The Pill (2011)

It happens. You meet someone at the bar, one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know you're waking up wondering (and potentially regretting) exactly what took place the night before. Such is the case for Fred, who starts to panic when his freespirited one night stand, Mindy, informs him that she's not on birth control; but for some reason isn't too concerned. Determined not to become a father, Fred spends the day with Mindy under the guise of pursuing a serious relationship to make sure she takes both doses (taken 12 hours apart) of the morning-after pill.

The result is an all-day adventure filled with socially awkward situations and untimely roadblocks as Fred struggles to preserve his New York City world. With a resolution finally in sight, the no-boundaries Mindy starts to grow on the overly anxious Fred, forcing him to make a decision that will change the rest of his life.

A portrait of young singles in New York City, The Pill examines the immediate ramifications of casual dating in a poignantly funny, fresh, and honest fashion.

A Note on the Production

The Pill was shot on a low budget. As there was no expensive photography or special effects to hide behind, the script had to stand on its own. The last thing I wanted was to create a meandering film with no central plot. I admire the "mumble core" shooting style, but not the laissez-faire story aesthetic. Once I had the idea, I made sure to outline, write, and rewrite until the script was tightly structured, allowing room for character depth and nuance. The final rewrite takes place in the editing room, and I was open to constantly improving, trimming, and expanding where necessary. Prior to shooting, I held one week of rehearsals in my apartment where modifications were made through readings and improvisations with the actors. When production commenced, I encouraged the cast to improvise and express things in their own words. I whipped my script into the best possible shape, and was willing to throw out the text and work organically with the actors when the cameras rolled. As long as the subtext of the scene was clear, the specific lines didn't matter to me as much. As a result, about fifteen percent of the movie was improvised.

Cast Biographies

Noah Bean (Fred)

Noah Bean most notably appeared on FX's EMMY nominated series Damages, playing first year surgical intern David Connor opposite Rose Byrne and Glenn Close. Bean's other television credits include recurring roles on Nikita and Dark Blue as well as appearances on Cold Case, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Cleaner, Fringe, Lipstick Jungle, Medium, and Numb3rs.

In film he was most recently seen in the romantic comedy Morning Glory opposite Rachel McAdams and the independent film Stay starring Ewan MacGregor, Ryan Gosling, and Naomi Watts. Noah will also be seen in the upcoming film Little Murder opposite Josh Lucas and Terrence Howard.

Noah has worked consistently on the New York stage in numerous Off-Broadway productions at theaters including The Public, The Vineyard, and SOHO Playhouse. He has also worked at several prestigious regional theaters including The Mark Taper Forum, Williamstown Theater Festival, Bay Street Theater, and Boston's Huntington Theater where he most recently starred in William Inge's classic play Bus Stop. Noah received an IRNE Award nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama for his performance.

Noah is a graduate of Boston University's College of Fine Arts. He also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), as well as the London Academy

Rachel Boston (Mindy)

Growing up in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, Rachel Boston performed in her school, church, and community theaters. At seventeen she moved to New York City to pursue an acting career studying Shakespeare at Fordham University and taking classes at The Actor's Center. After performing in theater in New York and Pennsylvania for two years, she moved out of her Hell's Kitchen apartment and drove three thousand miles west for pilot season.

After two months in Los Angeles, she landed a recurring role on American Dreams for NBC. She has appeared in numerous television shows including ER, 7th Heaven, The Ex List, Scoundrels, Las Vegas, Mad Love, The Cleaner, and Castle. Her film credits include Ghosts of Girlfriends Past opposite Matthew McConaughey and the Golden Globe nominated 500 Days of Summer opposite Joseph Gordon- Levitt.

Anna Chlumsky (Nelly) Anna Chlumsky's film credits include the Oscar nominated In The Loop opposite James Gandolfini, The Good Guy opposite Alexis Bledel and Andrew McCarthy, Blood Car, My Girl 1 & 2, Gold Diggers, the Glamour Reel Short Wait, and the upcoming My Sweet Misery and Eavesdrop opposite Chris Parnell. Anna's television credits include the HBO show Veep, Covert Affairs: The Quinn-Tuplets (CBS Pilot), House Rules (CBS pilot), Cupid, 30 Rock, Law & Order, Eight Days a Week (CW pilot), Twelve Men of Christmas, and 3 Weeks 3 Kids.

Anna's New York stage credits include Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Westside Theatre), So Help Me God (Mint Theatre Company), Unconditional (LAByrinth Theater Company), The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero (DR2), Darwin in Malibu (Bay Street Theatre), The Butcherhouse Chronicles (Summer Play Festival), Balm in Gilead (Barefoot Theater Company - Member), Half Life (Flea Theater/Fringe Festival), Iphigeneia at Aulis (TimeSpace Productions), Measure for Measure (Astoria Performing Arts Center), No Alarms: Headfullofradio (Veritas Productions), and The Trojan Women (Veritas Productions).

Dreama Walker (Rose)

Dreama Walker's film credits include David Gordon Green's The Sitter opposite Jonah Hill and Sam Rockwell, The Discoverers opposite John C. McGinley and Griffin Dunne, Chlorine opposite Kyra Sedgwick and Vincent D'Onofrio, Ricky Gervais's The Invention of Lying, and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. Dreama's television credits include the ABC show Apartment 23 opposite Krysten Ritter and James Van Der Beek, and recurring roles on The Good Wife and Gossip Girl. Dreama has also been featured in episodes of Royal Pains, Ugly Betty, Law & Order, and Guiding Light.

Al Thompson (Jim)

Al Thompson recently starred in the award-winning comedy series Johnny B. Homeless, which won the People's Choice Award at the New York Television Festival and premiered on Atom.com. The series has been featured in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and Variety.

Thompson has appeared in numerous films and television shows including the Oscar nominated The Royal Tenenbaums opposite Gene Hackman, A Walk to Remember opposite Mandy Moore and Shane West, Love Don't Cost a Thing, the voice of Walt on the Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show, ESPN's A Season on the Brink, Sidney Lumet's 100 Centre Street, and Law & Order. Thompson also won acclaim for his performance as Derrick, the troubled protagonist of Larry Fessenden's Liberty Kid.

Filmmaker Biographies

J.C. Khoury (Writer/Producer/Director)

J.C. Khoury is an alumnus of the NYU Graduate Film Program where he studied under Spike Lee and wrote, produced, edited, and directed the short films Model Chaser and Michael Bell. The former won best short film at the 2002 Hamptons International Film Festival and Zoiefest. The latter depicted the quirky misadventures of a recent college grad and was a hit at the Slamdance Film Festival, winning the coveted Anarchy award. Based on the success of his shorts, J.C. was commissioned by StudioNext to write and direct a web series titled Dealing with Michael Bell that garnered praise from MSNBC, Streaming Media Magazine, and The Silicon Alley Reporter.

With an ambition to continue telling longer format stories, J.C. edited the critically acclaimed feature documentary The Outsider about maverick filmmaker James Toback and starring Robert Downey Jr., Harvey Keitel, Neve Campbell, Brooke Shields, and Woody Allen. The film premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was sold to Showtime.

J.C. Khoury has directed dozens of commercials, receiving an AICP award in 2006 for his Mountain Dew Foley spot and subsequent inclusion of his commercial work in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. Other recent accomplishments for his commercial and branded content work include three gold ADDY awards and a place in the 2006 edition of SHOOT's highly prestigious New Directors Showcase.

J.C. Khoury's keen eye for subtle, sophisticated humor led him to direct the Comcast Star Wars promo Nerf Herder (I Don't Wanna Be No) through AKQA which aired in front of the first HD broadcast of the Star Wars films on Cinemax and became a viral phenomenon, a campaign for Time Warner Cable via Ogilvy, two Avaya campaigns via R/GA, a viral film for Aquafina through Tribal DDB, and numerous spots for clients including Cotton, Swiffer, First Interstate Bank, Western & Southern Financial Group, Optimum Autos, and The Washington Post.

In the summer of 2010, J.C. began production on The Pill, his debut feature film starring Noah Bean (Damages, Morning Glory), Rachel Boston (500 Days of Summer), Anna Chlumsky (In the Loop), Al Thompson (The Royal Tenenbaums), and Dreama Walker (Gossip Girl). The Pill will be completed in 2011.

J.C. Khoury holds a BA from Columbia University and an MFA from New York University. He currently resides in New York City.

Trevor Herrick (Producer)

Trevor Herrick has supervised the production of the Academy Award-winning An Inconvenient Truth and the 2010 Sundance Audience Award winner Waiting for Superman, both directed by Davis Guggenheim. Trevor is also the producer and co-creator of the hit web series The Stay-At- Home Dad. He has produced commercials and branded content for Crispin Porter Bogusky, @Radical Media, Tool of North America, and Moxie Pictures among others, and he has worked with numerous award-winning directors including Terry Gilliam and Jim Sheridan. Trevor was recently involved in a Microsoft campaign that shot in six cities around the world. The Pill is his first narrative feature.

Andreas von Scheele (Director of Photography)

Andreas has worked in the entertainment and advertising industry for over 15 years. As cinematographer his credits include the documentaries Running America, Awaken, and USA in ICU. He also wrote, directed, and edited the feature film Anna's Thread and the short film The Lottery starring Kevin Conway that premiered at the Los Angeles DV Film Festival.

As a specialist in branded entertainment, Andreas has photographed and edited dozens of films for upscale labels including Swarovski, Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino, Veuve Clicquot, Givenchy, and Valerie MacCarthy.

Andreas is currently directing the web series Simpatico and editing the feature film ParAmor.

Didier Lean Rachou (Composer)

Raised in Europe and New York City, Didier relocated his studio to the Hollywood Hills. He immediately landed several choice projects, including composing for the final season of Sex and the City. The last four years have seen Didier score over thirty film and television projects including Powder Blue starring Jessica Biel, My Best Friend's Girl starring Kate Hudson and Alec Baldwin, Moving McAllister starring Mila Kunis, Gold Rush: Alaska, and Storm Chasers. He is fast becoming known for his innovative, lyrical, and compelling scores, as well as for his inclusive collaborative process and meticulous attention to detail.

Didier was drawn to music and the arts at a very young age; his ears being twisted by many musical dialects along the way. It was as a young boy on holiday in Casablanca, during a screening of an ancient print of Papillon, that he found his calling. In that makeshift casbah cinema, complete with a white linen sheet screen and mono loudspeaker, Didier became captivated by the power of music married to the moving image. Living in France, England, Switzerland, and NYC expanded his cultural awareness and influenced his music.

The son of world-renowned French chef Jean-Jacques Rachou (of La Cote Basque fame), he learned first-hand how to balance art and commerce in a high-pressured environment. La haute cuisine also instilled within him an insane work ethic. Fortunately, he emerged from "la cuisine" with all of his digits still intact.

After receiving his BA in Composition and Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, Didier continued his compositional studies, studying privately at The Juilliard School.

Didier holds dual-citizenship with France and the US.

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