Thai Surprise is a feature-length dramedy set mostly in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Liz Topp (Searching for G) wrote the screenplay based on an idea by Jennifer Steinman (Motherland). We’re fortunate to have a production partner in Living Films, the Thai-based co-production team behind Hangover 2. We’re aiming for a May 2012 start date in Chiang Mai. This story is reminiscent of the mature, heartfelt dramedies and food movies that many people love : As Good As It Gets, Eat Drink Man Woman, Like Water for Chocolate, Terms of Endearment, Heartburn, Big Night, Waitress, The Accidental Tourist, and most recently, The Kids Are All Right.

Based on an Idea by Jennifer Steinman (SXSW award winner Motherland)

Story by Elizabeth Topp (international bestseller Vaginas: An Owner’s Manual)

Screenplay by Elizabeth Topp and Mollie Binkley (Occupied)

Director Rutaiwan Wongsirasawad is the most commercially successful female director in Thailand. She’s considered the Thai Tina Fey. She has written several comedic screenplays and ran the creative department at JWT Bangkok for 10 years. She wrote and directed the award-winning and profitable Thai relationship comedy, Oops! There’s Dad, which rebooted a national franchise. She was also the only female director selected for the critically-acclaimed short film anthology Sawasdee Bangkok.

 

Cinematographer Niramon Ross (Shutter) is one of the most respected shooters in Thailand. Her work can be viewed here: http://web.me.com/narimsuma/niramonross/featurefilms.html

 

Producer Ronald Jarrett has over ten years of film industry exposure inclusive of managing film productions, organizing social marketing campaigns, creating independent distribution methods, content development, theater and exhibition strategy, union organization and film education and outreach. Ronald provided his input and work on films like L.I.E., Meet the Parents and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In addition to his film work, Ronald was an acquisitions editor for Simon & Schuster, where he found content, developed it and brought it to market, resulting in the realization of three New York Times’ best sellers. He is a graduate of Cardozo School of Law/Yeshiva University and Sarah Lawrence College.

 

Executive Producer Whitney Arcaro currently oversees marketing for one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world. She has produced plays in Manhattan, including sold-out runs for comedies W/M (Off-Broadway) and The Trouble With Barney (Off-Broadway). She is the Executive Producer of the feature-length film Happy New Year that premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2011 and was one of 8 films in the Jury Selection for Best Narrative Feature. Whitney is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.

 

Executive Producer Gayle Dickie is President of Hey Girl Hey Entertainment LLC. Gayle is a consistent top performer and well-respected entertainment executive with 20+ years in the business. She has successfully handled sales and distribution for television, film, syndication, music, animation, toy licensing, marketing, and packaging. Gayle was the first female Vice President for Blair Entertainment, holding executive positions at Viacom, Mattel Television Syndication, a division of Mattel Toys, Inc., Television Program Enterprises, Fries Entertainment and Orion Television Syndication.

 

Executive Producer Eric Bassett is President of Industrial Entertainment. Originally from Denver, Eric earned a BFA degree at the University of Arizona before owning his own design and interactive media firm for 10 years. Eric then partnered with legendary director, David Lynch (Elephant Man, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire) to run his sales and distribution company—ABSURDA—in 2002. As managing partner of ABSURDA, Eric managed distribution for Lynch’s entire library, and produced three feature films, including Repo Chick (Rosanna Arquette, Miguel Sandoval) My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done (William Dafoe, Michael Shannon, and Chloe Sevigny) and Janie Jones (Abigail Breslin, Elisabeth Shue, Alessandro Nivola, and Brittany Snow).

 

Associate Producer Katrina Wolfe is a highly respected fourteen-year veteran of the film industry. Katrina began as a freelance script reader for Lions Gate, and several independent production companies, before beginning work as an assistant at Miramax.  After moving over to the Dimension division of the company, she rose through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming Senior Vice President of Production and Casting for Dimension directly under Bob Weinstein and personally overseeing half of the films in the company’s development slate.  While at Dimension, Katrina worked on a wide variety of films including Bad Santa, The Others, the Scary Movie series, Frank Darabont’s The Mist, Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Todd Phillips’ School For Scoundrels, and many others. Since departing Dimension, Katrina has been developing a slate of over a dozen feature film and television projects under her banner Katrina Films.  Katrina graduated summa cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University with a degree in English Literature.

 

Line Producer Chris Lowenstein is the Executive Director of Living Films. Based in Thailand for 20 years now, Chris has produced a long list of feature films and documentaries throughout his career. After starting out as an Assistant Director on Hollywood feature films such as Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho and Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth, Chris moved to Thailand in 1992 and soon after started Living Films. Chris has completed over twenty feature films and television series in Thailand working with such artists as Jackie Chan on The Medallion, Matt Dillon on City of Ghosts, Patrick Stewart on Mysterious Island, Nicolas Cage on Bangkok Dangerous, and John Cusack and Chow Yun Fat on the epic period film Shanghai. Most recently, Chris completed work as Line Producer on The Hangover Part II.

Production Budget: $2MM

Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Principal Photography: November-December 2012