KEITH CARRADINE AND VALERIE PERRINE JOIN SECOND SEASON OF "CRASH"
Returning Dennis Hopper Joined By New Cast Members Eric Roberts, Tess Harper, Julie Warner, Dana Ashbrook and Linda Park
Premiere Scheduled on Starz September 18, 2009
Pasadena, CA., July 29, 2009 � Starz executives today announced the addition of Keith Carradine and Valerie Perrine to the cast of "Crash," a co-production of Starz Entertainment and Lionsgate, which launches its second season on Starz Friday, September 18th at 10:00 pm (et/pt).
Carradine (The Long Riders, "Deadwood") will play Owen Fields, a legendary sixties rock musician who was once a close friend of former music mogul Ben Cendars, played by Dennis Hopper. Perrine will appear as aging knockout Suzy Fields, Ben's former wife who left him years ago to marry Owen. Perrine was nominated for an Oscar� for her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 Lenny Bruce biopic Lenny, and also starred in Superman (1978).
Also new to the cast this season are Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, "Heroes") as Seth, a billionaire entrepreneur who plans to give L.A. a long desired new professional football team, Dana Ashbrook ("Twin Peaks," Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, "The Kill Point") as Jimmy, a charismatic gambler who plays fast and loose with the law; Linda Park (Jurassic Park II, "Star Trek: Enterprise") as Maggie, a children's book author who writes of a joyful life but has trouble living it; Jake McLaughlin (In the Valley of Elah) as Bo, a former high school pitching ace and shoo-in for the big league, but derailed by a career ending injury; Tess Harper (No Country for Old Men, Tender Mercies) as his mother Wendy, a middle-class San Fernando Valley shop-owner forever reliving Bo's glory days; and Julie Warner (Doc Hollywood, "Nip/Tuck") as Andrea, an ambitious and manipulative right hand woman to Seth.
The first original drama series from Starz Entertainment, "Crash" is from the producers of the Academy Award�-winning Best Picture. The drama is currently in production on 13 new episodes in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Andrew Bernstein ("Mad Men," "ER") directed the season premiere.
Dennis Hopper (Hoosiers, Speed, "24") reprises his role as legendary record producer Ben Cendars, just out of rehab and searching for clues surrounding a personal mysterious death; Ross McCall ("Band of Brothers," "CSI: NY") is former LAPD cop Kenny Battaglia, now a lowly strip mall security guard; Jocko Sims' (Jarhead, Dreamgirls) Anthony was Ben's former driver and prot�g�e, whom Ben turns to for help in his search; and Moran Atias (You Don't Mess with the Zohan) is Inez, who's forsaken stripping and is making serious cash working as a hostess at an exclusive men's club.
Headed by executive producer Ira Steven Behr ("The 4400," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"), the creative team for season two includes executive producer James DeMonaco (Assault on Precinct 13, The Negotiator), as well as executive producers Paul Haggis and Bob Yari, and co-executive producers Bobby Moresco, Tom Nunan, Don Cheadle, Mark Harris, Jorg Westercamp and Thomas Becker, all of whom were key members of the Oscar�-winning movie Crash. Glen Mazzara is consulting producer. New this year with Behr and DeMonaco are supervising producers Todd Harthan ("The Kill Point") and Elizabeth Benjamin ("Bones"), consulting producer Devon Shepard ("Weeds"), and executive story editor Jennifer Schuur ("Big Love"). Lester Berman (Superman) is producer.
Set in Los Angeles, the series will continue to focus on an ensemble cast of characters. Season two will revolve around the intersecting lives of Angelenos from different social strata as they seek their own versions of fulfillment.
Starz Media's Anchor Bay Entertainment will hold exclusive US distribution rights, including home entertainment, to the "Crash" series, while Lionsgate will retain international distribution.
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is the leading next generation studio with a strong and diversified presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand and digitally delivered content. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury, reality programming through its joint venture with ISH Entertainment and an array of channel platform assets. Lionsgate has nearly 20 television series airing or scheduled to air on 11 different networks from its in-house production operations, through distribution by Debmar-Mercury or as part of its ISH Entertainment joint venture. Its programming roster is headed by such critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking shows as Mad Men, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, Crash, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Meet The Browns, The Wendy Williams Show and Paris Hilton's My New BFF. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.
About Starz Entertainment
Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz� and Encore� brands with approximately 18.1 million and 31.9 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz HD On Demand, Encore HD On Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, and Starz Play. Starz Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and is attributed to Liberty Entertainment Group, a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.
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