PRODUCTION UPDATE



 

Kyra Sedgwick hits the screen as a tough-talking but pure-hearted hit woman in Jennifer Leitzes' Montana, a darkly comic drama about honor among thieves. Sedgwick's Claire is the lynchpin of a dysfunctional crime organization, and when an internal power struggle breaks out, she finds herself in a deadly cat-and-mouse game.

Leitzes, 25, graduated Wesleyan University's film program and developed Montana's story with classmate Jon Hoeber and his brother Erich. The brothers had just finished the script when Leitzes met Sean Cooley, an NYU film grad then doing development work for director Robert Ellis Miller (Reuben, Reuben), and he signed on as producer. The foursome incorporated as No Bones Productions with the intention of making Montana guerrilla-style for $300,000 but soon found themselves set up at Republic with a cool $3 million budget and Zeta Entertainment execs Zane W. Levitt and Mark Yellen (The Big Squeeze) assigned as producers. Corporate changes at Republic left the ball (and all rights) back in No Bones' court and their next play found Initial Entertainment Group (IEG) providing full financing in exchange for world rights.

Montana's six-week union shoot rolled April 14 in Manhattan with Ken Kelsch as cinematographer. The filmmakers plan a four-month post schedule in L.A. and expect to unveil a finished film around November. Rights are available through IEG.

Cast: Kyra Sedgwick, Stanley Tucci, Robbie Coltrane, Robin Tunney, Ethan Embry, John Ritter, Mark Boone Jr. Crew: Producers, Sean Cooley, Zane W. Levitt, Mark Yellen; Executive Producer, Cindy Cowan; Director, Jennifer Leitzes; Screen-writers, Erich and Jon Hoeber; Director of Photo-graphy, Ken Kelsch; Line Producer, A. John Rath; Production Designer, Daniel Ross; Costumes, Michael Clancy. Contact: Sean Cooley, No Bones Productions, Tel: (213) 653-4077, Fax: (213) 653-0737.




 
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