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WECOME TO DELRONA BEACH
AND
THE 2ND ANNUAL BUCCANEER DAYS!
Take a trip!
Take a drive!
SEE FLORIDA TODAY!
 Oceanfront
motels. T-shirt shops. Golf courses. Palm trees. Sandy beaches.
Condominiums. Man-eating alligators. Indians, pirates, Spanish gold,
sea Island plantations.
"People
don't realize how hard it is to invent a tradition."
-Francince Pinckney
Change is coming to Delrona Beach, Florida, assaults on every front.
Here's Marly (Edie Falco) running her father's motel and hating
every minute of it. Lester and Greg (Miguel Ferrer and Perry Lang)
will stop at nothing to buy the motel, and Dad (Ralph Waite) will
never sell. Mom (Jane Alexander) is living in her own dream world
down at the community theater and off at the Audubon meetings, saving
what's left of the natural habitat. Marly's wasting away in Margaritaville,
dodging her ex-husband (Richard Edson), losing her golf pro (Marc
Blucas) and tempted by the new guy in town (Timothy Hutton) even
though he is definitely working for the other side.
Here's Desiree (Angela Bassett) back for her first real visit home
since she left under a cloud 25 years ago. She doesn't trust her
mother Eunice (Mary Alice) and won't be drawn into staying in the
black enclave of Lincoln Beach, even though family friend Dr Lloyd
(Bill Cobbs) works her pretty hard. Dr. Lloyd is up against it,
fighting off the Plantation in the person of promoter Northrup (Sam
McMurray) whose battles with the black community go way back.Trophy
husband Dr. Reginald Perry (James McDaniel) does his best to fit
in, but he's worried about the old boyfriend Flash Phillips (Tom
Wright), and nobody's comfortable with the boy Eunice has taken
in, young arsonist Terrell (Alex Lewis)
Chamber of Commerce stalwart Francine Pinckney (Mary Steenburgen)
keeps a smile on her face and pom poms high, championing Buccaneer
Days through its course. She's too busy to see much of banker husband
Earl (Gordon Clapp) whose gambling debts are giving him problems
of his own.
Real people. Real places. Welcome to Florida.
 About
the Story
Unfolding during the week-long Buccaneer Days Festival, a new ?tradition?
created by the local Chamber of Commerce, SUNSHINE STATE is set
in Plantation Island, Florida, a place where local real estate development
is changing a modest beachside community into an upscale, manicured
resort for winter-weary Northerners. The long-time locals, are divided
on whether to cash in or stand their ground. The newcomers are eager
to enjoy the good life and/or make a quick buck. Plantation Island,
like its residents, is in transition. Marly Temple (Edie Falco)
is living her father?s (Ralph Waite) dream of running a motel, only
it has become her nightmare. Too sick to run the place himself anymore,
her father is opinionated and ornery. Her mother (Jane Alexander)
is immersed in the community theater group she runs like an impresario.
Marly herself has given up her career as a ?Weeki Wachee Mermaid?
and her marriage to Steve (Richard Edson) is over. She begins a
tentative romance with Jack Meadows (Timothy Hutton), a landscape
architect recently arrived to transform a section of the island
into a "natural" gated community. Now that her life consists of
avoiding Steve, nursing hangovers and waking up with the wrong guy,
Marly is tempted to accept a takeover bid for her motel from a strip
mall developer..
In the next town over, Desiree Perry (Angela Bassett) has returned
to visit and show off her new anesthesiologist husband, Reggie (James
McDaniel). Sent away by her proud parents after she disgraced them
by getting pregnant at 15, Desiree, like Marly, pursued a career
in ?show business.? But instead of Broadway or movies, her appearances
have been limited to industrials and infomercials. Still intimidated
by her strong-willed mother Eunice (Mary Alice), Desiree returns
to find that her little hometown of Lincoln Beach, an African-American
enclave created during the era of segregation, is, like its neighboring
P.I., being eyed by developers. Her mother has taken in a relative,
Terrell (Bernard Alexander Lewis), a troubled adolescent boy, and
Reggie finds himself reluctantly pushed into being a role model.
The emotional stakes are raised by the appearance of Flash Phillips
(Tom Wright), the former football star who like Lincoln Beach, he
too has fallen upon harder times. As both Marly and Desiree grapple
with the sometimes-overwhelming weight of family history and family
expectations, and wrestle with questions of love, duty and responsibility,
SUNSHINE STATE offers an indelible portrait of two women, two families,
and two communities standing on the brink of change.
* * *
About the Production
SUNSHINE STATE was filmed entirely on Amelia Island, which like
its counterpart in the film, is home to a traditionally white enclave
and a traditionally black enclave, called American Beach. As producer
Maggie Renzi explains, ?A. L. Lewis was one of the several men who
started the Afro-American Insurance Company, which was one of the
first big black businesses. Lewis understood that there was nowhere
for his workers and other black people to go to the beach in segregated
Florida in the 20's. In 1935, with the cooperation of, among other
people, Eleanor Roosevelt, he was able to purchase this big piece
of beachfront and there was an exodus every Friday night from Jacksonville
and everyone would go out to the beach for the weekend, including
performers like Cab Callaway and Ray Charles, people like that.
They'd finish their gig in Jacksonville and then come and club at
night, on American Beach. Its just the sort of history that fascinates
John, who is, in any case, fascinated by African American history,
and history in general.? John Sayles discovered Amelia Island while
scouting locations for another project based on a short story he
had written years before, about treasure hunters on the west coast
of Florida. As he recalls, ?I was struck by how changed the small
towns there were from my last extensive visit fifteen years earlier.
The Florida I had written about didn?t exist anymore. I came across
a mention of Amelia Island and the American Beach community in a
?Lonely Planet? guide ? I?d always been fascinated with the American
Beach phenomenon and decided to go there and give the Florida idea
one more shot. What I found was an island with all the elements
? old and new, ?Mom and Pop? businesses and corporate chains, gated
communities, history as myth and tourist attraction, real estate
as the hotly contested central issue in politics and parallel racial
enclaves, all crammed into a relatively small area.? The characters
in SUNSHINE STATE quickly sprang forth ? ?they evolved from the
idea of black people and white people living parallel lives that
occasionally intersect. One woman is realizing she needs to leave,
while the other is discovering that she may be able to return.?
An acclaimed independent filmmaker whose career has spanned three
decades, Sayles has built up a company of actors that he frequently
works with and many of his favorites, including Tom Wright, Gordon
Clapp and Clifton James, appear in SUNSHINE STATE. As Sayles says,
?We?ve been very lucky in casting over the years. The actors in
SUNSHINE STATE are a mix of people I?ve worked with before and people
whose work I?ve admired but never gotten together with before. My
favorite thing about production is getting good actors together
and providing an environment for them to play off each other in.
The better the actors are, the more of my work is done for me.?
Angela Bassett had worked with Sayles on PASSION FISH and CITY OF
HOPE early in her career before becoming a major star with her performance
as Tina Turner in WHAT?S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT. As a native of
Florida, she was thrilled with the project. Says Angela; ?It?s always
a joy when he calls. I really enjoy working with John because it?s
such a wonderful collaborative experience. He is very clear about
the characters but he gives you a lot of flexibility. You get to
work together. You have boundaries that he has set but you also
feel a sense of freedom as an artist.?
Edie Falco, best known for her two-time Emmy-winning role on HBO?s
The Sopranos, worked with Sayles for the first time on SUNSHINE
STATE and was happy to return to her roots in the independent film
world. As she says, ?Hollywood has gotten its fingers into the whole
independent film industry and changed it dramatically but this experience
felt like it used to. We all liked the story, and each other, and
we love to make movies. John has a knack for surrounding himself
with certain people who have a certain similar energy about them.
He takes it seriously but he doesn?t get stressed out about stuff
? he has it in perspective.?
Edie loved the character of Marly: ?I really related to her and
I was glad because she wasn?t a character I had played before. She?s
a single woman, not a wife or a mother, which was a great change.
Although she doesn?t want the responsibility of her father?s business,
her family has been on this island for many generations. She is
as local as they come and feels very possessive of the land and
wants to see that it?s done right by.?
In the film, both Edie and Angela?s characters wrestle with how
to incorporate the past with the present, what to hold on to and
what to let go of. They return as women to the town they left as
kids. They find that their parents are aging and their sleepy small
town has become a Mecca for developers and outsiders. Says Sayles,
?Change is tough on everybody. What you hope for is to hold on to
the best and get rid of the worst. Furman?s (played by Ralph Waite)
golden days included racial segregation, a negative legacy but one
that also was instrumental in making Lincoln Beach the unique center
of African-American cultural life that it was. With the passing
of segregation, the black community gained access to all kinds of
areas that were denied before, but lost some of its cohesiveness.
There is a lot of money to be made selling beachfront homes or businesses
to corporate entities but a way of life disappears and people become
more isolated, the world?s less ?personal.? Marly (Edie Falco) has
tried to hold on to her father?s dream to please him ? but it?s
not her dream. Desiree (Angela Bassett) has burned all bridges to
her past and her family, but finds she is now strong enough to re-establish
contact and face the consequences.?
Jane Alexander and Ralph Waite play Marly?s parents, Miss Delia
and Furman. Ms. Alexander had worked with Sayles years earlier on
a public television dance film and she was thrilled to work with
him again. Says Alexander; ?It was exciting for me because John
and Maggie together have a long history of doing movies that really
probe a particular relationship or a particular issue. The setting
for this film is very important to John and in this film he investigates
that and he came up with these incredible characters ? it?s complicated,
wonderful and funny.
There is a lot of humor in this film. And it?s fun to work on a
John Sayles movie because John is so easygoing. He knows exactly
what he wants and it?s so beautifully written that you don?t have
to work hard. It was a delight to be part of.? Best known as the
wise father on the long-running TV series The Waltons, Ralph Waite
jumped at the chance to portray Furman. As he recalls, ?On the same
day that this script arrived, I got an offer to do a Disney film
in Australia. But when I read this script, there was no choice.
I liked the story and I liked the character. Unlike so many movies
nowadays, this is really about something. It?s always a pleasure
to do something that is meaningful and says something real about
life, and happens to be beautifully written at the same time. We
see a place where life has been very simple and very beautiful and
suddenly developers are beginning to encroach and take over and
destroy the local color by building these huge developments that
rob the place of its beauty and uniqueness, making it impossible
for ordinary people to live. My character reminds me of a rural
King Lear. He?s a local man who?s made good but because of diabetes,
going blind, getting old, he senses that life is closing down and
that he?s losing his power. He doesn?t want to sell out but all
of these forces are against him. He fights it but, unfortunately,
mostly through words. He?s an interesting character and as I?ve
gotten older I?ve found that some of our power does diminish, both
mentally and physically. It was great to do an old man that is still
hanging in there.?
Like Waite, James McDaniel, who plays Desiree?s husband Reggie,
was a newcomer to the Sayles world. But he was a longtime fan. Says
McDaniel; ?I had been a great admirer of his work for years. He?s
a renegade, one of a kind, he?s a gift to America. I have great
respect for the things he has done. So more than just an acting
job, the making of this film was an adventure for me. Because I?m
a film director as well, it was great to see how he worked. He runs
an extremely calm, soothing set, which we actors don?t often get
to experience. His style is very gentle and very confident ? he
knows when he?s got it because he?s also written it.?
As is characteristic of Sayles? films, the personal drama of SUNSHINE
STATE plays out against a very real time and place in the American
experience. Fascinated by the way social and political forces shape
our personal experience, in SUNSHINE STATE Sayles explores how the
development and sprawling of America impacts everyone, from the
old-timers to the newcomers. America has always been a land of change,
of throwing out the old for the new, but Sayles sees something new
happening across America: ?We have long celebrated the tradition
of the selfmade man, the entrepreneurial innovator who creates a
fortune for himself through originality and hard work. A lot of
legislation has been passed to fight monopoly and leave some breathing
room for ?the little guy.? But in the last fifteen years there has
been collusion between government and international business that
almost insures that big money will be able to drive out small money
and jobs will go to the country that protects its workers least.
I see patriotism and consumerism being touted as being identical
virtues. The average citizen has less control over their life ?
food, regional culture and entertainment are all homogenized. Even
history, as in SUNSHINE STATE, becomes a commodity.?
Florida has inspired many writers, from Wallace Stevens to Charles
Willeford, from John D. MacDonald to Carl Hiassen, many of who write
about the sleaze and hucksterism of Florida with both insight and
humor. Sayles sees SUNSHINE STATE as part of this great tradition.
As he says, ?Florida continues to be one of our more schizophrenic
states, as the finale of the Bush/Gore election illustrated. Southerners,
northerners, midwesterners, black people, white people, Hispanic
people, all living together in a state that was once considered
uninhabitable swampland and then became an advertiser-created dreamscape.?
It is that tension between the dream of Florida and the reality
that creates the drama and the rich tapestry of characters of SUNSHINE
STATE.
* * *
About the Cast
In Alphabetical Order...
JANE ALEXANDER (Delia Temple)
won a Tony Award for her Broadway debut performance in 1968 in The
Great White Hope, directed by Edwin Sherin, and has since been nominated
for her roles in 6 Rooms Riv Vu, Find Your Way Home, First Monday
in October, The Visit, The Sisters Rosensweig and, most recently,
Honour. Other New York stage appearances including Approaching Zanzibar
by Tina Howe, The Heiress, Hamlet, Monday After the Miracle and
Shadowlands, in which her portrayal of Joy Davidman won critical
raves. Ms. Alexander?s film and television career has been equally
active and her credits are extensive. She has been nominated for
four Academy Awards, for THE GREAT WHITE HOPE, ALL THE PRESIDENT?S
MEN, KRAMER VS. KRAMER and TESTAMENT. On television, she has portrayed
Eleanor Roosevelt (in the much-heralded miniseries Eleanor and Franklin),
Calamity Jane, Georgia O?Keefe (in the PBS production A Marriage:
Georgia O?Keefe and Alfred Steiglitz), and Alma Rose in Playing
For Time, for which she won an Emmy Award.
 MARY
ALICE (Eunice Stokes)
has worked with such acclaimed directors as Clint Eastwood (A PERFECT
WORLD), Spike Lee (MALCOLM X), Brian De Palma (BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES),
Penny Marshall (AWAKENINGS) and Charles Burnett (TO SLEEP WITH ANGER).
She was a regular on the NBC series A Different World, earned an
Emmy nomination for her work in I?ll Fly Away, and has appeared
in many series including Providence, Touched By An Angel and Laurel
Avenue, and the miniseries The Women of Brewster Place. Her numerous
theatre credits include The Vagina Monologues, Having Our Say, Richard
III, A Raisin in the Sun and Fences, for which she earned the both
the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actress.
 ANGELA
BASSETT (Desiree Perry)
received an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for her unforgettable
portrayal of Tina Turner in WHAT?S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT. She recently
starred in THE SCORE, co-starring Robert DeNiro, Ed Norton and Marlon
Brando, and in the Athol Fugard drama BOESMAN & LENA with Danny
Glover, for which she received an Image Award nomination as Outstanding
Actress in a Motion Picture. She also recently completed filming
Rosa Parks for CBS. Bassett starred in last year?s sci-fi thriller
SUPERNOVA with James Spader; the acclaimed MUSIC OF THE HEART, opposite
Meryl Streep and directed by Wes Craven; and the 1998 screen adaptation
of Terry McMillan?s novel HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK, with Whoopi
Goldberg and Taye Diggs. Among Bassett?s other credits are the blockbuster
CONTACT with Jodie Foster and the popular WAITING TO EXHALE, directed
by Forest Whitaker. In 1995, Bassett starred in STRANGE DAYS and
played the lead opposite Eddie Murphy in VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN. She
previously starred in Spike Lee?s epic film MALCOLM X (as Betty
Shabazz), BOYZ IN THE HOOD, KINDERGARTEN COP, CITY OF HOPE, PASSION
FISH and INNOCENT BLOOD. Born in New York City and raised in St.
Petersburg, Florida, Bassett won a scholarship to Yale University
where she received her bachelor?s degree in Afro-American studies
and an MFA from the prestigious Yale School of Drama. Her stage
appearances include Ma Rainey?s Black Bottom, Colored People?s Time,
Black Girl, Henry IV, Part I, Joe Turner?s Come and Gone and, with
Alec Baldwin, a 1998 production of Macbeth at New York?s Joseph
Papp Public Theater.
MARC BLUCAS (Scotty Duval)
recently completed work on A VIEW FROM THE TOP, opposite Gwyneth
Paltrow, and THEY, a supernatural thriller. He was recently seen
in the drama WE WERE SOLDIERS, with Mel Gibson and Madeline Stowe,
as well as Kevin Smith?s ensemble comedy JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE
BACK, with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee, PLEASANTVILLE
and SUMMER CATCH, opposite Freddie Prinze Jr. Marc is probably best
known for his portrayal of ?Riley Finn,? Sarah Michelle Gellar?s
love interest, on the hit series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. GORDON
CLAPP (Earl Pickney) earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting
Actor in a Drama Series for his work in the ABC hit NYPD BLUE. He
has worked with John Sayles since the beginning of Sayles? career,
appearing in RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN, MATEWAN and EIGHT MEN
OUT; other films include RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
and GROSS ANATOMY. Clapp has appeared on television in dozens of
movies of the week and miniseries and has guest-starred on series
including Cheers, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Wonder Years and
Cop Rock.
BILL COBBS (Dr. Lloyd)
first worked with John Sayles on BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET; his
more than sixty other film appearances include roles in SILKWOOD,
THE COTTON CLUB, THE COLOR OF MONEY, TRADING PLACES, BIRD, NEW JACK
CITY, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, THE BODYGUARD, GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI,
THAT THING YOU DO, HOPE FLOATS and RANDOM HEARTS. He was a series
regular on The Gregory Hines Show, I?ll Fly Away, The Others and
The Michael Richards Show and has guest-starred on Six Feet Under,
The Practice, The Sopranos, ER, NYPD Blue and many, many other shows.
RICHARD EDSON (Steve Tregaskis)
made his memorable screen debut in Jim Jarmusch?s STRANGER THAN
PARADISE. He has since appeared in dozens of films, including THICK
AS THIEVES, THE WOMEN THEN THE FIREWORKS, JUNGLE FEVER, PLATOON,
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, DO THE RIGHT THING, WEDDING BELL BLUES, BLOODHOUNDS
OF BROADWAY, FERRIS BUELLER?S DAY OFF, DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN
and John Sayles? EIGHT MEN OUT.
 EDIE
FALCO (Marly Temple)
became the only actress to ever receive the Emmy Award for Outstanding
Lead Actress in a Dramatic Series, the Golden Globe Award for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic Television Series, and the
SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama,
all in the same year for her performance as "Carmela Soprano" in
the hit HBO series The Sopranos? debut season. She won the Emmy
for that role again this year and has been nominated once again
for the Golden Globe, as well as the American Film Institute?s award
for Female Television Actor of the Year. She is also known to television
audiences from her recurring roles in the HBO dramatic series Oz
and the acclaimed NBC series Law and Order and Homicide. Ms. Falco
made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning play Sideman,
which she originated in its off-Broadway production. For her performance,
she received a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination
for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play.
Ms. Falco went on to make her London stage debut in the West End
premiere of Sideman. This past summer she opened the London production
of the highly successful play The Vagina Monologues. She has also
been seen in New York in the off- Broadway productions of Shooting
Gallery, The Way and A Fabulous Beast. For the feature film COST
OF LIVING, Ms. Falco received the American Film Institute?s Best
Actress Award. Her other film credits include A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES,
COPLAND, TROUBLE ON THE CORNER, PRIVATE PARTS, HURRICANE, LAYIN?
LOW, BREATHING ROOM, THE FUNERAL, THE ADDICTION, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY,
LAWS OF GRAVITY, TRUST, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH and RANDOM HEARTS.
She last starred as the title character in the award-winning film
JUDY BERLIN.
MIGUEL FERRER (Lester)
has happily played a long line of offbeat characters, from the forensic
examiner he plays in NBC?s Crossing Jordan, to the drug dealer who
ate poisoned eggs in TRAFFIC, to the pathologist in Twin Peaks,
to the coke-snorting executive in ROBOCOP. The son of Jose Ferrer
and Rosemary Clooney, Ferrer started out as a studio musician and
still plays with a band called The Jennerators with bandmate Bill
Mumy of Lost in Space fame. Since his breakout in ROBOCOP, Ferrer
has starred in WHERE?S MARLOWE? and THE HARVEST, lent his voice
to Disney?s MULAN, appeared in the Stephen King miniseries THE STAND
and THE SHINING, and appeared in a Los Angeles production of Visions
and Lovers opposite Jenna Elfman.
 TIMOTHY
HUTTON (Jack Meadows)
won an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Los Angeles Film Critics'
award for his performance in Robert Redford's ORDINARY PEOPLE and
has gone on to perform in numeros films, including TAPS, DANIEL,
THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, MADE IN HEAVEN, Q&A, GENERAL'S DAUGHTER,
FRENCH KISS and BEAUTIFUL GIRLS. As a member of New York's Circle
Repertory Company, Hutton originated the role of Peter Haskins in
the Broadway production of Craig Lucas' Prelude to a Kiss. Starring
opposite Henry Fonda, Hutton appeared in the Los Angeles stage production
of The Oldest Living Graduate, which was later broadcast live on
NBC. Again at Circle Rep, he starred in Babylon Gardens with Mary
Louise Parker; he also directed Nicole Burdette's Busted for the
Naked Angels Theater Company in New York. On television, Hutton
is currently executive producing and directing the critically acclaimed
A&E series Nero Wolfe, as Wolfe's dapper aide, Archie Goodwin. For
Showtime, Hutton produced and starred in Mr. And Mrs. Loving and
also starred as the title character in Aldredge Ames: Traitor Within.
Working behind the camera, Hutton has directed a number of music
videos and his feature film directorial debut, Digging to China,
earned raves at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.
CLIFTON JAMES (Buster Bidwell)
made his Broadway debut in William Saroyan?s The Cave Dwellers in
1956 and has since appeared in 40 Broadway and off-Broadway productions
including five Pulitzer Prize-winning plays ? J.B., All The Way
Home, The Time of Your Life, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Shadow
Box. He appeared in A Sense of Humor with Jack Lemmon at Circle
in the Square, in American Buffalo with Al Pacino and at the Booth
Theatre in Total Abandon. In 1959, he was acclaimed for his portrayal
of Willie Stark in Robert Penn Warren?s All The King?s Men. He has
appeared on all the major television networks including England?s
BBC and for two years was ?Striker? Bellman on the soap opera Texas.
His extensive Shakespearean credits include the roles of Casca,
Sir Toby Belch, Stephano, Bottom, Ajax and Enobarus. He has been
featured in thirty motion pictures and one of his most memorable
film roles was J.W. Pepper, the redneck sheriff in the James Bond
films. Other movies include John Sayles? EIGHT MEN OUT, LONE STAR,
SHE-DEVIL, DAVID AND LISA, COOL HAND LUKE, THE CHASE, WILL PENNY,
THE NEW CENTURIONS, RANCHO DELUXE, THE LAST DETAIL, THE UNTOUCHABLES,
THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, etc. Mr. James is a graduate of the
University of Oregon and a member of the Actors Studio. 
ALAN KING (Murray Silver)
is a renowned comedian and actor who has appeared in dozens of films
including RUSH HOUR 2, CASINO, NIGHT AND THE CITY, THE BONFIRE OF
THE VANITIES, ENEMIES: A LOVE STORY, AUTHOR! AUTHOR!, I THE JURY,
JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, THE ANDERSON TAPES and THE HELEN MORGAN
STORY.
PERRY LANG (Greg)
 has
acted in numerous films, including JENNIFER 8, THE BIG RED ONE,
1941 and Sayles? EIGHT MEN OUT, but has spent the last six years
as a television director on series such as NYPD Blue, ER, Dawson?s
Creek, Arli$$ and others. 18 He also directed Sayles, who acted
in Lang?s first feature film, LITTLE VEGAS. Sayles also wrote the
screenplay for Lang?s second film, MEN OF WAR.
ALEX LEWIS (Terrell)
 makes
his screen debut in SUNSHINE STATE. The 15-year-old resident of
Orange Park, Florida, has acted in church and in school and loves
football, basketball, drawing, singing and reading.
JAMES McDANIEL (Reggie Perry),
best-known to TV viewers as Lt. Arthur Fancy on the hit series NYPD
Blue, has appeared in numerous films including Spike Lee's MALCOLM
X, Kevin Hooks? STRICTLY BUSINESS, Woody Allen?s ALICE and Daniel
Petrie?s ROCKET GIBRALTAR. McDaniel won the prestigious Obie Award
 and
was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Wendall
in the New York stage production of Before It Hits Home. He also
received the Clarence Derwent Award for his performance as Paul
Portier in the Tony Award-winning Broadway play, Six Degrees of
Separation. McDaniel appeared on Broadway in Someone Who'll Watch
Over Me, with Steven Rae and Alec McGowan. Additional theater credits
include roles in Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Balm in Gilead and
A Soldier's Play. Besides NYPD Blue, McDaniel has appeared in numerous
television series including Civil Wars, L.A. Law, Gabriel's Fire
and Crime Story, and miniseries including Common Ground, The Old
Man and the Sea, Murder in Black and White and Internal Affairs.
SAM McMURRAY (Todd Northrup)
has appeared on television in countless series including The Sopranos,
Malcolm in the Middle, Freaks and Geeks, Friends, Chicago Hope,
Wings, Home Improvement, Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice and Kojak.
His feature film credits include ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, L.A. STORY,
LITTLE VEGAS, RAISING ARIZONA and John Sayles? BABY, IT?S YOU.
MARY STEENBURGEN (Francine Pickney)
 won
a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe for MELVIN
AND HOWARD. She also received an Academy Award nomination for Best
Actress for CROSS CREEK and a Golden Globe nomination for RAGTIME.
Her performance in the BBC/Showtime miniseries Tender is the Night
earned her a British Broadcasters Guild Award, and she received
an Emmy nomination for The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank. Steenburgen
was "discovered" by Jack Nicholson in the reception room of Paramount's
casting offices in New York. Nicholson gave her a script and was
so impressed with her reading that he sent her to Hollywood for
a screen test. She soon found herself working opposite Nicholson
in GOIN? SOUTH (1978), which launched her film career. Her many
other films include NIXON, POWDER, WHAT?S EATING GILBERT GRAPE,
PHILADELPHIA, THE BUTCHER?S WIFE, BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III, PARENTHOOD,
MISS FIRECRACKER, END OF THE LINE (which she also executive produced),
DEAD OF WINTER, ROMANTIC COMEDY, ONE MAGIC CHRISTMAS, A MIDSUMMER
NIGHT?S SEX COMEDY, and most recently LIFE AS A HOUSE.
 RALPH
WAITE (Furman Temple)
is best-known for role as the patriarch of television?s The Waltons
but he has been active in film, television and theatre for more
than three decades. His many feature film credits include THE GIN
GAME, CLIFFHANGER, THE BODYGUARD, FIVE EASY PIECES and COOL HAND
LUKE (with SUNSHINE STATE actor Clifton James). He has appeared
on Broadway and in theatrical productions across the U.S. and in
London. In addition to The Waltons, Waite has also been seen on
television in series including Mississippi, Murder One and Shannon?s
Deal (written by John Sayles) and TV movies including A Good Sport
with Lee Remick, The Secret Life of John Chapman, The Lemon Grove
and The Third Twin. An active Democrat, Waite recently ran for the
California congressional seat won by Mary Bono.
CHARLAYNE WOODARD (Loretta)
most recently appeared on stage in In Real Life, the third play
in her personal trilogy, which continues the saga of a young African-American
woman on her journey into the charged world of New York theatre.
Ms. Woodard's first two plays, Pretty Fire and Neat were emotional
autobiographies, recounting her childhood and her family in upstate
New York. Pretty Fire received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle
award and the NAACP theatre awards for best play and best playwright;
Neat received Irving and Blanche Theatre Vision Award and Backstage
Laurel Awards. Woodard's Broadway credits include the original cast
of Ain?t Misbehavin?, for which she received both a Tony and Drama
Desk nomination. Her film credits include MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL,
UNBREAKABLE and EYE FOR AN EYE. Woodard starred as ?Gina Wilkes?
on the hit series Chicago Hope for four years; other TV credits
include the lead in Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story and
the miniseries Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding.
 TOM
WRIGHT (Flash Phillips)
has appeared in John Sayles? BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, CITY OF
HOPE, MATEWAN and PASSION FISH; his extensive list of film credits
include PALMETTO, MURDER AT 1600, TALES FROM THE HOOD, TO FORGET
PARIS, REVERSAL OF FORTUNE, THE COTTON CLUB, and FUNNY VALENTINES,
opposite Alfre Woodard. He is currently shooting MGM?s BARBERSHOP.
Wright was a series regular on CBS?s Martial Law and had a recurring
role on Lifetime?s Any Day Now. Other television credits include
appearances in Family Law, NYPD Blue and Seinfeld. On stage, Wright
has appeared at the Manhattan Theatre Club, the New York Shakespeare
Festival, the Kennedy Center, and Yale Rep.
About the Filmmakers
JOHN SAYLES (Writer/Director/Editor)
SUNSHINE STATE is John Sayles? 13th feature film. His most recent
film was LIMBO, which starred Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and David
Strathairn and was shot on location in Juneau, Alaska. Prior to
LIMBO, John directed the critically applauded MEN WITH GUNS, which
was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1999 for Best Foreign Language
Film. Prior to that, he created LONE STAR for which he earned an
Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Sayles is
currently developing JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY with Maggie Renzi, a period
adventure story set in Scotland and the New World. They hope to
shoot in spring of 2003. The film will star Robert Carlyle. In July
of this year Sayles will go to Mexico to film ?Casa De Los Babys.?
Beginning as a screenwriter for producer Roger Corman, Sayles wrote
such pictures as PIRANHA, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, ALLIGATOR and
THE HOWLING. Sayles first film as director was the counterculture
classic RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN, winner of the 1978 Los Angeles
Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay. He followed this with LIANNA,
the story of a woman coming to terms with her lesbianism. Sayles
broadened his audience with the youthful romantic comedy-drama BABY
IT?S YOU and the satirical BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, about a
black extra-terrestrial whose ship crash-lands in New York City.
His next two projects were stories about which he had long been
passionate, MATEWAN and EIGHT MEN OUT. Sayles had written both of
these years before he was able to film them; both were considered
commercially risky and he had difficulty raising the funds to make
them. In 1986, MATEWAN, the story of a 1920 miners? strike in West
Virginia, went before the cameras. The following year, the movie
was part of the Director?s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
Sayles also wrote a book about the experience, entitled Thinking
in Pictures: The Making of the Movie MATEWAN. EIGHT MEN OUT, based
on the book by Eliot Asinof, which detailed the 1919 baseball World
Series scandal, was among Sayles? most popular efforts. It is also
one of only two scripts (the other being Rosalie Fry?s THE SECRET
OF ROAN INISH) that he has directed based on material from another
source. Sayles? urban epic CITY OF HOPE was shot in five weeks in
40 locations and included 48 speaking roles. Covering the mix of
generations and ethnicities living in a small metropolis, the film
won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo Film Festival and appeared on numerous
Ten Best lists.
Sayles scaled down his dramatic canvas for his next picture, the
intimate PASSION FISH, about the healing relationship between a
nurse and her patient, set in Louisiana. Starring Mary McDonnell
and Alfre Woodard, the film earned McDonnell an Academy Award nomination
for Best Actress and Sayles an Academy Award nomination for Best
Original Screenplay. THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH, Sayles? next film,
wove a lush tale about the ?selkie,? a beautiful woman who turns
into a seal. Most recently, Sayles executive produced GIRLFIGHT,
written and directed by Karyn Kusama, which was released in 2000.
Among Sayles? published prose is an O. Henry Award-winning short
story and the novel Union Dues, which was nominated for a National
Book Award. His numerous scripts for other directors include the
features THE CHALLENGE for John Frankenheimer and BREAKING IN for
director Bill Forsyth. He also created the acclaimed television
series Shannon?s Deal. He has published two additional novels, Pride
of the Bimbos (1975) and Los Gusanos (1991), as well as the short
story collection The Anarchists? Convention (1979). He is also the
subject of Sayles on Sayles published by Faber & Faber. In 1985,
Sayles received the John D. MacArthur Award, given to 20 Americans
in diverse fields each year for their innovative work. He has also
been the recipient of the Eugene V. Debs Award, the John Steinbeck
Award and the John Cassavettes Award. The early films of pioneer
indie filmmaker John Sayles, including THE RETURN SEACAUCUS SEVEN
(1979), LIANNA (1980) and THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (1985),
which were fully restored this year by Sayles's company, Anarchists
Convention, Inc, in consultation with the expert preservationists
of the UCLA Film and Television Archive, will be released by IFC
Films as a retrospective on April 1st.
MAGGIE RENZI (PRODUCER)
Producer Maggie Renzi began her professional association with John
Sayles when she acted in his first directed feature, RETURN OF THE
SECAUCUS SEVEN, for which she also served as unit manager and assistant
editor. Since then, she has produced and acted in many of Sayles?
films. She met John Sayles after graduating from Williams College
in 1973 and has lived with him ever since. Before she became a fulltime
producer, she worked as a bookstore clerk, a pediatric receptionist,
a substitute teacher, a casting assistant, a talent agent's assistant,
and for two years as a salad chef in southern California. She began
her acting career at age 8 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival
where she continued to perform into her twenties. Renzi also produced
three Sayles-directed music videos for Bruce Springsteen: ?Born
in the USA,? I?m on Fire? and ?Glory Days,? which won an American
Video Award. Recently Renzi was a producer on GIRLFIGHT, winner
of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2000. Currently, Maggie is developing
JAMIE MacGILLIVRAY with John Sayles.
PATRICK CADY (Director of Photography)
shot the acclaimed feature JUMP TOMORROW, directed by Joel Hopkins,
and the acclaimed GIRLFIGHT, which won the Directing Award and shared
the Grand Jury Prize Award at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. His
other feature work includes THE SPIRIT AND THE BODY and PASTRY,
PAIN AND POLITICS. Cady's extensive cinematography work ranges from
VH-1's diverse programming, including the celebrated Fashion Awards,
to numerous commercials and music videos. Cady, who began as a camera
intern on Sayles? PASSION FISH, was recently honored as a ?Director
of Photography To Watch? by Variety.
MARK RICKER (Production Designer)
has designed Jill Sprecher's THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING
starring Alan Arkin, Matthew McCounaghey, John Turturro and Clea
Duvall; LISA PICARD IS FAMOUS for Griffin Dunne; Alex Winter's FEVER
and JULIE JOHNSON, starring Lili Taylor, Courtney Love and directed
by Bob Gosse. Other design credits include BETTER LIVING, WALKING
TO THE WATERLINE and HARVEST for Goldheart Pictures. As an Art Director,
he contributed to the designs of Sweetland Films' JUST LOOKING (directed
by Jason Alexander), MONTANA, A BROOKLYN STATE OF MIND, Hallmark?s
PRINCE CHARMING and Dan Sullivan's film adaptation of THE SUBSTANCE
OF FIRE. Rucker has an MFA in Scenic and Production Design from
NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
MASON DARING (Composer)
has composed more than forty scores over his career, concentrating
on feature films but also including many television movies, documentaries,
and series. His feature credits include MUSIC OF THE HEART, John
Sayles? LIMBO, and Tony Goldwyn?s directorial debut A WALK ON THE
MOON. His more recent films include the Farrelly Brothers production
SAY IT ISN?T SO; WHERE THE HEART IS, featuring Natalie Portman and
Ashley Judd; and the Emmy nominated Bailey?s Mistake for ABC TV/Disney.
Daring has done numerous scores for John Sayles, including the pan-Latin
score of MEN WITH GUNS, the Tex-Mex border music of LONE STAR, the
Celtic tinged THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH, and the Cajun-Zydeco based
PASSION FISH, as well as MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN OUT, THE BROTHER FROM
ANOTHER PLANET, CITY OF HOPE, LIANNA and THE RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS
SEVEN. Among his other feature credits are Don Roos? THE OPPOSITE
OF SEX; PREFONTAINE (from the makers of Hoop Dreams); John Ridley?s
debut COLD HEART; WILD HEARTS CAN?T BE BROKEN, for Disney; and FATHERS
AND SONS. He has composed several scores for cable movies, including
The Old Curiosity Shop for the Disney Channel, Showtime?s Hidden
In America, three episodes of the HBO mini-series From The Earth
To The Moon, as well as the Peabody Award winning PBS/BBC documentary,
The Great War & The Shaping Of The 20th Century. A recent project
for PBS? The American Experience was a three hour biography on George
Wallace, Settin? The Woods On Fire. He has also composed the long-running
themes and multiple episodes for the PBS programs Nova and Frontline,
and the Emmy Award winning theme for Yankee Magazine. Daring, a
graduate of Amherst College, splits his time between Marblehead
(MA) and Los Angeles. He began his career as a singer-songwriter,
and still produces several albums a year for his record label, Daring
Records.
MAYES C. RUBEO (Costume Designer)
was born in Mexico City, and studied Fashion and Costume Design
at Los Angeles Trade Tech. She continued her studies at UCLA and
at the Instituto Statale d'Arte di Spoleto in Italy. She worked
as an assistant to many of the established costumes designers including
Shay Cunliffe, Ellen Mirojnick and Erica Phillips. She first worked
with Sayles as an assistant costume designer on LONE STAR and then
as Costume Designer for MEN WITH GUNS. Other credits include FIDEL,
THE WARDEN OF RED ROCK, THE ARRIVAL and DESERT HEAT.
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