NEWS
A TOURIST’S GUIDE TO LOVE - NOW STREAMING ON NETFLIX!
Rachael Leigh Cook sets off sparks with newcomer Scott Ly in this scenic rom-com co-starring Missi Pyle and Ben Feldman.
After an unexpected break up, a travel executive accepts an assignment to go undercover and learn about the tourist industry in Vietnam. Along the way she finds adventure and romance with her Vietnamese expat tour guide when they decide to reroute the tour bus in order to explore life and love off the beaten path.
Click here to watch the official trailer or watch now on Netflix!
JAMOJAYA AT SUNDANCE 2023!
Writer-director Justin Chon (Blue Bayou, Gook, Ms. Purple) returns to Sundance with this introspective family drama set against the infernal neon backdrop of showbiz.
Jamojaya follow James (Brian Imanuel), an aspiring Indonesian rapper as he cuts his debut album for a major U.S. record label. Accompanying him is his father and former manager (Yayu A.W. Unru), who is still mourning the death of James’ brother and unwilling to surrender control of his career. While James sinks deeper in debt to the label, his father insists on acting as a de facto personal assistant. Caught between the music industry’s commercial demands and a power struggle with his suffocating stage dad, James is forced to find his voice.
RACHEL HENDRIX PREMIERED AT THE 2023 SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL!
Starring Lori Singer, directed by Victor Nunez, and produced by Heidi Levitt is in post-production!
Rachel Hendrix centers on the title character (Lori Singer), a creative writing professor who experiences a relapse of grief one year after the loss of her husband. Rachel must face the challenge of how to deal with private grief in a time of public trauma as COVID-19 wrecks its way through both town and her much loved coastal world.
RAYMOND & RAY - WATCH NOW ON APPLE TV+
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia and starring Ewan McGregor, Ethan Hawke, Sophie Okonedo and Maribel Verdú. A beautiful, darkly funny tale about two half brothers who have lived in the shadow of a terrible father.
Somehow, they still each have a sense of humor, and his funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves. There’s anger, there’s pain, there’s folly, there might be love, and there’s definitely grave-digging.
Raymond and Ray premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and is now available to stream on Apple TV+.
FEATURED ACTOR
MILO MACHADO-GRANER
Milo Machado Granor gives a haunting performance in Anatomy of a Fall. Click HERE to read more.
UP-AND-COMERS
GREAT MOMENTS
THE ARTIST
Casting a silent film in black and white was like no other experience I’ve ever had. It was a complete joy to be able to cast so many great character actors in this film. I will never forget the look of the actors who just weren’t sure what to do with a “silent” part. It was a complete thrill to see them come dressed in character and then to guide them through the scenes. I got many actors to relax into the character and not worry about the “silence,” of it all. I taped them, and then turned the sound off, and changed the casting camera setting to black and white when we watched back the auditions. Check out this article from The New York Times about the process.
DON’T COME KNOCKING
It took almost two and a half years to cast this film. Collaborating with Wim Wenders was, as always, rewarding. The script evolved and the characters became more and more defined. The search for the actors to play Sam Shepard’s mother and children was just as much about finding the truth in the character as matching them to Sam. Together with Sam, the family cast was Jessica Lange, Sarah Polley, Gabriel Mann and the sublime Eva Marie Saint.
CHINESE BOX
After having cast The Joy Luck Club (another amazing casting experience), as well as the wonderful film Smoke and Blue in the Face, I had the privilege to dig deeper with Wayne. I co-produced and cast Chinese Box, which chronicled the changeover of Hong Kong from Great Britain to China. It was certainly a casting challenge to work in Hong Kong where finding the best supporting actors was as complicated and fulfilling a task as finding the best Peking Duck. Simply said, it was finding out where to go and who to ask and then to ask again and again.
HEAVEN AND EARTH
We (Risa Bramon Garcia, Billy Hopkins and myself) scouted the United States for nine months searching for Vietnamese actors to play most of the principal roles in this film. Oliver Stone was completely open to non-professionals so we held numerous open calls. These open calls were amazing and inspiring. We found immigrants who wanted to share their stories and life experience with us. They were open hearted and full of life. Some barely spoke English at all but managed to do the best improvisations you could imagine. The lead, Hiep Thi Le was a pre-med student at UC Davis when we cast her. I remember the minute I saw her audition, I knew she had the power to carry the film.
ANGEL HEART
This was my first film casting experience. As an assistant I was assigned to research the world of jazz and blues musicians to find a key character in the film. I met and auditioned living legends all over the country including BB King, Ornette Coleman, Johnny Lee Hooker, Dizzie Gillespie and many more.Ultimately we ended up casting the legendary blues guitarist Brownie McGhee. During this experience I also became the extras casting director for the Louisiana portion of film. I found craw fisherman in the Bayou, voodoo dancers, musicians and a host of other amazing faces that Alan Parker used so beautifully to paint the landscape of this film.
EVITA
When Oliver Stone was going to direct Evita, he sent me to discover the real “Latin” Evita. I went on an amazing casting journey from New York and Miami to Mexico, Argentina, Spain and London. I met singers, dancers and performers who had never auditioned for a Hollywood film before. Along the way I discovered the talents of Catherine Zeta Jones, who at then time was a stage actress, a Spanish pop singer and a complete unknown at an open call in Buenos Aires. Ultimately, Oliver never directed this film and Madonna played Evita, but my journey on the film was unforgettable.