My name is Matt Kugelman and I'm the writer and director of the feature film Hurricane Bianca. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this project.
Making a feature film has been a dream of mine since childhood. I was inspired to write this story by a comedian friend, Roy Haylock who created the character named "Bianca Del Rio." Tall, slender and glamorous, but with the mouth of a truck driver, I immediately thought that Bianca was a total movie character, and that this would be the story that I develop for my first feature.
The story of Hurricane Bianca deals with the issues of trying to "be yourself" in a world that doesn't quite accept you. The main character, Richard, a fish-out-of-water gay New Yorker that winds up in small-town Texas, is harassed and fired from his job when his sexuality is discovered. He creates an alter ego, disguising himself as "Bianca," and gets re-hired in order to get revenge on those that were nasty to him. Although Bianca is merely an alter ego, she's badass. She's smart, beautiful, but most importantly, she doesn't put up with cruelty. I think that Bianca's assertiveness will empower not only young gay people to stand up for themselves, but anyone who has ever felt alienated or different. No matter who you are, the story is going to make you laugh!
PRODUCTION TEAM
ROY HAYLOCK - Lead Actor
Roy Haylock has had many theatrical starring roles that include Angel in Rent, the Emcee in Cabaret, and Miss Mazeppa in Gypsy. Roy performs improv comedy as his drag alter-ego Bianca Del Rio in cabarets and nightclubs across the country. As Bianca, he’s appeared on Logo TV's "Dragtastic: One Night Standup comedy special and has hosted the annual Bourbon Street Costume Awards in Mardi Gras for over ten years. On television, Bianca has appeared on MTV’s Mardi Gras from New Orleans with Britney Spears and Carson Daly, The Craig Kilborn Show, and Mardi Gras Unmasked on the Travel Channel. Roy currently resides in NYC.
Matt Kugelman, Writer/Director
Matt Kugelman studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California and Columbia College Chicago. A week after graduating, he moved to New York City to intern on Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. He got hired full-time after producing a series of comedic short videos for Moore’s speaking tour that were seen by thousands of people and often received standing ovations. Soon after, Kugelman started working as the editor/photographer of the CBS News on Logo Show. In addition to producing a news show every day, he worked on numerous half-hour specials and documentaries under very strict television deadlines. From there he went on to edit the CBS Evening News and was recruited by the CBS: This Morning Show when they launched in January 2012.
Rachel Kate Miller, Producer
Rachel Kate Miller joins Team Bianca from the world of feature animation. She’s worked on eight films in seven years for Blue Sky Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and most recently Lucasfilm Feature Animation from Ice Ages movies to Toy Story 3. In 2012 she took a leave to run the design department at Obama for America. Rachel met Matt back in 2003 at the Cannes Film Festival, they have been friends ever since with dream of making movies. Hurricane Bianca will be their first of many collaborations and Rachels return to live action since being a production assistiant on indy films straight out of college. When she’s not working on movies or electing a president, Rachel writes a blog and is starting an educational media company.
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