THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
FAVORITE SON
NOW on Amazon Prime
Favorite Son - Trailer
SYNOPSIS
David Paxton is the most unlikely of heroes. In a story of family, of dreams deferred, and of a final chance at redemption Paxton, returns to his hometown as much less the hero he once assumed he would become.
Nearing the end of his minor league baseball career, he meets Joan Embry, and her son Ross, believing he has found a way to acquire the love, support and family for which he's long been yearning. But his overheated romancing of Joan makes her wary, and his attempt to mentor Ross meets with the boy's undisguised contempt. It appears his dreams of a future have died, and David's simmering rage threatens to erupt into violence.
But David and Ross, a disturbed teenager heading down a path of increasing destructiveness, somehow forge an odd, clandestine friendship. David must break out of his own isolation to help the troubled young boy and confront the dark secrets that haunt both their lives. He must become a father figure in a way he never imagined, and in so doing become a genuine hero off the field.
From Our Director
I’m delighted that Favorite Son has found a new home with Passion River Films and is now available for so many to see. Our film tackles a very serious topic - the damage done by sexual abuse - in this case the victimization of athletes - and the resulting rage that can consume them. That’s a topic that’s been very much in the news of late; instances of abuse and cover-up against college and olympic athletes. Beneath the story is the real message of our movie; that most of us have experienced difficult, even painful times in our lives that lead to some secret we fight to conceal. It’s only the removal of stigma and shame that can lead us to find it easier to reveal that secret and so to communicate honestly with each other, and in doing so to overcome obstacles born of fear and embarrassment. That we were aided in our work by magnificent performances from Pablo, Connor, Kellie and Richard (Bekins) only serves to show that the secret of Favorite Son is that it was so enjoyable to make. Thank you to my friends and colleagues Ben Wolf, Michael Stewart, Emily Gumpel, the enormously talented Murray Attaway, and Mike Mills.
CAST & CREW
Pablo Schreiber
Pablo Schreiber was nominated for a Tony Award for his Broadway debut performance in the revival of Clifford Odets' classic Awake and Sing! directed by Bartlett Sher.
Schreiber has appeared in many films, including: Josh Radnor's Happythankyoumoreplease (2010), which won the Audience Award at Sundance, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Tell Tale (2009), Nights in Rodanthe(2008), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Allegiance (2012), Breaking Upwards (2009), Into the Fire (2005), The Mudge Boy (2003) and Invitation to a Suicide (2004). Upcoming he appears in the independent features Fort Bliss (2014), The Dramatics: A Comedy (2015) and Preservation (2014). Television credits include his classic role as "Nick Sobolka" in HBO's critically acclaimed
The Wire (2002); and most recently as the menacing villain "William Lewis" on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), NBC's "Ironside" and as "Pornstache" in Jenji Kohan's hit series Orange Is the New Black (2013). He's also appeared in Stephen Frears' Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013) for HBO and on Weeds (2005), A Gifted Man(2011), Lights Out (2011), The Good Wife (2009), White Collar (2009), The Beast (2009), Life on Mars (2008), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005), Fear Itself (2008), Dirt(2007), John Grisham's A Painted House (2003), Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), and The Black Donnellys (2007).
He's also appeared in Stephen Frears' Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013) for HBO and on Weeds (2005), A Gifted Man(2011), Lights Out (2011), The Good Wife (2009), White Collar (2009), The Beast (2009), Life on Mars (2008), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005), Fear Itself (2008), Dirt(2007), John Grisham's A Painted House (2003), Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), and The Black Donnellys (2007). Schreiber has performed in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway plays including: Desire Under the Elms on Broadway directed by Robert Falls, Rajiv Joseph's Gruesome Playground Injuries at Second Stage, Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty at MCC (for which he won the Drama Desk Award), Dying City at Lincoln Center, Mr. Marmalade at Roundabout, Sin: A Cardinal Deposed at The New Group, Manuscript at the Daryl Roth Theatre, Julius Caesar at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and Blood Orange, his professional debut.
Connor Paolo:
Paolo's acting career began at the age of nine, with his first TV appearance on the soap opera All My Children (1970). In 2002, he played Zachary Connor, a preteen murderer-rapist in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). His motion picture debut was in 2003 Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated Mystic River (2003). In 2004, Paolo got a recurring role in the daytime soap opera One Life to Live (1968) as Travis O'Connell. Connor has appeared in two films for Oliver Stone, Alexander (2004) and World Trade Center (2006). Paolo has also starred in Snow Angels (2007), directed by David Gordon Green. Favorite Son was his first leading role in a movie.
Connor Paolo
Kellie Overbey
Kellie Overbey has appeared on Broadway in Present Laughter. She also starred in Steppenwolf's production of Buried Child, for which she received a FANY Award for Best Broadway Debut, 1996. Overbey's Off-Broadway and regional credits include work at Yale Rep., La Jolla Playhouse, Steppenwolf Theatre and work with playwrights Sam Shepard, Steve Martin, Jack Heifner, Beth Henley, and Christopher Durang. Most recently seen in the MTC Production of Comic Potential. For Film/Tv: Sweet and Lowdown and Stephen King's "The Stand." Overbey's first play, Oh, My Darling, has been optioned by Archlight Theatre.
Brian Gonsar/Producer is an award-winning Executive Producer at Hill Holliday. He has produced a wide range of projects including TV commercials, feature films, digital executions, live events, websites, apps, and music videos. He has worked both independently and with Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, General Electric, Cadillac, PepsiCo, JetBlue Airways, Optum, and AT&T. Most notably, he produced a Super Bowl commercial that featured a music video by U2 and raised millions of dollars for (RED). Brian followed Favorite Son with his second feature, Forgetting the Girl (2012), starring Christopher Denham and Anna Camp, which won awards at several film festivals.
Howard Libov/Director, Co-Writer wrote and and directed the films Men Will Be Boys, starring with Joel Murray (Second City, Mad Men) and David Pasquesi (Groundhogs Day, Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Sally Murphy (August: Osage County, Scent of a Woman); Little Man with Frankie Muniz (Malcom in the Middle) won “Best Dramatic Film” at the International Sports Short Film Festival, the “Silver Illumination” award at the Crested Butte ReelFest” and was selected for more than 25 film festivals. Libov is the director, and co-writer, of the feature films Midnight Edition, which starred Will Patton (A Mighty Heart, Remember the Titans) which won Best First Feature at the Festival of Fantastic Film in Spain. He is also the director of the award winning documentary films, Aglow and Fourteen Stations in the Under the Radar series about contemporary artists. Libov is the Director of Film Production in the B.A. and MFA programs at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he also serves as Chair of the School of the Arts.
Michael Stewart/Co-Writer is the screenwriter of Eye of the Storm, produced by Gale Ann Hurd and directed by Fred Schepisi (1991) and, with Libov and Yuri Zeltser, Midnight Edition (1993). As well, he and Libov wrote the short film, Little Man, which was developed into a feature film as Favorite Son. Stewart, a NYU graduate, began his career developing film and TV projects for such companies as Vizcom Inc, TriCoast Productions, and ArkType Productions.
Ben Wolf/Photography:Ben has over 20 years experience shooting both narrative features and documentaries. His recent work includes the horror film Another Soul (dir. Paul Chau), the drama MAKI (dir. Naghmeh Shirkhan), The Musical Life of an Actress (dir. Paul Chau), additional photography on Art Jones’ award-winning feature Forbidden Cuba, the horror film She Wolf Rising (dir. Marc Leland), Arthur Vincie’s lo-fi sci-fi film Found In Time and Shoja Azari’s Venice Biennale entry The King of Black. He recently shot the web series Breeding Grounds (dir. Susan Skoog), and the second season of The Other F Word (dir. Caytha Jentis). Ben’s long-form documentary work includes Amsterdam Stories USA (dirs: Rob Rombout and Rogier van Eck), which won awards in Portugal and Serbia. Deceptive Practice (dirs: Molly Bernstein and Alan Edelstein), a film on the magician Ricky Jay, screened throughout the U.S. , Food Chains (dir. Sanjay Rawal) premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. His work on Gold Mountain won him the Student Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Ben also teaches cinematography at DocNomads in Belgium, Montclair State University, and has taught lighting seminars at SVA, Brooklyn College, Wright State University, and SACAC in Delhi.
Emily Gumpel Clifton/Editor has more than 20 years experience in post-production, editing more than 25 feature films, shorts and television shows in that time. From her first professional gig - as intern on Ernest Dickerson’s film “Surviving the Game” (Ice-T, Rutger Hauer, F. Murray Abraham), working with the editor, Sam Pollard, who, as Emily says, "recognized my dedication and moved me into an apprentice position. Getting to stand behind him and watch as he worked, trying various takes, lengthening or shortening reaction shots, changing the order of lines, I began to understand the magic of editing. I knew right away that I wanted to do that. I wanted to learn how to tell stories. After assisting on 35mm features, I began cutting during the emergence of the first-generation Avid. In 1996, as a first assistant and eventually an editor, I developed the workflow for one of the first multi-cam reality shows, Baseball, Minnesota (FX, then Fox Cable). I now work with today’s tapeless HD workflows in both Media Composer and Final Cut Pro. Technology may have moved on, but the editor’s goal remains the same: to tell a compelling story, keep the audience engaged, and remember that the best cut is the one the audience doesn’t see. I see it as my job to help the director and producer achieve their vision, sometimes in a way that might even surprise them. I believe a good editor doesn’t impose a style, but develops an individual style for each project that best serves the story. One of the things I love most about editing is the variety of challenges that comes with working on many different types of stories. I’ve edited dramas, mysteries, comedies. Scripted features, verité documentaries, and reality tv. One was a project directed by Russell Crowe on his band's tour of Italy (60 Odd Hours in Italy); a television drama for ABC set in a psychiatric hospital (Wonderland); a verité documentary on a troubled rapper in East New York (Black Picket Fence); and several entertainment shows for Fuse and Vh1. Projects I’ve edited have won awards at several festivals including Sundance, Silverdocs, Brooklyn International, Urban World and Full Frame.
The Students at FDUFilm:Favorite Son was the first in a series of professional films, shows, and streaming web series crewed by students in the film production program at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. On set, the lead actors were professional (Screen Actors Guild) and the director and cinematographer were also professionals. But most all other crew positions were held, and their jobs done at a, well, professional level, by students in the program. The lighting crew, the camera and dolly crew, our Assistant Director, Production Designer, etc… all handled by students, who were given great responsibility and responded at that level of trust.
Murray Attaway: Original Score/Songs: The lead singer, guitarist and one of the founding members of the band Guadalcanal Diary, which recorded four albums from 1984 to 1989 on dB and Elektra Reccords. Murray's solo debut, In Thrall, was released by Geffen Records (DGC). Recorded in Los Angeles, the many talented players on the record included drummer Jim Keltner, keyboard players Nicky Hopkins and Steve Nieve, and features a cameo by Jackson Browne. The album was produced by Tony Berg. Murray also scored Libov's films "Little Man" and "Midnight Edition".
Check Out Murray Attaway's Work
Michael Edward Mills: Songs Mills is a founding member of the band R.E.M. Previously, he wrote the score for "Men WIll Be Boys", a short film also directed by Howard Libov. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire also includes keyboards, guitar, percussion instruments and occasional lead vocals. He contributed to a majority of REM's musical compositions.
A Note About the Content in Favorite Son
A lot of research went into the development and execution of Favorite Son, as part of our effort to accurately portray the devastating issue of childhood sexual abuse. As depicted in the film, some victims turn inward, away from contact with their friends and community. Others turn outward, often lashing out through their emotions, or with violence. In some studies, psychologists have found that a predilection toward violence against small animals, especially if it becomes more pronounced and moves up a ‘ladder’ from smaller to larger animals, can be a sign the victim might be on a path toward becoming a danger to people. That’s what we wanted to show in our film - that there were serious consequences on the horizon if the damage being done to Ross was not discovered - and if there was no intervention. That’s why some parts of our movie are, notably, difficult to watch. But they serve a purpose.
Favorite Son has these sorts of difficult, dramatic actions and outcomes, in common with some other films of note; for instance, Manchester By the Sea has its’ ‘surprise’ - and won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. We’re in good company - drama sometimes requires that we watch people in difficult circumstances, making bad choices.
It’s always been interesting to me that no one has ever mentioned or complained about the violence taken against people in the movie, as for instance when David Paxton is badly beaten up, based on false suspicions about him. But the violence which tells us Ross needs help, raises our eyebrows.
Finally, please know that it was never more true; no animals were injured during the making of our film. In fact, Jake the dog, became known as “First take Jake”, because he always got it right the very first time. He was sweet and friendly, and great to work with.
It is, after all, a movie.
Articles that document some of the incidence of sexual abuse against athletes:
• 13 Nassar Abuse Victims Seek $10 Million Each From F.B.I.
• Michigan State’s $500 Million for Nassar Victims Dwarfs Other Settlements
• It’s Not Just the Larry Nassar Case. We Are Failing Sexual Assault Victims Across the Country
• Gymnasts abused by Larry Nassar reach $380 million settlement with Olympic organizations
• Her Tennis Coach Abused Her. Could the Sport Have Prevented It? - The New York Times
•Abused by His High School Tennis Coach, He Now Protects Others - The New York Times
•Coalition for Empowered Athletes
•Inspector General Says F.B.I. Botched Nassar Abuse Investigation - The New York Times
•How Michigan football failed to protect one of its own from sexual assault - Sports Illustrated
•NCAA athletes more likely to be disciplined for sex assault
•I Am Breaking My Silence About the Baseball Player Who Raped Me - The New York Times
•Sexual Abuse in Sports: The most notorious cases - The Straits Times
•Simone Biles Withdraws – Star Says She Wasn't Mentally Right During Final - The New York Times
•Son of Bo Schembechler Says He Was Abused by Michigan Team Doctor - The New York Times
If you need help or know someone who does, here are some organizations that can be contacted: