N O S T R A D A M U S

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1 N O S T R A D A M U S P R E S S N O T E S CONTACT: THEMERC01@GMAIL.COM DIRECTOR: THOMAS IKIMI SCREENPLAY: THOMAS IKIMI, JOSHUA BANTA DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ALLEN E. HO EDITOR: THOMAS IKIMI PRODUCERS: THOMAS IKIMI, JOE HOLT EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: AUSTIN NICHOLS, DAVID NICHOLS, KAY NICHOLS ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: SHAYNE BROWN, MARC FLEISCHMAN MUSIC: JOE KRAEMER PRODUCTION DESIGNER: PARIS PICKARD COSTUME DESIGNER: CORINNE ECKART 1st ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: MIKE RAINEY HARRY FISHER: AUSTIN NICHOLS SILAS: AMY SLOAN KIM: TESSA AUBERJONOIS Col. GROVES: JOE HOLT LANE FISHER: CHLOE BENNET SYNOPSIS A recruit to a prototype military drone program, arrives at a remote diner and is faced with an unexpected chain of events. FROM THE DIRECTOR: Film is the passion of everyone involved in this project. I am a fan of the old school thriller and one of my biggest filmmaking influences is Alfred Hitchcock. Inspired by Strangers On A Train, I set about creating a story that could convey tension, intrigue and suspense within a limited space and within a limited budget. I am very interested in the debate on the use of drones in military conflict, and as such, I picked this as the subject of the film.

2 THE CLASSIC SUSPENSE THRILLER Nigerian/British director Thomas Ikimi was influenced a great deal by the work of Stephen Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock. During his youth in Nigeria, his family were movie collectors, and he grew up watching classic thrillers from the 50 s and 60 s. Nostradamus is inspired by Hitchock s Strangers On A Train. Thomas wanted to bring that classic feel to the short film genre. He was eager to create a short film that felt like an expansive thriller with a much wider scope than it s immediate environment and running time. A film with a beginning, middle and end, and one that gave that impression of a feature. For the aesthetic he chose to shoot true anamorphic widescreen, and that cinemascope gave it the epic feel. Essentially it is a short actually best viewed on the big screen and not just on a computer monitor. A full surround 5.1 mix was done with sound designers helping to envelope the audience in the atmosphere of the diner. Thomas had worked with Austin Nichols before and was introduced to Chloe Bennet by him. Chloe was on a break from Agents Of Shield and starred in the short as Austin s character s wife. Thomas pulled favours from many professionals he had worked with in the past to make this short film happen, both in front of and behind the camera. Thomas s first feature film, LEGACY, was at TRIBECA 2010 so this will be his second time appearing at the festival. NOSTRADAMUS deals with the debate on drone warfare and Thomas created a story that looked at it from the perspective of the people charged with making those decisions on when to push the button. Taking a short step into the future, what would be the next phase of drone technology and what would that mean to a pilot who had to operate it? And finally, how do you present that in an exciting and cinematic way? A challenge Thomas was excited to take. NOSTRADAMUS is rife with tension, suspense and intrigue, and was intended to be a very different kind of short film experience. Thomas believes the cast and crew delivered on his vision for a feature like short with all the twists and turns of the classic thrillers of yesteryear it was inspired by.

3 THOMAS IKIMI - DIRECTOR Thomas was born in 1979 in Westminster, London. He attended primary school in Nigeria, prep and public school in England, and university in America. He holds a literature and writing degree from Columbia University, New York. In 2002, in his sophomore year, Thomas wrote, produced, and directed the existential thriller 'Limbo'. It was a student feature film made for only $9,000 on his CITIBANK student credit card, that went on to become an Official Selection and Opening film of the 2005 Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, Italy after playing at the Cannes Film Market. In 2007, while working shifts at his local electronics store in London, Thomas began writing, Legacy, a film he would go on to coedit, produce, and direct. It starred Golden Globe-winner Idris Elba, and Thomas raised the $500,000 budget himself primarily from Nigeria. Legacy premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, and garnered the Best Film Award at the American Black Film Festival, was nominated for Best UK Feature at the Raindance Film Festival in London, was nominated for a British Independent Film Award, won Best Director at the London Screen Nation Awards 2011, was selected by Michael Moore for his Traverse City invitational, was a part of the Black Voices in cinema strand at the Chicago Film Festival and was picked up for distribution in both the US and UK with limited theatrical releases in both countries. Thomas currently resides in both London, UK and Los Angeles, CA.

4 ACTOR/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: AUSTIN NICHOLS was born in Michigan and raised in Texas from the age of 2. At 18, Nichols enrolled at the University of Southern California and simultaneously began his acting career with small television and film roles. After graduating, a role on HBO's Six Feet Under led Nichols to the big-budget environmental disaster flick, The Day After Tomorrow. He followed that up with Wimbledon and Glory Road. It was playing Morgan Earp on Deadwood, where Nichols met David Milch. Milch asked if Nichols would play the title role in his new series for HBO, John From Cincinnati. The very interesting and enigmatic series lasted only one season, but it left its mark on the actor. Ever since, Nichols has been seeking out great writers and directors to work with. A string of indies followed with The Informers, Beautiful Boy, and Parkland. Most recently, Nichols can be seen on Showtime's Ray Donovan, playing the dark and tortured movie star, Tommy Wheeler. H A R R Y F I S H E R

5 AMY SLOAN ACTRESS: Amy hails from the Yukon Territory of Canada s far north.she is a graduate of the National Theater School of Canada and now resides in Los Angeles. Selected film credits include: A Single Shot, The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow, The Heartbreak Kid. Selected television credits include: Call Me Fitz (series regular), Mad Men, Big Love, C.S.I, Touch, N.C.I.S, Grey's Anatomy.Selected stage credits include: God Of Carnage (La Mirada Theater of the Performing Arts), All My Sons (Geffen Playhouse, L.A.), Plunge (Downstage Blackbox Theater, L.A.),The Crucible (Centaur Theater, Montreal), Richard III (Monument National du Canada, Montreal). SILAS

6 PRODUCER/ACTOR: JOE HOLT made Nostradamus his second turn at producing after a successful venture with noël, a recent HollyShorts Film Festival selection that he wrote, co-produced, directed, and acted in. He is thrilled to be collaborating with Thomas Ikimi and Austin Nichols after years of working on the other side of the camera, including roles on Scandal, The Good Wife, Prison Break, Grey s Anatomy, Supernatural, Franklin & Bash, and NCIS. Joe is interested in collaborating with other talented, professional, culturallydiverse artists to create projects with complexity, integrity, and, most importantly, humanity. C o l. G R O V E S