Finn Knottman
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Finn Knottman was a major corporate and media player in the end of the 26th century
Early Life
Finn grew up a chatty and colourful young man. For a time, he had vague thoughts of going into business but after being evacuated to Tyr with his family during the 2nd Zzenddi War, Finn attended college there, studying journalism, which he discovered to be his true calling.
Thanks to his father's connections, he got the chance to intern with both Connect AC and with Terra Firma. Bolstered by those experiences, Finn became a restless student and a somewhat rebellious presence on campus, preferring to do actual journalism work to the stuffy studying.
Marriage
Finn Knottman met August Solarin III through his father, and the two hit it off immediately. The two young men's relationship evolved over five long years, but August remained uncertain about the prospect of marriage. In 2585, they tied the knot in a ceremony in Dhaka City. Attending the wedding were a number of major families from across the Republic including Princess Annastacia Valane of Mars, Lord Aurelian Sondeheim of Tyr and Reiner Grumman . Former Governor Nurih Safin also attended the wedding.
In 2590 they had two sons, Diwan and Yassine , grown in an artificial womb. Yassine pursued a career in the Diplomatic Corps and Diwan followed his father's footsteps in the navy.
Media Career
Documentary Director
Finn began his career as a freelance director, wandering the Republic in search of stories to follow. Some of his major projects were:
- "Ref 77-1" - 2580 - His first massive success, is a documentary following Lord Aurelian Sondeheim's charitable tour of the Republic after the 2nd Zzenddi War. An intimiate and emotional film, it portrayed a hero of the Republic in a very candid and vulnerable light. It won the Golden-Bear in the New Hamburg Film Festival in 2585
- "Legacy of Greed" - 2585 - A fiercely critical documentary about the "malign influence of the Hansa on the Republic" as well as an expose on the inability of the Republic and its political class to take on political corruption.
- "Peace River" - 2590 - A gritty look at the people working in the field to respond to the outbreak of the Snow Plague. Finn himself had a brush with the disease while in the field during the making of the film.
- "The Greater Fool" - 2594 - a lavish documentary telling the "life and times" story of former President Henderson Loke (GUR). The sprawling film showed footage of Loke from his younger years all the way to previously unseen footage of his time leading the war coalition.
- "On a Distant Shore" - 2599 - The feature length documentary was filmed over a five year period chronicling the founding of colony world First Light.
- "Can A House Divided Stand?" - 2619 - a feature length documentary about the Knottman family and how they coexist in spite of their spirited political disagreements.
Complete Picture
In 2590, Finn Knottman founded Complete Picture, a press outfit with the resources to conduct more ambitious investigations and the reach to broadcast them accross Terran Space. The ambition of the organisation was to remain apolitical in its reporting. The initial capital was provided by House Knottman but also benefitted from a merger with Junior Staffers, another small investigative journalism outfit owned by his husband.
Popular media
Finn took part in the GFC celebrity championship, alongside Baron Gaius Corvo and many other celebrities accross the Republic. Following on from that, he had a major role in Empyreal Entertainment's Hypernova (2615).
Politics
Gurava
In 2595, Finn joined the Gurava party. Turning down the offer to be party chair, he instead became a major behind the scenes figure, raising capital and working towards ensuring the party's voice was heard accross the Republic. He backed Payden Hickock for the Gurava nomination in the leadup to the 2600 election, who proved to be a surprisingly popular nominee.
Privately, he was often frustrated with Gurava's radicalism and unwillingness to compromise.
Ambassador to the Gannid
In 2600, with the election of Governor Walt Schilling (SDP), Finn Knottman was chosen to be Ambassador to the Gannid Commowealth. Using connections formed over a decade of lobbying and collaboration with the Gannid, he immediately negotiated a Mutual Defence Pact between the Commonwealth and the Republic, which allowed the Gannid fleet to join the Republic fleet quickly. He placed the Knottman estate under the charge of his brother Dr Cevin Knottman.
SDP
Finn played a part in convincing the Gurava and SDP leadership to agree to a merger of the two progressive parties. Years after the merge, his sister Julianna told the press that the decision felt like he'd "finally finished his teenage rebellion". Finn himself admitted that the merger going through was a relief and he felt the SDP had "come a long way since its fervent federalism of the 2590 era", which he blamed for his decision to join Gurava instead of the SDP.
He contributed heavily to the party warchest in the leadup to the 2620 election and during the party convention he worked hard to secure the backing of important party leaders for Julianna's nomination.
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