EXCLUSIVE: The Holdovers and Tony star Dominic Sessa is headlining Weston Razooli‘s new sprawling action movie Shades of Paradise, we understand.
Razooli wrote and directed the pic, which is set and recently wrapped in Spain. Shades of Paradise follows four small-time criminals who are thrown into an odyssey of violence and betrayal following a jewel-heist. The movie was shot on 2-perf 35mm film by Simone D’Arcangelo (The Settlers).
Also starring are Jack Dylan Grazer, Naira Lleo, Najwa Nimri, Rojuu, Zack Harrod, Teru Castilla Serrano, Romann Berrux, Rhys Mitchell and Stanislav Baretsky. Oscar-nominated producer Andrew Morrison of Kaplan Morrison produced the project.
Razooli’s debut feature as a writer and director was Riddle of Fire, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and later played TIFF’s Midnight Madness banner. Razooli also starred, edited and made the costumes and props for Riddle of Fire.
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Additional Producers for the project include Mark Lampert, Oleg Nodelman and Michael D’Alto. EPs are David Kaplan for Kaplan Morrison, along with Elisa Lleras, Alba Barneda, Marta Cruanas, Claude Amadeo, Randal Sandler, Chris Triana, Heather Nodelman, Michael Barasch, Candy Barasch, Jesse Ozeri, Otto Eckstein, Julia Barasch, Samarth Kulkarni, Anastasiya Siro, Marlowe Griffin Lyddon, Jack Chinery, Brendan Lyddon, Magnus Thomassen, Raju Prasad and Garrett Cayton.
Sessa plays a young Anthony Bourdain opposite Antonio Banderas, Leo Woodall and Stavros Halkias in the A24 feature film Tony directed by Matt Johnson. Before that, Sessa starred in Stephanie Laing’s feature film Tow opposite Rose Byrne, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. His credits also include Now You See: Now You Don’t and Oh. What. Fun. The actor made his feature film debut starring as Angus Tully in Alexander Payne’s Oscar-winning The Holdovers, earning a BAFTA Award nom for Best Supporting Actor and winning Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards. The actor is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson Teller. Razooli is repped by Range Media Partners and Granderson Des Rochers
Kaplan Morrison is a New York-based production company founded by producers David Kaplan and Morrison. Their first three films under the banner are Brady Corbet’s Best Picture Oscar nominee The Brutalist; Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, which was nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe for Amanda Seyfried; and Beth de Araujo’s Josephine, which won this year’s Grand Jury Prize and Audience Awards at Sundance. They just wrapped production on David Robert Mitchell’s They Follow in L.A. and are producing Corbet’s next feature.
