Directed by Francine McDougall
Written by Mandy Nelson

Marley Shelton .... Diane Weston
James Marsden .... Jack Bartlett
Mena Suvari .... Kansas Hill
Marla Sokoloff .... Lisa Janusch
Alexandra Holden .... Fern Rogers
Rachel Blanchard .... Hannah Wold
Sara Marsh .... Lucy Whitman
Melissa George .... Cleo Miller
Nate Maher .... Chris
Jake Hoffman .... Ted
W. Earl Brown .... The Terminator
Sean Young .... Mrs. Hill
Adam Busch .... Simon
Jeremy Kent Jackson .... Phil

Produced by Wendy Finerman Greg Mooradian (executive, Matt Moore (executive), Michael Nelson (co-producer), Claire Rudnick Polstein (executive)

Original music by Mark Mothersbaugh
Cinematography by Robert Brinkmann
Film Editing by Sloane Klevin

Rated PG-13 for language, sex-related humor and some thematic elements.

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STUDIO SYNOPSIS:
Sugar & Spice is the no-holds-barred comedy that takes "girl power" to hilarious new extremes ? and proves that sometimes "everything nice" leads to crime. This is the irreverently comic tale of Lincoln High School?s A-Squad Cheerleaders, a group of sassy, sharp-tongued but sweet young ladies who decide to remain loyal to their cheerleaders? "Oath of Allegiance and Conformity" no matter what. When the going gets tough, they stick together . . . or is that stick ?em up?

The A-Squad is your typical group of mall-going, pizza-eating, Ouija-board consulting, boy-chasing, locker room-gossiping 21st century American teenagers living on the edge of perfection. Sure, each member has her foibles. Diane (MARLEY SHELTON), the captain of the sqaud who is madly in love with Lincoln High star quarterback Jack Bartlett (JAMES MARSDEN), has nuclear-powered enthusiasm. Hannah (RACHEL BLANCHARD) is righteously born-again. Kansas (MENA SUVARI), the rebel whose mother (SEAN YOUNG) is doing time in the local prison, can?t help but talk trashy. Lucy (SARA MARSH) is a geek obsessed with going to Harvard. And Cleo (MELISSA GEORGE) has fantasies of stalking Conan O?Brien. But when they work together, making human pyramids and rousing the home team, they rule.

High school is heaven for these paragons of teenage bliss ? until Jack and Diane find themselves in an unexpected adult situation, and in desperate need of extra cash. In order to help their friend Diane, the A-Squad goes where no cheerleader has gone before: taking on a little after-school project known as bank robbery. But the A-Squad does things their way ? with sugar and spice -- forever changing their friendship, their future and the nation?s notion of teen spirit. After all, as the girls bank-robbing cheer goes: "Cheerleaders kick!"

Set to a driving pop soundtrack, Sugar & Spice is a deliciously acid look at the sweet promises of youth directed by Australian filmmaker Francine McDougall (making her feature debut). The film features a high-spirited cast of rising young performers including Marley Shelton, James Marsden, Mena Suvari, Rachel Blanchard, Melissa George, Sara Marsh and Alexandra Holden. The producer is Academy Award winner Wendy Finerman (Forrest Gump) and the executive producer is Greg Mooradian.
? 2000 New Line Cinema

EVERYTHING IS NOT PEACHY KEEN
The sharply satirical tale of the Lincoln High School A-Squad immediately drew the interest of up-and-coming Australian director Francine McDougall. She saw it as a teen-age comedy that dares to go where few teen comedies have gone ? into the underside of the usual teen-movie notion that everything is peachy keen for the likes of cheerleaders, football players and future Harvard graduates. McDougall adored the hyper-fast, furiously funny screenplay which goes to town poking fun at its characters, then ultimately reveals that their hearts are in the right place.

"I saw Sugar & Spice?s story as a good-humored stab at the idealism of the American Dream," says McDougall. "I loved the idea of a group of seemingly perfectly happy girls who decide to face down their one big problem ? a pregnant friend ? and come up with an outrageous solution, namely robbing a bank. I just loved the humor of it all, and yet it?s done in such a light-hearted fashion."

COMMUNITY OF TRUE FRIENDS
Producer Wendy Finerman -- who won an Oscar for another risk-taking comedy, Forrest Gump ? had a similar reaction. "What I loved about the story is that it?s really about how girls stand up for one another," she says. "It?s a very funny look at how far these cheerleaders will go for each other, not with malice but with true sweetness. It?s really just pure fun and entertainment."

Finerman welcomed the addition of Francine McDougall as director. "Her reel revealed that she has a wonderful way with female characters and an especially smart view of teens at that age," notes Finerman.

SATIRICAL SYMMETRY
From the start, McDougall knew she wanted to highlight the satirical elements of the script with a highly stylized treatment, one heightened by her outsider?s view of America?s conflicting sides: apple-pie and Alcatraz. "My approach was to create a sense of these kids being surrounded by a perfect reality ? and the feeling that something isn?t quite right, that maybe it?s not quite as perfect as it looks on the surface," she explains. "Throughout the film I used symmetry in the camera angles, I heightened the color schemes and generally infused every shot with American flags."

STRANGE AMERICAN CULTURE
Prior to filming, McDougall immersed herself in American high school culture ? cataloguing the way kids dress, eat, talk and accessorize in Middle America in the 21st century. As an Aussie, she also had to learn the bewildering basics of American football. "We don?t have cheerleaders in Australia so that was a whole new culture to me," notes McDougall. "And we also don?t have much exposure to American football. I had to literally study up on it. I read Football for Dummies and brushed up on my ?cheer speak? and explored what it means to young girls in America to be cheerleaders. It was a real education for me, and it was a lot of fun."

But McDougall also sensed that the characters at the heart of Sugar & Spice were ones to which teens all over the world could relate ? truly capturing the universal twistedness and turbulence of the so-called "best years of life" ? years fraught with competition, lust, moral conflicts, parental miscommunications and pressing fashion concerns underneath the mile-wide smiles and don?t-worry-be-happy attitudes. "You don?t come across many sophisticated comedies about teen life," sums up McDougall, "but Sugar & Spice hilariously draws the line between teen fantasies and today?s realities."

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP
(Adapted from the Life Application Bible)

What kind of friend are you? There is a vast difference between knowing someone well and being a true friend. The greatest evidence of genuine friendship is loyalty (loving ?at all times?) (see 1 Cor. 13:7 below)?being available to help in times of distress or personal struggles. Too many people are fair-weather friends. They stick around when the friendship helps them and leave when they?re not getting anything out of the relationship. Think of your friends and assess your loyalty to them. Be the kind of true friend the Bible encourages.

Proverbs 17:17 Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble. (Message Translation)

1 Cor. 13:7 Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. (Message Translation)