The Daily Planet - Part 1: Pitch and Script

The Daily Planet

Where We Are:

During Final Crisis, The Daily Planet building was the victim of an attack. There were deaths and injuries. With the building rebuilt, the collective staff is nervous but eager to get back to work. There is a core staff that will get most of the spotlight:

Perry White: Editor In Chief. He cares greatly about his staff. Married. Has beat cancer. He uses an old-fashioned typewriter.

Clark Kent: Reporter. Seemingly lazy work ethic. Also works on a typewriter.

Lois Lane: Reporter. Married to Kent. Busy-body. Not afraid to chase a story.

Jimmy Olson: Photographer. Superman’s best friend. Will go where needed.

Cat Grant: Gossip and Fashion Columnist. Thinks her looks can get her places.

Ron Troupe: Political Editorialist. Highly Educated.

Steve Lombard: Sports Reporter. In love with himself and lets everyone know it. Good at his job.

Gina Dresner: A new character. She runs the Daily Planet website and is the new head of IT. She’s an “alt” girl with many tattoos and piercings. Smokes like a chimney.

Where We’re Going:

Arc one/Year one involves setting up what’s basically an ensemble cast in the backdrop of Metropolis. The staff will travel as necessary to follow a lead or get the best possible story. The main staff listed above will carry most of the focus with others weaving in and out.

Perry is stressed out after the attack during Final Crisis. He starts smoking again and hides it from his wife and co-workers. The only person who knows is Gina, who he forms a father/daughter relationship with. Their relationship can also let us explore print media vs. web-based media and how they can co-exist.

Clark seems distant but will step up when needed. Someone needs to keep an eye on the city.

Lois is restless and seems to be juggling many stories, some of which may end up getting her into trouble.

Jimmy’s looking for that one story or photo to really put him at the top. He may have another calling, though.

Cat has a new relationship with someone out of the office and tries to get him hired.

Ron becomes a foundation of the newsroom. He’s someone a lot of the staff looks up to and seeks advice from.

Steve is about to get a big break in his career but he may have to ask for help when it becomes more than he can handle.

Gina is the new girl but already settling in. She feels more comfortable in front of a computer than talking to someone face-to-face?

Most of our core staff has lost someone important to them, most recently was Clark’s father Jonathan, and they’ll have to come together when a colleague dies during the course of the series.

So what kind of stories will the staff be looking into while juggling all of this? Please see the attached script.


The Daily Planet Script for pages 1-3:

Page 1:

*Exterior shot of the top half of the Daily Planet building. The sun is shining off of the familiar globe. It looks to be just past midday in Metropolis. We can see the rest of the skyline in this shot, including the LexCorp building.

Caption 1 – “Everyone knows Metropolis is Superman’s city.”

Caption 2 – “But this story isn’t about him.”

*Interior shot. We see an overhead view of Perry White at his desk. His typewriter is there, papers, whatever you’d think to find on the boss’ desk. Filing cabinets are lined up against the walls on either side. He’s reaching into his desk for his pipe.

Caption 1 – “This is about his boss.”

*Interior shot in a different part of the building. This is obviously part of the newsroom. Lois Lane is on the phone at her desk but her posture is a little weird. She’s grabbing her coat while rising up halfway out of her chair.

Lois – “I’ll be right there. Don’t go anywhere.”

Caption 1 – “His lover.”

*We see Jimmy Olsen entering the newsroom. He looks pretty satisfied with himself. He has his camera on him, of course. Lois (off-panel) grabs Jimmy by the upper arm. From what we can see of Lois’ arm, she has her coat on now.

Lois (off-panel) – “No time to get comfy, Jimmy. We’re heading back out there.”

Caption 1 – “His best friend.”

Pages 2-3

*BIG panel, taking up all of page 2 and two-thirds of page three. The last third of page 3 is just a black border with enough room for another panel on the bottom-right (see below). In this big panel, we see the scope of the newsroom. There are at least 100 staffers here, in various states of work. On the phone, running with huge piles of paper, writing things down, etc. It’s chaotic, but everyone is working. There’s a few TVs on pillars and/or walls turned on to sports, news (WGBS?) and other channels. Perry’s office is off to the side, and it should be marked “Perry White – Editor In Chief.”

There are many word balloons here, but none of them are attached to any speaker. There should be plenty of room for all of these without covering up much else.

“Hold on sir, let me write this down”
“The dead returning to life”
“LexCorps”
“LexCom”
“Another Teen Titans casualty”
“Batwoman”
“New Robin”
“New Batman?”
“Booster Gold”
“Amanda Waller”
“Suicide Squad”
“Checkmate”
“New Justice League”
“Kryptonians”
“Let me run this by Troupe”
“Give this to Gina, the new girl”
“Suicide Slum”
“Libra?”
“Remaining fallout from Everyman”
“Rose and Thorne”
“Gangbuster”
“Black Lightning”
“Millennium Giants”
“S.T.A.R. Labs”
“Prof. Emil Hamilton”
“Ruin”
“Removal of Superboy Memorial?”
“Attack on the Planet”
“Anti-Life Equation?”
“Bleed?”
“Dr. John Henry Irons”
“Unrest in Khandaq”
“Metropolis Meteors 5-3 win over Cardinals”
“Metropolis Generals’ Point Guard subject of controversy”
“Anyone seen Planet owner Bruce Wayne?”
“WGBS expanding?”
“Guardian”
“Mon-El”
“Sam Lane’s intentions?”

There’s a caption in the upper-left.

Caption 1 – “His Planet.”

*Close-up view of Perry White’s closed office door. Like the previous panel, it says “Perry White – Editor In Chief” on it. We can see his silhouette behind the tinted window. There’s a big screaming word balloon, going up and out of the panel, into the black border above it.

Perry – “LANE! KENT! GET IN HERE!”