WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., March 11, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Empire Film Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:EFGU), in association with Tayrona Entertainment Group, have announced a June, 2011 start date for principal photography of the feature film "Havana Heat". Tayrona Entertainment Group has confirmed the financing and pre-production activities have begun in Cartagena, Colombia. The movie will be filmed entirely on location in Cartagena over an eight week period.
Mikael Salomon, an award winning director and cinematographer, will be directing the film. Salomon has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, in 1990 as Best Cinematographer for "The Abyss" and in 1992 for Visual Effects for "Backdraft". In 2002, Salomon won an Emmy along with Tom Hanks for Directing the Steven Spielberg produced "Band of Brothers". In 2008, Salomon was nominated twice for an Emmy as a Director in a Miniseries "The Company " and "The Andromeda Strain", in which both Tony and Ridley Scott were also nominated.
"Empire is excited to begin filming, and together with Tayrona, are finalizing a wonderful cast and production team that will be reflected on the big screen throughout the world," commented Mr. Dean Hamilton Bornstein, CEO of Empire Film Group, Inc.
Tayrona currently manages a U.S. P&A Fund of $100,000,000 and a Latin American P&A Fund of $80,000,000 for theatrical feature film releases in the United States and Latin America, as well as direct co-financing capabilities. Under the terms of the agreement Tayrona will arrange the production financing of these projects and commit over $10 Million per project to P&A in the United States and Latin America. Tayrona's recent successful releases include "Agora", the second highest grossing film in Spain in 2009 behind "Avatar". Release schedule for 2011 includes international blockbusters Roland Joffe's "There Be Dragons", "Kites", "O Apostolo", "Standing Ovation", "Four Saints" and "6 Days Dark", among others.
Empire Film Group, Inc. is a fully-integrated film and television production and distribution company with distribution capabilities to reach theatrical, video, television, video-on-demand and international markets. Empire Sports Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Film Group set up to develop, acquire, produce, market and distribute sports related entertainment properties in film, television and in various multimedia and digital environments.
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This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Sections 27A & 21E of the amended Securities and Exchange Acts of 1933-34, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Although the company believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these statements included in this press release will prove accurate.