Synopsis

Raya Green is seventeen years old, incredibly bright and full of promise. While her family lives in an economically depressed community beleaguered by a reputation of crime and conflict, she attends a prestigious private school outside the city. She is the neighborhood success story, but also bears the weight of family expectations.

Raya’s world is turned upside down when her sister Pam, once a promising step dancer and Raya’s idol, is found dead, having succumbed to drug addiction. Broken by the tragedy, Raya doesn’t know what to do, but she swears to herself that she will not be trapped like her sister, no matter what. Failure is not an option.

The obstacles are great – with family resources exhausted by efforts to save Pam, the Greens are no longer able to pay for Raya’s school, and she is forced to return to the neighbourhood she so desperately wants to escape.

On her return, Raya discovers that underground dance comps are still the hottest thing going. She smells opportunity – to win money, to get out of the neighbourhood, to help her family, to go back to her school.

Fighting her way into the all-male Jane Street Junta step crew, a team led by Bishop, the crown prince of the local step scene, she becomes more enthralled with the power of the dance. As a huge tournament unfolds, along with the team’s chance to win $50,000, Raya discovers that step is a mirror for life, and that real success only comes to those brave enough to tackle it on their own terms.

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Production Notes

How She Move is a coming of age drama starring exciting, young discoveries Rutina Wesley, Dwain Murphy, Tré Armstrong and Brennan Gademans. The film also features performing artists Mya, Kardinal Offishall and Shawn Desman. Director Ian Iqbal Rashid returns to work with Sienna Films producers Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny, having first teamed up on the 2004 comedy Touch of Pink. How She Move’s power-driven dance routines are choreographed by hip-hop’s diva of dance HiHat, who has worked with such artists as Missy Elliot, Eve and Kanye West.

The story is set in the world of step, dance rhythms created by hitting hands against the body and stomping feet on the floor, combining the movements with chants. Wesley plays Raya Green, a gifted student forced to leave Seaton, her prestigious private school, and return to her old neighbourhood in Toronto’s Jane-Finch corridor. Determined to return to Seaton, Raya endures life at the local high school, suffering the bitterness of her old friend Michelle (Tré Armstrong) and her crew, but soon finds herself drawn back into a world she knows well— the world of underground step comps. When Raya realizes she could win some serious prize money (and her ticket back to Seaton) at a fierce step competition, she convinces the charismatic Bishop (Dwain Murphy) to let her join his crew, the Jane Street Junta. As she gets caught up in her desire to win and to escape, Raya struggles with the loss of her sister, her parents’ pressure on her to succeed, and most of all with herself.

× × × × ×

“In the Caribbean culture, the women are the storytellers,” explains Annmarie Morais, award- winning screenwriter of How She Move. “All my experiences growing up were listening to my mother and the aunties and the women in the kitchen and at church, where women are the first to arrive and the last to leave because they have so much to say. It’s a matriarchal culture.” So for Morais, penning a screenplay about a young girl’s journey of self-actualization and having two female producers guide it to completion made perfect sense.

Morais had written and directed Steppin’ To It, an award-winning documentary on step dancing, while she was studying film at York University in Toronto and she held to the idea

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 2 of 22 that the subject would make a good feature film. She brought that idea to Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny because, from previous experience with Sienna Films, Morais knew they respected the craft of writing and stood behind their writers.

For Kawaja and Sereny, the opportunity to work with Morais was the icing on a multi-layer cake. How She Move combines two irresistible elements: it is a dance film that is more than a performing arts piece, and it is a story about people coming to terms with who they are in a world that expects little from them.

“Jennifer and I are both great fans of dance films,” says Sereny. “If the dance component works and is integrated into the roots of the story, the emotion, whether it be passion, humour, tragedy, defiance, or stubbornness, is clearly reflected through those sequences. The dance should be an extension of each of the characters, not separate from them. How She Move is about the emotional journey of a set of characters and dance is a huge part of their lives and the story.”

“Annmarie drew us to this project,” explains producer Jennifer Kawaja. “She’s a wonderful writer, sensitive, compassionate, someone who genuinely loves her characters. We had been working with her already and loved the idea of continuing that relationship.”

Annmarie Morais was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica to a Caribbean family who moved to Brantford, Ontario. When she was accepted at York University, she found an apartment at Keele Street and Finch, near the Jane-Finch Corridor, and her parents instantly vetoed the idea, saying the area was unsafe. “So I had to wonder what was the big mystery. I would go down to Jane and Finch to visit friends and there was great food, great music and a mall where everyone in that community would hang out. It was so alive. There are so many characters and so many cultures,” recalled Morais.

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The Jane - Finch Corridor

In the 1960`s, the government created an `instant community` located in the north end of Toronto at Jane Street and Finch Avenue. Originally, it was developed as a model suburb in response to the rapid urban growth of the city. Offering low income and public housing, Jane and Finch became more than just an intersection; it was the Ellis Island of the city. But while it welcomed new immigrants to the country, the community failed to provide day care, counseling, health care workers, social workers, employment guides, parks, recreation centres and programs, welfare, or economic assistance to sustain community life. In 1973, politicians and residents tried to change this by bringing in social and health services, opening a legal clinic and family centres. Today, the Jane-Finch Corridor is home to 75,000 people from 80 ethnic groups, speaking in 112 languages. High density, high-rise apartment buildings are set on a flat, treeless landscape interrupted by low-rise industrial complexes in an area where the drug and gang-related crime rate has been reported as well above the national average.

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Step: an expression of our past and present pain

It is in the Jane-Finch community that Morais has set her story. “Step is one of the activities that brought young people together. In the same way that hip-hop artists verbalize the angst of their youth, you can put that in your step, you can put that in your dance, you can speak out about whatever issue you want to speak about,” she explains.

“Step is not the domain of trained dancers. In fact, a lot of formally trained dancers don’t have the flexibility to turn their training into the precise motion that step involves. Step is an expression of our past and our present pain. The message in this story is that while we have always understood that help always comes from outside the culture and you have “to leave to achieve”, this is no longer true. We have heroes in our own community and you can achieve from wherever you are. Some kids do not have the ability to get out, but they do have the ability to reach in and do and be. What I wanted to say is that from wherever you are, you can make it.”

Julia Sereny and Jennifer Kawaja needed to find the right director for this script, and to that end they turned to Ian Iqbal Rashid, who they had worked with on their previous feature Touch of Pink. “Ian related to the story, having immigrated to Canada and having lived in Flemington Park, which is a similar area,” noted Kawaja.

“I have turned down film scripts since Touch of Pink because I couldn’t see or connect with those stories, but I saw this one as I was reading it. I love dance and I love musicals. The dance tells so much of the story, creates so much texture and emotion. How She Move talks about the scars of migration, which is a theme that interests me. Migration does things to people, building their hopes. The ambitions they put on their children are a result of those hopes, but they can be restricting. It can be so damaging and so painful. Annmarie has created a vibrant and truthful story about this. She is such a wonderful writer because her dialogue comes alive when you read it, even more so when it is spoken,” Rashid says.

“This is a film that talks about different ways of winning,” he continues. “Winning doesn’t always look how you think it’s going to look. Success and getting ahead come in packages and

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 5 of 22 not always the most obvious one. The mother’s ambition is what kick starts the story, and the story spirals out from that. Faye, Raya’s mother, is someone whose dreams haven’t been realized. She came to this country expecting a better life. She’s worked hard but has not succeeded, and she feels degraded by her failure but she refuses to give up. She is determined that she is going to guide her children to success.”

While the story of migration is familiar, How She Move is a new take. The ghetto is Canadian, not American. The dance is step, not hip-hop, break dancing, ballroom or ballet. While Raya Green’s original objective is to get out of her neighbourhood, she learns that she can stay - and still win. To ensure that How She Move would have its own individuality from the ground up, Rashid stayed away from brightly lit sets, opting to match the quality of the dance, which is hard and powerful and masculine and edgy. Working closely with cinematographer André Pienaar and production designer Aidan Leroux, Rashid says, “our aesthetic was chosen with a view to giving the film a more immediate feel. I was heavily influenced by the German photographer Thomas Struth and the American photographer Nan Goldin. It’s a chunky, modernist vision: clean lines, girth, hard edges and very spare. It’s Jane and Finch in March in Canada; not the movie version of urban jungle with tenements on top of each other. These buildings are modern and far apart and bleak, with hydro fields in between and big skies above. It’s the Canadian version of the urban projects.”

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Stepping Up To The Plate: The Cast

Movie audiences are a savvy bunch. They know when something isn’t real. So the question in casting was whether to choose actors who could dance, or dancers who could act, because Rashid wanted to be able to capture the energy of the entire performance and not have to cut away to a dance double. “I wanted the freedom to shoot the actor as much as possible, to go from face to feet. It keeps the dance alive. I wanted to see the determination in Raya’s face as she was performing because that allows the story to move through the dance – to see the complete performance in its totality.”

The key was casting Raya Green. “When Rutina Wesley came along, it was manna from heaven,” said Rashid. “Rutina is a talented, well-trained young actress who comes by dancing honestly.” With a mother who was a Las Vegas showgirl and a father who is a musician, Rutina Wesley has music and dance in her blood. Although not a formally trained dancer, Rutina is athletically inclined and has been dancing her entire life. She was willing and able to put herself through the grind of a month of daily step rehearsals that were required for the part. Just as importantly, Rutina exactly matched the image of Raya that Annmarie Morais had in her head.

“Raya loved to dance,” explains Rutina, “but it reminded her of her sister who taught her everything she knew about dance, and that brought up painful memories. So when Raya finally allows herself to dance, she is letting out her frustration and the isolating sadness of grieving for her sister alone, because her mother’s need to appear strong comes across as emotional coldness about her sister’s death. And when Raya gets to release all the pressure put on her, she is letting out her sister, her feelings for this boy, Bishop, her guilt about Michelle, and having to prove herself within her community because she went to an all white school.”

The death of Raya’s sister is the catalyst, but the ensuing changes in her life create the momentum for change. When Raya is not longer able to attend private school due to her family’s financial difficulties, she enrolls in the local high school. As with any high school environment, students are fiercely territorial and Michelle, a girl Raya grew up with, is less

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 7 of 22 than pleased about the new arrival. Not only is Raya held up as the local success story, but she also attracts great sympathy due to the death of her sister. Michelle forces the issue, and after a violent confrontation in school the Principal decides the best punishment is to have Raya tutor Michelle twice a week.

Played by Tré Armstrong, Michelle has mastered the art of the cold exterior. “Raya comes back to the hood from private school and Michelle thinks, wait a minute, this is my hood. You left, I stayed, and you have no right to be here. But when the school creates a situation where Raya has to tutor me, I grudgingly appreciate it. Raya has a natural ability to teach and I allow myself to see this different side of her. She reaches out to me in a way I have never experienced.”

Tré came to the cast of How She Move in a most circuitous manner - she started off working as part of the choreographic team in charge of the dance auditions, and was then approached to audition for the role of Michelle. “I’d previously choreographed step shows. Step has been with me for a good long time. It’s easy for me because it’s the basic form of dance, leading back to the motherland,” explains Tré. About the script, she said, “This story is so real to me and to the kids I went to high school with.”

The emotional lynchpin between Raya and Michelle is Bishop. In addition to heading up his step team, Jane Street Junta, he also has his career at RimShot, a store for custom car rims and hubcaps that he owns in partnership with his Uncle Cecil. RimShot is the epicenter for JSJ to practice their routines, and Bishop’s centre of operations. Michelle is in love with Bishop, but can’t seem to hold his interest. He intrigues Raya, but her mother believes a boyfriend is not what she needs at this point. Bishop is, at first, taken aback by Raya’s desire to join his crew and shocked by her disregard for the rules of step as he understands them, but ultimately he is fascinated by her passion for the dance.

“Zero, zip, nada,” is how Dwain Murphy (Bishop), describes his previous dance experience. “I shake my booty in the club like everyone else, but that’s it.” But for Dwain, learning step was a challenge just like everything else in his career as an actor, “For me, pushing myself five days a week, eight hours a day, routine after routine after routine until my knees can’t take it any more - I love it. But I’d push Dwain out of the picture and dance as Bishop because he’s a

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 8 of 22 leader and he’d dance that way. There are two different Bishops: the one outside the ring is humble, trying to keep his crew together, and the one in the ring, has the gloves off.”

“I knew about step before, but what we do is a hip hop blend because that shows where we’re from,” Dwain continued. “We don’t have that university step discipline. We have Jane Street on our side, which is why we are the Jane Street Junta. And a lot of people don’t realize how emotional step is. It’s more than the stomping of your feet to make a rhythm, it’s what your body does, it’s what your face does, it’s how powerful you step, because you can be devastated inside and all that comes out. It’s passionate.”

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The Queen of Choreographers: HiHat

New York-born choreographer HiHat finds it hard to resist a challenge, and when she was approached to choreograph the dance routines for How She Move she knew that she had her work cut out for her. She was given the raw materials: actors who could dance, dancers who could act, a script that melded dance into the personalities of each character, and a writer and a director who were willing to collaborate.

HiHat was also given a very short five weeks to make it happen.

Starting with the dance itself, Hihat has a keen appreciation for the basic material. “Traditionally, stepping started in Africa and more recently it has been something that happens on college campuses in sororities and fraternities,” she explains. “It’s their way of marching on line, their speech, their song, their dance. Stepping is a systematic arrangement of sound using your hands against your body, your feet against the floor, and it produces a powerful rhythm. Step is usually combined with chant, like cheerleader cheers, but more boastful, more blatant. You want to tell everybody how your team’s stepping is the best.”

One of the key things that separated HiHat from all the other choreographers considered for the film was her immediate connection with the material and her way of working with female dancers. Observes producer Jennifer Kawaja, “We knew she had worked with Missy Elliot on some of her best videos, as well as with P-Diddy, Wyclef and Mary J. Blige for her recent US tour. In a lot of music videos, women’s bodies are used as props, most often with sexual overtones. But HiHat’s previous choreography had so much more than that. We needed someone who was versatile in not just traditional step, but in hip hop, jazz, and break dancing because our step is a hybrid. What was most important was to find a choreographer who wanted to relate the dance to each of the characters.”

Hihat took the basics of stepping and combined it with contemporary dance, locking and break dancing. “Not only do you have the stepping rhythm, but you also have the groove of hip-hop,” Hihat explains. “Because stepping is so emotional, the dance draws you into the

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 10 of 22 characters. When each character dances, it’s like a story that they are telling about themselves.”

HiHat wanted to keep the identity of each character in their style of dance. “For Raya, she can hang with the boys and catfight with the girls, but she’s creative with her emotions, so if she is angry, if she’s happy, she creates that with her moves. Whenever Bishop and his crew perform, it is uplifting for the crowd, and you want to join in. Garvey is slick, so I wanted his team to be acrobatic. That’s where the break dancing comes in: it’s energetic and it’s intense. Michelle’s crew is another style, another flavour. She’s sexy. So it’s rugged and it’s raw. It’s diva-ish.”

The five-week rehearsal period started off with boot camp. Step boot camp. Armed with their Timberland boots and the will to learn, Rutina Wesley, Dwain Murphy, Clé Bennett, Tré Armstrong, Shawn Desman, and Brennan Gademans stepped forward. “Lucky for me, they are great actors,” observes Hihat. “In order to become their characters, they had to become dancers. The thing is that they wanted to do this, they were determined, they worked hard, they became their characters even though we had so little time.”

Rutina Wesley had been dancing her entire life, but found she was intimidated when she first started rehearsals. It didn’t last long. “I had never done step before, but HiHat made me want to dance. She is such a mommy. Step reminds me of African. It makes my pulse race; I connect with the ground under my feet.”

“Eight hours a day, five days a week, for five weeks we worked it. It was grueling, but look at me now,” says Tré Armstrong.” I’ve never looked this good!”

Shawn Desman, who plays Trey, was in a state of shock, “I’m all about dancing, but the first week of rehearsals, my body was killing me. I’ve been dancing since I was 12 years old, and my body had never felt like that, all that clapping and stomping, but after a couple of weeks I was fine.”

“The hardest part was the groove of the hip hop,” Hihat explains. “The rehearsals were all about drilling and working hard. But they worked so hard and I was so very happy with the results.”

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Hihat’s signature can be seen in every routine she invents. The stamp is intricacy. “It’s never easy,” she said. While she had previously created some of the routines and dance moves for Paramount Pictures Bring It On, and videos for Charlie’s Angels and The Rug Rats, she had not taken on the complete choreography for a dance film.

Hihat’s decision to choreograph How She Move was a watershed. “After starting this, I did a stepping video with Missy Elliot and then for Jamie Fox and Kanye West, I did their stage show for the 2006 Grammies, they definitely wanted stepping in it. If you saw the movie, Rize, there was crumping in it and then everyone wanted crumping in their movie or their video. Stepping is going to be the same thing, a trend that everyone wants to get a hold of. So it’s the perfect timing for this movie.”

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About the Cast

Rutina Wesley (Raya Green)

Classically trained actress Rutina Wesley always brings a passion and intelligence to her work. Many have likened her to a young Angela Basset, an actress with true range to make an audience both laugh and cry at the same time.

In the short amount of time since her May 2005 graduation from the Drama Division of the esteemed Juilliard School Rutina has amassed some high quality credits for her resume. She was most recently offered a role in the high profile Broadway production of David Hare’s The Vertical Hour. Two-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore is set to star, and famed director Sam Mendes will mark his return to Broadway with the play. Scott Rudin, Robert Fox, and Neal Street Productions will produce.

While still at Juilliard, Rutina got her first taste of Hollywood when she was cast in a small role in the hit film Hitch, starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes. Just before the film’s release, Rutina learned that her scene had been cut from the final version of the movie, but still chalked it up as an impressive learning experience for a young girl still in drama school.

In addition to her studies at Juilliard, Rutina spent a summer studying Shakespeare at the well-known and respected Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. While in the program, Rutina was able to tackle the highly sought after role of Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet directed by Nona Sheppard. Rutina was also able to take part in various productions at Julliard, ranging from Macbeth (Dir: Rebecca Guy), Richard III (Dir: PJ Paparelli), The Winter's Tale (Dir: Richard Feldman) to The Marriage of Figaro (Dir: Timothy Douglas), Rebel Armies Deep Into Chad (Dir: Reggie Life) and In the Blood (Dir: Sam Gold), among many others. Upon graduation from school, Rutina was a part of the pre-Broadway workshop for the Tony-nominated musical The Color Purple.

Rutina, a native of Las Vegas, received her BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Evansville after attending the Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts. She currently resides in New York.

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Dwain Murphy (Bishop)

Newcomer Dwain Murphy is a native of Dominica. Always keen to act, he was especially encouraged and challenged by a high school drama teacher to pursue acting as a career. Dwain followed his mentor’s advise, enrolling in the Acting for Film & Television Program at Humber College, and it’s certainly paid off. In addition to his lead role in How She Move, Dwain he has completed a principal role opposite Danny Glover in Clement Virgo’s highly anticipated new feature Poor Boys Game and has also appeared in the award-winning television series Degrassi: The Next Generation and G-Spot. I’m glad I followed my dream,” says Murphy, “even though there were times when everyone felt I was just fooling around.”

“News of Dwain’s success has spread like wildfire,” says John Bourgeois, Director of the acting program at Humber College. “We’re really proud of him and he’s an inspiration to students currently enrolled in the program. I tell them to always raise the stakes, and Dwain did just that.”

Brennan Gademans (Quake)

British Columbia native Brennan Paul Gademans began taking tap dancing classes at the age of 4 because his mother noticed that whenever he heard music, he would start to dance. After 1 year of tap, Brennan’s teacher asked Brennan and another young dancer if they would be interested in becoming a duo and dancing competitively. Since that time, the pair have won many medals and trophies. When Brennan was 8 he began dancing as a hip hop soloist as well and has won several awards and honours including an invitation to dance with the North American Extreme Dance Team in 2004.

When Brennan was 11, an observer at a dance competition commented on his excellent stage presence and suggested he pursue acting. They recommended agency Lloyd Talent, and after auditioning for them Brennan was off to his first audition in a matter of days.

Brennan’s first major acting role was in a film made for television called Man in the Mirror, in which he played the young Michael Jackson. After booking several commercials, Brennan landed the role of young Todd Bridges in the television movie Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Diff’rent Strokes. In the summer of 2005 he was cast as the principal

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 14 of 22 character in an educational series entitled Get Set, based on Stephen R. Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. In the fall of 2005 Brennan submitted a videotaped audition for How She Move. After callbacks, step dance lessons with a top film and television choreographer and a screen test, Brennan landed the lead role of Quake.

Apart from acting and dancing, Brennan has a talent for art and drawing and a passion for playing football. He is a running back for his community football team and was named MVP and Most Inspirational Player in 2004 and 2005.

Tré Armstrong (Michelle)

Tré has been dancing since she was five and trained with Luther Brown at Do Dat Entertainment. Armstrong, now 25, got her big professional break when she was chosen from 1,000 hopefuls to perform in the Missy Elliott concert tour. She also danced in a piece for the Vibe Awards.

Growing up in Toronto, Tré used to dance to her mother's music. She started classes at the Dance Factory in Mississauga and later at Erindale School of Dance. After a stint studying kinesiology at University of Western Ontario, she was cast in Honey as one of the principal dancers. She has also appeared as a dancer in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Shall We Dance, Breakin’In: The Making of a Hip Hop Dancer, and Steppin’ Up: Save the Last Dance II. Tré has danced in videos for Rihanna, Sean Paul, Robbie Williams, Seal, Ashanti and Shawn Desman.

Kevin Duhaney (E.C.)

Kevin Duhaney has a remarkable track record that includes the feature films Four Brothers, directed by John Singleton, Honey, directed by Billie Woodruff, a lead role in Treed Murray, Down in the Delta, Blind Faith, and Half Baked. On television, Kevin had a lead role in Power Rangers S.P.D., and has appeared in Crown Heights, Profoundly Normal, Tru Confessions, The Miracle Worker, and Hendrix as young Jimi.

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 15 of 22 Shawn Desman(Trey)

Shawn is a multi-faceted entertainer who has amassed a notable dance, production and acting repertoire over the years. Shawn appeared in the hit film Honey starring Jessica Alba. His acting and dance credits also include a major role in the teen movie Get Over It with Martin Short, Carmen Electra and Sisqo, as well as various TV commercials.

Shawn’s debut album is certified Platinum and his second has already gone Gold and is fast approaching Platinum. He has had 6 Top Ten Singles: Get Ready, Shook, Spread My Wings, Let’s Go, Redhair and Man in Me. Along with these radio hits, Shawn has had four #1 videos at Much Music.

Shawn wrote and co-produced many of the tracks on his albums. His music awards include Best Pop Video for Get Ready at the 2003 Much Music Video Awards and the JUNO Award for Best R&B/Soul Recording in 2006. He was also nominated for JUNO Artist of the Year in 2006.

Melanie Nicholls-King (Faye Green)

Melanie Nicholls-King has recently been seen in the multi-award winning television series The Wire, Third Watch, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Her television movies include Deacons for the Defense, Society’s Child, Jett Jackson: The Movie and What Makes a Family. Melanie’s feature film credits include A Cool, Dry Place, Clement Virgo’s Rude, and Mercy, directed by Damien Harris.

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About the Filmmakers

Annmarie Morais (Screenwriter)

In reflection of her journey toward the screenwriting profession Annmarie Morais recalls with some chagrin, the “accident of providence” that had her knock a York University program book off a shelf in her high school guidance office – it fell open to film and video production. Enthralled by the possibility of combining her loves of cinema and storytelling, she would go on to graduate from York University’s Film and Video Program having written and directed several short films.

In pursuit of a writing career in film and television, Morais’ primary concern when seeking employment was whether or not the job in question would interfere with her writing time at home. Her literary dedication proved well worth the effort, and in 1999 Ms. Morais became the first Canadian ever to receive the prestigious Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship (sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) for her dramatic script Bleeding.

How She Move marks Morais’ feature film debut, a deeply personal story that gives voice to a culture and community she cherishes. This is Morais’ third collaboration with Toronto based Sienna Films, one of the few Canadian companies to contact her after her Nicholl Fellowship win.

Ms. Morais continues to divide her time between Toronto and Los Angeles, and at present is writing and producing on the upcoming Global Television series Da Kink in My Hair.

Ian Iqbal Rashid (Director)

In 2004, Touch of Pink, written and directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid, premiered at Sundance to standing ovations and rave reviews. The charming romantic comedy was distributed internationally by Sony Picture Classics and won several awards at film festivals around the world.

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 17 of 22 Previous to Touch of Pink Ian wrote widely for British television including the critically acclaimed cult hit series This Life, which won every major UK television prize including the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award and the prestigious Writers’ Guild of England Award. He has written and directed two short films: Surviving Sabu (The Arts Council of England/Channel 4), and Stag (Martin Pope Productions/BBC Films), both of which played to festival acclaim around the world and won several prizes.

Projects in development include writing and directing YYZ, a dark comedy for Sienna Films and writing and directing Back Routes, a musical for Hillbilly Films and UK television’s Channel 4.

Ian is the author of 3 award-winning collections of poetry. In 1999, he won the Aga Khan Award for Excellence in the Arts. Of South Asian Muslim ancestry, Ian is a true child of the Commonwealth: of Indian extraction, he was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, grew up in Toronto, Canada, and now lives in London with his Australian partner Peter Ride.

Sienna Films (Producers)

Sienna Films, which recently celebrated its 13th anniversary, is helmed by Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny, who are joined by producer Brent Barclay. Sienna’s most recent production, One Dead Indian, a television movie about the controversial death of Native Canadian Dudley George, aired nationally on CTV in January, 2006 to unanimous critical acclaim, captured excellent audience share and was the “most watched drama on Canadian television” that night.

Sienna’s production of I, Claudia premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival and enjoyed a small theatrical release before it launched CBC's 2004/2005 season of Opening Night. The film won 2005 Gemini awards for best director and best actress. I, Claudia was also nominated for a best performance program Rockie award at the 2005 Banff Television Festival, and actress/writer Kristen Thomson won best writing and performance awards at the 2005 Canadian Comedy Awards as well as the 2005 ACTRA award for best female performance.

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 18 of 22 Sienna Films’ comedy Touch of Pink, written and directed by Ian Iqbal Rashid, had its world premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. It was acquired and released worldwide by Sony Pictures Classics, with Mongrel Media distributing in Canada. Touch of Pink is a Canada/UK co-production starring Jimi Mistry (The Guru, East is East) and Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Sex in the City), with Suleka Mathew (Da Vinci’s Inquest, Republic of Love), Kris Holden-Ried (K:19 Widowmaker), Brian George (Seinfeld) and Veena Sood (Better Than Chocolate).

The feature film Marion Bridge, directed by Wiebke von Carolsfeld and starring Molly Parker (Deadwood) and Ellen Page (Hard Candy, X-Men III) premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the City-TV Best First Feature Award. The film has screened at festivals around the world including in competition at Rotterdam, and enjoyed successful theatrical releases and broadcast in Canada, the U.S. and in Europe. Saint Monica, directed by Terrance Odette and starring Brigitte Bako (G-Spot, Mind of the Married Man), also premiered at Toronto, screened in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, and won the Best Narrative Film Award at the Sarasota Film Festival.

Sienna is best known for its box office hit New Waterford Girl, which premiered at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win the award for Best Film at the Atlantic Film Festival. It played to full houses at the Sundance and Rotterdam, was nominated for numerous Genie Awards and was classified as both a critical and box-office phenomenon. Peter Howell of the Toronto Star named it his “favourite Canadian film” and the Globe and Mail called it “consistently clever and entertaining.” It has had a successful DVD and video release in the US and several other international territories.

Sienna’s credits also include: the TV movie Society’s Child, written by Dennis Foon and directed by Pierre Gang, which aired on CBC in February 2002 to critics’ choice, was nominated for a Best TV Movie Gemini Award, and has sold in the US, UK and internationally; a TV adaptation of the acclaimed play SIBS, written by and starring Diane Flacks and Richard Greenblatt, which aired on CBC in fall 2003; the performing arts special Dinner at the Edge, which won a Chris Award at the Columbus International Film Festival and was nominated for five 2001 Gemini Awards; the 1994 critically acclaimed feature film April One starring David Strathairn, Stephen Shellen and Djanet Sears. Sienna has also produced several award-winning documentaries including Black, Bold and Beautiful: Black Women

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 19 of 22 and their Hair, Erotica, Man Overboard, Confessions of a Rabid Dog and Hidden Children.

HiHat (Choreographer)

When New York native HiHat took a dance challenge some five years ago to fly herself to Los Angeles and battle Will Smith's choreographer, she could only hope for the best. A hip-hop street dancer, she knew she had to take the plunge to get to the next level: out of the clubs and into the studios. It was that leap of faith that catapulted her into a whole new world. She won the dance competition, and officially began her career as a professional dancer, soon to turn choreographer, and eventually establishing HiHat Entertainment. It was her first big budget video for Montell Jordan, for the single, I Like that attracted industry attention. HiHat's goal was to bring something different to the set. Jordan was so impressed with the results that he invited HiHat to choreograph his entire tour. HiHat's unique stylings caught on like fire, attracting Teddy Riley for the No Diggity video featuring Dr. Dre and video director Hype Williams, who continued to use her on several of his high profile projects. Racking up an incredible talent roster, the young choreographer can now claim P-Diddy, Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige, Eve and Jay-Z among those who have busted out her moves.

Testimony to HiHat's innovative maneuvering is exemplified in her work for hip hop's hottest visionary, Missy Elliot. HiHat has choreographed All In My Grill, She's A Bitch, Hit Em With the Hee, Sock It To Me, Beep Me 911, Get Your Freak On and One Minute Man. HiHat's talents have taken her beyond the world of artist's videos. She created the cheerleading routines and dance moves for Paramount Pictures' Bring It On as well as completing videos for the movie soundtracks of Charlie's Angels and The Rug Rats. She was the dance instructor for Mary J. Blige's recent US Tour and is currently choreographed Eve for her 2001 Tour with Destiny's Child. Currently, she's busy building HiHat Entertainment, an umbrella organization comprised of dancers and choreographers, into a major dance enterprise.

HOW SHE MOVE press kit page 20 of 22 Susan Maggi (Editor)

Susan Maggi has worked in the Canadian film industry since 1986. Her training was in the editing room of notable Canadian directing icon David Cronenberg, working on such films as The Fly, Dead Ringers and Naked Lunch. She also trained in the cutting rooms of many notable American editors and directors as U.S. productions came north. Maggi then turned her attention to working with many up-and-coming Canadian directors, establishing herself as an editor at the forefront of the Canadian film scene, helping to realize a number of films that premiered or were in competition in festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto.

Alongside many prestigious film festival screenings and awards, Maggi has received Genie nominations for Best Film Editing on features New Waterford Girl, The Boys Club and Rude. In addition, she has received Gemini nominations for her work on CBC’s One Heart Broken into Song and The Planet of Junior Brown.

Maggi’s other well known credits include Men with Brooms, directed by Paul Gross; A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Patricia Rozema; Saint Ralph; Touch of Pink; and Clement Virgo’s controversial Lie With Me. She is now working on the edit of the highly anticipated Poor Boys Game by Clement Virgo, featuring Danny Glover and Rossif Sutherland.

Andrew Lockington (Composer)

Andrew Lockington has been working in film music since 1997 and in that time has accumulated more than 40 feature film credits.

Andrew's composer credits include Michael McGowan's Saint Ralph, Ian Iqbal Rashid's Touch of Pink, Nisha Ganatra's Cake, Mina Shum's Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity and the HBO features Xchange and Stranger Inside. Andrew recently scored the Lions Gate / Constantin thriller Skinwalkers, directed by James Isaac, with a wide release slated for April 2007.

How She Move marks Andrew's second collaboration with Ian Iqbal Rashid and third collaboration with Sienna Films.

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Aidan Leroux (Production Designer)

A diversely talented designer, Aidan Leroux’s professional credits span film, television and theatre. Feature film credits include art direction on The Highwaymen for New Line, assistant art direction on Resident Evil and The Tuxedo for Deamworks Studios, and on Exit Wounds for Warner Brothers. He was the production designer for the CBC Opening Night production of Kristen Thompson’s acclaimed play I, Claudia for Sienna Films. Aidan also works regularly with producer Daniel Iron, including production design on the Rhombus Media production of Stormy Weather, for which he won a Gemini Award, and on a performing arts special presentation of Death & The Maiden. Aidan’s credits as a set designer for television include seasons one and two of the Warner Brothers’ series Witchblade and season five of La Femme Nikita.

Kimberly Rush (Costume Designer)

Kimberly Rush has been designing for the last ten years. Her versatility as an artist has led her to design not only in film and television but also for dance, documentary, commercials and music videos. She is also a talented art director, designing for short films, music videos and commercials. Rush approaches her work with the sensibilities of both departments. She has worked with the likes of Walter Matthau, Carol Burnett, Alan Bates, Michael Madsen and Pete Postlethewaite. She has costume designed such films as Sabah directed by Ruba Nada, Lookalike, The Artists, Hollywood North with Jennifer Tilley and Matthew Modine and Triggerman with Adrian Dunbar, Amanda Plummer and Claire Forlani. Rush recently costume designed a children's film, Bailey’s Billions starring Jennifer Tilley, Tim Curry and Dean Cain, and a documentary based on the Douglas Coupland book Souvenir of Canada, airing on the CBC this year.

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