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Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore and Patty Jenkins have signed on to direct the Lifetime original movie Project Five, an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on people’s lives. Aniston, Marta Kauffman, Paula Wagner, Kristin Hahn, Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri will executive produce the movie, which reunites former Friends star Aniston and co-creator/executive producer Kauffman for the first time since the end of the hit NBC series. Sony Pictures TV is producing.
Kauffman developed the interconnected story arc of Project Five, which will mix drama and comedy to explore the effect that breast cancer and its diagnosis have on women and their relationships. The five short films in Project Five were written under Kauffman’s supervision by Stephen Godchaux (Spin City), Jill Gordon (Cupid), Howard Morris (Women are Crazy), Deirdre O’Connor (The Electric Company) and Wendy West (Dexter). Aniston, Keys, Moore and Jenkins will each direct one short, with a fifth director expected to be announced soon. “Our hope with Project Five is to entertain, inform and inspire dialogue, research and prevention,” Aniston said. “Otherwise, our goals are small — we want these films to move people and empower those affected by breast cancer to stand tall through this challenge, which impacts ALL of our lives, no matter who we are.”
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It is Stephen Godchaux! yeah u right bra
Not a lot of venues to do breast cancer flicks. Also a great opportunity for some of these women to flex as of yet unused muscles. Cudos to Lifetime. I hope it’s great.
Now…. let the cynics come forth and unleash their bile about this project.
Stephen Godchaux has a really terrific pilot in pre-production at USA Network. Glad to see that the cream is rising…
A worthy subject but how creatively uninspired. HBO did the same format many years ago TWICE…
@Angela: newsflash: EVERYTHING has been done more than once in Hollywood, including plenty of anthologies. You are referring to IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK, and there are far worse examples to emulate. I don’t find the idea at all uninspired; in fact, I think it’s the sort of programming Lifetime SHOULD be doing, vs yet another woman-in-jeopardy/true crime drama. And Marta Kauffman is a terrific writer/producer. Don’t mind the actresses directing, although it is, as another poster indicated, a little gimmick-y, and takes the jobs out of the hands of ‘real’ directors..but it is a good marketing ploy and in the immortal words of GYPSY’s Ms Mazeppa (SP?) “Ya gotta have a gimmick”!! Kudos Tanya & co.
Mixing drama and comedy…breast cancer is a untapped comedy goldmine. Who can forget the classic I love Lucy episode when Ethel thought Lucy had breast cancer when Lucy really said she was the “best dancer”.
I don’t know how I feel about this… I think it’s a great idea!, but it seems as if they just wanted to find celebrities to direct as opposed to finding directors to direct. That makes it bit too gimmicky to me.
I’d be more interested in seeing those women on screen utilizing their experience and expertise (acting), as opposed to them being handed an opportunity that could go to someone whose passion is directing. (And I am only assuming that directing isn’t a passion based on the fact that ANY of them could’ve been directing at any point before now)
Exactly, nice idea, but they are plenty of women directors to choose from. If these celebrities want to direct, don’t they have enough money to make some short films to prove they know what the hell they’re doing first. I don’t understand why almost every time a woman gets a shot to direct…it’s a famous actress or someone’s kid.
Let me see if I have this right – you want actors to waste their own money on their vanity projects? Hmmmmmm…novel idea. Somehow I doubt you’ll find that many actors who are willing to put their money where their mouths are. Certainly not Aniston or else she’d have come up off some of her millions to fund any number of her non-romcom projects that have fallen through the last 6 years. I can easily name 6 movies she’s talked about that have never seen the light of day because she couldn’t find anyone to fund them. But…she’s selling her house for $42 million. Go figure, right? Frankly I’m just glad she’s too cheap to spend her own money financing a movie for herself. I really don’t think anyone wants to see Jennifer Aniston singing country music.
Well at least Aniston and Moore have already directed shorts before – for Glamour magazine. In fact, Jennifer’s directorial debut was award-winning – it received the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Cinevegas International Film Festival when it was released in 2006. Maybe they are best known for acting, but people making the claim they know nothing about directing should really do their homework first. Given Aniston’s directing and producing involvement and statement on the project, it’s clear it’s a pet project of hers and she’s obviously going to be using her considerable public image to draw attention to it – where’s the harm in that?
Not so much harm… And I know it’s just business (as usual), but I (personally) would rather see this project go to a director who actually lobbied and sought to do it, as opposed to a producer inventing a catch and pitching it to actresses who might take a “hell, why not?” approach. Jen directed an award winning short in 2006, but quite honestly could have been directing a whole lot more if it was something that was “truly” a passion for her – I think in this time when woman directors are having a tough time finding work, it’d be nice to see them working in a capacity that is a sincere passion.
I’m not saying that Aniston and the others wont be passionate about the material, nor do I want to suggest that they are incapable doing a fine job. My problem, again is with “Hollywood” and studio execs with their bright ideas.
Again, there are definitely some assumptions in my thinking, but I think most people would agree that those assumptions are probably fairly reasonable.
I get what you are saying, but the point is that we have no idea whether any or all of those involved weren’t the ones who “actually lobbied and sought to do it.” At least Aniston, as exec-producer AND director, seems to be more involved than simply a hired-help director. She has spoken about this project in recent interviews, she is the one quoted in the official press release from Lifetime regarding the project, and she has seemingly assembled a team of writers/producers who are both former colleagues and close friends of hers – so it stands to reason this is in fact something she truly has a passion for. Now Moore, Keys and Jenkins – who knows?
Also, re Aniston, she has spoken of her desire to continue to direct and to expand in that field – just because it hasn’t happened since 2006, I’m not sure why we should assume it isn’t truly a passion for her. Directing is a lot more time consuming and invovled and perhaps she is working behind the scenes on projects, like this one, where she will step out in that area?
This would have been amazing with Nancy Savoca, Allison Anders and Susan Seidalman directing. Apparently, the Aniston Glamour funded short was ok, not quite as bad as the Julia Stiles Elle funded short/commercial that premiered at Sundance (both programmed by Trevor Groth). Of course one has to wonder why magazines are funding wealthy actresses to make their first short and what brilliant young female director didn’t get into Sundance that year, but I digress.
Some years ago, I was at an event with the then CEO of Lifetime. In preparation, I did some some research and discovered 98% of Lifetime TV movies were directed by men. I asked the CEO why this was the case, she replied that “Lifetime chooses the best person for the job”…who 98% of the time just happens to be male. It may have improved since then, but they’re still not hiring the best person for the job. And I think they’re really missing the boat connecting with their target audience.
Errr…calling Jennifer Aniston’s short film “award-winning” just for getting one tiny award at a minor Las Vegas film festival (held at the Palms Casino Resort?) seems really over-blown. When someone talks about award-winning, you think of the major ceremonies like the Golden Globes, the Oscars, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, etc.
Aniston actually co-directed the 5 minute short with her producing partner, so it’s highly debatable about how much “work” she actually put into that short. I agree we should give this to someone who has more experience and passion for directing. My guess is that the celebs will farm the work out to their paid assistants, paid writers, producers, etc. and then take all the credit. If they wanted to go the celeb route, I personally think it might have been better to pick celebs with real knowledge of the topic–like Christina Applegate, Olivia Newton John, etc. That would have been really moving. They could add their own personal experiences to the story.
Jennifer Aniston and the Lifetime channel? If ever there was a match made in hell – this would be it. The attempt at addressing a serious subject aside, Jennifer Aniston belongs on tv and not in movies. Let’s hope she’s finally realized that’s her true lot in life and stays there and stops making all those god-awful romcoms she’s churned out the last 6 years. If there’s one thing this world does not need – it’s more Rachel Green movies.
Do Hanks, Willis, Clooney, Smith, etc. also “belong on TV” as well? I always find this type of comment ridiculous and petty – she’s an actress, with a fan base whether you personally like her films or not. She’s one of just a couple of actresses to have 5 $20+ million openings on non-animated pictures in the last 5 years, she’s just had her fourth $100+ million domestic grosser, and she’s only had 1-2 true flops in the last 10 years. Her last couple of pictures grossed more than 2.5 times their production budgets worldwide, despite media outlets declaring them flops, and she has consistently been on the most bankable actress list put out annually by Forbes for the last several years – despite earning a per picture salary in the top 10 of actresses. Once again, do the homework before attacking her.
Oh please, she’s no Julia, Sandra or Reese. Unlike those ladies, Aniston has neven been able to open a movie by herself. She has also not taken any risks as a real actor, nor won any Oscars. If she plays the girlfriend of a popular actor like Jim Carey or Vince Vaughn or Adam Sandler, you can’t call it “her” movie. When she is the ONLY draw in a film, it doesn’t do well. Case in point, The Switch opened at 8 million, Love Happens opened at 8 million, Management at 1 million, Derailed and Rumor Has It all underperformed. Only when she has a big male lead, a cute dog, or she’s in an ensemble film, does the film do well. I know you are a fan and want to defend her, but let’s get real here. She’s someone who is supporting cast and not an A-list actor in her own right–no matter how much her fans and PR team try to convinve us otherwise.
Jennifer Aniston’s movies only do well when she’s got a strong male supporting cast to propel them to profitability. Good examples would be Bruce Almighty (Jim Carrey), Along Came Polly (Ben Stiller), the Break-Up (Vince Vaughn), etc. When she’s the main lead, her movies do rather poorly — i.e. the Good Girl and the Switch. Face it, she’s got no range. She’s a terrible actress who’s always playing the same romantic comedy parts.
By the way, if you’re going to talk about the profitability of a movie but then ignore the marketing costs involved, you’re obviously overstating the profits made. Most of Aniston’s movies are big studio releases, and consequently, the P&A expenditures are often substantial so her movies aren’t as profitable as you suggest. Moreover, her association with Chelsea Handler, who proudly brags about her dislike for minorities, diminishes my opinion of her.
A few of ya’ll are over-thinking this. Great idea to shine any light on breast cancer, women, their families and lives. There’s nothing actually new, just new ways of seeing, presenting, combining, saying, realizing (check out Nicole Charbonnet, NOLA visual artist whose entire body of work is based on this notion). And if Stephen Godchaux is writing you can be sure it’ll be great.
Sounds like this could be good. An interesting subject matter and a great group of writers. Howard Morris is one of the most talented and underrated writers in television.