Production Notes
For additional publicity materials and artwork, please visit:
http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/theatrical/heist/
MPAA: R for violence, pervasive language and some sexual content
Run time: 90 minutes
U.S. Release Date: November 13, 2015 (In Theaters and On Demand)
For more information, please contact:
Liz Berger
Lionsgate
2700 Colorado Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90404
P: 310-255-3092
E: lberger@lionsgate.com
SYNOPSIS
When their attempt to rob a casino owned by the feared gangster Pope (Robert De Niro) goes awry and
a shootout ensues, Vaughn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Cox (Dave Bautista) are forced to flee on foot
and hijack city Bus 657 and take the passengers hostage. Now, in a high speed chase, Vaughn will not
only have to outwit the police, led by Officer Bajos (Gina Carano) who are in hot pursuit, but he will have
to contend with Pope’s maniacal right hand man, Dog (Morris Chestnut), in order to make it through the
day alive. But we quickly learn that things are not what they seem, and Vaughn has more than one card
up his sleeve. HEIST will be released by Lionsgate Premiere in theaters and On Demand November 13 th,
2015.
Lionsgate Premiere, Grindstone Entertainment Group and Emmett Furla Oasis Films present in association
with The Fyzz Facility, in association with RPI, LLC, an Emmett Furla Oasis Films production, in
association with Silver Plane Films, Trivision Pictures, Inc. and Mass Hysteria Entertainment Company,
Inc., a film by Scott Mann.
PLANNING A CRACKERJACK HEIST
When screenwriter Stephen Cyrus Sepher, who also co-stars in the film as Dante, conceived of
HEIST, he was envisioning a thriller “where the heist and the crime occur in different places.” Inspired by
the clever, stylish Rat Pack movies starring Frank Sinatra and Sepher’s hero Dean Martin as icy cool
rogues, which gave rise to the popular Ocean’s Eleven casino heist films with George Clooney and Brad
Pitt, Sepher set out to write an homage, but one that incorporated other types of thrillers as well. HEIST
kicks things off with an inside job, but then it segues into an out-of-control chase that tips its hat to
Speed, all along navigating the kinds of sharp turns and deceptions that made The Usual Suspects and
The Sting must-see-twice movies.
For Producer Randall Emmett (Everest, Lone Survivor), the co-founder of Emmett/Furla/Oasis
Films (EFO) with longtime producing partner George Furla, the story of a casino heist-turned-bus
hijacking had all the elements of a crowd-pleasing action thriller. With its ticking clock, pulsating action,
and rich characters in high dramatic stakes, HEIST had enough to make for a true roller-coaster ride of a
movie.
“I personally enjoy films like HEIST,” says actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, (upcoming Desierto, The
Adventures of Beatle) who portrays card dealer and father Luke Vaughn. “I like films where you just
settle in with a box of popcorn for some thrills, a few surprises, a couple of good laughs, and enjoy the
ride. That’s what HEIST is – it’s fun.”
When director Scott Mann (The Tournament) first read HEIST, he responded immediately to the
suspense and action, but quickly noticed another crucial element that grounded the material -- a diverse
cast of relatable characters who develop and change over the course of the film.
“It’s hard enough to develop characters in a typical action film when you only have lots of action
pieces and only few characters and a lot of faceless bad guys,” Mann said. “But showing character
development is even more difficult to do with a lot of characters, combined with all the time devoted to
the action. In HEIST, the characters really are the spine -- the backbone -- of what drives the story’s
action.”
The focus on character is what attracted Oscar ®-winning actor and filmmaker Robert De Niro,
who signed on to star as casino owner and criminal boss Frank “The Pope” Pope, a man driven by
principles to do cruel things, but torn by where such a lifestyle has left him. Scott Mann came on board
to direct HEIST shortly after De Niro was cast and the two immediately began discussing ways to further
define and deepen the characters. “Working with Bob is great because he understands the importance of
character to story,” said Mann. “He got really involved from the start – working through the characters
and storyline for several weeks with lots of discussion, sorting out the heart and bones of the film.”
Mann next brought in screenwriter Max S. Adams (the upcoming Extraction, Precious Cargo) to
further flesh out the motivations of the script’s many characters, and to take advantage of the heistturned-hijacking scenario to add a few more story curves that deepen the duplicity and entanglement.
“I loved a lot of the original elements of the story – it had that Ocean’s 11 feel with a little bit of
The Usual Suspects,” said Adams. “So, we took those elements and focused on further developing the
characters and action pieces, fleshing them out, getting the characters from one place to the next in a
way that was organic, suspenseful and unpredictable.
THE PLAYERS AT THE TABLE
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Luke Vaughn
When we meet Luke Vaughn, he’s performing one of the card tricks that have made him one of
The Swan’s most popular dealers. Whether he’s got the skillful dexterity and sleight-of-hand to pull off
the ultimate heist – against a dangerous man who’s almost a father figure to him is another thing. The
filmmakers of Heist needed an actor who could embody Vaughn’s mix of strength and vulnerability,
desperation and cunning, a hard-working guy who might just have an ace up his sleeve. According to
director Scott Mann, that actor was Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
“Morgan’s ability to show a range of emotions at once and so well, with such depth and
complexity, really makes the character shine,” says the director. “He captures Vaughn’s loneliness and
despair as well as his devotion, cleverness and determination.”
Morgan sees in Vaughn a guy driven by the best of impulses, even if what he’s trying to do could
threaten everything he has. “I think more than anything, it was Vaughn’s desperation to help his
daughter that pushed him into the heist,” said Morgan. “While there exists a little element of revenge in
taking the Pope’s ill-gotten gains, it’s really just this need, and when an opportunity arises to get it,
Vaughn takes it.”
“Jeffrey is one of these actors with this weight, a gravitas about him,” says screenwriter Max
Adams. “You easily believe him as a man acting from strength, and also a man who has this angry
vulnerability about him. He’s the kind of actor that can say a lot with just a look, a turn, without uttering
a single word.”
Morgan came to HEIST straight from the Mexico set of the action-drama Desierto, following a
whirlwind work schedule of back-to-back films (The Adventures of Beatle, Solace, The Salvation, Texas
Rising). A busy and popular leading man, Morgan also co-stars in two acclaimed CBS series, “Extant” and
“The Good Wife”. Director Mann had nothing but high praise for Morgan’s performance and tireless work
ethic.
“Jeff is in almost every scene of the film, and that is a lot to carry, especially in an action film
shot completely out of sequence in bits and pieces,” said the director. “We shot at night six-days a week
with two units going over a couple of weeks, and Jeffrey was so thorough, hard-working and such a
professional. He’s a fantastic actor.”
His co-stars agreed. Not only does bus driver Bernie take note of Vaughn’s unusual sympathy for
a hijacker, but actor D.B. Sweeney understood why Morgan was playing him. “There’s something else
going on with Vaughn,” said Sweeney,
“how he stops Cox from shooting the police officer and
passengers, how he tries to keep everyone calm and safe. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a very good, subtle
actor, so I enjoyed playing those scenes with him.”
Robert De Niro as Frank Pope
Vaughn’s antagonist is Frank “The Pope” Pope. Pope is more than just a businessman – he’s a
demanding boss, a regretful father, a cruel and merciless kingpin, which means he’s a guy you certainly
don’t want to be on the wrong side of. When $3 million is stolen from his illegal empire on the eve of his
retirement, he sets in motion a hard-hitting plan for payback, pitting one surrogate son – his enforcer,
Dog – against another, Vaughn, the man who robbed him. Who else to bring so complicated and
powerful a figure to life than the actor who rewrote the playbook on silver screen tough guys: Robert De
Niro.
During his five-decade career and with more than 100 films to his credit, actor and filmmaker
Robert De Niro has become one of the most celebrated, recognizable and respected actors in film. In
2009, De Niro received the coveted Kennedy Centers Honor for his distinguished acting and in 2011 he
received the Cecil B. De Mille Award at the Golden Globes®. His more than 65 award nominations and 50
wins include seven Oscar® nominations and two Academy Awards® for films such as The Godfather-Part
II, Raging Bull, Silver Linings Playbook, Goodfellas, Casino, The Untouchables, Awakenings and Taxi
Driver. Getting a chance to work with the legendary “actor’s actor” De Niro is a professional milestone
for most performers and filmmakers, who are thrilled to have the chance to work with “Bob.”
Bosworth was especially excited to work with De Niro on the emotional and pivotal scene
between father and daughter. “It was the last scene he did for the movie and I thought it was an
interesting one for him,” said Bosworth. “It was an incredible honor to work with him because I grew up
with his movies, studied every single frame of his films, which include some of the greatest performances
of all time. To be able to sit across the table from him, be strong, be valuable and ride the roller coaster
of a really great scene with him is an incredible experience for me.”
Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar (upcoming Precious Cargo, NBC’s “People Are Talking”) had his own
pinch-me moment when he found himself acting with De Niro in the first scene on his first day shooting
HEIST. “I’ve been in the industry for more than 30 years,” said Gosselaar, who plays police Det. Thomas
Marconi. “And working with Robert De Niro is absolutely a career highlight for me. It was awesome.”
“He’s a legend, an icon, so it’s really been a learning experience for me,” said Morris Chestnut,
who plays Pope’s right-hand-man and successor, called Dog. “Because of my character, I was lucky to
have a lot of scenes with him. He’s a great actor and I had a great time.”
Director Scott Mann admits he was “slightly nervous” stepping on to the set that first day with
the award-winning screen legend. “You always have to tiptoe into the director-actor relationship in those
first days anyway,” he said, “but Bob is a total professional, obviously, and working with him was
amazing.”
Screenwriter Max S. Adams says listening and watching De Niro speak words he wrote is
something he wouldn’t have imagined a few years ago when he serving in the army.
Notes Adams,
“When I was sitting in the back of a Humvee, riding through Iraq, I could not have dreamed that
someday I would be sitting on a movie set listening to words I wrote in a screenplay come out of Robert
De Niro’s mouth.”
Co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan says he “didn’t even read the script” after hearing he would be
working alongside De Niro. “I got a call from my agent who said there was a chance to star opposite
Robert De Niro and I agreed to do it right then, without ever having read it, to get an opportunity to
work with him,” said Morgan. “To be in his periphery was pretty cool, so to have scenes with him and
act opposite him is kind of extraordinary.”
Kate Bosworth as Sydney Pope
A significant clue to understanding Frank Pope’s conflicted sense of duty is embodied in the
character of Sydney, his estranged daughter, played by Kate Bosworth ( Still Alice, upcoming 90 Minutes
in Heaven). When Pope tracks her down at the homeless shelter where she works, the pair lay everything
on the table about their rift.
“I really love this character,” says Bosworth about Sydney Pope, “because so much is happening
that’s fast and furious, quick and crazy, with people making decisions by the seat of their pants in
situations they never thought that they’d be in. So when you get to the scene with Sydney, everything
stops for a moment. It’s a moment to breathe.”
Bosworth says her emotional scene with Robert De Niro is about “reflection, recognition, morality
and conscience, which sheds light on the situation and tells us more about who Pope is and why he does
what he does. It’s a heavy, but hopeful moment because it does create a shift in the Pope, which I don’t
think any other person on the planet could inflict. From that conversation and meeting with her, he does
change. I think no matter how much she looks at him in anger and disappointment, he’s still her father,
and that emotional parent-child relationship is something almost everyone can relate to.”
Despite what he’s done, the Pope deserves a chance to make peace with his child, says Sepher.
“It’s one of his last rites as a human being,” he said. “Yes, the Pope’s a criminal. Yes, he’s killed people,
but he’s trying to come to terms with his daughter and his life. He wants to step away from all of it.
When Vaughn and his team come in and take the dirty money, it pulls Pope back into a game he wants
to get out of. He doesn’t want to deal with it – so he dispatches Dog to go retrieve the cash, which
presents its own problems. The entire situation makes him question his own integrity and the decisions
he’s made.”
While no one can control Pope, Bosworth believes Sydney is the only person who can “get to
him,” and as an actress, she enjoyed playing out that dynamic with De Niro. “Searching for that kind of
love really is what changes the course of the movie,” she said.
“It’s love.
It’s the thing Pope
understands in that moment with her.”
Dave Bautista as Jason Cox
Although casino cashier Jason Cox is the man who comes to Vaughn with the idea to rob The
Pope, the muscle-shirted, heavily tattooed Cox turns into the heist’s wild card, a volatile, imposing figure
who quickly takes charge when the job takes a dramatic left turn. Dave Bautista proved the ideal fit for
the part, a former professional wrestler who’s become an in-demand talent in just a few short years,
having co-starred in the blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, and landing a villainous role in the next
James Bond film Spectre.
“It doesn’t take long to see Dave is an athlete who comes from the world of professional
wrestling-- he’s a huge, scary-looking guy -- but turns out he’s actually very nice and has some serious
acting chops, a natural talent for acting,” says Jeffrey Dean Morgan. “Dave’s very good in this film and
it’s been cool watching him develop. He hasn’t spent a lot of time in front of a film camera, so he’s kind
of figuring it out as he goes, but he’s really, really good. He’s going to have a long career.”
“I had a ball working with Dave Bautista,” said D.B. Sweeney. “Such an interesting, unique
powerful person and he cuts an impressive figure and yet he’s very gentle in many ways. I think he’s
going to have a really good run as an actor because he’s not just flexing his guns, he’s very interested in
the character, working very hard to have the same types of accomplishments in the work of acting as he
had in the world of wrestling.”
“Dave Bautista is just this big teddy bear of a man,” said Carano, a trailblazer and former
champion of Women’s Mixed Martial Arts, who transitioned from athletics to acting like Bautista. “You
can’t necessarily tell from looking at him because he’s so big and tough looking, but he’s very sweet and
has got one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen in a man.”
Stephen Sepher as Dante
Cox’s accomplice, Dante, played by co-writer and producer Stephen Sepher, is brought into the
heist without consulting Vaughn, who hates the idea of surprises but knows he has no choice. Dante
shows the kind of guy he is when he shows up the night of the robbery with a trunkful of guns.
“Dante and Cox go way back,” said Sepher. “They’re best friends and work together on jobs all
the time. There’s no doubt Dante is a total wise guy, a cowboy who goes off on his own when he
shouldn’t. Dante’s an instigator who acts before he thinks, and he pays the ultimate price.” Sepher loved
working with Dave Bautista and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, helping make his story come to life. “I remember
lying on the floor in the bus, looking up at Dave and Jeffrey, and there were police escorts on the sides
as we’re rolling down the highway and I thought, ‘This is really happening.’ It’s so cool.”
Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Detective Thomas Marconi
As soon as the heist goes mobile with the thieves hopping a city bus, the cops get involved when
a female police officer first gives chase. Stepping up to the plate to oversee SWAT operations and save
the hostages is forceful and resourceful Detective Thomas Marconi, a character who isn’t all he seems.
“Marconi’s the lead detective in charge of this hijacking and hostage situation,” says Mark-Paul
Gosselaar, who was cast in the role. “When he comes in, he basically saves Officer Kris Bajos [Gina
Carano’s character] from being fired, and while that seems like a noble act, it’s because the hijackers
have asked for Kris and he needs her. At first, Marconi comes off as a good guy, but once he gets Officer
Bajos out of the way, you start to see Detective Marconi may or may not be a good guy. It’s one of those
things you figure out as the film goes along.”
Co-star Carano said she enjoyed working with Gosselaar. “He’s got so much energy when he
comes to set and he plays around with the lines and he draws out different things in you. He makes it
interesting and fun, keeps you in the moment. He’s been a pleasure to work with.”
Morris Chestnut as Derrick “Dog” Prince
Though Pope is the looming antagonist in the movie’s robbery scenario, he’s not the guy who
gets his hands dirty when action needs to be taken. That job falls to Pope’s violent enforcer and heir
apparent, Derrick “Dog” Prince, who takes to heart the rules of the business taught to him by Pope: It’s
not a business if you give the money away. Don’t let sentiment cloud your judgment. And most
importantly, never let anyone steal from you. Dog is played by Morris Chestnut, whose 25-year career
extends from his breakout role in the acclaimed 1991 film Boyz N The Hood through The Best Man,
Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie,” and the current hit TV drama “Rosewood.”
When Chestnut was approached about the role of Dog, he welcomed the opportunity to play a
different type of character. “A reason I took the role – besides working with Robert De Niro – is this
character is not anything like the characters I normally play,” says Chestnut. “In the past, my characters
kiss people and in this movie, my character kills people. So it’s opposite ends of the spectrum.”
“Dog’s a much darker version of De Niro’s character Pope, and does a lot of his dirty work,” said
director Scott Mann. “When the Pope steps back, and Dog steps up and really pursues Vaughn with a
vengeance. It’s all the things he’s learned from Pope.”
Gina Carano as Officer Kris Bajos
It might have been smooth sailing for Vaughn, Cox and Dante once they hopped that city bus
after the heist. But what might have been a simple escape turns into something much bigger when night
patrol officer Kris Bajos, hearing gunshots and pulling up alongside the bus, realizes something’s not
right. Narrowly missing a shotgun blast from one of the passengers pretty much clinches it. As played by
Gina Carano, officer Bajos is an honorable cop who wants to do the right thing when it comes to saving
the captive passengers from gun-toting outlaws.
“She’s the first cop on the scene when the hijacking happens with the bus,” says Carano about
Officer Kris Bajos. “She’s a normal beat cop in an extraordinary situation, who steps up to the plate and
does what’s needed. She’s got a real innocence about her although she’s definitely tough. She has to
be. She’s put in a situation where she has to make some pretty tough decisions because people’s lives
are on the line.”
Later, though, when allowed to dig deeper into the motivations of one of the hijackers, Vaughn,
who at one point saves her life, she shows a different side. Says Carano, “She knows he’s not all bad.
When they first talk, she says ‘I’m a cop and you’re a robber. That’s the game. It’s black and white, pal.’
But as the story unfolds, and his actions back up his words, and she starts to put all the pieces together,
she asks herself is everything black and white, or is there a gray area?”
D.B. Sweeney as Bernie
Encapsulating the range of humanity on board the hijacked bus is its Everyman driver Bernie, a
guy who just wants to do his job and get home in one piece. “You can’t have a bus movie without a bus
driver,” says actor D.B. Sweeney, who plays Bernie. “He’s a city bus driver in the tradition of the great
Ralph Kramden, a grumpy guy who’s already having a bad day – and with this situation, it just got even
worse.”
Sweeney says by the time Vaughn, Cox and Dante hop on board, Bernie’s already behind
schedule and ready to clock out. “He’s annoyed because it’s going slowly, and he wants to finish his shift
and get home,” said Sweeney “At his last stop, this pregnant lady is looking for her pass or money and is
taking forever, holding them up. And then right after she gets on the bus, and they start moving, Bernie
has to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the guys that climb on and hijack the bus.”
As viewers live the takeover vicariously through Bernie, he’s allowed to be himself, which
Sweeney thinks is key for the audience in adjusting to what would be for anybody a shocking, terrifying
situation. “After a while, as the hours wore on and he got more and more used to it, and a little more
casual, I think Bernie just gets more annoyed,” said Sweeney, who learned to drive a bus as research for
the role.
“It’s a heavy movie with a lot of intense scenes, and it’s good for the audience to have a
character like Bernie they can relate to. He just wants to get home and he becomes a sort of touchstone
for the audience. When you see Bernie, you can take a break, breathe and know nobody’s going to get
shot, that nothing bad is going to happen right now.”
PUTTING HEIST INTO MOTION
Principal photography on HEIST began in Mobile, Alabama in October 2014.
With a packed 22-
day shooting schedule, a full-time second unit, nearly a dozen principal cast members (including a
legendary movie actor), day and night shoots, multiple action sequences, and a confined main set on
wheels, HEIST was a daunting logistical and creative undertaking.
“With something like this, when you’re putting it together fast and pushing, pushing and pushing,
you’ve got to have a director like Scott Mann,” says Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
“He’s very visual. He knows
what he wants. Scott’s got an easy, infectious way about him. Actors respect him and the crew does,
too.”
Kate Bosworth said Mann was the ideal choice to take the helm of this wild ride. “With an
overwhelming storyline, lots of stunts and action and many different actors and extras, it is quite a tall
order for any director with any experience,” said Bosworth about HEIST. “Many times you see directors
melt down because there’s so much pressure, but Scott never loses his cool. He is always lovely and
knows what he wants. He gives notes and is very sensitive, which I appreciate very much. I really,
really enjoyed working with him and hope we could do more projects together.”
Gina Carano agrees. “Working with Scott Mann has been an incredible experience. He’s got
great energy and is very level-headed,” she said. “I’ve never seen him angry or lose his cool. He’s a real
pleasure to show up to work and be around.”
After jumping on board HEIST, Mann turned to director of photography Brandon Cox (the
upcoming Extraction, Precious Cargo) to help achieve his vision. Mann also brought in longtime friend
and filmmaking partner Adrian Vitoria to direct the film’s second unit, while Brandon Cox brought in his
close friend and colleague Seamus Tierney as the second unit’s director of photography.
While discussing the film’s lighting, pacing and style, Mann and Cox both discovered they were
“big fans” of director Tony Scott, and agreed Scott’s use and movement of multiple cameras and visual
tone fit the look they wanted for HEIST.
“Both Scott and I are fans of Tony Scott’s work,” said Cox. “We like his use of multiple cameras,
cool camera moves, anamorphic lenses, and lighting to get these beautiful, but hard contrasts in his
images – a hard backlight, soft key light. That’s the look we were going for.”
According to Cox, employing a bright backlight was a practical as well as creative decision, based
around what worked for the bus sequences.
“With a neutral background and blown out windows, we can place the bus anywhere, which we
needed to be able to do with all the scenes we had to film on the bus, which were shot in pieces over
several days with two units going,” said Cox. “It was just out of necessity, really. But it was also in
keeping with the styles of Scott and director Adrian Lyne, who directed Fatal Attraction and 9 ½ Weeks,
who I also like. Lyne had a lighting style that lent itself to beautiful soft light and shafts of light like in
Flashdance. I wanted to bring a little bit of his unique visual style into this film as well.”
For Mann and Cox, aside from the breakneck shooting schedule, the major challenge in making
HEIST involved the logistics of shooting on a bus. First they had to decide if they would actually shoot on
a moving bus and secondly, the most efficient way to do that.
“We considered a number of options,” said Cox. “We didn’t want to do it all poor man’s style [in
which the bus remains stationary and the cameras and vehicle move], and we costed out rear projection
and LED rear projection, green screen and none of those were cost-effective at all. So, we knew we had
to shoot on a moving bus.”
Since working on a moving bus proved the best option, Mann and Cox took advantage of
advances in camera technology, motion stabilization and quality images which have transformed action
photography.
But they needed to see for themselves how the logistics of equipment and personnel
would all work in the confines of a bus in motion on highways and city streets.
“We did some camera tests because we didn’t know what it was going to be like in terms of look,
camera angles, how we would move around,” said Cox. “We shot on the bus for a few days before
principal photography began, which gave us some ideas about the space restraints we were dealing with,
where we would put the cameras and what we would see.”
Finding space for the approximately eight to 10 crew members, as well as the lighting and
camera equipment squeezed in among the half-dozen principal cast members and nearly dozen extras,
made it necessary for an essential crew only on the bus when it hit the road to film a scene. With two
camera operators, two assistant cameramen, the first assistant director, the boom operator, and the
director (and often the sound engineer or make-up artist), “it was going to be a moving circus,” said Cox.
“But we had to make all that work.”
After a bumpy first couple of hours on the first day of shooting, which had the crew “on top of
each other,” they opted for a different way. “We couldn’t do scenes in the traditional way -- shoot in this
direction, stop, jump over, move everybody over to the other side, re-set the lights, put the crew behind
us and then shoot in the other direction, jump, go over to this angle, and over this way,” said Cox. “So
we had to figure out something else.”
Mann and Cox decided it would be more efficient to block out and shoot all the shots for all the
scenes in one direction, then flip over all the lights, flags, cameras and personnel to shoot the shots
needed to complete coverage for the same scenes from the other direction. “The moment we got that
resolved, it was awesome,” said Cox. “We flew through the work.”
Mann and Cox used the RED Epic® camera with Hawk® anamorphic lenses “to give the film a
bigger, grander scale. We love the flares it gives. It’s got the innate flares which is cool, a little nostalgic,”
said Cox. “There are not many lenses in the 2.40 aspect ratio. When you’re dealing with a 2.40 aspect
ratio you have to be very selective on how you shoot.”
When Mann needed a close-up or certain angle inside the bus, but didn’t want to see everything
in focus all the way down the bus aisle, the anamorphic lenses offered the barrel distortion and shallow
depth of field he wanted while the hard backlight further diffused the images.
Mann also used the bright harsh light and physical confinement of the bus itself to create and
enhance a claustrophobic feeling. “It was a deliberate decision,” said the director. “We wanted to make
you feel like you’re inside. It’s not like we’re on a set and can remove a wall, or step outside. We
wanted the audience to feel that heat, stuffiness and containment in the bus.”
While a majority of the interior bus scenes were shot on a moving bus, there were parts of
scenes done while the bus was parked. Says Cox, “We did most of the night stuff practical, with some
poor man’s [technique]. Same with shooting the day scenes -- we did most of them on the bus. But
there were a few times when we pulled focus and did some poor man’s process for close-up work or long
dialogue scenes.”
MOBILE, ALABAMA: HOME OF HEIST
The opening of HEIST intercuts the arrival of the bus at one of its stops with Dog and casino
security chasing Vaughn and two accomplices escaping from the robbery. As a young pregnant woman
sits in the quiet pre-dawn hours at the bus shelter, waiting, the film cuts to panicked gasps, as three dark
figures, bags in one hand, guns in the other, sprint down the street, the sounds of gunfire echoing
behind them. We see the young woman board the bus, walk down the aisle and take her seat near a
man in a full-size mascot costume when the bus lurches forward, and abruptly stops. A dark figure stands
in front of the bus and fires two gunshots into the air, “Open the doors!” he orders the terrified bus
driver. Then, the movie rewinds to ONE WEEK EARLIER…
“I love the way [director] Scott Mann is shooting this movie,” says Chestnut. “The way Scott is
putting this together is phenomenal. I always wanted to be in a crime thriller like this – especially one
starring Robert De Niro. It’s fun to run around a city at night with reckless abandon as we’ve been doing
here.”
A large part of the running around on HEIST involved filming in vehicles and on highways and
city streets in Mobile, Alabama.
The production scheduled three days of shooting on highways and
several days and nights on city streets and along the riverfront. They needed clearance to fly helicopters
and drones, and required local road closures in order to stage and execute stunts and driving maneuvers,
as well as action sequences in which the bus crashes, flips on its side and slides.
Filmmakers said
Alabama’s tax incentive program made filming in the state cost-effective, while Mobile’s local government
and film commission made the logistics of shooting in and around the historic port city easy.
Emmett Furla Oasis Films began making movies in Mobile, Alabama in early 2014. Over the
course of filming several movies along the Gulf Coast, producers Emmett and partner Furla had
developed great working relationships with many local agencies, vendors, and businesses, including
working with casting directors like Goleman Casting in Mobile, to find local actors and extras for their
films.
Emmett Furla Oasis Films had also developed an experienced production crew base in the region
-- from New Orleans, Louisiana to Mississippi, and Alabama. By bringing back the same crew members
whenever possible, the producers had created a tightly-knit team of professionals familiar with the
personalities and working styles of their fellow crew members. In a business not known for its loyalty,
Emmett’s and Furla’s ability to reunite many of its local production team members --and even actors-time and again despite fast-paced shooting schedules and months in between productions, is rare in film
production and speaks to how much the crew members enjoy working together on these films.
“The production crew feels like a family unit,” says Mark-Paul Gosselaar. “It’s a local crew which
has worked together on other films here and you can feel and see the difference. It is fun and people
are genuine and kind, and they get the work done.”
“It’s like a family,” says Gina Carano, who also co-stars in the upcoming Emmett Furla Oasis
Films espionage thriller Extraction, which was filmed in Mobile as well. “I really, really enjoy working with
everyone on the cast and crew. It’s just a great group of really cool people.”
Shot on tight shooting schedules, the productions realize real cost benefits from reuniting the
same department heads and crew members who know what is required and have developed systems and
a sort of shorthand for getting things done.
“You usually spend the first several weeks on a film in production getting to know the other crew
members,” says director Scott Mann. “With this crew, you have a group who already knows each other
and how to work with each other, which makes this easier and quicker.”
Another way in which the production maximized its time and resources was centering the
production in Mobile’s historic downtown and riverfront area. In addition to offering the locations the film
required, it was close to cast and crew lodging, which cut down on travel time to and from set. Given the
contained area in which they would shoot, the production was able to establish production offices a
couple of blocks away from the hotels as well as a permanent production base camp within the parking
garage at the Alabama Cruise Terminal on South Water Street, just down the street. With lodging, the
production office and a permanent main unit base camp so close to one another and the various
locations, the production was able to devote more time each day devoted to filming by eliminating the
time required to pack up equipment and personnel and move all the trucks, trailers, generators, cars,
cast and crew, and set up a new base camp near a new location
From its base at the Alabama Cruise Terminal, the production filmed a number of scenes in and
around downtown Mobile. On the first day of production, Hayley’s Bar on Dauphin Street doubled for the
diner where Vaughn, Cox and the accomplices meet to plan the robbery. The production filmed several
scenes at the historic landmark hotel The Battle House Hotel on N. Royal Street. Originally built in 1852
on the site of a former military headquarters during the War of 1812, the hotel dominated the cultural
and political scene in Mobile for more than a hundred years. HEIST filmed in the luxury hotel’s famed
Crystal Ballroom, transforming it with 1940s-style décor and more than 140 elegantly dressed extras as
guests, into the film’s fictional riverboat casino, The Swan, where the retirement party for Robert De
Niro’s character Frank Pope is taking place.
The production also used the hotel’s suites for scenes set in
Pope’s bedroom and office.
The exterior of The Swan casino was the Riverboat Casino in Battleship Park. When Vaughn, Cox
and Dante jump off the riverboat into the water during their escape from the gunfight, the actors were
actually jumping off the Riverfront pier and into the water below – more than once during the chilly late
October night shoot.
The action and production moved downtown after the three men climb out of the water and
scramble to a road where they spot the bus departing the bus stop, and run for it. The bus stop and
hijack sequences were filmed on St. Louis Street between North Joachim and North Warren Streets. The
casino car park where Mickey and the getaway car initially wait is a parking lot on St. Louis Street. The
ensuing police car-bus chase that begins with Officer Bajos reporting “shots fired and possible hostage
situation” was filmed in an area downtown bordered by St. Anthony Street and St. Michael Street to the
north and south, and North Joachim and North Warren St. to the East and West.
With cooperation from the city and local government agencies, HEIST was able to film its chase
and stunt sequences on city streets and highways, including I-65 and parts Interstate 10 West (I-10), as
depicted in the film.
The action sequence in which Officer Bajos races her police car ahead of the bus,
and forces it into a 360 spin into the spike strips to clear a path for the bus to get on the ramp to the
interstate, was filmed adjacent to I-10. The bus spent a day hitched to a tow rig for 30-minute loops
from the Cruise Terminal up and down I-65 north and south to Exit 1C and back again, dozens and
dozens of times over the long workday.
The hostage-for-fuel exchange sequence was filmed in the middle of the Admiral Semmes
Causeway over the Tensaw River on (I-65) in Mobile Bay, a major thoroughfare which the production
was allowed to close for four hours during the week for shooting. The Bankhead Tunnel’s eastbound
entrance to the Causeway was closed and drivers were re-routed via Water Street to the eastbound
Bayway.
Mann and his team had to work quickly on the bridge with an aerial helicopter unit capturing the
action from above, lots of extras and vehicles, several dialogue-filled scenes outside the bus on the
bridge, and a fight. In the film, the hijacker character Cox demands Officer Kris Bajos drive a fuel truck
out to the middle of a long causeway bridge to refuel the bus in exchange for the release of the young
boy and pregnant woman. Vaughn invites Kris on board to look around and see the passengers are
unharmed. When she spots Dante and insists on taking him for medical care, Cox kicks her off the bus
and fisticuffs between Kris and Cox ensues.
For filming the action sequence in which Detective Marconi makes the leap from the back of a
flat-bed truck with a bag of medical supplies and comes through the open doors at the back and steps on
the bus, the production used two lanes of a closed highway and safety rigging to pull off the stunt.
In the SWAT assault and crash sequences of HEIST, the filmmakers used breakaway glass and
squibs to simulate the bus windows being shot out and a tire blowing out, which tipped the bus over into
a sideways skid until it crashes into water drums. The multiple-camera sequence, staged at the corner of
Delchamps and Beauregard, featured stunt coordinator Keith Adams, five members of his stunt team and
more than a dozen SWAT and police extras. A third camera inside the bus focuses on Vaughn and Cox’s
POV as they spot snipers getting into position and capture the chaos of the assault inside the out-ofcontrol vehicle.
Other scenes and Mobile locations in HEIST include: At the end of the film, when Pope tosses his
car keys to Vaughn and tells him to go, he drives the Bentley out of a parking lot on Delchamps. The
scenes inside the hospital, where Riley awaits her surgery and Kris spots Pauline’s missing baby bump,
were filmed inside at the Barton Academy on Cedar Street, a historic Greek-Revival building that is on the
National Register of Historic Places. Battleship Park was the location for the scenes at the air field office
at the Galveston, Texas airstrip where Dog finds and kidnaps Vaughn and the location for the Mobile
Command Center in the SWAT assault. Vaughn’s former residence is a house on Conti Street and the
house where Dog finds getaway driver Mickey is on Concepcion Street.
Wherever the cast and crew of HEIST traveled in Mobile, they discovered “Southern hospitality is
real,” says Morris Chestnut. “Everyone I’ve met is kind and genuine, and the food is great.”
“The people here are super friendly,” notes Mark-Paul Gosselaar. “Whether you go into a shop,
restaurant or a bar, it’s a real cool relaxed vibe that makes for a cool, relaxed vibe on set. Everyone
seems happy.”
“It’s been a lot of fun making this movie,” says Gina Carano. “I love the director, Scott Mann,
and his crew. I’m relaxed and enjoying myself although we’re working hard. This entire cast is a group
of real cool individuals who came together to make a movie that’s fun and suspenseful, and we’ve had a
really good time doing it.”
Principal photography on HEIST concluded with a night shoot on October 31, 2014 – Halloween,
and coincidentally, the 88th anniversary of the death of “The Kind of Cards,” “The Great Escape Artist,”
and the world’s greatest sleight-of-hand illusionist, Harry Houdini.
ABOUT THE CAST
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN’s (Luke Vaughn) charisma, undeniable charm and versatility have
landed him a variety of prestigious films working alongside a number of award-winning actors and
filmmakers. Having worked nonstop in back-to-back features the past few years, Morgan has captured
the attention of Hollywood and has emerged as one of the industry’s most sought-after leading men.
Currently, he is co-starring alongside Halle Barry in the second season of the CBS series “Extant”
which premiered in July. In May, he starred in the History Channel mini-series “Texas Rising” with Bill
Paxton and Thomas Jane. The miniseries details the Texas Revolution and the rise of the Texas Rangers.
This fall he will join the cast of the CBS series “The Good Wife.”
Morgan recently completed filming the feature Desierto with Gael García Bernal for director Jonás
Cuarón; the western The Salvation with Eva Green and Mads Mikkelsen, which premiered at the Cannes
Film Festival; and the supernatural thriller Solace opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins and Colin Farrell.
Morgan captivated science fiction fans when he starred in Watchmen for director Zack Snyder
which was an adaptation of the iconic graphic novel and, The Losers, an adaptation of DC-Vertigo’s
acclaimed comic book series, produced by Joel Silver and directed by Sylvain White.
Additional feature film credits include Peace, Love & Misunderstanding alongside Catherine
Keener, Jane Fonda and Elizabeth Olsen for director Bruce Beresford; the thriller The Possession with
Kyra Sedgwick for producer Sam Raimi; the re-boot of the 1984 action movie Red Dawn; the murder
mystery The Texas Killing Fields with Sam Worthington, Chloe Moretz and Jessica Chastain; Ang Lee’s
film Taking Woodstock; and P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank.
Morgan endeared himself to television audiences worldwide with his recurring roles on the CW
series “Supernatural” and on the ABC hit series “Grey’s Anatomy” both of which made him a universal fan
favorite. He also had a recurring role in the Showtime’s award-winning comedy series, “Weeds” and
most recently he starred as hotel owner Ike Evans in the critically acclaimed Starz series “Magic City”
which will become a feature length film.
ROBERT DE NIRO (Frank “The Pope” Pope) launched his prolific motion picture career in Brian
De Palma's The Wedding Party in 1969. By 1974 he had won the New York Film Critics Award for Best
Supporting Actor in recognition of his critically acclaimed performance in Bang the Drum Slowly and from
the National Society of Film Critic for Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets.
In 1974 De Niro won the Academy Award® for “Best Supporting Actor” for his portrayal of the
young Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Part II. In 1980 he won his second Oscar ®, as “Best Actor” for his
portrayal of boxer Jake La Motta in director Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull.
De Niro has earned Academy Award® nominations for his work in five other films: Taxi Driver,
The Deer Hunter, Awakenings, Cape Fear, and Silver Linings Playbook.
In 2009, De Niro received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor for his distinguished acting. He also
received the Hollywood Actor Award from the Hollywood Film Festival, which he won again in 2012, and
the Stanley Kubrick Award from the BAFTA Britannia Awards. De Niro was honored with the Cecil B.
DeMille Award at the 2011 Golden Globe® Award. He also served as the jury president of the 64th
Cannes Film Festival.
De Niro recent film credits include: Last Vegas, Grudge Match, Freelancers, New Year’s Eve,
Limitless, Machete, Little Fockers and Meet the Fockers, sequels of the highly successful Tribeca
Productions’ Meet the Parents franchise.
His distinguished body of work also includes performances in The Last Tycoon, 1900, Falling in
Love, Once Upon a Time in America, King of Comedy, New York, New York, Goodfellas, Casino, Brazil,
The Mission, The Untouchables, Angel Heart, Midnight Run, Jacknife, Stanley and Iris, Backdraft, This
Boy's Life, Mad Dog and Glory, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Heat, Wag the Dog, Copland, Jackie Brown,
Ronin, Analyze This and Analyze That, and The Score.
De Niro takes pride in the development of his New York-based production company, Tribeca
Productions, the Tribeca Film Center, which he founded with Jane Rosenthal in 1988, and in the Tribeca
Film Festival, which he founded with Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 Tribeca's A Bronx Tale in 1993
marked De Niro’s directorial debut. He later directed and co-starred in The Good Shepherd with Matt
Damon and Angelina Jolie.
In 1992, Tribeca TV was launched with the acclaimed series “Tribeca” with De Niro as one of the
executive producers. In 1998, Tribeca produced a miniseries for NBC, based on the life of “Sammy ‘The
Bull’ Gravano.”
KATE BOSWORTH (Sydney Pope) recently completed several feature films including Before I
Wake, Life on the Line, and 90 Minutes in Heaven, based on The New York Times bestseller. In 2015, she
co-starred with Julianne Moore in the critically acclaimed drama Still Alice, for which Moore won a “Best
Actress” Oscar®. Bosworth will soon be seen as in the upcoming television series, “The Art of More.”
Bosworth made her screen debut at age 14 in the Robert Redford film, The Horse Whisperer
(1998) when the champion equestrian attended an open casting call for a horse movie and won the role
of the female lead’s best friend.
Since then, Bosworth has starred in more than 30 films including
Amnesiac, Black Rock, 21, Movie 43, And While We Were Here, The Warrior’s Way, Straw Dogs,
Superman Returns, Wonderland, The Rules of Attraction, Beyond the Sea, Blue Crush, The Newcomers
and Remember the Titans. On television, her credits include Showtime’s “Homefront” and a starring role
in the series “The Young Americans”.
GINA CARANO (Officer Kris Bajos) is an actress, former Women’s Mixed Martial Arts trailblazer
and Muay Thai champion, whose talent, natural beauty and athleticism have led to starring roles in boxoffice blockbusters and acclaimed independent films.
Carano will soon be seen as “Angel Dust” in Warner Bros.’ upcoming reboot of Deadpool (with
Ryan Reynolds) as well as the remake of the martial arts classic, Kickboxer: Vengeance, opposite HEIST
co-star David Bautista, and the sci-fi thriller Sergeant X (formerly The Opium Wars). In the last four
years, Carano has become an in-demand actress, with roles in the blockbuster Fast & Furious 6, the
crime thriller In the Blood, and the action film, Extraction. Her other film credits include Blood & Bones
and American Gladiators.
Long before Carano ever considered an acting career, she inspired an Oscar ®-winning filmmaker
to write a role for her and was the star of the Oxygen reality series, Ring Girls, which followed Carano
and her Muay Thai trainer Master Toddy as she trained and competed to become the first American
woman to win a Muay Thai title in Thailand (12-1-1 record). About four years later, after watching
Carano in the first StrikeForce Women’s Lightweight Championship (which was televised nationally on
Showtime), Academy Award®-winning writer-director Steven Soderbergh met Carano and created the
lead character Mallory Kane in the film Haywire for her.
With a supporting cast including Ewan
McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas, Carano made her big screen
debut in 2011.
Born in Dallas, Texas, Carano was the middle of three daughters to Dana Joy (Cason) and Glenn
Carano, a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback. A natural athlete and self-described “tomboy” Carano
studied gymnastics, jazz, tap, ballet, rode horses, and wrestled. She and her sisters were star athletes in
high school, excelling on the volleyball, softball and basketball teams at Trinity Christian High School in
Las Vegas. Carano attended the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas
where she majored in Psychology. Widely considered the original face of Women’s MMA, participating in
the first ever sanctioned MMA bout in Nevada and is currently ranked as the third best female fighter in
the world with 7 wins and 1 loss.
MARK-PAUL GOSSELAAR (Detective Thomas Marconi) recently completed production on the
action thriller Precious Cargo, with Bruce Willis and Claire Forlani, and will be seen in Fall 2015 on
NBC's People Are Talking, which enters its second season.
Gosselaar made his television debut in 1989 as “Zack Morris” in the long-running teen
sitcom “Saved by the Bell” followed by the series “Saved by the Bell: The College Year,” and
has
appeared in the films Dead Man on Campus and Sticks and Stones.
On television, Gosselaar has starred in a number of popular series including “Commander in
Chief” “NYPD Blue” TNT’s “Raising the Bar” and in TNT’s “Franklin & Bash” with Breckin Meyer. He has
guest starred on dozens of other series including “Weeds”, “Rizzoli & Isles”, “CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation” and appeared as himself in the sitcom, “Don’t Trust the B---- In Apartment 23”.
Gosselaar has a passion for a variety of sports including golf, hockey, cycling and motor-cross
racing. He is also an avid pilot. Gosselaar currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Catriona, and four
kids.
D.B. SWEENEY (Bernie) has starred in dozens of films including the The Cutting Edge, Gardens
of Stone, Memphis Belle, and No Man’s Land. His performances as Dish Boggett in the epic, awardwinning miniseries, “Lonesome Dove”, as Shoeless Joe Jackson in the baseball classic, Eight Men Out,
and as alien abductee Travis Walton in Fire in the Sky, are among many that have made Sweeney a
familiar face to audiences. He will next be seen in Extraction opposite Bruce Willis and as the mayor of
Chicago in Spike Lee’s Chiraq.
In 2006, Sweeney produced, directed and co-wrote the film Two Tickets to Paradise, which
screened at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to win more than a dozen awards at film festivals.
The talented actor and filmmaker has voiced characters for films such as Brother Bear (2003) and
Dinosaur (2000) as well as the animated television series, “The Legend of Korra”, does promos for A&E
and NFL Networks, narrates the History Channel series, “Mountain Men”, and has been the voice of the
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), since its inception four years ago.
Sweeney has starred in “Strange Luck” and “Harsh Realm” for FOX as well as “C-16” and “Life As
We Know It” for ABC. He’s also had recurring roles on many hit shows including: “Two and a Half Men”,
“The Event”, “Criminal Minds”, “Crash”, “Jericho” and “24”.
LYDIA HULL (Pauline) recently completed the upcoming films Extraction and Precious Cargo.
The former model-turned-actress has appeared in the films Vice, Escape Plan, Frozen Ground, Empire
State, Broken City, Fire with Fire, The Tomb, White Air and Van Wilder: Party Liaison. Hull’s television
credits include the series “Castle” and the role of Lily Maddox in the syndicated action drama about
firefighters, “SAF 3”.
After winning a Seventeen magazine cover model contest at age 15, Hull launched a career in
modeling, eventually moving to Los Angeles, California to pursue acting after graduating high school. In
addition to acting, Hull studied apparel and textile marketing at Kansas State University, and earned a
degree in jewelry design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.
STEPHEN CYRUS SEPHER (Dante, Co-Screenwriter, Producer) wrote the story and co-wrote
the screenplay for HEIST and serves as one of its producers. As an actor, he has appeared in the films
Anonymous Addiction and Vice, and a short film, One More Round, which he also wrote, produced and
directed. The comedy about midlife crises was No. 3 in the Daily Variety Independent Film chart during a
limited release weekend and received a national distribution deal in the U.S. and Canada.
MORRIS CHESTNUT (Derrick “Dog” Prince) made his feature film debut in 1991 as Ricky in the
critically acclaimed, Boyz in the Hood. Over a 25-year career, Chestnut has starred in a variety of films
including The Perfect Guy, Kick-Ass 2, The Call, Think Like a Man, Identity Thief, Like Mike, The Game
Plan, Ladder 49, The Perfect Holiday, and Two Can Play That Game.
Recently Chestnut executive produced and starred in the suspense thriller, When the Bough
Breaks, and is set to star in the upcoming The Best Man Wedding, reprising his role as Lance Sullivan in
the third installment of Universal’s popular The Best Man franchise, which includes the original, The Best
Man (1999) and it’s hit sequel, The Best Man Holiday (2013).
On television Chestnut has enjoyed starring roles on several series including as Tony Rice on
TNT’s “Legends”, Dr. Ike Prentiss on Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie”, Luke on “American Horror Story”, and
Ryan Nichols in “V”.
DAVE BAUTISTA (Jason Cox) is an actor, former professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist
best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a six-time world
champion and an international spokesman for the organization. David retired from the WWE to focus on
his acting career in mid-2010.
Since then, Bautista has become an in-demand actor, recently completing production on the
upcoming James Bond-007 film, Spectre, in which he portrays the villain Mr. Hinx, and a remake of the
martial arts classic, Kickboxer: Vengeance, opposite HEIST co-star Gina Carano. Last year, Bautista
starred in the blockbuster Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy as Drax the Destroyer, and opposite
Vin Diesel in Universal’s Riddick.
His other film credits include RZA’s feature directorial debut The Man with the Iron Fists, Roel
Reiné’s Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, where he played Argomael; the action film House of The
Rising Sun; and Wrong Side of Town, opposite professional wrestler Rob Van Dam, martial artist Marrese
Crump and rapper Ja Rule.
Bautista has appeared on television’s “Chuck”, “Headcase”, and “Smallville”. He’s appeared as as
a judge on “Iron Chef America,” an episode of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” and MTV’s “Cribs,”
showing his house and his cars. Bautista also made a cameo appearance on the Australian soap opera
“Neighbours.”
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
SCOTT MANN (Director) previously directed the action thrillers The Tournament and Down
Amongst the Dead Men. Mann is also a producer, whose credits include the upcoming films The 4th
Reich, Saint Mary’s, Black Money, Mara and Precious Cargo.
He also executive produced the
documentary “The Betty Driver Story” and produced and directed the documentary, “Celebrities
Exposed.” On television, Mann directed the documentary “Planet Pop” and the television series “Stars in
Their Eyes” and “Stars in Their Eyes Kids.”
STEPHEN CYRUS SEPHER (Co-Screenwriter, Producer) see above in cast section.
MAX S. ADAMS (Co-Screenwriter) co-wrote the upcoming action thriller Extraction, and recently
completed writing and directing the film Precious Cargo, starring Bruce Willis, Claire Forlani, and MarkPaul Gosselaar, which is based on his 2008 short of the same name. As a screenwriter, Adams’s credits
include the recently announce screen adaptation of
House To House, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David
Bellavia’s war memoir about the Second Battle of Fallujah for Universal and Imagine, and an adaptation
of Ridley Pearson’s novel The Risk Agent, a China-set thriller from a series of books, for Vince Vaughn
and Universal.
Born in Camp Pendleton, California, Adams began his love affair with movies as a child,
developing an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema. When Adams enlisted in the Army after graduating
high school, he brought his love of film (and extensive DVD collection) with him, and often entertained
his fellow soldiers by quoting movie lines and monologues from films such as Rambo, Patton, Heartbreak
Ridge and The Karate Kid.
During one such performance two years into his service, Adams’s ability to memorize and recite
long passages impressed one of his commanding officers, and soon the M-3 Gustav gunner and team
leader in the 1st Ranger Battalion found himself on his way to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
New York. While a cadet at West Point, Adams became well-known for his knowledge of film, organizing
movie nights, and making short films, such as the spoof Temptation Barracks, to make his fellow cadets
laugh.
After graduating as a Second Lieutenant in June 2001, Adams became an officer in the
rd
3 Infantry Division, and upon his deployment to Iraq, where he took part in the initial ground invasion,
Adams was assigned as commander of his battalion’s Quick Reaction Force.
Following his honorable discharge from the Army in 2006, Adams studied film production at
Florida State University, receiving a Masters of Fine Arts degree in 2008. He began his career writing and
directing short films such as Paternity Test (which he also edited), Precious Cargo (which was his MFA
Florida State thesis), and Saint Nick. He also worked as the cinematographer and editor on the
shorts, Harvest Moon and Exposure.
Adams also worked as a writer’s production assistant and personal video playback assistant to
filmmaker Martin Scorsese for the pilot episode of the critically acclaimed HBO ® series “Boardwalk
Empire”. Adams continued to work on the series as a camera assistant for episodes 2-12, and credits its
award-winning creator, writer-producer Terence Winter (“Sopranos”) and writer-director-executive
producer Timothy Van Patten mentors.
CREDITS
LIONSGATE PREMIERE
GRINDSTONE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP and
EMMETT FURLA OASIS FILMS
Present
In Association with
THE FYZZ FACILITY
In Association with
RPI, LLC
An
EMMETT FURLA OASIS FILMS
Production
In Association with
SILVER PLANE FILMS, TRIVISION PICTURES, INC. and
MASS HYSTERIA ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, INC.
A Film by
SCOTT MANN
HEIST
Directed by
SCOTT MANN
Story by
STEPHEN CYRUS SEPHER
Screenplay by
STEPHEN CYRUS SEPHER and MAX S. ADAMS
Produced by
RANDALL EMMETT, p.g.a.
GEORGE FURLA, p.g.a.
Produced by
WAYNE MARC GODFREY
ROBERT JONES
Produced by
STEPHEN CYRUS SEPHER
ALEXANDER TABRIZI
Executive Producers
BARRY BROOKER
STAN WERTLIEB
Executive Producers
DAVID GILBERY
MARK STEWART
ANTHONY JABRE
STEVEN GALANIS
VANCE OWEN
ADAM GOLDWORM
Executive Producers
BETH HOLDEN GARLAND
DANIEL GRODNIK
MONTGOMERY BLENCOWE
TED FOX
COREY LARGE
Director of Photography
BRANDON COX
Production Designer
THOMAS WILLIAM HALLBAUER
Editor
ROBERT DALVA, ACE
Co-Producers
TIM SULLIVAN
GUS FURLA
ANTHONY CALLIE
RYAN BLACK
Line Producer
WILLIAM B. STEAKLEY
Original Score by
JAMES EDWARD BARKER and TIM DESPIC
Music Supervisor
MIKE BURNS
Starring
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN
ROBERT DE NIRO
KATE BOSWORTH
GINA CARANO
MARK-PAUL GOSSELAAR
D.B. SWEENEY
LYDIA HULL
TYLER J. OLSON
with MORRIS CHESTNUT
and DAVE BAUTISTA
Unit Production Manager
First Assistant Director
Second Assistant Director
MARY C. RUSSELL
JONATHAN SOUTHARD
KIM BARNARD
Co-Executive Producers
LOTTIE ABRAHAMS
ARNAUD LANNIC
CHRISTOPHE LANNIC
BABAK EFTEKHARI
Associate Producers
CAM CANNON
HAYLEY ARABIA
MICHAEL J. URANN
CAST
Pope
Vaughn
Cox
Sydney
Kris
Dog
Pauline
Marconi
Dante
Bernie
Steve
Rebecca
Tom
Eric
Tagger
Virginia
Riley
ROBERT DE NIRO
JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN
DAVE BAUTISTA
KATE BOSWORTH
GINA CARANO
MORRIS CHESNUT
LYDIA HULL
MARK-PAUL GOSSELAAR
STEPHEN CYRUS SEPHER
D.B. SWEENEY
TYLER J. OLSON
ALYSSA JULYA SMITH
HAWN TRAN
CHRISTOPHER ROB BOWEN
RENELL GIBBS
ASHLEY VALENZUELA
ELIZABETH WINDLEY
Mickey
Little Boy
Captain Jerry
Forbes
Anchorman
Jono
Police Dispatcher
Cristal
Michaels
Isabel (Nurse)
Doctor
Mandy
Grant
Heather
Dave
Waitress
Lin Tao
Julie
Tim
TYSON SULLIVAN
COLIN LAWLESS
JERRY HOVEN
SCOTT HERMAN
MICHAEL BRANNON
RITCHIE MONTGOMERY
RON GOLEMAN
SUMMER ALTICE
LANCE E. NICHOLS
COURTNEY B. TURK
ROBERT ABERDEEN
RACHEL KERBS
JOSHUA MIKEL
STEPHANIE MARRERO
DEREK DU CHESNE
ALEXIS STERLING
HAN SOTO
ROSIE FELLNER
STAN FITCH
STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator
Vaughn Stunt Double
Kris Stunt Double
Dog Stunt Double
Bernie Stunt Double
Stunt Utilities
Russian Arm Driver
Physical Production
Executive Post Production
Supervisor
Production Coordinator
Assistant Production
Coordinator
Travel Coordinator
Office Production Assistant
2nd 2nd Assistant Director
Director of Production/
Canal Productions
“A” Camera Operator/
Steadicam Operator
“A” Camera 1st Assistant
“A” Camera 2nd Assistant
“B” Camera 1st Assistant
“B” Camera 2nd Assistant
Digital Utility
KEITH ADAMS
AARON MATTHEWS
RONN SURELS
JENNIFER CAPUTO
PHILIP FORNAH
TIM BELL
ALEXANDER J. CAPUTO
TRACE CHERAMIE
JEFF BROCKTON
KARL VAN MOORSEL
DEVEN MACNAIR
STANTON BARRETT
STEPHEN CONROY
ERIC STRATAMEIER
BILL FLAHERTY
GRADY BISHOP
ANTHONY CALLIE
BEAU J. GENOT
IAN NAVRAN
AMANDA M. DAVIS
JENNIFER C. WILBERT
KELI MAZZA
STEPHEN BAUGHMAN
ANNIE RHODES
JAMES BURKE
MAGGIE BALLARD
CHASE ROBINSON
DAN DE CASTRO
TOM FITZGERALD
GEOFFREY WATERS
WADE WHITLEY
TIMOTHY DIXON
NATHANIEL NUON
Script Supervisor
Second Unit Director of
Photography
Second Unit First Assistant
Director
Second Unit 1st Assistant
Second Unit 2nd Assistant
Unit Publicist
Still Photographer
Sound Mixer
Boom Operator
Sound Utility
Gaffer
Best Boy Electrician
Electricians
Day Player Electric
Key Grip
Best Boy Grip
Dolly Grip
Grips
Day Player Grip
Production Accountant
1st Assistant Accountant
Payroll Accountant
Accounting Clerk
Location Manager
Assistant Location Manager
Location Production Assistant
Location Scout
Casting Director
Extras Casting Director
Set Decorator
Leadman
On Set Dresser
Set Dressers
Art Director
Property Master/ Armourer
Assistant Property Master
Special Effects Coordinator
Set Foreman
Shop Foreman
Pyro/Purchaser
Special Effects Tech
Day Player Special Effects Tech
NICK DIROSA
SEAMUS TIERNEY
KIM BARNARD
ALAN KEFFER
ALEX WATERS
JEAN MARIE MURPHY
SAM EMERSON
BJ LEHN
JEFF BLEHR
JERRID JONES
ADAM TAYLOR
RICHARD RAMMEE
CHRIS MURRAY
LYLE WESTON
GLEN FENDLEY
KEITH TIPPIT
JACOB SNIDER
LOUIS BENJAMIN
EVANS CASCO
WELLS SMITH
RYAN WATSON
PAUL BEARD
SODRIC S. DIRA
TOMMY ARMSTRONG
SEAN ODOM
JUSTIN BEARD
MAGGIE MEANS
ALAN LAM
PAM GARRETT
AMANDA ENGLAND
KAREN SCARBOROUGH
MISTY ORSO
JENNIFER BENDER
KYLE BUCHER
JOSHUA CANE
MATT BANFIELD
RON GOLEMAN
LISA MARIE DUPREE
BRANDY GOLEMAN
BRAD JOHNSON
JOEL MESSAMORE
ZACH DEPOLO
KYLE DESCENNA
JOSH JONES
APRIL HOPKINS
JOEL SAPPINGTON
JOHN CLARK
THOMAS DABNEY
JASMINE GARNET
STAN GILBERT
JARED PENDERGRASS
DAVE NAMI
SCOTT DWYER
MARSHALL BROYLES
BRAD MANIS
WILLIAM NAMI
VLADIMIR ESIPENKO
PRODUCTION
Costume Designer
Costume Designer to Mr. De Niro
Key Costumer
1st Set Costumer
Costumer
Dresser to Mr. De Niro
Costume Production Assistant
Head Make-Up Artist
Make-Up Artist
Day Player Make-Up Artist
Make-Up Artist to Mr. De Niro
Head Hair Stylist
Hair Stylist
Day Player Hair Stylist
Hair Stylist to Mr. De Niro
Transportation Coordinator
Transportation Captain
Honeywagon
Drivers
Van Driver
Set Decoration Driver
Trailer Driver to Mr. De Niro
Driver to Mr. De Niro
Cast Car Driver
Script Editor
Script Clearance
Catering Provided by
Executive Chef
Assistant Chefs
Key Craft Service
Craft Service Utility
Set Medic Coordinator
Set Medic
Key Set Production Assistant
Production Assistants
Set Teacher
Assistants to the Producers
Assistant to Mr. Mann
Assistant to Mr. De Niro
RACHEL STRINGFELLOW
AUDE BRONSAN-HOWARD
LILLIAN MCKINNEY
STEPHANIE FOWLER
MELISSA JOHNSON
MONICA RUIZ ZIEGLER
KATIE JACKSON
STACI WITT
TIFFANIE HUDSON
ALEXANDREA WEST
IGNACIA JOHNSTON
CARLA WHITE
LAUREN KELLEY
LAUREN HOLMQUIST
MARISSA HANKINS
JERRY POPOLIS
OSCAR BEGUIRISTAIN
JESSE BRAGGS
STEVE SMITHERMAN
LARRY BEARD
MIKE BANES
KEVIN SIEVE
JAMES OWENS
KAYLON DAMZIO
DREW WILLIAMS
DERRICK BURRELL
ERNEST SANDERS
SONNY MCCOY
TORRE BRAGGS
JONATHAN FRANK
JOAN PIERCE
AMERICAN ROADSHOW CATERING
SEAN LYNN
JESUS ORTIZ
AARON TYSON
CHRIS WITHERS
KIM WILLIAMS
JEREMY MORRIS
STONEY WEAVER
TOMMY GEBHART
BRAD A. JERNIGAN
REID COLE
GLENN LEWELLEN
JASON SAUCIER
MICHAEL BENNETT SMITH
MISTY MCCLURE
ERIC PETTWAY
KACIE BONNER
ANNIE RHODES
JESI JOHNSON
JAN ALLEN
ALEX ECKERT
DANIELA FRANCO
DERRICK RODGERS
OLIVER HILL
HEATHER RODGERS
Production Finance Attorney
Production Attorneys
BOB ABRAMOFF
BURGEE & ABRAMOFF
JACKIE ECKHOUSE
RICK ROSENTHAL
BOB ABRAMOFF
JERRY DATSI
Legal Services for The FYZZ Facility
ROBB KLEIN SHEPPARD MILLIN RICHTER AND provided by HAMPTON, LLP
POST PRODUCTION
First Assistant Editor
Assistant Editor
Post Production Accountant
Post Sound Services provided by
Sound Supervisor
Supervising Sound Editor
Sound Effects Editors
Foley
Sound Design
ADR (Burbank, CA)
Music Editor
Re-recording Mixer
Loop Group
Additional ADR (New Orleans)
ADR Recordist
Additional ADR (Vancouver)
ADR Recordist
Additional ADR (Atlanta)
ADR Recordist
Additional ADR (Montreal)
ADR Recordist
Additional ADR (Tampa)
ADR Recordist
Digital Intermediate Provided by
D.I. Producers
D.I. Colorist
D.I. Editors
Additional VFX Artists
Visual Effects Provided by
VFX Supervisor
VFX Producer
Lead Matte Painter
Compositors
VFX Capture
Assistant VFX Capture
ALEX LUNA
ANN TRULOVE
JERROLD W. LAMBERT
JUNIPER POST
DAVID KITCHENS, M.P.S.E.
DAVID BARBER, CAS, M.P.S.E.
BEN ZARAI
SEAN GRAY
STEVE URBAN, M.P.S.E.
GONZALO "BINO" ESPINOZA
BEN ZARAI
GONZALO "BINO" ESPINOZA
BEN ZARAI
DAVID BARBER, CAS, M.P.S.E.
THE LOOPING WALLA GROUP
ALEX D'LERMA
KAREN STRASSMAN
JESSE CORTI
DAVID COOLEY
AUDIO WORKS NEW ORLEANS
JEFFREY TALBOT
POST MODERN SOUND, INC.
CHRIS CLEATOR
WHITE DOG STUDIOS
CURT BUSH
AUDIO POSTPRODUCTION SPR INC.
LUC LANDRY
MACH 1 PRODUCTIONS
DAN MOCKENSTURM
TUNNEL POST
ALAN PAO
HEATHER TOLL
SEBASTIAN PEREZ-BURCHARD
J.D. MOORE
TAYLOR MAHONY
WANYAN ZHU
SATSUKI MAY ASAI
MANG LI
BROTHERS UGLY PRODUCTIONS
CARL STERN
BERNIE STERN
KEVIN HARGER
ULYSSES ARGETTA
BUDDY GHEEN
ERIC MCAVOY
VINCENT PATIN
SHANE O'CONNOR
Titles provided by
End Credits created with
International Sales by
SIX FOOT RABBIT PRODUCTIONS
AUTOGLYPH ENDCRAWL®
HANNIBAL CLASSICS
President of Delivery for Hannibal Classics
DYLAN MCGINTY
Sales Executive for Hannibal Classics
Kristie Eberle
Attorney for Hannibal Classics
MARTIN J. BARAB
Completion Guaranty provided by
PROSIGHT SPECIALTY INSURANCE
North American Revenues collected and distributed by
FREEWAY CAM B.V.
Production financing provided by
CITY NATIONAL BANK
Senior Vice President
NORMAN STARR
MUSIC
"IT’S WITH ME"
Performed Bob Hoose
Written by Bob Hoose
Courtesy of CAPP Records Inc. / NOMA Music
"BRING DOWN THE SAILS"
Performed Dominic Halpin
Written by Dominic Halpin
Courtesy of CAPP Records Inc. / NOMA Music
"PARTY PEOPLE"
Written and Performed by Ben Zarai
Courtesy Ben Zarai Music (ASCAP)
"FIRST WAVE"
Written and Performed by James Edward Barker
& Tim Despic
Courtesy of Veneration Music
"THE BLUE DOOR"
Written and Performed by James Edward Barker
& Tim Despic
Courtesy of Veneration Music
"YOU LEFT ME ON THE RUN"
Written and Performed by James Edward Barker
& Tim Despic
Courtesy of Veneration Music
"GROWLER"
Written and Performed by James Edward Barker
& Tim Despic
Courtesy of Veneration Music
"IT'S MY TIME"
Performed by: Latoya Lewis
Written by: Phillip Lewis (BMI)
and Christopher Clarke(ASCAP)
Published By: Clarke and Cherenfant Publishing
FILMED ON LOCATION IN ALABAMA. THE PRODUCERS WOULD LIKE TO THANK
THE ALABAMA FILM OFFICE FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE
Music Score produced and published by
ATLANTIC SCREEN INTERNATIONAL, LTD.
Music Orchestrated, Mixed and Produced by
JAMES EDWARD BARKER
TIM DESPIC
Score Coordination by
VENERATION MUSIC, LTD
The Producers would like to thank the following for their assistance
Kathy Faulk At The Alabama Film Office
Eva Golson & Diane Hall At The Mobile Film Office
Lydia Jones, Battlehouse Hotel
A Very Special Thank You To Lt. Billie Rowland
And The City Of Mobile Police Department
Fairhope Brewing Co.
Mr. Mann would like to thank the following
Sarah, Evie and Joseph
Jonathan Frank
Daniel Dockery
Ray Liotta
Robert Hall
Andy Hoyle
Howard Smith
James Barker
Insurance provided by
GALLAGHER ENTERTAINMENT INSURANCE SERVICES
Aerial Photohraphy provided by
LA COPTERCAM, LLC
STEADITEX CEMERA SOLUTIONS, LLC
Accommodations provided by
THE BATTLEHOUSE RENAISSANCE
RENAISSANCE MOBILE RIVERVIEW
CANDLEWOOD SUITES
Camera and Lenses provided by
CINEVERSE
Camera Cranes and Dollies provided by
CHAPMAN / LEONARD STUDIO EQUIPMENT, INC.
Grip and Electrical Equipment Provided by
MBS EQUIPMENT COMPANY
HOLLYWOOD RENTALS
Dailies Services provided by
FOTOKEM
Payroll Services provided by
EASE ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES
No. 49798
Travel provided by
KAREN DAY, SPRINGDALE TRAVEL
Georgia Film Fund 25, LLC is the author of this motion picture for the purposes of U.S. copyright and other laws.
The characters and events portrayed in this motion picture are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or
dead, or to actual events or firms is purely coincidental.
Ownership of this motion picture is protected by copyright and other applicable laws, and any unauthorized
duplication, distribution or exhibition of this motion picture could result in criminal prosecution as well as civil liability.
HEIST
Copyright © 2015 Georgia Film Fund 25, LLC
All Rights Reserved.