PRODUCTION BRIEFS: "Two Family House" Wraps; ""Birthday Girl" Shooting; "Frozen Stars" Good To Go

by Kevin dreyfuss

>> "Two Family House" Wraps

Writer-director Raymond De Felitta ("Cafe Society") recently wrapped on his
sophomore effort, "Two Family House," produced by Anne Harrison and Alan
Klingenstein of Filbert Steps Productions. The film is a comedy-drama set in
the Staten Island of the 1950s, about a factory worker and wanna-be lounge
singer who achieves his dream of buying a two family house and creating a bar
to perform in, but also gets some unwanted guests in the form of his
nightmare tenants. The film stars Michael Rispoli ("Summer of Sam"), Kelly
Macdonald ("Elizabeth"), Katherine Narducci ("Copland"), and Kevin Conway
("Looking for Richard").

>> "Birthday Girl" Shooting

Jez Butterworth ("Mojo") is currently shooting his indie effort "Birthday
Girl" in Australia and the UK. Written by Butterworth and brother Tom, and
Produced by yet another brother Stephen Butterworth ("Mojo") along with Eric
Abraham ("Kolya") and Diana Phillips ("Blue in the Face"), the film tells the
story of a mild-mannered bank clerk who orders a mail-order Russian bride
over the Internet, and gets an enigmatic and possibly dangerous beauty in
return. The film stars Nicole Kidman ("Eyes Wide Shut") as the Russian
bride, Ben Chaplin ("The Thin Red Line") as the clerk, and also stars Vincent
Cassel ("Elizabeth") and Mathieu Kassovitz (writer-director-star of "La
Heine"). Miramax, FilmFour and HAL Films are all involved in the financing
and distribution of the flick.

>> "Frozen Stars" Set To Shoot

The indie coming-of-age film "Frozen Stars" is set to begin shooting this
week in East LA and Pasadena, with freshman writer-director David-Matthew
Barnes adapting his own successful Chicago stage play. The film tells the
linked tales of a foursome in LA coming to terms with racial and sexual
identity, and stars young newcomers Lana Parilla, Eddie Rivera, Caesar
Carcia, Yelba Osorio, and Charlotte Nielson.

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