The Magnus Archives RQ Network Feed Drop - Push the Roll with Ross Bryant: The Butterfly Factory Part 1 with Brennan Lee Mulligan
Feb 11, 2026
Paula Deming, performer and improvisor who plays Margot Marceau, and Brennan Lee Mulligan, tabletop game master and actor playing gallery owner Alan Clay. They riff through a 1960s–70s art world: a Warhol-esque gallery scene, mysterious Butterfly Factory invitations, and a tense mix of art-market politics and underground after-party intrigue.
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Beauty Versus Industry
- The title 'The Butterfly Factory' deliberately juxtaposes beauty and industrial sterility to create thematic tension.
- Ross Bryant frames the setting as a Warhol-esque art scene mixing glamour with grime to shape the adventure's tone.
Frame Artists As Production Roles
- Portray artists as managerial producers, not lone geniuses, when leaning into a Warhol-style setting.
- Use henpecked assistants and scene personalities to show how art becomes industrialized and socialized.
CIA-Backed Art Dealer
- Brennan Lee Mulligan plays Alan Clay, an art dealer linked to CIA cultural operations in the Cold War.
- He uses the idea that abstract expressionism was promoted as political cover to color the character's motivations.