Sam Mendes Begins Production On New Screenplay

 Production begins in Connecticut this week on an untitled contemporary comedy directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty) from an original screenplay by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film is being produced and co-financed by Big Beach, with Focus Features co-financing and distributing worldwide.
 
The untitled movie follows the journey of an expectant couple, as they travel the U.S. in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family. John Krasinski (one of the SAG Award-winning ensemble from The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) star as the parents-to-be. Rounding out the cast are Academy and Golden Globe Award nominee Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine), Golden Globe Award nominee Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale), Carmen Ejogo (Lackawanna Blues), Jim Gaffigan (My Boys), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Screen Actors Guild Award winner Allison Janney (whom Mr. Mendes previously directed in American Beauty), Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men), Chris Messina (Made of Honor), Kevin J. O'Connor (There Will Be Blood), Emmy Award winner Catherine O'Hara (Waiting for Guffman), and Paul Schneider (Lars and the Real Girl).

Academy Award-winning producer Ed Saxon (The Silence of the Lambs) is producing the film, through his Edward Saxon Productions, with Academy Award-nominated producers Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf (Little Miss Sunshine) of Big Beach, and Mr. Mendes' Neal Street Productions. Mari Jo Winkler (Dan in Real Life) is executive-producing; Pippa Harris, of Neal Street, is co-executive-producing.
 
Ellen Kuras (Focus' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is the film's director of photography; Jess Gonchor (Focus' September release Burn After Reading) is the production designer; Sarah Flack (Focus' Lost in Translation) is the film editor; and John Dunn (Focus' Broken Flowers) is the costume designer.

Focus vice president of production and development David Gerson is supervising the project for president of production John Lyons. Filming throughout Connecticut will be followed by additional location work in Arizona and Florida. 
In addition to American Beauty, which also won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, Mr. Mendes has directed Road to Perdition and Jarhead. His latest film as director, Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, will be released in December.
 
Mr. Eggers, founder of the independent book-publishing house McSweeney's, has written such novels as What is the What and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Ms. Vida, co-founder and editor of the monthly The Believer, has written such novels as Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and And Now You Can Go.
 
Founded by Mr. Saraf and Mr. Turtletaub, Big Beach has produced such acclaimed films as Everything is Illuminated, Sherrybaby, and Chop Shop. Its production of Little Miss Sunshine won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay. Big Beach is currently in post-production on Is Anybody There?, starring Michael Caine; the company's Sunshine Cleaning, starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, and Alan Arkin, will be released this winter.
 
In addition to The Silence of the Lambs, which also won Oscars for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay, Mr. Saxon's Academy Award-winning films as producer include Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia and Spike Jonze's Adaptation. His credits as executive producer include Victor Nunez' Ulee's Gold.
 
Focus Features (www.filminfocus.com) is a motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company committed to bringing moviegoers the most original stories from the world's most innovative filmmakers.
 
Current and upcoming Focus Features releases also include Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes, which world-premiered as the Opening-Night film of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival; Bharat Nalluri's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams; Andrew Fleming's irreverent comedy Hamlet 2, starring Steve Coogan; Shane Acker's animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly; Henry Selick's stop-motion animated feature Coraline, starring Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher; Cary Fukunaga's immigrant thriller Sin Nombre; Joel and Ethan Coen's Burn After Reading, starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt; writer/director Jim Jarmusch's new film, tentatively titled The Limits of Control, starring Isaach De Bankolé; and Gus Van Sant's Milk, starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.
 
Focus Features is part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.