Wick Carson, a journalist, and Horace Mann Williams, a college dean, strike a deal in 1946 Virginia where lynching of Black people was common. Wick will write a series of articles supporting anti-lynching legislation if Horace helps Wick get a job in Rome. Their partnership is rocky at first but grows as they work to bring speakers like Albert Einstein to Horace's college and seek justice for the lynching of one of Horace's students.

1. COVERAGE REPORT
Logline: In the wake of WWII, lynching in the American South runs rampant. Two Black
men—a jaded journalist and a bright-eyed college dean—strike a mutually self-serving
deal to fight for Double Victory.
Recommendation: Recommend (x) Consider Pass
Comments Summary: A DOUBLE VICTORY is a historical drama with rich worldbuilding
and an action-packed visual spin, streetcar drag racing. Its voice on universal human
experience as well as a character’s heart-wrenching death make it worthy of
consideration. However, its structure needs revising to bring the main plot to the
forefront, clarify the timeline, and improve ambiguous descriptions.
Excellent Good Fair Needs Work
Premise x
Storyline x
Characterization x
Dialogue x
Structure x
Writing x
Originality x
STORY: WICK CARSON (25), dark-skinned, is a former WWII lieutenant. Hungover, he
enters the newsroom of the The Norfolk Gazette, a colored newspaper in Norfolk,
Virginia. He passes a bulletin board showcasing the Double Victory campaign—Black
Americans still fighting for their civic rights although Black soldiers fought abroad for
democracy. Amidst noisy typewriters, Wick snips and barks at his colleagues.
A teletype prints a news flash from the National Negro Association: A colored veteran
(22) beaten by cops, blinded. YVONNE (20), an eager reporter, identifies the man as
CURTIS BROWN. He was bound for Banneker College in Pennsylvania—the one with
the new colored dean. Editor ERNIE HOWELL (45) assigns the story to Wick. Howell
wants to publish an article series supporting Mrs. Roosevelt’s Anti-Lynching Bill. Wick is
reluctant. He tires of covering violent stories and wants to leave America. As Howell
pitches the series, Wick’s mind drifts into a memory of screams in a dark night. Howell
Title: A DOUBLE VICTORY Author(s): Subrina Wood
Received: December 14, 2023 From: NA
Circa: 1946 Locale: Norfolk, Virginia / Pennsylvania
Genre: Historical Drama Page Count: 120
Prepared By: Rachel Ochsen Coverage Date: December 17, 2023

2. proposes that if Wick writes the series, starting with the new dean, he will help Wick get
a job in Rome, Italy. Wick accepts.
The new dean is HORACE MAN WILLIAMS (38), Black but so fair he could pass for
white. He settles into his office. The president of the alumni board, JUDD MORSE (38),
darker-skinned, welcomes him. There is old animosity between them. Horace meets
with Banneker’s president REVEREND HAINSWORTH (69), white. Horace is eager to
make progressive change. He recoils when Hainsworth states that change is slow.
Late at night, Wick arrives at a cozy boarding house operated by MRS. JOSEPH (50s),
dark-skinned. Her daughter LETITA “LETTIE” JOSEPH (24) is Dean Horace’s adoring
secretary. The next morning, Wick reviews Yvonne’s case files for the story. His mind
again slips away into a scream-filled night. Wick panics, but recovers and arrives at
Horace’s office. Wick antagonizes Horace for not knowing about Curtis Brown’s beating.
Ashamed, Horace postpones the interview. Lettie is furious at Wick for his behavior.
Wick wanders to BUBBA’S GARAGE AND BAR. CRICKET (9), Mrs. Joseph’s chipper
son, works there and greets him. Wick befriends BUBBA WATSON (30), a Black
veteran with a prosthetic arm; and STEVE WOODSON (25), a Black veteran, Banneker
student, and popular street drag racer. Two white police officers threaten Steve that his
sports car is too fine for a matriculating jigaboo.
The next day, Wick and Horace meet again. Horace explains his plan for dormitory
expansion, which should keep students like Curtis Brown out of trouble. He will
fundraise with an academic speaker series. He asks Wick to write positive publicity
about the fundraising. Wick counters that he needs to tie the article into the Anti-
Lynching Bill campaign—so he can get the job done and move to Rome. Horace is
appalled at mixing academia and politics, but concedes. Horace invites Wick to his
proposal hearing with the executive board. The board tables Horace’s proposal. Back at
Horace’s office—Wick questions Horace if he is aware that he is a Black token. Later,
Hainsworth tells Horace that his proposal is beyond what the executive board ever
intended to let him do. Horace realizes Wick is right—he is a token—and emboldens.
He invites Albert Einstein, an anti-racism advocate, to speak at Banneker.
Meanwhile, Wick realizes he is falling in love with Lettie. He second-guesses his plan to
move to Rome. Wick and Lettie bond at The Point race track, where Steve wins race
after race. Wick is urgently called to Horace’s home. Horace’s wife JULIA MILTON
WILLIAMS (32) asks Wick to write positive publicity on Banneker College. His articles
can persuade Einstein to accept Horace’s invitation. Softened by his new friendships,
Wick agrees. Back at The Point, Steve is ambushed by a gang of white men. The next
day, Steve is found lynched. At the scene, Wick’s mind slips into his memory of white
American soldiers trying to push him over a cliff. The next night, Wick still dreams of the
nightmare. Lettie finds him in a cold sweat. He confides this secret to Lettie.
The next day, Wick races to The Norfolk Gazette newsroom to avenge Steve the only
way he can—by publishing Steve’s story. Lettie goes with him in support. Days later,
back at Horace’s office, Lettie hands Horace a blue envelope. Inside is a letter from
Albert Einstein accepting the invitation to speak at Banneker College.
At Banneker College’s graduation ceremony, ALBERT EINSTEIN (67) speaks out
against racism as a disease of white people. Horace calls names for the graduating
class. He notices that Steve’s name is gone from the roster. Horace pauses, then

3. announces Steven A. Woodson. Students cheer and chant Double V! At the reception,
Einstein speaks to Wick—acknowledging that it was his articles that persuaded him to
accept Horace’s invitation. CURTIS BROWN (22), blind, thanks WICK for his articles.
He will join Banneker College next year on a scholarship. Lettie will join the local
chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Far away at the newsroom of a white newspaper, a teletype spits out Wick’s story:
Einstein Speaks at Negro College. The city editor rips it apart, indifferent.
Comments: A DOUBLE VICTORY weaves a heartfelt story in Post-WWII America—
when the lynching of Black Americans ran rampant, and newspapers and academics
like Albert Einstein were losing the fight for justice. It is filled with compelling characters
and their colorful human experiences. Its vibrant voice, strong settings on the American
East Coast, and heart-wrenching main character death can lay the foundation for future
revisions.
The main plot moves swiftly with frantic newsroom typewriters, heated arguments,
streetcar drag racing, and violence. The two protagonists— bitter journalist WICK
CARSON (25) and bright-eyed college dean HORACE MANN WILLIAMS (38)—and
their rivalry are introduced clearly. Their rivalry eventually turns to friendship, once they
begin seeing the others’ perspective in their own Black identities. The story turns
thrillingly when Horace’s student and Wick’s friend STEVE WOODSON (25) is lynched
after winning a streetcar drag race tournament.
A few love triangles juxtapose the violent action, softening the mood and highlighting
universal human emotion. Wick has touch-and-go relationships with both YVONNE (20)
and LETITA “LETTIE” JOSEPH (24). Lettie chooses the poetic Wick over hotshot Steve.
Horace is jealous of his wife JULIA MILTON WILLIAMS’ (32) past engagement to JUDD
MORSE (38).
The voice is vibrant. Every character has naturalistic dialogue that sounds accurate to
the time period and their identities. The characters’ subplots intertwine, enriching their
world and raising tensions. Descriptions are always poetic and concise, giving insight
into the characters’ thoughts and clarifying the dialogue’s subtext.
A DOUBLE VICTORY has fun imagery that other historical drama and journalism films
lack: streetcar drag racing and period-specific race cars. These fun scenes showcase
Steve, who may be the most endearing character. He loves his friends and competitors,
is especially fond of Lettie, has academic and street smarts, and is sensitive to
everyday racism. This makes his lynching all the more tragic. Within the current scene
structure, Steve’s subplot sometimes overshadows Wick and Horace’s main story. If the
story direction changes in the future—one path to consider is to make Steve and Wick’s
relationship the main plot, and then diminish Horace’s plot.
While A DOUBLE VICTORY has a rich story and premise—subplots and vignettes
frequently overshadow Wick’s and Horace’s relationship and main plot. Most of these
extra stories are finely written and add to the world, however, they make the main plot
feel just sprinkled in at times. Analyzing the page count, Wick’s and Horace’s story is at
the forefront for about 82 pages (or 67% of the script). The main plot's stunting prevents
it from being told as effectively as possible. A couple of ineffective storytelling examples
include…

4. The main plot moves forward with Wick interviewing hate-crime victim CURTIS BROWN
(22) and Banneker president REVEREND HAINSWORTH (69). However, this action is
not shown onscreen. Wick relays that these events happened over the phone.
Wick’s PTSD appears as a driving character trait on page 13 and again on page 22, but
is not shown again until page 88.
Further, some subplots are more distracting than enhancing. A few examples include…
The love triangle between Wick, Yvonne, and Lettie feels rushed and buried. The
tension between Yvonne and Lettie is introduced late in the story, amidst the action at
The Norfolk Gazette newsroom—when a white mob arrives while the story about
Steve’s lynching prints. Their tension is immediately resolved across just a few pages.
Its incitement and conclusion feel unfulfilling.
During this same sequence, Howell reveals that he received the tip about the white mob
from Judd Morse. His tip can be relied upon because of his connection to a brothel. This
character development is so sudden, it adds more confusion to the situation and feels
unfinished.
Editing these ineffectual subplots and cutting some extraneous vignettes—such as
conversations between ALBERT EINSTEIN (67) and his daughter RACHEL (40s)—can
create more page time for Wick’s and Horace’s stories to shine.
Throughout A DOUBLE VICTORY, it is unclear how time passes in between scenes.
Every story beat feels like it happens back-to-back. However, Act 1 and Act 3 indicate
that a whole college school year passes by. (Act 1 seems to be set before the school
year begins. Act 3 seems to be set in the late spring with a graduation ceremony set in
an outdoor stadium.) In future revisions, some simple writing devices can clarify the
timeline and showcase how relationships are slow to evolve. Devices include montages,
the changing of seasons written into descriptions, or dialogue referring to time passing.
Further, there is some ambiguity across scene descriptions, character introductions,
and some lines of dialogue. This ambiguity interrupts engagement while reading.
Examples in the first 10 pages include…
“The big black Ford Coupe seems to half devour the man in its trunk, who grunts and
curses as he pries the cover off the old bootlegger’s hidey hole that made this car
famous.” To someone unfamiliar with bootlegger cars, this can read like Wick is locked
inside of the trunk.
Wick then walks into The Norfolk Gazette newsroom, but its location in the state of
Virginia isn’t clear at first.
Soon after, Wick “whips out an ad from his jacket for a position in the Rome bureau of a
white Philadelphia paper.” It is unclear what a “Rome bureau” is.
Wick’s colleagues’ racial identities are not immediately clear. Presumably, they are all
Black Americans because they work for a colored newspaper paper. Clarifying their
identities will help set up the story and theme faster.
Verdict: A DOUBLE VICTORY is worthy to consider for its rich worldbuilding, heartfelt
characters, and fun streetcar drag racing spin on the historical drama genre. However,
its structure needs revisiting to allow for Wick’s and Horace’s stories to shine at the
forefront; and to improve ambiguous time passing and descriptions.