Could Ebay become the cyber age agent for screenplay writers? Filmmaker Nathyn Masters was willing to give it a try.
“Trying to sell via eBay is a way to reach a broader audience of filmmakers looking for screenplays in this niche,” says Masters, a producer of Christian horror and martial arts films.
He put the script for his latest Christian horror film on eBay.com Feb. 18 with a starting bid of $1. Almost 500 views and 13 bids later it sold for $28.15 to a buyer known only as “Dan Luza 37.”
“We’re a low budget micro cinema company. We would rather sell the script to someone who could give it justice. We’re smart enough to know that we only have enough money to shoot it in a certain way,” Masters says.
“Plus we’re trying to pay off bills from the last movie.”
Masters describes “Deadgirl” as PG-13 Christian themed horror, a sub-genre that he believes has an audience but lacks filmmakers and screenwriters willing to tackle the themes.
“It’s an odd market?and a rising one?where people are looking for spiritual films that nobody knows how to write,” says Masters. “For someone reason those who write these kinds of films and those who want them can’t connect.”
“Turn Me on Deadgirl” is about a young woman who begins teaching at a school where her dead father taught and begins to reconnect with him.
“It’s a ghost story to a certain extent with Christian themes such as good vs. evil, self-sacrifice, and premarital sex,” Masters says.
Besides the religious elements Masters also uses the “Deadgirl” script to pay homage to The Beatles. The title refers to the song “Revolution #9,” which features the hidden message, “Turn Me On Dead Man,” when played backwards.
Masters’ title comes from a rap song in the film that serves as a way for the dead to connect to the living.
Masters, a 1996 Columbia College graduate, worked in law firms and at research companies before deciding make use of his filmmaking education and setting up his Time Code Mechanics company in 2004.
While his films have varied from drama to martial arts action flicks, he’s always utilized Christian themes and morality.
His two films in the Christian horror genre were “Wages of Sin,” which was distributed to retail outlets, and “The 4th Beast: Mask of the Antichrist.” Producers were John Rogers III producer and Chris Free.
Back to his roots as a martial arts filmmaker, Masters’ feature, “Silvergun Samurai,” is currently in production for an estimated $50,000 budget.
Reach Masters at 312/371-6737, Email, nathynmasters@earthlink.com. See tcmech.com
