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| Boost |
Exciting news from the Canadian Film Centre comes word of a new
feature project in development, Boost, directed by Darren Curtis, who co-wrote
and co-directed the Can Con cult favourite
Who is KK Downey?
CFC
Features is pleased to announce the selection of a terrific new project for
development currently entitled
Boost. The
project comes to
CFC
Features from writer/director Darren Curtis, and producers John Hazlett,
Antonello Cozzolino and Paul-E Audet.
Boost is a gritty
and thrilling look at 72 hours in the lives of Ankur and Sagar, two teenagers
from Montreal's tough Little India neighbourhood, when a car they are stealing
for the mob is involved in a fatal accident and their friendship is put to the
ultimate test.
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| Darren Curtis in Who is KK Downey? |
Darren Curtis is a graduate of the Communications Program at
Concordia University. Since then he has co-founded the comedy collective
Kidnapper Films, producing over 20 short films. In 2006, Darren co-wrote
and co-directed Who Is KK Downey? an
independent comedy feature which has played over 15 international film
festivals, including Raindance, BUFF, Austin, Oldenburg, Whistler and has won
numerous awards. He has two projects in development, one is The Wolfpack and the other is Flophouse. Boost is Darren's first solo feature as director and writer,
and his first foray into dramatic narrative.
John Hazlett is a filmmaker with over 15 years of
experience. He got started by producing Gary Burns' first two features,
the now classic,
The Suburbanators and
the teen comedy
Kitchen Party,
starring Scott Speedman. [Editor’s note: readers can see
The Suburbanators and
Kitchen Party when they both play at the
upcoming
Gary Burns retrospective presented by the Canadian Film Institute in Ottawa.] John
has since written, directed and co-produced the acclaimed comedy features
Bad Money, starring Graham Greene and
Karen Sillas; and
These Girls,
featuring David Boreanaz and Caroline Dhavernas. Over the years John has
participated in many international film festivals and appeared on numerous
panels dealing with the craft and business of filmmaking. He currently has
multiple projects in development most notably
The Atlantic Gold,
workshopped through the 2010 Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab and
The Wolfpack.
Antonello Cozzolino is the co-founder of Facteur 7. He
has produced several short films, many of which were awarded prizes and
selected for film festivals. He has won a Jutra for Trotteur, and earned two Genie nominations for Best Canadian Short
Film. Antonello has been working with Attraction Images since 2009 as a
feature film producer and has been developing projects in French and
English.
Paul-E Audet studied filmmaking at the Universite du Quebec
a Montreal (UQAM), completed specialized training as a film producer at the
Institut National de l'Image et du Son and received a business law certificate
at the Universite de Montreal. He has produced several short films
presented in many festivals worldwide, most notably L'Effect Secondaire, Le Facteur Pople, A L'Ombre (nominated for a Jutra Award in 2007) and Hyro-Levesque. As assistant
producer for Attraction Images, he actively takes part in the development
and production of feature films, television and documentary projects.
CFC
Features director/executive producer Justine Whyte is keen to get working
on development with the
Boost team,
stating “this is a terrifically engaging story, one of the most promising
scripts to come through our doors, and I'm especially eager to start working on
a strong production and directorial strategy.”
