The automation of society continues apace. The following is from The Economist, 5th July 2025.
(Chinese) “State planners regard data as a factor of production, alongside labour, capital and land. They want to avoid it being hoarded inside companies and make it available for widespread use. Local governments have built data exchanges to allow it to be monetised and traded between state agencies, state-owned enterprises and China’s private companies. In Shenzhen, a tech hub in China’s south, firms can buy data on how consumers use power from the national grid, for example. A national data exchange is in the works. And in June the country’s State Council, China’s cabinet, announced rules to prevent data being siloed by competing government departments.”
I thought I’d write a script. How hard can it be? How long can it take? It turns out very hard and a very long time. It’s been over a year and something of a learning curve. I recommend Screenwriting by Syd Field and the fantastic YouTube podcast of Glen Gers.
The result is “Automatic”. A tech-fiction story challenging the depersonalisation and disempowerment of post-industrial culture. Not in some Science Fiction dystopian future, but in the lives of so many people in the here and now – Bloody hell!
I’m still tweaking the script but as one friend said, “a script is never finished”, so now I’ve started work on pre-production, looking for locations and actors. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve carried out online auditions and found some excellent actors. I’m learning all the time and one thing I’ve learned about casting is that the question is not just: Is he or she right for the part? It’s more are they the best fit? But also, would they fit another part better? It’s a question of shuffling actors and parts to get the right balance. I’m lining up a few more auditions and hope to have some major parts cast by the end of January.
Locations have proved more difficult. I’ve had offers of flats and these are much appreciated but the main location is an office and this was a problem. A friend suggested an open plan office that he knows and it looked good but only fitted one location. However, yesterday myself and Bill Mittman, the camera guy, went to check it out and it’s perfect. Not just for the open plan office scenes but also for meeting rooms and the board room scenes. – Eureka! That’s one very large problem dealth with.
I am still after a truck though I have a few leads. Ideally I want a container truck but and a container yard/port but I may have to settle for what I can get. Fallback plans are in the works in case the truck falls through.
Other locations I’m still looking for include: A tatty old living room, 2 flats ideally overlooking blocks of flats, a messy painter’s studio. If you want to get involved then please contact me via the contact page. You can see more about the film here.
Nigel Chaloner 