For Immediate Release
Dewey Decimal Productions
(231) 720-0930
TIMELY PILOT ERROR SET FOR COLORADO PREMIERE
FORT COLLINS – Pilot Error, the up to the minute feature film inspired by the true story of a French airliner missing in the Atlantic, is set for its Colorado premiere at the Lyric Cinema Cafe, June 16 and 17. The film screens at 6:30 p.m. followed by training pilot and meteorologist talkbacks. Determined to make flying safer, investigative reporter Nicola Wilson exposes an astonishing series of coverups. As Nicola digs deeper and deeper into this mystery she puts her job, friends and very livelihood on the line. Even though she knows nothing about aviation, refuses to fly and doesn’t speak French, Nicola upstages the secretive industry in her two year quest for answers. Was it preventable? Has it happened before? Could it happen again? And was it PILOT ERROR? This aviation drama is the screen debut of acclaimed actress Portage, Michigan. She is joined by Richard Riehle (Office Space), Robert Cicchini (Godfather III), Larry Herron (Modern Family) and Deborah Staples (Milwaukee Repertory Theater). A woman’s empowerment film, Pilot Error has been hailed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as “a first class ticket.”
Veteran airline training pilots Michael Hahn and Don Dobias will appear June 16 and 17. In addition staff scientist Cathy Kessinger of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Aviation Applications Program will join the June 16 talkback. Her work is central to improving transoceanic weather forecasting, a problem that has contributed to a number of airline accidents. The movie explores many of the same questions being asked following the loss of another jet, Malaysia Air 370, in March. Thomsen, who is making her screen debut, plays the role of investigative reporter Nicola Wilson. She is determined to find out why a jet headed from South America to Paris disappeared in the Atlantic, taking her close friend and 211 other passengers with it. How, Wilson wants to know, can a plane just disappear? Thomsen, a distinguished stage actress received a special Irene Ryan award for her undergraduate work on the Kennedy Center stage in Washington D.C., and earned her MFA at the University of California-Irvine. She currently lives in Portage, Michigan with her husband Travis, a middle school principal, and their two young children.
The film was produced by author Roger Rapoport who who wrote a book on the 2009 French airplane crash that inspired this drama. Costarring Hollywood actors Richard Riehle (“Office Space”) Robert Cicchini (“Godfather III” and “Waterwalk”), and Larry Herron (“Modern Family”) the movie features many prominent Midwestern actors, including
Deborah Staples, Jennifer Jelsema, Julia Glander (Meadowbrook), and Purple Rose actors Alex Leydenfrost and Michael Brian Ogden. Pilot Error was shot in Michigan Milwaukee and France.
Pilot Error follows up on the success of Rapoport’s first film Waterwalk (2012), which has played at over 200 theaters nationwide. “Our goal is to encourage more hands-on training and simulator training at a time when the industry is increasingly focused on automation,” he explains.
Pilot Error is edited by Gene Gamache, who has won many awards for his work on major studio film marketing campaigns and trailers ranging from Forrest Gump to 12 Years A Slave. He also produced the documentary Houdini. The film’s score is composed by Emmy Award-winner Garth Neustadter. Grand Haven based Cinematographer David Darling worked with well-known Detroit director of photography Bruce Schermer, who shot most of Roger & Me and was cinematographer on Sundance grand prize winning Chameleon Street.
Pilot Error is based on five years of research and interviews with more than 200 pilots, airline executive, plane manufacturers, regulatory agencies and the team that found missing Air France 447 in the Atlantic. The script and Rapoport’s forthcoming novel Pilot Error offer audiences an inside look at the fate of pilots unfortunately kept in the dark about failed automation. “Top airline training pilots speaking at our preview events have been warmly received by audiences trying to understand how, in the most interconnected moment in human history, it’s never been easier to hide the truth,” says Rapoport.
The film’s trailer is at vimeo.com/110034584 and the website is piloterrormovie. com The Lyric Cinema Cafe is located at 300 E. Mountain Avenue, Fort Collins. Phone 970 493-0893. Website lyriccinemacafe.com
To arrange an interview with Kate Thomsen contact her at
[email protected] or call 424-634-9950. To arrange an interview
with producer Roger Rapoport call 231-730-0930 or email him at
[email protected]