David Leland in Britain" won the Prix Italia (an international Television award) in 1984. In 1986 he wrote the screenplay for the thriller-drama "Mona Lisa", featuring Bob Hoskins. This film was critically acclaimed and Leland earned nominations for the Golden Globe and the Writers Guild of America. He then wrote "Personal Services" in 1986. It was directed by Terry Jones and was about Cynthia Payne, a real-life British madam who ran a private brothel. Julie Walters took the leading role. While "Personal Services" dealt with the adult life of Cynthia Payne, Leland's next film, "Wish You Were Here", concerned her teenage years.
Cynthia Ashperger Cynthia Ashperger Cintija Ašperger (born May 4, 1963), credited as Cynthia Ashperger in English-language roles, is a Croatian-Canadian film, television and stage actress. Born in Zagreb in 1963, she worked as an actor in Yugoslavia, including in the film "S.P.U.K.", before meeting Canadian director Allan Eastman when she was cast in the 1987 television film "Race for the Bomb". She subsequently married Eastman, and spent the next number of years working in both Canada and Yugoslavia until the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991. She moved permanently to Canada in 1995, taking a job as a drama teacher at