Andreas Wiseman
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) is starring with Steven Ogg (Walking Dead), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade), Ivory Aquino (When They See Us), Lana Rockwell (Sweet Thing), Rob Riordan and Jonathan Lorenzo Price in ensemble comedy feature, Concessions.
Set during the last day at the closing Royal Alamo Cinema, pic follows two slackers working the final shift, who cross paths with outcasts and oddballs in interwoven stories of rejection, redemption, and fate. Hunter (Riordan), a jaded employee who spent the last decade behind the concessions stand, must finally face his uncertain future.
Movie theater employees and patrons include the former stuntman trying to charm his way into a free ticket (Madsen), the ornery theater owner keeping the slackers in line for one more day (Ogg), the hungry news reporter (Aquino), and the Australian cowboy and boomerang-slinging movie star (Hamilton). As day turns to night, the small-town community must reckon with its local theater finally closing its doors.
Pic, which is in post-production, is written and directed by Mas Bouzidi. Producers are Ram Segura Khagram, Malcolm Brainerd, and Sophia Winkler, and co-producer is production company Kebrado.
Concessions began as a short film, which director Mas Bouzidi wrote as a freshman at NYU. Bouzidi and producer Ram Segura Khagram crowdfunded for the short proof-of-concept, which was shot on 16mm and released by Kodak following a limited 35mm theatrical run. Off the back of the short, the team was able to develop the feature with an crowdfunding campaign as well as post-production financing from celluloid-only production company, Kebrado.
Michael Beckley, Oscar Schafer, Brian Tetsuro Ivie (The Queen of Basketball) and Harrison Allen (Last Thing Mary Saw) serve as executive producers.
Bouzidi said: “I worked in various movie theaters since I was sixteen, serving popcorn, snapping tickets, and arguing about movies with my co-workers. There is something magical about experiencing movies on a big screen in a movie theater. Concessions is about the universal experience of going to the movies. It’s about the people working the concession stands, running the projection booth, taking your tickets, cleaning the bathrooms, and changing the marquees. It’s also about the everyday people who walk through those doors to go to the movies, partaking in one of our greatest communal traditions.”
Producer Ram Segura Khagram commented: “This film represents the indie spirit like few others in the modern landscape. We’re hopeful that Concessions will embolden and inspire the next generation of young filmmakers to make features that are true to their voice, and that we can model new ways to tell great stories while still embracing the traditions that make indies so special.”