Pistoleras Reading Update

So we announced Sharri Hefner's attachment as the director and co-writer of Pistoleras. She's amazing.

SHARRI HEFNER is… an award-winning filmmaker/screenwriter, quarter-finalist in Nicholl and Zoetrope. Alumna of the NYU graduate film school

Also by Sharri Hefner:
FIRENZE – A dark comedy about a mother who tags along on her daughter’s adulterous business trip in an effort to fix both their lives, before it’s too late.

COSMIC CORN - Quarter-finalist in the Zoetrope Screenwriting Contest. A family comedy about a nerdy farm boy who tries to win popularity by entering a 4-H competition; his life changes forever, however, when he meets an outcast extra terrestrial who shares his love of corn.

BEHIND THE GLASS - Placed in top 10% of Nicholl. A dark drama about a troubled teenage girl who goes searching for the love of the father she’s never known, and finds it in the most unlikely of places.



Reading Cast:

NARRATOR Courtney Graff Lamb

THE PISTOLERAS:
ALLISON Carly Craig
JAMIE Tria Xiong
CASEY Lily Chai
HEATHER Farrah Greye

LOS ANGELES / ROAD TRIP:
TEENAGE GIRL Leslie Lello
DRIVER Tom Derek
FEMALE VOICE Christina Wickers
SUSIE SPRINKLE Annette Reid
SEXY BEAST Mark Arnold
FEDERALES Stuart Bennett
DIRTY OLD MAN Andrew Jackson

THE CHRISTIAN DUDES:
LUKE Keisuke Hoashi
MATTHEW Mark Arnold
THE WAY GUY Fred Cross

MEXICO:
MAN IN BLACK Jeremy Jed Hammel
BLONDE MAN Keisuke Hoashi
PEDRO Robert Negron


Stuart G. Bennett is a character actor from Northern Virginia. Studied acting at The College of William & Mary and continued his training at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC. Currently he is at Larry Moss in Santa Monica. He has been in over 20 student shorts a few pilots and one feature film.

Lily Chai hails from Texas. Born and raised a country gal, she traveled the world after college, became a full-fledged star in Asia, and now has brought her bilingual, bicultural talents to Hollywood!

Carly Craig recently starred in "First Date", a comedy which debuted in the La Film Festival. Craig also guest starred on David E. Kelley's pilot "Halley's Comet". On the stage, she played both woman roles in Neil LaBute's "Bash" and cowrote and starred in many sketch comedy shows at The Second City with her group, The Weisenheimers. She has studied at both The Second City and the Stella Adler Academy.

Tom Derek's work has a "dangerous, yet sympathetic appeal," as is evident in hilarious comedic turn in last Fall's action-adventure blockbuster TRANSPORTER 2. You're also cordially invited to check out Tom's new Web site at www.tomderek.com and view his exciting 1-minute speed reel - it's a roller-coaster ride!

Farrah Greye - An actress who moved here from NC and misses her family dearly to further pursue her dream. Her passions are photography, an avid animal lover, dancing her booty off with her girlfriends, and of course shopping!!!

Jeremy Jed Hammel's credits include work on Miramax's "Next Stop Wonderland," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Friday Night" and "ER.” He has written and directed a short film that was accepted into the Boston Film Festival. His most recent Producer credit was for Raleigh Jackson's "I Enjoy Being A Girl."

Andrew Jackson, Writer/director. His feature film THE DISCONTENTS will screen as part of the Silver Lake Film Festival at the ArcLight Theatre on March 30 at 7:30 p.m. More information about the film and his other projects can be found at www.myspace.com/andrewgjackson

Courtney Graff Lamb has written, directed, and acted in a number of short films that have appeared in festivals nationwide, as well as several screenplays and an original pilot. She wrote for the Second City Writing Program sketch show "Exposed Funnybone", and was a cast member of the Second City Conservatory show "We're Huge in France". She is a member of the Feedback Writers' Group. Her short comedy DEAD RONNIE is currently in post-production, yay! For more info, visit GirlsGoneFunny.com

Leslie Lello has worked on both sides of the camera, acting in independent films including Store which was a USA Film Festival Finalist and Winnipeg Festival Official Selection. She recently directed Real vs. Reel, which she also starred in and produced. It is premiering (premiered) at the Garden State Film Festival in April 2006.

Annette Reid was most recently seen on stage at the Stella Adler Theatre in the world premiere of “A Credit to his Race: The Ernest E. Just Story”, produced by the Unity Players Ensemble. She is also a member of The Classical Theatre Lab. On screen, she starred in the comedy short “Let’s Leave Her” which premiers this week and will be traveling to festivals. This is her first go round as a porn queen!

Christina Wickers’ recent film credits include two independents; Tapped Out and The Discontents, Feature Films; Coach Carter and Hollywood Homicide. Christina has been the lead singer and songwriter in recent bands such as: FUSE, THE HAG and TROUBLE. Television includes Felicity, Hope & Gloria, Hang Time.

Tria Xiong just finished a run of the West Coast premiere of "Touch the Names", directed by two time Tony nominee, Randall Myler.

WHAT BLOGGERS ARE SAYING ABOUT PISTOLERAS & LIS' OTHER SCRIPTS:

“I am really excited about it. It sounds so good. I wish it was a novel so I could buy it in a bookstore.” - Lynda

“My 17 year old great-niece has been missing since mid-January, from Pontiac, MI. There has been some speculation that she may have been lured into the sex-trade industry. I will follow your progress in tackling this nasty subject. It's real.” - Lynne

“Love the sound of the scripts.” - Meg

“Wow! That's really impressive, KidSis! Best of luck with the upcoming reading. I'm sure it will be a huge success.” - Modigli

“Those all sound amazing, can't wait to see them.” - Lemorse

WHAT ACTORS ARE SAYING ABOUT PISTOLERAS

“You've got mad skills…I really love your writing, the story is ALWAYS moving forward!” - Lily Chai

“I love the script!!!! Would love to shoot it!!!” - Farrah Greye

"You're insane." - Mark Arnold

"I want to be in your film." Stuart Bennett

For More Information About Human Trafficking:
(AKA Skin Trade, Sex Slavery)

www.HumanTrafficking.org

For more facts, stories, resources and what YOU CAN DO to save women and children globally, visit www.Oprah.com Type “sex slavery” into the search box.

** Sex trafficking is 'real problem' ** More cases of foreign women forced into prostitution are uncovered by a BBC Wales investigation.

** Women rescued in trafficking op ** A UK-wide police operation against sex trafficking says it has rescued 14 women and made more than 50 arrests. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/4833224.stm

**Sex Slave Trade: The World's Dirty Little Secret** (February 13, 2006 9:00 AM) By Danielle Chapman

Excerpt: “Women and children who are bought, sold and tricked into slavery in the sex trade numbers in the millions worldwide every year. The big business of human trafficking is an estimated 50 billion dollar a year empire. Slavery is alive and well.

It happens everyday. Pimps and gangs target orphans or children and young girls exiting social service programs with no immediate family, promising to 'take care' of them or place ads in papers promising jobs 'working abroad'. When women answer these ads they are then taken to countries where they have no one and are cut off from any contact they might have with the outside world; they are then beaten, drugged and forced into slavery.

It is not unheard of for women and children to be kidnapped right off the streets in some countries. It is even suspected by some as to what may have been a factor in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Alabama teen who vanished while in Aruba in May of 2005.

Child rape is said to be an epidemic in South Africa while Cambodia is infamously renowned for its child sex trade. These are countries in which fighting, disease and famine leave orphans behind where there is little or no help for them. Traders swoop in, knowing they can get a higher price for women or children with features that would be considered exotic for the area, then trade them between rings like cattle- or even ship them to the other side of the world.

Slave traders work with military-like precision to handle the large numbers they deal with in the industry. For example, hundreds of thousands of women are smuggled from eastern and central Europe into Western Europe, 20,000 women are smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico, while a countless number of girls under the age of 14 are working in brothels in India. Yet, these rings, by and large, slip through the fingers of the few authorities who go after this type of crime.”