Bringing DownThe House screenwriterJason Filardi has signed on as executive producer on independent financing,production and distribution company Armada Pictures' upcoming thriller, Drum.

Filardi will supply creative input on the screenplay aswell as other aspects of the production, which is inspired by real events andcentres on two South African journalists involved in the 1950s anti-Apartheidmovement.

Filardi heardabout the project on a recent visit to South Africa, where he struck up afriendship with the picture's South African director, Zola Maseko. Drum is due to go into production in June inJohannesburg.

In a statementChris Sievernich, the founder and chief executive officer of Armada Pictures,said he was looking forward to Filardi's contributions, adding,'his insights are already proving to be a huge asset'.

Filardi added:'This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over one of thegreatest injustices the world has known. This is powerful stuff. It's anhonour to be a part of the team, I can't wait to help Zola turn this intowhat we all believe will be a very special film.'

Sievernich,Rudolf Wichmann and Maseko's partner Dumisani Dlamini are producing, withArmada's vice president of production Matt Milich and VIPMedienfond's Andreas Schmid and Andreas Grosch also handling executiveproducing duties.

Drum is the second of two greenlit films onArmada's slate, both of which are backed by Munich-based VIP Medienfonds.

The otherproject, One Point O,is a futuristic thriller about a young computer programmer who becomes a guineapig in a corporate advertising experiment. It is co-directed by Jeff Renfroeand Marteinn Thorsson.

Armada Pictureslaunched earlier this year (Screendaily Feb 4), when Sievernich said he wasaiming for an annual slate of five to eight studio-budget and lower budgetpictures.