어제 KBS1의 영화 "에린 브로코비치erinbrockovich" 보셨나요!

[evok]

토요일, 부산에서 거래선 사장님과 점심 후에 직원 결혼식 참석 후 고속철로 서울역에 거의 저녁 7시 30분에 도착 했답니다.

곧장 모이기로 한 친구들과 찐하게 어울리다가 사실 몇시간 못 잔채로 찌부둥하게 일요일 아침을 맞이 헸지요.

낮에 가족들과 잠시 산책 + 배드민턴하고 오늘은 일찍 자야지 맘 먹었지요.

11시 넘어 시작한 "에린 브로코비치"란 영화에 대한 사전 정보도 없이 이제 그만 TV 끄고 자야지 하면서 채널 돌리기를 마지막에 하다가 기양 대어를 낚은 셈이 되었네요.

아이들이 셋이나 되는 막막한 이혼녀의 등장에도 눈은 서서히 감겨 왔답니다.

그런데, 좌충우돌 이혼녀의 모습이 잠과의 투쟁에 전의를 갖추게 하두만요.

거대한 가스회사 PG&E라는 회사의 크롬에 의한 주민들의 폐해를 은폐하려는 음모에 대항하는 우리의 용감한 이혼녀 이야기인데요,

찐한 감동을 두 번이나 맛보았지요, 모안 깊은 곳에서 시원하게 져며오는 감동은 정말 말로 표현할 수 없는 거잖아요?!

줄리아 로버츠의 노출된 몸매에 대한 끌림도 사실은 별 거 아닐 정도로 말입니다.

파트노 노땅 애드 변호사도 보통 매력은 아니지만서도...

하튼 평범하면서 남들이상의 성취를 바란다면 헛된 욕심이라는 말이 생각나네요,

온 몸을 바쳐 매진하는 모습의 "에린"과는 물론 제가 의식을 잃을 때까지 함께 했지요!!!

In a world where heroes are often in short supply, the story of Erin Brockovich is an inspirational reminder of the power of the human spirit. Her passion, tenacity and steadfast desire to fight for the rights of the underdog defied the odds꿫er victory made even more sweet by the fact that while helping others, she in turn helped herself. Erin Brockovich is a stirring, funny and unconventional drama based on true events, starring two-time Academy Award* nominee Julia Roberts as the twice-divorced mother of three young children who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins. With no money, no job and no prospects on the horizon, Erin Brockovich (Roberts) is a woman in a tight spot. Following a car accident in which Erin is not at fault, she finds herself even worse off when her attorney fails to land her any kind of settlement. With nowhere else to turn, Erin pleads with her attorney Ed Masry (Albert Finney) to hire her at his law firm. It is there, while working, that Erin stumbles upon some medical records placed in real estate files. Confused, she begins to question the connection. She convinces Ed to allow her to investigate, where she discovers a cover-up involving contaminated water in a local community which is causing devastating illnesses among its residents. Although the local citizens are initially leery of becoming involved, Erin's persistence and the personal interest she takes in their lives makes them listen. A kindred spirit, Erin is one of them, and her ability to connect with them on their level makes them comfortable, ultimately earning their trust. Helping her out is her next door neighbor George (Aaron Eckhart), a Harley Davidson biker whose friendship and support allows her the time to pursue the case. Going door to door, she signs up over 600 plaintiffs, and Erin and Ed, with the help of a major law firm, go on to receive the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history....$333 million. By triumphing over insurmountable odds, she is able to prove herself, and reinvent her life.

Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures present a Jersey Films production of Erin Brockovich, a stirring, funny and unconventional drama based on true events, starring two-time Academy Award* nominee Julia Roberts (Notting Hill), Albert Finney (The Dresser) and Aaron Eckhart (In The Company of Men). Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, The Limey), the film is written by Susannah Grant (Ever After) and produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, partners in Jersey Films (Man on the Moon, Out of Sight, Get Shorty). Executive producers are John Hardy, who is making his eighth film with Soderbergh, and Carla Santos Shamberg, who originally brought the project to Jersey Films. Gail Lyon serves as co-producer. The distinguished production team on Erin Brockovich is comprised of several past Soderbergh and Jersey collaborators, including: director of photography Ed Lachman (The Limey); production designer Phil Messina (art director on Out of Sight); Academy Award*- winning editor Anne V. Coates (Out of Sight); costume designer Jeffrey Kurland (Man on the Moon); and three-time Oscar-nominated composer Thomas Newman (The Shawshank Redemption). In what is becoming a trademark for the director, Soderbergh has also assembled a stellar ensemble co-starring cast, which includes: Peter Coyote (Patch Adams) as Kurt Potter, a highly successful lawyer whose firm reluctantly agrees to collaborate on the case; Marg Helgenberger (China Beach) as a victim of PG&E's cover-up of the contaminated water; Cherry Jones (The Cradle Will Rock) as a local resident whose resistance to joining her neighbors in the lawsuit could end the case before it even begins; and nine-year old Scotty Leavenworth (The Green Mile) and Gemmenne De la Pe?, who is making her feature film debut, as Matthew and Katie, two of Erin's children.

"Erin is a very warm person and it is that aspect of her character that enabled her to get these families to trust her with intimate stories about their lives," she says. "And through the support of Ed Masry, she was allowed to follow her instinct with this case." At the time Erin and Ed met, the lawyer was winding down his career and was looking forward to retirement. "And then this girl walked in and everything changed," says Santos Shamberg. In 1993, Erin and Ed put together over 600 plaintiffs, and partnering with a powerhouse law firm, went after PG&E, a $30 billion company. As a result of their efforts, PG&E settled with the plaintiffs for $333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history. "Ed and Erin's differences made them a perfect team," Ms. Shamberg continues. "Ed had the legal expertise and experience." The fact that Erin Brockovich wasn't a lawyer and didn't have any formal education or experience as a law clerk or a paralegal, made her victory that much more impressive.

Julia Roberts was thrilled to play the title character. The actress, whose films have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, had one of her biggest years in 1999. Roberts starred opposite Hugh Grant in Universal's box office hit Notting Hill and opposite her Pretty Woman co-star Richard Gere in The Runaway Bride, directed by Garry Marshall. Some of her other film credits include Stepmom, My Best Friend's Wedding, Conspiracy Theory, The Pelican Brief, Hook, Sleeping With the Enemy and Steel Magnolias. Sher, who along with Shamberg had worked closely with Steven Soderbergh during Out of Sight, felt that he might be interested in directing this film because, "Steven likes a good story and he loves stories where what the world sees and what the character sees are two different things. This story is about an extraordinary woman who the world sees one way and who is really not at all as she appears." Soderbergh, whose first feature, sex, lies, and videotape won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and earned him international acclaim, has also directed Kafka, King of the Hill, The Underneath, Schizopolis, Gray's Anatomy and Out of Sight, which Premiere Magazine lists as the third best-reviewed film of 1998. Recently, his crime drama, The Limey, starring Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda was released. According to Sher, "This story is so dramatic and funny and big on it's own, that we knew we wanted someone who would keep it grounded and real. There is never anything sentimental or overblown and glossy about Steven's work. We felt that he would take this story, which is a classic one and keep it classic." The attraction for Soderbergh was simply that, "the screenplay was very linear. It was performance-driven and had a female protagonist who was in every scene in the film. I had never done a film like that before and it really appealed to me." He continues, "Erin's story was very compelling. I hadn't known anything about the case, but Jersey had been trying to get me to read the script for a year. Then, as is invariably the case, as I was finishing The Limey, I was looking for something completely different to do." "When I came on board, I felt that part of my job was to become as familiar as I could with all of the facts in regards to the case and make sure that there wasn't anything in our script that was unnecessarily provocative or created solely for dramatic effect," says Soderbergh. "Basically, I was going through the movie and accentuating the things that I was drawn to. I asked questions about everything. I wanted to know what had really happened, what was the reality in the story." The events depicted in Susannah Grant's screenplay are accurate in terms of what really happened, and while the characters of Erin, Ed and George are real people, other characters in the film are fictitious or amalgamations of real people in Erin's life. In addition, Soderbergh and Grant made a conscious decision to avoid courtroom scenes, opting to instead focus on the step-by-step process by which Erin and Ed went through the case.

 

"This is not really a movie about a lawsuit," Soderbergh continues. "It's about a person who cannot seem to reconcile how she views herself with how others view her." "Erin is very bright and very quick but she also has a tendency to be very confrontational. She is confrontational in two ways: the way she dresses, which is very provocative and eye-catching, almost audible it's so loud, and in her language. She has a tendency to be very colorful in the way that she expresses herself, very direct. People respond to it in a way that is interesting," he says. Once Soderbergh agreed to direct the film, he visited Julia Roberts so they could discuss the story points they felt strongly about in the script. Of his leading lady, Soderbergh says, "If Julia hadn't already been attached to play Erin, I would have suggested her. The role plays to all of her strengths. There is a certain irrepressibility about her that's riveting, and this character allows for all of that. But there's also something more significant, something darker at the core, with this character." When the director first met the real Erin Brockovich and talked to her about herself and the story, he was amazed to find that she had a very similar energy to Roberts. "There's an inherent charisma and a light in the eye that is very similar and very compelling. Both in person and on the screen Julia has an undeniable energy that is difficult to resist," says Soderbergh. "As a person, Erin really intrigues me," Roberts confesses. "I have great admiration for what she stands for. A lot of women in our culture are facing being a single mother, trying to make ends meet. They are the heroes of our time, aren't they?" Roberts continues, "What's nice about the story is that it's about a person in a very specific situation, which early on, is also a dire one. Erin is incredibly self-assured and that is the key that enables her to prevail in all situations. She is who she is and doesn't change for anybody-which is what makes her such a remarkable individual. She can be in a situation where she's completely out of place and have no awareness of that and just focus on what the issue is at hand." Erin Brockovich's initial interest was in what she thought to be a simple real-estate case. "Ed gave her a job because he felt sorry for her," says Ms. Shamberg. "No one thought this girl would be able to do anything but file. She pretty much offended everybody because not only is she beautiful, but she's brash and takes no prisoners. Then she proved herself to be quite brilliant."

In addition to the obvious attraction that Roberts felt for the character of Erin Brockovich, she was also drawn to the relationship between Erin and Ed Masry. "Ed and Erin bring out the best in each other in an odd-couple kind of way," says Roberts. "He was at a point in his life where he was looking forward to retiring and playing golf. Erin, in stirring up this pot and bringing all of this information to light, re-ignited his passion for justice and his sense that you can work hard for the right reasons and you can prevail to make the world a better place to live." Following their victory against PG&E in 1996, Erin and Ed currently have seven other cases pending, including one against PG&E regarding a plant in Kettleman Hills, California. "What happened in Hinkley is terrifying, because you think, 'well what else is happening? Where else are we being deceived?' And the Hinkley residents were so trusting," says Roberts. "They felt that they owed so much to this company (PG&E) because they employed most of the town. When they were told that Chromium 3 was good for you, they completely believed it. When they're told what type of chromium was being used and that it was harmful, it took a lot of convincing for some of them to come around. To think that this company, which was like a parent, had been keeping the truth from them all that time. It's heartbreaking." Albert Finney, whose voice resonates with all the roles he's played over the past 40 years, was selected to play Ed Masry, who is crucial in exposing the water contamination case. An internationally-renowned actor, he has been honored with four Academy Award* nominations as Best Actor for his work on Tom Jones, Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser and Under the Volcano. His other film credits include Miller's Crossing, Shoot The Moon and Rich in Love. Most recently, he starred opposite Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte in Breakfast of Champions and in Simpatico, with Jeff Bridges and Sharon Stone. "Since taking on this case, Ed's enthusiasm has been rekindled. He is excited again about work in a way that he hasn't been in a while," Soderbergh comments. "This is his new passion and to find a new passion within something that you've done for decades is very unusual. I thought he was a fantastic character and the contrast between Erin and Ed is so hilarious that when we discussed who might play the part, Albert was my first wish because I've always liked and admired his work and he seemed to have exactly the right feel to go with Julia. Just picturing the two of them driving in a car in the desert made me laugh." "I was immediately interested when I read the script," remembers Finney. "It was so gripping that I read it in one sitting. Then Steven came to London and we had lunch and I totally enjoyed his company. I responded very well to him and thought I'd enjoy working with him. He seemed relaxed and easy, and admiring of some of the work I've done in film in the past, which immediately makes one warm to a person." "It's sad the way these people were treated by a huge corporation," continues Finney. "There's something about it that is worrying. Erin initially is intrigued by medical reports she finds in the files of what is supposed to be a minor real estate dispute. When she asks Ed if she can look into it, he says 'sure, sure,' to get her out of the office. So, she goes off to Hinkley and discovers that people are ill and don't know why. She's the only person at Masry & Vititoe who has met with these people personally. It is through her humanity and her caring about them and their problems that she gradually builds up a case."

"Ed is drawn into the case because of her dynamism and enthusiasm," Finney says. "He's ready for retirement and is reluctant to take this case any further. He knows that a corporation as large as PG&E could bury them in paper work for years and years and years. Also, Erin is very straightforward in her comments and her vocabulary is colorful in a way that you wouldn't normally expect to hear when arguments between lawyers are being exchanged. She constantly embarrasses him in meetings with the PG&E lawyers as well as with the law firm that he has asked to share in the case."

According to Soderbergh, Erin was like the point guard in dealing with all of these people.

"This case literally would not have gotten off the ground without her impatience with procedure and her frustration at methods that she felt were either not in the immediate interest of the people she was representing or would not be understood by them," he says.

"As the story progresses it's difficult for Erin when she comes into contact with people whose backgrounds are radically different from hers. They might be more sophisticated and have had more formal education, but often they don't know about things that Erin knows about, so they clash."

As for working with Finney, Roberts relates that "even though he has done this for so long, he still works hard. His enthusiasm is contagious and he's so good at his craft. Acting with Albert is an amazing and inspiring experience."

Finney acknowledges that when he first heard that Julia was going to play Erin, "I thought it was a great part for her. Now, after working with her, I have to add that the part is very fortunate to have her playing it. She's terrific. She rolls her sleeves up, comes in and gets to work. Julia shoots from the hip. If, as occasionally happens, little adjustments are being made to dialogue, she just takes it on board and comes right up with it. And sometimes Steven has let a scene run on a little after we've finished the scripted dialogue, and she will readily vamp until she cracks Steven or me up and they have to cut. Of course, she is also extremely watchable. Julia is one of those blessed creatures who you like to look at, who you enjoy watching. It's a very sort of magnetic gift."

Aside from the support that Erin received from Ed Masry, there was another person in her life who made it possible for her to do the mammoth amount of work and research that was necessary to move the case forward.

George first met Erin when he moved next door to the single mother. It was the late-night revving of his Harley Davidson that caught her attention꿢nd not in a positive way. George redeemed himself first by his affection for her children and eventually he and Erin developed a relationship

According to Ms. Shamberg, "This is a guy who went from being a biker to being a mother. He really loves children and when we were first developing this movie, I'd be on the phone with him and we'd be discussing diaper rash."

"One of the other things that appealed to me about the film," Soderbergh discloses, "was a personal aspect of Erin's character. She tended to define herself more in terms of what she was doing and her work than who she was, which is a problem that we normally associate with men. In a situation where there was a choice, George often took the back seat."

In casting the role of George, Soderbergh wanted an actor with an unusual combination of character traits. On one hand, he's a biker and on the other hand, he has a very strong desire to create a home life and become part of a family situation. He knew that on paper George might look like an easy role, but that in reality it was really a very tough one. It was going to take someone very specific and very smart to bring out all that things that he thought were in the character.

Aaron Eckhart was their George. The actor who made his mark as a bullish corporate executive in Neil LaBute's In the Company of Men followed the film with two more from director LaBute: Your Friends and Neighbors and Nurse Betty. He was most recently seen in director Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, opposite Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Dennis Quaid.

"Aaron is someone that I've kept my eye on ever since I saw him in Neil LaBute's first film," recounts Soderbergh. "When I saw him in Neil's second film, in which he was virtually unrecognizable, not just physically, but emotionally, I was really intrigued. I thought he had the right combination of masculinity and vulnerability and I also liked the way he and Julia looked when I got them in a room together. I totally bought that they would be attracted to one another."

Eckart says, "One of the things I like about playing a real person in a film about a real event, is that the story can never go off course. You always have a barometer. Because this really happened, the path is already there. This story is invested with real emotions, real lives, real people. When we were filming in Hinkley, we shot right next to the actual PG&E plant that poisoned these people. That's very powerful. We met some of the families that were involved and to walked on the real streets and saw the existing pools. It makes the film so much more important, because this could have happened to anyone of us or to our families."

He continues, "This is a story that says that people matter most. I think that is reflected in every relationship throughout the film. The human condition is more important than business, money or image. The dynamic in Erin and Ed's relationship is about investing in the human spirit."

In discussing the inspiration for the film, Eckhart uses the word 'fire-cracker' to describe Erin Brockovich.

"She's a woman with a lot of moxie, a loose cannon," he says. "She has a huge personality and a big heart. She's beautiful and she uses that to the fullest. She wants to get ahead in the world, but the cards are stacked against her. She learns as she goes along and through pure determination and will, she doesn't let anything stop her."

Roberts was thrilled with the opportunity to work with Eckhart. "One of my favorite scenes in the movie," she says, "is where Erin and George meet because it's so hostile that you know it's destined for love. George plays a really valuable role in her life. He is very like her in that to look at him is to judge him as a person who is the antithesis of who he really is, which is what happens to her all the time. Then, when they first meet, she turns around and immediately does the same thing to him."

Roberts continues, "George is a good guy. He's a sensitive man who helps her out when she's in a jam and helps take care of her kids. He ends up being a strong caretaking force for her and her entire family. Their relationship is really about two people being very open to each other and reversing their roles. She's spending all of her time working and he's staying home taking care of the children."

Eckhart agrees, and says, "The problems Erin and George face stem from the fact that her work takes a lot of time and energy. She becomes less concerned about our love affair and our relationship and even her relationship with her children and more concerned with the lives of these people."

In discussing her co-star, Roberts says, "Aaron is such a great actor. On the page, George is a good character but Aaron has brought him to life in a way that has made him layered and textured. It made my job, as a person who is supposed to love and rely on him, effortless. I knew when I had scenes with Aaron that I just had to listen and go with it."

Producer Michael Shamberg agrees, and says, "Erin has two heartfelt relationships in the story, one professional and one romantic. Aaron is playing an unusual part in that he is playing a macho biker-type guy with a very soft side. He's enormously appealing and becomes the perfect compliment to Julia's Erin, who has to be tough throughout the movie. At the same time you can see that they need each other and have a lot of affection for each other."

For producer Danny DeVito, the casting of the film was a producer's dream. "From the very beginning there was a company feeling about this film," he says. "It would have been very easy to make a caricature version of the players in the story, but the entire cast brought extreme reality to the characters." DeVito continues, "There was this tremendous chemistry between Julia and Aaron and she makes Erin an immensely compassionate and complicated human being. Also, they both have a real ability to retain the whole picture. Actors often play the moment, but Julia and Aaron, while absolutely in the moment, have the uncanny sense of knowing where their character is heading. They give nothing away, but hold some back for later. Every single line is delivered with absolute character conviction. Julia and Aaron are a great combination." But Shamberg was quick to add that Roberts and Eckhart were not the only two actors with chemistry that sparkled on screen. "Albert and Julia also make a great team," Shamberg says. "His Ed is the perfect foil for her character, Erin, and she's the perfect prod for him." The only scene she had problems with confesses Roberts, was the one in which she appears with the real Erin Brockovich. "It's a scene where I'm in a diner after I have lost my car accident case. I have no money, my neck is in a brace and the kids are being really rambunctious and Beth is supposed to be sick. The baby was really tired and screaming at the top of her lungs and Erin comes to the table as our waitress. It was really daunting and bizarre to be playing a person when that person is doing a line with you. The entire time I kept looking at Erin and thinking, 'what in the world is she thinking? She's going to think I'm playing a terrible mother.' Then, when I looked up, I saw that her name-tag said 'Julia.' I very nearly lost it," she laughs. In speaking of Soderbergh, who never sits at a video monitor, but is usually operating or right beside the camera, Roberts says, "I don't know how he does it but, Steven gives me a great sense of security and confidence. I feel like he's really in there with me when he's watching. He takes such care. I think he just loves movies and I think that as a filmmaker, he feels a responsibility to make a good film. I love that he runs the camera and is so aware of the precision of our composition and the way things look inside the lens."

"I threw the video assist away about five years ago," states Soderbergh, "because I felt it was making me passive. I had shot all of my own short films and on The Limey I began operating again. There really is no substitute for looking through the lens while the performance is happening. The sense of what you are actually going to get is very strong. I think for the actors there is a comfort level because they know they're being seen in a way that is absolutely undiluted."

"Steven is a constant source of amazement to me," discloses Roberts. "I think that I have learned more about filmmaking and have seen it at its very best watching him work here. He creates an environment for everybody to participate in that is remarkable.

Finney is in complete agreement with Roberts on the subject of their director. "Steven is very decisive about when he's got it. He doesn't bumble about thinking 'well have I or haven't I?' I think he believes that if he has cast the film right then the players will be able to do the work. They will just need an occasional nudge in a certain direction. There is a terrific atmosphere on the set. Everyone seems to be having a good time."

Eckhart too, found Soderbergh's presence on the set very comforting. "You can go to him and ask him questions and talk about the film," he says. "He lets the actors be unless there is a problem, which is nice and he always does everything with a smile. He's got a great sense of humor so you're never worried about being chewed out. He creates an atmosphere where you can be creative and calm. And that's when you can make a good movie."

"Finally," Roberts says about working with her co-stars, "acting is like dancing with someone who is a really good dancer. You just have to find a rhythm that you both are into and then it's great. This was definitely great."

Soderbergh agrees, and says, "If you cast well, you have very little to do, just minor corrections and some technical things. I just need to make sure the camera's in the right place to catch what they're doing."

Principal photography began May 25, 1999 in several small towns in California's Mojave Desert. These included Hinkley, where the actual contamination took place; Boron, home to both the Borax mines, where NASA frequently reroutes its shuttle landings; and the Barstow courthouse, where Judge LeRoy A. Simmons, (who officiated at the real pleading and discovery for the case), came out of retirement to reinact for the movie cameras his decision, which sent the case further into the legal system.

Following location shooting in the desert, the company returned to Los Angeles for two weeks filming on practical locations in and around Los Angeles before continuing to Ventura, California where, following ten days in a residential neighborhood, the movie completed production at the Santa Ventura Studios on August 5th.

"I push for using the actual locations unless there is a compelling reason not to," explains Soderbergh about his decision to spend a month in the California desert filming in and around the town where the contamination took place. "When I first came to Hinkley, I was struck by how a big company could overpower a small town, how easy it would be for the residents to be forgotten. You know that you're shooting things that you can't buy, that you could only get by going to the exact place."

He continues, "When we were filming the barbecue scene and the town-hall meeting, I was very concerned that the way in which we conducted ourselves was such that the extras, many of whom had been involved in the actual case, would have a good feeling about their film experience. It was important to all of us that they come away thinking that being involved in the production had been a good thing."

Behind the camera, Soderbergh enlisted the aid of many crew members with whom he had previously worked. "Putting a crew together is a lifelong process," he explains. "You have the idea that the perfect crew is one in which everybody is on your wavelength and likes to work the way you work. It ends up being sort of a jazz ensemble."

Director of photography Ed Lachman had previously collaborated with Soderbergh on The Limey. The appeal for him of shooting Erin Brockovich was that, "we were going to shoot a major motion picture with an independent approach."

He continues, "Stylistically, Steven wanted to film in a point-of-view manner, and because we filmed on location, we were able to shoot it in a very naturalistic way. In several scenes, people from Hinkley who had been involved in the case worked with us as extras and secondary actors. We were able to merge a narrative based on a real story with the reality of the world that was inhabited."

To accomplish Soderbergh's paticular style and look, Lachman shot quickly and often in uncontrolled situations using an off-the-cuff approach, similar to the shooting of documentaries.

According to Soderbergh, "I wanted to come up with a style that wasn't too theatrical. I wanted it not to be glossy, not to feel prepared. I wanted situations to feel like they were caught rather than staged."

In one of those twists of fate that only seem to happen in fiction, Carla Santos Shamberg's appointment with her chiropractor became the catalyst for the making of a major motion picture. For it was while lying on her practitioner's table that she first heard about another patient, whose story seemed larger than life.

"I couldn't believe it when my doctor told me about her friend Erin. It seemed incredible that this twice-divorced woman with three young children, who had no money, no resources and no formal education, had single-handedly put this case together. I thought she seemed like the perfect role model for the new millennium."

Ms. Shamberg told her husband, Michael Shamberg, who along with Danny DeVito and Stacey Sher is partnered in Jersey Films, that she thought this would be a perfect story for their company to shepherd onto the screen.

Erin Brockovich, which serves as the first reteaming for the director, producers and studio since Out of Sight, one of the most acclaimed films of 1998, is a Cinderella story. The fact that one woman's passion could have such a positive effect on so many people around her, while at the same time completely transforming her life, is the ideal subject matter for the big screen.