Cam Gigandet is leading a group of military prisoners who have to fight off a terrorist attack, as he begins principal photography on the action movie, ‘The Base.’ The drama’s production companies, XLrator Media and Benattar/Thomas Productions, have announced the launch of shooting on the thriller. XLrator Media will release the film worldwide next year on its Turbo action label.
‘The Base’ marks the feature film directorial debut of military veteran, Jesse Gustafson. The filmmaker is a Columbia Film School graduate who has helmed and performed in over 40 stage productions. His film work includes writing and directing the short film, ‘Day 39,’ which was a finalist for a student Academy Award last year, and penning ‘Ace of Spades,’ which was an Academy Nicholl Fellowship finalist.
The action thriller is based on an original story by Nigel Thomas and Rick Benattar, and was scribed by ‘The Last Heist’ scribe, Guy Stevenson. ‘The Base’ follows Gigandet’s character, Jake, who’s the leader of a “Dirty Dozen” band of military prisoners. The group has to fight off a terrorist attack on the remote “black site” prison in which they’re being held, which, unknown to them, is a cover for a secret drone control facility.
Benattar, Thomas, Barry Gordon and Michael Radiloff are serving as producers on ‘The Base,’ which has been fully financed by The Fyzz Facility. Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones are serving as Executive Producers on the drama.
‘The Base’ is the fourth action-thriller from Benattar/Thomas Productions, as part of an overall production and global distribution deal with XLrator Media. The companies have previously partnered on ‘Paradox,’ which stars Zoë Bell and Malik Yoba. They have also worked together on the upcoming releases ‘The Last Heist,’ which features Henry Rollins, and is set to be released in theaters on June 17, and ‘The Fixer,’ which stars Tom Hopper, which will be distributed in theaters on November 4.
“We are thrilled to work on ‘The Base’ with Jesse Gustafson, a fresh and exciting new filmmaker. The film is reminiscent of classics like ‘The Dirty Dozen’ and ‘Kelly’s Heroes.’ Movies we love that truly blur the line between the good guys and bad guys. It’s a great story and we can’t wait to bring it to a global audience,” said Benattar.
Written by: Karen Benardello