The Acquirer
The action film "The Acquirer" was a film (Episode-1) shot in and around Paris and near LA California (Malibu) in November and December of 2007.
Written and directed by Matt Schulze, who also starred in the film. It was Produced by Brent Almond and Christian Briggs. The entire film was shot in HD.
The film was to be an ongoing series that would be posted and available free of charge on a social media networking site known as (www.cinsay.com). The series centered around the exploits of master thief “Lucien Hayes” (Matt Schulze) and co-starred Tom Sizemore (Arthur/ex-CIA agent).
The Producers, Brent Almond and Christian Briggs, operated www.cinsay.com
Cinsay was a type of social media site with patented and interactive digital streaming technology where viewers could click on various elements of the film to participate in promotions and make purchases of various products. There was to be a feature where viewers could watch the movie and chat and see each other via webcam, as well as click on characters and products to see more information. It was a very ambitious media delivery platform for the time, 2008.
Here is a quote from Cinsay in a PR release in 2008: “We (Cinsay/Briggs Digital Media) will roll out new episodes of "The Acquirer" approximately every two months, and we’ve already begun production of Episode Two, which will be filmed in San Francisco, with Episode Three scheduled to be shot in Rome”.
Upon the debut of the first episode (03-21-08) the Cinsay web servers were overloaded. This confirmed strong demand for the movie and also the technical limitations of delivering HD content over the internet at the time (2008). The film was made available for a short period and then was removed from the Cinsay site and it was never released in any other medium. Several video trailers are still available on the YouTube (see trailer below).
Matt has made few comments about why the series did not continue. However; when contacted, Matt did confirm that in developing the movie he had some concepts and ideas that he wanted to explore that were carried over from his involvement in The Transporter movie in 2001.
The film was shot in about 4-6 weeks, mostly in Paris, with no permits and a very small budget with a crew of 4-5 people. The aerial filming (ocean scenes and helicopter landing near a large home) was done in and around Malibu, CA over a single day with two helocopterts (a black Eurocopter Twin Star and a Robinson R44). The black Eurocopter (N253WC) was the helicopter seen in the film and the Robinson R44 (N838DD) was the camera helicopter, and piloted by Robin Petgrave.
Cyril Raffaelli acted as the fight scene coordinator in The Acquirer film and had worked with Matt Schulze (fight training) in The Transporter movie and Matt asked Cyril to help out with this film (The Acquirer) on the scenes that would be shot in and around Paris. Cyril agreed to help with the main fight scene and brought with him (on set) Hugo Bariller and Moha Elachi (Attacker #1 and Attacker #2) to a rented flat in the Paris' District 10 area and the fight scene was choregraphed and shot in 4-5 hours.
Adam Ward shot all the scenes in the film (Malibu, Paris and aerial) with a single camera and Stedicam.
The film was edited and cut in Paris and further edited in Hollywood by Shotgun Digital to yield 40 minutes of HD video. Several of the actors and crew in the movie were friends of Matt and Brent and some donated their time to the effort.

Filming the fight scene in Paris, France in December 2007
Cyril Rafaelli, Matt Schulze, Brent Almond, Candace Abela, Hugo Bariller, Momo El Achi, Adam Ward

Original movie poster from 2008. This scene from the movie was filmed on the Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris. The bridge spans the Seine river.
Billboard in LA (Sunset Blvd.) for the movie release in 2008.

To promote the movie, Cinsay held a contest to award the John Varvatos designed trench coat (see poster at upper left) that was used in the movie, and Matt’s personal Harley Davidson V-Rod motorcycle, to lucky winners for registiring on the Cinsay site.

Matt filming a scene in a Ferrari in Paris (Boulevard Périphérique tunnel) in December 2007-
The above banner was displayed on the Cinsay website in late 2008 to promote The Acquirer film (series) launch. This was Matt Schulze's personal custom Harley Davidson V-Rod motorcycle.




The above (2) pictures show Matt's V-Rod in front of the "winners" house and in 2012 with new wheels and extra chrome.



The above (2) pictures are of Matt's V-Rod in Malibu, 2008.
CAST
Matt Schulze - Lucien
Tom Sizemore - Arthur
May Anderson - Collette
Nathan Anderson - Burnham
Sebastian Knorr - Body Guard
Asaf Gabay - Icepick of Islam
Mohammad El Achi - Attacker 1
Hugo Bariller - Attacker 2
Orson - Matt's Dog
PRODUCTION
Christian Briggs - Executive Producer
Brent Almond - Producer
Ben Jacks - Director of Photography (Paris)
Heath McBurnet - Assoc Producer
Delfino Galindo- Assoc Producer
Julien Brossier - Sound Engineer (Paris)
Kevin Gossilen - Director of Photography (LA)
Austin Wintory - Music Score
Rob Filios - Sound Engineer (LA)
Cyril Raffaelli - Fight Scene Coordinator
Nathan Anderson - Digital Editing
Candace Abela - Asst Director (Paris)
Jacob Strunk - Digital Effects
Adam Ward - Camera Operator
Dana Ford - Location Manager
Robin Petgrave - Helicopter Pilot
The above photo was autographed by Matt Schulze on his Harley V-Rod
Click image above to see the official trailer for The Acquirer film -
Place cursor on the above pictures to see the cast and crew of The Acquirer film as well as behind the scenes pictures taken during filming in France. You can also click on the images to enlarge.

Production Notes:
Cinsay was planning (2) additional Acquirer epidodes for 2008. One filmed in San Francisco and the thrid in the 2008 series to be filmed in Rome. All with Matt Schulze as "Lucian"....the master thief.
At the time, Cinsay was also casting for a second action series called "The Clone".
"Clone Press Release" -- This series centers on a young man who has discovered a group of human clones that are the creations of a brilliant scientist whose genetic experiments with some of history's most celebrated individuals resulted in living, breathing, human replicas of the great individuals. Something went wrong along the way, however, and now these clones have turned into evil alter-egos of the great human beings from which they were created. Now it is up to one man, Clone Hunter Erik Berlin, to bring these beings to justice.
Cinsay trademarked both names (The Acquirer) and
(The Clone) in April 2008. Both trademarks have been
abandoned and the trademarks relinquished in 2012.
See the original Acquirer film press release (2008), click above.

Alternate view of The Acquirer billboard from Sunset Blvd before Cinsay added the digital "countdown clock".

Filming The Acquirer in Paris, France in December 2007
Matt Schulze and Brent Almond
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Note: Who were the only persons to be involved in both The Acquirer and The Transporter?
Answer: Matt Schulze, Candace Abela, Cyril Raffaelli
Matt Schulze and Brent Almond were friends, having met in Atlanta, and ended up in Los Angeles doing modeling work and eventually films.
Below are some pictures from Matt and Brent's early days in the LA area.









Matt Schulze and Brent Almond worked on two films together....The Acquirer (2007) and another film called The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004).....filmed in Tennessee.
Below are some pictures of Matt and Brent in "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" movie.
Matt Schulze as "Kenny" -
Brent Almond as "Jefferson County Sherriff" -


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