Friends (With Benefits)

{{Other uses|Friends with benefits (disambiguation){{!}}Friends with benefits}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Friends (With Benefits)

| italic_title = no

| image = Friends With Benefits.png

| alt =

| caption = Official poster

| director = Gorman Bechard

| producer = Gorman Bechard
Ashley McGarry

| writer = Gorman Bechard
Ashley McGarry

| starring = Margaret Laney
Alex Brown
Anne Petersen
Jake Alexander
Lynn Mancinelli
Brendan Bradley
Rooney Mara

| music = Dean Falcone
Stephen Harris

| cinematography = Adrian Correia

| editing =

| studio =

| distributor = What We Were Thinking Films Inc.

| released = {{Film date|2009|6|12}}

| runtime = 94 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross =

}}{{Italic title|all=yes}}

Friends (with benefits) is a 2009 romantic comedy film released on June 12, 2009 at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://10kbullets.com/reviews/f/friends-with-benefits/|title=Friends (With Benefits)|date=June 3, 2009|author=Michael Den Boer|publisher=10,000 Bullets|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}

Production

=Casting=

The film stars Margaret Laney as Chloe and Alex Brown as Owen, lifelong best friends and current med school students. Rounding out their tight-knit group of friends are Anne Peterson as Allison, Jake Alexander as Jeff, Lynn Mancinelli as Shirley, Brendan Bradley as Brad and Rooney Mara as Tara.

=Development=

Taken off a script originally written by Gorman Bechard in 1999, the film was shopped around that summer under the title Fuck Buddies to every major studio in Hollywood. Inevitably, the script was put on the back burner until Bechard started looking for a lighter follow-up to his extremely dark 2005 feature You Are Alone. In 2006 Bechard teamed with writing partner Ashley McGarry and they began to rewrite the film, changing the title to Friends (with benefits) and casting Margaret Laney in the lead role.

=Filming=

Production began in April 2007. The film was shot over 18 days in New Haven, Connecticut.

Release

The film debuted at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival on June 12, 2009 and received their award for "Best Romantic Comedy".{{cite web |url=http://stiff.bside.com/2009/films/friendswithbenefits_stiff2009 |title=Seattle's True Independent Film Festival 2009 : Friends (with Benefits) |publisher=Stiff.bside.com |date= |accessdate=2010-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208160505/http://stiff.bside.com/2009/films/friendswithbenefits_stiff2009 |archive-date=2011-02-08 |url-status=dead }} The film was released on DVD in the United States in August 2010.

class="wikitable" "
Location ! Award{{cite web\|url=http://www.whatwerewethinkingfilms.com/fb/fwbmovie.html \|title=Friends With Benefits - Official Movie Website \|publisher=Whatwerewethinkingfilms.com \|date= \|accessdate=2010-10-19}}
Seattle True Independent Film Festival \| {{Won\|"Best Romantic Comedy"}}
Sacramento Film and Music Festival \| {{Won\|"Best Narrative Feature"}}
Royal Flush Festival \| {{Won\|"Best Narrative Feature"}}
Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival \| {{Won\|Festival's Best}}
First Glance Philadelphia \| {{Won\|"Best Ensemble Cast"}}

class="wikitable" "

Location

! Award{{cite web|url=http://www.whatwerewethinkingfilms.com/fb/fwbmovie.html |title=Friends With Benefits - Official Movie Website |publisher=Whatwerewethinkingfilms.com |date= |accessdate=2010-10-19}}

Seattle True Independent Film Festival

| {{Won|"Best Romantic Comedy"}}

Sacramento Film and Music Festival

| {{Won|"Best Narrative Feature"}}

Royal Flush Festival

| {{Won|"Best Narrative Feature"}}

Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival

| {{Won|Festival's Best}}

First Glance Philadelphia

| {{Won|"Best Ensemble Cast"}}