JUMPER 2 
BEAST OF BATAAN 
NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU 
JUMPER 
AWAKE 
VIRGIN TERRITORY 
FACTORY GIRL 
| Hayden Information; Projects; Shattered Glass |
| Cast Information |
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BILLY RAY (Writer / Director) Ray co-wrote the screenplay for last year's "Hart's War" starring Bruce Willis and Colin Farrel. Earlier credits include co-writing the script for the feature "Volcano," starring Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche. His television work includes the screenplay for TNT's Legalese. Next year will see the release of Paramount's "Suspect Zero," starring Ben Kingsley, Aaron Eckhart, and Carrie-Anne Moss, which Ray also co-wrote. He's currently writing a screenplay for Cruise/Wagner productions entitled "Sarkin-Untitled," and is also working on the screenplay "Imagine" for director Rob Reiner at Castle Rock. CRAIG BAUMGARTEN (Producer) Craig Baumgarten has been a prolific industry executive for over 20 years, with a reputation for impeccable talent relationships and an eye for strong, commercially viable material. As an executive he has supervised the production of some of the most successful films of the past 20 years, including "Jagged Edge," "Sophie's Choice," "Ghostbusters," and "Die Hard," and he has also managed the careers of such acclaimed filmmakers as Roland Joffe, Peter Hyams, Ted Kotcheff and Peter Medak. Currently Baumgarten is a founding partner of the independent film distribution company MAC releasing, which is readying the fall opening of the acclaimed Gina Gershon starrer "Prey for Rock and Roll," and he has independently produced the much anticipated upcoming features "The Order," starring Heath Ledger, directed by Academy Award winner Brain Helgeland and is a co-producer of the 2003 Christmas release "Peter Pan." Upon leaving the studio system, Baumgarten co-founded Adelson-Baumgarten Productions, followed by Baumgarten/Prophet Entertainment. Among his many production credits during this period were "Hook," directed by Steven Spielberg, "Universal Solider," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, William Friedkin's "Jade," "Blank Check," and "It Could Happen to You," starring Bridget Fonda and Nicholas Cage. Prior to forming his own production company, he served as a production executive at Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Lorimar and Twentieth Century Fox Pictures. Among the many films he supervised and produced are the hits "Ghostbusters," "9½ Weeks," "The Karate Kid," "St. Elmo's Fire," "American Gigolo," "The Abyss," and "Endless Love." Among Baumgarten's many television credits are Lathe of Heaven, starring James Caan for A&E, the highly acclaimed CBS series Michael Hayes, starring David Caruso, TNT's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Salma Hayek, Richard Harris and Mandy Patinkin, and the multiple Emmy Award winning production of A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Ann-Margret and Treat Williams. ADAM J. MERIMS (Producer) Adam J. Merims formed The Merims Office in 2003 to further pursue both independent and studio feature film production. Projects include writer/director Victor Levin's directorial debut "All The Ships At Sea," writer/director Matt Tabak's "The Lonesome," and numerous development projects. He recently completed producing Ed Solomon's "Levity," starring Billy Bob Thornton, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter and Kirsten Dunst. Merims was co-founder and partner of Baumgarten Merims Productions with Craig Baumgarten from 1999 through 2002. Among current BMPI feature projects in development are: "The Tenth Master," "If The Shoe Fits" and "Smoke Jumpers," at Sony. In the television arena, Baumgarten Merims produced the Lathe of Heaven for A & E/Alliance Atlantis and currently they have Naked Warriors at TBS and The Richard Luttrell Story at Alliance Atlantis in development. Before "Levity," Merims produced "Love Stinks," starring French Stewart, Bridgette Wilson, Tyra Banks, and Bill Bellamy. He was Co-Producer on Sony Pictures' "Universal Solider: The Return," starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White and WCW champion Bill Goldberg. He produced with Dan Halsted and Craig Baumgarten "Cold Around the Heart," starring David Caruso, Kelly Lynch and Stacey Dash. Prior to partnering with Craig Baumgarten, he was co-producer on the HBO Premiere project Freeway starring Kiefer Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon. From August 1993 till November 1994 Merims was producer and Head of West Coast Operations for Nickelodeon Movies. At Nickelodeon, Merims was responsible for managing the start-up of a Nickelodeon features office in Los Angeles and with identifying and developing projects suitable for motion picture production in the family entertainment arena in conjunction with both Twentieth Century Fox Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Before Nickelodeon, Merims worked as VP, Production at Lobell-Bergman Productions from April 1990 through July 1993. At Lobell-Bergman, Merims was responsible for all development at the company. He was also associate producer on "Honeymoon In Vegas, " which starred Nicolas Cage, James Caan and Sarah Jessica Parker; "Undercover Blues" starring Kathleen Turner and Dennis Quaid; and "Little Big League," which starred Timothy Busfield GAYE HIRSCH (Producer) Gaye Hirsch started her career in the film business at Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures. Hired as a Creative Executive, she rose through the ranks at the studio, ultimately becoming Vice President of Production for Touchstone Pictures. While there, she worked on the development and production of feature films, including "What About Bob?" and "The Ref," among others. After Touchstone, Ms. Hirsch worked at Fox-based Robert Lawrence Productions until she was recruited by HBO to serve as a senior executive. As Vice President of Production for HBO Pictures, she supervised development and production of various Emmy and Golden Globe winning films, including "Weapons of Mass Destruction;" "Don King: Only In America;" "Gia;" "Winchell;" "A Bright Shinning Lie" and "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." Ms. Hirsch was then hired by Paramount Pictures based Cruise-Wagner Productions to oversee its development slate and help shepherd films to the screen. In her capacity at C/W, she served as co-producer on the upcoming "Suspect Zero," as well as a producer on "Shattered Glass." TOVE CHRISTENSEN / FOREST PARK PICTURES (Producers) Forest Park Pictures took root in 1999 when Tove and Hayden Christensen, home in Toronto for the Christmas holidays, discussed how their careers might operate together. Tove, having graduated as an English/theater double-major from the University of Pennsylvania, had gotten his feet wet as an actor in Los Angeles before spending a year running a fledgling film development company with a former classmate. Hayden, a working actor since 1993, had seen his career evolve into the Fox Family Channel series Higher Ground. Five months after their Christmas discussion, Hayden was cast as Anakin Skywalker in "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones." One essential element in their vision of a production company that embraced film, television as well as commercial projects was their introduction to Paul Street, an acclaimed commercial director distinguished for his campaigns on behalf of BMW, Ford, the United Nations and myriad other clients. Street is founder of Australia-based Streetlight Films. With the brothers' recognition that Street's visual and storytelling talents were evolving toward feature directing, they formed a co-production partnership between Streetlight and Forest Park's commercial division. The division is led by Peter Michels, who spent the last few years working for Gap corporate offices in San Francisco, aiding the launch of several of its online divisions. He previously worked in animation for Walt Disney Studios. Since Hayden began production in May 2003 on the next "Star Wars" film in Australia, Forest Park is currently leveraging Paul Street's relationships and expertise to pursue commercial opportunities across East Asia and Europe. Street, whose commercial work resonates a broad international sensibility, states, "All of us are kindred spirits - we all talk the same language and embrace a philosophy of doing good, stylistic work - and I know that the partnership between Forest Park and Streetlight will be fruitful for everyone." MANDY WALKER (Director of Photography) Walker shot Ray Lawrence's intimate drama "Lantana," which starred Anthony LaPaglia in one of his most acclaimed roles. Lions Gate released the film in 2001. Walker has worked as a director of photography on a number of feature films including "Return Home," "The Well," "Life" and Shirley Barrett's "Love Serenade," which won the Camera d'Or at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. She has been nominated for numerous cinematography awards, winning the Australian Film Institute award in 1996 for "Parklands," which starred Cate Blanchett, and the Australian Cinematographers Society Award in 1997 for the same film. Prior to "Lantana," Walker shot Shirley Barrett's second feature "Walk the Talk." FRANÇOIS SÉGUIN (Production Designer) Séguin is one of Canada's most talented and sought-after production designers. He has created the look for such films as Paul Schrader's "Forever Mine," François Girard's "The Red Violin," Joe Mantello's "Love! Valour! Compassion!" Keith Gordon's "Mother Night," Allison Anders' "Grace of My Heart," Alan Rudolph's "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" and "Afterglow," JeanClaude Lauzon's "Leolo" and Denys Arcand's "Love and Human Remains" and Oscar-nominee "Jesus of Montreal." April previously worked with Keith Gordon on "Mother Night." Her many film credits include "Agnes of God," "Children of a Lesser God," "The Moderns," "Black Robe," "Map of the Human Heart," "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle," "The Education of Little Tree," "The Red Violin," "You Can Thank Me Later," and "Grey Owl." She won a Genie Award (Canada's equivalent of the Oscar) for "The Bay Boy" and was Genie nominated for "The Kiss." She won a Gemini (Canadian Television Award) for the costumes she designed for the miniseries "Million Dollar Babies." MYCHAEL DANNA (Composer) Mychael Danna has been scoring films since his 1987 feature debut for Atom Egoyan's "Family Viewing," a score which earned Danna the first of his nine Canadian film award nominations. Danna is recognized as one of the pioneers of combining non-Western sound sources with orchestral and electronic minimalism in the world of film music. This reputation has led him to work with such acclaimed directors as Atom Egoyan, Scott Hicks, Ang Lee, Gillies MacKinnon, James Mangold, Mira Nair and Joel Schumacher. His credits include "Felicia's Journey," "Ride with the devil," "8MM," "The Confession," "The Sweet Hereafter," and "The Ice Storm." Danna studied music composition at the University of Toronto, winning there the Glenn Gould Composition Scholarship in 1985. Danna also served for five years as composer-in-residence at the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto (1987-1992). Works for dance include music for Dead Souls (Carbone Quatorze Dance Company, directed by Gilles Maheu 1996), and a score for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Gita Govinda (2001) based on the 1000-year-old classical Indian erotic poem, with choreographer Nina Menon. Danna is currently working with Mira Nair on "Vanity Fair" starring Reese Witherspoon. Danna is represented by Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency. |
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