JACK GOES BOATING

Jack Goes Boating is a tale of love, betrayal, friendship and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples. The film stars John Ortiz (American Gangster), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Broadway’s “Rent”), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), with Hoffman making his feature directorial debut. Bob Glaudini (“A View From 151st Street”) adapted his acclaimed Off Broadway play for the screen.

Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan) are two single people who on their own might continue to recede into the anonymous background of the city, but in each other begin to find the courage and desire to pursue their budding relationship. In contrast, the couple that introduced them, Clyde (John Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega), are confronting unresolved issues in their marriage.

Jack is a limo driver with vague dreams of landing a job with the MTA and an obsession with reggae that has prompted him to begin a half-hearted attempt at growing dreadlocks. He spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend and fellow driver Clyde and Clyde’s wife Lucy.

The couple set Jack up with Connie, Lucy’s co-worker at a Brooklyn funeral home. Being with Connie inspires Jack to learn to cook, pursue a new career and take swimming lessons from Clyde so he can give Connie the romantic boat ride she dreams of. But as Jack and Connie cautiously circle commitment, Clyde and Lucy’s marriage begins to disintegrate. From there, we watch as each couple comes face to face with the inevitable path of their relationship.

Jack Goes Boating was co-financed by Overture Films and Big Beach (Little Miss Sunshine, Sunshine Cleaning), with Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub of Big Beach producing; Beth O’Neil of Olfactory Productions producing; Philip Seymour Hoffman executive producing and Emily Ziff producing through their company Cooper’s Town Productions (Capote). John Ortiz is an executive producer and George Paaswell (Notorious) co-produces. Sara Murphy of Cooper’s Town is an associate producer. Director of photography is Mott Hupfel (The Savages). Editor is Brian A. Kates (Nights in Rodanthe). Production designer is Thérèse Deprez (Phoebe In Wonderland). Art director is Matteo de Cosmo (Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire). Costume designer is Mimi O’Donnell.

The stage version of Jack Goes Boating was originally produced by LAByrinth Theater Company in New York City, where Hoffman and Ortiz were co-artistic directors for over ten years.

IWC Schaffhausen and Jean Reno jointly celebrate a film premiere

IWC celebrated the relaunch of its Portuguese family with a film starring Jean Reno at the SIHH Watch Fair

Geneva, 19 January 2010 - The Swiss watchmaking company IWC Schaffhausen celebrated its new Portuguese watch collection on the occasion of the SIHH in Geneva amidst a setting inspired by typical yacht design features. Prominent guests joined invited business partners for the "IWC Dinner" at the Espace Sécheron, where they were enthused by the premiere of the IWC short film starring Hollywood actor Jean Reno.

More than 600 invited guests, including prominent personalities such as Zinédine Zidane, Boris Becker and Luís Figo, gathered for the cocktail reception hosted by IWC at the Espace Sécheron in a nautical ambiance. Also mingling with the guests, alongside best-selling author Paulo Coelho and Hollywood star Jean Reno, were Arsène Wenger, Alain Sutter and Tim Jefferies, who were visibly at their ease in the relaxed atmosphere. Various installations, attended by specialists, echoed the central theme of the evening: the fascination of matters both nautical and navigational. Here a meteorologist gave an introduction to the secrets and perils of forecasting the weather, followed by an expert who explained the significance and function of the sextant. One authority contrasted and compared modern and antique cartography and explored the intricacies of longitude and latitude, which to this day retain their relevance as coordinate systems for accurate positioning.

Film premiere with Jean Reno The high point of the evening was the film premiere with Jean Reno: IWC, together with French actor and director Didier Flamand and Swiss production company Condor Films, has produced a short film for the relaunch of its Portuguese watches, which makes the origins and the fascination of navigation the centre of attention. "The Spirit of Navigation" is a mystical work full of poetry, a philosophical commemoration of the scientists, seafarers and astronomers of days long gone by. Hollywood actor Jean Reno moves through time and space as a protagonist in the midst of a magical production, acquaints the viewer with the art of navigation, which originated some 6,000 years ago, and recounts the development of early nautical instruments. Various levels, cinematic special effects and montages establish a link to the newly released Portuguese watches, the icons of IWC, which utilize the precise, sophisticated and elegant navigational instruments as their role model. After an exquisite dinner, it was the turn of Nils Landgren, one of the most successful European jazz musicians, and his band "Funk Unit", to take the spotlight. This virtuoso trombonist not only swept spiritedly across the stage, but also managed to enthral the audience with his solos alternating subtly between various styles.

For further information:
Romy Hebden
Head of Public Relations
romy.hebden@iwc.com
Telephone ++41 79 626 88 88