JUNE/JULY 2010
The comedy feature GET A JOB wrapped mid-May on Maui and is currently well into post-production. Many thanks to the wonderful cast and crew for working so hard, and for the Valley Isle for showing the project such aloha. Not only did our leads - Uncle Willie K, Eric Gilliom, Augie T, and Carolyn Omine - turn in stellar performances, but we ended up with a tremendous supporting cast, including Willie Nelson, Mick Fleetwood, Henry Kapono, and Jake Shimabukuro ... Mahalo to all!
Back in New York, we're prepping our feature MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU. Cast includes Ken Duken, Nicole Beharie, Laith Nakli, Marlene Forte, and Reg E. Cathey. Principal photography commences July 12th in Brooklyn.
APRIL/MAY 2010
Two features on the horizon. On Maui, Stefan is producing an indie entitled GET A JOB, starring many of Hawaii's most well known and beloved entertainers, including Uncle Willie K, Eric Gilliom, Augie T, Carolyn Omine, Kathy Collins, and Jake Shimabukuro. Helmed by first-timer Brian Kohne, the film shoots April 16th-May 14th.
Meanwhile at New York headquarters, Diane is busy prepping for the feature MY LAST DAY WITHOUT YOU, which shoots in July into early August. Written by Stefan and Christoph Silber, the film stars German leading man Ken Duken. Casting is being handled by Antonia Dauphin.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010
The New Year is off to a busy start. Diane is currently post-producing a short film she directed, entitled SKATE, starring Toni Sirico. Meanwhile our film THE HUNGRY GHOSTS, written and directed by Michael Imperioli, will have its US festival premiere at the 2010 Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival. Also on that front, a North American distribution deal is in the final stages of being inked - more on that soon.
Out on the Valley Isle of Maui, Stefan is busy working on several screenplays that shoot this year in Europe, developing an original web series with producer Jon Stern, and prepping a feature film that shoots in New York this summer. He will be traveling to the Berlin Film Festival in February for many a meeting with co-writer Chris Silber.
Speaking of Chris, check out his film NORTH FACE, which is in theaters nationwide as of January 29th.
THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
Five New Yorkers - of different ages, races, backgrounds - hunger for sensual, emotional and spiritual fulfillment. Their intersecting and colliding paths reflect the zeitgeist of our times, in which the desperation of the West smacks up against the religious teachings of the East.
Official Site
ARRANGED
Two young women — one an Orthodox Jew, the other Muslim — meet and become friends as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn.
Buy | Netflix | Blockbuster
CONTESTED STREETS
New York City prides itself as the world's most vibrant and dynamic metropolis. Unfortunately, it is also plagued by gridlock, noise, and exhaust-filled air. The film examines the city's past to reveal how this came to pass, and offers contrasting lessons from three European cities - Paris, London and Copenhagen.
Buy | Netflix
THE AMAZING TRUTH ABOUT QUEEN RAQUELA
Raquela, a transsexual from the Philippines, dreams of escaping the streets of Cebu City for a fairy tale life in Paris.
Buy | Netflix
THE HIGHER FORCE
Set in Reykjavik, Iceland, a low-life debt collector becomes the main man of his gang by pretending to have the inside info on a rival crime boss.
Buy
CONFESS
A political thriller that charts the exploits of a disillusioned ex-hacker who captures compromising footage of CEOs, politicians, and members of the power elite. Soon his every action is front-page news, law enforcement has labeled him a new breed of terrorist, and the movement he spawned is spiraling out of control.
Buy | Netflix | Blockbuster
Cicala Filmworks is a full-service film, video, and new-media production company. Headquartered in New York City, the company produces content as varied as documentary programming, industrial videos, TV commercials, web content, and short and feature films.
STEFAN SCHAEFER
A co-founder of the production company Cicala Filmworks, Stefan has worked in independent film for over 12 years. Credits as a writer, director and/or producer include The Hungry Ghosts (2009), The Higher Force (2008), The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (2008), Arranged (2007), Contested Streets (2006) and Confess (2005).
Awards include: the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the Berlin Int'l Film Festival (2008), Best Film at the Brooklyn Int'l Film Festival (2007), Best Screenwriter at the Hamptons Film Festival (2005), Grand Prize in Digital Filmmaking from Panasonic (2004), and the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Screenwriting (2003).
DIANE CRESPO
Diane and Stefan met working in off-off Broadway theatre, where she directed and produced a series of one-act plays he had written. They went on to form the production company Cicala Filmworks, where their initial focus was creating documentaries for clients such as the Guggenheim Museum, the NYC Department of Education, and Roundabout Theatre. As the company grew, she also produced and directed numerous music videos and commercials for clients such as Ben Folds Five, 1-800 Flowers, and 97.9 La Mega.
Recent film credits include producing the documentary Contested Streets (2006), directing/producing the award-winning feature Arranged (2007), and producing a TV pilot entitled Circledrawers (2009) for Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson.