Day 1 Assignments

[Megan Schemenauer]

Megan’s Big Picture Components

What I learned doing this assignment is…that while it may seem repetitive, it’s important to keep reminding myself of the core of what my show is about. It’s also an opportunity to consider if any of these basic items could still be elevated. Like a writer’s room, I should never stop looking for ways to make the show better.

Currently, the one area of my big picture components I still want to elevate is the World, in particular, Lexie’s world.

SERIES INFO:

World: a small-town high school and the future: Chicago in the year 2040

Main mystery: How is Lexie and Alexis’s cross-timeline communication possible? Who is involved and what are they after?

Impossible Goal: Lexie wants to become braver and more confident and successful like Alexis. Alexis wants a more satisfying life with more meaningful interpersonal relationships.

Main Conflict: Lexie and Alexis are two completely different people who seem to be nothing alike. How can they possibly be the same person?

Second Mystery: Can Alexis be trusted? Can either Lexie or Alexis change?

Season 1 Arc: Lexie goes from overlooked and unnoticeable to an amateur investigator. Alexis goes from an ostensible sales manager to revealing she is actually an undercover operative.

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Lexie goes from pushover enabler to initiator. Alexis goes from detached, confident sales management to becoming slightly more open and honest and admitting who she really is: an undercover operative.

PILOT INFO:

Pilot Conflict: Lexie’s struggles to fit into both high school and her own family. Alexis’s struggles with one competitive coworker and another amorous coworker.

Characters Introduced: Lexie Abbott, Betsy Sullivan, Lily Abbott, Scott Abbott, Amanda Abbott, Dylan Abbott, Alexis Abbott, Sterling Zheng, Brett Hall, Miss Parker, Mrs. McNeil

Inciting Incident of Season 1: Lexie receives a response to her email from her future self.

[Dave Arena]

What we learned doing this assignment is that it’s getting a bit easier to fill in the blanks on this stuff because of all the work we’ve already done.

SERIES INFO:

World: The swinger lifestyle

Main mystery: How is Liz going to accomplish her goal when her husband doesn’t even want to be public?

Impossible Goal: Liz wants to be a celebrity sexpert but nobody even knows she’s been a swinger for 15 years

Main Conflict: Liz has to deal with her husband, family, and society opposing/judging/shaming her but her biggest fear is dying with the regret that she never lived her truth

Second Mystery: Sexuality of Liz’s dad and how Liz’s beliefs were formed

Season 1 Arc: Liz goes from secret swinger to helping others with sex & relationships

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Liz goes from feeling suppressed to living authentically

PILOT INFO:

Pilot Conflict: When Liz’s best friend Michelle suggests swinging to save her marriage, Liz needs to decide to keep her secret and let Michelle fail on her own, or help her while outing herself and her husband Eric.

Characters Introduced: Liz, Eric, Michelle, Mary (Liz and Eric’s daughter), Liz’s parents, Teresa (Liz’s younger sister)

Inciting Incident of Season 1: When Michelle shows up unexpectedly at the swinger club while Liz and Eric are there, Liz helps Michelle without Eric knowing just before Michelle was about to make a big mistake

[Suzanne Frank]

Suzanne’s Big Picture Components

What I learned during this assignment: (even after a total rework between Module 2 and 3) what I have isn’t enough. Keep massaging, keep rethinking, keep expanding–everything is one step closer, every time.

SERIES INFO:

World: All past and present New Orleans

Main mystery: How is the “Looking Glass” fixed/how to free it

Impossible Goal: survive history to free the Looking Glass before disaster

Main Conflict: Her family is trying to catch her before she can do it

Second Mystery: Why did the Looking Glass pick her?

Season 1 Arc: Looking Glass from object to be freed, to creature that takes FQ with it when it escapes

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: From family drone with tiny rebellions, to upending her family’s fortune, changing the reality of New Orleans, the Gulf of Mexico, and shifting the world into a new paradigm.

PILOT INFO:

Pilot Conflict: what is real? (18th c., visions, witch, family feud, murder, J-P)

Characters Introduced: Tilda, Grandmere, Zephyr, Jean-Pierre

Inciting Incident of Season 1: “Free me”

[Sharilyn Kyle]

Sharilyn’s Big Picture Components

What I learned doing this assignment is…just fill in the blanks.

SERIES INFO:

• World: Sex charged, “soft” porn internet sites

• Main mystery: Why is Erin so fat?

• Impossible Goal: Will Erin ever lose the weight?

• Main Conflict: Hacking / Invasion of “privacy”

• Second Mystery: Who planted the camera and why?

• Season 1 Arc: Erin “sees” beyond her fat.

• Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Erin allows/considers being seen. HER choice.

2. Tell us the basic Pilot Info:

PILOT INFO:

• Pilot Conflict: Walley hacks Erin’s phone.

• Characters Introduced: MAIN: Erin, Ms. Chen, Patty, Walley

• Inciting Incident of Season 1: Erin falls and can’t get up.

[Tom Minier]

Tom’s Big Picture Components

What I learned from this assignment is that I know my show well enough at this point that I really didn’t have to think terribly hard about these components. Additionally, coming back to brief descriptions after spending so much time wordsmithing gave me a different perspective from where I was developing the framework.

SERIES

World: A group of nine people abducted by aliens but believing that they are attending pandemic support meetings

Main Mystery: The nature and meaning of the violence that breaks out during a political protest

Impossible Goal: Stop a riot that is triggered when an active shooter opens fire at a political protest

Main Conflict: If they don’t stop the event, it will trigger the downfall of mankind. If they do stop the event they will be hunted by a shadow organization that knows no limits.

Second Mystery: How will Florida Man inspire a group of eight others to stop the protest from turning deadly?

Season 1 Arc: The group goes from chaos to order, working backwards we see how all the events climax at a moment of conception in the mind of Florida Man

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Florida Man goes from a hardened, lone wolf, conspiracy theorist to a leader who genuinely cares and feels connection to others

PILOT

Pilot Conflict: A tense political protest erupts into a deadly event

Characters Introduced: Florida Man, Twyla, Elliot, the Janitor, Stu, Poe, Brenda, Angela, Dani, FM, Jenny, and Peter Cetera

Inciting Incident of Season 1: An act of violence is at a protest is going to change each member of the group and alter the course of humanity