My original design for the movie poster and DVD cover art.

The distribution company chose their design and marketing plan.

John Linney, a successful RV manufacturing executive, crosses paths in Las Vegas with Alec Foster, a charming but morally hollow drifter and salesman. Recognizing Alec's predictable greed and history of exploiting women, John draws him into his affluent Texas world with a job offer. Alec quickly becomes entangled with John's cool, distant wife, Magda, who claims her husband is unfaithful and tempts Alec with a plot to murder John for a multi-million-dollar payout. Cornered by a flamboyant private investigator named Four Shure, who is extorting Alec over a past romantic casualty, Alec greedily takes the bait, unaware he is walking into a meticulously orchestrated trap.

Alec executes the plan by shooting John at a remote cabin and throwing him down a well, while Magda stages a fake kidnapping that manipulates the FBI into releasing five million dollars in ransom. She vanishes with the fortune, leaving Alec with a fraction of the money and instructions to disappear. Weeks later, Alec is arrested during a routine traffic stop, only to discover every piece of forensic evidence has been planted against him. The cabin was a setup, the murder weapon bears his fingerprints, and the police reveal a shocking twist: Magda supposedly committed suicide months earlier, leaving Alec to face a capital murder conviction alone.

Years later, wasting away on death row, Alec receives a watercolor from Magda's studio. When a leak washes away the paint, it reveals a hidden pencil sketch matching a historic French wine label. Four Shure arrives one last time to explain the truth: the Linneys collected millions in insurance payouts, the young woman whose death haunted Alec was actually their daughter, Jenelle, and the entire conspiracy was an act of calculated parental revenge. As Alec dies, the final revelation unfolds in Saint-Émilion, France, where John, Magda, and their accomplice Chloe are living under assumed names, having executed the ultimate long con.

From the original story to the finished DVD, Agenda reflects my creative involvement at nearly every stage. I wrote the story, photographed the cover imagery, designed the DVD packaging and promotional artwork, and created the visual presentation used to market the film.

After watching The Clearing, I became fascinated by the idea of structuring a story around a crime whose true nature is hidden from both the audience and the characters until the very end. That concept inspired the foundation for Agenda, though the two films ultimately travel very different paths. Like The Clearing, Agenda asks the audience to question what they think they know, revealing that the events unfolding on screen are not what they initially appear to be. The result was Agenda, my second produced feature film, which was shot on a $1.6 million budget in Longview, Texas and expanded that narrative approach into an elaborate psychological crime thriller built around deception, misdirection, and a meticulously orchestrated long con. Its production demonstrated that compelling feature films could be successfully made close to home, proving that world-class storytelling doesn't have to begin in Hollywood.

The Clearing (2004) tells the story of a successful businessman who is kidnapped and held for ransom in a remote forest, forcing his wife to work with the FBI to secure his release. As the investigation unfolds, long-buried truths about their marriage come to light, revealing that the kidnapping is not what it first appears to be.

The Cast

John Bennet Perry

John Lenny

Eliana Alexander

Magdalena Linney

Robert Rusler

Alec Foster

Pamela Walworth

Chloe Lenny

New York International Independent Film and Video Festival

Agenda Movie Trailer

This was the original trailer produced for the films release.

Production Stills

portfolio