Duo raises Periscope
Leonarczyk, Levy shingle's sked includes 'Vinyl,' 'August'
Backed by private equity, shingle will also provide finishing financing for pics.
Levy will be president and CEO, running day-to-day operations. Leonarczyk becomes chief financial officer.
Pressing 'Vinyl'
First up for Periscope is Richard Zelniker's rock drama "Vinyl," which it will exec produce with Thora Birch. Pic, skedded to start shooting in Los Angeles in September, will star Anna Faris, Michelle Trachtenberg, Lukas Haas and Dominique Swain.
The film is based on Zelniker's original screenplay about the young women behind a male rock 'n' roll band that is on the verge of signing a major record deal. Arrival Cinema's Ara Katz, Chad Troutwine and Sam Englebardt will produce.
Periscope has also signed on to exec produce, in association with Arrival Cinema, David Cronenberg's adaptation of Martin Amis' "London Fields," being produced by Muse Prods. and Metro Tartan. Levy will exec produce along with Lilly Bright of Curiously Bright in association with Arrival. Leonarczyk will receive associate producer credit.
New York story
Periscope recently optioned the rights to Howard A. Rodman's script "August," a drama about two brothers trying to keep their start-up financial company afloat on Wall Street during August 2001, the month before 9/11. Rodman wrote "Joe Gould's Secret" and "Savage Grace," which is being produced by Killer Films with Julianne Moore attached to star.
Periscope is also attached to produce Nicholas Klein's romantic comedy "One Last Thing," which will mark the scribe's feature directorial debut. Klein previously wrote Wim Wenders' "The End of Violence" and "The Million Dollar Hotel."
Levy's short film "Ob La Da" starred Henry Winkler as a suicide hotline operator. "Dependency" won the Fipresci Award at the 54th Locarno Film Festival and was also the official entry from Bolivia for best foreign language film. Independently, he is also producing Rodrigo Bellott's second feature film "Soccer Sundays."
Leonarczyk is co-founder of Octavalent, an Internet design and consulting company.
