Award-winning film and television filmmakers have joined THE KENNEDY DETAIL, the feature film based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same name by former Secret Service Agent Gerald Blaine and award-winning journalist Lisa McCubbin. Principal photography is slated to commence in New Orleans March 11 with a release date in late fall coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Principal casting begins the first week of January, with
Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee serving as Casting Directors for this emotional action/drama. Barden and Schnee have more than 200 titles among their credits including the Golden Globe-nominated Pineapple Express, The Help, World Trade Center and the Prime Time Emmy-nominated Sex and the City.
Jennifer Roth has joined the project as Line Producer. The 35 titles in her career include the Academy Award-winning
BLACK SWAN, World's Greatest Dad, The Wrestler and The Crow. Roth's history includes projects as Executive Producer, Unit Production Manager and Production Coordinator.
Lilly Kilvert adds her talent as Production Designer developed through her work on 26 titles. She was nominated for Academy Awards for both Legends of the Fall and The Last Samurai. Kilvert is especially important to The Kennedy Detail for her previous experience with In the Line of Fire and The American President.
Mayes C. Rubeo brings solid credentials as Costume Designer. Among her 25 titles is the Academy Award-winning blockbuster Avatar, along with Oscar-nominated films Total Recall and Apocalypto. She was twice nominated by the Costume Designer's Guild for her work on Avatar and for Fidel. Her latest project, World War Z with
Brad Pitt, is currently in production.
The production team will work under the direction of writer and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, who has crafted a riveting script with Kathleen Kwai Ching Man. Gyllenhaal is a veteran director of more than 50 film and television projects including Grassroots, Losing Isaiah, Homegrown and Waterland. He earned the Director's Guild of America Award for Paris Trout and was nominated in 2012 for Girl Fight. Gyllenhaal is repped by Gersh and Untitled Entertainment.
"JFK and his story will be brought to life with cutting edge CGI and enhanced historical footage, allowing the actors to 'interact' with the 'real' 35th President," said Gyllenhaal. "The actors will also have direct access to the agents, now in their 80s, three of whom were within a few feet of the assassination."
"The story that this team, other professionals and an outstanding cast will tell in the span of 100 minutes will be about a band of brothers, who give up the comforts of a regular family life to protect the leader of the free world," said Producer Ken Atchity. "They are often away from their families requiring wives to serve as single mothers for weeks at a time. They did not do it for the money (less than $5,000 per year in the 1960s); they did it selflessly for their country, a lesson and an example that inspire even today."
Despite the enormous grief and sorrow, the agents do find plenty of reasons to laugh, sometimes at the instigation of the President himself. They found it easy to admire the 35th President both because of his vision as well as his humanity. He called each man on his detail by their first name as he tested their endurance through his many travels.
The Kennedy Detail is based on first-hand accounts recorded in the New York Times best-selling book by the same name by Jerry Blaine and Lisa McCubbin. Both Blaine and McCubbin serve as Associate Producers on the project, while former Agent Clint Hill - who is well-known as the agent seen climbing onto the back of the Presidential limousine following the shooting - is serving as a special adviser. Rights have also been secured from agents Win Lawson and Paul Landis, both of whom were in Dallas with Hill that fateful day. All were involved in the Emmy-nominated documentary of the same title released in 2010.
"The active participation of these valiant Secret Service agents sets this movie apart from any other film I know of," said producer Chi-Li Wong.
With the project fully accelerating, updates will come equally rapidly. Producers developed a Web site containing information on the film with social media links and a promotional video outlining the concept behind the motion picture. The address is http://kennedydetailfeaturefilm.com.
The Kennedy Detail feature film is an Atchity Entertainment International/Ramos & Sparks Group production.
