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Fencewalker

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Guest Laurent.

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Guest Laurent.

Some very interesting article in French (could it be from a fellow french member of tiwwa?):

1013 CONNEXIONS

I'll translate it as soon as I find some time in the afternoon... I have a strange working schedule right now. I can tell you that it's some sort of summary of almost every rumors, plus a short description of the story... or at least the setting of the story.

edit: It also has an awesome anecdote from Carter that I had never read before... come back in a few hours for the translation!

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Guest Laurent.

I'll do it before my lunch... here it is:

The Fencewalker mystery

"To come back to work gave me motivation to work on other projects in parallel. I think that's how I am, I work on many things at the same time." -- Chris Carter *

The rumor was born during the month of May, before getting bigger during the following weeks. Chris Carter, while The X-Files : I Want to Believe was still in post-production, would have been working on his next feature film whose filming would be taking place in Bellflower, California -- the suburban town of Los Angeles in which he grown up.

This rumor was initially received with incredulity because of the schedule conflict it seemed to suggest. But, after five years of deserved vacation, it seems like Chris Carter has moved back to his old habits. The very serious Hollywood Reporter has in fact confirmed the rumors on June 25th : Carter has filmed Fencewalker between April and July based on a script he wrote himself.

Of course, the promotion for TXF:IWtB forced Carter to answer a few questions on the project. For now, he has revealed little information. This is what we know about Fencewalker as of today:

* The movie is an independant production auto-financed by Chris Carter. It's a personal project that he is very passionate about. The consequence is that no distributors is attached to the film. So it's hard to know in what measure the film is going to get to the public. Worst case scenario, he's going to get into independant film festivals. However, Chris Carter is a well-known producer and it should make it easier for Fencewalker to get into the bigger distribution networks.

* Chris Carter has denied that Fencewalker was really auto-biographical. What is true is that the story takes place in a town very similar to the one he grew up in. Which justifies the fact that the filming took place there, and it's even more appropriate as he was able to stay close to the post-production office of XF:IWtB.

* It's very interesting to read Carter talk about his hometown. Here's what he had to say about Bellflower in a Rolling Stone interview in February 1997: "Most of the kids I went to school with still live in this town. The fear of the outsiders, the fear of the others was very real and strong in this town. I grew up with a guy that was one of the smartest in school, and also an athlete. And one night, when we were 18 years old, we drove to Westwood (a rich place near Los Angeles). Our town was only 20 miles from there. We were in a restaurant, he looked around and said: 'We do not belong here'. That's the kind of distance this half-hour of road had created. He had the feeling that those people were sophisticated and intelligent, and knew things he ignored. So he was afraid of them." *

* The principle characters of the film will be collegian. Fencewalker is a story about the passage to adulthood. Racism will also be a central theme, probably linking to this fear of others. The main character, a black man, will have a young white girlfriend. The politic will play a role in the story. Some rumors say that the main characters could have ambition to an important political career -- or that some would have this ambition for him.

(bold emphasis added)

* Not Carter's actual words: translated from a translation of the interviews

... and it ends with the known cast and crew for the film

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  • Elders (Moderators)

Thanks, laran. That's a very interesting read. I had read about the Westwood incident before, but I'd forgotten it until I had a quick look at the original version. I think I understood about 10% of the original, so I'm very grateful to you for translating it.

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Laran, thank you for the translation! And it's great to know that there are some 1013 sites in many languages. The author of the article did a really great job collecting all information and rumours about FW.

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Look what I've found! A video interview with Ashley Cusato who plays in "Fencewalker" (and who attended IWTB Los Angeles premiere...)

https://www.thestream.tv/watch.php?v=991

from thesream.tv:

Ashley Cusato. Actress, stuntwoman, producer. Cusato has stunt doubled for Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Penelope Cruz and many others. She is currently acting in the Chris Carter film Fencewalker. We had a heavy dose of instant message questions from viewers tonight which Cusato answered with wit and enthusiasm. Through her company eDamon Entertainment she has a slate of packaged films and TV shows in development and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot from her in the future.

I can't watch this video right now so can someone post here what did Ashley say about FW, please? :)

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Guest Laurent.

I'll do my best:

Fencewalker comes up in the interview at about: 18:56 (and it's not really worth it...) the discussion can be summed up to:

"they just finish filming... she had to sign NDAs (Non-disclosure Agreements)... Carter is very tight-lipped about his project (no kidding?)... Chris is wonderful to work with, very actor-friendly and thorough... she did some ADR work (Automated Dialog Replacement) on IWTB... about CC's directing: he knows what he wants, gives you room to play, very enjoyable"

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Thought you guys might be interested to know that Sherry Stringfield (usually associated with her ER role) is being linked to the project despite not appearing on Fencewalker's imdb page. I only came across this information as I was searching for information on 'The Stepfather' remake in which she is set to appear. 'The Stepfather' was a superb vehicle for Terry O'Quinn and I cannot understand the need to remake a thoroughly satisfy film at all.

Best wishes,

Eth

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Once again Google rocks! Hey, even Dana Scully uses it LOL

I've found this new interview from Gabe Rotter, Chris Carter's assistant.

Director Chris Carter Rewards Staffer's First Novel with Film Cameo

Sep 3, 2008

Say your boss, director Chris Carter decides to give your first novel, your baby, a cameo inThe X-Files: I Want to Believe. What happens then? Tears? Gratitude? A slight bladder control issue? Nah! For Gabe Rotter, he felt nothing but thrilled and honored that his first novel, Duck Duck Wally, was given a moment to shine on the silver screen.

Jump the Shark wanted to meet the guy who had time to work 18-hour days and write a novel at the same time. Gabe was kind enough not only to discuss Duck Duck Wally – which is about a dorky Jewish guy who happens to get in a lot of trouble after becoming a ghostwriter for the biggest rap star in the world – but also to chat about working as Director of Development for Chris Carter’s 1013 Productions, his respect for avid X-Files fans, and what's next for this up-and-coming star.

Jump the Shark: How long have you worked for Chris Carter?

Gabe Rotter: I've worked for Chris for eight years. I went to work for him right out of college. I was a production assistant on The X-Files... I came on at the very end of Season 7 in the summer before Season 8.

Jump the Shark: How was it being a p.a. on that show?

Rotter: It was great – it was a great first experience. I was lucky, Chris is a great guy to work for – Chris and Frank (Spotnitz) really value hard work and I worked my ass off. I did everything as quickly and efficiently as possible and tried to show them that I wanted to be there... and it paid off. Then I became the writers' assistant on Season 9 of the show—

Jump the Shark: Was working with Frank Spotnitz in the writers' room awesome?

Rotter: He's an effin' genius... he's a remarkable person and to know him is to love him. And, for someone who hasn't been around him in a work capacity, they probably wouldn't realize how absolutely brilliant the man is.... And, he's the nicest guy in the world to boot.

Jump the Shark: What are your aspirations at 1013? Producing? Directing?

Rotter: I want to produce, and eventually I want to have my own show... create my own show.

Jump the Shark: Let's talk about the book that you wrote: Duck Duck Wally. Where did the inspiration for Wally Moscowitz (the protagonist) come from?

Rotter: It's embarrassing to say but the idea for a rap ghostwriter came from a lyric from a Diddy song (laughs) – you know, I like the hardcore gangster sh*t. He had a line in one of his songs a few years ago that said, "Don't worry, if I write rhymes, I write checks." And it got me thinking, "OK, who's writing these guys' rhymes, and wouldn't it be funny if it was, like, me? And, Wally Moscowitz came from that idea.

Jump the Shark: How did you publicize the book (before its cameo)?

Rotter: We had to get creative... we planted a rumor that the book was true, that I was a ghostwriter for rap and Gawker picked that up, and came to the book release party. We put fake missing dog posters all around L.A. with a million-dollar reward. It said, "My name is Wally Moscowitz and I've lost my dog, Dr. Schwartzman, and if you find him, please call me at..." and it was a Simon & Schuster number. You could leave a message if you wanted to win a copy of the book – which was really cool, because we got a lot of messages.

Jump the Shark: Duck Duck Wally: had a little cameo in The X-Files: I Want to Believe. It was featured on a table at Mulder and Scully's house and there was huge buzz about it on the fan sites. Did that help you sell a lot of books?

Rotter: I think so, but it's hard to track that. But I have also gotten a lot of Facebook and MySpace friend requests from X-Files fans.

Jump the Shark: What did you think about the new X-Files movie?

Rotter: I think it's a really smart, deep movie. It's different than anything that's being made right now.

Jump the Shark: Did you give the book to Chris to read? What did he think? Rotter: Yeah, I gave it to Chris and told him to read it at his leisure. He said he liked it.

Jump the Shark: Were you honored to have the book in The X-Files?:

Rotter: Yes! I was so excited about that; I couldn’t even believe it for a while.

Jump the Shark: Tell me about being a credited producer on Chris' new hush-hush movie, Fencewalker. How involved were you in the entire process?

Rotter: I was involved in the process from day one, and on the set everyday. Basically, myself and another producer prepped the movie while Chris was up shooting X-Files. And [Carter] kinda jumped into this right when he got back. I can't talk about it more than that (laughs).

Jump the Shark: Is there anything you're working on at 1013 that you can tell me about?

Rotter: We're working on developing several interesting projects right now... [and no] I can't talk about any of them.

Jump the Shark: [Curse you and your g-man-like secrecy!] Thank you so much for chatting with us today.

Rotter: Thank you!

Source: https://www.jumptheshark.com/blog-entry/Eri...ffers/700000860

As for another producer that he mentions, I think it's Michelle McLaren. ;)

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Guest Laurent.

Yeah I posted the exact same interview on another post titled new 1013 projects. (too lazy for the link today)

I especially like this part:

Jump the Shark: Is there anything you're working on at 1013 that you can tell me about?

Rotter: We're working on developing several interesting projects right now... [and no] I can't talk about any of them.

The several is really exciting (hoping that Carter is able to get well soon and that his health problem do not jeopardize any future work).

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