Channel 9 Victoria Internal Memo

From: Roger Woodward

To: Frank J. Harris II (Programming Department)

I’ve reviewed the material that Randy R. Georges has been sending to us, both in the form of the raw footage and the edited episodes that he’s pout together. I admit Now that I’m in two minds about it.

On one hand, he’s done a fantastic job with it. He’s put together a strong narrative about this unit and its people and the way they operate. This is done on many levels; from the in the field, moment to moment decisions to the day to day operations and all the way up to the long term strategic operational planning. By picking a command with a long history, he also gives their actions some degree of weight, especially as he’s delved into that past.

He’s also given us a good look at the people in the unit, which creates an amazingly diverse cast to showcase. There’s a lot of personality within the unit, and plenty that the audience could relate to on a number of different levels. In many ways, he’s showing that they’re real people who are just like everyone else, only with different jobs.

But I’m not user if that’s what we want. Frankly, I think that Georges picked the wrong unit. He signed on with one that’s full of tradition, standards and a history of good conduct. We wanted scrappy, dirty, living on the edge types that were going to be pulling off dubious stunts and skirting the edge of the law. Ones full of sleeze and scum. A clean, decent unit like this isn’t going to wash well with the key 24-35 male demographic.

So here are my thoughts on what we can do.

• Cut down on the operational and planning side of it. Play up the battles and the explosions.
• Definitely focus on things like Oda’s duel with that bounty hunter. Dramatic moments like that.
• Add in more footage from Galatea and the Liberty City Royals. They were full of the sort of scum that filth that the audience is going to eat right up. We can try to frame it as being this is what the mercenary life is all about.
• Be more selective with the individuals we showcase. I’ve outlined a few specific cases below
• Magyari is great. She’s attractive, has a good presence and that eye patch makes her look dashing. If anything, we should play her up
• Wolf works, but as long as we focus on his drinking and getting everyone else drunk too. Emphasize a ‘boozer culture’, especially with Stanley.
• Dae-Hoon should be used primarily for his oppositional stance
• Oda won’t test well if due to his Draconis heritage. Downplay
• Dernko and Carwright can be dropped altogether. They’re not bringing what the audience wants
• Zhen is as dodgy as all get out, plus he looks like a Cappie criminal to boot. We can really sell him as merc scum
• Perez is good if we emphasise her martial side. See if we can fake some sexual tension between her and Owens

I’m going to send this to the boys in editing and see what we come up with. I want to present two “pilots” to the network. Both Georges’ cut and a recast along these lines and see what they go with, but I suspect I know what it’ll be.