Jonathan M. Woodward

HBO/New Line Cinema Name Joint Venture Picturehouse
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FUR Marks Picturehouse’s First Production -
Starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr.
Directed by Steven Shainberg

CANNES, France, May 13 /PRNewswire/ — Coinciding with the world premiere
of the company’s first release, Gus Van Sant’s LAST DAYS in Competition at
Cannes, Chris Albrecht (Chairman and CEO, HBO), Michael Lynne (Co-Chairman and
Co-CEO, New Line Cinema), Colin Callender (President, HBO Films) and Bob
Berney formally unveiled Picturehouse. Founded and jointly owned by HBO and
New Line Cinema, Picturehouse is the new theatrical distribution company to be
run by Bob Berney, who will serve as its President. The goal for Picturehouse
is to be the theatrical distribution company of choice for a wide-ranging
community of independent filmmakers, and to deliver a consistently
high-quality slate of pictures to audiences. Picturehouse plans to release
8-10 pictures a year. Product flow for the new company will generate from
four streams: HBO Films productions, New Line productions, a new slate of
productions to be jointly funded by HBO and New Line, and acquisitions.
Picturehouse is proud to announce that it has acquired worldwide rights to
FUR, starring Academy Award(R) Winner Nicole Kidman and Academy Award(R)
Nominee Robert Downey, Jr., written and directed by Steven Shainberg
(SECRETARY). Kidman stars as legendary photographer Diane Arbus. Set in New
York in the late 1950s, the film explores an unlikely romance that leads Arbus
into a strange new world, sparking her evolution into one of the most
provocative and visionary photographers of all time. Co-financing and serving
as producers are Bill Pohlad and Laura Bickford for River Road Entertainment.
Executive Producers are Ed Pressman and Alessandro Camon. Additionally,
Bonnie Timmerman and Andrew Fierberg are producers. Patricia Bosworth and
Vincent Farrell serve as co-producers. Shooting commenced May 9th in New
York. International sales will be handled by New Line International.
In addition, Picturehouse has acquired the rights to THE THING ABOUT MY
FOLKS and USHPIZIN. Tribeca Film Festival crowd-pleaser THE THING ABOUT MY
FOLKS stars Peter Falk and Paul Reiser in a semi-autographical film that
Reiser wrote specifically for Falk. Directed by Raymond De Felitta (Sundance
Audience Award winner TWO FAMILY HOUSE), THE THING ABOUT MY FOLKS tells the
story of a sudden family crisis which throws a befuddled writer and his "loose
cannon" dad together for an unexpected road trip. Directed by Giddi Dar,
USHPIZIN is a heartwarming and humorous Israeli drama set in the customarily
closed world of ultra-Orthodox Jews. USHPIZIN tells the story of Moshe and
Malli, a married couple, who are suffering financial difficulties. Naturally
they pray for help, but instead of a miracle, two suspicious strangers with
criminal pasts appear on their doorstep. The couple believes their guests were
sent to them by God as a test of faith.
"Picturehouse allows us to bring a wide variety of films, large and small,
to a diverse audience. We hope that by utilizing the strength, taste and
independent spirit of the two parent companies we will forge a new and unique
home for filmmakers," said Berney.
"Our hope is that Picturehouse will come to represent a home for unique
filmmakers, those who are more established in the industry as well as those
yet to be discovered, to do their best work and tell their most powerful
stories. The name of the company is meant to recall the days of the silver
screen when audiences went to ’picture houses’ to be entertained and escape
from their everyday lives. The diverse slate we are announcing today is
representative of the type of projects we feel can foster those same emotional
ties," said Colin Callender and Michael Lynne.

Under Bob Berney’s leadership, the senior staff of Picturehouse will
include:

* Robert Schwartz as Chief Operating Officer. Schwartz has been part of
Berney’s core senior team for ten years.

* Drawing from both the Fine Line and HBO families, Marian Koltai-Levine
and Dennis O’Connor will serve as Executive VPs of Marketing.
Koltai-Levine will be based in New York and O’Connor will be on the
west coast.

* Former United Artist executive, Sara Rose will join Picturehouse as
Senior Vice President of Acquisition. She worked with Berney
previously at Orion Pictures.

All four executives will report to Berney.

* And, rounding out the senior team will be longtime distribution
executives from Newmarket Films, Bill Thompson and John Lange, who
will serve as Senior Vice Presidents and co-General Sales Managers.
Both Thompson and Lange will report to Schwartz.

"This group of real professionals and veterans deliver us a premiere,
full-service marketing and distribution company," said Berney. "I am proud to
work with each of them at Picturehouse."
Picturehouse is a company that is the product of two leaders of the
entertainment community. Launched in 1972, Home Box Office, the pay
television programming division of Time Warner Inc., is the most successful
pay television network in the United States of America. HBO Films, a division
of Home Box Office, produces movies for the networks as well as films for
theatrical release. New Line Cinema is the most successful independent film
company and is headed by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne.
The Picturehouse website is http://www.picturehousefilms.com.

PICTUREHOUSE’S CURRENT SLATE
(in order of release date and including titles previously announced)

ROCK SCHOOL
Release date: June 3rd, 2005
Directed by Don Argott
Produced by Sheena M. Joyce and Don Argott
Starring: Asa (as herself), C.J. (as himself), Paul Green (as himself),
Madi (as herself), Tucker (as himself), Will (as himself)
(To be released under the Newmarket banner.)

Rocks Stars. Guitar Gods. Kids. At some point in almost everyone’s life,
they dream of becoming a rock star: feeling the roar of the crowd; basking in
the adoration of legions of fans; experiencing the adventures of life on the
road. Now imagine fulfilling that fantasy as a child. Welcome to ROCK SCHOOL.
A meditation on talent and teaching, ROCK SCHOOL is a celebration of youthful
promise and steadfast dreams. It is also a kick-ass music movie that should
be played loud!

LAST DAYS
Release date: July 22nd, 2005
Written and directed by Gus Van Sant
Starring: Michael Pitt, Lukas Hass, Asia Argento, Scott Green
From HBO Films.
A Picturehouse Release.
(Premiering May 13 in Competition at Cannes)

LAST DAYS is filmmaker Gus Van Sant’s meditation on the inner turmoil that
engulfs a brilliant, but troubled, musician in the final hours of his life.
Michael Pitt (THE DREAMERS, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH) stars as Blake, an
introspective artist who is buckling under the weight of fame, professional
obligations, and a mounting feeling of isolation. LAST DAYS follows Blake
through a handful of hours he spends in and near his wooded home, a fugitive
from his own life. It is a period of random moments and fractured
consciousness, fused by spontaneous bursts of rock & roll. Expanding on the
elliptical style forged in his two previous films, GERRY and the
Palme d’Or-winning ELEPHANT, Van Sant layers images and sounds to articulate
an emotional landscape, creating a dynamic work about a soul in transition.
Although this film is inspired by the last days of Kurt Cobain, it is a
work of fiction and none of the characters or events portrayed in the film are
real.

THE CHUMSCRUBBER
Release date: August 5th, 2005
Directed by Ari Posin
Produced by Lawrence Bender and Bonnie Curtis
Written by Zac Stanford
Starring: Glenn Close, Ralph Fiennes, Lauren Holly, Rita Wilson and
Jaime Bell
(To be released under the Newmarket banner.)

THE CHUMSCRUBBER is a surreal cautionary tale about an alienated youth
forced to confront the disconnect between parents and teenagers in suburbia,
rendered with a razor’s edge balance of comedy and drama.

THE THING ABOUT MY FOLKS
Release date: September 2005
Directed by Raymond de Felitta
Produced by Paul Reiser, Robert F. Newmyer and Jeffrey Silver
Written by Paul Reiser
Starring: Peter Falk, Olympia Dukakis, Elizabeth Perkins,
Mackenzie Connolly and Lydia Jordan
A Picturehouse Release.

THE THING ABOUT MY FOLKS, starring Peter Falk and Paul Reiser, is a semi-
autographical film that Reiser wrote specifically for Falk, his all-time
favorite actor. A sudden family crisis throws a befuddled writer and his
"loose cannon" dad together for an unexpected road trip. Family secrets are
uncovered and in a few surprising days, the two men learn more about each
other — and have more fun — than either imagined possible. Directed by
Raymond De Felitta (Sundance Audience Award winner TWO FAMILY HOUSE), THE
THING ABOUT MY FOLKS is a story of fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and
two men learning to love the women who love them.

A COCK AND BULL STORY
Release date: October 11, 2005
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Produced by Andrew Eaton
Starring: Steve Coogan
A Picturehouse Release.

A COCK AND BULL STORY is the clever, comic, post-modern take on the
construction of a film, from an intricate, hilariously complex
autobiographical novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman"
by Laurence Sterne.

USHPIZIN
Release date: Fall 2005
Directed by Giddi Dar
Produced by Rafi Bukai and Giddi Dar
Starring: Shuli Rand, Michal Bat-Sheva Rand, Shaul Mizrahi, Ilan Ganani,
Avraham Abutboul and Daniel Dayan
A Picturehouse Release.

A heartwarming and humorous Israeli drama set in the customarily closed
world of ultra-Orthodox Jews, USHPIZIN is the story of Moshe and Malli, a
married couple, who are suffering through a financial crisis. Naturally they
pray for help, but instead of a miracle, two suspicious strangers with
criminal pasts appear on their doorstep. The couple believes their guests
were sent to them by God as a test of faith. The film is reportedly the first
made by members of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox community.

THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE
Release date: March 2006
Directed by Mary Harron
Produced by Pamela Koffler, Katie Roumel and Christine Vachon
Written by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner
Starring: Gretchen Mol, Lili Taylor, Jonathan M. Woodward,
David Strathairn, Cara Seymour, Tara Subkoff and Kevin Carroll
From HBO Films.
A Picturehouse Release.

The most successful pin-up of the 1950s, Bettie Page’s legendary bondage
photographs made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography,
and turned her into one of the first sex icons.

FUR
Release date: 2006
Directed by Steven Shainberg
Produced by Bill Pohlad, Laura Bickford, Bonnie Timmermann,
Andrew Fierberg
Executive Producers Ed Pressman and Alessandro Camon
Co-Producers are Patricia Bosworth and Vincent Farrell
Starring: Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey, Jr.
In production.
A Picturehouse Release.

Kidman stars as legendary photographer Diane Arbus. Set in New York in
the late 1950s, the film explores an unlikely romance that leads Arbus into a
strange new world, sparking her evolution into one of the most provocative and
visionary photographers of all time.

AS YOU LIKE IT
Release date: 2006
Adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh
Produced by Kenneth Branagh, Judy Hofflund, Simon Moseley
Starring: Kevin Kline, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrian Lester, David Oyelowo,
Alfred Molina, Janet McTeer, Romola Garai
In production.
From HBO Films.
A Picturehouse Release.

With a setting inspired by 19th Century Japan, Kenneth Branagh adapts
Shakespeare’s lightest and most delightful comedy AS YOU LIKE IT, a
celebration of the enduring power of love in all its many disguises. Witty,
playful and utterly magical, the story is a compelling romantic adventure in
which Rosalind and Orlando’s famous courtship is played out against a backdrop
of political rivalry, banishment and exile in Forest of Arden.