Battle in Seattle

Vancouver, B.C. Onsight Studios is pleased to announce that filming will begin November 1, 2006, for its new feature, Battle in Seattle, starring Academy Award winner Charlize Theron ( Monster), Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson ( The People vs. Larry Flynt) and international hip hop sensation Andre Benjamin of Outkast. Written and directed by Stuart Townsend ( Queen of the Damned), the film is based on the 1999 World Trade Organization riots that caused approximately $20 million worth of looting and damage to the city's downtown core.

Made with a budget of under $10 million, the independent feature was jointly produced by Kirk Shaw of Insight Film Studios in Vancouver and Mary Aloe of Proud Mary Entertainment in Los Angeles. The film, shot primarily on location in Vancouver, will debut next year.

"Even though the feature is being made on a modest budget by movie industry standards, it's instantly perceived as a "big" picture once you cast a major international star like Charlize Theron,"� says Shaw. "Because of the film's star power and contentious subject matter, it's being highly anticipated by both media and moviegoers alike.�

In the vein of the Oscar-winning film Crash, Battle in Seattle's script weaves together the stories of an ensemble cast while tackling the controversial issue of the 1990 WTO riots. In 1999, tens of thousands of activists halted the organization's first ministerial meeting on soil. For five days, the riots brought the downtown area to a standstill, with police driving back unarmed protesters with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. Political fallout from the event played a part in the resignation of former Police Chief Norm Stamper and the failure of former Mayor Paul Schell to win a re-election bid in 2001.

But the movie is careful not to take sides, Aloe explains: "The lead characters run from protesters to pedestrians to police to politicians. We did not want to give only one point of view. When you see the movie, you'll find lots of gray areas. It's neither sympathetic nor unsympathetic to protesters and police."�

Incorporated in 1990, Insight Film Studios is Western Canada's fastest growing independent production company. It ranks as the region's single largest High-Definition television producer and as one of the top ten production companies in . The company's client list includes all national Canadian networks, as well as ABC Family, WB Kids, Sony, PAX TV, NHK Japan, MTV, Lifetime, Discovery US, Cinetel, Blockbuster US, TFI France and Telecinco Spain.

Headed by Mary Aloe, Proud Mary Entertainment, Inc., is a company dedicated to discovering and producing exceptional stories for television and theatrical release.