Loren Cass (2009)

Synopsis: Written by filmmaker Chris Fuller in 1997 at the age of 15, the reality of Loren Cass began with a sustained effort to arrange the necessary financing and with the incorporation of Jonesing... Written by filmmaker Chris Fuller in 1997 at the age of 15, the reality of Loren Cass began with a sustained effort to arrange the necessary financing and with the incorporation of Jonesing Pictures, Inc. in the Fall of 2002. Financing and planning would consume the next 2 years and bring the filmmakers to a downtown hotel where they lived and prepared their coming work, a dark tale of adolescence set just after the nationally-publicized 1996 St. Petersburg rebellions.

Loren Cass was filmed entirely in St. Petersburg, Florida over the course of 14 days in early Summer 2004 with a bare-bones crew and hard-earned budget. Starring Kayla Tabish (The Girl Next Door), newcomers Travis Maynard and Lewis Brogan, Jacob Reynolds (Gummo), street poet Mike Glausier, and Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Din Thomas, the film also featured audio contributions from Blag Dahlia, Keith Morris, Winky Wright, Charles Bukowski, Robert Desnos and others. A rare special appearance was made by New York punk band Leftover Crack along with a highly acclaimed soundtrack featuring artists Stiff Little Fingers, Hayden, DJ Shadow, Don Caballero, Choking Victim, Propagandhi, Billy Bragg, and others.

Produced by Frank Craft, Chris Fuller and Kayla Tabish, editing began immediately following principal photography. The editing and sound design process would last for the next year and a half.

Needing finishing touches, Fuller and a two man crew returned to the streets of St. Petersburg in 2005 for 3 additional shooting days. Scraped together with borrowed gear and leftover film stock, the new footage would be cut in to the film in a makeshift Tampa editing room and the grueling sound mixing process stretched on for the remainder of the year.

2006 saw continued sound work and technical refinement culminating in the first official screening in rough-cut form at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival in Georgia. This was followed by a hometown premiere in St. Petersburg, Florida to a standing-room-only crowd.

With the arrival of 2007, Loren Cass began a global film festival tour that wouldn't see its end for years to come. Beginning with the Bradford International Film Festival in England, the film was finally completed and ready for its United States premiere at the invitation of Dennis Hopper's CineVegas Film Festival in June. The film was received with full theatres and a rave review in trade publication Variety.

An international premiere came next in the prestigious Filmmakers of the Present Competition at the Locarno International Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland. Shown in a packed 3200 seat auditorium, the Fevi, an international audience responded to Loren Cass with a standing ovation. 2007 also saw "Loren Cass" named to Variety film critic Robert Koehler's Best of 2007 list and 2 votes for Best Undistributed Film in the annual IndieWire Critic's Poll.

With festival screenings in countries such as Finland, Hungary, Austria, Spain, France and others, "Loren Cass" garnered wide critical and audience support on it's way to a 2007 IFP Gotham Award nomination for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You. Called everything from "brilliant" to "commercially toxic" to "the most dangerous film in America", the film was rewarded with a coveted screening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Awards also came in the form of an Emerging Filmmaker nomination at the Starz Denver Film Festival, a win in France at Janine Bazin's EntreVues Film Festival for the use of music in the film, and several others.

In 2008 the film screened theatrically in Los Angeles, Sarajevo, Budapest, and as the only American film in Official Competition at Mexico's FICCO event. The year was capped off with South American showings in the Brazilian cities of Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre.

In early July of 2009 Loren Cass was acquired for theatrical and DVD release by Kino International, one of the few remaining truly independent feature film distributors. At the end of a 12-year effort to bring the film to audiences, "Loren Cass" will have its theatrical opening at the Cinema Village in New York City on July 24th, 2009. That will be followed by theatrical runs in Los Angeles and Chicago, expanding to other major markets from there. A DVD release is scheduled for Fall of 2009. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Chris Fuller, Kayla Tabish, Jacob Reynolds

Starring: Chris Fuller, Kayla Tabish, Jacob Reynolds

Director: Chris Fuller

Director: Chris Fuller
Screenwriter: Chris Fuller
Studio: Kino International

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