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May 6th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
Sarah Silverman and Blair Underwood were announced on Monday to be starring in a new Indie drama called “Viral” which is being created with the help of three Greek-American producers.
Viral is written by Joe McClean, the producer behind films that include “Life Tracker” and “Resident Evil Vendetta.” McClean will be joined by a production team that includes Daniel Cypress and York Films’ John Kalafatis, Joanna Kalafatis and Andreas Ignatiou.
York Films’ additions are all veteran Greek-American producers. Their studio was responsible for co-producing last year’s epic Afghanistan war film “The Outpost.” The movie starred Orlando Bloom, Scott Eastwood, and Caleb Landry Jones.
“The Outpost,” which was produced by Academy Award nominee Rod Lurie, was based on a book written by CNN’s Jake Tapper, portraying one of the deadliest battles in the US war in Afghanistan.
Joanna Kalafatis, who is also York Films’ President, said that “Viral” was an exciting opportunity to work on.
“Once in a while you come across a script that completely captures your imagination,” Kalafatis told Greek Reporter. “We are very excited about bringing these complex characters to life.”
The Greek-American producers of York Films
After creating four giants in New York City’s construction sector, serial entrepreneur John Kalafatis began the development of a hundred-million-dollar movie studio in New York City that would become York Films’ first studio.
Kalafatis, a Greek-American businessman from Lefkada Island in Greece, was introduced to the entertainment industry by his daughter, Joanna.
“I realized that it is an up-and-coming industry. The state provides the productions with numerous incentives so they can be attracted here. It seems like that the people in this industry prefer to shoot their TV series and features in New York City, something that has a great economic interest,” Kalafatis told Greek Reporter in an exclusive interview in 2018.
Already, York Films has seen its fair share of notable productions take place on its ten-acre lot in the south Bronx. When York Films was based in Queens, its single-stage operating studio had already hosted projects from CBS’ “Elementary” series to the hit films “John Wick,” with Keanu Reeves, and “Non-Stop,” with Liam Neeson.
Joanna herself has long experience as an actress since her family moved to New York from Greece when she was the age of eight. She has worked with director Stephen Gyllenhaal, who has been nominated twice for a Director’s Guild Award, and has also starred in TV series, short films and national commercials.
Andreas Ignatiou, York Films’ Creative Executive has worked as a production assistant on the set of “La La Land” while his first feature film “This Is My Life” in 2018 cracked the top 50 independent film chart on iTunes when it was released.
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