Aberrant: 2011 - Indie Thoughts

[z-Kara]

Very few actresses successfully made the leap from pornography to the silver screen. It was hard to convince the industry that you were more than a pretty sperm receptacle. And Kara was no exception. Marty, her agent, had been pounding on doors for a while now, using her status as a nova – and one whose beauty would transfer over film – to try to get her foot in the door. Despite Kara’s undeniable charms, few were willing to give her a chance.

“You’d think that George Clooney would have seen one of my films,” Kara grumbled, wadding up and throwing a paper-ball across the room. “I mean, he’s single and straight! Doesn’t he need some help to rub one out occasionally?”

Marty grinned at her client before brushing her bangs back from her face. Kara resisted the urge to go for her scissors and clip them. She knew the white woman was growing out her reddish hair, but it was still annoying to watch her mess with them continuously. “I’m sure he does, but he can afford to hire a woman to give him a live show, hon,” Marty giggled. She sobered a little as she added, “You know, I’ve had another thought.”

Kara tilted her head; it was her subconscious way of indicating she was open to hearing more. When Marty didn’t catch the cue, Kara sighed. Marty was too new to know her cues, and Kara had to say, “Ok, whatcha got?”

“Some actors have made their big break by making their own movie.” Kara felt her expression turn skeptical, but Marty bulled onward. “No, really. Make an independent film, show it at Sundance, and then you have a real film that you can act in. We start October 5th, and we could be filming by November. Wrap sometime in December, and then we have months to edit. If you film near or below the equator, the season won’t matter. We could have it ready for Sundance in June 2010.”

“I don’t know,” Kara said after a moment of contemplation. “I mean, it won’t even be a Hollywood movie… won’t it lack credentials?”

“The point is to let people see you act, with your clothes on,” Marty replied. “You hire a director, and get him to help you with the crew, then fill in the other parts. That won’t be hard; there are people out there, in Bolly and Hollywood, who’ll work for crumbs. There’ll be some who’d pay to work with you.”

“That’d help me fund things, anyway,” Kara muttered, settling her chin on her hand. Would this work? “You say other actors have done this before?”

“Sure they have!” Marty exclaimed.

“I don’t know if we can get it going in time,” Kara said, spreading her hands on the table. “I mean, we don’t even have a script!”

“We could… have a script… right now,” Marty said, drawing a sheaf of papers out of her bag and sliding them toward Kara.

“Who’s Kyle Vaasper? Besides the writer of Strangle?”

“Well… she’s also my girlfriend,” Marty admitted. “But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a really good script. I really think you could do the lead.”

“Sure… flatter me up,” Kara said, with only a touch of sarcasm. “I’ll… consider it. Can you leave this with me for a couple of days?”

“Absolutely!” Marty said, nodding. Grabbing her purse, she added, “I’ll let you get started right now. Call me when you’re ready to talk.”

Kara sighed, but flipped open the first page and started to read.

[z-Kara]

Kara had moved to her couch by the time the sun had set the next evening, but she was still reading. It was good – not great, and Kara knew it would need some work. But there was something good to start with; the heroine was compelling – which was good since, Kara would be playing her. The story was solid, though the climax was weak. The writer hadn’t known how to finish, but Kara had a couple of ideas about that, and it would be fixed.

Warm laughter filled her living room as she realized that she’d already decided to start this project. “You’re crazy!” she admonished herself, but it didn’t stop her from dialing Marty’s number. “Marty? It’s Kara. We’re doing it. Bring Kylie - Kyle over; she and I need to talk about revisions to the script, and you need to find us a director. Let me worry about actors. We can get a ton of those, especially if we kick over a few rocks in the right places. Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”

After she’d called to her security and let them know to expect Marty and her girlfriend, Kara got out a pen and started to make notes. Thanks to her previous film experience, she knew what was involved, to a degree. She’d need someone with more knowledge than she had.

To her surprise, she was getting excited about this, excited about working in a way that she hadn’t been in years. She was still grinning as she opened the door and greeted Kyle and Marty.