Shattered Glass (2003)

Director:

Billy Ray

Writers (WGA):

Buzz Bissinger (article)
Billy Ray (written by)

Release Date:

26 December 2003 (Greece)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Read between the lies.

Plot:

The true story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was found he had fabricated over half of his articles.

Plot Keywords:

The New Republic | Drug Abuse | Marijuana | Workaholic | Journalism

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 10 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Hayden Christensen	...	Stephen Glass
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Charles 'Chuck' Lane
Chloë Sevigny	...	Caitlin Avey
Rosario Dawson	...	Andy Fox
Melanie Lynskey	...	Amy Brand
Hank Azaria	...	Michael Kelly
Steve Zahn	...	Adam Penenberg
Mark Blum	...	Lewis Estridge
Simone-Elise Girard	...	Catarina Bannier
Chad Donella	...	David Bach
Jamie Elman	...	Aaron Bluth
Luke Kirby	...	Rob Gruen
Cas Anvar	...	Kambiz Foroohar
Linda Smith	...	Gloria (as Linda E. Smith)
Ted Kotcheff	...	Marty Peretz
Owen Rotharmel	...	Ian Restil
Bill Rowat	...	George Sims
Michele Scarabelli	...	Ian's Mother
Terry Simpson	...	Joe Hiert
Howard Rosenstein	...	Suit #1
Louis Philippe Dandenault	...	Michael (as Louis-Philippe Dandenault)
Morgan Kelly	...	Joe
Christian Tessier	...	Cade
James Berlingieri	...	Jason
Brett Watson	...	Seth
Andrew Airlie	...	Alec Shumpert
Russell Yuen	...	Emmit Rich
Pierre LeBlanc	...	Monica Merchant #1 (as Pierre Leblanc)
Pauline Little	...	Monica Merchant #2
Kim Taschereau	...	Stout Woman
Phillip Cole	...	Security Guard
Mark Camacho	...	Glass' Lawyer (as Mark Camocho)
Ian Blouin	...	Chuck's Son
Lynne Adams	...	Kelly's Colleague
Caroline Goodall	...	Mrs. Duke
Brittany Drisdelle	...	Megan (as Brittany Drisdell)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Isabelle Champeau	...	Journalist (uncredited)
Jeffrey Ford	...	Security Guard (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Billy Ray

Writing credits (WGA)
Buzz Bissinger		(article) (as H.G. Bissinger)
Billy Ray		(written by)

Produced by
Craig Baumgarten	....	producer
Tove Christensen	....	producer
Tom Cruise	....	executive producer
Gaye Hirsch	....	producer
Adam Merims	....	producer
Tom Ortenberg	....	executive producer
Michael Paseornek	....	executive producer
Paula Wagner	....	executive producer
Marc Butan	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Mychael Danna

Cinematography by
Mandy Walker		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jeffrey Ford

Casting by
Cassandra Kulukundis

Production Design by
François Séguin

Art Direction by
Pierre Perrault

Costume Design by
Renée April

Makeup Department
Annock Bolvin	....	key makeup artist: additional photography
Francine Gagnon	....	key makeup artist
Corald Giroux	....	key hair stylist
Catherine Lahaye	....	makeup artist
Gaétan Landry	....	key hairdresser: additional photography (as Gaetan Landry)
Manon Paquet	....	hairdresser: additional photography
Gérard Royer	....	hair stylist (as Gerard Royer)
Fanny Vachon	....	makeup artist: additional photography

Production Management
Maurice Forget	....	unit manager
Stéphane Fréchette	....	unit production manager: additional photography (as Stephane Frechette)
Isabelle Godin	....	assistant unit manager
Jacky Lavoie	....	production manager
Carl Pedregal	....	post-production supervisor: Los Angeles
Philip Stilman	....	post-production supervisor: Toronto (as Phil Stilman)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard L. Fox	....	first assistant director
Richard L. Fox	....	first assistant director: additional photography
Michelle Gold	....	second assistant director
Brigitte Goulet	....	second assistant director: additional photography
Roxanna Macedo	....	second second assistant director (as Roxana Macedo)
Natalia Ortelli	....	second second assistant director: additional photography
Natalia Ortelli	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Donald Beaulieu	....	scenic technician
Robert Bourdeau	....	head painter
Cecile Braemer	....	art department coordinator (as Cécile Braemer)
Michel Brochu	....	head carpenter
Real Capuano	....	scenic technician (as Réal Capuano)
Martin Dupré	....	assistant property master
Anne Galéa	....	key set director (as Anne Galea)
Odette Gauvreau	....	head painter
Sébastien Gervais	....	scenic technician
François Gosselin	....	scenic technician
Jean-Pierre Gosselin	....	scenic technician
Erik Guay	....	assistant craft person
Martin Handfield	....	set property master
Manon Lemay	....	assistant decorator
Carl Lessard	....	graphics
Ann Lockell	....	craft person
Denys Marois	....	assistant props: additional photography
Julie-Agnès Morin	....	property buyer
Christian Pierre	....	scenic technician
Guy Pigeon	....	draftsman
Claude Rainville	....	prop master: additional photography
Julie Raymond	....	assistant decorator
Marcel Robidoux	....	assistant craft person: additional photography
François Senecal	....	decorator
Larry Taman	....	art department runner
Mike Vaudrin	....	craft person: additional photography

Sound Department
David Bach	....	supervising sound editor
Catherine Bellazzi	....	boom operator: additional photography
Pierre Blain	....	production sound mixer
Pierre Blain	....	sound mixer: additional photography
William Clément	....	cable puller: additional photography (as William Clement)
David Esparza	....	supervising effects editor
Marshall Garlington	....	sound re-recording mixer
Aaron Johl	....	sound trainee
Clarissa Keller	....	mix facility coordinator
Shawn Kennelly	....	foley mixer
Laura Macias	....	foley artist (as Lara Macias)
Michael A. Morongell	....	mixing engineer (as Michael Morongell)
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Paul Rodriguez	....	mix facility coordinator
Sean Rowe	....	foley artist
Martin Schloemer	....	mixing recordist
Dan Scolnik	....	foley editor
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer
Elliot Tyson	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Yonson	....	adr recordist (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Shaina Holmes	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Jere Gillis	....	stunt double: Stephen Glass
Yves Langlois	....	stunt double: Charles Lane
David McKeown	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Kelly Baylis	....	grip
Robert B. Baylis	....	key grip (as Bobby Baylis)
André Bélaieff	....	generator operator (as André Belaieff)
Denis Boudreau	....	dolly grip: additional photography
Frédéric Chamberland	....	first assistant camera: additional photography (as Frederic Chamberland)
François Daignault	....	steadicam operator (as François Daigneault)
Daniel Dallaire	....	electrician (as Dan Dallaire)
Benoit Descary	....	second assistant camera: second camera
Stéphanie Doré-Bertet	....	video assist operator: additional photography (as Stephanie Dore-Berthe)
François Dupéré	....	key grip: additional photography (as Francois Dupéré)
Jacques Dupuis	....	grip: additional photography
Daniel DuSablon	....	grip: additional photography
Jacob Fortier	....	key rigging gaffer
Claude Fortin	....	key rigging grip
Gilbert Gagnon	....	best boy grip: additional photography
Julie Garceau	....	video assist operator
Marie-Pierre Gratton	....	clapper loader (as Marie-Pierra Gratton)
Laurent Alexis Guertin	....	camera loader: additional photography (as Laurent-Alex Guertin)
George Haryszyn	....	generator operator: additional photography
Olivier Hetu	....	electrician: additional photography
Jean Kavanagh	....	second assistant camera
Sylvain Labrecque	....	grip
Christian Lemay	....	first assistant camera: second camera
Jean Levasseur	....	electrician: additional photography
John Lewin	....	gaffer: additional photography
Nicolas Marion	....	first assistant camera
Alain Masse	....	dolly grip
Phedon Papamichael	....	director of photography: additional photography
Guillaume Parisien	....	second assistant camera: additional photography
Dany Prévost	....	extra grip (as Danny Prevost)
Gordon Ramesa	....	grip: additional photography
Louis Richard	....	electrician: additional photography (as Lousi Ruchard)
Claude Sauvageau	....	best boy grip
Jeff Scott	....	best boy: additional photography
Jonathan Wenk	....	still photographer
Francois Archambault	....	steadicam operator (uncredited)
Frédéric Chamberland	....	steadicam operator (uncredited)
Eames Gagnon	....	rigging gaffer (uncredited)
John Harris	....	additional rigging electrician (uncredited)
Mathieu Price	....	daily grip (uncredited)
Mark Walpole	....	assistant camera: Washington D.C. (uncredited)

Casting Department
Julie Breton	....	extras casting
Robin D. Cook	....	casting: Toronto
Johnny Gidcomb	....	voice casting (as John Gidcomb)
Lucie Robitaille	....	casting: Montreal
John Barba	....	casting associate (uncredited)
Nicole Hilliard-Forde	....	casting associate: Toronto (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Fabienne April	....	wardrobe coordinator
Sophie Beasse	....	key dresser (as Sophie Béasse)
Marie-Etienne Bessette	....	wardrobe mistress: extras (as Marie-Étienne Bessette)
Sylvie Dagenais	....	assistant key dresser
Louise Eusanio	....	key dresser: extras
Martine Gagnon	....	assistant costume designer
Liane Garneau	....	seamstress
Maory Gastelo	....	assistant wardrobe
Manon Paquet	....	assistant dresser: additional photography
Emilie Perrault	....	key dresser: additional photography
Jean Théberge	....	wardrobe runner

Editorial Department
Jennifer Hwang	....	post-production coordinator
Michel Proulx	....	cutter
Matvey Shatz	....	color timer
Craig Tanner	....	associate editor
Valerie Laurie	....	post-production facility coordinator (uncredited)

Music Department
Nicholas Dodd	....	conductor
Nicholas Dodd	....	music arranger
Joel C. High	....	music supervisor
Paul Intson	....	music editor
Paul Intson	....	musician: bass
Dan Parr	....	copyist
Lenny Solomon	....	orchestra contractor: Toronto Canada Recording Orchestra
Stephanie Lynn Urcheck	....	music coordinator
Brent Brooks	....	music editor: temp music (uncredited)
Ron Searles	....	music score recording engineer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Réjean Bouchard	....	driver captain
Owen Coughlan	....	driver
Stephane Desharnais	....	driver: additional photography
Walter Diaz	....	driver
Luc Poirier	....	vehicle coordinator
Charles Prud'homme	....	driver: additional photography
Nicolas Richard	....	transportation production assistant: additional photography
Andrée Roy	....	driver
Patrick St-Pierre	....	driver: additional photography (as Patrick St. Pierre)
Joseph 'Tino' Viscusi	....	transportation coordinator (as Tino Viscusi)
Jerome Wheeler	....	driver

Other crew
Cassandra Barbour	....	rights and clearances: Entertainment Clearances
Olivier Barzic	....	set production assistant
Claude Boissonneault	....	production assistant: additional photography (as Claude Boissonnauilt)
Holly Brace-Lavoie	....	receptionist
Rosana Bruni	....	payroll clerk
Jennifer Bydwell	....	clearance coordinator
Roch Chalifour	....	assistant location manager
Trish Kelly Chornyj	....	production secretary
Etienne Desrosiers	....	location scout
Elizabeth Dixon	....	business & legal affairs coordinator: Lions Gate Entertainment
Yvan Francoeur	....	office runner
Hugues Gaudreault	....	production assistant
Paule Girardin	....	production coordinator
Bob Harris	....	set medic: additional photography
David Hutkin	....	vice president: The Lewis Horwitz Organization
Richard Jordan	....	executive vice president of physical operations: Lions Gate Entertainment
Justin Kelly	....	assistant accountant
Brian Kingman	....	insurance: AON/Ruben Winkler Entertainment Insurance Brokers
Marianne Knai	....	assistant clearance coordinator
Rosemary Lara	....	assistant: Mr. Paseornek
Nicolas Lemieux	....	unit runner
Wayne Levin	....	executive vice president of business affairs: Lions Gate Entertainment
Daniel MacArthur	....	production coordinator: Lions Gate Entertainment
Caroline Maynard	....	set production assistant: additional photography
Stacey McKay	....	production accountant (as Stacy McKay)
Robert M. Melnik	....	senior vice president business affairs: Lions Gate Entertainment (as Robert Melnik)
Curtis A. Miller	....	manager of production: Lions Gate Entertainment
Martin Monette	....	truck production assistant
Anjalika Mathur Nigam	....	assistant: Mr. Merims (as Anjalika Nigam)
Nathalie Picard	....	script supervisor: additional photography
Emily Rice	....	post-production accountant
Bernard Rodrigue	....	location manager
Frédéric Rousseau	....	assistant: Mr. Ray
Tiffany Ryan	....	assistant: Mr. High
Darin Selden	....	attorney for business and legal affairs: Lions Gate Entertainment
Laura Sevier	....	rights and clearances: Entertainment Clearances
Joey Shanley	....	assistant: Ms. Hirsch
Donna Sloan	....	senior vice president of production: Lions Gate Entertainment
Caileen Uznis	....	business & legal affairs coordinator: Lions Gate Entertainment
Catherine Veaux-Logeat	....	script supervisor
Charlyn Ware	....	director of business and legal affairs: Lions Gate Entertainment
Keri Winters	....	insurance: AON/Ruben Winkler Entertainment Insurance Brokers
Pamela B. Green	....	producer: main titles (uncredited)
Michael J. Harker	....	completion bond company representative (uncredited)
Stephanie Lovell	....	set production assistant: Washington, DC (uncredited)
Adriana Poblano	....	travel coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Chris Box	....	acknowledged assistance
Danny Bramson	....	acknowledged assistance
Allison Butler	....	acknowledged assistance
David Butow	....	acknowledged assistance: Corbis SABA
Jason Cinkus	....	acknowledged assistance
Anthony Cooper	....	acknowledged assistance: Ecosene/Corbis
David Daniel	....	acknowledged assistance
Mary Evans	....	acknowledged assistance: Esselte Canada
Niki Gascon	....	acknowledged assistance
George Hall	....	acknowledged assistance: Corbis
Hillary Kahn	....	acknowledged assistance
Bruce Kaufman	....	acknowledged assistance
Michael Kelly	....	dedicatee
Pat Kingsley	....	acknowledged assistance
Elliott Kleinberg	....	acknowledged assistance
Joanna Lee	....	acknowledged assistance
Josh Lieberman	....	acknowledged assistance
John McLaughlin	....	special thanks
Wally McNamee	....	acknowledged assistance: Corbis
Andre Morgan	....	acknowledged assistance
Manny Nunez	....	acknowledged assistance
Martin Rogers	....	acknowledged assistance: Corbis
Susan Scott	....	acknowledged assistance
Joseph Sohm	....	acknowledged assistance: Visions of America/Corbis
Mirek Towski	....	acknowledged assistance: DMI/TimePix
Pat Woods	....	acknowledged assistance

Production Companies

• Lions Gate Films (presents) (copyright owners)
• Cruise/Wagner Productions (as Cruise/Wagner)
• Baumgarten Merims Productions (as Baumgarten Merims)
• Forest Park Pictures (in association with)

Distributors

• Arti Film (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Artist Film (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• CP Classics (Russia)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2004) (Argentina) (all media)
• GAGA Communications (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• H.O.M. Vision (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Hoyts Distribution (2004) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Humax Pictures Inc. (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• LK-TEL (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• LNK Filmes (Portugal)
• Lions Gate Films (2003) (USA) (all media) (as A Lions Gate Entertainment Company)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Net5 (2008) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2003) (Romania) (all media)

Special Effects

• Custom Film Effects (optical and digital effects and titles)

Other Companies

• AON/Ruben-Winkler Entertainment Insurance  insurance provided by (as AON/Ruben Winkler Entertainment Insurance Brokers)
• Bettmann/Corbis  the producers wish to acknowledge the assistance of (as Bettman/Corbus)
• Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)  with the participation of (as Canadian Film or Video Tax Credit)
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color
• Entertainment Clearances  rights and clearances
• Executive Cutting Service Inc.  negative cutting
• Jeremy Walker + Associates  unit publicity
• Kaleidoscope Films Group  title design
• Lewis Horwitz Organization, The  financing arranged and provided by
• Los Angeles Public Library  the producers wish to acknowledge the assistance of
• Major League Baseball Properties  the producers wish to acknowledge the assistance of
• Muse Entertainment Enterprises  production services provided by
• Thrive Records  soundtrack (uncredited)
• Visions of America  the producers wish to acknowledge the assistance of
• Wilshire Stages, The  digital sound recording and re-recording

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references and brief drug use.

Runtime:

94 min | Australia:89 min | Canada:99 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39469) | France:U | Netherlands:16 | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:S | Norway:A | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Trivia:

Writer/director Billy Ray initially had a great deal of difficulty convincing the real life Michael Kelly to assist in the production of the movie. Kelly felt a great deal of embarrassment over Stephen Glass's fraudulent articles, especially because he was editor of the New Republic when many of Glass's articles were published. Ray eventually persuaded Kelly to help him by telling him that he was approaching this story as a journalist who wanted the script to be as factually accurate as possible. This convinced Kelly to help with the project.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Stephen Glass and Mike Kelly talked about Glass's predicament, and Kelly asked Glass if he ever cooked a story when he was the New Republic's editor-in-chief, the scene occurred at Kelly's current place of work. In the DVD commentary, director Billy Ray said although such a conversation did occur between both Glass and Kelly, it was not at Kelly's place of work, but in fact at Mike Kelly's house. Ray went on to say that Glass's real life girlfriend was present during the actual discussion, but she was not even depicted in the film version of the discussion.

Quotes:

[after completely debunking Stephen Glass's New Republic article]
Adam Penenberg: But there is one thing in this story that checks out.
Kambiz Foroohar: What's that?
Adam Penenberg: There does appear to be a state in the union named Nevada.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Chance for Love

An unspectacular but enjoyable little drama

The New Republic is one of many political comment magazines published out of Washington DC. The writing/editing staff is small and young and includes the humble and friendly Stephen Glass. His stories are often very interesting and outrageous and he starts to attract attention from other magazines for contributions. When writes about an on-line hacker who attacked the website of a large software company he attracts the attention of an internet-based journal and writer Adam Penenberg who gets attacked by his editor for missing the story. However, as Penenberg starts to look at the facts behind the story he starts to suspect that the story is one large fabrication.

I only vaguely remember the original breaking of this story and am not aware of the full facts behind the story but I was interested enough to go and see this film when it was released at the weekend. The film opens with Glass giving a talk to a class back at his old school where he learnt his trade, this is then used as a tool to give background on both him and the job he does. This works pretty well even if it is a little confusing as to when it is happening (a fact not understood until the end). The main thrust of the film is the gradual exposure of the lies that Glass has been perpetrated within his stories. In this regard it works pretty well as a drama with a good story – made all the more interesting and engaging by being true. It never really ignites into being a thriller and it misses a few opportunities to really be gripping but it still performs well as a good solid film – perhaps it was a decision not to stick in more shouting or acting fireworks, it was the right decision but I'm sure some audiences will expect shouting and fireworks.

The one moment I did feel that the film missed out was where Chuck picks several editions off the shelf and starts to realize the extent of the lies that they have been publishing: that scene wasn't dramatic and it wasn't convincing, that should have been a lot more dramatic – but this is only one scene in the whole film. Like I said, some people will find this film a bit slow and lacking in pace but for me it was the story that drove the film as opposed to theatrical tricks. The cast help the film a great deal, even if many of them are barely more than cameos. Christensen's performance worried me at the start because it seemed to be a bit cheesy but after 15 minutes I realized that this was the point. His Glass is manipulative and deceitful to the point where it is an act that he delivers naturally – it was a difficult character to do and, despite him not being showy, he gets it bang on and he delivers the same character throughout while just allowing the audience's perception of him to change. Sarsgaard actually turns out to have the lion's share of the film and he gets the showiest moments of shouting – he is good and acts as our eyes. Sevingy is a real good actress and does well with her few scenes. The rest of the cast is well padded with famous faces who all deliver well with the little they have. Azaria is good and is given a good character (who died in real life covering the war in Iraq), Zahn manages to not be an annoying pr*ck – a feat in itself, but Dawson's presence was a mystery to me. She has very little to do other that be pretty and show the pressure in her job, but he is barely more than a cameo.

Overall this film lacks fireworks and bases it's slow pace on the facts of the true story and not hammy acting or directing flourishes. In this regard the film is enjoyable if a little slow. It squanders a few changes to make more of an impact but generally it delivers a true story in a manner that is straight but well told. A great cast aren't all used well but are good where it matters while also adding depth. Not the film that Saturday night crowds will be hoping for but a good story well told nonetheless.