An Act of War

An Act of War
Directed by Ryan M. Kennedy
Produced by Atit Shah
Written by Ryan M. Kennedy
Starring
Production
companies
Evince Productions
Create Entertainment
Out in Front, Inc. (In association with)
Distributed by Revolver Entertainment
Release dates
 March 31, 2015
Running time
 99 minutes
Country United States
Language English

An Act of War (original title: The Projectionist) is a 2015 American thriller film written and directed by Ryan M. Kennedy and produced by Atit Shah.[1] The film stars Russ Russo, Natasha Alam, Doug E. Doug, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Robert Miano and Kiowa Gordon. The story follows a recently returned veteran as he struggles to re-adapt to society and reconnect with the world he left behind prior to being deployed to Iraq.

In February, 2014 Indiewire reported that the project was the first film to ever release on Kickstarter prior to a theatrical and Video on Demand run.[2][3][4] The film released in North American markets on VOD March 31, 2015.

Within the first two weeks of its release, An Act of War had been illegally and legally downloaded or streamed over 4 million times across various platforms and the trailer garnered over 500,000 hits on YouTube.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Cast

Production

Development

Ryan M. Kennedy directed the film from a script he spent two years developing while working full-time as a waiter at a Midtown Manhattan restaurant. He showed the finished draft to a French cinematographer Nicolas Canton living in New York City and the two began planning to produce the film with a small sum of their own money. After receiving a copy of the script in January 2011, a local producer, Atit Shah offered to partner with Kennedy and the two began to work on expanding the scope of the project.[14]

Casting

Shortly after securing the rights to the script, Shah sent the screenplay over to actor Russ Russo, whom Shah had met several years prior at the Cannes Film Festival. The production signed Russo in February 2011. Casting Director Rita Powers round out the remaining cast with Natasha Alam, Doug E. Doug, Joseph R. Gannascoli, Robert Miano, and Kiowa Gordon.[14]

Sean Lennon was initially attached to play Marlon until Lennon's South by Southwest gig prevented him for filming.[15]

Filming

Principal photography took place in March of 2011 in New York City, predominately in Brooklyn's Vinegar Hill and East Williamsburg neighborhoods.[15]

Kennedy had rented a production space in Brooklyn prior to meeting Shah, an expense Shah felt was unnecessary. Unable to break the lease, production designer Robert Dancy converted the raw space into two different key locations within the movie and the space proved to be a big win for production.[14]

The film was shot on the Arri Alexa over a period of 32 days.[15] Additional filming took place in various locations around Manhattan, and in upstate NY near Red Hook.[16]

Release and Reception

The film was released on Video on Demand March 31st, 2015 by Revolver Entertainment.[17] It is currently available exclusively in North America on iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Google Play, Vudu, Xbox Live, Playstation Store and Amazon Instant Video. With Cable VOD offerings on Dish, AT&T and Shaw Communications in Canada.

The film received generally favorable reviews. Aaron Peterson of the Hollywood Outsider said it was “a harrowing journey of a film that demands to be seen”.[18] Henrick Vartanian of Brave New Hollywood praised the film’s depiction of soldiers with posttraumatic stress disorder. Saying “this film makes the complexity of the tormented soldier comprehensible to everyday public”.[19]

The Movie Waffler reported "An Act of War is skillfully scripted and sensitively acted. Prior to its release, the picture won four film festival awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor at the New York-based Take Two Film Festival. The movie was also hailed as the first film to ever have a limited release using Kickstarter prior to more mainstream film distribution".[3][4][20]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1861445/fullcredits
  2. ↑ http://www.themoviewaffler.com/2015/04/first-look-review-act-of-war.html
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.indiewire.com/article/kickstarter-for-film-distribution
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://collider.com/the-projectionist-kickstarter/
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOQqe101GHQ
  6. ↑ http://g2g.fm/forum/showthread.php?5825-An-Act-of-War-%282015%29-720p-WEBRip-Download-Online-Streaming-Subtitles
  7. ↑ https://thepiratebay.se/torrent/11787195/An.Act.of.War.2015.HDRip.XviD.AC3-EVO
  8. ↑ https://kickass.to/an-act-of-war-2015-hdrip-xvid-ac3-evo-t10433961.html
  9. ↑ http://www.hulu.com/watch/772546
  10. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/an-act-of-war-2015/id976886097
  11. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RUGKOVC/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
  12. ↑ https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/An_Act_of_War?id=iEMMT7a-8_Q
  13. ↑ http://www.vudu.com/movies/#rateContent/643848/5
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 http://www.thehollywoodoutsider.com/inside-the-movie-projectionist/
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1861445/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv
  16. ↑ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/evince-productions--create-entertainment-launch-independent-film-the-projectionist-247242031.html
  17. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/an-act-of-war-2015/id976886097
  18. ↑ http://www.thehollywoodoutsider.com/projectionist-movie-review
  19. ↑ http://www.bravenewhollywood.com/the-projectionist-observes-the-aftermath-of-war-indie-film-review
  20. ↑ http://www.themoviewaffler.com/2015/04/first-look-review-act-of-war.html

External links