Welcome to Camp Crucible, a theatre camp in Salem, Oregon. Fresh blood, Ann Putnam Jr., has been inducted into “The Coven”, a welcoming clique of campers who practice tarot cards, energy crystals, and drink the occasional “potion,” led by “Mother Witch” Abigail Williams. Every summer, these witches ensure the camp doesn’t cannibalize itself, with gossip, by choosing the worst camper and ensuring their social execution. This year’s target: Stage Manager Sarah Good. 

At The Coven’s command, Ann infiltrates Sarah’s Techies to spread gossip and tear Sarah down from the inside, quickly discovering the camp’s widespread resentment of their stage manager. In an attempt to pull more dirt from Sarah, Ann has a heart to heart with her over some “potions”. It’s then she discovers Sarah’s actually a good person being used as a community scapegoat.

Ann refuses to keep bashing Sarah, cutting ties with The Coven. Unfortunately, a sacrifice is still needed, which turns out to be more literal than Ann was led to believe. Abigail captures Ann and sets her to be sacrificed via blood ritual. Thankfully, Sarah helps her escape and the two kick some witch ass. Unfortunately, they’re immediately kicked out of camp for said physical assault. No matter, for they decide the only community they need is the one they’ve found in each other.

Camp Crucible is a theatre summer camp, consisting of wood cabins, dense forests, and a small crew workshop.

Meet the Characters

Protagonist - Ann Putnam Jr. 

Entering with small earrings and a thin headband, Ann’s eager, curious, naive, impressionable, and ambitious. Being new to theatre, she’s come to camp in search of a community. So, when a clique of tight-knit girls welcome her with open arms, she makes herself at home and embraces their quirks and traditions. This community could be her chance to feel as if she belongs; she just has to fit in.

Antagonist - Abigail Williams

Living in beautiful, almost archaic, makeup and way too many charms, Abigail’s manipulative, coy, commanding, and pious. Mother of The Coven, she has established her clique as incredibly loyal and reverent of her and her witchcraft. Abigail aims to use her friend’s devoutness to achieve what she believes to be real blood magic, while ensuring a blind eye from the rest of camp by pinning all the drama on a single camper. Her community is not but a tool to influence her power.

Supporting Character - Sarah Good

Sporting pimple patches, musical pins on her overalls, and the dried paint of her latest set piece, Sarah’s spiteful, sarcastic, hard-working, brutally honest, and loyal. The latest camper Stage Manager, she ensures everyone’s putting in the work required, and then some, to make every show perfect. She’ll tell you when you’re doing it wrong, she’ll make you get off your ass, but, if you’re willing to listen, she’ll teach you how to get better. Her community can hate her all it wants, as long as she gets to be here doing what she loves.

Directors statement

This film has a lot going on. There are many Visual elements that make it unique, and make it a challenging film. I want to be able to take on that challenge, and show both the Comedic and Dark side to this story. Using lighting/camera techniques and heavy use of production design will help enhance the theatricalness, the DRAMA that we want to emphasize. Yet, I also want to show this with the emotions in the characters and have the audience questioning, whether these campers are actual witches or not. What the audience will take serious or not in this story, will depend on how we show it. The tone of how Comedic or how Dark we have scenes will affect this. Overall, I want this film to be fun, and have its own reality.

What This Means to Us

This story is our apology to the kids who feel excluded from belonging in their own childhood theatre communities. It’s also our apology to all the kids who were taught this exclusion was okay, and simply didn’t know any better than to be complicit.

Why should you care?

What a Witch! is a teen dramedy with a slash of horror. It’s a short film with a fast pace and a dense plot, for its script length of nine pages, making it feel like a truly complete short story. The stage is set with snappy comedy and petty drama, which is plagued by a mysterious undertone. All of it comes to fruition in its threatening, and hilarious, climax.

This film is planned to take advantage of the setting and theme’s artistic opportunities, to make the costumes and sets look worthy of this showstopping script of cursed comedy and wicked drama.

What a Witch! is about highlighting how important a community is to cultivating connections, and exploring how one’s perspective on their connections can be warped, when their opinions are not based on their own experiences.

 Those few people one takes from that community and onwards are what make the experience worth it. Also, who wouldn’t want to write a teen drama about witches doing theatre? That’s just plain fun.

Our Goal

This film hinges on the location, which is an actual summer camp of wood cabins and a woodworking workshop, as well as its production design. This is a theatre summer camp with witch kids; it has to be bleeding expressive costumes, beautiful set deck, and wicked makeup. The money would also be used for the important, practical details, such as transporting the crew to set, feeding said crew, and paying the actors.

Donating is the most effective way of bringing our plot to fruition. However, spreading our curse across the far reaches of social media, and through word of mouth, is also helpful in conjuring more donations and support. Anything you can sacrifice is appreciated, but certain amounts give way to…special blessings.

Comparables

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