I am interested in developing a television show based off of my story "A Gang of Daggers."
The premise: A group of high school students discover a magical portal to another world. On this other world, they are considered adults and can drink, chase women, and kill people, and get away with it. They decide to keep the portal a secret and form a mercenary band on this other planet, selling their services to gain wealth and glory. On earth, they recruit other students and create a dojo to train, essentially forming a gang.
The television show for the first four years would focus on the initial group of students who discover the portal and how they create the "gang" and wrestle with the destiny they are choosing for themselves. The fifth year and on would be a new set of seniors trying to continue the "academy" they have formed, keeping the portal and what happens there a secret, and recruiting freshmen and training them to be the best fighters to continue to keep the gang a powerful force on this other planet.
The setting: A high school in the U.S.. I would prefer an inner city, urban setting, a place that looks rough, covered in graffiti, and that would be scary to attend. I would like to turn it into a "high school of the arts" and get every student involved in the film making process. For the other planet, a "village" could be constructed in the U.S., maybe sets in Europe and New Zealand (Hercules, Xena, Lord of the Rings for example), even castles and cities around the world. But a lot of the action would be taking place in wilderness locations and along forest roads.
Actors: I would want to create a group of actors, freshmen in high school, to be the first group that discovers and journeys to the new world. Other actors would be cast as the extras for that world. More actors would be used as the extras on earth and the various storylines there.
Training: I would want to recruit people familiar with stage combat, professional wrestling, and even fight choreographers from all types of backgrounds (Star Wars, 300, etc) to create and develop a fighting style that looked realistic, and that would train the actors to "be injured" if struck from a weapon.
Ideally, computer animation can be used to add in things like blood, and even dismemberment. But what I would want is the fights are not scripted. The outcome is not known.
The skill of the two actors fighting before the camera determines how the fight goes, and who wins. And defeat could mean one of them is "killed," ending that character's storyline. As a result, the other actors have to react to the loss of their friend, cover up his/her death, and deal with the consequences and change of plans.
There would be "magic" in this show, but it would be subtle, used for things like "convincing" parents to let the students disappear for weeks and months, and for things that today's military uses technology for (such as scouting, distraction, and transportation).
Story: Each character has their own storyline, their own motivations and issues. As they join as freshmen, they would have to train hard their first two years, and eventually start interacting and gaining the attention of the upper classmen to gain positions of authority and respect their junior and senior years.
After the fifth year, a new set of characters is in charge. They have to recruit, train, and prepare for the summer campaign season, where they can go to the other world and run loose on military campaigns. The audience would receive a new set of stars to watch, and be on the lookout for the next group coming up in the ranks.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Gang-of-Daggers/310009962350370
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Urban Shield 2011 "Bound By Duty, Committed with Honor"by tylerdenevi188 views
To me, science fiction is best when it uses a scenario to illustrate a situation people on earth are struggling with. I hope that this television show could do the same, while providing audiences with adventure, power plays, and even some flirting on the side.
Now, do you know of a high school that would be interested in doing this?
Thank you.
skyanimal 2 months ago
In a way, the anger and violence that the youth of the U.S. face and think about, could be channeled in different ways, and that will be the storylines of the characters on the show. Those in the gang, those not in, even the lives of people on the other world.
skyanimal 2 months ago
Lastly, if the idea of the show sounds controversial, that is my intention.
The violence we see in schools with bullying, fights, and shootings is the current background of life in the U.S. education system. But when compared to a primitive world, where youth have to fight to defend their homes or to make a living, the problems in the U.S. take on a different perspective.
skyanimal 2 months ago
The key difference, though, is this time the action is more realistic with an unknown outcome, people "dying" or running away depending on what is happening, and (since you can edit out a cameraman - especially if that person is wearing a bright green outfit) you can watch it unfold from any angle, including in the thick of the fight.
Other things would include selling weapons and armor, action figures, and books and graphic novels.
skyanimal 2 months ago
It could also be expanded into a summer camp where teens (maybe 13 or 14 years of age and up) could come, meet the actors from the show, train in the same combat style, and become extras in large scale battles between two armies.
skyanimal 2 months ago
(I ran out of space in the description.)
Lastly, this show has the potential for making a lot of money through franchising, and of having a great impact on many students and teens across the U.S.
Already, live action role playing games are popular across the U.S., where people dress up, wield rubber weapons, and engage in play fights with others. ("Darkon" is a great example of this.) This type of gaming could be done at various conventions for comics and movies in the U.S.
skyanimal 2 months ago