OMP Press Kit

One Man's Poison Press Kit

Log Line:

Private detective Jake Dombrowski is hired by beautiful Darla Brand to find a necklace and tangles with the rival mob bosses vying for control of the city.

Short Synopsis:

One Man's Poison, 2014, Color, 20 minutes

Directed by James Cotton

Jake Dombrowski is hired by Darla Brand to find a necklace. While trying to find the necklace, Jake is recruited by Elijah Wilson, the mob boss who runs the city, to kill Pat Noonan, Elijah’s young rival. When Wilson kidnaps Darla, Jake hatches a plan to clean up the city and get himself out once and for all.

Long Synopsis:

Private Detective Jake Dombrowski sits in his office, needing a case when the beautiful escort Darla Brand comes in and asks him to find a necklace that was stolen from her by Pat Noonan, a thug from skid row who wants to take over the city. Jake agrees to help Darla, having become somewhat smitten with her. On his way to meet with Noonan, Jake is picked up by Elijah Wilson’s men and taken to see Wilson, the mob boss who runs the city. Wilson has killed an assassin who tried to kill him in his sleep, and tries to con Jake into assassinating Noonan for him. Jake agrees to take the message that if Noonan messes with Wilson, it’ll get him killed, but won’t kill Noonan. Jake goes to the Hayburner Pub, Noonan’s hideout, and meets with Bill Foley, Noonan’s right-hand man. Foley, tries to knife Jake, but is easily disarmed and Jake convinces him that he just wants to talk to Noonan. Foley tells Jake to come back later and Pat would be glad to talk to him. Jake goes to Darla’s house to tell her where the case stands. While there, they talk about their dreams, but are interrupted by Wilson calling on the phone and sending his men in to kidnap Darla. Now Jake must kill Noonan or Darla will be killed. Jake meets with Noonan and tells him that Wilson sent him to kill Noonan but he has a plan. He shoots at Noonan. Jake then goes to meet with Wilson at his warehouse where he tells him Noonan is dead. When he sees what he is waiting for, Jake kills Wilson’s men and tells him that there’s been a change in plan. Jake is double-crossed by Darla who shoots him and Wilson reveals the whole thing was a setup to get rid of Noonan, but before Darla can finish Jake off, someone in the shadows shoots Wilson. Jake grabs his gun and takes out Darla. From the shadows emerges Noonan who offers Jake a job in his new regime, but Jake turns it down, wanting to get out of this city.

Writer/Director’s Bio – James Cotton

James Cotton, a North Carolina native, has been entertaining people all his life. From an early age it seemed obvious he would eventually be an entertainer. His first onstage roles were Lt. Brannigan in Guys and Dolls and Eugene in Grease for which he won a Favorite Character Actor award from the theatre.

He went to Western Carolina University, graduating in 2000 with a BA in Theatre with an emphasis on acting and directing. While at WCU, he appeared in such shows as Steve Martin’s Picasso At the Lapin Agile, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and Willi with David Forsyth as well as writing, producing, directing and starring in a one-man show titled The Tragedy of the President of the United States (in 1999). He also worked backstage as Stage Manager, soundboard operator, sound effects technical, and many other jobs on shows such as Mustang, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Barefoot in the Park. He was property master on a post-apocalyptic production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

James worked for a season at Flat Rock Playhouse, the state theatre of North Carolina. While there, he appeared on stage with Pat Hingle in You Can’t Take it With You and worked as a scenic artist on West Side Story, The Woman in Black, Oklahoma, and many more.

James then appeared in productions of Arsenic and Old Lace as Teddy, The Odd Couple as Felix, and Clifford in DeathTrap at various theatres in North Carolina before turning to directing in 2003, directing The Rainmaker and The Diary of Anne Frank for the Uwharrie Players, a theatre group in central North Carolina where he has also served as a member of the board of directors for many years. In 2010, he directed Smoke on The Mountain for them.

In 2004, James decided it was time to go to film school and enrolled in Vancouver Film School, where he started in the summer of 2005. While there he was the editor on the documentary Rev-Up, assistant director for the midterm drama Mary McPhearson and director of the midterm drama Iguana Pizza as well as serving in several other jobs on other short films.

After graduating from VFS in 2006, James adapted, produced, and directed the short film Violet that was included in the 2008 Cannes Short Film Corner at the 2008 Festival de Cannes. He produced and directed a short parody of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” as Twas the Night After Christmas in 2008.

James has worked for Stanly Community College, running the local PEG channel, SCC-TV, since 2010 where he produces all the programming for the channel as well as promotional material for the college.

In 2013, James wrote, produced, and directed the 20-minute short film One Man’s Poison, a 1930s Film Noir detective story.

Producer/Director of Photography Bio – Carl T. Rogers

Carl T. Rogers was born and raised in the Tar Heel State. Fascinated with movies as a youngster, Carl became serious about movie making as a high school senior when he shot and directed his premier short, Still Kickin.’ This raw tale of redemption won Best Short at the 2011 Modern Film Festival and earned Carl a scholarship to Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA, where he graduated with his B.A. in Cinema-Television in 2013.

While at Regent University, Carl focused primarily on directing and cinematography, directing a number of short films, including Everyone Wants to Be President, Pirates of Canadia, Hero, and the grad-level Languishing in Langley. As an undergrad, Carl also helmed a seven-part web series for TV Tropes in its breakthrough international Alternate Reality Game entitled The Wall Will Fall. Carl served as director of photography on such shorts as Devil’s Snare, Shatter Box, and Blown Away, which was an Official Selection at the Channel 757 Fall Showcase in Norfolk, VA.

Carl’s Senior Thesis, Annabel Lee, was written and directed as a fantasy adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting romance poem of the same name. It won Best Director at the 2013 Otis Film Festival, and was an Official Selection at the 2013 Orlando Film Festival. It was also awarded Platinum Best of Show by the 2014 Aurora Awards, and is distributed through Gaiam TV.

Since graduating from Regent, Carl has directed photography for two of James’ films: One Man’s Poison and Tell-Tale Heart. As a freelancer, Carl has directed a series of commercials for Montgomery Community College in Troy, NC. An avid reader of philosophy and apologetics, Carl is now studying Film Production at Florida State University, where he will graduate with his M.F.A. in 2016. He most recently directed the music video for Emmy-nominated rapper and actor T.O.N.E.-z’s latest single, “Sins of the Father,” which will soon air on VH1 and MTV2. You can see Carl’s films by visiting his website, http://doorway-films.com, or tweet him @doorwayfilms.

Executive Producer’s Bio – Jay Stallworth

Jay Stallworth, a Native of Atlanta, GA has been involved with the Atlanta entertainment industry for the past two decades. Jay has a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications & Theatre Arts from Western Carolina University (WCU) in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He also has extensive training from the Professional Actors Studio with Nick Conti, and the Soapstone center of Performing Arts with Elisabeth Omilami (Hosea Williams daughter). While at WCU Jay performed with the Black Theatre Ensemble (BTE), where he did such plays as The Sty of the Blind Pig, Chickasaw Park, and Three Licks.

Jay also traveled with Diamond Jake & Co., a theatre company devoted to spreading the word about minorities in the entertainment industry, by bringing theatre to people who would not normally attend. In the summer of 1997 Jay graced the stages of Kermit Hunter's revolutionary war drama, Horn in the West, an outdoor summer theatre in Boone, NC. Upon graduating from WCU in 2000, Jay came back to Atlanta and worked at the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts (ACPA), a full service arts organization for the performing arts industry in Atlanta. Jay is a proud card carrying member of Image Film & Video, a local not-for-profit organization devoted to helping independent filmmakers, as well as screening independent film at it’s annual Atlanta Film Festival. Jay has also worked with G.L.E.E. a local Atlanta faith based production company producing and directing the Play Six Prayers and a Dream and also developing a dramatic video series for the Internet.

When not immersed with film and theatre, Jay also volunteers his free time with Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV), an organization solely devoted to teaching peace to the young minds of tomorrow.

2007 brought with it the first production from WOLF359 Productions, a production company founded by both James Cotton and Jay Stallworth. Violet was the first production for the company. Violet went on to the Cannes Film Festival in the Short Film Corner. Jay served as the producer on Violet. The completion of One man’s Poison servers as WOLF359’s second major project. Jay served as the executive producer and the assistant director on One Man’s Poison.

Jon Bowlby - Jake Dombrowski

Jon first stepped onto a stage in 1986 in a community theater production of Of Mice and Men and has never looked back. After spending 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, he formally studied acting at the Northwest Actors Studio in Seattle, Washington and graduated in 1997. He has worked on stages all over the country and landed in Charlotte NC in 2005. He's worked in every genre from theater to voice-over to print work to on-camera productions.

Steve Carlisle - Elijah Wilson

Began his career a very long time ago before the digital age. Acting in front of a “green screen” wasn’t even an option back then. This was the age of the pay phone and the 8 X 10 glossies. He earned his MFA in Theatre in 1978 and then headed to New York City for 8 years and then to Los Angeles for 8 years after that. He was in several bus and trucks across the country and spent a lot of time doing the dinner theatre circuit in Florida as well as 27 seasons at the State Theatre of North Carolina in Flat Rock. He earned his living as an actor for 30 years and then went back to teach theatre at his college alma mater where he met James Cotton as a student.

I was honored to be asked to appear in James’s film and am very proud of the work that he has done and truly looks forward to his future successes.

If you’d like to know what films and TV shows I have done just please Google me. I would be flattered. Enjoy the show.

Director’s Visionary Statement

Several years ago I was reading the Dashiell Hammett novel “Red Harvest” and fell in love with it. I realized that no one has made the novel into a film before. Of course, Kurosawa loosely based Yojimbo on the novel and then Sergio Leone remade that as Fistful of Dollars, but the actual novel has never been adapted directly to the screen. I decided that I wanted to be that person to adapt the novel. I have always liked 1920s detective stories and that time period in general.

I realized very quickly that I needed something to show what I wanted to do, so I wrote One Man’s Poison with similar themes and characters to show what I was thinking.

The original concept was to do the film as a computer animated film because, for some reason, that was how I saw the novel when I read it. I was working at Stanly Community College at the time and they have a simulation and game development program. My intern in the TV studio was a student in that program who had a background in animation, so I recruited him to help. My original idea was to partner with SCC and have the students work on the film as a school project to give them experience. We began talking to the program head and things looked promising for a while, but eventually we realized that wasn’t going to happen, so I gave up on that idea. We then decided to change the film to live action and shoot it here in Albemarle, NC.

Things began to fall into place when I asked my friend Steve Carlisle to play the mob boss Elijah Wilson. Steve has an extensive resume of stage and film credits, so get him was very exciting and jumped everything forward.

It still took almost a year to get everything together and the funding, but during a rainy and hot week in July, we began filming in The Boardroom, a special events restaurant in Albemarle, North Carolina, filming the majority of the movie in that location. We dressed different rooms to appear as if they were different locations, saving time and money on company moves. We closed off two streets in downtown Albemarle one night for the filming of the street scenes, including one in front of the historic Alameda Theatre, built around 1919.

Though everything did not go as smoothly as I would have hoped, the film came together into a very well done film noir piece and I am excited to release it.