Unspool Hollywood

18 TO PARTY Opens November 6th

(L-R) Alivia Clark and Tanner Flood in Jeff Roda’s 18 TO PARTY
(Photo Credit: Asterion Pictures)

Giants Pictures, An Asterion Pictures Production in Association with Cahill Bros Film To Party opens in Virtual Theaters on November 6^th in New York and major cities – Alamo on Demand and Los Angeles – Laemmle with a VOD Release to follow and all major platforms.

It’s 1984 and outside a small-town nightclub, a group of 8th graders gather, grappling with a spate of recent suicides, UFO sightings, their absentee parents, and each other. 18 TO PARTY spans a single evening in the lives of these kids, but manages to transport us fully to a time when waiting for something to happen felt just as significant as the thing itself.

Gorgeously atmospheric, with a pulsating sense of anticipation that steadily builds, the film pulls us into the fears, wounds, and desires of each character, ultimately revealing that hope may arrive from the last place we expect.

The meticulously authentic production design, killer soundtrack, and universally excellent performances recall the spirit of classic 80s teen movies like Stand By Me and The Breakfast Club. 18 TO PARTY is a spot-on love letter to Gen X, awkward teenagers, and the transcendent power of friendship.

(L-R) Oliver Gifford, Tanner Flood, Taylor Richardson and Nolan Lyons in Jeff Roda’s 18 TO PARTY
(Photo Credit: Asterion Pictures)

About Jeff Roda

Jeff Roda has written screenplays for DreamWorks, Universal, Paramount Pictures, New Regency, TriStar, and television pilots for HBO, CBS, and Warner Bros. Additionally, he was a producer on the Sony Pictures Classics feature, Love Liza, starring Academy Award winning actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates. 18 TO PARTY marks his directorial debut. Roda is a local resident of Woodstock area and the film is set in Upstate New York.

An official selection at Woodstock Film Festival, Florida Film Festival (Winner! Special Jury Award/ Ensemble Cast), Big Apple Film Festival, Liverpool Film Festival and more.

Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes
Country: US
Genre: Comedy
Initial Release: 2019
Director and Writer: Jeff Roda
Star cast: Alivia Clark, Tanner Flood, James Freedson-Jackson, Oliver Gifford, Nolan Lyons, Sam McCarthy, Ivy Miller, Taylor Richardson and Erich Schuett
Producers: Nikola Duravcevic, Emily Ziff Griffin, Andrew Cahill, Stephanie Marin
Music By: The Alarm, Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones, The Velvet Underground and many more
Cinematographer: Gris Jordana
Costume Designer: Eva Lopez
Production Designer: Sam Bader
Editor: Kate Williams

MY NAME IS PEDRO OPENS TODAY

School children in Lillian LaSalle's MY NAME IS PEDRO (Photo Credit: Sweet 180)

Directed by: Lillian La Salle
Documentary
Runtime: 127 Minutes

Award-winning documentary MY NAME IS PEDRO opened today in virtual theaters In NYC on September 17 (Maysles Cinema) and will open in the following cities soon:
LOS ANGELES on October 2 (Laemmle) with major cities to follow (on October 9) including: Philadelphia (Film Society), Minneapolis (Parkway Theater), Buffalo (North Park), Baltimore (Senator, The Charles), Vancouver (Kiggins Theater), Tucson (Loft), Cleveland (Cleveland Cinemas), Phoenix (Film Bar), Bellingham (Pickford Center). Winston Salem (Aperture Cinema), Tampa (Tampa Theater) and more.

Lillian LaSalle's award-winning, powerful documentary MY NAME IS PEDRO explores what public education meant to South Bronx Latino maverick educator, Pedro Santana, and what he, in turn, meant to public education. The film is also especially timely in this moment of national reckoning since the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests.

Infectious in his optimism, Santana becomes one of the most influential public-school teachers and then administrators in the New York public school system after turning his troubled Bronx middle school, MS 391, around. He is unapologetic in his commitment to create change for kids, no matter the odds. When a glowing front-page New York Times article catapults him into the spotlight, he is recruited and then accepts a promotion to use his famed 'out of the box' and transformative practices to save a corrupt and divided suburban school district. But the political challenges there may simply be too great, even for the infallible Santana.

(L-R) Pedro Santana in Lillian LaSalle's MY NAME IS PEDRO (Photo Credit: Sweet 180)

In order to continue his life's mission that 'every kid can learn', (he himself was labeled 'special ed' as a child), he realizes that he must venture beyond not only the restrictive 'four walls' of the public education system, but also his own neighborhood, city and even his own country.

MY NAME IS PEDRO is a profound story of how one person actualizes learning and positive change in children, adults, environments and communities through an 'impact' ripple effect strategy that he has effortlessly perfected. The film is also an essential and timely reminder of the importance of great educators that exist within the infrastructure of our country's public education system.

Lillian LaSalle, Director

MY NAME IS PEDRO is a 7 year-long filmmaking journey, marking Lillian LaSalle’s directorial debut.

LaSalle is the recipient of the 2016 Peabody "Futures of Media” Award for Producing the web-series, Halal In The Family, starring Aasif Mandvi, which garnered wide-spread media attention for taking on Islamophobia through the use of comedy and parody.

LaSalle is the Producer of several feature films including, Loggerheads, which premiered in competition at The Sundance Film Festival and Sweet Land, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature for writer/director, Ali Selim. LaSalle’s other notable feature Producing credits include: Today's Special, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and won the audience award at the Palm Springs Film Festival, Just Like the Son from director Morgan Freeman, Find Love, Heavy Petting, and Mentor, as well as Southern Belles and American Cannibal: The Road to Reality.

LaSalle is currently Executive Producing the feature length animated feature, The Night Diary, based on the award-winning book, alongside animator/writer Gitanjali Rao (Bombay Rose, Tribeca Film Festival) and writer/director, Sabrina Dahwan, (Monsoon Wedding) with Hyde Park Entertainment. LaSalle will also produce the feature film, Our Lady Of The Snow , from award winning writer/director, Tom Gilroy (Spring Forward, The Cold Lands) .

SWEET 180

Sweet 180 is a New York based talent management and production company. In business for over 20 years, they represent award-winning talent across all platforms – film, television and theater.
Website: https://sweet180.com

OFFICIAL SELECTION AND AWARDS:

Winner: Best Documentary, Golden Door International Film Festival
Winner: Spotlight on Documentary Award, St. Louis International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Chicago Latino International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Brooklyn Film Festival
Winner: Award of Merit, Impact Docs
Winner: Honorable Mention, Woodstock Film Festival

MY NAME IS PEDRO- Connect on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mynameispedrodoc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyNameisPedrodoc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PedroSantanaDoc

MY NAME IS PEDRO Film Review

Director: Lillian La Salle
Genre: Documentary
Stars 4.5
Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes
Language: English

The Value of Meeting Students Where They Are

Lillian LaSalle’s directorial debut, MY NAME IS PEDRO, a compelling story of a truly dedicated educator, Pedro Santana, who’s commitment to students helps them defies all odds as he turns them and their underperforming schools around.

As a young boy, Pedro was labeled a special-ed student. Eventually, he had a teacher who appreciated how hard he worked academically and saw his promise. She recognized the challenges he faced with the traditional learning style and met him where he was and encouraged him to use an out the box approach that gave him an opportunity to achieve academically. He went on to obtain a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University.

(L-R) Students and Pedro Santana in Lillian LaSalle's MY NAME IS PEDRO
(Photo Credit: Sweet 180)

Taking the lessons he learned as a special-ed student, he applied them in his work as a teacher with astonishing results and turned the school around and put on a positive track. He met his students at the South Bronx School MS 391, where they are and taught them from that point.

Pedro saw himself in his student. After hearing his sisters talk about how difficult he was to live with as a child, it became evident when a black female student spoke on his behalf at a suburban School Board meeting, and spoke about how loud, unruly and out of control they were before he came to their school and how he was able to make positive changes in their life.

Eventually becoming a household name, he was recruited to become When you compare the students’ academic success to before and after the arrival of Pedro, as Assistant Superintendent, the South Bronx school MS 391,that his approach to education and interacting with not just the students, but their family too, was a far superior way of reaching and educating inner city students.

There are thousands of students who fall through the cracks because of educator, like those on the School Board, who opposed Pedro and seemed to want all student to be taught inside the box of standard of education and the one size fits all approach.

The dynamics between Pedro and his son Hudson, reached a point that seemed insurmountable, yet the love and commitment Pedro had for Hudson, allowed him to overlook the false allegations, meet him where he was and responded with love not hate.

Keeping Pedro Santana’s legacy and his unique take on educational instructions alive and not writing kids off and make a commitment to uplifting them and their families is vitally important.

Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes
Distributor: Sweet 180
Initial release: 2017
Executive Producer: Mike Fowler
Producers: Lillian LaSalle, Jonathan Clasberry
Co-producers: Monica Cohen, Marc Demolar
Production Co: Sweet 180
Cast: Pedro Santana
Director: Lillian LaSalle
Editors: Mary Manhardt, Mark Demolar
Composer: Nix Nought Nothing
Animator: Anthony Barkworth-Knight

THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW Trailer

Screening in Limited Theater - Friday, October 2, 2020

Available on VOD + Digital - Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Writer and Directed: Thomas Robert Lee
Starring: Catherine Walker, Jared Abrahamson, Hannah Emily Anderson, O’Rawe, Don McKellar, Sean McGinley, and introducing Jessica Reynolds as Audrey Earnshaw
Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Genre: Horror
Country: Canada

Set against the autumnal palette of harvest season in 1973, THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW explores the disturbed bond between Audrey, an enigmatic young woman, and Agatha, her domineering ‘mother’, who live secretly as occultists on the outskirts of a remote Protestant village. As the community is besieged by a pestilence of unknown origin: children, fields, and livestock begin to die — yet the Earnshaw farm remains strangely unaffected. As mass hysteria sets in the village, the townsfolk commence accusations against Audrey and Agatha of witchcraft.

Capturing a perfect mixture of religious paranoia and folklore horror, Thomas Robert Lee’s THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW is a haunting and unflinching tale of vengeance.

THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW celebrated its world premiere at Fantasia Fest 2020, coming out with raving reviews. The film will be releasing in limited theaters on Friday, October 2, 2020 and will be available on major VOD/Digital platforms beginning Tuesday, October 6, 2020.

"I wanted to tell a story about legacy, and to specifically explore it within the context of a folk horror narrative,” says writer/director Thomas Robert Lee. “The community grows increasingly desperate as their given circumstances grow dire. In reality, the pandemic appears to have amplified hatred and xenophobia, or at least the voices of those spewing hate speech. Obviously there is a world of difference between my screenplay and the very real ramifications of the pandemic, but the similarities, however surface-level they may be, have certainly been on my mind these past months.”

About Epic Pictures

Since the foundation of the company in 2007, CEO Patrick Ewald has grown Epic Pictures into an independent content studio with the mission of delivering the best-in-class genre entertainment “for fans, by fans.” Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent genre films a year. In 2013, the company established Epic Pictures Releasing which is its US focused distribution division. In 2017, Epic Pictures acquired the world’s most popular horror website, Dread Central, and launched its unique horror label, Dread, followed by its AVOD channel, DreadTV. In 2019, Epic Pictures started the horror gaming site, DreadXP, with a focus on editorial, reviews, podcasts, and original streaming content. In 2020, DreadXP began a video game publishing division with the launch of The Dread X Collection, an anthology of horror games in collaboration with some of the most innovative developers in the independent gaming space. https://epic-pictures.com/

Follow on social media:
Facebook: facebook.com/TheCurseOfAudreyEarnshaw

Twitter: twitter.com/Audrey_Earnshaw

Instagram: instagram.com/TheCurseOfAudreyEarnshaw

Writer and directed: Thomas Robert Lee
Producer: Gianna Isabella
Executive producer: Lee, Marie-Claude Poulin, James Mahoney, Bill Marks, Divya Shahani, George Mihalka, Susan Curran, Patrick Ewald, and Shaked Berenson. Cinematographer: Nick Thomas
Editor: Ben Lee Allen.
Music: Thilo Schaller and Bryan Buss
Production Company: A Gate 67 Films Production

BEAST WITHIN Trailer

Available on VOD + Digital

Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes
Director: Chris Green & Steven Morana
Starring: Steven Morana, Holly Deveaux, Ari Millen, and Colm Feore
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Genre: Horror, Thiller, Whodunit
Country: Canada

August, a lead gaming developer, is looking forward to finally meeting his online girlfriend, Cheyenne, at a launch party for his new gaming app ‘Werewolves Awaken’. They plan to meet at the VIP event, which is being hosted by an eccentric billionaire at his country estate. However, the festivities are interrupted by a priest who condemns the party guests as "marked for the beast." Convinced it's a publicity stunt, the party-goers disregard the protest until a dead body is discovered. August and Cheyenne, along with the remaining guests, become players in a deadly version of the game. Tensions and body counts begin to rise as all question who among themselves could be the ferocious killer - as everyone is a suspect.

BEAST WITHIN made its world premiere at the 2019 Lusca Fantastic Film Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico — winning a Special Recognition Award. The film also screened at the 2019 Spooky Empire Film Festival — winning Best Special Effects and screened at the 2019 ZedFest — winning Outstanding Acting Performances. BEAST WITHIN additionally screened at 2020 Hell’s Kitchen NYC — winning “Best Horror Film,” and Hexploitation Film Festival — winning “Best Monster Award. “

Website: beastwithinmovie.com
Facebook: facebook.com/BeastWithinMovie
Instagram: instagram.com/BeastWithinMovie
Twitter: twitter.com/beastwithinmov

Directors: Chris Green and Steven Morana
Writers: Rudy Jahchan and Matthew Campagna
Producers: Morana and Nic Izzi
Executive producers: Amy Williams, Spero Stamboullis, and Bruno Marino
Cinematographer: David Stuart
Editors: Luis Caraza and Garret Henry
Music: Arya Safakish (Safakash / Afta Hill)
Production Company: A Build Character production, in association with Little Axe Productions and High Star Entertainment.

View Trailer Below!

Website: beastwithinmovie.com
Facebook: facebook.com/BeastWithinMovie
Instagram: instagram.com/BeastWithinMovie
Twitter: twitter.com/beastwithinmov

BEAST WITHIN is now available on VOD/Digital

MY NAME IS PEDRO Trailer

The trailer for Lillian LaSalle's upcoming award-winning and timely documentary MY NAME IS PEDRO is here.

LaSalle's film explores what public education meant to South Bronx Latino maverick educator, Pedro Santana, and what he, in turn, meant to public education. MY NAME IS PEDRO is a profound story of how one person actualizes learning and positive change in children, adults, environments and communities through an 'impact' ripple effect strategy that he has effortlessly perfected. The film is also an essential and timely reminder of the importance of great educators that exist within the infrastructure of our country's public education system.

View Trailer Below!

MY NAME IS PEDRO opens in Virtual Cinemas in New York at The Maysles Cinema on September 17th and Los Angeles at the Laemmle on October 2nd with major cities to follow.

OFFICIAL SELECTION AND AWARDS:

Winner: Best Documentary, Golden Door International Film Festival
Winner: Spotlight on Documentary Award, St. Louis International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Chicago Latino International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Brooklyn Film Festival
Winner: Award of Merit, Impact Docs
Winner: Honorable Mention, Woodstock Film Festival
Official Selection: Women’s Filmmaker Showcase, BAFF
Official Selection: San Diego Latino International Film Festival

MY NAME IS PEDRO- Connect on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mynameispedrodoc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyNameisPedrodoc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PedroSantanaDoc

ENTWINED: Movie Review

Anastasia Rafaella Konidi , Prometheus Aleifer in Minos Nikolakakis’ ENTWINED (Photo Credit: Dark Star Pictures)

Director: Minos Nikolakakis
Written by: John de Holland, Minos Nikolakakis
Cast: Prometheus Aleiferopoulos, Anastasis-Rafaela Konidi, John de Holland
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Romance
3 Stars
Country: Greece/UK
Language: Greek with English subtitles

Fork Lore Collides with Man

After the death of their father and his inability to save him, Panos (Prometheus Aleiferopoulos), a doctor, is determined to use his medical knowledge to help to those who lack access to a doctor. Eventually setting on the remote village in Alyti, he part ways with his half-brother, George (John De Holland), where he finds love with Danae (Anastasia Rafaella Konidi), a woman with a secluded and very secretive living in the woods with her abusive father (Kostas Laskos.)

Anastasia Rafaella Konidi in Minos Nikolakakis’ ENTWINED (Photo Credit: Dark Star Pictures)

Director Minos Nikolakakis’ debut film, ENTWINED, weaves Greek myths and cultural superstitions of the residences of Alyti with the modern world of Panos’ own belief and the turmoil that develops as he brings these two worlds together to co-exist.

Upon arriving in the village, Panos is told he is the first doctor in the have ever had. Surprised, he finds that difficult to understand, especially considering that most of the population were elderly. His belief in the power of medicine over what they believed made him look past their cultural practices as he settled into his new life amongst them as their new doctor.

Prometheus Aleifer in Minos Nikolakakis’ ENTWINED (Photo Credit: Dark Star Pictures)

Providing a realistic backdrop to the film’s Greek fork lore, Nikolakakis filmed ENTWINED on location in Mountain Parnonas on the Peloponnese peninsula. This is the location of where many of the ancient Greek myths originated. Myths like neireds, the female spirits of sea water; nymphs, sacred female supernatural beings in charge of forces of nature and nature’s spirits of the earth, water, air, and fire.

In the opening and through-out, director of photography, Thodoros Mihopoulos, brings the trees and vegetation into the forefront, helping tell the story of Panos’s fortunes living in the woods with Danae..

Danae wears a white dress throughout the film while surrounded by soft lighting giving her a magically fairy aura without the use of special effects. The dark and shabbiness of the shack, she called home, along with Panos’ change overtime, provide a good contrast with her. The use of fire, as an additional source of light, and the critical source of her being, bringing in one of the major elements of nature.

Aleiferopoulos and Konidi give good performance as they bring the Greek mystical God of love and sex, Enos and the God of death, Thanatos, to life.

Prometheus Aleifer, Anastasia Rafaella Konidi in Minos Nikolakakis’ ENTWINED (Photo Credit: Dark Star Pictures)

ETWINE is interesting film that gives insight to the myths and supernatural superstitions of Greek cultural as the villager move into the 21^st century.

Distributor: Dark Star Pictures
Production Co: Inkas Film Production Co.
Producers: Minos Nikolaskakis, Lilette Botassi
Run time: 1 hr. 29 min
Cast: Prometheus Aleiferopoulos, Anastasia-Rafaela Konidi Kostas Laskos, Manos Vakoussis, Anna Kozakinou, Aleka Toumazatou, John de Holland, Maria Eglezaki
Director: Minos Nikolakakis
Writers: John de Holland, Minos Nikolakakis
Director of Photography: Thodoros Mihopoulos, GSC
Editor: Giorgos Georgopoulos
Composer: Sotiris Debonos
Production Designer: Chrysa Daponte
Sound: Yannis Antypas
Hair & Make-up: Ioanna Symeonidi
Special Effects Make-up: Prokopis Vlaseros
Visual Effects: Melancholy Star & Kent
Producers: Minos Nikolakakis & Lilette Botassi
Executive Producer: Inkas Film Productions
Co-producers: Greek Film Center, ERT, Multivision, Authorwave, Melancholy Star, Helleniki Technik

THE ANTENNA New Trailer

DIRECTED & WRITTEN BY: Orçun Behram

CAST: Ihsan Önal, Gül Arici, Levent Ünsal, Isil Zeynep, Murat Saglam, Elif Çakman, Mert Toprak Yadigar and Eda Öze.

In a dystopian Turkey, the Government installs new networks throughout the country to monitor information.

The installation goes wrong in a crumbling apartment complex and Mehmet (Ihsan Önal), the building intendant, will have to confront the evil entity behind the inexplicable transmissions that threaten the residents.

Born in 1987, filmmaker Orçun Behram graduated from Columbia College, Chicago majoring film in 2011. Establishing himself in Istanbul, he has worked on variety of projects from music videos and short films to documentaries. The Antenna (2019) is the director’s first feature.

View Trailer Below!

OPENS IN VIRTUAL THEATERS (October 2)-Including: Los Angeles (Laemmle), New York and major cities (Museum Of The Moving Image (MOMI), Alamo On Demand) and Philadelphia (Film Society).

VOD (US & Canada) (October 20): Including: iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Xbox, Vudu, Dish Network and all major cable providers.

*****Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival and many more.******

Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
Color
Language: Turkish with English subtitles; Rating: Not Rated
Genre: (Horror)

Distributed in North America by: Dark Star Pictures

DARK STAR PICTURES

Dark Star Pictures is a new-age North American distribution company, focused on bringing unique and targeted content to audiences across the country. The company is committed to releasing auteur-driven, original cinema in the theatrical, digital and home video space. Dark Star’s goal is to create original marketing campaigns directly catered to audiences who will embrace our brand of thought-provoking cinema. The company also services distribution companies and producers in the theatrical, digital, and festival space.

FIRST ONE IN New Movie Trailer

Available on Amazon Prime Video
Tuesday, September 8, 2020

After accidentally killing an endangered animal on a popular reality TV show, Madi Cooke (Kat Foster) is labeled an eco-terrorist, is fired from her job, and believes she now is the most hated woman in America.

FIRST ONE IN is set to release on major VOD/Digital platforms including Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play beginning Tuesday, September 8, 2020.

Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes
Rating: Not Yet Rates
Genre: Comedy

Facebook: facebook.com/FirstOneInFilm
Twitter: twitter.com/FirstOneInFilm
Instagram: instagram.com/FirstOneInFilm

FIRST ONE IN is written and directed by Gina O’Brien. Produced by Paul Jarrett and Nick Huston and executive produced by Jonathan Gray. Cinematography by Matthew Santo. Edited by Charles Divak. Casting by Christine Kromer. A Rosetta Films and Literally Films Production.

Sweet 180 Presents MY NAME IS PEDRO

Releasing in Virtual Theaters in New York (The Maysles Cinema) September 17 and Los Angeles (Laemmle) on October 2 with major cities to follow

(L-R) Pedro Santana and students in Lillian LaSalle's MY NAME IS PEDRO (Photo Credit: New York Times/ Sweet 180)

Directed by: Lillian La Salle
Documentary
Runtime: 2 hours 7
Language: English

Lillian LaSalle, Director

MY NAME IS PEDRO is a 7 year-long filmmaking journey, marking Lillian LaSalle’s directorial debut.

SWEET 180

OFFICIAL SELECTION AND AWARDS:

MY NAME IS PEDRO- Connect on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mynameispedrodoc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyNameisPedrodoc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PedroSantanaDoc]

PR CONTACT:
Emma Griffiths (EG-PR)f
emma@eg-pr.com
www.eg-pr.com