For Immediate Release
March 1, 2001

"STOLEN SUMMER" by PETE JONES WINS PROJECT GREENLIGHT

Chris Moore, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Miramax to Executive Produce; Pre-Production to Begin Immediately for 2002 Release

Pete Jones, author of the script "Stolen Summer," was selected from more than 10,000 contestants as the winner of the Project Greenlight contest, it was announced today by Miramax Films & TV, HBO, LivePlanet, and corporate sponsor Samuel Adams. Pete, a 31 year old Chicago native, who has been working as a production assistant on various projects since moving to Los Angeles three years ago.

Jones was chosen as the Project Greenlight winner on Wednesday afternoon by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, and Billy Campbell, president of Miramax TV, who are serving as executive producers of the Project Greenlight film and television series, and by Miramax Films co-president of production Meryl Poster and executive vice president of production Jon Gordon. Immediately following his selection, Jones accompanied Ben Affleck to his appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," where Affleck and Leno invited him on to the stage for an impromptu announcement of his selection as winner of Project Greenlight.

Miramax Films has committed to provide Jones with a minimum $1 million production budget to produce his winning screenplay. At the same time, Miramax Television will chronicle the making of the movie for a 13-episode documentary series slated to air on HBO in early 2002. Miramax Films will distribute the film in theatres, with a tentative release date set for early 2002.

"When you're the one picked out of ten thousand scripts it's a very humbling experience," said winner Pete Jones. "I hope I make all of these people proud. I always dreamed of an opportunity like this and it's overwhelming when your reality exceeds your dreams."

"Project Greenlight created a community that gave everyone a merit-based shot to become a filmmaker, with access to a peer group to provide feedback on their work," said Ben Affleck, co-founder of LivePlanet. "It also allows people outside the entertainment business to have a say in what script gets made into a movie, instead of six guys in an office somewhere in Hollywood deciding. The use of the Internet gave these aspiring filmmakers a place to meet and led to the discovery of unknown writers with professional-level talent."

"This is an amazing start for our documentary series and an incredible opportunity for Pete," said Billy Campbell president of Miramax Television. "Pete embodies the spirit of Project Greenlight in every sense -- he's an enormously talented filmmaker with a terrific screenplay who might otherwise not had the opportunity to share his vision with an audience. Bob and Harvey have always embraced the idea of offering independent filmmakers the chance to share their visions with a wider audience - that's what makes this such a perfect Miramax project."

"Project Greenlight exemplifies what can happen when entertainment companies integrate various media to create a larger concept," said Chris Moore, CEO of LivePlanet. "Using television, film, and the Internet to create a forum for the exchange of creative ideas is a powerful thing. Add to that a team of independent-minded companies like LivePlanet, Miramax, Sam Adams and HBO and you can help engage and empower people to live their dreams. We all did that here by giving Pete Jones the chance to direct his film, 'Stolen Summer'."

"Project Greenlight champions philosophies that are shared by Sam Adams breaking the established rules of how films get made in Hollywood. This partnership is about supporting independent thinking and having the passion to help those with great ideas get to the next level," said Jim Koch, Founder and Brewer of Sam Adams.

Project Greenlight, the largest active screenwriting community in the world, invited amateur screenwriters to submit original screenplays electronically to the Project Greenlight contest at www.projectgreenlight.com. Members of the Project Greenlight community rated and reviewed more than 7,000 submitted screenplays. Authors of the 250 highest-rated entries submitted Filmmaker Videos, where they appeared to allow the executive producers to learn about each filmmaker in order to select 30 screenplays to read. From the 30 remaining screenplays, 10 semi-finalists were selected and each contestant was given equipment to film a short scene from his or her script. After screening these scenes, three finalists were interviewed to select the winner.

All of the screenplays in the Project Greenlight contest, including the Top 250, Top 30, Top 10 and Top Three, as well as the Top Ten scenes, can be seen on the Internet at the Project Greenlight website (www.projectgreenlight.com). For more details and official rules about the Project Greenlight contest, visit www.projectgreenlight.com.