Shroud Ready for Distribution
Jetrefilm Entertainment is extremely proud to present our debut feature film, Shroud (2009). We are seeking qualified studios, distributors and acquisition companies to purchase the North American DVD distribution rights.
Shroud Trailer Finished
We are pleased to present the
Shroud Trailer on the offical
Shroud website -
www.Shroud-Movie.com. Soon these trailers will be appearing on all our attendant online portals, as well as MySpaceTV, YouTube and Flixster.
Brandy of the Damned: The Music of Wolfgang Lackner
I have been listening to the final original music for
Shroud during our many mixing sessions and I have to say, Wolfgang Lackner's score is professional, powerful and eerily beautiful. Music is one of those things that is so critical to the tone and mood of a film, that to demote it to a lesser composer is an invitation for failure. I know several independent filmmakers who say "Oh, I wrote and directed my film -- and I even did all the music." Yeah, well, it often sounds like it.
Wolfgang is a composer of the first rank and this guy is going places. Get him now while you can afford him!
Shroud ADR
We are finally looping many parts of Shroud and the final results are aurally amazing.
Bold choices in varying the vocal ranges in the lower, middle and upper registers, effects, adjusting character's timbres, inflections with Spanish lexemes, stress, pitch, tones and choral arrangements are all yielding results that elevate the soundtrack to
Shroud far above and beyond the original sound acquired on set.
For this work, we are working closely with the very focused Johnny Marshall of
Marshall Sound Design in Farmers Branch, Texas. A veteran of music and sound mixing, Johnny brings a Hollywood level of technical understanding, education and precision to this very important and final phase of our first film. His familiarity and expertise has been a strong guiding hand in mixing Shroud's stellar soundtrack.
Where possible we have recalled original cast to work with them to improve their delivery and perfect their performances, with only a handful of actors who are unavailable, uninterested or too unreasonable, dissenting from this crucial stage of post-production.
With little more than a week remaining in our ADR sessions, we will soon wrap our temp track for the film and submit it to various interested parties.
More Rare Talent -- G. Russell Reynolds
Our praise for G. Russell Reynolds is limited only by the finite amount of adjectives in the English Language.
If anyone brings the state of acting to its perfection, it is G. Russell Reynolds. With regard to acting, one does not watch Russell act, one experiences it.
Russell is punctual, professional, athletic, dedicated, resilient, eager, clever, innovative, stubborn, maleable, and capable of deep transformations. His precision is matched only by his tenacity, his tireless search for the sleek and stylish summation of any scene in which he is a part.
Simply, an amazing actor whom we were pleased to work with, and so hope to do so again.
The Rare Talent of Nicole Leigh Verdin
Possessed as she is of many fine features and faculties, one might easily assume she is as cold-souled as many others in the entertainment business -- I can assure you she is not. Nicole, more than anyone else on the set of
Shroud, demonstrated untiring dedication to our film, despite the long development, grueling hours, remote locations and demanding dialog of the project. As impossible as it may be to believe, her beauty and her talent are exceeded only by her compassion and her sterling character.
Thank you, Nicole. A lot.
Shroud MySpace Make-Over
We will be launching all revised
Shroud pages for six demographics next month as well as some new videos, pictures, and background information. The release will coincide with our initial sell window and should bring some valued attention to our first film.
Jetrefilm Anticipates 4K
This is going to be expensive, but we are already ramping up for our unconditional embrace of the Red One camera system and its 4K juggernaut of a frame. Throw in some Infiniband switches, fiber array, and that shiny board the Silver Surfer flies around on and you have the new muscle here at Jetrefilm for the next two years.
Jetrefilm Goes 64-bit
Like a slowly creeping glacier, we at Jetrefilim eventually gorge our technology landscape with the unyielding plow of ice – or whatever. That was our pre-Emerson way of saying we have finally all our systems to 64-bit OS, new drives and more RAM. Can anyone really have too much RAM – clearly not.
Our new systems are faster and more powerful, and like all shocking advances, makes one wonder how you ever got by on the old stuff.
Throw in a few new monitors and we are off to the races.
Brad Herbert Adds a Little Color
The immensely talented Brad Herbert has begun preliminary color correction for Shroud and suddenly...it feels like a film. Over the next few weeks Brad will be creating custom color palettes for the many moods and locations in Shroud and transform our movie into a true film.
Shroud Press Kit
Our rather striking
Shroud press kit is almost done and will be available in PDF from our website soon for cast and crew as well as studios, film buyers and distributors. A full color print version of the
Shroud press kit will be available next month.
Something From Our Menu?
First passes at our DVD menu are done and they look pretty sweet. We are currently getting pricing for full color DVD case sleeves, DVD label, and inserts for our upcoming premier. The menu will be revised over the next few weeks and then sent to press.
Red One Access is Granted
Jetrefilm Entertainment now has access to the formidable and revolutionary Red One camera system through our immensely talented lighting director Michael Morlan of www.austinfilmtools.com.
Arizona Footage Integrated
The breathtaking footage from our unit directors in Arizona has arrive and we are hard at working selecting the most beautiful scenes for establishing shots and segues for
Shroud. This new footage is gorgeous and definitely adds the “Old West” into our Old West film.
Shroud Closing Credits Finished
With a thankful smile we have finalized all the invaluable members of our cast, crew, vendors and partners in our closing credits. If you had anything to do with this film, you are in there somewhere. Be a good audience and stay for the very last name!
Arizona Source Footage Scheduled
We have recently retained two unit directors in Arzona to acquire several days worth of beautiful vistas from The Grand Canyon State -- or Copper State, whichever you prefer. These new shots will breathe a vastness into
Shroud and deliver the breadth of a true feature length film.
The Lyching Oak Enters Final Design Phase
The disturbingly imaginative boys at Element X Creative have delivered a beautiful, wholly 3D animated tree for
Shroud. With the initial pass behind us, Element X Creative is moving to the details of fire animation design, wafting embers, camera movements and scaling. Great job, Element X!
Editing…Editing…Editing
Since our return from the holidays we have been exhaustively analyzing every scene and sequence in
Shroud: cutting, re-cutting, tucking, tweak, omitting, and finding answers to difficult thematic challenges. The new cut is coming along splendidly and we have several beautiful solutions for those few instances where we are like “Uh, didn’t we shoot something better than this?” Luckily, we did, but having to search through almost 80 hours of source hi-def footage can be a little daunting.
Shroud Pre-Final Clears Editing
After five arduous months the pre-final cut of
Shroud is finally finished and we are now reviewing the film for overall length, pacing and other details. Once reviewed about a dozen times, the pre-cut will go back to editing for a final cut due in late February.
Shroud MySpace Video Marketing Begins
In early December 2007, the second phase of our MySpace marketing will begin. Graduating from our photo galleries to video teasers, visitors will be able to see their first glimpses of
Shroud. We are looking forward to everyone's comments.
Cast & Crew of Shroud -- Thank You
As much as from my producers Edgar Pitts and Daniel Duncan, and on behalf of our investors, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank our very talented cast and crew from
Shroud for their hard work, professionalism and patience with our first film. For those of you returning on our next project
Vangelis, I look forward to another fun feature-length film full of challenges and great successes.
Jetrefilm Website Renovated
A new look for Jetrefilm Entertainment is being finalized, and will resemble our current MySpace page. The new page will have a new navigation menu that will enable visitors to see
Shroud,
Vangelis,
The Knightwish War, and our many future projects. It looks so cool.
Shroud Goes Sailing
Vladimir Eugene, our First Unit Director on
Shroud, has captured some beautiful photography of a classic sailing ship in San Francisco bay. This footage was captured on the new Red One camera system and will be our first glimpse into the promise of this new technology.
A Beautiful Thing
Toby Thomas' vintage Gatling gun was as beautiful as we had hoped. The authentic prop added an inimitable authenticity to our western and was a joy to film and fire. Thanks, Toby!
Shroud Pick-Up Shots Finished
We recently returned from Willieville with our pick-up shots complete, so we are now editing that footage and finishing our pre-final cut of the film.
Original Score for Shroud Begins
Wolfgang Lacker has joined our post-production team as our composer. Wolfgang is a very talented musician and we are eager to hear what he's coming up with for our gothic western film.
Jetrefilm MySpace Online
Our new MySpace page is up! DTCS Custom MySpace Pages did a great job renovating our look and we think it is amazing! As filmmakers we know image is essential, so we are happy to recommend DTCS as our first choice for film short, independent, or feature), actors, artists, musicians and bands or spiffy personal pages. They are simply the best.
Shroud MySpace Pages Go Live
Jetrefilm has launched six market-specific MySpace pages to help build a meaningful online community among those many enthusiasts who have followed
Shroud over the months. Built by DTCS Custom MySpace Pages, these gorgeous sites are full of pictures and will soon have multiple video teasers from the film. Our appreciation to Gayla Partridge of 666 Photography and Bryan Chatlien Photography for their beautiful work on this small film.
Myspace.com
Nathan Mathieu has begun working on our multiple Myspace.com film support pages for
Shroud. These pages will tie in directly to our whatis
Shroud.com website.
Marketing
www.WhatIsShroud.com has left the design phase and will be up shortly as an interest-capturing portal that will improve our leverage with distributors as we hope to provide a sizeable list of interested end-users -- effectively doing some of the distributor's job for them. www.
Shroud-movie.com will be online in early August as well, and Jetrefilm.com wil be renovated to reflect our expanding queue of increasingly ambitious films.
And the Cutting Begins
Brad Stephens has begun editing
Shroud. We can expect Brad to work for the next several months before handing off pre-finals to our sound designers and composer. With a handful of remaining pick-up scenes remaing -- and with our leading lady Nicole Leigh pregnant -- we will ahve to wait until early October to collect our remaining days for
Shroud
Wrangling with High Definition
We have invested heavily into reliable drives and expanded resources to accommodate the large file sizes incumbent on this new medium. Our IT team and producers have been thoroughly researching and testing a wide range of technologies, hardware, software, patches and plug-ins to find the most cost-effective procedure to channel our raw high-definition footage.
Continued Vision
Jetrefilm Entertainment's continuing vision is to create beautiful and deeply dramatic action films that acknowledge and promote the highest ideals of human bravery, faith and hope while simultaneously confronting the dark flexes, both charming and perverse, of the human condition. There are many angry artists in the film world trying to justify their broken world view, their apathy, their pain, or their patently self-absorbed dementia, but we aim for nobler goals.
Through intelligent work and painstaking craftsmanship, we try to bring you the very best stories, communicated by a union of excellence in acting, directing, art direction and story. Our goal is to edify, elevate and embrace the best.
Saunders & Saunders Cattle Co.
Thomas Saunders V has welcomed the
Shroud production to their large ranch in Grapevine, Texas for the filming of the pivotal Lyching Oak scenes in
Shroud. Mr. Saunders owns a gorgeous, sprawling ranch with easy access and sweeping vistas.
Amsterdam and Arizona - In Weatherford, Texas
Didi Wright has agreed to let us shoot at her richly appointed Victoria home in Weatherford, Texas. The level of detail and artistry present in Mrs. Wright's is far beyond our ability to re-create with prop rentals.
Element X Creative
The cutting edge 3D/Animation house has begun concepting the gnarled Lyching Oak to be digitally placed in
Shroud. Partnered with DTCS, Element X delivers cutting edge animation and top shelf visual effects both in and beyond the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Grapevine Heritage Foundation
Melissa Moorman of the Grapevine Heritage Foundation helped us locate period Victorian homes in Grapevine for both Undercroft and Celestine Manor and outlying ranch properties for the remaining days of
Shroud's shoot.
Final Filming
Our long respite is over as
Shroud enters into its final filming phase with a 4-day shoot in Grapevine, Texas in the second week in April 2007.
A New Mayor Undercroft
Russell Reynolds, originally cast as the briefly appearing Johnathan Celestine, has been promoted to Mayor Undercroft. We are excited about Russell's work with the character and look forward to his rich take on the main villain of
Shroud.
New Gatling Gun
Toby Thomas of Hardware of the Old West has secured us a new blank firing, full-scale Gatling gun for
Shroud. We will be returning to Willieville to re-shoot the Gatling gun sequence with this superior prop.
Omega Broadcast Group
Austin-based Omega Broadcast Group has been an excellent equipment resource for our Steadicam rentals during
Shroud. Available and affordable, these guys are worth a call for your next video or feature film.
Shroud sails through opening weeks of production
As of February 19th,
Shroud has completed 80% of its shoot days with surpising efficiency. The production remains on schedule with only minor alterations to the remaining shoot days, and we are happy to report no thefts, injuries (aside from knicks, cuts and bruises) and a crew and cast that liked each other as well at the end as they did at the beginning.
Michael Morlan joins Shroud
Michael Morlan (www.austinfilmtools.com) has joined the production as Key Grip and Gaffer. Michael brings an enormous history of success in lighting and a broad equipment resource that has proven invaluable to our film.
Mrs. Jeannie Mercantile
We will need to get everyone fitted for wardrobe the week of January 15th-19th. Ms. Jeannie specializes in vintage Civil War era apparel, shoes and accessories. Once the day is finalized, you will need to set aside about 1-2 hours so we can find your look, take measurements for adjustments, discuss any custom apparel, and complete your wardrobe.
Gallery Updates
The first few pages of Johnathan's journal have been uploaded to the gallery. The journal is pivotal to the story of
Shroud so we really wanted to show Johnathan's breadth of knowledge in mathematics, legend and the occult. The pages show rubbings, ink sketches, pencil sketches, notes, theories, equations and conclusions accumulated over his many journeys. The journal will have a hand-tooled custom leather cover, hand torn pages and leather bindery. Very cool.
Gallery Online
The beginning of our online gallery is up under Production > Gallery / Sketchbook. The gallery is divided into categories and reflects location scouting, art direction concepts, armor design phase and other candies as we roll through pre-production. The city of
Shroud is the first category so you can get a feel for the location in Austin. Of particular interest is the last category that showcases Hamilton Pool Cave in Austin as well -- it is simply stunning (this is the cave to which Aaron brings Victoria).Future categories will include dress rehearsals, Victoria dress fittings, fight choreography and vintage props.
Production Notes Online
I have also started what will eventually become a blog under Production > Production Notes that is a bit technically different than the News & Announcements (here) in which you are reading about it. Production notes gives glimpses (albeit brief ones) into the technical journey of many of the process of pre-production including art direction challenges, insurance and period-correct apparel and props. Basically, it is a 'how to' series of notes. Not for everyone, but those who themselves may be interested in knowing how certain things were achieved might find it a curious read.
Marty van Kleek Starts Sewing
The Senior Dressmaker on
Shroud, Marty van Kleek has begun designing Victoria's vintage apparel. We are looking forward to seeing what Marty comes up with.
Dylan Barth Signs on to Shroud
Dylan Barth has landed the pivotal role of Abraham, Victoria Celestine's little brother in Jetrefilm Entertainment's HD feature
Shroud. We all welcome Dylan to the cast and look forward to beginning rehearsals with him in early January.
Morgana Shaw Joins Shroud Cast
Morgana Shaw of The Horne Agency has signed on to play the tormented Elizabeth in
Shroud. Morgana's extensive experience in film and television brings a well-proved energy and innovation to the HD feature. We are very excited to be working with Ms. Shaw.
Fight Choreography Starts in Full Swing...and Kick
Nicole Leigh has begun her intensive training regimen for her role as Victoria Celestine. Nicole is learning western boxing, a smattering of Tae Kwon Do kicks, and Seven Star Praying Mantis Kung-Fu "trapping hand" sets, tomahawk and staff fighting, broadsword combat, and 19th century firearms and rifles. Further, she will begin armor movement in January, along with visiting a gun range to become familiar with the guns of the period. Nicole has also begun a rigorous work-out routine and diet to prepare for the physical demands of
Shroud.
Nicole Leigh to play Victoria Celestine in Shroud
Nicole Leigh of The Horne Agency has accepted the demanding lead role of Victoria Celestine. We are very excited to be working with Nicole on this ambitious HD project and wish to express our sincere gratitude to Suzanne Horne of The Horne Agency for Nicole, and the many other excellent actors who will be participating in this unique film. Full cast biographies will be available this week on this website.
Willieville Officially Signs on to Shroud HD Film
The first character of
Shroud is cast in the abandoned period town of Willieville, near Austin. Principal photography is schedule for the first three weeks of February 2007. We are excited to be filming near Austin and look forward to shooting on this wonderful location.
Shroud Sides Now Available for Call Backs
Returning actors can now download various character sides in PDF from our DOWNLOADS tab. All sides are property of Jetrefilm Entertainment © 2007 and are not for distribution.
St. Paul Travelers
Dallas-based Ragland Strother and Lafitte has come on board as our insurance carriers on
Shroud.
Call Backs
Call backs will be on Wednesday, November 29th, from 7pm-9pm at our offices: 3001 LBJ Freeway, Suite 100, Dallas, Texas 75234. We will notify either by email or phone. By appointment only.
Audition 3
Our last Dallas audition will be on Saturday, November 25th, from 11am-6pm at our offices. To schedule your audition please contact.
The Grove Country Life Museum joins Art Direction team
Late 19th century museum with vintage memorabilia opens doors to
Shroud production. Operated by Moody Anderson, The Grove houses an staggering amount of authentic objects and artifacts recently showcased in The Alamo and other Texas-based western films. The Grove is located at 1208 Slaughter Lane, Austin, Texas 78748, or call 512-282-1215. Amazing stuff.
New Jetrefilm Website Home Page
A new homepage showcasing Jetrefilm's first feature film
Shroud is now up. Character bios, script excerpts and downloads, schedule and investor log-in are now available.
Audition 2
Arlette Morgan will be organizing our second audition on Sunday, November 19th from 11am-4pm at our offices: 3001 LBJ Freeway, Suite 100, Dallas, Texas 75234. Scores of actors from Dallas, Austin and Los Angeles will be coming to Dallas to compete for the lead roles. All principal roles should be filled by December 1st with extras selected by January 1st, 2007. To schedule your audition please contact Arlette Morgan at 469-939-6357.
Audition 1
Our first audition for
Shroud will be on Saturday, November 11th from 1pm-5pm, at our offices at 3001 LBJ Freeway, Suite 100, Dallas, Texas 75234. To schedule your audition please contact Arlette Morgan at 469-939-6357.
Kaligrafos joins Art Direction Team
Kaligrafos is a calligraphy guild in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex who specialize in calligraphic arts and vintage documentation. Betty Barna has signed on to help us with the 19th century journals and letters while Janell Wimberly will be designing the 16th century Spanish papers of Coronado.
Patrick Thaden & Ugo Serrano To Start Hammering
Our senior armorer Patrick Thaden has invited Ugo Serrano to co-design the plate mail armor in
Shroud. Ugo Serrano's armor work has been showcased in major films such as Blade 3: Trinity, The Chronicles of Riddick and Witchblade. The hammering begins November 29th, 2006 - 4:00pm-ish.
Arlette Morgan Helms Shroud Casting
Seasoned film / theatre actor, acting coach & dialect designer Arlette Morgan has assumed all casting and scheduling for
Shroud. Audition dates and locations to be announced soon.
Location Scouting
David Jetre, Edgar Pitts, Brad Stephens, H. R. Massey and Bryan Chatlien spent the day in "Willieville" scouting the property, taking hundreds of photographs and trying to survive falling through floorboards.
Built by Willie Nelson, "Willieville" is a small Old West town (circa 1860's) located 40 miles west of Austin. Originally built for The Red Headed Stranger, the set is fully powered and nestled in the uncluttered hills outside of Austin.
Shroud Senior Crew announced
Jetrefilm Entertainment has finalized the senior crew for
Shroud.
David Jetre - Producer / Writer / Director / Art Director / Fight Choreographer
Edgar Pitts - Producer / Production Manager / Post-Production Supervisor
Daniel Ducnan - Executive Producer
H. R. Massey - Director of Photography
Michael Morlan - Lighting Director
Brad Stephens - 1st Assistant Director / Editor
Bryan Chatlien - Camera Operator / Photographer
John Mays - Creature Effects / Special Effects
Arlette Morgan - Casting
James Barker - Senior Sound Designer
Wolfgang Lackner - Composer
Design & Technology Consulting Services, a full service design studio & internet marketing and technologies firm in Dallas, Texas, will be handling all marketing and internet campaigns for
Shroud.
Jetrefilm Entertainment begins pre-production on Hi-Definition feature Shroud
Jetrefilm Entertainment began pre-production on a period drama set in the Old West.
"In 1862, a Dutch widow travels to the Old West to discover the fate of her husband and learn the horrible secret of the city in which he died."
A blend of action and suspense,
Shroud explores the intersection of science and faith against the backdrop of both murder and mystery.
Jetrefilm Entertainment announces 2007 film production line-up
Jetrefilm Entertainment has announced two HD feature length films for 2007.
The first film
Shroud is a period drama set in 1862 Arizona and follows a Dutch widow's journey to America to locate her missing husband. 90 minutes color. Rated R for violence. HD format. Scheduled for February 2007.
