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Dear Mr. Cash
was the Featured Film for 2005 How About Dinner and a Movie?
Dear Mr.
Cash
was the Featured Film for
2005 How
About Dinner and a Movie?
Benefits
Park Center
DEAR MR. CASH, winner of the 2005
Sarasota Film Festival's BEST OF THE
FEST, is an original screenplay written
by Wendy Cooper-Porcelli of Los Angeles.
Dear Mr. Cash was the featured film
screening at Nashville's Belcourt Theatre on
Thursday, February 24 for the Park Center
benefit How About Dinner and a Movie?
Park Center is an agency that serves
individuals with mental illness through
comprehensive and integrative services
focusing on needs, choices and strengths
promoting personal growth and improved
quality of life. This organization, under
the direction of Barbara Quinn, President
and CEO, addresses the problems of
joblessness and homelessness that often go
with being mentally ill by giving the
members job training, helping them find jobs
and a place to live independently in a Park
Center owned house or apartment. Park
Center also deals with drug and alcohol
addiction which occurs in 50% of these
cases.
 The
evening began with a silent auction at 5:30
p.m. with dinner and the screening
following. Chairperson for the event was
Barbara Daane of Nashville, honorary chair
of the event was Tipper Gore of Nashville.
George Haley, Chairman of the Park Center
Board was in attendance. The silent auction
items were a big hit. Some guests said it
was the best silent auction they'd ever
seen.
Dear
Mr. Cash features Writer/Director Wendy
Cooper-Porcelli in the starring role as
Miranda. Matthew Carlton (A Death in the
Family, Existo, Stuey) also of Nashville
co-stars as Johnston Sawyer. Robert Lynn of
Nashville (On Music Row, Stuey,
As the World Turns, Civil Brand)
co-stars as Thomas. Anna Grace Stewart of
Nashville makes her film debut as Heicke.
Carlton and Stewart were in attendance, as
were supporting actors Wes Motley and Ruby
Guidara. 
Special
guests included: Congresswoman Marsha
Blackburn and her husband, Chuck, their son
Chad along with State Senator Douglas
Henry. Maxine Roberts with Lt. Governor Wilder's office was in attendance. Whitney
Daane, owner of Mighty Isis Music
Publishing; Sam Stumpf, President of Board,
Watkins School of Art & Design; Tony Brown,
head of Universal South Records; Karen
Conrad, Sr. VP of BMG Music Publishing, Andy
van Roon, President of Film Nashville,
Jennifer Andrews, Director of Film, Mayor's
Office; Peggy Walton Walker (co-writer,
Free Willy; actress, Charlie's War,
Best Friends, Blue Valley Songbird
), and Dr. and Mrs. John Witherspoon.
Crew in
attendance: Producer, Tamara Trexler;
Co-Producer, Dave Hodgin, Music supervisor
for Dear Mr. Cash, Anastasia Brown;
Michaelle Vanderpool, Department Head,
Makeup/Hair and Locations Manager, Mark
Levine. Molly Stewart, Assistant to the
Producers for this event was also in
attendance.
 The
Warren Brothers (Better Man, Move On
and That's the Beat of a Heart)
appear in the film in cameo roles.
As the
writer of the film, Cooper-Porcelli brings
her vision to the screen with innovative
technique telling a charming story set in
the picturesque countryside of Middle
Tennessee. Dear Mr. Cash is a story
of ten-year-old Heicke, who chooses to live
in her imagination and ignore the harsh
realities of her family life. Her uncle
recently died and her dad has moved away.
Obsessed with the music of Johnny Cash,
Heicke self appoints herself as President of
his local fan club. A mysterious Aunt shows
up and Heicke is convinced that she is a
mermaid. Heicke sees her family travel from
recovery to rebirth…and accepts her family's
shortcomings, learning in the process that
reality is not such a bad place when you are
surrounded by people who love and accept you
for who you are.
Cooper-Porcelli is a graduate student in the
Cultural Studies department at Claremont
Graduate University in Claremont,
California. Her next film project,
scheduled to shoot in Nepal next year, is a
documentary on a Buddhist nunnery and
orphanage for Tibetan children.
Producer of Dear Mr. Cash is Tamara
Trexler, former Director of Film for
Nashville, (Co-Producer, Charlie's War
and Co-Producer, Funny Valentine--both
films recently screened at Sarasota
Florida's film festival). Trexler explains
why she and her business partner, Wes Motley
(Co-Producer, Funny Valentine;
Producer, Shadow Sailing), are intent
on helping to make Nashville more visible to
the world as a viable production center with
television and feature films. "There's
such a talented, solid crew base here," said
Trexler, "and we have the studios, equipment
houses and editing facilities necessary for
all aspects of making a feature film." 
Co-producer is Dave Hodgin of Nashville
(Transportation Coordinator, Charlie’s
War, Transportation Captain, The
Green Mile, The Last Castle), The Unit
Production Manager is Stephanie Reeves, of
Nashville, founder of the Nashville Film
Video Association (ACM Video of the Year,
Producer, Brooks and Dunn, Only in
America; Production Coordinator,
Charlie's War). The Director of
Photography is Alex Vlacos (Ruby in
Paradise; Shalom Y'all) from the San
Francisco Bay area.
Music
supervisor for Dear Mr. Cash is
Anastasia Brown of Nashville. Represented
by Creative Artists Agency's Rod Essig,
Brown's credits include music supervision on
Leslie Bohem and Steven Spielberg’s Emmy
Award winning mini-series, Taken.
Brown also served as executive producer of
the Taken soundtrack, securing a
label that released a soundtrack on CD.
Artists on the label include: Dinah
Washington, Wynn Stewart, Eddie Cochran, Bob
Dylan, Roy Orbison, Swimming Pool Q’s, Mary
Lou Lord, Jackson Brown, Brenda Lee, Buddy
Miller, Love and Emmylou Harris. Brown also
served as music supervisor and consultant on
numerous independent productions, such as
the critically acclaimed documentary, THE
DANCE – The Billy Roth Story, executive
produced by Nicolas Cage. Brown continues
her work with Bohem in their 2005
mini-series, Nine Lives. Brown is
also the music supervisor for feature films
One Stupid Thing and documentary,
Heard It On The X. She also served as
music supervisor on Alabama Love Story
and Charlie’s War. As an A & R VP and
personal manager, Brown has worked with
artists Waylon Jennings, Leon Russell, Keith
Urban, Sting, John Berry, Junior Brown and
Peter Frampton. 
Other
actors in supporting roles are: Miles
Porcelli as Henry; Mahlea Jones as Sirena;
Kayleigh Baggett as Lulu; Raven Dunn
portrays Bridget; Shane Almgren plays
Victor; Jim is played by Eric Strahan;
Bridgett Petraitis as Katherine; Lori
Laningham as Mrs. Thompson; Ashley Robinson
portrays young Miranda; Ned Hildebrand plays
young Johnny D., Wilson Pruitt along with
Will and Hunter Amonett portray young boys
in the film.
Dear
Mr. Cash has received press attention
since the film wrapped. Dear Mr. Cash
was featured on the September 2004 cover of
the Florida based Markee Magazine and
April 2004's Production Update,
professional trade magazines for
filmmakers. In addition, Dear Mr. Cash
was the cover of Southern Exposure
magazine last winter.
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All pictures by
Matthew Starling
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