In the mid-'90s, I was commissioned by a midwestern production company to write the script for an independent film, with the following restrictions: a) use a very small cast, b) use primarily a single location, and c) try to incorporate a connection to the midwest.

The result was Desolation Games, the story of a team of professional assassins who find themselves stuck in Iowa at the behest of a former associate, now deceased, who has hired them for one last job. Naturally, I couldn't resist incorporating a supernatural element, which is how I wound up with characters like Mexico Santiago d'Amoretto, assassin - and psychic! The production company shot a trailer, which was intended to help generate interest, but never managed to raise enough money to shoot the actual film. But I think the script is still a neat little artifact, a parody of the hep indie convention at the time of using wacky assassins in movies as though they were as common as waiters or office workers.

Desolation Games (186 KB PDF)