“The Next MacGyver”
A joint initiative of the National Academy of Engineering and the
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Searching for the next great story about
Women. Engineers. Heroes.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the University of Southern
California Viterbi School of Engineering (USC Viterbi), in collaboration with Lee
Zlotoff (creator of the TV series MacGyver) and the White House Office of Science and
Technology, will launch a crowd-sourcing competition in 2015 to identify and develop
the next great TV show that will excite young women to engineering.
The narrative power of TV and film has been an awesome force for social change and
reimagining for much of the past century. There is strong evidence to suggest the power
of media to excite young people to specific careers (as in the case of CSI, The West Wing,
Glee, or Top Gun)
Thirty years ago, the original MacGyver created enormous interest around engineering
with the exploits of Angus MacGyver, a spy who used his powers of engineering in every
episode to solve problems.
According to Lee Zlotoff, the show’s creator: “I literally could not tell you how many
times people have come up to me and said, ‘I became an engineer, or I went into the
sciences because of MacGyver.’”
In the spirit of that show, in 2015, we are looking for TV ideas that will feature female
engineers or female protagonists who will similarly use their powers of engineering to
solve problems.
We’re not looking to reboot the MacGyver franchise or bring back guys with mullets. We
are asking: “Can you out-MacGyver MacGyver?” Can you imagine that next female hero
that will inspire a generation of young women to see themselves as engineers?
The proposed plan is the following: beginning during National Engineer’s Week 2015,
entrants will initially submit basic one-pagers about their show idea – genre, title,
logline, pilot summary, main character description and three sample episode
descriptions. The top 12 will prepare a short pitch and mini “show bible” from which an
expert judging panel, including representation from both Hollywood and engineering,
would select five Grand Finalists to work with professional writer-producers on a pilot
screenplay. The finalists will be guaranteed a “reading and pitch” with Hollywood
production companies and a real chance at development of a pilot. The process itself will
generate publicity and public engagement focused on the need to inspire increased public
awareness about engineering.
The project is supported by the United Engineering Fund (UEF), which provided
financial support.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
“The Next MacGyver” project has three primary goals:
1. Catalyze the development of the next great TV show depicting female
engineering heroes. Some criteria for the ideas and stories produced include:
a. Must be a good story, well told. Entertainment is the highest priority.
As Walt Disney famously said: “I would rather entertain and hope
that people learned something than educate people and hope they
were entertained.”
b. Show must feature either female engineer(s) as protagonist OR
a female character that uses engineering as a central element to
the show.
c. Show must be compelling to a middle or high school audience (from
which we will get the next generation of engineers).
2. Inspire storytellers to think about engineering-related characters, themes and
topics
3. Create a national marketing campaign (to tie in with MacGyver’s 30th
anniversary) that engages public interest in engineers and STEM themes.
The project seeks to raise a positive awareness of the engineering profession in both the
near- and long-term. It will engage middle school classrooms and employ social
marketing platforms used by young people. It also aims to excite the next generation of
television show creators to engineering themes. USC’s screenwriting program alone
has produced the likes of Shonda Rimes (Grey’s Anatomy creator), Matthew Weiner
(Mad Men creator), and Josh Schwartz (OC creator). What if the next great
screenwriter, in a classroom today, is inspired by engineers and engineering?
Ultimately, though, we not only want to generate enthusiasm for creating engineeringthemed scripts, we are aiming to get ideas in active development and see one or more
turned into a series that’s available for viewing by the target audience.
Given that only 4.5 percent of American students receive degrees in engineering,
compared to 14 percent in Europe or 21 percent in Asia, the time has never been better to
recast the image and possibilities of the modern engineer. Simply put, our premise rests
on the idea that one “Breaking Bad,” for example, may do more to excite people to (in
that case) chemistry than all the combined public outreach of federal agencies for the past
decades. As Donna Nelson, professor of organic chemistry professor at the University of
Oklahoma and advisor to “Breaking Bad,” noted: “For decades, chemists have been
wringing our hands about how we could reach the general public. Lo and behold, we get
a prime-time television show."
“The Next MacGyver”
Proposed Timeline:
December – January: Soft campaign launch. Industry partners confirmed. Partner film
and engineering schools are given direct pitches to students around close of fall /
beginning of spring semester.
February 6: Competition Promo Video Finished
February 13: Competition site live.
February 16: “The Next MacGyver” e-mail marketing campaign finalized and approved
by stakeholders.
February 23 (beginning of National Engineers Week): Launch competition (partner
with cities with elite film schools and engineering schools, partner organizations, leading
engineering associations and companies, etc.)
 Press release with NAE, USC, White House distributed
 Partner with advocacy groups (Society of Women Engineers, Girl Scouts, Women
in Film, Geena Davis Institute, STEM Connector, Girls Who Code, Goldiblocks,
Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science)
 reddit/screenwriting AMA with Lee Zlotoff
 Partner with NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers), IEEE, NASA,
NSF, etc.
April 10: Submissions due to www.nextmacgyver.com (expect 1000 - 2000 ideas)
 Title / logline / genre
 Brief pilot synopsis
 Female protagonist description
 Potential episode descriptions (3)
April 13 – April 30: Two review committees (40 readers / 20 from entertainment / 20
from engineering worlds) cull ideas down to top 12
May 1: Top 12 finalists announced
 Top 12 authors must produce 10-15 page “mini show bibles” based on the work
 Commission student artists (USC Cinema animation students) to create one-sheet
posters and concept art based on top 12
June 1: Top 12 submissions due
June 7: E-marketing blast: view gallery of top 12 ideas and posters
Mid July: Proposed White House Top 12 “Engineering Idol” event. Concept art and
verbal pitches are presented to panel of judges from entertainment and engineering (this
might be a public event). Top five are chosen as TV pilot scripts, awarded $5K each,
partnered with industry mentors.
Early August: Winning writers meet with mentors / break story / develop outline
September 14-16: Competition Recap / Compilation video on top five ideas presented /
Beijing / NAE Global Grand Challenges Summit
October 1: Finished Screenplays are due (submitted to mentors)
December 1: Revised Screenplays due to production companies / agents