4point7 Collective presents “Death of a Youtuber” (working title): a dark comedy web series, a digital farce, and a satirical comment on the fake world of social media and the crude logic behind it.
Format: A web series, 5 episodes, 10 to 15 minutes per episode.
Synopsis: Everyone on YouTube knows MAX (24) and MIKO (21). Their channel is full of stunts, pranks, and nothing is too dumb, dangerous, or humiliating to be filmed and exploited. They are supported by their manager and ‘friend’ SIMON (26) and by fellow YouTuber and wannabe celebrity LILLY (23). To celebrate their 10 millionth subscriber, the gang plans a prank on Miko. But things quickly take a dark turn when Miko dies during the live stream. As the video goes viral, the team tries to cover up the death so an upcoming TV deal can go ahead. But some people don’t believe the story and are investing what really happened, the most prolific one being NOAH (15) from a less successful channel. While Max gets over his grief of losing his best friend and struggles with his conscience, Simon tries to keep his business afloat and Lilly seeks to regain control over her online image.
Tone: Absurdity and satirical exaggeration drive this web series. We use stylistic devices from the literary genre of the farce paired with the eccentric humour of current shows like Veep (HBO, US), Silicon Valley (HBO, US), or Das Ins.tut (ARD, GER). The show’s world is an exaggerated version of our own that focuses on digital influencers and painfully uncovers the irony and cynicism in it. Our humour is as dark and politically incorrect as our characters’ thinking and their belief system.
Audience: Young adults, aged between 18 to 35 years old, digital natives, comfortably rooted in pop culture, but able to look at it from a critical perspective.