The Acquirer Movie

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

Matt Schulze prepares for a scene.

The flat in the 10s district in Paris is prepared for the fight scene.

The Acquirer Movie Fight Scene Flat Location

This is the street the flat is located on in the 10s district, Paris France.

This is the "rental" Ferrari Modena 360 convertible that Matt Schulze drives around Paris.

Filming near the Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris, 2007.

Matt Schulze and Hugo Barillar reherse the fight scene moves.

Kevin Gossilen - Credited as "Director of Photography" (LA)

Matt Schulze prior to filming a scene. December 2007, Paris France.

Matt played the lead role in The Acquirer film- Lucian. He also wrote and directed the film.

Tom Sizemore played the role of "Arthur" in The Acquirer film.

May Anderson played the role of "Collette" in The Acquirer film.

May is a Denmark born model and was chosen for the role of "Collette" in The Acquirer film only after the original actress became unavailable due to another commitment.

May was known in the 1980's and 1990's as a "supermodel" and has appeared in Playboy magazine and 100's of other publications. She is also known as the "model" who was hit by a garbage truck in New York City and received many injuries.

Attacker #1 in The Acquirer film.

Moah works frequently with Cyril Rafaelli on extreme stunts and fight scenes.

Attacker #2 in The Acquirer film.

Hugo works frequently with Cyril Rafaelli on extreme stunts and fight scenes.

Executive Producer of The Acquirer film and CEO of Cinsay.com

Nathan played the role of "Burnham" in The Acquirer movie and also operates Shotgun Digital in West Hollywood where the film was cut and edited.

Asaf Gabay is a musician friend of Matt and Brent and was asked to come over to the "set" in Malibu and shoot a scene for The Acquirer film. He did the scenes as a favor (unpaid) and was originally asked to work on music for the film.

His character had no name during the filming and when the film was cut, and credits added, Matt Schulze gave the character a name: The Ice Pick of Islam

Asaf thought this was an interesting name for a character but is quick to point out that he is actually Jewish

Kevin Gossilen - Credited as "Director of Photography" (LA)

Credited as Sound Engineer on The Acquirer film.

Austin Wintory is an American composer who has composed scores for films, commercials and video games. Austin did the music score for The Acquirer film.

Credited as Sound Engineer (Paris) on The Acquirer film.

Credited with "Director of Photography" on The Acquirer film.

Credited with Digital Effects on the Acquirer film.

Candace was an Asst Director for the filming in Paris. She also worked with Matt Schulze and Jason Statham on the original Transporter movie.

Camera operator on The Acquirer film.

Cyril Raffaelli was the Stunt Coordinator on The Acquirer film.

Cyril worked with Matt for over a month on the original Transporter movie in fight training and they became friends. Matt asked Cyril to help out with the fight scenes in The Acquirer film. Cyril brought in Hugo and Mohammad as the "attackers" for the Acquirer film.

Brent was the Producer on The Acquirer film project and was involved in all of the planning and location shoots in both Paris and Malibu, CA.

Brent was also one of Matt's closest friends at the time.

Orson- Matt's dog....makes a cameo appearance in the film at the end.

Matt Schulze prepares for a scene.

The flat in the 10s district in Paris is prepared for the fight scene.

This is the street the flat is located on in the 10s district, Paris France.

This is the "rental" Ferrari Modena 360 convertible that Matt Schulze drives around Paris.

Filming near the Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris, 2007.

Matt Schulze and Hugo Barillar reherse the fight scene moves.

Kevin Gossilen - Credited as "Director of Photography" (LA)

Matt Schulze prior to filming a scene. December 2007, Paris France.

Matt played the lead role in The Acquirer film- Lucian. He also wrote and directed the film.

Tom Sizemore played the role of "Arthur" in The Acquirer film.

Attacker #1 in The Acquirer film.

Moah works frequently with Cyril Rafaelli on extreme stunts and fight scenes.

Attacker #2 in The Acquirer film.

Hugo works frequently with Cyril Rafaelli on extreme stunts and fight scenes.

Executive Producer of The Acquirer film and CEO of Cinsay.com

Nathan played the role of "Burnham" in The Acquirer movie and also operates Shotgun Digital in West Hollywood where the film was cut and edited.

Kevin Gossilen - Credited as "Director of Photography" (LA)

Credited as Sound Engineer on The Acquirer film.

Austin Wintory is an American composer who has composed scores for films, commercials and video games. Austin did the music score for The Acquirer film.

Credited as Sound Engineer (Paris) on The Acquirer film.

Credited with "Director of Photography" on The Acquirer film.

Credited with Digital Effects on the Acquirer film.

Candace was an Asst Director for the filming in Paris. She also worked with Matt Schulze and Jason Statham on the original Transporter movie.

Camera operator on The Acquirer film.

Orson- Matt's dog....makes a cameo appearance in the film at the end.

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.

Click Here

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

Follow Brent Almond on Twitter

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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" -

Follow Matt Schulze on Twitter

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​THE TRANSPORTER​

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.

Julien

THE TRANSPORTER