Ashley+Wolf,+Bob+Crouse,+Gary+Halliwell,+Lauren+Nucci

Three separate individuals, all with addictions to alcohol, cigarettes, or gambling seek out a new form of rehabilitation counseling in which they us social media platforms. In their own separate therapy sessions, each character will explain their problems. The counselors explain how therapy will go and how they will be fully rid of their addiction at the price of gaining a new one. They are introduced to Facebook, twitter, and YouTube to help explain positive things that come from these sites.
 * Concept: **

This is a new experimental rehab treatment. The 3 main characters are the first subjects to be under surveillance by groups of scientists and/or psychologists. They will track their behavior for 30 days. The subjects will be required to us social media in order to curb addictions and to also document their transition from bad addictions to social addictions in the end.

We would not need to hire outside actors for this. We would just use group members and/or friends to fill the roles of the alcoholic, gambler, and smoker.
 * Characters: **

__ Alcoholic: __ (Josh) recently divorced and/or laid off. Spends several hundred dollars a night on alcohol. Mooches off of his friends. Owes local bar thousands of dollars. Drinks at home alone sometimes. Sarcastic asshole.

__ Gambler: __ (Bob) has financial troubles with a low-end job and makes minimum wage. Turns to gambling to make extra money. Loses a lot. Gambles more to make up for his losses. Endless cycle. Neglects family – kids despise him. Pessimistic. Makes ridiculous bets.

Smoker: (James) chronic cigarette smoker. Smokes multiple packs per day. Nonchalant smoker. Doesn’t care about the effects they have on his body. He is and extremely flamboyant heterosexual.

Studio shooting will be the primary technique will we use for this test sequence. Includes: lighting, sound and actual film.
 * Techniques: **

We will need a camera, microphone, tripod, and a studio to shoot our scene in. the camera, tripod, and microphone will already be provided for by one of our group members.
 * Equipment Needed: **

We may have a few scheduling issues because people in the group have work and/or internships at times when others are free. Weekends would be our best chance to do this and possibly during class time (if allowed).
 * Other logistics (releases, scheduling conflicts, etc.): **

__ Gary Halliwell: __ The show in my opinion has one major flaw in the fact that after a few episodes, it’s hard to really take it anywhere else. I feel another constraint within the show structure is the 30 day time frame of treatment. Having a time frame this short would limit the possibilities with character development and being able to establish a real connection between viewers and characters. Due to these issues I would definitely suggest that this show be modeled after a short web series where a concept like this could really take off without having the expectations of a long running show. I like the idea of using social media as a focal point because it is easy to relate to the younger audiences and could be appealing to a wide spectrum of viewers. The main obstacle we will need to tackle is figuring out how to intertwine the three main characters addictions with using social media to wean them off their current vices. If we can successfully figure out a way to make those two ideas work seamlessly, I can definitely see a very successful web series coming from this.
 * Feedback: **

__ Ashley Wolf: __ The show was an idea given to me by someone I work with at the news station. They originally gave it to me as a topic of study within a news program and I thought it would be fun to turn it into a comedy. Three of us generated the idea in its entirety and I look forward to developing this webisode with the help of other friends who will play the characters. The only difficulty we are running into is the scheduling for the shoot, but we are all going to work it out next week.

__ Bob Crouse: __ I feel the 30-day time frame would be a major concern as well. We could possibly do each episode in the style similar to that of //24// where we have each day be its own episode. Of course a 30-episode season probably wouldn’t be the best way to air the series. Possibly splitting them into 3, 10 episode seasons would be the best way to do it. Adding in setbacks or slip-ups for each character along the way might help keep it interesting. Even if this weren’t to get made into a TV series, turning it into a Web Series would also be very beneficial for the show concept.

__ Lauren Nucci: __ Since I was out of check at the time of brainstorming this idea, I jumped into the project after the idea was already a plan. I initially really liked the idea, I feel it is relevant to many people since most of us have addictions, whether it be alcoholism, drug addiction, or maybe just addicted to facebook (as many people are today). As we began shooting, I took the role of the rehab counselor, which I felt comfortable doing and know a lot about what goes on in these types of rehabilitation programs. Since this is a very serious subject, I liked the idea of throwing comedy into the mix to lighten up our episodes. However, I do not want this to come off as offensive NOR as a mockery of a very serious topic. With the right type of humor, we can succeed in making a sad subject somewhat funny. This is one thing to be mastered, and I agree with Gary that turning the subjects' addictions into social media addiction is relevant to most people today, but we have to figure out a way to get this into the mix without making it absurdly obvious. I really want to use flashbacks for our scenes, so that we are introduced to the characters in their therapy sessions but also can see a flash of what they normally are like outside the sessions. I am trying to think of creative ways to make this concept work without offending anyone and using the appropriate type of humor. I also agree that the show would likely have to be a web series. Time is definitely an issue but so far we have been successful in shooting.