Joyride : Production Notes

It's summer vacation, and college freshman Lewis Thomas (Paul Walker) is ready to embark on a cross-country road with trip with the girl of his dreams, Venna (Leelee Sobieski). But Lewis' romantic plans are detoured when he stops to rescue his never-do-well older brother, Fuller (Steve Zahn). Fuller, notorious for causing trouble, goads Lewis into playing a practical joke on a lonely trucker over a CB radio. The trucker, an unseen and terrifying force known only by his handle, "Rusty Nail," wants the last laugh … and revenge.

ROADKILL is a new contemporary thriller from director John Dahl, who is widely acclaimed for breathing new life into modern noir thrillers, such as "Red Rock West" and "The Last Seduction. " In those pictures, and now in ROADKILL, Dahl finds darkness laced with humor in the heartland of America. Says producer and co-screenwriter J. J. Abrams: "John's movies have a wonderful irony, a real sense of humor, humanity and noir sensibility. "

"John is a great storyteller, who can take a thriller and infuse it with character and humor, all while capturing the American landscape," adds producer Chris Moore. "It's easy to find a director who can work on any one of these levels, but John excels at all of them. "

Abrams came up with the idea for a scene that became the foundation for ROADKILL. "Imagine," explains Abrams' co-writer, Clay Tarver. "Two guys are driving together on a remote highway. They're having a good time, when a voice comes over the CB, saying 'You really should have that tail light fixed. ' The boys look around - only no one's there. "

From this ominous-sounding premise, Abrams and Tarver fashioned a screenplay that was filled with terror, humor, shocks - and more. The writers and director John Dahl give ROADKILL a vibrant, contemporary tone rich in character, as well as in thrills and laughs.

"The humor comes from the situation and characters," Tarver explains. "Funny things can happen when you're scared, or placed in a frightening situation. And we tried to create smart, funny, and self-deprecating characters who also provide some humor. Lewis and Fuller, for example, although they are estranged, begin to bond as they and Venna drive across the country. And there are some hopefully funny things that result from this bonding. "

Adds J. J. Abrams: "The humor also results from the characters reacting to situations the way smart, real people do. They don't exist to be killed, chased or threatened, as is the case in some thrillers. Lewis, Fuller and Venna are likable and easy to relate to. Our goal was to create a scenario and characters that you would want to follow in a drama or comedy, and not just in a thriller. "

The characters get into big trouble when Fuller goads his younger brother into using their newly-purchased CB radio to play a childish prank. Using a "come-on" female voice, and sexy CB handle, "Candy Cane," Lewis draws the attention of a trucker, who Lewis invites to a romantic rendezvous at a roadside inn. When Rusty Nail learns he's the victim of a practical joke, he wreaks havoc on the boys - and anyone else who gets in the way.

The dynamic between the two brothers - Lewis, the "good" one, and Fuller, the rebellious black sheep - is central to the story. "We made ROADKILL to be a thrill ride laced with laughs," says Dahl, "but it's also a story about two brothers, the gap between them and how, facing incredible danger, they pull their relationship together. "

"ROADKILL isn't your typical thriller," adds executive producer Bridget Johnson. "It's kind of a stealth character piece that has something to say about the relationship between these two brothers, one of whom has made some bad choices, the other who has trouble standing up for himself. "

For Steve Zahn, who plays Fuller, the story's focus on the characters, the sibling dynamic, and Fuller's bad-boy sense of humor heighten its inherent genre elements. "What makes the movie truly scary is that the characters are believable, and audiences will identify with their relationship," Zahn explains. "This will allow audiences to also become more involved in the nightmare the characters face. "

Fuller is a charismatic screw-up who hasn't found his place in life, while brother Lewis is in some ways the opposite - afraid to take chances, even in his relationship with Venna, the young woman with whom he has had a longtime crush. "Lewis has trouble stepping up to the plate," notes Paul Walker, who takes on the role of the younger brother. "He's been wanting to ask Venna out, but the timing has never been right. Instead, they're 'friends', which is not really what he wants. "

Lewis finally takes advantage of an opportunity to spend some quality time with Venna when he invites her to join him on a cross country road trip. Unfortunately, when he makes an unexpected side trip to pick up his wayward brother, Lewis' plans are derailed, in more ways than one.

Venna finds herself caught between the two brothers, as well as their deadly prank. Leelee Sobieski appreciated the drama in her character's plight. "Venna has just broken up with her boyfriend at school," the actress explains, "so I think this is a kind of discovery road trip for her. But she doesn't expect to have a killer chasing after them. She just wanted a nice, adventurous road trip. Well, she got an adventure, but hardly a nice one!"

The three roles required actors who are young, empathetic and highly skilled. According to the filmmakers, that's exactly what they found in Steve Zahn, Paul Walker and Leelee Sobieski. "Paul brings tremendous empathy to his role, and captures some wonderful emotional beats of the younger brother," states Bridget Johnson. John Dahl explained that Steve Zahn's "finely tuned sense of humor" was critical to the role and to giving the story its unique mix of laughs and tension. Leelee Sobieski, notes Chris Moore, is definitely "somebody whom women in the audience are going to relate and say 'This is an interesting, complex woman. '"

In the 1970s, "CB fever" gripped the country. The Citizens Band radio, a short-range voice communications system, became a favorite tool for motorists to chat with one another over long road trips. CB radio users usually identified themselves to each with special names, or "handles," which provided a shield of anonymity and, sometimes, a spark of harmless fun. But by the 1990s, CB radios were almost forgotten by a public that had embraced new technologies, like cellular phones and the Internet. The latter provided myriad avenues of anonymous communication, not just across a short stretch of highway, but around the world.

In ROADKILL, Steve Zahn's Fuller sees the antiquated CB as the ultimate in retro cool and the perfect way to wreak some good-natured havoc, in the form of a practical joke. Fuller believes that the anonymous nature of his and brother Lewis' "chats" with Rusty Nail preclude any risk or consequences. Of course, he's tragically mistaken.

According to J. J. Abrams, the film points to the intrinsic danger in even the most benign practical jokes. "I think there's something inherently terrifying in pulling a prank on someone," Abrams explains, "because there's always a chance that you'll be screwing with the wrong person … and that that person has identified you. I think that's why you giggle when you order pizzas for your neighbor. Everyone relates to the idea of playing a joke on someone, as well as to experiencing vicariously someone being ID'd for it. And that translates to ROADKILL: There's a kind of thrill in watching the characters suffer the consequences for doing something that any one of us is capable of. "

Much of the terror in ROADKILL comes from the recipient of Lewis and Fuller's practical joke, Rusty Nail, a voice in the night who becomes their unstoppable, relentless pursuer. The character exists solely as a disembodied voice, which according to the cast and filmmakers, ramps up the tension and fear. "We leave it to the audiences' imagination as to what Rusty Nail looks like," John Dahl points out. "He could be anybody, and that makes him scarier. " Adds Paul Walker: "Rusty Nail is really frightening because you never really get a good look at him; he's like an apparition. "

When Rusty Nail turns the tables, he creates psychological terror based on the threat of violence rather than more graphic mayhem. He becomes a master manipulator, using even such everyday objects as road signs to shock Lewis, Fuller and Venna. "The idea that Rusty Nail will go to great lengths to manipulate them ratchets up the fright level," notes Abrams. "The characters realize that Rusty Nail is not someone who will just call and threaten them; he will go to enormous lengths to scare them. "

Rusty Nail, as terrifying and mysterious as he is, represents only one of ROADKILL's foreboding icons. His aged and rusted truck becomes every bit as frightening as the unstoppable force behind the wheel. "The truck is seen as almost an animated beast," notes Bridget Johnson. "Its pipes are smoking, and its lights are bright, and it charges down the highway like the shark in 'Jaws. '" Echoes Leelee Sobieski: "Trucks can be like monsters, on the road. Even in the middle of traffic, it can be intimidating when you're driving your little car, and all of a sudden a huge truck comes up behind you. "

The third component of ROADKILL's terror-filled scenes is a dark and lonely stretch of highway that snakes through a desolate Middle America landscape. "On a empty road like that, there are very few turn-offs - and few places to hide," says Paul Walker. "There are a different set of rules for the road," adds Steve Zahn, "and Lewis, Fuller and Venna don't understand these rules. "

"There can be something scary about traveling to a new place when you don't have the resources usually available to you," adds John Dahl. "In ROADKILL, the characters are out there on their own, and the only tether to civilization is their car. That can be very disconnecting. "

The isolated, foreboding roads and landscapes captured in ROADKILL are becoming fewer in number. Truck stops, once gritty refuges for lonely truckers, have now been replaced by "travel plazas" - amalgamations representing corporate America's lock on fast food, gas and shopping.

John Dahl kept the familiarity afforded by this pervasive corporate branding out of the film. "Brand names provide comfort," Dahl says. "Their presence signifies that you can't be too far away from home. We didn't want our characters - or audiences - to have that feeling. We wanted to provide a sense of being in the middle of nowhere. "

Dahl was determined to find the most remote stretch of freeway in the United States - somewhere so isolated that even flickering lights from surrounding towns would not be visible. After scouting locations in Utah and southern Idaho, the filmmakers settled along a 300-mile stretch of Interstate 80 in northern Nevada. Among the way-off-the-beaten-track locations were Winnemucca, an old mining and sheep ranching town; Battle Mountain, a once prosperous mining hub that had fallen on hard times; and Wells, which is comprised of a truck stop, two casinos and a brothel. The production then filmed scenes in Salt Lake City, before heading to California, where they filmed at The University of Redlands, a glass bottle factory in Vernon, a ranch in Acton, and a cornfield near Bakersfield.

These locations left some vivid impressions on the director, not unlike those experienced by the film's characters. "I realized that I really was in the middle of nowhere," he says. "I felt vulnerable, because it seemed like anything could happen, and it could have been hours before anyone came along. Every truck and auto seemed to have a menacing presence.

"To me," Dahl concludes, "being on a highway in Nevada is more terrifying than being in New York City at 3:00am. "

ABOUT THE CAST

STEVE ZAHN (Fuller) made his screen debut in Ben Stiller's "Reality Bites," followed by performances in Tony Scott's "Crimson Tide," "Race the Sun" and Richard Linklater's "SubUrbia. " Zahn co-starred in Tom Hanks' directorial debut, "That Thing You Do!" where he portrayed Lenny, the lead guitarist of a fictional 1964 rock band.

In 1998, Zahn co-starred in the hit comedy "You've Got Mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and appeared opposite George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in "Out of Sight," based on the Elmore Leonard novel. That same year, he also appeared in the independent comedy "Safe Men," and in "The Object of My Affection" with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. Zahn's hilarious performance in "Happy, Texas" garnered him many accolades, including a Grand Jury Special Actor Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, as well as an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor.

Upcoming films include "Riding in the Car with Boys," opposite Drew Barrymore, and directed by Betty Thomas; and the comedy "National Security," with Martin Lawrence.

Zahn's credits also include the independent feature "Hamlet" with Ethan Hawke, "Forces of Nature" opposite Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock, and the comedy "Saving Silverman. "

PAUL WALKER (Lewis) was born and raised in Southern California, and began his professional career as a model and actor while still a child. After graduating from high school, he considered other careers, including marine biology, before deciding he truly did enjoy acting and wanted to study and commit to the craft as a profession.

Walker most recently starred in "The Fast and the Furious," which has grossed over $100 million to date. This is the first feature film ever to depict the adrenaline-charged world of import car racing. He starred opposite Joshua Jackson in "The Skulls," in "Varsity Blues" opposite James Van Der Beek, and in "She's All That" with Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Rachel Leigh Cook. Walker's credits also include "Brokedown Palace" and "Pleasantville. "

LEELEE SOBIESKI (Venna) starred in the drama "Here on Earth," alongside Josh Hartnett and Chris Klein, and co-starred in the romantic comedy "Never Been Kissed," both films released by Twentieth Century Fox. She had a key role in director Stanley Kubrick's provocative "Eyes Wide Shut," starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Sobieski received an Emmy® and Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the title role in the high-rated miniseries "Joan of Arc. "

She made her feature film debut in the Tim Allen starrer "Jungle 2 Jungle" and segued into a starring role opposite Elijah Wood in "Deep Impact. " She also starred in the Merchant/Ivory production "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries," which called for Sobieski to exercise her fluent French. Shot on location in Paris, she starred as the central character Channe, alongside Kris Kristofferson and Barbara Hershey.

Sobieski's upcoming films include the independent film "My First Mister," opposite Albert Brooks and directed by Christine Lahti, and "The Glass House" for "Cape Fear" scribe Wesley Strick. In addition, she stars for director Jon Avnet in the upcoming mini-series "Uprising," about the heroic rebellion of Warsaw ghetto Jews that held back the Nazis for over a month in 1943. This summer, Sobieski filmed the foreign-language film "L'Idole" on location in Paris.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Director JOHN DAHL's 1993 film "Red Rock West" was hailed as modern film noir filled with humor and twists. The picture starred Nicolas Cage as a man who is mistaken for a contract killer hired by Dennis Hopper to do in a seductress played by Lara Flynn Boyle.

Dahl followed "Red Rock West" with another critically acclaimed thriller, "The Last Seduction," starring Linda Fiorentino as a femme fatale who ditches her husband, Bill Pullman, in New York City after stealing money he's made from a drug deal. She then wreaks havoc on a small town man, Peter Berg, using him as a patsy.

In 1994 Dahl received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association New Generation Award for "Red Rock West" and "The Last Seduction. "

Dahl's credits also include "Kill Me Again" starring Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, "Unforgettable," a thriller starring Ray Liotta and Linda Fiorentino; and "Rounders," a drama set in the world of high stakes poker, starring Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich.

Dahl entered the industry as a storyboard artist on films such as "Something Wild," "RoboCop" and "Married to the Mob," and as an assistant director. He attended the American Film Institute as a directing fellow, and later helmed music video shorts.

Co-screenwriter CLAY TARVER was born and reared in San Antonio, Texas, attended college in Boston, and for eight years was a musician in Boston. In 1992, he moved to New York, and co-directed and created a series of promotional spots called "Jimmy the Cab Driver," featuring Tarver's former roommate, actor Donal Logue.

While ROADKILL is Tarver's first produced screenplay for which he is credited, he also contributed to "Charlie's Angels" and the upcoming Twentieth Century Fox/New Regency comedy "Black Knight. " He is currently working with J. J. Abrams and Mike Judge on a project for Fox called "House of Rothschild," as well as a remake of the comedy "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," to which Judge is attached to direct.

Producer/co-writer J. J. ABRAMS is the screenwriter of such films as "Armageddon," "Forever Young" and "Regarding Henry," and the co-creator and executive producer of the popular series "Felicity," starting its fourth season this fall on The WB. He also wrote the show's theme song (with Andrew Jarecki) and made his directorial debut with a two-part episode in the series' first season. Abrams also is executive producer and co-creator of the new series "Alias," which premieres this fall on ABC.

Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, Abrams developed a passion for movies at age eight when his grandfather took him on the Universal Studios Tour. He asked his father if he could use his Super 8mm camera to make his own films. Over the next ten years, Abrams made countless amateur films which he entered in various student festivals, winning a number of awards.

Abrams sold his first feature film treatment, "Taking Care of Business," while attending Sarah Lawrence College. He followed that with "Regarding Henry," starring Harrison Ford, and "Forever Young" starring Mel Gibson. His feature producing credits include "The Pallbearer" directed by "Felicity" co-creator Matt Reeves, and "The Suburbans" with Jennifer Love Hewitt. He also has appeared on screen as an actor in "Diaboloque" and "Six Degrees of Separation. "

CHRIS MOORE (Producer) was the founder and principal of Fusion Studios. At Fusion, he produced numerous successful feature films, including: "American Pie;" "Reindeer Games," "Best Laid Plans," "Pop & Me," "Glory Daze" and "Good Will Hunting. " Moore has several films scheduled for release in 2001, including "Stolen Summer" "American Pie 2" and "The Third Wheel. " (Fusion Studios merged with HorsePower Entertainment and Pearl Street Productions to form LivePlanet. )

Moore co-founded LivePlanet in June 2000 with Ben Affleck, Sean Bailey and Matt Damon to make great entertainment experiences that capitalize on an integration of technology and creativity. As LivePlanet's Chief Executive Officer, Moore oversees all of the company's business activities, and leads the strategy and vision of the company.

Moore also co-founded Launch Media, Inc. in 1994, where he developed a multimedia entertainment magazine entitled Launch. Launch Media, Inc. was sold in 2001 to Yahoo! He began his career in entertainment in 1989 as a literary agent for Intertalent Agency, later moving to International Creative Management. Moore represented numerous writers and directors in motion pictures, television, and new media.

BRIDGET JOHNSON (Executive Producer) was Vice President, Motion Pictures at James L. Brooks' Gracie Films, where she executive produced the Oscar-winning film "As Good As It Gets. "

Johnson began her career as a story analyst at TriStar Pictures, rising in the ranks to Vice President, Production. She went on to Walt Disney Studios as Vice President and was promoted to Senior Vice President, where she served until joining Gracie Films. during her tenure at TriStar and Walt Disney, Johnson was involved in the development and production of such films as "Blind Date," "The Seventh Sign," "Look Who's Talking," "Green Card," "Father Of the Bride," "Mad Love," "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "Father Of The Bride II. "

Johnson moved to Los Angeles following her graduation from the University of Wisconsin, where she studied philosophy and English literature. Becoming involved in the Los Angeles art world, she edited the Journal of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, and then became the editor of publications for the then-fledgling Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).

PATRICK MARKEY (Executive Producer) currently is executive producing the drama "White Oleander," starring Alison Lohman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Renée Zellweger and Robin Wright Penn.

After graduating from Ohio State University, Markey was hired as a consultant to the Ohio Film Commission, where he met Robert Redford during production of "Brubaker. " He continued his working relationship with Redford by serving as location manager on "Ordinary People," and as a production executive on "The Natural. "

For the next several years, Markey worked on independent feature films, including "Thief," "Death of an Angel," "Stacking," "Deepstar Six," "House" and "The Dark Wind. " In 1990, Markey reunited with Redford, sharing producing duties on "A River Runs through It. " Markey next produced "The Joy Luck Club" with Ron Bass, Amy Tan, Oliver Stone and Wayne Wang, who also directed the critically acclaimed drama based upon Tan's best-selling book. In 1998, he produced "The Horse Whisperer," directed by and starring Redford.

Markey's producer credits also include "The Associate," "Bogus," "The Tie That Binds" and "The Quick and The Dead. "

ARNON MILCHAN (Executive Producer) is widely renowned as one of the most prolific and successful independent film producers of the past 20 years, with over sixty feature films to his credit. Born in Israel, Milchan was educated at the London School of Economics and the University of Geneva. His first business venture was to transform his father's modest business into one of his country's largest agro-chemical companies. This early achievement was a harbinger of Milchan's now legendary reputation in the international marketplace as a keen businessman.

Soon, Milchan began to underwrite projects in an area that had always held a special interest for him - film, television and theater. Early projects include Roman Polanski's theater production of "Amadeus," "Dizengoff 99," "La Menace," "The Medusa Touch" and the mini-series "Masada. " By the end of the eighties, Milchan had produced such films as Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy," Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time In America" and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil. "

After the huge success of "Pretty Woman" and "The War of the Roses," Milchan founded New Regency Productions and went on to produce a string of successful films, including "J. F. K. ," "Sommersby," "A Time to Kill," "Free Willy," "The Client," "Tin Cup," "Under Siege," "L. A. Confidential," "The Devil's Advocate," "The Negotiator," "City of Angels," "Entrapment," "Pushing Tin," "William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Fight Club" and "Tigerland. "

Upcoming projects include "Black Knight," a comedy starring Martin Lawrence; "Don't Say Word," a thriller starring Michael Douglas; "High Crimes," starring Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel and Amanda Peet; "Joe Somebody," a comedy starring Tim Allen; and "Life, Or Something Like It," a romantic comedy toplining Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns.

Along the way, Milchan brought on board some powerful investors and partners who shared his vision: Australian businessman Kerry Packer's Nine Network, Leo Kirch's Kirch Media Group, Samsung Electronics, and most recently Twentieth Century Fox. Fox distributes Regency movies in all media worldwide (excluding output arrangements Regency has in Germany, Italy and Korea with its other strategic partners), except U. S. pay television and international pay and free television.

Milchan also successfully diversified his company's activities within the sphere of entertainment, most specifically in the realm of television through Regency Television ("Malcolm in the Middle" and "Roswell"), music through the acquisition of Restless Records (Warren G), and sports through an alliance and significant equity investment in PUMA, the worldwide athletic apparel and shoe conglomerate based in Germany.

JEFFREY JUR (Director of Photography) previously collaborated with John Dahl on "The Last Seduction" and "Unforgettable. " His other feature film credits include "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (released by Twentieth Century Fox), "Dirty Dancing," "Panic," "Almost Heroes," "The Big Picture," "Soul Man" and a recent independent drama, "My First Mister," which opened the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

ROBERT PEARSON (Production Designer) has been the production designer on three of John Dahl's previous films: "Rounders," "Unforgettable" and "Red Rock West. " For television, he designed the film "James Dean," directed by Mark Rydell, and written by Israel Horovitz.

ERIC L. BEASON (Editor) collaborated with John Dahl on "The Last Seduction," "Unforgettable" and "Kill Me Again. " His other credits include "A Simple Plan," "For Love of the Game" and "The Maddening. "

SCOTT CHESTNUT (Editor) edited three previous features for director John Dahl: "Rounders," "Unforgettable" and "Red Rock West. " Chestnut's other credits include "The Blue Iguana," "P. I. Private Investigations" and the television film "Amy & Isabelle. "

TODD E. MILLER (Editor) was assistant editor or associate editor on such films as "Any Given Sunday," "The General's Daughter," "Armageddon," "Con Air" and "The Rock. "

GLEN SCANTLEBURY (Editor) collaborated with director Simon West on the films "Tomb Raider," "Con Air" and "The General's Daughter. " He was additional editor on "The Godfather, Part III" and "The Rock. " Scantlebury's additional credits include "Dracula," "My Dubious Sex Drive," "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" and "Armageddon. "

Born in Italy, MARCO BELTRAMI (Composer) began his pursuit of music composition studying in Venice with Italian master Luigi Nono before entering the Yale School of Music on a scholarship. Among his most important influences he counts acclaimed composers Ennio Morricone and Jerry Goldsmith.

In 1992, Beltrami moved to Los Angeles to undertake a fellowship with Jerry Goldsmith. While learning the technical aspects of film scoring he also completed orchestral compositions for the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Sao Paulo State Orchestra and the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Since then, Beltrami has tried to balance concert pieces with a film scoring career.

Beginning with a Sony funded short, "The Bicyclist," in 1994, Beltrami has worked without pause on film and television scoring projects, among them the features "The Faculty," "The Crow: Salvation," all three of the "Scream" films, "The Watcher," "Dracula 2000" and "The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys" as well as the upcoming release "Blade 2: Bloodhunt. "

Beltrami's work has earned awards from the American Academy of Arts.