Natural Selection, a process of weeding out the weak so that strong genes permeate the residual population thus strengthening it as a whole. It is indeed maybe too perfect of a scenario that I retain where this applies to the sanctity and future well being of our planet. As we all know our one singular and collective home is in dire straits at this time. Having had the hankering to do so I finally managed to sit down, set out and finish something that had been on the back burner for a matter of years. To write a feature length screenplay about the predicament in which we find ourselves. The predicament of the eradication of non-human species on earth, the government sanctioned destruction of natural assets, the continued plundering of fossil fuels and the destruction of wild spaces in the hunt for the same. Could Natural Selection be the solution?

The people who will suffer the most are those yet to experience life, our children. I look at my son Joshua and wonder just how he's going to manage on his journey through life. What obstacles and hardships will he face? If I could do whatever I could to change that right now, would I?

Entitled 'Natural Selection' my screenplay delves into the mind of a successful computer programmer. Our main protagonist, a military veteran, had sold his data security algorithm to a tech giant and thus he's sitting on a pile of cash that he puts to use as best he sees fit. As a budding wildlife photographer he has also witnessed first hand the destruction of nature and seen despair in the eyes of a young Orang Utan as it desperately grasped onto the body of its lifeless mother who had been shot by Palm Oil plantation workers in Indonesia. Game on, he targets those he interprets as being  instrumental in the destruction of the natural balance of things.

Firmly in the crosshairs he sets about 'neutralizing' his targets after meticulous research and surveillance as to their routines. Each entity is then despatched in a way that underlines the role in which the protagonist sees as their crime against the Planet. An Oil executive is literally filled with crude oil for example amongst others. With his 'Target List' in hand he sets out on a path of retribution, all with one main target that he plans to save for what will be his final act.

There is one thing he never accounted for though, and that is the copycats. Within a relatively short amount of time and with the aid of social media it seems like a global wave of similar crimes start to appear. Over time given that the 'targets' are those who hold positions of power in Government, Manufacturing and Industrial sectors seem to be at great personal risk the knock on effect results in a slowing down and in some instances the complete reversals of policies that would otherwise continue to place the Earth at risk. When paperwork and diplomacy is replaced with bullets and deadlines it seems that is more the language understood by the few who hold the planet to ransom, for that is the actions permeated throughout the World when it comes to activists and conservationists who are said to be 'getting in the way of development'. Dogged by a team of hardened law enforcement officers our protagonist dances to his own tune of psychopathy and reasoning. In doing so inspiring a growing trend of equally frustrated individuals willing to step across the boundary of what some people see as socially acceptable behavior.

Natural Selection is now a completed work of 113 Pages and accounts for my scarcity on the blogging side of things for a while. I have thus far entered it into a couple of screenwriting festivals both of which are still a few months away but the work itself remains in consideration for selection. I've registered it with the Writers Guild of America as well as having Copyrighted the work itself. So where do I go from here?

I guess now comes the leg work with regards to trying to find people willing to read it. To that extent I must say a massive thanks to an anonymous Hollywood producer with a serious history who did actually agree to read the project. His reaction was that the work was better than many submitted to him from first timers but that it wasn't in his genre of films to be considered. Gotta keep on trying. Given that it is now protected with WGA registration and copyright I'd welcome any serious requests from those in decision making positions within the filmmaking industry who may wish to receive a copy of the work.

As a first time screenwriter it's an enormous sensation to have finally completed something that could help, in some way, address this existential crisis we currently find ourselves in. Now while it is a fictional piece of work and I would never personally condone the violence meted out in the project by the protagonist, and violent he is is, to the extreme. It does offer a cinematic escape for those who feel totally frustrated with the administrative restraints the well intentioned amongst us experience when trying to convey our frustrations to those who decide the laws and policies of society.

So how does it all end? How does 'Natural Selection' make a difference? I guess the only way to answer that would be to say, "Let's get it made, and you'll find out, but be warned, it ain't pretty, irrespective as to which side of the fence you're standing".

"The fuel for evolution is diversity, with natural selection leading to continuous adaptations and improvements in Nature's handiwork".

Frances Arnold - Scientist