Chapman Filmed Entertainment Ramps up Inaugural Production; Thriller “Trigger” Pegged as First Feature Film Project!

Chapman Filmed Entertainment, the first-of-its-kind micro-budget production company launched by Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, announced today that its first film production will be the thriller “Trigger.” The company has optioned the script from Max Enscoe and tapped Chapman alumnus Basel Owies, ’10 M.F.A. Film Production, to direct the feature. The announcement was made today by Bob Bassett, Chapman Entertainment CEO and Dean of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

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A character-driven thriller, “Trigger” examines two men fixated on what triggers the enormity of evil: a father whose life is destroyed in pursuit of a monster, a son caught in a deadly charade as he tries to unravel his father’s obsession.

Principle photography is scheduled to begin in late summer in Orange, CA.

Travis Knox, formerly senior vice president of Storyline and executive producer of “The Bucket List,” handles all development and production for Chapman Filmed Entertainment while Barbara Doyle, a former production executive with Tri-Star, oversees physical production.

“Trigger” will be produced by Knox. Bob Yari and William Immerman will serve as executive producers along with Adam Rosenfelt and Brian Pitt.

Director Basel Owies graduated from Dodge College’s Conservatory of Motion Pictures in 2010.  His short films have won several awards including Best Featurette at Red Rock Film Festival for his thesis film, “Forced Perspective.”

Writer Max Enscoe won The Christopher Award for his screenplay “The Ron Clark Story” as well as The Humanitas Prize and a WGA Award for “Johnny Kapahala: Back On Board.” His deal was negotiated by Jordan Bayer of Original Artists and attorney Scott Whitehead of McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

Chapman Filmed Entertainment is a sustainable, fully-functioning film production company designed to produce four to six pictures per year in the micro-budget range (budgets in the $250,000 – $625,000 range). Utilizing Chapman University’s unique film resources the company is at the forefront of the emerging trend of micro-budgeted films in the independent film arena.

Current constraints of the traditional economic models of independent filmmaking, combined with enhanced and increasingly accessible technology, make Chapman Filmed Entertainment the answer for a new era of filmmakers and storytellers.

The company was developed over many months during discussions with a wide range of faculty and a variety of friends of Dodge College, in particular, alumnus Tim Kashani, ’08 M.F.A. Film Production, and former faculty member and president of Element Pictures, Adam Rosenfelt, and his business partner Brian Pitt.

Chapman Filmed Entertainment will produce a slate of independent films while creating a new paradigm that will not only significantly increase the exposure of Chapman University but also enable the company to control content at a time when multi-picture deals for independent films are limited yet emerging distribution technologies are becoming increasingly viable.

Employing a unique hybrid of Dodge College post-graduates and a select group of established industry professionals, the productions are designed to keep costs low while maintaining high creative standards and serve as a means of building a bridge into the industry for talented Dodge College students and alumni.