Sitting in a dim office on a steamy afternoon in the Jane-and-Finch neighbourhood, Paul Nguyen and Tai Quach discuss how to kill their friend Chris Williams. "How about a laser beam?" Mr. Nguyen asks.
"I want to disintegrate him," Mr. Quach says.
"Can I die and come back as a clone?" Mr. Williams asks hopefully. "Everybody loves clones."
Mr. Quach turns back to the computer and continues designing a CGI alien head, while Mr. Williams checks out the video footage Mr. Nguyen recently shot of a SWAT team raiding his neighbour's home. Watching a heavily armoured police officer aim a rifle into Mr. Nguyen's backyard, Mr. Williams snorts.
"What's he going to -- a war?"
To hear Mr. Nguyen, 26, and his friends talk, there is a war raging in the Jane-and-Finch neighbourhood. But not the war of gangs and guns the SWAT team probably had in mind. Instead, they see themselves as soldiers fighting a war of creativity against hopelessness.
Their weapons? Video cameras.
Mr. Nguyen and his best friend, Mark Simms, 24, have been shooting homemade movies in their backyards and basements since they were kids, and over time their music videos of neighbourhood rappers have gained a local following. Now, they've got bigger ambitions: This summer in their neighbourhood they are producing a series of short movies, starting with Aliens vs. Jane and Finch.
"We're going to make this our own little Hollywood," Mr. Simms says. "Hoodwood. Janewood."
Shooting was scheduled to begin this week, with a diverse cast of locals acting the roles of a ragtag band of heroes who save the planet. If the plot sounds a bit familiar, the filmmakers say Independence Day is one of their inspirations -- with a twist.
"It's like aliens from outer space come to our planet and they're taking over everywhere," Mr. Simms explains. "And all the cops leave the poor areas because they have to protect the rich areas, right? But because we are 'ghetto' people, we end up doing a lot better, and all the community bands together."
"The people have to unite," Mr. Nguyen adds. "They fight the aliens and win."
And the alien invasion is just the beginning. They're planning Zombies vs. Jane and Finch next.
The film will feature neighbourhood landmarks -- such as the Palisades high-rise complex and the Jane and Finch Mall -- under attack from digitally created spaceships, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Mr. Quach, 27, who recently finished work on the IMAX version of the new Superman movie. Mr. Simms and Mr. Nguyen, who have day jobs working on a documentary for the CBC, will be behind the camera. Inevitably, their cast will include old friends such as Mr. Williams, who has died in every movie they've made since Grade 11.
Mr. Simms and Mr. Nguyen say the neighbourhood reaction to their summer movie project lets them know they're on the right track.
"People say, 'What? A movie in Jane and Finch -- is that even possible?' " Mr. Simms says. "Hopefully this movie will show them we can do a lot more."
Mr. Nguyen says they're continually being approached by teenagers clamouring to be part of their next production. "We're like, okay, we'll try to fit you in."
Their goals for Aliens vs. Jane and Finch are both sweetly modest and boldly ambitious. They don't dream of a red-carpet premiere or a call from Spielberg. They plan to post the digital video for free on their community website, . They just hope people watch it and like it.
When they really get excited and start finishing each other's sentences, they talk about a thriving local film industry, after-school video editing classes and an army of Jane-and-Finch youth "shooting film instead of bullets," as their motto goes.
"We want to basically create our own industry here," Mr. Nguyen says.
"This is like a movement," Mr. Simms says, "and it's from the heart."