Town and Country

Notes provided by New Line Cinema

Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Garry Shandling star as two married couples still trying to unravel the mysteries of the opposite sex inTown & Country, a comedy about love, marriage and the true meaning of having it all.Porter Stoddard (Warren Beatty) is a well-known New York architect with a supremely successful life. But after a series of comic missteps, he finds his devoted wife Ellie (Diane Keaton) is suspicious of his whereabouts and his soon-to-be adult children (Josh Hartnett and Tricia Vessey) don't seem to need him anymore. Meanwhile, Mona (Goldie Hawn), Porter's childhood friend, has just found out her husband Griffin (Garry Shandling) is having an affair, just as Griffin, his best friend, is on the verge of leaving his old life behind.Shocked that Mona has now filed for divorce, Porter tries to pull his own life together before it's too late. But instead, he only winds up making matters worse.

As Mona and Ellie ponder the foolish choices men make, Porter slips into a series of bizarre comic adventures. Soon he and Mona grow dangerously close as life with Ellie begins to fall apart. Not knowing what to do, he does what any other self-respecting American male would do - he escapes with his best friend to search for some meaning to their quietly disintegrating lives.Along the way they meet up with Eugenie (Andie MacDowell), a jet-setting heiress, and her daffy eccentric parents (Charlton Heston and Marian Seldes); Auburn (Jenna Elfman), the free-spirited owner of a bait and tackle shop; andAlex (Nastassja Kinski), a beautiful cellist who may or may not be carrying Porter's child.But just as it becomes evident neither man is the person he thought he was, each decide to use the one final weapon they have left -- honesty. Suddenly the lives of both couples come together in a raucous denouement as they try to reclaim the part of themselves they seemed destined to forget.Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Garry Shandling, Goldie Hawn, Andie MacDowell, Nastassja Kinski and Jenna Elfman star in the New Line Cinema comedy Town & Country, directed by Peter Chelsom (The Mighty, Funny Bones) from a screenplay by Michael Laughlin and Buck Henry.

The film also stars Josh Hartnett, Tricia Vessey, Charlton Heston and Marian Seldes. Town & Country is produced by Andrew Karsch, Fred Roos and Simon Fields. Sidney Kimmel is the executive producer.New Line Cinema releases Town & Country (rated R) nationwide on April 27, 2001.ABOUT THE PRODUCTIONPlaying longtime married couples who are faced with a series of unexpected and hilarious encounters proved particularly appealing for the well-known stars of Town & Country. All liked the idea of exploring the issues of love and fidelity, an area on which almost everyone has an opinion, with an all-star group of actors, many of whom have worked together b6fore."I wanted to work with Peter Chelsom and, of course, Warren Beatty," said Diane Keaton about her reasons for doing the picture. "But I also liked the idea of doing something about marriage, which I find utterly fascinating.

Of course, I've never been married," the actress joked. "But now, after doing this, I know I never want to be married!"In the film, Beatty and Keaton play Porter and Ellie Stoddard, an extremely wealthy, long married couple, both of whom have successful careers. But after celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in Paris with their best friends, Mona and Griffin, played by Goldie Hawn and Garry Shandling, it becomes clear something is wrong. When Mona suddenly catches her husband at a motel in the midst of an affair, it sets into motion a series of events that bring into question the whole idea of love, marriage and commitment and the differences between men and women on that score."I liked the idea of making a story about a man who had a seemingly perfect and happy marriage," director Chelsom notes. "But the film is about a serious glitch in a marriage. It's as if the characters played by Warren, Diane, Goldie and Garry catch a fever and go crazy for a couple of months and then settle.

But they come out all the better for it."The original script by veteran screenwriter Michael Laughlin (Strange Behavior) first caught the interest of producer Fred Roos (The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now). Soon after, producer Andrew Karsch came on board, followed by Warren Beatty."I thought it was a very witty and smart script that takes place in an interesting setting, the world of the rich, wealthy and waspy," noted Roos. Producer Karsch, whose credits include The Prince of Tides and The Rachel Papers, quickly concurred. "I think intimacy is a tough proposition these days with people everywhere. There seems to be a sense that the grass is always greener, but just accepting what you have and realizing that your choices were, in fact, great going in-that's something that can take you a long way."After reading the script, the producers realized casting the right actor to play Porter was key to making the film work. Their initial list was limited to just one person - Warren Beatty. "Warren Beatty is dream casting for a movie like this," Karsch admits. "I just think he brings intelligence to whatever he does and today, if you want someone who's really bright and humorous and empathetic, it's hard."Director Chelsom came onboard after Beatty was cast and was particularly drawn to working with him.

Aside from Beatty's legendary stature in the business (he has personally been nominated for 14 Oscars, winning a best director Oscar for Reds), Chelsom was especially excited about working with him in a comedy."I think Warren is a natural comedian," says Chelsom. "I wanted him to be given more chances to be funny than he's ever been given, and I think he was very liberated by this. And because Warren was the only person on board when I came on, I was also attracted to the idea of working with him and the kind of cast we could get to go in there with him."The cast of Town & Country reunites a number of award-winning actors. Warren Beatty starred with Diane Keaton in Reds, with Goldie Hawn in Shampoo and with Garry Shandling in Love Affair. Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn starred together in the hit comedy The First Wives Club and Diane Keaton directed Andie MacDowell in the acclaimed comedy-drama Unstrung Heroes.The unique history among its players also adds an even greater layer of believability to their characters' situation as friends who have been together and known each other along time.

Keaton, in particular, says she realizes audiences sometimes bring a familiarity to characters that when watching actors that they've already seen in other films together."It automatically does come into play," the actress notes. "It's like working with Woody Allen. You are familiar with the people you're working with and it brings a whole response because we've known each other so long. I didn't know Goldie until The First Wives Club but that was five years ago and we're friends now. And, we are contemporaries.""The idea that the four of us could get together and do this movie was really what was kind of seductive to me," say Goldie Hawn. "Diane is a wonderfulfriend and I've obviously worked with her before and I adore her.

I haven't worked with Warren since Shampoo. And the film deals with marriage and life, and crimes and misdemeanors ...it's really about your own code of ethics, your own needs and your own truth."In the film, Hawn's character, Mona, has been friends with Ellie and Porter for years, and, in the case of Porter, the relationship goes back to the time they were teenagers. After she realizes her husband Griffin, Porter's best friend, is cheating on her and she files for divorce, she is especially devastated because she feels so alone."Mona thinks Porter and Ellie's marriage is perfect and that they have the best thing going," Hawn comments. "She thinks that Porter's just steady as a rock and that Ellie is the luckiest girl in the world. She wishes she and Griffin had the same thing."But as the film delves further into the lives of Porter and Griffin, it appears that both wives will have to deal with the vast differences between men and women as far as marriage is concerned.

As it becomes more clear that Griffin's marriage is over, it seems to spark something in Porter that his wife, his children and even he himself doesn't fully understand."Porter is a man who has yet to deeply examine himself and is not necessarily communicative about things he's feeling," notes Garry Shandling, who portrays Griffin and is Beatty's friend both on and off screen. "I think that's part of Porter's voyage in this movie, struggling to express and understand himself. Griffin feels somewhat more enlightened, like, 'hey, you gotta really go for it inyour life and figure it out.' So he's really there to kind of prod Porter along and help him and do whatever he can. And I think, deep down, Porter thinks Griffin can occasionally be a pain in the ass, but that's common for good friends."As Griffin and Porter go searching for an understanding of their lives, the film's tone often shifts from the serious to the broadly farcical and back again. As a director, Peter Chelsom notes that while situations in the film sometimes get "pretty absurd," the actors helped him keep it grounded in reality.

Comedy veteran Diane Keaton remembers one black comedy moment in particular, when she was using a knife to punctuate a point yet had to make it look totally incidental and real so that the audience might think that she would use it on her husband.""I just thought of the sheer pleasure of even using that knife (on him) at all," the actress joked. "I mean, I have a really good time doing this type of film and it's fun. It's just always been something I feel comfortable with. This is much easier for me, for example, than doing a film like Marvin's Room."Working with comedy veterans like Hawn and Keaton was particularly inspiring to Jenna Elfman, who portrays Auburn, a seemingly ditsy but actually quite well-read young woman who gets involved in one of Beatty and Shandling's comic adventures. The star of the hit ABC sitcom "Dharma and Greg," Elfman admits she was equally drawn to both the role and to working with what she considers two iconic female comedians."I thought the way my character talks to these guys and her confidence, combined with quirkiness, would be fun to play.

I've played quirky, but I'venever played a character that displays a little bit of both. I never thought I'd get to be in the same scene as these women," Elfman continued. "I mean, I always wanted to be Goldie Hawn on "Laugh-In" and Diane Keaton, she is such a good actress that I just watch her in every scene ...I'm like the new kid on the block and when I'm entering a scene I sort of feel like, 'is it okay that I'm here?' You know, like, 'Hi! guys! I have lines to say, is that okay? Do you wanna say your lines first or anything?"'Andie MacDowell notes that her role as Eugenie was attractive to her because she seldom gets to play "crazy" or "outrageous."

Usually cast as the reliable dream girl in films, she says she jumped at the chance to play this strange character who works her way into Porter's life."I'm just one of his lessons and I think I probably make him realize what a great thing he had," MacDowell relates. "I mean, especially after he goes home with me and meets my parents, I don't think I would be anybody anyone would want to get married to. I think the film is saying, 'You better be careful when you've got somebody that's as wonderful as Diane's character Ellie.' She and Porter have a wonderful relationship and you need to respect that and know it's not worth it to risk losing someone that wonderful."Yet for Diane Keaton's part, she was careful not to make her role into the long suffering wife. She notes she was helped along quite well by the script and the situations it put her in. "She's not the typical wife by the very fact that she's so rich," says the actress. "Let's face it, if you're that rich, life is breezy.- I mean, she has her problems but they're the best problems you can have. She's an independent character who's been married a long time.

She's not going to dieif he leaves her yet she loves him. When you live that long with someone you give them a break."Principal photography on Town & Country began in Los Angeles, utilizing such locales as an architect's office in the newly-created downtown art district; a 1913 Craftsman house high in the Hollywood Hills; the world famous Huntington Library; and the Greystone Mansion. The award-winning LawsonWeston house, designed by noted architect Eric Owen Moss, stood in for the interior of the East Hampton home of Goldie Hawn's character.In Manhattan, the troupe filmed in Central Park, Soho and the well-to-do neighborhoods of the Upper East Side. Producer Simon Fields, who has worked with director Peter Chelsom on all of his films, remembers the challenges of filming in the city with a cast of such well-known names."Shooting with this particular cast in New York was great in terms of energy," Fields says, "but we also had stars like Warren and Diane, who are so well known, that people were often overwhelmed.

We had to stop filming numerous times because of onlookers, rerouted a bicycle race through Central Park, all the things you would imagine when you're doing a film this high profile."The production next moved to the celebrity-filled enclave of East Hampton, where filming commenced at the site of a traditional East Hampton beach house. The multi-million dollar Salt Box style house, with its familiar cedar shingles, sat on a manicured lawn adjacent to the grass-covered sand dunes, windswept beach and deep azure blue of the Atlantic Ocean.Next stop was a beach front estate in Wainscott, next to beautiful Georgica Pond, then on to the charming town of East Hampton, with its familiar windmill. In this case, even the local fowl got to interact with movie stars when they shared the town pond with "movie swans."The filmmakers then moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, one of the country's premiere ski resorts that was developed in 1935 by Averell Harriman, president of Union Pacific Railroads. The region's late fall foliage was transformed by the special effects team (and 40 tons of ice daily) into scenes that captured the feeling of an early season snowfall.

But nature did eventually step in one day when the crew awoke to find the ground covered with the first snowfall of the season.Production then shot around the town of Ketchum, Idaho, legendary home of Ernest Hemingway. They even used the North Fork Market where Marilyn Monroe filmed Bus Stop. Additional filming took place in Bellevue, on the Challenger ski lift in Warm Springs and wrapped up back in Los Angeles, on several beautifully crafted New York Design Institute sets at Culver City Studios.Looking back, producer Fields remembers the most difficult part of the shoot was actually scheduling the myriad of name actors who had come from various other projects to work on the film."Diane Keaton had a stop date and we had to push very hard for her to get her to finish so she could go on to another project," he recalls. "And just coordinating all the actors' schedules, meeting with them and getting them to come onboard, it was the most exciting part but also the most challenging."Yet despite the complications and the various turns the story takes, the filmmakers believe certain universal themes ring true. As Diane Keaton explains: "The main issue is that people are capable of forgiving people for being people.

You don't want to be the wife that says 'that's it, I'm finished.' You take into consideration how much you love them, you forgive the person and then it's finished. Sex is so peculiar. You can't be married that long and not have one dalliance. And the older you get, you realize it all the more."As Shandling notes, any problems men and women have on the subjects of love, marriage and commitment will most certainly manage to cross over to all groups of people.

As the actor sees it, it is the basic nature of human relations between the sexes and has nothing to do with societal status or dollar signs."Everybody has problems, no matter how much money they're making, no matter what kind of job they have and no matter what kind of relationship they have," says Shandling. "Everyone is struggling through. And I really think the film is about that - about people struggling and falling apart and coming back together again. And," he adds, "it's in color, so it's going to be great."ABOUT THE CASTWarren Beatty (Porter Stoddard)Warren Beatty has been nominated for 14 Academy Awards during his 40-year career in motion pictures. He received the Best Director Oscar for his work in Reds and has had six films he produced win a total of 53 Oscar nominations.

In addition, Beatty has been nominated for 17 Golden Globe Awards (winning five) and four Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Original Screenplay (winning three). He also has been twice nominated for Oscars in four categories, as actor, director, writer and producer, on both Heaven Can Wait and Reds, an honor shared only by Orson Welles for Citizen Kane.Beatty first drew attention as an actor for his Broadway debut in the William Inge play "A Loss Of Roses." In 1961, he made his film debut in an acclaimed performance in Inge's Splendor In the Grass, directed by Elia Kazan. Among his films as an actor are Tennessee Williams' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, William Inge's All Fall Down, Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs.

Miller, Robert Rossen's Lilith, Arthur Penn's Mickey One, George Stevens' The Only Game In Town, Alan Pakula's The Parallax View and Mike Nichols' The Fortune.Bonnie and Clyde, which Beatty produced and starred in, received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Actor. Shampoo, which he produced, starred in and co-wrote, earned four Oscar nominations. Heaven Can Wait, which Beatty co-wrote with Elaine May, received nine Oscar nominations and Golden Globe awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and marked Beatty's directorial debut (in collaboration with Buck Henry). Reds, which he wrote, produced, directed and starred in, earned 12 Academy Award nominations andBest Picture and Director honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review. Beatty won an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for Best Picture, as well as the Best Director award from the Directors Guild of America.

Dick Tracy, which he produced, directed and starred in, received seven Oscar nominations. Bugsy, which Beatty produced and starred in opposite Annette Bening for the first time, received 10 Oscar nominations and the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. He again starred opposite Bening in Love Affair, which he also produced and co-wrote.Beatty's most recent film, the critically-acclaimed Bulworth, received the first Alan J. Pakula Memorial Award from the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay, an Academy Award and Writers Guild nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and three Golden Globe nominations for producing, writing and acting.In 1992, France honored Beatty by making him a Commander of Arts and Letters. He has been an activist in Democratic politics since 1960, and has worked in the presidential campaigns of Robert Kennedy, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Gary Hart, Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton.Diane Keaton (Ellie Stoddard)Diane Keaton has proven herself to be an extremely versatile actress, director and producer.

She received the Academy Award for Best Actress in the title role of Woody Allen's classic Annie Hall and also received Academy Award nominations for her co-starring role opposite Warren Beatty in Reds and for her poignant performance in Marvin's Room.Keaton's acting career spans over 25 films, including such unforgettable motion pictures as The Godfather trilogy, Lovers and Other Strangers, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Baby Boom, Father of the Bride (Parts I and II) and The First Wives Club. Her long creative partnership with Woody Allen has resulted in such memorable films as Sleeper, Manhattan, Love and Death, Play It Again, Sam, Interiors, Radio Days and Manhattan Murder Mystery. Her other screen appearances include such films as Mrs.

Soffel, Crimes of the Heart, The Good Mother and The Other Sister.In addition, Keaton received critical acclaim and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for her portrayal of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart in TNT's "Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight."Born and raised in Los Angeles, Keaton moved to New York at 19 and began acting studies at the Neighborhood Playhouse. She was a member of the original cast of the landmark rock musical "Hair" and followed that with the lead opposite Woody Allen in his play "Play It Again, Sam."Keaton's directing career began with the acclaimed feature-length documentary "Heaven," the television special "The Girl with the Crazy Brother" (for which she received an Emmy nomination) and Lifetime's award-winning "Wildflower," starring Patricia Arquette. She made her feature directing debut on Unstrung Heroes, starring Andie MacDowell, which premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Her other directing credits include episodes of "Twin Peaks" and "China Beach," as well as several music videos.Most recently, Keaton directed and co-starred in the comedy Hanging Up, with Walter Matthau, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow.Goldie Hawn (Mona)Goldie Hawn is one of the screen's most beloved actresses whose memorable performances in a wide variety of hit motion pictures have endeared her to audiences all over the world.In 1969, Hawn received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Cactus Flower opposite Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman.

She also received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for the 1980 box-office smash Private Benjamin (which she also executive-produced). More recently, she starred opposite Bette Midler and Diane Keaton in the box-office hit First Wives Club, re-teamed with her Housesitter co-star Steve Martin in the Neil Simon comedy The Out-of-Towners, and co-starred with Woody Allen in his musical comedy Everyone Says I Love You. In the spring of 1997, Hawn made her directorial debut on the TNT original film "Hope," starring Christine Lahti, J.T. Walsh and Jena Malone. She is currently filming The Banger Sisters.Hawn's long and eclectic career has spawned a large group of well-known and well-respected motion pictures. She made her feature film debut in The One and Only Genuine, Original Family Band and then went on to star in the film version of Butterflies Are Free and in The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg's feature film debut.Other early films include There's A Girl In My Soup, The Girl From Petrovka, The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox and Shampoo, a 1975 critical and box-office hit in which she co-starred opposite Warren Beatty.Following a two-year hiatus, in which she devoted time to her family, Hawn returned to the screen with Chevy Chase in Foul Play, and later reteamed with him in Seems Like Old Times.

She also starred with Burt Reynolds in Best Friends and in Jonathan Demme's Swing Shift. She then starred in and executive produced Protocol, the debut effort of the Hawn/Sylbert Movie Company, which she headed with partner Anthea Sylbert.Hawn/Sylbert went on to produce Wildcats, Overboard, My Blue Heaven, Crisscross and Something To Talk About, starring Julia Roberts. Other film appearances include the action hit Bird on a Wire, with Mel Gibson, the thriller Deceived, and Death Becomes Her, opposite Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis. Hawn continues to develop projects under the banner of her production company Cherry Alley Productions, which she formed with partner Teri Schwartz.Born in Tacoma Park, Maryland, Hawn began training for a career as a dancer at the age of three.

By the time she was 17, she was running her own ballet school. She was still in high school when she began acting professionally, playing Juliet in a Williamsburg, Virginia production of "Romeo and Juliet."After studying drama at American University for two years, Hawn made her professional dancing debut at the Texas Pavilion of New York World's Fair in 1964-65 and remained in New York to perform as a singer and dancer inproductions of "Kiss Me Kate," "Guys and Dolls," "Pal Joey," "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" and "The Boyfriend."Hawn continued to work steadily as a dancer, which led to television work in Los Angeles, culminating in her appearance on the classic comedy-variety show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In." She has also headlined her own show in Las Vegas and later returned to television for several specials, including "Pure Goldie," "Goldie and the Kids - Listen To Us," "Goldie and Liza Together" and "The Goldie Hawn Special."Garry Shandling (Griffin)For six years, Garry Shandling was the star of the critically acclaimed HBO series "The Larry Sanders Show." As creator, writer, executive producer and star, he garnered multiple Emmy nominations and Cable Ace Awards during the series' six-year run, winning the Emmy in 1998 (with Peter Tolan) for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.Most recently, Shandling wrote and starred in the Mike Nichols' comedy What Planet Are You From?, opposite Annette Bening.

His other film appearances include Love Affair, with Warren Beatty and Bening, Hurlyburly, with Sean Penn and Meg Ryan, and Nora Ephron's Mixed Nuts.Shandling got his start in television as a writer for such renowned situation comedies as "Sanford and Son" and "Welcome Back Kotter." He then began writing and performing his own material and made his stand-up debut at the Comedy Store in 1975. Soon thereafter, he began concentrating solely on his standup career and established himself as a top flight stand-up comedian.Shandling's successful comedy performances, composed of material based on personal experiences and everyday life, led to his one-hour Showtime special "Garry Shandling Alone In Las Vegas," which he wrote, produced and starred in. The program received critical acclaim and was so popular that it led to the creation of another Showtime special, "The Garry Shandling Show 25th Anniversary Special," in which Johnny Carson was among the many guests.

Shandling then began making regular appearances as a guest host on "The Tonight Show."In 1986, Shandling created "It's Garry Shandling's Show," which offered a weekly glimpse of his life at home. The series had a critically acclaimed four-year run.Shandling recently wrote Confession of a Late Night Talk Show Host: The Autobiography of Larry Sanders, as told to Garry Shandling.Andie MacDowell (Eugenie)With several upcoming projects, audiences all over the world will have a chance to see why Andie MacDowell is a leading international star.MacDowell will next be seen opposite Dennis Quaid in the HBO original film, "Dinner with Friends," based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. Later this year she stars as a single woman romancing a younger man in the romantic comedy Crush, written and directed by John McCay, and also stars opposite David Straithairn and Adrien Brody in Harrison's Flowers, a drama about photojournalists behind the scenes in war-torn Balkans. Sherecently completed filming in Europe on Ginsotra, co-starring opposite Harvey Keitel in a drama about a couple attempting to protect their teenage daughter from the Mafia.MacDowell received critical acclaim and accolades for her performance as a repressed young wife in Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies and videotape.

The film won the Palme D'Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and garnered MacDowell the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Actress as well as a Golden Globe nomination. In 1997, she was presented with the coveted Cesar D'Honneur for her body of work and the Golden Kamera Award from Germany's Horzu Publications.In 1993 MacDowell earned a second Golden Globe nomination for the holiday classic Groundhog Day, co-starring Bill Murray. In 1994 she earned the title of #1 female box-office draw worldwide with her performances in the smash hit romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral and the western Bad Girls, with Drew Barrymore.MacDowell has teamed with some of the top leading men for her other comedic film performances, which include Green Card with Gerard Depardieu, Multiplicity with Michael Keaton, Michael with John Travolta and Just the Ticket with Andy Garcia.MacDowell co-starred with Bill Pullman in Wim Wenders' The End of Violence, which was selected to screen at the opening of the 50th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. Her other dramatic performances include ThePlayer and Short Cuts, both directed by Robert Altman, Unstrung Heroes, directed by Diane Keaton, and the ever-popular St.

Elmo's Fire.Nastassja Kinski (Alex)Nastassja Kinski made her film debut at the age of 13 in director Wim Wenders' False Movement, receiving the German Outstanding Individual Achievement Award for her portrayal of a deaf mute. She worked over the next several years in German television while also posing for a series of fashion photographs taken by director Roman Polanski that were published in the Christmas 1976 edition of Vogue. This led to her being cast in the title role in Polanski's Tess, a 1981 film for which she won a Golden Globe Award as Best New Female Star of the Year.From there, Kinski starred in such films as One From The Heart, Cat People, Hotel New Hampshire, Symphony of Love, Maria's Lovers (for which she won the Italian Senatello Best Actress Award) and Paris, Texas and Faraway, So Close, both winners of the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or Award and the Special Jury Prize.Kinski's recent credits include Neil LaBute's Your Friends and Neighbors, with Jason Patric and Aaron Eckhart, Mike Figgis' One Night Stand, with Wesley Snipes and Robert Downey, Jr., and Father's Day, starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. She also starred in Eva Gardos' directorial debut, American Rhapsody, opposite Tony Goldwyn and in The Claim, with Sarah Polley and Wes Bentley.On television, Kinski appeared with Vanessa Redgrave in the CBS miniseries "Bella Mafia," written by Lynda LaPlante, and in "The Ring," an NBC miniseries based on the best-selling novel by Danielle Steele.Jenna Elfman (Auburn)Jenna Elfman is a three-time Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner for her role in the hit ABC sitcom "Dharma and Greg."

On the big screen, she recently appeared opposite Ben Stiller and Edward Norton in the romantic comedy Keeping the Faith, which marked Norton's directorial debut.Elfman made her film debut opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Lily Tomlin in the Touchstone comedy Krippendorfs Tribe. She then appeared in Ron Howard's Ed TV, opposite Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and in Grosse Pointe Blank, with John Cusack. Other television credits include the ABC sitcom "Townies," with Molly Ringwald, and guest appearances on "Roseanne," "Murder One," "NYPD Blue" and "Almost Perfect." She also appeared in the critically acclaimed TV movie "Her Last Chance," with Patti LuPone and Kellie Martin.A native of Los Angeles, Elfman began her career in commercials, landing roles in dozens of national television ads for a variety of well-known companies.

She later expanded her horizons by studying with renowned acting teacher Milton Katselas, with whom she still maintains a working relationship.In addition to her film and television work, Elfman recently received rave reviews for "Visions and Lovers: Variations on A Theme," a two-person one-actplay she did opposite Miguel Ferrer. The play was written and directed by Katselas and performed at the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles.Josh Hartnett (Tom)Josh Hartnett has in just a few short years become one of Hollywood's hottest young leading men. This Memorial Day weekend he co-stars opposite Ben Affleck in the much-anticipated Touchstone film Pearl Harbor, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.Hartnett made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween: H20, for which he was honored with an MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Performance. He then went on to the sci-fi thriller The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez.Hartnett then starred alongside Kirsten Dunst, James Woods and Kathleen Turner in Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, and in Dimension Films' O, the modern adaptation of Shakespeare's "Othello," directed by Tim Blake Nelson.Born in San Francisco and raised in St.

Paul, Minnesota, Hartnett began studying acting at an early age. He landed several roles in such Minneapolis stage productions as "Into the Woods" at the Steppingstone Theatre, "Tom Sawyer" at Children's Theatre Company and "Freedom Riders" at the Youth Performance Center. He was also featured in several national commercials.Later this year Hartnett will be seen in the romantic comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights, directed by Michael Lehmann, for Working Title, Universal and Miramaxand the adventure Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Revolution Studios.Tricia Vessey (Alice)Tricia Vessey has feature film credits that include Bean, Kiss the Girls, the Johnny Depp-directed The Brave, Infinity, directed by Matthew Broderick, and Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. She has also appeared in such films as Prairie Fire, Lifetime During Wartime, Nowhere To Go and the contemporary coming-of-age comedy Coming Soon.Among Vessey's television appearances were a series regular role on "Local Heroes," the Showtime feature "Marshall Extreme," and guest appearances on "The Naked Truth," "Under One Roof," "Life Happens," "Weird Science," "The Wonder Years" and the pilot for "Hot Shots."Chariton Heston (Mr.

Claybourne)Charlton Heston has starred in more than 70 motion pictures and nearly an equal number of theatrical productions in a career that spans the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1959 for Ben Hur, one of eleven Oscars the picture garnered.Early in his career, Heston starred in the Oscar-winning Best Picture The Greatest Show On Earth and played Moses in The Ten Commandments and John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told. His extensive film credits include such famed classics as Touch of Evil, El Cid, Major Dundee, The Agony and The Ecstasy, Planet of the Apes, Julius Caesar and Anthony and Cleopatra (which also marked his feature directorial debut).Recent projects include the feature film Alaska, directed by his son Fraser, and Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh. He also makes a cameo appearance in this Summer's re-make of Planet of the Apes, directed by Tim Burton.With his numerous performances in the famed Studio One series and in several other dramatic presentations, Heston is credited with being one of a handful of actors who helped invent live television.

In recent years, he starred in the hit series "The Colbys" and in the made-for-TV movie "Proud Men." His cable TV work includes acting in and directing the TNT production of "A Man For All Seasons."On the stage, Heston has also appeared in major city productions of "A Man For All Seasons," "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial," "Macbeth," "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "Crucifer of Blood" and "Love Letters."Heston is the author of the book Courage to be Free, which is available on the internet.Marian Seldes (Mrs. Claybourne)Marian Seldes, best known for her extensive work in the New York theatre, was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1996. She won a Tony for her performance in Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance" and currently can be seen off-Broadway in the author's "The Play About the Baby."Seldes made her Broadway debut in "Medea" and garnered a Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for her work in "Father's Day."

Other creditsinclude "Crime and Punishment," "That Lady," "Ondine," "The Chalk Garden," "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More," "Tiny Alice," "A Gift of Time," "Eqqus," "Deathtrap," "Ivanov" and "Ring Round the Moon."Seldes' off-Broadway credits include Obie Award-winning performances in "The Ginger Man" and "Isadora Duncan," as well as "Painting Churches," "Mercy Street," "Richard II," "Richard III," "Gertrude Stein and a Companion," "A Bright Room Called Day," "Another Time," "Dear Liar," "The Torch-Bearers" and "The Butterfly Collection." In addition, she co-starred in the American premiere and national tour of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Three Tall Women."Seldes has written her memoir, The Bright Lights. A Theatre Life, as well as a novel, Time Together. Among her numerous television appearances is HBO's highly-acclaimed "If These Walls Could Talk, 2." Her film credits include Tom and Huck, Home Alone 3, Digging to China, Affliction, The Haunting and Duets.ABOUT THE FILMMAKERSPeter Chelsom (Director)Peter Chelsom made his feature directorial debut on the acclaimed Hear My Song, which he co-wrote with actor Adrian Dunbar.

Starring Ned Beatty, the film was loosely based on the real-life story of the beloved Irish tenor Josef Locke, whose identity was secretly acquired by an impostor who passed himself off as the great man for 30 years. The romantic comedy won Best Film at the 1992 British Comedy Awards, Best British Newcomer in 1993 from the London Film Critics Circle, Best Newcomer from the Evening Standard British Film Awards and a BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay. It also played various film festivals worldwide.Chelsom then wrote, produced and directed his next feature, Funny Bones, starring Jerry Lewis, Oliver Platt and Leslie Caron. It went on to win Best Film at five European film festivals, the 1996 Peter Sellers Award for Comedy from the Evening Standard British and a second BAFTA nomination for Best Original Screenplay.His most recent film, The Mighty, starring Sharon Stone, was an official selection at Cannes and won two Golden Globe nominations - one for Sharon Stone as Best Supporting Actress and a second for Best Original Song ("The Mighty") for Sting and Trevor Jones.Born in Blackpool, in the North of England, Chelsom initially trained as a photographer, but went on to win a place at London's Central School of Dramawhere he studied for three years.

For the next 10 years, he worked as an actor playing leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre, in addition to roles in television and films.While his acting career was flourishing, he turned to writing and directing. From 1985-1989, Chelsom directed at the Central School of Drama while also teaching a film and television course. He also taught workshops at the Actors Institute and in 1987 ran a course for New York actors at Cornell University for the Royal National Theatre.In 1987, he was selected as one of five directors for a Channel Four/British Screen short film project, "The Short and Curlies." He then wrote and directed Treacle, about his home town, Blackpool.

The highly-acclaimed film earned him a BAFTA nomination and opened the door to a full-time feature film career.Chelsom relocated to Los Angeles in 1995. He is currently in post-production on Serendipity, a Miramax film starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.Andrew Karsch (Producer)Andrew Karsch has had a varied career moving between filmmaking and politics. Since attending the American Film Institute's Center for American Film Studies in 1978, Karsch has become involved in the development of many feature projects. Among his producing credits are the Academy Award nominated Best Picture The Prince of Tides, The Rachel Papers and Nights at Orears, which won first prize at both the Los Angeles Film Exposition and theUSA Film Festival, and was shown at the New York Film Festival.

He also produced the motion picture Stars Above the City.In 1992, Karsch partnered with William Randolph Hearst III, then publisher and editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Examiner, to form Longfellow Pictures. Their first production was Princess Caraboo, starring Phoebe Cates, Stephen Rea and Kevin Kline.In 1995, New York-based industrialist Sidney Kimmel entered into an exclusive arrangement with Longfellow Pictures which calls for Karsch to both produce motion pictures and oversee all operations related to Kimmel's film company, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Under its new arrangement, Longfellow made Curtain Call, a Peter Yates-directed romantic comedy starring James Spader, Polly Walker, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Buck Henry and Sam Shepard.Karsch is currently in production on The Palace Thief, based upon Ethan Canin's prize-winning novella. The film stars Kevin Kline, Embeth Davidtz and Rob Morrow and is being directed by Michael Hoffman.Prior to his film career, Karsch worked extensively in politics.

After successfully coordinating Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's 1976 senatorial campaign, he was appointed director of issues and media for the senator's 1980 presidential challenge. He is still very much involved with the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial.Simon Fields (Producer)Simon Fields has worked with director Peter Chelsom as a producer on his last three films - Hear My Song, Funny Bones and The Mighty - and is currently inpost-production with him on Serenedipity, an upcoming Miramax film starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.After working his way through the production ranks in London in the mid seventies, Fields became a production manager for the Moving Picture Company. From there he joined Jon Roseman Productions as a producer and within a year moved to Los Angeles to run the company's American division.In 1981, Fields joined forces with Steve Barron to form Limelight and as its president and CEO oversaw growth of annual revenues from $500,000 to $50,000,000, with operations in Los Angeles and London.

The company was active in music videos, television commercials and feature films and at its zenith had 42 directors on staff.During his 12 years at Limelight, Fields was a pioneer in the music video industry, garnering many awards and helping to create media images for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Peter Gabriel, among others. The company also had an award-winning television commercial division, handling such prestigious accounts as Calvin Klein, Nike and Budweiser. During that time, Fields produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, before teaming with Chelsom for Hear My Song.In 1993, Fields and Chelsom formed Suntrust Films, to develop and produce motion pictures.Fred Roos (Producer)Fred Roos has worked with some of Hollywood's most gifted filmmakers and actors over the last three decades. His long term collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola includes producing the Academy Award-winning Best Picture The Godfather, Part II and the Academy Award-nominated Best Pictures Apocalypse Now and The Conversation.

He was the co-producer of the Oscar nominated Best Picture The Godfather, Part III.Other films Roos has produced with Coppola are One From The Heart, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, Gardens of Stone and Tucker: The Man and His Dream.Before he began producing films, Roos had a legendary career as a casting director on such films as The Godfather, American Graffiti, Five Easy Pieces, The King of Marvin Gardens, Fat City and Petulia. He was also a casting consultant on Star Wars.Among Roos' other producing credits are Carroll Ballard's The Black Stallion, Wim Wenders' Hammett, Barbet Schroeder's Barfly and Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. He received a Cable Ace Award for best feature length documentary for Hearts of Darkness, A Filmmaker's Apocalypse.Sidney Kimmel (Executive Producer)Born in Philadelphia and a graduate of Temple University (where he is a Board member and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate Degree), Sidney Kimmel'sfeature producing credits include Blame it on Rio, Clan of the Cave Bear, 9 Y2 Weeks and The Night We Never Met.In 1970 Kimmel founded Jones Apparel Group, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange and has emerged as one of the strongest fashion leaders in the industry. His philanthropic interests include the Philadelphia Orchestra Hall, Temple University, Sidney Kimmel Cardiovascular Research Center, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego and the Kimmel Cancer Institute at Jefferson Medical College.Michael Laughlin (Screenwriter)Michael Laughlin began producing films at the age of 25, with credits that include The Whisperers, starring Dame Edith Evans and directed by Bryan Forbes, Joanna, starring Donald Sutherland and Genevieve Waite and directed by Michael Same, and the classic Two-Lane Blacktop, directed by Monte Hellman.

Laughlin also produced Dusty and Sweets Magee, a documentary feature on Southern California heroin addicts directed by Floyd Mutrux and photographed by William A. Fraker (the director of photography on Town & Country).Laughlin's credits as writer and director are Strange Behavior, starring Michael Murphy and Louise Fletcher, Strange Invaders, starring Paul LeMat and Nancy Allen and Mesmerized, starring Jodie Foster and John Lithgow.Laughlin has written the book Radical Golf and is currently writing a memoir, Hollywood Daze, about how movie-making changed in the 1960's. He is also working on an adaptation of the Norman Mailer novel, The Deer Park, a story of Hollywood in the 1950's, and recently sold to Twentieth Century Fox the originalscreenplay Naked Reverse, a comedy about a Big Ten college football coach that Betty Thomas is attached to direct.Buck Henry (screenwriter)As an actor, screenwriter and director, Buck Henry is one of Hollywood's most versatile talents. He is possibly best-known for the Academy Award nomination he received for the screenplay of Charles Webb's novel, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft and directed by Mike Nichols.He also appeared in The Graduate, as well as such films as Milos Forman's Taking Off, Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, John Cassavetes' Gloria, Albert Brooks' Defending Your Life, Robert Altman's The Player and Short Cuts and Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Henry was most recently seen in Tom DiCillo's comedy, The Real Blonde, Peter Yates' Curtain Call and Alan Rudolph's Breakfast of Champions.Henry's many screenplay credits include Nichols' Catch 22, Peter Bogdanovich's The Owl and the Pussycat, Herb Ross' What's Up Doc? and Protocol and Gus Van Sant's To Die For.Henry incorporated all of his talents in First Family, which he wrote, directed and acted in as well as Heaven Can Wait, which he co-directed with Warren Beatty, for which both were nominated for an Academy Award. On television, Henry co created "Get Smart" with Mel Brooks and served as a writer on the show.

He also wrote and performed on such shows as "Saturday Night Live," "That Was The Week That Was" and "The Steve Allen Show."William A. Fraker, A.S.C-B.S.C. (Director of Photography)William A. Fraker is one of America's most acclaimed cinematographers, with more than 100 films to his credit as a cinematographer and director. He received Oscar nominations for his work on Looking For Mr. Goodbar, Heaven Can Wait, Wargames, Murphy's Romance and 1941, the latter also earning him a nomination for visual effects.Fraker was born in Los Angeles and attended USC Film School. Starting as a camera assistant and camera operator, he debuted as a cinematographer on Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby and went on to such films as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Bullitt, Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition, Aloha Bobby and Rose, Lipstick, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Irreconcilable Differences, Baby Boom, Honeymoon In Vegas, The Freshman, Tombstone, Street Fighter, Father of the Bride, Part II, The Island of Dr.

Moreau and Rules of Engagement.Fraker's credits as a director include Legend of the Lone Ranger, Reflections of Fear, Monte Walsh and, for television, "The Dancer's Touch" and "Wiseguy."Caroline Hanania (Production Designer)Caroline Hanania was born in Lebanon, where her father was Dean at the American University of Beirut. Educated in England, Hanania studied fine art at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, where she spent a year working as an assistant to surrealist artist Mayo, whose costume designs are a feature of Marcel Carne's classic film, Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise).After completing her BA at Camberwell School of Art in London, Hanania began her design career in the London theatre culminating in a three-year term as resident designer with the Common Stock Theatre Company. She entered the film industry working with Production Designer Andrew McAlpine as Art Director on such features as The House, High Season and Sid and Nancy.For over fifteen years, Hanania has worked as a Production Designer both in Europe and the United States, with credits that include Paper Mask, Wild West, Moll Flanders, LA Without a Map and Auggie Rose. She has worked extensively with director Peter Chelsom and has designed all of his feature films, which in addition to Town & Country include Hear My Song, Funny Bones, The Mighty and the upcoming Serendipity.Molly Maginnis (Costume Designer)Molly Maginnis has previously created costumes for such feature films as As Good As It Gets, Deuce Bigalow, Broadcast News, Mighty Joe Young, Sister Act, Eddie, It Takes Two, The War, Look Who's Talking, Boiling Point, Come See the Paradise, Miss Firecracker, Dad, Son in Law, Delirious and Lucas.

She has two films soon to be released: Scenes of the Crime, starring Jeff Bridges and Noah Wyle, and Life as a House, starring Kevin Kline and Kristen Scott Thomas.For television, Maginnis designed the costumes for the live TV broadcasts of "Fail Safe" and "On Golden Pond," starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Her work on "Tales of the City" received a BAFTA nomination. She also designed the wardrobe for many pilots including "Spin City" and "Life's Work."Maginnis has also designed for the stage both on Broadway with "Showboat" and at various opera companies ("Madame Butterfly," "La Boheme," "La Cenerentola"). In Los Angeles, she received a Dramalogue Award for Best Costumes for "Sherlock's Last Case."David Moritz (Editor)David Moritz's editing credits include the features Sleep With Me, Bottle Rocket, The Evening Star, Broken Vessels and Rushmore. He served as coeditor on Jerry Maguire and recently completed another New Line Cinema project, Knockaround Guys.

He is currently in post-production on The Affair of the Necklace.Rolfe Kent (Composer)Rolfe Kent most recently wrote the score for director Neil LaBute's critically acclaimed Nurse Betty. In addition to working with director Alexander Payne on two films, Election and Citizen Ruth, Kent's other motion picture credits include Someone Like You, The Theory of Flight, The House of Yes, The Slums of Beverly Hills, Oxygen, Mercy and Don't Go Breaking My Heart. He has also composed for television and stage.Kent's next project is Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon.

Official Web Site: http://www.townandcountrymovie.com/

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