DIRECTOR BENNY BOOM
Fresh off the box office hit All Eyez on Me, director Benny Boom has signed on to direct the police thriller The Shave written by newcomers Thomas White and Miles Hubley, it was announced today by Route One Entertainment CEO Russell Levine and Lost City President John Finemore, who are producers on the project.
The Blacklist Script tells the story of an LAPD officer, recently exonerated in the murder of a high school honor student, who visits the boy's father at his barbershop. While receiving a straight razor shave, he listens to the father recount the story of his son's life.
In addition to Finemore and Levine, the hard-hitting thriller is produced by Maiden Voyage’s Chris Columbus (Tallulah, Patti Cake$) and Eleanor Columbus (Mediterranea, Patti Cake$) and Mason Novick (500 Days of Summer, Red Eye), and Michelle Knudsen (Bad Words, ARQ) from MXN Entertainment. Chris Lytton is executive producing with Lost City’s James Hoppe (Newness, ARQ) and Elizabeth Grave (Newness, ARQ). Sophia Dilley (Colossal, Landline) will co-produce for Route One.
"I look forward to working with Lost City, Route One and Maiden Voyage in bringing a film with such social and cultural relevancy to life. It is an opportunity for us to examine the division between the Police and communities of color,” said Boom.
"Maiden Voyage Pictures is thrilled to be reuniting with our good friends at Route One Entertainment, working with Lost City and MXN Entertainment and the extraordinarily talented filmmaker, Benny Boom, to begin production on The Shave,” said Columbus. “We couldn't ask for a better team as we begin this exciting creative journey together."
"This project is a smart and edgy thriller that speaks to the big issues of the day. We have a great team of producers led by Chris Columbus and we're proud to bring Benny on board to fulfill the vision," said Levine.
Route One Entertainment and Maiden Voyage previously partnered on the 2016 Sundance Official Selection Tallulah starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney.
Boom is represented by Principato-Young Entertainment and Bryan Diperstein at ICM. White and Hubley are represented by WME, MXN and attorney Jeffrey Frankel.
ABOUT LOST CITY
Since opening its doors in mid-2014, Lost City produced and financed Drake Doremus’s latest feature Newness, starring Nicholas Hoult and Laia Costa, as well as producing Tony Elliott’s ARQ for Netflix, which starred Robbie Amell and Rachael Taylor. In development are feature projects Temperance, based on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller “Starvation Heights”, adapted by Aaron Rabin; Love Machines, written by Chad Kultgen and Sunny, a contemporary thriller written by Will Frank.
ABOUT MAIDEN VOYAGE
Chris Columbus, an Academy Award nominated filmmaker, whose film credits include Gremlins, The Goonies, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone, Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire and The Help, teamed up with Eleanor Columbus, a 2011 graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University to form Maiden Voyage Pictures in 2013. Prior to running Maiden Voyage, Eleanor worked on several independent features in Manhattan. Maiden Voyage film credits include Sara Colangelo's Little Accidents, Jonas Carpignano's Mediterranea, Robert Eggers' The Witch and Sian Heder's Tallulah. Maiden Voayges fifth film by Geremy Jasper, Patti Cake$ was in competition at Sundance 2017, closed Directors' Fortnight at The Cannes Film Festival 2017. Maiden Voyages sixth endeavor Menashe, premiered at Sundance 2017, directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein.
ABOUT ROUTE ONE ENTERTAINMENT:
Route One Entertainment is an entertainment company with headquarters in Santa Monica, CA. The Company was founded in 2009 by CEO Russell Levine and lead investor Jeffrey W. Ubben, founder and CEO of ValueAct Capital, a $20B investment fund. Route One develops, finances and produces feature films, TV and digital entertainment projects aimed at domestic and global audiences. Route One’s recent films include Palmer (directed by Fisher Stevens), The Claim (written by Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle), The Circle (starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson) released by STX, box office hit Colossal (starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis) released by NEON, Landline (starring Jenny Slate, John Turturro and Edie Falco) to be released July 21st by Amazon / Magnolia Pictures, and Tallulah (starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney