7-20-07
Playwright Stephen Cone Shooting First feature The Christians
Stephen Cone of Cone Arts is in pre-production on his debut feature The Christians. Writer/director Cone is producing with Gina LoPiccolo. The Christians is a dramatic thriller which “follows the lives of two diverse couples on lockdown in a Chicago apartment in the not-too-distant future—a future of worldwide unease and constant fear.”
Arian Moayed and Krissy Shields star, with Rob Belushi, Laurel Schroeder, Bill McGough, Sadie Rogers, J. Kingsford Goode and LaShawn Banks.
John Melton is shooting on HD. Production is slated for late August. E-mail thechristiansmovie@gmail.com.
Joe Swanberg and Frank V. Ross are among the filmmakers featured in the IFC Center’s two-week series “The New Talkies: Generation DIY”, running Aug. 22 to Sept. 4 in New York.
The IFC First Take release of Swanberg’s latest, Hannah Takes the Stairs, anchors the series, which also includes the theatrical premiere of his earlier features Kissing on the Mouth and L.O.L. and his nervevideo.com series “Young American Bodies.”
Ross’ new Hohokam and his previous Quietly On By also screen in the series, along with films by Andrew Bujalski, Aaron Katz, and Mark and Jay Duplass.
See ifccenter.com.
Jeff Garlin’s I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, based on his one-man Second City show and shot here and in L.A., gets an IFC First Take theatrical/broadcast release Sept. 5. Garlin stars with Sarah Silverman, Dan Castellaneta, Gina Gershon, Tim Kazurinsky, and Steve Dahl, among many others. Garlin plays Larry David’s agent in Curb Your Enthusiasm, which returns to HBO for its fifth season in September.
Garlin shot many of the exteriors of the Chicago-set film here, some in L.A., and most of the interiors here. Pete Biagi is DP.
Dalia Tapia shoots her second feature, Silent Shame June 20-July 25. Silent Shame is the story of a young man, whose mother died of AIDS, searching for and reconnecting with his estranged father.
Tapia’s first feature, Buscando a Leti (In Search of Leti) was released on DVD last year after premiering at the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. The short version of that film, Buscando a Lety, has played in regular rotation on cable network S'TV. Tatiana Tien, Carmen Cenko, Juan Ma-uel and Rosa Isela Frausto star.
See daliatapia.com.
Split Pillow has signed with distributor Ariztical for the DVD release of gay comedy soulMaid, in a deal that makes it the first profitable film in the nonprofit film collective’s half-decade history. Ariztical released Split Pillow’s second feature Brushfires.
Jeff Maccubbin, Jeff McHale, Dan Mohr and Joe Steiff each directed segments of the campy religious cult romp, starring Joe Schenck, Tom Bailey and Becca Connolly. soulMaid screened June 9 at NewFest, the New York Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival.
Split Pillow continues to ramp up its active production slate for its sixth season. Brian Fox produced the company’s first HD feature, the conspiracy thriller The Disappearance of Daniel Dodger, which will premiere this fall to open the season.
Executive director Jason Stephens is producing an adaptation of Andrei Bely’s novel “Petersburg.” David J. Evans is producing Curse of the Sandman, adapted from E.T.A. Hoffman’s horror short story “The Sandman.”
Split Pillow is accepting proposals for the third installment of its omnibus documentary series Chicago360.
See splitpillow.com.
Catherine Rubey’s debut feature Baggage begins production in late summer with star Corbin Bernsen and director Dirk Benedict.
Bernsen stars as a retiring airline pilot, reuniting with his adult son (producer Stephen Polk) and estranged wife (yet to be cast). Bernsen rejoins his Major League co-star Chelsie Ross in Baggage. Rubey said Ross’ involvement helped attract Bernsen to the project.
Rubey wrote the script and is producing with Polk, John Yaworsky and Patrick Roberts. Executive producers are Damian Perkins and Ralph Cooper.
See baggagethefilm.com.
Scott Smith of Fulton Market Films is in preproduction on his debut feature INK, which he adapted with Erik Anderson from Charles Dickinson’s novel “Rumor Has It.” Production is slated to begin in October. Casting is underway.
INK “tells the story of a desperate Chicago newspaper editor who finds himself in dire straits when his paper folds around him, his staff revolts, and he obsessively pursues one last great story,” according to Fulton Market.
Smith has been creative director at Leo Burnett and Element 79. He was a top-three finalist in Project Greenlight for his comedy short Ten. He’s also directing a documentary for Fulton Market about the seven individuals who play University of Wisconsin mascot Bucky Badger.
Leigh Jones (5-25-77) is producing. Fulton Market founder John Fromstein, a 25-year advertising veteran, is executive producer. See fultonmarketmedia.com.
Pawel Grajnert’s animated screenplay Shoe In won the 3rd Annual IFP/Chicago Onstage with Chicago ScriptWorks staged reading competition. Chicago ScriptWorks will present a reading of Shoe In Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater, 77 E. Randolph St. See chicagoscriptworks.com.
Pete Jones’ Outing Riley, the followup to his inaugural Project Greenlight film “Stolen Summer,” won best feature at New Fest, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Film Festival.
Jones stars in the comedy Outing Riley as a man coming out to his Irish Catholic brothers. The film is an official selection of Outfest in Los Angeles in mid-July.
Deri Tyton’s sophomore feature, the psychological thriller Love Bones, premieres July 22 at I.C.E. Chatham Theatres. It’s the story of a couple searching for the killer of their 7-year-old daughter. “Guaranteed to keep you guessing to the end,” Tyton said.
Tyton, of Legenderi Films, wrote and directed 2004’s romantic drama Toot’s and Blow’s, which played festivals, including the Film Center’s Black Harvest African Diaspora Film Festival.
Love Bones screens July 22 at 7 p.m. at Chatham, 210 W. 87th St.
See myspace.com/legenderi.
Dan Consiglko’s belated coming-of-age comedy Alleyball will open the Independent Features Film Festival with a red carpet event July 27 at the Tribeca Theaters in Lower Manhattan, thanks to being the number one vote getter in the festival’s online competition. The event begins at 7 p.m., screening in two theatres beginning at 7:30. See independentfeatures.com/ifweb.
Nathan Adloff’s United Strangers is among the local short films playing in IFP/Chicago’s monthly Short Cuts screening series. July 29 at 7 p.m. at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark St., 2nd Floor. $5; free for members.
Maria Gigante, who was a finalist in MTV’s Best Filmmakers on Campus contest with her short Girls Room, is now a finalist in another competition, this time from GenArt. Gigante is one of six women filmmakers competing for a $20,000 grant toward a future project. See bioregenart.com.
Craig James Pietrowiak’s pilot “Wrigleyville” has been selected for the 2nd Annual Independent Television Festival in Los Angeles in late July. See itvfest.org.
Ed M. Koziarski is in post-production on the feature film The First Breath of Tengan Rei. Email edk@homesickblues.com.