Into the Darkness (film)

A group of friends descend upon a remote wilderness area in celebration of Ridge and Allie's return after a year spent out West. Their decision to embark on a short exploration of a nearby cave turns into a horrific struggle for survival.[3]

• Mischa Barton as Allie.
• Wolfgang Weber as Ridge, a young outdoor enthusiast who moves out West seeking adventure for a short period with high school sweetheart Allie.
• John Schneider as Richard.
• Kiowa Gordon as Brad, a competitive and arrogant outdoor enthusiast. Brad is Ridge's best friend since childhood and Katelyn's boyfriend.
• Anna Enger as Summer.
• Dalal Bruchmann as Katelyn, a glamorous young girl and former beauty queen with high hopes for the future. She's not into the outdoors as much as the other but always goes along for the ride.
• Toby Hemingway as Chase.
• Russ Russo as Wes, Ridge's older brother and a member of the local rescue squad. Wes loves the outdoors much like his brother but is looked upon as the more responsible of the two. Wes also has deep feelings for Stacy though their friendship stands as a barrier between them.
• Louis Mandylor as Mel, Rescue Commander of the local rescue unit sent in to find the lost cavers.
• Brad Kaplan as Allie's father, a cool and usually casual semi-retired hippie who becomes increasingly concerned for Allie's welfare and safety as the movie progresses.
• Candace Keaton as Candi, a voluptuous tourist that finds her way, to her great misfortune, twisted unknowingly into the lives of the others.
• Ronnie Patel as Eli, a young fraternity brother who likes to start trouble when drunk. He is Allie's ex-boyfriend.
• Darian O'Rear as Mary Ann, a young girl who was separated from her parents while on a family camping trip. Allie and Katelyn find her in the cave.
• Alexa Nikolas as Elsa.
• Stacy, J.T., and Gavin has yet to be cast along with other characters. Casting for the remaining roles will begin in October 2009.

Originally, Into the Darkness was a short story developed by the writers in January 2009 and was put on hold due to collaboration of their schedules. After surprising and sudden interest in the story from producers in the southeast, the writers decided to further develop their short story into an independent film. The concept for the film was developed in March 2009 and a first edition of the screenplay was ready by May. From there, the writers began talking with a small production company based out of Kentucky that took interest in the film. Instead, the writers formed a new production company called Moser Productions LLC. Later, a second production company, Chain Gang Films came on board as an associate company to help produce the film. Before production of the trailer, it was announced that Clint Brandel would direct the film. The promotional trailer for Into the Darkness was set to film in early August. Due to a conflict in schedule with the production of the Miss Universe 2009 pageant, Clint Brandel was unable to direct the trailer. In his place, a new director to the film industry and recent Watkin's film school graduate, Dustin Masters directed the trailer instead. The production companies are in talks with a number of directors and seek to start principal photography in May 2010.

Casting for Into the Darkness began in June 2009, originally in association with the small production company that first took interest in the film. An Open Call was held in the small town of McMinnville, Tennessee, one of the film's filming locations, in which talent flew across country and some drove several hours to attend.[4] Later, after the writers developed their own company, Moser Productions re-released the breakdown and opened the casting to talent in Los Angeles, New York City, and the Southeast. After much debate, they finally found the perfect cast. Wolfgang Weber, a new and rising star out of Los Angeles whose credits include Nip/Tuck and CSI: Miami, was chosen to play the role of Ridge, Kiowa Gordon, a talented young actor who plays Embry Call in Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse, was chosen to play the role of Brad, Anna Enger, a talented actress from Atlanta and whose recent work includes indie film Savage and Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva, was chosen to play Summer, and Dalal Bruchmann, a beautiful Austrian film and television actress who's making her debut in the United States, was chosen to play Katelyn. Rounding out the cast is Russ Russo, a remarkable actor out of New York City and now Los Angeles with several films and television series under his belt, was chosen to play the role of Wes, Ronnie Patel, a newcomer out of Alabama who's new to the entertainment industry, is making his feature film debut as Eli, and Darian O'Rear, a young eight-year-old actress out of Atlanta whose credits include Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson, plays the role of Mary Ann. A young, new actress from Tennessee, Candace Keaton, known for national news publicity of the 2005 Pamela Rogers Turner controversy, makes her debut on the screen as tourist, Candi. Famous world champion freestyle kayaker and owner of Jackson Kayak, Eric "EJ" Jackson, is also signed on to film. Louis Mandylor of My Big Fat Greek Wedding will be playing the role of Mel. The producers are looking to cast the remaining roles, including the principal roles of J.T. and Stacy and supporting roles, Gavin and Summer, after the trailer's debut in October.

The O.C. actress, Mischa Barton was cast as the protagonist, Allie.

The trailer for Into the Darkness was filmed in early August. The trailer was shot in two days, around the 8th and 9th, in Middle Tennessee with an estimated budget of $12K. Locations included Great Falls at Rock Island State Park, Lost Creek Waterfall and Cave, and Cumberland Caverns.[5] The director of photography, Nate Tieman of Los Angeles, filmed the trailer using the Red One camera. The trailer was directed by Dustin Masters and produced by Paul Moser of Moser Productions LLC. They only needed part of the cast to make the trailer. The actors playing the leads and other actors playing key characters to better set up the scenes that participated in the trailer include: Kiowa Gordon, Wolfgang Weber, Anna Enger, Dalal Bruchmann, Russ Russo, Ronnie Patel, Brad Kaplan, Candace Keaton, Samuel Doak, Jade Moser and Darian O'Rear. The trailer is set to debut in October and behind the scenes images have been released on the film's official sites. The first cast promotional image featuring the main four was released on September 8, 2009. The promotional poster for the trailer is rumored to be released a week before the debut of the trailer.[6]

Into the Darkness is scheduled to begin shooting in October 2010 in Georgia with a slated 2011 release date. Filming will also take place in Middle Tennessee. The production companies, Moser Productions and Chain Gang Films, is rumored to use the same locations as the trailer in addition to some new ones. Tentative locations include: Great Smoky Mountains National Park in East Tennessee and Blue Spring Cave in Sparta, Tennessee. As with the trailer, the film will shoot on the RED ONE.[7]

• Into the Darkness at IMDb