The second location we toured was the Gaol (pronounced “jail”) in downtown Melbourne. It’s something straight out of Gotham City! These two truly remarkable locations not only look great, but are accessible to the public, so if you’re ever down under, you have to check them out!
We just returned from Australia where we were able to tour two AMAZING locations for a film we’re working on! The first location we toured was Montsalvat outside of Melbourne. It’s a fantastic mix of Tim Burton and Harry Potter! Check out some fo the pics below!
We’ve been beyond busy. Along with a full slate of commercials this Fall we’ve also been busy wrapping up lots and lots of film meetings. Tons of film meetings. Meetings, meetings, meetings. Phone Calls and emails. Lots of emails. But the coolest thing about pre-production on a film is the location scouting. That moment when you find the perfect place and it brings your entire vision together. The moment you can envision your cast there. This happened at Blue Cloud Movie Ranch, Disney’s Backlot, and Big Sky Ranch - which you can see below!
Next stop, New Zealand and then onto Australia!
With Halloween just around the corner, what better time to head to the Drive In and check out some great horror films including our acclaimed short film, Jack the Ripper! The Red Dirt Film Festival (voted one of the Top 100 Film Festivals) is hosting a great selection of films this weekend AND if you happen to be in Oklahoma, check it out!
Here’s the OFFICIAL LINK for tickets below!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/red-dirt-film-scream-2018-tickets-50893033433?aff=eprofsaved
And if you can’t make it to the festival, you can check out the short film right here:
Jack the Ripper is currently airing on El Rey Network along with in-depth interviews and behind the scenes.
We’re really excited to announce that Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey Network is extending their option on The Umbrella Factory another year! We’re really proud of this film and love working with the great folks over at El Rey!
This also means everyone gets to watch our short film and the exclusive behind the scenes on television for another year!
The Umbrella Factory is the award winning short film directed by Nick + Lexie that first screened at film festivals around the world. It made it’s first television debut in 2017.
Since we have a jungle project, we’ve been going to rainforests all around the world. From Costa Rica to the indoor jungles of St. Louis at the Climatron, to the gardens of Pasadena, and out to the island of Kauai. Here we climbed the edges of cliffs, beautiful rivers and beaches, and hopped in a helicopter!
We’re pleased to announce that Sony Pictures is releasing The West and the Ruthless in Australia and New Zealand on July, 4th 2018!
The West and the Ruthless is the award winning feature film debut by Nick + Lexie Trivundza and has been praised for it’s performances and cinematography. The film was produced in association with Old Tucson Studios (Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, Rio Bravo, 3:10 to Yuma, and the Magnificent 7). The film stars Danny Brown, Dan Fowlks, Rebecca Gomberg, Paul Haapaneimi, Alexander Harris, Benedict Mazurek, Will Roberts, Zoe Sloane, with Matt Boone and Katelyn Ann Clark.
The film was previously released in North America on November 7, 2017 and in Europe on April 27, 2018.
The West and the Ruthless European Release is today! In honor of the release, we wanted to show off one last Behind The Scenes Video! This was shot on Day 4 of the Production and the first day Paul Haapanemi was on set! It doesn’t look like it was 115 Degrees, but it is!!
STILLS
For more on The West and the Ruthless, make sure to check out the Official Site!
One of the most exciting and adventurous location scouts so far has been to the wonders of Iceland. We wanted to see the ice in Iceland so we went in winter. One of the best parts was our plane flying through the northern lights. One of the worst parts was it was so cold Nick’s contacts started freezing inside his eyeballs.
Join us on Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network this Sunday Night (8p ET) as we show off our original short film, Little Red Riding Hood! This is our THIRD episode (holy smokes!) as we discuss filmmaking and show off some behind the scenes of making the short!
The film stars Christie Eichinger, Cassidy Findarle, and the voice of TV3's Gordon Hayden.
The Episode Airs March 25th and we’ll once again be joined by some other amazing filmmakers and host Jorge R. Gutiérrez, director of The Book of Life and the upcoming Lego Movie sequel!
The West and the Ruthless is now available just about everywhere! It’s available to rent, stream, and download on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Vudu, it’s available to purchase online at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Target, or you can pick up a copy in stores at retailers such as Walmart, it’s even now available on Tivo, Cable and Dish via On Demand!
BUT WAIT, there’s more! The European Release has now been slated for April 26! The European Distribution is being handled by Many More Films after being acquired by Tall Tree Entertainment last year. The European Release will be available at iTunes, SF Anytime, Blockbuster, Plejmo, Elisa (Finland), and Altibox.
The West and the Ruthless, is an award winning feature film and directorial debut by Nick + Lexie (Nick Trivundza and Lexie Trivundza). The film is a Revisionist Western and was produced in association with Old Tucson Studios (Rio Bravo, Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, 3:10 To Yuma, and The Magnificent 7) and stars (in alphabetical order) Danny Brown, Dan Fowlks, Rebecca Gomberg, Paul Haapeniemi, Alexander Harris, Benedict Mazurek, Will Roberts, Zoe Sloane with Matt Boone and Katelyn Ann Clark.
A brand new score for our short film Jack the Ripper has been composed by Gareth Murphy with a full orchestra. Gareth contacted us last year about loving the short film and wanting to try his hand at a score. What he delivers is a brand new take on the film that is wonderfully haunting and creepy and reminiscent of some of our favorite films of all time.
Gareth, seen in the photo with his back to the camera dressed in black, worked with Gavin Greenaway as the conductor who has conducted huge blockbuster films (just last year he did Dunkirk, Kingsman, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Guardians of the Galaxy)!
Jack the Ripper had an amazing run on the festival circuit and can now be seen on Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey Network.
We're really excited to be judges this year at the Red Dirt International Film Festival! As alumni of the festival with five films there (Little Red Riding Hood, The Umbrella Factory, Jack the Ripper, Haunting of the White Sparrow, and Around the World in 80 Days) we’re over the moon to be a part of the process this year and watch some amazing films from some amazing filmmakers!
For more information on the Festival, which starts March 22, check out the official site right here:
Only a few hundred feet away from the humid jungles of The Climatron is a Victorian Mansion, Mausoleum, Brick Townhouses from the 1800s, and a Maze. This was the home of Henry Shaw, the namesake of Shaw’s Garden. Out of all of the mansions we’ve been scouting lately, this is one of our favorites.
One of the coolest places in the world we’ve visited for a location scout is definitely Shaw’s Garden (The Missouri Botanical Gardens) in St. Louis. Located in the middle of the gardens is the Climatron which houses a beautiful jungle. When we visited it was about 15 degrees outside, but inside it was a humid, 90 degrees, lush and tropical.
Our location scouting adventures have taken us to mansions throughout the United States, from the Biltmore in North Carolina, to the Tower Grove House in St. Louis, to the Governor’s Mansion and Fioli in Northern California, but one of our favorites is the Greystone Manor, tucked away in Beverly Hills.
One of our favorite parts of the mansion (seen below) is the old greenhouse. It’s amazing.
As we continue our location scouting adventures (with previous adventures taking place at Yosemite, Mescal, and the abandoned remains of something from the apocalypse) we have a few more wonderful photos, this time from Fort Tejon located in the Grapevine of Southern California.
We location scout. A lot. It’s where story and creative usually starts for us and in the past has taken us to Iceland, Kauai, Costa Rica, and other wonderfully exotic places. When we were preparing to shoot The West and the Ruthless, our debut feature, we found so many cool places and eventually led us to Arizona where we filmed in the desert of Tucson.
As we prepare for our next project, we’re once again exploring locations and revisiting some of our favorite locations. One we often return to is Yosemite.
With the Award Winning Short Film, The Umbrella Factory playing on Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey Network, we wanted to show off a little behind the scenes that we’ve been working on for the Feature Film Development. The Umbrella Factory Feature has a wonderful new look that creates an even bigger world - somewhere between Tim Burton and Harry Potter.
Brian Miller, artist extraordinaire, crafted each of the amazing illustrations for the concept art below, from The Windmill on Windy Hill to the incredible details of The Peculiar Zoo!
The Windmill on Windy Hill
Graveyard Manor
The Curiosity Shoppe
The Peculiar Zoo
The Grand Lobby
An Automatted Carriage
The Umbrella Factory