Let's say you bludgeon someone to death with a hammer in your kitchen.

You don't want to get the cops involved for a myriad of reasons.

You can't dispose of the body with all your neighbors crawling around your apartment complex.

You're trapped with a bloodied figure lying on your laminate tile floor, and you're freaking out.

What do you do?

You call Vultures.

Talk to the receptionist, answer a few questions, and in twenty minutes, the Vultures are at your door, ready with their tools to make it look like your victim slipped while cooking breakfast. Some eggs fried here, a pan dropped there, a story provided when the ambulance arrives: for a small fee, you're off scot-free, baby.

Vultures is a half-hour comedic-thriller series. It centers on two crime scene fixers, Hal and Freddy, attempting to maintain order in their lives as the son of the boss comes to town and takes over the family business.

The show's pilot episode follows Hal and Freddy over the course of a single job. They are attempting to train Tristan, Freddy's new replacement, in the ways of the clean. The client, Tammy, has poisoned her cheating husband, and needs them to restage the scene to look like he slipped by the pool. As more details emerge about Tammy’s past and the long simmering tension between Hal and Freddy reaches a boiling point, the night begins to spin dangerously out of control, leaving behind devastating effects that will be felt throughout the remainder of the season.

FREDDY is the front man of the operation, uniquely attuned to people and their needs. His caring and empathetic nature masks many of the darker aspects of his personality,  particularly his desperate need for love and attention. While his easy-going nature can make anyone feel comfortable, his inability to admit key truths is what ultimately triggers the worst of the night's events.

HAL is the architect for the story of each clean. He is cold and exacting with no patience for small talk. While he appears to be solely focused on the task at hand, his underlying anger at Freddy for quitting and forcing a new person onto the team will be expressed in the only way he knows how: the story of the clean.

TRISTAN is the new trainee, a recovering addict who is a bit slow and painfully shy. While he does his best to please everyone throughout the night, he almost always makes the wrong decision. A sheep amongst wolves, he can't help but be pushed in whatever direction is needed.

TAMMY is the client, a disgruntled housewife who’s poisoned her husband after years of suffering through his infidelity. Polished and put-together, she seems uncomfortably normal at first. But as pressure mounts and things continue to not go her way, her true nature is brought out into the light.

The goal is for this pilot is to take something that feels familiar -- a simple premise, some fun jokes and an entertaining trio of main characters -- and slowly twist it until it's purple.

The classic Tarantino archetypes and conversations are here, but they're brought out into the real world -- these are not fun, self-aware criminals. They are desperate people who lie to themselves to avoid the awful reality of who they are. If you emerge from the pilot with a feeling of betrayal, it'll mean two things: 1) that you're a good person and 2) the pilot has done its job.

The cinematography of Vultures will be highly controlled and sequenced out, with influences ranging from Parasite to 12 Angry Men to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. As we start, the shots are wide, steady and tightly composed, but as the plot progresses and the ball of yarn starts to unravel, the camera work becomes increasingly frenzied and claustrophobic.

Recent works like Sicario and Prisoners will serve as a reference point for the nighttime interiors and exteriors, with naturally sourced lighting leaving room for pockets of darkness and shadow.

Vultures is similar in tone to hit shows like Barry and Better Call Saul – works that explore dark criminal underworlds through high-stakes, detail-oriented set pieces and sporadic dashes of black humor. The show’s violence is not treated as a joke, but the situations and characters are inherently comedic, striking a tonal balance that keeps viewers unsure of where things will go from scene-to-scene.

While there are larger themes of friendship, manipulation and fear of the future, the show will mainly function as a character study, investigating who these people are and why they continue to stay in this line of work.

HOW TO HELP

CONTRIBUTE

So far, the production has raised about 20K of its 30K budget. The rest of the money will go towards paying crew and cast, equipment rentals, SAG paperwork locations, lodging, crafty, insurance etc. Additional funds will be allocated for entry fees into prestigious film festivals like SXSW.

SPREAD THE WORD

If you're unable to donate yourself, spreading the word of this page would mean the world to the Vultures team and help a group of talented peoples' dreams come true.

Thank you for all your support.