Ad Astra meets Secession when the fading CEO, guilt-ridden astronaut and secret-laden cadet within a private space firm use the discovery of life on Saturn's moon Titan to regain control of their lives and dreams even if it means destroying both.

SYNOPSIS:

Conquering space can be a thankless business.

Synopsis

Star Trek gave us the dream.

Succession showed us the reality of what a multi- billion-dollar company can become.

Chasing Humanity is a 1-hour, serialized drama set in the near future, revolving around three lives in the private space firm CosmosNow (CoNo): its brilliant, but antisocial founder losing control of his company; former pilot and now manager of lunar ops struggling to move on after losing her same-sex spouse and child; a wide-eyed student entering CoNo’s academy based on an entrance exam fudged by her favorite teacher. Probes finding life on Saturn’s moon Titan, while threatening the belief system of many, offer each an opportunity at redemption and purpose.

At stake for each is betting everything on one reason to keep going. Win or lose.

It examines the themes of vision vs greed, blame vs forgiveness and the dangers of anti-science dogma. It also explores not what it means to be human, but what is the concept each character struggles to serve, and pay the price for, called humanity, (the driving question) and how the Titan find helps each character achieve it.

Comps

FOR ALL MANKIND. AD ASTRA. SUCCESSION.

World/Tone

CoNo is what Blue Origin can become, inhabited by real people with real problems. The real-life challenges, dangers, dreams and rewards. Realities of living/working/tourism on the moon and foothold on Mars. Dreams humans had at the beginning of the space race, seen through three different eyes. Nothing presented is scientifically impossible.

Main Characters

JOHN BLAISÉ (60): Founder and CEO of CoNo, a space empire: launch systems, lunar base/resort, outpost on Mars. A brilliant, antisocial, loner at heart. Unable to form deep, empathic connections.

MACKENZIE (MACKI) WILLARD (19): Student at the Space Technology, Engineering, Exploration, Mathematics & Science Academy (STEEMS) founded by John to prepare youth for the conquest of space. First from her family to attend a post-secondary school.

YEVETTE KOENIG (41): Lunar Ops Manager. Her same sex spouse and their child are killed in a plane crash a few years prior. Wearing a stoic façade, she questions her life and purpose.

ETHAN PAULSON (33): John’s nephew. Part of the lunar mineral business. Resents constant comparisons of his worth to that of John’s. Displays human kindness and connection John cannot.

Season 1/Story Arcs

PILOT- John readies for CoNo’s 30th anniversary and special project his CFO prepares. Wants to remind the world what he has done. Doesn’t want to grow old believing he wasted his life. Members of CoNo aren’t convinced the project will do so. Macki begins her studies at STEEMS. Having suffered loss due to gun violence, she’s hesitant to make friends, even with over friendly roommates. Her Res Hall leader sets out a demanding schedule. Macki underestimated the rigors of the academy, but can’t let her family down. Yevette prepares Luna 1 for the Tereshkova, returning from Mars and launching a probe to Titan. Witnessing a LOX breach, she dons a suit slated for repairs and races to help. The station engineer points out her reckless acts -among others- are a death wish. Ethan’s on vacation and runs into a client. His granddaughter ignores Ethan’s advances until she learns he’s John’s nephew. He then shuns her. The CFO tells him to prepare info for a project. Ethan senses an opportunity to get out from under John’s shadow.

Season: On the 30th anniversary, John shocks the world: he will turn CoNo over to a board of directors (the project). Ostensibly to pass the torch to concentrate on the Mars colony, he’s tired, nearer the end than the beginning and to reflect on/defend his legacy. Ethan sees a chance to take over. He lines up financial backers to sell off parts into separate companies (a la Gordon Gekko). John’s wife CARMEN doesn’t like his future Mars plans: it involves working with a fellow exogeologist from her past. John misjudged the reaction to his decision: much talk about making money, little about the next steps in space, or ambivalence. Heads to the moon when he receives a cryptic text about the Titan probe.

Yevette deals with mundane lunar ops. ADELINA SANTOS, a reporter covering the return of the Tereshkova, shows interest in her. Initially, Yevette welcomes the relationship, but runs headlong into her guilt. An incident with a child stowaway shakes her as well.

Macki finds a change in a wrong answer on one of her entrance exams and suspects her mentor. On a visit back home, she confronts him. He’s willing to take the wrap, but dies of a heart attack after she returns to STEEMS. She now has no way to defend herself. Everything changes when probes on Titan find evidence of animal-like life, breeding excitement and fear. Conspiracy nuts and religious zealots mobilize. Ethan also finds opportunity. As CoNo’s value skyrockets, he becomes a popular man behind the scene. Now eyes becoming CEO, keeping CoNo together as one valuable entity. Guilt pushes Yevette to end things with Adelina, using the uncertain future as an excuse.

Season 1 Ending: Hiding her secret, Macki immerses into the rigors of study while enduring the personalities there. With CoNo going corporate, life without her dead partner and child, Yevette questions whether to keep going. An anti-science fanatic attempts to take John’s life. His last words of the season: let me not have lived in vain (ne frustra vixisse videar story arch). This also sums up Yevette and Mackie’s life.

Future Seasons

Flashbacks to each character’s past. Recovering, John learns of a genetic heart condition. Hiding this and with CoNo slipping away, he’s determined to send a manned mission to Titan, a validation of his lifelong efforts. Begins realizing past actions caused more harm than good. Seeks Ethan’s forgiveness. Feeling little left, Yevette sees an opportunity at fulfillment and volunteers to pilot the Titan lander. Adelina and the journey give a new outlook on life. She must decide if, when, and where to let go of the past. Earning an internship on the moon, Macki becomes part of the nuclear rocket team. Given the opportunity, she wrangles her way onto the mission, believing no one will question her in the future. Realizes she must shed her fear of discovery and relationships to succeed. Ethan moves from an aimless, resentful opportunist to a focused, accomplished one. The live samples from Titan display a unique defensive mechanism.

Target Audience

The binge watcher who roots for Macki, wanting her to deal with her secret, leading to her exoneration. Macki knows the real world doesn’t work that way. The person who’s loved and lost, hoping Yevette will find happiness again. She reminds them some can only give away their heart once. The space geek and Big Bang Theory fan who cheers John on, waiting to see him again reach the summit of human achievement. John shows us that all glory is fleeting.

For extended character profiles, script and plot details please visit:

https://packet.scripthop.com/d...

Sizzle Reel

Video Pitch Deck

CHASING HUMANITY