A screening followed by a Q&A with director Jeff Lipsky, Reed Birney, Christina Starbuck, Kelsey Lynn Stokes, and Sharon Van Ivan.

Moderated by Jamie Harrold.

Synopsis

Young and beautiful,  Nevada Smith craves to find a place for herself in a family of overachievers. Her mother is running for political office, her father is a successful dentist and her older sister is working overseas. In addition, the family is still grieving the death of a sister who died at a young age. When her mother discovers she has cancer and her father is suddenly sent to prison, Nevada is overwhelmed with the emotional need to comfort her mother. Written & directed by Jeff Lipsky, Mad Women stars Reed Birney, Christina Starbuck, Kelsey Lynn Stokes, Jamie Harrold, Eli Percy, Ali Selim, and Sharon Van Ivan.

In theaters July 10th.

Trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/madwomen/

Panelist Bios

Jeff Lipsky -Director

Mad Women is Jeff Lipsky’s sixth feature film, his sixth as both writer and director.

Other films include: Molly's Theory of Relativity, Twelve Thirty (which debuted in 2011 as part of a Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute to Lipsky’s work), Flannel Pajamas (world premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Dramatic Competition selection and included in the Top Ten lists of major critics Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times , “unique musical dramedy” Once More With Feeling (debuted at Sundance 2009) and the 1997 Childhood's End.

In 2011 Lipsky co-founded a new independent distribution company, Adopt Films. Last year saw Adopt open 2014’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylon’s Winter Sleep, and Adopt will close out 2015 by releasing Sebastian Schipper’s award-winning, tour-de-force Victoria.

Lipsky made the shift to filmmaking after having established himself as a seminal figure in the independent film world. Co-founder of two successful film distribution companies, October Films and Lot 47 Films, he is prominently featured in books about Oscar nominated writer/director Mike Leigh, godfather to the independent American film movement John Cassavetes, and filmmaker Spike Lee. He has shepherded over 300 films into the marketplace; the best known titles include My Life as a Dog, which earned Lasse Hallström his first two Academy Award nominations, Jim Jarmusch's feature debut Stranger than Paradise, Sid & Nancy, the film that introduced actor Gary Oldman to the world, and legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker’s Academy Award nominated documentary The War Room.

Lipsky's distribution career began at the age of 21 with the literal start of the independent distribution business when he set sail with his mentor actor/writer/director John Cassavetes to distribute A Woman Under the Influence, which, in 1974, became the very first specialized film ever to be distributed nationally bypassing the archaic and obsolete sub-distribution network. In 1979 Lipsky became General Sales Manager at New Yorker Films where he distributed Wayne Wang's first film, Chan is Missing; Louis Malle's My Dinner with Andre; R.W. Fassbinder's The Marraige of Maria Braun; and Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man for Himself. In 1983, Lipsky became Vice President of Distribution for Samuel Goldwyn Films where he distributed Dance With a Stranger, Three Men and a Cradle, Gregory's Girl and Stranger than Paradise.

Reed Birney -Actor

Reed Birney, after years of being a one-man wrecking crew on the New York stage, is presently electrifying Netflix viewers as the Vice President on House of Cards, while being featured in a recurring role in the smash NBC series The Blacklist.  In 2014, Reed received his first Tony Award nomination for his cross-dressing tour-de-forcein Harvey Fierstein’s Casa Valentina, just one year after his triumphant co-starring performance in Circle Mirror Transformation.

In April 2015, Reed was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards: one for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for You Got Older, and one for Outstanding Actor in a Play for Halley Feiffer’s (who co-starred with Reed in Lipsky’s Twelve Thirty) I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard. In 2013, playing the title role in Annie Baker’s contemporary adaptation of Uncle Vanya. The New York Times’ Christopher Isherwood offered, “The indispensable Reed Birney is as vitally moving a Vanya as I’ve yet to see.”  Somehow Reed also managed to star on Broadway in 2013’s revival of William Inge’s Picnic.

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Birney is known for his splendid dramatic work in a variety of roles on stage, television and screen. He has made numerous appearances on the NBC series Kings, Law & Order:CI, Law & Order: SVU, HBO’s From The Earth to the Moon and the popular CW show Gossip Girl his talent and versatility have captivated audiences for over 30 years.

From 1977, when he originated and played the role of Randy Hastings in Albert Innaurato’s Broadway play Gemini, to 2009 when he received a Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Actor in a Play for his work in the SoHo Repertory Theatre production of Blasted, Birney has repeatedly taken on theatrical challenges which ultimately won him aspecial honorary Obie Award in 2006 for "sustained excellence ofperformance."  Birney has also appeared in a variety of major studio and independent films, including Clint Eastwood’s The Changling with Angelina Jolie, David Wain’s The Ten with Paul Rudd, and Andrew Davis’ A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas.  His film debut was in Arthur Penn’s Four Friends.  Other film work includes Imogene with Annette Benning and Kirstin Wiig, Joss Whedon’s In Your Eyes, and Adult World with Emma Roberts and John Cusack.

Mad Women is Mr.Birney’s third consecutive collaboration with Mr. Lipsky having co-starred in the critically-acclaimed 2011 release, Twelve Thirty and 2013’s Molly’s Theory of Relativity.

Christina Starbuck- Actor

Christina Starbuck grew up on a small, family farm in Brownhelm Township, Ohio near Lake Erie. She spent most of her childhood on horseback showing her Arabian mares and trail riding with friends through the rural hollows along the Vermilion River.

After high school she attended Syracuse University where she competed on SU’s equestrian team and began to dabble in film acting at the Newhouse School. She spent a summer training at Oberlin Theatre Institute and, shortly after graduation from Syracuse, she was accepted to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

After graduating from AADA, Christina landed her first acting job as Ismene in Jean Anouilh's adaptation of Antigone. This led to an extensive array of NYC theatre productions of both original plays and new twists on classic revivals including the role of Camillo in The Winters Tale (while 5 months pregnant with her first daughter!). In 1995 she co-founded The 11th Hour Company, a non-profit theatre company in Manhattan where she produced and starred in several productions, most notably Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind as the brain-injured Beth.

While her daughters were very young, Christina worked in television commercials and later made the transition to episodic television and independent film work where she has landed such compelling roles as Ursuline nun, Mary Worth, in Fox TV’s New Amsterdam, the working-class mom of a disabled son, Samantha, in the TV pilot, The Miracle, and the troubled, rural mom, Karen, in the acclaimed feature, Hide Your Smiling Faces, Tribeca Films 2014.

Christina currently lives with her family in Hoboken, NJ where she has volunteered for many years as a homeless advocate.

Kelsey Lynn Stokes - Actor

Kelsey Lynn Stokes comes from Canada, and spent six years living in Dubai, U.A.E. She attended the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and graduated in May 2011. Kelsey studied under a multitude of incredible professors including Jay Goldenberg, Rebecca Lingafelter, Rawleigh Moreland, Neal Lerner, Mary-Elaine Monti, and Pete Mattaliano.

Directly following the completion of her conservatory training, Kelsey was cast in the leading role of feature film, April Grace, directed by the immeasurable Andrew Hutcheson of Zandrak Productions.

During her training, Kelsey starred in several productions at the Manhattan Theatre Source, and worked for the production company, ‘Atlantic Pictures’, under the masthead of producers, Darren Goldberg and Chris Marsh.

Following the wrap of April Grace, Kelsey decided to attend Adelphi University to expand her theatre training and complete her degree. During this time, Kelsey was cast in her second lead role in the feature film, The White Horse. Throughout the duration of her time at college, Kelsey also narrated four audiobooks, Becoming Jolie, The Russian Van Gogh, Finding Love's Win's and Tetterbaum's Truth.

In 2014, Kelsey ran the NYC Half-Marathon for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund Team, and additionally fell in lust with stand up comedy, performing at Gotham Comedy Club under the direction of Andrew Schwartzol. In August, she had the good fortune of meeting and auditioning for Jeff Lipsky, which led her to co-star in his sixth film, Mad Women.  

Sharon Van Ivan - Actor

An actress for over forty years, and an acclaimed author for three, Sharon Van Ivan found herself on the vanguard of independent film distribution when she took a job working for John Cassavetes in 1974 on the marketing of A Women Under the Influence. Two years later she was cast as Joan Blondell’s assistant in Cassavetes’ Opening Night, starring Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara. For many years she resided in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sharing her life with her celebrated artist Charles Pfahl. Her autobiographical memoir Juggle & Hide  was published in 2014 to unanimous praise. Sharon is an alumnus of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

Moderator

Jamie Harrold (“Flannel Pajamas,” “Erin Brockovich,” “The Sum of All Fears”)

Jamie might be best remembered for his indelible performance as the clerk in the water department in Erin Brockovich ; and for his supporting roles in such film as 15 Minutes, opposite Robert DeNiro; as Jackie Curtis, a legendary ‘Factory’ habitué in I Shot Andy Warhol; and as co-star in the award-winning Swimming  and the Ben Affleck blockbuster The Sum of all Fears from Tom Clancy’s best-selling novel. In all, Jamie has fifty notable film and television appearances to his credit.