“Danny Boy is a story about the cost of judging a book by its cover, and things not always being what they seem.”
Director
Cory DeMeyers
Writer
Sammy Horowitz
Logline
Old-school Francis and his new-school accomplice Danny have it all planned out: a heist to make them rich, thanks to inside information that their friend Stevie B has provided. Only plans are apt to change, along with Francis and Danny’s relationship, when homophobic attitudes and murderous tendencies meet in a head-on collision.
DirectorS statement
It was important for me to make Danny Boy because I believe in the man behind the story, writer Sammy Horowitz.
Sammy himself has such an incredible background that has given him not only unique points of view to draw from, but real world experience from parts of life most of us will never see nor fully understand. This informs his scripts and characters with a type of raw authenticity that sometimes feels uncomfortable to the viewer but speaks to the truth of each of his characters and where they came from.
Danny Boy is a Short Film in Sammys line up that we both felt could be accomplished with our immediate contacts & resources. As we put the crew together in 72hrs and began rehearsing, Dannys story evolved and not only was he a champion for equality defending his family and friends, he became one of those that were targeted. Although this was not the original intention, I believe this was a beautiful necessary evolution that really helped drive the core of the story home and added depth to the overall character of Danny, start to finish.
I hope that Danny Boy will speak to audiences and allow us to continue telling Sammys stories. Stories that often offer insight to underserved communities and individuals, bringing a human connection and empathy to people and places society have chosen to ignore.
TEAM
Director/Producer
Cory DeMeyers
Director Cory DeMeyers, has had a diverse career in Film & Television as a Stuntman. Cory is a former Red Bull Parkour World Champion as well as a 2020 Taurus World Stunt Award Recipient for his stunt work on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
As a professional athlete Cory produced action sports content for several clients around the world ultimately leading him to Co-Direct a feature length documentary about his Journey to the Red Bull Podium in 2013 titled, From Here To There : A Freerunning Documentary. As a Stuntman Cory has had the opportunity to watch legendary directors work, all while taking notes, and has had the opportunity to work directly with some of the biggest 2nd Unit Directors today. Through the years these experiences have inspired and fueled his passion for filmmaking, leading him to step out and direct his first narrative based short film, Danny Boy.
Writer/Executive Producer
Sammy horowitz
Sammy Horowitz is an action-actor, playwright, and screenwriter from Chicago. Before moving to Hollywood, Sammy was a member of a predominantly Latino street gang and spent 8 years, 7 months, and 15 days in prison. Sammy then went on to be a bouncer and doorman at local nightclubs, a stick up artist, a drug addict, an M.M.A. fighter, and eventually a full-time professional boxer who competed in prize fights all over the country.
Sammy has been recognized for his plays both by Austin Film Festival and Screencraft. He is also an accomplished screenwriter who (along with his writing partner Adam Pasen) has been a semifinalist for Bluecat, and a finalist for the Warner Bros. Writers' Workshop in 2020. Their feature 'God Shot' is also being developed by Unified Pictures. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actor Sari Sanchez.
Associate Producer
Sari Sanchez
Sari Sanchez is a Mexican-American actor and producer. As a Chicago native, her artist background is rooted in theater. In addition to countless plays, Sari has performed in a number of television shows and films such as Empire, Lucifer, and Signature Move (directed by Jennifer Reeder). Sari currently resides in Los Angeles where she continues to collaborate and create.
Crashsite Films Producer
Jett Jansen
Jansen is a Cuban/American writer, director, producer. His short films, feature films and new media episodic shows have earned him 18 film festival nominations including a best picture nomination for HBO's Urban action showcase and also wins for best action sequence and a win for best action science fiction screenplay earning him a producers Guild accreditation.
Also a member of the writers guild of America Jansen sits on the committee for Latino writers. He's is a pioneer in the world of Virtual reality film making as well as combat sports and pro wrestling distribution and production. Founder of the production company "Crash site films" and the co founder of Mark Out Media Inc, with Directory Cory DeMeyers, which currently has an on going distribution deal with CBS/ Pluto TV.
If that didn’t keep him busy enough, he is also a published comic book writer under his comic book publishing house "crash site comics".
Director of Photography
Deangelo Harding
Deangelo Harding is a Filipino American Cinematographer from the San Jose, Bay Area of California. Now based in Los Angeles, he stays heavily involved in Television, commercial productions and feature length films. Deangelo strives to continue shooting and producing projects with like minded, creative individuals.
Recently Deangelo has seen a nomination for Best Cinematography at the Indie X film Festival for his work on the Short film, “Vac Attack” as well as being the DP for, “Palm Swings” which saw multiple wins at IndieX and the Independent Short Awards.
Facts
Budget
Principal Photography was completed for around $600
Post production was were the team invested in Color, Sound Mixing, VFX and a few Original songs.
Danny Boys total budget sits under $5,000
Team
Writer Sammy Horowitz plays Francis
Producer Jett Jansen plays Danny
Director Cory DeMeyers got his start producing Action Sports videos for social media and sponsors during his time as a Pro Parkour and Freerunning Athlete. Danny Boy is his 1st Narrative Film to date
Associate Producer Sari Sanchez is also the Wife of Writer Sammy Horowitz
Sari makes a cameo in the film along with Sammys writing partner Adam Pasen, both as voice actors during the films closing sequence.
Due to budgetary and work restrictions Danny Boy was shot in 4.5hrs in Downtown Los Angeles. To accomplish this a full night of rehearsals with the films to lead actors was held in order to get the actors off book for all 10 pages. This allowed the team to shoot the entire Short Film in 4 wide masters over the hood of the car uninterrupted before, getting additional coverage.
Director of Photography Deangelo Harding first project with Cory was a music video with Cory DeMeyers taking on the role of lead actor and stuntman
Cory & Deangelo have worked together on several projects together, most often seeing Cory in the roll of Stunt Coordinator or Stunt Performer.
Director Cory DeMeyers drew inspiration for Danny Boy from Directors he admires, specifically; Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese & Guy Richie
The Danny Boy team is a diverse cultural group of professionals who has always had an eye and mind for inclusion. The team includes individuals from LatinX, Asian America, Jewish American, and LGBTQ+ communities.
BackStory
After a boxing session in 2019; Cory, Sammy & Jett discussed the possibility of working on a project together for fun. The concept was simple, a short crime drama with witty banter between its subjects, that could serve as a showcase for DeMeyers of the non-action variety
That same evening Sammy turned out the 1st draft of what would become Danny Boy, initially titled “Lights Out”
Work for both DeMeyers & Horowitz would hold up production of Danny Boy until February of 2021
From 2019 - Early 2021 Horowitz would see an increase in interest across several projects he had written with writing partner Adam Pasen from industry insiders and producers as well as; the Austin Film Festival, Bluecat Screenwriting competition, Screen Craft & being finalist for the WB Writers workshop 2020.
Frustrated by the length of time Hollywood can sometimes take to bring projects to life, Sammy was determined to breath life into “Lights Out”. After having a successful run of his Play “Musket & The Rat” in Hollywood, he decided to turn it into a stage play.
DeMeyers and Horowitz had the opportunity to spend some time together during a few off days in February 2021. Both determined and inspired, the play would never come to fruition as they decided to shoot Danny Boy that week. The 2 agreed that putting it on film would do the script the justice it deserved. Inside 72hr DeMeyers had assembled a team of colleague from past projects he had worked on and after 1 night of rehearsals Danny Boy was captured in 4.5hr and finished with less than $5k.
Keeping with the original concept of collaborating on a project for fun, the team had a blast making the most out of their time together, and believe they have a film that addresses current social issues from a different angle through the unique lens of 2 low rent criminals.
With Danny Boy now completed the team hopes that it can speak to their abilities to Create, Produce and Finish projects with a Low Budget without sacrificing production quality. They believe these skills along with the lessons learned can be applied to longer format and larger budget project to tell unique stories of underserved communities.