"The 909" by Mark Givens and Joel Huschle

The 909 is a sci-fi script for a movie set in the near-future and taking the form of a reality documentary. The plot centers on a group of people who discuss the implications of “The Mesh”, the technology that replaced the ’Net. Conspiracies, intrigue, and good old-fashioned camaraderie occupy these characters’ thoughts as they try to retain a sense of individuality in an increasingly watchful society.

The 909 is everywhere. No matter where you're from or where you think you're going, the creators of Wckr Spgt have some creepily familiar news for you: This is where you live.

—R. S. Deese, author of Surf Music and We Are Amphibians

As the Beatles declared in “One After 909”: “I got my bag, run to the station, / Railman says you’ve got the wrong location” …To get on the right track that travels in straight lines, you’ve got to watch this form of the movie with your mind’s “I”. This loco motion is the devoloution of the wide open net; it’s the wild, wild west performing the reverse of multiplicity; it’s the shrinking of strip malls into an intersection, a pinpoint in the storehouse, a simple “node”, a blip that ‘meshes’ up your very private visions. “909” is a meaning full experience that I can’t wait to see projected onto the big (or little) screen before it actually comes to life!

—Phil Demise Smith

Embark on a day journey with premier social commentator Joel as he navigates the perils of an alternate world with the mysterious Randy hovering in the backdrop. Maybe Randy is lurking as the random custodial person. Maybe he isn’t. Only the Mesh truly knows. Or does it?

—Lysa Montwill, artist

Like a plastic mirror, The 909 reflects an image of California life that's both strangely attractive and not easy to look at. Unlike a plastic mirror, The 909 allows an even uneasier image to blossom in the shadow of the first. It is that of a sock being nailed to a shoe, forever. Funny and disquieting.

—David Scott Ewers, author of Ultimate Resort

In the script, The 909, Joel Huschle and Mark Givens invite viewers into a unique documentary style sci-fi narrative exploring global and local networks, societal decentralization, and the containerized individual as a group of one. The aggregate of “the mesh” through the lens of Southern California’s Inland Empire raises apt questions to the dichotomies that exists between the autonomy of self and the subjugation of high availability. This is a script worth reading and, with any luck, a film worth watching.

—Kevin Allen Bicknell, musician and filmmaker

Mark Givens and Joel Huschle

Mark Givens and Joel Huschle (photo by Buzzsaw)
Mark Givens is the owner of Pelekinesis, co-owner of Bamboo Dart Press, and a founding member of the indieground band Wckr Spgt.
He is the former publisher of MungBeing Magazine, Salmon Bosch, and The Bowl Sheet. He is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), the Academy of American Poets, Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and the Inlandia Institute.
Joel Huschle was born in 1965 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota and is the youngest of five children. He is the lyricist and singer in the art damage band, Wckr Spgt. He also operates a solo music enterprise (which happens to employ other musicians), Furniture Huschle. He is retired from forensic and crisis mental health after 30 years in the field. He lives with his wife and two dogs in Pomona, California.