Movie: Material Girls-End jan. 2006/Spring 2006

Jan 15, 2006 22:26

Material Girls is a light-hearted, teen comedy about a pair of “celebutante” sisters, who are famous only for being famous (much like another pair of infamous celebutante sisters). When their inheritance is stolen, they quickly discover who their real friends are, while also learning that there is more to real life than the glitz and glam of fame.

Teen Queen, Hilary Duff, and sister, Haylie Duff, are set to star in Material Girls. Hilary Duff made a name for herself as a teen mega-star with Disney’s hit TV show, “The Lizzie McGuire Show,” and since then she has become a teen movie icon with pictures like “A Cinderella Story,” “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” and “Cheaper By the Dozen.” Hilary’s commanding star power has made her a hot commodity in Hollywood, and it has helped her transition seamlessly into the music and retail industries.

In 2003, Hilary released a hit pop album entitled “Metamorphosis” (released by Buena Vista Records), and she has also developed her own clothing and cosmetics line, “Stuff by Hilary Duff.” Arguably the only teen pop star with the potential to rival or surpass the popularity of Britney Spears, Hilary is a force to be reckoned with in the TV, film, and music industries, and she will bring to Material Girls an unrivaled commercial value that will ensure box office success. Click here to see box office numbers for Hilary Duff and other teen stars.

Pop icon, Madonna, who famously coined the title, “Material Girl,” with her hit eighties’ single, will serve as an Executive Producer on this film, and will also have a cameo. Her production company and record label, Maverick, will produce the film and the film’s soundtrack featuring Hilary Duff singing a remake of the hit song, “Material Girl.”

Persia and Tanzie Marchetta are the famous Marchetta Sisters - two rich socialites who are the daughters of the late, great Vincent Marchetta, founder of the famous Marchetta line of cosmetics. Persia and Tanzie attend all the hottest parties and wear all the latest fashions. They are definitely Material Girls!
Persia and Tanzie are still very much affected by the death of their father - Tanzie still watches the shows that Vincent’s TiVo records for him. Persia and Tanzie see themselves as the face of the Marchetta Cosmetics Company now that their father is dead and limit their involvement in the company to frequent social events and parties. They attend the occasional meeting, including one that is to decide which non-profit organization will be the recipient of a donation made by a new foundation in their father’s name. They leave the meeting early, where Persia meets Henry, a lawyer with a Free Legal Clinic that provides free legal advice to anyone unable to afford a lawyer. Persia blows him off, but it’s not hard to see that romance may lie in their future!

Meanwhile, Tommy Katzenbach, a member of the Marchetta Cosmetics Board of Directors, is having a secret meeting with Roger Conway, the president of a rival cosmetics company called Fabiella. We learn that Tommy has been covertly working with Roger in an attempt to get the Marchetta girls to sell their company to Fabiella. Should he succeed in getting the girls to sell, Tommy’s prize is a lot of money and an invitation to join an elite country club that he would never be allowed to enter otherwise. Tommy reveals that he has a nasty plan to force the Marchetta girls to sell that will be revealed that night at the party that will introduce the Vincent Marchetta Foundation to the world.

At the party, the girls are emotional as they thank the Board of Directors and the guests for attending the party on their father’s behalf. Their speech is cut short, however, when a news story is displayed on the big screen behind them. The story accuses the Marchetta Company of performing illegal cosmetics testing on children, leaving two such children permanently tattooed with the colors of the make-up. The girls demand answers from their Board of Directors - who would have approved such testing, does it really happen, etc. The Board isn’t able to give them any answers.

The girls are immediately affected by the scandal - the public throws fruit at them and the press, who are usually very friendly, are vicious and mean, turning the villainous reputations of the Paparazzi into reality, chasing the girls through Manhattan on motorcycles.

(continued) The Marchetta Cosmetics stock plummets and the bank decides to call in several loans that the Marchetta girls have recently taken out. With their assets frozen, they find themselves broke. After their apartment is accidentally burnt down by one of Persia’s cigarettes, the girls go to the Hamptons to try to stay with some of their socialite friends. These “friends” refuse to help the Marchetta girls, not wanting to be seen with them and get “caught up in your little scandal.” The girls go to the Bronx to stay with their nanny and maid, Ines, where they mistake two kids for valet attendants and pass them their car keys, thereby losing their car and all their remaining clothing. The only things the girls have left are their father’s TiVo, a suitcase full of underwear, and a suitcase full of hats.
At the next board meeting, the board tries to push the Marchetta girls into agreeing to sell the company to Fabiella. They learn that, if they sell, their make-up will be sold under the Fabiella name, and their father’s name will be removed from all the make-up altogether. They also learn that 2/3 of their current staff would be laid off, although all the executives would retain their jobs. Persia notices that Tommy is wearing the pin for the rich country club that his deal with Fabiella got him into and immediately knows that something is up. They postpone the vote on the sale of the company until later in the week and leave, pretending that they need to go shopping. The girls research the rich country club and learn that the president of Fabiella is also a member. They realize that Tommy is doing something sneaky and call Laura Vale, another executive on the Board. They tell her their suspicions, and she agrees to help - but she is in on the scam as well!!!

The next day, Persia and Tanzie are set up for shoplifting and are arrested. Ines bails out the girls, and Persia contacts Henry, convinced that, since she is now poor, he will have to help her and provide her with free legal aid. Henry agrees to help her, as long as they agree to make a huge donation to the Free Legal Clinic once they have all their money back. At Henry’s apartment, Henry tells Persia that, no matter who approved the child testing, the company may never recover from the scandal. He believes, however, that if the child testing is a hoax, uncovering who was behind it may help save the company. The sparks fly between Persia and Henry, and they almost kiss - but then a big mouse shows up and Persia freaks out, insulting Henry’s sloppy nature and poor living conditions. Henry yells at Persia, calling her shallow and materialistic - “You’re all frosting and no cupcake.” Persia leaves in tears.

In their lowest moment, Ines tells Persia and Tanzie that they should never be too ashamed to ask the Madonna for help. So, they go to Madonna - the pop superstar! Madonna encourages them to never give up and keep fighting for what they believe in. The Marchetta girls return to their company and put their feet down - there will be NO sale. The Board decides that they will hold a stockholder vote to remove the Marchetta girls and sell the company anyway. The girls only have a few days to prove that the cosmetics testing scandal is a hoax!

The Marchetta girls sneak into the reporter who broke the scandal’s office and steal a copy of the raw footage of the household of the two little girls who were permanently tattooed with the make-up. Using the stock footage, they find the little girls’ home. They call the girls’ mother and pretend that the reporter will be coming by for a follow-up interview. The mother calls Tommy, frantic. The Marchetta girls are able to use their cell phones to take photos of the two little girls being made up with garish make-up by Tommy - they aren’t really tattooed at all - and send the photos to stockholders across America.

The stockholders who live across America send in hundred of proxy votes to keep the Marchetta girls as ChairWomen of the Board. But they are still about 300 votes shy!!! This isn’t a problem, however, when hundreds of stockholders who live nearby show up in person to place their vote for the Marchetta girls themselves! The Marchetta girls expose the hoax to the entire Board of Directors, capturing it all on hidden camera, and exposing Tommy, Laura, and the rest of the Board to the rest of the world. Persia apologizes to the stockholders for creating an image of herself that made the Board think that they could get away with trying to steal the company out from under them. She declares that, from this day forward, she will run the company the way her father ran it - and they will never have to worry about something like this happening again.

In the end, both girls take active roles in running their father’s company. Persia and Henry are reunited and fall very much in love. And Persia and Tanzie’s former socialite friends suddenly find that they can’t get tables in the upscale restaurants at which they used to be given the best tables.

Martha Coolidge, Director
Martha Coolidge was the first female president of the Directors Guild of America, serving as president from March 2002-2003. She is best known for directing Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and The City” on HBO, and Halle Berry in “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge” (1999). Martha Coolidge’s film credits include, “Lost in Yonkers,” starring Richard Dreyfuss; “Angie,” starring Geena Davis and James Gandolfini; “Three Wishes,” starring Patrick Swayze; “Out to Sea,” starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau; and the teen comedy “The Prince and Me,” starring Julia Stiles and Miranda Richardson.
Madonna,Executive Producer (Maverick Films)
Madonna is one of the most, if not the most, prolific female recording artists of our time. One of Madonna's greatest achievements is how she manipulated the media and the public with her music, her videos, her publicity, and her sexuality. Arguably, Madonna was the first female pop star to have complete control of her music and image. In 2001, she founded Maverick Films, making her segue into movie producing.

Maverick Films has developed its own fresh and distinctive approach to making movies. Under the supervision and guidance of CEO Mark Morgan, Maverick houses and supports a talented group of independent producers, who are encouraged to find, acquire and develop a broad range of properties that appeal to their individual artistic and commercial tastes. This approach has enabled Maverick to place nearly a dozen projects in various stages of development with major and mini-major motion picture studios. In addition, Maverick projects include "Queen of the Rodeo" for 20th Century Fox, "The Whale" for Dimension Films, "My Sassy Girl" for DreamWorks, "Feels Like the First Time" for Spyglass, "Agent Cody Banks 2" for MGM, "Alyx" at Touchstone/ABC, and "Gravedancers" with Neverland Films.

Guy Oseary, Producer (Maverick Films)
Guy Oseary founded Maverick Films with Madonna in 2001. He has produced several films, including “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London,” starring Frankie Muniz and Anthony Anderson; “Agent Cody Banks,” starring Frankie Muniz and Hilary Duff; “House of 1000 Corpses,” starring Bill Moseley; and “Turn It Up,” starring Ja Rule and Jason Statham.

Mark Morgan, Producer (Maverick Films)
Mark Morgan is the CEO of Maverick Films, He has produced or executive produced a number of movies including, “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London,” starring Frankie Muniz and Anthony Anderson; “Agent Cody Banks,” starring Frankie Muniz and Hilary Duff; “Slackers,” starring Laura Prepon and James King; “The Wedding Planner,” starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey; and “Beautiful,” starring Minnie Driver and Kathleen Turner.

David Faigenblum, Producer (Concept Entertainment)
David Faigenblum spent the early part of his career working with Lynda Obst (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE), Laurence Mark (JERRY MAGUIRE), Storyline Entertainment (CHICAGO) and Diane Keaton (FIRST WIVE’S CLUB). As an executive with Ms. Keaton's company, David was instrumental in expanding the development and production slate. In 1997, David went on to become Vice President at Michael Levy Enterprises, a management and production company. Two years later he struck out on his own as an independent manager/producer.

Concept Entertainment is a production and management company founded by David Faigenblum and Eve LaDue. They represent an international coterie of experienced and neophyte writers and directors. Concept has a first-look producing deal with Madonna’s Maverick Films. Eve and David recently sold the script “Dreamgirls” to Warner Brothers with Jamie Kennedy attached, and the Viagra comedy “Holy Water” to an independent production company. They are currently developing a wide array of material, including the comedy “Material Girls.”

Arclight Films (Foreign Sales)
Arclight Films is a leading sales agent and distributor based in Australia run by Gary Hamilton and Nicolas Chartier. Arclight Films is a film production, sales, and distribution company. Primarily involved in international sales, Arclight also has a development fund and is increasingly active in a production and co-producing role. In addition, the company has launched a theatrical distribution branch for the Australian market. Arclight has handled foreign sales on such films as “Lord of War” starring Nicholas Cage and Ethan Hawke, “Matador,” starring Pierce Brosnan, “Head in the Clouds,” starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, and “Merchant of Venice,” starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, and Joseph Fiennes.

Michael Mendelsohn, Executive Producer
As the Chairman and CEO of Patriot Pictures, LLC, Mr. Mendelsohn currently manages senior and mezzanine debt portfolios for banks and financial institutions specializing in entertainment. Mr. Mendelsohn has arranged production financing for over 258 films. He most recently executive produced “Lord of War,” written and directed by Andrew Niccol and starring Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke. He is also currently producing the fast-action lowrider movie, “Crenshaw Blvd,“ starring Nelly and Wilmer Valderrama, directed by Imani Shakur; “Material Girls,” starring Hilary Duff, directed by Martha Coolidge; “The Wretched,” starring Chow Yun-Fat, directed by Andrew Goth; and “Holy Cross,” executive produced by George Romero. Mr. Mendelsohn has also arranged financing for such films as Beacon Pictures and Wolfgang Peterson’s ”Air Force One;” Lakeshore Entertainment produced “The Mothman Prophecies;” the Wachowski Brothers’ “The Matrix;” Icon Pictures produced “What Women Want;” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”

Hillary Duff - for the role of "Tanzie"
Credits Include:“A Cinderella Story” (2004), “Cheaper By the Dozen” (2003), “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” (2003)

Haylie Duff - for the role of "Tanzie"
Credits Include: “NAPOLEON DYNAMITE” (2004), “THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE” (2003) (COMPOSER)
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