Academy Award-Winning Actress Mercedes Ruehl Signed to Star in Court TV's First Original Film Guilt by Association.

Entertainment Editors

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)

Oct. 4, 2001 -

Network's First Feature Film Slated to Begin Production in October

2001 for Winter 2002 Television Premiere

Feature to Focus on Issue of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws

Mercedes Ruehl, the Academy and Tony Award-winning actress, will play the lead in Guilt by Association, a Court TV original film.

To be produced by J.B. Media for Hearst Entertainment, Guilt by Association is inspired by the Court TV original documentary, Prisoners of Love, which premiered last year. Ruehl will portray a woman unjustly caught in the web of mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Guilt by Association, an issue-driven story, will explore the controversial topic of mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. These stringent laws were passed in response to rampant crime and a drug epidemic. Through Ruehl's character, the film will depict the severity of these laws, and their impact upon those sentenced, as well as their families.

"We are delighted to be working with Mercedes Ruehl on the network's first original movie," said Henry Schleiff, Court TV Chairman and CEO. "Mercedes' exceptional talent represents the caliber of actors the network would like to cast in future films. Mercedes' strong background and enormity of experience bring a depth and passion to this complex role, and we hope this controversial and timely film will cause lawmakers across the United States to re-examine their stance and stir the national debate about the future of America's drug policies."

Mercedes Ruehl gained attention through her role as a jealous Mafia wife in Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob and as Tom Hanks' frantic mother in Big. She won a Tony Award for her performance as Aunt Bella in Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning Lost in Yonkers, a role she later reprised in Martha Coolidge's 1993 film version. Ruehl earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Los Angeles Film Critics Society award for her role as Jeff Bridges' girlfriend in Terry Gilliam's The Fisher King.

Alan Hines, the acclaimed writer of Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story, and most recently the highly-rated film, The Familiar Stranger, wrote the script.

Guilt by Association will be produced by Terry Gould and Jean Bureau. Anne Carlucci and Marion Brayton, who most recently produced Dangerous Child, are the executive producers. Graeme Campbell, who teamed with Carlucci and Brayton on Dangerous Child, will direct.

Mary D. Silverman, Lynne Kirby and Rosalie Muskatt are the Court TV executives in charge of movie development.

Court TV is developing original, feature-length television movies distinguished by strong crime and justice social issues. Some of the movies are based on the network's original documentaries, and all of the movies will be inspired by actual events.

Court TV (www.courttv.com or AOL Keyword: Court TV) a basic cable network, provides a window on the American system of justice through distinctive programming that both entertains and informs. As the destination for programming that focuses on justice and criminal investigations, Court TV broadcasts trials by day and compelling stories of the criminal justice system in the evening. Court TV is 50% owned by AOL Time Warner, and 50% owned by Liberty Media Corp. The network has over 64 million subscribers, and expects to reach 65 million by early 2002.