HouseQuake A Film for Television and Theatrical Distribution Click Above to View Trailer HouseQuake is a feature-length documentary about the Democratic takeback of the U.S. House of Representatives. The film follows seven key races around the country and the strategies of both parties’ national leaders. BACKGROUND   The 2004 elections granted Republicans more concentrated power than in nearly a century. Yet within a few months, the political environment grew turbulent. Two-thirds of the public thought the country was headed in the wrong direction. We marked the Iraq war’s three-year anniversary. President Bush’s approval ratings reached an all-time low. Tom DeLay resigned from office after being indicted on ethics charges. Both parties struggled to connect with disillusioned voters.  Democratic leaders saw their chance to seize the minimum of 15 seats they needed to take back control of the House and began plotting a strategy. The man at center stage of this effort was chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Rep. Rahm Emanuel. He spearheaded a determined effort to recruit, train, and finance challengers to Republican candidates in strategically chosen districts. Republicans prepared to play defense.   THE RACES In dramatizing the results, HouseQuake employs a combination of the political and the personal. It captures the emotional drama, high stakes, furious pace, and historical implications of this race, giving the audience a view of the political process that is rarely revealed in the media.  We get inside seven of the most competitive and compelling races across the country. We’re behind the scenes with candidates on both sides as they strategize, share personal struggles, and enter the campaign battlefield.   ·       In Illinois-6, a recently returned Iraq war veteran who lost her legs in a grenade attack makes her first run for office against a seasoned state senator. ·       In North Carolina-11, a former NFL quarterback takes on an eight-term incumbent facing ethics charges.   ·       In Indiana-8, a straight-talking young sheriff challenges a champion of the religious right. ·       In California-11, the environmental movement targets their greatest nemesis.  ·       In Florida-16, an 11th-hour sex scandal makes a long-shot candidate suddenly competitive. ·       In Connecticut-4, a former mayor aggressively challenges a 10-term incumbent about his leadership role in the Iraq War. ·       In Indiana-9, a former congressman takes on his opponent for the third time.   THE PLAYERS   We discuss strategy with Emanuel and Rep. Tom Reynolds, his Republican counterpart. We catch up with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, inside the Capitol and on the campaign trail. We interview and follow the campaign appearances of stars from both parties, including former president Bill Clinton, Sen. John McCain, Gen. Wesley Clark, Phyllis Shafley, former Sen. John Edwards, and Sen. Evan Bayh.  Top national commentators help frame the story, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, congressional scholar Norman Ornstein, election analyst Charlie Cook, Republican consultant Frank Luntz, Democratic strategists Donna Brazile and James Carville, conservative author Richard Viguerie, and Roll Call political editor Josh Kurtz.   THE STORY   As the campaign season swells toward Election Day, each one of these races becomes an unpredictable toss-up. By election eve, pundits predict trouble for Republicans but Democrats are cautious about expecting a national wave.  We’re at 15 separate locations on election night, with candidates on both sides of our races, and in Washington with the Democratic leadership as news of the national win comes in. The results of our seven races mirror national trends, with cliffhanger wins, poignant losses, and some surprises. Everyone knows the outcome of election night. HouseQuake gets behind the headlines to answer the question of how. ----------------------------------------------------- CREW BIOGRAPHIES  KAREN PRICE - Director, Producer  Karen Price is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles. She directed the documentary Living by Instinct: Animals and their Rescuers, which was broadcast on PBS and won several national awards. She has directed, produced, and written for documentaries and shows appearing nationally and internationally on Discovery Health Channel, The Travel Channel, Animal Planet, Lifetime, and HGTV. Previously she worked on Capitol Hill, serving as press aide to a U.S. senator and congressman.             AYMAE SULICK - Director of Photography, Producer  Aymae Sulick is an award-winning cinematographer of documentary films, including Living by Instinct: Animals and their Rescuers, The Size of It, and Sonny Boy. She has shot documentary and narrative film and television that screened in numerous festivals and on networks such as PBS, CBS, ABC, A&E, Bravo, ESPN, Animal Planet, VH1, and The Travel Channel. In addition to holding primary shooting responsibility for HouseQuake, she coordinated and supervised over 20 cinematographers across the country that shot for the film on election night.   JILL ASKE - Producer  Jill Aske has produced and directed documentaries on subjects such as cross-cultural media perceptions and relationships between gender and learning. Aske has produced films and projects for The Annenberg Foundation Trust, AOL Time Warner, Brian Grazer, Lucasfilm, the Sinatra family, Chris Terrio, David Wolper, and Robert Zemeckis. She produced the groundbreaking celebrating George Lucas’ gift to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and is now producing a series of web-docs for the school.   BRYAN DONNELL - Cinematographer  Bryan Donnell has served as Director of Photography on numerous documentary and narrative features, including No Excuses and Wait Means Never. He has shot television and video for clients such as Disney, HBO, New Line, the BBC, A&E, and the Discovery Channel. A number of films he has shot have won awards, including the Palme d’Or for shorts at Cannes. Donnell is particularly skilled at shooting in the cinema verite style and captured many of these types of scenes for HouseQuake.   A.J. DICKERSON - Editor  A.J. Dickerson has edited numerous documentaries including From the Shadow of History, about relative peace in Macedonia, Pure Chutney, about East Indians in Trinidad, Change Up, about Dominican baseball players, and Release, an anthology of punk rock music. His television work includes episodes of "Behind the Music," "Rockstar:Inxs/Supernova," and "The Showbiz Show with David Spade." Dickerson also directed the documentaries The Season: Arizona Football for ESPN and One Day Clean, about the Los Angeles Drug Court program.    ANDREW GROVES - Editor Andrew Groves works as an editor for Metamorfic Productions, which produces nonfiction film and video. He produced, directed, and edited the feature political drama Wait Means Never, which won Best Feature Film at the 2005 Melbourne Underground Film Festival. He co-edited the feature documentary Breaking Convention, about the protests surrounding the 2000 Democratic National Convention. Other editing projects include the films Scarecrow and Missing Chopin and industrials and commercials for Sirena Films.
	Karen Price | 310.795.2042 | karenelizabeth24@yahoo.com © 2006