Film's Producers to Visit 

By BRENNAN LEATHERS

News Writer

The Post-Searchlight

Story Released: May 8, 2010

 

Representatives of the film production company preparing to shoot a Christian-themed movie in Decatur County are coming soon to work on pre-planning for the project.  Four top production executives with Desert Wind Films, which plans to make “Fishers of Men” in Bainbridge later this summer, will be flying into Tallahassee and coming up to Bainbridge for a visit on May 19.  On that date, Desert Wind Films CEO Joshua Mills, CFO/executive producer Steve Camp, President of Physical Production/Producer T.J. Amato and Andrew Miller, who is working on development and production of the film, are all scheduled to meet with Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Bainbridge-Decatur County Development Authority. 

 

The purpose of the meeting will be to secure locations and finalize the scheduling for Desert Wind Films to film the trailer and 20 minutes’ worth of the movie during a period of about 10 days sometime in June. The movie-makers will return in late July or early August for an additional 22 shooting

days to complete shooting the film.  On May 20-21, Mills and Amato will be scouting locations for the movie with help from McCaskill’s staff.  At the same time, Camp will be holding one-on one meetings with people interested in investing in the movie’s production.  Several meetings have already been set up.

 

Any parties who would like to schedule a meeting about the film’s financing can make an appointment by calling (818) 887-1446.  The production crew will return in June to hold a workshop, which will explain how people can otherwise be involved

with the movie before shooting begins.

 

 Cleveland, OH Desert Wind Films is set to finalize shooting of the documentary “Sugar Wars” 

March 1st, 2010

 

 

Los Angeles based production company Desert Wind Films, takes to the streets of historic downtown Cleveland this month. DWF will be shooting the final scenes of their documentary piece "The Sugar Wars". The Film is based on the life of recently deceased former Mobster Angelo Lonardo, a founding father of the Cleveland mafia. Angelo Lonardo was one of the highest-ranking Mafia chieftains to turn state's evidence until Gambino family underboss Sammy "the Bull" Gravano.  After turning on the Mob and helping the U.S. government take down dozens of his former friends and colleagues, Angelo was granted access to the FBI's Federal Witness Protection Program. 

 

Angelo’s life was complicated, growing up under his father, “Big Joe” Lonardo, then founding father of the Cleveland Mob. Big Joe rose to power as a sugar baron, due to the major business of turning corn sugar into bootleg alcohol during prohibition. During a peace meeting in 1927 he was gunned down by suspected henchman of Angelo Porrello, his competitor and long time family friend. Big Joe’s influences are still apparent in Cleveland today having an impact on modern Unions and city infrastructure.The film encompasses the life of young Angelo from his vengeful murder of Black Sam Todaro, to following in his father’s footsteps as one of the most influential characters in mafia history.He led the family until 1984, when he was convicted of running a drug ring and was sentenced to life in prison. Angelo fearful of spending his remaining days in jail turned and worked as a witness for the FBI, exposing the inside workings of the national network of the “La Cosa Nostra”. The Cleveland family was ravaged by the FBI and other law enforcers to the point where it was thought to have no living members outside of prison by the early 1990’s.After several years living in obscurity and on his deathbed, he came out of hiding at 90 years old to tell his story. 
  

 

The narrative screenplay written by Richard Deutch will be produced by Los Angeles based production company Desert Wind Films and directed by Thomas “TJ” Amato. TJ, a native to Cleveland has a special interest in this project.“I’ve always hoped that one day I would be in a position to tell a story about my hometown Cleveland. This has been a passion of mine, and I am thrilled that Desert Wind Films will be sharing this story, Sugar Wars” with you. This compelling story is a historic saga on the Cleveland Mob, and will become a chronicle for historians in years to come.”Desert Wind Films was co-founded by Amato in 2007 with current CEO Josh Mills.“We organized Desert Wind for the purpose of producing quality and intelligent content that not only entertains, but educates our audience. That’s why Sugar Wars is a perfect fit. We are thrilled to be working with the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and proud to support the community. We intend to use both local production staff and local actors”, said Mills.    Desert Wind is currently seeking distribution and is scheduled to be completed by late March.Amato concluded by saying, “people have been asking if a feature film version of “Sugar Wars” is underway. I can’t say too much right now, but visit our website in the near future for news on that.” 

Please visit www.DesertWindFilms.com for updates on Sugar Wars.   

 

In the last Desert Wind Films' Ask the Expert we looked at how the real estate business and the film business are similar.  However, many people talk about the film business in completely different terms than a building.  Part of this may have been fostered by the image of the movie business as being a business of hustlers and the entourages of the creative types, whereas the real estate business has a very staid image.  While the film industry is undeniably one of the "creative" industries, the process that a film undergoes to become a bankable property is almost as rigid as that to create a high-profile building.In this article, we'll discuss the six major steps in the life of a film property, as well as what a typical production schedule might look like.  We'll be discussing one of the Desert Wind Films projects, Possum Trot Cloggers, and using it to explore some of the intricacies of the creation of a bankable film project.  It should be noted that,...

A film is an intellectual property or “IP” for short. And while a film is widely distributed around the globe on spools of film to theaters, DVD’s to stores and homes, and digital files to computers and phones, a film is, in fact, one property. For this reason, you can easily compare the film business to the real estate business. The exact same principals apply. In the real estate business, an investor is looking for projects to invest in that will make a profit and they usually base those decisions on several key factors (obviously there are always unique circumstances but these are just the basics).  Besides ensuring that their money is being well-protected, investors want to make sure beforehand that what they are investing in will be certain to look and be built a particular way that is pleasing to their intended customers.  The factors most investors would look for in a building include: What is the location and who is the target tenant? Basically,...