 |
  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Story of
FIVE LINES
|
Though they may not be calling it Hollywood East anytime soon, Washington DC certainly has played host to number of feature films. If you haven’t noticed, crews sporting their latest Enemy of the State, Random Harts, and Arlington Road tee shirts have recently laid siege to our pothole riddled streets. Unfortunately, these productions treat the District as little more than a full-scale back lot. After a production wraps, they flee the beltway in one mass exodus, returning only when Hollywood decides the world needs another “tout political thriller.”
Obviously, the mark of a legitimate film capital is the ability to make home grown productions – productions that are staffed and casted with local talent and posted in area facilities. And until recently, this distinction eluded DC. But in the last three months, DC has seen a flurry of local filmmaking activity centered around Five Lines Film (FLF), a production company set up by Nicholas Panagopulos and Travis Gray to produce their feature film of the same name, Five Lines.
Written by Nick and local actor Christian Zonts, Five Lines is set in and around the neighborhoods served by the Washington DC Metro. It is the dramatic story of five strangers and the last five days of their lives. It is an anthology film in the vein of Robert Altman's SHORTCUTS and Krzysztof Kieslowski's three-film anthology BLUE, WHITE, and RED. In Five Lines, the color of each Metro line plays a symbolic role in the corresponding tale. The RED LINE, for instance, focuses on a woman who uses the love of one man to gain the attention of another. In the BLUE LINE, an army officer battles with depression after he unknowingly destroys the life of a friend. The YELLOW LINE features an elderly bag lady that enlightens a street kid about the importance of family. The ORANGE LINE revolves around a terminally ill fourteen year-old girl who realizes the significance of her mortality while visiting the city of her dreams. And in the GREEN LINE, a college dropout becomes involved in a moneymaking scheme that turns into a nightmare from which he can't escape.
In order to get the film off the ground, the production company needed
an infusion of capitol. Nick and Travis immediately set up a series
of pitch sessions with a variety of local investors and corporations.
They even went so far as to hold an open investors meeting at a local country
club. The polished presentations and professional attitude paid off.
After working the circuit for less than two months, their major investors
and board of advisors include a CEO of a major corporation, a music industry
producer, a VP of Production for Discovery Communications Inc., and a diverse
group of successful entrepreneurs. And at present, FLF has secured
sponsorship deals with New Balance, Sir Speedy Bethesda, G&G Outfitters,
Thrifty Car Rentals, and Nextel Phones. Several local restaurants
have even donated meals for the cast &
Crew, including Houston's, Red Hot & Blue, and Pizzeria Uno to
name a few. And what businesses can’t give in materials, they give
in other ways. Park Bench Pub recently hosted extras casting call
for the film. DC 101 generated free publicity for the film through
a morning call in show contest called “Fine Lines.” The winner received
a speaking roll in Five Lines. They are even in negotiations with
local record indie label DCide Records to produce a CD to accompanying
the film.
Once the seed money was in place, they turned their attention to casting. Going through hundreds of headshots and countless auditions over the course of three weeks, they finally had their cast. The producers feel as though they have brought together some of the most talented up-and-coming actors from the DC and New York theatre and film circles. The five principles include Emily Townley as Kathryn, Josette Murray-Ballo as Anna, Marianna Houston as Stacie, Nat Taylor as Mike, and Christian Zonts as Bench. A host of stellar area supporting talent rounds out the cast.
In the weeks before production, the producers began working closely with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, University of Maryland, DC Film Commission, and Montgomery County in order to secure the logistics of the film. After all the locations were scouted and all the permits obtained, the only thing left to do was shoot it. Before they realized it, FLF was in the process of taking this unique film from concept to completion entirely in the DC metropolitan area.
To assist with this task, FLF contracted Bethesda based BrainBox to produce and post the film. Knowing that many independent features are forced to beg, borrow, and steal camera equipment and film stock, BrainBox worked a deal with New York based Bexel Corporation to shoot Five Lines on the new digital High Definition format, becoming one of the first movies anywhere to do so. Not only will it give Five Lines a truly stunning image quality, it affords the Bexel corporation serious bragging rights. Already in production, principal photography on Five Lines will be completed by Thanksgiving.
But an even more critical area to secure is that of post-production. This is where the modern film is made or broken. And because it is so costly and time consuming, indie films can languish for years in a state of half completion. The filmmakers at FLF where determined to push this film through post in time to hit the festival tour in early 2000 in hopes to snag a distributor. So BrainBox expanded its post-production facilities to include a dedicated digital edit suite and over 100 gigabytes of storage space. Working in partnership with area software company in:sync, BrainBox was able to obtain the very latest in post-production technology, negating the need to ship the film to Los Angeles or New York, as many indie productions are forced to do.
Which brings us back to where we started. DC as the worlds most
monument laden back lot. But these filmmakers are proving that it
can be so much more than that. "This isn't a film about politics and conspiracy...
this is a film about DC and the people that live there... this is a film
about our city " said Christian Zonts, one of the films’ co-writers.
And not only is it a film about the people of DC, but it’s a film by people
from DC.