Brothers Evangelos and George Giovanis flank Malcolm McDowell during the taping of a pitch piece for BEREAVE, which McDowell will star in and executive produce. Photo courtesy of Vago Productions.
Fatally ill and unable to reveal his secret to his family, Garvey thinks he has figured out how to die alone. Suffering mortality fears and unable to tell his family, Garvey’s behavior becomes erratic. But when his beloved wife Evelyn goes missing on their anniversary, he must live to save her! In that short time, Garvey realizes what life still has to offer and in following his journey; we do too.
Attached are Malcolm McDowell as Garvey and Jane Seymour as Evelyn. McDowell found the story so compelling he signed on as an executive producer.
Brothers George and Evangelos Giovanis. Photo courtesy of Evangelos Giovanis.
Half of a two brother filmmaking team, Evangelos Giovanis wrote BEREAVE in 2007 inspired by the death of a family friend. He started writing to deal with the thoughts that were on his mind at the time. He says, “The movie is not about that family friend but rather about how we deal with the last few years, months, hours and minutes as we near death.” It’s a subject that Western civilizations don’t deal with so well. Evangelos began his questions to himself with, “how do we let go?”
His hope was to tell a touching story about an older, married man struggling with his mortality. It took him about fifty days to write it, but he has been revising it for six years now. In emails, in telephone calls and in face to face conversations, people that have read the script have told him that it touched them so deeply that they could only describe it as cathartic. “They have all wished me to get it on the screen. Financing is difficult for such a character driven piece, so we (he and his brother George) decided to go looking to the crowd on Kickstarter to become the producers. It worked!” he told IMAGINE.
Evangelos Giovanis holding the plaque at the 2006 Thessaloniki International Film Festival where George and Evangelos Giovanis won the Digital Alexander Award for best feature with their film LAND OF NOD. Photo courtesy of Vago Productions.
George and Evangelos met Malcolm McDowell through a mutual friend who had worked with him before. Malcolm read the script and not only wanted to do it, but completely understood the material. You need your lead actor to know what the story is trying to say. You need him to understand the writing. Evangelos sings his praises, “Malcolm is incredibly intelligent and has a huge sense of humor as well. We have become great friends ever since and can’t wait to work together.”’
Malcolm worked with the Giovanis brothers to produce a humorous and heartwarming pitch piece for their Kickstarter effort. According to Evangelos, “Without Malcolm’s involvement, we are certain we would not have reached our $100,000 goal. He is a legendary actor and I’d say even more importantly; a very unique man.
Also attached to BEAREAVE is Neve Campbell (WILD THINGS, SCREAM), a brilliant actress and winner of the Prism and Saturn Awards with over fifty credits to her name and the charismatic JJ Feild (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, CENTURION).
JJ Field is attached to BEREAVE. Photo by Ryan McGoverne
Malcolm gave the script to Jane Seymour. “We have always been huge fans of hers,” says, Evangelos. “But that’s easy to do! Her radiant beauty is only surpassed by her acting prowess. Jane is one of those rare actors who can play a sex bomb in a James Bond movie, but also play the ill-fated queen in a political thriller. How else do you win two Golden Globes, one Emmy and a Saturn award? She is a blessing on the set and my brother and I are enamored to be working with her.
According to Evangelos, “My brother is my best friend and greatest ally. We make all our films together. We compliment and support each otherverywell.Thereisnothingwehaven’tdone together from the cradle till now and I hope it stays that way till we hit the dirt.
“In 2006, we sold our pizza restaurant in Sedona, Arizona in order to make our next movie – not averse to risking it all for the dream so to speak. We work well together on set. My brother is more patient with setting up lights and the geometry of it all, knows way more buttons on the camera than I do! I’m more in tune with the writing and trying to communicate to the actors what I need from them. Oh sure, we’ll make outtakes where we could be swearing up a storm, but later that night, we’ll go out, grab a drink, hug each other and say, ‘what a day, our movie will be beautiful’.”
In 2008, the Giovanis brothers used their pizza earnings to self finance their third feature film RUN IT. The budget was a modest $50,000. Starring Louis Zorich (DETACHMENT), Sam Coppola (SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER) and Armen Garo (THE DEPARTED), the action-drama focuses on the tale of two thugs, a substitute teacher, and a young student who get tangled up in a day of violent crimes. RUN IT premiered at Philafilm and picked up the Gold Award for best feature. It continued its festival run and accolades with an honorable mention at the Canada International Film Festival, a Gold Kahuna Award at the Honolulu International film Festival and a Bronze Palm Award at the Mexico International Film Festival. The film had a theatrical run in NYC at Cinema Village for a week in May 2013.
For BEREAVE the Geovanis brothers are seeking additional funding and production prowess,foreign sales and domestic and foreign distribution. You can contact them at vagoproductions@yahoo. com or call 951 526-5539. Both brothers are available during AFM.
