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The Winter People is a story about a mother and daughter at a crossroad. Faced with the prospect of losing their familys summer cottage in a nasty divorce settlement, Anne and Sarah Hanlon drive down to Cape Cod to close up the house for the winter. Generations of memories come flooding back as they enter the cold, quiet house for what could be the last time.
Sarah heard rumors that there are spirits or winter people who inhabit the beach houses during the off season. Anne dismisses her daughters musings as childish fantasy. Meanwhile unmade beds and unrecognizable lipstick confirm Sarahs suspicions. Anne knows what she believes to be the truth, however, and the pain of her husbands philandering comes rushing back.
When a charming plumber named Martin arrives to shut off the water, Anne experiences a strange sense of de-ja vu. Sarah is skeptical, prodding Martin for information about the winter people.
In a strange twist of events both Mother and Daughters inklings are confirmed as the story throws us into an intergenerational limbo, clarifying once and for all the truth about the existence of the winter people and opening the door to a world beyond the one we understand.
Woods Hole Film Festival , July 2003 - Best Fantasy Short
Boston Underground Film Festival , September 2003 - Least Underground
Deep Ellum Film Festival , October 2003 - Honorable Mention, Best Short
Savannah Film Festival , October 2003 - Best Short
Marco Island Film Festival , November 2003
Northampton Film Festival , November 2003
Florida Film Festival , March 2004
Sonoma Valley Film Festival , April 2004
The Winter People is a fourteen-minute dramatic film about spirits who inhabit Cape Cod Summer homes during the off-season, written and directed by John Stimpson and produced by Mark Donadio and Waltham based Moody Street Pictures. Conceived as a vehicle to test a new, low-budget, High-Definition production model and to promote Stimpson as a filmmaker, the film has quickly achieved tremendous visibility and acclaim.
AT WORK
John Stimpson
By Loren King, Globe Staff, 5/18/2003
(this article appeared in the Boston Globe May 18, 2003)
The Princeton, Mass., native, a longtime writer, producer, and editor for video and television, just finished a short film, ''Winter People.'' A ghost story set in a shuttered summer house, ''Winter People'' was shot ''guerilla style in high-definition video'' to get a sophisticated look quickly and on a tight budget, says the filmmaker. Stimpson, who works at Moody Street Pictures in Waltham, teamed with friend and producer Mark Donadio on ''Winter People,'' which may appear this summer in the Woods Hole and Northampton film festivals.
The short film is a warm-up act for Stimpson's upcoming feature, ''Lucy Keyes.'' He's written the script and plans to direct in the fall, once the project is funded and cast. ''Lucy Keyes'' is another ghost story, this time set in Stimpson's own backyard, near Wachusett Mountain. Local legend has it that the spirit of a little girl who disappeared in 1755 haunts the mountain.
Stimpson launched his career as president of Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals and later made the documentary ''Backstage at the Hasty Pudding.'' He and former Massachusettss secretary of state Michael Connolly wrote and directed the local political drama ''Beacon Hill'' (formerly ''The Gentleman From Boston''), also produced by Donadio. It recently screened at the Boston International Comedy and Movie Festival.
This story ran on page N10 of the Boston Globe on 5/18/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
Moody Street Pictures presents
A film by John Stimpson
The Winter People
CAST
Anne
Rachel Harker
Sarah
MacKenzie Nimmo
Martin
Ken Cheeseman
Mr. Geary
Frank T. Wells
CREW
Writer/Director
John Stimpson
Producer
Mark Donadio
Executive Producer
John MacNeil
Director of Photography
Gary Henoch
Production Designer
Roger Danchik
Art Director
Jenny McCracken
Casting
Maura Tighe
Unit Production Manager
Cassandra Palanza
Special Effects Supervisor
Frank Vitz
Editor
John Stimpson
Original Music
Ed Grenga
Sound Design
Jeff Majeau
Sound Recordist
Juan Rodriguez
1st Assistant Director
Lucia Small
2nd Assistant Director
Lisa Smith
Make-Up/Costumes
Trish Seeney
Set Decorator
Joe Barillaro
1st Assistant Camera
Matt Thurber
Gaffer
Brian Johnson
Key Grip
Wally Argo
Swing
Zack Lazar
Grip/PA
Alek Lekic
Still Photographer
Claire Folger
Craft Service
George Blake
PA
CiCi Clark
PA
Jarrett Simon
JOHN STIMPSON - DIRECTOR
The Winter People is John Stimpson's first foray into the world of High Definition. His feature film, The Gentleman From Boston premiered at the 2001 Nantucket film festival. The Legend of Lucy Keyes, his next screenplay, won 1st runner up in the 2002 Woods Hole Film Festival screenplay competition and is currently in pre-production.
Stimpson has been working for fifteen years directing, producing, writing and editing film, video and television projects for Animal Planet, Outdoor Life Network and HGTV. He was also responsible for episodes of the nationally syndicated show, Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures, as well as dozens of documentary, corporate, commercial, and home video programs.
Stimpson's interest in film and television began at Harvard where he was President of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. His documentary film Backstage at the Hasty Pudding earned him a Bronze Apple at the National Educational Film Festival. He also received a Parent's Choice award for his children's program Tool Power.
MARK DONADIO - PRODUCER
A Boston-based film and video producer for over fifteen years, Mark has consistently created award-winning works for advertising agencies and full-service production companies, as well as longer-format programs. Over the last twelve years, he has produced and/or line-produced eight feature films including, Made-up (2001), Session 9 (2000), Beacon Hill (1999), Getting Personal (1998), Southie (1997), Next Stop Wonderland (1996), The Magic Stone (1995), Banya (1992), a national, award-winning docu-drama Jailbrake (1989) produced for the city of Boston, and four 100-minute educational language programs (French and Spanish) filmed on location in France, Venezuela, Mexico, Spain and the USA. In addition, Mark has a lengthy list of producing credits for commercials and industrial programs. Mark brings extensive experience in managing productions, finances, and personnel to Moody Street Pictures.
GARY HENOCH - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Gary Henoch has traveled around the world as a documentary filmmaker for over twenty years. His most recent projects include multi-part series for PBS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, DISCOVERY CHANNEL and HISTORY CHANNEL covering a wide range of subjects across art, architecture, science, history, theater and religion. Henoch's credits also include FRONTLINE, NOVA, and the BBC, as well as numerous PBS specials and independent documentaries. He's also tackled projects with sensitive topics such as youth violence, civil rights, and censorship of the arts. In addition to his extensive documentary work, he has completed several dramatic feature films in New England and LA. Henoch was the director of photography on the HD short film The Winter People and his most recent full length feature is Made-Up, the directorial debut of actor Tony Shalhoub. He is currently finishing work on three hours of a ten-hour DISCOVERY CHANNEL series entitled "Building Big".
RACHEL HARKER - ANNE
A Boston based actress, Rachel works primarily in the theatre in New England. She most recently appeared as one of the Pigeon sisters in The Odd Couple, starring Sherman Hemsley. Other credits include: the German/Jewish mother in Kindertransport, Elmire in Tartuffe, Lt. Cmdr. Galloway in A Few Good Men, Karen in Women Who Steal, Mrs. Kendall in The Elephant Man, and Diana in Lend Me a Tenor. A favorite role was that of Goneril opposite veteran character actor Austin Pendleton in King Lear. She has been seen in a number of industrial films, infomercials and regional commercials, had a principal role in the independent short City Love, and worked several times with screenwriter/director Michael Cohn.
MacKENZIE NIMMO - SARAH
Eleven-year-old MacKenzie Nimmo has been a SAG member and acting in the Boston area for 8 years. With a list of print ads, over a dozen national and regional commercials, lead roles in local theater and professional productions, as well as an extra in feature films, MacKenzie was excited and prepared for the opportunity to play Sarah in The Winter People. She loved the cast and crew and the great learning experience it provided. MacKenzie is an accomplished piano player, singer and also plays violin. She enjoys playing on her soccer and basketball teams, spending time with her friends, brother and three sisters.
KEN CHEESEMAN - MARTIN
Ken Cheeseman's most recent film credits include roles in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, and two independent features- Domino One with Natalie Portman and Sundown with John Fiore. This season on television he guest starred on the series Monk and on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Other feature film credits include roles in: Housesitter, The Crucible, Malice, The Proposition, In Dreams, Big Night, Next Stop Wonderland, State and Main and Blue Diner. Stage roles include We Won't Pay, We Won't Pay! with Marisa Tomei at American Rep Theatre, Scapin with Stanley Tucci at Yale Rep and in NY at Classic Stage Co., the fool in King Lear at The New Rep with Austin Pendleton, and Measure for Measure at the NY Shakespeare Festival with Kevin Kline and Andre Braugher.
FRANK T. WELLS - MR. GEARY
Frank has been one of New England's most prolific actors for many years. Gracing the stage and screen in everything from New Hampshire summer stock to Steven Speilberg's Amistad. He has appeared with Sissy Spacek in the award winning independent film In the Bedroom as well as with William Hurt, Kenneth Branagh and Ken Cheeseman in The Proposition. Frank also appeared in Next Stop Wonderland with Cheesman which was line-produced by The Winter People's producer, Mark Donadio.
About Moody Street Pictures
Moody Street Pictures is a Boston-based independent media company that develops & co-develops feature films, television and music productions as well as work for corporate and commercial clients.
Moody Street Pictures offers creative development, end-to-end production services, and support for cutting-edge motion picture and video technology. Moody Street Pictures works in any film or video format including High
Definition and 24p, which allows the company to maximize budgets of all sizes from major-release films to commercials.
Moody Street Pictures emerged out of the synergies of its founding partners. The team has more than 30 years combined experience in development and production for television & film. Past projects have covered documentary, drama and music as well as industrials, commercials and corporate media. Moody Street's award winning television content has aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, WGBH, Discovery, and the BBC. Moody Street's films have been distributed nationally and internationally by leading distributors.
In addition to its distinguished team, Moody Street Pictures has the unique advantage of its relationship with sister company Boston Camera, New England's leading Motion Picture and Video equipment rental outfit. This partnership combined with Moody Street's imagination, know-how and ability to deliver makes Moody Street Pictures an attractive production partner.
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