We’re extremely pleased to announce that ILEGALES has won two awards at the Naperville Independent Film Festival, where it was nominated for a total of four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Our lead actor, Luis Bordonada, won Best Actor for his portrayal of Ariel Vargas, a day laborer who works in the cotton fields of New Mexico. Luis Bordonada’s parents brought him to the U.S. illegally as a child, so he’s lived many of the experiences that ILEGALES touches on. Lately, Luis has appeared in The Book of Eli, A Bakery Story, and can be seen in the upcoming feature The Reunion. Additionally, he has done theater productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, television commercials for Showtime Networks, and hosted an entertainment program called Remix TV.
ILEGALES’ director, Ric Dupont, took home the statuette for Best Director. ILEGALES marks Ric Dupont’s directorial debut. Prior to ILEGALES, he worked on short films, documentary and reality television production, as well as television news for the last 14 years. Working in the media gave him firsthand exposure to the desperation and poverty of many in Mexico. With this film, he sought to capture the sharp contrast between American and Mexican perspectives on border issues and immigration.
Many congratulations to both Ric and Luis, we’re so happy for them. Stay tuned for more information about ILEGALES, which we hope to be able to make public very soon!
We’ve recently updated our reel with some of our latest work. With the ability to interactively sort, we’ve been able to add more projects, and even more will be coming soon. Take a look for yourself at http://www.irismediaworks.com/reel/ and let us know what you think!
Red Carpet Run, created by Michael Todd Cohen and produced by Patrick T. Rousseau in association with Avignon Bound Media, debuts today on the KoldCast TV network. Winner of the 2010 NAPTE NextTV competition’s Best Unscripted award, Red Carpet Run is an entertainment trivia game-show that puts celeb-obsessed contestants through the ultimate trivial pursuit, challenging their knowledge of all things Hollywood as they run their final round high speed! on a moving treadmill.
Red Carpet Run is heading to KoldCast TV starting February 10, in a syndication deal set up by the team at Avignon Bound Media, which crafted this quirky online game show that features contestants in awards show attire answering trivia while running on a treadmill. Viewers will have 24hrs on Watch and Win day to tweet the answer to @redcarpetrun, and a winner will be selected at random from the group of correct answers. Prizes will range from iTunes gift-cards to one-month subscriptions to Netflix.
There are a lot of filmmakers who get their start because their (father / mother / uncle / babysitter / neighbor) is a renowned director or similar. While this has not been the case for us at Iris MediaWorks, we do have some family in the industry. For example, Patrick’s uncle Drake Michno has been a chemist at Kodak for the past 34 years, and has received both Oscar and Emmy Technical Awards for his work. Have you heard of VISION3 film? Drake Michno’s research was the driving force behind it.
In the past few months, Patrick has learned about two more family members who are doing film-related things. First, his nephew Jack, who is in the 4th grade, was the cinematographer for his elementary school’s news program! We certainly never had the opportunity to do things like that while in elementary school. It is wonderful that we’re fostering a new generation of filmmakers, especially at such a young age. If you’re curious what an elementary school news program is like (answer: it is absolutely adorable), check it out: Greenwood News Break.
Motus, a virtual motion control system.
On a slightly different note, Patrick’s cousin Erin Michno (Drake Michno’s daughter), has been spending her time developing a low cost method for controlling virtual cameras. Studying at the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland, Erin is working on a project that uses a Nintendo Wii-like motion controller that will allow completely intuitive, immediately responsive camera actions within any computer-generated world. Their work is an extrapolation of the Simul-cam developed by James Cameron for the film Avatar. According to Erin Michno:
This tool could completely change the way people interact with computer games, and the way computer-aided learning is delivered to students around the world…In the classroom and lecture theatre, having this level of control for such a small price would allow some things which just aren’t possible performing virtual operations live on screen, flying through the inside of an engine in any school and any university.
The project, dubbed Motus, will allow users to move around in a 3D environment, looking any which way. Additionally, with the ability to activate a virtual tripod and/or a virtual dolly, along with aperture and focus control, the Motus system will open up a world of possibilities. Even better, the physical components cost less than 100 euros (~$136 at time of publication).
One of her associates, Matt Bett, says:
“The applications of…Motus…are substantial. Complex films and animations could be produced at a very low cost, giving new creative tools to small studios or artists at home. Computer environments can be manipulated in the same way as a camera, opening new opportunities for games, and for education.”
The future is very exciting. To learn more about Motus, see the youtube video after the jump or check out this article at gizmag.com.
We’re excited to announce that ILEGALES has been invited to show at the 17th Annual Sedona International Film Festival! Produced by Patrick T. Rousseau and Noah Workman of Iris MediaWorks with Gregg Jackson of Three Sigma Management and Jacob Pokluda of Collaborative Artists, ILEGALES is a modern day drama about human trafficking along the U.S/Mexico border. From the slums of Juarez to the suburbs of New Mexico, five distinct, but connected stories weave together, exploring hope, heartbreak and the lines people cross in search of a better life.
In Juarez, a Mexican day laborer chooses to help his childhood friend traffic illegal migrant workers across the border despite his wife’s fears. A young mother, after waiting 7 years to cross legally, flees Juarez in a desperate attempt to get her son the medical treatment he needs in America. In New Mexico, an illegal immigrant waiting for naturalization sells drugs to pay the bills for his American born children. Their paths collide when a low level Mexican gangster tries to work up the ladder to gain favor with the “Don” of Juarez, risking their lives as he traffics people and drugs across the border.
Located in Sedona, Arizona, the Sedona International FF celebrates more than 16 years of screenings and educational workshops. In that history, the Festival has achieved recognition as a world-class film festival. Each year, audiences and the next generation of filmmakers come together from all over the world to participate in this inspiring celebration of the power of independent film.
In mid September, we met with Joshua Hill, a storyteller who has been releasing audio CDs made for the Orthodox Jewish community for several years. Little did we know, that first meeting would lead to directing and producing our next feature and taking a film from script to screen faster than we ever had before. Less than 8 weeks after that meeting Berel and the Bus Driver was complete, and two weeks later Berel had been screened in over 35 cities in the USA, Canada, Israel, and France to awesome reviews and full theaters.
But before the movie was shown, it had to be written.
Immediately we hired venerable writer Leonard Cetrangolo to work with Joshua Hill to turn the Berel and the Bus Driver treatment into a screenplay. We had to begin pre-production before we had our shooting script, scouting locations and talent that were available and could be utilized by Cetrangolo and Hill. Before we knew it, we were living in a house in Lakewood, NJ, home to one of the largest yeshivas in the world and one of John D. Rockefeller’s estates.
By October 6th Leonard and Joshua had created seven unique characters and we had our shooting script. And less than a week remaining of pre-production. Our crew was hired, we could finally begin casting the actual roles, and our major production elements were falling into place.
Patrick, Prod. Designer Nicolo DePierro, Noah, and Asst. Director Tim Duff in front of the the ice cream schoolbus.
From October 12th-15th, and 17th-20th, the Berel cast and crew shot at a furious pace. Averaging over 10 pages per day, our cinematographer Glen Mordeci utilized the Canon 5D MKII’s size and latitude to capture stunning footage with minimal equipment and time. Production Designer Nicolo DePierro’s amazing sets and props came to life (after, among other things, working day and night to transform a barely running ice cream truck into a magical school bus, among other things). SFX Makeup guru Paul J. Mason transformed actors with a deftness can only be described as magic. Our production team was filled out with cheerful (and essential!) volunteers like Tzvi Ort and Steven “Spielberg” Russell. And of course, our cast supplied us with an abundance of moments of beauty and truth. Our post production team began transcoding and assembling footage while we were still shooting, and at the end of 7 very long days Berel and the Bus Driver was in the can, so to speak.
What followed was three weeks of madness as we worked around the clock with multiple editors (Anisha Tomlinson, Chris Houghton, Oliver Irving) and our composer Billy Mallery, sound mixed, color corrected, created original artwork and credits lists, and everything else that needs to happen for a movie to be finished. All while producing and shooting a commercial on the side.
Producing and directing Berel and the Bus Driver was a truly wonderful experience. Not only did we get to make a movie with a fantastic creative team, but working with an all Orthodox cast and within the Orthodox community gave us an intimate view of a populace which we would not otherwise get to experience. Working so closely with a group of people who externally can seem so different helps us to discover our shared experiences and gives us insight into the human condition that is at the heart of filmmaking.
Producing a feature film from story to layoff in about 7 weeks was not easy. It required lots of late nights (about 7 weeks worth!), lots of scrambling, and lots of compromises. However each challenge offered us an opportunity to creatively solve our constant dilemma: how do we best tell this story with the resources available.
It is with great pride that we present the following trailer for Berel and the Bus Driver.
We’ve been extraordinarily busy over the past few months. So busy that we haven’t had much time to update our blog. In the past four months, we made an entire feature film and saw it screen with rave reviews in 30+ cities domestic and foreign, have produced several commercials, and even took a vacation! We’re back at it and to follow will be some of the updates that we’ve been meaning to write.
ILEGALES has been selected to close out the 11th Annual Vistas Film Festival in Dallas, TX!!! Ilegales will be screening on Sunday, October 31st, 2010 at 7:30pm at the Angelika Film Center, Theatre 8, 5321 Mockingbird Lane, Dallas TX.
The VISTAS Film Festival brings great Latin-focused cinematic works to North Texas. Since 1999, VISTAS has given movie-lovers a rare, yet wonderful, opportunity to see exceptional motion pictures from places as remote as the Andes Mountains to the familiar streets of San Antonio. Thousands of film lovers from across North Texas attend the festival to watch movies, have coffee with the filmmakers and mingle at the after-parties.
Iris MediaWorks is proud to announce that our transmedia project THE RODSHIRE ARCHIVES PROJECT has been selected as a finalist for the Pixel Pitch at Power to the Pixel’s 2010 Cross-Media Forum. With producers Julia Pontecorvo and Patrick T. Rousseau, and director Noah Workman, THE RODSHIRE ARCHIVES PROJECT is a transmedia project we are developing that was chosen to present out of over 100 applicants from 23 countries.
[Power to the Pixel] has selected nine international producer-led teams to present projects to a select jury made up from international decision-makers, commissioners and executives from across film, advertising, broadcast, the arts, online and games.
Following JORDAN‘s worldwide premiere at the Waterfront Film Festival in June, JORDAN will have its New York premiere on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at the Film Anthology Archives New Filmmakers program. Produced by Patrick T. Rousseau and Noah Workman in an Iris MediaWorks coproduction with culpepper/williams and line produced by Jake Pokluda, JORDAN is the story of a five year old girl who walks miles through the night in the wake of a car accident on an isolated mountain road. When small-town Sheriff Gil Lujan finally locates the girl’s missing mother, Jordan claims the woman is an impostor, and insists that her real mother is still waiting for help out on the mountain.
Shot by Glen Mordeci on the Red One camera in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, Jordan stars Isabel Culpepper as Jordan, Liezl Carstens as Natalia, Gregory Zaragoza as Gil Lujan, Angelique Midthunder as Bernie Lujan, Christian Baste as Eli Lujan, and Lincoln Mark as Nate Lujan. Jordan also features Elizabeth DeCicco, Neil Summers, Dan Strakal, Trina Siopy, Delana Michaels, and Frank Bond.
There is a reception for the film starting at 5:00pm at the Anthology Film Archives (32 2nd Avenue at East 2nd St., NYC) and the screening of Jordan will begin at 8:00pm. To find out about future screenings, sign up for the IMW Newsletter, check out JORDAN’s official web site, or become a fan on Facebook.
We’re extremely pleased to announce that ILEGALES has won two awards at the Naperville Independent Film Festival, where it was nominated for a total of four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Our lead actor, Luis Bordonada, won Best Actor for his portrayal of Ariel Vargas, a day laborer who works in the cotton fields of New Mexico. Luis Bordonada’s parents brought him to the U.S. illegally as a child, so he’s lived many of the experiences that ILEGALES touches on. Lately, Luis has appeared in The Book of Eli, A Bakery Story, and can be seen in the upcoming feature The Reunion. Additionally, he has done theater productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, television commercials for Showtime Networks, and hosted an entertainment program called Remix TV.
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