Deception
Author: Carlos Perez 
Feature Length

Synopsis:  

The locales of this story shift back and forth from heaven, to hell, and to earth. At this point in time heaven has become so organized that the postal service would envy it. Just as on earth, both heaven and hell have embraced technology, making the collection of souls much easier. One of the many specters of death (Jack) has been called to make a collection. The only problem this time is that this call may not have come from the usual source. 

Jack is collecting a woman who has died in a car wreck with a drunk driver, which just so happens to be the same way he and his wife Anne (another Death specter) died. In a fury over seeing a young innocent woman die at the hands of a drunk, Jack convinces Anne to help him, and together they take the drunk’s soul even though he’s not scheduled to die. This one act starts a chain reaction. Soon, many of the Death specters start doing the same thing and begin taking out those whom they feel deserve to die. Next, the Angels of Light start performing miracles without permission. These events put heaven in chaos. Before he knows it, Jack’s become the leader of a rebellion in heaven, whether he likes it or not. The problem is, he’s beginning to like the role and Anne is starting to feel he’s being overwhelmed by the power he feels he has. During this time on earth we also meet Chris Carpenter (Christ in human form), who has been preaching kindness and understanding, and performing his own little miracles on the QT so as to not bring to much attention to his presence on earth. 

In the meantime, Satan sends his demons to earth to compensate for the good being done by the angels. He also plots to find a way to get control over Jack so that he can use him to bring down heaven. He finds out that Jack has a daughter named Eve still living on earth and that if he can tempt her, then he can control the fate of her soul. Satan forms his own army of demons and human followers and Jack does the same with the angels and humans on earth. Both sides are building their forces for the final outcome.

However, when the holy army and the demon army face off on the battlefield, Chris’ cover is blown and it is Chris and his peace followers who end up in the center facing off these two great armies. In the end, the decision falls upon Jack, for it is he who has started all of this and must decide if he should rely on his own sense of justice or on faith. After all, the person he sees as Christ could be a fraud created by Satan, but then again he could just be the real thing and Jack’s faith and willingness to embrace peace may be just what determines the fate of humanity. 

Scriptwriters Bio: 

Carlos Perez, author of Deception, has a Masters in English with an emphasis in screenwriting and playwriting, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with an emphasis in acting. He was a tenured theater instructor for thirteen years at a local college until he decided to devote his time to writing. He has done quite well in screenwriting competitions, being a finalist, semi-finalist, or quarter-finalist in the following competitions: the 11th Annual Fade In Awards screenwriting competition, the 13th Annual Writer’s Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition, the 2004 Final Frontier Theater Conference Play Competition, the SABEL 2002 International One Act Competition, the 2000 Southwest Festival of New Plays, the 1998 Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project, 1998 Maui Screenwriters Competition, the 1998 Cinematalk Competition, the 1996 Writer’s Digest competition (stage play category), and the 1996 White-Willis Theatre Competition. His play Caught Between Two Worlds is due to be published by New Plays in October 2007 and his play Folktales for Fun was published by Pioneer Drama Service in 2002. He has been commissioned to write a number of scripts that have been produced. Most of the plays that he has written have been produced by both professional and non-professional theatre organizations. He has a published collection of short stories titled Tales from a Disturbed Mind, and a number of his short stories have been individually published by various literary magazines. He most recently completed a screenplay adaptation of the Russian novel Confrontation by Julian Semenov. Carlos Perez can be reached at carl.perez@att.net or (816) 809-3877.