A SLICE OF LIFE - PRESS KIT

1. CIRCUMCISED!
Episode I
Press Kit
Press Inquiries Charley Allen
310.482.9958
charley.allen@yahoo.com
Sales Inquiries Gleb Kaminer
323.841.1627
gkaminer@gmail.com
a.k.a. A Slice of Life...
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2. SHORT SUMMARY
CIRCUMCISED! Is the autobiographical story of a
Jewish kid raised in the former Soviet Republic of
Azerbaijan, a primarily Muslim country, who emig-
rates to Israel. In true Israeli fashion, his welcome in-
cludes a mandatory circumcision - at the age of 16!
Oy vey and OUCH! The pilot episode reveals Gleb
Kaminer's transformation into all of the characters
that pervade this Jewish nightmare: the Mohel, a loy-
al circumcision specialist; Dr. Rubenstein, a jaded
and eccentric surgeon; Gleb's unenthusiastic Dad; an
Angry Hospital Worker; a Perky Female Nurse and
numerous hospital patients. CIRCUMCISED! a.k.a.
A SLICE OF LIFE will make you laugh, cry, cringe,
and cheer, possibly all at once.
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3. LONG SUMMARY
“Most Jewish boys are circumcised at eight days old. Why in the hell wasn't I?” This is
the odyssey of a man who grew up in two foreign countries and finally fulfilled his dream of
becoming an American. Two eternal questions continually surface in this ten part web series:
"Who are we?" and "Where do we belong?" Born in a Muslim country, to a Jewish family, and
raised in a Christian-Soviet environment, Gleb is driven to ask "Who in Moses' name am I?"
In the first episode, a mandatory circumcision letter propels us into a hospital waiting room
where hundreds of Russian emigrés are waiting to be “Jewed in.” In the surgery room, after
eccentric doctor Rubenstein performs the operation, the ritual blessings performed by the Mo-
hel throw young 16 year old Gleb into a panic.
Finally blessed as a true Hebrew, young Gleb embarks on another journey, that of a con-
fused teenager, a circumcised boy, now enduring sleepless nights and taking care of his dam-
aged shmengaley. The ritual Jewish kilt, baseball cap and warm baths all add to the meta-
morphosis into his new personality. As he approaches his eighteenth birthday, and begins to
win the attention of the girls in his high school with his “newly cut personality,” Israel's Draft
Service comes calling. In the army, another chapter of his life opens up and he begins to exper-
ience human nature through exploring the differences between various religions and political
beliefs. Upon completing the Israeli Army's Krav Maga instructor's course he begins teaching
new recruits how to kill an enemy. Shortly, however, he realizes something profound that cor-
relates with his own journey. William Shakespeare said it best: "’All the world's a stage, and all
the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in
his time plays many parts...’ I look at my new recruits and all I see are faces from Azerbaijan:
Russian-Muslim kids who were my best friends. We were kids. No nationality mattered, no re-
ligion mattered. Nothing. Pure friendship. So, here I am, an Israeli army instructor and I don't
know what to do. On one hand I have a national duty on the other my conscience. What would
you do?"
Gleb meets his future wife, who isn't Jewish, and after the city's Rabbinate declines, they
are forced to marry in Cyprus. One day, unexpectedly, another chapter in Gleb's life opens up.
He passes a newspaper stand and sees an ad for a United States Green Card lottery. Is this a
joke?! He cuts out the ad and lets it decide his destiny. Six months later he receives a big en-
velope with two temporary green cards and a warm welcome note from the United States Gov-
ernment. All he can think about is what awaits him in America...
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4. PRODUCTION DETAILS
The idea for “Circumcised!” was conceived about a year ago while I was working on a
completely different screenplay. I realized that the ritual of circumcision had an immedi-
ate political and social connection. The short synopsis was written in about ten minutes
and the real process of writing the show had begun. Within the first month, the initial
draft of the, “Circumcised!” was completed and I quickly contacted my friend and fellow
director, Anna Giannotis. The script, originally a play, was written for the stage as a one
man show, but after reading the script, Anna completely fell in love with the project and
said that we would be better off doing it as a web series and rewriting the play for the
screen. After many rewrites, debates with Anna Giannotis, table reads with James Loren
and then more rewrites we arrived at the final draft of the script with a production sched-
ule to start in June 2010. After locking our crew we decided to shoot on Canon 5D, with
which our cinematographer, Matthew Caudillo, made brilliant choices with a rigorous es-
thetic and careful attention to composition details to fit the style of the piece. The pilot
was completed July 2010 and is due to be completed this August. Starring in your own
show is a self-parody, but at the same time walking that fine line that defines us all,
whether it is politics, religion, family traditions, friends, motherland, or all of it, because
we are, after all, earthlings and we're all alike.
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5. CREW CAST
Anna Giannotis – Director Gleb Kaminer
Gleb Kaminer – Writer as:
Charley Allen – Supervising Producer Dr. Rubinstein
James Loren – Creative Producer Mohel
Matthew Caudillo – Cinematographer Perky Nurse
Jacob Karesh, Eamon Glennon - Editors Angry Hospital Worker
Bob Luna - Composer Father
Vlad Solovey – Assistant Director Homeless Guy
Maaren Edvard – Associate Producer Young Gleb
Sean Walsh, Michael Kelley – Sound Old Man
Michele Monaco – Hair & Make up Punk Rocker
Susan Doepner – Props & Wardrobe Writer
Oze – Script Supervisor Hooligan
Saleh Ashumov – Grip Sarah
John (Rod) Rodrigues – Set Photography Abraham
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6. CAST & CREW BIOS
ANNA GIANNOTIS – Director / Producer
Anna began her career performing in regional theaters throughout the US. In the mid 80's she
began writing plays. Her first one act, THE BETROTHAL, was performed at the Ensemble Stu-
dio Theatre in New York. I DO! DO YOU?, an original showcase for actors, was co-produced at
the Lamb's Theatre, with her friend Ann Montgomery and they formed Annimal Productions.
After migrating to LA, Anna continued to work as an actress, taught and directed in LA County
school as an Artist-in-Residence, and wrote, directed, and produced her first documentary fea-
ture: THE PIONEERS, for the Greek Heritage Society of S.CA. A second doc feature completed
in November 2009: THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW, is currently screening nationwide and has
been selected for several film festivals. Both documentaries have received awards in the US and
in Greece. "It's always a big plus to have “Olympia the Great Dukakis as your host and narrator."
Anna is thrilled to be onboard with a fantastic, imaginative, and hardworking crew and that
young genius, Gleb Kaminer, "playing all the roles to perfection in CIRCUMCISED!" Anna
resides in Los Angeles with her composer husband Bob Luna.
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7. GLEB KAMINER - Actor / Writer / Producer
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan (former USSR). After the national conflict, his parents fled to Israel
where they settled as "new immigrants". There he graduated with a Mechanical Engineering de -
gree and soon enough was dispatched to military service. After demobilization, fortune played
his way and he and his wife ended up in Los Angeles. In his early teen years Gleb thought about
writing and even tried to write a novel. Only after he arrived in Los Angeles did he finally go back
to it. While writing, he was very intrigued by the idea of characterization of his own heroes,
began impersonating them and fell in love with the process. You can catch him on LifeTime
channel, in Patricia Cardoso's, “Lies in Plain Sight”, various commercials and theatre plays: "Ber-
lioz: The Romantic", playing a French writer, Alfred De Vigny, "Illya Darling", a Russian sailor,
"The Merchant of Venice", Salerio, "Perseus - The Hero", playing the Perseus and "The Imagin-
ary Invalid", doctor Purgon. Later, Gleb formed his own production company. Its goal has been to
fuse quality art films with commercial product. The company concentrates on projects with a so-
cial-cultural orientation and whether they are documentaries or fiction, its projects address phe -
nomena that reflect the essence of human existence, yet still appeal to diverse audiences
around the world. The company has produced feature films such as “Two Outs, Bottom of the
Ninth”, “Ideal World”, “Her Time” and is currently in post-production for “Circumcised!”.
CHARLEY ALLEN - Supervising Producer
Based in Playa del Rey, CA, while hailing from Louisiana, Charley began his career by working
three seasons as the Post Production Coordinator on the hit television show Criss Angel MIND -
FREAK on A&E Network, winning two Telly Awards and an Aurora Award for excellence in 2006
and 2007. Moving over to production, he worked as the MINDFREAK Production Coordinator for
the last two seasons. He joined Burnt Pictures in early 2008 as the Post Production Supervisor
on the film “The Red Room” and then followed that by taking on the additional duties of Unit Pro-
duction Manager on Burnt’s genre bending film “Henry John and the Little Bug” and on the PC.-
com web series “Celebrity TechOver”. Charley is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army. While in
service, he graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne School & Air Assault School and received the
Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Overseas Medal and an Honorable Discharge.
After his discharge, Charley returned home to attend Louisiana State University, where he
graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in English (Creative Writing). During college football season
he can be found wildly rooting for his Fighting Tigers.
JAMES LOREN – Creative Producer
James Loren recently produced Indulgences in the Louisville Harem with the Michael Chekhov
Studio. He has been seen most recently in Los Angeles as Don Donovan in Underground Wo-
man, Camillo, Antigonus and the Shepherd in The Winter’s Tale with the Chekhov Players, Spet-
tigue in I’m Just Wild About Harry with the Crown City Theatre Company, Shallow in The Merry
Wives of Windsor and Mortimer in The Fantasticks with the Los Angeles Shakespeare Company
in Topanga Canyon. He is a founding member and past president of The Michael Chekhov Stu-
dio.
MATTHEW CAUDILLO – Director of Photography
Director of Photography, Matthew Caudillo, graduated from UCLA and now shoots RED, HD,
and film. The challenge of shooting a one-man show with eight different characters is what inter -
ested him in shooting Circumcised!. Working closely with Anna Giannotis and Gleb Kaminer,
they developed sequences with careful attention to composition details to fit the style of the
piece to portray various themes within the script.
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8. BOB LUNA – Composer
Bob Luna is a Composer/Arranger/Producer/Conductor/Keyboardist. Some of the Artists he has
worked with are: Dionne Warwick, Deniece Williams, Sister Sledge, Juice Newton, Mick Taylor
(Rolling Stones guitarist) Randy Crawford, Frank Stallone,, Maxine Nightingale etc. He has con -
ducted for The Friends Of Distinction, David Elliott, Manny Lagod, Peaches and Herb, Billy Paul,
Percy Sledge, etc. In 2009 he was Piano Conductor for Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s
Shakespeare festival finale which featured an all star cast. As Composer his work includes Inde -
pendent Feature films, Award winning Documentaries, numerous Trailers and Video games.
VLAD SOLOVEY – Assistant Director
Born in Ukraine, Vlad graduated from Kherson Music College with a degree in Choir Conducting
& Composition. In 1997 he moved to Boston to study composition at Berklee College of Music
and four months later scored the documentary “HADRIAN’S VILLA” for Arlington Cable for Sid
Knowlton. In April of 2001 he moved to Los Angeles and worked as the Scoring Coordinator for
Christopher Young on seven different pictures: “THE COUNTRY BEARS” (Walt Disney), “THE
CORE” (Paramount Pictures), “RUNAWAY JURY” (New Regency), “SOMETHING’S GOTTA
GIVE” (Columbia Pictures/Warner Bros.), “UNFINISHED LIFE” (Miramax) and two others. In ad-
dition, Vlad scored the films “WHATEVER IT TAKES” and “HERCULES IN HOLLYWOOD.” After
2006, he started working as a screenwriter, producer and director. In 2009 he filmed six epis -
odes of “THE PATH OF LIGHT,” a documentary series about astronomy for CELESTRON TELE-
SCOPES. Vlad is currently writing, producing and directing a documentary, “DON’T BELIEVE:
EXPERIENCE”, and a feature film, “THE MESSENGER.”
MAAREN EDVARD – Associate Producer
Maaren Edvard began her career acting and singing in stock and repertory theatre in the Midw-
est, eventually arriving in Los Angeles, where she has since acted in numerous television, stage
and musical theatre productions. Her television credits include a year long stint on The Young
and the Restless and a variety of guest appearances. Some of her favorite leading roles have
been Hedda in Hedda Gabler, Raymonde Chandebise in A Flea in Her Ear, Celia Copplestone in
The Cocktail Party and Dona Ana in Don Juan in Hell. An award-winning actress and long-time
member of Theatre East and Nova Diem theatre companies, she has performed in many of their
original and classical plays. Among them were the Player Queen in Hamlet, Mrs. Allonby in
Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance, and an award-winning portrayal of the legendary
Nora Bayes in the original musical My Lady Vaudeville.
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9. CIRCUMCISED!
a.k.a. A Slice of Life...
Filmed on location of Lutheran Trinity Church, 997 E Walnut St. Pasadena, CA 91106.
Special thanks to Maaren Edvard, the pastor Terry Tuvey Allen and her secretary Juan
ita Alcazar-Small.
And, of course, special thanks to:
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