Twenty Men One Woman Synopsis Story Outline
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
TWENTY MEN ONE WOMAN SYNOPSIS STORY OUTLINE What’s a girl to do when her Patricia (Alexandra Woodward) is a biological clock is ticking, single, thirty-something woman who yet marriage and a hus- is fed up of being in relationships that band are the furthest thing go nowhere. With her biological clock ticking, she decides to find a from her mind? SILENT MEN man to have a child with. But there is follows the trials and tribu- one catch: their relationship must be lations of one very modern- platonic and he must raise the child minded young woman, with her. Patricia (Alexandra Wood- With the enlisted help of her best ward), as she tries to plan friend Liam (Neal McDonough) and out her motherhood. With a video camera, Patricia sets out to find the man who will start her family. the enlisted help of her best But of course, all this is easier said friend Liam (Neil McDo- than done, and after meeting over nough) she interviews on twenty willing guys, often with hila- video dozens of men to find rious results, she realizes her search a suitable potential father needs to be within herself, and just for her child. But there’s a maybe she wasn’t quite clear on catch: the relationship must what she wanted to begin with... be platonic! «How many silent men will I meet before the right one speaks to me? …Every woman thinks she has a soul mate but sometimes she doesn’t find one. How do you plan to have child- ren with a strange man without com- promising your beliefs?» trademark improvisational style is applied to every part of Silent Men. “It was all just an adrenaline rush! We laughed so much as we made stuff up, which is really obvious if you look at the rough cut. It was just plain old fun all the way!” remembers star Alexandra Woodward. This style doesn’t only apply to those in front of the camera, warns Director of Photography Karine Zerbé. “I remember I was the crew of one!” she recalled. “It was quite exciting. Bashar brought me to California and we arrived in L.A. the day before we started shooting. We immediately drove to the camera store, bought a brand-new came- ra and I went home and studied the manual that night. The next morning we started shooting!” she laughed. As with all Shbib films this one was fast and very intense. All admit there were the usual challenges associated with a low-budget filmmaking: the lack of time, and the lack of a proper crew compliment in this case, but all enjoyed the family-style atmosphere so common on a Shbib set, they would routinely help the director cook PRODUCTION NOTES meals for the rest of the cast and crew. To add to the familial atmosphere usually created by Shbib, many of Silent Men was shot without a script, not uncommon for the men in Silent Men were personal friends of Wood- Bashar Shbib, who attributes his trademark improvisa- ward’s, who tional style to many of his successes, including Julia Has describes Silent Men as a project that is particularly Two Lovers. Often categorized as “Grassroots Filmma- close to her heart and a true joy to work on. “Working king,” Shbib prefers to have a loose storyline, letting the with Neal was great… I learned incredible amounts actors feel out the part and add their own spin to the about the importance of the slightest details. I had fun story as well as the character. For Shbib it’s more about rallying up most of the actors and helped with locations the moment than the line, and that too.” ABOUT THE CAST Alexa and Shbib have a rather volatile friendship. As their respective views on film making techniques are Born in Majorca, Spain, to a quite different and neither is afraid to German mother and an voice his or her opinions, sometimes American father Alexandra their discussions get quite heated! Woodward moved to the U.S. at Working with Shbib is always a crazy the age of 16 to attend experience according to Alexa; one boarding school. While her needs to get used to the unusual theatrical training has been rhythm of a Shbib shoot. “But its all somewhat sporadic, she has about having fun, right?” she asked. known Shbib for several years and has worked with him on Alexa lives in L.A. with her son, Jaxon, several of his films including The and her horse, Kezan. She is currently Wedding Murders, Panic, A busy producing other independent Midsummer’s Wake and a film productions that focus on socio- television pilot called Granite economic and political issues and Forks. She became involved in how they affect the life of the pro- her first Shbib film, Taxi to L.A., tagonist. “I’m a champion for the when a mutual friend brought under-dog!” she avows, “and all the her on his set to do a simple car projects I choose to become involved scene and sent the demos from in are based on my love for the Hollywood to Montreal. Shbib, common man and experiences that more than impressed with her makes the ordinary extra-ordinary.” natural acting ability, hired her immediately. Alexa likes to spend her free time up in the mountains; she plays polo and is heavily involved in many political and charitable events. Neal McDonough presently stars in the third season of FX’s Justified as Robert Quarles. In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for «Away Alone». McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Captain America, Nurse 3D, Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The Hitcher. McDonough played Dave Williams on the fifth season of Desperate Housewives. Also he played in film roles include American Gothic opposite Patrick Wilson and The Last Time alongside Brendan Fraser and Michael Keaton. McDonough is perhaps best known to film audiences for his role as Fletcher opposite Tom Cruise in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, Richard Donner’s Timeline starring alongside Paul Walker and Gerard Butler, based on the novel by Michael Crichton, and MGM feature film remake of Walking Tall opposite Dwayne ‘ The Rock’ Johnson. Neal McDonough starred in NBC’s drama Medical Investigation as Dr. Stephen Connor, the head of a highly skilled team of specialists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who work to solve unusual and mysterious illnesses that afflict the country. McDonough is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Deputy District Attorney David McNorris in the acclaimed NBC drama series Boomtown. He was critically praised for his performance and was acknowledged by the Television Critics Association with a nomination for Individual Achievement in Drama. McDonough is currently shooting Clint Eastwood’s Flags of our Fathers for Dreamworks/Warner Brothers based on the best selling novel. Raised in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, McDonough attended Syracuse University and later trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. McDonough lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Ruvé. ABOUT THE CREW Director of Photography, Karine Zerbé, was born and raised in Zerbé described working with Shbib was “the best school ever!” the Montreal region. She received her BA in Communications Learning directly in the field is so much better and can’t be and Film Study from the Université de Montreal and completed compared to learning in a classroom or on your own. “I miss the first year of film production at Concordia University. working with Bashar on a day to day basis but our lives go on and head in different directions,” she said philosophically. Zerbé currently works as a freelance technician in the camera department of the union. She has worked with many other Maïa Nadon-Chbib produces movies has a bachelor’s degree directors in video or digital and with Clark Gregg, a friend of in Communication Studies at Concordia University in Montréal. Shbib’s, with whom she did a short 35mm film. She started very young working on her father’s movies and has not stopped since. In the last 3 years, she has been producer She met Bashar on the first day of a shoot for a movie called on many Oneira Pictures International films, including Drinking Draghoula where she was working as production coordinator. Games, Strawberries and Wine, The Wedding Murders, Silent She went on to be involved with several of Shbib’s other films Men, A Midsummer’s Wake, The Making of …Indie Television?, in various capacities including The Wedding Murders and The Life As It Is, Gabriel’s Trip, Murder in Rock Island and Life As It Senses, a series of films that focused on six human senses. Was. Since opening her own film company in the winter of Strictly Spanking (the sense of touch) was her first job as Direc- 2005, she has produced two projects that are currently in post- tor of Photography. “At that point I had been working with production; an 8-episode television series directed by Bashar 16mm film and a Bolex at school. When I began with Bashar, I Shbib and Jon Deitcher, Granite Forks, and a feature-length film suddenly jumped into 35mm!” she explained. “It was a whole by Adam Coleman-Howard, Frauds in Love. new world.” ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Bashar Shbib (sometimes written Bachar Chbib) was born in Damascus, Syria in 1959. He grew up in the Middle East and on a Charolais beef ranch in the Eastern Townships (Québec). Shbib’s father, a retwired Syrian architect and his mother, a Ger- man housewife and mother of three boys, both live in Spain.