Mas Bouzidi will bring his NYU short film to the big screen as a feature length comedy and he’s got his cast set for the film.
As movie theaters fight for relevancy in an age of streaming, both Kevin Smith’s The 4:30 Movie and Concessions aim to make light and pay tribute to the theater-going experience. Consessions is a new comedy about cinema employees from writer/director Mas Bouzidi, which he initially made as a short film at NYU. The producers on the feature version are Ram Segura Khagram, Malcolm Brainerd, and Sophia Winkler, and co-producer is production company Kebrado.
Deadline has now revealed that the ensemble cast set to star in the film will include Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs), Steven Ogg (Walking Dead), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade), Ivory Aquino (When They See Us), Lana Rockwell (Sweet Thing), Rob Riordan and Jonathan Lorenzo Price.
The synopsis reads,
“Set during the last day at the closing Royal Alamo Cinema, pic follows two slackers working the final shift, who cross paths with outcasts and oddballs in interwoven stories of rejection, redemption, and fate. Hunter (Riordan), a jaded employee who spent the last decade behind the concessions stand, must finally face his uncertain future.
Movie theater employees and patrons include the former stuntman trying to charm his way into a free ticket (Madsen), the ornery theater owner keeping the slackers in line for one more day (Ogg), the hungry news reporter (Aquino), and the Australian cowboy and boomerang-slinging movie star (Hamilton). As day turns to night, the small-town community must reckon with its local theater finally closing its doors.”
The director remarked, “I worked in various movie theaters since I was sixteen, serving popcorn, snapping tickets, and arguing about movies with my co-workers. There is something magical about experiencing movies on a big screen in a movie theater. Concessions is about the universal experience of going to the movies. It’s about the people working the concession stands, running the projection booth, taking your tickets, cleaning the bathrooms, and changing the marquees. It’s also about the everyday people who walk through those doors to go to the movies, partaking in one of our greatest communal traditions.”
Producer Ram Segura Khagram also spoke of the movie, “This film represents the indie spirit like few others in the modern landscape. We’re hopeful that Concessions will embolden and inspire the next generation of young filmmakers to make features that are true to their voice, and that we can model new ways to tell great stories while still embracing the traditions that make indies so special.”