BEHIND THE CAMERA: Academy Award Winning Producer Jonathan Sanger
Cindy Abbott Letro interviews Academy Award winning producer Jonathan Sanger about Buffalo and Niagara Falls Period Locations.
Robbins is New Certified Armorer Covering WNY for The Specialist LTD
Greg Robbins – New Armorer representing The Specialist LTD
Veteran Western New York SAG Actor, Stunt Person, Producer, Director Greg Robbins has become a certified armorer and regional rep for the The Specialist LTD.
About The Specialist LTD from their website –
“The Specialists LTD was founded in 1981, in New York, NY, to support filmmakers, artists and NYC’s creative community. Over the last four decades, our company has continued to grow and evolve, adding talented artists and craftsmen to our team, and introducing new technologies and processes to the industry. Today, we are the East Coast’s leading supplier of fabrication, graphics and props, providing services for film & television, live theater & events, advertising & experiential marketing, art & architecture, and more.
The foundation of our company is our collective experience and knowledge gained from decades in the industry, and our enthusiasm for experimentation and problem solving. We offer state-of-the-art 3D printing, microcontroller programming, and CNC machining alongside old-world crafts like mold-making, sculpting and blacksmithing. Our team of fabricators has a wide range of expertise, with backgrounds in engineering, graphic design, art, filmmaking and programming. With our 60,000 square foot facility in Queens, we have the space and resources to work with a wide range of materials, processes and machines.”
About Greg Robbins from IMDB –
Greg Robbins is an American stunt performer, actor, writer and director. Originally stepped in front of the camera in 1984 playing a redneck thug in a made for TV movie, The Grand Baby (1985) (TV)_. Born in Glendale, California, Greg lived the first 13 years of his life in North Hollywood. He believed he would act for a living at a very young age. His grandfather gave him an 8mm camera when he was 9 years old and he began making home movies with his younger brothers. The summer before eighth grade he went to see the motocross movie On Any Sunday (1971) starring Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. Back then theaters had double features, and the movie playing first was Sometimes a Great Notion (1971), also starring Paul Newman. There is a scene in that film when Newman’s brother, played by Richard Jaeckel, is trapped under a log and drowns. Two things happened that day to Robbins, he acquired a fear of drowning and realized that he wanted to be an actor/stuntman and tell stories. Greg Robbins started his life in a body cast when, at four weeks of age, he was in a car accident with his parents. His legs were broken, and his doctors thought he would never be able to run and he could even possibly have a limp. It was not to be, however, and Greg became a very good athlete. His grandmother said during that time that this boy would do great things with his life. His storytelling ability surfaced in 1971 when his uncle was killed in Vietnam. The story of how he died made Greg decide to write the story down. This ended up being the first movie he ever wrote at age 11, called “John Henry”. Even though the film is not produced yet, it still remains his favorite story. Not long after that, Greg’s mother divorced his father, ending a very volatile life for Greg, his mother and his two younger brothers. Sometime after that Greg’s mother re-married, and Greg’s new stepfather was a good man and treated him well. Greg and his family moved to Granada Hills, California, when he was 13 and he stayed there until his late 20’s. He bounced around Hollywood, attending the LA Actors Theater, going to stunt school and Van-Mar Acting Academy. He held a string of stunts, modeling and acting jobs. Then after the SAG and WGA strikes in the mid-’80s, his grandfather talked him into going to “dealer college” in Las Vegas. Every time he had an audition or landed a role in a play or a modeling job he would leave Vegas and then return after the gig. This went on until he met his wife in 1991, when he settled down and started raising a family. In 1996 the idea for a sitcom came to him sitting in church; after writing it and developing the series, he was sure Hollywood would not like it, so he shelved it and went on to do the wildlife series Animal Action (2001). Through this time he kept developing his Christian sitcom and eventually produced 3 seasons of it. Robbins has a passion for telling stories that build up society. Robbins’ is also a competing 2nd Degree Black Belt or I-Dan in Tae Kwon-Do; he along with his wife and kids train together. The Tae Kwon-Do creed is a beautiful and uplifting way to live life that Robbins is gravitated to. In 2017 he along with his daughter Shauna and son Gregory formed Robbins Stunt Team; they provide stunt performers in western New York. Today he lives a wonderful life with his wife and their 2 children actors/stunt performers Shauna Robbins and Gregory P. Robbins. Greg is still trying to provide good stories that enhance lives as well as entertains.
After receiving extensive training at The Specialist NYC HQ, Robbins passed their extensive screening with flying colors and is ready to serve the WNY production community.
FILMED IN W.N.Y.: “Guns of Eden” World Premiere This Friday at 7pm at Buffalo Dreams
Guns of Eden, an action movie written and directed by Buffalo-based filmmaker Gregory Lamberson, will have its World Premiere at Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival this Friday, August 19th at 7:00 pm, with an encore screening Sunday, August 21st at 4:30 pm. The Friday premiere is already sold out. Buffalo Dreams runs Friday, August 19th – Thursday, August 25th at Dipson Theatres Eastern Hills Cinema. Lamberson programs the festival with Chris Scioli.
Guns of Eden was conceived as an action epic in the “Rambo” mold, with a female lead. New York City actress Alexandra Faye Sadeghian and B-movie icon Lynn Lowry star, with local actors Bill Kennedy, Peter “Trazz” Johnson, Nicole Colon, and Dominic Luongo in key supporting roles.
Writer Director Greg Lamberson (Right) on set with actor Bill Brown (Left).
Lamberson wrote the screenplay in 1996, but put it in a drawer because the action was too ambitious to pull off on a low budget.
“The film has scores of characters, gunfire, fights, a car chase, and a helicopter,” Lamberson says. “But 90% of the story takes place outside, so suddenly, during the pandemic, the most challenging screenplay I was sitting on became the most practical to produce.”
Lamberson produced the movie with his wife Tamar, cinematographer Chris Cosgrave, and Keith Lukowski. Executive producers include Erin Elizabeth Heald, Kim Piazza, Armand Petri, Brooke Lewis Bellas, and Marc J. Makowski. Lamberson and his team raised $100,000 on the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo to make the film, which they shot last summer, primarily in downtown Buffalo, Chestnut Ridge Park, Clarence Nature Center, Akron Falls Park, and Little Rock City.
After Buffalo Dreams, Guns of Eden will screen at two out of state film festivals yet to be announced, and will be released commercially before the end of the year.
Buffalo Dreams to Honor Jerry Stoeffhaas This Sunday
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film will honor Jerry Stoeffhaas with its Local Service Award, in recognition of his significant contributions to the Western New York film industry. Past recipients include Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark, Buffalo Niagara Film Office Director of Operations Rich Wall, City of Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, New York State Film Commissioner Pat Kaufman, and WBBZ TV station manager/Off Beat Cinema producer John Di Sciullo. Buffalo Dreams’ ninth season runs August 19th – 25th at Dipson Theaters’ Eastern Hills Cinema, and Stoeffaas will receive his award at the Dreamer Awards presentation on Sunday the 21st.
Stoeffhaas served as the Deputy Director of the New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture & Television Development for over 20 years before retiring last year, working with film and TV productions across the state and helping launch the state’s highly successful Film Production Tax Credits, and continues to serve as Senior Advisor. Prior to that he was the founder and Director of the Rochester/Finger Lakes Film and Video Office, the first dedicated film office in Upstate New York.
With his creative partner Jeff Ureles, Stoeffhaas co-wrote, produced and directed the feature film Cheap Shots, filmed in Batavia, which had a limited US theatrical run via Hemdale and played at festivals around the world, including Sundance, London, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo. After receiving his MFA in Film from Syracuse University he worked as an independent Location Manager covering Central and Western New York.
Stoeffhaas is a member of the Writers Guild of America, East since 1980 and has taught screenwriting, film production and criticism at various Upstate institutions including Syracuse University, Writers & Books and Rochester Institute of Technology.
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival http://www.buffalodreamsfantasticfilmfestival.com/
Buffalo Dreams Returns August 19th-25th at Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema
Buffalo, New York – Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival announces its first wave of feature film premieres screening during its ninth season, August 19th – 25th at Dipson Theatres’ Eastern Hills Cinema in Williamsville. Buffalo Dreams is a seven-day celebration of independently produced action, animation, comedy, horror, and science fiction films from around the world. Submissions are open via FilmFreeway.com until July 24th.
Chicken Ranch
Among the initial round of Official Selections is the highly anticipated New York Premiere of Bashira, a stunning “J-horror” film directed by special visual effects artist Nickson Fong at various Buffalo locations including the Buffalo Filmworks soundstage. Chicken Ranch, an offbeat comedy from Oklahoma City writer-director-actor Cate Jones, will also have its New York Premiere at the fest. Jones first came to the attention of Buffalo Dreams when she played Priscilla Presley in Mickey Reece’s Alien, and last year made a splash with her directorial debut, She’s the Eldest.
Galaxy Warriors
Exclusive World Premieres include Galaxy Warriors, Canadian filmmaker Brett Kelly’s loving homage to campy sci-fi flicks from the 1980s; Mask of the Devil, UK director Richard Rowntree’s retro horror film about supernatural mayhem on the set of a porn film; and Pact of Vengeance, an action film from Pennsylvania filmmaker Len Kabasinski, starring Leo Fong and Jon Mikl Thor.
Guns of Eden
Buffalo Dreams will host the World Premieres of two non-competition features: festival director Gregory Lamberson’s Guns of Eden, an action movie in the vein of First Blood, filmed in and around Buffalo and starring Alexandra Faye Sadeghian and Lynn Lowry; and Showdown in Yesteryear, a fantasy western starring Jeff Grennell as a contemporary ranch hand who travels through time to the wild west. Showdown was produced by Tim O’Hearn, directed by Aaron Bratcher, and co-stars Vernon Wells and Debra Lamb.
Lamberson and festival co-founder Chris Scioli will present the Lois Weber Award, named after the iconic silent era director, to Anne-Marie Frigon from Ottawa, Canada for her contributions to the medium. Frigon produced Galaxy Warriors, as well as 20 other features and many shorts, and has worked in numerous areas of production.
Western New Yorker Terry Kimmel, president of Buffalo Movie-Video Makers, will receive the festival’s Local Hero Award for his longtime contributions to the Buffalo film community. BMVM is the oldest film club in the country.
Additional Special Awards and Official Selections, including shorts and yet to be produced screenplays, will be announced July 25th. Buffalo Dreams only holds in-person screenings, frequently with filmmaker Q&As.
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival www.buffalodreamsfilmfest.com
Buffalo Dreams on FilmFreeway https://filmfreeway.com/BuffaloDreamsFantasticFilmFestival
Buffalo Dreams on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloDreamsFilmFestival
Buffalo Dreams on Twitter https://twitter.com/BuffaloDreams
Behind The Camera: Actor and Buffalo Native Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey grew up in Lackawanna and North Buffalo and started his acting career at the old Studio Arena Theatre on Main Street(current of of the Town Ballroom) he went on to feature and starring roles on television with The Marshall and Lost as well as in film with Lawnmower Man and Clint Eastwood directed White Hunter Black Heart.
Cindy Abbott Letro sat down with Jeff while he was in Buffalo scouting for a future feature film as well as a stage play.