Director Dawn Radican gestures standing behind cameraman Brian Heller (Providence aerial shooter for NBC). The low-budget movie will be filmed around Rhode Island through June 7. THE UNHOLY GRAIL is co-produced by Sandy Luzzi Sneesby of Providence.

Rhode Island filmmaker Dawn Radican is beaming on the morning after a party held for her at Providence's Biltmore Hotel. It was a gathering of potential investors for her current film project, "The Unholy Grail". Radican's program for the evening included a prospectus and film trailer. She hopes that the success of her previous effort, CODE OF ETHICS will inspire financial backing and overall production assistance.

CODE OF ETHICS impressed many professionals in the filmmaking arena. The script held so much potential that veteran Boston film producer Joe Foley, whose credits include LITTLE WOMEN, MERMAIDS with Cher and Kenneth Branagh's SHAKESPEARE'S SISTER, agreed to co-produce the film. Foley described Radican as "full of energy and confidence".

Shot mainly in Rhode Island, with many stunning scenes of Providence, CODE OF ETHICS focuses on Medicaid fraud with a serial killer in the mix. Melissa Leo (of NBC-TV's Homicide) stars as Jo, a powerful yet vulnerable woman who becomes involved with a serial killer whose intentions are to kill people who defraud the Medicaid system. He communicates with her via office computer.

Radican acknowledges the heavy-hitting talent associated with the film, industry pros including Tom Ohanian, one of the inventors behind the Avid computerized film-editing system. Acclaimed cinematographer, Brian Heller, worked on the film, providing spectacular aerial views of Providence. Heller says of Radican: "The film looks like a multi-million dollar production. Dawn's input is pretty incredible. I know of no one who had written a script, raised the money and directed that had never done it before, and yet had it look like this...unless her father owned the studio."

The production team of "Code" praised the Providence Film Commission and Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr. for their support.

"The Unholy Grail" is a supernatural thriller, a story of how an archeology professor, after a series of murders, embarks on a quest to find what might be a missing piece to the Holy Grail. The idea came to Radican after viewing an exhibit at the Worcester Art Museum, which featured the Antioc Chalice (once considered a candidate for the Holy Grail). Antioc was one of four capitals of the Roman Empire. Joe Foley will serve as line producer, and Tom Ohanian will return with his expertise. Rhode Island native Robert Lavetta will produce from Hollywood. Radican's goal is "to raise the first quarter of the film's budget, attach an actor, then raise the balance. "She hopes to court investors with unique CD-ROM business cards with behind-the-scenes footage and project updates. Combined with heavy hitting talent and Rhode Island's friendly filmmaking environment, Radican appears poised to begin shooting in the spring, and looks forward to a potential release in the fall/winter. She heads up Fox Point Films, a local production company based in Foster, MA.

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Anka Theroux is a filmmaker and writer who attended film school in New York and has worked on several film festivals in New York and Istanbul. Most recently, she was Executive Director in October of Providence's Renaissance City Film Festival.