SERIES OVERVIEW

 

Meet Marty Kaan (DON CHEADLE), the big-money earner at Galweather & Stearn, one of the nation’s largest management consulting firms. Marty is, well, the sh*t and, by default, so is his hot, young team – The Pod – of big-balling power players – Jeannie (KRISTEN BELL), Clyde (BEN SCHWARTZ) and Doug (JOSH LAWSON). These white-collar, Ivy League sharks will use anything (or anyone) to get their gullible corporate clients to sign their souls to Galweather and bank millions in oh-so-delicious billable hours. Cha-frickin’-ching, bitches.

 

Their motto? Screw or be screwed. Just that simple. It’s the money-grabbing, ego-stroking game that is their HOUSE OF LIES, SHOWTIME®’s new provocative comedy about all the fu**ed-up ways big business is practiced these days. The series, based on the hit tell-all book from best-selling author Martin Kihn (House Of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch And Then Tell You The Time), peels back the bull to reveal a world few know exists and fewer still have experienced – the dirty, back-door wheeling and dealing at big firms across the country.

 

Marty and The Pod’s work life is all first-class, top-shelf, black Am Ex, the best suites at the nicest hotels. Wild nights on the town servicing the clients are all in a day’s work. Caviar, white truffles, Grey Goose and Dom, and the special attention of some sexy…local tour guides (well, really off-duty strippers Lexxie, Destiny and Nikki) – all billed to the bloated corporate client’s bankroll as “entertainment expenses.” Yes, these are the perks. It’s all a win-win…for Marty and his team: they get the account; the client gets a week of reckless debauchery in exchange for useless, indecipherable management directives, all for the low, low price of…millions.

 

Marty’s corporate prowess is a dream to boss Harrison “Skip” Galweather (guest star RICHARD SCHIFF) and  "Skip's" business partner "The Rainmaker" (guest star GRIFFIN DUNNE), who also happens to be Marty's mentor. Marty may technically report up the ladder, but his ultimate allegiance is to himself. He’s the king of reading a room and stroking bosses and clients to get what he needs from them at all costs. If only he could finesse Jeannie the same way. She’s aspiring to be where Marty is and is eager to learn from the master, but men have tried – and failed – to scratch her relentless itch and she’s not about to let him get under her skin (or in her pants). At least their sexy cat-and-mouse chase makes the long days away from home more interesting.

 

And speaking of home, Marty is the rare consultant with an actual personal life – his marriage to ex-wife / business competitor Monica (DAWN OLIVIERI) may have failed, but their well-adjusted pre-teen son Roscoe (DONIS LEONARD JR.) is well cared for by Marty’s live-in, retired psychotherapist father Jeremiah (GLYNN TURMAN). His training is invaluable in dealing with his emotionally absent son Marty and advising his cross-dressing grandson on how to land the part of “Sandy” in the school production of Grease

 

But home is never really a distraction for Marty – he’s the ultimate power player and under his direction, this ruthless, pull-no-punches team is here to stick it to the man by beating the corporate suckers at their own game. They are always circling the corporate waters, on the hunt for their next (preferably billionaire) mark….

 

HOUSE OF LIES is a new dark comedy series premiering on SHOWTIME® on Sunday, January 8th at 10 PM ET/PT. It is created/executive produced by Matthew Carnahan (Dirt). Jessika Borsiczky, Stephen Hopkins and Don Cheadle also serve as executive producers.

 

 

TALK THE TALK

Success means sounding like you know what you’re talking about

 

Q&A WITH MATTHEW CARNAHAN

CREATOR / EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / WRITER

 

What attracted you to Martin Kihn’s book? What made the story so compelling?

 

Honestly? Hot author pic. And his scathing take on management consulting as a con game. I first received a copy of the book from (HOUSE OF LIES Executive Producer) Jessika Borsiczky, who had optioned it. I called her the next morning and told her it was a comedy for SHOWTIME®, and that I would be ready to pitch it very soon. It was weird; the show appeared to me almost fully formed, the style, the characters, the tone, the aggression of the comedy. Of course, then you gotta sell it. And write it. And cast it. And produce it. And thank God it was SHOWTIME®. Instead of the usual network notes, I would get, “Can’t you go further?”, “Don’t worry about making him likeable.”, ”If the cut is three minutes too long, we’ll deal with it.” I thought they were playing a cruel joke on me. Turns out they’re just really smart and like what they like.

 

Describe what a management consultant does. Is this a realistic depiction of teams like these wheeling and dealing in big businesses across America today?


Describe what a management consultant does? Oooh. No. That’s like a silver bullet to a werewolf; management consultants will go to almost any length to avoid flat-out describing what they do. But okay, just because you asked so nicely…a management consultant…. Hey! Look over there! Is that Megan Fox? Actually, I come from a family full of very successful management consultants. Sadly, I ended up the drama geek. But I always thought, there’s a strange and interesting show in this world somewhere. Here’s a group of people – super-smart, highly educated – in a new city every week, dealing with a new business each week and having no real home except for each other. Is this a realistic depiction of a consulting team? Well, I don’t think you’d necessarily want the story of a 13-month SAP implementation, but I think the spirit is there. I don’t know if the usual management consultant has quite as much sex, but I don’t know if anyone has quite as much as these characters.

 

Give us your take on “Marty.” What are his motivations?

 

Marty is motivated by the most petty and venal things imaginable: ambition, sex, revenge, schadenfreude…in other words, he’s exactly like all the rest of us. Marty’s motor is actually a complicated one, and not trouble-free. Think of it as a Fiat from the ‘80s: loud, fast, prone to breakdown, one only a mechanic could love. Wait, am I talking about the Fiat now or about Marty’s psyche? I forget. But you get the idea. He’s a deeply troubled guy.

 

“Marty” and his “Pod,” (played by Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson) traverse the country to meet with their myriad clients. Describe where we’ll go with them this season.

 

Generally, the places a management consultant goes are a bummer. That’s why this group has become so involved in one another, in their comings and goings, in their sexual peccadilloes, their successes and failures. The places we go, the Salt Lakes, the Indianas, the Spokanes, are really a backdrop for our characters’ deepening interactions. That being said, our heroes take on the big banks in NYC, a pro sports franchise in Phoenix, a mega church, a hotel chain, big pharm and their own consulting firm.

 

Is HOUSE OF LIES in any way an indictment of big business today? Is it timely given the current economic climate?


Why would we want to indict big business? No one else is. But yeah, I would say how pissed off we are about the current state of corporate malfeasance does shine through in the show. First and foremost though, it’s a comedy, and our objective is to pull down the pants of big business, to tell them we see what they’re doing and we think it’s ridiculous, to give them a slap on their bloated bums.

 


What’s it like to lead this team of actors? Tell us about casting the show.


The cast – top-down from Don Cheadle – are unbelievable. They have the best chemistry of any group I’ve ever worked with. Let me break it down a little:

Don Cheadle, an acting God (who is fall-down funny, who knew?); Kristen Bell, you have never seen her do anything like this before (and she does it very well); Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson, if you don’t know these guys, sit back and enjoy; Dawn Olivieri, funny and hot – a very rare combo.

 

 

Tell us about “Roscoe’s” sexual identity exploration. What was the genesis of that particular storyline? How will it be handled this season?

 

Roscoe is a great young man – creative, funny, whip-smart, kind. He just happens to really be able to rock jeggings and sparkly slingbacks.

 

CAST BIOS

 

DON CHEADLE

MARTY KAAN / Executive Producer

 

DON CHEADLE has consistently turned in powerful performances on the stage and screen since being named the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ by the Los Angeles Film Critics for his breakout performance opposite Denzel Washington in Devil In A Blue Dress.

 

Cheadle’s latest feature film, The Guard, which he produced and starred in, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was released this past July by Sony Pictures Classics. Cheadle was last seen in Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 2 opposite Robert Downey, Jr.; and in Brooklyn’s Finest, an ensemble crime thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua and co-starring Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke. He will next star in and direct a movie based on the life of jazz legend Miles Davis, will then star in Iron Man 3 and is currently shooting Robert Zemeckis’ Flight.

 

In 2008, Cheadle starred opposite Guy Pearce in Overture Films’ Traitor, an international thriller which he also produced. Additional film credits include Talk To Me; the 2006 Oscar® winning ‘Best Picture,’ Crash, which Cheadle also produced; Hotel Rwanda, for which his performance garnered Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, Broadcast Film Critics Award and Screen Actors Guild® Award nominations for ‘Best Actor’; Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen, directed by Steven Soderbergh; Mike Binder’s Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler; the Academy Award® winning film Traffic and Out Of Sight, both also directed by Soderbergh; Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically acclaimed Boogie Nights; Bulworth, Swordfish, Mission To Mars, John Singleton’s Rosewood, for which Cheadle earned an NAACP Image Award nomination; Family Man, directed by Brett Ratner and starring Nicolas Cage; Colors, Hamburger Hill, and the independent features Manic and Things Behind The Sun. Cheadle was recently honored by both the CineVegas Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival and in 2007, received ShoWest’s ‘Male Star of the Year’ Award.

 

For his work on television, Cheadle received a Golden Globe® Award and Emmy® nomination for his remarkable portrayal of “Sammy Davis, Jr.” in HBO’s The Rat Pack. That same year, he received an Emmy® nomination for his starring role in HBO’s adaptation of the critically-acclaimed, best-selling novel A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. He also starred for HBO in Rebound: The Legend Of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigault, directed by Eriq La Salle.

 

Well-known for his two-year stint in the role of “District Attorney John Littleton” on David E. Kelley’s critically-acclaimed series Picket Fences, Cheadle’s other series credits include an Emmy® nominated guest-starring role on ER and a series regular role on The Golden Palace. He was also part of the stellar cast of the thrilling live CBS television broadcast of Fail Safe. He also had a recurring role on the hit series, Fame.

 

An accomplished stage actor, Cheadle originated the role of “Booth” in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize winning play Top Dog Underdog at New York’s Public Theatre under the direction of George C. Wolfe. His other stage credits include Leon, Lena And Lenz at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; The Grapes Of Wrath and Liquid Skin at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis;

Cymbeline at The New York Shakespeare Festival; ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore at Chicago’s Goodman Theater; and Athol Fugard’s Blood Knot at The Complex Theater in Hollywood. He also directed Cincinnati Man at the Attic Theatre and The Trip at Friends and Artists Theater in Hollywood.

 

In addition to his many acting honors, Cheadle was nominated for a Grammy® Award in 2004 for ‘Best Spoken Word Album’ for his narration / dramatization of the Walter Mosley novel Fear Itself.

 

Cheadle’s philanthropic work includes serving as a U.N. Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. He also produced the documentary film, Darfur Now, an examination of the genocide in Sudan's western region of Darfur.                

 

Q&A WITH DON CHEADLE         

 

You’ve had co-starring roles on several memorable television series (Golden Palace, Picket Fences) and even an Emmy® nominated guest arc (ER), but what made you want to headline a show?

 

I wasn’t thinking about headlining a show, necessarily, as a goal in my career or anything like that. I read a script, HOUSE OF LIES, that I really dug and thought would be a very interesting take on an industry and a business that we know very little about and I thought the script was really great and well executed. It was also an opportunity to be at home with my family, and when all the math was done on the reasons to do a show, starting obviously with the material itself, everything lined up and equaled a yes.

 

 

Give us your take on “Marty Kaan.” What makes him tick?

 

Good question. I don’t know that I have the answer. One of the things that makes him tick is his desire not to lose. Given his emotional background, which you come to learn through the course of the series, he can’t back-up, he can’t lose. He can’t ever be in a position where he doesn’t come out on top because every instance is about survival, in my opinion.

 

Were you at all surprised by the antics behind the scenes (strip clubs, debauchery, etc.) in big business on this level? Do you think the average person knows what goes on in this side of consulting?

 

No. I imagine successful people in all different businesses avail themselves of whatever recreation is available to them. They’re adults and they’re in a dirty business, so it’s not surprising that the way that they blow off steam is not in your down-the-middle-of-the-road entertainment. I don’t think the average person knows much about consulting. I think you’ve only seen it if you’ve been in business and have had the pleasure or displeasure, as it were, sometimes to see it up close.  

 

Have you met author Martin Kihn (the ‘real’ “Marty Kaan”)? What was that like?

 

I’ve met Marty Kihn. It was pretty interesting. He’s not like me at all in the outside packaging, but he’s an interesting cat, obviously. He’s coined so many of the phrases that we’ve used on the show and has been a great touchstone for us and a great source for material and insight and is the kind of technical adviser that he acts in the capacity of. It’s good to be able to go right to a player and ask questions.

 

What role do you play as an Executive Producer? Are you involved with the scripts, casting, etc.?

 

As an Executive Producer, I’m involved in the stories, the scripts and the casting and the editing and the final piece that gets put out – soup to nuts.

 

What’s it been like working with this cast? Have you previously worked with any of your co-stars?

 

It’s a brand new cast to me and they’re great. I love everyone on the show. We come from different backgrounds. Josh and Ben come out of improv, which is a similar background that we have. We just love to go at it on the show. It’s kind of wide open for us. The scripts are great – we have the storylines that we follow – but we’re also allowed to and given the opportunity, to stretch out and a lot of times, that’s where we find the best stuff between all of us. It’s fun to have that latitude as well as the comfort that you’re in good hands when you’re playing with these guys. And Kristen is a professional. She’s already been a lead on a series, so she understands the level of commitment and how to really keep hold of a character and follow them through an entire series and be mindful of the story that she’s responsible for telling from her seat. It’s a good mix of people.

 

 

 

KRISTEN BELL

Jeannie van der Hooven

 

KRISTEN BELL will be seen this February in the Universal Pictures film Big Miracle, opposite Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. She also recently wrapped filming, Movie 43, for the Farrelly Brothers, which is being released in April. Currently, Bell is filming the feature film, Outrun, for director Dax Shepard. Her other film credits include You Again, Burlesque, When In Rome, Couples Retreat, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pulse, Serious Moonlight and David Mamet’s Spartan. Bell’s television credits include Veronica Mars, Deadwood, Heroes and Party Down. Her Broadway credits include Tom Sawyer and The Crucible, opposite Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. Her Off-Broadway credits include Reefer Madness and A Little Night Music, both at The Kennedy Center in New York and the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

 

“Remember the last corporate culture you got a feeling for gave you Chlamydia.”

Jeannie van der Hooven

 

 

BEN SCHWARTZ

Clyde Oberholt
BEN SCHWARTZ is an Emmy® Award winning writer, actor and comedian. His feature film credits include Peep World with Rainn Wilson, Michael C. Hall and Sarah Silverman; as well as Everybody’s Fine with Robert DeNiro. Additionally, he had a role in The Other Guys, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg and directed by Adam McKay. On television, Schwartz guest stars as “Jean-Ralphio” on NBC’s Parks And Recreation and in 2010, he played series regular “Bill Hoyt” on J.J. Abrams’ one-hour spy drama Undercovers for NBC.


Schwartz has been writing, directing and acting in his own short films for some time. He had his own segment on HBO’s Funny Or Die Presents called Terrible Decisions With Ben Schwartz and has appeared in multiple CollegeHumor.com sketches, including the popular web series Jake And Amir. Schwartz was nominated for two Emmy® Awards and won the 2009 Emmy® for ‘Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special’ for co-authoring Hugh Jackman’s opening number for the 81st Academy Awards®

Schwartz was recently hired by Paramount to re-make the 1991 classic comedy Soapdish with producers Rob Reiner and Alan Greisman. He also sold an original pitch to Universal based on an idea by Brian Grazer with Imagine Entertainment attached to produce. He has co-authored three humor books through Harper Collins: Grandma’s Dead: Breaking Bad News With Baby Animals, Why Is Daddy In A Dress?: Asking Awkward Questions With Baby Animals, and Maybe Your Leg Will Grow Back!: Looking On The Bright Side With Baby Animals. Schwartz is an alumnus of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and continues to perform there regularly. For more info, visit his website http://RejectedJokes.com/

 

 

JOSH LAWSON

Doug Guggenheim

 

JOSH LAWSON, after graduating from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 2001, went on to star in a multitude of Australian television programs including Sea Patrol, Chandon Pictures, Wilfred, All Saints, Home And Away, Underbelly, The Librarians and the critically acclaimed, hit comedy improv series Thank God You’re Here. His recent work in the upcoming film The Wedding Party earned him a ‘Best Actor’ award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards, and ‘Best Actor’ at the New York City International Film Festival.

 

During this time, Lawson was also part of the critically acclaimed improv comedy troupe “160 Characters”, and toured around the world in various festivals with the company. He wrote award-winning plays, including Shakespearealism, The 11 O’Clock and Work In Progress, and also wrote for the multi-award-winning Australian sitcom Stupid, Stupid Man. In his brief time in the States, Lawson has starred in the ABC comedy Romantically Challenged, and led the soon-to-be-released feature films Crave and Freeloaders. Lawson made his directorial debut with his short film After The Credits, which he also wrote. This film won ‘Best Comedy’ at the LA Shorts Festival and was nominated for an Australian Writers Guild Award. Lawson is currently developing a new comedy series in Australia, as well as a play for the acclaimed Belvoir Theatre in Sydney. In January, he will be seen in the film Any Questions For Ben?

 

“As my econ professor at Harvard said, ‘Never inspect the motives of the guy who’s writing your checks.’”

Doug Guggenheim

 

 

 

 

DAWN OLIVIERI

Monica Talbot

 

DAWN OLIVIERI could be described as resilient yet tempered, honest and sincere, stunningly beautiful and an actress with undeniable raw talent. Over the past five years, Olivieri has appeared in top television projects, including How I Met Your Mother, Cold Case, Entourage, Las Vegas, Knight Rider, Stargate: Atlantis, Trust Me and My Boys. Throughout 2009 and 2010, Olivieri starred in the farewell season of the award-winning NBC series Heroes, which gave her national and international recognition. She also appeared on the hit series True Blood in the summer of 2010. She can also be seen with a recurring role in the hit CW series The Vampire Diaries, playing the new love interest of Ian Somerhalder’s character “Damon Salvatore.”

 

 

 

DONIS LEONARD JR.

Roscoe Kaan

DONIS LEONARD JR. was born in Detroit, Michigan and came to Los Angeles as an infant. By the time he was four, he knew he could do what he saw kids doing on television. Members of his family have been involved with dance and theatre, so he grew up around the arts – and he has such an outgoing personality, he was bound to succeed. Leonard Jr. got his first break when he was cast as the lead in the short film, His Good Will with James Avery and Ashley Jones. This project was directed by Cayman Grant and went on to win several festival awards. Leonard Jr. has participated in several events that help support research about autism, including Autism Speaks, the charity that he and his family support, as Leonard Jr.’s younger brother has high-functioning autism.

 

 

 

GLYNN TURMAN

Jeremiah Kaan

 

GLYNN TURMAN, Emmy® Award winning actor, started his career at the tender age of 12 in the landmark Broadway production of A Raisin In The Sun with Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. He has performed in such plays as Athol Fugard’s My Children, My Africa, Ceremonies In Dark Old Men, What The Wine Sellers Buy, Eyes Of The American and Turman’s own autobiographical one-man show, Movin’ Man. His many film credits include Burlesque, Takers, Sahara, Kings Of The Evening, Men Of Honor, Deep Cover, Gremlins, J.D.’s Revenge, Light It Up, The Serpent’s Egg, The Inkwell, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the cult classic Cooley High. Turman was just recently seen in the J. J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg film Super 8, and will soon be seen in John Dies In The End and The Obama Effect.

 

In 2008, Turman scored his first Emmy® win as ‘Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series’ for In Treatment. Other television series and roles include, A Different World, Resurrection Blvd., Big Apple, The Wire, The Defenders, Scrubs, Southland, FlashForward, In Treatment, CSI, The Bernie Mac Show, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, Buffalo Soldiers and Minstrel Man. He’s won three NAACP Image Awards, including a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre’; the 2010 Pan-African Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2010 LA Stage Ovation Award for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor’ as “Memphis” in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running; a Los Angeles Critics Award nomination, a Dramalogue Award and multiple NAACP Image Award nominations. Turman is currently working on his autobiography Movin’ Man.

 

 

 

GUEST STARS

 

JOHN AYLWARD

K. Warren McDale

 

JOHN AYLWARD, perhaps best known for his hard-nose betrayal of “Dr. Donald Anspaugh” on the hit television series ER, has also performed in hundreds of plays on regional theatre stages throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a company member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre for 15 years (under the guiding hand of Dan Sullivan), Aylward had the privilege of playing lead roles in The Miser, Curse Of The Starving Class, House Of Blue Leaves, Glengarry Glen Ross and Death Of A Salesmen, to name a few. For the past 15 years, Aylward has been working primarily in television and film and his credits include: The West Wing, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, The Practice, The Others, Harry's Law, Mad Men, From The Earth To The Moon, Armageddon, Path To War, Buddy, Thirteen Days, North Country, Instinct, Down With Love, Finding Graceland, Water For Elephants and Gangster Squad.

 

MEGALYN ECHIKUNWOKE

April

 

MEGALYN ECHIKUNWOKE began acting at 14 when she moved from the Navajo reservation, where she grew up, to Los Angeles after being cast in her first movie. Echikunwoke is half Nigerian and her last name means “leader of men.” Along with numerous film and television roles, Echikunwoke is known for playing “Nicole Palmer” in the first season of 24, “Angie Barnett” (“Kelso’s” girlfriend) in the seventh season of That ‘70s Show and “Isabelle Tyler” in The 4400. Some of her indie film credits include the movie Who Do You Love, where she played a heroin-addicted lounge singer opposite Alessandro Nivola and did all her own singing. Most recently, she was cast alongside Greta Gerwig in Whit Stillman’s Damsels In Distress. Currently, she has a recurring role as “Holly” on 90210.

 

 

 

GRIFFIN DUNNE

Mario “The Rainmaker” Pelicos

 

As an actor, GRIFFIN DUNNE is best known for An American Werewolf In London, directed by John Landis; Johnny Dangerously with Michael Keaton, and After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese, which Dunne also produced. He has most recently been seen in Damages, and acting in and directing episodes of The Good Wife. Dunne also co-stars in the film Last Night with Keira Knightley.

 

Dunne made his foray into directing with the short film Duke Of Groove, for which he received an Academy Award® nomination. The film starred Tobey Maguire and Kate Capshaw. His feature film directorial debut was Addicted To Love, starring Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick; which he followed with Practical Magic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. He has also directed Fierce People with Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland; The Accidental Husband with Colin Firth and Uma Thurman; and has contributed a short to the Farrelly Brothers comedy, Movie 43, starring Emma Stone.

 

 

 

GREG GERMANN

Greg Norbert

 

GREG GERMANN is best known as the versatile star of the hit comedy series, Ally McBeal. Germann will soon be seen in the Warner Brothers digital series Aim High from McG and can currently be seen as a recurring character in the Fox comedy series Raising Hope.

 

On the big screen, Germann will be featured in the upcoming comedy Here Comes The Boom, starring Kevin James, as well as a poignant role in the drama Answers To Nothing, with Dane Cook and Julie Benz. Other film credits include Talladega Nights, Friends With Money, Quarantine, Down To Earth, Sweet November, The Last Producer, Jesus’ Son, Committed, So I Married An Axe Murderer, Once Around and Clear And Present Danger.

 

Germann’s television credits include his long-running role as the shark-like “Richard Fish” on Ally McBeal; the American Playhouse presentation of Darrow, Conduct Unbecoming, as well as appearances on The Bernie Mac Show, Listen Up and The Twilight Zone. On the stage, Germann is a member of the High School for Theatre Arts and Ensemble Studio Theatre, accumulating credits in such Off-Broadway and Broadway plays as Assassins and The Person I Was. He also starred in Los Angeles in the hit play Speed The Plow at the Geffen Playhouse.

 

 

 

RICHARD SCHIFF

Harrison “Skip” Galweather

 

Actor / director RICHARD SCHIFF began his acting career doing experimental works in New York’s downtown theater district and independent films. He has since appeared in over fifty films, including Ray, The Lost World, I Am Sam, Deep Impact, City Hall, Seven, Dr. Doolittle, Malcolm X, Forces of Nature, Crazy In Alabama and Hoffa. Recent openings include Infidel, a religious comedy from the U.K.; Another Harvest Moon and Solitary Man. He will be seen in the film Fire With Fire, opposite Josh Duhamel and Bruce Willis; and recently wrapped Knife Fight with Rob Lowe and Julie Bowen.

 

His television roles include The West Wing in a celebrated portrayal of Communications Director “Toby Ziegler” that earned him an Emmy® Award and three nominations, and two SAG® Awards and four nominations. He has starred or guest-starred in dozens of TV series and TV movies. He will soon be seen on the hit NBC series Up All Night and in the TNT film Innocent, based on the Scott Turow novel and starring Alfred Molina, Marcia Gay Harden and Bill Pullman.

 

He has recently revisited his theatre roots playing the highly acclaimed one-man show Underneath The Lintel in London’s West End and will be going to Broadway with Lanford Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Talley’s Folley next season. Schiff also recently starred in a production of Smash at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. Schiff has an Ovation Theater Award and a Dramalogue Award.

 

 

 

PRODUCTION BIO:

 

MATTHEW CARNAHAN

Creator / Executive Producer / Writer

 

After ten years in New York working as a playwright and director (Live Bait, Velvet Elvis, The Elephant Trainer’s Apprentice, Snap, Dogamerica, The Knees Of A Cellist), MATTHEW CARNAHAN received the Chesterfield Fellowship from Steven Spielberg. He went on to write Driveaway for Tom Hanks at Disney and to adapt his play, The Knees Of A Cellist for MGM. He wrote and directed the short film, Mailman, produced by Sandra Bullock, which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival, and went on to 12 more festivals and a long run on Bravo. The following year at Sundance, Carnahan premiered his feature directorial debut, Black Circle Boys (written during the Chesterfield Fellowship), to critical acclaim. Carnahan’s documentary about former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Rudyland, won IDFA and Palm Beach and played on Reel Life, the HBO / Cinemax documentary series. His novel, Serpent Girl, was published by Random House in 2006 to rave reviews and three editions, then published in paper (as Copping Free). On television, Carnahan created the series Trinity and Dirt (starring Courteney Cox), which ran for two seasons. Carnahan is next slated to direct Serpent Girl, which he has adapted for the screen, and is currently working on his second novel, Sweet Mary Sings At Midnight.


JESSIKA BORSICZKY

Executive Producer

 

JESSIKA BORSICZKY began her career in HBO’s movie division going on to oversee some of the network’s high profile and acclaimed projects including If These Walls Could Talk and 61*, directed by Billy Crystal and starring Barry Pepper and Thomas Jane. Later, she ran director Jan de Bont’s production company, Blue Tulip. Borsiczky followed up her tenure there as co-head of Gavin Polone’s production company, where she produced a diverse slate of television pilots and series including the NBC drama mini-series Revelations, the highly-rated The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search, and the Cheech Marin comedy, The Ortegas for Fox. Her film work there included producing the horror film, Population 436, starring Jeremy Sisto.

 

Since forming her own production company, Refugee Productions, Borsiczky’s projects have included The Promotion, a comedy written and directed by Steven Conrad starring John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott. Borsiczky most recently ran ABC’s FlashForward. She served as an Executive Producer along with David S. Goyer and Brannon Braga.

 

 

STEPHEN HOPKINS

Executive Producer

 

STEPHEN HOPKINS began his career designing, first as a comic book storyboard artist and then as an Art Director for numerous commercials and music videos. He then went on to direct music videos, commercials and stage plays in the U.S., Australia and Europe. Hopkins’ feature film directorial debut was an Australian film titled Dangerous Game. He later directed A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Predator 2, Judgment Night, Blown Away, The Ghost And The Darkness and Lost In Space. He directed the pilot for and served as a director and co-executive producer on the long-running series 24. He was nominated for a Golden Globe® for ‘Best Dramatic Series,’ a DGA Award for ‘Outstanding Directing’ and two Emmy® Awards – one for directing and one for producing 24. He also directed the pilot for CALIFORNICATION for SHOWTIME.


Hopkins also directed the critically acclaimed, Emmy®-nominated series Traffic; The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers, which was selected for the ‘Palme d’Or’ competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and later was nominated for a record-breaking 16 and won six Emmy® Awards, including a ‘Best Director’ Award, a Critics Choice Award, two Golden Globe® Awards, a SAG® Award and a DGA Award nomination for ‘Best Director.’ Additional credits include The Reaping, The Unusuals, Sleepyhead (UK), Pablo’s Hippos and Seberg.

 

 

Meet The Real-Life “Marty Kaan”

 

by Martin “Marty” Kihn, author of House Of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch And Then Tell You The Time (Grand Central, 2012) and Bad Dog (A Love Story) (Pantheon, 2011)

 

 

When I tell people that Don Cheadle is playing me in a SHOWTIME series based on my book – something I do with great regularity – they seem surprised. After all, while we’re both very handsome, charismatic men, Don and I have one obvious point of difference: He was born in Kansas, and I’m from Michigan.

Don’s character is named “Marty Kaan,” and it’s amused me to watch how Hollywood has transformed my real life into comedy. They gave me an ex-wife and son I don’t have (yet), moved me from Manhattan to L.A., bumped up my income and transfused me with testosterone.

 

Believe me, they had to. My book House Of Lies is a howl of pain, a memoir written early in the morning in ‘Courtyard by Marriott’ hotels around the country by a young Columbia Business School MBA who couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

 

“Go architect the journeyline into an end-state vision we can leverage into an impactful deliverable going forward” – yes, people talked that way. And clients were buying it.

 

In fact, my book started life as a dictionary. Really. House Of Lies is probably the first aspiring reference work ever to be transformed into a prime-time program with full frontal nudity. My creative brainwave as a novice consultant was to keep a list of all the phrases I’d never heard before (la-la mode, worry bead, target-rich environment, cactus job) and translate them into English for the people.

 

After a few months it occurred to me that what consultants did was every bit as bizarre as what they said, and so my dictionary morphed into an all-out memoir. It was written in part to answer the question every consultant’s mother eventually asks: “So what is it you do, dear, anyway?” That question can not be answered – consultants do whatever their clients want them to do – but it’s not too far from the truth to say we are highly-educated, highly-paid temps.

 

Ultimately, House Of Lies was written from the point of view of a junior level, in-the-trenches consultant who probably should have kept his old job as head writer of the original Pop-Up Video on MTV Networks. If the producers had turned that book into a series, viewers may not have been able to hear the dialogue over their sobbing.

 

What other improvements did Hollywood make to my life? Well, for one thing, of course, real live consultants are infinitely better-looking than those motley actor types. I’m kidding. Consultants tend to eat badly and often, and their idea of style is to tuck in their shirts. If any of them actually looked like Dawn Olivieri or Kristen Bell, very little consulting would get done.

 

Our real clients were a lot more dowdy, too. Consultants are generally hired by firms in big trouble; in the book, I describe one Midwestern tire manufacturer that cancelled Christmas due to cost-cutting. These scrooges have dingy offices with dismal lighting, which don’t make good television.

 

And the show takes some liberties with the element of time. Most consulting engagements last longer than a week; in fact, the primary goal of any consulting engagement is to extend the engagement. Logically, this requires that we never solve the client’s problem. We call endless extensions “afterwork,” and they’re the stuff from which partners are made.

 

Speaking of extensions, while some of us may have indulged in a certain amount of, ahem, after-hours prowling, we didn’t have time for the kind of full-throated shenanigans Marty’s pod enjoys. I salute them. But let me be the first to tell you the tragic truth that most consultants don’t actually have all that much sex, even with our spouses. We’re just too tired.

 

Consulting may be all mumbling and mirrors, but it’s a brutally difficult job, time-consuming and emotionally draining. The very day we arrive on the client site, we are already behind. Promotion cycles are merciless, with up to half the staff unsentimentally “counseled out” (translation: fired) or preemptively quitting before the reaper. In such an atmosphere of “up or out,” we tend not to act up (or out).

As a writer for Salon.com said when the book first came out, “Who knew what miserable lives these people lead?” Most consultants limp to the airport at 5 a.m. every Monday morning and get back to their boyfriends, pets or work-release cells late, late on Thursday night. Weekends are for sleep. Friends call less often and then fall into the realm of memory. It’s a rare consultant who can hold an active social life together. The series is absolutely accurate in showing how our work becomes our lives. In the end, there is nothing else to hold on to.

 

So why do people do it? If it weren’t for the hours and the travel and the lies, it would be a good job. Colleagues are frighteningly smart; the business problems are deep. Only the biggest global brands can begin to afford us, so we deal with exciting dilemmas: How can Cola Company X expand in Latin America? How can Car Company Y stay in business? It felt important, even if I personally never handed in a deliverable that wasn’t ignored.

 

Also, consulting pays well. It’s a ticket into the 1%. Marty Kaan’s apartment is much nicer than mine, but then he’s a lot more successful than I was. As a partner, he would have been my boss. Had I not quit after four years, he’s who I might be today.

 

The real rift between Marty Kaan and Marty Kihn is one I did not see coming. I remember when the Executive Producers Matt Carnahan and Jessika Borsiczky asked me what I thought of the pilot episode, I didn’t hesitate: “He’s actually good at his job.”

 

Maybe that’s the biggest difference of all.

 

 

CAST CREDITS

 

Marty Kaan……………………………………………        DON CHEADLE

Jeannie van der Hooven ………………………………KRISTEN BELL

Clyde Oberholt………………………………………….BEN SCHWARTZ

Doug Guggenheim……………………………………..JOSH LAWSON

Monica Talbot……………………………………………DAWN OLIVIERI

Roscoe Kaan………………………………..................DONIS LEONARD JR.

Jeremiah Kaan.…………………………………………GLYNN TURMAN

 

GUEST STARS

 

K. Warren McDale…………………………………...JOHN AYLWARD

Herself…………………………………………………CAT DEELEY

Mario “The Rainmaker” Pelicos……………………….GRIFFIN DUNNE

April……………………………………………………MEGALYN ECHIKUNWOKE

Greg Norbert…………………………………………….GREG GERMANN

Phoebe……………………………………………………PEGGY LIPTON

Wes Spencer…………………………………………MICHAEL RADY

Harrison “Skip” Galweather……………………………RICHARD SCHIFF

Kurt…………………………………………………… NICK STAHL

 

 

PRODUCTION CREDITS

 

Creator / Executive Producer…………………………MATTHEW CARNAHAN

Executive Producers…………………………………..JESSIKA BORSICZKY

      STEPHEN HOPKINS

                                          DON CHEADLE

Co-Executive Producer………………………………ALICE WEST

Co-Executive Producer………………………………KATE GARWOOD

Co-Executive Producer………………………………DAVID WALPERT

Co-Executive Producer………………………………DEVON SHEPARD

Co-Executive Producer………………………………KAY LIBERMAN

Co-Executive Producer………………………………LENORE ZERMAN

Supervising Producer………………………………...KARIN GIST

Producer……………………………………………….BARBARA NANCE

Producer (Pilot)……………………………………….LOU FUSARO

Co-Producer…………………………………………..WESLEY NICKERSON III

Director of Photography…………………………….. PETER LEVY, ASC, ACS

Production Designer………………………………….JANE ANN STEWART

Edited By………………………………………………TOD FEUERMAN, A.C.E.

                                                                                         JONATHAN SCHWARTZ    

Music By……………………………………………….MARK MOTHERSBAUGH

Casting By……………………………………………...FELICIA FASANO, CSA

Associate Producer…………………………………...ANNE UEMURA

Music Supervisors……………………………………CHRIS DOURIDAS

                                                                                        LIZA RICHARDSON

Costume Designer……………………………………CHRISTIE WITTENBORN

 

 

EPISODE SYNOPSES

 

 

Episode 101 “The Gods Of Dangerous Financial Instruments”

Written By                Matthew Carnahan

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars    Megalyn Echikunwoke, Greg Germann, John Aylward,

 Anna Camp, Mo Gaffney, Daphnee Duplaix

Marty and The Pod travel to New York to consult for MetroCapital, a mega-bank that is looking for a plan to unscrupulously justify taking their year-end bonuses as the financial world around them burns. Unfortunately, Marty makes an enemy out of MetroCapital’s number two guy, Greg Norbert, in the process.

 

Back at home, Marty gets some unwanted advice on how to raise his son, Roscoe, from Jeremiah, Marty’s live-in father, when Roscoe decides to try out for the female lead in a school play.

 

 

Here’s the rub

Important business decisions should be made in a stimulating atmosphere. If that means while getting a lap dance, all the better.

 

Episode 102 “Amsterdam”

Written By Matthew Carnahan

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars Cat Deeley, Julio Oscar Mechoso, Griffin Dunne, Richard Schiff, Mo Gaffney

 

Marty and The Pod are sent to Phoenix to clean up a mess at a very powerful sports franchise, caused by the owners’ impending divorce.

 

Once there, Jeannie takes a dinner meeting with Derek, an old flame, but is deflated when she finds out his real intentions toward her.

 

On the home front, Marty continues his personal war with Principal Gita over Roscoe’s cross-dressing.

 

Episode 103 “Microphallus”

Written by Matthew Carnahan

Directed by Stephen Hopkins

Guest stars Greg Germann, Amy Landecker, John Ross Bowie, Alan Dale, Joe Ochman and Richard Schiff

 

Marty arrives at the offices to find Greg Norbert there to announce the possible acquisition of Galweather by MetroCapital. This is not good, people.

 

The Pod then flies to Indiana to consult for a beverage company, where Marty applies his management skills to turn a loss into a win.

 

Meanwhile, Clyde questions whether Doug actually hooked up with a transvestite, and Roscoe struggles with the confusing feelings of liking both a boy and a girl.

 

Episode 104 “Mini-Mogul”

Teleplay By Karin Gist

Story By Karin Gist and Kate Garwood

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars Michael Rady, Ryan Pinkston, Nick Stahl, Utkarsh Ambudkar

 

With Jeremiah out of town, Marty is forced to bring his son Roscoe to his next job in San Francisco. Hoping to get some quality time with his dad, Roscoe ends up spending it all with The Pod – instead when Marty is forced to babysit Alex Katsnelson, the teenage CEO of a security software company.

 

Meanwhile, Jeannie reacts to her recent engagement by having a tryst with Kurt, a tortured musician she randomly meets in a coffee house.

 

 

Episode 105 “Utah”

Written By David Walpert

Directed By Adam Bernstein

Guest Stars Michael McMillan, Anna Rose Hopkins, Peter Mackenzie, with Griffin Dunne

 

On a consulting gig in Utah, Jeannie is put in charge when it becomes clear that the racist CEO of a no-frills motel chain won’t take Marty seriously. Meantime, Clyde tries to make inroads with a nice Mormon virgin.

 

On the home front, Monica decides to spend some quality time with Roscoe after she gets spurned by a married man she’s been seeing. But things turn very dark, and Roscoe comes away with a little more understanding about his mom, and a lot more appreciation for his dad.

 

Episode 106 “Our Descent Into Los Angeles”

Teleplay By Matthew Carnahan and Devon Shepard

Story By Matthew Carnahan and Devon Shepard

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars Greg Germann, Michael Rady, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Kai Caster and Mo Gaffney

 

Marty goes to war with his son’s school when Roscoe is accused of sexual harassment for trying to kiss a boy.

 

On the home front, his personal life is further complicated when April, a stripper Marty met in New York, reappears.

 

Elsewhere, Jeannie starts to get cold feet at the prospect of her upcoming wedding.

 

 

Passing the bucks

Everything is expensable. You just have to know how to spin it. A little creativity and even a $1000 dinner can be “strategizing with The Pod.”

 

 

Episode 107 “Bareback Town”

Written By Barbara Nance

Directed By Miguel Arteta

Guest Stars Megalyn Echikunwoke, Peyton, Andrea Savage and Tom Irwin

 

When The Pod goes to Washington, DC, to consult for a pharmaceutical company, Marty faces a challenge from April to stay monogamous on the road – which puts Jeannie in the position of having to take one for the team and ‘satisfy’ a female client.

 

Back at home, Jeremiah reveals something serious to April, asking for her confidence until he can tell Marty himself.

 

At episode’s end, a jealous Monica drops a huge bombshell on Marty.

 

Episode 108 “Veritas”

Written By Wesley Nickerson III

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars Leslie Odom Jr., Jenn Proske with Griffin Dunne and Richard Schiff

 

Marty and The Pod take part in the annual Galweather-Stearn recruiting event, where the best and brightest from Harvard Business School are wined and dined. Once there, Marty teaches James, the lone black recruit in this predominantly white business, the most important thing he knows.

 

Meanwhile, Doug sets out to prove to Clyde that he can coach any one of the possible recruits onto ‘the list’, while Jeannie grills a sexy, flirty recruit to see if she’s all style and no substance – a stance that becomes very hypocritical when we learn a secret Jeannie has been hiding.

 

Episode 109 “Ouroboros”

Written By Matthew Carnahan

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars Greg Germann, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Michael Rady, John Aylward with Griffin Dunne and Richard Schiff

The consultants get consulted when Marty and The Pod are put through the ringer by their arch-rival firm, Kinsley-Johnson – all part of the due diligence MetroCapital is performing for the upcoming merger.

 

Meanwhile, Jeannie does her best to keep Wes and the marriage at bay, but fails to keep it a secret from Marty.

 

April and Roscoe bond. But just as Marty feels he has things under control at home, he learns about the secret Jeremiah has been hiding just as he receives shocking news from Monica.

 

Episode 110 “Prologue And Aftermath”

Written by Karin Gist

Directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller

Guest stars Michael Rady, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Peggy Lipton, Phil Abrams, with Griffin Dunne

 

Jeannie embarks on a gig to establish her own legend in the world of consultants when she leads The Pod to her hometown to resurrect an ailing church.

 

On the home front, Monica’s powers of manipulation reach new heights, threatening Marty’s relationship with April.

 

 

Episode 111 “Business”

Written By David Walpert

Directed By Stephen Hopkins

Guest Stars Greg Germann, Anna Wood, David Julian Hirsh with Griffin Dunne and Richard Schiff

 

Marty and “The Rainmaker” work together to put the kibosh on their firm’s impending acquisition by MetroCapital. But a back-stabbing twist of events leaves Marty with “The Rainmaker” as his mortal enemy instead of valued ally.

 

Marty has to deal with attitude from his son, Roscoe, in the aftermath of the news about April.

 

 

 

 

Episode 112 “The Mayan Apocalypse”

Written by Matthew Carnahan

Directed by Matthew Carnahan

Guest stars Michael Rady, Greg Germann, John Aylward with Griffin Dunne

 

With the help of Greg Norbert, Marty and The Pod fight to pull off an 11th-hour reprieve and stop the MetroCapital acquisition from happening.

 

Meanwhile, Jeannie makes a decision about marrying Wes; while Marty’s son, Roscoe, makes a life-altering decision of his own.

 

 

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