Create a proposal for your final video project. In addition to the news article that inspires you, you need to create a “pitch”—basically what you want to do with the topic: how to approach the story, crisis, and theme. FEEL FREE TO USE THIS DOCUMENT AS A TEMPLATE!

1. Create a SLUG LINE: a summation in one sentence that tells me the direction you are heading in. A sample might be: What happens when a low-level bureaucrat comes across frightening information regarding her company? This is both provocative and shows the specific scope of your work.
2. Create a PREMISE: which indicates the thread that you be following as you create the script: An analyst at the Environmental Protection Administration uncovers a systemic dumping of toxic waste in a local lake. It appears that her boss has signed off on this. Now you have a situation that has drama in it.
3. Create a CRISIS: which makes the stakes crucial for the character to succeed. The local lake is the source of water for the surrounding community, including the bureaucrat and her family. If it isn’t cleaned up soon, people will become ill and possibly die. The CRISIS lets us know what is at stake.
4. CONFLICT: She knows if she goes to her boss, he will bury the information and she’ll be fired. But the lake is potentially poisonous. So, she has no choice but to confront her boss in the hope that he will act. Now she has a conflict: the boss may not want to do what she wants, but she has to convince him.