Slighting 'The Guardian'

From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:January 29, 2004
By Rob Owen

Since last week's news about CBS's decision to bench the Pittsburgh-set legal drama "The Guardian" after February sweeps for most of March and April, viewers have been calling me to express their dismay.

Although such a move is not welcome, it doesn't necessarily mean the show will be canceled at the end of the current TV season. ABC's "NYPD Blue" has been replaced by midseason series many times, including its current hiatus to make room for "Line of Fire" ("Blue" returns Feb. 10).

But CBS chieftan Leslie Moonves' willingness to call "The Guardian" a "bubble show" -- TV talk for "on the fence" for renewal -- is troubling.

Mt. Lebanon native and "Guardian" creator David Hollander said he's confident the end is not near.

"I don't really believe 'The Guardian' will be canceled [in May]," Hollander said by phone last week. "I think its audience is loyal and large enough, and the show has a lot of creative life left within myself and [series star] Simon [Baker} and the writers and crew and cast. I don't really believe this is a show that needs to, for creative or financial reasons, be taken off the air."

Hollander said he's most concerned about CBS's level of promotional support for "The Guardian" once it returns in late April.

"I have made my concerns and complaints loudly to the network, and they can do with them what they wish," Hollander said. "I'm a guest. I hope that the show will continue, and I'll do everything within my power to make that happen. ... Given the way it's been promoted and presented, I don't think it has been particularly under-perfoming."

Season to date, "The Guardian" ranks No. 38 out of 176 prime-time series. If it is renewed, a move to less competitive Saturday night is a distinct possibility. Although a Saturday placement is one foot in the grave for some CBS series -- Saturday night's "Hack" will almost certainly be canceled in May -- others, like "The District," have existed comfortably on that night for many years.

Hollander said that if "The Guardian" returns for a fourth season, he'll continue at its helm. He recently agreed to a new deal with Sony Pictures that keeps him as the show runner of "The Guardian" for its fourth season. His previous deal was with CBS Productions, which produces "The Guardian" in conjunction with Sony.

Hollander also has a deal with Focus Features to write, produce and direct a film titled "The Mansion on the Hill." He plans to set it and shoot it in Pittsburgh, but the timetable for the film will depend on whether or not "The Guardian" is canceled. If it is, the earliest he'd shoot "Mansion" is probably sometime in 2006.

For now, "The Guardian" remains his primary effort. He defends it against charges that it's grown too dark in recent episodes that featured Nick Fallin (Baker) returning to drugs and cheating on his pregnant girlfriend, Lulu (Wendy Moniz, who is pregnant in real life, a coincidence that didn't dictate the story).

"Just hang with the show," Hollander advised. "Like any character-based show, darkness is going to come, and it is usually followed by brightness. In episodes 16, 17 and 18 in particular you'll see some pretty remarkable turns in the characters and a little more lift in the show."

The Feb. 10 episode will address the Lulu pregnancy, and newly revealed bisexual Jake (Raphael Sbarge) will get a girlfriend. The last two episodes of February sweeps will focus on the disappearance of Shannon, a teenage girl in the care of Burton Fallin (Dabney Coleman).

To write a letter in support of "The Guardian," address it to CBS CEO Leslie Moonves at CBS Entertainment, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA., 90036.

From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From E Street to Hollywood Boulevard

From:thewest.com
Date:Jan.28.2004
By Debi Enker

THERE was a striking symmetry when Simon Baker presented two of the big three awards on Logies night.

Eleven years ago, Baker had been the recipient of the most popular new talent award for his work on E Street.

Now, he'd returned to the stage of Australian television's much-hyped night of nights as the golden boy made good, the star of the US drama series, The Guardian, and as a high-profile celebrity guest.

Over the past decade, Baker has carved out the kind of career that many aspiring actors dream about. He started out in soaps (E Street, Home and Away, Heartbreak High), then packed up his young family to take a chance on Tinseltown.

His first role was a small but memorable one in the award-winning thriller, LA Confidential. After finding a foothold in the film industry, he also found favour with Leslie Moonves, the head of the CBS network, and was offered the lead in the Pittsburgh-based legal drama.

His perpetually troubled character, lawyer Nick Fallin, is now a familiar TV presence as the show's third series comes to an end tonight.

Baker is clearly proud of the series, in which he plays the title character, a hot-shot corporate lawyer and convicted drug offender who's ordered to serve out his sentence doing community service work in a child-advocacy office.

But that doesn't mean he's not aware of the show's limitations, either for him as an actor or as a product of free-to-air network television.

"There's a certain standard that the show sets when we get it right, which is obviously not every episode," he says. "But when all the elements come together the right way, we capture something that is rare on commercial network television in America."

Created by David Hollander, The Guardian has both the top end of town and the grimy, mean streets covered. Nick spends a part of his professional life in the offices of Fallin & Fallin, a powerhouse law firm he runs in partnership with his father, the venerable Burton (Dabney Coleman). There he deals with bullying CEOs and corporate takeovers.

Then he heads downtown to a desk in the less luxurious offices of Legal Services, where he represents teenage incest victims, abused street kids and child prostitutes.

For Baker, the show might have a legal backdrop, but it's really about a father and son.

"The core of it is this sort-of love story between the father and the son, how they're trying to have a relationship and they can't: they just can't communicate. That's something that's not necessarily spoken about in the show, but it's the core."

Baker thought from the time that he read Hollander's pilot script that he could do something interesting with Nick Fallin. Though his experience on a failed pilot, The Last Best Place, in 1996, had soured him on the idea of working in television, things had changed.

For starters, his wife, actress Rebecca Rigg, whom he'd met on the set of E Street, was expecting their third child. So Baker was thinking of a more stable working life.

He'd made nine, mostly lesser-known films, but found that "every time I'd do a film, I'd come back and have to hit the pavement again and audition for other films. I didn't get the Hugh Jackman ride, or the Heath Ledger ride: one movie and click."

While the prospect of pavement-pounding was unappealing, Baker had also noticed that there were interesting things happening in television: he thought that some of the recent series were better written than a lot of the movies he'd seen.

He was keen to give it a try: "I thought I could do something with the role that would probably be a lot different from what a lot of other actors in America would try to do with it," he explains.

What he was aiming to do was to follow in the footsteps of some of the Hollywood greats he'd admired, men such as William Holden, Gary Cooper, Steve McQueen and, more recently, Clint Eastwood. He wanted to create a quietly intriguing anti-hero.

"I thought I could walk a line with Nick, that I could make the character very internal, where he wasn't likeable but the audience would still root for him. There was this challenge: I thought I could play this sort of thing where you're hoping he makes the right choices and you feel for him when he makes the wrong choices."

But if part of Baker's inspiration came from his movie idols, he was also inspired by his cultural heritage.

"I love the stoic nature," he says. "Growing up in Australia, I saw so many of those people. You watch a football game in Australia and someone scores a try under the post and you don't see too much self-congratulatory behaviour. It's sort of, well, OK, put your head down, try not to smile."

Reflecting on his career, Baker is a lot more measured than his agent might be. He doesn't see an inspiring tale of a boy from Down Under making good in Hollywood.

"I've never, ever looked at this like, 'I'm on a hit TV series in America: I've made it' - I've never approached it like that. For me it's always about the personal fulfilment in what I'm doing."

Kiddie drama for grown-ups

From:The Australian
Date:Jan 28,2004
By Georgina Windsor

The Guardian
8.30pm, Ten
SIMON Baker does a good line in angst. He gets plenty of practice playing tortured lawyer Nick Fallin. If you were playing a drinking game and tossing one back every time he cracked a smile, you'd stay pretty sober.

But, then again, Fallin doesn't have much to laugh about. A hotshot young lawyer in his father's firm, he had a raging drug habit and partied hard before a police raid brought his world crashing down. Caught with a serious amount of cocaine in his possession, he managed to avoid jail by agreeing to do community service at a children's law advocacy centre.

The centre helps children involved in legal hearings, and the portrayals are unrelentingly grim. Most of the cases involve abuse and neglect and rarely have a happy ending. It's about doing the best you can with scarce or stretched resources. Many times the lawyer ends up acting as temporary guardian of the child. Hence the show's title.

At the same time, Fallin tries to juggle full-time work at his father's firm. Burton Fallin, played superbly by distinguished actor Dabney Coleman, is as riven by conflict as his son and the pair have a rocky relationship. Both struggle to become better people but are their own worst enemies.

The Guardian is one of those shows that flies under the radar both here and in the US. While receiving critical acclaim, it has never been a huge hit. It gets solid but not spectacular ratings and even though Australian Baker's name gets raised as a Golden Globe or Emmy possibility, his name never makes the final list of nominees.

It's a shame, really, because the show attracts viewers who like grown-up dramas that manage to get the balance of interesting legal dilemmas and personal revelations of characters right. As NYPD Blue did when it first started.

As well as Coleman, the strong supporting cast includes Alan Rosenberg and Wendy Moniz who shine as the bosses of the centre, Alvin Masterton and Lulu Archer. They are determined to not to give Nick an easy ride. Given the centre's case load, they can't afford to. Now, after two years of dealing with some harrowing cases – such as tonight's example of trying to find good adoptive parents for two young HIV-positive children – Nick is starting to change into a more understanding thirtysomething yuppie.

And after a couple of years of lusting after and supporting Lulu through a marriage break-up, Nick has embarked on a relationship with her. Nick is a complicated man, and the viewer walks beside him as he tries to do the right thing, often falling victim to his own failings. A savvy drama such as The Guardian is not going to fall prey to the old "changed man due to the love of a good woman" cliche. His relationship with Lulu has its ups and downs – and tonight faces its biggest challenge to date. Somehow I just know that Nick, no matter how hard he tries, isn't going to see this one through.

Baker has said before that it was this ambiguity that attracted him to the role: "I like the fact that he's imperfect, which is like everyone ... That's what drew me to it. It didn't seem usual. It seemed like a throwback to a period where we used to have leading characters who weren't genetically, spiritually perfect. Remember those days? Leading men were regular guys, someone you could identify with. Steve McQueen was a regular guy. Charles Bronson was a regular guy. Clint Eastwood's a regular guy."

They didn't smile much, either.

Sundance's Slippery Slope

Date:January 26, 2004
From:Filmstew.com
By Pam Grady

Filmmaker Alan Brown concurs, suggesting that he felt all his production efforts were validated by Sundance's selection of his first feature, Book of Love, a romantic drama about a high-school history teacher (Simon Baker, TV's The Guardian), the wife he adores (Mansfield Park's Frances O'Connor) and the 16-year-old boy (Everwood's Gregory Smith) the couple befriends with unexpected conse-quences. "It's most important to me,” he says. “It's the one thing I can give back to my actors, and not just my actors, my crew, people who really worked on this for, if not nothing, then next to nothing. It sounds hokey, but it’s true. We're here and I could just cry every minute, like right now, because we made it and we did it together."

In the end, regardless of the complex issues and cacophonous publicity machine that spring up in Park City, Utah each January, there is no doubt that Robert Redford’s annual celebration remains a crucial venue for independent voices. Book of Love’s Australian co-star Simon Baker puts the issue into perspective when he says, “We have the opportunity to not only make it to a festival, but to the festival for independent films in America and we have five screenings that are sold out. We have an audience. That's our audience."


From Filmstew.com

Check out the pictures by clicking here.

Interview with Alan Brown (About Simon's new movie)

From:Sundance Channel
Date:Jan,2004

Alan Brown's first film, the half-hour, narrative O BEAUTIFUL, which he both wrote and directed, won the Future Filmmaker Award at the 2002 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, and was an official selection of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. It has been singled out by critics as "superb," "powerful and ultimately beautiful" "an angsty thriller" and "a rare piece of film making." Brown is the recipient of many writing awards, including National Endowment for the Arts, Fulbright, and New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships. His award-winning novel, AUDREY HEPBURN'S NECK, has been translated into seven languages.

Where did you grow up?
Scranton, Pennsylvania, unfortunately. It wasn't a place that nurtured creativity.

What book are you currently reading?
I'm reading Anthony Swofford's Jarhead, and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I read mostly non-fiction and usually read more than one book at a time - always late at night, always lying on the sofa.

What music are your currently listening to?
Clem Snide; The Magnetic Fields; lots of jazz, particularly saxophone.

What was the first film you remember seeing?
Hmm. My mother took me with her to see SOUTH PACIFIC when I was about three. She started crying, which upset me, so I started crying.

What was the first film you took a date to and how did it go?
I've blocked out all early dates.

Which actor, living or dead, would you most like to work with?
Simon Baker. I just worked with him on BOOK OF LOVE. He's a great actor and we have a wonderful working relationship. And, most important, I trust him completely. Why start over with someone new?

What film would you most like to remake, or see remade?
Nothing comes to mind.

If you couldn't make films, what would you do?
No problem. I'd write - which is what I was doing before I started making films.

What stories or topics do you feel need to be covered at this point in time?
There are no specific stories, but what interests me personally are stories where the personal and political intersect. Our current administration scares the shit out of me, and I think we all have to rethink the definition of America and its place in the world, and who we are and want to be as Americans. And how our everyday decisions ripple out into the world.

http://www.sundancechannel.com/festival/profiles/index.php?ixContent=5767

Book of love movie.com

Interview: Simon Baker(Book of Love)

Date:January 22nd, 2004
From:Dark Horizons
By Paul Fischer

It was the world premiere of Aussie actor Simon Baker's latest film, Book of Love, co-starring fellow Australian Frances O'Connor. At the Sundance Film Festival, Baker was present with his wife of 12 years, Rebecca Rigg.?As we chat in a Park City hotel room, the actor says that Rebecca still remains his harshest critic. "My wife is an incredibly good gauge for me, because of that."

Book of Love is an unflinchingly honest portrait of a marriage in crisis, and involves some very intimate moments with co-star O'Connor. One wonders how it feels to be sitting with one's wife, watching scenes of sexual intimacy. Baker pauses slightly. "It's really hard to watch anyone you know really well on screen and really get suspended. In Book of Love, I made my wife laugh and cry, and that moved me in itself. That means I did my job." While Book of Love deals with a marriage in crisis, no such crisis exists off screen for Baker. Now married to Rebecca for 12 years, and father of three, the actor says that they have survived "because we love each other." Yet Baker admits that it's not easy to put everything in perspective: the strong marriage, the family and of course the career. "This film says that any relationship is difficult and the ones that look the easiest from the outside, are often hardest from the inside," Baker concedes.

Baker says there was no question why he was keen to play the infallible husband in Book of Love. "What's not to like about a character like this from an actor's perspective? It's such a great character." Nor did Baker have difficulty identifying with him. "I think every man can identify with him and that's what got ME. Mate, I'm in heaven with a character like that, because it's why I became an actor," Baker says. "It's a way to speak to people without sitting down and having a chat with everyone. It's a way to be able to speak to them and have people speak to themselves, try to question themselves and try to understand stuff. Films can be really powerful and don't HAVE to be massive extravaganzas. They can be incredibly personal. This character's a great arc and journey. It's probably the first time I can ever say that the character on the screen is exactly the way I was trying to do it."

Now star of the popular TV series The Guardian, Baker has resisted making big Hollywood movies, preferring, he says, to do what he wants to do, rather than what he NEEDS to do. "I make the money on the show, so that doesn't factor into it. I do a project like Book of Love because I want to", he says, matter-of-factly. "I'm not an actor because I have a need to see my name up in lights or because I want to be a multi-millionaire. I do it because I've got something in me that has to come out. Unfortunately, to get those opportunities, you have to have something." Baker also concedes that he has to make some acting choices based on survival. "I have to balance art and commerce. I am an artist, that's who I am, and everything I do, whether it's a shit movie or whatever it is, I still try to do the best I c an and express whatever. But at the same time, I have a wife and three kids and I have to support them. I'm not in a position where I can dance around all over the globe."

Baker honestly admits that he agreed to do The Guardian for very pragmatic reasons. "It was like, fuck mate, you've got kids, you're an actor, and if you're not in that top tier, living like a king, you're a gypsy and all over the place, never knowing where your next pay cheque's coming from. Not only that, you're always going to be pulled away all over the place away from your family. I did The Guardian for a sense of stability in my life." Now in its third season, Baker surprisingly admits that he has no idea whether the show has been picked up for a fourth, or indeed, how it is even rating. "I don't even look at that stuff anymore, because it's got nothing the fuck to do with me. I either enjoy the work or I don't, and if I do an episode I'll get paid for it." Clearly, the actor is "I have ups and downs with it, mainly because it's such a different system. I much prefer doing the work as I did with Book of Love, because it's more creative freedom and not filtered by what affiliates or studio executives that are all involved in shaping what it is," Baker says. "What it is, is what it is and I can work in that medium and that's fine, but as an artist, I prefer Book of Love, because it enables me to be free."

For Baker, there's well and truly life after The Guardian. Rather than fame and fortune, the actor says he wants to do just good work, and be a good husband and dad.

Preview of 307 "Hazel Park"

From:smh.com
Date:January 21 2004
By Lisa Pryor


The Guardian

Ten, 8.30pm

If there was ever call for the introduction of a sideways thumb into The Guide, this could be it.

On the one hand, the scenario of a coke-snorting tosser of a corporate lawyer, Nick Fallin, being sent to do pro-bono work for children is kind of creative and the actor who plays that lawyer, Simon Baker, is good-looking and an Australian.

On the other hand, the storylines are unrelentingly cheesy and American.

Tonight, said lawyer is sent on an emu parade by his probation officer to help underprivileged kiddies. He finds himself applying bandaids (read, painting over graffiti, picking up rubbish) alongside a teenaged former client, whom he proceeds to help get a job.

Meanwhile, Nick's dad, Burton Fallin, is thinking of adopting the young girl he cares for. Just scrapes into the thumbs-up basket.

Drama to replace 'Guardian' reruns

From:Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Date:January 20, 2004
By Rob Owen

HOLLYWOOD -- In March, CBS's Pittsburgh-set legal drama "The
Guardian" will take a break to make way for midseason drama "Century
City." "The Guardian" is scheduled to return April 27 and CBS
Entertainment president Nancy Tellem said "Century City" replaces
what would otherwise be "Guardian" reruns.

"We're not unhappy with 'The Guardian,' " Tellem said. " 'The
Guardian' is doing just fine. I don't want anyone to think by putting
in 'Century City' in that time period it's any message whatsoever
what we think of 'The Guardian.' "

CBS chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves said "The Guardian" "has
performed fine," but because CBS is having such a good year with so
few drama series failures, the bar has been raised.

"It doesn't mean 'The Guardian' is dead or it's over, but with 'CSI:
New York' coming in, we don't have a whole lot of space. [Whether it
gets renewed is] going to depend on development."

Moonves said the 9 p.m. Tuesday time period is vulnerable.

"It's a bubble show, no question," Moonves said, indicating that "The
Guardian" may or may not return for a fourth season in the fall.

Executive producer Mark Johnson said he's not thrilled with CBS's
decision.

"I think this year we're stronger creatively than we ever have been,
and I somehow want to get that out," Johnson said. "When you
disappear from when people expect to see you at a particular time and
you're not there, you lose momentum. I'm being a good soldier and not
saying anything, but I'm not pleased."

Johnson said he's concerned that the show may not get renewed for a
fourth season.

"I'm certainly not taking it for granted," he said. "I took for
granted that we'd have this season, but I think we have a lot of work
to do to make sure we have a season four."

Johnson attended a CBS party Saturday night and was seen chatting
amicably with Paul Attanasio, executive producer of "Century City,"
which will replace "The Guardian."

"I can't turn on him yet because he wrote 'Quiz Show' and 'Donnie
Brasco,' which I produced," Johnson said, smiling.

Mt. Lebanon native and "Guardian" creator David Hollander was
scheduled to attend a CBS party to promote the show Saturday night,
but he never showed up.

"The Guardian" is pre-empted tonight for the president's State of the
Union address but will air original episodes through the upcoming

From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TCA Winter Press Tour: CBS

From:thefutoncritic.com
Date:January 19, 2004
By The Futon Critic Staff

CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- The Television Critics Association
concluded its winter press tour this weekend in which the various
broadcast and cable networks talked about their upcoming plans to the
nation's top critics and entertainment reporters.

Here's a breakdown of the highlights of CBS' presentation. (Several
official press releases are expected to be issued later today.)

-- Four of CBS' freshman class got official pick-ups for the 2004-05
season: "Joan of Arcadia," "Navy N.C.I.S.," "Two and a Half Men"
and "Cold Case." The Eye also renewed "Survivor" for two additional
seasons (its ninth and tenth) taking it through May 2005.

-- CBS also set premiere dates for its two midseason entries: the
futuristic legal drama "Century City" will premiere Tuesday, March 16
at 9:00/8:00c where it will pre-empt "The Guardian" for six weeks and
the long-delayed comedy "The Stones" will take over the Wednesday,
9:30/8:30c slot following "King of Queens" beginning March 17.

-- "Helter Skelter," the network's three-hour updated take on the
Charles Manson murders, is set to air Sunday, May 16 at 8:00/7:00c.

-- CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves made it clear he
wants "Everybody Loves Raymond" to return despite star Ray Romano's
rumblings otherwise. "[It] could go either way," he told
reporters, "[Romano and co-creator Phil Rosenthal] feel that they
have done eight years and done it all. Money is not the issue. They
are all very rich and could get even richer. The rest of the cast is
dying to come back."

-- "C.S.I.: New York" is officially a go for fall 2004 as an upcoming
episode of "C.S.I.: Miami" will be used to set up the third tentpole
of the franchise. Moonves mentioned New Orleans, San Francisco and
Chicago were among the frontrunners but New York "became the front-
runner fairly early." Casting is underway on the project.

-- With all of its early pick-ups, Moonves says development for fall
2004 will be fairly tight. "To get on the schedule next season, [a
show] is going to have to be damn good." In addition to its three-
hour commitment to the "C.S.I." franchise, "Without a
Trace," "J.A.G.," "The District," "Judging Amy," "The
Guardian," "King of Queens," "Yes, Dear," "Still Standing," "48
Hours," the two "60 Minutes" editions and its Sunday movie are all
expected to return, leaving barely four hours on its schedule to fill
depending upon how the rest of its current and midseason schedule
fares.

-- Unlike fellow broadcasters NBC and FOX, CBS says it won't be
pushing for a year-round programming slate. Eye executives also
mentioned the network has renewed the Kennedy Center Honors through
2008 and the Tony Awards through 2009. Bob Barker will also return
for the 33rd season of its veteran game show "The Price is Right."

'Stones,' 'Century' Set CBS Premiere Dates

From:Zap2it.com
Date:January 17,2004

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Midseason doesn't mean quite as much if you're the most-watched network on television. CBS enters the spring with few gaping schedule holes, but one new drama and a new comedy are set to launch in March.
Tuesday, March 16 will see the premiere of the futuristic legal drama "Century City," from executive producers Paul Attanasio ("Homicide: Life on the Street"), Katie Jacobs and Ed Zuckerman.

The series, set in Los Angeles in 2030 follows the lawyers at a high profile firm who deal in the ethical currency of the day -- issues of cloning, genetic mapping and identity theft. Nestor Carbonell ("Tick"), Hector Elizondo ("Chicago Hope"), Ioan Gruffudd and Viola Davis lead the ensemble cast.

Tree trunk acting

From:The Courier Mail
Date:08,jan,2004
By:Mike O'Connor

They must easily be the most overworked eyebrows on television, given that between them they are required to support 60 minutes of drama.

The eyebrows in question belong to The Guardian's Nick Fallin (Simon Baker), an actor who so closely resembles a human statue that it amazes me that pigeons do not flutter on to the set and perch on his head in mid-scene.

Perhaps he has suffered some rare complaint which has atrophied his face, for Fallin is incapable of using facial muscles to express emotion, a definite handicap for one who has chosen acting as a profession.

His performance in next week's episode is especially wooden and those who admire the tree trunk school of acting could not fail to be smitten by his style.

His girlfriend moves in with him at his suggestion, a development he greets with a grunt.

Each further evolution of the plot, threadbare and unimaginative though it may be, is greeted with either grunts or the raising and lowering of his eyebrows – up for surprise or to indicate a question, down to signal displeasure or disagreement.

If you can manage to stay awake during next week's episode of The Guardian titled Let's Spend The Night Together, then I would suggest you are suffering from hyperactivity and in need of medication.

Sundance Pre-Production: BOOK OF LOVE Director Alan Brown

From:hollywoodbitchslap.com
Date:01/07/04
By Chris Parry

THE 'BOOK OF LOVE' PITCH: Elaine (Frances O'Connor) and David (Simon Baker) seem to have a wonderful marriage, but one can see the beginnings of marital complacency. When they meet Chet (Gregory Smith), an innocent fifteen year-old full of youthful wonder and energy, a bond forms instantly. Elaine and David welcome Chet into their lives, but trouble arises when a momentary lapse in judgment threatens to rupture the core of the trio's seemingly idyllic lives. A tale of what 'is' and what 'should be',BOOK OF LOVE is an adult drama with strong emotional resonance. Good people doing bad things.

Q. Will this be your first time at Sundance? If not, what else have you been to Park City with?

A:I was at Sundance last year with my first film, a short, O BEAUTIFUL.

Q. When you were 14 years old, if someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, what would your answer have been?

A:A parapsychologist.

Q. How did you get started in filmmaking?

A:An accident. I came to it from writing.

Q. How have things changed for you since your film was accepted into the festival?

A:I have more people I need to talk to on the phone and more people to email everyday.

Q. When you were shooting the film, did you have Sundance in mind?

A:Absolutely. Because I was at Sundance last year with my short, I really wanted to finish this one in time to submit for this year. Sundance meant a lot to me last year. I felt part of a community of people who truly cared about independent film.

Q. How did you get your film started? How did you go from script to finished product?

A:Wow. Big question. I guess the most important thing we did was to raise enough enough development money to hire a casting director and start getting the script out to actors. Once we had our actors, the rest just fell into place.

Q. What's the one glaring lesson you learned while making this film?

A:Time is everything, and there's never enough of it.

Q. When you were in pre-production, did you find yourself watching other great movies in preparation?

A:No. But my DP and production designer and I watched a handful of films from the past few years that had a look I liked.

Q. Two parter - which actor would you cut off an arm to work with, and which relatively unknown actor on your own film do you want the world to start recognizing sooner rather than later?

A:Same answer to both: Simon Baker. He both amazingly talented and incredibly generous and hard-working.

Q. The festival circuit: what could be improved, and what couldn't be?

A:I haven't been on it long enough to know.

Q. Have you 'made it' yet? If not, at what point will you be able to say 'yes'?

A:Made what?

Q. A film is made by many people, as well as the director, but often films will open with a credit that says 'a film by...' Did you use that credit in your film? If so, defend yourself! If not, what do you think of those who do?

A:I did use that credit, because I both wrote and directed the film. Itimpossible for any one person to completely understand and master everything that goes into making a film. But I do feel that what I did well was to find talented, smart, generous people and bring them together on this project and hold them together, and keep everyone on track towards a coherent vision. And I am the one person who was on the film from the first day of script-writing to the last day of post-production.

Q. If a studio said "we love this, we love you, you can remake anything in our back catalogue for $40m" - what film, if any, would you remake?

A:I can'timagine anything I don't want to remake.

Early buzz is that BOOK OF LOVE is a sensual tale of the complexity of marriage in contemporary times. Written and directed by Alan Brown with a visual and emotional assurance, the film examines the choices we make in our daily lives and the consequences that follow. It will screen five times for the public at Sundance and is entered into Dramatic Competition.