The Forsaken Project

Logline: According to Darwin, the fittest survive. In reality, only the smartest do.

"The Forsaken" is a not-yet-produced TV miniseries docudrama about the 1859 British Columbia gold  rush into the Cariboo. Currently, the pilot script; "Seeing The Elephant" has been completed and E02 script; "Shake A Lance At Ignorance" is in progress.

California is tapped clean out of gold. The great rush of '49 is over but prospectors still dreamt of yellow dust and instant wealth. Word spread fast in San Francisco that fur traders were exchanging gold from the natives in the British claimed territory north of Washington called New Caledonia.

That summer of ‘59 saw thousands of men from every continent arrive at Fort Victoria. Frisco steamers disgorged hundreds of hopeful greenhorns every two or three days. From the fearless to the foolhardy. Each with his own strategy for survival and lust for adventure.

Most were hard working, God-fearing men but some were as lawless and uncivilized as the land they hurled themselves at. Men who’s only intention was to dig for treasure in another man’s pockets.

Once these venturous men had the fever there was no shaking it. Golden sinew bound them together in a magnificent tapestry that covered the territory and changed it’s people forever.

"A Caribou deer stands next to a cliff overlooking the Fraser Valley. Antlers poised and alert, the beast’s fur steams in a westering sun. It’s wild breath issues clouds of mist which creates an enigmatic picture. The RUSTLE of hooves paw and stamp the ground. Our view moves through the steam and horns and soars westward into a sweeping ARIEL HORIZON SHOT. Lush mountains flank the capacious Fraser river. Once a ravenous serpent twisting and slashing her way across the frontier, tamed now and courted by emerald lovers as they tumble into the embrace of a golden sea."

In "Seeing The Elephant", three groups struggle to arrive at The Forks; Doc Keithley's group packs up the treacherous Fraser Canyon through 300 miles of untamed hell; Jean Cataline and his mule train are confronted by hostiles as they travel the ancient HBC fur trade route while Siwash McDonald and the Bauden brothers navigate from Fort George on the unpredictable Fraser River.

Episode one encapsulates the struggles and hardships they endure in a common quest for the "colour".

Will young Diller pan his weight in gold? Will Cataline survive his encounter with Chief Will Yum in a bid to pass through Sugarcane tribal land? Will the Bauden brothers live through a ride from hell on a killer river?