A FILM BY ADAM SALKY

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LOGLINEA suburban housewife struggles to keep her family together as her secret life of drugs, alcohol, and infidelity spirals out of control.

SHORT SYNOPSISLaney is an attractive, intelligent suburban wife and devoted mother of two adorable children. She has the perfect husband who plays basketball with the kids in the driveway, a pristine house, and a shiny SUV for carting the children to their next activity. However, just beneath the façade lie depression and disillusionment that send her careening into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its crumbling effect on those she loves.

At the core of I Smile Back’s power is an indelible performance. Sarah Silverman reinvents herself as a dramatic actress in the career-defining, intensely layered, and heartbreaking role of Laney. Deftly directed by Adam Salky (Dare, 2009 Sundance Film Festival), I Smile Back is at times darkly humorous but also harrowing and unflinching as an authentic, humanizing portrait that offers no easy resolution for a damaged woman struggling to come to terms with herself.

FESTIVALSSundance Film Festival 2015

PRESS“[Silverman]’s terrific as a self-destructive housewife.”

THE GUARDIAN

“[Silverman] pulls us down so deeply inside Laney’s sickness.”VARIETY

“A gutsy performance by Sarah Silverman.”THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“[Silverman] delivers a vulnerable, raw performance in a demanding role.”CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND

“Silverman’s tremendous performance powers [the film].”INDIEWIRE

DIRECTOR’S NOTEMy first point of contact with I Smile Back was with the script. It moved me, and I knew immediately that I had to direct it. That’s my touchstone. If something moves me and makes me feel, then that’s how I know. I ran to get the book and everything I felt was confirmed and deepened. It’s a profoundly human and universal story. It touches everyone through family and friends but is so rarely told. I consider it a great stroke of luck that I crossed paths with Brian Koppelman and that he shared the script with me.

In I Smile Back, I saw Laney as a character who is in pain. That pain is very complex and deep rooted in her childhood. It’s manifesting itself in compulsion and destructive behavior. I saw that behavior as Laney’s attempt to kill that pain. Sometimes with drugs, sometimes with sex, sometimes with love from her family and children, but it’s never enough. Laney also wears a mask to get through the day. As human beings, our masks can be such elemental parts of our being, and as this story is a testament, they can also become consuming and destructive.

I hope audiences find strength from this film and learn that it is okay to seek care and support to help treat whatever battle you are facing in your life. I Smile Back is an unflinching portrait of a real life struggle. It’s the kind of story that doesn’t usually get told in the mainstream but touches everyone, either through a friend or a family member.

-Adam Salky

WRITER’S NOTEIn I Smile Back, I wanted to write about fear and how fear can motivate us to do terrible things. At her core, Laney is terrified. She is scared of the normal things: something bad happening to her kids, her husband leaving her, the inevitability of death. But I think what she is most scared of – and not even really aware that she is scared of this – is that she will become her father. Although she’s worked so hard to build a happy life for herself and her family, she has the fear that she is bound to destroy them.

There is a Jim Harrison quote at the beginning of the novel: “Show me a wound on earth that love has healed.” We live in a society that likes the idea of redemption but not all people can be saved. In the end, Laney couldn’t be saved. But hopefully Eli and Janey will heal from the wounds Laney ultimately inflicts on them and will be able to break the pattern of trauma.

I was driving up the West Side Highway on the way to pick up my kids from school. Sarah Silverman was on the Howard Stern show to promote her autobiography. I remember looking out the window as I drove and thinking ‘”she’s a professional smile backer”, meaning that she understood a certain kind of sadness/had experienced a certain type of sadness and protected herself by smiling back at the world. Of course, this was my own projection. When I got home, I ordered the book, read it, and still felt like she’d be the best person to play Laney. I actually hadn’t ever seen her perform any standup and hadn’t even seen her show. It was just a feeling I had. A connection. It sounds cheesy but that’s what happened.

-Paige Dylan

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

SARAH SILVERMANLaneyTwo-time Emmy winner Sarah Silverman is as versatile of a performer as they come. Her repertoire includes everything from film and television, stand-up comedy, to iconic online videos, and she added author to this list when she released a book in 2010, the New York Times Bestseller, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee. Silverman debuted an hour-long stand-up special, We are Miracles, on HBO in 2013. She was awarded a 2014 Primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special category. The special was also nominated for Outstanding Variety Special, and Silverman recently received a WGA nomination as well. An album of the special was recently released through Sub Pop Records, which earned her a 2015 Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.

She has wrapped production on Ashby opposite Mickey Rourke and Emma Roberts and recently had a recurring role on season 2 of the Golden Globe nominated series Masters of Sex. Additionally, Silverman is a part of JASH, a comedy collective on YouTube featuring original content by Silverman (and friends Michael Cera, Tim & Eric and Reggie Watts).

JOSH CHARLESBruceCharles recently completed his run on the CBS award-winning drama The Good Wife, for which he received two Emmy® nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor on a Drama Series and a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie. He was also nominated alongside the show’s cast for three SAG awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. While Charles recently completed his run on the series with a much talked about ending for his character Will Gardner, behind the camera he recently finished directing his third episode.

Charles secured his first feature film role in John Waters’ 1988 film Hairspray. The following year, he starred as student Knox Overstreet in the Academy Award® winning

film Dead Poets Society. Other notable film roles include Four Brothers, S.W.A.T.,Threesome, Pie In The Sky, Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, Crossing The Bridge, and Seeing Other People.

Upcoming, Charles can be seen in Bird People opposite Anais Demoustier, Brother’s Keeper with Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, and Nick Kroll, and in Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Central.

CREW BIOGRAPHIES

ADAM SALKYDirectorA magna cum laude graduate of Emory University, Adam completed his MFA with honors at Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts Film Division where he directed several award winning short films, and won three prestigious prizes including the James Bridges Award, one of the highest honors in the film school.

I Smile Back is Adam’s second feature directorial effort. Adam made his feature film directorial debut with Dare, a Grand Jury Prize Nominee of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Pursuing a deep interest in new media content creation, Adam has directed viral videos with over four million hits on Youtube, and recently directed Uncabaret, an unscripted pilot produced for Amazon.com.

THOMAS SADOSKIDonnySadoski can currently be seen in the movie adaptation of the New York Times best-seller Wild, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee and starring Reese Witherspoon. He also stars in NBC’s eight-episode miniseries The Slap, the US adaption of the Australian series of the same name, alongside Peter Sarsgard, Zachary Quinto, Thandie Newton, Melissa George and Uma Thurman.

A veteran of the stage, Sadoski has starred in and earned raves for his performances in a wide variety of Broadway and off-Broadway productions. He is currently performing in the off-Broadway production of The Way We Get By, reteaming with Neil LaBute. His previous collaboration with LaBute earned Sadoski a nomination for a Tony Award in the Leading Actor Category, as well as Drama Desk, Outer

Critics Circle and Drama League Award nominations.

Sadoski starred for three seasons as Don Keefer on HBO’s Golden Globe-nominated Aaron Sorkin series “The Newsroom.” His film credits include John Wick, Take Care, 30 Beats, The New Twenty, Circledrawers, Loser, Happy Hour and Winter Solstice.

AMY KOPPELMANWriterNovelist and screenwriter Amy Koppelman is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, A Mouthful of Air and I Smile Back. Koppelman and her screenwriting partner Paige Dylan adapted I Smile Back for the screen. The film, starring Sarah Silverman, premiered in competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Koppelman lives in New York City with her husband and their two kids.

PAIGE DYLANWriterScreenwriter Paige Dylan adapted I Smile Back with her writing partner Amy Koppelman. The film, starring Sarah Silverman and Josh Charles, premiered in competition at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Dylan lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jakob Dylan and their four children.

BRIAN KOPPELMAN & DAVID LEVIENProducersBrian Koppelman & David Levien are screenwriters, novelists, directors, and producers. Best known as the writers of Ocean’s Thirteen and Rounders, Koppelman & Levien have also produced films such as The Illusionist and Interview With The Assassin. They have also directed films such as Solitary Man and the documentary This Is What They Want for ESPN’s 30 for 30 Series, for which they received Emmys for Best Documentary Sports Series. They are currently Executive Producing the drama Billions for Showtime, starring Paul Giammati and Damian Lewis.

MICHAEL HARROPProducerMike Harrop is a New York-based producer of film, documentary and television. A long-time collaborator with Ed Burns, Mike produced Nice Guy Johnny (2010), Newlyweds (2011), and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas (2012), and is currently in post production on the series Public Morals.Mike has also produced the documentary One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das (2013), and the soon-to-be released films Manhattan Romance, The Pastor, and No Kiss List. Mike is currently in production on the pilot Billions.

CREDITS

Laney Brooks SARAH SILVERMANBruce Brooks JOSH CHARLESDonny THOMAS SADOSKISusan MIA BARRONDr. Page TERRY KINNEYMr. Odesky CLARK JACKSONRoger CHRIS SARANDON

Director: ADAM SALKYWriters: AMY KOPPELMAN PAIGE DYLANProducers: BRIAN KOPPELMAN DAVID LEVIEN MIKE HARROP RICHARD ARLOOKExecutive Producers: SKIP KLINTWORTH JENS MEURER CHRISTIAN ANGERMAYERCinematographer: ERIC LINEditor: TAMARA MEEMProduction Designer: BRANDON TONNER-CONNOLLYSound Design: BOB HEIN