Production Begins in Portland, Oregon on Untitled Gus Van Sant Project

Production Begins in Portland, Oregon on Untitled Gus Van Sant Project

BRIAN GRAZER, RON HOWARD PRODUCING FOR IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT WITH BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD AND GUS VAN SANT

PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Lensing has begun on location in Portland, Oregon on an untitled project from two-time Academy Award®-nominated director Gus Van Sant, starring Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper. The film's screenplay was written by first-timer Jason Lew, based upon his original stage play "Of Winter and Water Birds." The film is produced by Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, and Bryce Dallas Howard and Gus Van Sant. The supporting cast includes Ryo Kase, Schuyler Fisk, and Jane Adams.

From Imagine Entertainment comes a powerful and emotional coming of age story, a remarkable film told with honesty and originality that will leave audiences moved. In the film, two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and lasting love. Directed by Gus Van Sant, one of the most astute observers of people living life on the edge, comes a take on friendship and young love as engaging and true as it is provocative and stirring. The screenplay is by Jason Lew.

Bryce Dallas Howard, a producer of the film, said, "This film is a quietly epic coming of age story. It captures the profoundly defining turning point of a young person's life with stark realism, irreverent humor, and intense emotion. I think that Gus was drawn to this story because he has an uncanny ability to convey the complexities of youth and outsiders. For this is, above all else, the journey of an outsider."

Van Sant has once again surrounded himself with some of the top talent in the business. Longtime collaborator Harris Savides (Milk) is the director of photography. Anne Ross (Lost in Translation) is the production designer on the film and Academy Award® nominees Elliot Graham (Milk) and Danny Glicker (Milk) have joined the film as editor and the costume designer respectively.

Audiences and critics alike have taken note of GUS VAN SANT's movies since he made his feature film directorial debut in 1985 with Mala Noche, which won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Independent/Experimental Film.

Van Sant has twice been nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscar® for Best Director: for his work on Good Will Hunting, which received nine total nominations and won for Best Original Screenplay, and for his most recent film, Milk, which received eight total nominations and won for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.

Van Sant's body of work also includes Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, To Die For, Psycho, Finding Forrester, Gerry, Elephant (which won both the Palme d'Or and the Best Director award at the 2003 Cannes International Film Festival), Last Days, and Paranoid Park (which earned the 60th Anniversary Prize at the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival).

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Van Sant earned a B.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design before moving to Hollywood. Early in his career, he spent two years in New York creating commercials for Madison Avenue. Eventually he settled in Portland, Oregon, where in addition to directing and producing, he pursued his other talents -- painting, photography, and writing.

IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT was founded in 1986 by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard to create independently produced feature films, television programs and other original programming. Since its inception, Imagine Entertainment has been honored with more that 60 prestigious awards including 10 Academy Awards® and 36 Emmy® awards.

Imagine Entertainment's past productions include the Academy Award® winning films A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, and Apollo 13. Other films include the big screen adaptation of the international bestsellers Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks; Peter Morgan's critically acclaimed play Frost / Nixon, directed by Ron Howard, which was nominated for 5 Oscar® Awards; the Clint Eastwood directed suspense drama The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie; American Gangster; Inside Man; Flightplan; Cinderella Man; the Sundance acclaimed documentary INSIDE Deep Throat; Friday Night Lights; Blue Crush; Intolerable Cruelty; Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas; The Nutty Professor; Liar, Liar; Ransom; My Girl; Backdraft; Kindergarten Cop; Parenthood; Clean and Sober; and Spies Like Us.

Television productions include Fox's hit Golden Globe and Emmy® award winning Best Drama Series 24; NBC's Peabody Award winning series Friday Night Lights; Fox's Lie To Me, staring Tim Roth; Fox's Emmy® award winning Best Comedy Arrested Development; NBC's Miss Match; WB's Felicity; ABC's SportsNight; and HBO's From the Earth to the Moon, which won the Emmy® for Outstanding Mini-Series.

Imagine Entertainment's upcoming releases include the Ridley Scott directed adventure drama Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer began their collaboration in 1985 with the hit comedies Night Shift and Splash, and continue to run Imagine Entertainment as chairmen.

BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD recently starred in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of the Shakespeare classic As You Like It, for which her performance as Rosalind opposite Kevin Kline and Alfred Molina earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She also was recently seen opposite Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation, directed by McG, and will next be seen in the feature film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond, in which she will star opposite Chris Evans, Will Patton and Mamie Gummer. She has also completed production on the third installment of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse being released June 2010. Howard has also written a screenplay, entitled The Originals.

Howard's additional film credits include Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, in which she played Gwen Stacy; M. Night Shyamalan's Lady In The Water, co-starring Paul Giamatti and the Lars von Trier film, Manderlay, the filmmaker's follow-up to Dogville. She made her feature film debut starring in the M. Night Shyamalan film, The Village, opposite Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix and Sigourney Weaver.

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Source: Imagine Entertainment

CONTACT: James Ferrera, Unit Publicist of Imagine Entertainment,
+1-503-223-5732

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Profile: International Entertainment