A Winter Rose

I started dabbling with music videos first. It was a way to promote ANYONE back in the mid 90's when we started recording the show's on VHS cameras. Right away I wanted to make feature length films. I started with TogethermenT, a psychedelic visual for the band ANYONE. Then I completed my first 'student film' entitled GOLOKA, a drama about a guy who encounters a being who might be an angel or a demon... also quite psychedelic. Next I made a full length feature entitled 'Places on the Run'. Making a full length feature film is quite an undertaking and although I learned a lot and was proud of 'Places', I knew that I was still a student and wasn't ready to put my work out yet.

That brings us to A WINTER ROSE. Going into this film I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had picked a setting which I knew all too well, that of a struggling musician. I knew that this would allow me to write natural dialogue that I'd heard in my years around the music business. It would also allow me to showcase some of the music that I'd been creating with the artist on my TogethermenT Records Label. I'd spent years by now shooting films, mixing films, scoring films and writing screenplays and I knew this film, once completed, would be released as my first official worldwide release.

It was no easy task to produce a motion picture. I had a lot of help from my fellow producers Gary Alan Kauffman, Robert Miano and Kaliyani. Together we assembled the cast which includes Paul Sorvino, Theresa Russell, Billy Zane, Taryn Manning, Edward Furlong and Kimberly Whalen.

We were very proud of what we'd accomplished and were delighted when VARIETY wrote "Riz Story embodies indie spirit in A Winter Rose." We were thrilled that the first 6 singles we released from the original soundtrack hit the BILLBOARD Hot Singles Chart Top Ten, including a #1, #2 and #3 songs.

Premiering the film at the legendary Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California was a big thrill. The sold out audience really responded to the film and it was the first time that an audience was able to see it before it came to REGAL CINEMA'S for it's limited exclusive Theatrical Engagement.

Now the film is coming to Video On Demand on October 20th, 2017.

I hope that you all get a chance to see the film - it features 5 ANYONE songs all taken from the album ECHOES AND TRACES.

Riz Story~

October 2017