Independent production roundup

BOATHOUSE STUDIOS of Los Angeles started shooting its rock ?n’ roll slasher comedy “Stump the Band” Sept. 20 in Spring Grove, Antioch, Gurnee, and in Wilmot, Wis. “Stump the Band” follows a girl punk band being pursued by a former shoe salesman with a particularly acquisitive foot fetish.

Director William Holmes, a Gurnee native, produced “The Barrio Murders” and “Best Man in Grass Creak.” Co-producers are record producer Robbie Rist (“the kid they brought in at the end of ?The Brady Bunch'”) and Charles Clausmeyer, who acted in “The Unnamable” parts I and II. The trio also runs Compost Productions, a voiceover school/studio/improv group in L.A.

“Stump the Band” stars Dominique Davlos, Becky Boxer, Courtney Dean, Brittney Starzman, Chloe Orwell, Brendan Tesar, Jake Hames, and Danny Cooksey. Music by Rist and Squelchy McQueef of The Queefs. Jos? L. Rios shoots on 24P DV through Oct. 10. Email Rist at trash24713@aol.com.

GRAINGER TERRY, a seven-year-old Naperville PR/marketing firm, is shooting its first TV production, “Open for Business,” through early October. Firm principal Phil Molfese said “Open for Business” will profile innovative local companies. He plans to launch the show on local cable and then aim for PBS. He’s also developing a few other program ideas.

Grainger Terry, which has a full-time staff of three, has represented clients including the Archdiocese of Chicago, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush. Grainger Terry is at 1805 High Point Drive, Naperville. Call 630/364-3425 or see www.graingerterry.com.

TIMECODE MECHANICS plans an early 2005 shoot for its second feature, “Silvergun Samurai,” a $20,000 DV Hong Kong-style actioner about a young American martial artist taking on the Japanese mob to protect his teacher’s daughter.

Writer/director Nathyn Brandon Masters is self- distributing the DVD of his debut feature, the apocalyptic Christian thriller “The 4th Beast: Mask of the Antichrist,” while he looks for a distributor. Reach Masters at 312/316-5545 or see www.the4thbeast.com/samurai.

Benjamin Capps

BENJAMIN CAPPS shoots a 10-minute fundraising demo in late November/early December for his planned debut feature, an adaptation of John Webster’s 1612 play “The Duchess of Malfi.” “It’s a tale of revenge like ?Hamlet’ but in this case the person seeking revenge is the villain, and the Duchess is the revengee,” Capps said. “She’s one of the strongest women characters written in Elizabethan times, if not modern times.”

Capps is self-financing the short through his production company The Inner Below, and is seeking grant money to finance the feature next year. Capps stars with Becky Brown. Shooting, “mostly period with some exaggeration of the costumes,” is at the International Museum of Surgical Science. Reach Capps at luftschutz@yahoo.com.

COMEDIAN VICTOR GREYWOLF shot the pilot for “Oswald’s Family,” a sitcom about a bitter former male model whose career was cut short by an accident, raising three model daughters, in mid- September. “It’s Archie Bunker meets Al Bundy meets ?America’s Next Top Model,'” Greywolf said. Reach him at 847/414-7035 or victorgreywolf@yahoo.com.

URBAN PICTURES wrapped production on its romantic feature “Java” in late August and signed with Maverick Entertainment for a video release of its 2003 actioner “Hostage.” “Java” writer/director Latonia Smith-Spivey is in preproduction on “Trying to Get Bi,” planned as her second feature this year. Reach Urban president William Pierce at darkhollywood@mail.com.

– by Ed M. Koziarski, edk@homesickblues.com