On Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, 2 pm, at Cinemapolis, in downtown Ithaca, there will be a pre-release screening of Wetware, a new sci-fi feature film by director Jay Craven (Where the Rivers Flow North, Stranger in the Kingdom, Disappearances, Northern Borders, and many others – https://kingdomcounty.org/jay-craven-films). Craven’s films have starred such actors as Bruce Dern, Martin Sheen, Genevieve Bujold, Jacqueline Bisset, Kris Kristofferson, Michael J. Fox, Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, Ernie Hudson, Jerry O’Connell, Marin Hinkle, Luis Guzmán, Treat Williams, Gordon Clapp, Carrie Snodgrass, Jean Louisa Kelly, Nicole Shalhoub, Jessica Hecht, and Diane Guerrero. He will be in attendance at this screening to introduce the film and lead a Q & A afterward.
Of particular local interest, and one of the reasons Craven will be here, is that the music for Wetware was composed and mixed by Ithaca musicians/film composers, Judy Hyman and Jeff Claus. They have worked with Craven on six of his previous films and have done scores for numerous documentaries and other features (www.j2filmmusic.com). A number of other Ithaca musicians and audio professionals contributed to the project as well, including Mary Lorson and Billy Coté (songs by Madder Rose), Bronwen Exter (songs), Jess Caporizzo (piano), Xak Bjerken (piano), Elizabether Simkin (cello) Alex Perialas (recording engineer), and Mike Caporizzo (recording engineer).
Wetware stars Jerry O'Connell (Jerry McGuire, Stand By Me), Cameron Scroggins (Nashville, The Deuce), Morgan Wolk (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Orange is the New Black, The Affair), Nicole Shalhoub (The Good Wife, Madame Secretary), Bret Lada (Law and Order), Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue), and Garrett Lee Hendricks (The Americans). It’s currently in negotiations for national and international release, but has been screened in select, pre-release screenings over the last six months or so. The movie is a film noir set in the near future in a society divided by great economic inequalities where there are tough and tedious jobs no one wants. People at the end of their rope will do anything for a sense of security and well-being. Enter Galapagos Wetware, a cutting edge genetic engineering firm where people down-on-their-luck apply to be Mungos -- genetically altered humans with enhanced stamina for dreary or dangerous jobs. With business booming, geneticist Hal Briggs has new ideas for high-end Mungos – people who can carry out deep cover espionage, space travel, resource wars, and boots-on-the-ground work to clean up climate catastrophes. Briggs experiments, things get complicated, and, ultimately, dark truths are revealed.
For more about the event and film, including a trailer: https://cinemapolis.org/film/wetware/