Chapman Filmed Entertainment’s “The Barber” Will Have Its World Premiere at Upcoming Busan International Film Festival

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mary Platt
Director of Communications and Media Relations
Chapman University
platt@chapman.edu

ORANGE, Calif. – Chapman Filmed Entertainment’s debut feature “The Barber” (formerly “Trigger”), starring Scott Glenn (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Training Day”), and directed by Chapman alumnus Basel Owies, has been made an official selection of the 19^th Busan International Film Festival – Asia’s largest film festival – which will host the World Premiere of the film on October 3^rd.

A suspenseful, character-driven thriller with a twist, “The Barber” 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.

Starring opposite Scott Glenn are Chris Coy (“Deliver Us From Evil,” HBO’s “True Blood,” AMC’s “The Walking Dead”), Stephen Tobolowsky (“Memento,” “Groundhog Day,” “Buried”), Olivia Taylor Dudley (“Transcendence,” “Chernobyl Diaries”) and Kristen Hager (“Wanted,” Syfy’s “Being Human”).

Chapman Filmed Entertainment’s Travis Knox (“The Bucket List”) produced “The Barber.” Bob Yari and William Immerman are executive producers. Max Enscoe wrote the screenplay.

Chapman Filmed Entertainment is the first-of-its-kind film production company run through Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

Bob Bassett, head of Chapman Filmed Entertainment and Dean of Dodge College said, “To get a world premiere at such a prestigious film festival is tremendously exciting and rewarding at the same time because there is immediate validation of the movie’s quality and international playability. It’s a great win for our first film and we could not be more proud of everyone involved.”

The officially premiere date won’t be set for another few weeks but the Festival runs October 2-11, 2014.

As part of their academic program, Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts will bring a group of 10-15 Dodge College students to the 19^th Busan International Film Festival to further their education on Korean and Asian cinema. Led by Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Dr. To Nam Lee, Dodge College students will have the chance to attend film screenings and write a report about each one; learn about the global film industry from notable filmmakers during the festival’s panel discussions; and participate in educational workshops aimed at developing young talent.

About Chapman Filmed Entertainment:

Chapman Filmed Entertainment (CFE) is a sustainable, fully-functioning independent film production company designed to produce four to six pictures per year in the micro-budget range (budgets in the $250,000 – $1.5M 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.

The current constraints of the traditional economic models of independent filmmaking, combined with enhanced and increasingly accessible technology, position Chapman Filmed Entertainment to take advantage of the production and social media talents of the new era of young filmmakers and storytellers.

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.

CFE’s executive team is led by CEO Bob Bassett (Dean of Dodge College) and key Dodge College faculty including Travis Knox, formerly senior vice president of Storyline and executive producer of ”The Bucket List,” who handles all development and production for the company while Barbara Doyle, a former production executive with Tri-Star, oversees physical production.

About Busan International Film Festival:

The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (also Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival in September 1996, was also the first international film festival in Korea.

The focus of the BIFF is to introduce new films and first-time directors, especially those from Asian countries, to attendees of the Festival and to the world. Another focus of the festival is to build appeal to the younger generation, both in terms of attracting festival attendance and participation through its efforts to develop and promote young talent.

In 1999, the Pusan Promotion Plan (renamed Asian Project Market in 2011) was established to connect new directors to funding resources.

The 16th BIFF in 2011 saw the festival move to a new permanent home, the Busan Cinema Center in Centum City. The Busan Cinema Center is an estimated $150 million structure designed by Austria-based architecture collective Coop Himmelblau. The nearly 30,000 m² Cinema Center includes a 4,000-seat outdoor theatre, four indoor screens under an LED-covered roof, media center, archive space, and conference rooms, allowing the festival to include industry forums and educational activities.

About Chapman University:

Consistently ranked among the top universities in the West, Chapman University attracts highly qualified students from around the globe. Its programs are designed to encourage leadership in innovation, creativity and collaboration, and are increasingly recognized for providing an extraordinary educational experience. The university excels in film and media arts, performing arts, educational studies, economics and business, law, humanities and the sciences. Student enrollment in graduate and undergraduate programs is approaching 7,000, and Chapman University alumni are found throughout California and the world.

Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts:

One of the premier film schools in the country, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers students the unique opportunity to learn filmmaking in a hands-on environment modeled on a working studio.  The college is comprised of the Sodaro-Pankey Undergraduate School of Film and Media Arts, offering degrees in film production, film studies, screenwriting, creative producing, television and broadcast journalism, public relations and advertising, screen acting and digital arts; and the graduate Conservatory of Motion Pictures, offering M.F.A. degrees in film production, film and television producing, production design, documentary film and screenwriting, and an M.A. in film studies. Two joint M.F.A. degrees in producing are also offered in conjunction with the business (M.F.A./M.B.A.) and law (M.F.A./J.D.) schools. Dodge College is housed in Marion Knott Studios, a state-of-the-art, 76,000-square-foot studio and classroom building that provides students with 24-hour access to sound stages, edit bays, Dolby surround mixing, a motion capture stage and more.  With an Oscar and Emmy-award winning full-time faculty that boasts more feature film credits than any other film school, Dodge College is where students learn the entertainment business from the inside out.

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