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Promised LandDirected by Gus Van Sant
Screenplay by John Krasinski & Matt Damon
Story by Dave Eggers
Production Notes
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Anna Bohlin
Promised LandSynopsis
In Promised Land, Matt Damon stars as Steve Butler, a corporate salesman whose journey from farm boy to big-time player takes an unexpected detour when he lands in a small town, where he grapples with a surprising array of both open hearts and closed doors. Gus Van Sant helms the film from an original screenplay written by John Krasinski & Matt Damon, from a story by Dave Eggers.
Steve has been dispatched to the rural town of McKinley with his sales partner, Sue Thomason (Academy Award winner Frances McDormand). The town has been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, and the two consummate sales executives see McKinley’s citizens as likely to accept their company’s offer – for drilling rights to their properties – as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job and a short stay for the duo becomes complicated – professionally by calls for community-wide consideration of the offer by respected schoolteacher Frank Yates (Academy Award nominee Hal Holbrook) and personally by Steve’s encounter with Alice (Rosemarie DeWitt). When Dustin Noble (John Krasinski), a slick environmental activist, arrives, suddenly the stakes, both personal and professional, rise to the boiling point.
A Focus Features presentation in association with Participant Media and Image Nation Abu Dhabi of a Sunday Night, Pearl Street, Media Farm production. A Gus Van Sant Film. Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand. Promised Land. Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy, Titus Welliver, and Hal Holbrook. Casting by Francine Maisler, CSA. Music Supervisor, Brian Reitzell. Music by Danny Elfman. Costume Designer, Juliet Polcsa. Production Designer, Daniel B. Clancy. Editor, Billy Rich. Director of Photography, Linus Sandgren, FSF. Executive Producers, Gus Van Sant, Ron Schmidt, Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King. Produced by Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Chris Moore. Story by Dave Eggers. Screenplay by John Krasinski & Matt Damon. Directed by Gus Van Sant. A Focus Features Release.
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Promised LandAbout the Production
Promised Land is, says actor and screenwriter Matt Damon, “a relatable story with characters we all can recognize as people we know.”
“It’s an emotional story about what happens when real people and real money collide, and the surprising ways people respond when momentous decisions come their way,” comments actor and screenwriter John Krasinski.
Producer Chris Moore adds, “Promised Land is a very intimate portrait of some genuine characters, but it also grapples with the big issues we’re all dealing with now: what are our values, what’s important to us, how do we deal with genuine conflicts in our communities?”
Director Gus Van Sant remarks, “America is a big place and we are all part of it, so it’s hard to really get a grasp on our identity sometimes. What I loved about John and Matt’s screenplay is that they tackled big issues but with a lot of humor and humility. It’s a story about real people, with all their foibles as well as their greatness.”
“My character, Steve Butler, is a contemporary Everyman,” says Damon. “He left the farming community where he grew up because that town was dying. He migrated to the big city, as so many people do, in search of more opportunities. He has a good job and he’s making good money.”
Krasinski notes, “Steve is a corporate guy who thinks what he’s doing is right and doesn’t feel bad about trying to get ahead. He’s been on the road as a salesman, and now has a chance to reach the executive level.”
Moore adds, “When Steve shows up in McKinley with his partner Sue Thomason and their agenda to help save the town from financial decline and outright decay while simultaneously boosting his company’s coffers, he figures all will be well because he comes from the heartland and he’s able to speak the language of these people.
“That, it turns out, is both his strength and his weakness. Ultimately, he has to take stock of his whole existence and what he wants his life to be.”
“I see Steve’s evolution in this story as a metaphor for our country,” muses actress Rosemarie DeWitt, cast as Alice, a McKinley grade school teacher.
Academy Award nominee Hal Holbrook, who portrays McKinley high school science teacher Frank Yates, says, “I’m 87 years old, and I think we’re living at an extraordinarily critical time. The whole idea of democracy is dependent upon people working together, and without compromise there can be no democracy.”
Academy Award winner Frances McDormand, who plays Sue, offers, “Until we question everything that we possibly can, we’re not going to have any possibility of a future that’s within our control.”
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“The stakes are as high as they’ve ever been for all of us,” agrees Damon. “How would our parents or grandparents have handled what we face in our day and age? How are our grandchildren going to fare? Those are tough questions for anyone to deal with.”
Promised Land keenly distills questions of how American values have evolved. These explorations come in part through a small town’s decisions when a natural gas company seeks to extract gas from shale rock formations through the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Damon explains, “The plot follows Steve and Sue as they try to persuade the McKinley community to lease the drilling rights of their farmland to Global Crosspower Solutions, which Steve and Sue work for, and which – valued at $9 billion – is one of the largest energy corporations in the country.
“The townspeople have divergent opinions about whether this is a good thing or not. In a lot of cases, these leases are the only thing keeping a family farm from foreclosure.”
DeWitt adds, “The people of McKinley are concerned about feeding their kids and improving their school systems.”
“This is a complex issue that’s dividing a lot of communities right now,” says Damon. “What better setting for us as storytellers to ask questions about who we are as Americans?
“Steve believes in what he’s doing, getting people to lease their land for potential gas wells, because he wants to keep communities afloat.”
Krasinski comments, “Natural gas drilling is a contemporary issue that serves as a perfect backdrop to our story, which we set out to write as an exploration of modern-day American identity. It’s an issue where, like high-stakes poker, the potential gains and the potential losses are enormous. For an individual faced with the opportunity, there’s a complex decision to be made.”
Scoot McNairy, cast as farmer Jeff Dennon, remarks, “I felt this was an important story to tell because it’s not anti-something or pro-something; there are different perspectives, and nobody likes a belief forced on them.”
“Energy is a big thing that people are debating,” observes Moore. “Right away, that imparts a tension to our movie, and creates a dialogue.”
“I feel that John and Matt’s script explores this dialogue in a genuine way. We don’t live in a black or white world,” says DeWitt.
Damon notes that “communities in America are quite aware of the natural gas drilling question. A friend of mine does what Steve does – he’s a ‘land man’ – and he told me that when he drives up to a farm, people are waiting and ready because they are hip to what’s been going on.”
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“That’s the case with my character, Jeff,” adds McNairy. “He’s a farmer who has pride in his country and pride in his land, which has been in his family for generations. Steve’s arrival strikes a nerve in Jeff.”
Krasinski says, “Audience members will make their own decisions regarding the issue, but our goal is to affect moviegoers – with emotion and humor – in dramatizing these characters making their decisions and facing up to challenges both internal and external.
“When my character, Dustin Noble, shows up, he becomes an instant foil for Steve. The way they react to each other is not too far removed from school days; what’s funny is how a much greater concern just becomes, for them, who’s going to get the bigger stick in the playground.”
He elaborates, “Through these characters, I also wanted to explore the power of community in America. I remembered tales that my father told me about growing up in a small town. There was a belief in each other that I think was paramount. What happens to that kind of town today, facing huge change amidst economic turmoil, and facing the question of how to act on issues together?
“I brought the original concept to [novelist/screenwriter] Dave Eggers, for whom these concerns are close to heart. He and I hashed out ideas, and a story took shape.”
The initial draft was titled Gold Mist, an ironic reference to the color of a luxury car purchased by a down-on-his-luck farmer, and the mode of speculation in that draft was wind energy.
Damon and Krasinski had met through the latter’s wife, actress Emily Blunt, with whom the former had starred in The Adjustment Bureau. When Krasinski mentioned the script over dinner one night, Damon became interested and soon began working on it with him. “It was a blast,” remembers Krasinski. “We got along so well from the beginning. We were becoming friends and collaborators.”
“John has got this incredibly fast brain,” marvels Damon. “So the writing would come quickly and we would laugh together. It reminded me of writing with Ben Affleck, a very similar feeling and above all else a lot of fun – I’d forgotten just how much.”
Moore joined the duo in producing the movie, as he was drawn to “the characters, first of all; I think audiences will be able to see parts of themselves in more than one of the roles. Also interesting to me was the concept of how someone in corporate America would wrestle with what his company is doing versus what his own job is – or might be.
“To me, this script had the potential to become an interesting movie like ones that you would see in the 1970s. It’s harder to get those made now, but like on Good Will Hunting we wanted to try. Like that movie, there’s definitely humor in Promised Land as well.”
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As Damon and Krasinski scouted towns in upstate New York, they encountered a setback. Moore notes, “From that and their research, they realized that way the windmill business really functions wouldn’t work for the movie, dramatically speaking.”
Damon remembers their having to accept the fact that “we had built this story on something that wasn’t quite true. It was a tough moment in the life of this project.”
Moore reflects, “We wanted to move the project forward, but this became a hill to get it up and over.”
Krasinski and Damon spoke about transposing the story to a different setting with another issue as a backdrop while exploring the same themes and character studies. Coal mining, oil drilling, and salmon harvesting in Alaska were all considered. While Damon was away working on another movie, Krasinski came upon a natural gas drilling story and began a fresh round of research. He remarks, “It was the perfect contemporary lens through which to examine our questions of community and integrity.
“I wanted to establish an authentic foundation for those examinations.” Accordingly, researching the relatively new chapter in energy exploration meant that Krasinski logged hours watching video accounts of whole towns and individual neighbors debating the issue, as well as reading voluminous reportage.
Before long, a new draft was underway. “John took it in his teeth and ran with it. Through this path, it became a better movie. The story remained basically intact,” says Damon. “There were all these characters we’d grown to care about and could now further explore.”
For nine months, work on screenplay drafts continued. Moore marvels, “Matt and John have a very strong work ethic; they would make time to get together and refine the script, whether it was in Mexico City, Vancouver, or New York City. These two guys are very secure in being able to tell each other when an idea is bad – which I think is the most important thing in a partnership – and are truly supportive when an idea is good.”
Closest to home on the West Coast, the writing partners convened “every weekend while Matt was shooting We Bought a Zoo,” recalls Krasinski. “We’d write all day Saturday and all day Sunday with his kids and our wives all around. It could get chaotic.”
Damon says, “During the week, John and I would go back to our jobs and pore over what we’d written during our downtimes, scribbling notes and ideas before reconvening on the weekend to revise and revise and revise.
“My wife said to me, ‘You had such a great time that even if it never gets made, it was worth it because you remembered how much you love writing and you had this incredible creative experience with John.’”
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The scenario of the movie not getting made again nearly came to pass. Damon had intended to direct the feature, but when other movies that he was also committed to as an actor changed schedules, he realized that he would be unable to helm Promised Land. “This wasn’t an enjoyable phone call I had to make to John,” he remembers.
Krasinski reflects, “That was a hard night for us all. Matt looked at his schedule and realized there was no way he could do everything he was planning. He takes his work quite seriously, and so he didn’t want his opportunity to direct to be compromised.”
The morning after he spoke with Krasinski, Damon set out with his family for holiday travel. While they were all sitting in the plane on the runway, he e-mailed one of the directors he has collaborated with extensively, Gus Van Sant, and told Van Sant about his dilemma. Within moments, recalls Damon, “Before they told us to turn off our phones, Gus wrote back, ‘I’d love to read what you’re writing.’”
Van Sant reveals, “I was on the lookout for that script before Matt checked in with me that morning; I knew he had a project in the works. When I heard from him, I figured they needed my help.”
Damon marvels, “I sent him the whole document while we were still on the runway, and turned off my phone. When we landed a couple hours later, I had a message from Gus saying he wanted to direct the movie.
“I e-mailed John, ‘We have a director, and not just any director – we have the best!’”
Unbeknownst even to Damon, Van Sant was Krasinski’s favorite director “by far.” When Damon’s e-mail came through, Krasinski reports, “I was thrilled. I think I threw up and passed out. Being from Massachusetts, I think Good Will Hunting is tattooed on me somewhere…”
Van Sant reflects, “In reading the script, I noticed how it resembled other things that Matt had worked on as a writer, and I felt that he and John had turned out something so good together. It was very easy for me to say ‘Yes.’”
The production was not only back on schedule but was accelerating – and filming began less than four months later.
Frances McDormand was part and parcel of the project because, as Damon notes, “We had sent Fran the earliest draft of the script, when it was still a windmill movie, and she committed to it then. Aside from John and me, she’s been with the project the longest.”
Moore adds, “Through all of the ups and downs, she remained loyal to us. In playing the role, Fran brings great comic timing and conveys Sue’s practicality.”
Damon says, “Her performance as Sue is so layered and nuanced. The character is a single mother who is on the road a lot. After several years together as a team, she and Steve relate to each other like siblings; there’s a competitive element there, but you also see the affection and the fondness.
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“Many times, I would be playing a scene with Fran and sense something strong happening. Then, watching the dailies, I could take the opportunity to see the distinctions in every single take she did.”
Krasinski concurs, noting that “in those dailies, something’s different each time as she’s bringing a purity and intensity to the role. If I were as good as she is, I’d point at myself and say so, yet she’s self-deprecating and shrugs off compliments. But, Fran shines.”
McDormand comments, “Writing a screenplay is a craft, like writing a short story or a poem, and John and Matt know the craft of screenwriting. I was impressed by their intelligence. They are also self-aware enough that they don’t try to make everybody come along with their opinion.”
As with many of the members of the creative team, McDormand could relate all too well to the challenges facing McKinley and the people who live in and visit it in the story. She explains, “I went to high school in a steel town in Pennsylvania. Now the town is suffering a lot, although I have friends that are still living there happily because it’s their community and they belong to important church communities there.”
In Promised Land, community necessities weigh heavily on Frank Yates, who lives a harmonious existence on his family farm and who well understands Steve’s conflicting interests.
Damon notes, “As an older man, Frank has a sense of stewardship. He’s a believer in industry, a retired Boeing engineer who now teaches high-school science because he wants to educate the next generation in his community. He is conscious of his place in the town, and in the world. He challenges Steve so that other people will ask questions and then go through the healthy process of making a decision all together, as a community.
“For Frank, it’s about making time for education. For us, it was about making time for Hal Holbrook to play him.”
Chris Moore elaborates, “We had to work Hal’s shooting dates around his Mark Twain [one-man show] performance schedule, but there was no question that we were going to. We knew Hal would just embody Frank as the conscience of the community.”
The veteran actor met with the filmmakers and agreed to be part of “a movie which had some meaning to it beyond just pure entertainment. The material, the script, is what’s important. That Matt was going to be in it was a big plus, because I admire him; he’s maturing as an actor, and he’s not a showy actor.
“My heart was in this role because this man is pointing out, ‘We can’t make a fast decision. We need to think it all through.’”
Rosemarie DeWitt marvels, “As an actor, Hal Holbrook embodies this incredible sturdiness and vulnerability at exactly the same time, which is perfect for this story. I
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would get goosebumps watching him. Also, he never blows a line – we all would, but he’d be letter-perfect every time!
“I think every actor looks out for scripts like this – beautiful, well-executed, and about something important. Yet it’s not an ‘issue movie.’”
There was no shortage of actresses interested in the role of Alice, which was the last key one to be cast. The character becomes a touchstone to Damon’s Steve. Damon praises DeWitt as being “what we wrote Alice to be, only better.”
The actress assesses the character as “someone who grew up in the small town and then went to grad school in the big city. She has had her own series of life lessons and loss.”
Moore offers, “Alice represents the future; she’s someone who has made the choice to return home to make a difference, which is an important element in our story. She is someone the age of a lot of people today who might say, ‘Well, this is my life, can’t change now.’
“Rosemarie’s charm, savvy, and charisma brings the role to life – and also allow her to inhabit with aplomb the space in between the conflict of Steve and Dustin, given that they’re both attracted to her.”
DeWitt “had worked with me before,” says Krasinski. “I loved acting opposite her, and so had my wife on another project. When Rosemarie came in to read for the role, it was like, ‘Well, this makes sense!’ Plus, she has great chemistry with Matt.”
Further on-screen chemistry evolved between Damon and Krasinski. Damon remarks, “People are going to be surprised by John. He’s playing someone who has his own story to tell. I’d come away saying, ‘This guy is amazing,’ even though I already knew him.
“15 years ago, on Good Will Hunting, Gus said to me, ‘Directing is 95% casting.’ On this, we got everybody we wanted. Then we turned them loose and they started doing great things we couldn’t even have anticipated.”
Moore found that with this ensemble, “there wasn’t a whole lot of bull about getting hair done. No time was wasted waiting on someone. This capable cast supported each other.”
McDormand says, “Making Promised Land was a collaborative effort in the best possible way.”
Titus Welliver, who plays the neighborly proprietor of Rob’s Guns, Groceries, Guitars and Gas, remarks, “John and Matt have done such a great job writing this script that they invite you into the process.”
Rehearsals were held with the actors, deepening their senses of place and character beyond the milieu they were on location in. Whether as actors or screenwriters, Damon and Krasinski were primed for the spontaneous moments that might occur.
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DeWitt remembers, “It really seemed like Matt and John were occupying the same brain – with Gus! When they were not working on-camera, you would see them over with Gus rewriting or reconceiving a scene.
“But when they were playing their characters in scenes, they were completely immersed as Dustin and Steve.”
It is never specified in the story in which state McKinley is located in; as Damon notes, “That’s on purpose, because it’s meant to be Anywhereville, USA.”
Krasinski notes, “It’s a movie about the state of our country, so it made sense to go out in the country and film where things are actually happening.” Accordingly, Promised Land was shot entirely on real locations in western Pennsylvania’s farm country.
“It’s so pristine and perfect and unspoiled there,” marvels Holbrook. “I was struck by the sight of green hills rolling against the sky. It’s what we came from, this country.”
“Working in Pennsylvania was helpful for understanding my character,” says DeWitt. “There would be conversations about what had gone on over the years in the area. You could immerse yourself in local culture.”
Krasinski, whose father grew up in the state, notes that “there’s something you can never capture without coming here, a supportive energy and sweetness.”
Production designer Daniel Clancy, whose family ties are to Illinois, offers the perspective that “when you go on [a sound] stage, you lose a sense of reality. You’ve got to get the real texture, the real grit of what a place is. Gus is highly visually oriented, so he and I were on the same page.”
Affording a producing perspective, Moore reports that “being there makes the movie better from a visual standpoint, as everyone in front of and behind the camera picks up on things. The impact will be felt in the script, in the costume design, in the performances, in the look of the film, and so forth.
“There are three deciding factors in choosing a location. The first is purely creative: does it look the way you want your movie to look? The second is the empowering feeling it gives: if you put actors and crew in something like the actual place where the story is happening, and surround them with locals from the area in small roles and on the crew, then that’s all to the better. The third reason is financial. States have implemented incentives that will encourage you to shoot your movie there, although you will want to go work in a place that truly values people who make movies. It’s not just about the tax benefit; it’s about, will the citizens let you come into a local church to film? On Promised Land, all three factors came together harmoniously.”
Deciding on the state cued an even more detailed set of locale requirements, and locations manager John Adkins took the lead in the search for the desired settings. After conversations with Gus Van Sant going over specifics, Adkins mapped out a
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radius surrounding downtown Pittsburgh and scouted numerous farms. He then consulted with Clancy, paring down the options.
When it came time for Van Sant to go to Pittsburgh, the gateway destination was Slate Lick Road in Worthington, PA, about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Armstrong County.
Adkins recalls, “In looking for stunning pastoral farmlands, I remembered Slate Lick Road from scouting other films. When Gus flew into town, I picked him up at the airport and we went out to the Worthington/Slate Lick area, driving along that distinctive road.”
“I had never been there before,” notes the director. “When John drove me around the country area outside Pittsburgh, it seemed perfect.”
“That was it,” says Adkins. “Our movie was coming to the region, which became as big a star of Promised Land as anyone else.”
The farms around Slate Lick Road that were used in the film were chosen because of their beauty, warmth, and naturalism. There is also a real-life history that hews to the story’s themes; the Rhea Farm, which serves as the Yates Farm on-screen, has been in the Rhea family for four generations, and the farmhouse itself is over one hundred years old and was built two generations ago. Currently, goats, emus, and cattle are raised on the property and hay is cultivated.
Other farmhouses “were all but destroyed,” reports Clancy. “We cleaned them up and added our own touches to them while staying true to the core of what they are.
“A lot of people today don’t know what rural America is. You can be living in a city and not aware of what is happening just an hour away from where you live. That’s why this is an important story to tell.”
To find the right locations making up the town of McKinley, Adkins was given a mandate to “look for a town that has clearly gone through some economic hardship, but that still has a pulse – and, crucially, a heart.”
After scouting some 60-plus towns “where the conversations that happen in our story were ongoing,” Adkins was joined by Clancy to narrow the field(s). “Dan and I hit it off from the outset – which was a good thing, since we spent hours and hours together in my Jeep – and he and I were like-minded in how we envisioned things for the movie, for the aesthetic Gus wanted.”
Clancy muses, “Farms are harder to find these days, yet the town was the toughest location for the whole picture. It couldn’t be too big, but it couldn’t be too small. It had to have a certain decayed look yet be far from destroyed. It had to be able to tell our story.”
Avonmore, PA, in Westmoreland County, settled in the early 18th century, filled the bill. Its profile has progressed from farming community to industrial town, with coal mining now second to steel mills among local vocations. Numerous residents
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commute to Pittsburgh for their daily jobs, but make their homes in Avonmore amidst a diverse community numbering over 1,000.
Indiana Avenue in Avonmore evolved into McKinley’s Main Street, with varying colors and architectural styles that reveal a once-booming past through frayed edges as well as pride and a tenacious hope for the future. Van Sant responded strongly to the setting, from which Clancy’s team elicited something “a little like Norman Rockwell’s imagery, and a little bittersweet.”
When the production moved in, it crafted complete façades and signage for McKinley storefronts on Indiana Avenue: a bakery, a general store, a VFW outpost, a post office, and more. Rob’s Guns, Groceries, Guitars and Gas was created out of an empty space.
Clancy says that the ideal was to “detail the lifeblood of McKinley, the why and the how of people living in this small town – and what would drive them to save it.”
“When we were in Avonmore, there was a lot of natural gas business being conducted, similar to what’s in our movie,” muses Van Sant.
Avonmore’s bar My Buddy’s Place was slightly altered to become the film’s bar Buddy’s Place. Welliver laughs, “Watching those scenes, you’ll be able to smell the peanuts and the beer.”
Adkins enthuses, “It gifted us with three different settings under one roof – the pool table area, the bands-and-karaoke area, and the bar itself where hundreds and hundreds of names have been carved into it.
“Most importantly, the place was big enough to fit in cast and crew and equipment. The owner, Gerri Bumbaugh, was accommodating; she developed a quick friendship with Gus, and you can catch her tending bar in the scenes in the movie.”
As on previous movies, Van Sant sought to integrate into his cast locals who were not professional actors. On Promised Land, this enhanced the verisimilitude of scenes calling for dozens of community members as well as made for invigorating on-camera interactions with the main actors.
Multiple open calls were held, each attracting hundreds who auditioned. Ultimately, some 500 people were employed by the production as extras. The production also drew from the region’s talent pools of professional actors, including working child actors who were cast as several of the youngest characters.
Whether getting on-camera or not, the townspeople welcomed the movie people with open arms. Penny Dunmire, a lifetime resident of Avonmore and secretary of the Avonmore Community Association, says, “Our newest industry is tourism, with kayaking and canoeing on the river, and here was something bringing a lot of people into town for the first time – people who were so wonderful to us.
“It’s a source of pride for us that this movie was made in Avonmore. You could not believe the excitement. Everybody was enthralled by the filmmaking process.”
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For Promised Land, Van Sant’s process with cinematographer Linus Sandgren was to keep the look subdued, with little bursts of color here and there as the story progresses. The director says, “I have a policy of having no palette at all, but I know that the crew might find it easier to organize with one.”
The color scheme – or, lack of same – was hewed to by costume designer Juliet Polcsa and her department, coordinating with Clancy and his. She offers, “I live in a small town in upstate New York, so the script rang very true to me.
“We went with what I called a ‘comfortable palette.’ The clothes being worn by the residents of McKinley couldn’t look too new, bright, or crisp.”
The costume designer’s department, in trying to convey current economic realities, bumped up against current fashion realities. Polcsa comments, “Current trends of bright color were all wrong for the look of this movie.
“I went to a lot of thrift stores, but they weren’t always selling apparel that looked well-worn and ripped and so forth. You have to be careful with ‘aging’ clothing on-screen, or flecking it with dirt; that can easily look fake.”
Polcsa took inspiration closer to home – literally: Frank Yates’ signature vest “belonged to my husband,” she confides. “It was a win/win situation for me, because I got something truly worn-in for a character and I got to clean out my husband’s closet. He thinks he’s getting it back, but…he’s not.”
Taking a cue from extras, principal cast members’ personal wardrobe was also pressed into service. Polcsa remembers, “Gus had the idea of having actors wear their own clothes. When you’re comfortable in something of your own, it makes you a little bit more comfortable in your character.” She spoke with actors to find out what they owned that might work – and that they would be willing to use – for the movie.
It was the veteran actor in the cast who set the tone. Polcsa remembers, “My husband’s vest turned out to be one of the few things for Frank Yates to wear that didn’t already belong to Hal Holbrook. He told me that he had this old pair of jeans and this rundown shirt that he wasn’t quite ready to throw out, so he had been using them for chores and gardening.
“He sent them over to me, and I got them ready to incorporate into Frank’s look. Gus came to Hal’s fitting, and he put on his jeans and shirt and I put the vest on him – and the character emerged pretty quickly.”
To hone his characterization of Steve Butler, Matt Damon hewed to his longstanding process of incorporating elements that would inform the authenticity of his portrayal without being necessarily evident to the audience. He availed himself of Polcsa’s research, given that Steve is first seen in corporate settings before settling into McKinley. “We discussed ‘corporate casual’ as well as ‘casual Friday,’” notes Polcsa. “Steve’s clothing evolution had to be more of a quick change, reflecting his sales instincts.”
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The script called for Steve to be clad in high-end new cowboy boots. A pair was readied, yet Polcsa and Damon were concerned that they weren’t quite right for the character to be wearing in and around McKinley. The script was modified, and so Polcsa picked up a pair of work boots.
But, a few days before filming, Polcsa “looked inside and found they were made in Bangladesh. The revised script reference was to them being made in America. So now I needed something vintage-looking and made in America. I bought a pair of Red Wing boots on eBay, crossed my fingers that we got them on time – which we did – and Matt literally stepped into them right before filming.
“They couldn’t have been better if I had designed and aged them. They’re a part of who Steve is; you don’t design a character and cut him off at the knees.”
Clancy’s department stayed consistent with Polcsa’s “comfortable palette” on vehicles, furniture, and sets both interior and exterior. He notes, “It’s like an Andrew Wyeth painting; the yellows, browns, and greens are muted, to show a kind of decay. The colors that pop in are mostly red, white, and blue – marking a subtle theme.
“Gus wanted a realistic look with evident age, nothing over-stylized. We used a lot of paneling – what was at hand – to keep it authentic, nothing too pretty.”
An element that is more overtly worked into the film is water, a precious life-sustaining resource that can no longer be taken for granted, including in a small town itself trying to stay afloat. Clancy remarks, “We put water in wherever we could. You see ponds on the farms, kids playing with hoses, Steve splashing water on his face, and him and Sue always carrying bottled water. There’s also outboard motors in fields. The motel – the interiors of which are an Avonmore boarding house that we redressed and for which the owners now want to keep our modifications – is named the Miller Falls Motel.”
Furthermore, while many directors would have seen the rain which dogged the shoot as a disruption, Van Sant welcomed it as enhancing the pervasive motif.
Overall, Van Sant “is one of those directors that don’t open their mouth until they have something to say – and when they do, people listen,” states Frances McDormand.
The director will let actors and crew run with their talents before stepping in to tweak the specifics. This engenders a tremendous collaborative spirit on his films.
Moore reflects, “After several movies together, Gus and Matt have a great relationship and they’re both laid-back. As director and star, they set the tempo and the pace.
“But people come back to work for Gus over and over again whether they are actors or crew members. He possesses a quiet humility at the same time that he exhibits strong convictions. He is supportive and kind and funny. He propagates trust.”
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Damon says, “I trust the guy implicitly. He has empathy to spare. With him, as an actor, you’re always in such great hands. You need only to look at the performances in his movies to see that.”
Moore remarks, “His movies capture place, time, and character. I’d say he is a student of humanity.”
Damon adds, “He doesn’t favor artifice. The first day I came to the set, he said, ‘Are you wearing make-up?’ I said, ‘Well, yeah, they put a little bit on.’ He made me take it off.”
“Gus is incredibly confident,” observes Krasinski. “He’s soft-spoken and quiet because the process is happening in his head while he is expecting people to be doing their jobs.”
Holbrook comments, “He doesn’t seem to have his mind all made up in advance about how it should be. He does seem to be ready and open to whatever you come up with.”
DeWitt elaborates, “The actors and crew are empowered. Gus is attuned to whatever dynamic is happening. Everything informs a scene for him, making it more true. He sits right next to the camera.”
Sandgren remembers, “We would block the scenes and then discuss ideas and instincts. The motivation for what the camera was going to do in a scene came from the actors. It’s something that Gus pointed out to me from [director Bernardo] Bertolucci and [cinematographer Vittorio] Storaro’s 1970s films.
“Gus doesn’t want to watch a movie; he wants to watch the real thing.”
McNairy adds, “Gus is looking at you, not at a monitor. My first question on the set to him was ‘Where’s video village?’ ‘There’s no video village here.’ ‘Really?’
“It’s a great atmosphere to work in, giving you more ability to explore, because you don’t have people hovering around a monitor and spending time on playback.”
The movie was made on a brisk 30-day shooting schedule. Moore notes, “As a producer, I’ve noticed how Gus understands both the production process and the creative process.
“My first big movie was Good Will Hunting, and I’ve wanted every shoot since to be more like a Gus Van Sant shoot. Gus will make decisions with the crew in mind, and will not waste time shooting stuff he doesn’t need.”
On his most recent films, Van Sant has been applying a technique that he credits to director Terrence Malick: silent takes. This entails shooting scenes with the actors in which no dialogue is spoken, letting the actors run through all their lines internally and expressing their emotions through their faces. “Terry uses them in perhaps a different way, but they have become very valuable to me,” says Van Sant.
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DeWitt elaborates, “This is something that’s done after Gus feels like we’ve found the scene and are about to move on to another scene. He will then do the silent take. It’s wordless, but it’s not pantomime. It means we have to be thinking the characters’ thoughts or feeling their feelings. You have to engage with another actor doing the same thing. I found it really fun to do.”
McDormand offers, “The larger idea is, since you don’t have the exposition, you can get at a larger framework for the scene.”
“I think the silent takes have made me a better actor,” states Titus Welliver. “Playing a scene without dialogue, you have to find the subtlety without the ability to use language. You have to listen on an emotional level because nothing’s being said.
“As an actor, it’s a big leap of faith. But once I did it, I found it to be something I’d like to do again.”
Film editor Billy Rich reports, “In editing, this gives Gus the opportunity to use someone’s reaction off another actor from a spoken version of the scene because people are performing differently in the silent takes. It adds to an audience’s understanding of what’s going on for the characters and in the story.”
Cinematographer Linus Sandgren found that “it was amazing how something else would come out of the actors. When it came time for a silent take, I would get excited.”
Promised Land was Sandgren’s first collaboration with Van Sant, whom he cites as “an inspiration for me ever since I saw Drugstore Cowboy.” Sandgren conferred with the director well before filming began to work out the desired look of the new movie, which was shot on 35mm film.
Sandgren notes, “We started our process by discussing the characters. Then we looked at a lot of old reportage from the 1970s and 1980s, images from photographers like Steve McCurry and Stephen Shore.
“The idea was to recall the vintage look of America from a few decades back, referencing images photographed with Leica cameras using natural light on Kodachrome slide film. Everyone recalls Super 8 film, but we were thinking more about Kodachrome’s use in portraits from the 1980s. To try to recreate that, shooting on film allowed us to be naturalistic and yielded greater resolution. We felt that this look could best capture the texture of the environments and locations of the movie.”
Van Sant says, “Linus and I always took time to relate to the locations. We would make some things up as we went along, reacting to how or where scenes were playing out.”
Krasinski remarks, “The movie looks so beautiful. What Linus shot for Gus tells the story as much as the script that we wrote.”
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“Gus wanted to light the movie using as much natural light as possible, using negative fill for contrast to create a more organic look,” notes Sandgren. “In developing the film, we ran it through ‘pulp processing.’
“That entailed, instead of the normal developing procedure, pulling the film during the processings. Pulling is the opposite of pushing; the highlights are maintained and it’s a little less grainy. It’s that much more detailed, and it helped to give our movie a distinct look – one in line with the authenticity of its characters and setting.”
In line with that authenticity, says Damon, “Promised Land is meant to catalyze conversation and reflection – and not to give out answers, though I do believe that there are hopeful ones out there.
“I’m hopeful that people will love these characters as much as we do, and that they will be entertained by our story.”
Krasinski says, “The movie is about an ideal of America, and how that is still attainable here and now.
“Matt and I are positive people, and at the heart of our movie is the belief that not only will things get better but that the only way towards that is to be all in this together. Luckily, the decisions are still in our hands.”
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Promised LandAbout the Cast
MATT DAMON (Steve Butler)
Matt Damon has been honored for his work on both sides of the camera, most recently earning Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for his portrayal of South African rugby hero Francois Pienaar in Clint Eastwood’s true-life drama Invictus. He was also recently a double Golden Globe Award nominee, for that performance and for his starring role in Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! Earlier in his career, Mr. Damon won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, for his breakthrough feature Good Will Hunting, which he wrote and starred in with his lifelong friend Ben Affleck and which was directed by Gus Van Sant. The movie also brought him a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay as well as Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actor.
He has since reteamed with Mr. Van Sant, acting in Finding Forrester; starring opposite Casey Affleck in Gerry, which the trio wrote together; and now making Promised Land.
Mr. Damon has also repeatedly teamed with Mr. Soderbergh. He was part of the ensembles in the Ocean’s trilogy and in Contagion, also for Participant Media; and recently completed his starring role as Scott Thorson opposite Michael Douglas as Liberace in the telefilm Behind the Candelabra.
Paul Greengrass directed him in the role of Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, which won three Academy Awards; he first played the part in The Bourne Identity, directed by Doug Liman. Mr. Damon reunited with Mr. Greengrass for a third movie together, Green Zone.
He played the title roles in Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, for which he was a Golden Globe Award nominee, and in Saving Private Ryan, which won five Academy Awards including Best Director (Steven Spielberg); and starred in The Departed, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director (Martin Scorsese). With his fellow actors from the latter two movies, Mr. Damon shared Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Among his many other features as actor are Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming Elysium, with Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley; Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo; Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit; George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau, opposite Emily Blunt; Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter; Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd; Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana; Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm, with Heath Ledger; Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s Stuck on You, alongside Greg Kinnear; Billy Bob Thornton’s All the Pretty Horses; Robert Redford’s The Legend of Bagger Vance; Kevin Smith’s Dogma Jersey Girl, and Chasing Amy; Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker and Youth Without Youth; John Dahl’s Rounders; Edward Zwick’s Courage Under Fire; Walter Hill’s Geronimo: An American Legend; John David Coles’ Rising Son;
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Tommy Lee Jones’ telefilm The Good Old Boys, with Frances McDormand of Promised Land; Robert Mandel’s School Ties; and Donald Petrie’s Mystic Pizza, which marked his feature debut.
Hailing from Boston, Mr. Damon attended Harvard University and gained his first acting experience with the American Repertory Theatre.
He executive-produced and appeared in the acclaimed documentary The People Speak. Broadcast domestically on the History Channel, the feature was based on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Mr. Damon narrated Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
With Ben Affleck, he formed the production company LivePlanet to produce film, television, and new media projects. LivePlanet produced three Emmy Award-nominated seasons of Project Greenlight, chronicling the making of independent films by first-time writers and directors: Pete Jones’ Stolen Summer, The Battle of Shaker Heights, directed by Efrem Potelle and Kyle Rankin from Erica Beeney’s original screenplay, and John Gulager’s Feast, written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. LivePlanet also produced the documentary feature Running the Sahara, directed by James Moll. Mr. Damon is now partnered with Ben Affleck in the production company Pearl Street Films, developing projects for multiple mediums including film.
Mr. Damon is a co-founder of H20 Africa, now known as www.water.org.
JOHN KRASINSKI (Dustin Noble)
John Krasinski adapted David Foster Wallace’s book Brief Interviews with Hideous Men into the independent feature film of the same name, which he also directed and produced. The movie starred Julianne Nicholson opposite, among other men, Bobby Cannavale, Josh Charles, Dominic Cooper, Timothy Hutton, Christopher Meloni, Chris Messina, Max Minghella, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Ben Shenkman.
Mr. Krasinski has twice shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with his colleagues from the hit NBC show The Office. The program, episodes of which Mr. Krasinski has directed, has also won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, among other honors. He is a producer on the current season, which will bring the show to its close after nine years.
The Newton, Massachusetts native graduated from Brown University as an honors playwright and later studied at the National Theater Institute in Waterford, CT.
Previously for Focus Features, Mr. Krasinski starred opposite Maya Rudolph in Away We Go, written by Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida and directed by Sam Mendes; his first film for Mr. Mendes was Jarhead.
Among his other feature films as actor are Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday and It’s Complicated, for which he shared with his fellow actors the National Board of
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Review’s award for Best Acting by an Ensemble; Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls and Kinsey; Ken Kwapis’ License to Wed and Big Miracle; Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration; in voiceover, Chris Miller and Raman Hui’s Shrek the Third; Gregg Araki’s Smiley Face; George Clooney’s Leatherheads; Luke Greenfield’s Something Borrowed, alongside Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson; and Ry Russo-Young’s Nobody Walks, opposite Rosemarie DeWitt of Promised Land.
FRANCES McDORMAND (Sue Thomason)
Frances McDormand has established a worldwide cinema audience with roles in a wide variety of films, including her Academy Award-winning portrayal of Marge Gunderson in the Coen Brothers’ acclaimed Fargo. With the Coen Brothers, she has made four other films: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and Burn After Reading, for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination. In addition to winning her Oscar as Best Actress, Ms. McDormand has been the recipient of three additional Academy Award nominations; these were for her performances in Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning, Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, and Niki Caro’s North Country.
Other films include Bharat Nalluri’s Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day; Nicole Holofcener’s Friends with Money (Spirit Award for Supporting Actress); Lisa Cholodenko’s Laurel Canyon; Nancy Meyers’ Something’s Gotta Give; John Boorman’s Beyond Rangoon; Bruce Beresford’s Paradise Road; Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s Madeline; Gregory Hoblit’s Primal Fear; John Sayles’ Lone Star; Alan Taylor’s Palookaville; Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys, opposite Michael Douglas; Michael Caton-Jones’ City by the Sea, opposite Robert De Niro; Mick Jackson’s Chattahoochee, opposite Gary Oldman; Sam Raimi’s Darkman, opposite Liam Neeson; Ken Loach’s Hidden Agenda, opposite Brian Cox; and Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (Venice International Film Festival Award and special Golden Globe Award for Best Ensemble Cast). Most recently, she was seen in Michael Bay’s blockbuster Transformers: Dark of the Moon; Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place, opposite Sean Penn; the animated Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, directed by Eric Darnell, voicing the role of villainess Captain Chantel DuBois; and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.
On Broadway, she received the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, directed by Daniel Sullivan. Other stage appearances include The Country Girl, directed by Mike Nichols on Broadway opposite Morgan Freeman; Caryl Churchill’s Far Away, directed by Stephen Daldry at NY Theatre Workshop; her Tony-nominated performance as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire; Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig, directed by Daniel Sullivan, at Lincoln Center Theatre; The Swan at The Public Theatre, A Streetcar Named Desire (this time as Blanche) at the Gate Theatre in Dublin; and Dare Clubb’s Oedipus at the Blue Light Theater Company, opposite Billy Crudup. With The Wooster Group, she has performed in To You, The Birdie! and North Atlantic.
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ROSEMARIE DeWITT (Alice)
In 2012 moviegoers have seen Rosemarie DeWitt in, among other features, Ry Russo-Young’s Nobody Walks, with John Krasinski of Promised Land and Olivia Thirlby; Your Sister’s Sister, alongside Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass for writer/director Lynn Shelton; and Peter Hedges’ The Odd Life of Timothy Green, with Jennifer Garner. She is reteaming with Ms. Shelton on a new movie, Touchy Feely, opposite Scoot McNairy of Promised Land. In the feature film Rachel Getting Married, written by Jenny Lumet and directed by Jonathan Demme, she played the title character opposite Anne Hathaway. For her portrayal, Ms. DeWitt was named the year’s Best Supporting Actress by the Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington D.C. Film Critics groups; and received Spirit and Gotham Award nominations. She subsequently reteamed with Mr. Demme on his staging of Beth Henley’s play Family Week, at NYC’s Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Among her other movies are John Wells’ The Company Men, opposite Ben Affleck; and Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man, which told the story of her real-life grandfather James J. Braddock, portrayed by Russell Crowe in the film.
Ms. DeWitt’s television credits include starring opposite Toni Collette on all three seasons of United States of Tara and playing opposite Jon Hamm in a recurring role on Mad Men.
Her stage work includes playing Masha in Chekhov’s Three Sisters (at the Williamstown Theatre Festival); starring in the revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea and in Swimming in the Shallows (both at Second Stage); originating the role of Fanny in Craig Lucas’ Small Tragedy (at Playwrights Horizons), for which she shared an Obie Award with her fellow actors from the ensemble; and The Butter and Eggman (at the Atlantic Theatre Company), Dream Girl (at the Zipper Theater), St. Scarlet (at the Ontological Theater), Dead Reckoning (at the Cherry Lane Theatre), and Frame 312 (at the Eugene O’Neill Center).
Ms. DeWitt is a graduate of Hofstra University with a degree in Creative Studies, and she also studied at the Actors Center in New York.
SCOOT McNAIRY (Jeff Dennon)
Scoot McNairy is an actor and producer who in recent years has come to industry attention in both capabilities.
He was a Best Actor nominee at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards for his performance in the acclaimed independent film Monsters, written and directed by Gareth Edwards. The year prior, In Search of a Midnight Kiss, which Mr. McNairy both starred in and produced, was honored with the John Cassavetes Award [the Best Feature Made For Under $500,000] at the Independent Spirit Awards. The movie was written and directed by Alex Holdridge.
In addition to Promised Land, his films released in 2012 included Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly opposite Brad Pitt, Ben Mendelsohn, and James
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Gandolfini; and Ben Affleck’s Argo, opposite Mr. Affleck, Bryan Cranston, and John Goodman.
Mr. McNairy will next be seen in Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely, in which he stars opposite Ellen Page and Allison Janney; and, reteamed with Brad Pitt, Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years a Slave, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. His other films include Megan Griffiths’ The Off Hours, starring Amy Seimetz, and Terry Zwigoff’s Art School Confidential.
He has made guest appearances on hit shows such as Six Feet Under, My Name is Earl, The Shield, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, and (in a recurring role) Bones.
With John Pierce, Mr. McNairy has formed The Group Films. Currently, The Group Films is in post-production on G.J. Echternkamp’s Frank and Cindy, inspired by the filmmaker’s award-winning documentary of the same name, starring Rene Russo and Michael Peña.
TITUS WELLIVER (Rob)
Titus Welliver has starred in three feature films directed by Ben Affleck: Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo.
His other movies include Oliver Stone’s The Doors; Lee Tamahori’s Mulholland Falls; Philip Kaufman’s Twisted; Reggie Rock Bythewood’s Biker Boyz; Bette Gordon’s Handsome Harry; Asger Leth’s Man on a Ledge; and Once in the Life, alongside writer/director Laurence Fishburne.
He had previously starred with Mr. Fishburne in the latter’s play Riff Raff, which was the basis for the movie Once in the Life. Mr. Welliver’s other stage credits include American Buffalo, Naked at the Coast and Henry IV, Part 1.
Television audiences have taken note of his roles on the groundbreaking series Deadwood and Lost, appearing on the latter as the Man in Black; and in the acclaimed The Good Wife, opposite Julianna Margulies, as prosecutor Glenn Childs. He has had notable guest arcs on such shows as Sons of Anarchy, Touch, NYPD Blue, and CSI; and starred on the series Brooklyn South and Big Apple.
He was born in Connecticut. His father was the world-renowned landscape artist Neil Welliver and his mother was a fashion illustrator. Titus Welliver is a painter himself, and avidly purses this passion off-screen.
HAL HOLBROOK (Frank Yates)
Hal Holbrook was born in Cleveland in 1925, but raised mostly in South Weymouth, Massachusetts. When he was 12, he was sent to Culver Military Academy, where he discovered acting as an escape from his disenchantment with authority. He was not the model cadet, but he believes the discipline he learned at Culver saved his life.
In the summer of 1942, he got his first paid professional engagement, playing in The Man Who Came to Dinner at the Cain Park Theatre in Cleveland. That fall, he entered
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Denison University in Ohio, majoring in Theatre under the tutelage of his lifelong mentor, Edward A. Wright. World War II put him into the Army Engineers for three years. Mr. Holbrook’s signature Mark Twain characterization grew out of an honors project at Denison after WWII. He and his first wife, Ruby, constructed a two-person show, playing characters from Shakespeare to Twain. After graduation, they toured the school assembly circuit in the Southwest, doing 307 shows in 30 weeks. His first solo performance as Mark Twain was at the Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania in 1954.
That same year, he booked steady work on a daytime television soap opera, The Brighter Day. Mr. Holbrook refined the Twain characterization at a Greenwich Village night club while doing the soap daily. In seven months at the club, he developed his original two hours of material and learned timing. He memorized lines for the soap on the 7th Avenue subway. Ed Sullivan saw him and gave his Twain national television exposure.
In 1959, after five years of researching Mark Twain and honing his material in front of audiences in small towns all over America, he opened at a tiny theatre off-Broadway in New York. Overnight success came as the critics raved. After a 22-week run in New York he toured the country again, performing for President Eisenhower and at the Edinburgh Festival. The State Department sent him to tour Europe, and he became the first American dramatic attraction to go behind the Iron Curtain following World War II.
Word got out that Mr. Holbrook could act his own age. He played Hotspur in Henry IV, Part I at the Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut, and Lincoln in Abe Lincoln in Illinois off-Broadway. In 1963, he joined the original Lincoln Center Repertory Company in New York, appearing in Marco Millions, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, and Tartuffe. His Broadway shows included The Glass Menagerie, The Apple Tree, I Never Sang for My Father, Man of La Mancha, and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?
In 1966, his second New York stand as Mark Twain (this time on Broadway) won him a Tony Award and a Drama Critics Circle Award. A 1967 CBS television special of Mark Twain Tonight! was watched by 30 million people and nominated for an Emmy Award.
In 1970, he starred in a controversial television series, The Senator, which won five Emmy Awards and was cancelled after one year. He has been nominated for 12 Emmys and won 5, including for The Senator, the telefilm Pueblo (directed by Anthony Page), the miniseries Carl Sandburg’s Lincoln (directed by George Schaefer), and for hosting/narrating Portrait of America. He starred on the series Evening Shade; and guest-starred on shows such as The West Wing, ER, Sons of Anarchy, and Designing Women.
His movie career began with The Group, directed by Sidney Lumet, in 1966. Since then, moviegoers have seen Mr. Holbrook in more than 40 films including Martin Ritt’s The Great White Hope, Ted Post’s Magnum Force, Jack Smight’s Midway,
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Alan J. Pakula’s All the President’s Men, Fred Zinnemann’s Julia, Peter Hyams’ Capricorn One, John Carpenter’s The Fog, George A. Romero’s Creepshow, Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Sydney Pollack’s The Firm, George Tillman Jr.’s Men of Honor, Frank Darabont’s The Majestic, Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (for which he received Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations), Scott Teems’ That Evening Sun, Francis Lawrence’s Water for Elephants, and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.
He has starred on-stage in New York (Buried Inside Extra, The Country Girl, King Lear, An American Daughter) and at regional theatres (Our Town, Uncle Vanya, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, A Life in the Theatre, and Be My Baby and Southern Comforts, the last two with his wife Dixie Carter). He also played in Death of a Salesman on a national tour.
He has continued to perform Mark Twain every year, including three return New York engagements and a world tour in 1985, the 150th anniversary of Mr. Twain’s birth. As 2012 marked the 59th consecutive year for the remarkable one-man show, Mark Twain Tonight! has become perhaps the longest-running show in theatre history. Mr. Holbrook adds to his Twain material every year, editing and shaping it to seem a commentary on our times. He has no set program; he chooses what he will perform as he goes along.
In June 1980, he competed in the single-handed Transpac Race from San Francisco to Hawaii in his 40-foot sailboat, Yankee Tar, sailing 2,400 miles alone. He has sailed through the South Pacific to Tahiti, New Zealand, the Fiji Islands, and more destinations sometimes with his late wife, Dixie Carter to whom he was married for 26 years before she passed away in 2010.
He has received Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degrees from Ohio State and the University of Hartford; an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Ursinus College; an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Elmira College; and Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees from Kenyon College and his alma mater, Denison University. In 1996, he received the Edwin Booth Award, and in 1998 he received the William Shakespeare Award from The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC. In 2000, he was inducted into the New York Theatre Hall of Fame; in 2003, he received the National Humanities Medal from the U.S. President; and in 2010, he received a medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Harold, the first of two volumes of his memoirs, was published in 2011. Living in Los Angeles and Tennessee, Mr. Holbrook continues to work on the second volume.
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Promised LandAbout the Filmmakers
GUS VAN SANT (Director)
Audiences and critics alike have taken note of Gus Van Sant’s movies since he made his feature film directorial debut in 1985 with Mala Noche, which won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Independent/Experimental Film.
His body of work also includes Drugstore Cowboy, starring Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch; My Own Private Idaho, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves; Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, starring Uma Thurman; and To Die For. The latter, screened at the Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals, earned Nicole Kidman a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Mr. Van Sant’s next feature, Good Will Hunting, brought him a Best Director Academy Award nomination. The film was nominated for eight other Oscars including Best Picture, winning for Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams) and Best Original Screenplay (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon).
He followed that up with his controversial remake of Psycho, which was the first feature shot-for-shot recreation of a film, and Finding Forrester before returning to his independent film roots with Gerry. He scripted the latter film with its actors, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. That filmmaking experience in turn inspired him to write and direct Elephant, shot on location in his hometown of Portland with a cast of novice actors. Elephant won both the top prize (the Palme d’Or) and the Best Director award at the 2003 Cannes International Film Festival.
At the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival, Last Days, starring Michael Pitt and Lukas Haas, was honored with the Technical Grand Prize (for Leslie Shatz’s sound design) at Cannes. Mr. Van Sant once again cast novice actors to star in his next project, Paranoid Park, which he adapted from Blake Nelson’s novel of the same name. The film earned him the 60th Anniversary Prize at the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival.
For Focus Features, he then directed Milk, a biographical drama; elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America. Milk earned Mr. Van Sant his second Best Director Academy Award nomination. The film was nominated for seven other Oscars including Best Picture, winning for Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black).
He next directed and produced Restless, a love story starring Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper, which world-premiered at the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival; and directed the premiere of the television drama Boss, for which lead actor Kelsey Grammer won a Golden Globe Award and on which Mr. Van Sant is an executive producer.
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Throughout his career, he has continued to make short films. These works include an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ short story “The Discipline of D.E.,” which screened at the New York Film Festival. In 1996, he directed Allen Ginsberg reading his own poem, “Ballad of the Skeletons,” to the music of Paul McCartney and Philip Glass; this short premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His other shorts include Five Ways to Kill Yourself, Thanksgiving Prayer (a reteaming with William S. Burroughs), “Le Marais” (a segment of the feature Paris, je t’aime), and “Mansion on the Hill.” The latter is part of the 2008 U.N.-funded project 8, which was created to raise awareness about essential issues that our world is facing today.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Van Sant earned a B.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design before moving to Hollywood. Early in his career, he spent two years in New York creating commercials for Madison Avenue. Eventually he settled in Portland, Oregon, where in addition to directing and producing, he pursued his other talents – painting, photography, and writing.
In 1995 he released a collection of photos entitled 108 Portraits (Twelvetrees Press) and in 1997 he published his first novel, Pink (Doubleday), a satire on filmmaking.
A longtime musician himself, Mr. Van Sant has directed music videos for top recording artists including David Bowie, Elton John, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Hanson.
JOHN KRASINSKI (Screenplay; Producer)
Please refer to above bio.
MATT DAMON (Screenplay; Producer)
Please refer to above bio.
CHRIS MOORE (Producer)
Chris Moore has been working as a producer in Hollywood since 1989. He was co-producer on Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, which was nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, winning ones for Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams) and Best Original Screenplay (Ben Affleck & Matt Damon).
He has produced all four of the American Pie theatrical features, including the 2012 worldwide hit American Reunion, written and directed by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg. Another recent success produced by Mr. Moore was The Adjustment Bureau, adapted and directed by George Nolfi and starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.
Among his other features as producer are John Dahl’s Joy Ride, starring Paul Walker; Mike Barker’s Best Laid Plans, starring Reese Witherspoon; and John Frankenheimer’s Reindeer Games, starring Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron. Movies that he has executive-produced include two cult favorites: Rob McKittrick’s Waiting…, starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris, and John Gulager’s Feast.
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Mr. Moore was a co-creator and executive producer of the groundbreaking television series about filmmaking, Project Greenlight. He was one of the executive producers and directors of the acclaimed documentary The People Speak, broadcast domestically on the History Channel and based on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.
In 2011, Mr. Moore and Bob Roback established their company The Media Farm, which is focused on investing in and managing a portfolio of entertainment brands for exploitation in multiple media. In addition to Promised Land, their projects include The Chair, with reality television and film components; and The Can, a comedic online series. GUS VAN SANT (Executive Producer)
Please refer to above bio.
RON SCHMIDT (Executive Producer)
In recent years, Ron Schmidt produced the critically acclaimed Bandslam, directed by Todd Graff and starring Aly Michalka; executive-produced the hit Letters to Juliet, directed by the late Gary Winick and starring Amanda Seyfried; and executive-produced Daniel Barnz’s Won’t Back Down, one of the most-discussed movies of 2012, starring Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Among the other movies that he has executive-produced are Wes Craven’s Scream 4; Robert Ben Garant’s Balls of Fury; and Craig Brewer’ Black Snake Moan. He was co-producer on Jake Kasdan’s The TV Set, starring David Duchovny and Sigourney Weaver, and Asif Kapadia’s The Return, both for producer Aaron Ryder.
Mr. Schmidt has also worked as a unit production manager on movies such as Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s Sin City.
The New Jersey native graduated from Syracuse University and commenced his film career in Los Angeles in 1992.
JEFF SKOLL (Executive Producer)
Jeff Skoll is a philanthropist and social entrepreneur. As founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation, Participant Media, and the Skoll Global Threats Fund, he is bringing life to his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity.
Mr. Skoll founded Participant Media in 2004 with the belief that a story well told has the power to inspire and compel social change. Participant’s films are accompanied by social action and advocacy campaigns to engage people on the issues addressed in the films.
He has served as executive producer on nearly three dozen films, which have to date received a total of 5 Academy Awards from 22 nominations. Participant’s films include, among others, George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck; Niki Caro’s
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North Country; Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana; Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for “Superman;” Marc Forster’s The Kite Runner; Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War; Thomas McCarthy’s The Visitor; Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove; Lucy Walker’s Countdown to Zero; Robert Kenner’s Food, Inc.; Tate Taylor’s The Help; Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion; John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.
In 2009, Participant launched its digital hub www.TakePart.com, an on-line Social Action Network™ that engages people in the major issues which shape their lives. TakePart launched a digital magazine on MSN and a YouTube network in 2012.
JONATHAN KING (Executive Producer)
Jonathan King is executive vice president of production at Participant Media, which he joined in 2007. Participant’s films are accompanied by social action and advocacy campaigns to engage people on the issues addressed in the films. Among the company’s movies that Mr. King has been executive producer on are the sleeper hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, directed by John Madden; Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion; Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln; Pablo Larrain’s No; Ric Roman Waugh’s Snitch; and Chavez, directed by Diego Luna.
Prior to joining Participant, he was executive vice president, production, at Focus Features. He came to Focus from his post as president of production at Laurence Mark Productions, which was based at Sony Pictures Entertainment. He supervised development and production of the production company’s slate of projects, which included the multi-Academy Award-winning Dreamgirls, adapted and directed by Bill Condon and co-produced by Mr. King; and The Lookout, written and directed by Scott Frank. For the company, Mr. King also oversaw, and executive-produced, Gus Van Sant’s Finding Forrester, starring Sean Connery and Rob Brown.
Prior to joining Mr. Mark’s company, Mr. King was an independent feature film producer. Among his credits were Audrey Wells’ Guinevere, starring Sarah Polley and Stephen Rea; and Sebastian Gutierrez’ Judas Kiss, starring Carla Gugino, Simon Baker, Alan Rickman, and Emma Thompson.
Mr. King previously worked as a production and acquisitions executive at Miramax Films. He began his industry career working at MGM/UA, after earning a BA in History from Stanford University and an MFA in Film Production from Florida State University.
LINUS SANDGREN, FSF (Director of Photography)
Linus Sandgren, a native of Stockholm now living in the U.S., was in 2011 and 2012 honored with three Cannes Lions Silver Awards, one Clio Gold Award, and one Mobius Gold Award for his cinematography on four different commercials.
He started his career as a cinematographer shooting music promos and commercials after attending art school and film school. He also began working on Swedish movies, learning about the feature film process.
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In 2005, Mr. Sandgren shot his first feature film, the critically acclaimed Storm, directed by Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein. For his work on Storm, he became the youngest cinematographer ever to be honored with the Guldbagge Award (Sweden’s official film award, given annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute), also known as the Golden Bug Award.
In 2009, he shot his first American feature, Shelter, reteaming with directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein. The movie starred Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Mr. Sandgren has also been the cinematographer on short films, telefilms, and miniseries.
BILLY RICH (Editor)
A native of Chicago, Billy Rich originally studied to be an auto mechanic, but discovered an interest in editing while working the night shift at a television production company. His first job on a feature film was as production assistant on Bruce LaBruce & Rick Castro’s cult classic Hustler White.
He cut his teeth as an editor working on television segments and skateboarding videos until 2001, when Academy Award-winning film editor Pietro Scalia hired him as an apprentice editor on Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. Mr. Scalia became a mentor to him, and he was able to work with his friend on several more features, including John Dahl’s The Great Raid; and Body of Lies, Robin Hood, and American Gangster, the latter three directed by Mr. Scott. As producer, Mr. Scott hired Mr. Rich to edit Tell Tale, directed by Michael Cuesta.
Mr. Rich was subsequently additional editor, working with editor Matt Chessé, on Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher; and an editor on Peter Berg’s Battleship.
He was recommended to Promised Land director Gus Van Sant by Mr. Scalia, who had edited Mr. Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting.
When he’s not in the cutting room, Mr. Rich dedicates his time to surfing the local beaches of Southern California.
DANIEL B. CLANCY (Production Designer)
Daniel B. Clancy previously collaborated with Promised Land director Gus Van Sant on the television series Boss, working as production designer on the show. Also as production designer, his feature credits include Ron Howard’s The Dilemma, Alfred De Villa’s Nothing Like the Holidays, and Tom Vaughan’s So Undercover. He has additionally been the production designer on television commercials and series pilots.
Originally from Chicago, Mr. Clancy graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Advertising and Commercial Graphics. He set out to work in the ad world but came into the entertainment industry, where he received guidance from one of his heroes, John Hughes. He began his film industry career as a production
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assistant on Mr. Hughes’ Uncle Buck and quickly found his calling in the set decorating department, first as a set dresser/lead man and then training under legendary set decorator Nancy Haigh.
He soon became a top film and television set decorator himself. As a set decorator, his credits included Chris Columbus’ two Home Alone movies; Peyton Reed’s The Break-Up; Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23; Mikael Håfström’s Derailed and 1408; Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder; Peter Billingsley’s Couples Retreat; Dan Bradley’s Red Dawn; and Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant!, starring Matt Damon of Promised Land.
Mentored by great production designers such as Dennis Gassner, Allan Cameron, and Richard Sylbert, Mr. Clancy then made the leap to production-designing. He continues to hone his craft and create new worlds.
JULIET POLCSA (Costume Designer)
Juliet Polcsa is probably best known for her work as the costume designer on the classic television series The Sopranos. She worked on all but four of the show’s episodes, in the process receiving four Emmy Award nominations; winning a Costume Designers Guild Award; and being honored by New York Women in Film and Television at their annual “Designing Hollywood” event.
A fashion design major at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Ms. Polcsa has worked in the field of costume design since 1985. She ran the costume shop at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY, and then worked at the shop Parsons-Meares. At the latter, she began her career in the New York theatre world, constructing costumes. She worked on top Broadway shows such as Song & Dance, The Phantom of the Opera, and Starlight Express. She was the assistant costume designer on the original Broadway production of La Bête; and designed the costumes for off-Broadway shows as well as the Broadway musical Metro.
For several years, she worked in film as an assistant costume designer for noted costume designers such as Ann Roth (on Sydney Pollack’s Sabrina), Hope Hanafin (on Gillies Mackinnon’s A Simple Twist of Fate), Cynthia Flynt (on Penny Marshall’s The Preacher’s Wife), and Susan Lyall (on Jodie Foster’s Little Man Tate).
Ms. Polcsa’s subsequent feature credits as costume designer include Stanley Tucci’s Big Night, The Impostors, and Joe Gould’s Secret; Anthony and Joe Russo’s Welcome to Collinwood; Lloyd Kramer’s telefilm For One More Day; Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl and Cop Out; Antoine Fuqua’s Brooklyn’s Finest; Kieran and Michele Mulroney’s Paper Man; and Jason Winer’s Arthur.
In addition to The Sopranos, her television work includes the series Rubicon; the pilot for the hit show Person of Interest; and the debut season of Boss, which marked her first collaboration with Gus Van Sant.
DANNY ELFMAN (Music)
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Over the past 30 years, Los Angeles native and resident Danny Elfman has established himself as one of film’s leading composers.
His previous collaborations with Promised Land director Gus Van Sant were on To Die For, Restless, Good Will Hunting, and Milk; the latter two brought Mr. Elfman Academy Award nominations, and he has been nominated twice more, for Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black and Tim Burton’s Big Fish. The latter also earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Movie audiences worldwide have heard the composer’s unique sound and style with some four dozen film scores. His signature scores include ones for Tim Burton’s Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman (for which he won a Grammy Award), Edward Scissorhands, and Alice in Wonderland (for which he was a Golden Globe Award nominee) among their many movies together; Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, which brought Mr. Elfman his first Golden Globe Award nomination; Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man; Taylor Hackford’s Dolores Claiborne; Martin Brest’s Midnight Run; Jon Amiel’s Sommersby; the Hughes Brothers’ Dead Presidents; and Rob Marshall’s Academy Award-winning Chicago.
Television audiences worldwide can instantly identify his theme music for The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives, for which he was honored with an Emmy Award nomination and win, respectively.
Mr. Elfman’s first experience in performing and composition was for a French theatrical troupe, Le Grand Magic Circus, at the age of 18. The following year, he collaborated with his brother Richard performing musical theatre on the streets of California. He then worked with a “surrealistic musical cabaret” for six years, using this outlet to explore multifarious musical genres. For seventeen years, he wrote and performed with the rock band Oingo Boingo, producing such hits as “Weird Science” and “Dead Man’s Party.”
His first composition for ballet, entitled “Rabbit and Rogue,” had its American Ballet Theatre (ABT) world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City in June 2008. The ballet was choreographed by Twyla Tharp and commissioned by ABT.
In addition to Promised Land, Mr. Elfman’s other 2012 film scores included Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and Dark Shadows; Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black 3; Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock; and David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook.
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Promised LandCredits
CAST in order of appearance
Steve Butler Matt DamonAttendant Benjamin Sheeler
David Churchill Terry KinneyWaitress Carla Bianco
Michael Downey Joe CoyleFrank Yates Hal Holbrook
Arlene Dorothy SilverSue Thomason Frances McDormand
Rob Titus WelliverDrew’s Girl Lexi CowanDrew Scott Tim Guinee
Claire Allen Sara LindseyCoach Frank Conforti
Basketball Player Garrett AshbaughJericho Jerico Morgan
Carson Allen Max Schuler5th Grader August G. Siciliano
Gerry Richards Ken StrunkLynn Karen Baum
Jesse the Bartender Gerri BumbaughAlice Rosemarie DeWitt
Donny Johnny CiccoBuddy’s Waitress Erin Baldwin
Gwen Kristin SlaysmanDustin Noble John Krasinski
6-Year-Old Boy Andrew KuebelDrummer Matthew FerranteGuitar #1 Justin Cook
Bass Steven CravenGuitar #2 Bruce Craven
Keyboard Gene Williams Large Man Dan Anders Paul Geary Lucas Black
Paul’s Girlfriend
Sandy Medred
Jeff Dennon Scoot McNairyColin Carrington E. Vaughn
Danny Thomason Cain AlexanderMotel Receptionist Joy de la Paz
Lemonade Girl at Gym Lennon Wynn KuzniarLemonade Girl at Fair Payton Godfrey
Stunt Jason SilvisHelicopter Pilot Cherokee Walker
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CREW
Directed by Screenplay by
Story by
Gus Van SantJohn Krasinski & Matt DamonDave Eggers
Produced by Matt DamonJohn KrasinskiChris Moore
Executive Producers Gus Van SantRon Schmidt
Executive Producers Jeff SkollJonathan King
Co-Producers Mike SabloneDrew Vinton
Director of Photography Linus Sandgren, FSF
Editor Billy RichProduction Designer Daniel B. Clancy
Costume Designer Juliet PolcsaMusic by Danny Elfman
Music Supervisor Brian ReitzellCasting by Francine Maisler, CSA
Unit Production Managers Ron SchmidtRichard E. Chapla, Jr.
First Assistant Director David WebbSecond Assistant Director Neil Lewis
Associate Producer Isabel Freer
Post-Production Supervisor Tami Goldman
Art Director Greg Weimerskirch
Set Decorator Rebecca Brown
Script Supervisor Brooke Satrazemis
First Assistant A-Camera Jorge SanchezSecond Assistant A-Camera Randy Stone
B-Camera Operator Davon SliningerFirst Assistant B-Camera Norris Fox
Second Assistant B-Camera Deb PetersonLoader David Parson
Camera Production Assistant John ParsonSpacecam DP Steve Koster
Spacecam Tech Andrew Sych
Production Sound Mixer Felix Andrew
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Boom Operator Chad DjubekUtility Person Chris Strollo
Costume Supervisor Darcie ButerbaughKey Costumer PJ CarliSet Costumer Alison Evans
Background Costumer Leslie MaxsonCostume Production Assistant Tori Musial
Department Head Make-up Artist Kelley MitchellKey Make-up Artist Rachel Kick
Matt Damon’s Make-up Artist Chrissie BeveridgeDepartment Head Hair Stylist Kay Georgiou
Key Hair Stylist Nancy Keslar
First Assistant Editor David MarksApprentice Editor Bernie Gomez
Post-Production Assistants Mariah K. ShieldsJoseph BakenNicholas Dye
Chief Lighting Technician Patrick MurrayBest Boy Electric Terry Shirk
Rigging Gaffer Steve CohaganRigging Best Boy Electric Chris Muchow
Lamp Operators Alexander CrowPete KlingenbergNick YostTom Gregg
Rigging Lamp Operators J.P. NutiniJohn StefancisJoseph McDonaldDave Kann
Key Grip Bart FlahertyBest Boy Grip Mike Zinobile
“A” Dolly Grip Eddie Knott“B” Dolly Grip Brian Buzzelli
Key Rigging Grip Brian PowersBest Boy Rigging Grip David Dwyer
Rigging Grip Brennan ReillyGrips Nick Zinobile
Jonathan ThurnerJohn TrembaJames P. DamesKC BradyDavid JoseSean FlahertyRich SchutteBrad RobinsonTravis Johnston
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Property Master Scott ReederAssistant Property Master Kelley Snyder
Prop Assistants Lee NagleDonald Rager
Special Effects Coordinator Ray TasilloSpecial Effects Coordinator Foreman Jason Trosky
Special Effects Assistant Jim Heastings
Production Coordinator Janice F. SperlingAssistant Production Coordinator Alex Benevent
Production Secretary Emily PileSecond Second Assistant Director Walt Myal
Assistant to Gus Van Sant Joshewa FultonAssistant to Matt Damon Colin O’Hara
Assistant to John Krasinski Stephanie LytleAssistant to Chris Moore Meredith FishmanAssistant to Ron Schmidt Lucas Evans
Office Production Assistants Brittany SugarmanHarley WilsonDave Hall
Set Production Assistants Ciara D’AltorioVanessa GaitanEric HollenbeckJon MedeirosSchuyler WhitesellDan ShortMia La Monica
Graphic Designer Christina MyalArt Department Coordinator Jennifer Albaugh
Art Department Production Assistant Maggie Adams
Lead Dresser Justin PelisseroOn-Set Dresser Jonathon Curotola
Set Dressers Ray PivirottoJosh DrylieTimothy BarnhillMark PasqualeSamuel NoelDemian AspinwallJohn Wylie
Buyer Barbie PastorikSet Dressing Production Assistant Gretchen Neidert
Post-Production Sound Services Wildfire StudiosRe-Recording Mixers Leslie Shatz
Colette Dahanne, CAS
Supervising Sound Editor Robert C. JacksonSound Effects Editor Ryan Collins
Dialogue & ADR Editor Sarah Payan
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Assistant Sound Editor Callie ThurmanFoley Editor Brian DunlopMusic Editor Lisa JaimeFoley Mixer Tor KingdonFoley Artist Ellen Heuer, MPSE, AMPAS
ADR Mixer Travis MackayADR Recordist Wade Barnett
ADR Voice Casting Barbara HarrisMix Recordists Timothy Limer
Jesse Ehredt
Construction Coordinator Buster PileConstruction Foreman Michael Richer
Gang Boss Scott WoodCarpenters Mike Matesic
Chip EcclesToolman Cody Pile
Head Painter John KellyPainters Keith Knight
Julie ChillJoshua HoganTim McGrane
On-Set Painter Smith HutchingsHead Greensman Greg Jones
On-Set Greens Hisham Youssef
Locations Manager John AdkinsAssistant Locations Manager Kent Jackson
Location Coordinator Paul WeiselLocation Production Assistants Drew Nicholas
Carson Camp
Insurance provided by AON/Albert G. RubenMarsh USA
Legal Services provided by Barkin Smith LLPMusic Legal and Clearances by Christine BergrenClearance Services provided by Ashley Kravitz
Production Accountant Cheryl KurkFirst Assistant Accountant Joshua Dease
Payroll Accountant Hiromi MarderSecond Assistant Accountants Dana Custer
Nathan MattAccounting Clerk Liz Ross
Post-Production Accountant Trevanna PostDee Schuka
Unit Publicist James FerreraStill Photographer Scott Green
Transportation Coordinator Don Kraus
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Transportation Captain Frank ConfortiD.O.T. Coordinator/Dispatcher Judy Strazzera
Picture Car Coordinator Jeff Walters
DriversBernard Ackerman Jr.
Daniel BiancoMichael DavinCarl Fowler III
Shawn GrebStephen Hough
Clay JohnsonHeather Kurtz
Richard MarenoThomas O’Toole
Joseph ProsdocimoKevin Roche
Angelo SotereanosJoseph Swedish
Tom Weifenback
David BelascoJames BrunerCharles FanzoRonald GoodardDavid Hill Jr.Kathleen Jandrokovic Michael Kondos Jr.Mark LejeuneScott MincherJohn PishkoPatrick RichertJohn ScottRick StotlerLawrence TutinoDavid Witzorreck
Los Angeles Casting Associates Melissa KostenbauderKathy Driscoll-Mohler
Los Angeles Casting Assistant Elizabeth ChodarPittsburgh Casting Donna Belajac, CSA
Pittsburgh Casting Associate Laura ZechExtras Casting Joan Philo
Extras Casting Assistants Chelsea PetersonFrank Ombres
Stand-Ins Johnny CiccoNick CarrAndrea KubalaKelly ChizmarMatthew RobisonMichelle Liedke
Animal Coordinator Kate ChaseAnimal Trainer Mya DeMase
Catering Realms of CateringChef Mark Davis
Assistant Chef Harry SchreiberCatering Assistants Justin McDade
Sam McDade Jr.Lee Wells
First Aid Casey LaRoccoWilliam BurgessKeith Bradley
Craft Service Ginny MinutoCraft Service Assistant Lela Checco
Asset/Green Representative Hillary Friedman
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Studio Teacher Michael Carter
Visual Effects by Invisible EffectsVisual Effects Supervisor Dick Edwards
Additional Visual EffectsVisual Effects Producer P. Whitney Gearin, Method Studios
Comp Artist Matt Welch, Method StudiosVisual Effects Artist Joe Ken, Company 3
Visual Effects Producer Erik Rogers, Company 3
End Credits Scarlet LettersMain Title Design Jeremy Landman
Dolby Sound Consultant Bryan Pennington
Digital Intermediate and Opticals by Technicolor Digital IntermediatesA Technicolor Company
Digital Intermediate Colorist Mark GethinDigital Intermediate Producer Julian McDougald
Digital Intermediate Editor Everette Jbob WebberProject Manager Ladd Lanford
Score Produced by Danny ElfmanOrchestrations by Steve Bartek
Edgardo SimoneOrchestra Leader Thomas Bowes
Conductor Rick WentworthScore Recorded by Nick Wollage
Score Mixed by Dennis SandsMidi Supervision and Preparation Marc Mann
Digital Recordists Noah SnyderAdam Olmsted
Orchestra Contractor Isobel GriffithsAssistant Orchestra Contractor Jo Changer
Music Preparation David Hage/Dakota MusicScore Recorded at Air Studios, London, England
Assistant Engineers Chris BarrettJohn Prestage
Score Mixed at Todd AO Studios/LantanaMix Assistant Greg Hayes
Technical Assistant Greg MaloneyProgramming TJ Lindgren
Choir Metro VoicesChoirmaster Jenny O’GradyBoys’ Choir The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School
Music Productions Coordinator Melisa McGregorAssistant to Danny Elfman Melissa Karaban
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Songs
WATERFRONTWritten by Dave Palmer and Brian Reitzell
Performed by Dave PalmerCourtesy of Maryannis Music Inc.
A LITTLE BIT OF HURTWritten by David L. Graham and
William W. LivesayPerformed by Billy Livesay
Courtesy of Crucial Music Corporation
DAYDREAMS ABOUT NIGHT THINGSWritten by John Schweers
Performed by Ronnie MilsapCourtesy of RCA Nashville
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
BLACK SUNDAY (INSTRUMENTAL)Written and performed by Tim Young
Courtesy of Maryannis Music Inc.
YOU’RE ALWAYS WELCOME HEREWritten and Performed by William L. Kelly III
Courtesy of Crucial Music Corporation
NEVERMOREWritten by Anya Singleton, Antoan Salih Towe
and Michael AaronsPerformed by Anya Singleton
Courtesy of Crucial Music Corporation
HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHTWritten by Kris KristoffersonPerformed by Sammi Smith
Courtesy of Sammi Smith EstateUnder License from
Nola Leone/Ace Music Services, LLC
I SAW THE LIGHTWritten by Hank Williams
DANCING IN THE DARKWritten by Bruce Springsteen
JEWEL OF JUNEWritten by Kenneth A. Pattengale and
Joseph Edward RyanPerformed by The Milk Carton Kids
Courtesy of ANTI-
BENEATH STILL WATERSWritten by Dallas Frazier
Performed by Emmylou HarrisCourtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By arrangement withWarner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUESWritten by Rodney Crowell
Performed by Emmylou Harris with Dolly Parton & Linda Ronstadt
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.By arrangement with
Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
SNAKE EYESWritten by Kenneth A. Pattengale and
Joseph Edward RyanPerformed by The Milk Carton Kids
Courtesy of ANTI-
FIVE O’CLOCK WORLDWritten by Allen ReynoldsPerformed by The Vogues
Courtesy of Co & Ce RecordsUnder License from
Nola Leone/Ace Music Services, LLC
DISCHARGEWritten by Ben Kopec
Performed by Intricate UnitCourtesy of Crucial Music Corporation
ASH AND CLAYWritten by Kenneth A. Pattengale and
Joseph Edward RyanPerformed by The Milk Carton Kids
Courtesy of ANTI-
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Photograph Courtesy of Alexis HaggarPhotograph Courtesy of Bob Minkin ©2012
Skype Technical Consultant – Matthew A. Jordan
Special ThanksPietro Scalia
Dawn Keezer, Director, Pittsburgh Film OfficeAvonmore, Pennsylvania
This project was made with the support of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Film Office
This motion picture used sustainability strategies to reduce its carbon emissions and environmental impact.
For more information visit www.focusfeatures.com/FocusOnGreen
No. 47899
Copyright 2012 Focus Features LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Country of First Publication: United States of America. Focus Features LLC is the author of this motion picture for purposes of
the Berne Convention and all national laws giving effect thereto.
The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious.Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This motion picture is protected under the laws of
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the United States and other countries.Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result
in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
MPAA Rating: R (for language) Running Time: 106 minutes
Aspect Ratio: Flat [1:85/1] Dolby Stereo SR/SRD/DTS, in selected theaters
www.PromisedLandTheFilm.com
www.Facebook.com/PromisedLandMovie
www.YouTube.com/PromisedLandMovie
www.TakePart.com/PromisedLand
Twitter Hashtag: #PromisedLand
A Focus Features Release
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