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Freeheld
''Freeheld'' is a 2015 American drama film directed by Peter Sollett and written by Ron Nyswaner. The film stars Julianne Moore, Elliot Page, Michael Shannon, Steve Carell, and Luke Grimes. It is based on the 2007 documentary short film of the same name about police officer Laurel Hester's fight against the Ocean County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders to allow her pension benefits to be transferred to her domestic partner after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Plot The film is based on the true story of Laurel Hester (Moore), a police officer in Ocean County, New Jersey. The story narrates the difficulties faced by a lesbian police detective and her domestic partner, Stacie Andree (Page). Following her diagnosis with terminal lung cancer in 2005, Hester repeatedly appealed to the county's board of chosen freeholders to have her pension benefits passed on to her domestic partner; she was eventually successful. Cast * Julianne Moore as Laurel Hester, a New Jerse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freeheld (2007 Film)
''Freeheld'' is a 2007 documentary film directed by Cynthia Wade. It chronicles the story of Laurel Hester in her fight against the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders to give her earned pension benefits to her partner, Stacie. On February 24, 2008, it won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. The documentary also won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007. ''Freeheld'' has played in over 50 festivals worldwide and has earned 14 festival awards. The film had its US broadcast premiere in June 2008 on Cinemax. A film based on the documentary, starring Elliot Page and Julianne Moore, was released in October 2015. Synopsis The film opens at a meeting of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Ocean County, New Jersey. Ocean County resident and New Jersey police officer Lieutenant Laurel Hester has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and expected to live only another year, she wishes to pass on her pension to her domestic partner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynthia Wade
Cynthia Wade is an American television, commercial and film director, producer and cinematographer based in New York City. She has directed documentaries on social issues including '' Shelter Dogs'' in 2003 about animal welfare and ''Freeheld'' in 2007 about LGBT rights as well as television commercials and web campaigns. She has won over 40 film festival awards, won an Oscar in 2008, and was nominated for her second Oscar in 2013. Background Wade was born and raised in the New York City area and is the great-granddaughter of John Orr Young, the founder of Young & Rubicam, an advertising agency in Manhattan. She attended Smith College where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree, and Stanford University where she received a master's degree in Documentary Film Production. During college, Wade attended the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, where she studied directing. In 1999, she married Matthew Syrett. She taught adva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurel Hester
Laurel Anne Hester (August 15, 1956 – February 18, 2006) was a police lieutenant with the Ocean County, New Jersey Prosecutor's Office, who came to national attention with her deathbed appeal for the extension of pension benefits to her domestic partner. Her battle was shown in ''Freeheld'' (2007), the winner of the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary, and the feature film of the same name (2015), in which Hester is portrayed by Julianne Moore. Early life Laurel Anne Hester was born in Elgin, Illinois, and grew up in Florham Park, the daughter of Diana (1922–1995) and George Hester (1919–1992). She has two brothers, George II and James, and a sister, real-estate agent Lynda (Hester) D'Orio. Hester realized she was gay at a young age. Though she accepted herself, at times her sexual orientation made her feel isolated. As a child, her family often summered at the Jersey Shore, and later Hester would return to work in the area. Education After graduating in 1974 from Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elliot Page
Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Awards and Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a Satellite Award. Page publicly came out as transgender in December 2020. In March 2021, he became the first openly trans man to appear on the cover of ''Time (magazine), Time''. Page first came to recognition for his role in the television franchise ''Pit Pony (film), Pit Pony'' (1997–2000), for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award, and for his recurring roles in ''Trailer Park Boys'' (2002) and ''ReGenesis'' (2004). One of Page's first roles in a mainstream US-distributed film was in the 2003 made-for-television film ''Going For Broke (2003 film), Going For Broke''. Page had his breakthrough starring in the film ''Hard Candy (film), Hard C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Carell
Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (British TV series), British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Carell also worked as an occasional producer, writer and director. Carell has received List of awards and nominations received by Steve Carell, numerous accolades for his performances in both film and television, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his work on ''The Office''. He was recognized as "America's Funniest Man" by ''Life (magazine), Life'' magazine. Carell gained recognition as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' from 1999 to 2005. He went on to star in several comedy films, including ''Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' (2004) and Anchorman 2: The L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luke Grimes
Luke Timothy Grimes (born January 21, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for his role as real life Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee in the acclaimed film ''American Sniper''. He played Christian Grey's brother, Elliot, in the film ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' (2015), and its sequels, ''Fifty Shades Darker'' (2017) and ''Fifty Shades Freed'' (2018). He currently stars in the drama series ''Yellowstone'' (2018–present). Early life Grimes was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a Pentecostal pastor. Grimes graduated from Dayton Christian High School in 2002. He moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career Grimes has appeared in ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'', '' War Eagle, Arkansas'', and ''Assassination of a High School President,'' which received a limited release in March 2009. He also appeared in the ABC drama '' Brothers & Sisters'', as Ryan Lafferty, the illegitimate son of William Walker, patriarch of the show's family. Beginning with Seaso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julianne Moore
Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, as well as for her roles in blockbusters. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Emmy Awards. After studying theater at Boston University, Moore began her career with a series of television roles. From 1985 to 1988, she was a regular in the soap opera ''As the World Turns'', earning a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance. Her film debut was in '' Tales from the Darkside: The Movie'' (1990), and she continued to play small roles for the next four years, including in the thriller '' The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' (1992). Moore first received critical attention with Robert Altman's ''Short Cuts'' (1993), and successive performances in ''Vany ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Nyswaner
Ronald L. Nyswaner (born October 5, 1956) is an American screenwriter and film director. He has been nominated for numerous awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He is known for his screenplays '' Smithereens'' (1982), ''Philadelphia'' (1993), '' The Painted Veil'' (2006), ''Freeheld'' (2015), '' My Policeman'' (2022),. He is also known as a writer and producer of the Showtime series '' Ray Donovan'' (2013-2015), ''Homeland'' (2017-2018), and the upcoming series '' Fellow Travelers''. Early life and education Nyswaner was born in Clarksville, Pennsylvania. Career Nyswaner wrote his first screenplay for the Susan Seidelman film ''Smithereens''. After two other notable screenplays for '' Swing Shift'' and ''Mrs. Soffel'', he gave his directorial debut with ''The Prince of Pennsylvania'' in 1988, a film with Keanu Reeves and Fred Ward. Nyswaner, who is openly gay and an activist for gay rights, has often worked on movies with the subjects h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2015 Toronto International Film Festival
The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts was the opening night film; '' Mr. Right'' by Paco Cabezas was the closing night film. The year's edition included two new sections called Platform and Primetime. At Platform, twelve films will be screened in front of a jury, with the best film of the program winning the C$25,000 Platform Prize. Film directors Claire Denis, Jia Zhangke, and Agnieszka Holland were selected as the jurors for this section. At Primetime, six high-quality television programs will be presented at public screenings with Question and Answer sessions with show creators. The lineups for the TIFF Docs, Vanguard, Midnight Madness, and Masters sections were announced on 11 August 2015. More than 100 films were added to the festival's programme on 18 August. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Shannon
Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent collaborations with director Jeff Nichols, appearing in all of his films: '' Shotgun Stories'' (2007), '' Take Shelter'' (2011), '' Mud'' (2012), '' Midnight Special'', and ''Loving'' (both 2016). He's received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for ''Revolutionary Road (film), Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and ''Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). He received Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, Golden Globe Award nominations for his role in ''99 Homes'' (2014). After his film debut with a minor role in ''Groundhog Day (film), Groundhog Day'' (1993), he appeared in such films a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stacey Sher
Stacey Sher (born November 30, 1962) is an American film producer. Early life Sher was born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She graduated and got her bachelor's degree from University of Southern California (USC) and was involved with the Peter Stark Producing Program which is a two-year (four-semester) full-time graduate program designed to prepare students for careers as producers. During her early start in the industry, she was in a brief relationship with Quentin Tarantino during the early 1990s. Soon after, she married Kerry P. Brown, a movie soundtrack producer. They have two children. Career In 1985, she became director of development at Hill/Obst Productions. In 1987, she became Vice President of Production. In 1991, she became Senior Vice President at Lynda Obst Productions. She went on to work with Danny DeVito and Michael Shamberg at Jersey Films, and now operates Double Feature Films with Michael Shamberg, with whom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Shamberg
Michael Shamberg (born 1945?) is an American film producer and former Time–Life correspondent. Life and career His credits include ''Erin Brockovich'', ''A Fish Called Wanda'', '' Garden State'', ''Gattaca'', ''Pulp Fiction'' and '' The Big Chill''. His production companies include Jersey Films, with Stacey Sher Stacey Sher (born November 30, 1962) is an American film producer. Early life Sher was born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She graduated and got her bachelor's degree from University of Southern Cal ... and Danny DeVito, and, , Double Feature Films, with Stacey Sher. In the 1960s and 1970s, counter-culture video collectives extended the role of the underground press to new communication technologies. In 1970, Shamberg co-founded a video collective called Raindance Corporation, which published a newspaper-magazine called Radical Software. Raindance Corporation later became TVTV (video collective), TVTV, or Top Value Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
