Judas Kiss (2011 film)

Judas Kiss
Official poster movie
Directed by	J.T. Tepnapa
Written by	J.T. Tepnapa Carlos Pedraza
Produced by	Carlos Pedraza Jody Wheeler (co-producer)
Starring	Charlie David Richard Harmon Sean Paul Lockhart Timo Descamps
Cinematography	David Berry
Edited by	Whitney Dunn
Music by	Brad Anthony Laina
Production company	Border2Border Entertainment
Distributed by	Blue Seraph Productions
Running time	107 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$500,000

Judas Kiss is an upcoming science fiction drama film directed by J.T. Tepnapa and written by Tepnapa and Carlos Pedraza. It stars Charlie David, Sean Paul Lockhart, Richard Harmon, and Timo Descamps. The film is the story of a disillusioned filmmaker’s visit to his peculiar alma mater, where he is trapped in a tug of war between his tortured past and a troubling future.

Judas Kiss is the feature film directorial debut of J.T. Tepnapa, who has won many international awards for his short films, including the multiple award-winning parody of 1950s teen health films.

Plot

Failed filmmaker Zachary Wells is convinced by his best friend and hotshot director Topher into replacing him as a judge in their film school's annual festival. Zach's one-night stand with a student backfires when that student walks into an interview the next morning calling himself Danny Reyes, the name Zach went by when he attended the school. And Danny's film, "Judas Kiss," is a finalist in the competition Zach is judging. Zach's film, also "Judas Kiss," won the festival years before. Zach scrambles for answers. A mysterious, chain-smoking campus tour guide, counsels him: "Change the kid's past, change your future." But how? Zach comes to believe he can mend his life by disqualifying Danny from competition, putting him on a different path than Zach followed. But will Zach's plan work?

Cast

• Charlie David as Zachary "Zach" Wells, a once-promising filmmaker, whose addictions have reduced him to shooting wedding videos. Handsome, stubborn, sarcastic, and manipulative, Zach isn’t above cheating to get his way.
• Richard Harmon as Danny Reyes, a gay film student at Keystone University at the crossroads of parallel timelines, where he is caught in a tug of war between a tortured past and a troubling future.
• Sean Paul Lockhart as Chris Wachowsky, a former film student who won the scholarship last year that Danny seeks this year. He has a crush on Danny, but keeps his distance because of "big man on campus" Shane Lyons with some hold over the talented Chris. Chris has chemistry with Danny but can’t seem to woo the younger filmmaker away from Shane.
• Timo Descamps as Shane Lyons, an amoral college senior who will do whatever it takes to win Danny's love.
• Julia Morizawa as Abbey Park, is a snarky Asian girl with flaming red hair who is Danny’s unflagging best friend. Full of life, and cynicism aside, she can always cheer him up.
• Ron Boyd as Ralph Garlington, is a famous Hollywood cinematographer who is judging the film and scholarship competition at the Keystone University Film Festival. He and Zach don’t get along very well.
• Troy Fischnaller as Topher Shadoe, is a Keystone graduate and superstar Hollywood director who’s made his name with a string of successful action films. He is Zach’s best friend and confidante. Before he plans to go to Spain to shoot his next film, Blood and Barcelona, he hands off his film festival jury duties to Zach.
• Samantha Rund as Rebecca Lynn, is a Hollywood filmmaker sitting on the festival jury with Zach. Lively and effervescent, she also knows a bit about Zach’s dark past.
• Ronee Collins as Kimberly Reyes, is Daniel Sr.'s wife and the mother of young Danny Reyes.
• Iain Dunn as young Danny Reyes, is the son of Daniel Sr. and Kimberly Reyes. Young Danny has emotional conflicts with his abusive father.
• Eric Helland, Stephanie Hillbert as Mr. and Mrs. Lyons, are the wealthy and influential parents of Shane. They are big donors to Keystone Summit University.
• Laura Kenny as Mrs. Blossom, is the dean of the Keystone film school, an efficient administrator who manages to be direct and obtuse at the same time. Much like Welds, she seems to have an understanding of destiny that escapes both Zach and Danny, though she seems to hold their best interests at heart.
• Dale Bowers as Old Man Welds, is an inscrutable volunteer at Keystone who seems to know Zach’s every move before Zach does. Welds is a cranky chain smoker who appears to be orchestrating Zach’s campus visit for some personal gain known only to the old man himself.
• Vince Valenzuela as Daniel Reyes Sr., is Danny’s father. There’s bad blood between them, and Daniel Sr. has a powerful hold over his son — something Danny wants to escape at all costs. Daniel Sr. threatens to cut off Danny’s college tuition if the boy submits his short film, "Judas Kiss", to the festival’s scholarship competition. Full of manipulative anger, Daniel Sr.’s calm manner belies his darker nature.
• Dennis Bateman as Father, is a role in Danny’s short film, Judas Kiss, that appears within the film. Jude (Matt Smith) is the son in the short film.
• Tim Foutch as Tommy, a film student at Keystone University competing with Danny for a scholarship.
• Julian LeBlanc as Nate, is a Hollywood model-actor who caught Zach’s eye.
• Genevieve Buechner as Samantha, is Shane Lyons’ righthand girl, always there to do his bidding.
• Tessa Archer, Demetrius Sager, Joe Royal, Michael Carpenter as Keystone Students.

Production

The film is produced by Blue Seraph Productions, a Los Angeles company headed by Tepnapa and Pedraza. Their previous work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, Variety, Frontiers, Fab, the Today Show, MSNBC, and other international news outlets.

The film, which was shot in the summer of 2010 in Seattle, has already attracted attention for casting former Dante's Cove star Charlie David. Also cast is adult film star Sean Paul Lockhart, who appeared in 2008's Oscar-winning Milk and the comedy Another Gay Sequel.

Casting

Lockhart impressed the director with his acting in In the Closet. David is well known at the gay box office. Richard Harmon won the role over more than 1,000 Los Angeles actors when his video taped audition impressed the producers.

Belgian actor Timo Descamps approached the project's producers after seeing a casting notice on-line. In addition to the acting, he saw the film as an opportunity to feature his musical talents to a new audience. Patti Carns Kalles was hired to handle the Seattle, Washington casting.

External links

• Official website
• Judas Kiss on Facebook
• Judas Kiss at IMDb