USA: AMERICAN FILM PREMIERE OF MOVIE "ON THE LINE" PRODUCED BY TWO MEMBERS OF N'SYNC BAND

Record ID: 392105

  • Title: USA: AMERICAN FILM PREMIERE OF MOVIE "ON THE LINE" PRODUCED BY TWO MEMBERS OF N'SYNC BAND
  • Date: 7th October 2001
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 7) (REUTERS) SCU SOUNDBITE (English) LANCE BASS SAYING I felt prepared for it, you know, for six years of our career it feels like every day of our life is in on camera, doing videos, just, you're always, I mean, and you're doing theater, basically, in front of 50 thousand people a night, so, the confidence was definitely th
  • Embargoed: 22nd October 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6LYG199LF158LPWAYT8BFSIWH
  • Story Text: After conquering the world of pop music, two members of the hugely popular boy band N'Sync, Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, are making their first foray into the world of feature films with "On the Line," a youth-targeted romantic comedy which celebrated its World Premiere recently in New York.
    Bass, a 22-year-old Mississippi native set up a movie production company earlier this year, naming it A Happy Place, and is holding meetings like everyone else in Hollywood. The difference is that while most budding producers have only hefty lunch tabs to show for years of pitching projects, Bass has unapologetically used his fame to get on the fast track.
    "You know, music is so wary of actors coming over and actors are wary of musicians coming over, but we're all entertainers, you know?," he told Reuters in a recent interview at a Beverly Hills hotel.
    "Some stay in their own field but then there's those in the middle that want to do both and why not? You know, we have fun doing it."
    The first project, "On The Line,'' opened across the United States and Canada on Friday, October 26 through Miramax Films. Bass is the star and served as an executive producer.
    Fellow 'N Syncer, co-star and best friend Fatone describes his participation: "Basically Lance came and approached me with the project -- he didn't want to make it, like, an N'Sync project but me and him always talked about it."
    This $10 million romantic comedy won't be the one to send Bass to the stage on Oscar night. Daily Variety described it as a "perfectly harmless, often humorous, featherweight confection.'' Bass stars as Kevin Gibbons, a minor functionary at a Chicago ad firm who's chronically unable to catch his romantic pursuits.
    The film starts off showing Kevin as a high school band lead vocalist who turns tongue-tied and flop-sweaty when he tries to serenade the girl of his dreams. In present day, he hasn't hasn't really changed all that much.
    At 26, Kevin still hangs out with three former schoolmates: Rod (Fatone), a bar-band singer with dreams of a songwriting career; Eric (hip-hop comic GQ), a manic underachiever; and Randy (James Bulliard), a bookish type.
    Buddies urge Kevin to loosen up, take more chances and, while he's at it, chase a few ladies now and then. Trouble is, Kevin is too much of a milquetoast for his own good.
    Fortune smiles on the pleasant young man late one afternoon when he encounters a vivacious young woman while riding the train. As they chat, Kevin discovers Abbey (Emmanuelle Chriqui) shares his deep appreciation for Al Green, as well as his eccentric ability to name every U.S.
    president. Obviously, they're made for each other. But he can't quite work up the nerve to ask for her name and number, and manages only a melancholy grimace as she appears to walk out of his life.
    Never say never.
    Kevin finally starts to forge a backbone for himself after a haughtily ambitious co-worker (Tamala Jones) swipes his idea for a Reebok ad campaign.
    Sufficiently fired up to make an atypically bold move, he plasters much of greater metropolitan Chicago with attention-grabbing flyers with his name and number, hoping to somehow connect with Abbey.
    News of his desperate search spreads throughout the city, thanks in part to coverage by a cynical newspaper columnist (Dan Montgomery) with a long-standing grudge against Kevin.
    Unfortunately, the publicity only serves to generate lots of calls from the wrong women. Even more unfortunately, Kevin's buddies volunteer to screen the respondents by making dates with any female who phones. When Abbey finally does try to contact Kevin, she winds up meeting the boorish Eric.
    The movie is based on a well-received short written by screenwriters Eric Aronson and Paul Stanton, who expanded their original script to feature length.
    The film was directed by Eric Bross in 33 days earlier this year, with the cast and crew shuttling between Toronto and location shots in Chicago.
    The only surprise about this movie is that the producers managed to rope in storied musicians, including soul legend Al Green for a cameo.
    While pop star vehicles are traditionally box office poison -- witness recent cinematic efforts by Madonna and Mariah Carey -- Bass hopes to reach an audience beyond his core fan base of undiscerning pubescent girls.
    Noting the production company's name, Bass doubts he will risk upsetting his little girl fans by churning out violent slashers or wild sex romps. He also believes his years of live performing have helped with his new career.
    "For six years of our career it feels like every day of our life is in on camera, doing videos, and you're doing theater, basically, in front of 50 thousand people a night, so, the confidence was definitely there. I knew I could do it. It's just, it's different because there isn't that straight reaction from your fans and every little thing is picked up by film so, you know, be very subtle instead of very big."
    Bass now has a project he hopes will eventually win him a best-picture Oscar, placing him in the same company as his mentor and two-time Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks.
    The project is "The Children of Willesden Lane,'' a fact-based drama about a young Jewish refugee who flees Nazi Austria in the ``kindertransport'' program and pursues her musical dreams in London.
    In the meantime, Bass has his 'N Sync job, which has provided him with unimaginable wealth and fame over the past six years.
    A Happy Place has offered a more creative outlet, but also renewed his enthusiasm for 'N Sync. Teen pop may have lost some steam in the past year, but Bass sees his band lasting "several more years.''
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