The Making of an Idealist

I have completed a spec pilot for a hour-long political drama entitled The Making of an Idealist. Of course, as this is just a draft (a beta version, if you will), that title, the character names, and anything else can be changed. But finding good names for TV shows is hard to come by without making obvious analogies to contemporary politics (“Straight Talk” would be too McCain-like, and “The Senator” is too boring).

Any rate, the logline for the show is this:

We are taught to define our ideals and then, cynically or pragmatically, lose hope in those ideals in pursuit of money, fame, and power. What if one politician was different? What if he started out as a shy, directionless college freshmen who held on to those ideals even in the face of tremendous pressure to compromise?

For the pilot, the logline is this:

When a U.S. Senator vows to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee, lobbyists turn to the Senator’s past for leverage. Back then, Mike, the shy friend of a congressman’s son makes a fateful choice when he meets the mysterious Kathy. Meanwhile, the ambitious Nick Atlee looks to win over the campus’ three top recruits during Rush Week.

The spec pilot can be found here. Contact me if the link doesn’t work (Facebook doesn’t seem to import them). Any feedback is welcome, as I’m going to submit this to some screenwriting contests this year.

Oh, and fans of my earlier novels will find a *lot* to like in this pilot – as it’s based on those novels (in particular, I based the teaser on a chapter in my latest book). Unfortunately, in the current draft I had to eliminate explicit references to The Circle, but the terms “tapped” and “independent” do make an appearance, as does a stand-in for GDI (“Gamma Delta Iota”).