Christian Kane

Christian Kane (Close to Home) plays the anti-hero, “born into an international crime syndicate, thrown into the middle of a conflict of evil vs. evil vs. evil, trying to make sense of it and do the right thing,” Zahn said.

The cast also includes Justin Mentel (“Boston Legal”), Larry Thomas (“Seinfeld’s” Soup Nazi), Scott L. Schwartz (Ocean’s 12), and G.W. Bailey (The Closer).

Matt Pletcher is producing for Baby Galigo films. Zahn and Pletcher met on the set of the “Prison Break” pilot, in which both filmmakers acted in day player roles.

See www.deathwalksthestreets.com.

Mark Vadik of BYOB Multimedia has wrapped post-production on his debut feature, the supernatural erotic thriller The Thirsting.

Mickey Rooney, Tina Krause, Jacqueline Hickel, Cortney Pahlke, Lauren Ryland, Lauren McCarthy and Nikki Gahan star in The Thirsting, about six students at a Catholic women’s college who mistakenly unleash the avenging spirit of Lilith, Adam’s spurned and demonic wife.

Vadik shot the film in summer 2004. Kirk Sanders produced for Walking Shadows Productions. Music is by Geno Lenardo of Filter.

“We’re pleased to say that we currently have five distribution offers and we expect the film to be released in February,” Vadik said.

Vadik directed R3, his own goth-industrial Richard III adaptation, in 2004 at the Bailiwick Arts Center.

See www.byobmultimedia.com.

James Woods

Winter of Frozen Dreams is the story of Barbara Hoffman, the real-life former University of Wisconsin biochemistry student and massage parlor prostitute now serving a life sentence for two late-’70s cyanide murders. Jim Doyle, now Wisconsin governor, prosecuted the case as a young Dane County District Attorney.

Woods plays the detective investigating the case, and Riegert plays an assistant D.A. Graf adapted the script with Michael Caughill and John Besmer, from Karl Harter’s 1990 nonfiction book.

Graf runs Madison sister companies Spot Film Works and King Isthmus Films. See www.spotfilmworks.com.

Jim Finn’s retro sci-fi epic feature Interkosmos will have its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival, Jan. 25-Feb. 5.

Nandini Khaund, Finn, Dean DeMatteis, and Goran Milos star as a team of international cosmonauts in the East German space program in the 1970s. Also featuring Ruedigar van den Boom, Bettina Richards and Annika Bruens.

“I wanted it to seem as if I’d been allowed into the archive of the East German space agency,” Finn said. “I built the film around reenactments of archival photos, like cosmonauts in a pool, or doing survival training in the woods.”

Finn shot from March through August, on a space capsule set built in an unused bathroom at the West Loop gallery The Butcher Shop, a miniature set in Finn’s Ukrainian Village apartment, and at exteriors in upstate New York and Michigan.

See www.interkosmosmovie.com.

Eva Mozes Kor in Forgiving Dr. Mengele

Forgiving Dr. Mengele tells the story of Eva Mozes Kor, a Holocaust survivor who took the controversial public position to forgive the Nazis. As a child, Kor was subjected to Josef Mengele’s notorious medical experiments at Auschwitz along with her twin sister. She went on to found the CANDLES Holocaust Museum in Terra Haute, Ind.

Keith Walker, Hercules’ partner at Media Process Group, shot the film. David E. Simpson edited. Music by Mark Bandy. First Run Features (With God on Our Side) will give Forgiving Dr. Mengele a limited theatrical release, including a week at the Gene Siskel Film Center beginning Feb. 24, before releasing it on DVD. Forgiving Dr. Mengele will also play at the Miami, Atlanta and Harrisburg Jewish film festivals,

See www.firstrunfeatures.com/forgivingdrmengele.html.

Ricardo Islas of Alpha Studios is in preproduction on his latest horror picture Lockout, which he plans to shoot in Chicago and Wisconsin beginning this winter.

“Lockout is the story of a man who moves his family to Wisconsin, where he sees something so scary that he blacks out and can’t reach out to other people, can’t communicate with other people,” Islas said.

New York-based Hart Sharp Video (Supersize Me) released Islas’ lesbian vampire feature Night Fangs on DVD domestically in October. Lighthouse Video released the picture in the U.K. Nov. 21.

Night Fangs stars Leslie Frank, Cyn Dulay, Islas and Ruby González. See www.alphaflicks.com.

Melissa Kosar is looking for unsigned bands to contribute music for her debut feature, the action drama Perilous Ties which she shot last June throughout the Chicago area.

Kosar, 22, directed, produced, shot and edited from her own script. She founded the Glen Ellyn production company Chi-Town Films with executive producer Jeff Majerowicz to make the film. She also produces spots, industrials and educational films through her Honeybee Film Productions.

Bill Vasadil, Harold Dennis, Erin Ordway, Anthony Rago and Jarrah Korbah star in Perilous Ties. E-mail Kosar at honeybeefilmpro@aol.com.

Anthony De Julio of Gattopardo Films is developing Teenage Nightmares, a teen drama that de Julio plans to direct from his own script.

“I am in the process of attaching name talent,” de Julio said. “I am also in negotiations to develop another film for a client in the area.”

Reach de Julio at 773/525-0307 or filmproductionjob@hotmail.com.

Steve Levy, host of “The Steve Levy Show” on CAN TV (which he bills as “Chicago’s first late night comedy talk show”) will present the series at NATPE in January. Levy tapes episodes live at CAN TV’s studio at 322 S. Green St. See www.stevelevyshow.com.

Ed M. Koziarski is a Chicago filmmaker and journalist. He is developing the feature film Okinawa Project. E-mail info to edk@homesickblues.com.

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