PRESS PACKET CONTENTS
CREDITS 3
SYNOPSIS 5
PRESS / FESTIVAL 7
CAST 8
DIRECTOR | EDITOR | PRODUCER 14
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT 14
WRITER | COMPOSER | PRODUCER 15
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY 16
COMPOSER | SOUND DESIGNER 17
PRODUCER 18
PRODUCER 19
PRODUCTION INFORMATION 20
SCREEN SHOTS 21
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 2 CREDITS
Director | Editor Robert Cole
Writer Erik Lieblein
Story by Erik Lieblein Robert Cole
Producers Dennis Rainaldi Sara Nesson Chance Kelly Erik Lieblein Robert Cole
Executive Producer Rob Michiels
Co-Producers Joe Taylor Lena Eberhart Anastasia Barbatsoulis David Jeffryes Gregory Cipriano Annette Delucia Lieblein Rory Ronadio Paul Capel Jon Tirpak Ken McQueen
Director of Photography Clarke Mayer
Production Designer Randolf Halpern
Associate Producers Lee Fierro Ruth Gilwit Dan Bricker Adam Petkus Christos Rentos
Costume Designer Kelsey Berry
Hair and Makeup Leah Bassett
Original Score by Ken McQueen Erik Lieblein
Sound Design Ken McQueen
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 3
Casting by Shiela Gray Treather Gassmann Heather A. Robbins Capece Audrey Lorea
Lena Detroy (lead) Jessica Cadden Osborne
Kellen Witherspoon Chance Kelly
Becca Witherspoon Amanda Good Hennessey
Sadie Witherspoon Braedyn Clark
Devon Sean Kleier
Cassie Sosie Bacon
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 4 SYNOPSIS
GENRE Slow-burn thriller
TAGLINE A young woman takes work on a Martha's Vineyard farm and befriends the ten-year old farmer’s daughter only to discover dark secrets, a violent past and that her life is in danger.
SHORT SYNOPSIS After working for the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, Lena’s (28) plans to return home fall through. A local farmer, Kellen (50s), hires her and she forges relationships with her co-workers, his wife Becca (40s), and their precocious daughter Sadie (10). At first, Lena’s experiences on the farm are welcoming and she strikes a close relationship with Sadie. However, over time Lena senses that Sadie is troubled. When a co-worker goes missing, Lena presses Sadie for answers, only to discover that there is a murderer amongst them.
LONG SYNOPSIS We open on a lone oak tree centered in a cow pasture. A teenage couple strolls in an open field. A sweet scene quickly turns sinister as the young woman rebuffs the man’s advances. He overtakes her, strangling her in the grass.
A phone rings. Lena Detroy (28) on a pay-phone listens to her drunken mother explain that she has sublet her apartment. Lena’s plans to return home are derailed. At a liquor store, Lena meets Becca, a local woman, and her precocious daughter, Sadie (10). Becca mentions that her husband, Kellen, is hiring for the landscaping business that he runs out of their farm. Lena enjoys a last drink with her co- workers at the bar she worked at over the summer. Two locals, Devon and Walter, interrupt the moment but their raucous demeanor forces the bartender to tell them to leave.
Lena decides to pursue Becca’s offer. She awaits a bus, but Devon shows up in his truck. She accepts a ride to the farm and they share a flirtatious exchange on the drive. At the farm, she meets Kellen, is reintroduced to Becca and meets her new co-worker and roommate, Marge, who tells her the story of “Emily Backus,” who mysteriously disappeared earlier that summer. Lena meets the other landscapers— Cassie, Zoe, Todd and Jimbo—as well as the farmhand Sienna.
The camera departs from Lena’s story and we descend into a darkened room to find Sadie. We dissolve into her memory of Emily Backus and discover Emily was murdered. After work the next day, Sadie invites Lena to her secret hiding place where she offers Lena a sweatshirt from her trunk of clothes that reads “Backus”. The two agree to be “sisters.” Later that night, Lena meets Sienna for drinks and a friendship develops. After a confrontation with Jimbo during work, Lena visits the tree to find Becca who invites her for tea. They share personal stories and Becca confirms Sadie’s affection towards Lena.
Lena goes fishing with Devon and then to the local bar. The landscaping crew shows up. Walter and Jimbo get into a fight. Devon intervenes, throws Jimbo onto the bar and threatens him with a dart to his
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 5 eye. Horrified, Lena leaves the bar alone. Later that night at the farm, Jimbo is knocked out with a shovel and dragged away. Lena, seeking solace, visits the oak tree and, to her surprise, finds Sadie sitting in the branches. Seemingly shaken, Sadie tells Lena that she doesn’t “want her to go missing”.
The next day, after a group BBQ, we find Jimbo strung up in a tool shed. Through an unknown POV Jimbo is murdered. In the morning, Lena and Marge get ready for work when Marge notices the sweatshirt that Sadie gave Lena. Surprised, she informs Lena that it belonged to “Emily Backus” and finds it creepy that Sadie had it.
Concerned for Sadie, Lena heads to the Secret Place by herself. Once inside, looking for clues, she discovers Jimbo’s hat. Lena exits and is confronted by Sadie for betraying her trust by going into her Secret Place, but Kellen interrupts the scene. Frightened, Lena accepts his invitation to enter the house to talk. Lena soon finds herself in a fight for her life and entrusted with a responsibility she never thought would be given to her.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 6 PRESS / FESTIVALS
MV TIMES “Thriller ‘Off Season’ mixes Vineyard talent with Hollywood” http://www.mvtimes.com/2014/02/03/almost-a-wrap-thriller-off-season-mixes-vineyard-talent-with- hollywood/
VINEYARD GAZETTE “Indie Film Dares to Ask Question, What Lurks in Heart of Off Season” https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2013/05/02/indie-film-dares-ask-question-what-lurks-heart-season
WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL World Premiere July 30, 2017
CHELSEA FILM FESTIVAL NYC Premiere October 22, 2017
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 7 CAST
JESSICA CADDEN OSBORNE as LENA DETROY (lead)
Jessica Cadden Osborne is an NYC based actress, dancer and fitness model. After growing up a disciplined ballet dancer in Pennsylvania, traveling to study in prestigious ballet programs with American Academy of Ballet and Royal Ballet School, she continued on to earn a BFA in Jazz Dance from UARTS in Philadelphia. Highlighted dance credits include seven years as a Radio City Rockette at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and four years as a performer in the avant-garde aerial show FUERZA BRUTA.
Select film credits include Lori in CONVICTION (Short), Beth in HI-GLOW RETRO (Short), and Mira in HEAVEN IS NOW. NY stage credits include Maggie in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF at Cidermill Stage, May in FOOL FOR LOVE at HB Studio Theatre in lower Manhattan and Gloria in YOU NEVER CAN TELL at the Gloria Maddox Theatre in Chelsea.
Highlighted fitness modeling credits include a Runners World Magazine cover, many appearances in SHAPE magazine, and print ads for companies like Reebok and Under Armour.
Jessica currently studies acting with the renown teacher and director Deborah Kampmeier, and works as an actor and fitness/wellness coach in NYC.
Selected Filmography: HEAVEN IS NOW CONVICTION (short) HI-GLOW RETRO (short)
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 8 CHANCE KELLY as KELLEN WITHERSPOON (ALSO A PRODUCER)
Chance has enjoyed the opportunity to play a wide array of characters in film and on TV including, among other projects: AMERICAN SNIPER, BROKEN CITY, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, HOMELAND, THE BLACKLIST, BANSHEE, AQUARIUS, LAW & ORDER, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, HOUSE OF CARDS, ARMY WIVES, GENERATION KILL, FRINGE, THE UNIT, RESCUE ME and UNBREAKABLE.
Chance plays the lead role of troubled, rural crime boss, Bernard Angus Coleman in the independent film, BEYOND THE NIGHT, which premieres at the Woodstock Film Festival this year. He also appears as Vincent Bryant in the upcoming season of RAY DONOVAN.
Before he was an actor, Chance played college football and fought as an amateur boxer, winning the Superheavyweight division of the NYC Metros tournament. He also fought in the NYC Golden Gloves, winning his first fight by knockout, only to have to subsequently drop out of the competition for work on a film. Today, Chance remains active in the sport of boxing, serving as a professional boxing manager.
Selected film and television work: GENERATION KILL (HBO) AMERICAN SNIPER UNBREAKABLE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES AQUARIUS HOUSE OF CARDS LAW AND ORDER RAY DONOVAN
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 9 AMANDA GOOD HENNESSEY as BECCA WITHERSPOON
Amanda’s wide range of portrayals in film have included a conflicted sister in the dramatic feature RUBBERNECK, directed by and starring award-winning Alex Karpovsky (HBO's GIRLS), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. A strung out mom in THE HEAT, a struggling single mom in THE SNEAKERS, and a concerned citizen in THE MAKEOVER. She is a founding member of Albion Park Productions, a film production company. Its first short film, THE OBLIQUE SECTOR, premiered at the Nantucket Film Festival. Amanda served as a co-writer, producer and lead (a snobby foodie).
On the theatrical front, Amanda has played a variety of roles – from a teenage babysitter in MR. MARMALADE, a struggling artist in SIC to her favorite - Lois Lane in the critically acclaimed SUPERHEROINE MONOLOGUES with Phoenix Theatre Artists/Company One in Boston, MA.
Amanda received her MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School at the New School in NYC. She has also studied with Upright Citizens Brigade and at The Barrow Group in New York City.
Selected filmography: RUBBERNECK THE HEAT THE MAKEOVER THE SNEAKERS
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 10 BRAEDYN CLARK as SADIE WITHERSPOON
Braedyn Clark was recommended to Off Season producers by her theater teacher at Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter school in West Tisbury, Massachusetts. At the time, she was rehearsing for her elementary school recital. The Off Season team was immediately impressed by her natural, raw talent and outgoing personality. She was cast on the spot as Sadie Witherspoon.
Now entering 9th grade, she continues to act in school plays and film projects on the island. Braedyn also studies martial arts and is the starting point guard for the varsity Basketball team as a freshman.
Off Season is her film acting debut.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 11 SEAN KLEIER as DEVON
Sean Kleier cut his teeth in the New York City comedy scene, studying at UCB and performing stand-up and improv in clubs and bars all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. He garnered attention for his unique take on social and political events, and his sketch comedy has appeared on Funny or Die, The Huffington Post, CBS News, USA Today, Time.com, and others. A theater actor since he was a child in his native Kentucky, Kleier has recently made his mark on television with appearances on BLUE BLOODS, YOUNGER, CONVICTION, HAPPYISH, MADAM SECRETARY, and THE AFFAIR. Film credits include ANT-MAN AND THE WASP, THE INTERN, and AFTER PARTY. In addition to acting, Kleier writes and directs for the creative agency, Motiv Creative, which he founded with his brother. Representing civic-minded non-profits, the duo has run a satirical candidate for Senate, developed viral PSAs for women's rights and have been featured on Fox and Friends, TODAY, CBS Sunday Morning, and others. To date, their content has collected a cumulative 41 million views.
Selected film and television work: ANT-MAN AND THE WASP ODD MOM OUT THE AFFAIR HAPPYISH BLUE BLOODS
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 12 SOSIE BACON AS CASSIE
Sosie studied at Brown University and has studied at musical theatre company CAP21. She joined the cast of Fiction in Photographs in 2012, an Off-Broadway musical by Dan Mills and Randy Redd. Sosie Bacon was crowned Miss Golden Globe 2014. She is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Sosie has enjoyed prominent roles on several television series most recently including Netflix’s 13 REASONS WHY and HBO’s HERE AND NOW. Selected film and television work: THE LAST SUMMER STAY 13 REASONS WHY HERE AND NOW SCREAM: THE TV SERIES THE CLOSER
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 13 DIRECTOR | EDITOR | PRODUCER ROBERT COLE
Robert Cole grew up in San Francisco. After working as a chef for several years in France, a screenwriting project brought him back to New York.
He worked on various film and video projects while he continued to write. When the opportunity to direct Off Season presented itself, he jumped at it. Like so many film projects, the journey of Off Season has been full of unexpected hurdles, happy accidents and the focused hard work of many.
Off Season is his first feature.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT At its heart, Off Season is the story of an unexpectant savior. Lena shows up at a farm for work, only to find that she must not only save herself, but she becomes the vehicle to save a man’s family. What leads up to this moment is a heinous act from the past that has an unexpected effect on the person who committed it and their loved ones. Monstrous acts commonly punctuate families if you go back far enough. These acts persistently ripple across time and impact the present in unexpected, and often unpleasant, ways.
The ripple effect of past violence fascinates me. So many of us are impacted by horrors that took place long ago, only realize after long stretches of time that the violence even occurred. And, when acts of violence are revealed, conventional routes to justice are far from certain.
Off Season is set on Martha’s Vineyard, a seasonal vacation island that enjoys a well-publicized reputation as a luxurious vacation spot for celebrities, politicians and the ultra-wealthy. From the perch of this exclusive status, Off Season traverses the class divide to a darker, more rural underbelly of the island where the perceived inevitability of injustice motivates revenge.
In Off Season these twin themes—the ripple effect of past violence and the inevitability of injustice— intertwine in a slow-burn rural thriller that explores how acts anchored in noble intention can have unpredictable, far-reaching and more horrific consequences.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 14 WRITER | COMPOSER | PRODUCER ERIK LIEBLEIN
Erik Lieblein has been writing screenplays for the past two decades. Originally a songwriter, he co- founded the musical band “Steak” in 1992. The band recorded 6 Albums over a 15 year stretch and had 2 songs chosen for the soundtrack of the cult classic SUPER TROOPERS, “Big Bear” and “Second to the Bottle”, both of which Erik co-wrote.
Erik has been spending the off season on Martha’s Vineyard for the past quarter century and has forged many lasting friendships throughout that time. His connection to the island and its people was essential to the writing and production of “Off-Season”. Witnessing for himself how the climate of the island shifts in the Autumn months.
Erik is currently adapting a screenplay he co-wrote SMOKED into a pilot.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 15 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY CLARKE MAYER
Clarke Mayer is a NY based DP, director, writer. After graduating from William Paterson University with a BA in Communications concentrating in film, he began to produce his own content. His first directorial short FEED A, had a successful festival run, and earned the attention of Werner Herzog. The short gained him a place in Herzog's fifth "Rogue Film School" an invitation only four day seminar with Werner himself in which FEED A was screened. His most recent project is a TV pilot he directed and cowrote titled THE UNCLE GERRY SHOW, starring Vincent Pastore and Tony Darrow.
Clarke has served as cinematographer on several features and over 20 short films including multiple award winning 48 Hour Film Projects and sports documentaries such as KEEP PUNCHING, a story about a daytime chef who competes in the Golden Gloves boxing tournament at night.
Clarke has directed multiple concert films including LET US IN - A TRIBUTE TO LINDA MCCARTNEY a Reviver Records awareness concert at The Ryman Auditorium featuring various Nashville Recording artists including Jeff Daniels and Kenny Loggins, and THE MANY MOODS OF MCCARTNEY a tribute to Paul McCartney's classical music featuring the Asheville Symphony Orchestra.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 16 COMPOSER | SOUND DESIGNER KEN McQUEEN
Kenneth McQueen III is a theatrical and film composer. His recent credits include the feature film OFF SEASON, the short film THE PRODIGAL MOTHER, and the Off Broadway productions of DRAGON SLAYER and I CAN SING AN OPERA.
Kenneth has worked with Grammy Award winner Robert Thomas Jr and Billboard Award winner Johnny Rodgers on a variety of projects including piano and choral arrangements for albums and tours.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 17 PRODUCER DENNIS RAINALDI
Dennis Rainaldi is a writer, director and producer born and raised in the suburbs of New York City. He received a BA in English and Theater Studies at Siena College and an MA in Internal Affairs and Media Studies at The New School in NYC.
In 2013 he left an 8-year long career as a project manager at the United Nations to pursue a career in film. Since then he has produced 3 feature films, many short films and was the sound mixer for over 10 feature films and multiple television series. In 2018 he wrote and directed his first short film, THE PRODIGAL MOTHER, which is currently on the festival circuit.
In his spare time, he writes a column for Script Magazine and is a contributing photographer for Getty Images.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 18 PRODUCER SARA NESSON
Sara is an LA based director and short form docu-editorial storyteller. She is best known for her Oscar & Emmy Nominated, & International Documentary Association (IDA) Winning documentary, POSTER GIRL, about the first female gunner in the Iraq War who returns home to battle her demons and the dysfunctional VA system. Her ability to engage and build trust with her subjects, allows viewers to be transported emotionally and viscerally, as if breathing the same air and walking the same shoes. Sara's roots in veritè style filmmaking, combining relatable, human driven stories with dynamic imagery, has led to her authentic cinematic vision.
Her film, WOMEN WHO SCORE, recently received a Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA) nomination for Best Music Documentary, bringing more attention to women composers who make up 3% of the top 250 box office films. That experience led her to make THE BERKLEE SEVEN, featuring a new generation of film composers at Berklee College of Music, and what it takes to be the next John Williams. More recently, she finished co-directing and editing TWO BEATS ONE SOUL, a feature documentary about a music industry couple's ambitious goal to bring a dozen American artists to Cuba to collaborate with the next generation of Cuban musicians on a genre bending album.
Sara stays mostly on the ground with yoga and is a lover of cooking, thrillers, and live music. She serves on the board of Warrior Writers.
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 19 PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Produced by Blind Nomad Pictures
420 St. Marks Avenue, Apt. 1 Brooklyn, NY 11238 ph: 917-476-6020 email: [email protected]
Distributed by Indican Pictures
1041 North Formosa Avenue, Formosa Building – Suite 221A West Hollywood, CA 90046 ph: 323-850-2667 email: [email protected]
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 20 SCREEN SHOTS
Lena’s plans are about to fall through
Becca meets Lena
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 21
Devon gives Lena a ride
Lena walks on the farm
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 22
Lena sees the farm
Kellen introduces himself to Lena
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 23
Kellen shows Lena the farm
Lena meets the landscapers
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 24
Sadie passing time on the farm
Sadie in her secret hiding place
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 25
Kellen taking care of the Raccoons
Sadie takes Lena to her secret hiding place
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 26
Becca in her kitchen
Sadie hugs Lena
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 27
The farm from up high
Devon making trouble at the bar with the landscapers
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 28
Lena and Cassie at the pig roast
Cassie concerned
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 29
Sadie in the tree
Kellen in his kitchen
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 30 The tree
BLIND NOMAD PICTURES 31