Adventure Production Pictures Announces First Documentary Feature

Press Release

Adventure Production Pictures Announces First Documentary Feature:

"Returned: Children Soldiers of Nepal 's Maoist Army"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Atlanta, GA, August 28, 2007:

Adventure Production Pictures in association with Transcultural Psychosocial Organization – Nepal has announced that pre-production on a new documentary feature titled “Returned: Children Soldiers of Nepal’s Maoist Army” has begun.

"Returned: Children Soldiers of Nepal 's Maoist Army" is a long-form documentary that presents the stories of young children and teenagers whose lives have been shattered by war. They describe the day they were abducted from their village and forced to fight for the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The film provides actual footage from the rural Nepali villages where these children were initially abducted, to the training camps where they were tortured and forces to obey insurgent leaders, to fighting on the front lines of the rebellion. It weaves the stories of children, and their stolen hopes and dreams, into an unforgettable examination of the rising epidemic of children used in armed conflicts.

Production on “Returned” begins in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 10, 2007. The crew will be comprised of a multi-cultural crew including Nepali nationals Rohit Karki and Pravesh Gurung (Silent Monsoon). The project will shoot in HD by cinematographer Scott Ippolito (Moved) and directed and produced by Emmy Award® nominated producer, Robert Koenig (The Wrestler’s Second & Nepali Maya). Learn more about the documentary at (http://www.nepaldocumentary.com/).

Adventure Production Pictures combines the talent and passion of its members together to create a truly unique experience for a variety of viewers and users. We focus on a multi-media approach to advance causes of a socially responsible nature. Our goals are to highlight subjects and stories that have not been told or do not have much of a voice on the global stage. We are committed to bringing these subjects to a large audience in a creative, entertaining, and conscientious manner. Learn more about Adventure Production Pictures (http://www.adventureproductionpictures.com/)

A New Beginning

It has been about a week since I worked my last day of full-time employment at the warm comfortable confines of a major network affiliate. My decision to give up a steady paycheck and complacency to pursue the wonders and uncertainty of producing an independent documentary in Nepal was not an easy one. I am not naturally a spontaneous person; on the contrary, I am fond of having a plan. In fact, planning is what I am good at, so the idea of going to a third world nation on my own sort of takes me out of my comfort zone. But comfort can be overrated.

Personally, this is a big step, for the most part I have worked for commercial television stations or big corporations since I have graduated from film school, but it is time to try something outside the soul-crushing world of commercial television.

I’ll be working with the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization in Kathmandu to document the plight of children soldiers who were involved in the recent civil war between the Maoist and the Nepali Government. I will be in Nepal from the end of September to the beginning of December.

I have been able to put together a small crew, including a videographer, research director, director of fundraising, and a technical director who has put together the websites for the new production company that we created for the project (http://www.adventureproductionpictures.com/) and this project.

In the mean time, I am working as a freelance editor for editing children’s educational programming. The work can be a bit grueling, but the hours are flexible, it pays well, and it will help me fund the start-up costs associated with all the HD equipment needed for Nepal.

Besides freelance, I will be spending the next month organizing the shooting schedule, fund raising and writing grants to finance the post-production end of the documentary. So far, I have been in contact with a Nepali national, Rohit Karki, he is our associate producer/translator on the project. He and I are working on getting a grant from Nation Geographic to benefit underrepresented groups.

If you are interested in finding out more about the documentary you can go to (http://nepaldocumentary.com/).

Best Regards,
Bob