’Cocktail Party’ shoots with student crew

The Emerson student crew shot scenes of Cocktail Party inside P.F. Chang's restaurant on Charles Street in Boston in early May. From left, Mike Millette '14; James Papilla '15; Peter Cannon '15; VMA faculty member Regge Life, film director; Jordan Hall '14; Andrew Naugle '14; Tyler Gilbert '15; professional actors Tadeshi Mitsui and Tatsuo Ichikawa; Gabriel Volcovich '17; Eli Powers '14; Christina Rigopoulos '14; and Sayuri Alsman, producer. (Photo by Dan O'Brien)

Theodore “Regge” Life, distinguished director-in-residence in the Visual and Media Arts Department, continues to work with Emerson students on his feature film Cocktail Party.

The film is adapted from the award–winning Japanese novel of the same title by Tatsuhiro Oshiro. The story is about a U.S. Marine accused of sexual misconduct in a night of partying near a military base in Okinawa.

Life is using a majority Emerson student cast and crew to complete the film, which is mostly in Japanese. Many of the students are from the two film production classes he teaches. Charles E. McCarry, production designer-in-residence in VMA, is also helping with the project.

Sheldon Brown ’14, a Performing Arts major who graduated this month, is one of the lead actors. Two other actors involved in the film, Tadeshi Mitsui and Tatsuo Ichikawa, are from the Screen Actors Guild.

Recent film shooting took place in early May. Life plans to continue production with new students in the Fall 2014 semester.