LAUREN AMBROSE
FRANKIE
BIOGRAPHY
Lauren Ambrose comes from New Haven, Connecticut. She currently stars as Claire Fisher in HBO's Six Feet Under. Besides her first starring role in Swimming, Lauren appears in Psycho Beach Party. She has recently been seen in a recurring role in Party of Five, in features Can't Hardly Wait and In and Out and on television's Law & Order. In addition to acting, she has followed her interest in music studying voice (classical and jazz) at Tanglewood and at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute.
FILMS
Swimming / Psycho Beach Party / Can't Hardly Wait / Summertime's Calling Me / In & Out
TELEVISION
Six Feet Under / Party of Five / Law & Order
JENNIFER DUNDAS LOWE
NICOLA
BIOGRAPHY
Her most memorable film roles include Chris, Diane Keaton's daughter in The First Wives' Club; Jennifer, Robert Redford's daughter, in Legal Eagles, and Lily in The Hotel New Hampshire. She is also highly accomplished in the world of New York Theater, where she starred last season as Lulu in Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and Fucking, played opposite Stockard Channing in the 1997 Broadway revival of The Little Foxes, starred with Billy Crudup in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia, and received an OBIE Award for Outstanding Performance in Good as New, by Peter Hedges.
FILMS
Changing Lanes (Roger Michell) / Swimming (Robert J. Siegel) / The First Wives' Club (Hugh Wilson) / Radioland Murders (Mel Smith) / Lorenzo's Oil (George Miller) / Legal Eagles (Ivan Reitman) / Mrs. Soffel (Gillian Armstrong) / Heaven Help Us (Michael Dinner) / The Beniker Gang (Ken Kwapus) / The Hotel New Hampshire (Tony Richardson)
TELEVISION
Law & Order / Law & Order Criminal Intent / Law & Order Special Victims Unit / Judging Amy / Cosby / The Best Years / In The Shadow of Love / Anastasia / Three Sovereigns for Sarah / Little Gloria Happy at Last
BROADWAY
The Little Foxes / Arcadia / Ah, Wilderness!/ Grownups
OFF - BROADWAY
Shopping and Fucking /Good as New (Obie Award for Outstanding Performance) / The Winter's Tale
REGIONAL
Measure for Measure / A Midsummer Night's Dream / Misha's Party / Arms and The Man / Our Town / Private Lives / The Sisters Rosensweig / The Seagull / Ah, Wilderness! / Grownups
JOELLE CARTER
JOSEE
BIOGRAPHY
Joelle Carter was raised throughout the US and attended Augusta College in Georgia. Most recently she appeared in American Pie:The Secret Disguise, Dial Nine, in High Fidelity with John Cusack, ABC's Wonderland and The Horse Whisperer. Additionally, she can be seen in The Job, Final Jeopardy, It Had to Be You, Just One Time, and Law & Order.
FILMS
American Pie: The Secret Disguise (J.B. Roberts) / Dial Nine (Kees VanOostrum) / Swimming (Robert J. Siegel) / Famous (Griffin Dunne) / High Fidelity (Stephen Frears) / Just One Time (Lane Janger) / It Had To Be You (Steve Feder) / The Young Girl and the Monsoon (Jim Ryan) / Just One Time, short(Lane Janger) / The Horse Whisperer (Robert Redford) / Suits (Eric Weber) / The Blue Bloods (Paige Taylor)
TELEVISION
The Job (ABC) / Inside Schwartz (NBC Pilot) / Final Jeopardy (ABC) / Wonderland (ABC) / Quarantine (ABC) / Law & Order (NBC)
THEATER
Accomplice (Danny Gerroll) / The Baby Dance (Russell Plueger, Garrett Theatre) / Gloria (Ben Weber, Workhouse Theatre) / See Said the Blindman (John Speigelman, Campfire Theatre)
JAMIE HARROLD
HEATH
BIOGRAPHY
Jamie Harrold most recently appeared in Sum of All Fears, The Score, Autumn in NY, and The Things A Girl Will Do To Keep Her Volvo. Prior to Swimming he was seen with Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. He had the lead in Henry Hill, and appeared in I Shot Andy Warhol, Bed of Roses, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar, and Natural Born Killers. He was seen on television in Glimpse of Hell, Wonderland, in NBC's Trinity, ABC's Cracker, and One Life To Live. Originally from Taylorville, Illinois, he received his training at the Chicago High School for the Performing Arts and the Theater School of DePaul University in Chicago.
FILMS
Sum of All Fears (Phil Robinson) / The Score (Frank Oz)) / Autumn in New York (Joan Chen) / The Things a Girl Will Do To Keep Her Volvo (Jennifer Katz) / Swimming (Robert J. Siegel) / Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh) / Henry Hill (David Kantar) / I Think I Do! (Brian Sloan) / I Shot Andy Warhol (Mary Harron) / Bed of Roses (Michael Golden) /Getting Away With Murder (Harvey Miller) / To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (Beban Kidron) / Amateur (Hal Hartley) / Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone) / Chain of Desire (Temi Lopez) / The Violent Garden (Chalk Circle) / Finalist for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for best Dramatic Student Film/ Gold Award, Philadelphia International Film Festival.
TELEVISION
Glimpse of Hell (FX/Mikael Soloman)/Wonderland (ABC/ Peter Berg)/ Trinity (NBC/ John Wells) / Cracker (ABC) / Anti-Gravity Room (SciFi Channel) / Family Pictures (ABC/ Miniseries) / One Life to Live (ABC) / Darrow (PBS/ John Coles)
THEATER
Eye of God (Seattle Rep) / Saint Stanislaus Outside the House (MCC) / What's Eating Gilbert Grape (MCC) / David's Mother (Cleveland PH)
JAMES VILLEMAIRE
BRAD
BIOGRAPHY
James Villemaire hails originally from Toronto. His feature film work includes Swimming, Henry Hill, Scarred City, Matinee, Private Parts, Better Living, and, on television,One Life to Live, Law & Order, and Dead Silence for HBO.
FILMS
Swimming (Robert J. Siegel) / Isn't She Great (Andrew Bergman) /Better Living (Max Meyer) / Henry Hill (David Kantar) / Scarred City (Ken Sanzel) / Suits (Eric Weber) / Private Parts (Betty Thomas) / Just Looking Short film (Michael Hausman) / Cost of Living (Stan Schofield) / Matinee (Joe Dante) / Somewhere in The City (Ramin Naimi) / The Gate II: Trespassers (Tibor Takacs)
TELEVISION
The Street / Lois Lives a Little (Adrienne Shelly) / F/X: The Series (Paul Lynch) / Dead Silence (Daniel Petrie, Jr.) / Hardcore TV / South Beach (Felix Alcala) / Off Limits (Steve Guttenberg) / Law & Order (Ed Sherin) / One Life to Live
THEATER
La Rondes (Garreth Williams) / Escape From Happiness (Max Meyer) / Merchant of Venice (William Catwick) / Coming Up and Out of Mexico (Paul Weiler)
JOSH PAIS
NEIL
BIOGRAPHY
Josh Pais is from the Lower East Side in New York City and most recently appeared in A Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe, Scotland, Pa., Scream 3, with Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart and with Robert Duvall in A Civil Action. His feature film work includes Rounders, Safe Men, I'm Not Rappaport (which he also appeared in on Broadway), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (as Raphael), and Jackknife. Josh's TV work includes recurring roles on Law & OrderLaw & Order, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Sex and the City.
FILMS
Swimming / Beautiful Mind /Scotland, Pa. /Scream 3 / Music of the Heart / Safe Men / A Civil Action / Rounders / I'm Not Rappaport / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
TELEVISION
The Job / Sex and the City / On Seventh Avenue / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine / Law & Order
SHARON SCRUGGS
MARIANNE
FILMS
Swimming / The Last Days of Disco / Starship Troopers / Scar City / Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
TELEVISION
Law & Order
ANTHONY RUIVIVAR
KALANI
BIOGRAPHY
From Honolulu, Hawaii. Anthony can currently be seen co-starring as Carlos Nieto in Third Watch on NBC.
FILMS
Swimming (Robert J. Siegel) / Simply Irresistible (Mark Tarlov) / Saturn (Rob Semidt) / Need of Hell (Ron Jacobs) / Harvest (Ron Jacobs) / High Art (Lisa Cholodenko) / Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoven) / In & Out (Franck Oz) / Race the Sun (Charles Kanganis) / White Fang II: Myth of the White Wolf (Ken Olin)
TELEVISION
Third Watch / All My Children / Law & Order / Island Guy / Mavricsquare / A.R.T.V. / Transformation / A Lightdose of Murder
NEW YORK THEATRE
When Cuba Opens Up / Fortinbras / Balm in Gillead / Angry Young Man
REGIONAL THEATER
Fortinbras / West Side Story / Lower Depths / The Cherry Orchard / Importance of Being Earnest / Shakespeare Workshop / Arturoui / Marat/Sade / Execution of Justice / The Misanthrope / The Crucible
JOSHUA HARTO
LANCE
BIOGRAPHY
Joshua Harto is from Palm Beach, Florida. He can be seen in the films Swimming, Ordinary Sinner, The Believer, First Taste, and Nickelodeon's The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Joshua now lives in New York City.
FILMS
Swimming / First Taste / Ordinary Sinner / The Believer / Campfire Stories
TELEVISION
Oz / Law & Order / Law & Order Special Victims Unit / Third Watch
ROBERT J. SIEGEL
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER and CO-WRITER
BIOGRAPHY
Producer, director and co-writer of Swimming, Robert J. Siegel has extensive experience in all aspects of filmmaking - from 30 second - TV commercials to theatrical feature films.
Siegel attended NYU Film School and as a student shot Arrivederci, Darling, That's My Advise to You, the first NYU student film to be theatrically released. His senior thesis film, City of Fire, was one of a select few ever offered world wide distribution by the USIA and was chosen for broadcast on Stanley Kaufman's tv show, The Art of Film.
After graduation, Siegel enjoyed a successful career in advertising where he worked for J. Walter Thompson, Carriety-Hoffman Associates and McCann Erickson producing and directing tv commercials. His commercial work for Coca-Cola was selected into Advertising Age's Ten Best.
Siegel's work as a producer/director includes the features Parades written by George Tabori and The Line, an ABC Pictures International/Robert J. Siegel Production with Brad Sullivan and Jacqueline Brookes. Parades was the first theatrical American film to confront America's role in the Viet Nam War, preceding such films as Deer Hunter and Hearts and Minds by several years. It premiered at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, Texas to a firestorm of controversy. When it played at New York's Plaza Theater and the Forum on Broadway, it provoked fist fights in the audience. Released at the height of the war, it was considered too controversial and was eventually withdrawn from distribution. His concerns for political themes reemerged in the HBO World Premiere political thriller, Descending Angel, which he co-wrote and co-produced. Starring George C. Scott, Diane Lane and Eric Roberts, Descending Angel explored Rumanian Nazis in America and their infiltration of the Romanian Orthodox Church throughout this country.
Siegel's films have received recognition at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, the Montreal Film Festival and the USA Film Festival in Dallas. The Line was honored by invitation to the Montreal and Deauville International Film Festivals, and his work has been selected into the National Film Archives.
For the past ten years, he has been an Associate Professor of Film at Purchase College where he heads the Narrative Directing Program.
Currently he has two screenplays in development. In The Pink is a comedy set in the 50's about the dark cloud of McCarthyism hanging over a Catskills' hotel. The second, Teabo's Coup, inspired by the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, is about a venture capitalist and a contemporary Joan of Arc who conspire to create a revolution in an obscure Eastern European country.
| FILMOGRAPHY |
Swimming
Descending Angel, TV
The Line
Parades |
Producer / director / co-writer
Co-producer and co-writer
Producer / director / writer
Producer / director |
LINDA MORAN
PRODUCER
BIOGRAPHY
Linda Moran has fifteen years experience in the film and music industries. After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Columbia University with a degree in Music and English, she embarked on a career as a singer doing concert and recording work for such artists as Mick Jagger and Debbie Gibson. She has also worked as an assistant to Nile Rodgers, a Grammy award-winning music producer whose cumulative record sales exceed 100 million dollars. The projects she was involved in with Mr. Rodgers include a David Bowie album and film soundtracks for Blue Chips and Beverly Hills Cop III.
Linda's introduction to independent filmmaking came when she played Sarah in Tim Mc Cann's film, Desolation Angels which went on to win the Merchant/Ivory Kodak Award at the Telluride Film Festival and the International Critic's Prize at the Toronto Film Festival. Since that time, her film production experience includes co-producing the film Sue, written and directed by Amos Kollek and starring Anna Thomson, which premiered at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival and won the International Critic's Prize at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. Sue premiered in New York last fall and has been a critical and box office success in Europe. Her second collaboration with Amos Kollek and Anna Thomson, entitled Fiona was shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival and the 1999 Berlin Film Festival. Other co-productions include Mob Queen, directed by Jon Carnoy, (Los Angeles Independent Film Festival premiere) and Dating Games, directed by Sarah Miller (Montreal Film Festival premiere). She co-produced Harlem Aria, starring Damon Wayans with producer Deepak Nayar whose credits include Lost Highway and The End of Violence. She produced along with director Robert J. Siegel, the feature Swimming, followed by Friends and Family and L.I.E. for which she has been nominated for an Indepedent Spirit Award for producing.
| FILMOGRAPHY |
L. I. E.
Swimming
Friends and Family
Buena Vista Social Club
Harlem Aria
Dating Games
Fiona
Mob Queen
Sue
The Boxer |
Producer
Producer
Production Manager
Co-producer
Co-producer
Co-producer
Co-producer
Co-producer
Crew Special Thanks |
LISA BAZADONA
WRITER and CO-PRODUCER
BIOGRAPHY
Swimming is her first feature length screenplay. She is a 1997 graduate of the Film School at SUNY Purchase and gifted writing student of Robert Siegel. She put herself through college working for four summers in Myrtle Beach painting body tattoos, which inspired the material for Swimming. She lives in New York City and is working on a new screenplay, Pull Out Couch.
GRACE WOODARD
CO-WRITER
BIOGRAPHY
She was Co-Writer of Descending Angel, an HBO World Premiere Movie. Former actress in features, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre. She co-wrote the screenplays In the Pink and Teabo's Coup with Robert Siegel. Her plays have been produced in Los Angeles and New York. She is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. She is currently writing a new screenplay, Spuyten Duyvil.
CIRO SILVA
CO-PRODUCER
BIOGRAPHY
From 1987-1992, he was a film TV producer in Sao Paulo for W/Brasil, the best ad agency in Brazil. From 1994-1998, he attended SUNY Purchase where he wrote, produced and directed three short films while still producing commercials in the US for different Brazilian companies.
JOHN LEUBA
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
FILMOGRAPHY
Swimming
Friends and Family
Autumn Heart
Love Happens
The Adventures of Space Baby and Mental Man
First & Last
FRANK REYNOLDS
EDITOR
FILMOGRAPHY
In The Bedroom
Swimming
Killing Cinderella
Man of the Century
Kegless
Tromeo and Juliet
Delivering
Praying with Anger
For more information on the cast and crew, please visit the Internet Movie Database.
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PRODUCTION NOTES
Robert J. Siegel wanted to make a true to life film about ordinary
events in character's lives that did not rely on traditional dramatic
highs and lows, yet, which possessed an emotionally compelling story.
Siegel, a professor of Film at SUNY Purchase College which is noted for
nourishing free spirited filmmakers (Hal Hartley, Nick Gomez, Charles
Lane), wanted to unite his professional experience with the
participation of current and former students.
In keeping with that idea, he optioned a senior thesis screenplay by one
of his most promising writing students, Lisa Bazadona. Additionally, it
was his goal to make a film on a budget that would not require a long
fund raising effort. Tired of having several films languish in
development over the years, Siegel was able to raise the funding
overseas in a co-production deal with Film de Dam, London, in
less than a week.
Along with Lisa, he assembled a creative team, bringing in his writing
partner, Grace Woodard, and another student, Ciro Silva, as co-producer.
The intense script work began in the fall of '97. The story, loosely
based on Lisa's experiences painting body tattoos in Myrtle Beach (to
pay her way through
college), was developed through a series of drafts and revisions until a
tight screenplay was achieved.
Shooting was set for Fall '98. In late spring, Linda Moran came on board
as the producer and helped assemble a gifted cast and crew from the East
and West Coasts, all of whom, drawn to the material, were willing to
work at greatly reduced salaries. Myrtle Beach, a full time resort town
and the actual location of the script, was a difficult choice for
location. Production success was greatly dependent
on obtaining the city's full cooperation. City officials and residents
were extremely generous and opened the town completely to the
production, closing major streets, providing police support and bringing
the kind of enthusiasm that one often cannot find in major cities.
The one thing that couldn't be controlled was the weather. Production
began in the midst of a
hurricane watch right before Labor Day Weekend, the last opportunity to
shoot the summer crowds. The Second Unit, prepped and ready to shoot,
suddenly found itself watching palm trees topple over.
It was a difficult beginning, but at the last minute the storm turned
and blew out to sea. The lead, Lauren Ambrose, holed up in the
production's colorful 1950's motel, finally emerged. The sky cleared,
the town filled up, and the opening credit sequences were shot almost
around the clock.
The production was brought in on a difficult twenty-eight day schedule
with one hour of overtime and with a cast that included dogs and little children. The sets were
constructed in existing buildings on Myrtle Beach's main drag, and were
so detailed that tourists would walk into Wheeler's Restaurant and try
to order hamburgers. Once during a take someone actually strode past the
limeade machine, opened the Rest Room door and was surprised to be met
by a brick wall.
The production continued to accumulate its unusual share of ironic
moments, like the night a truckload of sand had to be transported to the
beach because it was high tide and three hundred feet of natural beach
had been virtually swallowed up by the ocean. The last days of the shoot
found the production pushing up against the changing seasons. This
became abundantly clear when in the middle of a night shoot, Myrtle
Beach�s Christmas lights suddenly lit up the boulevard. Their winter was
beginning as our fictional summer was ending.
Perhaps everyone's favorite moment came early on in the production. It
involved Ted, the imaginary friend of the character Kalani, played by
Anthony Ruivivar. Mistaking Ted for an actual character, the AD
scheduled him for a 6:30am call.
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WEBSITE TEAM
SARI HARRIS Website Designer, Producer and Programmer
Sari is currently the Interface Developer & Designer at CFO.com. See what she does at her extremely out-of-date homepage. You can contact her at sari@swimmingthemovie.com.
AMY EGNER
Designer
Amy is a new media designer who creates entertainment and music websites. Additional samples
of her work can be seen at her homepage.
You can contact her at aimsny@earthlink.net.
LISA BAZADONA Content Editor
In addition to writing and co-producing the film "Swimming" Lisa has input
her writing and editorial talents on the website.
CHAD MORRIS Designer
Chad is owner and founder of Designbus an interactive studio based in Boston with clients ranging from corporations such as Harcourt, Titleist, and Sprint to local concerns such as Modernista!, Mass.gov, and the Boston Underground Film Festival. see work at www.designbus.com
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