Located in a small city which has successfully managed the uneasy transition from industrial- to knowledge-based economy, the Bostick Independent Filmmakers Guild is the kind of organisation that could only thrive in an economy with ample room for diversion. Or that would be the case if the cabal weren’t a bunch of self-obsessed, talentless hacks.
A trio of cinemancers motivated less by the love of their art than the power it promises them, they’ve banded together against an entire subculture of indie movie makers that despise them. If it weren't for their magickal power they'd be laughably ineffective. Instead as a group they work clumsily towards expanding the boundaries of cinema to in turn expand the influence of their powers. When all is cinema then nothing will be beyond their grasp.
Their current objectives are:
- Expand the realm of cinema with a new movie. There are some creative differences as to how this should be achieved but finding a way to reconcile them is just a part of the process. This is their objective and currently sits at 14%.
- Find out who broke into the Regent and stole several canisters of antique films from Leslie’s collection. He swears they held the key to the next stage of their objective. He says that about a lot of things.
- Capture the elusive celluloid nightmare, a shapeshifting mockery of 1970s and 1980s movie monsters unleashed by Luz’s tampering. Not only will getting ahold of it free the local area from the scourge they’ve created, as a potent magickal symbol its sacrifice holds the potential to help make their dreams a reality.
Michael Marx is a local trust fund kid whose parents own the Bostick Regent Theatre, a crumbling edifice that has seen better days. Access to a historic landmark and a semi-bottomless pit of resources allows him the opportunity to do the one thing he’s best known for: using other people’s money as a replacement for having anything to say.
A well-dressed, wide-featured man with a harelip, Michael wants the glamour movies hold as implicit, easy promise. He wants to not have to work for anything and if he can expand the influence of the thing he holds sway over he won't have to. The others know he is loath to share this primacy but they are unaware of how far he is willing to go to avoid sharing the spotlight.
Luz Richard is technically brilliant but creatively bankrupt, having made her name in filmmaking circles by facilitating other people’s work in a bevvy of roles. Films have swept Cannes, Sundance and Sitges based on the quality of her work, others have sunk into unworkable quagmires because she reached too far trying to leave her mark on them. Relegated to carefully managed supporting roles by canny filmmakers, she obnoxiously destroyed her career in a public meltdown.
A tall, tomboyish woman with an athletic build who is always sporting some scrape or another, Luz chewing around the edges of other people’s work is her toying with the poison of her creative touch. If she can nail it down she can excise it and become what she sees as a success, not just what other people do.
Leslie Sheffield is a walking movie encyclopedia, if it has touched film Leslie has seen it. He mistakes his knowledge as equivalent to understanding how movies are made and it shows. Stubborn naivety, turned toxic by an inability to let go of the same thing that powers his magick undermines Leslie’s ability to do more than consume the thing that he loves. He works both the ticket and projectionist's booth at Michael's parent's theatre and sleeps in a little room upstairs.
A round, spectacled man who is sensitive about his lisp, Leslie is often overcome with excitement at the prospect of sharing his opinions and knowledge with other seekers and fans. He sees his quest as anything but selfish, he thinks he doesn’t crave power but merely wants to share (impose) his refined vision on movies (the world).
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