Shailene Woodley-starring ‘Motor City’ to kick off production in AlUla
Director Potsy Ponciroli’s upcoming action thriller “Motor City” — starring Shailene Woodley, Alan Ritchson, Ben Foster and Pablo Schreiber — will kick off production on July 10 in New Jersey and Saudi Arabia’s AlUla as part of production company Stampede Ventures’ 10-picture deal with
Film AlUla.
Stampede Ventures CEO Greg Silverman and the executive director of Film AlUla Charlene Deleon-Jones previously spoke to Arab News about the threeyear deal, which also includes the previously announced dramatic comedy “K-Pops!” as well as “Fourth Wall” and “Chasing Red.” There will be emphasis on using Saudi talent during the production process, Deleon-Jones told Arab News at the Red Sea International Film Festival in December, adding: “One of the most significant parts of what we’re doing is the training and development, because this gives us an opportunity to really develop belowthe-line crew in somewhere like AlUla, where traditionally the main careers open to you would have been agriculture. We have a young working population who are vibrant and digitally engaged somewhere which is seen as one of the more remote places, (and now) you have this whole new exciting career path.”
The key, she said, was to prove to talent in Saudi Arabia that the film industry is a “sustainable” career choice. Silverman echoed that, saying the deal was “designed specifically so that people can come in and get a chance to prove (themselves) and then there’s another movie coming in the next month that they can be pulled into.”
“Motor City” is centered around John Miller (Ritchson), a Detroit auto worker who loses everything, including his girlfriend (Woodley), after being framed by a local gangster (Foster) and sent to prison.
After his release, Miller seeks revenge while trying to win his former girlfriend back.
Stampede Ventures will be among the first to use Film AlUla’s production facility, which includes a 30,000-square-foot soundstage, backlot, production support buildings, workshops, warehouses, recording studio and training and rehearsal space.
Jon Berg, Stampede Ventures’ president of production, said: “This movie is somewhere between an opera, a music video, and an action movie. Emotion conveys without language being essential; the actors’ performances are front and center. Potsy has a killer vision for the film: dynamic camera, brilliant music, muscle cars, and an immersive sound design surrounding badass action sequences. ‘Motor City’ will be a standout film, a cinematic and sonic feast that should boldly stand out in the marketplace.”