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Film Police!
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Check out the story about "The American Flag" PBS program on Ruth Ratny's Reel Chicago! Hear the interview with Phillip Koch about "The American Flag" PBS program on Public Radio!
click here to play the Tropicana Commercial!
Film Police has been busy lately. Line Producer Phil Koch just
wrapped a brisk two-week production for Michael Winterbottom, a British director best known for directing "A Mighty Heart,"
the 2007 drama about the search for Daniel Pearl in Pakistan by his wife Mariane Pearl starring Angelina Jolie. Winterbottom
is also notable for directing "24 Hour Party People" and "Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" both starring
British Comedian Steve Coogan. Winterbottom came to Chicago to direct introductory scenes for his latest feature film "Genova,"
a ghost story inspired by Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 thriller "Don’t Look Now" starring Colin Firth ("Bridget
Jones," "Pride and Prejudice"). "Genova" mainly takes place in Genova, Italy but Colin Firth’s character
is a University of Chicago professor who has two daughters. Phil Koch said, "Michael needed to complete a number of
scenes within a tight indie-film budget and schedule. He could not afford to fly his British crew over here, in fact
he traveled alone without department heads, a support staff or even an assistant. When a filmmaker of Michael’s stature
travels out of his comfort zone, we have to work extra hard to ensure a smooth production and positive experience that may
result in a return shoot in the future. We coordinated the casting and location scouting during pre-production and we line-produced
and production managed the shoot days." Leading man Colin (modern Darcy in both "Bridget Jones" movies and period Darcy in
"Pride and Prejudice") Firth was not on the Chicago call sheet. Casting Director (and Film Police co-owner) Sally Marschall
was able to work with the director by email and telephone in setting up casting sessions. Veteran Film Police cinematographer
Bob Long was the cameraman. Fletcher Chicago provided the camera equipment including a Sony F900 High Def camera package.
Film Police was recommended to Winterbottom by a producer at BBC London who has worked with Film Police on other projects.
Sally Marschall said, "Michael told us that if he had known in advance how beautiful the skyline, the downtown and the parks
appear on camera, how easy and efficient it is to shoot in Chicago, and the depth of the crew and talent base, he would have
scheduled more scenes here." Earlier this year, Film Police worked with another world-class director,
Lars Von Trier ("Dogville" with Nicole Kidman, "Dancer in The Dark") and his Zentropa Entertainment. Zentropa
is the largest production company in Denmark. Zentropa was commissioned by the Chicago-based Weber Stephens company to produce
a corporate film for the European market for Weber Grills. Zentropa called Koch who Line Produced talent, crew, vehicles,
equipment, locations and other production requirements. Koch said, "We shot in Weber’s factories and test kitchens in
Palatine and Huntley, Illinois." Filming involved staging two backyard barbecues at a Weber employee’s house in Long
Grove, a one week shoot in January to get footage of a Bears Super Bowl party with outdoor grilling in the snow and a one
week shoot in May to get beauty shots of an All-American Midwest backyard barbecue with Spring in full bloom. Marc Menet was
the camera assistant, Andy Cook was the gaffer, Bill Lindgren and Bily Salazar were grips, Steve Lafayette and Mike Capulli
were the soundmen, and Fletcher Chicago provided the Sony F900 High Def camera. Lars Von Trier famously does not travel by
air, only by train or by auto, so Zentropa flew in from Denmark two directors, a Steadicam operator, a cameraman, a writer,
a marketing director, and two producers, everyone making two round trips, Chicago/Copenhagen, for the two shoots. All the
Danes spoke fluent English so there were no communication problems.
click here to play :30 second clip of "The American Flag" click here to play :40 clip of "Tropicana" commercial NEW! Check local listings for PBS broadcast! Go to www.pbs.org/americanflag
Film Police has hosted productions from England, Denmark, Korea, Japan, Canada just this year!
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Film Police is an award-winning film and video production
company. We specialize in high-quality commercials, documentaries, corporate films, and feature films. We will assist you in developing your feature film
projects, preparing screenplays, budgets, and schedules for investor presentations. We are experienced in
casting and production managing. We produce films in the U.S. and around the world.
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