Synopsis
“Why do you rob banks?” — Interviewer
“Because that’s where the money is.” — Famous stick-up artist (and jailbird) Willie Sutton
Henry Manning has come up with a new way to break out of prison: fake a stroke and get transferred to a nursing home. It’s a perfect plan, except for one thing: the woman assigned to take care of him at the nursing home, Carol Ann McKay, has a plan of her own.
Screen legend Paul Newman stars as Henry, and Linda Fiorentino stars as Carol, in Where the Money Is, a spirited new caper movie. Dermot Mulroney plays Carol’s husband Wayne.
When the prison guards deliver Henry to the nursing home, Carol is immediately intrigued. After all, he was a famous bank robber; his life had all the mystery and fun that hers lacks. She hungers for excitement: she is bored with her job, her glory days as prom queen are long past, and Wayne (her onetime prom king) just marks time on his night-shift job.
While Henry seems feeble and helpless, Carol suspects otherwise. Still, she can’t quite prove that he’s playing possum. She gets more and more frustrated until finally she goes to some very outrageous lengths to smoke him out. It’s not that she wants to turn him in. Instead, she asks him if he might do her a favor in return for her silence: teach her his old line of work, and then join her and her husband Wayne in a robbery of their own. But Henry has long since learned not to let his guard down, even for a minute. Especially when it comes to finding where the money is…
Gramercy Pictures presents, in association with Intermedia Films and Pacifica Film Distribution, A Scott Free/IMF Production. A Film by Marek Kanievska. Paul Newman, Linda Fiorentino, Dermot Mulroney. Where the Money Is. Casting by Randi Hiller, C.S.A. Music by Mark Isham. Costume Designer, Francesca Chamberland. Edited by Sam Craven, Garth Craven, Dan Lebental. Production Designer, Andre Chamberland. Director of Photography, Thomas Burstyn, C.S.C. Co-Producer, Beau E. L. Marks. Executive Producers, Tony Scott, Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Chris Sievernich, Moritz Borman. Produced by Ridley Scott, Charles Weinstock, Chris Zarpas, Christopher Dorr. Story by E. Max Frye. Screenplay by E. Max Frye and Topper Lilien & Carroll Cartwright. Directed by Marek Kanievska.
The Cast
Henry : Paul Newman
Carol : Linda Fiorentino
Wayne : Dermot Mulroney
Mrs. Foster : Susan Barnes
Mrs. Tetlow : Anne Pitoniak
Karl Bruce : MacVittie
Mrs. Galer : Irma St. Paul
Guard Michel : Perron
Mrs. Norton : Dorothy Gordon
Mrs. Weiler : Rita Tucket
Kitty : Diane Amos
Cheryl (Wife #2) : Dawn Ford
Farwell Welk : T.J. Kenneally
Lloyd the Cop : Roderick McLachlan
Grounds Worker : Bill Corday
Handyman : Gordon McCall
Guy #1 : Robert Brewster
Guy #2 : Eric Hoziel
Tom : Charles Doucet
Bob : Arthur Holden
Cop : Frank Fontaine
Manager : Richard Jutras
Girl #1 : Janine Thierault
Security Guard : Frankie Faison
Cop #2 : Philip Preten
Jewelry Store Employee : Vlasta Vrana
TV Announcer : Heather Hiscox
FBI Agent : Michael Brockman
Waitress : Emily Wachtel
Connie : Jayne Eastwood
Henry’s Photo Double/Stand-In : Daniel Gallagher
Carol’s Photo Double/Stand-In : Sandra Vissani
Wayne’s Photo Double/Stand-In : Stephane Byl
Stunt Coordinator : Stan Barrett
Stunts : Stan Barrett
nbsp; Stanton Barrett
nbsp; Tracy Dashnaw
nbsp; Michele Sebek
nbsp; Mickey Gilbert
nbsp; Eddy Wirth
nbsp; Mike Chute
nbsp; Yves Langlois
nbsp; Ben Gauthier
nbsp; David Rigby
nbsp; David McKeown
nbsp; Minor Mustain
nbsp; Francois Gauthier
nbsp; Gilbert Larose, Jr.
nbsp; Stephane Lefebvre
nbsp; Benoit Gauthier
nbsp; Cotton Mathers
nbsp; Marc Desourdy
The Crew
Directed by Marek Kanievska
Screenplay by E. Max Frye and Topper Lilien, Carroll Cartwright
Story by E. Max Frye
Produced by Ridley Scott, Charles Weinstock, Chris Zarpas, Christopher Dorr
Executive Producers Tony Scott, Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Chris Sievernich, Moritz Borman
Co-Producer : Beau E.L. Marks
Director of Photography : Thomas Burstyn, C.S.C.
Production Designer : Andre Chamberland
Edited by : Sam Craven, Garth Craven, Dan Lebental
Costume Designer : Francesca Chamberland
Music by Mark Isham
Casting by Randi Hiller, C.S.A.
Unit Production Manager : Beau E.L. Marks
First Assistant Director : Bettiann Fishman
Second Assistant Director : Lyda Blank
Co-Producer : Robert Norton
Unit Production Manager (Montreal)/ Line Producer : Francois Sylvestre
Associate Producer : Hilarie Roope Benz
Music Supervisors : Tim Sexton, Dawn Soler
About the production
Where the Money Is shows what can happen when a renowned bank robber cons his way out of prison and into someplace more comfortable: a nursing home. The caper that eventually ensues revolves around an unusual trio of characters: bank robber (Henry), larceny-minded nurse (Carol), and the nurse’s husband (Wayne).
Ridley and Tony Scott’s production company, Scott Free, has a reputation for producing unconventional films. When the original screenplay for this spirited caper movie came to their attention, “we all saw it as a great script,” remembers producer Christopher Dorr.
There were several reasons why Scott Free wanted to make the movie, Dorr elaborates: “Henry, Carol, and Wayne are wonderful characters. It was something we hadn’t seen before, and we felt that it was a piece of material that people would respond to, that it would be an unusual and commercially viable movie. We were also certain that it would attract very good actors.”
The latter hunch proved to be especially well-founded: two always-intriguing actors, Linda Fiorentino and Dermot Mulroney, signed on as Carol and Wayne. “I’d always wanted to work with Dermot,” says Fiorentino.
Casting these two actors was promising, but then the bar was raised for all concerned when screen legend Paul Newman agreed to star as Henry. “Writers and producers always claim their script was written for the actor who, years later, came to play the part,” says producer Charles Weinstock. “But in this case, it’s true.”
To the already-cast Fiorentino, he was the only “movie star” who could and should play the part: “He represents the ultimate ideal American male.”
Once he got the script, the Academy Award-winning actor was drawn to the project because of its emphasis on character and plot twists over violence. Reading the screenplay also reminded Newman that he “hadn’t done a caper in a long while. I thought it really would be fun to get involved.”
Newman’s last caper had been a little picture called The Sting, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1973. However, the Where the Money Is starring role of Henry, whom Newman describes as a “non-violent thief,” put Newman in mind of his character from another film that he had done with the same director (George Roy Hill) and fellow leading man (Robert Redford): “There’s an element of Butch Cassidy in Henry,” says Newman, quoting The Sundance Kid’s oft-repeated line “‘Keep thinking, Butch, that’s what you’re good at.'”
Producer Dorr also “kept thinking” – of other great Newman characters, and says, “Paul unconsciously draws on that history: Hud, The Sting, The Verdict…you believe that Henry has a resonance with other characters from Paul’s screen past.” One key sequence, set in a tavern and around a pool table, has Henry holding court with both Carol and Wayne. The setting, and Henry’s cool authority, carry echoes of “Fast Eddie” Felson of The Hustler and The Color of Money.
To cite yet another indelible Newman performance, Henry is “nobody’s fool.” Dorr remarks, “Paul Newman brings a kind of intelligence to the role of Henry that a lot of actors wouldn’t have. You believe that a younger woman would be fascinated by him. If you talk to women about Paul Newman, they speak about him in the most glowing terms. There are not many guys his age you can say that about. He radiates accessibility and charm – even when he’s playing tough, he’s very charming.”
When Scott Free considered directors for the very American caper, producer Ridley Scott recommended one of…Europe’s top commercial directors, Marek Kanievska. The director had also made two feature films, and, says Dorr, “We all thought Marek would bring a lot of style and ability to the movie. He works well with actors; he has a very good feel for them.”
Linda Fiorentino agrees: “There’s a quality that European directors have that some directors don’t. Marek lets the actors help him make the film.”
Kanievska was delighted to be offered the project, but can still scarcely believe the assignment: “This business is incredible. Here I am, a blue-collar kid from North London who gets to direct Paul Newman!”
Aside from the chance to work with a screen icon, Kanievska liked the challenge of making a film that can be best defined as…”capricious! For a caper, what could be more fitting? The challenge is to strike the right effortless tone. This film is about living in the moment. The story takes its cues from Henry, who will survive – on his own terms.”
Fiorentino “liked the relaxed approach” of the story: “It’s a delightful caper – with real characters. Carol and Wayne are every couple in middle America. You believe all these people, and yet it’s still a fantasy.
“With every character I play, the first question I ask myself is, ‘Who would this person have been had one thing changed in their life along the way?’ For this particular character, I think she gave up herself and her own identity for her husband. I liked the idea of playing a woman who hadn’t reached her potential as a human being…stuck in a small town, stuck in a relationship that was based maybe on passion early on and just grew complacent – and then, suddenly, something new is introduced into her life. When Henry comes along, he reignites the spark in Carol. They just blossom – they bring that out in each other.”
The screenwriters “reworked the screenplay for the two of us,” reports Fiorentino, and the filmmakers and actors then worked together to further flesh out the characters. Newman emphasized that Fiorentino’s casting as Carol was one reason he wanted to do the picture. Henry and Carol’s relationship “is the fun part” of the film, notes Newman. Kanievska comments, “Carol finds Henry’s energy fascinating and liberating. It’s something she’s never allowed herself to explore. Henry is her catalyst.
“Paul and Linda are an excellent match. They know how to be creative and have fun with their characters. Paul is so dynamic as Henry that you don’t question for a minute that Carol would be drawn to him.”
Fiorentino adds, “The characters are basically in their own prisons. Wayne is in the worst prison of all because doesn’t even know he’s in prison, and he keeps trying to keep Carol in his world…in his prison. Henry and Carol find out how much they really need each other as human beings, so they can equally escape their own prisons. That becomes the dynamic of their relationship.”
If the role of Henry echoes some of Newman’s previous screen incarnations, then should the part of the increasingly risk-taking Carol put audiences in mind of Fiorentino’s unforgettable performance as the criminally inclined Bridget Gregory in The Last Seduction? The actress says no: “I found Carol to be more of an everywoman – unlike Bridget, who was a monster.”
On the set, Fiorentino was also able to distance Newman from the memorable characters he’s portrayed, since the screen legend was quick to prove himself…a cut-up? She explains, “He’s a practical joker. He loves playing tricks on people all day long. And he’s very competitive – he beat everyone at ping-pong during rehearsals. Everyone on the set was terrified of him, because he’s an icon. Except me: ‘Paul, get out of your trailer. We’ve got to shoot.'”
Games and pranks aside, Newman was also pleased to be playing opposite Dermot Mulroney. This news both flattered and intimidated the younger actor when Kanievska relayed it: “My first thought was, ‘You mean Paul Newman’s been watching my movies all along?!’ That Paul Newman was actually aware of what I’d done was kind of a scary prospect.”
However, once the actors began working together, Mulroney felt more at ease: “Paul has got an incredibly personable way about him. Whatever feelings of awe or self-consciousness you might have, he just completely disarms with his accessibility.”
Even so, Mulroney remained in awe of his new colleague’s screen history. “Some of my favorite films are ones that he’s been in,” reflects Mulroney. “They affected me either as a moviegoer or as a young man who had ideas about acting: The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Towering Inferno, and The Verdict – which for me stands as one of the great American film performances.”
Once Where the Money Is was in production, Mulroney found that “whatever little bits or pieces I heard or learned of from Paul’s vast experience was experience for me. Anything Paul talked about – the Actors’ Studio, working with John Huston, incredible stories – I find myself telling to my father, to my wife.”
The project as a whole had also appealed to Mulroney because “the way the script is structured is great for actors. I think it’s rare to find a project that has just three principal characters. If you do, they’re usually sitting around a dining room in some family drama that’s a little less fun than a caper.”
Christopher Dorr concurs, noting that “the tension and excitement of the film really come down to the interplay between these three characters and what happens when they try to pull off a robbery.”
Newman points out that the three lead characters all search “for adrenaline and find it in different ways. Henry comes into contact with this young couple who’ve run out of steam and he energizes them.”
Of the main characters, the one least inclined to take chances – at least at first – is Wayne. Mulroney comments, “I could certainly see where Wayne’s coming from: he’s got a beautiful wife, they both have jobs, they’ve got a house in the woods – what’s he got to complain about?”
Kanievska concurs: “Wayne doesn’t really like it when Henry appears and shakes up his status quo.” The director appreciated Mulroney’s take on the character: “Dermot always had a good, strong point of view. He was able to get inside Wayne.”
Kanievska adds that Fiorentino more than held her own: “Linda has brilliant timing and the mind of a panther – she can act with extraordinary speed and agility.”
Fiorentino responds that the director “is one of the best I’ve ever worked with. Marek was very supportive: he let us find our own way with each other, as actors. It’s seamless the way his camera and his characters work together, so you’re never aware of the director. His camera guides you into the characters and what they’re feeling.
“This was a rare occasion where everybody was in sync…we all worked exactly the same way,” says Fiorentino.
Her on-screen husband Mulroney found that his leading lady “approaches her work with an energy and a love of life that’s contagious. Linda’s personality is intense and caring about the project, and her playfulness goes really well with Paul’s.”
Newman’s wry, playful manner on the set reflected his approach to his character, of whom Newman says, “There’s a lot of relish in this guy Henry. He enjoys a lot of things, and that’s part of the whole play cycle. He has fun, he puts on, he talks, he tempts, and he’s a charmer. He is smart: very educated and also savvy.”
All of the same could be said of Newman himself, and, while not discounting Newman’s playfulness, his latest director found the screen legend to be an active creative collaborator. Kanievska explains, “Paul brings incredible concentration, depth, determination, intrigue, and a simmering passion to his work on the set. At first, it was intimidating. But, as the shoot went on, I realized that he’s like most good actors: responsive, and full of ideas. As a director, you’re part of the process, helping them give the best performance and making it enjoyable for them.”
“Paul works in very subtle ways,” comments Fiorentino. “I learned a lot from him. He’s so subtle on film. He’s a genius in that way: you think he’s doing nothing, and then you see the film and you’re like, ‘Wow, I don’t remember him doing that.’ Because he was doing it while you weren’t looking.”
“I could really improvise with” the role, concludes Newman. “Henry’s personality accommodates almost any kind of actor’s invention.”
In bringing Where the Money Is from page to screen, Kanievska wanted to bolster the potent team of lead actors with a distinctive approach to the material. He ascertained that the tale required “a colorful approach.” Accordingly, the film “features all my favorite colors, and it’s playful and eccentric. The colors in the décor and in the lighting give it a fun quality, a point of view, an attitude.”
Mindful that the film’s characters enter into some tense situations, Kanievska felt that “putting them in colorful context brought a different tone. If their surroundings were gray, the tone could have been mean. Color provided a counterpoint.”
The various settings for the film provided Kanievska and director of photography Thomas Burstyn with the opportunity to get creative with what the latter calls “a real off-the-wall mixture of styles.” Burstyn cites these examples: “On the night of the three leads’ heist, each stop is lit in a different color, motivated by something in a location – such as the orange and green neon sign at the diner. Since Wayne and Carol’s marriage is not the happiest, neither is the lighting in their house: it’s somber.”
Since part of the movie takes place in the nursing home where Carol works and Henry steers himself into, the color scheme was carefully modified. Kanievska says, “We didn’t want these scenes to be depressing, and we didn’t want them to be cute and happy either. I needed to find a balance.”
While production designer Andre Chamberland describes the overall look of the film as “funky,” the nursing home sequences had to be less so. Members of the art department researched nursing homes. In their visits, they found that many were painted bright colors in order to cheer up the residents. Chamberland went one step beyond bright: the film’s nursing home had its walls painted a dark cobalt, and its doors a deep green.
Chamberland remembers, “I wanted to include elements of humor without it becoming a caricature: realistic, but with a twist. We didn’t want our set to look too pastel, too white, too clean. Marek is not a ‘beige’ guy.” (Instead, the director could be seen roaming the set in a Hawaiian shirt, a blue fedora, wraparound shades, and a black bomber jacket.)
The filmmakers created a vividly textured environment, adds Burstyn: “We decided every room in the nursing home should be a wild color. Each room is decorated with curtains of a very strong color, and that gave me the excuse to light the scenes in an extremely colorful way: in green, violet, turquoise.”
Also adding color to the nursing home sequences is the blue (and, in one instance, violet) rinse crowd of supporting actresses cast as Henry’s “fellow” residents. For bringing these women together, Kanievska praises Randi Hiller, who did the film’s casting: “She understood exactly what I wanted. All the women we ended up casting as residents are great, and they’re all different.”
Having played the most scenes with those actresses, Fiorentino praises Kanievska’s work with the troupe: “What he did that was lovely is, you’re never depressed by the older people that Carol is taking care of. You find a childlike quality in them.”
One veteran actress, Dorothy Gordon, when contacted by her agent to audition for the role of the inquisitive Mrs. Norton, initially demurred. The actress did not feel like making the trip to New York for the audition – until she found out that the role would be alongside Paul Newman: “If I hadn’t auditioned for this, I would have spent the rest of my life regretting it.” She made the audition, and got the part. Working on Where the Money Is proved to be her biggest thrill in the business in nearly 40 years: “The last time I felt like this was when I worked with Gary Cooper, in The Naked Edge [1961].”
Having just completed work on Where the Money Is with a latter-day screen legend, the cast and crew figure that they, like Dorothy Gordon, may have to wait 40 years for a comparable experience.
About the cast
PAUL NEWMAN (Henry)
Paul Newman is one of the film industry’s most accomplished stars.
An eight-time Academy Award nominee, Newman received a special honorary Oscar in 1986. The following year, he won the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance as “Fast Eddie” Felson in The Color of Money, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Newman’s other Academy Award nominations in the Best Actor category were for Richard Brooks’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Robert Rossen’s The Hustler (in which Newman first starred as “Fast Eddie” Felson), Martin Ritt’s Hud, Stuart Rosenberg’s Cool Hand Luke, Sydney Pollack’s Absence of Malice, Sidney Lumet’s The Verdict, and Robert Benton’s Nobody’s Fool. He also received an Academy Award nomination in a different category when Rachel, Rachel, produced by Newman, was nominated for Best Picture (1968).
He has distinguished himself as a director with such films as Rachel, Rachel (for which he received a New York Film Critics Circle Award); Sometimes a Great Notion (also known as Never Give An Inch); The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds; the telefilm adaptation of Michael Cristofer’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning The Shadow Box; Harry and Son; and The Glass Menagerie.
Newman starred in three films apiece for directors George Roy Hill and Martin Ritt. Hill directed Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (which won three Academy Awards); The Sting (which several Academy Awards, including Best Picture [1973] and Best Director); and Slap Shot. Ritt directed Newman in Hud (for which he received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination), Paris Blues, and Hombre.
Following his Academy Award-nominated performance in Cool Hand Luke, Newman starred in three more films for director Stuart Rosenberg: WUSA, Pocket Money, and The Drowning Pool.
His many other screen credits include Robert Wise’s Somebody Up There Likes Me (as Rocky Graziano), Arnold Laven’s The Rack, Arthur Penn’s The Left-Handed Gun (as Billy the Kid), Otto Preminger’s Exodus, Mark Robson’s From the Terrace and The Prize, Peter Ustinov’s Lady L, Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain, Jack Smight’s Harper, James Goldstone’s Winning, John Huston’s The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, John Guillermin and Irwin Allen’s The Towering Inferno, Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson and Quintet, Daniel Petrie’s Fort Apache, The Bronx, Roland Joffe’s Fat Man and Little Boy, Ron Shelton’s Blaze, James Ivory’s Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Hudsucker Proxy, Robert Benton’s Twilight, and Luis Mandoki’s Message in a Bottle.
Newman’s private life is dedicated to two of his special passions: charity and automobile racing. His “Newman’s Own” food company, whose profits all go to charitable causes, has donated more than $100,000,000 since its inception. Newman also devotes his time to the Scott Newman Center, and to the “Hole in the Wall Gang” camps for ailing children.
As an automobile racer, he is a four-time winner of the Sports Club of America National Championship (GTI Class, Road Atlanta). He has participated in the 24-hour Le Mans race, and, in February 2000, raced a Porsche emblazoned “Where the Money Is” in a 24-hour endurance race at Daytona Beach.
In 1992, Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, received the Kennedy Center Honors. In 1994, Newman received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
LINDA FIORENTINO (Carol)
For her performance as Bridget Gregory in John Dahl’s The Last Seduction, Linda Fiorentino received the 1994 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.
After graduating from Rosemount College in her native Philadelphia, she moved to New York. There, she was one of a handful of applicants chosen to be part of the prestigious Circle in the Square Performing Workshop. She subsequently made her feature film debut in Harold Becker’s Vision Quest.
Fiorentino’s film credits include Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, Jeff Kanew’s Gotcha!, Alan Rudolph’s The Moderns, Steve Rash’s Queens Logic, William Friedkin’s Jade, John Dahl’s Unforgettable, Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black, Kevin Smith’s Dogma, and, most recently, Mike Nichols’ What Planet Are You From? She has completed filming Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s Ordinary Decent Criminal, starring opposite Kevin Spacey.
DERMOT MULRONEY (Wayne)
Dermot Mulroney will soon be seen starring in Alan Rudolph’s Trixie, with Emily Watson and Nick Nolte.
Tom DiCillo’s Living in Oblivion, which Mulroney starred in and co-produced, won awards at the 1995 Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals.
Mulroney’s film credits include Roland Joffe’s Goodbye Lover, P.J. Hogan’s My Best Friend’s Wedding (opposite Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz), David Koepp’s The Trigger Effect, Robert Altman’s Kansas City, Jon Amiel’s Copycat, Jocelyn Moorhouse’s How to Make an American Quilt, Anjelica Huston’s telefilm Bastard Out of Carolina, Jonathan Kaplan’s Bad Girls, Sam Shepard’s Silent Tongue, Peter Bogdanovich’s The Thing Called Love, John Badham’s Point of No Return, Marc Rocco’s Where the Day Takes You, Bryan Gordon’s Career Opportunities, Michael Fields’ Bright Angel, Norman Rene’s Longtime Companion, and Christopher Cain’s Young Guns.
About the filmakers
MAREK KANIEVSKA (Director)
Marek Kanievska is well-known for his work in film and television in both Great Britain and the United States. His feature film directorial debut, Another Country, starring Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, and Cary Elwes, won awards at the 1984 Cannes and Florence Film Festivals. The film was adapted from Julian Mitchell’s award-winning play about the lives of Guy Burgess and Donald MacLean.
His next feature film was Less than Zero, the 1987 adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis’ controversial novel about a group of wealthy young L.A. hedonists.
Kanievska’s television work includes both documentaries and dramas. Among the latter is the acclaimed U.K. series Muck and Brass.
His extensive work as a director of television commercials has earned him several Golden Lions from the British Advertising Awards. Most recently, he has helmed spots for RSA, Ridley and Tony Scott’s commercials company.
RIDLEY SCOTT (Producer)
Ridley Scott began his feature film directing career with 1977’s The Duellists, which brought him the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His second film was 1979’s Alien, which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. His third feature was 1982’s Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford.
Scott’s subsequent films as director included Legend, starring Tom Cruise; Someone to Watch Over Me, starring Tom Berenger; and Black Rain, starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia.
In 1987, Scott formed Percy Main Productions to develop and produce features. Percy Main Productions’ first film was the Academy Award-winning Thelma & Louise, followed by 1492: Conquest of Paradise, both of which were directed by Scott.
Scott then produced The Browning Version, directed by Mike Figgis and starring Albert Finney and Greta Scacchi.
In 1995, Ridley and his brother Tony formed Scott Free Productions. The company has produced White Squall, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Jeff Bridges; G.I. Jane, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore; The Fan, directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes; and David Dobkin’s Clay Pigeons, starring Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix. Scott Free produced Showtime’s CableACE Award-winning anthology series The Hunger. For HBO, Scott Free produced Ben Ross’ RKO 281, starring Liev Schreiber, John Malkovich, and Melanie Griffith. The latter production won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Movie Made For Television.
Scott’s next film as director is the Scott Free production of the epic Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, which will be released in May 2000.
CHARLES WEINSTOCK (Producer)
Until recently, Charles Weinstock was a public-interest lawyer in New York City.
Weinstock’s second feature as producer, Stanley Tucci’s Joe Gould’s Secret, starring Ian Holm and Stanley Tucci, will be released by USA Films in April 2000.
His production company, Weinstock Productions, has a first-look deal at Castle Rock Entertainment, and is based in Los Angeles.
CHRIS ZARPAS (Producer)
Chris Zarpas is an independent producer. From 1995 to 1999, he served as president of Scott Free Productions. For Scott Free, Zarpas produced David Dobkin’s Clay Pigeons; executive-produced G.I. Jane, directed by Ridley Scott; and co-executive-produced Ben Ross’ HBO telefilm RKO 281 (which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Movie Made For Television).
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Zarpas received his undergraduate degree in American Literature at George Washington University. In 1983, he earned a law degree at Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, New York. Zarpas moved to California and became a creative executive at the Walt Disney Company.
There, he rose through the ranks to Vice President of production and worldwide acquisitions. He was next co-president of Island Pictures from 1989 to 1993. While at island, he executive-produced Daniel Petrie, Jr.’s Toy Soldiers, Kevin Hooks’ Strictly Business, and David Mickey Evans’ The Sandlot.
CHRISTOPHER DORR (Producer)
Christopher Dorr is co-president of Scott Free Productions. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s motion picture and television divisions. Dorr co-produced David Dobkin’s Clay Pigeons for Scott Free, which he joined in 1995.
He received a degree from Wesleyan University, graduating with a degree in Religion. He began his entertainment career as Executive Director of the San Francisco-based Film Arts Foundation, a non-profit group specializing in raising money for independent and documentary films.
In 1987, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he became a creative executive for Walt Disney Pictures. There, he worked on such films as Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society. Subsequently, he was vice president of production at Universal Studios; and senior vice president at Bedford Falls Productions.
TONY SCOTT (Executive Producer)
As a director, Tony Scott has achieved notable success in films and commercials.
His films as director include Enemy of the State, The Fan, Crimson Tide, True Romance, The Last Boy Scout, Days of Thunder, Revenge, Beverly Hills Cop II, Top Gun, and The Hunger. The last-named film was also adapted into a Showtime series overseen by Scott.
The U.K. native attended the Sunderland Art School, where he received a Fine Arts degree in painting. While completing a year-long postgraduate study at Leeds College, he developed an interest in cinematography and made One of the Missing, a half-hour film (based on an Ambrose Bierce short story) financed by the British Film Institute.
Scott then went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Royal College of Arts, completing another film for the British Film Institute, Loving Memory, from an original script financed by Albert Finney.
In 1973, Tony Scott partnered with his brother Ridley to form a London-based commercials production company, RSA. There, Tony Scott created some of the world’s most entertaining and memorable commercials, honing his film vocabulary and picking up every major award in the field. Among the latter were CLIO Awards, Silver and Gold Lion Awards from the Cannes International Television/Cinema Commercials Festival, and London’s prestigious Designers & Art Directors Awards.
Concurrent with shooting commercials, Scott directed three telefilms, two documentaries, and a one-hour television special (The Author of Beltraffio, from the Henry James story).
In February 1995, the Scott brothers bought West London’s legendary Shepperton film studios for 12 million pounds, providing a big boost for the U.K. film industry. More than 600 feature films have been made at Shepperton (the home, in the 1950s and 1960s, of British film comedy).
GUY EAST and NIGEL SINCLAIR (Executive Producers)
Guy East and Nigel Sinclair founded Intermedia in 1996. With offices in London and Los Angeles, Intermedia is a diversified entertainment company with strategic alignments to a unique group of leading filmmakers including Archer Street, Camera One, Fountainbridge Films, Lucid Film, Mirage Enterprises, Outlaw Productions, Power Pictures, Scott Free Productions, The Shakespeare Film Company, Tig Productions, and West Eleven Films.
Intermedia provides funds for feature film development and pre-production, as well as organizing full production financing and worldwide distribution for the company’s joint venture partners and certain other leading producers. The company also acts as a sales agent for a select number of high-quality films each year.
Intermedia is committed to delivering first-class feature films to its worldwide network of distributor partners and to supporting releases with innovative marketing expertise.
Intermedia’s films include Sliding Doors, Hilary and Jackie, Clay Pigeons, Playing by Heart, Sweet and Lowdown, and The Land Girls; as well as the forthcoming titles Up at the Villa (which USA Films will release in the spring of 2000), Love’s Labour’s Lost, Blow Dry, Company Man, Enigma, The Wedding Planner, Where the Heart Is, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (which USA Films will release in the summer of 2000), and Therese Raquin, starring Kate Winslet (to be co-produced and released by USA Films).
CHRIS SIEVERNICH (Executive Producer)
Chris Sievernich started his producing career in the mid-1970s.
He produced Wim Wenders and Nicholas Ray’s Lightning over Water; and Wim Wenders’ The State of Things, which won the Golden Lion at the 1982 Venice Film Festival. He produced Wenders’ Paris, Texas, which won the top prize, the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) Award, at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.
Sievernich’s other producing credits include John Huston’s The Dead, John Schlesinger’s The Innocent, and Karl Francis’ Rebecca’s Daughters.
In 1997, he was a founding partner in Pacifica Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based film financing company, which financed David Dobkin’s Clay Pigeons.
Sievernich serves as executive producer on these forthcoming productions: Neil LaBute’s Nurse Betty (which USA Films will release in the summer of 2000), Paddy Breathnach’s Blow Dry, Baharat Nalluri’s The Crow: Salvation, and Adam Shankman’s The Wedding Planner.
MORITZ BORMAN (Executive Producer)
Moritz Borman began his career in German television production in the 1970s as a producer and director.
In 1977, he became a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He segued into producing and directing programs for European television, as well as TV commercials for American and European advertising agencies.
Borman’s credits as producer include John Huston’s Under the Volcano (which received a Special Jury Prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and two Academy Award nominations), Jerzy Skolimowski’s The Lightship, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s Homer and Eddie.
In 1997, he partnered with Chris Sievernich to form Pacifica Entertainment, a multifaceted Los Angeles-based filmed entertainment company backed by European production company International Media Fund (IMF), which produced Scott Free’s Clay Pigeons, directed by David Dobkin. Recently, Pacifica announced plans to merge with Intermedia.
Borman serves as executive producer on these forthcoming films: Neil LaBute’s Nurse Betty (which USA Films will release in the summer of 2000), Baharat Nalluri’s The Crow: Salvation, Adam Shankman’s The Wedding Planner, and Joseph Ruben’s Cuba and the Night.
E. MAX FRYE (Story and Screenplay)
E. Max Frye was born and raised in the Beaver State.
TOPPER LILIEN and CARROLL CARTWRIGHT (Screenplay)
Topper Lilien and Carroll Cartwright have collaborated on a number of films during the course of their careers.
The duo has again teamed up to write Dungeons and Dragons, the forthcoming action-adventure film based on the globally successful role-playing game, starring Jeremy Irons and executive-produced by Joel Silver. They are currently at work on a project for director Michael Bay.
Together, Lilien and Cartwright have completed uncredited production rewrites on several films; and have written the following in-development screenplays: Henry Algood Must Die, You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up (adapted from Eric Knight’s novel), and the updated Arsenic and Old Lace. Their original screenplay Hello, Stranger was cited by Movieline in 1992 as one of the Top 10 Unproduced Screenplays.
Separately, Lilien has the screenplays Prodigal Son and That’s How I Got to Memphis in development. He plans to make his feature directorial debut with the latter project, after having written and directed the short film Mr. Fixit.
Cartwright has written, with Nancy Doyne, What Maisie Knew (currently in development), an adaptation of the Henry James novel. He scripted Ken Fink’s Showtime telefilm Tricks.
THOMAS BURSTYN, C.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Thomas Burstyn’s credits include two films for director John Irvin: City of Industry and the HBO telefilm When Trumpets Fade.
The Montreal native began his career in cinema shooting documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada. In television, he won three CableACE Awards for his work on the HBO series The Hitchhiker; and has worked on HBO, CBS, NBC, and TNT telefilms.
Burstyn’s films as cinematographer include Gaylene Preston’s Dark of the Night, Jerrold Freedman’s Native Son, Jeff Blyth’s Cheetah, Paul Shapiro’s The Lotus Eaters, George Miller’s Andre, and Rick Stevenson’s Magic in the Water (for which Burstyn won a Genie Award for Best Cinematography).
ANDRE CHAMBERLAND (Production Designer)
Andre Chamberland’s recent Canadian film credits include Time at the Top and the hit film Les Boys.
His other recent projects include the Filmline International series Reseaux and three short films for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He also worked as head set decorator on Richard Friedenberg’s The Education of Little Tree.
Chamberland studied art history at the University of Montreal, and has been working in set decoration and production design for 16 years. His early film work, as set decorator, includes Bob Hoskins’ Rainbow, Christian Duguay’s Scanners III: The Takeover, and Jean-Claude Lauzon’s award-winning Leolo.