FIRST LOOK AT SHARLTO COPLEY IN TONY STONE’S TED K

Selected for Panorama 71^st Berlin International Film Festival

CINETIC MEDIA AND HANWAY FILMS LAUNCHING SALES
 

Writer/director Tony Stone’s true crime drama TED K has been selected as part of the Panorama section of this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.  The film tracks a period in the life of Ted Kaczynski, more widely known as the Unabomber, and draws from Kaczynski’s personal diaries and accounts from those who knew him during his life in hiding. Sharlto Copley (District 9, Hardcore Henry) stars in the title role.

Hanway Films have come on board to sell international rights, and Cinetic Media are handling North America. 

Ted K lives a life of almost complete seclusion in a simple wooden cabin in the mountains of Montana. But then this former university professor, who despises modern society and its faith in technology, becomes radicalised. What begins with local acts of sabotage, ends with deadly bomb attacks. To the outside world, Ted K becomes known as the Unabomber.

Based on Ted Kaczynski’s diaries and writings, Tony Stone’s film is a kaleidoscopic true crime journey into the life of one of America’s most complex and eccentric killers. It features a tour-de-force performance from Sharlto Copley who portrays the complexity of this unique outsider, raging at the forces of both the inescapable technological society that plagues him and his own inner demons.

TED K tells Kaczynski’s story not as a biopic, but as an investigation and immersion in the realities of his life, from the mundane to the shocking and violent. The script was based on Kaczynski’s own diaries and accounts from neighbors, and Stone used FBI photographs to forensically recreate his world in every detail. Many of the supporting cast are non-professional locals, some of whom actually knew Kaczynski, and the production worked closely with his former neighbors and employers to corroborate research and paint an authentic picture of the man, right down to the clothes he wore. The authenticity extended to the shooting locations, as Stone built a recreation of Kaczynski’s cabin on its original site, and production made use of every structure and object that Kaczynski left behind as part of the 60 day shoot over four seasons in Montana. TED K is Stone’s third feature after his 2009 backyard epic Severed Ways and the critically acclaimed 2016 documentary Peter and The Farm. Both films were released by Magnolia Pictures.

“TED K. dives into the disturbed and tormented life of Theodore J Kaczynski, a character that is routinely displayed in popular culture. As filmmakers we wanted to revisit and abolish the usual tropes of the biopic to create an experiential cinematic journey, depicting what Ted’s day to day life was like through extreme subjectivity. Since 1996 when a man covered in filth was dragged out of his cabin, the public has been fascinated with how someone with no running water or electricity could paralyze and terrorize American society for nearly two decades and strong arm the publication of a 35,000-word manifesto. As modern society confronts massive problems of technological reliance and climate catastrophe, Kaczynski's writings, from revengeful rants to constructive arguments, and his simple existence in the natural world continue to take on more and more intrigue and relevance.

Working with Sharlto Copley was profound and cathartic. We watched him become indiscernible from Kaczynski, as he delivered a raw and emotionally charged performance. As this film starts its journey to find its audience, our team is grateful for the opportunity to be selected to show in Berlin’s Panorama program and to be working with HanWay and Cinetic.” Tony Stone, Writer/Director

“Tony Stone is a remarkable filmmaker. He draws from the forensic and almost archaeological authentic skills of a documentary filmmaker but delivers a bold, visceral and cinematic film with scale, landscapes and the four seasons of Montana. Sharlto Copley's performance is utterly extraordinary as we enter the Unabomber’s singular point of view in all its layers. The whole experience is enhanced by an unforgettable score by Blanck Mass” Gabrielle Stewart, HanWay Films

TED K is a Tony Stone film, presented by Heathen Films in association with Verisimilitude, Hideout Pictures, In Your Face Entertainment, and Cameron Brodie with the support of Montana Film Office, Big Sky Film Grant and New York State Post Production Tax Credit Program. The film is edited by Tony Stone and Brad Turner with original score by Blanck Mass, the director of photography is Nathan Corbin and script writers are Gaddy Davis, John Rosenthal and Tony Stone. Executive Producers are Cameron Brodie, Tyler Brodie, Melissa Auf der Maur, Shannon Houchins, Potsy Ponciroli and Trevor O’Neil.  It is co-produced by Jake Perlin, Niles Roth and Colin Scott, and Tony Stone and Matt Flanders produced in association with Sharlto Copley.

International press enquiries:

Rupert Goodwin

rupert.goodwin@premiercomms.com

ABOUT CINETIC MEDIA

Cinetic Media is a talent management, content sales, and strategic advisory company for the media and entertainment industries. The company empowers world class storytellers with a full suite of services, including project financing, domestic and international content sales, corporate advisory, PR and marketing. It is also partnered in Brand New Story, a joint venture with David Gordon Green’s Rough House, for a free-standing advisory business which works with top brands and Hollywood storytellers to finance, develop, distribute and market long-form film and television.The company was founded by John Sloss in 2001 and maintains offices in New York and Los Angeles.  For more information, please visit www.cineticmedia.com

ABOUT HANWAY FILMS

HanWay Films is a UK based international sales company specialising in quality, high-profile and commercially driven films from visionary and unique filmmakers around the world. Established in 1998 by producer Jeremy Thomas, HanWay offers full service solutions; arranging financing, sales, marketing and distribution. HanWay Films has long-term global producing partnerships and represents films from Recorded Picture Company along with projects from third party producers as well as the rights to an extensive film catalogue of over five hundred feature films.

HanWay’s slate includes Matteo Garrone’s PINOCCHIO starring Roberto Benigni; Amma Asante’s Cold War thriller THE BILLION DOLLAR SPY; Sia’s MUSIC starring Kate Hudson; Bryan Fogel’s highly anticipated film THE DISSIDENT; Ruth Paxton’s directorial debut A BANQUET; Phillip Noyce’s PEGGY JO starring Lily James; Kim Mordaunt’s WILDLANDS starring Matthias Schoenaerts; Jasmine McGlade’s FENCER starring Zoe Saldana; Julien Temple’s CROCK OF GOLD: A FEW ROUNDS WITH SHANE MACGOWAN; Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut and film festival favourite FALLING; Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER starring Oscar Isaac; John Patrick Shanley’s WILD MOUNTAIN THYME and Simon Barrett’s SEANCE starring Suki Waterhouse. The company also represents THE SONG OF NAMES directed by Francois Girard and starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen; Robin Wright’s feature directorial debut LAND; Richard Press’ FARNSWORTH HOUSE; James D’Arcy’s heart-warming comedy MADE IN ITALY starring Liam Neeson and Micheál Richardson and Andrew Levitas’ redemptive thriller MINAMATA starring Johnny Depp. For more information, please visit www.hanwayfilms.com

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