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"The LAB" goes into production.

I've begun work on music score for Barry Berk's new TV series "The Lab" produced by Curious Pictures.

The LAB

South Africa is in the midst of a dramatic transition. Ten years ago, before the advent of democracy, well over 95% of the economy was held in the hands of the small white minority, and of that amount a high percentage was held by a handful of families. In the space of ten short years, a 300 year old colonial economic order has been subjected to massive pressure to transform and a new term has emerged, fast becoming the order of the day: Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). Every industry has been placed under extreme institutional pressure to make way for a new class of capitalists, schooled in the struggle against apartheid, connected to the corridors of power, and taking full advantage of the space afforded to stake their claim and participate in the wealth of the commerce and industry.

Enter The LAB. The LAB will be a groundbreaking new series that is set in the world of black economic empowerment generally, and investment banking in particular. The series will follow the lives of six characters work who at LAB CMB, a typical example of the new generation of South African commercial institutions, which house the new economic elite. The LAB will be a fast paced, sexy, controversial series, which promises to be a talking point and appointment viewing amongst the South African television audience.

Set in the heart of the world of high-stakes black economic empowerment, Luzipho, Atkins and Bhengu, (LAB), is an investment bank reaping the benefits on offer by the new economy. This is the world of overnight millionaires, of deal-making of the order of billions of rands, of materialism and power, of political connections forged in the trenches of the struggle, and often pitted against old white corporate connections.

It is the world of realpolitiek, of naked ambition, of greed and materialism. It is a world where men and women are made and broken in Johannesburg�s top bars and restaurants, on golf courses and in hushed conversations at society gatherings.

Of course, it also shares certain universal characteristics with other worlds: love, sex, friendship, betrayal and humour.

South Africa is ripe for a new series which really causes waves, not because it mimics existing American television series effectively; not because it throws people of different races together in loosely conceived-of environments; not because it engages broadly with current culture and society, but because it is smart, deeply researched, well informed and entertaining, whilst creating such a sense of veracity that it blows a real slice of contemporary South African life wide open. That series is The LAB.

Our Universe: The LAB

The LAB is a small niche bank whose primary business is giving loans to corporate clients to grow their companies, buy other companies etc. It also acts as a financial and corporate advisor to specific clients. The bank focuses mainly on empowerment companies or deals which involve empowerment. It also does work for government and parastatals. The bank is also a private bank for small high net worth individuals � overwhelmingly black.

Series Arc In the tradition of Homicide, The West Wing and many others, every episode of The LAB will include continuing narratives dealing with the life and travails of our key protagonists, as well as a contained narrative arc which resolves in every episode. However, the series will also be structured around one over-arching narrative arc at its spine. This main series arc is a coming-of-age story of our protagonist, Charles (Mingus) Khathi.

Mingus� story is a rite of passage � Over the 13 episodes, we will watch him arrive in our universe as a kid, awash with wonder and excitement at the possibilities opening up to him. Before long, we�ll witness the revelation of his unmatched genius. We�ll then travel the road to maturity with him, as he becomes seduced by power and money in which he becomes immersed, and which eventually leads to his undoing, and his inevitable demise. By the end of the series, Mingus has done his time in the University of Hard Knocks, and has emerged on the other side, his career in tatters, stripped of power and money, but as an adult, equipped with the skills and experience he needs to re-instate himself.

Of course, Mingus� story will be a vehicle for us to discover the world of LAB, and the lives and travails of the other key characters, as well as a number of outsiders who range from politicians to captains of industry.

Mingus arrives at the company in Episode 1. He is a bright-eyed, warm, enthusiastic young man, endowed with exceptional and extra-ordinary business skills and talent. It doesn�t take long before he finds himself caught up in the ongoing power-struggle between the company�s Chairperson (Pearl) and its CEO (John), as each vies for his loyalty and allegiances.

Mingus� main arc will turn on a major business deal that affects the entire existence of the LAB. The LAB CMB is one of a number of banks that have been drawn into a government contract to prepare for the privatization of the national electricity facility. This is the state�s biggest privatization project to date. As can be expected, the financial and political stakes are huge. As is the drama and complication of the deal. It is by far the most politicized privatization to date.

At first LAB is just one of the smaller players in the massive deal involving the privatization of the country�s electricity facility. Halfway through the deal the government ditches one of the major international banks which has been driving the deal, and through an opportune sequence of events, The LAB is chosen to replace the bank as the leader of the consortium. The LAB will have to advise on managing and arranging a domestic marketing campaign for the retail component of the offer including market research and advertising.

By this point, Mingus has proven himself to be something of a genius to the government agency which is issuing the contract, and the only condition applied to the award of the contract to The LAB is that Mingus heads the team. Mingus is promoted to Director of Corporate Affairs, but his position and growing power is making both John and Pearl nervous, each for their own separate reasons. And so begins the real adventure. In the course of the series, a Faustian opportunity emerges which will offer Mingus more money and power than he would have thought was conceivable. Seduced by the possibilities, Mingus is lured into a deal which will involve the betrayal of those close to him. But Mingus has bitten off more than he can chew. Of course, he under-estimates power and skills of his adversaries (in this case, as it turns out, they are both John and Pearl). The deal goes wrong for Mingus, and everything he has staked himself on collapses under his feet. In fact, the entire future of the company is threatened. He becomes the fall guy, and is sacrificed by his employers in order to restore the status quo.

So, at the end of Episode 13, we leave Mingus broken and penniless, but with a new maturity and strength (possibly new values), ready to claw his way back into this world. Production Team The production team comprises a unique collaboration between one of South Africa�s top production houses, Curious Pictures, and Megato Strategies, a collective of individuals located in the world of the new economic order, who produce content for a range of clients including business and government, and who have a respected standing in political, media and business circles.

Monday 1st May 2006 at 13:56:53

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