Brittany Wang, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2024, USC Screenwriting Award / 2024, Sloan Student Grand Jury Prize / 2025, Sundance Institute, Commissioning Award

Project Type: Pilot

Genre: Drama

Length: 60 pages 

Field of Science: Geology, Geomorphology

Stage: Development 

Synopsis: 

In 1999, during an Antarctic research expedition, JANE WILLENBRING (22) is collecting pieces of rock sample with her adviser DAVID “DAVE” MARCHANT (39) when he violently pushes her down the slope. HANNAH TORRES (22) rushes to help but JEFFREY MARCHANT (40s) bullies her into silence and BRANDON CLARKE (22) is reluctant to stir trouble. Injured at the bottom of the slope, Jane promises herself to do something about Dave’s abuse, someday.

In 2016, DR. JANE WILLENBRING (39) receives a tenured position from UCSD Scripps. She is grateful for the newfound career stability but remains troubled by her past. When her daughter SYLVIE (4) declares she wants to be a scientist, Jane becomes distraught at the prospect of her daughter suffering similar abuse. She drafts a Title IX complaint but hesitates in filing it, questioning if she is ready to send her life into turmoil when her career seems to be finally reaching stable ground. She ultimately decides to file when she discovers one of her students is embarking on a polar expedition with a misogynistic colleague.

In a series of interviews with Title IX advisers, Jane recounts her experiences in 1999. Dave is charming when she first meets him, but his behavior worsens as they embark on the expedition and travel further out into the wilderness. After arriving in Antarctica, he begins to verbally harass her a “joke,” and makes physical threats when she fights back. Brandon was present when Dave threw rocks at Jane while she peed and blew glacial ash directly into her eyes, but he was always too timid to intervene. When Jane develops a UTI and pees blood, Hannah devises an escape plan for them to return to McMurdo. However, Jane is set on seeing the expedition through and Hannah resigns to staying. Upon returning to Boston, Hannah insists that they report Dave’s behavior. Jane waffles in the decision and eventually, Hannah files an unsuccessful report on her own and drops out of school. Months later, Dave blackmails Jane to support his tenure promotion by threatening to ruin her career. Jane finally attempts to report him, but the Dean insinuates Dave’s stellar reputation and tenure makes him untouchable. The Dean tells Jane it would be easier for all parties involved if she just finished her master’s degree quietly. Jane graduates and leaves BU.

In the present, Jane confronts Brandon about reality of the abuse that occurred in Antarctica and he agrees to write a letter of support. Jane tries to convince Hannah to testify as a witness, but Hannah refuses to upend her life with an investigation.

Refocusing on her research, Jane visits a site where coastal erosion has forced a nearby railway to pause service. She discovers that the erosion is affecting an asbestos containment site, and residents have been complaining about health issues. Jane realizes that the asbestos has travelled through the soil it is buried under, and the epiphany takes her research in a new direction. However, the article on Jane’s case is published the day after NYTimes article on Harvey Weinstein’s case and her story rides a wave of publicity. The media attention places Jane in a vulnerable public position, and she receives a death threat “DIE CUNT” taped to her door. Nevertheless, Jane makes a breakthrough discovery that asbestos can move through soil and possibly infiltrate groundwater. This contradicts prevailing EPA guidance and could affect millions who live near containment sites. However, her lab’s funding drops, likely due to the publicity, and Jane is forced to pause her research.
During the hearing, it is evident that the advisers’ and panel’s loyalties are to the university first. The panel decides that Dave verbally harassed Jane but there was not enough evidence of physical violence. He successfully appeals the finding and is placed on paid leave. Jane meets with the BU President and criticizes the department’s inability to protect their female students. She tells him that BU failed her once in 1999 and now again in the present.

A National Science Foundation representative contacts Jane regarding the US government’s bipartisan investigation into Marchant. They offer to expand her Soil Kitchen project across the country, which will also help fund her asbestos research. In the new academic year at Scripps, Jane presents her ongoing success with Soil Kitchen. She receives news that BU President has overruled the panel to terminate Dave. In a closing image, Jane takes Sylvie to collect rock samples on the San Diego coast, finally encouraging her daughter’s interest in science.