January 1st, 2013
Okay. This is a brand spankin' new year, and I'm on a war-path. It's about time that I put my little brain to work, and start hashing out all of these stories, characters and plotlines that I have scurrying around in my head. I'm really tired of the insomnia, so perhaps writing some of these ideas down will allow me to get some decent REM sleep. Probably not. It's a curse, and one that I hope to capitalize on.
First off, I've always been intrigued by computer hackers, crackers and "digital dilinquents" of all-sorts. Whether their nafarious activities fall under the the notorious umbrella group "Anonymous", or rogue coding-phreaks, I've always admired their intelligence, tenacity, and moral rightiousness. More so, I'm intrigued by the capabilities of national miliarty complex, and how computer code is now used as weaponry. The US, UK, Isreal, China, Japan, and a host of other nations now regularly deploy strategic digital tactics to upset other nation states. Consider the Stuxnet computer worm. If you're unfamiliar with it, read up here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet. I find it fascinating that there's a team of people in a room somewhere, typing out lines upon lines of code in order to infiltrate and disrupt corporate and government systems.
In terms of creating a television show based on this subject, I have recently read Parmy Olson's (@parmy) book "We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous and the Global Cyber Insurgency", (Little Brown, 2012), and it opened my eyes to the Internet hacking culture, and provided me with some interesting characters ideas.
The show is called Darknet, and it's all about the underground Internet culture (much of which has gone mainstream) and the intertwined stories of three strangers. The series explores the dredges of the Internet, including its criminal elements, freedom fighters, and the consequences of online action and how it seeps into our personal lives.
Stardust
What if you and a friend were lost in the desert and suddenly came across one of the rarest meteors ever to be discovered on Earth (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20900843). What if this meteor possessed holistic powers and interacted with brain chemistry beyond explanation. What if it was accidentally stolen by a punk looking to make a quick score for rock of a different kind. The stone ends up in the hands of numerous characters, and each of them have a story to tell.
January 3rd, 2013
This is of great importance: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8077326/Bill-Clinton-lost-vital-White-House-nuclear-codes.html
It's a crazy thought that can be applied to a few interesting fictinal scenarios that would make for great drama...
"There was never just one"
What if the highly decorated soldier whose secretly charged with carrying "the Football", the briefcase containing the codes for carrying out a nuclear attack (or some other similarly secret information), was killed and the briefcase stolen? What if, coincidentally, the President "misplaced" the "biscuit" at the same time and it went unnoticed for days and ended up in some random strangers' hands?
What if there's a multitude of "Football's" and "Biscuit's", say 12, and a hacker managed to find the list of these men and women. What if said Hacker managed to sell this information to a terrorist group for a huge sum of money? What if this terrorist group began taking out each and every person charged with protecting secret information. The content of these briefcases contain top-secret information, mysteries that only a select group of people are privvy to. Eventually, put together, each briefcase leads to a greater mystery, which is in fact, the secret database known as Darknet.
Plot: A group of hackers and ex-military band together to uncover each briefcase, and in doing so, discover astonishing secrets, leading to new files within the the mysterious Darknet. Dangerous and highly charged, the decisions to protect the secret content falls in the lap of one man, and later on, his woman aide, since the team of hackers blackmails him with releasing the information to the media. The President is informed, and he's implicated too since he's responsible for one of the lost "Biscuits". In a surprise twist, we see the president talking to a boardroom full of suits; in fact, it seems as though he's subordinate to them, and is suddenly targeted for assassination. We eventually learn that the boardroom full of secretive men and woman are really what we would identify as "The Illuminati": The secretive high-level global power achitects who control nations like pawns on a game board.
January 6, 2012
Thinking about business ideas today.
Aside from my work on Arrow, I want to start looking ahead towards becoming an entrepreneur. I would love to work for myself, building something from the ground up. I'm well aware of the failure rates for new business ventures, so I want to make sure I do my research so that I can decide on the best avenue to take.
Off the top of my head, I truly feel passionate about travel, hospitality, and exotic tropical locations, so if I had all the money in the world to start a new business, I would like to build or purchase a boutique eco-resort. It will be in a tropical location, and serve as a surfing and diving lodge with yoga, numerous outdoor restaurant and other activities. I truly feel with all my heart that this endeavour is worthwhile, and is my ultimate destiny on this earth. I will create a place of healing and serenity; a lasting legacy for others to enjoy when I am gone.
Now, how to raise the capital...
There are a few ways that I can raise money for this, and all of them will require planning and hard work. But before I even think about raising capital, I have to write the business plan for the resort, creating a blue print for the next 10 years.
Personal mission statement: To own a profitable eco-resort business by January 1st, 2020 (7 years).
As an aside: There may be an opportunity for a business marketing and booking eco-resorts online. Similar to the big travel sites like Expedia, another eco-resort booking site might be useful.
Other business ideas that I could sink my teeth into:
1. Soy aromatherapy candles similar to Sydney & Hale Co. I love these candles and there's a market opportunity for high-end frangrance made out of natural ingredients and essential oils.
2. Local brew house pub. I've always loved pubs that offered high-quality craft brews on tap. None of these big companies, but small batch, high-flavour brews that can tantalize the taste buds of discerning clientale and the common layperson alike. On a recent trip to Mexico, I had a 24 hour stopover in Pheonix, Arizona. I stopped and had a beer and dinner at a place called the Angel's Trumpet, and I was pleasantly surprised by their establishment. A whole wall was filled with draft taps and the food was sincerely good. Small batch brews were detailed on a black erasable board using coloured chalk. The food menu was set, but there's features and specials that happen each night. They also had wine and barley wine on tap. The true draw of this type of establishment is the flights of six beers that you can get for a reasonable price. Surprisingly, the six small beers were served in a muffin tin: Genius!
In terms of food, everything should be made from all natural, organic ingredients (if possible), including burgers, fresh baked breads, cheeses, salads, wood-fired pizzas (large selection of toppings), grilled fish and daily specials. A large selection of hearty soups will also be offered, and seasonal items will also be included in the menu.
3. Imported furniture, clothing and jewelry.
Clothing and jewelry are easy to purchase and import, and you can sell both in-store and online. Small boutique, but with high-end, quality goods.
Also, it could be profitable to import interesting furniture and housewares from around the world (I could personally source them out!)
4. Video ad business.
Content is key. All establishments, including local businesses, need to have a video component as part of their online presence. It's doubtful that this will ever go away. Resorts, hotels and tourism-based businesses also need to put together new and relevant videos for their website. There's definitely an opportunity to start a business locally and move towards international projects with higher budgets. Furthermore, These videos can be implemented into mylocalflyer.com links to Youtube.
5. mylocalflyer.com
The trends in the advertising industry indicate that mobile ads are an increasingly important part of the marketing mix. It's a cluttered marketplace, and often the ads are put in front of you regardless if you want them to or not. The difference mylocalflyer.com and other advertising sites and tactics is that the consumer will be able to opt-in to as many local businesses as they choose, and receive a daily, weekly or monthly digest of their chosen LOCAL ads. The only different between competitors and my business is that it's democratized for all flyers. Every company has an 8.5 X 11 pdf photo. Businesses are given a choice of submitting their flyers on their own or having us create the ad based on pre-established templates and email information. The flyers can be updated daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Users can sign up for a LOCAL DIGEST through their email to receive
TV Show ideas
Gliese 581
A science-fiction fantasy drama based on characters living on the habitable extrasolar planets orbiting the star Gliese 581, which is located about 22 light years away from Earth in the constellation Libra.
Gliese 581's estimated mass is about a third of that of the Sun, and it's the 89th closest known star to the Sun. Observations suggest that the star has a planetary system consisting of at least three, maybe four, and controversially six planets: Gliese 581 e, b, and c are certain; d is probable; and f and g are disputed. For the sake of the show, there are SEVEN planets orbiting the STAR, but not all of them are habitable (even though some beings may at time call the "uninhabitable" planets home).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20942440
January 24, 2013
I've been exploring some ideas concerning what it would be like to be stuck in an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) underground launch control facility in the event of thermonuclear war.
Here's some of the inspiration for my thoughts:
319th Missile Squadron
Our Mission
The 319th Missile Squadron operates and monitors 50 Minuteman III ICBMs from five Missile Alert Facilities (MAFs) and their associated underground Launch Control Centers (LCCs) spread throughout 3,200 square miles in eastern Wyoming, western Nebraska and northern Colorado. The MAF provides shelter and work space for facility managers, chefs, maintenance support, and security members. The LCC is a fully self-sufficient entity with its own air, power and water supplies, providing survivable command and control capabilities throughout a conflict. A two-officer missile combat crew performs 24-hour alert duties in hardened underground launch control centers. A variety of communication systems provide the president and secretary of defense with highly reliable, virtually instantaneous direct command for each launch crew. The crews monitor the status and security of missiles and maintain proficiency in the execution of emergency war orders. This team of professional "Screaming Eagles" works rotating shifts, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to ensure a safe, secure and ready strategic deterrent force for our nation.
http://cryptome.org/eyeball/n1/n1-eyeball.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_silo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/576th_Flight_Test_Squadron
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/16jyia/iama_a_former_nuclear_missile_officer_i_spent/c7wspow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:319th_Missile_Squadron_-_MAF_-_LC.png
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/319th_Missile_Squadron
January 25, 2013
For a long time I have been absoulutely intrigued by the South Pacific. Specifically, I'm interested in the oceanic flora and fauna; however, I'm also intrigued by the American military activities in the area. Specifically, the history of the remote atolls have captured my imagination. Not only has the US government used these atolls for thermonuclear weapons testing, but a host of other clandestine military operations. For example, Johnston atoll was used to store chemical weapons left over from the Vietnam war. It strikes me as strange that military personnel were stationed so far out, and were tasked with storing, and eventually incinerating the stockpiles of these horrific and dangerous weapons. Furthermore, there was a failed thermonuclear weapons test which sprayed radioactive plutonium over the island! There's so many interesting story leads that it makes my head dizzy. Just imagine what a tour to this island would have been like during the atoll's active days.
Of specific interest to me is the recent history since base was closed:
On August 22, 2006, Johnston Island was struck by Hurricane Ioke. The eastern eye-wall passed directly over the atoll, with winds exceeding 100 mph (160 km/h). Twelve people were actually on the island when the hurricane struck, part of a contracted USAF crew sent to the island to monitor groundwater contamination levels. All 12 survived.
On December 9, 2007, the United States Coast Guard swept the runway at Johnston Island of debris and used the runway in the removal and rescue of an ill Taiwanese fisherman to Oahu, Hawaii. The fisherman was transferred from the Taiwanese fishing vessel Sheng Yi Tsai No. 166 to the Coast Guard buoy tender Kukui on December 6, 2007. The fisherman was transported to the island, and then picked up by a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules rescue plane from Kodiak, Alaska.
Since the base was closed, the atoll is likely to have been visited by sailing vessels crossing the Pacific, as the deserted atoll has a strong lure due to the activities once performed there. One vessel blogged about stopping there for several days during a trip from Honolulu to the Marshall Islands.
http://great-hikes.com/blog/island-for-sale/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_Atoll
http://home.earthlink.net/~markinthepacific/
In 2010, a Fish and Wildlife survey team identified a swarm of Anoplolepis ants that had invaded the island. The crazy ants are particularly destructive to the native wildlife, and needed to be eradicated. A "Crazy Ant Strike Team" was formed to stay on the island for nine months to bait traps for the ants and eliminate them. The team camped in the old chemical weapons storage bunkers on the southwest corner of the island. It is believed that the ants arrived with private boaters visiting the island illegally.
February 5, 2013
My thoughts today have been focused on renewal. I wake up every morning with a real determination to work hard and learn something new, but have recently been feeling as though much of my passion and enthusiasm for life has been squandered by the daily grind of twelve hours sitting in an office. I'm fortunate to be working, and happy to have a job in the field in which I studied, but can't help but think that I may be on the wrong path. Unfortunately, the practical necessities of bills and student loans loom heavy, and the very thought of quitting for some distant adventure overseas keeps my logical reasoning in tact: I must continue.
I've always felt as though I have a voice; that somewhere deep inside me there's a wise soul that's hungry and capable of telling stories that will emotionally connect people all around the world.
At the end of the day, I have realised that if I ever want to truly succeed telling stories, I must create the habit of writing everyday, and write about things that I care about. These two things are paramount. Characters, plots and and storylines for films and television shows will come. First and foremost, I have to nurture my voice, and develop a language that can translate to good, well-structured storytelling.
Reasons for pursuing writing/producing further...
1. I need to make some serious cash if I'm ever going to truly realize my dream of absolute freedom. Cheque please! I don't have any other skills that I truly care to develop, so why not throw it all-in to writing and see what happens. Make it a two year goal. Get something produced. Get the taste for success. Move on.
2. There's no turning back now! I've come this far, gathered insightful information concerning the industry, and it would be a shame to squander this because of my self-doubt. One day I hope to look back on these thoughts and think, "How silly would it have been if I would have given up?" The company I keep includes some very successful writer's and producers, and I need to nourish these relationships to help me along in my career. Yes, I am currently an assistant, but one day I will be running the show and looking back on these days with admiration and awe.
3. I have something to give. I have been through a fair bit of turmoil in my life, and have worked very hard to get where I am. I truly believe that if I apply myself fully to the endeavor of writing, I can truly make an honest go of it. I have enough life experience to turn this life into a successful legacy.
The Executive Producer of "Arrow" Greg Berlanti said some great things concerning pitching the networks and studios in an article for the Hollywood Reporter. I think it's valid, and really want to keep it in mind going forward: "You can't be discouraged by a no. If you really believe this story that deserves to be a show, it will find the right home. It's very easy between pitch three and four to give up or pitch it without the same degree of enthusiasm, but you need to remember: You only need one yes".
February 8, 2013
Main characters - DARKNET
Asher Adams (23)
Asher is the precocious son of a brilliant computer engineer Stanton Adams. During his first year of college at MIT, his father went missing and hasn't been seen since. As the main character for the series, he's the first person to discover the existence of OVERVIEW, an organization of elite members of a society tasked with curating and protecting the information encrypted on the clandestine computer network called DARKNET.
Walking home from classes one evening, Asher and his friend Luke stumble upon a fatal car crash involving a limousine and an SUV. The first on scene, they come upon the tangled wreck to find the occupants of both vehicles deceased.
Asher immediately pulls out his cell phone and calls 911, but Luke grabs the phone from Asher, disconnecting the line. Perplexed, Asher asks what Luke thinks he's doing, and Luke's only answer is that he's going to see what they have on them, since money or objects "can't do them any good when they're dead," where as Luke needs the money. Asher protests quoting the obvious illegality of the act, not to mention the moral and karmic consequences of such repulsive behaviour. Luke feels the world "owes him one" and proceeds to enter the limo to rob the helpless dead executive, taking his wallet, briefcase, and computer bag. Asher begs his friend to reconsider his actions and to leave the dead man's personal effects alone, but Luke is blinded by adrenaline and greed. Asher, an unwilling participant in the nefarious activities, is suddenly implicated as a witness.
Suddenly, three black SUV's squeal around the corner, causing Luke to panic and dart off into the woods beside the accident. Asher panics, following his friend into the woods. The two men hide amongst the tree, catching their breath, only to overhear a mysterious man tell his crew that the briefcase is gone, and that they have a problem. The mysterious man tells the others to secure the area, and find the briefcase.
Luke and Asher exchange looks, and their faces turn pale.
Kristen Lyle (27)
Kristen is Asher's platonic childhood friend. They've never hooked up, although there's certainly a chemistry that's evoliving. She's athletic and sexy, and the reason for her platonic attitude towards Asher is because she's secretly a high-priced executive call girl. She goes by many aliases, bu her main alias is Vixon. She's an incredibly intelligent mainipulator, and leads a double-life as an administrative assistant for the DA's office in Washington state.
Morgan Collins (21)
She's an environmental activist turned environmnetal terrorist when her family farm was ruined by a pipeline rupture oil spill in the midwest US. She recently moved to Portland to connect with a group of similar-minded individuals who plan to sabotage a number of initiatives threatening the environment, including a proposed pipelin. She's persuasive, feisty, and a born leader. If she wasn't so radicalized, she could have been a fantastic politician.
Daniel O'Reilly (24)
Originally from the UK, Daniel moved to the US after receiving a scholarship from MIT for his impressive work on quantum computing and his impressive theories for the future of computing. His mother Jane and father Rick are Oxford professors and have scorned him for his choice to attend MIT rather than Oxford. His high level IQ and keen interest in computers have led him deep into the culture of the internet. Part desheveled, drug-induced hacker and part freedom fighter, Daniel lives a double life leaking confidential documents and infiltrating big business. Online, Daniel's close-knit team includes three other trusted people who help Daniel undertake his nafarious endeavors. It should be noted, Daniel's decision to move to the United States was solely based his desire to attend the same institution as a pretty girl he met online, Jennifer. Daniel's parents have no idea this influenced his decision. Daniel and Asher first meet in a class at MIT.
February 14, 2013
What makes for good television storytelling?
First and foremost, a strong main character must be established. This character must be absolutely sympathetic, regardless of his actions and motivations. He arch must be multi-faceted, and the emotional connection we have as an audience must be authentic and true. Even if the character has questionable morals and actions (think Dexter Morgan on Dexter or Frank Moody on Californication), they still must drive the show forward based on their individual stories. All other characters, however big or small, must somehow orbit the world of our main character, progressing him along towards his or her goals, or at the very least providing conflict for the main character.
Supporting characters.
No main character can hold a show on their own, and therefore must interact with multiple supporting characters to help the main character evolve and achieve his or her goals. These supporting characters will provide necessary drama, and connect the audience to the emotional tapestry of the show.
February 15th, 2013
Today is a sad day here at the offices of Vancouver Film Studios. Our resident rabbit Bill Murray has been attacked by the dog next door, and has succombed to his wounds.
Extremely tame and friendly, Bill Murray was a delight to all of us, and will be truly missed. RIP Bill.
