“FREEDOM DEAL: The Story of Lucky’’

 Completed 2013; Drama, RT 24:54

A Movie by Jason ‘Jack RO’ Rosette

 SELECTED TEAM DETAIL

(*Combined, ‘Story of Lucky’ and Feature Version of FREEDOM DEAL)

Cambodian national and additional writer Phun Sokunthearith, aka Mr. Tol, has been associated with Camerado SE Asia since 2008 through his work as a co-organizer and associate producer with another Camerado project, CamboFest, Cambodia Film Festival.  In 2010, Rith was invited to participate at the DW Akademie Deutsche Welle film festival training program at the Berlin Film Festival and Market. Rith has contributed significant story elements while assuming the role of co-director on the Freedom Deal effort.

Writer, co-director & co-producer Jason Rosette, aka Jack RO, is a US national who lived full time in Cambodia between 2005 and 2010, and again is currently living and working in Cambodia as a media producer, filmmaker, teacher, and consultant. He emphasizes the importance of telling the story with a local perspective in mind:

“Our goal has always been to tell this story as much as possible from the Cambodian perspective. My input would be informed from living, working, teaching and researching in Cambodia fulltime for more than half a decade under very challenging conditions, and by collaborating as much as possible with key Cambodian talent and colleagues who I have known for years.”

 His  previous work include the features, ‘BookWars‘ (Terrific – LA Times) and ‘Lost in New Mexico’ (‘Great Road Pic’ – Angelika Entertainment).

Previous Cambodian projects include ‘CRISIS’ (2005) a documentary about land evictions in Ratanakiri province directed for the NGO Forum on Cambodia, and ‘HAVE FOREST, HAVE LIFE’ (2006), a documentary about biodiversity in the remote Cardamom Mountains region of Cambodia directed for Conservation International, Fauna and Flora International, and Wildlife Alliance.

He has a BFA from New York University (Film & TV) and an MA from the Royal University of Phnom Penh;  See his partial Filmography and IMDB.

Robert ‘Bob’ Lewis, Western Rock Music & US Story consultant, was a founding member (along with Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh) of the New Wave band DEVO. He graduated from Kent State University shortly after the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970, and currently writes commentary on cultural and political issues.

 

Alec Cheschi, Co-producer of ‘Freedom Deal: The Story of Lucky’, has a wealth of knowledge in documentary filmmaking, television and drama.

Camerado had the pleasure of coordinating and fixing for Alec on a shoot of his in Cambodia several years ago, and looks forward to another bountiful collaboration on the ‘Freedom Deal’ effort.

Alec is based in London, where he runs both production and post-production companies. He regularly travels throughout Europe and to Asia to advise with filming, technical and productions matters.

 

Local (Cambodia) PR & Outreach Liason Soma Serei Norodom was born on October 29, 1969, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In April 1975, Soma and her family arrived in the U.S. and resided in Long Beach, California. Soma holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Telecommunications & Journalism, with an emphasis in News and Public Affairs in 1993, and has completed the Master’s Program in Mass Communication in 1996 at California State University, Fresno.  In June 2010, Soma moved back to Cambodia, where she  is currently writing a book about her father, and the Norodom, the Royal Family of Cambodia

[Regrettably, legendary filmmaker Yvon Hem passed away in August 2012; when we last spoke, we'd invited him to attend the initial casting sessions for the Freedom Deal short movie version (*the Story of Lucky). While he replied he was sick and unable to attend, he did not indicate how severe his condition must have been. We keep his memory alive here as the great and friendly pioneer of cinema he was. His original capsule blurb remains intact, below...] ‘Golden Age’ Cambodian filmmaker Yvon Hem acts as story consultant and advisor for the Freedom Deal effort.  “Yvon worked as a set designer on Marcel Camus´ little-known movie L’oiseau de paradis (1962) that was shot with amateur actors in Cambodia as a successor to his internationally highly successful Orfeu Negro (1959). Yvon went on to teach himself film making by reading how-to-books, and made some of the most beloved films of the “Golden Age of Khmer Cinema” during the 1960s and early 1970s, including Sovannahong and Abul Kasem.” (from the Southeast Asia Cinema Studies Institute blog)

 

Legal Advisor, Arnold E. Toole, has been practicing law since 1992. Currently based in the United States, he has also worked extensively in Southeast Asia. He concentrates his practice in corporate and commercial matters, contracts, real estate, entertainment law, and employment law.  See the Toole Law website for more information.

 

 

Cambodian Rock Music Consultant Matthew Caron is a writer, filmmaker and visual artist living in Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Caron was key researcher of filmmaker John Pirozzi’s upcoming ‘Golden Age’ Cambodian feature rock docu, ‘Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten (Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll). He is currently the host of East Village Radio’s ‘Bim Bam Room’, under the handle of Your Friend Matthew.