Young Screenwriter Launches Online Contest, Challenging Michael Moore

A young writer is offering 20GB iPods to anyone who can help bring his screenplay to the big screen. The premise of the script is that every story has two sides; blatant one-sided propaganda like "Fahrenheit 9/11" only serves to simplify and undermine the complex, underlying issues involved in every situation.

(PRWEB) July 28, 2004 -- Shanti Braford, 24 year-old up and coming screenwriter, has launched an online contest in an effort to bring his screenplay to the big screen. In an interview earlier today, Shanti said that he came up with the premise after seeing Michael Moore's controversial documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The premise of the screenplay, titled "Virtual Reality Caravan," is that sometime in the future, terrorism in the United States will have gotten so bad that something utterly drastic, un-American, and totalitarian will need to be done. A secret organization has instituted 'The Program,' whereby individuals are snatched in the middle of the night and are never seen or heard from again.

The idea came from the method by which Saddam Hussein would silence critics and maintain his dictatorship. The question is... What if that happened right here in the United States? Would our citizens, militias, or armed forces rise up to meet that threat with force? After watching Fahrenheit 9/11, many viewers will come away thinking (if they did not already) that the Iraq War was unjust, un-American, and that we had no business being over there.

In "Virtual Reality Caravan," the context has been switched to the United States, and the resistance to the fascist threat comes in the form of the Program Liberation Front (PLF). In the screenplay, society has labeled the PLF as terrorists for their armed and violent resistance to The Program and its agents who perpetrate the secret nighttime kidnappings. But are the PLF members really freedom fighters?

In an effort to get the controversial screenplay made, the young screenwriter is giving away two 20GB iPods (or a $299 donation to a charity of your choice) for the two visitors who provide film industry contacts (which help lead most directly to the ultimate film production of the screenplay).

"Ultimately, this script is more about the internal battle for the soul. In times of relative peace, this question goes away some. But when our government is actively involved in an armed foreign conflict, we are forced to crawl out of our pacifistic, idealistic world-view shell. The real question is... if the enemy came to your doorstep, would you talk about love and peace and forgiveness... or would you reach for your Colt 45 and blast him away?"

The online contest and more info about the screenplay can be found at:

http://virtualrealitycaravan.com/

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