‘Valley Of The Muses’ Sizzle Reel: From the producer’s Perspective

http://vimeo.com/54971375

By Liliana Kligman – Producer of ‘Valley Of The Muses’ Sizzle Reel

Liliana Kligman

Liliana Kligman

The “Valley of the Muses” sizzle reel/demo was thought out as a way to show the kind of high production value we can achieve on limited resources and the essence of what the story is about. The script for this feature lenght film is still in the development stage. The sizzle reel was shot in 5 days with a limited budget in North Carolina. The planning took longer than expected, and production was a bit chaotic, as we were very ambitious on carrying out such a complex demo. It was also a race against time, as we had to get it done before October 31st, in order to  present it at the American Film Market in Los Angeles, where we achieved some interest from agents. Those 5 days were one of the most fantastic experiences I have had in my professional career. Even during some production days we decided to miss out on lunch because we wanted to get some scenes done before we started losing daylight, and everyone was willing to pull through and work. This experience can’t be described in a few words, it was passion at its purest form; the drive, and the adrenaline rush I felt was so much that I only slept about 7 hours in total during those 5 days.

Having the chance to work with such amazing and hard-working people was a truly incredible experience. Mr. Bill Moseley, (check him out in the upcoming LionsGate movie ‘Texas Chainsaw 3D’) was a tremendous figure to have in this sizzle reel, and the rest of the actors were also fantastic, including newcomer, Bronze-Olympic medalist at the London 2012 Olympics, Lauren Sesselmann. Yes, pro-soccer players can also act, the industry is not only reserved for ex-NFL and ex-NBA players getting their shot at this industry.

Dean C. Jones is a truly inspiring up-and-coming director and producer (Atlantic & Pacific Pictures), and so is his brother Starr Jones. Together they have one of the biggest haunted house attraction in the USA (for which they created all the make-up effects for), The Original Hollywood Horror Show in Snow Camp, NC. We shot the sizzle reel during the highest time of the year for this attraction, and therefore we had the honor of working with some of the phenomenal actors and actresses from the show, as well as the crew. It was an inspiring experience, as I got to see the amount of support there is when people come together to do something they truly love. Can’t mention all the people that I’m very happy I got to meet and worked with, because then this blog would be about ten pages long, but I’m very grateful to have had the chance to meet them and work closely with them and I wouldn’t have had it any other way! I have never been involved with such respectful, hard-working, lovable, passionate, kind and fascinating people in my life, and Cafe Oscuro Films certainly looks forward to work with all of them again in the very near future. If you haven’t checked out The Original Hollywood Horror Show, you must do so next Halloween! It will scare the socks out of you… it certainly did for me…. I almost even lose a shoe.

Produced By: Liliana Kligman
Directed By: Dean C. Jones
Director of Photography: Jeff Stepp
Camera: Jeff Stepp and Brett Bortle
Editor: Sherwood Jones
Based on the script “Valley of the Muses” by Lucas Torres and David A. Mazzarri

Cast:
Bill Moseley
Lauren Sesselmann
Gil Newsom
Krystal Harlow
Agostina Fusari
Mellianne Norwood
Lawrence Alvis
Lynette Rimmer
Whitney Collazo
David Jernigan