Zeus: The Pitch

  1. First of all, I'm totally an amateur writer. I write for "fun". I've written a few plays---submitted to playwriting contests with no result---and a few episodes of fan fiction for an old favorite TV show.

  2. I wanted something new to write and something got me thinking of Michael Dunn (1934--1973) a well known character actor from the 1960s whom Sean might recall. Michael Dunn had dwarfism and specialized roles that made use of that. I was sort of a fan was saddened when died rather young.

  3. So I came up with the idea of an episodic novel/series in screenplay mode---but NOT master-scene format---with a lead character for which I've mentally cast Michael Dunn.

  4. The idea is to make use of the cinematic understanding of the reader---who's just myself---rather than ordinary novel narrative technique.

    So cuts, pans, voice-overs, and description in present tense.

    But I will do the things, you-all are not supposed to do: call the shots, describe the action and set design in some detail, give the actor direction---I'm the auteur of my series.

    The series will be very dialogue driven, but there will be some action too. Dialogue is action.

    The advantage of screenplay mode as compared to play mode is the freedom to move around, all over the world, in fact.

    William Shakespeare (1564--1616) could write plays with action spanning continents, but modern playwrights don't usually do that---they stick mostly to unity of place---probably because they can't compete with films.

    Shakespeare is cinematic.

  5. The series title is Zeus which is the lead character's code name---which after Greek god Zeus.

    His real name is Peter Courtney. He was born in 1990, and so he's a relatively young person.

  6. The basic theme of Zeus is that Peter is the investigator of our time, current history.

    So he will be move around the world, observing and investigating, and allowing me to comment and do vicarious tourism too.

  7. To play this role, Peter will have to have some sort of status.

    He will be a researcher for British House of Lords Library specializing in intelligence matters. See the Palace of Westminster below. Sccouting for filming location is just so easy now with Web.

    Researchers for the British Parliamentary Libraries are not civil servants or partisan. They write reports and advise Members of Parliament. They are often great experts in their particular fields and often work for the British Parliamentary Libraries just part-time.

    I had a friend who did this once and he said it was the world's best part-time job.

  8. Peter Courtney will not be an ordinary researcher. He will be a roving investigator---which is probably not realistic---I'm just making up his job.

    He isn't in intelligence---the British Secrect Service AKA MI6---but he has contacts in that world and he becomes sort of an outside man for MI6.

  9. Peter Courtney will also be an academic: a historian who works in cliodynamics which the mathematical modeling of history.

    Being a historian is both a real job and cover when he needs that.

    He can also be openly a researcher for the British House of Lords Library or just a tourist.

    So in any of four modes, he can be investigator: library reseacher, historian, secret agent, tourist.

    The theme music, I stolen an appropropriate piece for a spy thriller, the Maigret theme, 1992.

    See spy-thriller image below.

  10. I'm making Peter a Canadian since I'm Canadian and know something about Canada---at least the way it was 30 years ago---but Peter has triple citizenship and he's also British and Irish.

    He had one parent born in England and one in Ireland, and so he claimed both citizenships.

    Having triple citizenship means he can travel legally under any of 3 different passports which is an advantage as a sometimes secret agent.

  11. My serious interest is Peter as investigator of our time as aforesaid.

    But I'm also going to have some fun with genre: Peter as secret agent, Peter as unusual amateur detective, Peter as failed academic as in Tales of Terror and Tenure.

  12. I'm giving Peter a surrogate family in England and a pet cat.

    Peter doesn't have to star in every episode or even appear. I can use some of the supporting characters.

  13. I've already written the first episode---the pilot episode---but not fully refined it yet.

    It's called Avalon.

    It turned to be rather long: 48 pages which might expand to 150 in master-scene format.

    Everything but the kitchen sink got thrown in.

    I just wrote a few lines every day for a couple months with maybe a hour or so on weekends.

    Avalon is set mostly in Glastonbury in South West England. It's shrine city and a center of New Ageism.

    Peter is there attending a book festival has various adventures that get the ball rolling on his career. I also introduce the surrogate family and give Peter a personal mystery/quest to act as a story arc.

  14. I will probably write at least a few more episodes---but probably not as long as the pilot.

    Some will be just for fun: the Halloween: Oct31 episode, the Christmas: Dec25 episode, Saint Patrick's Day episode set in Dublin, etc.

    I can close the series down whenever I get bored with it.

    But it could also go on and on.

    I'm letting current history set most of the agenda.

    So specific episode themes will just turn up, I hope.

  15. Accidentally, I seem to be writing a this-Earth version of the The Hobbit (1937, 2001).

    I wonder who Smaug will turn out to be.

    Actually, there is a clue to that too from the video clip below.

  16. And that's the pitch.