The Island

There are 23 grand jurors and 23 episodes of network television. Each episode will focus on 1 case and 1 juror and how they’re connected. There will also be season-long story arcs about the group dynamic (dinner dates! lovers! pub crawls!) with a new group of jurors each season. Inspired by my grand jury service, where I learned about crime, drugs, NYC's secret Chinese police force, and the moral psychology of my fellow jurors.

Cab drivers in NYC say you're not a New Yorker until you've lived here 10 years. I'd argue that you're not a New Yorker until you've served on a jury. Grand jury gave me the equivalent of a month-long closeup of a typical subway car; people of vastly different backgrounds together in one room with a common goal.

I also got a front seat to 3-4 condensed versions of a case every day, and I realized, "Most crime shows are a whole hour. Why aren't there more 20-30 minute crime shows with less evidence?" Grand jury duty was unbelievably funny, and I got to know a lot about my fellow jurors - not only their backgrounds and lives but their sense of right and wrong, why and how they make decisions.

Most TV shows I see set in New York don't remotely resemble the city I live in. It's time to make one.

“New York’s just memory, man. Memory trapped in the grid. That’s all it is. We’re on an island, and we can’t escape. And memory lives in the bricks. In the cracks in the sidewalk.”

—Juror No. 1: Property Damage

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