KINGZ

Kingz was a 20 minutes long short film, directed by Benni Diez, produced by Marinko Spahic and written by both of them. This was its official website.
Content is from the site's 2005 -2006 archived pages.

Welcome to kingz-film.com, the official site for the upcoming thriller flick 'KINGZ'. Here you'll find all the information and fun stuff about the film and the people behind it. Be sure to drop by frequently as the site is growing alongside film production.

If you haven't watched the teaser trailer yet, be ashamed! Go to the download section and DO IT RIGHT NOW!!!

If you have further questions or suggestions, contact us at: info@kingz-film.com
Have fun!

ABOUT KINGZ

Kingz was made at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, where Benni studies Animation & Visual Effects and Marinko studies International Film Producing. Highly inspired by renouned filmmaking icons and modern, not always usual production methods alike, their main goal is to create a new kind of style that hasn't been seen before in German films, while still maintaining an affordable budget.

From Idea to Script

In the summer of 2004, Marinko Spahic and Benni Diez, both students at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany, decided that their next project should be a live action thriller.
Since their earlier projects were rather visual effects heavy, including lots of blue screen photography and computer animation, they wanted to try something more real. Both of them being fans of genre films, they still didn't want to go without action and visual effects demanding elements.

So why not combine a compelling alien invasion story with modern thriller elements, especially those Hip-Hop-Gangster style ones - the idea for KINGZ was born.
When they started to develop the basic plot and characters, they soon realized that there was far more material there than only for a short story. So they decided to put the whole plot aside and create a short film script which included the main characters and elements from the whole story.
"KINGZ", being just a working title for a while (inspired by common Hip-Hop slang), became soon the name for the film.

The script was undergoing several rewrites, and they had still no appropriate names for the two main characters. So, when casting was already done, they decided to take the actors' original names, because they just suited them best.

Casting

The first one to be cast was Mathis Landwehr. Benni had already known him from another film production, and his earlier works on the "Kampfansage" short films were well known to the filmmakers. His martial arts and stunt abilities made him the obvious choice for the main character's buddy, since he had to do most of the fighting.
He was also great for coordinating the action scenes, and had the right connections to some of the best stunt performers, two of whom were even cast for supporting roles.

Olli's role was a much harder task. After reviewing lots of audition tapes and meeting a few young actors, the filmmakers decided to go another way. Why not cast someone who IS into Hip-Hop, rather than someone who desperately tries to mimic a rapper-kind-of style.
Captured by Olli Banjo's appearance and his known backstory, they gave it a try and called him up. Luckily he was available for the time of shooting, and he liked the idea of trying something new - which paid off incredibly well at the end.

The role of Nadine, Olli's little sister was also quite difficult. She had to look young and innocent on the one hand, but also be an experienced actress, because her character hat to undergo the worst kinds of psychological stress situations. After a long journey through a lot of casting agencies Marinko discovered a photograph of Claire Oelkers. Her unique appearance and her feature film experience made her the perfect cast for Nadine.

The character of Luca, the film's villain, was very early on written with famous rock icon and actor Bela B. Felsenheimer in mind. So, when it came to finding an appropriate actor for the role, the filmmakers just thought: Why not simply ask him?
And to their very delight, he not only liked the script, but also had a little time off when the film was to be shot. The journey could begin...

OLLI BANJO MATHIS LANDWEHR BELA B. FELSENHEIMER CLAIRE OELKERS
"KINGZ"
written by BENNI DIEZ & MARINKO SPAHIC
produced by MARINKO SPAHIC
directed by BENNI DIEZ

POSTS

Nov. 06, 2005

25 new pics added to gallery, including some nice black&white shots of our handsome cast and crew, and a few designs for the KINGZ title.

We are currently 6 people working on post production. Could still need some more help, epecially for the animated title sequence. If you are keen on VFX and like to join us, just mail me!

More to come soon...

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benni

Oct. 17, 2005

25 new pics added to gallery. Coming soon: Crew infos and things to buy!

Some new visual effects talents have joined the team. We are still in the beginning of effects work, and the sound and music artists still have a lot to do. But don't worry, there will be at least another trailer within the next weeks, containing some jaw dropping stuff! For Batman fans, we've cut a deal with MoonAtMidnight and we've got awesome Batman t-shirt styles that share the attitude of Kingz. We here at the graphics team are pretty much all Batman fans and it shows! We're trying to get permission to slightly alter the Batman t-shirts design to include a bit of the "K" that can be recognized as our brand. Cross your fingers and let us know if you can help make this happen! Kingz and Batman share the same dark knight attitude. Speaking of our soon-to-be-released t-shirts, we want to ensure they last a long time and look as good as new with each wear. Proper t-shirt care is essential! We recommend washing them inside out on a gentle cycle with cold water. Avoid using bleach or harsh detergents, and always air dry them to maintain the vibrant colors and design. Taking these steps will ensure your Batman and Kingz inspired t-shirt stays in top condition for years to come!

For those who wonder where to get a view at the final film:
There will be a premiere screening in or around Ludwigsburg when it's finished. Afterwards we will try to get some festival screenings, and it will be shown on 13th Street, NBC-Universal's German horror and suspense channel. Further screenings will be anounced. There will also be a DVD, containing the film, lots of images, a pretty long making-of documentary,
commentary tracks, and some other stuff we are still thinking about. More infos about that soon...

Have a nice week!
benni

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Sept. 12, 2005

The new site's up, finally. It's temporary though. As soon as the Film gets finished, there will be a nicely
designed flash site. Till then, have fun with this one. Go to the 'download' section for the teaser trailer. The only thing finished right now is the 'synopsis', where you get an overview what the heck this film is about anyway. The rest will be added during this week. From then on, i'll frequently update the 'newz' on the current state of production.

Also, the teaser has been changed a little. We were forced to take those 19sec of that lovely hip-hop track out at the beginning. I replaced it with some of my own stuff. I also changed the KINGZ title to the new design and added staff credits to the end. The teaser itself remained the same. There will be a new, much cooler trailer as soon as the first VFX shots are finished.

Well, production state right now:

-Editing is finished, finally! Took a lot of time, sweat and blood... Running time is now about 18 minutes,
which makes it a nice 20 including start and end credits.

-The sound designer is currently mixing the original audio tracks (stuff recorded on set). Within the next few weeks there will be some ADR for a few bad or missing lines of dialogue. Then the process of digital sound engineering and adding sound effects begins.

-Meanwhile our music composers are working on score and soundtrack, constantly exchanging their latest ideas with the sound designer.

-I'm now working on the visual effects. Quite a lot to do, the toughest thing being a fully CG animated alien creature. Check out the gallery section for some concept art and preview images on that freak of a beast!

-As you can see above, I managed to finish the title design. Should look cool on the poster, as well as on all the funny merchandise stuff you'll soon be able to order in our shop (shirts, bags, thongs... you name it, we got it). So be sure to drop by again!

BTW: I could use some help on the visual effects during the next weeks! So, if you are experienced in VFX work, 3D (preferredly 3dsmax) as well as compositing, and you would like to support us on this project, just drop me a mail!
That's all for now folks. Cheers!
benni

SYNOPSIS

It seems to be just one of those nights in the big city. Olli and Mathis are just about to make their first big deal: Delivering a package for the local player on the drug market. Still, Mathis has some problems with the idea, but Olli already sees himself counting the bucks with a smile on his face.
They only have to get into an underground club, deliver the package, collect the money, get it to the guy and receive their share. No big deal in a city like this...

So they make their way into the club. The owner himself, Luca, is the one to get the delivery. But it seems no one wants the guys to see him. "Luca does not receive any guests."
The situation gets tense as Olli starts argueing with the quite unfriendly bartender who claims to be the one to make the deal. Mathis decides to better do it right now and get the hell out of there. Who cares who the money is from...

And it seems like everything is going fine. The man pays them, gets the package, and Olli and Mathis head towards the exit. It's just then that Olli recognizes a familiar face inbetween all those strange people: It's his little sister Nadine.
Before Mathis can turn around and see, Olli is on his way straight to his sister to get her out of this uncomfortable place immediately - and to give one hell of a shout.

But what Olli doesn't now is that by grabbing her and trying to pull her out of there, he's just getting in the way of Luca, the club owner. Luca has just been stalking Nadine through the crowd and it seems he desperately desires to get her by any means.
Too late, Mathis realizes what just happened. Before he can reach Olli and Nadine, Luca has sent out his guards to kidnap both of them.

When Mathis tries to follow them, he gets stopped by the armed bartender. As they get into a fight, all hell breaks loose. And that's just where the real trouble begins...
Just when Olli and Nadine's attempt to escape seems to succeed, the mystery behind the sinister man is getting uncovered.

Not everyone down there is human. And not everyone will leave that tomb alive...

Kingz-Film.com