DEVELOPING THE RIGHT SCRIPT
For their first US and Russian co-production, RAMCO (Russian-American Movie Company) producers Leonid Minkovski and Serge Konov knew developing the right script was a necessity. And in September 2004, veteran Hollywood producer Mark Damon sent them the script of Captivity, which was first brought to Damon's attention by producer and longtime friend, Gary Mehlman. After fifty years in the film industry and credited with having invented the foreign sales business, Damon was intrigued by the possible Russian collaboration. "I knew that up till this point, a true Russian-American co-production had not been done, and I was impressed with the three principals I met: Leonid Minkovski, Valery Chumak and Serge Konov," said Damon.
Always looking for the next challenge in an already illustrious career, Damon saw this opportunity as a new frontier. "I realized that there were great possibilities here for an inroad into Russia for American producers, and I welcomed the challenge of being the first." Staying true to his independent roots although always striving for the mainstream, Mr. Damon saw the potential in Captivity to be more than just another thriller, and RAMCO's Russian co-producers agreed as did Academy Award nominated director, Roland Joffe.

FINDING THE RIGHT DIRECTOR
The choice of Joffe as director initially seemed unconventional at the time as he is best known for dramatic films such as the Academy-Award nominated The Killings Fields and the critically acclaimed The Mission. Konov reflects, "I realized that it could be a great chance for us to produce a very unusual genre movie." Minkovski agreed. "Roland Joffe involved as a director made me look at this script a little bit different than just another horror movie, I came to realize this will be not just another scary movie, this will be a very interesting psychological thriller." As Joffe had never made a genre picture at that point, Damon set aside time for the both of them to watch genre film after genre film to study the techniques that were necessary. As pre-production continued, it became clear that Joffe would indeed add a welcome complexity to the already intriguing script, and the focus and intensity of many of his earlier films. Minkovski states, "creatively he's an incredible director, making everybody around him, the whole crew excited, but he's also tough… tough to work with because he has very specific wishes. And it's really hard to fight him especially when you see the final product we're getting, when you look at the dailies." It was clear to the whole cast and crew that Joffe had a certain vision for the film which has become increasingly evident as post-production progresses.

THE STORY: BLENDING OF GENRES
The story, crafted by the writer of Cellular and Phone Booth, is filled with the requisite scares and suspense, but the plot delves much deeper, probing into private fears such as isolation and separation. In regards to this Damon states, "I would hope the audience will take home with them a myriad of emotions: a great love story, having been frightened to death many times in the movie; having gone through a harrowing experience with Jennifer Tree; 90 to 100 minutes of tension and terror."

THE CHARACTERS
The multiple facets of the characters allowed the actors to become more attached to their roles, taking guidance from the director who went to the extent of creating a diary for the lead actress, Elisha Cuthbert. Cuthbert recalls "I had a lot of back story to go off of which helped me through the course of the film." Known for her roles in the acclaimed television series 24 and films such as The Girl Next Door, and a Teen Choice Award nominee for "Breakout TV Actress" in 2002, Cuthbert was a perfect to play the lead role.
She has talent as well as a strong audience following particularly among the younger generations. "While admittedly very talented and beautiful," starts Damon, "Elisha also has a very strong fan base and that was another important reason for approaching her for the role of Jennifer Tree in Captivity. No matter what kind of role she plays there's an identification that audiences have with the characters that she plays." And Minkovski states, "It's been a pleasure to work with her." Both lead actors shared a comfortable relationship, feeding off of each other to make the scenes better. Gillies recalls, "my experience with [Elisha] was great because we create well together, we're both ready to acknowledge whatever form the scene takes rather than trying to control it and dominate it."
Cuthbert agrees. "A lot of the moments in the movie that were supposed to be little scenes ended up becoming these really poignant, powerful things that sort of just happened with Roland's vision, and also Daniel and I coming together. I think that will translate as something really special in the end."
It is this blending of genre that interested Daniel Gillies who plays the lead role of Gary. Gillies observes, "It's just very interesting the whole psychology, it's a very dark premise. Having said that, contextually it's kind of a love story set within the genre of a psychological thriller." The producers all agreed that Gillies was a solid fit for his role. Speaking about the role of Gary, Damon states, "Even though the character seems simple, as you find out during the movie he is rather complex. We needed somebody who could give us the boyishness and the complexities as well. After testing many, many young actors everyone felt that Daniel Gillies was right for the role." Speaking of the complexities of Gillie's role and his acting talent, Cuthbert states, "to pull that off and then to go back and watch the movie again and have that all really make sense and play out with the knowledge of who he really is, is very complicated for an actor and I think he's done a really great job."
One of the most interesting elements of the story is the use of darkness and light, playing on Jennifer's fears both visually and emotionally. Roland Joffe reflects, "One of the themes of Captivity is darkness and light. Jennifer Tree has a phobia about darkness. Her captor plays on this, rewarding her with light, punishing her with darkness. But light reveals terrors, turning darkness into a refuge. A refuge, however, that, in turn, unleashes greater fears."
While each member of an audience has his or her own unique phobias, we can each relate to being confronted with an uncomfortable, frightening, threatening experience. Oftentimes, the cells of fear that lie in the recesses of our brain are merely of our own creation, the mind-forged manacles constantly holding each of us prisoner. Roland Joffe hopes to explore this idea throughout Captivity. He states, "Some people are captive to external forces and some to internal ones. It may be a cell that holds us in captivity or maybe captivity is a twist in the mind that holds us in its grip." Jennifer's internal torment explored so well by Ms. Cuthbert parallels her physical reaction to her confined space.

FINDTHE RIGHT CREW
Both the Russian and American crew worked tirelessly with the goal of making the best film possible. Director of Photography, Daniel Pearl, was diligent in striking just the right notes of color to illuminate a scene akin to any major blockbuster film. With the themes of darkness and light plaguing the main character of Jennifer, Pearl was able to create these extremes to convey the emotions of the moment while still maintaining beautiful looks.
Production Designer Addis Gadzhiev created a well-designed physical space in which the actors could work, adding to the depth of the characters themselves. Through email correspondence, Joffe worked closely with Gaszhiev to create a very specific look for the film. Damon is one of many who highly compliment Gadzhiev's work. "I think that Addis, as a production designer who has never been in America yet was able to capture perfectly the feel of an American middle class home in NY, did a superb job." Of course, the sets still needed to be approved by Joffe when he returned to Moscow for one month of pre-production just before the start of principal photography. Konov recalls, "when I saw his eyes and his mimics, his impressions when he came to the set I realized that everything is ok, everything is good." When finished, the two sets on the sound stages of Mosfilm would measure over 150 square meters. One stage encompassed the captives' cells and the captor's observation room, and the second stage was the two story house. Mosfilm's art department head, without ever having visited the United States, masterfully recreated an early twentieth century New Jersey home in the middle of Moscow using images from books and the internet. The result was a space that followed the old platitudes of architecture - form and function. Aesthetically, the sterile space provided the perfect backdrop to mirror the frustration and fear of the characters in the film while still being beautiful in its simplicity.
The experience of making Captivity has added a new outlook on filmmaking for the entire cast and crew. Minkovski states of Joffe that "he's an incredible man with great vision and a profound philosophy." The same can be said of the men and women who worked to make Captivity a reality, and helped to open a new door in filmmaking.
Captivity is capable of sending the message to the global film community that films can be shot in Russia, but do not necessarily have to be about Russia, and that RAMCO and Mosfilm studios are prepared to be contenders in the production of quality films. Serge Konov remarks about Captivity that "Our goal was to shoot movies in Moscow but not necessarily about Moscow. Captivity takes place in New York, but most of the script had to be shot on a stage." With the rising cost of filmmaking in the United States, it is imperative that particularly independent production companies search out the next hot locations, and Moscow, with its newly renovated Mosfilm Studios, is certainly on that list.

DIRECTOR'S VISION
I've wanted to make a thriller for a long time. Thrillers are about people under extreme pressure. Under extreme pressure people find out who they really are. That's a chemistry I find exciting and fascinating. Captivity is both a thriller and a love story. A love story about fear of love and about love found--though not in places or ways one might expect. That's what makes this story both different and challenging.
The story has a contained eroticism and a steadily mounting psychological and physical danger that was fascinating to develop with the cast, the cameraman, and seeing what they brought to the screen. The action takes place in one house, often in one cell, but because the characters develop in unexpected ways this serves the film well. Deepening
our connection to the characters, our involvement in their plight and heightening our fear for them.
Being kidnapped is scary enough, but being kidnapped by a clever and obsessive psychotic is truly terrifying. Especially one who has studied his prey and knows which emotional and physical buttons to press to induce terror, panic, and finally submission.
One of the themes of Captivity is darkness and light. Jennifer Tree has a phobia about darkness. Her captor plays on this, rewarding her with light, punishing her with darkness. But light reveals terrors, turning darkness into a refuge. A refuge, however, that, in turn, unleashes greater fears. This has given the film a visual dynamic that is moody, sensual, and threatening, taking the audience through Jennifer's ordeal in as visceral a way as we could conceive.
In his inner darkness, the killer, who is Jennifer's captor, has woven his inner torment around TS Eliot's great poem on the human condition The Wasteland. He uses it to offer clues to the police, he uses it too because it speaks to his own dark vision of the world. More, this great poem resonates with the thriller subtext of Captivity. Questions of free will, pain, violence, sensuality, love and redemption, through which, unwittingly or not, we all pick our way.
I think that a good thriller should enjoy the rules of the genre but in frightening its audience also lure them into unexpected places Some people are captive to external forces and some to internal ones. It may be a cell that holds us in captivity or maybe captivity is a twist in the mind that holds us in its grip.
I wanted to make Captivity fast paced, erotic, constantly thrilling and scary. I believe that it's a cross -generational story because it asks, as Jennifer Tree might put it, "Who am I?"

Roland Joffe (Director)
Rarely, if ever, has a director made his debut in film with two Oscar nominations for his first two motion pictures, thus marking an auspicious beginning for Roland Joffé. Universally praised for his international style of movie-making on The Killing Fields and The Mission, Joffé immediately endeared himself to Hollywood as a filmmaker par excellence in his choice of material as well as his directing expertise. By only choosing projects that move him, Joffe's films are sure to be movies with depth.
Joffé's background was grounded in British theater, being the youngest director at the National Theatre before entering the world of television via Granada, Thames and the BBC. Successful shows such as Coronation Street and The Stars Look Down gave him the opportunity to hone his craft and, at the same time, allowed him to write many of the shows he directed.

His initial success with a series of dramatic documentaries laid the groundwork for his first motion picture, The Killing Fields, a frighteningly realistic depiction of a country (Cambodia) torn apart by war and terrorism.
With unanimous raves from domestic and international critics alike, the memoirs of New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg gave audiences a reality seldom seen on the screen. The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, & Sciences acknowledged Joffé with his first of two nominations, and his directing future was assured. Nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press for its coveted Golden Globes, plus BAFTA and the Critic Circle Film Section bear testimony to his outstanding contribution to this film. His second feature, The Mission, is hailed as a sweeping, cinematically beautiful, historical drama about an 18th century Jesuit mission in the Brazilian jungle. The film was the recipient of seven Oscar nominations, including one for best director. It was also awarded the coveted Palme d'Or as best motion picture at the Cannes Film Festival and won Italy's
Michelangelo Prize. For Dominique LaPierre's book City of Joy, Joffé set off to India to film the tale of a disillusioned American heart surgeon who flees to Calcutta after losing a patient. There he is beaten, robbed, and then befriended by a farmer who takes him to a clinic in the poorest part of the city where he undergoes a life-changing transformation. Controversy regarding his approach to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter- a film the Boston Globe praised for its passion, sweep and grandeur - made for headlines by various reviewers about this tale of a repressed Puritan society
in early America. Joffe can never be accused of duplicating himself. He is a chameleon of genre, but is simultaneously devoted to projects that move him. Innovation has always been Joffé's credo, and his independent spirit continues to rise above the popular conceptions of our society.

Larry Cohen (Screenwriter)
Having just completed directing PICK ME UP for the highly acclaimed Showtime cable series, MASTER OF HORROR, Larry Cohen is also the author of the recent 20th Century Fox thriller, "PHONE BOOTH, which topped the box office charts and starred Colin Farrell. It was directed by Joel Schumacher. Cohen's popular follow-up to this, CELLULAR, was produced by New Line and starred Kim Basinger, Chris Evans and Jason Statham.
Over the years, Larry has gained a worldwide reputation as an independent filmmaker, writer, director and producer. His highly imaginative films like IT'S ALIVE, Q and GOD TOLD ME TO have earned him the George Pal Award from the Academy of Science Fiction. He has created a string of successes at the box office and gained international critical attention as well, winning the coveted Avoriax Film Festival Jury Prize twice from juries headed by Polanski and Spielberg. His recent original screenplays GUILTY AS SIN and BEST SELLER have been acclaimed as modern examples of cinema noir at its best.

He has been honored with a showing of ten films at the Brisbane Festival in Australia. Cohen has also been honored in a month-long retrospective of eleven of the twenty films he's directed at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. It was billed as "GODS AND DEMONS - a tribute to the maverick independent filmmaker." This followed a previous month-long tribute at the Chicago Art Institute entitled, "IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S LARRY COHEN."

A number of Larry Cohen's films have ranked #l on the Variety Box Office Charts. These include IT'S ALIVE, BLACK CAESAR and Q. His motion picture, THE STUFF, was chosen among the-best films of 1985 by critic Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice, as well as by The New York Daily News. In 1984, his film Q was chosen as one of the year's best movies by Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune and Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times. His hard-hitting expose, THE PRIVATE FILES OF J. EDGAR HOOVER was the most highly attended attraction of the London Film Festival. Critic Cleveland Amory lauded it as "The best FBI movie ever made."

Cable stations throughout the United States have scheduled festivals of Larry Cohen films for their subscribers. His movies play at revival houses all over the world and are always popular on home video. The Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center in New York, the National Film Theatre in London and the Cinematheque in Paris regularly exhibit his films. Extensive critical studies of his films have appeared in film magazines and journals such as Sight and Sound and Film Comment. Southern Illinois University has offered a college course in Larry Cohen's films and the book, LARRY COHEN, RADICAL INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER, was published by McFarland Press in 1998. His recent screenplay, CELLULAR, has been filmed by New Line, and stars Kim Basinger. Another suspense script, BAD SEED, has been purchased by Joel Silver Productions for release by Warner Bros.

A graduate of CCNY where he studied documentary filmmaking, Larry worked as a stand-up comic and an NBC page boy before selling his first scripts to television. Early in his career, he began writing, producing and directing his own successful theatrical features upon which his international fame is based.
Television
Larry's 1999 NYPD BLUE segment was the highest rated of the season and introduced the character of Irvin who became a regular-running character on the series. Larry Cohen emerged as a writer while still a freshman at City College of New York, where he found time to write eight episodes of THE DEFENDERS, the most honored series of its time, for which he won two Emmy citations. Larry is married to psychotherapist Cynthia Costas and has five children from an earlier marriage to Janelle Webb. He lives in the former Hearst Mansion off Coldwater Canyon in Beverly Hills and maintains residences in both New York and Chicago. For relaxation and enjoyment he writes topical comedy material for such close friends as the late Red Button. He is currently preparing to direct his 22nd feature.

HISTORY OF RAMCO
The 40 hectares complex includes 13 stages, full service production offices, editing facilities, and 3 permanent location sets. The Studios are equipped with modern film production technologies widely used by western studios and independent producers.

First RAMCO's production under the Mosfilm agreement was Silent Partner, the picture is currently being sold throughout the world. The latest endeavor, that proved RAMCO's ability to bring A-list talent to Mosfilm, is the new Roland Joffe film Captivity, starring Elisha Cuthbert and Daniel Gillies. The film is in post-production and is scheduled for worldwide release in 2006. Konov and Minkovski have succeeded in creating a team of professionals that can bridge the gap between the not-so-simple Russian reality and Hollywood standards.

THE ART OF HORROR                           HOME