EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker Seth Christian, whose earlier producer credit embody the 2020 crime drama Echo Boomers starring Patrick Schwarzenegger and Michael Shannon, has launched Cinema Nation.
The Nashville-based unbiased manufacturing firm is “devoted to human-centered storytelling and socially impactful filmmaking” beneath its Movies For Influence label.
The corporate’s preliminary slate of options will discover dependancy, weight problems, and social media.
“Cinema Nation is dedicated to creating ‘Movies For Influence’ — movies that entertain, encourage significant conversations, and supply worth to tradition and humanity,” stated Christian. “We’re not chasing traits or just on the lookout for what’s in style. We’re on the lookout for distinctive, contemporary tales that join with audiences, shine a light-weight on necessary points, and function a voice for therapeutic.”
First up for growth on Cinema Nation’s slate is Made Clear, a faith-inspired drama already in post-production that follows a mom battling dependancy whereas attempting to boost her teenage daughter and confront generational trauma.
Directed by D. Erik Parks (Why We Breathe), the movie stars Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito’s Means), Otmara Marrero (Begin Up), Glenn Morshower (Transformers: Darkish of the Moon), Ava Torres (Chicago Hearth), Jacob Alexander (Echo Boomers), and Cherrie McRae (Lethal Deception). Parks and Christian co-wrote the screenplay.
The synopsis reads: “Tonya (Marrero), a hardworking single mom, loses her job after failing a drug check, prompting her teenage daughter, Kimberly (Torres), to run away. Determined to alter, Tonya turns to her estranged mom, Wanda (Miller), who gives little concern and as a substitute accuses her of repeating the identical damaging patterns that formed her personal childhood.
“Horrified by the comparability, Tonya finds a brand new job with one other cleansing service and begins rebuilding her life with the assistance of its compassionate enterprise proprietor. However when a traumatic encounter sends Tonya spiraling again into dependancy—and again into the damaging orbit of her drug-dealing ex-husband, Ronny (Alexander)—her fragile progress begins to unravel. When Kimberly’s personal hidden battle lands her within the hospital, mom and daughter are compelled to confront the ache they’ve each saved buried.”
On deck is Hungerland, an upcoming function that confronts weight problems and the damaging results of America’s meals system, and Extension, which examines the risks of social media and its hyperlink to many teen suicides.
“Going by one thing that adjustments your life forces you to have a look at what actually issues,” stated Christian, who two years in the past suffered a stroke. “For me, it modified the way in which I considered filmmaking. I wished to construct one thing that mirrored the varieties of flicks I wished to see and the type of business I wished to be a part of. Cinema Nation grew out of that have.”
On Made Clear, Christian achieved the movie’s $1-2M price range by assembling a community of fairness companions that included a 50-person manufacturing crew, equipment-rental corporations, camper homeowners, eating places and different contributors.
Reasonably than merely offering items or companies, collaborating companions acquired a proportion of the movie’s future income in change for his or her contributions. The strategy allowed Cinema Nation to direct a larger portion of its accessible money price range towards expertise whereas constructing a group of stakeholders.
“The mannequin displays my broader imaginative and prescient for Cinema Nation: making a extra collaborative strategy to unbiased filmmaking during which filmmakers, companies, service suppliers and group companions can all have a significant stake within the tasks they assist carry to life,” commented Christian.
