'Hard Place' In The Press

Millburn grads come together for 'Hard Place'
Directed by Henry Winnik
Produced by Sophie Lily Weinstein
Bliss Holloway -Director of Photography

Thursday, February 18, 2010


BY ANDREA HUGHES
The Item of Millburn and Short Hills
OF THE ITEM


In high school, it would have seemed the only thing Sophie Lily Weinstein and Henry Winnik had in common was the first letter of their last names. Students were grouped into homerooms by last name when they attended Millburn High School, from which they both graduated in 2003, but the students didn't talk much when they shared one.


Years later, they have teamed up to work on a short independent film together.


The film, "Hard Place," will be shot between Feb. 19 and 21 near Lake Hopatcong. Weinstein, founder and president of the New York City based film production and public relations firm Synergy Media Productions, is producing the film, which Winnik is directing.


"The film plays upon common horror conventions, but doesn't just give in to them," said Winnik. "Elements of the archetypal siege-thriller and the archetypes of 80s slasher films are fused to create a new and exciting film experience."


The plot follows a group of friends threatened by an unseen shooter. Jordan, the only woman in the film, is "an unexpected fighter," said Weinstein. "Her downfall is that she's not decisive. She has a fatal flaw, like in a Greek tragedy."

Weinstein said she tries to cross-promote as much as she can. She said it was remarkable that five Millburn graduates who did not know each other very well are banding together and not giving up on film in a tough economy.


"In order to come together, we all had to mature," she said.


Winnik attended FAMU Film School in Prague as well as Trinity College, where he created a closed circuit television station for the school. He spent the past August working as a unit production assistant on the feature film "Eat, Pray, Love" and in the spring of 2008 was a locations assistant on the VH1 reality show "I Want to Work for Diddy." Winnik also interned with Off-The-Top-Rope, Inc., on "The Wrestler," the award-winning feature film directed by Darren Aronofsky.


Weinstein's career in public relations began in high school, where she developed marketing and publicity campaigns for local businesses. She attended Pennsylvania State University and majored in public relations and journalism, and is now doing publicity for "Hard Place" as well as several other films.

Much of Weinstrein's interest in producing film traces back to an affinity for entertainment law, she explained. She served as Legal Affairs Director at Pennsylvania State, a member of the Student Government General Assembly and Student Government Association Senator. In 2008, she was a marketing and publicity intern with Palm Springs International Film Festival.


She said the current project is a niche-market film, but easy to style. "It came together so organically," Weintstein said.


E-mail: hughes@northjersey.com