Children on Their Birthdays (2002)

Director:

Mark Medoff

Writers:

Truman Capote (short story)
Douglas Sloan

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Sometimes extraordinary things happen in the most ordinary places

Plot:

12 year old Lily Bobbit moves to Medda, Ala, and immediately makes an impression on the residents when she and her friends team up to outsmart a con man, the town is changed forever.

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | Alabama | Girl | Desegregation | Based On Short Story

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sheryl Lee	...	Elinore Murphy (as Sheryl Lee Diamond)
Christopher McDonald	...	Speedy Thorne
Tom Arnold	...	Lionel Quince
Joe Pichler	...	Billy Bob Murphy
Tania Raymonde	...	Lily Jane Bobbit
Jesse Plemons	...	Preacher Star
Phyllis Frelich	...	Mrs. Bobbit
Brazhal Brewer	...	Rosalba Cat
Marilyn Dodds Frank	...	Mrs. Quince
Ritch Brinkley	...	Acey Trump
Lucina Paquet	...	Mrs. Sawyer
Paul Quaintance	...	Pastor Williams
Caitlin Collins	...	Janice
Emily Clibourn	...	Cora Mae
Cynthia Baker	...	Ada Willingham (as Cynthia Barker)
Weston Mueller	...	Butch Star
Phillip Dawkins	...	Bubba Star
John Judd	...	Jeb
Joe Van Slyke	...	Mr. Dixon
Freeman Coffey	...	Mr. Cat
Lettie Frances Walton	...	Mrs. Cat
Bobby Harrison	...	Army Captain
Tom Brainard	...	Comedian
Lara Myrene	...	Judy Garland Impersonator (as Lara Immerman)
Susan Coolidge	...	Cowgirl Singer
Don Groves	...	College Quartet
Erin Guinn	...	College Quartet
Jessica Medoff	...	College Quartet
Leslie Whistler	...	College Quartet
Harve Kolzow	...	Domino Player
Frank Novak	...	Domino Player
Rachel Harrison	...	Captain's Sweetheart
Alexander Piccolo	...	Malcolm Doralle
Kyran Hicks	...	Brother of Rosalba Cat
Khallid Shabazz	...	Brother of Rosalba Cat
Evelyn Linford	...	Ballet Dancer
Natalie Higgins	...	Baton Twirler
Michael Bunchman	...	Talent Show Pianist
Debra Marks	...	Annoyed Woman In Audience
Barbara Bushman	...	Flower Show Judge
Susan Donahue	...	Flower Show Judge
John Madden	...	Flower Show Judge
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark G. Pavuk	...	Angry Church Patron
Megan Frances	...	Churchgoer / Flower Show Contestant (uncredited)
Lisa Marie Quillinan	...	Churchgoer (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Medoff

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Truman Capote		short story
Douglas Sloan

Produced by
Howard Baldwin	....	executive producer
Karen Elise Baldwin	....	executive producer (as Karen Baldwin)
Billy Higgins	....	co-producer
William J. Immerman	....	producer
Ginger T. Perkins	....	producer
Paul Pompian	....	executive producer
Ray Simmons	....	associate producer
Nick Zuvic	....	line producer: second unit

Original Music by
J.D. Hinton
Ross Vannelli

Cinematography by
Steven Shaw

Film Editing by
Sidney Levin

Production Design by
Gary Baugh

Art Direction by
Angel Acosta

Set Decoration by
Lisa Wolff

Costume Design by
Jay Hurley

Makeup Department
Lisa Jelic	....	makeup artist
Aimee Lippert-Bastian	....	assistant makeup artist
Dominic Mango	....	key hair stylist
Tony Mirante	....	assistant hair stylist
Suzi Ostos	....	key makeup artist
Vicki Vacca	....	additional makeup artist
Chip Williams	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Billy Higgins	....	unit production manager
Barrett Taylor	....	post-production supervisor
Mike Vogler	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Thomas Coe	....	second second assistant director
Richard S. Lederer	....	second assistant director
Eric Mofford	....	first assistant director
Ron Rapiel	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Anthony Barracca	....	lead man
J.D. McCarthy	....	set dresser
Robert R. Volpe	....	props (as Bob Volpe)
Rob Yale	....	assistant property master

Sound Department
Gary Alexander	....	supervising sound re-recording mixer
Jake Collins	....	sound mixer
Lisa Hannan	....	sound editor
Robert L. Harman	....	sound effects
Robert L. Harman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Allen Hurd	....	sound recordist
Rod O'Brien	....	supervising sound editor
Dave Rowe	....	sound editor
Ken Strain	....	boom operator: second unit
Stephen Tibbo	....	sound mixer: second unit
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
James D. Tittle	....	digital visual effects coordinator: Pacific Title (uncredited)

Stunts
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz	....	stunt bus driver
James Fierro	....	stunts
Rick Le Fevour	....	stunt coordinator
Tom Lowell	....	stunts
Jeff Marchluk	....	stunts
Deborah L. Mazor	....	stunts
Natalie M. Meyer	....	stunt double
Sean R. Padlo	....	stunt double
Brian Peters	....	stunts
Daniel Maldonado	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Thomas S. Ciciura	....	additional assistant camera
Bob Gomez	....	best boy electric
Faires A. Sekiya	....	camera operator: "a" camera (as Faires Anderson)
Dean M. Simmon	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera, Steadicam
Alan Thatcher	....	camera operator
Billy Wauer	....	electrician

Casting Department
Jane Alderman	....	casting: Chicago
Darlene R. Hunt	....	extras casting associate
Mark A. Ridge	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andrea E. Weaver	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Lee Wimer	....	color timer

Music Department
Jay Bolton	....	music editor
Susan Coolidge	....	composer: additional music
Christopher S. Parker	....	music clearance

Transportation Department
Michael R. Cairo	....	driver

Other crew
Bob Beltz	....	special advisor
Tom Brainard	....	production associate
Jennifer Byrne	....	assistant production office coordinator
John Chisholm	....	studio teacher
Susan Coolidge	....	stand-in
James Currie	....	production secretary
Jennifer Deigl	....	production assistant
Larry Donahue	....	caterer
Joseph R. Fitzgerald	....	production assistant
Johan Gros	....	production accountant
TJ Martin	....	stand-in
Pat McCarthy	....	production coordinator
Sean R. Padlo	....	stand-in
Lisa Marie Quillinan	....	office production assistant/runner
Maria C. Roxas	....	location manager
Nancy Sandberg	....	senior consultant: film production
Heather Sharpe	....	production assistant
Peter F. Smith	....	craft service
Monica Timmel	....	stand-in
Mark Joseph	....	marketing (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Frantic Redhead Productions
• Crusader Entertainment
• Salem Productions

Distributors

• Artisan Entertainment
• Crusader Entertainment
• Koch Media (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Moonstone Entertainment

Other Companies

• Chicago Studio City  grip and lighting equipment
• Chicago Studio City  production facilities
• Chicago Studio City  production services
• Chicago Studio MovieMakers  cast trailers supplied by

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief language

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Aurora, Illinois, USA

Company:

Frantic Redhead Productions

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Soundtrack:

Pounding of My Heart

Not about birthdays.

Somewhere, in an alternate reality, it could be possible for a 13-year-old girl to have the wisdom of a Socrates, the social awareness of a Martin Luther King, the vocabulary and diction of a college professor, and the grace and beauty of an Audrey Hepburn. On the other hand, putting adult lines in the mouth of a child is usually done for satire. Situation comedies often depend for their gags on having kids speak smart-alecky lines. Hearing wisecracks from a kid that no kid would ever think of makes us laugh, and that's why the formula works. In this case, however, it isn't a comedy, and the lines written for the child are not intended to be amusing.

Of course, no such alternate world exists, but what if it did? And what if such a girl turned up in the reality of a small southern town circa 1947? She would be as foreign and alien to that locality as if she had come from another universe, and in that sense becomes a kind of allegorical figure of redemption. It is presented as a "coming of age" film, but this is not just a story about the normal agonies of growing up. There is a "Twilight Zone" quality to the character of the girl. There are two boys who are "supposed" to be her age, and hence there is a sub-plot concerned with their feelings for her. But psycho-emotionally she is light-years more mature than they, and that is a point most reviewers seem to miss. It isn't so much about youth growing up over a case of first love, but a myth about a daughter of the gods sojourning among the mortals for a season.

Truman Capote, who wrote the original short-story from which this film was adapted, was something of a heretic, and it is tempting to speculate on what the screenwriter might have been thinking in regard to this character. For example: What if Jesus came back in 1947 in the form of a little girl? Wouldn't "that" be a surprise? Not that there is anything about the story to suggest such a "religious" quality, but the character of the girl is clearly mythical in comparison to her alleged contemporaries. She comes into town mysteriously, there are miraculous events associated with her actions, she is wise beyond her years and even the elders are astonished by her words. It is a different story, and a pretty good one as well.