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Scammerhead

Synopsis: 

Dan Zukovic, the cult indie director of The Last Big Thing, returns with another arthouse monster, global film noir Scammerhead, starring Dan Zukovic, Alex Rocco (The Godfather, Batman: Year One), Bruce Glover (Diamonds Are Forever, Chinatown) and Alex Zahara (Horns). Scammerhead charts the chaotic adventures of Silas Breece, a legendarily unorthodox business hustler who travels the world seeking capitol for a series of increasingly outlandish investments that go sour and land him in hot water with the mob.

Runtime: 
01:44:48
Information for the Audience: 

Directors: Dan Zukovic

Writers: Dan Zukovic

Producers: Jeremy Dyson, Brendan Keown, Mitch Mayer

Key cast: Alex Rocco, Bruce Glover, Dan Zukovic

 

Director: Dan Zukovic

Vancouver born writer/director Dan Zukovic began his career as an actor working both on stage, and in television appearing in Guest Starring roles onThe X-Files, Cold Squad, Millenium, Psych and feature length films such as The Perfect Score, Cody Banks, and Disturbing Behavior. Starting in Toronto during the 80’s Dan put pen to paper and began writing and performing several plays that have been enthusiastically received across North America including The Epic Cycle, The Running of the Bulls and The Final Meeting.

In 1992 Dan turned his hand to film, beginning with the writing and directing his first short Now Renting. After a successful festival run which included the Seattle Int’l Film Festival, Dan followed up this project with1994’s Conjurer of Monikers. His fresh, edgy and cerebral brand of humour and cultural observation won him enthusiasm and kudos and the short circulated the Montreal World Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, eventually to be broadcast on television by BRAVO US.

After the enthusiastic reception for his two short films, Dan turned his energies towards the tackling of a feature length project. The result would become a festival success and earn him a variety of passionate reviews from the likes of Variety, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. It was called “the best unknown American film of the 1990’s” in the film book “Defining Moments in Movies” (Editor: Chris Fujiwara.) In 1996 The Last Big Thing premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival. It ran a wide festival circuit including the Hamptons Int’l Film Festival, Palm Springs, Boston, Denver, Gen Art, Palm Beach, Austin, Umea, Galway, eventually winning the Best Feature award at the Athens Georgia Film Festival. Stratosphere Entertainment released the film theatrically in over 30 cities in 1999. The film has since found a wide fan base and has been successively broadcast on SHOWTIME, the SUNDANCE CHANNEL, and the MOVIE CHANNEL, as well as VOD outlets such as Fandor and Snagfilms.

His sophomore feature, Dark Arc, premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival again and went on to a successful festival run and eventual video distribution deal, also appearing on Fandor, Snagfilms and other VOD outlets.

Zukovic’s writing often reflects themes of epic pursuits and grand failure, usually drawing a parallel to cultural realities he observes and internalizes. He is currently writing his next feature project.

Director’s Statement

With Scammerhead my intention was to shoot a feature in a unique way, over a longer period of time and in numerous locations, looking at the modern global context through past and present, myth and reality, incorporating different genres (though principally film noir) and cinematic styles and techniques. Ultimately the filming stretched out for over seven years and was arduous and at times risky in ways that reflected the hubris and folly of the narrative, as well as the black comedy.

 

Categories:

Screenings / Awards: 
  • Montreal World Film Festival

    Montreal, Canada
    August 29, 2014
    World

  • Chattanooga Film Festival

    Chattanooga, Tennessee
    April 3, 2015
    American

  • Trenton Film Festival

    Trenton, NJ
    June 13, 2015
    New Jersey
    Best Narrative Feature

  • News & Reviews
Information for theatres: 

student project: No
completion date: 2014-11-19
shooting format: Digital
aspect ratio: 16:9
film color: Color
first-time filmmaker: No

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