A long weekend at Bernard Smithe's - light hearted, sort of Oscar's related

[Orval Wintermute]

Basic concept

A group of aspiring actors are whisked away to middle of nowhere on the promise of staring in a film that will ignite their careers.
But things are not what they seem.
Everyone involved is essentially locked away on a private estate for a 4 day weekend where they try to impress a mysterious director.

Overall the game will be a sandbox but with the occasional nudge to move things along.

A bit more detail

There have been plenty of rumors about the director Bernard Smithe since his first feature film "Goldsmith" was released to critical acclaim 4 years ago. It won just about every independent film award going but it was completely ignored by the major awards, not even a single nomination. The stories were that this snub is that nobody could or would say who Bernard Smithe was, he never appeared on the film set and while all the actors say they had met him, they all gave slightly different descriptions of the mysterious director to the point where they would contradict themselves during interviews. But the lead actors didn't care about the rumors and actually seemed to enjoy playing the rumor game with the press, also everyone now knew who they were and they were all being lined up for major film roles.


The following year Bernard Smithe repeated his success by taking another group of unknown actors and creating "Envy". Again the film was critically acclaimed and again the rumors started about who the director was, alongside suggestions the just like "Goldsmith" the sex scenes in "Envy" were just a little too realistic. The lead actors were hounded by the press to reveal the identity and again they all told slightly different stories, with one actor suggesting that Bernard might actually be Bernadette. Just as with "Goldsmith", "Envy" cleaned up at the independent film awards and launched the careers of the lead actors but again the film was snub by the really big awards.

Bernard Smithe has been quiet for the last two years which is where our story begins.....



The people involved split into two groups and nobody knows exactly what is going on.

The actors - Each of the actors has recently attended an audition for an unnamed project. A week or so later they received an excited call from their agent, the audition was for Bernard Smithe's new project "Liberty" and Bernard wants to meet them together with the other lead actors this weekend to make sure that the chemistry between the leads is right.

The understudies - Each of the understudies has recently attended an audition for an unnamed project. A week or so later they received a call from their agent, the audition was for Bernard Smithe's new project "Liberty". The understudy didn't land a part but Bernard has started to have some doubts about the person who was cast in the role. So this weekend he's having a get together of the lead actors but wants the understudy to be there as well. The understudy will have to blend in as one of the staff and if they can show more chemistry with the other leads they might get taken off the subs bench and end up staring in the film.

The Movie - the "plot" of the movie is subject to change depending on how many people want to join the game; more people = more roles and the fictional plot can be tweaked to accommodate. The plot of "Liberty" revolves around an heiress, her new bodyguard and a stripper. The heiress while trying to give her new bodyguard a hard time forces him to take her to strip club where she insists they act like a couple. The pair encounter the stripper, who both entertains them and uses them to smuggle something valuable out of the club. What ensues is a manhunt involving mob bosses and corrupt cops etc.

There is one minor detail about the plot of "Liberty", it's total bullshit. The movie that Bernard Smithe is really making is more of a documentary, that involves a group of unknown actors that have been brought together on the pretense that they are about to star in a movie that will make their careers.

The cast

Actor	Understudy
Role Actor Hieress ? Bogyguard ? Stripper ?	Cover Actor Chef ? Masseur ? Maid ?

If people want different\new roles to be added just let me know.

[RedPhoenix]

Super intriguing premise. The dynamics of playing an understudy who thinks she has a shot if she can get everyone to love her but is in reality already filming the movie is super interesting to me. I'm not 100% sure I can commit so I'm just gonna see what develops for now but...color me intrigued.

[Orval Wintermute]

It was one of those things where I keep going back and forth on who's got the easier "job":

The actors just have to turn up and get along with everyone, which seems easy enough. But they've got somebody who's trying to undermine them, what if they over-react and everyone turns against them? Or what if they under-react and they are seen as a total doormat?

The understudies have a 'target' to replace and prospective new boss to impress. How do they get their rival out of the way while not looking like an untrustworthy backstabber, all while earning the trust of the rest of the cast.

[RedPhoenix]

Yup! Sounds like a fun dynamic! :)