It was dark and drizzling when screenwriter Justin Marks did what many in Hollywood have fantasized during their bleakest career moments: He attacked his agent with a chain saw.
Marks hunched behind a wall, revved the chain saw motor and leaned forward. Next came the grinding, spinning sound of metal cutting through bone, the blood spattering, the agent's arm and head flying off. Marks grinned, unsheathed a shotgun and went in search of his next target: a reporter for Variety.
Marks was just doing his job -- kill or be killed -- in the video game Gears of War, which he plays from the comfort of a brown leather couch in his Los Angeles home. Every Thursday night, he and dozens of other up-and-comers in Hollywood turn on their Xboxes to engage in violent killing, mock each other and sometimes even talk shop.
The online gaming session, which the organizers call Nerd Poker, has become an opportunity for networking that has led to dozens of business meetings -- and even a few deals.
"While the aim was not necessarily to do business, I think the casualness and the lack of pretense made us all really close," said Kevin Chang, an executive at Misher Films. "And who wouldn't want to do business with friends?"
Two years ago, Chang and Variety reporter Ben Fritz were discussing their frustration over the players who challenged them in Gears of War via the Xbox Live online service.
"It was a bunch of teenagers who were better than us, calling us names," Fritz said.
They called Marks and Derek Douglas, who is now a William Morris agent in the video game department, and the four decided to sign on for weekly gaming sessions together. They began inviting friends, and soon dozens were showing up. The group now has about 95 members.
In Gears of War, scaly alien creatures take on human soldiers in dark landscapes littered with bombed-out vans, dingy columns and bloodstained stairs. Players choose from an array of weapons such as sniper rifles and avoid hazards that include flesh-eating bats, then run around trying to annihilate the other team. They wear headsets to coordinate with teammates and talk trash with opponents.
The ease of communication has turned the game into a networking vehicle for some, and not just in Hollywood. Church groups sometimes hold Xbox Live nights, families stay in touch through the games and people have even gotten married after meeting while playing, said Marc Whitten, general manager for Microsoft Corp.'s online service.
