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Saunders-Dicken Productions, LLC
Making the most of
Entertainment
& Media
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The Saunders-Dicken
Productions portfolio includes films in all Production
stages and in distribution with sales agents representing USA
and foreign markets.
Current film titles are:
How You Look To Me (aka Sweet William)
This film stars Frank Langella (playing the role of a University
of Louisville English professor.) The picture follows a student of
Langella’s who is an aspiring writer forced to put his reckless
partying ways behind him, and actually knuckle down to some serious
writing and self-discovery. The film is set at Churchill Downs, the
University of Louisville, and various student haunts around the
city. The student (portrayed by actor Bruce Romans, the screenplay’s
author, and brother of horse trainer Dale Romans), has a love
interest with a fellow student portrayed by Laura Allen, an up and
coming actress featured on the Syfy channel. Since 2011, Bruce
Romans is a contributing writer on the Hell On Wheels series which
completed its 2nd season on the Cable Channel AMC.
Writer: Bruce
Marshall Romans Director: J. Miller Tobin
Stars: Frank
Langella, Laura Allen and Bruce Marshall Romans
Festivals Entered:
Newport Beach (Premiere), Philadelphia First Glance, Bluegrass
Independent, Ojai, and Swansea Bay.
Distribution Contract:
Shoreline & Lion’s Gate till June 2020.
Blackbird
A young couple in NYC tries to overcome their frailties in order
to find love. The picture dramatizes the ill-fated courtship between
two melancholic heroin addicts - Gulf War veteran Bayliss (Paul
Sparks) and ex-stripper Froggy (Gillian Jacobs has played Britta
Perry since 2009 on the NBC TV Series Community) - as they fall in
love and battle magnetizing addictions. The possibility of
redemption waxes strong from time to time, with hope for some
semblance of a "normal life" lingering quietly in the background.
The film featuring Kentucky’s own Michael Shannon (Boardwalk
Empire) is written and directed by Adam Rapp, a well known
Hollywood Television director and author (currently directing the
play True West at Actor’s Theater of Louisville) won the Best
Director Award at the Florida Film Festival.
Writer: Adam
Rapp Director: Adam
Rapp
Stars: Stephen Adly
Guirgis, Gillian Jacobs, Guy Boyd, and Ross Brodar
Festivals Entered:
South by South West (Premiere), Edinburgh International, Cucalorus,
Florida (Best Director), Charlotte (Best Narrative Feature), and
Phoenix.
Distribution Contract:
Panorama till May 2016.
2nd Serve (pka Tan Lines)
This film was produced by Gill Holland, a successful and
recognized independent local
film producer (1) who was the
first producer to ever have a
film win 3 prizes,
Hurricane Streets, at Sundance - and (2) who previously taught at the NYU film
school. The story is a romantic
comedy targeted at tennis buffs.
Owen Match, (played by Josh Hopkins – known for his role as
Grayson Ellis opposite Courteney
Cox on the TBS TV Series
Cougar Town) after being
fired from an affluent country
club for bad behavior, is a
former tennis star takes a job
at a public racquet club where
he leads a ragtag group of
oddball pros to a showdown
against a rival team of his
former co-workers. The picture
asks the question, "will former
tennis star Owen Match reclaim
his title as champ or
does he discover something more
important in life?” The film was shot in Louisville, KY and the city is the
backdrop for this romantic
comedy.
Writer: Tim Kirkman
Director: James Markert
Stars: Josh Hopkins, Guillermo Diaz, Kevin Sussman,
Alexie Gilmore,
and Cameron Monaghan
Festivals Entered:
Woodstock Film Festival
(Premiere)
Distribution Contact:
Green
Apple Entertainment for US
Runoff (pka Cantuckee pka Land Of Tomorrow)
Set in a rural community in America's heartland,
Runoff (pka Cantuckee pka
Land of Tomorrow) tells the story of Betty, a wife and mother
who fights to save her family's farm-supply business. When her
husband Frank falls ill and their son Finley gets into college,
the financial pressures become too much, and Betty commits an
unthinkable crime for the sake of her loved ones. The lead of
Betty is played by Joanne Kelly, well known for her series role
of Myka Bering on the Syfy channel TV Series Warehouse 13.
The film was shot in Oldham and Henry counties, Kentucky in the
fall of 2011. The script was developed by Kentucky native
Kimberly Levine and was one of the top screenplays in the 2009
Nicholl (the Oscars screenwriting competition). A playwright
and former biochemist, Levin is also an experienced theater
director in New York City. She interned with Jon Jory as an
apprentice director at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville in the
1990’s.
The Film was selected by the prestigious Independent Filmmakers
Project,
Visit IFP Site,
as 1 of 10 films selected in 2012 -
Read IFP Announcement
and
visit the film's Web Site at
Visit
Runoff Site.
Writer: Kimberly
Levin Director:
Kimberly Levin
Stars: Joanne Kelly, Neal Huff, Alex Shaffer, and Tom
Bower
Festivals Entered:
1.
Los Angeles Film Festival 2014 - World Premiere
Narrative Competition
2.
Hamptons International Film Festival 2014
3.
Woodstock Film Festival 2014
Distribution Contract:
Please To Meet Me
Based on an
episode of the PRI radio program "This American Life;
Everyone Speaks Elton John"
-one nearly forgotten Rock Legend, six complete unknowns, and
only 24 hours to make their dreams a reality.
Pete Jones (played by legendary "X" front man John Doe) lead
singer of the seminal 90’s alternative band AMMO PALACE is
stuck. He’s solo (in his professional and private life) and he
can’t finish his long promised, still gestating album. His one
time engineer, now out-on-her-own indie producer Laura Klein
(played by Academy Award-nominee Aimee Mann), approaches Pete to
appear on a segment of the syndicated radio show, “World Cafe”.
Laura’s pitch is simple; from the Classifieds, she and Pete will
find a group of musicians who have never met and create, for one
day and one day only, a band.
The musicians are assembled; it’s a vibrant cross section of
talent, an eccentric and crusty Theremin player (played by
Grammy Award winner Loudon Wainwright, III), a muse-worthy but
abused punk rock bassist, a Christian guitarist who sings like
an angel, a butch, hardened, but happy-to-be here drummer, a
former chorus girl turned real estate agent lead singer (played
by Over The Rhine crooner Karin Bergquist), and an almost past
his prime electric violinist with a sad addiction to bourbon and
pain killers.
For Laura, this is an opportunity to establish a life out from
under Pete’s shadow. For Pete, it’s a chance to correct and
re-mix his personal and creative life. For the unknown band,
it’s a time to see if they have what it takes to fulfill, or say
goodbye, the unfulfilled dream of making it in music business.
Writer:
Archie Borders and Dave Henry Director: Archie
Borders
Stars:
John Doe, Aimee Mann, Loudon Wainwright, Joe Henry,
Karin Bergquist, Timothy Morton, Morgan Nagler, Adam
Kramer, and Katie O’Brien
Festivals Entered:
1.
Sound Unseen Festival 2013
in Minneapolis
2.
Tucson Film and Music Festival
2014
Distribution Contract:
Virgil Films
and Entertainment
Split
Split
is a peek into the life of Cassie, an over-achiever with a thing
for bowlers whose life takes an unexpected turn when she reads a
strangely ominous statistic in the local newspaper as her 30th
birthday looms. Chronically absent and infamously eccentric, her
recently deceased, professional bowler father has left her with
not only a freeloading mother on her couch, but an undying
notion in her head that in order to live up to her own "above
average" standards, she has just under a month to meet and marry
the man of her dreams. Despite pleas from her friends, she
begins to hatch a plan, but a fateful run in at her local lanes
quickly makes her wonder what she really wants – the 7… or the
10?
The film’s writer and director is a
Louisville, KY native and graduate of the Northern Kentucky
University. Having worked in the entertainment industry since
2002, Jamie is debuting his first full-length feature effort in
this dual-capacity with Split. A few of the numerous
feature films on his resume include The Departed,
August Rush, Elizabethtown, War of The Worlds,
Synecdoche NY, Julie & Julia, It’s Complicated,
The Other Guys, Men in Black 3, Premium Rush,
and Paul Weitz’s upcoming Focus Features dramedy: Admission,
starring Tina Fey & Paul Rudd. See
Jamie's IMDb page
for a full list of credits and learn more about the
writer/director's work here.
Tracy Weiler (our "Cassie") is originally
from Batesville, Indiana and also graduated from the Northern
Kentucky University. Now living and thriving in New York City,
Tracy is following a successful career in modeling, theatre,
print ads, film support roles, and TV commercials with her debut
role as a leading lady in Split. Select credits include
Fugly with John Leguizamo, MTV's "I Just Want My Pants
Back", "Celebrity Apprentice" and regular sketch appearances on
"The Late Show" with David Letterman. Tracy is recognizable from
a number of national commercials - including those for Subway,
Klondike, and (most notably) the Head and Shoulders "Fan in the
Stands" ad with dreamy Minnesota Twins catcher, Joe Mauer – the
lead-in commercial spot for the 2012 World Series. Check out
Tracy’s IMDb page here.
Also appearing in Split as Cassie's troubled but loving
mother ("Diane") is
Amy Tribbey.
Amy recently performed on Broadway in Gore Vidal's The Best
Man with James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, and John
Larroquette. Amy may also be recognized from her numerous film &
TV credits, which include HBO's upcoming Muhammad Ali's
Greatest Fight with Christopher Plummer, the Netflix series
House of Cards with Kevin Spacey, and both "Law & Order"
and "Law & Order: SVU."
A key member of the Split creative
team, cinematographer Jordan T. Parrott's extensive experience
with lighting as a steadily working gaffer gave our project a
real advantage when it came to several more challenging scenes.
His training at Emerson College and in Prague with the Academy
of Performing Arts' Film & TV School helped prepare him for not
only our shoot but his extensive experience with commercials for
JC Penney, iHome, ABC News, Walgreens, and BlackBerry as well.
Learn more about Jordan and his work
here.
The sound team is incredibly excited to have Tom Blankenship
from the Grammy-nominated and immensely popular rock group,
Louisville's own
My Morning Jacket
on board both scoring and creating original soundtrack music for
the movie.
Writer: Jamie
Buckner Director:
Jamie Buckner
Stars: Tracy Weiler, Christopher Guetig,
Sean Keller, Jou Jou Papailler, Sarah East, Lauren Maxwell, Amy
Tribbey, Josh Mendelow,
Mike Wolfe, Ben Evans, MacLeod Andrews,
Wil Heuser,
and
Pete Weber (PBA professional bowler –
winner of 36 PBA tour Events including 9 major titles)
Festivals Entered: Currently in Post-Production; TBA
Distribution Contract: Currently in Post-Production; TBA
Entertainment & Media industry
ventures, included in the
Saunders-Dicken Productions
portfolio are:
Film Industry
Investments:
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Slated - The exclusive film
investment marketplace. |
Launched
in 2012, Slated is the next-generation online
marketplace for investing in film — an exclusive
community platform designed to connect investors with a
global network of filmmakers and industry professionals.
(Crowd sourcing of funding ala KickStarter).
Learn more about Slated here.
Follow Slated on Twitter here.
View the Slated You Tube Channel - Filmonomics here.
Entertainment Industry
Investments:
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Gun Media Holdings, Inc.
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The video game industry is evolving to become the 21st
century equivalent of the film industry in the 20th
century. Gun Media is a video game development company
that evolved from a video game think tank/consulting
firm based in Lexington, KY and San Francisco. All the
major publishers (including EA, Activision, Sega, etc.)
employ the company for advice on how to increase game
revenue. Gun has now shifted into the much more
lucrative field of game development – creating its own
IP through its own game development. Its roster of
talent is well recognized in the video game industry as
some of the best creative talent. The company’s first
online game will launch in 2013.
Learn more about Gun Media Holdings at
Learn more Gun Media Holdings
or
Learn more here.
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Frogdice, Inc.
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Frogdice is an independent game
developer of online role playing games (RPG), virtual
worlds, and downloadable games. Founded in 1996,
Frogdice is a market leader in developing fun, immersive
games with extreme replayability and wonderful
communities.
Our motto is “Our Worlds, Your Imagination.” We strive
to create deep, engaging worlds that give you the tools
to explore and express your own creativity and
imagination.
At Frogdice, we are proud that our games and our
communities are particularly popular with women. All of
our games have at least 50% female players – even our
online RPGs!
Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, Frogdice has a
staff of developers in the United States and abroad.
Their cultural diversity adds to the richness and
variety of content present in Frogdice games.
All of our games can projects can be found here
and/or
follow
us on Twitter.
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SuperFanU, Inc.
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SuperFanU, Inc. was founded in 2012 and
creates engaging, customized loyalty rewards applications
accessible via iPhone, Android, and dynamic mobile web,
while providing insightful and actionable data analytics to
its clients and their fan bases.
SuperFanU is quickly becoming The Loyalty Rewards and Fan
Engagement platform used by some of the nation's most
coveted high school, collegiate and professional athletic
programs. Clients include University of Louisville,
Michigan, Florida, Clemson, UCLA, Colorado State, Harvard,
Murray State, Kentucky Country Day High School, and the Minor
League Baseball (MiLB) franchise The Louisville
Bats.
Headquartered
in the entrepreneurial tech center of Louisville, KY, The
NULU District, SuperFanU has a staff of athletes and fans
who help make the product what it is today!
Learn more about SuperFanU here.
Media Industry
Investments:
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MedCity Media
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Launched in 2009 to provide healthcare
business dynamic content, annual events, and content
marketing, MedCity Media is reshaping healthcare
business media with dynamic content and a creative,
savvy modern business model. It is the publisher of
www.MedCityNews.com,
serving business leaders seeking insight on innovation
across all of healthcare and the life sciences. It also
gathers these hard-to-reach business stakeholders in a
series of unique, engaging and ROI-heavy events. It also
offers content marketing solutions for the
“everyone's-a-publisher” world of modern healthcare
media.
Learn
more about MedCity Media here
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11 Picas |
11 Picas
(New York, NY) empowers pro bloggers and their followers
with end-to-end content applications and participatory
interest networks. Our mission is becoming the first
choice bloghost for independent journalists. In Fall
2013, in partnership with Inventiv Health and
HealthiNation, we are building companion vertical
networks in health: Lifista (living well), Flavorpages
(eating well) and Good Medicine (conditions &
therapies). Our social newsrooms grow through collective
administration and promotion. By aggregating a lot of
small followings (projections scale down from authors
with average followings of 2K), we create big audience,
network effects and better compensation for quality
independent bloggers.
Learn more about 11 Picas here
Continuing to evaluate opportunities which
fit our objectives.
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DICKEN
Enterprises, Inc.
