2012 New Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Members
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 176 filmmakers, artists and executives to become members.
Sources:
Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Terrence Malick Get Academy Invites
Published: June 29, 2012 @ 12:48 pm
By Steve Pond
Academy Invites 176 to Membership
Beverly Hills, CA (June 29, 2012)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Also see:
New Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Members
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Board of Governors
2012–2013 2013–2014
Sources:
Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Terrence Malick Get Academy Invites
Published: June 29, 2012 @ 12:48 pm
By Steve Pond
Academy Invites 176 to Membership
Beverly Hills, CA (June 29, 2012)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Also see:
New Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Members
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Board of Governors
2012–2013 2013–2014
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- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Simon Baker was first recognized in 1992, when he received Australia's prestigious Logie award for Most Popular New Talent. Upon relocating to Los Angeles with his family, Baker was immediately cast in the Academy Award winning film L.A. Confidential (1997).Actors: Simon Baker – “Margin Call,” “L.A. Confidential”- Actor
- Producer
- Animation Department
Sean Bean's career since the eighties spans theatre, radio, television and movies. Bean was born in Handsworth, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, to Rita (Tuckwood) and Brian Bean. He worked for his father's welding firm before he decided to become an actor. He attended RADA in London and appeared in a number of West End stage productions including RSC's "Fair Maid of the West" (Spencer), (1986) and "Romeo and Juliet" (1987) (Romeo) , as well as "Deathwatch" (Lederer) (1985) at the Young Vic and "Killing the Cat" (Danny) (1990) at the Theatre Upstairs.
This soulful, green-eyed blonde's roles are so varied that his magnetic persona convincing plays angst-ridden villains, as in Clarissa (1991), passionate lovers like Mellors in Lady Chatterley (1993), rough-and-ready soldiers such as Richard Sharpe, heart wrenching warriors as the emotionally torn Boromir in "The Lord of the Rings," and noble Greeks, like Odysseus in Troy (2004), where his very presence in the film adds grace and validity to the rest of the movie. Recently, he did a turn in Shakespeare's "Macbeth," where as the principal lead, he so transfixed the audience that the show was extended in London and critically acclaimed. Bean, however, remains himself, a man's man, and in the glitzy world of movies this is a rare thing indeed. Bean resides in London where he enjoys raising his beautiful daughters, his beloved football, and the occasional pint.
Bean has three daughters, Lorna, Molly and Evie.Actors: Sean Bean – “Flightplan,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”- Actress
- Cinematographer
Actress Bérénice Bejo was born in Buenos Aires, the daughter of Silvia De Paoli, a lawyer, and Miguel Bejo, a filmmaker. When she was three, Bejo's family relocated to Paris, France. She embarked on a successful acting career in the 1990s, with various roles in French television and film productions. She made her American film debut as Christiana in A Knight's Tale (2001), but came to major international recognition with her role as Peppy Miller in the critical and popular hit, The Artist (2011), which was written and directed by her husband, Michel Hazanavicius. The film garnered many major awards and nominations. Bejo herself was nominated as Best Supporting Actress of the year at the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Oscars. She was also nominated as Best Leading Actress at the BAFTA Awards.Actors: Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Born in Chicago, Oscar nominee and Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Tom Berenger was born Thomas Michael Moore and raised in a working class Roman Catholic family of Irish descent. His father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Tom attended the University of Missouri to study journalism. There, he first auditioned for a role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at the college theater on a whim and a bet with a roommate; he won the role of "Nick", the second male lead.
After several stints in regional theater, Berenger attended Herbert Berghof's Studio School for Acting in New York City. There, he pursued a professional acting. He selected "Berenger" as his professional name, after a school friend, as there was already a "Tom Moore" in Actors' Equity. His film debut was in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), followed by roles in such films as The Big Chill (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Platoon (1986), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Shoot to Kill (1988), Betrayed (1988), Last Rites (1988), Major League (1989), Shattered (1991), Gettysburg (1993), The Substitute (1996), Sniper (1993), Rough Riders (1997), Inception (2010), Hatfields & McCoys (2012), among many others.Actors: Tom Berenger – “Inception,” “Platoon”- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Demián Bichir Nájera was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Maricruz Nájera (María de la Cruz Najera Botello), an actress, and Alejandro Bichir (Alejandro Bichir Batres), a theatre director. His parents met in the theatre. He has two brothers who are also actors, Bruno Bichir and Odiseo Bichir. His paternal grandfather was from Mlij, Lebanon. Demián began acting, at age 3 at the Palace of Fine Arts in his native Mexico City. He became a member of the National Theater Company of Mexico at age 13 and acted in several plays directed by renowned international masters such as José Tamayo, Clifford Williams and José Quintero. He starred in the Spanish versions of Ah! Wilderness, Equus, Broadway Bound, The Ghost Sonata and Malcolm VS the eunuchs. He made his Amrican stage debut in By the waters of Babylon at the Geffen Play House in Los Angeles.
At age 22, he moved to New York. He decided he wanted a break from acting, so that he could experience life and learn English. He got a job as a busboy at Rosa Mexicano, where he would make guacamole at customer's tables. He then moved to Los Angeles for four years, attempting to land acting roles. But, unsuccessful, he was tempted back to Mexico with the offer of role in Hasta Morir, for which he won an Ariel (the Mexican equivalent of an Oscar). His career took off in Mexico. In 1991, his movie Sexo, pudor y lágrimas broke Mexican box office records becoming the #1 movie in the history of Mexican cinema.
He decided to try his luck again in America. His American debut occurred in the television movie In the Time of the Butterflies (2001), starring Salma Hayek. Later, he went on to play Fidel Castro in Che: Part One (2008) and Che: Part Two (2008). In 2012, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in A Better Life (2011).Actors: Demián Bichir – “A Better Life,” “Che”- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jessica Michelle Chastain was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in a middle-class household in a Northern California suburb. Her mother, Jerri Chastain, is a vegan chef whose family is originally from Kansas, and her stepfather is a fireman. She discovered dance at the age of nine and was in a dance troupe by age thirteen. She began performing in Shakespearean productions all over the Bay area.
An actor in a production of "Romeo & Juliet" encouraged her to audition for Juilliard as a drama major. She became a member of "Crew 32" with the help of a scholarship from one of the school's famous alumni, Robin Williams.
In her last year at Juilliard, she was offered a holding deal with TV writer/producer John Wells and she eventually worked in three of his TV shows. Jessica continues to do theatre, having played in "The Cherry Orchard", "Rodney's Wife", "Salome" and "Othello". She spends her time between New York and Los Angeles, working in theater, film and TV.
In 2011, she had a prolific year in film. She was nominated for and won a number of awards, including a 2012 Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for The Help (2011).Actors: Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” “The Tree of Life”- Actor
- Producer
- Director
An acting chameleon who can easily lose himself in the life of his film and television characters, Clifton Collins Jr. is a native Angeleno who grew up destined to become a part of the Latino entertainment industry. His great-grandparents on his mother's side were a Mexican trumpet player and Spanish dancer who formed a traveling family act, and his grandfather was well-known character actor Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, most famous for his humorous sidekick roles in 1950s/1960s John Wayne westerns (he played the excitable hotel keeper in Rio Bravo (1959)) and in sitcoms. His uncle and aunt dabbled in the business at one point as well. While his famous grandfather was unable to break out of the old unflattering Latino stereotypes, Collins Jr. has done Pedro proud in the new millennium. Playing everything from policemen to boxers to serial killers, he has managed to transcend the typical racial trappings of his grandfather's era and play flesh-and-blood, three-dimensional characters. It was not always that way.
Born short, lean and mean on June 16, 1970, he started his career in 1988 using his real name of Collins, but two years later began billing himself as "Clifton Gonzales-Gonzales" as a tribute to his aged grandfather and his early accomplishments. Pedro, who died in 2006, lived long enough to witness his grandson's achievements. Toiling in typical "barrio" roles at the beginning of his career, Collins Jr. found himself stuck in bit parts either as a struggling blue-collar worker or urban thug. In the mid-1990s, he began to search out and wing standout roles that enabled him to break the confines of the Latino stereotype. He slowly moved up in billing, even in mediocre material such as the futuristic prison film Fortress (1992) and the mindless 1970s rock-era comedy The Stöned Age (1994). His breakout role as Cesar, the vicious student and gangbanger in One Eight Seven (1997) opposite Los Angeles substitute teacher Samuel L. Jackson, set him on the right path. This led to a mesmerizing collection of other portrayals, both good-guy and bad-guy, in such films as The Replacement Killers (1998), The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) and Tigerland (2000). His versatility finally tested, he played everything from a gay Mexican hitman in the critically acclaimed Traffic (2000) to a psychological profiler for the FBI in the mainstream actioner Mindhunters (2004). A number of top guest appearances came his way on such series as NYPD Blue (1993) and The Twilight Zone (2002) and he had recurring roles on Resurrection Blvd. (2000) and Alias (2001).
A monumental shift forward in his career happened recently with his hypnotic portrayal of killer Perry Smith, the object of writer Truman Capote's obsession, in the art-house favorite Capote (2005). Decades ago, Robert Blake played the same part in the gripping Capote book-to-film In Cold Blood (1967). This heralded achievement has enabled Collins to move into the co-producer's chair of late, notably for Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders (2006), in which he inhabits the role of serial killer Kenneth Bianchi. Obviously, there is plenty more in the works for this major talent.
More recent millennium work includes potent performances in Road Dogz (2002); Tom Cool (2009), which he produced; Dirty (2005); For Your Own Good (1996), which he co-produced; Star Trek (2009); Freeloaders (2012); The Vault (2017); and the Oscar-winning Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019).Actors: Clifton Collins, Jr. – “Star Trek,” “Traffic”- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Bryan Lee Cranston was born on March 7, 1956 in Hollywood, California, to Audrey Peggy Sell, a radio actress, and Joe Cranston, an actor and former amateur boxer. His maternal grandparents were German, and his father was of Irish, German, and Austrian-Jewish ancestry. He was raised in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, and also stayed with his grandparents, living on their poultry farm in Yucaipa. Cranston's father walked out on the family when Cranston was eleven, and they did not see each other again until 11 years later, when Cranston and his brother decide to track down their father.
Cranston is known for his roles as Walter White on the AMC crime drama Breaking Bad (2008), Hal on the Fox situation comedy Malcolm in the Middle (2000), and Dr. Tim Whatley on five episodes of the NBC situation comedy Seinfeld (1989). For his role on "Breaking Bad", he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times (2008-2010, 2014), including three consecutive wins. After becoming one of the producers during the series' fourth and fifth seasons, he also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series twice.
In June 2014, Cranston won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson in the play "All the Way" on Broadway. He reprised the role of Lyndon Johnson in the television adaptation All the Way (2016), which earned him widespread praise by critics. For the biographical drama Trumbo (2015), he earned widespread acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Cranston also appeared in several acclaimed films, such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Drive (2011), Argo (2012) and Godzilla (2014). In 2019, he starred with Kevin Hart in the box office hit The Upside (2017).Actors: Bryan Cranston – “Contagion,” “Little Miss Sunshine”- Actor
- Director
- Writer
In 1995 he began his first one man show, the same year he met Bruno Salomone, Eric Collado, Emmanuel Joucla and Eric Massot with whom he created the "Nous Ç Nous". In 1999, he became "Loulou" in Un gars, une fille (1999). This part permitted him to show his talent to a larger public. Since the end of "Un gars, une fille" in 2003, he has appeared in many films.Actors: Jean Dujardin – “Les infidèls, “The Artist”- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Richard E. Grant is an actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy Withnail and I (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Marielle Heller's drama film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), winning various awards including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. He also received Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.Actors: Richard E. Grant – “The Iron Lady,” “Withnail & I”- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Jonah Hill was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of Sharon Feldstein (née Chalkin), a fashion designer and costume stylist, and Richard Feldstein, a tour accountant for Guns N' Roses. He is the brother of music manager Jordan Feldstein and actress Beanie Feldstein. He graduated from Crossroads School in Santa Monica and went on to The New School in New York to study drama.
He began writing and performing in plays while at college in New York, and managed to get himself introduced to Dustin Hoffman, through whom he got an audition for his first film role in I Heart Huckabees (2004). A succession of increasingly high-profile film and TV parts followed until he eventually landed one of the starring roles in the teen hit, Superbad (2007). Continuing to write and act, more roles followed as well as popular appearances on US TV talk shows.Actors: Jonah Hill – “Moneyball,” “Superbad”- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ken Howard was elected the National President of The Screen Actors Guild on September 24, 2009. He was a working member of SAG for over forty years. The Tony and two-time Emmy Award-winning actor, most recently received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie playing Phelan Beale in critically-acclaimed Grey Gardens (2009). The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning film starred Golden Globe-winner Drew Barrymore and fellow Emmy-winner Jessica Lange.
He starred opposite Jimmy Smits in the CBS drama Cane (2007) as "Joe Samuels". Howard portrayed the world-wise retired Detective Lieutenant "Max Cavanaugh" on NBC's Crossing Jordan (2001) and is perhaps best known for his performance as a street-savvy teacher in the classic drama The White Shadow (1978). He taught master classes at the American Repertory Theatre Institute and was an instructor at Harvard University and Harvard Law School. His teaching experience helped form the basis for his book, ACT NATURAL: How to Speak to Any Audience, published by Random House in 2003.
In 1968, two years into the three-year program at the Yale School of Drama, he accepted a small role on Broadway in Neil Simon's "Promises, Promises". He originated the role of Thomas Jefferson in the Tony-winning musical 1776 (1972), directed by Peter H. Hunt, receiving a Theatre World Award. Howard earned his Tony for his work as a young gym coach at a Catholic Boys' school in "Child's Play". He starred on Broadway in "Seesaw", "The Norman Conquests", "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" and the national tour of "Equus". In 2008, Howard starred in the one-man play, "According to Tip". His award-winning performance as Tip O'Neill was critically acclaimed.
His feature-film debut was in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), opposite Liza Minnelli. Additional films: 1776 (1972), Such Good Friends (1971), Clear and Present Danger (1994), The Net (1995), At First Sight (1999), 2:13 (2009), A Numbers Game (2010) and The Beacon (2009). He delighted movie audiences in 2005 with his work in FOX 2000's In Her Shoes (2005), with Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine, and in Dreamer (2005), for Dreamworks, co-starring Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning. He starred with Sylvester Stallone in Rambo (2008) (aka "Rambo IV"), Michael Clayton (2007) with George Clooney and Smother (2008) opposite Diane Keaton. He became firmly established in the public's mind as "Coach Ken Reeves" on MTM's prestigious The White Shadow (1978), a series which he co-created, based on his own experiences as the only white player on his high school basketball team. "White Shadow" fans can revisit the critically-acclaimed series of seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. He co-starred on the series It's Not Easy (1982), The Colbys (1985) and Dynasty (1981). He guest-starred in numerous prime-time shows: Boston Legal (2004), Dirty Sexy Money (2007), Eli Stone (2008), Cold Case (2003), Brothers & Sisters (2006), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Arli$$ (1996), The West Wing (1999), Conviction (2006), Ghost Whisperer (2005), George Lopez (2002) and Showtime's Huff (2004), opposite his dear friend, Blythe Danner. He had a recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) and The Practice (1997). He starred in Sacrifices of the Heart (2007) for the Hallmark Channel. Miniseries include Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: JonBenét and the City of Boulder (2000), The Thorn Birds (1983), Rage of Angels (1983), OP Center (1995), Mastergate (1992), He's Not Your Son (1984), The Country Girl (1982), Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story (1991), Memories of Midnight (1991). Howard's first Emmy Award was for the on-camera narration of "Facts for Boys: The Body Human". His voice can be heard on more than 30 best-selling books on tape. A kidney transplant success (the gift of longtime friend and stunt-woman Jeannie Epper), Howard was appointed Chancellor of the National Kidney Foundation, and worked with their efforts to encourage people to donate their organs. He was a member of the Board of the Los Angeles Alzheimer's Committee and, along with his wife, Linda, served as Board members of Shambala Animal Preserve. He was also the national spokesperson for the Onyx and Breezy Foundation. Howard resided in Los Angeles, with his wife, retired stunt-woman Linda Fetters Howard Howard, and their recently rescued dogs, Harley Hoops and Hannah Henrietta.Actors: Ken Howard – “J. Edgar,” “In Her Shoes”- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Diego Luna Alexander was born on December 29, 1979 in Mexico City, Mexico, to Alejandro Luna and Fiona Alexander, who worked as a costume designer. His father is Mexican and his mother was British, of Scottish and English descent. His mother died in a car accident when Diego was only two. He soon became immersed in his father's passion, entertainment - Alejandro is the most acclaimed living theatre, cinema, and opera set designer in Mexico.
From an early age he began acting working in TV, movies, and theater. His first television role was in the movie The Last New Year (1991). His next role was in the Mexican soap opera El abuelo y yo (1992). His childhood best friend and fellow actor Gael Garcia Bernal played the title role. After 'El Abuelo y Yo', Diego began to receive more and more parts in theater, movies, and TV. His big break came in 2001 when he was cast in the critically-acclaimed And Your Mother Too (2001), once again alongside his best friend Gael García Bernal, as Tenoch Iturbide.
His star continues to shine and he is making a name for himself in the American market such as starring alongside Bon Jovi in Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) and the Oscar-winning Frida (2002).
In 2004, he starred in 'Havana Nights: Dirty Dancing 2', the prequel to 'Dirty Dancing', and is working on more projects in both Latin America and the United States.Actors: Diego Luna – “Milk,” “Y Tu Mamá También”- Margo Martindale was born July 18, 1951 in Jacksonville, Texas, to Margaret (Pruitt) and William Everett Martindale, a lumber company owner and dog handler. She is the youngest of three children, and the only daughter. Margo attended Lon Marris College, and later transferred to University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and did a summer study at Harvard University. She made her film debut appearance in Days of Thunder (1990), she played the minor role of Donna. Notable roles include: Sister Colleen, Susan Sarandon's fellow nun in Dead Man Walking (1995). She played a brief but memorable role as the selfish mother to Hilary Swank's character in Million Dollar Baby (2004).Actors: Margo Martindale – “Secretariat,” “Million Dollar Baby”
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Melissa McCarthy was born in Plainfield, Illinois, to Sandra and Michael McCarthy, and was raised on her family's corn and soybean farm. She began her performing career as a stand-up comedian in New York where she appeared at the famous clubs, Stand Up New York and The Improv. She worked on her acting skills at The Actors Studio and appeared in many stage productions in the city before moving to Los Angeles in the late-1990s. She made a number of TV and movie appearances before making her big breakthrough as Sookie in Gilmore Girls (2000). A steady stream of comedy performances followed, leading to her starring role in the sitcom Mike & Molly (2010).
In the 2010s, McCarthy became known for her starring roles in the films Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), St. Vincent (2014), Spy (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), and Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018).Actors: Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids,” “The Back-Up Plan”- Actor
- Producer
- Director
American actor and producer Matthew David McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas. His mother, Mary Kathleen (McCabe), is a substitute school teacher originally from New Jersey. His father, James Donald McConaughey, was a Mississippi-born gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business. He is of Irish, Scottish, German, English, and Swedish descent. Matthew grew up in Longview, Texas, where he graduated from the local High School (1988). Showing little interest in his father's oil business, which his two brothers later joined, Matthew was longing for a change of scenery, and spent a year in Australia, washing dishes and shoveling chicken manure. Back to the States, he attended the University of Texas in Austin, originally wishing to be a lawyer. But, when he discovered an inspirational Og Mandino book "The Greatest Salesman in the World" before one of his final exams, he suddenly knew he had to change his major from law to film.
He began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and commercials in Texas and directed short films as Chicano Chariots (1992). Once, in his hotel bar in Austin, he met the casting director and producer Don Phillips, who introduced him to director Richard Linklater for his next project. At first, Linklater thought Matthew was too handsome to play the role of a guy chasing high school girls in his coming-of-age drama Dazed and Confused (1993), but cast him after Matthew grew out his hair and mustache. His character was initially in three scenes but the role grew to more than 300 lines as Linklater encouraged him to do some improvisations. In 1995, he starred in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), playing a mad bloodthirsty sadistic killer, opposite Renée Zellweger.
Shortly thereafter, moving to L.A., Matthew became a sensation with his performances in two high-profile 1996 films Lone Star (1996), where he portrayed killing suspected sheriff and in the film adaptation of John Grisham's novel A Time to Kill (1996), where he played an idealistic young lawyer opposite Sandra Bullock and Kevin Spacey. The actor was soon being hailed as one of the industry's hottest young leading man inspiring comparisons to actor Paul Newman. His following performances were Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997) with Jodie Foster (the film was finished just before the death of the great astronomer and popularizer of space science Carl Sagan) and Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997), a fact-based 1839 story about the rebellious African slaves. In 1998, he teamed again with Richard Linklater as one of the bank-robbing brothers in The Newton Boys (1998), set in Matthew's birthplace, Uvalde, Texas. During this time, he also wrote, directed and starred in the 20-minute short The Rebel (1998).
In 1999, he starred in the comedy Edtv (1999), about the rise of reality television, and in 2000, he headlined Jonathan Mostow's U-571 (2000), portraying officer Lt. Tyler, in a WW II story of the daring mission of American submariners trying to capture the Enigma cipher machine.
In the 2000s, he became known for starring in romantic comedies, such as The Wedding Planner (2001), opposite Jennifer Lopez, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), in which he co-starred with Kate Hudson. He played Denton Van Zan, an American warrior and dragons hunter in the futuristic thriller Reign of Fire (2002), where he co-starred with Christian Bale. In 2006, he starred in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch (2006), and later as head coach Jack Lengyel in We Are Marshall (2006), along with Matthew Fox. In 2008, he played treasure hunter Benjamin "Finn" Finnegan in Fool's Gold (2008), again with Kate Hudson. After playing Connor Mead in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), co-starring with Jennifer Garner, McConaughey took a two year hiatus to open different opportunities in his career. Since 2010, he has moved away from romantic comedies.
That change came in 2011, in his first movie after that pause, when he portrayed criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller in The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), that operates mostly from the back seat of his Lincoln car. After this performance that was considered one of his best until then, Matthew played other iconic characters as district attorney Danny Buck Davidson in Bernie (2011), the wild private detective "Killer" Joe Cooper in Killer Joe (2011), Mud in Mud (2012), reporter Ward Jensen in The Paperboy (2012), male stripper club owner Dallas in Magic Mike (2012), starring Channing Tatum. McConaughey's career certainly reached it's prime, when he played HIV carrier Ron Woodroof in the biographical drama Dallas Buyers Club (2013), shot in less than a month. For his portrayal of Ron, Matthew won the Best Actor in the 86th Academy Awards, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, among other awards and nominations. The same year, he also appeared in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In 2014, he starred in HBO's True Detective (2014), as detective Rustin Cohle, whose job is to investigate with his partner Martin Hart, played by Woody Harrelson, a gruesome murder that happened in his little town in Louisiana. The series was highly acclaimed by critics winning 4 of the 7 categories it was nominated at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards; he also won a Critics' Choice Award for the role.
Also in 2014, Matthew starred in Christopher Nolan's sci-fi film Interstellar (2014), playing Cooper, a former NASA pilot.Actors: Matthew McConaughey – “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “A Time to Kill”- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Janet McTeer was born on August 5, 1961 in Newcastle, England, UK to parents Jean and Allan McTeer. She was raised in York from the age of 6. She attended Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls, where there was not much opportunity for drama. She became interested in acting at age 16, when she saw "She Stoops to Conquer" at the York Theater. She worked as a waitress at the same theater, where she once served a coffee to Gary Oldman. He suggested that she apply to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he had just finished studying. She successfully gained a place at RADA. After graduation, she began her career acting on stage by joining the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Her on-screen film debut came in Half Moon Street (1986), an erotic thriller based on a novel by Paul Theroux. In 2000, she received her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Tumbleweeds (1999). She was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.Actors: Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs,” “Tumbleweeds”- Actress
- Producer
- Director
A native of Michigan, S. Epatha Merkerson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Wayne State University. In 1978, she moved to New York City to apply her craft on stage. Although best known since 1993 as the smart and shrewd Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the long-running TV crime drama Law & Order (1990), she has a long list of Broadway and off-Broadway credits and honors that include Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominations for Best Actress for her performance in the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson (1995), a 1992 Obie Award for her performance in "I'm Not Stupid," and a 1998 Helen Hayes Award for her starring role in the Studio Theater production in Washington, DC, of the John Henry Redwood play "The Old Settler." Her first appearance on television was a guest-starring role on an episode of The Cosby Show (1984). Her earliest regular role in television, however, was that of Reba the Mail Woman on Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986). Merkerson remains a theatrical force on the stage and on the screen and has the distinction of having been nominated for an Image Award in the Outstanding-Lead-Actress-in-a-Drama category for Law & Order (1990) for three consecutive years by the NAACP.Actors: S. Epatha Merkerson – “Mother and Child,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sam Rockwell was born on November 5, 1968, in San Mateo, California, the only child of two actors, Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess. The family moved to New York when he was two years old, living first in the Bronx and later in Manhattan. When Sam was five years old, his parents separated, at which point he and his father moved to San Francisco, where he subsequently grew up, while summers and other times were spent with his mother in New York.
He made his acting debut when he was ten years old, alongside his mother, and later attended J Eugene McAteer High School in a program called SOTA. While still in high school, he got his first big break when he appeared in the independent film Clownhouse (1989). The plot revolved around three escaped mental patients who dressed up as clowns and terrorized three brothers home alone--Sam played the eldest of the brothers. His next big break was supposed to have come when he was slated to star in a short-lived NBC TV-series called Dream Street (1989), but he was soon fired.
After graduating from high school, Sam returned to New York for good and for two years he had private training at the William Esper Acting Studio. During this period he appeared in a variety of roles, such as the ABC Afterschool Specials (1972): Over the Limit (1990) (TV) and HBO's Lifestories: Families in Crisis (1992): Dead Drunk: The Kevin Tunell Story (Season 1 Episode 7: 15 March 1993); the head thug in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990); and a guest-star turn in an Emmy Award-winning episode of Law & Order (1990), while working a string of regular day jobs and performing in plays.
In 1994, a Miller Ice beer commercial finally enabled him to quit his other jobs to concentrate on his acting career, which culminated in him having five movies out by 1996: Basquiat (1996); The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994); Glory Daze (1995); Mercy (1995); and Box of Moonlight (1996). It was the latter film that would prove to be his real break-out in the industry. In Tom DiCillo's film, he found himself playing an eccentric named the Kid, a man-child living in a half-built mobile home in the middle of nowhere with a penchant for dressing like Davy Crockett, who manages to bring some much-needed chaos into the life of an electrical engineer played by John Turturro. The movie was not a box-office success, but it managed to generate a great deal of critical acclaim for itself and Sam.
In 1997, he found himself the star of another critically lauded film, Lawn Dogs (1997). Once again, he portrayed a societal outcast as Trent, a working-class man living in a trailer, earning a living mowing lawns inside a wealthy, gated Kentucky community. Trent soon finds himself befriended by 10-year-old Devon (Mischa Barton), and the movie deals with the difficulties in their friendship and the outside world. He also gave strong performances in the quirky independent comedy Safe Men (1998), in which he plays one half of a pretty awful singing duo (the other half being played by Steve Zahn) that gets mistaken for two safecrackers by Jewish gangsters; and the offbeat hitman trainee in Jerry and Tom (1998) against Joe Mantegna.
After a few smaller appearances in films such as Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998) and the modern version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), in which he played Francis Flute, he had larger roles in two of the bigger hit movies to emerge: The Green Mile (1999) and Galaxy Quest (1999), wowing audiences and critics alike with his chameleon-like performances as a crazed killer in the former and a goofy actor in the latter.
More recently, he appeared in another string of mainstream films, most notably as Eric Knox in Charlie's Angels (2000) and as Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), while continuing to perform in smaller independent movies. After more than ten years in the business, Sam has earned his success. In 2018, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as a troubled police deputy in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).Actors: Sam Rockwell – “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Moon”- Actor
- Producer
- Director
English film actor, director and author Andy Serkis is known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for such computer-generated characters as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), the eponymous King Kong in the 2005 film, Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Serkis earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his portrayal of serial killer Ian Brady in the British television film Longford (2006), and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of new wave and punk rock musician Ian Dury in the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010). In 2015, he had a small role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Serkis has his own motion capture workshop, The Imaginarium Studios in London, which he will use for his directorial debut, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018).
Andrew Clement G. Serkis was born April 20, 1964, in Ruislip Manor, West London, England. He has three sisters and a brother. His father, Clement Serkis, an ethnic Armenian whose original family surname was Serkissian, was a medical doctor working abroad, in Iraq; the Serkis family spent time around the Middle East, and for the first ten years of his life, Andy traveled between Baghdad and London. His mother, Lylie (Weech), who is British-born, was busy working as a special education teacher of handicapped children, so Andy and his four siblings were raised with au pairs in the house. Young Serkis wanted to be an artist; he was fond of painting and drawing, and visualized himself working behind the scenes. He attended St. Benedict's School, a Roman Catholic School for boys at the Benedictine Abbey in London. Serkis studied visual arts at Lancaster University in the north-west of England. There, he became involved in mechanical aspects of the theatre and did stage design and set building for theatrical productions. Then, Serkis was asked to play a role in a student production, and made his stage debut in Barrie Keeffe's play, "Gotcha"; thereafter, he switched from stage design to acting, which was a real calling that transformed his life.
Instead of going to an acting college, Serkis, in 1985, began his professional acting career at the Duke's Playhouse in Lancaster, where he was given an Equity card and performed in fourteen plays, one after another, as an apprentice of Jonathan Petherbridge. After that, he worked in touring theatre companies, doing it for no money, fueled by a sense of enthusiasm, moving to a new town every week. He has thus appeared in a host of popular plays and on almost every renowned British stage. In 1989, he appeared in a stage production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", so beginning his long association with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, where he would return many times, to appear in "She Stoops to Conquer", "Your Home in the West" and the "True Nature of Love", among other plays. In the 1990s, Serkis began to make his mark on the London stage, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre as "The Fool" in "King Lear", making his interpretation of "The Fool" as the woman that "Lear", a widower, could relate to - a man, in drag, as a Victorian musician. He also appeared as "Potts" in the hit play, "Mojo", playing in front of full houses and earning huge critical success. In 1987, Serkis made his debut on television, and he acted in several major British TV miniseries throughout the 1990s.
In 1999, Andy Serkis landed the prize role of "Gollum" in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's saga, "The Lord of the Rings". He spent four years in the part and received awards and nominations for his performance as "Gollum", a computer-generated character in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which won 11 Oscars. "Gollum" was the collaborative team's effort around Serkis's work in performance capture - an art form based on CGI-assisted acting. Serkis's work was an interactive performance in a skin-tight CGI suit with markers allowing cameras to track and register 3D position for each marker. Serkis' every nuance was picked up by several cameras positioned at precisely calculated angles to allow for the software to see enough information to process the image. The images of Serkis' performances were translated into the digital format by animators at Weta Digital studio in New Zealand. There, his image was key-frame animated and then edited into the movie, Serkis did have one scene in "The Return of the King" showing how he originally had the ring, killing another hobbit to posses it after they found it during a fishing trip. He drew from his three cats clearing fur balls out of their throats to develop the constricted voice he produced for "Gollum" and "Sméagol", and it was also enhanced by sound editing in post-production.
Serkis spent almost two years in New Zealand and away from his family, and much of 2002 and 2003 in post-production studios for large periods of time, due to complexity of the creative process of bringing the character of "Gollum" to the screen. Serkis had to shoot two versions for every scene; one version was with him on camera, acting with (chiefly) Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, which served both to show Wood and Astin the moves so that they could precisely interact with the movements of "Gollum", and to provide the CGI artists the subtleties of Gollum's physical movements and facial expressions for their manual finishing of the animated images. In the other version, he'd go the voice off-camera, as Wood and Astin repeated their movements as though "Gollum" were there with them; that take would be the basis for inserting the CGI Gollum used in the released movie. In post-production, Serkis was doing motion-capture wearing a skintight motion capture suit with CGI gear while acting as a virtual puppeteer redoing every single scene in the studio. Additional CGI rotomation was done by animators using the human eye instead of the computer to capture the subtleties of Serkis' performance. Serkis also used this art form in his performance as "Kong" in King Kong (2005), which won him a Toronto Film Critics Association Award (2005) for his unprecedented work helping to realize the main character in "King Kong", and a Visual Effects Society Award (2006) for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture.
Apart from his line of CGI-driven characters, Serkis continued with traditional acting in several leading and supporting roles, such as his appearances as "Richard Kneeland" opposite Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30 (2004), and "Alley" opposite David Bowie in The Prestige (2006), among other film performances. On television, he starred as 'Vincent Van Gogh' in the sixth episode of Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006), the BBC2 series about artists. Serkis is billed as "Capricorn" in the upcoming adventure film, Inkheart (2008). At the same time, he continued the development of performance capture while expanding his career into computer games. He starred as "King Bothan" in the martial arts drama, Heavenly Sword (2007), a Playstation 3 title, for which he provided a basis for his in-game face and also acts as a dramatic director on the project.
Andy Serkis married actress and singer Lorraine Ashbourne, and the couple have three children: daughter Ruby Serkis (born in 1998), and two sons Sonny Serkis (born in 2000) and Louis Ashbourne Serkis (born on 19 June 2004), who is now also a movie star. Away from acting, Andy Serkis is an accomplished amateur painter. Since his school years at Lancaster, being so close to the Lake District, Serkis developed his other passion in life: mountaineering. He is a pescetarian. Serkis has been active in charitable causes, such as The Hope Foundation, which provides essential life-saving medical aid for children suffering from Leukemia and children from countries devastated by war. In October 2006, he was a presenter at the first annual British Academy Video Games Awards at the Roundhouse, London. Andy Serkis lives with his family in North London, England.Actors: Andy Serkis – “The Prestige,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Spencer is a native of Montgomery, Alabama, which she claims is the proverbial buckle of the Bible belt. She's the sixth of seven siblings and holds a BS in Liberal Arts from Auburn University. A "closet" lover of acting, this practical Alabamian knew that she'd someday work in the film industry, but never dreamed it would be in front of the camera. In 1995, acclaimed director Joel Schumacher changed all that by giving her a small part opposite Sandra Bullock in the hit film A Time to Kill, and Spencer was on her way. In 1996, she teamed up with Bullock again in Bullock's directorial debut of Making Sandwiches, a short film that premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival.
Spencer made her stage debut in Los Angeles and originated the role of "LaSonia" (pronounced lasagna) in famed writer/director Del Shore's, The Trials and Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife, starring opposite veteran actors Beth Grant, Dale Dickey and David Steen (2003). The play garnered Spencer and her fellow cast mates critical acclaim and a bevy of awards. Since then, Spencer has continued to see success as an actor in both film and television, working alongside Hollywood's elite. In February 2009, she was lauded by Los Angeles Times publication: The Envelope, for her brief but memorable performance in the Will Smith drama Seven Pounds.Actors: Octavia Spencer – “The Help,” “The Soloist”- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Lili Taylor is a well-known and successful American actress. She acts in film, TV and stage. She was born in Glencoe, Illinois, to Marie (Lecour) and George Park Taylor, an artist and hardware store operator. Lili graduated from New Trier High School in 1985. Then, she attended the Theatre School at DePaul University and the Piven Theatre Workshop. Lili first earned fame for acting in the 1988 movie, Mystic Pizza (1988), which co-starred Julia Roberts. Then, she acted in a number of successful movies, including Dogfight (1991) and Short Cuts (1993). But, she was more highly recognized for appearing in the 1996 film, I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), for which she was nominated for several awards. Lili's notable works for television include the TV series, Six Feet Under (2001), and in the television movies, Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001) and Live from Baghdad (2002). In 2009, she played "Sheriff Lillian Holley" in the movie, Public Enemies (2009). The movie co-starred Johnny Depp, with whom Lili also appeared in the 1993 movie, Arizona Dream (1993). Lili is also a successful stage actress. She has appeared in a number of plays staged on Broadway, including "The Three Sisters" (1997). Lili Taylor continues to act in stage, TV and film. She is married to Nick Flynn and they have a daughter.Actors: Lili Taylor – “Being Flynn,” “High Fidelity”- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Nia Vardalos was born on 24 September 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She is an actress and writer, known for My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) and I Hate Valentine's Day (2009). She was previously married to Ian Gomez.Actors: Nia Vardalos – “For a Good Time, Call…,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Kerry Washington is an African-American actress, television show producer and film director who is known for her roles in Scandal, Ray, the Tim Story Fantastic Four film series, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Confirmation, Django Unchained, Little Fires Everywhere, Cars 3 and The Last King of Scotland. She had two children from Nnamdi Asomugha.Actors: Kerry Washington – “Django Unchained,” “Ray”- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Michelle Yeoh was born in Ipoh, Malaysia. She's the daughter of Janet Yeoh & Kian Teik Yeoh. She's of Hokkien descent, speaking English and Malay before Chinese. A ballet dancer since 4, she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy as a teen. After a brief dance career, she won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title in and the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1980s. Her first on camera work was a 1984 commercial with martial arts star Jackie Chan. In 1985, she began making action movies with D&B Films of Hong Kong. She was first billed as Michelle Khan, then Michelle Yeoh. Never a trained martial artist, she relied on her dance discipline and on-set trainers to prepare for martial arts action scenes.
She uses many dance moves in her films and does most of her own stunts. In 1988, she married wealthy D&B Films executive Dickson Poon & retired from acting. Even though they divorced in 1992, she's close to Poon's second wife and a godmother to his daughter. When she returned to acting, she became very popular w/ Chinese audiences. She later became known to Western audiences through role in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). She turned down a role in a sequel to The Matrix (1999).
She has her own production company, Mythical Films. She trained with the Shen Yang Acrobatic team for her role in The Touch (2002), an English-language film she both starred in and produced. She hopes to use her company to discover and nurture new film-making talent. She also aspires to act in roles that combine both action and deeper spiritual themes.Actors: Michelle Yeoh – “The Lady,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Art Department
Designers: Laurence Bennett – “The Artist,” “Crash”- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Director
David Brisbin is known for Race (2016), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) and Nice Hat! 5 Enigmas in the Life of Cambodia (2006).Designers: David Brisbin – “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” “Dead Presidents”- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
Scott Chambliss is known for Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Star Trek (2009).Designers: Scott Chambliss – “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Mission: Impossible III”- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Designers: Wendy Chuck – “The Descendants,” “Sideways”- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Set Decorator
Maria Djurkovic is known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), The Imitation Game (2014) and The Hours (2002).Designers: Maria Djurkovic – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Hours”- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Producer
Sanja Milkovic Hays was born on 19 September 1958 in Zagreb, Croatia. She is a costume designer and producer, known for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Captain Marvel (2019) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).Designers: Sanja Milkovic Hays – “Battle: Los Angeles,” “Mission to Mars”- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Additional Crew
Mayes C. Rubeo is a costume Designer known for her work on Apocalypto (2006), Avatar (2009), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Warcraft: The Beginning (2016), World War Z (2013) and John Carter (2012). She was born in Mexico City and went on to train in Fashion and Costume at the Los Angeles Trade-Tech College (LATTC) and UCLA. In a design career spanning two decades, she has collaborated with visionary directors such as Mel Gibson and Zhang Yimou, leading studios such as Legendary and Marvel and screen stars including Cate Blanchett, Ruth Negga, Brad Pitt and Andy Lau. Her early collaborations laid the foundations for a career that has demanded enormous versatility: Mayes began work as an Assistant Costume Designer and Costume Supervisor, gaining experience with Designers Shay Cunliffe, Erica Edell Phillips, Ellen Mirojnick and Enrico Sabbatini, the latter becoming her career mentor. After assisting Shay Cunliffe on Lone Star (1996), Mayes continued to work with the same independent Director-Producer team John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, designing costumes for three of their films: Angeli Armati/Men with Guns (1997), Sunshine State (2002), and Casa de los Babys (2003). Though budgets were lean, costumes and characters had to feel convincing. These cherished collaborations strengthened Mayes resourcefulness. For Hallmark's movie saga Fidel (2002), Mayes met the challenge of costuming characters from many walks of life and times, to tell a history spanning seven decades. It was Mayes' collaboration with Mel Gibson on Apocalypto (2006), which delivered a powerful image of the lost Mayan civilization, that set her on the path of creating costumes for the epic and otherworldly. Since then she has been known for creating the visual identities of the "Na'vi" people in James Cameron's Avatar (2009), Edgar Rice Burroughs's 100-year-old vision of civilized Mars in Andrew Stanton's John Carter (2012), and for transforming some of the world's most popular video game and comic book worlds into reality on-screen for Duncan Jones' Warcraft (2016) and Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Marc Forster's World War Z (2013), for which thousands of people (living and un-dead) were costumed, instead demanded contemporary realism, though still on a global and epic scale. Mayes continues to bring her costumes into new territories, turning technological and technical challenges into creative opportunities. Her characteristic passion and collaborative spirit have enabled her to successfully lead diverse teams across five continents, merging traditional craft skills with state-of-the-art technology. * Mayes' work has featured in international exhibitions, including the Deborah Nadoolman Landis curated exhibition Hollywood Costume (2012) at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London. 3 FIDM Exhibitions: 18th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design for the Film Apocalyptp 21st Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design for the Film John Carter 26th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design for the Film Thor Ragnarok Member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, OSCARS. Member of The Costume Designers Guild of America. MemberThe Scenic Arts Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Designers: Mayes Rubeo – “Avatar,” “Apocalypto”- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
Anne Seibel is known for Marie Antoinette (2006), Midnight in Paris (2011) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).Designers: Anne Seibel – “Midnight in Paris,” “The Devil Wears Prada”- Production Designer
- Art Department
- Art Director
Designers: Sharon Seymour – “The Ides of March,” “Friday Night Lights”- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Actress
Sammy Sheldon is known for Ant-Man (2015), Ex Machina (2014) and X-Men: First Class (2011). She has been married to Ian Differ since 14 August 2010.Designers: Sammy Sheldon – “X-Men: First Class,” “V for Vendetta”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Florian Ballhaus was born in 1965 in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is a cinematographer, known for Men in Black (1997), Allegiant (2016) and Godzilla (1998).Cinematographers: Florian Ballhaus – “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” “The Devil Wears Prada”- Cinematographer
- Director
- Producer
Oliver Bokelberg was born on 21 December 1964 in Hamburg, West Germany. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Station Agent (2003), Scandal (2012) and Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (2020).Cinematographers: Oliver Bokelberg – “Win Win,” “The Station Agent”- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Visual Effects
Anna Foerster is known for Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), Outlander (2014) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).Cinematographers: Anna J. Foerster – “Anonymous”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Larry Fong is a cinematographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in Linguistics, and from Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA) with a film degree. After graduation he started shooting music videos, including REM's 'Losing My Religion', winner of MTV's Music Video of the Year. TV commercials followed as did episodic television (JJ Abram's 'Lost'). His first studio film, '300', began a long running collaboration with director Zack Snyder, most recently Warner Bros' 'Batman v Superman'.
His recent work with Universal, Paramount, Legendary, Disney, Amazon, and Netflix include 'Kong: Skull Island', 'The Tomorrow War', 'Rescue Rangers', 'Secret Headquarters', and 'Damsel'.Cinematographers: Larry Fong – “Super 8,” “300”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Alwin H. Küchler was born in 1965 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He is a cinematographer, known for Sunshine (2007), The Mauritanian (2021) and Divergent (2014). He has been married to Ngozi Onwurah since 28 November 1998.Cinematographers: Alwin Kuchler – “Hanna,” “Proof”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
Toyomichi Kurita was born in 1950 in Japan. He is a cinematographer, known for Sukiyaki Western Django (2007), First Daughter (2004) and Trouble in Mind (1985).Cinematographers: Toyomichi Kurita – “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,” “Waiting to Exhale”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Sound Department
George Mooradian is known for Escape from New York (1981), The Blues Brothers (1980) and Cyborg (1989).Cinematographers: George Mooradian – “Crazy as Hell,” “Nemesis”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Guillaume Schiffman is known for The Artist (2011), OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) and Populaire (2012).Cinematographers: Guillaume Schiffman – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Terry Stacey was born on 24 July 1962 in Sussex, England, UK. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Angel (2018), Den of Thieves (2018) and Dexter (2006).Cinematographers: Terry Stacey – “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” “Friends with Money”- Writer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph Cedar was born on 31 August 1968 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Footnote (2011), Our Boys (2019) and Campfire (2004). He is married to Vered Kelner.Directors: Joseph Cedar – “Footnote (Hearat Shulayim),” “Beaufort”- Producer
- Director
- Writer
After studying drama in the arts institute, Jean Pierre Dardenne and his brother Luc made some videos about the rough life in blue-collar small towns in the Wallonie. After their meeting with filmmaker Armad Gatti and cinematographer Ned Burgess, they decided to enter in the movie business.
In 1978 they shot their first documentary, Le chant du rossignol, about the resistance against the Nazis during the second world war in Belgium. In 1986 they shot their first fiction movie, Falsch, about a Jewish family massacred by the Nazis. After their second movie, Je pense a vous, they released La Promesse, a movie about inmigration in Belgium. The film was a success worldwide winning awards in many festivals.
In 1999 they had another hit with Rosetta, that won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival. The movie tells the story of a blue collar worker with an alcoholic mother who tries to have a better life in a small belgium city.
In 2002, they came back to Cannes with their last movie, Le Fils, that won the ecumenical jury prize and the award for best actor for Olivier Gourmet.Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne – “The Kid with a Bike (Le gamin au vélo),” “The Child (L’enfant)”- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Luc Dardenne was born on 10 March 1954 in Awirs, Wallonia, Belgium. He is a producer and director, known for Two Days, One Night (2014), The Kid with a Bike (2011) and The Child (2005).Directors: Luc Dardenne – “Lorna’s Silence (Le silence de Lorna),” “The Son (Le fils)”- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
After studying Canadian politics and international relations, Philippe Falardeau was chosen in 1993 as a contestant for the popular TV series La course destination monde (1988) (a contest were the participants tour the world making short films). There, he shot 20 films and ended up winning the race as well as the IDRC Award.
In 1995, he collaborated with director Jacques Godbout to co-write Le sort de l'Amérique (1997) a National Film Board of Canada documentary.
Two years later, he returned to the NBF to direct a medium length documentary on Chinese immigration in Canada, called Pâté chinois (1997). The film was presented at the Montreal World Film Festival and won Best Screenplay Award at the Yorkton Film Festival.
In 2000, he directed his first theatrical feature film, La moitié gauche du frigo (2000) (The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge). The film was a big success in Canada, and screened in numerous festivals around the world including Rotterdam, London, Paris, Seattle, Vancouver and Montreal. At the Toronto Film Festival, La Moitie gauche du frigo won the City TV Award for Best Canadian First Feature and at the Canadian Genie, the Claude Jutra Award. In France, the film was distributed theatrically by Pierre Grise Distribution.
With Congorama (2006), released in 2006, Falardeau made his second feature length film, a Canada/Belgium/France coproduction. Distributed theatrically in Quebec as in Europe, the film rapidly won audience's and critique's hearts, and remarkably distinguished itself at the numerous festivals at which it was presented. After being premiered at the Director's Fortnight in Cannes, as the closing night film, "Congorama" made its way to San Francisco, Toronto, Pusan, Goteborg and to New Directors / New Films at New York Moma. In addition to earning 5 Jutra's Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay, it also won the Best Screenplay Award at the Genies in 2007.
In September 2008, his third feature It's Not Me, I Swear! (2008) (English title: It's Not Me, I Swear!) premiered at the TIFF. It won the Best Film Award and the International Jury Award in the Generation section at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.Directors: Philippe Falardeau – “Monsieur Lazhar,” “It’s Not Me, I Swear! (C’est pas moi, je le jure!)”- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Asghar Farhadi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Iranian cinema as well as world cinema in the 21st century. His films have gained recognition for their focus on the human condition, and portrayals of intimate and challenging stories of internal family conflicts. In 2012, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. That same year, he also received the Legion of Honour from France.
Farhadi was born in Isfahan, Iran. At the age of 15, in 1987, he joined the Isfahan branch office of the Iranian Youth Cinema Society, which had been established for 4 years earlier and he made several short films. He is also a graduate of theatre, with a BA in dramatic arts and MA in stage direction from University of Tehran and Tarbiat Modares University, respectively.
While completing his studies, he wrote a number of radio plays for Iran's national broadcasting service and directed several television programs. In 2001 Farhadi co-wrote the screenplay for the political satire Ertefa-e past (Low Heights, 2002), with famed war film director, Ebrahim Hatamikia.
Farhadi's first feature film, Dancing in the Dust (2003), tells the story of a young man who is forced to divorce his wife and go hunting snakes in the desert in order to repay his debts to his in-laws. His next film, The Beautiful City (2004), is about a young man who is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.
Farhadi's breakthrough came with his third film, About Elly (2009), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The film tells the story of a group of friends who go on a weekend trip to the Caspian Sea, and the secrets that are revealed over the course of the weekend.
Farhadi's next film, A Separation (2011), won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film tells the story of a middle-class Iranian couple who are going through a divorce, and the moral dilemmas they face as they try to decide what is best for their young daughter.
Farhadi's subsequent films, The Past (2013) and The Salesman (2016), were also critically acclaimed. The Salesman won a second Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Farhadi's latest film, A Hero (2021), was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of a man who is released from prison and tries to win back his wife's trust.
Farhadi's films are known for their their complex and suspenseful plots, their realistic characters, and their exploration of moral dilemmas. His films often deal with themes of family, relationships, and social class.
Farhadi is a master of creating suspense, and his films are often compared to those of Alfred Hitchcock. He is also a skilled director of actors, and his films have featured some of the most celebrated Iranian actors, including Shahab Hosseini, Leila Hatami, and Taraneh Alidoosti.
In 2022, Farhadi was accused of plagiarism by a former student, who claimed that he had stolen the idea for his film A Hero from a documentary she had made. Farhadi denied the allegations, and a court in Iran eventually ruled in his favor. However, the allegations have tarnished Farhadi's reputation and raised questions about his creative process.
Asghar Farhadi is one of the most important filmmakers of our time. His films are both entertaining and thought-provoking, and they offer a unique insight into Iranian society and culture. He is a true auteur, and his work is sure to be studied and admired for many years to come.Directors: Asghar Farhadi* – “A Separation (Jodaieye Nadar az Simin),” “About Elly (Darbareye Elly) (also invited to the Writers Branch)- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Rodrigo García was born on 24 August 1959 in Bogotá, Colombia. He is a producer and writer, known for Nine Lives (2005), Mother and Child (2009) and In Treatment (2008).Directors: Rodrigo Garcia – “Albert Nobbs,” “Mother and Child”- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Michel Hazanavicius was born and raised in Paris, France. His grandparents were originally from Lithuania, but relocated to France in the 1920s. Hazanavicius attended art school, and moved on to work as a director for commercials and television projects. In 1999, he wrote and directed his first feature film Mes amis (1999), which featured his brother Serge Hazanavicius. His next feature film, spy parody, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) was a success at the French box office, and warranted a sequel, OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009), which was also a hit. Hazanavicius came to the attention of international audiences with the release of an almost wordless film, The Artist (2011), which starred his wife, Bérénice Bejo and OSS 117 star Jean Dujardin. The film was a critical and popular hit, garnering many major nominations and awards.Directors: Michel Hazanavicius* – “Les infidèles (The Players),” “The Artist” (also invited to the Writers Branch)- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Kasi Lemmons was born on 24 February 1961 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She is an actress and director, known for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Harriet (2019) and Candyman (1992). She has been married to Vondie Curtis-Hall since 19 August 1995. They have two children.Directors: Kasi Lemmons – “Talk to Me,” “Eve’s Bayou”- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Terrence Malick was born in Ottawa, Illinois. His family subsequently lived in Oklahoma and he went to school in Austin, Texas. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1965.
A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he attended Magdalen College, Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship, but did not finish his thesis on Martin Heidegger, allegedly because of a disagreement with his advisor. Returning to the States, he taught philosophy at M.I.T. and published a translation of Heidegger's "Vom Wesen des Grundes" as "The Essence of Reasons". Malick did not get his PhD in philosophy: Instead, he attended the American Film Institute Conservatory in its inaugural year (1969), taking a Masters of Fine Arts degree in film-making. His masters thesis was the seventeen-minute comedy short Lanton Mills (1969), which starred Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton. Malick himself acted in the short.
At A.F.I., Malick made a lasting association with Jack Fisk, who would establish himself as an Oscar-nominated art director and production designer and serve as art director on all of Malick's films. He also picked up Mike Medavoy as an agent, who got Malick work doctoring scripts and marketed his original ones. He wrote the screenplay for the 1972 Alan Arkin trucker movie Deadhead Miles (1972), which was many miles from Harvard let along Oxford, and for the 1972 Paul Newman-Lee Marvin contemporary oater Pocket Money (1972), another departure from fields of academia. "Deadhead Miles" was dumped by Paramount as unreleasable and "Pocket Money", despite being headlined by two Top Ten Box Office stars, flopped. It was an inauspicious start to a legendary career, but it influenced Malick to begin directing his own scripts.
His first two films were the now critically acclaimed Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978). He then took a self-imposed retirement of nearly two decades from film-making before lensing his 1998 adaptation of James Jones's The Thin Red Line (1998), which was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including nods for Malick for directing and adapted screenplay.
Adopting a Kubrickian pace of movie-making, he directed The New World (2005) and the autobiographical The Tree of Life (2011) with gaps of only seven and six years, respectively, between release. However, he reportedly was working on ideas for "The Tree of Life" since the late 70s, including exposing footage that found its way into his finished film.
In an unprecedented burst of productivity, he shot his next four films, To the Wonder (2012), Knight of Cups (2015), an as-yet unnamed drama and the cosmic documentary Voyage of Time: Life's Journey (2016) back-to-back during and immediately after completing the long editing process of "Tree of Life". Like Stanley Kubrick, Malick usually takes well over a year to edit his films. All three are highly anticipated by cineastes the world over.Directors: Terrence Malick – “The Tree of Life,” “The Thin Red Line”- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Michaël R. Roskam was born on 9 October 1972 in Sint-Truiden, Flanders, Belgium. He is a producer and director, known for The Drop (2014), Bullhead (2011) and Racer and the Jailbird (2017). He has been married to Eline De Munck since 9 January 2021.Directors: Michaël R. Roskam – “Bullhead (Rundskop)”- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1956) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Ah fei zing zyun (1990), Dung che sai duk (1994), Chung Hing sam lam (1994), Do lok tin si (1995), Chun gwong cha sit (1997), 2046 (2004) and My Blueberry Nights (2007), Yi dai zong shi (2013). His film Fa yeung nin wa (2000), starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, garnered widespread critical acclaim. Wong's films frequently feature protagonists who yearn for romance in the midst of a knowingly brief life and scenes that can often be described as sketchy, digressive, exhilarating, and containing vivid imagery. Wong was the first Chinese director to win the Best Director Award of Cannes Film Festival (for his work Chun gwong cha sit in 1997). Wong was the President of the Jury at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, which makes him the only Chinese person to preside over the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. He was also the President of the Jury at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013. In 2006, Wong accepted the National Order of the Legion of Honour: Knight (Highest Degree) from the French Government. In 2013, Wong accepted Order of Arts and Letters: Commander (Highest Degree) by the French Minister of Culture.Directors: Wong Kar Wai – “My Blueberry Nights,” “In the Mood for Love”- John Battsek is known for Listen to Me Marlon (2015), Searching for Sugar Man (2012) and One Day in September (1999).Documentary: John Battsek – “The Tillman Story,” “One Day in September”
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Amy Berg was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is known for Deliver Us from Evil (2006), West of Memphis (2012) and Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015).Documentary: Amy Berg – “Bhutto,” “Deliver Us from Evil”- Producer
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Documentary: Simon Chinn – “Project Nim,” “Man on Wire”- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Marshall Curry was born in 1970 in Summit, New Jersey, USA. He is a director and writer, known for The Neighbors' Window (2019), Street Fight (2005) and Racing Dreams (2009). He is married to Elizabeth Martin.Documentary: Marshall Curry – “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,” “Street Fight”- Editor
- Director
- Editorial Department
Johanna Demetrakas is known for Some Nudity Required (1998), Addicted to Love (1997) and Out of Line (2001).Documentary: Johanna Demetrakas – “Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche,” “Bus Riders Union”- Producer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Documentary: Daniel Junge – “Saving Face,” “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Additional Crew
Documentary: Mary Lampson – “Kimjongilia,” “Harlan County, USA”- Producer
- Editor
- Director
Sam Pollard is known for Mr. Soul! (2018), Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me (2017) and MLK/FBI (2020).Documentary: Sam Pollard – “Gerrymandering,” “4 Little Girls”- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Glenn Silber is known for El Salvador: Another Vietnam (1981), Frontline (1983) and The War at Home (1979).Documentary: Glenn Silber – “El Salvador: Another Vietnam,” “The War at Home”- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Lucy Walker was born in London, England, UK. She is known for The Crash Reel (2013), Waste Land (2010) and Blindsight (2006).Documentary: Lucy Walker – “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom,” “Waste Land”- A noted personality in film distribution and sales, Jim Amos served Sony Pictures for nearly 30 years. He began as a trainee in the studio's Boston branch, and company executives quickly took note of his talent. A year after joining the studio, Jim Amos relocated to San Francisco where he became a sales representative in the busy Northern California region. Over the next four years, he drove sales success in a number of Columbia Pictures regional offices, including Detroit, Cleveland, and Southern California, the company's largest region.
In 1988, Tri-Star Pictures acquired Columbia Pictures and, attracted by Jim Amos' notable success record, brought him on board. Named to the position of District Manager, he held secondary responsibility for the entire Western division. The company then came under the direction of Sony Pictures, which also retained Amos and made him District Manager of its busy Eastern division. Highly successful in this role, he soon earned a promotion to Division Manager and Senior Vice President of Distribution. In 2009, Rory Bruer, the departing President of Domestic Distribution, selected Amos as his replacement, whereupon Jim Amos took on his role of President of Domestic Distribution until he left in 2013.
Over the course of his career, Jim Amos has played a key role in the success of several films that each have grossed more than $100 million. His resume includes marketing and sales efforts for the Spider Man trilogy, Men in Black, Hitch, and Casino Royale. In 2011, he received the prestigious Show 'E' Award from ShowEast film group, which recognizes accomplishments and dedication to the industry.
An active volunteer in the industry as well as in the community, Jim Amos has served as Treasurer of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, and continues to serve on the finance board. He also is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the planning committee for its upcoming museum. He also has served numerous hours with the Motion Picture Club, which has honored Amos with its Nat Stern Outstanding Service Award.Executives: James Amos - Producer
- Production Manager
- Executive
As a producer and executive, Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning Michael Bostick has worked on films that have grossed more than $2.6 billion worldwide during his career in the entertainment business. His deep industry experience includes top executive posts at Adam F. Goldberg Productions based at ABC Signature Television Studios, Rocket Science Entertainment, Walden Media, Shady Acres Entertainment, and Imagine Films.Executives: Michael Bostick- Producer
- Executive
Richard Brener is President & Chief Creative Officer of New Line Cinema. In this role, he oversees all aspects of development and production for New Line's film slate.
During his tenure, Brener has supervised and served as Executive Producer on many of the company's most successful films, including global blockbusters "Shazam!," "San Andreas," "Central Intelligence," "Lights Out," "We're the Millers," "Horrible Bosses," "Sex and the City," "Wedding Crashers" and "Austin Powers in Goldmember." He has also guided the top two horror franchises in history: "The Conjuring" universe, composed of "The Conjuring," "The Conjuring 2," "Annabelle," "Annabelle: Creation," "Annabelle Comes Home," "The Nun" and the upcoming "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It"; and the record-breaking two-film adaptation of Stephen King's iconic horror novel "IT." "The Conjuring" and "IT" film series are the only two theatrical horror franchises to surpass the billion-dollar benchmark.
New Line's upcoming films include the highly anticipated "The Many Saints of Newark," a prequel to "The Sopranos"; Taylor Sheridan's Western thriller "Those Who Wish Me Dead"; James Wan's "Malignant"; and the action adventure "Mortal Kombat," based on the blockbuster videogame franchise.
A New Line Cinema veteran of over 20 years, Brener joined the company as a temp and rose through the ranks from Story Editor to President & CCO. Over the course of his career, Brener has overseen the Studio's relationship with much of its key talent, including Dwayne Johnson, Melissa McCarthy, Jennifer Aniston, Will Ferrell and Jason Bateman.
Born and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey, Brener graduated with a B.A. in history from Yale University.Executives: Richard Brener- Howard P. Cohen is known for Fat Girls (2006).Executives: Howard Mark Cohen
- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
David Glasser is the CEO of 101 Studios Co., the hugely successful production company behind Yellowstone, the #1 series of 2021, and the most-watched season premiere on cable with 14.7 million viewers across all platforms. An ever-increasing slate for television includes the P+ hit Mayor of Kingstown, and the highly anticipated Yellowstone origin-story, 1883. He has overseen production, marketing, and distribution for worldwide films, garnering a total of 195 Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, and 40 wins for titles including, but not limited to Inglorious Basterds, Silver Linings Playbook, and Django Unchained. This includes Best Picture nominations seven years in a row, and consecutive Best Picture wins for The King's Speech (2011) and The Artists (2012).Executives: David C. Glasser- Jeffrey P. Goldstein is known for Dawn of the Dragonslayer (2011).Executives: Jeffrey B. Goldstein
- Producer
- Executive
Jon Jashni is a media investor and content producer who operates through his company Raintree Ventures. Prior to founding Raintree, Jashni was President and Chief Creative Officer of Legendary Entertainment where, as an aspect of his duties, he oversaw the development and production of content such as Kong: Skull Island (2017), Warcraft (2016), Godzilla (2014), The Great Wall (2016), Crimson Peak (2015), the Jackie Robinson biopic '42 (2013)', Lost in Space (2018) and Pacific Rim (2013) .
He co-founded the company in January 2006 and was integrally involved over the following ten years in evolving the company from a film-financing entity into a diversified, multi-platform media company. Prior to joining Legendary, Jashni was President of Hyde Park Entertainment, a production and financing company with output deals at 20th Century Fox, Disney and MGM. While there, he oversaw the production of Shopgirl (2005), Dreamer (2005), Walking Tall (2004) and Premonition (2007).
Before joining Hyde Park, Jashni produced the romantic comedy hit Sweet Home Alabama (2002) for Disney/Touchstone. He also co-produced two films that received a total of three Academy Award® nominations: the critically acclaimed drama The Hurricane (1999), which garnered a "Best Actor" nomination for Denzel Washington, and Anna and the King (1999), which starred Jodie Foster, and earned two Oscar nominations. He also, while a senior production executive at 20th Century Fox, oversaw the development and production of the fairy-tale success Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998).
Jashni was earlier partnered with media power broker Irving Azoff at the Warner Bros. -based Giant Pictures. Together they produced The Hurricane (1999), Jack Frost (1998) and The Inkwell (1994). Jashni joined Azoff after serving as a production executive at Columbia Pictures, where he was involved with such films as Groundhog Day (1993) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Jashni began his career at Daniel Melnick's The IndieProd Company, where he was involved in the production of Roxanne (1987), Air America (1990), Mountains of the Moon (1990), and Punchline (1988).
Jashni is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America in addition to being a Trustee Emeritus of the American Film Institute. He holds a BS from the University of Southern California and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management.Executives: Jon Jashni- Additional Crew
Tony Safford is known for Somersault (2004).Executives: Tony Safford- Editor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Kirk Baxter was born in 1972 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is an editor and producer, known for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), The Social Network (2010) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).Film Editors: Kirk Baxter – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “The Social Network”- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Actor
Film Editors: Nicolas De Toth – “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “The Sum of All Fears”- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Visual Effects
Scott Hill is known for The Nutty Professor (1996), Dragonfly (2002) and Here Comes the Boom (2012).Film Editors: Scott Hill – “Zookeeper,” “Bruce Almighty”- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Additional Crew
Film Editors: Dan Lebental – “Iron Man 2,” “Elf”- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Writer
Glen Scantlebury was born on 11 July 1955 in Annandale, Virginia, USA. He is an editor and writer, known for Transformers (2007), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Con Air (1997). He is married to Lucy Phillips.Film Editors: Glen Scantlebury – “Transformers,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Mark Coulier was born on 31 March 1963 in Amounderness, Lancashire, England, UK. He is known for Poor Things (2023), Suspiria (2018) and Elvis (2022).Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: Mark Coulier – “The Iron Lady,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”- Make-Up Department
- Producer
Linda D. Flowers is known for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), There Will Be Blood (2007) and The Social Network (2010).Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: Linda Flowers – “The Hunger Games,” “The Social Network”- Make-Up Department
Toni G is known for Planet of the Apes (2001), The General's Daughter (1999) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: Toni G – “Salt,” “Monster”- Make-Up Department
Amanda Knight was born on 13 March 1966 in Hounslow, Middlesex, England, UK. She is known for The Fifth Element (1997), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019). She has been married to Rob Monger since 1998. They have three children.Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: Amanda Knight – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” “Mission: Impossible”- Make-Up Department
- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
Tami Lane was born on 16 June 1974 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. She is known for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005).Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: Tami Lane – “Superman Returns” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”- Producer
- Executive
Wendy Aylsworth is known for The Mission (2022) and The Mission: The Making of the ASC MITC StEM2.Members-at-Large: Wendy Aylsworth- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kyle Cooper has produced and directed hundreds of main title and visual effects sequences across a wide spectrum of film and broadcast mediums. Cooper received his MFA from Yale School of Art, where he studied independently with renowned American modernist Paul Rand. In his third year at Yale, Cooper was awarded the Mohawk Paper Traveling Fellowship to complete thesis research at the Sergei Eisenstein Kabinet in the then Soviet Union. Cooper was creative director at R/Greenberg Associates from 1988 to 1996. He founded and named Imaginary Forces in 1996 and went on to found Prologue Films, in 2003. Details magazine credits Cooper with "almost single-handedly revitalizing the main title sequence as an art form". Los Angeles magazine calls him the "Da Vinci of main titles." He is "one of the top 50 biggest and best thinkers from the last 20 years of advertising and consumer culture," according to Creativity magazine. "Not since Saul Bass' legendary preludes...have credits attracted such attention," proclaims Wired magazine. Cooper is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and holds the title of honorary Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts in London. He has seven Emmy nominations and two wins and was the recipient of the lifetime achievement medal from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, recognizing him for designing title sequences for film and television with a bold and unexpected style, conjuring emotional responses through his captivating use of narrative.Members-at-Large: Kyle Cooper- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Patrick Crowley is known for The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). He is married to Cathleen Summers.Members-at-Large: Patrick Crowley- Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stuntman, stunt coordinator, and occasional actor Bud Davis was born George H. Davis on December 23, 1936. Davis raced cars and rode motorcycles in his youth. Moreover, Bud worked for six months at a finance company before getting a job as a bartender at a bar located across the street from the Warner Brothers back lot in California that a lot of stunt guys frequently patronized. The stunt guys one fateful day asked Davis if he wanted to watch a fight scene that was being staged on the Warners back lot. Bud's subsequent career as a stuntman was born on that day after he was offered the opportunity to participate in said fight scene. Davis joined the Extras Union and did some work as an extra before going on to embark on a long and impressive career as a stuntman and stunt coordinator in both films and television alike that encompasses several decades. Outside of his extensive stunt work, Bud also acted in a handful of movies and TV shows; he's especially memorable as the creepy hooded phantom killer in the drive-in horror cult favorite The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976). Davis settled in Durango, Colorado in the wake of retiring from the stunt profession.Members-at-Large: Bud Davis- Producer
- Production Manager
- Actor
Chris deFaria is a Hollywood-based producer whose credits span some of the most successful and innovative films of the past decade including Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg, Mad Max: Fury Road, by George Miller, Gravity, by Alfonso Cuarón, 300, by Zack Snyder along with animated films, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The LEGO Movie and Happy Feet.
Under his banner, Keylight, Chris has expanded into mixed media multi-platform projects including two Harry Potter VR experiences, a 360-degree dome cinematic experience at Comcast's headquarters, and innovative hybrid animation/live-action feature films, Tom & Jerry and Coyote v. Acme.
Prior to establishing Keylight, Chris served as President of DreamWorks Animation where he guided the studio's creative development and technological advancement including immersive and location-based experiences.
Previously, Chris served as President of Digital Production and Innovative Technology at Warner Bros. where he founded WAG, the studio's animation division, developed VFX strategies for films like Harry Potter and The Matrix and oversaw initiatives in AI and VR (for which he holds a patent).
Chris is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences along with The Writers Guild and serves on the board of directors for The Third Floor. He is a trustee for The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and is a founding board member of FilmAid, a non-profit bringing educational films and entertainment to refugee camps around the world.
Chris is a graduate of The University of California, Los Angeles.Members-at-Large: Chris deFaria- Visual Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
John Kilkenny is a President at Twentieth Century Fox, heading the studio's visual effects department. His division budgets, produces and oversees all the visual effects on feature films made by the studio's production units, TCF, Fox 2000 Pictures and Fox Searchlight Pictures. Mr. Kilkenny oversaw the Academy Award winning effects on Avatar, written and directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron (Titanic); X-Men: First Class, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and many other Fox event movies including the Night at The Museum and Alvin and the Chipmunks films. Prior to joining Fox's senior executive ranks, Mr. Kilkenny was an associate producer/visual effects producer on the box-office hit i, Robot which earned an Academy Award nomination for best achievement in visual effects. Before that, he was the visual effects producer on the films Dr. Dolittle 2, Daredevil, Gone in 60 Seconds and Star Trek Insurrection. Mr. Kilkenny began his career in motion picture visual effects at the renowned effects house Digital Domain, where he became head producer in the company's commercial division. He has also worked as a freelance commercials producer for clients Budweiser, Toyota, Chevrolet as well as worked as a sportscaster at the NBC affiliate in El, Paso Texas. Mr. Kilkenny graduated from the University of Arizona where he studied Radio and Television. The University has recognized Mr. Kilkenny for his achievements in film by awarding him an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 2009.Members-at-Large: John Kilkenny- Casting Director
- Producer
- Casting Department
As a graduate of Barnard College and the AFI Producers Program, Heidi has cast such successful films as JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Natural Born Killers (1994), Nurse Betty (2000), The Rock (1996), The Joy Luck Club (1993), Smoke (1995) and Benny & Joon (1993).
In addition to casting Lakeview Terrace (2008) with director Neil LaBute who Heidi has worked with for over ten years on both film and theatre projects, Heidi recently cast the films, Saint John of Las Vegas (2009) starring Steve Buscemi and Romany Malco; Rage (2009), with director Sally Potter starring Judi Dench, Jude Law and Dianne Wiest; The Open Road (2009), starring Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake, and Erick Zonca''s film Julia (2008), which premiered at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival starring Tilda Swinton.
Alternating between standard studio and indie fare, she has repeatedly worked with acclaimed directors Oliver Stone, Wayne Wang, Wim Wenders and Neil LaBute. In 1997, on the eve of Hong Kong's unification with China, Heidi collaborated with Wayne Wangon Chinese Box (1997), a film that captured that moment in history, which she co-produced and cast. She has also served as a producer on feature films The Open Road (2009), Fido (2006), The Center of the World (2001), Coastlines (2002), and Delivering Milo (2001).
Heidi's company Three Chapeau Productions, developed the website http://www.500kin365.org (2008), devoted to Indie Folk-Rock heroine Katie Reider who tragically passed away July 14, 2008. A project in which Heidi is currently executive producing.
In partnership with Oscar and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, Alex Gibney. Heidi is producing a film series called Exiles on Main Street (2008). The series will be three films that deal with the issues of culture clash and immigrant assimilation in America. The first film Saint Chola by K. Kvashay Boyle, which Ms. Boyle has adapted from her own award winning short story. Saint Chola is set in the San Fernando valley at the onset of the gulf war and concerns a Muslim American girl's choice to wear the veil. Cherien Dabis will direct.Members-at-Large: Heidi Levitt- Script and Continuity Department
- Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kerry Lyn McKissick was born in 1959. She is an actress, known for Avengers: Endgame (2019), Ant-Man (2015) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).Members-at-Large: Kerry Lyn McKissick- Producer
- Editorial Department
- Additional Crew
Elizabeth Sayre is known for Enemies, A Love Story (1989), Moscow on the Hudson (1984) and Taking Care of Business (1990).Members-at-Large: Elizabeth Sayre- Producer
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Tadross, has played a pivotal role as a leading figure in the film industry for the last thirty years. He has most recently produced Ocean's 8, the Warner Bros. film starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway and Rihanna. Other Warner Bros. films Tadross has produced include Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law; Run All Night, starring Liam Neeson; Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan; Winter's Tale, starring Colin Farrell and Russell Crowe; Arthur, starring Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, and Greta Gerwig, and I Am Legend starring Will Smith, one of the highest-budgeted science fiction movies to be entirely filmed in New York City. Earlier in his career, for Warner Bros., he produced The Devil's Advocate, with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves; Jack Frost starring Michael Keaton, and Eraser, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams and James Caan.
Tadross' producing credits also include Hitch for Columbia Pictures with Will Smith and Kevin James; Basic for Columbia Pictures with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson; Rollerball for M.G.M. with Chris Klein, L.L. Cool J and Jean Reno; The Thomas Crown Affair, for M.G.M. with Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo; Indecent Proposal, for Paramount Pictures with Robert Redford and Demi Moore; School Ties, for Paramount Pictures with Brendan Frazier, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; Brenda Starr, for Sony Pictures with Brook Shields and Timothy Dalton; and Die Hard: With A Vengeance, for 20th Century Fox with Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson - the highest grossing worldwide film of 1995.
During his tenure as Executive Vice President of Feature Production at Paramount Pictures, Tadross oversaw such blockbusters as Forrest Gump, Naked Gun 33 1/3, The Firm, Clear & Present Danger, the Wayne's World franchise, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Beverly Hills Cop III, Coneheads, and Sliver, to name a few.
Tadross's made-for-television producing credits include When Will I Be Loved? for CBS with Stephanie Powers; and Deadly Illusion for Columbia Television, with Billy Dee Williams.
He was Unit Production Manager for Ghost, Coming To America, Black Rain, Trading Places and Death Wish III, and was First Assistant Director on Cocktail with Tom Cruise and Masquerade with Rob Lowe, also to name a few. He's also been awarded one gold and two platinum records.
He began his film career as a camera trainee and assistant film editor. He is now a member of the Producer's Guild of America, the Director's Guild of America, and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.
He was nominated for the NAACP Image Award and received The Movie Guide Award for best family-oriented film of 2006 (Hitch). He is also cited in the Who's Who of Executives and Professionals.
Michael Tadross graduated with a B.A. from Wagner College and received the Wagner College Distinguished Graduate Award. In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Long Island University.
Along with serving on the Board of Victory Memorial Hospital and Wagner College, his many honors include being made a member of the Honor Legion of the New York City Police Department, being given the State Achievement Award by Florida, The Governor's Appreciation Award by Nevada, having The City of Yonkers declare The Michael Tadross Day (June 12), and receiving the key to more than eight cities!
Tadross was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.Members-at-Large: Michael Tadross- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Producer
Mary Vernieu was born on 9 July 1963 in California, USA. She is a casting director and producer, known for Knives Out (2019), Glass Onion (2022) and Promising Young Woman (2020).Members-at-Large: Mary Vernieu- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Ludovic Bource is known for The Artist (2011), Escape from Planet Earth (2012) and OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006).Music: Ludovic Bource – “The Artist,” “OSS 117: Lost In Rio”- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Alberto Iglesias was born in 1955 in Donostia-San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, País Vasco, Spain. He is a composer and actor, known for The Skin I Live In (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and The Constant Gardener (2005).Music: Alberto Iglesias – “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Constant Gardener”