Writers' Room Workshop with AJZ (Feb 2021) - GROUP 2 : Pitches by J.L. Reed

I have been playing around with this idea today: "Dracula set in a Great Gatsby esc universe, where Drac is running an underground bar in New york in the 1920s. He’s trying to trick people into becoming his “personal blood bags” By keeping them trapped there through a special cocktail he serves the victims he likes best."

I have three that I would like to throw in the ring.

1. DRIVE, SUCKA, DRIVE!!! : In the 1970s, a high school mechanic joins a street racing gang to make the girl of his dreams fall in love with him.

- This is more of a limited series

2. FLYING WITH THE FREAKS: When a hoodlum wants to get into college, he joins the circus program at FSU and strives to be the best.

- This one is loosely based on my life. I used to be a trapeze artist at FSU with no prior experience.

3. BELIVERS: A scientist and priest duo travel the world vetting miracles. Do miracles still happen or are miracles a thing of the past?

- I have a background in studying religion from an academic point of view. This is field that is untapped by the mass media. Imagine a noir in the field of Christianity.

After an insecure angel named Satan falls in love with his red hot mother, his father – God – declares him eternal war. – Hell Rising

When Satanists conquer the world, a Warrior Pope must travel back in time to assassinate their future leaders and prevent a religious catastrophe. – The Pope’s Hit List

There are some interesting ideas here. Are we only supposed to pitch one as a group or do we pitch several?

Derek Johnson II I don't see why we can't have a few in the bag

Maybe we aim for two or three. Continue entertaining options through tomorrow afternoon? Make a decision on top 2 or 3 ideas by tomorrow evening?

J.L Reed, I know you have some as well. Do you want to put your ideas in this thread too? That way we can see all the choices together before we decide.

Let's decide on three tomorrow by taking a vote. Everyone can vote for projects (that's not their own) and the three with the most votes can be pitched by the person who created them.

In the last email Amanda sent out it seems like we as a group pitch one idea for the voting, for the next week's class. But if we want to we all can elevator pitch a series ideas to get the experience.

My contribution: After the gruesome death of a prominent political figure at the hands of a local pastor, a veteran reporter sets out to investigate if it was simply cold-blooded murder or, as the pastor claims, divine intervention. -Vessel

Santa Claus retires to become a weed farmer in Humboldt County, CA.

That is great Brett!!

Abigail and others, I did not know all/some of you are part of a writer group. This was just some fun for me, nothing to develop.

Here are our top three ideas:

1. Jesse Pinkman goes to pharmacy school in Alaska and becomes a Pharmacist.

2. Teenage Lisa Simpson goes to an elite boarding school on the East coast.

3. Skyler White runs a brothel in New Mexico.

Thanks Abigail Elliott for bringing up Amanda's clarifying email. It sounds like it'll be best to get on the same page with a pitch that most of us can easily latch on to and explore. With that in mind, does anyone want to adjust their initial pitch so it's more in line with "familiar character does a thing"? haha Are pitchers cool putting them in Derek Johnson II 's "Voting" post so they'll be in one place? And keep them to the one-sentence structure (with perhaps a brief logline/synopsis)

Okay, I will put my "familiar character does a thing" pitch in Derek Johnson II "Voting" post so they'll be all in one place. Thanks for organizing!

Hi everyone! What the other groups are doing is settling on an idea around known characters, like Thomas Hardwick's ideas (using characters everyone knows like Lisa Simpson or Skyler White and creating the show idea around them). Most of the groups are planning on doing one main pitch for the group, but are coming planned with other pitches in their pocket if they get called on. Hope this helps you guys zone in on your idea for your main pitch and backup pitches if called on.

I don't think we have to limit the initial loglines to "familiar character does a thing". I think if your story makes enough sense, people will get it. I don't think this class is about writing specs, is it?

Most pitches focus more on the conflict don't they? For example, one of Brett Pels's ideas involves Santa and weed. There is an obvious dilemma that creates the show. I would also argue that the character is well known enough.