For Immediate Release
Monday, January 28, 2008
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) honors Charles Durning with Lifetime Achievement Award
Honoree and legend of the silver screen, Charles Durning, gives a BREAK to independent filmmakers on new film
(Hollywood, CA) (1/28/2008) - SAG Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, the legendary Charles Durning is as much a working actor today, as he was over the forty years of his hi
ghly acclaimed career. Moreover, Durning who's credits include "The Sting", "O' Brother Where Art Thou?", "Tootsie" goes beyond the comfort zone of the studios and supports independent filmmakers such as Director/Writer Marc Clebanoff and Producer Jennifer Champagne, who had the opportunity to work with the master this past month on their currently lensing feature film, BREAK.
"Durning is a classic," said Clebanoff who penned the character of the Wise Man expressly for Durning. "And seeing him against the young pros like Michael Madsen and Frank Krueger, you instantly know why he is being honored. He is a consummate actor."
Champagne echoed the sentiments adding, "Durning added that element of the extraordinary, I stopped all that I was doing and was mesmerized by his performance - he and Marc had a natural sense of communication - something every director and actor wish for."
With great aplomb the team sent heartfelt congratulations to Durning for being acknowledged with such a well-deserved award.
About BREAK, The Movie (http://www.NoCleanBreak.Com)
Break is a stylistic noir drama about an introverted hit man named Frank who is contracted to carry out an unusual job. When the city’s crime boss, known only as “The Man”, discovers that he’s terminally ill, he enlists Frank to carry out his own assassination. “The Man”, however, is selfish and jealous, and doesn’t want to die alone, and makes it clear to Frank that he is to take out the woman he loves in addition to himself. When Frank discovers that The Woman is his own long lost lover, Frank alters the job making himself the next mark. In an action-packed Kill Bill style chain of character-driven events, riddled with dark humor and visual spectacle, Frank and The Woman take on the many enemies set out before them before they can free themselves from The Man’s jealous grip.
The cast of BREAK also includes, Frank Krueger ("The Game"), Chad Everett ("Mulholland Drive"), Sarah Thompson ("7th Heaven"), Michael Madsen ("Sin City", "Reservoir Dogs"), Mackenzie Firgens ("Rent"), Matthew Jones, Xin Sarith Wuku ("American Gladiators", "Honor"), Billy Idol, James Russo ("Donnie Brasco") and David Carradine ("Kill Bill").
About Director/Writer Marc Clebanoff
Marc Clebanoff, a graduate of the prestigious USC School of Cinema/Television, began his career at 20th Century Fox Television before moving onto a feature development position at USA Films (now Focus Features) under the award winning director of Nurse Betty and In the Company of Men Neil Labute. In 1999 Clebanoff established his own company, Marathon Films, in which he developed several feature projects with Hollywood bad-boy actor Michael Madsen, and cult filmmaker Larry Bishop (son of Rat Pack comedian Joey Bishop). In 2004 Clebanoff renamed his company Odyssey Motion Pictures to make his feature directorial debut with Unspoken - a dark drama starring Justin Allen and William Sadler, which earned Best Screenplay and Best Feature Film nominations at the New Jersey International Film & Screenplay Festival in 2006. Also in 2006, Clebanoff wrote, produced and co-directed the anxiously anticipated star-studded dark comedy feature The Pink Conspiracy, which enjoyed its world premiere at the Cannes Film Market May of 2007 and recently won the Alan J. Bailey Award for Excellence in Comedy. Currently, Clebanoff is involved with several notable film projects, including James Russo’s directorial debut, Dreamland, and consulting for Quentin Tarantino’s indie motorcycle flick Hell Ride. Clebanoff is also in pre-production on his next feature, a dark comedy entitled Gerald, which stars and is co-produced by My Big Fat Greek Wedding co-star Louis Mandylor. Clebanoff holds a 2nd degree black belt in traditional Korean martial arts and is an avid distance runner and accomplished marathoner. He is also the grandson of world-renowned musician and composer, Herman Clebanoff.
About Producer Jennifer Champagne
Champagne studied English and Journalism with a concentration in Technical Writing at the private Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan Co-owner of Max Ink Cafe, she oversees all Cafe Business and Production Issues. Since starting Max Ink Cafe, Champagne has produced the effects on notable projects such as Only Hope, Funky & Groovy, Freaky Links, Black Scorpion series, Shakedown and American Zoetrope's Jeepers Creepers. In the case of Only Hope, Champagne produced the film, not only crewing the production, but also successfully soliciting donations of time and resources from people at 5 visual effects companies to assist Max Ink Cafe in the post-production destruction of LA. An accomplished visual effects trade press writer, Champagne has regularly contributed articles to Visual Magic, AWN, DV Magazine, Interactivity, DCC Magazine as well as The Digital Media Net Community. Prior to starting Max Ink Cafe, Champagne worked at IBM, Vortex Media Arts, Studio Productions, Flip Your Lid Animation Studio and Sony Pictures Imageworks. Currently Champagne is preparing for her feature film directorial debut, with the thriller Redemption.
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