CRIMINAL NARRATIVE: BIBLE

CREATED BY

DAI JEFFCOATE

EMAIL: d.jeffcoate@gmail.com

Working Title: Criminal Narrative Length: 6x15 minute episodes Platform: Web series If every piece of fiction is real What happens to the stories that dont get finished? Detective Inspector Alan Sinclair has nightmares about words and writing, specifically writing about him. When he wakes he finds himself dealing with a case involving a trio of impossible murders all with connections to the occult, the mafia, and a serial killer obsessed with stories called The Antagonist. Evidence leads from supernatural occurrence to mob hit and then to global conspiracy. It quickly becomes apparent that thousands of people are in danger. Evidence begins contradicting itself and strange occurrences leave Sinclair unable to trust the people around him and questioning his own sanity. He soon realises that discovering how deep the rabbit hole goes is not as important as figuring out whats waiting for him on the other end. Eventually The Antagonist reveals that Sinclair is a fictional character in a fading universe that is actually a discarded idea from a crime writer, of whom The Antagonist is a fragment left behind. By committing the murders The Antagonist is trying to give the dying fictional world its own individual narrative thus keeping it alive. Sinclair then has to make a choice, do what he was written to do by stopping the bad guy, destroying the universe. Or go against his character and let thousands die to save everything he cares about.

CHARACTER BIOS:

Alan Sinclair: Hard-boiled Detective Inspector with a love of whiskey and literature. Has a fondness for London and thinks the chaotic rhythm of life makes it the most tranquil place on earth. As the main character in a fictional universe Sinclair is the most developed and as such notices the clichs and plot devices more so than everyone else. For example whenever there is a scene jump Sinclair will check his watch because he is partially aware of times altered passing. This freedom allows Sinclair to generate a certain amount of unique narrative and is also the cause of his nightmares. Sinclair has a volatile love interest with Kitty Johnson, Owner of The Iron Fist boxing club. He also has a partner that we only know as OConnor. Catherine Kitty Johnson: Kitty is Sinclairs love interest. After him she is probably the second most developed character but she hasnt gone through as many revisions as Sinclair so she still retains all the attributes and mannerisms of a 1940s femme fatale. She runs a boxing club called The Iron Fist, originally founded by her father who was a notorious mob boss. And while Kitty hasnt followed in Daddys footsteps she has kept her fingers in many pies. For this reason she is not fully trusted by Sinclair, despite this she loves Sinclair very much and will do anything to keep him out of harm.

OConnor: He is Sinclairs basic outline of a partner. He is in his late twenties and fits the rookie stereotype. While enthusiastic he is usually a step behind Sinclair, this is due to him not being as fleshed out as other characters. As the story progresses OConnor becomes prone to glitches particularly when references he has no knowledge of are made and questions about his personal life are raised. He eventually blinks out of existence when asked about his first name. The Antagonist: He is a fragment of the writer who thought up Sinclair and the world he inhabits. His only purpose is to take all the strands of past versions and plot ideas for Sinclairs cases and weave them together making himself the villain at the centre of each mystery. By doing this he generates the needed narrative to complete the story and stop the universe from fading away. As a fragment of the writer he is able to maneuver and to a small degree manipulate the world around him. Throughout the series he sends Sinclair cryptic messages that challenge and taunt him taking on a Jack the Ripper style persona, the aim being to move the story along to the point where Sinclair is ready to hear the truth. He speaks in a slightly gnomic almost collage of words style. E.G: Or this place, magical lets-pretend preceding eerie realities. 7-7, concussed bus driver shambles from here to Acton, Kings Cross fire memorial storage site. Obviously in 1969 this is an acid flash-forward. Roegs precognitive cutting. Paradise backpackers. A constellation of cigarette burns on Archers back. The stars are right. Misplaced memorials, forgotten fires. Boadiceas urban legend under platform ten, a quarter platform over, the franchise express, gathering steam. But what do I know? No narrative of my own used it up. Self inflicted epilogue with no mention of a second volume or happily ever after. Just a pulp novel of mythologic non-fiction, tip toeing frame by frame between the pages of a single life. Float helplessly in the void until the dawn birds chirp me awake. First rays peek through the sky light window. A citrus chocolate sky with charcoal pink clouds like ink in water. Good sign its going to snow. Shame I dont own a scarf. Put on my shoes, size eleven shackles. Raise my jacket and Im gone. Keep my head down. Submissive to the blood soaked wolves strolling home to their roost, exchanging ill gotten queens for a shot of wonderland in the arm.

The Story World: A writer of crime fiction originally thought up the world in which Sinclair inhabits. The world and the main characters within have gone through several genre specific revisions all of which leave trace elements of previous plots and styles. The idea is eventually discarded and so without a completed narrative the universe begins to fade. Traces of past revisions can be seen in the way characters dress or speak. Kitty for example is left over from a noir detective story so her speech and dress reflects that. The same goes for Sinclairs cases, they are all abandoned plots varying from supernatural, gangster, steam punk, and terrorist attack. All of which The Antagonist has taken elements from and woven together to make a single case where in he is the villain. The majority of the civilian population is similar to OConnor in that they cannot answer specific questions about their past or personal lives, as the story progresses people begin to realise that they dont know about their own lives and start to blink out. The story world, while originating from and idea, is as completely real as our world. Only incomplete. Should The Antagonist complete his mission the narrative of the world will be complete and self-generating, people will have full memories and fully developed personalities. This completion will be at the expense of thousands of lives.

SERIES OUTLINE: EPISODE TWO: RABBIT HOLE Sinclair dives behind a car but when he draws his revolver to fire back he finds the trio are gone. At the station Sinclair is telling the chief about the failed hit and how he thinks it could be related to the murder and that the mob is connected, OConnor interrupts them saying Lucas body has been found. At the crime scene Lucas body has been pulled out of the river, he has been garroted and various occult symbols have been carved all over his body. In a water tight plastic envelope in one of Lucas pocket there is a letter, the letter mentions plans to weave narrative. Lucas death seems to confirm the assumption this is some kind of mob hit so Sinclair gets kitty to arrange a meeting with Big Pete, a local mob boss. Kitty drives them to the meeting, which takes place at a football stadium, centre pitch for a poker game. Mob security pacing the terraces. Big Pete says that no family is connected to the killings and that he is just as interested in finding the killer as the police are. Kitty drives Sinclair back to the station, she busts his balls about needing her help before he disarms her by saying he doesnt trust anyone else. Unsatisfied with the mob meeting Sinclair follows up on the occult symbols. He goes to an occult bookshop, while looking around he sees that nearly all the books are blank. As he walks through the shop he finds a ten-year-old girl sitting at a table in the back of the shop, she is using tarot cards. Much to Sinclairs surprise she instantly knows who he is and why he is there. She tells him Tracey was a novice looking to know what the bee knows and that Tracey had met someone who promised to show her, a stranger re-writing

the world. The girl tells Sinclair the symbols are occult but in the particular combination at the lock up dont mean anything, they seem to be for appearance only. The girl warns Sinclair that he is at the centre of an unimaginable storm. As he is about to leave Sinclair comments on all the blank books, the girl investigates for herself and, seeing that its true begins panicking, opening more and more blank books. She then disappears into thin air right in front of Sinclair. EPISODE THREE: HOP, SKIP, AND JUMP Unsure of what he saw at the bookshop Sinclair has gone to a bar. OConnor soon phones saying the third victim has been found And the killer has been caught. Sinclair rushes over. At the scene he finds a dead priest who has been shot in front of the altar surrounded by occult symbols painted on the floor but with two five pence pieces on his eyes. Sinclair ponders on the similarities and differences between the murders and that without the occult symbols they are three very different murders. OConnor informs him that the killer is a known religious fanatic that hates everyone and is wanted in relation to several other incidents and likely targeted this priest because he was a vocal supporter of same sex marriage. Sinclair isnt as convinced as OConnor and asks if he believes in the supernatural, to which OConnor replies that he doesnt know. At the police station Sinclair and OConnor question the supposed killer, meanwhile Sinclair is noticing scene jumps more frequently and begins to notice they happen as soon as anyone mentions going somewhere else. Even going as far as to test his theory by saying hes about to go to Fiji but nothing happens and tries to ignore it. OConnor tries to connect the person they have in custody to the first two murders but instead shows that he was no where near the crime scenes at the time of the killings. Sinclair suggests hes working with others and decides that as the suspect isnt talking they should send an armed unit to his address. At the suspects flat Sinclair and OConnor are with the armed unit as they kick the front door down a bomb explodes. In the aftermath Sinclairs scene jumping becomes more erratic, taking from the flat to the ambulance, then the hospital before ending at the police station. Confused and thinking hes going mad Sinclair goes to Kittys, he tells her what happened at the bookshop and about the jumps. She calms him down and suggests it is just stress. They kiss. Meanwhile we see The Antagonist waltzing across a rooftop all along the edge of which people are standing. He then stops dancing and takes out his phone. EPISODE FOUR: TWICE UPON A TIME We open to Sinclair running through alleyways and side streets. As he turns a corner he sees a woman in a black suit pointing a gun at him, she fires three times. As Sinclair lay dying words begin appearing all over his skin and a faint typing noise can be heard, his nightmare crossing into reality. We then go to black before jumping back twenty-four hours as Sinclair wakes from what appears to just be a nightmare. He is in bed and Kitty is asleep next to him. His phone rings, it is The Antagonist and he wants to meet.

Sinclair arrives at the rooftop we saw at the end of episode three. The Antagonist mentions Sinclairs scene jumping. Dozens of people stand All along the edge of the roof as well as several other rooftops in sight. The Antagonist claims to be controlling them with a device of steampunk origin, describing them as his barrier of narrative. The Antagonist describes the world as a story, even asking Sinclair what OConnors first name is to which he cannot answer. Sinclair doesnt yet realise what hes being told and tries to ask about the murders to no avail. Sinclair then tries to get one of the people off the edge, when he turns back The Antagonist is gone but the device is left behind. Sinclair tries to turn it off but fails as everyone on the roof takes a step off. In the aftermath, OConnor and the Governor are talking to Sinclair, one thousand people all around the city have seemingly jumped off of buildings for no apparent reason. Sinclair mentions the device but it turns out to be nothing but clockwork parts and lights. It does have several serial numbers on it that OConnor says hell start tracing them. Back at the station OConnor finds out the serial numbers on the device are military issue but have been out of service for about ninety years. Sinclair and OConnor then plot out all the jump sites and find they create a border around the city. OConnor considers the idea that there is something at the centre of the circle, Sinclair then gets a phone call from someone claiming to have kidnapped Kitty and wanting to exchange her for the clockwork device. Sinclair agrees. He then goes to a warehouse where upon entering he sees two men in black types, a woman and a man. They have Kitty bound and gagged. They remove Sinclairs firearm and ask for the device. Sinclair tells them its at a safe location that he will take them to only upon Kitty being released. They hesitate before agreeing. Kitty is released and reluctantly leaves Sinclair. The pair then reveals that they are government agents but are interrupted by the sound of sirens encircling the warehouse. Sinclair struggles with the man while the woman runs. Sinclair is soon after her, running down side streets and back alleys. Sinclair gets a flash of being shot by the female agent first time round and stops just short of the corner where it happened. His gun poised he turns the corner and fires a shot into the agents chest before she can react. Back at the warehouse OConnor has the other agent and Kitty. Sinclair has an officer take Kitty home, he and OConnor head back to the station to question the agent. They drive back in OConnors car trying to work out the connection to The Antagonist. Sinclair then asks OConnor what his first name is; OConnor becomes flustered and finds himself unable to give an answer. He begins to get angry and panic, Sinclair tries to calm him down but then, like the girl in the bookshop OConnor disappears into thin air. The car now without a driver swerves off the road and crashes. EPISODE FIVE: NO BLUE PILLS We open to a series of shots showing Sinclairs journey from the crash to the hospital, this is interwoven with shots of black and sound bites of The Antagonist giving his world is a story speech, along with the tarot girl and OConnor disappearing. We also hear the sound of a horse neighing and gunfire. When Sinclair wakes he finds himself in a small frontier town called Celtic Springs, where he is the sheriff. Kitty, now owner of the saloon and cathouse is by his bedside. She tells him that he hit his head after he was

attacked by red skins and thrown from his horse. Sinclair asks about OConnor but Kitty says she doesnt know whom Sinclair is talking about. Sinclair tries to get his bearings; he stumbles out of the sheriffs office on to the street. People stand staring at him. Kitty catches up with him and takes him over to the saloon. She fixes him up with a drink and asks Sinclair what he remembers. He talks about The Antagonist and the murders, OConnor, and the car crash. Kitty doesnt understand a word he says and tells him that he needs to get his head straight before Jack Lovell and his brothers get into town. Before Sinclair can ask who Lovell is a steam train whistle is heard followed by the town clock striking twelve. Kitty begins to panic and tells Sinclair to run. Suddenly someone out in the street is calling Sinclairs name, again Kitty tells Sinclair to run. Instead he goes to talk to Lovell, this leads to a showdown stance between Sinclair and Lovell with his two brothers. Sinclair tries to explain his situation only to be gunned down by the three cowboys. As the bullets pass through Sinclairs entire body disperses like ink in water and we fade to white. We fade from white to see Sinclair lying on a beach, tide lapping around him. We can hear shouting and gunfire; someone grabs Sinclair and gets him up, calling him Sarge. The soldier who grabbed Sinclair is shot down. Disorientated Sinclair scrambles up the beach to be confronted by a series of gun turrets. Sinclair runs for cover by some dunes, he then looks over the top of the dune. Another soldier takes cover next to Sinclair and starts asking for orders. Sinclair says hes not even sure where they are. At that moment a mortar hits the dune and Sinclair is thrown back. As he lay on the sand dead he again slowly disperses into ink as we fade to white. Sinclair wakes up lying on a deserted London street. He gets to his feet, his skin is faintly covered in layers and layers of words in typewriter font, he tries to rub them off but they remain unchanged. He then notices that there is a white wall/fog at the end of the street into which the buildings disappear. He approaches the wall and reaches out to touch it, as his hand makes contact he is suddenly in an office standing over The Antagonist who looks less disheveled and is writing something on a legal pad. The Antagonist then rips the page off and throws it into a pile of other screwed up papers. The Antagonist/Author goes over to a white board where a spider diagram has WHO IS SINCLAIR at the centre with story ideas and plot points surrounding it. Some of which we have witnessed in previous episodes. The Antagonist/Author then gives up and starts wiping down the whiteboard. Sinclair tries to stop him only to again disperse into ink. We then flashback through the murders, dialogue from The Antagonist, the car crash and being taken to hospital. Sinclair then wakes up in hospital with Kitty at his bedside. We then see The Antagonist planting explosives in a building somewhere along the Thames. EPISODE SIX: FLESH AND INK In the hospital Sinclair learns that he has been unconscious for three days. He asks what happened to OConnor but Kitty tells him they were hoping he would tell them. Sinclair then phones The Governor and tells him to put the priest killer and the agent in the same room. He then tells him to ask them personal details about the families, etc. This causes them to disappear just as OConnor did. While hes trying to ask Sinclair to explain The Governor too

disappears. Sinclair has started putting it all together. The world, in whole or part, is not real. Sinclair signs himself out of the hospital and with Kitty goes in search of a bookshop. As they are walking down a high street Sinclair notices people in the crowd just flickering out of existence. When they find a bookshop Sinclair tells Kitty to look through the books, she does and finds them all blank. She doesnt understand and asks the shop assistant about it who then disappears into thin air. Kitty is shocked and afraid; Sinclair calms her down while trying to explain everything then remembers OConnors idea about something being at the centre of the circle of jumpers. He grabs an A to Z and tells Kitty theres somewhere they need to go first. We know find ourselves back at the scene of the jumpers from episode four with Kitty now notices the jump between scenes. They also find themselves in front of the white wall/fog and can see that it is slowly engulfing the buildings. Sinclair tells Kitty that this is essentially the edge of the universe. Kitty reaches out to touch it, Sinclair tries to stop her but hes too late. There is an ominous pause before suddenly a wave of spitfires and a single Lancaster bomber fly out of the wall/fog and head off over London. The three gangsters from episode one then step out from the wall/fog and take aim at Sinclair but are interrupted by the cowboy Jack Lovell and his two brothers. A stand off ensues over who gets to kill Sinclair; this is quickly rendered moot as a hoard of zombies emerges and attacks the gangster and cowboys. Sinclair and Kitty begin moving away, one of the zombies approaches them and Sinclair shoots it in the head. Emerging from the wall/fog the zombies are soon followed by World War II soldiers, medieval knights, as well as planes and airships. A frenzied battle takes place; Sinclair decides they should now head to the centre of whats left of London. They now find themselves at the top of an office building looking out across the city. From so high up they can see that the city appears to be fading away into a white void. In the far distance they can see planes and airship engaged in a dogfight. They can also see smoke from several fires all across what remains of the world. Sinclair and a terrified Kitty try to work out what to do next. It is then that The Antagonist appears, Sinclair begs him to stop this but The Antagonist tells Sinclair that this is the last chapter and only he can write it. The Antagonist then shows him a detonator saying that all over London, locations with the oldest narrative are wired to explode and that this destructive act would restore the world to normal, but at the expense of hundreds of thousands of people. Sinclair doesnt want to be responsible for so many deaths and at first refuses saying there has to be another way. The Antagonist says there isnt. Sinclair considers it and asks if this will be a permanent solution. The Antagonist replies that the story must never end and that there will need to be five victims every year as a kind of narrative sacrifice. Sinclair is horrified and once again refuses to detonate the bombs. Kitty offers to detonate the bombs but Sinclair wont let her. Finding himself stuck between a rock and a hard place Sinclair makes his choice

DEVELOPMENT:

The tone of the series should be that of a straight up crime drama with a twist, something along the lines of Life on Mars. Potentially this series could be developed further beyond a single series, but no more than three. The end of the first series could end on a cliffhanger regarding Sinclairs final decision, which sets the scene for the second series that could explore the consequences of his choice. Alternatively this single series could be designed with the intention of pitching as a TV series. Budget: Criminal Narrative needs to high quality on a minimal budget. Based on budgets from a variety of web series and working to a rough estimate of how much it would cost to produce, figures (at minimum) should be in the ballpark of: Cost per episode - 1000-2000 Web infrastructure & promotional - 2000 Funding: The aim should be to secure at least half of the overall series budget through crowd funding. Although requiring a month to prepare and a near 24/7 commitment on top of having started anywhere around three to eight months before production to obtain the best results, the benefit (beside financing) is that we get to build up a solid fan base as well as foster support from media outlets/individuals that already have a strong following to promote the series. Alternatively, or in combination with, a sponsor could be found for the series. In return there will be adverts on the website specific to the sponsor as well as an advert at the beginning and end of each episode. If a single sponsor cannot be found then we could sell advertising space both on the website and in slots of two at the beginning and end of each episode (the end slots being cheaper obviously). The website: The site has to be able to support possible live streaming of each episode as well as a variety of behind the scenes and making of content. One possibility that Im keen to explore is the idea of live streaming each episode every week, then like with iplayer we have them available to watch shortly after broadcast hosted on YouTube. Its what the mainstream already does but the benefits for us could be two fold in that we could run fifteen minutes of ads either side of each broadcast thus helping financing. And that by having a viewing time were encouraging a kind of exclusivity of people being the first to see the episode.

Revenue:

- DVDs: Boxset of the series plus bonus making of DVD should not be priced more than 20. - HD, ad free viewing and downloads: 1 to view in HD and without ads (if we use ads) while downloads will be 2 per episode and then upon completion 15 for the whole series. - Soundtrack: Make the series soundtrack available for download via itunes for no more than 5. - Syndication: Consider syndicating the series via outlets such as Hulu and Netflix.

Promoting the series: The first wave of publicity during fundraising should target relevant online news sources as well as any relevant trade publications. This fosters interest and lays foundations of a fan base.

The second wave should be just as production starts and be targeted at review websites and blogs. Focusing on the most popular we keep them regularly updated with photos, exclusive production vlogs as well as pre-production art, etc. We then invite them to the set as well the premiere screening, on top of giving them exclusive interviews where applicable.

The third wave will be the Premiere screening showing the first two episodes with a Q&A session. Invited should be reviewers and journalists from media industry and mainstream media outlets.