Pitches wanted (psychological sci-fi) | $1,000+ per piece

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: NARRATIVELY

Deadline: 29 April 2024

If you remember cowering behind your popcorn while watching Alien or feeling that crushing sense of dread amid the dystopian landscape of Blade Runner, you’ve experienced the outsized impact of a masterful Ridley Scott movie. But one glimpse at the letters “AI” is a reminder that sci-fi is not all make-believe these days, and the truth, as we’re often told, is infinitely stranger than fiction. The fascinating intersection where truth collides with phenomena worthy of a Ridley Scott epic is a space we’re excited — and terrified! — to explore with none other than Ridley Scott himself and his film and television company, Scott Free Productions. We’ve teamed up with Scott Free’s nonfiction division to commission true stories under a theme we’re calling “Psychological Sci-Fi.”

Sure, if you have a hot tip on an actual alien or you’d like to write a confessional about your secret life as an android, we’ll take it! But absent this sort of stop-the-presses bombshell, we’re a lot more intrigued by multi-layered and complex stories grounded in reality that are nevertheless unexplainable or difficult to comprehend and force us to question our understanding of self, our motivations or the world. Have you or your proposed subject experienced something deeply outside our norm that seems to defy logic? Are you prepared to unravel a shocking secret that has always been too outlandish to be real until you methodically substantiate the truth? We’re on the hunt for completely preternatural stories of feats, crimes, survival, death, connection, horror and the paranormal, so long as they thrust us into uncharted territory and leave us questioning everything we thought we knew about the world, the universe and ourselves. No small feat, we know, and that’s what excites us!

Our ultimate goal is to publish stories that we can develop into documentaries or docuseries in tandem, so these narratives should have a highly visual element and come with unique access to the subject(s) — whether it’s those who lived these extraordinary experiences firsthand, or their family members, friends or experts who can offer an unparalleled and eye-opening perspective. As always, we’re open to memoir and reported stories.

Below are a few stories from the Narratively vault that might offer some inspiration, but don’t feel constrained by them!

He’s a Murderer With an Intergalactic Alibi. And She’s in Love With Him

This is the story of a romance that just works — cosmic conspiracies, life sentences and all.

Journeys of a Psychic Army Spy

Trained by the U.S. military in the art of mentalist warfare, a clandestine intelligence agent travels the world and unlocks state secrets, all without leaving his desk chair.

Believable Podcast, S1E2: This Is What's Going To Happen

Stephanie was pregnant with her second child when she started having disturbing premonitions. Everyone wrote them off, including her husband, Jonathan. And then things got strange.

Rates: Rates for these stories will start at $1,000 per story.

Pitches Due: Monday, April 29.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Submissions: Via Submittable

Website: https://www.narratively.com

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