Trio of HHS grads to present their award-winning film ‘Lansdown.’
By:Krzysztof Scibiorski
Hollywood, New York …. Hillsborough?
After being featured and awarded prizes at film festivals around the world, and being praised by film critics around the country, "Lansdown," a noir comedy created by Hillsborough High graduates, will have its official premiere at Hillsborough Cinema on April 26.
"The town obviously means a ton to us, we’re from Hillsborough, we grew up here, that’s why we want to open here," said Matt Lendach, a 1991 graduate of Hillsborough High who was the film’s line producer.
"Lansdown" was the directed by Tom Zuber, a 29-year-old graduate of Hillsborough High and Harvard Government School and Columbia Law, who also wrote the script.
"I never had any intention of being a lawyer, while I was at school, I studied films and wrote the script for "Lansdown" with help from my brother, Jeff, and Matt Lendach," Mr. Zuber said. "It’s very rewarding when you go around the world to show your film, but going back home to show it to the people that always supported us is really great."
The movie is a dark comedy, dealing with the calamities that strike a lawyer after he hires hitmen to kill his cheating wife. "Dark comedies always had an appeal to me," Mr. Zuber said. "I’ve always thought it interesting to find humor out of very serious matters."
"Lansdown" was filmed in towns around Central Jersey in the summer of 1999. Hillsborough locations included Lori’s Country Deli in Flagtown and the law offices of Henry E. Rzemieniewski on Route 206 in Hillsborough.
The movie has been praised by critics from The Boston Herald, Entertainment Today and Daily Variety and won the Best First Time Filmmaker Award at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif., Mr. Lendach said.
The Hillsborough Hollywood clique is working on three other scripts, two of which have gained a great deal of attention from producers and financiers. "We are all house-mates here in Los Angeles, we work on all of the scripts together even if one of the names does not appear as an author," Mr. Zuber said.
While the dates for the New York and Los Angeles premieres have not been set yet, Mr. Lendach hopes that "Lansdown" will have a run of two or three weeks at Hillsborough.
"We’re also in negotiations for international releases and a possible DVD release," he added.
For tickets and showtimes contact: Hillsborough Cinemas, located at 111 Raider Blvd., or call 874-8181.