Murder Biz

Tagline: It's murder trying to make it in this business.

Logline: A group of low budget filmmakers gather for a party at the isolated vacation home of a notoriously manipulative producer only to find themselves caught up in a murder investigation when a raging storm cuts them off from civilization.

Jaded film industry veterans spend a weekend at an isolated house where one of them is murdered. Before the murder, much partying takes place under the forceful direction of the financier who is controlling the purse strings of a proposed film project. When she is found dead, the other guests all become suspicious of each other, trapped as they are in the middle of nowhere during a fierce storm.

There is only one outsider among the guests, and he takes it upon himself to solve the crime in order to prevent his actress friend from facing a likely jail sentence for a murder it appears she committed. He is also fascinated with the lives of the filmmakers around him and bored with his humdrum life working in an office. So, he hopes solving the murder will lead to an opportunity to become a part of the film making world himself.

The script is reminiscent of the classic seventies murder mystery The Last of Sheila, but it tells a story about low budget filmmakers rather than Hollywood insiders partying on a yacht in the French Riviera.

The script was written to be shot on a modest budget. Most of the scenes take place in an isolated, two-story house. This is a true "cozy" murder mystery script rife with cynical characters as is often the case in both murder mysteries and the world of film.