GENRE FAMILY

• Modern-day parable

• Political intrigue/drama/thriller

• Personal stories of heroism playing out against a national backdrop of turmoil

• Untold story about notorious public figures

WORKING TITLE

FOOL THEM ONCE is a sinister play on the turn of phrase “Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.” In contrast, this version speaks both to the malicious strategy of lying to the public in order to seize power, as well as to the public’s responsibility to learn from history so as not to relive its pitfalls.  It also evokes a spectre which has audiences questioning Harvey’s motives throughout the course of the story.

FOOL THEM ONCE is the con man’s tenet.

FOOL THEM ONCE is a political strategy.

FOOL THEM ONCE is a operational directive.

FOOL THEM ONCE is a call for public vigilance against the threat of tragic history repeating itself.

UNIVERSAL THEMES:

• Underdogs vs. archvillains / David vs. Goliath dynamics

• The repentant con-man tries to make good

• The family under siege

• The “blindness” of the crusader

• The “devil” ascendant

• Absolute power corrupts absolutely

• Divided we fall / the soul of a nation in the balance

• The truth prevails

MARKETING HOOKS

KAHN - THIS IS WHY WE FIGHT.

Albert E. Kahn was an early adopter of the same brand of principled protest which drives many of the youngest generation of activists today.  Rejecting an upbringing of extreme privilege, he dedicated himself to the causes of equality, justice, and anti-fascism. But like all great heroes, Albert was flawed. His story serves both as an inspirational and a cautionary tale -- Albert’s altruistic, purposeful drive could become dangerously myopic and his willingness to sacrifice all occasionally became a selfish act, as his family was often left to deal with the fallout from his crusades.

MATUSOW - HOW DO WE NOT KNOW HIS NAME?

Harvey is the kind of simultaneously endearing and repulsive, uniquely prolific public figure that audiences love to realize they’ve never known anything about.  He’s like a real-life bizzaro Forrest Gump, who seems to collide with history over and again as he continuously reinvents himself. Except, unlike Forrest, he leaves behind a wake of destruction until his eventual search for redemption.

COHN - GHOST IN THE MACHINE.

With Donald Trump occupying the Presidency and Roger Stone occupying revolving news cycles, their mutual mentor, Roy Cohn, has once again emerged as America’s boogeyman.  For all that has been written, produced, and discussed about the complexly dark and dangerous Cohn, the particulars of his return to power after the humiliation of the Army-McCarthy hearings has been almost wholly overlooked.  This bizarre story explores for the first time the means by which Roy parlays Harvey’s accusations against him into a platform on which to publicly excoriate his enemies and relaunch his career.

PARABLE OF THE TIMES - YESTERDAY IS TODAY.

There's no doubting the timeliness of this project as echoes of the McCarthy Era continue to emerge. Contentious debates over domestic immigration and international threats during the tenure of the current administration have fostered the return of fear mongering and polarization. A highly editorialized press and political pundits on both sides of the aisle wrestle for headlines daily. A large body of Americans dismiss the 448 footnoted, annotated, pages of the Mueller Report as “fake news.” All of this is arguably thanks to America having elected Roy Cohn's protégé, Donald Trump, to the White House. As we head into a new presidential campaign season, we find ourselves in a renewed conversation over the ideals that define the soul of our nation and over the nature and relevance of truth itself.  FOOL THEM ONCE and the reflection it offers us, are important parts of that debate.