Snowchild Production Infos

Snowchild
A flm by Uta Arning
Title: SNOWCHILD
Language: Japanese, English
Location: Japan
Format: HD
Genre: Drama with Dark Comedy Elements
Length: 85 min
An original screenplay by Uta Arning
Contact:
SNOWCHILD Filmproduction GmbH&Co.KG
Rehweg 10
45721 Haltern am See
Germany
Email: [email protected]
www.snowchildthemovie.com
SNOWCHILD 1
Crew
Director
Uta ARNING
Screenplay
Uta ARNING
Producers
Co-Producers
Associate Producer
Director of Photography
Ko MORI
Uta ARNING
Lee RUDNICKI
Amalia YUNUS
Matthew BOWYER
Gerald CRUMP
Matthew MENDELSON
Gafer
David WOLLNER
Set Designer
Asako OGIWARA
Special Efect Supervisor
Casting Director
Line Producers
First Assistant Director
Stylist
Matthew BOWYER
Satoshi MASCHIDA
Riki UMEHARA
Satoshi MASHIDA
Hideaki JIMBO
Yuri OKANO
Make-up Artist
Izumi MATSUSHITA
Location Sound
Kyuya NAKAGAWA
Sound Assistant
Gavin RAMOUTAR
Sound Design
Film Editor
Assistant Editor
Production Coordinator
Unit Production Manager
First Assistant Camera
Second Assistant Camera
Director of Photography Second Unit
First Assistant Camera Second Unit
Key Grip
Electricians
Jan GIESE
Yusei SIOW (WATANABE)
Delcie POH
Amaran THEVARANJAH
Ryota MIYAMOTO
Gerald CRUMP
Nick HYUNH
Gen ITO
Nick HYUNH
Gen ITO
David KAVANAUGH
Satoshi TANI
Daiki KATO
SNOWCHILD 2
Ken OWAKU
Lighting Assistant
Prop Person
Construction Crews
On Set Editor
Visiting Visual
Ashish GHADIALI
Masanori KABASAWA
Koichi YANABE
Miyuki TAKAHASHI
Kimiko SANO
Satoko IWAI
Keisuke MIYOSHI
Hajime MATSUMOTO
Efect Specialist
Stunt Coordinator
Crane Operators
Drivers
Production Coordinator
Miki SATO
Shinichi OHTSUKA
Mitsuru SATO
Motohiro OHSAWA
Kazuo KAGAWA
Yoshinari INOUE
Kenichi YOSHINO
Katsuaki INOUE
Tomonori MIYOSHI
Yoshiaki TSUNASHIMA
Seijiro YOSHIDA
Hideo FUJINO
Production Assistants
Takanori NITTA
Kota ISHIBA
Koichi TOKUHIRA
Eri SAKUMURA
Interpreters
Hannan SIGEE
Lisa YAMAMOTO
Cooking
Servicing Production
Hiroko NAKAMURA
U.S.E inc.
Company Japan
Equipment
TECS inc.
NKL inc.
NIHONSHOMEI
ALWAYS
Set Design
HATA DECORATIVE ART inc.
Rental Shop Stuf to Go
Wardrobe
Final Sound Mix
MIXX JUICE inc.
Adrian BAUMEISTER
SNOWCHILD 3
Visual Efects & Main Title Design
Matthew BOWYER
M Films Australia
Matte Painter
Laima PUNTULE (RijaFilms, Lithuania)
Rotoscope Artist
Renars ZALITIS (Rija Films, Lithuania)
ZooTV logo
Alex RAHR (Ballast Design, Australia)
AUSTRALIA PLATE SHOOT
Servicing Production
WILD VISUALS
Company
Director of Photography
Tim BRADLEY
Producer
Susan SCHMIDT
Jib Operator
Alex MORRISON
Supervision
Matthew BOWYER
Location Cooperation
Location Service
Cooperation
Wolf Stock Footage
DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
PRODUCER
D.I. COORDINATOR
COLOURIST
ONLINE EDITOR
Digital Output
Making Of / Stills
Haiku Author
Chihuahua Painting
Antique HOTEL La・Mirador
LOCKHEART CASTLE
HUNDREDSTAY RESIDENCE
OAMI High school
RECKY LOCATION SERVICE
GENDAI HAIKU ASSOCIATION
Yoshiyuki MAEJIMA
Tetsuo FUNAHASHI
"Film Footage courtesy of Shutterstock Images
LLC, Used by Permission"
BLACKMAGIC DESIGN
Paul STEVENS
Low HWEE LING
Winston CHEE
Aun NOPPASAK POONPIPAT
Hendro SETYO WIBOWO
Postrepublic Berlin
Rika YASUI
Kenichi TATSUKI
Eva ARNING
SNOWCHILD 4
Summary
In the midst of winter, Yukiko, a 16-year-old broken-hearted girl, wants to end her
life after losing her childhood to a much older Caucasian man whom she refers to as
the wolf.
She tried to play along with his adultery game but lost her voice in the end.
At the right moment a young boy named Kazuhiro rescues her. At Hotel Namonaki
(Hotel without a Name), a hotel that has gained the reputation of being a suicide
spot, she meets other lost souls whose lives are manipulated by an egocentric hotel
manager who profts from her guests' misery. Kazuhiro forces a companionship on
her and promises to bring back her voice. But Yukiko only has eyes for the older
guest Yamamura. Will Kazuhiro succeed to bring her voice back and at what cost?
The Pitch
SNOWCHILD is a low budget feature flm written and directed by Uta Arning, which
puts western storytelling into an Asian context.
The flm is an ensemble piece with surrealistic elements. Quirky, and irreverent, it
deals with the very serious issue of suicide sensitively. It will renew the audience's
faith in the power of love.
SNOWCHILD is a character-driven, relationship flm set in an idiosyncratic hotel. This
flm subverts genre by infusing surrealistic elements into the story, with comedic
efect. It has an innovative approach to storytelling, which utilizes an animation kind
of look, and special efects to create a unique atmosphere, both thrilling and
touching.
SNOWCHILD 5
The main Characters of SNOWCHILD
SNOWCHILD boasts of a collection of odd and yet relatable characters transcending race and culture.
Whether in failed relationships or disappointments in life, the issues faced by SNOWCHILD's characters
are universal.
Yukiko
Yukiko is in many ways a normal teenager, yet she has fallen for a man twice her age, a Caucasian
who calls himself Akira. She thinks she is on top of things trying to play along with his adultery game.
She is aware of her ability to charm Akira but mistakenly thinks that she can keep him and make him
hers entirely. She embarrasses herself, gives him everything she has but fails in her goal. The
experience of losing her childhood to this man causes her to lose her voice and she is left with the
wish to end her own life. Kazuhiro who rescues her is not interesting. In her eyes, he is a weird,
average looking boy who is inexperienced. The presence of Yamamura gives her a new aim to work
towards. But she has to learn that all she needs is a parental caretaker and a boy her age.
Yamamura
Yamamura is a haiku author and teacher. In order to get inspiration he had an afair that caused his
downfall. He comes to Hotel Namonaki to write one last, perfect haiku. But he is constantly disturbed
and challenged by the phone calls on the balcony, the disturbance in the hotel by Ishigo, a female
tourist Mai and especially by Yukiko who starts to follow him around. Yamamura has the urge to do
better than he did. His one mistake made him loose his path but being put into a similar situation
again by meeting Yukiko gives him another chance.
Kazuhiro
Kazuhiro grew up in the Kafkaesque place of Hotel Namonaki. He saw people come and end their
lives. There was never anyone he would be able to keep and create a companionship with. His
mother, the hotel manager, is not functional as a mother, only talking to him when giving commands.
His strange hobby is to collect a last image of the hotel guests and position them on this toy train. He
also likes stones as they don‛t change their shape. Kazuhiro wants to live his desire for sexuality and
getting close to someone. He forces a companionship on Yukiko hoping that he can make her like
him. Kazuhiro has a much too beautiful and vulnerable soul.
Akira
Akira is a Caucasian man living it big in Tokyo. His apartment is overlooking his playground. He likes
women and likes to be entertained. He has gotten quite passive, making minimal efort to achieve his
goals and make a woman interested in him. The environment has made it easy to do so.
Ishigo
Ishigo is the hotel manager of Hotel Namonaki. She loves money, fashion and luxurious goods. For
years she has been running her Hotel as a suicide hotel where she has been living of the belongings
left behind by the people who killed themselves. Her son Kazuhiro is just another existing soul whom
she uses for running the business. Her eccentric character is a necessary contrast to the other
characters who are at a point in their lives willing to end it. She allows the flm to have lighter
moments. Within this fairytale she is the witch who tries to drown the visitors in the sea.
Masako
Masako is forced to lead a life she doesn't want. Her father lives alone, after the mother‛s death and a
stroke, and has to be taken care of. In order to earn money she has to work as a helpline manager
trying to talk people out of suicide. She tries to gain counseling skills through self-studies but her
own insecurity makes it difcult for her to fnd the right words and she doesn't sound convincing.
Funny enough she succeeds through her failure and inability.
SNOWCHILD 6
Synopsis
Somewhere in Northern Japan there is a hotel, called Hotel Namonaki (Hotel without
a name), which is located on steep clifs and has gained the sinister reputation of
being an infamous suicide spot. The hotel is run by Ishigo who purposely makes the
hotel as gloomy and unpleasant as possible to mess with the minds of the hotel
guests.
Yukiko is one of the tourists trying to end her life. She has had her heart broken by
an older Caucasian man who calls himself Akira. Akira takes Yukiko's virginity and
childhood. The moment he abandons her she loses her voice. Yukiko is forced to
realize that to him it was meaningless and decides to end her life by jumping of the
balcony of Hotel Namonaki. Kazuhiro, Ishigo‛s weird son, rescues her.
He takes her into his world. As she doesn‛t speak he names her “no name”. Kazuhiro
forces a companionship on her. At the hotel, Yukiko discovers that her despair is
transforming. She withdraws into the dark corridors of the hotel and starts to mix
reality with her imaginative world in which she sees Akira. Kazuhiro attempts to
cheer her up and win her heart, promising her to help her fnd her voice again.
However, Yukiko only has eyes for the new guest Yamamura in whom she sees a
possible caretaker and replacement of Akira.
Yamamura is a teacher and poet from Tokyo, who had hoped for inspiration for his
poetry by having an afair with one of his students. However, his young muse
became tired of hiding the afair and exposed it, causing his downfall. The shame
brings him to Hotel Namonaki where he meets Yukiko.
Ishigo‛s business runs smooth until the government installs a surveillance camera
and a phone on her property to stop the suicide tourism. In a lighthouse near the
hotel Masako is left with the task to encourage people to continue with their lives.
Via a monitor she observes the activity on the hotel balcony and lets the phone ring
at the right moment. Unfortunately she isn't particularly good at motivating as she
herself is disenchanted with life.
Yamamura is torn between being attracted to Yukiko and his past experiences.
Yukiko's constant interference with Yamamura trying to fnd the right words for
ending his life rescues him. Yamamura starts to have an impact on Masako and also
a beautiful hotel guest, Mai, countering the forces of darkness in the hotel. The
change in mood upsets Ishigo and her devious plans escalate causing an unfortunate
tragedy and a new beginning.
SNOWCHILD 7
Director's Statement
During my one year as a foreign student at Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan), I
witnessed a suicide attempt. A man tried to kill himself by jumping in front of a
train. The train came to an abrupt stop. Most of the people in the train looked away
from the scene and when the train commenced, they resumed their activities. I was
disturbed by the scenery and I spoke to a lot of my Japanese friends about the
problem of suicide and began to write about it. During my studies at NYU Tisch Asia
the story developed into a flm.
I toured across Japan trying to look for supporters and money. But as a frst time
director it was fairly difcult. After a while I had a stack of business cards with
people stating “If you need my advice you can contact me.” But kind words didn‛t
bring me anywhere so I founded my own company in Germany. The investment
fnally came from private investors, sponsors and the great support of former
classmates and friends who agreed to work on this project for free.
There were people that advised me to realize the project in a diferent country than
Japan. But SNOWCHILD was written to take place in Japan. The mood of the city
Tokyo, the locations could not be recreated anywhere else. And to me the cast I
found for this ensemble piece symbolized what I was looking for in order to breathe
life into this story. For me Tokyo has always been a place where you could have a lot
of fun but could also be very lonely.
The biggest challenge and my biggest worry was allowing the audience the right
distance towards the subject. To make the flm digestible and relatable, I had to
subvert the genre and add comedic elements such as the odd phone conversations
between the character Masako and Yamamura, the eccentric character of the hotel
manager Ishigo, Kazuhiro‛s insecurity. The characters who come to the hotel want to
vanish and end their lives due to a momentum in their life. They are in a phase where
everything seems to be without a meaning. A theme people can relate to everywhere.
SNOWCHILD 8
The flm cannot give the answer to human problems but it conveys the message that
the possibility of getting through these dark moments in life exists. The decisions of
its characters are purposely left without judgment.
Creating the world of SNOWCHILD
Together with Asako Ogiwara from Hata Art Tokyo and her team we transformed the
interiors into our vision of Hotel Namonaki. The interiors were realized in a hotel in
Kamogawa, Chiba. A hotel, where each room already ofered a diferent look. A small
workspace underneath a staircase was transformed into the interior of the
lighthouse, a Japanese looking guest room was decorated as Masako‛s house
interior.
The hotel is located near the ocean, which allowed us to minimize the amount of
visual efects and mix existing locations with created locations in post and combine
locations in Australia and Japan.
The exterior of our hotel we found in Gunma, a strange wedding hotel castle, that
was dismantled years ago in Scotland and brought to Japan via the Tran Siberian
railway.
The world of the hotel stands in contrast with Tokyo. A city where the characters of
Yukiko, Akira and Yamamura come from. This is refected in the colors used as well
as the more modern and sparse interiors.
VFX
Snowchild features a relatively high number of Visual Efects sequences for a flm of
its budget. These sequences, twenty-seven in total, were supervised and completed
by Matthew Bowyer of M Films Australia.
After principal photography was completed in Japan, M Films oversaw additional
photography at the ocean clifs of Gap Park in Sydney. It was a dark irony that this
popular suicide location in Sydney featured much of the same surveillance
equipment, cameras and emergency phones as the fctional Hotel Namonaki location
it was matching.
These complex sequences, seamlessly integrating live action and CG elements, leant
the Hotel Namonaki its perilous and deadly cliftop locale.
M Films also created the flm's main title sequence. Inspired by the work of Maurice
Binder and Saul Bass, the titles distilled the essence of SnowChild into a stylised
black and white world of water, circling crows and of course - snow.
SNOWCHILD 9
MAIN CAST
Airi Kido as YukikoAiri is a newcomer actress known as the grand prize winner of "the 1st LDH
Dream Girls Audition 2007" hosted by LDH, the leading entertainment
production in Japan.
She overtook 1000 contestants there and soon became an exclusive contracted
model of "nicola", one of the most popular fashion magazine among teens.
Her previous works are:
• "CROWN" (Hosted by Gekidan-EXILE)
• PV "Ginga Tetsudo 999" (EXILE)
Ayumu Saito as YamamuraAyumu Saito is known for his works in:
• "All night long" (Directed by Katsuya Matsumura)
• "Juon 2" (Directed by Takashi Shimizu)
• "Chi to hone" (Directed by Youichi Sai)
• "CROWS ZERO" (Directed by Takashi Miike)
• "Yatta man" (Directed by Takashi Miike)
More info under: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1277299/
Michael Pink as AkiraMichael was born and raised in Austria. Aged 21 he started studying acting in
Vienna. After a few years as a theatre actor he ventured into flms and has
since played in numerous cinema and TV-flms and series. Among his greatest
successes were appearances in “Tatort” (Scene of the Crime), “Umbra Mortis”,
“Crashpoint Berlin”, “Welcome Home” and “Verfolgt” (Hunted). Michael is also
successful as a speaker in advertising, documentaries, and feature flms.
“SNOWCHILD” is Michaels 4th international flm after “Aeon Flux”, “Able” and
“The Perfect Woman”, written and directed by Uta Arning.
More info under: www.pinkmichael.com
Shinobu Kawamata as IshigoShinobu is a well established Japanese actress. Her Previous works include:
• "Aguri"
• "Zukkoke sannin gumi"
• "Shikoku" (Directed by Shunichi Nagasaki)
• "Tsuri baka nisshi 11" (Directed by Katsuhide Motoki)
• "Pikanchi" (Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi)
More info under: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1097727/
SNOWCHILD 10
Naoki Kawano as KazuhiroNaoki made his debut as an actor in the popular horror drama series "Mokuyo
no Kaidan, Kaiki Club" (CX) in 1995. He currently appears in various movies,
drama series, and commercials, and also on stage. He is known from many
drama series including "Juken Sentai Gekiranger" (ANB), "Shibatora" (CX),
"Guilty – Akuma To Keiyaku Shita Onna" (KTV). He has also appeared on stage
such as "258" and "Tsuki no Kodomo". His debut-starring movie is "Rendezvous!" in 2010, and he is also in the movie "The Negotiator – The Movie",
"Sukeban Hunters – Jigoku no Ketto", "Bayside Shakedown – The movie 3", and
"BECK". He has an upcoming movie "Kokorozashi – Seimi wo Aishita Otoko" in
Spring 2011 and he will also appear on stage "Remember".
SNOWCHILD 11
Director's Profle
Uta Arning grew up in Germany with a family where art was emphasized alongside of
business and science. Uta studied business administration at Aachen University and
Sophia University, Tokyo, and fnished with a master's degree. Once she received her
degree and entered the real world, her passion for flm reemerged.
After working on diverse and exciting productions Uta decided to apply to the NYU
flm program to hone her professional flm making skills.
Uta's talent and flm work at Tisch Asia in Singapore have been received with critical
acclaim. "The Smallest Cinema of the Universe", an eight minute documentary, was
showcased at the 5th Con-Can Film Festival Tokyo, the Corona Fastnet Film Festival
Ireland 2009, and the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival in 2009. Her frst
flm at Tisch Asia "Mei Mei's Birthday", a four minute silent flm, screened at the
Chinh India Film Festival in 2008 and toured numerous elementary schools in India.
In April 2009, her script was chosen for a directing workshop with Shekhar Kapur.
Uta's second year project, "The Perfect Woman", was supported by the German
Embassy. The flm was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 2009 Grand OFF, World
Of Film Awards in Warsaw, Poland, Screened at NYU's First Run Film Festival, was
Wasserman Award fnalist and screened at the Director's Guild of America. It won
craft awards in camera, editing, sound design and art direction. At the Mexico
International Film Festival it received the Silver Palm Award. The flm screened at TelAviv’s cinematheque in conjunction with the SF International Filmfestival Tel-Aviv
last October and recently in relation with the European Filmfestival Singapore.
SNOWCHILD is Uta Arning‛s frst feature flm.
The Production Company
Snowchild Filmproduction was founded in 2010 in Germany North RhineWestphalia. SNOWCHLD is the company‛s frst project.
The company aims to produce unique magical content for the international market
by creating a bridge between East and West. Uta Arning, the founder and partner of
Snowchild Filmproduction, is home in both worlds through her professional and
educational experience. She is also owner of Kobold Film Germany, which was
founded together with Snowchild Filmproduction. Kobold Film is managing the
production of SNOWCHILD.
SNOWCHILD 12
SNOWCHILD features fashion and music Made in Berlin
MISTER PINK AND THE LILY
Mister Pink and the Lily is a new German band founded by actor Michael Pink and musician Lüder
Lindau.
www.misterpinkandthelily.com
Songs featured in Snowchild:
LOST (in your eyes)
written by lüder lindau | michael pink
performed by "mister pink & the lily"
SUPERHEROMEN (snowchild-Remix)
written by lüder lindau | michael pink
performed by "mister pink & the lily" feat. alexia
REBORN
written by lüder lindau | michael pink
performed by "mister pink & the lily"
MOON
Born in the provincial town of Gyungnam, South Korea.
Moon Suk is an opera soprano, poetess, spectacle performance artist, actress, model and painter.
After studying opera and church music at the EWHA University in Seoul, she came to Germany to study
at the Karlsruhe Music Academy under Lucretia West and Marga Schiml.
An all-round "no limits" artist, Moon Suk‛s talents range from underground to industrial, classic to avant-garde. From multimedia to dance, she ventures beyond pure art to communicate directly with her
audiences. In the Berlin art scene, she is regarded as a charming cultural keepsake.
She lives and works in Berlin.
www.moonsuk.de
Songs featured in Snowchild:
SEASON
WINTER
Written by Jan Giese | Moon Suk
JAN GIESE
Jan Giese was born in Ofenbach in 1977 and grew up near Frankfurt, where he studied music and
physics at the Wolfgang Goethe University.
Later he studied sound editing at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK).
SNOWCHILD 13
Apart from doing music productions, commercials, orchestral recordings and audio dramas, he also
wrote the score and did sound design for features such as „Fenster mit Aussicht“ (Window with a
View) - by Vera Lalyko, „Mia“ - by Robert Schäfer, and contributed to the sound of „Die Geschichte
von Anna und Paul“ (The Story of Anna and Paul) by Katia Riemann and "Perfect Woman" by Uta Arning, which was awarded the "TischAsia Craft Award Winner" for sound design at "First Run Film Festival 2010‟.
Songs featured in Snowchild:
Title Song
Variations on “Dies irea” Theme
FLY FAST CONCEPTS
Fly Fast Concepts is a production company, an ideas machine and an agency for cultural exchange
between Asia and Europe.
We ofer a platform to innovative young artists from Asia – the new global infuenced Asia of the 21 st
century – and also to young artists from Europe seeking a dialogue with their Asian contemporaries.
Fly Fast Concepts produces and publishes music, flms, and new writing with a strong emphasis on
popular culture, especially in those areas of popular culture little known to the European media. We
provide a network of contacts, cultural products, and journalistic and public relations know-how to
companies and managers from both within and outside of the cultural sector who want to connect
with Asian cultures whose signifcance both culturally and economically is becoming ever more
important in the West.
FLY FAST RECORDS BERLIN www.fy-fast-records.com
From the CD Poptastic Conversation
SORCIÈRE by La Floa Maldita
PEANUTS by Neoangin
Fashion Sponsors
Yukiko‛s Outft: Ambitious Fashion Berlin
No Limits Berlin
Plastetasche Berlin
Fortschritt Berlin
Susanne Grossmann
SNOWCHILD 14
SNOWCHILD 15