Hello. If I may take a moment of your time to tell you about ViP. I wanted to write a show that I would watch, a show with an “anything goes” approach. Contemporary social issues. Relatable. Believable. Infinite possibilities. May I introduce ViP.
John McDermott ViP – 1 Hour TV Pilot Drama / Thriller Sci-Fi
The tone
Lois Lane and Mr. Robot have the same shape shifting ability as Mystique from X-Men.
Tagline
Change the skin you’re in.
Logline
Tess, a 22 year old African American hacker who is also a top agent in the FBI stumbles upon technology that can transform her appearance to become anybody she wants, so she takes a stand to unmask the injustices in her life.
The world
Present day Washington, DC.
The pilot
A blank mask rotates. Then an image of a man's face being projected onto it from a small box. The image goes over the mask and we see it smile, stretch and it looks like a real man's face. Then we see a full body suit. Then a whole body is projected and it looks very real. The skinny man becomes the muscley man. With a press of a button you can change your clothes and your voice to suit your new identity thanks to the Virtual Phenotype, or ViP.
TESS stumbles upon this technology while hacking into the Department of Defense servers as part of an FBI program to check the security of their sites and quickly realises the potential.
However, she is not the only one to see its potential. DIMA, a Russian terrorist decides to steal it. He reverse engineers the technology and makes more simpler masks and suits so he can take part in the best robbery ever. His plan - make the hostages look like the robbers, then casually walk out the bank looking like the hostages.
Tess hatches a plan to steal one of the masks. She goes to the bank before Dima and his gang strike and makes sure she becomes a hostage. Her plan works, she is given a mask and turns into a 6 foot Russian bank robber. She has planted a virus in the bank’s computers, the side door will open in 1 minutes time, along with the banks ALARMS being triggered. Using this as a diversion, Tess manages to sneak out the bank with her own mask and suit.
The police have surrounded the building. The robbers switch on their masks and become like the hostages. The hostages put on masks and with a flick of a button they all look like the 6 foot bank robbers. The robbers are set to walk out the bank.
From outside, Tess types code on her laptop. She can deactivate the masks. She manages to work out the frequency that will jam the signal. The police are not sure who to shoot, the robbers or the hostages. Who is who, who are the baddies? Tess manages to deactivate the masks in the nick of time. The police capture the robbers and confiscate the technology. The technology is confiscated. The Department of Defence triple their security.
She deletes the bank footage of her entering the bank and makes sure her cover is intact. Using her hacking skills, she quickly works out how to use the ViP technology and fine tune it to suit her needs. Now she can be anyone she wants. The world is her oyster, it’s time for her world to change.