Viral tells the story about a modest and shy office drone by the name of Mitchell Terry. Mitchell desperately accepts a job in a secret digital media company (Viral Reality) after being fired from his position in human resources. Mitchell is made well aware beforehand that the people who make up the company downstairs are a very rambunctious and disorganized crowd. But because of Mitchell’s ability to communicate effectively with people, he becomes an obvious candidate for the job.
Late 20’s, tall and slender with a nerdy flair. He’s a logical person thrown into a creative world. He’s very attractive, but has issues with his self-esteem. He flunked out of MIT and had been doing freelance computer work before he started his own Youtube tech channel. The popularity he received online is what made him noticed by Viral Reality. Although he has a vast knowledge of technology for his age, he’s oblivious to other pop culture and most references go over his head. However, he’s not socially awkward and interacts with the people around him in a very logical way. Adam goes with the flow and has a difficult time saying no to things people want him to do.
40 years old. He’s a Pisces. He’s very in his head, he’s got a wild imagination and he’s very perceptive of the world around him. He’s sort of a wallflower. At first interaction with him you wouldn’t be able to tell that he’s a loving and caring person but spend enough time around him and you’d figure it out. He used to travel the world and photograph/ film for National Geographic but he injured himself in a water skiing accident and now he has a bad hip, therefore he cannot travel anymore. He’s awkward around the office and he’s socially oblivious. He knows a lot about other cultures as well. He can command a room with his voice but he chooses not too. He has respect for Mitchell but just doesn’t show it early on. He likes to wear t-shirts with cute animals on them.
Mid 20’s and fresh out of college. She’s an Aries. She can be demanding, determined and she’s ambitious. But she’s also scared of the future. She feels comfortable at this company because she’s been there for a while. She got a job at the company because she was an intern there previously. She’s a beautiful girl, she’s educated, and she’s not one to get bossed around and loves a good banter with someone. She’ll be blunt with you if she needs to be. Karina works the social media for the department. She’s very trendy and knows a lot about pop culture. She’s also a friend to some significant figures in teen pop culture - some famous youtubers. She loves to argue with Vince about who knows more about pop culture. She’s also humble, and people always tell her to get in front of the camera but she thinks it’s kind of cheesy, but also that she doesn’t think she could do it well enough.
Lisa is 49 years old. She’s hardly an intimidating woman at all. The way she carries herself indicates that she’s not a very confident person at all. She’ll trail off at the end of her sentences into silence if she thinks no one is listening to her, which happens often. She’s admires strong women figures in history and aspires to be like them. She was once a spiritual person but has sort of lost track of her spirituality after some recent rocky events. She was in love with the “father of viral reality” but he passed away and now Lisa goes through bouts of depression here and there. When she’s not depressed she is a little eccentric. She’s a smart woman, but her lack of confidence keeps her from truly being able to wrangle her staff down stairs. She’s a sucker for animals. She’s never been out of the country before and dreams of taking a vacation to Italy one day where she can divulge in all the Italian food you can eat. She’s great at reading people and is very empathetic but she can’t always find the right words.
Mitchell is 30 years old. He was born on August 23, 1985 in Bedford, Texas. He is gay but not very open about it to his mother and father. They are aware, but it’s the ‘elephant in the room’ when the family is together. His sister however is fully supportive of him and they have a healthy and thriving relationship. Her name is Jennifer, and she is married with 2 kids. She got pregnant early on and decided to get married to make her parents more comfortable. He was not “out” to friends until he graduated from high school, because he didn’t want to deal with the trouble of coming out while still in high school. The Terry’s are Southern Baptists and regular churchgoers. They are not bible thumpers, but they do have their certain beliefs. As Mitchell got older, he started to deviate away from the church. Not in a bad way, but in a way that being around all the other Southern Baptists made him feel uncomfortable. When Mitchell got into high school he picked up the first sport he was good at so he could stop having to go to Wednesday night bible group: Tennis. He played almost all throughout high school and was actually a really good player, competitive and graceful with his competition. He actually formed his first emotional and sexual relationship with a player on an opposing team from the high school in the city over. Their relationship fizzled out after a freak accident at a Christmas tree lot left Mitchell with a broken foot and unable to continue his tennis career. Mitchell volunteered at the Christmas tree lot for his church, his way of keeping his parents somewhat happy. With Mitchell’s broken foot, he spent loads of time inside, where he fell in love with watching old timey television shows. His favorite TV show is the Andy Griffith show, because he idolized the relationship between Andy Griffith and Opey. Mitchell attended University of Michigan where he studied advertising. Mitchell is not great at speaking in front of large crowds. He always seems composed. He has OCD and the people down stairs will drive him crazy. He loves whistling but hates loud music. He wishes he could play a musical instrument. He’s an old soul and a meticulous planner.
Phill Frampton is 54 years old. He is an intimidating, confident, Mark Cuban esc man. He’s very blunt, and gets to the point very easily. He either likes you or he doesn’t, there’s no grey area with him and you’ll know how he feels about you. His father ran the company before he did and he hardly had to work his way up in the company. He too has a soft spot for animals. He used to not like Lisa, but she has since grown on him. He used to care for the viral reality department but it has ceased to make money for him and he’s getting close to closing the project down. He attended USC as a Business Major, and he was also on the speech and debate team.
39 but doesn’t want to get old. Mitchell and Vince are a lot a like in that they both lacked close relationships with their fathers when they were younger. Vince handled it differently and over exudes a douchebag aura. It’s a wall he puts up to increase his masculinity and hide that weakness. He tries to act young and hip but it clearly comes off as lame. He talks in douche puns and lists and is very attuned with pop culture. He’s extremely competitive and hates any newcomers and change that threatens his alpha male presence. Gary does not intimidate him but when Mitchell comes in to the picture it throws him off. He never admits it, but he was also very fond of “the father of viral reality” who passed away. People that are younger than him intimidate him and inspire him at the same time. He reads stupid gossip magazines but doesn’t want anyone to know about it. He’s very self-conscious but doesn’t show it. Lisa can tell though.