Thanks for writing. I definitely want to be considered as a consultant, but I am not a
screenwriter. Nevertheless, I have definite ideas of how one should portray the Tesla story
and I hope you will consider my ideas as worthy. I have maintained close contact with
Leland Anderson, Tesla's most authoritative author, for many years and I have gained
some insight to Tesla's life in the seventeen years I have waved his banner. It has been
virtually an around-the-clock pursuit.
As regards compensation, I am well situated and do not need money. If you read my
website you no doubt saw that we have an account set up at our school to handle the expenses we incur with our bust purchases. I pay for all incidental expenses out of my own pocket without reimbursement. This is my contribution. Any contribution your group wants to make to our school account would be welcomed because it would help us pay for additional busts to donate to other major universities.
I have seen the Orson Welles picture 106 times (yes, this is an accurate count). I have
shown it to many groups, so I know it well.
As regards your stated needs, I will make an initial brief comment on as many as I can as
follows:
a) Exactly how Tesla spoke, moved, worked and socialized;
I am sure you have some insight on these subjects from seeing the Orson Welles film.
b) The exact FEEL of the times as well as the LOOK OF New York City and Colorado
Springs;
Ditto my previous comment. Also, you might read Lightning in His Hand by Inez Hunt and
Wanetta Draper to get more of a feel for Colorado Springs.
c) How Tesla's friends and adversaries acted;
Margaret Cheney and Leland Anderson's book, Tesla, Man Out of Time, does a good job of
providing this flavor.
d) What scenes you feel need to be accented in this picture (we are not going to cover his
early life, but start the picture whenhe arrives in New York as the picture will only run for
120 minutes);
Tesla's greatest contributions to the world are: (1) his rotating magnetic field principle,
which serves as the foundation for our worldwide system of polyphase AC current; thus,
allowing the transmission of electric energy over long distances. (2) his four-tuned circuits
idea, which serves as the foundation for all radio transmission. I feel strongly that your
film must start with Tesla's sudden discovery of the rotating magnetic field principle...even
if it occurs as a flashback in his mind. The viewers must be made to recognize the
monumental importance of this discovery...not that it is merely the foundation of the AC
motor, as depicted in current history. The opposite of the AC motor is a generator...and
Tesla's generator produced polyphase current. The AC motor and electricity to run it is what
the world actually needed...not the lightbulb as depicted by the Smithsonian. The lightbulb
was important, but it pales in importance to long distance transmission of AC. Inasmuch asAC electricity as suggested by Tesla is 60 Hz (cycles per second) is the forerunner of higher
frequency currents (radio), I believe it is imperative that you start your movie with this
depiction. When Tesla was satisfied that he had solved the low frequency conundrum his
interests naturally moved to high frequency AC. He invented the high frequency/high
voltage air core transformer now called a Tesla coil. Naturally, this makes a dramatic
impression on all viewers, so scenes of this kind are good as long as they do not dominate
the story. The audience must understand that the Tesla coil is merely a step in the long
process of making radio a viable entity. In short, they must not walk away at the end of
the movie and believe that the Tesla coil is the only thing Tesla created. The movie must
clearly show the scene where Tesla demonstrates the transmission of radio waves from his
laboratory to a boat he is on as he travels 25 miles up the Hudson River while listening to
his receiver. Then you must show him addressing the Franklin Institute in Phiadelphia in
1893 and then the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis demonstrating his
four-tuned circuit system and describing in detail before a crowd how his system of radio
worked. Also, you may want to consider using the other patent number, 649,621 in addition
to 645,576. Both patents are pertinent. Of course, this is your decision. In summation, I
believe your film must encompass a clear picture of how his work with 60 cycles AC evolved
into high freqency radio transmissions. These are his major contributions to the world. You
might also include his demonstration of his robotic boat to show that he is the father of
robotics too.
e) Any data that will help us substantiate WHO Tesla was' and;
If you clearly and dramatically present his two major contributions to the world the
audienced will know WHO Tesla was because they will realize that he invented the 20th
and 21st centuries. You might somehow cleverly show how the implementation of his
rotating magnetic field principle (the electrical equivalent of the wheel) changed the world
so dramatically from its inception at Niagara Falls in 1895 to how man was able to walk on
the moon in 1969. We went from the horse and buggy age to walking on the moon age in a
mere 74 years. Try subtracting 74 years from 1895. It takes you to 1821...horse and buggy
age. Now try to tell me that it was NOT Tesla's rotating magnetic field principle put to
work at Niagara Falls in 1895 that was the genesis of our new industrial revolution in all
areas of science. From that date to the present time our world has exploded with
knowledge...and Tesla did it all first with low frequency AC and then high frequency AC.
This is the story your screenwriter must tell. Above all, you must NOT depict Tesla as a
mad scientist or as someone who has mysterious creations hidden by the government yet
to be revealed. He was a legitimate scientist who is one of only 15 men worldwide having
a unit of measurement named in his honor (the unit of magnetic flux density in the MKS
system is the Tesla).
f) MOST IMPORTANTLY: What would Nikola Tesla, were he still alive today, most want us
to relate for him to the World by means of this picture.
All of what I previously explained, plus that he was a kind hearted man who wanted peace
in the world so that everyone could enjoy the fruits of his creations.
I hope I have helped you a little, Jim. Please feel free to ask me any questions you like
and I will be happy to pour my heart out to you.
Regards,
John W. Wagner
COMMENTS:
by John W. Wagner
Jim,
Ann Arbor, MI
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