The Wedding Grift
Logline
On the verge of quitting the grift, Katie, a seasoned con artist, inherits her mother’s house and unknowingly, her mother’s closest friends. Katie wants to settle, her husband wants the next big con. When the mob and the law step in, no secrets are safe and Katie learns that though newly saved, with sin comes consequence, but none too bad for God’s mercy.
THE WEDDING GRIFT
Treatment
Katie and Zack are young, charming grifters running a refined scam: staging fake weddings in small towns to collect cash gifts before disappearing. Their chemistry is effortless, their system airtight—until the cracks begin to show. Katie longs for something real; Zack wants one more score.
After their latest con, Katie learns her mother has died. She inherits the house—but with a condition: she must demonstrate genuine “good works” or lose it to a local church. To Zack, it’s a temporary base of operations. To Katie, it’s stability.
They embed themselves in a wealthy church community, launching a new scheme: a charity to repair the town’s broken sidewalks. Posing as a disabled builder, Zack earns sympathy and credibility, while Katie integrates herself into the lives of the congregation. The plan works flawlessly—money flows, trust builds—but something unexpected happens. Katie forms real relationships, especially with Lydia, a warm and grounded mother whose faith is lived, not performed.
As the con deepens, so do the stakes. Investigators close in on the couple’s long-running scam, offering Katie a deal. At the same time, a local mob-connected contractor discovers their deception and forces Zack to launder stolen money through the charity. What began as a grift spirals into something far more dangerous.
Katie reaches a breaking point. Confronted by authentic faith and her own exhaustion with deception, she undergoes a genuine spiritual awakening. She chooses to walk away—from the con, from the lies, and ultimately from the life of a grifter she shares with Zack. Zack refuses. For him, quitting means losing everything he’s built his identity on.
At a crowded Christmas fundraiser—everything collapses. A public confrontation between Katie and Zack exposes the truth: the fake identities, the scam, even Zack’s staged disability. In moments, trust turns to shock. Police move in. Zack, Katie, and the contractor are arrested as the community looks on in betrayal.
In the aftermath, Katie faces the consequences of her actions with a transformed heart, embracing accountability and faith. Zack, however, is left stripped of everything—his confidence, his illusions, and uncertainty with Katie.
In a quiet but pivotal encounter, Zack meets with his estranged Uncle Carl and a victim of a previous con, Pastor Rick—two men representing both his past and a path forward. Forced to confront the damage he’s done and the life he’s been running from, Zack finally breaks. In that moment of humility, he chooses surrender over control, beginning his own path to redemption.
Two years later, Zack and Katie live a changed life. Their relationship is no longer built on deception, but on truth, forgiveness, and shared faith. The life they once had has flipped. They no longer rush to get out of town, but rush to get to church.
Tone & Themes
A grounded crime dramedy with emotional depth, The Wedding Grift explores deception, identity, and the cost of transformation—ultimately demonstrating Proverbs 2:10 “Ill-gotten gains do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.”
For further information:
Burt Wizeman
941-545-0575
www.burtwizeman.com
burt.wizeman@icloud.com