BEST WISHES       

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Gabriel Reyes,
Reyes Entertainment (323) 852-1525 or Gabriel@ReyesEntertainment.com
www.sweetmoonpictures.com

Biographies

JOFFRE M^cCLUNG – Peggy Durham

Writer – Producer – Director

BEST WISHES marks Ms. M^cClung’s feature film debut.  After working in New York as an actress and producer in the theatre, she returned to her native Texas in the mid-nineties and threw herself into learning everything she could about filmmaking.  Over the next four years, she worked on various shorts always doing a multiple of jobs, including  producing, acting, asst. editing, casting, costuming, hair & makeup, boom and even the perils of craft services. One of the shorts, TI-BOY’S WIFE (directed by Richard Lormand) which she co-produced and starred in went on to win several awards including Grand Jury Prize at Lille France and the Best Actress award at Festival Du Court De Villeurbanne.

 She eventually jumped in to the deep end and wrote, produced and directed her first short OUT OF THE BLUE.   It was this experience that finally convinced her that while she still had much to learn, she had to tell her own stories. By the time, she had returned to New York in 1998 she had complete two screenplays CIRCLES (a story about struggling actors and second chances in New York) and ON THE SHOW (a story of three 1950's women whose lives are changed when the circus comes town). 

M^cClung decided during the summer of 2001 that in order to get funding for her circus film she would make a short film set in the same period to show investors. What she got instead was her first feature film BEST WISHES. Much like her character Peggy, M^cClung’s wish came true in a way she never expected.

DANIELLE RICKMANN – Lucille Baker

Danielle Rickmann has worked in film with with Francis Ford Coppola and Spike Lee.  As a singer/dancer, she performed in four Broadway shows to then work with the famed Negro Ensemble Company in NYC.  She looks forward to being approached by other ambitious, motivated film makers who seek to broaden the Voice of Mankind.

DAMON CARNEY – Stan/Detective with the Hat

Damon Carney has performed on stage with Minnesota Shakespeare Company, appeared on television in such shows as “Cracker,” “Walker Texas Ranger,” and “The Bold and The Beautiful,” and is proud to be making his feature film debut co-starring in BEST WISHES.  He can also be seen starring in “To Ease The Loss,” in the shorts program at the Newport Beach Film Festival.  Damon currently resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife and two children.

ALANKEITH CALDWELL – Harry Baker

Alankeith Caldwell is an all around entertainer.  He has appeared in national commercials, television, movies, print advertisements and numerous theatrical productions.  He is noted for his versatility and ability to adapt to the characters he portrays in projects.  In his spare time he writes and produces music and is the Executive Producer of the animated comic strip Homeboy featured on HomeboyCrew.com. Alankeith resides in Dallas, Texas and lives by his personal motto:  “If there is no vision, there is no success.”

Director's Statement

JOFFRE MCCLUNG'S BEST WISHES,
A FILM ABOUT TWO WOMEN IN 1950'S TEXAS,
IS A VALENTINE TO A GENERATION OF FEMINIST PIONEERS

Director Joffre MCClung intentionally made her first feature film, BEST WISHES in the style of the 1950s in order to bring to life the quiet, powerful will of the women of the era. A sweet and sassy tale of hope and friendship between two women set in Ft. Worth, Texas, 1958, the film celebrates a generation of women who created their own happiness and questioned the roles imposed by society or tradition. In their own subtle ways, the women of the fifties paved the way for future generations of women to enjoy the freedom to choose their own destiny.

"I always saw BEST WISHES as a valentine to a generation of ladies that are now in their 70s and 80s," says McClung. "I wanted to celebrate them as well the style of movies they grew up watching. I wanted to tell a simple tale of quiet resolve and how the power of friendship, both seen and unseen, can help us to be more than we are alone. If you look closely, there's a lot more than meets the eye."

"I wanted to set BEST WISHES in 1958 Texas as a tribute to a generation of women that have gone unnoticed by Hollywood films. I think quite often the women of the fifties, and especially Southern women, have been considered trite. People see these women's graciousness as frivolous and mistake their quiet manner for mindlessness. I wanted to honor these women while they're still here as well as thank them for their contribution to the lives of the women that followed. In their quiet and subtle manner, the women of the fifties asserted their independence and the right to seek out their own happiness; subversive concepts for their time. Yet, they did it all with incredible graciousness and civility."

"Because of the time period and the feel of the movie, I knew the film would need to be handled in a very different way than most films being made today. I wanted the story to capture the essence of these ladies. In order to do that, the film needed to have a sweet, gentle feel and rhythm to it and the best way I could do that was to make it in the style of that period. That meant there would be no nudity, violence, or vulgarity. These women just wouldn't stand for it! So, I set out to make an old fashion movie. Risky in today's world? Maybe, but I think these women deserve a film as gracious and kind as they are! Hopefully, my film is just that: A beautiful valentine postcard brought alive."

Synopsis

Friends have gathered to celebrate the 80th Birthday of Peggy Durham. As she receives birthday wishes, she begins to reminisce about the times past and the people that "not only touched your heart but opened it."

The time is 1958. The place is Fort Worth, Texas. Peggy Durham (Joffre McClung), a typical white middle class housewife with a talent for baking, finds herself alone on her birthday, having been stood up by her husband. On the other side of town, Lucille Baker, (Danielle Rickmann) a black working class widow, also finds herself alone on her birthday.

Both women consumed with loneliness comfort themselves with their usual Fantasies and Dreams. Peggy's fantasy, looking very much like a 1940's Film Noir movie, always involves a mysterious detective (Damon Carney). Having arrived to investigate the murder of Peggy's husband, and despite knowing she did it, The Detective in the end is always seduced by Peggy and her wickedly delicious confections. Unlike, Peggy who fantasizes about what could be, Lucille dreams of what was. Harry, (AlanKeith Caldwell) her husband, having died a year earlier and leaving her in financial straits, has begun to appear regularly in her dreams. Sometimes by making her laugh or sometimes by chiding her, he nonetheless always makes her forget that he is gone and she is alone in the world.

At midnight, both women awaken and light their birthday cakes. Peggy's is a beautiful creation she baked herself and Lucille's a lone cupcake. They both close their eyes and make a wish neither one knowing that their wishes will change their lives forever!

The next day, Peggy's regular housekeeper having mysteriously sprained her ankle that morning, sends her sister who just happens to be Lucille to take her place for the month. They quickly form a friendship with Peggy finally finding someone who can appreciate her and her desserts and Lucille finding someone who understands and allows her without judgment to keep her husband in the present.

As their friendship grows, the house keeping is shared by both of them so there is more time for fun. Peggy happily bakes desserts daily for Lucille and her kids. Lucille accepts them even if Peggy refuses to let her, share them with the world, by selling them at the diner where she works.

After witnessing once again Stan's disregard for Peggy and her feelings, Lucille no longer able to contain herself, confronts Peggy about her relationship with her husband. "I just don't understand how." Only to be quickly reminded by Peggy, "And there are some things I don't understand about you. What do you want to do about that?" Lucille, not wanting to face her own failure to deal with the death of her husband, drops it.

Still feeling stung from that afternoon, Lucille goes against Peggy's wishes and hatches a plan to sell Peggys desserts. Along with another waitress, Ellie (Heather Stewart), they begin selling the pastries at the diner and putting the money aside in a can. The desserts are an immediate hit. Over the few weeks, Lucille takes all of the desserts that Peggy gives her straight to the diner and happily watches the can of money grow. All is going well, until Harry, during one of his visits, tells Lucille that she is making one of the biggest mistakes of her life. He convinces Lucille to stop what she is doing and "come clean with this woman."

Unfortunately, before Lucille can tell her, Peggy visits the diner on her way home from a shopping trip to Dallas. There, she sees the Strawberry Tarts she made just the day before. Questioning the waitress, Ellie spills the beans not only about the desserts but how this friend of Lucille's "does not have a very happy life. It seems she has a husband who just walks all over her. Some people drink. I guess this lady bakes". Peggy feeling betrayed starts to leave the diner just as Lucille arrives. Both women finally tell the other what they think about each other's lives or lack of and the choices they've made. Words are thrown back and forth. Lucille finally excuses her actions by saying "You do what you have to, to survive." "Yes, I know", Peggy retaliates. Before Peggy exits the diner and Lucille's life, she reveals what she wished for on her birthday leaving Lucille speechless.

Peggy arrives home after the fight and something finally snaps when she hears Stan's voice complain about dinner. She shocks him by telling him to shut up and locking him out of the bedroom. That night her Detective makes his third and finally appearance telling her he's to be transferred.

Over the next week or so, Peggy holes up in the bedroom waiting for Stan to leave in the morning. Once gone, she spends the day working in the kitchen, creating new recipes. Eventually, Peggy confronts Stan. Even after revealing that he too has not been happy, he refuses to believe that she has changed. It is not until he questions her about two suitcases that he finally realizes that she means to change her life and without him.

In the meantime, Harry, makes his third and last appearance unbeknownst to Lucille to say farewell and reminder her "she has good people in her life who can help if she will just let them". Lucille awakens and calls for Harry but he doesn't appear leaving her finally to face her fear of being left alone and his death.

A week later, Ellie worried about Lucille who has not shown up at work, stops by and tries to give the can of money to Lucille. Lucille will have none of it. When Ellie suggests she give to Peggy, she informs Ellie that they are no longer friends. Feeling responsible, after leaving Lucille's, Ellie stops by Peggy's house. The next day, Peggy comes to Lucille's house bringing donuts and friendship. Lucille accepts both. Peggy also surprises her with the recipe book she had been working on and tells her of the plans to go into business together. A year later, on their birthdays they open their first bakery, Let Them Eat Cake. It is at that celebration Lucille reveals what she had wished for the previous year, much to the surprise of Peggy. The women celebrate along with Ellie who now works for them.

The 80 year old Peggy returns to the present day just in time to blow her candles out. Leaving us with the her thoughts on wishes and "how they rarely appear as you have imagined them" and the one thing she knows for sure about wishes - they won't come true unless you make them!

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