Variety reports Daniel Zovatto, Mark Margolis, Bonnie Dennison, Chris Conroy, Griffin Newman and Mackenzie Rosman are all set to star in Larry Fessenden's next directing vehicle, the creature feature Beneath. The last time this multi-hyphenate (he acts, produces and writes) was behind the camera for a feature was The Last Winter six years ago. With Beneath, he'll tell the story of six kids stuck in a rowboat who are attacked by a man-eating fish.
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- 8/7/2012
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Paramount Pictures has purchased film rights to "Swim the Fly," a young-adult novel by Don Calame.
The book, the first in a proposed trilogy, is a teen comedy in the "American Pie" mold about three high school friends who make a pact to see a girl naked by summer's end. Candlewick published the novel three weeks ago.
Calame, repped by the Bohrman Agency, will adapt the screenplay.
Calame co-wrote, with Chris Conroy, screenplays for the 2006 Lionsgate comedy "Employee of the Month" and Disney Channel's 2001 telefilm "Hounded."...
The book, the first in a proposed trilogy, is a teen comedy in the "American Pie" mold about three high school friends who make a pact to see a girl naked by summer's end. Candlewick published the novel three weeks ago.
Calame, repped by the Bohrman Agency, will adapt the screenplay.
Calame co-wrote, with Chris Conroy, screenplays for the 2006 Lionsgate comedy "Employee of the Month" and Disney Channel's 2001 telefilm "Hounded."...
- 5/7/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
An attempt to carve out Office Space in a warehouse store setting, Greg Coolidge's Employee of the Month falls short of that inspired Mike Judge mark but manages to retain a certain goofy appeal thanks to the stand-up efforts of its comically adept cast members.
It would certainly seem to be a ripe, untapped environment for laugh-getting, but the picture -- following the ruthless rivalry between a cocky cashier and a laid-back boxboy for those title honors -- takes a little while to find its groove. Once it does, the wry, character-driven humor picks up enough momentum to carry it through to the checkout desk.
Given that comedies tend to be in short supply this time of the season as studios start unloading all the awards bait, the Lionsgate release could ring up some respectable receipts over the Columbus Day weekend.
Groundlings grad Dax Shepard is on the money as Vince Downey, the insufferably smug SuperClub head cashier. It would seem as if his 18th consecutive employee of the month award -- which comes with a "newish" car -- was a done deal, but perennial slacker Zack Bradley (affable stand-up comic Dane Cook) is determined to stop him in his slickly choreographed tracks.
Their rivalry heats up with the arrival of Amy (a self-conscious Jessica Simpson), the sweet new cashier who has a bit of a reputation for sleeping with employees of the month.
But even as Zack looks as if he just might have what it takes to see his picture hanging on the staff lounge wall of fame, he is forced to consider what effect his take-no-prisoners behavior is starting to have on those who used to watch his back.
While first-time feature director Coolidge -- who receives screenplay credit along with writers Dan Calame & Chris Conroy -- tries too hard for irreverence, there's a fast and loose, lightly ad-libbed dynamic between nice guy Cook and fastidious, preening Shepard that generates genuine laughs.
Even better is the loopy rapport between Shepard and his dim but devoted lackey, Jorge (Napoleon Dynamite's Efren Ramirez), while Tim Bagley wears the short sleeves convincingly as the club store's gung-ho manager Glen Gary, who has an older brother called Glen Ross (Danny Woodburn).
The production was shot extensively in a barely disguised Costco in Albuquerque, N.M., with all that washed-out, bright lighting to prove it. Even though the Costco name has been thoughtfully covered up on all the shopping carts, somehow product placement allowed for the Kirkland house brand to be prominently displayed throughout the store.
Production values are cost-effective, though somehow one suspects all that low-cut, form-fitting wardrobe donned by Ms. Simpson wouldn't pass any store clothing policy approval -- unless, say, Hooters were to get into the warehouse game.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Lionsgate Tapestry Films
Credits:
Director: Greg Coolidge
Screenwriters: Dan Calame & Chris Conroy and Greg Coolidge
Story: Dan Calame & Chris Conroy
Producers: Andrew Panay, Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, Joe Simpson, Barry Katz, Brian Volk-Weiss
Executive producers: Mike Paseornek
John Sacchi, Michael Burns
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer: Jon Gary Steele
Editors: Kimberly Ray, Tom Lewis
Costume designer: Denise Wingate
Music: John Swihart
Cast:
Zack: Dane Cook
Amy: Jessica Simpson
Vince: Dax Shepard
Jorge: Efren Ramirez
Glen Gary: Tim Bagley
Lon: Andy Dick
Iqbal: Brian George
Russell: Harland Williams
Running time -- 103 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
It would certainly seem to be a ripe, untapped environment for laugh-getting, but the picture -- following the ruthless rivalry between a cocky cashier and a laid-back boxboy for those title honors -- takes a little while to find its groove. Once it does, the wry, character-driven humor picks up enough momentum to carry it through to the checkout desk.
Given that comedies tend to be in short supply this time of the season as studios start unloading all the awards bait, the Lionsgate release could ring up some respectable receipts over the Columbus Day weekend.
Groundlings grad Dax Shepard is on the money as Vince Downey, the insufferably smug SuperClub head cashier. It would seem as if his 18th consecutive employee of the month award -- which comes with a "newish" car -- was a done deal, but perennial slacker Zack Bradley (affable stand-up comic Dane Cook) is determined to stop him in his slickly choreographed tracks.
Their rivalry heats up with the arrival of Amy (a self-conscious Jessica Simpson), the sweet new cashier who has a bit of a reputation for sleeping with employees of the month.
But even as Zack looks as if he just might have what it takes to see his picture hanging on the staff lounge wall of fame, he is forced to consider what effect his take-no-prisoners behavior is starting to have on those who used to watch his back.
While first-time feature director Coolidge -- who receives screenplay credit along with writers Dan Calame & Chris Conroy -- tries too hard for irreverence, there's a fast and loose, lightly ad-libbed dynamic between nice guy Cook and fastidious, preening Shepard that generates genuine laughs.
Even better is the loopy rapport between Shepard and his dim but devoted lackey, Jorge (Napoleon Dynamite's Efren Ramirez), while Tim Bagley wears the short sleeves convincingly as the club store's gung-ho manager Glen Gary, who has an older brother called Glen Ross (Danny Woodburn).
The production was shot extensively in a barely disguised Costco in Albuquerque, N.M., with all that washed-out, bright lighting to prove it. Even though the Costco name has been thoughtfully covered up on all the shopping carts, somehow product placement allowed for the Kirkland house brand to be prominently displayed throughout the store.
Production values are cost-effective, though somehow one suspects all that low-cut, form-fitting wardrobe donned by Ms. Simpson wouldn't pass any store clothing policy approval -- unless, say, Hooters were to get into the warehouse game.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Lionsgate Tapestry Films
Credits:
Director: Greg Coolidge
Screenwriters: Dan Calame & Chris Conroy and Greg Coolidge
Story: Dan Calame & Chris Conroy
Producers: Andrew Panay, Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, Joe Simpson, Barry Katz, Brian Volk-Weiss
Executive producers: Mike Paseornek
John Sacchi, Michael Burns
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer: Jon Gary Steele
Editors: Kimberly Ray, Tom Lewis
Costume designer: Denise Wingate
Music: John Swihart
Cast:
Zack: Dane Cook
Amy: Jessica Simpson
Vince: Dax Shepard
Jorge: Efren Ramirez
Glen Gary: Tim Bagley
Lon: Andy Dick
Iqbal: Brian George
Russell: Harland Williams
Running time -- 103 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 9/29/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dax Shepard, Efren Ramirez and Harland Williams have joined the cast of the Dane Cook-Jessica Simpson starrer Employee of the Month for Lionsgate Films. Greg Coolidge will make his feature directorial debut on the film, which centers on best friends (Cook and Shepard) who work in a Costco-like store and meet a hot new cashier (Simpson) who prefers ambitious men. The men begin an all-out war to become the store's next employee of the month in order to impress her. Ramirez and Williams will play store employees. Chris Conroy and Don Calame wrote the screenplay, while Coolidge penned a rewrite.
- 2/10/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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