NORTHERN
MICHIGAN – Leland residents Jim Carpenter, Rebecca Reynolds and Ross
Satterwhite finished shooting their latest feature film, The Girl on the
Train, in New York City last week.
Producers and
husband-and-wife team Reynolds and Carpenter formed their company, 8180 Films,
together with Reynolds’ long-time writing partner, Larry Brand, in 2007. Their
first feature film, the multiple award-winner “Christina,” premièred at the
State Theatre in Traverse City in 2010 and was released in 2011.
Ross Satterwhite
joined the team as executive producer for the company’s newest film project.
The Girl on
the Train, written and directed by Brand, is a neo-noir thriller starring
Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume on the popular TV series, Lost, and now starring
in ABC’s Scandal), Nicki Aycox (Jeepers Creepers II, X Files: I Want to
Believe, Joyride: End of the Road, and the TV series Dark Blue), and Stephen
Lang (Colonel Quaritch in Avatar, Nathaniel Taylor in the Fox TV series Terra
Nova, and Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals).
Aycox and
Lang also starred in “Christina.” In their new film, Cusick plays documentary
filmmaker Danny Hart, who boards a train at Grand Central Terminal, heading to
upstate New York to interview the subjects of his latest project.
A chance
encounter with a mysterious young woman, Lexi (played by Nicki Aycox), leads
him on a journey of a very different sort, and within the blink of an eye, Hart
is forced to leave his complacent life behind for a world in which the line
between fantasy and reality is blurred.
As Hart tells
his strange story to police detective Lloyd Martin (Stephen Lang), he finds
himself being questioned as Martin tries to discover whether Hart is the victim
or the suspect in the strange affair.
“We have a
great team for this project,” says Reynolds, “including Emmy Award-winning and
Oscar-nominated designer Patricia Field (The Devil Wears Prada and Sex in the
City) and Cable ACE Award-winning cinematographer Dave Sperling (Remember Wenn,
the documentary Lush Life: Billy Strayhorn, and Brand’s The Drifter). Part-time
Leland resident Alexander Janko (Sucker and My Big Fat Greek Wedding) is also
on board as the film’s composer.
“Drew
McConnell, originally from Leland, worked on the film as Ian’s stand-in,” said
Carpenter, “and Alex (Alexandra) Zenn, originally from Traverse City, did our
extras casting and served as the assistant production office manager.”
