ARTISTIC LICENSE FILMS

 

 

 

 

 

presents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE YOUNG GIRL AND THE MONSOON

 

 

 

 

 

Written and Directed by James Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

OPENING NEW YORK:  MAY 4TH, 2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution Contact:                                                          Publicity Contact:

Artistic License Films                                                          Sasha Berman          

250 West 57th Street, Suite 606                                            427 E. 6th St. Suite 3R

New York, NY  10107                                                          New York, NY  10009

Tel: 212.265.9119  Fax: 212.262.9299                                  Tel: (212) 979-7417

info@artlic.com                                                                    shotwellsb@aol.com

 

SYNOPSIS

 

Hank, 39, like most people about to hit forty, can feel things catching up to him. At the same time distant and caring, Hank is a single parent. And his 13 year-old daughter, Constance, is there to remind him that in fact things are not only catching up, they're closing fast.

 

Hank has guilt from leaving his daughter while away on long assignments as a photojournalist.

 

Then there's Hank's messy divorce... 

 

...and the fact that Constance's raging hormones are pushing her (and everyone in her way) closer to madness.

 

Then there is Hank's girlfriend Erin, 26 (yes, just 13 years older than Hank's 13 year-old). She and Constance have a lot in common: they both wear the same Betsey Johnson dress. Despite the fact that they've been an item for over a year, Erin has never met Hank's daughter. Hank has his reasons for keeping his girlfriend a secret; he "just wants to protect her." "From what?! What am I gonna do? Boil her bunny rabbit?"

                                                  

Then there's Giovanna -- Hank's boss. Over the years, Hank's had an on and off affair (chiefly off) with Giovanna. She is pressing him to spend more time campaigning for the prize he's just been nominated for -- the coveted Humanitas Award. Something's eating away at Hank and no one's sure what it is. He refuses Giovanna's request to spend more time focusing on his career...

 

...and inexpleciably breaks up with Erin. Finally, when his ex-wife leaves the country for a three-month honeymoon, Constance moves into Hank's apartment and all heck

breaks out.

 

THE YOUNG GIRL AND THE MONSOON, a romantic comedy about the way people really live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   

             

 

 

 

 

 

CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

 

                                                           

TERRY KINNEY                             HANK

                                   

ELLEN MUTH                                 CONSTANCE

                                   

MILI AVITAL                                  ERIN                                                 

                                   

DOMENICK LOMBARDOZZI   FRANKIE

                                   

CHRISTINE MEHRLICH             TEENAGE GIRL 1

                                   

LIANA RYAN                                  TEENAGE GIRL 2

                                                               

LEE WONG                                      WAITER

                                                                

EUGENE LEONG                           COOK

                                                               

DIANE VENORA                            GIOVANNA

                                                               

TIM GUINEE                                   JACK

                                                                

JAMES RYAN                                  MAN ON STREET

                                                               

CANDYCE MASON                      CANDY

                                                               

TINA FLAHERTY                           TINA VON GAL

 

PATRICIA FRANCY                      SOCIALITE

                                                               

CONNIE MEEHAN                        SOCIALITE       

          

RICHARD GIBSON                       SOCIALITE

 

DANIELA BAR-ILLAN                 SOCIALITE

 

RICHARD MEHRLICH                SOCIALITE

 

BEVERLY MEHRLICH                 SOCIALITE

                                                                

BRIAN FLAHERTY                        SOCIALITE

 

SLAVKO STIMAC                         MILCHO

 

MARK McKENNON                      MAN IN COFFIN

 

                                                               

 

 

CREW

 

 

 

DIRECTOR                                       JAMES RYAN

 

SCREENPLAY                                  JAMES RYAN

 

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS            RICHARD MEHRLICH

BEVERLY MEHRLICH

 

LINE PRODUCER                           DEBI ZELKO

 

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY            BEN WOLF

 

CASTING DIRECTOR                     JEFF BLOCK

 

PRODUCTION DESIGNER           TINA MANFREDI

 

EDITOR                                             JOHN DAVID ALLEN

 

COMPOSER                                     DAVID CARBONARA

 

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS            DANIELA BAR-ILLAN

                                                           TINA FLAHERTY

                                                            WILLIAM FLAHERTY

                                            

PRODUCTION MANAGER          JENNIFER LATHAM

 

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR     AMANDA SLATER

 

SECOND ASSISTANT DIRECTORLUISA DANTAS                           

 

KEY PRODUCTION ASSISTANT MARCO AJELLO

                                                               

2ND 2ND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR   ANN TAYLOR

                                                                

ADDITIONAL 2ND                           LUCIA BURNS

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

 

COSTUME DESIGNER                   PASCAL GOSSET

                                                   

ART DIRECTOR                              SONIA ALIO

                            

HAIR/MAKEUP ARTIST               SANJA MILIC

 

CREW PROFILES

 

JAMES RYAN (writer, director) , has written screenplays for Disney, Warner Bros., and Spring Creek Productions.  For television, he wrote for THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF MOLLY DODD.  He wrote and directed THE YOUNG GIRL AND THE MONSOON, a feature film, which had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival.  It won the Gold Medal, Jury Prize, and Best Screenplay Award at the Wine Country Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the AFI Low Angeles International Film Festival.  His plays have been produced by Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theater, and O'Neill Theater Center, among other venues across the country.  His book, Screenwriting from the Heart, is published by Billboard books, and his plays are published by Dramatist Play Service and Samuel French.  He is the recipient of Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Drama League Award; he served a McKnight Fellowship at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and residencies at Yaddo and the Millay Colony.  He began his career as an actor, created roles in new plays by John Patrick Shanley and Eduardo Machado, and appeared in the films FIVE CORNERS, FALLING IN LOVE, and JOE VS. THE VOLCANO. He is Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at the Actors Studio School of Drama, New School University.

                                                      

RICHARD MEHRLICH (Executive Producer) Mr. Mehrlich was President and CEO of Medical Manger, a software and publishing company, for eighteen years, before becoming an Independent film producer. He served for six years in the United States Air Force as a pilot and flight instructor. He is an active volunteer pilot for Airlifeline, a charitable service that flies needy patients to hospitals and other healthcare facilities throughout the United States.

            

BEVERLY MEHRLICH (Executive Producer) Ms. Mehrlich was Director of National Sales for Medical Manger and Vice President of a healthcare company before her move into Independent film. She has two daughters.

 

JOHN DAVID ALLEN (Editor) is an editor and filmmaker living in New York City. His short films have been screened on ABC, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and the Disney Channel, and have earned awards at festivals in six countries. Most recently, he was an editor for John Turturro's ILLUMINATA and Alexandre Rockwell's LOUIS AND FRANK.

            

BENJAMIN WOLF (Director of Photography) started as a grip in 1987 after graduating with a chemistry degree from University of Chicago. Some would call that a fall from grace. Ben won the 1992 Student Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his first short film GOLD MOUNTAIN.  His next film with those directors, Rachel Saltz

and Kryssa Schemmerling, THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS shall broadcast on PBS in the Autumn. Currently he is shooting a documentary on Witchcraft in NYC. The Young Girl and the Monsoon marks Ben's first full feature as Cinematographer after doing significant Additional Photography work on UNDER THE BRIDGE and GOING NOMAD (see articles in American Cinematographer June 97 and March 99, respectively).

            

JEFF BLOCK (Casting Director) is in charge of Warner Bros. Television Casting in New York. In addition to Warner Bros. pilots, he will cast the new John Wells (ER) series, THIRD WATCH, which is shooting in New York. Prior to Warner Bros., he cast four seasons of NEW YORK UNDERCOVER for Fox. As associate to Bonnie

Timmermann, he worked on over 20 features including LAST OF THE MOHICANS, AWAKENINGS, BULL DURHAM, and DIRTY DANCING well as the TV series MIAMI VICE and CRIME STORY.

            

TINA MANFREDI (Production Designer) graduated with an MFA in Production Design from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1996. She has worked on independent films since graduating, with credits including Art Director for WRESTLING WITH ALLIGATORS which won best Art Direction at Sundance 1997, NY Art Director for AN ARGENTINE IN NEW YORK which premiered in Argentina in May 1998. She has art directed for the ROSANNE SHOW AT THE APOLLO and set designed for Rosie O'Donnell's new talk show. She has also designed for numerous independent films and worked on several television and theater projects.

            

 

 

 

 

 

CAST PROFILES

 

TERRY KINNEY (Hank) directed the current hit production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company where he is a co-founder.  The production will play this summer at the National in London.  He is a series regular on OZ for HBO and recently directed one of its episodes.  In 1997 he directed Steppenwolf's production of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Gary Sinise to rave reviews.  Terry Kinney was nominated for the Drama Desk Award and the Joseph Jefferson Award for his direction of And a Nightengale Sang. Terry can be seen in the films NO MERCY, LAST OF THE MOHICANS, THE FIRM,DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, FLY AWAY HOME, MILES FROM HOME, directed by Gary Sinise, HISTORY OF LUMINOUSE MOTION, and Barry Levinson's SLEEPERS.  Upcoming projects include directing his first feature film, FOUND IN THE STREET, an adaptation of author Patricia Highsmith's novel.

 

ELLEN MUTH (Constance) At the young age of 19, this actress has managed to build a strong resume of dramatic work.  Ellen has just finished filming back to back on the following projects:  For CBS, she co-starred opposite Marlo Thomas in the MOW "TWO AGAINST TIME," directed by David Anspaugh in which she plays Thomas' cancer stricken daughter.  For writer/director Katherine Lindberg, Muth co-starred in the independent feature RAIN, executive produced by Martin Scorsese/Cappa Films, starring Melora Walters.  Ellen also filmed the independent feature A GENTLEMAN'S GAME for writer/director J. Mills Goodoe starring Mason Gamble (RUSHMORE), Gary Sinise, Philip Baker Hall (THE INSIDER), and Dylan Baker (HAPPINESS).  She is also the recipient of the Best Actress award at the November 1999 AFI International Film Festival in Los Angeles for her performance in YOUNG GIRL AND THE MONSOON.  Also for television Ellen co-starred opposite Stockard Channing in the Lifetime MOW, THE TRUTH ABOUT JANE, playing Channing's daughter who struggles to come to terms with being a lesbian.  She recieved such praise as, "a supremely talented young actress," (Los Angeles Times), "Muth delivers a compelling performance." (TV Guide), and "Muth is shockingly good." (NY Post)  For PBS, she starred in CORA UNASHAMED, produced by Marian Rees, opposite Cherry Jones and Regina Taylor.  The film aired as part of Masterpiece Theatre's New American Collection series.  Ellen has also worked off-Broadway at the prestigious Manhattan Theatre Club in Nine Armenians directed by Lynne Meadow, the artistic director of the theatre.

 

MILI AVITAL (Erin) was born in Jerusalem and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she remains a top box-office draw. In 1991, she won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the feature OVER THE OCEAN and an Israeli Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in GROUPIE.  She appeared with James Spader in STARGATE, with Johnny Depp in Jim Jarmusch'’s DEAD MAN, with Gabriel Byrne in POLISH WEDDING and in the romantic comedy KISSING A FOOL starring David Schwimmer.   Avital has been performing since she was six years old. But she got her first big break at age 15, nabbing the role of the young virgin, "Cecille" in the Cameri Theater of Tel Aviv production of Dangerous Liaisons.

                                   

                  

DIANE VENORA (Giovanna) received a New York Film Critics Award as well as a Golden Globe nomination in 1988 for her performance as Charlie Parker'’s wife Chan in Clint Eastwood's BIRD, opposite Forest Whitaker. Janet Maslin described her performance, writing "Diane Venora gives the film almost as much of a compass as the real woman must have given Charlie Parker and whenever the film returns to her smart, no-nonsense characterization, it is on steady ground."  Venora also garnered rave reviews for her performance in HEAT opposite Al Pacino, where The Boston Phoenix said that she "brought depth, darkness and flair to her long suffering isolation."  She recently received rave reviews for her performance in Tongue of a Bird at the Mark Taper Forum, opposite Cherry Jones and Marian Seldes.  Venora will soon be featured in seven new movies, including Clint Eastwood's TRUE CRIME with Sydney Poitier and James Woods, the as-yet-untitled Michael Mann project with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, John McTiernan's THE 13TH WARRIOR with Antonio Banderas, Martin Davidson's LOOKING FOR AN ECHO with Armand Assante, Brad Battemby's THE JOYRIDERS with Martin Landau and a modern adaptation of HAMLET (as Gertrude) directed by Michael Almermeyda featuring Ethan Hawke, Sam Shepard, Bill Murray, and Kyle MacLachlan.  The Juilliard graduate first attracted Joseph Papp's attention when she appeared as the Amazon queen Hippolyta in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1982 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Noting the young actress’ potential, Papp cast her as the Prince of Denmark in his 1983 New York Shakespeare Festival production of Hamlet. Frank Rich of the New York Times declared that Venora "has that intangible quality of magnetism: even when she's not center stage, you find that your eyes are irresistibly drawn to her." Soon after that, Venora appeared in stage productions of Uncle Vanya, Tomorrow's Monday, Largo Desolato, The Country Wife, The Three Sisters, Penguin Touquet, A Man For All Seasons, Peer Gynt, The Seagull, Messiah, Miss Julie, The School for Scandal and A Winter's Tale.  Venora also appeared in the next of her three productions of Hamlet in 1990 as Ophelia opposite Kevin Kline in his nine and PBS television productions. Venora is currently a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre.  Venora made her film debut in 1979 in Bob Fosse's ALL THAT JAZZ, then appeared in such movies as WOLFEN, Francis Ford Coppola's THE COTTON CLUB (Gloria Swanson), F/X, IRONWEED as Jack Nicholson's daughter, THREE WISHES, THE JACKAL as (Major Valentina Koslon), THE SUBSTITUTE, ROMEO AND JULIET (as Lady Capulet) and SURVIVING PICASSO.  Venora also has had extensive experience in television, with a recurring role in the acclaimed CBS series CHICAGO HOPE, a starring role in the ABC series THUNDER ALLEY and LAW AND ORDER.

 

TIM GUINEE appeared on film with Matthew Broderick in NIGHT WE NEVER MET; with Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter in ONCE AROUND, directed by Lasse Hallstrom; in the Oliver Stonefilms THE DOORS and HEAVEN AND EARTH; in Norman Mailer's CHAIN OF DESIRE; and in  AMERICAN BLUE NOTE and DAYBREAK.  He appeared at Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival and in the Lincoln Center production of Eric Bogosian's "Suburbia." Featured television roles include L.A. LAW , WISEGUY, THE EQUALIZER and two mini-series, Gore Vidal's LINCOLN and QUEEN by Alex Haley.