A Desert Storm veteran is confronted by his past in the independent film "Magnum Opus," screening at the Byrd Theatre Nov. 11 and available on demand. (Photo courtesy Gravitas Ventures)
A spy thriller and the first feature film from the Virginia-born duo of Director Kevin Elliott and Producer Amanda Upson, “Magnum Opus” screens at The Byrd Theatre Saturday, Nov. 11.
The film stars Louise Griffiths (“Lovesick,” “Chastity Bites”), Adam J. Harrington (“Dexter,” “TURN: Washington’s Spies”), Clark Johnson (“The Wire,” “Alpha House”), Pej Vahdat (“Shameless,” “Bones”) in a story about Daniel Cliff (played by Harrington), a Desert Storm veteran turned artist. Pieces of Cliff’s past and shadowy government figures combine to make for a story that producer Amanda Upson hopes will prompt discussion among audiences.
“Our original goal was to get people talking like we talked in college, where you could actually talk about important issues,” she says.
College was where Elliott and Upson first met, becoming friends at the University of Virginia in the early ’90s. Though time and geography separated the two, with Upson now based in Colorado and Elliott based in California, they reconnected on social media and eventually abandoned their old careers to try something new together.
“Kevin was setting up a production company,” says Upson. “I was doing law and just wanted to try something different.”
The Nov. 11 screening of the film in Richmond came about after a screening at the Virginia Film Festival sold out. With fond memories of The Byrd from spending her high school days in Richmond, Upson thought a screening at historic theater would be the perfect way to share their movie with more people in their home state. The film will is also available on demand via iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and other outlets.
Upson enjoyed this first foray into the feature film world, though the team faced a certain amount of adversity early on.
“There were a lot of distributors who told us that people wouldn’t go to the theater or watch it because we didn’t cast a certain way or have certain elements. But we did it, and I think we want to do it again.”
"Magnum Opus" screens at The Byrd Theatre at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11, followed by a Q&A session with the producer and director and an after-party at Blue Bee Cider at 4:30 p.m. $11.
