A Trauma Healing Dramedy
Nobody flies over this cuckoo's nest.
A Trauma Healing Dramedy
Nobody flies over this cuckoo's nest.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE COTTONWOODS
Welcome to The Cottonwoods, where we understand that life-disrupting issues are often a symptom of underlying trauma. We provide the most trusted, cutting edge, and evidence-based treatment options for those affected by trauma, mental health and addiction issues.
Whether you're an actor, doctor, artist, musician, business professional, or just a regular, boring person, The Cottonwoods is here to help you. We blend a beautiful, upscale desert setting with the magic of healing. Feeling like things are unmanageable? Unable to turn off that faint voice in your head that keeps screaming and screaming? Looking for relief in a private, oasis-like setting? With support from peers and an our expert staff, you can heal from your symptoms and achieve lasting recovery.
While we accept some insurance plans, we prefer cash-up-front. Or a wire transfer. One of our favorite clients actually paid in gold bouillon. Another donated her Mercedes to our fleet of vehicles. You’ll be amazed at how generous you’ll feel once we’ve helped you conquer your inner demons.
We believe that everyone is at least 51% good, and our job is to get them over that threshold through therapy and holistic healing practices. We are The Cottonwoods Trauma Recovery Facility, founded by our “mother,” Martha Mia, a self-proclaimed acclaimed author, therapist, and expert on recovery (and IN recovery too!). We want you to conquer your trauma and become the person that you were destined to be!
PREMISE
Each episode of our series will open with an intake as they arrive at the Cottonwoods, blending humor with pain and a distinct passion for recovery. The patients and staff at The Cottonwoods are comprised of different backgrounds, dark secrets, and in most cases, unhealed trauma. Yet they all share the same end-all goal - to relieve themselves of their traumatic past and be healed from their respective disorders… But beneath its shiny exterior, The Cottonwoods’ foundation is failing. Suffering from past legal issues with insurance claims as well as an absence of donors, cracks are beginning to show, leaving its queen, Martha Mia, scrambling for solutions to her greatest problem yet.
MODALITY
Unlike traditional rehab facilities, The Cottonwoods treats all varieties of fucked-upedness, not just alcohol and drug addiction. Our belief is that the problems we seek treatment for are merely symptoms of deeper trauma, and healing cannot begin until all traumas are uncovered. You’ll find workaholics in the same group as alcoholics, victims of sexual trauma sitting beside sex addicts, and co-dependents sharing space with people suffering from social anxiety. Nowhere else in the world will such a diverse group of damaged people find themselves institutionalized together. The very premise promises both drama and dark comedy in a most unique narrative. Combat trauma veterans bunk with Iraqi oil barons. Things get weird, fast.
THE SHOW
Our pilot opens with Colonel Frank More, currently on the downslope of a very personal mental health catastrophe. Having made his billions slum-lording in the bayous outside of New Orleans, Frank finds himself exhausted and beaten down from a severe sex and porn addiction. When given the option of checking into his ex-wife's facility, The Cottonwoods, Frank chooses castration… Only to find himself winding up at the renowned trauma recovery center after all. Through Frank’s frenetic first day at The Cottonwoods, we meet the eclectic mashup of patients, techs and therapists that comprise our show, culminating with the arrival of Martha Mia, the self-proclaimed guru of Trauma Therapy recovery… and also Frank’s ex-wife.
What Martha sees in Frank is an opportunity to heal her greatest challenge yet. What Frank sees in Martha is a chance for him to cash in on a broken and fledging business opportunity (and maybe a chance to get his dick back?). With intakes on the decline as people find other Instagram-worthy, California sober ways of self-help as well as government crack downs on insurance fraud, Martha is desperately trying to save her flailing legacy. Upon arrival back to her palace, Martha is flanked by a documentary film crew (Oprah’s), looking to promote her unique brand of healing. What she doesn’t know is that the inmates are starting to run the asylum. Through a potential partnership with Frank, she hopes to use his financial wealth and business savvy to reign in the mayhem at The Cottonwoods and grow it into the empire that she’s always envisioned.
Throughout the season we will meet each of our main characters in their own glorious bender or trauma-related crisis . Each cold open showcases a particular character's "bottom" and their subsequent arrival at The Cottonwoods. These stories will be interwoven into the through line of The Cottonwoods itself (arguably the most important character in the show). Martha will not only try to heal Frank on a spiritual level, but she’ll also enlist him to help her open up a lucrative PTSD ward, funneling military personnel and funding directly to The Cottonwoods. Meanwhile, the Sinaloa Cartel will swarm the facility at the culmination of season one to retrieve hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen drugs hidden in the car of one of our beloved intakes… Through a strange twist of fate, these criminals will become partial owners of The Cottonwoods. As a microcosmic commentary on the symbiosis between the federal government and the illicit drug trade, we follow the individual stories of the techs, doctors, intakes, Oprah’s film crew, and of course, the Mexican cartel and US military throughout the series… all to make Martha Mia 51% happier.
Our show blends real stories of recovery and trauma with humor to create an environment that looks at this unique atmosphere through the lens of dark comedy. The Cottonwoods broadens the definition of trauma so that it becomes more accessible through the confluence of violence, hatred, laughter, love, and very serious and real traumatic therapy sessions. Think of our show as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" meets "Better Call Saul" with a dash of "The White Lotus."
THEMES
THE FUCKING INNER VOICE
DELTA WAVE BRAIN SYSTEM®
THE FUCKING INNER VOICE
You fucking pig fuck fat ass piece of shit. You fucking loser. Fat folds and crippled dick, cocksucking asshole, fuck stick. Take another drink. Eat another pill. Feel that fucking anxiety cruise through your veins and let me rule you with a fucking iron fist. I fucking own you. I fucking am you.
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The show will explore the inner voice of all of our trauma. Specifically Frank’s. But we will also hear the inner voice of other key characters throughout the series to help us understand what the fuck is going on inside of our heads. Hell, there might even be an entire episode that is only our characters’ inner voices - a real-life fucking version of “Inside Out"
EQUINE THERAPY
DELTA WAVE BRAIN SYSTEM®
THE FUCKING INNER VOICE
We have horses, but you can’t ride them (for insurance purposes). You can groom them, though. You can shovel their shit. You can get kicked in the chest and rushed to the hospital. Some consider equine therapy to actually be therapeutic, but the more cynical clients realize that they are being used as forced labor – making sure Martha Mia’s stable is clean and her horses are well groomed!
DELTA WAVE BRAIN SYSTEM®
DELTA WAVE BRAIN SYSTEM®
DELTA WAVE BRAIN SYSTEM®
Is Martha Mia's Delta Brain Wave System (patent-pending) a cure-all for the ages, or is it just more snake oil technology employed by rehabs to gain an edge in the very competitive industry of treatment centers?
Is Martha Mia just another Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos)? Or is she as devoted to helping others overcome trauma as she presents herself to be? Could it be that sitting quietly in a dark room for 20 minutes is what actually soothes patients, or does her Sharper Image-style, janky tech actually work?
By season two we'll see her Brain System available at every airport hub in the world. Whether or not it actually works is anyone's guess, but of course anxious travelers line up for the opportunity to spend money and find out for themselves.
Meet our staff and current patients
Martha Mia
Col. Frank More (ret.)
Col. Frank More (ret.)
MARTHA MIA is an Author, Therapist, and Creator of Trauma Healing Modality®, Self Soothing Success™, and the Delta Wave Brain System (patent-pending). She is the Bill Wilson of Trauma Therapy. Fresh off her latest book tour, Martha has invited Oprah’s film crew to document recovery at The Cottonwoods to help boost sales. She also agreed t
MARTHA MIA is an Author, Therapist, and Creator of Trauma Healing Modality®, Self Soothing Success™, and the Delta Wave Brain System (patent-pending). She is the Bill Wilson of Trauma Therapy. Fresh off her latest book tour, Martha has invited Oprah’s film crew to document recovery at The Cottonwoods to help boost sales. She also agreed to house her billionaire, recently self-mutilated ex-husband, to help him recover from his destructive sex addiction… And also possibly invest in the future of The Cottonwoods. With business on a downward spiral, Martha is obsessed with leaving her legacy and mark on this world. She wants to turn The Cottonwoods into an empire and open brain healing centers in every airport across the globe… and she will do anything she can to get what she wants. 51% good (a saying she won’t let us forget), Martha is determined to salvage The Cottonwoods and make sure that she maintains her stronghold on the recovery business. Martha is also determined to heal her ex-husband, Frank. And perhaps help him get his dick sewn back on. She is a woman who always has a plan, and whether you know it or not is generally 12 steps ahead of everyone else. Martha's "bottom" won’t be a cold open until the final episode of season one, but once we get there, we’ll learn that she was abandoned at a young age by her addict parents and lived on the streets of San Francisco as a teenager until she met Frank. Their love was strong and harsh, and while Frank was responsible for getting Martha off the streets, he also ruled her with an iron fist, passion, prestige, and lots and lots of booze. After she took him for millions in their divorce settlement, Martha got sober and started The Cottonwoods as a way to reclaim her own life. While she managed to pick up the pieces of her broken life and sobered up to become the strong woman that she is today, she never forgot or fell out of love with Frank. Their reconciliation has been decades in the making and when their forces are joined together, nothing can stop the convergence of love, power, and of course a dash of evil. Martha and Frank will turn The Cottonwoods into a phenomenon. They will rule the world of healing and hopefully not burn it all down with their love for each other.
Col. Frank More (ret.)
Col. Frank More (ret.)
Col. Frank More (ret.)
FRANK MORE is a self-obsessed, self-loving, and violently egotistical man. A decorated war vet (Korea) who has made his fortune exploiting the impoverished in Louisiana. A self-proclaimed slum lord, Frank owns a large portion of land and operates one of the largest and most successful fracking operations in the bayou. He has crooked conne
FRANK MORE is a self-obsessed, self-loving, and violently egotistical man. A decorated war vet (Korea) who has made his fortune exploiting the impoverished in Louisiana. A self-proclaimed slum lord, Frank owns a large portion of land and operates one of the largest and most successful fracking operations in the bayou. He has crooked connections in the government, the import industry, and just about everything in between. Frank is the slimy, underbelly of Trump's south, deeply rooted in the plantations passed down in his lineage. His obsession with owning, selling, and maintaining his stronghold on the less fortunate is ingrained behavior… But what fuels him is sex and porn - his trauma and his love all rolled up into one juicy needle. His obsession with sex is literally the blood that pulses through him and his obsessive thoughts fill his mind at all times of the day, undressing his fantasies and fucking the world around him with every breath he takes. He’ll fuck your mom, pay for your tuition and then raise your fucking rent. But Frank is at the point of exhaustion, living with a voice in his head that has now turned against him. A voice that, quite literally, rules his life and fuels his addiction… At the point that we meet him, castration is his only option. Exhausted and seemingly finally rid of his inner voice (and his dick!), Frank is lured to The Cottonwoods by Martha, to help reboot its failing infrastructure. Frank’s inner voice will be the mad hatter that runs his life and will show us throughout the series that no matter how confident you are on the outside, it’s all just a little frightened kid-penis running the show. Through his connections with the military, Frank will help Martha open up a PTSD ward at The Cottonwoods, generating a new engine of wealth to the trauma recovery center. But Martha will also break Frank down, emotionally and physically, and we’ll see him legitimately get to the root of his trauma. He’ll be forced to face his own inner demons while falling back in love with his ex-wife… Oh, and he’ll broker some deals with the Mexican Cartel along the way.
Vernon W.
Col. Frank More (ret.)
Vernon W.
VERNON W. is our vomiting, hallucinogen-taking patient who arrived at The Cottonwoods in the pilot. In his cold open in episode two, he starts the morning celebrating five years of sobriety with his wife and daughter, before reporting to work at Touro ER in New Orleans. Through a particularly nasty set of racially charged events, Vernon
VERNON W. is our vomiting, hallucinogen-taking patient who arrived at The Cottonwoods in the pilot. In his cold open in episode two, he starts the morning celebrating five years of sobriety with his wife and daughter, before reporting to work at Touro ER in New Orleans. Through a particularly nasty set of racially charged events, Vernon impulsively goes on a massive bender and finds himself driving cross country to the Cottonwoods, abandoning his wife and daughter, only to wake up a day later in our present time. Vernon immediately recognizes the inherent segregation at The Cottonwoods, directly challenges Martha (on Oprah’s cameras!), and humiliates Frank in group therapy. As we progress through the series, it will be revealed that Frank owned the projects that Vernon grew up in on the outskirts of New Orleans and that he was responsible for much of the trauma that Vernon experienced early in his life. Vernon will be the thorn in Martha and Frank’s plan and threaten to take down The Cottonwoods just as things are starting to become profitable. But when he recognizes that he actually has healed at The Cottonwoods and is offered a position there as the resident doctor, money, prestige, and sobriety begin to blind his will to do good.
Characters & Casting - CONT'd
Violet G.
Violet G.
Violet G.
VIOLET G. positions herself as a goody-two-shoes rural gal, who is here on mommy and daddy’s money (upper-middle class trauma, bitch). The truth of the matter is, Violet is a drug mule for the Sinaloa Cartel - you see, she’s been getting fed Fenty’s like candy for the last year and a half, a bonafide slave to the cartel. Violet drove hers
VIOLET G. positions herself as a goody-two-shoes rural gal, who is here on mommy and daddy’s money (upper-middle class trauma, bitch). The truth of the matter is, Violet is a drug mule for the Sinaloa Cartel - you see, she’s been getting fed Fenty’s like candy for the last year and a half, a bonafide slave to the cartel. Violet drove herself straight to The Cottonwoods… In a car strapped with 1 million dollars in drugs that she directly stole from the Cartel. She’s paying for the Cottonwoods on the Cartel's dime, unbeknownst to them. Hector, a stateside attorney for the Sinaloa's, checks into Cottonwoods for his own alcohol-related issues and recognizes Violet’s car in the parking lot… Alerting the cartel to her location. Our season will culminate with the Cartel surrounding The Cottonwoods on “Family Weekend” in an attempt to retrieve the drugs that Violet has strapped to her car - all as she is getting her 30-day chip and finally embarking on her second shot at life.
Mike M.
Violet G.
Violet G.
MIKE M. is the Assistant Director of the Cottonwoods Trauma Recovery Center. He is the co-creation of Martha and Frank (unbeknownst to Mike) - their only child, who was birthed in a storm of alcohol-fueled passion. Fresh off his most recent alcohol relapse (in which Mike showed up hammered to an audition for “Waltzing With the Stars”),
MIKE M. is the Assistant Director of the Cottonwoods Trauma Recovery Center. He is the co-creation of Martha and Frank (unbeknownst to Mike) - their only child, who was birthed in a storm of alcohol-fueled passion. Fresh off his most recent alcohol relapse (in which Mike showed up hammered to an audition for “Waltzing With the Stars”), Mike is trying his hand at working at The Cottonwoods, determined to help not only himself but those surrounding him. A former child actor-turned therapist (and chef/magician/carpenter), Mike has been a literal test subject for all of Martha’s methods throughout his upbringing . Mike is analytic, paranoid, and judgmental of himself - from his glasses (he changes them weekly) to how he literally walks in a room. Always the romantic, Mike falls in love too easily and wears his heart on his sleeve, obsessively trying to rekindle his secret relationship with Elora. When Mike finds out that Frank is his birth father, he starts to uncover his mother’s sordid past, deflating the saint-like stature he's held her in for so man- years. As the series deepens, he uncovers Frank and Martha’s plan to funnel PTSD survivors into The Cottonwoods. Mike will join forces with Elora to try and take hold of the facility to run it themselves. His love and obsession for Elora is blinding and will send Mike into a horrific bender that climaxes during “Family Weekend” at The Cottonwoods in our season finale.
Elora T.
Elora T.
Elora T.
ELORA T. is the Director of the Cottonwoods Trauma Recovery Center. She is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. She likes to say that she has healed from all the trauma of her past, but she still enjoys the pain of a razor across her back. Previously she had slept with Mike and had a pseudo-relationship with him (in Mike’s eyes, it was
ELORA T. is the Director of the Cottonwoods Trauma Recovery Center. She is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. She likes to say that she has healed from all the trauma of her past, but she still enjoys the pain of a razor across her back. Previously she had slept with Mike and had a pseudo-relationship with him (in Mike’s eyes, it was something much deeper). For Elora, her relationship with Mike is simply a long play for her to claim The Cottonwoods as her own. After Mike’s most recent relapse, Elora has made it clear that she will no longer be with him until he has at least a year of sobriety. She has her sights set on one day running The Cottonwoods, but knows deep down that Martha Mia will most likely pass her over and hand the reigns to Mike. Fortunately, Elora has a stronghold over Martha - her family owns the native lands on which The Cottonwoods sit and leases them to Martha… Elora will try to use this to her advantage once she learns that she is losing her position as the Director of The Cottonwoods. But with the cartel closing in and a deal to be made, there’s a chance Elora might have an “accidental relapse” and die before she’s able to stop the sale of The Cottonwoods… But, don’t worry, Mike will find out that Martha and Frank had a hand in Elora’s death next season!
Pej V.
Elora T.
Elora T.
PEJ is a commercial real estate attorney from London. He grew up impoverished in Westminster and has adopted a much posher accent to make up for it. He’s been deceitful almost his entire life, telling lies that have helped him become the man that he is today and forget his violent past. He flew directly to the Cottonwoods (like, literall
PEJ is a commercial real estate attorney from London. He grew up impoverished in Westminster and has adopted a much posher accent to make up for it. He’s been deceitful almost his entire life, telling lies that have helped him become the man that he is today and forget his violent past. He flew directly to the Cottonwoods (like, literally flew a jet) after a 3-night bender celebrating the deal that he brokered for the new Cowboys stadium. He is bisexual, a fact he’s been hiding most of his life, and one of the main reasons that he tried to shoot himself in the head just over a year ago. Pej positions himself as a leader and an even keel… when he’s sober. Mainly Dr. Jekyll when we see him, he helps Frank become the best man that he can possibly be and is a model intake of The Cottonwoods. During our season, he’ll finish a 90-day stint of sobriety and be released, only to immediately relapse and check back in a few nights later, rescued from the same shithole motel as the man whom he rescue a few weeks prior. Pej will eventually be lured into Frank and Martha’s business scheme and act as their Tom Hagen. Frank and Martha will fight to keep Pej sober, not because they love him, but so that they can keep their business running. They need him.
Supplemental characters and storylines
ELAINE
Elaine is a segment producer for Oprah, sent to The Cottonwoods to do a puff piece on Martha Mia. Instead, she uncovers a world of wild dysfunction, and unbeknownst to Mia, her puff piece becomes an investigative report. Elaine and her crew will have front-row seats for our first season, and her documentary cameras are the second lens through which we follow the narrative.
MAJOR SANTIAGO, USMC
Sent to The Cottonwoods to tour the facility at the behest of Frank’s former combat buddy, General Albright, Major Santiago seems like she plays by the book, but we’ll soon learn that she demands a piece of the action. She funnels millions of dollars and hundreds of broken soldiers to the newly minted PTSD unit. Prior to her arrival, Sam and Christian oversee the installation of several flag poles and must now have a ceremony for the raising of the stars and stripes every morning. They resent this duty (and the Major) immensely.
HECTOR M.
The Sinaloa Cartel’s stateside attorney bottoms out on a cocaine binge and secretly checks into The Cottonwoods (the cartel can’t be aware of his “weakness”). Upon his arrival, he recognizes Violet’s car in the parking lot – the same car that the cartel has been combing the country for because it’s strapped with their product. Hector won’t stay sober for long, but he will lead the crime organization straight to Violet and her Geo Metro full of drugs.
VICTOR G.
Homicidal, suicidal, depressed, alcoholic, and drug-addicted, Victor is radically transformed into a beam of light and service by Martha Mia. For all of her faults, Martha heals people, particularly this broken soul. She will ultimately entrust the PTSD unit’s therapeutic administration to the former soldier and criminal. Once Victor discovers the insurance scam being perpetrated by Frank and Martha, he alerts the feds and becomes a confidential informant.
CHRISTIAN AND SAM
Sleeve tattoos and man jewelry on both, these two Behavior Health Technicians (Techs) are the underbellies of recovery – stealing whatever they can, whenever they can. They’re also not above selling information on their famous clients to the tabloids. They are both duplicitous and stupid.
ARTURO "THE CLAW"
“The Claw” is the stepson of the Sinaloa cartel boss. He is so named because he travels with a falcon on his shoulder… A falcon that is trained to claw the eyes out of anyone Arturo deems worthy (or in need of a facelift). He devises a plan to attack the Cottonwoods during Family Week. His crew comes in hot in Apache helicopters as ground troops seal off the perimeter. What began as a mere attempt to murder Violet and secure the fentanyl stashed in her Geo Metro, turns into a master plot that ultimately puts him directly in business with the United States Marine Corps. "The Claw" makes a deal on the land beneath The Cottonwoods, becoming the landlord of both Martha Mia’s facility as well as the Marine’s PTSD unit… And of course, he shakes both institutions down with calamitous results.
FAMILY WEEKEND
Mental health disorders are most often family diseases. Recovery is necessary for the identified patient, but also for the co-dependent, self-righteous family members who think their shit doesn’t stink. These people are often footing the bill, so it’s important that we invite them to our campus so that we can show them just how fucked up they are too! Our Season Finale occurs during Family Week, when patient’s loved ones find themselves literally under attack as a confluence of events causes the cartel to invade The Cottonwoods.
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