Close to two-and-a-half years since its launch, hybrid filmmaking music, action and stunt group, Substance Over Hype, is one of MANY companies to look out for when it comes to delivering fluid indie action content for netizens and fans alike. Their channel is chock-filled with plenty goods, a handful of which have been featured on Film Combat Syndicate before, and now, we have an especially new project on the way from the team following its recent partnership with hotel chain, JW Marriot.
Following its five day shoot last month at the top of the year, SOH’s own founder and filmmaker Daniel “Malakai” Cabrera‘s latest short, Two Bellmen, is readying a major online event premiere in March. The short marks the latest debut of Marriott’s Content Studio with principle performances by team members, actors and stuntmen William Spencer and Caine Sinclair, along with an impressive cast listed in the latest press release. As such, a new trailer has officially been released online this week that issues itself quite promisingly with the usual rhythmic action and stylish athleticism that SOH has become so well known for.
View the details below and then catch the trailer just above a batch of stills from the upcoming March short!
TWO BELLMEN, the first original short film production from Marriott International, Inc.’s Content Studio, will have its world premiere on March 10th, 2015 with a global YouTube launch, as well as a gala screening and party at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE. The iconic JW Marriott property plays a starring role in the film.
A collaboration between the Content Studio and renowned dance, parkour, extreme sports, martial arts, and music collective Substance Over Hype, TWO BELLMEN represents the boldest move yet by Marriott International to use narrative storytelling and entertainment to elevate its portfolio of brands – kicking off with the company’s distinctive and sophisticated JW Marriott brand, which currently consists of 69 luxury properties in 26 countries and is expected to reach more than 100 hotels in over 30 countries by 2019.
TWO BELLMEN was directed by Daniel “Malakai” Cabrera and written by Cabrera and Jade Raybin. Marriott’s Content Studio head David Beebe served as Executive Producer and Evan J. Cholfin of Stories International, Inc. produced. The film follows a competitive relationship between two exceptional bellmen that grows into a new friendship when the pair works together to thwart an attempted art heist. The hotel, the bellmen and JW Marriott’ signature service culture emerge as heroes.
The film is a comedic, genre-bending explosion of parkour, martial arts, dance and music action, and features the biggest stars from the hip hop and B-boy dance worlds, including leading Hollywood stuntmen William Spencer (SPIDER-MAN; SPIDER-MAN 2) and Caine Sinclair (NBC’s Grimm; How I Met Your Mother) as The Bellmen. The cast also includes Henry Simmons (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.); Miles Brown aka Baby Boogaloo (ABC’s Black-ish); Sophina Brown (Shark; Numb3rs; The Good Wife); noted B-boy dancer Josue “Beastmode” Figueroa (Southland; STEP UP REVOLUTION); Josue Antonio (STEP UP series; The LXD); Taryn Southern (The Single Life); and So You Think You Can Dance hip hop legend, Stephen “tWitch” Boss (STEP UP films; So You Think You Can Dance; MAGIC MIKE XXL), as well as other amazing talents from Substance Over Hype. The music and dance world is also fully represented, with AMP Live, Scarub, and Fingazz all making appearances.
The film debuts on YouTube March 10th. It features a multiplatform, all-screens distribution strategy including digital, theater, in-room, online, Marriott.com, and Marriott’s 47 million Marriott Reward members. For more information, check out http://twobellmen.com.
Director Malakai of Substance over Hype explains, “Marriott helped fulfill our desire to build on a comedic hotel bellman routine we’d developed a while back. The JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A LIVE provided us both a context AND setting for that story. We created a role for the hotel that showcased all its beauty and amenities and combined it with all the stuff we do with dance, stunts and comedy. From there, it just flowed.”
David Beebe, Vice President, Creative and Content Marketing at Marriott International, adds, “TWO BELLMEN is ideally suited to build an emotional relationship between our consumers and the JW Marriott brand. With its brilliant cast and story, and the hotel playing a character, the film entertains consumers, draws them in visually, promises terrific, nonstop action and fun, and delivers content to develop community to drive commerce.”
TWO BELLMEN is a milestone—the most ambitious project yet undertaken by Marriott’s Content Studio—which Marriott announced in September 2014. The Studio is dedicated to publishing, distributing and sharing digital content across multiple platforms and on all screens. To further the company’s focus on next-generation travelers and to drive new business, the studio aims to own original content marketing and produce engaging content that builds worldwide communities of people passionate about travel that will drive commerce to the company’s hotels.
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