Arts & Entertainment

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Photo by Angie Baan

Little Red Devil investors and scene extras Dr. Stuart Gildenberq and Suzanne
Gildenberq of West Bloomfield and Dr. David and Jolie Altman of Birmingham

A week after the nightclub shoot, E.T. actress Dee Wallace-Stone, center, with Alan
and Arlene Gildenberg, arrived to film her scenes.

Film Family from page 37

level of misinformation (one respected
Web site said Baldwin was arrested in
Detroit), everyone on Little Red Devil
kept on working as if nothing unusual was
happening. And Daniel Baldwin found
that Detroit in February was a surprisingly
warm place to be, even for a fallen angel.
"I've done a lot of things in my career;
this is my 75th film;' says Baldwin,"but
I've never played the Devil. What I liked
about doing it, when I talked with Tommy,
was that it didn't have to be some big,
grandiose thing. There's something to be
said about less is more, particularly in
film. And to be able to play a very cool,
calm, calculated Lucifer was what attract-
ed me."
Both Baldwin and James Russo (long-
time friends who had never appeared
onscreen together before Little Red
Devil) describe their dealings with the
Skeleton Factory as refreshingly straight-
forward. What they were offered was what
they received, a far cry from the usual
push-and-pull and give-and-take of nego-
tiating a film role, even in an independent
production. And both respected the dedi-
cation and professionalism of Todd and
Tommy Brunswick.
"So many movies you work on, you
don't know what you're getting into;'
explains James Russo. "It's nice to see a
husband and wife working together and
having fun with it. They really have a very
good balance."

38 March 8 • 2007

Also starring in the film, a supernatural
thriller about a young man's journey of
self-discovery as he searches for his miss-
ing girlfriend and encounters the forces
of good and evil, is Dee Wallace-Stone, of
E.T. fame, who arrived a week after the
other Hollywood stars to film her scenes.
"She was very friendly to everyone in
our cast and crew and her acting was
remarkable says Arlene Gildenberg.
"Having an actress of her caliber on this
project was incredibly exciting, and we
can't wait to work with her on another film
by the Skeleton Factory in the future."

The Business
With extensive experience in both
advertising and corporate-industrial
film production, the Brunswicks formed
Crossbow 5 Entertainment in 2000 and
quickly completed their first feature, Biker
Zombies from Detroit. In that film,
Tommy, now 36, produced and handled
the special effects, and Todd, now 37, was
the director, cinematographer and editor,
although these aren't strictly defined roles.
Collaboration is what makes the partner-
ship work.
In the half-dozen films they've made
together, including 2004's Mr. Jingles
(released on DVD last summer by influ-
ential distributor LionsGate), Lurking
Terror (2001), Writer's Block (2004),
and They Must Eat! (2006), the multi-
hyphenates took on a number of roles,

even making onscreen cameos.
On the set of Little Red Devil, which
they call a supernatural thriller, Todd
functions as the producer who makes
sure that Tommy the director gets what
she needs. With a larger budget, they have
more people working for them, but both
remain hands-on and are devoted to the
crew members who have been key to their
prolific output.
That work ethic impressed the
Gildenbergs when they first encountered
the Brunswicks through their son, Eric,
whose interest in acting and writing led
him to invest his bar mitzvah money in
2005's The Remake, as well as playing a
small role on camera.
Alan Gildenberg, who accompanied Eric
(then still a minor) to the remote location
up north near Hillman, Mich., where the
cast and crew camped out for the four-day
shoot, marveled at the filmmakers' com-
mitment and their cost-effective methods.
He was enthusiastic, but it was Arlene,
Alan says, who saw the real potential and
became a major investor.
Arlene, whose background is in special
education, not filmmaking, was impressed
by the Brunswicks' accomplishments, even
though she is not a big fan of horror mov-
ies per se.
"Watching Todd and Tommy work:' says
Arlene, "I love their passion, I love their
enthusiasm. They were making things
happen. With more financial backing, we

took it to the next level."

Family Ties
It was the beginning of a mutually benefi-
cial relationship between the two families,
each with three children.
The Brunswicks, who live in Milford,
have three boys, aged 11, 8 and 6.
Rounding out the Gildenberg family
— both Alan, 49, and Arlene, 48 grew up
in Southfield and attended Southfield-
Lathrup — are son Eric's two sisters,
Elyse, 21, and Jamie, 13.
Elyse is a senior at Michigan State
University and will be moving back home
to student teach in an upper elementary
classroom in Metro Detroit next fall.
Elyse also is an extra in Little Red Devil.
Audiences will see her stepping out of a
limo in a nightclub scene.
Jamie is an eighth-grader at Orchard
Lake Middle School in West Bloomfield
and has been dancing for 10 years. The
budding performer stars as cheerleader
Patty Simcox in her school's March 30
production of Grease. She's hoping her
mom's movie company will produce a
children's film one day.
Meanwhile, Eric, a senior at West
Bloomfield High School who will attend
MSU in the fall, has performed in 10
productions during his high-school
career. Last year, in the 2006 Michigan
Interscholastic Forensics Association state
WBHS received first-place honors