Thunder Empire as Screenplay

[Webstral]

I've been toying with the idea of turning Thunder Empire into a screenplay. I like the 10-hour format of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Thunder Empire would never be selected for a live action film, but an animated special is a possibility.

I'm trying to sort through how to use the format to handle certain contained stories. For instance, there would have to be at least one hour devoted to the set-up--everything up to the TDM. There would have to be time devoted to the immediate aftermath. There would have to be some time devoted to the opening stages of the Second Mexican-American War. After the 2MAW settled into its routine, though, it would be possible to look a bit more at other stories and other ideas in the story. The timeline might do a few switchbacks (internally consistent, of course) to show that some of the stories unfold simultaneously and along parallel tracks. Some other things that would have to be covered include task force search-and-destroy efforts outside SAMAD, establishing relations with a gang in Phoenix, use of EPW/refugee labor, daily subsistence, and so on. Some new characters might be introduced for one-off stories, while other characters could be used again and again. The last couple of hours would be devoted to bringing the story to its conclusion, which would be in early 2001 when an airship arrives from Colorado and General Thomason hands off command as part of a peacemaking deal with MilGov.

If the middle bits last four or five hours, what really matters to have told during the September 1998-December 2000 timeframe?

Webstral