Director: Arliss Howard Producer: Debra Winger Screenplay: James Howard & Arliss Howard Based on the stories of Larry Brown Executive Producers: Manfred Wilde & Barry Navidi Arliss Howard & Debra Winger Co-producer: Bob Johnston Production Design & Costume Design: Patricia Norris Editor: Jay Rabinowitz, A.C.E. Original Songs by: Tom Waits Director of Photography: Paul Ryan, A.S.C. Casting: Penny Perry First Assistant Director: Karen Collins Second Assistant Director: Tony Schwartz Supervising Sound Editor: Dave Paterson Music Supervisor: Joe Mulherin Live Recording Engineer: Niko Lyras First Assistant Editor: Matt Mayer Gaffer: Dayton Nietert Key Grip: Wayne Parker Production Accountant: Wendy Price Construction Coordinator: Keith Cox Special FX Coordinator: Michael Weesner Production Coordinator: Nancy Mosher Hall Set Decorator: Leslie Morales Production Sound Mixer: Steve Aaron First Assistant Camera: Gary Scott Costumer: Tom Dawson ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS ARLISS HOWARD: (see "Actor Bios") LARRY BROWN: (see "Book") JAMES HOWARD: Born in a landlocked fishing village to a family of sturdy peasants, James Howard first showed signs of literary promise at the age of seven, when he produced a 76-page illustrated baseball novel. It may be pertinent to note that he was only able to create this epic work after he was given a room of his own, beyond the influence of his older brother. In the writing of "Big Bad Love", he was not so fortunate, having been locked in a small room for months with his fraternal elder, collaborator, and directorial Torquemada, Arliss Howard, whose cinematic imprimatur can be found on every page of the script. "We don't really write together, per se," James explains. "I tend not to know what I'm thinking until I've written it, whereas Arliss tends not to think about what I've written until he's already shot it. In the early stages, I try to give him the most far-out, overwritten version of what a scene might consist of, and he'll sit with that for awhile. Once he achieves some distance from it - the trash can is usually at least six or eight feet away - we really start stripping the scene down to its essence, if any." James Howard first came to screenwriting as a poet, which is to say, insolvent. His still-unproduced first screenplay was "Form and Function In Byron's Don Juan", a screwball comedy based on a college term paper, followed by the still-unproduced sex romp "My Little Horse Must Think It Queer: Taboo Imagery in Robert Frost". "These screenplays didn't really work," he says, "because I was just too close to those papers, too fond of those poets. The first principle in adaptation is a deep and abiding contempt for the source material, or at least an incomprehension of it." James Howard is married to the writer Penny Krugman, and is the father of Emily, Oliver, and Jonah Howard. He lives in Kansas City. Some of the preceding paragraphs may contain errors, but this one has been scrupulously fact-checked. PATRICIA NORRIS: Ms. Norris is formal, raw, wicked, gracious and respiratory. She loves color. Those lamps in "Blue Velvet." The browns and blacks of those funereal suits in "The Hi-Lo Country." We once discussed the exact hue of an alligator's belly. It was the color of Warren Harding's dentures. Patricia Norris: When he called me to work with him on his first movie, I said yes before I read the script. Howard: When I asked her if she would go with me, she said, "If you must." Norris: It is rare to read a script that good. You could see the faces. You could see the world. Howard: I remember her looking at me across a crowded dinner table and saying, "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. And it doesn't matter." -AH Selected Filmography: Production Design and Costume Design: Lost Highway, David Lynch dir. (1997) The Journey of August King, John Duigan dir. (1995) "Return to Lonesome Dove" - TV, Mike Robe dir. (1993) Leaving Normal, Edward Zwick dir. (1992) The Hi-Lo Country, Stephen Frears dir. (1998) Old Man, John Kent Harrison dir. (1997) "Hotel Room"(TV) David Lynch,James Signorelli dir. (1993) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, David Lynch dir. (1992) Twin Peaks (TV), David Lynch dir. (1990) Tap, Nick Castle dir. (1989) Production Design only: Wild at Heart, David Lynch dir. (1990) Blue Velvet, David Lynch dir. (1986) Costume Design only: 2010, Peter Hyams dir. (1984) Scarface,Brian De Palma dir. (1983) Frances, Grame Clifford dir. (1982) Victor/Victoria, Blake Edwards dir. (1982) The Elephant Man, David Lynch dir. (1980) Days of Heaven, Terrence Malick dir. (1978) High Anxiety, Mel Brooks dir. (1977) Silent Movie, Mel Brooks dir. (1976) The Missouri Breaks, Arthur Penn dir. (1976) JAY RABINOWITZ: There is no metaphor that I know of for what a film editor does. My relationship with Jay Rabinowitz is like a couple of guys sitting around a campfire telling each other the same ghost story over and over, trying to scare the wildlife. What that has to do with his real job eludes me. Is he a midwife? Is he a cavalry scout? Or the cavalry? Beats me. All I know is that Jay handed me a section of the film and we started from there and the section he handed me remains intact. And I know he worked his ass off. In 1990/91, Jay Rabinowitz edited Jim Jarmusch's "Night On Earth," and has edited all of Mr. Jarmusch's films since. He has edited Lodge Kerrigan's "Clean Shaven," Paul Schrader's "Affliction" and Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem For A Dream." He has also worked for Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson on both feature films ("Jimmy Hollywood") and television shows ("Homicide: Live On The Street"). -AH Selected Filmography: Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky dir. (2000) Homicide: The Movie (TV), Jean De Segonzac dir. (2000) Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Jim Jarmusch dir. (1999) Affliction, Paul Scrader dir. (1997) Year of the Horse, Jim Jarmusch dir. (1997) Clean, Shaven, Lodge H. Kerrigan dir. (1995) Dead Man, Jim Jarmusch dir. (1995) When Pigs Fly, Sara Driver dir. (1993) Night on Earth, Jim Jarmusch dir. (1991) PAUL RYAN, A.S.C.: Paul Ryan, a.s.c. migrated from Boston to California and made a transition from engineering and professional ski racing to a career in cinematography. After filming documentaries on such subjects as Salvador Dali, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and the Hell's Angels, Ryan moved to feature film work. Ryan has been a resource cinematographer at several Sundance June labs where he met Arliss Howard. Ryan lives in Santa Monica with his wife Priscilla and their six year old son Lucas. Selected Filmography: Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Britt Allcroft dir. (2000) Wildflowers, Melissa Painter dir. (1999) Other Voices, Other Rooms, David Rocksavage dir.(1997) Box of Moonlight, Tom DiCillo dir. (1996) Lonely Hearts, Andrew Lane dir. (1991) Foxes, Adrian Lyne dir. (1980)