Shipwrecks with good stories

Of the hundreds of thousands of wrecks, you could easily do 20 on each era:

20 Prolific Shipwrecks of WW2
Ditto WW1
Ditto Steamboat Disasters of the 1800s
Ditto Colonial wrecks
etc, etc.

The more recent the era, the more photos and short movies. The later eras will give you more paintings. Artifacts can be had from all eras, but some wrecks haven't been found, so you may not have artifacts from the exact wreck.
 

Actually...
I cannot say ANY shipwreck has a "good story"... do you mean "good" as in what ? ...
Good in the sense of "amount of loss" ?
Good in the amount of gain from others loss ?
Good in "whos/what" opinion ?

ALL "stories" of a shipwreck stem from tragedy... or at least "loss"... and ordeal of frightening peril.

So... with this in mind... Do you mean shipwreck "recovery" stories ?

The whole package ? what ?

The internet IS packed with everything you would need to accomplish this...
Unless...
You are looking for "private" stories from personal experiences from members here...
Which is what I tend to think is your aim ?
In that case...
I HIGHLY doubt... anyone here can produce evidence of 20 wrecks with the info and data etc for each...

In fact I only know of a few men alive on this earth who could fall into that "arena"...

No offense... just trying to get a "clearer" picture of your aim here.
 

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Good story is not a good choice of words. Maybe a compelling story?
Most shipwrecks are sad. But there can be stories of survivors. Or the story is about the people and how they coped with the circumstances.
Details. Sometimes the story is mostly before the shipwreck and ends abruptly with the sinking of the ship.
The important thing is that the story is entertaining. It is meant for TV.
The story must be real, no fiction.
There must be enough material for a one hour show.

No "Reality" show.

No we don't expect a single person to have 20 stories researched and ready. The stories can have 20 different sources.
 

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Every shipwreck is a good story.
 

Metamora Steamboat
While inboard paddlewheel river boats traveled down Florida's St Johns River to the Oklawaha River to Silver Springs to supply Fort King in the 1840's, and later ran the Union river blockade to supply the Confederacy, the Lucas Line Metamora was the only one to sink.
There several version on what occurred to the Metamora in 1903 where the Silver River meets the Oklawaha.
One account claims its locomotive style boiler blew, another that it hit a snag causing it to list and flood with river water. All the passengers survived, but two of the crew died.
 

Darren in Trinidad said:
Of the hundreds of thousands of wrecks, you could easily do 20 on each era:

20 Prolific Shipwrecks of WW2
Ditto WW1
Ditto Steamboat Disasters of the 1800s
Ditto Colonial wrecks
etc, etc.

The more recent the era, the more photos and short movies. The later eras will give you more paintings. Artifacts can be had from all eras, but some wrecks haven't been found, so you may not have artifacts from the exact wreck.
Click to expand...

As you say, there are thousands of shipwrecks, maybe one million shipwrecks just in the last 500 years. Each shipwreck has it's own story. Most of these stories are unknown and will never be discovered.
Some stories are very short and not interesting to most people.

We need stories that people can identify with. That fascinate people.

Imagine yourself in front of an audience of several hundred people who pay to hear your Power-Point presentation. You need to keep these people interested for one hour. If they find your story boring, they will throw Rotten Tomatoes http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ at you. They will ask for a refund.
The TV world is highly competitive.
The first show/movie, will be the pilot. If enough people like it, there is a chance for a series. If enough people like the series there are more series or seasons.
The pilot has to set the hook. It is going to be the story that decides if the rest of the project will ever exist.

Just 20 stories to pick one for the pilot is the goal for now.
 

Smithbrown said:
The Batavia has everything- shipwreck, survivors, murder, sex, discovery, replica, they're still making new discoveries....Batavia (ship) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...

Definitely a fantastic story with great potential. It has everything. The original well documented story as well as modern recounts. Thanks.
We could consider this a model shipwreck story.

For the pilot, we want to stay closer to the USA, not necessarily the country, but the people. A story involving American people, history etc. has a better chance to be popular in the country of first release.
 

The West Lashaway was an American vessel torpedoed with American missionary children - some are still alive today to share. It supposedly had a secret shipment of gold.

The City of New York was an American vessel torpedoed by a German sub off NC. Lots of news clippings. A baby was born in a lifeboat, and named after the rescue vessel.

The Merida was lost off Virginia in a collision. There was speculation that the crew stole from the passengers. The passengers were landed ashore with hardly any clothes on and nothing in their possession. The crew were landed with all their luggage. The purser of the ship retired quite nicely afterward. Maxmillan's treasure was supposedly aboard. Many salvage attempts for treasure. Tons of new clippings. Conspiracy theories. All the makings of a great pilot.

I have zillions of stories in my personal archives.
 

If you haven't heard, one of the most famous shipwrecks (among the shipwreck crowd) is the Central America steamer lost off NC 1857. It was coming from the wild west gold fields. It lost so much gold, it plummeted the markets. There is much recorded history of her passengers. A group of treasure hunters led by Tommy Thompson found the wreck in 87. The gold has been tied up in courts for decades. Tommy Thompson became a fugitive, and was just picked up a month or so ago with his girlfriend. Odyssey Marine just recovered more gold from the wreck a year ago. Lots of intrigue historically and continues to this day.
 

Darren in Trinidad said:
If you haven't heard, one of the most famous shipwrecks (among the shipwreck crowd) is the Central America steamer lost off NC 1857. It was coming from the wild west gold fields. It lost so much gold, it plummeted the markets. There is much recorded history of her passengers. A group of treasure hunters led by Tommy Thompson found the wreck in 87. The gold has been tied up in courts for decades. Tommy Thompson became a fugitive, and was just picked up a month or so ago with his girlfriend. Odyssey Marine just recovered more gold from the wreck a year ago. Lots of intrigue historically and continues to this day.
Click to expand...

I heartily agree with Darren. The Central America story has everything, including an almost unkown American hero in Captain Herndon. A most remarkable man...I personally found the most interesting part of Kinzer's Ship of Gold in the Deep, Blue Sea, to be the story of the original shipwreck
 

Send me an email.. I may be able to help you out with this ... You can also go to my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Shipwreckhunter
I have compiled a list of thirty shipwrecks with interesting stories ...

Thanks,
Gene
74607_587544784594373_1172308136_n.jpg
 

Mackaydon said:
What compensation package are you offering for each story accepted for airing?

Don........
Click to expand...

That will depend a lot on the completeness of the story. For example, is all the research there, is there a book or story line to build the script on? Is there already a script and complete documentation etc. All this does not need to be there, but it needs to be done and will cost. It is a matter of who will bear that cost.
These things are pretty standard procedures and contracts in the industry.
 

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