The photo you see here is from the 2008 indie comedy/drama Bottle Shock; that’s Dennis Farina, on the left, and Chris Pine (who would, soon after, play James Tiberius Kirk in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie).
Bottle Shock, which also starred the great Alan Rickman, is about the early days of wine–making in California’s Napa Valley.
The film was written by Jody Savin and Randall Miller, and directed by Miller (who’s Savin’s husband). Their current project is The Drummer, a bio–pic of the late Beach Boy Dennis Wilson.
Savin and Miller will be in our area in February to produce the historical drama Savannah, which was penned by our own Annette Haywood–Carter.
Haywood–Carter, who’ll also direct Savannah, wrote the TV movies Love is Strange and Blue Valley Songbird, and directed, among other things, the film Foxfire and an episode of the TV series SeaQuest DSV.
She was a script supervisor in Hollywood from 1986 to 1995, working on such titles as Driving Miss Daisy, Cliffhanger and Wrestling Earnest Hemingway.
She teaches graduate classes in filmmaking at SCAD.
Based on a true story, Savannah is about a white aristocrat and a former slave who became unlikely friends and business partners in the early 20th Century.
“Annette,” said Savin, “is a great writer. There is a poetry to her words that evokes a time and place and brings her story to life. She also has an incredible eye for talent.”
The casting process is underway. Filming is expected to begin in Savannah around Feb. 14. John Cay will co–produce with Miller and Savin, under the imprint of their Unclaimed Freight Productions.
And now, this
• Titles have been announced for the 2011 Jewish Film Festival, Jan. 29–Feb. 6 at the JEA, 5111 Abercorn St. Among the features: Nora’s Will, My Brother’s Wedding, Letters For Jenny, The Round Up, Where I Stand (The Hank Greenspan Story), The Yankles and Ahead of Time. You can get all the details at savj.org
• And the comedians just keep on coming. John Boy and Billy, hosts of the nationally syndicated radio program The Big Show (it airs weekday mornings on WIXV–FM, a.k.a I–95, in Savannah) will be onstage at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Feb. 11, along with Tim Wilson, Killer Beaz and Greg Warren. CS
