JoinWith.Me, the first screenplay of Mike Meier, receives the top feature screenplay award at MiSciFi Festival. It is also published as a novel.

MIAMI, FLORIDA, USA, March 28, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Miami International Science Fiction Film Festival just announced this year’s winners. The “Best Sci-Fi Feature Screenplay” award went to JoinWith.Me.

JoinWith.Me is a dystopian thriller that explores timely questions: whether we control technology or it controls us; the singularity horizon where AI crosses the threshold into self-awareness; the enduring power of human connection; and the ultimate destiny of humankind.

Technology is an ever-growing part of daily life, with society becoming increasingly dependent upon it and even addicted to it. For author Mike Meier, the moment where artificial intelligence crosses the threshold into self-awareness is inevitable, yet the question of whether technology actually allows humanity to flourish in a futuristic world remains to be seen.

In brief, the storyline is: In the year 2032, Sam Vanderpool lives a lonely existence with a menial job in an urban dystopia that is impersonal and dominated by technology. Sam is jolted from his routine when an ad appears on his computer screen that takes him to a website called JoinWith.Me. The site offers counseling for the lonely, and Sam decides to log on. He talks to a girl who offers to help him be happier and find a girlfriend. Or so he thinks...

When she tells him to give all his money to a stranger, Sam reports her to the police, but they brush him off. He decides to leave town, but his flight is mysteriously canceled. Where there is a chip, a screen, or an interface, there she is. In desperation, he abandons the life he knows and becomes one of the city's homeless, scrounging for money and befriending transients: Gabrielle, an immigrant with the voice of an angel and a direct connection to God, and Joey, an armless man who makes art with his feet...

Meier posits that eventually all of humanity will converge in technology. “It is the ultimate destiny of humankind, and while it is startling to see how the Internet and technology have the ability to control us as a society, I really want to emphasize the enduring power of a human connection, something AI cannot replicate,” he says.

Incidentally, the “Best Comedy Feature” Award at the MiSciFi Festival also went to Mike Meier for his science fiction comedy “Where are the Aliens? … Closer than you think.”

The book JoinWith.Me is available at Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/JoinWith-Me-Machina-Machine-Dystopian-Fiction/dp/164111942X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=joinwith.me&qid=1616859275&sr=8-1

The website of MiSciFi is https://miscifi.com/2021-scifimiami-awards/

About the Author

Mike Meier grew up in Germany. He holds a master’s degree in political science as well as a J.D. and LL.M. When not writing books and screenplays, he enjoys playing Latin and Flamenco guitar. He currently resides in the greater Washington, D.C area.

Mike Meier
JoinWith.Me
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Trailer for screenplay and novel JoinWith.Me by Mike Meier