Brace yourselves paranormal book and movie lovers. A new film production is in the works that will have you talking for months.
Shayne Leighton’s old world fantasy novel “Of Light and Darkness: The Vampire’s Daughter” was released in e-book format by Decadent Publishing June 26. The book, which is the first of five, has already gained over 2,500 Facebook fans and the addiction of at least one Blast writer.
“Twilight” actor Michael Welch, “Make It or Break It” and “Bring It On: In It to Win It” actress Cassie Scerbo, Andrew Orozco, J LaRose, Camden Toy, “The Incubus” actor Frantisek Mach, Leighton and Candace Charee are teaming up to tell the story of Charlotte Ruzikova, a human who was abandoned as an infant in Prague, and Valek Ruzik, the vampire who took her in.
With war threatening their secret society and a dictator in power who is ready to wipe out the vampire race, the pair must struggle to discover what they mean to each other before everything they care about is lost forever.
“There are so many different elements of the fantasy world that we’ve recently seen in Hollywood that I love,” singer, former “Twilight” convention star and producer of the film Charee said. “But the ‘Of Light and Darkness’ story is different from anything I’ve seen.”
The series is not another “Twilight” look alike, Charee noted. “It’s a more adult story line; it’s more real.”
Unlike many of the fantasy films, TV shows and books that have bombarded the entertainment industry recently, “Of Light and Darkness” is not set in high school.
“It’s a true fantasy film,” Charee said excitedly. “There are vampires, elves, shape shifters and some really interesting creatures that Shayne actually just kind of made up. They all live in this magical occult that’s kind of separate from the rest of the world.”
The story transports audiences to a timeless mystical world of suspenseful heroics, power struggles, loyalty and heartrending love. It is set in modern-day Prague; however, the location and tone lend themselves to an “old school time frame.”
The movie will be true to the book’s ambiance. “We’re going for that same kind of old-time, mystical feel. We want it to be a fantasy but also very real in the sense that the audience will really connect with the characters and they won’t be like, ‘That could never happen.’” Adding to the film’s authenticity, Charee said they plan to film in Prague or Germany.
The main character Charlotte will be played by Leighton. “She wrote the role for herself and she’s a phenomenal actress,” Charee said.
Valek will be played by Mach, and Scerbo will play a witch named Sarah.
Welch will be Aiden, the antagonist of the film. “He’s a very dangerous, very dark character,” Charee explained. “It’s a great role for Michael to play.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the “Twilight” star looks great posing for the role.
While the blockbuster names included in the cast is reason enough for some fans to see the film, there are still those who remain hesitant, worrying that the movie will “ruin” the book. However, Charee assured Blast that the film is going to remain faithful to the original story.
“You always need to change things. You have to add, and you have to dramatize information on screen and punch up the dialogue,” Charee said “However, the fans who read the book will be pleasantly surprised and will see visually on screen what they imagined.”
The film is still in the stages of late development. The script is being polished and Charee will soon be heading to Los Angeles to meet with production companies, actors and directors.
Charee hopes to start preproduction by January. “But when we start filming is based on when everything is put together.”
Charee and Leighton formed Frame 7 Productions for the project. “The idea for Frame 7 is to focus on book to movie translation types of productions,” Charee said. “There are so many great stories and ideas out there, and we want to take really great novels and make them into successful films.”
Part of making a film a success is getting people to talk about it. The cast and crew of “Of Light and Darkness” have been working hard to build a fan base from the ground up using social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
“There are not many new projects with as many avid fans as we have,” Charee said. “They love the actors and the book and the excitement of what we’re doing.”
Part of the amazing marketing strategy for Of Light and Darkness includes a poster design, featuring a shirtless Welch, that has already been released.
“Most movies don’t have posters in the predevelopment,” Charee laughed. “But that’s what we’re doing, we’re creating that excitement and fan base now. And of course it doesn’t hurt if you have a hot guy to use.”
Sounds like a great series. I would see it, But this is NOT more real than Twilight! There will always be just one true Twilight! This will be really good,but not as great as the Twilight saga!!! So it’s not about highschool! Twilight was, and it was supposed to be! I am a real true Twilight fan!! It is such a beautiful and amazing saga!! Always will be!! Never will forget that! It was a first, about a beautiful girl falling truly and deeply in love with a beautiful vampire, that is different. He can go outside, he does not drink human blood and he protects her, but also he and his family protect her dad and human friends! The two get married, I love that! It is different and a beautiful fantasy! This movie had to be made! Thank goodness it was! What I read from the other series, there are definetly scifi parts, that would not make it more real!!! It’s more adult, but so is Breaking Dawn. The Twiilight saga has everything in it! From growing up, first true undying love, suspense,fantasy,action,it’s the best! We are not gonna see all that in Of Light and Darkness! So lay off of the best vampire movie ever, Twilight! No, this is not as great as Twilight and it’s more scifi than twilight and less romantic! I do want to see because Micheal is in it and he of course was in Twilight! Twilight4ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL! Dee, you had a great and passionate response. We agree, OLaD is nothing like twilgiht. It is very different. However it is absolutely not SiFi lol! Not anywhere near SiFi. The story is a beautiful tale of how light and darkness goes head to head. I hope you all will pick up the book and make your own assessment. 🙂
http://www.facebook.com/OfLightandDarkness
Dangit! I meant Scifi not SiFi!
Sounds like a great series. I would see it, But this is NOT more real than Twilight! There will always be just one true Twilight! This will be really good,but not as great as the Twilight saga!!! So it’s not about highschool! Twilight was, and it was supposed to be! I am a real true Twilight fan!! It is such a beautiful and amazing saga!! Always will be!! Never will forget that! It was a first, about a beautiful girl falling truly and deeply in love with a beautiful vampire, that is different. He can go outside, he does not drink human blood and he protects her, but also he and his family protect her dad and human friends! The two get married, I love that! It is different and a beautiful fantasy! This movie had to be made! Thank goodness it was! What I read from the other series, there are definetly scifi parts, that would not make it more real!!! It’s more adult, but so is Breaking Dawn. The Twiilight saga has everything in it! From growing up, first true undying love, suspense,fantasy,action,it’s the best! We are not gonna see all that in Of Light and Darkness! So lay off of the best vampire movie ever, Twilight! No, this is not as great as Twilight and it’s more scifi than twilight and less romantic! I do want to see because Micheal is in it and he of course was in Twilight! Twilight4ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished the book a few days ago, and I really liked it. A movie would be great, but I think Leighton is a bit old to play Charlotte. In the book Lottie is 18 yrs. old. In the recent video preview I saw Leighton just didn’t seem to fit the part of Lottie, I just couldn’t see it……….but I do look forward to seeing the movie.