Scythia Films and JoBro Productions are thrilled to announce today that BANG BANG BABY, the feature film debut of multi award-winning filmmaker Jeffery St. Jules, will have its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival in the prestigious Discovery section.
BANG BANG BABY, developed by St. Jules in the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation, is an otherworldly musical about Stepphy, who is trapped in the sleepy 1960′s town of Lonely Arms taking care of her alcoholic father. Stepphy dreams of escaping to a better life on the stage and screen, and when rock star Bobby Shore’s car breaks down in Lonely Arms, it seems her impossible dream might actually be coming true. But when Fabian, the town creep, tells Stepphy that the local chemical factory is leaking dangerous purple fumes that can cause human mutations, Stepphy becomes obsessed with hiding these dark secrets from Bobby until they can escape together and make all of her fantasies a reality.
This unique and stylized film stars Jane Levy (EVIL DEAD, SUBURGATORY) in a defining turn as Stepphy, a small town girl who’s caught between her big dreams of stardom and her controlling father, portrayed by Peter Stormare (FARGO, 22 JUMP STREET). Justin Chatwin (SHAMELESS, WAR OF THE WORLDS) plays dreamy rock star Bobby Shore who promises to whisk Stepphy away.
“We are all extremely excited to unleash BANG BANG BABY on the world at TIFF,” comments producer Dan Bekerman (THE HUSBAND, THE PIN, YOU ARE HERE). “Jeffrey St. Jules is a truly exciting filmmaker, a world creator, and BANG BANG BABY is a strange new world for audiences to discover. It’s a poppy, shiny musical on the outside and on the inside a gritty psychological portrait of a young woman who lives too much inside her own dreams – BANG BANG BABY is moving, surprising, funny, frightening, and completely original.”
Writer/director Jeffrey St. Jules developed BANG BANG BABY at Cannes’ Cinéfondation. His short films have screened at Sundance, Toronto and won multiple awards, and he is a past attendee of the Toronto International Film Festival and Berlin Talent Labs. Film Threat called his short THE TRAGIC STORY OF NLING “The best short subject of the year”. The film is Produced by Daniel Bekerman (THE HUSBAND, YOU ARE HERE), Jonathan Bronfman (RACE, EXTRATERRESTRIAL), and Don Allan of Revolver Films. The Executive Produces are Christina Piovesan (LIFE, THE WHISTLEBLOWER, AMRIKA), Lon Molnar, Mark Gingras, and Ethan Lazar.
A rare cinematic achievement, in BANG BANG BABY St. Jules employs some of the idiomatic techniques that distinguished his award winning shorts, such as rear-screen projection, complex prosthetics and a novel approach to VFX. The film was shot almost entirely on a soundstage in original, period sets.
Rounding out the BANG BANG BABY creative team, are cinematographer Bobby Shore (GOON, A DARK TRUTH), Production Designer Aidan Leroux (THE COLONY, CITIZEN GANGSTER), Costume Designer Sarah Millman (STILL MINE, MOLLY MAXWELL), and visual effects company Intelligent Creatures (THE WATCHMEN, ORPHAN BLACK, THE FOUNTAIN).
BANG BANG BABY is a Scythia Films/JoBro Production with the participation of Telefilm Canada and The Harold Greenberg Fund.