Running time: 16 min. Shooting format: High Definition Sound mix: Dolby Digital 5.1 Year of production: 2010
Director: Brenda Lee Lau Written by: Brenda Lee Lau, Tad Summers Producer: Adam Davis Executive Producers: Brenda Lee Lau, Wilky Lau Director of Photography: Bruce Alan Greene Film Editor: Donna Mathewson
Cast Kim Rhodes K. D. François Chau Ning Wu Jennifer Sun Bell Cricket Richard Tanner Green Grocer Caleb Hunt Davis
Full credits are listed at the end of this document. IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1735337/
A Chinese/American psychological thriller
A distraught mother, a runaway daughter, and a deadbeat dad who’s a member of the Triad’s underworld in urban Los Angeles has a dynamic twist you’ll never see coming.
When the people you love are the people you should fear - run!
Lost’s François Chau and Kim Rhodes of the Suite Life of Zack and Cody star.
K.D. is a single Mom who uses the internet to track down her runaway 15 year old daughter, Cricket, and learns that she’s ripped off a Medical Marijuana dispensary and is living with her deadbeat Dad, a member of the Triad. Deadbeat is a rich multi-cultuural story that embraces the American and Chinese cultures in the blending of Cricket, a Happa, half Asian/Caucasian. Deadbeat - a thrill ride that keeps you guesssing.
After 20 years of learning the craft of storytelling from some of Hollywood's best as an ABC Entertainment Marketing writer/producer(as well as a few other places) I decided to officially take the plunge and producee one of thhe stories I had developed into this short film. Marketing other people's proojects allows me to daily screen and study from very talented film/television creators - story arcs, plot points, character development, reveals, timing, the use of music and find thee elements which pop and make compelling stories to attract a mass audience. The script came to me through a friend whose brother had written a 6 page short about a Mom using the system to track down herr missing daughter. It had a fabulous twist end and I was hooked. We developed the script and the characters adding contemporary settings/situations such as ripping off a mediical marijuana dispensary, setting it in my hometown of Venice, CA, changing the Italian Mafia to the Triad, embracing my family’s diversity of American & Chinese and expanding on the story & characters. Music is so important in my work as a storyteller. It inspires me from beginning to end and I thank all the artists who graciously gavve us their music creating a tone and texture for Deadbeat. We shot the film in 5 days, February 2010, with a couple of pick up days in May. Shooting on such a limited budget/schedule created many challenges, so we had to adjust our production goals accordingly. Our group of professional talent and crew made these compromises into a great looking piece of work. A week before production I broke my ankle and was in a cast up to my knee for the shoot. On our 2nd day our truck loaded with all our props broke down 100 miles away from our location. One of our key characters received a paying gig and their agent cancelled on us day of the shoot so our 2nd (actually my fifirst) choice stepped in and gave a standout performance! Our biggest day of shooting, the entire cast was scheduled, our make-up artist was a no-show and put our production behind 2 hours in getting started until we found a replacement. Even with these minor issues production went smoothly. We spent a lot of time on casting and found phenomenal talent who brought so much to the project. Producing this project in Los Angeles also gave us an amazing pool of talent behind the camera. My husband and I have formed a production company, a bunch of productions, with a slate of projects from features, to TV and web series. Embracing our bi-cultural family some of them focus on American/Chinese themes. Deadbeat is the culmination of so many amazingly talented people dedicating their time to this fun thrill ride. I humbly thank you. Brenda Lee Lau
Brenda Lee Lau Writer / Director / Executive Producer
Award winning writer/producer Brenda Lee Lau has spent years creating extremely successful Entertainment Marketing campaigns for Network Television Programs including Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty and NYPD Blue to name a few. Using these storytelling skills she has now expanded into long form original narrative films. Deadbeat is her first film to hit the screen and focuses on her personal experience of having a bi-cultural famiily and living between two very different worlds. It also embraces her love of ppsychological thrillers and her ability to create twists at every turn. She & her husband have a full slate of feature films and television series ready to develop and produce under their company, a bunch of productions.
Wilky Lau Executive Prooducer
Award winning Creative Advertising Executive expands intoo narrative film. In charge of creattive campaigns for niche advertising industry leader Muse Communications, clients include Honda, Nike, Heineken, Wells Fargo and many more. Wilky's talent of identifying and targeting cross-cultural similarities is now focused on creating long form entertainment product. Wilky was born and raised in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when he was a teenager. His background gives him a unique view of the world and is the focus of a bunch of productions production slate. Languages include Cantonese, Mandarin and English.
Tad Summers Writer
Tad Summers has beenn writing for several years, and "Deadbeat" has been a passion projeect for him, having worked on it in some form or another for ten years. He appreciates Brenda for bringing this vision to life. In addition to several feature length screenplays, Tad has worked in many different areas of the entertainment industry, working on shows such as "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", "Nash Bridges", "Three Sisters", "Just Cause" and "Committed".
Adam Davis Producer
Adam Davis is an award winning writer, producer, director and editor whose entertainment career has spanned 18 years working in fillm and television on both coasts. A graduate of the prestigious NYU Film School, he worked on a number of independent feature films in a variety of caapacities before directing an award winning short film, "The Green Flash" starring Omar Epps (ER, The Mod Squad, House). Moving to Los Angeles, Mr. Davis landed in television working at many production companies throughout the years for all of the majoor studios. As a writer and producer of television commercials, TV ttrailers, and series presentations, Mr. Davis helped launch and promote hundreds of television series on most of the maja or networks. His last film, "The Cookie Thief" starring Eric Roberts played in over 20 film festivals worldwide.
Kim Rhodes as K.D.
Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Kim Rhodes attended Southern Oregon State College, where she earned her B.F.A. in Acting. She received her Master’s in Fine Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia, and continues to train with an acting coach. With such extensive training, it's no surprise Rhodes has graced all acting venues, from the stage to the small and big screens. From Shakespeare to contemporary pieces, Rhodes has performed live theater across the country. She has played such notable leads as Queen Isabel in the Idaho Shakespeare Fest's presentation of Richard II, Biaanca in the Taming of the Shrew and Geraldine in What the Butler Saw, both at the Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia, Frankie in Voice of the Prairie at the Los Altos Conservatory (CA) and Jennifer in the world premiere of William Mastrosimone's Like Totally Weird at the Humana Festival. Her other theater credits include performances at Sttage III (PA) of Mad Forest, Our Country's Good, Season's Greetings, and Bloody Poetryy, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Present Laughter at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and numerous others. Rhodes has also starred in a number of televisioon series on top networks such as Disney and NBC. She is recognized today as Careey Martin, the quirky, single mother of pre-teen twin boys in Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." She was also a series regular on NBC's award-winning series "Another World" and AMC's "The Lot". Rhodes has made guest appearances in FOX's "House," CBS's "Touched by an Angel," "Without a Trace" and "CSI," NBC's "Boomtown," Lifetime's "Strong Medicine," UPN's "Star Trek: Voyager" and Sci-FFi Channel's "Invisible Man." Most recently she played a recurring role as Sheriff Jodyy Mills on the CW's "Supernatural." She has landed lead roles a number of films, incluuding two Hallmark Channel movies: "Mystery Girl" (unreleased) and "Kiss at Midnight" (2008), "Desertion" (2008) , and "Mostly Ghostly" (2008). In 2004, she hit the big screen in "Christmas with the Kranks."
François Chau as Ning Wu
François Chau is a Cambodian-American actor. He is known for his role as Dr. Pierre Chang in ABC's Lost, and as The Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. Chau was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia of Chinese and Vietnamese descent. He has appeared as Koo Yin, a Chinese consul in the drama 24. He also appeared as a Chinese diplomat in Starggate SG-1. Chau has appeared as a guest star in The Unit, NUMB3RS, ER, Baywatch, Alias, Shark, Grey's Anatomy,JAG, Medium, G..I. Joe, Lost, 9/11: The Twin Towers and as Lieutenant Winston 'Vagabonnd' Chang in video games Wing Commander III and Wing.
Jennifer Sun Bell as Cricket
Jennifer Sun Bell began life in El Paso, Texas as the oldster daughter in a military family with an American father and a Korean mother. After changing schools as many as 5 times in one school year, Jennifer was still able to achieve the goal of Valedictorian. While in Atlanta, Georgia Jennifer found a love for acting and singing when she got involved in her high school production of Guys and Dolls. With her focus in acting, Jennifer landed numerous national commercials, independent films, and made for TV movies. Jennifer is working on her acting as well as working on music for several films while residing in Los Angeles.
Phone: (310) 291-7880
Email: [email protected]
Mailing address: a bunch of productions 578 Washington Blvd. #108 Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Official website: www.deadbeatmovie.com
Production company website: www.abunchofproductions.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Deadbeat/148911338503824
Twitter: www.twitter.com/deadbeatmovie/
Brenda Lee Lau, Writer/Director Photo: Kate Turning Executive Producer Photo: Damari Stratford Damari Lau, Wilky Photo: Producer Executive Kim Rhodes Kim Rhodes Foster William Photo: François Chau Chau François Foster William Photo: François Chau & Jennifer Sun Bell Sun Chau&Jennifer François Foster William Photo: Caleb Hunt & Jennifer Sun Bell Sun Hunt&Jennifer Caleb Foster William Photo: Caleb Hunt & Jennifer Sun Bell Sun Hunt&Jennifer Caleb Foster William Photo: Richard Tanner Richard Foster William Photo: FULL CREDIT LIST
Directed by Brenda Lee Lau
Written by Tad Summers & Brenda Lee Lau
Produced by Adam Davis
Produced by Michelle Summers
Executive Producers Wilky Lau Brenda Lee Lau Adam Davis
Cinematographer Bruce Alan Greene
Editor Donna Matheson
CAST K.D. /Jade Cobra Kim Rhodes
Ning Wu/Dad Francois Chau
Cricket Jennifer Sun Bell
Green Grocer Richard Tanner Davis Caleb Hunt
Triad Dragonhead Wilky Lau
Volunteer 1 Karen White
Volunteer 2 Damari Stratford
Pot Store Bouncer L. Michael Burt
Reporter Josh Kalender
Triad Edward Hu Cheryl Bureker
Mom Melanie Leigh Bradshaw
Runaway Teenager Stephanie Rae Anderson
Killer Marc Siciliani
Street Teens Audrey Ella Gaine Sophie Rose Abrams Nick Berwanger Josh Imlay Devin Nasby Arian Azimzadeh Bryan Levine Douglas Carley Jack Clark
Cops John Nasby Kevin Roberts Dennis Alpert
Extras Rhoshan Amir Lou Ann Fox Kelly Walker Otto M. Cenzano, Jr. Amy Montgomery May Valerie Berwanger Kevin A Roberts Marisa Macleod Andrea DeSantis Jacob Mehlbrech Kim Mehlbrech Kirsty Webb Feliz McInnis Sushana Watkis Rafidah Varela Devon Friese Audrey Ganey Andrea DeSantis Todd Mehlbrech Odalys Pomales Vincent Sanchez Lauren Alayne Plagens Stephanie L Pomales Brigitte Buny Joshua Collins LaTonya Marshall
Co-Producer Tanner Bean Valerie Berwanger Bruce Alan Green
Associate Producer John Kearns Jr. Jim Berwanger
Unit Production Manager Brian Runnels
Additional Editing Mike Rafferty Sean Adams Deanne Sakaguchi
First Assistant Director Tim Gagliardo
Second Assistant Director Jason B. McCann
Second Second Assistant Director Rodrigo Jurbina
Assistant Production Coordinator Andy Bonura
Key Set Production Assistant Kevin Roberts
Script Supervisor Amy Pan\
Camera and Electrical Department
First Assistant Camera Marc Yannette
Second Assistant Camera Sean Dahlen
Gaffer Greg Brezovec Timothy Riese
Best Boy Electric Dirk Asbury
Key Grip John Kearns Jr.
Best Boy Grip Mark Legaspi
Dolly Grip Bobby Fever
Grip/Electric Swing Krystal Maughan
Additional Photography Marc Yannette
Still Photographers William Foster Antonio Carrasco
Art Department
Production Designer Roger C. Ambrose
Art Director John Nasby
Assistant Prop Master Chris Antes
Assistant Set Dresser Melda Hekimian
Swing Geoffrey Altrocchi Brandon Dutton
Storyboard Artist Lezlie Lawson
Visual Effects Artist Geoffrey Mark
Title Design Farmer Brown
Sound Mixer Andrew Edelman
Boom Operator Howard Eriksson Ed Casares
Additional Sound Mixer Bill White
Music Supervisor Jennifer Drake
Music Clearance Scott Rhodes
Dialogue Editor John Green
Sound Effects Editor Daniel Salas
Additional Sound Design and Re-recording Mixers Rob Arbitier & Gary Adante
Re-recorded at NOISY NEIGHBORS STUDIOS Los Angeles, CA
Costume Designer Lilia Zurick Additional Costume Design Amy Montgomery
Costume Assistants Cari Avila Lou Ann Fox
Makeup Artist Mindy Pedrick
Additonal Makeup Devon Siegel Amy Montgomery Lilit Alexandrian
Production Assistants Ally Hendrickson Devon Friese Andrew Baron-Vartian Aaron Robinson Christina Mott Matthew H. Jones D.C. Whitehall Tim Schutsky Matt Mazany Rodrigo Lalama Chris Newell Brian Levine Ben Moen Casey Jones Sara Tanger Eric Satisky Ashley Ruben Damari Stratford
Post Production Services by Technicolor
Senior Colorist Wayne Hampton
Post Production Project Manager Kevin Buck
Online Editor Dan Pearce
Titles by Christina Denicola
Post Production Advisor Sylvia Kahn Versace
Casting Consulting Mark Teschner Cedering Fox
Special Thanks Jo Muse & Muse Communications Joe Sonnefeld Marcello Palombi Greg Lee June Wang Ralph Wilson Buado Steven Bakos Daniel Winn – Masterpiece Publishing