Musical neo-noir film “Heaven” seeks distribution

Hollywood, CA, — Production has been completed in Hollywood on the Keenosound production of the feature film HEAVEN, a contemporary musical drama. Director, writer, and composer William Webster-Garman is now seeking distributor representation for acquisition to motion picture theatres, television or streaming entertainment.

HEAVEN uses a neo-noir film style leavened with dark comedy to showcase the director’s music and scoring skills.
Raechel Roslin Randemann (portrayed by Camille Montgomery), a young female songwriter, keyboard player and music programmer, is teamed with Kylie Westheimer Waites (portrayed by Skylar Ripp), an actress who found success as a child star in a family-themed sitcom, for a record deal with a major label under which Kylie will sing a song-length version of a bank jingle composed by Raechel. Kylie has ambitions to make the deal into a long-term band project with Raechel.

HEAVEN’S cast of characters also includes Blaine Blair (portrayed by Suzy Skarulis), a longtime friend of Kylie’s; Daisy (portrayed by Casey Semple), Raechel’s best friend and clubbing pal; and Ben Levin (played by Bernard C. Bayer), Raechel’s personal manager.

An experienced musician and composer, Webster-Garman conceived HEAVEN as a vehicle to showcase his original music. The movie features full-length performances of Webster-Garman’s electronic trance pop songs by the characters.

“The project began in pre-production planning as a thirty- or forty-five-minute short with dialog and singing performances meant to show off my music scoring,” Webster-Garman said. “A motion picture camera rental vendor … told me in so many words, `You know, shorts are a hard sell. Since you’re putting together everything needed for a forty-minute short, you might as well do a feature-length film.’”

The director emphasizes that HEAVEN is “not a musical,” like the Academy Award-winning LA-LA LAND. “HEAVEN by design does not follow those conventions, such as songs sung rather than dialog spoken to carry plot. HEAVEN has songs but only in settings where they would be heard in life, such as the characters singing from a stage in a dance club, or in a music video.”

The process of translating Webster-Garman’s music to the screen involved hundreds of actresses submitting singing demos and headshots, Webster-Garman explains. He then asked eighteen singers to audition for vocal director Betsy Gardner and himself. Song vocals were then recorded at Capitol Studios.

Webster-Garman also asked his lead actors to watch Floria Sigismondi’s 2010 film THE RUNAWAYS, about the all-female punk-rock band, “hoping to give them at least some bearings on what we were going to shoot,” he said. “However, unlike HEAVEN, that film was not an original music project, but a biopic.”

“Upon making up my mind to do a feature film, I did tell myself, `I’m going to put everything I’ve ever learned about show business into this,’” Webster-Garman said. Along the way, he got some good advice from his first assistant director: “Don’t worry, William, you’re the director, and the director is always the last man standing.”

HEAVEN is a Keenosound production. Writer, director, and composer is William Webster-Garman. Director of Photography, Paul Csige. Production sound mixer, Jerry Wolfe. Key makeup, Stephanie Navarro. Location scout, Mike Van Owen. Vocal director, Betsy Gardner. Recording engineers (Capitol Studios), Charlie Paakkari and Chandler Harrod.

Watch the HEAVEN trailer.

About Keenosound
A film production shop in Hollywood, California, Keenosound is in the business of making motion pictures, TV productions and streaming entertainment. With decades of experience, Keenosound also features high quality soundtracks, original music scoring and songwriting. Related services are offered to software developers and other businesses. More information about Keenosound is available at www.keenosound.com.

Media Contact:
Charles Barrett, The Barrett Company, 310-471-5764; Email: cbarrett@thebarrettco.com