'Limetown' is originally a podcast. In a group of five people, we turned Limetown into a Netflix Original mini series. This includes the show's treatment, bible, and look book.
3. PROJECT SUMMARYPROJECT SUMMARY
Limetown, based on a 6-series podcast, is an investigative story about the
town, Limetown, in which 327 men, women, and children go missing and no one
knows why. Lia Haddock is an investigative reporter for APR who begins to
investigate the mystery of Limetown ten years after the disappearance of all its
citizens. The series follows Lia Haddock as she searches for and interviews
survivors of Limetown. Haddock faces many challenges during her investigation
as she loses connections to Limetown survivors and receives threats to her own
well being. Despite these challenges, she continues her investigation and
discovers the most important and shocking connection of all.
The story is suspenseful and eerie, making the series easy to binge watch
and also a good fit for a streaming service such as Netflix. Limetown would
succeed on Netflix, based on the kinds of shows Netflix has already
produced/streamed and their similarities to Limetown. The production value of
Limetown will be similar to that of Stranger Things and the tone is similar to that
of The X-Files. Another similar show and a Netflix original like Stranger Things, is
Making a Murder. Other streaming services such as Amazon and Hulu would
also be good.
The show will capture a wide audience of both males and females, all races
and ethnicities and ages 18-49. The show will attract audiences who enjoy
mysteries and crime dramas. Even though Limetown is fictional, the story is
exciting and has realistic elements. The show treats the mystery of the
Limetown disappearances as if it actually happened in real life. Crime dramas
and mystery stories are at the height of popularity on today’s streaming
services. They are realistic enough to appeal to older generations and
suspenseful and spooky enough to appeal to younger audiences.
This show will be the next Stranger Things or Orange is the New Black. These
shows were extremely well received and became huge hits on Netflix. Limetown
is next. Limetown tells the story of a young and ambitious investigative reporter
who wants to uncover the truth behind an inexplicable mystery. It is a different
and new kind of mystery drama that will win the hearts of every Netflix
subscriber.
3
4. SHOW TREATMENTSHOW TREATMENT
The show and part one of the six part series, opens with a 911 call from a frantic woman from
inside of Limetown. Lia Haddock, the main investigative reporter for the case 10 years after
the 911 call, is the narrator. After the urgent call, responders arrive at the gate of the town.
There is a large gathering of police and firefighters but they are not allowed to enter
Limetown. The next morning there is no visible activity in the community and the only thing
visible from the helicopters is a burned out bonfire pit. Then the security at the front gate
leaves and the gate is left open. This is when they discover the disappearance of every man,
woman, and child of Limetown.
Lia Haddock becomes a Limetown news junky. She also has a personal connection to
Limetown through her Uncle Emil Haddock who is counted as one of the missing citizens. In
the ten years since the disappearance no survivors have been found. Lia meets with Terry
Hilkens, another reporter who has been covering the story of Limetown. She finds out about
the town’s lead researcher, Dr. Oscar Totem and how every brilliant researcher from all over
the world came to Limetown to live and work with Totem. Out of nowhere, soon after Lia’s visit
to the abandoned town, Terry Hilkens tells Lia Haddock a survivor of Limetown is interested
in talking to her.
Lia learns from Winona that every Limetown citizen had a role they must play within the
town. She starts her story by saying “two men in two different rooms on opposite ends of the
floor.” Winona is working a shift in the research facility when she notices the men. One man
draws something on a sheet of paper. The other man sits in a chair. She knows it’s the man
everyone is “all here for.” Things stay the same except it’s a different person drawing each
time. She comes back later to see the drawings. She notices that the drawings are identical,
including the mistakes. Then one night the man sees her watching and he begins to talk to
her without really talking to her. She does not and can not understand what she is seeing.
After her story, she tells Lia that she has everything she needs to understand.
Winona tells Lia she left the town before The Panic begun and everyone disappeared. Lia
learns that so many have died. Winona used to care for a girl, named Sylvia, and she does not
know whether she is still alive or not. Winona refuses to answer any more questions and tells
her another survivor will contact her. Part two ends with Lia making a recording in her hotel
room while a man outside slams his head on her door screaming her name. He gives her a
warning.
In between part two and part three a short update is given to the audience about what is
happening in Lia Haddock’s investigation. She announces that she was attacked in her hotel
room. She also announces she will move forward with her investigation and no one is going
to scare her away.
4
5. SHOW TREATMENTSHOW TREATMENT
Part three begins with Lia walking towards a tent from which she hears the voice of the
second surviving citizen of Limetown. Inside the tent is a religious service. The second
survivor is Reverend Warren Chambers who is on a religious revival tour across the country.
Chambers explains everyone in the town had a role, like Winona said, and the Reverend’s role
was to care for the pigs used for the researcher's experiments. They were testing the transfer
of thoughts without verbal communication through the use of an implant. This explains what
Winona saw when the man began to speak to her without actually speaking. After testing the
implant process on the pigs and perfecting it, it was time to move on to a human, specifically
the Reverend. The implant, known as The Tech, was successful and he was able to listen to
the thoughts of the pigs. He explains the science behind the process. And then tells her
about the pig, Napoleon, who the Reverend was linked to with the implant. When Napoleon
was calm the Reverend heard it and then felt calm. There was an emotional transfer between
the two of the subjects.
After a gas leak, Napoleon was never the same afterwards and this affected the Reverend due
to their shared emotions. The Reverend knew the only way to fix the situation was to kill
Napoleon, which he did. After he is done with his story, he tells her the Tech eventually
worked well and because of this, ultimately led to The Panic. He refuses to talk about the
night of The Panic and Lia does not understand why he won’t help her. She drives off and
cries with no explanation. Now she is left with no clear direction in her investigation.
Part four begins with a description of the third survivor of Limetown. She flies across the
country to meet him and makes plans to meet him on a beach. He is Max Finlayson, a lead
researcher in Limetown and someone who worked closely with Dr. Oscar Totem.
Max talks about the transfer of thoughts from one person to another and how he was
someone who received an implant. The implant was a way to share information directly from
one mind to another with no information lost. Only those with the implant can receive and
send out thoughts and there is very little control of what you put out into the world for people
to read.
Lia and Max go to his house to continue their conversation. Max mentions how someone
might come for him. Concerned, she asks him about this. He doesn’t seem to care and
exclaims how he just wants to be heard and is ready to take on anything or anyone that
comes at him. He is frustrated that he invented The Tech and no one knows it exists.
After she leaves, Max calls her. We hear Max thank her for speaking with him and tells her
that they have come for him. He says that he was wrong and tells her to not try to run. Then
the phone cuts out and she does not know what happened to him.
5
6. SHOW TREATMENTSHOW TREATMENT
A woman makes an announcement to Lia to stop talking to survivors of Limetown because of
the effect her investigation has had on the last three survivors. Then, Lia receives a call from
Max Finlayson’s ex-wife, Deirdre Wells, changing her mind about ending her investigation.
During their meeting, she tells Lia that she was responsible for The Panic. She begins her
story explaining the her relationship with Max Finlayson.
At first those who did not get the implant thought they were the special ones. As more and
more people got the implant and began to communicate non verbally, those without the
implant became the outsiders. They started to call themselves the Old School. Eventually,
Deirdre told Max she wanted The Tech and he told her no. But one night, Max frantically
comes home and tells her she is getting The Tech first thing tomorrow. After finding out about
Deirdre getting The Tech, The Old School form a mob and The Panic begins.
Someone else reaches out to Lia and sends her a recording of a woman making a 911 call
from inside of Limetown during the night of The Panic. The person reaching out requests that
she broadcast their conversation live when they meet. At the meeting spot, a woman
emerges and invites her inside a restaurant sidewalk cellar door. She introduces herself as
Lenor Doogle. She was a city manager of Limetown. Lenore tells Lia about her uncle, Emil and
how she made sure he stayed very comfortable. The ultimate purpose of Limetown was to
create a prototype that allows for direct mind to mind communication between users.
Lia becomes concerned and the woman begins to talk fast. She begins to say that she was a
citizen of Limetown but also a very bad person. She worked with an outside organization to
feed them information about what was happening in Limetown. The company she worked for
is most likely the company trying to find Lia and the survivors. According to woman, the
original plan of Limetown was to eventually kill everyone without The Tech.
The night of The Panic, the group made it through the cave systems and into the town.
Unfortunately, Oscar Totem was already dead when they arrived. Those with The Tech were
then discretely extracted through the caves and dispersed to different locations all over the
world. Those without The Tech were eliminated quickly. Only one person without The Tech,
named Sylvia, was protected. She was 7 years old at the time. After mentioning this fact,
Lenore says “Sylvia, if you are listening, they know. It’s time.” This was not directed at Lia and
Lenore does not provide an explanation.
Lia learns that her uncle spoke to Lenor Doogle recently and told her to speak this truth to
Lia. She knows now that her uncle is still alive. Then Lenore Doogle takes a pill that will kill
her in ninety seconds. She tells Lia she should take one too. In shock, Lia calls a colleague
and tells him to call the police. The door to the outside is locked. She runs back to Lenore and
people begin to knock down the door and come inside. Audio and video cuts.
6
7. CREATIVE TEAMCREATIVE TEAM
Taylor is a senior Entertainment and Media
Studies major at the University of Georgia. She
made her directorial debut in 2015 with the
student short film, Surprise! and has worked on
several other student films during her time in
college. Taylor spent the past summer at the
Cannes Film Festival networking with industry
professionals and reviewing films. After
graduation, she is moving to Memphis,
Tennessee to teach high school biology as a
corps member for Teach for America.
Rachel is a senior Entertainment and Media
Studies major at the University of Georgia.
Rachel has produced several short films
during her time as a student, and looks
forward to producing on a bigger scale once
she graduates. She spent last summer
reading scripts in Los Angeles as an intern
for Weed Road Pictures. Rachel will be
moving back to LA after graduation, where
she hopes to pursue a career in
development.
Executive Producer: Taylor Canerday Line Producer: Rachel Beavers
Supervising Producer: Mackenzie Stephenson
Mackenzie is a senior Entertainment and Media Studies
and Theater dual major at the University of Georgia. She
has directed two short films, one as a student in Grady
and one for the 100 Word Film Festival, and written two full
length screenplays she hopes to submit to film festivals
in the future. Mackenzie has worked as a reporter for
Suwanee Magazine for two years and is currently involved
in the production of a documentary in Athens. After
graduation, she is moving to Atlanta to work on a new TV
Series currently in pre-production.
Associate Producer: Christina Kohler
Christina is a senior Mass Media Arts major at the
University of Georgia. She has produced two short films as
a student in Grady and plans to eventually produce for
television after graduation. She is going out to Los Angeles
for the summer and hopes to stay out there to begin her
career in the entertainment industry. In addition to film
production, she also has experience in news production. If
she does not get into television, she plans to become a
news producer for a local news station and maybe one day
CNN.
Associate Producer: Melissa Wright
Melissa is a senior Mass Media Arts and Theatre double
major at the University of Georgia. She has worked on
numerous short films, most recently script supervising on
the 2017 project Skins. Melissa spent the last summer
reviewing films at the Cannes International Film Festival.
After graduation she plans to work in Atlanta in television
development.
7
8. CASTING SUGGESTIONSCASTING SUGGESTIONS
Ari Blinder
Dr. Oscar Totem
Brian Cohen
Terry Hilkins
Tessa Thompson
Lia Haddock
Seen on:
Selma
Westworld
Dear White People
Upcoming Projects: Thor: Ragnarok
I try to pick
interesting projects,
the kind of projects
that I would want to
watch.
8
9. BUDGET SUMMARYBUDGET SUMMARY
The proposed budget for the pilot episode of
Limetown comes to around $200,000. We plan
to use cast and crew members that are less
well-known to keep costs down. Since we will
be attracting viewers who also listened to the
podcast, we feel that we can spend less
money on big name actors. We are also hiring
a director just out of film school who we feel
will bring the talent needed without a high
cost attached. We anticipate fairly low
location costs as well, as there are few
locations that aren’t particularly extravagant.
For financial support, we plan on raising
funds through private equity.
Included on the following page, we have
provided an overview of the budget
breakdown for further information.
9
11. FINANCIAL OVERVIEWFINANCIAL OVERVIEW
The growth of US streaming services like
Netflix is outpacing traditional cable, leading
to more cord-cutters. The research done by
The Convergence Consulting Group found that
US revenue for video streaming services like
Netflix grew by 29% to $5.1 billion in 2015,
whereas the cable, satellite, and telco TV
counterparts grew by just 3%, altogether.
Streaming will only growing with Convergence
predicting the revenue to reach $6.7 billion for
2016.
11
12. MARKET RESEARCHMARKET RESEARCH
With the success of the popular shows in
the supernatural genre (Stranger Things)
and journalistic documentary (Making a
Murderer), Netflix’s demographics and
viewerships, and Netflix’s ever popular
originals, it makes sense as the preferred
platform for Limetown, a limited crime
thriller series. Netflix is also the largest
buyer of content rights when compared to
other streaming services.
Genre similarity - Netflix has found great success with this genre:
Stranger Things - The first 8 episodes of Stranger Things make up the third most
watched season of a Netflix original series to debut in the last year. Within its first
thirty days on the streaming service, the supernatural drama averaged 14.07 million
adults 18-49.
Sense8 - This Netflix original is a science fiction drama. The show is more ambitious
with its million dollar budget, but reports high ratings and high viewership.
Format - Limetown season one is told in six episodes in a limited series format,
making it ideal for the binge-watcher or the weekly viewer. The show can be watched
fairly quickly or drawn out to the schedule of the viewer. The limited series format also
allows for more freedoms with casting and furthering the series into a season two.
Target Demographics and Intended Audiences - Limetown would appeal to two of
Netflix’s major demographics. The 18-35 year old demographic, those most likely to
purchase their own subscriptions, increased 9% in the last year as 81% of this
demographic reported owning an account. These are the viewers looking for similar
content to what Netflix is offering through their originals, such as Stranger Things.
Limetown is a crime thriller that has the style of classic Hollywood detective tropes,
which would appeal to the fastest growing demographic for Netflix, 45-54 year olds.
Why Netflix?
12
13. MARKET RESEARCHMARKET RESEARCH
Similarly-Themed Shows:
Stranger Things: $220,000
Third most watched original series season on Netflix in the past year;
14.07 million views in 35 days (age 18-49); 95% rotten tomatoes
Making a Murderer:
13.35 million views on Netflix
X-Files: average of $1,944,000
Twelve million views of episode one in the 90s; one of the first instances
of sci fi on television; one of the longest running sci fi series on
television
13
14. MARKETINGMARKETING
Through primary distribution with Netflix, Limetown has the opportunity to reach
93.8 million viewers globally. Before its debut on Netflix, we would partner with the
show’s writers for the podcast and have the announcement made via their website,
as well as on social media platforms created for the show. Following the example of
Stranger Things, we believe this show would follow similar successes even with
limited marketing efforts, bypassing expensive commercials and other paid
advertising, and focusing instead on digital marketing with media where Limetown
is already recognized.
As a podcast, Limetown leaves a lot to the imagination of the listener. As we
transition the podcast into a visual media, we will release a YouTube video with 360
degree video that shows Limetown when Lia sees it for the first time. The video will
allow viewers to have a taste of the show and feel as if they are discovering the
town along with our protagonist.
The discussion website is already abuzz with discussion of the podcast and what
the creators are doing with season two. We would anonymously post to this website
as well and leak various aspects of the show to keep the fans guessing before its
release, such as cast members and shooting locations.
Even for new viewers to the show who have never heard the podcast, we believe
that the show’s slow mystery and modern noir will have mass appeal. The classic
styles paired with the science fiction genre creates a compelling story for even the
most picky viewer.
We recognize that Limetown has had great success in its original podcast format,
so much success that fans have been patiently waiting for the next season for over
a year. Once the announcement for the television series is made, these fans would
network and promote the show simply by word of mouth.
Popular Media
Reddit
Popular Style
Consumer-to-consumer
14
15. DISTRIBUTIONDISTRIBUTION
The initial plan for Limetown is to raise
$200,000 in private equity to produce the
pilot episode. Our goal is to have Netflix
produce the show as a Netflix original
series, giving Netflix exclusivity of the
content. However, should Netflix decide
against production but agree to
distribution, we would look to other
streaming services and network channels
as well, focusing on Amazon, Sundance,
Hulu, and Fox.
15
16. INCOME
PROJECTIONS
INCOME
PROJECTIONS
NETFLIX EARNED MORE THAN $2.5
BILLION IN REVENUE IN THE LAST
QUARTER AND FORECASTS TO EARN
EVEN MORE IN THE NEXT QUARTER.
ADDING LIMETOWN TO THEIR SHOW
LINEUP WOULD BE A SMALL
INVESTMENT FOR THE PROMISED
AUDIENCES.
16
17. CONTACT
INFORMATION
CONTACT
INFORMATION
Taylor Canerday 813-426-4049 taycan15@uga.edu
Rachel Beavers 404-444-0170 rbeavers@uga.edu
Christina Kohler 706-461-1585 cmk17@uga.edu
Mackenzie Stephenson 770-658-4418 stephmac@uga.edu
Melissa Wright 404-704-7369 wdright@uga.edu
17
19. 1 INT. NEWS ROOM - DAY
Two US REPORTERS sit behind a large desk. Both are dressed
nicely and have fake looks of concern on their faces.
MALE REPORTER
Reports of violence erupted today
in the research facility known as
Limetown, located in White County,
Tennessee and home to over 300
residents.
FEMALE REPORTER
Emergency services have gathered to
the isolated location as smoke
rises from somewhere on the
property.
LIA (V.O.)
The first time most people heard
about Limetown was on the night of
February 8 2004.
2 INT. 911 OPERATOR FACILITY - DAY
A young 911 OPERATOR sits behind a desk. His phone rings and
he promptly answers it.
911 OPERATOR
911 what is your emergency?
FEMALE CALLER
(Unintelligble)
??I can’t hear if anybody??
911 OPERATOR
Hello? Are you there?
FEMALE CALLER
Hello? Can you hear me?
911 OPERATOR
Yes ma’am. What is the nature of
your emergency?
FEMALE CALLER
We need emergency services in
Limetown. The ambulance as well as
the fire and police. Just send the
whole [bleeped on tape] army!
(CONTINUED)
20. CONTINUED: 2.
911 OPERATOR
Ma’am, ma’am I’m going to have to
ask you to calm down.
FC
[??male voice beside female
caller’s voice??] Turn it off! Turn
it-
911 OPERATOR
Ma’am? Are you still there?
LIA (V.O.)
Seventeen minutes later, the first
responders arrive to the outside
gate, followed shortly thereafter
by local new station WVPK where
they uncovered the troubling
reality: no-one was allowed access
into Limetown.
3 INT. NEWS ROOM - DAY
MALE REPORTER
Samantha, can you tell us what’s
going on?
4 EXT. LIMETOWN - DAY
SAMANTHA stands outside of the town gates. There are a large
amount of other people, other reporters includes as well.
The outside of the town is busy with overlapping voices
barely heard.
SAMANTHA
Thanks, Ron. We’re standing at the
outer security gates of Limetown
and, as you can see, there is a
large gathering of police officers
and firefighters here but they are
not being allowed into the
facility.
5 INT. NEWS ROOM - DAY
MALE REPORTER
Not being allowed? What do you mean
they’re not being allowed? Who’s
not allowing them, Samantha?
21. 3.
6 EXT. LIMETOWN - DAY
SAMANTHA
Well, we can’t get anyone to speak
to us right now but we can see that
there is a sizeable security
presence on the other side of the
fence and there seems to be an
ongoing conversation -
A SECURITY GUARD approaches Samantha.
GUARD
Get back into your vehicle.
SAMANTHA
Can someone tell us what’s
happening?
GUARD
Get back into your vehicle now.
SAMANTHA
Sorry, we’re being told to clear
the area now. There seems to be a
lot of confusion.
LIA (V.O.)
The reason or reasons for their
denied access remains a point of
contention. The next morning there
was no visible activity within the
community.
7 INT. NEWS HELICOPTER - DAY
A REPORTER sits inside of a helicopter and looks down at
Limetown beneath him.
REPORTER
There is no-one on the ground that
I can see but there does appear to
be a large smoldering bonfire I
would guess. There’s one large
stake in the ground. Hard to make
out from here what I’m looking at.
LIA (V.O.)
For the next two days Limetown was
dormant. All attempts at contact
failed and on the morning of
February 11th the security team
left their post. Police officers on
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
22. CONTINUED: 4.
LIA (V.O.) (cont’d)
the scene were prevented,
presumably by their superiors, from
stopping the security team for
questioning.
8 EXT. LIMETOWN - EVENING
Outside the front gates, there are significantly less
people, only security guards at this point. A CNN REPORTER
stands with her CAMERAMAN a good bit away from them.
The security personnel get into their large black vans and
drive away.
CNN REPORTER
The security at the front gate is
now driving away from the facility.
(engine noise) Sir! Can you tell me
what is happening?
LIA (V.O.)
The gate to Limetown was left open.
What the world discovered was the
complete disappearance of every
man, woman and child in Limetown.
Three hundred and twenty seven
people.
9 INT. PRESS ROOM - DAY
It is pandemonium in the press room. People are shouting and
moving around; it is nearly impossible to hear anything. a
WSB-TV REPORTER approaches and OFFICER. He is stone faced.
WSB-TV REPORTER
Officer, what can you tell us about
the investigation?
OFFICER
##unintelligible##
WSB-TV REPORTER
Where is everyone?
OFFICER
Don’t make me ask you again.
The officer walks away and a scrawny, disheveled man
approaches her.
(CONTINUED)
23. CONTINUED: 5.
MAN
Nobody’s here.
WSB-TV REPORTER
Nobody’s here? What do you mean by
that?
MAN
Everybody’s just gone.
LIA (V.O.)
The story exploded, gaining
international attention.
10 MONTAGE: NEWS REPORTS
[headlines from global news reports in several languages
02.55 - 03.15 References to prayer and alien abduction]
11 EXT. LIMETOWN - DAY
Officers and onlookers are swarmed within the town. There is
tape cording off big sections of the town, but a MAN breaks
through and shouts at an officer.
MAN
All I’m saying is they need to
check those caves.
Two POLICE OFFICERS grab him and push him back behind the
line.
POLICE OFFICER
We have checked the caves, OK?
Enough with the caves.
LIA (V.O.)
And then, just as suddenly as the
story of Limetown landed, it
evaporated back into the 24-hour
news cycle...
12 EXT. LIA’S APARTMENT - MORNING
LIA HADDOCK, wearing a nametag that has INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTER APR under her name, turns her keys in her door and
yanks the door open. It sticks a bit.
LIA (V.O.)
...swallowed by the first legal
same-sex marriage in San Francisco,
the announcement of successful
human cloning in South Korea, war
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
24. CONTINUED: 6.
LIA (V.O.) (cont’d)
in Iraq, or Afghanistan, marriages,
scandal, weather, drugs.
13 INT. LIA’S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
14 KITCHEN
Lia drops her keys on her kitchen table. The kitchen is
small but cozy; a bowl of fruit sits on the counter and she
grabs an apple before walking to her room.
LIA (V.O.)
The story of Limetown became a
tragedy among countless other
tragedies. A ghost story you can
barely remember.
15 LIA’S ROOM
Lia’s room has a twin bed in the corner and a desk opposite
the only window in the room. The wall behind the desk is
covered in Limetown information; yarn connects photos,
letters, news reports.
Her desk looks about the same.
Lia lifts a photo off of the desk. It’s a family photo. She
looks up at the wall and pins the photo along with a piece
of paper that has the name DR. EMIL HADDOCK.
In the center of the wall is a photo of the devastated
father collapsed to his knees outside the gates of Limetown,
his hands pulling his hair in outrage and confusion.
There are several question marks on her information wall.
LIA (V.O.)
What makes the Limetown tragedy
unique, what makes it worth a
continuing discussion, in spite of
the collective moving on, is the
complete lack of context. In the
ten years since, no one group or
individual has taken
responsibility. No explanations
have been uncovered or given with
any credibility and, most
tragically, no survivors have been
found.
Lia opens her planner and the name HUNTER GARRETT along with
the date and a time are listed. Lia looks at the time on her
phone; it is close to the time written on the planner.
(CONTINUED)
25. CONTINUED: 7.
Lia exits her room and grabs her keys before leaving the
house.
LIA (V.O.)
Limetown was established in 2002 in
an undeveloped region of White
County, in the middle of Tennessee.
The township was owned by Realore,
which we now know was a private
corporation owned entirely by:
16 INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY
Lia enters a coffee shop where HUNTER GARRETT is sitting in
a booth. He rises and greets her; Lia says something and he
responds, but the voice over is the only words that can be
heard until:
HUNTER
Renard Brahms or R. B. Villard, as
his father dubbed him for the sake
of efficiency.
LIA
You said you were Mr Villard’s
biographer?
HUNTER
That is correct.
LIA
Did Mr. Villard ever say why he
funded this town?
HUNTER
He privately revealed to his
friends that he felt - and this is
a quote mind you - that this could
change the destiny of the species.
Which explains the confidence he
had in his investment.
LIA
Right.
HUNTER
And the confidence he had in Oscar
Totem, all of which ultimately
makes him somewhat of a tragic
figure.
(CONTINUED)
26. CONTINUED: 8.
LIA
He’s Don Quixote.
HUNTER
Right, yes, yes! That’s quite
right.
LIA
What was Mr. Villard’s relationship
with Dr. Oscar Totem?
HUNTER
He never said.
LIA
But he did name Dr. Totem lead
researcher of the facility before
construction even began.
HUNTER
That is correct. The idea of an
actual town, that is a community
with restaurants, bars, a hardware
store, even that ridiculous movie
theatre, seems to have come from Dr
Totem, who felt it needed the
touches of home to get the
brightest minds in his field to
flock to the wilds of White County,
Tennessee, I guess.
LIA
It is rather remote.
HUNTER
It’s not exactly South Beach.
LIA
What did his press release say? You
have that, right?
HUNTER
Yeah. ’We want this town to be a
place that researchers and their
families want to live. A place
where work, family and fun come
together for the betterment of the
world.
LIA
Wow. So he made it sound like
Disneyland or something.
27. 9.
17 INT. LIA’S APARTMENT - EVENING
Lia sits at her desk with her laptop open. She searched RB
VILLARD. Articles and online news sources list him as:
FORMER TELECOMMUNICATIONS TITAN
FORBES MAGAZINE: ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST MEN ON THE PLANET
Lia pulls up a clip from the congress hearing in May 2004
with RB Villard and minority leader Pitney.
CONGRESSWOMAN PITNEY
Mr. Villard, you have yet to
provide a single piece of useful
information about the purposes of
this institution. Are you honestly
going to sit here and act like you
don’t know anything?
VILLARD
Congresswoman, I couldn’t expect
you to understand the invective and
hysteria I’ve endured over the
previous three months. I suppose
it’s not so different from the
vitriol I have endured throughout
my entire career. I still believe
that one day the work of Realore
will be assigned its rightful place
in the annals of history. And you,
congresswoman, you and the rest of
the inept 108th will go down in the
annals of nothing.
CONGRESSWOMAN
Mr. Villard, what do you mean
’still believe’?
ATTOURNEY
My client refrains from any further
testimony.
Lia closes out of the press hearing. She looks down at her
notebook; it has MR. VILLARD - NO COMMENT written on the
page. She sighs.
There’s a knock on her door. Lia opens it to reveal TERRY
HILKENS. He smiles and holds his hand out to her. She shakes
it.
(CONTINUED)
28. CONTINUED: 10.
TERRY
Terry Hilkins. I’m a reporter for
the Spartan Sentinel in Spartan
Tennessee. We spoke on the phone
yesterday?
LIA
Yes, yes of course. Please, come
in.
Lia steps aside and Terry walks in. She leads him in to the
kitchen and he waits for her to take a seat at the table
before joining her.
LIA (CON’T.)
Can I get you something to drink?
Terry shakes his head.
TERRY
No, I’m alright.
Lia stands and grabs a bottled water out of her fridge.
TERRY (CON’T.)
I’ve been loosely covering the
Limetown story on and off for the
past, well, 10 years or so. You
see, Limetown was originally built
to house up to one thousand
researchers and their families.
LIA
That would have to cost a fortune.
She returns to her seat.
TERRY
It was estimated to have cost
somewhere between 1.7 and 2 billion
dollars for the construction alone.
LIA
Whoa.
TERRY
Yeah, whoa. Like I said, nothing
about this construction was secret
or hidden. These numbers are public
record. There were the necessary
permits and forms filled out as
well as the token acknowledgements
to the public.
(CONTINUED)
29. CONTINUED: 11.
LIA
So, what was the publically stated
purpose, then?
TERRY
Well, that was always a little
vague, but I think their PR
director, if they bothered to have
one, would tell you their intent
was to gain a full understanding of
the human brain.
LIA
What? A full understanding of the -
what does that mean?
TERRY
I have no idea and none of us did.
This was, from the beginning, RB
Villard’s passion play.
LIA
So, together with Dr. Totem’s
vision and RB Villard’s investment,
it was built and researchers and
technicians at every level of the
neuroscience field, including my
uncle, came from each corner of the
globe, most leaving their current
jobs, with others even coming out
of retirement.
TERRY
Wait, did you say your uncle? He
worked at Limetown?
Lia nodded, taking a sip from her water.
LIA
Dr. Emil Haddock. He was one of the
researchers that went missing.
TERRY
I’m sorry.
LIA
Oh, it’s okay. We weren’t exactly
close. I think I really only met
him like three times.
There is an awkward silence.
(CONTINUED)
30. CONTINUED: 12.
LIA
Um, do you know why it required
such a massive undertaking?
Terry shakes his head.
TERRY
I’m sorry, I don’t. Everything I’ve
heard has been speculations that
range from basic curing of disease
to the almost impossible task of
brain mapping. No one really knows
otherwise.
LIA
What can you tell me about the town
itself?
TERRY
Well, the facility was opened on
June 3rd, 2003. Three hundred and
twenty seven people were housed
there. Not only those in the
neuroscience field and their
families, but other personnel to
actually run the town. Cooks,
janitors, landscapers, plumbers,
electricians. A lot of people
pulled double duty.
LIA
So, brain researcher by day, barber
or janitor by night?
TERRY
Well, they’d alternate days, but
yeah, basically. It was Mayberry,
only it was run by some of the
smartest people on the planet. For
a little over eight months things,
as undefined as those things are
for our purposes, appeared to have
run smoothly. Initially there was
some mild regional interest in
Limetown but, outisde of some
anonymous chatter in the smaller
corners of the internet, things
proceeded without any substantial
public scrutiny. And then very
suddenly:
Terry pulls out his phone and presses play. The audio from
the previous 911 call is heard:
(CONTINUED)
31. CONTINUED: 13.
911 OPERATOR
911 what is your emergency?
FEMALE CALLER
(Unintelligble)
??I can’t hear if anybody??
911 OPERATOR
Hello? Are you there?
FEMALE CALLER
Hello? Can you hear me?
911 OPERATOR
Yes ma’am. What is the nature of
your emergency?
FEMALE CALLER
We need emergency services in
Limetown. The ambulance as well as
the fire and police. Just send the
whole [bleeped on tape] army!
911 OPERATOR
Ma’am, ma’am I’m going to have to
ask you to calm down.
FC
[??male voice beside female
caller’s voice??] Turn it off! Turn
it-
911 OPERATOR
Ma’am? Are you still there?
LIA
Wow. Three hundred and twenty seven
men, women and children just
vanished?
Terry nods and puts his phone away.
LIA
It’s been ten years; not one
survivor was found?
TERRY
Not one.
32. 14.
18 INT. LIA’S APARTMENT - EVENING
Lia is looking up Limetown on her laptop. Her laptop chimes
and she sees that Terry has sent her an email.
The contents read: "2007 Nighttime Primetime interview with
Kyle Wolinski, a contractor who stated he worked on security
detail at Limetown." A link is after that. Lia clicks it and
a small room with a FEMALE INTERVIEWER and KYLE WOLINSKI is
seen.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER
So you’re saying you have no idea
what happened in those three days?
KYLE
We were just told to keep everyone
out and shoot anyone who didn’t
listen. We rotated shifts at the
perimeter, day shift, night shift,
day shift, night shift, that
morning we were just told to leave
the gates.
INTERVIEWER
Was there no security detail in the
town itself?
KYLE
No. Not from our group.
INTERVIEWER
Who told you to leave, then?
KYLE
I don’t know.
INTERVIEWER
You don’t know.
KYLE
We never knew. A voice on a phone.
INTERVIEWER
Then how were you paid?
KYLE
In cash.
INTERVIEWER
What else can you tell us tonight?
(CONTINUED)
33. CONTINUED: 15.
KYLE
Me and the other contractors were
also detained for 18 months at
Guantanamo Bay. We don’t know
anything.
Lia dials Terry’s number.
TERRY
(on the phone)
Hello?
LIA
Were they actually detained by the
government?
TERRY
They were. I have a release
statement from the State Department
confirming it.
LIA
Do you think he’d be willing to
speak with me?
TERRY
You’re welcome to try, but he’s
actually currently missing. Well,
more so no one knows where he is.
He isn’t "confirmed" missing, he’s
just... gone.
Lia is silent for a moment.
LIA
None of this makes any sense. How
does Dr. Totem fit in?
TERRY
Other than him being a researcher,
no one really knows. You should
look him up. There’s a lot there
you should probably see.
LIA
Thank you, Terry.
TERRY
Of course.
LIA
Hey, wait a moment. Are you free
later this week?
(CONTINUED)
34. CONTINUED: 16.
TERRY
I mean, I can be. What’s up?
LIA
You’ve been to Limetown, right?
TERRY
I have.
LIA
Will you show me around? I think I
need to see it for myself.
TERRY
Yeah, I can do that.
Lia hangs the phone up. She returns to her laptop.
She scrolls through newspapers and looks online. She
searches for information about Dr. Oscar Totem. Flashes of
her findings:
YOUNG NEUROSCIENTIST INVESTED IN BY RB VILLARD
WORKED IN PRIVATE LAB IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NAMED HEAD
RESEARCHER AT LIMETOWN
BRILLIANT (show several times)
VOLATILE
DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH
CHILD-LIKE OPTIMISM
Lia finds a clip from a speech he gave in 2002, at the
International Neuroscience Conference in Sölden, Austria.
OSCAR
Because I am an optimist when it
comes to my fellow man, I do not
think we are as limited or as
powerless as we sometimes feel. We
shouldn’t look to the stars and
feel small. We should look to the
stars in defiance and be able to
reveal the power, the magnitude, of
the uniquely gifted human mind. The
human mind. There is a mystery
there we must live in, must thrive
in. It is there, in the darkness,
where we will find the light that
unites us all. Thank you.
[applause]
(CONTINUED)
35. CONTINUED: 17.
More findings about Dr. Totem:
REMARKABLE MAN
RESPECTED
FEARED
REVERED
Lia can find no one officially going on record about him.
She continues looking, searching his name and LIMETOWN. She
stops at an online newspaper.
HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN LIMETOWN: TEETH RECOVERED FROM BASE
OF AN EXECUTION SITE. THEY BELONG TO DR. OSCAR TOTEM. IT IS
PRESUMED HE WAS BURNED ALIVE.
Lia sits back in her chair and sighs.
LIA
But, why...?
She looks over at the family photo on her investigation
wall. Her uncle is now circled. Hit with inspiration, Lia
pulls out the list of missing people file she has stored in
her desk. She runs down the list of family members and dials
a number listed.
LIA
Hello? Hi, my name is Lia Haddock
and I’m currently looking into the
disappearances at Limetown. Would
you be willing to speak with me
briefly about the day you found out
they were missing?
19 MONTAGE: LIMETOWN FAMILY MEMBERS
This montage will cycle quickly through different people and
settings, all either in homes or on the street.
FEMALE
I was standing in my kitchen.
MALE
I was in my office, just sitting
down with my coffee.
FEMALE
My sister called me in my car.
(CONTINUED)
36. CONTINUED: 18.
MALE
I was sitting right here where I’m
talking to you.
MALE
I was at the grocery store.
FEMALE
I still see her face everywhere. I
don’t want to, and then I worry if
I don’t.
MALE
It’s like someone just, I don’t
know. Took my arm from me. How do
you live without an arm? You keep
living but everything else is just
that much worse.
FEMALE
I have had issues since his
disappearance. I can’t feel.
[crying] I’m sorry.
FEMALE
The car was hers. It’s sitting out
in the backyard. We covered it with
a tarp about a year after she was
gone. I like to go inside and just
sit.
MALE
He said dad, I’m scared. That’s
all. That’s the last thing she ever
said to me. I’m haunted by the
ghost of ####.
FEMALE
He told me he was sorry. He didn’t
say why. I think they knew
something. No-one can convince me
different.
FEMALE
I couldn’t understand her. Bad
reception. My last conversation
with my daughter had bad cell
reception.
MALE
I dream about him. He talks to me.
We talk about everything and
nothing. He says he’s doing well.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
37. CONTINUED: 19.
MALE (cont’d)
Then I wake up. That’s the reason
I’ll fight to do it all over again.
I know one day I’ll see him.
LIA (V.O.)
When each family member was asked:
Do you think your loved one is
still alive? There was a
surprisingly unanimous response
MALE
Yes, absolutely.
FEMALE
Yes, she is.
FEMALE
I know she’s alive still. I can
feel her.
MALE
It’s the only thing that keeps me
going.
FEMALE
He’s not gone. I know they’re
coming back.
20 INT.RON’S OFFICE - DAY
Lia and RON CALHOUN sit in an office. It is clean and
professional.
RON
Ron Calhoun, and I worked with the
federal bureau of investigation
during the Limetown incident.
LIA
Lia Haddock. What can you tell me
about the incident? Nearly everyone
I spoke with has responding with
overwhelming optimism their loved
ones are still alive.
RON
Yes, well that tends to be pretty
standard in an unresolved case like
this.
(CONTINUED)
38. CONTINUED: 20.
LIA
Wait, really?
RON
Yes ma’am. When people don’t see a
body and have no reason to think
their loved one has been harmed, it
is pretty standard for the grieving
party to hold out hope. At least in
my experience. As they should,
specific to this case.
LIA
As they should? You personally
believe that they are still alive?
RON
Yes ma’am.
LIA
Why do you believe that?
RON
Well, I worked for the FBI for
nearly 32 years and in 32 years
time you can see some pretty
troubling things to put it
delicately. You grow a pretty thick
skin to most stuff. And I have
worked many crime scenes involving
disappearances or kidnappings or
other events of that nature but
nothing, nothing sticks with me
like Limetown. There was nothing
left behind. We dusted for prints,
combed every surface for hairs,
fingernails, hell even some spit
somewhere on a toothbrush. And
look, look we have visual proof
there was a large population on
February 8th and on February 11th
it was like no-one ever was.
LIA
What do you make of that?
RON
That this was purposeful. It was
following a plan. And it was done
masterfully. I have never seen
anything like it.
(CONTINUED)
39. CONTINUED: 21.
LIA
I’m sorry, I don’t understand how
327 people could be moved under
complete surveillance without
anyone noticing.
RON
Well, now you’ve hit my cut off of
understanding.
LIA
No ideas, no theories?
RON
As far as I’m concerned those
yahoos selling plastic alien ships
and Rapture trinkets out next to
Limetown have as good an idea as
any. Not a day goes by I don’t
think of it. Did we miss something?
Did we all miss something? I don’t
know. I don’t know.
21 EXT. LIMETOWN - DAY
Lia and Terry hike up a grassy hill. It seems very
unassuming.
TERRY
Well, it’s just over the ridge
here. You can see the top of the
central research facility.
They reach the top and look down at the town. It’s puny and
looks very normal.
LIA
Wow, yeah, I see it. It’s a lot
smaller than I imagined it would
be.
TERRY
Yeah, that’s pretty common for
people. Camera adds 10 pounds I
think. This electrified barbed wire
fence is new. The original
perimeter was about a mile back but
otherwise take away a decade of
unchecked wildlife and youthful
vandalism and you’re seeing it.
That is Limetown.
(CONTINUED)
40. CONTINUED: 22.
LIA
The houses literally all have white
picket fences.
TERRY
Yeah, the dream within the dream.
LIA
Can we get closer?
TERRY
Oh, absolutely.
They walk through the abandoned streets towards the central
research facility, past the beautiful homes with their
fenced-in yards now turned against them, past the shops, the
restaurants. Everything is empty.
LIA
So where did the name Limetown
actually come from?
TERRY
Uh, from the caves. All these
houses are connected to caves they
are built over for temperature
control. The facility itself was
built deep into the earth,
presumably using the caves as a way
to cheaply keep their mass of
electronic construct things from
overheating. So limestone caves,
town built sort of into the caves.
’Course the rumors go that the
caves might have been used for
other reasons but...
LIA
What other reasons?
TERRY
Any you can think of. There’s an
entire conspiracy industry built on
the main road a ways back here,
looking for campfire spook stories.
They have shirts, tree ornaments,
all kinds of stuff. There was
actually a problem with people
getting lost in the surrounding
cave systems because they fancied
themselves spelunkers I guess.
Actually had to seal several cave
entrances to keep people out.
(CONTINUED)
41. CONTINUED: 23.
The domed research facility is at the far end of town, built
directly into the hill with only its front end visible. It
almost feels dynamic, as if the structure is actively
crawling from the earth, or being dragged back down into it
again. Everything about it says: keep out.
TERRY
Anyways, you can see this has been
closed down to the public. Well,
never really open to the public,
but now...
LIA
I have to say this is a pretty
eerie place.
TERRY
Well, as soon as this facility
could have been boarded up and
locked away it was. The only reason
it hadn’t been destroyed outright
is to give the illusion of hope,
which is to say you are not alone
in feeling spooked.
LIA
Hope is the last thing I feel
standing here.
TERRY
It’s not much to look at, that’s
for sure.
He looks over at Lia and then grins suddenly.
TERRY (CON’T.)
You wanna check out one of the
houses?
22 LIMETOWN - INT. HOME
The inside of the house is very normal. There are photos on
the walls, clothes in the closet, and even junk mail sitting
on the kitchen table.
Lia approaches the table and lifts some of the mail. Terry
stands in the doorway of the kitchen.
LIA
They got mail?
(CONTINUED)
42. CONTINUED: 24.
TERRY
Sure, yeah.
LIA
I guess I just assumed they didn’t
get mail.
He crosses his arms over his chest, looking bemused.
TERRY
Why do you say that?
LIA
I don’t know, it just seems very-
TERRY
(finishing her sentence)
Against the idea of the entire
venture as you know it?
LIA
Yes. Like, these people were
supposed to be off the grid.
TERRY
Right. And nothing says ’grid’
quite like a Sears catalogue. The
mail would come in one very large
delivery to the guard shack we
walked past by the fence and then
they would distribute it within the
town themselves. No-one was hiding.
That gets lost in time a bit. This
town was not hidden from the world.
It was built in plain sight. It
operated in plain sight. We knew
something unique was happening but
no-one really cared, not until
after of course. Why would they?
It’s hard to think about now but
these were real people. Are real
people. Sorry, I’m an optimist
Lia walks around the house, admiring everything. However,
she soon notices an awful stench and crinkles her nose up in
disgust.
Terry laughs.
TERRY (CON’T.)
The smell, right?
(CONTINUED)
43. CONTINUED: 25.
LIA
What is that?
TERRY
It’s dry rot. All the living
quarter houses have them.
LIA
Is that due to the abandonment
or...?
TERRY
That’s part of it, yeah. But the
full answer is actually pretty
silly. The designer of this city
was given a pretty healthy budget
to work with. That mean
constructing this town of beautiful
well-built homes made of the best
materials. However, in doing all
this, for whatever reason, they
forgot to put kick-out flashing on
the gutters. It was a simple
oversight but every time it rained,
water would feed right into the
walls. Dry rot is a misnomer, it
comes from wet conditions and then
if left untreated it spreads like
cancer. While the people lived here
I’m not sure any of them even
noticed - not enough time to. But
over the years since, all these
houses have become just riddled
with it. These beautiful shrines to
the American Dream just rotting
from the inside out. All these
brilliant minds, all these geniuses
of industry, the future this, the
future that. And they didn’t plan
for the rain.
He presses his hand against the wall, staring at it sadly.
23 LIMETOWN - EXECUTION SITE
Lia and Terry reach the site of the execution. The only
thing there is the stake buried in the ground; not even
plants surround the base. The stake is burned black.
Terry is silent, almost reverent. They both stand there for
a moment before Lia breaks the silence.
(CONTINUED)
44. CONTINUED: 26.
LIA
What do you feel, standing here?
TERRY
I feel exactly how I feel about all
of this.
Lia looks over at him. His face is downcast.
LIA
Which is how?
Terry crouches down to get a better view of the stake. He
remains a good distance away however.
TERRY
Like I’ve stared at something too
long and I don’t know a damn thing.
24 INT. LIA’S APARTMENT - EVENING
Lia sits at her desk. She looks at the board covering the
wall and pins up the photos she took that day. Before she’s
finished, the phone rings.
It’s Terry.
Lia accepts the call and takes a seat at her desk.
LIA
Hello?
TERRY
(over the phone)
God. Sorry, my heart’s pounding.
LIA
It’s OK, take your time.
TERRY
How do I start? OK. I have someone
you need to talk to.
Lia pressed record on her tape recorder.
LIA
What do you mean?
TERRY
She’s on the other line.
(CONTINUED)
45. CONTINUED: 27.
LIA
Who?
TERRY
Lia, it’s a survivor. She wants to
speak to you and only you. I’m
going to put her on now.
Lia stands up, her eyes wide with shock. She slowly paces
her room.
LIA
Look, Terry, I don’t understand.
Why does she want to talk to me? I
feel we should tell someone.
MYSTERIOUS VOICE
[moans] No!
Lia freezes.
LIA
Excuse me?
MYSTERIOUS VOICE
Ms. Haddock, you and I, we are the
only ones to speak. No-one else.
I’m sorry it has to be this way.
LIA
How could I believe you?
MYSTERIOUS VOICE
I’ll leave the details with Mr.
Hilkins.
LIA
Terry? Is this real?
TERRY
Are you still recording?
Lia glances at her desk.
LIA
OK.
She presses stop.
LIA (CON’T.)
Stop recording.
CUT TO: BLACK
47. LIMETOWN
LOG LINE
HALF HOUR DRAMA
TEN YEARS AGO, OVER THREE HUNDRED
MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN DISAPPEARED
FROM A SMALL TOWN IN TENNESSEE, NEVER
TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN. IN THIS SIX-
PART TELEVISION SHOW, AMERICAN PUBLIC
RADIO HOST LIA HADDOCK ASKS THE
QUESTION ONCE MORE, "WHAT HAPPENED
TO THE PEOPLE OF LIMETOWN?"
48. TONETONE
LIMETOWNLIMETOWN
Limetown is a dramatic mystery that pulls from some of
the nostalgic tropes of detective films. It is dark and gritty,
leading the audience on a chase to discover why a small
town vanished off the face of the earth and what they were
doing there that caused it in the first place. Limetown
incorporates a level of fear within the story, bringing in
creepy telephone calls and killing off several supporting
characters. This adds to the element of mystery that
surrounds the series; what was so important it requires
silencing the ones willing to speak up about what
occurred?
is a half-hour 6 part mini series crime drama about a
young investigative reporter who reopens the case of the
Limetown disappearance after ten years. The show is
similar in production value and tone to Stranger Things,
Making a Murderer, and X-Files. The series follows Lia
Haddock, an investigative reporter, as she gets closer
discovering the truth behind the disappearance of every
Limetown citizen. She faces challenges during her
investigation as she tries to find and interview survivors
of the town while also receiving threats people connected
to the Limetown mystery.
49. THE SHOWTHE SHOW
The show opens with a recording of a 911 call from a frantic woman
from inside Limetown. Lia Haddock, an investigative reporter for APR for
the Limetown case, is the narrator. Responders arrive at the gate of the
town after the call. No one knows what is happening. The next morning
there is no visible activity in the community. This is when they discover
the disappearance of every man, woman, and child of Limetown.
Lia Haddock becomes a Limetown news junky mainly because she has
a personal connection to Limetown through her uncle, Emil Haddock,
who was a citizen of Limetown. Lia becomes an investigative reporter for
APR and is determined to tell the tragic story of Limetown. She is patient,
friendly, and smart. Even though she faces many difficulties in her
investigation, she does not give up and continues to discover shocking
facts about the Limetown mystery. She uncovers the town’s purpose,
which was to gain a full understanding of the human mind. She also
discovers that Dr. Oscar Totem was the lead researcher of the facility,
while other brilliant researchers from all over the world came to
Limetown to live and work for Totem. At the beginning of the show, the
town’s real purpose is still uncertain and the disappearance is still a
huge mystery.
As Lia interviews with citizens, she starts to understand the secret
purpose of Limetown. The town was discovering a way for humans to
communicate directly from one mind to another without actually using
speech. They did this with an implant, known as The Tech.
Lia is able to meet five citizens of Limetown, all with different stories
about their experience while living in the town. The first citizen she
meets calls herself Winona. She tells Lia that something strange was
happening in the town, something she did not understand. Winona is a
bit strange, forgetful, a negative side effect from a Limetown experiment,
and easily agitated. Lia also interviews Reverend Warren Chambers. He
was the first human to be experimented on after they were done testing
their product on pigs. He received an implant and was connected to a
pig who also had an implant.
50. THE SHOW
Lia also interviews Max Finlayson, a researcher who worked closely with
Dr. Oscar Totem and helped invent the implant. He is a positive and
upbeat character who is passionate about the implant and his
discovery of the human mind. After interviewing him, she leaves and
receives a call from him telling her that they have come for him and she
should not try to run. She does not know what happened to him. After
this, Max’s ex-wife, Dierdra Wells, contacts Lia and talks to her about her
time in Limetown. She was the cause of The Panic that happened right
before everyone disappeared. The Panic was a reaction from those who
did not have the implant against those who did.
Her final interview, with the fifth surviving citizen of Limetown, goes
horribly wrong. She meets a city manager of Limetown, Lenore Doogle.
She finds out that Lenor knew Lia’s uncle, Emil Haddock, well and took
care of him. Emil was the one they were all there for, the one they
experimented on during their breakthrough discovery of the human
mind. Lia also finds out that Lenore was not a good person and was
working for an outsider company. She told this company all the secrets
of Limetown and about The Tech product. Lenore was also the reason for
the disappearance of every man, woman, and child in the town. The
night of The Panic, she organized a group to come into the town and
divide those with the implant and those without it. Those with The Tech
were then discretely extracted through the caves and dispersed to
different locations all over the world. Those without The Tech were
eliminated quickly. Things don’t end as planned with Lenore and Lia
must try to find a way to get out of the situation she is in.
Lia faces many challenges in her investigation. Three of the five citizens
either go missing or die, which causes Lia to rethink her investigation.
Her life is also threatened and she announces to the public that she will
not be scared away from continuing her investigation of Limetown’s
tragic ending. Even though she sometimes has to break the rules, Lia
makes sure to get the facts about Limetown and uncovers them to the
public. Winona at one point in the story tells Lia her role is to tell the
story of Limetown and Lia does not want to give that up.
THE SHOW
51. EPISODESEPISODES
Pilot: "What We Know"
The show opens with a frantic 911 call from a woman pleading for help. That call is all
that remains of Limetown. Three hundred people disappeared that day and no one
knows why. Ten years later, news-junkie and reporter Lia Haddock revisits the case. She
talks to old reporters about the billionaire RB Villard who financially backed
controversial doctor Oscar Totum in the creation of Limetown. Lia interviews a man who
previously worked as security for Limetown and he reveals he did not even know what
was going on in the town, only that he could not let anyone in. Lia visits the remains of
Limetown to find abandoned houses in what looks like an eerie suburbia. After her visit,
she receives word that a Limetown survivor has reached out and wants to speak to Lia.
Off the record.
Episode 2: "Winona"
Lia meets a survivor of Limetown who instructs Lia to call her Winona even though that's
not her real name. Before beginning the interview she explains she can only tell Lia
information in certain parameters. Winona cryptically explains that everyone in
Limetown had a role. She cleaned the buildings where she watched two men in different
rooms drawing the exact same picture. She also tells Lea she left Limetown before The
Panic In this moment Lia realizes so many of the residents of Limetown have died.
Winona left behind a daughter. Winona closes and says that Lia has everything she
needs to know now. Later that evening a man comes to Lia's hotel banged his head
against the door with the warning to stop investigating Limetown.
Episode 3: "Napoleon"
Lia meets the next survivor of Limetown, Reverend Warren Chambers who is leading a
religious revival across the country. Chambers confirms everyone in Limetown had a
role and his role was to take care of the pigs used in the research of Limetown. They
were testing the transfer of thoughts without verbal communication using a brain
implant. Chambers received the implant, known as The Tech and could successfully
communicate with a pig named Napoleon. Chambers and the pigs begin to feel the
same emotions so strongly it was completely overwhelming. The Tech led to the night of
The Panic but Chambers will not speak of it. He sends Lia away, only to be killed by a
drunk driver soon after the interview.
52. EPISODESEPISODES
Episode 4: "DDos"
Lia flies across the country to meet with Max Finlayson, a lead researcher from
Limetown. He explains that The Tech allowed for total transfer of thought with little
filter and only those with The Tech could communicate nonverbally. he explains the
extreme way the residents of Limetown were divided. Max is frustrated he invented
this technology and no one knows it exists. He tells Lia he knows one day people will
come for him and when he does he will be prepared. At the end of the episode Lia
receives a call from Max in which he tells her the people he has been waiting for have
come for him.
Episode 5: "Scarecrow"
Lia receives a call from Max's ex-wife Deirdre Wells who changes her mind about
ending the investigation. During their meeting. Deirdre tells Lia that everyone in
Limetown was a part of the experiment whether they were a part of the control group
or the group with The Tech. She asked Max several times for the implant until one day
Max come home and says she will receive the implant first thing in the morning. The
Old School rising up against The Tech is what caused the night of The Panic. Deirdre
also tells Lia the man they were all there for was her uncle, Emil Haddock.
Episode 6: "Cost-Benefit Analysis" (Season Finale)
A woman reaches out to Lia and tells her she has physical evidence of The Panic. They
meet and the woman introduces herself as Leonor Doogle, the town manager. She
served as the town manager of Limetown and ensured Lia her uncle stayed very
comfortable and protected in the community. She explains she is a bad person who
was talking to a tech company outside of RB Villard who wanted The Tech. She says on
the night of The Panic those without The Tech were killed and those with it were
extracted and placed across the world. Leonor takes a pill that will kill her in ninety
seconds and she recommends Lia take one too. Lia runs to the door, they're locked.
People begin to break down the wall and the recording cuts off.
53. Dr. Oscar Totem - a young
neuroscientist brought into
Limetown by RB Villard as their
head researcher. He was the head
researcher and in charge of the
experiments in Limetown up until
his untimely murder by some of
the residents. His remains are the
only ones found in the town after
the disappearance. He was known
for being very optimistic and hard
to work with and extremely
passionate about his research of
the human mind.
Terry Hilkens - a
reporter for the
Spartan Sentinel in
Spartan, Tennessee.
He has been
following the
Limetown case for
the past ten years
and meets with Lia
to discuss what he
knows and show
her around
Limetown itself.
Lia Haddock - an investigative reporter for APR who begins to
investigate the mystery of Limetown ten years after the
disappearance of all its citizens. She is kind, patient, and
determined to unlock the mystery. Even though she receives
threats to her well-being, she continues her apparently
dangerous investigation. Lia does not get mad easily, but rather
patiently interviews the survivors of Limetown despite how
difficult it is. She is soft spoken, but firm and willing to go to
whatever lengths necessary to discover what happened at
Limetown.
MAIN CHARACTERSMAIN CHARACTERS
54. SUPPORTING
CHARACTERS
SUPPORTING
CHARACTERS
RB Villard - an extremely wealthy
businessman who privately
funded the creation of Limetown.
Emil Haddock - Lia’s
estranged uncle who
worked as a researcher
at Limetown. He is
ultimately what sparks
Lia’s interest in the
story and ends up
playing a bigger part in
the events than she
had initially expected.
Winona - the first
survivor of Limetown Lia
Haddock interviews.
Winona has a bad
memory and acts
strange towards Lia. She
is hesitant to answer
questions but still
provides Lia with
important information
about the experiments in
Limetown. She is not very
friendly and gets mad
easily with Lia when she
asks the “wrong
questions.”
55. Warren Chambers - another
survivor of Limetown who meets
with Lia. He was the first human to
receive the technology developed in
Limetown and used it to feel the
emotions of pigs. A reverend of
“death”, Warren still managed to
keep his optimism and upbeat
personality. He is killed by a car
crossing the road in an event Lia
believes was completely
accidental.
CONT.CONT.
Max Finlayson - a researcher
at Limetown who worked with
Oscar to discover how to
create a piece of tech that
would allow people to be
connected with each other
through their minds. He
meets with Lia to further
explain what this tech was
and how it functioned in
town.
56. Deirdra Wells - estranged
wife of Max Finlayson. She
meets with Lia in person to
explain the events
surrounding the Panic,
taking responsibility for it.
Deirdra initially did not
receive the technology that
Oscar and Max had
developed, but once the
“Old School”, the ones
without the tech,
discovered that she had it,
it caused rioting and
eventually the public
execution of Oscar.
CONT.
Lenor Doogle - a survivor
from Limetown and the
last person Lia meets
with during the course
of Season 1. Lenor was a
double agent for a
second company who
tried to convince Oscar
to sell his tech to them.
She was also
responsible for the
cleanup at Limetown
after the Panic. She is
blunt and direct, not
looking for forgiveness
for the crimes she
committed to keep
Limetown under wraps.
CONT.
59. “THE FIRST TIME MOST
PEOPLE HEARD ABOUT
LIMETOWN WAS ON
THE NIGHT OF
FEBRUARY 8, 2004.”
- LIA HADDOCK
60. SYNOPSIS
Limetown, based on a 6-series podcast, is an investigative story about the
town, Limetown, in which 327 men, women, and children go missing and no
one knows why. Lia Haddock is an investigative reporter for APR who begins
to investigate the mystery of Limetown ten years after the disappearance of
all its citizens. The series follows Lia Haddock as she searches for and
interviews survivors of Limetown. Haddock faces many challenges during
her investigation as she loses connections to Limetown survivors and
receives threats to her own well being. Despite these challenges, she
continues her investigation and discovers the most important and shocking
connection of all.
The story is suspenseful and eerie, making the series easy to binge watch
and also a good fit for a streaming service such as Netflix. Limetown would
succeed on Netflix, based on the kinds of shows Netflix has already
produced/streamed and their similarities to Limetown like Black Mirror. The
production value of Limetown will be similar to that of Stranger Things and
the tone is similar to that of The X-Files. Another similar show and a Netflix
original like Stranger Things, is Making a Murder. Other streaming services
such as Amazon and Hulu would also be good.
The show will capture a wide audience of both males and females, all races
and ethnicities and ages 18-49. The show will attract audiences who enjoy
mysteries and crime dramas. Even though Limetown is fictional, the story is
exciting and has realistic elements. The show treats the mystery of the
Limetown disappearances as if it actually happened in real life. Crime
dramas and mystery stories are at the height of popularity on today’s
streaming services. They are realistic enough to appeal to older generations
and suspenseful and spooky enough to appeal to younger audiences.
This show will be the next Stranger Things or Orange is the New Black. These
shows were extremely well received and became huge hits on Netflix.
Limetown is next. Limetown tells the story of a young and ambitious
investigative reporter who wants to uncover the truth behind an inexplicable
mystery. It is a different and new kind of mystery drama that will win the
hearts of every Netflix subscriber.
61.
62. ‘COURSE, THE
RUMORS GO THAT
THE CAVES MIGHT
HAVE BEEN USED FOR
OTHER REASONS,
BUT…
-TERRY WILKENS
"
"
63. “I think we just need to
have a demand for fresh
and nuanced movies.”
- Tessa Thompson
64.
65. “HUMAN REMAINS
FOUND IN LIMETOWN:
TEETH RECOVERED FROM
BASE OF AN EXECUTION
SITE. THEY BELONG TO
DR. OSCAR TOTEM. IT IS
PRESUMED HE WAS
BURNED ALIVE.”
