Written by Antoni Stutz, Ashley Scott Meyers
Producer: Antoni Stutz, Jeffrey Coulter, Gabriella Stollenwerck
Executive Producer: Cecilia Miniucchi
Cinematographer: Gregg Easterbrook
Editor: Michael Palmerio, Jane Abramowitz
Music: Jeffrey Coulter
35mm
Running Time: 96 minutes
RUSHLIGHTS, a dark, gritty action-mystery thriller, stars Golden Globe and Emmy winner Beau Bridges (The Descendants, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Max Payne) and Aidan Quinn (Unknown, The Mission, Legends of the Fall).
RUSHLIGHTS revolves around Billy Brody (Josh Henderson, TNT’s Dallas) and Sarah (Haley Webb, Final Destination), two delinquent young lovers from the suburbs of Los Angeles, traveling to a small Texas town to falsely claim a dead friend’s inheritance. The two teens, haunted by their own dubious pasts while pursuing their scam, wind up in a nightmare of greed and betrayal when confronted with the twisted and bizarre underworld of Tremo, TX – population 2870.
At first, as ‘Cameron Brogden’ (Quinn), the attorney representing the estate to be passed on, introduces himself to the young couple (Henderson, Webb) the hustle seems to be developed according to plan. Cameron is most courteous and assists ‘ illy’ and ‘Sarah’ in their claim.
Enter ‘Sheriff Brogden Jr.’, (Bridges) the local Sheriff for the past thirty years, who also happens to be ‘Cameron’s’ older brother. The Sheriff confronts the ‘foreigners’ with suspicion and stacks of questions. Still confident in their goal to cash in, the two kids start covering their tracks. Things start to get complicated when the nature surrounding the death of ‘ ackary Niles’, the owner of the estate, is being put into question.
The young grifters know that time is of the essence and the discovery of foul play delays their claim. ‘Billy’ and ‘Sarah’ are stuck. To make matters worse, while scrutinizing ‘Niles’ large mansion, the youngsters discover that the inheritance has plenty more family strings attached than originally thought. It appears that almost everybody associated with the ‘Niles’ property has some kind of a stake in the succession of the fortune. Embedded in this unnerving tail is also a coming of age element encapsulated in the love story between the two teenagers.
‘Sarah’, tormented by a drug-problem while struggling to impersonate a dead friend, desperately urges ‘Billy’ to leave Tremo while they still can. However, ‘Billy’ seems compelled to follow through with the plot asoriginally cooked up. He keeps pushing ‘Sarah’ for ‘just a few more days.’ Ultimately, the turn of events reaches a boiling point and it becomes utterly clear that the young couple’s scheme to pull a fast one on an unscrupulous, cunning, and self-serving circle of characters, was a most ill fated plan to begin with.
A STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTOR:
As a filmmaker I am pleased to have the rare opportunity to present to the audience, the cineaste’s, fans and critics alike: THE UNRATED DIRECTORS CUT of RUSHLIGHTS.
The film has been recut, the sound is re-mastered, scenes have been added. I very much hope that you enjoy this new, alternative version of Rushlights. This cut of the film is much closer to what I had in mind initially.
In a nutshell: Its edgier, the gloves are off! Last but not least I would like to thank the distributer Vertical in particular Mitch Budin for backing the idea of releasing this edition, the directors cut of Rushlights.
Antoni Stutz, Director
DIRECTOR BIO
Antoni Stutz began his career in the entertainment industry as an actor, studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and Los Angeles under Anna Strasberg. In his mid-20s, Stutz directed commercial and music videos for clients including Nike and Rock the Vote. Stutz executive produced the feature film EXPIRED along with Academy Award winning producer Fred Roos and Jeffrey Coulter.
Antoni Stutz just finished post-production on his first feature film “Rushlights”, which he wrote, directed and produced. “Rushlights”, a gothic noir thriller stars Golden Globe © and Emmy © winner Beau Bridges and Emmy © nominee Aidan Quinn as well as newcomer Josh Henderson (Dallas 2012).
In 2007/2008 Antoni executive produced the feature film “Expired”, directed by Italian Filmmaker Cecilia Miniucchi, starring Jason Patrick, 2 time academy award © nominee Samantha Morton, academy award winner © Teri Garr as well as Ileana Douglas. “Expired” has been part of the official selection of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival. (closing night main event -semaine de la critique)
Antoni’s interest in the Arts is also illustrated in his passion for photography. At the age of eleven he was given his first 35mm still camera by his father, an acclaimed architect. In 2005 Antoni had his first solo show at Bergamot Station in Los Angeles, his work as a photographer and artist was also exhibited at the Riverside Museum of Art Los Angels in 2006.
Born to Swiss parents and educated in Europe Antoni began his career in the entertainment industry as an actor having studied at the “Lee Strasberg Theater Institute” in New York and Los Angeles under the direction of Anna Strasberg.Still in his teens, he appeared in numerous commercials such as Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Kodak, Coors, Eveready Batteries, Hyundai, Budweiser; to name a few. Antoni went on landing feature roles in both movies and television. He won critical acclaim for his role in the US TV series Tour of Duty and worked with directors such as Michael Mann (Crime Story), John Frankenheimer (Dead Bang), Bob Giraldi and several other outstanding directing talents.
At 27 Antoni directed his first student feature film entitled “You’re Killing Me”, starring 2012 Emmy © winner Julie Bowen, (ABC’s “Modern Family”)