About The Production
In INDEPENDENCE DAY Roland Emmerich brought you the near destruction of the earth by aliens. Now, in THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW the enemy is an even more devastating force: nature itself.
“It’s an epic tale of survival and heroism with non-stop action and spectacular visual effects,” says producer Mark Gordon. “This movie definitely delivers the kind of visual punch audiences expect from Roland Emmerich.”
Although Emmerich’s brand of spectacle is integral to telling the story, he says the movie is not void of the human element. “No matter how big the effects are,” says Emmerich, “the heart of the movie is still human drama. The father and son characters played by Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal are vulnerable, conflicted and loving. That’s what makes their struggle against this incredible force
of nature so exciting. It’s the universal struggle of Man against Nature. It’s survival against the odds. Ultimately, it’s the triumph of the human spirit.”
“Fundamentally, this is a drama about ordinary people who find themselves struggling through extraordinary circumstances,” says co-screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff. “It’s about a family trying to survive this ecological disaster. Each family member must rise to the occasion. A young man becomes a leader; a workaholic father braves everything to save his son; and a mother chooses to risk her own life to
save that of a little boy. It’s a story about love, suffering and mankind’s perennial struggle to survive.
“And it’s a cautionary tale about what can happen if we continue to provoke Mother Nature.”
Twentieth Century Fox’s 1996 blockbuster INDEPENDENCE DAY was pure science fiction; it was not based on a widely held belief that an alien invasion was imminent. But THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW offers a scenario that is rooted in real concerns about the state of our planet. “We pushed the time period in which an ice age could occur for dramatic purposes,” says Mark Gordon, “but the theory that global warming
could cause an abrupt climate shift is gaining mainstream attention. While nobody knows what the exact result will be of mankind’s addition of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some experts have referred to it as ‘the largest uncontrolled scientific experiment in history.’”
Call it irony or coincidence but during the course of making the film, a series of extreme weather events worldwide contributed to the growing body of evidence that climate change is already underway.
In July 2002, during pre-production, a deadly hailstorm struck central China. The hailstones were the size of eggs and the storm killed 25 people and left numerous victims with near fatal head wounds. The storm uprooted trees, smashed car windshields, caused major power outages and destroyed some buildings in the northern parts of the Henan province.
The following month, parts of Europe were ravaged by what became known there as the “Floods of the Century.” For almost three weeks, torrential rains battered the regions, flooding London’s subway system, decimating vineyards and olive groves in northern Italy and sweeping away tourists on Russia’s Black Sea coast. At least 108 people were killed and tens of thousands had to be evacuated. In November,
just three days after principal photography began in Montreal, a major outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes occurred in the United States. A total of 75 tornadoes touched down in one day, killing 36 people and causing damage in thirteen states. Additionally, the production suffered through four months of what would become one of Montreal’s coldest winters on record, with daytime temperatures topping out at minus 25oC on numerous occasions.
In an even more eerie example of life imitating art, the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica fell into the sea in March 2002, a few weeks after Emmerich and Nachmanoff had written a scene describing its collapse. “At that time we joked that we had better start shooting soon or we’d be making a documentary,” says Emmerich.
Given these real-life events happening around the time of the movie’s planning and shooting, Emmerich, Gordon and Nachmanoff agreed that THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW should reflect contemporary scientific thought on global warming as accurately as possible.
“At the core of any ‘disaster movie’ there always has to be something factual, something real for the audience to grab onto,” says Emmerich. “What we already know about global warming and climate change has provided us with a great fact base for the movie and that directly affects the believability of the characters and the world that we have created for them.”
“The movie departs most radically from real science in the speed at which things happen,” says Gordon. “When scientists talk about an ‘abrupt’ climate shift, they’re speaking in terms of five to ten years, not a few weeks. Our goal was never to fully explore a complex scientific issue in a two-hour movie. We wanted to make a fantastic summer movie that might – just might – leave
people not only entertained but perhaps a little more enlightened as well.”
In yet another coincidence, the Pentagon released a report in February 2004 evaluating the national security risks posed by the threat of global climate change. The report takes seriously the possibility of a sudden and cataclysmic change brought on by global warming; in short, the fictional storyline of THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW may not be so fictional.
Climate change. Melting polar ice caps. Ice Age. The “super freeze.” According to Dennis Quaid, these words describe the weather inside and outside the Montreal sound stages where the production was based for five months during the winter of 2002-03.
“It was cold everywhere,” says Quaid who portrays climatologist Jack Hall. “It was cold inside the stages, it was cold outside the stages, it was cold during the day and cold as hell at night. There we were in Montreal from November to April during one of their coldest winters on record making this huge disaster movie about the next killer Ice Age. We couldn’t escape from it. It actually got to a point
where we learned to recognize people not by their faces but by the color of their parkas.
“During production, if we weren’t trudging through the middle of a blizzard,” says Quaid, “then we were probably freezing wet because of the torrential rains or hailstorms or floods or hurricanes that were happening on the other stages. Anyone who isn’t a fan of the Weather Channel now certainly will be after they see this movie because it has it all. It’s every disaster flick you’ve
ever seen all rolled into one giant non-stop global meteorological cataclysm.”
From Quaid’s statement one might guess that THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW presented a special set of challenges, not only for the filmmakers, but for Quaid and his co-stars as well.
“Challenging is an understatement,” says Quaid, laughing. “It was more about survival. We were all trying to survive filming a movie about surviving. I’ve done special effects movies but never one this big. There were definitely different challenges the actors had to overcome. We were dressed in four or five layers of polar clothing and boots and then they start blowing fake snow at us with
these huge wind machines that blow at like eighty miles an hour. The stuff gets inside your mouth and up your nose and inside your goggles and you’re just trying to keep your eyes open.
“It was definitely surreal at times. This is the kind of summer movie I like to go see…great story, great effects, great message… so for me to be in a movie like this was wild. It actually was a big thrill for me, and it still beats working for a living.”
“I have to admit, as an actor it was a bit odd shooting this movie,” says Jake Gyllenhaal, “but odd in a good way. As an actor, you realize that in this kind of a movie, you play a small ‘part’ within a massively huge ‘whole.’ One of the more interesting things for me is that I spent six months filming something and I really have no idea what three-quarters of it is going to be because
so much of the film is created without me and the other actors or will be created during post-production. It’s almost like being a member of the audience in the sense that I never really knew what was coming next. It’s going to be fun sitting down in a dark theatre and watching it all unfold.”
Like Quaid, Gyllenhaal was subjected to chills and spills in his leading role as Sam Hall, an unfocused teenager-turned-young hero.
“It’s the first time I’ve done a film like this so I knew I was in for some surprises,” says Gyllenhaal. “I figured if I was going to do a picture like this, Roland Emmerich was the guy to go to. He’s a genius with these things and he really understands the nature of this particular kind of beast.
Gyllenhaal, along with Emmy Rossum, Arjay Smith and Austin Nichols, endured a grueling New York City flood sequence that was shot in a giant water tank constructed inside Montreal’s massive Alstom train repair and maintenance facility. For two weeks, the actors and hundreds of extras withstood torrential winds and rain while running up and down a Manhattan “street” that was submerged in almost four feet of
water.
“It was like doing water aerobics all day long for two weeks wearing wet wool clothing,” says Rossum, who portrays the brainy and beautiful student Laura. “Imagine running back and forth on the street and up and down the library stairs that are covered in four feet of water. It really was an indescribable experience – simultaneously hot and cold, sticky and shivering, windy and rainy underwater torture.
And it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life.”
One cast member who eluded shooting any of the massive weather sequences was Sela Ward, who, as Dr. Lucy Hall, Jack’s wife and Sam’s mother, stays inside the hospital saving patients throughout the course of the storm.
“Besides loving the role of Lucy,” says Ward, “I thought there were some wonderful messages behind all these great big effects. I think the film speaks to the survival of the family unit and how important it is to struggle to keep that together.
“Then, of course, there is the environmental message or warning,” says Ward. “Although the film is dramatized and in some places exaggerated for dramatic purposes, there is a real solid basis for what it is saying: if we don’t take care of our planet now she won’t be around very long to take care of us anymore. It’s a sobering thought and I think it’s one the audience is going to think
about when they come out of the theater and say ‘Whew…hey I’m glad that was just a movie.’”
The daunting task of rendering, creating, building and executing Roland Emmerich’s vision fell to production designer Barry Chusid, visual effects supervisor Karen Goulekas, Academy Award®-winning special effects supervisor Neil Corbould and their respective crews of decorators, craftsmen, laborers and technicians. All three department heads have previously worked with director Emmerich.
“In this movie,” says Chusid, “we have hailstorms in Tokyo, hurricanes in Hawaii, tornadoes in Los Angeles, floods in Manhattan, and an East Coast deep freeze. We see Scotland, Mexico, New Delhi, even outer space. Therefore, we run the gamut of sets from small interior helicopter cockpits to a snowy street scene in New Delhi to a 15,000 square foot Manhattan Public Library.
“Having worked with Roland before certainly helped in terms of knowing his likes and dislikes, but on THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW there were so many intricacies just due to the scale of the sets and effects, that it became, at times, overwhelming to see just how far you could stretch yourself and your department.”
After the production completed location shooting in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., principal photography began in Montreal on November 7, 2002. The first five weeks of the schedule was filled with many of the film’s interior and exterior scenes that were shot on location in and around Montreal, including a sequence about a snowy day in New Delhi.
Chusid and his staff took a mostly unremarkable looking block just north of downtown Montreal and turned it into a bustling, colorful, and even odoriferous New Delhi marketplace. The site was replete with artifacts, rickshaws and automobiles that were shipped from India specifically for the scene. Costume designer Renee April dressed over 1,000 extras in native Indian garb and Neil Corbould’s special (physical) effects
crew took care of providing the light, fluffy snow for the day.
Two of Chusid’s other huge undertakings were the interior and exterior of the Manhattan Public Library (that totaled 50,000 square feet) and a frozen Russian freighter which makes its way up Fifth Avenue.
For the exterior of the library, Chusid designed a Manhattan streetscape that led up to the massive stone steps to the library. The streetscape and the 100’ x 60’ library facade set piece were built inside the huge water tank used for an epic flood sequence. The library interior was composed of several other mammoth set pieces housed in several different stage facilities around Montreal. The production built the
interior sections on various stages to give the filmmakers the flexibility to “dress” the set pieces according to the amount of weather needed for each individual scene in the library.
Chusid designed the Russian freighter, then visual effects supervisor Karen Goulekas reviewed the scene’s computer-generated effects requirements. Chusid then was able to determine his department would have to build a section of the freighter, with the rest being filled in with computer generated imagery. “I was ecstatic we got to build some of the freighter,” says Chusid, “instead of it being all CGI
because I think it turned out to be a really fantastic set piece.”
Karen Goulekas and her team, as well as the team at the Los Angeles-based visual effects house Digital Domain, used several pieces of technology in creating the visual effects.
“We used a photorealistic scenery rendering software program called Terragen™, which was actually developed by Digital Domain,” says Goulekas, “to help us create all the landscapes of Antarctica. We also used Lidar, which is an amazing laser scanning technology which allowed us to scan huge buildings in Los Angeles and about thirteen blocks of New York in high detail. We did not build any miniatures
for New York. Thanks to Lidar and a New York database from a company called Urban Data Solutions, we basically created the entire city in the computer.”
Special effects supervisor Neil Corbould says that Roland Emmerich’s desire for realism was constant throughout any sequence in the film, whether it was a blizzard, hailstorm, flood or freeze. “We tried, no matter what it took, to make everything – from the hailstones to the flood to the airplane turbulence – look as real as possible for him,” says Corbould.
For the hailstones (that ranged in size from grapefruit to bowling ball) that batter Tokyo, Corbould and his crew bought hundreds of blocks of ice and carved each hailstone according to the sizes needed for the scene. They created a hurricane sequence set in Kona, Hawaii using giant wind machines, numerous rain towers and an elaborate cable and hydraulic ram system to facilitate the flapping and flying of pieces of the beach
shack.
By far, the film’s biggest practical effect was the flooded New York street sequence. Countless crew members from several departments working seven days a week for six weeks began the tank construction by joining and reinforcing 3.5 foot high concrete road barriers around the perimeter of the Manhattan street set. Then a waterproof membrane was sprayed on to seal the barrier. Once it was “water-ready,” the
filmmakers filled the tank with 250,000 gallons of water that was heated and filtered. A second “holding” tank was built behind the set that was filled with another 150,000 gallons of water. Ten spinning rain tower heads were laid out high above the set and were hooked into the elaborate pumping system that essentially recycled the water in the two tanks at a rate in excess of 5,000 gallons a minute. For added effect, two big V-8 wind machines were each mounted on a “zoom
boom” (forklift-type mechanism) which allowed the wind machines to be raised as high as twenty feet in the air and positioned as close or as far away from the action as needed.
“The flood sequence really was a blend of new and old technology,” says Corbould, “and it was a complete collaborative effort by everyone involved. I think it, too, is going to look spectacular.”
This genre of film has flourished for decades, through earthquakes, towering infernos, capsized ocean liners – even out-of-control rollercoasters. Why do audiences love the disaster genre so much? What is it that makes these films so appealing to such a widespread audience?
“Everybody’s got a rubber neck, including me,” says Dennis Quaid. “Whether it’s a fire or a train wreck, we all stop and look. In a split second we all wonder if it’s somebody we know…then we’re thankful when it isn’t...then we wonder ‘What would I do in that situation?’ Disasters – and disaster movies in general – seem to churn up human emotions.
I think audiences enjoy that combination of highs and lows and I think they like having their imagination sparked by a ‘what if’ kind of situation.”
“Disaster movies are all about people’s humanity,” says Jeffrey Nachmanoff. “For audiences, they want to see how other people respond to disaster; some respond with courage, others respond with cowardice and sometimes there are people who actually try to take advantage of the situation for their own gain. I think audiences like to look for themselves and, most of the time, imagine themselves as the hero.”
“Audiences love visual storytelling,” says Mark Gordon. “They love spectacle, action and adventure and they love watching larger-than-life characters going through larger-than-life situations. For two hours, they become the hero or the victim, the savior or the saved. They become a part of something that they probably won’t experience in their own lives. They not only like to find themselves in the disaster
but they like to lose themselves in it, too.”
“If the world goes down, you’re forced to take a look at your life,” says Roland Emmerich, “and audiences know that when they watch a disaster movie. They have to think about their life and they have to make decisions like what they really want and who they love. It’s scary and exciting at the same time.
“That’s why I love these kinds of movies,” says Emmerich. “I also wonder what would I do…even when I am in the middle of making a movie I ask myself ‘What would I do in this situation?’ It’s a compelling question and sometimes the answer isn’t any easy one.”
CAST AND CREW
DENNIS QUAID (Prof. Jack Hall) was honored by the New York Film Critics Circle and The Independent Spirit Awards as Best Supporting Actor of the Year, and also garnered nominations for a Golden Globe® Award and Screen Actors Guild Award® for his emotional turn as a closet homosexual in 1950s New York in the critically acclaimed 2002 film “Far From Heaven.”
Quaid also stars in Twentieth Century Fox’s upcoming remake of “The Flight of the Phoenix.” Directed by John Moore, the thriller revolves around a group of men who survive a plane crash in an African desert and attempt to build a plane from the wreckage.
Quaid recently starred with Sharon Stone in the thriller “Cold Creek Manor,” directed by Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas”), about a family who finds the perfect house in a small town, only to be harassed by the former occupant, played by Stephen Dorff.
He has a starring role as General Sam Houston in “The Alamo,” directed by John Lee Hancock. The film centers around the 1836 standoff between a group of Texan and Tejano men, led by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, and Mexican dictator Santa Anna’s forces at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
In 2002, Quaid starred in the title role of a high school baseball coach in the box-office hit “The Rookie,” based on the true story of pitcher Jim Morris who makes the major leagues at the age of 35. The film, directed by John Lee Hancock and produced by Mark Johnson, Gordon Gray and Mark Ciardi, received an ESPY award by ESPN for Best Sports Film of the Year.
Quaid appeared in the critically acclaimed Steven Soderbergh suspense drama “Traffic” for USA Films, opposite Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, playing a high-powered attorney who became involved in a web of deceit and scandal that result in deadly consequences.
In 2001, Quaid starred in HBO’s “Dinner with Friends” for director Norman Jewison. Based on Donald Margulies’ Pulitzer-Prize winning play, the story explores the strains of modern-day marriages. The film received a 2002 Emmy® nomination for Best TV Movie.
Quaid also starred in the 2000 hit “Frequency,” in which he played a heroic firefighter who died at a young age, but was able to communicate with the son he left behind due to a time warp. The year before, he appeared in “Any Given Sunday,” directed by Oliver Stone, in which he portrayed an aging quarterback legend who struggles with the demise of his career.
Quaid made his directorial debut for TNT with the television film “Everything that Rises,” the story of a Wyoming man’s struggle to hold on to the land passed down through generations, which takes on a new poignancy when his son is critically injured in an auto accident. Quaid also starred in Nancy Meyer’s box-office hit “The Parent Trap,” a remake of the 1961 classic, which was a summer
1998 release.
In 1998, Quaid appeared in the critically acclaimed film “Savior,” directed by Peter Antonijevic, starring as a French-American mercenary who reclaims his humanity by rescuing a girl orphaned by the Bosnian War. Critics hailed his performance as the best of his career.
Quaid received considerable critical praise for his role as Doc Holliday in the Western “Wyatt Earp” and for the Oscar® nominated space epic “The Right Stuff.”
Quaid’s film credits also include “Switchback,” “Gang Related,” Lasse Hallstrom’s “Something to Talk About” opposite Julia Roberts and Robert Duvall, the fantasy action-adventure film “Dragonheart,” Steve Kloves’ critically acclaimed “Flesh and Bone,” Alan Parker’s World War II saga “Come See the Paradise,” Taylor Hackford’s
“Everybody’s All- American,” Peter Yates’ “Suspect,” Annabel Jankel’s remake of the 1949 film noir “D.O.A.,” Jim Bridges’ “The Big Easy,” and Joe Dante’s “Innerspace.” He showcased his musical talents in the films “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” “Tough Enough” and “Great Balls of Fire.”
Quaid began acting in high school and studied theater at the University of Houston. Soon after his arrival in Hollywood, he landed the plum role of a working-class tough in “Breaking Away.” Other early film credits include “The Long Riders” with his brother Randy, “9/30/55,” “Crazy Mama,” “Dreamscape,” “All Night Long,” “Our Winning Season,”
“Cavemen,” “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” and “Enemy Mine.”
In 1983 Quaid starred with Mickey Rooney in the Emmy Award-winning television movie “Bill” and its sequel, “Bill: On His Own.” A year later he co-starred with Randy Quaid in the off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s “True West,” which he later reprised in Los Angeles.
JAKE GYLLENHAAL (Sam Hall) has starred opposite several of today’s most respected actors such as Dustin Hoffman, Laura Dern, Holly Hunter, Chris Cooper, John C. Reilly and Susan Sarandon.
Gyllenhaal (pronounced Jill-en-hall) stars in the screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof” for director John Madden. The film, due in December, also stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. He also landed the coveted role of “Jack” in the film adaptation of “Broken Mountain,” which chronicles an intense relationship between two Wyoming stockmen. Directed by Ang Lee,
the film costars Heath Ledger and goes into production this summer.
Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead in the critically acclaimed “Donnie Darko.” A favorite at the Sundance Film Festival, the film combines elements of mystical fantasy and science fiction with teenage romance. Directed by Richard Kelly, “Donnie Darko” costars Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone and Noah Wyle.
He starred in another Sundance favorite in 2002, Fox Searchlight’s “The Good Girl,” which received four 2003 Independent Spirit Award nominations. In the dark comedy, he portrays a young man who falls in love and has a torrid affair with a married woman, played by Jennifer Aniston. The film is directed by Miguel Arteta, and also stars John C. Reilly, Zooey Deschanel, and Catherine O' Hara. The film was distributed
by Fox Searchlight.
In fall 2002, he starred in “Moonlight Mile,” written and directed by Brad Silberling. Set in New England in the early 70s, the unlikely love story revolves around a young man who finds himself lingering in the family home of his fiancée, after her untimely death. While grieving along with her parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon, he gets drawn into legal issues presented by a district attorney
(Holly Hunter) seeking justice for the family, and finds himself falling in love with another woman against his own best intentions.
Gyllenhaal’s stage debut was a starring role in the London production of Kenneth Lonergan’s revival of “This Is Our Youth.” The play, which was a critical sensation on Broadway, ran for eight weeks in London’s West End. He portrayed a rich kid who spends a decadent weekend stealing, dealing, and consuming drugs along side Hayden Christensen and Anna Paquin. For the role, Gyllenhaal received an
Evening Standard Theater Award in the category of Outstanding Newcomer.
His film credits also include “Lovely and Amazing,” a comedy starring Catherine Keener and Brenda Blethyn. Gyllenhaal starred in the romantic comedy “Bubble Boy,” the story of a young man’s adventure outside the confines of his bubble as he goes after the woman he loves before she marries the wrong man.
He received critical accolades for his performance in the film “October Sky,” directed by Joe Johnston. The film tells the triumphant story of Homer Hickman, Jr. (Gyllenhaal), a gifted high school student in rural West Virginia, who seemed destined to repeat his father's harsh life in the coal mines until he turned his attention upward to the skies.
Gyllenhaal’s previous credits include the films “Josh and S.A.M.” and “Dangerous Woman.” He also played Billy Crystal’s son in the hit film “City Slickers” and Robin Williams’ son in the highly acclaimed “Bop Gun” episode of the television series “Homicide.”
IAN HOLM (Terry Rapson), one of Britain’s most respected and talented actors, starred as Bilbo Baggins in the epic trilogy adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Previously, he starred opposite Johnny Depp and Heather Graham in the Hughes brothers’ film “From Hell,” and in “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” directed
by Alan Taylor.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Holm joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford in the 1950s. He made his theatrical debut with “Othello” in 1954. His theatrical career spans performances of all of Shakespeare’s major works, as well as such classics as “The Cherry Orchard,” “Uncle Vanya” and “The Room.”
In 1965 he won the (London) Evening Standard Actor of the Year Award for his stage work in both “Henry V” and his Broadway debut, “The Homecoming.” In 1967 he won a Tony Award® and a Critics Circle Award for his role in “Moonlight.” His stunning 1997 performance in the title role of “King Lear” at the National Theatre won him another Critics Circle Theatre Award, the Olivier
Award for Best Actor and the Evening Standard Best Actor (Drama) Award. In 1998, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his “services to drama.”
Holm’s film career highlights include Jack Gold’s “The Bofors Gun” (Holm’s film debut, for which he won a 1968 BAFTA [British Academy of Film and Television Arts] Award for Best Supporting Actor); Richard Attenborough’s “Oh! What A Lovely War” and “Young Winston”; Peter R. Hunt’s “Shout at the Devil” (starring with Lee Marvin and Roger Moore); Ridley
Scott’s sci-fi classic “Alien”; Hugh Hudson’s Academy Award-winning “Chariots of Fire” (for which Holm received an award at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as a BAFTA Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Alan Bridges’ “The Return of The Soldier”; “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan”; Terry Gilliam’s fantasies “Time Bandits” and “Brazil”; Mike Newell’s “Dance
With A Stranger”; Woody Allen’s “Another Woman”; Kenneth Branagh’s “Henry V”; Franco Zeffirelli’s “Hamlet” (with Mel Gibson); David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” and “Existenz”; Nicholas Hytner’s “The Madness of King George” (for which Holm received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor); Sidney Lumet’s “Night Falls On Manhattan”; Luc Besson’s
“The Fifth Element”; and Atom Egoyan’s “The Sweet Hereafter” (for which Holm received a Genie Award for Best Actor, as well as the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Best Male Performance Award).
Holm appeared in the religious thriller “Bless the Child,” starring Kim Basinger. He baffled audiences with the riddle of “Joe Gould’s Secret,” directed by Stanley Tucci, and stood out in the ensemble cast of “The Match,” directed by Mick Davis. Holm enhanced the story of a good boy falling for a bad girl in Stephen Metcalfe’s “Beautiful Joe” with Sharon Stone and
Billy Connolly.
Holm has also had a diverse and successful television career, with notable projects including Franco Zeffirelli’s miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth,” the U.K. miniseries “The Borrowers,” “The Browning Version,” “After the Party,” “Game, Set & Match,” and “Uncle Vanya.” The recent National Theatre production of “King Lear” was also taped
for U.S. broadcast on PBS, for which Holm received an Emmy Award nomination.
He has also done voiceover work, starring in John Stephenson’s Hallmark Entertainment adaptation of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” He also completed work on the ABC telefilm “The Miracle Maker” and on Gillies Mackinnon’s “The Last of the Blonde Bombshells,” a Working Title production for the BBC and HBO in which he stars opposite Dame Judi Dench.
EMMY ROSSUM (Laura) began her theatrical career at age seven, when she was chosen to join the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center as a member of the Children’s Chorus. She was trained there in stagecraft and classical vocal technique in order to sing the children’s parts in the company’s regular performances. During the next five years, Rossum appeared in 20 different
operas, singing in five languages. She has worked alongside the world’s greatest opera singers, including Placido Domingo, Denyce Graves, Angela Gheorghui and Dimitri Hvorostovsky.
In 1995, Rossum sang in the first Metropolitan Opera production of Tschaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” directed by Elijah Moshinsky. In 1996, she sang in Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of “Carmen” and in Tim Albery’s production of Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
During these years at the Met, Rossum often sang in several operas each week including “La Boheme,” “Turandot,” “Pagliacci,” “Hansel and Gretel” and “Die Meistersinger von Nuremburg.” In 1997 at Carnegie Hall, she joined the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra in a presentation of Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust,” directed by James Levine.
Rossum made her television debut at the age of eleven as a recurring character on the long running American daytime program “As the World Turns.” She then guest-starred on the award-winning series “Law and Order” and “The Practice.”
Her ear for language and dialect, which she had developed at the Met, was reflected in her portrayal of the teenage Audrey Hepburn in the television movie “Audrey,” a performance for which she won critical acclaim.
In January 2000, at age 13, Rossum made her big-screen debut as the Appalachian orphan Deladis Slocum in “Songcatcher.” The film screened in dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Rossum’s voice, singing in a Scotch-Irish ballad style, was featured in the film. Her acting performance earned her an Independent Spirit
Award in the category of Best Debut Performance. After seeing an early cut of the film, Dolly Parton was inspired to write a mother-daughter duet which she recorded with Rossum. That duet, “When Love is New,” was released on the “Songcatcher” soundtrack CD.
Variety named Rossum “One of the Ten to Watch” in the year 2000. She has a supporting role opposite Sean Penn, Lawrence Fishburne, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins in the Clint Eastwood-directed drama “Mystic River,” which received several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The New York Times called her performance “transfixing” and cited it as one of the “Breakout Performances”
of 2003. The Times named Rossum as one of the “Six Actors to Watch this Fall (and Long Thereafter).”
In September 2003, Rossum began production on the Joel Schumacher-directed film of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera.” She acts and sings the role of Christine Daae, the young opera singer who becomes the object of the Phantom’s obsession.
Rossum was born in New York City in 1986 and attended the Spence School until 1996, when she began to homeschool through private tuition and by enrolling in programs offered by Stanford University’s Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) and Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development (CTD). Currently, she takes college courses at Columbia University.
SELA WARD (Dr. Lucy Hall) recently starred in the much anticipated sequel to “Dirty Dancing,” “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”
Last year, Ward released her first book, Homesick, which appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. Part inspirational story, part memoir, the book tells Ward’s quest for a balance of the comforts of her small-town childhood and her big-city way of life.
Ward received an Emmy Award (and two nominations) for Best Actress in a Drama for her portrayal of Lily Manning on ABC’s critically acclaimed dramatic series “Once and Again.” Created by Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick (“thirtysomething”), Ward’s performance also garnered a Golden Globe Award and two nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama.
Ward co-starred in director Mark Christopher's “54” for Miramax. Also starring Mike Myers, Salma Hayek, and Neve Campbell, the film looked at New York’s infamous Studio 54 nightclub, a symbol of decadence and celebrity worship in the 1970s.
On television, Ward also starred in Showtime’s “Rescuers Stories of Courage – Two Women.” The series of telefilms was executive-produced by Barbra Streisand.
Ward won an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Drama in 1994 for her role as Teddy, the struggling artist and recovering alcoholic, on NBC’s award-winning series, “Sisters,” and she was nominated as Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series by the Screen Actors Guild in 1996.
Ward also received unanimous acclaim for her performance in the Lifetime original film, “Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story,” portraying the late NBC News anchorwoman. The film ranks as Lifetime’s highest rated movie, and the second highest rated movie in cable history. Ward’s performance earned her a Cable Ace award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Special in 1996.
She also received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actress in a Television Movie or Mini-Series, as well as an Emmy nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Special.
On the big screen, Ward has appeared in the blockbuster “The Fugitive” opposite Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Other films include “My Fellow Americans” with Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd, and Lauren Bacall, “Hello Again” with Shelley Long and Gabriel Byrne, Garry Marshall’s “Nothing In Common” opposite Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason, “Rustler's Rhapsody”
with Tom Berenger, and Blake Edwards’ “The Man Who Loved Women” opposite Burt Reynolds. Ward’s other television credits include the telefilms “The Reef,” “Double Jeopardy,” “Killer Rules,” “The Haunting of Sarah Hardy” and “Bridesmaids”; the mini-series “King of Love”; a regular role on the CBS series “Emerald Point, N.A.S.”; and appearances on “L.A. Law,” “Night
Court” and “Saturday Night Live”; as well as a recent guest spot on the critically acclaimed situation comedy “Frasier.”
Ward segued into acting after a highly successful career as a model.
ROLAND EMMERICH (Director, Producer, Screenplay, Story) directed and executive-produced the historical epic “The Patriot,” starring Mel Gibson. He directed and executive-produced “Godzilla” and “Independence Day,” and co-wrote both films with producer Dean Devlin. Emmerich also directed and co-wrote 1994’s science-fiction adventure “Stargate”
with Devlin, the film’s producer. Emmerich’s first American film was the 1992 action adventure hit “Universal Soldier,” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He also produced “Eight Legged Freaks” and “The Thirteenth Floor.”
Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. As a youth, he pursued painting and sculpting and studied production design in film school in Munich. His student film “The Noah’s Ark Principle,” which opened the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, became a success and was sold to more than 20 countries.
Emmerich subsequently formed his own production company, Centropolis Film Productions, and under its aegis produced “Making Contact” (a.k.a. “Joey”), which showcased the young filmmaker’s vast knowledge of special effects; and “Ghost Chase,” a comedy he co-wrote with Oliver Eberle. Emmerich went on to direct the action-adventure “Moon 44,” which he co-wrote with Eberle and
which starred Malcolm McDowell, Michael Pare, Lisa Eichhorn and Dean Devlin.
MARK GORDON has produced, financed and distributed over 40 motion pictures and television programs with theatrical box office revenues exceeding two billion dollars.
Gordon’s current productions include “Hostage,” starring Bruce Willis and directed by Florent Siri; “Winter Passing,” starring Will Ferrell and Ed Harris; “Crash” starring Sandra Bullock and Don Cheadle; “Matador” starring Pierce Brosnan; “Casanova,” to be directed by Lasse Hallstrom; “Prime,” starring Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock and written and
to be directed by Ben Younger; “The Painted Veil,” starring Edward Norton and to be directed by Caroline Link; and the soon to be released “Laws of Attraction,” starring Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore and directed by Peter Howitt.
As producer, Gordon’s past films include “The Patriot,” directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Mel Gibson; “Saving Private Ryan,” directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks; Fox’s “Broken Arrow,” directed by John Woo and starring John Travolta; and Fox’s “Speed,” directed by Jan de Bont and starring Keanu Reeves in the role that catapulted him to international
stardom.
As executive producer, financier and international distributor, Gordon’s credits include “Tomb Raider,” directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie; “Wonder Boys,” directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Michael Douglas; “Man on the Moon,” directed by Milos Forman and starring Jim Carrey; “A Simple Plan,” directed by Sam Raimi; “Primary Colors,” directed
by Mike Nichols and starring John Travolta; and “The Jackal,” starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere.
Gordon has produced more than a dozen films for television including “And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself” for HBO starring Antonio Banderas and directed by Bruce Beresford. He directed “Nothing But Sun,” a journey through the Holocaust as seen through the eyes of children, for which he received an Emmy nomination. “The War Between the Classes” won Gordon an Emmy for Best Children’s
Program.
Among his numerous industry awards are a Golden Globe for Best Picture and a Best Picture Oscar nomination for “Saving Private Ryan.” The film also received the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles Film Critics Awards for Best Picture. Gordon has been honored with the Daryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America and he received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
Award for Best Children’s Film for “Paulie: A Parrot’s Tale.”
Gordon serves on the boards of the Producers Guild of America, the Virginia Film Festival, The Children’s Performance Workshop and is the Chairman of Teach for America, Los Angeles.
His first producing effort was the off-Broadway production of “The Buddy System” at Circle in the Square. Gordon is a graduate of New York University Film School. |
