write a TV pilot

I’m taking a TV Pilot writing class from UCLA extension, starting this April.

If this animated story of my life doesn’t attract the attention of TVNZ, I will write a drama entitled Group Therapy about a group of people suffering from delusions related to various mental illnesses.

Memoirs of a Broken man is about a young man who ends up in big trouble.

Adam Kensington was arrested for disorderly behaviour. He overdosed on antidepressants and his mind-state altered to a level where he was apt to special abilities.

A criminal organisation held his family hostage and interrogated him about his past, the crimes he had committed, the things that haunted him. His training had begun. He did not want to join a gang, but that too would change.

Every movement we make as human beings makes a noise. If we scratch, fart, burp, adjust ourselves. Walking, running and breathing. This noise overhears and amplifies our subconscious thoughts. But it is in a language indistinguishable to the naked ear. This is also true of animals, plants and insects.

In his altered state, Adam was able to decode this language. He was targeted by certain government agencies because he was privy to pertinent information in the crime world. He was given the gift by a young boy – transferred through touch.

The Arrowpax OD acted as a catalyst for all the Acid that Adam had taken in the past (combined with all the other drugs) putting him in a state susceptible to military experiments. Because of technological advances they were able to hear him and when the boy gave him the gift, he could hear them. But without training, he could neither communicate fluently (with movement – on the simplest level, blinking – blink once for yes, twice for no, three times for yes, four times nullifies) nor control his newfound powers. During the training he killed his sister by stuffing her in a washing machine (brainwashed to do so) and couldn’t live with his father’s hatred, so he tried to kill himself.

Over the next few weeks Adam’s life was dismantled and he was trained as a human hit machine. The experiment led him to a mental breakdown. By the end, he shut down completely. His actions and choices were recorded and manipulated so that he could become a true soldier.

Ten pages to go,
I could get it finished in a couple of days,
But at the moment I have my studies as my priority,
I have assignments due.
The story is interesting,
I’m liking the climax – ‘my first time’.

I wrote a TV pilot and sent it to TVNZ.
They called me up and said that they liked my writing,
They said it was quirky.
But could I write a drama,
Because the script I had sent them had too many special fx.
So that’s what I’m doing now,
I’ve written fourty pages of a 1hr TV drama (based on my life).

Writing them is the easy part. It’s making the connections to pitch the darn things and getting them into production that’s hard! And getting a network to bite…

You can check out my latest series “Dead Tenants” on TLC at:

http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/dead_tenants/dead_tenants.html?clik=tlc_leftnav

About me:

www.myspace.com/sardy

I have a big list of characters (maybe TOO big), I know where it takes place and what the show’s about. I’ve worked on the relationships and some of the smaller situations, but I need to do character backgrounds, and develop some possible larger arcs to start building blocks for early on (gotta think big picture!)