Production royalty Arthur Sarkissian, who has released over 20 blockbuster films during the past 30-years, including the iconic smash hit Rush Hour franchise is teaming up with CEO D.A. Chan and President Joshua Macciello to launch the new up-and-coming media and Entertainment Company entitled “Global Ascension Studios LLC.” Global Ascension Studios will be releasing both live action and animated projects for all media outlets, and will be the place where talented filmmakers can come and tackle the most ambitious stories.

As a first project the Studio and Sarkissian are collaborating with Wild7Films, 2B Films and Danny A. Abeckaser, who is producing the film, Gemini Lounge under the Global Ascension banner.  “We are absolutely excited by our upcoming project Gemini Lounge!  Danny is a very talented Director and I look forward to collaborating with him and his company 2B Films,” proclaims Sarkissian.  In a quote from President Joshua Macciello regarding Sarkissian he said, “Having Arthur on our team is an absolute honor.  He is hands down one of the most talented producers in the world and we are lucky to work with him.” 

I was honored to be able to have a conversation with both Arthur Sarkissian and Joshua Macciello regarding their collaboration and production of Gemini Lounge.

What inspired the collaboration between the two of you?

Joshua Macciello: I’ll tell you in a very fun spirited way. Arthur and I are very passionate about our children, first and foremost. We are very family-oriented and we are very passionate about our children’s sports. So, when I say to you that we were very passionate cheering for our sons on a basketball court from the time they were toddlers all the way up to their teens…. We’ve probably been tossed out of a few games because of that passion… Arthur and I would spend a lot of time outside the games cheering from the outside. But from that we developed a friendship. From that friendship we started to really understand each other and knew that in the future something like this would come about.

What a cool story. The collaboration that you‘ve formed From what I understand you’re supposed to be able to help artists and filmmakers tackle things they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to do. Is that accurate?

Joshua Macciello: Where we stand, yes it is true. D.A. Chan, our partner Derek was one of the heads of global at DreamWorks Animation,  and Arthur, Derek and I  sat down together. If you look at Arthur’s record for the past 30+ years he groomed some of the biggest talent that you see today and made them what they are. We feel that that needs to be replenished and put back into the system. We feel we can help young inspiring artists.

Arthur Sarkissian: The thing is I always look for new talent so to speak in new blood at any given time, whether it’s a screenplay, whether it’s a short movie, whether it’s a low budget movie. If I see something in someone and a spark to it, I like to pursue that because I love movies. So, to think that we could open the doors to people who could come in and have the freedom to make movies that they want to make…. Which doesn’t mean that we’re just going to go ahead and let them do whatever they want to do, but there is a lot of great talent out there, especially today with the difficulties in the industry that deserving artists don’t get that break. I hope that Global Ascension will be a big part of trying to do that.

Let’s talk about Gemini Lounge….

Arthur Sarkissian: How this came about is Josh called me with something he ran and told me to take a look at it. He got me the script and I read it. First of all, I love mob movies and mob stories told well. I liked the script, it really resonated with me. He told me who the film maker was and by accident maybe a year prior to that I was streaming through the channels to see what was on to watch. I came across this little movie called Mob Town which I liked. I thought it was well done from a directorial standpoint. It held my interest. Usually if something doesn’t hold my interest within 10 minutes it’s over. But I liked it and I thought it was a nice little thing he did there. So obviously when I knew he was going to direct it and I had already responded to the script,  I had a very strong feeling that Danny was very capable of delivering a really good movie. I really think it is one of those stories that people respond to. It’s a good mob movie, well done and hopefully God willing we will do it correctly, we will do it right and it will be a nice little movie.

Joshua Macciello: The Director is Danny A. Abeckaser. He is a New Yorker like us as well.

Do you have a timeframe for its release?

Joshua Macciello: It’s in pre-production right now. 

Arthur Sarkissian: Production will probably be March or April. You don’t really know when the release date is, it all depends. But I would say hopefully sometime at the very beginning of next year. It may be at the end of this year but it just depends on whether everything comes together, can we find the right distributor and do the right thing.

Will there be any further collaborations after Gemini Lounge?

Arthur Sarkissian: The fact that I know Joshua a long time and Derek Chan also, and highly respect them, and Josh has been a very dear friend of mine for a very long time, you know cheering buddies…. I have joined Global Ascension because I feel that we have some really good things coming which I can’t discuss them right now, but I feel that we are going to turn this into a very special company. This is the very first one and we will see where we go from here. But we have some nice things coming

Both of you have done some pretty cool things, so I was wondering have you experienced your ultimate stage fantasy yet?

Arthur Sarkissian: From my point of view I take one thing at a time. I either look into a remake or a read a script or an idea hits me in the head as Rush Hour did. What do you say my favorite thing that I’m proud of, although I’m proud of everything I’ve done, would be?  Last Man Standing with Bruce Willis.

Josh Macciello: Arthur doesn’t brag about himself, but I don’t know anything he did that wasn’t popular. From that movie to Kill the Irishman and all the way through the obvious, Rush Hour franchise. Arthur has always made movies that transcend well. And he keeps doing it. I’m excited to be working with first of all two friends in Arthur and Derek to help contribute. We want to make a difference and do something in this industry. So, this is my moment to work with such seasoned professionals, and I am so appreciative and thankful, but my first real accomplishment is being a husband of 25 years and a father of three beautiful children. To me that’s the first and most important thing.

The official website for Global Ascension Studios may be found at https://globalascensionstudios.com