J.D. Williams, Barry Sloane, and Malik Yoba have all signed up to star in writer/director Tony Ducret’s indie feature film, "Fantastic Damage," which Yoba will also co-produce. The film will shoot for 21 days in July in New York City locations.
Described by the filmmaker as a hard-boiled ensemble thriller, and an expansion of Ducret’s award-winning pulp thriller short "I Can Smoke?" which was profiled on this blog in 2013, "Fantastic Damage" follows a dysfunctional Upper West Side Manhattan family, the Schwartzs, in interweaving romantic tales of vengeance.
Synopsis reads: When Ethan Schwartz’s wife, Anna, claims to leave town for a work trip, he calls Carmen the prostitute for a brief dalliance. However, a sudden confusing development forces Ethan to abort mission, and when Carmen refuses to leave, violence ensues. When Anna arrives at the scene, she discovers that her plan to capture evidence of her husband in an act of adultery has instead resulted in his death. The Schwartz couple’s two adult sons, Max (nightclub owner) and Miles (investment banker), attend Ethan’s memorial. The brothers attempt to cope with their loss, and decide on a final resting place for their Father’s ashes, while managing their own tenuous bond, and troublesome relationships with their respective girlfriends. During the event, Anna works hard to maintain a veneer of courage and mourning, while calculating the amount of time that will need to pass before she can be seen with her new lover. Max has kept himself on the brink of insolvency with his attempts to meet the material demands of his girlfriend, Priya, a stunning television actress, and virgin, who is unwavering about her decision to abstain from sex until marriage. When a bar brawl causes the city to shut down Max’s nightclub, and destroys his line of income, Priya suddenly disappears, and Max falls out of favor with Delroy, the vicious Harlem gangster who loaned him a portion of the start-up capital for the club. Miles endures the rabid attempts of his marriage-obsessed girlfriend, Phoebe, to coerce a proposal from him before her 35th birthday. Miles’ reluctance to pop the question is more than a typical case of cold feet. And when he does finally go down on one knee, it is not the moment of jubilation that it seems. Yani, the prostitute originally introduced as Carmen, confronts the waning affections of her criminal lover and pimp, Delroy, and must escape to independence before her demotion from “Bottom Bitch” in Delroy’s stable causes her to implode. Max is devastated after Priya surfaces in a viral sex-tape with one of the rappers responsible for the brawl that shuttered his club. A chance encounter between Yani and Max leads them to form a plan that will provide Yani with the money that she needs to escape Delroy, and provide Max with vengeance on the duplicitous “virgin” who emptied his wallet and trampled his heart.
Currently attached to star in the project, Barry Sloane will play Max; J.D. Williams is Miles; and Yoba plays Delroy Black.
The film will be produced by Dave Marken and Dan Defelippo via their Pipeline Entertainment shingle.
