ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
“Adding The Honey-Bourbon Glaze To Your Otherwise Meaningless Existence”
Synopsis
25 WORD A young man is forced to confront an uninvited and ever-present narrator. 50 WORD A young man is forced to confront an uninvited and ever-present narrator. A touching comedy about brotherly devotion, cinematic viewpoints and the necessity of growing up because, at some point, boobs sound cool.
100 WORD 17 year old Sam Sipowitz is the world’s greatest (read: only), real-time narrator. He sees his role as that of a whimsical Shakespearean jester, adding a “honey-bourbon glaze to the otherwise meaningless existence” of those around him. Those around him rarely share this view, however, with the general consensus being that he’s a bit of a creepy weirdo and, increasingly, outright rude. When his older brother, Bill, returns to the family home, their unconventional relationship reaches breaking point, forcing both to confront a shared experience neither one may be ready to fully process. A touching comedy about brotherly devotion, cinematic outlooks and the necessity of growing up because, at some point, boobs sound cool.
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Director’s Statement
As such things tend to be, Narrated By was distilled from the mash of personal experience, pop culture zeitgeist and the general nonsense swilling around the inside of my head. When deciding to take the plunge into directing my first short, it was important for me to try for at least one giggle from those wonderful people who would (hopefully), be generously donating their time to watch our labor of love. Beyond that, I wanted to craft a love-letter to some of the films I love. The grand scale of the anamorphic format, the gorgeous tones of 50’s classic Film Noirs, the cool nonchalance and naturalism of the 70’s Neo-Noirs; the precise compositions cinema used to celebrate. All in a sub 15 minute parcel that didn’t reek of pretention or blindly copy old clichés, but rather utilized these great techniques to tell its own, unique story in its own, unique way. No small task for a first short... Fortunately, luck and preparation favored the naively optimistic virtually every step of the way. From the gorgeous vintage anamorphic glass supplied by Panavision, to the 30’ technocrane, to our incredible crew (including DoP Nic Knowland BSC, grader Dado Valentic, VFX maestro Steve Waugh and many more), and down to the perfect weather for our
exteriors, the footage we captured in our two day shoot was more than we had any right to expect. But it was with our incredible cast, including George MacKay (BAFTA Rising Star Nomination 2014, Pride, How I Live Now), Alex Lawther (BFI London Best Newcommer Nomination 2014, The Imitation Game, X Plus Y), and the silky smooth baritone of Cavin Corwall (Les Miserable, too many trailers to list), that everything came together. Fleshing out the characters together, and figuring our way around our slightly convoluted sound set-up, brought a life, humor and heart I couldn’t have hoped for to the final piece. The final result, shot entirely on the new Alexa XT 4:3 sensor, on hand-ground, vintage Panavision anamorphic lenses, featuring John T. Williams’ original score to Robert Altman’s 1973 classic The Long Goodbye and a unique combination of black and white and color within the same frame, fulfils what I set out to archive better than I ever thought possible. The entire project was a joy from start to finish, and if the final short brings those who see it 1/100th of the pleasure we had in making it, I think we will have succeeded.
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Cast George MacKay — Bill Sipowitz One of the brightest rising stars of UK cinema, George MacKay has amassed an impressive list of achievements. Following on from his 2013 Scottish BAFTA win for “Best Film Actor” for his role of Aaron in “For Those In Peril”, 2014 has seen George nominated as one of the EE BAFTA Rising Stars, “Younger British Performer of the Year” at the critic’s
Circle Awards, “Best Male newcomer” at the Jameson Empire Awards and heralded as one of the ten best European actors at the Berlinale Shooting Stars for projects including “How I Live Now”, “Pride” and “Sunshine on Lieth”. He can be seen next alongside Vigo Mortenson in the upcoming “Captain Fantastic”.
Alex Lawther — Sam Sipowitz Screen International ‘Star of Tomorrow’ and BAFTA Breakthrough Brit, Alex Lawther’ breakthrough role of ‘Blakemore’, in David Hare’s SOUTH DOWNS, opened to rave reviews in 2011 at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, earning Alex a nomination for ‘Best Newcomer’ at the What’sOnStage Awards. Best known for his role as the young Alan Turing in the Oscar-winning THE IMITATION GAME, he was nominated for ‘Best British Newcomer’ at The 58th BFI London Film Festival, and won the London Critics’ Circle Award for ‘Young British Performer of
the Year’. Other major film work includes James Graham’s X PLUS Y (A BRILLIANT YOUNG MIND); Andrew Steggall’s DEPARTURE (Best Actor award at Dublin Int. FF); Trudie Styler’s FREAKSHOW; and a starring role in the upcoming Film4 comedy OLD BOYS. TV work includes Channel4’s BLACK MIRROR and HBO’s pilot for VIRTUOSO. Major theatrical work includes Ali Taylor’s FAULT LINES at the Hampstead Theatre; Martin Hesford’s THE GLASS SUPPER at the Hampstead Theatre; CRUSHED SHELLS AND MUD at the Southwark Playhouse.
Steve Jamison — Dad Steve Jameson can be seen performing as his alter-ego “Sol Bernstein” at Comedy Clubs up
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and down the country check out www.solbernstein.com
Cast Cavin Cornwall — Voice of the Narrator Cavin was England’s Junior Karate Champion at the age of 17, before beginning his training at the Bird College, Kent. A few of his extensive theatre credits include Chiapas in The World Arena Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar; Curtis Shanks in Sister Act National Tour; David Keaton in The Exonerated at the Charring Cross Theatre; Voice of the plant in Little Shop Of Horrors at the Birmingham Rep.; Crown in Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Savoy Theatre; and Billy Flynn in Chicago, Adelphie Theatre. Film credits include Captain Sidon Ithano in Star Wars VII
The Force Awakens; and Convict No1 in Les Miserables with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe & Anne Hathaway. Cavin can be heard in many voice-overs for film trailers, television commercials, idents, radio, animation and PS games, from Channel 4’s cult animation The House Of Rock, Nescafe’s Hairy Old Cortina vocals, to James Bond - Casino Royale, Max Payne, Arthur And The Invisibles, Grand Theft Auto 5 and War Hammer. Twitter: @cavin_cornwall Facebook: Cavin Cornwall Instagram: cavincornwall
Martina Finch —Mum Martina Finch is a graduate of the Film School at the University of Southern California. Her film credits include a co-starring role with Tom Hanks in BACHELOR PARTY, appearing with Jeff Bridges in THE FABULOUS
BAKER BOYS and a lead role in CORKED. In TV series, she costarred with Tom Hanks in BOSOM BUDDIES, with Ray Sharkey in WISEGUY and did episodes of HILL STREET BLUES, L.A. LAW and SAVED BY THE BELL.
Tanya Morgan — Latina Tanya is an actress from East London with a degree in physical theatre that she has used to understand the body in both acting and in fitness. With a history of
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acting in music videos, TV commercials and independent films, Tanya can now be found personal training at some of London’s best gyms.
Crew Gur Benshemesh — Director, Writer, Producer Gur was born in Israel, grew up in London, before moving to Los Angeles, CA for 5 years at the age of 19 to complete his undergraduate at USC’s Marshall School of Business. He currently lives with his wife, young son and a very fat cat in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His first short film script submitted to competition, The Morgan St. Watch Co., won 26 official selections (including Cinevegas, Shriekfest, Oaxaca
and others), and 8 prizes. His first graphic novel Silence & Co., based on his original Action-Thriller screenplay, was released in 2013 to great critical and commercial reception. Narrated By is his first short as director, producer and writer. Gur’s first feature, the sci-fi/horror Breach, is currently in development at Bedlam Productions (King’s Speech).
Fiona Lamptey — Producer Fiona started her career in TV commissioning in 2004, working on award- winning programs, spanning genres including documentary, studio and live entertainment. For the last 7 years Fiona has worked for Channel4’s feature film division, Film4. Her credits include The Selfish Giant, Submarine, Attack the Block and Four Lions. In 2012 Fiona become an associate of the London Film
School where she produced ‘He Took His Skin Off For Me’, a film for which she would go on to the ‘Best Producer’ award at Underwire. Fiona has produced numerous shorts, screening in festivals all around the world. She continues to develop a variety of short and feature length projects and is currently studying script development at NFTS.
Nic Knowland BSC — DoP A governor of the British Socioty of Cinematographers, Nic Knowland’s decades behind the camera have spanned everything from John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s
infamous Bed Peace (1969), through to Barbarian Sound Studio (2011) and Duke of Burgundy (2013).
Robin Sales — Editor Long-time editor Robin Sales is best known for his work on notable films including Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvey, Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English, Miss Potter and
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many, many more. Upcoming projects include Mum’s List, based on the John Greene best-seller, and Hampstead.
Crew Dado Valentic — Grader
In 2012 Coffee & TV was founded by four industry stalwarts as a clear alternative to the outdated VFX model. Very quickly the company garnered a reputation as a world-class studio, listed in Televisuals ‘Top Ten Most Used Post Houses.’ The broadcast division in Bristol, headed up by
Dado Valentic is an award winning Mastercolourist and one of the leading developers in the area of colour science for digital film cameras. He is a founder of Mytherapy. His extensive credits include Colour Scientist for
Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, Netflix’s Marco Polo, and many more. Mytherapy is a pioneer in HDR and 4K picture post-production, offering services from data to delivery.
an Emmy Award winning Creative Director, delivers a diverse range of high-end creative content for major national and international broadcasters as well as for museums, exhibitions and feature films. The team in London create award winning content for leading advertising agencies and
eminent directors, working with the latest 4K Flame software, Smoke, After Effects, Maya, XSI, Cinema 4D and 8 GPU DaVinci Resolve grading system. BAFTA nominated Art Director Steve Waugh, was the lead VFX artist on Narrated By.
John Williams — Composer According to Wikipedia John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor and pianist. He is considered one of the greatest film composers of all time, an accolade the team at Narrated By would wholeheartedly endorse. In a career spanning over six decades, he has composed some of the most popular and recog-
nizable film scores in cinematic history, including Jaws, the Star Wars series, Superman, Indiana Jones, ET, the Jurassic Park films, and many, many, many more. With 49 Academy Award nominations, he is the second most nominated person after Walt Disney. Mr. Williams’ score for Robert Altman’s seminal 1973 The Long Goodbye forms the
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musical backbone to our short. We are nearly 100% sure that Mr. Williams neither knows that we exist, nor of his amazing contribution to Narrated By, but the entire team is still awed by his generosity of spirit and his general musical genius (and greatful to the understanding legal representatives, who worked with us to clear the rights).
Set photos
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Credits Directed By Produced By
Gur Benshemesh Fiona Lamptey Gur Benshemesh
Written By
Gur Benshemesh
Cast Bill Sipowitz Sam Sipowitz The Narrator Mum Dad Latina
George MacKay Alex Lawther Cavin Cornwall Martina Finch Steve Jameson Tanya Morgan
Crew Director of photography Nic Knowland BSC 1st AC Warren Markert Cam Op Sandra Tabet Cam Op Nick Cooke Focus Puller Emily Jade Barr 2nd AC Luke Lloyd Crane Operator Darren Piercy Crane Head Operator Neil Folly Key Grip Chris Rusby Grip David Ashby Gaffer Daniel Chaytor Spark Michael Robinson Spark Junior Agyeman Owusu Spark Jamie Burr Genny Op Brian Millier DIT Joe Dibble. Production Sound Mixer AMPS Sound Designer Boom Op Foley Artist Sound & Re-Recording Mixer Sound Re-Recorded at
Stevie Haywood
Music Recording Studio Music recording engineer Piano Trumpet
Sonica UK
Production Manager
Francesca Chen
1St AD
Andrew McEwan
2nd AD
Cameron Wauchope
Costume Costume Assistant
Jules Goldsmith Lara Sawalha
Make Up
Simone Saint
Script Supervisor
Dean Dodds
Raoul Brand Michael Sinden Peter Warnock Richard Straker Technicolor London
Paul Clark Marco Marconi Robin Clark
Set Construction
J’Ocular Design James Andrews Jay Cole Rob Clout Rob Flobo Harry Eagle
Vocoder Prop Constructed By
VyseAmps Dr. Barry Vyse Jason Sansome
Vocoder Faceplate Fabricated By
JPF Amplification LTD Dr. Frank Cooke David Page Angel Music Andrew Hackett
Vocoder Valves Provided By
Icon Audio LTD. David Shaw
Prop Houses Granger Hertzog Newman Hre Stockyard Superhire Trevor Howsam Costumiers
Angels Movie Tone
Editor Assistant Editor
Robin Sales Rab Wilson
Colour By
Mytherapy
Colourist:
Dado Valentic
Assistant Colourist: becca Goodeve DI Producer: DI Coordinator: Retouching: Datalab Services by
Lajos Pataki and Re-
VFX/Matte work
Coffee & TV Steve Waugh
Post production Supervisor
Rachael Ellis
Stills Photography
Ben Hughes
Camera Equipment Crane Hire
Panavision UK Ltd. Panavision UK Ltd.
Lighting Equipment
Panalux UK Ltd.
Studio Location
3 Mills Studios
Exterior Location London
The Point, Blackheath,
Music Clearence
Iain Cooke
Composition: “The Long Goodbye” original theme Music Composed By: John T. Williams Lyrics By: Johnny Mercer Music Publisher © EMI Unart Music Corporation (BMI) Recorded At: Western Recorders Inc. Special Thanks To: Myeisha Benshemesh Carolina Benshemesh Moshe Benshemesh Kitai Moshe Tao Benshemesh Fiz Oliver Simon Huhtala Angels Music Ltd. Icon Audio Ltd. Eric Lamptey Jay Radosavljevic Greenwhich Film Services Tom O’Donoghue and the team at 3Mills Studios Black Island Studios Craig Game, Nadia McLeod, Tony Samuleson and all staff at Panavision London Ewan Macfarlan Charlie Noble The American Church
Shaun Richards Ivana Bajic Junior Omede Mytherapy
Production Assistant
Andrea Zabala Wynn
Runner Runner Runner
Angus Devey-Robson Nikos Douglas-Wood Kimarie lee
Catering By Healthy Yummies The Hill (Greenwich) Organic Café (Greenwich)
Locations
David Colenutt
Location Trailer by
Pigeon Wrangler
Animal Actors Paul Davis
Vroom with a View
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER INTERNATIONAL AND PAN-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT CONVENTIONS. NARRATED BY, AND THE NARRATED BY LOGO, AND ALL CHARACTERS HEREIN AND ALL RELATED ELEMENTS THEREOF ARE TRADEMARKS OF CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS BVI CORP. NO PORTION OF THE MATERIAL MAY BE REPRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED OR TRANSMITTED BY ANY MEANS OR IN ANY MEDIUM WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS BVI CORP. THE STORIES, CHARACTERS, INSTITUTIONS AND INCIDENTS PORTRAYED HEREIN ARE FICTIONAL. ANY RESEMBLENCE TO FACTUAL PERSONS (LIVING OR DEAD), EVENTS, INSTITUTIONS OR LOCATIONS, WITHOUT SATIRIC INTENT, IS COINCIDENTAL. © CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS BVI (C0RP.) 2015
Contact info facebook.com/NarratedBy/
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