Mystery Team: A Director’s Commentary by Dan Eckman

The premise was very simple: If you went to see Mystery Team in theaters twice, we would induct you into the “Sword Club.”

What did you get for being in Sword Club? A plastic sword with a non sequitur written in Sharpie marker on it, of course.

Why swords with non sequiturs? The more operative question is why NOT.

“Why not” is the driving force that birthed Mystery Team.

Why do three dingus teens think they can take on a murder? Why NOT.

Why did five dinguses in their early twenties think they could mount a feature film on their own? Why NOT (If you watch the new making-of, you’ll discover it turned out there were PLENTY of reasons why NOT).

Making a film is an act of reaching out for connection. What kept us going through all the challenges was the belief that not only is this a worthwhile baptism-by-cinema to put ourselves through, but that there might be other people like us out there who would raise their swords in battle with us.

And though we would have preferred wild box-office success, in Mystery Team we found the bonding experience we were looking for. For the characters, for the five of us, and for every person we bestowed with their own plastic sword that had some random shit scribbled on it.

Dan Eckman