EVERY LEGEND HAS AN ORIGIN. THIS ONE STARTS IN STONEGATE.
Independent Cinematic Storytelling
Every story starts with a spark. Ours became a universe. StoneGate Cinematic Universe was born from the idea that independent creators can build worlds that rival the big studios—stories with discipline, edge, and soul. We merge technology with storytelling, realism with imagination, and art with intent. From the shadows of StoneGate City to the unknown worlds that follow, every frame is crafted to make you feel something real. This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about creating stories built to last.
THROUGH THE DIRECTOR’S LENS
GO BEYOND THE SCREEN
Subscribe to the StoneGate Cinematic Universe on Substack for a closer look inside the process — story development, Unreal Engine production, visual direction, and the mindset behind it all. This is the Director’s Lens: where the world of Becoming Hank Luciano and future SGCU projects take shape before they hit the screen.
EVERY DISTRICT HAS DATA. EVERY STORY LEAVES EVIDENCE.
DISTRICT LOGS — INTEL • UPDATES • CASE FILES
Welcome to the District Logs, a hybrid field archive and media brief from inside the StoneGate Cinematic Universe. Each post functions like a record pulled from the city’s case vault—reports, testimonies, and intercepted notes—but it also tracks what’s happening beyond the fiction: studio updates, creative features, and community news. From character dossiers and world-building files to production intel and behind-the-scenes drops, every log expands the narrative and keeps the universe in motion.
THE DISTRICTS OF STONEGATE CITY: A FIRST LOOK AT THE WORL...
Nov 28, 2025
District Files: The Graphic Novel Foundation of the Stone...
Nov 13, 2025
Why We Built GATEFUND: Fueling Independent Worlds from th...
Nov 11, 2025
Becoming Hank Luciano: Inside the Game – Strategy, Loyalt...
Nov 04, 2025
BleakStone Sound Studios and the Sound of StoneGate
Oct 31, 2025
Coming Soon: The Hank Luciano Collection — Eyewear, Tacti...
Aug 23, 2025
A NEW ERA OF INDEPENDENT STORYTELLING
StoneGate Cinematic Universe (SGCU) turns bold ideas into connected worlds with depth, style, and impact. Founded by Adam Dudley — creatively known as Hank Luciano — in Charlottesville, VA, SGCU is a lean, independent transmedia studio developing stories across graphic novels, animation, film, and interactive media—built in Unreal Engine.
Debut Project
Becoming Hank Luciano: StoneGate City began as a personal spark and now stands as a fully fictional crime-tech universe about betrayal, power, and reinvention.
First Release
District Files — Issue #1: BleakStone Point (graphic novel) An origin chapter following Sincere Cross before he becomes Hank Luciano—the choices, scars, and silence that forged him. A series of graphic novels is planned to roll out before the film, expanding the world in print first.
What’s Next
A 3D-animated expansion built with Unreal Engine and MetaHuman, progressing toward a playable third-person vertical slice and larger productions as the universe grows.
Genres
Launching with a crime-tech thriller and expanding into action, sci-fi, romance, and horror—always grounded in cinematic realism and visionary creativity.
How We Fund
This universe is ambitious—and expensive. We’re stacking diversified funding: crowdfunding, private investment, production grants, strategic brand partnerships, creative sponsorships, and limited merch/licensing to reinvest back into SGCU.
Our Why
SGCU exists for independent creators who push boundaries with originality, discipline, and imagination. We’re not building a moment. We’re building a legacy.
SUPPORT THE VISION — GATEFUND & CROWDFUNDING • COMING SOON
At StoneGate Cinematic Universe, we’re building original, cinematic stories with independence at the core. GateFund is our in-house creative capital arm — designed to power the development of Becoming Hank Luciano and future SGCU projects through a mix of crowdfunding campaigns and aligned investors.
First Release
District Files — Issue #1: BleakStone Point
A gritty, character-driven graphic novel that sets the stage for Hank Luciano’s transformation. Created by Adam Dudley and his co-writing team, in collaboration with select illustrators and world-builders, BleakStone Point is the first chapter in the District Files series and the entry point into the StoneGate Cinematic Universe.
The Bigger Picture
District Files will expand the world while the 3D-animated film develops in parallel using Unreal Engine and MetaHuman. As GateFund-backed milestones are reached, we’ll roll out teasers, concept art, test sequences, and behind-the-scenes looks at how the universe is being built.
What Your Support Fuels
• Story and development: screenwriting, world-building, and series planning across District Files and the film.
• Production: graphic novel interiors, cover art, variants, and digital editions.
• Film pipeline: look-dev, concept art, and early Unreal Engine / MetaHuman test shots.
• Sound and score: foundational work from BleakStone Sound Studios and collaborating composers.
• Print and distribution: collector-grade physical editions and global digital delivery.
• Community and rewards: limited drops, exclusives, and private updates for early backers.
• Infrastructure: GateFund setup, legal and operational groundwork to support future campaigns and investor partnerships.
This isn’t just a project. It’s a universe in motion — and GateFund is how we keep it moving, one chapter at a time.
DISTRICT FILES GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES — BHL • BLEAKSTONE POINT ISSUE #1
BLEAKSTONE POINT — EVERY LEGEND HAS AN ORIGIN
BleakStone Point is the foundation of StoneGate City—a majority Black and Latino district built on resilience, small-business grind, and cultural pride. Barbershops, bodegas, streetwear boutiques, indie studios, and family kitchens share the same blocks. Working and middle-class families keep the pace steady while creatives and entrepreneurs push the line forward. But BleakStone isn’t one note. On the rougher edge sit Havoc Heights and Redwood Flats—the hood, the trenches. Boarded fronts. Corner hustles. Sirens you know by sound. Opportunity runs thin and the rules are face-to-face. And still, community breathes—porch-watch elders, block cookouts, kids aiming past the street. Sincere Cross—before the world called him Hank Luciano—grew up inside that pressure. Every streetlight, every siren, every silence set his code. BleakStone taught him loyalty, loss, and how to move when the stakes are real. BleakStone Point is more than a district—it’s contrast and resilience in one frame. One half grinding toward progress, the other clawing through chaos. Between them, the start of a legend—born from a city that burns and rebuilds in the same breath.
THROUGH THE DIRECTOR’S LENS
GO BEYOND THE SCREEN
Subscribe to the StoneGate Cinematic Universe on Substack for a closer look inside the process — story development, Unreal Engine production, visual direction, and the mindset behind it all. This is the Director’s Lens: where the world of Becoming Hank Luciano and future SGCU projects take shape before they hit the screen.
Graphic Novel Series — District Files
Every district has a story. Every page pulls you deeper.
District Files is the foundation of the StoneGate Cinematic Universe—a layered world built district by district, character by character. Each issue is named after a district inside StoneGate City and reveals another corner of the map, another set of players fighting to control it.
This series moves if the community moves with it. Crowdfunding is coming soon to bring the books to digital and print and fuel what comes next.
Issue #1: BHL — BleakStone Point
The journey starts in BleakStone Point, a district shaped by resilience, pressure, and quiet survival. This opening chapter follows Sincere Cross in the early stretch of his life—before he ever becomes Hank Luciano.
Issue #1 ends with the moment that changes everything: a betrayal, a hit that leaves him bleeding, and a forced escape out of StoneGate City. He disappears, the city moves on, and the path toward Hank Luciano truly begins.
Issue #2: BHL — Isla Veridia
Issue #2 shifts the story offshore to Isla Veridia—StoneGate City’s luxury escape and pressure valve. Oceanfront mansions, glass-walled safe houses, high-end hideouts, and quiet power deals sit on top of secrets nobody is supposed to see.
Here, survival looks polished: secure compounds, armored cars in private driveways, and night-time meetings where money, information, and leverage trade hands. New characters, new alliances, and new enemies enter the picture as the world starts to understand that Hank Luciano’s story didn’t end when he left the city—it evolved.
Isla Veridia sets the stage for what’s coming next: new power moves, new scenery, same legacy in motion.
What to Expect
District-based arcs
Each book spotlights a different part of StoneGate City with its own culture, politics, and pressure. Teasers for upcoming districts will roll out before launch.
New characters and factions
Crews, insiders, and rivals expand as the map widens—each issue deepening the web of power surrounding Hank Luciano and Black Signal.
Cinematic worldbuilding
Every panel is designed with the film in mind. The graphic novels directly feed into the planned animated feature built with high-end 3D tools like Unreal Engine and MetaHuman.
Collector-first releases
Print and digital editions, select variant covers, and campaign-exclusive drops built for readers, collectors, and early believers.
The blueprint is built. The vision is locked. Tap in and help bring District Files — Issue #1: BleakStone Point and Issue #2: Isla Veridia to life.
THROUGH THE DIRECTOR’S LENS
GO BEYOND THE SCREEN
Subscribe to the StoneGate Cinematic Universe on Substack for a closer look inside the process — story development, Unreal Engine production, visual direction, and the mindset behind it all. This is the Director’s Lens: where the world of Becoming Hank Luciano and future SGCU projects take shape before they hit the screen.
FICTIONAL CHARACTERS | STONEGATE CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
FEATURED CHARACTERS
ALLIES. ENEMIES. KINGS. QUEENS. KILLERS. CREWS. StoneGate isn’t just a city—it’s a battlefield of agendas. This is where the players surface: the ones who run it, ruin it, and try to survive it. From crime families and corner crews to covert ops and rogue officials—every name carries weight, every move has consequence, and nobody’s hands stay clean for long. Crews | Factions | Power Moves | Ties & Rivalries
Hank Luciano (Sincere Cross - BleakStone Point Issue #1)
Founder, Obsidian Systems Group | Strategic Commander, Black Signal Unit
DISTRICT FILE: BleakStone Point, Isla Veridia, Stonegate City
Birth Name: Sincere Cross (BleakStone Point – Issue #1 only)
Legal Identity: Hank Luciano (20 years later)
Status: Alive
Affiliation: Black Signal Unit (covert action team), Obsidian Systems Group (corporate cover)
Charecter Profile:
Sincere Cross / Hank Luciano
Before the name, there was Sincere Cross — a disciplined mind from BleakStone Point. By day, he worked as Lead Diagnostics Technician at Hayes Signal & Repair, known for precision and quiet focus. His private reality ran deeper: a strategic, air-gapped hacker and planner who handled protection and tech favors for allied crews — timing windows, blind zones, clean exits. He moved around guns and drugs but never stood on corners; he monetized protection and timing, not street sales. He only carried outside on hot runs. Nyla Vex was the trusted contact who could turn his plans into motion.
After a failed heist and a near-fatal setup, Sincere vanished, and the city wrote him off as dead.
Twenty years later, he returns as Hank Luciano — colder, refined, fully in control, with a new mindset and presence: more mafioso, trading the hoodie for a custom signature suit and black fedora. What began as survival became strategy; what was once chaos became empire-building. In StoneGate City, ghosts don’t rest — they reinvent.
NYLA VEX
Director of Field Operations, Obsidian Systems Group | Covert Ops Commander / Strategic Enforcer, Black Signal Unit.
DISTRICT FILE: BleakStone Point, Isla Veridia, Stonegate City
Birth Name: NYLA VEX
Nickname: VEX
Status: Alive
Allegiance: Ally (Hank Luciano, Catalina Rojas, Black Signal Unit)
Affiliation: Black Signal Unit (covert action team), Obsidian Systems Group (corporate cover)
Charecter Profile:
Sharp-minded and fearless, Nyla Vex built her name from the ground up. Known for her confidence and calculated calm, she’s the strategist who sees three moves ahead when everyone else is reacting. Behind the glare of neon lights and chaos of StoneGate City, she’s the balance between control and danger—driven by loyalty, survival, and the vision she and Hank Luciano share.
CATALINA ROJAS
CEO, Obsidian Systems Group | Intelligence Operations & Mission Support Specialist, Black Signal Unit
DISTRICT FILE: BleakStone Point, Isla Veridia, Stonegate City
Birth Name: Catalina Rojas
Nickname: CAT
Status: Alive
Allegiance: Ally (Hank Luciano, Nyla Vex, Black Signal Unit)
Affiliation: Black Signal Unit (covert action team), Obsidian Systems Group (corporate cover)
Charecter Profile:
Catalina Rojas (CAT) — raised in the fictional city of Nueva Sombra, she’s elegance and danger in one. Years ago, Nyla Vex pulled her out of a situation that should’ve ended her; since then, Catalina has been Nyla’s strategist and right hand—loyal, precise, unshakeable.
After the chaos in StoneGate City, she kept everything clean, quiet, and moving—the mind that turns pressure into plans and fallout into order. She stands beside Nyla Vex and Hank Luciano with an unbreakable bond: loyalty, discipline, intent.
DOMINIC VIRELLI
Founder & Chairman, Virelli Group | Power Broker & Criminal Financier, Virelli Crime Family
DISTRICT FILE: BleakStone Point, Isla Veridia, Stonegate City
Birth Name: Dominic Virelli
Status: Alive
Allegiance: enemy
Affiliation: Virelli Crime Family
Charecter Profile:
Public face: billionaire philanthropist, power broker, patron of the arts.
Private reality: architect of the Virelli crime family, with reach into real estate, private equity, ports and logistics, unions, nightlife, art auctions, and media buys. Judges shake his hand. Bankers take his calls. Favors move like currency.
OBSIDIAN SYSTEMS GROUP
Publicly, Obsidian Systems Group is an elite cybersecurity and digital-infrastructure firm based in Obsidian Row, the corporate and tech core of StoneGate City. It delivers hardened networks, end-to-end encryption, red/blue team ops, and real-time threat intelligence for banks, institutions, and quiet government contracts. On paper, it’s one of the city’s most trusted anchors.
Privately, it’s the cover—and power source—for Black Signal, StoneGate’s most precise off-grid ops unit.
In the years after Sincere Cross (Hank Luciano) disappeared from the record, Obsidian grew quietly into the city’s unseen nervous system—mirroring its arteries, building failsafes into the infrastructure, and mapping backdoors no one else knows exist. Now, with Hank back in play and Nyla Vex directing field strategy, Obsidian funds the lifestyle, shields the movement, and supplies the tools that keep them one move ahead.
Buried inside OSG’s headquarters is a non-public elevator that doesn’t show up on floor plans. It doesn’t go up—it only goes down, into Black Signal’s underground command center. By day, Obsidian is the story the city believes. By night, it’s the mask that lets Black Signal rewrite the board without ever stepping into the spotlight.
What Obsidian really does
• Surveillance lattice: fuses traffic cams, private feeds, IoT sensors, and network data into a live, citywide operational picture.
• Access engineering: quietly builds exploits, backdoors, and credentials that turn “secure” systems into unlocked rooms.
• Counterintel & misdirection: erases trails, plants decoys, reroutes suspicion, and edits timelines across digital and physical records.
• Continuity ops: maintains dark-site comms, emergency routes, and backup power and data grids for when StoneGate needs to stay online—or go dark on purpose.
Leadership
Catalina Rojas — Chief Executive Officer
By day, she’s the polished face of Obsidian Systems Group—locking in contracts, handling investors, and keeping every audit clean. By night, she protects the cover itself, moving resources, access, and timing so Hank and Nyla can operate without exposing the engine behind them.
Hank Luciano — Founder & Creative Architect
By day, he’s the architect behind Obsidian’s systems, security philosophy, and long-term buildout. By night, he’s the strategist—using Obsidian’s reach and Black Signal’s precision to reshape how power moves through StoneGate City.
Nyla Vex — Director of Field Operations
By day, she oversees deployments, logistics, and high-risk client operations for OSG. By night, she leads Black Signal in the field—turning intel into pressure, pressure into leverage, and leverage into outcomes, without ever flashing the badge behind it.
Obsidian Systems Group isn’t just another corporation in the skyline. It’s StoneGate City’s shadow operating system—trusted in public, weaponized in private, and always three steps ahead of anyone trying to trace where control really lives.
BLACK SIGNAL: THE BLACK VAULT
Location: Deep beneath Obsidian Systems Group HQ, Obsidian Row
Status: Air-gapped · compartmentalized · zero-visibility
Black Signal operates where no one in StoneGate City would ever expect—directly under its most respected tech institution. The Black Vault is a hidden, ultra-secure command center accessible only through a non-public elevator embedded inside the Obsidian Systems Group building. No signage, no access logs, no digital footprint. If you don’t already belong to the unit, you don’t even know it exists.
Above ground: Obsidian Systems Group is a clean, elite cybersecurity and digital-infrastructure firm trusted by banks, corporations, and government clients.
Below ground: those same systems become the eyes, ears, and leverage of StoneGate’s most surgical ops unit.
The Vault mirrors OSG’s infrastructure without ever exposing itself—air-gapped labs, silent tunnels, and black-level operations bays where missions are planned, executed, and erased.
What the Vault Runs
• Cyber & Electronic Warfare: exploit development, signal capture, counter-forensics, and real-time digital masking.
• Grid Manipulation: traffic systems, sensor arrays, private feeds, and infrastructure rerouted to hide movement and create openings.
• Extraction & Transit: controlled routes across the city, drone overwatch, rapid-entry/rapid-exit teams, medical stabilization, and safe asset transfer.
• Intelligence Fusion: HUMINT + OSINT integration, dark-web tracking, persona networks, live threat scoring, and predictive modeling.
• Tradecraft & Logistics: forged credentials, clean tech kits, safehouse provisioning, and mechanisms for ghost-level movement.
• Counter-Surveillance: anti-drone umbrellas, spoof grids, thermal masking, and multilayer misdirection protocols.
Leadership
Catalina Rojas — CEO, Obsidian Systems Group: Maintains the public-facing empire—contracts, investors, regulatory compliance—while quietly feeding resources to keep the Vault invisible and untouchable.
Hank Luciano — Founder & Architect: Designs the skeleton of both worlds—OSG’s clean systems and the Vault’s shadow network. Hank turns infrastructure into leverage and data into power.
Nyla Vex — Director of Field Operations: Oversees logistics by day; commands Black Signal by night. Plans missions, synchronizes teams, and ensures every move hits with precision and leaves no trace.
EVERY ENGINE HAS AN AGENDA
WAR MACHINES OF STONEGATE
Street-coded. War-ready. Claimed by allies and enemies alike. In StoneGate, vehicles are part of the power map. Whether they move with Black Signal, a rival syndicate, or a corporate convoy, a car isn’t just transport—it’s leverage. Survival, intimidation, escape, control. The core language of the city is SUVs and trucks—urban tanks wrapped in quiet. Armored. Tactical. Built to disappear in traffic or punch through it. From low-profile recon rigs to ghost-black command units and high-performance coupes, every build says something about who owns it and how they move. This section sketches the signature rides we’re building into the world—specced for city heat, off-road evasion, and full-tilt conflict across the graphic novels, future cinematics, and Unreal Engine builds. Some run for order. Some for chaos. All for power.
THROUGH THE DIRECTOR’S LENS
GO BEYOND THE SCREEN
Subscribe to the StoneGate Cinematic Universe on Substack for a closer look inside the process — story development, Unreal Engine production, visual direction, and the mindset behind it all. This is the Director’s Lens: where the world of Becoming Hank Luciano and future SGCU projects take shape before they hit the screen.
REAL-TIME TOOLS. LONG-TERM VISION
A GLIMPSE INTO STONEGATE’S FUTURE PIPELINE
At the core of where StoneGate is headed is a real-time production stack we plan to build with Unreal Engine + MetaHuman. The vision is simple: create assets once and reuse them everywhere—cinematics, trailers, motion pieces, gameplay prototypes, and future animated work—so the world feels consistent no matter where you experience it. Every major character, prop, and district is being designed with that future in mind: clean topology, reusable sets, and world rules that can eventually move from a two-minute teaser all the way to a feature-length animated film. We’re not just building content—we’re laying down digital infrastructure that can grow. Why it matters: • Speed & control: Real-time lighting, blocking, and rendering will let us iterate faster while keeping the look locked in. • Transmedia ready: The same core world can power graphic novel companion art, cinematic teasers, interactive demos, and (down the line) an animated feature. • Partnership-friendly: A scalable asset library makes it easier to collaborate with studios, platforms, and brands when it’s time to level up. Back the project early and you’re not just supporting a story—you’re helping us move toward a scalable, cinematic IP ecosystem built to evolve: sharper visuals, smarter releases, and a StoneGate City that keeps getting deeper over time.
BEHIND THE SCENES: WORLD ARCHITECTS
THE PEOPLE WHO BUILD STONEGATE FROM THE GROUND UP
StoneGate isn’t random—it’s engineered. Every district, skyline, and shadow is built with intent by the people architecting this universe. From concept artists, writers, and 3D generalists to technical directors, sound designers, and editors, the crew turns rough ideas into living districts, faces into legends, and scenes you actually feel. From notebook sketches to Unreal Engine builds, from character bibles to final color grade, every detail is deliberate—world rules, texture, light, and motion all working in sync. These are the builders behind the glow and the grit—the pulse of the story you’re stepping into.
Adam Dudley (creatively known as Hank Luciano)
Founder & Creative Architect
Adam Dudley is the visionary mind behind the StoneGate Universe — an independent transmedia studio built from the ground up in Charlottesville, VA. As a creative architect, producer, and world-builder, he transforms bold concepts into fully realized stories shaped by discipline, realism, and next-generation cinematic design.
Adam leads the creative blueprint and production direction across all SGU projects, including the debut title Becoming Hank Luciano: StoneGate City. From universe architecture and character development to visual direction and Unreal Engine planning, he engineered the foundation of the franchise and its long-term roadmap. Now assembling a selective network of artists, writers, and designers, he’s building a new model for independent filmmaking with a sharp, tech-driven edge.
Every frame, character, and district in this universe began with his blueprint — designed with purpose, intent, and a vision built to last.
THROUGH THE DIRECTOR’S LENS
GO BEYOND THE SCREEN
Subscribe to the StoneGate Cinematic Universe on Substack for a closer look inside the process — story development, Unreal Engine production, visual direction, and the mindset behind it all. This is the Director’s Lens: where the world of Becoming Hank Luciano and future SGCU projects take shape before they hit the screen.