ABOUT
THE FILMMAKERS
BRYAN
SINGER (Director, Story, Executive Producer)
directed the box-office hit "X-Men." Singer became the
focus of considerable attention in 1995 when his second full-length
feature, "The Usual Suspects," was released to critical
and commercial acclaim. With an impressive cast that included Gabriel
Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Baldwin and Chazz Palminteri,
the young director (28 at the time) beat a slew of odds by bringing
the $6 million, 35-day shoot in on time and under budget. "The
Usual Suspects" won two Academy Awards that year: Kevin Spacey
for Best Supporting Actor and Christopher McQuarrie for Best Original
Screenplay.
Singer’s
third feature film was 1998’s dramatic thriller "Apt
Pupil," which starred Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, Bruce Davison
and David Schwimmer. The film tells the story of a sixteen year-old
high school student (Renfro) who discovers that a Nazi war criminal
(McKellen) has been quietly living in his hometown. "Apt Pupil"
was well-received and garnered several awards and nominations for
its actors and filmmakers.
Singer’s
lifelong fascination with the art of cinema became a reality in
his early teens when he began shooting 8mm films. After attending
the prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York, he moved to Los
Angeles where he began undergraduate studies at the University of
Southern California. It was during this period that his ambition
to become a filmmaker intensified.
After
graduating from USC, he wrote and directed "Lion’s Den,"
an award-winning 25-minute film chronicling the lives of five high
school friends who reunite after graduation. Singer called upon
his childhood friend Ethan Hawke to star in the 16mm, $15,000 project.
"Lion’s Den" opened the doors to Singer’s
co-writing, producing and directing "Public Access," his
first full-length film project, which won the Grand Jury Prize at
the 1993 Sundance Film Festival.
LAUREN
SHULER DONNER (Producer)
is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. Shuler Donner
has the ability to identify, develop and nurture a wide range of
material, and she is also one of the few producers today with hands-on
knowledge of the mechanics of filmmaking.
She
produced the Oliver Stone film "Any Given Sunday," starring
Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid and Cameron Diaz, and "You’ve
Got Mail," starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, an e-mail take
on the romantic comedy "Shop Around the Corner," directed
by Nora Ephron. "X-Men," which she produced with Ralph
Winter, opened to a scorching $54.5million, the biggest ever July
opening. She recently completed "Timeline," based on the
Michael Crichton novel for Paramount.
The
Donners' Company, which she runs with her producer/director husband
Richard Donner, is developing "Constantine," starring
Keanu Reeves and directed by Francis Lawrence for Warner Bros, and
is in pre-production on "Labor Day," starring Jet Li for
Disney. Future projects include "Vacation from Marriage"
at Warner Bros., as well as "Crazy Train" for Fox.
Her
first producing project was the television movie "Amateur Night
at the Dixie Bar & Grill," hailed by The Washington Post
as "one of the ten best movies ever made for television."
Written and directed by Joel Schumacher, the film starred Tanya
Tucker and
Dennis Quaid.
The
smash hit comedy "Mr. Mom" was the first feature film
Shuler Donner produced. Written by John Hughes and starring Michael
Keaton, the movie was the ninth largest grossing film in 1983. She
then produced the epic medieval adventure-romance "Ladyhawke,"
which was directed by Richard Donner and starred Matthew Broderick,
Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer.
Shuler
Donner was reunited with Joel Schumacher for "St. Elmo’s
Fire" (which starred an extraordinary ensemble of talented
new stars) and with screenwriter John Hughes, when she produced
"Pretty in Pink," starring Molly Ringwald. These two films
were box office hits and were accompanied by platinum-selling soundtracks.
In
1989, Shuler Donner produced the comedy "Three Fugitives,"
starring Nick Nolte and Martin Short; "The Favor," starring
Elizabeth McGovern and introducing Brad Pitt; and "Radio Flyer,"
directed by Richard Donner.
Her
next two films, "Dave" and the family adventure "Free
Willy," were two of the top ten grossing films of 1993. "Dave,"
starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver and directed by Ivan Reitman,
was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Picture-Comedy or Musical
category and for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
She also produced "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home,"
"Assassins" and "Volcano" and executive produced
"Free Willy III."
Shuler
Donner also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the
Producer's Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
for eight years (the term limit) and is on the Advisory Board of
Women in Film.
She
has been honored within and outside of the entertainment industry.
She
is the recipient of a Vision Award and an Icon Award from Premiere
Magazine. "Ladyhawke" and "X-Men" received the
Best Fantasy Film award from the Academy of
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. "Ladyhawke"
and "Free Willy" were honored with the Award of Excellence
from the Film Advisory Board.
In
addition she is a board member of Hollygrove, an organization that
provides a safe and nurturing environment for children who have
been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect.
In
1987, Shuler Donner was recognized by her alma mater, Boston University,
where she earned her B.S. in film and communications, with a Distinguished
Alumni Award. In 1993, she was honored by the university’s
alumni association for "Service to the Profession," in
recognition of the talent and determination that has made her one
of the most respected film producers today.
RALPH
WINTER (Producer)
executive produced "Planet of the Apes," directed by Tim
Burton for Twentieth Century Fox. The film opened to $68.5 million,
then the largest non-holiday three day gross in history. He also
produced "X-Men" for Twentieth Century Fox with Lauren
Shuler Donner. "X-Men" opened on July 14, 2000, to the
then largest non-sequel weekend box office in history, $54.5 million.
Winter
produced the Academy Award-nominated films "Mighty Joe Young,"
"Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," and "Star
Trek IV: The Voyage Home," which received four nominations.
Winter
executive produced "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier."
He executive produced "Inspector Gadget," starring Matthew
Broderick and Rupert Everett for Disney: produced "Hackers,"
directed by Iain Softley ("K-Pax") and starring Johnny
Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie for United Artists; and with Tom Jacobson,
produced Disney's remake of the 1949 RKO classic, "Mighty Joe
Young," directed by Ron Underwood ("City
Slickers.").
Winter
created a mini-studio facility in Chatsworth, California, from which
he produced the ABC-TV series "High Incident" for Steven
Spielberg in 1995-96. This led to his directorial debut on the special
Halloween episode, "Masquerade."
As
executive in charge of production for Harve Bennett Productions,
Winter supervised the highly-acclaimed "Jesse Owens Story,"
as well as the 1982 Emmy Award-winning drama special "A Woman
Called Golda."
While
his company, Ralph Winter Productions, was based at the Walt Disney
Studios, Winter produced "The Puppet Masters" with Donald
Sutherland, and executive produced the live-action comedies "Hocus
Pocus," with Bette Midler, and "Captain Ron" with
Kurt Russell and Martin Short.
More
recently, his company produced the family film "Blizzard,"
directed by Levar Burton and starring Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher
Plummer, Brenda Blethyn and Kevin Pollak. He also produced "Hangman's
Curse," based on a novel by Frank Peretti, starring David Keith
and Mel Harris ("Thirtysomething"), which will be released
by Fox Home Video in the spring of 2003, and "Left Behind"
with Kirk Cameron, which sold three million cassettes in the specialty
Christian market. His four hour mini-series, "Pontius Pilate,"
is in development at ABC for production in 2003. Ralph Winter Productions
is now based at Fox.
Winter
began his career at Paramount Pictures as director of post-production
for Paramount Television. He is a graduate of the University of
California at Berkeley, and is a member of the Directors Guild of
America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
DAN
HARRIS (Screenwriter) is set to make his feature
directing debut with "Imaginary Heroes," a coming of age
story about secrets and lies in suburban America.
Harris’
short film, "The Killing of Candice Klein," played to
rave reviews at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. A year earlier,
his short film "Urban Chaos Theory" won the Grand Jury
Prize for the Best Short Film at the Nodance Film Festival and has
been distributed on DVD.
Harris
graduated from Columbia University in 2001, winning the Louis B.
Sudler prize in the arts for a screenplay, "America's Least
Wanted." Just months after graduating from college and moving
to Los Angeles, Harris and writing partner Michael Dougherty sold
their first pitch, a horror film, to Phoenix Pictures.
MICHAEL
DOUGHERTY (Screenwriter)
is an up-and-coming young writer making a name for himself in the
science fiction and horror genres. Prior to X2, Dougherty wrote
"Trick or Treat," a horror film produced and directed
by Stan Winston for New Regency. He co-wrote a script for Phoenix
Pictures with Dan Harris.
Dougherty
is also an accomplished animator and illustrator whose award-winning
films have appeared on MTV and the Sci Fi Channel, and his artwork
is currently featured in a line of subversive greetings cards.
Dougherty
is a graduate of NYU's film program and currently lives in Los Angeles.
DAVID
HAYTER’s (Story)
screenwriting credits include "X-Men," "The Incredible
Hulk," "Pitch Black II – The Chronicles of Riddick,"
and "The Scorpion King." Hayter has been signed to write
and direct the much anticipated film adaptation of Alan Moore's
"The Watchmen."
A native
Canadian, Hayter spent the first eighteen years of his life traveling
the world with his family, while learning the French and Japanese
languages. After graduating from the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan,
Hayter studied all facets of acting at the Ryerson Theatre School
in Toronto.
Hayter
has an extensive voiceover resume, most recently voicing the role
of Snake for the enormously popular video game "Metal Gear
Solid 2." Acting credits include the television show "Major
Dad," a starring role in the feature film "Guyver 2 –
The Dark Hero" and the independent film "Burn," which
he also produced.
ZAK
PENN (Story) co-wrote the box-office hit "Behind
Enemy Lines," directed by John Moore and released by Twentieth
Century Fox. Penn has been a professional screenwriter since selling
his first script, "Last Action Hero," at age 23. Since
then, he has worked on numerous movies as a screenwriter or story
consultant, including "PCU," "Men in Black,"
"The Mask of Zorro," "Antz," "Mighty Joe
Young," "Inspector Gadget," "Nutty Professor
II: The Klumps," "Charlie’s Angels" and produced
"Osmosis Jones" and co-wrote "Reign of Fire."
AVI
ARAD (Executive Producer)
is the President of Marvel Studios and CCO of Marvel Enterprises,
Inc. Arad has been the driving force behind Marvel’s Hollywood
renaissance. Following the record-breaking success of the box office
smash hit, "Spider-Man" and the establishment of three
more proven franchises in his first Marvel features – "Blade,"
Twentieth Century Fox’s "X-Men" and Fox / Regency’s
"Daredevil" – Arad has numerous film projects based
on Marvel super heroes in various stages of development. He has
aligned Marvel with several prominent studios to produce full-feature
films including Fox’s "The Silver Surfer" and "Fantastic
Four," plus "Spider-Man 2," "Ghost Rider,"
"The Hulk, "Namor," "Prime," "Iron
Man," "Werewolf By Night," "Dr. Strange,"
"The Punisher," "Iron Fist," Man-Thing,"
and "Deathlok."
Additionally,
Arad has positioned Marvel Studios as a major provider of entertainment
on the small screen with both live action and animated series’
in production. "X-Men Evolution," in association with
Film Roman and the Kid’s WB! is a top-rated animated series
and Marvel Studios’ live-action "Mutant X" (Tribune/Fireworks)
is a successful nationally syndicated program. Arad has also brought
Spider-Man to MTV with the "Spider-Man" animated series.
He
first made a name for himself in the entertainment industry as a
toy designer, and then became interested in television animation.
This led to his involvement in such series as "Conan the Adventurer,"
"King Arthur & the Knights of Justice," "Double
Dragon and Bots Master."
When
Marvel acquired an interest in Toy Biz, Arad entered into an arrangement
with the New York City-based entertainment conglomerate to devote
his time exclusively to Toy Biz and Marvel Studios. Arad executive
produced Marvel’s full slate of animated television series,
including the hit shows "Spider-Man" and "X-Men"
for the Fox Kids Network, as well as programs based on the "Incredible
Hulk," "Fantastic Four," "Iron Man" and
"The Avengers." Arad executive produced the live-action
movies of the week "Generation X" and "Nick Fury,
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."
STAN
LEE (Executive Producer)
is known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel
Comics to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. Stan
Lee's singular co-creations include Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk,
X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, The Avengers, Silver
Surfer and Dr. Strange among many others.
Lee
has exerted more influence over the comic book industry than anyone
in history. He created or co-created 90 percent of Marvel's recognized
characters, which have been successfully licensed and marketed since
1965. The numbers are staggering – more than two billion of
his comic books have been published in 75 countries and in 25 languages.
In Europe alone, Lee's name appears on over 35 million comics annually.
In 1981 Lee transformed his Spider-Man and Hulk creations into Saturday
morning and syndicated television cartoons. When Marvel Comics and
Marvel Productions were acquired by New World Entertainment in 1986,
Lee’s horizons expanded even further, giving him the opportunity
to become more involved in the creation and development of filmed
projects for both the big and small screen. He supervised such diverse
animated series as "X-Men," "Spider-Man" and
"The Hulk." To date, his characters have populated over
24 separate television series, all of which continue in syndication
around the world.
Recent
hit movies based on Marvel characters include "Spider-Man,"
"X-Men," "Blade," "Blade 2," "Daredevil"
and "The Hulk." In addition, Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange,
The Mighty Thor and Silver Surfer are in development for motion
pictures and TV series.
TOM
DeSANTO (Executive Producer) dreamed of bringing
the characters of the X-Men comic books to the screen since the
age of ten. DeSanto started working with Bryan Singer in 1995 and
brought Singer into the world of the X-Men in 1996. In addition
to his duties as executive producer on "X-Men," DeSanto
co-wrote the story for the film with Singer.
A self
described pop culture junkie and proud owner of more than 20,000
comic books, DeSanto also co-produced Singer's "Apt Pupil,"
and is currently developing the feature film "2001 Maniacs."
NEWTON
THOMAS SIGEL, ASC (Director of Photography)
recently directed "Point of Origin," starring Ray Liotta
for HBO.
As
a cinematographer, Sigel has enjoyed success in documentaries, episodic
television, music videos and features films. His film credits include
"X-Men," "Three Kings," "Brokedown Palace,"
"Apt Pupil," "Fallen, Blood and Wine," "The
Usual Suspects" (for which he was nominated for an Independent
Spirit Award), "The Trigger Effect," "Foxfire,"
"Blankman," "Money for Nothing," "Indian
Summer," "Into the West," "Salmonberries"
and "Crossing the Bridge."
His
documentary "Witness to War" won an Academy Award while
"El Salvador: Another Vietnam" was Oscar-nominated. Sigel
has also co-directed the documentaries "When the Mountains
Tremble" and "Report from the Front."
JOHN
OTTMAN (Editor, Composer) is editing X2 and composing
the film's score. Ottman has applied this unusual combination of
talents to three Bryan Singer movies, "Apt Pupil," "The
Usual Suspects" and "Public Access." His work as
an editor on "The Usual Suspects" earned him a BAFTA Award.
Ottman's
credits as a composer include "The Cable Guy," "Snow
White: A Tale of Terror," "Incognito," "Halloween
H20," "Lake Placid," "Goodbye Lover," "Bubble
Boy," HBO's "Point of Origin," "Pumpkin,"
"Eight Legged Freaks" and "Trapped." He received
an Emmy nomination for the score of Barry Sonnenfeld's TV update
of "Fantasy Island." He also directed, edited and scored
"Urban Legends 2."
GUY
HENDRIX DYAS (Production Designer)
began his career working in Japan as an industrial designer for
Akio Morita and his Sony Corporation. He moved to Tokyo shortly
after graduating with a Masters Degree in Industrial Design from
the prestigious Royal College of Art in London.
While
living in Japan, Dyas quickly became one of the most active and
noticeable new members of the international design world. Some examples
of his designs can be found on display at the Design Museum in London
and at the Wakita Museum of Art in Tokyo.
In
1994 Dyas’ passion for filmmaking and an invitation from Industrial
Light and Magic (ILM) to join their creative team as an art director,
encouraged him to move to the United States and devote himself entirely
to film production.
Since
then, Dyas has worked as a concept artist on "Planet of the
Apes," "The Matrix: Reloaded," "Vanilla Sky"
and "Pearl Harbor." He was assistant art director on "Swordfish"
and "The Cell," visual consultant on "A Sound of
Thunder," and VFX art director on "Twister."
LOUISE
MINGENBACH’s (Costume Designer)
feature film credits include "X-Men," "K-PAX,"
"Gossip," "Nightwatch," "Apt Pupil,"
"Permanent Midnight," "The Spitfire Grill,"
"One Night Stand," "The Usual Suspects, the upcoming
feature "Helldorado," and the television series "The
Naked Truth."
MICHAEL
FINK (Visual Effects Supervisor)
received an Academy Award nomination for his work on Tim Burton’s
"Batman Returns." Fink was also nominated twice by the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for his work
on "Batman Returns" and John Badham’s "War
Games." He was also nominated for a Golden Satellite Award
for his work on Burton’s "Mars Attacks!"
Fink’s
many credits include "X-Men," "Lethal Weapon 4,"
"Eraser," "Braveheart," "Baby’s Day
Out," "The Hunt for Red October," "Tango &
Cash," "The Seventh Sign," "Project X,"
"D.A.R.Y.L." and "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai:
Across the 8th Dimension." |
