(odd effects)
A feature film in development
by writer director Catherine Craig
logline
A young FX camera operator, the lone woman on an all-male monster-effects crew, turns her rigs and colored lights into the only shield her children have from a father trying to do them harm.
synopsis
Cady Langton, a cinematographer who vanished into her own marriage, flees in the night with her children, Prism and Parker, and lands at OddFX, a scrappy creature effects studio whose misfit crew has built careers making monsters for the movies. When her charming, well-connected husband moves to take custody of her children in family court, the OddFX crew steps out from behind the curtain and uses their talents in practical effects and illusion to confront the one monster they didn’t create—and can’t let win.
Sponsored by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman
Screenwriting Lab Finalist Twice
Screenplay Available Upon Request
director’s statement
Cinematography by Jason Doiy
characters
CHARACTER VISUALIZATIONS
Cady Langton (30s) Intelligent, talented, and guarded. Protective of her children. Self-sufficient, and not prone to suffer fools. In shock and shocked by the dilemma she finds herself in. Alienated from society. Trying to reenter, but wary of the cost. She is the best camera operator at OddFX.
Barrett Jones (50s) Owner of OddFX, a brilliant man living an arrested childhood making special effects (FX). Revered by a small worldwide following. He helps Cady get her foot in the door and becomes her mentor.
Prism Langton (8) A talented child whose abilities and welfare are overlooked with all that is going on. She tries to mediate between her mother and father and protect her younger brother. When it becomes too much, she escapes into dissociation by twirling. She wants help with her science project.
Parker Langton (6) He keeps his vision and interest centered closely around him. Prism is his only constant as they shuttle between parents.
Nolan Langton (40s) Manipulative and controlling. He uses a charming facade to psychologically torment his wife and children to maintain power.
Sergeant Wu (30s) Tired of seeing dead women. It is all life and death for her. She has lost touch with the nuances.
Teisha Ramos (30s) Outgoing, eccentric, aware. Helps Cady and her children integrate into the shelter. Nothing matters more to her than her dog, Frida.
ThenaJones (50) Married to Barrett. Grounded in the real world. Empathetic. She wants Barrett to step outside his curtained-off world and into reality. She sees Cady as an opportunity to get him there.
Yamiah and Rocky (20s) Two of the brilliant men working at OddFX; many have traveled great distances to join OddFX.
Cady and her children must navigate two unique and contrasting worlds.
location
Locations Two primary settings. A warehouse for OddFX and a shelter in a converted house. The story is written to be production-easy—a warehouse, an older house dressed for the shelter, the family home, a school, a corner store—all locations that can often be found 10 to 15 miles from each other.
OddFX is a story about a traditional special FX shop. It is not an expensive FX film. Many visually impressive practical effects can be done for very little money.
Director Catherine Craig knows the visual effects and special effects industry from the inside — and precisely how to make OddFX look like a studio picture without a studio budget.
why this film now?