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PRESS INFORMATION
Aurora Films and SMD Entertainment Productions present
Starring (in alphabetical order): Ernest Borgnine, Piper Laurie,
Anne Meara, Doris Roberts, Richard Schiff, Cybill Shepherd.
Casting: Bonnie Gillespie. Director of Photography:
Jeffrey A. Cunningham. Production Designer: Carl Sprague.
Music: Ricardo Garcia and William V. Malpede
Executive Producer: Steven M. Delamater. Producers: Bobby Black,
Chad Taylor, Jason Weiss. Co-executive Producers: John Slovak,
Brad Kenyon. Producer’s Representative: Ostrow and Company.
Screenplay by: Jeremy T. Black, based on his play.
Directed by: Greg W. Swartz.
©2009 Aurora Films and SMD Entertainment Productions
Total Running Time: 90 minutes
www.anotherharvestmoon.com
www.aurorafm.com
www.smdfilms.com
www.ostrowandcompany.com
PRESS CONTACT:
Leonard Morpurgo
Mobile: (818) 731-3513
Office: (818) 760-8995
leonard@publicity4all.com
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Synopsis
Another Harvest Moon is a sensitive drama about four elderly Americans
coping with life in a nursing home. Frank (Ernest Borgnine), Ella (Anne Meara),
Alice (Doris Roberts) and June (Piper Laurie) gather each morning for a game
of cards. They have become like family to one another, offering unyielding
support, constant bickering and strong opinions about life, death and everything
in between.
One morning Frank reveals to Ella that he no longer remembers his wife’s
face and that he doesn’t want to live to endure another debilitating stroke. He
persuades his son Jeffrey (Richard Schiff) to give him his old gun because by
holding it he finds a way to remember his World War II buddies. But perhaps he
has another motive for wanting the weapon.
Frank’s revelation sets off a struggle between Ella and the ever-optimistic
Alice as they both try to affect his decision while privately dealing with their own
fears.
That Labor Day Jeffrey, daughter Vickie (Cybill Shepherd) and grandson
Jack (Cameron Monaghan) take Frank on a camping trip where his spirits are
lifted.
Back at the nursing home Frank ponders his decision and his next move. His
friends and family must confront their own feelings about faith, dignity and our
obligations to our loved ones.
Another Harvest Moon deals with weighty issues affecting us all.
*
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CAST
Ernest Borgnine................................................ Frank
Piper Laurie ......................................................... June
Anne Meara .......................................................... Ella
Doris Roberts ...................................................... Alice
Richard Schiff .................................................. Jeffrey
Cybill Shepherd ................................................ Vickie
Sunkrish Bala ..................................................... Paul
Amber Benson ............................................. Gretchen
Clay Bravo ............................................................ Rita
Cameron Monaghan ........................................... Jack
Dale Waddington Horowitz ......................... Rebecca
Candace O’Donnell..................... That Wilson woman
Liz Rebert ................................................ Nurse Linda
Allie Swartz .................................................. Daughter
Kate Caffrey ................................................... Woman
Kevin Spangler ........................................... Officer #1
Michael Zinn ............................................... Officer # 2
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CREDITS
Directed by ........................................ Greg W. Swartz
Written by ......................................... Jeremy T. Black
Based on the play by ........................ Jeremy T. Black
Producers ........................ Bobby Black, Chad Taylor
............................................................... Jason Weiss
Executive producer ....................Steven M. Delamater
Director of Photography........ Jeffrey A. Cunningham
Composers .Ricardo Garcia and William V. Malpede
Editor .................................................... Darren Iovino
Editorial Consultant ........... Hughes Winborne A.C.E.
Production Designer .............................. Carl Sprague
Wardrobe Designer ........................... Amy Brownson
Casting Director ............................... Bonnie Gillespie
Line Producer ........................................ Trevor Jones
Co-Executive Producers . Brad Kenyon, John Slovak
Kurt Stein
Assoc. producers ... Jeremy T. Black, John Breinholt
Page Ostrow
Co-producer ..................................... Rodney Holland
Production coordinator ............. Lesley Ann Morrison
1st A.D...................................................... Josh Cohen
2nd A,D. ....................................................... Liz Rebert
Script supervisor .................................... Babette Stith
1st Asst. camera.................................... Jaxon Woods
2nd unit DP ................................................ Bill Simone
B-Camera Operator .................................. Bill Simone
Steadicam-1 ............................................... Jay Kilroy
Steradicam-2 ............................................ David Isern
2nd unit director ...................................... Brad Kenyon
2nd asst. camera .................................... James Burke
Gaffer ................................................. Ian McGlocklin
Best boy electric ................................ Greg Yurkavich
Key grip ........................................... Andrew Wheeler
Best boy ........................................... Kevin Gallagher
Production sound mixer ....................... Dennis Baxter
Boom operator ........................................ Ray Manlove
Set decorator ....................................... Jennifer Engel
Lead man ....................................... Gino Fortebuono
Prop master .............................................. Ryan Webb
Costume supervisor......................... Melissa Clemens
Key costumer ...................................... Louise Heisey
Key makeup ....................................... Linda Kaufman
Key Hair ............................................ Lisa DelleChiaie
Assist. editors .. Heather Mullen, Surge L’Rodiriquez
Another Harvest Moon
Compositor ........................................... Darren Iovino
Sound mixed by .................. Richard “Tricky” Kitting
Sound effect editors........... Brent Findley, Cody King
Dialogue/ADR Editor ................... Angela Hemingway
Conductor .................................... Nick Glennie-Smith
Music scoring mixer ...................... Kenvin Globerman
Music production supervisor ............ Gretchen O’Neal
Music editors ..........................Carl Kaller, Dan Raziel
Production attorneys............... Todd Shill, Phil Rosen
Production accountant ....................... Karen Sanquist
Location manager ................................... Bill Richards
Public relations (on set) ......................... Hope Banner
“The Kid Inside”
(R. Garcia, W.V. Malpede, K. Karman)
Performed by The Green Car Motel
(Brush Jacket Music, WilliamV Music, Ken Karman
Music, ASCAP)
5
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Production Notes
At its world premiere, held at the Rhode Island International Film Festival,
Another Harvest Moon was awarded the Audience Award Grand Prize for a
Feature Film and its score was given the Best Original Music Composition
award (for composers Ricardo Garcia and William V. Malpede). The film also
won the Audience Award at the Louisville Film Festival and was chosen to open
the Hollywood Film Festival.
This is both a highly personal film and one that appeals to anyone who has
had an elderly relative. It’s personal to director Greg Swartz. When he saw the
play written by his writing partner Jeremy T. Black he had just gone through the
traumatic experience of watching his own father die.
“This kind of story has not been told before, yet it is something that everyone
experiences,” he says
However he says the film is about the quality of life not the quantity, it is how
you live your life, not how long you live it.
“We didn’t want to be maudlin. It is, in fact, a celebration. We have upbeat
music and comic moments.”
The film was shot over a four-week period in the summer of 2008, mostly
near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The nursing home at the center of the story was
part of the recently closed Pennsylvania State Hospital campus, originally called
the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Asylum. Because this particular building had
closed only a few months earlier it still had the right look for the film, though the
bars had to be removed from windows. Girl, Interrupted was shot on the same
campus.
With Swartz’ help, Jeremy Black broadened his original play for cinematic
purposes. The play had only the four elderly characters. They talked about their
children but they were never seen. Seeing the anguish and difficulties
experienced by the characters portrayed by Richard Schiff and Cybill Shepherd
gives new dimensions. Piper Laurie’s character’s granddaughter, played by
Amber Benson, shows youth and vitality.
When the production company made a casting call for extras some 680
people showed up. A local nursing home offered as many residents as they
needed. They bussed them in each day and provided their own nurses. At the
end of the shoot the nursing home gave “Oscars” to all their ladies.
The only sequence shot outside the campus was a Labor Day camp scene
filmed near York, Pennsylvania. It called for a live deer and a dead deer, both
provided by a local deer farmer.
About the cast…This was the 199th film for the amazing Ernest Borgnine,
still active at the age of 92. He received an Emmy® nomination for his work on
ER, just a couple of weeks before the world premiere of Another Harvest Moon
at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, where he received a Lifetime
Achievement Award. He has received many awards during his career, including
the Oscar® for his bravura performance in the 1955 film Marty. Piper Laurie
has received three Academy Awards® nominations—for Children of a Lesser
God, Carrie and The Hustler and no less than nine Emmy® noms, including a
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win for her role in Promise, plus a Golden Globe for Twin Peaks. Doris Roberts
was nominated for an Emmy® seven straight years, for her role in Everybody
Loves Raymond, winning it four times. She has won numerous other awards for
her acting. The multi-talented Anne Meara also has numerous Emmy nods and
a Golden Globe® nomination. As well as her acting career she is well-known for
her comedy act with husband Jerry Stiller. Richard Schiff, known as an actor’s
actor, was seen for many years in the television drama West Wing for which he
won an Emmy® and two Screen Actors Guild Awards as a member of the
ensemble cast. Cybill Shepherd is another multi-award winner with three
Golden Globes® for Cybill and Moonlighting in which she starred with Bruce
Willis, three People’s Choice Awards and a host of Emmy® nominations. Amber
Benson, who plays the granddaughter of Piper Laurie’s character, has a strong
fan following for her role Tara, the shy witch in Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Though only 15 when he was cast as Frank’s grandson, Cameron Monaghan
has a raft of experiences appearing in such popular TV shows as Monk, The
Mentalist and Numb3rs.
About the filmmakers…This is the feature-directing debut for Greg W.
Swartz, though he has paid his Hollywood dues directing numerous shorts. He
has also worked as producer, writer, and production manager. Producer Bobby
Black produced and directed his self-financed feature Welcome to Serendipidy.
He has previously worked at Oxygen Media, Nickelodeon and VH1. Producer
Chad Taylor is a founding member and guitarist of the renowned rock band
Live, appearing on all the top late night shows. He produced the critically
acclaimed Home starring Marcia Gay Harden. This is the first venture into
motion pictures for executive producer Steven M. Delamater who has a
background as a jazz musician and has business interests in a chain of 10
McDonalds restaurants, land development and in import and export.
Screenwriter Jeremy T. Black based it on his own stage play, expanding the
original premise to more characters. Jeffrey A. Cunningham, the director of
photography has worked his way through every position in a movie’s camera
department and over the last six years has been the cinematographer on some
nine movies and TV shows. His most recent was on the feature film Fuel.
Production designer Carl Sprague has worked on a number of well known films,
as designer or art director, including Amistad, The Royal Tenenbaums, State
and Main and Michael. The composer team of Ricardo Garcia and William V.
Malpede are two of the most in-demand musicians in Hollywood.
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Ernest Borgnine
(Frank)
The marvelous thing about any portrait Ernest Borgnine draws on the screen
is that it is always believable. His credibility is unmatched perhaps because he is
such a sincere person in reality. No matter what he’s portraying, you believe him.
Even the hapless McHale of the famous Navy series years ago elicited
sympathy. How could you doubt that face, that gravelly voice? He’s real, no
matter what theatrical make-believe he’s involved in.
Ernie’s parents emigrated from Italy to Hamden, Connecticut, where Ernie
was born on January 24, 1917. That Italian heritage has always been part of
Ernie’s magic. His mother took him back to Italy when he was two, but several
years later they returned to Connecticut, this time New Haven, where he
completed his education through high school.
From high school he went into the Navy, starting out at the bottom. Rising
through the ranks to come out ten years later as a Gunner’s Mate 1st Class. He
rode destroyers and was well liked and respected by his shipmates. The sincerity
was already there.
He knew he wanted to be an actor, and enrolled in the Randall School of
Dramatic Arts in Hartford. From there, he broke into the professional ranks at the
famous Barter Theatre in Virginia, where he painted scenery and drove a truck
as well as acted.
When he made his Broadway debut as the hospital attendant in Harvey, his
career was officially underway. He made a motion picture with the famed Louis
de Rouchemont, Whistle at Eaton Falls. Then, still in New York, he did over 200
live television performances including such masterworks as G. E. Theatre and
Philco Playhouse.
He played a brilliant part in the film From Here To Eternity, as the brutal
stockade Sergeant, Fatso Judson, and went on to become famous around the
world for his Oscar-winning portrayal of the Bronx butcher, Marty. Since then he
has done dozens of films. Some of his favorites include The Catered Affair with
Bette Davis and the classic Bad Day at Black Rock.
McHale’s Navy, in the sixties, set a standard for broad comedy and ensemble
work that led to many other series in the same genre. Later, as Dominic Santini
on Airwolf for three seasons, Ernie brought a reality to his role that few actors
could equal. In the 90’s he added his own brand of humor as the doorman in The
Single Guy.
His staggering number of outstanding film roles, now close to 200, has made
him something of an icon in the motion picture community. Reading titles like Bad
Day At Black Rock, The Vikings, Torpedo Run, Ice Station Zebra, Wild Bunch,
Flight Of The Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, and The Poseidon Adventure give only
a sample of the dozens of films Ernie has starred in.
In the animation field he can be heard on the hit children’s TV series based
on the animated feature All Dogs Go To Heaven II for which he was nominated
for an Emmy. And he has a recurring role on the Saturday morning hit
SpongeBob Square Pants.
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For twenty-five years he went to Milwaukee for his annual appearance as a
clown in the biggest circus parade in the world.
He launched his eighties by portraying the legendary J. Edgar Hoover, in a
one-man feature motion picture, Hoover. He followed that with appearances on
JAG, Early Edition, Walker, Texas Ranger, Touched By An Angel, 7th Heaven,
Family Law, and The District.
In 2002 he celebrated his continuing good health by mounting a horse to ride
in the western feature, Long Ride Home. In 2004, at 87 years young, Ernie
guest-starred on a Hallmark Channel western, Trail of Hope Rose, in which he
drove a team of horses. For this role he received the Wrangler Award from the
National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2005 he was
featured in an Adam Sandler picture, Strange Wilderness. Turning ninety, he
starred in another Hallmark Channel movie, Grandpa For Christmas, for which he
received a Golden Globe nomination. He immediately got up on another horse
for his role in Aces ‘N Eights, on the ION Channel. In 2009 he appeared on the
final episodes of the legendary NBC series ER, for which he has been nominated
for an Emmy®. Yet he still finds time to promote the recent release of his
legendary McHale’s Navy out on DVD.
Ernie has received Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from three
separate institutions. He has also been recognized for his support of the Navy
Memorial Fund with the “Lone Sailor” award from the Memorial Foundation and
he is an Honorary Chief Petty Officer from the Navy Chiefs. He was elected
“Veteran of the Year 2000” by the Veteran’s Foundation, and was honored in
May 2001 for a lifetime of artistic achievement by the National Film Theater of
Great Britain. In 2002, he received a lifetime achievement award from his
mother’s birthplace, Carpi, Italy. In honor of his Italian parentage he received the
Ellis Island Medal of Honor. As he celebrated his 90th birthday, he was honored
with the California Commendation Medal for his support of the military by the
Commanding Officer of the California National Guard.
He maintains contacts with old shipmates from his destroyer days. Some
twenty years ago he acquired another Naval title: Honorary Flight Leader for the
Navy’s Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels.
In 2008 his autobiography, Ernie, the autobiography was published to excited
acceptance everywhere. In April, 2009, he went to London to introduce the
European printing. Another Harvest Moon is his 199th feature film. He recently
completed a Hallmark Channel TV movie, Wishing Well, that is scheduled to air
in September 2009.
Ernie has white hair, unforgettable blue-green eyes and weighs a mite over
two hundred, which at six feet tall, is well distributed. In spite of his busy
schedule he makes time to go fishing in Alaska, stay active in several charities
and is very proud to have been honored with the 33rd Degree of the Masonic
Order of the Grand Cross. Ernie lives in Beverly Hills with his beautiful wife,
Tova, QVC’s on camera spokesperson for Tova cosmetics.
Is he busy? Never busy enough for the energetic Borgnine! That’s the way he
wants it!
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Piper Laurie
(June)
Piper Laurie has built a distinguished career in film, on television and the
theater, performing in more than a hundred films and television shows. Piper just
completed filming Hesher starring opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie
Portman. She also recently costarred opposite Dakota Fanning and Robin Wright
Penn in Hounddog and played Toni Collette’s mother in The Dead Girl. She just
completed directing the first part of a trilogy based on the short stories of James
Lasdun.
Piper had already starred in nearly twenty films before breaking her lucrative
Hollywood contract and moving to New York to do theater and live TV. Robert
Rosen saw her on stage and cast her in The Hustler, with Paul Newman and
Jackie Gleason. Her performance in that classic American film earned her an
Oscar® nomination for Best Actress in a leading role. She married, moved to
upstate New York and took fifteen years out to raise a family. When she
returned, two additional Academy Award® nominations followed—one for the
Stephen King classic Carrie, directed by Brian De Palma and the other for
Children of a Lesser God directed by Randa Haines.
Laurie made an impact in live television early on in the original Days of Wine
and Roses, directed by John Frankenheimer earning her an Emmy® nomination
for her wrenching performance as an alcoholic. She has gone on to earn a dozen
Emmy® nominations for her performances on shows such as Frasier and David
Lynch’s series, Twin Peaks, for which she received a Golden Globe®. She also
won the Emmy® for the Hallmark movie Promise with James Woods and James
Garner.
Laurie has starred in a spectrum of film genres, from Dario Argento’s Trauma
to the elegant adaptation of Truman Capote’s The Grass Harp opposite Walter
Matthau. She has worked with directors ranging from Robert Rodriguez and
Sean Penn to Norman Jewison and Bruce Beresford, in films as diverse as The
Faculty, The Crossing Guard, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, Storyville, Other
Peoples Money, Dream A Little Dream, Return to Oz and Tim opposite Mel
Gibson.
On stage Ms. Laurie has done almost thirty plays including The Glass
Menagerie, Rosemary and The Alligators, Twelfth Night, Marco Polo Sings a
Solo, Macbeth, Biography, The Innocents, The Cherry Orchard and toured in her
one person show The Last Flapper by William Luce, based on the writings of
Zelda Fitzgerald. She played in Larry Kramer’s most recent The Destiny of Me at
the Lucille Lortel and last season’s Tony nominated hit revival of Mornings as
Seven directed by Daniel Sullivan. She was Harvard’s Woman of the Year and
in 1996 Tucson University conferred an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts. In 2000
she flew to Korea to receive The Spirit of Hope Award for her service during the
Korean War. She’s a sculptor, working in marble and clay and exhibits her work.
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Anne Meara
(Ella)
Anne Meara became a household name in the 1960s when she partnered
with her husband Jerry Stiller in their now classic Stiller and Meara comedy
routine. They brought their real-life relationship foibles to their act. They were
among the earliest graduates of Chicago’s Second City improvisational group to
become famous, making frequent appearances in the ‘60s and ‘70s on television
shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show.
As classic as their act were their radio commercials, including a routine they
did for Blue Nun wine.
When variety series became scarce both Jerry and Anne moved on to
successful acting careers. Anne has been nominated for Emmys® in three
different series—Homicide: Life on the Streets, Archie Bunker’s Place (twice) and
Kate McShane. She received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting
Actress in Rhoda and won a Writers Guild of America Award for her work on The
Other Woman.
Anne has had roles in numerous films, including Night at the Museum, Kiss of
Death, Reality Bites, Awakenings, Fame and The Boys from Brazil. She has had
recurring roles in the television series Sex and the City and King of Queens and
has appeared in numerous other successful shows including Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit, Will & Grace, Murphy Brown and Murder She Wrote.
She is the consulting director of J.A.P., The Jewish American Princesses of
Comedy, an Off-Broadway production that features live stand-up routines by four
female Jewish comics, juxtaposed with the stories of legendary performers of the
1950s and 1960s.
Ann and Jerry have been married for more than 50 years and are the parents
of comedy movie star Ben Stiller and comedienne/actress Amy Stiller.
Doris Roberts
(Alice)
After nine years as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, which
brought her international accolades as the most popular comedic actress in
television, Doris Roberts returned to features as the star of two comedies and a
huge horror/adventure blockbuster for Twentieth Century-Fox, another for
Miramax and then two heavy dramas for Hallmark, as well as a special segment
of Law & Order Criminal Intent written especially for her. Then, she reunited with
famed playwright Terrence McNally, for whom she starred in the Outer Critics
Circle Award winning Bad Habits on Broadway, in a new play, Unusual Acts of
Devotion in a special pre-Broadway engagement at the famed LA Jolla
Playhouse in California.
Roberts, who boasts four Emmys® for Raymond alone and a fifth for a
dramatic portrayal as a victim of homelessness on St. Elsewhere, continued her
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long career of diverse performances, by co-starring as Ashley Tisdale’s
grandmother in the highly touted Twentieth Century-Fox epic, Aliens in the Attic.
And just as that picture was going into release, she signed for the title role in The
Hallmark Channel tearjerker, Mrs. Miracle, continuing a long association with the
network. Earlier she jumped into the title role of the Fox youth market comedy
Nana’s Boy, then was snatched by Miramax to star opposite Garry Marshall in
Keeping Up With the Steins.
In between, Roberts won critical acclaim as a wealthy New York society
matron whose family tries to get her fortune in the Privilege special of Law &
Order Criminal Intent for NBC, and another wealthy homeowner who takes in a
group of homeless in the Hallmark Channel drama Our House.
Roberts, whose pre-Raymond series and specials on television, countless
features and 30 years on Broadway have made her one of the most beloved
performers in entertainment, is no awards newcomer. In addition to the five
Emmy’s®, her artistry has been recognized three times as Best Television
Actress by the national Viewers for Quality Television. Then, in 2001 alone, she
was selected by the prestigious American Film Institute as one of five actresses
of the year, won the 2001 TV Guide Award, the 2000 Beautiful People Award and
was named Best Actress in A Comedy in the American Comedy and Los Angeles
Weekly Awards for her stage performance in 24 Hours. The versatile actress was
immortalized with her own Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and, in
April, of that year, St. Martin’s Press published her memoirs, Are You Hungry,
Dear? which became an immediate best seller.
Doris debuted on Broadway in 1955 in William Saroyan’s classic The Time of
Your Life. The following year she was asked to understudy one of the great
ladies of the American stage, Shirley Booth, in Desk Set.
Even with that impressive recognition of her innate acting abilities, she
decided she needed professional training and joined the famed Actors Studio,
where her peer students were also to become illustrious performers, among them
Marilyn Monroe, Kim Stanley and Maureen Stapleton.
The New York theatre continued to beckon the young actress, who
subsequently appeared both on and off Broadway in numerous successful
productions, including Cheaters and Bad Habits, for which she won the Outer
Critics Circle Award.
Lily Tomlin coaxed Doris away from Broadway to join her comedy series, The
Lily Tomlin Comedy Hour, initiating a new and thriving career in television. Doris
became one of the medium’s most successful stars as a series regular on Angie,
The Boys, Ladies on Sweet Street, Remington Steele, Maggie, The Mary Tyler
Moore Comedy Hour and, of course, for nine seasons on Everybody Loves
Raymond. Doris also managed to fit in guest starring roles in many other popular
series. Producers of movies for television were quick to take advantage of the
actress’ popularity and wooed her for key roles in numerous shows.
Moving onto the big screen, Doris drew even more accolades for such films
as The Grass Harp, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Barefoot In the
Park, No Way to Treat a Lady, Hester Street, The Taking of Pelham one-Two-
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Three, The Rose, Good Luck Miss Wyckoff, Rabbit Test, Simple Justice and
Momma Mia.
While most performers might begin to rest on their laurels, Doris Roberts
continued to shine in her craft. With a hefty weekly schedule on Everybody Loves
Raymond, she also managed to star in two movies for television, racking up rave
reviews for a dramatic role as a woman approaching Alzheimer’s disease in A
Time To Remember for The Hallmark Channel and Raising Waylon for CBS. In
between, she even managed to have some fun with her love for games,
appearing as a regular with her friend Whoopi Goldberg on Hollywood Squares
and accepting a very special role written for her on the popular Touched By an
Angel.
Doris also manages to devote what free time she has to community service
as a Founder and active supporter of the charities Children Affected By AIDS and
Puppies Behind Bars. For five years in a row she has turned producer to create A
Night of Comedy, gathering the top comedy stars in their field to raise millions of
dollars for Children Affected By AIDS. With Puppies Behind Bars, she has helped
to create a new sense of humanity for prison inmates by providing them with pets
and a sense of normal responsibility. She received a special Award of
Recognition as the first Chair of Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event,
(S.T.A.G.E.) the longest continuing fundraising event for AIDS, at the 2008 24th
anniversary of the all-star entertainment charity.
Roberts is also a formidable fighter for the rights of fellow actors in the
continuing battle against ageism. In mid-2002 she made international headlines
when she testified before U.S. Senator John Breaux’s Special Committee on
Ageism” in Washington, D. C. Even with her incredible schedule, she happily
responded to the U.S. Department of State, becoming a Cultural Ambassador
and traveling to underdeveloped countries throughout the world to speak about
hope, for which she was honored in late 2004 by Secretary of State Colin Powell
in ceremonies in Washington, D. C.
Richard Schiff
(Jeffrey)
Actor/Director Richard Schiff has enjoyed a lengthy and acclaimed career in
film, television and theater. Born in Bethesda, Maryland and raised in New York
City, Richard developed a passion for film and theater at a very early age. He
discovered that watching films or a stage production inspired his imagination and
put him into a dream-like, blissful state that would continue for hours after the
curtains closed. He was absolutely transfixed when he saw his first Broadway
play, On the Way to the Forum, and when he watched The Graduate for the first
time. It was only natural that Richard pursued a career in the arts.
Richard began his career in New York, where he founded and served as the
Artistic Director of the Manhattan Repertory Theater, and directed off-Broadway
productions, including Antigone, starring Angela Bassett. During this time,
Richard also completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater at City
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College of New York (CCNY). Soon afterward, he earned a role in his first feature
independent film, Medium Straight, and went to Los Angeles to attend its initial
screening. He started to receive offers of work from casting directors who saw
the film and, before long, permanently moved to Los Angeles. He performed
several plays with Tim Robbins’ Actors’ Gang, while landing roles in City Hall with
Al Pacino and David Fincher's Seven with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.
Richard’s extensive film credits now number more than 40, including the
Oscar-nominated biopic Ray, as well as a wide-range of roles in films such as I
Am Sam, Malcolm X, Lost World: Jurassic Park, People I Know, Forces of
Nature, Lucky Numbers, Crazy in Alabama, Deep Impact, Hoffa, Living Out Loud,
Doctor Doolittle, Heaven and The Hudsucker Proxy. He also appeared in
independent films such as Civic Duty, one of the films that opened the esteemed
Tribeca Film Festival, Heaven, and Grace of my Heart.
His distinguished television career received recognition with the memorable
role of dysfunctional father Barry Roth on Relativity, as well as many guest star
roles on popular series including NYPD Blue, Ally McBeal, Murphy Brown, L.A.
Law, The Practice, Chicago Hope, ER and Roswell. Richard’s television roles
include his much-celebrated portrayal of White House Communications Director
Toby Ziegler on The West Wing, for which he received the “Best Supporting
Actor” Emmy Award and garnered three Emmy nominations. Richard can next be
seen on Fox Network’s new series Past Life.
Richard also has a longstanding career in theater, with many off-Broadway
productions under his belt, including Underneath the Lintel, which he performed
at the George Street Playhouse in early 2006 and in London’s Duchess Theatre
in 2007. Other noteworthy stage performances include Blood, Love and
Madness, The Lower Depths, Talking Minks, Plain Brown Wrapper, Dark Age
and Blues for Mister Charlie. Richard won a Dramalogue award for his starring
role as Goose in David Rabe's Goose and Tom Tom, and an Ovation Award for
his role in Urban Folktales. Richard most recently starred in a production of
Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s Folly at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.
In 2000, Richard received the prestigious Townsend Harris medal from CCNY
for outstanding post-graduate achievement. Past recipients include author Upton
Sinclair, actor Edward G. Robinson, and Dr. Jonas Salk. In 2004, CCNY granted
him the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, along with President Clinton
and novelist Walter Moseley.
Most recently, Richard revisited his passion for directing, having helmed
several episodes of The West Wing and HBO’s In Treatment, and is beginning
work on the direction of a documentary project. Richard is married to film and
television actress Sheila Kelley. They have two children together, Ruby Christine
and Gus.
Cybill Shepherd
(Vicky)
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Few women in the past three decades have lit up the American imagination
like actress, musician, author, producer, model, and beauty queen Cybill
Shepherd. From wholesome beauty queen to captivating cover girl, from
heartbreaking movie star to one of television’s most beloved comediennes. From
naïve sex kitten to liberated political spokeswoman, Cybill has tackled these roles
with an indomitable spirit that has made her a female icon to an entire
generation.
Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Cybill won Model of the Year in
1968 from Stewart Models and has appeared on the covers of Life, Vogue,
Glamour, and People, among others. She made her film debut in 1971 in the
highly acclaimed The Last Picture Show, which led to starring roles in such films
as The Heartbreak Kid, Daisy Miller, Taxi Driver, Chances Are, Texasville, Alice,
Married to It, Once Upon a Crime, and “Marine Life.”
Cybill has starred in three television series including The Yellow Rose,
Moonlighting, for which she won three Golden Globes and an Emmy nomination
and the self-titled show Cybill, for which she not only won a Golden Globe, but
served as the show’s executive producer.
More recently, Cybill starred in Showtime’s Open Window and portrayed
Martha Stewart in both the NBC tele-film, Martha Stewart, Inc. and Martha
Behind Bars for CBS. Cybill also starred in the Showtime original series The L
Word and has made guest appearances on Psych, Samantha Who and Criminal
Minds. Her recent film credits include Lifetime’s High Noon and a starring role in
The Hallmark Channel’s Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith. In addition, Cybill has
just been signed on to a recurring role in the upcoming fall series Eastwick.
Shepherd’s theatrical experience includes starring roles in Shot in the Dark,
The Seven Year Itch, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Lunch Hour, Vanities and
Picnic.
Cybill started singing with her church choir at age eight, and began studying
voice at sixteen. She has performed sold out concerts around the world blending
rock, blues, ballad and standards as well as her own compositions. She has
recorded eleven albums; her most recent, At Home with Cybill was released in
2004.
In 2000, she released her hilarious, gutsy, and insightful memoir, Cybill
Disobedience: How I Survived Beauty Pageants, Elvis, Sex, Bruce Willis, Lies,
Marriage, Motherhood, Hollywood, and the Irrepressible Urge to Say What I
Think, in which she tells her remarkable story as only she can, with humor,
pathos, and an insatiable lust for life.
Amber Benson
(Gretchen)
Amber Benson, has a huge fan following for her role as the shy witch in Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. She has a wealth of experience behind her, studying singing
and dancing (appearing in a production of The Nutcracker at the age of six) as
well as acting before landing her first movie role in King of the Hill in 1993. She
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played a good-natured epileptic teenager. She followed this with a role as Alicia
Silverstone’s best friend in The Crush.
She followed this with three made-for-TV Jack Reed detective movies as the
daughter of the title detective. Other small parts followed in Imaginary Crimes,
S.F.W. and Bye Bye Love. She appeared in a number of independent movies
and shorts before her three years on Buffy.
Amber has also tried her talent at writing and directing, starting in 2001,
wshen she was 24, with Chance, playing the title character. She has also written
various stage plays as well as scripts for other independent movies such as The
Theory of the Leisure Class and Ghosts of Albion: Legacy.
Cameron Monaghan
(Jack)
Fifteen-year-old Cameron was born in Santa Monica, California, but moved to
Boca Raton, Florida as an infant. Today he is bi-coastal, with family in New York,
Connecticut, Florida and L.A.
His debut TV role was Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man, a role originally
played by Ron Howard, a child actor himself who is now one of the most
respected filmmakers in Hollywood.
Young Cameron is no slouch either. He has already been nominated twice for
the Young Artist Award (Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide and Music
Man) and won once for Music Man.
He has appeared in about half a dozen movies, including The Santa Clause
3: The Escape Clause and Brothers in Arms.
In six short years he already has a dozen TV shows on his resumé, including
The Mentalist, Numb3rs, Criminal Minds and six episodes of Malcolm in the
Middle.
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Greg W. Swartz
Director
Greg Swartz realized when his writing partner Jeremy Black showed him the
script of his play Another Harvest Moon that this could be turned into a
screenplay and would be the ideal vehicle for his own feature directing debut.
The story was important to Greg as he had just experienced the pain of his
own father’s death. Together they honed the script, introducing new characters
and taking the story out of the confining nursing home where it is set.
Greg is not exactly a newcomer to Hollywood. He has worked on film sets in
various capacities including production manager and was on the crew of Twin
Falls Idaho. He has also directed a number of short films, including 57 Sunny
Days, Dead Ronnie, Betsy, Take It Easy and Hollywood Pennsylvania. He wrote
the latter two.
A script Jeremy and Greg wrote together has been sold to a small production
company. With the intriguing title The Gordons at the End of the World, it is about
a family that refused to evacuate during the Three Mile Island tragedy. It’s taken
from his own childhood, when he and his family did evacuate.
Steven M. Delamater
Executive Producer
Steven Delamater made a commitment to himself as a college student that
he would become a businessman so that at a later stage in his life he could
devote himself to the creative arts. He has now reached that stage and has
formed SMD Entertainment Productions, a full service independent motion
picture production and finance company headquartered in Pennsylvania. SMD
was born from Steven’s love of film and the desire to give audiences quality
motion pictures that provoke human emotions and have no boundaries.
In fact creativity has always been a part of his life. For a number of years he
made a living as a jazz drummer, traveling up and down the East Coast. He
appeared in the highly successful Off-Broadway show I’m Getting My Act
Together and Taking It On The Road. It was produced by the Joseph Papp
Shakespeare in the Park Organization. He was all set to go on a world tour, but
had just met a girl. He had to decide whether to go on the tour or stay with the
girl. It was an easy choice. He stayed and she became his wife.
Steven owns 10 McDonalds restaurants in a three county area of
Pennsylvania. He has a land development company and has other investments
in import/export. He devotes a lot of his time to various charities.
His passion is studying and acquiring antiquities and recently had a show of
Jewish antiquities in London and elsewhere. It focused on the forgotten era of
700 to 1500 BC.
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His wife passed away in 1991 and he has brought up their daughter, now 19,
by himself.
Delamater’s mantra is “I want someone’s life to be better for being part of
mine.”
Bobby Black
Producer
Bobby Black joined Aurora Films in 2002, bringing an extensive history in film
and television to the fast growing company.
In 1998 he produced and directed his self-financed feature film Welcome to
Serendipity. The project was shot on location in Death Valley and Las Vegas. It
was entered into the Independent Film Market and premiered at the St. James
Theater in Manhattan.
Bobby worked in production with Oxygen Media, Nickelodeon and VH1 from
2000 to 2002. He joined Aurora Films to help John Slocak and Brad Kenyon
develop and produce their first television show, Twelve Hours At The Point.
Chad Taylor
Producer
Chad Taylor is a founding member and guitarist for the internationally famous
rock band Live. Having sold over 20 million records worldwide, with countless
sold-out tours, he has established himself as one of the premiere rock guitarist in
the world.
Taylor has co-written two Billboard #1 albums and graced the covers of Spin
and Rolling Stone (as “Artist of the Year”). He is co-publisher of more than a
dozen top ten singles on Billboard’s Modern Rock Radio, which propelled him
and his band into the national spotlight, including performances on Saturday
Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
Conan O’Brien, Howard Stern and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Determined to expand his creative reach, Taylor began producing
independent films, making his debut on the critically acclaimed Home starring
Academy Award® winner Marcia Gay Harden. He is currently and writing music
for his latest project (as yet to be named) due for release in early 2010. He is a
partner in Aurora Films.
John P. Slovak, M.D.
Co-Executive Producer
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Dr. Slovak co-founded Aurora Films in 1999 to establish grant funded
medical outreach and education in third world nations through direct use of
modern media. His multiple roles include being an executive producer and
writer/creator for Aurora. Dr. Slovak co-wrote and produced Grassroots, Twelve
Hours at the Point, a broadcast television documentary airing on Speed Channel,
earning Aurora industry recognition. Dr. Slovak continues to be a vanguard of
quality for each of Aurora’s projects.
Brad Kenyon
Co-Executive Producer
With over two decades of multi-media production experience, Brad is cofounder and managing partner of Aurora Films. Kenyon has spent the bulk of his
career producing commercial programs as well as independent features and
shorts. His positions have ranged from producer to director of photography. Brad
directed and shot Aurora’s first one-hour cable television documentary that aired
on Speed Channel. He is certified as an Arriflex camera operator and has
experience in both aerial and underwater cinematography.
Jeremy T. Black
Writer
Jeremy Black was inspired to write the play on which Another Harvest
Moon is based on events in his own life. When his grandmother began to forget
her grandchildren he was the first to slip away from her memory. His experiences
at the time, helping his mother care for her, is the basis of the character June, as
well as being part of the emotional springboard from which the play later
emerged.
Years after her death another elderly relative tried to end her life by taking
an inadequate amount of pills. She had lived a long and productive life and
decided to die as she had lived—decisively and with bravery. For this she was
locked up for observation. The inspiration for the play came from a call she made
to him from that place. She had been infantilized, all her powers taken from her.
Jeremy says he will never forget her broken spirit.
While he has written his entire life, Jeremy has made a living as a teacher
of students with special needs, the night manager of a deli with a gorgeous
sunrise view of Mt. Rainier in Washington State while attending the University of
Washington in Seattle, and various “inglorious positions” in the entertainment
industry. After performing stand-up comedy for six years, he dropped performing
and committed himself to writing.
Jeremy’s plays have been read or produced at the Seattle Fringe Festival,
NW Playwright’s Guild, NW Actors Studio, and UCLA’s Department of Theatre,
Film, and Television, among other venues. Starlight Stories, written while Jeremy
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pursued his MFA in Theatre at UCLA and developed in readings by ASK Theatre
Projects, UCLA, and Wolfskill Theater, was produced by Wolfskill Theater at the
Los Angeles Theatre Center and more recently by Stages in Fullerton, California.
Other plays include Queer Soldiers, Private Smiles, Sparks, and the
children’s play Philo Taylor Farnsworth Invented TV, one of two plays written to
be performed by students with special needs.
Jeremy lives in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles with a cat
named Frank. Both Frank the cat and Frank from Another Harvest Moon are
named after an elderly neighbor who died during Jeremy’s boyhood in
Wisconsin.
Jeffrey A. Cunningham
Cinematographer
After a six-year stint in commercial radio and spinning records in underground
dance clubs, Jeffrey started cutting his teeth as a camera assistant in Dallas,
Texas.
A few years later the two great loves of his life, filmmaking and rock climbing,
beckoned him to Los Angeles. In his early days as a cinematographer he shot
mostly commercials, music videos and documentary projects. He found the
storytelling aspect of docs to be incredibly satisfying, as well as the diverse
subject matter. He shot with Republic of Texas separatists, Tijuana prostitutes,
Bering Sea fishermen, Appalachian coal miners, women attempting to climb K2
and racers competing in the Baja 1000.
During this same period, he shot many more short films on a wide variety of
subjects, ranging from teen love to pedophilia.
He had worked on and shot feature films in the past, but usually found himself
frustrated by the amount of time and energy expended and the significance of the
end result. That all changed, in a very organic way, when Greg Swartz showed
him the script for Another Harvest Moon.
“I knew this film was going to be something special and I wanted to be part of
it,” he says.
Carl Sprague
Production Designer
After graduating from Harvard in 1984 (film major/philosophy minor) Carl
Sprague studied design at the Polakov Studio and at NYU, while working as a
scene painter, assisting Jerome Robbins at Lincoln Center, and getting fired
as a driver from Woody Allen’s Radio Days.
Carl worked for several years with special effects wizard Doug Trumbull –
art directing the Back to the Future ride for Universal Studios and other
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projects. His first feature design work was as an assistant art director for
Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence. He went on to work on a number of
features including The Paper, State & Main, Spartan, In Dreams, Before &
After, Mona Lisa Smile, The Love Letter, and Amistad. He received a Guild
nomination for art directing The Royal Tenenbaums. Carl’s design credits
include Satie & Suzanne, Long Distance, The Pleasure of Your Company and
Campbell Scott’s new film, Company Retreat, as well as Another Harvest
Moon.
His sets at Mass MoCA for the photographer Gregory Crewdson were
featured in The New York Times. Carl designs extensively for the stage –
including the Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Berkshire Opera, The MusicTheatre Group, The Oldcastle Theatre, The Colonial Theatre, Mixed
Company, Shakespeare & Co., The Miniature Theatre of Chester and the
Albany/Berkshire Ballet.
Carl lives in Stockbridge, Massachusetts with his wife, painter and writer
Susan Merrill, and their children, Ruslan and Elena.
Ricardo Garcia, William V. Malpede
Composers
Garcia and Malpede are two of the most in-demand musicians in the business
today. They are long-time collaborators.
Garcia has co-written and performed songs for such films as the Oscar®
winning Brokeback Mountain as well as such high profile films as Collateral,
Seven Pounds, The Interpreter, Glory Road, Next and Hancock.
Malpede, a composer/orchestrator, toured extensively as a principal
keyboardist and assistant conductor with several Broadway national tours,
including Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Music of the
Night and The Drowsy Chaperone. In Los Angeles he worked with composer
Christopher Young on Urban Legend, Runaway Jury and Spiderman 3.
William started composing original scores of his own for such films as Angels
Don’t Sleep Here, Dog Gone Love and Guys ‘N Divas: Battle of the High School
Musicals. He has won an award for his concert choral music and has co-written
songs featured in the films The Interpreter, Bangkok Dangerous and Domino.
Garcia says that they had a lot to work with on the film. “Because these
characters had come full circle in life we chose to blend orchestral arrangements
and the use of vocalizing to explore the characters’ emotional depth while at the
same time celebrating the kid inside.”
The score was composed in 23 days and recorded at the historical Capital
Records building in Hollywood.
The end credit song, “The Kid Inside” was composed by Garcia, Malpede and
Ken Karman, and performed by The Green Car Motel.
***
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