Space 4 Rent Pitch Bible
LOGLINE
“Drowning in debt and on the run, a recent graduate seeks refuge in a space slum…”
SYNOPSIS
In the not too distant future, the global economy has become completely over-inflated, causing interest rates on loans to skyrocket. Consequently, the market has become too cut throat, literally. At this time, Zevron Jones has decided to go to college, paying for it though loans. Unfortunately, he graduated just in time to see his ideal career become obsolete.
Zevron had no choice but to flee the notorious loan sharks sent after him by the banks. He decided to take refuge in a space slum, moving in with childhood friend Oxalita Smith. However, Zevron ends up getting more than he bargained for in this space slum: and alien who is always in search of pleasure, a religious fanatic who intends to preach the teachings of her god, and a clone superintendent in the midst of an identity crisis. Amongst all his intergalactic interactions, Zevron Jones will still have to find some way to pay off his massive debt or else become subject to the vicious loan sharks and their impotizer.
TREATMENT
For centuries the global economy of Earth has been inflating exponentially. When Earth entered the intergalactic economic community things only got worse. This, of course, promptly led to the increase in banks loans, making the market more cut throat, too often literally. The banks, realizing that their chief competitors were the mafia, decided to introduce severe penalties not totally unlike the mob’s tactics in not only loan practices, but in debt collection as well. This gave rise to the honored profession of loan sharking, where only the most feared and ruthless may become one of the “Debt Collectors”.
It was in this struggling economic climate that the human Zevron Jones decided to go to college. Zevron Jones was born on Earth. It was a well known fact that Zev, as he liked to be called, was rather logically intelligent; however he was lacking those necessary “street smarts,” that “gut” feeling, as some humans have been known to call it. This lacking of intuition left Zev susceptible to various scams, such as the ridiculously high interest rate that the Stafulon Loaning Company had pinned on him. While in primary school Zev excelled at learning alien languages, before graduation he was fluent in Gelking, Vestalic, and Opollo. Seeing his natural affinity for language he decided to enter college and get a degree in xenolinquistics, the study of alien languages.
After not only approaching his parents, but the rest of his family as well, he could not scrape up enough funds to go to even a quarter at a community college, and against the better judgment of those around him, he decided to get a student loan. After all, a top Xenolinguist can make between fifty to sixty hundred million Earthos Creditories an hour. Very respectable for an earthborn human. Ignoring the fact that he was in debt up to his eyeballs, Zevron Jones, finally graduated. Zev was going to be an interplanetary translator for the United Collective of Planets. The pay was going to be astronomical, he would finally get rid of his debt, and be able to afford to live a little, and maybe in a few years move back to earth, a pleasantry few humans are able to afford. That was of course, until the revolutionary invention of the Rossetta Stone. A device that, when implanted onto the patient’s brain stem, instantly translates other languages into their native tongue. Home kits are available at your local Klebs-Mart for one hundred ninety-nine million creditories.
Unfortunately Zev’s job; and well, Zev really, became obsolete. His chances of financial success and future happiness vanished right then and there. And worse yet the dark cloud of the Stafford Loan is bearing down upon him and they have dispatched the order to, Collect! With no feasible way to repay his loan, and fearing the loan sharks, Zev decided he had to get out of the system, and fast. He took a shot in the dark and contacted his old childhood friend, Oxalita Smith, whom he had always admired for her free thinking, and asked if he could move in with her. Scraping together what little cash he had left, Zev moved into deep space to join the quick-witted and enigmatic Oxalita, who just so happened to be in need of a roommate. And so, he packed his bags and moved in with Lita, as Oxalita likes to be called, into Venusian Gardens, a pod complex just off of the of apex point of Pluto’s orbit.
Venusian Gardens isn’t the kind of place you’d like to raise your kids. With constant air leaks, asteroid collisions, and some of the worst television viewing equipment in the galaxy, it is a wonder that anyone can live there at all. The complex is run by the Reemus. Reemus is a clone. In fact, he is a clone of the owner of Venusian Gardens, Emus; whom he lovingly refers to as “The Original.” He is the complex’s go to guy should anything goes wrong; and it is almost certain that something, if not everything, will go wrong in Venusian Gardens.
Among the Gardens (as the local populace styles it) most eccentric personalities is Zir-Moses. Zir-Moses is the single richest sentient being on this side of Alpha Centauri (including beings constructed by energy). He looks like the offspring of big foot and your pet dog, and is a notorious mooch.
And finally there are the Geppetto’s Witnesses. This religion is founded on the singular belief that we are all sculpted from Geppetto’s Infinite Wood and that all beings should follow His instructions. They believe that those who do not follow His teachings will be sucked up by the Whale of Doom and forever dwell on the unsanitary shores of Pleasure Island.
And so, Zev, through shear genius or dumb luck, has temporarily evaded the Debt Collectors and is on his way to Venusian Gardens, where he’ll need all the space he can get!
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Zev: He is from an upper class family. He was born into wealth and privilege. He did really well in school and was immediately gifted at xenolinguistics. We went to school to get his doctorate, his parents wanted him to continue in the family business, but he refused. They refused to pay for his schooling, because he knew how much money he could make in his field, so he took out a lot of student loans. Right before graduation the Rosetta Stone was invented, causing his job to be obsolete. He had spent many years studying Alien languages and cultures, but because of his life of privilege he had never actually spent time with Aliens, because they could never afford to live on earth or attend the college he went too. When he interacts with people in poverty and aliens he comes off as disconnected and almost offensive, despite good intentions. He had feelings for Lita when they were younger, but hasn’t seen her in a long time. When they reunite there is instantly a romantic connection, but they are so different culturally at this point, Zev has to grow up a lot before he can fully realize his feelings. Although Zev is incredibly book smart he has no people smarts and often comes off as awkward and not great at basic communications. He does not like Sockie and instantly feels competitive with him, they have a bitter and aggressive relationships. He is non confrontational and passive, he is compliant. He internalizes his fears of his debt and newly found poverty. He has a hard time asking others for help, especially because he has been on his own for awhile. He in a way romanticizes her carefree lifestyle, but is quickly met with tension when he realizes how hard and “real” this real-life actually is. He doesn’t like the unaccepted and surprises, he likes structure. His situation is desperate.
Lita: She is very tough, Bartender. She is a fix-it up bad ass do it yourself kind of a person. She is free-spirited. She is sassy and assertive, but it is a front to an extent, where she internalizes her fears and doubts. She is willing to throw down when necessary. She also came from a place of wealth and privilege, but chose to leave that lifestyle behind in order to follow her passion as a writer, which, due to her lack of success in that field, often doesn’t talk about it or share her writing. she is a bartender to pay the bills. She romanticizes his successful life and intelligence, especially because everyone around her is maybe less intelligent and lacks ambition. They bond over writing! She realizes throughout the series that she is actually successful in a different way. She is actually kind of behind on her rent and struggling to get by, Reemus lets her slide. She is protective over Zev, almost nurturing, as she is too many characters. She is fun, social and charismatic. She is spontaneous. Very adaptable.
Reemus: He has little self worth, he is self deprecating, this is due to his cloneness. He is prideful of his position of super intendant and it is the sole thing that defines him. He is very obedient. He is a clone and worships Emus. He is very remorseful of his lack of a “soul”. Personal clone making was only legal or possible for such a short period of time, Reemus feels alone because he is one of the only clones with the ability to have a personality and decision making process. Throughout the series more fully realizes his own self worth, maybe is able to stand up to Emus or someone else so he knows he is capable. The only clones that are made now are indentured servants to the government.
Zirmoses: Average guy lifestyle. He has no concept of ownership, causing him to be a mooch. He looks at things in a scientific way, which is how he explains his actions, but not on an emotional way. He needs to be constantly eating. He only sees the big picture. He is constantly looking for physical release, which leads to him attempting to have sex with many people around him. Throughout the season he begins to realize that his actions have an effect on others and he is responsible for his actions. Moisture destroyed his home planet. He over analysis the process but can’t fully realize the outcome of things.
Sockie: A sock puppet that exists as a TV personality that is interactive. He is loyal with a dog like obedience to Lita, but doesn’t like other people as much if they threaten his closeness with Lita. He is very emotionally needy, wants constant intention. Has quirky tendencies, kind of muppet esque? He is also like a interactive internet, he just knows a bunch of stuff about everyone because he is connected to the Universe wide web. The comic relief of the show. Very chummy and likeable. Maybe breaks off into song, or other whimsical thing
EPISODE SYNOPSIS
Episode1: Zev moves into Venusian Gardens, where he reconnects with old friend and crush Oxilita Smith. He meets his mooching, pleasure seeking neighbor, Zirmoses and an uptight cloned superintendent, Reemus. After brief introductions, a door to door religious fanatic named Felia, a sister of Gepetto’s Observants is inadvertently allowed in by Zevron. After exhanges of ideologies Felia questions herself, finds pleasure with Zermoses and maybe around longer than anyone wants. Zev must now reconvince Felia of her fate, so that she moves on and stops annoying them.
Episode 2: Zev gets a notice from Sockie that that his loan payment is overdue and sharks are coming to collect or inflict penalties. Zev delves deeper into his past and sheds more light on his financial situation to Lita, Zirmoses and Reemus. After a visit from the feared “loan sharks” Zev is imputized. Desperate for work Zev attempts a variety of jobs, all resulting in pain and/or failure. After much frustration, he is relieved when Lita comes home and gets him a job, dishwashing.
Episode 3 – The Original: Zev and Lita find that their TV’s Socklovian has malfunctioned. They get in touch with Reemus who tells them that they must contact the intergalactic cable conglomerate Rwest. However, they must first find the long lost Emus, the man who Reemus was cloned from and has been worshipping like a god for his entire life, since Reemus is physically incapable of dealing with matters concerning cable. After reactivation the Socklovian informs the tenants that they will soon be attacked by the dreaded Geppetto’s Observants. The episode ends in a cliffhanger.
Episode 4: Sockie comes back online, only to squeal warnings of an incoming hostile Geppetto Fleet. Discovering the fleet is led by a romantically vengeful, Felia, the tenants prepares to flee. Felia tries to make a deal for Zirmoses but this falls apart causing her to attack the pod station. During this time, the sharks reappear for another shakedown of Zev but are aggressively denied by an invigored heroic Zev, trying to impress a paniced and uncharateristcally broken down Lita. With a possible romantic relationship looming between Zev and Lita, much to the chagrin of Reemus and humor of Zirmoses, the four are unexpectedly aided in their escape by Zev’s financial debt.
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