Tennessee film "Deadline" participating in incentives and needs Cast & Crew
"Deadline" set to shoot in middle Tennessee first quarter 2011
Nashville -- Tennessee’s own Curt Hahn (CEO of Film House) and Hunter Atkins (Chairman of Bank of Nashville - a division of Synovus Financial Corporation) are teaming up to produce the theatrical feature film Deadline, based on the novel "Grievances" by prize-winning author Mark Ethridge.
Set in Nashville and Alabama, Deadline is a courtroom thriller inspired by a true story. Ethridge adapted the screenplay, working with Hahn, who will direct the film for Transcendent, the feature film subsidiary of Film House. Deadline tells the story of the murder of an African-American youth in rural Alabama that has gone unpunished, unsolved and uninvestigated for nearly twenty years. But that changes when Nashville reporter Matt Harper meets an idealistic young woman bent on discovering the truth. Harper undertakes the investigation despite the opposition of his publisher, violent threats from mysterious forces, a break-up with his fiancée and his father's cancer diagnosis. Deadline is a story of murder, family, race, and of redemption – for a small Southern town and for Matt Harper.
Deadline will be shot entirely in Tennessee and released theatrically with support from Nashville-based Panda Fund, which provides prints and advertising (P&A) funding for outstanding independent films. The Panda Fund’s Chip Murray will work with Hahn and Atkins to design the film’s marketing and release strategy. Molly Mayeux and Hahn are producing Deadline. Film House president Ron Routson is executive producing with Atkins and Hahn.
The project is expected to qualify for a 32 percent refund of qualified expenses incurred in the state through a combination of incentives offered by the Film Commission and the Tennessee Department of Revenue. The incentive programs exist to encourage the film and television industries to expand in Tennessee and to assist with job creation for local residents. To qualify for both programs at least $1 million must be spent by the production on Tennessee residents and Tennessee vendors. Before incentive payments can be released the production financials will be audited.
Due to participation in the incentive program, the production is aiming to hire local residents for an estimated 97 percent of the film’s crew and 90 percent of the film’s cast, and a significant number of local Tennessee companies also stand to benefit directly as a result of the project.
Interested TN crew - contact Debbie Estes at debbieestes@filmhouse.com
Interested TN talent - contact Holly Allen (casting director) at hollyallen@filmhouse.com
For more information on the project visit www.DeadlineFilm.com.
About the Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission
The Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission supports the economic development of the film and music community through the recruitment of business by promoting Tennessee as a location in feature films, television productions, commercials and other works. The commission encourages the interactive growth of the film and music communities through a wide range of marketing, networking and advertising efforts. For more information visit www.tn.gov/film.
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