Los Angeles, CA – Mark Bate was convicted on conspiracy charges Tuesday for raising an army of “zombies” with the intent of overthrowing the Movie Industry, a decision that ended his career in acting.

Bate is believed to be the first actor in U.S. history to be convicted of such an unprecedented felony.

The 36-year-old actor, who said he was “just kidding around,” could be sentenced to anywhere from probation to the death penalty on the charge of murder and a few lesser counts of necrophilia.

Bate, who appeared in court each day wearing a Viking helmet, roller skates and a ball-gag in his mouth, showed no emotion after the verdict was read.  He and his attorney left the courtroom without comment.

“This has been, by far, the weirdest case,” said one Producer, and a friend of Bate.  “I can’t believe he did it.  I really can’t believe he wore that outfit into court.  I’m so confused.  I think we all just need to get some rest and find a way to continue on.”

Some family members of the “undead” cried after the verdict was read, and members of the actor’s family declined to comment.

Outrage came almost immediately after Bate was arrested at work following an attack by a small group of zombies on a casting agency staff, the arresting officer said.

The facts surrounding the attack that killed several co-workers and more than a dozen actors were not in dispute.

The actors and casting agents at the audition where minding their own business on the night of October 31, when the “reanimated” platoon attacked them, leaving death and destruction in their wake.  Bate was drunk and not paying attention when he gave the order for the premature raid.

The actor, who testified for most of the two hour trial, said he was just planning for a Halloween party and did not realize that what he was doing was wrong or illegal in any way.  He said he wanted to show his friends what a really good time would be like before he cracked and started spouting racial epithets and spitting at the jury.

Had he known it was going to be a problem, Bate testified, “I would not have stopped bringing the dead back to life and training them for military campaigns of my own devising.”

But prosecutors argued that Bate knew or should have known that overthrowing a public building, or at least doing anything with a dead body is wrong.  They pointed to the fact that Bate blurted out in court, on several occasions, that he did it and he’d do it again if given the chance and proper equipment.

They also noted that he tried to escape to gather more forces enlisting the help of a taxidermist.  Detectives tracked the actor down to his home four hours later.

“The man is insane.  A brilliant man, but completely insane,” said prosecuting attorney Dolores Reyes during her closing arguments.

Authorities have said Bate would not have been charged with a crime if he had stopped building an army of undead soldiers bent on taking over the Hollywood film industry, or at the very least apologized.

Jurors did not even deliberate before reaching their verdict.  The case was given to the jury, which immediately responded to the charges filed against Mr. Bate.

A sentencing date has been set for November 1; exactly one year and one day from the night his living dead walked the halls of the studio.

The attack and Bate’s arrest came just as it appeared he would gain a grant from the U.S. government for cell regeneration research and acting lessons.

I walked into a room and was immediately confronted with the question. “Are you the one with the Karo Syrup and non-lubricated condoms?”

I know what you’re thinking but to answer your question, no. I wasn’t at the beginnings of an outrageously fun party. I was on an independent film set, otherwise known as the hells kitchen of the creative endeavors.

Normally I would avoid places like these with a zealot passion usually only found in biblical scripture. Unfortunately for me I opened my mouth a week earlier and found myself regretting it the moment I walk through the door.

Earlier in the week while finishing dialog clean up on a film, I commented that it would have saved the producer a lot of time and money if he just recorded the audio correctly to begin with.

“Great”, he said, “Can you show up next week for another film I’m shooting?”

I’ve recently discovered that part of being a good producer is realizing that there is no harm in asking for things. The worst they can say is no, and if you’re a really good producer, no is just an opening for further negotiations.

Needless to say, he was a very, very good producer and I found myself committed to doing location audio for his next project.

Walking through the door I immediately remembered why I fell out of love with location work. Try to imagine the most chaotic, disorganized situation you’ve ever been in and then throw logic and reason out the window.

Maybe I’m painting too gloomy of a picture because you have to admire the pure enthusiasm and energy that you’ll find on a set like this. People manage to get other people to show up for no or little money and produce a product through shear determination.

Although some times the desire and passion is overshadowed by disorganization, panic and neurosis that would make Woody Allen look well adjusted and boring.

I realize budgets being what they are on independent films; common sense usually loses out to panic highs and making command decisions in the heat of the moment.

But still I was brought on to do a job so I felt it was my duty to point out problems with the sound being recorded.

Like imparting the wisdom that sound travels.

Take for instance; sound will travel into your microphone that you’re recording with. So it would be best if you don’t have a noisy Honda generator right next to the guy holding the microphone.

It would also be safe to say when the director yells action you wouldn’t want extras talking next to the sound guy holding the microphone. Despite how interesting it is to find out that Jenny left Mark for Janet.

And one would assume that tapping a drum solo on the boom pole holding the microphone would be completely out of the question.

Of course assumptions are dangerous and over rated since despite my best efforts the audio I was recording started to resemble more of a Phillip Glass conceptual piece than location audio.

At the end of each take I would point out all the problems with the sound. Which I usually received a prompt response of, “we’ll fix it in post”.

Now, words on their own have power. Putting words together to form sentences gives meaning to that power, and we all know power can be used for good or evil. Let me give you some examples such as, “I love you”, good. “I’ve got a great idea”, could be good. “Wouldn’t it be great if…”, sort of dancing on the edge there. “We’ll fix it in post”, there has never been a more dangerous group of words put together to form a sentence in the history of the human species.

Pointing this out usually is met with several reactions, but most of this time I got the, “why are taking up time with the little stuff”.

So I did the best job I could with the tools I had on hand, which was met with much gratitude and appreciation.

As the producer came to me as we finished filming. He stated, “So I was looking at your notes you gave the script supervisor, and it looks like we had some trouble with a lot of the sound recorded.”

 “Yes, you did”, I replied.

“So, what can you do for me?” The producer casually asked.

“Pray for you”, I replied back to him.

“No seriously, what can you do for me?” He asked again, this time a little more annoyed.

I proceeded to explain to him from A to Z everything that was wrong with the sound.

He blankly stared at me for a couple of moments and asked, “So, we’ll just fix it in post right?”

“Sure, why not”, I replied back.

Sometime it’s important to just know when to declare victory and leave the field of battle with your sanity intact.