Sponsored by ED HARDY

(C) MBN 2006  William Hoehne

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2006 Honorees

John Hueston
Assistant U.S. Attorney

Sharon Lebon
Founder and CEO, Three Dots

Janet Nguyen
Garden Grove city councilwoman

Ken Smith
Designer of The Great Park, Ken Smith Architects

Bob McKnight
Founder and CEO, Quiksilver

Scott Flanders
President and CEO, Freedom Communications, parent company of the Orange County Register

Jacquelyn Tran
Founder and CEO, Perfume Bay

Loretta Drummond
Women Build, Habitat for Humanity, Orange County

Michael Cho
Attorney, Bernard & Associates

Peter Adderton
Founder and CEO, Amp?d Mobile

Jim Doti
President, Chapman University

Erin Runnion
Founder, The Joyful Child Foundation

Laura Davick
President and founder, Crystal Cove Alliance

Ivo Tjan
Chairman and CEO, CommerceWest Bank

Jay Longley
Founder and CEO, Rainbow Sandals

Francisco Garcia
Restaurateur, founder, wegivethanks.org

Curt Pringle
Anaheim mayor

Kimberly Chavalas Cripe
President and CEO, Children?s Hospital of Orange County

Ed Grier
Mickey?s Main Man President, Disneyland Resorts

Richard Gilchrist
President, office division, The Irvine Co.

Douglas McAllister
Founder, president and CEO, Culinary Management Group

Henry and Elizabeth Segerstrom
Managing partner, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons

Ted Smith
Founder, FileNet

Emile Haddad
Chief investment officer, Lennar

Ruben Alvarez Jr.
Founder and president, Stay Connected OC

(C) MBN 2006 Joyce Chow & William Hoehne

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Morrison’s 1960 Vette Immortalized as “Best in Show” at the Gran Turismo Awards

Art Morrison’s 3G Vette 1960 Corvette wins the coveted Best in Show Award at the Gran Turismo Awards held at Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas during the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. Morrison’s Vette will now be immortalized in an upcoming Gran Turismo racing simulation game. 

The Gran Turismo Awards mission is to find the hottest car of the show (SEMA Show) game. This hottest car is catapulted to stardom with the inclusion in the next Gran Turismo video game, the franchise which has sold over 40 million copies since its introduction nearly nine years ago. 

Judging was done by a group of personalities and journalists from the automotive industry. Category judging was based on the judge’s choice for a car with well-balanced performance, style and speed. “Best in Show” was selected by the famed creator of the Gran Turismo franchise – Kazunori Yamauchi. 

Category Award Winners

Best Japanese Import: Leigh Guarnieri, 2007 Honda FTT

Best Domestic: Tajaldas, 2006 Pontiac Solstice

Best European Auto: Don Nicholson, 2006 Volvo C30

Best Truck/SUV, Daryl Klassen and Mike Deford, Hummer 3

Best Hotrod, Craig Morrison, 1960 Chevrolet Corvette

While anticipating the award announcements, Pharrell Williams’DJ, Jus Ske kept the hip hop tunes coming as fans could drive the anticipated Gran Turismo HD of Sony’s Playstation 3, nearly three weeks prior to the street date of the PS3. A street date for GT HD has still not been announced but is expected in 2007. 

After announcing the awards, fans were treated to a performance by the iconic rock band Foreigner. 

Gran Turismo has sold over 45 million units worldwide on the Playstation platforms. It is considered the standard for racing games with its realistic graphic, physics and realistic cars and tracks. It’s most recent version, Gran Turismo 4 has over 700 cars and enables you to drive around the world on over 40 tracks. 

www.gran-turismo.com

(C) MBN 2006 Joyce Chow

Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid Wins Vehicle Design Award

SEMA's Awards Program Spotlighting Accessory Friendly Vehicles Chooses the Chevrolet Silverado Classic in Best Hybrid Category

 Nov. 2 The Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid -- the first full-size production pickup to utilize hybrid technology -- is also the first hybrid to be recognized as the most accessory friendly vehicle at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, capturing one of four SEMA Vehicle Design Awards and becoming the benchmark in SEMA's newest design award category.

Each SEMA Vehicle Design Award recipient was part of a selection process that encompassed several SEMA member companies and automakers who regularly participate in technology sharing programs. These programs consist of various data sharing, measurement sessions and technology transfer initiatives which provide valuable information for each specialty equipment manufacturer to be in sync with the launch of new vehicles.

The SEMA Vehicle Design Awards were established to honor those newly introduced vehicles that best exemplify the alliance between the OEMs and SEMA-member companies. The awards recognize and celebrate the vehicles that a select group of voting members has chosen as the most accessory-friendly vehicles of the year. The Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid received nearly 22 percent of the votes for 2006.

"The collaboration between Chevrolet, General Motors and SEMA is very valuable. We gain a lot of accessory ideas and product ideas to give the consumers what they really want. We look closely at what is offered at SEMA, we are encouraged with what's offered and we look at new ideas. That's where the collaboration comes in strong for us," commented Dale Sullivan, Regional Sales Marketing Manager, Western Region, General Motors.

"Our participating manufacturing members had early access to the Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid and discovered that its proven lineage of design and engineering provides several opportunities for customer personalization," said Carl Sheffer, SEMA vice president, OEM Relations. "Based on feedback from the automakers, we are having a positive impact on the design and marketing of future vehicles."

SEMA reveals the winners of the accessory friendly Car, Truck, SUV and Hybrid categories at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the largest automotive specialty equipment trade event where the industry unveils thousands of new products to visiting trade professionals.

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association founded in 1963, represents the $34 billion specialty automotive industry of 6,817 member-companies. It is the authoritative source for research, data, trends and market growth information for the specialty auto parts industry. The industry provides appearance, performance, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger and recreational vehicles. For more information, contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765, tel: 909/396-0289 or visit www.sema.org and www.enjoythedrive.com.

Jeep Wrangler Wins Vehicle Design Award

SEMA's Awards Program Spotlighting Accessory Friendly Vehicles Chooses the Jeep Wrangler in Best SUV Category

The Jeep Wrangler was recognized as the most accessory friendly SUV at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, capturing one of four SEMA Vehicle Design Awards and joining a prestigious list of past winners.

Each SEMA Vehicle Design Award recipient was part of a selection process that encompassed several SEMA member companies and automakers who regularly participate in technology sharing programs. These programs consist of various data sharing, measurement sessions and technology transfer initiatives which provide valuable information for each specialty equipment manufacturer to be in sync with the launch of new vehicles.

The SEMA Vehicle Design Awards were established to honor those newly introduced vehicles that best exemplify the alliance between the OEMs and SEMA-member companies. The awards recognize and celebrate the vehicles that a select group of voting members has chosen as the most accessory-friendly vehicles of the year. The Jeep Wrangler received nearly 25 percent of the votes for 2006.

"The big advantage that SEMA offers DaimlerChrysler is putting us together with providers and bringing quality parts to market. They enable us to work with the accessory companies early and ultimately the customer wins with a higher quality accessory. The Jeep Wrangler is the perfect canvas for personal accessories and re-accessorization," said Scott Brown, DaimlerChrysler Group Communications, West Coast.

"Our participating manufacturing members had early access to the Jeep Wrangler and discovered that the inherited design and classic engineering of this vehicle provides several opportunities for customer personalization," said Carl Sheffer, SEMA vice president, OEM Relations. "Based on feedback from the automakers, we are having a positive impact on the design and marketing of future vehicles."

SEMA reveals the winners of the Accessory Friendly Car, Truck, SUV and Hybrid categories at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the largest automotive specialty equipment trade event where the industry unveils thousands of new products to visiting trade professionals.

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association founded in 1963, represents the $34 billion specialty automotive industry of 6,817 member-companies. It is the authoritative source for research, data, trends and market growth information for the specialty auto parts industry. The industry provides appearance, performance, comfort, convenience and technology products for passenger and recreational vehicles. For more information, contact SEMA at 1575 S. Valley Vista Dr., Diamond Bar, CA 91765, tel: 909/396-0289 or visit www.sema.org and www.enjoythedrive.com.

  The 2007 New Product Winners include:    Best New Mobile Electronics Product   Winner: Vizualogic   Product: Vizualogic Media On-Demand   Runners-Up: Rosen Entertainment Systems and Custom Autosound MFG    Best New Off-Road/4-Wheel Drive Product   Winner: Warn Industries   Product: Power Plant Dual Force HP   Runners-Up: E.O.P and Rancho/Dynomax    Best New Performance-Racing Product   Winner: Synapse Engineering Inc.   Product: Synchronic Wastegate   Runners-Up: Pro Charger and Comp Performance Group    Best New Performance-Street Product   Winner: Pro Parts LLC   Product: SBEK Boost Controller   Runners-Up: Turbo XS and Gear Vendors    Best New Street Rod/Custom Car Product   Winner: Flaming River Industries Inc.   Product: Cradel Rack & Pinon System for 1968-72 Chevelle and other GM    automobiles   Runners-Up: Dakota Digital Inc. and Experi-Metal Inc.    Best New Van/Pickup/Sport-Utility Vehicle Product   Winner: Fold-a-Cover/Style Step   Product: Style Step Tubes   Runners-Up: Pilot Automotive Inc. and Shur-Co    Best Engineered New Product   Winner: Center Line Wheels Corp   Product: Run Flat Military Tactical Wheel   Runners-Up: Pilot Automotive Inc. and Cobb Tuning LLC    Best New Merchandising Display   Winner: Mickey Thompson Performance   Product: Mickey Thompson Off-Road Mini-Tire and Wheel Display   Runners-Up: E-Racing Motorsports and MacNeil Automotive Products    Best New Packaging Design   Winner: Pilot Automotive   Product: Tie-Down Storage Caddy   Runners-Up: Warn Industries and Meguiar's    Best New Interior Accessory Product   Winner: B&M Racing and Performance Products   Product: Black Out Guages   Runners-Up: Craven Speed and PLX Devices    Best New Exterior Accessory Product   Winner: Pilot Automotive   Product: Trailer Adapter with Dual 12 Volt Receptacle   Runners-Up: Pilot Automotive Inc.    Best New Tools and Equipment Product   Winner: WAM Systems   Product: Direct TPMS   Runners-Up: GearWrench and Bartec    For comprehensive information about the SEMA Show, visit www.SEMAshow.com.  

The project vehicles -- a 2007 i-290 Extended Cab Sport Truck and a 2007 i-370 4x4 Crew Cab Off-Road Truck -- are designed to show consumers how they can customize an Isuzu Pickup with readily available aftermarket equipment.

With more aggressive styling, the new Forester Sports models are distinguished from their siblings by a new front bumper and unique black mesh grille. For a sleeker profile, the standard roof rail crossbars have been deleted on the Forester Sports models, but remain available as an accessory. The Forester Sports 2.5 XT in addition features standard 17-inch alloy wheels.

WHO:   Derek Jenkins, chief designer at the Volkswagen

Design Center California   Ken Gurney, general manager, 

Volkswagen Parts & Accessories    Matthias Seidl, chief 

operating officer, Volkswagen of America   Gary Temple,

vice president of customer service, Volkswagen of America

Steve Keyes, director of corporate communications, 

Volkswagen of America   Keith Price, 

public relations manager, Volkswagen of America    

WHEN:  Tuesday, October 31, 2006 3:40-4 p.m. PST    

WHERE:  Volkswagen Booth #12636, Las Vegas 

Convention Center, North Hall

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 Here till Halloween we will be posting things about Halloween

http://www.fineliving.com/fine/our_shows/article/0,1663,FINE_1397_5078167,00.html

http://www.fineliving.com/fine/our_specials/episode/0,1663,FINE_5916_46880,00.html

AOL Video-Fangoria Poll Reveals What Scares Us Most In Horror Movies

This week every kid in the world will dress up as ugly as possible in hopes of scaring fellow uglies. Often the scarier becomes the scaree but who cares, it's Halloween!

The Celtic festival of Samhain most likely is the source of the present-day Halloween celebration. More than 2,000 years ago, the Celts lived in what is now Great Britain, Ireland, and France. They celebrated their new year on November 1 with a festival that began the night before honoring Samhain, the Celtic Lord of Death. This festival also marked the start of cold, darkness, and decay; therefore, it quickly became associated with human death. The Celts believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for this one evening.

During the celebration, the people wore costumes made of animal heads and skins. They told fortunes about the coming years by examining the remains of the animals that had been sacrificed. When the Romans conquered the Celts in 43 A.D., they combined several Roman autumn festivals with the Celtic festival of Samhain.

After the conquered people became Christians, they were allowed to keep many of the Celtic customs. In about 800 A.D., the Church started All Saints Day on November first so that all people could continue to celebrate a festival they had enjoyed before becoming Christians. The Mass that was said on this day was called Allhallowmas. The evening before became known as All Hallowsen or Halloween.

Hollowed-out-pumpkins, called jack-o-lanterns can be traced back to the people in Ireland and England who carved out beets, potatoes, and turnips to use as lanterns on this festive occasion. They were named for a miser named Jack who could not enter heaven and played jokes on the devil.

No Halloween is complete without the eerie glow of a pumpkin face in the window. This single day has made pumpkin production a booming business. It's doubtful whether large scale pumpkin production would exist without Halloween - pumpkin pie is not that great!

Fairy tales and legends from America and other countries contain many references to the pumpkin. There is the episode in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in which the ghostly character lifts his pumpkin head from the pommel of his saddle and hurls it at the fleeing Ichabod Crane.

In a legend of India, a devoted father used a large pumpkin as a tomb for his only son. In time, the pumpkin was found to be filled with water in which swam large fish. Intent on harvesting the fish, four brothers lifted the pumpkin to carry it away but became frightened and dropped it. From the resulting cracks in the pumpkin shell, a flood of water poured out to inundate the earth.

The pumpkin achieved a romantic high when one of its oversized brothers served as a golden coach for Cinderella. It also must have been a sizable pumpkin shell which Peter the Pumpkin Eater confined his wandering wife. Regardless of whether one of the legends or Linus sitting in the pumpkin patch waiting for the "Great Pumpkin" to appear has stimulated the use of pumpkins at Halloween, this overgrown squash that we call a pumpkin is in real demand about this time of the year. The question always arises, why don't gardeners grow their own?

Certain problems arise in trying to produce pumpkins for Halloween. Pumpkin production is easier said than done which is exactly why even the most professional green thumbers purchase imported pumpkins. What is the problem? The first reason that pumpkins are in fact difficult to grow is that they are long season crops. Pumpkins require a minimum of three to four months to mature a fruit - the bigger the pumpkin desired, the longer the maturity season needed. Pumpkins are also frost susceptible and are easily damaged by cold temperatures. This means planting must occur after the last killing frost and maturity will be sometimes in mid-summer. Then you will have to store the pumpkins from mid-summer to late October.

For those who now accuse me of being a dumb Aggie for not recommending waiting to plant until July so that maturity and harvest can occur in October, think again! Even though pumpkin seeds germinate best at a soil temperature of about 95 degrees F., there is another pumpkin disaster just waiting to happen when the plants pop-up - vine borers. In the fall, these killers are so efficient that many plants are destroyed before leaves are formed. The cost of insecticides required to protect the plants for three months during such an onslaught far exceeds what a pumpkin will cost. In addition, these pumpkin plants are readily infected with virus and fungus diseases that are abundant during Texas in mid-summer and renders pumpkin production almost impossible in many areas of our state.

Suppose that you want the challenge of fall pumpkin production - if the vine borers and the mosaic virus don't get you, the space requirement might. Pumpkin vines are gigantic! Even with five feet between plants on beds which are at least 12 feet apart, these super growers may become crowded. These spacing dimensions mean that a "hill" of pumpkins requires at least 60 square feet. Some gardens aren't that big!

Obviously this profuse growth is a basis for another pumpkin legend which concerns a youth named Jack who mounted his horse on a spring day to plant pumpkins. Although he spurred his mount at top speed and dropped the seed in previously prepared hills, he was unable to keep ahead of the fast growing vines.

So as you can imagine, pumpkin production should be left to growers with large acreages. Gardeners can still enjoy the large squash called pumpkin at this time of the year when a mere vegetable becomes a magical and scary item in your youngster's imaginations.

For those of you who want to make something decent out of all that pumpkin scrapings, try Diane Sutton's Pecan Pumpkin Pie recipe -- it's so good, it's spooky!

Stir together one egg (slightly beat), one cup of pumpkin, one-third cup sugar, and the pie spice to make a pumpkin mixture. Spread over bottom of pie shell. Combine two eggs, corn syrup, one-half cup sugar, oleo and vanilla. Stir in the pecans. Spoon over pumpkin mixture described above. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes or until set. Pecan halves make prettier presentation; pecan pieces makes it easier to cut. (When using fresh pumpkin, to cook the pumpkin, remove all seed and membrane and use a knife to remove the outer skin. Cut into one-inch cubes and cook until tender in a small amount of water. Drain the water, mash the pumpkin and strain it through a colander or sieve.) Regardless, this recipe will at least make pumpkin edible. Who knows? You may even be glad that Halloween happened this year!

Peel pumpkin, clean insides of seeds, skin and cut into 1" x 1 and " cubes. Boil in large pot with alum for 10 minutes. Drain and soak in water with ice in it until cold. Drain well on towels for at least 2 hours.

For syrup, mix sugar, water, vinegar, lemon and spices in 2 gallon kettle. Simmer syrup 15 minutes, add pumpkin; stir and cook 15-45 minutes, until desired flavor is reached.

This recipe fills 6-8 pint jars. Cover with syrup, process in hot water bath 20 minutes or refrigerate. Store 30 days before opening.

If you want a clear syrup on your pickles, use only white sugar and keep spices in a gauze bag you can remove before putting pickles in jars. I wonder if burning a candle in the pumpkin jack-o-lantern all night before pickling will give the pickles a smoked flavor?

Halloween, one of the world's oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in several countries around the globe.

The autumn rite is commemorated in the United Kingdom, although with a surprising and distinctive British twist. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, the third day of the three-day Hallowmas observance, is the most important part of the celebration for many people. In Ireland and Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages.

   The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which means "end of summer", the Celtic New year.

Trick for Treat

The custom of trick or treating probably has several origins. During Samhain, the Druids believed that the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. They had to be appeased, so country folk would give the Druids food as they visited their homes.

An old Irish peasant practice called for going door to door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, apples, etc., in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill.

Also a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

Did You Know...

• A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater's future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way.

Bobbing for Apples:

When the Celts were absorbed by the Roman Empire, many rituals of Roman origin began. Among them was the worship of Pomona, goddess of the harvest, often portrayed sitting on a basket of fruits and flowers. Apples were the sacred fruit of the goddess, and many games of divination involving them entered the Samhain customs.

The Witch's Broomstick:

The witch is a central symbol of Halloween. The name comes from the Saxon wica, meaning wise one. When setting out for a Sabbath, witches rubbed a sacred ointment onto their skin. This gave them a feeling of flying, and if they had been fasting they felt even giddier. Some witches rode on horseback, but poor witches went on foot and carried a broom or a pole to aid in vaulting over streams. In England when new witches were initiated they were often blindfolded, smeared with flying ointment and placed on a broomstick. The ointment would confuse the mind, speed up the pulse and numb the feet. When they were told "You are flying over land and sea," the witch took their word for it.

Jack-O-Lanterns:

Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween gatherings. They commemorated Jack, a shifty Irish villain so wicked that neither God nor the Devil wanted him. Rejected by both the sacred and profane, he wandered the world endlessly looking for a place to rest, his only warmth a glittering candle in a rotten turnip. Read about Jack in the 'Legend of the Jack-O-Lantern' short story.

Did You Know...

• The Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) prompted over 700,000 people to immigrate to the Americas. These immigrants brought with them their traditions of Halloween and Jack o'Lanterns, but turnips were not as readily available as back home. They found the American pumpkin to be a more than an adequate replacement. Today, the carved pumpkin is perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday.

• In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons." The name was translated into English as "pompions," which has since evolved into the modern "pumpkin."
• Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.
• Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which include squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.
• Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.
• 2005 New World Record! In what has become an annual event, the world record has fallen once more. The largest pumpkin ever grown stands at 1,469 pounds. It was grown by Larry Checkon of North Cambria, Pennsylvania. It was weighed in on October 1, 2005 at the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Weighoff. Will the record fall again in 2006? I will let you know!

Best Geek Costumes For Halloween

Ghost? Zombie? Nixon? Man, these costumes are old news. This Halloween, why not dress up as something from the geek universe? Here's my picks this year for the scary, the provocative, and the outright absurd.

Sony Laptop Battery Pack - What you need: Rectangular piece of cardboard or foam, black paint, a lit cigarette (to simulate the smoking effect). Bonus points for carrying those little poppers that explode when you step on them.

Sony Rootkit-Infected CD - Large circle of cardboard covered in aluminum foil, evil laugh. (Just as scary as the battery.)

LonelyGirl15 (pictured) - What you need: T-shirt or tank top, pony tail scrunchy, tweezers (to pluck eyebrows immaculately), age-diminishing cream, Aliester Crowley books, feather boa, purple monkey puppet, general sense of rebellion and ennui about life.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs - Black turtleneck, blue jeans, iPod, glasses, smug grin.

Firefox - What you need: Fox outfit, lighter fluid, match, sense of irony, fireproofness, legion of geek followers.

The TRON Guy - Awesome TRON bodysuit, pot belly, no sense of shame.

Former HP Chairman of the Board Patricia Dunn - Liza Minnelli haircut, expensive women's suit, reporter's telephone records that you have no idea how you got, pink slip. 

Urbana, Ill. – The arrival of Halloween brings fun parties, trick-or-treaters, and lots of delicious candies. However, some of the same goodies and decorations we humans are fond of can be potentially hazardous to our pets. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is offering pet owners some helpful hints to keep their pets healthy and safe during Halloween.

Halloween treats with chocolate are not appropriate for pets. Depending on the dose ingested, chocolate (bakers, semi-sweet, mmilk and dark) can be potentially poisonous to many animals. In general, the less sweet the chocolate, the more toxic it could be. In fact, unsweetened baking chocolate contains almost seven times more theobromine as milk chocolate. Vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, hyperactivity and increased thirst, urination and heart rate can be seen with the ingestion of as little as ¼ ounce of baking chocolate by a 10-pound dog.

Candies and gum containing large amounts of the sweetener xylitol can also be toxic to pets, as ingestions of significant quantities can produce a fairly sudden drop in blood sugar, resulting in depression, incoordination and seizures. Be sure to keep such products well out of the reach of your pets.

Keep aluminum foil and cellophane candy wrappers away from pets. They can cause vomiting and could even produce intestinal blockage.

Keep your pet on its normal diet. Any change of diet, even for one meal, may give your dog or cat severe indigestion and diarrhea. This is particularly true for older animals that have more delicate digestive systems and nutritional requirements.

Never offer or allow your pets to access alcoholic beverages. Place unattended drinks where pets cannot reach them. If ingested, the animal could become very ill and weak and may go into a coma, possibly resulting in death from respiratory failure.

Halloween decorative plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered to be relatively non-toxic, yet they can potentially cause gastrointestinal upset and may even result in intestinal blockage as well if large pieces are ingested.

Keep wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations out of the reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet could experience damage to its mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.

Liquid potpourri, commonly used to add pleasant scent to the home during certain holidays, can be hazardous to pets. Potentially severe damage to the mouth, skin and eyes could result from exposure to both heated and cool liquid product.

If you suspect your pet may have become exposed to a potentially toxic product of substance, contact your local veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center immediately for assistance.

For over 27 years, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has been the premier animal poison control center in North America. The center, an allied agency of the University of Illinois, is the only facility of its kind staffed by 25 veterinarians including 10 board-certified toxicologists and 14 certified veterinary technicians. Located in Urbana, Illinois, the specially trained staff provides assistance to pet owners and specific analysis and treatment recommendations to veterinarians pertaining to toxic chemicals and dangerous plants, products or substances 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 2005, the center handled over 100,000 cases. In addition, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center provides extensive veterinary toxicology consulting on a wide array of subjects including legal cases, formulation issues, product liability, regulatory reporting and bio surveillance. To reach the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, call 1-888-426-4435. For more information on the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center visit www.aspca.org/apcc (1/06)

Founded in 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was the first humane organization established in the Western Hemisphere and today has one million supporters. The ASPCA’s mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides national leadership in humane education, government affairs and public policy, shelter support, and animal poison control. The NYC headquarters houses a full-service animal hospital, animal behavior center, and adoption facility. The Humane Law Enforcement department enforces New York’s animal cruelty laws and is featuared on the reality television series Animal Precinct on Animal Planet. Visit www.aspca.org for more information.

Source: www.aspca.org

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                              Newsweek Poll                             Post-Election 2006             Princeton Survey Research Associates International                             Final Topline Results                                 (11/11/06)    N = 1,006 national adults, 18 and over   Margin of error: plus or minus 4   Interviewing dates: 11/9-10/06    SAMPLE SIZE/MARGIN OF ERROR FOR KEY SUBGROUPS:    289  Republicans (plus or minus 7)   346  Democrats (plus or minus 6)   347  Independents (plus or minus 6)    488  Men (plus or minus 5)   518  Women (plus or minus 5)    829  Whites (plus or minus 4)   162  Minorities (plus or minus 9)(1)    268  Evangelicals (plus or minus 7)   641  Non-Evangelicals (plus or minus 5)(2)    SAMPLE SIZE/MARGIN OF ERROR FOR REGISTERED VOTERS SUBGROUPS:    918  Registered voters (plus or minus x)    273  Republicans (plus or minus 7)   315  Democrats (plus or minus 7)   314  Independents (plus or minus 7)    395  Voted Dem for Congress (plus or minus 6)   280  Voted Rep for Congress (plus or minus 7)   127  Didn't vote for Congress (plus or minus 9)  

  An asterisk (*) indicates a value less than 1%.    Questions 1 and 2 were asked in random order.   (1) Minorities are: Hispanics, non-Hispanic blacks or African-Americans,      non-Hispanic Asians, and non-Hispanic other or mixed races.  (2) Includes all who do not identify as Evangelical Christians, including      Catholics, Jews, other faiths, and non-believers.    1. Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the      United States at this time?                                   Satisfied     Dissatisfied   DK   Current Total                     29              63         8      =100   Trends(3)   (11/2-3/06)                       29              64         7      =100   (10/26-27/06)                     31              61         8      =100   (10/19-20/06)                     25              67         8      =100   (10/5-6/06) Foley scandal         25              67         8      =100   (8/24-25/06)                      28              65         7      =100   (8/10-11/06)                      26              67         7      =100   (5/11-12/06) NSA wiretapping      23              71         6      =100   (3/16-17/06)                      30              64         6      =100   (11/10-11/05)                     26              68         6      =100   (9/29-30/05)                      31              61         8      =100   (9/8-9/05) Hurricane Katrina      28              66         6      =100   (8/2-4/05)                        36              54        10      =100   (12/2-3/04)                       46              46         8      =100   (10/27-29/04)                     39              56         5      =100   (10/21-22/04)                     40              56         4      =100   (10/14-15/04)                     40              55         5      =100   (9/30-10/2/04)                    38              57         5      =100   (9/9-10/04)                       39              53         8      =100   (9/2-3/04)                        43              49         8      =100   (7/29-30/04)                      36              58         6      =100   (7/8-9/04)                        40              54         6      =100   (5/13-14/04) Prisoner abuse                 scandal             30              62         8      =100   (4/8-9/04)                        36              59         5      =100   (1/22-23/04)                      43              52         5      =100   (1/8-9/04)                        46              47         7      =100   (12/18-19/03) Saddam's capture    46              47         7      =100   (10/9-10/03)                      40              54         6      =100   (4/03) Iraq War                   50              41         9      =100   (9/02)                            41              55         4      =100   (7/02)                            46              46         8      =100   (9/01) Terrorist attacks          57              34         9      =100   (6/01)                            43              52         5      =100   (3/01)                            47              45         8      =100   (1/01)                            55              41         4      =100   (6/00)                            47              45         8      =100   (8/99)                            56              39         5      =100   (9/98)                            54              42         4      =100   (1/97)                            38              58         4      =100   (3/96)                            28              70         2      =100   (6/95)                            25              73         2      =100   (8/94)                            24              71         5      =100   (6/92) Recession                  14              84         2      =100   (3/91) Gulf War Victory           66              31         3      =100   (9/90)                            37              58         5      =100   (9/88)                            56              40         4      =100   (11/85)                           51              46         3      =100   (12/81) Recession                 27              67         6      =100   (7/79) Energy/Economic Crisis     12              84         4      =100    (3) Trends from 4/03, 9.02, 6/00-6/01 and 6/95-8/99 from Pew Research       Center; 7/79 - 6/92 from Gallup    2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his      job as president?                                      Approve    Disapprove      DK   Current Total                       31            63          6     =100   Trends(4)   (11/2-3/06)                         35            56          9     =100   (10/26-27/06)                       37            53         10     =100   (10/19-20/06)                       35            57          8     =100   (10/5-6/06)                         33            59          8     =100   (8/24-25/06)                        36            56          8     =100   (8/10-11/06)                        38            55          7     =100   (5/11-12/06)                        35            59          6     =100   (3/16-17/06)                        36            58          6     =100   (11/10-11/05)                       36            58          6     =100   (9/29-30/05)                        40            53          7     =100   (9/8-9/05)                          38            55          7     =100   (8/2-4/05)                          42            51          7     =100   (3/17-18/05)                        45            48          7     =100   (2/3-4/05)                          50            42          8     =100   (12/2-3/04)                         49            44          7     =100   (10/27-29/04)                       46            47          7     =100   (10/14-15/04)                       47            46          7     =100   (9/30-10/2/04)                      46            48          6     =100   (9/9-10/04)                         48            44          8     =100   (9/2-3/04)                          52            41          7     =100   (7/29-30/04)                        45            49          6     =100   (7/8-9/04)                          48            46          6     =100   (5/13-14/04)                        42            52          6     =100   (4/8-9/04)                          49            45          6     =100   (3/18-19/04)                        48            44          8     =100   (2/19-20/04)                        48            44          8     =100   (2/5-6/04)                          48            45          7     =100   (1/22-23/04)                        50            44          6     =100   (1/8-9/04)                          54            41          5     =100   (12/18-19/03)                       54            38          8     =100   (11/6-7/03)                         52            40          8     =100   (10/9-10/03)                        51            42          7     =100   (8/21-22/03)                        53            36         11     =100   (7/10-11/03)                        55            37          8     =100   (5/29-30/03)                        61            28         11     =100   (5/1-2/03)                          65            26          9     =100   (4/10-11/03)                        71            23          6     =100   (3/27-28/03)                        68            26          6     =100   (3/13-14/03)                        53            37         10     =100   (2/6-7/03)                          61            31          8     =100   (1/16-17/03)                        56            33         11     =100   (11/7-8/02)                         60            30         10     =100   (9/12-13/02)                        70            23          7     =100   (6/27-28/02)                        70            19         11     =100   (1/31-2/1/02)                       83            12          5     =100   (10/11-12/01)                       88             8          4     =100   (9/20-21/01)                        86            10          4     =100   (9/13-14/01)                        82            11          7     =100   (8/25-9/5/01)                       51            34         15     =100    (4) Full trendline from 1/04 to present; earlier trends selected. Approval       figures for 8/25-9/5/01 from Pew Research Center.     Lowest Approval Ratings for Past Presidents   President                               % Approve   Clinton                                 36    5/26-27/93 Newsweek   G.H.W. Bush                             29    7/31-8/2/92 Gallup   Reagan                                  35    1/28-31/83 Gallup   Carter                                  28    6/29-7/2/79 Gallup   Ford                                    37    1/10-13/75 & 3/28-31/75                                                  Gallup   Nixon                                   23    1/4-7/74 Gallup   Johnson                                 35    8/7-12/68 Gallup   Kennedy                                 56    9/12-17/63 Gallup   Eisenhower                              48    3/27-4/1/58 Gallup   Truman                                  22    2/9-14/52 Gallup   Roosevelt                               48    8/18-24/39 Gallup    Source: The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research iPoll database.     3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dick Cheney is handling his job      as Vice President?                                  Approve        Disapprove    DK   Current Total                    31              56        13       =100    Republicans                      64              23        13       =100   Democrats                        12              79         9       =100   Independents                     28              59        13       =100    Trends(5)   (2/28/06-3/1/06)                 40              52         8       =100   (1/20-22/06)                     41              47        12       =100   (11/11-13/05)                    36              54        10       =100   (1/7-9/05)                       50              40        10       =100   (1/9-11/04)                      56              36         8       =100   (1/25-27/02)                     68              18        14       =100   (5/18-20/01)                     60              26        14       =100   (4/20-22/01)                     63              21        16       =100    (5) Trend results from Gallup/CNN/USA Today polls.    4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Rumsfeld is handling his      job as Secretary of Defense?                                   Approve   Disapprove     DK   Current Total                    24          62         14          =100    Republicans                      49          35         16          =100   Democrats                        12          77         11          =100   Independents                     20          68         12          =100    Trends (Total)   (10/5-6/06)                      30          55         15          =100   (4/28-30/06)(6)                  33          49         18          =100    (6) Trend results from CBS News poll.    5. Now thinking ahead to the next PRESIDENTIAL election in November 2008      ... In general, would you rather see  ...  (RESPONSE CATEGORIES      ROTATED) a Republican or a Democrat elected as our next president in      2008?    BASED ON REGISTERED VOTERS                                                       Other                               Republican  Democrat   party(7)     DK   Current Total                   28         48         4         20  =100    Republicans                     74         10         2         14  =100   Democrats                        3         88         2          7  =100   Independents                    20         37         7         36  =100    Trend   (5/11-12/06)(8)                 32         49         2         17  =100    (7) Other party was a volunteered response category.   (8) Question was asked of Total adults. Trend results recalculated to be       based on registered voters [N=897]    6. As I read you the names of some possible candidates for president in      2008, please tell me if there is a good chance, some chance, or no      chance you would vote for each one.  If I mention someone you've never      heard of, just say so.  (First,) what about...? (INSERT NAME. ROTATE      START) (Is there a good chance, some chance, or no chance you would      vote for (him/her) as a candidate for president?)     BASED ON REGISTERED VOTERS                               Good      Some       No      Never    DK                             chance    chance    chance   heard(9)   a. Joe Biden   Current Total                7        17        34        36     6  =100    b. Sam Brownback   Current Total                3         7        23        61     6  =100    c. Hillary Clinton   Current Total               33        20        45         *     2  =100    d. John Edwards   Current Total               15        28        36        16     5  =100    e. Al Gore   Current Total               21        24        53         *     2  =100    f. Newt Gingrich   Current Total               10        17        58        12     3  =100    g. Rudy Giuliani   Current Total               24        30        32        10     4  =100    h. Duncan Hunter   Current Total                1         6        19        69     5  =100    i. John Kerry   Current Total               16        24        55         2     3  =100    j. John McCain   Current Total               20        34        32        10     4  =100    k. Barack Obama   Current Total               20        19        24        34     3  =100    l. Condoleezza Rice   Current Total               24        27        43         4     2  =100    m. Mitt Romney   Current Total                6        13        27        48     6  =100   (9) Never heard of is a volunteered response category.     7. Turning to this week's elections, do you think it's a good thing or a      bad thing that the Democrats won control of both houses of Congress -      or that it won't make much difference either way?                                   Good      Bad      Not much                                 thing     thing    difference    DK   Current Total                   51        17         27         5   =100    Republicans                     18        48         28         6   =100   Democrats                       83         3         12         2   =100   Independents                    45        10         39         6   =100    Congress Vote-Rep               16        48         31         5   =100   Congress Vote-Dem               83         3         17         2   =100   Didn't vote                     44        12         37         7   =100    Men                             50        17         28         5   =100   Women                           53        17         26         4   =100    Whites                          49        21         26         4   =100   Minorities                      61         7         26         6   =100    Evangelicals                    45        23         26         6   =100   Non Evangelicals                53        16         27         4   =100    Trend (gop control)   (11/7-8/02)(10)                 30        34         29         7   =100    (10) Trend wording read: "Turning to this week's elections, do you think        it's a good thing or a bad thing that the Republicans won control of        both house of Congress or do you think it won't make much difference        either way?"    8. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Nancy Pelosi, who      will be House speaker in the new Congress?                                                    Never                          Favorable  Unfavorable   heard(11)   DK   Current Total              34         20         17         29   =100    Republicans                17         42         15         26   =100   Democrats                  48          7         16         29   =100   Independents               34         18         16         32   =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)(12)          25         26         26         23   =100    (11) Never heard of her was a volunteered response category.   (12) Trend wording read: "Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion        of Nancy Pelosi, who is in line to become speaker if the Democrats        win enough seats in November to control the U.S. House of        Representatives?"     9. Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Harry Reid, who will      be the Senate Majority Leader in the new Congress?                                                    Never                          Favorable  Unfavorable   heard(13)   DK   Current Total              25         17         24         34   =100    Republicans                14         34         23         29   =100   Democrats                  34          8         23         35   =100   Independents               25         15         27         33   =100    (13) Never heard of was a volunteered response category.    10. We're interested in why you think the Democrats were able to regain       control of Congress in this week's elections.  As I read some possible       reasons, please tell me if you think each is a major reason, a minor       reason, or not a reason for the Democrats' success.  (First,) what       about this possible reason ... (INSERT-READ AND RANDOMIZE)? (Is this a       major reason, a minor reason, or not a reason for the Democrats'       success?)                                                           Not a                                       Major    Minor    reason     DK   a. Disapproval of President   Bush's overall job performance   Current Total                        71       20         8       1  =100    b. Disapproval of how the Bush   administration has handled   the war in Iraq   Current Total                        85        8         5       2  =100    c. Corruption charges and   scandals involving Republicans   Current Total                        52       33        13       2  =100    d. Dissatisfaction with how   Republicans have handled   government spending and the deficit   Current Total                        67       23         8       2  =100    e. Democrats' ideas and   proposals for changing   course in Iraq   Current Total                        61       23        12       4  =100    f. Democrats' ideas and   proposals for improving   the economy and job situation   Current Total                        47       33        18       2  =100    g. Democrats' ideas and   proposals for improving   health care   Current Total                        47       32        17       4  =100    h. Democrats' ideas and   proposals for protecting   the environment and developing   alternative energy sources   Current Total                        35       40        21       4  =100    i. Democrats had better   candidates   Current Total                        27       38        30       5  =100    j. Disapproval of the overall   job performance of Republicans   in Congress   Current Total                        63       26         8       3  =100    k. Disapproval of the apparent   arrogance of Republicans   in Washington   Current Total                        50       28        18       4  =100    l. Dissatisfaction with the   partisan approach of Republicans   in Congress   Current Total                        48       33        13       6  =100    11. In general, which ONE of the following do you think should be a bigger       priority for Congress and the President over the next two       years...(READ AND ROTATE 1-2)?                   Iraq war and   Domestic issues                    national      econ. & like       Both                    security      health care      equally(14)   DK   Current Total      51              33              15          1   =100    Republicans        65              24              11          *   =100   Democrats          46              36              17          1   =100   Independents       49              35              15          1   =100    (14) Both equally is a volunteered response category.    12. As you may know, the Constitution prevents George W. Bush from running       for a third term in 2008. Do you think Bush can be an effective       president during his last two years in office, OR that he won't be       able to get much done for the rest of his second term?                                                   Won't be able                                      Can be       to get much                                    effective         done         DK   Current Total                        30             66           4    =100    Republicans                          55             42           3    =100   Democrats                            14             82           4    =100   Independents                         28             69           3    =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                        33             56          11    =100     13. As I read you some things the new Democratic Congress might do over       the next two years,  please tell me if you think each should be one of       their TOP priorities, a lower priority, or should not be done at all.       (First,) what about... (INSERT-READ AND ROTATE)?  Should this be one       of their TOP priorities, a lower priority, or should this not be       done?(15)                                      Top       Lower    Not    DK                                    priority   priority  done   a. New rules to limit the       influence of lobbyists   Current Total                       52         34      10     4     =100    Republicans                         51         35      10     4     =100   Democrats                           57         31       8     4     =100   Independents                        49         36      11     4     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       52         29       9    10     =100    b. Enacting all the recommendations       of the 9/11 commission   Current Total                       50         36       6     8     =100    Republicans                         44         39       9     8     =100   Democrats                           56         30       5     9     =100   Independents                        49         41       5     5     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       52         30       7    11     =100    c. Increasing the minimum wage   Current Total                       68         21      10     1     =100    Republicans                         48         33      18     1     =100   Democrats                           86         10       4     *     =100   Independents                        64         23      11     2     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       68         21       9     2     =100    d. Allowing the government       to negotiate directly with       pharmaceutical companies to       lower drug prices for seniors   Current Total                       75         17       7     1     =100    Republicans                         67         21      10     2     =100   Democrats                           86         11       2     1     =100   Independents                        68         21      10     1     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       74         18       6     2     =100    e. Broadening the kinds of       stem cell research       that can receive federal       funding    Current Total                       48         31      17     4     =100    Republicans                         34         29      32     5     =100   Democrats                           58         29       9     4     =100   Independents                        50         32      15     3     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       44         31      19     6     =100    f. Rolling back some of the       Bush tax cuts   Current Total                       40         32      24     4     =100    Republicans                         20         28      48     4     =100   Democrats                           58         29      10     3     =100   Independents                        35         38      22     5     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       38         28      28     6     =100    g. Investigating government       contracts in Iraq   Current Total                       60         29      10     1     =100    Republicans                         40         39      19     2     =100   Democrats                           73         21       4     2     =100   Independents                        62         28      10     0     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       58         29       8     5     =100    h. Investigating questions       about the decision to       go to war with Iraq   Current Total                       49         26      23     2     =100    Republicans                         23         28      48     1     =100   Democrats                           66         25       8     1     =100   Independents                        50         28      20     2     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       52         25      19     4     =100    i. Investigating charges of       impropriety or wrong-doing       by members of Congress   Current Total                       55         34       9     2     =100    Republicans                         41         43      15     1     =100   Democrats                           63         30       6     1     =100   Independents                        59         31       8     2     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       62         27       7     4     =100    j. Cutting the interest rate       on federal student loans   Current Total                       53         38       8     1     =100    Republicans                         42         43      14     1     =100   Democrats                           60         34       5     1     =100   Independents                        51         40       8     1     =100    k. Impeaching George W. Bush   Current Total                       25         23      50     2     =100    Republicans                          8         11      81     *     =100   Democrats                           38         28      33     1     =100   Independents                        23         26      48     3     =100    Trend   (10/19-20/06)                       28         23      44     5     =100    (15) Trend wording read: "As I read you some things the Democrats might do        over the next two year if they take control of Congress, please tell        me if you think each should be one their TOP priorities, a lower        priority, or should not be done at all."    14. Now that control of Congress and the White House is divided between       the parties, do you think the two sides will work together and get       some important work done for the country, or that partisan bickering       will prevent them from getting much done over the next two years?     Current                                            Rep     Dem      Ind         40 Will be able to work together               38      47       33         54 Partisan bickering will prevent             58      49       60          6 Don't know                                   4       4        7        100                                            100     100      100     Questions 15 and 16 were asked in random order.    15. Do you think the Democrats will use their new power in Congress to try       to move the country in a more liberal direction, in a more       conservative direction or do you think they will take a more moderate       approach?    Current                                              Rep     Dem     Ind        34 Will try to move the country in a more           liberal direction                             52      27      30         9 Will try to move the country in a more           conservative direction                         6      12      10        50 Will take a more moderate approach            37      55      54         7 Don't know                                     5       6       6       100                                              100     100     100    16. Do you think the Democrats SHOULD use their new power in Congress to       try to move the country in a more liberal direction, in a more       conservative direction or do you think they SHOULD take a more       moderate approach?    Current                                                Rep    Dem    Ind        20 Should try to move the country in a more           liberal direction                                8     29     19        19 Should try to move the country in a more           conservative direction                          32     14     16        57 Should take a more moderate approach            57     54     62         4 Don't know                                       3      3      3       100                                                100    100    100     17. Please tell me how concerned you are, if at all, that the new       Democratic Congress will do each of the following. (First,) what       about... (INSERT-READ AND ROTATE)?  Are you very concerned, somewhat       concerned, not too concerned, or not at all concerned (that the new       Democratic Congress will do this)?                                                   Not   Not at                                 Very  Somewhat   too    all     DK   a. Spending too much time   investigating the   Bush administration and   Republican scandals   Current Total                   34     32       16     16      2  =100   Trend   (10/17-22/06)(16)               25     28       25     18      4  =100    b. Going too far in rolling   back the Bush tax cuts   Current Total                   30     31       19     17      3  =100    c. Pushing for a too hasty   withdrawal of U.S. troops   from Iraq   Current Total                   51     27        9     11      2  =100    d. Keeping the Bush   administration from doing   what is necessary to combat   terrorism   Current Total                   43     26       14     15      2  =100    e. Unfairly blocking qualified   Bush appointments to the   federal courts   Current Total                   28     26       19     24      3  =100     (16) Trend results from Pew Research Center. Trend wording read: "How        concerned are you, if at all, that if the Democrats take control of        the Congress this fall they will spend too much time investigating        the Bush administration and the Republicans in Congress?" Figure for        "somewhat concerned" reflect the result for trend's "fairly        concerned" category.     18. Now turning to the topic of Iraq... All in all, do you think the       United States is making progress or losing ground in its efforts to       establish security and democracy in Iraq?                          Making progress   Losing ground     DK   Current Total                 30              63           7        =100    Republicans                   59              35           6        =100   Democrats                     17              78           5        =100   Independents                  24              67           9        =100    Trends   (10/26-27/06)                 29              60          11        =100   (10/5-6/06)                   29              64           7        =100   (8/10-11/06)                  31              58          11        =100   (9/8-9/05)                    40              49          11        =100   (8/2-4/05)                    40              50          10        =100     19. From what you know now, do you think the United States did the right       thing in taking military action against Iraq, or not?                                        Yes          No        DK   Current Total                        41          54         5       =100    Republicans                          79          20         1       =100   Democrats                            20          75         5       =100   Independents                         36          58         6       =100    Trends(17)   (10/26-27/06)                        43          49         8       =100   (10/19-20/06)                        39          54         7       =100   (10/5-6/06)                          41          53         6       =100   (8/10-11/06)                         49          47         4       =100   (9/8-9/05)                           46          49         5       =100   (10/27-29/04) RVs(18)                51          45         4       =100   (9/2-3/04) RVs                       55          38         7       =100   (5/13-14/04)                         51          43         6       =100   (4/8-9/04)                           57          39         4       =100   (3/25-26/04)                         55          41         4       =100   (3/18-19/04)                         57          37         6       =100   (1/29-30/04)                         55          39         6       =100   (12/18-19/03)                        62          32         6       =100   (11/6-7/03)                          55          38         7       =100   (10/23-24/03)                        59          34         7       =100   (10/9-10/03)                         56          37         7       =100   (9/11-12/03)                         64          31         5       =100   (8/21-22/03)                         61          33         6       =100   (7/24-25/03)                         68          28         4       =100    (17) Trend wording for 2005 read "From what you know now, do you think the        United States did the right thing in taking military action against        Iraq two years ago, or not?". Trend wording for 2004 read "...        against Iraq last year, or not?"    (18) September and October 2004 trend results based on registered voters. 

  Current                                      8/10-11/06  9/8-9/05 8/2-4/05        38 Total less than a year/Bring home          now(19)                                    38        45        50       25 One to two years                           18        19        13        9 Three to five years                         7         6         5        1 Six to 10 years                             1         1         1        * More than 10 years                          1         *         *       24 As long as it takes to achieve U.S.          goals in Iraq                              30        25        26        3 Don't know                                  5         4         5      100                                           100       100       100   (19) No longer/Bring them home now was a volunteered response category.    21. As you may know, Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down as Secretary of       Defense. President Bush has said he refused to accept Rumsfeld's       resignation earlier in the administration.  As I read some possible       reasons, please tell me if you think each is a major reason, a minor       reason, or not a reason Bush refused to accept Rumsfeld's resignation       before this week.  (First,) what about this possible reason ...       (INSERT-READ AND RANDOMIZE)?  (Is this a major reason, a minor reason,       or not a reason why Bush refused to accept Rumsfeld's resignation       before this week?)                                                          Not a                                       Major   Minor     reason    DK   a. Bush is loyal to those who   work with him   Current Total                         54      24        16       6   =100    b. Bush did not want to change   leadership at the Pentagon   in the middle of a war   Current Total                         58      25        13       4   =100    c. Bush is stubborn and does not   like to admit mistakes   Current Total                         56      18        22       4   =100    d. Bush believed Rumsfeld was   doing a good job   Current Total                         53      25        16       6   =100     22. Thinking about U.S. foreign policy, would you prefer President Bush to       cooperate more closely with other countries, as his father, the former       President Bush did, or should President Bush work more independently       of other countries?           67 Work more closely with other countries          25 More independent foreign policy           8 Don't know         100     D2. Now I have just a few more questions so we can describe the people who       took part in our survey ...  Regardless of how you might have voted in       recent elections, in politics TODAY, do you consider yourself a       Republican, Democrat, or Independent?           Total                                                  RVs             25 Republican                                       27             37 Democrat                                         36             35 Independent                                      35              2 No party/Not interested (VOL.)                    1              0 Other party (VOL.)                                0              1 Don't know                                        1            100                                                 100 

  Firm's Recall Hotline: (866) 408-3767 

A Pastor's Fall From Grace. Senior Writer Jonathan Darman and National Correspondent Andrew Murr report on the scandal surrounding the Rev. Ted Haggard. Last week Mike Jones-a former male prostitute in Denver-came forward to claim he'd had a three-year sexual relationship with Haggard, a vocal critic of gay rights.

--  Judge Cummings is a Texas Tech graduate; --  Even during the period when this case was being heard, Judge Cummings     continued to root for Texas Tech by attending home games; --  Judge Cummings is so close to the University that he has a special     parking spot on campus for a game. --  Judge Cummings works out on campus; and --  Judge Cummings has previously been asked to recuse himself in matters     related to Texas Tech in the past.     

Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund Launches Campaign in Support of Jim Robey for Maryland State Senate

The Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund today launched an independent, direct mail and voter contact campaign in support of Maryland State Senate candidate Jim Robey (District 13) because of his commitment to reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. The campaign will contrast the positions of Robey and his opponent, incumbent Sen. Sandy Schrader, highlighting Robey's leadership in passing legislation to protect all Howard County workers and families from secondhand smoke and his strong support for a statewide smoke-free law that would protect the health of all Marylanders.

"We're running this campaign in Maryland because of the clear contrast between the records of these candidates when it comes to fighting tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke," said William V. Corr, executive director of the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund. "Jim Robey is standing up to Big Tobacco and fighting to protect everyone's right to breathe clean, smoke-free air. His opponent, on the other hand, has refused to support efforts to make Maryland smoke-free. For Maryland voters who care about protecting the health of workers and families, there is a clear choice: Jim Robey for Maryland State Senate."

As Howard County Executive, Jim Robey stood up for the right of all Howard County workers and residents to breathe clean air by passing a county-wide smoke-free workplace law, making Howard County the fourth smoke-free county in Maryland and the first in the Baltimore region. Robey also supports a strong, statewide smoke-free law in Maryland. His opponent, Sandy Schrader, has refused to support a statewide smoke-free bill. Legislation in Maryland that would make all workplaces smoke-free died in a Maryland House committee last year.

The need for protection from secondhand smoke has never been clearer. In issuing his groundbreaking report on secondhand smoke on June 27, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona stated, "The debate is over. The science is clear: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance, but a serious health hazard that causes premature death and disease in children and nonsmoking adults." The Surgeon General found that secondhand smoke is a proven cause of lung cancer, heart disease, serious respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and asthma, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome. The Surgeon General also found that secondhand smoke is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the United States each year and that there is no risk-free level of exposure.

The Surgeon General's report also confirmed that smoke-free laws protect health without harming business. To date, 14 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have passed smoke-free laws that include restaurants and bars. The states are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii (effective Nov. 16), Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington (the Montana and Utah laws extend to bars in 2009, while the D.C. law does so on Jan. 1, 2007).

Samples of the direct mail can be found at:

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This communication is solely from the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund (1400 I St., NW 1200, Washington, DC 20005), and has not been authorized by or coordinated with any candidate or campaign. The Tobacco-Free Kids Action is a non-partisan 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that works in Maryland and nationwide to reduce the devastating toll of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. The Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund does not receive any government or tobacco industry funding of any kind. For more information, please visit http://www.tobaccofreeaction.org

Condista, el concentrador premier de programación para televisión por cable en español en Estados Unidos, anunció campañas de mercadotecnia afiliadas que involucran tres redes de cable en español y dos operadores de cable distintos en cuatro mercados diferentes. TeleFormula y Comcast lanzaron una campaña en Albuquerque; HTV y Comcast lanzaron una promoción de adquisición en el Sur de Florida; y Video Rola y Charter anunciaron campañas para Ft. Worth y el Centro de California.

TeleFormula, una red de noticias enfocada a México, inició en el paquete de Cable Latino de Comcast en Albuquerque el 25 de septiembre. TeleFormula es un canal por cable de noticias y debates con base en México que es propiedad de y está operado por RadioFormula, el grupo radiofónico más grande de México. TeleFormula emplea a algunos de los talentos más conocidos en el género de las noticias en México y ofrece contenido de la más alta calidad abarcando una gran variedad de temas: noticias, deportes, política, temas femeninos y entretenimiento. En Albuquerque, TeleFormula compró un horario de ocho semanas para propaganda en exteriores y transmisiones en radio para promover su lanzamiento en Cable Latino de Comcast. La campaña más grande en dos años para Cable Latino incluye obsequios de boletos para conciertos de Pepe Aguilar y Juan Gabriel. A la fecha la campaña ha generado dos veces más suscriptores que durante el mismo periodo del año pasado.

HTV, el canal de música latina con transmisión las 24 horas propiedad de Claxson, anunció una campaña de adquisición "regalo con compra" en sociedad con Comcast del Sur de Florida. Los primeros 2,000 clientes en suscribirse al paquete Cable Latino de Comcast antes del 18 de noviembre recibirán un CD gratuito de Juanes. La campaña se comunicará a los residentes a través de correo directo diseñado por HTV y comerciales producidos por HTV en canales bilingües. HTV es diferente a muchos otros canales de televisión de música latina en Estados Unidos de hoy: es el único canal que integra con éxito toda la cultura musical latina en un escenario, 24 horas al día. El planteamiento de HTV está basado en una programación 100% latina que combina los mejores videos musicales y entrevistas con los artistas latinos más populares, abarcando el espectro más amplio de géneros de música latina, entre los que se incluye el pop, rock latino, reggaeton, salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia y regional mexicana. También presenta los éxitos "crossover" más populares de hoy.

Video Rola, una red basada en México que presenta videos de música regional mexicana, entrevistas de artistas, conciertos y más, anunció hoy dos campañas distintas de adquisición/mejora con Charter Communications. Una campaña es en Ft. Worth, Tejas y la otra en la región del norte y centro de California de Charter que incluye Turlock, West Sacramento y San Luis Obispo. Ambas campañas ofrecen a los residentes de esos mercados la oportunidad de ganar un par de boletos de la aerolínea Mexicana buenos para viajar a donde sea que vuele Mexicana en Estados Unidos y México. La oferta de Video Rola en el norte y centro de California se comunicará a través de diecisiete transmisiones remotas de radio y otros eventos comunitarios. En Ft. Worth, la oferta se comunicará mediante una serie de tácticas: comerciales diseñados por Video Rola en canales bilingües, anuncios impresos, tarjeta postal por correo directo, avisos colgantes en puertas y volantes. Está programado que la campaña se realice desde el 23 de octubre hasta el 31 de diciembre en ambos mercados.

Acerca de Condista:

Condista es el concentrador premier de programación en español para televisión por cable en Estados Unidos, ofrece 18 redes de cable de la más alta calidad de todo el mundo al público hispano en Estados Unidos. Los canales representados por Condista incluyen Canal 24 Horas, Cine Latino, Canal 52MX, Docu TVE, EcuaTV, El Garage TV, HITN-TV, htv musica, Infinito, SUR, SUR Perú, SUR México, TV Venezuela, Telefe Internacional, TeleFormula, TVE Internacional, Utilisima y Video Rola. Para obtener más información, por favor visite http://www.condista.com/.

Source: Condista

A Democrat Majority Would Penalize Americans for Saving, Investing

Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) today issued the following statement regarding Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi's voting record on double- taxing:

"Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is so addicted to tax increases that she has even voted to tax some forms of Americans' income two-times. By double-taxing Americans in these instances, Mrs. Pelosi punishes responsible Americans who work hard and save their money. At the same time, she rewards and encourages the practice of spending money quickly.

"In 2003, Pelosi fought tooth and nail against the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act which was designed to spur economic growth and increase savings. Central to this plan was the reduction in the double taxation on capital gains and dividend taxes. Since the Republicans passed this legislation, more than $14 trillion of new household wealth has been created and the net worth of America's investors increased by $5.7 trillion.

"Cutting these forms of double-taxation has proven to accelerate job and economic growth, as well as consumer spending. Therefore, voting for these tax increases adversely affects economic prosperity for all Americans. The American people ought to ask Leader Pelosi if she is going to increase the double taxation on savings and investment, should she become Speaker someday."

North Korea Also a Severe Threat to Its Own People, Report Says

Citing the new UN doctrine that each state has "a responsibility to protect" its own citizens from the most severe human rights abuses, a report issued today points to egregious violations of rights by North Korea and calls for immediate action by the UN Security Council under a parallel track to the UN's actions over North Korea's nuclear test. UN sanctions levied earlier this month may inadvertently worsen the abysmal human rights situation.

Failure to Protect: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in North Korea affirms that "the Security Council has independent justification for intervening in North Korea either because of the government's failure in its responsibility to protect or because North Korea is a nontraditional threat to the peace."

The highly detailed report, based on a careful review of available information, was prepared by the law firm DLA Piper US LLP in cooperation with the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Commissioning the report were Václav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic; Kjell Magne Bondevik, former prime minister of Norway and Professor Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The report can be downloaded from http://www.dlapiper.com/NKReport or http://www.hrnk.org.

Failure to Protect focuses primarily on the active involvement of the government in crimes against humanity through food policy and famine and treatment of political prisoners. The report also describes the way North Korea misallocates its resources through the production of weapons.

"For more than a decade, human rights concerns have been relegated to a second-class status for fear of driving North Korea from the nuclear talks," said Jared Genser, a Washington- based attorney with DLA Piper. "Now that its government has gone ahead with a nuclear test anyway, it is time to have a parallel- track strategy for alleviating the suffering of the North Korea people through Security Council action."

"The nuclear threat posed by the North Korean government has raised concerns all over the world," added Debra Liang-Fenton, executive director of the U.S. Committee. "But no less alarming is the active involvement of the North Korean government in committing crimes against humanity. Now, with sanctions, the people may inadvertently suffer more."

"The situation in North Korea is one of the most egregious human rights and humanitarian disasters in the world today," said Havel, Bondevik and Wiesel in a joint statement. "Yet, sadly, because North Korea is also one of the most closed societies on Earth, information about the situation there has only trickled out over time."

The report recommends the UN Security Council adopt a non- punitive resolution urging the North Korean government to allow open access for international humanitarian organizations to feed its people, calling for the release of political prisoners, as well as insisting that the government allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea to visit the country.

AP/AOL News Poll: 35 Percent of Americans Using the Internet to Gather Information on the Upcoming Election

BritRail presenta nuevo sitio Web en español www.BritRail.com es ahora multilingüe

Oct 28-- BritRail acaba de estrenar la versión en español de su conocido sitio Web www.BritRail.com. Ya no es necesario saber inglés para planificar un viaje con un BritRail Pass. Todo lo que el viajero independiente necesita saber está a su disposición también en español.

El sitio Web de BritRail es fácil de usar en cualquier idioma. Además de toda la gama de los mundialmente famosos BritRail Passes, ofrece también mapas, un motor de planificación del viaje atendiendo a horarios, tours e itinerarios sugeridos, reservas de asiento y literas, así como valiosas ofertas y añadidos, incluidas la tarjeta London Visitor Travel Card, los tours en autobús Citysightseeing y el pase English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass. Vaya a www.BritRail.com, seleccione Europa y haga clic en España/Espanya (Español). Planificar una visita al Reino Unido con BritRail en su propio idioma es así de simple.

Y lo que es aún mejor, los BritRail Passes y los productos de valor añadido comprados en línea se entregan en la casa del cliente antes de su viaje al Reino Unido.

Un BritRail Pass permite ilimitados viajes en la red de ferrocarril del Reino Unido durante su periodo de vigencia y a unos precios increíbles. No necesita hacer reservas por anticipado, sólo súbase al tren que elija, escoja un asiento libre, relájese y deje que el paisaje británico se deslice por su ventanilla. Las opciones de destino son innumerables: ciudades históricas, casas solariegas, la abrupta costa, colinas y valles… Un BritRail Pass abre la puerta a 19.000 trenes diarios que se detienen en 2.500 estaciones, rápida, eficiente y constantemente.

¡Adquiéralo ahora y ahorre dinero!

Compre cualquier pase BritRail FlexiPass, Consecutive Pass, London Plus Pass o Scottish Freedom Pass antes del 31 de diciembre de 2006 y viaje entre el 1 de noviembre de 2006 y el 28 de febrero de 2007 con un ahorro del 25% sobre el precio en folletos.

www.BritRail.com – sencilla lectura para fáciles viajes  

Federal Jury Convicts Nashville Man on Child Pornography Offenses Involving Multiple Commercial Websites

10/27/2006 3:38:00 PM

Contact: The U.S. Department of Justice, 202-514-2008, 202-514-1888 or Web: http://www.usdoj.gov

 Oct. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A Nashville, Tenn., man has been convicted by a federal jury of 11 child pornography- related offenses for the operation of several Web sites that depicted adolescent boys engaging in sexually explicit activity, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Craig S. Morford of the Middle District of Tennessee announced today.

The federal jury in Nashville returned the guilty verdicts late Thursday against Timothy Ryan Richards, 25, after a two-and- a-half week trial. He was convicted of offenses including distribution and conspiracy to distribute, advertising, production and possession of child pornography, as well as violating the record-keeping requirements associated with the distribution of sexually explicit material. Richards faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison on four of the convictions. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2007.

The investigation of Richards began in September 2005 when federal warrants were issued to search the content of computer servers in Freemont, Calif., and Los Angeles. Agents believed that these servers contained child pornography Web sites associated with then 19-year-old Justin Berry, who had come forward to cooperate with federal authorities in the investigation of the child pornography Web site Justinsfriends.com. Richards was identified as the operator of Justinsfriends as well as several other child pornography Web sites.

"We are pleased that the jury recognized the serious nature of Richards' crimes," said Assistant Attorney General Fisher. "The Department of Justice places a high priority on protecting our children from sexual predators and child pornographers. This verdict is a significant step in our efforts to combat the exploitation of our children."

"I have always believed that a society can have no greater priority than promoting the safety of its most vulnerable members, especially its children," said U.S. Attorney Morford. "That is why this case and this verdict was so significant."

Testimony at trial proved that up until the time of his arrest on Sept. 22, 2005, Richards ran several Web sites depicting adolescent boys engaged in sexually explicit activity. These Web sites included www.CaseyandKylesCondo.com, www.CaseysCondo.com, www.PenisClub.com, and www.JustinsFriends.net. The defendant himself created three of those Web sites and took over Justinsfriends in the summer of 2005.

To provide material for the various Web sites, Richards engaged in a sexual relationship with one of the victims when that boy was 14 years old. The defendant filmed and took pictures of himself engaged in sexually explicit conduct with that boy numerous times over four years. The defendant also traveled with that minor into foreign countries, including Australia and Iceland, where he again filmed and photographed sexually explicit activity.

As part of his operation of these commercial child pornography Web sites, the defendant advertised among his sites and others and set up elaborate affiliate marketing programs in which he rewarded others for generating new customers.

At the time of his arrest in September 2005, the defendant was living with a 13-year-old boy. Richards is also under indictment and awaiting trial on one count of distributing obscene materials to that minor.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, supported by the FBI's Innocent Images Unit and the Computer and Analysis Recovery Team, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section's High Tech Forensic Investigative Unit and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey of the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Middle District of Tennessee and trial attorney Kayla Bakshi of the Child Exploitation and

Pelosi: Bush Has Failed to Formulate a Comprehensive Counterterrorism Plan

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on reports that President Bush will release a National Implementation Plan that is four months old:

"Given the Administration's failure to plan for the war in Iraq, it is not surprising that President Bush is about to unveil a four-month old 'National Implementation Plan' for the war on terrorism that does not reflect current world events and is short on specifics.

"More than two years ago, the independent 9/11 Commission called for a comprehensive counterterrorism plan that set priorities and established a way to measure results. Yet in the five years since the 9/11 attacks, the President has failed to formulate such a plan. If the President does not produce a National Implementation Plan that takes into account the realities facing our nation today, his dismal record and failure to plan for crucial national security matters will continue.

"Democrats are committed to protecting our country with real security initiatives that are smart and tough. We will begin by implementing all of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and taking America in a new direction."

Census Bureau Data Underscore Value of College Degree 

Adults age 18 and older with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $51,554 in 2004, while those with a high school diploma earned $28,645, according to new tabulations released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those without a high school diploma earned an average of $19,169.

The series of tables, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2005, also showed advanced-degree holders made an average of $78,093.

Other highlights from the tables:

-- In 2005, 85 percent of all adults 25 years or older reported they had completed at least high school. More than one- quarter (28 percent) of adults age 25 years and older had attained at least a bachelor's degree.

-- High school graduation rates for women (ages 25 years and older) continued to exceed those of men, 85.4 percent and 84.9 percent, respectively. On the other hand, men had a greater proportion of the population with a bachelor's degree or higher (28.9 percent compared with 26.5 percent of women).

-- Non-Hispanic whites had the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma or higher (90 percent), followed by Asians (88 percent), blacks (81 percent) and Hispanics (59 percent).

-- Utah, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire and Alaska continued to have the highest proportions of people 25 years and older with a high school diploma or higher (around 92 percent).

-- The District of Columbia had the highest proportion of people 25 years and older with a bachelor's degree or higher (47 percent), followed closely by Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey.

Fourteen tables of data on educational trends are available, and attainment levels are shown by characteristics such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, occupation, industry, nativity and period of entry, as well as metropolitan and non- metropolitan residence. The tabulations also include data on earnings and educational attainment. Although the statistics provided are primarily at the national level, some data are shown for regions and states.

The data are from the 2005 Current Population Survey's (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). The ASEC is conducted in February, March and April at about 100,000 addresses nationwide.

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Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error. For further information on the source of the data and accuracy of the estimates, included standard errors and confidence intervals, go to Appendix G of http://www.census.gov/apsd/techdoc/cps/cpsmar05.pdf

 The Boeing Company's [NYSE: BA] first production CH-47F Chinook helicopter successfully completes its first flight Oct. 23 from its Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Park, Pa., where testers evaluated the aircraft's systems and structural performance. Boeing will deliver the new CH-47F to the U.S. Army for operational testing before being deployed in 2007.

After conducting the flight, Boeing test pilot Erik Kocher said, "The U.S. Army will have the most advanced, mission-capable heavy lift helicopter in the world. The CH-47F will provide crews with configurable flight displays for more efficient mission performance and a communications suite for greater situational awareness. The digital automatic flight control system will provide an enhanced and safer low speed flight capability, and the airframe enhancements will yield a safer and more reliable combat system."

The same cockpit system installed on the CH-47F and MH-47G Special Operations Chinooks will be used in the HH-47 proposed in the U.S. Air Force Combat Search and Rescue program and will include terrain following/terrain avoiding radar and an integrated forward looking infrared system for nap-of-the-earth and low-level flight operations in reduced visibility conditions.

Zingy Trae las Películas a los Clientes de Verizon Wireless

Ahora los clientes de Get It Now pueden experimentar MovieGoer en los teléfonos capacitados con Flash Lite

Zingy, una empresa de desarrollo de aplicaciones galardonadas y contenido multimedia móvil, y Verizon Wireless, el proveedor de telefonía móvil líder de la nación, anunciaron hoy que los clientes de Verizon Wireless ahora pueden experimentar una versión mejorada de la aplicación líder de entretenimiento MovieGoer en algunos teléfonos capacitados con Get It Now(R). La nueva aplicación MovieGoer aprovecha la nueva tecnología anteriormente anunciada por Verizon Wireless y Adobe llamada Adobe Flash Lite, que mejora las gráficas y la animación para las descargas de Get It Now y permite que los clientes puedan "habilitar con Flash" sus teléfonos automáticamente.

MovieGoer de Zingy ofrece a los clientes una guía de películas completa en sus teléfonos celulares. Los clientes de Verizon Wireless pueden localizar los cines más cercanos, ver todas las películas y sus horarios, leer reseñas de películas aclamadas por la crítica y ver afiches de películas, todo a través de sus teléfonos celulares.

"Elegimos nuestra popular aplicación de entretenimiento MovieGoer para ejemplificar las mejoras que Flash Lite ofrece a los clientes de Verizon Wireless", dijo Martin Zary, vicepresidente de tecnología en Zingy. "Flash nos ofrece un entorno más rico y más interesante dónde presentar reseñas de películas, horarios y ubicaciones, y reconocemos la oportunidad de aprovechar los teléfonos capacitados con Flash Lite de Verizon Wireless para extender el universo de los suscriptores a MovieGoer."

MovieGoer de Zingy actualmente está disponible en cuatro teléfonos de Verizon Wireless, que incluyen el V (LG VX9800), Motorola RAZR V3c y V3m y Samsung SCH-a950 con una tarifa de acceso de $3.49 mensuales. Se espera que MovieGoer esté disponible en más aparatos compatibles con Flash Lite en las siguientes semanas. El costo de las descargas para las aplicaciones Get It Now varía y aplican cargos de tiempo aire durante la navegación, descarga y uso de ciertas aplicaciones. Es necesario que los clientes tengan un teléfono capacitado con Get It Now y los servicios digitales de Verizon Wireless para tener acceso a la tienda virtual de Get It Now.

Para obtener más información acerca de los productos y servicios de Verizon Wireless, visite una tienda de comunicaciones Verizon Wireless, llame al 1-800-2 JOIN IN o vaya a http://www.verizonwireless.com/.

Acerca de Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless tiene y opera la red móvil más confiable del país y cuenta con 54.8 millones de clientes de sus servicios de voz y datos. Verizon Wireless, con sede en Basking Ridge, N. J., es una sociedad conjunta de Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) y Vodafone (NYSE y LSE: VOD). Para más información, visite el sitio http://www.verizonwireless.com/. Para ver y solicitar secuencias de video, con resolución apropiada para difusión y fotografías de alta resolución sobre las operaciones de Verizon Wireless, visite Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library en http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Acerca de Zingy

Zingy, una empresa de servicios completos de contenido multimedia móvil y otros relacionados, se especializa en la personalización de contenido, aplicaciones descargables y soluciones de marketing y publicidad móviles. La división de personalización de contenido de Zingy crea contenido de alta calidad original y bajo licencia, incluyendo tonos de llamada, tonos de mensajes y fondos de pantalla, mientras la división de aplicaciones y servicios móviles es la editora líder de las aplicaciones y juegos descargables galardonadas BREW y J2ME. Zingy también ofrece un conjunto de soluciones de marketing y publicidad móviles de plataforma independiente. Visite http://www.zingy.com/ para obtener más información.

Get It Now es una marca comercial registrada de Verizon Wireless. Todos los otros nombres y marcas registradas son propiedad de sus respectivas empresas.

Source: Verizon Wireless

Blind Americans to Cast First Secret Ballot

National Federation of the Blind to Monitor Compliance

 Oct. 24  The National Federation of the Blind announced today that it has created a hotline for blind and visually impaired voters to report any difficulties in casting their ballots both secretly and independently in the upcoming election. The purpose of the hotline will be to monitor compliance with the provisions of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) relating to nonvisual access to the voting process for the blind.

James Gashel, Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives at the National Federation of the Blind, said: "This election is historic because it is the first general election since the implementation date for the accessibility provisions of the Help America Vote Act. I was able to vote independently and completely in private for the first time in the Maryland primary election last month and look forward to doing it again in November, when many blind voters across the nation will cast a secret ballot for the first time in their lives. The ability to cast a secret ballot is not only thrilling for us as blind voters, it protects our democracy by ensuring that nobody exercises undue influence over us or engages in outright fraud while pretending to help us vote. A secret vote is just as important for blind voters as it is for every other American."

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "The National Federation of the Blind led the effort to make it possible for the blind to vote independently and in secret, like all other Americans. We have been working to help jurisdictions to comply with that statute by providing educational and training materials through our National Center for Nonvisual Election Technology. Having worked so hard to achieve full and equal participation by the blind in the voting process, it is our duty to ensure that no blind American is denied the right to cast a secret ballot, and we will take any action that is necessary and appropriate to carry out that obligation."

The National Federation of the Blind HAVA National Compliance Hotline will be available at 1-877-632-1940 from 7:00 AM-10:00 PM EST on Election Day (Tuesday, November 7) and from 8:00 AM-5:00 PM on Wednesday, November 8. Callers will be asked where they are voting and whether they have been able to cast their ballot with accessible equipment. The National Federation of the Blind will analyze the data collected and conduct any appropriate follow-up, including assisting voters with actionable grievances in filing complaints with the United States Department of Justice.

Passed in 2002, the Help America Vote Act was intended to help states replace outdated voting equipment such as the punch card machines that caused problems during the 2000 presidential election. The law mandates that every polling place in the nation must have at least one voting station accessible to the blind. As of January 1, 2006, jurisdictions should be complying by using electronic voting terminals, special ballot-marking devices, or vote-by- phone systems. All of these methods use audio prompts to read the ballot to a blind voter and allow the voter to make ballot choices using a keypad. This technology allows the blind to vote without the assistance of a sighted poll worker. "Since many jurisdictions will be using new voting equipment that is accessible to the blind for the first time," Dr. Maurer explained, "we feel that it is essential to collect data on whether that equipment has been implemented and works properly."

The National Federation of the Blind was instrumental in advocating for the nonvisual access language contained in the HAVA and received a grant under that statute to ensure its implementation. The National Center for Nonvisual Election Technology (NCNET) was established by the Federation to carry out the terms of the grant. The NCNET has developed an on-line curriculum and a DVD to help make election officials aware of the needs of blind voters and to help jurisdictions select appropriate equipment to provide nonvisual access to the blind at the polling place.

For more information about the National Federation of the Blind and its work on access to elections, visit http://www.nfb.org/nfb/HAVA_intro.asp .

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.

Source: National Federation of the Blind

SkyZone Entertainment Lanza Juegos Flash Lite, Jungle Jim y Extreme Hangman en los Teléfonos Get It Now de Verizon Wireless

Jungle Jim y Extreme Hangman viajan con Flash Lite a los teléfonos móviles

-- SkyZone Entertainment, Inc., una editorial de entretenimiento móvil, y Verizon Wireless, el proveedor de servicios de telefonía móvil líder nacional, anunciaron hoy la primera ronda de aplicaciones de juegos habilitadas con Flash Lite que harán su debut hoy en algunos teléfonos capacitados con Get It Now(R) de Verizon Wireless. Los dos primeros productos disponibles a través de SkyZone(TM) son los juegos móviles Jungle Jim(TM) y Extreme Hangman(TM), que están disponibles por un cargo de acceso mensual o para compra con uso ilimitado. Los usuarios de Verizon Wireless pueden descargar estos juegos en sus teléfonos en la tienda virtual Get It Now en el pasillo de compras de getGAMES.

"Jungle Jim y Extreme Hangman son excelentes representaciones de juegos casuales verdaderamente fáciles de sumergirse", dijo Neil Haldar, vicepresidente de estrategias y programación de contenido de SkyZone Entertainment. "Estos títulos están especialmente diseñados para adaptarse a la tecnología Flash Lite, que ofrece aún mejores gráficos y detalles en el teléfono estándar y consideramos que ayudará aún más a emprender la próxima ola de adopción de juegos móviles".

Flash Lite para BREW(R) les da a los usuarios de Verizon Wireless la capacidad de descargar aplicaciones automáticamente, tales como, Jungle Jim y Extreme Hangman y puedan "habilitar con Flash" sus teléfonos inmediatamente. Jungle Jim está disponible por US$1.99 de acceso mensual o US$4.99 para compra con uso ilimitado, inicialmente en cuatro teléfonos de Verizon Wireless, que son: The V (LG VX9800), Motorola RAZR V3c y V3m y Samsung SCH- a950. Se espera que Verizon Wireless ofrezca Flash Lite en otros teléfonos en las próximas semanas. Extreme Hangman también está disponible en los teléfonos y se puede comprar por US$1.99 de acceso mensual o por US$5.99 para compra con uso ilimitado.

Los cargos por descarga para las aplicaciones de Get It Now varían y los cargos de tiempo aire aplican durante la navegación, descarga o uso de ciertas aplicaciones. Para accesar la tienda virtual Get It Now los clientes necesitan un teléfono capacitado con Get It Now y los servicios digitales de Verizon Wireless.

Para obtener mayor información acerca de los productos y servicios de Verizon Wireless, visite una tienda Verizon Wireless Communications Store, llame gratis al 1-800-2 JOIN IN o accese, http://www.verizonwireless.com/.

Acerca de Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless tiene y opera la red móvil más confiable del país y cuenta con 54.8 millones de clientes de sus servicios de voz y datos. Verizon Wireless, con sede en Basking Ridge, N. J., es una sociedad conjunta de Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) y Vodafone (NYSE y LSE: VOD). Para más información, visite el sitio http://www.verizonwireless.com/. Para ver y solicitar secuencias de video, con resolución apropiada para difusión y fotografías de alta resolución sobre las operaciones de Verizon Wireless, visite Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library en http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Acerca de SkyZone Entertainment

SkyZone Entertainment, Inc. crea y ofrece contenido emocionante "Made for Mobile(TM)" (Hecho para Telefonía Móvil), que satisface la demanda emergente de los consumidores de juegos a través de varias redes de teléfonos móviles y aparatos de entretenimiento en el hogar. A través de una red de inversores y socios como SK Group, SkyZone recurre a una tradición coreana avanzada de innovación editorial e interoperabilidad de redes para ofrecer juegos de tecnología de punta y aplicaciones de marcas reconocidas que presentan gráficos en 3D, ambientes de interconexión de redes de múltiples jugadores y acceso transmedial para las portadoras de telecomunicaciones y jugadores móviles en todo el mundo. Para obtener mayor información, visite, http://www.skyzonemobile.com/.

Get It Now es una marca comercial registrada de Verizon Wireless. Todos los otros nombres y marcas comerciales pertenecen a sus respectivas compañías.

Sexy, Inc. anuncia la "Lista de los 100 hoteles más sexy del mundo 2005-2006"

Sexy, Inc. ha lanzado su segunda lista aunal de los 100 hoteles más sexy del mundo

-- Marc Holland, fundador de Sexy, Inc., afirmó, "Se evaluaron más de 500 propiedades y los ganadores se eligieron por su estilo, arquitectura, ambientación, servicios, humor y emoción." Holland agregó, "Definir 'sexy' fue la parte divertida de la tarea. Sexy no tiene nada que ver con el precio, el tamaño o la reputación, sino con el modo en que todos esos elementos se combinan para crear una experiencia sensual que evoca un sentimiento de verdadera trascendencia para el huésped."

"La característica de sexy no se puede fingir", explica Holland, "Un hotel o lugar de vacaciones es sexy o no lo es. No hay grados intermedios. Sexy podría ser un mega lugar de vacaciones en el desierto, un elegante hotel para ejecutivos en la ciudad de Nueva York, un establecimiento a orillas del mar en Malasia o un campamento de safari."

Las propiedades destacadas incluyen Rattray's en Sudáfrica, Bleibtreu en Berlín, The Montage Resort & Spa en Laguna Beach, California, Navutu Stars Resort en Fiji, Costa Rica Marriott en Costa Rica y muchas otras.

Jeff Johnson, Vicepresidente de Comercialización del Montage Resort & Spa, afirma, "Nos complace sumamente haber sido seleccionados como uno de los hoteles más sexy del mundo. Nuestro establecimiento es romántico y elegante y queremos evocar una experiencia relajada para todos los sentidos."

Julia Poppe, Directora de Comercialización, Bleibtreu Hotel, dijo, "Nos enorgullece enormemente estar otra vez afiliados con el exclusivo círculo mundial de los ‘hoteles más sexy'. Nuestro amor por los detalles más pequeños y nuestro impulso por mejorar y brindar nuestro servicio sincero permanentemente forman parte de nuestra oferta, lo cual es sumamente valorado por nuestros huéspedes. Desde la inauguración del Bleibtreu, que se traduce literalmente como 'Permanece fiel', muchos de nuestros huéspedes han mostrado lealtad."

La lista de los 100 hoteles más sexy del mundo es un emprendimiento conjunto de clasificación de viajes entre Sexy, Inc., Sky Radio & Video y SkyAuction.com, una empresa líder de subasta de viajes en línea.

1. Navutu Stars Resort, Fiji 2. Rattray's on Mala Mala, Sudáfrica 3. The Wynn, Las Vegas, Nevada 4. Amanpulo Resort, Filipinas 5. Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, Ojai, California 6. Hotel de l'Europe, Ámsterdam 7. Montage Resort & Spa, Laguna Beach, California 8. Roger Williams, Nueva York, Nueva York 9. The Lalu, Taiwan 10. Costa Rica Marriott, San José, Costa Rica

Holland indica, "Todos los ganadores con quienes hemos conversado sienten gran entusiasmo por ser seleccionados para la lista. Están acostumbrados a ganar premios, pero el galardón al 'Más sexy' es algo que los enorgullece de forma inusual."

Visite www.sexiesthotels.com.  

New AARP Survey Shows Public Strongly Opposes Social Security Private Accounts

 Oct 24

 A new AARP survey finds that boomer+ voters (age 42 and older) are strongly opposed to using Social Security taxes to fund private accounts. More than seven in 10 of those polled (72 percent) said they oppose private accounts. Less than one in six (16 percent) of those polled said they support such accounts.

An analysis of candidate responses to the 2006 AARP Voters' Guides in 45 competitive Senate and House races reflects that candidates are hearing the public's rejection of private accounts. AARP's 2006 Voters' Guides ask candidates whether they "support or oppose using Social Security taxes to fund private accounts." Of the 20 Senate candidates in 10 of the closest races for which Guides are available, 14 (70 percent) of the candidates checked the box in opposition; only one (5 percent) candidate expressed support, while 5 (25 percent) candidates either did not check a box or respond..

Similarly, in 35 of the competitive House races, 43 (60 percent) of the candidates checked the box in opposition. Only two candidates (3 percent) expressed support, while 26 (37 percent) of the remaining candidates either did not check a box or respond at all.

The guides also ask candidates whether they will "support or oppose a balanced Social Security plan to continue the program's guaranteed benefits for future generations." Of the 20 Senate candidates, 15 (75 percent) candidates checked the box in support, one candidate (5 percent) opposed and 20 percent did not check a box or respond. For the House races, a total of 45 (63 percent) candidates support a balanced plan, only one (1 percent) oppose, and the remaining 25 (35 percent) candidates either did not check a box or respond.

"It is clear from the responses to our Voters' Guides that an overwhelming majority of candidates oppose private accounts and support a balanced Social Security plan to continue this critical program for future generations," said AARP Director of Government Relations David Sloane. "These candidates have committed to strengthening and preserving Social Security, and voters will expect that they follow through on their promises if elected to office."

For a complete listing of the competitive 45 races for which we have Voters' Guides, and the candidates' complete responses to the Social Security questions, including additional comments they may have made, visit:

http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/cs/misc/house_vo ter_guide.pdf

http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/cs/misc/senate_v oter_guide.pdf

Also, to view all the complete 2006 AARP Voters' Guides, visit http://www.dontvote.com.

The Election Watch survey was commissioned earlier this month as a national telephone survey of 1,503 individuals age 42 and older. The survey is the seventh in a series of nine scheduled for release each week leading up to the mid-term elections. AARP wanted to take the pulse of the public's opinion on issues that our members have indicated they want to hear about in the national and state public discourse.

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AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP produces The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, a monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, a bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, a quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and the Web site, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors and sponsors. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Grammy Winner Jill Scott will accept a 2006 Eddy Award tomorrow night, Oct. 24, from the Philadelphia Education Fund. The renowned singer-songwriter will be honored alongside fellow awardees: the Eagles Youth Partnership, GlaxoSmithKline, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity (Philadelphia Alumni Chapter) and current Philadelphia Scholar Tiffany A. Flippen. The celebration takes place tomorrow, from 6- 8 p.m., at WHYY and includes live interviews with the award winners by WHYY's Tracey Matisak.

Jill Scott has been writing poetry since her days in Philadelphia's public schools. Raised in North Philadelphia, a graduate of Philadelphia High School for Girls, Scott has a couple of multi-platinum albums to her name and a critically- acclaimed book of poetry. But her accomplishments don't stop there.

In 2003, Scott founded the Blues Babe Foundation to nurture college-bound students of color, aged 16-21. In addition to providing scholarships, Scott's foundation has financially supported regional schools and community centers, and is preparing to launch a summer camp for underprivileged children.

In addition to Girls High, Scott is a graduate of Thomas M. Peirce Elementary School and Albert M. Greenfield School. She released her debut album Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 in July 2000, and won a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best R&B Urban/Alternative Performance for "Cross My Mind." Her book of poetry, The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours, was released in April 2005. She will receive the Philadelphia Education Fund's Star Alumna Eddy.

Receiving the Star Business Commitment to Education Eddy is GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The pharmaceutical company is being honored for its continued support of education programs in under- served communities, including teacher development, middle-grades education and its flagship Science in the Summer program. GSK's Director of Community Partnerships, Mary Linda Andrews, will accept the award.

The Eagles Youth Partnership (EYP), founded by the Philadelphia Eagles to tackle education and health issues faced by the region's youth, is being honored with the Star Commitment to Education Eddy. The nonprofit organization runs several signature programs, including the Eagles Book Mobile, Eagles Eye Mobile, Eagles Chess Tournament and Eagles Top Achiever Awards. Cecil Martin, former Philadelphia Eagles Fullback, will be accepting the award along with EYP's Executive Director Sarah Martinez-Helfman.

The Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity will be honored with the Star Community Commitment to Education Eddy Award. The city's Alumni Chapter works with young African- American males through programs, such as Guide Right, which stress positive values, direction and self-esteem. Louis Williams, Polemarch, will be accepting the award for Kappa Alpha Psi.

In addition, Tiffany A. Flippen, a participant from the Ed Fund's College Access and Philadelphia Scholars programs, will receive the Rising Star Eddy. A sophomore at Villanova University, Tiffany is an accounting major with a minor in African American Studies and is an active volunteer for Villanova's Black Cultural Society. She was also the valedictorian of her class at University City High School.

The 2006 Eddys are being sponsored by WHYY, Fox Rothschild LLP, IBM, the Philadelphia Eagles and Firstrust Bank. The Philadelphia Education Fund is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of public education for under-served youth in the Philadelphia region.

Former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey K. Skilling has been sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison on conspiracy, securities fraud and other charges related to the collapse of the Enron Corporation, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.

In addition to the prison sentence, Skilling, 52, was ordered to forfeit approximately $45 million to be applied towards restitution for the victims of the fraud at Enron. Skilling was sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, at the U.S. District Court in Houston. He was convicted by a federal jury in Houston on May 25 of 12 counts of securities fraud, one count of insider trading, conspiracy and five counts of making false statements to auditors. Lay's co-defendant at trial, former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, was also convicted after 56 days of trial and jury deliberations on conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud charges.

The convictions stemmed from a wide-ranging scheme that Lay, Skilling and other Enron executives engaged in at various times between at least 1999 and 2001, to deceive the investing public, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and others about the true performance of Enron's businesses. The scheme was designed to make it appear that Enron was growing at a healthy and predictable rate, consistent with analysts' published expectations, that Enron did not have significant write-offs or debt and was worthy of investment-grade credit rating, that Enron was comprised of a number of successful business units, and that the company had an appropriate cash flow. It had the effect of inflating artificially Enron's stock price, which increased from approximately $30 per share in early 1998 to over $80 per share in January 2001, and artificially stemming the decline of the stock during the first three quarters of 2001.

The fraud scheme eventually unraveled and Enron filed for bankruptcy in December 2001, making its stock virtually worthless. The company's collapse cost investors billions of dollars, and thousands of workers lost their jobs.

"Today's sentence is a measure of justice for the thousands of people who lost their jobs and millions of dollars in investments when Enron collapsed under the weight of the fraud perpetrated by the company's top executives," said Fisher. "Jeffrey Skilling will now spend more than 24 years in prison for committing one of the largest frauds in the history of corporate America. His conviction is the result of nearly five years of hard work and dedication by the prosecutors and investigators on the Enron Task Force, whose tireless efforts demonstrate the finest qualities of public service."

"The sentencing of Jeffrey Skilling today puts an exclamation point on many years of hard work by the Enron Task Force and reiterates the FBI's commitment to address corporate fraud, no matter how long it takes," said FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus. "Corporate crooks should beware, if you decide to use business coffers as your personal piggy bank at the expense of investors and employees, you risk loss of personal freedom."

Kenneth Lay died on July 5, and his conviction was voided by a federal judge earlier this month. The government announced today that it is filing a civil forfeiture action to recover property that constitutes proceeds of the fraud proven in the criminal case against Lay. The civil complaint seeks to forfeit Lay's condominium in Houston, property associated with a Lay family investment partnership and a bank account with more than $22,000 -- all proceeds obtained directly or indirectly as a result of various federal crimes, including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

The investigation into Enron's collapse was conducted by the Enron Task Force, a team of federal prosecutors supervised by the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Special Agents from the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. The Task Force received considerable assistance from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following today's sentencing, all outstanding matters being handled by the Enron Task Force will be referred to the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Two Egyptian nationals who enslaved a 10-year-old girl and forced her to work as a domestic servant at their Orange County, Calif., residence were both sentenced this morning.

Abdel Nasser Youssef Ibrahim was sentenced to 36 months in prison. His ex-wife, Amal Ahmed Ewis-abd El Motelib, was sentenced to 22 months. In addition to the prison terms, Ibrahim and Motelib were ordered to pay over $70,000 to the victim. This figure represents the money she should have received while working for two years without pay for a family of seven at their Irvine, Calif., residence.

The court ordered Ibrahim and Montelib to surrender into custody on Oct. 30, and Nov. 13, respectively. Following the sentencing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Ibrahim and Motelib, both foreign nationals, pending deportation proceedings. Upon completion of their sentences, Ibrahim and Motelib will face deportation from the United States.

In June 2006, the defendants pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy, holding a person in involuntary servitude through force or coercion, obtaining labor through unlawful force and coercion, and harboring an illegal alien.

"The young victim in this case was subject to inhumane conditions that included both physical and verbal abuse," said U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang of the Central District of California. "As a result of recent changes in federal law, she has been granted a visa that will allow her to stay and, hopefully, prosper, in the United States. I hope this brings some recompense to a victim who was forced to work every day for as long as 16 hours."

The victim began working for Ibrahim and Motelib as a domestic servant in Egypt in 1999. The couple then moved to the United States and arranged to have the victim brought to the country in 2000, with the expectation that she would work for them as a nanny and housekeeper. The victim's passport was confiscated by the defendants after her arrival. She received no compensation for her labor and served the couple and their family for 20 months.

Ibrahim and Motelib forced the victim to work through a number of unlawful means, including threats, and physical and verbal abuse. The defendants slapped the victim on at least one occasion, and told the girl that she would be arrested and taken away if she was caught by the police outside the family's home.

"This young victim was robbed of something intensely precious -- her youth," said Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim of the Civil Rights Division. "The Civil Rights Division is strongly committed to ending the heinous crime of human trafficking. Innocent victims, such as the young girl in this case, deserve the freedom and opportunity that America offers. They deserve the right to seek the American Dream."

The case against Ibrahim and Motelib is the first case brought under the purview of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Irvine Police Department conducted the investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

The United States won't withdraw its troops
from Iraq in the face of recent increased insurgent-led violence in
some parts of that country, President Bush said here yesterday.

The U.S. goal in Iraq is victory, Bush told the nation during his
weekly radio address. Any changes made to address increased insurgent
attacks in and around Baghdad and parts of Anbar province, the president
emphasized, will involve "the tactics we use to achieve" victory.

Bush has met with senior Defense Department civilian and military
leaders over the past few days to discuss the way ahead in Iraq.

Withdrawing American military forces and retreating from Iraq would
embolden terrorists around the world, dishonor the sacrifices of thousands
of U.S. servicemembers, and make America less safe, Bush said.

"We will not pull our troops off the [Iraq] battlefield before the
mission is complete," Bush emphasized in his radio address. Giving up in
Iraq, he added, "would allow the terrorists to gain a new safe haven from
which to launch new attacks on America."

The American strategy in Iraq is predicated on training enough capable
Iraqi soldiers and police to engage and defeat the insurgents. This
plan is flexible and allows U.S. forces to adapt to changing
circumstances, Bush said.

"We've changed the way we train the Iraqi security forces," Bush
pointed out. "We have changed the way we deliver reconstruction assistance in
areas that have been cleared of terrorist influence."

Bush said he's spoken with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki about
the stepped up violence in Iraq. Both leaders agreed that the core
strategy employed to defeat the insurgency in Iraq would remain in place.

"And, we will continue to be flexible, and make every necessary change
to prevail in this struggle," Bush said.

Violence in Iraq has increased, particularly in and around Baghdad,
Bush said, because coalition and Iraqi forces have been conducting focused
operations to bring security to that city.

"It's no coincidence that the surge in attacks against coalition forces
coincides with our increased presence in the streets in Baghdad," Bush
pointed out.

Maliki and other senior Iraqi government officials have been taking
steps to confront rising violence by reaching out to various sects and
tribes, Bush said. For example, tribal leaders in Anbar province, he said,
have told Maliki they're ready to confront the insurgency.

Also, some key leaders of Iraq's national police force have been
arrested or reassigned, Bush noted during his radio address, as part of
efforts to make that organization more efficient.

Terrorists in Iraq aim to use the stepped up violence to influence
American public opinion through the media and reduce support for the war,
Bush said.

"They know they cannot defeat us in the battle, so they conduct
high-profile attacks, hoping that the images of violence will demoralize our
country and force us to retreat," the president explained.

However, America will remain steadfast in its support of the new
democratic Iraqi government, Bush said.

"We will help Prime Minister Maliki build a free nation that can govern
itself, sustain itself, and defend itself," Bush said. "And we will
help Iraq become a strong democracy that is a strong ally in the war on
terror."

Bush acknowledged that increased violence over the past few weeks has
"been rough for our troops in Iraq, and for the Iraqi people." Yet,
American troops have persevered and achieved victories in other great, past
struggles, he pointed out.

"In World War II and the Cold War, earlier generations of Americans
sacrificed so that we can live in freedom," Bush said. "This generation
will do its duty as well. We will defeat the terrorists everywhere they
make their stand, and we will leave a more hopeful world for our
children and our grandchildren."

Three in Five Say Pay Raise Not the Determining Factor in Legislative Races, According to New, Non-Partisan Poll

 Oct. 21  -- Three out of five likely voters surveyed in a new, non-partisan statewide poll say an incumbent legislator's vote for the recently repealed state pay raise will not be the determining factor when they go to the polls on Nov. 7.

The survey, released today by Triad Strategies, LLC, and Susquehanna Polling and Research, asked 700 voters statewide how they viewed the state pay raise as a decision factor in the Nov. 7 election.

A significant majority - 59 percent - said they "plan to consider my senator or representative's position on other issues before making my final decision." A total of 22 percent said they would vote against pay raise supporters no matter what. A total of 15 percent said they would vote for their incumbent legislator "in spite of their position on the pay raise."

Pay raise concerns seem to be centered most strongly in the Southwestern Pennsylvania counties around Pittsburgh where 33 percent of voters say they will vote against those who voted for the legislation no matter what, said Roy Wells, President of Triad Strategies. "It means that it could be a factor in some races but it's not going to be the sea change we saw in the primaries," Wells said. Strong concerns were also evident in South Central Pennsylvania and North Central Pennsylvania counties where anti-pay-raise sentiments were registered by 29 percent of the voters contacted.

"It's clear that most people are going to do what they do traditionally - look at the total record of incumbents and make a balanced decision," Wells said.

Anti-pay-raise attitudes were evident most strongly among senior citizens. A total of 31 percent of those 60 years old and over said they would vote against pay raise supporters.

The Triad/Susquehanna Poll also showed Democrats holding or extending their leads in the statewide races for U.S. Senate and Governor. In the Senate contest, the poll - conducted between Oct. 1 and 6 - showed Democrat Bob Casey increasing his lead over incumbent Republican Rick Santorum to 54-34 statewide.

In the race for governor, incumbent Democrat Ed Rendell was at 56 percent compared to 32 percent for Republican challenger Lynn Swann.

"What is significant to me as someone who conducted dozens of polls every year is the percent of people who already have made up their minds with a month to go before the election," said James Lee, founder and President of Susquehanna Polling and Research. "In the Senate race, it will be difficult for Santorum to recapture the lead because in this type of anti-incumbent environment most of the undecided voters will go to the challenger. In the race for governor, with Rendell over fifty percent even if all the undecided voters break for the challenger Swann still comes up short."

The Triad-Susquehanna Poll differs from some other non-partisan polls in that it draws its interviews from lists of those registered to vote who have already demonstrated that they have cast ballots in recent elections and indicate that they are very likely or certainly likely to vote on Nov. 7.

Regionally, Santorum is running strongest in Southwest Pennsylvania, where 44 percent of the voters support him compared to 50 percent for Casey, and in the Central Pennsylvania "T" counties where he trails Casey 39-41 - within the 3.7 percent margin of error for a survey sample of this size.

However, he trails Casey 68-17 and 70-27 in populous Philadelphia and Allegheny County and 54-37 in the nominally Republican counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley.

Swann leads Rendell only in the suburban Pittsburgh counties in Southwest Pennsylvania (42-39) but trails in even the Republican counties of the "T" and South Central Pennsylvania (45-40 and 47-36, respectively).

On issues, voters are most concerned about taxes. Overall, 32 percent of all surveyed said taxes are the "single most important problem facing Pennsylvania today ... that you would like to see resolved by your elected officials." Concerns about the economy, jobs and unemployment ranked a distant second at 14 percent. Concerns about politicians and ethics in government was third at 9 percent.

Source: TRIAD STRATEGIES

NAACP Supports California Proposition 86 to Fund Universal Health Care for Children

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People National Board of Directors voted today to endorse California ballot Proposition 86 that would raise billions of dollars for hospitals and fund universal children's health insurance, anti-tobacco programs and health education programs by increasing taxes on tobacco.

"From our earliest days, the health status of African- Americans has been a major NAACP concern. Proposition 86 will be a great step toward that goal," said Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP Board of Directors.

"By passing this resolution, the NAACP has gone on the record again as being opposed to smoking and in favor of better health care for children and adults," said Bruce S. Gordon, NAACP President and CEO. "It's a scientific fact that avoiding tobacco products results in health benefits for both smokers and non- smokers. Everything possible should be done to discourage young people from starting the smoking habit. This is our national policy and we're sticking to it."

Proposition 86 would raise cigarette taxes by $2.60 a pack, making the California cigarette tax the highest in the nation. The average price of cigarettes would be nearly $7 a pack. "It has been demonstrated that an increase in the price of tobacco products reduces the utilization of those products, especially among the young," the Board resolution states. Supporters of the proposition estimate the increased price of cigarettes could prompt more than 500,000 smokers to quit and prevent 300,000 deaths each year.

In supporting Proposition 86, the NAACP joins a number of groups that include the California Black Health Network, American Diabetes Association, AARP-California, California Federation of Teachers, National Council of La Raza, League of United Latin American Citizens, Los Angeles Urban League, National African American Tobacco Education Network, American Federation of State, County Municipal Employees, Service Employees International Union Local 535, United Farm Workers, League of Women Voters of California, California Medical Association, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation-Central Valley Affiliate, Dental Health Foundation and the National Health Foundation.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

 No es comprendido y a menudo no recibe tratamiento: el melasma, o ‘paño’, afecta aproximadamente a seis millones de mujeres

Cada año, cuando el verano da lugar al otoño, muchas mujeres del área de Dallas se preguntan qué pueden hacer acerca de los problemas de la piel que han aparecido o empeorado después de haber estado expuestas al sol del verano.

Monika Lee, de 47 años y madre de dos hijos que vive en Fremont, comenzó a notar las manchas de color marrón en su cara hace dos años durante unas vacaciones en México. “Me daba mucha pena por las manchas oscuras en la cara. Trataba de cubrirlas con base de maquillaje, pero era difícil esconderlas. No me gustaba mirarme en el espejo porque lo único que veía eran las manchas”, explicó Monika. “Pensé que simplemente tenía que aceptar el problema”.

Luego de una larga lucha con el dilema de la misteriosa condición de la piel, Rebecca pidió una cita para ver a un dermatólogo. Se sorprendió al enterarse de que la condición tenía un nombre: melasma, una hiperpigmentación de la piel. Aún de mayor importancia, se sintió aliviada cuando le dijeron que había un tratamiento.

El melasma afecta aproximadamente a seis millones de mujeres de los Estados Unidos y es una de las condiciones de pigmentación de la piel más comunes que empeoran con la exposición al sol. Esta afección de la piel se caracteriza por manchas oscuras en la cara, en la frente y en el cuello. Aunque el melasma es común entre las mujeres de todas las razas, las mujeres latinas tienen la mayor preponderancia a la condición.

Las investigaciones documentan que las pacientes que no son de raza blanca tienen un 30 por ciento más de probabilidades de afecciones de pigmentación que las pacientes blancas. Aunque entre el 50 y el 70 por ciento de las mujeres embarazadas presentan cierto grado de melasma, el índice de melasma entre las mujeres embarazadas hispanas es de hasta el 80 por ciento. El 30 por ciento de las mujeres hispanas que desarrollan la condición durante el embarazo mantienen la afección de por vida si no reciben el tratamiento adecuado.

Al melasma se lo conoce como “paño” en México y como “manchas” o “máscara del embarazo” en Centroamérica y Sudamérica. La condición tiene connotaciones negativas en las culturas latinas; comúnmente considerándose una desfiguración y a menudo asociada con la malnutrición.

Las nuevas investigaciones, que serán publicadas próximamente en el Journal of Dermatological Treatment (Periódico del Tratamiento Dermatológico), establecen que la condición tiene un impacto significativamente negativo en los temas de la calidad de vida, afectando la vida social, el bienestar emocional, la salud física y hasta la situación financiera. “Se ha comprobado que el melasma presenta una importante carga emocional y psicosocial para las mujeres que lo padecen”, dijo el Dr. Sunil Dhawan, un dermatólogo del Área de la Bahía. “Cambia la manera en la que una persona se ve a sí misma. Cambia la manera en la que otros ven a esa persona. La condición literalmente afecta la habilidad de una persona para enfrentar al mundo.

“El melasma puede ser causado por un desequilibrio hormonal, por el uso de anticonceptivos por vía oral o por la terapia de reemplazo hormonal y se lo conoce comúnmente como la ‘máscara del embarazo’”, dijo el Dr. Dhawan. “La genética también influye. Sin embargo, la exposición al sol puede desencadenar o empeorar la apariencia de la condición. El otoño es la época ideal para consultar con un dermatólogo acerca de cómo enfrentar los temas de pigmentación y para hacerse una evaluación general de la condición de la piel”. El Dr. Dhawan recomienda que todos los que sufran de esta condición visiten el sitio web http://www.melasmafacts.com para conseguir información adicional y para ver las opciones de tratamiento.

Monika dijo que con el tratamiento apropiado, pronto comenzó a notar un cambio. “Después de ocho semanas, las manchas casi no podían verse”, dijo. “Fue tan fácil tratar mi melasma que ojalá lo hubiera comenzado antes”.

“La Crema Tri-Luma(R) es el único tratamiento recetado de uso local aprobado por la FDA para el tratamiento del melasma”, dijo el Dr. Dhawan. “En una sociedad en la cual la apariencia es importante y valorada, no hay razón para sufrir cuando existe un tratamiento disponible que su doctor puede recetarlo fácilmente”.

FOTOS DE ALTA RESOLUCIÓN DISPONIBLES. POR FAVOR, PIDA ARCHIVO ADJUNTO.


Información acerca del Melasma:

-- La Academia Americana de Dermatología (American Academy of Dermatology) calcula que el melasma afecta a aproximadamente seis millones de personas en los Estados Unidos. Aproximadamente el 90 por ciento de la gente que sufre de melasma son mujeres.
-- El melasma puede ser causado por un desequilibrio hormonal debido al embarazo, al uso de anticonceptivos por vía oral o de la terapia de reemplazo hormonal; la genética también influye.
-- La exposición al sol es un factor desencadenante. Para la mayoría de las mujeres, el melasma se nota más durante el otoño.
-- Aunque el melasma es común entre las mujeres de todas las razas, las mujeres latinas tienen la mayor incidencia de esta condición médica.
-- Las pacientes que no son de raza blanca tienen un 30 por ciento de probabilidades más alto de presentar afecciones de pigmentación que las pacientes de raza blanca.
-- Aunque entre el 50 y el 70 por ciento de las mujeres embarazadas presentan cierto grado de melasma, el índice de melasma entre las mujeres embarazadas hispanas es de hasta el 80 por ciento. El 30 por ciento de las mujeres hispanas que desarrollan la condición durante el embarazo mantienen la afección de por vida si no reciben el tratamiento adecuado.
-- Las nuevas investigaciones publicadas en el Journal of Dermatological Treatment (Periódico del Tratamiento Dermatológico) establece que la condición tiene un impacto significativamente negativo en los temas de la calidad de vida, afectando la vida social, el bienestar emocional, la salud física y hasta la situación financiera. Específicamente, el melasma está asociado con la disminución del funcionamiento social, con la reducción de la productividad en el trabajo, con el miedo negativo a la evaluación, con la ansiedad y con la depresión, que llevan al aislamiento social y a la soledad.
-- Para más información acerca del melasma, por favor visite http://www.MelasmaFacts.com.


Equilibrio Justo de la Crema Tri-Luma(R) (acetónido de fluocinolona 0.01%, hidroquinona 4%, tretinoína 0.05%)

Puede presentar enrojecimiento, descamación, ardor, sequedad o picazón leves o moderados. Las personas que tienen reacciones alérgicas (como el asma) a los sulfatos no deben usar la Crema Tri-Luma(R). La seguridad y eficacia de la Crema Tri-Luma(R) para los pacientes que tienen piel de tipo V y VI no han sido investigadas. No se puede excluir el excesivo blanqueamiento que lleve a efectos cosméticos indeseados entre los pacientes que tienen pieles más oscuras.

La seguridad y eficacia de la Crema Tri-Luma(R) para las mujeres embarazadas y las madres que están en período de lactancia no han sido establecidas. La Crema Tri-Luma(R) contiene hidroquinona, la cual puede producir ocronosis exógena, un oscurecimiento azul-negruzco gradual de la piel, cuya aparición indica la inmediata interrupción del tratamiento. La Crema Tri-Luma(R) contiene el corticoesteroide acetónido de fluocinolona. La absorción sistemática de los corticoesteroides de uso local puede producir la supresión del eje hipotálamo-pituitario-adrenal o HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) con el riesgo posible de producir deficiencia de glucocorticoides luego de suspender el tratamiento.

Se debe evitar la exposición al sol, a las lámparas solares o a la luz ultravioleta y al calor, al viento o a los fríos extremos. Es necesario utilizar protectores solares de amplio espectro con factores de protección solar 30 o superiores. Use ropa para protegerse del sol y, en el caso de utilizar métodos anticonceptivos hormonales, cambie a métodos no hormonales.

Malibu Family Wines Hosts Sixth Annual Harvest & Crush Event Honoring City Hearts: Kids Say 'Yes' to the Arts

 October 21, 2006 -- More than 650 people gathered at Saddlerock Ranch, home of Malibu Family Wines, on Oct. 8, helping to raise over $100,000 to benefit City Hearts: Kids Say 'Yes' to the Arts at the Sixth Annual Harvest & Crush Event. Guests stomped and crushed harvested grapes from Malibu Family Wines, bid on silent auction items and sampled food from more than a dozen local restaurants. The money raised will be used to fund arts programs for the most critically at-risk children in Southern California, with such programs as The Shakespeare Challenge, Fresh Focus Photography, Dance for Life and ALITE (Arts & Literacy for Tomorrow's Education). Over the last 22 years, City Hearts has taught the arts to over 22,000 children, many of whom have graduated from college and become successful professionals, attributing their confidence and motivation to their experience with the organization.

(Click here for details)
Playing auctioneers at the Sixth Annual Harvest Event and Grape
Crush to benefit City Hearts on Oct. 8 at Saddlerock Ranch, home
of Malibu Family Wines (left to right) Bob Jason, co-founder of
City Hearts; Jane Seymour, National Honorary Chair for City
Hearts; Sherry Jason, co-founder of City Hearts; and Ron Semler,
owner of Malibu Family Wines and host of the event. For more
information visit www.cityhearts.org.

Actress Jane Seymour, City Hearts' National Honorary Chair, who has been very involved with City Hearts programs for more than 18 years, was at the event sharing auctioneer duties with Ron Semler, co-owner of Malibu Family Wines and event host. Seymour also sold her line of purses, which feature her paintings, donating $100 from each purse sold directly to City Hearts. After the grape crushing, guests were able to remove the stains with a foot soak by Bonicca and foot massage by Borrelli salons. Throughout the afternoon, guests were able to sample items from several local restaurants including Chapter 8, Fin's, Il Tiramisu Ristorante, Malibu Wines, The Melting Pot, MOZ Buddha Lounge, Paradise Cove, P6, Rustico, Riviera, Saddle Peak Lodge, Sam's by the Beach Restaurant, The Sunset, Tuscany and Zin Bistro Americana.

Children enjoyed face painting, a moon bounce and hot dog cart provided by Calamigos Ranch. During the event people wandered the grounds of Saddlerock Ranch, which is the largest working ranch in Los Angeles County and home to exotic animals, including zebras, buffalo, camels, macaws, Scottish highland cattle and llamas. Many children participating in City Hearts programs were in attendance; some played witches from "Macbeth," and others played fairies. The MC for the event was William Shakespeare, played by one of the City Hearts instructors who were on hand to lend their support.

People who could not attend the Harvest Event & Grape Crush can still experience Malibu Family Wines by sampling the wines at "Malibu Wines," the new tasting room in Malibu (www.MalibuWine.com). To become a Malibu Family Wine Club member, visit www.MalibuFamilyWines.com or call 888-433-WINE.

The Seventh Annual Harvest Event & Grape Crush to benefit City Hearts will be held on Sun., Oct. 7, 2007.

About City Hearts:

Founded in 1984 as a program of prevention by criminal defense attorneys Sherry and Bob Jason, City Hearts now reaches over 2,000 at-greatest-risk children each year, ages five to 18, through unique and inspiring, free after-school programs in core arts disciplines. City Hearts is committed to using the arts to intervene in a loving, supportive and nurturing way to break the cycle of poverty, neglect, abuse and violence that destroys the lives of so many of our community's children who face everyday challenges of gangs, drugs and crime. The programs are designed to show these most disadvantaged children an alternate path of social involvement and life-affirming success. For more information or to find out how to get involved with City Hearts, visit www.cityhearts.org or call 310-455-2898.

 Oct. 21, 2006 -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] and the U.S. Air Force MILSATCOM Systems Wing have signed a $1.067 billion contract for up to three more Wideband Gapfiller Satellites (WGS), if all options are exercised.

The Block II satellites will be similar to the three Block I satellites already in production. Under Block II, Boeing will add a radio frequency bypass capability designed to support airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms requiring ultra-high bandwidth and data rates demanded by unmanned aerial vehicles.

"This new Block II contract gives the Air Force the flexibility to independently exercise options for long-lead material, production and launch services for WGS F4 through F6," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Adam Mortenson, WGS Block II program manager. "One WGS satellite will provide more throughput than the entire Defense Service Communications Satellite (DSCS) constellation currently on station, which translates into improved effectiveness of our worldwide forces, and ultimately, into lives saved."

In February, the Air Force authorized Boeing to begin non-recurring engineering and advanced procurement of parts for the fourth WGS satellite. Boeing anticipates Air Force authorization to proceed with full production of WGS F4 and to begin long-lead work for F5 by the end of 2006. These revolutionary, 13-kilowatt WGS satellites are based on Boeing's 702 models and are designed to provide improved communications support for America's warfighters.

"We have designed an incredibly capable satellite system with tremendous operational flexibility, which will become even more apparent when the first vehicle is launched next year," said Charles Toups, vice president of Navigation and Communications Systems for Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems. "We are very pleased the Air Force has chosen Boeing to fulfill this critical communications need."

Boeing is preparing the first WGS satellite for launch in 2007. The Block II contract calls for the launch of F4 by the first quarter of 2011 and subsequent launches every year thereafter. WGS will augment and eventually replace the DSCS currently on station. Boeing has leveraged a wealth of experience and capability for WGS, including extensive investments in the 702 satellite bus, digital signal processors and phased array antennas. These capabilities enable the tremendous capacity and operational flexibility the U.S. military requires.

The results contained in this submission were generated in whole, or in part, through work supporting the MILSATCOM Systems Wing.

IBM Named in Analyst Firm's Leaders Quadrant for Web Access Management

October 21, 2006 -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that Gartner, Inc. has positioned IBM in the Leaders Quadrant in their 2H06 Magic Quadrant for Web Access Management(1). This report marks IBM's third Leaders Quadrant placement for security software this year by the independent analyst firm -- who previously positioned IBM for User Provisioning(2) and for Security Information and Event Management(3).

Earlier this year, Gartner also named IBM as the leading market share vendor in total Web access management software revenue worldwide with 41.4 percent market share in 2005(4). As defined by Gartner, Web access management offers integrated identity and access management for Web-based applications, such as email and online databases.

"IBM's current suite of companion products, like Tivoli Identity Manager and Tivoli Access Manager, offers the industry's strongest portfolio of identity management solutions," said Al Zollar, general manager, IBM Tivoli software. "These solutions allow customers to simplify and automate the management of user identities, access rights and privacy policies across the company. Moreover, customers can control and track the internal users, customers, and partners that have access to company data, which protects sensitive information and helps companies address government regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley."

As customers are transforming their businesses to be delivered on a service oriented architecture, the need to simplify business process integration with partners and suppliers becomes critical -- identity management with federation using open standards delivers the flexibility, agility and security for companies to simplify business process integration.

IBM's Tivoli security software helps prevent unauthorized access to valuable customer, employee and business data and facilitates compliance with corporate security policy and regulatory requirements. It is part of IBM's portfolio of service management software, which automates some of the most challenging processes associated with managing a complex IT environment. These include managing storage devices, and deploying new software releases and patches. The software helps customers fight rising IT costs, manage constant change and meet the demand to stay competitive in the marketplace.

For more information on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Access Management, visit http://www.gartner.com.

For more information on IBM Tivoli, visit http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli.

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2006 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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Oscar®-winner Russell Crowe reunites with “Gladiator” director Ridley Scott in A

GOOD YEAR, a Fox 2000 Pictures presentation of a Scott Free production. London-based investment expert Max Skinner (Crowe) moves to Provence to sell a small vineyard he has inherited from his late uncle. Max reluctantly settles into what ultimately becomes an intoxicating new chapter in his life, as he comes to realize that life is meant to be savored.

A GOOD YEAR is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Peter Mayle.

(Mayle and Ridley Scott, who are longtime friends, together came up with the idea for the

novel.) Scott produces from a screenplay by Marc Klein. The film also stars the esteemed

Albert Finney as Max’s late Uncle Henry, who imparts wisdom to his young nephew; Marion

Cotillard (“A Very Long Engagement”) as a café owner who catches Max’s eye; Abbie

Cornish (“Sommersault”) as Max’s supposed long-lost cousin, who may hold the vineyard’s

title rights; Tom Hollander (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”) as his best friend;

and Freddie Highmore (“Finding Neverland”) as the young Max.

Confident and cocky, headstrong and handsome, Max Skinner is a successful London

banker who specializes in trading bonds. A financial barracuda on the banks of the Thames,

Max devours the competition in his efforts to conquer the European market. His latest

conquest has netted a tidy seven-figure profit, much to the chagrin of his Saville Row-draped

rivals. Max’s triumph is in perfect keeping with his philosophy: winning isn’t everything,

it’s the only thing!

Soon thereafter, Max receives word from France alerting him to sad news: his elderly

Uncle Henry has passed away. Max, Henry’s closest blood relative, is the sole beneficiary of

his estate, which includes a Provençal chateau and vineyard, La Siroque, where Henry

cultivated grapes for over thirty years.

Max travels to the chateau where he spent his boyhood summers vacationing with his

eccentric uncle, whom he hasn’t seen or written to in years. While Max tends to the legal

affairs of his inheritance, he is suspended from his firm, pending an investigation into his

questionable bond transaction.

With his future in London in flux, Max reluctantly begins settling into life at the

chateau. He reunites with the chateau’s longtime vigneron, Francis Duflot (still tending the

vines after three decades), whom Max remembers from his boyhood visits. Duflot’s

exuberant wife, Ludivine, the estate’s housekeeper, warmly welcomes Max back.

Max is uncertain as to whether life in the South of France suits him. He rings up his

best friend, London realtor Charlie Willis, to inquire as to what a small chateau and winery

like La Siroque would command on the current market. Charlie advises Max that small

wineries with a good product can bring several million dollars, as boutique wine, made in

small batches, is the rage in wine shops. It’s money in the bank for Max should he lose his

job.

As Max fondly embraces the memories of summers past (spent with a man whose

wisdom and philosophy helped Max chart his successful career) while contemplating a

cloudy future, a complication arises with the sudden arrival of a determined,

twentysomething California girl, Christie Roberts. Christie, a Napa Valley native, claims to

be the illegitimate daughter of the deceased uncle. The revelation, if true, makes her Max’s

cousin and, according to French law, the beneficiary of La Siroque.

Suspecting Christie may be a fraud, Max questions her about her past while bickering

with her over the fate of the vineyard, whose plonk (as the French define bad wine) rivals the

worst vinegar imaginable. Max, who has tasted La Siroque’s awful vin de pays, also finds

some other bottles in Uncle Henry’s cellar bearing the name Le Coin Perdu (‘the lost

corner’). This mysterious, legendary vin de garage has fetched thousands per bottle on the

black market for years, according to the fetching local cafe owner, Fanny Chenal, with whom

Max has become smitten.

Where does the wine come from, and why is Duflot so insistent on staying at La

Siroque whatever the vineyard’s fate? And, what about some unusual vines discovered on

the property by Christie, which the crusty vintner claims are experimental in nature, and a

renowned oenologue has deemed unworthy?

Max’s memories and the passage of time bring forth emotions and feelings he

thought were long lost, and afford him a new appreciation of his late Uncle Henry’s

philosophy on life – and on life in Provence: “There’s nowhere else in the world where one

can keep busy doing so little, yet enjoy it so much!”

Peter Mayle is a native Brit who abandoned a successful advertising career and

reinvented himself as a best-selling author and novelist. He has been writing about the good

life in the South of France for over fifteen years. Critics have praised his books, both fiction

and nonfiction, calling the writer “the world’s foremost literary escape artist” because of his

knack for setting his colorful yarns in a locale one magazine called “the most enticing place

this side of paradise.” Mayle’s first book, a memoir called A Year in Provence, has sold

over five million copies (in 28 languages) since its publication in 1991.

It was over a bottle of Provençal wine that Mayle (who lives full-time in the Luberon

area of Provence) and filmmaker Ridley Scott (who has maintained a vacation home and

vineyard there for fifteen years) came up with the idea for Mayle’s breezy 2004 novel A

Good Year. “Ridley used to work in the commercials business and I used to work in the

advertising agency business in London,” Mayle recounts about his early history with the

filmmaker; their friendship stretches back to London’s advertising world of the 1970s. “He

was about the best there was, so we would always use his company for shooting commercials

if we could afford him. We worked together intermittently in London, and then he went off

and did movies and I went off and (wrote) books.”

Almost three decades later, Scott and Mayle had a memorable lunch. “Ridley arrived

with a newspaper clipping which reported on new wines in Bordeaux – ‘garage’ wines –

which commanded huge prices without a chateau or pedigree. Yet, people paid a fortune for

them.”

“I saw this piece in the newspaper business section of the Times about a vineyard in

France that was selling garage wine for over £30,000 a case,” Scott recounts about the 1996

clipping, which he still keeps in his files in London. “I was looking for an excuse to come

back to France to shoot a film, and this story idea offered the perfect opportunity.

“I bounced this idea off Peter Mayle and he said, ‘That would make a good novel,’”

Scott remembers. “And I said, ‘You write the book, then I’ll get the film rights.’ So, he

wrote the book, which was successful.”

Mayle labored at his laptop for nine months in 2003, researching the subject in both

in his adopted Provence and in one of the world’s renowned wine regions, Bordeaux, on

France’s Atlantic coast. Le Pin, located in the appellation called Pomerol, cultivates what

many believe to be the best Merlot on the planet.

In the meantime, Scott went off to Morocco and Spain to film his epic saga,

“Kingdom of Heaven.” A month after the author turned in his manuscript, a deal was

finalized for the film rights – and Scott and Mayle were back in business together.

Scott also suggested the book’s (and film’s) title. “A winemaker has a difficult life.

But if he gets it right, he’s had a good year,” says the filmmaker. “That’s what a French

winemaker will say: ‘It’s been a good year.’”

Scott chose New York native Marc Klein (“Serendipity”) to adapt Mayle’s novel for

the screen. Klein admits that when he accepted Scott’s offer, he knew nothing about wine or

Provence. Scott advised Klein to visit the South of France to conduct research and get a

flavor of the area. Klein visited Provence in 2004, met with Peter Mayle, and spent almost a

year researching the region and the wines.

Adapting Mayle’s novel provided Klein with some formidable challenges. “Peter

writes books that are like travelogues,” says the screenwriter. “They're more about

atmosphere – the kind of book one likes to read on vacation, where you want to be swept

away to a certain place. We needed to provide additional narrative structure on it. At the

same time, we wanted to give moviegoers the same experience they would have reading the

book.”

“Peter’s book is a jolly romp,” Scott adds. “It’s very much embedded in the lifestyle

of Provence. For the movie, I found that the mechanism for the story needed to be adjusted a

little bit, to turn up the volume on the character of Max, who needed to learn an important

life lesson. The philosophy that Uncle Henry was trying to instill into this young Max really

didn’t take.”

A key change from the novel was the screenplay’s depiction of Uncle Henry, who is

only referred to in the novel. After toying with the idea of making Henry a ghostly figure,

Scott and Klein decided to depict the character in flashbacks, which, says Scott, “allows us to

see the grooming of Max as a child, which pays off as the story unfolds.”

According to Russell Crowe, these flashback scenes accent one of the film’s principal

themes: “That as long as people are in your heart, they never die.

“I thought that was a wonderful metaphor,” Crowe continues. “When Ridley and I

worked on ‘Gladiator,’ the metaphor was death. But on A GOOD YEAR, we discussed the

themes in terms of reincarnation – not necessarily from the dead to the living, but having the

‘living dead’, like Max, become revitalized from his experiences in Provence. Every

character in this story has a situation that changes his or her life for the better.”

Says legendary actor Albert Finney, who portrays Henry: “Max has these memories

of his uncle when he had his summer holidays here as a child. He remembers them

favorably, which suggests he had a good time with Henry. Young Max enjoyed his

company. The philosophy Henry imparts on the boy has mostly to do with wine in particular,

but around that is a philosophy of enjoying life. I think he's a good influence on the boy.”

Max isn’t the only character that undergoes transformation. Says Crowe: “For every

character, something happens within the story that elevates, changes or revitalizes his or her

life. I've had the same thing happen in my own life, when I married and we had a baby. So it

is possible to get yourself out of a rut and change things. That's what the title refers to –

Max’s life. He comes to Provence, reconnects with the memory of his uncle and the things

that his uncle taught him, which opens his heart. And his life changes.”

“I think audiences will come out with memories of their childhood after seeing this

film,” says 14-year-old Freddie Highmore, who portrays the young Max. “The film will

make you look back on the things that have happened in your own life. Young Max didn't

know at the time how important the lessons were that Uncle Henry was giving him. But, as

he got older and comes back to visit this place, he realizes how important they have been in

making him grow up.”

THE CAST AND CHARACTERS

“As a story teller, a novelist, I don't think you can ever completely divorce yourself

from your main characters,” says Peter Mayle. “Bits of you creep in there, whether you like

it or not, whether it's intentional or not. Your characters are often reflections of what you

yourself feel, and Max is representative of a very strong feeling that I had when I was his

age, which is I wanted to basically get out of London and try something else. Of course, Max

does it in a rather more dramatic fashion than I did.”

“You live with these characters by yourself all the time in your own head,” Marc

Klein offers about the craft of screenwriting. “Then, you work with someone like Russell

Crowe, who's a genius. He came to me in between takes and gave me ideas about the

character. He inhabited his character in a way that's even deeper than I could have ever

hoped.”

While looking for a vehicle on which to re-team with Ridley Scott, Crowe remembers

chatting with the director during the production of ‘Gladiator’ about getting together again

for another film. “I enjoy working with Ridley because we have a really good rhythm

together. We talked about what the next project could be, knowing we wanted to do

something entirely different from ‘Gladiator.’ So, we decided to work together on a comedy.”

“I always thought that Russell would be perfect for the character of Max,” Scott adds.

“Russell is like Max. Russell carries a lot of the innocence in him and manages to keep that

innocence fresh, untrammeled somehow.”

Crowe found much to dig into when he took on the role. “Max has had a fortunate

childhood in that he had this wonderful bon vivant uncle who put all the information in him

that he needed in order to become a good bloke. But, he's taken his uncle's advice on

competition and edge and made it his life's mantra, to the point where competition isn't really

any fun for him anymore.

“One of the key things that Ridley said to me when we first talked was, ‘There's a

Provençal saying that you don't own the chateau; the chateau owns you,’” Crowe continues.

“That's one of the things we worked on. Max must travel to Provence in order to receive his

inheritance. From the time that he gets there, events conspire to keep him here. It's very

definitely a fish-out-of-water/coming-of-age adult comedy with humanity, which gives it

realism.”

While the film represented the second Crowe-Scott collaboration, it was the fourth

reteaming for the director and five-time Oscar-nominee Albert Finney. The stage-and-screen

legend essays the role of Uncle Henry, a character that existed in name only in Mayle’s

novel, but comes to life throughout the film.

Finney relates that he did not indulge in creating much backstory for the character,

but acknowledges that a long-ago, fateful trip Henry made to the U.S. West Coast – a visit

that is discussed but not depicted in the film – is an important part of the character’s history. Another AuMax’s inheritance of the property and his future at the chateau.

The actress, who did a videotaped audition for Scott only weeks before filming was to

begin, is well-known Down Under but less so outside of her native country. She has been

winning critical acclaim for several years for her work in such films as “The Monkey’s

Mask” and the sexual drama, “Somersault,” the only Australian film screened at the 2004

Cannes Film Festival, where the actress won a standing ovation.

“Christie is a twenty-one year old American girl from the Napa Valley in California,”

says Cornish, who hails from the Aussie wine region of the Hunter Valley near Sydney. “She

learns that she has a birth father and that he's alive and lives in France. So, she makes the

journey to his front door (which is when we meet Christie in the film). Unfortunately, she

finds out the bad news about Henry, but meets a cousin, Max, whom she never knew she had.

When Christie arrives on the doorstep, it throws something into the mix which changes Max.

He doesn't really believe this girl and of course, he's wary of her. Eventually, the two

characters find something in each other that they can both relate to.”

Also joining the starring cast is Marion Cotillard (“A Very Long Engagement”) as

Fanny Chenal, a Provençal beauty who owns the local café – and who catches Max’s eye. “I

liked the script’s spontaneity,” the Parisian beauty states. “I also appreciated Max’s journey

– how he comes to understand what he really needs is right there at the chateau and in

Provence.

“Fanny is the owner of a restaurant,” she continues. “She's a broken heart who

decided that life would be much easier, less painful, without love. She organized her life not

to be hurt again. Her café is called La Renaissance, which means ‘rebirth’. But, sometimes,

hopefully, life brings you what you need, even if you don’t know what that is. Even if Fanny

doesn't want to confess that she needs love, she definitely needs love. And she deserves it,

too.”

From his homeland, the director cast British character actor Tom Hollander (“Gosford

Park,” “Enigma,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”) in the role of Charlie

Willis, Max’s best friend, who guides Max on the possible sale of the property; Archie

Panjabi (“Bend It Like Beckham,” “East Is East,” “The Constant Gardener”) as Max’s

reliable London assistant, Gemma; and Freddie Highmore (“Finding Neverland,” “Charlie

and the Chocolate Factory”) as the young Max, seen in flashbacks with Uncle Henry at the

chateau.

“I'm the young Max, who’s based on the older Max, because they're the same

character,” Highmore offers. “I watched Russell work a bit and we talked about the character

and how each of us thought he was going to be. It just came from that. It was just great fun

from the moment I stepped onto the set to be with Ridley and Albert and Russell.”

Scott also populated his movie with other popular French performers. Didier

Bourdon portrays Francis Duflot, the longtime vintner who has tended to La Siroque’s vines

for three decades and who may know the true secrets of the vineyard’s potential. “Francis

Duflot is a winemaker. Vinyo, as we say in France,” Bourdon describes. “He has a long

history with Max. They knew each other when they were younger. Their relationship is

between friendship and mistrust. When Max returns to Henry’s home, after being away for

years, Duflot is wondering, worried that Max will sell the château.”

Duflot’s wary relationship with Max comes to a head during a tennis match between

the two, which becomes more like a war than a friendly game. “The tennis match scene came

about because Ridley is a great lover of the sport,” Crowe says. “He was bemoaning to me

over a glass of red wine that we didn't have any battle sequences in the movie. That got me

thinking. And we had the whole sequence set up by the tennis court, and a sequence playing

tennis in flashback. And so I made the suggestion that perhaps we find a way of getting these

two men to do battle on the clay court.”

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Mon homme,” “Les gens normaux n’ont rien

d’exceptionnel”) plays Nathalie Auzet, the local notaire handling the legal papers on Max’s

behalf; veteran European character actor Jacques Herlin (Visconti’s “The Stranger,” Fellini’s

“Juliet of the Spirits”) plays the irascible Papa Duflot; and French comic actress Isabelle

Candelier (“André le magnifique,” “Versailles rive Gauche”) plays the vigneron’s wife and

chateau’s caretaker, Mme. Duflot. (Scott calls Candelier “the French Lucille Ball.”)

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

In describing the allure of Provence, author Peter Mayle notes the area has three

hundred days of sunshine a year, stunning scenery, remarkably unspoiled countryside, and

extraordinary light. “You don't find that light in many other places in the world. I like the

pace of life down here. It imposes a certain rhythm on you, which, when you get used to it, is

very pleasant. I feel at home here.”

“I loved waking up in Provence,” adds Russell Crowe, who lived there for two

months during production. “There's something extra special about this particular valley, the

Luberon. I think it's got to do with its fertility. The light there is very similar to Australia --

the blues, the pinks and the oranges in the sky. I felt very comfortable there.”

“I loved shooting in Provence…it’s just so beautiful!” adds Ridley Scott, who has

owned a vacation home and operated a vineyard there for fifteen years, but hadn’t filmed in

France since his debut feature, “The Duelists,” almost thirty years ago. “This shoot was one

of my most pleasant experiences.”

Provence itself dates back to 600 B.C., when Phocaean Greeks settled in Massalia,

now modern-day Marseilles on the Mediterranean coast, and the region’s most populous city.

Its history could also be depicted through the history of the wines introduced by these

Phocaeans over 2600 years ago. These ancient vines – the oldest in France – were later

developed by the Romans and, thereafter, in the Middle Ages, by monastic communities.

Comprised of 700 villages, Provence has several regional wine growing appellations

(covering an estimated 27,000 hectares, or 68,000 acres), all designated as A.O.C.

(appellation d’origine controlee), the governmental system established in the 1930s that

regulates production and distinguishes quality French wines from table wines. The region

boasts extraordinarily favorable growing conditions, or terroir, defined as a combination of

conditions in a vineyard site that comprise the vine's total environment and give its wines

what longtime wine writer Matt Kramer calls “somewhereness.”

The Mediterranean climate (year-round sunshine, perfect ventilation from a wind

dubbed "mistral" and good rainfall), combined with the terrain’s siliceous soil, favors red

grapes like Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvèdre, much of which is used to

produce rosé, the region’s specialty of the estimated 140,000,000 bottles produced annually.

White grape varietals common to the terrain include Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Ugni Blanc

and Rolle.

Scott based the production in the sub-appellation called Cotes du Luberon (where his

own vineyard of eleven hectares is situated), an area whose vines extend over 7500 acres

from Cavaillon to Apt in north-central Provence, where 70% are red grape varietals. Most of

the vintners (some 80%, including Scott) grow grapes and sell them to cooperatives to

produce the local table wine (vin de pays) named for the appellation. However, Scott focused

his scouting efforts on several independent vineyards that bottle their own product.

“I looked at almost a dozen chateaux in the area between Roussillon and Bonnieux

before coming back to the first one we saw, La Canorgue,” the director states about the

location where his company of 125 craftsmen spent most of their nine-week shoot in the

Provençal region, which coincided with the vineyard’s prime harvesting season for the next

year’s vintage.

Scott chose La Canorgue due to its spectacular western view looking out over the

Luberon, and the magical dusk light that bathes the main house in the late afternoon. The film

company, under the watchful eye of veteran location supervisor Marco Giacalone (who

worked with director Scott on “Kingdom of Heaven”) and French location manager Thierry

Zemmour, took over the vineyard and chateau for much of the nine-week shooting schedule

in the South of France.

According to Nathalie Margan, who runs La Canorgue with her father, Jean-Pierre,

the Margans were hesitant when approached by the production, because the shoot coincided

with harvest time. “But, we knew the shoot would be an adventure,” Nathalie says, “so we

took on the challenges that came with it.”

Margan describes the experience of huge trucks, vast amounts of equipment and 125

cast and crew swarming all over her property as “initially strange, but ultimately thrilling. It

was great to participate. We were asked a few times to suggest how a real winemaker would

have done things or what the technical terms were for this or that. They made their movie

without disturbing us, and we made a good wine without disturbing them.”

“La Canorgue was interesting,” says production designer Sonja Klaus, noting the

production worked hard to restore the chateau for the shoot. “We re-landscaped the ground,

putting in statutory and ornamentation. Inside, the whole point was to have this slightly

dilapidated, lived-in, comfortable feeling – a feeling of shabby chic…cluttery, lived-in, and

homey. We wanted the place to feel as if one was staying with your favorite uncle or your

favorite aunt.”

Outside the house, among acres of vines, Klaus had a more daunting task, one she

never expected. “Ridley's words to me, when he first asked me to do it, were, ‘We're just

going to hang out in the South of France and throw a few props around,’” she says with a

laugh. “And I thought that sounded nice – until he added, ‘Oh, and by the way, there's a

tennis court. I think we might have to change the swimming pool, or build another

swimming pool for all the stunts.’

“There was this field at the back of the house, which was actually in a perfect spot for

a tennis court,” says Klaus. “The snag was that it wasn't big enough to put a tennis court on

it. So we actually cheated it, made the tennis court slightly smaller. But, when you watch it

on film you won't know that.”

Another key chateau shooting location was its empty pool, where Crowe got the

opportunity to flex both his comedic and physical muscles. “We have a running gag where

Max falls into the pool and then realizes he has fourteen-foot sheer walls, and he simply can't

get out,” says the actor. “The pool doesn't have any water in it, so he has no way of getting

out.”

Apart from the many weeks of filming at La Canorgue, Scott and his

cinematographer, Frenchman Philippe Le Sourd captured the area’s regal beauty in a series

of celluloid French postcard-like images of other quaint villages scattered throughout the

hills and valleys of the Luberon. Those included Gordes (four days at Cafe Renaissance,

dubbed Fanny’s Café in the film), Cucuron, Lacoste, Avignon and Menerbes (where author

Mayle used to reside, and whose former house is still a popular stop on guided tours that

frequent the village). The company also spent three days at another local vineyard, Chateau

Les Eydins, which doubled for the home of the story’s gruff vigneron, Duflot.

Following the two-month Provençal schedule, Scott relocated the crew to London for

the production’s final eight days of filming, at such recognized spots as Piccadilly Circus, the

architecturally-stunning Lloyds of London building in the city’s financial district, and the

trendy Knightsbridge area.

Like Mayle’s book, the film opens in the London financial world, and Scott liked “the

antithesis and juxtaposition of London and Provence. One place is as attractive as the other.

London’s a great place to live. Provence is a fantastic place to live. Is it better? No, it’s

different. For me, I live in Provence… because I live in London. So, I need one to have the

other.”

Adds Peter Mayle: “Knowing Ridley’s eye for landscape, color and composition, I’m

sure he’s made the Luberon look every bit as gorgeous as it is. I can’t wait to see the movie.”

ABOUT THE CAST

RUSSELL CROWE (Max Skinner) received three consecutive Best Actor Academy

Award® nominations for his performances in Michael Mann’s “The Insider” (1999), Ridley

Scott’s “Gladiator” (2000) and Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” (2001). He won the Best

Actor Oscar for his performance as Maximus, the Roman general-turned-gladiator, in

“Gladiator,” a role that also brought him Best Actor honors from several critics’

organizations, including the Broadcast Film Critics Association. In addition, he received

nominations for the Golden Globe®, the BAFTA Award and the Screen Actors Guild honor.

In Howard’s 2001 Best Picture Oscar winner, Crowe’s masterful portrayal of Nobel

Prize-winning John Forbes Nash, Jr. earned him his third Academy Award nomination in as

many years and garnered him Best Actor awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press,

Broadcast Film Critics Association, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA, among other critics

groups.

Crowe received his first Academy Award nomination for his work in Mann’s non-

fiction drama “The Insider,” as tobacco company whistle-blower, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand. He

earned Best Actor Awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics,

National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review, and nominations for a

Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and a Screen Actors Guild Award™.

He followed this triple triumph with another commanding performance -- as Capt.

Jack Aubrey in Peter Weir’s epic adaptation of Patrick O’Brian’s novels, “Master and

Commander: The Far Side of the World.” The film collected ten Academy Award

nominations (including Best Picture), with Crowe earning nominations for the Golden Globe

and Broadcast Film Critics honors.

He reunited with director Ron Howard as Depression Era prizefighter James J.

Braddock in the highly-praised drama, “Cinderella Man,” an official entry in the Venice Film

Festival. For his critically-acclaimed performance, Crowe received nominations for best

actor from SAG and the Hollywood Foreign Press. He next reteams with director Scott on

the gritty Harlem-set drama, “American Gangster,” also starring Denzel Washington.

Crowe also earned kudos for his performance as sensitive but brutal vice cop Bud

White in Curtis Hanson’s period crime drama, “L.A. Confidential,” a film which was cited

with nine Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. He later starred in

Jay Roach’s sports drama, “Mystery, Alaska,” and in Taylor Hackford’s action drama, “Proof

of Life.”

He made his American film debut in Sam Raimi’s 1995 western “The Quick and the

Dead,” opposite Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio. He next starred as

the cyber-villain Sid 6.7 in “Virtuosity” alongside Denzel Washington. Additional film

credits include “Heaven’s Burning,” “Breaking Up,” “Rough Magic,” “The Sum of Us,” “For

the Moment,” “Love in Limbo,” “The Silver Brumby” (based on the classic Australian

children’s novel), “The Efficiency Expert” and “Prisoners of the Sun.”

Born in New Zealand, Crowe was raised in Australia (his current residence) where he

has also been honored for his work on the screen. He was recognized for three consecutive

years by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), beginning in 1991, when he was nominated for

Best Actor for “The Crossing.” The following year, he won the Best Supporting Actor

Award for “Proof” and, in 1992, he received Best Actor Awards from the AFI and the

Australian Film Critics for his performance in the controversial “Romper Stomper.” In 1993,

the Seattle Film Festival named Crowe Best Actor for his work in both “Romper Stomper”

and “Hammers Over the Anvil.”

Five-time Academy Award nominee ALBERT FINNEY (Uncle Henry) is the

dynamic British stage and film actor whose career, now spanning a half century, is one of the

most accomplished in the annals of contemporary acting.

Though widely known and praised for inspired performances in such films as “Tom

Jones,” “Night Must Fall,” “Two for the Road,” “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Shoot the

Moon,” “The Dresser,” “Under the Volcano” and “Erin Brockovich,” Finney first achieved

acclaim for his work on the classical theatre stage.

After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (accepted when he was just

17), the Salford, Lancashire, England, native joined the Birmingham Repertory Company and

made his London debut in the company's production of Shaw's “Caesar and Cleopatra” in

1956. During his two years with the BRC, he debuted in the West End opposite Charles

Laughton and Elsa Lanchester in “The Party,” then starred in the title roles of “Macbeth” and

“Othello” before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959 for the centenary

anniversary season at Stratford-on-Avon.

There, he essayed such roles as Cassio in “Othello” (directed by Tony Richardson,

with Paul Robeson playing the title character), Lysander in “A Midsummer Night's Dream”

(again working with the legendary Laughton) and understudying another English stage

legend, Laurence Olivier, in “Coriolanus,” receiving critical acclaim when he briefly took

over the lead.

While he continued to triumph on the English stage (in such plays as “The Lily White

Boys” and, especially, “Billy Liar” with the Royal Court Theatre), movies beckoned, with

1960 becoming a watershed year for the acting talent. Finney played the small part of

Olivier's son, Mick Rice, in “The Entertainer” (reuniting with director Tony Richardson),

then won critical acclaim and enormous success as the brawling, nonconformist factory

worker, Arthur Seaton, in Karel Reisz’s milestone in British realist cinema, “Saturday Night

and Sunday Morning.” Only his second motion picture role, Finney’s performance earned

him two BAFTA nods (one as Best Actor, the other, winning as Most Promising Newcomer),

as well as the Best Actor prize from the National Board of Review.

That role led Richardson to cast the then 26-year-old as Henry Fielding’s rakish,

picaresque, bawdy “Tom Jones.” The 1963 film, which won four Oscars, including Best

Picture, and earned Finney his first of five Academy Award nominations, cemented his

international stardom. Additionally, he collected his third (of thirteen) BAFTA nomination,

the New York Film Critics honor and two Golden Globe® nods -- Best Actor/Comedy or

Musical, and Best Male Newcomer (which he won).

After the huge success of “Tom Jones,” Finney returned to films (after a sojourn back

on the stage) with Reisz’s 1964 drama, “Night Must Fall” (which the actor also produced),

followed by Stanley Donen’s classic 1967 romantic drama, “Two for the Road,” in which he

starred opposite the luminous Audrey Hepburn. That same year, Finney stepped behind the

camera for his directorial debut on “Charlie Bubbles,” which also marked the debut of actress

Liza Minnelli.

Over the ensuing years, Finney has commanded the motion picture screen in such

projects as Sidney Lumet’s “Murder on the Orient Express” (Oscar and BAFTA

nominations), Ridley Scott’s “The Duellists” (the first of four collaborations with Scott),

Ronald Neame’s “Scrooge” (BAFTA nomination), Alan Parker’s “Shoot the Moon” (BAFTA

and Golden Globe nominations), Stephen Frears’ “Gumshoe” (BAFTA nod) Peter Yates’

“The Dresser” (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations, as well as the Silver Bear at

the Berlin Film Festival), John Huston’s musical “Annie” and his drama “Under the

Volcano” (Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Award),

Alan J. Pakula’s “Orphans” (a role he originated on the London stage), the Coen Bros.’

“Miller’s Crossing,” Mike Figgis’ “The Browning Version” (produced by Ridley Scott),

Yates’ “The Run in the Country,” Bruce Bereford’s “Rich in Love,” Steven Soderbergh’s

“Traffic” and “Erin Brockovich” (Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations) and Tim

Burton’s “Big Fish” (BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations). He recently reteamed with

Burton, providing the voice for one of the animated characters in his highly-anticipted

feature, “Corpse Bride,” and just completed work on Michael Apted’s 18th historical drama,

“Amazing Grace.”

No less accomplished on the small screen, Finney delivered award-winning

performances in such telefilms and miniseries as HBO’s “The Gathering Storm” (winning

BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for his portrayal of Sir Winston Churchill in the

feature produced by Ridley Scott), “A Rather English Marriage” (BAFTA nomination),

“Karaoke” and “Cold Lazarus” (combined BAFTA nomination for both 1996 Dennis Potter

telefilms), “The Green Man” (BAFTA nomination), “The Biko Inquest” (his second

directorial effort, for which he collected a CableACE nomination for his performance),

HBO’s “The Image” (his first Emmy nomination), and CBS-TV’s “Pope John Paul II,”

playing the title role.

In addition to producing the 1964 feature “Night Must Fall,” Finney also produced

(under his Memorial Enterprises Productions banner) “Charlie Bubbles,” Lindsay Anderson’s

“If...” and “O Lucky Man!” and Frears’ “Gumshoe.”

Even with his success on the big screen, Finney never abandoned his stage roots,

continuing his association with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London,

where he performed in the mid-1960s in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and

Chekov’s “The Cherry Orchard.” He won Tony Award nominations for “Luther” (1964) and

“A Day in the Death of Joe Egg” (1968), and also starred onstage in “Armstrong’s Last

Goodnight,” “Love for Love,” Strindberg’s “Miss Julie,” “Black Comedy,” “The Country

Wife,” “Alpha Beta,” Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape,” “Cromwell,” “Tamburlaine the Great,”

“Another Time” and, his last stage appearance in 1997, “Art,” which preceded the 1998 Tony

Award-winning Broadway run. He won Olivier Awards for “A Flea in Her Ear” and

“Orphans” and the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Osborne’s “Luther.”

MARION COTILLARD (Fanny) made her American movie debut as Josephine in

Tim Burton’s “Big Fish.”

Cotillard is well-known in her native France for her performances in Luc Besson’s

“Taxi” (reprising her role in the equally successful sequels, “Taxi 2” and “Taxi 3”), for which

she collected her first Cesar nomination. She is equally recognized for her work in director

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s romantic drama “Un long dimanche de fiancailles” (“A Very Long

Engagement”), for which she won the Cesar in 2004 for Best Supporting Actress. She earned

her second Cesar nomination in 2001 for “Les Jolies choses” (“Pretty Things”), under the

direction of Gilles Pacquet-Brenner.

The daughter of working theatre actors (her mother runs acting workshops in Paris),

Cotillard started her career at age sixteen, making her film debut in “L’Histoire du garcon qui

voulait qu’on l’embrasse” (“The Story of a Boy Who Wanted to Be Kissed”). She played the

title role in the 2001 production, “Lisa,” and more recently starred in “Une Affaire Privee”

(“A Private Affair”), “Jeux d’enfants” (“Love Me If You Dare:), “Ma vie en l’air” (“Love Is

in the Air”), “Cavalcade” and “Sauf le respect que je vois dois.”

The busy actress also stars in the current and forthcoming releases “Edy,” “La Boîte

noire,” “Toi en moi,” “Fair Play” and Abel Ferrara’s “Mary,” which unspooled at the 2005

Venice Film Festival, walking off with the Special Jury Prize. She will next play Edith Piaf

in “La Vie en rose,” and also has coming out in 2006 the features “Le Concile de Pierre” and

“Dikkenek.”

Heralded as Australia’s next major acting talent, ABBIE CORNISH (Christie

Roberts) garnered critical-acclaim and the Australian Film Institute Award as Best Actress

for her star turn as a sexually-charged teenager in Cate Shortland’s 2004 coming-of-age

drama, “Somersault.”

For her breakthrough role as Heidi, the sexually tortured teen, Cornish also won the

Inside Film (IF) Award as Best Actress, the Australian Film Critics Circle prize and a Special

Jury Breakthrough Award at the 2004 Miami International Film Festival. “Somersault,” the

only Australian film screened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival (where Cornish won a

standing ovation) elicited raves from The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, who called

her “an actress whose delicate and ferocious performance combines classic movie-star

loveliness with serious dramatic ability.”

Cornish hails from Australia’s Hunter Valley, born in Newcastle, New South Wales,

in 1982. Growing up on her family’s farm, she began acting at fifteen after a modelling stint

led to her professional debut on the Australian Broadcasting Company’s series “Children’s

Hospital.” Soon thereafter, she landed a co-starring role on the ABC series “Wildside,” for

which she won her first AFI honor in 1999.

She earned a second AFI nomination in 2003 for her guest-starring role on the ABC

miniseries, “Marking Time.” Other roles include “The Monkey’s Mask” (2000), “Everything

Goes” (2004), “Horseplay” (2003), “One Perfect Day” (2004), and the upcoming feature,

“Candy,” in which she stars opposite fellow Aussies Heath Ledger and Oscar winner

Geoffrey Rush. She has a co-starring role in Shekhar Kapur’s “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.”

TOM HOLLANDER (Charlie Willis) has worked with such acclaimed international

filmmakers as Robert Altman (“Gosford Park”), Michael Apted (“Enigma”), Neil LaBute

(“Possession”), Terry George (“Some Mother’s Son,” his film debut), Richard Eyre (“Stage

Beauty”) and Gore Verbinski (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men’s Chest” and “Pirates of

the Caribbean: World’s End”). For his work as part of Altman’s ensemble cast in “Gosford

Park,” Hollander shared several critics awards, including those from the Broadcast Film

Critics Association, the Online Film Critics Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

He recently completed a role opposite Ralph Fiennes and Donald Sutherland in “Land

of the Blind” and was just nominated as Best Supporting Actor for a 2005 British

Independent Film Award for his performance opposite Johnny Depp, Samantha Morton and

John Malkovich in Laurence Dunmore’s “The Libertine.” He also recently reteamed with

actor Joseph Fiennes in Finn Taylor’s forthcoming release “The Darwin Awards.”

The Oxfordshire-born, Cambridge-educated actor collaborated with directors Joe

Wright (the current release of “Pride & Prejudice,” for which he won critical acclaim and a

‘breakout performance’ citation in The New York Times), Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter

(“The Lawless Heart”), Rose Troche (“Bedrooms and Hallways”) and Nick Hamm (“Martha,

Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence,” released in the U.S. as “The Very Thought of You”).

Hollander’s television work is equally accomplished, with roles in the recent

BBC/PBS Emmy-winning miniseries “The Lost Prince” (acclaimed as King George V

opposite Miranda Richardson’s Queen Mary), the adaptation of “The Life and Adventures of

Nicholas Nickelby” opposite Charles Dance, the prominent, BAFTA-nominated BBC drama

“Wives and Daughters” and a memorable guest stint as Saffie’s boyfriend Paolo on the long-

running BBC comedy “Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout.” For his work as Guy Burgess

in the BAFTA-nominated BBC feature “Cambridge Spies,” Hollander won the Best Actor

honor at the International Television Festival in Biarritz 2003.

While at Cambridge, he was a member of the university’s celebrated Cambridge

Footlights revue and was President of the Marlowe Society, where he became well-known for

his performance of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” directed by fellow classmate Sam Mendes. The

London stage veteran also starred in the groundbreaking Donmar Warehouse staging of “The

Threepenny Opera,” directed by Phillida Lloyd.

Onstage, he collaborated with Jonathan Kent in the title role of Moliere’s “Tartuffe”

(Best Actor, Time Out Awards, 1996), and the role of Edgar in Shakespeare’s “King Lear,”

and in Gogol’s stage classic, “The Government Inspector,” all at the Almeida. He also

starred for Oscar-nominee Stephen Daldry in “The Editing Process” and starred in the title

role of the original staging of Jez Butterworth’s Olivier Award-winning drama “Mojo” at

London’s Royal Court Theater. He first worked with theatre director Richard Eyre in his

1998 staging of David Hare’s “The Judas Kiss,” originating his role opposite Liam Neeson in

London’s West End before reprising his performance across the Atlantic on the Broadway

stage the same year. For his work on the English stage, Hollander has won four Ian

Charleson Awards, including one for his performance in "Way of the World" at the Lyric,

Hammersmith, in 1992. Most recently, he returned to the Donmar Warehouse to great

acclaim for his performance as Laurie in “The Hotel in Amsterdam.”

FREDDIE HIGHMORE (Young Max) recently co-starred in two high-profile

motion pictures: as Charlie Bucket in Tim Burton’s box-office hit, “Charlie and the

Chocolate Factory,” and opposite Oscar nominee Johnny Depp, in Marc Forster’s critically-

acclaimed Best Picture Academy Award nominated film, “Finding Neverland.”

For the latter, the young actor won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award as

Best Young Actor, and collected several other award nominations for his work, including two

nods from the Screen Actors Guild (for Supporting Actor and Best Ensemble).

Highmore, a native of England, began his acting career at age six, playing Helena

Bonham Carter's son in “Women Talking Dirty.” He also appeared opposite Guy Pearce in

Jean-Jacques Annaud’s adventure film, “Two Brothers,” and alongside Kenneth Branagh in

“Five Children and It.”

Highmore has also appeared in a number of television productions in the U.K.,

including the BBC film “Happy Birthday Shakespeare” and ITV's miniseries “I Saw You,” as

well as “The Mists of Avalon” in the U.S. He is currently back on the big screen, filming

“Arthur and the Minimoys” for filmmaker Luc Besson in France. He will next star opposite

Robin Williams and Liv Tyler in “August Rush,” which will be produced by Jim Sheridan

and directed by his daughter Kirsten (screenwriter for her father’s 2003 Oscar-nominated

drama “In America”).

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

RIDLEY SCOTT (Director, Producer) earned consecutive Academy Award

nominations as Best Director for his stunning recreation of the deadly 1993 battle in

Mogadishu, Somalia, in “Black Hawk Down” (one of 2001’s biggest box-office hits) and for

the epic adventure “Gladiator,” his vivid and dramatic evocation of ancient Rome that won

five Oscars (out of twelve nominations), including Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell

Crowe (as well as directing nominations for Scott from the DGA and BAFTA).

“Gladiator” also won both the Golden Globe and British Academy Awards as Best

Picture, and has earned over $800 million at the global box office. Both motion picture

triumphs further solidified his reputation as one of contemporary cinema’s most innovative,

influential and versatile visual stylists.

Scott was born in South Shields, Northumberland, England. Reared in London,

Cumbria, Wales and Germany, he returned to Northeast England to live in Stockton-on-Tees.

He studied at the West Hartlepool College of Art where he excelled in graphic design and

painting, two strengths that would later serve as his signatures on the movie screen. He also

studied at London’s Royal Academy of Art, where his contemporaries included the famous

artist David Hockney. During his studies there, Scott completed his first short film.

Graduating with honors, Scott was awarded a traveling scholarship to the United

States. During his year there, he was employed by Time Life, Inc., where he gained valuable

experience working with award-winning documentarians Richard Leacock and D.A.

Pennebaker. Upon his return to the U.K., he joined the BBC as a production designer and,

within a year, graduated to directing many of the network’s popular TV programs.

After three years, he left to form his own company, RSA, which soon became one of

the most successful commercial production houses in Europe (later adding offices in New

York and Los Angeles). Over the years, Scott has directed over three thousand commercials,

including the captivating spot for Chanel No. 5 entitled “Share the Fantasy” and the

memorable one for Apple Computers that aired but once, during the 1984 Super Bowl. His

work in the commercial arena has collected awards at the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals,

as well as being honored by the New York Art Directors’ Club. RSA still maintains a high

profile in the global marketplace and represents some of the most acclaimed directors in the

film and advertising arenas.

Scott made the leap from commercial production (“pocket versions of feature films”

he calls them) to movies with 1977’s “The Duellists,” the lustrous Napoleonic War saga that

brought him the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His second film switched genres,

taking the filmmaker from the past into the frightening future with the groundbreaking sci-fi-

thriller, “Alien,” which walked off with an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

He stayed in the future (and set the stage for future filmmakers) with his next feature,

“Blade Runner,” the landmark masterpiece starring Harrison Ford that is considered one of

the milestones of contemporary moviemaking. The film was nominated for two Academy

Awards -- art direction and visual effects. It was also added to the National Film Archives

(maintained by the U.S. Library of Congress), the “youngest” film to be so honored.

Scott followed this triumph later in the decade with three more films -- the big screen

fairy tale, “Legend,” starring Tom Cruise; the urban thriller, “Someone to Watch Over Me”

with Tom Berenger; and the cross-cultural gangster epic, “Black Rain,” starring Michael

Douglas and Andy Garcia.

In 1987, Scott formed Percy Main Productions to develop and produce feature films.

The first production, which he helmed, was “Thelma and Louise.” Starring Oscar-nominees

Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, the film collected five Academy Award nominations,

including Scott’s first as director (the film won the Best Original Screenplay prize and was

also nominated for two British Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director). He

followed with “1492: Conquest of Paradise,” his historical epic starring Gerard Depardieu as

Christopher Columbus, and “The Browning Version,” produced by Scott and starring Albert

Finney and Greta Scacchi.

In 1995, along with younger brother Tony (also a successful filmmaker), he formed

Scott Free productions, which produced “White Squall,” with Jeff Bridges, “G.I. Jane”

starring Demi Moore, and the blockbuster sequel, “Hannibal,” with Anthony Hopkins and

Julianne Moore (all three directed by Ridley Scott). Scott Free also produced “Clay Pigeons”

and “Where the Money Is,” a caper comedy starring Paul Newman.

Scott directed his own caper comedy, “Matchstick Men,” starring Nicolas Cage and

Sam Rockwell, and the epic story of the Crusades, “Kingdom of Heaven,” which toplined

Orlando Bloom and Jeremy Irons. He will once again step behind the cameras on the gritty

Harlem-set drama, “American Gangster,” reteaming with actor Crowe and collaborating with

Oscar-winner Denzel Washington for the first time.

Scott also recently executive produced Kevin Reynolds’ costume epic, “Tristan &

Isolde”; Curtis Hanson’s family drama “In Her Shoes”; and “The Assassination of Jesse

James by the Coward Robert Ford,” starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.

The company also produced Showtime’s CableACE-winning anthology series “The

Hunger” (adapted from Tony Scott’s 1983 film) and the Emmy and Golden Globe award-

winning HBO telefilm, “RKO 281,” starring Liev Schreiber as Orson Welles in the

docudrama recreating the making of “Citizen Kane.” Scott Free also executive produced

“The Gathering Storm” for HBO, the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning telefilm (Best Made

for Television Movie) depicting the life of Winston Churchill that starred Emmy-winning

Best Actor Albert Finney and Emmy nominee Vanessa Redgrave. The company also

recently signed a two-year deal with CBS to develop up to three projects for the network, the

first of which is the acclaimed drama “Numb3rs.”

The film director was involved in the combining of the two preeminent European film

studios, Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios into a studio complex which houses forty-

two stages, backlots and locations as well as award-winning post-production and production

support services. Scott originally filmed “Alien” at this facility. Ridley together with his

brother Tony Scott were part of the consortium which purchased Shepperton Studios in 1995

which subsequently merged with Pinewood in 2001.

In recognition for his contributions to the arts, Scott was awarded knighthood in 2003

from the Order of the British Empire.

MARC KLEIN (Screenwriter) has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most

sought-after writer/directors following his work with three compelling, well-regarded, and

buzzworthy projects. Combining his ability to work with various genres and his innate sense

of both male and female characters, Klein has proven himself an undeniable filmmaking asset

on the rise.

Klein is currently editing his feature directorial debut, “The Girls’ Guide to Hunting

and Fishing,” which he also adapted for the screen. Melissa Banks’ international bestseller is

an endearing tale of a Manhattan book editor (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who changes her take

on the game of romance after she lures the attention of an influential older man (Alec

Baldwin). The film is scheduled for release in 2007.

Klein is also writing the screenplay for “Golden Gate,” based on his original pitch.

Produced by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner, the Paramount Pictures romance is scheduled to

begin production next year with Cruise attached to star.

Klein made his first impression on audiences worldwide with the acclaimed Miramax

release “Serendipity.” Directed by Peter Chelsom (“Shall We Dance”), the film stars John

Cusack and Kate Beckinsale in an enchanting tale of a long-distance love that stands the test

of time and happenstance. “Serendipity” garnered positive notices for Klein’s richly drawn

romantic characterizations and a narrative economy which branded the film’s time-lapsing

effect.

Prior to his debut as a screenwriter, Klein earned his first stripes in the romantic

comedy genre working for director Jon Turteltaub, whose film “While You Were Sleeping”

charmed audiences worldwide and launched Sandra Bullock to international acclaim. Klein

graduated from New York University Film School, where he honed his skills for

screenwriting while studying film icons such as Woody Allen, Peter Sellers, and John Sayles.

His first sold script, “Love, Jenny,” was purchased by Overbrook Entertainment (“Hitch”) as

a staring vehicle for Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Klein also co-wrote the

script “Instant Message,” currently in development at Village Roadshow/Warner Bros. for

director Jay Roach (“Meet the Parents”).

FOX 2000 PICTURES Presents

In Association with

INGENIOUS FILM PARTNERS

Directed by............................RIDLEY SCOTT

Screenplay by............................MARC KLEIN

Based on the book by.............PETER MAYLE

Produced by..........................RIDLEY SCOTT

Executive Producer.............BRANKO LUSTIG

Executive Producers.................JULIE PAYNE

..................................................LISA ELLZEY

RUSSELL CROWE

ALBERT FINNEY

MARION COTILLARD

ABBIE CORNISH

DIDIER BOURDON

TOM HOLLANDER

And FREDDIE HIGHMORE

ISABELLE CANDELIER

KENNETH CRANHAM

ARCHIE PANJABI

RAFE SPALL

Director of Photography...................................

.....................................PHILIPPE LE SOURD

Production Designer...............SONJA KLAUS

Film Editor.....................DODY DORN, A.C.E.

Co-Producer.............................ERIN UPSON

Costume Designer...........................................

..............................CATHERINE LETERRIER

Music by....................MARC STREITENFELD

Casting by...................JINA JAY – UK Casting

......ANTOINETTE BOULAT – France Casting

A SCOTT FREE Production

A RIDLEY SCOTT Film

CAST (In Order of Appearance)

Young Max..................FREDDIE HIGHMORE

Uncle Henry.........................ALBERT FINNEY

Max Skinner......................RUSSELL CROWE

Kenny........................................RAFE SPALL

Gemma..............................ARCHIE PANJABI

Amis..................................RICHARD COYLE

Trader #1................................BEN RIGHTON

Trader #2.......................PATRICK KENNEDY

20-Something Beauty.................ALI RHODES

Bert the Doorman....................DANIEL MAYS

Newscaster #1.............................NILA AALIA

Newscaster #2...............STEPHEN HUDSON

Maitre D'.............................GIANNINA FACIO

Charlie Willis.....................TOM HOLLANDER

Rental Car Employee ..........LIONEL BRIAND

Gemma’s Friend......................MARIA PAPAS

Francis Duflot...................DIDIER BOURDON

Ludivine Duflot..........ISABELLE CANDELIER

Sir Nigel......................KENNETH CRANHAM

Fanny Chenal...............MARION COTILLARD

Russian Couple #1...................IGOR PANICH

Russian Couple #2........OLEG SOSNOVIKOV

Secretary................................MAGALI WOCH

Nathalie Auzet...VALERIA BRUNI TEDESCHI

Papa Duflot......................JACQUES HERLIN

Christie Roberts..................ABBIE CORNISH

English Couple #1.......CATRIONA MACCOLL

English Couple #2...............PATRICK PAYET

Hostess..............................FÉLICITÉ DU JEU

American Customer #1...MITCHELL MULLEN

American Customer #2......JUDI DICKERSON

Oenologue........GILLES GASTON-DREYFUS

Chateau Buyers...................PHILIPPE MERY

..................................DOMINIQUE LAURENT

Broker #1.......................STEWART WRIGHT

Broker #2.................................TOM STUART

Fanny's Mother.........CATHERINE VINATIER

Young Fanny........................MARINE CASTO

Hip Hopper #1.....................GREGG CHILLIN

Hip Hopper #2.........................TONEY TUTINI

Voice Actors...............PHILIPPE BERGERON

.........EDITA BRYCHTA, HELENE CARDONA

......JEAN-LOUIS DARVILLE, NEIL DICKSON

.................JEAN GILPIN, NICHOLAS GUEST

..................PATRICK HILLAN, FRANK ISLES

.................................................PETER LAVIN

...................CAITLIN MCKENNA-WILKINSON

........PAULA JANE NEWMAN, MOIRA QUIRK

.........................VALERIA MILENKA REPNAU

................................DARREN RICHARDSON

...............................JEAN-MICHEL RICHAUD

..........................SAMANTHA JANE ROBSON

.............................IAN RUSKIN, LINDA SANS

..BRUNO STEPHANE, KAREN STRASSMAN

...........JEAN-PAUL VIGNON, CRAIG YOUNG

Stunt Coordinator............PHILIPPE GUEGAN

Stunts........................CAROLINE BOUFFARD

.........................DAVID FORAX, JULES MADI

........KZENIA ZAROUBA, ALEXIS BOUTIERE

...............ALAIN GAUDIARD, DAVID OLIVER

Unit Production Manager...........MARK ALLAN

Unit Production Manager....BRANKO LUSTIG

First Assistant Director..........DARIN RIVETTI

Second Assistant Director................................

.......................................EMILIE CHERPITEL

Made in Association with DUNE

ENTERTAINMENT LLC and MAJOR

STUDIO PARTNERS

French Line Producer ..............MARK ALLAN

Art Director......................FREDERIC EVARD

Set Decorator....BARBARA PEREZ-SOLERO

Stand-by Art Director.......................................

..........................ANTHONY CARON-DELION

Production Buyer..........KRISSI WILLIAMSON

Art Department Coordinator......AMY SIMONS

Art Department Assistant.....LYDIE RUGIERO

Unit Manager.......................REMI BERGMAN

Assistant Unit Manager....NCENT LEFEUVRE

Second Second Assistant Director...................

..........................................ELIOT MATHEWS

Third Assistant Director....TARIK AIT BEN ALI

Set Production AssistantsFREDERIC MILLET

..............................................BONNIE PIRES

First Assistant Camera.MARCO SACERDOTI

Second Assistant Camera........BASIL SMITH

Loader.............................FREDERIC HAUSS

B-Camera Operator/Steadicam........................

..............................................JÖRG WIDMER

First Assistant B-Camera.......LEAH STRIKER

Second Assistant B-Camera.LIONEL PEDRO

Additional First Assistant Camera....................

............................................TRISTAN FAVRE

Additional Operator.......ROGER MCDONALD

Still Photographer...........RICARDO TORRES

Video Technician...........ROBERT HAMILTON

Video Assistant.............GREGORY PAGNIER

Video Production Assistant..............................

.....................................LAURIANE VINCENT

Production Sound Mixer..JEAN-PAUL MUGEL

Boom Person......................SAMUEL COHEN

Cable Person............................IVAN DUMAS

Prop Master............................MATT FOSTER

Prop Hands..................JEAN-MICHEL PUPIN

.............................TRISTAN CARLISLE-KITZ

Trainee.............................AUDREY CARROT

Local Buyer..............STEPHANE CRESSEND

Prop Chargehand............EMMANUEL DELIS

Drapery....................FREDERIC DE VILLERS

..........................................OLIVIER BREBAN

Script Supervisor.......................NIKKI CLAPP

Co-Editor............................ROBB SULLIVAN

Post Production Supervisor..TERESA KELLY

Visual Effects Supervisor..WESLEY SEWELL

1st Assistant Editor (Los Angeles)...................

......................................DEBRA L. TENNANT

1st Assistant Editor (France)............................

........................................CELINE KELEPIKIS

Assistant Editors..............EMILY AULAGNON

.............................................YON VAN KLINE

Music Editors................................DEL SPIVA

.........................................CHRIS BENSTEAD

Editorial Coordinator (France).........................

...........................................PHILIPPE AKOKA

Editorial Assistants...............QUINBY CHUNN

.....................................EMMANUEL FLEURY

Supervising Sound Editors..............................

.............................PER HALLBERG, M.P.S.E.

.............................KAREN BAKER LANDERS

Sound Mixing ........................PAUL MASSEY

..............................................D.M. HEMPHILL

Gaffer............................FRANCK BARRAULT

Best Boy Electric...................YVAN QUEHEC

Genny Operator................BRUNO BIMBARD

Rigging Best Boy Electric.........YVES COHEN

Key Grip.............................FRANCOIS BERT

Best Boy Grip....................PHILIPPE JANOIS

Additional Best Boy Grip....GIL FONTBONNE

Assistant Costume Designer...........................

..........................................CAMILLE JANBON

Wardrobe Supervisor......................................

..........................KAREN MULLER-SERREAU

Russell Crowe's Costumer..............................

................................MICHAEL CASTELLANO

Set Dresser..................CELINE COLLOBERT

Key Textile Artist..................CAMILLE JOSTE

Key Makeup Artist...........FABRIZIO SFORZA

Makeup Artists...ALESSANDRA SAMPAOLO

.........................................RAFFAELLA IORIO

Hair Designer..GIANCARLO DE LEONARDIS

Key Hair.................HAYAT OULED DAHHOU

Hair Stylists.................DANIELE PEROSILLO

..........................................ALESSIO POMPEI

Wigs by...........GIANCARLO DE LEONARDIS

Location Supervisor.....MARCO GIACALONE

Location Managers.......THIERRY ZEMMOUR

.................................................JEREMY BAU

Assistant Location Manager.GAETAN DINON

Production Coordinator...................................

.................LAURENCE COUTAUD-GARNIER

Production Secretary.......SEGOLENE AMICE

Accommodations.......PENELOPE BISCHOFF

Production Assistants............ERIC LEBLOND

.............PASCAL JOUVAL, MARC GARETTO

Special Effects Supervisor..............................

.........................................STEVEN WARNER

Construction Manager...DANIEL HOFFMANN

Construction Chargehand...............................

...................................JEAN-CLAUDE GIUSTI

Construction Runner..........SAMUEL GARCIN

Painter Chargehand.............JAMES NEWELL

Greensman.......................DICKEN WARNER

Assistants to Ridley Scott................................

.............................NATASCHA MAKSIMOVIC

.......................................JORDAN SHEEHAN

Special Advisor to Ridley Scott........................

.......................................NEVILLE SHULMAN

Assistant to Branko Lustig.......HELEN OLIVE

Assistants to Russell Crowe.KEITH RODGER

..............BRUNO DE OLIVA, ANDREA BICHI

Research Consultant.GERALDINE SERAFINI

Financial Controller.........GARY GILLINGHAM

Key Production Accountant..............................

...................MAUREEN "MO" CRUTCHFIELD

Production Accountant.........BERNARD LAMY

France Casting Assistant....KASIA KRYNSKA

Unit Publicist..........................ERNEST MALIK

Dialogue Coach for Russell Crowe..................

..........................................JUDI DICKERSON

Dog Handler.....................JOEL SILVERMAN

Action Vehicles................................................

.......................MEDHI-EMMANUEL SEKNAJI

Transportation Captain...STEPHAN ARNOUX

Russell Crowe's Bodyguard.............................

.................................MUSTAFHA ADDOUDA

Security.....................................................VIP

Catering........................................LOCAFETE

Chef...............................ANTOINE PAUTROT

Craft Service ........................JOELLE CUGNY

.....................................BERENICE MOLIERE

Facilities..........................................................

............ON-SET LOCATION SERVICES LTD.

.................................................STUDIO PHIL

Supervising ADR Editor..........CHRIS JARGO

Supervising Foley Editor..................................

.........................CRAIG S. JAEGER, M.P.S.E.

Assistant Sound Editors..PHILIP D. MORRILL

.......................TONY R. NEGRETE, M.P.S.E.

Sound Effects Editors......................................

.............CHRISTOPHER ASSELLS, M.P.S.E.

...........................DINO R. DIMURO, M.P.S.E.

........................................DANIEL HEGEMAN

............................PETER STAUBLI, M.P.S.E.

.......................KERRY CARMEAN-WILLIAMS

Dialogue Editors..............PATRICK J. FOLEY

..........................JOHN C. STUVER, M.P.S.E.

ADR Editors..........................KIMAREE LONG

................FREDERICK H. STAHLY, M.P.S.E.

Foley Artists...................ALICIA STEVENSON

...............................................DAWN FINTOR

ADR Mixing......................................................

...............CHARLEEN RICHARDS-STEEVES

Post Production Facilities Provided by.............

........TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX STUDIOS

Negative Cutter.....................GARY BURRITT

Color Timer................................JIM PASSON

Main & End Title Sequence by.............yU+co.

End Title Crawl by .........SCARLET LETTERS

Digital Intermediate by.MODERN VIDEOFILM

Digital Film Colorist .................SKIP KIMBALL

Visual Effects by............INVISIBLE EFFECTS

Production Services in France Provided by.....

.........................................@RADICAL.MEDIA

LONDON UNIT

Unit Production Manager....EMILY STILLMAN

Second Assistant DirectorANTHONY WILCOX

Crowd Wrangler.........CAROLINE CHAPMAN

A-Camera Focus Puller...JULIAN BUCKNALL

Clapper Loader...........................TOBY EEDY

Video Assist Operator.....................................

........................CARLOS HERRANZ MERINO

Gaffer.................................HARRY WIGGINS

Best Boy............................JOSH BRECKEEN

Grip...................................PAUL HATCHMAN

Assistant Grip....................ROD PATTERSON

Art Director......................ROBERT COWPER

Graphic Designer....................CORALIE LEW

Prop Master........................NICK TURNBULL

Construction Manager.............HUGO SLIGHT

Stand-by Rigger........................VINCE SHAW

Stand-by Carpenter....DEREK REDDINGTON

Costume Supervisor............LEE CROUCHER

Russell Crowe's Tailoring by.............ARMANI

Make-up Artists...............CARLA VICENZINO

..............................MELISSA LACKERSTEEN

..................................PASCALE BOUQUIERE

Hair Stylist.............................ANITA BURGER

Location Manager...........ALEX GLADSTONE

Assistant Location ManagerLINZI BALTRUNAS

UK Casting Assistant............DIXIE CHASSAY

Unit Manager..........................KEITH WHALE

Production Coordinator......FIONA GARLAND

Production Secretary..............AMELIA PRICE

Rushes Runner......................SCOTT EATON

Accountant.............................MATT DALTON

Transportation Captain..........GERARD GORE

Film Assistant........................JOANNE DIXON

Health & Safety Officer......LARRY EYDMANN

Medic.........................................JOHN GIBBS

Music Supervisor.......MARC STREITENFELD

Music Conducted by ...............NICK INGMAN

Music Orchestrated by .......BRUCE FOWLER

Music Recorded and Mixed by........................

..............................................PETER COBBIN

Assistant Engineer....RICHARD LANCASTER

Music Recorded & Mixed at ...........................

................ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS LONDON

Orchestra Leader...............THOMAS BOWES

Orchestra Contractor.......................................

................................ISOBEL GRIFFITHS LTD

Assistant Orchestra Contractor.......................

..................................CHARLOTTE TRINDER

Music Preparation......................VIC FRASER

..............................................JILL STREATER

Score Pre-Record Laybacks...........................

............................................JOEL RICHARDS

SONGS

"Breezin’ Along With The Breeze"

Written by Haven Gillespie, Seymour

Simons and Richard

Whiting

Performed by Josephine Baker

Courtesy of Columbia Records

By arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC

ENTERTAINMENT

"For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow"

Traditional

"Lounge Lizard"

Written and Performed by Joe Lervold

Courtesy of Marc Ferrari / MasterSource

"Moi…Lolita"

Lyrics by Mylène Farmer

Music by Laurent Boutonnat

Performed by Alizée

Courtesy of REQUIEM - POLYDOR

"How Can I Be Sure Of You"

Written and Performed by Harry Nilsson

Courtesy of RCA Records Label

By arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC

ENTERTAINMENT

"Sur les chemins…"

Written by Aurélie Peytier, Armelle Ita &

Makali

Performed by Makali

Courtesy of Makali and Aurélie Peytier

"A Room With A View"

Written by Noel Coward

Performed by Noel Coward & Orchestra

Courtesy of EMI Records

Under license from EMI Film & Television

Music

"No. 11 Final du Deuxième Acte from La

Vie

Parisienne"

Written by Jacques Offenbach

"Gotta Get Up"

Written and Performed by Harry Nilsson

Courtesy of RCA Records Label

By arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC

ENTERTAINMENT

"Hey Joe"

Written by Billy Roberts

Performed by Johnny Hallyday

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, A

Division of

Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

"Never Ending Song Of Love"

Written by Delaney Bramlett

Performed by Delaney & Bonnie

Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group

By arrangement with Warner Music Group

Film & TV Licensing

"Le linge sèche au vent"

Written by Barnabé Saïd-albert & Makali

Performed by and Courtesy of Makali

"Jump Into The Fire"

Written and Performed by Harry Nilsson

Courtesy of RCA Records Label

By arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC

ENTERTAINMENT

"2 Arabesques: No. 1 Andantino Con Moto"

Written by Claude Debussy

Performed by Pascal Rogé

Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

"Paris"

Written and Performed by Stephen Lang

Courtesy of Marc Ferrari / MasterSource

"Vous, qui passez sans me voir"

Lyrics by Charles Trenet

Music by John Hess

Performed by Jean Sablon

Courtesy of Promosound Ltd., Ireland

"La Puissance"

Written by Jonathan Rotem and Housni

M’Kouboi

Performed by Rohff

Courtesy of EMI Records

Under license from EMI Film & Television

Music

"Le Chant Du Gardian"

Written by Jean Féline and Louis Gasté

Performed by Tino Rossi

Courtesy of Arkadia Records

By arrangement with Source/Q

"Je Chante"

Lyrics by and Performed by Charles Trenet

Music by Charles Trenet and Paul Misraki

Courtesy of EMI Records

Under license from EMI Film & Television

Music

"Quand On S’ Promène Au Bord De L’eau"

Written by Maurice Yvain, Jean Sautreuil,

Julien

Duvivier and Louis Poterat

Performed by Jean Gabin

Courtesy of Promosound Ltd., Ireland

"Les Ex"

Written by Camille Dalmais and Alexandre

Chatin

Performed by Camille

Courtesy of EMI Records

Under license from EMI Film & Television

Music

"Il faut du temps au temps…"

Written by Barnabé Saïd-albert, Armelle Ita

& Makali

Performed by and Courtesy of Makali

"The Wedding Samba"

Written by Abraham Ellstein, Allan Small

and Joseph Liebowitz

Performed by Edmundo Ros & His

Orchestra

Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

"Old Cape Cod"

Written by Allan Jeffrey, Claire Rothrock

and Milton

Yakus

Performed by Patti Page

Courtesy of Mercury Nashville Records

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

"Walk Right Back"

Written by Sonny Curtis

Performed by The Everly Brothers

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.

By arrangement with Warner Music Group

Film & TV Licensing

"J’Attendrai"

Lyrics by Louis Poterat

Words and Music by Dino Olivieri & Nino

Rastelli

Performed by Jean Sablon

Courtesy of Promosound Ltd., Ireland

"Boum"

Lyrics and Music by Charles Trenet

Performed by Adrien Chevalier

"La fleur que tu m’avais jetee from Carmen"

Written by Georges Bizet

"Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini"

Written by Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance

Performed by Richard Anthony

Courtesy of EMI Records

Under license from EMI Film & Television

Music

THE PRODUCERS WISH TO THANK THE

FOLLOWING FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE:

CHATEAU CANORGUE

CHATEAU LES EYDINS

AIRPORT OF MARSEILLES

BLOOMBERG L.P.

ALBION RIVERSIDE

SNCF

MAISON CHARVET

HERMES

CHANEL

E.B. MEYROWITZ OPTICIENS

BUREAU DU CINEMA LUBERON

PROVINCE OF LUBERON

CITIES OF BONNIEUX, GORDES,

CUCURON, AVIGNON, MENERBES, APT

and LACOSTE

Michelin Map 113 © Michelin et Cie, 2005

THE DAILY MAIL and EVENING

STANDARD provided by SOLO

Syndication

PENTHOUSE Material courtesy of General

Media Communications, Inc. © 1975 by

GMCI

Photograph courtesy of Jeff Dunas

Footage courtesy of Trans World

International

Footage courtesy of ESPN Enterprises,

Inc.

Photographs by Jacques Henri Lartigue ©

Ministère de la Culture - France / AAJHL

Footage from LES VACANCES DE MR

HULOT and MON ONCLE courtesy of

Films Distribution

Footage from AND GOD CREATED

WOMAN courtesy of TF1 International

The following film clips licensed by Société

Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC, Group

M6), with special thanks to Ellen Schafer,

Christophe Bigot, and Marie-Armelle

Imbault (SACD):

LA BANDERA, courtesy of SNC and Julien

Duvivier, © 1935 SNC

LA CHARTREUSE DE PARME, courtesy

of SNC and Christian-Jaque, © 1947 SNC

SYLVIE ET LE FANTOME, courtesy of

SNC and Claude Autant-Lara, © 1945 SNC

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by DELUXE®

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In Selected Theatres

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MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF

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Copyright © 2006 Twentieth Century Fox

Film Corporation and Dune Entertainment

LLC in all territories

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Copyright © 2006 TCF Hungary Film

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Ownership of this motion picture is

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distribution or exhibition of this motion

picture could result in criminal prosecution

as well as civil liability.

"A GOOD YEAR"

BORAT PRODUCTION NOTES

Jagshemash! Sacha Baron Cohen, the star and creator of HBO’s "Da Ali G

Show,” brings his Kazakh journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. Leaving his native Kazakhstan, Borat travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him, exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture. In some cases, Borat's interview subjects embrace his outrageous views on race and sex by agreeing with him, while others attempt to offer a patriotic lesson in Western values. Wa-wa-wee-wa!

Hilarious. Jaw-dropping. Inflammatory. Dangerous. Subversive. Borat, a satirical Kazakh journalist caricature invented and portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen, has been called all this – and more. Borat became a phenomenon in the U.K. with the comedy series “Da Ali G Show,” in which Baron Cohen’s outlandish humor and razor-sharp satire on anti-Semitism, misogyny and racism, came to life through his creation’s bizarre behavior and interviews.

Baron Cohen’s innovative and unique work has brought him two BAFTA awards.

“Da Ali G Show” was a worldwide phenomenon, and Baron Cohen is the only person to twice host the European MTV Awards. Dictionaries added two words based on his characters’ “inventive” use of the English language, and even the Queen Mother was a fan.

In addition, Baron Cohen received critical plaudits for his role opposite Will Ferrell in this summer’s blockbuster comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” Also, Baron Cohen was the voice of the King of the Lemurs in “Madagascar.”

Even before its release, critics heralded BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN as one of the funniest pictures of all time, and it became the highest-rated comedy on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com). The film’s humor and acclaim stem from its comedy “dream team”: Sacha Baron Cohen, Larry Charles from “Seinfeld” and Jay

Roach, director of the “Austin Powers” films. Baron Cohen and Roach are the film’s producers, with Charles serving as director.

The production of BORAT – as one might expect about a project centered on the character – was unlike any other. Baron Cohen, whose commitment to the role is unwaveringly intense, stayed in character through the shooting, and elected to conduct publicity and interviews promoting the picture, as Borat.

BEGINNINGS

“My profession television reporter. I second most successful in all Kazakhstan,” Borat explains. “I also have work in past as gypsy catcher, ice make, and in computer maintenance – I would paint the outsides and remove dead birds from their pipes.”

From those humble beginnings, Borat rose up the ranks of Kazakh broadcasting – until he got his big shot at fame. “1 years ago, Kazakh Ministry of Information send me to US and A to make reportings that would help Kazakhstan,” Borat recounts. “We want to be like you. America have most beautiful womens in world – for example Liza Minnelli and Elizabeth Taylor. It also center for democracy and porno. I like! I so excite to do my movie!”

Filmmaker Jay Roach, who in addition to the “Austin Powers” films also helmed the mega-hits “Meet the Parents” and “Meet the Fockers,” was fascinated by Baron Cohen’s work as Borat, and saw the potential for a movie starring the character.

“I think what Sacha does in this film is revolutionary,” says Roach.. “He’s created a totally believable, hilarious, fish-out-of-water character. Then Sacha takes Borat into often dangerous predicaments with real people who have to believe Borat is authentic the entire time – or else Sacha could face serious consequences. That’s fantastic suspense!

“Sacha takes risks like no performer I’m aware of,” Roach continues. “He’s a true comedic high-wire act. On top of that, whatever these real people do in the scene not only drives the scene, but changes the direction of the story. And it’s all insanely funny, even though he only gets one take for every performance. He does all that, and then also spoofs and holds a mirror up to racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, jingoism and hypocrisy. With no exaggeration, I believe what Sacha accomplishes with this character sets an entirely new standard for filmed performances.”

It is this combination of explosive humor, rawness and satire that led Roach to believe that a Borat film could be very special – and very different from traditional Hollywood comedies. “We saw an opportunity to do a film that was bold, subversive and fresh,” explains Roach. “We wanted to transplant the reality format of [“Da Ali G”] TV show, which has Sacha in character, interacting with real people. Then, we created a story that supports a feature film.”

Peter Baynham, Anthony Hines and Dan Mazer were drafted to write an outline for the film. There was no script. The movie is an experiment – a new form of filmmaking for an age in which reality and entertainment have become increasingly intertwined. Real events with real people push the film’s fictional story, and when scenes played out in unexpected ways, Baron Cohen and his colleagues had to rewrite the outline.

PRODUCTION

Following a grand send-off from his Kazakh village, Borat made the long journey to the US and A to begin work on the documentary. He was accompanied by his obese and ineffectual producer, Azamat Bagatov. Comments Azamat: “I got involved in this project because I am very experienced in industry of film and television – in fact during last 20 years I have personally watched 27 programs. I also got job because I am only producer in Kazakhstan.”

Borat traveled to the U.S. in style—Azamat, not so much. “We fly Kazakh Airways,” Borat recalls. “Azamat go in hold, with luggage, animals and Jews – I travel first classes – which meant that when toilet box was passed around, I was the sixth person to make my ‘dirty’ in it.” No expense was spared to bring the film to the big-screen. “This documentary was most expensive film ever made for Kazakhstan,” says the intrepid reporter. “It cost 48 million tenge – this equivalent to 5000 US dollar. Ministry of Information supplement budget by selling uranium to some brown men.”

Larry Charles, a creative force on the landmark series “Entourage,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Seinfeld,” joined the project as director. Like Jay Roach, Charles was a fan of Baron Cohen’s work. “There is an intensity and incredible intelligence to Sacha’s performances, as well as a certain bravery,” says Charles.

Charles marveled at Baron Cohen’s ability to stay in character throughout production, even during on-location filmmaker conferences. “Sacha as Borat was always real, believable, complex and spontaneous. I’ve never seen a performance like that.

“Our collaboration was multi-leveled,” Charles continues. “During our creative meetings, I was talking to both Sacha and to Borat, which was disconcerting sometimes, but fun. I understood why Sacha did this: He has to be in the moment, and yet still be somewhat detached and self-aware. He managed to strike a delicate balance.”

Executive producer Monica Levinson says the production was true guerilla-style filmmaking. “All we had was an eight-person crew, including Sacha, a sound person, camera people, Larry Charles, and a production assistant. We all traveled around in a van, followed by a pickup truck that carried the equipment.”

Borat began his cross country odyssey in ‘New Yorks,’ where he experiences for the first time a subway car, an elevator, and a feminist group. Then, a revelation turned his plans upside-down. “Although we had initial planned to stay in New Yorks, because of a reason I cannot say, we needed to get to California.”

Unable (or forbidden) to fly, Borat had to learn how to drive. “We too have cars in Kazakhstan,” he notes. “They now very modern –some of them reach top speeds of up to 120 miles per week! Also, they better than western cars, because when engine get old you can eat it. I was interest to see if America cars were as fancypants.

“I was very nervous about sitting alone in a car with my drive instructor,” Borat continues. “In my country only time two men ride together in car, is when they journey to the edge of town to make bang bang in anoos.”

To capture on film the character’s cross-country adventure – much of it done via an ice-cream truck – the BORAT filmmakers also traveled to Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, California, Oklahoma, Alabama, South Carolina – and Romania.

At many locations, the production’s guerilla-style, hit-and-run filmmaking attracted the interest of various law enforcement officials.

In New York, for example, a warrant was issued for Baron Cohen’s arrest. He also narrowly escaped incarceration while filming a segment at a local hotel. (Earlier, Baron Cohen had been advised to leave the state.)

Monica Levinson and unit production manager/first assistant director Dale Stern didn’t fare as well – they were arrested by New York’s Finest. The production had borrowed from a local hotel, a phone, alarm clock, and comforter – all of which were going to be used as props. Even though the filmmakers had a location agreement and a five million dollar insurance policy for lost or stolen goods, New York City police went ahead with the arrests. Later, as Levinson and the crew member were being questioned, she saw Stern eating a copy of a sheet listing the names and phone numbers of the film’s crew – to protect them from legal action. (The two arrests were later expunged.)

“Monica’s night in jail raised the bar for a filmmaker sacrificing for his or her art,” says Jay Roach.

Another time, twelve police cars surrounded the ice cream truck in which Borat makes much of his cross-country trek. The authorities hoped to find and interrogate Baron Cohen, only to discover that he had again made a narrow escape, this time in another crew vehicle.

The FBI often followed the filmmakers, whom the residents of several locales suspected of being terrorists. In the nation’s capital, the Secret Service questioned the filmmakers outside the White House, and at a Louisiana location, state troopers investigated the strange group ostensibly making a documentary. Again, Baron Cohen’s determination to stay in character – even while facing Secret Service and state police questioning – was impressive. “He never let on that this wasn’t ‘real,’” says Larry Charles.

Borat learned many lessons during his journey – some of them the hard way.

“Along my travelings, I learn many new things about America. For example that it no longer legal to shoot at Red Indians. Once again I apologize with all my heart to the staff of the Potawotomi Casino in Kansas.”

Wherever Borat touched down, he left a shaken populace in his wake. In Washington, D.C., he rocked a Gay Pride parade – “Many peoples friendly to me in America. In Washingtons, a guy in bikinis grab my busherka,” Borat exclaims. But his travels through the South left an especially strong imprint on Borat and his “subjects.”

Baron Cohen, as Borat, infuriated audience members at a Salem, Virgina rodeo by singing the Kazakh “national anthem” to the tune of the American anthem. After the rendition, a group of irate rodeo hands on horseback surrounded the filmmakers’ van, demanding that they be lynched.

Also in the South, Borat tried to figure out the American art of shopping – strangest of all, the practice of paying lots of money for old things called “antiques.” At a small antique store, Borat is incredibly clumsy and manages to destroy hundreds of dollars of items.

In Birmingham, Alabama, Borat paid a visit to a dinner party, where he hoped to learn the fine art of dining etiquette. The Southern hospitality didn’t stop there. “While were in the South, we passed by a group of soldiers making re-enacting of the Americans Civil Wars. It very similar to the Kazakh re-enactment of the Tishniek Massacre, which we do every year by traveling to the town Tishniek and massacring them. Why not?”

Producer Azamat had more practical concerns during their stay in the South.

“Most challenging aspect of filming there was to find film in Mississippi that would fit our 1912 Krasnogorsk Super 13mm camera,” he notes.

These are just a few of the many highlights of Borat’s adventures in the U.S. But the story ends where it began – in Borat’s hometown of Kuczek, Kazakhstan. A gypsy village two hours north of Bucharest, Romania doubled for Kuczek. Against the stunning backdrop of the Carpathian Mountains, the filmmakers found themselves working amid livestock wandering through the streets. And the BORAT team often went without benefit of indoor plumbing. “Working in this village was as far from our lives in Los Angeles as you can get,” notes Larry Charles. “Yet it was exhilarating and exciting.”

Grateful for the cooperation and graciousness of the townspeople, the production and Baron Cohen donated computers, backpacks, supplies and books to the local school.

At one point, the filmmakers had considered capturing these scenes at a Hollywood studio backlot. “But we realized we couldn’t ‘art direct’ that village,” says Charles. “You can’t art direct the horses, pigs, and jerry-built huts. So we didn’t have to pretend we were in Borat’s village; we were there!”

Borat himself couldn’t be happier that his documentary is finally ready for the US and A, but he reminds us that an earlier version had already opened in his native country.

“This movie have already been release in Kazakhstan and was blockbusterings,” exclaims Borat. “It take top spot from Hollywood movie ‘King Kongs’ – which had been number one film in Kazakhstan ever since it was release in 1932.”

But Borat warns American audiences they’re in store for more than a few jolts. “I hope you Americans see my movie, but please be warn that since it contain foul cursings, needless violence and a close-up of a man’s bishkek, it have been given most strict certificate in Kazakhstan, meaning no one under age of 3 will be able to see it.

“Also this film have been very controversial in my country because of amount of anti-Semitisms in it – however, eventually our Censor decide there was enough and allow its release.”

But whatever obstacles Borat has faced in making and releasing his movie, he’s thrilled to see it finally reach the U.S. “My movie finally coming in America!” he concludes. “High five!”

Sacha Baron Cohen

Fact Sheet

Awards

• 2003-2004 Da Ali G Show nominated for 6 Emmy® awards

• BAFTA [British Academy of Film and Television - equivalent to an EMMY] for Best

Comedy Program

• BAFTA for Best Comedy Performer [Da Ali G Show]

• Broadcast Award for Best Comedy Program

• Royal Television Society Award for Best Comedy Program

• Winner: Bronze Rose of Montreaux – Best Comedy Program

• 1999 and 2000 GQ Comedian of the Year [92% of vote]

• EMMA Award for [Ethnic Multicultural Media Award voted for by African-

American and Asian communities] Best Entertainment Show Da Ali G Show

• Winner: Best New Comedian at British Comedy Awards

• Winner: British GQ Man of Year Award 3 times, and American GQ Man of Year.

TV Shows

• Hosts MTV Europe Music Awards as Ali G in 2001, to a television audience

exceeding one billion. MTV implements “delay” for fear of what ‘Ali’ might say. It

proves to be a good decision.

• In 2005, again hosts European MTV Awards, this time as Borat. Walking on stage

after a Madonna performance, Borat said, “It is very brave of MTV to start the show

with a genuine transvestite.”

• 2005 European MTV Awards – introduces Madonna as ‘me main bitch’

• HBO: Two seasons of Da Ali G Show

• Channel 4: Da Ali G Show

• Ali G Innit Video becomes one of the highest selling comedy videos ever, exceeding

over a million units.

• C4 The Alternative Christmas Message: Ali G went up against the Queen’s speech on

Christmas Day. The Princes were caught – by the Queen Mother, watching Ali G,

instead.

• C4 Da Best of Ali G: 2 x 30min. compilation shows of interviews

• C4 11 O’clock show – Series I, II, III – a late night topical comedy show. There were

about 30 x 4 minute Ali G segments.

• 2001 Comic Relief – interviews Posh Spice and David Beckham

The Ali G Phenomenon

• Changes English language – after introducing the word ‘mingin’ [meaning ugly],

it’s included in the Oxford English Dictionary

• Reported that the Ali G phenomenon is responsible for changing the main type of

slang amongst English youth from cockney to Jafaican [a mixture between

Jamaican patwa and street slang].

• Doctors report a new injury called “Booyakasha Syndrome,” after teenagers are

admitted with wrist injuries after trying to imitate Ali’s trademark fingerclick.

• Tony Blair names his policy “Respect: Ali G’s catchphrase to try to appeal to

British youth.”

Movies

• BORAT movie – winner of audience and critics award at Traverse Film Festival.

• Ali G Indahouse – turned out to be the highest British grossing movie of that year.

Stays No. 1 atop the Dutch charts for 7 weeks, knocked off by Star Wars.

• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby – plays Jean Girard in the highest

grossing comedy movie in the U.S. in 2006.

Race

• Baron Cohen was involved in the ARA anti-racist alliance for many years – actually

marching against fascists and racists in London and against apartheid in the 80s

• The Times wrote a piece entitled “Ali G Creator is in fact Leading Civil Rights

Scholar,” which examined how Baron Cohen made a pilgrimage to the birthplace of

Martin Luther King while doing research for his dissertation in Cambridge. Entitled “

A Case of Mistaking Identities – the Jewish Black Alliance,” the thesis examines the

nature of cooperation between the African-American and Jewish communities and

suggests ways of how to improve relations in the current day. His professor describes

it as a major work of importance on the civil rights movement and is suggested

reading for history students in Cambridge.

• Da Ali G Show has been commended for its positive effects on race relations by the

CRE [commission for racial equality]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/racism/Story/0,2763,244214,00.html

• Da Ali G Show led to lectures during police training, on why it is crucial not to see

the population solely in terms of black and white.

©2006 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved. Property of Fox.

Permission is hereby granted to newspapers and periodicals to reproduce this text in articles publicizing the distribution of

the Motion Picture. All other use is strictly prohibited, including sale, duplication, or other transfers of this material. This

press kit, in whole or in part, must not be leased, sold, or given away.

None of the real persons, companies, or organizations in the film are affiliated or associated with the film or its producers

in any way. No real person or entity depicted or appearing in the film has sponsored or otherwise endorsed its contents.

The same applies to the government and people of Kazakhstan, none of whom are involved in this film or have approved

it in any way. Nothing in this film is intended to convey the actual beliefs, practices or behavior of anyone associated with

Kazakhstan.

BORAT CREDITS

Directed by........................LARRY CHARLES

Screenplay by..........SACHA BARON COHEN

.....& ANTHONY HINES & PETER BAYNHAM

...............................................& DAN MAZER

Story by...................SACHA BARON COHEN

.....& PETER BAYNHAM & ANTHONY HINES

..........................................& TODD PHILLIPS

Based on a character created by.....................

................................SACHA BARON COHEN

Produced by............SACHA BARON COHEN

...................................................JAY ROACH

SACHA BARON COHEN

Executive Producer.....................DAN MAZER

Executive Producer.........MONICA LEVINSON

Co-Producer.....................PETER BAYNHAM

Directors of Photography.................................

..................................ANTHONY HARDWICK

....................................LUKE GEISSBÜHLER

Edited by.........................PETER TESCHNER

............................................JAMES THOMAS

Music Supervisor.....RICHARD HENDERSON

Original Music by.....ERRAN BARON COHEN

KEN DAVITIAN as Azamat

A FOUR BY TWO Production

AN EVERYMAN PICTURES Production

A TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX Release

Unit Production Manager/

First Assistant Director....................Dale Stern

Unit Production Manager/

First Assistant Director............David A. Siegel

Borat’s Image Created By.............Jason Alper

Cast

Borat..............................Sacha Baron Cohen

Azamat......................................Ken Davitian

Luenell.................................................Luenell

Naked Fight Coordinator............Alex Daniels

Kidnapping Consultant.........James P. Vickers

Safety.................................Peewee Piemonte

Action Team.........Michael Li, Harry Wowchuk

.................................................Nicole Randall

Made In Association with

Dune Entertainment LLC and Major Studio

Partners

Editor...........................................Craig Alpert

Production Sound Mixer...Scott Harber C.A.S.

First Assistant Camera......Mark Schwartzbard

Makeup Artist/Hair Stylist......Thomas Kolarek

Items from Kazakhstan Designed

By.................................................Jason Alper

Production Coordinator........Susannah Julien

Field Supervisors...................Todd Schulman

......................Jenny Hunter, Tim Schildberger

Field Coordinators.................Chelsea Barnard

.................................Erik Tily, Julie Chouinard

Researchers............................Sophie Charles

...........................................Kieran R.M. Baker

Production Accountant.........Berni Tanchauco

Assistant Accountant.............Sherry Kecskes

Assistant Production Coordinator....................

.............................................Leslie E. A. Rider

Production Secretary....Matthew Ryan Lepore

Key Set Production Assistant..........................

.....................................Alexandra Lambrinidis

Production Assistant.......................Blair Miller

Assistant to Mr. Baron Cohen

............................................J. Christian Walsh

Assistant to Mr. Baron Cohen /NY...................

..............................................Conor Copeland

Assistants to Mr. Charles......Tanya Oskanian

.................................................Laurie Epstein

Mr. Baron Cohen’s Feces

Provided by..................................Jason Alper

Behind The Scenes.................Ruben Fleisher

Transportation Coordinator.............................

....................................Jonathan A. Rosenfeld

Drivers..........Jeff Lira, Jeff Verdick, Monty Lira

Post Production Supervisors..Patrick Esposito

.......................................Bradley M. Goodman

Additional Editor......................Andrew Dickler

1st Assistant Editor................Scott M. Davids

Assistant EditorsJeff Mee, Sarah K. Thiessen

Apprentice Editor..........................Colin Patton

Editorial Assistant to Mr. Baron Cohen............

...............................................Todd Schulman

Post Production Assistant...............................

...............................Frederick W. Chandler, Jr.

Casting by..................................Allison Jones

Consultant............................Andrew Newman

Props Consultant.......................Kevin Hughes

Additional Production Supervisor....................

...................................Jamie Boscardin Martin

Second Assistant Director..........John Isabeau

Web Consultant.............................Andrew Lin

Bears...............................Chester and Charlie

Bears Provided By....................Animal Insight

Head Trainer..................................Dana Dubé

Trainers.....................................Ruth LaBarge

..........................Andrew Simpson, Clint Rowe

Production Counsel.........................................

........Russell Smith, Smith Dornan & Dehn PC

................Christine Bergren Music Consulting

Research Consultant................Ashley Kravitz

Music Researcher...........................Shira Arad

Travel.....................Travelcorps, Julie Shapiro

Supervising Sound Editor................................

...........................Andrew DeCristofaro, MPSE

Supervising Dialogue and ADR Editor.............

..........................Nancy Kyong Nugent, MPSE

Dialogue Editors..........John C. Stuver, MPSE

......................Michael Hertlein, Mary Andrews

Sound Effects Editors...............Michael Paine

........Kerry Carmean-Williams, David Esparza

Assistant Sound Editors...........Patrick Cusack

......................................................Jeff Glueck

Sound Editorial by...........................Soundelux

Re-recording Mixers..............Lora Hirschberg

..............................................Brandon Proctor

Post Production Sound Re-

recording by.....................Todd-AO Hollywood

Foley Artists..................Sean Rowe, Alan Kerr

Foley Mixer...............................Ryan Maguire

ADR Stage..............................Wilshire Stages

ADR Mixer......................Eric Thompson, CAS

ADR Recordist...........................Chris Navarro

Voice Casting......................Wendy Hoffmann

Loop Group................................Jack Blessing

...................David Cowgill, Marissa Goodman

.....................Wendy Hoffmann, Anna Mathias

.........................Kevin Schwimer, Hans Tester

......Ranjani Brow, Caitlin Cutt, Briget Hoffman

...............................Mark Ivanir, Philip Proctor

...............................Shane Sweet, Ines Wurth

Music Editor......................Richard Henderson

Scoring Mixer...........................Jonathan Allen

Orchestrations.......................Geoff Alexander

Orchestra Contractor................Isobel Griffiths

Orchestra Leader....................Thomas Bowes

Vocalist..........................Dessislava Stefanova

Visual Effects and Titles by.............YARD FX

Supervising Digital Effects Artist......................

...............................................Scott M. Davids

Digital Effects Artist....................Jalal Jemison

Digital Intermediate Color Timer......................

...............................................Kathy Thomson

Dolby Sound Consultant.................Jim Wright

Romania Unit

Art Director.............David Saenz de Maturana

Romanian Production services

provided by.......................Castel Film Studios

Additional Photography

Art Director.............David Saenz de Maturana

Production Supervisors............Susan Ehrhart

...................................................Shirley Davis

Production Coordinator.............Lisa Davidson

Assistant Production Coordinator....................

........................................Charline St. Charles

1st Assistant Accountants...........Jeff Wickline

.................................Alexa Song-Lindenthaler

Field Coordinators.............Jaqueline Lofstrom

................................................David Feinberg

Songs

Chaje Shukarije

Written and Performed by Esma

Redzepova

Courtesy of Time Square Records/World

Connection

Talijanska

Written and Performed by Goran Bregovic

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a

Division of Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Magic Mamaligia

Written by German Popov

Performed by O.M.F.O.

Courtesy of Essay Recordings GmbH

By arrangement with The Royalty Network,

Inc.

“Eu Vin Acasa Cu Drag”

Written and Performed by Stefan de la

Barbulesti

Courtesy of AMMA

Mahalageasca

Written by Mahala

Performed by Mahala Rai Banda

Courtesy of Crammed Discs

By arrangement with Ocean Park Music

Money Boney

Written by German Popov

Performed by O.M.F.O.

Courtesy of Essay Recordings GmbH

By arrangement with The Royalty Network,

Inc.

Everybody’s Talkin’

Written by Fred Neil, performed by Harry

Nilsson

Courtesy of MGM Music Inc.

Under license from Columbia Pictures

Industries, Inc.

Aisle Two

Written and Performed by Daniel May

Courtesy of Mastersource/Marc Ferrari

Music From “Jingle All the Way”

Composed by David Newman

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film

Corp.

Take My Breath Away

Written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom

Whitlock

Performed by Berlin

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Ederlezi

Written and Performed by Goran Bregovic

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a

Division of Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Kalasnjikov

Written and Performed by Goran Bregovic

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a

Division of Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Born to Be Wild

Written by Mars Bonfire

Performed by Steppenwolf

Courtesy of Geffen Records

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Ridin’ The Rodeo

Written by Vince Gill and Kostas Lazarides

Performed by Vince Gill

Courtesy of MCA Nashville

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, II Andante

Written by W.A. Mozart

Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

Siki Siki Baba

Written by Nestor Cok Rakia

Performed by Kocani Orkestar

Courtesy of Crammed Discs

By arrangement with Ocean Park Music

Group

Heart Says Yes

Written and Performed by Joey Scarbury

Courtesy of Mastersource/Marc Ferrari

Lullaby

Written and Performed by Goran Bregovic

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a

Division of Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Szerelem, Szerelem

Written by Marta Sebestyen

Performed by Marta Sebestyen & Muzikas

Courtesy of Hungatoon Records

Dreams

Written and Performed by Goran Bregovic

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a

Division of Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

U Can’t Touch This

Written by Kirk Burrell, James Johnson and

Alonzo Miller

Performed by MC Hammer

Courtesy of Capitol Records

Under license from EMI Film & Television

Music

Le Matin

Written and Performed by Goran Bregovic

Courtesy of Mercury Records France, a

Division of Universal Music S.A.

Under license from Universal Music

Enterprises

Nothin’ Like Being Able

Written by Frank O’Brien

The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power

Written by Andrae’ Crouch

There Is Power In the Blood

Traditional

Glory In My Soul

Written by Howard McCrary

Performed by Mekka Johnson

Courtesy of Mastersource/Marc Ferrari

Amen, Amen

Traditional

Istoria Na Edna Lyubov (Lover Song)

Written by Ivo Papasov

Performed by Ivo Papasov & His Orchestra

Courtesy of Hannibal Records, a Rykodisc

label

My Friend Franz

Written and performed by Ken Korade

Courtesy of Kid Gloves Music

Mahalageasca (Remix)

Written by Mahala

Performed by Mahala Rai Banda featuring

Shantel

Courtesy of Crammed Discs

By arrangement with Ocean Park Music

"Born to be Wild"

Written by Mars Bonfire

Performed by Fanfare Ciocarlia

Produced by Henry Ernst

Fanfare Ciocarlia Performs Courtesy of

Asphalt Tango Records

The Producers Wish To Give Special

Thanks To The Following For Their

Assistance:

Isla Fisher

Matt Stone

Trey Parker

Pamela Anderson

James L. Brooks

Alec Berg

Tom Gammill

Dave Mandell

Max Pross

Jeff Schaffer

Villagers of Moroieni, Romania

Special Thanks to Talkback Productions

and Channel Four Television

Footage Provided by

FremantleMedia

ITN Archive

‘COPS’ Courtesy of Twentieth Television.

All rights reserved.

“Married with Children” courtesy Sony

Pictures Television

ImageBank Film/Getty Images

Footage provided courtesy of HBO

Color by MODERN VIDEOFILM®

Prints by DELUXE®

LENSES AND CAMERAS

BY ABEL CINETECH®

DOLBY (logo)

In Selected Theatres

Approved No. 42670 (MPAA Globe)

MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF

AMERICA

IATSE "Bug"

Copyright © 2006 Twentieth Century Fox

Film Corporation and Dune Entertainment

LLC in all territories except

Brazil, Italy, Japan, Korea and Spain.

Copyright © 2006 TCF Hungary Film

Rights Exploitation Limited Liability

Company, Twentieth Century Fox Film

Corporation and Dune Entertainment LLC

in Brazil, Italy, Japan, Korea and

Spain.

One America Productions, Inc. is the

author of this motion picture for purposes

of copyright and other laws.

None of the real persons, companies, or

organizations in the film are affiliated or

associated with the film or its producers in

any way. No real person or entity depicted

or appearing in the film has sponsored or

otherwise endorsed its contents. The same

applies to the government and people of

Kazakhstan, none of whom are involved in

this film or have approved it in any way.

Nothing in this film is intended to convey

the actual beliefs, practices or behavior of

anyone associated with Kazakhstan.

Ownership of this motion picture is

protected by copyright and other applicable

laws, and any unauthorized duplication,

distribution or exhibition of this motion

picture could result in criminal

prosecution as well as civil liability.

CREDITS NOT FINAL AT PRESS TIME

PRESTIGE

©Touchstone Pictures. All Rights Reserved. prestige-movie.com

TOUCHSTONE PICTURES

and

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Present

THE PRESTIGE

A

NEWMARKET FILMS

and

SYNCOPY

Production

A Film by

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Directed by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Screenplay by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONATHAN NOLAN

and CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Based on the Novel by . . . . . CHRISTOPHER PRIEST

Produced by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMMA THOMAS

AARON RYDER

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Executive Producers . . . . CHARLES J.D. SCHLISSEL

CHRIS J. BALL

WILLIAM TYRER

VALERIE DEAN

Director of Photography . . . . . WALLY PFISTER, ASC

Production Designer . . . . . . . . . NATHAN CROWLEY

Edited by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LEE SMITH, A.C.E.

Costume Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOAN BERGIN

Music by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID JULYAN

Casting by . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN PAPSIDERA, C.S.A.

CAST

Robert Angier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HUGH JACKMAN

Alfred Borden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTIAN BALE

Cutter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL CAINE

Julia McCullough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PIPER PERABO

Sarah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . REBECCA HALL

Olivia Wenscombe . . . . . . . SCARLETT JOHANSSON

Jess. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SAMANTHA MAHURIN

Tesla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID BOWIE

Alley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDY SERKIS

Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANIEL DAVIS

Prosecutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JIM PIDDOCK

Defender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER NEAME

Captain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARK RYAN

Owens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROGER REES

Sullen Warder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMIE HARRIS

Stagecoach Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MONTY STUART

Hotel Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RON PERKINS

Milton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RICKY JAY

Virgil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J.PAUL MOORE

Boy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANTHONY DEMARCO

Chung Ling Soo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAO-LI CHI

Policeman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . GREGORY HUMPHREYS

Voice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN B. CRYE

Merrit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W.MORGAN SHEPPARD

Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEAN HOWSE

Elegant Lady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JULIE SANFORD

Ticket Hawker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EZRA BUZZINGTON

Moderator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES LANCASTER

Jess (Toddler). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OLIVIA MERG

ZOE MERG

Scalper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHNNY LISKA

Men in Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RUSS FEGA

KEVIN WILL

Ackerman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDWARD HIBBERT

Burly Stagehand . . . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER JUDGES

Blind Stagehand 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JAMES OTIS

Blind Stagehand 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SAM MENNING

Blind Stagehand 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BRIAN TAHASH

Carriage Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT DAVIS

Glamorous Assistant . . . . . . . . . . JODI BIANCA WISE

Housekeeper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NIKKI GLICK

Workman 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ENN REITEL

Warder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLIVE KENNEDY

Leonard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT ARBOGAST

Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS CLEVELAND

Stunt Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RICK AVERY

Stunt Double—Angier . . . . . . . . . . . . RICK MARCUS

Stunt Double—Borden . . . . . . . . . . PAUL LACOVARA

Stunt Double—Cutter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . STEVE HART

Stunt Double—Julia . . . . . . . . . MEEGAN GODFREY

Stunt Double—Olivia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONI AVERY

Stunt Riggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL HUGGHINS

DAVID HUGGHINS

Stunt Warder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . THOM WILLIAMS

Utility Stunts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MIKE AVERY

Angier Test Stunt Double . . . . . . . BRIAN MACHLEIT

Unit Production Manager

CRISTEN CARR STRUBBE

First Assistant Director

ALAN B. CURTISS

Second Assistant Director

JODY SPILKOMAN

Associate Producer. . . . . . . . . . JORDAN GOLDBERG

Production Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . GREGG EDLER

CREDITS

1

CREDITS

Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KEVIN KAVANAUGH

Assistant Art Director . . . . . . NAAMAN MARSHALL

Set Decorator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JULIE OCHIPINTI

Costume Supervisor . . . . . . . ROBERT Q. MATHEWS

Key Costumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KENN SMILEY

Set Costumers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOM CUMMINS

TONI KEHAULANI REED

Costumers

JO KISSACK ANTONIO ALMARAZ

DONNA MARICONE POLLACK DENNIS MCCARTHY

MONICA HAINES JOSE HERNANDEZ

MARCI JOHNSON APRIL KRUEGER

TRICIA YOO SHANDRA BERI

Dept. Head Make-Up . . . . . . . . . PETER ROBB-KING

Dept. Head Hair. . . . . . . . . . . . JANICE ALEXANDER

Key Make-Up Artist . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN R. BAYLESS

Make-Up Artist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAGGIE FUNG

Mr. Jackman’s Make-Up Artist . . . . . KENNY MYERS

Ms. Johansson’s

Make-Up Artist . . . . . . . . . . . HEBA THORISDOTTIR

Prosthetic Make-Up . . . LEO COREY CASTELLANO

Hairstylists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TERRY BALIEL

KAREN MYERS

Wigs by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VICTORIA WOOD

First Assistant Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOB HALL

Second Assistant Camera . . . . . . PHILIP SHANAHAN

Loader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAN MCFADDEN

Steadicam Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CRAIG FIKSE

Additional Camera Operator . . . . . . TONY GAUDIOZ

Script Supervisor. . . . . . . . . . . . STEVEN R. GEHRKE

Sound Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED NOVICK

Boom Operator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KURT PETERSON

Utility Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JESSICA BENDER

Location Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RUSS FEGA

Key Assistant Location Managers . . . . . . JESSE COLE

KIM CRABB

Asst. Location Manager. . . . . . . . . . GUY MORRISON

Production Accountant . . . . . . . . GREG HEMSTREET

First Assistant Accountant . . . . . . . JENNIFER CLARK

Assistant Accountants . . . . ANDREW T. JABLONSKI

MIKE MACCUISH

Payroll Accountant . . . . . . . . . . . . KAREN M. FUCHS

Accounting Clerk . . . . . . . . . . . . JARETH COSTELLO

Construction Estimator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LEDIA TELO

Post Production Accountant . . . . . . JEANIE DANIELS

First Assistant Editor/VFX Editor . . . . . . . . JOHN LEE

Assistant Editors . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT WESLEY ROSS

LAURA RINDNER

Post Production Supervisors . . . NANCY KIRHOFFER

TERESA KELLY

Post Production Assistant . . . . CHARLES HARRISON

Music Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALEX GIBSON

Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor

RICHARD KING

Re-Recording Mixers . . . . . . . . LORA HIRSCHBERG

GARY A. RIZZO

First Assistant Sound Editors . . . . . . LINDA YEANEY

ANDREW BOCK

Dialogue Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HUGO WENG

ADR Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LINDA FOLK

ADR Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KIMBERLY HARRIS

Sound Effects Editors . . . . . . PAUL BEROLZHEIMER

MICHAEL W. MITCHELL

Foley Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . CHRISTOPHER FLICK

Foley Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JONATHON KLEIN

Foley Artists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOHN ROESCH

ALYSON MOORE

Foley Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARYJO LANG

Foley Recordist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT MORGAN

ADR Voice Casting . . . . . . . . . . . BARBARA HARRIS

ADR Mixers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOM O’CONNELL

ERIC GOTTHELF

ADR Recordists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RICK CANELLI

CAROLYN TAPP

Recordist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHRIS SIDOR

Chief Lighting Technician. . . . . . . . . . CORY GERYAK

Assistant Chief

Lighting Technician . . . . . . . . . . . LARRY SUSHINSKI

Key Grip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RAY GARCIA

Best Boy Grip . . . . . . . . . . . . RODERICK G. FARLEY

Dolly Grip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TONY GARRIDO

Rigging Gaffer . . . . . . . CHARLES H. MCINTYRE, II

Rigging Electric Best Boy . . . . . . . . CRICKET SLOAT

Rigging Key Grip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BLAKE PIKE

Best Boy Rigging Grip . . . . . . JERRY L. MARSHALL

Construction Coordinator . . . . . . . . . JOE ONDREJKO

Leadman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R. SCOTT DURAN

Set Designers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT ZUBER

SALLY THORNTON

MARK LUCERO

Property Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT BUCKWALD

Assistant Property Masters . . . . . . . . JARED FLEURY

JEANNE MARIE KUKOR

Special Effects Coordinator . . . . . DAVID BLITSTEIN

Special Effects Set Foreman . . . DAVID L. SIMMONS

Special Effects Shop Foreman. . . . . . MARIO VANILO

Special Effects Rigging Foreman . . WILLIAM D. LEE

2

Assistant

Production Coordinator. . . . . . . . . JEFFREY CARUSO

Additional Second

Assistant Director . . . . . CY ROSCOE STRICKLAND

2nd 2nd Assistant Director. . . . . . LYNN STRUIKSMA

Stand-In—Mr. Jackman . . . . . . . . . . . . ROB MCCABE

Stand-In—Mr. Bale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JIM LINDSEY

Stand-In—Mr. Caine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALAN BRAGG

Stand-In—Ms. Johansson . . . . . . AMY TREADWELL

Caterer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHEF ROBERT

Craft Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JIMMY SMITH

Transportation

Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOMMY TANCHAROEN

Transportation

Co-Captains . . . . . . . . . . MAXWELL R. JOHNSON II

TOM WHELPLEY

Dialect Coach for Mr. Jackman . . . . . . . . JESS PLATT

Dialect Coach for Mr. Bowie . . . . SUSAN HEGARTY

Technical Advisors/

Magic . . . . . . . RICKY JAY AND MICHAEL WEBER

Assistant to Mr. Nolan . . BENJAMIN T. MOREHEAD

Assistant to Mr. Ryder . . . BEATRICE SPRINGBORN

Assistant to

Mr. Schlissel . . . . . . . . . M. MICHELLE NISHIKAWA

Assistant to Mr. Jackman. . . . . LAWRA ROBERTSON

Production Secretary. . . . . . . . . . . . . ERIN A. RAMOS

Production Assistants

BEAU FOSTER PETER SCHEER

COLIN DUNNING CLAYTON COGSWELL

CINDY A. TAYLOR TERRENCE B. ZINN

JOSHUA SCHEER MICHELLE SCHRAUWERS

SHAWN WILLIAMSON

Costume Dept. PA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CARRIE DACRE

Art Dept. PAs . . . . . . . . . . . . CAPELLA KINCHELOE

ERIN CIPOLLETTI

Camera Intern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PETER KROUSE

Still Photographers . . . . . . . . FRANÇOIS DUHAMEL

STEPHEN VAUGHAN

Video Assist Operator . . . . . . . . . MICHAEL HERRON

Casting Assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JENNIFER CRAM

Extras Casting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RICH KING

Animal Trainer—

Horses, Birds. . . PHIL SMITH’S ANIMAL RENTALS

PHIL SMITH

Animal Trainer—Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT DAVIS

Animal Trainer—

Cats . . . . . . ANIMAL ACTORS OF HOLLYWOOD—

CHERYL SHAWVER

Wranglers—Horses. . . . . . . . . . VICTORIA M. VOPNI

CODY SMITH

Wranglers—Cats . . . . . . . . . . JESSE BRACKENBURY

LEE ROESER

MEGHAN C. FRASER

CATHY PITTMAN

First Aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANTHONY PENIDO

HENRY HUMPHREYS

Visual Effects Producer . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT SHAPIRO

Visual Effects Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . JANEK SIRRS

Visual Effects by

BUF

Visual Effects Supervisor . . . . . STEPHANE CERETTI

Associate Visual

Effects Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . OLIVIER DUMONT

CG Sequence Supervisor . . . . . FLORENT ANDORRA

CG Artists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FLORENT CADEL

ROBIN DELEDICQUE

LAURENS EHRMANN

EDDY MOUSSA

LAURENT PANISSIER

MICHEL SAMRETH

MATHILDE TOLLEC

Software Development . . . . . . CLÉMENT RAMBACH

Visual Effects Producers . . . . . . . . . SIMON VANESSE

VANESSA FOURGEAUD

Visual Effects Coordinators . . . . . MÉLANIE CUSSAC

GIACUN CADUFF

Executive Music Producer . . . . . . . . . HANS ZIMMER

Orchestrations by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DANANIU

Music Programmer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID HOSKINS

Orchestra Conducted by . . . . . . . . . . . BLAKE NEELY

Score Recorded and Mixed by . . . ALAN MEYERSON

Orchestra Contractors . . . . . . . . . . . . PETER ROTTER

SANDY DECRESCENT

Score Recorded at . . . . . TODD AO SCORING STAGE

Score

Mixed at. . . . . REMOTE CONTROL PRODUCTIONS

Score Recordist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOM HARDISTY

Assistant Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GREG VINES

Technical Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MATT WARD

Music Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . BOOKER WHITE,

WALT DISNEY MUSIC LIBRARY

Post Production Services Provided

by . . . . . . . GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT PARTNERS

Titles & Opticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PACIFIC TITLE

CREDITS

3

CREDITS

NegativeCutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARY BETH SMITH

BUENA VISTA NEGATIVE CUTTING

Color Timer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DAVID ORR

COLORADO UNIT

Production Liaison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TIM TERRITO

Production Assistants . . . . . . . . . . . . NICK LECLAIRE

PARKER D. LEMIRE

SCOTT MICHELS

CRAIG OKESON

Transportation Local Captain. . PHILLIP W. HELMAN

COLORADO AERIAL UNIT

Director of Photography . . . . . . . . . . . HANS BJERNO

Helicopter

Pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JIM DIRKER—

AIRCAM NATIONAL HELICOPTERS

Spacecam Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JOSE DELEON

MUSIC

“Drinkin’ Down The Rose & Crown”

Composed by Keith Nichols

Courtesy of APM

“Tripping Gaily”

Written and Performed by E. Baga

Courtesy of DeWolfe Music

“Eel Pie And Mash”

Composed by Bob Barratt and Colin Frechter

Courtesy of APM

“Butterfly Etude”

Composed by Frederic Chopin

Arranged & Performed by Stephen James Edwards

Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

“Vowel Movement”

Composed by Andy Vale

Courtesy of APM

“Bathroom Scales”

Composed by Andy Vale

Courtesy of APM

“Princess Waltz”

Written by W. Davies

Courtesy of APM

“Analyse”

Written by Thomas Edward Yorke

Performed by Thom Yorke

Courtesy of XL Recordings

American Humane Association monitored the animal

action. No animal was harmed in the making of this

film. (AHA 01155)

The Producers Wish to Thank

BOSTON MUSEUM OF SCIENCE

DAN SASAKI

DAVID COPPERFIELD

DEREK DELGAUDIO

PRINCES ARMS HOTEL

Aerial Cameras Provided by

SPACECAM SYSTEMS, INC.

Camera Equipment Provided by

PANAVISION® REMOTE SYSTEMS

Camera Cranes by

CHAPMAN LEONARD STUDIO EQUIPMENT

Prints by

TECHNICOLOR®

Filmed with

PANAVISION®

Cameras and Lenses

4

MPAA #42935

Copyright © 2006 Touchstone Pictures and

Warner Bros. Entertainment Corp.

All material is protected by Copyright Law of the

United States and all countries throughout the world.

All rights reserved. Country of First Publication:

United States of America. Touchstone Pictures and

Warner Bros. are the authors of this motion picture for

purposes of copyright and other laws. Any

unauthorized exhibition, distribution or copying of this

film or any part thereof (including soundtrack) is an

infringement of the relevant copyright and will subject

the infringer to severe civil and criminal penalties.

The story, all characters and incidents portrayed in this

production are fictitious. No identification with actual

persons, places, buildings and products is intended or

should be inferred.

Distributed by

BUENA VISTA PICTURES DISTRIBUTION

CREDITS

5

Special Note to Journalists:

THE PRESTIGE is a mystery structured as a cinematic magic trick.

In order to allow audiences to fully enjoy the unfolding of the story, the filmmakers

respectfully ask that you not reveal too much about the deceptions at the heart of the film.

THE PRESTIGE

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

“We were two young men at the start of a great career.

Two young men devoted to an illusion.

Two young men who never intended to hurt anyone.”

—Alfred Borden, THE PRESTIGE

From acclaimed filmmaker

Christopher Nolan (“Memento,”

“Batman Begins”) comes an

innovative thriller woven out of the

stuff of illusions. In this twisting,

turning tale of urgent mystery, two

Victorian-era magicians spark a

powerful rivalry that builds into an

escalating battle of tricks and an

unquenchable thirst to uncover the

other’s trade secrets. As these two remarkable men pit daring against desire, showmanship against science

and ambition against friendship, the results are dangerous, deadly and definitely deceptive.

Their rivalry is brought to life by two of today’s most compelling screen stars: Tony Award winner

Hugh Jackman, beloved on screen for his portrayal of the feral Wolverine in “X-Men” and its sequels, and

Christian Bale, acclaimed for his intense performances including his recent turn as the Caped Crusader in

“Batman Begins.” Joining them is an exceptional cast of diverse characters portrayed by two-time Oscar®

winner Michael Caine, Golden Globe® nominee Scarlett Johansson, newcomer Rebecca Hall, rising

actress Piper Perabo, fantasy-film cult hero Andy Serkis and rock star David Bowie as the groundbreaking

electrical genius Nikola Tesla.

It all begins in rapidly changing, turn-ofthe-century London. At a time when

magicians are idols and celebrities of the

highest order, two young magicians set out to

carve their own paths to fame. The flashy,

sophisticated Robert Angier (HUGH

JACKMAN) is a consummate entertainer,

while the rough-edged purist Alfred Borden

(CHRISTIAN BALE) is a creative genius

who lacks the panache to showcase his

magical ideas. They start out as admiring

friends and partners. But when their biggest trick goes terribly awry, they become enemies for life—each

intent on outdoing and upending the other. Trick by trick, show by show, their ferocious competition

builds until it knows no bounds, even utilizing the fantastical new powers of electricity and the scientific

brilliance of Nikola Tesla—while the lives of everyone around them hang in the balance. Rife with sleight-

of-hand shocks and revelations, the film delves into a riveting world where the farthest, darkest edges of

faith, trust and the possible are probed.

THE PRESTIGE is directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

7

THE PLEDGE, THE TURN, THE PRESTIGE

Christopher Nolan, based on the novel by Christopher Priest. The film is produced byAaron Ryder, Emma

Thomas and Christopher Nolan. The executive producers are Charles J.D. Schlissel, Chris J. Ball, William

Tyrer, and Valerie Dean.

Creating a mysterious, yet vividly contemporary, portrait of the torch-lit heyday of London’s magic

scene is an accomplished behind-the-camera team that includes Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Wally

Pfister ASC, production designer Nathan Crowley and editor Lee Smith, A.C.E., all of whom also

collaborated with Nolan on “Batman Begins.” Joan Bergin, an Emmy® Award nominee for television’s

“David Copperfield,” designed the costumes.

THE PLEDGE, THE TURN, THE PRESTIGE:

TURNING A MOVIE INTO A MAGIC TRICK AND VICE VERSA

According to Cutter, the magician’s ingeneur (one who designs illusions behind the scenes) played by

Michael Caine: “Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called The Pledge: the

magician shows you something ordinary, but of course, it probably isn’t. The second act is called The Turn.

The magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now, if you’re looking for the

secret…you won’t find it. That’s why there’s a third act, called The Prestige. This is the part with the twists

and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you’ve never seen before.”

Director Christopher Nolan uses these

same principles of carefully constructed

secrets and shocking moments of revelation

to unfold the winding, surprise-filled story of

dueling magicians Robert Angier and Alfred

Borden in THE PRESTIGE—an intricate

thriller in which mysteries abound, illusions

permeate every action, and nothing is quite

what it seems, except the primal human

emotions that drive an epic feud between two

ambitious men.

Nolan has already, with just a handful of

films, established himself as one of filmmaking’s most creative minds, and one with a striking ability to

evoke the mysterious and disorienting, whether in independent classics or major action blockbusters. He

first came to prominence after his promising debut, “Following,” with “Memento,” the ingenious,

backwards-moving thriller about a desperate man trying to avenge his wife’s murder while suffering from

the loss of all short-term memory. Lauded as a cinematic masterpiece that played with notions of time,

space and subjective reality, “Memento” continues to confound audiences and is now studied by film

students. Nolan went on to cut his teeth on a bigger thriller, a remake of the Norwegian noir film

“Insomnia,” in a fresh version starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank, which once again

took the audience on a dizzying journey into crime and fear. He then made another leap, this time into

superhero territory, tackling “Batman Begins,” which unveiled the untold origins of the Dark Knight’s

emergence as the savior of Gotham City. The film was hailed as one of the most original and engaging of

all superhero movies and went on to worldwide acclaim, the rare summer box-office blockbuster that met

with equal critical success.

Now, it seemed that Nolan was the perfect person to tackle material as intricate and unconventionally

entertaining as THE PRESTIGE.

Says producer Emma Thomas: “Traditionally, I think filmmakers have avoided the subject of magic

because there is this feeling that if you’re not seeing it live that it’s too easy to get the wool pulled over your

eyes. But Chris started with the idea that movies are already a kind of magic trick—and instead of

concentrating on the magic shows themselves, the story is all about what happens behind the scenes in the

lives of two driven magicians who are devoted to and obsessed with creating the most baffling illusions.”

8

The film’s genesis began just after Nolan directed “Memento.” Around that same time, executive

producer Valerie Dean read and fell madly in love with Christopher Priest’s acclaimed novel The

Prestige—and immediately knew that amidst its complex blend of history and science fiction, its tale of

an out-of-control magical rivalry would make for an original film.

Dean gave the book to Nolan, who was equally intrigued. “The book created a terrific relationship

between the narrative form of the novel and the techniques and ideas used by magicians to fool you and

engage you in deception—and I felt the exciting thing about making a film of The Prestige would be to

find the cinematic equivalent,” Nolan says. “There’s quite a strong relationship between what magicians

do and what filmmakers do. The filmmaker is very similar to a magician in the way we release

information—what we tell the audience and when—and how we draw the audience in through certain

points of view. We use our own techniques, blind alleys and red herrings, to fool the audience and,

hopefully, to create a satisfying payoff. With THE PRESTIGE, there was an opportunity to really play with

these concepts right before the audience’s eyes.”

Nolan in turn asked producer Aaron Ryder of Newmarket Films to obtain the rights. After his

experience on “Memento,” Ryder trusted that Nolan would create something distinctive with THE

PRESTIGE. “He’s a truly gifted storyteller,” says the producer. “Chris was born to direct movies. I feel

his films are some of the best films being made today and I just loved the idea that he wanted to make

this film to be a magic trick in and of itself.”

Meanwhile, the director approached his brother Jonathan about joining him in tackling the massive

task of adapting Priest’s intricate novel, composed in part of confessional diaries, into a suspenseful

screenplay. Having previously worked together on “Memento”—which Christopher Nolan adapted from

Jonathan Nolan’s time-shifting short story—Jonathan was intrigued by the prospect of doing something

equally challenging, yet entirely different.

This time around, the fun would be in trying to write a movie as an illusion—one that would dazzle,

deceive and ultimately surprise the audience. “The movie definitely had to function as a magic trick,”

Jonathan says. But that concept left him in entirely unexplored territory. He continues: “When I started

writing, I had a bunch of different classic movies in mind that I thought I might pay homage to, but after

I was done, I realized that I’d never seen anything quite like this one before.”

He began by paring through the onion-like layers of Priest’s novel. “The book is a very complicated,

very ambitious, sweeping epic with tons of ideas—and it took me about 18 months to figure out how to

cut it down into something that resembles a film,” Jonathan comments. “I had to find the structure, which

was tricky, because the story is so complexly interwoven. What we came up with is a three-part flashback

structure based on this idea of the three-part

structure of a magic trick.”

Utilizing that three-part structure—

comprised of The Pledge, The Turn and The

Prestige—helped the Nolans cut to the core

of why people have always been so fascinated

by magic. “A lot of it turns on this idea that

Chris and I were fascinated by: that the

audience for a magic show knows that what

they’re about to see is a trick,” Jonathan

explains. “If they actually thought a woman

was going to be sawn in half, they would be

very upset, and definitely not amused. So they know it’s a trick but they also want to feel fooled, so that’s

why that third act, or The Prestige, is so important. The real world is rigid, there’s not a lot of mystery to

it, but people don’t want that to be the case—and that’s where magic comes in. If we’ve got all the rules

figured out and this is the way the world works, where you get a job, save your money and then die—well,

who wants to live in that world? I think we all would prefer that the universe have some surprises, some

tricks up its sleeve.”

THE PLEDGE, THE TURN, THE PRESTIGE

9

BACK TO THE 20TH CENTURY’S FUTURE

Along the way, Jonathan Nolan delved into researching the secretive world of gifted magicians. This

became especially revealing when he met with some of the most shadowy figures in that already shadowy

realm—the ingeneurs who come up with wild ideas for never-before-seen tricks behind the scenes.

“They’re fascinating figures who eschew the limelight, and for a screenwriter, there’s something very

familiar about that,” he laughs. “The attraction is that they get to pull all the strings.”

In researching magic’s illustrious past, Nolan also gained insight into why that grand legacy has faded

into today’s Vegas acts. “I think part of it is that now there are hundreds of different versions of magic out

there but we don’t call them magic. We have television, video games, movies—they’re all spectacles that

you can disappear into just as one used to do at a Victorian magic show,” he says.

THE PRESTIGE heads into many unexpected directions, including having its two main stars—Hugh

Jackman and Christian Bale—morph from heroes to anti-heroes and back again. Jonathan always intended

for the audience to choose sides. “I think you can’t really watch the movie without choosing an allegiance.

But whoever you’re rooting for, the idea is that you’re likely to start questioning it by the film’s end,” explains

the writer. Yet Jonathan himself doesn’t hold a special loyalty to one character or the other. “I like both Angier

and Borden,” he says. “To me, they’re flip sides of the same coin, two complementary halves of one person.”

As he wrote, Nolan never shied away from letting the audience draw their own conclusions about all

that is going on in the raging battle between Angier and Borden. “I love contentious stuff,” he admits.

“Chris and I still argue about aspects of ‘Memento’ and we’ve had arguments about THE PRESTIGE as

well. I think if you get to the point where people are sitting around a table arguing about what your movie

means, then you’ve done your job as a writer.”

After Jonathan wrote an initial draft of the screenplay with Christopher’s creative involvement,

Christopher then jumped in with his own draft. The unique working relationship between the brothers has

always involved one sparking the creativity of the other. Jonathan has his own theory for why they

complement each other so well. “I’ve always suspected that it has something to do with the fact that he’s

left-handed and I’m right-handed,” he remarks, “because he’s somehow able to look at my ideas and flip

them around in a way that’s just a little bit more twisted and interesting. It’s great to be able to work with

him like that.”

Emma Thomas was dazzled by the completed screenplay. “When I read the book, I knew it was going

to make a great movie—I just didn’t quite

know how!” she laughs. “There were so many

different elements to the story, but Jonathan

and Chris were able to distill it all while

keeping the fun of magic and the excitement

of this unusual world alive and keeping the

focus on all these fascinating characters.

Every role had something juicy about it.”

Aaron Ryder was equally impressed. “The

story plays with deception, identity and

obsession,” he says. “In much the same way

that ‘Memento’ pushed the envelope, I

believe on a grander scale, the same could be said for THE PRESTIGE. I truly think that it’s innovative

in that same way. Jonathan and Chris adapted a very complicated book into a tension-filled thriller. It’s

rare to see a film deviate so far from the source material yet still remain true to the story and the theme.”

BACK TO THE 20TH CENTURY’S FUTURE:

NOLAN TAKES A FRESH LOOK AT THE GREAT VICTORIAN AGE OF MAGIC

THE PRESTIGE emerges amidst an intriguing period rarely explored on film—the Golden Age of

magic at the turn of the century. It was the ultimate era for magicians as they pioneered the nascent

beginnings of mass entertainment. On the cusp of a new industrial society, the public was obsessed with

10

the very concept of magical occurrences—whether on the stage or in the life-changing technological

advances and scientific secrets of the universe unfolding before them. In this atmosphere, the best and

boldest of magicians became huge, headline acts across Europe and the U.S. While few other than Harry

Houdini, who began performing in 1899, are remembered today, back then numerous talented magicians

had the chance to become household names and international idols.

“Magicians were essentially the rock stars of their day,” observes Hugh Jackman, who plays Angier,

the charismatic front man who will stop at nothing to attain superstar status. “It was very different from

today in that a lot of the magic back then

seemed truly death-defying to audiences and

it seemed there was a lot of danger because

something could go wrong at any moment. It

was a fantastic time for that new kind of

shocking theater which preceded modern

entertainment.”

Indeed, the times seemed to be magical

themselves, especially with the coming of

one of the biggest revolutionary changes in

human history: electricity. “Electricity must

have really felt like magic to those who didn’t

understand it yet,” observes producer Emma Thomas. With mechanical objects suddenly able to come to

life, the public became fascinated with such mystical subjects as the afterlife, spiritualism and anything

that seemed to defy the rational imagination.

But while the Victorian era is yet another layer in the unfolding of THE PRESTIGE, the last thing

Christopher Nolan wanted to do was make a typically constrained, demure period movie. “The Victorian

Era is often mischaracterized as stuffy and repressive—when it was actually an incredibly exciting time

in human development,” he explains. “You had the second Industrial Revolution, the birth of electricity,

the birth of cinema, the start of widespread international travel and science being turned on its head by

new theories. You also had the beginnings of mass advertising with billboards and posters. It was a period

of great adventurousness with changes that are still being felt today.”

To capture this literally electrifying, alternate vision of Victorian times, Nolan wanted to depict the era

in a way that would come off to audiences as dynamic, immediate and new. “Every creative choice is

opposed to the way period movies are usually done,” explains Thomas. “Wally Pfister shot the film with

mostly handheld cameras with enormous energy, and the characters are brought to life by the actors with

a very contemporary feeling. The background details are all fairly realistic, but Chris has made it so that

period doesn’t really matter anywhere near as much as the story.”

Christopher Nolan continues: “I wanted to be accurate to the feeling rather than the details of the period.

I think it was one of the first times in which the world felt overwhelmed with visual information. Posters

were everywhere, text was everywhere, and there was a lot of imagery assaulting people as they walked

down the streets, exceeding even what we have today. So that’s the view we give of Victorian London—one

that feels very contemporary and immediate, and I think one that lends a more authentic feeling to what it

would be like to be living then. There’s something about a lot of period films that allows the audience to sit

at a remove from the characters. But we wanted to dive into this world in a direct way so it was very

important to use the camerawork and production design to bring the audience deeper inside.”

Above all, Nolan wanted the film’s multiple layers to be accessible to the audience, inviting them not

only into the two main characters’ stunning fall from grace but into the very workings of the narrative.

“We wanted the audience to be aware of the effect the film is having on them as it is unfolding before their

eyes,” he summarizes.

Despite the design complexities, from the beginning the idea was also to shoot the film in as pared-

down and fast-paced a manner as possible. “Coming off of the hugeness of ‘Batman Begins,’ we thought

it would be great to be light on our feet and as stripped-down as we possibly could be,” says Emma

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BACK TO THE 20TH CENTURY’S FUTURE

BACK TO THE 20TH CENTURY’S FUTURE

Thomas. “It gave us a tremendous amount of energy.” That energy was parlayed into creativity once

production moved into full swing. Notes Christian Bale of Nolan: “Chris really understands movie visuals.

He has an iron trap of a mind and knows exactly what he wants to see on the screen. Then, because of

that, he’s able to let others really fly and be very spontaneous.”

Nolan collaborated closely on the visual front with cinematographer Wally Pfister, who first worked

with Nolan on “Memento,” went on to shoot “Insomnia” and garnered an Academy Award® nomination

for his work on “Batman Begins.” “Chris and I have a great collaborative relationship with each other and

a great friendship as well,” says Pfister. “There is not another director I could name that I have the same

level of respect for. He’s not only on top of every element of the film, from the photography to the set

dressing, he’s just a great storyteller and, for me, that’s where it begins.”

Nolan came to Pfister with a precise vision.

“There’s a distinct relationship between the

style of the film and the style of the narrative,

and that was something I was quite specific

about,” says the director. “We did most of the

photography with a handheld camera so that

it’s always at eye level, engaged directly with

the characters, while the narrative itself is quite

clearly above the characters.”

Nolan continues: “Through framing

devices and so forth, we allow the audience to

shift between multiple points of view. So the

audience is sort of seeing a lot of things that the characters themselves aren’t necessarily seeing. They’re

getting the complete picture. And I thought that would create a very interesting tension between the more

subjective sort of storytelling that I’ve done in the past and the traditional omniscient position that

audiences are used to in action thrillers.”

Pfister’s lighting schemes helped to lend the film the dynamic, modern edge that Nolan was seeking.

“We use a lot of natural light to really give a sense of immediacy and a tactile quality to each scene and

location,” explains Nolan. Pfister and Nolan also wanted to use the anamorphic lenses that have lent their

previous films together a distinctive style—but this came with a price. “This is the fourth film we’ve shot

together with Panavision Anamorphic lenses. It’s a beautiful, crisp, grain-free image and there’s nothing

else that really looks that way on the screen,” notes Pfister. “But the cameras weigh about 60 pounds, so

my shoulders really took a pounding!”

Throughout, Nolan and Pfister went after a more handmade, old-school aesthetic—emphasizing

organic camera movements and minimalist opticals over elaborate effects. Explains Pfister: “Chris and I

wanted to really minimize the technical and equipment idea of this picture. We followed as much as

possible the sort of notion that you just put the camera on your shoulder and run in there and capture the

scene. It was a very exciting way to shoot for all of us—for me, for Chris and for the actors, who were

freed of the usual technical restrictions. It actually put me much more in the storytelling process than if I

had been sitting back by a monitor with someone else operating the camera and was much more efficient

and spontaneous. It’s a liberating, unconventional way to shoot and it gives the film a naturalistic style

that makes it very different from how any other period film has been captured in our current era.”

This “old school” approach extended even further in that Nolan and Pfister eschewed the now-standard

Digital Intermediate, the phase in which a motion picture is scanned into a computer so that the

filmmakers can use digital tools to manipulate colors and other image characteristics. Instead, THE

PRESTIGE utilized traditional photochemical printing in which color grading is achieved simply by

exposing the film to varying degrees of light. “We wanted to make the film in the most organic way,”

continues Pfister. “For what we were looking for, the photochemical process gave us the perfect amount

of control and also preserved the integrity of the anamorphic negative.”

Pfister felt that the ultimate goal was to produce an unprocessed facsimile of the darkly imaginative

12

images that swirl around in Nolan’s brain. Observes the cinematographer: “Chris had his eye on every

element that went into this film, from the first words on the page to the final color timing that we did

together—and all along, he’s trying to get the movie out there as he saw it in his head long before pen even

went to paper.”

When it came to palette, Pfister also allowed his color and texture decisions to develop organically,

emerging from the radical changes of the times. “A lot of the palette is dictated by the fact that the film’s

timeline is riding the cusp of the beginning of electricity, which obviously becomes part of the story as

well. So in a lot of the earlier scenes, we’re using candlelight and oil light, and then later on, we introduce

electricity in a grand way, and then we introduce electrical lights in some of the locations as well. So you

have lot of orange and yellow in the candle-lit and oil-lit scenes and kind of a green moonlight effect

mixed with the orange gas lamps for the night scenes. Throughout, I tried to move towards a different look

and mood than I’d seen in period pieces before.”

The night scenes were especially vital to the film’s mysterious moods. “What I hope we’ve done with

the night lighting is to create a dark, dingy and grungy London, where there’s smoke and soot and the

buildings are dirty. Chris and I have shied away from smoke on previous films, but it’s another visual tool

we’re using to make this picture different in tone and atmosphere,” he says.

For Nolan, this grungy look was essential. “I think there’s often too great a tendency in films to try to

clean up the past, to make it look neater and

tidier that it was, so I felt it was appropriate to

really mess up that kind of world, to shake it up

and have it really coming apart at the seams.”

This same philosophy was woven into the

production design as well. “We wanted to get

massive amounts of texture into each setting

so it had the same kind of density as the real

world we live in today,” says Nolan.

The task fell to Nathan Crowley, who

worked with Nolan previously on “Batman

Begins” and “Insomnia.” Crowley created

some 68 diverse sets for THE PRESTIGE, helping to forge the anything-can-happen atmosphere of the

Victorian theaters where Angier and Borden launch their epic feud. From the first time he read the script,

Crowley’s head was spinning with ideas. “THE PRESTIGE is a great mixture of drama with sci-fi, history,

horror and more—it crosses all the boundaries,” he says. “We weren’t setting out to make a strict period

film, so we forged a sort of ‘Victorian Modernism’ that has a real edge to it.”

Crowley began with research, poring in libraries over photographic reference books of 1890s London

to get a sense of the mood and feel. Like Nolan, Crowley was taken aback by the sheer visual

bombardment of a city that, despite lacking radio, film and television, was lined with all manner of visual

advertising. “The streets were littered with advertising, and that was something surprising to me,” says

Crowley. “It really was the start of mass media in a way, so we wanted to capture that sense of chaos and

speed. Another thing I wanted to emphasize was the coming of automation. There is always something

mechanized in the images of the film, giving that sense of constant momentum.”

Crowley and Nolan next began tinkering around with models, a method of working out creative ideas

they had developed earlier. “On ‘Batman Begins,’ we had started building models in Chris Nolan’s garage,

and it was really successful, so we decided to do that again. It was just me and him alone in the garage,

trying to find the feel of the film,” recalls Crowley.

One of Crowley’s favorite touches in the bustling metropolis of a newly modern London is the horse-

drawn double-decker buses bearing Vaudeville show posters on their side panels. Bringing them to life,

however, required ingenuity. “We had to build this stuff from scratch without a lot of resources, so we used

old Western wagons and basically turned them into buses! I think they really define the streets of London

in that era, so I was very happy with the way they came out,” he says.

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BACK TO THE 20TH CENTURY’S FUTURE

Crowley found an ally in his search for turn-of-the-century magic posters: magic consultant, Ricky Jay,

had an astonishing collection. He also visited David Copperfield’s museum in Las Vegas and surveyed

book after book of 19th-century posters. “In those days, magicians always had a poster for their new acts

so we created print lithographs for each of Angier’s and Borden’s shows,” he notes. “A lot of the posters

of that time were comical, with devils behind the shoulder of the illusionist. Our earlier posters do have a

more lighthearted feel, but as they get deeper in their battle, the posters take on a more intense, Black

Magic feeling.”

When it came to recreating the Victorian Age theatres, Crowley veered away from the de-saturated,

shades of grey he used for the external city and dove into brilliant colors—reflecting the idea that life

seemed to take on a vibrancy like nowhere else inside these spaces. The multilevel theater designs, which

feature attics, staircases and basements—where steam-powered hydraulics help to pull off some of the

large-scale mechanical magic tricks—were also influenced by the mathematical art of M.C. Escher, who

often uses visual illusions to profound effect in his drawings.

Another favorite set, especially for Christopher Nolan, was Borden’s workshop, where the obsessive

magician tests his illusions. To get a better sense of what a magician’s shop looks like, Crowley

investigated the workshop of Houdini, among others. “They are sort of like furniture workshops except

that they are filled with magic props and all kinds of mechanical machines,” observes Crowley. He forged

a warm, sprawling space filled to the brim with all kinds of unusual and unexpected objects.

Crowley also created dozens of turn-of-the-century urban locales—from dark bars and dank prisons to

the stark courtroom where Borden stands trial. But the pièce de résistance for Crowley was the futuristic

machine Tesla builds for Angier, which Angier in turn hopes will create the most incredible magic trick

ever witnessed. Crowley wanted the machine to give a sense of scientific mastery, mechanism and

industrialization all at once—so for inspiration, he turned to issues of 1890s-era Scientific American to

see what kinds of unusual inventions were being proposed at the time.

When it came to recreating Tesla’s

Colorado Springs laboratory, Crowley stayed

close to the ample historical record, including

building a life-sized version of the famous

Tesla Coil. “Tesla is the only real historical

figure in the film, even though he brings in a

science-fiction element, so we wanted to stay

true to that,” says Crowley. “At the same time,

Tesla pushes the film out of Victoriana and the

Industrial Revolution and takes it into science-

fiction realms, which made it all very

interesting for me.”

Working closely with Crowley was Special Effects Coordinator David Blitstein, who helped create

some of the film’s inventive mechanical gadgetry. This included the folding birdcages that become a

mirror of the film’s multidimensional structure and view of reality. “Dave created the most amazing

harness that fires and splits birdcages in half and pulls them up your arms so quickly that the eye can’t

see it,” says Crowley. “The interesting challenge was that we had all these sliding trick panels and pistons

that shoot things upwards—all the things that magicians secretly use—but the camera is always right on

them, getting a level of detail the audience wouldn’t usually see.”

Unlike on most films, Crowley continued his work into post-production, consulting with the visual

effects team to make sure all their fantastical additions would work seamlessly with his designs. Yet, despite

all the difficult tasks he had to tackle, Crowley was grateful. “Chris pushes me harder than any other

director I’ve worked with. He challenges me constantly, which I really like,” he says.

The cast and crew were equally appreciative of how Crowley’s sets helped to pull them deeper into the

film’s realms of science, magic and human ambition. “Nathan’s sets really bring you into this world that

Angier and Borden live in. Walking onto the sets was like being transported back to turn-of-the-century

14

London,” says Aaron Ryder. “I really can’t

think of another film that looks like this one.

It’s very unique in design and vision.”

The costumes of THE PRESTIGE, which

also involve elements of illusion and

deception, became another vital element of

the film’s intricate design. Here, Nolan

collaborated with Ireland’s leading costume

designer, Joan Bergin, who has previously

worked on such films as “Veronica Guerin,”

“Laws of Attraction” and “My Left Foot,” as

well as garnering an Emmy® nomination for

the television adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield.”

Bergin had a vision right from the beginning for what she wanted. “It’s a look I would call

‘deconstructed Victorian,’” she says. “We took these images of Victorian clothing and then broke them

down into something more modern and simplified. In this film, it’s not about every detail of the clothes

being correct but trying to be very character-driven and really reveal the characters’ journeys through their

clothing. This is a sort of a Gothic thriller with layer upon layer upon layer and I hope the clothes help the

audience follow the characters through all the twists and turns of the story.”

In choosing the look for each wholly unique character, Bergin wound up on a massive search that took

her from collections of 200-year-old dresses to more modern designer interpretations of Victoriana. She

spent days roaming the endless racks of a large costume house, searching for inspiration among the hats,

capes and extensive assemblage of vintage fabrics. As for palette, she shifted away from the expected.

“I’ve kept the palette quite simple, but it’s unusually dark, with lots of aubergine, Chinese yellows and

black and white—and sometimes looking through a mirror, you’ll see these very rich colors with a kind

of sheen to them that adds another layer to the mystery.”

The core of her work was dressing Angier and Borden—in all their varying and surprising

incarnations. To begin with, she wanted to break through the stereotype of the cheesy, overdressed

magician. “We have this image of Victorian magicians wearing big cloaks with stars on them, but if you

do the research, you find that, actually, they presented themselves as gentlemen, in a white bow tie and

jacket,” she explains. “They really were the rock stars of their day, so I took that a bit further with some

splashes of color and lovely fabrics for their waistcoats, especially as they get more and more famous.”

There was also a focus on contrasting the characters. She continues: “It was fun to work with Angier,

who is someone who is always very beautifully dressed, because Hugh just wears clothes so superbly well.

There’s such elegance to him and, as the film goes on, he just gets grander and grander. Then with

Christian Bale’s Borden, who is from the rough end of town and is sort of a self-made man, we use a more

kind of modern, grungier look, not at all old-fashioned.”

On the women’s side, Bergin was equally driven by character. “I wanted there to be sympathy for Sarah

Borden, and Rebecca Hall, who plays her, looks absolutely glorious in period clothes, so I really went out

of my way to show her as someone who has a very simple but wonderful fashion sense. We wanted to

emphasize the feeling that she might have become someone else except for her circumstances,” she

explains. “What’s interesting is that some of her skirts could easily be from Marc Jacobs or others putting

out collections now—you can see how they take inspiration from that era.”

As for Scarlett Johansson’s Olivia, Bergin took a lot of pleasure in working with the actress. “It takes

a very particular figure to wear Victorian clothes, and Scarlett has the perfect form. Hers are some of my

favorite costumes because I tried to design a kind of modern, sexy, foxy interpretation of what a woman

in the theater would wear at that time. It allowed me to be quite inventive.”

The actors were further inspired by Bergin’s work. “Her clothes completely change your whole

demeanor,” muses Rebecca Hall. “I’m normally a sort of slouchy person, but when I put on these outfits,

I felt like the most prim and proper lady.” Scarlett Johansson, on the other hand, was thrilled to play a

15

BACK TO THE 20TH CENTURY’S FUTURE

THE SHOWMAN

different sort of Victorian lady. “My character

is a bohemian, so I didn’t have to wear those

tight, lacy collars and bustles. Olivia has a

more unconventional wardrobe, which was

very exciting to me.”

In dressing David Bowie as Nikola Tesla,

Bergin took to heart what she had seen said of

the maverick scientist—that he always looked

like he was going to the opera. “He was

impeccably turned out, so we gave Bowie a

cashmere coat with a lamb’s-wool collar that

really suggests this very elegant, brilliant man

who was beaten down by minds who could never aspire to his heights,” she explains.

For Christopher Nolan, the hope was that all the elements of THE PRESTIGE would come together

like the pieces of a provocative puzzle. “I like films that continue to spin your head in all sorts of different

directions after you’ve seen them,” the director concludes. “I hope people walk away from this story

feeling very entertained but also with all kinds of resonances and interesting thoughts banging around in

their brains.”

THE SHOWMAN:

HUGH JACKMAN IS ROBERT ANGIER

In this time when magicians were the great entertainers of their age, no one else can rivet an audience

with the charm and pizzazz of the consummate showman Robert Angier. But when a stage tragedy strikes

close to Angier’s heart, it pushes him to

invent his greatest trick ever, one that will

take him into realms of scientific discovery

and magical deception no one could have

imagined. To play Angier, Christopher Nolan

immediately thought of Hugh Jackman, the

multitalented Australian who has become a

major star of both stage and screen. Jackman

is known to millions of young fans for his

screen portrayal of the hugely popular

superhero Wolverine—an angst-filled mutant

with animal-keen senses—but he is also a

Tony Award winner for his showstopping performance as songwriter Peter Allen in “The Boy From Oz”

and an Emmy® Award winner for his hosting of the televised Tony Awards show.

It was Jackman’s unique mix of innate cool along with his sophisticated showmanship that convinced

Nolan he was the only person who could bring out both the theatrical brilliance and the thirst for

vengeance at the heart of Angier. He also seemed like the perfect persona to create a chain reaction of

fierce competition and rivalry with Christian Bale.

Says Nolan: “When Hugh gets on stage, he truly comes to life. He’s extraordinarily comfortable being

up there and so knowledgeable about his relationship with the audience. That’s exactly what this character

needed—and Hugh presents Angier with a sincerity that’s extremely winning.”

Upon reading the script, Jackman was hooked. He was drawn to Angier’s journey—which takes him

from the bright lights of success to the darkest shadows of the human soul. “At the beginning of the story,

Angier is very optimistic, hopeful and energetic,” he observes. “His main strength as a magician is as a

performer. He simply loves being in front of a crowd. He has an ease and a panache and a great sort of

way with the audience. In fact, to be somewhat critical of him, you could say that his style is sometimes

16

far greater than his content.”

But then Angier meets Alfred Borden and everything in his life changes. “It irks me to even say this,

but Borden is technically a much better magician,” Jackman begrudgingly admits. “My character can sell

a trick to an audience with far more skill, but Borden is a kind of inventive genius. When things go wrong

between them, Angier has two conflicting responses. On the one hand, he begins to loathe Borden, to hate

him, to want vengeance for what he has done, but on the other, he is driven by a competitive obsession to

be better than Borden. So all of Angier’s anger and hate, all his darkness and sadness become focused on

one thing—finding out Borden’s secrets.”

To prepare to play Angier, Jackman conducted his own research into the colorful history of magic,

from its creative heyday in the early 1900s till now. “I found it to be an incredibly mysterious and

interesting world,” he says. “There is something about magicians that makes them different from non-

magicians. They do everything alone, because they don’t want to share their secrets, and they are intensely

competitive. They’re fascinating people, which makes them great characters.”

The more he learned, the more Jackman

began to see that magicians share elements in

common with both conmen and scientists, two

mainstays of contemporary society. “Great

magic is all about misdirection and illusion,

the same skills a conman needs,” he says. “But

just as scientists are obsessed with the things

humans can’t yet understand, magicians tap

into that. What’s great about THE PRESTIGE

is that it melds the mystical, the magical and

the idea of the impossible with elements of

science and reality.”

As for Angier, Jackman believes he is addicted to the audience’s stunned reactions. “He loves seeing

that look in their faces of being fooled. For him, it taps into that human quality of hope and faith, that

feeling that the impossible can actually happen. He is driven by that power,” the actor says.

Watching Jackman bring Angier, and his many different sides, to life was a revelation for Nolan, one

that would be echoed again with Christian Bale’s performance. “It was really interesting to see how both

Hugh and Christian took the ideas behind the way magicians really think and work, and each made these

their own, reconciling them with their own way of looking at the world,” he summarizes.

THE RIVAL:

CHRISTIAN BALE IS ALFRED BORDEN

Christian Bale first heard about THE PRESTIGE while he was playing a very different character—the

dark, crime-fighting superhero Batman in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins.” But it wasn’t until much

later, when he read an early version of Jonathan Nolan’s screenplay, that he knew without a doubt that he

wanted to be a part of the film.

Bale has already established a reputation as an iconoclast when it comes to the roles he has chosen on

his way to becoming one of the most respected actors of his generation. The Welsh-born British actor got

an auspicious start from Steven Spielberg at the age of 13, playing the lost boy who finds himself in a

Japanese internment camp in “The Empire of the Sun.” More recently, his uncommon diversity and

intensity has come to the fore. He chilled the blood embodying every frightening inch of a yuppie

psychopath in “American Psycho,” lost a startling 60 pounds to descend into the psychological anguish of

the thriller “The Machinist” and voiced the title character of Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed animated film

“Howl’s Moving Castle.” Then, just before portraying Pocahontas’ husband, John Rolfe, in Terence

Malick’s “The New World,” he went into deep training and put on pounds of muscle to create the most

nuanced portrait of the superhero Batman yet seen in the blockbuster “Batman Begins.” Shortly after, Bale

THE RIVAL

17

THE RIVAL

encountered THE PRESTIGE.

“After ‘Batman Begins,’ I had really hoped to find some very high-quality scripts, some really good

movies, but I was not finding myself surrounded by them. Then,

I read THE PRESTIGE,” Bale recalls. “I thought it was a very

original, unique piece about a rivalry that knows no limits—and

because magicians are involved, you never know what’s real and

what isn’t, which makes for a fantastic thriller. It’s so layered,

you have to peel it apart. I already knew that Chris is one of the

smartest directors around and that working with him is like

having a very solid foundation on which to build a beautiful

house—and I really fancied doing a movie with him that would

be so different from ‘Batman.’”

He continues: “So I called Chris and said, ‘Whatever you’re

thinking, and you can tell me where to go, but I’m just going to

lay it on the line. This is the one of the best bloody scripts I’ve

ever read and I want to do it.’ I think my passion for it bowled

him over.”

When Bale entered into a deeper conversation with

Christopher Nolan about his vision for THE PRESTIGE, his

passion only increased. “I’ve always admired actors who are like

shape shifters, and Chris is that way as a director,” he observes. “I loved the idea that he wanted to

radically change styles with this film. I liked the spirit behind it. Whereas ‘Batman’ was a juggernaut, this

huge beast of a ship that was hard to maneuver, THE PRESTIGE was like riding horseback—there was a

feeling right from the start of being light on our feet and very free.”

Once Nolan had cast him as Borden, Bale dove into the part. He began by reading not only Christopher

Priest’s novel but also numerous books about the lives of magicians. “You realize that their stature at the

time was so different from what it is nowadays,” he says. Then, he began studying with contemporary

magicians and the film’s consultants, Ricky Jay and Michael Weber, to hone his own fledgling skills of

prestidigitation. “Actually, my grandfather was a magician but I never saw him perform,” notes Bale. “So

it was wonderful to work with Ricky and Michael, who are terrific magicians. Still, they really annoyed

me because I can’t stand when someone can do something I can’t do!”

Spending time with authentic magicians was quite revealing to Bale. “It was really good to see up close

the kind of competitiveness that happens between magicians, because that’s such a strong point in the

story,” he says. “It’s really about how far these two men will go to be the winner and you can see that this

really goes on in magic circles. It’s a very closed profession, and when someone does a trick that no one

else has thought of, you watch as their eyes boil over. Of course, because they’re so mysterious, they don’t

give a lot. So we only learned what was necessary. If you asked too good of a question, they’d find some

clever way to distract you away from it!”

With the tricks he did learn, Bale was constantly surprised. “Some of them just flabbergasted me,” he

says, “while others were almost disappointing because, when you see how it’s done, it’s entirely too

simple. But of course our movie really isn’t about the tricks so much as it is about the psyches of the

people who perform and create them.”

Borden might be sought after as an engineer but he hungers for much more than that. Though he comes

from a tough, lonely background as an orphan, his ambition is nothing less than to be the greatest magical

star of his time—in spite of his inability to connect with audiences. “The thing I love about Borden,”

comments Bale, “is that he’s all about the purity of the magic, about the nature of an ingenious idea. He

doesn’t care about the showmanship, he doesn’t care about selling the trick, he simply cares about creating

the most perfect illusion. He’s totally obsessed with that one thing. Like so many truly brilliant artists,

Borden has no concept of how to market himself.”

Yet his obsession soon also becomes about Angier, who possesses qualities Borden both covets and

18

reviles. “Angier is merely a decent magician, but he is a great showman, an entire marketing operation

unto himself,” Bale observes. “Borden sees Angier as a conman, whereas he’s the real deal. He just doesn’t

understand why the public can’t see that.” As for creating such vengeful feelings towards Hugh Jackman,

Bale states: “We both had completely different approaches to our characters and we both really believed

in our characters, so that made the rivalry truly come alive on screen.”

Borden’s life is complicated not only by Angier’s success but by his relationships with two different

women—his long-suffering wife, Sarah, and Angier’s assistant, Olivia. “Borden’s first and greatest love

will always be magic,” says Bale. “Any relationship will always have to take second place for him, and

that’s a hard thing for his wife to stomach. He

adores his family, but magic is the only thing

he’s always had that gives him value. He’s an

orphan and he’s been on the streets his whole

life. He really has nothing else, except this

one extraordinary talent. I think he really

believes that if you let people in on the secret

of who you are, they’ll think nothing of you.

It’s only by building a mystery around

himself that he can gain any power.”

Like Christopher Nolan, Bale was

completely committed to avoiding period

trappings in his portrayal of Borden. “I think it can be quite funny to watch actors in period movies,

because they act just like other actors in period movies! We just take it for granted that people had this

very formal way of being in the past—but it isn’t true. Both Chris and I felt that we really had to kick that

and get away from it. So the idea was to focus on the characters—who have the same needs and wants and

desires as anyone in today’s world. Also, usually period movies are all about the privileged. THE

PRESTIGE is much more gritty and hands-on dirty and you get to see the darker side.”

Ultimately, Bale hopes that audiences will be as surprised by THE PRESTIGE as he was upon first

reading the script. “It really is a movie that I can’t compare to anything else. It’s a movie where you’ve

really got to pay attention. And that’s just what life is like, too—you’ve got to pay attention.”

THE MAGICIANS’ SIDEKICKS:

MICHAEL CAINE IS CUTTER AND SCARLETT JOHANSSON IS OLIVIA

Magicians have long had need for close

assistance. Whether behind the scenes—

where brilliant imaginations think up the

tricks in the first place—or on the stage—

where sexy, charming women have always

served as a delightful means to distract the

audience—magicians must rely, however

begrudgingly, on the talents of others. In THE

PRESTIGE, the assistants of Angier and

Borden only serve to further thicken the plot

with their own agendas and deceptions.

Some of the most vital behind-the-scenes

players in the magic world are the people known as ingeneurs—the dark, secretive figures of technical

prowess who actually create the tricks. Angier’s ingeneur is the retired conjurer Cutter, portrayed with wit

and verve by one of cinema’s most lauded stars, Sir Michael Caine. Though Caine has played an

extraordinary range of characters in a vast array of film stories, he had yet to encounter a world quite like

that of THE PRESTIGE. Add to that the chance to reunite with Christopher Nolan, with whom he had

THE MAGICIANS’ SIDEKICKS

19

THE MAGICIANS’ SIDEKICKS

worked so successfully on “Batman Begins,”

and Caine was immediately interested. He

says that Nolan brings to mind another

director from the past. “He reminds me of

Alfred Hitchcock, the way that everything is

about creating the best moments of suspense,”

says Caine. “He is tremendous with

suspense.”

As for his character, Caine describes him

as “a teacher, a father and a guide to Angier.”

He continues: “He finds Angier, helps him to

create his best tricks, and then watches as it

all goes terribly wrong.” In creating his nuanced portrait, Caine even altered his highly recognizable voice.

“Cutter is an older man, and in those days, they smoked like chimneys and drank like fish, so I brought

his voice down into the throat with a kind of cough in it,” he explains. “And his accent is very thick and

rather menacing.” Body posture was also key to Caine’s reading of Cutter. “He’s a powerful man, but also

very relaxed,” he observes. “One thing about him is that he often has his hands in his pockets—but when

they come out, you better worry!”

The filmmakers knew that Caine would make the role entirely his own. Says Nolan: “Michael Caine’s

character really becomes something of the heart of the movie. He has a wonderful warmth and emotion

to him that draws you into the story and allows you to have a point of view on these characters without

judging them too harshly.”

Meanwhile, when Angier hires an alluring stage assistant—Olivia

Wenscombe—she becomes both a pawn and a player in the rivalry

between Angier and Borden. Olivia is played by Golden Globe® nominee

Scarlett Johansson, who says she was immediately attracted by the

screenplay. “It was one of the best scripts I’d ever read and I thought it

would be great fun to play this vivacious, bohemian character,” she says.

“There’s a spiciness to Olivia that I think Chris really honed in on and I

felt there was a part of me that I could bring to her.”

It was easy for Johansson to understand Olivia’s strong attraction to

Angier. “She’s very taken with his passion for what he does. He’s one of

those sorts of men who seems very untouchable, as well, and I think that’s

quite attractive to

a young girl—

that brooding,

selfish behavior.

But when he betrays her, it really hurts her.” As for

Borden, she says: “She’s asked to live amongst the

enemy with Borden, and I think Olivia and Borden

come to a kind of understanding but she really will

always be in love with Angier.”

The chance to work with Christopher Nolan

was also a draw for Johansson. “He has that rare

kind of Old Hollywood quality. I don’t know

exactly how to describe it, but you never want to disappoint Chris because you know he will always hold

up his end of the bargain,” she observes.

Johansson especially enjoyed her up-close introduction to the world of magic—finding it not so

dissimilar from the world she knows best. “It’s very secretive and competitive,” she observes. “It’s all

about the commitment to the illusion, which isn’t that different from any form of entertainer.”

20

THE SCIENTIST:

DAVID BOWIE IS NIKOLA TESLA AND ANDY SERKIS IS TESLA’S ASSISTANT, ALLEY

Amidst all the beguiling fictional characters of THE PRESTIGE lies a historic figure who has long

been shrouded in mystery and intrigue: Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), radical inventor, engineer and scientist.

A Serbian immigrant to America, Tesla was a modern-day Da Vinci who dreamed up ideas about robots,

computers, microwave ovens, radar and fax machines long before anyone else could imagine such

“magical” technologies. He received more

than 700 patents in his lifetime and helped to

forge our modern high-tech society. He

discovered the rotating magnetic field, which

became the basis for all machinery using

alternating current, and also invented the

Tesla Coil, an induction device widely used in

radio technology. Indeed, it was Tesla’s

technology that helped to change the world

from an endless chain of disconnected

communities to one partly united by

information and communication.

Yet so eccentric was Tesla that he was said to be the inspiration for the mad scientist in Max Fleischer’s

original “Superman” cartoons. He pushed at the very frontiers of science—going where no one else dared.

At his Colorado Springs laboratory, depicted in the film, Tesla conducted all kinds of wild experiments,

including forging man-made lightning bolts, and was said to be examining such far-out notions as time

travel, death rays and interstellar communication.

But, as with most visionaries, Tesla was also surrounded by controversy and hounded by injustices. He

had an infamous rivalry with another genius inventor: Thomas Edison. Tesla had originally worked for

Edison when he first came to America, but when the two parted ways over a payment disagreement, an

obsessive feud ensued—one reminiscent perhaps of Angier and Borden. Mystery would follow Tesla even

into death. After his passing, most of his scientific papers disappeared without a trace, never to be found,

leading many to wonder what fantastic or

dangerous ideas were among them.

In THE PRESTIGE, the character of Tesla

blurs the lines between magic and science

when he agrees to invent a machine that will

allow Angier to out-do Alfred Borden’s most

stunningly implausible stage trick. To play

Tesla, the filmmakers knew they would need

someone entirely out of the ordinary—a

magnetic figure so used to operating outside

of the lines, he would be instantly believable

as a mad genius. Given this description, the

obvious choice was David Bowie, the risk-taking rock performer who has also taken a wide range of

acclaimed acting roles, from “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” to “The Elephant Man.” But first, the

filmmakers would have to convince him to take the role.

“Chris has always been a fan of Bowie,” explains Aaron Ryder, “and we felt we needed the kind of

persona and weight that Bowie carries as a superstar for Tesla.” Adds Emma Thomas: “He was just so

perfect for the role that we couldn’t imagine anyone else who could pull it off—and then, Chris managed

to wrangle a meeting with him in New York, which we were all very nervous about.”

Nolan recalls: “I simply went and explained to him why he was the only person in the world who could

play this part—and luckily, he agreed to do it.”

21

THE SCIENTIST

THE MAGICIANS’ WIVES

Playing Tesla’s fictional assistant—and the man who serves as liaison between the great scientist and

Angier—is Andy Serkis, who became a cult hero among fantasy-film lovers for his extraordinary

embodiment of Gollum in the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and for his work as the famous

beast in Peter Jackson’s “King Kong.” Here, he plays the American Roger Alley. “Andy makes for a

wonderfully memorable character as the sort of front man for Tesla,” Nolan comments. “It was also really

fun to see him in the flesh and to see his real face on screen!”

Says Serkis of the character: “Alley is Tesla’s gatekeeper, manager, minder, bookkeeper and closest

associate, all at once. He’s there to pull switches, to get his hands dirty and basically enable things to

happen. He’s a mirror in a way of Michael Caine’s Cutter. He’s basically Tesla’s ‘engineer.’” Although

Alley never existed in real life, Serkis sees

him as “representing the few disciples who

saw that Tesla’s work was visionary and

decided to go out on a limb for him.”

In preparing for the role, Serkis read up on

the period and became even more fascinated.

“It was an amazing time when you had people

like Edison, Tesla, Darwin and Muybridge

who were changing our fundamental views of

time and space. The railroads were being laid,

the telephone was being invented—and

because of all this, I think there was a great

enjoyment of the mysterious and a crossover where science could help magic. So it’s great because it’s a

very potent era to examine.”

Yet, like the Nolans, Serkis also sees the story of THE PRESTIGE as transcending its era. “I think

anyone who has ever obsessed about their work or their family or anything at all will really key into the

emotions of this story,” he summarizes.

THE MAGICIANS’ WIVES:

PIPER PERABO IS JULIA MCCULLOUGH AND REBECCA HALL IS SARAH BORDEN

Magicians may be able to pull off incredible illusions, but even they are not immune to the complex

realities of love and relationships. And indeed, it is a dazzling but disastrous trick involving Angier’s wife,

Julia, that sets in motion his increasingly treacherous magical feud with Alfred Borden.

Playing Julia McCullough is Piper Perabo,

the rising American star who has come to the

fore in a number of lighthearted contemporary

comedies but here takes on a much darker

role—as the woman willing to go the

dangerous extremes for the cause of a great

magic trick. Perabo was fascinated by the

chance to explore through Julia the inner

world of the magician’s assistant. “Julia is the

kind of girl who is willing to be sawed in half

and have knives thrown at her and that sort of

thing,” explains Perabo. “She’s very young

and I think she’s just happy to feel like she belongs in this world of magicians—to actually have that sense

of power of being a woman with a job, where men respect her and take her seriously, which was quite rare

in that time. Magicians were really glamorous and glitzy at that point. The vibe was more like a rock

concert and it would have been very exciting for Julia.”

Perabo not only had to take on an English accent for the role—something she had honed for the recent

22

British comedy “Imagine Me and You”—she also had to learn to perform the adventurous “water tank”

trick, in which she is bound by a rope and dropped from a considerable height into a tank of water, only

to be sealed within. “I got pretty good at it by the end,” Perabo laughs.

But while Angier’s wife is a part of the magic show, Borden’s wife, Sarah, sees it as her competition.

Convinced that her husband will always love magic more than he loves her, she is flummoxed and hurt by

his constant changes of heart. Starring as Sarah is British newcomer Rebecca Hall, a young actress best

known so far for her work on the London stage, who was cast after the filmmakers saw her reading on

tape. “We knew right away we were seeing something special,” says Thomas. “This is one of her first film

roles but there will be many more.”

Hall was fascinated by the film’s magical nature. “It creates a nice tension between what’s fun and

entertaining about magic and what’s potentially scary and dangerous about it,” she comments. She also

felt a lot of empathy for her character’s romantic trials. “Sarah’s got a difficult job of it because she’s very

much in love with a man who on some days is 100% obsessed with his work and yet, on others, seems

completely in love and committed to her,” she explains. “At first, she accepts that the work side of him is

going to be secret, but she becomes increasingly frustrated by the feeling that she doesn’t know the real

intricacies of what he is doing or who he really is.”

Since THE PRESTIGE is only Hall’s second feature film, the chance to work one-on-one with an actor

of the caliber of Christian Bale seemed almost like a surreal dream to her. “When I met him, I was pretty

intimidated because he’s such a huge star,” she says, “but I have so much respect for everyone in this film

and I learned so much that it was an incredible experience.”

THE PRESTIGE’S CONSULTANTS:

RICKY JAY AND MICHAEL WEBER TEACH THE CAST MAGIC

With the cast in place, the filmmakers brought in magicians Ricky Jay and Michael Weber to train

them in the classic magician’s skills of prestidigitation and misdirection. However, because the magic

tricks in THE PRESTIGE simply provide the backdrop for the story of Angier and Borden’s hazardous

rivalry—and are not intended to fool the film’s audience—Jay and Weber’s main task was to give the cast

a deeper sense of how magicians think, move and perform.

Jay heads the company Deceptive Practices, which provides expertise in magic, con games and card

tricks for films involving everything from illusions to gambling. On THE PRESTIGE, he was thrilled to

find himself with such devoted and curious students. “One of the greatest pleasures for us was working

with Christian and Hugh, who both had remarkable energy and an amazing willingness to practice and

rehearse. These guys were terrific in terms of the attention they paid to detail,” says Jay.

As for the story, Jay thinks that, for all its fantastical twists and turns, it rings quite true to a magician.

“Those kinds of competitions between magicians really did exist,” he remarks. “That was a time in

London when five or six magicians would be playing at theaters right next to each other on the same night,

a time that has never been duplicated in the history of magic. It’s also interesting because that was a time

when there was a strong relationship between early cinema and magic. A lot of the people who worked on

the development of the motion picture camera were also magicians. Since then, people have become

suspicious of any magic done on film, but one of the things we’ve tried to do with this film is bring out

the idea that there was a lot of integrity to magic in those days, so it kind of brings everything back

full circle.”

Says Aaron Ryder of Jay and Weber’s contributions: “We felt very lucky to have these two on board.

They worked with Hugh and Christian extensively, bringing them a little bit more into what is normally

an incredibly secretive brotherhood. Still, they basically agreed that they would teach only the tricks that

were necessary for the script—and they wouldn’t give away too many secrets!”

THE PRESTIGE’S CONSUL T ANTS

23

ABOUT THE CAST

ABOUT THE CAST

HUGH JACKMAN (Robert Angier) most recently reprised his role

as Logan/Wolverine in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the third installment of

the “X-Men” franchise. He made his first major U.S. film appearance in

the first “X-Men” movie—and this stellar debut led to leading roles in

“Someone Like You,” “Swordfish” and “Kate and Leopold,” for which he

received a 2002 Golden Globe® nomination. Jackman reprised his role as

Logan/Wolverine in “X2” and went on to star in the blockbuster “Van

Helsing.” In addition to THE PRESTIGE, he stars this year in Woody

Allen’s “Scoop” and Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain.”

On stage, for his portrayal of the 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen

in “The Boy From Oz,” Jackman received the 2004 Tony Award for Best

Actor in a musical as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics

Circle and Theatre World awards. His previous theater credits include: “Carousel” at Carnegie Hall,

“Oklahoma!” at the National Theater in London (Olivier Award nomination), “Sunset Boulevard” (MO

Award—Australia’s Tony Award) and Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” (MO Award nomination).

Jackman’s career began in Australia in the independent films “Paperback Hero” and “Erskineville

Kings” (Australian Film Critics’ Circle Best Actor award and The Australian Film Institute Best Actor

nomination). In 1999, he was named “Australian Star of the Year” at the Australian Movie Convention.

Born in Wales, CHRISTIAN BALE (Alfred Borden) grew up in

England and the USA. He made his film debut in Steven Spielberg’s

World War II epic “Empire of the Sun.” Bale’s work to date includes

“Henry V,” “The Portrait of a Lady,” “The Secret Agent,” “Metroland,”

“Velvet Goldmine,” “All the Little Animals,” “American Psycho,”

“Shaft,” “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” “Reign of Fire,” “Laurel Canyon,”

“The Machinist,” “Batman Begins” and “The New World.”

He will next star in the independent films “Harsh Times” for

writer/director David Ayer and “Rescue Dawn” for director Werner

Herzog. This fall, Bale will film “I’m Not There” and “3:10 to Yuma,”

followed next year by “Dark Knight.”

MICHAEL CAINE (Cutter) has been in over 90 motion pictures and

has been nominated for six Academy Awards® including “Alfie,”

“Sleuth,” “Educating Rita” and “The Quiet American.” The highly lauded

thespian won Best Supporting Actor Oscars® for his performances in

“Hannah and Her Sisters” and “The Cider House Rules.” Caine’s other

honors include the New York Critics’ Best Actor Award for “Alfie,” a

Golden Globe® Best Actor Award and a BAFTA Award (the British

equivalent of an Oscar®) for “Educating Rita,” a Golden Globe® for

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and a Golden Globe® for “Little Voice.”

Caine was born in South London and had a childhood fascination with

cinema. Leaving school at sixteen, he worked in numerous menial jobs

until National Service with the Royal Fusiliers took him to Korea. Upon

his discharge, his first job in the theater was as assistant stage manager in Horsham, Sussex. When he

returned to London, he acted with Joan Littlewood’s Theater Workshop and played a minor role in the film

“A Hill in Korea” while obtaining bit parts in other movies and walk-on roles in a couple of West End plays.

Eventually touring Britain with one repertory company after another, he developed a relaxed stage

24

presence and perfected a vast range of accents. Starting out as an understudy in the role of Private

Bamforth in the London stage hit “The Long and the Short and the Tall,” Caine ended up taking over the

part when O’Toole dropped out and toured the provinces for six months. Following this stint, his television

and film parts grew more substantial. The turning point in his film career came in 1963, when he landed

the part of aristocratic Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead in “Zulu.” Passing forever out of the ranks of

anonymity, he next played Harry Palmer in the espionage thriller “The Ipcress File,” which exceeded all

expectations at the box office.

In 1966, “Alfie” catapulted Caine to superstardom. In the annual British film critics’ poll, it was voted

Best Picture of the Year. It also gave him his first Academy Award® nomination. In the late sixties, he

appeared in “Gambit,” “Funeral in Berlin,” “Billion Dollar Brain,” “Hurry Sundown,” “Woman Times

Seven,” “Deadfall,” “The Italian Job,” “The Battle of Britain,” “Too Late the Hero” and “The Last Valley.”

During the seventies, he starred in “X, Y and Zee,” “Pulp,” “Sleuth,” “The Wilby Conspiracy,” “The

Romantic Englishwoman,” “The Man Who Would Be King,” “Harry & Walter Go to New York,”

“California Suite” and “The Swarm.” In the eighties, Caine starred in “Dressed to Kill,” “Victory,” “The

Hand,” “Death Trap,” “Educating Rita,” “Blame It on Rio,” “The Holcroft Covenant,” “Hannah and Her

Sisters,” “Sweet Liberty” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

In 1992, he and American producer Martin Bregman formed M & M Productions to make films in

Britain for Caine to star in or direct. Their first production was “Blue Ice,” costarring Sean Young and

directed by Russell Mulcahy. Caine is also an author. He wrote an autobiography, What’s It All About?, as

well as Acting on Film, a book based on a highly successful series of lectures he gave on BBC Television.

Caine most recently appeared in “Batman Begins,” “Bewitched” and Gore Verbinski’s “The Weather

Man” with Nicolas Cage. In 2000, Queen Elizabeth II honored Michael Caine with knighthood. Born

Maurice Micklewhite, he is now officially known as Sir Michael Caine.

With more than a decade of work under her belt, four-time Golden

Globe® nominee and BAFTA winner SCARLETT JOHANSSON

(Olivia) has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most talented young

actresses. Johansson received rave reviews and a Best Actress Award at

the Venice Film Festival for her starring role opposite Bill Murray in

“Lost in Translation,” the critically acclaimed second film by director

Sofia Coppola. Johansson also portrayed the title character in the much-

admired “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” a film adapted from the novel of the

same name about the painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth).

Earlier this year, Johansson was seen in Woody Allen’s “Scoop,”

opposite Hugh Jackman, and the Brian DePalma film “The Black

Dahlia.” She also recently finished shooting the lead role in “The Nanny

Diaries,” based on the highly successful book of the same name.

At the age of 14, Johansson attained worldwide recognition for her performance as Grace Maclean, the

teen traumatized by a riding accident in Robert Redford’s “The Horse Whisperer.” She went on to star in

Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World,” garnering a Best Supporting Actress award from the Toronto Film Critics

Circle. Johansson was also featured in the Coen Brothers’ dark drama “The Man Who Wasn’t There,”

opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Frances McDormand. Her other film credits include the critically

acclaimed Weitz brothers’ film “In Good Company” as well as “A Love Song for Bobby Long,” opposite

John Travolta, which garnered her a Golden Globe® nomination (her third in two years). Recently she was

seen in Woody Allen’s “Match Point,” which garnered her a fourth consecutive Golden Globe® nomination

in three years, and in “The Island” opposite Ewan McGregor for director Michael Bay.

Her additional credits include Rob Reiner’s comedy “North”; the thriller “Just Cause,” with Sean

Connery and Laurence Fishburne; and a breakthrough role in the critically praised “Manny & Lo,” which

earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination. A New York native, Johansson made her professional

acting debut at the age of eight in the off-Broadway production of “Sophistry,” with Ethan Hawke, at New

ABOUT THE CAST

25

ABOUT THE CAST

York’s Playwright’s Horizons.

PIPER PERABO (Julia McCullough) has been working nonstop

since her big-screen splash in Jerry Bruckheimer’s “Coyote Ugly.” She

was recently seen in Adam Shankman’s “Cheaper by the Dozen 2,” in

which she reprised her role as the eldest daughter to Steve Martin and

Bonnie Hunt’s characters; in the romantic comedy “Imagine Me & You”

with Lena Heady and Matthew Goode; and in the crime drama “10th &

Wolf ” with an ensemble cast that includes James Marsden and Dennis

Hopper. She next stars in “Because I Said So” with Diane Keaton, Mandy

Moore and Lauren Graham. Also in the wings is “First Snow,” a film

directed by Mark Fergus, costarring Guy Pearce and Adam Scott. Perabo

is currently filming an untitled Pastor Brothers project for Paramount

Vantage in New Mexico. She will play the female lead opposite Chris

Pine and Lou Taylor Pucci in the post-apocalyptic thriller about four friends trying to escape a viral

pandemic. The film is set to release in 2007.

Perabo’s feature film debut was in the comedy “White Boyz,” written by Danny Hoch. She also starred

in the comedy caper “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” opposite Robert De Niro and Renee

Russo, “George and the Dragon” with Michael Clarke Duncan and James Purefoy, the cult favorite “Lost

and Delirious” directed by Lea Pool, and the sci-fi thriller “The Cave” opposite Cole Hauser, Morris

Chestnut and Lena Headey.

REBECCA HALL (Sarah Borden) comes to the big screen after

making her feature film debut earlier this year in Tom Vaughn’s “Starter

for Ten.”

Last year, Hall received wide acclaim for her performance as

Rosalind, Shakespeare’s love-conflicted heroine in Peter Hall’s

production of “As You Like It,” which began at The Theatre Royal Bath

in 2003 and was followed by an international tour. It was revived in 2005

at the Rose Theatre in Kingston and subsequently ran at the Brooklyn

Academy of Music, Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theater and the Curran

Theater in San Francisco. In summer 2004, she starred in three

productions at the Theatre Royal Bath: in the title role in Timberlake

Wertenbaker’s “Galileo’s Daughter,” (directed by Peter Hall), Elvira in

Simon Nye’s version of the Moliere comedy “Don Juan” (directed by Thea Sharrock) and as Ann

Whitfield in Shaw’s epic “Man and Superman” (directed by Peter Hall). In summer 2003, she starred as

Barbara in D.H. Lawrence’s “Fight for Barbara” (directed by Thea Sharrock) at the Theatre Royal Bath.

For her West End debut as Vivie, the tough-minded daughter in “Mrs. Warren’s Profession” (Strand

Theatre, premiered October 2002), Hall garnered the Ian Charleson Award. In 2003, she was again

nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for “As You Like It.”

While reading English at Cambridge, she played Miranda in “The Tempest” and Martha in Edward

Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” and directed productions of “Cuckoo” by Guiseppe Manfredi

and Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Inspector Hound.”

Hall’s television credits include Brendan Maher’s forthcoming “Wide Sargasso Sea” for BBC 4, Peter

Hall’s acclaimed adaptation of Mary Wesley’s novel “The Camomile Lawn” for Channel 4 and “Don’t

Leave Me This Way,” directed by Stuart Orme.

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DAVID BOWIE (Tesla) was born in 1947. Between the late ’60s and

the mid-’70s, he experimented with multimedia, also recording the

albums “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Space Oddity,” “The Rise and

Fall of Ziggy Stardust,” “Aladdin Sane,” “Diamond Dogs,” “Station to

Station” and “Young Americans.” The track “Fame” taken from this

album was to be his first U.S. No. 1.

In 1976, he relocated to Berlin, recording “Low” and “Heroes” with

Eno and Tony Visconti. In 1979, he made his Broadway debut in “The

Elephant Man” and released the Visconti co-production “Scary Monsters

and Super Creeps,” followed by the Nile Rogers-produced “Let’s Dance.”

Between the mid-’80s and the present, he has worked with his band Tin

Machine, collaborated with the dance company La La La Human Steps,

and written music for Hanif Kureishi’s “Buddha of Suburbia.” The year 1992 brought one of rock’s first

CD-ROMs, “Jump.”

In 1994, reunited once again with Eno, he produced the experimental “Outside” album, followed in

1997 with “Earthling” and, in 1999, “hours…,” his twenty-third studio album. In 1999, he became a

Commandeur dans L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. And in 2000, Bowie was voted the #1 Most Influential

Artist of All Time by the U.K.’s tastemaking tome, the NME. Bowie’s next project, in 2002, was a further

recorded collaboration with Tony Visconti, entitled “Heathen.” The accompanying live dates in Europe

and America saw full performances of both “Heathen” and the seminal “Low.” A year later, the “Reality”

album was launched with the world’s largest interactive, live-by-satellite event and was followed by the

rapturously received and critically acclaimed “A Reality Tour” of the world.

The year 2006 has seen Bowie return to acting, with THE PRESTIGE adding to such cinematic

highlights as Nic Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” Martin Scorcese’s “The Last Temptation of

Christ,” Tony Scott’s “The Hunger” and Nagisa Oshima’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.” In spring of

2007, Bowie will be the inaugural curator of the “Highline” arts and music festival in New York.

ANDY SERKIS’ (Alley) most memorable and critically acclaimed

roles were as Gollum in all three of “The Lord of the Rings” films and in

the Peter Jackson epic “King Kong” playing two roles, King Kong and a

cook. He will next be in the HBO film “Longford,” in the animated

DreamWorks film “Flushed Away” and in the family action-adventure

“Stormbreaker.”

Recently, he also played opposite Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo

in “13 Going on 30,” directed by Gary Winick. Other film credits include

Quinn in the World War I horror feature “Deathwatch,” the Factory

Records producer Martin Hannett in “24 Hour Party People,” the

eccentric choreographer in “Topsy Turvy” and the coked-up yuppie in

“Career Girls.” He played leading roles in “Shiner” with Michael Caine,

“Mojo,” “Among Giants,” “Loop,” “Sweety Barrett,” “The Jolly Boys Last Stand,” as well as “Stella Does

Tricks,” “Five Seconds to Spare,” “The Near Room” and “Pandemonium.” He also wrote and directed a

short film called “Snake,” starring his wife, Lorraine Ashbourne, and Rupert Grave.

His extensive television works include a highly acclaimed performance in a recent adaptation of

“Oliver Twist” and lead roles in “The Jump” and the series “Finney,” along with many guest appearances

including “Shooting the Past” and “Touching Evil.” Notably, his voice was heard on the Fox television

show “The Simpsons.”

Serkis has played a huge range of parts in theater in London and across the United Kingdom. His

recent critically acclaimed roles include Iago in “Othello” (Royal Exchange Theatre), Potts in the original

cast of “Mojo” by Jez Butterworth, “King Lear” and “Hush” all for the Royal Court Theatre, “Hurlyburly”

at the Old Vic and Queen Theatres, “Decadence” at the Bolton Octagon, and “Cabaret” at the Crucible

ABOUT THE CAST

27

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Theatre, Sheffield. In 2003, he made his directorial debut with the play “The Double Bass” at the

Southwark Playhouse in London.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

THE PRESTIGE marks the fifth film for CHRISTOPHER NOLAN (Director/Screenwriter). Cowritten with his brother and frequent collaborator Jonathan Nolan, and starring Hugh Jackman, Christian

Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine, the film depicts an intense rivalry between two magicians

who become obsessed with outdoing one another, leading to self-destruction and murder. The Touchstone

Pictures release is due in theaters October 20, 2006.

Filmmaking has been a lifelong pursuit for Nolan, who began making movies at an early age with his

father’s Super 8mm camera. While studying English Literature at University College of London, Nolan

shot 16mm films at UCL’s film society, learning the guerrilla film techniques he would later use to make

his first feature, “Following.” The no-budget noir, which The New Yorker’s Bruce Diones hailed as “leaner

and meaner than the thrillers of Hitchcock,” enjoyed great success at international film festivals, including

Toronto, Rotterdam, Slamdance, and Hong Kong, prior to being released theatrically in the U.S.

(Zeitgeist), U.K. (Alliance), France (CCI) and various other territories.

Nolan’s second feature, “Memento,” was named film of the year by the Broadcast Film Critics.

Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano, the small-budget independent garnered a

DGA Award nomination. In addition, Nolan’s screenplay, based on a short story by Jonathan Nolan,

received an Academy Award® nomination for best screenplay and a Golden Globe® nomination and was

honored by the Los Angeles Film Critics and Broadcast Film Critics, as well as won the Waldo Salt

Screenwriting Award at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Nolan followed “Memento” with the critically acclaimed psychological thriller “Insomnia” for Warner

Bros. Pictures, Section 8 and Witt-Thomas Films. Starring Academy Award® winners Al Pacino, Hilary

Swank, and Robin Williams, the film earned Nolan the Best Director of the Year award from the London

Critics Circle. In 2005, Nolan co-wrote and directed “Batman Begins,” starring Christian Bale, Liam

Neeson, and Michael Caine. The blockbuster pleased critics and fans alike, reinvigorating the franchise

and paving the way for the recently announced sequel, “The Dark Knight.”

JONATHAN NOLAN (Screenwriter) was born in London and grew up in the Chicago area. His short

story “Memento Mori” became the basis for the acclaimed noir classic “Memento,” directed by his brother

Christopher Nolan. In addition to THE PRESTIGE, Nolan also wrote the screenplay for the forthcoming

Batman adventure, “The Dark Knight,” based on a story by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer.

Producing challenging and thought-provoking fare has become a trademark for EMMA THOMAS

(Producer). Thomas most recently produced the blockbuster hit “Batman Begins” and will next produce the

sequel, “The Dark Knight.” She previously was an associate producer on the internationally acclaimed

independent hit “Memento,” which went on to win numerous awards, establishing Thomas as a bona fide

success. This was reinforced with her next feature, “Insomnia,” starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams and

Hilary Swank. Earlier, her first feature film, “Following,” was a major turning point in her career. Shot on

weekends over the course of a year, “Following” was guerrilla filmmaking at its finest and gained

recognition at film festivals around the world. Having studied at the prestigious University College in

London, Thomas began her career at Working Title Films in London, where she worked in physical

production for 5 years. While at Working Title, she gained the grassroots knowledge of film production that

she would later employ so successfully in her career. Her approach is marked by intense collaboration,

having worked with many of the same crew throughout all of her films, both independent and studio. Thomas

and Christopher Nolan are also developing a motion picture version of “The Prisoner,” based on the

groundbreaking 1960s television show. She resides in Los Angeles with Christopher Nolan and their family.

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AARON RYDER (Producer), in a relatively short period of time, has established himself as one of the

brightest and most prolific young producers working today. In 1999, he teamed with Newmarket to serve

as the company’s president of production and in-house producer. During his tenure, he developed,

produced and executive produced such films as “The Mexican,” starring Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts,

Christopher Nolan’s independent hit “Memento,” as well as the cult hit “Donnie Darko,” with Drew

Barrymore and Jake Gyllenhaal. Other credits include “Start Raving Mad” and “Wrong Turn.”

In 2003, Ryder shifted gears to help Newmarket build their fledgling distribution company. Ryder was

intimately involved in acquiring standout films for domestic distribution including “Whale Rider,”

“Monster” and “The Woodsman.”

In 2004, Ryder and Newmarket formed Raygun Productions—a non-exclusive production entity for

Ryder to produce up to two films a year for the Newmarket pipeline, while at the same time affording him

the ability to produce films outside of the parent company.

Recent projects outside of his deal with Newmarket include: “The Amateurs,” starring Jeff Bridges,

scheduled to be released in January 2007; “The Return,” a supernatural thriller for Universal’s Rogue

Pictures, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar; and “The TV Set,” which he produced with writer/director Jake

Kasdan, starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver and set to come out in theaters April 2007.

CHRIS J. BALL and WILLIAM TYRER (Executive Producers) founded Newmarket Entertainment

Group (“Newmarket”) in 1994. Over the past twelve years, Newmarket has grown from its roots as a

film finance company into one of the leading producers and distributors operating in the world of

independent film.

In its early years, Newmarket financed more than 75 independent feature films such as “The Usual

Suspects,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man,” and the Wachowskis’ debut, “Bound.” In the late ’90s, Tyrer and

Ball built an exceptional creative team and guided the company into film production and distribution.

Newmarket’s first production was “Memento,” directed by Christopher Nolan, and this film was followed

up by such productions as “The Mexican” and such co-productions as “Cruel Intentions” and “The Skulls.”

Newmarket’s distribution arm, Newmarket Films, was formed to theatrically release “Memento” in the

U.S. The film was a resounding critical and box-office success. Newmarket Films followed this with a

string of further successes that sound like a roll call of great indie cinema: “Donnie Darko,” “Whale

Rider,” “Monster,” “The Passion of the Christ,” and “Downfall.”

In 2006, Newmarket produced Chris Nolan’s return to independent film, THE PRESTIGE, and will

distribute the award-winning films “God Grew Tired of Us” and “Death of a President.” Future plans

include a slate of films from Newmarket’s production arm, Raygun Productions, and the continuing

expansion of its substantial library of more than 250 titles through both acquisition and production.

VALERIE DEAN (Executive Producer) is currently working as an independent producer on several

projects. Her previous film credits include serving as associate producer on Bill Condon’s “Kinsey,”

starring Liam Neeson in the title role. Dean was formerly Senior Vice President of Production at Pretty

Pictures, overseeing feature film, television and theater development for writer and director Neil LaBute

and producer Gail Mutrux. She began working with Mutrux in 1996 on projects ranging from Mike

Newell’s “Donnie Brasco” to LaBute’s “Nurse Betty” after serving as a story editor for Barry Levinson’s

Baltimore Pictures.

CHARLES J.D. SCHLISSEL (Executive Producer) most recently served as an executive producer on the

thriller “Flightplan” starring Jodie Foster. He was also executive producer on Christopher Nolan’s “Insomnia”

and “Red Planet” and co-producer on “Matchstick Men,” starring Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell.

Schlissel studied film and media at the University of Washington and San Francisco State University

before moving to Los Angeles to complete his education at UCLA. To pay his way through school, he

worked on independent films, music videos and commercials and did legal research for an entertainment

law firm whose clients included Marlon Brando and Orson Welles. The son of an aerospace engineer and

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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

performance artist, Schlissel grew up around the country. He graduated summa cum laude from UCLA

with a degree in Economics/International Finance and Arbitrage; he was accepted into the AFI’s

producing program and, two months later, became Mel Brooks’ assistant on the comedy “Spaceballs.” He

went on to work as a production assistant on various projects before commencing a long-term association

with producer Stuart Cornfeld as a development executive.

Through an introduction from Cornfeld, he next moved to Barry Levinson and Mark Johnson’s newly

formed Baltimore Pictures as Director of Development. Two years later, he was promoted to Head of

Production, where he undertook the post-production work on Levinson’s Academy Award®-nominated

“Avalon.” During his tenure at Baltimore, Schlissel oversaw production on numerous high-profile features

including “Bugsy,” “Toys,” “Wilder Napalm” and Steve Soderbergh’s “Kafka.” He produced his first

feature, “Sniper,” just as the company was concluding its deal with TriStar Pictures.

Upon leaving Baltimore Pictures, Schlissel became an independent producer, with credits that include

“Heavyweights,” “While You Were Sleeping” and “Celtic Pride.”

A long-time collaborator with director Christopher Nolan, WALLY PFISTER (Director of

Photography) previously shot “Batman Begins,” for which he garnered an Academy Award® nomination,

as well as “Insomnia” and “Memento,” for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for

Best Cinematography.

Pfister’s most recent film credits as cinematographer include Wayne Beach’s “Slow Burn,” F. Gary

Gray’s “The Italian Job” and Lisa Cholodenko’s “Laurel Canyon.” Other cinematography film credits

include Bill Morrissette’s “Scotland, Pa.”; Ron Judkin’s “The Hi-Line,” for which he won the Moxie

Award for Best Cinematographer at the Santa Monica Film Festival; Robert L. Levy’s “A Kid in Aladdin’s

Palace”; and Craig M. Saavedra’s “Rhapsody in Bloom.” His television credits include “Sanctuary,”

“Sharing the Secret,” “Breakfast With Einstein” and “Sketch Artist,” for which he was nominated for a

CableACE Award. Pfister has also lent his cinematography talents to numerous commercials.

NATHAN CROWLEY (Production Designer) previously collaborated with director Christopher

Nolan on “Batman Begins” and “Insomnia.” He also recently designed the fantasy romance “The Lake

House,” starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Crowley’s other recent film credits include Joel

Schumacher’s “Veronica Guerin,” John Moore’s “Behind Enemy Lines” and Barry Levinson’s “An

Everlasting Piece.” For the small screen, he designed the BBC series “The Ambassador.” As an art

director, Crowley’s credits include John Woo’s “Mission: Impossible 2,” Richard Donner’s “Assassins,” the

Dublin section of Alan J. Pakula’s “The Devil’s Own” and Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart.” Crowley also set-

designed Kinka Usher’s “Mystery Men” and John Carpenter’s “Escape from L.A.”

JOAN BERGIN (Costume Designer) is one of Ireland’s best-known film costume designers and her

credits have included Peter Howitt’s “Laws of Attraction,” Joel Schumacher’s “Veronica Guerin,” Bruce

Beresford’s “Evelyn,” Barry Levinson’s “An Everlasting Piece,” Alan J. Pakula’s “The Devil’s Own,” John

Schlesinger’s “The Tale of Sweeney Todd,” Pat O’Connor’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” and four films for Jim

Sheridan: “In the Name of the Father,” “My Left Foot,” “The Field” and “The Boxer.” She most recently

designed the costumes for “The Honeymooners,” starring Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, Gabrielle

Union and Regina Hall.

On stage, Bergin designed Brian Friel’s “Translations,” starring Brian Dennehy, on Broadway and

returned to Lincoln Center in 1999 for their Friel season. Her work has also been seen on television in

“David Copperfield,” for which she received an Emmy® nomination.

An editor and sound designer, LEE SMITH’s (Editor) most recent film editing credits include

“Batman Begins” for Christopher Nolan, Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the

World,” Gregor Jordan’s “Buffalo Soldiers,” Tony McNamara’s “The Rage in Placid Lake,” Craig Lahiff’s

“Black and White” and Alan White’s “Risk.” A long-time collaborator with Weir, Smith edited and sound

30

designed “The Truman Show,” “Fearless” and “Green Card.” He was also an additional editor on “Dead

Poets Society” and an associate editor and sound designer on “The Year of Living Dangerously.”

Information contained within as of October 3, 2006.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

31

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and must not be sold or transferred. ©Touchstone Pictures. All rights reserved.

 In FLICKA, a contemporary motion picture adaptation of Mary O’Hara’s beloved
novel My Friend Flicka, 16-year-old Katy McLaughlin (Alison Lohman) dreams of
fulfilling her family legacy by working on her father’s ranch in modern-day Wyoming.
But Katy’s father (Tim McGraw) wants more for her, insisting that Katy go to college.
Katy finds a wild mustang, which she names Flicka, and sets out to make her a riding
horse. But Flicka and Katy are more alike than she could have imagined. Like Katy,
Flicka has a disdain for authority and is not about to give up her freedom without a fight.

The principal character in the book and in its two motion picture incarnations was
an adolescent boy. But this new version tells the story through the eyes of headstrong
Katy McLaughlin. Katy is enrolled in a private school on the outskirts of Laramie,
Wyoming, but her heart is with her sprawling family ranch in the state’s remote mountain
region. Katy returns home to the ranch, and soon becomes enamored of a wild mustang
filly she finds in the mountain woods. She names the long-legged, ebony horse Flicka, or
“beautiful young girl,” in Swedish

But Katy’s rancher father, the equally-willful Rob, sees nothing but trouble
coming from the untamed animal and discourages his daughter from keeping her.
Nonetheless, conflicted by a need to harness her own wild ways yet stay true to a free
spirit within, Katy sets out to break through to Flicka and transform her into a riding
horse.

Despite her father’s disapproval, Katy goes on and forms an unbreakable bond
with the wild horse. Her relationship with Flicka becomes a catalyst for change for the
entire McLaughlin family, which is at a major crossroads: Katy’s dad is considering
selling the ailing ranch, brother Howard (RYAN KWANTEN) wants to leave Wyoming
for college in Boston, and her mother Nell (MARIA BELLO) is fighting to keep her
family from falling apart.

Can Katy ultimately tame her beloved Flicka and prove everyone wrong about the
wild-hearted mustang? Will Rob find a way to support his daughter yet still keep her safe
through this momentous life passage? And can the McLaughlins hold onto the ranch that
they’ve worked so hard to maintain throughout a sea of social and economic change?

The journey back to the big screen for the enduring story of “My Friend Flicka”
began with a new script by veteran screenwriters Mark Rosenthal & Lawrence Konner,
who have collaborated in the past on such hit films as The Jewel of the Nile and Planet of
the Apes.

Recalls Rosenthal, “When [Fox 2000 President] Elizabeth Gabler approached us
about adapting ‘Flicka,’ we went straight back to the novel and decided to maintain its
tone, which was deeply felt, but somewhat dark.” Rosenthal continues: “We found its
themes even more significant today, as the American West, particularly Wyoming, has
become a playground of second homes for the new super-wealthy.

 “The story of an average, hard-working family eking out a living on the land and
raising horses seemed to take on a whole new relevance in light of our country’s current
economic climate,” Rosenthal elaborates.

It was Gabler who came up with the idea to make the story fresh and
contemporary by turning the book’s main character, a teenage boy named Ken, into
“Katy.” It was a brainstorm that challenged and inspired the writers. Says Rosenthal:
“This new twist gave Rob, the father, an exciting dilemma: What if the child that really
understood the land and the ranch was the daughter, and not the son? This coupled with
her headstrong personality and sometimes irresponsible ways generated a new way to
look at the material.”

“Things pretty much flowed from the one central new idea,” explains Konner,
“allowing us to create a father-daughter story where both characters had to learn
something about themselves and each other. Each one had to re-examine their role
within a revised family dynamic.”

The next step was attaching a director to the project, and the script was sent to
Michael Mayer, who’d just directed his first feature, the well-received relationship drama
A Home at the End of the World. Though Mayer, an acclaimed and highly successful

Broadway theatre director, had no direct experience with horses or shooting action
scenes, his grasp of storytelling and portraying human emotion made him an ideal
candidate for the character-based FLICKA.

“I thought it was a really beautiful, universal story about the coming-to-terms of a
father and daughter,” says Mayer. “It just so happens that a wild mustang is at the
fulcrum of their relationship.

“What moved me most is how hard the family tries to make it all work. Everyone
has the best intentions; there are no villains other than the vagaries of time and
circumstance.”

With a completed script and a director on board, the cast for Flicka was then
assembled. To play the pivotal role of determined young horse enthusiast Katy, the
filmmakers zeroed in on the versatile Alison Lohman, who had impressed critics and
audiences in such diverse films as White Oleander, Matchstick Men and Big Fish.

“Alison’s a great actress,” states the director. “Her performances have been
amazingly soulful and truthful, with a depth that belies her years. I knew she could bring
to Katy the exact combination of intelligence and emotional volatility.”

“I was instantly drawn to the character of Katy,” confirms Lohman. “I loved the
fact that she’s not afraid to be opinionated. Even though she’s young, she stands her
ground and knows what she wants. At the same time she’s also very soft and girly. I
really liked that contradiction in her.”

 The filmmakers then turned to music superstar – and rising actor – Tim McGraw
to play Katy’s intractable, but deeply loving father, Rob. McGraw, who made an
impressive acting debut in 2004’s hit football drama Friday Night Lights, welcomed the
opportunity to play a more likable character. “Rob has his tougher moments, but he’s a
good guy and solid family man,” says McGraw. “It was a great opportunity to do a
movie that my kids – and kids for generations to come – could see and enjoy.”

 Family was also on McGraw's mind when he produced the film’s soundtrack and
wrote the original song “My Little Girl” with Tom Douglas, which McGraw performs as
well. “The song has special meaning to me both for the film and being a father of three
daughters,” says McGraw

 For Maria Bello, who was cast as Katy’s strong and centered mother Nell,
FLICKA was a departure from her edgier film credits like Permanent Midnight, The
Cooler and A History of Violence. “I don’t tend to be attracted to what could be
considered ‘lighter’ material,” notes Bello, “but when I heard Michael Mayer was
directing I realized I should pay attention. When I read the script, with its beautifully
written relationships, I knew exactly why Michael was involved, and I knew I had to be
too.”
Up-and-coming Australian actor Ryan Kwanten was next cast as Katy’s college-
bound brother Howard. Dallas Roberts, who starred in the director’s A Home at the End
of the World, was brought on as the McLaughlins’ reserved, long-time ranch hand Gus.
Danny Pino was then selected to play the ranch’s other hand, the cocky heartthrob, Jack.
Kaylee DeFer portrays Howard’s wealthy, horse-loving girlfriend Miranda.

Before filming began, the director and his cast had to become as familiar and fluid
as possible with handling horses. Since, aside from Tim McGraw, the group had little or
no experience with the animals, a “Cowboy Camp” was created where they were able to
train with the film’s wranglers and learn everything they could about horses in a few
short weeks.

 The camp, led by head wrangler Rusty Hendrickson, introduced the actors to the
horses they’d be riding, and established an overall comfort level with the animals.
“Whether it was teaching them how to twirl a rope, get on and off a horse properly, or
any other related nuance, the goal was to make sure the actors would be able to sell it on
film,” explains Hendrickson. Though everyone’s aptitude around horses was different,
the wrangler maintains “sometimes it’s easier to teach someone who’s sponging in the
information, than someone who already knows everything. They just hear more.”

 As the actor who’d be spending the most screen time on or around horses, Alison
Lohman had the most to learn. “You can’t act like you can ride – you can either ride or
you can’t,” asserts Hendrickson. “So the first piece of business was getting Alison in the
saddle. We had to bring her along fairly quickly, but we were all surprised and impressed
with how well she did.”

 Says Lohman: “With riding a horse, I think it’s just a matter of doing it, of just
practicing and being with the horses, touching them, spending time with them. It was

daunting and painful at first, but after weeks of training, it eventually started coming
together. I was really proud of what I was able to accomplish in a relatively short time.”

 Lohman wanted to connect with the horses emotionally. Recalls Hendrickson,
“Alison wanted to know what a horse needs and what she should expect in return. She
was as hard-working about the relationship as she was with the riding.”

Maria Bello, who also had little experience with horses, approached her training
from a different perspective. “I’d always been attracted to horses, but also sort of afraid
of them,” she admits. “But after about my third lesson on Belle, the paint mare I ride, I
suddenly understood what it meant to find your seat, to become one with the animal. It
started to become a very Zen experience for me, this balance of control and surrender,
which I look for often in my real daily life.”