"Like most fans of the DC Universe, I was awaiting the release of FOX’s new GOTHAM series with bated breath," explains Locke. "This is partially because of a lifelong adulation of the Batman franchise, and more specifically because I spent the majority of 2013 working exhaustively on a pitch for a series of the same name and concept. A Batman show that elected not to focus on Batman, but the world that galvanizes him to do his duty. I am humbled to have the opportunity to finally publicly share the blueprint for what was to be a very different GOTHAM series.
"On a macro-development level, the GOTHAM I envisioned, would act to serve as the first 'live-action' DC Comics/ Warner Bros. property to make an active and conscious effort to begin the unification of the companies’ massive properties into a shared universe. While Gotham is home to The Dark Knight, the show’s divergence from individualization to a focus on the expansive universe at hand allows a number of characters previously unseen in live-action adaptation form to be introduced either as cameo or regular appearances. An asset that could prove extremely beneficial for tie-ins with new comic book IPs, motion picture releases, etc, while also posing the possibility to introduce new characters that may generate enough interest to become regulars in the overall DC Comics lore and legend.
"Originally, my collaborators and I had planned to attempt self-financing production and distribute the pilot as a new fan series that would be released on Youtube. However, my producing partners, Alexander Cress and Alain Azoulay, had enough faith in the project from day one to see it as a viable venture to bring to Warner Bros.' front door in attempt to acquire the resources needed to bring the project from concept to concrete effectively. We workshopped the original treatment, and brought the polished version to a talent agency who responded very warmly to the concept.
"Soon, we found ourselves paired with an experienced showrunner who had worked on
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, with hope that his attachment would help push the pitch successfully. However, before we could lock down a firm date with Warner Bros executives, the news had already been delivered that the Bruno Heller-led project of the same title was announced with a straight-to-series order, leaving my vision effectively defunct. The lesson learned from all of this, was that good things do not always come to those who wait. The original concept for GOTHAM was an idea that myself and long time creative collaborator Walter Banasiak had tossed around for over six years before finally deciding to make a legitimate push in getting the series created. If there is any advice I can give my fellow screenwriters, filmmakers, and artists from the experience, is that if you are passionate about a project or concept, just go for it. There’s nothing worse than seeing an idea you ruminated extensively on executed by someone else, and being left asking yourself, 'what if?'"
"What follows is the production treatment for “GOTHAM,” an episodic fiction series birthed from a familiar universe, but viewed through an unfamiliar perspective. The home of The Dark Knight, viewed through the eyes of its citizen’s greatest threat, themselves. A world asphyxiating on its own blood and moral depravity, GOTHAM thrusts us into a community at its breaking point, barreling headlong into urban warfare with the greatest gallery of rogues known to man smelling blood in the water. Olivia Sage, a struggling 21-year-old physics student, reluctantly returns home to Gotham City following the grisly murder of her younger sister Amber. Amidst mourning her death and tending to a frayed relationship with her father Nicholas, a veteran Gotham City Police Officer, she finds her hometown slowly becoming engulfed by a powerful hallucinogenic called Joker’s Wild. The narcotic is spreading rapidly from the city’s underbelly into its mainstream consciousness, igniting an urban war in its wake, and exposing a corrupt political façade teetering on the edge of collapse."
G O T H A M TREATMENT PACKAGE AUTHORED BY HARRY LOCKE IV CODE 10
WE ARE EACH OUR OWN DEVIL AND WE MAKE THIS WORLD OUR HELL - OSCAR WILDE
Logline: The home of the Dark Knight viewed through the eyes of its citizen’s greatest threat…themselves.
Synopsis: A world asphyxiating on its own blood and moral depravity, GOTHAM thrusts us into a community at its breaking point, barreling headlong into urban warfare with the greatest gallery of rogues known to man smelling blood in the water. Winter is upon the dark city, and its citizens are being ushered towards an inevitable confrontation against a most vicious threat… their own sins. Olivia Sage, a struggling 21-year-old college physics student, reluctantly returns home to Gotham City following the grisly murder of her younger sister. Amidst mourning her death and tending a frayed relationship with her father, she finds the sprawling megalopolis quickly becoming engulfed by a powerful new hallucinogenic derived from Joker Venom. The drug spreads rapidly from the city’s underbelly and into its mainstream consciousness, igniting urban warfare in its wake, and exposing a corrupt political façade teetering on the edge of collapse.
GOTHAM seeks to bring forth the creation of an episodic fiction series that explores the famed city of DC Comics through an unfamiliar perspective, the lives of its very inhabitants. For over 50 years, fans around the world have made countless trips to a nightmare built from stone and metal, witnessing the world’s most revered heroes and despised villains engage in colossal warfare. However, these stories have often utilized Gotham City as a backdrop to the action, viewing the city on a macro level to the trials and tribulations survived by its patron guardian… until now. GOTHAM takes us into the city deeper than ever before, bringing specific focus to the unknown inhabitants that make the city come to life, and offering a glimpse at daily survival under the constant threat of super-villains, inexplicable supernatural occurrences, and the looming presence of an unpredictable entity known only as The Batman.
For a more detailed look at the characters and the plot summary of Harry Locke's Gotham, just click on the image below.