Project: Overnight Success > The Plan > Webisodes

Webisodes

Project: Overnight Success is a HUGE project and it takes a little while to sink in just what we’re trying to do. So to help people get engaged we’re revealing the details in the form of a story told through a series of short webisodes. The webisodes are scheduled to be released on a weekly basis starting on January 6, 2012 and running through the big launch date on February 24, 2012.

My team and I are currently in the process of producing the first couple webisodes. Stay tuned for clips coming soon!

Meanwhile, check out the synopses of the webisodes and scripts where available below:

Webisode 1: Vision

Release Date: January 6, 2012

Dane imagines the night his Project: Overnight Success succeeds. Set in a luxurious mansion, Dane watches the project go viral from multiple screens as excited friends mingle around. Reports through Skype and iPads of success after success. And finally, the call we’ve all been waiting for, Jon Stewart inviting Dane to appear on his show!
After the call, when Dane asks ‘Could it get any better than this?’, he is presented with a brightly lit birthday cake and everybody cheers ‘Happy Birthday’!

The vision fades into Dane’s apartment office where Tamara skeptically inquires about Dane’s incredibly ambitious goals for this project. When Tamara asks how he intends to accomplish his objectives, Dane provides a musical mind-mapping montage depicting the entire plan.
Tamara is intrigued, but not convinced. She doesn’t say “no”. But…

Webisode 2: Idea Man

Release Date: January 13, 2012

Uncertain whether Tamara will take on the project, Dane now interviews Addy as another possible director. Addy is interested in understanding what the core substance of this project is all about—all these ideas Dane is trying to promote. Dane shows a few of the ideas including eNormal polls, the Strands movie, and the IT IS philosophy, with Addy getting increasingly interested with each idea. Still, it’s a huge project and she isn’t sure she can take it on either.

Later, Dane anxiously has coffee with Tamara to see if she will direct the webisodes. And she says “Yes”! Just then Addy calls, too, saying she’s decided that she would like to direct the webisodes, too!

The Rags-to-Riches story is beginning to take shape, but is there a conflict brewing?

Webisode 3: Join the Crowd

Release Date: January 20, 2012

Dane’s got a Team now and they’re off to a great start.

things are starting to happen. They’re figuring out all kinds of great story angles and dialog. Now Dane and the POS Team need to harness the power of crowdsourcing and get people developing all the projects that make up Project Overnight Success.

Dane knows just where to find all the people he needs. And he knows exactly what he needs them to do. We’re all set. But there’s one thing we need first–a corporate sponsor. But who? Who?

Bingo! oDesk! Dane’s provider of choice for contract workers for years. In fact, they could sponsor this very Webisode. Let’s (try to) meet Odysseas Tsatalos, founder of oDesk, and pitch him on the idea.

Webisode 4: Social Scene

Release Date: January 27, 2012

Project Overnight Success is really starting to come together. Funding from oDesk is powering a crowd of developers who are building out various projects. But fleshing out the projects isn’t enough. We need followers to spread the word about this project to in order to achieve the kind of fame Dane is aiming for.

The only problem is, Dane isn’t that active in social networking. In fact, it turns out Dane is actually an introvert with an aversion to getting famous at all! What?! Isn’t that the point of this whole project? Actually, the real point is finding people to help manifest all these ideas. Getting famous is just a means to that end. Dane is stretching way outside of his comfort zone, but he’s willing to pay the price if that’s what it takes to get these projects off the ground.

But he’s going to need serious help. So Dane goes on a crash course in Social Network Promotion with some leading Silicon Valley experts, even as he deals with the craziness of a project that is already taking off faster than he even imagined.

Webisode 5: Create Your Reality

Release Date: February 3, 2012

If ever there was an experiment in manifesting the Law of Attraction, this is it. Dane has a very specific plan for accomplishing a wide range of goals from launching a small business empire, producing a series of blockbuster SciFi movies, creating a complete Philosophy of Life, and becoming world famous–all overnight.

If he can pull that off, what else can he accomplish? In this episode we learn more about Dane’s motivations, the people in his life, and what an ideal life means to him. He even reveals his most secret, personal desires when he meets life coaches and other masters in the self-actualization.

Is the Law of Attraction really a Great Secret? Or is it just another load of feel-good BS? And if it can work for Dane, can anyone else on the team achieve their goals through this project?

Webisode 6: Capitalist

Release Date: February 10, 2012

Lest anyone think that Dane is just a head-in-the-clouds dreamer, in this episode we get down to serious business as people begin getting engaged in the various project and start asking the inevitable question: “How is this going to make money?” and it’s natural corollary “What’s in it for me?”.

Business models for various projects are discussed as Dane meets with various business development types and other collaborators. In the process Dane describes the Gamified Collaboration Platform and other cool businesses ideas like, Hwy 1 Guide, Super Survey System, and Corporate Clone.

In this webisode we explore the question of who really are the job creators in our society and what it takes to move from the ranks of the “job recipients” to the “job creators”.

Webisode 7: Opportunities Galore!

Release Date: February 17, 2012

This webisode revolves around Baynote where Dane works as an engagement manager. Working for a really cool, venture backed silicon valley start up is a fantastic job. Smart, friendly people. Challenging work. Relaxed atmosphere. Food and snacks all the time, foosball. It’s great! And Dane is incredibly grateful. But. He feels compelled to try this experiment–to attempt this feat. So Dane is risking his job to attempt a leap from the status quo to a higher plane, leaving his job up for grabs, (not to mention several other openings at Baynote).

This webisode could effectively be a recruiting piece for Baynote. It could include conversations with my boss and the CEO, scenes of us playing foosball, having conferences, etc.

Dane turns risk into returns by landing a corporate sponsor for Project: Overnight Success — Baynote.

Webisode 8: The Big Night! (Extended Finale Webisode)

Release Date: February 24, 2012

Synopsis coming soon.

More Webisode Ideas

Webisode 8: IT IS and Dane’s Brain

We return to the projects, this time exploring the IT IS philosophy and Dane’s various articles. This sequence could include a multimedia representation of the IT IS philosophy, developed in a crowdsourced environment. In terms of Dane’s Brain, Dane reveals his interest in becoming a commentator or syndicated columnist as one possible outcome of the project.

Webisode 9: The Daily Show

Returning to the idea of being on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Dane divulges his social media and mass media promotion plans, all leading up to the ultimate goal, of appearing on the Daily Show. Dane does a funny bit about how Jon Stewart just about has to put him on his show, as long as the rest of the plan works.

Webisode 10: Breakthrough

The big dance number, with Dane and his daughters doing a kind of music video dance routine to Breakthrough by Lemonade Mouth.

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The Stakes

The Stakes would be a personality profile that features my daughters and also explores my back story. The idea is that I am currently on this path that I never wanted to go on and it is leading me somewhere that I know I don’t want to go. But I am bound to this reality by the fact that I have to support my daughters and that is paramount above anything else. This episode would explore the possibility of failure.

I’m not stupid. I understand the risks. In my rational mind I know that there is a significant probability that this thing will flop. I’ll be publicly humiliated. I’ll have announced to the world (not to mention my employer) that I’m sick of my current career, I’ll be completely devastated financially, emotionally, psychologically, mentally, in every way.

And furthermore, I know that any decision I make about this will have an even greater impact on my daughters. I don’t want my precious daughters to be humiliated and have to watch their father be humiliated. And I don’t want to leave my daughters with no financial support. That is what hangs in the balance for me, and that is a heavy, HEAVY bet for me to make.

BUT, I can not escape this compulsion to try and somehow make more of a Dent in the Universe and to manifest my creative ideas.

Gambling the lives of my daughters on the pursuit of my ideal life. Those are The Stakes.

Key Themes

  • It’s never to late to go for your dreams
  • Dane Loves his daughters
  • The Power of Belief and Total Committment – burning the ships

The Director

Given the importance of the webisodes/documentary to this project, finding the right Director/Producer is critical. So one webisode could focus on my interviews with potential directors. This would be like the main interview I’ve already scripted but condensed down to the essence in which I start trying to explain my project to an interested but slightly incredulous director and over the course of the webisode, in describing the project to them, win them over so they are an enthusiastic partner.

The webisode wouldn’t just be me explaining the project to the director, but the director(s) giving me advice about how to do it. It could involve me talking to multiple potential directors for variety. Either way, by the end of this webisode we will have decided on a format and taken a huge step forward on the project.

Key Themes

  • Vision is great, but you have to have a Plan
  • It’s a Story – To engage and move people, tell an engaging story
  • Collaboration is the key
  • Synergy – Two minds are better than one.

The Secret

Believe it or not, I just watched “The Secret” for the first time the other night. I think one webisode could focus on me reaching out to people who are masters of the Power of Attraction and getting their help on the project. So this could be like a mini version of “The Secret” movie, with various interviews, only rather than being generic statements, they are applied directly to this project.

The idea here is to attach or associate this project with a popular movement/community and to thus define this singular object in terms of ‘The Law of Attraction’. What is Project: Overnight Success? It is me using ‘The Law of Attraction’ to live with intention and create my ideal life. For those people familiar with the concept, that could be the wrapper that transforms this from a random collection of miscellaneous ideas into a single coherent project that provides the context for them exploring the various components of the project.

Key Themes

  • Visualization – Vision

Other Webisode ideas

  • Project Launch Facebook/LinkedIn – Footage of me posting my announcement and my reaction to the results.
  • Kickoff Party – Snippets from our Kickoff party on 11/16
  • Visual representation of The Plan – A musical montage of the Master Plan visualized through mind mapping, flow charts, etc.
  • Instant Incubator – We explain the concept and motivation behind the Instant Incubator and give a tour of the various business ideas inside
  • The Director – Dane interviews and hires his Director
  • Meet the Team – Various members of the team are featured.
  • It’s Social – Covers the importance of social media to the overall plan, and examines some of the strategies we will employ.
  • eNormal presentation – Going in-depth on one of the Instant Incubator portfolio.
  • Game Theory – We look at the significance of game theory in our economy, and how our projects tap into this powerful dynamic.
  • Crowdsourcing (ScreenPlayMate) – The concept and practice of crowdsourcing are considered
  • KickSTarter vs. IndieGoGo – As we decide where to pursue crowdfunding, we do a head to head comparison to decide which way to go.
  • Dying to Do Letterman – Dane connects with Steve Mazan, a comedian who successfully executed a similar project on KickStarter.
  • Stories (The Strands series) – Dane tells the story behind Strands and talks about his plans for the future, including crowdsourcing and ScreenPlayMate.
  • Lemons into Lemonade – Dane explores the concept of turning your defeats into assets, as he is doing with this project.
  • Sofia and Sasha – Personality profile on Dane with his two daughters in daily life.
  • Operation Bootstrap – I have footage recorded on an old VCR in 1993
  • Think Different – A tribute to Steve Jobs as well as a commentary about the importance of being original and creating something unique as the only real way of making a Dent in the Universe.
  • Getting in Shape – As part of his life changing mission, Dane starts his fitness program.
  • Romance! – Somewhere along the line something’s gotta happen, right?
  • Stewart & Colbert – Dane gets creative with his fixation on The Daily Show (and Colbert Nation).

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