Clare Carey, Luis Chavez, Ross McCall, Jocko Sims, Brian Tee, and Arlene Tur Set To Star Distinguished Creative Team Headed By Glen Mazzara ('Life,''The Shield') Includes Writers from 'The Sopranos,''NYPD Blue,''Deadwood,''Without A Trace' and 'The Wire'
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Film icon Dennis Hopper has been
set to star in "Crash," the first original drama series from Starz
Entertainment, based on the Academy Award(R)-winning Best Picture. The
13-episode one-hour series, co-produced with Lionsgate, has begun production
in Albuquerque, N.M., with additional filming to take place in and around Los
Angeles, Calif. Sanford Bookstaver ("Jericho," "Bones," "The O.C.") will
direct the premiere episode of the drama, which will debut on Starz in
October. The announcement was made jointly today by Stephan Shelanski, Starz
Entertainment's executive vice president programming, and Kevin Beggs,
Lionsgate's president of programming and production.
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The cast includes film and television veteran Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet,
"24") as "Ben," a veteran, maverick music producer looking for his last big
score; Clare Carey ("Jericho") as "Christine," a frustrated Brentwood mom,
married to a successful pre-bust real estate developer; Luis Chavez (Ocean's
Thirteen, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as "Cesar," a poor
immigrant who embarks on a brutal journey to America; Ross McCall ("Band of
Brothers," "CSI:NY") plays "Kenny," a cop more interested in joyriding than
paperwork; Jocko Sims (Dreamgirls, "CSI") is "Anthony," Ben's driver; Brian
Tee ("Grey's Anatomy," "Zoey 101") portrays "Eddie," a Korean-American
immigrant who works as an EMT; and Arlene Tur ("Grey's Anatomy") is "Bebe," a
former actress who becomes a police officer. Additional cast will be announced
soon.
Headed by executive producer Glen Mazzara ("The Shield"), the creative
team includes executive producers Paul Haggis, Bob Yari and Bobby Moresco, and
co-executive producers Don Cheadle, Tom Nunan, Mark Harris, Jorg Westerkamp
and Thomas Becker, all of whom were key members of the Oscar-winning
theatrical production team. Writers joining Mazzara for the series are
co-executive producers Frank Renzulli ("The Sopranos") and Ted Mann
("Deadwood," "Miami Vice"); producer Stacy Rukeyser ("One Tree Hill," "Without
a Trace"); and executive story editors Chris Collins ("The Wire") and Randy
Huggins ("The Shield"). John B. Moranville ("Drive") is line producer.
Set in Los Angeles, the series will continue to focus on an ensemble cast
of characters. It will explore the complexities of social tolerance in
contemporary America by digging into the meaning of what it takes to reach the
American dream. Characters will intertwine and crash into each other, coming
face to face with the daily hurdles and obstacles that threaten to get in the
way of achieving that dream.
Starz Media's Anchor Bay Entertainment will hold exclusive U.S.
distribution rights, including home entertainment, to the "Crash" series,
while Lionsgate will retain international distribution.
About LIONSGATE(R)
Lionsgate is a leading next generation filmed entertainment studio with a
major presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures,
television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment,
video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company is leveraging its
content leadership and marketing expertise through a series of partnerships
that include the operation of the highly successful FEARNet branded VOD and
Internet horror channel with Sony and Comcast, the recent announcement of the
fall 2009 launch of a new premium entertainment channel with partners Viacom,
Paramount Pictures and MGM, investment in the leading young men's digital
distribution platform Break.com, ownership of the premier independent
television syndication company Debmar-Mercury LLC and an alliance with
independent filmed entertainment production and distribution company Roadside
Attractions. Lionsgate also has forged partnerships with leading content
creators, owners and distributors in key territories around the world,
including Televisa in the U.S. and Latin America, StudioCanal in the UK, Hoyts
and Sony in Australia and Eros International in India.
The Company has generated more than $450 million at the North American
theatrical box office in the past year and has released a string of hits
including The Forbidden Kingdom, Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns, The Bank Job,
Rambo, The Eye, Saw IV, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Good Luck Chuck,
3:10 To Yuma and War, most of which have opened at #1 or #2 at the box office.
The Company has also forged leadership positions in television and home
entertainment with the production of such critically-acclaimed television
series as Weeds and Mad Men, the distribution of Tyler Perry's House of Payne,
Family Feud, South Park, Trivial Pursuit and The Dead Zone, among others, and
approximately 9% market share and the industry's leading box office-to-DVD
conversion rate in home entertainment. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and
prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles
that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation
for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is
synonymous with entrepreneurial innovation and original, daring, quality
entertainment in markets around the globe.
About Starz Entertainment
Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in
the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz(R)
and Encore(R) brands with approximately 16.8 million and 31.4 million
subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per
month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz
HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz
HD On Demand, Encore HD On Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, Starz Play, and
Vongo(R). Starz Entertainment (http://www.starz.com) is an operating unit of
Starz, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation,
and is attributed to Liberty Entertainment Group (Nasdaq: LMDIA, LMDIB), a
tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.
Contacts:
Chelsye J. Burrows Robin Mesger/Leah Krantzler
Starz Entertainment The Lippin Group/LA
720/852-5838 323/965-1990
chelsye.burrows@starz.comrmesger@lippingroup.com
lkrantzler@lippingroup.com
Steve BelgardMatt Biscuiti
Starz Entertainment The Lippin Group/NY
720/852-5843 212/986-7080
steve.belgard@starz.com Matt@lippingroup.com
SOURCE Starz Entertainment
