Sofia Kamrill

Sofia Saeko Kamrill
D.O.B. September 6, 1977 Occupation Film Maker Spouse Jacob Kamrill

Sofia S. Kamrill is a well known film maker doning from Emerald Springs. She has become renouned abroad and loves her work. In E.S. she is considerd one of the most influental film makers in the motion picture industry. She's won three E.S. Academy Awards, and two Kanami Film Hawk Awards, mostly for her block buster fantasy Fantasy Quest (films) but has had plenty of nominations for other works she has done.

Early Life

Born into a devout Catholic family, in a small town in the heartland of Emerald Springs Sofia didn't have much exposure to film. Infact Sofia didn't show that much intrest in film untill her teenage years. As a child she was alway facinated by science, paticullarly astronomy and meteorology, more specifically tornados. Sofia was also a shy child but known for her wild imagination. Sofia spent hours upon hours just playing with toys of any kind. (Trucks, dolls, blocks, action figures, etc.) Paticullarly with her freinds, indoors and outdoors, she was playfull with her closest freinds. Sofia's sibling being 5, and 7 years older never spent a lot of time with her, thus she pretty much kept to her self.

When she enterd into middle school, she took up music (comming from a long line of family musicians. Starting out as a trumpet, she switched over to trombone and hasn't given it up since. From middle school on she's played which ultimatley inspired her film The Band. It was at the middle school level Sofia noticed her skills as a writer began to emerge. She loved to write short stories and share with them her closest freinds. Her intrest in music also was developing and a mild intrest in film was growing. It wasn't untill her Sophmore year in high school which she finally decided she wanted to go into film. After seeing the re-release of the Orginal Star Wars Trilogy into Emerald Springs Theators (Prior to the modified version) Sofia felt so inspired that she decided she wanted to do that. She wanted to make people cheer and gasp and cry, and enterain the masses.

Orginally Sofia wanted to enroll in a very well to due arts academy. However the tuition costs were far to steep, and she set her mind on a local college, where she earned her degree in art, and cinema studies.

Early Carrer

Upon her graduation from college, breaking into the business wasn't easy. Not many producers were looking for a young innexperienced director, and her screenplays were often tossed before they reached anyone. Sofia however was abel to land jobs in independent works and television. Usually as an unknown crew member or a musician. Although Sofia wanted to make it to the big time, she usually didn't mind. She landed the role as an assitant cinematographer on a TV series in which she was abel to do principal camera work. Her work didn't go unrecognized, Producer Allen Livvingston saw her work and thought it was far beyond that of a cinematographer. After talking with Series director Berry Allen, who had nothing but good things to say about Sofia, he asked Sofia to direct a project he was developing. Based on the novel The Giver wold be an anticpated production, so hiring a rookie seemed crazy.

</div> Livvingston not only had great faith in Sofia, he had the utmost confidence, he allowed her to cast and direct the movie as she saw fit, with minimal interferance. She chose unknowns as well as a veteran actor Sir Ricard Harris. </div> Kamrill having no prefrence for a composer so Livvingston chose world renound composer Hans Zimmer to score the film. Kamrill was very pleased to work with Zimmer feeling his music was very fitting the film. The film enjoyed a great sucess, and grossed over Y123 Million (yurmkas). Sofia also got her start as a director. While many critics thought Kamrill did excllent some thought she did the worse job ever. Kamrill payed no attention and began on her next project. Turrning back to T.V. she began to work on a series that revolved around a fictional farm family in their day to day life. </div>

While designed as a simple drama, various episodes broke away from the norm, fearturing supernatural phenomenon or even adventure style. Kamrill was full of story matiral, however it was still tough to grab a job directing motion pictures. However she was able to once again turn to movies, but on the small screen. Kamrill wrote and directed a T.V. Movie Sea Voyage which was a spin off of film of her series.

Following The Giver, Kamrill hired one of her good freinds from her school years, Jim Brinkmann. Sofia wanted Brinkmann to permantly be a partner to her and compose all her work. Following that, Kamrill turned to a project she had been developing about an MMORPG and creepy circumstance surrounding it. Teaming up as an international project her series went from pages to the T.V. screen which evolved into a franchise.

Later Work

Kamrill's ship had come in, she was finally abel to produce, write and direct her own films. Her films often took a dark tone, to an exciting tone. Flash Fire based on a book, proved to be a great sucess, as well as Kamrill's Prophecies Trilogy. Sofia's ultimate work however was the Fantasy Quest Films. A series of 6 films at this point Kamrill was fully indpendent when she found Kamrill Pictures. Fantasy Quest earned 12 Awards (Being the second to tie the record) in Emerald Springs, including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Orginal Score. The film was also a high grosser the highest grossing film in E.S. since Star Wars and Titanic

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Kamrill was very happy with her acivements, she haded out Y125,000 in Christmas Bounes to all her employees. Sofia also contiuned on with her other early roots. She has also been working on an adaption of a popular comic book Tsubasa and is also working on two series for the summer rush. Her latest film was an inspiration of her high school years in the band class, set in modern era with orginal characters, though a great deal are based on people she knew in school. Fall of 2005 saw another set of films by Kamrill. One was an adventerous film The Art of the Samurai which was a mostly pop-culture depection of a young samruai boy. Some critics thought the film was to anchornistic and facturally innacurate trying to ride of the sucess of the John Logan's The Last Samurai but Kamrill stated she really didn't want to make a historical drama, she wanted to make an adventure fictional film with Samurai. But many critics loved the boldness to be more ficitional and thought romantacizing the genre was a splendid idea. He second film that year was a suspense thriller Beach House based on R.L. Stein's Novel. The film was genuinley creepy and intense, and proved to be a comercial sucess.

In 2006 Kamrill tackled film noir with her dark feature Bounty Hunter which featured a dark tone of a teenage girl who's simple desire of justice turns into a vengence seeker, as she prepares to take vengance against a man who killed her whole family in a fire. The film was pretty controversial for a non sexual related partial nudity, as well as it's dark and violent nature, including the main character Rosette, kidnapping and virtually torturing a character, as well as the ending which many critics didn't like. The film had to be edited 4 times to recive a T rating and even so it had to be appealed from R (See the Emerald Spring's Section in Motion Pictures of NS) for fears of losing the target audience.

Kamrill has also stunned audiences with her docudrama about some of the harshest issues facing teensager Confedental Confessions was the big sleeper hit of 2005 grossing in 5 million under Fantasy Quest. '05 also saw Sofia's war drama The Divine Winds which was the runner up to Confidental Confessions but a high grosser world wide.

The Divine Winds

The story chronicled the life of a teenage girl in the heigh of the Kamakazi project in the second world war, and dealing with her brother's death in the war. It was considered a master piece and earned an impressive 12 nominations yet again. The film however only took home 2, for film editing and sound editing. Kamrill also went back to her high school roots with her film The Band a light hearted family drama about a high school band and their struggles and triumphs. While a critical flop it proved to be a moderate comercial sucess. Sofia says she was very proud of her film and it brought back a lot of great memories.

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Summer of 2006 was considered the thrillers and adventure saga of Kamrill. With thrillers such as Astraphobia, Scare Crow and Back Woods all written and directed by her, and the family adventure thriller Operation: MEW HUNT had many of her closest fans in a riot of good times. Most were only mild sucess due to the world wide popularity of Saw II (Which was banned in Emerald Springs) Kamrill's thrillers didn't achived the greatest box office sucess. However Sofia predicts the DVD sales will gross higher, if not oh well, she says. However the Hunted which has had only selecte screanings is showing great results.

Themes

Story Themes

Kamrill's pictures often have had reoccuring themes. Much of her themes include extraordinary teenagers in extraordinary circumstances, such as Fantasy Quest But it's also very evident her characters can be ordinary teens caught in extraordinary circumstances, such as Prophecies. Other themes include strong sibiling relationships, usually an older brother and younger sister. Some cricitc have often accused it of being over idealism and overtly cliched. But Kamrill finds nothing really wrong with idealism, after all the goal of society is always to be ideal. One example is Flash Fire whow Beaux always cares for his younger sister Lizzie who is a tad negelected by her parents. A singel parent theme is quite common but so is a duo parent. Regardless of single or duo, it's more than often a very loving relationship between the parents and child. This very evident in The Hunted in which Brooke's father vows he will protect her no matter what.

Child abuse is a reoccuring theme. Most noted for her T.V. Movie Silent Cry dealing with a girl who is suffering from sexual abuse.

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Many children who are abused come from a one parent home, more than often the father. Sofia has stated she grew up in a loving enviroment but has done plenty of research on child abuse. Sofia who is also an anti-abuse advocate, has either refrenced stories or made stories about child abuse.

Sofia plays a lot of refrences to Japanese culture, likely do to her own Japanese hertiage.

Characters home towns are seldom mentiond, when they are they are usually in a unknown part of the globe or simply omitted from the Earth.

When it comes to thrillers, most of her thrillers take place in rural areas, more than often on farms. Astraphobia is considered the thriller that set the stage for that reoccuring theme in her thrillers. Even Back Woods and The Hunted are taking place in very remote areas. Sofia attributes this to her small town life which was pretty rural. She had several freinds who lived on farms, many of which were almost like the ones she has potrayed.

Style

Usually depending on the story and mood, her color tones and editing will change. Darker films often have dark cloror tones, while lighter films often have a brighter tone. Probably one excpetion was Sofia's The Devin Winds although a sad war story, the color tone was pretty moderate, and The Giver had more ambient colors.

Sofia has come to use Castle Thunder more and more frequnantly in her films. She started out using it only in A Farm Story but it can be heard in such films such as Sea Voyage, Scare Crow, Fantasy Quest and many more. Thouh not as often used in urban enviroments as in her rural places, especially on farms or out as sea.

Out of Time is her common element is purposfully using anachronism in a movie or TV show that isn't meant to be a historically accurate feature. A Farm Story is a big example of this. Having the feel of old fassiond world (Predate the 20th century) but having many modern elements (i.e. modern clothes, running water, etc.) Fantasy Quest sometimes falls under these catagories for not being a dead set in the Middle Ages style.

Kamrill has mentiond she is not a big fan of Steady Cam Shots.

Steady Cam is a great way to get into the feeling of a scene, especially an intense fast pase run for your life kind. But it's becoming so overused the audience is getting dizzy by the simplest of films. Used to much it can also very much detract from the experience of a film, and make it feel just as mechancal as a stationary-objective shot.

Her films even the most intesnely pased seldom have heavy use of steady-cam. She's also known for using a lot of color in anyone of her films instead of tinting or darkening.

Filmography

Director

(In accending order)

• The Giver (1996)
• The World Protector (1998-2004)
• "A Farm Story (2000-???)"
• Sea Voyage (2001)
• ".hack//SIGN" (2003)
• Prophecies (2003)
• Flash Fire (2003)
• Demon Hunt (2003)
• Fantasy Quest I: Revolutions (2004)
• Fantasy Quest II: The Battle Begins (2004)
• Fantasy Quest III: War of Shadows (2004)
• Fantasy Quest IV: Trust Attack and Betrayal (2004)
• Fantasy Quest V: Journey Into the Black Forst (2004)
• Fantasy Quest VI: The Last Stand (2004)
• Silent Cry (2005)
• Prophecies II (2005)
• Prophecies III (2005)
• "Tsubasa" (2005-???)
• Astaraphobia (2005)
• The Solar Chronicles I (2005)
• Scare Crow (2005)
• The Solar Chronicles II (2006)
• The Solar Chronicles III (2006)
• The Band (2006)
• Confidental Confessions (2006)
• Back Woods (2006)
• ".hack//Roots" (2006)
• The Stelluna Chronicles (2007) (completed)
• The Stelluna Chronicles II (???) (pre-production)
• The Stelluna Chronicles III (???) (Planned)
• "Freaks" (completed) (2007)
• "G.U.N." (completed) (2007)

Writer

(In accending order)

• "The World Protector" (1998-2004) (writer)
• "A Farm Story" (2000-???) (Writer)
• Sea Voyage (2001) (Screenplay)
• ".hack//SIGN" (2003) (Co-Writer, screenplay)
• Prophecies (2003) (Screenplay)
• Demon Hunt (2003) (Screenplay)
• Fantasy Quest I: Revolutions (2004) (Screenplay)
• Fantasy Quest II: The Battle Begins (2004) (Screenplay)
• Fantasy Quest III: War of Shadows (2004) (Screenplay)
• Fantasy Quest IV: Trust Attack and Betrayal (2004) (Screenplay)
• Fantasy Quest V: Journey Into the Black Forst (2004) (Screenplay)
• Fantasy Quest VI: The Last Stand (2004) (Screenplay)
• .hack//Infection (2004) (VG) (co-writer)
• .hack//Mutation (2004) (VG) (co-writer)
• .hack//Outbreak (2005) (VG) (co-writer)
• .hack//Quarantine (2005) (VG) (co-writer)
• Silent Cry (2005) (Screenplay)
• Prophecies II (2005) (Screenplay)
• Prophecies III (2005) (Screenplay)
• "Tsubasa" (2005-???) (Co-writer)
• Astaraphobia (2005) (Screenplay)
• The Solar Chronicles I (2005) (Screenplay)
• Scare Crow (2005) (Screenplay)
• The Solar Chronicles II (2006) (Co-Writer Screenplay)
• The Solar Chronicles III (2006) (Screenplay)
• The Band (2006) (Screenplay)
• Back Woods (2006) (Screenplay)
• ".hack//Roots" (2006) (Concept and idea)
• The Hunted (Co-writer)
• The Stelluna Chronicles (2007) (completed) (Screenplay)
• The Stelluna Chronicles II (???) (pre-production) (Screenplay)
• The Stelluna Chronicles III (???) (Planned) (Screenplay)
• Freaks" (completed) (2007) (screenplay)
• G.U.N. (Completed) (2007) (screenplay)
• My Catholic Fianceè (2007) (story and idea)
• Cast Away (2007) (Co-writer)

Producer

(In accending order)

• "The World Protector" (1998-2004)
• "A Farm Story (2000-???)
• Sea Voyage (2001)
• ".hack//SIGN" (2003)
• Prophecies (2003)
• Flash Fire (2003)
• Demon Hunt (2003)
• Fantasy Quest I: Revolutions (2004)
• Fantasy Quest II: The Battle Begins (2004)
• Fantasy Quest III: War of Shadows (2004)
• Fantasy Quest IV: Trust Attack and Betrayal (2004)
• Fantasy Quest V: Journey Into the Black Forst (2004)
• Fantasy Quest VI: The Last Stand (2004)
• .hack//Infection (2004) (VG) (co-producer)
• .hack//Mutation (2004) (VG) (co-producer)
• .hack//Outbreak (2005) (VG) (Co-producer)
• .hack//Quarantine (2005) (VG) (co-producer)
• Prophecies II (2005)
• Prophecies III (2005)
• "Tsubasa" (2005-???)
• Astaraphobia (2005)
• The Solar Chronicles I (2005)
• Scare Crow (2005)
• The Solar Chronicles II (2006)
• The Solar Chronicles III (2006)
• The Band (2006)
• Confidental Confessions (2006)
• Back Woods (2006)
• ".hack//Roots" (2006)
• The Hunted (Co-Producer)
• The Stelluna Chronicles (2007) (completed)
• The Stelluna Chronicles II (???) (pre-production)
• The Stelluna Chronicles III (???) (Planned)
• "Freaks" (completed) (2007)
• "G.U.N." (completed) (2007)
• My Catholic Fianceè (2007) (Executive Producer)
• Cast Away (co-producer)

Production Designer

(in acending order)

• Fantasy Quest I: Revolutions (2004)
• Fantasy Quest II: The Battle Begins (2004)
• Fantasy Quest III: War of Shadows (2004)
• Fantasy Quest IV: Trust Attack and Betrayal (2004)
• Fantasy Quest V: Journey Into the Black Forst (2004)
• Fantasy Quest VI: The Last Stand (2004)

Composer

• Fantasy Quest II: The Battle Begins (2004) (theme BlackRose) (uncredited)
• Fantasy Quest III: War of Shadows (2004)(theme BlackRose) (uncredited)
• Fantasy Quest IV: Trust Attack and Betrayal (2004)(theme BlackRose)(uncredited)
• Fantasy Quest V: Journey Into the Black Forst (2004)(theme BlackRose) (uncredited)
• Fantasy Quest VI: The Last Stand (2004)(theme BlackRose)(uncredited)
• The Band (2005) (Additonal Trombone themes) (Uncredited)

Cinematographer

• "Springvice" (1989-1991)