Writer-director Adam Rapp's first feature film, "Winter Passing" has its roots in a two-act play set in a garage.  "I had been approached about writing a play for this grant, and while I didn't get the grant, I was left with this story that I had thought through," said Rapp.  "At the time, people were encouraging me to write a screenplay and I thought I would give it a shot."
Rapp's play "Nocturne," which was staged in October, 2000 at the A.R.T.and off-Broadway at NYTW, brought critical acclaim and attention to the young playwright, receiving numerous awards and even being short-listed for a Pulitzer Prize. Other plays, such as "Stone Cold Dead Serious" and "Finer Noble Gasses" continued to distinguish Rapp as one of the theater's most original and prolific burgeoning talents.  His recent play, "Red Light Winter," was the first play to sell-out Steppenwolf's famed Garage Theater, and will be transferring to New York for a commercial Off-Broadway run this fall.
Rapp found his inspiration for his style in the dramatic films of the seventies, "Five Easy Pieces," "The Last Detail," "Coming Home," "The King of Marvin Gardens."  "All those films are really character-driven, about actors and characters talking to each other," he said.  "When I started thinking about a screenplay, that's the style that I wanted."
Producer P. Jennifer Dana, who ran a theater company in New York City, met Rapp when he was at Julliard.  She was a "huge fan" of his early plays, especially "Nocturne," and was interested in producing one of them in London. When they got to talking, Dana asked, "'I've been such a fan of your work from the theater, why haven't you written a movie?  Your voice is so cinematic, you've got amazing characters.  It would be great for you to reach a wide audience,'" recalls Dana.  "And Adam said he an idea for a screenplay and began to tell me the story of 'Winter Passing,' which I fell in love with upon hearing it.  I said, 'Write it, and we'll make it.'"
Once completed, Dana took the screenplay to executive producer Laura Bickford, with whom she has a first-look development deal.  Bickford, who produced the Oscar-nominated film "Traffic" and is in production on the Diane Arbus feature "Fur," agreed with Dana's passion for the story and optioned the screenplay.  Although Bickford cautioned Dana about the challenges of producing small, family-themed films, she shared Dana's belief in the power of Rapp's characters and story.  Soon, Rapp and Dana began casting the film and brought in producer David Koplan, who'd been looking for a project to work on with Dana, and loved Rapp's storytelling style.
"Adam is an amazing artist, who is understated in his work, yet poignant and powerful," said Koplan, whose producing credits include the films, "Chrystal" and the upcoming "Randy and the Mob."  "He is an original voice that takes a look at the world and says what's going on.  His dialogue, use of language, strength of characters and layers of meaning make him incredibly compelling." 
With actors Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell committed, the screenplay package found its way to Mark Gordon and Bob Yari, who had joined forces at Stratus Film Company at that time, and are now co-releasing "Winter Passing."  Dana says that Gordon and Yari were "huge champions for us" and gave the filmmakers immense credit for their support of first-time directors.  "Adam is just one of many first-time film directors that they have supported," said Dana.
  Rapp's character-driven story, told through Reese Holden's point of view, explores not just the family dynamic, but what it means to be a family.  "Family is a topic we like to avoid and talk about simultaneously," said Dana.  "Both ends of the spectrum and Adam captures that....Adam's work, in general, deal with the disfigurement of the American family.  He feels that family is probably one of the most important things in one's life and that's what attracted me to the script.  Everyone has a family story."
For Costume Designer Victoria Farrell, whose credits include "Lonesome Jim" and "Strangers with Candy," it was Rapp's resolution of the family issues presented, which grabbed her.  "His scripts, including the play, 'Stone Cold Dead Serious,' are so well-written and truthful," she said.  "His dialogue, his truth definitely, really drew me into it.  There's something very touching about his writing. Family issues are often portrayed as something that's hopeless, and that isn't what life is really like.  What I love about Adam's writing is people keep growing and changing and moving beyond their issues."
When Reese Holden returns to her estranged father's home, following her mother's suicide, she finds a strange cast of characters have moved into her childhood home, while her novelist father has moved out, into the garage. Since the reclusive Don Holden was never known for being social, Reese finds these two people living in the house more than a little curious.  As the story unfolds, Reese finds that this unlikely trio has created its own little family, and she, the returning prodigal daughter, finds herself the outsider.
"Basically, this story is about the mistakes that people make, the tragedy of errors in communication," said actress Zooey Deschanel, who portrays Reese Holden. "It's sad that it has been six-and-a-half years since they've spoken and they are family. Reese returns home and can't believe what she finds.... It's about people getting over their own egos and their own hurt to be able to progress in their own life. "
Actor Will Ferrell, who portrays musician Corbit, sees the film exploration of the dynamics of the family as illustrative of the way in which people connect in their lives.  "When Reese goes home and enters this situation that seems really weird and bizarre at first, but she slowly comes around to what a family is and represents," said Farrell. "In the end, it's a story of acceptance and embracing people for their differences, learning how to adjust to the twists and turns that life presents."
  The actors found the complex characters in an otherwise simple story were simply too interesting to resist.  "I loved how well-developed the characters are and that Adam trusted in that and told this really simple story in a really simple way," said actress Amelia Warner, who portrays the capable and enigmatic grad student, Shelly.  "These are not conventional relationships and it's just a really simple, beautiful script, which is a very rare thing to find."
"I was amazed at the complexity of the characters," adds Ferrell.  "And the story had so many different levels to it that it seemed to be a really exciting film to be part of.  It's a drama, definitely, but it has a really specific, quirky sense of humor throughout."
Actress Amy Madigan, who portrays book editor Lori Lansky, cites Rapp's unique and funny characters and situations as key to the screenplay's impact.  "I keep telling Adam, 'everybody's here because of the script, don't forget that,'" she said. "It is very real and really funny.  There are parts where you're laughing and you think, 'Oh, I shouldn't be laughing at this.'  It's quite funny and heartfelt and that's a hard combination." 
For Warner and the cast, Rapp's ability to balance humor and drama made the themes of relationships, family and communication, all the richer. "What struck me about these four characters is how they don't really communicate and the struggle that they have every day with just being honest and open," Warner said. 
For some, their art becomes their shield, allowing a single-minded focus and pursuit on creating.  Mary's suicide leaves her grief-stricken husband and daughter without answers.  Emotionally enigmatic and ferociously dedicated to her writing, Mary's ability to reveal herself through the letters she leaves behind, belied a deeper inaccessibility to her loved ones.   
"Art and creating is essential to these characters, it's like breathing for them," said Koplan.  "At the beginning of the story, Reese is able to feel and express herself on stage in her performances, but shuts down in her real life.  Don and his wife were also able to let themselves go in their writing, revealing themselves and creating great works of art, but were very shut down in their actual lives."
In the original script, as Deschanel says, "One of the characters says, 'I don't understand how somebody who feels so much onstage can be so shut down in real life' and I think basically sums up the issue. These are people who are only able to express feelings in art and not in real life.  Reese's parents, Don and Mary, are able to express so much in their writing, but they're not able to give their own daughter attention.  These are people who are emotionally crippled, stunted in their development.  It's a real tragedy that I see as a sort of passage, a certain phase, a winter's passing, if you will."
The dichotomy between the solitary, disciplined focus involved in writing or creating, and the social and emotional demands of others lies at the center of the characters conflicts.  As, four-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe-winning actor Ed Harris, who portrays Don Holden, observes, "One's own art or need to create is such a personal thing. There's a fine line between the kind of privacy that is destructive, so removed from the world that it is not in touch and the art suffers.  And there's also the case, where the art becomes a social thing, and that hurts the art.  So, there's a fine line."
That unchartered, personal balance between artist as observer and participant resonates through all the characters in the story. As Dana notes, in the end, "Their lives enable art and art enables their lives," she said. "There is a storytelling thread in what they all do.  And in the course of the story, the challenge is for them to learn to express themselves outside of their art."   

ABOUT THE CAST AND CHARACTERS
For playwright-turned film director Rapp, writing and developing a screenplay presented its own set of challenges.  "It's actually a big adjustment from the theater, in terms of writing with economy and condensing action," he said.  "That was a big change for me."
And a big success. "First and foremost, you get your cast because of the script, because of the story," Koplan said.  "All these great and talented people we have on the film, goes back to the fact that Adam wrote a screenplay, which was very so well-executed, with an interesting tale to tell."
"What separates a good movie from a great movie is that a great movie never takes you out of it, every person and scene is believable," said Deschanel.  "Adam has written and cast a movie where every character is played by an amazing actor and that makes a huge difference, all the difference."
Although the screenplay was years away from being realized, Harris says he got involved with this project back in 1985 while appearing in "Precious Sons" on Broadway with a 14-year-old actor named, Anthony Rapp, playing his youngest son.  "It goes way back" Harris said.  "Anthony and I stayed in touch through the years and that's how it began."
Rapp explains: "I was a sixteen-year-old knucklehead, who was in military school, was a basketball player and I had nothing to do with the theater.  My little brother, Anthony, was playing his son and I remember meeting him briefly.  I was thinking of him as I wrote the story and after I finished it, I sent him a letter, reminded him that he did a play with my brother on Broadway....and he called me directly." 
The two hit it off over the phone and Rapp sent Harris the screenplay.  Following his Oscar-nominated performance and directorial debut in the acclaimed film, "Pollack," it had been years since Harris had committed himself to making a small independent film.  "Ed wanted to find something to connect to, and he really, really responded to the character," said Dana.
"Ed Harris's ability to really inhabit his characters is wonderful to watch onscreen. He is so committed, such a presence that it's amazing to see what he does every day." 
As Rapp told Harris in his first letter, "You know this character," and the actor eventually agreed. "It's a literate and well-written story, and it's really nice to read something in which the characters are really well-drawn," said Harris.  "I like doing work that has a genesis that feels important to the conceiver, if you will. This is about love, pain, with heart and humor."
Harris says when Rapp indicated that a commitment from the actor to portray Don in "Winter Passing" would help him get the film made, Harris jumped onboard.  "I think Adam's really a creative, talented guy and I figured 'what the heck,' so I said, 'Yeah, sure,'" Harris said.  "Don is a fascinating character.  His relationship with his daughter is obviously complex. His wife has killed herself.  He's a great novelist who hasn't published in eighteen years.  He's holed up in his garage, going through something that's deep and personal.  It's good, juicy stuff." 
Once Harris jumped onboard, said Koplan, the film took off.  "Ed is the one who allowed the film to get made by coming on when he came on," said Koplan.  "To have an actor of his caliber committed was a tremendous boost."
Harris had no reservations about working with a first-time director. "You got to follow your heart, then you get the little surprises," he said.  "You've got to be available, open, that's kind of what the film's about.  Adam's used to the theater and to the nurturing aspect, the care it takes, the concentration, and quiet.  It's a good working atmosphere."
Rapp was "almost in shock" when Harris said yes.  "I just couldn't believe it since I wrote the role for him.  I don't know anyone who I can think of who is more convincingly full of grief as a character as Ed is here," said Rapp.  "He is in character from the minute he gets here, until he leaves, in a very authentic, integral way.  I've been such a huge fan of his for a long time and I feel really, really lucky to have him in the film."
Harris says it's fun to work on characters who are written with "some imagination, quirkiness and an observation of humanity," as are the characters in the film.  "Adam does not write stereotypically, and he doesn't cast that way either."

REESE: OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Producer Dana said Zooey Deschanel first came to their attention in the film, "All the Real Girls." "Adam and I saw that movie and found her absolutely captivating," said Dana.  "There was something about her that was really an old soul in a young girl."
Deschanel said she and Rapp spoke for more than four hours upon first meeting to discuss the film.  "We had a great rapport and I thought the script was amazing," said the actress. "We like many of the same movies and I respect his aesthetic.  After meeting him, I knew he was somebody I really wanted to work with him." 
Rapp says he found Deschanel has "this amazing combination of having an incredibly accessible emotional life, and the ability to be completely technically on point in every shot.  She's schooled in continuity and hitting her mark. She's taken this character further than I thought she or anybody would."
And that's coming from the same director who said, "We thought she would have the intensity to really, really hook into Reese, and play opposite Ed Harris, whose intensity as an actor is stupendous.  The two of them together are electric."
"Zooey's very unique, original kind of gal," said Harris.  "She's very bright and talented."   Like Rapp, Harris first met Zooey Deschanel, through a family member, in this case, through her mother, actress Mary Jo Deschanel, who portrayed Annie Glenn, astronaut John Glenn's wife in "The Right Stuff." "We go back to 1982 in that film where I portrayed John Glenn," said Harris.  Mary Jo's husband (and Zooey's father) is director of photography Caleb Deschanel, who worked with both as the cinematographer on "The Right Stuff."  "But, I actually painted Zooey's sister's bedroom back in '76 or so, when I was painting houses and we had a mutual friend.  That was before Zooey was born."
"My parents have both worked with Ed, so I was asking them and they said, 'Oh, he's great.  He'll take care of you, he's so fantastic and he's such an expressive actor...' And they're right,'" she said. "He makes you a better actor just by being in a scene with him.  He is just incredible."
Reese's journey home appealed to Deschanel, who empathized with her character's struggles.  "I choose a character that I know I can play and do justice to," she said.  "They're usually people I'm interested in protecting.  Protecting their integrity while really connecting with it.  Reese is a character who needed protecting and I felt like being her champion."

LANSKY MAKES AN OFFER REESE CAN'T REFUSE
As the film opens, Reese is in New York at the end of a production of "Winter's Tale," quietly bottoming out, following the suicide of her mother, whose funeral she did not attend.  To make matters worse, Reese hadn't spoken with either of her famous parents for more than six years.  That all changes when book editor Lori Lansky (Amy Madigan), a great fan of Don Holden's, tracks down Reese, offering her $100,000 for the love letters her mother left to her in her will.
   "When I approach Zooey's character, Reese, about a series of letters that her mother and father wrote when they were courting each other, I tell her I want to publish them and she's not too keen on the idea," said Madigan.  "Zooey's character is estranged from her father and is drinking and going into the john, snorting up some crank.  So, she's not really on the same wave length as I am."
In the scenes where Lansky persuades Reese to consider the offer, Madigan credits Deschanel with the scene's light touch.  "She's hilarious, 'cause she's slipping me off in all these scenes," Madigan said.  "She can be really nasty to me and I like that. When I ask her for the letters, there's a part of me that knows I'm trespassing on a personal ground, yet I really believe in the importance of these letters because they're two great writers."
"I felt bad because Amy's so nice and I had to be downright rude to her," said Deschanel.  "Reese is a sad person, but she's also very clever and aloof and can be spiteful."
Rapp cast Madigan as Lansky, saying that the actress's prior scene-stealing roles, especially her performance as Peggy Guggenheim in "Pollack," showed the director what she could do with a supporting character.  "What is most impressive about Amy is her preparation and that she never leaves in between takes," said Rapp. "She stays and continues the scene in her head....Her level of concentration is pretty remarkable."
Madigan believes Lansky's offer forces Reese to deal with issues she has long avoided.  "I never intended the character to be this way, but she is this weird representative of going home and taking care of business," said Madigan.  "It's written that way.  She really wants nothing to do with me, but I'm intriguing to her and the idea of dealing with her father is something that I think she was looking for an opening for, probably unconsciously.  I don't think she's reconciled her mother's suicide, and is not keen on dealing with that either."
Madigan enjoyed working with Deschanel and says she respects her talent and choices.  "It's very gratifying to see Zooey and her sister Emily, as a younger generation of people that are very committed to doing good work, making smart choices, and not having to be naked on the cover of the Rolling Stone to get attention," Madigan said. " Zooey's a great talent and I'm very excited for her."   
Co-star Warner wholeheartedly agrees.  "I really admired Zooey's work before I knew she was in the film," she said.  "She's part of a new generation of actors, which I find exciting because she's just very fresh."

CORBIT: THE CHRISTIAN ROCKER ON THE COUCH
DON & CORBIT: GOLFING BUDDIES
SHELLY: A DIFFERENT TYPE OF WOMAN
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
REESE HOLDEN'S SINGULAR JOURNEY
CREATING THE HOLDEN WORLD: SHOOTING ON LOCATION IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS: Writer-director ADAM RAPP