The Visionaries
The Visionaries is a darkly comic sci-fi set in an alternate Liverpool, where NASA has relocated to the city and all the world's richest billionaires are Scousers. Three of the richest of them prepare to launch separate missions to Mars in a galactic pissing contest. The only problem is the blast from their rockets will destroy most of the city in the process. As the countdown begins, ordinary residents face a chaotic evacuation while the so-called “visionaries” deliver delusional soundbites and posture for history. It’s a film about power, delusion, and the people left behind to deal with the consequences.
Simon Jones is a Liverpool-based writer, director, and co-founder of People Versus TV (PVTV). With a background spanning video production, animation, sound design, and live visual tech, his work has long lived in the underground arts scene, from projection mapping and experimental shorts to music videos, installations, and DIY television. The Visionaries is part of a new chapter: bringing that outsider spirit to wider audiences through character-driven, formally bold storytelling. He co-wrote and co-directed Pants Labyrinth, a surreal short comedy selected for multiple UK festivals in 2024, and is currently developing PVTV’s hybrid animation slate alongside co-director Kaylee Nicholas.
Kaylee Nicholas is a writer, director and performer from the Wirral. Her practice blends psychological realism with visual absurdity, informed by her background in lighting design, DJing, and live art. She’s a core member of People Versus TV (PVTV) and has collaborated widely across interactive theatre, streamed TV, and underground performance. Kaylee co-wrote and co-directed Pants Labyrinth and brings an incisive emotional register to her characters and scripts. With The Visionaries, she and Simon Jones are pushing their hybrid storytelling approach into new territory, using animation, satire and working-class voice to interrogate the theatre of power.