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SWINE
TYPE: Narrative Feature
GENRE: Drama
STATUS: Development
LOGLINE
After his dream restaurant fails, a world class chef returns home to start fresh, only to find himself being dragged into the dark criminal underbelly when he goes into business with his best friend and brother.
SYNOPSIS
World class chef, Preston Pierce prepares for the biggest night of his life, but his long-awaited debut restaurant fails tragically on opening night. Devastated, he retreats back to his hometown on Long Island to stay with his best friend, Dave. They decide to start a business together and in the process, Preston is reunited with his former love. Just as it looks as if Preston might find fulfillment in this idyllic homecoming, he and Dave begin making enemies.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
The idea started simply enough. I had this quixotic vision of a man who gives up on his dream only to learn he should have never given up. But i think the last few years have swept many of us into a dark corner and what has come out of that corner is something far darker. When you're a kid no one tells you that you can do everything right and still lose. what they tell you is that if you work long enough and hard enough your dreams will come true. That just isn't the case. The hero doesn't get the girl. The arc of the moral universe doesn't bend towards justice. The bad guy DOES win. Some have said that the noir film reflects the anxieties and trauma of its time. If that is indeed the case then I want to make a film that reflects the anxieties and trauma of our time. I want to present a highly ethical, morally upright successful master of his craft and show his slow descent into darkness. When idealism is stripped down to the bone, what does it become? Cynism? No. Something else entirely. A more viscous version of the world wheere the only way to win is to become the bad guy.
KEY CREW
C.J. Williamson - Writer/Director
C.J. Williamson is an award-winning filmmaker born and raised in New York. His work focuses on tonally edgy, textured worlds and the characters that navigate these marginal spaces. He has spent the last decade writing and developing several projects in both television and film. His feature script, CUR, inspired by a true story about a young cult acolyte in suburban Long Island has received numerous accolades and was selected for the AFI Script reading series featuring Gary Cole, Alexia Fast, and Wade Williams. Currently he is developing Tinseltown, a television series about a Black actor pioneering his way through both the iniquities and ecstasies of 60s Hollywood. He is a graduate of Stony Brook University in New York, APA International Film school in Sydney, Australia and the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles where he received his MFA in Directing.
Liz Williamson - Producer
Liz Williamson is a NY based talent manager and producer. She has been in the industry for well over a decade in many roles, both in front of and behind the camera and most recently as a below the line agent in the narrative department at WPA in West Hollywood. Returning home to NY, Liz continued her work in management and is currently building a below the line department for Citizen Skull, an LA based management and production company. Liz prides herself on skillfully pairing her below the line clients with like minded filmmakers on artistic and meaningful projects as well as supporting such projects through producing.
Dawn Green - Producer p.g.a.
Dawn Green, p.g.a. is a New York based filmmaker and documentarian. Her work as a television in television has included shows for the SyFy Channel and the Oxygen Network. Previously, she served as a Lecturer of Italian Literature and Film for over a decade at Stanford University and U.C. Santa Cruz. She was a Fellow at the American Film Institute where she received an MFA in Producing. Her AFI thesis film, LE JEU DES SOLDATS (THE SOLDIER'S GAME), won first place in the 2011 BAFTA/LA Student Film Festival and was a national finalist for the 38th Annual Student Academy Awards competition.
Dan Adlerstein - Cinematographer
Dan Adlerstein is an LA based DP who works on a wide variety of projects in television, commercials, narrative, documentary, and digital content. He has worked extensively in TV, shooting for HBO, CBS, Netflix, Amazon, HULU, AppleTV, and more. His commercial work includes campaigns for Old Spice, Kahlua, Zappos, Fox Sports, as well as many other brands. And his narrative work has been featured in festivals worldwide, including Sundance and Cannes. Dan is an alumn of Wesleyan University, where he majored in Film Studies, focusing mostly on film history and theory. He went on to earn an MFA in Cinematography at the AFI Conservatory. Dan is a member of IATSE Local 600 and on the Industry Experience Roster as a Director of Photography.
Quino Baca - Executive Chef Consultant
Quino Baca is a New York based Chef and entrepreneur. After honing his craft for over a decade in the southwest United States, Quino moved to New York where he opened Momofuku with partner, David Chang, and operated as chef for Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar. He went on to establish several solo ventures including the Brooklyn Star, Teo, and Bumu. Quino has been featured in numerous TV shows and publications such as New York Magazine, Michelin Guide Magazine, Journy, and Esquire’s Network’s KNIFE FIGHT.
Alex Lee - Composer
Alex Lee is a composer and sound designer based in Los Angeles, CA. A graduate of American Film Institute Conservatory’s directing program, Alex approaches a score from the perspective of a filmmaker. His work blends synths with orchestral instruments and often blurs the line between score, foley and sound design. His sound is undoubtedly modern, rich with influences from contemporary electronic, industrial and pop music but retains the moment-to-moment drive of a traditional orchestral score.
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