Approximately 8 million adults in the U.S. lost their identity to fraud last year.  Beginning September 13, Comcast’s Video-on-Demand (VOD) will feature the eye-opening new thriller, Selfless, on what it can be like when you’re the victim of this $37 billion nightmare that changes lives forever.

The brainchild of legendary comic book creators Jacob and Arnold Pander, this gripping drama takes viewers on a relentless  journey into a brilliant young architect’s helpless descent into a reality where, technically, he no longer exists.  As the story opens, Dylan Gray, a rising star in the ‘green’ architecture movement, is flying high from winning a prized high-rise commission when he unwittingly plants the seeds of his own destruction during a chance encounter with a deadly stranger. While waiting to board his plane home, Dylan sketches an unflattering caricature of fellow passenger Wesley Stone to impress an attractive flight attendant.  As Dylan soon learns, the stranger he innocently ridicules is a convicted identity thief who has just made Dylan his next target.

Calling it “stylish, smart and compelling,” the Oregonian noted that “the Panders clearly adore Alfred Hitchcock films, and it’s not hard to imagine the master himself devising this protagonist and the way he’s done in.”  Filmed in Portland, Oregon’s trendy Pearl District, “Selfless” took top honors, including the “Best Feature Award,” at the BendFilm Festival, and was nominated for both the “Red Star” award sponsored by Heineken for “new visions” in filmmaking and the “Film for Change Producer’s Award” at the Santa Fe International Film Festival.

Selfless stars veteran actor Mo Gallini, whom the Oregonian calls a “standout as the glowering, apoplectic identity thief who makes life hell for Dylan.”

Joshua Rengert portrays the architect, October Moore plays his fiancé, and Jen Hong assumes dual roles as both the flight attendant living in his building and her twin sister who is smuggled into the country illegally.  Based in Los Angeles, Gallini’s portfolio of unforgettably menacing villains includes supporting roles in John Singleton’s 2 Fast 2 Furious; End of Days, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.  Rengert has appeared in national commercials for Nintendo, Vonage, and Regent’s Blue Cross, as well as local spots for the Oregon Lottery.  Moore, a graduate of the New Actors Workshop in New York, where she studied under director Mike Nichols, recently appeared on the TNT series, Leverage, and co-stars in the upcoming movie, Something Wicked, with Britney Murphy in her final role.   Hong, who makes her feature film debut with Selfless, also recently co-starred in Leverage.

Selfless marks the feature film debut for the Pander Bros., whose previous collaborations include such blockbuster comics as Batman: City of Light and Batman: Apocalypse Girl and graphic novels as the cult hits, GRENDEL: Devil’s Legacy and XXX (Triple X).   The sons of prominent Northwest painter Henk Pander, the Pander Bros. were encouraged to explore their creativity from the time they could hold a crayon.  Their early shorts played in downtown Portland nightclubs, even though the brothers were too young to be admitted.  Around the same time, they landed their first nationally-published comic series, GRENDEL: Devil’s Legacy.  The 12-issue series set a new sales record for an independent comic book (on a par with Marvel and DC Comics), merited nominations for the coveted Eisner and Manning Awards, and scored the industry’s top fans-choice award for the duo.

Among other notable projects, the Pander Bros. created the Secret Broadcast comic book/companion audio CD tribute to pirate radio (which included electronica producers from throughout the U.S.); the first comic book designed to be read in any order: the Dark Horse mini-series, Exquisite Corpse; and their own epic Amsterdam thriller XXX, also for Dark Horse (which Mondo 2000 hailed as “a comix masterpiece”).

After studying 16mm filmmaking at the Northwest Film & Video Center, Jacob  launched his career as a director with the Frontier Records’ music video, Light in You, for Dharma Bums, which received extensive play on MTV.  Among others, the Panders conceived, directed and produced Hitting Birth’s Drive On, winner of a Oregon Cascade Award, and several electronica videos featured on MTV’s Amp. Soon after, they were hired by LA-based Palm Pictures to create a series of music videos, featuring such international electronic artists as Howie B., Fantastic Plastic Machine, Spacer, and DJ Miku in a narrative through-line to tell an audio-visual story. Wired magazine called their talent for raw storytelling “a knack for cinematic suspense.”

Jacob’s 1995 cult classic, The Operation, created in collaboration with visual artist Marne Lucas, took first place at the New York Underground Film Festival, 2nd place at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, and honors at festivals in Berlin and Copenhagen.  Film Threat noted that The Operation was “the most unusual, inspiring and crowd-pleasing piece” in the NY Underground Film Festival.  Wired described it as “the kind of video that can rewire your neural net,” and Northwest Film & Video Festival judge Dan Ireland told Willamette Week: “It’s like a 16mm version of going over Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey!”

The Pander Bros.’ last comics collaboration was DC’s Batman: City of Light – which, coincidentally, featured Batman pitted against a mad, ego-driven architect. Their most recent graphic novel was Accelerate from Image Comics, and Arnold’s Manga thriller, Tasty Bullet, in collaboration with conspiracy theory author Jon Vankin.

For more of the Pander Brothers’ wide range of media projects visit: www.panderbros.com

VIEW TRAILER.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Lyla Foggia
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[email protected]

SELFLESS

Review by Jay Horton

Hitchcock would’ve had such fun with twenty-first century urban alienation. The very notion of organic architecture – or, rather, green architecture as imagined by the lead character of Selfless – and identity theft accomplished by the push of a button would’ve surely intrigued the old master. We prize a gleaming anonymity among our décor and cherish the remoteness digitalized purchasing allows. We slough off the uglier tasks to other lands. We aim to leave ourselves behind while rushing headlong toward the future, and, throughout the award winning feature debut from Portland’s Pander Brothers, the chilling repercussions of such ambitions and fears are brought vividly to life.

Arnold (producer) and Jacob (director) Pander made their bones as globally renowned graphic artists, and their comic book background’s reflected in more than just the plot conceit that opens the film – to impress an attractive stewardess, our hero sketches an unkind portrait of the wrong man at the wrong time. The visual storytelling, from chilling shots of an over-cultivated Pearl District to the climactic action sequence, owes much to their former careers and seamlessly evokes the shifting moods as the lead character’s existence slowly falls apart for reasons he can’t quite understand.

The story of a man’s life changed forever after a moment’s accidental interaction’s hardly new to American film, but Selfless neatly updates the more familiar elements to indulge our modern tensions regarding identity theft.  After Dylan Gray, an up and coming architect specializing in sustainable skyscrapers, renders that fateful caricature, his relationship and career swiftly implode through a series of peculiarly modern mechanisms while, in a neighboring apartment, that aforementioned flight attendant and her twin sister wrestle with their own issues of self image and awareness.   So much of the film’s pleasures lie in the twisting narrative surprises that we should not say much more, but, rest assured, however well-worn the storyline may seem at first, Selfless’ violent denouement appears as a complete surprise. 

For relative newcomers, the performances by Josh Rengert (Dylan Gray), Matt Gallini (Gray’s nemesis Wesley Stone), and Jennifer Hong (the flight attendant and her less fortunate twin) strike the right tone of immediately recognizable personae from subtly written parts – both Pander brother were credited with the screenplay.  Gallini, especially, seethes dim foreboding and frustrated anger from his first words as he pleads, from one side of the cell phone, for an employer to forget about his past record.  While mastering the eventual tones of terror and brutality, the cast equally luxuriates within moments of genuine humor and romance, October Moore, soon to appear in a number of high-profile features, ably fleshes out Gray’s girlfriend’s slow-building grief and irritation.

Of course, perhaps the most skillful characterization comes from Portland itself.  From the clinical sterility of newly-born NW condo pods to the impersonal efficiency of our airport – the vaguely-futuristic banality of PDX has never seemed so threatening – and the film-makers lovingly detail the hermetic aesthetic in which our most successful professionals imprison themselves.  A good swath of the film takes place in Gray’s beautifully-appointed, utterly-soulless apartment as the camera lingers upon immaculate back-lit vertical blinds, ever hinting toward an unseen world beyond.  Hitchcock would’ve loved those blinds.

“A power duo of creativity.”
SOMA magazine

Widely known for their work as critically-acclaimed comic book creators and illustrators, award-winning filmmakers, and cutting-edge visual artists, the Pander Bros. make their feature film debut with “Selfless.”  The haunting psychological drama about the corrosive nature of ego and obsession was directed by Jacob Pander and produced by Arnold Pander from their own original screenplay.

While still in their teens, the Pander Bros. helped forge the independent comics revolution with their high-style artwork that pushed the boundaries of the medium on such breakout series as GRENDEL: Devil’s Legacy and Triple X.  The legendary artists behind 65 books to date, their portfolio includes three graphic novels, ten series, and 15 stand-alone issues for such major publishers as Marvel, DC Comics and Dark Horse.  They’ve also served as the creators and writers of Batman: City of Light and Batman: Apocalypse Girl, among others.

The Panders Bros.’ work in film includes 15 music videos (seven of them for Palm Pictures); the concept for Gus Van Sant’s “Runaway” video for Deee-Lite; the award-winning cult classic, “The Operation,” created in collaboration with photographer Marne Lucas; the feature-length documentary, “Painted Life”; and a series of humorous shorts.

The sons of prominent Northwest painter Henk Pander, who emigrated to the U.S. from the Netherlands in the 1960s, and a mother who received her masters degree in fine arts, the brothers were encouraged to explore their creativity from the time they could hold a crayon.  As kids, they were back-stage regulars at Portland’s landmark Storefront Theater, where their father designed installations and stage sets.  By their preteens, Arnold was consumed with drawing ‘superheroes’ and Jacob, though equally gifted with a pen and brush, was already plotting out his first movie, inspired by such late night TV serials as “Flash Gordon.”

Their first 8mm film, “War is Hell,” was directed by Jacob at age 12, and starred Arnold, 10, as an ambushed soldier.  (To his teacher’s horror, Jacob poked holes through the film stock to create the illusion of gun fire flashes.) Their first 16mm film, “Time Gate,” two years later, found Arnold stranded in an apocalyptic future.  Their first pen-and-paper collaboration, around the same time,  was the comic strip, Gamma World, which ran in their high school newspaper.  Their first after-school jobs were in the Future Dreams comic book store (Arnold) and at a local art house theater (Jacob).

Indeed, it was as a result of Arnold leaving one his drawings behind at Future Dreams, when he quit the job, that their first big break came only a year out of high school.  Popular comic book author Matt Wagner spotted it and had Comico sign them to create the covers and inside illustrations for his GRENDEL: Devil’s Legacy series.  Overnight, they went from “selling Christmas cards out of our shoulder bags” to being able to afford a trip to the family homeland when it was over. The 12-issue series set a new sales record for an independent comic book (on a par with Marvel and DC Comics), merited nominations for the coveted Eisner and Manning Awards, and scored the industry’s top fans-choice award for the duo.

While working on the 4-issue mini-series, Ginger Fox, for Comico, the brothers spent much of the next two years in Amsterdam, developing their own monumental work, Triple X, published by Dark Horse Comics in the mid-1990s.

The futuristic 7-issue series and its 1997 graphic novel were hailed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic.  Among them, Huh Magazine in the U.K. called Triple X “a global comic book piece de resistance…It reads like an illustrated James Bond novel…The brothers’ previous work inspired a bunch of well-deserved acclaim, but nothing quite matches the cinematic scope utilized throughout XXX.  This ain’t your typical comic.  It actively engages the reader in the story, making it something of an interactive comic adventure.”  Spin magazine labeled it “a wild agitpop thriller,” and Anodyne declared: “When it was all said and done, Triple X challenged people’s perceptions of what comics could be.”

Among other notable projects, the Pander Bros. created the groundbreaking “Secret Broadcast” comic book/companion audio CD tribute to renegade radio.  Designed to function as a soundtrack to its published counterpart, the album featured tracks from such artists as reggae-rapper Jamal-Ski, DJ and musician Zeb, hip hop electronica artist Supersoul, and producer/songwriter Mark Pistel.  With the Dark Horse mini-series, Exquisite Corpse, the first comic book designed to be read in any order, they were thrust into the middle of an international controversy, when it was banned in several countries.

After studying 16mm filmmaking at the Northwest Film & Video Center and serving as an apprentice editor on the 35mm feature, “Shadow Play,” Jacob launched his professional career in the 1990s with a series of shorts infused with rebellious humor.  Among them, “The Spirit of 76” featured painter and sculptor Tom Cramer, whose volatile and unpredictable interview style keeps the viewer on constant edge as the artist probes the meaning and American zeitgeist of the early 1990s ; “Media Hijack” was a 20-minute visual narrative blending repurchased media images and sound; and “The Other Side of the Tracks” chronicled a day in the life of three heroin addicts.

Then came the 1995 cult classic, “The Operation” (Directed by Jacob, Co-Written and created with artist Marne Lucas, and Co-Produced by Arnold) – which took first place at the New York Underground Film Festival, 2nd place at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, as well as honors at festivals in Berlin and Copenhagen.  Shot in infrared video, the erotic short was also screened at the London Institute for Contemporary Art and included in a tour of shorts to Europe and Japan.

Film Threat noted that “The Operation” was “the most unusual, inspiring and crowd-pleasing piece” in the NY Underground Film Festival, confirmed by Film Threat Video: “Without a doubt, the most innovative film screened at the Fest was Jacob Pander’s ‘The Operation.’  Although only 10 minutes long, it had created a huge buzz before its 11:15 screening on Saturday night.  So much in fact that we were forced to witness its debut from the projection room.  But it was worth it… Pander never expected the reaction he has gotten from ‘The Operation,’ but film festivals as mainstream as Toronto’s are asking for copies.”

Calling it “simultaneously sinister and erotic,” Wired described “The Operation” as “the kind of video that can rewire your neural net.”  And Northwest Film & Video Festival judge Dan Ireland told Willamette Week: “It’s like a 16mm version of going over Jupiter in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’!”

In 1992, Jacob was hired by Frontier Records to shoot his first music video, “Light in You,” for Dharma Bums, which received extensive play on MTV.  Among the others, the brothers conceived, directed and produced Hitting Birth’s “Drive On,” the winner of the Oregon Cascade Award, and the half-hour concept film, “Suck it and See,” for Palm Pictures, which featured such international electronic artists as Howie B., Fantastic Plastic Machine, Spacer, and DJ Miku.

In 2002, Jacob’s “Painted Life” provided a riveting look into the creative process behind his father’s internationally-celebrated work in still lifes.  Filmed over a period of seven years and funded in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission, the feature-length documentary became an official selection of the Northwest Film Festival and was screened at Seattle’s prestigious Fry Art Museum.

Long fixtures on Portland’s cultural scene, the brothers co-founded the landmark FUSE Gallery during the 1990s.  Patterned loosely on Andy Warhol’s Factory, the non-profit collective of art studios was a showcase for eclectic, artist-driven dance, theater, and alternative music and film events.  Among them, Gus Van Sant premiered his short film, “God Bless America,” written by and starring William S. Burroughs.

As fine artists, they also frequently exhibit at one of the city’s leading venues, the Mark Woolley Gallery.  Jacob has also shown in New York – when a collaborative media installation he co-shot with noted experimental filmmaker Steve Doughton, featuring music by acclaimed electronica artist Aphex Twin, was mounted at the Mary Ann Boesky Gallery in Soho.

“They are among the best-known and most successful comic book artists in Portland.
Since they burst onto the [local] scene in the early ‘80s, fresh out of high school
and filled with ideas, the Pander brothers have made their mark on the city’s
cultural life.  They’ve designed rock posters, opened experimental galleries
and teamed with their father, renowned painter Henk Pander,
to decorate Tri-Met’s Cultural Bus. But it’s comic books that
have won the Panders a loyal audience.”
The Oregonian

The Pander Brothers are managed by LA based Conspiracy Media.
Publishing representation by LA based Justin Manask.

“Dylan is a symbol to Wesley of why he can’t succeed,” says director Jacob Pander, who with his brother Arnold, wrote the screenplay for “Selfless”.  “So Wesley sets out to steal Dylan’s identity with the attitude, ‘Okay, if I can’t win, if I can’t make it myself in the world, then I’m going to get back to what I know – which is stealing identities. I’m going to basically become this successful person, instead of trying to do it on my own.”

When Wesley succeeds, adds Arnold, the film’s producer, “Dylan becomes the hunter trying to track down this person who is now doing great, because he is basically nobody now.  And the only way back for him is to find who has become Dylan.”

At the interior of this deeply-intense film is a startling glimpse at how identity theft can be more devastating than any other non-violent crime on individual victims.  The frightening reality is that more than 10 million people in the U.S. alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission, have discovered that their personal information has been stolen to open fraudulent credit accounts or in some other way used to commit a crime.  Indeed, nearly half of all consumer complaints filed with the FCC each year are now identity-theft related.

For Josh Rengert, the actor who portrays him, “I see Dylan as a creator and a visionary who not only imagines the grandness of his architectural ideas, but he has assembled an equally-grand sense of himself.”

Indeed, like many self-obsessed young professionals today, Dylan’s ego is fused to his personal successes, says Jacob.  “We see him as archetype of the current zeitgeist, of the neo-gods.  He’s steeped in art and the creative world, but he’s ultimately a selfish go-getter.”

Dylan could easily pass as a prototype for the so-called ‘Creative Class’ – that sector of the working population identified by social scientist Dr. Richard Florida as the innovators who are instrumental to driving today’s global economies.

In fact, the inspiration for Dylan’s appearance and lifestyle came right out of the city’s now-famous Pearl District, a Soho-like amalgam of converted historic warehouses and sleek new high rises like the building Dylan lives in.  The Pander brothers can still remember the moment the character popped into focus. “When we were writing the script, a friend of ours invited us to this gathering of top furniture designers from around the Northwest.

So  we show up at this place.  Everyone was picking up a vodka tonic and walking around.  You see guy after guy with the little sweater and the short hair and the little black glasses.  Everyone is like fully groomed, totally designed.  It was like being in a room full of Dylan’s!  So that became sort of this archetype for our guy.” It’s no coincidence that Portland, Oregon – where the story is set and shot – is not only at the forefront of ‘green’ cities (even its city buses run on biodiesel fuel), it ranks as a major hub for the creative class in fields like advertising, architecture, animation and independent filmmaking. “There’s a definite collective sensibility here behind the laid-back lifestyle and attitude that you can design your own destiny.”

Why did they make Dylan an architect?  “Because we’re really fascinated with architecture,” says Arnold.  The Pander brothers’ fascination with architecture began with their work illustrating comic books.  Jacob would draw the physical environments, while Arnold on the figurative elements. This approach allowed the characters to inhabit a rich and complex world. Gotham City was steeped in contemporary architecture for their DC limited series, Batman: City of light‘.

The quality of the cinematography and production design is surprising for an independent film – yet not for anyone who knows the Pander brothers’ background. Both grew up literally steeped in the visual arts.  Their father, Dutch painter Henk Pander, is a prominent painter whose work is shown throughout the world.  Their mother earned a masters degree in fine art, and nurtured their own talents from the time they could hold a crayon. As kids, they were back-stage regulars at Portland’s landmark Storefront Theater, where their father designed installations and stage sets. Both grew up obsessed with film, practically living inside local cinemas when they weren’t in school.  And they’re both fine artists with one of the top galleries in Portland – as well as legendary comic book illustrators and creators.

“Jacob and Arnold have a sweeping knowledge of visual mediums,” says “Selfless” cinematographer Kevin Fletcher, a regional Emmy Award-winner who received his masters degree in fine arts from the prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York and has worked with National Geographic, Nike, HP and AOL.  “Our first conversations referenced not only movies, but music, photography and fine art.”

Portland’s Pander Bros. Give a World Premier at BendFilm

Portland’s creative team of Arnold and Jacob (pronounced Ya-cub) Pander, better known as the Pander Bros., are ready to show off their first-ever feature-length film and they’ve decided to do it here at BendFilm. If anything, the fact that the Panders are showing the world premier of Selfless here in Bend is a sign of regional filmmakers acknowledging the potential of our independent film festival.

“We’d heard such great things about BendFilm and there’s something to be said about these more boutique festivals. They’re driven more by interesting films than commercial interests,” says Jacob, who wrote and directed Selfless, a film shot almost entirely in his hometown of Portland.

Selfless plays like a big-budget psychological thriller, when in fact it’s a low-budget independent film – but it’s still very much a psychological thriller. The film focuses on identity theft and through a deftly woven narrative the Pander Bros. investigate the idea of identity as a whole as they toss their lead character, Dylan Gray (played by Portland actor Joshua Rengert) through all sorts of hell. In a word, the film is unsettling – twisting reality in a relatively realistic premise and for a first-time effort, it’s a promising showing by the Panders, who are already established graphic novelists and visual artists.

But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film for a BendFilm attendee is the fact that it was shot in Portland and Pander allows the city to play a role in the story. Gray is a green architect (how Portland is that?) and a good deal of the film’s imagery focuses on the new buildings in the Pearl District and viewers will likely identify a few landmarks.

“We thought it would be an interesting thing if we made something that didn’t show any of the old Portland. We made a choice to never show any bricks in any shot,” Jacob says. He refers to the city they create as “neo-Portland.”

The Panders, as well as lead actors Rengert and October Moore, are coming over for the screening and will also be present at a special release party at the Summit Saloon and Stage. This sort of world premier party for a regional film seems to play right into the BendFilm mission – bringing in more innovative films accompanied by their equally innovative creators. Oh, don’t forget the parties – those are good too.