Presents
DIRECTED BY
NANETTE BURSTEIN
RELEASE DATE: March 6th 2009
Running Time: 95mins
PRESS CONTACT:
Neil Bhatt – Neil@optimumreleasing.com
Maria Carras – Maria@optimumreleasing.com
Call: 0207 534 2723
Stills available for download at www.optimumreleasing.com/press
AMERICAN TEEN
Synopsis
AMERICAN TEEN is the touching and hilarious Sundance hit that follows the lives of five teenagers
- a jock, a popular girl, a heartthrob, an artsy girl and a geek – in one small town in Indiana through their
senior year of high school. We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves and
heartbreaks, and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future.
Filming daily for ten months, filmmaker Nanette Burstein (ON THE ROPES, THE KID STAYS IN THE
PICTURE) developed a deep understanding of her subjects. The result is a film that goes beyond the
enduring stereotypes of high school to reveal complex young people trying to find their way into adulthood.
Hannah Bailey is smart and beautiful, but a misfit in her high school. She is a liberal living in a traditional,
Christian, conservative town and dreams of moving to California after graduation. Colin Clemens is the
star of the high school basketball team - and in Indiana, basketball is everything. Colin is under enormous
pressure this year playing not only to make his town, his school, and his father proud, but for a college
scholarship. Jake Tusing is considered to be a nerd in high school. Though quite funny and charming oneon-one, he is painfully shy in group situations and crushed with self-doubt. In his senior year, he vows that
nothing will stand in the way of him finding a girlfriend. Megan Krizmanich is the student council vice
president and the youngest daughter of a prominent local surgeon, anxiously awaiting word from the
University of Notre Dame admissions. Wealthy, pretty, smart and popular, she rules her high school - just
don’t get on her bad side. When Megan’s peers challenge her authority, she can’t help but take action, even
if it means risking her future. Mitch Reinholt is an attractive and charming Varsity basketball player with a
soft side. When he puts his social status on the line, avoiding his popular friends for dates with artsy
Hannah Bailey, he strains to maintain his reputation while discovering a new side of himself.
With extraordinary intimacy and a great deal of humor, AMERICAN TEEN captures the pressures of
growing up – pressures that come from one’s peers, one’s parents, and not least, oneself.
Paramount Vantage presents AMERICAN TEEN, directed by Nanette Burstein. The film is an A&E
Indiefilms Presentation of a Firehouse Films and Quasiworld Entertainment production in association with
57th and Irving. The producers are Nanette Burstein, Jordan Roberts, Eli Gonda and Chris Huddleston. The
executive producers are Elisa Pugliese, Patrick Morris, Molly Thompson, Nancy Dubuc and Rob
Sharenow. The behind-the-scenes team includes directors of photography Laela Kilbourn and Wolfgang
Held and editors Mary Manhardt and Tom Haneke. The animation was created by Blacklist.
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AMERICAN TEEN
About The Production
“In a TIME poll . . . two-thirds said being a teenager is harder for them than it was for their
parents. It’s fair to ask whether any teenage generation has ever thought otherwise . . . ”
TIME Magazine, July 31, 2005
It’s senior year in a typical American high school and five students – a jock, a geek, a
princess, a heartthrob and a rebel – are teetering on the brink of the future. All they have to do is
survive the greatest pressures they’ve ever known – an incredible onslaught of parental
expectations, personal insecurities, college dreams, romantic nightmares, sports disasters, prom
night nerves, petty vandalism, public embarrassment and the perils of friendship – and they’ll get
their first big shot at real life.
From director Nanette Burstein comes the runaway Sundance Film Festival hit,
AMERICAN TEEN, a funny, fast-paced tale of one Indiana graduating class that becomes a
provocative window into what 21st Century teens are thinking, doing, feeling and going through
right now. Burstein started with raw, spontaneous documentary footage of a handful of real-life
teenagers in a small Midwestern high school; then, she ingeniously structured her film into a
compelling narrative that cuts to the very core of what makes being young so exciting, dangerous
and unforgettable – a non-stop mix of wild emotions, fierce hopes, heart-wrenching mistakes,
comic misunderstandings and moments of revelation and connection you hold onto for the rest of
your life, no matter who you are…or are about to become.
Defying categories, Burstein uses an ample creative arsenal, including animated
sequences, collages, voiceovers and music, to redefine the straight-ahead documentary as a
humor-fueled dramatic experience that resonates with anyone who is or ever was a teenager.
***
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There are currently more than 32 million teenagers in the United States. That number has risen
15.5 percent since 1990
-- U.S. Census Data, 2005
Teenagers have long been a powerful symbol in American culture. There’s something
about their brash, reckless, idealistic personalities, about their unfinished identities and
uninhibited emotions that seems to mirror the nation’s personality. They invite extreme
interpretations -- equally deplored as a sign of all that’s wrong with our alienated, sexualized,
consumer-driven society and revered and idolized as all the talent, creativity, energy and hope
that is going to drive the world’s future. So central is the teenager in the American imagination
that teens have long also been a compelling subject for groundbreaking, popular movies, from
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE to AMERICAN GRAFFITI to THE BREAKFAST CLUB.
There have been countless fictional teens that have won over movie audiences. But what
happens when you put a group of five real Middle American teenagers together in the boiling
pressure-cooker that is senior year – and all the stereotypes and social hierarchies that define
nerds, athletes, basket cases, popular girls and misfits start to fall away? A defining teen movie
for these times, AMERICAN TEEN is at heart about how we all construct our identities and set
in motion our fates out of the angst and ecstasy of being 17.
The film began with documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein’s unusual vision of
making a film that would expand on the classic teen comedies of John Hughes – THE
BREAKFAST CLUB, PRETTY IN PINK, SIXTEEN CANDLES – via a fresh, honest, 3dimensional, 21st Century reality. “I grew up watching movies such as FAST TIMES AT
RIDGEMONT HIGH and THE BREAKFAST CLUB. Those films had a profound affect on me
back then because I could so relate to the portrayal of adolescence and all of its challenges. For
the last fifteen years, I have wanted to explore those same themes in a nonfiction film but with all
of the complexities and depth of real people that are often lacking in the teen fictional movies.”
Burstein explains.
The director continues: “Like most people, I struggled through my own high school
years, and I wanted to make a film that explored the very real and very intense pressures of being
17: of trying to figure out who you are while pushed by your peers to be a certain way, pressured
by your parents as to who you should become, and face the mounting pressure to make crucial
decisions – inevitably, poorly-informed ones - about your future,” she explains. “But I wanted to
explore the theme of struggling to find your identity, not with actors, but with real teenagers.”
Burstein already had developed a reputation for taking the documentary form to new and
more emotionally accessible places. Previously, she directed the Oscar®-nominated ON THE
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ROPES, a riveting tale of three Brooklyn boxers vying for a shot at the big time that drew
comparisons to big-budget sports dramas; and co-directed the acclaimed THE KID STAYS IN
THE PICTURE, a look at the rise and fall of the charismatic, high-living producer and studio
head Robert Evans which was hailed as an innovative and entertaining twist on the biopic.
She knew, however, that making AMERICAN TEEN was not going to be like any other
experience. First, she would have to find a way to get deep inside the inner lives of some of the
most preternaturally suspicious and secretive people on earth: teenagers. Then she would have to
fly by the seat of her pants, waiting to see what unpredictable twists and turns her narrative might
take – who would fall in love, who would fall apart, who would attain their dreams, who would
still be searching? -- over the course of many months of patience, negotiation and investigation.
The journey began with an epic quest to find the right school, and Burstein initially
limited her search to the American heartland. “The Midwest is often held up as quintessentially
or conventionally American,” she explains, “and I was also looking for the kind of town that
only has one high school. If a town only has one school, it’s that much harder for kids to escape
the social structure – and I wanted to explore that kind of inescapable social pressure cooker,” she
comments. “I also looked for towns that were economically mixed and racially mixed, although
the latter was much harder to come by in the Midwest, so that I could explore how those kinds of
differences play out in the teen world. And, perhaps most crucially, I needed a school where the
people would be truly excited about the prospect of a having a movie made about them and were
willing to grant me a great deal of access.”
After narrowing the list down to ten prospective schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Indiana, Burstein began more intensively interviewing incoming members of the senior class at
each of the ten schools to figure out which had the most intriguing and emotionally diverse group
of students. Ultimately, at the peak of this extensive process, she chose Warsaw Community
High School in Warsaw, Indiana, a town in the north of the state, far from any major city, and a
population of just over 12,000 people.
Known, according to the town’s website, as “the orthopedic manufacturing capital of the
world,” Warsaw is a microcosm of typical Midwestern American towns that were built on
traditional jobs and family structures and feature a lot of class diversity, from wealthy to workingclass families. But what really convinced Burstein that she had found the right place to make her
movie were the high school students she met there, a group of savvy yet sincere, tough yet funny,
anxious yet articulate kids who seemed to both encompass and defy the typical teen stereotypes
of jocks, freaks, queen bees, hunks and renegades. Most of all, she felt she had come across a
rare group of kids on the precipice of adulthood who would be as capable of raw honesty as of
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compelling surprises in that journey. “Given the themes I wanted to explore, Warsaw had the
richest subjects and storylines,” she comments, adding, “The town also had the best restaurants,
which turned out to be a godsend in the year to come!”
After choosing Warsaw, Burstein picked up and moved there, having already planned to
spend the entire school year living amidst the subjects of her film and hoping to become so close
to them that the cameras would become a natural part of their everyday lives. “I knew I would
need to film daily for the entire school year so that I would have enough footage to show the most
dramatic and telling moments of my subjects’ lives,” she says. “And I knew I also needed time to
gain the kids’ trust. But time was on my side, because I had all year.”
***
73% of teens say their parents trust them as much as they deserve to be trusted; 21% say their
parents don’t trust them as much as they should.
-- Gallup Youth Survey, 2005
Burstein wound up following five primary subjects for AMERICAN TEEN, each in very
different cliques yet who ultimately all impact each other’s lives: Hannah Bailey, an artsy, altrocker outsider who would much rather escape Warsaw than fit in; Colin Clemens, a star athlete
who has been riding high as the school’s favorite jock, but now knows he must either win a
college scholarship or head to Iraq; Jake Tusing, an insecure, self-titled “marching band
supergeek” and videogame addict who would do anything to have just one girlfriend before high
school comes to an end; Megan Krizmanich, the brash-mouthed rich girl who rules the school as
one of the most popular (and reviled) students in it, but faces enormous family pressure about her
college future; and sensitive heartthrob Mitch Reinholt who enters the picture as Hannah’s
unlikely new boyfriend who gets the whole school gossiping.
Though it wasn’t instantaneous, Burstein slowly began to gain the confidence of Hannah,
Colin, Jake, Megan and Mitch simply by getting to know them as intimately as she could,
listening like a trusted confidante to their stories, confessions, dreams and fears. Each one had
his or her own major and minor personal issues, which also shifted and evolved over the school
year, sometimes in ways no one could have anticipated. Hannah went through a devastating
heartbreak and a dark phase before rediscovering her spirit and California-bound ambition; Colin
found himself in a dangerous scoring slump that had his father putting major pressure on him to
perform; Jake found himself once again the victim of several near-misses at love, becoming more
and more self-aware of his “loser” status; Megan made a “mean girl”-style detour that nearly
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unraveled her entire future; and gallant Mitch battled peer pressure to end his relationship with
the outsider.
To capture all of these spontaneous, richly relatable moments in their poignancy, Burstein
let her young subjects know right from the beginning that she wasn’t going to be an authorityfigure in their lives. She wasn’t their teacher, their parents or their coaches – and that she wasn’t
going to judge them or ridicule them or do anything other than do her best to capture them for
who they really were underneath their roiling surfaces. “Teenagers lead a very ‘Lord Of The
Flies’ and secretive existence, so gaining their trust was essential,” Burstein observes. “It took a
few months for me to become close friends with them, and at the same time, for them to trust that
I was really there to tell their stories honestly.”
“After gaining their trust, I would show up at the school every morning and speak to each
of them about what was going on in their lives so I knew what to film each day,” said Burstein.
“If a drama was just starting to brew, we would discuss what I could film of it. It was definitely a
constant negotiation. I wanted to be very respectful of them, especially since they were so young,
but at the same time, to make a good and honest movie. So we both made compromises along the
way, and I think it actually made for a much better film.”
The tight bond that Burstein developed with the students made them each feel especially
at ease in front of the camera. They were able to be themselves, and not censor or over-dramatize
their behavior. When her subjects felt especially private, Burstein even left her crew behind,
shooting by herself with a very small camera. “There were times when certain people didn’t feel
like being filmed, so I had to really weigh each situation,” she says. “I didn’t want to ever expose
them in damaging ways. But I always wanted to show their complicatedness and humanity.”
***
When it came to shooting AMERICAN TEEN, form followed function. Since Burstein’s
most vital goal was to remain as unobtrusive and non-invasive in her subjects’ lives as possible,
she started the process with just a single, very minimal camera crew. She never lit any rooms, but
just relied on natural light, and basically tried to blend into the background. As the kids became
more accustomed to being filmed, Burstein added additional cameras and crews.
“Because I only had one crew in the beginning, I couldn’t film each of the kids at the
same time,” she notes. “So that meant I really had to keep in daily contact with them so I would
always know when something important was happening in their lives. And if there were stories
that needed to be filmed simultaneously, I set off on my own with my small camera to film one
student, while my film crew filmed another student in a different location. Then when the
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students became more comfortable with the filming process, I brought in a full time second
camera crew, so we can be in three places at once if necessary. But each individual crew was
very minimal—not more than one or two people.”
Yet, even as Burstein was trying to underplay the presence of the cameras for the film’s
teenagers, she was also trying to work with the cameras creatively. Despite the limitations,
Burstein wanted to shoot the film with the same sense of spaciousness and freedom as any
director shooting a tightly structured dramatic screenplay. The only difference as she saw it was
that she had no script. “I still wanted to follow the rules of fiction filmmaking in the structure, so
I often had to move around the room quite a bit -- filming wide shots and filming matching closeup angles. That’s why almost everything we filmed was handheld. We wanted to move around
the room but without drawing attention to ourselves,” she says.
She wanted the cameras not just to soak up Hannah, Colin, Jake, Megan and Mitch’s
angst, ecstasy and dramatic interactions, but also the contours of their entire teen landscape.
“One thing I really wanted to focus on was all the technology that is such a significant part of this
generation’s lives such as texting, emails, ichats, etc.” she explains.
Despite all the precautions she took to protect the kids she was shooting, or perhaps
because of them, Burstein found that the kind of funny, moving and true moments she only hoped
she would uncover were a nearly constant feature of these young lives. “And that is exactly what
most surprised me about this film, how universal and timeless the stories turned out to be,”
concludes Burstein.
***
Seven out of 10 teens say they are optimistic about the world their own children will live in.
-- Gallup Youth Survey, 2005
Nanette Burstein not only filmed Hannah, Colin, Jake, Megan and Mitch on a daily basis,
but she also attempted to get inside their most private fantasies, which come to life via whimsical
animated sequences in the midst of the film’s more stark reality. For Burstein, in any film about
American teenagers there simply had to be a way to reveal the place where teens really live -inside their heads – and to evoke all those crazy, painful, candid, comical things they think and
feel, but wouldn’t dare to say explicitly in the light of day. Animation gave her this entrée.
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“Teenage life is so full of vivid imagination and I thought what better way to show
what’s really going on in the fantasies inside their heads than through animation, which is largerthan-life and just as surreal and exaggerated as fantasies,” she says.
The animated sequences were shaped from Burstein’s most intimate interviews. “As I
talked to them over the course of the year, I would ask them each about their fantasies, about how
they most wished their lives could be at that particular moment. These thoughts became the
inspiration for the animated sequences.” Burstein states.
She merged style and content, giving each sequence its own individual visual flair and
personality: for example, Hannah’s sequence comes alive in gritty stop-motion that echoes her
strong, mercurial emotions whereas Jake’s romantic dreams are expressed in graphics right out of
a role-playing videogame, with him naturally cast as the hero.
Once she had the creative concepts for the animations, Burstein turned to boutique
animation company Blacklist to bring in a number of talented artists from around the world with
whom she collaborated. Most gratifying to Burstein was that the kids fully supported the idea of
having their innermost feelings animated on the screen. “They thought it was really cool,” says
the director.
Now, after ten months living in Warsaw, and essentially becoming an integral part of the
town, Burstein retreated back to the editing room where she got to know each of the characters in
AMERICAN TEEN even better. “By the end of the school year, I had one thousand hours of
footage. Working with two editors, it took me another year to shape this into a 100-minute
feature length film,” Burstein explains.
It was perhaps an even bigger task than getting the teenagers to confide in her in the first
place. Says the director: “Beyond the sheer amount of footage, the challenge was interweaving
multiple dramatic stories that intersected and complemented one another, while keeping each
distinct and revealing the different aspects of being 17.”
The film was also set to a rousing youthful soundtrack with songs from some of today’s
hottest bands, including MGMT, The Ting Tings, the Black Kids, Frou Frou, Blackalicious and
Does It Offend You, Yeah?. These song choices were inspired by the kind of music the kids had
been listening to.
As the structure of the film came together, Burstein began to see each of the five teens in
new and often unexpected ways, and hopes the audience will as well. “On a surface level, each
of these characters are very different from each other - the homecoming queen, the athletic star,
the rebel, the outcast, the heartthrob - but internally they all struggle with similar problems. In
fact, they’re the same problems I struggled with 20 years ago in high school,” she muses.
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She adds: “You know at first I was not sure how much high school had changed since
my generation. But after two years of working on this movie, I came to realize that, though
fashion and technology may alter, everything else—all the wonderful and horrible experiences of
being 17, the feeling of being utterly lost – is the same as it ever was.”
#####
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THE TEENS
HANNAH BAILEY:
Hannah Bailey ended up living in San Francisco for close to eight months. Although she loved
the city, she did not love her “sucky day job” or the cost of living. Realizing she was “more of an
East coast girl,” Hannah relocated and is currently in film school in New York. According to her
Facebook page, Hannah Bailey’s interests include: “dogs, books, movies, blue Doritos, hats,
bags, friends, art, ms. pacman, lazy summers, patterned socks, thrift stores, supermario world,
religions, philosophy, Indiana hand shaking . . . and living life with no regrets.”
COLIN CLEMENS:
Colin Clemens notes that he was pretty much born with a basketball in his hand. As the captain
of the Warsaw Basketball Team, Colin impressed college recruiters at Indiana Tech where he
now attends college on a basketball scholarship with a 3.7 GPA. He hopes to continue following
in his father’s footsteps and go on to play ball in Australia. The one thing he’d like to improve is
his relationship status: Colin is still single “and that needs to change.”
JAKE TUSING:
The loner who dreams of winning the girl like heroes do in the video games he plays, Jake Tusing
spent his freshman year of college at Lawrence University where “he became a little bit of Mr.
Muscles, a little bit of a wildman, but mostly the same socially-awkward guy.” He is currently
attending Vincennes University where he says, “when I’ve had enough courage to go outside my
room, things have turned out less than fun,” but adds, “things will get better though.”
MEGAN KRIZMANICH:
Warsaw’s student council vice president Megan Krizmanich is now pre-med at Notre Dame with
a minor in finance. She loves Notre Dame, has a great group of friends – diverse friends – has
lost a lot of the drama and matured….a lot. She sums up her philosophy on her Facebook page:
“My whole life I’ve known what I wanted and wasn’t afraid to do everything in my power to get
it. I’ve been known for my unwavering loyalty to my friends no matter the cost.”
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MITCH REINHOLT:
The handsome and popular Mitch Reinholt, who found himself falling for the school’s rebel
outcast during his senior year, vows never to break up over text messaging ever again. Mitch is
now majoring in biochemistry and pre-med at Indiana University. Studying is his priority and he
admits that he’s “definitely grown up a ton since high school and learned from [his] mistakes.”
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
NANETTE BURSTEIN (Producer/Director)
In 1998, Nanette Burstein’s NYU thesis film turned into her first feature length documentary.
ON THE ROPES, about three young boxers fighting their way out of Bedford Stuyvesant, New
York, was theatrically released nationwide. It was nominated for an Academy Award®, and it
also won the Director’s Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, the
IDA (International Documentary Association) Achievement Award for Best Feature
Documentary, and the Special Jury award at the Sundance Film Festival.
In 2002, she co-
produced and directed THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, the critically acclaimed featurelength film about the legendary Hollywood producer, Robert Evans, which Focus Features
released nationwide.
Burstein’s other producing/directing credits include: the five part series Say it Loud: A
Celebration of Black Music in America, executive produced by Quincy Jones for VH1 in 2001;
and an hour-long film about Olympic gold medalist, Marion Jones for Nike and NBC. She also
executive produced a ten part reality series Film School for IFC, a one-hour special for AMC
entitled Autobiography and a two part special for VH1, NY77 The Coolest Year in Hell, about that
turbulent yet musically creative year, 1977 in New York City. Along with her documentary
productions, Burstein also directs commercials including campaigns for Nike and Footlocker.
JORDAN ROBERTS (Producer)
Jordan Roberts produced AMERICAN TEEN with his long time collaborator Nanette Burstein.
Roberts produced with Burstein the critically-acclaimed Film School, a ten-episode docu-series
for IFC which chronicled four NYU film grads. He co-executive produced the Peabody Awardwinning Nimrod Nation, an eight episode series for the Sundance Channel. Roberts also recently
executive produced the technology home makeover series My Home 2.0 sponsored by Verizon.
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Roberts produced THEY SHOOT DIVAS, DON’T THEY?, an original VH1 movie, with
executive producer Wes Craven.
Additional credits include THE KID STAYS IN THE
PICTURE; What About Your Friends: Weekend Getaway (UPN); Say It Loud: A Celebration of
Black Music in America (VH1), the five-part series about the history of black music, executive
produced by Quincy Jones. He is currently producing Marshall Curry’s new feature RACING
DREAMS, the follow-up to Curry’s Academy Award®-nominated STREET FIGHT.
ELI GONDA (Producer)
Eli Gonda’s career in theatre and film began with directing Harvey Fierstein’s play, “Safe Sex.”
Since then, his directorial endeavors include “The Best of the 24 hr Plays” at the NYC Fringe
Festival, Signature Theatre, and at the William Inge Center, and Carol Churchill’s “Top Girls” at
the Nomadic Theatre in Washington D.C. Most recently, Eli directed Annie Hendy’s new hit
play “The Catholic Girl’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity.” In late 2005, Eli teamed with
childhood friend Chris Huddleston to form QuasiWorld Entertainment, a development/production
company that brings to life original ideas for the stage and screen. Together, they executive
produced the critically acclaimed film, SWIMMERS, for which they were honored with the 2005
Humanitas Award. They followed this success by producing Nanette Burstein’s 2008 Sundance
Film Festival sensation, AMERICAN TEEN. In 2007, producer Ryan Scott Warren joined
QuasiWorld Entertainment. The new team reopened The Pico Playhouse with “The Catholic
Girl’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity,” which they are currently developing into a feature film.
Eli is currently directing Danny Jacobson’s new comedy, “Bang Zoom.”
CHRIS HUDDLESTON (Producer)
Huddleston is the co-founder of QuasiWorld Entertainment and current president of Rubyy
Energy Drink. Chris and long-time friend Eli Gonda executive produced the critically-acclaimed
independent film SWIMMERS, a 2005 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection and the two
were honored with the prestigious Humanitas Award for their efforts on the film. In the same
year, Chris and Eli officially launched QuasiWorld Entertainment, a fully financed feature film
and theater production company. AMERICAN TEEN, Nanette Burstein’s Sundance 2008
sensation, is the first project produced through QuasiWorld. Chris formerly worked with
Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman John Goldwyn to aid the launch of Goldwyn’s production
venture, the Michaels/Goldwyn Company, and has worked alongside Nancy Meyers on
SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE and Charles Shyer on THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE.
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Chris’ many entrepreneurial interests have led him to his newest venture, Rubyy Energy Drink,
collaboration with Skyy Vodka founder, philanthropist and film producer Maurice Kanbar.
Under Chris’ guidance, Rubyy has become the music industry drink-of-choice featured
exclusively at performances and private events for Kanye West and Prince.
MOLLY THOMPSON (Executive Producer)
Molly Thompson launched and runs A&E IndieFilms, the network’s feature documentary
division. She executive produced JESUS CAMP, a film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady,
which was nominated for an Academy Award®. Thompson is also executive producer of a film
on Anna Wintour, directed by RJ Cutler. Other A&E IndieFilms include the Oscar®-nominated,
Sundance Award-winner MURDERBALL; and MY KID COULD PAINT THAT.
LAELA KILBOURN (Director of Photography)
Director of Photography Laela Kilbourn has a diverse background in film works ranging from
narrative and documentary projects to commercials and conceptual art installations. Her work has
appeared on PBS, A&E, The History Channel, Discovery Times, and Nickelodeon, at film
festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, Austin, Sprockets Toronto, the Prix Jeunesse, the Full
Frame Documentary Festival, Hot Docs, and at the Museum of Television & Radio. Her recent
documentary credits include the Emmy-nominated feature WORD WARS, which won Best
Documentary at the Sedona Film Festival and was nominated for the International Documentary
Association Award; and the feature SYNC OR SWIM, directed by Cheryl Furjanic, which
premiered in competition at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival. Her recent narrative work
includes the film JUNE WEDDINGS, starring Tom Noonan and directed by New York
playwright Barbara Hammond, and the comedic film HIC! OPEN A DOOR IN THE USA,
directed by Koyalee Chanda for Nick Jr. and winner of the Best Live Action Short Award at the
BamKids Film Festival. Other work includes artist Lisa Robert's Blind Side, presented at the
Whitney Museum of American Art, and Prey, created by artist Steve McQueen and exhibited as
part of his winning entry for the Turner Prize at Tate Britain.
MARY MANHARDT (Editor)
Mary Manhardt is a documentary film editor based in New York. Her work has aired on A&E,
HBO, PBS, ABC and MTV, and been honored in film festivals worldwide, including Sundance,
IDFA, Tribeca, Hot Docs and South X Southwest. Her credits include A SON’S SACRIFICE,
directed by Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed, which won the Jury Prize for Best Documentary Short
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at both Tribeca and Silver Docs in 2007; MYSTIC BALL, directed by Greg Hamilton, which
won the Audience Award at the 2007 Chicago Film Festival, Best Canadian Documentary at Hot
Docs, 2006, and Best Canadian Feature at Vancouver, 2006; STREET FIGHT, directed by
Marshall Curry, which won Best International Documentary and the Audience Awards at Hot
Docs, and the Audience Award at Tribeca in 2005, and was nominated for an Academy Award®
for Best Documentary feature in 2006; FARMINGVILLE, Special Jury Prize, 2004 Sundance
Film Festival, directed by Catherine Tambini and Carlos Sandoval; THE EXECUTION OF
WANDA JEAN, directed by Liz Garbus; GIRLHOOD, directed by Liz Garbus; THE FARM:
ANGOLA, USA (for which Mary received an Emmy Award for Non-Fiction Picture Editing,
1998-1999, and which was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature)
directed by Liz Garbus and Jonathan Stack.
ABOUT THE ANIMATION
Jake’s chili story animation by Lutz Vogel and Zoe Wishart
Jake’s Fight and Love animation by Againstallodds
Colin’s animation by Diogo r. G. Kalili
Hannah’s animation by David Lobser
Megan’s animation by Nanospore
ABOUT THE MUSIC
AMERICAN TEEN MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE
TRACK LISTING
Street Date: Tuesday, July 15th
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
BLACK KIDS: “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You”
THE TING TINGS: “Great DJ”
SUNNY DAY SETS FIRE: “Lack of View”
FROU FROU: “Breathe In” (The Jason Bentley Remix)
PATRICK WATSON: “The Great Escape”
CAT STEVENS: “Trouble”
JOHN PAUL YOUNG: “Love Is In the Air”
RYAN LINDSAY: “Let’s Go Out”
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9. DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?: “Dawn of the Dead”
10. LUNA HALO: “Kings and Queens”
11. BLACKALICIOUS: “Your Move”
12. THE UNICORNS: “Sea Ghost”
13. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS: “Adventures In Solitude”
14. NYLES LANNON: “Train”
15. MGMT: “Kids”
Crew:
Produced and Directed by
NANETTE BURSTEIN
Produced by
JORDAN ROBERTS
Producers
ELI GONDA
CHRIS HUDDLESTON
Executive Producers
ELISA PUGLIESE
PATRICK MORRIS
MOLLY THOMPSON
NANCY DUBUC
ROB SHARENOW
Edited by
MARY MANHARDT
TOM HANEKE
NANETTE BURSTEIN
Photographed by
LAELA KILBOURN
WOLFGANG HELD
ROBERT HANNA
Music by
MICHAEL PENN
Co-Producers
RYAN HARRINGTON
STEVE ROSENBAUM
Animation by
BLACKLIST
Motion Graphics & Title Design by
DAVID KELLEY
Animation Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Supervising Sound Editor / Sound
Designer
MICHAEL CHOCK
Music Supervisor
CHRIS DOURIDAS
Production Supervisor
GREG ORSELLI
Production Coordinators
TED GESING
CHRIS OHLSON
16
Production Sound Mixer
ANNA RIEKE
Still Photography
JAMES REXROAD
Post Production Coordinators
KATIE SCHULTZ
REBECCA MERLE
Casting by
TAMRA BARCINAS
Additional Motion Graphics
WYETH HANSON
Additional Photography
BRETT WILEY
TOMAS BOJTOR
REBECCA CAMMISA
SAMSON HENRIQUES
AXEL BOWMAN
EDWARD MARRITZ
VASCO NUNES
ELLIOT ROCKETT
Production Assistants
ERIN OWENS
DAN MANCO
ALEX JOHNSON
EMILY RADECKI
Assistant Editors
TIM LOZADA
JENNY LEE
JASON HARVEY
JONATHAN GIRALDO
Additional Production Sound Mixers
KEN DABECK
BYRON SMITH
Associate Producer
SHARON BARNES
Accounting Services
JFA, INC.
PETE HAYES
JOHN FINN
Payroll Services
INDIEPAY, INC.
Animation Credits:
“Fight”
Animation Studio
againstallodds
Creative Lead
DEREK PICKEN
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Producer
OWEN KATZ
againstallodds Producer
ANNA MOLUND
17
againstallodds Executive Producer
JOSH THORNE
Animation
ARON ÖGREN
ALLI SADEGIANI
CECILIA SKEDINGER
Animator
STEVE WOODRUFF
CG Artists
MICHA BOSTRÖM
KRISTIAN RYDBERG
Lighting & Rendering
STEFAN LAGERSTAM
Render Farm
RENDER IT
Motion Capture Suite
SYNDICATE ENTERTAINMENT MOVEN
“Hannah’s Depression”
Creative Lead
DAVID LOBSER
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Photography
DAVID LOBSER
Animation
DAVID LOBSER
Sets/Props
JUNKO SHIMIZU
PAIGE TRAVIS
Modeler
SHUCHEN LIN
“Kiss”
Animation Studio
PISTACHIOS
Creative Lead
MÅNS SWANBERG
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Art Direction
MÅNS SWANBERG
Animation
MÅNS SWANBERG
Illustration
CECILIA CARLSTEDT
“Jocks - BBall”
Creative Lead
DIOGO KALIL
Animation
DIOGO KALIL
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Producer
OWEN KATZ
Character Concept/ Modeling
ALEX LINS
Paints + Textures
ARIADNE BINDERL
18
“Love”
Animation Studio
againstallodds
Creative Lead
DEREK PICKEN
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Producer
OWEN KATZ
againstallodds Producer
ANNA MOLUND
againstallodds Executive Producer
JOSH THORNE
Animation
ARON ÖGREN
ALLI SADEGIANI
CECILIA SKEDINGER
Animator
STEVE WOODRUFF
CG Artists
MICHA BOSTRÖM
KRISTIAN RYDBERG
Lighting & Rendering
STEFAN LAGERSTAM
Render Farm
RENDER IT
Motion Capture Suite
SYNDICATE ENTERTAINMENT MOVEN
“Nerd”
Animation Studio
PSYOP
Creative Leads
LUTZ VOGEL
ZOE WISHART
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Producers
OWEN KATZ
KAREN LAWLER
Design
LUTZ VOGEL
ZOE WISHART
2D animation
LUTZ VOGEL
ZOE WISHART
3D animation
LUTZ VOGEL
Compositing
LUTZ VOGEL
Flame
LUTZ VOGEL
Additional Flame
CECILIA CHIEN
“Notre Dame”
Animation Studio
NANOSPORE
Creative Leads
BEN LEE
PAUL HWANG
19
Executive Producer
ADINA SALES
Producers
OWEN KATZ
KAREN LAWLER
Animators
AARON BJORK
MATTHEW ENCINAS
GEORGE KATZ
SEAN STARKWEATHER
Digital Intermediate by
POST LOGIC STUDIOS
Smoke Artist
MATTHEW W. JOHNSON
DI Colorist
DOUG DELANEY
HD Colorist
KRIS SANTA CRUZ
Producer
GREGORY MARATEA
Re-Recording Mixers
MARK BINDER
MARK MANGINI
Foley Artists
JOHN SIEVERT
STEFAN FRATICELLI
Foley Mixer
RANDY WILSON
Foley Assistant
DAVE PLOWMAN
Sound Editors
MARK BINDER
MARK MANGINI
Assistant Sound Editor
MARK COFFEY
MIX FACILITIES
WIDGET POST PRODUCTIONS LLC. LOS
ANGELES
Mix Technician
MATTHEW REALE
The Barn Shadow Hills
Re-Recorded in a SWELLTONE THEATER
Assistant Music Supervisor
NIKO TOUBIA
Music Editors
JIM SCHULTZ
NIC RATNER
JOE LISANTI
Music Written and Produced by
MICHAEL PENN
Recorded at
MIMEOGRAPH AND THE PASS
Orchestration
PATRICK WARREN
Engineer at Mimeograph
BRUCE MACFARLANE
Engineer at The Pass
RYAN FREELAND
20
Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, Various and
Sundry
MICHAEL PENN
Keyboards
PATRICK WARREN
Drums and Percussion
JAY BELROSE
CRAIG MACINTYRE
Quartet
THE SECTION QUARTET
Violins
ERIC GORFAIN
MELISSA REINER
MARISA KUNEY
AMY WICKMAN
MARCY VAJ
TERRY GLENNY
ALYSSA PARK
ALWYN WRIGHT
Viola
LEAH KATZ
CAROLINE BUCKMAN
Cello
RICHARD DODD
JOHN KROVOZA
MATT COOKER
Sax
JAMES KING
Trombone
DAN OSTERMANN
Tuba
DAN OSTERMANN
Clarinet
PETER NEVIL
Motion Graphics/Title Design
Assistants
ROGER P. WASSON
ADAM SACKETT
Office Intern
NICOLAS FEITEL
Interns/Loggers
CLAIRE CHANDLER
KELSEY COLEMAN
VINCENT JAMES COOK III
ANDREW ESTERLY
ALFRED DEGRAND
BRIAN HAYASHI
PAUL KRESGE
ADAM MESSENGER
BERNARD MOOR JANKOWSKI
KEITH OVERTON
21
JARED SALAS
MICHAEL SMITH
MELODY STORM
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