Twenty Men One Woman Synopsis Story Outline

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. Shbib raised his three children: Maïa, Camille and Tadzeo who are all in their twenties by now. He is mostly based in Montreal, Canada and shoots films in as many countries as he can. He lived for 16 years as an independent film director in Los Angeles, New York and Montreal. He has over 50 award winning films to his credit, including 32 feature films and several shorts and documentaries. A man of constant action and motion, Shbib has finished his Masters degree in Communications at McGill University in Montreal and is presently a candidate for his Doctorate -- also in Communications -- at McGill. Shbib also holds an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University and a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Film Directing at Concordia University. He is an abstract painter and an avid gardner. Shbib’s career in directing began with several ‘mockumenta- ries, which won him acclaim in college. He then proceeded to direct feature length motion pictures. His struggles in the Cana- dian film industry led him to leave Canada and produce and direct films in Hollywood. There, his first success was “Julia Has Two Lovers” with Daphna Kastner and David Duchovny. What followed were several comedies -- until 9/11 -- when he made the decision to return to Canada as his Syrian background made his life too difficult in the United States. He then turned to Europe for financing and production support and has since es- He notes that there were also very few female directors around tablished his company in Europe and is now actively producing at that time but admits things have changed a fair amount in feature length motion pictures in all languages. He considers recent years and that there are now more female directors in himself an arthouse film director for international hire. His dream the field. However he concedes that they do not get fair play is to direct stories in every part of the world At an early stage in ‘our patriarchal’ world. He believes that men have main- in his career, Shbib made the conscious decision to use female tained ‘their control of the gaze and are still unwilling to allow protagonists due to the lack of strong independent female roles themselves to be objectified – a clear sign of weakness in the in the industry. male genome’ he adds. COMPLETE CAST AND CREW CREDITS CAST

Patricia ALEXANDRA WOODWARD Liam NEAL McDONOUGH Audrey KATHERINE KOUSI Regis JOE FLANIGAN Robby TRAVIS SHAKESPEARE Paul LEONARD KLADY Jimmy ADAM LINDEMANN Sean MICHAEL ROGERS Writer, Producer, Director Brook PETER TRAUGOTT BASHAR SHBIB John HARRY TIMATEO DALTON Blair NANCY MCNAMARA Executive Producer Tanya TOM (BLISS) LEVINTHAL FAROUK S. CHEBIB Ed KRIS JORGENSEN Mother BARBARA LINDEMANN Associate Producers George Karl STEPHEN HEGYES ALEXANDRA WOODWARD Victor VICTOR KING CARLOS SOUSA Al BRIAN F. NAHAS MAÏA NADON-CHBIB Coatie JASON R. FRASCA Jake DURK DEHNER Mila ANOUK STEINKE Tom TOM CROWL Donna Bella LOUISA RIPPON James CHRIS HORAN Monica HILARY SEGAL Timothy ADRIAN COHEN Steven NEIL FOURNIER Maia KENNON B. RAINES Walter THOMAS J. COLAVITO Micky RONNIE MARMO Richard (Sadhu) JAMES HUGULEY Paul KARL GERHARDT Stewart (the baby) SACHA LAPOINTE Zack LINDSAY PETERS Waitress HÉLÈNE MERCIER Mustafa BASHAR SHBIB CREW POEM Casting Director Post-Production Assistant “Meditation” ALEXANDRA WOODWARD M. BRIAN ROCHE Kennon Raines

Hair and Make-up Artist Post–Production MUSIC KRIS JORGENSEN (IN) EXTENSO

Director of Photography Color Timing THE FREE OXYGEN BAND KARINE ZERBE NICOLAS MARCHAND Songs: 2nd Unit Camera On-line Editor TOLGA KUTLUAY BENOIT MARCOUX Free Oxygen The Earth is my living room Sound Assistant Editor Soul Murmur BASHAR SHBIB IAN DÉSROSIERS Universonic Age of light and Life Editor Technical Services EYAD HAMAM PASCAL FOURNIER The players are as follows: Assistant Editors Co-ordinator BRETT ELLIS NANCY CHARTRAND Christian Paul (Seven Positivity) - ROGER ORCAU SUZANNE CHOUINARD Lead Vocals/Guitar Sébastien Leroux (The Admiral) - Sound Design Art-work Design Lead Guitar ROGER ORCAU MARIE-JOSÉE DUPONT Lindsay Owen Pierre (Sir Duke) - GEOFF KLEIN Bass Guitar/Vocals Production Publicist Leslie (Snooky) - Editing Suites KIM PRANGLEY Drums/Percussion/Vocals ROCK ISLAND POST Shawn Murray (Iceberg Slim) - Accountants Sound mix OBADIA ET ASSOCIÉS Percussion/Guitar ÉRIC TÉSSIER JACQUES OBADIA Vanessa Rodrigues FRANCE MARTEL (The Maestro) - Organ/Piano Mixing Studio STUDIO HARMONIE Legal Consultant ZÉNAÏDE LUSSIER Titles CARLOS SOUSA E&O Insurance GLOBALEX TAILLEFER DÉSJARDINS ASSURANCE Post-Production Coordinator ANOUK TRUDEL Additional credits:

El Dogg Lyrics Admiral Spanky Melody Chris Haper Lyrics and Music Ray Newton Bata, Bongos+Shekere on Universonic Back up vocals Sharon Brooks Saxophon Craig Hodges Produced by: The Free Oxygen Band and David A. Sturton Engineered by: David A. Sturton Additional Engineer Kevin Gault Mastered by Brian Martin at Sonosphere All tracks Melodies and Lyrics by Seven Positivity All arrangement and Music by The Free Oxygen Band Recorded at Studio Economik, and DNA Studios, Montreal Canada All songs from the album FUNKOSYNTHESIS by THE FREE OXYGEN BAND. Please visit www.freeoxygen.com for more information

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

GREGOR VON BISMARCK KENNON B. RAINES THE BODY EXCLUSIVE FEDERICO PIGNATELLI LOUISA RIPPON AIMEE RENTMEESTER TOM CROWL SUNSET MARQUIS HOTEL VILLAS DURK DEHNER STEPHANIE SPERLING KATE DRIVER PETER TRAUGOTT RON EMORD ANOUK STEINKE BEAU FLYNN ALEXANDRA WOODWARD STEPHAN SIMCHOWITZ CLAIRE NADON RESTAURANT IL SOLE HÉLÉNE MERCIER PAOLO GIOVANNI LE DÉLIRIUM CAFÉ KRIS JORGENSEN ROLAND LAPOINTE KATHERINE KOUSI KATHY LAPOINTE TOM (BLISS) LEVENTHAL TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS This picture was produced by ONEIRA PICTURES INTERNATIONAL This picture was shot in the cities of Los Angeles, Title: Silent men in the State of California, and Montreal, in the Province of Quebec. Genre: Fiction, Comedy The copyright material contained herein is Running Time: 90 min protected under the laws of Canada, The United States and other countries and its Format: Color DV unauthorized alteration, editing, distribution or exhibition is a violation of Aspect Ratio: 3:4 applicable laws and is prohibited. The copyright is protected under the Berne Convention and we reserve the Release Date: 2006 right under the Berne Convention. Original Language: English All characters depicted, names used, and incidents portrayed in this film are fictitious. Production Company: Oneira Pictures International No identification with actual personsor buildings is intended nor should be Producer: Bashar Shbib inferred. Any resemblance of the characters portrayed to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Director: Bashar Shbib Any unauthorized distribution, duplication or performance of this motion picture is a violation of applicable, federal, criminal CONTACT and/or civil law. ONEIRA PICTURES All Rights Reserved © SILENT MEN 2014 ONEIRA PICTURES INTERNATIONAL • 4 Phelps street • Stanstead, Québec • Canada J0B 3E2 Tel: (514) 993-0815 • [email protected] All Rights Reserved © SILENT MEN 2014 ONEIRA PICTURES INTERNATIONAL

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