Dark Sky Films presents a Glass Eye Pix production

Dark Sky Films presents a Glass Eye Pix production
PRESS KIT
JUNE 2010
FILM INFO
Shooting Format:
RED One
Running Time:
95 mins
CONTACTS
PRODUCERS
Larry Fessenden
[email protected]
Peter Phok
TEL: 516-857-7555
[email protected]
Brent Kunkle
TEL: 610-428-8796
[email protected]
Adam Folk
TEL: 917-375-3188
[email protected]
GLASS EYE PIX
18 Bridge St. #2G
Brooklyn, NY 11201
TEL: 718-643-6911
FAX: 646-349-2700
WEBSITES
www.mpimedia.com
www.glasseyepix.com
www.darkskyfilms.com
www.scareflix.net
DARK SKY FILMS in association with OFFHOLLYWOOD PICTURES presents a GLASS EYE PIX production ”STAKE LAND”
NICK DAMICI CONNOR POALO DANIELLE HARRIS SEAN NELSON MICHAEL CERVERIS and KELLY MCGILLIS
production design DANIEL R. KERSTING art directors MIKE AHEARN BECK UNDERWOOD
costume design ELISABETH VASTOLA special makeup effects BRIAN SPEARS PETER GERNER
director of photography RYAN SAMUL original score JEFF GRACE sound design GRAHAM REZNICK mix TOM EFINGER
executive producers MALIK B. ALI BADIE ALI HAMZA ALI GREG NEWMAN
producers DEREK CURL ADAM FOLK PETER PHOK BRENT KUNKLE LARRY FESSENDEN
writers NICK DAMICI JIM MICKLE director editor JIM MICKLE
LOGLINE
Survivors fight their way across a country overrun by vampires.
SYNOPSIS
In a fierce, alternative vision of America’s bleak future, a young boy is about to learn
how cruel the world can be. Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster.
And from the ashes rose a new breed of terror. A vampire epidemic has swept across
what is left of the nation’s abandoned towns and cities, and it’s up to Mister, a death
dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent’s
New Eden.
Welcome to Stake Land, kid…
About MPI Media Group
The MPI Media Group is a leading distributor, licensor, and producer of films, home entertaiment,
historical footage and more. Founded in 1976, Chicago-based MPI Media Group remains one of
the largest independent entertainment companies offering a compelling slate of the world’s most
respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television series. MPI’s wholly owned subsidiaries include MPI Home Video, Dark Sky Films, and the WPA Film Library programs. In North
America, product is released via the company’s subsidiary labels; MPI Home Video and Dark Sky.
About Glass Eye Pix
Glass Eye Pix (“one of the indie scene’s most productive and longest-running companies” —Filmmaker
magazine) is the fiercely independent NYC-based production outfit headed by art-horror auteur Larry
Fessenden (THE LAST WINTER, WENDIGO, HABIT, NBC’s Fear Itself). Fessenden (winner of the
2009 Golden Hammer Award) has operated the company since 1985, with the mission of supporting
individual voices in the arts. The company has produced numerous critically acclaimed films
in and out of the horror genre, including 2009’s WENDY AND LUCY (Kelly Reichardt), THE
HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (Ti West), SATAN HATES YOU (James McKenney) and 2008’s LIBERTY
KID (Ilya Chaiken).
Glass Eye Pix’s low budget horror banner, Scareflix, was designed to exploit hungry new talent and
inspire resourceful filmmakers to produce quality work through seat-of-the-pants ingenuity. Lean
budgeted auteur-driven pulp pictures that nurture emerging talents of the genre, Scareflix offer faces
both familiar and new in chilling tales that celebrate the diversity of the horror movie-- from creature
features to tales of psychological dread. Glenn McQuaid’s gently macabre I SELL THE DEAD is the
sixth Scareflick in the series that began in 2004— a series already populated with killer bats, Robot
wars, ghost stories, psychedelic brain melts, sniper rampages, grave robbers and zombies— in the
films THE ROOST and TRIGGER MAN (Ti West), THE OFF SEASON and AUTOMATONS (James Felix
McKenney), and I CAN SEE YOU and THE VIEWER by Graham Reznick. In 2010 the Scareflix library
will se the addition of Joe Maggio’s BITTER FEAST, Jim Mickle’s STAKE LAND and James Felix
McKenney’s HYPOTHERMIA.
DIRECTOR - Jim Mickle
Jim Mickle’s debut feature film “Mulberry Street” enjoyed a phenomenal film festival run having
screened in 25 major international festivals including Tribeca and South by Southwest. In 2007 the
film took home a coveted Audience Award at Fantasia. It later won Best Film as the opening night
gala film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Horror bible Fangoria magazine heralded it as
“One of the best independent horror features in recent years” and it landed on a number of critics’
“Best of 2007” lists. “Mulberry Street” was acquired theatrically by Lionsgate Films and After Dark
Films. Since then he has directed the animated short “One Night in December”
Mickle studied film production at NYU, writing and directing three award winning short films. He
has worked professionally as a storyboard artist, a lighting technician, a 3D animator, and film editor, gathering over forty credits to his name.
He is currently developing an adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale’s classic noir novel “Cold in July”.
KEY PERSONNEL
LARRY FESSENDEN, producer - Winner of the 1997 Someone to Watch Spirit Award, writer, director and
editor of the award-winning art-horror movies HABIT (Nominated for 2 Spirit Awards), WENDIGO and NO
TELLING. His most recent film, THE LAST WINTER (Nominated for a 2007 Gotham Award for best ensemble
cast), starring Ron Perlman, Connie Britton and James Le Gros, premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival,
was distributed by IFC FirstTake. Fessenden recently directed SKIN AND BONES, starring Doug Jones, for
NBC TV’s horror anthology show FEAR ITSELF.
Fessenden has been a producer on various projects including Kelly Reichardt’s WENDY AND LUCY
(nominated for two 2009 Spirit Awards and on over 60 “Top 10 Movie of the Year” lists), Ti West’s
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, James McKenney’s SATAN HATES YOU, JT Petty’s BLOOD RED EARTH, Ilya
Chaiken’s LIBERTY KID, Douglas Buck’s remake of DePalma’s SISTERS, Jeff Winner’s SATELITE and David
Gebroe’s ZOMBIE HONEYMOON. Under his low budget horror banner ScareFlix, Fessenden has produced
Ti West’s THE ROOST and TRIGGER MAN, and James Felix McKenney’s THE OFF SEASON and AUTOMATONS, Graham Reznick’s I CAN SEE YOU, Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD starring Dominic Monaghan,
Ron Perlman, Angus Scrimm, and Fessenden. I SELL THE DEAD opened the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival
where it won awards for best cinematography and best actor (Fessenden).
PETER PHOK, producer – Born in NYC and graduate of the School of Visual Arts started producing with
Larry Fessenden’s production company Glass Eye Pix in 2006 and put out Ti West’s TRIGGER MAN, Graham
Reznick’s critically lauded I CAN SEE YOU, J.T. Petty’s short, BLOOD RED EARTH, and Glenn McQuaid’s I
SELL THE DEAD which was distributed by IFC Films. Phok also produced Ti West’s THE HOUSE OF THE
DEVIL which Magnolia Films theatrically distributed. Phok is currently producing new films with Glass Eye
Pix and MPI Media Group which include Jim Mickle’s STAKE LAND and Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS both
scheduled to be released in 2011.
BRENT KUNKLE, producer – recently produced a slate of “pulp” horror films with Glass Eye Pix and Dark
Sky Films. The pictures include Joe Maggio’s BITTER FEAST, starring James LeGros, Joshua Leonard; Jim
Mickle’s STAKE LAND, starring Nick Damici, Michael Cerveris, Danielle Harris and Kelly McGillis; and James
Felix McKenney’s HYPOTHERMIA, starring Michael Rooker.
Brent began his career assisting at IFP then joined Iridium Entertainment for a short period as a producer’s
and development assistant to Marisa Polvino and Michael Corrente (THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR,
THE EDUCATION OF CHARLIE BANKS). He later transitioned into film production as production coordinator and music supervisor on LIBERTY KID, winner of Best Picture at the ’07 NY Int’l Latino Film Festival,
produced by Mike S. Ryan (PALINDROMES) and Larry Fessenden (HABIT). In 2007 Brent began working
full-time for Fessenden at Glass Eye Pix. There he has served as line producer on I SELL THE DEAD starring
Dominic Monaghan (LOST) and Ron Perlman (HELLBOY), production supervisor on Ti West’s THE HOUSE
OF THE DEVIL, and production manager on James Felix McKenney’s SATAN HATES YOU. He co-produced
JT Petty’s short film BLOOD RED EARTH and produced GRAHAM REZNICK’s 3D short film THE VIEWER.
ADAM FOLK, producer- STAKE LAND marks Adam’s second film collaboration with director Jim Mickle. He
also produced Mickle’s acclaimed horror film MULBERRY STREET, which enjoyed a theatrical release as one
of After Dark’s 8 Films to Die For in 2007.
Since joining Belladonna Productions in 2005, Adam has worked on several films including A GUIDE TO
RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS, THE CALLER, and THE GOOD GUY. Adam most recently produced the
drama COMING UP ROSES starring Bernadette Peters. His next film is the noir thriller COLD IN JULY,
based on the Joe R. Lansdale novel, and also directed by Mickle.
PRINCIPAL CAST
NICK DAMICI -is a native New Yorker, born in Hell’s Kitchen. He has appeared in various off Broadway
stage productions and studied with Michael Moriarty, Bill Hickey, and is a member of the Actor’s Studio.
He has appeared in LAW AND ORDER, CSI NY and THE BLACK DONNELLY’S. In 1998 he acted in his
first feature film, FAST HORSES, from a script he wrote, opposite Victor Argo. In 2003 he co-starred in
Jane Campion’s , IN THE CUT, as serial killer cop, Detective Richard Rodrigues opposite Meg Ryan and
Mark Rufalo. In 2006 he played Lieutenant Kazmatis in Oliver Stone’s WORLD TRADE CENTER and opposite Harvey Keitel in Howard Himmilestien’s MY SEXIEST YEAR.
In 2007 he played Clutch in MULBERRY STREET, a horror film he co-wrote and starred in for director
Jim Mickle. After a screening at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, Canada, the film was picked up
by Lions Gate as part of it’s After Dark series. In 2008 Damici appeared off off Broadway as Sherlock
Holmes in a play he wrote called SHERLOCK AND JOHN. He also played opposite Harvey Keitel again
in the TV series LIFE ON MARS.
CONNOR PAOLO- A native New Yorker, Connor was discovered at age six by theatrical director Michael Counts. Fascinated by Connor’s energy and eloquence, Counts asked Connor to join his troop
Gales Gates et al that night. Between 1996 and 2003, he worked with such prolific filmmakers as Clint
Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, and Oliver Stone.
Connor has several film credits under his belt, including SNOW ANGELS by David Gordon Green, FAVORITE SON, CAMP HOPE, and WORLD TRADE CENTER with Nicholas Cage
In late-2007, Connor returned to the small screen as Erik Van der Woodsen in the popular TV series
GOSSIP GIRLl, which will be entering its fourth season on the CW this September. But he also found
time to take on the role of Damon, Emma Roberts’ jock boyfriend in the feature film THE WINNING
SEASON directed by James C. Strouse.
DANIELLE HARRIS - no stranger to the horror film, Danielle has appeared in four installments of the
HALLOWEEN series. Other film credits include Tony Scott’s THE LAST BOYSCOUT, FREE WILLY, THE
BLACK WATERS OF ECHO’S POND, and CYRUaaS with John C. Reilly.
She has also performed on several television series including ROSEANNE, ER, THE WEST WING, FEAR
CLINIC and provided voicework for shows such as Nickelodeon’s THE WILD THORNBERRYS and
NBC’s FATHER OF THE PRIDE.
KELLY MCGILLIS- has appeared in many films including Peter Weir’s WITNESS, Tony Scott’s TOP
GUN opposite Tom Cruise, Alan Rudolph’s MADE IN HEAVEN with Timothy Hutton and Deborah
Winger and Jonathan Kaplan’s THE ACCUSED opposite Jodie Foster. She has also worked in television, starring in several mini series and movies of the week and recently, she completed filming a
guest star ‘arc’ on the Showtime series, THE L WORD. She also found time to produce and star in a
film adaptation of Kate Chopin’s novel,GRAND ISLE.
Kelly also works in theater, where she performs classics by Chekov, Shaw, Ibsen, Shakespeare and
O’Neill. She has regularly appeared in starring roles with the prestigious Shakespeare Theatre of
Washington, DC and also in a national tour of the stage play, THE GRADUATE, as “Mrs. Robinson.”
This past season, Kelly received critical acclaim for her starring performances in both the California
revival of Lillian Hellman’s THE LITTLE FOXES and the UK tour of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and
Johnny in THE CLAIRE DE LUNE.
MICHAEL CERVERIS -is a Tony Award-winning actor who has appeared in many notable Broadway stage performances including SWEENY TODD, ASSASSINS, The Who’s TOMMY, LOVEMUSIK, and TITANIC. He also acted in various shows in London’s West End including HEDWIG
AND THE ANGRY INCH and his Off-Broadway credits include ROAD SHOW, KING LEAR with Kevin
Kline, and Duncan Sheik’s SPRING AWAKENING.
No stranger to the screen, Michael’s many film credits include THE MEXICAN with Julia Roberts
and Brad Pitt, Paul Auster’s LULU ON THE BRIDGE, and CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE’S
ASSISTANT. On television, he has appeared in J.J. Abram’s FRINGE as The Observer, FAME as Ian
Ware, as well as LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT and CSI.
SEAN NELSON- has made appearances in many television shows including SISTERS, THE
CLIENT, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, THE CORNER and LAW AND ORDER. In 1994, at the age of
fourteen, he stared as a child drug pusher in the film FRESH, opposite Samuel L. Jackson.
He has also acted several other movies including Tony Scott’s THE TAKING OF THE PELHAM 123,
THE MANNSFIELD 12, PREMIUM with Zoe Saldana as well an adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD with Halle Berry and Terrence Howard.