Cast and Crew:
Director(s):
Eduardo Sánchez, who proved that he can capture raw human emotion and insanity in Altered, also proved that he can handle the first-person narrative (in Blair Witch Project). For the sweeping panoramic nature shots, he will collaborate with
Alastair Fothergill, director of “Blue Planet.”
Writer:
Eduardo Sánchez, brought in again for his experience with Blair Witch and Altered.
Cast: For the cast, I would like to hire mostly unknowns (or lesser-knowns), to emphasize the “found” element of this footage. Also, to emphasize the “reality” of the documentary, the characters will be named after the actors playing them out.
Wentworth (“The Professor”): The Matango Project is Professor Wentworth’s baby. He is a research scholar with a PhD and multiple nature documentaries under his belt. He is out living his dream – Filming the Cordyceps Fungus while being heavily financed by an unnamed corporate investor. Professor Wentworth will be played by
Scott Wentworth, whose role in Diary of the Dead proves that he can be the self-preserving mentor under pressure. Not exactly a protector, but not a pure victim either.
Aaron: Aaron is our hero and sole survivor. He frames the narrative through which we see this film. He is the direct report and assistant of The Professor, who experiences conflict when he sees that this project is going downhill. How can he reason with the one whom he considers his mentor? For this role I would like to cast
Aaron Douglas who, within his role on Battlestar Galactica has shown that he can play loyal follower, but also incensed leader.
Alanna: Alanna is the young, innocent film crew member and nature-lover. She is the love interest of Aaron and also the film’s paradigm of innocence (very much like her original Matango counterpart). Aside from her innocence, she also needs to be a believable threat when she is overcome by the virus. For this role, I would like to cast
Alanna Chisholm who, in her role in The Chair, showed that she can go from innocent victim to deranged psychopath in the course of an evening.
Kim: Kim is the toughened outdoorsy adventurer film crew member, lending a slight foil to Alanna’s innocence. She is tough and hardened and the first person to suggest the abandoning of her fallen and falling comrades. She has had experience in documentary filmmaking before and seems to be most in-tuned with the dangers that nature has to offer (as opposed to Alanna’s flighty more simplistic nature sympathizer). Kim seems the first person to understand their peril. For this role, I would like to cast
Kim Blair, the Odysseus-like ARMY homecoming daughter in Mulberry Street. No stranger to horror, she proves that she can act tough in even the most outrageous situations.
Jake: Jake is the more stereotypical documentary crew member – one part environmental activist, three parts hippy stoner (a nod to the anti-drug themes of the original, but not a central piece to his character nor of the plot). Jake is the one in the film who, jokingly, refers to their excursion as “The Matango Project;” the rube naming their fate. Jake is the first character to become ill from the fungus. For this role, I would cast
Jake Muxworthy who, in Borderland, showed that he can play the smart but loose party boy but sober up quickly to become panicked, paranoid victim.
Marketing
The Matango Project will be pitched and marketed as a revisioning of the original. Fans of the original will not be turned off as this is not a carbon-copy, but rather a modernization of a cult classic with revised themes and cinematic technology.
In terms of viral marketing, we will create two fake websites: One is the personal website of Wentworth, chronicling and listing all of his “previous projects” (licensed actual documentary footage) with a blurb about his “current project.” The second website will be of a similar site: Planet Discovery, the environmental corporation funding this expedition. There will be various documentary footage in particular, footage showing the exploitation of nature for the cause of science (but pitched as “intellectual”). There will also be mention of their “current project.”