Jeremy M. Lange

Reportage: - Contract Kidnapping

New York, NY

In the summer of 2002, New York based artist, Brock Enright and a group of his friends from Virginia, started a kidnapping service called Videogames Adventure Services. The clients would hire them to provide a reality based kidnapping experience, while still retaining the ability to stop the "game" at anytime. Parameters were set ahead of the service, detailing the activities to be performed, but the actual time of the kidnapping was kept secret to add to the fantasy. An abuse fetish seemed to be shared by the clients as the activites were more physical than sexual in nature. Prices started at $2500 and the imagination of the client and actors were the only limits.

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Felix Ensslin, Brock's collaborator and videographer, films a meeting between a possible client and the organizational team on the street below.
   
The client is left tied to a chair and semi-conscious after force feeding and sustained running in place.
   
Bryan, a longtime friend of Brock, has come to help out the crew with the upcoming job. He reads a book as he waits for the phone call to get started.
     
  
Many of the members of the group are aspiring actors and create "characters" for each new kidnapping scenario. All the actions are filmed, creating an art aspect to the otherwise violent activities.
   
Brock packs one of the suitcases for the job that will begin this night and continue for a full 24 hours. This suitcase includes restraining zip toes, gloves and various other tools of the trade.
   
A crew member drives the rented van to the client's home, where he will be captured and taken to a secret location, a warehouse in Brooklyn. The service fell into a legal gray area, so the crew spent alot of energy to avoid the police as no one was sure what would happen if they were stopped, especially after 9-11.
     
  
The client is captured in his apartment building hallway. Part of his desire for the scenario was to fight his captors, so extra people were brought for muscle. The man holding the client is a boxing trainer and is attempting to hold the client down as he is tied up and put in a large duffle bag.
   
Several of the members of the group in the van. The client has been captured at his apartment building and the van was briefly followed by a police car, but not stopped.
   
The client is tied up in the duffle bag. He was carried from his building in the bag and transported by van to a warehouse in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, where the rest of his kidnapping scenario will take palce.
     
  
The client is dragged across the room in the warehouse when he is unable to get up. After being stripped and put in ballet shoes, the client was forced to run in place and occasionally hit by the group's members.
   
The client, a successful graphic designer, is left bound on the floor of the werehouse after a light beating, per his request. He was interested in physical abuse to test his limits and non sexual humiliation.
   
The packing list for the "Tool Box" one of the several highly organized cases that were taken on every job.
     
  
After an initial round of running in place to exhaust the client's desire to fight back, the group started forcefeeding and making the client drink large quantities of fluids very quickly. He was not allowed to use the bathroom and was alternately made to dance and run in place some more.
   
Byant and Ross, both aspiring actors, dress in costume and they discuss what "characters" to use in the next kidnapping. Cross dressing was frequently used to humiliate the clients, especially the men who were typically looking to test their endurance and pain thresholds.
   
The client, a successful graphic designer, is left bound on the floor of the warehouse after a light beating, per his request. A schedule of physical abuse and exertion were planned to challenge the endurance of the client.
     
  
One of the extras brought in to help handle the client, chose the character of Red Skull, from the Captain America comic books. The kidnappings, while containing elements of reality, were also filmed extensively by the group, creating a cinematic element to the whole operation.
   
Ross, a member of the group, tries on costumes to help choose his character for the upcoming kidnapping. Several of the members would spend off time refining their characters, from comic book inspirations to cross dressing drag queens.
  
After various forms of physical abuse and exertion, the client was unable to continue and left tied to a chair as he recovered, hoping to continue his planned schedule.
     
  
Unable to remain tied to his chair after various physical abuses, the client collapsed on the floor and had to be checked to be sure he was breathing. He was left to sleep it off and the members of the group hoped to continue the schedule when he awoke.
   
The client was unable to finish his planned schedule of physical abuse and exertion. After being contained for nearly 12 hours, being forced to run in place for hours, being force fed and lightly beaten repeatedly, he collasped and was checked ot be sure he was still breathing. He ended up sleeping it off and being dropped at his apartment building later in the day.