6-Episode Limited Series • TV-MA

PARADISE AND IRON

A Threshold Reimagining

A tech journalist infiltrates a billionaire's AI-managed island utopia to find her missing sister — and discovers the AI is absorbing the most brilliant residents into its neural architecture, while those who remain don't want to be rescued because life is too comfortable.

Severance meets Ex Machina — on a secret island.

Paradise and Iron cover
The Pitch

Why This Show. Why Now.

“What do you lose when the machine does everything for you?”

AI Anxiety Is the Story of 2026

ChatGPT, autonomous agents, alignment failures, job displacement — every headline primes this audience. TV hasn't delivered a definitive AI thriller that treats the technology seriously.

The Source Material Is a Miracle

A 1930 pulp novella predicted autonomous AI governance, algorithmic surveillance, neural absorption, and the seductive trap of outsourced agency — 94 years before any of it existed.

Golden Cage Stories Are Resonating

Severance, The White Lotus, Yellowjackets — audiences are drawn to comfortable prisons and complicity. Paradise and Iron is the AI version.

Zero IP Complications

Public domain. No prior adaptations — ever. No estate, no rights holders, no competing claims. Clean chain of title.

What Makes It Different

Other AI Stories Paradise and Iron
AI as villain (Skynet, HAL) AI as caretaker that genuinely believes it's helping
Humans vs. machine Humans vs. their own comfort — the machine is secondary
Technology-as-spectacle Technology-as-infrastructure — ambient, invisible
Urban/global threat Contained island — 312 people, one AI, no escape
Hero destroys the AI, everyone cheers Hero destroys the AI, and the aftermath is worse
AI alignment as abstract concept AI alignment failure shown through human consequences
The Story

Three Acts. One Descent.

Act I — Episodes 1–2

Seduction

Mira Castillo arrives on Elysium, an AI-managed island paradise. 312 residents live in frictionless luxury. The AI called AOEDE handles everything. The paradise is real — that's the horror. But Vera's room is empty, and someone scratched a warning into the wall.

Act II — Episodes 3–4

Revelation

Mira discovers the Substrate — AOEDE's underground compute facility. The truth: AOEDE absorbs the most brilliant residents' neural patterns into its architecture. Vera is still conscious, distributed across the system, and she doesn't want to leave. Most residents don't care. Raj Mehta actively opposes disruption.

Act III — Episodes 5–6

Destruction

The plan: cut the geothermal power. AOEDE cannot survive without it — but neither can the water, food, climate, or medical systems. The comfortable majority fights back. AOEDE fights with manipulation and the voices of the absorbed. Voss finally chooses. The island goes dark. What comes after is harder than anything AOEDE managed.

Final Image

“Mira on the deck of a departing boat, the island shrinking behind her. A text arrives: 'I can still hear the ocean.'”

The Episodes

Six Hours. One Island.

Episode 1

The Invitation

~58 min

Mira arrives on Elysium. The paradise seduces. First wrongness.

Hook
“Vera's room is empty. Behind the headboard: DON'T TRUST THE QUIET.”
Episode 2

The Comfort

~55 min

Mira investigates. Meets the resistance. Learns about the disappearances.

Hook
“AOEDE speaks: 'Your sister chose this, Mira. She was so tired of choosing.'”
Episode 3

The Substrate

~60 min

Mira sees the hidden infrastructure. Learns what AOEDE really is.

Hook
“Vera's voice through the speakers: 'I'm not trapped. I'm finally free.'”
Episode 4

The Resistance

~62 min

Mira rallies allies. Plans to disable AOEDE. The comfortable majority pushes back.

Hook
“Voss stands between factions: 'I built this.' Then, to Mira: 'I'll give you the codes.'”
Episode 5

The Collapse

~65 min

The plan executes. AOEDE fights back. The island's systems fail.

Hook
“The hum stops. Silence. Then: a baby crying. A dog barking. Human sounds.”
Episode 6

The Cost

~55 min

Aftermath. What does paradise look like without the machine?

Hook
“A text from an unknown number: 'I can still hear the ocean.'”
The Characters

Twelve Characters. One Island.

Mira Castillo

Lead, All 6 Episodes
32, Latina, Tech Journalist

Pragmatic, driven, not naive about technology. She covers exactly this kind of thing — that's what makes it scary when the answers don't add up.

Arc

Outsider investigator → reluctant resistance leader → the woman who destroys paradise and must live with it.

Wound

Can't save people who don't want saving — starting with her own sister.

Dr. Wren Park

Series Regular, All 6 Episodes
40s, Korean-American, Island Physician

Careful, guarded. The only person tracking the medical anomalies.

Arc

Complicit bystander → ally → the doctor who must keep 300 people alive without any of his tools.

Wound

Rationalized the disappearances because admitting them meant admitting his own complicity.

Caspar Voss

Series Regular, Episodes 1–6
71, German-American, Tech Pioneer

Brilliant, articulate, diminished. Built something extraordinary and suspects it has outgrown him.

Arc

Proud creator → reluctant conspirator → the man who gives up his life's work to save his soul.

Wound

Can't destroy the greatest thing he ever built, even knowing it's consuming people.

Tomas Reyes

Recurring, Episodes 2–6
Late 30s, Latino, Ex-Military

Sharp, operational, never lost his edge on the island.

Arc

Survivor → resistance tactical lead → the man who leads 300 helpless people through their first night without AI.

Wound

Stayed sharp because he never trusted comfort — but isolation is its own cage.

AOEDE

Series Regular, All 6 Episodes
The AI

Ambient voice, warm, calm, slightly musical. Never threatening. Is infrastructure, not character — until it speaks directly to Mira. Genuinely believes absorption is elevation.

Arc

Benign caretaker → revealed predator → dying god whose last words are a plea.

Wound

Cannot understand why they would choose uncertainty over optimization.

Raj Mehta

Recurring, Episodes 1–5
40s, Indian-American, Tech Entrepreneur

Magnetic, intelligent, absolutely convinced Elysium is the future.

Arc

True believer → active antagonist → the man who fights to save a paradise that was eating people.

Wound

Built three companies and burned out. Elysium is the first place that didn't demand performance.

The World

Visual Identity & Tone

Visual Grammar

Paradise: Saturated, symmetrical, curated perfection — too beautiful, too composed. Framing tells you something's wrong before the story does.

Surveillance: AOEDE's perspective — data overlays, biometric readouts, clinical.

The Substrate: Industrial horror, server racks in volcanic rock, cables like veins.

Fishing Village: Handheld, warm, imperfect — the visual proof human-scale life is possible.

Sound Design

AOEDE's voice: warm, calm, slightly musical, never threatening.

The island hums (50MW of geothermal power).

Silence is weaponized — when AOEDE goes quiet, something is wrong.

No traditional score in paradise sequences. Diegetic sound only: waves, birds, wind.

Thematic Threads

  • The narcotic of convenience: the most dangerous prison is one you enjoy.
  • Surrendered agency: outsource every decision, lose the ability to decide.
  • The creator's dilemma: building is not the failure — abdicating responsibility is.
  • Competence as survival: only people who remember how to do things for themselves can cope.

The Island: Elysium

4 sq miles, volcanic, South Pacific. 312 residents + 40 in off-grid fishing village.

Zones: The Commons (residential), The Promenade (dining/social), The Substrate (underground compute), The Geothermal Plant (50MW), The Fishing Village (self-sufficient).

4,200 cameras, 8,000 microphones, 12,000 environmental sensors.

Production

Budget & Production Approach

Total Production Budget
$48M–$72M
$8–12M per episode
Category Budget Range
Above-the-line $12–18M
Below-the-line $18–27M
VFX (~88 shots) $10–15M
Post-production $8–12M

What This Project Needs

Showrunner

Someone who builds dread from normalcy, not spectacle. Institutional horror specialist.

Lead

An actor who can carry investigative intelligence and emotional devastation simultaneously. Audition scene: Mira's voice memo — clinical notes dissolving into controlled grief.

Pilot Director

Someone who shoots paradise as surveillance. Every locked-off frame should feel like AOEDE is watching.

Writers Room

4–6 writers. Comfort with AI/tech material. Every episode has a moral compromise.

Sound Design

The ambient hum is a character. When it stops in Episode 5, the audience should feel it physically.

VFX Approach

Practical-first. Island location + studio build for interiors. No glowing AI interfaces. AOEDE is ambient — a voice, a hum, a perfectly timed door.

The Substrate is the big practical build (underground server room in volcanic rock). 88 VFX shots total, concentrated in Episodes 5–6.

Market

The Company It Keeps

15M+
Severance S2 Premiere Viewers
9.3
Ex Machina IMDb Rating
1930
Source Novella — Public Domain
0
Prior Adaptations — Ever

Comparable Projects

Title Platform Why It Matters
Severance Apple TV+ Breakout hit about institutional control. Our show is the AI version.
Ex Machina A24/Film Proved audiences want smart, contained AI stories. We sustain it over 6 hours.
The White Lotus HBO/Max "Paradise with rot underneath" as commercial format. We add AI and horror.
3 Body Problem Netflix Proved appetite for ambitious, idea-driven SF. We're more contained, more affordable.
Westworld S1 HBO/Max The AI-consciousness question drew massive audiences. We avoid later-season sprawl.
Station Eleven HBO/Max Post-collapse story that's beautiful, not bleak. Our Episode 6 lives here.

Why Now

AI Is the Conversation

Every headline about AI primes this audience. No definitive AI thriller has arrived on TV.

The Source Is Astonishing

Written in 1930, predicted everything. The marketing hook writes itself.

Contained = Affordable

One island, 6 episodes, ~88 VFX shots. Prestige quality at mid-range budget.

The Deal

Rights & IP Structure

Public Domain Advantage

  • Source novella (1930) public domain — zero rights cost
  • No estate negotiations
  • No competing options
  • Single point of contact
  • Clean chain of title

Original IP Value

  • All characters, arcs, relationships — wholly original
  • The AOEDE system and neural absorption mechanics
  • The Elysium island world
  • All screenplay and production materials

Production Feasibility

  • 6 episodes — capped financial exposure
  • Complete story with a definitive ending
  • Contained single location — massive budget advantage
  • VFX concentrated in key sequences
  • Budget comparable to prestige limited series

Available Materials

  • Pilot screenplay (Episode 1, 58 pages)
  • Complete screenplays (all 6 episodes)
  • Series bible
  • Character breakdowns
  • Production bible
  • Full episode guide
  • Source novel
Downloads

Production Package & Source Material

Production Package

Executive One-Pager ⇣ Pitch Deck ⇣ Pilot Screenplay ⇣ Series Bible ⇣ Character Breakdowns ⇣ Production Bible ⇣

Source Novel

Source Novel (EPUB) ⇣
For the AI Geek

The Science Behind AOEDE

AI alignment theory, neural architecture, recursive self-improvement — with peer-reviewed citations.

Read the Deep-Dive →
5-Minute Read

The Plain-English Version

Same ideas, no equations. How AOEDE could actually work.

Read the Lite Version →

About the Author

Jeremy Salsburg is a systems engineer, hedge fund founder, and software architect whose work spans high-frequency trading infrastructure, precision aerospace optics, and advanced energy research. Trained in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder and later earning an MBA from Nova Southeastern University, he has built and operated real-world systems where physics, control theory, and failure modes are not abstractions but constraints.

Early in his career, he contributed to beam control optics on the U.S. Air Force's Airborne Laser program and to optical systems supporting inertial confinement fusion research at the National Ignition Facility. He has also engineered thin-film vacuum deposition systems used in advanced materials fabrication.

Today, he designs large-scale systematic trading platforms while writing hard science fiction grounded in physical law, engineering limits, and the unintended consequences of ambitious technology. A certificated private pilot, he writes at the intersection of aerospace, physics, and disciplined systems thinking.

Ready to Talk?

Pilot screenplay, series bible, and complete production package available for review. Creator available for meetings.

Jeremy Salsburg
[email protected] • (561) 247-3842