March 16, 2021 – Los Angeles, CA – Brides of Jesus, the eponymous band in the Blacklist celebrated feature script Brides of Jesus, and the award-winning short film, “Brides of Jesus – Inside Me,” just released a remix to their recent single, “Inside Me” here. This “Dub Thief” remix was done by noted producer Michael Rozon (mixing, effects) and the film’s writer/director/producer Joe Bartone (arranging, synths). Rozon is widely known for his work producing and engineering a variety of musical artists including The Melvins, Ministry, Jarboe of The Swans, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, David Yow of The Jesus Lizard, Gene Loves Jezebel, Wayne Hussey of The Mission, and Sisters of Mercy.
For this remix Rozon goes with the more pop side of his dark electronic sound that compliments the original production sung in the track and short film by musician/actresses Kathryn Jurbala and Natalie Von Kirk who lead the titular band in the short. Drums on the original track were laid down by actor/drummer Stephen Martin, the short’s band’s drummer. The rest of the original track was recorded by the film’s writer/director/producer Joe Bartone who also wrote and arranged all the music in the short.
While the short is only a small look into the world of Brides of Jesus, it’s been a fantastic proof of concept for the feature film. The short has won 18 awards at festivals including the Independent Shorts Awards, the New York Movie Awards, the Venice Film Awards, the Hollywood Gold Awards, the Indie Short Fest, the Culver City Film Festival and others. The feature script has also generated laurels with the Beverly Hills Film Festival, the Glendale International Film Festival, and the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
The film centers on the young nun led New England Punk Rock girl group, Brides of Jesus, who get sucked into dirty doings by the monsignor and the Knights of Columbus in this comic book style comedy thriller. Bandmates CC and Tigre fall in love as they fight the evil cleric and his henchman to clear their names for the Mother Superior’s murder. The movie has the grit and women led music and sexuality of The Runaways plus the comic book vibe and action of Sin City and New England’s issues with Catholicism in as seen in Spotlight.
The lead creatives on the project are musician/composer/director/screenwriter/producer Joe Bartone, who based the film on his experiences growing up in the heavily Catholic community in Rhode Island, which he escaped by diving deeply into the state’s influential music scene that birthed artists including The Throwing Muses, The Cowsills, and Les Savy Fav. He is joined by his co-director/producer/cinematographer/editor Jose Zambrano Cassella who brings experience from directing four features, music videos for artists like Shakira, and over 600 national and international brand commercials.
While the short continues to rack up laurels internationally, Joe, Jose and their team are actively looking for financing for the full-length film, which, as Joe notes, “now is the perfect time for a film about young women fighting an unfair system while falling in love with each other, making great music and saving the day, against a backdrop of comic book influenced production design.”