Stanley Motss

Living… in Hollywood. Stanley is a veteran movie producer whose career has tailed off. But he’s about to land the most intriguing project of his life, albeit one that won’t make it to the pages of Variety.

Profession… movie producer. But he’s been brought in by political spin-doctor Conrad Brean to construct a fake war with Albania. The trick is to make everyone think the war is real. The President’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar – making advances on an underage girl just before Election Day. Stanley’s here to clean up the mess. He isn’t doing it for the money or the credit; he’s doing it as a favor to the nation.

Interests… show business. But his attention’s been consumed by the avalanche of things going wrong, like their fake war veteran who's losing his mind. Still, Stanley sees opportunity where others see disaster: “If you look at the backstory – the guy's coming back from combat and torture. Of course he's going to be a little messed up. We should use it to our advantage.” You can take the producer out of Hollywood, but you can’t take Hollywood out of the producer.

Relationship Status… on the back-burner, though it’s almost certain Stanley had his share of fun in 1970s Hollywood.

Challenge… working with these amateurs to pull off the hoax of a lifetime. Stanley’s just glad to be working, really, after the New York Times trashed his last picture. Stanley is recapturing his mojo with this cloak-and-dagger project. But as a Hollywood guy, it might be hard for him not to eventually demand credit. That could be very dangerous with the clandestine company he’s now keeping.

Personality… a primadonna, yet one with a can-do attitude. Stanley insists he could pull this off, if only they gave him creative control: “The war ain't over ‘til I say it's over. This is my picture. They think they're in a spot? They think this is a tight spot? Try making the Hunchback of Notre Dame when your three lead actors die, two weeks from the end of principal photography.” To him, these problems aren't problems; they're only temporary setbacks.