So yeah, we’re making a film. One of a whole list of them. It’s pointless trying to keep it a secret from the greater world as the excitement about it has started the rumour mill already. I’m getting a lot of questions. Let me try and explain the background as its moving so fast.

Last week Joby was saying to me that it was about time someone did a “Blair Witch”-style camcorder piece again, and we were firing off different drama/cinema concepts. Then the news about Halifax broke. I suggested we look at doing some TV proposals based on the recession. The first one was to do a “dead pool” thing where you bet on which company was going under next. Then Rob said we should do a version of the old story about a guy going nuts and killing all his co-workers. Bang. We were wondering what the people at Halifax must be feeling, as a lot of them are set to not only lose their jobs, but their homes and sanity too.

The amazing bit about working with Joby is that we are virtually twins - we think the same way. I write what i see playing out in my head, and when he reads or thinks, he’s shooting the movie in his head. I’m the one who is going to sex things up, and he has an incredibly cinema directorial talent that has seen him as the toast of many a film festival.

If you haven’t seen any of the video work yet, look here (if you have a question mark appear, you need to sort out Quicktime as its fucked your PC up):
http://www.devilslane.co.uk/jam

Emails went backwards and forwards, and a story started to appear about an ex-army guy, amd all the pressures that would lead him to go crazy. Next up was a soundtrack, and more and more talk of mindless killing. I suggested a short 1hr drama that would be perfect for TV, and not too much as a feature film. I started writing, and Joby started planning. We drew up a list of everything we could get for free and how we could use the film to help as many people as we could.

This is how the quick pitch for it turned out:

A traumatised ex-soldier who has begun a new life in the city as an office clerk breaks down after being made redundant as a victim of the “credit crunch” and finding his fiancé having an affair with his boss. Determined to exact revenge, he suffers a nervous breakdown and films himself ruthlessly slaughtering all his co-workers before being shot down by armed police officers in a final blaze of glory.

You can download and read the film’s treatment here:
http://www.azcameron.co.uk/Michaels.Resignation.pdf

Joby then explodes with inspiration and demands that we use our psycho’s camcorder footage as a viral to promote the film - i.e. send it round on email as a hoax purporting to be the “real” footage of an actual office massacre.

I wrote this in regards to what the film’s “message” is supposed to be:

OK well i was stumped on this at first as all we were interested in was mass killing and mindless violence. But when it comes down to it, Michael’s breakdown is about his search for meaning - about the fragility of the human soul. He went to war because he thought it meant something; he prposed to Judith because it was supposed to mean something, and he started a new carreer because he thought it would be meaningful When all those things fell apart, so did any meaning or purpose for his life. So the moral of rhe story is that without meaning or purpose, we fall apart and anyone can go nuts without it. Modern life is so meaningless (war, 9to5 life etc) that it can send anyone over the edge because we crave meaning so much.

Two days later, we had a story, characters, screenplay summary, set spec, equipment/crew list and a porudction feel. I worked out we would need around £30k to hire crew, cameras, dollies, cranes and SFX. A day later, we had a potential backer - a billionaire friend of mine who has just got into the film distribution business and is hungry to fund new productions. Especially ones where the heads of them are 2 of the the country’s hottest producers, and they’re willing to sell off the distribution rights for the production budget, a massive bargain and very profitable investment.

Then we took it even further. After putting the treatment (summary) together, i decided to write the script very differently. Instead of using one writer, we want to give unknown acting and writing a talent a foot up into the world by getting involved from the beginning. I went on to Facebook and started talking to screenwriting groups.

And so, the script for “Michael’s Resignation” is being written online by a community of budding screenwriters at PlotBot.com, evolving as each person writes a new line. We have all ages, from all over the world. The wonderful bit is that even though some contributors might just be beginners, they can come up with brilliantly creative ideas that more experienced writers can re-write for them. THey get experience, the ideas stay, and it gets made better.

Word is now reaching universities after i contacted the Deans of film departments, inviting all their students to come in and get involved in the writing.

You can sign up to work on the script for “Michael’s Resignation” by registering here:
http://www.plotbot.com/screenplays/michaels_resignation/join/29500dea

You don’t have to be a big shot writer or have any experience. Anyone can join in and write a line for it. Log in and just add one line or spelling correction if you want to. Give us your opinion, or point what the set or mood should look like.

If you’re a cameraman, stuntman, expert, make-up artist, lighting tech, organising person, general dogsbody, film fanatic, video editor, sound engineer or anything else, get in touch and get involved. If you know anyone who could help or be really good, tell them to call us. We’re looking to shoot it over 2 weeks in London before the end of the year. And yes, if you want to one of the office workers who gets shot and murdered, be our guest.

These truly are amazing days. We have Cannes and MIP in a few weeks, and now a list of some of the coolest movie ideas you would have seen in a while. My TV proposals are in the commissioning pipelines, and its going to get a whole lot sexier.

Did i say 2008 had been a bit dark? Consider that a hasty remark. One of the best years of my life.