The Agency

[Jamison]

SYNOPSIS

The life of a feisty computer whiz named Raven Pierce is turned upside down after she unintentionally hacks into a top secret government server; and is soon visited by an extermination squad that gives her a choice - join them, or die. After accepting their offer, she finds herself working for a very secret and questionable branch of the CIA simply known as The Agency, as their newest technical analyst; but how far down this hole can she possibly go without losing herself in the process?

CAST & CHARACTERS

RAVEN PIERCE (Nicole Beharie) was Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where she knew everyone and everyone knew her. Growing up, she was always fascinated with big cities, and the first chance she got, she packed up her bags and moved to Massachusetts to study computer technology at MIT. Bridget is very confident in her abilities as a computer whiz; some may call her arrogant, verging on "cocky," but she has the skills to back it all up in the long run. But when she unintentionally hacks into a government ghost server, she finds herself in over her head, and forced to join a very covert, very secret and questionable branch of the CIA. This is everything she has always dreamed of; putting her skills to good use, serving her country, but is this place all that it's cracked up to be? 

MALCOM SPENCER (Daniel Sunjata), a former Navy seal, was forced to retire early after a mission gone wrong cost him his legs. His disability keeps him from being out in the field, but he's still one of the best tactical minds in the business, planning most of the assignments and coming up with strategies for the Agency. He is also personally assigned as Raven's handler.

JOHANNA SHEPARD (Julia Jones) is a woman who perhaps likes her job a little too much. Arrogant, cold-hearted, and sharp-tongued, Johanna isn't the easier person to work with, but she's known to get the job done. Having a rough start in life, she was picked up by the police for countless crimes from petty theft to murder, but she was given a second chance to be a part of something larger, and she took it without hesitation.

WESLEY "WES" VEGA (Alex Meraz) has been a dedicated member of the Agency for just under two years. Being recruited straight out of university, he has had time to adjust to his new secretive lifestyle, but at often times he finds himself struggling with the fact that he cannot see his friends or family so long as he has this job. Wes is a witty, morally ambiguous hacker with boyish charms.

NORA CHEN (Ming-Na Wen) is ruthless Director of The Agency. She leads her branch of the CIA with an extremely tight leash. Underneath her duties of leader, she has a soft spot for her family, which she almost never makes visible to even them.

RECURRING CHARACTERS

  

LEE PIERCE (Trevor Jackson) is Raven's younger brother.

ANDRE ELLIOT (Jesse Williams) is Raven's fiance.

KEN LEI TSANG (Rick Yune) is the owner of Lei Tsang Industries and main protagonist of season one.

EPISODES

1x01 - Zero Day (Pilot) - After unintentionally hacking into their encrypted computer network, graduate student, Raven Pierce gets a violent visit from a team of operatives employed by an elite branch of The CIA by the name of "The Agency." Realizing that Raven may know too much about their organization, the Agency gives her a choice; join their ranks, or die. Choosing the former, Raven is brought straight into the fold when The Agency's intelligence network becomes insecure as a result of her infiltration, which convinces Director Chen that she is the only person who can rebuild it before the entire organization is compromised.

[Connor J. J]

This sounds really good, I love the concept. You solved one of the problems I have with Spy Dramas, straight away. I hate how, when they do something like Bridget has here, they join with no explanation and then regret it, but with the fact she could die if she didn't join, really fills a hole there. Plus, it could create some tension and resentment between Bridget and the Agency, which is an original idea. It reminds slightly of Covert Affairs (but that's probably just because of my limited viewing of spy dramas), a show I love.
Anyway, I can't wait to see this develop more.

[Jamison]

^ Thanks Connor! I'm glad I didn't fall prey to that problem with a lot of spy dramas. I think, with this show, I'm channeling "Chuck," and a bit of "Nikita," of course, along with my own original ideas and spin on things.

There will definitely be some tension that arises quite early on between Bridget and the Agency. Should be interesting. You should have an updated pitch in the next week or so.

[Connor J. J]

I hope I don't sound rude, but I can't wait for this to develop more. I just love this pitch and the idea really sounds like something I'd watch on TV

[Jamison]

No, you're not being rude at all! I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about the show. I'm not too clear on when I'll be able to develop this further, as I have two other projects that have to take precedence over this one, but I hope to, at least, add more depth to this pitch very soon.

[Jamison]

UPDATE: Full cast/character list, synopsis for Pilot Episode and the shows official theme song has been added to pitch!

In regards to the show, Jason and I are still in the pre-production stage. We're making lots of progress though, considering we hadn't planned on pursuing this idea until later next year. We're currently fleshing out the characters and constructing season one. The pilot is also being outlined and will be penned by both Jason and myself.

[Brady Brown]

CHRIS! Omg. I'm sorry I'm just now seeing this, but HOLY CRAP! This looks epic. It reminds me a little bit of Nikita, I don't know why, it just does. XD I guess it's cuz it just seems like they'd be going on missions and kicking some boo-tay, I JUST DON'T KNOW! Also, I love your cast, especially Rachel Taylor! Ugh, this just sounds brilliant. I wish you and Jason the best on this, and can't wait to see this develops!

[Jamison]

Thanks Brady! I'm really glad you like the pitch! Nikita was a bit of an inspiration in developing this show. That, and Alias, more so than Nikita, because I find that "Nikita" has more of a modern action-espionage style, while Alias is a lot more classic, which is what we're trying to bring back with The Agency. However, both styles will be present.

The spy action will be a big part of the show, but we really wanted to make this more original, which is why the central focus is on a technical analyst instead of a spy; an aspect that was inspired, conceptually, by the series, "Chuck," but not stylistically, as "Chuck" had as much comedy as it did action and drama.

Casting-wise, all props go to Jason. I go to him a lot when casting, because he tends to choose the perfect actors for any role. Fun fact: both Rachael Taylor and Rachel Nichols were up for the main role, but it ultimately went to Taylor, even though we eventually found a supporting role for Nichols.

Thanks again, Brady! We cannot wait to get this pilot up!

[Jamison]

Noo. Jason and I are totally not thinking about turning this show into a Cyberpunk Crime/Mystery Drama....

[Jason T. Davis]

Really shouldn't be changing stuff this late in the game, but between my playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Chris watching "House of Cards," I'm getting a little tingling sensation about what this show could potentially look like.

[Tony O'Black]

Must say guys, this is right up my alley - very much looking forward to it.

[Jamison]

Well, that's good to hear, Tony! The pilot is about 60% done. We were just thinking about making some major changes in regards to the style of the show, but it might be wise to finish this version first. Let's not make it to hard on ourselves.

[Tony O'Black]

Yeah don't run before you can walk. Maybe test the water, see how people respond to your original idea.

[roseveil]

This sounds very interesting, but I'd love to read a pilot. I hope it's out soon, but I'm also wondering why it took so long to get to this point of your pilot. I only say that because it could prove a problem if writing this takes a long time between each episode. Going by possibility, it's likely you got stuck but than re-inspired. Seems promising.

[Jamison]

Been a while since I updated this pitch. Since I've been working on a bunch of other VS projects, I've decided to shut this one down.

But while I don't see this becoming a series in the future, it just might be converted into a movie. We'd have to change up some of the plot details and put a fresher spin on it, but I think once I'm further into some of my other projects, this might start getting some attention again.

Unless someone wants to take this idea and run with it. Probably not, but it's worth a shot. haha!

[Brady Brown]

Sad to see this go, Chris. Though, hopefully a movie is in The Agency's future!

[Jamison]

Yeah. Sadly, I just don't have the time for it, at the moment - at least, in virtual series form. I really do hope VPN gets to release a few movies next year. Hopefully this'll be among them

[Jamison]

Who's been reworking this pitch??