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Rumor Has It

Reviewed by Madelyn Miller, the Travellady

I could be Mrs. Robinson. Not that my legs are as good as Shirley McLaine’s. But I have had an affair with someone who would be more appropriate for my daughter.

I have lots in common with Jennifer Anniston. Once upon a time I had long blonde frosted hair. And at one time, we both had a crush on Brad Pitt.

But now we are both older and wiser.

And that’s exactly what makes RUMOR HAS IT so charming.

Most “sequels” seem to be based on super heros or science fiction stories. This is a real life story of what could have happened 30 years later.

And I think I liked RUMOR HAS IT, even more than THE GRADUATE.

IN RUMOR HAS IT, Sarah Huttinger (JENNIFER ANISTON) is in a tailspin. 

She has agreed to marry her boyfriend, Jeff (MARK RUFFALO), but is terrified of going through with it.  Her journalism career has stalled out at the obituary desk of The New York Times.  And now, her sister, Annie (MENA SUVARI) is plunging into marriage with her tennis partner and Sarah must return home to Pasadena, California, to attend the wedding …which means spending time with her family. 

For as long as Sarah can remember, she has been the black sheep of her family, never knowing where she fits in.  While she loves her father and sister, she can’t relate to their contented lives of country clubs and tennis matches.  And for her, going home is like staring down the gauntlet of the dull, settled-down life she fears is yawning out before her.  

The only thing that makes the trip bearable is the company of her acerbic grandmother Katharine (SHIRLEY MacLAINE), who lets it slip that Sarah is not the first one in the family to get cold feet – that, in fact, thirty years ago, Sarah’s late mother ran off with a mysterious young man days before her wedding to Sarah’s father.

Curiously, around the same time, there was a rumor about a young woman who ran off with a young man who had been seduced by the woman’s mother, creating a huge scandal in Pasadena.  The rumor became a book, and the book became a film.  Now, in the midst of her sister’s wedding, Sarah finds herself frantically searching for a copy of 1967 film The Graduate, believing her family may have been the inspiration for the story, with Katharine as the older woman and Sarah’s own mother as the young man’s true love.  Which leaves one question: who is the young man?

Believing the long-ago story may hold the key to her true identity, Sarah puts Jeff on a plane to New York and detours to San Francisco to look up her mother’s classmate, Beau Burroughs (KEVIN COSTNER), who is now a famous internet billionaire. 

What she finds is definitely not her long-lost father, but someone even she could fall in love with … or at least into bed.  This strange encounter with a man who embodies all the adventure and excitement she thought she longed for leads her spiraling back to what she knows best and understands least – her family.

This film has been rated “PG-13” by the MPAA for “mature thematic material, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference.”

Rumor Has It…will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

www.rumorhasitmovie.warnerbros.com

ABOUT THE STORY

Rumor Has It… unfolds in the sedate, settled, “old money” Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena.  “Pasadena is that perfect, very proper, stratified enclave,” comments Paula Weinstein (Monster-In-Law, Analyze That), who produced the film with Ben Cosgrove (Good Night, And Good Luck).  “Everything is done by the rules; everybody goes to the same country club, they shop in the same stores and they know everyone on the block.  It can seem rather oppressive and very dull.”

Native to this habitat is the Huttinger family: father Earl (Richard Jenkins), daughter Sarah (Jennifer Aniston) and her younger sister, Annie (Mena Suvari).  Sarah’s mother, who married while still a young and beautiful woman, passed away when Sarah was nine. 

“Sarah is confused and unsure of where she’s going and who she is,” says Jennifer Aniston, who shot to fame as one of the stars of television’s Friends and has distinguished herself in such films as The Good Girl and Bruce Almighty.  “I think this stems from the fact that she feels there’s a big piece of herself missing because she has always felt disconnected from her family, especially after her mother’s death.”

Sarah’s been living in New York, pursuing a journalism career that seems to have peaked at writing wedding announcements and obituaries for The New York Times.  The ambivalence she feels toward her job and family is echoed in her relationship with her fiancé Jeff – whom she is terrified of actually marrying.

“Sarah is frightened of being sucked into her family’s staid way of life,” comments director Rob Reiner, who has helmed some of the most successful and influential comedies of all time, including When Harry Met Sally… and This is Spinal Tap.  “She not only wants more adventure, she feels like she might be settling for something that isn’t a true extension of who she is.  Her fear is that she will lose herself in a middle class lifestyle.”

When Annie’s wedding brings Sarah back to Pasadena, their dad welcomes Jeff like a son...but Sarah is reluctant to reveal to anyone that they’re engaged.  “Jeff is a decent guy with pretty clear intentions,” says Mark Ruffalo, who has been widely praised for his work in dramas and comedies alike, such as You Can Count on Me, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Just Like Heaven.  “He’s in love with Sarah and is looking forward to getting married.  Then he sees her spin out into indecision and reticence about their commitment.  She is really not sure about the decision she made when she accepted Jeff’s proposal.  She’s terrified of making any decisions or choices. By not telling anyone about her engagement, she’s avoided making a choice.”

By contrast, Sarah’s sister can only scream and giggle about the prospect of being married.  Unlike Sarah, Annie is buoyant and bubbly – or as Sarah puts it, “My sister likes to bounce.” 

“Annie and Sarah probably have gotten along throughout their lives because that’s what would be expected of sisters in Pasadena,” notes Mena Suvari, star of American Beauty and the first and second chapters of American Pie film series.  “But I don’t think they spent much time emotionally with one another.”

Sarah can’t believe her sister is plunging into marriage with such ease.  To her, it looks alarmingly like the end of any possible excitement and the beginning of stultifying boredom. “Annie races into life pell-mell and doesn’t really think about it too much,” says Suvari.  “At one point Sarah asks her if she’s scared and Annie says Scared of what?  She just doesn’t get it and seems bemused that her sister would even ask such a dumb question.”

In the Huttinger household, everyone sticks to safe topics – sports, tennis, fishing.  Consequently, “Sarah has never been able to explore or understand those things she felt were missing from her connection to her own family,” says Aniston.  “She’s a little like Mount St. Helens – ready to erupt.  What we see in the film is her journey to finding her voice so that she can make the right choice.”

As Sarah, Aniston touches a universal chord that many people experience as they lock into a path that will define their future.  “Jennifer takes us through Sarah’s emotional journey,” Reiner describes.  “She’s sexy and adorable and plays comedy as well as very real emotion.  It’s a rare combination to find in someone.”

Richard Jenkins plays Earl Huttinger, the quiet anchor of the family.  “On the surface, Earl seems oblivious to any tension or feeling of unease on Sarah’s part,” says Jenkins, an acting veteran who is one of the stars of the acclaimed television series Six Feet Under as well as the film North Country.  “But I don’t think he is.  He just chooses to deal with it when he feels that it has really become an issue with her.  Then he steps forward and tells her what he thinks she needs to know.”

The most sympathetic ear in the place belongs to Sarah’s “mother’s mother,” Katharine (who detests the moniker of “Grandma”), played by Shirley MacLaine.  Reiner says he was ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with the screen legend, who has been nominated for six Academy Awards, winning in 1984 for her inimitable performance in Terms of Endearment.  “She’s brilliant,” the director enthuses.  “She has an edge to her that was perfect for the role of Katharine, who is a kind of movie star living in this stolid Pasadena community.  Shirley knew exactly how to play her.”

“Shirley is the definition of a firecracker,” Aniston says.  “I’ve worshipped this woman – she is one of my idols, and I still can’t believe that I had this opportunity to work with her.  She’s absolutely fantastic in every way.”

“Katharine has survived in this Pasadena milieu because of her rebellious nature and almost reckless, salty humor,” says MacLaine of her character, who reveals that Sarah’s mother ran off to Cabo San Lucas to be with another young man who wasn’t Sarah’s father the week before she was married, returning just in time for the wedding. 

“When Sarah begins to question her, Katharine doesn’t want to get into it,” MacLaine continues.  “She doesn’t want to hurt her son-in-law’s feelings and she really doesn’t want to tell the whole story of what happened between herself, her daughter and their common lover.”

To make matters impossibly more complicated, Sarah then learns through her Aunt that this young man was a classmate and best friend of the author of the long ago novel, The Graduate.  “Sarah is shocked,” Weinstein says.  “She has never heard this story about her mother.  She always imagined her mother as the most straight, nice, sweet homemaker.  The idea that she was feeling trapped, exactly what Sarah’s now feeling, is astonishing to her.  Did her mother run away to escape and have something exciting happen to her or was it simply a romantic tryst?”

All of this new and intriguing information sends Sarah into a fog in which she wonders if perhaps she might be the offspring of that romance.  To decipher the puzzle of her lineage, Sarah sets off on a treasure hunt – to find the man who may be the missing piece of her life.  “In the midst of her sister’s wedding, she opens this Pandora’s Box, which would explain why she is so unlike her father or her sister,” says Aniston.  “She looks different; she doesn’t like to play tennis; she drives faster than they do.  Suddenly, all of those differences make sense to her, so she goes on a quest to figure out: if she isn’t a Huttinger, who is she?  And who is her dad?”

Jeff is willing to go along with Sarah’s quest to try to find out who she really is –but he doesn’t foresee just how strange the situation is going to become.  “He really doesn’t care who her father is,” says Ruffalo.  “But that patience ends up biting him in the behind and nearly ruining his chances with her forever.”

Reiner notes that Ruffalo infused his character with quiet strength to offset the uncomfortable position in which Jeff finds himself.  “His is a difficult role because he is in this role reversal,” says the director.  “He’s playing the female part in a traditional romantic comedy, yet he has to show real masculine strength.  Mark is one of the great American actors that we have today – he’s incredibly sexy and handsome and can subtly blend comedy and drama, vulnerability and strength.”

At the heart of Sarah’s conflict is her fear that somehow a chance for any adventure in her life will end with marriage.  And when she finally encounters the man her mother ran off to meet in Baja California all those years ago, she too comes under his spell.

“Beau Burroughs is the fantasy for three generations of women,” says Reiner.  “He represents adventure and excitement – another kind of life, the dream of a life that might be out there yet.  In a weird way, you have three generations of women that have taken this little detour through Beau-country in order to find out who they are.  He represents that life we think we want, the life we think we should have – the one that’s just around the corner that we might be missing out on.”

Kevin Costner, who has delivered powerful performances in films such as Dances With Wolves, The Bodyguard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and, most recently, The Upside of Anger, plays Beau Burroughs, the mystery man in the Huttinger family’s life.  “Beau is a highly successful, ambitious guy who is known in the computer world as someone who recognizes trends,” says Costner.  “When Sarah finds him, he’s probably working on the third or fourth company that he has bought and sold, very successfully.”

“Kevin is one of the most charming men alive,” comments Weinstein.  “He’s very debonair, a throwback to the old-time movie stars.  He’s worldly and at the same time, very direct and down to earth.  He makes it very believable that Beau could have had this affect on Sarah, her mother and her grandmother.”

Beau is an enormously successful free spirit who offers Sarah a shoulder to cry on as she reels from the knowledge that it would have been impossible for him to be her father.  “So, in essence, she is back at square one,” says Aniston.  “The answer she thought she had found turns out not to be an answer at all.” 

Later, after they’ve spent the night talking, Sarah finds she wants to kiss Beau.  “She has big questions about her life and is in this crisis period of approaching marriage,” says Costner, “and talking to Beau takes away her anxiety in some ways.  She’s relieved and relaxed but also very vulnerable.  You combine that with a little bit of alcohol and that completes the trifecta, if you will.”

After a night together, Sarah is inevitably left with the choice she has put off making: is she ready to make a commitment to Jeff, or escape into a thrilling but ultimately temporal fling with Beau?  “Beau points out in the film that It’s the women in the family who came after me,” says Weinstein.  “He’s the Pied Piper who says You don’t have to be committed to any one thing.  You can do what you want to do.  He is the antidote to fearing that you’re going to lose your own voice, lose your way.  That’s very seductive to Sarah because it’s precisely that feeling of being trapped that has thrown her into flux the first place.”

This unraveling of the knot is rich territory for Reiner, who throughout his career has explored the at once difficult and exhilarating dimensions of relationships.  “Rob can find the humor and the empathy in any emotional situation and make it truthful,” Weinstein says.  “He understands the emotion of wanting to be committed and wanting to run out the door at the same time.  So in each situation, in each scene, he’s able to mine what is truthful and what is identifiable and make it funny or make it sad but it always comes out of real feelings.”

“Rob’s timing is impeccable,” adds MacLaine.  “It’s extremely important because you’re always walking a tightrope between the drama and the comedy, and boy!  The comedy better land.”

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Rumor Has It…is set in 1997 to sync the timing of The Graduate novel and movie with the ages of the characters, but the setting is essentially contemporary Pasadena, with stops in New York and Northern California along the way. 

Founded around 1885 at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, Pasadena was a favorite winter retreat for wealthy Easterners and many of their original mansions still stand.  In the film, a running joke among the Huttingers’s social circle is, “No one is from Los Angeles.  But if you’re from Los Angeles, you’re probably from Pasadena.”

“It’s like a lot of suburban communities with more traditional, conservative values,” comments producer Ben Cosgrove.  “It’s the picket fence world that Sarah is frightened to death of falling into and almost another fully formed character in the story.”

The film takes place across several landscapes – New York, where Sarah lives and where she ultimately must return; Pasadena, home of the Huttingers; and Northern California, where Sarah finds Beau Burroughs country. 

Two-time Academy Award nominee Thomas Sanders (Saving Private Ryan, Bram Stoker’s Dracula) sought to create these distinct habitats.  “The colors in the Huttingers’s world are a little on the boring side and claustrophobic,” he describes, “whereas Beau Burroughs’s world was all about beauty, color and being outside.  We worked very carefully on a palette to make sure that when our characters were in the different environments, it echoed those worlds.”

The filmmakers set the wedding rehearsal dinner at the Huttinger home to hone in on the family’s unique character.  “Pasadena is not a poor world by any means,” says Sanders, “but we wanted to compare Beau’s extremely wealthy world to Sarah’s so you could see how this dramatic change in scenery would affect her.”       

Costume designer Kym Barrett (the Matrix trilogy) infused the wardrobe with the same focus on contrasts.  “To take a person who is very average and unassuming and throw her into an unbelievable and out of the ordinary situation seemed liked a wonderful idea because you could play the two worlds off of one another,” she says. 

Barrett created a very typical wardrobe for a young professional woman in 1997, keeping in mind that she would only be in Pasadena for a short time and would therefore have a limited wardrobe.  “Then, when she is thrust into this delay with all these romantic events, I wanted to make it so that all the things that she wore could be adapted into those situations,” says Barrett.

During fittings in pre-production, Barrett was able to collaborate with the actors to get additional insight into the characters from the cast. “Jennifer had some very strong ideas of what Sarah would wear,” she notes.  “She didn’t particularly want ‘designed’ clothes, as Sarah isn’t exactly a fashion-plate.  We ended up making some of her costumes but other things that she wears we bought and then altered to make them look more like something she would wear in the period.”

By contrast, nearly the entire wardrobe Shirley MacLaine’s character, Katharine, was hand-made.  “We had a lot of fun with Shirley because she was so totally enthralled with her character,” Barrett recalls.  “She wanted to know the back story and the color scheme, all of which are things that make a job fun for me.  I loved that she really looked like a true movie star.”

Filming commenced in Palos Verdes, California, before moving to downtown Los Angeles’ Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel. The following weeks saw the cast and crew move to Pasadena to utilize numerous neighborhoods and locations throughout the city.

Several historic Pasadena structures appear in Rumor Has It..., including All Saints Episcopal Church, a gothic structure built in 1923, which is known for its stained glass, including an original Tiffany window.  The church is the scene of Annie’s wedding, for which Sarah and Jeff have come in from New York.  Officiating at the ceremony in the film is George Regas, who retired after 28 years as the Rector of All Saints and was the pastor for screenwriter T.M. Griffin, who grew up in Pasadena. 

Across the street stands Pasadena City Hall, a 1927 construction inspired by the Renaissance style of 16th century Italian architect Andreas Palladino.  The tiled dome roof is visible for miles around and the building encloses a spacious fountain courtyard where the film’s Casablanca Ball sequence was shot.  In this scene, Beau takes Sarah to an extravagant Northern California ball to give her a glimpse into the reality of his life. 

All Saints Episcopal Church across the street was already written into the script, but City Hall was a delightful bonus for the filmmakers.  Production designer Thomas Sanders learned that the city was planning a major earthquake retrofitting at City Hall around the time they would be shooting there and as he worked out the schedule it occurred to him that it was a perfect fit for the Casablanca Ball, “I called my crew and we met there and planned out the look of the Casablanca Ball before we even had permission from the City to use it,” he says.  “I just had a feeling they would give us permission – they really had nothing to lose.”

Because the city had already relocated the building’s tenants, the art department had the rare luxury of total access to the site for a full week in order to transform it into an opulent party venue. 

Cinematographer Peter Deming relished the task of designing lighting for such a grand space.  “The courtyard was so vast,” he describes.  “There were plenty of places to hide lamps, and the evening mood was challenging with the light wardrobe and tables.” 

To assist in the process, Deming floated helium balloons with lamps inside high above the courtyard, giving off an exotic glow that could be seen all around the neighborhood. 

The Casablanca Ball was an enormous undertaking for the wardrobe department due to the many extras required for the scene.  Barrett and her team dressed each extra in vintage wardrobe, shoes, jewelry, stockings, not to mention hair and makeup design.  “It took us three weeks to pre-fit everybody because we were dressing them from head to toe,” she recalls.

In addition to Pasadena, Rumor Has It… filmed at the Saddlerock Ranch in the hills above Malibu; a home in the elegant Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles; the Bradley Terminal at LAX; Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu and in San Pedro, California at the lavish Art Deco Warner Grand Theatre.  Built in 1931, the Warner Grand was the first sound-equipped theatre in the South Bay.  Production also shot in the three WPA-build tunnels on the Arroyo Seco Parkway that lead to the Pasadena Freeway, the oldest such roadway in the country.

ABOUT THE GRADUATE

Nominated for seven Academy Awards and winner for Best Director, this groundbreaking social satire launched the career of two-time Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman and cemented the reputation of acclaimed director Mike Nichols.  Pulsating with the rebellious spirit of the 60s and the landmark score by Simon and Garfunkel, the film starred Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, and Katherine Ross as her daughter, Elaine.  Directed by Mike Nichols, the film was written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham based on the novel by Charles Webb.

Webb’s The Graduate, published in 1963, was a successful first novel for the young American writer.  The novel dramatizes the post-graduate blues of Pasadena native Benjamin Braddock and chronicles his encounters with Mrs. Robinson, the bored but attractive wife of his father’s law partner.  When Benjamin falls in love with the Robinsons’ beautiful daughter Elaine, Mrs. Robinson sabotages their relationship by telling Elaine of her affair with Benjamin.  But he is undeterred – for the first time in his life, Benjamin knows what he wants and he relentlessly pursues Elaine as she prepares to marry someone else.

ABOUT THE CAST

Born in Sherman Oaks, CA and raised in New York City, JENNIFER ANISTON (Sarah Huttinger) is a versatile actress who was exposed to acting at an early age by her father, John Aniston, who starred on NBC’s daytime drama Days of Our Lives, and her godfather, the late Telly Savalas.

Aniston recently completed filming the romantic comedy The Break Up with costar Vince Vaughn due out in the Spring of 2006.  She was last seen in the thriller Derailed, co-starring Clive Owen, which was released in November.

Aniston recently completed her 10th and final season on the hit ensemble comedy Friends, along with Courteney Cox-Arquette, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow, on NBC.  Her work as Rachel Green has earned her two Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress and four People’s Choice Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, Drama or Mini-series and for Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.  She won her first Emmy in 2002 as Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, as well as her first Golden Globe Award in 2003 as Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.  She recently received her third Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

In addition to the massive success she has achieved on the small screen, Aniston continues to branch out with very different roles on the silver screen.  She was recently seen starring alongside Ben Stiller in the comedy Along Came Polly, and opposite Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman in the smash hit Tom Shadyac comedy Bruce Almighty.  She also recently starred in Miguel Arteta’s critically acclaimed third film The Good Girl, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly and Zooey Deschanel, a role for which Aniston earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination.   The film made its debut to rave reviews at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Aniston’s other film credits include Rock Star, opposite Mark Wahlberg and directed by Stephen Herek; She’s the One, opposite director Ed Burns and Cameron Diaz; Picture Perfect, opposite Kevin Bacon and Olympia Dukakis, directed by Glenn Gordon Caron; ‘Til There Was You, with Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sarah Jessica Parker and Dylan McDermott; and the critically praised The Object of My Affection, opposite Paul Rudd.   Her other film credits include Office Space and Dreams for an Insomniac.        

Aniston, who is of Greek descent, spent a year of her childhood living in Greece with her family, but relocated to New York when her father landed a role on the daytime drama Love of Life.  She had her first taste of acting at age 11 when she joined the Rudolf Steiner School’s drama club.  Her experience at the Rudolf Steiner School also helped Aniston develop a passion for art.  At age 11, one of Aniston’s paintings was selected to be on display in an exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

She began her professional training as a drama student at New York’s High School of the Performing Arts.  After graduating in 1987, Aniston won roles in such Off-Broadway productions as For Dear Life, at New York’s Public Theater, and Dancing on Checker’s Grave.  In 1989, she landed her first television role as a series regular on Molloy.  Aniston’s other television credits include series regular roles on The Edge, as well as Ferris Bueller, a recurring role on Herman’s Head and guest-starring roles on such series as Quantum Leap and Burke’s Law.

Aniston currently resides in Los Angeles.

KEVIN COSTNER (Beau Burroughs) began his career starring in independent films, gradually earning small parts in more established movies.  His first major motion picture role was in the coming of age comedy, Fandango.

Throughout his career, Costner has varied his choices with comedy, action and drama roles.  He has appeared in such popular box-office hits as No Way Out, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, The Bodyguard and Wyatt Earp.

Costner’s exceptional filmmaking abilities were showcased in Dances with Wolves, which he produced, directed and starred in, and which won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

In addition to appearing in memorable roles in JFK, The Untouchables and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, he re-teamed with his Bull Durham director Ron Shelton for the hit feature Tin Cup.

Costner also starred in Thirteen Days, successfully collaborating again with his No Way Out director Roger Donaldson.  His other film credits include For Love of the Game, The War, 3,000 Miles to Graceland, Dragonfly and The Postman, his second directing effort.

Last year Costner directed and starred in the box office hit and critically acclaimed film Open Range, alongside Robert Duvall and Annette Bening.

Costner was most recently seen playing a supporting role in the dramatic film The Upside of Anger, in which he portrayed a former baseball player who helps a single mother and her four headstrong daughters after the disappearance of their father.

He is currently in production on the action drama The Guardian, in which he portrays a legendary Coast Guard rescue swimmer.

SHIRLEY MacLAINE (Katharine Richelieu) has starred in almost 50 motion pictures, countless television specials, her own mini-series and on the Broadway stage.  She received an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1984 for Terms of Endearment, after receiving nominations for Some Came Running, The Apartment, Irma La Douce, Turning Point, and, as a producer of The Other Half of the Sky:  A China Memoir, which she also co-directed.  Among her numerous international accolades, she has received ten Golden Globe Awards, two Venice Film Festival Awards, two Silver Bear Awards from the Berlin Film Festival, and in 1999, was presented with Berlin’s Golden Bear Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Her television appearances have brought her five Emmy Awards, among many nominations for her six musical television specials and The Shirley MacLaine Special won her the Golden Rose in Montreaux.

MacLaine made her motion picture debut in 1955 in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry, followed by Around the World in 80 Days, The Matchmaker, Ask Any Girl, Ocean’s Eleven, Can-Can, Two Loves, The Children’s Hour, Two for the Seesaw, What a Way to Go!, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, Gambit, Woman Times Seven, Sweet Charity, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Possession of Joel Delaney, Being There, A Change of Seasons, Madame Sousatzka, Steel Magnolias, Postcards from the Edge, Used People, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, Guarding Tess, Mrs. Winterbourne and Evening Star, among others.  More recently, she starred in Carolina, Bewitched and In Her Shoes.

In 1999, she made her directo­rial debut and starred in the critically acclaimed independent film Bruno with Kathy Bates, Gary Sinese, Jennifer Tilly, Brett Butler and 10-year old Alex Linz in the title role of a boy whose sense of individuality wins him the respect of his peers.

MacLaine starred in her first motion picture for television in 1995, pairing with Liza Minnelli in the Ernest Thompson screenplay based on his hit play, West Side Waltz.  Among her additional television credits, she played a key cameo in the lavish CBS mini-series Joan of Arc, and in 2001, she united with three other icons of the screen, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds and Joan Collins, in the comedy entitled These Old Broads, written by Carrie Fisher which aired on ABC.  In 2002, she starred in the CBS mini-series The True Story of the Salem Witch Trials.  Most recently, she starred in the title role of famed cosmetics queen Mary Kay Ash in the CBS telefilm Hell on Heels: the Battle of Mary Kay.

MacLaine was born in Richmond, Virginia and was raised in Arlington, Virginia by her real estate broker/musician father and housewife-painter-actress mother.  A dancer at heart, she was taking ballet lessons at the age of two-and-a-half and by the time she was a student in high school, she was spending her summers dancing in New York chorus lines.

MacLaine was thrust into stardom when she was the understudy for Carol Haney on Broadway in The Pajama Game.  When Haney broke her ankle, MacLaine went on, drawing the attention of legendary film producer Hal Wallis who was in the audience and immediately signed her to a Paramount Pictures contract.

In l974 she returned to the stage starring in a one-woman musical revue If They Could See Me Now, which played to sold-out audiences in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Atlantic City and theatres throughout the country as well as highly successful tours of major cities throughout the world.  The show was later adapted into an Emmy-winning CBS television special.  She subse­quently starred in two additional television specials The American Spirit and Gypsy in My Soul, which also received an Emmy.

In 1995, MacLaine’s dancing and singing revue Out There Tonight was sold-out during its American tour.  She later took the show to Japan, Australia and England, as well as a two-and-a-half month tour of Europe. While touring in her own musical stage vehicle she headlined with Frank Sinatra in several critically-praised engagements, including shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York and The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

An internationally best-selling author, MacLaine has ten popular published books, including Out On A Limb, which she also co-wrote as a successful mini-series starring MacLaine as herself, on ABC Television. Among her other books are the autobiographical Don’t Fall Off the Mountain,  You Can Get There From Here,  Dancing in the Light,  It’s All in the Playing,  Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation, Dance While You Can and My Lucky Stars.

More recently, she wrote Out on a Leash, a unique story of her relationship with her canine friend, Terry, and The Camino, which chronicles her 30-day journey on foot on the historic Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage through Northern Spain.

This year, MacLaine was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by ShowEast, having been honored by the theatre organization early in her career as most promising newcomer.

With an expansive list of diverse film credits, MARK RUFFALO (Jeff Daly) is one of Hollywood’s most sought after leading men.  After appearing in four films in 2004, Ruffalo has three films opening this year and another three films in various stages of production.

Ruffalo most recently starred as the romantic lead opposite Reese Witherspoon in Just Like Heaven, released in September.  In the Mark Waters-directed film, Ruffalo plays a widower who falls in love with the spirit of a woman whose apartment he moves into.  Prior to this role, he was seen in Collateral, opposite Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.  In Collateral, Ruffalo plays the LAPD officer in pursuit of Tom Cruise’s hitman character.  He also appeared in Warner Independents Pictures’ We Don’t Live Here Anymore.  The film received critical acclaim at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.  Ruffalo starred opposite Naomi Watts, Peter Krause and Laura Dern and also served as an executive producer on this drama that examines the consequences of infidelity that befall two marriages.

In 2006, Ruffalo will be seen in All the King’s Men with Sean Penn, Kate Winslet and Jude Law.

Ruffalo is currently in production on the Phoenix Pictures’ film Zodiac opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr..  Based on a true story, the film follows the men who tracked down the Zodiac serial killer who terrorized San Francisco for 25 years.  Ruffalo plays the San Francisco homicide inspector in charge of the case.  Phoenix Pictures also recently announced that they purchased the rights to The Brass Wall as a starring vehicle for Ruffalo.  He will play an undercover cop who infiltrates the Lucchesi crime family in New York to solve the murder of a city firefighter.  Ruffalo also recently completed production on the Kenneth Lonergan-directed film Margaret with Anna Paquin and Matt Damon. 

Ruffalo earned critical recognition in 2000 for his role in Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me, opposite Laura Linney and Matthew Broderick.  For his performance, he won the Best Actor Award at the 2000 Montreal Film Festival and the New Generation Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.  The Martin Scorsese-produced film received recognition from critics nationwide and was especially well-received at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, winning two of the festival’s top prizes: the coveted Grand Jury Prize for best film in dramatic competition and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

In the following two years, Ruffalo landed roles in the action films The Last Castle, opposite Robert Redford and James Gandolfini, and Windtalkers, opposite Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater.  He also starred in the first picture from Nylon Films, XX/XY, written and directed by Austin Chick.

In 2003, Ruffalo was seen opposite Meg Ryan in Jane Campion’s film In The Cut. That same year, he appeared in the independent film My Life Without Me, written and directed by Isabel Coixet and also starring Sarah Polley and Scott Speedman.  In 2004, Ruffalo was seen in the romantic comedy 13 Going on 30, in which he co-starred opposite Jennifer Garner.  In March of 2004, he was seen in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, written by Charlie Kaufman, starring opposite Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson.

Additional film credits include Committed, co-starring Heather Graham, which was also showcased at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival; Ride With the Devil, directed by Ang Lee (The Ice Storm) and co-starring Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich; 54 with Mike Meyers; Safe Men with Sam Rockwell and Steve Zahn;  The Last Big Thing, directed by Dan Zukovic; Joan Micklin Silver’s A Fish in the Bathtub with Jerry Stiller; and Dan Bootzin’s Life/Drawing. 

Ruffalo’s acting roots lie in the theater, where he first gained attention starring in the off-Broadway production of ­This is Our Youth, written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, for which he won a Lucille Award for Best Actor.   Ruffalo has won several awards for other performances, including a Dramalogue Award and the Theater World Award.  In 2000, Ruffalo was seen in the Off-Broadway production The Moment When, a play by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner James Lapine.  Ruffalo was part of an impressive ensemble cast that included Illeana Douglas, Kieran Culkin and Arija Bareikis.             

Having trained with Joanne Linville at the distinguished Stella Adler Conservatory, Ruffalo made his theater debut in Avenue A at The Cast Theater.  Ruffalo continued his relationship with The Cast Theater, performing in several of Justin Tanner’s award-winning plays, including Still Life With Vacuum Salesman and Tent Show.

A writer, director and producer as well, Ruffalo co-wrote the screenplay for the independent film The Destiny of Marty Fine, which was the first runner-up in the 1995 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.  Additionally, he has directed several plays and one-acts. In 2000, he directed Timothy McNeil’s original play Margaret at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles. 

His television credits include UPN’s The Beat, a dramatic series created by Academy Award winner Barry Levinson and Emmy Award winner Tom Fontana, On the Second Day of Christmas and TNT’s Houdini: Believe.

Ruffalo resides in Los Angeles.

RICHARD JENKINS (Earl Huttinger) has a prodigious and impressive list of credits.  He recently completed the upcoming feature Fun with Dick and Jane, starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni.  Jenkins was most recently seen in the film North Country, directed by Niki Caro and starring Charlize Theron, and is well known to audiences of the HBO hit series Six Feet Under as the wry, advice-dispensing (if deceased) Nathaniel Fisher.  Six Feet Under was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2002 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Jenkins has appeared in over 40 films and over 20 television movies.  His feature credits include Shall We Dance, Cheaper By The Dozen, the Coen brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty and The Man Who Wasn’t There; the Farrelly brothers’ Say it Isn’t So, Me, Myself and Irene and There’s Something About Mary; Mike Nichols’ What Planet are You From? and Wolf; One Night at McCools, Sidney Pollack’s Random Hearts, The Mod Squad, Clint Eastwood’s Absolute Power, Flirting with Disaster (for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award), The Indian in the Cupboard, It Could Happen To You, How to Make an American Quilt, Little Nikita, Sea of Love, Lawrence Kasden’s Silverado, and Woody Allen’s Hannah and her Sisters, among many others. 

His television work includes the telefilms The Sins of the Father, Into Thin Air, The Boys Next Door and The Band Played On. 

Born in Dekalb, Illinois, Jenkins lives in Rhode Island where he was the artistic director of the Trinity Square Repertory Company in Providence for four years.

MENA SUVARI (Annie Huttinger) has become one of the most sought after young actresses in Hollywood.  She was nominated for a British Academy Award for her critically acclaimed performance in the Oscar Award-winning film American Beauty, co-starring with Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning.  She also starred in the outrageous comedy hit American Pie and its sequel American Pie 2, which grossed over $300 million worldwide. 

Most recently, Suvari starred in the feature Domino, directed by Tony Scott, opposite Christopher Walken and Keira Knightley.  Other recent releases include Beauty Shop, starring opposite Queen Latifah and Kevin Bacon, and Trauma with Colin Firth, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 and was released worldwide in October, 2005.  The film was produced by Jonathan Cavendish (Bridget Jones’ Diary) and Nicky Kentish Barnes (About a Boy). 

She rekindled her relationship with Alan Ball and won critical praise recurring on the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, playing Edie, an eccentric lesbian performance artist.     

In 2003, Suvari made her stage debut in The World of Nick Adams at The Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, where she starred as Marjorie, opposite Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon.

In 2002, she starred in two widely applauded independent feature films.  The first was Nicolas Cage’s directing debut Sonny, in which she appeared opposite James Franco, Brenda Blethyn and Harry Dean Stanton.  The feature premiered at the 2002 Deauville Film Festival.  The second film was Spun, directed by acclaimed music director Jonas Åkerlund, starring opposite John Leguizamo.  She played a daring role as a young woman addicted to crystal meth.  The film premiered at the Deauville, Toronto, and Sundance Film Festivals.

In 2000, Suvari starred opposite Greg Kinnear and Jason Biggs in Loser, directed by Amy Heckerling.  In 2001, she starred in Sugar & Spice, and was seen as a young French girl in 1630s France in the film The Musketeer, starring opposite Tim Roth, Stephen Rea, Catherine Deneuve and Justin Chambers.      

Suvari was the winner of two Movieline Awards for “Breakthrough Performance” for American Beauty and “Best Ensemble Cast” for American Pie.  She also received a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for “Best Ensemble Cast” for American Beauty.

She made her film debut with a starring role in the Greg Araki film Nowhere.  Her other film credits include Slums of Beverly Hills, Kiss the Girls and Snide and Prejudice.

Suvari’s other notable television appearances included a recurring part on the Steven Spielberg-produced drama series High Incident, and she won acclaim for her portrayal of an HIV-infected youth on Chicago Hope.

In 2003, Suvari became the new worldwide advertising face of the famed Paris cosmetic company Lancôme, and in 2005, she will be featured by the acclaimed jewelry house Harry Winston in their winter advertising campaign, shot by the late legendary photographer Richard Avedon.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ROB REINER (Director) has directed some of the most popular and influential motion pictures of the past two decades, deftly moving among many styles.  He has created films that win both audience enthusiasm and critical acclaim.

The versatile filmmaker has been immersed in the entertainment business for much of his life, succeeding first as an actor, then as a director and producer.  Prior to his directorial debut, Reiner acted in many television and feature productions.  It was, however, his Emmy Award-winning work as the son-in-law of Archie Bunker in the hit series All in the Family that made him a household name.

Reiner’s credits as a director of feature films include the now-legendary This is Spinal Tap, a parody documentary about a mythical heavy metal group; The Sure Thing, a hate-turned-to-love story of two college students; the sleeper hit Stand By Me, about four boys coming of age in the fifties, for which he received Best Director nominations from the Directors Guild of America and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; and the much loved fantasy The Princess Bride, adapted for the screen by Academy Award winner William Goldman from his original novel.

The director’s succession of box-office hits include When Harry Met Sally…, Misery, A Few Good Men, The American President and Ghosts of Mississippi.  Most recently, he produced and directed The Story of Us, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis, and Alex and Emma, starring Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson.

Reiner is a principal and co-founder of Castle Rock Entertainment.  In addition to directing feature films, he is involved in all phases of Castle Rock’s creative activities.

In 1997, Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner founded the I Am Your Child Foundation, a national non-profit promoting early childhood development and providing parents with quality educational materials.  In 2004, I Am Your Child became Parents’ Action for Children, expanding its mission to organize parents into a powerful national movement ensuring that our nation’s policies reflect a concern and commitment to early education, health care, and high quality and affordable child care.  For materials and information please visit www.parentsaction.org.

In 1998, Reiner chaired the successful California Children and Families Initiative, which is now implementing an integrated program of early childhood development services, including health care, preschool, and intervention programs for families at risk.   Reiner’s latest initiative, the Preschool for All Act, will appear on the June 2006 ballot.  If passed, it will provide quality preschool to more than half a million children in California.

Reiner is also a committed environmentalist who has championed open space preservation in the Los Angeles region.  He supports the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a national non-profit organization that works to preserve and protect the public health and to ensure the conservation and wise management of land and natural resources.

During PAULA WEINSTEIN’s (Producer) expansive 20-year career in the entertainment industry she has worked with virtually every major studio in the film industry.  One of the entertainment community’s most dedicated political activists, Weinstein, who oversees Spring Creek Pictures, is as well-known for her involvement in social issues as she is on her production acumen.

Weinstein was raised in Europe and began her career working as an assistant film editor in New York City.  She then became Special Events Director in the office of Mayor John Lindsay, bringing plays, ballet and street festivals to the city’s various communities.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1973, Weinstein signed on as a talent agent for what was to become International Creative Management (ICM).  She later moved to the William Morris Agency where she handled a client portfolio that included Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.

Eager for new challenges, Weinstein joined Warner Bros. Pictures as Vice President of Production in 1976 and then later enlisted with 20th Century Fox as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Production, developing and producing films such as Nine to Five and Brubaker.  In 1979 Weinstein relocated to the Ladd Company, collaborating on such films as Body Heat, Lawrence Kasdan’s directorial debut.

After two years with Ladd she moved to United Artists as President of the Motion Picture Division where she supervised all productions.  Two of the many hits that she brought to the screen during this time were War Games and Yentl.

In 1984 Weinstein started WW Productions, an independent production company in partnership with Gareth Wigan.  In 1987 she assumed the title of Executive Consultant to MGM’s worldwide division.  This position allowed her to continue producing independent projects such as A Dry White Season, for which Marlon Brando was nominated for an Academy Award, and The Fabulous Baker Boys, nominated for four Academy Awards, which she jointly produced with Mirage Productions in 1989.

In 1990, Paula Weinstein and Mark Rosenberg, a fellow 20-year veteran of the film industry, created Spring Creek Productions.  Their first produced feature film was Fearless, directed by Peter Weir.  Actress Rosie Perez received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the drama, which starred Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Tom Hulce and John Turturro.  Spring Creek’s second film to go into production was Flesh and Bone, which reunited the producers with their collaborators on The Fabulous Baker Boys, writer-director Steve Kloves and Sydney Pollack’s Mirage Productions.  The contemporary love story, directed by Kloves from his original screenplay, starred Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan, James Caan and a young Gwyneth Paltrow.

In a nod to her ongoing passion for politics, Weinstein served as executive producer on Citizen Cohn, starring James Woods as the notorious McCarthy-era lawyer.  The HBO telefilm won four Emmy Awards, three CableAce Awards and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards.

In 1995, Weinstein and Anthea Sylbert produced Something to Talk About for Warner Bros. Pictures, starring Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Robert Duvall, Gena Rowlands and Kyra Sedgwick, and directed by Academy Award nominee Lasse Hallström.

Following Something to Talk About, and again returning to her political roots, Weinstein served as executive producer on Truman, starring Gary Sinise for HBO, which went on to win the Emmy for Best Movie made for television.  Directed by Frank Pierson, the film is based on the David McCullough biography of President Harry Truman and chronicles his life from World War II to when he exited the White House.

In December 1996 HBO presented The Cherokee Kid, on which Weinstein served as executive producer.  The movie starred Sinbad, James Coburn, Gregory Hines and Burt Reynolds.  In 1997 she executive produced First Time Felon for HBO which was directed by Charles Dutton.

Weinstein produced the box office smash Analyze This, which stars Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro.  To date the film has earned more than $100 million.  She co-produced Barry Levinson’s Liberty Heights, which was released in November 1999 to critical acclaim.  Weinstein also produced The Perfect Storm, which stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.  The film was released in June 2000.

In 1989 Weinstein and Rosenberg received the Bill of Rights Award from the Southern California Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.  When Rosenberg suffered a fatal heart attack in November 1992, the Mark Rosenberg Legal Center of South Central Los Angeles was established in memoriam by the ACLU Foundation.  The couple had been married since 1984.

A founding member of the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee, Weinstein was honored by the National Urban League Guild at their Beaux Arts Ball in 1990.  When Nelson Mandela made his first official visit to the United States, Weinstein served as the official representative from the Hollywood community and supervised all elements of his visit to Los Angeles.  She was honored by Women in Film with a Crystal Apple Award, which recognized her extraordinary contribution to the entertainment community.

Weinstein produced Possession, which starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart.  Directed by Neil LaBute, the film was based on British author A. S. Byatt’s novel Possession: A Romance.

Weinstein produced Analyze That, which was a follow up to the very successful Analyze This.  Weinstein also produced the critically acclaimed HBO movie Iron Jawed Angels, about the women’s Suffragette movement, starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank and Golden Globe winner Anjelica Huston.  Production was completed in August 2004 for New Line Cinema’s Monster In Law, starring Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez.  The film was released in the spring of 2005.

In October 2005 filming was completed on The Astronaut Farmer for Warner Independent Pictures; written and directed by Michael Polish and Mark Polish, the film stars Billy Bob Thornton and Virginia Madsen.  Currently in pre-production is the Warner Bros. Pictures film Blood Diamond, directed by Ed Zwick and set in South Africa.  The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and will begin filming in February 2006.

Weinstein resides in Los Angeles with her 12 year old daughter, Hannah Mark.

BEN COSGROVE (Producer) is president of Section Eight where he is currently producing The Good German, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire.

Cosgrove served as executive producer of Section Eight’s films Welcome to Collinwood, Criminal, The Jacket, A Scanner Darkly, Goodnight, and Good Luck and Syriana.  He was associate producer on Insomnia. 

Section Eight has also produced Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Eleven, Far From Heaven and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. 

Cosgrove’s first job in the movie business was as a freelance reader at TriStar Pictures, where he ultimately became Director of Creative Affairs. 

At TriStar he worked on numerous projects including Jumanji, The Mask of Zorro and Devil in a Blue Dress before joining George Clooney’s Warner Bros. Pictures-based production company, Maysville Pictures.

Cosgrove graduated from Columbia University and then worked in New York in book publishing at The Free Press, then an imprint of MacMillan Publishing.

GEORGE CLOONEY (Executive Producer) has gone from television actor to motion picture actor to producer, executive producer, and writer and director in both mediums.

Clooney is partnered with Steven Soderbergh in the production company Section Eight.  The company most recently produced Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck.  Syriana is a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry from writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Traffic.  Clooney also stars in Syriana, along with Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet and Christopher Plummer.  Clooney co-wrote, directed and co-stars in Good Night, and Good Luck, a feature about the renowned broadcaster Edward R. Murrow’s legendary on-air confrontations with Senator Joseph McCarthy – confrontations that helped bring down the infamous politician. 

Section Eight is currently in post-production on The Good German, directed by Soderbergh and starring Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire.  Based on the novel by Joseph Kanon, The Good German takes place in the ruins of post-WWII Berlin. The company’s next project will be Michael Clayton, which begins shooting in January and stars Clooney, Sydney Pollack and Tom Wilkinson. 

Other Section Eight productions include Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Far From Heaven, Insomnia, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, The Jacket, Full Frontal and Welcome to Collinwood. 

Clooney also works with Section Eight’s television division.  He will serve as executive producer on Section Eight’s next television project, Network, a live production for CBS.  Clooney also served as executive producer and director on five episodes of Unscripted, a reality-based show for HBO, and was an executive producer and cameraman for K-Street, also for HBO.

Clooney made his directorial debut in 2002 with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, for which he won the Special Achievement in Film Award from the National Board of Review. 

Clooney starred in the Warner Bros. Pictures’ blockbuster hits Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve.  He also starred in the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? and won the 2000 Golden Globe Award as Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. 

Clooney earned critical acclaim for his performances in the award-winning drama Three Kings and Out of Sight.  His previous films include Solaris, The Peacemaker, Batman & Robin, One Fine Day and From Dusk Till Dawn. 

He has starred in several television series but is best known to TV audiences for his five years on the hit NBC drama ER.  His portrayal of Dr. Douglas Ross earned him Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, People’s Choice and Emmy nominations.

Clooney was executive producer and co-star of the live television broadcast of Fail Safe, an Emmy-winning telefilm developed through his Maysville Pictures.  Fail Safe was nominated for a 2000 Golden Globe Award as Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.  The film was based on the early 1960s novel of the same name.

STEVEN SODERBERGH (Executive Producer) not only works behind the camera as a director, but also behind the scenes as a producer on a variety of projects.  In 2000, Soderbergh and George Clooney formed Section Eight, a film production company based at Warner Bros. Pictures.  After their inaugural production Ocean’s Eleven, they executive produced Far From Heaven, written and directed by Todd Haynes.  The critically acclaimed homage to 1950s melodrama starred Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid. 

In 2002, Section Eight released three additional films: Confessions of A Dangerous Mind, directed by and starring George Clooney with an ensemble cast including Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts; Insomnia, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank and Welcome to Collinwood, written and directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo.  The ensemble comedy’s cast included William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Luis Guzman, Jennifer Esposito, Sam Rockwell and Clooney.

Along with Rumor Has It..., Section Eight opened two additional films in the fall of 2005.  Goodnight, and Good Luck, directed by and starring George Clooney from a script by Clooney and Grant Heslov had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.  The film also stars David Strathairn, Robert Downey, Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Frank Langella and Jeff Daniels.  Strathairn received the Osella Cup for his portrayal of legendary CBS anchorman Edward R. Murrow, while Clooney and Haslov received the award for Best Screenplay.  The film had its domestic release on October 7th.

Most recently, Syriana opened wide on December 9th and stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet and Christopher Plummer.  Written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, the political thriller unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry and is based on the book See No Evil: The True Story of a Foot Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terror by Robert Baer.

Other Section Eight productions include The Jacket, directed by John Maybury and starring Adrian Brody, Keira Knightley and Jennifer Jason Leigh; Ocean’s Twelve, which reunited the entire cast of the 2001 hit plus Catherine Zeta-Jones and internationally acclaimed actor Vincent Cassel; and Criminal, starring John C. Reilly, Diego Luna and Maggie Gyllenhaal.  Gregory Jacobs, who had collaborated with Soderbergh on ten prior films, made his directorial debut on the film, which was screened at the 2004 Venice, Deauville and London Film Festivals.

Section Eight is currently in post-production on The Good German, directed by Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire.

Soderbergh’s other credits as producer include Greg Mottola’s The Daytrippers (1997) and Gary Ross’ Pleasantville (1998).   He was executive producer on David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s Suture (1994), Godfrey Reggio’s Naqoyqatsi and Lodge Kerrigan’s Keane, which recently played at the Telluride, Toronto and New York Film Festivals.

In 2003, Section Eight and HBO produced the television docudrama / political reality program K Street, starring real-life political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin.  Co-starring were a mix of actors including John Slattery and Mary McCormack, as well as real-life politicians.  This past January, Section Eight and HBO premiered the fiction series Unscripted, which details the lives of a small group of aspiring actors.

JENNIFER FOX (Executive Producer), president of Section Eight, is currently overseeing a number of projects, including Tony Gilroy’s directorial debut Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney; Scott Burns’ directorial debut PU-239; Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly (based on the novel by Philip K. Dick); as well as Soderbergh’s two upcoming Section Eight films The Good German, starring George Clooney; and The Informant, starring Matt Damon.

Most recently, Fox produced Syriana, a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry from writer/director Stephen Gaghan, starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet and Christopher Plummer.

She also recently served as executive producer on Criminal, directed by Gregory Jacobs; The Jacket, directed by John Maybury; and Good Night, and Good Luck, directed by George Clooney.  Prior to coming to Section Eight, Fox was Vice-President of Production at Universal Pictures, where she worked on several films, including Steven Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich.     

Section Eight has produced Ocean’s Eleven, Welcome to Collinwood, Far From Heaven, Insomnia, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Criminal, Ocean’s Twelve, The Jacket and Good Night, and Good Luck.

MICHAEL RACHMIL (Executive Producer) most recently executive produced A Cinderella Story, Torque and the smash hit spoof Not Another Teen Movie.  He has also served as executive producer on The Glass House, The In Crowd, Universal Soldier: The Return, Major League: Back to the Minors, The Glimmer Man, Nowhere to Run and Flatliners.              

Rachmil’s producing credits include Major Payne, Lassie, L.A. Story, No Holds Barred, Punchline, Roxanne, Quicksilver and Runaway.

LEN AMATO (Executive Producer) is the president of Spring Creek Productions, where he continues a long-standing relationship with producer Paula Weinstein.  In addition to overseeing development of the company’s feature and television projects, Amato recently produced The Astronaut Farmer for Warner Independent Pictures, directed by Michael Polish and written by Mark Polish.  Currently in post-production, the film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Bruce Dern and Bruce Willis.  Amato is also a producer on the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures’ film Blood Diamond, to be directed by Ed Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly. 

Born and raised in Chicago, Amato studied film at Columbia College and acting at David Mamet’s St. Nicholas Theater.  He moved to New York City and worked as a musician, performing in various downtown clubs including CBGB’s and the LaMaMa Theater.  While in New York, Amato began his film career as a story analyst for various independent producers and studios including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal and Paramount.  He became story editor for Robert De Niro’s newly formed Tribeca Productions, working with co-founder Jane Rosenthal on various Tribeca films including Thunderheart, directed by Michael Apted, and Night and the City, directed by Irwin Winkler and written by Richard Price.  While at Tribeca, Amato met playwright Kenneth Lonergan and read Lonergan’s first screenplay Analyze This.

Amato began his association with Spring Creek Productions in the mid-90s as Vice President of Development, running the company’s New York office for co-founders Mark Rosenberg and Paula Weinstein.  He produced his first film in 1997, First Time Felon, for HBO.  It marked Charles Dutton’s directorial debut and starred Omar Epps, Delroy Lindo, Treach and William Forsythe.  In 1998, Amato moved to Los Angeles to serve as executive vice president when Weinstein partnered with producer/director Barry Levinson to create Baltimore Spring Creek Pictures.

In 1999 Amato saw years of development come to fruition with the Warner Bros. Pictures production of Analyze This, directed by fellow Chicagoan Harold Ramis and starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal.  The film was a hit and made over one hundred million dollars during its initial U.S. release.  In 2002 Amato was executive producer on the sequel Analyze That, again directed by Ramis and starring the original cast.  That same year, Amato was also an executive producer on Possession, a co-production between Warner Bros. Pictures and USA films, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart.

In 2003 Amato produced Deliver Us From Eva, directed by Gary Hardwick and starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union.  The film was later nominated for an NAACP Image Award.  That same year Amato continued his association with HBO by executive producing the suffrage drama Iron Jawed Angels, directed by Katja Von Garnier and starring Academy Award-winners Hilary Swank and Angelica Huston.  Huston won the Golden Globe for her performance and the screenplay later won the PEN Literary Award.

Amato currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Diana and their two children John and Annabelle.

ROBERT KIRBY (Executive Producer) is the Chairman, Executive Director of Village Roadshow Limited and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with over 30 years experience in the entertainment and media industries. Through the launch of Roadshow Home Video, Kirby was the driving force behind the Australian video revolution of the 1980s and 1990s.  He is a pioneer of new cinema concepts in both Australia and internationally and has been at the forefront of Village Roadshow’s successful diversification into theme parks, radio and production.  He has been a Director of Austereo Group Limited and Village Roadshow Corporation Limited.  Currently, he is a Deputy Chairman of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation, as well as a member of the Patrons Council, Epilepsy Foundation, and a Patron of Victorian Arts Centre. 

Educated at Bennington College and the California Institute of the Arts Film School, BRUCE BERMAN (Executive Producer) graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA in 1975 with a major in history.  He went on to graduate from Georgetown Law School in 1978, and was admitted to the California Bar that same year.

Berman got his start in the motion picture business with Jack Valenti at the MPAA in Washington, D.C., working as his assistant while in law school. After graduating, he returned to Los Angeles and started working as Peter Gruber’s assistant at Casablanca Filmworks in September of 1978.  He went on to work as assistant to Sean Daniel and Joel Silver at Universal Pictures in July 1979, becoming a Production Vice President at Universal in 1982.

In 1984, Berman came to Warner Bros. Pictures as a Production VP and was promoted to Senior VP of Production in 1988.  He was appointed President of Theatrical Production in September 1989, and then President of Worldwide Theatrical Production in 1991, where he served through May, 1996.  Under the aegis, Warner Bros. Pictures produced and distributed the following: Presumed Innocent, Goodfellas, Robin Hood, Driving Miss Daisy, Batman Forever, Under Siege, Malcolm X, The Bodyguard, JFK, The Fugitive, Dave, Disclosure, The Pelican Brief, Outbreak, The Client, A Time to Kill and Twister.

In May of 1996, Berman started Plan B Entertainment, an independent motion picture production company at Warner Bros. Pictures.

Berman was appointed Chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures in February, 1998. Village Roadshow Pictures will make 60 theatrical features as a joint venture partner with Warner Bros. Pictures through 2007.  The initial slate of films included Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman; Analyze This, starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal; The Matrix, starring Keanu Reaves and Laurence Fishburne; Deep Blue Sea, starring Samuel L. Jackson; Three Kings, starring George Clooney; Space Cowboys, starring Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones; Miss Congeniality, starring Sandra Bullock and Benjamin Bratt; and Cats & Dogs.            

Subsequent releases included Training Day, starring Academy Award-winning Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke; Ocean’s Eleven, starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts; Analyze That; Two Weeks Notice, starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant; The Matrix Reloaded; The Matrix Revolutions; Mystic River, starring Sean Penn and Tim Robbins; Ocean’s Twelve; Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves; Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous; House of Wax; Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp; and The Dukes of Hazzard.  Up next is Curtis Hanson’s Lucky You, starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore; The Lake House, starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock; Firewall, starring Harrison Ford; and Happy Feet, a CGI animated musical from the creators of Babe.

FRANK CAPRA III (Co-Producer), the grandson of legendary film director Frank Capra, has an extensive career behind the camera as producer, second unit director and first assistant director.  His credits include serving as the executive producer on The Deep End of the Ocean, starring Michelle Pfeiffer; co-producer on Warren Beatty’s Bulworth and Murder by Numbers, starring Sandra Bullock; and second unit director on the Will Smith romantic comedy Hitch. 

A longtime collaborator with Rob Reiner, Capra served as Reiner’s executive producer on The Story of Us, co-producer on The Ghosts of Mississippi and first assistant director on The American President, A Few Good Men, Alex and Emma and North.  His first assistant director credits include The Dukes of Hazzard, Empire Falls, The Devil’s Advocate, Mighty Joe Young, Eraser and My Cousin Vinny. 

Most recently, Capra served as co-producer on The Darwin Awards, starring Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder, due in theaters in 2006.

Read more of Madelyn’s stories on www.chocolateatlas.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.carladynews.com

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