MARK ARMSTRONG’S hip-hop comedy feature “Chickenhead Bound” from Dusablean Enterprises wrapped principal photography Aug. 12. Premiere screening is planned for Thanksgiving. Nlz of Wu-Tang Clan’s Killarmy Family made a cameo and is in talks to supervise the soundtrack, which will feature music by Public Enemy affiliate K-Rec, who acted in the picture. Armstrong is now casting for Cas-I-Can Productions’ bisexual romance “Trying to Get Bi.” Reach Armstrong at markarmystrong62@aol.com.
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| Jillian Miller (left) and Bev Spangler in “Half Life” |
BEV SPANGLER’S stage adaptation of Catherine Crouch’s lesbian military romance screenplay “Half Life” has its premiere run Aug. 27- Sept. 18 at American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron. Jenna Newman is directing for Awaken!PerformancesTheatre Company. Spangler, Awaken!’s artistic director, stars with Jillian Miller. The screenplay is a finalist for the Sundance writer’s lab and is being developed for a forthcoming local film production to be directed by Crouch (“Stray Dogs”). The story is based on Windy City Times publisher and managing editor Tracy Baim’s unpublished novel. Tickets are $20, and $35 for the Sept. 12 performance to benefit the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. See www.halflifefilm.com.
MAMA’S BOY PRODUCTIONS begins shooting the horror short “Monk’s Hood” Sept. 4. Reach producer Eric Neal at 773/458-6859.
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| Faith Pennick |
FAITH PENNICK’S feature doc “Silent Choices” about African American women and reproductive rights shoots here Sept. 7-11. Photography has been ongoing in New York, where Pennick, a Chicago native, is based. Pennick held a fundraiser at Intuit in June. See www.orgchaos.com.
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| Christopher Free (left) and Claude Reid |
CHRISTOPHER FREE’S Xenophobia Films is casting Sept. 13 for the DV feature “Open Your Heart,” a romance about a love triangle in the world of modern dance. Director Free, a former Chicago casting director now based in his native Tennessee, plans a ten-day shoot in December. Script is by Mark Benjamin Woodall of North Carolina, who is producing with Free and local Claude Reid. Associate producers are Jeff Ackil of LaPorte, Indiana and local Nathyn Masters, director of the recently completed Christian thriller “The 4th Beast: Mask of the Antichrist,” on which Free was associate producer. Choreographer is Harrison McEldowny (“Road to Perdition,” Hubbard Street, River North). Mail headshots to Open Your Heart Casting, 194 Goodwin Circle, Crossville, TN 38555. Call or fax Free at 866/834-1663 or email rampagefilms@aol.com.
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| John Borowski |
JOHN BOROWSKI’S feature doc “H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer” will be released on DVD Oct. 26 by Facets Video. A biography of the 19th Century South Side doctor and mass murderer, “Holmes” will screen at Screamfest LA, which runs Oct. 15-24. See www.hhholmesthefilm.com.
To be included in Independent Production Roundup, email edk@homesickblues.com.
