FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES PRESENTS An ... - Thecia

More documents

Recommendations

Info

FROM NOVEL TO SCREENPLAY: BRINGING THE STORY TO THE SCREEN “The bees came summer of ’64, the summer I turned fourteen and my life went spinnin’ off into a whole new orbit. Lookin’ back on it, I want to say they were sent to me….they showed up like the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary. I know it’s forward to compare my small life to hers, but I have good reason to believe she wouldn’t mind.” -Lily The movie began its gestation when visionary producer Lauren Shuler Donner first read The Secret Life of Bees in galley form eight years ago and could not put it down. Moved by the story of a young girl’s attempt to find self-worth and her search for a family, the award-winning producer committed herself to bring this complex and arresting novel to the big screen. “Lily is searching to see if she’s lovable and I think there are times when we all feel that way,” Shuler Donner observes. “This is also a story about family. That’s what’s really important in life.” Tackling a period film set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement, with a teen lead and a multi-racial cast, became not only a challenge but also a labor of love for the filmmaker. But, just as the novel attracted millions of readers around the globe, Shuler Donner believes the film’s universal themes will resonate with moviegoers. “Rarely can Hollywood make a movie that’s better than the movie you’ve seen in your mind,” she reflects. “In this case, I’m hoping we’ll match the movie in your mind and enhance it.” Despite a two-decade track record of bringing critically and commercially successful projects to the big screen, including her recent X-MEN franchise; the Oscar®-nominated DAVE; YOU’VE GOT MAIL and the FREE WILLY franchise, Shuler Donner was excited about the low budget prospect of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES. Shuler Donner joined forces with producer Joe Pichirallo, who first optioned the novel for Shuler Donner while he was a senior executive at Fox Searchlight. “Of all the projects I’ve been involved with over the years, I can honestly say that this book really spoke to me on so many levels – especially the importance of family and how we find love in the most unlikely places,” says Pichirallo. While at Fox Searchlight, Pichirallo shepherded such critically acclaimed films as ANTWONE FISHER, the directorial debut of Denzel Washington which starred Derek Luke; QUILLS, nominated for three Academy® Awards; and THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN, winner of the 1995 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Pichirallo was head of feature film production and development at Overbrook Entertainment when he brought the project in with Shuler Donner to James Lassiter, the producer/manager who had created Overbrook Entertainment with Will Smith in 1998. Together, Shuler Donner, Lassiter and Pichirallo now set about securing a screenwriter who could bring all the nuances of the novel to the screen, and also a director who could handle 4
such a delicate yet complicated tale. The solution emerged with writer/director Gina Prince- Bythewood. Six years ago, Prince-Bythewood had been sent the novel The Secret Life of Bees. At that time, she was too exhausted to read it after wrapping back-to-back directing projects: the multi-award-winning LOVE & BASKETBALL, a feature she wrote and directed; and the HBO film “Disappearing Acts,” starring Sanaa Lathan and Wesley Snipes. Over the years her family and friends raved about the book and five years later Prince-Bythewood finally read it but by then the producers had moved on. “After I read it,” she recalls, “I got what all of the hype was about and I was so disappointed that I’d missed an opportunity to be involved.” Amazingly, a few months later the project fell apart and it was again sent to her for consideration. “We met with lots of writers and directors who wanted to do this project,” Pichirallo remembers. “Many of them came with interesting ideas, but when we heard Gina’s approach and her thoughts on the book, we knew we had found our person.” Shuler Donner agrees. “Gina did an amazing job. She was able to translate the beauty and lyricism of Sue’s book into a screenplay.” CASTING THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES: AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES Liftin’ someone’s heart, now that matters. The whole problem with people is they know what matters, but they don’t choose it. -August Prince-Bythewood and the producers still marvel at their unprecedented good fortune at being able to secure the actors they had imagined for leading roles in the film. “The fact that we got everybody we wanted is a great blessing,” Prince-Bythewood says. “It’s a blessing beyond belief.” Dakota Fanning was the unanimous favorite to portray Lily Owens, thanks to her previous impressive performances, her own love of the novel and her proven history of holding her own opposite such powerful onscreen presences as Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. As Lily Owens, Fanning portrays a teenager struggling with typical pubescent angst, but her challenges are compunded by her feelings of self-loathing and sorrow – all tied to the death her mother. Lily’s one saving grace is her empathetic caretaker Rosaleen, portrayed by Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson Describing her character Lily as being stuck between a rock and a hard place, Fanning enjoyed the creative challenge of portraying a white teenager in the South during the 60’s, whose only mother-figure is an African-American housekeeper. “It adds a certain amount of tension to 5
Page 1 and 2: FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES PRESENTS A
Page 3: mother Lily only remembers in her d
Page 7 and 8: Prince-Bythewood. “She exudes war
Page 9 and 10: owners jumped at the chance. Says O
Page 11 and 12: ABOUT THE NOVEL “I can’t think
Page 13 and 14: enderings, which later evolved into
Page 15 and 16: References 1. Danforth, B.N., Sipes
Page 17 and 18: Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994.
Page 19 and 20: At the age of 14, Dakota also does
Page 21 and 22: Born and raised in New York, Alicia
Page 23 and 24: Parker recently wrapped production
Page 25 and 26: ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS GINA PRINCE-BY
Page 27 and 28: In the early ‘90’s, Shuler Donn
Page 29 and 30: ack-to-back summers. In 1996, he to
Page 31 and 32: Just as she does on screen, off scr
Page 33 and 34: EWAN LESLIE (Co-Producer) Ewan Lesl
Page 35 and 36: His latest credits include a second
Page 37 and 38: Greta Doll Violet Cressie Sugar Gir
Page 39 and 40: Second Assistant Camera B Camera Op
Page 41 and 42: Production Coordinator Assistant Pr
Page 43 and 44: Location Production Assistant MARGA
Page 45 and 46: Bee Keeper Bee Assistant Caterer Ca
Page 47 and 48: Digital Conforming and Opticals Dig
Page 49 and 50: "IT’S ALL RIGHT" Written by Curti

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES PRESENTS An ... - Thecia

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?