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PROJECTS |
| The Girl Behind Hollywood |
| Beyond Belief |
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THE GIRL BEHIND HOLLYWOOD
The Girl Behind Hollywood is the first feature-length biopic on the life of silent-movie star, Mary Pickford, and the only screenplay authorized by the Mary Pickford Foundation. The film concentrates on her life from age 16 to 35 -- a story that interweaves her romantic struggles with an alcoholic first husband and a torrid affair that could cost her everything, with her struggle against the men of Hollywood who expected her to remain a quiet and obedient little actress. The time period is 1909-1928, the exact span of the silent movie era and as such the film depicts the birthing of film techniques. For example there will be no 'close up' in the movie until Mary and D.W. Griffith discover it. The Hollywood we know today – both the business and the celebrity machine – has come to exist thanks to decisions Mary Pickford faced and made almost a century ago. The film closes with the 1976 Oscar presentation where Jack Nicholson personally thanked Mary for her contribution to Hollywood. “The best known woman who has Mary Pickford (1892-1979) was the first actress to achieve international super stardom. She was celebrated around the world for her remarkable acting ability, her string of hit films, and her pioneering behind-the-scenes achievements. A young girl trying to make ends meet, Mary performed in theater in order to feed her family. At sixteen, she crossed the street and began a monumental career in the “flickers” (silent movies) in a time when the industry had a demeaning reputation. Mary Pickford’s appeal was international. A born charmer, with a radiant child-woman beauty and a spirited screen personality, she captivated audience’s emotions with her natural ease and ready humor. For many years, she remained the nation’s biggest box office draw. As an actress, her work defined film acting. As a producer, she set standards for quality that placed her films among the best of the era. As a woman of the film industry she helped shape the trade through precedent setting contracts, foundation of the Academy, as well as through the formation of charitable institutions, such as the Motion Picture and Television Fund. As an astute business woman, in 1919, Pickford and contemporaries, Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks, formed United Artists—a pioneering studio that influences the industry to this day. Pickford helped create the "star system," demanding screen credit for artists, as well as authority over scripts, co-stars and directors. Throughout her career, Mary stepped into her strength and grew from a young girl into a woman. She re-defined an entire industry, while struggling to find love and an off-screen identity in the face of fame and fortune that had never before existed. “The ideal American girl is still the Mary Mary’s fairy-tale marriage to action star Douglas Fairbanks made the pair Hollywood’s first royal couple. And, as such, they presided as hosts to movie industry stars and moguls, Presidents and real royalty at their legendary home, Pickfair. The peak of her popularity lasted more than 20 years, during which she was voted the “Number One Actress of the Year” by Photoplay 15 times. Thousands of fans turned out whenever Pickford made a public appearance. Unlike many of her peers, Pickford made an easy transition from silent to sound films, winning the first Academy Award for an actress in a talkie. Because her international fame was owed to moving images, she is a watershed figure in the history of modern celebrity. In consideration of her contributions to American cinema, the American Film Institute named Pickford 24th among the greatest female stars of all time.
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY PRESENTS
Starring “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” –Albert Einstein. Maggie is stuck and desperate. Even her hope hurts. So she takes the words of her love bunny, Albert Einstein, to heart. In the name of sanity, she attempts a day doing everything differently—no matter what. Little does she imagine that she will fall (literally) into the arms of a hunky stunt man with a beyond belief secret of his own. This romantic comedy/action short is entering the film festival circuit and the feature length version is currently in development.
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