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PAPA LEGBA GUITAR
Story & Screenplay by Jeff Langton
"Lightningbolt" Willy, a handsome struggling musician has a dream to become the greatest slide guitar player who ever lived. But for Willy, the dream seems like a distant shadow concealed in the darkness of the midnight sky. That is, until he meets Gus, a local guitar genius by bluesman standards, who promises Willy only the best in unrivaled guitar skills. Willy puts all his trust in Gus and truly believes he will lead him down the road to success and make him a huge star. Unbeknownst to Willy, the true identity of Gus is not obvious. Gus is really Papa Legba, a deity with roots in Haitian voodoo, and one who has left wicked tracks long throughout history. Papa captures and owns the hearts and souls of all who dare enter into contract with him. Willy has signed the contract and with only seconds to spare, his soul is saved by ArchAngel Michael, who orders Papa to drop the contract immediately. Quickly all hell breaks loose in a clash reminiscent of the many duels the two have had during centuries of past. The groundbreaking battle doesn’t take place in the heavens, but here on earth, in a radiator shop. An injured Papa Legba vanishes from the smoke filled shop, only to continue his determination to seize souls from desirables with big dreams of achieving blues master fame.
JC Smith
as Papa Legba
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, J.C. Smith has toured throughout the United States, Russia, Eastern Europe, South America, and beyond to sell out crowds. Whether wowing audiences across the world or in his own backyard, Smith is a consummate performer who engages and entertains as only the very best in his profession can. In 2017 he was awarded the NCEM award for entertainer of the year. Winner of the 2012 Metro Newspapers Best Of Silicon Valley "Best Original/local Band" and the 2006 Bay Area Blues Society West Coast Blues Band of the Year awards, and more. Smith has had the privilege to share the stage with notable artist such as Hubert Sumlin, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Buddy Miles, Son Seals, Willie Bigeyes Smith, PinetopPerkins, Eddie Shaw, and many more. He is also known as radio personality Johnnie Cozmik on KKUP F.M
Jeff Langton
as Michael Arch
Jeff Langton is an American actor and martial artist. He is also a professional boxing trainer, cornerman, and cutman. He is known for his work on Die Hard 2 (1990), Rocky V (1990) and Rambo III (1988). Jeff’s father was a member of the Marine Corp Boxing Team and Jeff learned to box from his father. When Jeff was 13, he joined the Police Athletic League and trained with Gus Spencer, becoming an amateur boxer. Jeff also trained at Garden City Boxing Club and Bath Beach Health Club in Brooklyn, New York. As a young man, Jeff also trained in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do with Dan Kyu Choi. He became the captain of Choi’s Institute of Tae Kwon Do Championship Team and went on to be California State Tae Kwon Do Champion. He also received a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do from Master Byung Yu. Jeff was also the first and original member of the world famous Ernie Reyes West Coast Demo Team and it was Jeff who introduced gymnastics and acrobatics to martial arts demonstration. This legacy of Jeff’s lives on, as it is still used today by West Coast Demo Team in shows all around the world. After competing in the world of martial arts, Jeff Langton moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting in film and television. In Los Angeles he trained extensively with six-time World Champion Kickboxer Benny Urquidez and he became a trainer at Benny’s school, The Jet Center. During this time he did live action stunts for Universal Studios. Jeff Langton began doing stunts for Sylvester Stallone in Cobra (1986) and in then in Rambo 3. He moved into acting in movies such as Lionheart (1990) and soon found himself fighting on screen with stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme. He then starred in films such as Final Impact (1992) and Maximum Force (1992) and continued to work on films and television shows like Price of Glory, (2000) Matlock, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Las Vegas. His background in boxing came in handy as he was asked to train and coach Tommy Morrison in Rocky V (1990).
Willy Roland
as "Lightningbolt" Willy
Willy picked up his first guitar at the age of 8. He played all kinds of venues as a teen and young adult in the New York City area. One day he got on a Grey Hound with his guitar and headed west. He found several jobs along the way such as mechanic, welder, sales person and pro boxer. He always found time to play music at night with his band. Willy was asked to open for Johnny Winter by a good friend of his who knew he could always play and never turn down a good gig. Willy's favorite things to do is write, play music and of course, film acting. Willy recently produced, co wrote and starred in a short film called "JIMMY KENDRICK".
Isaiah Pickett
as Isaiah
It all started when Isaiah began playing the guitar at the very young age of 6, learning from teacher, mentor, and brother Angelo Santi. By the age of 13, Isaiah started to get more mature in his playing performing in the Sutter Creek Blues Bar known as Drytown Club. Word quickly spread about this 13 year old kid playing the blues at Drytowns Blues Jam held on Friday nights. One Friday night Isaiah packed the house and the dance floor and it was at that moment he knew this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. It wasn’t too much longer after that when Isaiah knew he wanted to eventually do his own thing. He released his album in 2008 titled "Plug Me In" with 12 of his own Blues, Funky, Latin, Pop songs he wrote, produced and recorded along with the help from mentor Angelo Santi and some of Sacramento's local musician friends he was with at the time. At the time of his CD release Isaiah was finally ready to share his music with the people and he was featured on the front page of Rancho Murieta River Valley Times with a full interview for his CD.
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Shawn Flanagan
Editor & Director
Shawn Flanagan has been producing feature films and shorts for over twenty years. After a one day stint working as an extra on the film THE RIGHT STUFF (1983), Flanagan began studying film and acting at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA. He soon started working with Sean Donahue and Patrick G. Donahue (KILL SQUAD) of Bottom Line Studios. There he co-wrote, managed production, and co starred in four feature films starring Sean Donahue, Richard Lynch, Erik Estrada, Frank Stallone, Patrick G. Donahue and Ted Markland. In 1997 Flanagan formed Almaden Films where he wrote, produced and directed twelve films, four of which premiered at the San Jose Cinequest film festival. In 2001 Flanagan won the Low Budget Genius Award for THE FRIGGIN' MAFIA MOVIE starring Richard Lynch, at the Silver Street film festival. In 2017 Flanagan was nominated in two categories at the US Hollywood International Golden Film Awards for Outstanding Producer and Outstanding Director for his work on JIMMY KENDRICK, a film he co wrote, co produced, shot, directed and edited.
Danny Lopez
Director of Photography
Martial artist Danny Lopez is a producer, director, stunt coordinator and editor. He was the IKBA World Middle Weight and Junior Middle Weight Champion in Kickboxing from 1981-1992. He was also a professional boxer. Join us as we look at this pictorial history from the Martial Arts History Museum of Danny Lopez. Danny Lopez, was 16 when he began training with Jerry Smith. Danny was an amazing talent and went on to become a world champion kick boxer and a top rated professional boxer with a very impressive boxing resume. Danny “Magic” Lopez fought nationally and internationally. Danny has worked as a striking coach for some of the top MMA camps on the West Coast. Danny has also worked as a stuntman in numerous movies and in television shows is a color commentator on TV for California Fight League, one of the West Coast fight leagues.
Tom Hirschmann
Film Composer
Tom Hirschmann is a multi-instrumentalist who has been composing and producing orginal music for televison and film for over 20 years. Tom was awarded Best Use of Music in Television Advertising from the Production Music Awards in 2018. Tom meets the diverse needs of film and television media by writing in many genres. He has written theme music for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and also for the television shows Leah Remini: It’s All Relative, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Coast Guard Alaska, and Coast Guard Florida. He has also created custom songs for the movies Entourage, The Kids are Alright, Not Since You, Godfather of Harlem, The Happytime Murders, Nanny Diaries and American Ultra to name a few. A sampling of his national movie trailers includes the James Brown biopic Get on Up, Scream 4, Disney’s The Muppets, and The Aristocats. His music has accompanied many advertising campaigns including Toyota, Long John Silver’s, Madden Football, and T-Mobile. He has also provided underscore music for hundreds of television shows such as The Big Bang Theory, Duck Dynasty, The Today Show, 20/20 and Jimmy Kimmel Live. His music is regularly played on network and cable television stations worldwide. Tom studied commercial jazz composition at Towson University under jazz great Hank Levy. He currently lives outside Nashville, Tennessee.
Nico Quijano
Fight Choreographer
Nico (Mike) Quijano, is a U.S. Army veteran, former law enforcement officer and overseas contractor, born and raised in New York. While growing up in New York he attained black belts in Goju-Ryu (Peter Urban and Ron “The Black Dragon” Van Clief), Ving Tsun (Moy Yat) and Kyokushin Kai (Oyama). Nico later traveled to Thailand and became a 3 time Muay Thai boxing province champion. Later he studied boxing under the legendary Gus Spencer at the Garden City Boxing Gym and has been featured in many martial arts publications around the world. Nico later worked extensively with P.M. Entertainment, landing roles in “The Deadly Bet”, “Maximum Force” and many others. He was on Eric Lee’s stunt/fight team, Jon Agro’s stunt/fight team, Art Camacho’s stunt/fight team, as well as the legendary Ken Lesco. Nico worked with Ken Lesco on “Here Comes the Hammer” (an MC Hammer music video) and appeared in Shawn Flanagan’s “Boneshakers” feature, his first starring role. Nico also doubled Chaz Palminteri in the film “Jade”. In addition to “Papa Legba Guitar”, he has recently worked on “When Death Comes Knocking” (Acting, military tactical advisor, stunts), “Here Comes Harleen” (Stunt/fight coord), “The Red Night” (stunt/fight coord) and “My roommate Enzo” (acting). Nico completed the “Motion Picture Driving Clinic (Formerly Rick Seaman’s Stunt driving school) and is currently studying acting from Margie Haber Studio.
Gary "GJ" Panepinto
Founder & CEO of FrankStalloneGuitars.com
Gary (GJ) is a successful executive in the financial services industry for the past 35 years. In that role, he has helped a multitude of businesses, from start-up to seasoned, with funding needs.
But throughout his financial career, GJ has always cherished his time playing the guitar and jamming with his friends. Over time, he realized that his real passions are music and guitars. Although he is not a gigging professional (he appears nightly in his living room - no one throws tomatoes), his love for quality guitars has led him to team up with the multi-talented Frank Stallone to form FrankStalloneGuitars.com.
In his role as the CEO, GJ oversees the business and the customer relationships of Frank Stallone Guitars, LLC. He and Frank constantly search around the globe to build the BEST GUITARS YOU’LL EVER LOVE.
All Inquiries for PAPA LEGBA GUITAR
contact
Jeff Langton
818-415-1093