Sheer Force of Will Pictures Opens
Sheer Force of Will Pictures Llc, a new feature film production company, has opened in Glendale, California. The new company is owned by co-founders Kevin Kutchaver, a visual effects veteran who concurrently remains head of visual effects design and production company HimAnI Prods. and feature film producer Linda Drake. Sheer Force of Will Pictures plans to produce two-three original feature films a year. The duo also announced the start of production on the companys first feature film, RESCUE ROCKET X-5, which begins in late February 2005 in Los Angeles.
Kutchaver wrote the original screenplay for RESCUE ROCKET X-5, which he will also direct. George Hock will serve the film as director of photography, bringing to the set his lighting expertise with credits including TITANIC, DANTES PEAK, INDEPENDENCE DAY and THE ABYSS. The film, a retro-style sci-fi comedy, will combine live action and CG VFX segments. RESCUE ROCKET X-5 will star newcomers Tim Halpin, Mark Bedell, Kimiko Rojas, Christina Carter, James McCullough and Mark Sawicki.
The storyline takes place in the year 2041, as a lone rocket ship hurtles through space. On board, waking from cryogenic sleep, is the crew of Rocket Ship X-5, and spearheading the mission is Captain Zach Gallagher, who hasnt been unthawed since 1954. Other mission members are three young soldiers, two of them women. After the crew receives an urgent message from the President to save his sons crashed rocket ship, their ships computer malfunctions, and they must also deal with a smart-ass robot named R.A.L.P.H.
Regarding the new company, Kutchaver said, With Sheer Force of Will, I am hoping to set new standards for the word standards. This new company allows me to cross-pollinate my years of visual effects experience with my dream of writing and directing films people can laugh at on purpose, of course. Our budget for RESCUE ROCKET is extremely limited, but our model suggests to other producers that, with todays technology, there many ways to produce indie films with much more production value than in the past. Imagine what we could pull off if we had some money!
Added Drake, With the advent of the HDV prosumer HD format, we will be able to work with a smaller crew with limited resources and still create a much larger and more impressive final product.
Visual effects work will be done in Newteks LightWave, Messiah and Adobe After Effects, and processed with The Orphanages Magic Bullet, to give the film a stylized, 1950s look.
Kutchaver has been involved in creating, designing and producing visual effects for 25 years, and has more than 150 feature film credits, along with dozens of TV series episodes. He has created VFX for such blockbusters as RETURN OF THE JEDI, GHOSTBUSTERS II, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and its sequel, along with all three ROBOCOP and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, to name just a few.
Kutchaver founded HimAnI Prods., a full service, boutique digital visual effects design and production company based in Burbank, California., in 2001. Kutchaver and HimAni have worked on many feature films and TV series, including the films HELLBOY, TREMORS 3 & 4, X MEN-2, EUROTRIP, LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, and SCOOBY DOO 1 & 2, and the hit TV series Lost and ALIAS, among many others.
After receiving a Doctorate in Film from Northwestern University, Linda Drake moved from Chicago to L.A. She was co-founder and owner/operator of Motion Opticals, a boutique title, optical and visual effects house that has credits on more than 300 independent films. As a member of the Editors Guild, Drake works as a VFX editor. Her credits include STUART LITTLE, BOURNE IDENTITY, BOURNE SUPREMACY, PAYCHECK and TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE.
Sheer Force of Will Pictures can be contacted at (818) 694-2146, and (818) 567-4128, and its Website is www.sheerforceofwill.com.