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{{Multiple issues|
{{Notability|1=Films|date=November 2024}}
{{No footnotes|date=November 2024}}
}}
{{Infobox film
| name = The Altruist
| image =
| director = Mick McCleery
| writer = Mick McCleery
| starring = [[Billy Franks]]<br>[[Bobbi Ashton]]<br>[[John Innocenzo]]<br>[[Mike Mclaughlin]]
| music = [[Billy Franks]]
| cinematography = Mick McCleery
| released = {{Film date|2004|11|04}}
| runtime = 107 minutes
| country = United States
| language = [[English language|English]]
}}
 
'''''The Altruist''''' is a 2004 [[Thriller (genre)|thriller film]], written and directed by Mick McCleery. The film stars [[Billy Franks]] as Nick Andrews, the founder of a company called Terminal Assist, which matches up [[thrill killer]]s and people who want to commit [[suicide]]. The supporting cast includes [[Bobbi Ashton]], [[John Innocenzo]], and [[Mike Mclaughlin]].
 
==Plot==
 
The film opens as Terminal Assist "matches" a [[depression (mood)|depressed]] man named Tom Taylor ([[Larry Schneider Jr.]]) with a killer. Tom waits downstairs for his all-too-willing executioner. Things go awry when the killer decides to murder Tom's wife, too, and the resulting double [[homicide]] is all over the local news.
 
This doesn't suit the purposes of Terminal Assist, an [[Altruism|altruistic]] service that strives to hook up [[Terminal illness|terminally ill]] people with low-life hit men that enjoy killing. Founder Nick Andrews (Franks) has established a working relationship with local police authorities, based on an understanding that they won't kill anyone living in the same community. The double homicide presents problems, and the police expect Nick to find a way to relieve the pressure. Complications ensue when it's soon apparent that Nick has a thing for the grieving widow Teresa (Bobbi Ashton),{{Clarify|date=December 2010}} and he has competition—namely, Tom's doctor buddy Carl (John Innocenzo).
 
Carl has a different problem. He's falsified medical reports and hidden his diagnosis of [[pancreatic cancer]] that allowed Tom to obtain a lucrative [[insurance policy]] before his expiration date. He certainly doesn't want an investigation into Tom's death with potential criminal charges and license revocation pending.
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==Production==
Filming for ''The Altruist'' took place in South Jersey on a budget of between $10,000 to $15,000. Actor Billy Franks was brought on to play the lead role alongside Bobbi Ashton; approximately 40 extras were used for the film, some of whom were people McCleery worked with at the [[Gloucester County Institute of Technology]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Shryock |first=Bob |date=November 2, 2004 |title=Teacher premiers new independent film |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106127046/?match=1&terms=Altruist%20Mick%20McCleery |work=Gloucester County Times (Newspapers.com)}}</ref> McCleery came up with the idea for the script after reading an article about the [[statistics]] of murders and suicides each year in the USA. He then began wondering what could happen if a company were to exist that could pair the two groups together.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Longsdorf |first=Amy |date=October 29, 2004 |title=Haddon Heights native's project makes it to big screen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/184264576/?match=1&terms=Altruist%20Mick%20McCleery |work=Courier-Post (Newspapers.com)}}</ref>
 
==Release==
In an interview with the website '[[buried.com]]' McCleery gave some background on the conception of the idea for ''The Altruist''. While shooting ''[[Track 16]]'' in the summer of 1998 (also starring Franks and Ashton), director Mick McCleery read an article about the [[statistics]] of murders and suicides each year in the USA. He was surprised that the suicide rate was double that of the murder rate (an average of 60,000 versus 30,000). He wrote a note to himself about it: "That is an awful lot of waste there, if only someone could match those two groups up", and the basic plot of ''The Altruist'' was born.
 
McCleery continued to work on the idea as he finished up post-production on ''Track 16'' and was ready to shoot this new film in the summer of 2002. Leading man Billy Franks, who is British, flew over to America for the shoot, and was promptly [[deportation|deported]]. His [[passport]] had been out of order for years, and in pre-[[9/11]] days they simply let him through, but things had changed by 2002.
 
Instead of recasting, McCleery rescheduled the film for the following summer, hoping that Franks' passport issues could be worked out by then. He used the time to rework the script, changing several subplots.
 
==Premiere==
 
''The Altruist'' premiered at [[The Ritz cinema]] in [[Voorhees, NJ]] on November 4, 2004. Just fourFour days later it premiered had its European premiere in London at the [[Clapham Picture House]] (November 8, 2004).<ref name=":0" /> ''The Altruist'' later screened at the Ryde International Film Festival in 2011, where it won first place.<ref>{{Cite news |last=White |first=Jamie |date=April 29, 2011 |title=Film event set to roll again |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1075853078/?match=1&terms=Altruist%20Mick%20McCleery |work=Isle of Wight County Press (Newspapers.com)}}</ref>
 
==References==
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[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:English-language thriller films]]
[[Category:Films about suicide]]
[[Category:Assisted suicide]]
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