“The Whistle-Blower” Is Great! – Don’t Take My Word For It!

THE WHISTLE-BLOWER 

Pilot Script

by Bill Taub and Scott Ritter

BLACKLIST ALL 5 Whistle-Blower REVIEWS

We took our chances and submitted our script to the highly regarded ‘Black List’ for evaluation and industry access. Our ‘belief’ has been more than affirmed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: https://www.billtaub.com/contact/

This Reviewer gave it the highest rating possible on The Blacklist – an 8! 

Era

Present-Day, Some Flashback

Locations

Manhattan, Azerbaijan, Istanbul

Genre

Drama, Political Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Wartime Espionage

Logline

Years after exposing an American weapons of mass destruction hoax by whistle-blowing, a former Head Weapons Inspector for the U.N., TODD FERGUSON, returns to the U.N. to lead a new and immediate inspection team aimed at avoiding bureaucratic lag, and investigates the aftermath of a gas attack in Azerbaijan – seemingly caused by Armenians.

Strengths

This is a well-written script. Narratively, it is propulsive, energetic and infused with surprise and intrigue. The writer does a good job of editorializing the vibe of the show’s various locations. The description of Baku – “The coastal capital of Azerbaijan. Paris, Moscow, a dash of Istanbul and a whole lot of corruption.” – stands as an example. The sequence in the barn featuring the three hooded Armenian boys is knockout – the stuff exciting (and excruciating) TV is made of. Ismail is a wonderfully drawn and watchable character – riddled with moral complexities. Gretta is also well-written. She comes across as intelligent and provides some nice, light sarcasm and humor to an otherwise heavier narrative. The dialogue, as a whole, reads as thoughtfully written and realistic.

TV series potential:

It is not hard to imagine that THE WHISTLE-BLOWER could be attractive to buyers. The premise is solid and unique enough to merit an audience, and the execution of this draft is of enough quality to probably get some attention from executives. Todd says it best on p. 47: ” In this business if you want to live a long life, don’t be predictable.” This script succeeds in just that – not being predictable. The script also feels like it could feasibly land on both cable and broadcast networks, without having to make huge adjustments to the pilot for either format. At a minimum, this draft can serve as an impressive sample for staffing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: https://www.billtaub.com/contact/

 

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