A One-Hour Drama Series. Request the script!

Logline: Set in the early 1990’s at the dawn of the BBS underground, a bullied teenager drags his friends into the new and dangerous world of computer hacking. What begins as a search for belonging spirals into a war with rival hackers and a government crackdown, forcing them to navigate first love, betrayal, and the price of freedom in the digital age’s earliest days.

Pitch: Does everyone have an Insta? Threads? TikTok? Well, in the early 1990’s we had none of that. Sure, we had computers, but the internet hadn’t really happened yet. But kids were getting online. We’d connect on bulletin boards, chat, play games together, find the community we often didn’t have. I was one of those kids. And I watched some kids open doors that shouldn’t be opened, and gained a power I wanted. I wondered what I could do with that power. And that’s why I wanted to tell this story.

The series is an Amblin-inspired mix of Freaks & Geeks and Mr. Robot set in Texas. Our hero is a bullied teen named Alan who drags his friends into the hidden world of online hackers, where he finds a world he understands and through hacking, a power he never had. Power to get revenge on his bullies, and a power that grows as he goes deeper and his ego gets away with him.

His counterpart is Stephanie, a young black teen who goes by the handle Strider. A fellow hacker, tougher and smarter than him, Strider is cool when Alan is hot. She leads him to join a legendary hacker group, and together they take their friends through adventures online and offline, and navigate a first love that’s put to the test when their hacker group splits and they join opposing, warring sides.

On the edges is Glen, a Secret Service agent who’s an older version of our heroes, just working for the man. He gets on the trail of Alan and Strider's increasingly daring hacks, building his case and waiting for his chance to swoop in and take Alan and his friends down. But, when he does, he discovers that the Law hasn't caught up to computer crime yet.

It’s a coming of age story of friendship, betrayals, and the thrill of not getting caught. When going online was new and pure, and if power can corrupt you, community can save you.