Fade

Lucia is a Mexican-born novelist who has just moved from Chicago to start her new career in Hollywood as a television writer. Self-conscious that she is still riding the success of her first and only novel, she can’t shake the thought that she is not qualified for her new position.  As the only Latina screenwriter on her team, she’s worried that her coworkers may be right about her being a “diversity hire.”

As she starts settling into her new office, Lucia knocks a shelving unit off her desk. Abel, the Latino janitor, comes to help her clean up and she is relieved to see someone she feels she can relate to. While at first she offends him by speaking only Spanish, the two eventually begin to connect.

Over the course of a few weeks, they grow closer with every encounter. As their friendship grows, the two share stories of their lives. The two talk about their Mexican heritage and the class divide that separates them. Abel speaks of his time in the Marines, and shares a heartbreaking story about his relationship with his daughter and ex-wife. Meanwhile, Lucia is struggling in the writers room to have her perspective respected by her boss and the other writers as they create a Latina character she is desperate not to have characterized only by stereotypes. Lucia asks Abel if she can use elements of his story as she creates a love interest for the television show’s main character.

Suddenly Lucia is distant. She starts working from home. One night Abel walks into Lucia’s office and hears the episode playing on her computer. When he enters, she immediately pauses it and starts to leave. As she leaves, Abel is left alone with the computer that has the episode about his life on it. What he sees could change their relationship forever.