1996

Nick Cassavetes films She's DeLovely with Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn.

1997

August: After a series of preliminary publicity events, Miramax gives Nick Cassavetes' She's So Lovely (a title change required by the refusal of the Cole Porter estate to grant permission for the use of the original title) a national release, representing the heavily re - written and re - conceptualized film as "written by John Cassavetes." To support the release, Miramax has Ray Carney organize a six - film mini - retrospective of Cassavetes' work and create a 24 - page souvenir program booklet and program guide, Love on the Edge. Carney refuses to say anything positive about She's So Lovely in the program. Click here to read the catalogue and program notes Ray Carney created specially for the tour. He organizes a celebrity panel discussion of Cassavetes' legacy at New York's Paris Theater. The Cassavetes retrospective plays to sell - out crowds in New York, Austin, and Chicago. She's So Lovely receives lukewarm to negative reviews and to Miramax's surprise does less business in the three cities than the authentic Cassavetes films.

1998

February: The first web site devoted to Cassavetes' life and work is established by Ray Carney at: www.Cassavetes.com. Carney includes announcements about his search for the first version of Shadows.

July: Ray Carney receives a call from a company in charge of the liquidation of a discontinued film warehouse. He is offered cans of Cassavetes' films, some of which have been sitting in storage unclaimed for as long as forty years. Since he does not have adequate storage or preservation facilities, Carney declines the gift and instructs the company to contact the Motion Picture Division of the Library of Congress. It will turn out that a lost long print of Faces is among the material. Click here for more information about this print.

October 30 - 31: Ray Carney introduces screenings of Shadows and the long version of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and conducts question - and - answer sessions at the Virginia Film Festival.

Carney talks to Rosemary C. Hanes, an administrator at the Library of Congress, who verifies that she has recently obtained physical possession of but not inspected or catalogued the unclaimed cans of film that Carney recommended be turned over to the Library.

1999 - 2001

Ray Carney serves as the scholarly advisor for Charles Kiselyak's documentary about the life and work of John Cassavetes, A Constant Forge. Among other material, he provides an unpublished draft of his Cassavetes on Cassavetes manuscript only to learn later that its text is being used as the voice - over narrative to the film without payment or permission. As the scholarly advisor, he also objects to the sentimentality of the film and the choice of interviewees, but his advice is ignored. Rowlands expresses pleasure with the film. Click here for a more complete account of Ray Carney's involvement with the Kiselyak film and more information about the misappropriation of Carney's material and the denial of scholarly credit.

Over a period of years, Shaw Photographics periodically protests Gena Rowlands's unauthorized use of Sam Shaw's photographs, posters, and layouts in various projects including Charles Kiselyak's film, the Criterion box set, and other publicity for Cassavetes' work. Rowlands claims that Sam Shaw was "an employee" and that that she consequently owns the photographs he took on the sets of Cassavetes' films and most of his other Cassavetes - related work and does not need to ask permission or pay to use them.

1999

March: Ray Carney presents "An Evening with John Cassavetes," screening unreleased, unknown, and unavailable film clips and videotapes showing Cassavetes acting, rehearsing actors, and talking about his work at the Danish Film House in Copenhagen, Denmark.

May: After being turned down by several publishers due to lack of interest in Cassavetes, Ray Carney self - publishes John Cassavetes: The Adventure of Insecurity. The first printing sells out and a revised second edition is issued in September 2000.

June: As a representative of the U.S. Department of State and a guest of the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals and associated universities, Ray Carney presents a retrospective of Cassavetes' acting and directing work in Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne, Australia . He introduces the screenings, moderates question - and - answer sessions, and participates in panel discussions about Cassavetes' work before more than ten thousand people. He also speaks about Cassavetes on Australian television and radio.

May - July: The Special Projects Division of Pioneer Electronics releases the second version of Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, the short second version of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (the only version Rowlands and Ruban will allow to be released), and Opening Night on laserdisc and DVD. Ray Carney writes the program notes. In his essay to accompany the Shadows disk, Carney presents his preliminary conclusions concerning the content of the first version of the film.

Due to the low quality of the transfer and the lack of video supplementary material or voice - over commentary, Film Comment votes the release one of the "ten worst DVD sets" of all time. Due to weak sales, Pioneer lets the disks go out of print and does not renew their license to distribute them.

2000 - 2003

Ross Lipman, chief preservationist for the UCLA Film and Television Archive, supervises the restoration of Shadows. He consults with Ray Carney, who reveals many previously unknown facts to him, for example, that the negative in his possession is from the second version of the film and that the footage in it was shot at two different periods of time. Carney provides Lipman with a detailed, unpublished shot list documenting details of which shots were from which period of shooting, and keeps Lipman updated as his own research uncovers new facts about the two versions. He also tells him about and keeps him informed of the progress of his search for the first version of Shadows. Lipman tells Carney that Al Ruban, whom Lipman frequently deals with, vehemently denies the existence of a first version of the film and ridicules Carney's search for it.

2000

September 29 - October 4: Ray Carney introduces a week - long retrospective of the films of John Cassavetes at the Harvard Film Archive. On the final night, he presents an evening - length event titled: "The Unknown John Cassavetes: Behind the Scenes," in which he screens unknown and previously unavailable television acting performances and other work by and about Cassavetes in his private collection. Most pieces are being shown for the first time since their original broadcasts and several are being given their American or world premieres. Films and video titles shown in whole or in part include: Tamara Simon Hoff's The Haircut; Charles Cohen's Flip - Side (which was given its American premiere); S. Lee Pogostin's "Free of Charge" (a thought to be lost work); the "Faces" episode of Andre Labarthe's Cineaste de Notre Temps; Tristram Powell's "Making of Husbands" documentary (shown in an uncut version different from the shorter one broadcast on PBS); Cassavetes, Falk, and Gazzara's appearances on The David Frost and Dick Cavett shows; and several never previously broadcast videos in which Cassavetes talks about his films and works with actors.