Contest: Random 1: Grass Roots Philanthropy, Guerilla Style

RANDOM 1

A Road Trip Spawned by an Unauthorized Social Experiment

Random 1 is a one-hour documentary series that follows the successes and failures of a grassroots team of complicated idealists who set out to help people. Their reasoning is based on a
simple principle:

When you help someone, especially someone you don't know... It makes you feel better about yourself.

And when you feel better about yourself... You feel better about the world.

Random 1 scours the streets of America, seeking to help random everyday people in need. Once found, a team of producers in a high-tech mobile production machine known as RV-1 immediately tackles problems and opens initial doors for the unsuspecting strangers, while utilizing help in real-time from an on-line interactive audience pool.

Random 1 acts as a networking magnet by connecting people to people. Stories range from helping an ex-stripper realize her dream of becoming a model to fixing a discharged mental patient's broken keyboard. It's not the prize Random 1 offers; it's the characters Random 1 finds and the back-stories uncovered during the process. The misfit Random 1 crew courageously accepts strangers with all their emotional baggage, and in return, people reveal candid truths about their lives and fears. To aide the emotional unveiling, the field team transports the strangers in an on-camera pick-up, three wide, squelching any and all remaining issues of intimacy. The Random 1 team fearlessly  faces the depth and desires of each person's story while asking nothing in return.

Randomly helping people is a lofty goal, and a simple offer to help can twist into an unmanageable task. The desires of unsuspecting strangers are very suddenly propelled and can be unintentionally derailed in the process. The Random 1 team must manage society's expectations of how television "fixes" a "broken" existence. The arguably intrusive approach of the team is challenged, and the team members' previously unknown judgmental attitudes are revealed and debated. The external stress quickly exposes the organization's flaws, and the deep relationships among the team are tested. The intentions, however pure at the start, become intriguingly more complex, as Random 1 explores the gritty truth of what it takes to help
complete strangers.

After creating the first opportunity, the team steps away, leaving the long-term goals up to each individual. But R1 periodically checks back and relays progress through an extensive, interactive website, co-developed by Academy Award winning game developer, David Riordan.

The team travels across the states visiting cities, small and large, while entertaining requests and banking on honesty. At each stop, the Organization touches insanity and sifts through half-truths, all while forming fragile relationships that could not be captured without placing a bet on the bright side of humanity.

Grass Roots Philanthropy, Guerilla Style

WINNER: JANET SMITH (A&E BAG, SHIRT, HAT, MUG)

---