Kristensen to direct Hitchcock film
May 26, 2000
In a unique collaboration, musicians Robyn Hitchcock and Grant Lee Phillips
Phillips
(former front man for Grant Lee Buffalo) are setting out on a five city, west coast tour. The tour will take them through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, Portland and		 Seattle. The final two shows will be filmed by Scotopia Pictures for a full length concert film, including behind the scenes footage. Director/Producer Kris Kristensen said, "I'm really thrilled about this project. Grant did the music for my student film back in 1987, and I've been wanting to collaborate on a project with him ever since I first saw him perform on stage over ten years ago. He has an amazing stage persona which is lost on his recordings. Sort of a crooning Houdini." Phillips and Hitchcock previously performed an impromptu show late last year in Seattle. Kristensen added, "Grant and Robyn are both very funny and incredibly charming people. They have a great chemistry together, and my goal is to capture that relationship and
Hitchcock
energy." The video will only be available on the internet through the Scotopia Pictures website and Phillips' and Hitchcock's own respective sites.
Click here for tour and ticket information.
Send In The Clowns
May 15, 2000
Scotopia Pictures and Angry Young Man Productions, are joining forces on Brian McDonald's short film White Face. The film is a comedic look at the problems that clowns might face if they were an actual race of people. The script, by
McDonald,
B. McDonald
(no relation to Ronald McDonald) took the top prize at the Saguaro Screenplay Competition.. The film is
being co-produced by Kris Kristensen and Lisa Halpern. Kristensen will also function as the director of photography. White Face will be shot in mid-June and early July. The film is to star local emmy award winning actor
R. McDonald
Matt Smith. Smith was previously seen delivering mail to Tom Hanks in Sleepless In Seattle.

 
"Mrs. Baker" scares up some serious money
May 4, 2000
Director Kristensen (left) accepts a $20,000 check from filmmaker, Mark Handley.
On Thursday night, April 27th, Solitaire Films, LLClaunched it's capital campaign to raise $1.4 million to fund their first feature film Mrs. Baker. The event held at Seattle's The Big Picture was hugely successful. With well over 70 guests in attendance, the film's producers Kris
Kristensen, Brian McDonald, Lisa Halpern and Scott Schill found themselves surrounded by prospective investors. Producer Schill summed up the party as such, "The presentation was less than a week ago, and since then we've accumulated funding in the low six figures." Co-
writer and fellow producer McDonald had this to say, "Everyone seemed very impressed with the party and presentation. I was a little blown away by the level of enthusiasm over the project." Producer Lisa Halpern added, "The response was overwhelming, but I'm not surprised. People
know a good thing when they see it." Director Kristensen concluded, "I believe that after the dust has settled from this event we'll have a quarter of a million dollars in the bank, and more than a handful of leads for us to find the remaining money needed."
Click here for more info on Mrs. Baker.
"Mrs. Baker's" got mail
May 1, 2000

After spending the weekend in Seattle for the Mrs. Baker investor's presentation, casting director Deedra Lynn returned home to Los Angeles. There, she was welcomed by 5 US Mail containers of submissions from actors
interested in testing for Mrs. Baker. All told, Lynn found herself sorting through over 500 headshots, and finally had to call for back-up later in the week. Early next week, Lynn will put a spin on the situation when she
begins sending out the Mrs. Baker script to the actors on her wish list including; Claire Danes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Janet Leigh, Anne Bancroft, and Joanne Woodward. Prior to arriving in Seattle for the
presentation, Lynn had received requests from 45 agencies in Hollywood to read the script. "This is the same sort of response that we had when casting started on Three Kings," Lynn exclaimed.

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