A Movie Production Fantasy Draft Activity
Hello, prospective horror movie producers! Our big question to you: Do you want to make a horror movie? Do you think you can do a better job at picking the right cast and crew compared to THAT TEAM?
And… do you want to win some PRIZES? Yeaaaaahhh you do.
The Scariest Things Studios welcomes you to produce a horror movie for us. We have summoned some of the best actors, actresses, and directors in the industry to bring us a scary movie. That’s where you come in. The trick is that there are seven other producers who are looking to do the same thing. You will also select the major tropes and themes that you will be using in your movie. You will acquire your selections by way of a snake draft, and, you will be given a movie budget, so think carefully about your choices!
Our inaugural public launch was at Crypticon recently, in Seattle, and our NEXT public event will be for the Portland Horror Film Festival on Saturday, June 10th from 9:00 to 11:00 outdoors in front of Dot’s Cafe. The festival will be running from Noon to 9:00, so get ready to watch a bunch of horror films, and then you can grab some grub and make movies at the same time. Make a day of it! Note that there are a limited amount of Team seats available, so if you are interested, sign up now! To participate in this event, please fill out this form which guarantees your team a table. The Scariest Things will bring everything you will need, but feel free to download the Producer’s manual below to understand how this will work.
Here is the Production Team Fantasy Draft Guide for the Rules and the Database that will be used for the Event. Download your copy so that you will have it ready for the event. This contains ALL the available cast, crew, and tropes, as well as the rules included.
DOWNLOADABLE PRODUCER’S GUIDE
HOW THE SNAKE DRAFT WORKS
One at a time, production teams will select from the available people and ideas in turn. You will draw a token from a bag to receive where you are in the draft order. If you don’t get a great first-round pick, fear not, as the selections will go from 1-8 and then 8-1, so the team that picks last in the first round will get to pick first in the second round. Once a selection has been made, that pick is OFF THE BOARD.
There will be 13 selection rounds, and you only will have 30 seconds to make a selection. If you fail to make a selection within that period, the Scariest Things will randomly select something for you… and the results won’t be pretty. Make sure to track who you want, and make contingencies. You probably aren’t going to be able to get all the pieces you want in the draft. Have a good backup plan!
DOWNLOADABLE SELECTION “BIG BOARD”
YOUR BUDGET
You will note that you have a big ol’ stack of red and green chips. You will receive a budget of 120 Scariest Bucks. Every selection has a minimum cost of 5 bucks. The maximum cost of a selection, for the prestige selections is 25 bucks. Be careful with your selections, or you may not have enough funds to get the people and themes that you want. All the chips are worth 5 Scariest Bucks. The Red chips are round tokens, which makes sure you have at least $5 for each selection. The Green chips are also worth $5 and are the supplemental funds you have beyond the minimum $5 for each selection.
You do not have to spend all your Scariest Bucks in the draft… and if you select the Shaky Cam or Indie Production options, you will get Bonus points for your leftover money.
SELECTING YOUR CAST AND CREW
Picking your actors and directors will be a lot of fun, but keep in mind that each potential cast member has some characteristics. We at The Scariest Things believe that we have secured a wide-ranging pool of talent for your selections, ranging from the biggest oscar winning stars to new and hungry up-and-comer actors.
The hiring cost is listed below the image of the actor or director. It ranges from $5 to $25 for the big stars. Note that some production types will limit some sorts of casting. The Big Budget, Big Studio production will not allow $5 cast members to be Leads in the Movie. The Shaky Cam, Indie, and Sleazy Grindhouse will not allow $25 stars, as a big star like Cate Blanchett or Brad Pitt is not about to slum it in a Production like that.
Keep in mind that you are picking cast and crew as of 2023. So, if you want to get Robert Englund, recognize you are getting the 75-year-old Englund, and not the 40-ish Freddy in his prime. BUT… there still is value in selecting an ICON as noted above. We love Robert, no matter how old he is.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE DRAFT
Scariest Things: The Greenlight Pitch Draft is now in session! The first pick goes to
Team GRUESOME TWOSOME: We select Jamie Lee Curtis!
Scariest Things: OK, protagonist or antagonist?
GRUESOME TWOSOME: Protagonist.
Scariest Things: Of course! Good pick. That will be 25 Scariest Bucks.
GRUESOME TWOSOME: Here you go. (brings up their chips)
Team BLOODBATH AND BEYOND is now on the clock. You have thirty seconds, Bloodbath.
Scariest Things discusses the recent selection of Jamie Lee.
Team Bloodbath: “We’re Ready!”
Scariest Things: OK, who did you Pick?
Team Bloodbath: Jordan Peele!
Scariest Things: Great pick! He goes into your Director slot. OK, Team NOT IN MY BACKYARD, you are now on the clock.
Scariest Things: So, what did you think of Nope? (Filler banter while waiting for team NOT IN MY BACKYARD.)
(tick… tick… tick…)
DING!
Scariest Things: OK, Backyard, who ya got?
NOT IN MY BACKYARD: Um… we pick… Big Studio, Big Budget Production.
Scariest Things: That cost 5 bucks, but you now have 15 extra scariest bucks to spend on cast and crew… come get it. And you have unlocked Prestige.
BACKYARD: WOO HOO!
And so on, and so forth.
AFTER THE DRAFT | WINNING THE GAME:
You will get 15 minutes to come up with a rough plot outline, the name of your movie, and your characters. After that, it will be pens down, and time to make your Greenlight Pitch. Each Team will get 3 minutes to do a trailer pitch presentation for their film. This is where it pays to be the last team, as you get to see the presentations go before you.
DOWNLOADABLE STORYBOARD FILE
After each team finishes its pitch, the Scariest Things Judges will grade the presentation on FOUR WINNING CRITERIA:
- Originality and creativity of the story. (Score 1-8)
- How good was the trailer pitch? Was it convincing (Score 1-8)
- Is there good synergy within the production? Do the cast and crew make sense for the production type and story? (Score 1-8)
- Does the movie sound really scary? Does it sound fun? IS THIS SOMETHING WE WANT TO WATCH? (Score 1-8)
In addition to getting the movie contract, the winning team gets a Crypticon TROPHY. You know you always wanted a trophy, right? Plus, there are some other prizes for the winner… we’ll call it research material for your soon-to-be hit film.
So, how about it? Ready to make some scary movies? Hope to see you in Seattle!