Set photos from 'Killers Trilogy'

Click each photo for a larger view.

Cameron Stewart is in the 2nd photo with the knife in his hand.

Sources: JulesStewart LibertineFilms TomWright 

New Photo of Cameron Stewart, Kate del Castillo & Luis Moncada

Click on pic for full view

Thanks @tomwright721 for sharing.

Video: K-11's actors & crew talk about working with Jules Stewart

Thank you @K11OfficialFilm

New movie still of Cameron Stewart as 'Sledgehammer'

 

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Cameron Stewart in his onscreen debut as "Sledgehammer" in ‪K-11

Source LibertineFilms

Jules Stewart talks to Cable TV about K-11 - Part 1

K-11, directed by Jules Stewart (better known as Kristen Stewart’s mom) will be on DVD and Blu-Ray April 23rd. The film tells the story of record producer Raymond Saxx, Jr. (played by Goran Visnjic) after he ends up in a jail cell unit for gay and transgendered inmates.

In an exclusive interview, Stewart discussed the film, what it’s like to be a first-time director, and how she deals with having a famous daughter.

How did you get started in this project?

JS: Well, I was working on a television pilot and a young man named Jarred Kurt came to me and said, “Hey I have an idea for a movie I want to write, and it’s about K-11.” I did some research and found out K-11 was real, and I read about 10 or 15 pages that he had written and I thought, “Wow, this is crazy. It’s amazing. Let’s do it.”

How was the process directing for the first time?

JS: It was awesome. It was really fun; I liked it a lot. You know I have been holding book for directors for 35 years, and just because you watch other people do something for so long doesn’t really mean you know how to do it. Let’s just say my learning curve was to the moon and back. I learned how important casting is. Casting is 99 percent of your movie — if you change one cast member, you have a different film. Pretty crazy.

Some people might say this movie is controversial…

JS: I was trying to target an adult audience. It’s not a controversy, it’s a fish-out-of-water story. It takes place in a jail that most people don’t even know exists. It’s an interesting environment. Never did I try to make political statements. All we ever wanted to do was tell a unique story that had never been told before.

One Twitter follower, @KS_Freckles sent in a question and wanted to know what the biggest challenge was shooting the movie?

JS: To get it done in time. I only had so many hours per day to shoot because they would throw us out at a certain time because they felt the facility was haunted so we had to be out by dark. I had to make my days — I had no choice. If I didn’t then we would lose scenes, and I didn’t want to do that.

Another twitter follower, @LoveLikeWhiskey, asked if you have any advice for young female writers/directors/filmmakers?

JS: Don’t give up thats my advice. It’s really hard to make an independent film in todays world, especially to get financing. Just don’t give up, keep going, you can do it.

@LouiseSarah46 asked if you could see Kristen Stewart as a director in the future and what advice would you give her

JS: Absolutely. Again, don’t give up. You can do it. If you have the idea and you have the imagination, you can do it. For Kristen, I think she is brilliant and she probably will be a writer/director/producer in the future.

A lot of Kristen’s fans have embraced you and are now your fans. How does that feel?

JS: I think it’s awesome. I am so proud of my daughter. I think in today’s world, she just knocked it out of the park. I am thrilled that she is her own person. She is smart and funny — she is Kristen. She is a unique commodity in this world, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. I would back her up in any situation.

Do you have any plans to work together?

JS: I am not writing anything specifically for her. I would love to work with her. As a writer/director, it’s fun to work with anyone who is extremely talented, who brings more to the character than you could even imagine yourself, and I think Kristen is one of those actresses.

Back to K-11, how was it working with your son Cameron?

JS: It was fun. I have been telling him what to do ever since he was born. That was easy. We had a good time together on that film. I have a really good relationship with both of my children. We have a lot of fun together. I listened to everything he had to say, and he listened to everything I had to say and it worked. We had a good time together.

Why should people go see this movie?

JS: Because it’s different. It’s fun. It’s unique. It’s an amazing character study.

Source Cable TV

Thanks to @Monica1236 for the interview.

Via @KstewAngel

New movie still of Cameron Stewart as 'Sledgehammer'

Source LibertineFilms

Photos of Cameron Stewart & Billy Morrison at the 'Dirty Little Secrets' radio interview - 7 April

Photos were taken at the 'Dirty Little Secrets' radio interview with Billy Morrison & Jules on Sunday 7 April. 

Cameron attended but didn't take part in the interview.

Hope we get a copy of the full interview for all to listen to.

Source ChloeDabbles

Cast member, Martin Pierron, shares cast photos on set

Click on pic for larger view.

Martin Pierron (top left to right) with Cameron, Markus, Kate, Portia, Luis and Billy.

Thanks to @RomeoScott for sharing.

Kate del Castillo's interview with 'The Advocate'

Mexican actress Kate del Castillo shines in K-11, the new prison thriller from director Jules Stewart (the mother of Twilight darling Kristen Stewart and her brother Cameron, who both have cameos in the film). Del Castillo plays a transgender woman named Mousey, who rules her dormitory with an iron, manicured fist. After a successful run on the festival circuit, K-11 is now screening in theaters and available On Demand.

Based on the real-life ward in the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, the film examines relationships between the gay men and trans women incarcerated for various crimes, then housed in a distinct ward to protect them from violence that might be committed against them in the general population. Del Castillo’s Mousey is captivating and nuanced, by turns sweet and vicious, one moment the villain, the next the victim.

Del Castillo left a prolific television career in her native Mexico to pursue the silver screen in the United States. She’s established herself as a crossover success with leading roles in the Fox Searchlight/Weinstein film Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna), to date the highest-grossing Spanish language theatrical release in the United States. She solidified her status with another starring role, in Telemundo’s Queen of the South (La Reina del Sur), a short-form, prime-time telenovela that attracted more than 8.1 million viewers in its first week on the air in 2011, making it the most successful telenovela premiere in the Web’s history, according to the Internet Movie Database.

But Del Castillo’s turn as Mousey in K-11 is arguably her most nuanced English-speaking performance to date. The Advocate spoke with del Castillo about being a nontrans actress playing a transgender character, her international appeal, and what she learned about the LGBT community while in this role.

The Advocate: You were tremendous in the film. What drew you to the role in the first place?

Kate del Castillo: Well, I was thrilled because… when I first read the script, I thought, OK, would I fit here? So I just love the fact that the director, Jules, thought outside the box and asked me, being a woman, to play the role. So that was a first. I was like, Oh, my God, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I was thrilled. And I talked to Jules a lot, trying to find that masculinity, but there is much more of a femininity that I have to be in touch with. So we worked on that, and I think that was the challenge for me as well as the risk. Because there was this very fine line to cross and not be a cartoon, with a role like that. So I had a lot of fun, and I absolutely adored working with Jules, and a role like this.

And how’s the reaction been when the film screened at festivals? 

It’s a hard movie. It’s a harsh movie. It’s not an easy movie. I think it’s doing very well in the festivals, and people are responding very well. There’s people that will like it and people that won’t like it — it’s just for a certain kind of people, maybe. In a way, because I’m a romantic and I will always be, to me, I think it’s also a love story. It is. So that’s the way I see the movie. I think it’s amazing. I think Jules did an amazing job with her opera prima.

You’ve made the jump from Spanish-speaking television to American film, but do you have any concern about playing a trans character, and how that might be received by some of your Latino fans?

I always like to do different things. As an actor, you’re always just wishing and dreaming about playing different characters. And that’s the way I’ve been doing things since I got here. And I left the soap opera — not only soap opera — but those TV things, in Mexico, and I came here. I was working already, but in different roles, and very different from what I was used to. So I think they love it. And they want to see me in different characters, and change my physicality, and not [be] watching the same Kate as always. I think that’s very nice for my fans.

Were you nervous at all to take on this role? 

Absolutely. But not because of that. We always, as actors, we are very insecure human beings. And of course, I was like, Oh, my God, am I going to be able to deliver it the way it should? Because, again, it’s a very fine line, and I don’t want to insult anybody, you know? It’s very delicate. So of course I was very nervous. And it was a big, big challenge. And I hate to talk good about me, but… You need to be very brave to play a role like that, because it’s a lot of risk.

Did you ever get a chance to visit the actual K-11 ward in L.A.?

I couldn’t because there were a lot of issues. They didn’t want us to go there. It was very hard for us to get there, so I couldn’t. But you know what, we shot the whole film inside a jail that was a real jail [that] they wanted to tear down.  And so the whole place was just scary as hell.

I believe that. When I spoke with director Stewart, she actually said that this was a “feel-good movie.” I was kind of surprised by that, because when I saw the film, I felt more like you — that it was a harsh film. It’s well-done, it’s a powerful film, and it affected me, but I wouldn’t say that it’s a feel-good movie, despite the resolution at the end. But what would you say to encourage folks to watch the film, or what would you like to tell folks before they see the film?

It’s very hard to label the movie with one word. It is a feel-good movie at the end. You know, you have revenge. But it’s also a harsh movie. I don’t know exactly, how can I label it? You just said it. It’s a very powerful film, with very colorful characters. Because it is about the characters in this small world inside a jail, and that we really cannot know about. So I think we learn a lot from the movie, about this place, and transgender human beings that we, unfortunately, don’t know a lot about. It’s there, but we really don’t know anything about them. So answering your question, I don’t know. I would say a very powerful movie in many ways.

Do you have any connections to the LGBT community personally, in your life?

No. Well, now I have a lot of friends [who are] transgender. But I’ve done things, and been a grand marshal at the Los Angeles Grand Bicentennial Parade and Festival [celebrating Mexico’s day of independence, in 2009]. I think they like me, and I love them, even before the movie. I am very happy because I learned a lot.

Mousey is such a fierce character, and I think the way you can flip on a switch between being very sweet and kind of coy to just being brutal, I think that was really impressive and believable for your character. 

Thank you so much, and I appreciate you saying that. Because it was a lot of risk and a big, big challenge for me. So I’m glad that you liked it. And yes, I think that she has those things. You feel sorry for her, and on the other hand, she’s a bitch. She is! So yes, she has that duality, which I love.

Did you do any research on transgender identities before you started filming? 

Yes, I did. I did as much as I could, on the Internet, and now you can do so much. And I remembered that amazing movie, Transamerica. So I tried to contact Felicity Huffman’s vocal coach there [Calpernia Addams and Andrea James] and I did, so she helped me a lot.

Watch Del Castillo interact with costars Goran Visnjic (ER), Jason Mewes (the Jay and Silent Bob series), and D.B. Sweeney in the film’s official trailer, below.

Source Advocate

K-11 featured in 'On the Red Carpet'

Kristen Stewart's mother, Jules Stewart, has made her directorial debut with the independent prison film "K-11," which was supposed to feature the 'Twilight' actress as a transgender inmate, suspected prostitute and rape victim.

The movie stars "ER" alum Goran Visnjic as a businessman who ends up in a GBT unit of a Los Angeles prison without any memory of how he got there. Inside, he deals with a transsexual "ruler" named Mousey as well as many insane cellmates and corrupt guards.

Kristen was supposed to play the supporting character Butterfly, an transgender inmate who was sent to jail for suspected prostitution and later raped by a fellow prisoner. The role went to Portia Doubleday (check out more info about "K-11" on its official website). Kristen ended up having a small part as a secretary, according to Us Weekly, which quoted Jules as saying that that she cast her daughter in the larger role six years ago, when she was shooting the first "Twilight" film, and that she would have done it justice.

"Kristen has a dark side," Jules told the magazine. "Kristen has the edge -- thank God, right?"

"She got really big and we were still really small and I was like, 'Go! Go do 'Snow White,' please, go make those big films honey, that's wonderful!'" Jules told Us Weekly."

Kristen's "Twilight" co-star, Nikki Reed, was also supposed to star in "K-11." She told MTV News in 2009 that she was originally cast as transsexual prostitute Mousy, a role Kate del Castillo ended up playing.

"It's a great project, and obviously I have a lot of faith in Kristen and her mom, Jules Stewart, who wrote the script and is directing it," Reed told the outlet at the time. "Kristen is playing a boy, and I am playing a man who is quite a few years older than she is."

"K-11" opens in select theaters on March 15. Jules talked to the Los Angeles Times about the difficulty in getting the movie made.

"You would think [it] would be really easy to get financiers if [Kristen] was attached, but it wasn't," Jules told the newspaper. "You can't take ['Twilight's'] Bella Swan and put her in jail with a bunch of transvestites and expect people to go, 'Oh yeah, no problem.'"

For the last 25 years, Kristen's mother, a native of Australia, worked as a script supervisor on movies such as "Little Giants," "Mortal Kombat," "Phantom," "Flubber" and "Jingle All The Way" as well as TV shows such as "Picket Fences," "The Practice" and "The Sarah Silverman Program."

Jason Mewes, who plays stoner Jay in many of friend Kevin Smith's comedy films, also appears in "K-11" as an inmate charged with possesion of an illegal substance with intent to deliver. Kristen's brother Cameron, 27, "K-11," also has a part in the movie, which marks his on-screen debut. He plays a prisoner named Sledgehammer.

Source On the Red Carpet

Video: Jules Stewart's interview with Marc Malkin on E! News (LQ)

Jules' interview starts at 0.48mins.

To watch the HD version of this interview and another part, click on the above screen-cap of Jules. (Video interview can't be embedded)

Kristen Stewart may have dropped out of her mom Jules Stewart's directorial debut, K-11, but that doesn't mean she isn't in the film.

Kristen makes a vocal cameo in the film about a businessman, Raymond Saxx (played by Goran Visnjic), who finds himself thrown into the gay and transsexual unit of a Los Angeles jail after he's arrested for drug use.

"We had one role that we couldn't find the right voice for and it's Raymond's secretary," Jules told me at her Libertine Films production offices in L.A. "As he's on the telephone frantically trying to call outside, trying to get information, his secretary answers the phone and talks to him, and that, in fact, is Kristen. It was perfect, because she came in at the very last second and banged it out. It was perfect."

The movie star’s mother manages to find a spot for Kristen Stewart in her directorial debut. Hear about the cool Easter egg..

Kristen had originally signed on to play Butterfly, a young transsexual woman who's in jail for murder.

"The timing was just bad and it also wasn't going to be a Kristen Stewart movie," Jules said. "She would be No. 4 on the list and she was willing to do it, but we acknowledged that the public wasn't willing to let her do that. She would be No. 4 [but] she would always be No. 1. That's really not fair for the other actors that really did drive the story it was better for everybody that she wasn't involved."

In K-11, Katie del Castillo costars as Mousy, an inmate who rules the unit with sex, drugs and violence. Stewart, who also cowrote the screenplay, tried to cast a male actor or a transgendered actress, but couldn't find the right fit. "It was easier to take a woman and ask her to play a man transitioning into a woman than it was to take a man and have him transition into a woman," she said. "I felt that the characters were much more believable and fierce with that feminine side."

Jules' son Cameron has a small role of a jailhouse baddie in the movie.

Nope, he doesn't want the kind of fame his sister has. "He's done a few things and he's willing to do things if it's the right project," Jules explained. "But he's not out there beating the sidewalk trying to get an acting job. He's a grip in the movie industry and he's quite happy doing that and he's quite successful."

She does hope to direct Kristen some day. "I don't think anybody in the hot seat, in the director's chair would turn down the opportunity to work with somebody who is really talented," Jules said.

For now, she's trying to get to the attention she's receiving for K-11 as well as the publicity she has to do for the flick. She's learned what to do—and not to do—when dealing with the press by watching her daughter.

Like?

"Well, not to touch my hair [during interviews], try not to be nervous," Jules said, adding, "I've learned a lot from my daughter. She's really smart and she's really funny and she's got a real solid handle on her position in life, and I really respect her for that. She's solid. She's rooted, really solid. She's an old soul. We love her for that."

Article Source E!Online

Thanks to Twilighters y V for the Youtube. 

Via @KstewAngel 

'Behind the Scenes' Clip with Cameron Stewart

Unfortunately the video can only be watched if you're in the US.

As soon as an all regions version is available we will let you know.

Thank you @K11OfficialFilm

New 'behind the scenes' photo & article by Red Alert Live

Many fans have been anxiously waiting for the release of Jail Drama titled K-11! Well now they no longer have to wait as the movie is scheduled for a March 15th theatrical release!

K-11 is a unit of the L.A. County jail where gay and transgender inmates are separated from the mainline population. The K-11 unit is ruled by a transsexual inmate named Mousey who is played by Mexican Soap Queen Kate del Castillo “La Reina Del Sur.”

The movie is directed by Jules Stewart mother of Twilight’s Kristen Stewart.

On Friday 3/15/13 K-11 opens in Los Angeles with a week-long run at North Hollowood’s LAEMMLE NOHO Theater. The movie also includes a 15-City release in the cities of New York, San Diego, Philadelphia, Denver, Tempe, San Francisco, Phoenix, Columbus, Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, Stroudsburg, PA with more to follow.

Regarding the movie actress Kate del Castillo said “I play a transexual and she is bad ass!” Regarding turning into the character of Mousey Kate said “I’m playing a transgendered [person] and that was very challenging, and that’s what I want. To be in projects that are interesting to me and [where] I will learn from the character.”

RAL’s Jovanny Venegas is one of the inmates of K-11 he told us “K-11 was an amazing experience, I grew up watching Kate del Castillo in many Novelas, so being in a scene was her was incredible and intense especially as she’s kicking some a** (laughs). Jules is an awesome director and I’d love to work with her again. Overall I definitely recommend this movie, it’s real prison life in LA. K-11 is not sugarcoated and some scenes will definitely leave you with your mouth open.”

Actress Tara Buck told RAL ”I play Crystal in the film. I had a great time working on K-11. There are so many eclectic characters in the cast, great crew, fantastic director and tattoos for days. So much fun. Tara continued with “I think the movie is a wonderfully unique film. It’s tantalizingly twisted, dark for sure, and I think audiences will be surprised to find themselves laughing as well. It’s a very entertaining world that Jules has created. Absolutely go see it! ”

Other actors in the film include: Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister who plays a predatory child molester, D.B. Sweeney plays the ruthless Sheriff’s Deputy, Lt. Johnson, Cameron Stewart (Kristen Stewart’s brother) plays Sledgehammer among many others.

Source Red Alert Live

NEW Video Clip: 'I Don't Belong Here'

Source Breaking Glass Pictures

Kate del Castillo talks to ShowBizCafe about K-11

Perhaps the most popular and talented Mexican actress in cinema right now is Kate del Castillo. Her versatility to do theater, television and movies, in Spanish or English, has positioned her for a bright future in Hollywood. 

Her latest movie is “K-11” from novice director Jules Stewart, Kristen Stewart’s mother. del Castillo plays Mousey, a transgender inmate who is volatile and territorial. I had a chance to converse with Kate for 20 minutes about the broad spectrum of her career, but also deep-dive into questions of where does this K-11 role ranks in her career, her encounter with Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, how Hollywood perceives her, her discomfort with comfort and if that “La Reina del Sur” novela is ever going to be made into a real theatrical movie by Universal Pictures. 

ShowBizCafe.com (SBC): Thanks Kate for your time. Why did you want to play this role?

Kate del Castillo (KC): Oh my God, for so many reasons. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. These are the roles that as actors and actresses we kill for, these opportunities [don’t come] often.  It’s also amazing that the director, Jules, that she casted a woman. The easy way to go is just to cast a man and that’s it. I am very thankful for her thinking outside the box and giving me the opportunity so that for me is awesome. This is the kind of role that gets attention and that you can really play and have fun.

SBC: How did you happen to get on Jules Stewart’s radar?

KC: You are going to have to ask her because I still don’t know who is the angel that I have to thank. I don’t know, I think she saw a picture of this show I was shooting in Colombia called “The Queen of the South” (La Reina del Sur) and I play a bad ass drug dealer [who] becomes the biggest drug dealer in Spain, so she saw that picture, I don’t know, that is what she is telling me I’m not sure about it. She decided to call me -- she saw my other movies, she saw “Trade” and she saw “Julia,” -- and she asked me to meet with her and I was so nervous because I read the script and I thought: “this is amazing, but I just don’t understand where I fit in this particular script.” When she told me she was blown away and I met with her and we fell in love with each other and that is the way it happened. 

SBC: This role seems to be a demanding and mentally tough role to get your arms around. What kind of exploration did you have to go through to “become” a transgender?

KC: It’s really hard to answer that question because actors, I don’t know what happens it’s just a switch that we just move, of course with a lot of research.  Not everyone can open up and tell you what they’ve gone through, but I was very lucky to find a couple of transgender people who helped me out a lot. That on one side, on the other side I did research on the web, I read so many books – the time that I had also, we are always going to want more time to prepare as actors – I did whatever I could. 

I am a woman who’s been always kind of a tomboy, so for me, it’s funny, but the hardest part was to get in touch with my feminine side! Sometimes transgender persons, guys who are becoming women, they are very feminine, very very feminine, so that was the hardest thing for me.

SBC: About this character, you have said you are looking to grow as an actress. What kind of growth do you eventually want to be able to achieve that will ultimately satisfy you? What is your ultimate goal as an actress?

KC: I don’t think I have a specific goal; I just want to work on interesting projects like “K-11.” I don’t know if it’s going to have a big audience, I don’t know if it’s going to be a breakthrough, but for me it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. That’s what I’m looking for and that’s going to make me grow as an actress, it challenges me. I have to have risks in my career, I don’t want to be in my comfort zone, that’s why I left Mexico and I left my comfort zone which was very comfortable in many ways, much more economically speaking. I left all of those things because I wasn’t happy. I wanted to grow as an actor, and have fun, and play with things, and be challenged and work harder.

SBC: Would you say that this is the best role you have ever had?

KC: Without a doubt, this is the best role I have ever had. Because it is something that I would have never thought of, it opened my mind so much and I grew as an actor, I grew as a woman, I grew intellectually, I learned so much and I am very ashamed to say that I was so ignorant about the whole transgender [world]. I heard about it, but I never really dug into it, it’s huge and it’s so sad sometimes because these people go through so many things and so many changes and so much bullying, so all these things made for me the perfect opportunity to grow in so many ways. I feel very thankful with Jules and the opportunity of playing a transgender and with all the people who helped me out. 

I don’t what is going to happen with the movie, I don’t know what is going to look like editing wise because you know, they can change everything, I just did my best and it’s not on my hands then what’s going to happen with the entire movie, maybe nobody is going to watch I, but for me I did my best and that is what I take home. 

SBC: How do you think the Spanish community will react to this role because I don’t think they have ever seen you in anything like this, ever. 

KC: I think my fan base knows that I love change even physically, I like to do different kind of roles – I played a human trafficker -- I think they are expecting something different and challenging from me. On the other hand, Mexicans, I’m Mexican so I can only talk for Mexicans, we are very catholic and we are very, you know, I don’t even know what my parents are going to say. I think they’re going to be blown away.

But I think it’s probably going to give a lot to talk about and it’s definitely going to be controversial I have no doubt about it. The buzz is already there. I think, they know I’m an actress, they know I’ve been an actress since I was 9 and my father is a huge actor and they know I take this very seriously, it’s my life.

SBC: Did you get to work with Kristen Stewart? I heard she was in the movie and if you did, did you share any scenes with her?

KC: No, she was not in the movie. I think she did some voices only but I definitely met with her and she is amazing, she is a sweetheart, she was really nice with me, but I played many things with her brother Cam. Jules and her whole family are amazing; I wish [Kristen] would have played a role in the movie because she is a great, amazing young actress.

Read Kate's full interview at ShowBizCafe 

Thank you to for the heads up @PamelaPPI via @KstewAngel :)

NEW Video Clips: 'Becoming Mousey' and 'Ray Meets the Queen'

Opening on March 15 and directed by Jules Stewart, the follows Raymond Saxx Jr. (Goran Visnjic), a powerful record producer who wakes from a drug-induced blackout to find himself locked up in K-11, the [real] section of the Los Angeles County Men’s Central jail for gay and transgender inmates. Plunged into a nightmarish world ruled by a transsexual diva named Mousey (Kate del Castillo), Raymond is truly a fish out of water.

Complicating matters are a troubled young transgender named Butterfly (Portia Doubleday), a predatory child molester (Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister) and the ruthless Sheriff’s Deputy, Lt. Johnson (D.B. Sweeney). Ray’s struggle to contact the outside world and regain his freedom seems impossible, so he must learn to navigate this new power structure if he is ever going survive and regain control of his life.

Breaking Glass Pictures and Libertine Films are releasing the movie March 15 theatrically and a VOD release. Fifteen cities around the country are slated to host weeklong theatrical runs of K-11, starting at New York’s Cinema Village, Los Angeles’ Laemmle NoHo Theater, Phoenix’s Film Bar, Columbus’ Gateway Film Center, and others on March 15th. The film will be available nationwide on Demand the same day.  Additional runs will follow in cities such as San Diego, San Francisco, Denver and Daytona.

K-11 also stars Jason Mewes, Tara Buck, and Jules’ son Cameron Stewart who makes his film debut in K-11 as Sledgehammer, while daughter Kristen Stewart (Twilight, On the Road) makes a special contribution.

Source Black Film

New behind-the-scenes photos & K-11 movie stills

Such great photos! 

Check out the ones of our great director, Jules Stewart, at work. :)

Click on each for larger view.

Source BlackFilm with thanks to @KstewAngel

Jules Stewart's interview with Nicole Power at Suicide Girls

Jules Stewart is the mother of a certain Twilight star, but to even mention that almost does a disservice to her latest project, which is an edgy and challenging example of independent filmmaking at its finest. Having spent three decades working in Hollywood as a script supervisor, with a résumé that spans 30 films and over 50 TV shows, Stewart knows a thing or two about what makes a good story and how to avoid the grind of tired and traditional screenwriting formulas. Consequently, K-11, which she co-wrote with Jared Kurt, is a compelling and very unique take on the prison drama. The highly accomplished film, which features an extraordinary ensemble cast, also marks Stewart’s directorial debut.

Nicole Powers: The penal system in America is of great interest to me. Why did you choose to write a film based in a jail?

Jules Stewart: Well, it’s not just based in any jail. First of all, K-11 is a real place and it only exists in LA. It’s a part of the jail system here in Los Angeles that not too many people know even exists. So right there it’s fascinating to me. How could this have been here since the ‘50s and nobody know? I think that it’s a whole different take on the jail movie.

NP: How did you first become aware that K-11 existed?

JS: I was on a television pilot, and one of the guys that was working on the pilot as well came to me and said, “I have this idea, I want to make a script about K-11 and I thought maybe you would write it with me.” So I did some research and found out what it was and I thought, this is so unique, it’s so original, nobody’s ever done it before.

NP: So what exactly is K-11?

JS: K-11 is a specific dorm in Los Angeles Men’s County Jail that houses the gay and transgender inmates. It’s the only place in the jail system where race is not an issue, because everybody in there, the common thread is that they’re gay or transgender.

NP:Did you visit the jail when you were doing research for the script?

JS:Of course.

NP:Are some of the characters based on people you met there?

JS: Not at all. What we did was we took the actual schedule of the dorm, the actual routine, and we invented characters and we put them in the system.

NP: In your story the main character, Raymond, is very straight. Why did you choose to put the cat among the pigeons?

JS: Because it’s more interesting that way isn’t it. He’s a fish out of water. He clearly doesn’t belong there. But he got railroaded in there because he’s got money and he’s obviously into drugs. Money and drugs, that’s what runs the system.

NP: The story is set against a background of massive corruption, where those in charge are either actively involved or complicit because they’re actively looking the other way…

JS: Let me stop you right there. We made it all up. If you look at the history of jail films, jail TV shows, it’s the conflict that makes the story interesting, so it’s always about the corruption. It’s always about corruption, it’s always about conflict, it’s always about me versus you, otherwise there’s no story. So clearly we made up the corruption, we made up the whole conflict within our own little story with our own little made up characters. But the dorm itself does exist, it is a real place, and that was our foundation.

NP: So how much is reality? For example, in the movie the ladies and gentleman of K-11 have quite a lot of latitude with their uniform.

JS: That’s true. That part of it is true. The inmates are allowed to customize their jail wear, but they’re not allowed to wear it in the hallways or any what they call public places. They’re only allowed to wear it in their dorm. And they can only do it if they have another set of blues to put on when they do go outside…Otherwise they’re allowed to do whatever they want within their own confines in terms of their wardrobe.

NP: So the choice to portray the corruption came purely from the desire to tell a compelling story rather than any political point of view?

JS: It’s purely story. I like to consider myself, and I’m sure [co-writer] Jared [Kurt] does too, we’re storytellers. I’m not a political activist. I never went out and made any kind of political statements or anything. It’s all about telling a story.

NP: You have an incredibly impressive résumé as a script supervisor; you’ve studied the art of the story in a way that most people haven’t in Hollywood.

JS: I love a great story, and a great story has a couple of different elements. It has conflict and it has maybe sometimes some romance, it’s got to have that human element that people can relate to.

NP: What motivated you to make the leap now from script supervisor to telling your own stories?

JS: It’s a natural thing isn’t it? At some point you want to tell your own stories. And I was in a position where I had a script and people were willing to give me money to make it, so I thought why not?

NP: Well, you did a great job. Not only is the story great, but so are the choices you made as a director, and the acting is incredible. I have one question though: Why did you choose to have women play the transgender roles?

JS: That’s a good question. Because it’s my opinion that when you’re talking to someone who considers themselves transgender, you’re actually talking to a man who is a woman. Out of respect you have to think of them also as a woman – because that’s how they think of themselves. 

Mousey clearly when she’s in the dorm, she doesn’t think of herself as a man. She clearly thinks of herself as a woman. And I thought it would be more interesting to cast a woman playing a man turning into a woman. It really gives you food for thought, doesn’t it?

NP: And it helped with that whole Alice In Wonderland aspect that you bring to it, where our protagonist lands down a rabbit hole and has to figure out where he is.

JS: Exactly, exactly. And what you see is not necessarily what you get…It’s traveling down the rabbit hole into an unknown world.

NP: Where was it shot?

JS: It was shot in Civil Brand, which is a Los Angeles Country Women’s Jail that is now closed down, but the floor plan and the structure and the colors and everything mirror Men’s County Jail so it was a genius location for us.

NP: Also, the saturated colors you use give it a hyper-reality.

JS: A little bit. In the dorm there’s no windows, there’s no clocks, and you have that very stark overhead lighting which causes demonic shadows and things like that on people, so it was absolutely by choice that we designed it to look that way. It’s also quite green, which is not necessarily very flattering for most people.

NP: With the American legal system increasingly becoming a minefield it’s estimated that the average person breaks the law inadvertently multiple times a day. So this idea that one day you could wake up and find yourself in a jail is actually kind of a reality for all of us, so this movie is very much a universal nightmare.

JS: I think so. Also getting lost in the system. I mean, quite frankly, he has no idea where he is. Because when he first gets put into K-11 and he’s walking around he’s not sure who he’s looking at. There are some men in there, but there are clearly some women in there was well, and I wanted to lead people to think that he believed that maybe he was in a mental institution. He even says, “I’m in some kind of institution, you have to get me out of here” when he’s desperately trying to make those phone calls. And that trying to make the phone call and you can’t get through, the line’s busy and no one answers or someone hangs up on you, that’s that frustration that just keeps building and building. That was real important for Raymond’s character.

NP: Watching him, it’s like watching a rat in a maze. Even getting a simple thing like a shower, getting to the top of the queue but still not being able to take one, he has to figure out whose hand to grease, which proverbial lever to pull to get the reward.

JS: Well, human beings are run by their little routines. Every location, every place where you go – especially if it’s an institution or if it’s city or county run – there’s a routine, and until you know what the routine is it’s very difficult to get anything done. That’s mostly part of his problem, that he has no idea what the routine is. He has no idea where he is, he has no idea what the rules are, he has no idea what’s going on. All he sees is the telephone on the wall. That’s the way out for him, the telephone, and he can’t ever get through so it’s pretty frustrating.

NP: The beauty of this movie is that you’re in Raymond’s head and you’re figuring things out with him, and he’s such a compelling character. What’s the process for you when you’re creating a character?

JS: I think the first step is that you have to figure out who’s telling the story. Who’s point of view is this story being told from? Is it a third person? Or is it first person? Or is it second person? Who is it? In our case we felt it would be more interesting to tell the story from Raymond’s point of view. That being said, the film takes sort of a left turn. Because you try to learn things as he learns things…and that keeps it going. I think if the audience knows more than the main character then the story has a tendency to become a bit boring. So it was a fine line; how much do we reveal without Raymond finding out first.

NP: Considering you’ve spent most of your career as a script supervisor in Hollywood, which is a very formulaic town, this is a surprisingly non-formulaic story.

JS: I’ve been very lucky in my career, I’ve had a chance to work with some people that I feel are genius storytellers – David Lynch being one. If you look at things as a moment in time, and things reveal themselves as the character finds out about what’s going on, it makes things more interesting. Not everything in life is very linear. Some things are a little out of order. Like when you remember things, sometimes you remember the most recent things first and you work your way backwards…We just told the story the way we thought we should tell it.

NP:And you were being very honest to the characters.

JS: And we were being honest, yes. I mean, I will give you that; we stole characteristics from people, but people in our lives not people in the jail. You build characters based on what you know. My son’s character for instance, Sledgehammer, I always thought it would be Cameron who would play that. I was hoping he would agree to do it since he’s never done it before. I took things out of his own personality and out of his own behavioral patterns and put them into the character, which made it really easy for him because things came naturally.

NP: It was Cameron’s acting debut?

JS:Yes.

NP: Wow, he did a great job. The whole cast did an amazing job.

JS: Casting…It’s 99 and 9/10s of the movie. For years as a script girl I would watch the stand-ins rehearse scenes and then watch the actors come in and do them, and it was the same scene but completely different. I really had a chance to see first hand the difference that each character brings to the set and to the film. It’s amazing, if you change one character you change the movie…And the people that we actually ended up hiring, one of the biggest criteria was they couldn’t be afraid of the material. They had to embrace the material and get into it and more. And they all did. I would love to see them get some recognition in the community for their talents because it’s amazing to me the job that these people did… 

One of the most definitive things about K-11 and I think it shows on the film is that we had fun making the movie. Every one who was in the movie enjoyed their role and brought more than I could ever have hoped to the table. It was a fun set to be on. I kind of liken it to dancing with Fred Astaire. If the person you’re dancing with is good you try to step up your own game and be even better, and that’s what happened. It was a very enjoyable collaborative piece. Because everyone participates, this is definitely not something you can do alone. It’s a massively collaborative process and it’s all about choosing the right people to collaborate with. And I think my partner [producer] Tom [Wright Jr.] and I, we chose very well. I couldn’t have been happier with my cast. I was just amazed at how great they are. By the end of the film I think the audience will embrace every single one of those characters.

NP: The one scene that was incredibly hard to watch, because of its realness, was the rape scene. How did you get that performance out of the actors? I can imagine that was traumatic even to act.

JS: It was. It was very difficult. It was a closed set and one of the things that made it a little easier was that [actor Tommy] 'Tiny' Lister is such a wonderful guy, so that in between takes there was laughter. We never pretended it was real, we never did any of those things. I think knowing that they were just pretending allowed them to take it to a deeper level. I mean, they’re friends [Tommy and actress Portia Doubleday], so it wasn’t like there was any strange vibe between them or anything. And because there was a closeness there it allowed them to do things that maybe they wouldn’t normally have done. It’s hard to explain, but it was magic. It was really magic. I think Portia is an amazing actress and she kept stepping it up. She drove the bus on that with him, because the more she would step it up, the more he would step it up…and we caught it on film.

NP: With this being the first project where you had a chance to run your own show, what was the one thing that you really wanted to bring to the working environment on your own set?

JS: I didn’t want there to be any secrets. I wanted everybody to know everything. Sort of like, this is what we’re doing, bring your best game. And if you have an idea and you can make it better, I will steal a good idea from anyone. So nobody was afraid to say, “What about this?” or “Let’s try this.” And if we had the time to do it, we were game. Because everybody wanted to make the best movie possible, tell the story in the most intense way we possibly could. Quite frankly, even though Butterfly had those horrible moments with Detroit where she was raped and brutalized, she got her comeuppance in the end. We wanted people to cheer when Detroit had his comeuppance, and I think people do. Even he was like, “I want people to cheer.” So he was really into it. It’s all about communication and it’s all about everyone making the same project, and being vested and wanting to do the best that they can do.

NP: Do you know which rabbit hole you’ll be jumping down next with regards to filmmaking?

JS: I do. I’m jumping into a supernatural thriller. It starts in ancient China and it’s about a temple that is unearthed in the desert of China and deconstructed and reconstructed in the United States along with its permanent residents that have been with it since 2010 BC…It’s like a Chinese legend come to life. It’s pretty interesting.

NP: So you’re covering the supernatural but managing to stay away from vampires?

JS:  No vampires, no werewolves, none of that. I like to tell stories that people haven’t told before. So, along that vein, I think it’s easier to capture an audience with something that they’ve never seen.

NP: You have an incredibly talented family. You must be very proud. As a mother, how did you foster creativity within your children?

JS: Well I tried to raise my kids…I didn’t raise then to be children, I raised them to be adults. That a concept that might be lost on a lot of people. I also tried to make them understand that it’s OK to make mistakes, so don’t be afraid to have a go at doing something different. And in that vein of ‘I’m interested in this, let’s try it, let’s see what happens’ my kids have always been the first ones on the line ready to have a go at something different. And it’s OK to fail, because that’s how you learn, when you fail.

Source SuicideGirls

Thanks to fan @NoemieS7art via @KstewAngel for the heads up on it.

Show Biz Cafe's write-up about K-11

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You "La Reina del Sur" telenovela fans are going to love me today! I just got my hands on the exclusive first look character poster of "K-11" with Mexican actress Kate del Castillo!

Jules Stewart, mother to Twilight star Kristen, directs del Castillo in this drama that tells the story of a man's plight after winding up in K-11, the Los Angeles County Jail's transgender inmate unit.

Jules Stewart and K-11 producers are being smart about capitalizing on Latino moviegoers by casting the very talented Kate del Castillo. From what I can gather, this looks like Kate's most challenging role to date where she is showcasing her ability to play very layered characters. Kate is a thespian and in this movie she's unforgettable!

K-11 stars Goran Visnjic (ABC-TV's upcoming "Red Widow", The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, "ER") as Raymond Saxx, a businessman whose drug use leads him to incarceration in the section of the Los Angeles County Jail reserved for LGBT inmates and firmly under the heel of Mousey (Kate Del Castillo, Under the Same Moon), a malicious transgendered inmate.  Saxx has no idea how he got there -- all he knows is he needs to get the hell out...alive and intact. Aggressive cellmates, corrupt officials and his own issues are just a few challenges he deals with while he pieces together a way out of this entirely new brand of hell.

Breaking Glass Pictures and Libertine Films are releasing the movie March 15 theatrically and a VOD release. Fifteen cities around the country are slated to host weeklong theatrical runs of K-11, starting at New York's Cinema Village, Los Angeles' Laemmle NoHo Theater, Phoenix's Film Bar, Columbus' Gateway Film Center, and others on March 15th. The film will be available nationwide on Demand the same day.  Additional runs will follow in cities such as San Diego, San Francisco, Denver and Daytona.

K-11 also stars son Cameron Stewart who makes his film debut in K-11 as Sledgehammer, while daughter Kristen Stewart (Twilight, On the Road) makes a special contribution.

The jail drama movie K-11 opens March 15th, 2013.

Source ShowBizCafe via LibertineFilms

Tara Buck shares a photo from the K-11 set

Thank you for sharing! Great pic @iamtarabuck :)