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Alpha Dog – Production Information 2 

Production Information 

“You ever have that dream: the one where you did something... 

You don’t know why, but you can never go back?” 

—Johnny Truelove 

Versatile filmmaker NICK CASSAVETES (The Notebook, John Q) directs an 

impressive group of both young and veteran performers in Alpha Dog—inspired by 

actual events—a film that follows three fateful days when the lives of a group of 

Southern California teens suddenly dead-ended. 

In Alpha Dog, Cocky and headstrong Johnny Truelove (EMILE HIRSCH) is 

living the thug wannabe’s American dream as a mid-level drug dealer in a comfortable 

sector of the sprawling, privileged neighborhoods in Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Valley. 

For Johnny and his crew of bros, wannabes and suck-ups—landlocked in their suburban 

existence and burdened with too much time—their existence is a heady blur of partying 

and looking for the next thrill. The model of the good life they imitate comes to them 

from rap music, video games and movies, and they spend their conscious hours copying 

the thug existence they idolize. Johnny has a wad of cash, a beautiful girl on each arm, a 

thriving business and plenty of weed to keep all his friends stoned. 

Young, flush with money and at the center of their self-created universe—life for 

Johnny and his friends doesn’t come with any consequences. Anything can happen. And 

over the course of three days under the hot California sun, something does. 

Now, Cassavetes provides a startling and all-too-real look at contemporary youth 

culture with Alpha Dog, which tracks 72 hours in the lives of a group of Southern 

California teens—three days when everything suddenly spins out of control. The film 

features a powerful ensemble cast that includes BEN FOSTER (X-Men: The Last Stand, 

Phone Booth), SHAWN HATOSY (Little Athens, The Cooler), Emile Hirsch (Lords of 

Dogtown, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys), CHRISTOPHER MARQUETTE (Best 

Friends, American Gun), SHARON STONE (Bobby, Casino), JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE


(Edison, upcoming Shrek the Third), ANTON YELCHIN (upcoming Charlie Bartlett, 

television’s Huff) and BRUCE WILLIS (16 Blocks, Sin City). 

When raging hothead Jake (Foster) fails to come up with deal money he owes 

Truelove, the situation escalates into a battle for dominance that culminates with Johnny 

and his gang impulsively kidnapping Jake’s little brother, Zack (Yelchin). En route to 

Palm Springs, the group decides to keep the kid as a marker and slowly begins including 

him in their schedule, alternating between parties and slack time. With no parents in 

sight, they grow used to having him around. Under the temporary care of Johnny’s 

charismatic friend Frankie (Timberlake), Zack now enjoys an illicit summer fantasy of 

drinking, girls and new experiences. 

Out in the desert, everyone soon begins to lose sight that Zack is a hostage, a 

“stolen boy,” and he can’t just be simply returned. As the hours turn into days, solutions 

to the Zack problem begin to dwindle. Bad decisions are followed by worse ones. 

Johnny’s dad (Willis) attempts to track down his son and convince him to return the 

hostage. With police called in by the boy’s distraught mother (Stone), the situation grows 

even more complex, and Johnny finds himself out of his league with no idea how to fix it. 

For Johnny, the line between playing a thug and becoming one soon blurs, and very real, 

very adult and very dire consequences result for everyone involved. 

Alpha Dog is produced by SIDNEY KIMMEL (Trust the Man, The Emperor’s 

Club) and CHUCK PACHECO (Characters, upcoming God Is a Bullet). Joining 

Cassavetes behind the camera is an esteemed group of filmmakers, including director of 

photography ROBERT FRAISSE (Hotel Rwanda, The Notebook), production designer 

DOMINIC WATKINS (United 93, The Bourne Supremacy) and editor ALAN HEIM 

(The Notebook, American History X).


ABOUT THE PRODUCTION 

In summer 2000—before the release of his films The Notebook and John Q— 

filmmaker Nick Cassavetes found himself putting pen to paper to outline a story about 

some of the types of teens who populated his daughter Gina’s high school. He pondered 

what would happen if a group of kids took a prank way too far, and made a series of 

decisions and missteps that would ensnare them in a situation from which they could not 

be extricated. 

While researching the family life of some of these San Fernando, California, 

Valley kids, Cassavetes found their home dynamics to be surprising and particularly 

compelling. These stories would quickly find their way into a screenplay. “I expected to 

find a bunch of spoiled, disaffected rich kids raised by parents with a great sense of 

ennui, and that’s not what I found at all,” he explains. “What I ended up finding, which 

frankly I’m guilty of in my own life, was that it’s a complicated world now where both 

parents have jobs and get caught up in their own lives. The by-product of that is you find 

yourself ‘checking in’ with your children to find out if they’re okay, where they are going 

to be and if they need any money…instead of putting in the time and hanging out with 

them.” 

Cassavetes continues, “That was the thing that impressed me the most and was the 

common thread among almost all of these people. Most of them were people I wouldn’t 

find great fault with. The problems were born out of letting all these children get 

together and make decisions without any kind of parental guidance or interference, and 

they could create the ‘perfect storm’ of circumstances and coincidences that would allow 

something to happen that never should have.” 

After many discussions with colleagues and extensive research about the types 

who inhabit this world, Cassavetes would create the screenplay for Alpha Dog. He found 

one of the keys to unlocking the script lay in the way these alpha-teens spoke. “These are 

not really good kids that just lose their way for one weekend. I wanted to use language 

that I think the kids use, which is very offensive and almost an assault. But for me, that 

would give the film a type of genuineness. I didn’t want to back away from them being 

unsympathetic. Children can be ugly. They haven’t had their time to get their routines


and their personalities in order. They have many rough edges, and I didn’t want to lose 

that.” 

Veteran producer Sidney Kimmel, head of Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, found 

the project to be a great package for his company, which was built on a diverse offering 

of intriguing, offbeat stories helmed by talented filmmakers. He offers, “Nick comes 

from the best of Hollywood talent, and has made his own name with his actor-driven 

films and his acting work. He’s able to easily shift gears—moving from the romance of 

The Notebook to the gritty realism of Alpha Dog. I was extremely enthusiastic to get 

behind this picture. It’s an unflinching look at what can happen when a series of bad 

turns leads to even worse consequences. It’s a kind of cautionary tale about 

contemporary culture, but it doesn’t preach.” 

With financing secured and preproduction under way, Cassavetes began the 

search for actors who could bring life to his characters. 

Assembling the Pack: 

Casting the Film 

Once the project began, Cassavetes brought in casting directors Nancy Green- 

Keyes and Matthew Barry, who began identifying the actors whose talents were the most 

appropriate for these roles. Fortunately, the process went quickly. The scripts went out 

and, save scheduling issues, there wasn’t a single actor who didn’t quickly sign on to be a 

part of the production. 

Cassavetes explains his casting process: “I don’t audition people, because I don’t 

believe in it as a practice. I think that certain actors are great auditioners and kind of 

average actors, and certain actors are average auditioners but really great actors. What 

I’m looking for when I try to find someone for a part is someone who’s interested in their 

character, and someone that can communicate how they work, and we can share a kind of 

commonality in the way we work. 

“I think there are only two types of actors,” he continues. “Those who can and 

those who can’t. And if you can, we’ll get there. I have made some mistakes before, and 

I’m sure that other people have made some mistakes with me. My style doesn’t


necessarily work with everybody, however. Actually, there’s an adage around me—you 

want to be one of the first actors to meet me because I can’t stand refusing anybody. But 

I was also extremely lucky in casting Alpha Dog, because nearly almost all of the first 

people I saw for the parts were the perfect people to play them.” 

The role of egomaniacal ringleader Johnny Truelove went to young up-and- 

coming actor Emile Hirsch, who appeared in the films Lords of Dogtown, The Girl Next 

Door, The Emperor’s Club and The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. “Emile read the 

script and loved it,” recalls Cassavetes. “He said he had to do the part and after meeting 

him, I thought he would be a great Johnny Truelove.” 

“My first reaction to the script was how great the drama was,” remembers Hirsch. 

“The script made my heart pound. It took me into the world of these kids and made me 

ask myself what I would do in that situation. It’s a powerful script that sucks you into a 

scary, dark abyss and forces you to find your way out.” 

Hirsch knew that tackling the role with such depth would be a great exercise as an 

actor. “My character has a really wild arc,” he explains. “In the beginning, Johnny is 

extremely cocky and is in full control of his world. By the end, he has lost everything he 

has. The transition makes him lose his spine and turns him into a little boy, so there’s a 

lot of humility in the role.” 

For the role of Sonny Truelove, the enigmatic father to Johnny and businessman 

operating on the outskirts of the law, the filmmakers had the opportunity to work with 

veteran actor Bruce Willis. 

Cassavetes had hoped that Willis would be available and interested in portraying 

Sonny, and he had forwarded a copy of the script to the actor’s agent. “We weren’t even 

sure we had it in the budget, but it was still something we really hoped for.” Willis 

signed on and proved to be a fiercely dedicated presence, on-set and off. 

The writer/director remembers, “During preproduction, Bruce ended up doing as 

much research as practically anybody in the film, for a part that he could have easily 

walked through. He understood his part very well. He was the champion of this film.” 

Sidney Kimmel offers, “To have such an amazing cast with some of the brightest 

talent coming up, along with powerhouse veterans like Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone, is 

a testament to the power of this story.”


For Willis, the attraction was in the mix of filmmaker, subject and cast. He says, 

“The character of Sonny is one that really drew me in. He has developed this amazing 

philosophy about life and family and totally believes in his own truth. Actually, because 

of what he was, what he passed down to his son, he contributed to what ended up 

happening. When an alpha dog has a son, he raises him to be one as well—some kind of 

pack-mentality rule. Nick’s script told the story with razor accuracy, but in these 

amazing, observant strokes.” 

The type of father-son relationship between Sonny and Johnny lays the moralistic 

framework for the choices that Johnny makes in lifestyle and ethics, raising questions 

about the extent of parental influence and the resulting outcome of events. “Sonny is the 

ultimate alpha dog and Johnny learned everything from him,” comments Hirsch. “In 

terms of parenting, it’s not that Johnny’s been neglected so much as equipped with 

bazookas when all other kids are not.” 

After locking in Hirsch and Willis for Johnny and Sonny Truelove, the 

filmmakers set out to find a group of talented young actors to create Johnny’s gang. 

After initially meeting Justin Timberlake for his prior film The Notebook, Cassavetes 

knew the musician/actor would be a perfect fit for the role of charismatic, likable Frankie 

Ballenbacher. “To me, the toughest character to embody in the story is Frankie, because 

he befriends the kid and allows these events to happen,” explains Cassavetes. “I told 

Justin that I wanted him to do it, and he called me back a few seconds later and said he 

was in.” 

“Nick is an incredible writer, and after reading the script I thought this was a story 

that people should hear,” remembers Timberlake. “It’s not just about gangs, drugs or bad 

kids, it’s about family and parenting, or lack thereof. In essence, the story is about what 

one small situation can escalate into when you’re ignorant to the possibilities and the 

consequences.” 

Timberlake was attracted not only to the colorful character and inherent humor of 

Frankie, but also the ethical questions the situation presented. “Frankie is probably the 

biggest smack talker in the group, so if that’s not fun to play, then I don’t know what is,” 

explains Timberlake. “I also think that of all the characters in Johnny’s crew, Frankie


probably has the most heart and doesn’t think it’s going to go as far as it does, and that’s 

what wins it for me.” 

For the role of Elvis Schmidt, the member of Johnny’s crew who remains 

somewhat of an outsider and carries through on the order to kill Zack Mazursky, 

Cassavetes chose actor Shawn Hatosy, whom he directed in John Q. “Elvis is an 

extremely challenging part to play and I knew that I needed someone who wasn’t just 

good, but was sensational,” says Cassavetes. 

“Nick is a dear friend and an amazing talent and I’ll take advantage of any 

opportunity to work with him,” explains Hatosy. “On top of that, it just so happens that 

he wrote an amazing script and I think it’s a story that needs to be told.” 

Hatosy’s character exists at the bottom of the hierarchy in Johnny’s gang and 

endures unlimited abuse and indentured servitude to Johnny over a debt. With multiple 

siblings in jail and having grown up without a father figure, Elvis looks to Johnny as a 

brother and Sonny as a father. “I don’t think Elvis sees himself the way everybody else 

sees him—he sees himself as an equal to the group,” comments Hatosy. “When there’s a 

problem and Johnny needs him to step in, Elvis feels like he is not only working off his 

debt to Johnny, but being the hero.” 

Actor Ben Foster was brought in by casting agents for the role of Jake Mazursky, 

the intense tweaker who clashes with Johnny and sets the destructive wheels of the story 

in motion. “I met Ben once and told him then that he had the part,” recalls the director. 

“He asked me if I wanted him to read, and I told him that it wasn’t necessary. I knew 

from Ben’s work that he would bring even more to Jake than what I had written.” 

“The aspect of Nick’s script that I responded to the most was that I cared about 

the characters,” recalls Foster. “These aren’t exactly likable people, but they’re kids, and 

it’s easy to forget that. They are trying to figure out the difference between being men 

and playing gangster, and not realizing that the line between playing and becoming is 

really thin.” 

“Typically, you would cast someone bigger in this type of role,” reflects 

Cassavetes. “Ben is slight, and also happens to be an amazing actor. But I thought it was 

great to go against somewhat stereotypical thinking, and the results are pretty frightening.


All the credit should go to Ben, because he came in knowing what part he wanted to play. 

He knew the attack he wanted to take, and it worked.” 

Foster knew that repeat offender Jake would be a fun character to inhabit and 

would provide great contrast to Johnny’s assumed (and fairly hollow) gangster 

tendencies. “Jake has been a lot of fun to play, very dark, but fun,” observes Foster. “He 

has a crystal meth addiction and when he says he’s going to break your skull, he probably 

will. While Johnny’s gang does mostly play-pretend gang violence, Jake’s lifestyle is 

actually legitimate in the sense that he isn’t just posturing; he is what he seems to be. 

When Johnny and Jake meet and butt heads, it’s like two different worlds colliding.” 

When the two egos collide, the situation escalates quickly, and neither Johnny nor 

Jake is willing to back down. While Johnny wouldn’t normally respond so extremely to 

another member of his crew if challenged, he knows that if he weakens his stance—even 

slightly—to Jake that Jake will walk all over him. “When Jake starts to cause trouble, 

Johnny takes a moment to consider who he’s dealing with,” explains Hirsch. “He makes 

the separation between Jake and the other guys and handles the situation a little 

differently and with greater force.” 

That clash sets off a domino chain of events, an arms race of unchecked macho 

wills. After the latest retaliatory episode, Johnny is presented with an opportunity and 

makes an on-the-spot (and unwise) decision without a thought to long-term 

consequences. While on their way to a party in the desert, Johnny, Frankie and friend 

Tiko spot Jake’s younger brother Zack—who has just fled his home rather than face 

another fight with his parents—and, on a whim, they decide to kidnap him as a marker 

for Jake until money due is paid. 

For the role of young and impressionable Zack, Nick Cassavetes chose young star 

on the rise Anton Yelchin, who, at age 17, already has an extensive list of film and 

television credits to his name. 

“Anton is able to bring all of the conflicting emotions of Zack—his need to 

please, his need for independence, his rejection of his upbringing, his devotion to his 

brother. A lot of the female characters tend to treat him like a lost puppy, but he’s not 

that simple. He’s got bite, but he’s at odds with where he is in his life, confused with no


longer being a kid but not yet a man. Anton conveys all of that beautifully,” comments 

Cassavetes. 

While under the care of Frankie, Zack is treated to a few days of living the 

lifestyle of those in Johnny’s gang. He casually mingles with their friends, enjoys the 

pleasures of their female companions and partakes in their drinking and drug use. 

Without believing that he is truly in danger, Zack attempts to become accepted by his 

abductors and eventually feels like he is a part of their inner circle. 

“When Zack gets kidnapped, he seeks the approval of these guys because he 

wants away from his parents and wants to help his brother, and he doesn’t mind hanging 

out with them,” explains Yelchin. “Because of his general good nature, he trusts that 

they wouldn’t do him any harm and eventually, he believes he is becoming friends with 

them.” 

While on the surface Zack seems to have stable, loving and supportive parents, 

their heightened involvement in his life and their desire for him not to follow in his elder 

brother’s footsteps actually has the opposite effect—it leads to his propensity to rebel. 

“Zack’s mother wants to do the right thing by her kid but can come off as a control freak, 

and you can’t really blame him for wanting her to lay off,” says Yelchin. “While it’s 

easy to say that not being a part of your kid’s life is poor parenting, the way in which you 

are involved is equally as important.” 

For the role of Zack’s mother, Olivia Mazursky, Cassavetes knew he had to find a 

performer who could tackle the character’s great emotional depth and despair. He found 

her in accomplished actor Sharon Stone. “While writing the script, I wasn’t thinking 

about whom I was going to cast. The character is an Earth mother who is a little ‘too 

much,’ and I knew it was something that Sharon might do. After Sharon signed on, we 

had the building blocks of what we were going to do.” 

Stone comments that she was familiar with Cassavetes’ work, both of them 

having “grown up in the Hollywood community,” and found him to be an extremely 

interesting and “superbly gifted filmmaker. He sent me this script with a letter that asked 

me to look at this part which wasn’t very big, but he used the word ‘fulcrum’—she’s a 

fulcrum in the piece.”


“Sharon was one of the first actors to sign on to the project,” recalls producer 

Sidney Kimmel. “She brought her trademark intensity, professionalism and gutsy 

dedication to her portrayal of this wounded woman battling her own demons.” Indeed, 

Stone had to endure several hours in makeup for a particular sequence, exemplifying her 

level of commitment to the project. 

For Stone, the role of Olivia resonated on many levels, and provided her with a 

multilayered character that she relished bringing to life. “From the moment I read the 

script, I looked at this part from two perspectives—from the perspective of a grown 

woman who is a parent, and from the perspective of a teenager , having grown up 

knowing people like this and having struggled through the experience of being put in 

difficult situations as a teenager. Also, it’s an incredible honor and journey to be able to 

play someone like her and tell a story like this. I knew we were in good hands with Nick 

and that he would bring a great deal of integrity.” 

Like Willis, Stone immersed herself in the world of the troubled mother. She 

relates, “During my research to play Olivia, I asked myself every horrific, tough, real 

question I needed to ask to play this part.” 

The filmmakers rounded out their large acting ensemble with other talents that 

include Christopher Marquette as good-natured slacker Keith; Olivia Wilde as Johnny’s 

girlfriend, Angela; Lukas Haas as Buzz, an old school friend of Johnny’s; Amanda 

Seyfried as Julie, who provides Zack with his first real fling; Harry Dean Stanton as 

Sonny’s compatriot, Cosmo; Dominique Swain as Susan, whose conscience eventually 

forces her into action; Alan Thicke as Angela’s father, Douglas; David Thornton as Ben 

and Zack’s father, Butch; and Heather Wahlquist as Ben’s girlfriend, Wanda. 

Designing the Despicable: 

Preparation for and Shooting of Alpha Dog 

Before production began, in true Cassavetes fashion, the director explored an 

unconventional approach to preparing the actors for their roles. Instead of the customary 

scene rehearsals in the weeks leading up to the start of principal photography, the young


performers were put through a fitness program that involved intense workouts and a very 

strict diet, all of which were supervised by the director’s brother, Frank. 

The characters in Alpha Dog have known each other for a while, having gone to 

school together and lived in the same neighborhood since early childhood. The challenge 

for their creator, then, was how to replicate that sense of camaraderie born out of years of 

being together. “They have a certain ease and familiarity with each other, and how do 

you direct that? I don’t happen to believe that blood is thicker than water—that if you’re 

stuck in the same house with somebody it gives you a proper amount of time to develop a 

deep relationship with that person. I think that’s why we’re close to our parents, our 

brothers and sisters, because we’ve been forced to live with them…it’s shared misery. 

And I had to think of a way to make these kids ‘miserable’ together. 

“So I got them all to come to this house in the [San Fernando] Valley at the crack 

of dawn to start training. And a little bit in, they started getting into it. Pretty soon they 

were cracking jokes and challenging each other, and even showing up 15 minutes early to 

the sessions—and this was already really early in the morning. And I knew I had them 

when they called and told me that they wouldn’t do any more unless I came, too. So I 

dragged my fat, old ass to training every day. And they laughed at me when I couldn’t do 

some of the stuff, and I got to laugh at them, also. Pretty soon, I realized that we would 

move on to set together as a unit. As a pack. They would trust me. I would trust them.” 

This process created a bond among the actors that allowed them to organically 

explore their characters and helped to create an environment of familiarity. “I don’t 

know if Nick had a clear plan for what he wanted to accomplish with the preparation 

process, but I think it was more instinctual,” explains Foster. “We ended up cutting out 

the world and creating our own little subculture away from where we live. It was like 

forming a little cult where you create a different language and environment that really 

brings everyone together. 

“Outside of Nick just wanting to torture us, what that process did was create a 

strong sense of who we were with each other, of camaraderie,” adds Timberlake. “It’s 

interesting because when characters butt heads in a script, actors tend to act that way 

towards each other in real life. I think, however, that the closer you get to someone 

before shooting, the easier it is to have conflict onscreen, because you feel comfortable


with each other. Although the process was grueling, it definitely heightened our 

performances.” 

In addition to the group’s physical preparation process, the actors were provided 

with materials with which to familiarize themselves to help them gain understanding of 

the types of people who informed Cassavetes’ development of their characters. 

Dealing with a story as complex as Alpha Dog, actors are confronted with a 

particular challenge—just how much real life is bled into the on-screen character? “I 

thought long and hard about how to create the character Frankie,” recalls Timberlake. “I 

took the opportunity to really develop my own character from Nick’s words.” 

Actress Olivia Wilde, who plays Johnny’s thrill-seeking girlfriend, Angela, found 

it challenging to play a character lacking a great deal of ethical merit. “What I heard 

around the set is that a lot of people felt a little uncomfortable playing these characters, 

because they didn’t necessarily like them. As an actor, you get used to playing characters 

that you have some empathy for, that you can really understand and might even have a 

real connection with. On this film, there were days when I felt a little dirty, having to 

make these people human to allow the audiences to get closer to them.” 

Although the material was challenging and schedule grueling, the actors found 

inspiration in each other. “Nick put together a cast of workhorses and nothing inspires 

competition, excitement or pleasure like knowing that people are coming to the table with 

their guns loaded,” says Ben Foster. 

“The cast is a plethora of very hungry actors who love the process,” explains 

Timberlake. “Everyone brought their A-game, but that’s what Nick brings out of you. 

He creates an environment where you feel extremely comfortable and throw it all out on 

the table. He gets different options from you and then decides what’s best in the edit.” 

All in the ensemble laud Cassavetes for his thorough knowledge, commitment and 

creativity during the process. 

“Nick is a brilliant writer/director and really knows how to communicate with 

actors and everyone on the set,” says producer Chuck Pacheco. “It’s amazing to watch 

him go through the process of writing the script and watch it develop into that movie that 

was originally in his head.”


Timberlake agrees that Cassavetes’ prior acting experience offers a depth of 

understanding not always present when working with other directors. “Nick’s right there 

with us in the scene and the fact that he’s had experience in front of the camera helps 

tremendously, because he knows how to relay the message to the actor. 

“He’s a very dynamic director and is all heart,” continues Timberlake. “Nick’s 

not about being a diplomat—he’s an emotional director, and I respond to that. He’s also 

very honest and admits when he doesn’t know something and if you have something 

better, he allows you to bring it out. He makes you feel comfortable; nothing is taboo.” 

“Nick doesn’t work from angst or bloodletting,” says Foster. “He sets the tone for 

joyful creating, which says that we can come into work and have a really good time, but 

also maintain a focus and make something that has value.” 

To help create the backdrop of Alpha Dog, Cassavetes enlisted cinematographer 

Robert Fraisse, with whom he had worked on The Notebook and whose extensive resume 

boasts such films as Enemy at the Gates, Ronin and Hotel Rwanda. The filmmaker’s 

choice of Fraisse blatantly knocks out the assumption that such a project as Alpha Dog— 

with its unflinching look at a dark and troubling story—necessarily “look the part,” 

replete with indie-type grittiness and feel. The choice of an award-winning 

cinematographer (who received worldwide attention for his lush photography that added 

gloss and incandescent heat to L’Amant, a story of forbidden love set in 1929 French 

colonial Vietnam) would go miles toward accomplishing this. 

Explains Cassavetes: “Just as this world is seductive to the participants, we 

wanted the film to also look seductive. Robert really got into the script and had definite 

ideas that synched with ours.” 

However, in keeping with the indie spirit that informed a great deal of Alpha Dog, 

production utilized a panoply of locations in Southern California, in and around the San 

Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles. They also traveled to the desert and the resort 

community of Palm Springs, and shot in the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park near Agua 

Dulce Spring, California. 

****


While avoiding an overtly philosophical or judgmental tone, Alpha Dog touches 

on many larger themes present in American society and youth culture. “The film is about 

the new suburban, white, middle-class American dream of young people…which seems 

to be wanting to be gangster,” observes Olivia Wilde. “There’s a lack of identity that 

seems prevalent in a world where kids went to good schools but had their eyes closed. A 

lot of these kids had good parents, but also had a lot of freedom and didn’t know what to 

do with it.” 

“America, by nature, is about counter-culture and our counter-culture heroes are 

criminals, the guys on the outside,” argues Cassavetes. “Our young look up to and try to 

emulate criminal culture. The kids take on all the affectations of being those types of 

people, even though they’re not, and what can happen is one day they have to become 

that. When you ‘talk the talk’ and halfway believe you are something that you’re not, at 

some time, you will have to back it up to prove yourself. That’s where the trouble 

begins. If you have a gun in your hand and someone calls you out, you just might have to 

use it. You hear white American kids talk about these things—they listen to music that 

introduces them to the criminal culture, their language and violence—and after a while, it 

becomes a part of who they are.” 

The combination of an accomplished group of actors and a steadfast dedication to 

an honesty in storytelling from a passionate writer/director give Alpha Dog an 

unexpected poignancy, sandwiched in between an unflinching look at a tough story. 

“I think audiences should expect a really emotional film,” says Hirsch. “The film 

highlights everything going on in these kids’ lives at the time, and it’s quite ridiculous at 

some points; the jokes are totally wild and crude. However, there’s a certain sensitivity 

and it reminds you that these characters really are just kids.” 

“I don’t think this film is pointing the finger at America, because everybody has 

the right to their own family and its dynamics,” reflects Timberlake. “Everybody was 

young once and thought they were indestructible. As a young person, it never crosses 

your mind that life is delicate, but you eventually find this out through your own 

experiences. At the end of the day, you realize that these characters are not simply just 

bad kids. The story is a perfect example of ignorance, naiveté and not fully 

understanding the consequences of life and death.”


But for writer/director Cassavetes, the sad occurrences detailed in Alpha Dog 

don’t dissolve into easy answers, no matter how scrutinizing his film might look. He 

closes, “The experience for me from making this movie is to try to understand how this 

could happen.” 

Stone echoes the sentiments of the cast and crew as she encapsulates the “tragic 

flaw” at the heart of Alpha Dog: “Standing up and saying, ‘This is my mistake; this is 

what I did—now what can be done to fix it?’ This is part of being the best human you 

can be. We’re not perfect. We’re going to fail small, and we’re going to fail big. But I 

think a lot of people don’t learn this. They don’t learn it from their parents, their 

community, their job. We learn fear of failure—one mistake and you’re out. And I 

think this is a lot of what happened to those kids in the story. They made this mistake of 

taking this kid, and this is the consequence. You see them acting like others that they’ve 

seen in society. But in truth, they are kids. You see them vacillating between being 

children and acting out like bad adults—and they don’t have the tools to deal, so they 

choose a truly horrendous way out of an already dreadful situation.” 

Universal Pictures and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Present A VIP 

Medienfonds 2/A-Mark Entertainment Production of A Nick Cassavetes Film: Alpha 

Dog, starring Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon 

Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin and Bruce Willis. Casting is by Matthew Barry, 

CSA, and Nancy Green-Keyes, CSA. The music is by Aaron Zigman; the music 

supervisor is Spring Aspers. The film’s associate producer is Michael Mehas. The editor 

is Alan Heim, ACE; the production designer is Dominic Watkins; and the director of 

photography is Robert Fraisse. The executive producers are Marina Grasic, Andreas 

Grosch, Jan Körbelin, Andreas Schmid, Steve Markoff, Robert Geringer and Avram 

Butch Kaplan. Alpha Dog is produced by Sidney Kimmel and Chuck Pacheco. The film 

is written and directed by Nick Cassavetes. A Universal Release. ©2006 Universal 

Studios. www.alphadogmovie.com


ABOUT THE CAST 

Still in his 20s, BEN FOSTER (Jake Mazursky) has already established himself 

as one of the industry’s most promising and accomplished talents, having appeared in 

numerous film and television projects with some of Hollywood’s most respected actors 

and directors. 

Segueing effortlessly from intimate drama to big-screen action, Foster was most 

recently seen as Angel in the worldwide blockbuster smash X-Men: The Last Stand, 

starring opposite Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen and Anna 

Paquin; and as Mars Krupcheck in the crime-action thriller Hostage, opposite Bruce 

Willis. 

Prior to that, audiences were well aware of his superlative dramatic efforts 

through his recurring role on HBO’s lauded continuing drama Six Feet Under, in which 

he starred as Russell, the artistic and troubled on-again, off-again boyfriend to Lauren 

Ambrose’s Claire. For his work, Foster received (along with the cast) the SAG Award 

for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama. 

Foster’s additional credits include eclectic and impressive performances in both 

television and film. Foster appeared in Artisan Entertainment/Marvel Studios’ The 

Punisher, based on the Marvel Comics hero Frank Castle; Northfork, a Polish brothers’ 

film, opposite James Woods, Anthony Edwards, Daryl Hannah and Nick Nolte; as well as 

11:14, starring opposite Hilary Swank, Colin Hanks and Rachael Leigh Cook. He also 

received a 2003 Daytime Emmy Award for his dramatic portrayal of Trevor Adams in 

Showtime’s original film Bang, Bang, You’re Dead. 

Foster’s big break came when director Barry Levinson chose him to star as Ben 

Kurtzman in his Baltimore-based coming-of-age feature Liberty Heights. Foster has also 

been seen in the Emmy-nominated HBO ensemble drama The Laramie Project and in 

Joel Schumacher’s Phone Booth. 

Upcoming for Foster are roles in the Western drama 3:10 to Yuma, alongside 

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and in David Slade’s horror-thriller 30 Days of Night, 

opposite Josh Hartnett.


One of the most versatile actors of his generation, SHAWN HATOSY (Elvis) 

continues to expand upon his already impressive resume by starring in two highly 

anticipated films. In addition to Alpha Dog, Hatosy stars in George Hickenlooper’s 

Factory Girl for the Weinstein Company this coming February; in it, he portrays 

attempted savior to Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller). 

Also on the horizon is the indie film Nobel Son, in which it is revealed through 

various twists and turns that Hatosy’s character is the illegitimate son of Nobel Prize- 

winning researcher Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman). More recently, he wrapped the 

drama Disconnected, in which he stars opposite Nikki Reed. 

Among Hatosy’s resume of two-dozen-plus films are Robert Rodriguez’s The 

Faculty, with Josh Hartnett; Wayne Wang’s Anywhere But Here, opposite Natalie 

Portman; In & Out, with Kevin Kline; The Cooler, which once again paired him with his 

Outside Providence co-star Alec Baldwin; A Guy Thing, with Julia Stiles; Borstal Boy, in 

which he starred as acclaimed Irish poet Brendan Behan; and Simpatico, with Jeff 

Bridges. 

Hatosy’s talent has also afforded him the opportunity to work for several actors- 

turned-directors, including his film debut in Jodie Foster’s Home for the Holidays, Kevin 

Costner’s The Postman and Scott Caan’s CineVegas Critics Award winner, Dallas 362. 

In the realm of critically lauded telefilms, Hatosy most recently starred as John 

McCain in A&E’s Faith of My Fathers, as well as in Frank Pierson’s Golden Globe- 

nominated Showtime drama Soldier’s Girl and the Emmy-nominated Witness Protection 

for HBO. Also receiving critical recognition is his recent guest turn as a schizophrenic 

on John Wells’ ER. 

Hatosy is equally adept at performing in front of a live audience. In his most 

recent stage credit, he landed the coveted role opposite Al Pacino in Lyle Kessler’s 

Orphans at the Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles. Hatosy also received accolades 

for his stage debut as the title role in the La Jolla Playhouse production of The Collected 

Works of Billy the Kid. Off-Broadway, he starred opposite Anna Paquin in the Paul 

Weitz comedy Roulette. 

Originally from Frederick, Maryland, Hatosy currently resides in Los Angeles.


Combining leading-man good looks and innate acting talent, EMILE HIRSCH 

(Johnny Truelove) is a young star on the rise. Since his arrival in Hollywood, he has 

starred in numerous major motion pictures, for which his performances have received 

acclaim from both critics and industry peers alike. 

Most recently, Hirsch was seen in Sony’s highly anticipated drama Lords of 

Dogtown, for Thirteen director Catherine Hardwicke. Based on the critically acclaimed 

documentary Dogtown and Z Boys, it follows a group of California surfers who take their 

style to the streets, thereby launching the skateboarding phenomenon. Emile stars as the 

legendary, real-life character Jay Adams, opposite Heath Ledger. 

The young actor was also seen in Imaginary Heroes, starring opposite Sigourney 

Weaver and Jeff Daniels. This touching dramatic role about a family dealing with the 

death of its oldest son lets you experience the reality of human behavior within a grieving 

family. The film made its debut at the acclaimed Toronto Film Festival and was followed 

with a wide, national release. 

Hirsch also recently starred in Fox’s feature film The Girl Next Door, a romantic 

comedy that co-stars Elisha Cuthbert. In it, he plays a high-school senior who is a type-A 

overachiever (head of the business society, involved in student government, etc.) and is 

applying for admission to Ivy League universities when he falls for the beautiful new girl 

in school (Cuthbert), who happens to live next door. Craziness ensues when Hirsch’s 

character realizes that she is an ex-porn star, and it becomes his mission to rescue her 

from her old life. Hirsch took home a Movieline Magazine Young Hollywood Award for 

his performance. 

Prior to that, Hirsch received rave reviews for his performance in the Stanley 

Tucci production The Mudge Boy, in which he plays the title role. His character is an 

emotionally disturbed farm boy who is forced to deal with the death of his mother and its 

ramifications on his personal life, as well as his troubled relationship with his father. The 

film was in competition at 2003’s Sundance Film Festival. 

Hirsch also starred opposite Kevin Kline in Universal’s release The Emperor’s 

Club. In the role of Sedgewick Bell, he played a wealthy and well-connected prep-school 

student who manipulates his professor (Kline) into compromising the code of ethics that 

the professor holds so dear.


Prior to the Emperor’s Club, Hirsch received critical acclaim for his starring role 

in the Jodie Foster-produced The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (2001), opposite Vincent 

D’Onofrio and Kieran Culkin. The film tells the story of a group of Catholic school 

friends, who, after being punished for drawing an obscene comic book, plan a heist that 

will outdo their previous pranks and make them local legends. Jodie Foster starred in as 

well as produced the drama. Altar Boys marked the U.S. feature-film debut for Hirsch. 

Hirsch’s past credits include the Showtime movie Wild Iris, directed by Dan 

Petrie, Sr., opposite Gena Rowlands and Laura Linney. 

Hirsch has a number of projects in various stages of production. Upcoming are 

the ensemble crime drama The Air I Breathe, also starring Kevin Bacon, Julie Delpy, 

Brendan Fraser and Sarah Michelle Gellar; the big-screen version of the harrowing 

factual story of Christopher McCandless, entitled Into the Wild, from writer/director Sean 

Penn and based on the best-selling book; and writer/director David Gordon Green’s 

college-set drama Goat, based on the memoir of Brad Land. 

Born in Los Angeles and raised there and in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Hirsch was 

drawn to acting at a young age. He currently lives in Venice. 

CHRISTOPHER MARQUETTE (Keith Stratten) was born in Stuart, Florida, 

on October 3, 1984, the eldest of three boys. He began modeling in Dallas at the age of 

four, and worked in commercials and industrial films throughout Texas. At the age of 

eight, following his family’s move to New York, he made his feature-film acting debut in 

Sweet Nothing, playing the son of Mira Sorvino. He performed on the Broadway stage in 

A Christmas Carol (playing Tiny Tim) and in the drama An Inspector Calls. 

Marquette has built a strong television following by playing Tony Danza’s son; 

being a series regular on ABC’s Aliens in the Family; and guest-starring on such shows 

as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Law & Order. He has also made appearances on the 

American Teachers Awards, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Saturday Night Live. 

The young actor got a crash course in piano playing for his starring role in the 

feature film The Tic Code (with Polly Draper and Gregory Hines), in which he portrayed 

a jazz piano prodigy who suffers from Tourette’s syndrome. His performance earned him 

a Best Child Actor award from Italy’s Giffoni Film Festival.


He has guest-starred on ER and twice on two very different episodes of CBS’ 

Touched by an Angel. His guest appearance on Fox’s Boston Public led to the network’s 

casting him as a series regular on Pasadena, playing Dana Delaney’s son. He also landed 

the recurring role of Rosa Blasi’s son on Lifetime’s episodic Strong Medicine. Series 

regular work followed in the popular Joan of Arcadia, in which he starred as Adam Rove, 

the friend and love interest of Joan (Amber Tamblyn). 

He continued to rack up feature-film roles with New Line’s Freddy vs. Jason, 

starring as Linderman (alongside Jason Ritter and Robert Englund), and 20 th Century 

Fox’s The Girl Next Door, starring opposite Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert for 

director Luke Greenfield. He starred in American Gun, which was a highlight at the 2005 

Toronto Film Festival. Additional feature film credits include the indie Graduation. 

Upcoming for Marquette is the Disney/Spyglass thriller The Invisible, starring 

opposite Justin Chatwin and Margarita Levieva for director David S. Goyer; Fanboys, 

produced by Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Productions; and a leading role in Fred 

Durst’s The Education of Charlie Banks. 

Marquette donates his time to the Sunshine Foundation, the Cancer Society, 

Special Olympics and Pediatrics AIDS volunteer work. 

Since her starring role in Basic Instinct, the top-grossing film of 1992, SHARON 

STONE (Olivia Mazursky) has become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading 

ladies. Stone recently reprised her role as Catherine Trammell in Michael Caton-Jones’ 

Basic Instinct 2. The film hit theaters in March 2006. Stone was also seen this year on 

the small screen in episodes of Showtime’s hit Huff. 

Stone was seen in Jim Jarmusch’s comedy Broken Flowers, which was the 

runner-up for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and stars Bill Murray and 

Jessica Lange. Stone starred in the action-adventure Catwoman, opposite Halle Berry. 

Previously, Stone starred opposite Dennis Quaid in the thriller Cold Creek Manor. 

Stone received her first Emmy Award for Best Outstanding Guest Actress in a 

Drama Series for her three-episode role on The Practice, playing Sheila Carlyle, a 

successful attorney who claims God speaks to her and who has been subsequently fired 

from her law firm for being mentally incompetent. Stone has also received an Academy


Award® nomination and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion 

Picture Drama for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Casino, in which she starred opposite 

Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. The Universal Pictures’ release, set in the world of Las 

Vegas casinos in the 1970s, depicted a story of greed, betrayal and a power struggle that 

transformed the legendary gaming capital. Later, she starred opposite writer/director 

Albert Brooks in USA Films’ The Muse. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for this 

wry comedy that poked fun at Hollywood; it co-starred Andie MacDowell and Jeff 

Bridges. Stone also co-starred in Fine Line’s Simpatico, based on Sam Shepard’s play of 

the same name, with Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges. 

Stone’s other film credits include Intersection, with Richard Gere, directed by 

Mark Rydell for Paramount, and the psychosexual thriller Sliver, directed by Phillip 

Noyce and co-starring William Baldwin and Tom Berenger, also for Paramount. 

Previously, Stone starred in and served as co-producer in TriStar’s The Quick and the 

Dead, opposite Gene Hackman, directed by Sam Raimi. She also co-starred with 

Sylvester Stallone in the blockbuster action-thriller The Specialist. 

Born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Stone is the second of four children. Long 

before she became a commercial model, she demonstrated a driving interest in acting, 

which she pursued throughout her schooling, studying privately with a drama teacher. 

After winning several local beauty pageants and a writing scholarship to Edinboro 

College, where she majored in creative writing and fine arts (with a minor in art history), 

Stone began a modeling career. She was immediately signed by Eileen Ford in New 

York and was soon modeling throughout the world. 

Before her success in Basic Instinct, Stone garnered attention as the secret agent 

masquerading as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s loving wife in Total Recall, directed by Paul 

Verhoeven, who also directed Basic Instinct. Her first (albeit fleeting) film appearance 

was as the blond goddess glimpsed by Woody Allen on a passing train in Stardust 

Memories. 

Stone’s first major film role was in Irreconcilable Differences, playing the 

conniving young actress-girlfriend of Ryan O’Neal. 

Stone starred in the gripping prison drama Last Dance for Disney/Touchstone, 

directed by Bruce Beresford, co-starring Rob Morrow; and in Sphere, with Dustin


Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson, directed by Barry Levinson, based on the novel by 

Michael Crichton. 

Additionally, Stone starred in and executive-produced the critically acclaimed The 

Mighty for Miramax Films. Stone received a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal 

of a mother of a disabled child, played by Kieran Culkin; Harry Dean Stanton and Gena 

Rowlands co-starred in the film. She also starred in the remake of John Cassavetes’ 

Gloria, directed by Sidney Lumet for Columbia TriStar and starred in HBO’s critically 

acclaimed If These Walls Could Talk 2, opposite Ellen DeGeneres for director Anne 

Heche. 

Two-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE 

(Frankie Ballenbacher) has transitioned into acting. With five major motion pictures 

completed or set to be completed, Timberlake is receiving critical acclaim for his 

work. 

Timberlake came to prominence as a member of the band *NSYNC in 1996. The 

group still holds the record for releasing the fastest-selling album of all time, “No Strings 

Attached,” in 2000. Timberlake wrote many of the songs on the group’s albums. When 

*NSYNC went on hiatus in 2002, he decided to launch a solo career. He performed his 

debut single, “Like I Love You,” at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards and released his 

debut solo album, “Justified,” in November of that year, selling more than seven-million 

copies worldwide. Timberlake recently co-wrote and co-produced tracks on his second 

solo album, “Future Sex /Love Sounds.” 

In addition to being a successful singer, songwriter, producer and actor, Justin 

Timberlake’s philanthropic efforts were recognized when he was asked to speak at 

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Youth Philanthropy Conference at the White House. He 

founded The Justin Timberlake Foundation supporting music education and the arts in 

public schools and also lends assistance to many musical causes. Timberlake’s 

commitment to conservation and environmental issues is further evidenced by the recent 

partnership of his foundation with the Jane Goodall Institute. 

Timberlake will soon appear in the films Black Snake Moan, Richard Kelly’s 

Southland Tales, and voice a young King Arthur in the animated film Shrek the Third.


ANTON YELCHIN (Zack Mazursky) began to act professionally in 1999 at the 

mere age of nine. He made his film debut in the independent film A Man Is Mostly 

Water, and has worked continuously since then in films such as Hearts in Atlantis with 

Anthony Hopkins (which earned him a 2001 Young Artist Award for best performer); 

Delivering Milo, opposite Albert Finney and Bridget Fonda; 15 Minutes with Robert De 

Niro and Ed Burns; A Time for Dancing with Peter Coyote; and Along Came a Spider 

with Morgan Freeman. He also starred in David Duchovny’s feature directorial debut, 

House of D, with Robin Williams, for which he earned a Breakthrough Award from 

Hollywood Life for his performance. 

Anton will next be seen in Lionsgate’s Fierce People, opposite Diane Lane and 

Donald Sutherland, and MGM and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment’s Charlie Bartlett, 

opposite Hope Davis and Robert Downey Jr. 

On television, Yelchin starred in Showtime’s original drama Huff as Byrd, Hank 

Azaria’s teenage son. Yelchin has had a number of prominent guest-starring roles on TV 

shows, such as ER, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Without a Trace, The Practice, Judging Amy 

and NYPD Blue. 

His other television credits include the Showtime original film Jack, alongside 

Ron Silver and Stockard Channing; the Disney musical telefilm Geppetto, with Drew 

Carey; and the USA Network miniseries Taken, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. 

In his spare time, Yelchin enjoys honing his skills on the guitar and piano. 

BRUCE WILLIS (Sonny Truelove) has demonstrated incredible versatility in a 

career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin 

Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, the philandering contractor in Robert Benton’s Nobody’s Fool, 

the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys, the traumatized Vietnam 

veteran in Norman Jewison’s In Country, the compassionate child psychologist in M. 

Night Shyamalan’s Oscar®-nominated The Sixth Sense (for which he won the People’s 

Choice Award) and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the Die Hard trilogy. 

Willis (whose recent films include Hostage, Sin City, 16 Blocks, Lucky Number 

Slevin and Over the Hedge) will next be seen starring in the upcoming feature film


Perfect Strangers, co-starring Halle Berry. Willis will reprise his portrayal of Detective 

McClane in Die Hard 4, which he is currently filming. 

Following studies in Montclair State College’s prestigious theater program, the 

New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television 

commercials before landing the leading role in Sam Shepard’s 1984 stage drama Fool for 

Love, a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway. 

Willis achieved international stardom and garnered several acting awards 

(including an Emmy and a Golden Globe) for his starring role as private eye David 

Addison in the hit TV series Moonlighting, a role that he won over 3,000 other 

contenders. He made his motion-picture debut opposite Kim Basinger in Blake Edwards’ 

romantic comedy Blind Date. In 1988, he created the role of John McClane in the 

blockbuster Die Hard. He reprised the character in two sequels, Die Hard 2 and Die 

Hard: With a Vengeance, 1995’s global box-office champ. 

His wide array of film roles includes collaborations with such respected 

filmmakers as Michael Bay (Armageddon), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, 

Unbreakable), Alan Rudolph (Mortal Thoughts, Breakfast of Champions), Walter Hill 

(Last Man Standing), Robert Benton (Billy Bathgate, Nobody’s Fool,), Rob Reiner (The 

Story of Us), Ed Zwick (The Siege), Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), Barry Levinson 

(Bandits), Robert Zemeckis (Death Becomes Her) and Antoine Fuqua (Tears of the Sun). 

Other motion picture credits include The Jackal, Mercury Rising, The Whole Nine 

Yards (and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards) and Disney’s The Kid. He also voiced the 

characters of the wisecracking infant Mikey in Look Who’s Talking and Look Who’s 

Talking Too, and Spike in the animated Rugrats Go Wild! 

Willis also maintains a hand in the theater. In 1997, he co-founded Company of 

Fools, a nonprofit theater troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in 

the Wood River Valley of Idaho and throughout the U.S. He starred in and directed a 

staging of Sam Shepard’s dark comedy True West at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey, Idaho. 

The play, which depicts the troubled relationship between two brothers, was aired on 

Showtime and dedicated to Willis’ late brother, Robert. 

An accomplished musician, Willis recorded the 1986 Motown album “The Return 

of Bruno,” which went platinum and contained the No. 5 Billboard hit “Respect


Yourself.” Three years later, he recorded a second album, “If It Don’t Kill You, It Just 

Makes You Stronger.” Last year, he launched a U.S. club tour with his musical group, 

The Accelerators. 

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS 

In his desire to create personal films marked by narrative authenticity and 

universal resonance, NICK CASSAVETES (Written and Directed by) embraces the 

tools of classical filmmaking while always remaining true to his independent roots. This 

deft blending of craft and intensity, the timeless and the immediate, comes in Cassavetes’ 

latest film, Alpha Dog. 

Released on February 15, 2002, New Line’s John Q stars Denzel Washington as a 

father who goes to increasingly desperate lengths to save his son from a potentially fatal 

illness. Buttressed by a gifted ensemble cast (including Robert Duvall, Anne Heche, Ray 

Liotta and a standout performance by Kimberly Elise), as well as elegant visuals and a 

moody, orchestrated score, the film achieves a rare and winning combination of drama, 

suspense, poignancy and realism. 

Currently, Cassavetes is developing several projects that reflect both his 

versatility and his passion for compelling narrative. He recently completed writing and 

will direct an adaptation of Tim O’Brien’s National Book Award-winning novel, Going 

After Cacciato, a hallucinatory dark comedy about a private who deserts his post during 

the Vietnam War. In addition, Cassavetes is penning and will executive-produce an 

updated version of his late father John’s classic noir film The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, 

for director Sam Bayer. 

Cassavetes’ facility for character-driven intimacy was evident in his 

writing/directing debut, Unhook the Stars, starring Gena Rowlands, Marisa Tomei, 

Gérard Depardieu, Moira Kelly and Jake Lloyd. An incisive and deeply felt drama about 

a lonely widow whose lust for life is rekindled through a series of unlikely relationships, 

the critically acclaimed film was recognized by the National Board of Review, while also 

garnering Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Rowlands and Tomei.


That was followed a year later by Miramax’s She’s So Lovely, a bold and 

unflinching drama about the inexorable bonds of love starring Sean Penn, John Travolta, 

Robin Wright Penn, James Gandolfini, Debi Mazar and Harry Dean Stanton. Co-adapted 

by Cassavetes from his father’s script, the film garnered two awards at the 1997 Cannes 

Film Festival, including a Best Actor Award for Penn, as well as a Golden Palm 

nomination for Cassavetes. In addition, Wright Penn received a Best Actress nomination 

from the Screen Actors Guild, and She’s So Lovely was named Independent Film of the 

Year by Details magazine. 

A one-time student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Cassavetes began 

his career as an actor, appearing in such films as Just Like Dad, Blind Fury, Quiet Cool, 

The Wraith and Twogether, as well as on television in NBC’s L.A. Law and Quantum 

Leap and in CBS’ critically acclaimed Shannon’s Deal. Most recently, he starred 

opposite William H. Macy in Henry Bromell’s Panic, with Johnny Depp and Charlize 

Theron in New Line’s The Astronaut’s Wife and opposite Eddy Murphy and Martin 

Lawrence in Ted Demme’s Life. In addition, Cassavetes appeared as playwright Robert 

E. Sherwood in Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle and opposite John 

Travolta and Nicolas Cage in John Woo’s Face/Off. 

In addition to his work as a director, Cassavetes has penned several feature 

projects for New Line, including Blow, The Godforsaken and Unless That Someone Is 

You. 

Veteran producer SIDNEY KIMMEL (Produced by) is chairman and CEO of 

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, the Los Angeles- and New York-based production, 

finance and distribution company. 

Active in the motion-picture industry for more than 20 years, Kimmel is 

responsible for such pictures as Blame It On Rio, 9½ Weeks and The Emperor’s Club. 

His passion as an independent producer eventually led to the founding of Sidney Kimmel 

Entertainment in October 2004. Producing up to 10 features per year, the company 

works with esteemed filmmaking talent to create quality, commercial films. 

Kimmel and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, in association with Universal 

Pictures, recently financed Paul Greengrass’ critically acclaimed United 93, as well as


executive-produced Billy Ray’s Breach, starring Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillippe and Laura 

Linney, to be released February 16, 2007. 

Kimmel is producing a diverse slate of films for release in 2007. He is currently 

in production on Craig Gillespie’s Lars and the Real Girl, starring Ryan Gosling, Patricia 

Clarkson and Emily Mortimer, and Marc Forster’s screen adaptation of the acclaimed 

novel The Kite Runner. He is currently in post-production on Jon Poll’s Charlie Bartlett, 

starring Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr. and Hope Davis; Ira Sachs’ Marriage, 

starring Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams; Kasi 

Lemmons’ Talk to Me, starring Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor; and Frank Oz’s Death 

at a Funeral, starring Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage and Ewen Bremner. 

In addition to his success in filmed entertainment, Kimmel founded Jones Apparel 

Group in 1975, which has since grown into a $4.5 billion diversified fashion industry 

empire. Still active as the chairman of Jones’ board of directors, he has also established 

the Sidney Kimmel Foundation and its subsidiary, the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for 

Cancer Research, which is one of the nation’s largest individual donors to cancer 

research. Kimmel is extremely involved in philanthropic endeavors benefiting his 

hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Jewish education and continuity. He recently 

oversaw the opening of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, home 

of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra. He is also a partner in Cipriani 

International, the acclaimed international restaurant and catering establishment, and is a 

part owner of the Miami Heat. 

CHUCK PACHECO (Produced by) is currently in production on writer/director 

Nick Cassavetes’ next project, God Is a Bullet. The film tells the story of a cop who 

teams with a former slave of a cult leader to bring the organization to justice. God Is a 

Bullet is scheduled for release in 2007. Previously, Pacheco served as a producer on 

director Kevin Tyler Asch’s 2005 comedy short Characters and as co-executive producer 

on director Bob Joyce’s 2001 short Drum Solo. 

ROBERT FRAISSE (Director of Photography), a native of France, was 

nominated for an Academy Award® and a César (the French equivalent) for his


cinematography in the screen adaptation of L’Amant (The Lover), which Jean-Jacques 

Annaud directed. The pair have also collaborated on Wings of Courage, Seven Years in 

Tibet and Enemy at the Gates (which netted Fraisse a nomination from the British Society 

of Cinematographers). Fraisse’s more recent film credits include the historical drama 

Luther; the moving, fact-based Hotel Rwanda; and the Francis Veber comedy La 

Doublure (The Valet). 

Other credits include: Ronin, starring Robert De Niro and Jean Reno; Vatel, 

starring Gérard Depardieu, Uma Thurman and Tim Roth; Season’s Beatings/La Bûche; 

Citizen X; Un Crime; La Passerelle; Keys to Tulsa; La Gitane;, Le Jumeau; Lady 

Chatterley’s Lover; Emmanuelle 2; and The Story of O. Upcoming for Fraisse is 

Goodbye Bafana, a film about a South African prison guard and his charge—a man 

named Nelson Mandela. 

DOMINIC WATKINS (Production Designer) began with a successful art design 

career creating sets for nightclubs, which served as an entrée into music videos. His 

collaborations with such top recording artists as Christina Aguilera, LL Cool J, Madonna, 

Janet Jackson, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Kylie Minogue 

helped to fashion some of their most distinctive music videos. Segueing into television 

commercials, Watkins designed the spots for such leading companies as Coca-Cola, XM 

Radio, Visa, Mercedes-Benz, MCI, Nike and Honda, to name a few. 

Watkins made his feature-film production design debut with the thriller Wicked, 

starring Julia Stiles and Billy Moses. He went on to serve as production designer on 

director Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II, starring Will Smith; on Paul Greengrass’ worldwide 

hit thriller The Bourne Supremacy; and on Greengrass’ most recent work—the harrowing, 

fact-based drama United 93. 

ALAN HEIM, ACE (Editor) has been a creative presence in feature films for 

more than four decades, having begun work as a sound editor on such films as The 

Pawnbroker, The Group, The Producers and Rachel, Rachel. Currently the president of 

the American Cinema Editors (ACE), Heim has edited over 30 projects for feature film 

and television and has received repeated awards recognition for his efforts.


Heim received the Academy Award® for Best Film Editing for the 

groundbreaking All That Jazz, also picking up the ACE’s Eddie Award and a BAFTA 

statue for the film. His memorable work on the now classic film Network garnered him 

Oscar®, Eddie and BAFTA nominations. He received an Emmy nomination and was 

also awarded the 2000 Eddie for Best Edited Motion Picture for Non-Commerical 

Television for the biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, starring Halle Berry. He won 

an addition Emmy for his editing work on the miniseries Holocaust and a BAFTA 

nomination for the recently re-issued television special Liza With a “Z.” 

His work was most recently seen in Nick Cassavetes’ poignant romantic drama 

The Notebook; the romantic comedy Carolina, starring Julia Stiles and Shirley MacLaine; 

the comedy The Adventures of Pluto Nash with Eddie Murphy; and the thriller Bless the 

Child with Kim Basinger and Jimmy Smits. His additional feature film editing credits 

include American History X, Copycat, Billy Bathgate, Valmont, She’s Having a Baby, 

Star 80, Hair, Lenny and Godspell. 

As vice president of soundtracks and supervision at Island/Def Jam LA, 

SPRING ASPERS’ (Music Supervisor) keen insider’s knowledge and hands-on 

experience has made her an invaluable addition to the soundtracks of some of the hottest 

films of the past decade. Some of the feature films with soundtracks driven by her 

musical supervision are: Jessica Bendinger’s Stick It, with Jeff Bridges and Missy 

Peregrym; Sanaa Hamri’s Something New, starring Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker; the 

holiday family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours, with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo; the 

Martin Lawrence comedy Rebound; the road comedy Are We There Yet?, with Ice Cube 

and Nia Long; the Queen Latifah/Jimmy Fallon starrer Taxi; Garfield: The Movie, from 

director Peter Hewitt; Howard Deutch’s sequel comedy The Whole Ten Yards; The 

Fighting Temptations, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles; Daddy Day 

Care, starring Eddie Murphy; and Marcus Raboy’s Friday After Next. 

Aspers’ additional feature film credits include All About the Benjamins, Dr. 

Dolittle 2, Big Momma’s House, The Whole Nine Yards, Next Friday, The Big Lebowski, 

To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday and White Man’s Burden.


Composer AARON ZIGMAN’s (Music by) previous collaborations with 

filmmaker Nick Cassavetes have resulted in two B.M.I. awards for film music: for The 

Notebook and John Q. 

Zigman’s scoring work can be heard in a number of feature films that cover a 

wide range of subjects and styles—from the recent, heartwarming drama Flicka to the 

dancing dramas Step Up and Take the Lead, from the crime thriller 10th & Wolf to the 

coming-of-age stories in ATL and Akeelah and the Bee. 

The composer’s work can also be heard in Kevin James Dobson’s The Virgin of 

Juarez, starring Minnie Driver; Ron Underwood’s In the Mix, starring recording 

sensation Usher; Andrew and Luke Wilson’s The Wendell Baker Story, with Luke Wilson 

and Eva Mendes; and Sean McNamara’s Raise Your Voice, starring Hilary Duff. 

Upcoming for Zigman is the fantasy adventure Bridge to Terabithia. 

Zigman also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song for 

“Sim Shalom” from Crown Heights. 

—alpha dog—

Verleih CONCORDE-FILM Rosenheimer Straße 143 b 81671 ...

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