Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Standbys Has Been Postponed. Date TBD


*Due to the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, we will be canceling this week's opening of The Standbys at all our theaters. In the meantime, check out our post and we will let you know when the new dates will be. 

Peek backstage as three aspiring actors prepare for the chance of a lifetime….to take over the lead in a Broadway show as a standby.  Every year thousands of aspiring actors audition for Broadway each year, waiting for their big break into the spotlight, few ever make it on stage.  Some of the lucky hopefuls get the chance to work as standbys or understudies.

Being ready to give a fantastic performance at a moment’s notice….will your big chance come to play the lead role on Broadway? 

Witness the never-before-heard stories of famous actors who began their careers as standbys and understudies.

Bebe Neuwirth, who started acting as an understudy comments, “It’s a very complicated job to be an understudy…you have to be ready to give a fantastic performance at a moment’s notice.”

The Standbys chronicles the lives of the three actors, Ben Crawford, Merwin Foard and Alena Walters, as they wait for their big break.  Watch what happens when these three Broadway hopefuls finally get their call to go on stage…..

No one wants to be an understudy or a standby forever.  Imagine every day you prepare, working tirelessly for a role that you probably will not ever get to play.  Waiting in the wings, backstage, watching the lead perform the role, a role you know that you are destined to play.  But will your chance come? 

Challenging and frustrating, these roles can help an actor land a lead role on Broadway.  Many famous actors in todays top Broadway shows, movies and on popular television series began as standbys and understudies.

Did you know that Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele of “Glee” were standbys before they hit it big? These are just some of the many performers who launched their careers as understudies, swings, and standbys:

FAMOUS STANDBYS:
Bernadette Peters: Tony award winner and one of the most well known Broadway actresses, she began her career as a standby in the 1967 play, “The Girls in the Freudian Slip” and has been in more than 20 plays and 30 movies.

Bebe Neuwirth: is best known for her roles in “Frasier” and “Cheers,” but Bebe started her career as a standby in “Sweet Charity.”  The Tony Award winner also went on to star in “Chicago” and “The Addams Family” on Broadway.

Taye Diggs: best known for his roles in movies such as “How Stella Got Her Grove” and the Broadway hit “Rent” began his career as an understudy in “Carousel.”

Lea Michele: its hard to believe that an understudy for the character Gavroche in “Les Miserable” could evolve into the lead in Broadway’s “Spring Awakening” and the role of Rachel on “Glee.” 

Matthew Morrison: before he hit it big in his role as Will Schuester on Fox’s “Glee,” Matthew Morrison was an understudy on Broadway, which led to his roles in “Hairspray” and “South Pacific.”




Trivia: Do Understudies perform on stage regularly or do they only perform when a lead actor can’t and spend most of their time back stage waiting?


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

FEATURE OF THE WEEK: Halloween/Dead Souls….A Scary Good Time….. –

Filled with terror, sitting on the edge of your seat in suspense, just waiting for something dreadful to happen…. your heart races as you are suspended in the dark and scary corner of fear knowing a killer will strike.
Wait no more, horror film lovers can rejoice this week with the return of the classic Halloween to the big screen. From Edgar Allan Poe to Beowulf, horror stories have been in our midst for a long time, but no time of year and NO movie, better brings our fears to life than Halloween, when the spiritual and material worlds seem to collide in twisted terror.
  The legend continues this fall with a turn back on the clock to October 1978 in the sleepy town of Haddonfield, Illinois for John Carpenter's immortal classic, Halloween.
 Michael Myers has spent the last 15 years locked away inside a sanitarium under the care of child psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis. Myers escapes and makes his way back home to Haddonfield, turning a night of tricks and treats into something much more sinister for three young women.

Want more,…. Digiplex and the Chiller Network have teamed up to bring you Dead Souls.  A harrowing tale of family secrets and ancient evils, Dead Souls portrays 18 year-old Johnny Petrie who learns he was adopted when he inherits a farm abandoned for the 18 years since his natural family died at the hands of his father, the local preacher.  Uncovering the horrifying details of his father's questionable teachings, the decades-old forces trapped in the home set in motion a heart-stopping finale to a ritual that already claimed the lives of his family.  

Could you survive in the world of the ghosts, haunted houses and the dead?  A killer on the prowl ready to strike his victim, waiting for a grave misstep…terror, suspense, tension…we wait riddled with fear.  Want more?  Join us for Halloween and Dead Souls for a ghoulish good time.

Halloween: October 26, October 27 and October 31

Dead Souls: October 31, November 2, November 3 and November 5th


*Halloween Facebook Costume Contest on Facebook:
Post a picture of you in your best Halloween costume at www.facebook.com/digiplexdestinations  and you just might win a pair of free tickets to Halloween or DEADSOULS.  Winner will be announced by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30th!  May the best costume win!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Chloe and Keith's Wedding 10/19/12 LIVE Q&A Transcript

Check out the LIVE Q&A Transcript with the producers and cast of Chloe & Keith's Wedding below:

Question: Did the lizard really get stoned?
Archie Gips: No, if you stay to the end credits it will say no animals were harmed or stoned during this movie.
Josh Covitt: But that lizard did try to sell drugs to the cast.
Archie Gips: His stage name is Nigel Peppercock
Question: One of the things I think it most interesting is that people think it’s an improv movie. Please discuss the found footage concept.
Dennis Anderson: Sure. Archie conceived the script. The casting process was 6-7 months.
We wanted to find new actors and people, who had natural improv skills, could adapt, and take Archie’s words and take their shot at it. We let them explore it and find their own voice. Archie took a pass after rehearsals and put the script in their voice.
Lindsay Gareth: It was rewarding experience. We rehearsed a lot and it gave us confidence and freedom.
We knew what was expected of us, and we were really prepared. We were able to play with it. You feel like you can do no wrong and you get to play, and it’s a great environment for creativity. You get to grow.
Josh Covitt: It was a fun process. If felt like being at a wedding for a week or ten days. It was a good collaboration between Archie and Dennis and we knew what we had to cover. We hit the moments we needed to, and we were able to experience the wedding of Chloe and Keith.
Chloe and the priest after they were accidentally thrown in the pool by the best man.

Question: Where did you find everyone?
Archie Gips: Dennis, before producing, he worked where the company handled a lot of talent. This was my third film, and I had lots of friends in the business. We cast friends, and friends of friends. We went to comedy clubs, and we took recommendations from friends. We met Josh through Tony Mouleart (who was in the film) who had a relationship with Josh. It’s funny because Josh and I were actually both the groom Keith. When we posted the clip (of the best man knocking the bride into the water) of the film, I was the one who returned the emails because I was acting as the online version of Keith. Casting took 7 months and the key was they were unfound talent. We didn’t want anyone you could recognize. We wanted the audience to feel like this is a real wedding. We were intrigued by that balance of is it real or is it not—it appealed a lot to Jordan (Rider).
Question: You are hot. Are you single?
Lindsay Gareth: No, I’m married, and I’m excited about it!
Question: What percentage was scripted vs. improv?
Archie Gips: It’s hard to say. We’d do takes where we let the actors do what they wanted. So I’d say 50/50.
Question: Talk about found footage. This is the first film that used that concept but did it in a narrative comedic sense.
Archie Gips: Dennis and I have known each other for a long time, and we wanted to work together. We had limited funds, and we wanted to create a low budget high concept film, and we thought of the Blair Witch Project. Several films were copycats in that genre, and I am primarily comedy writer. I thought we could use that concept and turn it on his head. I thought the best event for that was a wedding. We planned to post clips online for distributers and to build an audience and interest. Then I went off and wrote into the script where the groom delivers right to the camera, “you might remember my wife and me from the clips online…” We always had it in mind that we wanted to do this “is it real is it not” thing. Back then when The Blair Witch Project became a hit; the Internet was at its beginning stages. It was really word of mouth. Now everything is really sped up. When our clip went online, we had to think about how we were going to be able to release the film.
Question: Do people think you are really married to Charissa (Wheeler)?
Josh Covitt: No. Well, the funny thing about Charissa is she actually got married right after we wrapped. She married her husband Bob a week after we wrapped in Mexico. We were constantly joking when we were cutting the cake, etc.; I kept saying “Is this ruining it for you?” It was a running gag.
Question: What other films have you been in?
Lindsay Gareth: Born To Be A Star, was a Happy Madison film, and The Comebacks is playing on FX.
Question: What is your best advice for struggling filmmakers? What is the first step?
Archie Gips: The obvious answer is reach out to your family and friends and hit them up for money. Basically people in Hollywood and life, respond to people who have specific ideas and are passionate. If you show passion, people can get behind it. You should share with other people, and get their feedback and build up a safety net of people who can believe in you and great things can happen. We reached out to our actor friends, and we could hear it come alive after a reading. They shared contacts and thoughts. You will meet that person who might have money, or know the right camera guy who donated equipment for the film, which happened for us. Stay confident in what you want to create and great things will happen.
Question: Did you go to film school?
Archie Gips: I did go. I went to NYU. That being said, I would say the greatest thing you could do instead of investing that money in film school, is shoot a movie, and watch tons and tons of movies. Shoot a short, and use that as a calling card.
Dennis Anderson: No, I did not. I studied acting at NYU. Archie and I met after college. Not to make excuses for film school, but there is not only one-way. You will be able to find your route. You get the resources together and make a short.
Lindsay Gareth: I graduated from USC, and I was a theater minor, and I did every student film I could. Being in LA, I auditioned for everything I could while I was in school. I agree with everything Archie said. Invest in making your own stuff and getting it out there.
Josh Covitt: I went to UCLA, and I went to theater school. There were things that prepared me, but it was about getting out there, working on everything that I could, and finding friends I like to perform with.
Question: Which director has inspired you and why?
Archie Gips: I would say Billy Widler is my biggest influence. Not that my films reflect that. His comedy and pathos is timeless. They seem so cutting edge and they were shot 50 years ago. My favorite is The Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. He is a writer director as well.
Dennis Anderson: John Schlesinger and Francis Ford Coppola stand out. They ushered in the most naturalistic acting in cinema. Dog Day Afternoon, Scarecrow, The Conversation, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now. Natural behaving human beings in heightened circumstances.
Josh Covitt: I was guilty of sitting and watching anything that was on TV, but one filmmaker I really like is Joseph Losey. He was a filmmaker from the 60s and 70s. He made The Servant.
Lindsay Gareth: I came from what I saw on screen as a child. I saw comedy, and I wanted to make people laugh and feel good. Clarissa Explains It All made me want to be an actress! I love Apatow, Soderbergh; I like popcorn movies and the comedies. I like to make people laugh.

Don't forget Chloe & Keith's Wedding is now in theaters until Thursday, Oct. 25. Check www.digiplexdest.com for theaters and showtimes. 

Monday, October 15, 2012

"FEATURE OF THE WEEK" Chloe & Keith's Wedding

“FEATURE OF THE WEEK” - Chloe & Keith’s Wedding:

What is the most outrageous thing you’ve ever seen at a wedding?


The perfect wedding…. Every bride dreams of a fairy tale wedding, one of the most memorable days of her life.  Months of planning to ensure everything goes seamlessly, shopping for the gown, the perfect hair, jewelry, make-up…no detail is spared.

What if someone ruined it all in a split second! Watch one of the craziest weddings ever, as Chloe & Keith’s Wedding captures all the mayhem that ensues when a best man trips and knocks the bride into a pool at the alter.

If you’re a bride planning a wedding, a bridesmaid who’s been in her fair share of weddings, or anyone that’s ever been to a wedding, Chloe & Keith’s Wedding will leave you in stitches.  So much more than the usual Bridezilla on her BIG day, you’ll think your craziest wedding story is tame in comparison.

Experience the hilarious hijinks that unfold on the big screen with the genuine feel of an actual wedding as told through the “found footage” shot by the wedding videographers as well as the guests using flip cameras.

Chloe& Keith’s Wedding, the indie-comedy first made famous when a segment of the film was posted as the 2009 “Clumsy Best Man” YouTube clip with over 8 million views online will be playing exclusively in Digiplex Theaters starting on October 19, 2012.

Submit your funniest wedding story…Win 5 free movie passes
Post a comment below about your most hilarious wedding story and the top winner will win 5 FREE movie passes to Chloe & Keith's Wedding.  All entries must be submitted before October 22, 2012.

Watch the trailer below: 






Thursday, October 4, 2012

Chloe and Keith's Wedding Coming to Your Local Digiplex on October 10/19/12



Think your wedding was crazy?  Think again.  Unless you fell into a pool during your vows you have nothing on Chloe and Keith!  One disaster after another happens to Chloe and Keith while their wedding videographers and guests with flip cameras capture it all for the world to see!  Watch it all unfold as well as the story of Jordan, the clumsy best man and Sarah, a bridesmaid who also happens to be Jordan’s ex-girlfriend.  You are cordially invited to Chloe and Keith’s Wedding starting on Friday, October 19 through Thursday, October 25th 2012 at your local Digiplex.