split ends CORINNA MAY LAWTON PASEKA VINCENT PASTORE PETER MCROBBIE Cut and run? Never! split ends Information Kit Revised 3/28/09 1 split ends Synopsis ANNINGTREE, NEW JERSEY is a little town on the brink of extinction. The 19th century storefronts of Old Town are being threatened by an international development M cabal, North Sea Assets. North Sea is preparing to raze Old Town and replace it with a massive mall/luxury condo complex named – incongruously – Cortona. If Cortona is built, a dozen mom and pop businesses will be bought out and uprooted, and if anyone refuses to sell, North Sea Assets is prepared to use eminent domain law to pry the Old Towners off of their property. When our story begins, Cortona has a great shot at being approved. Manningtree’s portly Mayor, Tiny Provenzano, has a vested interest in Cortona’s success, and North Sea’s point man, the charming Warren Brown, is determined to remove any obstacle in its way. That obstacle is Scottish-born Lizzie Munro. She owns and operates The Paisley Set hair salon in Manningtree. Lizzie is over 40, vibrant, witty, and quite capable of attracting male attention. Her salon caters to the locals, and while Lizzie’s not making a fortune in the beauty game, she earns enough to get by and keep three local beauticians employed – worldly-wise Jacquie, bohemian waif Ashley, and a wry Pakistani immigrant, Mehar. They’re a tight group who work together and occasionally meet for a meal at MacIntosh’s, the local pub. 1 split ends Lizzie’s love life is full of split ends. She has carried on with Len French, the owner of a coffee shop in Old Town, another business slated for the bulldozers. Len’s marriage to mousy Deanne is on the rocks, or more accurately, on life support, but he is hesitant to pull the plug. His relationship with Lizzie might just be the town’s worst-kept secret. Although Lizzie is an intelligent gal, she has, like many women, settled for less than she deserves. Len has filled a void in Lizzie’s life, but now their relationship is no longer enough. When Lizzie receives official notice from the Town of Manningtree that the powers that be intend to plop the grotesque Cortona right in the middle of Old Town, Lizzie vows to fight the invasion. Invoking the spirit of her countryman, William Wallace, aka Braveheart, Lizzie enlists the aid of antique dealer Bernie Depper, her Paisley Set staff, Tiny’s Aunt Connie Provenzano, and the whole town, in her struggle to fend off the developers. Just when the local drama begins to heat up, a new leading man walks into Lizzie’s life. He’s romantic, considerate, passionate … and, unfortunately, the enemy. It’s none other than Warren Brown, under cover – and under the covers – in the service of North Sea Assets. Is Lizzie headed for heartbreak? Is Old Town headed for the wrecking ball? We’ll see. 2 split ends Dorothy Lyman, Director OROTHY LYMAN (DIRECTOR) began her acting career in New York in the late 1960s as a member of Joseph Chaikin’s innovative Open Theatre. She won varied and challenging Droles in London, New York and Los Angeles theatrical productions, including Shrivings with Sir John Gielgud, Fefu and Her Friends, House of Mirth and Niagara Falls. Moving to television, she earned two Emmy® Awards for her portrayal of the flinty but engaging Opal Gardner on the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Her 15 year stint on various daytime dramas led to 136 episodes on the Lorimar sitcom Mama’s Family portraying Vicki Lawrence’s sartorially spirited daughter in law, Naomi. She has appeared in numerous feature films, winning praise for her work in such movies as Victor Nunez’ Ruby in Paradise, and appeared in Ted Demme’s Blow, Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. She continues to guest star in episodic television in such shows as Reba, Judging Amy, The Practice, CSI Miami, Law and Order SVU, and Battlestar Galactica. Ms. Lyman plunged into directing early in her career, bringing the work of our generation’s most noteworthy playwrights to the American stage, including the original off-Broadway production and subsequent national tour of John Ford Noonan’s offbeat A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking. In 1990, Ms. Lyman was tapped to direct the NBC daytime drama, Generations. In 1995, her considerable gifts as a comic actress and her reputation as a “can-do” director came 3 split ends DOROTHY LYMAN — CONTINUE D to the attention of Fran Drescher, who brought her on as a producer-director of the hit CBS comedy, The Nanny. Other television directing assignments included The Simple Life for Sternin and Frasier Ink Inc. and the CBS four-camera film comedy,Payne starring John Laroquette and JoBeth Williams. In 2001 she adapted Betty Fussell’s acclaimed memoir, My Kitchen Wars, for the stage. The one-woman show premiered at Los Angeles’ Second Stage Theatre in February, 2001 and ran at the 78th Street Theatre Lab in New York City in 2004. The Northern Kingdom, written by playwright Nancy Fales Garrett, was Ms. Lyman’s feature film directing debut. The film garnered awards at the San Diego Film Festival, River’s Edge Film Festival, Wild Rose Festival, and was an official selection at the Syracuse International Film Festival, the Fallbrook Film Festival, the Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival, and the Los Angeles FAIF/IndieFest. It will be distributed in 2009 by Vanguard Cinema. Split Ends marks Ms. Lyman’s return to comedy. The film is currently in post-production. 4 split ends Corinna May ORINNA MAY (LIZZIE MUNRO) is an east coast-based actress and playwright with myriad credits. Split Ends marks her first starring role in an independent film. Ms. May recently Cplayed Lavinia in Julie Jensen’s Mormon pioneer drama Two-Headed at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and the principle role of Kate Dupuis in the independent pilot of Bourbon Street, a dramatic television series set in post-Katrina New Orleans. She spent two years on the road as a principle member of the first and second Broadway national tours of The Graduate, playing Benjamin’s Mom and understudying the various Missus Robinson: Jerry Hall, Linda Gray, Lorraine Bracco, Kelly McGillis and Morgan Fairchild. Her many theatrical roles range from Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet to Katherine in Terra Nova. Ms. May is an 18-year member of Shakespeare & Company in western Massachusetts, where she has appeared in more than twenty productions. Her roles have included Enchanted April, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Jack and Jill, Betrayal, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Songs from the Heart, Fortune and Misfortune, House of Mirth, Roman Fever, An International Episode. Her first play,Dancing with the Czar, was produced in Massachusetts last summer. Ms. May has taught at MIT, SUNY Albany, SUNY New Paltz, Circle-in-the-Square, Fordham University, Simon’s Rock of Bard University, and in 2006-2007 was an Assistant Professor of Voice and Acting at Syracuse University. She is Designated Linklater voice teacher, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Barnard College and a graduate of the Circle-in-the-Square Professional Training 5 split ends Lawton Paseka AWTON PASEKA (WARREN BROWN) has enjoyed a varied and successful career, spanning film, theatre, and commercial work. His recent film credits include Roland Emmerich’s LGodzilla, Matthew Harrison’s Kicked In the Head and Spare Me, as well as Pledge Night by director Paul Ziller. With more than a thousand commercial credits, Mr. Paseka is in demand by commercial directors and agencies. His theatre credits include roles in Desperate For A Smoke, Tragedy: A Comedy, the Act, Little Messengers, Last White Cab Driver in New York, Does A Tiger Wear a Necktie, Call It Anything You Like, The Card Table, Lewis & Clark, The Wager, the Matchmaker, Take My Advice, The Royal Family, and The Hostage. Mr. Paseka has been a member of the Basketcase Players, a comedy group. 6 split ends Vincent Pastore NCENT PASTORE (TINY PROVENZANO) is a veteran character actor with a long list of film and television roles. He most recently entertained audiences on NBC’sCelebrity VApprentice. Vincent Pastore is well known for his portrayal of Salvatore Big Pussy Bonpensiero on HBO’s hit series The Sopranos. Other television credits include The Practice, HBO’s Gotti, A Slight Case of Murder, as well as Everybody Hates Chris, Less Than Perfect, Las Vegas, Ed, Law & Order, and One Life to Live. Mr. Pastore was also the host of TLC series Repo Man: Stealing for a Living. On the big screen, Vincent currently can be seen in the independent film’s Code Blue, Pizza With Bullets, PJ, Slice, Devil’s Dominoes and Dough Boy. His filmRevolver under the direction of Guy Ritchie was recently seen in theatres. Other feature film credits include the voice of ‘Luca’ in the Dreamworks hit Shark Tale, appeared in Reginald Hudlin’s Serving Sara, starring Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley; Scott Kalvert’s Deuces Wild, with Matt Dillon; Penny Marshall’s Riding in Cars With Boys, starring Drew Barrymore; Jon Favreau’s Made, with Favreau and Vince Vaughn; Corky Romano; Norman Jewison’s The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington; Mickey Blue Eyes, with Hugh Grant; Vegas Baby, and The Cookout, with Queen Latifah. He had earlier been seen in such films as Jane Austen’s Mafia!, The Jerky Boys, Walking and Talking, Ted Demme’s Who’s The Man, True Love, and The Basketball Diaries, to name a few.