MANHATTAN FILM FESTIVAL - NY SPOTLIGHT AWARD WINNER, 'KACHREWALA: Five Cents Each', at JERSEY SHORE FILM FESTIVAL

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After premiering at the prestigious MANHATTAN FILM FESTIVAL 2018 and bagging the NY SPOTLIGHT AWARD at the festival, Art Shrian Tiwari's short film 'KACHREWALA: Five Cents Each' will be playing at the JERSEY SHORE FILM FESTIVAL on Aug 6th and Aug 9th. More details at the link below

https://www.jerseyshorefilmfestival.com/films/kachhrewala-five-cents-each/

"KACHREWALA: Five Cents Each", Written, starring and produced by Indian immigrant Art Shrian Tiwari, takes a moment to step back and look at a “secretive” world that's taking place in plain sight, in the city, and being able to capture and present this as his first short film actually ushered in a sweeping change in the writers/actors' life. It stars Tiwari, Nitin Mandan, Ilissa Jackson, Dequan Deveraux, and Mary Lu Garmone. The film is directed by New York based first time director Daniel Guillaro.

OFFICIAL TRAILER:

Follow us on Twitter/FB @KachrewalaFilm https://www.facebook.com/KachrewalaFilm/ Starring: Art Shrian Tiwari, Nitin Mandan, Ilissa Jackson, Dequan Deveraux, Mary Lu Garmone Directed by: Daniel Guillaro Written & Produced by: Art Shrian Tiwari Co-Producer: Lapacazo Sandoval, Tani Fukui Director Of Photography: Frank Traggianese Sound: Carlo Albuin Editor: Michael Cruz Music: Knxwledge - MakeMoney An Art Approved Production.

Mini doc - inspiration & true stories behind the film

What inspired writer-actor-producer Art Shrian Tiwari and teh director Daniel Guillaro to make the film 'KACHREWALA - Five Cents Each'.

Daniel Guillaro - Director statement

Follow @KachrewalaFilm on Twitter & FB http://www.facebook.com/KachrewalaFilm Dan Guillero, director of "KACHREWALA: Five Cents Each" talks about the film, making and his experience etc.

Art Shrian Tiwari - Actor/Writer/Producer statement

Follow @KachrewalaFilm on Twitter & FB http://www.facebook.com/KachrewalaFilm Art Shrian Tiwari, actor-writer-producer "KACHREWALA: Five Cents Each" talks about the film, bottle picking community in NYC, and his experience etc.

About JERSEY SHORE FILM FESTIVAL:

Founded by entrepreneur and veteran filmmaker Stevie Doueck in 2006, the Jersey Shore Film Festival (JSFF) has grown from a sheer concept to a truly anticipated and promising event.  The Festival attracts thousands of audience members from all over the tri-state area and promises to be an incredible experience for both the filmmakers and audience members.

The JSFF has positioned itself as a ‘filmmakers’ festival.  The goal is to provide a common ground for the filmmakers from around the world to have the opportunity to meet each other, share their work, and interact with audience members. Filmmakers present their work, and speak about their process to fellow filmmakers, as well as to the avid audience member. They are afforded the opportunity to express their frustrations, as well as their successes with their fellow colleagues. It is a moment to interact, and dedicate what will become a commitment to the craft of being a filmmaker. As well as being a forum for the filmmakers, the JSFF also provides unparalleled and unprecedented entertainment to the Jersey Shore. Because the filmmakers are so dedicated to their films, it creates a truly unforgettable experience for the audience members to be a part of. The festival includes upscale food and decor, dancing, and mingling with prominent actors and filmmakers. All of this with the backdrop of the magnificent Jersey Shore.

The 11th Annual Jersey Shore Film Festival plans to be in 3 different neighboring towns along the seashore including Asbury Park, Deal Park and Allenhurst.

 

Dominic Santana, a STAR in making, on his BIG BREAK as Suge Knight in "All Eyez On Me"

Dominic Santana is one of those actors that have the talent, the brains and the heart to be great. A hard working actor, who started his journey doing background work 10 years ago, and then moved on to TV roles and independent films. He gets his first real BIG BREAK in "All Eyez On Me", playing the real life character of Suge Knight, Tupac's parter, producer and friend, who was the co-founder & CEO of Death Row records. And he brings it ON. He's charming, he's fierce, he's loyal, he's a gangster, he's a businessman, he's lil crazy, and he's cool. I'm talking about Dominic's Suge Knight, in the movie. Dominic gives a strong and wonderful performance in the movie, that calls for his own spin off for a Suge Knight/Death Row Records Movie.

We had an opportunity to talk to Dominic recently, before release of "All Eyez ON Me" (Releasing June 16th, 2017). And here it is...

Art SHrian, from MyNewYorkEye interviews Actor Dominic Santana (playing Suge Knight) from Tupac Biopic "All Eyez On Me "

Casting for "ALL EYEZ ON ME" & working with director Benny Boom

In conversation with Dominic Santana, co-starring in "All Eyez On Me" as Suge Knight, co-founder & CEO of Death Row Records. #AllEyezOnMe #Tupac #TupacBiopic #TupacMovie

Tupac & Suge were true partners, they were like family

In conversation with Dominic Santana, co-starring in "All Eyez On Me" as Suge Knight, co-founder & CEO of Death Row Records. #AllEyezOnMe #Tupac #TupacBiopic #TupacMovie

Suge Kinght couldn't have been behind Tupac's murder

In conversation with Dominic Santana, co-starring in "All Eyez On Me" as Suge Knight, co-founder & CEO of Death Row Records. #AllEyezOnMe #Tupac #TupacBiopic #TupacMovie

About Dominic Santana:  Dominic Santana was born in Fayetteville, NC to an Army Officer Father and popular singer/writer Mother, Tracey Santana.  Upon moving to Wilmington, NC he began to seek out information on the local film scene and met Sam-Art Williams (Producer, "Martin"). Dominic began working as an extra on films such as "Black Knight" starring Martin Lawrence and hit shows like the WB's "Dawson's Creek" where he landed his first speaking role on a major television show.

A last minute script change called for a tall actor on the spot.  After, a Fincannon & Associates casting staffer suggested Dominic; he auditioned right on set and was given the role. Dominic was called by longtime friend Micah Noble to audition at Screen Gems Studio for then newly started Swirl Films and within twenty minutes he was cast in their first production "20 Funerals”.  Although, it was a small role Santana delivered such a strong performance he was cast as the lead in "Dead Heist" in 2006.  Then again, opposite Tom Sizemore and Ja Rule in "Furnace" in 2007.

After, booking a role on several episodes of the CW hit series "One Tree Hill" he was again brought in to co-star in what would be a cult hit and most played movie ever on BET, "Love For Sale" which premiered to over ten million viewers and quickly became a fan favorite! 

Santana has also appeared in shows and films such as "Whitaker Bay", "Palmetto Pointe", "Little Britain USA", BET's "The Game", Bolden!, "The Dempsey Sisters" and more.

Currently, Dominic is co-starring in the Tupac biopic "All Eyez On Me" as Suge Knight.  The Morgan Creek film will be released nationwide through Lionsgate June 16th.  Worldwide release to be announced.

The life and death of Tupac Shakur. ★Subscribe Here and NOW ► http://bit.ly/Movietrailers ★ Join us on Google+ ►http://plus.google.com/+FilmsActuTrailers ALL EYEZ ON ME Trailer # 2 (Tupac Movie - 2016) Directed by Benny Boom Cast : Demetrius Shipp Jr., Danai Gurira, Kat Graham Release Date : 11 November 2016 ALL EYEZ ON ME New Trailer (2Pac Film) © 2016 - Open Road Films Subscribe now 2 our youtube channel get the latest official movie trailer, film clip, scene and promo video !

Synopsis: "ALL EYEZ ON ME tells the true and untold story of prolific rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur. The film follows Shakur from his early days in New York City to his evolution into being one of the world’s most recognized and influential voices before his untimely death at the age of 25. Against all odds, Shakur’s raw talent, powerful lyrics and revolutionary mind-set propelled him into becoming a cultural icon whose legacy continues to grow long after his passing.

Tupac’s legacy, the Hip Hop Culture, & how it shaped the society today - "All Eyez On Me" panel discussion in Harlem NYC

Somewhere on the spiritual plane prolific rapper, actor, poet and activist Tupac Shakur was looking down and smiling at the assembled guests at Harlem’s Maysles Documentary Center last week.

The drinks flowed and the assorted guests of media influencers — African American, Latino and South Asian representing Indian brown — chowed down on delicious fried chicken and macaroni and cheese (as good as your Grandmother’s grandmother made). The tone was set.  We were amongst our tribe and feeling nostalgic marking the years using Tupac’s music as the measuring stick.

Tupac was born on June 16, 1971. He died on September 13, 1996. He was 25 years old.  

The panel discussion was moderated, Harlem style, by Hip Hop cultural experts Tuma and AJ from Spotify the topic of discussion was on Tupac’s legacy, the Hip Hop Culture, and how it shaped society today.   

On June 16th the bio pic about his life and legacy opens wide in the U.S..  Directed by Benny Boom and produced by the visionary LT Hutton, the film introduces Demetrius Shipp, Jr. in the role of Tupac and Dominic Santana as Suge Knight. The cast also includes Kat Graham, Lauren Cohan, Hill Harper, Jamal Woolard, and Danai Gurira.

L.T. Hutton, who worked with Tupac when he was living, made it crystal clear that as the producer of “All Eyez On Me” the film was going to do much more than just entertain—it’s true mission is to educate and illuminate the story of a man and his legacy.  

In that determination Shakur is telling his own story and Hutton drew on his personal relationship with the rapper as the foundation for a massive database he calls “The Tupac Bible.” “I created this system where you could ask any question about Tupac and you could find the answers directly from what Tupac said in multiple interviews,” Hutton explains. “Why was Tupac mad at Notorious B.I.G.? How did Tupac feel about his natural father? Anything you wanted to know, we were going to stick with what Tupac said and put his own words into the movie. That’s why it took such a long time to make. I needed people to understand the vision.”

It’s no secret that finding the right director required an extensive search and one that producer LT Hutton took very seriously.  A few weeks before filming was scheduled to start, in Atlanta, Hutton reached out to Benny Boom, a two-time winner of B.E.T.’s Video Director of the Year Award who had helmed videos for hip-hop superstars including Nicki Minaj, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Keyshia Cole, Akon and 50 Cent. 

Boom remembers getting the call on the Wednesday before the holiday.  “L.T. said, ‘Man, I’m at my wits’ end.’ At the end of the call he asked me if I wanted to direct the movie. I had not read the full draft of the script, so he sent it over. I printed it out, read it and told him, ‘I’m in.’ By Sunday I was in Atlanta.”

Here is a brief excerpt of the nights’ evening which begun and ended with the feeling—truly—that we were all a part of a cinematic history making moment.

On Casting:

In Hutton’s Los Angeles office in 2011. The producer recalls, “My assistant came into my office and said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this but, Tupac is in the lobby.’ I said, ‘I don’t have time for your games today.’ She goes ‘I’m telling you, Tupac is in the lobby.’ I decide to see what this girl is talking about, so I walk out and see Demetrius Shipp sitting in the lobby. I’m like, ‘Lo and behold, this is crazy. It is Tupac!’ He was so shy, just like Pac was shy sometimes. I saw the innocence in his eyes; I saw the charm and personality that made all the women love Tupac. And when Demetrius smiled, I thought, ‘This guy even has the same dental work. Demetrius and Tupac have the same teeth!”

Actor Dominic Santana who plays Death Row Records mogul Suge Knight went through the casting process. “It never dawned on me that I could play Suge Knight,” Santana says. “Suge did things in the ’90s as a label owner that weren’t being done by anyone else. He had an ear for talent. He brought us iconic music legends. You can’t amass that kind of an empire and make that kind of impact on the music business if you’re just some Neanderthal. I felt the mediaprobably left out things about Suge Knight just to paint a certain picture. I came into All Eyez on Me with the attitude, ‘I want to know the other side of Suge Knight.’”

“All Eyez On Me” opens Friday, June 16th

A Conversation with Liza Johnson – Elvis & Nixon

On a December morning in 1970, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll showed up on the lawn of the White House to request a meeting with the most powerful man in the world, President Richard Nixon. Starring Academy Award-nominee Michael Shannon as Presley and two-time Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey as Nixon, Elvis & Nixon tells the untold story behind this revealing yet humorous moment in the Oval Office forever immortalized in the most requested photograph in the National Archives.

Art Shrian talked to the wonderful and talented director of the film, Liza Johnson. Here are the excerpts:

Art Shrian – Congratulations on your wonderful film. It’s hilarious, and also very entertaining and compelling.  You have such a brilliant cast, but these are not exactly obvious choice. So how did you come up with this cast?

Liza Johnson – When I read the script, I immediately decided that this would be with Michael Shannon. Honestly when someone told me about it, I didn’t know how this will work. Just because, I have worked with Mike before, I know he can do anything. But it wasn’t obvious thing to me. But when I read the script, then I was like, hell yeah, that’s a good idea. Because the story had this kind of curious and exciting, and even coocky tonal variation, where it has this real depth of character for Elvis, while he’s on his journey. And at the same time, it has this real absurdist quality, because of the comedy of the situation, or because of the juxtaposition that happens when he’s with Nixon. And I thought, that’s exactly Michael Shannon, because he is the person that is the most comfortable with that entire range. And then, I think, because he’s well known to be a mad talent, that was very helpful in attracting Kevin to the project. Because I think, that when you’re at that level that those guys are at, it’s great to get an opportunity to sort of play against someone, who’s at the same level. Kevin has said to me himself that Mike being Elvis was one of the thing that attracted him to the project.

And once we had them, many other actors took same position. So we were able to get Alex to play Jerry Shilling, who was actually recommended by Jerry himself. Johnny is from Tennessee, knows about Elvis a lot. I think partly he was attracted to Elvis of it all. And he has worked with Mike before. And it was so great that we could get Colin Hanks and Even Peters to be the Nixon boys. And once we had that, this snowball kept coming. Some of Mike’s Chicago people, like Tracey Letts for his entire career. The first time Mike was ever on stage, Tracey Letts played his dad. That was one of the most moving part of our shoot, for me to see them together. To see what it means for to let your work grow together, over really your entire lifetime. So at certain point it kind of snowballed, where all these incredible people Kamal Angela Bolden, who plays the guy with medallion in grocery, Sky Ferrera, Ashley Benson, Annette O’reily. Once we had this snowball going, it kind of avalanched.

A – The cast may not look like characters, but they do an amazing job. As the director, what was your approach to that?

L – Yes, we decided that likeness was not very important thing. And it was quite different with Elvis, with any other figure, because he’s the most known face. 1955 Elvis is most famous Elvis ever. And even Elvis in 1970 doesn’t look like "The Elvis". So how do you do that as an actor, how do you make yourself look like Elvis. Because no one can! I don’t think even Elvis can play Elvis at certain point, because the iconic 1955 Elvis is so stamped at everyone’s brain.

A – And the film also make a wonderful joke of that.

L – That’s Joey, the writer, and his team. They do great job on this. The writers of the film are just wonderful. The entire team is just amazing.

A – This is a historical film. So you must have done your research on subject. What was the most exciting and most challenging aspect of the research?

L – There’s quite a lot that’s known. There’s the picture in National Archive, there’s the letter that Elvis wrote. One thing I like about the screenplay is, it’s almost like an adapted screenplay, adapted from that letter. There are other docs that exist, like the memo that they’re holding. There’s less than it would have been couple months later, when Nixon started taping every conversation. But frankly, it might be more boring. That’s where dramatic interpretation adds something. Historical documentation is compelling because its true, and dramatic interpretation is compelling because it can offer you some emotional truth that may or may not exist in the documents. We also had Jerry Shilling with us to consult, and we agreed that it was important to find emotional truth. If you read his book, there’s lot of details, intimate information both about him and Elvis, I highly recommend it, it’s a great book. The great thing I learnt, he remained great friend with Elvis by maintaining some measures of distance at crucial moments.

Elvis did really send the box of business cards to Jerry, but it was after a little while of this trip. But some of that time frame is little bit compressed. Because if you go by the clock, the story of the friendship isn’t the same. Since that friendship was real, and since it did go this way, is it more true or less true by fitting that into the story? I think it enhances it, and I was ready to stand by that.

The photo you know. The untold story you'll never believe. ELVIS & NIXON, starring Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon. In Theaters April 22. Official Site: http://www.BleeckerStreetMedia.com LIKE us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BleeckerStFilms FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BleeckerStFilms --

A – You're a New Yorker. What’s your most favorite thing about New York, and what you hate the most?

L – The most important thing about New York is the community of people that I live and work with. It’s really like a very nice world of artists and intellectuals. That’s’ what the core of the city is for me, the access of people of common interest, even when they are very eccentric. I will say, that whole money thing is bumming me out a little bit. There’s a new building right outside my window, blocking my view, and it’s going to be bought by some other people, like Russian business, or maybe a bank or financial institution, and that’s bumming me out. But as long as my community of people hold up, I’m game!

www.ElvisNixonMovie.com

Directed by Liza Johnson

Written by Joey Sagal & Hanala Sagal and Cary Elwes

87 Minutes / USA / 2016 / MPAA Rating: R