The future of technology will lead us to a world of access module’s and a society that’s deeply rooted on its dependence on the internet. In the year 2045 people will rarely leave their homes due to the convenience that technology provides, at least according to professor Louis Rosenberg’s award-winning screenplay.
“Upgrade,” which is yet to be made, takes place in the year 2048 and was written by Cal Poly’s own Rosenberg. It recently won recognition by wining a Gold-Remi Award at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival this past May.
Rosenberg who is, the Cotchett Endowed Professor of Educational Technology, with a dual appointment with the College of Education and the College of Engineering at Cal Poly, is excited about winning such a prestigious award with his futuristic sci-fi screenplay.
“I think technology has an important place in society, but we often fail to ask the question which technologies makes our lives better, and which are just sold to us as new and improved. That’s what ‘Upgrade’ is really about, getting people to ask that question,” Rosenberg said. “Plus the movie is good entertainment, which for any film, is the primary goal. Still, I wanted to write something that has a point people could resonate with.”
“Upgrade” is an action thriller that takes place in a future where humans have become overly dependent on technology and have lost touch with the outside world. The hero and main character of the story is Avery Mankin. According to Rosenberg, Mankin is “a perfect citizen of this world until he’s unfairly banished from the system and must discover what the ‘real world’ is all about.”
This fast-paced movie is a “cautionary tale that takes modern social trends to a satirical extreme, serving as a warning about the dangers of human over dependence on technology,” he said.
The WorldFest Houston Film Festival is the oldest independent film and video festival in the world, according to the WorldFest Web site.
“The Awards Banquet was fun, but mostly because there were people there from all over the world. It is truly an international festival. I sat at a table with filmmakers from India, Poland, Armenia and Canada,” Rosenberg said.
The script for “Upgrade” is over a hundred pages long and would approximately be a two-hour feature film.
Despite winning such a prestigious award, Rosenberg is new to writing screenplays. He does have a longstanding involvement with media as he previously worked in animation, claymation and immersive media.
“My interest in film and media go back a long time,” Rosenberg said. ”I only made the decision recently to go beyond the technology of film and get into the actual content.”
He is glad for the recognition he received but he knows the true goal for any script is to have it transformed into a movie.
“It’s certainly rewarding to have ‘Upgrade’ be recognized as an award winner by the Worldfest Film Festival, but the primary goal for any screenplay is to get it produced and shown on the big screen,” Rosenberg said. “Thus the best thing about winning this award is that it helped me get the screenplay read and ultimately signed by good Hollywood agency that will soon begin promoting it to studios.”
He does know that it is a competitive business in terms of getting the script made into a movie.
“It’s about having a good script that both entertains and inspires, getting people passionate enough to invest the time and money,” Rosenberg said. “I think ‘Upgrade’ has that potential, so I am hopeful, but it’s also about having some good luck. So I keep my fingers crossed too.”