Silent House The Movie in Nottingham,

• Info
• Cast & Crew

• Genre: Horror
  
  Synopsis:
  Horrifying events turn panic to real terror when a young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) becomes trapped in the old house she's helping her father and uncle renovate.
  
  Release Date: 05/04/2012
  Running Time: 88
  
  Rating: R - Restricted
  
  http://whyisthishappeningtome.net/
  
• Cast:
  Sarah: Elizabeth Olsen,John: Adam Trese,Peter: Eric Stevens Sheffer,Sophia: Julia Ross Taylor
  
  Crew:
  Director: Chris Kentis,Director: Laura Lau,Screenwriter: Laura Lau,Producer: Agnes Mentre,Producer: Laura Lau,Executive Producer: Adeline Tessaur Fontan,Executive Producer: Eva Diederix,Executive Producer: George Paaswell,Executive Producer: Lynette Howell,Cinematographer: Igor Martinovic,Original Music: Nathan Larson,Production Design: Roshelle Berliner,Art Director: Katya Debear,Set Decoration: Robert Covelman,Costume Designer: Lynn Falconer,Casting: Kerry Barden,Casting: Paul Schnee
  
  Production Companies:
  Elle Driver,Eye for an Eye Filmworks
  
  Distributors:
  Open Road,Studio Canal
  
  Notes:
  Production Notes - Notes provided by Open Road - AMBITIOUS BEGINNINGS The art of cinematic frights is one that has been refined over the last century. Filmmakers have adapted to an evolution of storytelling techniques and tools to deliver heightened suspense - editing, visuals, atmosphere and sound effects, it's a strenuous manipulation of various factors to set an audience on the edge of their movie theater seat. Strip away some of those principle accoutrements of scare-making, however, and you have SILENT HOUSE. A re-imagining of the Uruguayan film LA CASA MUDA, SILENT HOUSE cleverly deconstructs our perception of how one makes a taut, unnerving thriller in real time. Akin to Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 film ROPE, SILENT HOUSE is told in a continuous camera shot, following Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) and the horrifying ordeal she encounters at a summer home over the course of an evening. Where Sarah goes, the camera follows...and so does the audience as she tries to make sense of memories from her past and the mysterious figure stalking her. Taking on this unique challenge are directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, a duo no stranger to projects calling for tricky production preparation. In 2004, they tackled the shark-infested OPEN WATER. Through SILENT HOUSE producer Agnès Mentre, Kentis and Lau became acquainted with LA CASA MUDA and, together, they jumped at the possibilities an English-language remake presented. ``We were impressed these filmmakers came up with an interesting way to execute their story, says Kentis, ``but we wanted to try a few different things with our film. We were really excited about the idea of doing something in a single shot. For a filmmaker, that is big - taking on a new challenge like this and telling a story in this way. You don't get many chances to do something like that. Once committed to the project, the pair began to deviate from the original film beginning at ground zero: The script. Lau took on writing duties and began intensive research after seeing LA CASA MUDA. ``The original was based on a true story that took place in the 1940s in a village in Uruguay, Lau explains, ``there was this house and three bodies were found mutilated and incest was involved. The first question I asked myself is what happened, who was involved and why? Incest is a very difficult subject matter, The original stayed away from it, but I felt it was important to be accurate about what would motivate Sarah's actions. It's an extremely serious worldwide problem and it was very very painful for me as I researched and read extensively on the subject. Lau elaborates, ``What this film is actually about is a portrait of a woman trapped in trauma. When such horrific secrets are suppressed, it leaves the victim caught in a terrible place. When a young person is abused, they don't have well developed defense mechanisms and in order to survive the overwhelming fear, some victims fragment their identity in order to protect parts of themselves. I was trying to find a way to visually translate the psychological impact of this type of abuse so I studied Dissociative Identity Disorder. I worked especially with a book by Donald Kalsched called ``The Inner World of Trauma which is about Jungian archetypal defenses which is rich with imagery. Lau continues, ``Telling this particular story in one continuous shot really made it possible to be intimately bound to Sarah's damaged experience of reality and her terror. Shooting in real time actually allowed us to play with time and memory in a way that corresponded with Sarah's fragmented realities. Kentis interjects, ``The things that matter most about the movie are hard to talk about because we don't want to spoil the ending for our viewers. Beyond the core themes of the story - something the directors prefer to keep hush-hush - what SILENT HOUSE allowed Kentis and Lau to explore was the multiple sub-genres their film would dabble in and how certain genre tropes were going to be informed by the visual language that was already locked in. Lau says, ``In exploring how to convey Sarah's terror, we were looking at different sub-genres like home invasion, haunted house... Also, we looked at a lot of psychological thrillers like [Roman Polanski's] REPULSION and, of course, we had the original film to go off of. Kentis adds, ``We saw the movie as starting out as being perceived as a home invasion story, and then possibly a haunted house film and then ultimately take it to someplace far more horrifying. Knowing that's how it would play out, we wanted to experiment with some of those genre conventions. In some cases, we played with tried and true conventions, which we felt would be experienced differently because of the continuous take. Star Elizabeth Olsen agrees the inclusion of a continuous shot device adds an extra, hopefully invisible layer to the type of scares audiences are accustomed to and are achieved through editing. ``It's a new way of creating those jumps, like, what you would get cutting to a door slamming, or seeing curtains over an open window blowing, or cutting to a girl screaming. We just don't use those editing devices and I find that exhilarating. I don't think people are going to pick up on the fact there are no cuts or that it's all just one take. People don't think twice about that, they're just into it. What's special is that this is a whole new way of storytelling. ``The real challenge is, how to tell a story, try to give the audience a unique, engrossing, emotional experience, without the usual filmmaking tools and techniques at your disposal, Kentis elaborates. ``Pacing, how to reveal information, jumps in time, sculpting the nuances of a performance. All are usually achieved by shooting coverage and of course, through editing, but now, that's off the table. In a way, you have to think of a new cinematic language to communicate all of this. That said, the filmmakers also hope audience members overlook the fact the story unfolds in a continuous shot and will become absorbed by the plight of Olsen's character, Sarah. ``We want to take them through this experience with the character, never getting a break, caring for every single second she's on screen, says Lau. ``It's not actually one shot, to achieve that effect we strung a series of complicated long takes together Kentis clarifies, ``it's interesting to me that some people would fixate on how many shots we did do. But the best compliment for me is to hear people who saw the film say they didn't even notice it was one shot or get distracted by that. THE HOUSE A location can make or break any film that utilizes a single setting. In some cases, a location can become its own character and take on its own certain fame - take the PSYCHO house, for instance. For Kentis and Lau, whose film was set entirely in and around a single location, their mission was two-fold: Find a home that would not only suit their atmospheric needs, as Sarah maneuvered her way through its darkest recesses, but also give them the adequate space they needed to turn the location into, as Kentis calls it, ``our own little sound stage. ``It was not easy finding this location, Lau says. ``We had to have high enough ceilings because the whole house had to be pre-lit from above. We had incredibly long takes and we were shooting 360 so there was no place to hide lights except from above. Lau looked at floor plans of various homes for inspiration as she created an imaginary house in her head during the scripting process. What she envisioned was a two-story home, not an archetypal gothic, spooky castle. Location scouting proved to be difficult for the New York City-based Lau and Kentis, however, as they had a narrow selection of homes with the right character and high ceilings to choose from in their area. ``With no ability to cut, the geography of the house was absolutely critical, Lau says. ``We were looking for quite a while and far outside of the city, like two hours out, and our production designer, Roshelle Berliner, remembered a house she had seen in New Rochelle, which is really close to the city. She talked to our location manager and they figured out, on Google maps, where this house was or close to where it was. We got to the location and it turned out it was not the house she had seen before, but there was one right next to it owned by the same owner. We couldn't believe our luck, it wound up being perfect, being available, and an unbelievably easy commute. It was also a nice bonus that the house resided by the water. So, with the location locked into place, Lau began to rewrite her script based on the actual layout of the house, utilizing both the water and the home's three stories. The only problem Kentis and Lau could foresee was the house's surrounding buildings which needed to be blocked out to give the illusion the home was isolated. Greens and camouflage netting proved to be useful. Kentis laughs, ``The bigger issue was we were situated beneath one of LaGuardia Airport's main flight paths, so it was a matter of soundproofing the house. But we also had to preserve the exterior of the house because in some scenes, we were going inside and outside of the house in the same shot, so none of our soundproofing could be seen. Technicalities aside, the house offered a clean canvas upon which production designer Berliner could work with. ``The house is completely Roshelle Berliner's work, Lau says. ``It was totally empty, the wallpaper and everything you see in that house we brought into it. We began with the premise that the house is not only the site of events past and present, but that the house actually is Sarah. The holes in the walls are the holes in Sarah's mind. Kentis adds, ``We wanted the different levels of the house to be distinct and each room to offer a different experience to reflect various aspects of Sarah which is also why we had a different lighting scheme for each floor. ``The film is Sarah's journey from things that have been suppressed and forgotten to her gradual awareness of what is going on, Lau continues, so we wanted to work with that from the basement to the top floor, which we don't go to until the third act. We worked on finding ways to bring the structure and contents of Sarah's mind, especially her unconscious mind, out into the production design. We wanted the house with its different levels and rooms to function like the various compartments of Sarah's mind. ELIZABETH OLSEN as ``SARAH Elizabeth Olsen is often asked: What is the strangest thing you have ever done during an audition? A question she has never been able to answer. That is, until SILENT HOUSE came along. ``The audition was a very strange thing because there are very few dialogue-heavy scenes to use for an audition, the actress recalls. ``One of the scenes I had to do was literally find a key, which was weird. They were scenes from a script that wasn't final. I think there was even a scene from the ending that had nothing to do with what we ended up filming. And I had to pretend I was running away from something behind the door. That was definitely funny, it's much like 'You're in a box, in a hole and you need to get out. Let's see that.' For the role of Sarah, Kentis and Lau needed someone who could push themselves to extraordinary levels of emotion and fear, but also maintain the strength to physically carry the audience along for the ride since Sarah is on screen nearly every minute of the film. ``We had a relationship with Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee, the casting directors, and we had been working with them on several projects, Lau says. ``When SILENT HOUSE came up we turned to them. They had cast Jennifer Lawrence in WINTER'S BONE and when we brought them SILENT HOUSE they knew exactly who should fill the part. Lizzie came in and she was perfect. Kentis says Olsen was the first actress to audition for Sarah, ``She was perfect, but it seemed too easy, they felt they needed to do their due diligence and see other actresses. ``And we did see other people, but Lizzie was always the person to beat. Impressed by her maturity, charisma and depth, Kentis and Lau ultimately chose Olsen who was fresh off of shooting MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE and PEACE, LOVE & MISUNDERSTANDING. It was on the former film where Olsen heard of LA CASA MUDA. ``All of the guys working on MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE saw the original and said the first hour and fifteen minutes were the most terrifying thing they had seen, says Olsen. ``I love horror movies, I like being scared, and I laugh my ass off, screaming and laughing as an audience member. One film she avoided, however, was Kentis and Lau's OPEN WATER. ``I have a fear of the ocean - a really irrational fear and I have a huge fear of sharks that prevents me from going into the water, so I will not see it. I trust my older brother's opinion greatly because we have similar tastes. Knowing he loved it so much, I trusted him. With a sibling's recommendation of OPEN WATER and trusted crew members endorsing LA CASA MUDA, Olsen looked at starring in an American remake of the latter as nothing but positive - and similar to how Kentis and Lau felt - a challenge. ``To me, it was remaking a movie that has potential, but you make it better and make it stand on its own, says Olsen. ``It reminds me of the French film THEM [aka ILS], where these strangers come into this couple's home and terrorize them. I think this film fits somewhere within that. It's not BLAIR WITCH-y, because the camera is so much smarter than that film. I personally don't like horror movies that are about slicing and dicing. I like feeling claustrophobic and that is where this one goes. ``She is rigorous, Kentis explains. ``The effort she's put in to her craft - she studied theater in Russia and for a movie like this with incredibly long takes, she had the ability to step up to the challenges. The camera loves her and if you have a movie where the camera is going to be on one protagonist for so long you want someone you're going to want to watch. Lau continues, ``The key was always Lizzie's performance. You have to believe and care about her and what she's going through. THE PRODUCTION Before Kentis and Lau began shooting, they had to address one concern. The script came in shorter than the length of a feature film. The industry rough rule of thumb is one page of a script amounts to a minute of screen time. According to Lau, her screenplay for SILENT HOUSE was an estimated 60 pages. ``We knew there was no coverage and no cutting, so literally every nanosecond of the film had to be accounted for in the script Lau explains. ``The short script made everyone really nervous. We actually signed a document that ensured we were going to turn in a movie that was paced out to feature length. We signed it, but we didn't really know. We wrote what felt right. Whether it was going to work or not, we had no clue. The duo took preparation to new heights to confirm they had a feature-length film on their hands. ``What Laura and I did was we went out to the location and Laura acted out the whole movie, Kentis says. ``We did it over and over, in character, the whole script. Once we got the house, we were camping out there constantly, working out choreography and shots. We had a pretty strong idea - before we brought the crew on - what we wanted to do. ``On our budget and schedule, we knew we had to be really prepared, adds Lau. Another piece of the production puzzle that needed to be solved was finding the right director of photography. After all, he would have the arduous task of following Olsen throughout the shoot with a camera. Through previous meetings, Kentis and Lau chose Igor Martinovic, known for his work on the documentaries MAN ON WIRE and THE TILLMAN STORY as well as the RED RIDING trilogy. His instincts would ultimately prove to be a major asset on SILENT HOUSE. ``We love the way he lights, says Kentis. ``Obviously, the documentary and handheld background was an absolute necessity for something like this. There is a certain intuition he had that was perfect for this film. Through principle photography, the working dynamic between Olsen and Martinovic would prove to be essential. Lau says, ``What was really amazing about Lizzie was not only did she remember where her character needed to be emotionally and hold her performance, but she had to remember to hit numerous cues in a carefully choreographed ballet with Igor. Her movements justified the camera's movements. This ``ballet was compounded by the fact that Kentis, Lau and Martinovic felt they needed to orchestrate camera moves - sometimes 360-degree shots - that were more complex than what was seen in the original film, thus intensifying the demands put upon Olsen and Martinovic. ``We looked at what they did in LA CASA MUDA and guessed how they did it, Kentis says, ``and then Igor spoke with the cinematographer of that film, and our guesses were all correct. They pretty much executed it the way we had planned going about it. Also, because we had the benefit of having seen the original, we could see some issues with the pacing and where we could amp it up a little bit. But mostly we felt we had to go a step further by going, without cutting, from inside to outside the house and different floors of the house and even getting a crane shot in and push things a bit more. Communication during filming was essential, especially for a crew unfamiliar with meticulous, sometimes 20-minute-long, takes in which marks, lighting cues and various other actions needed to be executed with fine precision. ``There are moments during the shooting when you would just hear Igor saying 'Walk slower, raise your head higher, walk faster', Olsen says. ``We created the momentum and we had people hidden in corners to close doors or make noises for cues. It was a quiet dialogue within movement and space. He and his team were so brave. ``Often I was in video village as Laura prepared the actors, just running the scene and running it more, Kentis adds. ``For Lizzie, it's challenging because we'll be 20 minutes into a shot and the prop guy would accidentally get his hand in there or there'd be a focus or lighting cue missed and we would have to cut and go back to square one. Amazingly, the more we went the better she would get . That may have been true, but for Olsen, she says it was tricky to get into the rhythm of the powerful emotional state she needed to bring to Sarah when the film's story intensified. ``The goal was always thirteen takes and we shot for 15 days, says Olsen, ``and sometimes took two days to do one take or shot. We would run through the scene and be recording, but I felt I was learning as we went while giving 100 to every shot. But sometimes I just couldn't do it anymore. I could not produce any more snot or fluids to run down my face. It was draining. The actress says she would often retreat to the house's staircase to collect her thoughts and mentally prepare before complicated, extended sequences. For moments in which Sarah is being stalked, Olsen relied on ``my weird imagination, I play games with myself at the drop of a hat, she says. ``That was beneficial. I started having weird nightmares that didn't have much to do with the actual story of the script, but it had to do with a child's sexual abuse by a parent at a weird age and that was really disturbing. It became everything my mind went through while we were shooting and it that was exhausting. ``What was difficult for me, the main goal the entire film, was to try and figure out how fear changes within an hour and half, Olsen continues. ``Because there was not much dialogue, the only arc to create was the journey of fear. I didn't want moments to repeat themselves. If you end up filming a scene that's supposed to be emotional and difficult at the beginning of the shooting schedule and you're doing it over and over, you look a little bit more tired than maybe you should for a scene at the beginning of the movie that you have to shoot later. It was difficult to carve that type of performance when you're trying to do these actions for a very long period of time. One sequence that proved particularly stressful, not just for Olsen but for Martinovic and his team, found Sarah running through the basement, out into the woods, then get into a car, then leave the car and go back into the house. Kentis explains, ``Two camera operators were involved in that scene and the choreography was all about preparation. They were running with the camera and passing the camera in and out of the car and from the front of the car to back and our A.D. crew had to be totally on the ball with cues because everything had to happen at exact moments. ``With our crew, you can imagine the excitement and the tension, says Lau. ``Every take it was like, 'You almost have the shot, you almost have the shot...' And the whole crew would erupt into cheers when we completed a take because it was so difficult to do any given sequence. SUNDANCE SILENT HOUSE premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January 2011. The attending audience witnessed a cut that will not be seen when it is released in theaters. ``This is a new cut which wasn't at Sundance, Kentis reveals. ``We see this as a different movie than what was at the festival. We reshot the entire last 15 minutes of the film. ``We also made some changes at the beginning to quicken the pace, we cut and added scenes, we made dialogue changes throughout and we completely redid the sound work and remixed the film adds Lau. ``It was great to have the film seen with an audience at Sundance and we were really grateful to have the opportunity to improve the film, Kentis goes on to say. While Kentis and Lau are currently circling a few projects, whatever does come next, it is guaranteed they'll be working together. The former says, ``We're on the same page and we have the same taste. I think we bring different talents and different core interests to the table. Same project, same taste, same end goal, but a different point of view. That's the nature of collaboration. ABOUT THE CAST AND FILMMAKERS Elizabeth Olsen (Sarah) Elizabeth Olsen is not only a vivacious and engaging young actress, but she is also a full time student at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts. Recently, Olsen started in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE from Fox Searchlight, for which she received a Best Actress nomination from the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The film is a drama that follows a young woman who is living with her older sister after escaping a cult. Olsen stars opposite Hugh Dancy, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Brady Corbet. MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE was also selected in the Un Certain Regard as part of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and Olsen has received a Gotham Award, Critics Choice, and FIND Spirit Award nomination for Lead Actress for her performance. She has been named best actress for her performance from the following critic associations: Indiana (Winner), Ghent (Winner), Florida (Winner - Breakout), Chicago (Winner - Olsen/Most Promising), Phoenix (Winner), Central Ohio (Winner), Vancouver (Winner). She was also nominated for the following: Detroit (Nominee - Olsen/Breakthrough), St. Louis (Nominee), Chicago (Nominee), Las Vegas (Nominee), Houston (Nominee), Online Film Critics (Nominee), IPA (Nominee), San Diego (Nominee) and Denver (Nominee). Olsen will next be seen starring in the independent film SILENT HOUSE from Open Road Films. The film is the re-imagining of the successful Uruguayan psychological horror-thriller, LA CASA MUDA. The movie is about a true story that happened in the late 40's in a small village in Uruguay. The film will be released on March 9th, 2012. Olsen also had two films premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The first film was RED LIGHTS in which she stars opposite Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver. The film centers on a psychologist, and her assistant, whose study of paranormal activity leads them to investigate a world-renowned psychic. The second was LIBERAL ARTS where she stars as 'Zibby' opposite Josh Radnor, John Magaro, Zac Efron and Richard Jenkins. The film follows a thirty-something guy (Radnor) and a coed (Olsen) who spark a connection due to their mutual love of books and music, though their age difference complicates their fledgling relationship. This spring, Olsen will start filming THERESE RAQUIN opposite Glenn Close. The film is a dark period piece set in Paris in 1867, which follows young Therese (Olsen), who is forced by her aunt, Madame Raquin (Close), into a loveless marriage to her sick, spoiled first cousin. The film will be directed by Charlie Stratton, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation. She will also start filming VERY GOOD GIRLS opposite Dakota Fanning. Olsen is also very familiar to the stage as she understudied both on the Off-Broadway play Dust and the Broadway play Impressionism while attending college. Other workshops include Bottom of the World by Lucy Thurber (Atlantic Theatre Company), and The Living Newspaper (DRD Theatricals). Training: Atlantic Acting School and Moscow Art Theatre School. Olsen currently resides in New York. Adam Trese (John) Born in New York City, Adam is a graduate of S.U.N.Y Purchase and has enjoyed a well diversified career as an actor in film, television and theater. His theater credits include having played "Eddie" in the revival of THE TIME OF THE CUKOO; also "Juror 12" in the Tony nominated play, TWELVE ANGRY MEN at The Roundabout Theater and "Marco" in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. Adam most recently played "Donald" in Thomas Bradshaw's play, BURNING, for The New Group. For film, Adam has played leads in significant independents as PALOOKAVILLE, LAWS OF GRAVITY, POLISH WEDDING, THE SAINT OF FORT WASHINGTON and ILLTOWN. Adam has also appeared in bigger budgeted films including David Fincher's ZODIAC as well as 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS opposite Josh Hartnett. Adam's television credits are quite numerous, including such shows as: 30 ROCK; RESCUE ME; LIPSTICK JUNGLE; LAW & ORDER; THE SOPRANOS; NEW YORK UNDERCOVER; HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET; NYPD BLUE and NEW YORK UNDERCOVER. Eric Sheffer Stevens (Peter) Upon completing his graduate degree from the University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Eric Sheffer Stevens pursued a career in theater, starring in the world premiere of the Keith Reddin's play Synergy at the Alley Theatre in Houston. Over the next years he worked in both classical and contemporary productions at theaters all over the country. Eric went on to appear in the Lincoln Center production of King Lear, starring Christopher Plummer. He would later return to Lincoln Center for the Tony Award winning and highly acclaimed trilogy The Coast of Utopia, written by Tom Stoppard and featuring Ethan Hawke, Billy Crudup, and Brian F. O'Byrne. Eric's work on television first earned critical acclaim on As The World Turns in which he played neurosurgeon Dr. Reid Oliver. The character's controversial storyline immediately became a fan favorite and garnered Eric widespread recognition. In 2011, Eric's on camera career hit a high note with several notable productions. SILENT HOUSE, a thriller from OPEN WATER directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, also starring Elizabeth Olsen, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. Most recently, Eric booked the WBTV/FBC multi-cam comedy I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, also starring Jamie Pressly. Eric's other recent projects include JULIE & JULIA opposite Amy Adams, and TV guest spots on the Emmy nominated Showtime series The Big C, the season finale of Body of Proof, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He resides in New York City with his wife and children. Laura Lau (Writer/Director/Producer) and Chris Kentis (Director) SILENT HOUSE is the third collaboration for the filmmaking team of CHRIS KENTIS and LAURA LAU. Kentis and Lau co-wrote Kentis's feature film directorial debut, GRIND, a noir drama about an ex-con, (Billy Crudup), whose affair with his brother's wife, (Adrienne Shelley), sparks a series of tragic consequences. Lau also produced, while Kentis edited the film. Kentis and Lau's second film, OPEN WATER, told the true life tale of a vacationing couple on a dive excursion who are accidentally left behind in shark infested waters. Kentis and Lau wrote, directed, produced, shot and edited the film without a crew. The film screened at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Lionsgate Films. Kentis is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and an award-winning film editor. Lau graduated from Columbia University with a degree in writing. They live with their daughter in New York City. Agnes Mentre (Producer) Agnes Mentre is currently the U.S. Representative for Wild Bunch, which is regarded as a European leader in international sales, co-production and the distribution of motion pictures. With 18 years of film industry experience, she previously worked for Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, where she was EVP of Acquisitions and Co-Production during the last 7 years of her tenure. Some of her high profile acquisitions and most successful projects include AMELIE, FAHRENHEIT 9/11, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, CITY OF GOD, THE PIANO, IN THE BEDROOM, GARDEN STATE and THE CRYING GAME. Her most recent acquisitions at Wild Bunch include, THE WRESTLER, TWO LOVERS, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, THE BOX and THE EXTRA MAN. In addition to acquiring films, she also represents remake rights on European productions, helping to bridge US studios and European productions. Her most recent remake being SILENT HOUSE, based on the Uruguayan film, LA CASA MUDA. Before entering the film business, she was an investment banker with Lazard Freres in New York. She is also a French and American lawyer.