2018 The Crime List

The Crime List recognizes stories in any genre that feature a crime tale.

2018 WINNER

BUREAU 121

by Helene Taylor

Logline: A North Korean hacker must decide between defection and love or family, and life as a cyber warfare terrorist.

Screenwriter Bio: Helene Taylor has worked in front and behind the scenes in the film and television industry for over fifteen years. Her first screenplay writing project she wrote in her teens won a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation mentorship, she moved on to writing a small environmental television program for Delta Cable TV and won a Canadian Cable Television Award (Producer) for Best PSA.

Helene lived in the New York City area for fifteen years and in that time worked on a variety of student films, short film projects, features and television series.

She graduated LAByrinth Theater Company’s Master program sharpening her playwright skills with teachers such as George C. Wolfe, Jose Rivera (Motorcycle Diaries) and is Alumni of Atlantic Theater Acting School. Helene’s most recent project, DISCORD (short film) is with co-writer Jax Smith (Leo Award Winner) and co-producer Ashley Alexander under her production company Orange Knapsack Productions Ltd.

She studies writing with Gotham Writers Workshops, the Academy of Film Writing Masters Program and is enrolled in Capilano University’s Creative Writing Associates Degree Program.

Screenwriter Statement: This short script is a glimpse of the life of hacker Jin, based on the very real Bureau 121 group. He’s in love but can he leave what he knows? He may be a hacker but being locked in rooms destroying technology isn’t the same as living a regular life in the western world. Is it worth the risk to defect causing his family back home potential harm? I wanted to illustrate this contrast and the mental obstacles facing those who have been trained to love country before themselves. The story presents a stark visual contrast between a North Korea apartment and a modern upscale, technology savvy Vancouver hotel.

IMDb Profile: IMDb.com/name/1495783