Immediate Family

Synopsis

Linda and Michael had everything but what they wanted-a baby. Now only one thing stands in their way: their baby's parents.

Production Notes

Linda and Michael Spector have what it takes to make good parents. Lucy 17, unwed and pregnant knows that and decides that at this stage in her life the Spectors can provide a better home for her baby than she and her boyfriend can. But as the Spectors and Lucy come to know one another better, it becomes apparent that the pregnant teen-ager has as great a need for a good home as her child. Columbia Pictures' "Immediate Family," a bittersweet and often humorous look at the relationship between a couple yearning for a child of their own and the young pregnant girl who may hold the key to their happiness, stars Glenn Close, James Woods, Mary Stuart Masterson and Kevin Dillon. The film is directed by Jonathan Kaplan from an original screenplay by Barbara Benedek. The producers are Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford, and the executive producer is Lawrence Kasdan. Screenwriter Barbara Benedek was struck that so many of her friends who had waited until their md-3Os to have children were encountering difficulties. Lawrence Kasdan, who had wanted to sponsor a solo Benedek screenplay since they worked together on "The Big Chill" script, agreed with Benedek that the concept of a professional couple struggling to have a child had great potential.

"What's most remarkable about Barbara's work is her ability to write comedy that tries to understand everybody's reasons -- and has no villains," says Kasdan. Director Jonathan Kaplan's response to the completed script was immediate. "I thought it was perceptive, subtle and honest," says Kaplan. "What's uplifting is that it demonstrates how people of differing ages and experiences can find a common bond and ultimately bring out the best in each other." For the pivotal role of Linda Spector, the production team set its sights on Glenn Close, who had previously collaborated with Kasdan and Benedek on the 1983 Columbia hit "The Big Chill."

"I liked the idea of getting back to a basically sympathetic role," says Close. "Having come off 'Fatal
Attraction' and 'Dangerous Liaisons,' I wanted to do something on the healing side of life."

Tapped as producers of the film were Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford "Desperately Seeking Susan," "River's Edge," "Eight Men Out". "We'd never been offered a picture before that we hadn't developed ourselves," says Sanford. "But when we read the screenplay and saw what it was about, we thought it was something we could actually have initiated on our own."

"We were referred to as the crying producers," admits Pillsbury, "because every time Barbara Benedek showed us a new scene, we cried. But the script is also very funny. Our feeling is, even in the most tragic moments, human beings are funny."

Oscar-nominated actor James Woods joined the cast of "Immediate Family" as Michael, Linda's supportive husband. "I like the gentleness of the guy," says Woods, "and he's also a bit of a comedian. Linda and Michael are both brave people who handle their pain two different ways: Linda through a kind of quiet dignity and Michael through a caring flipness. He's sort of the cheerleader, and when he does let his guard down, it's rather touching."

Mary Stuart Masterson plays Lucy Moore, the pregnant teen-ager who offers a ray of hope for Linda and Michael. "Lucy has made a really courageous choice for herself," says Masterson. "She struggles very hard to be strong and to do what she believes is right."

The character of Sam, Lucy's boyfriend and the father of her baby, is portrayed by Kevin Dillon. "Jonathan had Kevin in mind for Sam long before we ever auditioned him," says Sanford. "When he finally read for the part," says Pillsbury, "it was phenomenal. We were completely unprepared for the warmth and tenderness he was able to bring to the role."

"Sam has a hard time showing his feelings," says Dillon, "but he's crazy about Lucy and has a great big heart. He's just not ready for the situation that Lucy and he are in."

Working with the producers, Kaplan assembled a talented group of filmmakers for his production team, including associate producer John N. Starke, director of photography John W. Lindley, editor Jane Kurson, production designer Mark Freeborn and costume designer April Ferry. Scenic Vancouver, Canada also the shooting site of Kaplan's "The Accused", stood in for Seattle, home to Michael and Linda Spector. Many key members of the film's cast and crew were drawn from the first-rate talent pool that has developed in this sophisticated coastal city.

Central to "Immediate Family" is the delicate and complicated relationship that develops between the Spectors and Lucy and Sam.

"When these characters meet, they're all at very low points in their lives," says Kaplan. "They belong to two very different cultures, and there's a 20-year age difference. While the Spectors appear to have everything that Lucy wants including security and stability, she has the ability to do what they cannot: She can create life. "You have to love someone to think that they could raise your child," says Benedec. "And, correspondingly, you have to love someone to bring them into your family. "I believe that people will feel very torn about the situation," says Sanford. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Spectors could have what they so desperately want? But isn't it sad that Lucy's circumstances are such that she may not be able to keep this baby right now in her life?"

"Immediate Family," says Glenn Close, "is a movie about two couples who try their best to make some extremely difficult decisions. They know that whatever they decide, they're going to have to live with it for the rest of their lives."

ABOUT THE CAST

GLENN CLOSE
One of America's most versatile and gifted actresses, GLENN CLOSE Linda Spector has received a Tony Award for her performance in "The Real Thing" and Academy Award nominations for her work in "The World According to Garp," "The Big Chill," "The Natural," "Fatal Attraction" and "Dangerous Liaisons."

Born in Greenwich, Conn., Close started acting as a student at Rosemary Hall and later studied anthropology and acting at the College of William and Mary. Upon her graduation in 1974, she was quickly accepted into New York's Phoenix Theatre Company, where she made her Broadway debut in "Love for Love," followed by roles in "The Member of the Wedding" and "Rules of the Game." Subsequent engagements followed at some of the country's most prestigious repertory companies.

Close returned to Broadway as Mary Tudor in the Richard Rogers musical "Rex" and originated the villainous Irene St. Clair in the hit Sherlock Holmes thriller "The Crucifier of Blood." She returned to the Phoenix now off-Broadway to create the role of Leilah in "Uncommon Women and Others."

Close was then cast as Charity Barnum in the hit Broadway musical "Barnum," for which she received her first Tony nomination. It was in "Barnum" that Close was spotted by director George Roy Hill, who cast her as Garp's mother, Jenny Fields, in "The World According to Garp." As the indomitable nurse who has a child out of wedlock and later writes a feminist best seller, Close received glowing critical notices and her first Oscar nomination.

She next played Kevin Kline's warm-hearted wife, Sarah, in Lawrence Kasdan's memorable ensemble film, "The Big Chill," and received a second Academy Award nomination. She then co-starred with Robert Duvall in Chris Cain's "The Stone Boy" and played Robert Redford's rediscovered childhood sweetheart in Barry Levinson's "The Natural," for which she received her third Oscar nomination. Close was also nominated for an Emmy for her performance in Randa Haines' highly praised TV movie "Something About Amelia." Back on Broadway, Close gave a Tony Award-winning performance as Jeremy Irons' sexy actress wife in Tom Stoppard's play "The Real Thing." After seeing her in the play, director Paul Aaron cast her in "Maxie" in the dual role of a flamboyant '20s flapper, Maxie Malone, and the '80s - church secretary whose body she inhabits. Close then starred in Richard Marguand's 1985 hit thriller "Jagged Edge" as an attorney who falls in love with her client Jeff Bridges while defending him against the charge of murdering his wife. Close struck a deep emotional chord with audiences with her extraordinary performance in Adrian Lyne's "Fatal as a New York career woman cast off after a weekend affair with married man Michael Douglas. Driven by Close's complex and turbulent performance, the movie became a blockbuster and one of the 1980s' most often-discussed movies. For her work, she was rewarded with her fourth Oscar nomination. Close received her fifth Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the sexually domineering Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears' "Dangerous Liaisons," the film adaptation of Christopher Hampton's Broadway play "Les Liaisons Dangereuses."

In the upcoming feature "Reversal of Fortune," Close stars as Sunny von .Buiow. Directed by Barbet Schroeder, the film also stars Jeremy Irons.

Close regularly balances her screen appearances with work on stage, including "Childhood," "The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs" which won her an Obie Award for her title role as a Victorian woman who dresses as a man "Benefactors" and "Joan of Arc at the Stake." She also appeared in the Hallmark Hallof Fame television presentation of "Stones for Ibarra," with Keith Carradine.

Close served as associate producer on the documentary "Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys?," which was recently shown in PBS' "American Experience" series. She also narrated the Grammy-nominated videos "the Emperor and the Nightingale".

JAMES WOODS
"The Way We Were" as Barbra Streisand's college boyfriend, Kare. "The Gambler," Anthony Lover's "Distance" and Arthur Penn's "Night Moves" before receiving Star billing with Jack Lemmon in John Korty's "Alex and the Gypsy." He then appeared in Robert Aldrich's film of Joseph Wambaugh's "The Choirboys."

It was another Wambaugh project, "The Onion Field," that set Woods' film career in motion acclaim and his first Golden Globe nomination for his chilling performance as a sociopathic cop killer. Grateful for the role, Woods did a cameo appearance gratis in Wambaugh's "The Black Marble."

After playing William Hurt's quirky buddy in Peter Yates' "Eyewitness," Woods next pulled off a tour de force as the cult deprogrammer in Ted Kotcheff's "Split Image." Presented with the script's straightforward hero, Woods worked with Kotcheff to create a complex, initially repellent character who gradually wins the respect of the audience.

His subsequent credits include James B. Harris' "Fast-Walking" as a prison guard, David Cronenberg's "Videodrome"as a cable TV programmer drawn into hallucinatory high-tech fantasies, Taylor Hackford's "Against All Odds" as anightclub owner in a triangle with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward and Lewis Teague's "Cat's Eye" as a man who quits smoking the hard way. A particular milestone for Woods was Sergio Leone's epic film "Once Upon a Time in America," in. which he and and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," both of which aired on Showtime.

James Woods is consistently one of the country's most provocative and exciting actors, has now emerged as a major star and leading man. He has also garnered an impressive string of recent awards, including -an Oscar nomination as Best Actor and an Independent Film Project Spirit Award for "Salvador", Golden Globe, Emmy and Golden Apple awards for fl's "Promise", a Golden Globe nomination for the telefilm "In Love and War" and, most recently, a second Emmy Award for "My Name Is Bill W.".

Born in Utah, the son of a military hero and a schoolteacher, Woods -grew up in Illinois, Virginia, Guam and, principally, Rhode Island. While majoring in political science at M.I.T., Woods appeared in 36 plays at the school, Harvard and the Theatre Company of Boston.

In 1970, Woods made his New York debut on Broadway in Brendan Behan's "Borstal Boy," followed by the lead of f-Broadway in "Saved," for which he won the Obie Award and the-Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actor. Other New York credits include "The Trial of the Catonsville Nine," "Green Julia," "Finishing Touches" and Michael Weller's "Moonchildren," for which he won the Theatre World Award. He made his film debut in Elia Kazan's "The Visitors" in 1972 and then- had supporting roles in Sydney Pollack's Robert De Niro portray childhood friends who grow up to become powerful gangsters and archrivals.

Another exciting role for Woods was Ted Kotcheff's "Joshua -Then and Now" scripted by Mordecai Richler from his novel, about the life and loves of a celebrated working-class Jewish writer. He followed with an Oscar-nominated performance as an opportunistic photojournalist in Oliver Stone's "Salvador." Woods next played a brutal hit man who approaches cop-turned-author Brian flennehy with a proposal for a "Best Seller" directed by John Flynn. Woods then starred and served as co-producer with director James B. Harris on "cop," the story of a police detective obsessed with a serial murder case.

Woods has also made more than 40 appearances on television, including "All the Way Home" with Joanne Woodward, "Footsteps," "Billion Dollar Bubble," "The Disappearance of Aimee" with Bette. Davis, "Raid on Entebbe," the landmark miniseries "Holocaust" as Meryl Streep's artist husband, "And Your Name Is Jonah," "Badge of the Assassin," "Promise" Emmy and Golden Globe awards, as James Garner's schizophrenic brother and "In Love and War" Golden Globe nomination.

Woods was most recently seen in 'The Boost" directed by Harold Becker and the Columbia Pictures release "True Believer" directed by Joseph Ruben.

In the 1989 Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation for television, Woods starred with James Garner in "My Name Is Bill W." and received his second Emmy Award in this story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.

MARY STUART MASTESON
At the time of her appearance four years ago in Michael Dinner's "Heaven Help Us," Mary Stuart Masteson commanded attention from critics and audiences as a young actress to watch. After her work in "At Close Range," “Gardens of Stone” “Mr. North” and , especially “Some Kind of Wonderful," Masterson has clearly staked her claim as one of the foremost actresses of her generation.

The daughter of writer/director/actor Peter Masterson and Tony Award-winning actress Carlin Glynn who teamed on "The Trip to Bountiful", Hasterson was raised in New York City, where she attended Dalton School. She made her film debut at age 7 playing the daughter of her real-life father in Bryan Forbes' "The Stepford Wives."

Masterson took drama lessons with Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons and understudied Kate Burton in Eva Le Gallienne's production of "Alice in Wonderland." She spent two -summers at Robert Redford's Sundance InstItute in Utah learning about the collaborative process of filmmaking-. She then played her first leading role in a feature film as the street-wise Brooklyn girl who encounters Andrew McCarthy in "Heaven Help Us."

Interrupting her studies at New York University where she was majoring in anthropology and film, Masterson starred in Larry Peerce's TV movie "Love Lives On," with Christine Lahti. and Sam Waterston, playing a pregnant teen-ager with cancer who sacrifices her life for that of her baby. She next appeared in James Foley's "At Close Range" as a spirited country girl whose love for Sean Penn leads to tragedy.

Masterson then filmed the Merchant/Ivory production of Connie Kaiserman's -"My Little Girl,” with James Earl Jones and Geraldine Page, about a wealthy girl who spends a summer working at a detention center for homeless children, and an episode of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" TV series, "Go to the Head of the Class," which was directed by Robert Zemeckis "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Masterson followed that with a role in Francis Coppola's "Gardens of Stone"- as the well-born wife of a gung-ho young soldier D.B. Sweeney determined to go to Vietnam.

In Howard Deutch's "-Some Kind of Wonderful," written and produced by John Hughes, Masterson was charismatic as the tomboyish drummer, Watts, a seemingly strong character secretly in love with her best friend Eric Stoltz.

She next had a cameo role as a Newport girl whose migraine headaches are relieved by a mysterious young man Anthony Edwards in Danny Huston's "Mr. North" and acted in Emile Ardolino's "Chances Are" as a law student who becomes romantically involved with Robert Downey, Jr.

Masterson has also appeared in the New York stage productions of "Been Taken," Horton Foote's "Lily Dale" and Beth Henley's "The Lucky Spot." She recently became -a member of New York's Actors Studio..

KEVIN DILLON plays Sam, the young father of Lucy's child, a teen-ager unprepared for fatherhood but ready and willing to assume the role of "best friend in the world" for Lucy.

Born in Mammaroneck, N.Y., Dillon had only appeared in high school plays when he made his film debut -as a troubled teen-ager with an alcoholic mother in Robert Charlton's 1983 film "No Big Deal-" shown on HBO. He next played Rooney, the class clown, in Michael Dinner's "Heaven Help Us" with "Immediate Family" co-star Mary Stuart Masterson.

In 1986, -Dillon made a vivid impression as Bunny, the trigger-happy GI, in Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning "Platoon." He followed with two films released in the summer of 1988; Ferdinand Fairfax's "The Rescue," in which he leads a group of five kids on a mission to liberate their Navy officer fathers from a North Korean prison; and the remake of "The Blob," directed by Chuck Russell, which gave Dillon the opportunity to step into 195-8 "Blob" star Steve McQueen's shoes. Dillon also read some of the GI letters in the highly praised Vietnam documentary "Dear America."

Most recently, Dillon has starred in Franc Roddam's "War Party," in which he plays a young man, one-quarter American Indian, who gets caught up in the re-enactment of a historic Indian battle, and the TV movie "Someone You Know."

LINDA DARLOW, who makes her second appearance in a Jonathan Kaplan film with "Immediate Family," plays . Susan Drew, the Spectors' adoption lawyer. She --made her feature debut as Jodie Foster's rape center counselor in Kaplan's "The Accused."

Born in Chicago, Darlow received her bachelor's degree in theater arts from Hofstra University in New York. Moving to Los Angeles in 1975, she made numerous TV appearances "Facts of Life," "Newhart," "One Day at a Time," etc., taught acting and won a Drama-Logue Award for her performance in the LA. production of David Mamet's "Sexual Perversity in Chicago."

In 1985, Darlow was invited to teach some acting workshops in Vancouver, Canada. Taken with the city, -she decided to make it her home. She has since become one of the city's most in-demand instructors and actresses. Among her recent filmed-in-Vancouver television credits are "Airwolf II," "MacGyver," several episodes of "21 Jump Street," and the TV movies "Sworn to Silence," "After the Promise" and "I Love You Perfect."

JANE GREER portrays Esther Spector, James Woods' widowed mother. Born in Washington, D.C., and brought to Hollywood by Howard Hughes, Greer is best known as the seemingly innocent femme fatale who leads Robert Mitchum to his demise in Jacques Tourneur' film noir classic "Out of the Past."

She has starred in over 25 feature films, including "Sinbad the Sailor" with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Don Siegel's "The Big Steal" reteamed with Mitchum, "You're in the Navy Now" with Gary Cooper, "The Prisoner of Zenda" the 1952 remake with Deborah Kerr, "Run for the Sun" with Richard Widmark and "Man of a Thousand Faces" with James Cagney.

In 1983, director Taylor Hackford cast Greer in "Against All Odds," his contemporary reworking of "Out of the Past." "Against All Odds" also starred James Woods. She also played Mary Tyler Moore's mother in Allan Burns' "Just Between Friends" and guest-starred for six weeks on the TV series "Falcon Crest."

JESSICA JAMES appears in "Immediate Family" as James Woods' Aunt Bessie. The niece of Marie Dressier, James began her career as a singer and had her first big break as an actress when she replaced Martha Raye on opening night in a Los Angeles production of "Annie Get Your Gun." She made her film debut in the Rat Pack caper film -"Ocean's Eleven."

Moving to New York in 1970, she was cast in the showstopping role of Bunny in Albert Innaurato's hit Broadway comedy "Gemini." She followed- with film appearances in Andrew Bergman's "So Fine," Barry Levinson's "Diner" as Steve Guttenberg' s mother, Sidney Lumet's "Power," Peter Bogdanovich's "Illegally Yours," Graham Baker's "Alien Nation" and, upcoming, Joyce chopra's "The Lemon Sisters."

James' work on television ranges from a recurring role on "Dobie Gillis" to more recent appearances on "St. Elsewhere" and "ALF." Among her other Broadway credits are "Company," Neil Simon's "Little Me" and "42nd Street."

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Director JONATHAN KAPLAN was born in Paris, the son of actress Frances Heflin and film composer Sol Kaplan. Re made his acting debut at 11 playing Teresa Wright's son in Elia Kazan's Broadway production of "-The Dark at the Top of the Stairs." After receiving a bachelor's degree at the University of -Chicago, Kaplan attended New York University's film school, where he studied with Martin scorsese and won First Prize at the National Student Film Festival for his short, "Stanley Stanley."

Moving to Los Angeles in the early 197 Os, Kaplan began pursuing a directing career. He had his first big success with "White Line Fever," a powerful story of corruption in the trucking industry starring Jan-Michael Vincent. Kaplan then directed "Over the Edge," a critically acclaimed film about a group of rebellious teen-agers in a northern California town that introduced actors Matt Dillon and Vincent Spano.

"Heart Like a Wheel" starred Oscar-nominated Bonnie Bedelia in the real-life story of drag racer Shirley Muldowney, who overcame sexism and marriage/career conflicts to finally triumph on the speedway. The film was placed on more "10 best lists" than any other film that year.

Kaplan's next movie, "Project X," featured Matthew Broderick as a young Air Force pilot who uncovers a terrible truth about a secret lab experiment involving chimpanzees. "The Accused," a drama about a gang-rape victim Jod±e Foster and the district attorney Kelly McGilli-s who defends her, quickly became one of the year's most successful films and ear-ned Foster -a 1988 Academy Award as Best Actress.

Kaplan has also directed several television films, among them "11th Victim1" with Bess Armstrong, and "The Gentleman Bandit," with Ralph Waite. He has also directed -music videos for Barbra Streisand and Rod Stewart as well as all the videos for John Cougar Mellericamp's "Scarecrow" and "The Lonesome JubiIee' albums.

Executive producer LAWRENCE KASDAN's name appears on three of the most successful films in motion picture history "The Empire Strikes Back," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Return of the Jedi" 'as well as on four highly acclaimed films he both wrote and directed "Body Meat," "The Big Chill," "Silverado" and "The Accidental Tourist".

Born in Morgantown, W. Va., Kasdan grew -up in a family that encouraged him to write. He studied English literature at the University of Michigan, supporting himself with an array of writing awards, and earned a master's degree in education. –

His seventh screenplay, "The Continental Divide, caught the attention of Steven Spielberg, who introduced him to George Lucas. The two filmmakers asked him to write the script for Spielberg's blockbuster adventure "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Kasdan also co-wrote the second installment of the "Star Wars" cycle, "The Empire Strikes Back" after the death of original screenwriter Leigh Brachett as well as the third, "Return of the Jedi."

Kasdan made his-debut as a writer/director in 1981 with his sexually charged film noir "Body Heat." The film spurred the careers of its then little-known stars, William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, and quickly established Kasdan as a major directing talent.

Kasdan next co-wrote with "Luinediate Family's" Barbara Benedek, directed and co-executive produced the highly acclaimed ensemble movie "The Big chill," whidh was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. He followed that with the epic Western "Silverado," which he directed, produced and co-wrote with his brother Mark.

Kasdan's fourth feature as director was "The Accidental Tourist." Based on Anne Tyler's novel and starring William Hurt, Geena Davis and Kathleen Turner, it received four Academy Award nominations, including one for the screenplay Kasdan wrote with Frank Galati. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Score John Williams and earned Geena Davis the award for Best Supporting Actress. Spring 1990 will see the release of Kasdan's latest film, "I Love You to Death."

Producers SARAH PILLSBURY and MIDGE SANFORD formed a partnership in 1980. A year later they optioned their first script, and in 1984 they produced the hit film "Desperately Seeking Susan," directed by Susan Seidelman, which starred Rosanna Arguette and Madonna. Their next film, "River's Edge," directed by Tim Hunter, drew critical raves and was an unexpected hit when it was released in 1986. They continued their pattern of success with John Sayles' equally acclaimed "Eight Men Out," about the rigging of the 1919 World Series.

Sarah Pillsbury was born in New York and raised in Wayzata, Minn. She graduated from the Concord Academy in Massachusetts in-. 196-9 and received a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1974. She began her career working in documentaries as associate producer for "The California Reich" nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and produced Ron Ellis' "Board and Care," which won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject. Pursuing a career in dramatic films, she worked as an assistant for Martin Ransohof-f, Arnold Kopelson and Moonlight Productions.

Pillsbury is also on the board of directors of the Sundance Institute and the Liberty Hill Foundation. Mdge Sanford was .born in New York City. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence college and later received a California -Teaching Credential from California State University in Los Angeles. She taught elementary school for five years.

In 1978, she became a story -analyst with New American Cinema. She was promoted to story edi-tor and eventually to director of development and associate producer.

When not in production on a movie, Sanford heads a support group once a week for recovering mentally ill women -at a mental-health facility in Santa Monica, Calif. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Independent Feature Project West.

Both Sanford and Pillsbury have produced children as well a-s motion pictures. Pillsbury and her husband, Richard Kletter, have a 5-year-old daughter, Nora, and a 1-year-old son, William Sanford and her husband, Geoffrey, have a 20-year-old son, Jonathan, and a 25-year-old daughter, Kate.

Associate producer JOHN H. STARKE produced the Fox Television series "Leg Work" and served as associate producer on Alan S. Pakula's "Orphans,'-' Russell Mulcahy's "Highlander," Tom Sch.iller's "Nothing Lasts Forever" and William Richert's "Winter Kills."

A native of Brookhaven, Long Island, Starke has an extensive background in motion picture production. He was unit manager on Elaine Nay's "Mikey and Nicky," -Sidney Lumet's "Network" and Frank Pierson's "King of the Gypsies," and production manager on Walter Hill's "The Warriors," Robert M. Young's "One-Trick Pony," Warren Beatty' s "Reds" U.S. only, George Roy Hill's "The World According to Garp," Michael Ritchie's "The Survivors," Guy Hamilton's "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" and Ivan Reitman's "Legal Eagles," among others. Starke also served as head of production for one year at Lorne Michaels' Broadway Pictures.

Starke and partner Glenn Close have a film company, Trillium Productions, based at Columbia Pictures.

BARBARA BENEDEK made an auspicious debut as a screenwriter by co-writing the acclaimed film "The Big Chill" with "Immediate Family" executive producer Lawrence Kasdan.

Born in New -York City, Benedek studted English and Russian at New York University. After graduation, she worked for eight years as a psychiatric research assistant in a number of hospitals and clinics in New York and Los Angeles. Her profession often involved conducting home 1ntervews with the families o.f mentally retarded and handicapped children.

In her spare time, she began writing TV comedy scripts as writing samples as well as a play, "Looking for Dr. Goodbar," the story of a woman's quest for a new Beverly Hill-s gynecologist after hers quits and becomes a comedy writer. Benedek eventually got an agent and landed a job at the TV production company Witt-Thomas-Harris, where she served as story editor on the series "I'm a Big Girl Now" and "Making a Living."

After reading "Dr. Goodbar" and a TV script, Kasdan was impressed enough to offer Benedek the opportunity-: to co-write "The ig Chill" screenplay, for which they ultimately received the Writers Guild Award and an Academy Award nomination as Best Original Screenplay.

Benedek followed that success by co-writing with Paul Bri.ckman "Men Don't Leave," about a woman and her two sons coping with the death of her husband. -The -film was recently produced starring Jessica Lange and -directed -by Brickman. She also scripted a TV pilot, "The Line," starring Aifre Woodard and Dinah Manoff, which followed a group of people who work on an assembly line.

"Immediate Family" is Benedek' s first solo screenplay credit.

Director of photography JOHN W. LINDLEY previously worked with "Immediate Family" director Jonathan Kaplan on the TV “The Gentleman Bandit."

A graduate of New York University's film school, Lindley made his feature debut as a cinematographer on Herb Gardner's comedy "The Goodbye People" with Judd Hirsch and Martin Balsam, followed by Karoly Nakk's "Lily in Love" with Christopher Plummer and Maggie Smith and Laurie Anderson's concert film "Home of the Brave." Other film credits include Phil Alden Robinson's "In the- Mood, Wes Craven's "The -Serpent and the Rainbow," James -Glickenhaus' "Shakedown-" and two with director Joseph Ruben: "The Stepfather" and "True Believer."

Lindley shot two of the documentaries in Peter Davis' highly praised PBS series, "Middletown Revisited," as well as the New york-based TV series "Nurse" and the TV movie "LBJ: The Early Years," with Randy Quaid. He also filmed a number of rock videos, including the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere."

"Immediate Family" is MARK FREEBORN's second film as production designer, after Joel Schumacher's recently released "Cousins."

Born in Ottawa and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Freeborn moved to Toronto after receiving a fine arts degree from Kingston's Queens University. He began his career s a stage art director and technical director at the St. Lawrence Theatre and the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. He was the art director for the Canadian series "High Hopes"- in 1975 and worked as a set decorator or property master on such films as Bob Clark's "Porky's," Ralph L. Thomas' "The Terry Fox Story" made-for-TV movie, Bob Clark's "A Christmas Story," Phillip Borsos' "One Magic Christmas," Randa Haines' "Children of a Lesser God," Ben Bolt's "The Big Town," Arthur Penn's "Dead of Winter," Ted Kotcheff's "Switching Channels" and others. He first served as art director on Rick Rosenthal's "Distant Thunder."

Freeborn recently added the television movie "The Lady Forgets" to his credits.

Editor JANE KIJRSON recently edtted Tim Burton's comedy/horror hit "Beetlejuice."

A Boston native, Kurson began her film career working in animation and then moved into editing documentaries. She served as assistant editor on "Pumping iron" and -won an Emmy for cutting the CBS special "The Body Human: The Body Beautiful."

Kurson then began an extended collaboration with director John G. Avildsen, including "The Formula" associate editor, "Neighbors"(editor), "The Karate Kid Part II" co-editor and "Happy New Year" (editor).

BRAD FIEDEL music recently composed the score for Jonathan Kaplan's "The Accused."

His other film credits include James Cameron's "The Terminator," Prank Perry's "compromising Positions," Eugene Corr's “Desert Bloom,” Jim McBride's “The Big Easy” and Craven's "The Serpent and the Rainbow."

Born in New York city, Fiedel began his career as a singer/songwriter. He performed in clubs and at colleges, and play keyboards for Daryl Hall and John Oates, among others. Fiedel has also composed for television and stage productions. Among the made-for-TV movies and miniseries he has scored are "flaying for Time," "The People vs. Jean Harris," "The Bunker," "Mae West," "Second Serve" and, most recently, "Perfect Witness."

Costume designer APRIL FERRY's film credits include John Hughes' "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" and "She's Having a Baby," Alan Rudolph's "Made in Heaven" and, more recently, Tom Holland's "child's Play," Francis Veber's "Three Fugitives" and George P. Cosmatos' "Leviathan."

Born in North Carolina and raised in New Orleans, Ferry was a dancer on Broadway and a mother/homemaker-before starting her third career in the NBC costume department on such popular shows as "The Dean Martin Show" and "The Sonny & Cher Show."

She made her film debut as a costume supervisor on Mark Rydell's "The Rose" and continued with such films as Adrian Lyne's "Foxes," Francis Coppola's "One From the Heart," Wim Wenders' "Hammett," Lawrence Kasdan' s "The Big chill" and James Bridges' "Mike's Murder" before receiving her first costume designer credit in 1986 on John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China."

Ferry also designed the costumes for the -mini-series "The Sophisticated Gents" and Clio Award-winning Levi commercials. She recently received an Emmy nomination for costume design on the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation "My Name Is Bill W."