Worst of the Worst. The WORST Action Directors.
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- Stunt Coordinator
- Stunts
- Director
Cole S. McKay is known for Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Far and Away (1992) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).- Producer
- Director
- Cinematographer
Barry Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from New York University Film School in 1978. He started work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Blood Simple (1984). This film began his collaboration with the Coen Bros., who used him for their next two pictures, Raising Arizona (1987) and Miller's Crossing (1990). He also worked with Danny DeVito on his Throw Momma from the Train (1987) and Rob Reiner on When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and Misery (1990). Sonnenfeld got his first work as a director from Orion Pictures on The Addams Family (1991), a box-office success released in November 1991 followed by its sequel, Addams Family Values (1993). He received critical acclaim for his fourth directorial effort, Get Shorty (1995). Produced by Jersey Films and based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, the film won a Golden Globe for best male performance. In 1996 Steven Spielberg asked him to direct Men in Black (1997). Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, the movie was a critical and financial smash. Producer Jon Peters then asked Sonnenfeld to direct Wild Wild West (1999), an adaptation of an old TV series. He also directed the comedy Big Trouble (2002), after which he made his most successful film sequel, Men in Black II (2002).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Thunder Levin was born and raised in New York City, graduated from Hunter College High School, and received a BFA in Film from NYU before moving to Los Angeles at age 23. He credits the original Star Trek television series with opening his mind to both the wonders of science fiction and filmmaking as a child, while the original Star Wars solidified his desire to make movies when he grew up.
Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood! (2008) starring C. Thomas Howell was Thunder's feature film directorial debut. This led to him writing and/or directing several films for production company The Asylum, including American Warships (2012) and AE: Apocalypse Earth (2013), culminating in the pop culture phenomenon Sharknado (2013). While continuing to write and direct feature films, he is also developing episodic television projects.
Thunder is a lifelong sailor and car enthusiast who's recently taken up motorcycle riding. In addition to his film and television work, he is writing his first novel. He lives in Santa Monica, CA, but considers himself a "temporarily misassigned New Yorker". Thunder is his real name. Please don't ask why.- Stunts
- Writer
- Director
Art Camacho is a multi-award-winning independent film Director whose works include the Dermot Mulroney starrer "Ruthless" and the upcoming Tyrese, Harvey Keitel Actioner "The Wrecker". Camacho was the first Latino filmmaker to Direct a Russian Drama in Moscow, Russia "Wild League" and received numerous awards and award nods for his films Confessions of a pit fighter from Lionsgate and Sony films "Assassin X". His foray into television landed him with his own namesake show; "The Camacho Experiment", for The El Rey Network which was highly acclaimed and in consideration for an Emmy. Camacho's background as a Stunt/fight action director/choreographer has also garnered him honors in the film and martial arts industry.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
With more than two dozen feature films under his belt, Leigh Scott has been working as a professional writer, director, producer, editor, and cinematographer in the film industry for nearly twenty years.
He attended USC's prestigious School of Cinema-Television. While in school he obtained an internship working for Roger Corman's "Concorde Pictures". At Concorde, he worked in production, marketing and development.
Upon graduation, at the age of 22, he successfully produced and directed his first feature film, Beach House (1996). He followed that up four years later with Art House (1998), a comedy that was an official selection at the Aspen U.S. Comedy Arts festival.
Leigh has always looked to push the envelope in both the business and creative aspects of the industry. He was one of the first filmmakers to encourage digital acquisition over film and embrace digital post production. He trained editors at Warner Bros. in the use of computer editing systems as early as 1994, was one of the first directors to shoot on RED digital cinema cameras, and supervised some of the earliest motion-capture tests and shoots for Microsoft.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. In his youth, he pursued painting and sculpting. While enrolled in the director's program at film school in Munich, his student film The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) went on to open the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. The feature became a huge success and was sold to more than 20 countries. In an amazing trivia, he directed his first feature, The Noah's Ark Principle (1984), in 1984. He is openly gay and a campaigner for the LGBT community.
A director/writer/producer with a flair for special effects-driven action, German Roland Emmerich made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood. Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich studied production design as well as direction at the Munich Film and Television School. After his student film, The Noah's Ark Principle, debuted at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, Emmerich formed his production company Centropolis and directed supernatural fantasies Making Contact (1986) and Ghost Chase (1987), and the straight-to-video action film Moon 44 (1990). On the latter, he met actor Dean Devlin who subsequently switched jobs to become Emmerich's writing and producing partner once Emmerich set up shop in Hollywood.
After making his solo Hollywood debut directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the cyborg action fest Universal Soldier (1992), Emmerich and Devlin revealed a talent for conjuring A-level action spectacles out of B-movie scenarios with their first film together, Stargate (1994). A space odyssey mixing ancient Egyptiana and high-tech wizardry, Stargate became an unexpected hit. Emmerich hit his blockbuster stride with his next film, Independence Day (1996). With its eye-popping destruction of major cities and climactic annihilation of a spacecraft via portable computer, Independence Day blew away its summer movie competition on the strength of its visual flash. Geared to repeat with the endlessly- and creatively-hyped version of Godzilla (1998), Emmerich instead faced the conundrum of directing a $100 million grossing film that did not live up to box office expectations. Emmerich and Devlin next turned their epic visions to the decidedly lower-tech (but still CGI-enhanced) action of the American Revolution in the Mel Gibson summer vehicle The Patriot (2000).People don't want to OBSERVE the action with helicopter shots, Roland. People want to FEEL the action. Not to mention that when everything is pretty much CGI it all feels like a damn videogame. People don't want that.
Again, observing the action: this is the worst thing an action director can do.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
As a youth, he produced a number of short films on Super 8 and video. After short stints as guest auditor at Filmacademy Vienna and Filmhochschule Munich, Boll studied literature and economics in Cologne and Siegen. He graduated from university in 1995 with a doctorate in literature. From 1995-2000, he was a producer and director with Taunus Film-Produktions GmbH. Boll was Chief Executive Officer of Bolu Filmproduction and Distribution GmbH which he founded in 1992. He continued to direct, write and produce feature films until 2016. His main companies are Event Films in Vancouver and Bolu Film in Germany. A longtime resident of Canada, Boll owned the restaurant "Bauhaus" in Vancouver from 2015 to 2020. Returned to Germany and resumed filming in 2020.He tried, he failed. And he keeps failing.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Born in the Australian rural town of Griffith, New South Wales, Phillip Noyce moved to Sydney with his family at the age of 12. As a teenager, he was introduced to underground films produced on shoestring budgets as well as mainstream American movies. He was 18 when he made his first film, the 15-minute Better to Reign in Hell (1969) utilizing a unique financing scheme selling roles in the movie to his friends.
In 1973 he was selected to attend the Australian National Film School in its inaugural year. Here, he made Castor and Pollux (1973) a 50 minute documentary which won the award for best Australian short film of 1974.
Noyce's first professional film was the 50-minute docudrama God Knows Why, But It Works (1976) in 1975. This helped pave the way for his first feature, the road movie Backroads (1977) which starred Australian Aboriginal activist Gary Foley and iconic Australian actor Bill Hunter who would go on to appear in 2 other Noyce films. In 1978, he directed and co-wrote Newsfront (1978), which won Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the Australian Film Awards, as well as proving a huge commercial hit in Australia. In addition to opening the London Film Festival, Newsfront was the first Australian film to screen at the New York Film Festival.
In 1982, Heatwave (1982), co-written and directed by Noyce and starring Judy Davis, was chosen to screen at the Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
The success of the Australian produced Dead Calm (1989), starring Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane brought Noyce to Hollywood, where he directed 6 films over the next decade, including Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994) starring Harrison Ford, and The Bone Collector (1999), starring Oscar© winners Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
In 2002 Noyce returned to his native Australia, where released two films worldwide at almost the same time. The Quiet American (2002) starred Michael Caine in an Academy nominated Best Actor performance and appeared on over 20 top ten lists for 2002, including the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) was based on the true story of three Aboriginal girls abducted from their families by Australian authorities in 1931 as part of an official government policy. The film won Best Picture at the Australian Film Awards, and together with The Quiet American garnered Noyce numerous best director awards including National Board of Review in the US and UK's London Film Critics Circle.
In 2006 Noyce directed Tim Robbins and Derek Luke in the South African set political thriller Catch a Fire (2006).
2010 Saw Noyce re-teaming with Angelina Jolie for his biggest box-office hit, the spy thriller Salt (2010), which grossed $295 million worldwide.
In Spring 2011, Noyce directed and executive produced the pilot for the ABC series Revenge (2011), which ended a four-season run on May 10, 2015.
In 2013 Noyce directed and executive produced the NBC pilot Crisis (2014), which went to series. Later that year, he returned to South Africa to film The Giver (2014), starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Brenton Thwaites, which opened in the US on August 15, 2014 from The Weinstein Company.
In 2016 Noyce directed the first night of the Emmy nominated miniseries Roots (2016).
In 2017 Noyce directed the pilot and first episode of Fox Network's medical show The Resident (2018) reuniting him with Emily VanCamp, who starred in Revenge.
In 2018 Noyce directed the feature Above Suspicion (2019), starring Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston. In 2018 he also directed the pilot and first episode of the 10-part series What/If (2019), starring Renée Zellweger and created by Revenge creator Mike Kelley, to be released in June 2019 by Netflix.- Producer
- Director
- Music Department
Brett Ratner is one of Hollywood's most successful filmmakers. His diverse films resonate with audiences worldwide and, as director, his films have grossed over $2 billion at the global box office. Brett began his career directing music videos before making his feature directorial debut at 26 years old with the action comedy hit Money Talks. He followed with the blockbuster Rush Hour and its successful sequels. Brett also directed The Family Man, Red Dragon, After the Sunset, X-Men: The Last Stand, Tower Heist and Hercules.
Ratner has also enjoyed critical acclaim and box office success as a producer. He has served as an executive producer on the Golden Globe and Oscar winning The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp; and as a producer on Truth, starring Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett; I Saw the Light, starring Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen; and the upcoming film Rules Don't Apply, written, directed and produced by Warren Beatty. His other produced films include the smash hit comedy Horrible Bosses and its sequel, and the re-imagined Snow White tale Mirror Mirror.
His additional producing credits include the documentaries Author: The JT LeRoy Story, Catfish, the Emmy-nominated Woody Allen - A Documentary, Helmut by June, I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale, Chuck Norris vs. Communism, the 5-time Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning Night Will Fall, Bright Lights and National Geographic's upcoming Untitled Leonardo DiCaprio Environmental Documentary, directed, produced by and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He also executive produced and directed the Golden Globe-nominated FOX series Prison Break, and executive produced the television series Rush Hour, based on his hit films.
Brett, along with his business partner James Packer, formed RatPac Entertainment, a film finance production and media company, in 2013. RatPac has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. and joined with Dune Capital to co-finance over 75 films including Gravity, The Lego Movie, American Sniper, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. RatPac Entertainment also co-financed The Revenant and Birdman with New Regency. Internationally, Warner Bros. and RatPac have formed a joint venture content fund with China's Shanghai Media Group to finance local Chinese content. In partnership with New Regency, RatPac also finances the development and production of Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment.
Since inception, RatPac Entertainment has co-financed 52 theatrically released motion pictures exceeding $9.3 billion in worldwide box office receipts. RatPac's co-financed films have been nominated for 51 Academy Awards, 20 Golden Globes and 39 BAFTAs and have won 21 Academy Awards, 7 Golden Globes and 17 BAFTAs.
Brett is a Board of Trustees member of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance. He sits on the boards of Chrysalis, Best Buddies and Do Something, while serving on the Dean's Council of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and on the Board of Directors at Tel Aviv University's School of Film and Television. In 2017, he will receive a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
McG was born on 9 August 1968 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dean Semler was born on 26 May 1943 in Renmark, South Australia, Australia. He is a cinematographer and assistant director, known for Apocalypto (2006), Dances with Wolves (1990) and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981). He is married to Annie Semler.Great DP though.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Sound Department
Beginning as a commercial artist and photographer, he joined the New Zealand film industry in the late 1970s as a boom operator. He became an assistant director a decade later. Making international award-winning commercials for 10 years, he has also directed several TV series. His first feature film, Once Were Warriors (1994), won the PEN First Book Award.- Producer
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Born in Canada, Richard Pepin is known for directing and producing together with director Joseph Merhi with the PM Entertainment Group which he co-owned many action, fantasy and martial arts films between the 80s and 90s distributed for the direct circuit -to-video; Pepin unlike his colleague has oriented his career as a filmmaker on the genre of science fiction.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Born in Syria, before entering the world of cinema, he owned a chain of pizzerias in Las Vegas; began his career as director and producer in 1986 when he founded the film production company City Lights together with producer Ronald L. Gilchrist; in 1989, however, he decided to start his own business and founded PM Entertainment Group together with the Canadian director and producer Richard Pepin. Merhi specialized in the genre of action films and directed and produced at the turn of the 80/90s many low-cost action and martial arts films that very often were mainly broadcast on television or distributed for the circuit. direct-to-video; As producer he has produced over 100 films and TV series, and in 2000 PM Entertainment was first absorbed by The Harvey Entertainment Group and then purchased by the film company Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. The Syrian director and producer in his career has worked both as a producer and director with actors such as Michael Madsen, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Tom Arnold, Heather Locklear, Lorenzo Lamas, Jeff Fahey, Frank Zagarino, Gary Busey, William Forsythe, Jo Champa, Jill Hennessy, Robert Patrick, and many others; moreover, he often collaborated with numerous martial artists such as Jeff Wincott and Gary Daniels in shooting action films. Today, Merhi actively invests in real estate projects in addition to a wide variety of businesses. His portfolio consists of luxurious single family homes, apartment complexes, hotels, comedy clubs, restaurants, production studios, and retail. Merhi resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Furst started his career in television, portraying a wide variety of characters in dozens of network and cable series, before gaining recognition for his role as the original Lucas Hood in Cinemax's Banshee. He then expanded to supporting and roles in films like The Magnificent Seven, The Founder, Terminator Genisys and Focus. For his work in I Love You Phillip Morris, Variety wrote of Furst's ability to make a large impact with just a few scenes in the article entitled 'Not Nominate But Definitely Memorable.' Furst made his directorial debut with the horror feature 30 Days to Die, distributed by Lionsgate. His second feature, Starve, premiered as an official selection at the Stiges Film Festival. His early success with independent film garnered the attention of Universal Television, which commissioned Furst's directorial services on over a dozen Movies of the Week for their various networks. As of 2022, Furst has produced 37 movies. You Might be the Killer premiered at the Fantastic Film Festival, and Alice was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Furst is the president of Curmudgeon Films. My Sister's Keeper was the first film produced under his banner, starring Abigail Breslin and Cameron Diaz. In 2018, he produced You Might be the Killer, starring Alyson Hannigan. Furst then went on to work on the cult franchise Tales from the Hood, producing Part 2 and Part 3. The son of actor Stephen Furst (Animal House), Griff lives in Los Angeles.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Bob Misiorowski was born on 25 November 1944 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Tombstone (1993), Point of Impact (1993) and Cover-Up (1991). He has been married to Elise Besson Misiorowski since 6 June 2001. They have one child.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Anthony (Tony), started as a club promoter in London in the early eighties and financed his first short 'rock-a-bye baby' by holding an event at Le'quipe Anglaise, where all the door money went to finance the film. In fact, when it was finished it was the clubs owner Shariffi who showed it to producer Micheal White (Rocky horror show) who was so impressed, he gave Tony a one way ticket to L.A.saying don't come back until you have made it. Tony didn't return for eight years.
in L.A. Tony famously met the producer of 'Waxwork', Staffan Ahrenberg, when he crashed into the back of his car in the motel they were both staying at on Fairfax. Tony, broke at the time, talked Staffan into letting him pay for the damage by writing him a script for $3000 only. Staffan agreed, but wouldn't pay a penny until it was delivered. Tony wrote it in three days. Waxwork.
The script then did the rounds getting turned down by every studio, until an independent, Vestron was the only one left. They turned it down two days before Christmas. it was over the vacation that their friend, producer Mark Burg (Saw), said he couldn't believe that Dan Ireland (the head of the studio) wouldn't have loved it. It turns out he hadn't read it, it never made it past the readers.
The first day after the vacation, Mark sent 'Waxwork' to Dan himself, the rest, as they say, is horror movie history.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Joseph Kahn was born on 12 October 1972. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Bodied (2017), Detention (2011) and Torque (2004).- Art Department
- Director
- Writer
Academy Award winner Roger Christian has had an extensive film career. He won an Academy Award for set decoration on director George Lucas's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), which began a long collaboration between the filmmakers. Christian subsequently worked with Lucas on Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and was hand-picked by Lucas to direct the second unit on the recent Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). It was through Lucas that Christian got his first opportunity to direct a film, the short feature entitled Ángel Negro (2000), which accompanied the UK release of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Christian followed "Black Angel" with another short, The Dollar Bottom (1981), which won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He followed that success with the thriller The Sender (1998), which received much critical acclaim and a nomination for Best Film by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
His directing credits include the 1994 Orion Pictures release _Nostradamus (1994/I)_, starring Julia Ormond and F. Murray Abraham, the HBO premiere movie The Final Cut (1995), Underworld (1996) starring Annabella Sciorra and Masterminds (1997) starring Patrick Stewart. Christian has also directed numerous high profile commercials, including worldwide campaigns for SEGA, Taco Bell, Jeep, Lancia, Fiat and Chrysler/Dodge, among others. Christian's work as an art director and production designer was highly regarded. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his art direction on Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). His other art direction credits include Life of Brian (1979), Ken Russell's Mahler (1974) and Peter Hall's Akenfield (1974). Roger also directed Battlefield Earth (2000), with John Travolta and Forest Whitaker.
Roger Christian recently wrapped production on Bandido (2004), starring Angie Everhart, for Fries Film Group. Written by Carlos Gallardo, who also wrote El Mariachi, Bandidos continues the saga of the stylish Mexican thief who remains nameless. The same character was also portrayed by Antonio Banderas in Desperado (a remake of El Mariachi). In Bandidos, Carlos Gallardo reprises the starring role as the most infamous thief in Mexico.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Raised as an Air Force brat, Kevin Reynolds' love for cinema inspired him to forsake his law school degree and move to Los Angeles to enroll in the University of Southern California's legendary film school. Reynolds' graduate thesis film "Proof" became the basis for "Fandango" starring Kevin Costner and was produced by Steve Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment as one of its first productions. During his time at USC, Reynolds also wrote the Cold War cult hit "Red Dawn," which John Milius directed.
Reynolds also directed "The Beast," "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "Rapa Nui," "Waterworld," "The Count of Monte Cristo," "Tristan + Isolde," and "One Eight Seven," as well as the "You Gotta Believe Me" episode of Spielberg's anthology television series, "Amazing Stories."
Most recently, Reynolds directed 'Hatfields & McCoys' for History Channel and Sony Pictures Television.- Producer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christopher Ray was born on 30 July 1977 in Florida, Missouri, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Assault on VA-33 (2021), Minutes to Midnight (2018) and A House Is Not a Home (2015).- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Timur Bekmambetov is a Kazakh-Russian film director known for vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006).
He was born Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov on June 25, 1961, in Guryev, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan). His father, Nuruakhit Bekmambetov, is a manager at Guryev Energy company; his mother, Mira Bogoslavskaya, was a journalist. Young Bekmambetov was raised along the Ural river in Kazakhstan, Soviet Union.
In 1978, aged 17, he moved to Moscow. There from 1978 to 1980 he attended the Moscow Energy Institute, but he was more interested in art and movies. Eventually, he dropped out of college, and joined the cultural milieu around such artists as Anatoli Zverev and Oskar Rabin. Then, from 1982 to 1987 he studied painting at Tashkent Theatrical Art Institute, graduating in 1987 as artist of theatre and film. From 1987 to 1988 he served in the Red Army stationed at artillery division near Ashkhabad, Turkmenistan. Then he worked as set designer at "Ilkhom" Drama Theatre in Tashkent, and at Uzbek Film Studio.
Since 1989 he has been directing commercials. In 1992 Bekmambetov made his directorial and writing debut with Peshawar Waltz (1994), a film about the Soviet war in Afghanistan which received awards at several festivals in Europe. From 1992 to 1997 he made 18 commercials for the Russian bank "Imperial" and was named best young director of 1997 by Russian Film Academy. In 1999 he started his own film company, Bazelevs Production.
His big break came with the success of the vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006), which he directed during 2003 - 2005. Both films became international blockbusters, and received several awards and nominations. The third installment, Twilight Watch (2009), is slated for release in 2009.
Since 2005, Bekmambetov has been working in Hollywood, writing, directing and producing several flicks, such as Wanted (2008), 9 (2009), and The Red Star. Back in Russia, he made another success directing The Irony of Fate 2 (2007), a romantic comedy based on the Soviet era characters and capitalizing on nostalgia among some of the post-Soviet audiences.
Timur Bekmambetov established himself as a master of dense narrative. His films often surprise the viewers with eerie details, hectic pace and unusual twists and turns, and remain a challenge even for experienced audiences.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Richard Schenkman writes, directs and produces feature films, commercials, documentaries and more. His first film was The Pompatus of Love (1995), which he wrote with Jon Cryer and Adam Oliensis. A festival favorite, it enjoyed a successful theatrical release in 1995. He then directed the action/drama October 22 (1998) for Nu Image/Millennium Films, and followed that with Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five (1998), his second collaboration with Cryer. It won numerous awards on the festival circuit, was theatrically released and successfully acquired by Blockbuster Video as an exclusive rental title. (In 2018 it was finally released on Blu-Ray). Later he and Cryer set up the sitcom pilot "Us and Them" at 20th Century Fox TV, and a romantic comedy dance musical at VH1. Schenkman wrote VH1's pilot for an original animated Elvis series, and crafted commercials and promos, most notably two award winning Mill Valley Film Festival trailers. He- also directed episodes of 'Dick Wolf''s Arrest & Trial (2000) and wrote dialogue for EA's 007 Racing (2000) Playstation game.
Next he wrote and directed VH1's original movie A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000), which was a holiday ratings blockbuster and continues to air annually. When his daughter was born, he decided to take a multi-year break from filmmaking to concentrate on raising her. He did, however, teach a Master Class for the Rhode Island International Film Festival, on whose advisory board he serves, and guest-lectured at both USC and Cal Arts. He also created "Drama Queen", an NBC sitcom for Vanessa Williams, and completed several new spec screenplays with Jon Cryer. One of these, "Cosmodrome", is being developed as a television series for Warner Brothers.
Two feature films he directed were released in 2007: And Then Came Love (2007), a romantic-comedy starring Vanessa Williams and Eartha Kitt, and the cult phenomenon Jerome Bixby's The Man from Earth (2007), based on the final screenplay by the legendary science-fiction author, which has won many awards and is still ranked on IMDB as one of the top science fiction films of all time. He also served as a guest faculty member of the L.A. Film School, teaching comedy directing, taught commercial production at Columbia College in Hollywood, and wrote several popular IOS platform games for TinyCo.
Starting in 2012, made three films back-to-back for beloved B-movie factory The Asylum, the most notable being the historical/horror mashup Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012). 2017 saw him on the set of a new comedy, Misfits, as well as the release of the long awaited "Man from Earth" sequel, The Man from Earth: Holocene (2017).
In 2010 he published his first novel for children, "The Girl From Atlantis" and has completed a second, "The Empress's New Shoes."
Prior to his feature-film career, Schenkman spent more than a decade in the corporate media world. He was one of the original staffers at MTV: Music Television, creating distinctive and award-winning promos, network IDs, show wraps, news segments, marketing videos and documentary programs. After five years there, he established his own successful production company, produced and directed music videos, fashion videos, commercials and on-air promos for many clients including Swatch Watch, MTV, Honda Scooters, Pepsi Cola, Showtime, Lifetime, and perhaps most notably his Clio-winning national commercials for the children's cable TV network, Nickelodeon. During this period he also worked as a segment producer/director on Don Ohlmeyer's NBC news magazine Fast Copy (1985), produced and directed the multi-camera SPIN New Music Concert and created openings and segments for such other series and specials as "Fashion America", Showtime's "Funniest Person in America", "The MTV Video Music Awards" and "The Rolling Stone Reader's Poll Awards".
In 1990 he was brought to Los Angeles by Playboy Enterprises to revamp the total on-air look of its cable network, from ten-second IDs to hour-long series. He ultimately served as VP of Production, overseeing dozens of projects. Additionally, he personally created over 30 hours of original programming for cable, home video and international syndication, including "The Club", an original comedy series he co-wrote, produced and directed, as well as many other short- and long-form comedic and dramatic programs, several documentaries, two pilots and "Late Night", an extremely successful magazine-format lifestyle series that was rated #1 in Italy and Germany.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Ringo Lam was born on 8 December 1955 in Hong Kong. He was a director and writer, known for City on Fire (1987), Full Alert (1997) and Wild City (2015). He died on 29 December 2018 in Hong Kong, China.- Director
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Roel Reiné is an award-winning director from the Netherlands, whose works include multiple feature films and television series for Universal, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Lionsgate, Netflix, Disney+, Starz, Showtime and many more.
Roel Reiné won the Dutch Academy Award for Best Director in 2000 with his first theatrical feature 'The Delivery' and has been nominated for Best Director in 2015 for his historical drama 'Michiel DE Ruyter'. At international film festivals around the globe he has won multiple awards for his movies 'Admiral' and 'Redbad'.
Roel Reiné is known for his impeccable, commercial & unique vision and broad artistic skill-set, ranging from directing, cinematography, writing and producing with his production company Rebel Entertainment.
Some of his latest critically acclaimed works include: the very successful action movie 'Seal Team Eight' for 20th Century Fox, the supernatural western 'Dead in Tombstone' with Mickey Rourke for Universal became a VOD hit, and two very popular 'Death Race'; prequels, with Sean Bean.
His 2015 Feature film 'Admiral', a.k.a. 'Michiel DE Ruyter', an epic historical Dutch language movie, had a very successful theatrical release worldwide. In spite of competing with 'Jurassic World' and 'Fast and Furious' in its release window. The film was a major financial success worldwide and held a remarkable position among the top ten box office revenues of the Netherlands in 2015. The movie tells the story of a 17th Century Admiral, Michiel DE Ruyter, who protects the Dutch population from a civil war between two political factions while defeating English armadas in massive sea-battles. At the Toronto European Film Festival it got the award for best movie.
After 10 years working in Hollywood and building a solid reputation as a very talented and visionary director, Roel Reiné began directing for prime-time US shows; Series like 'Black Sails' for Starz and 'Blood Drive' for Syfy. By 2017, he directed the pilot episodes of 'Marvel's Inhumans', for Marvel Studios and IMAX. This TV series pilot was globally released on IMAX screens and later broadcast on ABC and now on Disney+.
In 2017, Roel Reiné also directed another Europan Feature Film named 'Redbad'. This movie has been theatrical released all over the world and has won many awards for best Director, best Cinematography and best Foreign Language Movie on several international film festivals.
In 2018 and 2019, Reiné has been directing epic TV shows like 'Knighfall' with big battle sequences and 'Wu Assassins' for Netflix. Also, a TV movie for Shark Week and a highly acclaimed docudrama miniseries for History Channel about George Washington called 'Washington' that broke viewing records.
At the present year, Roel Reiné is directing two episodes of the Science Fiction TV show 'Halo' for Showtime and for Stephen Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Paul W.S. Anderson gained a fair bit of notoriety in his native England when he directed the ultra-violent Shopping (1994) (which he also wrote), starring Jude Law and Sean Pertwee in a story about thieves who steal by ramming a car into storefronts. The film was banned in some cinemas in England, and became a direct-to-video slightly edited release in the United States.
Shopping (1994) allowed Anderson to get the chance to direct Mortal Kombat (1995), an adaptation of the hit video game, which showcased his directorial trademarks - visually stunning scenery and quick-cut editing. The film did well enough for him to choose his next project, which was Soldier (1998) with Warner Bros., with Kurt Russell in the lead. Unfortunately, Russell decided at the time to go on hiatus, pushing the release date of that film into 1998. In the meantime, Anderson directed Event Horizon (1997) from a script by Philip Eisner, which featured Anderson regulars Sean Pertwee and Jason Isaacs. The science fiction/horror film, a Gothic horror version of Solaris (1972), was stylish and scary, but was critically panned and did not do well in the box office, which Anderson blamed on studio-enforced cuts to the story. (Anderson has promised a Director's Cut, though none has been announced as of yet).
Soldier (1998) didn't fare well with critics and box office either, and Anderson's planned 2000 remake of Death Race 2000 (1975) was canceled. This forced him to think smaller, which led to The Sight (2000), a supernatural mystery movie that was a minor hit. He then resurfaced to direct another video game adaption, Resident Evil (2002). Long rumored among fans to be a choice comeback vehicle for zombie grandfather George A. Romero, the writing and directing credits eventually transferred to Anderson. He next was given the helm for the long-awaited film adaption of the popular Dark Horse comic book, Alien vs. Predator (2004).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Christopher (mink) Wingfield Morrison is a British American film director, writer, producer and comic book novelist. In 2002 Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart Films added him to their roster as a director. Christopher "mink" Morrison was born in London and grew up in Los Angeles, CA. His father Gregory Morrison was a movie studio executive. His mother was an actress in the UK. Christopher attended photography college at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA. His 16mm graduate film about legendary guitar maker Danny Ferrington placed regionally in the Student Academy Awards. Morrison's first job in the industry post-graduation was as a production assistant for Edward S. Feldman at the Walt Disney Studios, where eventually he earned entry-level camera department positions on movie sets. After a few feature films he moved to the fledgling camera division of Sony Pictures Imageworks. In the summer of 1997 he self-financed wrote, produced and directed the feature film Bus with best friend from college. The film was shot entirely on borrowed equipment on a Santa Monica City Bus in the streets of Los Angeles. The film won awards at Houston Film Festival and got Christopher some local attention with film producers and agents. In 1998 at the encouragement of one his producers he started work in the commercial/music video business working with acts like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Busta Rhymes, TLC, No Doubt, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Puffy, Nas, Beyoncé, A Tribe called Quest, Will Smith as well as commercials for Coca-Cola, Gap, Nike, Reebok and many more. This visual work led to him to directing many music videos for artists like Sheryl Crowe, Snoop Dogg, Master P, Raphael Saadiq, Daniel Bedingfield, South Central Cartel, Slum Village and Veruca Salt. In 2000 he was added to the director roster at Bille Woodruff's production company Geneva Films. In 2002, Quentin Tarantino's A Band Apart films picked him to join their director roster after seeing his work. Morrison then moved from videos to feature films directing the Lionsgate action comedy Full Clip in 2003 which was released in 2006. In 2005 he directed the Sony Pictures adventure thriller Into the Sun in Tokyo and Bangkok. In 2007-2008 he was attached and developed the remake of Mortal Kombat III with Larry Kasanoff producing through Threshold Entertainment and New Line Cinema. Do to finances the movie never happened. In 2009 Morrison wrote and developed a feature version of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden with Constantine/Impact pictures. Morrison also has written a number of creator-owned graphic novels for Image Comics, IDW Comics and Dark Horse Comics, including Dust , Dust Wars, 13 Chambers & Shinjuku with artist Yoshitaka Amano all of which have been optioned and or developed into film and television. In 2009, he started his own company Twistory Entertainment with a family friend, the company was based on his vision of creative stories. Twistory Entertainment from 2009-2014 developed and released multiple mobile video games, a fusion art magazine and a story that was developed into a video game driven game show. In early 2015 he left Twistory Entertainment as the company under new leadership renamed it and completely changed the core creative to create and distribute STEM based Educational toys and web cartoons for young children. Since 2015 Christopher has been writing and directing new material for Film, Television & print.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is known for writing and directing the hit Marvel films "Daredevil" and "Ghost Rider" as well as writing "Grumpy Old Men" and its successful sequel "Grumpier Old Men." Johnson recently wrote, directed and produced "Love in the Villa" for Netflix.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Mark Neveldine was born in Watertown, New York, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Gamer (2009), Crank (2006) and Crank: High Voltage (2009). He has been married to Alison Lohman since 19 August 2009. They have three children.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Brian Taylor grew up in the suburban wastelands of Southern California. After a gloriously well-spent youth traveling around the world in punk bands he took an abrupt change of direction in the early naughts, enrolling in a ten-month film program to study camera. Brian wrote, shot and edited what may well have been the first full H.D. student film, the acclaimed Charles Bukowski adaptation The Man Who Loved Elevators.
He shot two independent features as a director of photography before teaming up with Mark Neveldine to form the gonzo camera/directing duo neveldine/taylor. The team signed with @radicalmedia in 2004 as commercial directors, knocking out campaigns for Nike, Powerade, Budweiser etc. before setting sights on the big screen.
Crank (2006) was written as a guerrilla attack on studio film-making. "If they love the script they've got to hire us, because there's no one else that could possibly make the thing," said Brian at the time. The film spawned a sequel, Crank: High Voltage (2009) that Quentin Tarantino called "The Gremlins 2 of action movies." The team pioneered the Red camera on the bonkers dystopian sci-fi mashup Gamer (2009) and trampled through Europe with Nicolas Cage on Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (2011).
Brian teamed up with comics legend Grant Morrison to adapt the graphic novel Happy! for Original Films as writer, director and producer. The series premiered on SyFy in 2017. Brian and Grant went on to adapt Aldous Huxley's masterpiece Brave New World with Amblin/UCP as a USA series in 2018.
His first solo feature as a writer-director, the twisted satire Mom and Dad premiered at TIFF 2017 as a part of the Midnight Madness line-up.- Visual Effects
- Director
- Producer
Since moving to Hollywood as teens in the mid-90s, Colin and his brother, Greg have charted a meteoric rise from self-taught artists working on local cable commercials in the suburbs of Chicago, to renowned visual effects gurus. Their careers began on the original run of The X-Files television show before working their way onto early CG-driven features, The Nutty Professor, Volcano, and the iceberg sequence of James Cameron's Titanic. Founding their own VFX house, Hydraulx in 2002, the brothers have worked on visionary sequences for over ninety feature films including Avatar, The Avengers, Skyfall, 300, Captain America, 2012, Iron Man 2, Battle: Los Angeles and The Day After Tomorrow. Their work on the latter brought Greg a BAFTA for Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects.
In 2000, Colin won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction for the Red Hot Chili Pepper's video, "Californication." This led to Greg and Colin stepping behind the camera the following year, crafting an instantly recognizable aesthetic on some of the decade's most imaginative music videos. Including Linkin Park's multiple VMA nominated Crawling, A Perfect Circle's Weak and Powerless, 50 Cent's Get Up and Usher's Love in this Club, also a VMA nominee. Their storytelling talents quickly garnered attention in the ad world where they directed campaigns for Toyota, Universal Studios, PlayStation, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Ford, Pennzoil and Shell.
In 2007, Colin and Greg co-directed their first feature for 20th Century Fox, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem which went on to gross over $156 million worldwide. For their directorial follow up, the Brothers produced Skyline independently under their Hydraulx Entertainment banner. It was acquired by Relativity Media at Cannes Film Festival and distributed by Universal Studios. The $10 million indie went on to gross over $80 million worldwide theatrically. Colin and Greg recently produced the even more ambitious sequel Beyond Skyline, starring Frank Grillo and Iko Uwais set to premiere later this year.
In 2015, Colin served as the lead Visual Effects Supervisor, overseeing over eleven hundred visual effect shots for Brad Peyton's, San Andreas. The Dwayne Johnson earthquake blockbuster went on to gross over $470 million worldwide while earning four nominations from the Visual Effects Society Awards. The following year Colin supervised Adam Wingard's Death Note and reunited with Dwayne Johnson, co-supervising on the upcoming comedy Baywatch for Paramount Pictures. Colin is currently serving as the lead supervisor Brad Peyton's epic monster mash Rampage, marking the third Johnson collaboration in as many years.
Recently Hydraulx worked on X-Men: Apocalypse, The Conjuring 2, Midnight Special, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and Into the Storm. They served as the lead vendor on Rian Johnson's Looper, created the opening set piece for Marvel's The Avengers and completed more than a third of the revolutionary age-altering shots in the Academy Award®-winning feature The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Colin and Greg executive produced The Bay, directed by Barry Levinson and the critically acclaimed Cannes Film Festival-winner Take Shelter, starring Michael Shannon and directed by Jeff Nichols. Future producing projects include The Mighty 8th co-written by Kurt Johnstad and Alien Ark with Ratpac and Warner Brothers.- Visual Effects
- Director
- Producer
Greg Strause grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Greg and his brother Colin Strause began experimenting with visual effects in their early teens. In 1995, Greg moved to Los Angeles and started working on the special effects for The X-Files (1993). From there he moved on to big-budget hits such as The Nutty Professor (1996), Volcano (1997), and the iceberg sequence of the Academy Award-winning Titanic (1997). He then broke into the music video and commercial arena, handling the special effects for artists such as U2, Britney Spears, and Aerosmith as well as spots for Nike, Jeep, and Pepsi. In 2000, Colin won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' video, "Californication." This led the brothers to start directing under the moniker "The Brothers Strause," and their Linkin Park clip "Crawling" was nominated for Best Direction and Best Rock Video at the 2001 VMAs. Other artists they have directed for include A Perfect Circle, Nickelback, Disturbed, and Staind.
Their visual effects company [Hydraulx] is at the forefront of the Industry delivering ground-breaking work on the blockbusters Fantastic Four (2005), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and The Day After Tomorrow (2004), for which Greg won a British Academy Award (BAFTA).
The Brothers have recently directed spots for Coca Cola, Ford, The United States Marine Corps, Toyota, Universal Studios and Sony PlayStation's "God of War." Their latest music video for A Perfect Circle's "Passive" marked their second collaboration with the band. The video was shot almost entirely with thermal cameras and featured on the Constantine soundtrack and DVD.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Gavin Hood was born on 12 May 1963 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is an actor and director, known for Official Secrets (2019), Tsotsi (2005) and Eye in the Sky (2015). He was previously married to Janine Eser.- Producer
- Cinematographer
- Director
Wych Kaosayananda was born in 1974 in Thailand. He is known for One Night in Bangkok (2020), Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) and The Driver (2019).- Visual Effects
- Producer
- Director
Pitof started his career in 1976 as photographer, assistant director and editor for films and commercials. He then branched out into musical scoring, software design and graphic design for televisions, music videos and commercials.
A pioneer of digital imaging in France, Pitof made his debut in visual effect in 1986. Co-founder of Duran Duboi the digital postproduction company leader in France, Pitof worked on commercials, videos and feature films for recognized directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Bertrant Travernier, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Jean-Paul Goude, Alain Chabat , Luc Besson...
Pitof then achieved the first French software for digital visual effects used in feature films.
In 1994, Pitof won the Technical Grand Prize for visual effects at the Cannes Film Festival for his work in "Dead Tired".
In 1995, the Minister of Culture in France honored him with the Medal of Arts and Letters.
Pitof went on to direct commercials and short films, most notably " A Tribute to Jessie Owens and Carl Lewis", for which he won the Gold Podium medal at MIFED in 1996 and the Gold Teapot medal at Imagina in 1996.
In 1997, Pitof took on the role of second unit director for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection", and consequently won second prize for visual effects at Imagina that year. It was Pitof's third collaboration with Jeunet after working together on the Jeunet-Caro films "Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children".
In the meantime the immense success of Duran Duboi brought the company on the stock market in Paris.
In September 2001, "Vidocq", starring Gerard Depardieu and Guillaume Canet, premiered in France. It was Pitof's feature film directorial debut.
"Vidocq" was the first feature film ever made in High Definition. The film was an international commercial success and garnered many awards including five honors: The Citizen Kane Award, Best Film, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Music, and Best Makeup from the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges, Spain.
Pitof makes his Hollywood debut in 2003, directing "Catwoman" for Warner Brothers, starring Halle Berry and Sharon Stone.
While developing and shooting projects with major producers in Hollywood, in 2008 Pitof is called in Beijing, China to help the development and the pre-production of an epic effect driven feature film.
Back in Hollywood Pitof has been developing various film projects and producing cutting edge commercials and music videos as well as developing Virtual Reality content.
Recently he co-produced 3 feature films in Los Angeles and produced a 10' by 10 episodes Mobile-Ready Series for Studio Plus, a French studio pioneer in the mobile content for Vivendi.
Decorations
Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres 1995 One of the French highest cultural honors Awarded by the Minister of Culture
Awards
Kid's Choice Award (nominated) USA 2005 "Catwoman" dir. Pitof
CNOMA Award Best Make-Up Canada 2005 "Catwoman" dir. Pitof
World Stunt Award (nominated) USA 2005 "Catwoman" dir. Pitof
Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver Porto 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
International Fantasy Film Award Best Special Effects Porto 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
International Fantasy Film Award Best Film (nominated) Porto 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
Best Film Sitges 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
Citizen Kane Award to the Director Revelation Sitges 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
Best Visuals Effects Sitges 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
Best Make Up Effects Sitges 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
Best Banda Original Soundtrack Sitges 2001 "Vidocq" dir. Pitof
Achievement in Post Production Solutions Productions 1999 "Asterix & Obelix vs Ceasar " dir. Claude Zidi
Saturn Award (nominated) USA 1998 « Alien Resurrection » dir. Jean Pierre Jeunet
Best Visual Effects 2nd prize in Imagina 1997 « Alien Resurrection » dir. Jean Pierre Jeunet
Golden Teapot in Imagina 1996 « Homage to Jesse and Carl » dir. Pitof
Golden Prize in MIFED 1996 « Homage to Jesse and Carl » dir. Pitof
Master Of Visual Effects in Paris 1996 « Orangina the flipper » dir. Alain Chabat
Best Use Of Visual Effects - Spotitalia 1995 « Mulino Bianco » dir. Jean Paul Seaulieu
Technical Grand Prize in Cannes Festival 1994 « Dead tired » dir. Michel Blanc- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Gérard Pirès was born on 31 August 1942 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Taxi (1998), Erotissimo (1969) and Steal (2002).- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
- Writer
Gérard Krawczyk was born on 17 May 1953 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Wasabi (2001), Taxi 4 (2007) and I Hate Actors (1986).- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Olivier Megaton was born on 6 August 1965 in Versailles, Seine-et-Oise [now Yvelines], France. He is a director and writer, known for Transporter 3 (2008), Taken 3 (2014) and Colombiana (2011).- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Timothy Kevin Story was born on March 13, 1970 in Los Angeles, California. Attended Westchester High School in Los Angeles, California with jazz pianist Eric Reed and actresses Regina King and Nia Long. Graduated from USC film school.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Beginning his career in the fine arts, John Hyams graduated from Syracuse University's School of Visual and Performing Arts, earning top awards in painting and sculpture. Hyams exhibited and sold work in Los Angeles and New York before turning his attention to film. In 1997 Hyams wrote, directed, and produced the critically acclaimed "One Dog Day," which debuted at the Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival. He directed episodes of the ABC television series, "NYPD Blue" and went on to direct Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren in Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
John Gray was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer, director and producer, known for Reckless (2014) White Irish Drinkers (2010), Ghost Whisperer (2005), The Hunley (1999) Martin and Lewis, and Helter Skelter. He was the youngest recipient ever of an American Film Institute Independant Filmmaker Grant. He has been married to Melissa Jo Peltier since April 29,2006. He has a daughter.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Don E. FauntLeRoy was accepted into the American Society of Cinematographers, with only 7 years experience as a Director of Photography. His rise has been swift, and his reputation as one of the most talented young cinematographers, rapid. Don's major break came in 1994, when he was given the opportunity of shooting David L. Wolper' epic mini-series, North & South: Book 3, Heaven & Hell (1994), which culminated with the ASC honoring him with a nomination. His most recent films have been Today You Die (2005), Mercenary for Justice (2006), Stan Lee's Lightspeed (2006) and Once Upon a Time in the Hood (2004) for Sony Pictures", all of them directed and photographed by Don. Don's technical knowledge is formidable and his experience virtually unsurpassed. Starting as an assistant cameraman in 1972, he has worked with some of the finest directors and cinematographers in the business: Harry Stradling Sr., Peter Hyams, Michael Chapman, Martin Scorsese, Robert Surtees, Herbert Ross, Haskell Wexler, James Cameron, Adam Greenberg, Richard Donner, Sam Peckinpah, Billy Wilder, Steven Spielberg and Blake Edwards, to name a few. His style, speed, and exuberance reflect this intense professional background. He has since gone on to direct and photograph some of the screen's most interesting talents: Sam Shepard, Dean Stockwell, Diane Keaton, Stockard Channing, Diane Lane, Mimi Rogers, Elizabeth Pena, Rutger Hauer, Jacqueline Bisset, Linda Hamilton and, of course, his gorgeous wife, Lesley-Anne Down. Don's grandfather was a still cameraman and his father was an optical cameraman, from them came Don's interest, then passion for this wonderful industry, his grandfather's collection of antique cameras and photographic equipment was handed down to Don, and he has continued to build upon that collection, now possessing a large, rare, and virtually irreplaceable array of film cameras and paraphernalia, which will be inherited by his eldest daughter, Season FauntLeRoy, who already is an accomplished young assistant camera-person, herself. When Don works, he insists on two things. Panavision equipment, both film and digital, along with Eastman Kodak stock, "they are the best", he says, and coming from one of the best, you know he is right.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Producer
Michael Oblowitz is a South African filmmaker who has directed and produced a number of critically acclaimed movies and videos. Born in Cape Town, he is a Fine Arts and Philosophy graduate of the University of Cape Town and holds an M.A. in Film from Columbia University. He was involved in New York's No Wave subculture. His early fine arts short films have been shown in the Whitney Museum's No Wave Cinema series, as part of a tribute to the innovative work of filmmakers and artists in Manhattan's Lower East Village.
His first feature, the avant-garde film noir King Blank (1983), starring Will Patton and Ron Vawter, was presented at numerous international film festivals. Oblowitz has collaborated on film and video projects with major New York artists including Joseph Kosuth, Vito Acconci, Lawrence Weiner, 'Joan Jonas' and Spalding Gray. His work has been screened at the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum and the Walker Art Center, as well as Paris' Cinemateque and Beaubourg Museum. His early films from the 1970's and early 1980's; X-Terminator, The Is/Land, Minus Zero and King Blank are in the permanent collection of the Museum Of Modern Art, New York City.
Oblowitz's other notable work is as a director of photography for Germany's avant-garde filmmaker, 'Rosa Von Praunheim'; four short films that garnered various film festival awards; documentaries on South Africa's prison island;The Is/Land, which won the Melbourne Film Festival in 1982 and a documentary on blues guitarist 'Buddy Guy'; and a retrospective look at Booker T. & the M.G.s.
Oblowitz's mainstream break came in 1997 with This World, Then the Fireworks (1997), based on Jim Thompson's novel and starring Billy Zane and Gina Gershon. This was an official entry at both the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals. His other mainstream work has been in action and genre cinema. He directed vampire police procedural The Breed (2001), starring Adrian Paul and Bokeem Woodbine, and the people-smuggling road-movie thriller On the Borderline (2001). He has made two films starring Steven Seagal, both in 2003: The Foreigner (2003) and Out for a Kill (2003). For the Sci-Fi Channel he directed SharkMan (2005) (also known as "SharkMan), which starred William Forsythe.
Oblowitz has also produced and directed hundreds of commercials and music videos with a variety of top stars including 'David Bowie (I)', 'Eric Clapton', Corey Hart, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Carole King, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, Carlos Santana, Natalie Cole, Garth Brooks and John Lee Hooker. Oblowitz also directed a Heineken commercial campaign. Oblowitz's film, The Traveler (2010), starring Val Kilmer, was released in the United States in October 2010. It won the award for Best Thriller Feature at the 2011 New York International Independent Film & Video Festival.
His iconic surfing documentary, Sea Of Darkness, 2010,won many film festivals throughout the world, including Byron Bay International Film Festival, San Sebastien Surf Film Festival, X- Dance Festival at Sundance, New York Surf Film Festival etc...
Oblowitz was recently featured in Blank City (2010), a documentary about the New York No Wave film movement that took place during late 1970s and early 1980s. The documentary features interviews with Oblowitz, along with Jim Jarmusch, Patti Smith, John Waters, Deborah Harry and other luminaries of that scene. It also includes many clips from his early films "Minus Zero" and "King Blank".
In 2013, the Hof Film Festival, Germany, organized a career retrospective of Oblowitz's films, documentaries and selected music videos. His Feature film, The Ganzfeld Experiment, starring Rumer Willis and Dominique Purcell, was released by Screen Media in 2014 and Premiered at The Hof Film Festival in Germany. In 2013 The Hof Film Festival, Germany.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Since 1980 Sam Firstenberg has been in the independent filmmaking field. Directing 22 theatrical feature films since completing his graduate studies in film at Loyola Marymount University. One More Chance (1981), starring Kirstie Alley, won prizes in major film festivals and sparked the beginning of his career as a director. Subsequent films have become commercial hits and cult classics, especially the "American Ninja" series starring Michael Dudikoff and the break-dance phenomenon Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984).
Born in Poland, he grew up in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1972 he moved to the US where "Shmulik" became "Sam", and he completed his graduate studies in film at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, where he resides with his wife and three daughters.- Director
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Francis Lawrence is an American filmmaker. He started directing over sixty music videos before he directed the cult classic Keanu Reeves film Constantine, I Am Legend and Water for Elephants. He also directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2, and Red Sparrow, which all starred Jennifer Lawrence.- Director
- Writer
- Visual Effects
Scott Stewart is a writer, director, and producer of both film and television. He most recently directed and executive produced the pilot episode of the young-adult supernatural drama series "Siren" which premiered in March, 2018 on Freeform to critical and ratings success and was renewed for an extended second season.
Previously, Stewart wrote and directed "Christmas" starring Seth Green as part of the horror-comedy anthology feature film "Holidays" for XYZ Films which premiered as an opening night selection at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2014, Stewart directed the pilot episode and served as executive producer on "Dominion", a supernatural action television series for the Syfy Channel based on Stewart's own 2010 Sony/Screen Gems hit feature film "Legion".
In 2013, Stewart wrote and directed the supernatural thriller "Dark Skies" starring Keri Russell and JK Simmons for producer Jason Blum ("Get Out", "Split", "Insidious.") Also in 2013, Stewart directed and executive produced the two-hour pilot of "Defiance", an innovative multi-platform sci-fi television series for Universal Cable Productions and the Syfy Channel. The show premiered to record ratings for the network and ran for three seasons.
In 2011, Stewart directed the film adaptation of the Tokyopop comic book "Priest" for Sony/Screen Gems, starring Paul Bettany, Maggie Q, and Christopher Plummer for producers Mike DeLuca ("The Social Network", "Moneyball", "Fifty Shades of Grey") and Josh Donen ("Gone Girl", "House of Cards.") In 2010, Stewart co-wrote and directed the hit Sony/Screen Gems supernatural thriller "Legion" starring Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Kate Walsh, and Lucas Black. Stewart also co-wrote the comic book prequel "Legion: Prophets" for IDW Publishing.
An accomplished visual effects artist and technologist, Stewart co-founded the well-regarded visual effects company, The Orphanage, which created visual effects for more than two dozen major films including such blockbusters as "Iron Man", "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", "Blade Runner: the Final Cut", "Sin City", "The Day After Tomorrow", "The Host", and "Hellboy".
Before co-founding The Orphanage, Stewart was a visual effects artist at George Lucas' Industrial Light + Magic where he created visual effects for numerous blockbuster films, including "Star Wars - Episode One: The Phantom Menace" and "Lost World: Jurassic Park." He graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1991 with a degree in Motion Picture Production. He grew up in Marin County, California.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
- Director
Pierre Morel was born on 12 May 1964 in France. He is a cinematographer and director, known for District B13 (2004), Taken (2008) and The Gunman (2015).- Producer
- Writer
- Music Department
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, the son of TV producer parents. At 15, he wrote the music for Don Dohler's Nightbeast (1982). In his senior year of college, he and Jill Mazursky teamed up to write a feature film, which became Taking Care of Business (1990). He went on to write and produce Regarding Henry (1991) and Forever Young (1992). He also co-wrote Gone Fishin' (1997) with Mazursky. Along with other Sarah Lawrence alumni, he experimented with computer animation and was contracted to develop pre-production animation for Shrek (2001).
Abrams worked on the screenplay for Armageddon (1998) and co-created (as well as composing the opening theme of) Felicity (1998), which ran for four seasons. He founded the production company Bad Robot in 2001 with Bryan Burk. He created and executive-produced Alias (2001) and Lost (2004), composing the theme music for both, and co-writing episodes of "Lost". He also co-wrote and produced thriller Joy Ride (2001). He made his feature directing debut with Mission: Impossible III (2006), reinvigorating the series. He produced the hit mystery film Cloverfield (2008) and co-created Fringe (2008).
He directed the Star Trek (2009) reboot, proving successful with fans and newcomers to the franchise. He next directed Super 8 (2011), co-produced by Steven Spielberg and produced Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011). He returned to direct the follow-up to his reboot, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Disney and Lucasfilm announced J.J. as their choice for director of the first episode in the new 'Star Wars' trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). He initially resisted, as he didn't want to travel away from his family to London, but Kathleen Kennedy convinced him that his voice would be the best to reinvigorate this franchise, as he had done with two others before. He also produced Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) and Star Trek Beyond (2016), and executive-produced Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). When it was announced that Colin Trevorrow would no longer direct Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), it was announced that J.J. would return to complete the trilogy he started.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.
The amiable, husky-framed actor with the tight, crinkly hair was born in Queens, New York on October 19, 1966, the only child of Madeleine (Balkoff), an elementary school teacher, and Charles Favreau, a special education teacher. His father has French-Canadian, German, and Italian ancestry, and his mother was from a Russian Jewish family. He attended the Bronx High School of Science before furthering his studies at Queens College in 1984. Dropping out just credits away from receiving his degree, Jon moved to Chicago where he focused on comedy and performed at several Chicago improvisational theaters, including the ImprovOlympic and the Improv Institute. He also found a couple of bit parts in films.
While there, he earned another bit role in the film, Rudy (1993), and met fellow cast mate Vince Vaughn. Their enduring personal friendship would play an instrumental role in furthering both their professional careers within just a few years. Jon broke into TV with a role on the classic series, Seinfeld (1989) (as "Eric the Clown"). After filming rudimentary roles in the movies Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Notes from Underground (1995) and Batman Forever (1995), he decided to do some risk taking by writing himself and friend Vaughn into what would become their breakthrough film. Swingers (1996), which he also co-produced, centers on Jon as a luckless, struggling actor type who is emotionally shattered after losing his girlfriend, but is pushed back into the L.A. social scene via the help of cool, worldly, outgoing actor/buddy Vaughn. These two blueprint roles went on to define the character types of both actors on film.
In 1997, Jon appeared favorably on several episodes of the popular TV sitcom, Friends (1994), as "Pete Becker", the humdrum but extremely wealthy suitor for Courteney Cox's "Monica" character, and also appeared to fine advantage on the Tracey Takes On... (1996) comedy series. He later took on the biopic mini-movie, Rocky Marciano (1999), portraying the prizefighter himself in a highly challenging dramatic role and received excellent reviews. Other engagingly offbeat "everyman" films roles came Jon's way -- the ex-athlete in the working class film, Dogtown (1997); a soon-to-be groom whose bachelor party goes horribly awry in the comedy thriller Very Bad Things (1998); a newlywed opposite Famke Janssen in Love & Sex (2000); a wild and crazy linebacker in The Replacements (2000); as Ben Affleck's legal partner in Daredevil (2003); and another down-and-out actor in The Big Empty (2003). He wrote and directed himself and Vaughn as two fellow boxers who involve themselves in criminal activity in Made (2001). Both he and Vaughn produced. He also directed the highly popular Will Ferrell comedy Elf (2003), in which he had a small part.
Jon went on to re-team favorably with his friend, Vince Vaughn, who enjoyed a meteoric rise into the comedy star ranks, in such light-weight features as The Break-Up (2006), Four Christmases (2008) and Couples Retreat (2009), the last of which he co-wrote with Vaughn.
Jon has made even greater strides as a writer, producer and/or director in recent years with the exciting mega-box office action-packed Iron Man (2008), starring Robert Downey Jr., and its sequels, Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013). Jon's character of "Happy Hogan" would be featured in a number of Marvel Comic adventures. Other offerings behind the scenes have included the adventure dramedy Chef (2014), in which he also starred in the title role; the revamped film version of The Avengers (2012) also starring Downey Jr., and it's sequels Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019); and the animated Disney features The Jungle Book (2016) and The Lion King (2019) and the TV series The Chef Show (2019).
Favreau's marriage to Joya Tillem on November 24, 2000, produced son Max and two daughters, Madeleine and Brighton Rose. Joya is the niece of KGO (AM) lawyer and talk show host, Len Tillem. On the sly, the actor/writer/producer/director enjoys playing on the World Poker Tour.- Editor
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Patrick Lussier is known for Drive Angry (2011), My Bloody Valentine (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015).- Director
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Simon West is a British born and Hollywood based film director and producer. His films include CON AIR starring Nicholas Cage, "THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER" starring John Travolta and "LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER" starring Angelina Jolie. West is the only live action director ever whose first three 3 films all grossed over $100m at the US box office.
West also served as an executive producer on the Oscar nominated BLACK HAWK DOWN. He will be reteaming with BLACK HAWK DOWN writer Ken Nolan to direct THUNDER RUN based on the book "Thunder Run" written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Zucchino. His television company has produced acclaimed series such as Fox's "KEEN EDDIE", the CBS series "CLOSE TO HOME", Fox's "HUMAN TARGET" and the NBC series "THE CAPE".
West directed the action-packed remake of "THE MECHANIC" starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster and "THE EXPENDABLES 2" starring almost every action star in the movie world. This film grossed over $300m in worldwide box office.- Producer
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Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-American film director whose films have grossed $2 billion worldwide. He is best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious 3-6 and Star Trek Beyond. He is also known for his work on television shows like Community and the second season of True Detective. Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Cypress, California, in Orange County. He attended Cypress High School and University of California, San Diego for two years before transferring to UCLA, where he earned a B.A. in Film & Television and a MFA in Film Directing & Production from the UCLA film school.- Director
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Louis Leterrier is a French film director and producer. He notably directed the first two Transporter films, Unleashed, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans, Now You See Me, Tower of Strength and The Brothers Grimsby. He also directed episodes of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix and three episodes of Lupin.- Writer
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Sheldon Lettich was born in New York City, but moved to California at a young age and grew up in the Los Angeles area. After graduation from high school he spent nearly four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a radio operator in South Vietnam with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, and later with the elite 1st Force Reconnaissance Company based at Camp Pendleton, California.
He worked his way through college as a professional photographer, and attended at the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies as a Cinematography Fellow. Although his initial career goal was to become a director of photography, at the AFI his interests branched out to encompass writing and directing, which became the two fields where he found eventual success in the entertainment business.
Based partly upon his experiences in Vietnam, he co-authored the renowned play, "Tracers," with a group of Vietnam Vets who were also aspiring actors. First performed on July 4th, 1980 at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles, the play then traveled to Joseph Papp's Public Theater in New York City, the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago (directed by Gary Sinise), the Royal Court Theater in London, and numerous venues worldwide. It received both Drama Desk Awards and L.A. Drama Critics Awards, and is still being performed throughout the world.
Around the same time, Lettich was writing numerous spec screenplays. One of these, co-written with Josh Becker, subsequently became the cult classic, Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except (1985), which starred Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi.
Eventually his screenplays began attracting the attention of producers in Hollywood. He co-authored the Cold War drama, Russkies (1987), which was the first starring role for a young Joaquin Phoenix. Around the same time he wrote the screenplay for the now-classic martial arts film, Bloodsport (1988), which launched the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. One of his Vietnam-based screenplays caught the eye of Sylvester Stallone, which resulted in an overall deal with Stallone's White Eagle Productions, and led to him co-writing Rambo III (1988) with Stallone.
The success of Bloodsport not only turned Jean-Claude Van Damme into an international action star, but it also forged a long and ongoing friendship with the man who wrote it. Van Damme helped to launch Lettich's directing career with the film, Lionheart (1990) , which became Van Damme's first movie to be released theatrically by a major U.S. studio. This was followed by Double Impact (1991), which was filmed in Hong Kong, with Lettich directing Van Damme in a challenging double role as twin brothers seeking revenge for their parents' murder.
Lettich next discovered Mark Dacascos, who made his starring debut in Only the Strong (1993), a film that introduced the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira to international audiences. He also directed Dolph Lundgren in The Last Patrol (2000), and Daniel Bernhardt in Perfect Target (1997).
Continuing his long association with Van Damme, Lettich was a writer and a producer on the historical French Foreign Legion film, Legionnaire (1998), starring Van Damme and shot on location in Morocco. And he directed The Order (2001), an action-thriller starring Van Damme and Charlton Heston, which was filmed on locations in Israel and Bulgaria.
His most recent directorial effort, which he also co-wrote, is The Hard Corps (2006), an urban action-romance. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Vivica A. Fox, the film was shot on locations around Vancouver, Canada, and on sound stages in Romania, and was financed and released worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
His latest movie is Max (2015), which he co-wrote with his long-time friend, Boaz Yakin. The movie was directed by Boaz and produced by MGM. It was released nationwide in the USA by Warner Brothers on June 26th, 2015, and by the end of the summer had grossed $43 million. The novelization sold over 100,000 copies. A sequel has been completed.- Director
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Tom Dey, born in New England, graduated from Brown University in 1987, and then went to study film in Paris at the Centre des Etudes Critiques. In 1990 he moved to Los Angeles and began attending the American Film Institute (AFI). He became a writer for American Cinematographer magazine. He graduated from AFI in 1993, and made commercials for Ridley Scott Associates. He made his feature film directing debut on Touchstone Pictures' Shanghai Noon (2000).- Director
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Filmmaker Kevin Donovan, whose commercials and music videos have garnered international recognition, made his feature film directing debut in 2002 with the Dreamworks action comedy The Tuxedo starring Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film has grossed over $100 million dollars to date, and is a favorite among young Kung Fu aficionados.
Kevin's storytelling style is subtle and intelligent. He takes great care in casting, adding an element of the unexpected to any idea. His training as a visual artist gives him the unique ability to sketch his own ideas and bring stories to life even before a frame has been shot.
Hailing from Montana, Kevin played football for Montana State University before pursuing his film career. He attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, then moved to New York, becoming an art director at Cliff Freeman and Partners, BBDO and J. Walter Thompson. The urge to direct and bring stories to life gained him tremendous success in the U.S., and international markets.
Kevin's numerous awards have included five Cannes Lions, and he has had over twenty commercials short-listed at the festival. In 2000 he won both a Silver Lion at Cannes for his University of California campaign, and a Bronze for "The Rant" for Molson Canadian, one of the most successful commercials in Canada's history. His most recent accolades include an award from the New York Film Festival for his satirical re-imagining of March Of The Penguins, a promotional short film for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Kevin's work has been featured in AdCritic, Marketing, Shots, Boards, and Shoot magazines. His American Heart Association sixty-second spot aired twice in the 2007 Super Bowl.
Kevin's commercial clients have included Pontiac, Toyota, Pepsi, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Lever Brothers, Viagra, Wendy's, Sharpie, Planter's Peanuts, Nestea, Cadbury and Wild Aid. He recently completed a series of Ford Truck spots featuring country music phenomenon Toby Keith and "America's Dirtiest Jobs" host Mike Rowe.
Kevin continues to pursue directing and writing, both in features and commercials, and loves to bring his own brand of visual style to each project. He spends his time between residences in Los Angeles and Montana, and familiar hotels in Toronto and New York.- Director
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Paul Hunter's inventive style has arguably elevated the standard of music video production. Having worked with celebrated musical artists including Jennifer Lopez, Lenny Kravitz, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, D'Angelo, Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Mariah Carey, Will Smith and Janet Jackson.
Paul is among an elite group of directors who successfully segues between hip-hop and rock, fortifying a diverse client base. After a long and extremely successful career as a commercial and music video director Paul can now add film director to his list of accolades. Beginning production in February 2002 in Toronto, Paul will make his feature length directorial debut with Bulletproof Monk (2003) for MGM. He will be directing alongside producers Michael Yanover, Terence Chang and John Woo. Bulletproof Monk will star Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott, with the remaining cast members soon to be confirmed.
A native Californian, Paul majored in Radio, TV, and Film at Cal State Northridge. His career began working on sets and shooting spec commercials. He continues his work in commercial directing by helming big budget product spots for major corporations, including The Gap and Coca Cola (Dasani). Paul received overwhelming recognition for his work on the projects for Nike and Jordan. The Nike commercial went on to be nominated for an Emmy. His ground breaking style of blurring the lines between commercial and music video has generated widespread acclaim for changing the face of commercials today. Paul directed the music video of a lifetime when he directed the come-back single You Rock My World for Michael Jackson. He directed the multiple award-winning Divas video for the soundtrack to the film Moulin Rouge! (2001).- Writer
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Wayne Kramer was born in South Africa, where he graduated from the Johannesburg School for Art, Drama and Music. His feature film debut came in 2003 with "The Cooler," a romantic drama set in Las Vegas and starring William H. Macy as a professional casino jinx and Maria Bello as the cocktail waitress who changes his luck. "The Cooler" was selected for competition in the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and opened the 2003 Los Angeles Film Festival. Alec Baldwin received an Oscar® nomination for his portrayal of an old-school casino boss, and won the National Board of Review's Best Supporting Actor award. The Lionsgate release also received Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Online Film Critics award nominations for both Baldwin and Bello. Kramer won the Special Jury Prize at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier. Kramer was nominated for a 2004 Golden Satellite Award and a 2004 Edgar Allan Poe (along with Frank Hannah) for his screenplay to The Cooler, which also received a 2003 Special Mention For Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review
Wayne followed up "The Cooler" with "Running Scared," a gritty action thriller for New Line Cinema. Paul Walker starred as a New Jersey mob foot soldier who spends a harrowing night chasing down a gun used to kill a dirty cop. The film also starred Vera Farmiga, Chazz Palminteri and Elizabeth Mitchell. "Running Scared" was released in 2006 and has since become a cult favorite among action fans.
Next, Wayne wrote, produced (along with Frank Marshall) and directed "Crossing Over," an ensemble drama about illegal immigration in Los Angeles. The film stars Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Jim Sturgess, Ashley Judd, Cliff Curtis, Alice Eve and Alice Braga. "Crossing Over" was released by The Weinstein Company in 2009.
Most recently, Wayne directed the black comedy ensemble "Pawn Shop Chronicles," which was released by Anchor Bay in 2013. The film stars Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Elijah Wood, Thomas Jane, Vincent D'Onofrio and Lukas Haas.
Wayne will next direct the dystopian sci-fi love story "Ecstasia," based on his upcoming novel, with Scott Eastwood attached to star.
Kramer's other credits include the original screenplay for "Mindhunters" (2004), directed by Renny Harlin and released by Dimension Films.- Producer
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Ruben Fleischer was born on 31 October 1974 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Zombieland (2009), Gangster Squad (2013) and Venom (2018). He has been married to Holly Shakoor Fleischer since 10 November 2012.- Director
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Joseph Ruben was born on 10 May 1950 in Briarcliff, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Dreamscape (1984), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) and The Stepfather (1987).- Writer
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Ron Shelton was born on 15 September 1945 in Whittier, California, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Bull Durham (1988), Hollywood Homicide (2003) and White Men Can't Jump (1992). He has been married to Lolita Davidovich since 1997. They have one child.- Writer
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George Gallo moved from Mamaroneck, New York and relocated in Los Angeles in 1982. After 4 years, he got the film "Wise Guys" produced with Danny Devito and Joe Piscopo. The classic buddy/cops and robbers picture "Midnight Run" came next with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Then in 1990, he wrote and directed "29th Street" which Danny Aiello and Anthony LaPaglia. It got critical raves. Other credits include 1995's, "Bad Boys" starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Gallo will soon direct the film "Friend Again."- Director
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Kevin Bray is a director and producer known for his work on Succession, Insecure, Run, The Americans, Snowfall, and the pilot of Suits. Bray began his film career directing the classic urban action comedy, All About the Benjamins, as well as the 2004 remake of Walking Tall, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He has also directed over one hundred music videos and commercials, ranging from Whitney Houston to the Beastie Boys.- Director
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Simon Wincer was born in 1943 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a director and assistant director, known for The Phantom (1996), Harlequin (1980) and Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001).- Director
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- Art Department
Miguel Sapochnik was born in July 1974 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Game of Thrones (2011), Repo Men (2010) and Finch (2021). He has been married to Alexis Raben since 2006.- Director
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Jorge Daniel Espinosa is a Swedish-Chilean film director, screenwriter and film producer from Trångsund, Stockholm. He graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2001. He notably directed the Sony's Marvel Universe film Morbius starring Jared Leto and other films including Life, Easy Money, The Boxer, Babylon Disease, Outside Love and Child 44.- Producer
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Baltasar Kormákur is an actor, producer and director whose work spans theater, movies and television. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, he graduated as an actor from Iceland's National Academy of Fine Arts in 1990. He was immediately signed on by the National Theatre of Iceland, where he worked as one of the leading young performing artists until 1997. During the last two years of his assignment, he also directed several ambitious works, after having produced and directed highly popular, independent stage productions alongside his projects with the National Theatre. In 2000, he wrote, directed, acted in and produced the feature film "101 Reykjavik," which became an international hit and earned the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Subsequently, Variety selected him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch," along with Alejandro González Iñárritu, Lukas Moodysson, Christopher Nolan and other newcomers at the time.
Soon after, Kormákur started Blueeyes Productions and since then has maintained his focus on feature film writing, producing, and directing. His films "The Sea," "A Little Trip To Heaven," "Jar City" and "White Night Wedding" have all been very successful in Iceland, and won numerous international awards. Kormákur's "The Deep," which eerily captures the tragic real-life story of the lone survivor of a capsized fishing boat off the frigid Icelandic coast, premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to become Iceland's Oscar nominee and was shortlisted for the foreign language Academy Award. It opened in Iceland on September 21, 2012 and took in over 50% of the country's box office receipts that weekend and earned a record number of Edda Awards, 11 in all, including Best Film of the Year, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Kormákur has also directed features in the United States, including "Inhale," an independent film produced by the LA based 26 Films, starring Dermot Mulroney, Diane Kruger and Sam Shepard and "Contraband," starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, and Kate Beckinsale, which took first place at the US box office during its opening weekend, early January 2012. Universal Pictures released "Contraband," which was a remake of Oskar Johansson's "Reykjavik Rotterdam," that starred Kormákur and he produced with Agnes Johansen through his Blueeyes Productions, along with Working Title Films.
Kormákur's next film was the thriller "2 Guns," starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, which Universal Pictures will release in August 2013. Other projects include the HBO pilot "The Missionary," a spy thriller he will direct and Mark Wahlberg, Steve Levinson and Malcolm Gladwell will produce; "Everest," the cautionary tale and real life adventure on the mountain in 1996 when eight climbers died in the span of two days, due to a series of horrific mishaps and bad decisions. Working Title Films and Emmett/Furla Productions will produce "Everest" with Kormákur. Also, "Viking," a big budget action adventure set in the world of the famed Norse warriors, which will film in Iceland. Kormákur optioned Iceland's beloved, Nobel Prize-winning book Independent People to develop as a feature film and will produce the American remake of "Jar City" along with CEO of Lava Bear Films, David Linde. He is also producing the Icelandic drama "Rocketman," which acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari is directing.- Producer
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Filmmaker Len Wiseman's career began through his work in the art department on the blockbuster hits like Godzilla (1998), Men in Black (1997), and Independence Day (1996). His design talents soon got him behind the camera directing commercials for PlayStation, Time Warner, Oracle, Intel, and Activision, and quickly lead to work in music videos. Len received numerous award nominations, including Best Art Direction at the 2002 MTV Awards for Quarashi's Gargandi snilld (2005) (aka Stick 'Em Up) and Best Director at the 2002 MVPA Awards for the Rufus Wainwright video "Across the Universe." In addition, Wiseman directed music videos for Megadeth, En Vogue, Static-X, Paul Oakenfold and Brooke Allison.- Director
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Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and superhero films, including 300 (2007), Watchmen (2009), Man of Steel (2013) and its upcoming sequel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Snyder is the co-founder of Cruel and Unusual Films, a production company he established in 2004, alongside his wife Deborah Snyder and producing partner Wesley Coller.- Director
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Florent-Emilio Siri was born on 2 March 1965. He is a director and writer, known for Hostage (2005), A Minute of Silence (1998) and Intimate Enemies (2007).- Director
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Jean-François Richet was born on 2 July 1966 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Mesrine: Killer Instinct (2008), Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008) and État des lieux (1995).- Director
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Danny Cannon is an Emmy-nominated film and television producer, director and writer, known for executive producing and directing Pennyworth (2019), Gotham (2014), Nikita (2010), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Judge Dredd (1995), and is responsible for executive producing the billion dollar CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) series franchise (which he directed the pilot of), along with the subsequent spinoffs CSI: Miami (2002) and CSI: NY (2004).
One of the top paid television directors in the entertainment industry and the only TV pilot director to also operate as a key writer, Cannon has directed 15 television pilots, 12 of which have been ordered to series including (in addition to the above): Training Day (2017), The Tomorrow People (2013), Dark Blue (2009), The Forgotten (2009), and Eleventh Hour (2008). At one time, Cannon had five television series on-air, while acting as executive producer.
Cannon is currently the executive producer (and a writer/director) of FOX's superhero series Gotham (2014-2019), which won the Critics Choice Award for Most Exciting New Series in 2014. His newest endeavor, as of 2019, is a 10-episode straight-to-series Batman prequel for the Epix Network, titled Pennyworth (2019), which he is currently executive producing and writing/directing in London.- Producer
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Demian has amassed a vast body of work in the music video industry since receiving his BFA from New York University in 1988, leading to his current status as a major up-and-comer in Feature Film Direction. Some past projects include directing Music Videos for Sting & Eric Clapton, Grandmaster Caz, Shabba Ranks, Queen Latifah, West of Eden (Best Independent Video/MTV 1987), Cypress Hill, Gloria Estefan, Sony, Warner Bros, Columbia Pictures, MCA, Epic, Island, Atlantic, Tommy Boy, IRS Records, World Hunger Project, and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Demian was Chairman of the New York Independent Film Coalition for two years, and has directed, produced, written, photographed, taped and/or recorded audio on over 225 features, short films, music videos, commercials and concerts.- Producer
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Michael Davis was born on 1 August 1961 in Rockville, Maryland, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Eight Days a Week (1997), Shoot 'Em Up (2007) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991).- Director
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Albert Pyun was an award-winning US filmmaker best known for his contributions to the science-fiction and action genres. He is credited with pioneering the cyborg sub-genre and is considered to be a maverick and renegade in independent genre cinema. With over 50 titles to his name, he has enjoyed a prolific career spanning 30+ years and has earned himself a fevered cult following.
His first film, The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), was the highest-grossing independent film of 1982, earning $36,714,025 in the US. The film's success led to Pyun being attached to various large sci-fi projects, including Total Recall (1990) (eventually directed by Paul Verhoeven) and he became a much sought-after director by several studios. His follow-up film was the post-apocalyptic sci-fi Radioactive Dreams (1984), which helped launch the careers of Michael Dudikoff and John Stockwell, and cemented Pyun's reputation for being an edgy and creative filmmaker. The 1980s was a highly productive decade for him, with the release of Dangerously Close (1986), Vicious Lips (1986), Down Twisted (1987), Alien from L.A. (1988), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1988), Cyborg (1989) and Deceit (1990).
Pyun's work with Cannon Pictures saw him direct more films for the company than any other filmmaker and his involvement with "Spider-Man" and "Masters of the Universe 2" became legendary. When both films were canceled mid-way into their productions, Pyun devised a breakneck strategy to combine the sets and costume designs from both to salvage the lost money and deliver a single stand-alone film. The result was Cyborg (1989), which opened in 1989 as the fourth highest grossing film in the United States. It grossed $10,166,459 and gave Jean-Claude Van Damme his Hollywood superstar status.
The 1990s proved to be an even more prolific decade, with Pyun directing a further 24 films. Notable throughout those years include Captain America (1990), Nemesis (1992), Nemesis 2: Nebula (1995), Nemesis 3: Time Lapse (1996), Nemesis 4: Death Angel (1996), Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991), Knightriders (1981), Omega Doom (1996), Adrenalin: Fear the Rush (1996), Hong Kong 97 (1994), Postmortem (1998) and Mean Guns (1997). His work with Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures saw him direct Dollman (1991) and Arcade (1993), both of which continue to hold a strong cult following.
The 2000s marked a new era for Pyun, as he moved away from the independent studio system and began making films much more independently by way of self-funding and outsourcing money personally. This allowed for greater creative freedoms as a filmmaker, despite his budgets being drastically reduced. His new approach to filmmaking has divided audiences, however; those who have followed his career closely agree that his films since 2000 have been far more audacious and personal, none more so than his 2013 film Road to Hell (2008) (shot in 2008). Inspired by Walter Hill's classic Streets of Fire (1984), the film acts as a spiritual sequel and presents the two protagonists in an alternative future. Michael Paré and Deborah Van Valkenburgh reprised their roles of Tom and Reva Cody and their characters are pitted against a vibrant and surreal purgatory landscape. The film has enjoyed a steady run on the festival circuit and is slated for a home-entertainment release. Other notable films from this decade include the stunning one-shot horror film Invasion (2004) (aka "Infection"), the brutal drug trade thriller Bulletface (2010) and the long-awaited Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire (2010), a follow up to "The Sword and the Sorcerer". Investor and distributor interference on this film jeopardized the final theatrical cut and the film is slated, along with several of his other films, for an upcoming director's cut release.
The 2010s have proven to be a difficult time in Pyun's career due to declining health and difficulties getting a major project released. His film Cyborg Nemesis: The Dark Rift was shot, but remains unfinished due to pending post-production issues. An incomplete version of the film was screened for an audience at the Yellow Fever Independent Film Festival. His health took a turn for the worst in 2012 when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The effect of the illness took an emotional and physical toll on him and in early 2013 he announced his retirement. Following a brief hiatus he concluded that the best remedy was filmmaking and he made a triumphant return with The Interrogation of Cheryl Cooper (2014). While he endured medical tests and treatments, the film had an incredibly fast turnaround and was written, shot and completed within a matter of weeks. The story line was a direct follow-up to "Invasion" and continued the one-shot concept. It was entirely filmed over the course of a single day and showcased Pyun's ability to think outside the box, both practically and creatively.
As of 2015 Pyun had attempted to develop various other projects, while maintaining ongoing treatment for his multiple sclerosis. These projects include "Napoleon", "The Kickboxer": "City of Blood" and "Algiers". In maintaining a strong relationship with his fan base Pyun has shared the production details of these projects on his Facebook page and maintains that he is still actively pursuing them. Their further development will depend on his ongoing health. He attributes his relationship with his fans as a driving force in fighting his illness and he has shared his medical journey with them almost every step of the way.
November of 2015 saw the release of a conceptual teaser trailer for a brand-new film titled "Star Warfare Rangers" and the "Cyborg Witch of Endor" (later retitled Interstellar Civil War: Shadows of the Empire (2017)). Having evolved from various attempts to revive his "Cyborg" saga, the film is an original story detailing the search for a missing Cyborg child. The film marked Albert's 33rd collaboration with his long-standing composer Tony Riparetti and boasts an impressive cast including Brad Thornton, Glenn Maynard, Ellie Church, Tommie Vegas, Shane Ryan and Morgan Weisser, among others.
Pyun's career has seen him work with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, many of whom got their first break with him. He has worked with the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sasha Mitchell, Christopher Lambert, Natasha Henstridge, Brion James, Tim Thomerson, Jackie Earle Haley, Teri Hatcher, Rutger Hauer, Olivier Gruner, Charlie Sheen, Burt Reynolds, Steven Seagal, Rob Lowe, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, Kevin Sorbo, Tom Sizemore, Andrew Dice Clay, Dennis Hopper, Kevin Gage, Robert Patrick, Seth Green, Dennis Chan, Ned Beatty, Darren McGavin, Ronny Cox, Kris Kristofferson, George Kennedy, Richard Lynch, Lee Horsley, Richard Moll, Courteney Cox, Tom Matthews, Nicholas Guest, Kathy Ireland, Deep Roy, Michel Qissi, Andrew Divoff, David Carradine, Vincent Klyn, Mitch Pileggi, Yuji Okumoto, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Michael Pare and Deborah Van Vulkenburgh. His most frequent actor collaborations have been with Norbert Weisser and Scott Paulin, who have worked alongside Albert in dozens of films spanning several decades.
Albert passed away on November 22, 2022 in Las Vegas, NV, where he lived with his wife and producer, Cynthia Curnan.- Producer
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Deran Sarafian began his filmmaking career attending UCLA and working for Roger Corman on films such as ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. Inspired by European filmmakers, he moved to Rome where he began writing and quickly sold and directed his first low budget independent feature film THE FALLING, starring Dennis Christopher and Lynn-Holly Johnson. Deran moved back to the states, where he continued to direct genre thrillers including GUNMEN, TO DIE FOR, DEATH WARRANT, and BACK IN THE USSR starring Roman Polanski. The critical success of these films led to his first Hollywood blockbuster feature, TERMINAL VELOCITY, starring Charlie Sheen, Natassja Kinski, and James Gandolfini.
By the end of the 1990's Deran transitioned into television. He has since become one of the most prolific directors/producer working in television today, winning the prestigious American Film Institute award for HOUSE M.D, starring Hugh Laurie. Deran found a new home on HOUSE where he co-executive produced over forty episodes, and directed twenty-three of the first one hundred episodes. For his work on the series, Deran has won the AFI Award for Best Director in 2007, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmys, and has won two People's Choice Awards in 2008 and 2009.
Deran has produced and directed network pilots including K-VILLE and PAST LIFE for Fox, as well as one hundred plus episodes of critically acclaimed network, cable, and streaming series including the CSI franchise, LOST, SWAMP THING, GAME OF SILENCE, HEMLOCK GROVE, HELL ON WHEELS, DOMINION, CROSSBONES, LEGENDS, THE STRAIN and THE RETURNED.- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Robert Harmon attended film school at Boston University and worked for many years as a still photographer prior to embarking on a film career. Harmon worked as a still photographer on the movies "Roller Boogie," "Fade to Black," and "Hell Night." He was a second unit camera operator on "They Call Me Bruce?". Robert was the cinematographer for both the offbeat vampire feature "The Black Room" and the documentary "The Jupiter Menace." He made his directorial debut with the short thriller "China Lake." Harmon achieved his greatest enduring cult popularity with the intense, harrowing and genuinely terrifying "danger on the road" psycho horror knockout "The Hitcher." Robert then directed the touching drama "Eyes of An Angel" and the exciting Jean-Claude Van Damme action vehicle "Nowhere to Hide." In addition, Harmon has directed a bunch of made-for-TV movies which include the excellent biopics "Gotti" and "Ike: Countdown to D-Day." Robert made a welcome return to the horror genre with the spooky "They" and contributed another worthy addition to the "danger on the road" sub-genre with the brutal and nerve-wracking "Highwaymen." More recently Robert Harmon has directed several gritty and superior made-for-TV crime mystery dramas starring Tom Selleck as tough, but worn-out Police Chief Jesse Stone.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Peter MacDonald was born on 20 June 1939 in Willesden, London, England, UK. He is an assistant director and director, known for Rambo III (1988), Six Days of Sistine (2019) and Legionnaire (1998).- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Mic Rodgers was born in 1954. He is known for Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Point Break (2015) and Braveheart (1995).- Producer
- Writer
- Director
From 1988 through 1990, Philippe Martinez was President of the famous Odeon Theater in Marseilles, one of the largest playhouses in Europe. At the end of 1990, deciding to focus on a career as a feature film producer, he moved to the United States, later becoming Chairman of the Board of distribution company Ulysses Entertainment as well with offices in Los Angeles, Paris and London.
From 1996-1999 Philippe headed Betar Entertainment - based in Los Angeles and with offices in Montreal - producing Canadian co-productions for international distribution; he served as Executive Producer on the features Ultimate Weapon (starring Hulk Hogan) and In Her Defense (starring Marlee Matlin & Michael Dudikoff).
In 1999, Philippe launched Bauer Martinez Studios and has Produced over 14 films including The Piano Player(Christopher Lambert, Dennis Hopper) with Andreas Klein of Splendid Film, Out of Season (Dennis Hopper, Gina Gershon), The Defender (Dolph Lundgren, Jerry Springer,) Dot Kill (Armand Assante, Directed by John Irvin) and House of 9 (Dennis Hopper, Kelly Brook).
Most recently, Philippe Produced Modigliani starring Andy Garcia and Elsa Zylberstein. The film, directed by Mick Davis, was an official Gala Selection at the Toronto Film Festival, as will open the Miami International Film Festival.
Going back to his true passion, Philippe took to Directing, completing Citizen Verdict (Armand Assante, Jerry Springer) which will have its theatrical debut in the first quarter of 2005, as well as the action-packed Wake of Death starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The film has been getting rave reviews across Europe and the United States, and will have theatrical debuts in several countries later on this year.
Philippe recently Produced Irish Jam starring Eddie Griffin, and in 2005 will Produce Land of the Blind (Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland), Genuine Article(to be Directed by Dennis Hopper) and will Direct another high budget, action packed feature.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Simon began his career as a commercials director, winning several awards and the ad industries prestigious D&AD award. He moved into longer format with several documentary/dramas for television and wrote, produced and directed two short films. His cinematic style led to him being offered his first feature film 'Blessed' and has collaborated with high profile talent in front and behind the camera on seven feature film projects to date. He recently directed his first theatrical play 'The Two Faces of Agent Lacey' in London's West End and just completed his latest feature film 'Steel Country' (2018 Winner Best International Feature at Galway Film Festival).- Director
- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Adored by his fans for many years Isaac Florentine has built up his excellent reputation within the movie business. At first attracting the action movie fans, Isaac moved into the mainstream with New Line's release Undisputed II: Last man standing. The film received rave reviews not only for its groundbreaking fighting scenes but also for its complexity and dramatic qualities. The film was also a financial success and was rated #1 in the "Non Theatrical" category of the DVD renters in February 2007 (source; Video Business Online - Market Data 02/01/07 and 02/11/07). 'Impact Magazine,' the world's leading publication dedicated to the Action/Martial Arts films hailed Isaac as "one of the most talented directors in the genre." Having over ten features and over one hundred and twenty television episodes under his belt, Isaac has proven his ability to bring leadership to the set, while providing the project with his own unique artistic flair. Born in Israel to Holocaust-survivor parents, Isaac often went to the movies as a child. When he saw a matinee showing of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, he was immediately captivated by Leone's masterful operatic style. From that day on, Isaac was hooked. He now knew that he wanted to become a filmmaker. While in high school, Isaac shot three films with his father's super 8mm camera. After graduating from high school, he completed a mandatory three-year army service, and then went to Tel-Aviv University to attain a degree in Film & Television. Isaac's first film was an adaptation of Jacques Prevere poem, "Dejeuner Du Matin." His graduating project was a film called 'Farewell, Terminator', which awed critics with its vision, and was awarded Grand prize in the Mograbee Film Festival. In addition, the film won prizes for Best directing, editing, cinematography, costume, production design and music, plus it was chosen to represent Israel in the short foreign-student film category of the 1988 Academy Awards (the Oscars).The following year, Isaac decided to move to the United States to pursue his filmmaking career. This not only was a big move for him and his wife, Barbara, but Isaac also had to give up is highly successful Karate school (he had trained in martial arts since he was 13 years old, and by this time, was considered one of the best practitioners in the country). Isaac cut his teeth in the American film industry working as a fight choreographer and a second unit director. Two-and-a-half years later, he directed his first feature, Desert Kickboxer. Despite its hectic sixteen-day schedule and ultra-low budget, Isaac's inspired direction was so impressive that HBO bought the film. Since then, he has worked steadily as a director in film and television, and he continues to impress people with his creative visual style. After rewarding years in the United States, including having four children with Barbara, Isaac can look back and smile. But that doesn't mean that he's ready to rest yet. Isaac's passion for filmmaking has no limit, and he looks forward enthusiastically to even bigger cinematic challenges in his future.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Mabrouk El Mechri was born on 18 September 1976 in Versailles, Yvelines, France. He is a director and writer, known for JCVD (2008), Kung Fu Zohra (2022) and The Cold Light of Day (2012).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Dominic Burns was born in 1983 in England, UK. He is a producer and writer, known for Airborne (2013), Alien Uprising (2012) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019).- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Peter Hyams was born in New York on July 26, 1943, and attended Hunter College Elementary School. He studied art and music at the Art Students League and the High School of Music and Art as well as at Syracuse University, where he majored in music and art. Before he became a CBS News news anchor in New York at the age of 21 he had been a drummer with such important jazz musicians as Bill Evans and Maynard Ferguson and had played at Birdland, Small's Paradise and the Newport Jazz Festival. His paintings have hung in such prestigious galleries as the Whitney Museum of American Art. Hyams brought to film direction essential elements of music and painting. From music comes a special sensitivity to structure and rhythm; from painting a heightened sense of light and color. These important insights help Hyams to achieve his goal of creating films which "reach people's emotions, not their minds." Peter Hyams is 6'1" and lives in Brentwood, California, with his wife George-Ann. He has three sons: Chris, John and Nick.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
- Producer
John Moore was born in Dundalk, Ireland in 1970, a small town situated about 60 miles from the country's capital Dublin. Moore attended a technical college in Dublin where he studied filmmaking and after completing the school he went on to direct and write a series of short films all produced in his native Ireland. These include Jack's Bicycle (1990) which has been broadcasted on Irish TV channel RTV on occasion. Moore then was hired to make a series of commercials and ended up making the launch advertisement for the Sega Dreamcast, the ad was so bombastic and visually impressive that Twentieth Century Fox ended up offering him the job on Behind Enemy Lines (2001), a $40 million action film centered around the conflict in Bosnia. The film starred Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson. Whilst a modest box-office success the film fared only average with critics who varied in their opinions, and in later years Moore himself admitted that perhaps his approach had been to lightweight and a conflict of that scope required a more deep and thoughtful motion picture. On the set of Behind Enemy Lines (2001) Moore was nearly killed via a Tank in an action sequence and had his life saved in the last moment by a stuntman who dragged him from harm's way. Moore's next film was a remake of The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) and shared the same name only dropping the "the" at the titles beginning. Flight of the Phoenix (2004) starred Dennis Quaid and Miranda Otto and told virtually the same story as the original, a group of people stranded in the desert after a plane crash. The picture was a huge box-office flop making just slightly over $21 million worldwide on a considerably larger budget. Critics showed the same unsure reaction to the film as they had on Behind Enemy Lines (2001), lavishing praise on certain aspects but harshly criticizing others. Moore himself was more pleased with the finished article on this occasion but the public's financial rejection suggests others weren't. After this Moore was involved with two other films one entitled "The last mission" which collapsed due to script issues and the 2006 smash X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In the end it was not Moore who directed the third in the X-Men trilogy but Rush Hour 2 (2001) director Brett Ratner. However Moore did manage to get a film into cinemas during Summer 2006 in the end, he remade The Omen (1976) and had it released on the 06/06/06, a gimmick associated with the films satanic plot. The Omen (2006) was a fairly faithful remake and starred Julia Stiles along with Liev Schreiber and David Thewlis. Moore agreed to make the film as he names the 1976 original among his all time favorite movies along with Jaws (1975) and Freaks (1932). The film made a worldwide $120 million from a $25 million budget and thus had to be considered a success in terms of box-office. The critics were once more split, most criticized the picture for following the original too closely but by the same token generally a kind word was spared for Moore's impressive visuals and the strong cast. This marked the director's third collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox, a fourth arriving in the form of video-game adaptation Max Payne (2008) in October 2008.
Moore currently resides with his son and partner, Fiona Connon in Los Angeles occasionally returning home to Ireland.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Stephen Sommers was born on March 20, 1962 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, he attended St. John's University and the University of Seville in Spain. Afterward, Sommers spent the next four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout Europe.
From there, he relocated to Los Angeles and attended the USC School of Cinema-Television for three years, earning a Masters Degree, where he wrote and directed an award winning short film called "Perfect Alibi". With independent funding, he wrote and directed his first motion picture Catch Me If You Can (1989) which was filmed on location in his hometown St. Cloud, Minnesota. Sommers then went on to write and direct The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) as well as the latest version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994) both for Walt Disney Pictures. Sommers also wrote the screenplays for the grade-B action flick Gunmen (1993) and the Disney adventure Tom and Huck (1995) which he also executive produced. He also wrote and directed the suspense-thriller Deep Rising (1998), and the latest version of The Mummy (1999). For television, Sommers wrote and executive produced Oliver Twist (1997) for director Tony Bill.
Most recently, he wrote and directed the sequel to The Mummy (1999), titled The Mummy Returns (2001), as well as the horror-thriller-action epic Van Helsing (2004), and the live-action adaptation G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Joseph Zito is a well known action film director. Three of his movies--Missing in Action (1984), Invasion U.S.A. (1985) and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)--each reached the #1 box office position of top grossing film in the country in their opening weeks of U.S. theatrical release. "Missing in Action" is Chuck Norris' most successful movie and, along with "Invasion U.S.A.", set new box-office records for the action star. "Missing in Action" not only spawned a series of sequels but also turned martial arts veteran -+Norris into a legitimate movie star and household name.
Zito attended the City University of New York where, as an undergraduate, he majored in economics and went on to earn a Masters Degree in psychology. He has worked in the motion picture industry as a director, producer and writer. He even dabbled in exhibition, fulfilling a childhood fantasy: he owned a grand old movie palace, the Sanders Theatre in New York.
He also had a post-production editorial service and became well known as a film "doctor," performing emergency surgery on ailing films to turn them into healthy box office prospects. As a director, Zito started by making documentaries and then soon segued into directing feature films: Abduction (1975) and The Prowler (1981).
Zito often makes movies in exotic lands, having directed "Missing in Action" in Southeast Asia, Red Scorpion (1988) (starring Dolph Lundgren) in Africa, Delta Force One: The Lost Patrol (1999) in the Middle East and Power Play (2003) in South America. "Delta Force One: The Lost Patrol", made on a grand scale, is a hard-hitting action adventure about a team of international peacekeepers on a perilous search for a missing convoy of soldiers. "Power Play", starring Dylan Walsh and Alison Eastwood, is the story of a newspaper reporter who, while investigating the mysterious disappearance of three radical environmentalists, uncovers unorthodox scientific testing that is causing devastating earthquakes throughout Los Angeles.
Zito is a frequent lecturer at universities and colleges around the country including USC, University of Ohio at Bowling Green and UCLA. He is working in the Middle East as producer of a large-scale hospital drama television series.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Raymond is a veteran writer, director, and producer who has been in the industry for over 30 years. He was an actor back in the day while pursuing the above avenues. Now, the focus of his career has been behind the camera. As a writer, he has worked with everyone from Academy Award Winning producer, Fred Roos, to Dustin Hoffman, Murray Schisgal, Jay Cohen, Colleen Camp, Paramount Studios' past president, John Goldwyn, along with Julia Pistor, just to name a few. For 10 years, he was part of the writing/directing team that created and founded PM Entertainment, which was run by producer, Joseph Merhi (Alex and Emma, The Whole Ten Yards).
In New York, Raymond studied acting with legends such as Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, and Brett Warren at The Actor's Mobile Theater. He also was a member of the protégés at the ATA Theater for playwrights and actors whose board members included Robert DeNiro, Paul Sorvino, and Barbara Bel Geddes.
In Los Angeles, Raymond was a part of the original "Actors Gym for Playwrights" back when Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis were both work shopping their scripts such as "Million Dollar Baby" and "Crash" which both went on to win Oscars for best screenplays.
Some of Raymond's film credits include, "Da Vinci's War", "To the Limit", "Skyscraper", "American Born", "Detour", "East L.A. Warriors", to name a few, and he was known for his television credit in the TNT Drama Series, "L.A. HEAT".
Film Awards: - Received the "Awards of Merit" for his documentary, "Through the Heart of Tango" at the 2013 Indie Fest. - Best Animation Short for his screenplay, "Hannah Lost Her Smile". The Outside the Box 2013 Film Festival. - 1994 Best Comedy Award at the Milan Comedy Festival for his film, "Dumb Luck in Vegas", which he co-wrote and directed with Joey Travolta.
Theater Awards: - LA Drama Critic's Award Nomination for his direction of the play, "Stooplife" at the renowned Cast Theater - LA Drama Critic's Award Nomination for Playwriting in "Road Runner at the Paradise Drive In" also at The Cast Theater.
Raymond also runs a school called Inclusion Films, founded by Joey Travolta - a practical film workshop in Burbank, dedicated to men and woman with developmental disabilities. Raymond can relate, as he too, was once an illiterate kid from the Bronx, and now an accomplished award-winning writer, who's on a mission to create impactful films, through his work, and the work at Inclusion Films. He has also helped employ many of his students with some of the top productions in the industry. Inclusion films also inspire and brings in A list people to help teach and mentor the guys and girls at the institution. Industry folks such as Ron Bass, Ed Asner, Fred Roos, Bobby Moresco, Pierre Spengler, Conrad Pope, and Joe Mantegna (whose daughter is a student) are just a few who have supported the school. He looks forward to the continual pursuit of surrounding himself with top caliber work in film and television.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1985). Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.
Del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1992) won nine Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), then went on to win the International Critics Week Prize at Cannes. Following this success, del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.
Del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic (1997), and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.
Next for del Toro, was The Devil's Backbone (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II (2002).
On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II (2002) with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy (2004), starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.
Del Toro is divorced, has a daughter and a son and lives in Los Angeles and Toronto.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
David S. Goyer was born on 22 December 1965 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Dark City (1998), The Dark Knight (2008) and Batman Begins (2005). He is married to Marina Black. They have two children. He was previously married to Jessika Borsiczky.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Kevin Hooks was born on 19 September 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Innerspace (1987), Last Resort (2012) and Passenger 57 (1992). He is married to Cheryl. They have two children. He was previously married to Regina Hooks.- Director
- Writer
- Visual Effects
Neill Blomkamp is a South African-Canadian film director and screenwriter who is known for the science fiction films District 9, Elysium and Chappie. He also directed the supernatural horror film Demonic and the 2007 short film Halo: Landfall, based on the Microsoft science fiction video game franchise. He had a child from his wife Terri Tatchell.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Stefan Ruzowitzky was born on 25 December 1961 in Vienna, Austria. He is a director and writer, known for The Counterfeiters (2007), The Inheritors (1998) and Hinterland (2021). He has been married to Birgit Sturm since 1999. They have two children.- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerry P. Jacobs was born on 13 August 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a production manager and assistant director, known for Divergent (2014), My Best Friend's Girl (2008) and The Little Rascals Save the Day (2014).- Director
- Writer
Gary McKendry is known for Killer Elite (2011), Everything in This Country Must (2004) and Joseph and the Girl.- Director
- Writer
- Producer