The Institution

Covertly offering brides money at their weddings in the event of future marital abuse? Foreign developers in Costa Rica contaminating the local water supply rendering local males impotent? When Lawrence, a romantic scientist directing a nature preserve falls in love with Aria, a cynical doctoral student outraged over the sordid history of the Institution of marriage, the complications turn farcical as they struggle to solve both the troubles around them, and the troubles they cause themselves.

Synopsis

When Aria, charmingly played by Victoria Mack, ventures into the endangered Costa Rican dry forest to finish her dissertation on the institution of marriage and its squalid history, the last thing on her mind is love. And yet, love emerges in the form of Lawrence (Corey Carthew), an earnest environmental biologist campaigning to save the last mangrove in the region. When [chemicals] in the village’s drinking water leave the men impotent, the women take charge in a delightful Lysistra-inspired romp. Filmed against the spectacular backdrops of Costa Rican beaches and Moscow and Paris cityscapes, this unusual love story effortlessly blends eroticism and an actual environmental crisis … with sidesplitting results.

Official trailer

Stills gallery

Full credits

VICTORIA MACK as Aria

COREY CARTHEW as Lawrence

ELIZABETH VAN METER as Chassie

LUIS FERNANDEZ-GIL as Luis

MARGARITA REYES as Maria

KRISTOFFER ANDERSON as Hans

JOE SHERIDAN as Jody

CASEY ANTHONY as Mildred

JOHN ANTHONY as Paul

KEN ASHE as Karl the developer

JORGE HAZERA as Jack

BELKIS HAZERA as Ludmilla

STEPHANIE COONTZ as Dr. Coontz

Honorable JOHN D. GABRIEL as the Judge

MERRILL BECKER as Lura in Russia

BRUCE BECKER as Lee in Russia

ALEXANDER GROHOVSKI as Russian environmentalist

ALLA GROHOVSKI as Russian environmentalist

VALERI GROHOVSKI as Ludovic the chauffeur in France

MIRIAM ZAMORA as the Mother of Eight

DALE HICKS as the Marital Law Attorney

JUAN FRANCISCO OBANDO MARTINEZ as Municipal Council Member

JOE ZAMORA as Municipal Council Member

LAURA FILIPPINI as translator

DONNA HERMENN as Aria’s video assistant

CINDY GABRIEL as the Chinese Bride

MARYNELL MALONEY with goats

JORGE ZAMORA as the School Teacher

PHILIPPE PONS as Environmentalist

ALEJANDRO MASIS as environmentalist

ROGER BLANCO as environmentalist

OLIVIER BOURGOIN as the Wine Connoisseur

PADRE REYNALDO as priest

PADRE JOSE as priest

CRAIG DENNIS as marriage assistant

Marrying couples:

Joe Zamora Lopez and Arlen Obando Martinez

Jose Miguel Cortes Cortes and Laura Herrera

Marbey del Carmen Arias Santana and

Geremias Santiago Aleman Batista

Valeri Grohovski and Marynell Maloney

Dennis Maloney and Katherine Kindick

Michelle Maloney and Chris Hernandez

Women gathering in the Lysistrata crowd:

Mary Lu Tosi

Maria Bernadette Gonzalez

Deborah Wickham

Terry Kezar

Margarita Downey - also, playing the mourner at the cemetery

Liz Downey

Rosa Alsina

Ann Mendenhall

Cindy Gabriel

Marian Medina de Tosi

Environmentalists in conference room Santa Rosa

Area de Conservacion Guanacaste headquarters:

Alejandro Masis Cuevillas

Roger Blanco

Maria Luisa Jimenez

Waldy Medina

Drew Hicks

Philippe Pons

Maypole Dancers:

Mary Lu Tosi

Lucinda Tosi

Ann Mendenhall

Marg Downey

Belkis Hazera

Jorge Hazera

Corey Carthew

Luis Fernandez-Gil

Olivier Bourgoin

Small children:

Jaden Deep Gabriel

Miguel Cortez Jr.

Elijah Tosi

Ballet Dancers:

Ivannia Gonzalez

Maria Jose Solera

Alina Flores Valle

Musicians in Costa Rica at final celebration/ revelers with sheet:

Edin Solis

Ivan Licaga

Jose Badilla

Kendall Berroual

Luis G. Loria

Carlos Chavez

Jorge Siliezar Ruiz

Ricardo Fonseca Brenes

Extras at lunch, wedding party, and in conference in Russia:

Michelle Maloney

Chris Hernandez

Katherine Kindick

Dennis Maloney

Written, Directed and Produced by Marynell Maloney

With the participation of Andy Horton, Script Advisor

Jonathan Schell – Director of Photography

Drew Hicks – first AC

Rolando Campos -gaffer

Alejandro Alvarez - grip, second AC

Kenneth Campos - grip truck

Bryan Vindas - grip

Gevanny Quesada - grip

Guillermo Rojas - crane operator

Milo Clow - sound

Donna Hermenn - makeup

Laura Filipini- catering/ craft service

Hector Chavez - catering/ craft service

Accommodations - Hotel Bolanos Bay Resort

Terry Kezar & Rosa Alsina and Celeste Gamez - props & pre-production

Michelle Maloney - pre-production assistant

Erica Nahrgong - pre-production line producer

Lars Christensen - production line producer

Marlon Viales Solano - production assistant

Alex Tosi - piano tuning and technical assistance

Russia Unit:

Michail Glukhov – Director of Photography

Sergey Alecnovitch – DIT

Jazztown Club

France Unit:

Drew Hicks – Director of Photography

Alejandro Alvarez - First AC

Sergey Alecnovitch - DIT

Gilles Vacar - Gaffer

Laurent Van Eijs - Grip

Cooking – Laura Filippini and Julia Reais

Cine Lumiere – equipment rental

Hotel Cheval Blanc

Editing:

Richard Levien

Andrew Berends

Joshua Weinstein

Music:

Valeri Grohovski – Film Score Music writer, arranger, and piano performer

Lyrics by Marynell Maloney

Alexander Burtman, mixing and mastering

Ron Carter - Bass, “Wedding March”

Billy Cobham – Drums, “Wedding March”

“Wedding March” recorded by Toby Woods at Metropolis Studios, London

Peter Horvath – piano performance and arrangement, “Marry Me”

Kenny Washington – vocals, “Marry Me”

Karl Perazzo – percussionist, “Marry Me”

Gary Brown – acoustic bass, “Marry Me”

“Marry Me” recorded by Peter Horvath at Foreign Matter Studios,

”Marry Me” mixed by Ray Obiedo and Peter Horvath at Werewolf Studios

Ensemble Hermitage, Moscow

Boris Andrianov – cello

Alexsey Utkin – oboe

Sergey Chernishov – mamba

Ragtime Band of Moscow

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.1 in F Sharp Minor, performed by the Moscow State Orchestra, Valeri Grohovski piano, Chris Wilkins conducting

Dale Hicks – singer and guitar

Chrissy Lawless - singer for Aria

Casey Anthony - singer

Sound ADR and Post:

Angelo Panetta, Panetta Studios, New Jersey

Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California

Patrick Bowsher, Los Angeles

Brian Gruber, voice of Paul

Marcia Haufrecht, voice of Mildred

HD Online by postbrooklyn

Colorist:

Eli Brown

Title Sequence Animation:

Rory Campbell

www.redkingcreativestudios.com

Editorial consultants:

Herschel Weingrod

John Dilley

Jonathan Parra

William Farley

Adam Keker

Judy Keller Casting - NYC

Ninety percent 90% of any (highly unlikely) profits of this movie

are being donated to the environmental efforts of the Area de Conservacion de Guanacaste.

Special THANKS to …

Andrew Horton, script advice, inspiration and support.

Herschel Weingrod for his generous advice.

Dr Janzen and all the wonderful people at

Area de Conservacion de Guanacaste.

Ruth Tiffer and Rosario Navarro

Dr. Stephanie Coontz, consultant

Eugene Chernikov and Dom Musikee

El Jobo School

A&A water systems

Mariana Bonilla Gutierrez – for the loan of her home on the hill

Bolanos Bay Resort in Guanacaste

Gary Groth and Ken Ashe and Matchframe for technical advice

Diane Logan

Aaron Soffin

ALL characters are fictional* and any similarity to

real persons is unintended and entirely coincidental

(*except for the occasional real persons playing themselves.)

HOWEVER, the environmental crisis portrayed is real

(except perhaps for some of the sexual health consequences.)

The cistern truck in the film is actually delivering water to

hundreds whose water supply has been damaged by

foreign developers in Costa Rica.

AND, the facts quoted about the Institution of Marriage

are factually, historically accurate.

ELSEWHERE, poetic license rules…

Filmed on location in Costa Rica, Russia, France

Dr. Coontz filmed at Olympia, Washington USA

No animals were harmed in the filming of this movie.