The Reservoir is a one-hour drama series about water scarcity and what it will take to overcome it. Through a thought-provoking, character-driven narrative, it will explore mankind’s complex relationship with its most vital resource and the difficult choices that must be taken in pursuit of the greater good.

“50 YEARS FROM NOW, WE’LL WONDER WHY

WE EVER FOUGHT A WAR OVER A DESERT.”

“The Reservoir" is a rich and expertly crafted political drama, venturing successfully into the somewhat unassuming subject of water environmentalism - all while demonstrating a sober, stimulating tone akin to dark television shows like "Ozark."

MEET STEVE GOODE

SERIES PROTAGONIST, CIVIL ENGINEER, FORMER WATER ACTIVIST.

Back in college, STEVE GOODE was something of a radical. Under the wing of divisive water rights icon Professor Madeline Reed, she was considered an up-and-coming leader in the more extreme corners of the eco-activist movement that Professor Reed’s work seemed to attract. Some would have gone so far as eco-terrorist, but no one ever proved anything.

That was a long time ago.

Today, Steve is a community college professor and single mom. She is overqualified and underutilized, scaring college kids with her grim assessment of the looming crisis and humankind’s inability to confront it.

Her daughter Samantha is her priority now, a 10-year-old bookworm who idolizes her mom. But Sam’s keen interest in her mom’s work is giving her nightmares, a reality Steve doesn’t know how to manage when the monsters under the bed are real.

Steve is asked to assess an unprecedented breach of the aqueduct of the Scituate Reservoir, a crisis that has cut off water to the majority of the state of Rhode Island. 

Over the next 48 hours, Steve will learn that all of this is her fault.

SENATOR MALLICK

RI STATE SENATOR JAMES MALLICK has a plan. 24 hours ago it looked like the Governor would finally be able to sell the Scituate Reservoir, a short-sighted act that would have devastating consequences for the future of the state. But when the aqueduct broke, the math changed.

Soon after the crisis begins, a fire breaks out in Providence. Though the fire department responds, there is no water pressure in the hydrants. The fire rages unchecked, destroying several buildings and causing the deaths of 3 of Mallick’s constituents. With the public on his side, Mallick forces the governor to establish the Oversight Task Force, giving him temporary control over all aspects of Prov Water.

While the task force is active, a sale is impossible, but the clock is ticking. Mallick must use this unprecedented power to take privatization of the reservoir off the table for good, whatever it takes.

WILLA GOODE

WILLA, a mildly self-destructive reporter at the Providence Journal, receives a call. An anonymous source, claiming to be a member of an extremist group, reveals that the aqueduct and the consequent fire are the results of a coordinated attack, the first steps in a larger plan.

Willa is devastated to discover that the fire consumed her own apartment and took the lives of three of her neighbors. When the source turns up dead, Willa sets out on a path that will ultimately lead to the last person she’d ever imagine: her estranged sister.

RITCHIE GOODE

Steve and Willa’s widowed father and the head of the reservoir patrol. A life-long Scituate resident, Ritchie still carries the smoldering family resentment toward Providence that began when Prov Water forcibly acquired the 200-acre Goode family farm a century ago. As Steve begins her investigation into the aqueduct, Ritchie’s fractured relationship with his daughter is about to get even more complicated.

SISYPHUS

As Steve digs deeper into the aqueduct incident, she soon discovers what few else are able or willing to see. Despite outward appearances, the breach was no accident.

It was a covert attack, executed by the clandestine eco-terrorist group SISYPHUS.

We are the hammer of the earth
We are the whirlwind reaped
Sewn by the avarice of men,
We are the crack that splits the fountain

Inspired by the radical views of PROFESSOR MADELINE REED, they carry out catastrophic acts to bring about rapid systemic pro-environmental change. Every act has a purpose, and every purpose is pursued at any cost. They have no limits.

Steve knows all of this because she helped create Sisyphus. Back in her days as an activist, she quickly realized that the activism itself always became the story, stealing the focus from the issue at hand. This inspired the idea of a new kind of organization, one that operated entirely in secret. Its actions would remain invisible, its results would appear coincidental. There would be no angry crowds or raucous news clips to steal the limelight—only the outcomes they orchestrate would get the attention.

Steve knows that Sisyphus has only 2 priorities: the mission at hand and keeping its existence secret. It will stop at nothing to achieve its goals, one of the reasons she walked away years ago. She also knows that as ruthless as the aqueduct attack was, Sisyphus has a larger endgame in mind. This is just the beginning.

SEASON ONE

A straightforward task takes a complex turn when water activist group Sisyphus pushes Steve to leverage her new position on Mallick’s Task Force to further their clandestine objectives. Torn between past and current selves, Steve spearheads the sanctioned investigation into Prov Water while secretly providing access and information to Sisyphus in an effort to understand their ultimate plans and deter their penchant for collateral damage. 

At home, Steve struggles to temper her natural pragmatism in the face of her daughter’s mounting climate anxiety, while butting heads with her father over uncomfortable truths she’s unearthed about Ritchie’s past. This tumultuous emotional journey reaches a new low when Steve must derail her sister Willa’s journalistic investigation into Sisyphus’ activities in order to keep her safe. 

Her horror reaches a crescendo with the revelation of Sisyphus’ ultimate goal: to expand the massive Scituate Reservoir, destroying Steve’s hometown in the process.

With the wheels already in motion, Steve must keep the truth hidden as she seeks to reroute Sisyphus without raising suspicion and grapple with the repercussions of both monumental moves. Her own sense of identity hangs in the balance. Is she the cynical professor and mom or is she the fearless firebrand at the helm of a group committed to change at any cost? Can she be all three?

THEMES

THE GREATER GOOD

The Reservoir examines the concept of the greater good and the ethical, moral, and personal sacrifice it can take to achieve it. The series will take an unflinching look at the difficult decisions, ugly compromises, and unintended consequences of large-scale, collective works in the modern world. For these characters, doing great things will rarely mean doing the right thing.

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH WATER

In parts of the world today, the pursuit of fresh water is an endless, all-consuming task. The Reservoir explores both the excesses of those with limitless access and the mortal struggle of those without it. It follows characters who seek to control it, hoard it, profit from it, and kill for it. Above all, The Reservoir will stoke the fear of what’s to come for all of us who take for granted a vital and irreplaceable resource.

WHY NOW

GLOBAL PROBLEMS, LOCAL SOLUTIONS

Data has shown that water shortages are affecting more than 3 billion people worldwide, as the amount of fresh water available for each person has plunged by a fifth over two decades. About 1.5 billion people are suffering severe water scarcity or even drought, as a combination of climate breakdown, rising demand, and poor management has made agriculture increasingly difficult across the globe. The UN has also recently warned that billions of people would face hunger and widespread chronic food shortages as a result of failures to conserve water resources and tackle the climate crisis.

Water policy is often climate policy. But given the political dynamics of climate, some observers feel that more innovative policies might require that the issue be reframed around water. “Let’s not talk about climate.” “Let’s do climate policy, and talk about water. And that’s not being sneaky. That’s just being effective.”

While red states are getting redder and blue states are turning bluer - these party and geographical divisions may seem rigid, but they are not insurmountable. Partisanship tends to peel away when it comes to water. Unlike climate change, which does score high marks for political division, water is generally an issue on which Republicans and Democrats agree, at least in the abstract. Water pollution doesn’t lend itself to an easy red-blue split. It is generally a non-partisan issue… until leaders politicize it.

COMPS

REFERENCES

Uncover the true story which led to the creation of the Scituate Reservoir, and watch as filmmaker Evan Villari attempts to engage with Providence Water, only to discover the vulnerability of the supply and the sanctity of family.
(Feature Documentary, 2023)

SCITUATE, A REAL TOWN

OUR SERIES INSPIRATION

In December 1916, the newly-appointed Providence Water Supply Board condemned the town of SCITUATE, RHODE ISLAND to clear the way for the construction of a reservoir, the state’s first man-made water supply. 1,200 homes, schools, churches, and businesses were demolished. Graves were exhumed. Some profited from the upheaval, some committed suicide.

But the resentment and rage toward the state over a century ago persist today, passed down through generations.

The families that still reside in modern-day Scituate have never forgotten the betrayal perpetrated by the state in the name of the greater good.

Learn how taking from the few benefited the many in this 2 MIN watch:

CREATORS

Dylan Allen is an award-winning screenwriter and copywriter. He has received many finalist rankings, including the Slamdance Screenplay Competition, Austin Film Festival AMC Drama Teleplay Pilot Competition, New Orleans Film Festival Screenplay Competition, ScreenCraft TV Pilot Competition, and was shortlisted for Sundance's Episodic Story Lab. His short film, Epilogue, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was featured on Short of the Week, Vimeo Staff Picks, Fast Company, The Atlantic, io9, United Airlines, Film Shortage, and NoBudge, where it was the most-watched film of 2014. Dylan also wrote and directed The Privates, a Vimeo Staff Pick Premiere featured on Omeleto, DUST, winner of Hammer to Nail’s Short Film Contest, and was named in the Top 10 Films of 2017 by Film Shortage. Dylan lives in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York with his beloved wife and four incorrigible rescue dogs.

Eddy Vallante is a Rhode Island-based creative producer specializing in independent films and commercial videos. In addition to his work with Amalgamated Picture Co, Eddy was an executive producer on God's Time (streaming on Hulu), which premiered in competition at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Eddy also co-produced IFC Films' The Sound of Silence, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones, and several short films, including Lightningface featuring Oscar Isaac and Actor Seeks Role, which The New Yorker presented. Eddy originally hails from Rhode Island and began his career in LA as a producer's assistant on the final seasons of "The Sopranos."

Dylan and Eddy earned their BAs in Film at Emerson College.