the passion of grace - FilmArts Productions

THE PASSION OF GRACE
film
ARTS
LLC
A film by Maria Finitzo
I was immediately
drawn to Alice
Munro’s Passion
in 2006 when I first read the short story
in the Runaway collection. Central to my
attraction was the character of Grace, a
smart, sexually curious girl, who longs for
a better life than the one she is living and so
escapes that life in pursuit of her passion –
to be a whole and independent person.
However, in the process of becoming
who she really is, she incurs painful losses
and dislocations: she causes irreparable
harm. The rippling consequences of her
action drive the narrative towards its
surprising, yet inevitable conclusion.
These are moments of fateful, irrevocable,
dramatic action. Missteps, mistakes,
misapprehensions, life-altering
misjudgments – the very essence of what
makes us human I immediately envisioned
this story as a film with the character
of Grace – a high intensity energy field,
driving the narrative.
Thematically, THE PASSION OF GRACE
grapples with the reality of settled love
versus the feelings that come with passion,
be it fantasy or real, the meaning of the
question of life – is it worth living or not
and most importantly, the transfiguring
force of passion.
The year is 1961, the very beginning of the
sexual revolution and political changes that
will rock the world.
Synopsis
Logline
Synopsis
Grace, a young woman abandoned
by her single father when she was a
child, grows up yearning for love and
passion. When she gets a summer job
waitressing at a lakeside resort she
befriends a wealthy family and begins
dating their youngest son, Paul. Only
passion is missing between them and
one night she goes off with Paul’s older
married brother, Neil, a choice that
forever changes her life and the lives of
those she loves when it sets in motion
the inevitability of Neil’s suicide.
A near death accident awakens in Grace, 70, a need to find meaning in a moment in her past when she crossed
a line that made all the difference in her life. After fifty years she revisits the summer community where, at the
age of eighteen, she’d met the Travers family and began dating their youngest son, Paul.
Although Paul believes he is in love with Grace, there is no passion between them. Her sexual desire and
willingness to give herself to him, goes against his notion of the kind of woman he wants to marry. Grace is
frustrated with Paul and his unwillingness to allow sexual passion between them. She becomes increasingly
taken with Neil, Paul’s older married half brother. He fascinates Grace. Although she barely knows him
and they have never spoken, he is bold in the way he looks at her, stirring up fantasies in Grace about over
powering sexual passion.
As the summer passes Grace and Mrs. Travers, Paul’s mother, become close friends. They share intimate life stories
with each other, including their hopes and dreams about love and life. Mrs. Travers is the mother Grace never had
and Grace is the young woman Mrs. Travers once was – smart, ambitious, adventurous. Grace realizes she wants
to be a part of Paul’s family more than she loves Paul. She knows that marriage to Paul, safe and unexciting, is a
cage she could never endure. But to give him up would be to lose the family she has always wanted.
At the end of the summer at a family dinner a minor accident finally brings her together with Neil, who
takes her off for what she believes will be a night of passion. Together, they embark on an odyssey into the
countryside, leaving duty and propriety behind. Stopping along the way at bars to drink, Neil teaches Grace
how to drive and teases her with the promise of passion when he casually licks her palm. However, the longed
for night of sexual passion does not happen. Instead, they share a deeper connection – a vision of life’s promise
undercut by its emptiness.
The next morning when Neil drops her off at the resort, as they embrace he tells her he has left his mark on
her and he is sorry for that. Later that day, Grace learns that Neil has killed himself in a car crash. When Paul
comes to see her, he offers her one last opportunity to come back into his family. “Just tell me he made you
do it. Just tell me you didn’t want to go.” Grace responds finally with complete honesty when she tells Paul, “I
did want to go.” A few days later, Mr. Travers pays her a visit, handing her a $1,000 check. After imagining a
gesture of refusal, Grace instead uses the money to give herself a new start in life.
The Passion of Grace is a story of a crucial moment in a young woman’s life when for reasons that
cannot be explained, she crosses a line, forever changing her life and risking all she holds dear.
THE PASSION OF GRACE will
aspire to a similar cinematic aesthetic
achieved in Jane Campion’s Bright Star,
the 2009 film based on the last three
years of the life of poet John Keats
and his romantic relationship with
Fanny Brawne. In making Bright Star,
Campion’s goal was to “find the images
in the poetry.” Working closely with
cinematographer Greig Fraser, the pair
assembled their intimate and emotional
portrait, relying on the natural light
and air of their “interior/exterior
studio” to do so.
'BRIGHT STAR' TRAILER
(2:19)
Fraser took inspiration from the
natural world using the changing
seasons to highlight the emotional
progression of the film. The light is
warm and rich and yellow. It’s the
very perfect conception of summer.
The gorgeous, natural lighting for the
interior scenes were shot as organically
as the passing weather.
To create the look of THE PASSION
OF GRACE we have identified two
gifted cinematographers whose
cinematic eye will resonate with
THE PASSION OF GRACE.
The Look of
THE PASSION OF GRACE
RACHEL MORRISON
Link to Rachel Morrison's Work
Rachel has emerged as a refreshing young talent at the forefront of independent cinema, channeling each
story’s core emotion into arresting imagery. Her work has a haunting quality at times and a beautiful elegance
at others. Morrison has lensed three Sundance premieres in the past three years; Fruitvale Station, starring
Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer, winner of both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize for Best
Picture; Sound of My Voice, released by Fox Searchlight; and, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, released by
Magnolia. In 2012, she also saw Any Day Now premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Audience
Award for Best Picture. The film won eight other Audience Awards on the festival circuit before its November
release. She has garnered numerous awards for her imagery, including an Outstanding Cinematography Emmy
Nomination for her work on Showtime’s Riker’s High, a documentary about the high school within the Riker’s
Island prison system. Morrison has traversed the globe with an eye attuned to the beauty, sorrow and emotion
of the shared human experience.
LY L E V I N C E N T
Lyle Vincent dabbled in painting and fine art photography before heading to New York University’s Tisch
School of Art’s directing program. In his first year at NYU his directing teacher, Boris Frumin, took notice of
his work and said, “You’re a cinematographer!” Inspired by Frumin, Lyle changed his focus to cinematography
and went on to study with ASC members Sandy Sissel and Declan Quinn. “They helped me a great deal and
they both spent a lot of time with me outside of class,” he says. It paid off and Lyle won the 2006 ASC John
A. Alonzo Heritage Award for student cinematography. Of the 2014 Sundance feature film hit Agwhaan lensed
by Lyle the Hollywood Reporter says “…and the introspective mood is enhanced by the monochrome visuals
and the exquisite use of the widescreen canvas of cinematographer Lyle Vincent.” Of the same film Scott
Feinburg said, “The visuals are what really make this movie great. While watching this film, I couldn’t help
but recall Michelangelo Antonioni’s Red Desert with the industrial setting and existential angst sort of hovering
over the film. The black and white cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, making each image leap off of
the screen.” His other Sundance film Cooties, starring Elijah Wood, was picked up by Lion’s Gate and is being
released in 2014. Lyle continues work as a cinematographer shooting commercials, music videos and narrative
feature films.
Link to Lyle Vincent's Work
Grace’s Island
The story begins in the present with
Grace, now in her 70’s living out her
life in her cottage on an island. This
world is one of towering trees – maple,
ash, white pines, deep forests cut by
narrow winding roads. An occasional
glimpse of bright blue water shinning
through the trees, hints of its isolation.
Grace’s island is a place of afternoon
showers and cool mornings blanketed
with fog. The aesthetic is deep saturated
color. There is solitude here, a place to
escape, the demands of the unrelenting
pace of the modern world…yet, not
the unexpected emergence of the past.
The ROAR of a car engine is heard
seconds before a speeding car appears.
Tires SCREECH as the car hits the curve.
It is going too fast. Out of control. Startled
by the sound, Grace turns back to witness
the car heading right toward her mail box
where only moments before she stood.
She watches in horror as the car slams
into the mailbox post, breaking it like a
twig, sending the mail box sailing through
the air.
A speeding car on
a rain soaked road
appears out of nowhere.
Witnessing a crash
summons back a memory
leaving Grace no choice
but to return to the place
where her life was
forever changed.
The World of
THE PASSION OF GRACE
The Farm
When Grace arrives at her Aunt and
Uncle’s farm, it is 1949. Prosperity
has yet to come to the heartland. The
visual aesthetic of Grace’s life on the
farm will take its inspiration from the
palette and elegant simplicity found in
the paintings of Andrew Wyeth. Set in
America’s rural Midwest, the landscape,
the capriciousness of the wind, sun and
rain, the passing seasons set the stage
for the yearning deep within Grace.
Cornfields, silos, barns – weathered,
splintered, browned. This is a place of
austerity standing in sharp contrast to
a young woman filled with desire and
the hope for a different life found in far
off horizons.
Emotions play across her face. Shock. Surprise. Curious…nervous about her
curiosity. She listens to their VOICES as she inches forward on her stomach
to the opening to look out.
GRACE’S POV: Chris is skinny and tall, not quite a man. But Jack’s body
is athletic and fit. Grace can’t take her eyes off of Jack. She suppresses a giggle.
He dives into the water, surfacing with a gasp.
The Pond
Overgrown, unmanaged, wild, the
pond is Grace’s refuge from the
limitations of her life on the farm and
the place where the site of two young
men swimming naked with glorious
abandon awakens in Grace a longing
for love and a curiosity for passion.
Hidden in her tree house high above
the ground, she writes, her imagination
runs wild and everything seems possible.
The Inn at Bailey’s
Falls & Sabot Lake
A train transports Grace from her life on the farm to Sabot Lake. She arrives into a brand
new world, unlike any she has ever encountered.
INT. TRAIN. CONTINUOUS.
Grace looks out the window of the train down at the platform. Jack stands unmoving, staring
up at her. Slowly the train begins to move, leaving Jack behind on the platform.
Grace takes a deep breath, closes her eyes. When she opens them, the station has disappeared.
The countryside is flying by. A breath of relief escapes her and then as the train speeds up, she smiles.
EXT. TRAIN. LATER.
The train winds through a lush wooded landscape.
INT. TRAIN. CONTINUOUS.
Grace looks out the window as the countryside flies by. She is filled with anticipation. Finally,
she takes a book out of her bag. Anna Karenina. Grace reads. Lost in her book.
EXT. BAILEY’S FALLS RESORT. AFTERNOON.
A grand and elegant resort set against the backdrop of Sabot Lake. A transport van pulls up to the
entrance. Grace gets out, overwhelmed by the beauty of the surroundings. Tall stately elm trees line
the path leading to the front entrance. Guests come and go. The VAN DRIVER takes her suitcase
out of the back seat of the van.
Janey comes running back to the table.
JANEY
Grandma, we’ve caught a million fireflies.
Janey opens her hand to reveal
a single firefly in her palm.
MRS. TRAVERS
Looks like you’re going to need a jar.
The Travers’ House
It was the first house of its kind that
Grace had ever seen – one story high,
the roof continuing without a break
out over that veranda, on all sides –
a style that makes you think of hot
summers. It used to be possible to
run from the veranda across the dusty
end of the driveway, through a sandy,
trampled patch of weeds and wild
strawberries, and then jump –
no, actually, wade – into the lake.
Reviews of
Finitzo's Script
THE PASSION OF GRACE
“Like the O. Henry award-winning
masterwork on which it is based, Maria
Finitzo’s THE PASSION OF GRACE
is nuanced, quiet spoken, and strikingly
beautiful. The coming of age story feels
languid and nostalgic over much of its
first two acts, but eroticism is always
surging below its repressed surface, and
this brilliant narrative turns in the
moment when that passion cannot
help but erupt. There are real, lasting,
tragic consequences. Ms. Finitzo is
going to make a beautiful and deeply
moving film.”
And from
The Black List: Hollywood’s Source for the Best-Unproduced Screenplays
“This seems like the kind of story that could really appeal to a select, sophisticated audience…literary and
intellectual in tone. Given the strength of its characters and setting, it could draw viewers and critical
acclaim as a feature film.”
“There is an elegant simplicity to the storytelling that allows small moments to shine through with impact.
Grace’s conflicting desires – a yearning for passion and a yearning for belonging – set the stage for a
compelling character journey. The themes of femininity and Grace’s unapologetic challenge of the gender
norms of the time add dimension to an already promising romantic coming-of-age story.”
“The setting of Bailey’s Falls was a well-conceived “upstairs, downstairs” community, and the disparity
between the resort staff and wealthy patrons created conflicting goals for the characters.”
“The characters are believable and nuanced. Grace’s complicated relationship with Jack, and Neil’s
womanizing and sadness (which consequently makes him “the most interesting” to be around), paint the
characters as complex human beings.”
“The dialogue is well written, and the character’s voices believable conveying their emotions and worldview
setting the scope and stakes of the piece.”
“An especially well-developed world – the glamorous, yet fleeting (literally, with the changing of the seasons)
summer resort setting simultaneously enchants and forebodes from the get-go. While beautiful, this world
has the constant feeling that there is much lurking beneath the surface – like Neil’s alcoholism and Mrs.
Travers’ illness.”
“These characters intrigue because the writer doesn’t take a stance on their moral standpoints; so much as
these standpoints are simply presented and left to the audience to interpret. The result is a compelling and
thought-provoking story.”
In her imagination, he was handsome, like Paul,
Passionate, like Paul. Pleasurable physical intimacies followed.
But this was the thing that had not happened. In Paul’s car, or out
on the grass under the stars, she was willing. And Paul was ready,
but not willing. He felt that it was his responsibility to protect her.
And the ease with which she offered herself threw him off balance.
Pleasurable
physical intimacies followed.
How strange that she’d thought of
becoming one of them – a Travers.
Marrying Paul. A kind of treachery,
it would be. But not a treachery to
be riding with Neil, because he wasn’t
fortunate – he knew some of the things
that she did.
Mouths, tongues, skin,
bodies, banging
bone on bone.
Inflammation. Passion.
She had thought that it was touch.
Mouths, tongues, skin, bodies, banging
bone on bone. Inflammation. Passion.
But that wasn’t what she’d been working
toward at all. She had seen deeper,
deeper into him than she could ever have
managed if they’d gone that way.
Creative Team
MA R IA F INITZO | DI RECTOR/ S CREE N W RIT E R
Maria Finitzo is a two-time Peabody Award-winning social issue
documentary filmmaker whose 26 years as a documentary filmmaker has
resulted in a body of work that has won every major broadcast award and
has been screened in festivals and theaters around the world. Her films are
novelistic in their structure, providing multiple points of connection for
an audience. She allows the narrative arc of her character’s story to evolve,
colliding with other subjects from the film, creating a complex, nuanced
story that serves as a vehicle to deepen our understanding of society
through everyday human drama.
A coming of age story that reveals the resilience of adolescent girls
(5 Girls), a father determined to heal his daughter after a tragic accident
(Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita), a young man, alone in the
world trying to find his way (With No Direction Home), a soccer coach
committed to teaching his players – Hispanic girls – about winning in life
(In the Game), and a community deep in the Amazon trying to navigate
the rocky shoals of both hope and despair in a country in the midst of
political transition (Living Revolution), are films that explore different
realms of storytelling by investigating the important social issues of the day.
Finitzo’s films have tackled a variety of subjects from the controversial
science of stem cell research and the complex questions surrounding the
command and control of nuclear weapons to the psychology of adolescent
girls, each film demonstrating a depth and breadth of knowledge and
expertise. She is a long time associate of the award-winning documentary
company, Kartemquin Films, one of the oldest and most respected social
issue documentary film companies in the country. It is here that she
learned her craft as a filmmaker.
Her interest in fiction filmmaking is a natural evolution of her
commitment to exploring different realms of storytelling. She produced
and directed Life Lessons her first fiction short film based on her original
screenplay. Life Lessons screened in competition at the New York
International Shorts Festival, the LA Shorts Festival, the Gene Siskel Film
Theater, the Taos Shortz Fest, the Los Angeles International Women’s Film
Festival and the Dances with Films Festival.
L E I G H JON ES | P RODU CER
S T E V E B RO O K S B A N K | C A S T I N G D I R E C TO R
Leigh Jones has been producing artistic endeavors for close to 25 years. Her early
producing work was as the Founder and Artistic Director of Club Lower Links,
where she produced hundreds of music, performance and film screening events
with artistic luminaries such as David Sedaris and MacArthur Genius award
recipient Ken Vandermark. She was invited to co-produce Time Arts ChicagoCabaret Night, a performance gala celebrating the opening of Chicago’s new
Museum of Contemporary Art and acted as Producing Director
of jazz orchestra The Chicago Jazz Ensemble in the late 90’s. Jones was awarded
the Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 Award for her work as an innovative arts
producer in the city of Chicago.
Steve Brooksbank of Slater/Brooksbank Casting began his career as an
intern for veteran New York casting director, Betty Rea. After relocating
to Los Angeles in the early 90’s, he partnered with well-known casting
director, Mary Jo Slater. Slater has well over 100 film, TV and Broadway
theater credits to her name going as far back as casting the Broadway
revival of Hair in 1977.
After selling Lower Links, Jones took the
producing skills she honed along with
her entrepreneurial spirit and applied
them to the process of filmmaking. She
has produced independent feature films,
short films, webisodes, music videos and
commercials. Her feature film projects
include Red and Blue Marbles starring
William Sadler and Oscar nominated Ruby
Dee. Feature film 5-25-77, in which she
shares producer credits with Fred Roos (Bling Ring) and Gary Kurtz (Star Wars),
won the Red Star Award at the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival.
Mexico, One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless – Season 4 aired on PBS; and
Nightingale in a Music Box won Slamdance 2004’s Excellence in Writing award.
She also coordinated the production of music and sound design for the films
Compensation, Sundance 1999, Design, Sundance 2002 and Flying, Cannes 2002.
Currently she runs her own independent commercial production company,
BoomThrift. BoomThrift is a woman owned business certified by the Women’s
Business Enterprise National Counsel that produces broadcast and internet
spots for both direct clients and major advertising agency clients such as KMart,
Sharpie, NHL, Dow, Motorola, and the Illinois Office of Tourism to name a few.
The pair received a 2004 Emmy nomination and won the Casting Society
of America’s award for their work on Traffic, the USA mini-series. They
were honored in 2005 with their second Emmy nomination for the
casting of Elvis, the CBS mini-series starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers,
Camryn Manheim and Randy Quaid. They were honored, once again,
in 2007 with two Emmy nominations, one for the USA mini-series The
Starter Wife, starring Debra Messing, and the other for the Showtime
series The Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. The C.S.A. has also
recognized Slater/Brooksbank in 2007 with nominations for The Starter
Wife as well as the Sci-Fi mini-series The Lost Room.
Other personal casting accomplishments include The Mostly Unfabulous
Social Life of Ethan Green, which premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film
Festival and Steve served as a producer and the independent feature Flying
Lessons, which premiered at the 2010 Santa Barbara Film Festival, as well as
343 Industries’ 2012 series Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn.
Leading Characters and the Actors
confirmed and wished for
GRACE, 70
What was Grace really looking for when she undertook this expedition? Perhaps the worst thing would have been
to find exactly what she thought she was after – the sheltering roof, the screened windows, the lake in front, the
stand of maple and cedar and balm-of-Gilead trees behind. Perfect preservation, the past intact, when nothing
of the kind could be said of herself.
Jacqueline Bisset is our first choice for Grace at 70 and she is the perfect physical compliment to India
Eisley. We have connected with her manager. She has the script, is interested and when financing is in
place, he will take our offer to her.
Jacqueline Bisset www.imdb.com/name/nm0000302
GRACE, 18
Grace was wearing a dark-blue ballerina skirt, a white blouse, through whose eyelet frills the upper curve of her
breasts was visible, and a wide rose-colored elasticized belt. There was a discrepancy, no doubt, between the way
she presented herself and the way she wanted to be judged. But nothing about her was dainty or pert or polished,
in the style of the time. A bit ragged around the edges, in fact. Giving herself gypsy airs, with the very cheapest
silver-painted bangles, and the long, wild-looking, curly dark hair that she had to put into a snood when she
waited on tables.
India Eisley is confirmed for the role of Grace. www.imdb.com/name/nm2086223
NEIL
His hands didn’t feel drunk, and his eyes didn’t look it. Nor did he look like the
jolly uncle he had impersonated when he talked to the children, or the purveyor
of reassuring patter he had chosen to be with Grace. He had a high pale forehead,
a crest of tight curly gray-black hair, bright gray but slightly sunken eyes, high
cheekbones, and rather hollowed cheeks. If his face relaxed, he would look sombre
and hungry.
JJ Feild is confirmed for the role of Neil. www.imdb.com/name/nm0270625
MRS. TRAVERS, mid 50’s
Mrs. Travers, under her bright muumuus seemed not fat but sturdily plump, like a child
who hasn’t stretched up yet. And the shine, the intentness, of her eyes, the gaiety that was
always ready to break out in them, had not been inherited. Nor had the rough red, almost
a rash, on her cheeks, which was probably a result of going out in any weather without
thinking about her complexion, and which, like her figure, like her muumuus, showed
her independence.
Our short list for Mrs. Travers includes:
Frances McDormand www.imdb.com/name/nm0000531
Julianne Moore www.imdb.com/name/nm0000194
Kristin Scott Thomas www.imdb.com/name/nm0000218
PAUL
…and then Grace did stop and look at him. It seemed to her that she saw the whole
of him in that moment, the true Paul. Scared, fierce, innocent, determined.
Ed Speelers http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1968873
In addition to Ed Speelers we have identified the following
actors we will consider for the role.
Ansel Elgort www.imdb.com/name/nm5052065
Jeremy Irvine www.imdb.com/name/nm3528539
Max Thieriot www.imdb.com/name/nm1302735
Lucas Till www.imdb.com/name/nm1395771
film
contact information
LLC
ARTS
For more information about the Company or the Project, or to discuss ways
to get involved in the development, financing or production of the project, contact:
Maria Finitzo
FilmArts, llc
http://mariafinitzo.com
marialf@earthlink.net
Leigh Jones
773.307.8782
leigh@boomthrift.com