Script Files
The Mercenary
Timo Zaime-Emery is a cunning, ambitious tech prodigy determined to usher in the age of artificial superintelligence, revolutionizing civilization through a new technocratic order. After creating AI assistant ELM in secret with funding from enigmatic billionaires, Timo prepares to unveil Mahogany, the first AGI, to corporate partners. However, public outcry over Mahogany’s implications spurs the formation of the Department of Technology to regulate AGI development. Refusing oversight or accountability, Timo recklessly accelerates his work on Mahogany, confronting horrifying revelations and lethal enemies intent on stopping his schemes. But Timo forges ahead in his perilous quest, convinced the rewards of unfettered AGI outweigh any collateral damage. Will Timo achieve technological immortality as the genius who transformed humankind, or end up destroyed by the volatile forces he has unwisely unleashed?
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Brandon DelgadoWriterRetrogress: Lazy Sunday, Ticking Time, Lazlo Loohooville Revival, Solemn Warfare Tree, Generation Sparrow Action, Retrogress, The Stage of Grudge
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Project Type:Screenplay
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Genres:Drama, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Action
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Number of Pages:92
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Country of Origin:United States
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Language:English
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First-time Screenwriter:No
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Student Project:No
1st generation immigrant to parents from a remote village in the Mexican plains, Brandon Delgado has had a fascination for storytelling through film since he was fourteen! It was in sophomore year of high school that he wrote his first ever script, "Retrogress" at a whopping 73 pages!
Brandon Delgado is never afraid to take risks. During the 2019 COVID stock market boom, he made high risk, high reward investments which ultimately paid off, helping fund his future in film.
Using more than half the money he made, Brandon Delgado proceeded to produce his first ever movie, "The Lottery", on his own, in the summer of 2020. A learning experience, to say the least.
Since then, something awakened in him, and he has been on a nonstop, workaholic grind, creating 4 films in 7 months, and now aspiring to help the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex become a hub for the cinema scene!
I was compelled to write The Mercenary based on witnessing the accelerating pace of AI progress in recent years. Seeing advanced language models like ChatGPT suddenly surpass predecessors overnight gave me a sense that we are accelerating into a new AI era fraught with possibility but also perils. While the story is fiction, my aim was to provoke thoughtful debate through Timo’s morally ambiguous character and the varied perspectives brought by those he encounters.
I crafted Timo as a vessel for the audience, allowing the other characters to present provocative scenarios that raise complex questions around technology that viewers must grapple with. Maintaining accuracy around real-world AI topics was crucial to ground these speculative fictional situations. Ironically, I leveraged AI itself to help ensure technical details were correct.
A challenge was making the world feel lived-in despite Timo’s isolated nature. Adding his lifelong friend and now Vice President Kolia helped humanize Timo by showing a rare trusted relationship in his solitary life. Their bond also enabled more philosophical tension through her objections to Timo's methods.
My hope is that readers will see the clear need for oversight of potentially dangerous technologies like AGI. Timo was allowed to operate in the shadows, which led to social turmoil when his creation was recklessly unleashed. While innovation should not be stifled, society must monitor and prepare for its impacts. If this story can inspire ideas around fostering AI for the benefit of all, then it has served its underlying purpose. We have difficult questions ahead, but thoughtfully engaging with them together is how progress will truly be made.