Donnybrook Production Services

Having spent a part of this past weekend helping out with some loose ends on the indie feature “Backwards”, as they were back in the saddle for some pick-up footage, I’m hearing rumors that the film is coming together quite nicely.  And while it was fun to get back into the field with a collection of the department heads & crew again, I’ll admit to being at least mildly distracted by NLDS Game 1 (the Fightin’s were also hosting the visiting Card’s down @ CBP).

While balancing my UPM-esque duties with my addictive Phil’s fever, I was reflecting on the growing collection of local philmmakers that are proud to set their sticks in the Greater Philly region.  The gents over at the South Jersey-based Kphat Productions always seem to be up to something feature-film related, and have begun to amass an impressive collection of company credits.  Meanwhile, the Producer/Director team of  James Madison &  Nic Reader seem to be ready to take their Expressway Productions moniker to the next level, hot on the heels of their successful short film collaboration “Runner”.  And with the likes of Ben Hickernell’s “Backwards”, the environmentally conscious indie darling “Future Weather”, and the horror treat “Alpha Girls” all bound to hit screens in the coming year, we could be in store for a potential hat-trick of Philly-based philm fare witnessing some much deserved exposure.

As I ramp up talks this week with the philmmakers behind the comedy “Angus”, penned by local screenwriter David Greenberg, I remain as optimistic as ever that Philly will soon witness its full potential as a viable and sustaining film market.

OK, so yes it’s still a week prior to June and I’m already running the central air full tilt, but fortunately the weather isn’t the only thing in the Greater Philly region that’s heating up these days…the indie film scene here in the CoBL is also on a hot streak as of late.  In addition to the lauded success of Sean Kirkpatrick’s “Cost of a Soul”, here are a few add’l Philmmakers worthy of a shoutout…

Ben Hickernell’s film “Lebanon, PA” has been met with critical, festival, and now distribution success, after premiering at last years SXSW Film Festival.  Ben, along with fellow producing partner Jason Contino, opened to multiple sold out screenings last month as well, right here in Philly at the Ritz @ The Bourse, and rumor has it that ‘Lebanon’ has also secured add’l distribution as well, but more on that in the weeks & months to come.  And, speaking of news to come in the world of Director Ben Hickernell, there may be other big news in the not-too-distant future…stay tuned for updates possibly as soon as next week.

Another local indie-filmmaker enjoying well-deserved praise for her efforts is Jenny Deller of “Future Weather” fame.  Jenny has been selected recently as one of 10 up & coming Directors to watch out for by “Independent Magazine”.  All good things for Philly Philm, and all good praise for local homegrown indie filmmakers!