reprinted from

Posted on Wed, Jul. 12, 2006

 

Local writer's next project a go

 

MOVIES

Local writer's next project a go

Marine-on-St.-Croix writer Shawn Lawrence Otto's new screenplay is headed for the big screen.

Otto, whose last film was "House of Sand and Fog," with Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, wrote "Dreams of a Dying Heart." It will be produced by Focus Features, the company behind "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Brokeback Mountain," and directed by Sanaa Hamri, who made last spring's romantic drama "Something New."

"Dreams of a Dying Heart" is about a female chopper pilot, shot down in Iraq, who is grappling with her own survival and the needs of her family back home. "I'm very excited about this moving forward. It will be a very cool movie," says Otto.

The lead role has not been cast, but it calls for someone in the Julianne Moore-Nicole Kidman-Julia Roberts age range.

— Chris Hewitt