Interview with Producer Mitch Wright II
Over the past few months many fans from
Never Submit Entertainment have heard comments from the founder of NSE,
Matthew Cichella. We've heard him discuss how Never Submit came together with Innocent Looks and how it was followed up with
FAMOUS and so forth. We have also heard him discuss his business partner, the other half of Never Submit Entertainment,
Mitch Wright II, on many occasions. We know Mitch is involved with every production from the development stage to the completion stage, but for the past year Mitch has been relatively quiet. Not making his presence all that known.
Today that is going to change. We caught up with Mitch Wright II, while he was out and about in his hometown of St. Joseph, MO - doing pre-production work for
POETIC. From what we were told he was looking for for western gear for the "Cowboy" character. While Mitch was keeping business getting all the ducks in a row for POETIC, he did take a few moments to sit down and talk with us.
1. So you're one half of the tag team known as Never Submit Entertainment. Matthew Cichella, the other half of the team, has gone on record and stated your influence is just as important to the
projects as his is. How did you become involved with the company and is this a fair assessment?
- Ever since I was a kid I dreamed of breaking into the entertainment industry, whether it be by my musical talents or my imagination and empathy to focus into the human Psyche. Growing up I never would have thought I would be doing the latter. Reading Matthew's screenplays made me want to bring those stories to life, thus mine and Matthew's "Company" was born.
As for the influence of projects, I would say that I have a very strong influence. From the writing of the script to the finishing of the film I have a hand in it all. But I think I shine when I'm on set, from the technical issues all the way down to "quiet on the set!" is my job. But having a 3 man crew makes it easy for me to have all of those responsibilities. I have to make sure that Matthew can focus on the actors and actresses for the common goal of making a fantastic film to the best of our abilities.
But as to the question, "Do I think it's a fair assessment?" We've both been stressed out to the breaking point and have both lost sleep over our films.. so yes, I think it's a fair assessment.
2. Take us back to June 2010, the "technical" birth of Never Submit Entertainment, that of course being the filming of Innocent Looks.Tell us a little about how that transpired.
- Innocent Looks transpired from a phone call. In that phone call Matthew told me he wanted to film a short film to prove that he could make a film. All I could say was, "Thank you God, he's back! It's about damn time." The story of Innocent Looks was a surprise to me due to the fact I didn't have a hand in writing it, but that aside, I was fully on-board. The filming of Innocent Looks was actually
fairly easy and straight forward. There were no major problems except we couldn't get the cars driving down the street to be quiet and to stop running over our extension cords for the lights. Melissa Revels and Ty Yaeger were great to work with and did a great job.
3. We've heard Matthew talk about Innocent Looks at the On The Waterfront premiere and how the ovation was simply amazing, but it's been quite some time and you have never publicly commented on the event. How was that event for you? What was it like seeing your dream finally coming true on the big screen?
- I felt like a kid in a candy store. Like everything was mine for the picking. No words could possibly explain the way I felt. It was that amazing. Just seeing the Never Submit Entertainment logo when it started made me think, "Wow, we did it. We finally f*ckin did it!" As for the ovation, it was completely unexpected, my heart jumped into my throat, I almost teared up.. who am I kidding, I did
tear up. All the years of wanting to live the life as a film maker and I'm finally here, so yeah a man can tear up when his dreams have come true!
4. Speaking of not publicly speaking, you've been more of a behind the scenes producer up until recently, can we look forward to seeing and hearing from you more or have you just come out of the shadows recently for the promotional push for the release of FAMOUS?
- Slowly but surely I'm trying to get into the networking place, I'm more of a face-to-face speaker but I'm trying. So if you ever see me on Facebook and want to know whats going on, just give me a shout, I'm more than willing to help out any way I can!
5. FAMOUS was your first film to be distributed world wide, whether it was on DVD or digitally on Film Rogue. What is it like after so many years of hard work to finally see your film available for the world to see? Not only that, but to see if out and getting mainly positive reviews?
- 1 word.. Thankful. Thankful of everyone who supported us by buying the film. Even to those that told us we should give up these pipe dreams and to not quit our day jobs, for if not for those people egging me and Matthew on, we wouldn't be where we are are today!
6. Up next on the horizon for Never Submit Entertainment is Innocent Looks 2. Sure seems like this could become a franchise and a staple player for the On The Waterfront film festival. What's your thoughts on Innocent Looks 2 and is this being planned as a yearly short film?
- It sure looks that way doesn't it? It has been discussed and is still in the fetal stage for that idea. As for Innocent Looks 2 it is going to be a one hell of a film. I remember a phone call where I asked Matthew to finally write a screenplay without my knowledge of it and to finally surprise me. the next day he called me back and told me that I should check my e-mail. There it was, Innocent Looks 2
and I was surprised. If I was shocked, I know the audience will be.
7. Once Innocent Looks 2 shoots, you've got a brief moment of downtime and then pre-production kicks into high gear for your first feature film, POETIC. POETIC, written by Matthew Cichella, has generated some buzz with its high profile independent cast and it's strikingly original screenplay. How did POETIC come about and what's your hopes for this film?
- Poetic was originally planned out to be a short film, but other plans didn't quite work out and we needed a feature, thus the screenplay of Poetic is what it is today. My hopes don't really matter when it comes to our work, I know it will be and do great. People will love this film. But I am hoping to get this film out to film festivals and finally not have to worry about having to get another full time job to support our films.
8. Speaking of POETIC and its cast, Giovanni Pauletti returns to the Never Submit family and this times plays the homicidal character Ray Ray, better known as "Cowboy." What was it about Giovanni that brought him into the fold for this film? His previous character, Jimmy Stevens
from FAMOUS, is completely unlike Ray Ray.
- Giovanni was chosen because of his screen presence, his ability to transform into his character, and his ability to feed off from his co-stars. Having Kitsie Duncan, Heather Dorff, Kelsey Zukowski, Marc Pytlewicz, Rob Romero, and Elise Schultz backing him up, I'm sure that Giovanni will be able pull the character off flawlessly.
9. Jumping ahead for a moment, after the dust settles for POETIC, what's next? If Mitch Wright II had his way, what would Never Submit Entertainment do next?
- If I had it my way, I would pull an old screenplay off of the shelves and show the world what we can really do. A straight slasher with a story!
10. Lastly, we all known this business is so hard to break into and even harder to really be successful at. What makes you, or Never Submit, stand out from the rest of the pack? What about you and your company is going to give you the ability to be around, shooting films 10 years from now?
- Just the name of the company tells you my answer. We never tap out, never give up, Never Submit!!!!
Gary Kozlowski joins POETIC!
Gary Kozlowski is a man of few words. Truth is, he doesn't have to say much. He just has to show up. Thus was the cast in 2006 when Gary showed up at a casting call for "Obsession," a short film Matthew Cichella was directing. Gary walked in the room, sat across the table from the director and just stared at him. That was his audition ...and that was all he had to do. Years have passed since that audition, but every time a script is written, Gary knows he'll be one of the first people contacted.
"Gary is probably one of the nicest guys I've met." Matthew states, when asked about Gary's involement with POETIC. "The thing is you wouldn't know that unless you talked to him. One look at his head shot and you can make the assumption this is one bad mother ...yeah, you know. And that's what's crazy about Gary. He sucks you in with his presence. When on screen he commands your presence at all times and with the role he is playing in POETIC, a very crucial role, we needed someone who could do just that."
Gary Kozlowski will be playing the role of Nico. Not many details were released about the character, but we can confirm it will be a pivotal role to the film. Truth is, Gary isn't even completely in the loop about what the film has in store for him, but he's ready and willing and excited to be involved.
"Acting in a Never Submit Entertainment movie is like agreeing to a blind date and the chick always turns out to be hot!" Gary enthusiastically stated. "Basically I was not expecting the script to be so intense! It's just another movie Matthew will once again out due his previous work with. I'm excited and really cant wait to see all of fellow actors and actresses from previous movies come together for another masterpiece!"
How you can help: Fans and/or investors can help get this feature into production by donating to the IndieGoGo campaign. This is the only way we can make this film a reality so please donate if you can or share the IndieGoGo link with your friends. There are some amazing perks like getting the DVD before its official release, as well as your name in the credits as a producer! Check it out.
In February 2011, an indie horror filmed entitled Raymond Did It changed the way the Midwest looked at independent filmmaking.
Remember those bad ass kill scenes in Raymond Did It? Yeah, you know ones. Five words: Curtain rod, lawnmower, washing machine. Get ready because Travis will be lending his special FX talents to Poetic and if Raymond Did It was any indication ...there will be blood ...and lots of it.
Previously, we announced that Giovanni Pauletti, the actor most well known as his role as Jimmy Stevens in FAMOUS, was going to be appearing in the film as the renegade killer simply known as Cowboy. Things have changed since that last update and today we want to fill you in on the new details.
- I felt like a kid in a candy store. Like everything was mine for the picking. No words could possibly explain the way I felt. It was that amazing. Just seeing the Never Submit Entertainment logo when it started made me think, "Wow, we did it. We finally f*ckin did it!" As for the ovation, it was completely unexpected, my heart jumped into my throat, I almost teared up.. who am I kidding, I did 
"I love working with Elise. She's a great actor, a great person and just an all around trooper. I'll never forget shooting One Night Stand in the freezing cold weather, maybe 20 degrees outside and poor Elise is running around, half dressed and being beaten like a rag doll by Gary Kozlowski, who is about 250lbs." Matthew recalls. "She never complained once. She's a great. I can't say enough about Elise. All I knew was I wanted to work with her again ....and again. She's that good."
"Peyton, along with her husband Ben, help set the tone for the film and really kick us into high gear right from the get go so it was very important that the actress who played Peyton was someone who was going to grab the attention of the audience right away." Explained director Matthew Cichella, when asked about Kelsey joining the cast. "There were a few people I had in mind to ask, all very talented people, but I remember watching The Social Media Massacre and I just loved her performance. Peyton is much different than the usual type cast roles I see Kelsey in, but this role will give her a chance to show everyone her range. It's a very dynamic role, to say the least."
"I've followed Kitsie's career for a while now, and we've all seen her be the villain in her films. And she's terrific at it. No doubt about it, but for me, I knew there was so much more in her range of acting that she just hasn't gotten a chance to show. So she was the first person I sent the script to when looking for a Riley. I wasn't sure if she would do it - it's extremely intense and definitely going to be out of the comfort range for a lot of actresses, but not Kitsie. She wanted the role and jumped at the opportunity. I didn't let her on at first it was a done deal ...she fought for the role ...and that just means she is really gonna blow people away when they see this."
"Cowboy is every actors dream role." explained Giovanni, when asked why he wanted to play the Cowboy role. "I wanted to take on this role because it's unlike anything I've ever done as an artist and most likely will never be able to do again. Cowboy is a man seeking both answers and revenge and you never how far he will go to get it. I will have to take my mind and body to places it's never been being Cowboy and I look forward to the challenge." 
Joe Patnaud, director of "Cold Heart Of Crystal Lake" from 2003 and "Friday the 13th: The Storm" from 2009 as well as over 5 of his own original short films (Snuff, Samhain 101) will shoot Episode 1 of "Friday The 13th: The Obsession" when the web series begins production this summer and be shown online from summer thru Halloween. Joe has already talked with creator Tim Whitfield about what this monumental first episode will include, and what he feels he can bring to it. 