Oliver Parker
Film & TV Editor

WINNER - BEST EDITING at Catalyst film festival.

WINNER - BEST EDITING at LA Film awards

The System is a half hour long, multi-season drama series that revolves around "The War on Drugs” and its expansion into a middle-class suburban community, based in the US. Focused on the story of Daniel Shays, the series follows his transformation from typically disaffected teen to political activist, as he and his friends find themselves the victims of a politically motivated crackdown on drugs in their community. When Daniel’s girlfriend becomes the victim of a police assault, he begins a journey of discovery that reveals layer after layer of a massive corporate/political conspiracy involving members of local government, the police, school authorities and even parents organizations; basically, all the people that are supposed to be looking after him. On his journey, Daniel discovers he is in a unique position to expose and challenge a system that has been designed to take him out of the equation.

Part political thriller, part family drama, The System attempts to reframe the war on drugs not only by exploring it outside of the typical “urban” setting of shows like The Wire, but also by showing it through the eyes of a mixed-race teenager, someone who up until now had been protected from some of the more sinister sides of life, but who finds that it has finally come looking for him. The show is designed to appeal to both a new generation of politically active youth starved of meaningful content with intelligent social commentary as well as satisfying a more traditional drama series audience.