so I'm doing a television pilot script.

[PHARKIN CHERKOV]

As some are aware I write as a hobby, trying to make a living on it. Currently, I’m doing an open University media course. One idea that’s been floating around in my head for a television pilot in the following below. Need advice, opinions, etc. If I had to describe it’s almost like New Zealand’s version of The Wire also inspired by shows like Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy and The Shield. It is set in the same world as the movie Once Were Warriors, same universe, same style, cinematography, writing, etc.

 

Title: PATCHES

(refers to the patches worn by gang members but also the "patches" worn by the Police force)

 

Synopsis (Pilot)

An on-going war between the Rotten Basterds and Toa Bulls begin to escalate when a member of the Toa Bulls is executed in a public restaurant. The slaying done with a hatchet begins local authorities to crack down on both criminal organizations. We see the view points from the gangs and Maori community leaders as well as the Police force, including a young Pakeha constable who is involved in a relationship with a Maori woman whose brother is a member of the Toa Bulls and deeply entrenched in the gang lifestyle.

 

Here are the gangs that are going to be featured along the way. It's going to be set in an area that I have yet to decide upon yet.

 

Criminal organizations/gangs

 

Dirty Rotten Basterds (based on the Mongrel Mob)

• Bloods (feeder gang for the Dirty Rotten Basterds)

Toa Bulls Aotearoa (based on Black Power)

• Crips & Darksiders (feeder gangs for the Toa Bulls)

Route 66 Motorcycle Club (based on Highway 61 motorcycle club, the country's largest motorcycle club)

 

Huntsmen (based on the Tribesmen)

• Killer Kounty (based on the Killabeez, feeder gang for the Huntsman)

Zhāng Triads (based on New Zealand Triads)

 

A gang based on the Hells Angels motorcycle club (one of the first United States motorcycle clubs that was first established outside of the States)

 

Dirty Rotten Basterds has an entire back story to it. When the Mongrel Mob was formed, they got their name from a judge who said that they were nothing but a pack of mongrels. In my story, the judge proclaims that the men he are sentencing are nothing but "dirty rotten bastards" back in the 60's/70's so that's how the gang gets their name.

 

With this, I am also going to focus on the Maori community leaders, people who are trying to better their surroundings by helping the youth.

 

More to come.

 

Thought this belongs here more.

[Mister Pink]

Can't really say much but great influences for writing a T.V. show. The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Son's of Anarchy. Been meaning to watch The Shield. Good luck with your project.

[Marlowe.]

I'm assuming the title's a work in progress? It's a little boring, I don't think it adequately promotes the show you have in mind. 'Patches' sounds like the name of an afterschool childrens show about a talking teddy bear.

 

I don't have much else to add, other than I would definitely watch a TV version of Once Were Warriors. Or any crime-oriented drama set in New Zealand, really.

 

[Spaghetti Cat]

I've always found the T.V. Pilot Episode a really neat sub-genre into itself. First off, a lot of pilots never make it to air, much less last very long. So a lot of times you have this really neat arc of a story and it's condensed down into it's most simple form. Character A has this sort of nature about him, sure he may learn and change on the fringes, but he will always be that archetype. Shows like Family Guy or American Dad are good examples of this; Peter may learn a heartfelt lesson at the end of one episode, but has totally forgotten by the start of the next.

 

So in the pilot, the characters are always saying (or put in positions) that always resemble how the will act in the remainder of the series. "Hi, I'm so-and-so and I like X. If you don't tough!" "Yeah I'm blah-d-blah, and I don't like X at all. This will set up our conflict from here on out!" I's dialog that nobody really speaks, but is used because it pushes along the plot. Which is more often than not the main focus of a pilot.

 

In this case, I really don't know who the audience is. Could it be the people on the other side of the screen that needs to make up enough of a target audience to justify the network ordering more episodes. Or is it the network executive, or other "gatekeeper", who will green light the pilot episode in the first place? Kind of a chicken-or-egg question.

 

Know that doesn't help much, but I do like the OP's choice of inspiration. All good shows!