Roleplay - Feature
One of my passion projects, a story about people I am most familiar with. I am a Sci-Fi nerd, grew up around gamers and read comic books and love being surrounded by interesting “misfits”.
Based on a short play written by John Hunter
Link to PlayStranger Things meets Goonies meets Edgar Wright
Synopsis
Anxious, meticulous roleplay gamer Jenna must take the leap from running her group’s online occult adventures to living one when a real demonic force targets the player she loves.
Twenty-something remote administrator Jenna has been running online role-play gaming groups since the pandemic. Uber-organised and deeply imaginative, she’s created online imaginary scenarios for horror game ‘LIKE HELL’.
She’s also cultivated her ideal gaming group: Overloaded nurse Alastair, isolated temp Sylvie and charismatic but cavalier Cameron - who Jenna has gradually fallen for. Unfortunately, demonic forces circle Cameron too... When Jenna summons the courage to suggest they all play in real life, Cameron never arrives. Supernatural events force Jenna to accept she’s not been stood up - but that means something far worse has happened to Cameron.
Always the games-master, Jenna must now become a player, leading Alastair and Sylvie to leap into the unknown to save the woman she loves. ‘Like Hell’ was just a game. This is real horror. Will the group come out of their shells and actually be the person they admire to be in the game world in real life?
Development
A few years ago I did a twitter shout out for scripts and John’s short story just hit a chord. He has a very fluent writing style and on top of that we also get along really well. We are slowly developing the short into a feature – or a TV show. The debate is ongoing…
We want to create a relatable group of friends, people we can identify with. “Nerds” who don’t play into stereotypes and most importantly, we don’t make fun of them.
The script has seen a lot of versions throughout John’s involvement in different writers scheme. It has been a play, a pilot and a feature. While there is potential for a TV show, I believe making the characters immortal through a rewatcheable feature will do it more justice.