CREATOR DAVID MILCH TALKS ABOUT HBOS NEW DRAMA SERIES LUCK, PREMIERING FEBRUARY 20 ON HBO

From acclaimed director Michael Mann and Deadwood creator David Milch, the nine-episode season of LUCK, starring Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman and Oscar nominee Nick Nolte, premieres Sunday, February 20, 2012 at 9pm on HBO HD / 10pm on HBO. LUCK is a behind-the-track look at the world of horse racing and gamblings denizens owners, trainers, jockeys and gamblers. The pilot is directed by Mann and written by Milch, both of whom also serve as executive producers for the series. It was filmed at Santa Anita Park and other Los Angeles locations. Q: When did you become interested in horses and racing? DAVID MILCH: My dad first took me to the track when I was five or six years old, and after that I would sneak out there on my own whenever I could. I would wear my Dads fedora hat, and by the time I was eight I was reading the daily racing form. Q: What is the appeal of the track for you? DM: There is such an expression of energy, of wholehearted commitment on the animals part. At our best, we would like to think of ourselves as capable of that type of expression, that type of commitment. The racetrack is a place of incomparable beauty, and the animals and humans who inhabit it illustrate their best and worst possibilities. So as a setting for storytelling, you couldnt ask for anything more. Q: What was the inspiration for Ace Bernstein, Dustin Hoffmans character? DM: When I was a kid there was a certain figure who caught my attention who was rumored to be the biggest bookmaker in America. He would sit beside a bettor, who might bet up to a quarter of a million dollars, and he would give that bettor the first hundred yards, which meant the bettor could leave the bet on or take it off for the first hundred yards of the race. As a little kid, my challenge was trying to figure out what the hell was going on with these transactions. Ace Bernstein is fundamentally a very decent man. The discipline of always playing the angle is the essence of Ace, and in his solitude, you witness the

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Contacts: Lulu M. Virtusio, President, Virtusio Public Relations, Inc., T: 7257891, lmv@virtusio.com Dessa M. Virtusio, VP for Account Management, Virtusio Public Relations, Inc., T: 7275251, dessa@virtusio.com

consequences of the life that hes chosen. But hes having second thoughts, and thats the nature of the story. Q: What is it about Dustin that makes him right for the part? DM: Dustins a pure athlete. He gives himself absolutely to the performance. He has a preoccupation with detail that some people would describe as obsessive, but for the writer, thats a gift. Q: How would you describe Nick Noltes character, Walter Smith? DM: He lives as an emotional exile. He had a failure of nerve at a crucial point in his life and feels like he has to pay a price for that for the rest of his years. And yet, he has the gift of a horse. However unworthy he feels himself to be, nature has decreed he will have a second chance. Nick is able to inhabit that paradox, and demonstrate both the sense of exile and the rebirth of hope. Q: Were you acquainted with Michael Mann before LUCK? DM: Michael and I have known each other for 20 years. Weve had opportunities to work together before, but circumstances always intervened. Michael, like Dustin, is an athlete. Hes as muscular a shooter as Ive ever encountered, so Ive been able to leave the physical realization of the material to him. Thats allowed me to concentrate on my primary responsibility, which is generating the writing itself. Q: Horse racing has long sparked mans ingenuity, not always with honorable intent. DM: There is nothing man can imagine that has not been tried to affect the outcome of a horse race. The taming of the horse, and the racing of the horse, were some of the first manifestations of mans competitive instinct at play. The symbolic result of getting an advantage over a competitor would take on an almost religious dimension. The first horse races in relatively modern days were always conducted around harvest time. After the harvest, there would be a carnival, and horses would be raced against each other. Some of the horses would be owned by the lords of the manor, and great pleasure was taken in beating the horse of a lord. So to say chicanery was sometimes involved was probably an understatement.

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Contacts: Lulu M. Virtusio, President, Virtusio Public Relations, Inc., T: 7257891, lmv@virtusio.com Dessa M. Virtusio, VP for Account Management, Virtusio Public Relations, Inc., T: 7275251, dessa@virtusio.com

Q: What is the appeal of LUCK for viewers who are not already racing fans? DM: Viewers who come with an open mind will be so taken up by the experience that what initially might seem forbidding quickly transforms itself into universal emotion. The racetracks an awful lot like the circus. Its tremendous fun to see all these different kinds of creatures rubbing up against each other. Q: Although luck has a special significance at the track, do you see it as having a larger meaning? DM: The deepest truth of our experience is that, every day we wake up, were lucky. As long as youre drawing breath, youve got another chance.

The executive producers of LUCK are David Milch, Michael Mann and Carolyn Strauss; co-executive producers are Henry Bronchtein and Eric Roth; Dustin Hoffman serves as producer. The series was created by David Milch. LUCK premieres Sunday, February 20 at 9pm on HBO HD / 10pm on HBO. New episodes premiere every Monday at the same time. # # #

Luck, HBO and Home Box Office are service marks of Home Box Office, Inc. Used with permission.

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Contacts: Lulu M. Virtusio, President, Virtusio Public Relations, Inc., T: 7257891, lmv@virtusio.com Dessa M. Virtusio, VP for Account Management, Virtusio Public Relations, Inc., T: 7275251, dessa@virtusio.com