SPOILER ALERT is a black comic/revenge tale from first-time feature filmmaker David
Rakowiecki (pronounced Ra-cow-ski). It's about Brad, the operator of a movie scoop
website and Harrison, a down on his luck film director who has squandered his artistic
abilities in pursuit of easy paydays. One night Harrison shows up on Brad's doorstep
looking to exact revenge upon him because he feels Brad and his website have ruined
his career. Chinese food, movie geek talk and murder ensue.
Featuring a cast that includes Daniel Bartkewicz (HAUNTED HAYRIDE, ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY), Lars Stevens (BUTTERFLY SCREAMS, NIGHTMARE) Jarred Kjack (AS THE WORLD TURNS, GUIDING LIGHT) and Tony Mui (JADED, FANTASTA GIRL). SPOILER ALERT is written, produced and directed by David Rakowiecki.
The story begins when Brad Zuhl (BARTKEWICZ), self-styled film geek and webmaster of movie scoop site www.TheGeek-Cave.com, lets an interviewer (STEVENS) into his apartment. The "interviewer" is, in fact, Harrison Kane, a film director that Brad has relentlessly slammed for years on his website. Soon Harrison, Brad and Walt (KJACK), Brad's best friend, are entangled in a power struggle (both physical and psychological).
Although all the characters are involved in filmmaking or want to be, Rakowiecki feels this is not a film about making a film. "That's just the MacGuffin. It's about the power and possibilities of internet culture. When you operate in an arena (the internet) where there are no rules and no consequences, you have to rely on your own moral compass to guide you. And with no oversight it's possible to get away with murder. Or be driven mad by the options."
"It's also about the alarming trend of the focus grouping and 'American Idol-ing' of our culture. More and more we're seeing artistic merit based on a majority vote and creativity by committee. Popular culture is becoming so watered down that there's less and less room for individual, unique, out-of-left-field expression. But then you have this explosion of creativity on the internet that isn't beholden to economic factors. The internet is the new underground."
After writing 12 screenplays in 10 years, attending pitch festivals around the country and doing o.k. in screenwriting contests, Writer/Director Rakowiecki realized he was not getting any closer to his goal of becoming a filmmaker. "For example," Rakowiecki says, "I won 2nd place in the 2002 Hollywood Symposium Screenwriting Contest for my script 40 ACRES AND A MULE. The first place and third place winners had their scripts optioned but mine wasn't." He realized he needed to write something he could shoot himself. "I didn't want to wait any longer for someone to give me permission to make a movie. Especially because I didn't just want to be a screenwriter, I wanted to write and direct. I needed to show confidence in myself by putting everything on the line to make a film I believed in."
All these things coincided with Rakowiecki being laid off from his job as an advertising copywriter in 2003. "I used my severance and unemployment money to live off of that summer while I wrote the script that became SPOILER ALERT. While I was searching for an idea the first thing I did every day was check my favorite movie scoop websites. One day I said 'What if?' What if a site relentlessly vilified one particular director and his work? How long would it take to have an impact? Could it actually ruin someone's career? And wouldn't it be a convenient excuse for someone who was a bit paranoid, to blame his own downward spiral on a website? Is it all in his head, or is there some element of truth to it? The internet can create tremendous buzz around films, as well as tremendous backlash. What are the responsibilities of those who have that kind of power?"
When Rakowiecki decided the website would be run out of a basement apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey a lot of other story elements fell into place. "The basement set-up led to the conceit of a one room film, the 'holy grail' of low budget filmmaking. I could boil the story down to its most basic components; one room, and three main characters. If I could make it compelling, it would be a great way to make the most of my limited financial resources. And it would also be the most rigorous example of the Aristotelian theory of the unity of time and place. These guys literally can't leave the room and, as an audience, neither can we."
The first character he created was Brad, the web host who, thanks to the internet, is enjoying the kind of power and status he's always dreamed of having. Next came the film director, Harrison, who started out with good artistic intentions but has just taken a wrong turn in his career. "They are almost two sides of the same coin; Brad the idealist and Harrison, the lapsed idealist," says Rakowiecki. "Neither one is a conventional hero or conventional villain. I wanted people's empathy and loyalty to shift between the two lead characters throughout the story. It was a difficult balancing act in the writing." But the writing had moments of sheer creative fun. "Some of the most fun I had was imagining the world of the Geek-cave.com and the world of Harrison Kane, creating the history and mythology of both guys. Especially the movie titles and taglines for Harrison's films. Bob Buzas (graphic designer), did an amazing job of creating the posters and capturing the vibe of the films. That level of detail leant authenticity to Harrison's career." (see more about Harrison Kane's career at www.harrisonkane.com)
"There's definitely a lot of me in Harrison and Brad," Rakowiecki continues. "A lot of their dialogue is based on things that I'm passionate and concerned about. Things like the power of the internet, pursuing your dreams, age-ism in our society (is it ever too late to pursue your dreams?). Not to mention the focus-grouping and American Idol-ing of culture to reach the lowest common denominator. I've seen a lot of that in advertising and it's now permeating more and more of society. Ultimately that group-think diminishes our culture by taking out uniqueness and individuality of expression. If people take away some of that from the film, great. But mainly I wanted to tell an exciting, entertaining story. So I took all those ideas and wrapped them up in a fast moving tale of revenge."