about trolls

The story of an internet executive with a case of terminal job burn out who drops out to spend nine months with a group of homeless kids on the streets of Hollywood, documenting their lives and the friendships, violence, betrayals, doubt and change he experiences, in search of a story that's right in front of him.

He's losing it. Though a successful Internet producer, he's sleeping in his car and on a downward burn out spiral when he meets Amber and begins a nine month odyssey.

He tracks her down at a squat beside a freeway embankment with the idea of shooting a street "Pygmalion" and begins videotaping her and her fiance Robert, and meets Cyco, Charley and Allison.

As the Internet/tech boom collapses and he'sdownsized from his high profile job, he finds himself spending more and more time with them. Though Amber's soon sent to juvenile hall, he continues interviewing the others and is gradually introduced to their extended street family, following them as they move from squat to squat trying to stay one step ahead of a major Hollywood redevelopment effort.

Their determination, individuality, sense of community and freedom from responsibility are liberating. He spends hours with Robert and his Game Boy and the calming white noise from the freeway a few feet away.

He learns about the down-side of street life– the fear of being 86’ed, dependency on handouts, welfare, small–time crime and the cycle of failure.

Gradually finding himself developing deeper relationships with them, he invites them into his home, confronts extorting gang members, sees blood spilled.

Hoping to blend narrative drama with documentary authenticity, he writes loose scripts based on real events for them to re-enact – their squat is busted, visiting Robert in jail, Allison and Robert sharing war stories of self mutilation, Robert worrying he’s going insane and the shopping sprees following the monthly ritual of cashing Supplemental Security Income checks, the cycle many homeless and their dependants base their lives around. The re-enactments culminate in the surreal scripted occupation of an abandoned deluxe retirement home in upscale Old Hollywood.

But truth is one step ahead of fiction. He’s stunned by betrayal. Friends and family are surprised at his naivete and concerned for his safety, but he's only beginning his journey deeper into the mysteries of survival, identity, temptation, free will, junk DNA and God's Mistakes.

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