REMEMBER MINNESOTA

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It is sunrise at the 1986 Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships, a formal event that includes the best teams in the country, and also pays homage to the oldest competitive sport in the world. This year, like every year, it is a spectacle of Gucci and Armani, caviar and champagne, and the most chiseled, bronzed athletes the Ivy League has to offer. The elite stand motionless on the shore as the muscled rowers snap into action. Meanwhile, fifteen hundred miles away in Bismarck, North Dakota, Brad Melby, 18, sits in his cherished red Camaro with his friend Terry, smoking pot and listening to Poison. Brad has spent his high school years stoned at the top of the bleachers, and he hopes that college will be different for him. To everyone’s surprise, he’s been accepted to the University of Minnesota’s General College, the junior college within the university. When he arrives, Brad is overwhelmed by the size of the campus, and soothes himself in the only way he knows how. Stoned again, he stands outside the closed cafeteria yelling through the glass at Lottie, the girl inside, a beautiful, hip young woman despite her hair net. She thinks he’s cute, but won’t let him in regardless. Not knowing what else to do, Brad sits outside a dorm hoping to catch sight of Vanessa, a sophomore, also from Bismarck. He has harbored a crush on her since childhood, one that leaves him tongue-tied in her presence. She is beautiful, smart, confident, graceful, and unattainable. She is also the coxswain for the men’s crew team, and she emerges from the dorm off to a recruitment meeting. Brad tags along, and once there, his attention is split between Vanessa and the six-foot long sub sandwich stretched across the table. Brad’s interest in sports has been limited to watching. He isn’t athletically inclined. He’s never competed in anything. And he’s not in shape. However, in this room Brad has one thing going for him: he’s tall. And this year, the U of M Men’s Crew needs a few tall men. At the University of Minnesota, rowing is a club sport, and team members have to pay to be a part of it. There are no tryouts, just the hope the team can recruit athletes who have been cut from other sports. Or lure an unexpected hero with the promise of a good sandwich. The lights dim and Coach Gleason, a small man with a large presence, shows an emotionally charged film meant to portray the sport in all its luster and glory. Gleason knows this glory well. He led his team to an Olympic medal as coxswain. Brad is enraptured by the absolute beauty and purity of rowing, and of Vanessa. This is the new beginning he was hoping for, and his best chance of getting closer to Vanessa who is unaware of his affections. Vanessa is skeptical of his ability to commit to the demands of the sport. Brad’s father is equally skeptical and reluctant to support Brad in anything that distracts him from getting an education. Nonetheless, Brad shows up for practice, undeterred. The first few weeks, however, are grueling, and the video fantasy of rowing is in stark contrast to the club sport atmosphere at the university. The crew’s equipment is housed in an abandoned maintenance shed, its rusted, corrugated tin an eyesore on the banks of the Mississippi behind the power plant. Brad doubts his ability to stay with it but his desire to be close to Vanessa buoys him.

He meets Lottie after workouts on the loading dock behind the cafeteria. She is kind enough to feed him after hours. Brad inhales his food and recounts his day, unaware that Lottie is developing feelings for him. As the fall season unfolds, Brad fights to secure an open seat in the varsity boat with his rival Mitch, an aggravating, egotistical, heavy-chested savage. When Vanessa chooses Mitch in a straw poll, Brad admits his love for her and is rebuffed. Now, with no varsity seat and no chance with Vanessa, Brad’s motivations are gone. But he realizes that rowing has given him something he has never had before, ambition. He quietly admits to Lottie, “If I don’t row, how will I found out where my edge is?” Just before Christmas Break, a varsity crewman suffers an unfortunate accident, leaving his seat open for Brad. But there is trouble at home. Brad has been so distracted that his grades are not up to par, and Dad refuses to pay for his return unless Brad quits the team. Instead, Brad sells his coveted Camaro and returns to claim his varsity seat. Unfortunately, his hopes are dashed once again by the appearance of a transfer student, a Columbian Adonis with rowing experience. It may not be good news for Brad, but Coach Gleason finally foresees his best spring season ever. It’s enough for Gleason to take out a second mortgage on his home in order to purchase the “Nietzche,” a sleek, fast, magical rowing shell from Italy. The crew arrives in Texas for the first race of the spring season. Mitch’s attitude wears on them all, and Gleason is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice. He sends Mitch packing knowing that with Brad, he will not have his winning season. Brad has never been the strongest rower. But in rowing a crew isn’t limited by its weakest member; a rower who makes a team great is better than a great rower. Finally in the varsity boat, Brad wins his first victory ever. He also comes to the realization that he’s been chasing the wrong girl all along. He arrives back on campus with his sights on Lottie. The spring season finds the team sailing from one victory to the next, defeating all comers, including their hated rivals Wisconsin, and earning an invitation to the 1987 Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. Now it is the University of Minnesota taking its place alongside Gucci and Armani, caviar and champagne, and the most chiseled, bronzed athletes the Ivy League has to offer. In their first heat, our Golden Gophers surprise them all and earn the prestigious center lane at the finals. Even so, they are shunned by the elite teams. In a moment of hubris, our heroes suffer an accident that destroys their powerful shell, the Nietzche. Now on the eve of the finals, and without a shell, they sit in despair until Brown University comes to their rescue with a spare boat. They desperately struggle to rig the boat in time, and show up at the finals, tired, frustrated, and nearly defeated already. In the spirit of Invincible, Miracle, Chariots of Fire, and Breaking Away, Remember Minnesota is the heartwarming drama of one young man’s inability to understand the word, No. It is the against-all-odds story that asks the question, can an unexpected hero lead an unlikely team to an unforgettable triumph at the most prestigious collegiate championship in the country? Yes!

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REMEMBER MINNESOTA Chace Crawford

BRAD MELBY

Brad, a recent high school graduate, has an important choice to make. He can leave his well-earned slacker reputation behind and remake himself in college, or he can float along exactly as he has, a bit lost, somewhat directionless, and filled with hope but not enough motivation to carry him through. Brad has never won anything, not even the girl. The truth is, he never tried. So the tests and challenges that face him require a fortitude and commitment to which he Jared Padelecki is unaccustomed. And as Brad finds out, rowing introduces him to untapped reserves of power and tenacity that help him surpass his every limitation. Perhaps it is the grueling nature of the sport. Or perhaps, more importantly, it is the purity of rowing, the complete and utter selflessness, which demands each crewman operate in perfect sync, a unit of the whole. Initially, everyone doubts Brad and his abilities. Even his coaches wonder what will happen when he stops giving a hundred and ten percent. To everyone’s surprise, Supernatural, Cry Wolf, particularly his own, he never does. As a result, he discovers inspiration, confidence, and love, though not in ways he could have imagined. Matt Dallas

Garrett Hedlund

Kyle XY

Taylor Kitsch

Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers, Troy, Eragon

Friday Night Lights (TV)

Jena Malone VANESSA CHURCHILL

Vanessa moved to Bismarck in elementary school, and Brad was the first person she met on the playground. She always liked him but came to disregard him as he developed friendships with underachievers. Originally from Boston, Vanessa grew up on the banks of the Charles River. This spawned her love of rowing, which was then nurtured by her father. Vanessa’s soft beauty and petite frame hide the fiery Into the Wild, The United bulldog inside that, once unleashed, becomes an States of Leland unrelenting force. Athletic in her own right, it is being a coxswain that best combines all of her considerable gifts Emma Roberts – intelligence, tenacity, intuition, and in no small measure, a commanding way with men. She enjoys the seductive power and respect she holds with the team. As coxswain of the U of M Men’s Crew, Vanessa is the brain and nerve center of the team, serving as both dictator and motivator. More than merely steering the boat and calling its pace, she must assess the competition on the fly, and determine the plan of attack. A master strategist, her instincts in the boat often surpass those of her coach.

Nancy Drew

Kate Mara Kristen Stewart Lucy Hale

Shooter, We Are Marshall, Jumper, Into the Wild, Bionic Woman Brokeback Mountain Panic Room

COACH KIP GLEASON

The coach of the Men’s Crew seems to have the deck Bill Nighy stacked against him. He has limited recruitment options and second-rate equipment. Even the weather opposes him, preventing his crew from training properly in the winter in order to be competitive during the prized spring season. When we meet this former coxswain, his chest glitters with medals won in pursuit of his greatest passion. Though he has dreamed of coaching a winning season, the gifts of rowing, and of coaching rowing, far outweigh Pirates of the Caribbean victory. Confidence. Trust. Camaraderie. Solidarity. Integrity. Unlike any other sport, this one instills life Jeff Bridges lessons that seem to propel its participants toward greatness. And that has always been enough for Gleason. Until this season. As the year unfolds, Gleason sees an opportunity for something special in his team, and he’s willing to put up his own money to purchase a shell that will help them be competitive. For a moment, his ambition gets the best of him until he hears his own words repeated back to him: “In rowing, you are not limited by the weakest member of your team, rather you can surpass the capabilities of the strongest man.” Fearless, The Big Lebowski, Seabiscuit, The Fisher King

Jeff Daniels Hugh Laurie Michael Keaton

Good Night and Good Luck, House Batman, The Company Terms of Endearment, The Squid and The Whale

Nikki Reed LOTTIE SOMMERS

A girl like Lottie sneaks up on you. Quirky, quiet, and wise beyond her years, she is substance over flash. Until she opens her mouth to sing. Then she’s all flash and everyone sees it. A scotch drinker, a smoker, and a siren in men’s pajamas, Lottie’s confidence lies beneath the surface, which you have to scratch to get to. A bit self-protective, she knows what it’s like to feel worthless. It may not be the most obvious attraction but it is something she shares with Brad. Unlike Brad Thirteen, The O.C. though, she has spent her youth trying to be perfect, which she has determined is not all it’s cracked up to Amanda Bynes be.

Hillary Duff

Hairspray, She’s The Man, What I Like About You

Material Girls, Cheaper By The Dozen 2, Blake Lively Outward Blond, Lizzie McGuire

Ashley Tisdale

Elvis and Annabelle, Accepted, Sisterhood of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, the Traveling Pants High School Musical

MITCH MCMILLAN Michael Cassidy Mitch has six-pack abs. And he makes sure you know it. He has enormous raw, physical ability without even trying. With all of Brad’s commitment and even with perfect technique, Brad could never out-row him. Mitch’s sense of humor makes you laugh out loud, though it comes at other people’s expense. From the very first moment they meet, only circumstances keep Brad from popping this guy. But in a real fight, Mitch wouldn’t do very well.

Smallville, Hidden Palms, Penn Badgely Zoom, The O.C.

Thomas Dekker

The Sarah Conner Chronicles Gossip Girl, John Tucker Must Die, Forever Strong, 3 lbs. Chris Hemsworth

Matt Barr

Home and Away One Tree Hill, Commander in Chief

HOWARD MELBY

A practical man worried about his son’s frivolous pursuits, Howard sees the world as an unsafe place. He has been happy watching from the bleachers and can’t understand why his son wants to take so many chances. But as his son’s strength grows, he sees that sometimes its best not to cut back but to cut loose.

John Carroll Lynch (attached)

Zodiac, Fargo, Confidence, The Good Girl, Volcano, The Drew Carey Show

Tess Clark – Manager, Producer, Screenwriter

Tess has been successfully producing and managing national television advertising campaigns for nearly twenty years. As a counterpart to running her own production company, she guided the setup and implementation of the first internet-based television advertising agency, Spot Runner, and served as its first Creative Director. As a producer, Tess was at the helm of a sports series on ESPN featuring world-renown athletes, and her short film The Middle Passage won numerous film festivals before finally earning a spot on the short-list for the 1994 Academy Awards. Tess has written documentary films, pilots for episodic television series, and hundreds of commercials. She spent three years cutting her sitcom teeth at Paramount Studios on Family Ties and Cheers. Her award-winning screenplays have been recognized by the Academy Award Foundation’s Nichol Fellowship, Sundance Institute, the Telluride Independent Film Festival, and purchased by both independent producers as well as major studios. Tess is the co-writer of the screenplay Remember Minnesota.

John Carroll Lynch – Manager, Producer, Screenwriter, Actor

John began his acting career as a member of the Guthrie Theater Company in Minneapolis where he appeared in over 30 productions. His feature film credits include Fargo, The Good Girl, Pushing Tin, Face/Off, Volcano, Confidence and Gothika, as well as this year’s Zodiac and Things We Lost In The Fire. Lynch has worked with some of the most experienced producers in independent film including Joel and Ethan Coen, Ben Berenholtz, Matthew Greenfield, Shana Stein and Robert Lawrence. John has served as a corporate officer for Eye-4-2 Productions, Inc. since 1997. In that capacity he has been responsible for decisions regarding budgeting, payroll, and tax planning. He is the co-writer of the screenplay Remember Minnesota. He will be playing Howard Melby in the film.

Brad L. Melby, CFP® – Manager, Producer

Brad’s experiences as a rower on the University of Minnesota’s Men’s Crew, where the Gopher’s varsity four achieved their highest finish in history at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship, are the basis for the screenplay. Melby began his work life in Bismarck, North Dakota at age 14 as a stained glass artist. He joined the United States Army Reserve on the G.I. Bill where he served from 1986-1994. In addition, he received his BA degree in Communications at the U of M. Brad’s work opportunities since college have given him a strong background running a small business as well as organizing both large and small events with various budgets. Since 1990, he as been a senior financial advisor with a strong analytical focus. He is a CFP® (Certified Financial Planning Practitioner) and is highly recognized as a top financial planner, regularly hired as a guest speaker throughout the country and a professional contributor for both local and national media outlets. A North Dakota native, Brad currently resides in East Bethel, MN. John Stout – Manager, Attorney, Executive Producer

John Stout is an officer and shareholder of Fredrikson & Byron, a 200 plus attorney firm with offices in Minneapolis, London and Monterey, Mexico, practicing principally in governance and finance. Stout chairs the firm’s Corporate Governance Group, and co- chairs the firm’s Advertising, Media and Entertainment Group. His initial feature film representation was Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Since then he has worked on the financing of more than 70 independent feature films, the most recent being A Prairie Home Companion, written by Garrison Keillor and directed by Robert Altman, for which he served as a Co-Executive Producer and attorney for the limited partnership which financed a portion of the film’s budget. He co-founded New Front Films, which produced six feature films. During the 1980s, Mr. Stout was engaged by American Playhouse, New York, to establish a for-profit subsidiary, Playhouse International Pictures, and finance a slate of specialized films. He has producing credits on five feature films. Mr. Stout co-founded the Minnesota Film Board in 1981, currently serves as a director and its pro bono legal counsel, and continues to volunteer substantial time and energy to the growth and development of the film and television industry in Minnesota. He has been recognized by former Governor Perpich and the Minnesota Legislature for his service to Minnesota’s film industry.

Mikael Salomon – Director

Mikael Salomon began his film career as a cinematographer, and was trusted with his keen eye behind the camera for notable directors like James Cameron (The Abyss), Steven Spielberg (Always), and Ron Howard (Far and Away, Backdraft). He launched his directing career with Reese Witherspoon in the adventure A Far Off Place, followed by Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater in the action thriller Hard Rain, and has gone on to helm highly esteemed television series and miniseries like The Andromeda Strain, A Band of Brothers, Rome, The Company, The Fugitive, and Alias among them. He’s a two-time Academy Award nominee for cinematography (The Abyss, Backdraft), an Emmy Award winner for his direction of A Band of Brothers, and a Directors Guild Award nominee for The Company.

Richard Hicks – Casting Director

Before Richard started casting, he worked as an actor at the Guthrie Theater in The Imaginary Invalid, Leon and Lena and Lenz, and The Misanthrope. He has been nominated for several casting awards including the Emmy. His credits include: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Charlie Bartlett, Hairspray, Lars and the Real Girl, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dude Where’s My Car, Shall We Dance, A Mighty Wind, The L Word, The 4400, Further Tales of the City and Waking The Dead among others.

Julie Hartley – Unit Production Manager, Line Producer

Julie has been production managing and producing entertainment and media projects for the past twenty-two years. Her career began at Twin Cities Public Television (PBS). She managed the Prairie Home Companion series live via satellite to the Disney Channel and worked for Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the TV Features Department. Her independent feature film production experience includes Old Explorers, World and Time Enough, With or Without You, and Wooly Boys. She has worked for several studio feature films including Prairie Home Companion, My Cousin Vinny, A Simple Plan, Joe Somebody, and most recently, Lackawanna Blues and Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys.

Susan Austin – Media & Investor Relations

Susan Austin, an independent marketing consultant based in Minnesota, launched her company Austin Media & Marketing after spending seven years as a member of the Corporate Affairs and Communications Department at Amerprise Financial. She has over 15 years of experience in the television news industry, working as an award-winning anchor and reporter in the Savannah, GA, Davenport, IA, and Minneapolis/St.Paul television markets. Prior to her stint at Ameriprise Financial, Susan was the Director of Marketing Communications for the Mall of America, the nation’s largest retail entertainment center located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Susan is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, and a former member of the NAVA Public Relations Task force assembled in 2004 to provide balance to media coverage of the annuity industry.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT COMPARISON Domestic Project Title/Distributor Box Office Global Box Office Budget ($ in MM) ($ in MM)

Sports Genre Champs Rocky (United Artists, 1976) $ 117.2 $ 120.5 $ 1.1 Chariots of Fire (20th Century Fox, 1981) $ 59.0 $ 59.0 $ 5.5 Bull Durham (Columbia TriStar, 1988) $ 50.9 $ 51.0 $ 7.0 Bend it Like Beckham (20th Century Fox, 2002) $ 32.5 $ 60.0 $ 6.8 Million Dollar Baby (Warner Bros., 2004) $ 100.5 $ 144.5 $ 30.0 Remember the Titans (Buena Vista, 2000) $ 115.0 $ 124.7 $ 30.0 The Rookie (Buena Vista, 2002) $ 75.6 $ 76.2 $ 24.0 A League of Their Own (Columbia, 1992) $ 107.5 $ 114.7 $ 40.0 Coach Carter (Paramount, 2005) $ 67.3 $ 72.9 $ 30.0 Average of above films $ 80.6 $ 91.5 $ 19.4 Recent Indie Champs Napolean Dynamite (Fox Searchlight) $ 44.5 $ 46.1 $ 0.4 My Big Fat Greek Wedding (IFC Films) $ 241.4 $ 368.7 $ 5.0 Garden State (Fox Searchlight) $ 26.8 $ 35.8 $ 2.5 Transamerica (Weinstein Company) $ 9.0 $ 13.4 $ 1.0 Borat (Fox)* $ 128.5 $ 207.4 $ 18.0 Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)* $ 59.6 $ 86.6 $ 8.0 Sideways (Fox Searchlight) $ 71.5 $ 109.3 $ 16.0 Average of above films $ 83.0 $ 123.9 $ 7.3

Recent Studio Champs Da Vinci Code (Sony/Columbia) $ 217.5 $ 756.7 $ 125.0 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Buena Vista) $ 423.3 $ 1,065.4 $ 225.0 Recent Studio Red Inks All the King's Men (Sony/Columbia) $ 7.2 $ 8.9 $ 55.0 Basic Instinct 2 (Sony/Columbia) $ 5.9 $ 35.4 $ 70.0 My Super Ex-Girlfriend (Fox)** $ 22.5 $ 52.0 $ 65.0 A Good Year (Fox) $ 7.5 $ 29.4 $ 35.0 Poseidon (Warner Bros.) $ 60.7 $ 181.7 $ 160.0

Note: Except where noted, ROIs are rough estimates based on the assumption that 50% of box office receipts were returned to the studio, yielding standard equation: (revenue/2)-budget = net revenue; net revenue/budget = return on investment. These figures do not include ancillary (DVD, video, TV, etc.) earnings, and serve only as a guide. * Numbers are as of 3/1/07, as film is still in theatres. ** Budget is estimated.