SHADE” OPENS PHILADELPHIA
FILM FESTIVAL
Philadelphia,
PA, March 22, 2004 - RKO Pictures has teamed with
Philadelphia-area natives Joe Nicolo (Executive
Producer), Carl Mazzocone (Co-Producer), Dina Merrill,
and Philadelphia’s favorite son Sylvester Stallone,
to bring some brotherly love-card shark style-to the Philadelphia
Film Festival with the premiere of SHADE. A gritty
poker picture about grifters and card mechanics
in the shadowy world of the L.A. and Las Vegas
underground, SHADE’s ensemble cast includes Stuart
Townsend (Queen of the Damned), Gabriel Byrne (The
Usual Suspects), Thandie Newton (Mission Impossible 2),
Jamie Foxx (Any Given Sunday), Melanie Griffith (Working
Girl), Hal Holbrook (Magnum Force), Patrick Bauchau
(Carnivale) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, Copland).
The ultra high-stakes card game thriller has been selected as
the opening night film at The Philadelphia Film Festival
on April 8th. SHADE is an RKO Pictures Production
in association with Merv Griffin Entertainment, Hammond
Entertainment, Judgment Pictures and Cobalt Media
Group.
Hammond Entertainment
brought Nicolo into the project after Hammond
optioned SHADE from Merv Griffin Productions.
RKO Pictures then joined the project as a financier,
producer and distributor. The films other producers
include Ted Hartley, Merv Griffin, Chris Hammond and
David Schnepp.
The film is directed by first-time
director, Damian Nieman, who also wrote the script.
Nieman, a former card mechanic and poker player,
knows this world first-hand having honed his skills at the famous
Magic Castle in Los Angeles.
This is the first feature film
for Nicolo, the former president and owner of Philadelphia-based
Ruffhouse /Columbia Records. At Ruffhouse, he
was responsible for launching the careers of Lauryn Hill,
The Fugees, Cypress Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Kris/Kross.
During his 10 years at Columbia Records, Nicolo
also produced Billy Joel’s Grammy nominated
album “River Of Dreams” and worked with such
musical icons as James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith
and The Rolling Stones. In the spring of 2000, Nicolo
sold Ruffhouse Records to Sony and started Judgment
Pictures in Conshohocken.
"We’re excited to share
this film with our family and friends,” said Nicolo.
“How great to be recognized in your home town. I guess
I was very fortunate because I had a great, great cast and production
crew on this film. I think the quality of the movie speaks for
itself”.
Carl Mazzocone is a 21-year
veteran of the film business and is President of Main Line
Pictures. He most recently produced Dumb & Dumberer
as well as the controversial Julian Sands film, Boxing
Helena.
“I love SHADE and
had a great time working on the film,” said Mazzocone.
“Every low-budget production is a challenge, especially
when working with big stars; yet this film captured something
special from the start. The material attracted an exceptional
cast and crew--probably the best I’ve ever worked with.
It’s a rare experience when 150 cast and crew members come
together on a picture, endure long stressful hours of tedious
work and in the process become as close as a family. I give
Joe Nicolo a lot of credit for that. First off, it takes
a lot of courage to finance an independent movie. Joe openly
placed his trust in us all, which filters down and empowers
everyone to do their best.”
ABOUT RKO. RKO
is the oldest continuously operated entertainment company in
the world, dating back to 1882, and boasting a film and script
library of over 1,100 titles. Known for developing, producing,
and distributing feature film and television programs
for worldwide consumption, the RKO brand with its world-renowned
“globe and radio tower” logo is being expanded into
an array of new areas. RKO recently produced Never
Gonna Dance, a Broadway musical stage adaptation
of the 1936 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film,
Swing Time. The Company also has a number of projects
under development with other studios, Suspicion (Dimension),
Monkey’s Paw (Dreamworks) and Every Girl
Should be Married (Paramount). SHADE opens
in select cities nationwide on May 7.
- Craig Zablo
