Matt Shevin, star of the new Lifetime movie “Her Secret Family Killer”, talks to us about his career journey, landing the role of a complex sheriff in the new thriller, and what the funnest part of playing the part was.
How long of a journey has this – as in, acting- been for you Matt?
Over a decade. I’ve loved all of it – building a career from smaller roles and commercials to TV and movies. I will never retire.
When did you know acting was what you wanted to do with your life?
I was on the other side of the camera, helping cast a commercial, and found that I had a skill for acting opposite some well-known actors. I was bitten by the bug and began pursuing this career with full passion.
When did you relocate from New York to Hollywood – and was it to chase more roles?
Over ten years ago. I have an older brother (not in the entertainment business) who had already moved to LA, and that made my relocation very smooth. New York was a great place to grow up, but there are a lot more opportunities in LA, and I honestly love living out here very much. It immediately felt like home.
What was your first gig upon landing in Tinseltown?
I had a role in a commercial for a home refinancing company. There was a character – not me – dressed as a foam house. The glamour of Hollywood.
And when and where did you nab Her Secret Family Killer?
I’d auditioned for a smaller role in another Lifetime movie and while I didn’t get the role, I had a great vibe in the room with the producers and casting director. They cast me in a much larger role in Her Secret Family Killer.
What was the initial appeal for you?
My last scene. It was SO much fun to have an eight-page monologue that is crucial to the surprise in this film. But also, having a large role throughout the entire movie very much appealed to me because there is nothing I love more than being on set, and I was able to be there working every day of this shoot.
Without going into spoiler territory, it sure looks like a fun role to play – – what was funner though, the first part of the film or the latter half?
The second half! I was so excited for the last big scene that I was locked and ready for it – I knew all eight pages of dialogue so I could play with it and try things. It was the best acting experience of my career.
Paris Fury Edition: Bits & Pieces: DISRUPTED will be having it’s World Premiere as an Official Selection of the 2020 Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival occurring from Tuesday March 3 thru Sunday March 15, 2020. Voted as the Best Film Festival by USA Today readers, Cinequest is an international festival that celebrates the ingenuity of cinematic arts combined with Silicon Valley’s technologies & spirit of innovation to empower great creations.
COUNTY LINES, the highly acclaimed debut feature from director Henry Blake, premiered at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. Inspired by true events, COUNTY LINES is a vivid and moving coming-of-age film about a young mother and her 14-year old son who is groomed into involvement in county lines, the lethal nationwide drug dealing networks which exploit vulnerable children into trafficking drugs, mainly heroin and crack cocaine, from urban areas to rural or market towns or coastal locations.
I Am Not Okay With Thisis an irreverent origin story that follows a teenage girl who’s navigating the trials and tribulations of high school, all while dealing with the complexities of her family, her budding sexuality, and mysterious superpowers just beginning to awaken deep within her. From director/EP of The End of the F***ing World Jonathan Entwistle and the producers of Stranger Things comes a new series based on the Charles Forsman graphic novel.
https://youtu.be/MKCVKzaJLiA
The inspirational story of friendship, love, and support on the home front. A group of women come together as their partners serve in Afghanistan. Together they form the very first military wives choir, helping each other through some of life’s most difficult moments and also becoming a media sensation and global movement in the process. Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) directs Oscar® Nominee and BAFTA® Winner Kristin Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour) and BAFTA® Nominee Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe) in this feel good crowd-pleaser.
After emerging as the sole survivor in a deadly revenge game set up by her father to punish his children, Miriam receives an offer from a supernatural entity to go back in time and try again. Now, Miriam must survive both her father’s blood lust and the Gamemaster’s ever-changing rules to save her siblings as she relives the worst night of her life.
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) stars as Tim Jenkin, a real-life ANC activist who was branded a terrorist – and imprisoned – in Africa’s maximum-security Pretoria prison in the late 1970’s during Apartheid. Along with two fellow freedom fighters, played by Daniel Webber (The Punisher, The Dirt) and Mark Leonard Winter (The Dressmaker) Tim made a complex and daring escape 18 months into his incarceration using handcrafted wooden keys. The ingenious escape attempt happened 40 years ago on 11th December 1979. Escape from Pretoria, based on the biography by Tim Jenkin, also stars Ian Hart (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) and Stephen Hunter (The Hobbit Trilogy). The film was directed by British director Francis Annan and produced by British producer David Barron (Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella, Harry Potter).
Anna is a prostitute who has been abused, exploited and manipulated since childhood. Disconnected from her emotions and the sympathetic people around her, Anna accepts that she must take control of her own life, empower herself and learn to live her life on her own terms. Returning to the place where her nightmare began, her childhood home, Anna faces off against her enablers, her abusers, and her own demons.
Acclaimed Horror director Joe Begos (Almost Human, Bliss) & producers Amanda Presmyk (Dragged Across Concrete) & Dallas Sonnier (Bone Tomahawk) bring together this “insanely fun cast” (Bloody Disgusting) in “a gory and fun throwback to ’80s punk rock action movies” (Flickering Myth). VFW assembles cult film royalty featuring performances from Martin Kove(Karate Kid), Stephen Lang (Avatar), Fred Williamson (From Dusk Till Dawn) & William Sadler (Die Hard 2).
New couple Alice (Patton) and David (Goode) take their less than enthusiastic children on a family holiday to a Cornish cottage to meet each other for the first time. The holiday takes an unexpected turn when, on the local beach, the kids discover a magical and very grumpy Psammead (Caine), a creature with the power to grant magical wishes. Unfortunately, they also run into local aristocratic oddball Tristan (Brand), who wants to capture the Psammead for his own gain. The ensuing adventure brings the new siblings together and helps them to accept their parents’ newfound happiness.
https://youtu.be/u0bREozf2Kw
A small rural community is quarantined by an alien presence. Local police officers Zoe and Patrick battle through the night to take control as they become cut off from the outside world. Residents begin to behave strangely and mass panic spreads throughout. With the help of others, Zoe and Patrick begin unraveling the mystery and soon discover it is not all as it seems. Can they save their community before it’s too late?
Avail TV: A New Streaming Platform – A new streaming platform, choca-bloc with classic releases and brand-new originals has launched globally.
From Avail Entertainment LLC, comes Avail TV a brand-new, ad-based streaming platform that brings a new look to traditional programming with both Live TV and pre-recorded shows.
The CCTV platform, headed up by Asif Akbar and JJ Rogers, is available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick and more. Download the app to your device – presto! Free movies are yours!
The platform so far features over 300 titles, available free to the consumer, with a library of over 2000 titles planned to launch over the coming months.
New releases, like the action-adventure “Emerald Run” starring David Chokachi and Yancy Butler, which Avail’s theatrical arm releases in over 100 theaters Feb 21, and rom-com “Stan the Man” starring Emmy winner Katherine Kelly Lang and Steven Chase, will be available on Avail TV 90 days after their theatrical and/or digital premieres.
Current highlights include Avail originals such as the horror anthology “Morbid Stories”, the sci-fi action film “Astro” starring Gary Daniels, #metoo documentary “Rocking the Couch”, horror film “The Butcher” and Matt Hewes’ “I Am Man”.
Classic films including “Slipstream” starring Mark Hamill, “The Satanic Rites of Dracula” with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, “Easy Rider 2 : The Ride Home” starring Jeff Fahey, and “The Last Man on Earth” starring Vincent Price , are also available.
‘Avail TV is a CCTV platform launched in December 2019. Through years of experience in the Entertainment Industry, the team at Avail Entertainment feels that connected TV apps are the wave of the near future for programming content.
The decline of DVD sales and the boom of streaming has changed the industry tremendously in a short time period/ Simply connected is here to stay and the traditional TV home entertainment has been driven by technology leading the future of the home entertainment movie experience. We offer both a live stream and on demand sections to our channel for our viewers.
Avail Entertainment continues to push the platform on new devices being manufactured. Giving our partners and clients a solid white paper with transparency on a reliable platform for their films to call home for the intended audience globally.’
Ahead of the UK premiere of BUTT BOY at Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2020, director Tyler Cornack reflects on Fincher-esque cat & mouse games, creating a ‘colon cave’ and taking anal retention to a whole new level…
Is it true that BUTT BOY started life as a sketch on your Tiny Cinema comedy channel?
Yes, it started out as a very simple sketch about a man who goes to the doctor to get a prostate exam, and begins to get addicted to the feeling. It was always one of our favorite sketches because we found an interesting horror-esque tone. We also realized eluding objects with just a blank stare is just a joke where the punchline can grow through visuals. The first twelve minutes of the film is a very similar rhythm and tone to the original sketch.
For those who have yet to see it, how would you describe the film?
I understood from the beginning of writing the screenplay with Ryan that the movie was going to be very hard to explain to people. But I feel that I am getting better at it. Here goes nothing:
It’s a classic cat and mouse thriller but centered around a joke. The entire film takes one little joke and then plays it as straight as an arrow. It never apologizes or backs out of the bit. A man is stuck in a redundant and stale lifestyle, he goes to get a rectal exam and his whole life changes. He becomes addicted to putting things up his butt. Objects turn into animals, and animals turn into children, children turn into adults. As the things get bigger his Butt gets stronger. A detective who is also dealing with his own addiction comes along and begins to put the pieces together. It’s sort of our weird messed up version of a comic book movie. A Fincher- esque cat and mouse game, with a little Pinch of Butt.
You play the title role of the Chip, who takes ‘anal retentiveness’ to a whole new level. Was that a tough decision to make, given the challenges you faced?
I acted in the original comedy sketch so I think it was organic for us to write it around that. I don’t love acting nearly as much as directing. However, I really enjoy making people laugh and the choice came very organically. To be honest I barely remember acting in the film. I was thinking so much about the edit in my head and getting everything right logistically. I think it actually worked well though because he’s sort of this guy stuck in his own head. I don’t think I will ever write a large role for myself ever again, but I’m really glad I got to do it in this movie.
The tone of the film is very interesting. The central premise feels like a playful joke but everyone plays it dead straight. How did you achieve that fine balance between satire and gritty realism?
As I said before, the original sketch really made tone easy to build upon. But we wanted to make something new that you haven’t seen. Something you will walk away from and kind of be like what the hell did I just experience? But also have pulpy movie tropes and homages you have seen before. As far as the balance goes with the comedy, we cut many scenes out because they felt too funny. It took you out of the story. I always say it’s like the opposite of “Airplane”. In Airplane the characters are in a very serious situation of a plane going down but the movie is filled with jokes. In Butt Boy, the situation is the joke, but it’s played very seriously. It’s like listening to a good Norm Macdonald joke, and I truly think we deliver with the punch line in the end.
Tyler Rice is magnificent as the investigating police officer. How did you cast him?
He is one of my favorite actors in Los Angeles. Since the moment I met him I have been trying to write things for him. We met years ago when I was casting for a short film. He’s a pretty serious actor that I love to see in comedy stuff. It cracks me up how into it he gets if that makes sense? I love seeing him on screen. He’s got one of those faces that belongs in movies. He’s a super hard worker and puts 110 percent into everything he does, and what director wouldn’t want that from an actor?
Addiction is at the heart of the story. Were there any real-like experiences that you drew upon?
Not to sound like a pretentious nightmare, but I think we all have addictions. Luckily, I personally haven’t had any that are toxic enough to ruin my life. But I have had and continue to have people in my life that struggle with substance and stuff. You take things from personal experience and from others around you I think.
Where did you shoot the ‘Colon Cave’ and why did you decide to go down a fantastical route?
We shot that over near Beachwood Canyon at the Bronson Bat Caves. I spent years hiking and brain storming up there. It was the cave from the old Batman series with Adam West. Shooting there was the most grueling but by far my favorite part of the shoot. It was 115 degrees in the dead of summer. We would shoot until five am. All the sweat you see is real. It was super intense and exhausting but I think it was the best time of my life. It felt so magical to me. We knew from the beginning we had to take it there in the story. It’s a slow build into this huge thing. I always love third acts that take it there…
Butt Boy
Were you ever tempted, or put under pressure to change the title?
Many people definitely told us too, but it was always the kind of people that love to hear the sound of their own voice. They give opinions based on zero experience or fear of something being different or out they’re comfort zone. It’s been nothing but good for us so far and has created nothing but attention and discussion for the film. We love it.
What do you hope audiences will take away from the film – apart from inspiration for some new Butt jokes!
We hope that people walk away feeling that they saw something that they have never seen before. We never set out to make something predictable. We wanted to hit new territory and we hope viewers can see that. We want people to think it’s ridiculous because it is. We want you to laugh, and enjoy our little weird ride.
Finally, what’s next for you?
I am currently finishing up two more screenplays and we are about to shoot a TV pilot based on our comedy channel ‘Tiny Cinema’ on Instagram. It’s sort of little extensions of what we did with the movie but with different jokes.
BUTT BOY is showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Saturday 7 March, 6.30pm, as part of Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2020
Bollywood Hollywood Production announced today that they will give Sagar Ballary’s Jungle Cry a theatrical release in the US and Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa in April. The film will also screen for buyers in this year’s Berlinale at the end of February. Headed by Veteran Mumbai and Hollywood producer Prashant Shah (My Name is Khan, The Bruce Lee Project), Bollywood Hollywood Production is kicking off its theatrical distribution ambitions with the eagerly anticipated UK/India co-production rugby biopic.
Directed by Sagar Ballary (Bheja Fry), the triumphant story features Abhay Deol (Hero, Line of Decent), Emily Shah (Fortune Defies Death), Atul Kumar (Manto), Stewart Wright (Doc Martin, Doctor Who) and Julian Lewis Jones(Invictus, Justice League). The film also features cameos by some of the top names in the sport, including world famous rugby referee Nigel Owens, Wales and British Lions fly half Phil Bennett and Collin Charvis, former captain of the Wales National Rugby Union Team. Emily Shah is also Executive Producer on the film.
Showcasing the culture and heritage of Wales, the World Premiere of Jungle Cry is on 10th March at the Ffwrnes Theatre Llanelli in Carmarthenshire and is hosted by The Government of Wales with the support of First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford.
Jungle Cry follows the incredible journey of 12 underprivileged children who came from the most extreme tribal areas, playing sports bare foot and went on to win to the prestigious U14 Rugby World Cup in England.
The ‘Jungle Crows’ rugby team came from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Orissa, India which has over 30,000 children from tribal, underprivileged and orphaned backgrounds and strives to eradicate poverty through education and sports. The inspirational team, along with coaches Rudraksha Jena and Paul Walsh MBE, went on to make Indian and British history.
Aligned with the film’s vision of harnessing and cultivating athletic talent, long time rugby supporter Societe General and global sportswear brand ADIDAS join as brand partners.
Prashant Shah commented; “Jungle Cry is truly an inspiring film that promotes education, sports and helps eradicate poverty and create patriotism for every nation and we are very excited to release it to a global audience of cinemagoers in April.
