09.21.10
ACADEMY AWARD® WINNERS KEVIN KLINE AND DIANE KEATON TO STAR
DIRECTED AND CO-WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE KASDAN
Minneapolis, MN and New York, NY (September 21, 2010) – Werc Werk Works, the independent production and finance company helmed by CEO Elizabeth Redleaf, and Likely Story, the New York based production company headed by Anthony Bregman, jointly announced today that they will produce DARLING COMPANION, written by Meg Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan and to be directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Academy Award® winners Kevin Kline and Diane Keaton set to star.
DARLING COMPANION marks the third installment in Kasdan’s consideration of his generation, following “The Big Chill” and “Grand Canyon”, as well as his sixth collaboration with Kevin Kline. The film will be produced by Anthony Bregman for Likely Story, Elizabeth Redleaf for Werc Werk Works and Lawrence Kasdan. Christine Walker, Meg Kasdan and John Kelly will serve as executive producers.
DARLING COMPANION is the story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.
On a wintry day, Beth (Keaton) saves a bedraggled lost dog from the side of the freeway. Struggling with her distracted, self-involved husband Joseph (Kline) and an empty nest at home, Beth forms a special bond with the rescued animal. When Joseph loses the dog after a wedding at their vacation home in the Rockies, the distraught Beth enlists the help of the few remaining guests and a mysterious young woman in a frantic search. Each member of the search party is affected by the adventure, which takes them in unexpected directions – comic, harrowing, and sometimes deeply emotional.
The production is scheduled for a 30-day shoot in Utah beginning in late September.
“Lawrence Kasdan has a rich tradition of making comedies filled with a love of life — and ‘Darling Companion’ has all species of it,” says Anthony Bregman. “This is a movie about the most basic human challenge: to share with each other the higher level of love, companionship, and trust that humans share with their pets.”
Meg and Lawrence Kasdan’s previous collaboration on “Grand Canyon” resulted in an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay.
About Werc Werk Works
Werc Werk Works is an independent film production and finance company founded by Elizabeth Redleaf and Christine Kunewa Walker and is dedicated to the production and financing of high caliber, story-driven films with wide appeal. The company strives to be a consistent supplier of commercial projects for both the studios and strong independent distributors worldwide. “Darling Companion” marks the fifth production for Werc Werk Works, which launched in August 2008 and is based in Minnesota. The company’s most recent title “HOWL” will be released on September 24. The film is written and directed by Academy Award winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and stars James Franco as Allen Ginsberg. Werc Werk Works’ first release, LIFE “Life During Wartime,” written and directed by Todd Solondz, opened on July 23, 2010. The company currently has two films in post-production: Bela Tarr’s “The Turin Horse;” and “The Convincer”, written by Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher and directed by Jill Sprecher, and starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin and Billy Crudup.
About Likely Story
Likely Story is a New York-based production company founded by Anthony Bregman in October 2006. The company recently wrapped production on “My Idiot Brother” starring Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer; directed by Jesse Peretz and written by Evgenia Peretz and David Schisgall, and “The Oranges” starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Leighton Meester, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Sam Rosen; directed by Julian Farino and written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss. This year, the company premiered Nicole Holofcener’s “Please Give” and Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman’s “The Extra Man” at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. “Please Give” was released in April 2010 by Sony Pictures Classics and “The Extra Man” was released in July 2010 by Magnolia Pictures. The company recently signed a first look deal with graphic novel and comic book publisher Tom Shelf Productions. Additional Likely Story productions include Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut “Synecdoche, New York” (Sony Pictures Classics), Alex Rivera’s “Sleep Dealer” (Maya Releasing), and David and Alex Pastor’s “Carriers” (Paramount Vantage). Bregman’s previous producing credits include “Friends with Money,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Lovely & Amazing,” “Thumbsucker,” “The Tao of Steve,” “The Savages,” “Trick,” “The Ice Storm,” “The Brothers McMullen,” and “Human Nature.”