Mockbuster Stars

Mockbuster Stars is a 2017 Canadian comedy heist film directed by Michael Kromer in his directorial debut and written by John deRue. The film stars Kromer (in his theatrical debut) as an underpaid actor who stars in dubs for mockbuster movies and plans a heist to shut down and embezzle from the studio he works for with other mockbuster actors in an attempt to revive their one-off careers.

The film was funded through a Kickstarter campaign by Kromer launched in 2016 and was released on February 17, 2017 through Force Four Entertainment, Entertainment One, and Parental Peer Pressure, Kromer's production company. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and was a moderate box office success.

Plot
In 2014, Aubrey Weathers (Michael Kromer) dreams of being an actor, and gets the chance when he auditions for a pilot episode for a planned Degrassi-like sitcom called Northern Neighbors. After landing the audition as the lead role, Aubrey decides to move out of the house to pursue his career. His grandmother gives him a bomber jacket saying, 'BIG SHOT ACTOR" on the back as a parting gift before leaving.

In the present, it is shown that Aubrey and the remainder of the cast consisting of Norma Fowler (Darcy Filler), Alena Sanchez (Mariana Marquez), Steph Stevenson (Stephen Cowper), and Kirby Harriet (Frederick Jones) are living lavish lives with the success of Northern Neighbors, attending fan conventions, signing autographs, and appearing in other movies and TV shows. However, this all turns out to be a dream by Aubrey, who now lives in a run-down apartment in the fictional town of Bradsburg and drives a run-down 1980 Mini Cooper. It is then revealed that when the pilot for Northern Neighbors aired, the pilot was a success and a full TV show was planned, but was eventually cancelled when the creator, Harvey Malsh was charged with possession of child pornography, which resulted in the main cast losing their jobs and forced to star in mockbuster movies released by The Tide (parody of The Asylum), owned by Harvey's brother, Nickolas. Due to the poor sales of The Tide's movies, the actors are paid only 2 dollars an hour, with a mere 3 dollar bonus given once a year.