YOU BELONG TO ME a feature film by sam zalutsky

press kit YOU BELONG TO ME a feature film by sam zalutsky

Cast Crew Jeffrey Daniel Sauli Writer/Director/Producer Sam Zalutsky For more information, contact: Gladys Patti D’Arbanville Producer/Line Producer Chip Hourihan SAM ZALUTSKY Stuart Sherman Howard Co-Producer Anita Gabrosek Mama’s Boy LLC Nicki Heather Alicia Simms Co-Producer Diana Williams 225 West 25th Street, #3L René Julien Lucas Associate Producer Molly Conners New York, NY 10001 Michael Kevin Corstange Associate Producer Alfonso Trinidad 917.653.6756 Robert Duane Boutté Cinematographer Jonathan Furmanski myspace.com/youbelongtomefilm Calvin George Loros Production Designer Tamar Gadish [email protected] Costume Designer Moira Shaughnessy Editor Anita Gabrosek Composer John Turner Score performed by Ethel

82 minutes/16:9/color Produced by Mama’s Boy LLC in association with Offhollywood Productions YOU BELONG TO ME a feature film by sam zalutsky

LOG LINE Jeffrey, a young New York architect, is obsessed with René. But when he moves into René’s building, he becomes the object of obsession for Gladys, his older eccentric landlady.

SYNOPSIS When NICKI, his roommate, interrupts JEFFREY, 28, in bed with Jeffrey wakes up to find himself locked in Gladys’ apartment, hunky Frenchman RENÉ, Jeffrey decides he has had enough of guarded by STUART, the building’s handyman. Gladys ignores small apartments and nosy friends. Later, he spies René with Jeffrey’s pleas to return home. She has other plans; she wants to another man and follows them to René’s building, where he take care of him. meets GLADYS, 50s, the stylish landlady, who thinks he wants to Jeffrey soon discovers the source of the groaning – it’s Michael, the see her vacant apartment. He is nervous but also excited about drunk from the other evening, in bed and obviously drugged. The being closer to René. But when he moves in, his new home takes situation is worse than Jeffrey ever imagined. When Jeffrey makes getting used to: Gladys pushes the “good neighbor” concept too a break for freedom, Stuart and Gladys lock him in the basement. far. She gives him her keys, drops by at odd moments, and insists Searching for a way out, Jeffrey stumbles upon Gladys’ dark secret that he help her redesign her home. – he’s not her first victim. How can Jeffrey escape? Will he survive? One night Jeffrey comes home to find an aggressive drunk, What does Gladys really want? MICHAEL, at his door, searching for the previous tenant. But Gladys comes to the rescue, taking Michael off his hands. Finally, Jeffrey can enjoy his new home. But later he hears a disturbing noise from below. Was it a groan? He brushes it off. But the groaning won’t stop. Is that a cry for help? And it’s coming from Gladys’ apartment. The next evening, Jeffrey drops by her place, but she’s running out. When she leaves, Jeffrey returns with the spare keys. As he explores her mysterious home, he hears more disturbing noises down the hall. Suddenly, a HULKING FIGURE attacks him and knocks him out. YOU BELONG TO ME a feature film by sam zalutsky

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

PATTI D’ARBANVILLE (GLADYS) is a veteran performer who has enjoyed a prolific HEATHER ALICIA SIMMS (NICKI) will soon be seen in The Weinstein Company’s career in film and television. Her feature film debut was in Andy Warhol’s Flesh. The Nanny Diaries, alongside Scarlett Johansson, , and Paul Giamatti. Patti endeared herself to film fans in the Barbra Streisand/Ryan O’Neal vehicle She most recently played Jeffrey Wright’s wife, Mona, in Jim Jarmusch’s Broken The Main Event, stealing the show as a girl with a hacking (and hilarious) cough, Flowers and also appeared in the Chris Rock filmHead of State. Heather has also and Cathy Smith in the John Belushi biopic Wired, as well as performances in had guest starring roles on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, Friends, Father’s Day, The Fan, Celebrity, Personal Velocity, Modern Problems, Rancho and . She received her BA from Tufts and her MFA in acting from Deluxe, Perfect Stranger, and World Trade Center. Her television credits include Columbia University. Wiseguy, New York Undercover, My So-Called Life, The Sopranos, Crime Story, South Beach, , Law & Order, Third Watch, Rescue Me, Entourage, Wild JULIEN LUCAS (RENÉ) makes his American debut in You Belong to Me. He has Card, Nip/Tuck, and Homicide: Life On The Street. appeared in numerous films in his native France, including Philippe Garrel’s Les Amants Reguliers (Regular Lovers), with Louis Garrel. The film screened at the DANIEL SAULI (JEFFREY) was most recently seen in the final season of The New York, , Venice, and Toronto Film Festivals. He also appeared in Sopranos as Meadow’s boyfriend. He also recently starred in former NY Times the TV mini-series Les Rois Maudits and the TV movie Nuit Noire, 17 Octobre 1961. critic Bernard Weinraub’s off-Broadway play The Accomplices. Previously, he Julien graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique appeared in films United 93, The Pink Panther, Brooklyn Lobster, Seven and a de Paris. Match, Brooklyn Babylon, and Boiler Room. He starred in the Showtime pilot Hate opposite Marcia Gay Harden and has also guest starred in episodes of Law DUANE BOUTTÉ (ROBERT) is best known for his work in Brother to Brother and & Order: Criminal Intent, Push, Nevada, and Sex & the City. His Broadway credits Stonewall. His credits include Broadway musicals and numerous leading roles in include Louis in The Roundabout’s Tony award-winning production of A View classical and contemporary plays Off-Broadway and throughout the United States. from the Bridge and originating the role of Galileo in David Hare’s The Judas These include Orestes (Berkeley Rep), Mercutio (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Kiss. He also starred in Biloxi Blues (Pasadena Playhouse) and Christmas in Naples and Bayard Rustin in Civil Sex, and roles in premieres of work by Terrence McNally, (Williamstown Theater Festival). Eric Overmeyer, Charles Randolph Wright, and Robert O’Hara. As a composer, his critically acclaimed musical Lyin’ Up a Breeze, based on African-American folk SHERMAN HOWARD (STUART) is perhaps best known to audiences for playing tales, played a sold-out run in Fresno in 2002. Duane received his BA from UCLA Bub in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Sherman has appeared in almost 20 and his MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver. films, including The Man From Elysian Fields, Lethal Weapon 2, and K-9. He has also guest starred on dozens of hit television shows, including Malcolm in the Middle, Cold Case, , ER, Walker, Texas Ranger, Mad About You, and . YOU BELONG TO ME a feature film by sam zalutsky director’s statement and BIOGRAPHy In a city of 8 million people, what would happen if you disappeared? How well SAM ZALUTSKY (WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER) makes his feature film debut can you know your neighbor? Your lover? Yourself? We all have been curious with You Belong to Me. The script was a finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters about what goes on behind our neighbors’ doors. Or wondered what that Lab and the Richard Vague Award (NYU) and was also nominated for Newfest’s strange noise is coming from upstairs. Haven’t you? Vito Russo Award. Sam’s short films have screened at dozens of American and international festivals, won numerous awards, and all received distribution. You Belong to Me began as a video exercise in my final year in New York University’s SuperStore stars Clea Lewis (ABC’s Ellen) and aired on Reel New York, WNET Tisch School of the Arts graduate film program. I created the character of a naive Channel 13’s showcase of independent film, in 2005. It is currently distributed young man, just arrived in New York, who helps a woman on the street carry online by Cinequest (Cinequest.org). Stefan’s Silver Bell, nominated for New York home her groceries. Once inside, he finds a dark, gloomy, and strange apartment University Tisch School of the Arts’s highest filmmaking award, the Wasserman with a sickly man in the bedroom. The young visitor can’t determine whether Award, aired on Reel New York in 2004, and won directing, producing, the woman is helping or harming the bedridden man. When he realizes that the cinematography, and two acting awards from NYU. Smear aired on the woman’s motives aren’t necessarily so good-natured, he tries to leave. But he Independent Film Channel from 2000 – 2003 and can be seen on the collection, can’t. She won’t let him. She has trapped him in her apartment. Boys Briefs. Sam has taught directing at Tec de Monterey, in Querétaro, Mexico, My classmates and professor weren’t sure what was going on (neither was I and currently teaches screenwriting at the low residency MFA in writing at really), but we were all intrigued by the eerie mood and unusual characters. I Spalding University in Louisville, KY. He received his BA in studio art from Yale knew there was something worth exploring in this story and I couldn’t give it up. University and his MFA in film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Slowly, over eight years of trial and error, writing and rewriting while finishing Arts. my degree and working on other projects, I realized that the woman, Gladys, is trying to turn the young man, Jeffrey, into a replica of her own son; she wants to create a substitute for the son that she has lost. She is so obsessed that she can’t tell right from wrong. Jeffrey is so obsessed with another man that he can’t see Gladys insinuating herself into his life. They both want something they can’t have; they both want someone else to be who they can’t be. They are both lonely city dwellers, a mother and a son, who are struggling to connect. I believe that the relationship between mother and child is the most primal relationship that we have as human beings. You Belong to Me explores this bond.

You Belong to Me was inspired by Roman Polanski’s early films— Rosemary’s Baby, The Tenant, Repulsion— genre films which keep you on the edge of your seat but also deal with the profound experience of urban alienation and the strange truth of family, friends, lovers, and neighbors. Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoy the film! YOU BELONG TO ME a feature film by sam zalutsky

CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES CHIP HOURIHAN (PRODUCER/LINE PRODUCER) recently produced Frozen River JORDAN BESWICK, C.S.A. (CASTING DIRECTOR) started as a Casting Assistant to starring Melissa Leo. He also produced, line produced, and directed 2nd unit for Douglas Aibel on Little Odessa and Dead Man Walking. As Mr. Aibel’s Casting Mind the Gap, starring Alan King, John Heard, Jill Sobule, Kim Raver and Writer/ Associate his credits include Signs, Cradle Will Rock, and A Price Above Rubies. Director Eric Schaeffer. The film received the Special Jury Award for Narrative As Casting Director his credits include Forty Shades Of Blue, Urbania, Getting To Feature at the 2004 South by Southwest Film Festival, was released theatrically Know You, and six award-winning short films, including Zalutsky’sStefan’s Silver in 2004, and was broadcast by Showtime in 2005. Hourihan also produced, line Bell. Jordan was Casting/Literary Associate for New York’s Vineyard Theatre, produced, and directed 2nd unit for Personal Sergeant. He wrote, produced and casting plays such as the original production of Paula Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize- directed the award-winning dramatic feature Glissando. winning How I Learned To Drive. As Casting Director his theatrical credits include Hedwig And The Angry Inch, June Moon, and Take My Breath Away. Jordan ANITA GABROSEK (EDITOR/CO-PRODUCER) is currently assisting on Kenneth currently conducts intensive acting workshops in Paris, Berlin, and throughout Lonergan’s new film Margaret. Her recent credits as editor include Wall Street the United States. Warriors, a reality/documentary series which aired on InDemand HD, Cropsey, a feature documentary produced by Antidote Films and Ghost Robot, the award- JOHN TURNER (COMPOSER) has composed for performance, theater, and film, winning documentary, I Sit Where I Want, produced by MTV Networks and co- including Sam Zalutsky’s SuperStore and the short Passengers (Special Jury Prize, directed by Marco Williams and Whitney Dow, and the independent feature, Deauville Film Festival, France). He has been a featured composer on Radio Charlie’s Party. Anita also worked as an additional editor on Bittersweet Place, France Internationale and at the Dimitar Dinev Cultural Center in Sofia, Bulgaria. which will soon air on the Sundance Channel. In 2004 John won the Chorus & Orchestra Composition Award from the American Composer’s Forum/Jerome Foundation. The recipient of fellowships and grants JONATHAN FURMANSKI (DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY) recently shot the from Boston University, New York University, and The Art Bridge Foundation, HBO documentary feature I Am An Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and John is a member of ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, and the American People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. His work has been seen in the HBO Music Center. documentary series Family Bonds and the independent films loudQUIETloud, A Film about the Pixies, and Arctic Waltz. In 2000 he won Best Cinematography ETHEL (SCORE MUSICIANS) Founded in 1998, this band of four Juilliard- at the Nodance Film Festival for the feature film Minimum Wage and in 2002 trained, composer/musicians performs self-composed works as well as works by he won a Primetime Emmy for his contributions to the CBS documentary 9-11. contemporary composers including Don Byron, Mary Ellen Childs, Pamela Z, and Jonathan received his BFA in Film and Television Production from New York Phil Kline. ETHEL has shared the stage with pop/rock icons Todd Rundgren and University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Joe Jackson and appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Members of ETHEL have recorded/performed with Sheryl Crow, Gorillaz, Roger Daltrey, Yo-Yo Ma, TAMAR GADISH (PRODUCTION DESIGNER) film credits include The Last New Ornette Coleman, and Lenny Kravitz. Their debut CD, ETHEL (Cantaloupe Music), Yorker starring Dominic Chianese & Dick Latessa, Marvelous starring Amy Ryan, was selected as Billboard’s Best Album of 2003 and their recent CD release LIGHT Martha Plimpton, Michael Shannon & Ewen Bremner, and Mind the Gap. She was (Cantaloupe Music) was featured on Amazon.com’s Best of 2006: Top Classical nominated for an Ophir Award, Israeli’s Oscar equivalent, for best production Editor’s Picks and was voted #5 on the WNYC Best of 2006 Listener Poll. ETHEL is designer for The Barbecue People. She holds an MFA in Set Design for film and Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Mary stage from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Rowell (violin). (For more information, go to myspace.com/ethelcentral)