Hi folks. I'm a produced screenwriter, who worked for an Emmy award winning show... up until a week or so ago. Network refused to renew our contract for another season, so I'm left unemployed. Although, the work gave me the experience and connections necessary to have a realistic shot with, at the very least, getting a pilot episode read by an influencer.
I'm interested in developing a pilot for a TV show (fiction, drama) revolving around a DNM vendor. I will not go further into the plot in this public post, for plausible deniability and such (will get into that later), as well as it is generally good advise in the writing community to keep unique plot ideas to oneself. I'm a complete skid in this community, so anything beyond basic PGP, VPNs, Tor, OPSEC, and bitcoin information is a mystery to me.
I understand that randomly writing vendors will undoubtedly sketch them out (and at the very least just annoy them), but the accuracy of the story is heavily dependent on hearing how this is done, directly from the mouth of the horse. I have a couple of friends who I could contact about this, but (AFAIK) none are DNM vendors, only consumers. Some of the more invasive questions I'd have to ask regard how stealth is accomplished, bitcoin laundering (turning BTC into rent payments), OPSEC, use of Tails, and day-to-day schedules, however this does not have to be the way in which you, the vendor, do this, and does not have to contain any specifics that might break your personal OPSEC standards.
As for the 'plausible deniability' thing, there's a few things I've had to wonder about regarding this. At the very least, studio heads won't be thrilled with me collaborating with an anonymous active felon (assuming US-based), and at the worst the LEO's might want to have a little chat with me about this. I would personally like to credit a vendor for providing information, yet the legality is blurred. As for payment, I am under the impression that doing so would be illegal (probably for 'funding a terrorist network' or some other bollocks charge American LEO have been known to come up with). Because, if this show is produced, I might be under increased scrutiny from LEO, I'd shy away from doing anything actually illegal. Plus, it's not like the studio will be quick to reimburse sending a couple BTC to an anonymous source. They're tight with the books like that. I'd be absolutely willing to incorporate small things into the story as a nod for their help, if they wish, like naming the character's online moniker.
So, how could I go about finding a vendor who is willing to discuss this? I don't need too much information, especially not personal or revealing information, just a peek at how the vendor side of DNMs operate. If it makes the vendor feel more at ease, I could develop a rough pilot, and just have them point out all the inaccuracies. To me, at least, that would seem to be less about how they do things, and more about what I said was wrong. However, it's important to keep in mind that Breaking Bad is not indicative of an average meth producer's life, and instead is a souped-up, far more entertaining version. That same idea will carry onto this pilot.
Also, I get if people might not love this as they think it might draw more skids like me to DNM's, but this will be far from a romantic story. People will die, kids will get caught, SWAT teams sent, lives ruined, etc. It won't make it seem like drugs rain from the sky for near-free like in the Vice documentary. What kid wants to get into meth cooking or meth use after they watch Breaking Bad?
Note to mods: Sorry if this doesn't fit here, but I don't know where else would be a good forum for this unique request. I'll delete the post after 24 hours anyway, so it doesn't come around to bite me in the ass.
We need /u/vendor_bbmc in here