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Press NotesMAD WOMENStarringReed BirneyEli PercyChristina StarbuckKelsey Lynn StokesWritten & Directed by Jeff LipskyDistributor: Plainview PicturesRunning Time: 131 MinutesFormat: DCP/2:35Publicity Contact:Isil BagdadiCAVU Picturesisil@(917) 375-7615MAD WOMEN – THE PLAYERSKelsey Lynn StokesNevada SmithReed BirneyRichard SmithChristina StarbuckHarper SmithEli PercyOtto BreyerJamie HarroldAntonSharon Van IvanJulianneRussell KoplinDarleneFrances EveJudith SmithBob JaffeDr. WenzloffAli SelimDr. EllisOlan MontgomeryHomeless ManFaith LorettaGinnySara K. EdwardsGinny’s MomMichael GnatReporterAshley BlankenshipAngelaHarrison GoldbergJeffMAD WOMEN – THE FILMMAKERSWriter/DirectorJeff LipskyProducerNikolai MetinExecutive ProducerNick AthasCo-ProducerAlena SvyatovaDirector of PhotographyValentina CanigliaCostume DesignerBree PerryProduction DesignerKnox WhiteEditorPatricia BurgessOriginal Music byXBOPProduction ManagerAlexis HollowayFirst Assistant DirectorJessica BurgessSecond Assistant DirectorSarah Brennan KolbFirst Assistant CameraRobert KoSecond Assistant CameraZak RayAdditional First Assistant CameraJason ChauScenic ArtistDarya GolubinaScript SupervisorAlexandria Nicole MatosWardrobe SupervisorMemo AlvarezProduction Sound MixerAshleigh MayfairBoom OperatorAriana McLeanGafferSonny PlesciaKey GripTore HynnekleivAssistant Production CoordinatorMichaela MastacheMake-Up SupervisorLuisa ValzaniHair StylistShelley MarieCasting DirectorAmy GosselsCraft Services/CateringPenny PollakKey Production AssistantsJessica (Blaize) HendricksEmily WaltersMatthew GreinerProduction AssistantsDonnell CulverJon SavoyGregor RupretDavid MichaelsArt Production AssistantsAdam SchroederAlexander ZuckermanRe-Recording MixerJamie R. BakerDialog EditorSilvana PintoADR EngineerJa-Ann WangColoristJane TolmachyovLaboratory SupervisorJoe Monge, DuArtAccountantKristine Plescia MUSIC “New River”“Refuge” “Here As If Ever” “Sanctuary” Will Arvo E. Piano Daniel Carter Reeds, Flute, Trumpet Jon Roberds E. Bass Brandon Miller Drums VERY SPECIAL HEARTFELT THANKS TO Matt Gardner Sue Gardner Dr. Michael Schmerin, M.D. Dylan Skolnick Charlotte Sky Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, NYMAD WOMEN - LONG SYNOPSIS“In the movie ‘Norma Rae,’ Norma has to explain to her children that she’s a jailbird. And she feels compelled to put that scarlet letter in the proper context for her kids, so that they understand the principles for which she was jailed. So that they fully grasp that the reason their mommy was jailed was to make life better, for hundreds of other people, for hundreds of friends, for hundreds of other mommies with whose children they played. Well, I’m a jailbird, too…”And thus begins Harper Smith’s very first campaign speech, in the spring of 2013, having served nine months in prison on a murder conspiracy charge. An ex-hippie and idealist, for more than two decades a devoted mother of three (although her youngest passed away of cancer at three) and loving wife, seized by an irresistible impulse, Harper conspired to kill a man who had avowed to murder a Planned Parenthood physician. In prison she grew radicalized, and became, during her incarceration, a folk legend, idolized by the entirety of her upscale community. Upon her parole, she throws her hat into the ring, in a quest to become mayor of the small New York suburb of Iris Glen. But her prison transformation has her going for broke, as her stump speech ultimately reveals.Shortly after her election, life begins playing whack-a-mole with Harper’s aspirations and goals. First, her husband, Richard Smith, a successful local dentist, pleads guilty to statutory rape after a drug-fueled dalliance with a sixteen-year old girl at a John Foggarty/Jackson Browne concert in a men’s room at Jones Beach. Despite the sheer betrayal of the act, and the vile stigma associated with it, Harper feels somewhat complicit – the age-old hallucinogenic drugs he used were her own. Then a major medical issue is detected. She merely swats this latest calamity away as well, forcing it to take a back seat to her new singular purpose in life. Finally, her relationship with her daughter, Nevada, takes an expected, but oddly welcome, left turn.Nevada Smith is Harper Smith middle daughter. She craves attention, anyone’s attention, in a quest to find a niche for herself in her family of overachievers – her father the dentist, her mother the idealist who committed a crime of conscience only to become a local hero, her older sister, a pediatrician assigned to the Ukraine having joined Doctor Without Borders, and her baby sister who died of cancer at the age of three…how can she, or anyone, compete with that! But her love for each of them is unimpeachable, it’s love of self that’s in doubt.After Richard is jailed she becomes the only family member left at home to try to heal her mother’s emotional distress and loneliness, to address her physical pain, and to support Harper’s radical and unfathomable political aspirations. Ultimately she is seized by an irresistible impulse, to replace all the voids in her mother’s life, to be more than a middle daughter, emotionally, spiritually, intimately, to be a true hero for her mother, for a mother who has become a shining beacon to her community, but a distant symbol for her family.Years earlier, and before her mother’s arrest and her father’s legal and marital betrayals, Nevada spends her idle time practicing tennis – in slow motion, sporting highly flattering, even seductive sportswear. But her desperation to forge an identity for herself only attracts the mute observances, courtside, of a homeless man and, back home, of her strange, voyeuristic neighbor (our “talisman” as she puts it). Until her quest for, at the very least, objectification, brings Otto Breyer into her life. Otto is a handsome, successful, internet marketing executive who intuits that her cravings are more pleas, and that Nevada has more to offer than being a “born baby-sitter,” a moniker she herself suggests during therapy.At first, even later, Nevada challenges Otto’s fascination with her, both physically and intellectually, but, gradually, he wins her confidence. He becomes the only man with whom she feels comfortable expressing her vulnerabilities.Apart from the Smith family therapist there are three people Nevada confides in: her best friend Darlene, a single mother of too-many children who admires Harper and assails Nevada for her taboo-challenging behavior, her grandmother Julianne, a loving, feisty, archery devotee (even though she lost the vision in one eye decades earlier), who is every bit the voice-of-reason, and a soul-healing family matriarch…and Otto, whose initial obsession with Nevada finally morphs into authentic love, and despite her own shocking confession to him of infidelity, he determines to be the lynchpin for Nevada to find herself, once and for all.Finally, there is Nevada’s big sister, Judith. But not even when she Skypes her sister, late at night, a sister she loves dearly, can she bring herself to fully disclose the secrets and lies that have been swirling unstoppably through the Smith family mosaic.Just as Harper’s traumas have put a crease in the fabric of what was once a close and classically ideal family structure, and though her ties to the community grow in leaps and bounds, sublime pressures build up on both fronts. Conversely, Richard’s return from prison, after a year, reveals his determination to remain an integral and intimate part in the lives of the people he loves, and to a former life dedicated to healing. Will Otto remain his singular ally in that quest?During her first stump speech, inaugurating her campaign to be elected Mayor of Iris Glen, Harper talks about self-sacrifice and community. She endeavors to be a spokesperson for the entire world, she espouses impossible, idealistic goals, promising, if unable to achieve them all in her six years as Mayor, at the very least to put them on an irreversible path to fruition. She talks about paradigms, humanism, and altruism. She only briefly directly references her husband and daughter, who stand alongside her, dutifully, lovingly, supportively. Her hundreds of adoring constituents are fully won over and want her to succeed. So do Richard and Nevada, they do as she first throws her hat into the ring, and they do as her acolytes cheer. Then she embraces her husband, perhaps for the last time.MAD WOMEN - SHORT SYNOPSISYoung and beautiful, Nevada Smith craves to find a place for herself in a family of overachievers. Her mother is running for political office, her father is a successful dentist and her older sister is working overseas. In addition, the family is?still grieving the death of a sister who died at a young age. When her mother discovers she has cancer and her father is suddenly sent to prison, Nevada is overwhelmed with the emotional need to comfort her mother.DIRECTOR’S STATEMENTI hold a decidedly dyspeptic outlook for mankind. I give civilization, as we know it, no more than another eleven years, and I’ve been counting down from twenty years; with every passing year I feel my personal Nostradamus clock is right on schedule. But as I sat down to write the film that I would call “Mad Women” I decided to challenge myself. I asked what would happen if a woman entering middle-age, commits a crime of conscience, serves time in jail, becomes a local hero, and rather than back down from her insistence for a better world, elects to lead a path towards radical change, changes she hopes, and is determined, will make her little town of Iris Glen, New York a 21st century Eden. But as ‘Harper’ herself says “ideals are hard,” so I needed to confront that character with a number of obstacles en route to her Holy Grail, flog her with calamity after calamity, mini-cataclysms that would almost certainly cripple any mere mortal’s sense of idealism. And for my central character such tectonic peril would only strengthen her resolve…but at what price. There is always a price. The price in question might be to find herself alone, not politically, but literally. What or whom will she sacrifice to achieve her impossible dream?After having had the privilege in my first five films of directing one hundred and twenty-three of New York’s very best actors, I have the semi-luxury, even on an impossibly tight budget, of writing for specific actors with whom I’ve worked with in the past. At the top of the list is Reed Birney, arguably the best stage and screen actor in NYC today. In two previous films of mine he portrayed a bisexual ex-husband who still returns for carnal dalliances with the mother of his two daughters, and in the other, a relatively young widower contemplating early retirement, hoping his limited life savings will yet allow a decade or two of selfish, comfortable liberty, travel, and even female companionship. This time I’d make him a successful dentist, a man who commits a crime and serves a stint in prison, for a stupid and ugly moral indiscretion, one that threatens to ostracize him from his wife, his family, and his community, at a time when he needs to step up for the benefit of all three.I strive to achieve a sense of naturalism in each of my films. The themes they have in common are family, love, and sexuality, the three experiences shared by everyone on the planet, from time to time, apart from death, which doesn’t interest me too terribly much. (We’ll all get there in eleven years, so nothing to concern myself with now.)As such, there is always some graphic nudity in my work, not shocking scenes of carnality in most cases, moreover, they tend to be candid, honest moments of vulnerability or naked ablutions and the like, that all mere mortals entertain on a quotidian basis. So the great challenge comes when I’m seeking out actors completely unknown to me for one or another lead role in my films. In the case of “Mad Women” I lucked out, in spades. In casting the three young leads I was without a fulltime casting director (and, in the past, I’ve been blessed to work with three of the best), a daunting proposition. For the role of ‘Nevada,’ I required a great actress, someone who would be comfortable showing their body in intimate scenes, someone who could play tennis reasonably well, and someone without tattoos. (That’s just me, I loathe tattoos, and when I cast actors sporting them my crew and I have to waste countless hours spraying cover-up on them – and removing the cover-up after wrap.) In Kelsey Lynn Stokes I found someone who satisfied all of those requirements (well, almost all, she lied about being able to wield a nifty tennis racquet!). She was mesmerizing. She did not fit the description of the character I describe in the original screenplay but her talent exceeded and transcended any grouping of adjectives typed-up a year prior. In Christina Starbuck I struck gold again. She is miraculous, and she embodies the spirit of ‘Harper’ to a T. Like the character she plays, Christina has two daughters in real life, and tragically lost two others. This is not the first time that my fictional characters have struck a chord in the actors who’ve been submitted or who’ve submitted themselves for auditions. It’s kismet. Life does imitate art.“Mad Women” was also a charmed opportunity for me to work again with Jamie Harrold, who plays the small but pivotal role of ‘Anton,’ the Smith’s enigmatic neighbor. He played Justin Kirk’s suicidal brother in my film “Flannel Pajamas,” and, as an actor, he can do anything. As a collaborator he brings vitality, humor, camaraderie, and bonhomie to the set, that is nearly unmatched in its ability to alleviate the often great tension that roils across a feature film shoot when there is seemingly not enough money or time to make miracles happen. Jamie brings a pocketful of miracles to the set with him every day, day in and day out.Another interesting note about “Mad Women’s” cast and crew is its international composition. We used to call America a great melting pot. But I think that the global appeal and transformative power of film, and the thriving state of independent production here, makes the U.S. film industry the most assimilated, multi-national, cornucopia of talented craftspeople in any industry, in any country on the planet. While only one member of our cast is an ex-pat (Kelsey is Canadian, schooled in Dubai!), our DP is Italian, our gaffer is Columbian, our Production Sound Mixer is Vietnamese, our Producer and Co-Producer are from the Ukraine and Moscow, respectively, our Dialogue Editor is Costa Rican, our ADR engineer is Chinese, and our Gaffer is Norwegian. And it all works. Big time.MAD WOMEN - CAST BIOGRAPHIESREED BIRNEY (Richard Smith)Reed Birney, after years of being a one-man wrecking crew on the New York stage, is presently electrifying Netflix viewers as the Vice President on HOUSE OF CARDS, while being featured in a recurring role in the smash NBC series THE BLACKLIST. In 2014 Reed received his first Tony Award nomination for his cross-dressing tour-de-force in Harvey Fierstein’s CASA VALENTINA, just one year after his triumphant co-starring performance in CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION.In April 2015 Reed was nominated for TWO Drama Desk Awards: one for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for YOU GOT OLDER, and one for Outstanding Actor in a Play for Halley Feiffer’s (who co-starred with Reed in Lipsky’s TWELVE THIRTY) I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD.In 2013 playing the title role in Annie Baker’s contemporary adaptation of UNCLE VANYA. The New York Times’ Christopher Isherwood offered, “The indispensable Reed Birney is as vitally moving a Vanya as I’ve yet to see.” Somehow Reed also managed to star on Broadway in 2013’s revival of William Inge’s PICNIC.Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Birney is known for his splendid dramatic work in a variety of roles on stage, television and screen. He has made numerous appearances on the NBC series KINGS, LAW & ORDER: CI, LAW & ORDER: SVU, HBO’s FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON and the popular CW show GOSSIP GIRL his talent and versatility have captivated audiences for over 30 years.?From 1977, when he originated and played the role of Randy Hastings in Albert Innaurato’s Broadway play GEMINI, to 2009 when he received a Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Actor in a Play for his work in the SoHo Repertory Theatre production of BLASTED, Birney has repeatedly taken on theatrical challenges which ultimately won him a special honorary Obie Award in 2006 for "sustained excellence of performance." Birney has also appeared in a variety of major studio and independent films, including Clint Eastwood’s THE CHANGLING with Angelina Jolie, David Wain’s THE TEN with Paul Rudd, and Andrew Davis’ A PERFECT MURDER with Michael Douglas. His film debut was in Arthur Penn’s FOUR FRIENDS. Other film work includes IMOGENE with Annette Benning and Kirstin Wiig, Joss Whedon’s IN YOUR EYES, and ADULT WORLD with Emma Roberts and John Cusack.?MAD WOMEN is Mr. Birney’s third consecutive collaboration with Mr. Lipsky having co-starred in the critically-acclaimed 2011 release, TWELVE THIRTY and 2013’s MOLLY’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY.KELSEY LYNN STOKES (Nevada Smith)Kelsey Lynn Stokes comes from Canada, and spent six years living in Dubai, U.A.E. She attended the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and graduated in May 2011. Kelsey studied under a multitude of incredible professors including Jay Goldenberg, Rebecca Lingafelter, Rawleigh Moreland, Neal Lerner, Mary-Elaine Monti, and Pete Mattaliano. Directly following the completion of her conservatory training, Kelsey was cast in the leading role of feature film, APRIL GRACE, directed by the immeasurable Andrew Hutcheson of Zandrak Productions. During her training, Kelsey starred in several productions at the Manhattan Theatre Source, and worked for the production company, ‘Atlantic Pictures’, under the masthead of producers, Darren Goldberg and Chris Marsh. Following the wrap of APRIL GRACE, Kelsey decided to attend Adelphi University to expand her theatre training and complete her degree. During this time, Kelsey was cast in her second lead role in the feature film, THE WHITE HORSE. Throughout the duration of her time at college, Kelsey also narrated four audiobooks, BECOMING JOLIE, THE RUSSIAN VAN GOGH, FINDING LOVE’S WINS and TETTERBAUM’S TRUTH. In 2014, Kelsey ran the NYC Half-Marathon for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund Team, and additionally fell in lust with stand up comedy, performing at Gotham Comedy Club under the direction of Andrew Schwartzol. In August, she had the good fortune of meeting and auditioning for Jeff Lipsky, which led her to co-star in his sixth film, MAD WOMEN. CHRISTINA STARBUCK (Harper Smith)Christina Starbuck grew up on a small, family farm in Brownhelm Township, Ohio near Lake Erie. She spent most of her childhood on horseback showing her Arabian mares and trail riding with friends through the rural hollows along the Vermilion River.After high school she attended Syracuse University where she competed on SU’s equestrian team and began to dabble in film acting at the Newhouse School. She spent a summer training at Oberlin Theatre Institute and, shortly after graduation from Syracuse, she was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.After graduating from AADA, Christina landed her first acting job as Ismene in Jean Anouilh's adaptation of ANTIGONE. This led to an extensive array of NYC theatre productions of both original plays and new twists on classic revivals including the role of Camillo in THE WINTER’S TALE (while 5 months pregnant with her first daughter!). In 1995 she co-founded The 11th Hour Company, a non-profit theatre company in Manhattan where she produced and starred in several productions, most notably Sam Sheppard’s A LIE OF THE MIND as the brain-injured Beth.While her daughters were very young, Christina worked in television commercials and later made the transition to episodic television and independent film work where she has landed such compelling roles as Ursuline nun, Mary Worth, in Fox TV’s NEW AMSTERDAM, the working-class mom of a disabled son, Samantha, in the TV pilot, THE MIRACLE, and the troubled, rural mom, Karen, in the acclaimed feature, HIDE YOUR SMILING FACES, Tribeca Films 2014.Christina currently lives with her family in Hoboken, NJ where she has volunteered for many years as a homeless advocate.ELI PERCY (Otto Breyer)Eli Percy hails from Atlanta, GA but calls New York his home.?MAD WOMEN is his first feature film.? He attended Boston University's B.F.A. acting program, and recently graduated from the William Esper Studio.? You will be able to see him this June in Theatre for All Five Senses' production of their original show "Krāv.”JAMIE HARROLD (Anton, the Smith’s neighbor)Jamie might be best remembered for his indelible performance as the clerk in the water department in ERIN BROCKOVICH; and for his supporting roles in such film as 15 MINUTES, opposite Robert DeNiro; as Jackie Curtis, a legendary ‘Factory’ habitué in I SHOT ANDY WARHOL; and as co-star in the award-winning SWIMMING and the Ben Affleck blockbuster THE SUM OF ALL FEARS from Tom Clancy’s best-selling novel. In all, Jamie has fifty notable film and television appearances to his credit.SHARON VAN IVAN (Julianne)An actress for over forty years, and a acclaimed author for three, Sharon Van Ivan found herself on the vanguard of independent film distribution when she took a job working for John Cassavetes in 1974 on the marketing of A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE.? Two years later she was cast as Joan Blondell’s assistant in Cassavetes’ OPENING NIGHT, starring Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara.? For many years she resided in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sharing her life with her celebrated artist Charles Pfahl.? Her autobiographical memoir JUGGLE & HIDE was published in 2014 to unanimous praise.? Sharon is an alumnus of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.ALI SELIM (Dr. Ellis)Over semi-chilled beers, at one A.M. on a sultry July evening, on a town square in Setúbal, Portugal, Ali Selim asked Jeff Lipsky to theatrically distribute his debut feature, SWEET LAND, in the United States. Selim’s film and Lipsky’s FLANNEL PAJAMAS were both competing selections at the 2006 Tróia International Film Festival. That collaboration led to a ten year friendship and, ultimately, to Lipsky offering the supporting role of the Smith’s family therapist, Dr. Ellis, in MAD WOMEN to Ali. SWEET LAND stars Elizabeth Reaser (TWILIGHT) and Tim Guinee (HOMELAND). ?SWEET LAND was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards (2007) and won the award for Best First Feature, along with top prizes and audience awards at 25 film festivals including The Hamptons International. SWEET LAND was also named one of the Ten Best Films of 2006 by over a dozen critics, including Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times and Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly. In 2010, Selim broke into television with episodes of HBO’s IN TREATMENT for Executive Producer Dan Futterman (CAPOTE) working with Gabriel Byrne, Debra Winger and Irfan Khan. He has also directed episodes of CRIMINAL MINDS for CBS.He began his career as an advertising commercial director and has directed over 850 television commercials for advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Miller Brewing, Chase Financial, Pfizer, Nabisco and Saturn. In recognition of his commercial work, Selim has received the Gold Lion—advertising’s most coveted award—from Cannes Advertising Film Festival, and a Gold Award from British Design and Art Directors. His commercial work resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Ad Week listed him in the top 1% of most sought after commercial directors in the country. Ali Selim recently finished directing an episode of the 10 hour event series GRACEPOINT, starring Anna Gunn and Nick Nolte, for Fox with Shine America producing. ?GRACEPOINT is based on the BBC series BROADCHURCH.MAD WOMENJEFF LIPSKY – FILMOGRAPHY2015MAD WOMENWriter/Director: Jeff LipskyCast: Reed Birney, Kelsey Lynn Stokes, Christina Starbuck, Eli Percy2013MOLLY’S THEORY OF RELATIVITYWriter/Director: Jeff LipskyCast: Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine, Reed Birney, Cady Huffman, Daisy TahanOpening Night Selection USA Film Festival2011TWELVE THIRTYWriter/Director: Jeff LipskyCast: Jonathan Groff, Karen Young, Reed Birney, Mamie Gummer, Portia ReinersWorld Premiere: Lincoln Center; Official Competition Selection Montreal World Film Festival2009ONCE MORE WITH FEELINGDirector: Jeff LipskyWriter: Gina O’BrienCast: Chazz Palminteri, Drea DeMatteo, Linda FiorentinoOfficial Selection, Sundance Film Festival2006FLANNEL PAJAMASWriter/Director: Jeff LipskyCast: Julianne Nicholson, Justin Kirk, Rebecca Schull, Jamie HarroldOfficial Selection Dramatic Competition, Sundance Film Festival1997CHILDHOOD’S ENDWriter/Director: Jeff LipskyCast: Sam Trammell, Bridget White, Heather Gottlieb, Edie Falco, Reiko AylesworthOfficial Selection, San Sebastian Film FestivalMAD WOMENWriter-Director JEFF LIPSKY BIOGRAPHYMAD WOMEN is Jeff Lipsky’s sixth feature film, his sixth as both writer and director. In MOLLY’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY, his fifth film, Lipsky further extended his thematic and stylistic interest in deep character studies and in exploring the dynamics of our most intimate relationships. MOLLY’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY was selected as one of a quartet of Opening Night films for the 2013 USA Film Festival. John Anderson, in reviewing MOLLY’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY in New York Newsday wrote, “With his fifth narrative feature film (‘Molly’s Theory of Relativity’), Plainview-raised writer-director (Jeff) Lipsky has established both a determined style and objective. He's not interested in emulating other filmmakers or their idea of truth and takes a rather gleeful satisfaction in defying cinematic convention. His exploration of families, and sex and self involve extreme situations and a stripping away of social niceties even within the most intimate relationships.”TWELVE THIRTY, Lipsky’s fourth film, debuted in 2011 as part of a Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute to his work. Reviewing TWELVE THIRTY, Stephen Holden in The New York Times wrote:“As a maturing filmmaker, Jeff Lipsky has a style as distinctive as that of John Cassavetes.? Mr. Lipsky is committed to the concept that every person is an infinitely complex, ultimately unpredictable bundle of contradictory forces. The paradox of aggressively pursuing intimacy and discovering the idiosyncratic chaos inside everyday people runs to the heart of ‘Twelve Thirty.’ ‘Twelve Thirty’ is a field day for talented actors to cut loose and create complicated, contradictory individuals whom you feel you both know and don’t know. ‘Twelve Thirty’ loves its characters and the actors who play them. (Lipsky is) a fearless, talented filmmaking auteur. More power to him.”FLANNEL PAJAMAS, the second film he wrote and directed, co-stars award winning actor Justin Kirk and Julianne Nicholson, world premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Dramatic Competition selection. The film’s unflinching look at the rise and fall of a young couple’s marriage was hailed by Andrew O'Hehir at as "The best relationship movie of the year. So truly and exceptionally fine, a spiny and dispassionate little masterpiece of a marriage movie.” FLANNEL PAJAMAS was included in the Top Ten lists of major critics Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, with the latter citing it as “One of the wisest films I can remember about love and human intimacy.” Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote that it is “one of the most intimate screen portraits of a relationship ever attempted.”At Sundance 2009, Lipsky debuted the “unique musical dramedy,” ONCE MORE WITH FEELING, directed from a script written by Gina O’Brien and co-starring Chazz Palminteri, Drea de Matteo and Linda Fiorentino.His debut feature, the 1997 CHILDHOOD’S END, co-starring Tony Award nominee and “True Blood” star Sam Trammell, was selected for competition by the San Sebastian Film Festival and was presented at the Montreal World Film Festival, the Stockholm Film Festival and the Hamburg Film Festival. In 2011 Lipsky co-founded a new independent distribution company, Adopt Films. IN 2011 Adopt’s maiden release was 2011’s Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) award-winning documentary THE BALLAF OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE, by Marie Losier. In 2012/13 Adopt released a quartet of 2012 award-winning Berlin Film Festival competition titles – Golden Bear winner CAESAR MUST DIE, by Paulo and Vittorio Taviani, Best Director winner Christian Petzold’s BARBARA, Silver Bear winner Ursula Meier’s SISTER, and Miguel Gomes’ TABU. Last year saw Adopt open 2014’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylon’s WINTER SLEEP, and Adopt will close out 2015 by releasing Sebastian Schipper’s award-winning, tour-de-force VICTORIA.Lipsky made the shift to filmmaking after having established himself as a seminal figure in the independent film world. Co-founder of two successful film distribution companies, October Films and Lot 47 Films, he is prominently featured in books about Oscar nominated writer/director Mike Leigh, godfather to the independent American film movement John Cassavetes, and filmmaker Spike Lee. He has shepherded over 200 films into the marketplace; the best known titles include MY LIFE AS A DOG, which earned Lasse Hallstr?m his first two Academy Award nominations, Jim Jarmusch's feature debut STRANGER THAN PARADISE, SID & NANCY, the film that introduced actor Gary Oldman to the world, and legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker’s Academy Award nominated documentary THE WAR ROOM.Lipsky's distribution career began at the age of 21 with the literal start of the independent distribution business when he set sail with his mentor actor/writer/director John Cassavetes to distribute A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, which, in 1974, became the very first specialized film ever to be distributed nationally bypassing the archaic and obsolete sub-distribution network. In 1979 Lipsky became General Sales Manager at New Yorker Films where he distributed Wayne Wang's first film, CHAN IS MISSING; Louis Malle's MY DINNER WITH ANDRE; R.W. Fassbinder's THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN; and Jean-Luc Godard's EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF. In 1983, Lipsky became Vice President of Distribution for Samuel Goldwyn Films where he distributed DANCE WITH A STRANGER, THREE MEN AND A CRADLE, GREGORY'S GIRL and STRANGER THAN PARADISE.In 1987, Tom Skouras hired Lipsky as President of the Motion Pictures Division of Skouras Pictures. While there, Lipsky distributed screenwriter David Koepp's first film, APARTMENT ZERO; MY LIFE AS A DOG; and HIGH HOPES, the movie that introduced Mike Leigh to the U.S. and that forged a second mentor relationship for Lipsky, this time with Leigh's long-time producer Simon Channing-Williams, who passed away in each 2009 and to whom TWELVE THIRTY is dedicated. In 1990 Lipsky co-founded October Films which immediately rose to the ranks of the most highly regarded independents, releasing films such as Leigh's LIFE IS SWEET, Gregg Araki's THE LIVING END, Alain Corneau's TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE and John Dahl's THE LAST SEDUCTION.After a two-year return to Goldwyn, where he released Adrian Lyne's controversial LOLITA, in 1999 Lipsky co-founded Lot 47 Films. Lot 47's releases included Tim Roth's directorial debut, THE WAR ZONE; VENUS BEAUTY INSTITUTE, Audrey Tautou's debut film and the winner of multiple French academy awards; Im Kwon-Taek's Cannes competition entry CHUNHYANG; Michael Cuesta's debut feature L.I.E.; and the best reviewed live action film of 2002 (source: ), Zacharias Kunuk's THE FAST RUNNER (ATANARJUAT). ................
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