PRODUCTION UPDATE



  Genevieve Bujold is Parker Posey's mother in The House of Yes, Dan Waters' adaptation of Wendy MacLeod's play about a uniquely screwed-up Washington, D.C. family catering to a delusional daughter obsessed with Jackie Kennedy and the Kennedy assassination. As a child, Jackie-O (Posey) made her twin brother Marty (Josh Hamilton) shoot Super-8 films of her reprising the former First Lady's White House Tour. When Marty arrives for Thanksgiving with the first girlfriend he's dared introduce to the household (Tori Spelling), Jackie-O marshals her forces, including a younger brother played by Freddie Prinze Jr., to eradicate the intruder. "It's an outsider's view of the pathology behind the dream of the American upper class," says Waters.

Waters, 31, grew up in Indiana and came east to study theatre arts at the University of Pennsylvania. He logged six years as a stage actor and director in Philadelphia and San Francisco before moving to L.A. as an American Film Institute directing fellow. By this time, brother Dan had made his mark in film by writing Heathers. Waters got his M.F.A. from AFI in 1994, made three shorts, and got the rights to House. He also met Beau Flynn, a recovering Scott Rudin aide who'd formed Bandeira Entertainment with AFI grad Stefan Simchowitz to make low-budget indies. The partners' first produced effort, johns, starred Lukas Haas and David Arquette as teenage L.A. street hustlers and sold to First Look within days of its Sundance '96 premiere. Flynn says Bandeira was poised to greenlight House with private financing when Tori Spelling was cast as Marty's girlfriend and Spelling Entertainment came on board as sole financier for a pricetag "under $2 million." The 35mm House shot for 24 days in L.A., beginning June 21, with an indie Dream Team including cinematographer Mike Spiller (Walking and Talking), editor Pam Martin (Spanking the Monkey), and composer Jeff Taylor (Flirt). Flynn will rep House rights on behalf of Spelling.

Cast: Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Genevieve Bujold. Crew: Producers, Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz; Coproducers, Ron Wechsler, Jeffrey L. Davidson; Executive Producer, Robert Berger; Screenwriter/ Director, Mark Waters; Cinematographer, Mike Spiller; Production Designer, Patrick Sherman; Costumes, Edi Giguere; Casting, Mary Vernieu; Contact: Beau Flynn, Bandeira Entertainment, 176 North Swall Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. Tel: (310) 657-1444, Fax: (310) 657-0345.



 
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