Shelter
TV DRAMA SERIES
A well-respected lawyer and a psychologist launch an innovative pilot shelter for Domestic Violence (DV) victims, with guaranteed backing from a powerful NY State Senator. They navigate betrayal, bureaucracy, and their own limits to keep the program operating.
Overview
Series Concept
Serialized drama following the personal and professional challenges of running a progressive DV shelter program in present day New York City.
Pilot Episode
One-hour drama introducing the shelter program and core characters.
Season One
Explores our current processes of dealing with DV while testing others.
Season Two
Explores what went wrong and how to fix it.
Season Three
Explores truly innovative ways of changing the processes.
Series Concept
Shelter follows a pilot program that dares to reimagine how society addresses DV. The program develops under the guidance of two DV survivors who have been guaranteed five years of financial backing from a NY State Senator. The social workers navigate a labyrinthine system of regulations, politics, and competing interests. All of the people working in the pilot project are survivors of DV.
The series explores what happens when idealism meets institutional reality. The people tasked with helping others must also fight to help themselves when the very system designed to provide assistance becomes a storm to weather.
Each episode reveals the complex web of relationships between clients, their families, caseworkers, bureaucrats, and politicians, showing how individual stories intersect with larger systemic challenges.
Key Characters
KATHRIN ROBINSON - The Program Creator & Director
Visionary leader of the pilot program who must balance idealistic goals with pragmatic realities. As an activist attorney she fights daily daily battles with bureaucracy while respecting her values and convictions about systemic change.
CONNIE (CONSUELO) RAMIREZ - Social Worker & Psychologist
Experienced, committed and a keen observer, she runs the day-to-day business of the shelter. Her strength and courage create a safe environment for healing.
SENATOR GARLAND
The powerful Senator guarantees five years of funding and government support for the new program.
Core Themes
1. Idealism vs. Institutional Reality
2. The Human Cost of Bureaucracy
3. Individual Agency Within Systems
4. The Complexity of Help and Harm
Comps
Combines the intersectional advocacy of:
- The West Wing - Institutional Depth
- Maid - Social Realism
- Unbelievable - Investigative Intensity
The Mission
Shelter challenges audiences to see beyond statistics and policy debates to the human stories at the heart of our DV crisis. It asks what happens when the people we task with fixing broken systems are working within those same broken systems. It threatens the status quo by choosing to push beyond "that's just the way it is."
"Shelter gave me time - and saved my life."
Anonymous Survivor