Day One: Warming Up

So for today's planning, I need to decide on which project I want to undertake first.

I'm keen to do the half-hour comedy pilot.

This is for two reasons. One - I have a script already underway that I can alter to get this one out of the park in short succession. Two - the characters are reasonably well developed in my head. Three - I plan to shoot this pilot and pitch it to Amazon Studios once it is complete.

The project is Urban Numina - although the name may change to make it more accessible once I've completed the script. This project has been through a number of developments since I shot the original webshow - and the current script I have is the first act of a film, so it isn't really half-hour television just yet. The plan will be to take what I can out of the film script and use it in the pilot.

But the pilot itself will need some changes.

Firstly - what is Urban Numina about?

I shall turn to the Coffee Break Screenwriter to work through some exercises.

The Overview


Who is the Main Character?
Urban Numina is an ensemble show, but at its core there needs to be one central character who kind of glues it all together. So is my main character Devon or is it Deus?

My original concept for this show was a kind of "Bewitched" meets "I Dream of Jeannie" in the modern world with a gay couple where one of them happens to be a god. In Bewitched, Samantha is clearly the main character. So should Deus be my central character?

Well let's do an exercise from MSCBUYS...

I'll QuickPitch using Deus as the lead.

When a forgotten deity is freed from his prison, he falls in love with the confused young man who freed him. Only to discover that he's not well equipped to deal with a modern world that doesn't believe in him and he must try to find a way to remain on Earth with the man he loves or go to the realm the other gods have departed to.

Hmmmm.

That's actually a pretty cool pitch.

Let's switch it around for Devon as main character.

When a lonely gay man frees a beautiful male deity, he begins to fall in love with the god. Only to discover that the deity is asexual and he must decide if he can have a lasting relationship not built on sex or will he return to his sexually promiscuous ex-boyfriend.

Hmmmm.

I'm inclined to go with the first pitch. Let's start with that for now.

Main Character: Deus
What kind of a person is he?
Deus is unconditionally loving. He finds it hard to hold a grudge or hate anyone. He wants to make everyone happy because he believes everyone can be happy.

Problem
What difficult Situation Occurs?
Deus will learn that the other gods have changed their nature and form because Humanity has stopped believing in them. He is warned that he cannot be a deity and live on Earth without upsetting the balance.

Activity
What does he do?
Deus tries to fit in and pretend to be human so that he can stay with Devon.

Stakes
What does he have to lose if he doesn't succeed?
He loses Devon and the friends he's made. He will either be imprisoned again or banished to a distant dimension.

Okay - so that's an overview of the plot. I'm not sure I'm sold on it yet. It doesn't feel "comedy" enough. I think I'll let it stew for a bit more while I try to reign in back into a simpler concept.

Conan