Susan Baronoff & Kenn Michael
Floreana - Hybrid Series
The years between Europe’s two great 20th Century wars were chaotic and harsh. Massive unemployment ravaged the middle class. Discontent fueled the fanatical Nazis’ rise to power.
Eager to leave the horrors of “civilization,” a small number of men and women simply sailed away, seeking lives of peace. Of harmony with nature.
Of these, a few headed for the Galapagos Islands, specifically for isolated Floreana. A recent bestseller had described it as an earthly paradise, untainted by humanity.
But not for long.
Soon, lurid stories rocketed around the world, as newspapers and magazines learned that utopians (Nudists!) were cohabiting on a secluded island. And when the self-annointed Empress of Floreana showed up, claiming the island for herself and her handsome sex slaves, “The Galapagos Affair” went viral.
Playboys and socialites, diplomats and scientists, everyone wanted to meet the gun-toting, whip-cracking Empress. One Hollywood producer made a movie about her. The Empress played herself.
And then things changed.
People disappeared. People died. And no one knew how or who killed them.
Except for the survivors. They knew. They even wrote books about it.
But their stories don’t match. They implicate each other for the crimes.
Only one of them is telling the truth, of course.
To this day, we just don’t know which one.
Format
Floreana is a docu/scripted hybrid series - shot and visualized as a modern documentary. Though the story takes place in the 1930s, the series reflects the vibrancy and emotional authenticity of today's true crime documentaries..
Scripted scenes will be intercut with character interviews that provide both context and interior thought. On-camera interviews will be shot in the same location as the events being talked about, or in another natural environment on the island. Interview content from our main characters, Dore and Margret, will come from their own words, and we will also include off-the-cuff interviews from additional characters as they move through the world of Floreana.
Dore and Margret often have conflicting recollections of important events, and we will highlight these discrepancies by witnessing the events through both points of view.
Our goal is to fuse immersive documentary filmmaking with artfully scripted scenes so seamlessly, that the viewer becomes an eye witness as this incredible story unfolds.