A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 9

This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one:

You always need more than one in your gun.

Want that explained? Go here to read a Business of Screenwriting post.

Today’s story idea: How a Mennonite farmer became a drug suspect.

LAS FLORES, Mexico — Franz Kauenhofen was once a pious member of his Mennonite community in this tropical stretch of southern Mexico. He read the Bible, tended to his fields and reared his three children to obey the teachings of the church.

“He never bothered anyone,” a childhood friend recalled. “He was a very kind, very noble person.”

Mennonites are Christians who, like the Amish, believe that admission to heaven depends on dressing modestly, doing good works, embracing pacifism and eschewing many modern conveniences. Kauenhofen’s community — a hamlet known as Las Flores — allowed cars and electricity but banned televisions, computers, the internet and smartphones.

Despite such restrictions, Mennonites are among the most successful industrial farmers in Mexico. Kauenhofen owned at least 100 acres, where he and his farmhands grew soybeans.

— —

Today at age 40, he sits in prison accused of running clandestine airstrips for drug planes and commanding groups of assassins. Prosecutors say he was on the payroll of the Sinaloa cartel, once headed by the infamous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“He was a rising criminal,” said Hipólito Alonzo Quijano, director of the Campeche state criminal investigations agency. “And he was extremely dangerous.”

His story — pieced together from court documents, his own 19-page deposition and interviews with authorities and members of his community — offers a rare window into the insular culture from which he emerged and a potent illustration of the profound reach of the drug cartels in Mexican society.

The depth of Kauenhofen’s alleged involvement shocked even some of the country’s most seasoned drug fighters.

His arrest left the Mennonites of Las Flores and the surrounding area grappling with questions about their own complicity. Many in his church knew about his dark turn. At least some worked for him.

Inside the cartel, his background was a definite novelty. In a world where narcos sport colorful nicknames — Jefe, Más Loco, Taliban — he was known as El Menona. The Mennonite.

This quote is what really grabbed my attention:

Some would say, “We’ve already had the TV series Breaking Bad. Why would Hollywood be interested in this story?”

A few things.

First, Hollywood’s operating principle when it comes to film and TV is this: similar but different. And nowadays given the addiction to preexisting “content” exhibited by C-suite denizens from Burbank to Culver City (read: Remakes, Reboots, Prequels, Sequels, Shequels), they’re more likely to green light projects which are more similar to successful titles than different.

Next, Breaking Bad debuted in 2008 and ended in 2013. That is over a decade ago which is nearly ancient history when it comes to Hollywood development circles.

Finally, it does have two considerably different narrative elements: (1) The Protagonist is not a chemistry teacher. Nor is he a financial advisor in the TV series Ozarks. The Protagonist is a Mennonite which is a fascinating subculture to explore. (2) Plus, it’s not set in New Mexico or Missouri, it’s in Mexico. Again, an interesting subculture. Especially given the FOOW (Fish Out Of Water) dynamic of a Mennonite community across the border.

Since this is a slippery slope story, it would probably work best as a TV series. I’m thinking limited series. That should be long enough to track the Protagonist’s descent into criminality.

And there’s my story setup for Day 9. Previous articles in this year’s series:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.