Complete Cast & Creative Team Announced for New Thriller DIG TWO GRAVES

Dig Two Graves, LLC and Producer PJ Fishwick, Line Producer Claire Connelly, and Associate Producers Philip S. Plowden and Jon Parker have announced the full cast and creative team for the independent Feature Film DIG TWO GRAVES. The new thriller written by Hunter Adams and Jeremy Phillips, is being directed by Hunter Adams and has begun filming in and around the Shawnee National Forest area of Southern Illinois.

"We are thrilled to have filmmakers utilize Illinois' picturesque scenery," said IFO Managing Director Betsy Steinberg.

Dig Two Graves is filming in a number of Southern Illinois' unique and scenic locations including the Cypress Swamps of the Cache River, the Tunnel Hill State Trail and Cave-in-Rock State Park as well as the historic antebellum A.J. Kuykendall Home in Vienna.

Ted Levine (Shutter Island; American Gangster; Silence of the Lambs) in the role of "Sheriff Waterhouse" and Danny Goldring (The Dark Knight; Chicago Overcoat; The Fugitive) as "Proctor" lead the cast. 14-year-old newcomer and Oklahoma native, Sami Isler stars in the role of "Jake Mather." They are joined by Troy Ruptash (30 Days of Night Dark Days; Tortilla Soup) as "Wyeth." Mikush Lleshdedaj and Chicago actors Bradley Grant Smith, Kara Zediker, Ryan Kitley, Mark Lancaster, Dean Evans, Audrey Francis, Ann Sonneville, Bert Matias, Sauda Namir, Ben Schneider, and Southern Illinois native Gabe Cain round out the cast.

The creative team for Dig Two Graves is being led by: Eric Maddison (Director of Photography); Merje Veski (Production Designer); Lizzie Cook (Costume Designer); Rebekah Lieto (Hair & Make-Up Design); Matt Miller (Casting); Tom Lowell (Stunts); Jay Appleberry (Special Effects); Ron Forsythe (Gaffer); Sarah Schooley (Script Supervisor); Danny Rodriguez (Sound Mixer); Matt Stratton (Armorer); and Buddy Hickerson (Storyboard Artist). Southern Illinois native and college professor Tony Gerard is serving as the Fixer and Animal Wrangler, and local historian and author Jon Musgrave is working closely with the Locations Department.

ABOUT THE WRITER/DIRECTOR
Raised in the north woods of Wisconsin on beer and wild boar Hunter Adams, 32, brings his slightly off-kilter worldview to his films, whether it's romance, comedy, or in the case of his latest project, Dig Two Graves, a gothic thriller of revenge and buried secrets. Adams' previous writing and directing efforts include his first feature film, The Hungry Bull, and the short film Hollywood Beat which won the audience award at the 2011 Los Angeles Comedy Festival. The Hungry Bull was a whiskey-soaked comedy about obsessive love that traced the unlikely friendship of two miscreants as they sought redemption from their trouble pasts. It screened at the American Cinematheque's Emerging Filmmaker Series in Hollywood. Adams graduated Phi Beta Kappa at University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2003.

Log Line:
The mysterious death of a young boy triggers the unearthing of a town's long buried secrets.

Synopsis

One part gothic thriller, one part black comedy and one part Dickensian mystery, Dig Two Graves dramatizes the cycle of violence that perpetuates itself over generations in a small backwoods town. The story centers on Jacqueline, a 14-year-old girl nicknamed "Jake" by her older brother Sean. After Sean mysteriously disappears at a rock quarry, Jake is visited by three Moonshiners who offer to bring her dead brother back to life in exchange for taking another life. As Jake wrestles with this morally uncertain proposition, the dark history of her family is unearthed and the mystery surrounding the Moonshiners is illuminated.

The Moonshiners are portrayed in the tradition of the Shakespearean witches from Macbeth. While the tone of the film blends realism with mysticism, the motives and powers of the Moonshiners, like the Shakespearean witches, are largely ambiguous. Are they in possession of supernatural powers or are they tricksters preying upon human fallibility to unleash destruction into the world? The answers to these questions are revealed only in the final moment of the story.

Ultimately, the film is about family and the lengths we are willing to go to in order to protect those we love. The film also calls into question the notion of good and evil, and heroes and villains, suggesting instead an infinite shade of moral grey. At what point does the victim, in a relentless pursuit of vengeance, become the victimizer? The title, Dig Two Graves, is a reference to a Confucian proverb that warns, "When embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

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