mark?
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
What’s goin’ on?
MARK
They have 10 minutes to get root access
to a Python webserver, expose its SSL
encryption and then intercept all traffic
over its secure port.
EDUARDO
They’re hacking.
MARK
Yes, all behind a Pix Firewall Emulator.
But here’s the beauty.
EDUARDO
You know I didn’t understand anything you
just said, right?
MARK
I do know that.
EDUARDO
What’s the beauty?
MARK
Every 10th line of code written, they
have to drink a shot. And hacking’s
supposed to be stealth, so anytime the
server detects an intrusion, the
candidate responsible has to drink a
shot. I also have a program running that
has a pop-up window appear simultaneously
on all five computers--the last candidate
to hit the window has to drink a shot.
Plus every three minutes they all have to
drink a shot.
DUSTIN
(calling out)
Three minutes.
All five candidates drain their shot glasses and slam them down where they get re-filled by the pretty Asian girl.
EDUARDO
Can I ask--what part of the interns’ jobs
will they need to be able to do drunk?
MARK
You’re right. A more relevant test might
be seeing if they can keep a chicken
alive for a week.
(pause)
That was mean.
EDUARDO hands MARK a thick envelope--
EDUARDO
Here.
MARK
What’s this?
EDUARDO
I opened a new account and put $18,000 in
it. Will that get you through the summer?
MARK looks at EDUARDO...
Suddenly two of the candidates hands shoot up almost at the same time--
INTERN [ERIC]
Here!
INTERN [IAN]
Right here!
MARK glances over at the first screen, then the second...
MARK
Welcome to Facebook.
The place ERUPTS. The pretty ASIAN GIRL hits an mp3 player that’s been hooked up to speakers and a Dr. Dre song blares out--”California, it’s time to party...”
The two winners are hugging each other and getting wild congratulations from the crowd.
MARK looks back at EDUARDO and smiles...EDUARDO gives him a pat on the back and we
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
$18,000.
EDUARDO
Yes.
GRETCHEN
In addition to the $1000 you’d already
put up.
EDUARDO
Yes.
GRETCHEN
A total of $19,000 now.
EDUARDO
Yes.
MARK
Hang on.
MARK’s scratching something out on a pad...
MARK (CONT’D)
I’m just checking your math on that. Yes,
I got the same thing.
GRETCHEN
May I continue?
MARK motions “yes”...
GRETCHEN (CONT’D)
(to EDUARDO)
After expressing misgivings about Mr.
Zuckerberg taking the company and moving
it to California for the summer, why did
you put $18,000 in an account for his
use?
EDUARDO
I figured we were partners and I wanted
to be a team player. I figured Mark,
Dustin and the new interns could work on
the site while I was generating
advertiser interest in New York. But
mostly I figured...how much could go
wrong in three months?
CUT TO:
We’re outside of this small, campus-area house as LOUD MUSIC plays. A zip line is tied from the chimney and runs down over a small swimming pool where it’s attached to a telephone pole on the other side.
MARK is standing in the pool and video taping as DUSTIN, who’s on the roof, grabs the handle, takes off and jumps into the pool to everyone’s cheers.
We HEAR the GUYS joke about the quality of the jump.
The handle gets pulled back on a rope, an INTERN grabs it, jumps--
--and the brick chimney comes crashing down.
The INTERN drops into patio furniture as bricks from the chimney come cascading down.
No one moves--
INTERN [ERIC]
I’m okay.
MARK
You sure?
ERIC
Yeah.
DUSTIN
Yikes.
And at that moment a stray brick drops from the roof and crashes through a glass patio table.
From inside the DOORBELL RINGS--
DUSTIN (CONT’D)
That’s the doorbell.
MARK
I didn’t know we had a doorbell.
DUSTIN
(shouting inside)
Andrew! Get the door!
MARK
No, he’s wired in.
INTERN [IAN]
That’s gonna cut into the security
deposit.
MARK walks into--
The place is computer geek paradise. Computers are everywhere, along with some of the empty boxes they came in. Pizza boxes, Chinese food containers, empty beer bottles and white boards filled with indecipherable code fill the room. There are a couple of large mattresses on the floor and a large map of the U.S. with pins and tags showing the schools where they’ve already put Facebook and different pins showing the schools they’re going for.
As MARK walks to the door, he walks past ANDREW, who’s sitting at a computer, writing code and completely oblivious to everything around him.
MARK
(snapping his fingers)
Andrew.
ANDREW
Not now.
MARK
Good boy.
MARK gets to the door and opens it.
He’s stunned to see SEAN PARKER standing there with his girlfriend, SHARON.
They all look at each other for a moment--
MARK (CONT’D)
Sean?
SEAN
Mark? Do you live here?
MARK
Yeah. Do you?
SEAN
We were right across the street, we saw
the chimney come--
MARK
Yeah.
SEAN
Is anybody hurt?
MARK
No. You live across the street?
SHARON
I’m Sharon.
SEAN
This is my--Sharon. She lives across the
street I was helping her move out when we
saw the chimney--
MARK
Yeah, we had a zip line to the pool.
SEAN
You came to California.
MARK
Yeah.
SEAN
You made the right choice.
CUT TO:
SEAN’s looking around the place. DUSTIN and the INTERNS are standing off to the side, happy to be in the presence of Sean Parker. ANDREW’s still locked into his computer. MARK’s off in the kitchen.
MARK (OS)
Here you go.
A beer comes flying out of the kitchen and SEAN catches it.
MARK (OS) (CONT’D)
Sharon.
Another beer comes flying out which SHARON had no idea was coming and so it smashes into the fireplace.
SHARON
(pause)
I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were--
MARK (OS)
(calling)
No problem. Here you go.
SHARON
Wait--
And another bottle comes flying out that SHARON isn’t ready for and it crashes to the floor.
SEAN
This house and this team are great. It’s
exactly what it should be.
(to ANDREW)
I’m Sean Parker.
ANDREW pays no attention as MARK comes out of the kitchen--
MARK
He’s wired in.
SEAN
That’s what I’m talkin’ about. Where’s
Eduardo?
MARK
He’s got an internship in New York.
SEAN
(beat)
Eduardo didn’t come out?
MARK shakes his head, “No.”
CUT TO:
An ultra-hip San Francisco nightclub. It’s a hundred-year old theater that’s been converted into a 21st Century hot spot for Silicon Valley’s rock stars. The lower level is a giant dance floor packed with sweating 20-somethings bouncing to pounding house music. There are raised blocks where scantily dressed professional dancers perform non-stop. A huge lighting grid hangs from the ceiling shooting colored lights and lasers everywhere. Also hanging from the ceiling are two trapeze bars with two performers swinging and contorting.
The staircase leads up to the 2nd level which is all VIP tables that look out over the dance floor. Each VIP area has a couple of couches and a table covered in bottles of vodka, tequila, rum, mixers, ice, glasses and a private waitress who’s happy to bend over and pour a drink for you.
And that’s where we catch up with MARK and SEAN. Sitting next to SEAN is a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN and there’s another standing behind him and leaning against the couch.
MARK and SEAN have to speak up above the music.
SEAN
I was crashing there for a little bit
while I’m taking care of some things. But
she’s done for the summer so she’s back
at her parents’ place.
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN #1 (BRIANNA)
The homeless rock star of Palo Alto.
SEAN
What’s your plan for the summer?
MARK has been subtly checking out the club and not paying attention.
SEAN (CONT’D)
Mark?
MARK
I’m sorry, I was looking at the
architecture.
SEAN smiles...
SEAN
I asked what your plan--
MARK
A hundred schools by the end of the
summer.
BRIANNA
I’m going to the restroom.
SEAN
Okay.
BEAUTIFUL WOMAN #2 (KELSEY)
I’ll go with you.
The two girls exit--
MARK
Your date looks so familiar to me.
SEAN
She looks familiar to a lot of people.
MARK
What do you mean?
SEAN takes a sip of his drink...
SEAN
(simply)
A Stanford MBA named Roy Raymond wants to
buy his wife some lingerie but he’s too
embarrassed to shop for it in a
department store. He comes up with an
idea for a high end place that doesn’t
make you feel like a pervert. He gets a
$40,000 bank loan and borrows another
forty-thousand from his in-laws, opens a
store and calls it Victoria’s Secret. He
makes a half-million dollars his first
year.
He starts a catalogue, opens three more
stores and after five years, he sells the
company to Leslie Wexner and The Limited
for four million dollars. Happy ending,
right? Except two years later the
company’s worth 500 million dollars and
Roy Raymond jumps off the Golden Gate
Bridge.
(beat)
Poor guy just wanted to buy his wife a
pair of thigh-highs, you know?
MARK
Was that a parable?
SEAN
My date’s a Victoria’s Secret model,
that’s why she looks familiar to you.
MARK
God.
SEAN
Don’t be impressed by all this, I read
your blog.
MARK
Oh, you know, that was--
SEAN
You know why I started Napster? A girl I
loved in high school was with the co-
captain of the varsity lacrosse team and
I wanted to take her from him so I
decided to come up with the next big
thing.
MARK
I didn’t know th--
SEAN
Napster wasn’t a failure. I changed the
music industry for better and for always.
It may not have been good business but it
pissed a lot of people off. And wasn’t
that what your Facemash was about?
They’re scared of me, pal, and they’re
gonna be scared of you. What the VC’s
want is to say, “Good idea, kid. The
grown-ups’ll take it from here.” But not
this time. This is our time. This time
you’re gonna hand ‘em a business card
that says “I’m CEO...bitch”, that’s what
I want for you, so where the hell’s
Eduardo?
MARK
He’s in New York.
SEAN
Suckin’ up to ad execs.
MARK
He’s got an--
SEAN
--an internship? The company’s here. A
billion dollar company is here. Do you
live and breathe Facebook?
MARK
Yes.
SEAN
Wardo wants to be a businessman and for
all I know he’s gonna be a good one but
he shouldn’t be in New York kissing
Madison Avenue’s ass. This is a once-in-a-
generation-holy-shit idea and the water
under the Golden Gate is freezing cold.
Look at my face and tell me I don’t know
what I’m talking about.
MARK
(pause)
Do you ever think about the girl?
SEAN
What girl?
MARK
The one--the girl in high school who was--
with the lacrosse thing.
SEAN
(are you kidding?)
No.
The girls comes back--
BRIANNA
If you guys are gonna talk about
bandwidth we need shots.
SEAN
A hundred schools by the end of the
summer?
MARK
Yeah.
SEAN
Tell you what, gesture of good faith.
While you’re getting into a hundred
schools, I’ll put you on two continents.
MARK
If you don’t have a place to crash I
think you should definitely come and live
with us.
SEAN
(nods)
Let’s line up some shots.
(getting the server)
Excuse me.
SERVER
Yes sir.
SEAN
You can take this away and bring out the
1942.
SERVER
Absolutely, Mr. Parker.
MARK takes this in a moment before we
CUT TO:
We’re looking at a stone bridge crossing a perfectly straight stretch of water against the backdrop of the medieval town of Henley, England--founded in 1179.
And after a moment of placid quiet--
--BOOSH!
Two razor thin skulls explode for the final, agonizing hundred- meter stretch of the ancient and prestigious Henley Royal Regatta.
The two boats are neck and neck. The port-side boat is being crewed by the two Dutch members of the Hollandia Roeiclub. The starboard boat is being crewed by a pair of identical twins wearing tank tops bearing the “H” of Harvard.
We HEAR the ROAR come up from the CROWD in the viewing section. The crowd is dressed as if for opening day at Ascot-- the women in flowing dresses and wide-brimmed hats, the men in blazers and brightly colored floral ties.
But the young men in the boats can barely hear the crowd. Just their own breathing as they pull against the longest natural straight stretch of water in the world--a mile and a half torture test against the best competition they’ve ever faced.
And they’re neck and neck. CAMERON and TYLER can’t shake the Dutch.
The CROWD is going crazy. Mixed in with the British crowd is a small contingent waving the flag of Holland and a slightly larger contingent of Americans.
We’ll notice a stoic man in a VIP viewing section and later we’ll be introduced to him as Cameron and Tyler’s father. Next to him is their mother, who can barely watch.
Back on the boats it’s just the breathing as the skulls slice through the water like jet-powered knives. 50 meters now and there’s still no daylight between them.
25 meters and the Dutch and American fans are going crazy-- even the British aristocracy can’t help but get caught up in the closest race in the history of the competition. The FATHER is silently willing his boys one more fraction of boat speed-- the MOTHER has her hands over her mouth in praying position.
POP!
--the finish gun is fired into the air, the oars come out of the water and the bodies of the crewmen slump over.
CAMERON turns his head to the cheering crowd to see the Dutch group holding a giant flag and jumping up and down. The Americans bring their giant flag down and fold it up.
The two DUTCH CREW MEMBERS pump their fists in the air and hug as the two boats skim along to a gentle stop.
The MOTHER drops her head and looks down. The FATHER refuses to look away.
From CAMERON and TYLER, just the breathing.
CUT TO:
CAMERON and TYLER are watching as the Dutch team is having their picture taken with their newly-won trophy in the press room. TYLER doesn’t want to watch anymore and steps into--
Where an AIDE greets him--
AIDE
Mr. Winklevoss.
TYLER
Tyler.
AIDE
Tremendous race.
TYLER
Thank you.
CAMERON comes along.
TYLER (CONT’D)
This is my brother, Cameron.
AIDE
Excellent.
(to the blue-blazered man behind him)
Sir. His Royal Highness, Prince Albert.
PRINCE ALBERT
Ah.
AIDE
Your highness, this is Cameron and Tyler
Winklevoss.
PRINCE ALBERT
Of course. Brilliant race. I’ve never
seen a race that close.
TYLER
(beat)
Yes, sir.
PRINCE ALBERT
My grandfather, Jack Kelly, was one of
the premiere rowers of his day. I’ve been
coming to Henley for 30 years and I’ve
never seen a race that close. Have you
seen a race that close?
CAMERON is thinking about starting a war with Monaco right now so he lets his brother do the talking.
TYLER
(beat)
No, Your Highness. Mile and a half races
are more commonly won by a boat length or
two.
PRINCE ALBERT
Yes, that’s absolutely right. Brutally
close.
TYLER
May I introduce my teammates? This is
Dave, he’s our--
AIDE
(quietly to PRINCE ALBERT)
I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse us.
PRINCE ALBERT
On to the Dutch!
CAMERON and TYLER step over to DIVYA who’s waiting near the bar--
TYLER
I’m sorry you had to fly all the way over
to see that.
DIVYA
I wouldn’t have missed it, brother. How
was the royalty?
CAMERON
I just wanted him to tell me a couple
more times how close the race was a
couple of more times. Brutal. It was
brutally close. Excruciatingly brutal.
Never seen a race so excruciatingly
JESUS!
That was an unusual outburst from CAMERON...
DIVYA
Cam, the guy’s the prince of a country
the size of Nantucket, relax it’s fine--
MR. WINKLEVOSS has made his way over--
MR. WINKLEVOSS
Boys.
TYLER
Dad.
MR. WINKLEVOSS
Divya.
DIVYA
Mr. Winklevoss.
MR. WINKLEVOSS
That was a tough beat.
CAMERON
I’m sorry, that you and mom flew all the--
MR. WINKLEVOSS
No, don’t you ever apologize to me for
losing a race like that. Don’t ever
apologize to anyone for losing a race
like that.
Another man comes along, MR. KENWRIGHT.
KENWRIGHT
Boys.
TYLER
Oh. Mr. Kenwright. Dad, this is Mr.
Kenwright, the head of our host family
this week.
KENWRIGHT
Pleasure to meet you.
MR. WINKLEVOSS
Good to meet you.
KENWRIGHT
I just had a phone chat with my daughter.
She told me that she and her friends are
already talking about the race, which
they’ve seen via their computers. A new
website called Facebook. Do you have this
in America?
Everyone is frozen...
MR. WINKLEVOSS
I’m going to find your mother.
KENWRIGHT
(pause)
Have I said something wrong?
DIVYA
(pause)
Your daughter doesn’t go to school in the
States?
KENWRIGHT
No no. Cambridge. Majoring in French
Literature, though I wasn’t aware there
was such a thing.
TYLER
(pause)
They have Facebook at Cambridge?
KENWRIGHT
And apparently Oxford and the London
School of Economics--that’s where her
friends are.
DIVYA
That’s awesome.
KENWRIGHT
Good race, boys. Take the bitter with the
better.
The men leave and CAMERON, TYLER and DIVYA are alone. CAMERON looks at them for a moment...
CAMERON
(pause)
I’m gonna watch the race film. If this
online I wanna see it.
TYLER
Stop it. Stop it, Cameron. Knock it off.
I don’t mind that we lost to the Dutch
today by less than a second. That was a
good race, that was a fair race and
they’ll see us again. What I mind--and
what you should mind--is showing up on
Monday for a race that was run on Sunday.
(beat)
We tried talking to him ourselves, we
tried writing a letter, we tried the Ad
Board, and we tried the president of the
University. Now I’m asking you. For the
last time! Let’s take the considerable
resources at our disposal and sue him in
federal court!
CAMERON looks at his brother and DIVYA...
DIVYA
Come on.
CAMERON
(pause)
I need a real drink.
CAMERON takes a few steps away as TYLER and DIVYA drop their heads in surrender but then CAMERON turns right back--
CAMERON (CONT’D)
Screw it. Let’s gut the freakin’ nerd.
DIVYA grabs CAMERON and hugs him.
TYLER
That’s what I’m talking about.
There’s a thunderstorm going on outside and rain is beating hard against the windows. DUSTIN, ANDREW and the INTERNS are hard at work writing code. Green Day is pumping from the speakers.
SEAN is pacing the house on a cordless phone while two YOUNG WOMEN--dressed to go out for a party--are at the moment each on a free computer playing each other in a game of Counter- Strike. Basically they’re shooting at each other and missing and laughing their heads off.
It wouldn’t appear as if the house has been cleaned since the last time we saw it and in fact there are signs of more wreckage as well as futons, pillows and blankets on the floor.
There’s also a 12-foot bong that reaches the middle landing of the staircase.
SEAN
(into phone)
Check it out, I saw him today.
(beat)
Manningham, Mitchell Manningham, my Case
Equity guy--hang on.
(to the girls)
Are you guys using spikes or ghost
missiles?
GIRL #1
We don’t know, we’re just shooting at
each other.
The DOORBELL RINGS but no one pays attention--
SEAN
Use sweet kamakazis.
GIRL #1
Like we know what that is.
Now there’s a KNOCKING at the door and we
CUT TO:
Rain is soaking down on EDUARDO as he stands at the front door with a suitcase in his hand. A taxi is turning around in the driveway and heading off. EDUARDO knocks on the front door again as we
CUT BACK TO:
SEAN
(into phone)
I saw him getting into his turbo Carerra
and he saw me too, I know he did.
(beat)
Don’t sweat it, I’m on a land line.
SEAN leans over one of the girls, casually hits a few keys and easily kills several of the other girl’s soldiers.
GIRL #1
Yes!
GIRL #2
Hey!
GIRL #1
Bong hit!
She has to take one as a penalty.
DUSTIN
Does, anybody hear that banging?
SEAN
(to DUSTIN)
You don’t hear anything, you’re writing
code.
DUSTIN
Dude, somebody’s at the door.
SEAN goes back to the phone conversation as he heads to the door--
SEAN
(into phone)
It’s not a dish best served cold. It’s
best served immediately and relentlessly.
SEAN opens the door and the soaking wet EDUARDO is standing there...
SEAN (CONT’D)
(into phone)
I’m gonna call you back.
(to EDUARDO)
What’s up?
EDUARDO
(long pause)
What’s up?
(beat)
Mark was supposed to pick me up at the
airport an hour ago, I’ve been calling
his cell.
SEAN
He was on a 36 hour coding tear so he
took a nap for a couple of hours.
EDUARDO walks into the house and surveys the wreckage--
EDUARDO
What happened here?
SEAN
Not happened--happening. The next big
thing.
DUSTIN
Wardo!
EDUARDO
Hey man.
SEAN
(to DUSTIN)
Back to work.
GIRL #2
The more bad I get at this, the more
wasted I get. I meant the more--
SEAN
We understand.
EDUARDO
How old are they, Sean?
SEAN
It’s not polite to ask.
EDUARDO
Sean, how old are they?
SEAN
You think you know me. Right?
EDUARDO
I’ve read enough.
SEAN
You know how much I’ve read about you?
Nothing.
MARK comes down the stairs--
MARK
Wardo.
EDUARDO
I waited an hour for you at the airport.
MARK
What time is it?
EDUARDO
It’s midnight. Or 3AM in New York where I
just came from.
MARK
You’ve gotta see some of the new stuff
we’ve got. Dustin, show him the wall. I’m
just calling it the wall.
SEAN
Forget the wall, tell him about the
meeting I’ve got set up.
(to EDUARDO)
You know Peter Thiel?
EDUARDO
No.
SEAN
No reason you should. He just runs a two-
billion dollar hedge fund called Clarium
Capital.
EDUARDO
(to MARK)
Why’s he setting up meetings?
MARK
Thiel may want to make an angel
investment.
EDUARDO
I don’t care if he’s an actual angel,
why’s he setting up business meetings?
MARK
You’ve had a long flight.
EDUARDO
No, I’ve had a long wait on the tarmac at
JFK, then a long wait at the passenger
loading and unloading zone at SFO and in
between there was a long flight. I’m the
business end of this company and he’s a
house guest living here rent-free on a
generous grant from the Eduardo Saverin
Foundation.
SEAN
I heard about your big ticket ad buys
lined up.
EDUARDO
Hey, man--
SEAN
Gary’s Tuxedos, the Harvard Bartending
Course. You’re just one small step away
from bagging Snookies Cookies, I can feel
it.
EDUARDO
(to MARK)
Want to talk to me alone for a minute?
MARK
Sure.
SEAN
(calling out)
Bong hit!
GIRL #2
I’m so high.
SEAN
You’re not.
EDUARDO’s followed MARK into--
MARK
How’s it going? How’s the internship?
How’s Christy?
EDUARDO
How’s the internship?
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
Mark...Jesus, I quit the internship.
We’ve talked about this on the phone,
were you even--I quit on my first day.
MARK
I do remember you saying that. How’s
Christy?
EDUARDO
Christy’s crazy.
MARK
Is that fun?
EDUARDO
No I mean she’s actually psychotic. She’s
insanely jealous, she’s irrational and
I’m frightened of her.
MARK
Still, it’s nice you have a girlfriend.
EDUARDO
I do not want that guy representing
himself as part of this company.
MARK
You gotta move out here, Wardo, this is
where it’s all happening.
EDUARDO
Did you hear what I just said?
MARK
The connections, the energy--
EDUARDO
Mark--
MARK
I’m afraid if you don’t come out here
you’re going to get left behind. I want--
I want--I need you out here, please don’t
tell him I said that.
EDUARDO
What did you just say?
MARK
It’s moving faster than any of us ever
even imagined and--
EDUARDO
What do you mean get left behind?
MARK
It’s moving fast and Sean even thinks
that--
EDUARDO
Sean is not part of the company.
MARK
We have over 300,000 members, Wardo,
we’re in 160 schools including--
EDUARDO
I’m aware of that.
MARK
--five in Europe.
EDUARDO
I’m aware of that, Mark, I’m the CFO.
MARK
We need more servers than I ever imagined
we’d need. We need more programmers. And
we need more money. And he set up the
Thiel meeting. He’s set up meetings all
around town.
EDUARDO
He’s set up other meetings?
MARK
Yes.
EDUARDO
Without me knowing anything about it?!
MARK
You’re in New York!
EDUARDO
I’m in New York riding subways 14 hours a
day trying to find advertisers!
MARK
And how’s it going so far?!!
EDUARDO
What did you mean get left behind?
EDUARDO looks at MARK for a long moment before we
CUT TO:
EDUARDO comes through the doors with single-minded intent, heads past the tellers and straight to a desk where he takes a bankbook out of his pocket and slaps it on the desk.
BANKER
(beat)
Can I help you?
EDUARDO
I’d like to freeze this bank account and
cancel all existing checks and lines of
credit.
BANKER
May I see some ID, please?
EDUARDO
Yeah, sure.
CUT TO:
80 stories of polished granite.
We’re in the offices of a guy who’s hero is Gordon Gekko. MARK and SEAN are waiting--seated side by side--for a verdict. SEAN’s wearing his best Prada, MARK’s wearing his hoodie and Adidas flip-flops.
After a moment an ASSISTANT comes out...
ASSISTANT
Sean, he’ll be right with you.
SEAN
No problem.
(to MARK)
You know this is where they filmed
Towering Inferno.
MARK
(pause)
That’s comforting.
The office door opens and PETER THIEL sticks his head out--
PETER
Hey, guys. Come on back.
They get up and walk into--
Several of Thiel’s lieutenant’s are sitting around.
PETER
She offer you guys some waters?
SEAN
Oh yeah, we’re cool.
MAURICE
Sean, come on in. You must be Mark.
MARK
Hi.
PETER
We took a look at everything and
congratulations. We’re gonna start you
off with a $500,000 investment. Maurice
is gonna talk to you about some corporate
restructuring.
MAURICE
We’ll file as a Corporation in Delaware
and come up with a stock structure that
allows for new investors.
PETER
Now lemme ask you something. Who’s
Eduardo Saverin?
CUT TO:
A summer sub-let. A studio apartment the size of a small tool shed.
EDUARDO is asleep on top of the covers in the un-air conditioned apartment when he wakes up to the sound of a key in the door.
One lock un-locks, then another--
--and then the last.
The door opens and CHRISTY is framed by the dingy light of the hallway.
EDUARDO
Jesus Christ.
CHRISTY
When did you get back?
EDUARDO
You scared me. I need you to knock.
CHRISTY
When did you get back?
EDUARDO
I got back this afternoon.
CHRISTY
And when were you going to call me?
EDUARDO
Chris, it was kind of a rough trip and I
was tired and--
CHRISTY
Or answer one of my 47 texts? Did you
know I sent 47 texts?
EDUARDO
I did, and I thought that was incredibly
normal behavior.
CHRISTY
Are you mocking me?
EDUARDO
I brought you a present.
CHRISTY
Why does your status say “single” on your
Facebook page?
EDUARDO
(beat)
What?
CHRISTY
Why does your relationship status say
“single” on your Facebook page?
EDUARDO
I was single when I set up the page.
CHRISTY
And you just never bothered to change it?
EDUARDO
(beat)
I--
CHRISTY
What?!
EDUARDO
I don’t know how.
CHRISTY
Do I look stupid to you?
EDUARDO
No. Calm down.
CHRISTY
You’re asking me to believe that the CFO
of Facebook doesn’t know how to change
his relationship status on Facebook?
EDUARDO
It’s a little embarrassing so you should
take it as a sign of trust that I would
tell you that.
CHRISTY
Go to hell.
EDUARDO
(calming)
Take it easy.
CHRISTY
No, you didn’t change it so you could
screw Silicon Valley sluts every time you
go out to see Mark.
EDUARDO
That is not even remotely true and I can
promise you that the Silicon Valley sluts
don’t care what anyone’s relationship
status is on Facebook. Please, open your
present.
EDUARDO’s cell phone RINGS--
CHRISTY
Oh, your phone does work.
EDUARDO reaches for his cell but CHRISTY grabs it first to check the ID.
CHRISTY (CONT’D)
It’s Mark.
CHRISTY tosses the still ringing phone back to him--
EDUARDO
Okay, this is gonna be tricky. Here, open
your present. It’s a silk scarf.
CHRISTY
Have you ever seen me wear a scarf?
EDUARDO
This’ll be your first.
EDUARDO’s gotten the gift box out of his half un-packed suitcase, tossed it to CHRISTY and finally answered the phone.
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
(into phone)
Yeah.
INTERCUT WITH:
MARK
(into his cell phone)
You froze our account?
In the background there’s a small celebration going on with SEAN, DUSTIN, the INTERNS and of course some GIRLS. Champagne is being sprayed from shaken bottles and the girls are dancing to triumphant music.
EDUARDO
I did.
MARK
You froze the account.
EDUARDO
I had to get your attention, Mark.
MARK
Do you realize that you jeopardized the
entire company? Do you realize that your
actions could have permanently destroyed
everything I’ve been working on?
EDUARDO
We’ve been working on.
MARK
Without money, the site can’t function.
Let me tell you the difference between
Facebook and everybody else: WE DON’T
CRASH EVER!
What EDUARDO can’t see behind his back is that CHRISTY has taken the gift box and lit it on fire with a cigarette lighter.
MARK (CONT’D)
If the servers are down for even a day,
our entire reputation is irreversibly
destroyed. Users are fickle. Friendster
has proven that fact.
And CHRISTY’s now dropped the flaming cardboard box into the wastebasket where the fire grows larger. She casually kicks the basket over with her foot.
EDUARDO
Look--
MARK
Even a few people leaving would
reverberate through the entire user base.
The users are interconnected, that’s the
whole point! College kids are online
because their friends are online and if
one domino goes, all the dominos go! Do
you get that?! I’m not going back to
Caribbean Night at A-E-Pi!
EDUARDO
(finally seeing the fire)
Holy shit!
(to CHRISTY)
What is wrong with you?
MARK
Did you like being nobody?! Did you like
being a joke?! Do you wanna go back to
that?!
EDUARDO
Hang on, hang on.
EDUARDO hits a button on his cell and tosses it down. We’ll keep hearing MARK’s voice as EDUARDO runs out into the hallway, grabs a fire extinguisher from its wall bracket, comes back in and sprays out the fire.
MARK
That was the act of a child, not a
businessman.
And it certainly wasn’t the act of a
friend. You know how embarrassed I was
for me to try and cash a check today? I’m
not going back to that life.
(beat)
Maybe you were frustrated.
EDUARDO
(shouting)
Yeah!
MARK
Maybe you were angry.
EDUARDO
(calling out)
I was!
MARK
But I’m willing to let bygones be bygones
because, Wardo, I’ve got some good news.
EDUARDO--with the fire now out--picks up the phone.
EDUARDO
I’m sorry. I was angry and maybe it was
childish. But I had to get your
attention.
MARK
Wardo, I said I’ve got some good news.
EDUARDO
What is it?
MARK
Peter Thiel’s just made an angel
investment of a half a million dollars.
EDUARDO
(pause)
What?
MARK
A half a million dollars and he’s setting
us up in an office. They want to re-
incorporate the company, they want to
meet you they need your signature on some
documents so get your ass on the next
flight back to San Francisco.
(beat)
I need my CFO.
EDUARDO
(beat--smiles)
I’m on my way.
MARK
Wardo.
EDUARDO
Yeah.
MARK
We did it.
EDUARDO clicks the phone shut. After a moment...
CHRISTY
(like nothing’s happened)
Wardo?
And EDUARDO jumps because CHRISTY was standing behind him--
EDUARDO
Aaggh!
CHRISTY
You going back there already?
EDUARDO
Yes. Also I’m breaking up with you.
CUT TO:
A glass conference room in the corner of a glass bullpen on a high floor of a high rise.
Cartons are being unpacked, computers are everywhere along with bags of potato chips and boxes of cereal.
In the conference room, EDUARDO is sitting with three LAWYERS at a round, glass table and documents have been put out in front of him.
We can see through the glass that MARK is working at a computer nearby. SEAN is also hovering in the background.
LAWYER
Four documents. The first two are common
stock purchase agreements allowing you to
buy stock in the newly re-incorporated
Facebook as opposed to the old shares
which are now worthless. The third is the
exchange agreement, allowing you to
exchange the old shares for new shares
and then finally a voter holding
agreement.
EDUARDO
How many shares of stock will I own?
LAWYER
1,328,334.
EDUARDO
Jesus Christ.
LAWYER
That represents a 34.4% ownership share.
Why the increase from the original 30%?
EDUARDO
Because you may need to dilute it to
award shares to new investors.
LAWYER
I like working with business majors.
EDUARDO
Economics.
LAWYER #2
You should know that Mark’s already taken
his percentage from 60 down to 51.
EDUARDO
Mark doesn’t care about money and he
needs to be protected.
LAWYER
Dustin Moskovitz owns 6.81%, Sean Parker
6.47%--
EDUARDO
I can live with that.
LAWYER
And Peter Theil 7%. Would you like to use
my pen?
CUT TO:
It’s dusk now and the sky outside the room is turning purple. EDUARDO seems lost in thought.
GRETCHEN
(helping)
Eduardo?
EDUARDO looks up.
EDUARDO
(pause)
Could you please repeat the question?
SY
No. It was an outrageously leading
question the first time around and now
you want us to hear it again?
GRETCHEN
Yes, would you read it back, please.
SY
Well, go ahead.
COURT REPORTER
Counsel: “And when you signed these
documents, were you aware that you were
signing your own death certificate?”
EDUARDO
(pause)
No.
(pause)
It was insanely stupid of me not to have
my own lawyers look over all the...the,
uh...in all honesty I thought they were
my lawyers.
(then to MARK)
I was your only friend. You had one
friend.
(beat)
My father won’t even look at me.
GRETCHEN
(beat)
Okay. Eduardo? Did Mr. Zuckerberg say
anything to you after you signed the
papers?
EDUARDO
There was a lot of handshaking and a lot
of congratulations. He’d already told me
that he wouldn’t be coming back to school
for at least a semester so we were saying
goodbye for a while. And then before I
left, he said--
CUT TO:
MARK
But you gotta come back. Somewhere around
the end of November/early December. Peter
wants to throw us an amazing party when
we hit a million members, it’s gonna be
out of control. You’ve gotta come back
for it.
EDUARDO
(quietly can’t believe it)
A million members.
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
Remember the algorithm on the window at
Kirkland?
MARK
Yeah.
EDUARDO
Yeah, I’ll be here.
CUT TO:
A brand new black Escalade pulls up in front of a gleaming glass and chrome office building. SEAN is at the wheel and MARK, in the passenger seat, is wearing brightly colored pajamas with his hair a mess.
They get out of the car and huddle on the sidewalk.
MARK
You sure about this?
SEAN
You’re 20 minutes late. You’re going to
walk in there and say you overslept and
you didn’t have time to get dressed.
They’re gonna pitch you. Case Equity is
gonna pitch you. They’re gonna beg you to
take their money. You’re gonna nod,
you’re gonna nod, you’re gonna nod and
then you’re gonna say, “Which one of you
is Roth--” No, not Roth, Manningham.
“Which one of you is Mitchell
Manningham?”. And he’ll say, “I am”. And
you say, “Sean Parker says ‘Fuck you’ and
on walk out.
MARK
(pause)
Okay.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO
In late November I got the e-mail from
Mark telling me to come out for the
millionth member party.
GRETCHEN
What else did the e-mail say?
EDUARDO
It said that we had to have a business
meeting. That Mark and Sean had played
some kind of revenge stunt on Case Equity
and that Manningham was so impressed that
he was making an investment offer that
was hard to turn down.
CUT TO:
EDUARDO (V.O.)
I went out to California and I went
straight to the new offices.
And it’s clear that we’re in the offices of a new, high-tech, very successful internet company. The Facebook logo in blue metallic letters on the wall, the maple desks, new computer monitors, carpeting, a wall covered in graffiti by an artist commissioned for the job and tons of young employees.
EDUARDO (V.O.)
I didn’t know whether to dress for the
party or for the business meeting so I
kind of dressed for both.
We see that most of the employees, especially the women, are dressed to go to an after-work, late-night party.
EDUARDO (V.O.)
But it didn’t matter.
GRETCHEN (V.O.)
Why not?
EDUARDO (V.O.)
Because I wasn’t called out there for
either one.
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
What were you called out there for?
EDUARDO
An ambush.
CUT BACK TO:
LAWYER
Mr. Saverin, hey.
EDUARDO turns to see the LAWYER he dealt with earlier standing by the door to a glass conference room.
LAWYER (CONT’D)
In here. Right over here.
EDUARDO walks across the bullpen, where no one makes eye contact, and into--
EDUARDO (V.O.)
At first I thought he was joking, giving
me more contracts to sign. But then I
started reading.
As EDUARDO reads, we rack focus to MARK, who’s sitting at a computer with his back to EDUARDO, focused on his work.
And then we see SEAN step into the frame and lean against a desk a few yards away.
And then back to EDUARDO, who’s almost shaking...
EDUARDO
Wait, what is this?
LAWYER
Well, as you know we had some new
investors--
EDUARDO
What is this?
LAWYER
If you’ll let me--
EDUARDO goes back out into--
EDUARDO
Mark?
MARK doesn’t look up from his computer--
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
Mark.
MARK still doesn’t look up--
SEAN
He’s wired in.
EDUARDO
(pause)
I’m sorry?
SEAN
He’s wired in.
EDUARDO
Is he?
SEAN
Yes.
EDUARDO picks up MARK’s laptop over his head and smashes it down on the desk, breaking it into pieces.
EDUARDO
How ‘bout now, are you still wired in?
SEAN
(to the girl at the desk he’s leaning against)
Call security.
Everyone in the office is frozen, silent and watching.
EDUARDO
You issued over 24-million new shares of
stock.
MARK
You were told that if new investors came
along--
EDUARDO
How much were your shares diluted? How
much were his?!
CUT TO:
GRETCHEN
What was Mr. Zuckerberg’s ownership share
diluted down to?
EDUARDO
It wasn’t.
GRETCHEN
What was Mr. Moskovitz’s ownership share
diluted down to?
EDUARDO
It wasn’t.
GRETCHEN
What was Sean Parker’s ownership share
diluted down to?
EDUARDO
It wasn’t.
GRETCHEN
What was Peter Thiel’s ownership share
diluted down to?
EDUARDO
It wasn’t.
GRETCHEN
What was your ownership share diluted
down to?
EDUARDO
(pause)
Point-zero-three percent.
CUT TO:
MARK
You signed the papers.
EDUARDO
You set me up.
MARK
You’re gonna blame me because you were
the business head of the company and you
made a bad business deal with your own
company?!
EDUARDO
It’s gonna be like I’m not part of
Facebook.
SEAN
It’s won’t be like you’re not part of
Facebook, you’re not part of Facebook.
EDUARDO
My name’s on the masthead.
SEAN
You might wanna check again.
EDUARDO is momentarily frozen...
EDUARDO
This is because I froze the account?
SEAN
You think we were gonna let you parade
around in your ridiculous suits
pretending you were running this company?
EDUARDO
Sorry, my Prada’s at the cleaners along
with my hoodie and my fuck-you flip-flops
you pretentious douchebag.
SEAN
Security’s here. You’ll be leaving now.
Two SECURITY GUARDS have come in--
EDUARDO
I’m not signing those papers.
SEAN
We’ll get the signature.
EDUARDO
(turning to MARK)
Tell me this isn’t about me getting into
the Phoenix!
(pause)
EDUARDO (CONT’D)
You did it. I always knew you did it. You
planted the story about the chicken.
SEAN
(pause)
What is he talking about?
EDUARDO
You had me accused--
SEAN
Seriously, what the hell’s the chicken?
EDUARDO
And I’ll bet what you hated the most is
that they identified me as a co-founder of
Facebook--which I am! You better lawyer-
up, asshole, ‘cause I’m not comin’ back
for my 30 percent, I’m comin’ back for
everything!
SEAN
(to SECURITY)
Get him outa here.
EDUARDO
I’m going.
SEAN
Hang on.
SEAN hands EDUARDO a folded check.
SEAN (CONT’D)
I almost forgot, there’s your $19,000. I
wouldn’t cash it, though, I drew it on
the account you froze.
EDUARDO looks at SEAN...then suddenly and quickly cocks his fist back to punch him in the face. SEAN flinches as EDUARDO holds his punch and lets out a small laugh.
EDUARDO
I like standing next to you, Sean. It
makes me look so tough.
EDUARDO exits with the security escort.
There’s a long silence in the room...
SEAN
That’s it, that’s our show for tonight,
people. So I want to see everybody here
geared up for a party. We’re gonna walk
down to the club like it’s the Macy’s
Parade. Mackey, put it up on the big
screen, we’ve gotta be almost there.
A young employee hits a remote and a few keys on his computer and a huge flat-screen displays a Facebook page with a read- out of the number of members.
999,942
There’s scattered applause and excitement as everyone watches.
SEAN takes MARK aside.
SEAN (CONT’D)
You alright?
MARK
Yeah.
(beat)
You were kinda rough on him.
SEAN
That’s life in the NFL.
MARK
You know you didn’t have to be that rough
on him.
SEAN
Listen, I’m putting together a party--
MARK
Sean? You didn’t have to be that rough on
him.
SEAN
He almost killed it. I’ll send flowers.
Speaking of flowers, I’m putting together
a party after the party at Kappa Eta
Sigma. Ashleigh’s a sister.
MARK
Uh...Ashleigh?
SEAN
The intern.
MARK
No, yeah, I know who she is. Are you guys--
SEAN
Ashleigh? Me? No. A little bit. Oh no, do
you like her? Dude--
MARK
No. No. I was just, no.
An intern, ASHLEIGH, comes along with a small package--
ASHLEIGH
Excuse me, Mark?
SEAN
We were just talkin’ about you.
MARK
Just that you’re doing a really good job.
ASHLEIGH
Thanks, I appreciate that.
(to MARK)
These came in for you.
MARK
Put them on my desk.
ASHLEIGH puts the small package on Mark’s desk.
SEAN
What’s the package?
MARK
Nothing.
SEAN
(calling out)
Mackey!
MACKEY
(calling back)
Yes sir!
SEAN
Refresh!
MACKEY hits the “refresh” key and the big screen shows--
1,000,046
CHEERS erupts throughout the place. SEAN grabs MARK and hugs him but MARK doesn’t quite hug back...
CUT TO:
We can hear the thumping music coming from the party inside and college kids have spilled out onto the front lawn of this pristine, four-columned house.
It’s dark but we can make out people dancing. The place is packed.
CUT TO:
We hear the thumping music from the party. SEAN’s in there with a couple of guys, ASHLEIGH and two other girls. SEAN’s got his cell phone out and will snap a picture every once in a while.
FRATERNITY GUY
Do it on anything. You can use a CD.
SORORITY GIRL #2
You can do it off me.
The girl’s sat on the bed and unbuttoned her top. Her shirt’s unbuttoned all the way but we can’t really see anything--just the part of her chest that’s being used as a surface off of which to snort coke.
SORORITY GIRL
Alright!
The GIRL taps out some coke from a vial onto the other girl’s chest and starts passing around a rolled up 20-dollar bill for everyone to have a turn and she herself will unbutton her shirt too for the same purpose. All this while SEAN is talking.
SEAN
The next transformative development? A
picture sharing application. A place
where you view pictures that coincide
with your social life. It is...the true
digitalization of real life. You don’t
just go to a party anymore, you go to a
party with your digital camera and your
friends relive the party on Facebook. And
tagging. The idea--
SORORITY GIRL #2
Would this be easier without the bra?
FRATERNITY GUY
It’s worth finding out.
The girls start happily slipping off their bras--
SEAN
I’ve spent hours watching what people do
when they log on.
ASHLEIGH
Wait, that’s weird. Why did the music
stop?
ASHLEIGH has a point. The music stopped in the middle of SEAN’s speech and the sound outside from the party just doesn’t sound like a party anymore.
SEAN
How they check their friends’ status
updates, checked to see which of their
friends had changed their profiles,
changed their photos and mostly...
ASHLEIGH
Seriously, what happened to the music?
SEAN
We lived on farms and then we lived in
cities and now we’re gonna live on the
internet.
ASHLEIGH
Sean. Stop. I think something’s going on
downstairs.
SEAN stops talking...he senses it too now.
SEAN walks out of the room to the--
And out the window he sees a fleet of police cars with their lights flashing parked in front of the house. Then before he can react, the front door flies open--
POLICE with flashlights walk in--the beams of light streaking across the darkened party floor and the faces.
We HEAR muffled murmurs from the cops of “party’s over” and “step to the side” and “nobody’s leaving just yet”, etc.
SEAN bolts back into--
--leaving the door open.
SEAN
It’s the cops.
And they all spring into action. The girls are putting their bras back on, SEAN is wiping down a night table with the palm of his hand to get the coke dust off.
SORORITY GIRL
Shit.
FRATERNITY GUY
Be cool.
They turn to see TWO POLICEMEN standing in the doorway, their flashlights scanning the room and hitting SEAN’s eyes.
SEAN
Good to see you officer. What can I do
for you?
POLICEMAN
What’s goin’ on?
SEAN
(beat)
Was the music too loud? We have a
celebration going.
POLICEMAN
Miss, I need you to button your blouse.
SEAN
I can have them turn the music down.
One of the policemen casually takes SEAN’s hand and sees that his palm looks like he just used it to erase a blackboard.
SEAN (CONT’D)
That’s not mine.
POLICEMAN
Okay, we’re gonna need identification.
Keep your hands where we can see them.
And the handcuffs start to come out and we’ve got a room of terrified children.
SORORITY GIRL
Oh my God.
We start to move in on SEAN...
POLICEMAN
(to SEAN)
You got anything in your pockets I should
know about?
SEAN
No sir, no.
POLICEMAN
Don’t be stupid now.
SEAN
I don’t.
POLICEMAN
(out of SEAN’s shirt pocket)
What’s this?
SEAN
It’s an Epipen.
POLICEMAN
And this?
SEAN
That’s my inhaler.
POLICEMAN #2
(to the GIRLS)
How old are you?
SORORITY GIRL
I’m 21.
ASHLEIGH
I’m 21.
POLICEMAN
Lying only makes it worse.
ASHLEIGH
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied.
SEAN closes his eyes at hearing this news as we HEAR the sound of the cuffs lock around his wrists and we
CUT TO:
A digital LED clock on the wall tells us it’s 4:40AM.
MARK is sitting at his computer alone. No one else is in the office. The San Francisco skyline is beautiful outside the floor-to-ceiling glass.
His cell phone RINGS and he answers.
MARK
(into phone)
Hello?
INTERCUT WITH:
SEAN, freezing with no coat on, is sitting on the bottom of the steps to the police station.
SEAN
(into phone)
Listen, something’s happened.
We see MARK listening on his end but can’t hear SEAN’s end of the conversation.
MARK
(pause)
Shit.
SEAN
It’s alright, it’s gonna be alright. I’ve
posted bond and I wasn’t doing anything.
I mean, I’ve got allergies so I can’t--
We’re back on MARK’s side. He listens...listens...
MARK
Interns?
Back on SEAN’s side--
SEAN
It was just a party.
MARK
(evenly)
This is gonna be news, Sean, it’s gonna
be online any second.
SEAN
(beat)
I know.
MARK
(blank)
You know with an intern and--
SEAN
It’s cool, I’ve got it under control.
MARK
(no panic)
I’ll get it under control. I’ll call
someone and see what the next move is.
But this is gonna be news now.
SEAN
(beat)
You don’t think Eduardo was involved do
you? Do you think--
MARK
No.
SEAN
Or Manningham. One of them. Somebody.
Somebody sent that coke in their ‘cause
it got in there. You believe me. This is
gonna be fine, right?
MARK
(cool as ice)
Go home, Sean.
MARK clicks the phone shut. He sits there a moment.
He looks at the small package that Ashleigh dropped on his desk earlier. He opens up the brown paper wrapping and there’s a box.
He opens the box--a thousand brand new business cards. He takes one of the business cards out and looks at it.
I’m CEO...Bitch
And over this we HEAR a woman’s voice...
MARYLIN (V.O.)
Mark?
CUT TO:
MARK is sitting alone in the conference room. The only one left is MARYLIN, whose voice we just heard. The lights of the San Francisco skyline fill the huge picture windows.
MARYLIN
Mark?
MARK looks up at her...
MARYLIN (CONT’D)
We’re done for the day.
MARK
(pause)
Yeah. Yeah. I was just sitting here.
MARYLIN
What happened to Sean?
MARK
He still owns 7% of the company. All you
had all day was that salad. You want to
get something to eat?
MARYLIN
I can’t.
MARK
I’m not a bad guy.
MARYLIN
I know that. When’s there’s emotional
testimony I assume 85% of it is
exaggeration.
MARK
And the other 15%?
MARYLIN
Perjury. Creation myths need a devil.
MARK
What happens now?
MARYLIN
Sy and the others are having a steak on
University Ave. Then they’ll come back up
to the office and start working on a
settlement agreement to present to you.
MARK
They’re gonna settle?
MARYLIN
Oh yeah. And you’re gonna have to pay a
little extra.
MARK
Why?
MARYLIN
So that these guys sign a non-disclosure
agreement. They say one unflattering word
about you in public and you own their
wife and kids.
MARK
I invented Facebook.
MARYLIN
I’m talking about a jury. I specialize
in voir dire--jury selection. And what
the jury sees when they look at the
defendant. Clothes, hair, speaking style,
likability--
MARK
Likability?
MARYLIN
I’ve been licensed to practice law for
all of 20 months and I could get a jury
to believe you planted the story about
Eduardo and the chicken. Watch what else.
Why weren’t you at Sean’s sorority party
that night?
MARK
You think I’m the one who called the
police?
MARYLIN
Doesn’t matter. I asked the question and
now everybody’s thinking about it. You’ve
lost your jury in the first 10 minutes.
MARK
(pause)
Farm animals?
MARYLIN
Yeah.
MARK
I was drunk and angry and stupid.
MARYLIN
And blogging.
MARK
And blogging.
MARYLIN
(pause)
Pay them. In the scheme of things it’s a
speeding ticket. That’s what Sy will tell
you tomorrow.
MARK
Do you think anybody would mind if I
stayed and used the computer for a
minute?
MARYLIN
I can’t imagine it would be a problem.
MARK
Thanks. I appreciate your help today.
MARYLIN
You’re not an asshole, Mark. You’re just
trying so hard to be.
MARYLIN, who’s been putting on her coat, takes her briefcase and exits.
MARK sits down at the computer. He logs on to Facebook.
He types a name in the search box: “Erica Albright”.
Erica’s name and picture come up, along with Boston University, ‘07. Mark smiles. She’s on Facebook.
He moves the mouse back and forth between two boxes: “Send a Message” and “Add as a Friend”.
He clicks on “Add as a Friend”.
A box comes up that reads: “Your request to add Erica Albright as a friend has been sent.”
Then MARK clicks to his homepage and waits for the response.
And waits...then hits “Refresh”.
TITLE:
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss received a settlement of 65 million dollars and signed a non-disclosure agreement.
They rowed for the U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing and placed sixth.
MARK is still waiting...then hits “Refresh”.
Eduardo Saverin received an unknown settlement. His name has been restored to the Facebook masthead as a Co-founder.
MARK is settling into his chair. He’ll wait all night if he has to.
Facebook has 500 million members in 207 countries. It's currently valued at 25 billion dollars.
Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in the world.
MARK waits...
And waits...
And we
SNAP TO BLACK
ROLL MAIN TITLE
THE END