Director Delivers CPR to Film Project

May 24, 2012 - PRLog -- AUSTIN, TX MAY 24, 2012 – Filmmaker Jonathan De La Luz and distributor VCI Entertainment announce the release of the noir thriller Agenda available on DVD June 5th and in a unique new "chapter series" format online launching on Memorial Day, May 28th.  

The Agenda DVD will have two versions of the movie: one in color and the other in black and white as a tribute to the great film noir movies of the past. Robert Blair, President of VCI Entertainment, calls the movie’s black and white version “NoirScope,” while De La Luz, the film’s director, calls it “inspired marketing.”

As an added bonus to the viewer, De La Luz is announcing the launch of a free online version of Agenda presented in 17 chapters.

Agenda, starring Robert Rusler, Eliana Alexander, John Bennett Perry, and James Black made its international debut at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie has also won four awards including the Grand Prize at the New York Independent Film Festival and a prestigious Remi Award from the Houston International Film Festival.

De La Luz and native East Texan Danny Martin crafted the film’s storyline using that genre’s time-honored formula with a contemporary twist. Five intertwined characters weave a treacherous road of deception and murder spurred on by personal agendas.

The decision to include a black and white version of Agenda on the DVD was a win for the movie’s director, who envisioned that format from the start believing that black and white movies such as the blockbuster Sin City were making a come back of sorts.

In a textbook example of the perils of independent filmmaking, a few years of challenges in the period following production and in the initial distribution attempt ensued after the film wrapped in 2007.  These latest developments, a vindication for the film’s creator, come at a time when the film’s theme is more appropriate than ever.

Set in North Carolina, the film was shot in and around East Texas in locations such as Longview, Tyler, Nacogdoches and Lake of the Pines, as well as Shreveport, Louisiana. It pays homage to classic film noir developed during and after World War II, which took advantage of the post-war ambience - not unlike a period the world finds itself in again.  

“Given the wide scope of the economic and banking crisis which has spilled onto the world stage in the last few years,” says de la Luz, “not much has changed emotionally regarding anxiety, pessimism, and suspicion. Agenda as historical metaphor has become reality.”  

About the triumph of the black and white version making it into this newest release De La Luz doesn’t mince words.

“The black and white viewing experience is totally different from that of full color,” De La Luz says. “It helps the viewer as participant focus on the complexity of the evolving characters.”

As evidenced by this year’s Oscar for best film, he may be on to something. The Artist, presented not only in black and white but also as a silent film, has grossed an excess of $130 million.

VCI Entertainment is one of the nation's oldest independent home video companies and has a library of over 4,000 titles. The VCI library includes feature films, documentaries, short subjects, special interest and TV series. VCI is a leading supplier of archival quality Hollywood Classics, as well as 'bleeding' edge independent feature films and other eclectic entertainment from around the world. The company is distributing Agenda under its boutique label, Indie Go!

Agenda is available to pre-order at Amazon.com and at WalMart.com. It will also be available retail at all Hastings stores beginning on June 5.