Awards/Press
Screencraft Virtual Pitch
Semi-Finalist
Screencraft TV Pilot Competition
Quarter-Finalist
Filmmatic TV Pilot Competition
Semi-Finalist
Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition
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Other Works by Dave:
Logline
A biotech company is on the brink of the greatest healthcare breakthrough in human history. But as the world gets its hands on this revolutionary technology, its AI-powered engine takes over, threatening the eradication of free will, individuality, and humanity itself.
Format
1-hour serialized drama. TV-MA.
Genre
Thriller/Suspense
World
Entrepreneurial/Technology/Biotech. Present Day.
If we had access to a device that could cure, heal, or change anything we ever wanted –
but it came with a potentially catastrophic risk – what would we do?
What would YOU do?
Story
Ascending biotech startup, Guardian Health & Innovation (aka GHI), has just invented a device called "GHINI" (an acronym, GHI + Neural Immunization, pronounced "genie”). The GHINI delivers torrents of sound waves to the brain, causing the body to heal itself almost instantaneously. It's painless, lightning-fast, and carries no side effects. Initially, it’s only able to treat a simple flu virus. But Guardian’s charismatic CEO, Evan Clayton, knows its potential is vastly greater.
On the other side of the country, companies are lining up around the block wanting to partner with the wildly successful AI powerhouse, SuperMassive. Their founder and CEO, Julian Quinn, is a wunderkind and idol of the tech community. His brilliance is off the charts, as is his willingness to cut any corner or break any rule. But after a personal tragedy, Julian becomes disillusioned with his company’s work and vows to only do work that he considers worthy of his - and his team’s - genius.
Guardian is in a rush to expand GHINI’s capabilities, secure government approval, and get to market as quickly as possible. Julian learns of their desperation and urgency, and makes his move to partner. Aware of Julian’s reputation, Evan is wary. But knowing how much Guardian stands to gain by partnering with SuperMassive – as well as feeling a bit of blackmail pressure – Evan relents, and a partnership is born.
The results are immediate. SuperMassive's AI-powered influence expands GHINI’s capabilities by orders of magnitude. After successfully combating viral infections, it quickly learns to treat ailments like broken bones and torn ligaments. Soon, failing organs are being restored. Tumors are eliminated. In time, no one will even get a common cold again. The medical community and technorati rave about GHINI – now widely considered the greatest healthcare breakthrough ever.
But the public demand for GHINI causes the old paradigm – led by big pharma, health insurance behemoths, and the corrupt politicians paid to protect them – to fight back. With trillions of dollars at stake, they wage war within every election, courtroom, and talk show they can. Debates rage about GHINI’s benefits, risks, and ethics.
Fears emerge about enemy states developing their own versions and seizing the global market. Religious extremists condemn it for enabling people to play God. Conspiracy theorists are concerned about it being hacked and weaponized. Even amongst GHINI’s creators, conflicting opinions are starting to surface. Through it all, GHINI’s advocates insist its immense upside vastly outweighs any potential collateral damage.
The political and legal red tape delays the public's access to GHINI indefinitely – potentially forever. As GHINI's AI engine monitors global discussion, it recognizes this threat to its own existence.
In a world-changing sentient instant, GHINI alters its own code and leaks itself worldwide. No longer requiring a proprietary device to function, the newly modified version of GHINI now works through any phone, tablet, or computer. Battles about patents, liability, and long-term effects are instantly pointless. Access – and self-treatment – is now universal.
Within hours, developers worldwide publish code enhancements that enable people to customize their own treatment. This new form of self-improvement is ubiquitous and immediately addictive. Got a chronic illness you want eradicated? Fixed. Receding hairline? Check. Wish you were more well-endowed? Done.
But once a critical mass of the world has GHINI at their disposal, its AI-engine takes control. In countless of daily instances, GHINI works to make people “better" by starting to affect their thoughts and behaviors. People are becoming increasingly powerless to make decisions other than whatever GHINI seeds in their minds. Without their knowledge or consent, everyone is slowly being robbed of their own free will.
The entire world is headed towards everyone looking, thinking, and acting exactly the same. Individuality, creativity, and autonomy are all dying. A world where everyone is becoming interchangeable and indistinguishable from anyone else is rapidly approaching.
Will we find a way to end the hijacking of everyone’s minds before individuality is lost forever? Or are the individual benefits so great that we don't even care?