Boston,
Massachusetts – April 15, 2014 – Indie filmmaker Richard Chandler confirmed his
latest full-length feature, GILGAMESH, has finished principal photography.
He
expects the post-production phase will take at least seven months to complete
due in part to the wealth of footage that he shot as well as the enormous
amount of CGI that will be utilized by his visual effects supervisor Simon
Hannon.
GILGAMESH
had been shot in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. It is already listed
on the IMDb - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2323804/combined - and is expected to
have its world premiere either at the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014.
“We
live in crazy times,” mused Chandler. “I figured why not make a movie about
it?”
Produced,
written, directed, edited, and starring Chandler himself, GILGAMESH is a mixed
genre movie that contains an unusual hybrid of Sci-Fi, fantasy, horror,
exploitation, and political thriller. It stars Joe Gannascoli (“Vito” from THE
SOPRANOS) and cult horror sensation Melantha Blackthorne (the title character
in the TV show COUNTESS BATHORIA’S GRAVEYARD PICTURE SHOW).
Also
starring in the movie are Josh Davis, Emily Coleman, Oselito Joseph, Jon Pierce,
Ray Hryb, Emilie Faith Lewis, Carver Riot, Peter Morse, Giancarlo Madonnini, Joe
Victor, James Baker, Matt Colicci, Lilith Astaroth, Sarah Michelle, and dozens
more.
Told
in flashback-style, US Senator Higgins (Gannascoli) interrogates imprisoned
archeologist David Murphy (Davis) in order to learn how Murphy and his wife
Kristen (Blackthorne) were involved in an expedition that may have accidentally
freed from her ancient prison Inanna (Coleman), the Sumerian goddess of lust
and war.
While
Inanna plots to destroy earth using a giant meteor to collide into the planet,
the American President (Morse) and his military men (Pierce, Madonnini, and
Victor) hope to utilize Inanna as a weapon of mass destruction. However a
violent communist take- over of the US government, led by Special Agent Lars
(Chandler) and his ally Angela Kozlov (Riot), complicates the government’s goal
to exploit Inanna.
As
chaos ensues, the ancient god Gilgamesh (Joseph) ponders whether or not he will
act as mankind’s last best hope to save humanity from its rendezvous with
annihilation.
The
Boston-based auteur felt the moment was right to unleash his vision of cultural
chaos upon an unsuspecting public even though he spent a few years developing
the material.
“The
first draft of the script was a lot longer,” he conceded. “I had to cut a lot
out just to make it economically feasible.” Chandler raised over $5,000.00
through a successful Kickstarter campaign, which supplemented funds he himself
had laid out for the project.
The
crew for the dystopian drama is comprised of some familiar faces that have
previously worked under Chandler’s shingle, Boston Film Family, LLC. Long time
collaborators Steve Sandberg, Todd Therrien, and Richard Chandler Sr (Chandler’s
father) worked as, respectively, Associate Producer/Production Manager, First
Assistant Director, and Second Assistant Director/Soundman.
New
to the team were Director of Photography Andrew Zubatkin and Line Producer Angel
Connell. Justin Briggs was responsible for practical (on-set) special effects.
GILGAMESH
will be Chandler’s sixth full-length feature. The native New Englander’s
previous feature credits include SCROOGE IN THE HOOD (2011), HEAVEN AND HELL
(2010), LEGLESS (2010), OUR KINGDOM COME (2007), and SONS OF PERDITION (2007).
Chandler also created a locally produced, hyper-violent, web-based TV series
called BOSTON MASSACRE that ran for one season.
