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No more lead actor, director and a terrible script won't stop a crew OF MISFITS

from achieving the impossible : a great film - AN homage TO SERGIO LEONE.

A Hommage to Sergio Leone

A Hommage to Sergio Leone

a Tribute to all Independent Filmmakers out there

PART 1

PART 1

LUIS LEONE, ex Mexican drug lord has a passion for making films since he was a kid watching Westerns by Sergio Leone, who he's convinced is 100% Mexican. He’s made enough money without getting caught and decides to retire to the US from the drug business to produce and direct the first feature film he wrote: Cafe Del Artisto”. He hires an independent American film crew.

PART 2

PART 2

JONAS BERGMAN, a documentary filmmaker down on his luck, is hired to do the “Making of”. We meet BRENDAN, MARISOL, MARCO, all the main actors through a mixture of live behind the scenes interviews. Jonas winds up taking a much bigger part in the film development when Luis is called back to Mexico for “family affairs”. The only problem is, he leaves with all the production money, and the script is horrendous.

PART 3

PART 3

The US film team is left to fend for themselves and needs a solution to have something ready for the next Cannes film festival, where they have been programmed to screen 2 months down the road. During his Mexican journey, we find out Luis’ brother RODRIGO, who put his family in jeopardy, is sent to the States to stay put while the DEBT he owes to another druglord gets resolved.

PART 4

PART 4

Once at Luis’ apartment, Rodrigo can’t help but read Luis’ script. He decides to get involved in the on going production and, due in part to the brothers’ ressemblance, the movie greatly benefits from his involvement. Thanks to the actors and crew keeping it together, the final film winds up being the making of an immigrant’s dream in America, the land of opportunity, mixing Jonas’ “making of” footage to tell a gripping story.

PART 5

PART 5

The film is done but they realize Cannes was just an invention from Luis. An unexpected SAVIOR allows them to still get screened at SXSW, but Luis who still feels like it’s his movie, decides to meet them in Austin from Mexico with yet another unexpected guest. Oh, and during the story they discover Sergio Leone is Italian.

5 PART SYNOPSIS   (BELOW)

 2 LOCATIONS :

AUSTIN, TEXAS - US

LAS PIERRAS VILLAGE, MEXICO

FULL SYNOPSIS

LUIS LEONE, ex Mexican drug lord has a passion for making films since he was a kid watching Westerns by Sergio Leone, who he's convinced is 100% Mexican. He’s made enough money without getting caught and decides to retire to the US from the drug business to produce and direct the first feature film he wrote: Cafe Del Artisto”. He hires an independent American film crew.

 

JONAS BERGMAN, a documentary filmmaker down on his luck, is hired to do the “Making of”. We meet BRENDAN, MARISOL, MARCO, all the main actors through a mixture of live behind the scenes interviews. Jonas winds up taking a much bigger part in the film development when Luis is called back to Mexico for “family affairs”. The only problem is, he leaves with all the production money, and the script is horrendous.

 

The US film team is left to fend for themselves and needs a solution to have something ready for the next Cannes film festival, where they have been programmed to screen 2 months down the road.

During his Mexican journey, we find out Luis’ brother RODRIGO, who put his family in jeopardy, is sent to the States to stay put while the DEBT he owes to another drug lord gets resolved.

 

Once at Luis’ apartment, Rodrigo can’t help but read Luis’ script. He decides to get involved in the on going production and, due in part to the brothers’ ressemblance, the movie greatly benefits from his involvement.


Thanks to the actors and crew keeping it together, the final film winds up being the making of an immigrant’s dream in America, the land of opportunity, mixing Jonas’ “making of” footage to tell a gripping story.

 

The film is done but they realise Cannes was just an invention from Luis. An unexpected SAVIOR allows them to still get screened at SXSW, but Luis who still feels like it’s his movie, decides to meet them in Austin from Mexico with yet another unexpected guest.

Oh, and during the story they discover Sergio Leone is Italian.

 

CHARACTERS :

  • JENNY  - An Asian American idealist editor

  • MARISOL, a beautiful and busty yet academic Claudia Cardinale looking actor

  • MARCO, a reserved, spanish-speaking actor ready for everything to make it in the industry.

  • BRANDON - a self-important actor, a writer at heart and at ego.

  • MANA, a frazzled AD, line producer and script-supervisor

  • BO, a burnt-out Sergio Leone Obsessed DP

  • LUIS LEONE, the director, producer, and writer

  • JONAS, a depressed out of work Documentary Filmmaker who has been hired to shoot the “making of” 

  • RODRIGO - Luis' brother. An artist at heart, a wannabe drug dealer

  • PENELOPE - Luis' high school sweet heart

  • EL GUERRERO - a muscular dangerous mexican druglord with TATTOOS

 

 

 

PICKUP-DUSTY-MEXICO.jpg
STORY

 

independent

US film crew

WHO
CONTACT

WHO

 

DIRECTOR - CO-WRITER

Dan Thorens

Daniel is a self made Canadian Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Producer and Actor. He has honed his Director’s skills by working with renowned Jerome Savary, Roland Topor, Andreas Voutsinas and Jean‐ Luc Godard to name a few. His versatility as a Director allows him to move into different genres with ease. He's co-written 5 feature films and directed a host of short films and 2 documentary pilots which he hosted as well. He’s fluent in French. (www.clockwise1.com)

 

 

 

 

CO-WRITER

Alexander Doyle

Alexander Janosek Doyle is a New Jersey based teacher, writer, and producer. As a founding member and Executive Director of The Box Colony Theatre Inc., Alexander has produced work at The New York Fringe Festival, as well as his own writing independently in New York and New Jersey. Cafe Del Artisto marks Alexander's first foray into screenwriting. Alexander lives in Jersey City with his wife, Melissa Weiss, and teaches English at Dickinson High School.

 

SCRIPT CONSULTANT

María González de León

is from Mexico City.

She studied English Literature

at Mexico’s National University

and got her Masters in Scriptwriting

at Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, Instituto Mexicano de Bellas Artes (INBA).

She has written several feature films, two of which have been produced:

Filosofía Natural del Amor

and Estero (currently on postproduction).

She has also worked as writer and co-writer of several television series and short films.

In 2011 she was awarded with the

Jóvenes Creadores writing scholarship  of Mexico’s Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA).

WHY

 

WHO

doesn't love these good old spaghetti Western? Who hasn't seen one of Sergio Leone's memorable epics? Most people have.

The idea started as a joke toward the aburdity I've witnessed on some independent film sets but soon took a turn when I got Alex Doyle involved. He immediately understood the tone and with his wit and our countless coffees and teas at the french bakery downstairs, we actually took on writing something much more SUBSTANTIAL.

 

The notion of telling a story within a story is not new but giving it that documentary "making of" twist is unique. The STORY has become a HOMAGE to those fillmmakers that marked our SOCIETIES, LEONE in particular, how little we know about them and how much they helped shape our minds as filmmakers and as an audience. It is also a tribute to 'independent filmmaking' with all its unexpected ups and downs and how, with the will to come together against all odds, we can achieve our dream. Here's to the DREAM.

 

 

BY IT"S NATURE,

America is an ever evolving nation;

not merely politically and economically, but socially, philosophically, and ethically.

As the millenial generation comes of age in an increasingly globalized world, it is time to ask:

What is the story of the American immigrant in the twenty-first century?

It is sure to be different; as sure as the American culture changes,

so will the experience of those entering it change.

This film asks, how is the experience of the artist affected by integration

(and inevitable clash) of culture,

and what do the values of America offer the immigrant and the artist?

 

 

 

 

I'VE ALWAYS

wanted to tell a story about making a film but never knew the context in which to do it until Dan Thorens presented me "Leonesome Love" .

I could see myself through the eyes of Jonas - a documentary filmmaker unable to sustain himself while trying to tell compelling human stories.  Now he finally receives his big break in the most unlikely of circumstances - with an opportunity to have his film premiere at a MAjor Film Festival.  An ironic twist to how unpredictable success can come in such an ever-changing volatile industry.

What I'm also drawn to is how filmmakers influence our storytelling perspectives so much so that we choose to emulate their approaches - (Sergio Leone, Jean Luc-Godard) yet end up creating unique styles that add another layer to their canvas: the screen.

I think the filmmaking perspective from the US to Mexico has been limited and this story merges the two very different cultures into an original and un-pioneered way. 

I'm excited to see this film come to light.

 

AFTER 

my first reading of "Leonesome Love", I liked very much and accepted to work on it.

I love the originality of the plot and characters.

The drug trafficking scene in Mexico is very prevalent, especially nowadays.

 

The first thing that caught my attention was Luis,

because we Mexicans and, I think, people from other countries,

conceive Mexican drug lords as a personification of wickedness and darkness.

But Luis is anything but that.

He's a sensitive character, despite his occupation and more evident traits,

and in his deepest desires, although he can't express it,

he has the sensitivity of a true artist. His brother Rodrigo expresses it for him.

 

I was happy when Alex and Dan approached me to ask for my impression and input

as a Mexican screen-writer.

For a Mexican audience, whom this film aims at reaching as well,

it is important to keep the Mexican scenes and characters as authentic as possible.

I look foreward to seeing this project come to the big screens.

ABOUT

CW1 Films:

 

 

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We are a specialized production company based in Manhattan, New York, with strong working partnerships in the US, China, France, Canada and Switzerland.
 

 

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We like to work closely with producers and directors  and we maintain an extensive knowledge of production procedures from start to finish.

 

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CW1 has worked with clients such as BENZ, MITSUBISHI, HEINEKEN, BUICK, PIONEER,, VIDAL SASSOON.

 

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Our website

www.clockwise1.com

CONTACT:

 

NY: (347) 927-0349

info@clockwise1.com

Brooklyn, NY 10018

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