AN ORIGINAL STAR WARS STORY BY MARTIN SPITZNAGEL
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About the film
STAR WARS: HUNT FOR THE HOLOCRON is an original film from director Martin Spitznagel that honors George Lucas' Star Wars legacy with an Original Trilogy-styled adventure. Made by a dedicated group of young people entirely with practical effects -- no 3D models were used in the film, only real models filmed against a greenscreen! -- the film is a 30-minute love letter to Star Wars, complete with an original orchestral score.
HUNT FOR THE HOLOCRON is the story of Bando (Mark August Spitznagel, SAG-AFTRA) and Sahn (Dan Clavey) Jinkuru, young men thrown into a dangerous world when they find a Holocron, a record of Jedi secrets. Pursued by Dark Jedi Dregr Jarrat (Martin Spitznagel), whose thirst for the Holocron has reached obsession, the boys are aided by Jedi E'Din Kyle (David Turka) and smuggler Ariah Duen (Jennifer Moreau), old business partners of their father. As Dregr closes in, the brothers struggle to survive both their present and their past.
The film, originally shot in Pittsburgh, PA from 2003-2005, is the culmination of a childhood dream for director Martin Spitznagel: Create a Star Wars film in the spirit of the Original Trilogy. Along with a dedicated all-volunteer cast and crew, Martin spent countless stolen nights and weekends over ten years to write, film, edit, and bring this creation to life with the most limited of resources. Aside from an original screenplay, the film boasts original characters, models, costumes, visual effects, and orchestral score, worked on in locations from Washington, DC to Houston, TX.
The not-for-profit project was funded through the generosity of family and friends and worked on without pay by a 20-person team hailing everywhere from Texas to Brazil. Literally thousands of hours were invested by the cast and crew to write, scout, build, storyboard, film, act, record, cut, edit, equalize, compose, accompany, add special effects, color-time, and finalize HUNT FOR THE HOLOCRON in time for its premiere on April 20th, 2013 -- complete with a red carpet, meet-and-greet hour, presentation, director's note, and cast-and-crew Q&A -- at Dormont's Hollywood Theater, the beautiful standalone theater located in the heart of the Dormont business district.
We are very proud to now present this film to the worldwide audience of Star Wars fans and big dreamers everywhere.
HUNT FOR THE HOLOCRON is the story of Bando (Mark August Spitznagel, SAG-AFTRA) and Sahn (Dan Clavey) Jinkuru, young men thrown into a dangerous world when they find a Holocron, a record of Jedi secrets. Pursued by Dark Jedi Dregr Jarrat (Martin Spitznagel), whose thirst for the Holocron has reached obsession, the boys are aided by Jedi E'Din Kyle (David Turka) and smuggler Ariah Duen (Jennifer Moreau), old business partners of their father. As Dregr closes in, the brothers struggle to survive both their present and their past.
The film, originally shot in Pittsburgh, PA from 2003-2005, is the culmination of a childhood dream for director Martin Spitznagel: Create a Star Wars film in the spirit of the Original Trilogy. Along with a dedicated all-volunteer cast and crew, Martin spent countless stolen nights and weekends over ten years to write, film, edit, and bring this creation to life with the most limited of resources. Aside from an original screenplay, the film boasts original characters, models, costumes, visual effects, and orchestral score, worked on in locations from Washington, DC to Houston, TX.
The not-for-profit project was funded through the generosity of family and friends and worked on without pay by a 20-person team hailing everywhere from Texas to Brazil. Literally thousands of hours were invested by the cast and crew to write, scout, build, storyboard, film, act, record, cut, edit, equalize, compose, accompany, add special effects, color-time, and finalize HUNT FOR THE HOLOCRON in time for its premiere on April 20th, 2013 -- complete with a red carpet, meet-and-greet hour, presentation, director's note, and cast-and-crew Q&A -- at Dormont's Hollywood Theater, the beautiful standalone theater located in the heart of the Dormont business district.
We are very proud to now present this film to the worldwide audience of Star Wars fans and big dreamers everywhere.
The original Soundtrack
In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...
The origins of Star Wars: Hunt For The Holocron start with two friends: Pittsburgh natives Martin Spitznagel and Luke Clavey.
They met in high school, finding common ground in their mutual enjoyment of Star Wars, lightsabers, and filming in general. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was soon to be released, and Star Wars fever was at its peak.
Naturally, this led to filming fight sequences in the woods with sticks.
Despite no training in fight choreography or special effects, filming began, eventually involving both of their brothers, Mark Spitznagel and Dan Clavey. The action began to require a better understanding of the characters, and the stories behind them. Unfortunately, Luke moved to Texas, and was not able to contribute full-time to the project. Martin pressed on, buoyed by the fun he'd had playing in the Star Wars universe. He set to writing a script that built on the ideas they had worked on, marking the beginnings of the space opera that you will see on this website. The script complete, Martin turned to his brother, Mark Spitznagel, at the time in college at Point Park University, to find and gather many of the key cast members.
Principal photography started in June 2003, and took place on nights and weekends from 2003-2005. Early versions of the script were fairly nebulous, and actors and director worked together to come to the best outcome for the day’s shoot. This was murder on the crew, particularly anyone who had to do storyboards, and financial and time restrictions required the tightening of the script. After reworking the story, and armed with a clearer view on what the movie should be, Martin continued additional filming in 2007 to handle gaps. For the most part, the film was fully filmed at this point, and post-production began in earnest.
Horrifyingly, during post-production in 2008, an overheating of a hard drive during editing caused the loss of over 1000 hours of work, including the entirely cut and edited versions of the film. This tragic loss was the hardest part of the journey, as Martin needed to fully redo the film from a jumble of over 36 hours of raw footage. After a few tears and deep breaths, he pressed on, managing to put together a rough version of the film in 2010. Post-production work resumed.
In 2012, Martin's friends, sensing an opportunity for Martin’s approaching 30th birthday, secretly worked for months to line up theaters, schedules, and particulars to present Martin with a gift – that they had an event premiere, including a theater, with which to show Star Wars: Hunt For The Holocron on the big screen. After initial plans for a holiday release were scrapped to allow the movie to be finished appropriately, the release date was set for 4/20/13. Post-production work went into overtime. All minature photography, requiring three separate trips to Texas and hundreds of hours of work, was completed in 2012. Special effects work, often painstakingly handled on a frame-by-frame basis, continued into 2013. Musical scores and accompaniment were created to match the mood and final cut of the film.
It has been a long time – but after ten years of work, the dream is finally a reality. Star Wars: Hunt For The Holocron is here.
They met in high school, finding common ground in their mutual enjoyment of Star Wars, lightsabers, and filming in general. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was soon to be released, and Star Wars fever was at its peak.
Naturally, this led to filming fight sequences in the woods with sticks.
Despite no training in fight choreography or special effects, filming began, eventually involving both of their brothers, Mark Spitznagel and Dan Clavey. The action began to require a better understanding of the characters, and the stories behind them. Unfortunately, Luke moved to Texas, and was not able to contribute full-time to the project. Martin pressed on, buoyed by the fun he'd had playing in the Star Wars universe. He set to writing a script that built on the ideas they had worked on, marking the beginnings of the space opera that you will see on this website. The script complete, Martin turned to his brother, Mark Spitznagel, at the time in college at Point Park University, to find and gather many of the key cast members.
Principal photography started in June 2003, and took place on nights and weekends from 2003-2005. Early versions of the script were fairly nebulous, and actors and director worked together to come to the best outcome for the day’s shoot. This was murder on the crew, particularly anyone who had to do storyboards, and financial and time restrictions required the tightening of the script. After reworking the story, and armed with a clearer view on what the movie should be, Martin continued additional filming in 2007 to handle gaps. For the most part, the film was fully filmed at this point, and post-production began in earnest.
Horrifyingly, during post-production in 2008, an overheating of a hard drive during editing caused the loss of over 1000 hours of work, including the entirely cut and edited versions of the film. This tragic loss was the hardest part of the journey, as Martin needed to fully redo the film from a jumble of over 36 hours of raw footage. After a few tears and deep breaths, he pressed on, managing to put together a rough version of the film in 2010. Post-production work resumed.
In 2012, Martin's friends, sensing an opportunity for Martin’s approaching 30th birthday, secretly worked for months to line up theaters, schedules, and particulars to present Martin with a gift – that they had an event premiere, including a theater, with which to show Star Wars: Hunt For The Holocron on the big screen. After initial plans for a holiday release were scrapped to allow the movie to be finished appropriately, the release date was set for 4/20/13. Post-production work went into overtime. All minature photography, requiring three separate trips to Texas and hundreds of hours of work, was completed in 2012. Special effects work, often painstakingly handled on a frame-by-frame basis, continued into 2013. Musical scores and accompaniment were created to match the mood and final cut of the film.
It has been a long time – but after ten years of work, the dream is finally a reality. Star Wars: Hunt For The Holocron is here.