'Shadow Boxing' is a 'Dark Family Drama' that's part 'Karate Kid,' Inspired by True Events and Features Eye-catching Post-production Visuals

    LOS ANGELES, CA, September 15, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The forthcoming impactful and gripping feature drama film, "Shadow Boxing," is the latest title out of Hollywood to feature the outstanding post-production talents of Roy Yu Sun.

Written and directed by Ryan Taylor Lopez, "Shadow Boxing" is a coming of age tale with themes reminiscent to "The Karate Kid" but with darker material that's inspired by true events.

"It is inspired by a true story," Lopez said. "Someone was nice enough to trust me. It is probably the definition of a passion project."

The film follows the story of Anne - played by Samm Wiechec ("Exit Zero") - whose life changes when she reunites with her estranged father by taking up boxing under his training. Troubled by her own self-destructive behavior, a deteriorating relationship with her mother and the scars of previously kept secret molesting by her step father, Anne builds the courage to face her personal woes so that she can finally move her life forward.

"Shadow Boxing is a training exercise where you work on your punches to warm up before you train," Lopez said. "The main character is fighting with her own personal demons. It's sort of been inside of her and rotting away at her. She's essentially fighting herself or Shadow Boxing."

The movie is a White Shoe Box, LLC production and was produced by Helene Gonze ("Nefas: The Demon Within," "The Escape"). Also starring are Steve Luna ("Shades of Gray"), Jill Remez ("The Green Hornet") and Paul Nygro ("You Again"). Artiom Maksimov handled cinematography and previously collaborated with Sun on the award-winning short, "The Washing Machine."

For "Shadow Boxing," Sun worked in the critical role of colorist, where he was charged the task of maintaining and perfecting the movie's visual consistency. His job ensures that the appearance of each frame is a mistake-free, cohesive delivery that enhances the texture and thematic tone conveyed by a film's story.

"What Roy brought to the table was the overall look of the film," Lopez said. "If you watch the movie, it's very much on his shoulders to deliver that. I think he did fantastic."

Sun is from Wuhu, a city positioned in the southeast region of the Anhui province of China. This year alone, he has worked on more than a dozen movies as a colorist and digital intermediate conform artist.

Collaborating now with the renowned Roush Media in color grading, finishing and mastering, Sun's work has appeared in the recent hit "War Room" that released last month through Sony Pictures and has already grossed more than $39 million in worldwide box office sales, the award-winning "Faith of Our Fathers," the action drama, "Beyond the Mask," UPtv's movie-of-the-week, "Love Finds You in Charm," the three-time award-winning romantic drama, "Old Fashioned" and "Lady Bathory" (AKA "Lady of Csejte") starring Isabelle Allen ("Les Miserables") and Svetlana Khodchenkova ("The Wolverine").

Serving also as post-production supervisor for "Shadow Boxing," Sun worked in tandem with the film's visual effects, sound and music units to help oversee all of the finishing work after editing was complete.

"This film is a really dark family drama," Sun said. "Color sets up the tone. The main focus is to create a sad tone overall like the story. It's a desaturated, coldish look."

Lopez said the overall aim was for a high-contrast appearance. The cinematic atmosphere reflected the thematic tone of each individual scene - whether light or dark - without much middle ground.

Sun was up to the task. "He was probably one of the most important people in post-production," Lopez said. "Each scene has a particular color to it. We picked out colors that worked best for each location. It's hard to be a tone manager. I'm just there to kind of steer things along a more specific line."

The movie was shot in Los Angeles with the industry leading RED digital camera utilizing stock Kodak film along with digital images with applied focus.

"Everything has to really enforce that tone," Lopez said. "It's not just the location, the actors or the music. It is the color correction. The look of the film is vital to reinforcing whatever tone the movie is supposed to have."

Making his mark in the film and TV industries, Sun has amassed more than 35 credits in the last two years. He directed, wrote and produced the short film "The Decisive Moment" - which was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award - and "Fart Rudy," which won the Best Creative Film Award at the 2013 Golden Pomegranate Micro Film Festival. His 2012 short film, "My Health," won the Best Creative Film Award at the 1st China University Student Film Competition.

Sun worked as colorist for Arturo Vargas' award-winning short, "Aero" and for the short, "Gone with the Sin," from award-winning producer Melissa K. Webb. On television, he performed as colorist for episodes of the comedy series "Dating Disasters" and "2Fur1," from Why Wait Productions. His color grading also showed up last month in an online GQ magazine exclusive promo video for Philipp Plein, a luxury German fashion brand.

For more information, visit: http://tinyurl.com/RoyIMDb and http://www.roysun.me/

"Shadow Boxing" is eyeing a film festival premiere and distribution thereafter. Official announcements are forthcoming. For more information, updates and news visit: http://tinyurl.com/ShadowBoxingFacebook

Watch the trailer here: http://tinyurl.com/ShadowBoxingTrailer

"Shadow Boxing" is a drama film written and directed by Ryan Taylor Lopez.

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