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From the tick-tock anxiousness of a courtroom drama to the taut suspense of a psychological thriller, GARY FLEDER (Director/Producer) is consistently able to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Fleder has made his mark in Hollywood as a craftsman of thrillers, and his expertise ranges from crime and action dramas to science fiction and dark comedies.
Before the lawyers in RUNAWAY JURY, Fleder was dealing with cops. In 2002, he was at the helm of an episode of the FX show "The Shield." The breakout hit helped redefine FX and garnered three Emmy and two Golden Globe awards, including best television series. The same year, Fleder helmed the futuristic sci-fi thriller "Impostor" for Dimension Films. Based on the short story by Philip K. Dick, the
film starred Gary Sinise as a man suspected of being an alien android during a war between humans and aliens.
In 2001, Fleder teamed up with Academy Award® winner Michael Douglas and then-rising starlet Brittany Murphy for the Regency Enterprises action thriller "Don't Say a Word." The story of a psychologist, a kidnapper and a disturbed young woman who harbors a secret that can solve the case, "Don't Say aWord" offered Fleder a unique challenge because its action unfolds over the course of a single day.
In 1997, another young actress saw her career skyrocket as the result of her work with Fleder. With Fleder in the director's chair, Ashley Judd starred along with Morgan Freeman in the screen adaptation of the James Patterson novel "Kiss the Girls." The film launched Judd to stardom and was the first of her two successful pairings with Freeman.
The same year saw Fleder at the helm of two television projects. First, he directed the memorable episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street" entitled "The Subway." Guest star Vincent D'Onofrio won a Peabody award for his portrayal of a commuter who is pushed into a moving subway train and is mortally wounded when he becomes trapped between the train and the platform. The episode also inspired a PBS documentary
on the making of the series. Fleder also worked with producer Tom Hanks in 1997 to direct an episode of the Emmy-award-winning mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon."
Fleder's first foray into feature films was the Miramax dark comedy "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead." Andy Garcia starred as one of five criminals who botch a job and end up with contracts on their heads. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 and garnered Fleder two awards from the police drama film festival Cognac Festival du Film Policier.
In 1993, Fleder's work on the small screen brought him accolades. His episode of the HBO series "Tales from the Crypt" earned him a Cable Ace Award. Also in 1993, Fleder made his second appearance at the Sundance Film Festival with a 30-minute documentary showcasing three years in the life of Brooklyn boxer Philip Paolina. One year prior, his USC thesis project "Air Time," a thriller about an ex-con threatening
a late-night radio talk show psychologist, also made it to Sundance, and in 1988 his short film "Terminal Round" debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival in California.
A graduate of USC School of Cinema and Television, Fleder is a member of the Directors Guild's Special Projects Committee. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia.
ARNON MILCHAN (Producer) is widely renowned as one of the most prolific and successful independent film producers of the past 20 years, with over sixty feature films to his credit. Born in Israel, Milchan was educated at the University of Geneva. His first business venture was to transform his father's modest business into one of his country's largest agro-chemical companies. This
early achievement was a harbinger of Milchan's now legendary reputation in the international marketplace as a keen businessman.
Soon, Milchan began to underwrite projects in an area that had always held a special interest for him - film, television and theater. Early projects include Roman Polanski's theater production of "Amadeus," "Dizengoff 99," "La Menace," "The Medusa Touch" and the mini-series "Masada." By the end of the eighties, Milchan had produced such films as Martin Scorsese's "The King
Of Comedy," Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In America" and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil."
After the huge success of "Pretty Woman" and "The War Of The Roses," Milchan founded New Regency Productions and went on to produce a string of successful films, including "J.F.K.," "Sommersby," "A Time To Kill," "Free Willy," "The Client," "Tin Cup," "Under Siege," "L.A. Confidential," "The Devil's Advocate," "The
Negotiator," "City Of Angels," "Entrapment," "Fight Club," "Don't Say A Word" and "Daredevil."
Upcoming projects include: "First Daughter," a romantic comedy about the First Daughter who goes to college and falls into a fairy tale romance with a dashing graduate student -- but her 'prince' turns out to have a secret agenda, starring Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas, Michael Keaton, and directed by Forest Whitaker; "Girl Next Door,"a comedy about a straight-arrow high-school senior who falls in love with
the perfect 'girl-next-door', only to discover she has a hidden past, starring Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, directed by Luke Greenfield; "Man on Fire," an action/drama/thriller about an American ex-soldier who must protect a child whose parents are threatened by a rash of kidnappings, starring Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken and Dakota Fanning, directed by Tony Scott; "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," an action-thriller about a bored married couple who discover that
they are enemy assassins hired to kill each other, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, directed by Doug Liman; and "Stay," a drama in which a psychologist at an Ivy League University tries to prevent one of his students from committing suicide, starring Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and Ryan Gossling, directed by Mark Forster.
Along the way, Milchan brought on board two powerful investors and partners who share his vision: Australian businessman Kerry Packer's Nine Network and Twentieth Century Fox. Fox distributes Regency movies in all media worldwide (excluding output arrangements Regency has in Germany, Italy and Korea with its other strategic partners), except U.S. pay television and international pay and free television.
Milchan also successfully diversified his company's activities within the sphere of entertainment, most specifically in the realm of television through Regency Television ("Malcolm in the Middle," "Bernie Mac" and "Wonderfalls") and sports through a strategic alliance with PUMA, the worldwide athletic apparel and shoe conglomerate based in Germany. In addition, Regency has worldwide television
rights to Women's Tennis Association events from 1999 through 2007 and has obtained the European broadcast rights to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament for the years 2001 through 2004.
CHRISTOPHER MANKIEWICZ (Producer) has been a production executive as well as a producer for numerous studios and film companies over his four-decade career in the motion picture industry. He served as a producer for Warner Bros. on "A Perfect Murder," starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow. For the last twelve years he has been a producer for Warner Bros. and Twentieth
Century Fox where he has developed numerous screenplays. From 1987 to 1990 he served in a similar capacity at Columbia Pictures.
Mankiewicz began his industry career as Eastern Story Editor for Columbia Pictures from 1963 to 1965. Following that he was Assistant to the Head of Production at United Artists from 1965 to 1969. He then joined Filmways as Vice President of Production where from 1969 to 1970 he worked on various films including "King Lear," released by Columbia Pictures and "The Moonshine War," released by MGM.
Mankiewicz then spent two years as Vice President in charge of Production for Palomar Pictures, followed by another two years in Rome as Head of Production for P.E.A. Films. During his time at P.E.A , the company made Bertolucci's "Last Tango in Paris" and Pasolini's "The Decameron Tales" and "1001 Nights."
After several years as an independent producer, he re-joined Columbia Pictures from 1977 to 1978 as a Vice President of Production. Among the films with he was associated with are "Kramer vs. Kramer," "All That Jazz" and "The Eyes of Laura Mars."
From 1978 to 1979 he was a Vice President of Production at United Artists. This was followed by several years in independent production, during which he developed "Yellowbeard" with Warner Bros. and Handmade Films. Subsequently, he produced the independent feature "Fatal Games" and wrote the screenplay "The Innocents" for Overseas Films. Mankiewicz later supervised "Playing for Keeps"
for Universal. He also was associate producer of "Armed and Dangerous" for Columbia Pictures.
Mankiewicz is a graduate of the Lawrenceville School and Columbia College at Columbia University in New York. He is a second-generation member of an illustrious film industry family. His father is the late Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the multiple Academy Award®-winning director, producer and screenwriter of films such as "All About Eve," and his uncle, Herman L. Mankiewicz, the late screenwriter who wrote "Citizen
Kane" with Orson Welles.
BRIAN KOPPELMAN & DAVID LEVIEN (Screenwriters) had their first produced screenplay with Miramax's "Rounders," starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. They also produced and directed their second feature screenplay, "Knockaround Guys." Currently they have several projects in development at various studios
and production companies, including Warner Bros., United Artists, Universal and Bel Air Entertainment.
RICK CLEVELAND (Screenwriter) won an Emmy® and WGA Award (both shared with Aaron Sorkin) for his work on an episode on "The West Wing," on which he was a co-producer. He was Emmy® nominated for co-writing the HBO drama series "Six Feet Under" (on which he also serves as supervising producer.
MATTHEW CHAPMAN (Screenwriter) wrote the Martin Lawrence comedy "What's the Worst That Could Happen," the Bruce Willis thriller "Color of Night" and the drama "Consenting Adults." He wrote and directed the features "Heart of Midnight" and "Strangers Kiss" and the TV movie "Slow Burn."
JEFFREY DOWNER (Executive Producer) worked with director Gary Fleder as executive producer on "Don't Say a Word," their second film together. He first worked with Fleder on "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," as production supervisor. He served in the same capacity on "Mr. Holland's Opus." Downer has also executive produced "Here on Earth"
and co-produced "Never Been Kissed" and the television production "Always Outnumbered." His credits as associate producer include "Barbarians at the Gate" for HBO and "the feature film "Love Potion No. 9." His other credits include "Doctor Dolittle," "Gang Related," "Speed 2: Cruise Control," "Courage Under Fire," "The Band Played On" and "Dunston Checks In."
Downer was born and raised in Glens Falls, New York. After attending a local community college, where he majored in marketing, Downer moved to Los Angeles and entered the film industry in 1977. In 1984, he joined ABC Circle Films, working in various capacities until 1989, when he left to work as an independent.
ROBERT ELSWIT, ASC (Director of Photography) has a body of work that includes both large-scale studio movies and smaller independent films. He previously collaborated with director Gary Fleder on "Impostor" and, most recently, worked on "Gigli," directed by Martin Brest, and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love," starring Adam Sandler. This marked
Elswit's fourth collaboration with Anderson, having previously served as director of photography on "Magnolia," "Boogie Nights" and "Hard Eight."
Elswit's other recent films are David Mamet's "Heist," "Bounce," starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck, and "8mm,"starring Nicolas Cage. His other feature credits include "Tomorrow Never Dies," "Boys," starring Winona Ryder, "Pallbearer," "The River Wild," starring Meryl Streep, "Dangerous Woman," "Waterland," "The Hand That Rocks
the Cradle," "Bad Influence," "Heart of Dixie," "Return of the Living Dead Part II," "Amazing Grace and Chuck," "Trick or Treat," "Desert Hearts," "Moving Violations," "The Sure Thing," starring John Cusack, and "Waltz Across Texas."
RUNAWAY JURY marks NELSON COATES' (Production Designer) fifth collaboration with director Gary Fleder, having previously designed "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," "Kiss the Girls," "Impostor" and "Don't Say a Word." Most recently, Coates served as production designer on Fox Searchlight's "Antwone Fisher," on which Denzel
Washington made his feature film directing debut.
His credits also include writer/director David Koepp's "A Stir of Echoes," as well as writer/director Richard LaGravanese's "Living Out Loud." Coates has designed features helmed by three noted actors: Kevin Spacey's "Albino Alligator," Angelica Huston's "Bastard Out of Carolina" and Bill Paxton's "Frailty." Other film designs include projects such as "Murder at 1600,"
"Disturbing Behavior," "Universal Soldier," "CB4," "Three of Hearts" and "Blank Check." On television, Coates designed the permanent sets for the Fox series, "John Doe."
Coates' designs for "Living Out Loud" were featured as one of five films in a special exhibition on film design during the 1998 Bienale de Firenze in Milan. He received an Emmy® Award nomination for his design work on "Stephen King's The Stand." His design work has been featured in publications such as "The New York Times" and "Entertainment Design."
Coates also has worked as an actor, singer and dancer, making his professional performing debut at age six. His design career began in theatre while he attended college, and as his acting career took him into commercials, television and finally film, so did his designs. He has appeared in three shows off Broadway, performed for four U.S. Presidents, sung for the Gorbachevs, and soloed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, as well
as with numerous orchestras throughout the U.S. and Canada.
WILLIAM STEINKAMP, A.C.E. (Editor), one of the most distinguished members of the editing field, is a three-time Academy Award® nominee, for Sydney Pollack's "Tootsie" and "Out of Africa," and Steve Kloves' "The Fabulous Baker Boys." Steinkamp also received A.C.E. nominations for those films, as well as for Martin Brest's "Scent of a Woman."
Steinkamp previously worked with director Gary Fleder on "Kiss the Girls" and "Don't Say a Word." Steinkamp's numerous other credits include "Against All Odds," "White Knights," "Burglar," "Adventures in Babysitting," "Scrooged," Sydney Pollack's "Havana" and "The Firm," "A Time To Kill," "Goodbye Lover," "Random
Hearts" and "Heartbreakers."
ABIGAIL MURRAY (Costume Designer) joins director Gary Fleder for a fourth time, having previously designed the costumes for "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead," "Kiss the Girls" and "Impostor." Most recently, she was the costume designer on "Masked and Anonymous," starring Bob Dylan.
Her other feature film credits include "Tremors," "True Identity," "The Proprietor," "For Richer or Poorer," "Bogus" and "Scream 3." Previously, Murray was the associate designer on "Look Who's Talking" and assistant designer on "The Believers," "Mrs. Soffel" and "The Manhattan Project."
Born in Philadelphia, Murray moved to New York where she studied at Parson's School of Design, at FIT and with Lester Palokov. She began her career in the New York theatre on Broadway, off Broadway and in opera. She counts among her credits such prestigious productions as "A Man For All Seasons," "The Hotel Play," "Moon For the Misbegotten" and "As You Like It." She got her start in feature
films when she served as Tony Walton's assistant on "Death Trap," directed by Sidney Lumet. She credits both men for luring her into film work and showing her the power of the medium.
CHRISTOPHER YOUNG (Music) has worked on the scores for over fifty motion pictures, among them "Entrapment," "Exorcist IV: The Beginning," "The Core," "The Shipping News," "Bandits," "Urban Legend," "Rounders," "Set It Off," "Copycat," "Species," "Tales From the Hood," "The
Dark Half," "The Fly II," "Jennifer Eight," "Hellraiser" and "Hellbound: Hellraiser II." He received an Emmy® nomination for the television film "Norma Jean and Marilyn." |
