Unnamed Influencer Script

As a writer, I’m a big fan of darker stories and dramatic irony to prove a point. When I write, I include my characters and their internal struggles at the forefront, whether it be the fear of loss, the hunt for acceptance/purpose, or in the case of Unnamed Influencer Script, the lengths we go to for fame and success. 

Unnamed Influencer Script reflects real things I’ve observed online and in real life. Included in this collection is just a sample of the first act. The script follows Travis, fresh out of high school, and the tragic, dark, and destructive rabbit hole he falls down; which is influencer culture on social media. The film begins with Travis having almost no friends and posting and failing to blow up on social media, but that all changes when his high school bully, Leo, dies an early death and he fakes crying in front of Leo’s grave, which leads him to go viral on TikTok. From there he continues to succeed and connects with a social media manager, Mag, who swiftly whisks him out to LA where he’ll endure influencer parties, podcast interviews, and many things going wrong. 

I was hoping to portray the absurdity of influencer wanna-be culture, the damages social media can have on us, and how it can almost act as a sort of addiction, which is where the other half of this story comes into the picture after this sample, where alongside Travis’s trainwreck of a social media career we’ll see him struggle with substance abuse along the way as well. 

This script posed a unique challenge for me as in the past I’ve always written protagonists that are at least somewhat “good people.” Unnamed Influencer Script allowed me to take my protagonist far down the depths of being a bad, unlikeable person. This, in turn, brings another challenge, how to write a bad person who won’t change but still make it engaging to read and watch? What I’ve found in Unnamed Influencer Script is that situations must continue to escalate and even if it's for bad reasons, Travis must maintain a solid drive to be the driving force of the story. His arc isn’t him getting better, and we quickly realize we’re about to watch a transformation in the opposite direction. I found as long as I followed these rules, Unnamed Influencer Script would still engage the audience and tell a potent story. 

This script was something different and interesting for me to write and I think it's a unique take on classic tales about fame taking in our current modern moment and the collapse between ourselves and the things we post on social media. I hope you find it as interesting as I do.