[Angela Gordon]

Greetings everyone,

My name is Angela Gordon and I am a director , based in Los Angeles, who writes and produces as well. I am co-writing this project with a fabulous writer, Keziah Githinji out of Nairobi, Kenya. We met through a mutual friend and are both part of an international program that mentors up and coming professionals in their chosen fields.

Since a lot of the people in the group are also filmmakers across various disciplines, we thought it would be super cool to create a group project that is produced with some of the other mentors from various countries . Our hope is to create an incredible collaborative movie set across 6 of the countries where our members are from , but that also speaks to the world.

I’ve written several short film scripts and have directed 11 shorts, some which have done the festival circuit and a few that will be out there shortly. I have written two features , one of them -Remy & Chance, will be my first feature directorial project, and the other which is an action piece which will be shot in maybe next year.

What I hope to get out of this class is to create a powerful International thriller script that is crafted with ingenuity and precision and all of the elements that are laid out in the map , that is worthy of being a selection at Cannes 2022. This masterpiece will encompass multiple cultures, plots, twists, major M. I. S. , unforgettable 3 dimensional characters and subtitles in languages where the thrills are happening.

An important motive of this class is to actually COMPLETE this script and have it ready to go into production shortly there after. I would like this film to be the catalyst which takes my directing career to a position of prominence and for my co-writer Kez and everyone else involved in this project to see their career elevated to the highest heights. I want to be able to utilize this class to really breakthrough some things and habits that have been holding me back… ie. Procrastination and other things. Finally, I want to make new friends , learn from my classmates and forge a collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship in which we all come up and support each other in achieving our dreams! Thank you.

Ps. Interesting thing about me… When I was growing up I wanted to be a spy or a marine biologist… well now I can direct and create spy movies and I recently got my PADI dive certification so I can create content underwater as well

• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by  Angela Gordon.

[Angela Gordon]

Our BIG MIS for the Whistleblower

Day 2 Assignment for The Whistleblower (working title) Angela and Kez’s BIG M.I.S.

What I learned in this assignment is clarity of how important all of these steps are to creating the story and how I can’t even imagine the story as we originally envisioned without creating these foundational building blocks. It really took time to think through all the possibilities and it started the real wheels turning in terms of really building a story that is off the radar with excitement, and most importantly a story that matters.

LOGLINE

When Professor Ajok Deng, a prominent and well respected lecturer of a suddenly defunct international fellowship program for journalists disappears, a favorite fellow , Shiku Atieno, finds herself entangled in a web of danger and deceit and risks her life to break an investigative news story that implicates leaders in the highest echelons of business and government and that threatens to destroy those organizations, the global economy and the human existence as we know it.

CONVENTIONS OF THE STORY

The UNWITTING AND RESOURCEFUL HERO of our story is Shiku Atieno, a gifted 30- something Kenyan journalist who finds herself at a dead end and out in the cold after the prestigious 1- year journalism fellowship that she, and 11 other international journalists were selected for, is suddenly terminated. She, and the other fellows, are threatened with serious consequences if they ever breathe a word of the existence of the program again. Several years later she unwillingly finds herself in danger as she is on the brink of exposing a story on climate change which coincidentally links back to the fellowship program which she was a participant in.

THE DANGEROUS VILLAIN is her best friend Serena Gordon, the American 30-something daughter of the Chairman of the Board of the Bank of the World Fellowship Initiative, and also a participant in the program.

The HIGH STAKES are the risk of her being exposed and killed or worse, or that she disappears and is never seen or heard from again. The stakes also include the possibility of the economy plunging into an irreversible recession causing extreme poverty for most citizens of the world, and also an extreme global warming event which could cause massive flooding and death to humanity and a pillaging of the precious mineral and oil resources that lie frozen in the Arctic circle.

LIFE AND DEATH SITUATIONS include her risking and evading multiple assasination attempts, a kidnapping and a harrowing near death escape through an inactive pipeline which is actually part of an underground bunker which will provide shelter for the conglomerate, if the plot is successful. There is a car chase involving she and a man who she became involved with and abruptly broke up with during the program, who discovers the plot to kill her and the other fellows, and tries to save her. The ultimate betrayal is that of the best friend, whom she confides in , and which reveals the ultimate life and death situation that which has exposed her all along. This is the betrayal which puts her over the edge and puts her into a kill or be killed situation.

THIS STORY IS THRILLING BECAUSE it moves at a breakneck pace and explores some of the worst possibilities of some of the climate change nightmares that could unfold from any of the situations that we see manifesting in real life and on the news. It carries the viewer across multiple countries and continents and activates a chain of action and reactions that follow our journalist as she races against time to uncover the plot of dangerous and devious people and elements that she does not see , until its almost too late. This race to the final climax and twist will knock the viewer’s socks off and only the sharpest eyes may see it coming.

THE BIG M.I.S.

The main mystery of this story is who is behind the plot to accelerate global warming, pillage precious minerals and gas resources and plunge the world into extreme poverty and destruction?

The covert and underhanded clandestine organization is the Bank of the World and the Board of Directors of the Fellowship program that is really a front for the money laundering scheme to create massive wealth and dominance for a chosen few. They will stop at nothing to destroy the main character, the fellows and anyone or any organization that has knowledge of their plot.

The main suspense that prevails for the hero is whether or not she will be killed or will she expose the scandal and save the world before it’s too late.

The main dangers to the hero are 1- the fulfillment of the threat by the shadow perpetrators to carry out the consequences to those that betray the threat 2- the discovery that she has information that she shouldn’t and that she could share those secrets if she is not stopped and 3-there are unknown people coming out of the shadows, some to save her and some to destroy her, and ultimately she doesn’t know who she can trust.

[Angela Gordon]

Angela Gordon

[Angela Gordon]

The Angel (Netflix) Convention

1-The unwilling and resourceful hero is Ashraf Marwan , son in law of the late President Nasser of Egypt. Ashraf Marwan is an Egyptian man who makes contact with Israel in 1970 to spy on the Egyptians. This is a shock considering he is the president’s son in law studying in London He ends up giving information to the President of Egypt about the corrupt politicians who were arrested. His marriage is frowned upon and disapproved of by his father in law, but he has peace in his heart regardless of his loyalty/disloyalty to Egypt and Israel.<div>
</div><div>2-The dangerous villain is Sami. He is the central villain eager to advance his own initiatives and will do anything to prove Marwan wrong. He is trying to elevate his position and credibility within the Egyptian government. He is vulnerable but also wants to be right . He eventually realizes that the person who he is trying to do in is also becomes a most trusted ally in the end. He develops a great amount of respect for Marwan who was once a foe. </div><div>
</div><div>3-The high stakes are that he will be discovered as a double agent and face the ultimate consequences and probably public execution. He has to support his family. Ashraf Marwan gets a job in the Egyptian government but he receives a call from the Israeli Embassy about them accepting his offer to become a spy. The other challenge is getting the Israeli to trust him., he could start a war which would kill people, and that he could lose his family.</div><div>
</div><div>

4-Life and death situations are Ashraf informing the Israeli about the attack on time and him not getting caught. Each time the opposite side gets pictorial evidence about who he is with, they immediately think they are being betrayed and doubt his trust . He is able to explain his way out of why he was with that person. Other situations include when he was followed, kidnapped and thrown into the trunk and when he provided the false firing weapons that saved plenty of lives and risked being caught in the set up . Another life and death situations was when his family was physically and he used his resources and inside knowledge to save himself and everyone else.

5- The mystery – Why is he really wanting to broker peace? What is his motive? Seems like that was a little unclear. Why did Ashraf contact the Israeli government?

6- Was he doing it for the money or there were other intentions? The intrigue is the way that he seemingly seamlessly crosses the dangerous governmental lines and manipulates the heads of states to achieve his mission.

7- The suspense is why is he considered an angel? And, the closer that he gets to his goal, the closer he gets to getting caught. More importantly it’s constantly a cat and mouse chase whether or not he is going to get caught and exposed. Are they going to kill his family or not? Will they be disgraced? Is he going to win?

Its a great thriller because we are always wondering if Ashraf is going to be found out , by the Egyptians , that he is working for the Israelis. Every scene pushed the story forward. The contrast is dark and light heightened the intensity.

I learned how to spot these elements in the film and verified how important the 3 elements are in creating an experience that doesn’t leave you disappointed. Will start looking for these elements more consciously and attempt to understand how they affect me personally as a viewer.

</div>

[Angela Gordon]

i love your story

[Angela Gordon]

Hi

it shows you are really thinking through your story and the holes are not that visible

[Angela Gordon]

Hi

out of the ring of pedophiles is there someone who stands out?

[Angela Gordon]

Hi,

Great observations

[Angela Gordon]

LOGLINE: Victoria’s daughter disappears into a city filled with kidnapping and human trafficing. Her ex-husband is the sheriff is killing the suspects and she discovers her new boyfriend is the kidnapper. To save her daughter who has disappeared, Kimmy must manipulate her ex-husband Sheriff and kidnapping boyfriend to their own destruction. – TOO LONG – NEEDS SURGICAL EDITING – ANY IDEAS??

Hi,

what if Victoria was just dealing with either the kidnapping boyfriend or ex husband to simplify the plot?

[Angela Gordon]

Hi, why does he shape shift to animals only why not for instance not another human being?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by  Angela Gordon.

[Angela Gordon]

THE WHISTLEBLOWER’S CHARACTERS AND WORLD

Had to really rethink this one and I was really stumped…its late, but I think its more clear now. With all of the action going on we really haven’t addressed the whole global warming plot. So I started rethinking the plot and the villain. Essentially, since we wanted the professor to be the villain, Serena couldn’t, she is a pawn and it looks like she is the villain but she is a victim of the real villain the professor.

He is the villain that is hidden that pullingg the strings and calling the shots behind the scenes. Only one person knows he is alive, the chairman of the board who is also dispensable and who is a pawn for this higher conglomerate of unknown people who are scheming to destroy the global economy trough global warming.

This is what I came up with for Exercise 3…see what you think. Im going to open yours now and see what you came up with and lets get this in. As far as the movies, I will try to get links to you today or you may be able to google them on line.

*************ASSIGNMENT*********

1-The CONCEPT is a bright and promising international journalist who was once part of a prestigious fellowship program that was abruptly terminated, is now on the brink of breaking a climate change story that will consequences that will have deadly and irreversible consequences at the uppermost echelons of corporate and government establishments and their leaders. Her investigative story exposes a dark and deadly plot of how a clandestine group of multinational corporation and government organization leaders have set up a fraudulent environmental protection agency and elite Fellowship program with a prestigious board of directors and all the bells and whistles of a good will program , for some the brightest up and up and coming journalists across Africa and Europe.

The program , however, is a fraud and a front for a money laundering climate change scheme that will crash the world economy, create poverty and catastrophe among the people of the world and pilfer the natural oil and precious minerals in the Arctic region to create world dominance for a few. The missing professor is the key to the mystery and our journalist must expose this scheme and stop the invisible villains before it is too late.

2- The INTRIGUING WORLD world is the dark side of Boards of Directors of NonProfit government agencies where evil people operate under the guise of good in the face of the public, but who are predatory,dangerous, greedy people in powerful positions who use nonprofit funds for their own benefit and for the harm and detriment of everyone else.

3- THE CHARACTERS

*SHIKU is the hero of the story and the main journalist

A-The MYSTERY is who is she and how does she get intertwined in breaking this dangerous and explosive story of the ultimate corruption by business and government leaders using global warming to destroy the world?

B-The SUSPENSE is how she has become a target for murder and other harm by people she doesn’t know and that she can’t see.

C-The INTRIGUE is who are the people that are trying to kill her and how she manages to dodge attacks and attempts on her life …how she seems to mentally, physically and psychologically outwits them at every turn

*PROFESSOR AJOK DENG , the lecturer , is the villain who remains under the radar for most of the film but is manipulating people behind the scenes. Chess is his vice.

A-The MYSTERY of this character is that we thought he was dead and the world thought so too. but apparently he is alive and well. Why did he fake his death???

B-The INTRIGUE of this character is how he seems to always show up with such explosive information and why is there always an attempt on her life when he is around? What is his motive?

C-The SUSPENSE is will he be discovered for the fraud that he is before he executes the chain of events that will destroy climate, economy and humanity

*SERENA GORDON is the red herring. She is the best friend of Shiku and we see her plot and set up Shiku by reporting back to the head of the board and betraying the trust of her best friend and putting her life in danger, but she is not calling the shots.

A-The MYSTERY is why did Serena turn on Shiku?

B-The INTRIGUE is how Serena always seemingly 2 steps ahead of Shiku, how she is always so “super helpful” and such a “caring and loyal friend” and how she dodges the point/has an answer for everything whenever it seems that Shiku may be on to her. She always has information and a lot of it is information she shouldn’t have.

C-The SUSPENSE is will she kill Shiku if she gets too close

Supporting Character JACK, former love interest of Shiku when they were in the Fellowship program, and is now employed by the MI-5.

A-The MYSTERY is why does he get put on an assignment to find Shiku and bring her in

B-The INTRIGUE is how the details of the fraudulent professor come through the intelligence files of MI-5 and he automatically knows that he can get back his girlfriend and save her life in the process. He is the only one who can get through to her if he can win back her trust.

C- The SUSPENSE is will he get to Shiku to save her life or will he be killed?

4 – What I learned is that I really didn’t have the villains correct and that I needed to rethink the entire story again from the villains point of view. This mapping out strategy is really specific and by going back over the principals of it, the story started to be much clearer. We had not really incorporated exactly how the villain ties into the plot of global warming and the secret organization that is going to wreak havoc on the world.

Also, I got stumped a bit in terms of trying to figure out what their world was and got “idea block” but when I came back to it, albeit late, it is starting to make more sense. By changing the villain to the professor, we can stack all the circumstances against his character making him seem like he is the victim. However, he is the ultimate duplicitous villain who creates all the pawns in his game and we really have a huge reveal in the end. The best friend Serena, while she turns out to be a dangerous threat to Shiku, she is also being used and will be disposed of by the villain after she gets the information he needs.

[Angela Gordon]

Hi Carol,

I enjoyed your intro and your background. That’s going to really come in handy while we are here creating our screenplay masterpieces.. Look forward to reading your work.

Angela 🙂

[Angela Gordon]

Sounds like a plan! I signed it too. The teamwork here will be epic!

Angela

[Angela Gordon]

Hello James,

Looking forward to reading your work and seeing your international perspective shine through. A lot of our film will be shot across Africa so it should be cool sharing insights on our platform here . Cheers!