Jekyll and Hyde – Koa Aloha Media

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Honored with 17 Awards!

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The Story

The familiar tellings we have come to know as Jekyll and Hyde very rarely, if at all, do justice to the original story. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not a horror or monster story, but more of a psychological crime drama — a cautionary tale about the evil within each of us and what would happen if we confronted our own duality … the good and evil within.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is really just as much the story of Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and good friend of Dr. Henry Jekyll. More importantly, Utterson is a Victorian Gentleman, who is guided by a chivalric-like code to remain loyal to his friends and maintain his status in society.

It is loyalty that drives Utterson to play detective in an effort to protect Jekyll from the malicious and scheming Mr. Hyde. Eventually, Utterson finds himself introduced to a world that he is neither ready to enter nor accept.

The story takes place in Victorian-era England, toward the end of the Industrial Revolution. Utterson, a lawyer, and true Victorian Gentleman, discovers that his long-time friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, has become involved with a mysterious and dangerous man named Edward Hyde. Jekyll is a tall, handsome man with a very high social status, which he is expected to maintain. Hyde is a complete opposite, short and vulgar, with an unidentifiable deformity.

Utterson knows that in Jekyll’s youth, he was a bit wild and may have a few skeletons hiding in his closet. Therefore, he suspects that Mr. Hyde must be blackmailing Jekyll as the result of some long-past wrong doing. Utterson worries deeply that if the secret were to come to surface, Jekyll’s reputation would be at stake.

However, there is much more at risk then Utterson realizes. Jekyll begins to grow sickly and becomes reclusive. Another friend, experiences an “unknown” shock at Jekyll’s hands, ultimately resulting in his death. And then there’s the murder …

Hyde becomes a criminal on the run with an unknown hold over Jekyll, who will apparently do just about anything to help Hyde. Utterson continues to delve deeper into the dark and dangerous world of Edward Hyde and comes to realize that his friend, Henry Jekyll, is hiding a deep and dark secret.

The truth reveals an abomination of science and nature. Utterson is given a final choice. He must choose his life as a lawyer and the laws of England, or he will choose the life of a friend and Victorian gentleman, willing to sacrifice anything to save his friend’s reputation.

Cast & Crew

Writer/Director
B. Luciano Barsuglia

Based on the Novella by
Robert Louis Stevenson

Executive Producers
Barry Barsuglia
B. Luciano Barsuglia
Steve Pisa
Jack Cordes
Geoffrey J. Seaman

Producers
Shawn Ness
Shawn Hauser
Scott J. Miller
Hans Hernke
Miguel Monteiro
Shaun Piccinino
Michael Gleiber
Michael Schwibs
Stephen Warren
Joseph Pozo

Assistant Producers
Wendy V. Collins
Steve Wollett

Associate Producers
Jay McCarey
John Kim
Matthias Tschernko
Elizabeth Barsuglia
Christopher Brannon
Aaron Warren
Phillip H. Horn
Kashif Khan
Haris Fazlic
Stephen Flores
Allison R Sawyer
Deborah Connolly
Jeff Parsons
Beat Kunz
James Magnum Cook
Gregory Schmauss
D. Brian Anderson
Karla K. McNeese
Judy Carter
Jud Carter
Michael Warren

Contributing Producers
Lewis James-O’Dowd
Srikant Chellappa
David S Hagemann
Michael Grogan
Steve Hill
Jo McLachlan
John Cavallo
Matt Gaines
Fred Robinson
Matthew Kelly
Erick Von Schulz
Ken Balina
Devon McCann
Michael Kutsick

Consulting Producers
Adam Magnoli
Larry Gevirtz
Melora Nivienne
Daniel Dunbar
Michael Baumeister
William R. Coughlin, Jr.

Indiegogo Partners
Thomas Michael
Andrew Thomas
Trevor Bartlett

Script Supervisors
Jeannie Quirus
Nick Reisinger
Zan Alda
Brenda Glim
Mario Melchiot
Amanda Fitz

Make-Up & Creature Design
Nick Reisinger

Additional Camera Operator
Shaun Piccinino
Leonard Wozniak

Music
Robert E. Aquato

Craft Services
Jeannie Quirus
Scott J. Miller
Cy and Shirley Weagle
Amanda Fitz

Double/Stand-In for Mr. Rooney
Hans Hernke

Stand-In for Ms. O’Brien
Jeannie Quirus

Production Crew
Nick Reisinger
Scott J. Miller
Shaun Piccinino
Zan Alda
Ethan Bradfield
Jacob Kehm
David Beatty

Publicity & Promotions
Jennifer Noonan

Boom Operator
Roberto Aquato

Line Producer
Brenda Glim

Security Consultant
Uzi Grindler
Interceptor Security, LLC

2nd Unit Director (Glasgow)
Nav Qateel

Special Thanks
Steve Sanders
Tobias M. Gerber
Theo Hearst
Mark Robert
Russell Emanuel
Rickey Bird, Jr.
Michael McDonnell
Alexandra Goodman
Cy and Shirley Weagle
Kristie Kehm
Ginger Bradfield
Old World Village
Phillip Baloga

Trailer

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The official trailer.

Awards

17 Awards in total!

The Southern California Motion Picture Council bestowed to honors on the movie. They are:

President’s Award for Direction – Brian Barsuglia
President’s Award for Acting – Jed Rowen

For Education

One of the primary goals from its inception was the idea of creating of Jekyll and Hyde that could actually be teachable and serve as a companion piece to the novella in the classroom. Hence our goal to create a “true-to-text” adaptation.

Did we take some creative liberties, sure, but only in areas where we truly believed they were implied in Stevenson’s original work. There is much that is left out and implied about the private lives of Jekyll and Hyde, so we expanded on and explained some of the areas of debauchery in ways that could both be explained through the Victorian mindset and the original text.

Literature Matters: The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde: A Study Guide For Teachers, Students And Readers is available on Amazon.

The Documentary

Making a Monster: The Story Behind Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde can be watched on our website and it is also available on most DVD or BluRay versions of the movie.

This “making of” documentary chronicles the long process of production for “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” The multi-award winning independent movie features Oscar winners Mickey Rooney (in his final role) and Margaret O’Brien. It stars Gianni Capaldi, Shaun Piccinino, David Beatty, William McNamara, Vernon Wells, Randal Malone, Jed Rowen, Elissa Dowling and others. This behind the scenes documentary also shows make-up artist Nick Reisinger in action