“This island will become a shining example of human rights”
– Mayor Redman | 1947
Dracopolis
Another Pitch by Kevin R Hickey
The full moon peers through a thin spot in the clouds as rain drenches shoppers on a bustling city street bathed in an orange & yellow glow
Locals scurry through the rain seeking moments of shelter under storefront awnings. Shop-owners & customers barter while jaywalkers dash across the street amid the frustration of passing drivers
A red door with no markings or signage opens along a blank brick wall. White light pours out of the doorway. A silhouette of a confident man wearing a trench coat and fedora steps out of the doorway
Bateman raises his collar as he walks down the street, random citizens start to notice him. He repeatedly looks over his shoulder as more & more people make eye contact
As he continues, everyone is looking at him. He picks up his pace with short sprints from awning to awning
A sultry brunette raises an eyebrow and hums as she passes. He bumps into a dude in a clear plastic parka. “Watch it ese!”
Frantic, he starts to jog. He trips over a crack in the sidewalk. He looks up to see an old woman cackling in his face
He jumps up, starts to run. He looks back at the woman, then runs into a mailbox
He falls to the ground. Another Man chuckles as he passes. Rain pools in his eyes
A young girl giggles. He looks up to find an innocent little girl with pigtails sucking on a lollipop. Joe relaxes his shoulders. The girl smiles revealing the red lollipop
He smiles & laughs with the girl. They laugh together as her bicuspids elongate into fangs
The man stops laughing. The girl lunges at the man
Her mother snaps her back by her coat collar, “What do we think of street food?”
The girl looks down, “It’s for poor people”
“That’s right.” They walk off
Bateman stands up. He shakes himself off & looks up
The rain is letting up as the clouds disperse, revealing another glimpse of the full moon
He calms down and walks past graffiti on a brick wall, “Everyone sucks!”
Suddenly, a shadow snatches him into an alley. His scream quickly morph into a weak, gargling plea coming from the darkness
The view rises providing silhouettes of home lives in the building. A Mom serving dinner. A couple kissing n a couch. An old man watching TV
The view rises faster and faster to reveal a gothic cityscape bathed in fresh rain & pale moonlight. A crow flies by
A roof-top Billboard reads, “New Cruor Properties | If you lived here, you’d be home by now”
|Smash Cut|
Multiple, otherworldly screams clash with a terrifying music sting
Title Slate: Dracopolis
Synopsis
A Hard Boiled Narrator says, “Selene. AKA Dracopolis. Not a great place to visit….
You definitely don’t want to live there. Only Suckers live here.”
The only place in the world where vampires can live freely. A mecca where one can obtain a home, a career, a life. A chance for prosperity versus hiding in the shadows, as a nomadic predator.
A city devoted to the basic right of all – to exist, to procreate, to achieve. A ghetto in the truest sense of the word, yet Vampires live openly on this island city cut off from the mainland. In Dracopolis, vampires are welcome as equals rather than hunted like vermin. For at the end of the day they acknowledge that they truly do pose a threat to humanity. Now they may provide services, an economy & taxes.
Any human over twenty-one, convicted of murder, rape, war-crimes & especially white collar crimes over $1M can choose to live there instead of the new mandatory minimum. Capital punishment.”
“If your here you have to make friends to survive. You are only worth your weight in blood. You don’t take a bit out of this city, this city will take a bite out of you.”
Otherwise Vampires here have rather normal lives from night to night. An upper class and a lower class with few in the middle. Just like the real world. Other than the occasional street feast, and the sparse daytime population, Dracopolis is mostly like Manhattan, specifically Gotham