ELEANOR DRIVE PICTURES AND FOLKLORE ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT A FILM BY RACHEL MCDONALD 24 MINS, 25 SECONDS STARRING: JOSH PENCE, GALE HAROLD WITH MICHAEL BOFSHEVER AND MELANIE GRIFFITH OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2014 LOCARNO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ELEANOR DRIVE PICTURES 822 WOODLAWN AVE. VENICE, CA 90291 310.733.8699 WWW.THIRSTFILM.COM [email protected] @THIRSTSHORTFILM THIRST SYNOPSIS Billy, a troubled man ready to erase himself, finds mercy and companionship among the weary denizens of a rundown bar. He makes an unlikely connection with Sue, a wilted beauty, who provides new inspiration for Billy to take the first halting steps toward a new sense of purpose. FRENCH Billy, un homme perturbé prêt à se suicider, trouve enfin la paix et l’amitié parmi les résidents miséreux d’un bar délabré. Il y fait une rencontre invraisemblable avec Sue, une beauté fanée, qui va lui procurer de l’inspiration afin qu’il réalise, ses premiers pas hésitants vers une nouvelle raison d’être ITALIAN Billy, un uomo perturbato, trova finalmente la pace e l’amicizia tra i residenti miseri di un bar rovinato. Li fa un incontro improbabile con Sue, una bellezza fanée che li dara l’inspirazione per realizzare i suoi primi esite passi verso una nuova raggione per esistere. PAGE 02 THIRST DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Thirst was born out of conversations with my friend and our writer, Michael Albanese. Michael and I were developing a feature film together and one day he said to me, “When something haunts me, I write about it.” He then told me a story about a dark time in his life when he was living in New York City and felt completely hopeless and despondent. Michael was broke, alone and lost. With only a few quarters to his name, he set out determined to remedy his situation. Michael’s story struck a chord with me and there were aspects of it that I believe many people can relate to, myself included. In my life, I have witnessed the way humans can become completely disconnected and paralyzed when life doesn’t work out as planned. One thing that seems consistent is that we need and want to have a purpose and for our lives to have meaning. What speaks to me in these scenarios is the process that people go through when they come out of the darkness, accept the dissonance in the universe and decide to make a change. I find this courage fascinating and, in the case of Thirst, quite beautiful. Billy, our hero played by Josh Pence, chooses to face his life and finds himself staring across a seedy bar at an unlikely collection of saviors. I love this idea of finding grace and compassion amongst complete strangers. Billy finds a renewed purpose through an unexpected friendship with Sue, a beguiling broken beauty, played by Melanie Griffith. His connection with Sue is at the heart of our story and provided the foundation for me to shape this narrative. As a director, it was incredibly inspiring working with this remarkable cast to bring Billy and Sue’s story to life. The emotion and honesty they gave to these characters was extraordinary and those performances moved me and guided throughout this entire process. PAGE 03 THIRST DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY A native of Pass Christian, Mississippi, Rachel McDonald’s charm, vision, and relentless creative drive is what brings her films to fruition. She credits her craft as a narrative storyteller to her childhood in the American Deep South. After losing all of her belongings to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Rachel’s adventurous spirit became her home. She sought inspiration in work assignments in places such as Egypt and Uganda. Having spent the first half of her film career working for heralded filmmakers like Frank Darabont, Nancy Meyers, and Clint Eastwood, Rachel has since honed her style as an intuitive and fiercely visionary director in her own right. After years of directing commercials, branded content and an award winning short documentary, Thirst is Rachel’s first narrative short. She is currently developing her first feature film. DIRECTOR’S FILMOGRAPHY: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2576505/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 www.rachelmcdonald.us Director (2 credits) Writer (1 credit) Thirst (Short) 2015 Thirst (Short) (story) 2015 Uganda: Friends of the Gorilla Producer (1 credit) (Short Documentary) 2010 Thirst (Short) (producer) - 2015 **Winner Silver Arara - TOUR FILM BRAZIL PAGE 04 THIRST MELANIE GRIFFITH Melanie Griffith received an Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA nomination and won a Golden Globe award for her memorable role as Tess McGill in Mike Nichol’s smash hit Working Girl. In 2003, she made her Broadway musical debut in Chicago as the fame-hungry Roxy Hart, impressing critics and audiences alike. Griffith’s performance opposite Liev Schreiber, John Malkovich and James Cromwell in the HBO movie RKO 281 earned her both an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination. She received rave reviews for her performances in the following films - Crazy in Alabama, directed by her husband Antonio Banderas, in Larry Clark’s Another Day in Paradise, and in Woody Allen’s Celebrity, opposite Kenneth Branagh. She also provided the voice of ‘Margalo’ in Sony’s family hit, Stuart Little 2. Griffith has collaborated with some of the film industry’s most important directors. Her career began at age sixteen in Arthur Penn’s Night Moves. She then appeared in the murder mystery The Drowning Pool starring Paul Newman; gained attention as a starlet who holds the missing piece to the murder puzzle in Brian de Palma’s Body Double; and then co-starred in Jonathan Demme’s off-beat comedy-drama Something Wild. She received Golden Globe nominations for her roles in both Body Double and Something Wild. She went on to star in Mike Figgis’ stylish film noir Stormy Monday with Tommy Lee Jones and Sting; Robert Redford’s The Milagro Beanfield War; and John Schlesinger’s psychological thriller Pacific Heights opposite Michael Keaton and Mattew Modine. Reteaming with director Brian de Palma, she starred with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis in Bonfire of the Vanities, before joining Michael Douglas and Liam Neeson in the World War II espionage romance Shining Through. After starring in Paradise with Don Johnson, Griffith followed with Sidney Lumet’s police drama A Stranger Among Us; a remake of Garson Kanin’s Born Yesterday; and Robert Benton’s Nobody’s Fool opposite Paul Newman. Her other film credits include Richard Benjamin’s charming comedy Milk Money opposite Ed Harris; a cameo role in Now and Then; Fernando Trueba’s Two Much, starring Antonio Banderas and Daryl Hannah; Lee Tamahori’s Mulholland Falls with Nick Nolte; and Adrian Lyne’s controversial film Lolita. Her other credits include John Waters’ Cecil B. Demented, the crime thriller Tempo, and Shade opposite Sylvester Stallone and Gabriel Byrne. Her most recent work was as Betsy in Suri Krishnamma’s Dark Tourist; and her next movie planned to release in 2014 she will be seen starring alongside Antonio Banderas in Gabe Ibanez’ Automata. On television, Griffith starred in the comedy Twins, opposite Sara Gilbert. She also starred in the mini-series Buffalo Girls, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination; and starred with James Woods in the HBO film Women & Men: Hills Like White Elephants. She also appeared in the casino drama Viva Laughlin. She can last be seen guest starring on the TV comedy series Raising Hope and in USA network’s TV movie; Call Me Crazy. Griffith recently wrapped production on CBS’ Hawaii 5-0. In 2001, Griffith was honored with a Special Festival Award for her body of work at the Cannes Film Festival. In June, Melanie was honored with the 2014 Taormina Arte Award in Taormina, Italy. PAGE 05 THIRST JOSH PENCE A Santa Monica native and Dartmouth College graduate, Josh Pence began his career under famed New York acting coach Sheila Gray and made his feature film debut in Robert DeNiro’s THE GOOD SHEPHERD. Upon returning to Los Angeles in 2007, Josh appeared in Ian McCrudden’s THE THINGS WE CARRY. He then landed the coveted role of Tyler Winklevoss in the Oscar-winning David Fincher drama THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Since then, Josh’s credits have included Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (playing the young Ra’s Al Ghul), Peter Berg’s BATTLESHIP, Josh Schwartz’s FUN SIZE, and Ruben Fleischer’s GANGSTER SQUAD, with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and Ryan Gosling. In April, Josh starred in Ivan Reitman’s DRAFT DAY alongside Kevin Costner. He begins filming the indie drama Containing Charlie in September. PAGE 06 THIRST GALE HAROLD Gale Harold is from Atlanta, Georgia. After studying photography and printmaking the San Francisco Art Institute, Harold began studying acting at the suggestion of writer and producer Susie Landau Finch. After three years of training and theatre work, Harold was cast and starred for five years as “Brian Kinney”, the lead character in the SHOWTIME adaptation of the British series “Queer As Folk”. Harold’s film credits include WAKE, PARTICLES OF TRUTH (Tribeca Film Festival), RHINOCEROS EYES (Toronto Film Festival), FATHERS AND SONS, THE UNSEEN, and FALLING FOR GRACE. Along with executive producer David Bowie and producer Mia Bays, Gale coproduced the film SCOTT WALKER: 30TH CENTURY MAN, directed by Stephen Kijak. The film’s world premiere was at the London Film Festival, and debuted internationally at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film’s U.S. premiere was at the South By Southwest Film Festival. This Spring, Harold will be appearing in Rockne S. O’Bannon’s new SYFY series, “Defiance”. Gale recently had regular roles on the CW series “The Secret Circle” and ‘Hellcats”.