A night of networking with industry experts at The Stellan in NYC last month showcased a film project titled “A life for a Life.” The film produced by Beast of The East Productions is about a young boy who witnesses his mother getting killed. Years later he stumbles upon the killer and confronts him but will he make the easy choice of revenge or the difficult choice of justice? Or will it be the bravest choice of them all? A Life for a Life?
“I believe that in this day and age, this movie has a very important message to tell. That to forgive those who caused you the gravest of harms, can be the bravest thing a person can do.” says director/writer Chandra Kilaru.
Kilaru first fell in love with movies at the age of 7. “A Life for a Life” would be his third project. He directed and produced “Stranger in the Doorway”, his debut feature, which premiered at the Chinese Mann Theater in Hollywood as part of the FAIF Film Festival in 2006. In 2008, he wrote, directed, edited & produced the 15-minute short “A Step toward Heaven.” Last year he wrote a short story titled ‘Killer’ which is a story about a young kid who finds the man who killed his mom and takes revenge on him. “So that got me thinking about on a more complicated question.” “What if the killing was unintentional?” “How would the kid react?” stated Kilaru. “Nowadays we live in a world where more often than not we seek eye for an eye, blood for blood and a life for a life.” “An eye for an eye will make the world a blind place, so at the same time a life for a life will make the world a terrible and lonely place.”
Coincidentally Kilaru met Ramfis through Craigslist. He fell in love with New York when he visited for New Years. “I wanted my next project to be here.” Since he lives in Los Angeles he didn’t know anyone in New York and wanted to have a producing partner who could make this movie here.
Ramfis Myrthil, Co-President/Co-Founder of Beast of the East Productions LLC is the producer of the film and helped host the Kickoff Event with Co-Producer Judy Sahagian. Myrthil is a producer, actor, and writer and founding partner of Beast of the East Productions alongside Adam Lawrence. Their mission is to bring the world of film and media closer to the East Coast. “As far as partnership we work really well together. Ramfis and myself are 24/7 kind of guys. Always working on something, nonstop. We eat, sleep and breathe film and that’s really important because in this industry your work has to be top notch at all times,” says Lawrence. “We wanted to do what Matt Damon and Ben Affleck did,” says Myrthil. “We live by two U’s, urgency and being unreasonable those are the two things we absolutely live by to produce results.”
Myrthil’s short film “Love and The Small Print” premiered at the 2012 65th Annual Cannes Film festival. He is the producer of the new show “What’s Cooking in Real Estate” which is currently being pitched to networks. Ramfis’ feature film “The Swinging Sounds of Jack Amsterdam” is currently in development. He produced the short films “One Last Fix” (Official Selection; 7th annual Queens International Film Festival) and “Super Sunday” (Official Selection; 13th annual Long Island International Film Expo and Anthology Film Archives’ New Filmmakers Summer Series.) When Myrthil first read Kilaru’s script he liked it for its edginess and was something he’d never done before and wanted to get involved.
Judy Sahagian is the Founder and President of JudyNetworks, a full-service real estate marketing firm catering to the growing needs of industry professionals. Judy has also co-founded and executive produced the acclaimed TV show, “What’s Cooking in Real Estate?” with Ramfis. “When I was approached on this project, it was such a great script I couldn’t say no.”
“A Life for a Life” is currently in pre-production, with production scheduled for June 2013.
For more information on Beast of the East Productions and “A Life for a Life” visit:
www.botep.net
www.alifeforalife-movie.com
Photos by: CapturedColor & Shelley Mendoza
