And Soon the Darkness
SYNOPSIS
Stephanie (Amber Heard) and
Ellie’s (Odette Yustman) vacation to an exotic village in Argentina is a
perfect ‘girl’s getaway’ to bask in the sun, shop and flirt with the handsome
locals. After a long night of bar-hopping, the girls get into an argument, and
Stephanie heads out alone in the morning to cool off. But when she returns, Ellie has disappeared.
Finding signs of a struggle, Stephanie fears the worst, and turns to the police
for help. But the local authorities have their hands full already - with a string
of unsolved kidnappings targeting young female tourists. Sceptical of the
sheriff’s competency, she enlists help from Michael (Karl Urban), an American
ex-pat staying at their hotel. Together they go on a frantic search for Ellie,
but Stephanie soon realizes that trusting his seemingly good intentions may
drag her farther from the truth. With danger mounting, and time running out,
Stephanie must find her friend before darkness falls.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Introduction
And Soon the Darkness is imagined as a film strongly rooted in psychological
terror, unease and the unsettling feeling one gets when displaced and removed
from familiarity. From the opening images of two young women riding bicycles
along an empty stretch of road in the most stunning natural setting of northern
Argentina, the stage will be set. My hope is to put the audience firmly in our
protagonist’s shoes and have them experience the terror and helplessness of
having no understanding of or control over events. This undertone of unease
would then be punctuated by moments of intensity that will catch our audience
off-guard and have them jumping from and squirming in their seats. My goal is
to root the film in Stephanie’s experience and put the audience firmly in her
shoes. The audience should never be a step
ahead
of her, so as she searches for Ellie and uncovers clues to her disappearance,
it’s as if we are walking with her as she experiences new locations or
information.
Smart thrillers with
interesting characters have usually been reserved for adult audiences, while young
audiences get dumbed-down movies. This audience, young as they are, are a smart
audience that is very familiar with the suspense genre so the challenge is to
make a film that not only gives them a fresh and new experience but also
delivers the thrills and scares they expect.
Tone, Atmosphere and Pace
This is to be a film dripping
with atmosphere and the sense of the unknown. The audience knows only what our
characters know and so they are as lost and vulnerable. The way to do this is
to set a tone and pace that at first lulls the audience into a comfort zone and
then steadily dials in suspense and dread.
Regardless of the levity and non-threatening vibe of the opening scenes
of the film, the audience is here to see a suspenseful movie and they know
something frightening is just around the corner – and they are counting on us
to give it to them.
Regarding pacing, to throw
every scare tactic at the audience from the get-go would dilute the effect
later in the film. Those moments will come as promised so the unease factor is
ratcheted up in more under-the-skin ways. For example, when characters speak in
Spanish – a language which Stephanie does not speak – there will be no
subtitles, further dislocating her and the audience. By about the midpoint of
the film Stephanie realizes that things are not what they seem and that her
friend is potentially in real danger – the stakes have risen dramatically.
Stephanie’s pursuit of Chucho illustrates that shift, and from that point on we
understand she is a solitary girl in serious trouble in a foreign country, far
from home and any safety net.
Light (and Darkness) as Character
The idea is to exploit daylight
in the sense that everything is visible to Stephanie though not necessarily
comprehendible. And as the day progresses and darkness comes, the bright airiness
gives way to hard shadows and pockets of the unknown. Finally, the film plunges
into absolute darkness (e.g., night time, the black waters of the river, etc.).
The aim of this is to explore the themes of darkness and what it means explicitly
(bad things will happen come nightfall), physically (a movement from
light into darkness), emotionally (when one's worst fears are realized)
and even existentially (going places/doing things one never imagines).
BIOGRAPHIES
ABOUT THE CAST
AMBER HEARD (Stephanie)
As stunning as
she is talented, Amber Heard is making waves with her captivating performance
on the big screen.
Heard will
next be seen in the action thriller, Drive Angry 3D opposite Nicolas
Cage, released by Summit Entertainment on February 11, 2010. She will also be
seen in The Rum Diary starring opposite Johnny Depp and Aaron Eckhart.
The dramatic adventure film will be released in 2011. Heard last starred in
John Carpenter's The Ward which premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film
Festival.
Previously,
Heard starred in 2009's box office hit, Zombieland opposite Woody
Harrelson, Bill Murray and Jesse Eisenberg. She also starred in the suspense
thriller, The Stepfather, with Sela Ward, Dylan Walsh and Penn Badgley.
In 2008, she starred in the comedic hit, Pineapple Express with Seth
Rogan and James Franco. Heard received a 2008 Young Hollywood Award for her
breakthrough performance in Pineapple Express.
She was also
seen in the critically acclaimed film, North Country starring Charlize
Theron and Frances McDormand. Her other
film credits include The Joneses, Never Back Down, Alpha Dog
and Friday Night Lights.
On television,
Heard starred on The CW drama, Hidden Palms and had guest starring roles
on Showtime's “Californication” and CBS's “Criminal Minds.”
ODETTE YUSTMAN (Ellie)
Paving the way
for young Latinas, the beautiful and talented Odette Yustman is certainly one
to watch. She was last seen in the Disney film You Again opposite
Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver this past September.
Earlier this year, Yustman completed production on the Hyde Park film The
Double, in which she starred alongside Topher Grace and Richard Gere, and
the action-comedy Operation: Endgame, in which she starred alongside Rob
Corddry, Ellen Barkin, and Zach Galifianakis .
In 2009,
Yustman starred in the David Goyer directed psychological thriller The
Unborn for Universal opposite Gary Oldman. Odette made her mark on the big
screen JJ Abram’s Cloverfield.
On the small
screen, Odette recently completed a pilot for Happy Madison/FOX. She is familiar to television audiences from
her role as Aubrey on the ABC drama “October Road”.
Odette started
her acting career in Universal’s Kindergarten Cop. She currently resides
in Los Angeles.
KARL URBAN (Michael)
Karl Urban
(Michael), best known for his recent turn as Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy in 2009’s Star
Trek, as Rohan warrior Eomer in the second and third installments of Peter
Jackson’s The Lord Of the Rings trilogy, and for his chilling
performance of Kirill in Paul Greengrass’ The Bourne Supremacy.
Born in
Wellington, New Zealand, Urban first appeared on television as a child actor.
Throughout his school years he wrote, directed and starred in many film and
stage productions. As a young adult he continued to pursue his acting career,
training and working throughout Australia and Asia in theater, film and
television.
Urban
landed his feature film debut in Miramax’s Heaven and garnered two Best
Actor nominations at the New Zealand Film Awards for his work in Via
Satellite and the acclaimed indie film The Price Of Milk. Recently,
Urban won Best Actor at the Quantas Film Awards for his portrayal of Nick in Out
of the Blue along with a BSFC Award for Best Ensemble Cast for Star Trek.
Urban’s most recent film is Red
starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and Mary-Louise Parker, and will next
be seen in Priest with Paul Bettany and Cam Gigandet, as well as the
next film in the Star Trek franchise.
Urban resides in New Zealand,
and is an avid supporter of KIDS CAN, an organization that feeds and clothes
over 30,000 New Zealand children who live in poverty.
ABOUT THE CREW
MARCOS EFRON DIRECTOR and
CO-SCREENWRITER
Award-winning writer/director
Marcos Efron was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and raised in Houston,
Texas. After earning a business degree
from the University of Texas at Austin, Marcos worked as an investment banker
in New York and Miami but eventually chose to tackle more creative
endeavors. Starting his career as an
executive at Artisan Entertainment, Industry Entertainment and Relativity
Media, Marcos began directing commercials and music videos for a variety of artists,
both independent and major label, including Pete Munday, The Fates and Angie
Mattson. Soon after his directing debut,
Marcos was chosen from a field of over 200 directors to direct the video for
the title track to Jewel’s hit record, “This Way.” His video for “Drive” by Angie Mattson won
the award for Best Independent Video of the Year at the Los Angeles Music
Awards.
Marcos’ moving and evocative
short film Common Practice was featured in the 2006 Sundance Film
Festival. After Sundance, Common Practice
went on to play festivals around the world and win numerous awards. Following the success of Common Practice,
Marcos focused
his
energies on feature films and his screenplay for his provocative character
drama The Walls was invited to the prestigious Tribeca All Access
screenwriting program.
And Soon the Darkness is Marcos’ debut
both for feature writing and directing.
JENNIFER DERWINGSON CO-SCREENWRITER
Jennifer Derwingson grew up in
Mt. Shasta, CA, home to a 14,000 foot volcano, lumberjacks, urban refugees,
and, if you're to believe the rumors, Big Foot and the descendants of Atlantis.
As an undergrad at Stanford, Derwingson started writing sketch comedy and
directing theatre, the latter leading to projects in Bali, London and San Francisco.
She then made the plunge to celluloid, earning an MFA at the USC School of
Cinematic Arts. Her short film, Roadside Assistance, played festivals around
the world and earned numerous awards including the Student Emmy for Comedy.
After graduating she worked as
a writer's assistant on USA Network's The Dead Zone, then sold her first
feature, The Yellow Wood, to Spyglass Entertainment and Stephen J. Cannell.
That led to several writing assignments including an adaptation of the Richard
Bach book Illusions, now set up at Warner Brothers with Zack Snyder attached to
direct, and the remake of And Soon the Darkness, for Abandon Films and Canal
Plus starring Amber Heard and Odette Yustman, which is currently awaiting a
theatrical release. Derwingson recently completed the Disney/ABC Writing
Fellowship.
GABRIEL BERISTAIN DIRECTOR
OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Gabriel Beristain was born in
Mexico into a theatrical dynasty. His father, Luis Beristain, was a renowned
lead actor of stage and screen whose last film was Luis Buñuel's Exterminating
Angel. His interest in filmmaking began with his involvement in Mexico's
independent film scene in the seventies.
He
worked as documentary and newsreel cameraman throughout Europe, covering
sensitive political, social, and ecological issues. Accepted by the National
Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England, one of the top film
schools in the world, he shot Jenny Wilkes’ Academy® Award Winner for Best
Foreign Student Film, Mother's Wedding.
Having settled in England, The Berlin Film
Festival honored him in 1987 with a Special Silver Bear 'for outstanding single
achievement’ in cinematography, for Derek Jarman's Caravaggio.
Subsequent work in films like
the multi-part Aria (1987), as the sole cinematographer with two
segments, one of them for legendary director Ken Russell, earned him an
invitation into the British Society of Cinematographers in 1990 and, a decade
later, was invited into the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers,
where he's actively involved.
In 1991, after shooting K-2 in the
Himalayas, he moved to the U. S. to work in cult classics like Blood In,
Blood Out and Dolores Clairborne. Cinematographer credits hence
amount to over two dozen motion pictures and a hundred commercials and music
videos. His was the look that launched Liv Tyler in her father's Aerosmith
videos, re-energized the filmography of David Mamet (The Spanish Prisoner)
and Guillermo Del Toro (Blade 2), and broke new ground in films like S.W.A.T.,
The Ring 2 and Blade Trinity.
His latest films are two fine independents, And Soon the Darkness
and Princess Ka’iulani. He’s currently shooting There Be Dragons
for film legend Roland Joffe.
His film-directing debut came about in the
context of a 1995 work for the BBC series, with the award-winning docu-drama Calling
London.
Gabriel Beristain is member of AMPAS and BAFTA
LA., and lives in Los Angeles with his photographer wife Elizabeth and their
children., Max and Victoria.
TOMANDANDY
COMPOSER
tomandandy are composers and
producers in transmedia. While they are best known for their work in film
scores and television commercials, they have produced music for the most
contexts including record projects, videogames, art installations and fashion shows.
At any given time tomandandy’s work is being broadcasted somewhere in the
world.
Andy Milburn was born in Texas
and went to Princeton University for undergraduate as well as graduate work in
computer music.
Thomas Hajdu was born in Canada
and moved to the US to work on his graduate studies in Princeton University in
computer music.
They have collaborated with
artists such as William Burroughs, David Byrne, Oliver Stone, Roger Avery, Lou
Reed, Wes Borland, La Fura dels Baus, Jenny Hoizer, Tome Sachs and William
Gibson.
At the same time, tomandandy
invested in technological innovations focusing on digital entertainment. They have several patents pending and have
received a broad patent (US 6.051.770) in artificial intelligence and content
creation.
END CREDITS
AND SOON THE DARKNESS
CAST
IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
DRIVERS
HUGO VERGA DANIEL
ROMERO
MARTIN BENITEZ JOSE
BENITEZ
DANIEL MARTINEZ
GUSTAVO GUIDA
RICARDO NAVARRO
EDUARDO CASERE
MIGUEL ANGEL GRANADO FERNANDA MAMANI
MIGUEL GARCIA NESTOR
JESUS HERNANDEZ
MARTIN LEONARDO VARGAS DAVIS OMAR PANIAGUA
MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ GUSTAVO RODOLFO OCAMPO
ERNESTO DANTE ALVAREZ JOSÉ TONKEVICIOS
RODRIGO MAMANI MIGUEL
ALVAREZ
SERGIO DANIEL DJEMDJEMIAN
Sound Editing, Design, and Mixing Services
Provided by
Universal Studios Sound Department
Digital Intermediate and Opticals by
Technicolor Digital Intermediates
A Technicolor Company
Visual Effects by
HimAnl Productions
Burbank, CA
SONGS
"Bajo Del Norte"
Performed by Michael Sosa and Anthony Vanacore
Written by Michael Sosa
Published by Michael Sosa
"EI Apagon"
Performed by Señor Flavio
Written by Flavio Oscar Cianciarulo
From the album 'Supersaund 2012' courtesy of Nacional Records
"Feelin"
Performed by Bomba Estereo
Written by Mejia Ochoa, Federico; Saumet Avila, Liliana
Courtesy of Nacional Records
Used by permission of EMI Entertainment World, Inc.
All rights reserved
"Macarena" (Bayside Boys Remix)
Performed by Los Del Rio
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Spain, S.L.
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
"I Touch Myself"
Performed by the Divinyls
Written by Christine Amphlett, Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg, M.
McEntee
Published by Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, EMI Music Publishing
Courtesy of Virgin Records America, Inc
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music
All rights reserved
"La Nina Rica"
Performed by Bomba Estereo
Written by Mejia Ochoa, Federico; Saumet Avila, Liliana
Courtesy of Nacional Records
Used by permission of EMI Entertainment World, Inc.
All rights reserved
"I Don't Do Surprises"
Performed by Axle Whitehead
Written by Robert Conley, Axle Whitehead
Published by Sony/ATV Tunes LLC o/b/o Sony/ATV Music
Publishing Australia Pty Ltd.
Licensed courtesy of Roadshow Music
"Stalemate"
Performed by io echo
Written by Joanna Gikas, Leopold Ross
Roxana Rocks Music (BMI)
All Rights Reserved
www.ioechomusic.com
"La Pedrera"
Written and Performed by Paul Clark
Published by Paul Clark
"Cold Soul"
Performed by Angie Mattson
Produced by Rudy Haeusermann
Wrilten by Angie Mattson and Rudy Haeusermann
ASCAP Je Voudrais Music, The Haasen Publishing
SPECIAL THANKS
The characters and events depicted in this motion picture are
fictitious. Any
similarity to actual events and persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.
This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United
States of
America and other countries.
Unauthorized duplication, distribution or
Exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal
prosecution.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Darkness LLC
All rights reserved.
AND SOON THE DARKNESS
