Hollywood Seagull (2013)

Hollywood Seagull is the explosive drama of the 11 triangled relationships of three generations of a Hollywood film family all obsessed with love, lust, art, and fame based on Chekhov's play The Seagull.

Synopsis

Travis Del Mar is young, handsome, talented, and in love with Nina Danilov, a beautiful Russian actress. He's got it all -- he lives rent-free with his grandfather Bruce, a retired judge, on a gorgeous Malibu estate on the cliffs above the crashing Pacific and has just completed a short film of great beauty and ambition which he hopes will earn him fame and glory. But instead of confident and joyful, Travis is depressed and sarcastic and alcoholic. His mother, the movie star Irene Del Mar, who is visiting from New York with her younger, successful film director boyfriend Barry Allen Trigger, was never very nurturing to Travis, and now not only dislikes Nina but does not want to share the family spotlight with her son. No wonder he drinks. The screening of Travis' film in front of family and friends is a disaster: Irene interrupts the film and Travis storms off. At the party afterward, Nina meets Trigger -- sparks. Nina and Trigger grow closer over the following days, much to Irene's chagrin, and Travis becomes more despondent and neurotic. Moping on the beach, he throws a rock and kills a seagull. Like a crazy man, he presents the dead bird to Nina. The gift does not please her. When Travis witnesses Trigger and Nina kissing he loses it and grabs a gun. Boom! Thankfully it is just a flesh wound but Nina is freaked out and runs off with Trigger.

Two years later, Trigger dumps Nina and goes back to Irene. Nina becomes a drug addict and Travis, whose film ironically has become a great success, rescues Nina from a dive bar in Texas and gets her into a Malibu rehab. Grandpa Bruce has a stroke and Irene and Trigger wing back to California to visit. Nina escapes rehab and returns to the estate for one final date with destiny. And yes, the gun is involved.

Director's Statement

"I want more!" says Bruce Sorenson on his deathbed, in Hollywood Seagull. And isn't that what we all want, "more?" More of everything! More love, more money, more fame, more of the sweetness of life? Is there ever enough? This is a film about what it means to be human -- to want, to get, to lose, to regret -- and to want some more.

-- Michael Guinzburg, Writer/Director/Producer

About the Cast

Lara Romanoff (Nina Danilov)

Lara Romanoff was born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in the former Soviet Union, a city of clouds and mountains and great fluffy dreams. She grew up the daughter of a Russian schoolteacher mother and a German father who was Superintendent of Fisheries and regularly took her hunting for wild boars. A competitive acrobat and trampoline artist, she graduated high school at 16 and bounced her way to Moscow to study acting. She worked in a bread factory to support her dream and graduated with honors from the prestigious VGIK University for film and theater in Moscow, where she was trained in all disciplines, from fencing to horseback riding to film editing. She graduated with honors, with a major in acting. Her Russian stage work includes the role of Adela in the national touring company of Home of Bernarda Alba by Garcia Lorca, directed by Gena Shaposhnikov. Her numerous Russian and German film and TV credits include the acclaimed Love.ru; Volkov's Hour; Gelibte Schwester; and The Morning Is Not For Girls. Her extensive advertising work includes memorable spots in Russia and globally for Megafon, Mercedes, Coca Cola and other corporate giants. American audiences will remember her for her steamy, emotionally raw work in David Watkins' Kinescoping Dr. Travis, and in Cellular with Kim Basinger. Her U.S. stage work is highlighted by the acclaimed national tour of Tell Hell I Ain't Comin' where she stole the show in the role of "Candy."

William Biff McGuire (Judge Bruce Sorensen)

An alumnus of Massachusetts State College, Biff McGuire made his Broadway bow in the 1948 revue Make Mine Manhattan. McGuire went on to a featured role in the 1949 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical South Pacific, and later starred in the long-running sex comedy The Moon is Blue. During the 1960s and 1970s, he starred in touring productions of Finian's Rainbow and Camelot, returning to Broadway sporadically.

McGuire was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actor: in 1997 for The Young Man from Atlanta, and in 2002 for a revival of Morning's at Seven.

In films since 1955's Phoenix City Story, McGuire has played authoritative roles in such seminal productions as The Thomas Crown Affair (1968); Sydney Lumet's Serpico (1973); and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968) from the novel by Carson McCullers. A frequent visitor to television, Biff headlined two different episodes during the first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His small screen credits span the history of the medium, from 1950's Pulitzer Prize Playhouse to Barnaby Jones to Frasier, from Gunsmoke to Kojak to Hawaii Five O, E.R. and Law and Order, among many others.

Will Poston (Travis Del Mar)

Will was born in Texas and moved often during his childhood, the son of a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army. Living in six different states and two different countries by the time he was 9 years old, Will entertained himself on the various military bases by using his imagination.

Rather than following in his father's footsteps, he chose to move to NYC to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse. After a few years in New York, performing on stage (Fool For Love; Bus Stop; Picnic; Orpheus Descending) and working in television (As The World Turns; Guiding Light; Conviction), Will decided to move to Los Angeles and continue his pursuits as an actor. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles he auditioned and won the lead role of Travis in Hollywood Seagull. Will can also be seen in Cinemax's 2011 Femmes Fatales.

Barbara Williams (Irene Del Mar)

Barbara Williams is a Canadian Actress who has starred in many films, including Thief of Hearts, City of Hope, and JoJo Dancer. She won the Canadian Emmy for Best Actress in Mother Trucker and her US credits for television range from Star Trek to CSI to Flash Forward.

Among her many stage roles, she portrayed Amelia Earhart in the musical Amelia at Canada's National Arts Center, Joan Baez at L.A.s Met Theatre, and Lady Macbeth in La Jolla under Tony award winner Des McAnuff's direction. As a musician she has performed in the U.S. and Canada, often in concerts devoted to Peace, Worker's Rights or the Environment. She is currently "penning" a memoir based on her life growing up in the logging camps of the British Columbia rainforests.

Blake Lindsley (Mandy)

Blake Lindsley was born and raised in Los Angeles and educated at Yale University. She began performing as a teenager, doing voiceover for animation and singing at the Aspen and Salzburg music festivals. Early film work includes Doug Liman's Getting In and Swingers. Immediately upon receiving her B.A. in Theater from Yale, Blake shot Starship Troopers with Paul Verhoeven and Dogtown with George Hickenlooper. Over the past decade Blake has performed extensively with the Pasadena Playhouse and South Coast Repertory, among other regional theaters, in such roles as Amanda in Private Lives, and the title roles in The Countess and Hedda Gabler, as well as the lead in the world premiere of The Ice-Breaker at the Magic Theater in San Francisco. She has guest-starred on many popular television series, including Criminal Minds; Without A Trace; CSI; Cold Case; Crossing Jordan; Frasier and NYPD Blue, among others.

Stevie D. White (Melvin)

Stevie White, originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, has been passionate about acting all of his life. At 6 years old, he would emulate the actors on television and perform for his mother and siblings, keeping the family alternately spellbound or in stitches of laughter. As a teen, Stevie starred in many high school and church plays and has performed in several local community plays such as A Raisin In The Sun; The Mighty Gents; Taming Of The Shrew; and Club Rumboogie, to name just a few. His independent film work ranges from Almost Gangsta to Book Of 1000 Deaths.

Jay Laisne (Barry Allen Trigger)

After studying theater and film at UCLA and winning a slew of awards along the way, Jay took a 14-year break from acting. He built a strong family and business during that time. In 2006, his five-year-old son Julian asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. And when Julian heard the answer he said, "Then why aren't you doing it, Daddy?" Jay had no good reply. With prodding from friends and family, he decided to jump back into acting full-time. Since then he's been working non-stop, shooting 23 films including Girl with No Number; Humanity's End; Butterfly; Change Your Life; Six Impossible Things; Adventures of Umbweki; Trick; Even If; 20 Second Rule; A Mormon President; I See, Conspiracy Game; Weekend Encounter; Shelf Life; How to Get a Straight Guy; Harvest; 1505; and Baby Shoes.

He's appeared on television shows such as Paul Cruz Latin Actor and Manswers, as well as numerous television commercials.

Time Winters (Frank)

Time Winters was born in a far-off land, but raised on the West Coast of this one. He was told at a young age that "whatever interests you now is what you'll grow up to be." Sadly, he has had a life-long love of monsters and that is what he grew up to be -- or, rather, an actor in some monster movies, including the films Dark House, Darkening Sky and 2084. His other film work includes The Runaways (with Dakota Fanning); The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers; Nosferatu L.A. '02; The Little Princess; Doc Hollywood; Defending Your Life; Thinner; Sneakers; Gremlins II; The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and several others.

On TV, he has worked with some kick-butt talent on shows such as HBO's Carnivale; Hidden Places; ER; Criminal Minds; The District; Scrubs; Buffy The Vampire Slayer; Judging Amy; and as one of the first Cardassians on Star Trek: Next Generation.

Stage work in theatre is what actors did before cameras were created, and Time has been in over 200 theatre productions, working on Broadway and across the United States.

Sal Viscuso (Dr. Don Dorn)

After spending months immersed in studying Chekhov's works, Sal was a natural to play "Dr. Dorn" in Hollywood Seagull. He is known for his work in Mel Brooks' Spaceballs; Joe Sargent's original The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 and in Anne Bancroft's Fatso. The highlights of his early television career include SOAP; M.A.S.H.; and Barney Miller.

His favorite stage role was "Roma" in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.

His last significant television job (in a part written for him) as "a serial subway rapist" named Sal in the premiere season of Law & Order: S. V. U. He's hoping that his work in Hollywood Seagull will redeem him and that the nuns and priests may welcome him back to his old Parish, "Our Savior."

Christopher Callen (Pauline)

Aptly named for the patron saint of travelers, Christopher's work as an actress and singer has taken her to over 40 countries. Now living and working in Los Angeles, her roots are in the Broadway stage, where she starred in 12 productions. Some of her many Tony-winning and Tony-nominated productions include Lend Me A Tenor; Fiddler on the Roof; The Desert Song; Over Here!; 1776; and the revue Rodgers & Hart.

Television audiences will recognize her from numerous guest appearance and regular roles on One Life To Live; The Young & the Restless; Bronx Zoo; and Webb Girls.

Ms. Callen also starred in a web re-make of Fawlty Towers -- playing a variety of outrageous characters. She also appears on MTV and CWC in two music videos -- one with Randy Travis (Faith in You) and another with Toby Keith and Mica Roberts (What Mama Don't Know), playing "Mama."

Christopher's film credits include Little Saigon and Hollywood Seagull, as well as the horror classic Insides of the Lamb; in addition, she is seen in Showtime's The Enchanted. She is perhaps best known to moviegoers for her work opposite Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro in the cult classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Oleg Vidov (Nina's Grandfather)

Oleg Vidov was born in the suburbs of Moscow on 11 June 1943 to Varvara Vidova, a teacher, and Boris Nikolaievich Garnevich, an economist. As a child he lived with his mother, who worked for the Soviet government in the field of education in Mongolia and East Germany. When his mother was sent to China on assignment, he went to live with his aunt Anuta in Kazakhstan. Eventually he moved with his mother and aunt to Moscow. At 18, competing against hundreds of would-be actors, he was accepted to the acting department of the state film school VGIK, the same university attended years later by Lara Romanoff.

Oleg appeared in 50 films since 1961, mostly in starring roles. He was a sex symbol of his generation in Russia, and many of his films are still played on Russian television today. Here his credits include Red Heat; Wild Orchid; and Thirteen Days.

Lora Wingert (Young Nina)

Beautiful and wise beyond her years, Lora is an actress, athlete and model who has lived in America, Germany and Russia and speaks all three languages fluently. She lives in Los Angeles, attends high school fairly regularly, and has studied acting with Aaron Speiser and Kid Factor. She has trained in gymnastics, martial arts, yoga, and synchronized swimming and is a competitive swimmer on two continents. Hollywood Seagull is her feature film debut.

Jorge Moreno (Juan)

Jorge Moreno was born and raised in Cajamarca, Peru, the ancient seat of the Incan civilization. He attended the University of JFSC where he received a degree in physical education. Subsequently he moved to Southern California where he now resides with his wife and family. As Juan the gardener in Hollywood Seagull, Jorge brings a smoldering presence, realism, and a super sense of comic timing to his film debut.

About the Crew

Michael Guinzburg (Writer/Director/Producer)

A native New Yorker, Michael Guinzburg is the author of such high-octane novels as Beam Me Up, Scotty; The Plumber Of Souls; and Top of The World, Ma!, which have been published internationally to critical acclaim. New York Newsday said of Guinzburg's work: "Welcome to the writing of the future."The late Terry Southern called Beam Me Up, Scotty "A great book. The hardest, purest American prose since Faulkner's Sanctuary." Hollywood Seagull is his directing debut.

Steve Gould (Producer)

Steve Gould was born in Glendora, California, but has lived primarily in Massachusetts since attending college in Boston. He currently lives on Cape Cod with his wife Jan. Steve has degrees in economics and finance, has worked in education and banking, has owned and operated a small local business and bought, sold, developed and financed commercial and residential properties.

Steve supports small and community based individuals and organizations in every possible way. Steve is a student of alternative futures.

J. Todd Harris (Executive Producer)

Todd Harris is the CEO/founder of Branded Pictures Entertainment. Originally from New York City, Mr. Harris earned his BA and MBA from Stanford. Between undergraduate and business school, he served as Managing Director of the award-winning Palo Alto-based repertory company Theatre Works. Mr. Harris has produced 37 films ranging in budget from under $1M to over $40M, including five Sundance Film Festival entries, two films that have appeared in the Toronto Film Festival, one that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and another that garnered a Special Mention for the Camera D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His most recent productions include Sundance entries Bottle Shock starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine (released in 2008), Golden Globe-winning and Oscar nominated The Kids Are All Right starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo, and the independent features Miss Nobody and The Family Tree. He is also prepping Crooked Arrows, the first mainstream lacrosse movie from Hollywood. From 2003-2007, he served as President of Production for Intellectual Properties Worldwide (IPW), where he produced remakes of the horror films It's Alive and Piranha. Prior to working with IPW, Mr. Harris was President of Davis Entertainment Classics, the independent arm of Davis Entertainment at 20th Century Fox, and a partner in Daly-Harris Productions with television star Tim Daly at Paramount. He also executive produced Piranha 3D.

Don Edward FauntLeRoy (Cinematographer, Executive Producer)

Don E. FauntLeRoy's grandfather was a still cameraman and his father an optical cameraman. From them came Don's interest, then passion for the industry. He was accepted into the American Society of Cinematographers with only 7 years' experience as a Director of Photography. His reputation as one of the most talented young cinematographers grew rapidly. Don's major break came in 1994 when he was given the opportunity of shooting David Wolper's epic mini-series North And South III, which culminated with the ASC honoring him with a nomination. His most recent films have been Today You Die; Mercenary for Justice; Stan Lee's Light Speed; and Once Upon A Time In the Hood or Sony Pictures, all of which were directed and photographed by Don. Don's technical knowledge is formidable, and his experience is virtually unsurpassed. Starting as an assistant Cameraman in 1972, he has worked with some of the finest directors and cinematographers in the business, including Harry Stradling, Peter Hyams, Michael Chapman, Martian Scorsese, Robert Surtees, Herbert Ross, Haskell Wexler, James Cameron, Adam Greenberg, Richard Donner, Sam Peckinpah, Billy Wilder, Steven Spielberg, and Blake Edwards, to name a few. His style, speed, and exuberance reflect his intense professional background. He has since gone on to direct and photograph some of the screen's most interesting talents, such as Sam Shepard, Dean Stockwell, Diane Keaton, Stockard Channing, Diane Lane, Mimi Rodgers, Elizabeth Pena, Rutger Hauer, Jacqueline, Bisset, Linda Hamilton, and -- of course -- his gorgeous wife, Lesley-Anne Down.

Scott Conrad, ACE, AMPAS (Editor)

Scott Conrad, the Academy Award-winning film editor (Rocky), began his career in 1964 at 20th Century Fox. Twenty years old at the time, he worked his way up from the mail room. The more he learned about the craft of film making, the more he was drawn to film editing. Producers and directors such as Frank Schaffner, Vincente Minnelli and Robert Wise encouraged Conrad, explaining that editing was the key to good film making. After working as an apprentice and assistant for two years, Conrad became impatient waiting for the opportunity to actually cut a film of his own. In 1966 he returned to college, majoring in Cinema at the University of Southern California where he was mentored by legendary professors Bernie Kantor and Herb Farmer and exchanged ideas with fellow students John Milius and George Lucas. While engaged on his senior project, Conrad, who had been working part time at 20th Century Fox to pay his tuition, was offered an opportunity that he couldn't turn down: The film editor on Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid was fired by director George Roy Hill. The assistant editor, John Howard, was given the job of editor and in turn asked Conrad to move up from apprentice to assistant editor. Needless to say, even though it meant dropping out of USC, he accepted. George Roy Hill's assistant on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was Ron Preisman, a close friend of Conrad. While on location in Colorado, Preisman asked Hill if he could use Hill's 16mm Bolex to shoot a few of the background scenes, such as the train's safe being blown up. Conrad and Preisman began collaborating on what other scenes they could film and came up with the idea of doing a behind-the-scenes documentary: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It won an Emmy for Best Documentary. The documentary launched Conrad's career as an editor and in 1972 he was finally able to attain recognized status as a film editor. At first he worked as an Associate Editor under the legendary editors Lou Lombardo (The Wild Bunch) and Danford Greene (M.A.S.H.). In 1974 he teamed up with director-actor-producer L.Q.Jones to edit A Boy & His Dog. That film was not only a success at the time it was released, but has gone on to become a cult favorite and is still played in art house theatres today. Finally, in 1976 Conrad was given the opportunity he had been looking for when fellow editor Richard Halsey asked Scott to help him edit Rocky. Their collaboration resulted in an Academy Award for Best Film Editing and his career took off.

Evgeny Shchukin (Composer)

Evgeny Shchukin is a composer and sound engineer born in Moscow, Russia. He graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute in 1990 and Moscow Jazz College in 1993. He began his career arranging many songs for Russian pop, rock and rap artists.Both a composer and arranger, Evgeny enjoys a versatile music career in both film and live performance. He has worked on the score orchestrations for nearly 20 feature films and TV series, including Apocalypse Code; S.S.D.; and Carmelita. The more recent projects that Evgeny scored include the horror/action film Mantikora; the drama Obet Molchaniya; and the television comedy Once At Baden-Baden. He is also very active in the pop music industry, writing and/ or arranging and producing songs for many Russian celebrity artists such as Valery Leontyev, Felix Zarikati, Alexander Malinin, and Russia's renowned opera diva Victoria Sukhareva, among many others.

Doug White (Jazz Compositions)

Composer, singer, tenor saxophonist featured throughout Europe and the East Coast with legendary singer Annie Ross (of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fame), Doug White has enjoyed international acclaim at the helm of his own trios and quartets since the early 1970's. Offering a program that ranges from bop to ballads, catchy original material as well as great standards, blues and modern-style improvising, Doug has entertained at New York City's Supper Club, Jubilee, Bubble Lounge, and Rainbow and Stars, London's Pizza On the Park and Green Room along with private engagements in Paris and Provence. He has performed at a number of European festivals as well, including Ireland's Guinness Jazz Festival, where he was the subject of a two-hour documentary on RTE television, and has been the subject of profiles on the BBC World Service. In addition, Doug has performed with Milt Hinton, Tommy Flanagan, and Joe Puma. He was mentored early in his career in New York by Warne Marsh and Miles Davis. "A very solid tenor saxophonist!" Gary Giddins, Village Voice.

Doug White's interest in musical composition was sparked by another of his mentors, film composer Sam Coslow, who was a major force in Paramount Pictures during Hollywood's golden era and whose standards are still well known today. Doug White is also the founder of the independent record label Juniper Records.

Vladimir Vysotsky (Featured Musical Artist)

Vladimir Vysotsky was an iconic Russian actor, singer-songwriter and public figure. An anti-establishment singer of the 60s and 70s in the former Soviet Union, his opposition to authorities resulted in periodic bans of his songs. His stardom and his influence, as a voice of the people and an agent of change, was unparalleled. He was Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, James Dean, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holliday -- prophetic, poetic, iconic, tragic -- all in one, larger than life.

An alcoholic workaholic, he died while asleep at his home in Moscow on 25 July, 1980. Two million people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of his coffin. His numerous fans across Russia and the world continue the tradition of memorial concerts and gatherings on the 25th of July every year. His flower-adorned grave at Vagankovskoe Cemetery in Moscow is a sacred site of pilgrimage for his fans.

Vladimir Vysotsky's remarkable voice and style has been a lasting influence on Russian actors and musicians. Though he was ostracized and continually hounded by the Soviet officialdom, he achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime and remains a towering figure in Russian popular culture.

About the Location: Villa Francesca, Malibu, California

Situated on the sun-swept, wind-whisked bluffs of Malibu, above the foaming waves and warm sand beaches with seagulls swooping above in the skies, the Villa Francesca is the perfect place to film a movie ... A lawn green as a dream of Ireland, a pool designed for the most sensual of dips, wine and food and conversation that would make Oscar Wilde wild at heart and soul, what better place to capture the deep universal truths of Anton Chekhov's classic 1895 theatrical masterpiece?

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Opened Wednesday, December 25th, 2013

Opened Friday, December 27th, 2013