SHANGHAI SPY DRAMA FATHER JOHN NAMED FINALIST IN PEOPLE’S CHOICE
AWARDS FAVORITE FILM PITCH CONTEST
Father John Will Compete with Four Other Film Pitches for Audience Support;
Award to be Chosen in January at peopleschoice.com
Shanghai, China, Dec. 22, 2009 – For the first time, people all over the world will have
a chance this January to let their voices be heard in Tinseltown. A high-profile film pitch
contest, co-sponsored by the People’s Choice Awards and the American Film Market,
will give people an unprecedented choice in the films they want to see made. The
contest has included at least one bold choice among its five finalsts: a Shanghai-based
contemporary spy drama was selected from hundreds of candidates as one of five films
most likely to be made in 2010.
The film, Father John, is set in the film-noir atmosphere of nighttime Shanghai. It tells the
story of John, a London-based spy who is sent to Shanghai after his cover is blown.
There he encounters new kinds of danger and international intrigue.
One of the film’s producers, David Minnihan, says he was thrilled by the response.
“Going into the contest, I didn’t have any expectations. I just gave my pitch and tried to
show our project in its best light. I’m pretty excited that we got to this level, especially for
the recognition it will bring to our film. I think our international story and gripping drama
will appeal to people all over the world.”
The contest was a collaboration between the People’s Choice Awards (PCA) and the
American Film Market (AFM), held last November. Industry professionals attending the
market were given the opportunity to pitch their films on video during the eight-day
market.
Afterward, the AFM assembled a group of industry leaders to select five finalists. Their
pitches will be posted on www.peopleschoice.com — the official PCA Website —
following CBS’ broadcast of THE 2010 PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS in early January,
allowing fans to choose the ultimate winner: the film they would most like to see get
made.
“Now, for the first time, fans will also have an influential voice in deciding what films get
produced.” Says PCA President Fred Nelson. “This is a very exciting development that
takes our brand, pop culture, and user-generated video to an entirely new level.”
The voting commences on January 6th and closes at 11:59 pm EST on January 20th, with
the winner scheduled to be announced the next day. This gives people ample time to
vote, be heard in Hollywood, and encourage the kind of filmmaking they want to see in
the future.
---
Father John’s website at www.FatherJohnTheMovie.net gives more information about
the upcoming production, including synopsis, character descriptions, storyboard images,
production blog, and bios of the Shanghai-based crew.
The People’s Choice website at www.peopleschoice.com serves as a year-round
destination for entertainment enthusiasts to voice their opinions on pop culture. Now in
its 36th year, The People’s Choice Awards is voted on entirely by the public for fan
favorites in music, movies and television. Fred Nelson is the President of People’s
Choice, and the website and awards show are produced by Procter & Gamble
Productions.
The AFM is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), the trade
association representing the world’s producers and distributors of independent motion
pictures and television programs. For more information, visit
www.AmericanFilmMarket.com.
Contact:
Steve Long/David Minnihan
Father John Productions, LLC
China: +86 1500-172-6242
US: +1 314-397-3456
Stevenglong@gmail.com
David.Minnihan@gmail.com
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sherwood Hu films video for the Shanghai 2010 World Expo
Sherwood Hu, director of Prince of the Himilayas (2006), was in Shanghai this past week filming a video for the Shanghai pavillion of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo. The video is meant to convey the Shanghai experience of the past century and the grand development of Shanghai in the current era. It is a very feel good piece, so do not expect any wartime scenes or period of cultural revolution struggle.
The most interesting thing was the camera rig they used to film this. Since it is intended to be projected in around the walls of the pavilion, it was necessary to film 360 degrees. The camera team used 5 Canon Mark II SLR cameras rigged together (one up and 4 at 90 degrees to one another)
The crew was a combination of local talent and a photography department from USA that will be doing some of the work on Spiderman 4. The photo rig was their solution to film for a 360 degree projection on a severely low budget. The production was commissioned by Shanghai so it was done on a limited budget that would not allow a typical IMAX-style camera but they needed the same results. The resolution is only in HD from these cameras but the results are still admirable.
Many of the local expatriate actors were called on to act in this piece to fill some of the grand old dance halls and galleries on the Bund. The mandate was to show the grandiose scale of Shanghai in the 1930s before WWII and Shanghai's current grand scale of modern development.
"It is great to be in the project and work with a director like Sherwood Hu," said Christian Bachini. He is a young actor from Italy who came to China specifically to work on martial arts films, learn from Chinese martial artists and is also studying the Chinese language. He and Alex Genneopoulus have taken part in several short films as stuntmen, extras or actors and were cast in the upcoming film Chen Zhen.
The Shanghai 2010 Expo will run from May 1 to October 31, 2010 in Shanghai, China.
The most interesting thing was the camera rig they used to film this. Since it is intended to be projected in around the walls of the pavilion, it was necessary to film 360 degrees. The camera team used 5 Canon Mark II SLR cameras rigged together (one up and 4 at 90 degrees to one another)
The camera team and the impromptu Canon 360 degree rig
Christian Bachini (l), Richard Trombly and Alex Genneopoulos pose as 1930s stock traders
Many of the local expatriate actors were called on to act in this piece to fill some of the grand old dance halls and galleries on the Bund. The mandate was to show the grandiose scale of Shanghai in the 1930s before WWII and Shanghai's current grand scale of modern development.
"It is great to be in the project and work with a director like Sherwood Hu," said Christian Bachini. He is a young actor from Italy who came to China specifically to work on martial arts films, learn from Chinese martial artists and is also studying the Chinese language. He and Alex Genneopoulus have taken part in several short films as stuntmen, extras or actors and were cast in the upcoming film Chen Zhen.
The Shanghai 2010 Expo will run from May 1 to October 31, 2010 in Shanghai, China.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Italian film maker Gianpaolo Lupori makes his mark on the China film scene
***Gianpaolo Lupori and Richard Trombly have collaborated on many projects including the below-mentioned film "MeatSpace" which was recently featured in a Chong Qing, China film festival.***
Italian film maker focuses on China's urban youth
NEWSPAPER EDITION
2009-12-9 00:00
CINEMATIC postcards from the edge are created by an Italian film maker focusing on young Chinese Internet addicts and others on the fringes of the urban mainstream. Sam Riley reels it in.
The lives of young people in China's fast-changing urban environments fascinate Italian film maker Gianpaolo Lupori, who delves into Shanghai's metropolis to tell stories from the fringes of the mainstream.
In his film "Meatspace," recently screened at the Chong Qing Film Festival, Lupori looks at young Chinese who spend so much time online in cyberspace that they refer to their "real lives" as time spent in "Meatspace."
The inspiration for the 17-minute film came while Lupori was working in a computer games company in Shanghai.
The characters are "real people," not actors, and some were the online enthusiasts that Lupori worked with.
They talk in Shanghai dialect, with English and Mandarin Chinese subtitles.
"I researched online, but not understanding Chinese was a huge handicap. But through working with these kids, who also acted in the film, I was able to understand a lot more," he says.
"Meatspace" is very much about what is happening in China, he says.
Lupori, who has lived in Shanghai since 2004, says he was drawn to the idea of people who identify more with their online life than their day-to-day reality.
"Not knowing Chinese I had to take information second- or third-hand about the online world of these kids but I kind of like that," he says.
"Before I did the film, I hadn't played an online game, and as an outsider in the culture you have a unique position as an observer. You can see things that those who are totally involved in that life may not."
"Meatspace" was shot on just 1,200 yuan (US$176) and Lupori hopes it will become the pilot of a full-length feature film.
He worked extensively with the Shanghainese actors to make sure the dialogue was right and that it reflected the way a young online computer enthusiast would speak.
Lupori has shot another two short films, again on shoestring budgets of less than 1,500 yuan each.
One of the films, the 12-minute "Dark Moon" is about problems of making connections in a big city. It was screened at Shanghai's Meiwenti film festival in June 2008.
His third movie, still untitled, was filmed this year and follows the mishaps of a young man who finds a bag on the street of Shanghai and tries unsuccessfully to get rid of it.
Lupori would like to screen all the three films together because they are all urban stories about local people, "universal stories but very localized."
Telling stories from China's urban heart might seem a leap for Lupori, who grew up in the barren rural landscape of southeastern Italy in countryside near the port city of Bari.
At first he followed his parents, working in childhood education that runs arts, crafts, music and multimedia activities to engage children in learning.
He worked with underprivileged children and new immigrant families. He also taught English in Italy.
Lupori came to Shanghai because the parents of his wife, Nadya Alexander, were working in the city. The couple has two children, Shawn, 9, and Aidan, 8. Alexander teaches at a Montessori school.
"The plan was to stay six months or a year at most but we got caught up in the spirit of the potential that is such a part of Shanghai," Lupori says.
He taught English before moving into acting and film. On arriving he quickly gained a toehold in the local film community, getting parts as an extra in Hollywood films "The White Countess" and "The Painted Veil." He was also a stand-in for Jonathan Rhys Myers in "Mission Impossible 3."
He was a runner on sets, organizing actors and equipment on shoots. In 2007 he got a part in a high-profile commercial for electronics manufacturer Philips Global that was directed by acclaimed director Wong Kar-wai.
He also has been directing programs for Luxe, a series of in-flight television shows featuring China's luxury goods industry, for Shanghai Airlines.
Looking back on five years in Shanghai, Lupori says he has forged a career in the local film and media industry that would not have been possible in his home country.
"The media industry in Italy is very closed, and there is no room for innovation and it is all in the hands of a few people," he says.
"Film making is not what it used to be in Italy - I thought I might be able to be a critic or something but never what I have been able to do here."Gianpaolo Lupori
Nationality: Italian
Age: 32
Profession: Media producer
Q&A
Description of self (three words):
Scruffy, analytical, picky.
Favorite place:
The inside of any means of transportation.
Worst experience:
Yet to come.
Motto for life:
"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making plans." (John Lennon)
How to improve Shanghai:Less luster and a little more drama. I fear that the obsession with improvements is rendering the city sterile, dull and lifeless. Every city needs a healthy dose of grime.
Advice to newcomers:
Get over the disappointment of not encountering the much anticipated cultural shock and realize that the city does have an exotic strain, faint as it may be.
Italian film maker focuses on China's urban youth
NEWSPAPER EDITION
2009-12-9 00:00
CINEMATIC postcards from the edge are created by an Italian film maker focusing on young Chinese Internet addicts and others on the fringes of the urban mainstream. Sam Riley reels it in.
The lives of young people in China's fast-changing urban environments fascinate Italian film maker Gianpaolo Lupori, who delves into Shanghai's metropolis to tell stories from the fringes of the mainstream.
In his film "Meatspace," recently screened at the Chong Qing Film Festival, Lupori looks at young Chinese who spend so much time online in cyberspace that they refer to their "real lives" as time spent in "Meatspace."
The inspiration for the 17-minute film came while Lupori was working in a computer games company in Shanghai.
The characters are "real people," not actors, and some were the online enthusiasts that Lupori worked with.
They talk in Shanghai dialect, with English and Mandarin Chinese subtitles.
"I researched online, but not understanding Chinese was a huge handicap. But through working with these kids, who also acted in the film, I was able to understand a lot more," he says.
"Meatspace" is very much about what is happening in China, he says.
Lupori, who has lived in Shanghai since 2004, says he was drawn to the idea of people who identify more with their online life than their day-to-day reality.
"Not knowing Chinese I had to take information second- or third-hand about the online world of these kids but I kind of like that," he says.
"Before I did the film, I hadn't played an online game, and as an outsider in the culture you have a unique position as an observer. You can see things that those who are totally involved in that life may not."
"Meatspace" was shot on just 1,200 yuan (US$176) and Lupori hopes it will become the pilot of a full-length feature film.
He worked extensively with the Shanghainese actors to make sure the dialogue was right and that it reflected the way a young online computer enthusiast would speak.
Lupori has shot another two short films, again on shoestring budgets of less than 1,500 yuan each.
One of the films, the 12-minute "Dark Moon" is about problems of making connections in a big city. It was screened at Shanghai's Meiwenti film festival in June 2008.
His third movie, still untitled, was filmed this year and follows the mishaps of a young man who finds a bag on the street of Shanghai and tries unsuccessfully to get rid of it.
Lupori would like to screen all the three films together because they are all urban stories about local people, "universal stories but very localized."
Telling stories from China's urban heart might seem a leap for Lupori, who grew up in the barren rural landscape of southeastern Italy in countryside near the port city of Bari.
At first he followed his parents, working in childhood education that runs arts, crafts, music and multimedia activities to engage children in learning.
He worked with underprivileged children and new immigrant families. He also taught English in Italy.
Lupori came to Shanghai because the parents of his wife, Nadya Alexander, were working in the city. The couple has two children, Shawn, 9, and Aidan, 8. Alexander teaches at a Montessori school.
"The plan was to stay six months or a year at most but we got caught up in the spirit of the potential that is such a part of Shanghai," Lupori says.
He taught English before moving into acting and film. On arriving he quickly gained a toehold in the local film community, getting parts as an extra in Hollywood films "The White Countess" and "The Painted Veil." He was also a stand-in for Jonathan Rhys Myers in "Mission Impossible 3."
He was a runner on sets, organizing actors and equipment on shoots. In 2007 he got a part in a high-profile commercial for electronics manufacturer Philips Global that was directed by acclaimed director Wong Kar-wai.
He also has been directing programs for Luxe, a series of in-flight television shows featuring China's luxury goods industry, for Shanghai Airlines.
Looking back on five years in Shanghai, Lupori says he has forged a career in the local film and media industry that would not have been possible in his home country.
"The media industry in Italy is very closed, and there is no room for innovation and it is all in the hands of a few people," he says.
"Film making is not what it used to be in Italy - I thought I might be able to be a critic or something but never what I have been able to do here."Gianpaolo Lupori
Nationality: Italian
Age: 32
Profession: Media producer
Q&A
Description of self (three words):
Scruffy, analytical, picky.
Favorite place:
The inside of any means of transportation.
Worst experience:
Yet to come.
Motto for life:
"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making plans." (John Lennon)
How to improve Shanghai:Less luster and a little more drama. I fear that the obsession with improvements is rendering the city sterile, dull and lifeless. Every city needs a healthy dose of grime.
Advice to newcomers:
Get over the disappointment of not encountering the much anticipated cultural shock and realize that the city does have an exotic strain, faint as it may be.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Introducing the Shanghai Repertory Theater
Shanghai Repertory Theater stages its first show. Repertory theater is a company that presents several different plays, operas, or pieces usually alternately in the course of a season at one theater or is a theater housing such a company. Hard to be a repertory theater on your first try but the actors are good so we can give the produce an "A+" for ASPIRATION if not actual reputation as a repertory... And maybe SRT will build on the success of all those volunteers that made East West theater - many of whom are in this production - which gave producer Rosita Janbakhsh her start. Rob Tromp stars as SCROOGE in their first show : A Christmas Carol
Tickets for a Christmas Carol are on sale now. RMB150 for students, RMB200 for adults. Group packages are also available. To purchase, visit www.kecenter.org.cn, www.ticket2010.com or call 136 4170 1170.
Introducing the Shanghai Repertory Theater
Daily Blog
Monday, 16 November 2009 11:11
Written by Caroline Tylawsky
Shanghai’s newest theater company, the Shanghai Repertory Theater, is kicking off the holiday season with a production of the Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge in all his philanthropic glory and his whole gang of ghosts will be on stage at the Ke Center from December 2-6.
SRT is an English-language professional theater run by Rosita Janbakhsh, previously the executive producer at East West Theater. A Christmas Carol will be their debut performance, featuring several familiar faces in the cast and crew – including Rob Tromp as Scrooge, Charlie Mayer as Bob Cratchit, Arran Hawkins as Marley’s Ghost, and Jessica Sands as Tiny Tim.
To help introduce the new theater company to the local stage scene, they’ll be holding a launch party at Chinatown this weekend (Saturday, Nov 21, 5pm) – members of the cast and crew will be in attendance, and the night will feature ticket giveaways, scene previews, canapés and, of course, some holiday drinks. It’ll be free entry starting at 5pm, with scene previews at 5.30, 6.30 and 7.30 (which will also be the ticket giveaway times).
Keep your eyes open for our interview with Rosita and more about A Christmas Carol in an upcoming issue of that’s Shanghai.
Tickets for a Christmas Carol are on sale now. RMB150 for students, RMB200 for adults. Group packages are also available. To purchase, visit www.kecenter.org.cn, www.ticket2010.com or call 136 4170 1170.
Tickets for a Christmas Carol are on sale now. RMB150 for students, RMB200 for adults. Group packages are also available. To purchase, visit www.kecenter.org.cn, www.ticket2010.com or call 136 4170 1170.
Introducing the Shanghai Repertory Theater
Daily Blog
Monday, 16 November 2009 11:11
Written by Caroline Tylawsky
Shanghai’s newest theater company, the Shanghai Repertory Theater, is kicking off the holiday season with a production of the Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. Scrooge in all his philanthropic glory and his whole gang of ghosts will be on stage at the Ke Center from December 2-6.
SRT is an English-language professional theater run by Rosita Janbakhsh, previously the executive producer at East West Theater. A Christmas Carol will be their debut performance, featuring several familiar faces in the cast and crew – including Rob Tromp as Scrooge, Charlie Mayer as Bob Cratchit, Arran Hawkins as Marley’s Ghost, and Jessica Sands as Tiny Tim.
To help introduce the new theater company to the local stage scene, they’ll be holding a launch party at Chinatown this weekend (Saturday, Nov 21, 5pm) – members of the cast and crew will be in attendance, and the night will feature ticket giveaways, scene previews, canapés and, of course, some holiday drinks. It’ll be free entry starting at 5pm, with scene previews at 5.30, 6.30 and 7.30 (which will also be the ticket giveaway times).
Keep your eyes open for our interview with Rosita and more about A Christmas Carol in an upcoming issue of that’s Shanghai.
Tickets for a Christmas Carol are on sale now. RMB150 for students, RMB200 for adults. Group packages are also available. To purchase, visit www.kecenter.org.cn, www.ticket2010.com or call 136 4170 1170.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Fan Yuming starts filming "Huo Guo"
Director (Andy) Fan YuMing kicks off filming the short trailer-style film "Huo Guo" ("hot pot") today. This modern gangster comedy film presents a satyric look at modern China as local and Italian forces struggle to gain a piece of art from China's heritage. Mix all the ingredients and wait until it comes to a boil.
A typical spicy hot-pot
I feel like I am going out of the frying pan, (or at least the hot pot) and into the fire. I am acting in this little production and will be speaking in Chinese.. Wo zhen hai pa, yingwei wo Zhongwen zhen shuo de hen cha !!! (I am nervous because my Chinese sucks!)
including some lines in Shanghainese -- so now I know the meaning of "Nao zi wa te le!" a local insult meaning literally "your brain is broken"and have found it is useful in Shanghai traffic.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Westview Films announces "Dark Waters"
Westview Films announced its new feature film project, DARK WATERS.
Even as the modern world should offer endless freedom of choice, there seem to be so few options to many young Chinese. It is like being on a boat and seeing so many possible destinations in the distance around you while being restricted in choice to merely going up or down stream.
(one of China's ubiquitous riverboats)
"When I arrived in China 6 years ago, China had few highways and few tractor trailer trucks to deliver things. China was, however, embarking upon a great effort to create a vast national highway project and has made incredible progress," says Trombly. "But for now, there are still huge numbers of riverboats traveling the "water highways" in rivers and canals across the country. Thousands of families live on these riverboat barges that remain the backbone of the logistics in China. But times are changing and the modern highways and improved rail systems are slowly spelling the end of this way of life."
Trombly is fascinated with this way of life that will soon disappear and how it fits the struggle of young people in China. This setting makes an ideal backdrop for exploring some of the issues and challenges faced by China's youth. The restricted and claustrophobic environment leads to interpersonal conflicts against a counterpoint of some of the loveliest rural scenes in China.
Trombly said the script is currently in development and will be filmed later in 2010. Trombly is working with some top Chinese talent to develop this story with native authenticity and international perspective.
Director Richard Trombly to head Westview Films
Westview Films
Westview Films is founded to make international films within the China market. Few foreign filmmakers can successfully navigate the governmental restriction, take advantage of the cost savings in China or produce stories that resonate within the Chinese culture.
Few Chinese filmmakers can make films that are accessible to an international audience.
That is our niche.
We will work together with top foreign and local talent to promote cultural exchange with producing great films.
We will be shortly announcing our first project.
Contact : Richard@trombly.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
"Meatspace" Short film selected for Chong Qing, China film festival Nov 21-29
Director/producer Gianpaolo Lupori's intriguing short film follows the theme of lost youth in modern China. Many young Chinese spend so much time online that they never talk about being in "cyberspace." Instead, their "real" lives are referred to as spending time in "meatspace." This presents a vision reminiscent of Clockwork Orange but with the director's keen insight into the gentler and more restrained nature of Chinese youth. It is in fact the very restraint and lack of power, that drives this story forward. Richard Trombly co-produced this Shanghainese-language short.
Synopsis
Among the millions pursuing a better life in the technologically saturated city of Shanghai, four dissatisfied ordinary youngsters drift between reality and cyberspace as they attempt to transform their nondescript lives by posting a series of controversial videos on the Internet.
The virtual quest, however, soon turns into a nightmare as the backlash response to their posts spills out into the real world to haunt and track them down.
Statement
Over the past years, the Internet has not only had a deep effect on the way we interact with each other, but also how we determine our personalities and relate to our surroundings. individuals are now able to creatively engineer their persona, giving new relevance to enduring philosophical investigations on the nature of identity and reality. The extensive influence the Internet has on individual and collective patterns of behavior has also spawned numerous alternative cultures that already present complex hierarchical structures, beliefs, mythologies and parallel economies.
While critics are concerned that these virtual behaviors are unraveling an already fragile social fabric and destabilizing traditional values, others believe cyberspace has provided its inhabitants an opportunity to escape their worries, broaden their horizons and satisfy emotional needs.
However - as is the case with any fledgling alternative culture - while they struggle to break out of conformist patterns, these individuals may find themselves completely disorientated, possibly facing irreversible alienation.
‘Meatspace’ is a poetically licensed reflection on some these social, psychological and cultural alterations generated by virtual interactions between individuals.
Inspired by true accounts, as well as research into various cyber cultures, ‘Meatspace’ investigates the dysfunctional relationships members of these newborn cultures may establish with the various alteregoes the Internet enables them to create. The film also attempts reveal some of the difficulties they may face as they struggle to reconcile their disembodied, virtual experiences with their material lives and the devastating effects it may have on the individual.
The movie refuses to take sides, choosing rather to ally itself with its characters, sympathetically portraying difficulties of individuals trapped between two equally menacing realities; describing how lack of prospects, human contact and self esteem may drive someone to burrow themselves completely into a parallel reality where they may experience the artificial freedom of recreating themselves.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Director's Statement FATHER JOHN: Into The Shadows
Why Father John?
First of all, this is the archetypal hero’s quest. A flawed hero is thrust out into the greater world where he faces and overcomes great challenges. He also learns about himself, faces his faults, grows stronger and then brings this knowledge, maturity and strength back home to solve problems there. And Father John does this in a delightfully fresh new way.
When I came across this script, I immediately saw the potential in doing a neo-noir spy tale in Shanghai. The signature Shanghai architecture, the Shikumen-style housing blocks, are twisted mazes of narrow alleys that leave you turned about and confused or facing a dead end. And that also reflects the traditional lives and personal relations in those communities along those longtang lanes. Famed Chinese writer AnYi Wang said that in these neighborhoods, truth, lies and dark deeds all vanish into the mist.
With a bunch of recent films showing famous Shanghai views of the riverfront with the iconic Pearl Tower or the neon lights and international fashion brands of Nanjing Lu, I wanted to see a film that went deeper into the “real” Shanghai I have come to know and love. It is an ocean teeming with the endless ebb and flow of humanity.
There are some incredibly rich and vibrant views of Shanghai that will add depth and texture to this story. From the dingy back alleys and the dilapidated dwellings to fresh new neighborhoods of the new class of upwardly mobile professionals, Shanghai is an amazing backdrop for any drama.
I also was intrigued by exploring the inner conflict in John. Spies have to do some dark things that you would only expect from confidence men, thieves and murderers. The only difference is that spies can pretend to themselves that doing it for a good reason, in service of their country, makes it ok.
John’s way of maintaining his identity and self-respect in this environment is to take on the role of nice guy; almost to a fault. He tries to make an orderly world in his office where he can dot the “I”s and cross the “T”s and everything will be alright. In a world of shoot-from-the-hip rule breakers, John tries to follow the rules and a personal code of ethics. John quite effectively carved out this niche for himself in London where, under a business cover, he could effectively play the well respected man about town. But John has been lying to himself about his nice, perfect life and the darker side of his own nature.
When he is thrust into Shanghai, his life turns upside down. In London, John kept a perfectly ordered life while in Shanghai, everything is unsure. He is out of his element and not only are the people in his new office nearly hostile to him, but there is also a traitor in their midst. His partner Bill is uncooperative and on the verge of hostility toward John.
A local Chinese staff at the office and Yuri, a shadowy figure that rescues John from a mugging, seem to be his only friends. He does not know who he can trust. But he has to learn quickly if he is going to survive, because his predecessor did not.
Greetings all
It has been several months since I have written. I have been devoting myself to developing the Feature film production of the international spy film : FATHER JOHN : Into The Shadows.
This is a neo- film noir spy story about a spy who is a true gentleman perfectly suited for London but has his cover blown in London and finds himself thrust "into the shadows" of Shanghai, in a world filled with intrigue and deception. In this environment, who can you trust? John forms a tenuous alliance with an enigmatic figure named Yuri and he must unravel a terrorist threat before the terrorists carry out a contract to assassinate him.
update projected shooting : Fall 2010
We have been slow to raise money in this current economy, but the interest is developing and we expect some strong financing shortly. But we have deeply revised and perfected the script and a few actors have read the script and expressed interest. We are able to name two actors that have committed their interest in this project.
Juliet Landau
Juliet Landau ( famed for the film Ed Wood and her recurring role as Druscilla in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) is up for the lead female role as John's primary love interest in London.
Peter Stomare (Prison Break, Fargo, Constantine) is the ideal casting for the shadowy Yuri.
I have spoken with Elias Koteas about playing the role of John's partner in Shanghai, Bill. I hope to have the honor of bringing these three great actors together. If the funding picture keeps on it s current optimistic track, I am hoping we can secure the fund to attach the lead star to play John.
more info to come:
thanks to my friends for the help and spiritual support in this time of struggle
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)