We just wrapped the movie ‘Live Fast, Die Young’ on June 21, 2008.
For those of you who want the storyline, here it is:
Story: At an exclusive Hollywood party on Christmas Eve, an A-list star dies of an apparent overdose. A detective holds a protesting core group of Hollywood insiders for questioning. The group, consisting of an A-list director, a top agent, a movie star, a media mogul, a writer, a wannabe actress, a studio head, and others, begin a deep and profound discussion on the meaning of life, including the existence of God.
What I like about this film is the underlying premise that our very culture is being manipulated by 5 companies. I mean, take a step back and look at my average day:
1) Turn on the TV at home - MSNBC is on;
2) Waiting at the airport lounge - CNN is playing;
3) Go to the hospital for my mom’s surgery - Fox News is playing;
4) Drive in your car (CBS 1070 is playing - the govt took away our cell phone privileges)
5) Go to the supermarket and we see the magazines at the checkout counter - same 5 companies.
Are you getting the picture? Throughout my typical day (and yours), we’re carefully being ‘taught’ how to think by a select few companies that control all the content in the world.
Very scary when you digest it.
Nevertheless, God is in control. Just be aware of what the 5 big media companies are up to.
You know, I talk to the younger generation all the time about Gospel hymns and slave spirituals of old - “I’ll Fly Away”, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, “A City Called Heaven”, “Were You There?” etc and I’m finding a lot of them have never heard these songs which is kind of surprising. But the real kicker is many of them don’t know ‘Amazing Grace’.
I think we’re losing a valuable part of our American heritage as we solely focus on the Top 40 pop songs.
I really hope our film will captivate a new generation on the story and the powerful, uplifting songs that showed a gratefulness to God.
This past weekend, ‘The Genius Club’ (‘Duela De Genios’) was the #2 independent film in Mexico City (Sept 21-23) and #5 overall (out of 40 movies). Only ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, ‘Resident Evil’, and ‘Underdog’ beat us. We were in the 16 biggest theaters throughout Mexico City (Population: 22 million).
It caught our distributor, Cien Films, completely off guard.
The toughest film critics gave our film a thumbs up, with Milenio newspaper giving ‘The Genius Club’ 4.5 out of 5 stars. This is the same paper that has done no-holds bar critiques on Alfonso Cuarón (“The Children of Men”), Alejandro Iñárritu (“Babel”), and Guillermo del Toro’s (Pan Labyrtinth) movies.
The best part was the director, Tim Chey, being able to tell the reporters that the world’s problems ARE solvable and how God changed Mr. Chey’s life – it was phenomenal to say the least. We were featured in the largest newspapers, national TV, and even Rolling Stone. They told us they never saw a movie that discussed God intellectually.
At the screenings, people were seen literally weeping as they came out. It was infectious. Countless people approached us after our screenings to say how they cried and how much the film made them think about their lives, death, and God.
We’ve attached some press photos of our screenings, etc.
May the Lord bless each of you mightily as he has us!
The new feature film ‘The Genius Club’, from writer/director Tim Chey, will have it’s European premiere at the Cannes Film Festival/Market on May 18, 2007 at 12 p.m at the Gray 3 Theater. The interest in the film has grown since the film had a theatrical release in October 2006.
The premiere international distribution company, Eleven Arts, is handling international distribution. “We’re extremely proud to be associated with the film and congratulate Tim Chey on a terrific job in writing and directing such a powerful and emotional thriller,” says Kana Aida of Eleven Arts. “Foreign buyers from around the world have been inquiring of the film.”
“We’re delighted to be screening ‘The Genius Club’ at this year’s Cannes,” says director Tim Chey, of RiverRain Productions. “We’re looking forward to translating the film in many different languages.”
The Genius Club is produced by Arch Bonnema and Daishi Takiishi and is written and directed by Tim Chey. The official website is: http://www.TheGeniusClubMovie.com
The prestigious Washington, DC Independent Film Festival (DCIFF) is an award winning festival which showcases world premieres, award winning features, shorts, animation and documentaries by local, national and international filmmakers.
“We’re happy we were invited to a great film festival in the Nation’s capital,” says Tim Chey, the director of the closing night film, ‘The Genius Club’.
DCIFF is proud to present the 2007 finalists** (**films are subject to change) More information will be posted shortly :
Features:
1) The Genius Club, directed by Tim Chey (2006) World Premiere, U S A www.TheGeniusClubMovie.com
2) Baby Blues, directed by (2006) World Premiere, U S A
3) Barrio Cuba, directed by Humberto Solas (2006) East Coast Premiere, Cuba
4) Disappearances, directed by Jay Craven (2006) World Premiere, U S A www.kingdomcounty.com
5) Al Qarem, directed by Affandy Yacoob (2006) World Premiere, Afghanistan U S A www.alquremthemovie.com
6) God in My Pocket, directed by Arnault Labaronne (2006) US Premiere, France
7) ntellectual Property, directed by Nick Peterson (2006) World Premiere, U S A www.ipthemovie.com
8 ) My Brother, directed by Anthony Lover (2006) World Premiere, U S A
9) One Buddha, directed by (2006) World Premiere, Argentina
10) Rain in the Mountains, directed by (2006) World Premiere, U S A
Here’s an interview with Jack Scalia, star of ‘The Genius Club’.
“Jack was a real joy to work with - he played the American President so convincingly I would vote for him in the next election” - Tim Chey/Director’s Commentary/The Genius Club
NOW THERE’S AN IDEA: ‘The Genius Club,’ writer-producer Tim Chey’s unique movie, in which a demented soul has a nuclear bomb set to go off on Christmas day — unless the President of the United States and a group of the world’s greatest minds can come up with solutions to the world’s problems in one single night. We’re told those problems include hunger, war, cancer, terrorism, the meaning of life, rush hour traffic, and jerks.
I was reading a story of a woman who kept her son in a small box for 2 years. The small child never knew what life was like outside the box. Horrible as that sounds, I wonder how many of us live in our own ‘little boxes’ - we are constantly bombarded by television telling us how to think; who we should be, what we should follow.
Nowadays, if you even mention Jesus Christ, the world collectively ‘rolls their eyes’ and this is happening even among fellow Believers. We need to remember that ‘we’ are the head and not the tail. We should be shaping our culture, not Hollywood.
Educated at Harvard University, USC Film School, and Boston University School of Law. Chey’s work has been seen on E! Entertainment, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, VIBE TV, MTV, Daily Variety, CBS News, ABC News, Hollywood Reporter, TNT, USA Networks, the Dove Awards, MovieGuide Awards, People Magazine, and the New York Times.
Chey was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Spirit of the Independent’ award for Best Director. He served as chairman of the Student Awards committee at the Director’s Guild of America.
Chey has written and directed five feature films, including ‘The Genius Club’ which stars Carol Abney, Stephen Baldwin, Jacob Bonnema, Tricia Helfer, Matt Medrano, Philip Moon, Paula Jai Parker, Huntley Ritter, Jack Scalia, and Tom Sizemore.
‘The Genius Club’ was featured on ‘The Today Show’, ‘Regis and Kelly’, ‘The View’ and other national media outlets. The film received the coveted “Dove Family Seal’ for it’s outstanding faith-based values, with the Dove Awarder calling the film ‘one of the most intelligent films’ he’s ever seen.
His latest film, ‘Live Fast, Die Young’ is scheduled for theatrical release in October 2008. The film is currently in post-production.
