ANYWHERE BUT HERE, a comedy-drama about the evolving relationship between a mother and daughter trying to make a new life for themselves in Beverly Hills, stars Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman, with Wayne Wang directing. Laurence Mark produces the screenplay by Alvin Sargent, based on the acclaimed book by Mona Simpson. Ginny Nugent is the executive producer.

Co-starring are Bonnie Bedelia ("Die Hard," "Heart Like a Wheel"), Shawn Hatosy ("Outside Providence," "In & Out") and Hart Bochner ("Die Hard," "Rich & Famous").

The production team includes director of photography Roger Deakins, A.S.C./B.S.C. ("Kundun," "Fargo"), production designer Donald Graham Burt ("Donnie Brasco," "The Joy Luck Club"), costume designer Betsy Heimann ("Jerry Maguire," "Pulp Fiction") and editor Nicholas C. Smith, A.C.E. ("Fly Away Home," "Bram Stoker's Dracula"). Music is by Danny Elfman ("Sleepy Hollow," "Batman") and Deva Anderson is the music supervisor.

According to producer Laurence Mark, ANYWHERE BUT HERE's themes and characters apply to virtually everyone. "All of us at some time or another have been embarrassed by our mothers," says Mark. "But at the end of the day, we often realize how less colorful the world would be were that not true."

Mark first read the novel by award-winning author Mona Simpson four years ago and soon thereafter brought the book to Fox 2000 Pictures. Fox then acquired the rights from another studio where the project lay dormant.

"I read a draft by Alvin Sargent, the initial screenwriter," says Mark, "and called to ask if he would be interested in revisiting this project with me, which he agreed to do."

Mark considers the two-time Academy Award*-winning screenwriter of "Julia" and "Ordinary People" the perfect choice to adapt Simpson's novel. "'Ordinary People' proved that Alvin has strong insights into the American family," says Mark. "ANYWHERE BUT HERE's Adele and Ann are a family, albeit an odd one."

"Julia," which detailed the extraordinary friendship between two women, also displayed Sargent's ability to depict vivid and compelling relationships. "That's also a key aspect of our story," points out Mark, "because it focuses on a relationship between two female best friends who happen to be mother and daughter."

Mark and the studio's choice for a director was Wayne Wang, who had demonstrated his skill at portraying varied and complex relationships between women in the critical and box-office hit "The Joy Luck Club," a film about several generations of mothers and daughters. "'The Joy Luck Club' was such a perfect movie to show what he could do with ANYWHERE BUT HERE," Mark explains. "It was clear that he could tap into the female sensibility, which is exactly what was required for this film."

While finishing up his most recent independent film, "The Chinese Box," Wang began to look for his next project. After looking at numerous scripts, Wang decided on ANYWHERE BUT HERE.

The themes behind Mona Simpson's novel and Sargent's screenplay were the strongest attractions to Wang, who had dealt with these situations in earlier films, such as "Dim Sum" and "Eat a Bowl of Tea," as well as "The Joy Luck Club." "ANYWHERE BUT HERE is about letting go of the people you love," states Wang. "And that applies to both sides - parents and child both have to let go at a certain point.

"I'm always drawn to simple, human stories, especially family stories," Wang continues. "ANYWHERE BUT HERE is about family, people, dependence, independence, love and hate; it's about growing up. I really felt like I was on this journey with them, and I really liked these two characters."

Wang also identified with the character of Adele. "She actually reminded me a lot of my uncle, who was a gambler with a penchant for outrageous investments, most of which didn't pan out," the director shares. "I realized that it must be kind of scary living a life like that."

Wang's passion for and skill in telling stories about women and families hasbeen noted by critics and audiences around the world - and by members of his own family. "When I was making 'The Joy Luck Club'," remembers Wang, "my wife said I was probably a woman in a past life," recalls Wang with a laugh. "She says that I have a certain sensibility for and understanding of women. Also, the Chinese believe that we have both yin and yang sides; perhaps I'm more in touch in my yin side, which is the feminine side."

Once Wang came aboard the project, he and producer Mark set about casting the film. "Wayne always wanted Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman," Mark recalls. "We all felt that the combination would be dynamite.

"What's extraordinary about Susan is that she can be larger than life and yet always real," continues Mark. "That's what hopefully makes the character of Adele August work. She's a bit nutty, but just this side of credible."

Sarandon's comedic talents were key to playing her character. "I always thought Susan had a great comic streak about her," says Wang, "and that would be a wonderful opportunity for her to do comedy in a film that's also dramatic."

Wang and Sargent's script impressed Sarandon, who was already familiar with the novel. "People had been giving it to me for over ten years," she recalls. Plus the timing seemed right. "I have a daughter, who was turning 14, and I wanted to practice being a mother of a teenager on film before it became critical," she laughs.

Sarandon also appreciated Adele's complexities and motivations. "I think what's interesting about the character is that she is doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. Adele loves her daughter, but is misguided and self-serving. Adele is too big for the town. She didn't make it out, but she still has these hopes and dreams for herself and her daughter. Their hopes are tied together, and they set out for California for a kind of 'People magazine' dream.

"In a way, Adele is in denial - she has to be in order to accomplish what she wants to accomplish," Sarandon continues. "If she was realistic, she would never have left her small town. So in a way her bravado is all about just trying to give herself reason to go on against the impossible odds of making it in Los Angeles. I love that about her."

Taking on the role of Adele's daughter, Ann, is Natalie Portman. "I wanted Natalie from the moment I read the script," says Wang, who had been eager to work with her since seeing her in her motion picture debut, "The Professional." When Wang saw Portman perform the title role in a new Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank," he was convinced he had found Ann August.

Wang believes that Portman brings important qualities to the role of Ann. "There's an intelligence, a watchfulness, an underlying impulsiveness that comes with a teenager who's now 17, still sort of living in her parent's shadows and ready to go out on her own," he points out. Portman embraced the many challenges and the changing relationship between Ann and Adele in the course of their journey together. "There's a great love between the two characters because they really can't be without one another," states Portman. "It's a symbiotic relationship - they help each other, live off each other and need each other. Plus it's always moving back and forth: Sometimes Ann is the realist, the sensible one; and sometimes Adele takes control and Ann gets to be the kid who needs to be protected."

Like Sarandon, Portman saw some parallels between her character and what was happening in her personal life. "It was weird at times," says the actress. "During filming I was thinking about how in a year I'd be going through some of the things that Ann is - getting ready for college and living on my own."

Sarandon sees the casting of Portman as critical to understanding the relationship between mother and daughter. "I knew if we didn't cast someone who seemed whole and healthy and had her own grace and intelligence, it would seem that my character would be bullying the daughter," Sarandon points out. "And who wants to watch that? But if audiences could see someone who was smart and healthy, they'd have to say at some point, 'Well for all the mom's silliness and mistakes, she must be doing something right because Ann is going to survive and is a great kid.'"

ANYWHERE BUT HERE was filmed on locations in Los Angeles, mostly on the city's west side, where the story takes place, and on soundstages at Twentieth Century Fox.

In fact, Los Angeles itself plays an important role in the film. Says Wang: "I think audiences will really get a sense of Ann and Adele's new life in Los Angeles through all the different places we visit that are so unique to the city."

Since Wang is not a native "Angelino," he brings the view of an outsider, which mirrors that of his two principal characters. "I've always felt that this film in a way is an homage to L.A.," says Wang. "For Adele, L.A. is like the Emerald City in 'The Wizard of Oz'; she sees it as the answer to her hopes and dreams. Since Beverly Hills doesn't have a particular landmark or a real center, we made the office towers of Century City as the symbolic center of the Beverly Hills area and a kind of 'Oz' for Adele."

Wang also wanted to depict the city's uniqueness - "the real L.A., not the clichŽd images," he says. To that end, the production utilized 40 locations in and around the city, including Beverly Hills High School, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and several of that community's homes and streets.

"One of the things that Wayne brought to the project," says Mark, "was the notion of Los Angeles as a distinct character in the movie. Since the story explores how these two women from Wisconsin see L.A., our goal was to depict it in a fresh way. The city has all these layers, which were interesting to explore. There are the modest apartments in the Hollywood flats and the strip malls on Sunset Boulevard. As you look up into the hills, you see the plusher houses. Look west, there is the ocean. And right in front of you, a car wash."

The team of cinematographer Roger Deakins, production designer Donald Graham Burt and costume designer Betsy Heimann played a key role in bringing Wang's vision to the screen.

Says Wang: "Roger Deakins and I talked about trying to shoot in a very simple, elegant way that supports the story; at the same time we utilized a variety of techniques to tell the story visually. For example, we used a fluid, constantly moving camera to give the actors a lot of room." However, instead of using dolly tracks or a Steadicam, Wang and Deakins utilized a new technology in which the actors are followed by a camera mounted on a small crane called a "hothead." "The hothead made it easier to move and get angles in small spaces, yet it still provided smoother and more controlled movements than possible with a dolly or Steadicam," notes Wang.

"Wayne and Roger give us reality with a coat of shellac," adds Mark. "So it is reality heightened a tad, which is to some extent what Susan and Natalie do with their characters: offering up reality, pushed to the edge."

Wang also elected to shoot ANYWHERE BUT HERE in widescreen format, an atypical choice for comedy-drama. "The wide screen gives the film a larger-than-life feel," he explains. "It also makes the landscape a character in its own right and enables us to put the two characters together on screen much easier."

Production designer Burt previously worked with Wang on "The Joy Luck Club." The collaboration once again was a rewarding experience. "Don doesn't show off," says Wang. "His work is solid and subtle, and it supports the characters - he doesn't try to take over the screen with production design."

Betsy Heimann previously collaborated with Mark on "Jerry Maguire." "Betsy is bold enough to have some fun and take chances," Mark points out. "And with the character of Adele, you have to have some fun, because the way Adele dresses she always looks slightly out of place. Betsy, too, paints reality with an adventuresome brush."

But while Adele may look out of place at times, she is always an interesting, sometimes larger-than-life figure. "By the end of the story," Wang relates, "Ann realizes that without her mother the world would be less interesting and everything would be flatter."

For Natalie Portman, the film is about the importance of family, even when that family is a little dysfunctional. "I think parents and children really need to have a strong bond," she says. "Even if there are problems, you have to keep that bond strong."

And Susan Sarandon hopes the film will have a simple but important effect on audiences. "I'd love for people to see the film and remember their mothers and/or daughtersÉand call them."

DONALD GRAHAM BURT's (Production Designer) film credits include "A Cool, Dry Place," "Donnie Brasco," "Kazaam," "Dangerous Minds" and "The Joy Luck Club." Burt has also worked extensively in commercials on locations throughout the world, with spots including The California Milk Board, Miller Beer, AT&T, American Express, Lucky Strikes, Pizza Hut, Federal Express, Honda, American Airlines, Sprint, Hershey's, Taco Bell and Coca Cola.

BETSY HEIMANN (Costume Designer) has worked on four of the most heralded films of recent years: Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs," and the highly acclaimed box-office hits "Get Shorty" and "Jerry Maguire." Most recently, she designed the costumes for "Mercury Rising," "Out of Sight" and "Simon Birch." Born in Chicago, Heimann began her career as a seamstress and worked her way up through every costume department task before graduating to the rank of designer on the 1983 adventure film "High Road to China." She has created a wide range of costumes for a number of diverse films, including "Renaissance Man," "The Tie That Binds," "The Adventures of Huck Finn," "One Good Cop," "2 Days in the Valley" and "Switchback."

NICHOLAS C. SMITH, A.C.E. (Editor) most recently edited "Fly Away Home," directed by Carol Ballard, and "Home Fries," directed by Dean Parisot. Smith's previous feature film credits include "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "Torch Song Trilogy," "Faithful," "PCU," "In a Shallow Grave" and "The Roommate." He also worked on "Losing Isaiah," "Rookie of the Year," "The Secret Garden," "The War of the Roses" and "Spaceballs." A Philadelphia native, Smith attended New York's School of Visual Arts, where he majored in photography. He began his career in the entertainment industry at ABC Sports and went on to become an assistant editor on the telecast of the 1976 Olympic Games.

DANNY ELFMAN (Composer) created his first feature score for director Tim Burton's debut, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," after establishing a successful career as a singer-songwriter with the alternative rock band Oingo Boingo. His professional association with Burton flourished with Elfman's scoring of "Beetlejuice," "Batman" (which won him a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental and a nomination for Best Score), "Batman Returns," "Edward Scissorhands," "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" (which again earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Score), "Mars Attacks!" and the upcoming "Sleepy Hollow." Elfman's diverse credits also include the Grammy-nominated "Dick Tracy" as well as "Darkman," "Sommersby," "Dead Presidents," "To Die For," "Mission: Impossible," "The Frighteners," "Men in Black," "Midnight Run," "Good Will Hunting," "A Simple Plan," "A Civil Action" and "Instinct." Elfman has also created a number of television themes, among them "The Simpsons," HBO's "Tales From the Crypt" and the animated series "Beetlejuice."

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