What do you think?
Rate this book
Random Takes Off
I wrote this screenplay because I believe in democracy. And I like to laugh my way through challenge and conflict.
What if we selected representatives the way the Athenians chose their office holders … or the way we choose juries -- by random selection?
Volunteer to put yourself in the lot to be chosen. And pass the Naturalization Test that immigrants must take to become citizens.
So in this screenplay … we’ve got a farm boy, coming off of a drug addiction. And a suburban middle-aged woman who’d really rather be gardening. They are the protagonists, two of the five hundred chosen for the first Citizen Legislature.
They will face bribery attempts. A smear campaign. And eventually a full blown coup by an armed militia.
How can ‘ordinary citizens’ form themselves into an effective Citizen Legislature in the face of all of that?
That’s what my screenplay is about. It’s a comedic political action drama that answers the question “How could we make democracy real?”
What if we selected representatives the way the Athenians chose their office holders … or the way we choose juries -- by random selection?
Volunteer to put yourself in the lot to be chosen. And pass the Naturalization Test that immigrants must take to become citizens.
So in this screenplay … we’ve got a farm boy, coming off of a drug addiction. And a suburban middle-aged woman who’d really rather be gardening. They are the protagonists, two of the five hundred chosen for the first Citizen Legislature.
They will face bribery attempts. A smear campaign. And eventually a full blown coup by an armed militia.
How can ‘ordinary citizens’ form themselves into an effective Citizen Legislature in the face of all of that?
That’s what my screenplay is about. It’s a comedic political action drama that answers the question “How could we make democracy real?”
121 pages, Paperback
First published December 11, 2013
1 person want to read
About the author
David Grant
9 books4 followersDavid Grant has come full circle. While obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, he took courses in film and television production. As a result he began his professional career producing and directing at a PBS affiliate. Programs included a daily hour-long magazine, a special from inside a state prison, live broadcast of a jazz concert and many more. After five years at the station he left to embark on a series of political, social and environmental endeavors. In the last few years he has returned to the creation of literary and visual media.
In those intervening years he developed a self-sufficient homestead in a land cooperative; volunteered with Peace Corps as an agro-forester among aboriginal hunter-gatherers; coordinated a soup kitchen; published articles, some anthologized as ‘best of’; and wrote unproduced scripts and unpublished novels.
For several years Grant was a community organizer with Rural Southern Voice for Peace in the American southeast. In the mid-1990’s he moved to the Netherlands to head the International Fellowship of Reconciliation’s nonviolence program, requiring frequent travel in Africa, Asia and Europe. Thereafter he became one of the charter directors of Nonviolent Peaceforce, providing unarmed protection for civilians in war zones.
He has now established Common Lot Productions where he writes, produces, directs and edits screenplays, a docudrama, promos, adaptations and essays. Not long ago he helped organize and attended the international conference "Democracy in the 21st Century" at the Library of Alexandria, Egypt, including moderation of the panel on sortition (random selection).
He is also assisting in the publication of the works of Thomas Timmins via Zoetown Media; and of Roger Thiel of Thiel Press. He produced a promotional video for Timmins’ novel, “Between the Hour of One and Two” and adapted it to screenplay as “Tofu Noir”. See https://tinyurl.com/yc6rfwrw
Continuing as a senior advisor with Nonviolent Peaceforce he has trained staff in South Sudan and represented the organization at the World (Park) Ranger Congress.
He has recently released four screenplays, a novel, a novella, a long essay and short stage play. See his Author’s Page at https://www.amazon.com/author/grantd
In those intervening years he developed a self-sufficient homestead in a land cooperative; volunteered with Peace Corps as an agro-forester among aboriginal hunter-gatherers; coordinated a soup kitchen; published articles, some anthologized as ‘best of’; and wrote unproduced scripts and unpublished novels.
For several years Grant was a community organizer with Rural Southern Voice for Peace in the American southeast. In the mid-1990’s he moved to the Netherlands to head the International Fellowship of Reconciliation’s nonviolence program, requiring frequent travel in Africa, Asia and Europe. Thereafter he became one of the charter directors of Nonviolent Peaceforce, providing unarmed protection for civilians in war zones.
He has now established Common Lot Productions where he writes, produces, directs and edits screenplays, a docudrama, promos, adaptations and essays. Not long ago he helped organize and attended the international conference "Democracy in the 21st Century" at the Library of Alexandria, Egypt, including moderation of the panel on sortition (random selection).
He is also assisting in the publication of the works of Thomas Timmins via Zoetown Media; and of Roger Thiel of Thiel Press. He produced a promotional video for Timmins’ novel, “Between the Hour of One and Two” and adapted it to screenplay as “Tofu Noir”. See https://tinyurl.com/yc6rfwrw
Continuing as a senior advisor with Nonviolent Peaceforce he has trained staff in South Sudan and represented the organization at the World (Park) Ranger Congress.
He has recently released four screenplays, a novel, a novella, a long essay and short stage play. See his Author’s Page at https://www.amazon.com/author/grantd
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.