::The following is a sample pitch from Desperate Screenwriters staff writer Matthew Latham. This is along the lines of what I would like a full submission to resemble::

Synopsis

Set in the Fictional "LathaVerse" British County of Greater Sussex. In the metropolitan borough of Bruice.

Have you often sat down and wondered about whether you could back into your teenage years? Are there moments in your life that were so bad it nearly destroyed you, your friends, your relationships and your outlook on life? Are there friends that you've lost touch with and love to see again? How about loved ones that have passed away? What would you do if you could go back with the knowledge that you have of the future? Would you relive it all? Or would you try to change it for the better? What if the future ends up brilliantly, but you'll be forced to go through extremely bad patches again?

Well this is exactly what happens to Dean Nye. On his 22nd birthday he ends up stuck seven years in the past at the start of Year 10 before him and his friends start to go through some dark patches of their lives with no way of getting back. Now by his 22nd birthday everyone that he knows is very happy, as well as he - but Dean has always felt that everything that happened was his own fault, and that it is his responsibility to make sure that stuff doesn't happen again. However, will his actions drift everyone's fates and lives in a completely different path from what they originally should be?

However, he finds that one thing has been sent back with him = a prototype MP3 Player from the company that his older brother works for. It contains photos and videos that were taken throughout the seven years to come, and Dean finds that his actions start to change these images...and he has to try and keep things from changing. But how can he do that and not let anyone go through any bad times?

The series functions as a serialised teenage drama at times but the main character has seven years of advanced knowledge of what is supposed to happen. The main focus of the series is seeing a young man trying hard to not make the same mistakes twice, but not realising that he could effectively creating new ones. There are several ongoing storylines throughout the first season.

Dean Nye (played by Nicholas Hoult) has a saviour complex. An almost God-like complex of wanting to make sure that himself and the people he cares about are never unhappy and have to go through any trouble at all. While you might know people like this, for Dean it's actually on the verge of being obsessively compulsive that no-one should ever feel down and he will do anything to make sure that happens. This was down to him having to go through some very emotionally scarring events throughout his teenage years, and feeling like things that happened were his own fault. This has actually manifested in him not being able to sleep for long periods of time, so he has to have a new form of medication that was released in 2006 to help him sleep.

Even though this might give you an opinion of him being a nosy bossy-boots, he really isn't as he's selfless and always puts others before himself. He's a close confidant to his friends, completely trustworthy and dependable and doesn't seem to have any ounce of hate towards anyone in his system. However there are some people that he can never forgive for events that would happen, and despises them with a passion - even though he will feel guilty about it afterwards.

In 2004 he found the love of his life, Orlaith (his third girlfriend), at University and up to the present day they were going on strong; but in 2000 he finds himself back to going out with his first serious girlfriend Nicci - one of the very few aforementioned people he hates with a passion.

He has an older brother and sister - and only one of his parents was alive in 2007...yet both are alive in 2000.

What Dean struggles with is that he knows that things in 2007 turn out okay, but he constantly has nightmares involving school and certain people that means he isn't strong enough to just go through everything again - so he'll have to make sure those things do not happen...

Kayleigh "Kayls" Abbot (played by Hollie Jay-Bowes) was once one of very few people that Dean could trust throughout sixth form between 2002 - 2004 in the original timeline after becoming one of Sarah's closest friends. However she went away to Cambridge University and lost all contact to the point Sarah believed that Kayls didn't want anything to do with those back in Bruice. She actually went to the same Primary School as Dean as well...

In 2000, Kayls (an old nickname that she was called at Primary School and wasn't used until Sixth Form) was pretty much on her own for most of the time, doing homework in the Library and getting picked on. So it's a surprise when Dean appears to to her, tells her that he's from the future and says he wants her help in understanding what's going on. Dean tells her he asked for her help because he can remember a day in sixth form when she told him that she spent most of school feeling friendless, and Dean decides to try and remove that feeling from her earlier on...

She's a bit geeky, but the chic within has yet to be unleashed; and she slowly comes round to accept Dean's story as being true...but unfortunately she has an ulterior motive, one she herself hates: she's got a H-U-G-E crush on Dean. And has done since Primary School...

And the girl who always seems to pick on her? Nicci.

James "Felt" Felton (played by William Moseley) is Dean's best friend, and hasn't had the strongest or most pleasant of times. Before 2000 his parents went through a messy divorce and his mum vanished while his dad ended up working double-time and spending any money left after bills and food on alcohol. And this is before Dean's time of re-arrival.

In 2007 he had gotten over this, and had found a soulmate in Sarah - and the two love each other immensely and without her, it's unknown where he would've ended up.

Before Emo's and Chavs, there was the Greebo, and Felt is pretty much one of them (think emo + grunge - self indulgence), listening to rock music and pretty much being a depressive teenager who really needs someone to talk to and connect with...but his friends are coupled off together and he just can't connect with anyone at the moment.

What appears to be someone who's self-involved and just wants to talk about himself all the time is in fact someone who really needs to get a lot of his chest, yet no-one seems to want to do that...

Sarah Kinnock (Helen Flanagan) was going to get married to Felt in 2007 after they spent years together and managed to get through the dark times. However in 2000 Sarah's going out with childhood sweetheart Kristian and only really speaks to Felt out of keeping her boyfriend happy.

2007 Sarah was considerate and thoughtful, and is the only one to be genuinely concerned and vocally against Dean's attitude of blaming himself for everything; and is perhaps the only one that fully understands how he works. It's a very strong platonic relationship between the two of them.

However, in 2000 Sarah's just that little bit more nastier...well, in hindsight she wasn't nasty just a little more acidic - which was mainly due to her best friend Nicci. She definitely isn't as considerate as she will in the future; and doesn't exactly find Dean to be the best of people.

However, as close as Dean and Sarah were, there was always something that troubled Dean - and that was Sarah's complete silence to talk about the events surrounding the evening of 12th September 2000...

Kristian Earle (Alex Pettyfer) is a close friend to Dean and Felt, and has been childhood sweethearts with Sarah since they were around four years old. He's quite funny, outgoing and quite popular with people - always lightening the mood with a joke or wry comment. He's athletic and has been known to stick up for Dean and Felt from time to time, even stopping Felt from being bullied - one of Kristian's pet hates...

He's also dead, with the body of a fourteen year old boy being found floating through the main river of Bruice on the morning of 13th September 2000; and the circumstances surrounding his death were never fully revealed...

Dean believes that he's somehow back to stop Kristian from dying and thus perhaps stop many of the bad things that happen...

However, Kristian's death was what lead to Sarah and Felt getting to know each other and sharing a common pain; and while more bad times are on the horizon, can Dean honestly allow himself to let a friend die while he has the knowledge to change it?

Nicola "Nicci" Hurst (Sammy Winward) is Dean's girlfriend in 2000, and the one he eventually will lose his virginity too in late September 2000 after Nicci's 15th birthday. She is Dean's first love and they were at a time inseparable...except that 2007 Dean hates her with a passion, and is one of the few people that provoke that kind of a reaction from him. She's quite bitchy to people (especially Kayleigh) and quite tactless, yet does have a strange sensitive side to those that mean something to her. So you can see how Dean fell and then hated her - but the real reason for Dean's hatred for her and how they broke up is unknown, and is one of many things that 2007 Dean doesn't speak about anymore.

She's also slightly possessive of Dean, trying to hug and kiss him in front of people to "claim territory" so to speak, and gets jealous of other girls speaking to him. This is due to fear of him dumping her, and slightly being naive. She does know when to have a laugh as well though.

Yet despite the nastiness to certain people - there doesn't seem to be anything she's really done wrong - yet causes Dean a great conflict - is his initial coldness when he first goes back justified towards someone who hasn't really done what she did yet?

Series Premiere: Dean Nye is someone who's enjoying life. He's graduated from University and has found the love of his life...yet he has a past full of dark times he wants to forget. When he finds himself back to the day after his fifteenth birthday he realises that he can change events and goes to stop the first major catalyst of trouble for him and his friends: the mysterious death of his best friend Kristian...

1x02 - For the past few days Dean has been troubled by new images on his MP3 player that make 2007 out to be completely different than how it should be, as well as a photo of a gravestone belonging to someone who was alive in the future...but he can't think as he's trying to keep an eye on Felt - who's now on suicide watch - and Nicci's breathing down his neck. Things get really frightening when he finds that the MP3 player has been stolen...

1x03 - Nicci's fears and suspicions begin to creep up several notches as she threatens Kayls to stay away from Dean, but Dean wants Kayls' help in finding someway to track down Orlaith (his girlfriend in 2007) - who he sees in Bruice town centre briefly, and remembers that she went to the rival school to theirs...but what about the boyfriend she has at the moment - well Dean knows who he is...and he didn't expect him to be him...Meanwhile Kristian's strange dreams continue to haunt him, while Felt begins to go to counseling...

Read The Latest Draft Of The Complete Pilot: PDF (recommended) or HTML

::The following is a sample pitch I wrote up for MZP that I'm probably going to end up converting into a screenplay::

The Story

Japanese mythology tells the story of Izanagi, an ancient diety so heartbroken over the death of his wife, Izanami, that he traveled to the dark land of Yomi (what we know as Hell) to reclaim her. He quickly discovered that the eternal darkness of Yomi had consumed his wife’s kami (spirit) and fled to avoid the same fate. His wife, consumed with a dark fury, vowed to wreck havoc on the mortal world should he leave her behind. The legend says Izanagi sealed the entrance to Yomi with an immovable stone and Izanami vowed to kill 1,000 people everyday. Izanagi simply said he would create 1,500 people everyday. Thus the concept of Death was born.

It’s funny how legends can get changed over the years…

In reality, Izanagi sealed the entrance with the use of seven mystical totems, knowing that the horrors of Yomi could not be allowed to infect our world. These totems were scattered to the corners of the world and hidden.

Fast forward to now. A legend within a famous Shinto shrine called Atsuta told of a child who would be born with the mark of crest of that ancient diety. This child would be destined to be the protector of one of the seven totems of Izanagi, sworn to prevent the totem from being used to break the seal and let the darkness of Yomi spread across the earth. That child was born thirty years ago. Armed with nearly three decades of diligent study and training along with the Imperial Regalia of Japan, three sacred, mystical objects long thought to be myths, the protector has been dispatched to the city of Abbadon to guard his totem. A city that was built over the entrance to Yomi itself.

The Characters

Kazuo Okami (Brian Tee) - From the second he was able to walk, Kazuo “Kaz” Okami has been trained in all forms of magic, martial arts, and weapons training. He never set foot outside his shrine until he was dispatched to guard his totem. He’s incredibly intelligent, speaking well over a dozen languages, and proficient in magic and several forms of combat. He’s been in Abbadon for a few years now and has mostly adapted to big city life, though he remains impossibly shy and inept in any sort of social interaction. Thirty years growing up in a Shinto shrine hasn’t done any wonders for his social skills. His Shinto upbringing has also earned him some ridiculer from Talia, his roommate. He spends a lot of time communing with the spirits of nature, he’s entire holistic and puts no synthetic materials into his body, and he’s also ridiculous OCD about cleanliness, taking a shower as many chances as he can get. He used to hate that everyone said his name backwards (in Japan, surnames come first, so it’d be Okami Kazuo), but he’s learned to let that go.

Talia Chaudri (Sarah Shahi) - Talia Chaudri has always been a dreamer. From the day she saw her first ballet as a young child, she’s always known she wanted to be a professional dancer. Unfortunately, coming from the low end of the economic ladder, her family never had the means to afford proper training. She left home after high school to realize her dream and found the harsh reality of adult life to be more than what she expected. Her struggles only got worse when she discovered she had empathic abilities, able to see the truth in the mind and hearts of those around her. It’s a handy talent, since her power makes it impossible for anyone to lie to her. She has been Kaz’s roommate since he came to Abbadon and knows about his destiny, trying to help him in any way she can, including learning some rhythm and teaching him how to dance. She's worked in a strip club for a few years, trying to put away money for school while also, in her own words "working on her stage presence." She approaches all forms of dance, even going so far as to learning a form of martial art known as capoeira to enhance her body's natural rhythm.

Javari Hicks (Nick Cannon) - Born and raised on the streets, one could never tell just how special Javari Hicks is. He’s one of a special race of mortals called the Illuminati, enlightened beings who are born with a deeper, almost clairvoyant understanding of the universe. Despite a peaceful upbringing by his loving grandmother, Javari’s never been one to make use of his talents for anyone but himself. He keeps his ear to the ground and likes to be in the know about everything going on in Abbadon, which makes him a great source of information.

Marcos Reyes (Adam Rodriguez) - A former detective with the Abbadon Police Department, Marcos Reyes took a permanent leave of absence after the death of his father and took over his family’s private investigation agency, a business he now runs alone since the rest of his family moved away years ago. He’s very much a scientific man by nature, needing concrete evidence before he’ll believe anything. Any sort of abstract theory doesn’t appeal to him at all. He deals in facts and facts only. One might say his best trait is his loyalty to those he cares about if he had anyone around to care about. He’s lived an isolated existence for years, with his only social interaction being with his clients.

Among the Ruins
submitted by Adam Scott

10.41am

The world has ended

This is the story of what happened next

Among the Ruins is a drama series set in a post-apocalyptic world, following the stories of four people as they attempt to survive and better their lives in the aftermath of a global catastrophe.

It s been seven years since The Flash , a global event that wiped out over five billion people in less than a minute. Precisely what the Flash was has never been explained, but in the immediate aftermath of it, with the vast majority of the world s population dead, mankind found himself back in the Stone Age. Today, seven years later, life has become a struggle to survive from day to day, in a world where barter is the only form of trade and the roads are ruled by bandits, religious extremists and any other group that may try to claim power.

Our story will follow four principle characters. Lucas Jones (Noel Clarke, Adulthood) was driving his taxi on the Manchester flyover when the flash hit, and the next moment everyone around him was dead. These days he makes his living as a courier, transporting messages and objects across the country. Nikki Carlisle (Zoe Tapper, Demons), whom Lucas meets in the first episode, hasn t been so lucky she s been forced to make her way as a thief, and as a result she has a reputation, as well as several people who are out to kill her. She s also carrying a very strange secret around with her. Jay Stevens (Georgia Moffett, Doctor Who) was only fifteen when the flash hit; trying to make her own way in the world, she was kidnapped and forced to work as a slave for several years, before she was rescued by her father s best friend, Professor Albert Bowman (John Hurt, V for Vendetta). Bowman, once an emeritus physics professor, has found himself to be one of the few people in this new world with any kind of technical knowledge making him someone in demand for both the heroes and the villains of this new world.

The characters spend much of their time on the road, travelling in Lucas taxi and Bowman s modified camper van. Their home base, though, is the small town of Freehold. Located in the north of England, near Penrith, Freehold is one of the largest towns to have become organised in the aftermath of the Flash, with a thriving barter economy and strong walls to withstand a siege, as well as access to certain technological advances, including a vast supply of petrol. The town is run by the charismatic Jeremy Franklin (Patrick Stewart, Star Trek: The Next Generation), who brought the place together largely by himself and is now a force to be reckoned with in this new world.

Though this new world postulates many threats, such as modern day slavers and highwaymen, and religious fanatics of every stripe who view the Flash as an act of God, by far the most dangerous threat is coming from the Reivers, a group of horse-riding bandits based somewhere on the border and launching raids across the country with increasing speed and brutality. But are these raids the random, senseless crimes they appear to be ... or something more sinister. And just who is the mysterious Bruce that seems to be in charge of them?

The Episodes

101 - Another Life
When a bandit attack forces Lucas Jones and Nikki Carlisle together for the first time, an unlikely friendship is formed. But when the presence of a traitor in Freehold is suspected, all eyes fall on Nikki and Lucas is forced to make a difficult decision.

102 - The Master Race
A cross country journey is interrupted when the gang fall foul of a group of violent racial extremists and Lucas is taken prisoner. With a mass execution of racial minorities fast approaching, Nikki, Jay and Bowman must learn to trust each other and work together to prevent an atrocity.

103 - In Chains
When Jay comes across a lead on Sims, the slave trader who held her prisoner for four years, she vanishes off in search of revenge. As Lucas, Nikki and Bowman go after her, we learn the true horror of what Jay suffered in captivity, and the terrible price that Bowman paid in order to save her.

104 - Borderlands
Nikki s arrival at Melmerby is cut short when the town is attacked by a vicious band of horse-riding bandits known as the Reivers the first time any of the group have seen proof of their existence. But when Lucas captures a Reiver captain, the scale of the threat posed by this new enemy becomes clear.

105 - Scientific Method
The gang return to Freehold, armed with the new information about the Reivers but Bowman is surprised by the appearance of Fraser Nash, one of his former students at Cambridge. But when Fraser s true intentions become clear and he asks Bowman for help in constructing a terrifying weapon, the Professor is faced with a terrible ethical dilemma.

106 - The Road Not Taken
A routine information gathering trip gives Lucas an unexpected lead on Sarah McKinnon, his girlfriend in the days before the Flash. He takes off after her, without the others, leading to him remembering the days in the immediate aftermath of the Flash and the circumstances that caused him to lose Sarah in the first place

Adam's pilot for Among The Ruins is available in PDF format.

Got a comment for Among The Ruins? Bang it over to the Among The Ruins Discussion Thread.

The Final Frontier
submitted by P.A. Wilson

Based upon “Star Trek” Created by Gene Roddenberry

A re-imagination of a legend...

“The Final Frontier” is a re-imagination of the “Star Trek” universe created by Gene Roddenberry. “The Final Frontier” borrows Gene’s universe and re-creates it to tell stories to modern audiences, with the intention of making them just as relevant today as the original tales were to the people of the 1960s.

Some might ask, why a re-imagination? My answer to them is, why not? If it’s good enough for the likes of Batman, Superman, Battlestar Galactica & James Bond, why not for Star Trek? The last forty-plus years of the Star Trek franchise has been great... with a few exceptions -- I’m not saying throw everything away, we can still watch the adventures that have been created in that time - they’re not going anywhere. What I am saying is that it would be naive of us not to re-energize the franchise with what made it great in the first place -- great characters such as Kirk, Spock and McCoy; our home base, the U.S.S. Enterprise and storytelling which was ahead of its time.

The story

The Eugenics War...

Not since the mid-20th Century has humanity endured such a persistent, bloody conflict on a planetary scale. From 2249 to 2261 – Earth was embroiled in a struggle that ended up killing 800 million lives. The solution was the genocide of the aggressive genetically-engineered supermen that inflicted this bloodshed on the population. Out of the ashes of this cutthroat moment in history, rises a story of a starship, crewed by men and women that lived through the horror of these days. This starship is the U.S.S. Enterprise.

In 2266, five years after the end to the war, the U.S.S. Enterprise is to set off on her third five-year mission, initially under the command of Captain Christine Pike. Unlike “Star Trek”, Earth is yet to make contact with any form of extra-terrestrial life, with the exception of Captain Pike’s trusted First Officer, Mister Spock -- an alien of unknown origin discovered aboard a small pod, when he was only a baby. Along for the mission is the hot-headed weapons officer, Lieutenant Janice Rand; the pompous, but engineering genius, Lieutenant Montgomery “Scotty” Scott; the very youthful voice of Ensign Pavel Chekov at Navigation; the calm, but emotionally scarred helmsman, Lt. Commander Haruki Sulu and the forced-back-into-the-service special mission observer, Commander James T. Kirk.

All these characters, and more, will be thrown into the deep end, with their mission to become one of great importance to all of humanity, after the events of the first episode. Mankind will finally realize they are not alone in the galaxy and realize that they must grow beyond their years if they want any chance of surviving in the galaxy as a whole.

Characters

Commander/Captain James T. Kirk - Once an up and coming star of Starfleet, Kirk resigned from the service at the end of the Eugenics War. The guilt he felt at being a part of the Starfleet taskforce assigned to hunt down the remaining supermen is universally accepted as being the reason for his resignation.

Kirk returned to his home in Iowa – a large family ranch – one which he resided at alone. His only living relative is his brother, Samuel, an officer aboard a small Starfleet survey ship. Since the resignation, Starfleet have tried to lure Kirk back numerous times. They’ve never succeeded. He’s seemed content to spend the rest of his life at his lonely ranch – something that would have been unthinkable during the years he was in the service.

Kirk has always been a man of action. No tasks seem impossible to him. And when they are, he’ll always try to turn it around in his favour. As a captain, he is an incredibly strong leader – one of the reasons he rose through the ranks so quickly.

Commander Spock - The most unique members of the Enterprise crew – Spock was discovered inside a small craft of unknown origin, barely a year old, he was taken back to Earth as the first extra-terrestrial first contact mankind has ever had. He grew up inside a laboratory, where he was poked and prodded for answers to questions about his strange anatomy and copper-based blood.

During his first seventeen years, he grew up with a mentor, Eugene Holland, one of the professors studying him. Holland taught him to control his emotions through techniques not ever fathomed. He also taught him several meditations and tried to encourage him with his telepathy, signs of which were beginning to come through at the age of fourteen.

At eighteen Spock entered Starfleet Academy with a flawless test result on his entrance exam. It had been his hope that roaming the stars with Starfleet would help him find out where he came from. He finished at the top of his class with results not seen ever in academy history.

When off-duty, Spock comes off as extremely aloof. He doesn’t go out of his way to socialize with anyone apart from a select few. His mind works logically -- he doesn’t let his buried emotions get in the way of any decisions. With that said, he shows signs of extreme loyalty, devotion, honour and courage.

Doctor Leonard McCoy (appears in 1x02) - A product of the “Old South”. Following in his father’s footsteps from a very young age, “Bones” McCoy has gone on to become a fantastic physician, surgeon and exo-biologist. After completing his tour of medical school and Starfleet Academy, he served at several hospitals around the world near most of the major theatres of the Eugenics War. After the conflict, McCoy accepted a position at Starbase 4 as assistant to the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Exo-bioligist. Within three years he became the full CMO.

The doctor from the “Old South” maintains a much laid back lifestyle. However he’s a man who stays very true to his convictions. One of the very major points to McCoy’s personality is that you’ll always know where you stand with him. He’s not afraid to tell you exactly what he’s thinking, even if it’s the wrong time to do it. To some people it’s an endearing quality, to others is simply rubs them up the wrong way.

Lt. Commander Haruki Sulu - Haruki Sulu was born on the New Geneva Colony, on the distant world of Balracken II. Predominantly a farming colony, Sulu was brought up with a simple life on the barren plains of the faraway planet. It was there she began her love affair with piloting, by transporting around in her family’s “jumper”, as it was just about the only form of transport available on the planet.

She spent her youth with two parents who adored her and a younger sister that wished to be everything Haruki was. At the age of eighteen she left Balracken II to enter Starfleet Academy on Earth. While there a tragedy back home changed her life forever. Her colony was destroyed and her family butchered. She vowed to one day hunt down the criminal that did it. This pushed her through her studies.

On the exterior, Sulu is a calm and collected person. To the vast majority of people, she comes across as extremely friendly. Ever since the death of her parents she’s tended to bottle in a lot of her emotions, especially anger. So when she comes across something or someone she may not like she tends to keep it very much to herself. This however occasionally backfires and her darker side comes out for all to see.

Lieutenant Montgomery “Scotty” Scott - Born in Aberdeen to a middle-class Scottish family, like his father and his father before him, Scotty was pushed throughout his youth to one day become a Starfleet Officer. When he turned 18, Scotty was accepted into Starfleet Academy with a relatively decent score. With a pathway through the command ranks in his mind, or at least in his father’s mind, Scotty quickly discovered Engineering was his preferred option. Pulling things apart and putting them back together came to him extremely naturally.

After graduating he served at several assignments – a Starbase, two freighters, the San Francisco Fleet Yards and finally the U.S.S. Enterprise in the final year of her second five-year mission as a Chief Engineer’s assistant. It was during the closing days of that mission that Captain Pike discovered him to be full of untapped potential when he managed to pull the Enterprise out of a very tight situation. Pike decided to make him the youngest Chief Engineer in Starfleet history at the start of her third five year mission.

As a person, Scotty is a very hard character to read. At times his crewmates don’t know whether he’s joking or being downright rude. He can come across as extremely arrogant when it comes to his engine room, but he knows the only ways things will get done properly is if he’s a little harsher than the other PC officers roaming around the fleet.

Lieutenant Janice Rand - Janice Rand was born on Alpha Centauri, Earth’s largest colony. For the majority of her youth, her father Jonathan, a Captain in Starfleet, was always away from home on assignment. From the age of zip to her mid teens, she saw very little of him. At the time Rand turned 16, Jonathan Rand was promoted to Admiral and he finally returned home. However both he and Janice didn’t get along too well. Fights were consistently heated and arguments common. This led Janice to enlisting in the UEN Defence Forces on her eighteenth birthday and leaving Alpha Centauri to fight in the Eugenics War on Earth.

During her five year career in the UEN Defence Forces, Janice Rand served in just about every theatre of the war, from Africa to Asia, and even Eastern Europe. She rose through the ranks quickly with many commendations of bravery and courage. During the last days of the war on Earth, Rand was offered a position by Starfleet, one where she’d become a full officer after only two years at the academy.

Rand is nothing less than a professional when it comes to her work. She’s by the book in every sense of the word. If a superior asks her to jump, she will immediately ask how high. To her security staff she can be very harsh in the way she treats them. Because of her regimented career in the UEN Defence Forces, this kind of attitude has seeped into her social life. She’s not an easy person to get to know and is very guarded amongst other people. It’s said that she’s very much like her father in this respect... Something she hates being said of her.

Ensign Pavel Chekov - Chekov was born in Russia on Earth, to a relatively poor family in the countryside. At the age of eleven, large augment fighting was entering Eastern Europe from Asia and his parents didn’t want him anywhere near it, so they sent him off to school in England with the entire family savings. At the English school he excelled, especially at mathematics.

Upon returning home three years later, his house and the surrounding region had been bombed out of existence by the aerial bombardment during the final days of the Eugenics War. To this day he has yet to find any traces of his parents anywhere. It’s expected they died in the attacks. With nowhere else to go he accepted a scholarship to a school in Moscow and completed four years before entering Starfleet Academy. At the Academy he performed similarly to his earlier studies, breezing through the classes to finish in the upper echelon of his year.

Chekov can come across as a very vague kind of character for someone of his intellect. But he quickly comes out of his shell once he’s comfortable in his surroundings. To those who know him well, he finds himself with the reputation of being quite the ladies man.

Nyota Uhura (appears in 1x03) – One of the most “go-getting” individuals in existence. Born in the African Republic on Earth, Uhura has pushed her way through her life with the determination to become a journalist for the largest news network on Earth – ENet. One of her big breaks came at the expense of a young cadet, by the name of James T. Kirk. When the young cadet cheated on a simulator mission called the “Kobayashi Maru”, the young Uhura, who was an intern at a small time San Francisco newspaper, saw her chance at a story that would launch her career. It did.

Since that day, Kirk has never forgiven her for what she did to him. Uhura was deeply pained in doing what she did, but it was what she believe she had to do. Throughout her life she has come to depend on only one person, herself. That’s something she continues to believe in. She won’t let anybody stand in her way.

Episodes

1x01 We Are Not Alone - The U.S.S. Enterprise is sent into firing line on the first assignment of her third five-year mission, with the job of investigating the destruction of a deep space mining outpost and a Starfleet survey ship. Former officer, Commander James T. Kirk is temporarily reactivated into the service as an observer, by the request of Captain Christine Pike. What Kirk and the Enterprise find will shake the very foundations of the history of mankind.

1x02 Crossroads - The U.S.S. Enterprise arrives at Starbase 4 for repairs after their incident at Jensen-Orali V. Captain Pike, on life support, is taken to the surface where Doctor Leonard McCoy operates on the famous commanding officer. After being saved by McCoy, Pike asks her most loyal officer, Mr. Spock, to take her life. Commander Kirk is offered command of the Enterprise and Lieutenant Rand receives word from home that her father has died in a training accident at Starfleet Academy.

1x03 Call of Destiny - The Enterprise returns to Earth, with Commander Kirk accepting command and being briefed on a secret mission. The ship and crew is to set out into deep space and track down a signal that was picked up by a subspace transmitter ten years earlier. The goal: make peaceful contact with extra-terrestrial life in light of the incident at Jensen-Orali V. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Rand says goodbye to her father, only to find that his death may not have been an accident after all. Doctor McCoy and Spock help Captain Pike adjust to her new life and a flame from Kirk’s past makes an appearance, journalist, Nyota Uhura.

1x04 Ghost From The Past – The Enterprise launches from Earth after the completion of her refit. Captain Kirk, at the request of Lieutenant Rand, alters course towards a planet where she believes she can find the man responsible for the death of her father. After discovering that the killer is also the one responsible for butchering her family several years earlier, Lt. Commander Sulu takes it upon herself to hunt down the man and make him serve the justice she’s been wanting for so many years... his death by her hands.

1x05 Life... But Not As We Know It – Mister Spock, Doctor McCoy, Ensign Chekov, Uhura and a small scientific team investigate the strange gravitational field of a star system in a shuttlecraft, while the Enterprise is doing a survey of a nebula some five light years away. On their way back to rendezvous, Spock’s team discover an abandoned alien ship. They board her and find the unbelievable... the remains of its slaughtered crew. They soon realize they aren’t alone on the ship, when they’re shuttle is destroyed. On inspection of the ship’s badly damaged computer, they discover they’re on an Andorian zoological survey ship and that a lone predator is loose. The computer calls the animal a... Gorn.

P.A's pilot for The Final Frontier is available in PDF format.

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Nirvana
submitted by Vinicius Moraes

Once inseparable friends, Marlena Watkins, Jensen Krail, Victor Burton and Sara Coleman haven’t spoken to each other in two years. However, their lives once again collide when Jacob Breslin, a loved friend and the only one who remained friends with all four commits suicide.

Now the four teenagers who remained behind must continue on with their lives having to deal with the insecurities and the difficult process of growing up whilst mourning for the loss of a dear friend. Will the four be brought together by this tragedy, or are they simply two different, after two years apart, to the point where they don’t know who the other person is anymore?

Creator's Note

In a nutshell, this project came to be after some brainstorming around the idea of a different approach over the theme of adolescence. Basically, I fell in love with the idea of depicting this tough (more on that in a sec) phase of anyone’s life in a more realistic manner, with characters that weren’t stereotyped to their core and who had bigger concerns than sex in their lives. So then came the characters and I absolutely fell in love with the four protagonists of my story.

So what do I mean when I say that adolescence is a tough period of life? Well, I’m writing this for obviousness’ sake, as I believe that if someone doesn’t remember the pains of growing up, trying to find your place in the universe, mulling over ENDLESS insecurities, doubts, fears, the question of whether become a true, authentic individual to yourself or to ‘fit in with the masses’, then that person is either stupid or a victim of Alzheimer’s. Probably both.

So this is what this series would be about. In a nutshell, someone described this as a ‘darker take on the teen drama subgenre’. That’s not far from the truth, although instead of darker, I’d say ‘more realistic’ and instead of ‘teen drama subgenre’, I’d say ‘straight drama with teenagers as protagonists’.

Characters

SARA COLEMAN (Portrayed by Alexz Johnson)
When she was fifteen years old, Sara was diagnosed with clinical depression. Two years later, she still finds herself struggling with the disease, but trying to overcome it in her own pace. Using drugs and alcohol as forms of escapism, she’s also a kind, loyal friend, as she was to Jacob Breslin, whenever she allows herself to get close to someone to the point where she trusts them.

MARLENA WATKINS (Portrayed by Ellen Page)
Marlena knew Jacob ever since they were both five. In the past few years, she slowly developed a self-destructive personality, which didn’t get in the way of her friendship with Jacob, but which has turned her into a distant girl.

JENSEN KRAIL (Portrayed by Emile Hirsch)
Jensen is into sports. He could be called a jock were it not for the fact he hates jocks, preferring, instead, to have a personality of his own, hang with the people he considers real friends and simply be himself, high school rules be damned. Like he did with Marlena, Jacob considered him to be his best friend.

VICTOR BURTON (Played by Ed Westwick)
Closed, angsty, alone. Victor Burton’s life has taken a turn to the worst in the past couple of years. Once a friendly guy, his own doubts and insecurities have scared and haunted him to the point today he’s a shadow of the boy he used to be.

Vinicius's pilot for Nirvana is available in PDF format.

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