ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Director/Producer/Writer Jon Avnet has assembled a strong ensemble cast of actors including living legend and Academy Award Winner Al Pacino, for 88 Minutes, shot in and around the Greater Vancouver area. All the action takes place during a period of just under two hours. Producer Michael P. Flannigan, who had just returned home from filming in Bulgaria when he got the call to come to Vancouver for the 88 Minutes shoot, explains, "It's almost real time, but and it will probably wind up being two hours long - there's a little bit before and after - I won't spoil the many surprises."
The time element presented one of the surprising challenges for the filmmakers. Flannigan continues, "The whole thing supposedly takes place in a day, but shooting up in the Great White North, Vancouver, you lose daylight relatively quickly. At first we thought, oh great short days! But what it really means is a lot of lights, a lot of generators, a lot of cable!"
Actress Alicia Witt who plays Kim Whitely, the sexy, intelligent teaching assistant to Pacino's character Dr. Jack Gramm, agrees that the time element also created challenges from an actor's point of view. "It's a challenge because the characters don't have time to process what's going on and what's happened to them. My character has to take stock of where she is before forcing herself to make a decision that's going to save her life."
Of course, in a two hour period, a character's wardrobe, hair and makeup remain virtually the same. "It's a great challenge to do something which is supposed to take place in the space of two hours. I've had these nails for about 10 weeks now, the same color and the same hair cut. I wear almost all the same wardrobe, except for a couple of flashbacks scenes. To keep things consistent my hair gets cut every four days, a little trim here and there, and literally everything has to match."

WORKING WITH PACINO
Something that presented no challenge for the filmmakers or cast was the opportunity to work with the acting giant, Al Pacino. "I think any sane person would acknowledge that working with him would be the highlight of one's career," says Deborah Kara Unger who plays Carol Lynn Johnson, Dean of Health Sciences. Witt agrees, "I've always wanted to work with Al and he's always been one of the actors who have inspired me the most. I've loved his work since I was starting out."
Benjamin McKenzie, best known for his part on The O.C. plays Mike Stemp, one of Jack's students and a smug know-it-all. "My agent told me Pacino is doing this movie, would you like to get involved? And you don't really say no to an opportunity like that, especially when you're young and starting out. This was a terrific chance for me to broaden my horizons and learn from a master." Flannigan adds, "It's been great. Al's incredibly professional. Each day he comes in totally prepared. On the first day of shooting you hear that voice and think, wow, I'm doing an Al Pacino movie!"
William Forsythe who plays special agent Frank Parks, an old friend and associate of Jack Gramm's, worked with Pacino on Dick Tracy. "I wanted to work with Al again. I hadn't worked with him in about 15 years, and was happy to sign on."
Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensics psychiatrist and university lecturer, has based his whole career on his "assessments" of people and risk factors. Using his unique skills, he has put away a murderer, Jon Forster, who now awaits execution. Usually extremely confident, Jack becomes increasingly paranoid as the countdown to the execution begins and copycat murders begin to crop up as he becomes the victim of a series of threats that count down the minutes to his own death.
"88 Minutes is structured so as to affect your heartbeat and adrenaline. That's what is so exhilarating about this project," explains Unger. "The theme of trust is akin to films like The Usual Suspects, where something may not be what it seems. The audience won't know what or who to trust." Flannigan joins in, "Because the killer primarily uses the cell phone as the device to communicate the countdown, when Jack Gramm gets these calls and looks around him, everyone's on a cell pone, everyone's talking. Even in his classroom, phones ring, people are looking at sports scores on their phones, it leads to a very suspicious and paranoid world for this guy. He has just two hours, and everyone around him starts to become a suspect.
Benjamin McKenzie concurs "One of the fun things about a movie like this is that you get to really arouse the audience's suspicions by various nuances in your performance… it's always fun to be able to toy with the audience a little bit by leading them in different directions."
"I don't think anyone is safe from suspicion in this story and I like the way Jon's shooting it because he's finding even more moments than are in the script", praises Witt. "I'm working pretty much every day, but Jon is so receptive to ideas and feedback. He listens to what other people have to say, and there's no ego involved. The biggest thing I've learned on this job is to let the best idea win. Jon Avnet is an incredible director, and amazing with actors. He knows how to communicate with an actor to get the result he's looking for. This builds confidence, and you end up giving your best performance. When he says 'good, let's move on', you know he got what he wanted."
Others in the cast share Witt's excitement about working with Avnet. "Certainly the first thing that attracts me to the role is the script and the director and the director's point of view; Jon Avnet is not only an extraordinary director, but a producer and writer too," Unger adds.
Working with Al Pacino has been inspiring to all involved and a bit intimidating for some. "Four years ago I studied Al Pacino's performances in college" McKenzie says. "And, I've always been in awe of his ability to get at the guts of what a character is all about. Now, when I'm standing two feet away from him in the middle of a scene and he's yelling at you it's hard to stay in character. I have to remind myself that I'm someone else, and he's someone else and we're doing a movie and I'm not a film student anymore. Instead, I'm having a real life experience with him. Al couldn't be friendlier or more supportive. He's a true collaborator, he's extraordinarily professional, and that's inspirational."
Witt points out, "I've learned so much from working with Al. He's so good at his craft, and when working with him up close he is infinitely approachable and amazingly non-intimidating because he's so open and unaffected. He only wants the best from all of us and is so passionate about making the work the best it can be."

THE CAST
Joining Al Pacino in 88 Minutes is a talented ensemble of actresses.
Laughing, Benjamin McKenzie points out, "If you're going to do a movie, you might as well do it with Al Pacino, with lots of beautiful women who are talented and funny!"
"I think John did an incredible job of finding four very different women to fill these parts," says Witt. In addition to her role as Kim Whitely, Amy Brenneman plays Shelly Barnes, Leelee Sobieski as Lauren Douglas and Deborah Kara Unger as Carol Lynn Johnson.
"Leelee Sobieski is just brilliant. With Leelee, Mensa meets muscle and she's one of the most delightful actors to work with" says Unger. Leelee plays the part of Lauren Douglas, one of Jack Gramm's more flirtatious students. "Alicia Witt is another gorgeously talented female," he continues. "She has a totally different sensibility to Amy Brenneman and brings distinctive color to her character, Shelly Barnes. All these women are so perfectly cast. I'm so damn excited to jump in with all of them; it's just been great.."
Alicia Witt's career began at the age of 5, and plays like a movie itself. When she recited scenes from Romeo and Juliet on the TV program That's Incredible she was spotted by a casting director for the movie Dune that led to her auditioning and landing a role in.the film. "If that hadn't happened to me, I have no idea if I would be an actor. I come from a family of school teachers from Worcester, Massachusetts, and acting isn't something in my background or my world. But from the moment I set foot on the set of Dune I knew I wanted to be an actor."
For Witt, becoming involved with 88 Minutes was a lengthy procedure. After the first script reading, followed by several more meetings and readings with Jon Avnet, she finally had her first read through with Pacino. "Just reading the script with Al Pacino once would have almost been enough. But then I got to do it again until the director called, saying I had got the part. The next thing, I'm heading to Vancouver to make this movie. Nothing can describe how happy I was."
Describing her role, Witt explains, "I play Kim, the teaching assistant and Al's character's love interest. She's a very independent, fiery, determined person with lots of energy, eager to prove she knows what she's doing. She's totally aware of what the situation is with Jack and doesn't have any misconceptions about any future together as a couple. She's just trying to go day by day. She knows he's a womanizer but there's something which compels her towards him."
One of Witt's greatest challenges was researching her character's desired profession. "She's already been through Gramm's class as a student and now she's a teaching assistant. She's on a fast track, working really hard to get into the forensic science field, but she knows it isn't an easy career choice. It's a dark world full of suspicion and mistrust and you have to deal with evil people. To be a successful profiler like Gramm, Kim needs to study and learn what it takes to assess someone who is totally psychotic. She has to analyze their characters and predict what their risk factor is, then determine whether someone must spend his life in prison or can be rehabilitated. There are so many variables that determine the outcome. I did a ton of reading to try and get into the minds of these killers. It's an interesting science, and it's what Kim wants to do. But when Jacks' world starts to unravel, Jack and Kim are literally running for their lives throughout most of the movie."
The role of Shelly Barnes is very different from Amy Brenneman's well-known role on Judging Amy. Instead of being the boss, Shelly is Jack Gramm's assistant. Shelly is bright, good-humored and efficient and always on top of all things at all times. As she's in constant contact with Jack via cell phone throughout the action, her role has a pivotal part in the movie. She carries out all Gramm's commands, even those she's not too comfortable with. "I've never played a lesbian before," says Brenneman. "As an actor, it's important to challenge yourself. Besides, who could resist an opportunity to work with Al Pacino?."
Deborah Kara Unger says "Another significant character in Gramm's life is Carol Lynn Johnson, Dean of Heath Sciences at the University where Jack lectures. Carol Lynn is one of Jack's many sexual conquests. She respects him professionally but thinks he ought to stop assessing other people and take a good hard look at himself. In the past, my character had a relationship with Jack. The audience is left to figure out to what extent that relationship had on the reason he is now being stalked and tormented"
Rounding out the ensemble cast are veteran actor William Forsythe and relative newcomer Benjamin McKenzie. In the role of Frank Parks, Forsythe is a gruff guy who's seen it all. An FBI agent , he worked on the Serial Killer Task Force with Jack on the Forster case, and now on the copycat murders. When two other agents are put on the case, Frank makes it clear that he backs Jack's assessment that the new murders are indeed a copycat's, and that Forster has been correctly convicted of the crimes.
"I play special agent Frank Parks, he's a very old friend of Jack Gramm's, they've know each other and worked together for years. Both of them worked together to put Forster away, who is now on Death Row. Frank is trying to support what Jack is doing, but as events unfold he starts to think he bet his money on the wrong horse."
Says Unger of Forsythe, "Bill is a very powerful man on camera. He has this wise and commanding voice and presence. Off camera he's a big playful teddy bear. And not the least bit intimidating."
Benjamin McKenzie plays Mike Stemp, a somewhat cocky student who presents an argument to one of Jack's pet theories and get embarrassed when Jack smoothly shuts him up. "I play Mike, one of Dr. Gramm's graduate students in forensics and also work with him in his private practice. I'm very interested in the slayer case and my character is relatively aggressive, enjoying debating with Gramm on various finer points of the case" notes McKenzie. To prepare for his role, he had to do some research of his own. "When I read the script I thought it would be fun to play a cynic who gets to rile Al Pacino's character. Who could resist?"
Unger concludes, "Jon has created an environment of ensemble actors who like to spend a lot of time with each other. We're entirely supportive of each other and make ourselves available to be off-camera or around the set, even when not necessarily needed that moment. Al and Jon constructed an atmosphere of pure collaboration and that's what makes 88 Minutes time well spent."
Principal photography of 88 Minutes was completed on December 7th, 2005, one day short of 40 days of shooting. Says Michael P. Flannigan, "I haven't worked in Canada before, but it's been terrific. I can't wait to come back and work here again"

"You have 76 minutes to live."

JON AVNET
has directed and produced more than 50 motion pictures and television movies over the last 25 years, from box office hits such as Risky Business and Fried Green Tomatoes to the critically acclaimed Uprising, The Burning Bed and Heat Wave for television. His work has won or been nominated for multiple Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes and DGA awards, as well as Writers Guild of America awards, the Peabody, the Humanitas and CableACE awards.
Avnet directed The Understudy from his own screenplay for Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures, and also executive-produced with Graham Yost and directed NBC's Boomtown. The series received a Peabody award, an AFI award and a Humanitas Award. Avnet also directed, co-wrote and produced the NBC miniseries Uprising, which critics praised as the first creative project to deal specifically with the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and resistance by Jews during Word War II. Starring Leelee Sobieski, Hank Azaria, David Schwimmer, Jon Voight and Donald Sutherland, Uprising was nominated for a Golden Globe and a DGA award, and won the ASC award for cinematography. Additionally, Avnet received a Christopher Award, as well as the prestigious Janus Korchak Educational Award.
Prior to Uprising, Avnet directed and produced the politically charged Red Corner, starring Richard Gere and Bai Ling, for which he was honored with the National Board of Review's Human Rights Award. He directed and produced Up Close & Personal, starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer; and before that, he directed, produced and co-wrote the highly acclaimed Fried Green Tomatoes
which received multiple Oscar, Golden Globe and Writers Guild nominations. His first directing assignment (he also co-wrote and produced) was the TV movie Between Two Women, starring Colleen Dewhurst and Farrah Fawcett, which earned Dewhurst an Emmy for her performance. In 1984, Avnet produced Risky Business, written and directed by Paul Brickman, which launched Tom Cruise's career. Avnet also produced Brickman's next film, Men Don't Leave, starring Jessica Lange, Joan Cusack, Arliss Howard and Chris O'Donnell. In 1985, he produced The Burning Bed, which received 8 Emmy nominations and remains the highest rated television movie ever aired on NBC. With Jordan Kerner, Avnet produced Less Than Zero, When a Man Loves a Woman, Miami Rhapsody and George of the Jungle, to name a few, as well as Mama Flora's Family, based on Alex Haley's novel.
Avnet is chairman of the board of directors of the American Film Institute and chairman of the Center for Advanced Film Studies Advisory Board at the American Film Institute. He also serves on the Board of Overseers of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania and participates in the director's lab at Sundance and its sister program, Emergence, in France.

Screenwriter Gary R. Scott Thompson's feature film writing credits include The Fast and the Furious starring Vin Diesel and its sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious for Universal Pictures, and Hollow Man starring Kevin Bacon and Elisabeth Shue for Columbia Pictures. He also wrote K-911 and K-9 P.I., both starring James Belushi for Universal Pictures, White Ghost, The Underachievers, and wrote and co-produced Timecop: The Berlin Decision. Also, he wrote and associate produced Split Second.
Thompson is also executive producer and creator of the TV series Las Vegas for which he has also written numerous episodes.

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