Central TX movie STRINGS is official Long Island International Film Expo selection

June 21, 2011 - PRLog -- In its 14th year, the LIIFE has grown from humble beginnings to become a staple for film enthusiasts and directors alike. The festival takes place at the Bellmore Movies, a theater that organizers expect will sell out every night, as it has historically done.

Along with the Long Island International Film Expo, STRINGS is an official selection at the Breckenridge Festival of Film, White Sands International Film Festival, Ventura Film Festival and San Francisco Best Actors Film Festival.

“The Greatest Escape,” a song by Billy Harvey, who stars in STRINGS, was awarded BEST SONG at the Breckenridge Film Festival this month. STRINGS was also presented with an AUDIENCE AWARD.

Actors Billy Harvey, Chris Potter, Elle LaMont, Karl Anderson, Jack Lee, Danny Dasent, and Olivia Draguicevich won the BEST ENSEMBLE CAST for their performances in the movie at the San Francisco Best Actors Film Festival in May.

White Sands and Ventura festivals will be held later this summer.

Filmed in Queens, Austin and San Antonio, STRINGS opens with home video footage of Billy and Chavine, a happy young couple about to give birth to their first baby. Two years later, they find their relationship has gravely declined in the wake of their child’s death.
Billy struggles unsuccessfully to get his musical career back on track. After a show, he finds a strange business card that reads: “JACK, EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY.”

The desperate musician soon seeks out Jack to turn his life around. When the therapist calls for him to leave everything behind and take on a new identity, the musician realizes his new life isn't what it seems and his therapist is manipulating patients to commit vigilante crimes.

Ben Foster attended the University of Texas at Austin where he teamed up with fellow writer/director Mark Dennis on several short films.

"When we screened our solo projects for the class, Ben's films always stood out because they seemed like real Hollywood movies,” said Dennis. “They had great production value, clever camerawork, and incredibly slick editing.”

“I hated him for it" laughs Dennis, "but he was definitely the person to be working with."

After co-directing and producing several short films, Dennis and Foster decided it was time to graduate to feature films.

Dennis spent his final semester at UTLA, a satellite campus in Hollywood for students making their way into the entertainment industry.

It was during his time as an intern for Director Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) and Producer Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men, Free Willy) that Dennis learned the ins and outs of the industry.

“I knew it would take me years to climb the ladder in LA, but in Austin I could pool my resources and be in production in no time” recalled Dennis.

“STRINGS Is a movie that wanted to be made,” states Foster. “Every struggle, every obstacle, and all the challenges we faced at each point forced Mark into rewrites that made the story even better.”

Foster says his favorite part of the movie “is the ending.”

“I like the way it turned out at the end,” reflects Foster. “It took some synchronicity to get there, but the end result was worth it.”

After LIIFE, the young filmmakers “are off to Scotland to shoot some external scenes and a trailer for another movie we are working on called RIOT GUN.”

For photos and more information: www.stringsmovie.com