How He Fell in Love

Written and Directed by Marc Meyers 2015 / 108 min / United States / English / Drama www.howhefellinlove.com/presskit

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Publicity: Marina Bailey Film Publicity Marina Bailey and Sara Tehrani 6569 De Longpre Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90028 173 Richardson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11222 Office: (323) 962-7511 Cell: (323) 650-3627 PICTURESTM Office: (718) 312-8210 Fax: (718) 362-4865 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] [email protected] www.monumentreleasing.com www.marinabailey.com LOGLINE A casual affair between a young musician and a married woman turns into an intimate and profound connection that threatens to derail their lives.

SHORT SYNOPSIS Travis, a struggling young musician, crosses paths with Ellen, an older, married yoga instructor who is in the process of adopting a child. Travis and Ellen begin an affair that slowly deepens into something more intimate and profound. As their encounters continue, Travis must face the consequences of infidelity while Ellen is confronted with her crumbling marriage.

TECH SPECS Run Time: 108 min Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 Shooting Format: ARRI Alexa Sound: 5.1 Dolby Digital Country: United States Language: English DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT After finishing my feature Harvest, I revisited a previous draft of How He Fell in Love. I had been happily married for several years and knew the time was ripe for me to return to this story and explore a kind of intimacy that I hadn’t yet put on screen.

Yes, How He Fell in Love is essentially about an extramarital affair. But, first and foremost, I wanted to explore how two people can become genuinely and intensely connected to one another, even when timing and boundaries don’t work in their favor.

With that, I didn’t want to place judgment that their love is forbidden. I believe these two characters, Travis and Ellen, could potentially help make the other a better person. It was also through this lens that I could look at marriage under pressure, revealing both the gems and heartaches in Ellen and Henry’s own relationship.

Together, these circumstances reveal different facets of love at different stages of life, all in one story. While there are moments and scenes that are quite serious, I’m not interested in presenting everything so seriously. I strive to bring a mix of lightness and drama to my storytelling.

I aim to create a world where the performances are naturalistic. The camera is present, yet doesn’t control our view, so an audience feels like it’s witnessing real people deal with undecorated, nuanced emotions.

Love is a complicated thing, and that dynamic will forever be worth exploring in film. Hopefully, audiences feel I share this in an open, sexy, honest, brutal, and beautiful way.

- Marc Meyers, Writer and Director

CRITICAL PRAISE “Full-bodied and passionate. The type of mature drama that’s rarely seen in American movies.” LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS

“Absorbing and complex.” THE HUFFINGTON POST

“Powerful and convincing, a remarkable story that goes in unexpected directions and finds new depths.” THE LA BEAT

“Wonderful acting and a solid script. Meyers has so grounded the narrative that it feels like a fresh take.” AWARDS CIRCUIT CAST Matt McGorry - Travis Showcasing his talent, charm, wit and passion, Matt McGorry has solidified his spot in Hollywood as one of the industry’s hottest actors. He was recently chosen by Forbes Magazine as one of Hollywood’s “Forbes 30 Under 30 2016.”

Currently starring on ABC’s hit series How to Get Away with Murder, McGorry portrays “know-it-all” law student Asher Millstone. The show has a strong cult following as it holds a coveted spot among Shonda Rhimes’ TGIT lineup. The Emmy Award-winning show is currently in its second season, garnering critical acclaim and holding steady in ratings. McGorry is also known for his fan favorite portrayal of post-military corrections officer John Bennett in the Emmy Award-winning original series, . This year, Matt also appeared on TNT’s newest original drama series Public Morals, produced by Steven Spielberg, as well as the Emmy Award-nominated crime drama Elementary. Other television credits include USA’s Royal Pains, CBS’ Emmy nominated crime drama Person of Interest, and Comedy Central’s Onion SportsDome.

Up next, McGorry can be seen opposite veteran actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler in the Lovell Holder comedy Loserville, in which he plays “Coach Casey Harris.” Matt starred in the film How He Fell In Love, written and directed by Marc Meyers, which was nominated for Best Dramatic Feature and Best Film at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival. Additionally, McGorry starred alongside Ashley Benson in the independent thriller Ratter, which debuted in early 2015.

A self-described feminist, McGorry has often been praised for his cultural and political advocacies. Penning an op-ed for Cosmopolitan magazine, McGorry described the process in which he discovered how becoming a feminist was like falling in love. He often attributes his cultural ‘eye- opening’ to Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In. McGorry has also joined the fight for gender equality. This past October, he united with Amber Rose in her first annual “SlutWalk LA” as a featured speaker. “SlutWalk LA” is a protest calling for an end to rape culture. McGorry took the stage and addressed the thousands of participants in attendance to protest against excusing the act rape by referring to any aspect of a woman’s appearance. McGorry also joined Amber Rose in her Funny Or Die short, Walk of No Shame – highlighting a woman’s right to celebrate her own sexual freedom.

This past fall McGorry lent his name to the “It’s On Us” PSA that took the nation by storm. The foundation urges adults, of all ages, to recognize the difference between consensual sex and sexual assault. McGorry joined the ranks of Jon Hamm, Zoe Saldana, Kerri Washington and many more. The new “It’s On Us” campaign launched in the fall of 2015 – timed to ‘back to school’ festivities.

McGorry has also been a vocal advocate of the “Black Lives Matter” movement by regularly posting impactful messages on his social media accounts. With nearly 2.5 million followers across his main platforms, McGorry’s thought provoking and socially conscious posts have proven instrumental when bringing matters of a sensitive nature to the forefront. Amy Hargreaves - Ellen Amy Hargreaves plays Maggie on the Emmy Award-winning Showtime series Homeland. Her film credits include, among others: Blue Ruin, Shame and Michael Clayton. She’s currently filming Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck. Notable TV roles include the HBO original film Flashback (CableAce nomination for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series or Special), as well as recurring roles on Law & Order: SVU and Third Watch. She has also appeared on Blindspot and Elementary.

Britne Oldford - Monica Britne Oldford burst onto the scene with her role as Cadie in the MTV series Skins. After a diverse body of television work ranging from ABC Family’s Ravenswood to the Emmy-winning American Horror Story, Britne is starring in the new SyFy series Hunters. She recently appeared in Adam Rapp’s acclaimed film Loitering with Intent, as well as the CW’s hit television series The Flash.

Mark Blum - Henry Mark co-stars in the Golden Globe-winning Amazon series as Union Bob. His extensive film work includes Shattered Glass, Desperately Seeking Susan, and . A highly-regarded character actor, Mark has appeared in guest roles on television shows including , St. Elsewhere, , , NYPD Blue, and Judging Amy. His extensive stage credits include roles in Richard Greenberg’s Tony Award-winning play “The Assembled Parties,” and the Broadway revival of ’s “The Best Man.” FILMMAKERS Marc Meyers Director / Writer, Producer

Marc’s narrative feature, How He Fell In Love, premiered at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival and will be theatrically released in July 2016 via Monument Releasing. His wife and producing partner Jody Girgenti was pregnant while filming; their daughter was born during the editing of the film.

My Friend Dahmer is set to be his fourth narrative feature film. His screenplay, which is based on the award-winning graphic novel of the same name, landed on the prestigious 2014 Black List.

His previous film, Harvest, is a New York Times Critics’ Pick. It stars Oscar nominees Robert Loggia and Barbara Barrie, Jack Carpenter, Arye Gross, and Tony Winner Victoria Clark, with original music by Grammy & Tony Winner Duncan Sheik and David Poe. Harvest was released theatrically in 2011, aired on Showtime and is currently available on home video and major digital platforms. Marc’s debut feature, Approaching Union Square, was broadcast on Sundance Channel. He also was part of the filmmaking team behind the 9/11-themed documentary Witnessing, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired on MSNBC.

Marc started honing his storytelling skills as a playwright. He is an alumnus of various theater collectives in New York including the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Cherry Lane Theatre. He formerly handled sales & sponsorship at Variety, Inc. Marc began his career as a development consultant for the IFP Market & Gotham Awards. He’s a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College.

Marc lives with his family in Brooklyn, NY. He is represented by United Talent Agency (UTA) and Aperture Entertainment in Los Angeles. Jody Girgenti, p.g.a. Producer

Jody is an executive and creative producer with a diverse array of experience in entertainment and media.

Her most recent feature, How He Fell In Love, premiered at Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival. It stars Matt McGorry (How To Get Away With Murder, Orange Is The New Black) and Amy Hargreaves (Homeland, Blue Ruin) and will be released in summer 2016.

Her previous feature, Harvest, is a NY Times Critics’ Pick. Stephen Holden writes, “meticulously written and exquisitely acted … Harvest shows the truth of life as it is lived.” It stars Oscar nominees Robert Loggia and Barbara Barrie, Jack Carpenter, Arye Gross, and Tony Winner Victoria Clark, with original music by Grammy & Tony Winner Duncan Sheik and David Poe. Harvest was released theatrically in 2011, aired on Showtime & is now available on all major digital platforms. Her feature Approaching Union Square aired on the Sundance Channel.

Additionally, Jody launched the filmed content production division for digital agency MRY (formerly LBi) with an expanded focus on partnerships with publishers, influencers, and creator networks. Client work includes award-winning brand content for Visa, Adobe, J&J, Sony, Coca-Cola, and more.

Formerly, she served as an original programming executive at AMC, where Jody oversaw shows in development and supervised production of pilots and series including Sunday Morning Shootout and Movies 101. An early internal advocate pushing AMC towards cinematic scripted storytelling, Jody was an integral part of the original development team then responsible for Mad Men.

She worked for independent distributor ThinkFilm at its inception, working on a slate of theatrical releases, including Oscar-nominee Spellbound. Before ThinkFilm Jody worked at Court TV, part of the development team responsible for documentaries and original movies, including Peabody award-winning The Interrogation Of Michael Crowe and global social issue campaign Speak Truth To Power.

Jody is a member of the Producers Guild of America. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband & producing partner Marc Meyers and their wonderful daughter. Ruben O’Malley Cinematographer Recently, Ruben gained attention as the cinematographer of viral sensation Drone Boning. He is proud to have been a part of several feature films that have played in theaters around the US and internationally. Among these are Harvest (dir. Marc Meyers), and Tomorrow Comes Today (dir. Ming Lang Chen) and his work with Jeff Lipsky (Once More with Feeling and Twelve Thirty).

The doc he shot with Ned McNeilage and Jen Clymer, Showfolk (2014 Tribeca Film Festival) has been recognized around the country for its portrait of the residents at the MPTF home in Woodland Hills. His recently completed Tiny Giant the story of Jeff Steinberg, a severely disabled gospel performer. Ruben has shot for numerous PBS projects and IFC’s highest rated projects (Indie Sex and Fabulous).

His commercial work (Febreze, Breath Happy, and No Ordinary Park Bench for Virgin) with director Sam Cadman has won numerous awards at Cannes. Ruben has also distinguished himself in the world of branded content with the second season of The High Road with Mario Batali.

Jamie Kirkpatrick Editor

Jamie Kirkpatrick’s true passion for editing began the day he was allowed to sit in on an editing session with Steven Spielberg and witnessed how the director was able to re-structure a mediocre dialogue scene into a laugh-out-loud moment in the film.

After 18 years in the industry Jamie has built up a diverse filmography, includingSouth Park – Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Dark Water, The Door in the Floor, and Lost in Translation.

His feature editing credits include Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, The Longest Week with Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde, and most recently, An Interview With God with David Strathairn and Brenton Thwaites.

His enthusiasm for cinematic storytelling is matched only by his total dedication to the craft of film editing, his encyclopedic knowledge of the works of Krystof Kieslowski and his well-documented weakness for a good doughnut.

Stephanie Holbrook, CSA Casting Director

Stephanie has cast dozens of acclaimed independent films over the last decade. Stephanie’s multiple film credits include three which recently premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Meera Menon’s Equity, Antonio Campos’ Christine, and The Eyes of My Mother for Nicolas Pesce.

Other recent credits include Life of Crime starring Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins, John Hawkes, Mos Def and Will Forte; The Lifeguard (2013 Sundance) starring Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Amy Madigan, Martin Starr, and Alex Shaffer; Geezer starring Billie Joe Armstrong, Selma Blair, Judy

(cont’d on next page) Greer, and Dallas Roberts; Ratter starring Ashley Benson; and Marc Meyers’s How He Fell In Love (2015 Los Angeles Film Festival) starring Matt McGorry, Amy Hargreaves, Mark Blum, and Britne Oldford. Other upcoming/future releases include: Ghost Team, Jane Wants A Boyfriend, Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, Ava’s Possessions, and The Abandoned.

Collaborating with Casting Director Douglas Aibel, they recently cast About Ray starring Naomi Watts, Susan Sarandon, and Elle Fanning. Stephanie was the Associate Casting Director on The Life Aquatic, Trust the Man, Failure To Launch, We Own the Night, The Squid and the Whale, and Margot at the Wedding, as well as the Kenneth Lonergan film Margaret. Stephanie was Casting Director on M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening, having previously been Associate Casting Director on The Village and Lady in the Water. Aibel and Holbrook continue to co-cast.

A member of the Casting Society of America, Stephanie previously received an Artios Award for her participation in the successful effort to unionize Casting Directors.

Jay Lifton Composer His music is heard somewhere on a daily basis, whether in films, independent theater, or national television commercials. He has composed music for 5 To 7, starring Anton Yelchin and Olivia Thirlby, Chlorine, starring Vincent D’Onofrio and Kyra Sedgwick, Beneath the Sheets, starring Noah Bean, and We Cause Scenes, a documentary about performing arts group Improv Everywhere.

Non-film projects include the scores to fifteen IBM commercials for the 2014 Golf Masters. Jay also directed his first short film this year, TEST.

Jay holds a BA in music from Tufts University and an MM in Jazz Studies from The New England Conservatory of Music. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.

Gambles Original Songs He found himself in a shack on a beach in Costa Rica with a girl he’d just met and a tropical storm hammering the windows and a guitar he probably couldn’t remember picking up, and he was lost in the song and the moment and suddenly she stopped him — and asked him to play that again. That was the moment when Gambles was born.

He came home from the tropics to NYC in the fall of 2012. While drinking with his best friend, he sat on the couch too drunk to think too much and took one single take to pour out a song never written down into a microphone. That was “Trust,” the first song he would post on his tumblr and that Pitchfork somehow found a few weeks later and presented to the world.

Across the winter of 2012 and the spring of 2013, he sang through songs born only in the most unpredictable unguarded moments — lonesome late nights or long nowhere drives while touring with The Maccabee. And in the songs that would become his debut EP Far From Your Arms and first full- length Trust. There is a darkness in these songs, just like the time that birthed them: “There’s no safe side,” he sings. “Wherever I stand, I damage.” But in the same way, there’s light and a new beginning waiting. Doree Simon Co-Producer / Unit Production Manger Her background ranges from micro-budget indies to high-end branded content campaigns, providing her with experience to take on a wide range of projects. Notable credits include: Co- director on Sundance Film Festival/Participant Media feature documentary about the Occupy Wall Street movement, 99%, Production Manager on Five Star (2014 Tribeca Film Festival) about gang violence, and a slew of branded content and ad campaigns for clients including AT&T, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Marvel, Toys for Tots, United Way and more.

Amanda Warman Co-Producer / Location Manager Notable producing credits include: Adam Goldman’s The Outs and Whatever This Is, starring Alan Cumming; Laurent Rejto’s Persephone, starring Academy Award winner Melissa Leo; Jeff Lipsky’s Molly’s Theory of Relativity; Ron Nyswaner’s documentary of Tony Award winner Mary Louise Wilson, She’s The Best Thing In It.

Amanda is currently a branded content producer at Vice Media, producing web series, music videos, and commercials for clients GE, Stella Artois, Smirnoff, Ketel One.

Previously, she served as Director of Exhibitor Relations at Adopt Films, distributing internationally award-winning films from Cannes, TIFF, NYFF, and the Berlinale. In 2012, she began producing the hit web series, The Outs, named by Paper Magazine as “the best web series ever.”

In 2013, Amanda co-founded a creative agency called Rascal Department and produced her creative team’s new hit web series, Whatever This Is. The series became a Vimeo Staff Pick, was nominated for a 2014 Webby Award for Best Long Form Drama Series, and was named by IndieWire as the “best dramatic web series of 2013.”

CREDITS

CAST

Travis Matt McGorry Ellen Amy Hargreaves Monica Britne Oldford Henry Mark Blum Jason Bobby Moreno Steve Seth Barrish Pauline Christine Campbell Amy Katie Paxton

CREW

Written and Directed by Marc Meyers Producers Jody Girgenti, p.g.a. Marc Meyers Co-Producers Amanda Warman Doree Simon Cinematographer Ruben O’Malley Editor Jamie Kirkpatrick Original Score Jay Lifton Original Songs Gambles Casting Stephanie Holbrook, C.S.A. Costume Designer Michael Bevins