PAN, directed by Joe Wright, starring Hugh Jackman is releasing across cinemas in India on October 9th, 2015.

From director Joe Wright comes “Pan,” a live-action feature presenting a wholly original adventure about the beginnings of the beloved characters created by J.M. Barrie.  The film stars Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”) as Blackbeard; Garrett Hedlund as James Hook; Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) as Tiger Lily; newcomer Levi Miller as Peter; and Amanda Seyfried as Mary.

Peter is a mischievous 12-year-old boy with an irrepressible rebellious streak, but in the bleak London orphanage where he has lived his whole life those qualities do not exactly fly.  Then one incredible night, Peter is whisked away from the orphanage and spirited off to a fantastical world of pirates, warriors and fairies called Neverland.  There, he finds amazing adventures and fights life-or-death battles while trying to uncover the secret of his mother, who left him at the orphanage so long ago, and his rightful place in this magical land.  Teamed with the warrior Tiger Lily and a new friend named James Hook, Peter must defeat the ruthless pirate Blackbeard to save Neverland and discover his true destiny—to become the hero who will forever be known as Peter Pan.

Wright directed “Pan” from a screenplay written by Jason Fuchs.  Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Oscar nominee Paul Webster produced the film, with Tim Lewis serving as executive producer.

Wright’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar-nominated directors of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Anna Karenina,” “Atonement”) and John Mathieson (“The Phantom of the Opera,” “Gladiator”); Oscar-nominated production designer Aline Bonetto (“A Very Long Engagement,” “Amelie”); editors Paul Tothill and William Hoy; Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“Anna Karenina”); and makeup and hair designer Ivana Primorac.  The music is by Oscar-nominated composer John Powell (“How to Train Your Dragon”).

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in association with RatPac-Dune Entertainment, a Berlanti Production, a Joe Wright film, “Pan.”  Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, it is set for a worldwide release in 3D.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

I’m going to tell you a story about a boy who would never grow up.

But this isn’t the story you’ve heard before…  Sometimes, to truly understand

how things end, we must first know how they begin.

An 18th-century galleon, 100 feet long and manned by pirates, soars through London’s night skies, pursued by World War II RAF spitfires spewing a hail of gunfire… A daring swashbuckler mines for prized pixie dust, keen to escape from a brazen buccaneer desperate for immortality… Wildly vibrant native warriors protect a secret, crystalline fairy land… And, at the heart of it all, a mischievous young orphan on a quest to find his mother discovers his true heritage—and his destiny—as the boy who could fly.

All of this and much more can be found in director Joe Wright’s epic, fun-filled family adventure “Pan.”  Though the character was created more than a century ago, Wright says, “This is Peter Pan for 2015, a complete reframing of the story as we all know and love it.  It’s Peter’s origin story and a classic hero’s journey set in a big, beautiful, bold world.”

Starring as the larger-than-life villainous Blackbeard, Hugh Jackman states, “Joe Wright is a true visionary, an adult who’s able to tap into a child’s mind and run wild, so audiences are going to see Neverland like they never have before.  This was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had making a movie.”

“I really just wanted to make an exciting, entertaining film, and have as good a time as possible doing it,” Wright conveys.  “It’s a pleasure making a film for kids because you can free yourself of too much seriousness.  It’s a mad world we’ve created, full of color and texture and strange, wonderful images that hopefully feel like they’ve come from a child’s imagination.”

With author J.M. Barrie’s classic tale as the primary inspiration behind the story, Wright says he embraced the author’s “sense of strangeness.  It’s a very odd book.  It doesn’t underestimate children’s intelligence; there are no ‘goodies’ or ‘baddies,’ everyone is flawed, even Peter.  I loved the duplicity of all the characters.”

Taking on the iconic titular role is newcomer Levi Miller, who says, “The script was magical, and to play Peter in a story telling the origin of Peter Pan was amazing, and really, really cool.”

Jason Fuchs, who wrote the original screenplay, was taken by the character at an early age—an enthrallment that never left him.  “When I was nine years old, I was on a Peter Pan ride with my dad and we got stuck in a flying pirate ship over a miniature London,” he recalls.  “It was literally the best 25 minutes of my life, up there with LED stars twinkling above us and Peter and Wendy flying five feet away.”

Those moments engendered the youngster with questions he would spend years hoping to answer.  “At the time, I kept asking my dad, ‘How did Peter get to Neverland?’  ‘Why can he fly?’  ‘How did he and Hook meet for the first time and why do they hate each other so much?’  I read the original book in search of answers, but found only hints, and I always thought it would be great to make a movie that told the full story, that answered at least some of the questions I had that day.”

Greg Berlanti jumped on board to produce after meeting with Fuchs and hearing his ideas for the character.  “This was Jason’s passion project, to reintroduce Peter Pan and his mythology to the world.  Every generation deserves its own Peter Pan story; it was exciting to me to reexamine what we think we know about Peter and Hook and Tiger Lily, and to twist and turn those notions around.  I think Jason and Joe executed it all brilliantly.”

“I’d never read a script like Jason’s, and I’ve read a lot of scripts,” Wright says.  “But this one had a heart to it that I hadn’t really found in others for movies of this scale.  And I have a son, so I really wanted to make this movie for him.”

Garrett Hedlund, who stars in the film as Hook—before the hook—relates, “When I first talked to Joe about the project, he said his son was having nightmares, and that by making this movie, he wanted to show him that nightmares, no matter how dark the fear, can always be overcome.”

Drawing on a line in the book about Hook training under Blackbeard, Fuchs expanded the role of the infamous pirate, making him Peter’s prime nemesis in the script and Hook a younger, two-handed adventurer looking for a way out of Neverland who realizes Peter might just be the ticket.

Producer Sarah Schechter notes, “Garrett brings charisma and charm to the role of Hook that we’ve never seen in that character, since we’ve only known him as a full-fledged villain out to get Peter Pan.  In our story, the two are buddies, up against Hugh’s deliciously malicious Blackbeard.  But they’ve also got Tiger Lily on their side, played with a striking otherworldliness by Rooney Mara.  So, between Peter, Hook and Tiger Lily, there are great heroes for boys and girls.”

Mara was eager to work with Wright when the project was presented to her.  “Peter Pan means a lot to me, and to most people, I think,” she says.  “I loved the different movie versions of it when I was growing up; it’s such a special story.  Getting to play Tiger Lily was a dream come true, and working with Joe was so special, and one of my favorite parts about being in the movie.”

The story Fuchs devised is the untold tale of how a young orphan named Peter would become the hero known forevermore as Peter Pan.  A young woman, Mary—played by Amanda Seyfried—deposits her infant son on the steps of an orphanage called the Lambeth Home for Boys, leaving him with a note, a kiss, and a pan flute charm on a string about his neck.  The story picks up with Peter, now aged 12, still dreaming of his mother’s return.

Shades of the rascally Pan readers all know are evident in the rebellious young lad who, along with his best friend, Nibs, revels in outsmarting the officious orphanage director, Mother Barnabas.  But what the boys soon learn is that her greed doesn’t stop with the Home’s war rations.  With her blessing and in the midst of the Blitz, Peter, along with several other boys, is plucked from his bed by a band of pirates and whisked away to an extraordinary place… Neverland.

However, it’s not the Neverland we’ve all come to know.  Under Blackbeard’s rule, Peter and his fellow orphans—along with thousands more—are thrown into a massive dirt pit and forced to dig ceaselessly for the rarest of gems: pixum, from which pixie dust is extracted.  But when Peter comes face to face with Blackbeard, he proves himself to have an extraordinary gift, and it becomes clear that the malevolent ruler may have even more to fear from Peter, and that his fate, and the very fate of Neverland, may rest in this young boy’s hands.

“The sheer breadth of imagination, the thoroughness and the attention to detail that Joe brings to bear on his projects excites me each time I work with him,” says producer Paul Webster.  “Pan” marks their fourth collaboration, and from the beginning, he says, “Joe identified with the character of this lonely yet spirited boy.  As soon as he read the script, it struck just the right emotional chord with him, which he needs to get involved with anything.”

Berlanti adds, “Joe was at the top of our wish list.  We felt he would bring the magic, along with an elegance and sophistication, to make this enchanted world incredibly inviting.  He gave us all those things and blew us away with his ideas of how to make the story even better and bring this world to life.”

“Joe’s passion and response to the material was exactly what the project needed,” Schechter emphasizes.  “He had a very clear vision of a fresh and original landscape and for making a dynamic and exhilarating adventure for this universally loved character, not only for the sake of his own son but everyone’s sons and daughters, and the child inside all of us—exactly what makes Peter Pan such a timeless story.”

To create the landscape he envisioned, Wright opted to build much of the world of “Pan” on practical sets, in order to provide not only a sense of realism for his actors, but, in an effort to reaffirm the childlike environs of Neverland and give them an actual playground to, well, play in.  In England, the cavernous stages of Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and hangars at Cardington Studios provided enough space to service everything from the bleak London orphanage to Blackbeard’s vast quarry to the Neverwood and the natives’ Tree Village, to two full-size pirate ships, a mermaid lagoon, and more.

Wright offers, “The scale of our sets allowed Neverland to feel real and our incredible cast to come to work every day ready to play pirates, warriors, adventurers—everything we do as kids in our own minds, but in a physical setting that makes it a real adventure, in a kind of 3D, kaleidoscopic world of color.”

BLACKBEARD

Are you brave, Peter?

PETER

I try to be.

In “Pan,” Peter is a smart and rebellious 12-year-old boy who has spent his entire life in a dreary London orphanage called the Lambeth Home for Boys, a truly Dickensian dwelling run by a heartless nun.  That he still holds out hope that his mother will return for him speaks to the strength of his spirit, and when he finds himself swept away to a fantastical world of pirates, warriors and fairies, his determination to be reunited with her is only strengthened.

Due to the range of emotions and physical requirements of the character, the filmmakers knew that casting Peter would be one of their most critical choices in making the film, and therefore left no stone unturned.   “We sent out casting directors to every English-speaking country in the world, and received thousands of tapes and held open castings as well,” Wright recalls.  “We whittled it down and whittled it down, and I met with probably a couple hundred, myself.  Then we were sent Levi’s reading, and there was instantly something sparkly about him, something in his eyes that was hopeful and wondrous, open to possibilities.  He was just a normal kid in Australia who’d never done a big, dramatic role of this size before.  He came to L.A. to meet with us and he just shone.  And he’s smart and a very good actor.  He was our guy.”

Miller couldn’t have been happier to get the news when Wright rung him up.  “It was crazy, something I never thought could have happened!  I screamed, I laughed, I cried,” the young actor effuses.  “I couldn’t believe that I got the part and I just wanted to get started!”

Miller eagerly poured his boundless energy and extraordinary focus into rehearsals and physical training to prepare for the immense demands required to play the title role.  “Peter is brave and adventurous,” he says of his character, “and even a bit selfish.  But he has a good reason for doing what he’s doing: the one thing he wants in his life is to be reunited with his mother.”

Until the night Peter is taken away to Neverland, Lambeth is the only home he’s known, and Mother Barnabas and the other nuns his only parental figures.  “It’s a pretty sad place and the headmistress, Mother Barnabas, is a monster, an absolutely terrible person,” Miller says, quickly adding, “but the actress who plays her was lovely!”

Peter’s closest ally, Nibs, is played by Lewis MacDougall, who, Miller says, “is my best friend in the film and in real life, which was pretty cool.”

However, once he departs the confines of Lambeth—without Nibs—Peter is on his own and soon under the control of a far more evil dictator: Blackbeard.  “Blackbeard doesn’t like Peter because he thinks Peter is in the way of him finding eternal youth; this is not good for Blackbeard and, in return, that’s not good for Peter,” Miller relates.

“In just the blink of an eye, you could be dead with Blackbeard,” says Jackman, portrayer of the pirate all other pirates fear.  “Levi was really able to stand up to me in our scenes together, and I was really proud of him.  He’s just a natural and clearly too young to know how hard it should be!  You never catch him acting; he’s just completely present and relaxed playing this character who is a fish out of water, and very frightened.  But you feel the beginning of the Peter Pan chutzpah, that mischievous, cheeky, playful Pan we know.  Levi’s got that in spades.”

In the role of the self-appointed dictator of Neverland, Jackman tried to view his character as Peter and the other boys might.  “If you assume the imagery is all coming from a child, adults should always be somewhat frightening and ridiculous at the same time,” he offers.

“When I first met with Joe,” Jackman continues, “we discussed why these stories exist in the first place, the role they play in kids’ lives—and adults’ lives.  Peter Pan is one of those seminal stories that is known by all ages in all countries.  It’s universal, and in creating an origin for Peter, I think Jason and Joe really hooked into the inner child within all of us.”

“For Blackbeard, Jason expanded on just a grain of information from the book, and then created this incredible bad guy, who is played by the nicest man in show business,” Wright smiles.

“I’ve played bad guys before, but I don’t think I’ve ever played one quite this bad,” Jackman notes.  “Not only is he dastardly, but he loves to hear himself talk, to make speeches and use big words.  He thinks he’s very important, and he is scary, but he’s having a good time and that made him a fun character to play.”

Another reason the actor, who is also a celebrated stage performer, enjoyed the part was that in making his entrance in the film, Blackbeard makes an entrance, one most Broadway performers would envy.  “I told Joe, I’ll never get to do this again, play a pirate that sees himself almost as a rock star, and actually get to sing a rock song as a pirate.  We—me, the other pirates, the kids—we sang Nirvana, we sang some Ramones, all together, in unison.  It was quite spectacular.”

“Blackbeard is a troubled guy, in search of eternal youth and capricious in the extreme,” Wright adds.  “One minute, he’ll be charming and funny, the next he’s throwing someone off a plank.  He was once in love and lost her, and ever since has been living in a kind of self-imposed turmoil, taking it out on everybody around him, a terrifying and unpredictable force.   So we had to let him have a little fun.”

Apart from his lovelorn past, Blackbeard’s current woes stem from the shortage of pixum being found in the quarry he floats over in his formidable ship.  Even his alternating threats of death and promises of sweets can’t motivate the diggers to find what is no longer there.  “The fairy dust is running out, he can’t find enough to fulfill his needs,” Wright explains, “so he becomes ever more desperate.  I think Hugh relished the opportunity to play this guy who can turn on a dime, who is violent and horrifying and yet also quite funny.  He brought a lot of humor to Blackbeard, making him appear upset and even more threatening when the others didn’t laugh at his jokes.”

“Joe made it easy to take this character to the extreme,” Jackman says.  “Everything he does has a creativity, a joy to it, and working with him you feel so supported.  He’ll accept anything, there are no mistakes.  You can fall on your bum, you can fall on your face.  You can just go for it.”

Prior to shooting, both Wright and Jackman spent time with Miller, working out the rapport between Peter and Blackbeard to make sure he would be equally comfortable once the cameras rolled.  “Hugh and I sat down with Joe in the rehearsal stages, talking over the relationship and doing a bit of fake fighting, which was great,” Miller says.  “The character of Blackbeard was very frightening, but Hugh is an absolutely terrific guy, and it was pretty amazing working with Wolverine.”

Though Blackbeard is Peter’s nemesis in the film, it’s Captain Hook who audiences would expect to see him up against.  However, the filmmakers decided to not only explore Peter’s origins, but to give moviegoers a glimpse into Hook’s as well.  “James Hook is an enigma,” Wright says.  “He comes from somewhere, but the longer you stay in Neverland, the more you forget.  He’s got this desire to get back to wherever he came from, but he can’t really remember where that was.  And he’s been in the mines under Blackbeard’s thumb for so long, he’s become a survivor, and a self-centered, selfish one at that.”

Hedlund, who plays the destined-to-be Captain, offers, “Hook starts off in the film as a prisoner digging for Blackbeard; he’s a demoted, deflated man who’s a bit mysterious and seems quite lost.  But when he sees Peter, and sees what he can do, Hook thinks he’s found his golden ticket out of there.

“That’s really where his journey begins,” Hedlund says, “right alongside Peter Pan, instead of against him…and before he comes into conflict with any crocodiles.”

What the actor loved about playing Hook was the character’s selfish, weasely nature.  “He’s found his way to complete his objective, which is to get off this island called Neverland, even if it means going back to a place he hardly remembers.  If he has to convince this kid he’s his new best friend and willing to help him find his mother, so be it.”

“Hook and Peter both want something from each other,” Miller adds.  “Peter wants help to get through the Neverwood jungle so he can find the Native Village and, hopefully, find his mother there.  Hook wants to go home and he thinks Peter can help him.  So really they’re helping each other, each for their own benefit.”

Though James Hook’s true origins remain a mystery, “We discussed how I would play Hook, including whether he would be English or American or something else,” Hedlund says.  “Then Joe had this wonderful idea that he should be somebody that could have been plucked out of an old John Ford film.”

“Garrett was brought up on a farm in Minnesota and has a very sweet-natured, rural sensibility about him,” Wright observes.  “He makes me feel the fresh air.  He makes me feel the wide open spaces.  He has a kind of rural rhythm to his speech, but he’s very quick with his humor.  He’s almost old-fashioned in a way, and I found that fascinating about him and encouraged him to use it.”

According to Wright, Hedlund took the description to heart off the set as well.  “Often, if we were working on a scene that didn’t involve Garrett, Levi and Adeel Akhtar, who plays Smee, I’d find them all in Garrett’s trailer, and Garrett would be playing some old cowboy song on guitar with Adeel accompanying him on banjo and Levi humming along.”

The more seasoned Hedlund says that it was easy to form an on-screen bond with newcomer Miller, and a pleasure to spend down time with him as well.  “Everyone spoke to Levi as an adult and he responded back in the same mature manner, and is so smart and so bold and willing to take chances, it was easy to forget that he was just 11 years old; I felt like I was talking to a buddy.  I think that this story, which is so dependent upon believing in the fantasy that is Neverland, where ships fly and everything is ruled by pirates, required someone with his intelligence and his ability to access his emotions, even at such a young age.  Ironically, to play a boy who will never grow up, it takes a fairly grown-up kid.”

Peter and Hook—with one of Blackbeard’s minions, Smee, tagging along—commandeer a vacant ship and head for the Neverwood, where they crash land among the trees and hope to find their way to civilization…whatever that might be on this side of the island.

“They’ve gone through this immensely daring struggle to make it out of the mines, and here they are, in the middle of nowhere,” Hedlund explains.  “The next thing they know, they are attacked by Neverbirds, which are insanely huge, incredibly dangerous and life-threatening.  Then, before they can even begin to defend themselves, they are saved by this girl who drops in and does all these martial arts moves to rescue them.”

That girl is a beautiful native of Neverland called Tiger Lily, one of her tribe’s fiercest warriors.  “When we were thinking about this scene at the beginning of production, I asked Joe, ‘When do you think was the last time Hook even saw a lady?’” Hedlund laughs.

“Hook meets Tiger Lily and immediately objectifies her,” Wright conveys.  “Of course, she won’t let him.”

Before he knows it, Hook finds himself hanging upside down, surrounded by Tiger Lily and the other Villagers, who suspect he’s a pirate and expect him to battle their greatest fighter.  “Tiger Lily is quite guarded and suffers no fools,” the director purports.

Though in Barrie’s work Tiger Lily is described as a woman of color, she has since often been portrayed as a Native American.  In truth, she is a native of Neverland, a fantasy world created by Barrie which Wright, taking creative license, envisioned as a multi-cultural place entirely the product of make-believe, devised in a way that a child might conceive in his or her imagination.  “This film being a work of fiction, based on another work of fiction, in the end I decided that for our film, a tribe in Neverland could be made up of all peoples of the world, so what you see on screen is a wide variety of different cultures,” the director says.  “As for Tiger Lily herself, I thought about all possibilities, and during our search, Rooney Mara came in.  She was hands down the best actress for the part.  I found Rooney to have such poise about her that it felt like she was something out of a fairy story.  She’s quite regal and her performance is finely calibrated.”

Mara says that as one of the few women to figure prominently in the film, “Tiger Lily is a strong female because she has to be.  Like her fellow villagers, she is just trying to live in peace and protect their little oasis from these outsiders.  But she also has a softer, nurturing side.”

That side comes out when she tasks herself with defending Peter as the long-awaited Pan, prophesized to come to the aid of the fairies living under Tiger Lily and the other natives’ protection and to save the world she loves.

“Peter shows up and is clearly part of the prophecy,” Mara continues.  “But I think Tiger Lily and the others expected someone a little taller, a little more capable, and he’s just this little boy.  Nevertheless, they’ve been waiting and waiting for this moment and it’s finally here, so there’s a lot of excitement.  And Tiger Lily feels responsible for Peter and wants to see him fulfill his destiny.”

Throughout the course of Tiger Lily forming a bond with Peter on screen, Mara enjoyed building a connection with Miller on set.  “I loved working with Levi.  He is so present and he doesn’t have any cynicism; everything was new and exciting to him, like every day was the first day.  It was really lovely and infectious to be around.”

Mara’s shooting schedule brought her onto the set after Miller, Hedlund and Jackman had already been working together for a time.  “I was like the new guy in town, and those three had already established a great dynamic; they were really funny together,” she says.  “I think Levi was lucky that Garrett and Hugh were the men in this movie because they’re both such hardworking actors and very generous, and neither ever complains.  They were great examples for a young actor like Levi to look up to.”

Prior to filming, Mara and the others went through extensive fight training in order to perform the various stunt work required of them.  “Rooney had to do a lot of action sequences in the film, probably more than the guys, but I quite liked the idea of the girl doing most of the fighting.  She worked really hard at it and got pretty tough.  She gave Hugh a run for his money, which is quite impressive, ‘cause he’s good,” Wright says.

“Rooney’s a tough girl,” Jackman attests.  “We have a long fight sequence in the film and spent two or three weeks together on it.  You can get to know people in many ways, but when you fight someone for three weeks, you really get to know them.”

“Blackbeard is the bad guy, the meanest, leanest pirate around,” Mara states.  “But Hugh is just the nicest man.  His work ethic is like nothing I’ve ever seen.  He showed up to training every morning and worked so, so hard.  He was just fantastic to work with.”

Fight consultant Jamie Goulding trained Jackman in swordplay, did kickboxing training with Mara and Miller, and held martial arts boot camp sessions for any extras who needed it.  Stunt coordinator Eunice Huthart and her team devised the numerous stunts to be performed in the film.

“This was a very busy one for the stunt department,” Huthart says.  “Everything was character-related, which is great.  Action is my thing, but even I get bored of action for action’s sake.  Fortunately, my work was all character-driven, which allows us to make the action a bit more personal, and that’s ideal.”

“I love Eunice,” Mara says.  “I’ve done some stunts before but nothing that had to be so precise.  My work on ‘Pan’ had to be as close to perfect as possible, not only because Tiger Lily is a trained fighter, but because of the costume—so much of me was on display that every move had to be right.  I felt like I spent most of the film with the stunt department, which was a whole new experience for me and I loved it.”

Mara and Jackman’s extended battle involved some particularly tricky choreography for Huthart.  It was complicated and intricate, and was shot over multiple days on multiple levels, with the actors working on narrow beams and high rigs.

“Spikes!  Joe’s ingenuity, his vision, it’s just amazing,” Huthart declares.  “His idea was to have these two characters fighting not only on the front of a ship, but out on these spikes that are very narrow and go to a complete pinnacle, almost like a balance beam, where some of the combat actually takes place.  Rooney and Hugh worked extremely hard on it, and together we pulled it off.”

In addition to getting her footwork down, Mara had to undergo weapons training as well.  “I’ve never used a weapon like this before, so I had Tiger Lily’s axes with me all the time, even at home, so I could get comfortable with them,” she says.  “I wanted them to feel like an extension of my arms.  It’s such a great prop, there are so many things you can do with them.”

The first day on the Tree Village set was also the beginning of the epic trampoline fight sequence between Hook and the native’s great warrior, Kwahu.  One of many standout action sequences in the film, it showcased not only the extensive capabilities of Hedlund, but also the extraordinary talents of South Korean actor/free-runner/gymnast/martial arts expert Taejoo Na, who was able to do many of the required stunts without wires.

Hedlund elaborates, “Hook has a fight sequence with Kwahu, and it’s a situation where Hook is meant to protect himself and Peter, and he thinks he can probably handle himself quite well—he’s strong enough, he’s agile enough, generally.  But all of a sudden he’s put on this trampoline, something he’s never been on before.  It turned out to involve a lot of stunts that were quite hilarious to shoot and should be entertaining to watch, especially when Hook first sees this Kwahu character.  He’s expecting some insanely huge warrior who is eight feet tall and looks like a WWF wrestler, but the guy’s 5’5”, barely bigger than Peter, and he’s still able to throw him around like a ragdoll.”

As Peter, Miller also had a good deal of stunt work to accomplish, primarily learning to fly.  “Being on the wire and going up in the air, and down and forward and backwards, it was so much fun,” he says.  “Peter does a lot of falling before he gets the hang of it.”

Another challenging action sequence features a large number of pirates fighting the natives, as they search for Peter on Blackbeard’s command, an extraordinary clash of fighting styles as the natives display their agility, swinging from one place to another, fluid in their own environment, against the pirates’ crash-wallop-bang style of fighting.

One of those pirates is Bishop.  Played by Nonso Anozie, he’s a one-eyed, muscle-laden thug who steers Blackbeard’s ship and, along with Kurt Egyiawan’s Murray, oversees their leader’s numerous subordinates.

Jackman in particular enjoyed working with his crew.  “One of my favorite things in the film was the creation of the gang of pirates,” he says.  “They couldn’t be more diverse, more surprising, eccentric, frightening… As Joe says, ‘Neverland is really from a child’s creative mind,’ so we all tried to go right along with it, and it was a good time.”

Hedlund concurs, “Joe really wanted them to have individuality, so he had the actors playing the pirates give themselves pirate names and talk about their own attributes, what made them different.  It really felt like a theater rehearsal, and everyone had a lot of input, which was amazing.”

One of the most memorable among the brigand’s staff is Sam Smiegel.  Known as Mr. Smee, he’s a bumbling cohort of Blackbeard’s whose uncommon knowledge of the mining operations induces Peter and Hook to bring him along on their daring escape from the camp.  However, he’s not the brightest, or most trustworthy, ally.

A staple of British television, actor Adeel Akhtar plays the part, and describes him as having a sort of “arrested development.  He hasn’t grown up in a lot of ways, and he has a mixed up sense of self-importance.  If you notice, he has a little badge that he pins onto himself—that he’s made himself—denoting him as a sort of self-appointed manager.  But nobody’s given him that position, he just decided that’s what he was going to do.  So he carries around his little clipboard and takes notes on what others are doing.”

“We know Smee as being Hook’s right-hand man in the original novel and play,” Wright relates.  “In our movie, he’s kind of middle management.  He considers himself a supervisor in the mines, but no one listens to him; he’s assumed an authority that no one else granted him.  Adeel’s a brilliant comedian for film because his comedy works best in close ups; you can see everything his character is thinking on his face.  In Smee’s case, you can see him over-thinking, and even then coming up with the completely wrong thing.”

According to Wright, the wrong thing is precisely what Akhtar did not do.  “When I have a character in front of me on the page, I imagine it being done in one way.  When Adeel came in, he did something completely different and unexpected, and exactly what the part called for.”

Rounding out the cast are Kathy Burke as Mother Barnabas, the nun who rejoices in making Peter’s life horribly difficult at the orphanage, and, in the Neverland Woods, Jack Charles is Tiger Lily’s leader, the village chief.  Cara Delevingne also appears in Neverland, as three enchanting mermaids Peter encounters amidst crocodile-infested waters.

As the story’s main catalyst, Amanda Seyfried plays Mary, Peter’s mother, whose mysterious fate spurs Peter on to discover his own.  “I love Joe’s work, he’s one of my favorite directors,” Seyfried says.  “I told him I’d be an extra in this movie if he needed me to, but luckily he offered me this wonderful opportunity to play the woman who gave life to Peter Pan.”

BLACKBEARD

Welcome to Neverland!

In a letter tucked inside his swaddling blanket as she leaves him on the steps of the orphanage, Mary promises her infant son Peter that he will see her again, in this world… or another.  But even Peter couldn’t have imagined how different that other world might be.

Wright is well known as a filmmaker who enjoys intense prep work and active collaboration with his crew, often recruiting the same talent behind the camera from film to film.  This creates a familiarity and the feeling of a “company” of players—an important personal and professional link to the world of theatre he grew up in, and a vital part of his moviemaking process.

Producer Paul Webster expounds, “Joe believes filmmaking should be as enjoyable as it is artistically stimulating.  He’s very detail-oriented, and when it comes to the design of his films, he works hand-in-glove with his crew, which frees the imagination and becomes a creatively rewarding experience for everyone.”

Wright’s usual behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Seamus McGarvey, editor Paul Tothill, costume designer Jacqueline Durran and makeup and hair designer Ivana Primorac.  They were joined on this film by DP John Mathieson and editor William Hoy and, for the first time on a feature with Wright, production designer Aline Bonetto, who had worked with the director on his commercial vignettes for Chanel.  

It was important for Wright to have physical sets on which to shoot, a rare treat for members of the cast and crew who have worked on many productions that rely on huge green screen stages.  As one might imagine, on a story of this scale, the set pieces were massive.  Therefore, Bonetto and her team were given the enormous challenge of designing and building the spectacular and sometimes surreal environments in which nearly all of the action takes place.  The sets were created almost entirely on soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden and Cardington Studios, one of the largest indoor spaces in Europe.

The film offered an opportunity for Bonetto and her gifted team to run wild, and she was excited by the scope of the job.  “I love working with Joe because he is such a visual director, and it was especially exciting to work with him on a film where we had to completely create the world in which it is set.  It was a huge task but nonetheless a thrilling one.”

From the get-go, Wright had a very clear vision for the film.  “Because the story begins in the late 1920s, and then jumps 12 years later to World War II, I was looking for a very Fritz Lang-inspired aesthetic,” he says.

The task, embraced and realized by his team, was to take the audience on an extraordinary journey as much through his visual choices as the story itself, using a color palette system which purposely changes from one environment to the next.  It starts with the noirish 1920s and shadowy 1940s London, then onto Neverland, which is at first as dreary as the drudge work the children must do, before becoming a rainbow of color and vibrancy—an opening of the imagination, the extraordinary and the fantastical, free of any seriousness despite the importance of Peter’s mission to save the fairies from Blackbeard.

The film’s opening sequence was accomplished on location over one week, with shooting taking place in such iconic locations as Kensington Gardens, the famous London Park, full of wooded idylls and graceful gardens close to where author J.M. Barrie lived and which provided him with the inspiration for Peter Pan; the Royal Albert Hall, one of Britain’s great Victorian splendors; and Blythe House, Kensington, another Victorian building.  From there, the company settled in at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden and, six weeks later, moved to Cardington Studios.

There were two primary builds at Leavesden.  For the bleak London orphanage, Lambeth Home for Boys, Bonetto devised a dark, monochromatic, color scheme of blues and grays to convey a world without imagination or hope.  The design for the hellish world of Blackbeard’s pixie dust mines was inspired both by Brazilian goldmines as depicted in Sebastiao Salgado’s extraordinary photographs, and a microscopic image of the cell structure within the human body: a vast labyrinthine structure of tunnels going in every direction, seemingly never-ending, rendered in muted browns and oranges.

Moving to Cardington, the first day on the multi-colored Tree Village set was a particular thrill for everyone since it was the first time the majority of the cast saw the finished set, and with all the background artists dressed it was a spectacular sight.  One of the two hangars there provided the massive space for the trippy set, the original reference for which had been a Brazilian favela, or shantytown.  During the pre-production process, Wright felt the Village should feel more multi-cultural in its design, though still transient in its nature, as if the natives, fearing pirate invasion, could pack up and leave at a moment’s notice.  So the team went from designing wooden tree houses to making tents, a cultural mix, including Mongolian yurts, Inuit tupiqs, Native American teepees, and even circus tents, as well as tribal shelters from Papua New Guinea and Africa.  For the various abodes, Bonetto sourced an array of fabrics that could easily be dyed any color.

Set on platforms on various levels and linked by bridges and stairways, The Tree village was built from rustic timber sourced from off-cut old oak planks from lumberyards throughout the country.  It took 13 weeks to build and measured a whopping 328 feet-by-164 feet along the floor, and 147 feet high, and was structured around the village’s centerpiece trampoline—which sees the fight with Hook and Kwahu take place.  It was a liberating environment in which Wright and his creative department heads could collaborate with freedom and extraordinary attention to detail, resulting in the elaborate set decoration particular to each tent and every section of the village.

Adjacent to the Tree Village, Bonetto and her team built the enchanted Neverwood, a forest so big over the course of the shoot it developed its own eco system, becoming home to many different spiders, crickets and other insects, along with birds and even the occasional visiting bat.  Wright wanted the flexibility to explore the forest with the camera rather than be limited by the build, so the art department gave him a series of intricate passageways and runs, which offered so many possibilities that cast and crew would actually get lost on set.

Amongst the sculpted fiberglass trees, some reaching up to dizzying heights of 50 feet, the forest contained thousands of real tropical plants, between 20 and 30 different species.  They had been brought in from Italy, Belgium, Holland and Malaysia, where the art department and their greens team had found plants available in sufficient quantity and which had an otherworldly appearance, to dress amongst more familiar foliage.  The tropical plants, which needed temperatures of 80 degrees to thrive, were slowly dressed in as the finishing touches were made, and grow lights were put in place so that the plants could survive in their new environment.  Eight dedicated greensmen tended to the forest.

“I loved building playgrounds for us all to play in,” Wright says of the expansive set, one of the largest ever built in the UK and which many of the cast and crew described as their own theme park.

The adjacent Hangar also offered a gigantic area in which to house Blackbeard’s ships, The Queen Anne’s Revenge and The Ranger, as well as the vessel well-known to Peter Pan fans, The Jolly Roger.  Designs were informed by historical references found at the Maritime Museum at Greenwich and the HMS Victory in Portsmouth, and took eight weeks to build and dress.

The two smaller ships were actually one build: The Ranger being the flying ship that arrives at Lambeth to sweep away a cargo of orphans, and The Jolly Roger, an abandoned flying ship from Blackbeard’s fleet that Hook discovers in Neverland’s Mermaid Lagoon.  Once shooting was complete on The Ranger, it was revamped into the The Jolly Roger.  Both looks were modeled after 100-foot, eight-gun, 18th-century galleon-class ships, and the overall set measured approximately 60 feet long-by-23 feet wide.  Constructed from a steel framework with timber decks and fiberglass cladding on the sides and corrugated railings, The Ranger was dressed with frivolous items, such as a carousel horse, that the pirates—air gypsies and scavengers of the skies—might have stolen in their travels.  Bonetto’s team then used paint, dressing and different rigging to turn it into The Jolly Roger.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge, Blackbeard’s floating command center, was meant to mirror an 18th-century, 100-gun ship, and was in actuality almost 100 feet long-by-40 feet wide.  The giant galleon, the pride of the fleet, was dark and moody, pewter in color, and intended to reflect the power of its captain.  It was built only a third of its imagined size—the limit that could be safely rocked on its gimbal—with different levels and walkways to allow Wright the ability to move the camera and choreograph interesting sequences.

The real challenge was to get the boats rocking and rolling and, while moving like boats, also appear to float like airplanes, since they are flying ships.  To achieve that, and at the same time provide a safe and efficient environment for cast and crew to work in, was a massive undertaking.  Special effects supervisor Mark Holt and his team devised the substructure that allowed the pirate ships to appear as if in flight, while really rotating on gimbals operated by a programmable robot arm system he developed and perfected on prior films.  

Weight had to be kept to a minimum because of the engineering involved, so the decision to build in fiberglass was made, with the plasterers and painters working wonders to create an old and weathered, wood-like finish to the galleons.  A team of nautical riggers was brought in to rig the boats with working accuracy and authenticity.

“One of my main goals with all the sets, and a reason why I really wanted to do as much practically as we could, was to give Levi a fully immersive environment that would help him understand who Peter is and where he comes from,” Wright says.  “Our teams were incredible and I feel that what they accomplished made us all feel like we were truly in Neverland.”

TIGER LILY

If you don’t believe, Peter,

then neither will they.

Amidst the lush flora, the peaks, jungles and waters of Neverland are swarming with fantastical creatures, including multihued Neverbirds, mammoth Never-Crocs and enchanting Mermaids.  

Peter, Hook and Smee encounter the Neverbirds almost immediately upon landing in the Neverwood, when the 12-foot-tall winged predators, which resemble a rainbow-feathered pterodactyl, swoop down on them.  

“The Neverbirds are inspired by the novel,” Wright says.  “They are big and quite terrifying, and although they’re scary, they’re also very clumsy and uncoordinated, like a bag of bones, which makes them even more unpredictable.”

These days, such feral fowl would ordinarily be conceived of in a computer.  Though ultimately realized by visual effects supervisor Chas Jarrett and his team, the Neverbirds were designed by Wright’s sister, puppeteer Sarah Wright.

“I come from a family of puppeteers,” offers the director.  “When we were trying to come up with the right look for the Neverbirds, I just wasn’t finding it.  I asked Sarah to come up with something we could workshop.”

Sarah built a mock-up of the bird and used it to create its movement and characteristics.  “She put together a little model using a seagull-type skull attached to a long neck made of several discs, a strange, skeletal ribcage, chicken feet and colorful feathers,” he continues.  “She started operating it for us, and it was brilliant, so that became the model for our Neverbirds.”

While the crocodile that made off with Captain Hook’s hand is well known from the book, the Never-Crocs who lurk in the waters of Neverland in “Pan” are perhaps far more vicious than anything Barrie imagined.  The massive beasts inhabit the Mermaid Lagoon, and, Wright describes, “They’re about 30 feet long, comparable to prehistoric crocs, albino, because they live in the dark, scared of light and nearly blind.  They are most unhappy creatures.”

Oddly enough, the Never-Crocs’ greatest foe is not man, but Mermaid.  As Peter, Hook and Tiger Lily seek out the mythic Fairyland, they arrive at the Mermaid Lagoon, where the beautiful, luminescent Mermaids swim playfully.  And, luckily for our heroes, their incandescence frightens away the monstrous crocs because they are also capable of stinging the beasts with their electrified tails.

Playing the three Mermaids Peter encounters is just one actress, Cara Delevingne.  Wright had worked with her before, on “Anna Karenina,” and hoped to lure her back for the pivotal cameo in “Pan.”

“I called her up and asked her if she’d like to come be a Mermaid,” he says, “but rather than casting three different actresses, I thought Cara could just be all three.”

A relatively new arena for Wright, the director was excited to work with his visual effects team, lead by visual effects supervisor Chas Jarrett, who, among many other feats, turned Delevingne into three underwater sirens with long, swirling locks and glowing tails, and created countless tiny fairies in the form of tiny specks of the brightest light.

The film also contains three unique animation sequences: the “Prologue,” “Memory Tree” and “Underwater Flashback.”  Wright remembers as a kid “being fascinated by the idea that when you cross-section a big tree, the rings could be counted as years.  I’d seen one tree that had a pin in one of its rings that marked the Battle of Hastings, and when that happened in that tree’s history.”

That memory gave him the idea to incorporate some of Peter’s family history in the rings of a tree.  “I was looking at some wonderful work by Andrew Huang, who did some music videos for Bjork and Radiohead, as well as some amazing short films.  So I called him up and asked if he would come do some animated sequences for ‘Pan.’  He’s incredibly talented.”

While plunging Peter into his past, present and possible future, Wright also sought to bring audiences into Peter’s world in as all-encompassing a manner as possible.  With the help of stereographer Chris Parks, Wright turned, for the first time as a filmmaker, to 3D technology.

“What we’ve tried to do with ‘Pan’ is to create a completely immersive world, for kids and adults,” Wright asserts.  “I’ve never worked with a better canvas for 3D than Neverland, so I knew it was time to give it a go, and I think that audiences are going to experience this world of wonder in ways they’ve never imagined.”

CHIEF

The little one, he wears the pan!

HOOK

Yes, he’s the boy who can fly!

Costume designer Jacqueline Durran and hair and makeup designer Ivana Primorac, along with Julie Dartnell, who handled Jackman’s makeup and wig styling, had the mammoth task of creating looks not only for the principals, but also for the hundreds of extras.  They, too, worked closely with Wright, embracing his vision of an explosive show of culture, color and texture.

When Wright first met with Jackman about playing Blackbeard, the actor recalls, “He showed me the image he had in mind for the character, and it was a picture of my face superimposed on the body of Louis XIV, with a Marie Antoinette wig on, and I said, ‘I’m in!’”

Durran crafted a very specific look for each of the principal characters, savoring the process of building character through costume.  Former French monarchs aside, “there were certain givens to Blackbeard’s costume, which evolved as we started the fitting process, one of course that he would wear black,” she notes.  “We also wanted to create a very interesting silhouette for him.

“Another idea was that, because of his pixie dust-enhanced immortality, he has lived over centuries,” Durran goes on to say, “so there are elements that make up his costume that come from different periods.  But he has decided that they’re his ‘look,’ and he’s carried them on through the ages.”  Feathers also figure into Blackbeard’s appearance, and wigs, which cover his baldness and dreadful scalp marks and help to serve the youthful facade he strives for.

Jackman was thrilled with what Durran achieved for his character.  “Jacqueline has an incredible eye for detail, a great sense of humor, and eccentricity that, whilst elevated, is not over the top,” he says.

Primorac says, “Joe and I had a great time amalgamating different elements from history into this very scary pirate who we wanted to look very different from any other pirate we’d seen before.”  

For Durran, that excluded certain eras, mainly “the majority of the 17th and 18th centuries, because that’s been done so often and so well.”

The natives’ wildly original and playful looks are a merge of costumes from different cultures from around the world.  A great deal of work was involved in researching various clothes of indigenous peoples and combining them in a multitude of different ways to create unique looks.  Wherever Durran came upon cross-cultural elements—for example, a similarity in the way two different cultures would tie belts or sashes around their waists—she subverted it, instead combining elements that didn’t go together and couldn’t be traced to any one particular group.  

Particularly influential were the costumes of the Yoruba people from West Africa, one of the largest African ethnic groups south of the Sahara Desert.  Their traditional clothing, still worn on important occasions and in rural areas, is very colorful and elaborate, using block prints with geometric designs. Sourcing a Yoruba costume from a gallery in the United States, Durran says, “It was a representation of what we were aiming for.  Two of our dancers wear the costume during the ceremony and it was fantastic to have the foundational idea represented.”

For the natives’ hair and makeup, Primorac referenced Chinese and Indian makeups, particularly the Kathakali makeup from Southern India, which she describes as “a binding element” for the group.  By bringing in makeup specialists versed in this ancient art, her team learned how to apply it and how to adapt and design their own version of it.  “We also decided that, in order to have variation from character to character, we would have experts in those fields work alongside us, which really enhanced the whole look of the tribe.”

Tiger Lily’s style is similar to her tribe’s garb, with elements taken from different ethnicities and makeup influenced by Chinese Opera.  Primorac offers, “Tiger Lily is a warrior who wouldn’t really be thinking about makeup, but I wanted a visage that would combine that with her more feminine, ceremonial look.”

“I had my first fitting with Jacqueline and Ivana, and we talked about the wig,” Mara recollects.  “They knew what they wanted, but I had brought some pictures to give them some input, and it was exactly what they’d been thinking.  Usually, there’s a lot of back and forth and finessing, but what we decided that first day is what made it into the movie.”

The team also approached the look for the pirates by subverting the conventional look one expects, on the basis that they have come from different places in the real world, and different times in history throughout hundreds of years, so their costumes cannot be attributed to any particular time.  Durran took inspiration from some early research Wright had done into a maverick group of Sierra Leone rebels, known for their bizarre clothing, including women’s makeup, and with a particular fondness for wearing wings.  Thus, unconstrained by a period in time, Durran was free to take the iconic elements of a pirate—belts, swords, boots, hats—and mix them up.  A pirate wearing a 16th-century hat also dons a pair of 20th-century pants.

“Neverland gave us the freedom to pick from 400 years of costumes, and the only rule we were bound by was to avoid the 18th century, so we didn’t end up replicating pirates we’ve seen so often before,” Durran states.  She also used lots of tartan, a nod to an ideology that the pirates were punk rockers of their time, refusing to live by society’s rule.

Wright expands, “The pirate crew are made up of a motley bunch of punks, really.  I felt that they needed a kind of toughness, so one day during rehearsals, we did a sort of pirate boot camp.  I encouraged them all to pick out colorful stuff to wear, while I was trying to find what might be the music that they’d listen to.  We listened to all these sea shanties, but they were all too lyrical and lovely.  I ended up putting on some old-fashioned punk music, and that seemed to hit the spot.”

MINERS

Hey!  Ho!  Let’s go!

Throughout production on “Pan,” Wright often played music on the set for the dedicated cast and crew, adding to the congenial atmosphere as well as setting the tone for scenes.  “We all make these films together,” he says, “and I find that if people feel a sense of ownership of the film, they'll try and make the best thing they possibly can, because it's theirs.  And we have a laugh, really.  It's important to enjoy yourself, isn't it?”

“There are so many ways in which Joe distinguishes himself as a director, and music on the set is one of them,” Jackman says.  “It not only creates a unique environment, but he realizes that for the actors, it can really do so much to evoke the right mood for a scene, and it helps provide a connection to what the final music in the film might be like.”

Levi Miller agrees.  “He played dark music for the scenes in Blackbeard’s cabin, Reggae music for the scenes in the jungle, and rock music when we were in the mines and on the pirate ships.  It definitely helped me get into the right vibe.”

“Joe plays music constantly,” Garrett Hedlund adds, “so the whole crew is relaxed, dancing around even as they’re working as hard as they can.  It’s an experience that I’ve never had before, but it really helped me dive into the wonderful imaginary world of Neverland.”

Utilizing music even early on, in this case, changed the entire course of certain sequences in the movie.  Jackman surmises, “I think it’s due to his theatrical background, but Joe really loves the process of developing characters through rehearsal.  After about two weeks improving with the pirates, he said, ‘You know, why don’t we play some music, and why don’t we sing.  Let’s all sing.’  And by the end of that day, we’d pretty much worked out the song and the way we were going to have Blackbeard make his first appearance.”

And what a debut.  The song—the first of two sung by Blackbeard, his pirates and the children working in the mines—is Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”  It’s followed a bit later by The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”

“In these awesome pirate costumes, on this unbelievably massive pirate ship, at the top of our lungs, we all turned into rockers, every single one of us.  It was a day I’ll never forget,” Jackman smiles.

Artist Lily Allen also contributed two original songs for the film, written with Tim Rice-Oxley: “Something’s Not Right” and “Little Soldier.”  The songs blended seamlessly with composer John Powell’s sweeping, adventurous score for the film.

Among the biggest highlights for Wright was the inclusion of world-class jazz drummer Tony Allen, who came to set and performed a solo to accompany the fight between Hook and Kwahu.  The eclectic mix of musicians in the Tree Village scene also included a Brazilian Carnival-style band of drummers creating a fantastically interesting mix of African and Brazilian sound.  They were joined by the African Children’s Choir, a large choir made up of children from Uganda who travel the world performing and raising money to fund education and relief efforts for African children affected by poverty and disease.  

Music consultant Maggie Rodford, who has worked with the group for over 15 years and who is another of Wright’s regular collaborators, brought them to Wright’s attention.  “I had seen one of their performances in South Africa, a dance called the Can Dance,” she says.  “I thought the choreography might spark an idea that Joe could use for the film and showed him a clip of the kids, but he wanted to use the kids themselves.”  They became the heart of the dance, and the rhythm of the dance—both precise and electrifying—provided wonderful moments on set for the week or so the children spent there.

“The group happened to be in the UK at the time,” Wright offers, “so they came to set and got involved, and they were amazing.  They created this really wonderful atmosphere.  It was nice to have a focus on set of who you’re doing this film for, and those days were definitely for them.”

“There’s something about that limitless sense of optimism and joy that kids have, and first and foremost, ‘Pan’ is an adventure story for kids—including the kid in all of us,” Jackman states.  “We’re taking them to a world beyond the imagination, where they’ll meet characters steeped in great literature, but with a new light shed on them, and go places filled with excitement and exploration.”

Wright closes by saying, “Neverland is a place of wonder, a dream where whatever is required at that moment appears.  If a tree is required for climbing, a tree will be there; if a lagoon is needed for swimming, it will be there.  For Peter, who needs a family, it’s where he will find one.  It’s as broad as the imagination that carries it, and what I hope we’ve done with ‘Pan’ is give moviegoers a visual and emotional experience that reminds them how much fun dreams can be.”

ABOUT THE CAST

HUGH JACKMAN (Blackbeard) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe- and Tony Award-winning performer who has made an impression on audiences of all ages with his multi-hyphenate career persona, as successful on stage in front of live crowds as he is on film.  From his award-winning turn on Broadway as the 1970s singer/songwriter Peter Allen, to his metal claw-wielding Wolverine in the blockbuster “X-Men” franchise, Jackman has proven to be one of the most versatile actors of our time.

The Australian native made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the “X-Men” series, a role he reprised in the enormously successful “X2” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.”  He then starred as the title character in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” a prequel to the popular series which grossed an outstanding $85 million domestically in its first weekend of release. Audiences once again went to see Jackman in the popular role in the next chapter titled “The Wolverine,” which grossed over $400 million worldwide.  In 2014, Jackman and the X-Men team reunited for “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”  

Upcoming, Jackman returns to the role of Wolverine in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” due out in 2016.  He also stars in “Eddie the Eagle” about Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper, who didn’t win a medal but won the hearts of the world.

Jackman garnered his first Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor, for his performance in Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables,” based on popular stage show created from Victor’s Hugo famous novel of the same name.  Jackman’s standout performance as protagonist Jean Valjean also earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical, as well as Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nominations, for both Best Ensemble and Best Male Actor in a Leading Role, and a BAFTA Award nomination.

In 2009, Jackman took on host duties at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, earning an Emmy Award nomination for his work.  This wasn’t, however, Jackman’s first foray into awards show hosting.  Previously, he served as host of the Tony Awards three years in a row, from 2003 to 2005, earning an Emmy Award for the 2004 ceremony, and an Emmy nomination for his appearance at the 2005 ceremony.  

Jackman’s additional film credits include “Chappie,” “Prisoners,” Shawn Levy’s “Real Steel,” Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain,” Woody Allen’s “Scoop,” “Deception,” “Someone Like You,” “Swordfish,” “Van Helsing,” and “Kate and Leopold,” for which he received a 2002 Golden Globe nomination.  In addition, he lent his voice to the animated features “Happy Feet,” “Flushed Away” and “Rise of the Guardians.”  

On Broadway, Jackman most recently received rave reviews for his performance as The Man in the “The River.”  In 2011, he made a splash on the Great White Way in his one-man show, “Hugh Jackman – Back on Broadway.”  Backed by an 18-piece orchestra, the revue, which previously opened to rave reviews during its limited engagements in San Francisco and Toronto earlier that year, was comprised of both Broadway hits and a selection of some of his personal favorite standards.  Jackman’s continued dedication to the Broadway community was fêted at the 2012 Tony Awards, where he received a Special Award from the Tony Awards Administration Committee, recognizing his accomplishments both as a performer as well as a humanitarian.

In 2009, Broadway audiences could see Jackman in the Keith Huff-penned “A Steady Rain,” in which he starred with Daniel Craig.  For his portrayal of the 1970s singer/songwriter Peter Allen in “The Boy From Oz,” Jackman received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a musical as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards.

His additional theater credits include “Carousel” at Carnegie Hall; “Oklahoma!” at the National Theater in London, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination; “Sunset Boulevard,” for which he garnered Australia’s prestigious ‘MO’ Award; and “Beauty and the Beast,” for which he received a ‘MO’ Award nomination.

Jackman’s career began in Australia in the independent films “Paperback Hero” and “Erskineville Kings.”  His performance in the latter earned him an Australian Film Critics’ Circle Best Actor award and The Australian Film Institute Best Actor nomination.  In 1999, he was named Australian Star of the Year at the Australian Movie Convention.

LEVI MILLER (Peter) was chosen in a worldwide search for the central role in “Pan.”  The film marks his major feature film debut.

Miller will next begin production on the film adaptation of Craig Silvey’s modern Australian classic Jasper Jones, to be directed by Rachel Perkins.  This coming-of-age film revolves around the bookish 14-year-old Charlie Bucktin (Miller), who, over one eventful summer in 1965, navigates small-town racism and the trials of teenage love to discover what it means to truly be courageous.  Production will take place in Australia.

This past summer, Miller completed filming “Blue Dog,” a follow up to the 2011 Australian smash hit “Red Dog.”  Separate from the first film, “Blue Dog” is the story of a young boy (Miller) and his dog, growing up on a rural cattle station in the late 1960s.  Prepared for a life of dull hardship, the boy instead finds adventure and friendship with a one-of-a-kind pup.  Directed by Kriv Stenders, the film also stars Jason Isaacs.

On the small screen, Miller recently filmed an episode of the new CW show “Supergirl,” which premieres later this fall.  Miller plays the role of Carter Grant, the son of Calista Flockhart’s character, Cat Grant.

Some of Miller’s earlier work includes a guest role on FOX’s “Terra Nova,” alongside Jason O’Mara, and a role in the Australian film “A Heartbeat Away,” with Sebastian Gregory and Isabel Luca.  

Outside of acting, Miller is the Global Ambassador for Polo Ralph Lauren’s Fall/Winter 2015 childrenswear campaign.  This ad campaign, inspired by Peter Pan, was shot by photographer Matt Jones and will debut in advertising, window displays, in-store events and videos this year.  Miller also walked in the New York Fashion Show with Mr. Ralph Lauren at the Central Park Zoo in August 2015.

GARRETT HEDLUND (Hook) next stars in Ang Lee’s drama “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” based on Ben Fountain’s novel of the same name.  Due out in Fall 2016, the film also stars Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Chris Tucker and Kristen Stewart.

He recently starred in three very different films: Angelina Jolie’s World War II drama “Unbroken,” based on the Laura Hillenbrand bestseller about American hero Louis Zamperini; the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” alongside Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman; and “Lullaby,” in which he starred as a young man whose father wants to be taken off life support, alongside Richard Jenkins, Amy Adams and Terrence Howard.  

Hedlund reunited with Oscar Isaac in the independent feature “Mojave,” written and directed by William Monahan, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.  He also received critical accolades for his performance in Walter Salles’ “On the Road,” based on the novel by Jack Kerouac, in which he starred with Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart.

Hedlund was just 18 when he made an auspicious motion picture debut in Wolfgang Petersen’s epic “Troy,” joining an all star cast, including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger.  Hedlund portrayed Patroclus, the teenage cousin of Achilles, in the film based on Homer’s classic The Iliad.

He has since worked alongside a number of noted actors and directors on such projects as Peter Berg’s “Friday Night Lights,” co-starring with Billy Bob Thornton and Tim McGraw; John Singleton’s “Four Brothers,” starring with Mark Wahlberg, Andre 3000 and Tyrese Gibson; “Eragon,” with Djimon Honsou, Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich; Garry Marshall’s “Georgia Rule,” opposite Lindsay Lohan and Jane Fonda; James Wan’s “Death Sentence,” with Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston and John Goodman; and “TRON: Legacy,” alongside Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde.  He also showcased his singing talents starring in “Country Strong,” with Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester and Tim McGraw.

Born in northern Minnesota, Hedlund spent his high school years in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he began taking private acting classes.  Graduating from high school a semester early, he immediately packed his bags and headed for Hollywood.

Hedlund has been honored with the Young Hollywood Film Actor of the Year Award, the Glamour UK Man of the Year Award and the Maui Film Festival’s Rising Star Award.

ROONEY MARA (Tiger Lily) earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her mesmerizing performance in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” David Fincher’s U.S. screen adaptation of the popular Stieg Larsson book of the same name.  Mara portrayed the female lead, Lisbeth Salander, opposite Daniel Craig and Robin Wright.  For her performance, Mara was also recognized by the National Board of Review with the award for Breakthrough Performance and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress - Drama.

Following “Pan,” Mara stars opposite Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’ romantic drama “Carol,” which premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where Mara was named Best Actress for her performance in the film.  Based on the controversial novel The Price of Salt, about a forbidden romantic relationship between two women in 1950s New York, the film is slated for release in November 2015.  She also stars in Stephen Daldry’s drama “Trash,” scripted by Richard Curtis and set in the slums of Brazil, which screened internationally and will have its U.S. debut in October.  Her other upcoming films include Jim Sheridan’s “The Secret Scripture”; an as-yet-untitled Terrence Malick project, with an all-star cast, including Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett; “Lion,” with Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel; and “Blackbird,” opposite Ben Mendelsohn.

In 2013, she starred in Spike Jonze’s award-winning feature “Her,” with Joaquin Phoenix; the Sundance Film Festival competitive entry “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” with Casey Affleck and Ben Foster for writer/director David Lowery; and Steven Soderbergh’s “Side Effects,” opposite Channing Tatum and Jude Law.

Her earlier film credits include “Tanner Hall,” directed by Francesca Gregorini and Tatiana von Furstenberg; David Fincher’s acclaimed drama “The Social Network”; “Youth in Revolt”; and “The Winning Season,” opposite Sam Rockwell.   

On the small screen, Mara’s credits include memorable guest-starring roles on “ER,” “The Cleaner,” “Women’s Murder Club” and “Law & Order: SVU.”  

Mara began her career shortly after enrolling as a student at New York University.  It was during her college years that she decided to explore her interest in acting, landing small parts in independent films and eventually moving to Los Angeles to pursue it full-time.

Mara is the Founder of the non-profit organization Uweze, which provides critical care and assistance to poverty-stricken orphans in Africa’s largest slum in Kibera, Kenya.  

AMANDA SEYFRIED (Mary) has established herself as one of Hollywood’s most captivating young leading actresses.  Earlier this year, she added to her repertoire, starring opposite Thomas Sadoski in the off-Broadway production of Neil LaBute’s new play “The Way We Get By.”  Directed by Leigh Silverman, the production opened on May 19 at the Second Stage Theatre and marked Seyfried’s off-Broadway debut.

On the screen, her upcoming films include the independent drama “Fathers and Daughters,” with Russell Crowe and Aaron Paul and directed by Gabriele Muccino, and Jessie Nelson’s “Love the Coopers,” a holiday comedy set for release in November.

Seyfried has starred in the two most successful film musicals of all time.  In 2012, she played Cosette in the film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables,” alongside Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe.  Tom Hooper directed the film, which was released on Christmas and went on to earn more than $440 million at the global box office.  Seyfried also shared in a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Motion Picture Cast.

Seyfried had earlier starred in the 2008 smash hit “Mamma Mia!” highlighting her vocal skills as Sophie, the daughter of Meryl Streep’s character, Donna.  The film, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, grossed more than $600 million worldwide, making it the top-grossing musical film of all time.

In 2013, Seyfried starred in two very different films.  She lent her voice to the animated adventure “Epic,” with Beyoncé Knowles, Christoph Waltz and Colin Farrell.  She also starred in the title role of “Lovelace,” directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, which tells the true story of Linda Lovelace, the world’s first adult film superstar, who is abused by the industry and her coercive husband.

In 2010, she starred alongside Channing Tatum in the box-office hit “Dear John,” Lasse Hallström’s adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks bestseller.  The romantic drama grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and had the biggest opening to date for Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems.

A Pennsylvania native, Seyfried started her career as a model at age 11.  She soon turned to acting and landed her first contract role in 2000 as Lucy Montgomery on “As the World Turns.”  However, her big break came in 2004 when she co-starred with Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams and Lacey Chabert as one of the titular “Mean Girls” in the mega hit directed by Mark Waters from a screenplay by Tina Fey.  Together, the four young stars won the Best On-Screen Team Award at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards.  

Seyfried’s additional film credits include Seth MacFarlane’s “Ted 2” and “A Million Ways to Die in the West”; Andrew Niccol’s “In Time,” opposite Justin Timberlake; “Letters to Juliet”; and the title role in Atom Egoyan’s “Chloe.”

Seyfried is Givenchy’s Very Irrésistible ambassador and the global spokesperson for the luxury skin care and makeup brand Clé de Peau Beauté.

ADEEL AKHTAR (Sam Smiegel) has been seen in a number of movies and has also worked extensively on television, primarily in England.  He made his feature film debut in “Traitor” and then appeared in the award-winning indie film “Four Lions,” playing the memorably hapless Faisal.  He was also featured in the comedy “The Dictator,” with Sacha Baron Cohen.  His other film credits include the independent releases “War Book” and “Convenience.”

On the small screen, Akhtar received a BAFTA TV Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Wilson Wilson on the series “Utopia.”  He also recently starred on the series “The Job Lot.”  His other television credits include “Trollied,” “The Tunnel,” “Coming Up,” “Conviction,” “River” and an episode of the series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

JOE WRIGHT (Director) was born in 1971 to a family of puppeteers, and grew up in the theatre his parents founded, The Little Angel Theatre in Islington, London.

Wright studied Fine Art, Film and Video at Central St. Martin’s College of Art.  After college, he worked on music videos and short films until 1997, when he was commissioned to direct “Nature Boy,” a four-part miniseries for BBC2.  “Nature Boy” was awarded Best Drama Serial by the Royal Television Society.  This was followed by several other highly acclaimed, nominated and awarded miniseries, including “Bob and Rose,” written by Russell T. Davies; “Bodily Harm,” starring Timothy Spall, George Cole and Lesley Manville; and “Charles II: The Power & the Passion” for the BBC1, starring Rufus Sewell, which won the BAFTA for Best Drama Serial.

Wright made his feature film directorial debut in 2005 with “Pride & Prejudice,” starring Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, and Carey Mulligan in her first screen appearance.  The film was critically acclaimed and Wright won BAFTA’s Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in Their First Feature Film.  He was also honored with the London Critics’ Circle Film Award for British Director of the Year and the Boston Society of Film Critics’ award for Best New Filmmaker.  “Pride & Prejudice” was nominated for five additional BAFTA Awards, four Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

Wright’s second feature, “Atonement,” based on Ian McEwan’s novel and starring Knightley, James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Saoirse Ronan, received 13 BAFTA Award nominations, and won for Best Film and Best Production Design.  “Atonement” received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, ultimately winning the Oscar for Best Original Score.  It also received seven Golden Globe Award nominations, winning Globes for Best Picture (Drama) and Best Original Score.

Wright went on to direct Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in “The Soloist,” and Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett in the sleeper hit “Hanna,” with an electronic music score by The Chemical Brothers.

In 2011, Wright directed “Anna Karenina,” starring Knightley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jude Law, Domnhall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander in her first English-speaking role, from a screenplay penned by Tom Stoppard.  “Anna Karenina” was nominated for six BAFTA awards and four Academy Awards, taking home both for Costume Design.

Wright made his debut in the theatre world in 2013 at the Donmar Warehouse with “Trelawny of the Wells,” an Arthur Pinero play re-worked by Patrick Marber.  This was followed by the critically acclaimed “A Season in the Congo” at the Young Vic theatre, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Wright is a founder of Shoebox Films, a London-based film and television production company which, among other works, produced Steve Knights’ critically acclaimed and multi-award winning thriller “Locke,” starring Tom Hardy.

Wright lives in London with his wife, classical sitarist Anoushka Shankar, and their two young sons.

JASON FUCHS (Written by) is an American film and television screenwriter and actor.  His live-action feature screenwriting debut is “Pan,” an epic original Peter Pan prequel.

Fuchs made his feature screenwriting debut in 2012 with the animated “Ice Age: Continental Drift.”  The film grossed $881 million worldwide, becoming one of the most successful animated films of all time.  As a result, at age 26, Fuchs became the youngest screenwriter in film history to pen a film that grossed over $226 million, the worldwide box office mark set in 1997 by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck with their screenplay for “Good Will Hunting.”

Currently, Fuchs is developing several feature film projects, including the sci-fi adventure “The Magic Catalogue,” for Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers, and the supernatural thriller “Break My Heart 1,000 Times,” starring Hailee Steinfeld, which he will write and executive produce.

On the television side, Fuchs is currently scripting a conspiracy thriller drama entitled “Black Box,” for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV and the U.S. basic cable network TNT; Fuchs will also executive produce in addition to creating.  The show revolves around the allegedly accidental crash of a civilian airliner.

A two-time Young Artist Award-nominated actor, Fuchs has been featured on stage as well as screen for over two decades.  His next acting project will be a supporting role opposite Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle’s romantic comedy “La La Land.”  He recently played a young version of Matthew Broderick’s character in “Look Away.”  Most notably, Fuchs starred opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha in the indie film hit “Holy Rollers,” an official competition selection of the Sundance Film Festival.  Fuchs also received rave reviews in the Roundabout Theater Company’s world premiere play “Speech & Debate,” helmed by Tony-nominated director Jason Moore (“Avenue Q”), which played to a sold out, twice-extended off-Broadway run.

Fuchs graduated from Columbia University in 2009 with a B.A. in Film.

GREG BERLANTI (Producer) is a WGA-, DGA-, Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-nominated writer, director and producer, and the force behind several of the most inventive and acclaimed works on film and television, including ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters”; “Eli Stone,” for which he was nominated for a WGA Award; CBS’s “Golden Boy”; and “Political Animals,” the USA Network miniseries for which he received WGA, DGA, Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations.

Berlanti started in television as a writer and executive producer on “Dawson’s Creek” before going on to create and executive produce two of the WB’s most critically acclaimed dramas, “Everwood” and “Jack & Bobby.”

Berlanti co-wrote and produced the action film “Green Lantern.”  He also directed “Life as We Know It,” starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, which grossed over $100 million worldwide.  In 2000, Berlanti made his film directorial debut with “The Broken Hearts Club.”

Currently in TV he is executive producing both The CW’s “Arrow” and “The Flash,” as well as the NBC series “The Mysteries of Laura.”

Berlanti resides in Los Angeles.

SARAH SCHECHTER (Producer) serves as executive producer on the DC Super Hero shows “Supergirl,” “Arrow,” “The Flash” and the upcoming “Legends of Tomorrow,” as well as this fall’s “Blindspot,” and NBC’s “The Mysteries of Laura.”

Before joining Berlanti Productions, Schechter spent nine years at Warner Bros. Pictures, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Production.  During her tenure at Warner Bros., she oversaw a myriad of films, from Spike Jonze’s “Her” to Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino.”  Her other projects include Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows,” Eastwood’s “Invictus” and “J. Edgar,” Greg Berlanti’s “Life as We Know It,” “I Am Legend,” and the sequel to “300,” “300: Rise of an Empire.”

Schechter joined Warner Bros. as a Creative Executive in June of 2005, ascended to Vice President in 2007 and then to Senior Vice President in 2009.  Prior to joining Warner Bros. Pictures, Schechter was an executive at Barry Mendel Productions at Universal Pictures for several years.  While there, she oversaw “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and worked on “Munich” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” among others.  She began her career working for Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple. 

Schechter graduated with Honors with a degree in Film Theory from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

PAUL WEBSTER (Producer) is an Oscar-nominated, BAFTA- and Golden Globe Award-winning producer.  In a career spanning 40 years, he has made over 100 films as a producer and executive, including some of the UK’s most commercially and critically successful features, such as “The English Patient,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Sexy Beast,” “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement.”

In partnership with Joe Wright and fellow producer Guy Heeley, he owns Shoebox Films, with whom he produced the critically acclaimed “Locke,” starring Tom Hardy.

TIM LEWIS (Executive Producer) is currently in production as executive producer on David Yates’ “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” scripted by Harry Potter creator Jo Rowling and inspired by her character Newt Scamander’s Hogwarts textbook of the same name.  Lewis served as unit production manager on five “Harry Potter” films, “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” “The Goblet of Fire,” “The Order of the Phoenix,” “The Half-Blood Prince” and “The Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” also co-producing the “The Deathly Hallows” parts 1 and 2 and associate producing “The Order of the Phoenix” and “The Half-Blood Prince.”

Lewis most recently executive produced Kenneth Branagh’s “Cinderella,” starring Cate Blanchett, and also served as UPM and co-producer on Doug Liman’s actioner “Edge of Tomorrow,” starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

He began his feature film career as an assistant director, working on such films as Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun,” Michael Apted’s “Gorilla’s in the Mist,” Neil Jordan’s “High Spirits,” Clint Eastwood’s “White Hunter Black Heart,” James Dearden’s “A Kiss Before Dying,” John Irvin’s “Robin Hood” and Philip Noyce’s “Patriot Games,” among others.  Lewis also worked on several Bond films, including “GoldenEye,” as an AD, and “Tomorrow Never Dies,” “The World Is Not Enough” and “Die Another Day,” the last three in varying production manager positions.

SEAMUS McGARVEY (Director of Photography) has collected two Academy Award nominations for his cinematography: on Joe Wright’s 2007 WWI drama “Atonement,” and his 2012 adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic, “Anna Karenina.”

In addition to the Oscar nominations, McGarvey won the British Society of Cinematographers (B.S.C.) award for “Anna Karenina,” as well as a nomination for “Atonement,” and also earned BAFTA and A.S.C. nods for both projects.  “Atonement” also earned him nominations for the British Independent Film Award, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Online Film Critics Society, while walking off with the top honor from the Phoenix Film Critics Society.   

McGarvey has also won three Evening Standard British Film Awards, for “Atonement,” “Anna Karenina” and Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours”; and a quartet of Irish Film & Television Awards, for “Atonement,” “Anna Karenina,” “Sahara” and “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”  In 2004, he was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's prestigious Lumière medal, sharing the company of such pioneers as Jack Cardiff, Freddie Francis, Roger Deakins and Sir Ridley Scott, for contributions to the art of cinematography.

McGarvey hails from Armagh, Northern Ireland, and began his career as a stills photographer before attending film school at the University of Westminster in London. Upon graduating in 1988, he began shooting short films and documentaries, including “Skin,” which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Cinematography Award, and “Atlantic,” directed by Sam Taylor-Wood.  The latter project, an experimental, three-screen projected film created in 1997, earned Taylor-Wood a nomination for the 1998 Turner Prize, and would lead to an ongoing collaboration between McGarvey and the director.

His four dozen credits as director of photography include Joss Whedon’s superhero epic “Marvel’s The Avengers,” the industry record holder for highest opening weekend box office upon its release in May 2012, and the fourth highest-grossing film of all time; Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin”; Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center,” which earned an IFTA nomination; Gary Winick’s “Charlotte’s Web”; John Hamburg’s “Along Came Polly”; Stephen Frears’ “High Fidelity”; Mike Nichols’ “Wit”; Michael Apted’s “Enigma”; Michael Winterbottom’s “Butterfly Kiss,” McGarvey’s first feature film credit; and two projects marking actors’ directorial debuts: Tim Roth’s “The War Zone” and Alan Rickman’s “The Winter Guest.”  He also served as cinematographer on the pilot for the BBC/HBO TV series “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,” directed by Anthony Minghella. 

He reunited with director Wright for his 2009 drama “The Soloist,” and filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood (now Sam Taylor-Johnson) on her acclaimed 2008 drama, “Nowhere Boy,” her 2011 short, “James Bond Supports International Women’s Day” and the “Death Valley” segment of the 2006 erotic drama “Destricted.”  Following his work on “Godzilla,” he reteamed with Taylor-Johnson on her big screen adaptation and Hollywood directorial debut of the bestselling phenomenon “Fifty Shades of Grey.”  His work will next be seen in 2016’s fall release “The Accountant,” from director Gavin O’Connor.

His documentary work includes “Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home,” which followed his work on Wright’s “The Soloist,” and filmed in the same locales; “Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction”; “Rolling Stones: Tip of the Tongue”; and “The Name of This Film Is Dogme95.”

Supplementing his work on features and telefilms, McGarvey has also photographed and directed over 100 music videos, for such artists as Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, U2, and Robbie Williams.

JOHN MATHIESON (Director of Photography) is one of a group of filmmakers who emerged out of the music video industry of the late ‘80s and ‘90s.  He came up through the traditional camera ranks and worked as a camera assistant to Gabriel Beristáin for several years.  

Mathieson was first recognized in 1998 for his work on the music video “Peek-A-Boo,” by Siouxsie and the Banshees.  Mathieson honed his craft through the 1990s, shooting numerous television commercials and music videos for artists including Madonna, Prince and Massive Attack.  He collaborated with John Maybury, director of Sinead O’Connor’s music video “Nothing Compares 2 U,” going on to photograph Maybury’s award-winning film “Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon,” in 1998.

In the mid ‘90s, Mathieson photographed two feature films for director Karim Dridi, for which he later received the Legion of Honor’s Chevalier by the French government.  He came to the attention of Tony Scott while shooting television commercials for the London-based company RSA Films.  After working as visual effects cinematographer on “Enemy of the State” for Tony Scott in 1998, Mathieson photographed the film “Plunkett & Macleane” in 1999 for Jake Scott.  Having seen Mathieson’s work on “Plunkett,” Ridley Scott invited him to work on his next project, beginning a regular collaboration between the two.  Mathieson has photographed four films for Ridley Scott: “Gladiator,” “Hannibal,” “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Robin Hood.”  

In 2001, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on “Gladiator” and won the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography in the same year.  His second Oscar nomination came in 2004, for “The Phantom of the Opera,” directed by Joel Schumacher.  Mathieson’s other feature film credits include Marc Evans’ “Trauma,” Stephen Woolley’s “Stoned,” “K-Pax,” “Brighton Rock,” “Burke and Hare,” “X-Men: First Class,” Mike Newell’s “Great Expectations,” and “47 Ronin.”  

Mathieson most recently teamed with Guy Ritchie on the director’s stylish summer 2015 release “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” and is currently lensing Ritchie’s original King Arthur epic, set for a July 22, 2016 release.

Mathieson is a member of the British Society of Cinematographers.

ALINE BONETTO (Production Designer) is best known for her work with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on films including “Amelie,” “A Very Long Engagement” and “Micmacs.”  Her work on the first two of those films each won her a Cesar Award for Best Production Design, as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.  She also won the BAFTA Best Production Design and the Art Director’s Guild Excellence in Production Design awards for “Amelie” and a European Film Award for “A Very Long Engagement.”

She most recently worked on the biopic “Yves Saint Laurent,” for director Jalil Lespert, and on Jeunet’s “The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet,” and was nominated for a Cesar Award for both.

She also worked as set decorator on such films as Jonathan Demme’s “The Truth About Charlie,” Daisy von Scherler Mayer’s “Madeline,” and “The City of Lost Children” and “Delicatessen,” for directors Marc Caro and Jeunet.

Bonetto has also designed over 70 commercials for clients, including Chanel No 5, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, Versace, Etro, L’Oreal, EDF, Ford, and Peugeot, with such directors as Joe Wright, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Mario Testino, and Emir Kusturica.

PAUL TOTHILL (Editor) first worked with director Joe Wright on the miniseries “Charles II: The Power & the Passion.” Their collaboration has continued ever since, on the features “Pride & Prejudice,” “Atonement,” “The Soloist,” “Hanna,” and now “Pan.”

Tothill’s editing work on “Pride & Prejudice” earned him an American Cinema

Editors (ACE) Eddie Award nomination in the Best-Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical) category; for his work on “Atonement,” he received a BAFTA Award nomination and was named Best Editor by the San Diego Film Critics Society.

He started his editing career at The BBC.  In addition to several Royal Television Society Award nominations, he has received five BAFTA Award nominations, for his work on the following television miniseries: Bille Eltringham’s “The Long Firm”; Stephen Poliakoff’s “Perfect Strangers”; Andy Wilson’s “Gormenghast”; Metin Hüseyin’s “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling”; and Anthony Page’s “Middlemarch.”

Tothill’s upcoming film credits include Kranti Kanade’s “Gandhi of the Month” and Ilya Khrzhanovskiy’s “Dau.”  His other film credits include “Good People,” from Henrik Ruben Genz”; Charlie Stratton’s “In Secret”; Michael Hoffman’s “Gambit”; Paul Weiland’s “Sixty Six”; and Shane Meadows’ “A Room for Romeo Brass.”  His other television credits include Stephen Poliakoff’s miniseries “Shooting the Past,” Beeban Kidron’s “Murder,” and Simon Cellan-Jones’ segments of the epic miniseries “Our Friends in the North.”

WILLIAM HOY (Editor) edited Zack Snyder’s worldwide hit “300,” his acclaimed comic book adaptation “Watchmen,” and the action fantasy “Sucker Punch,” having first worked with the director as an additional editor on “Dawn of the Dead.”

Hoy most recently cut Matt Reeves’ blockbuster “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” which garnered him a Satellite Award for Best Film Editing, and Timur Bekmambetov’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.”  He has also edited such films as Tim Story’s “Fantastic Four” and its sequel, “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer”; Alex Proyas’ “I, Robot”; F. Gary Gray’s “A Man Apart”; and Randall Wallace’s “We Were Soldiers” and “The Man in the Iron Mask.”  He has collaborated with filmmaker Phillip Noyce on three films: “The Bone Collector,” “Sliver” and “Patriot Games.”

Hoy’s additional credits include editing work on “Se7en,” “Outbreak,” “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” and “Dances with Wolves.”

For television, he has edited “Houdini” for TNT, “Shattered Mind,” and the series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

JACQUELINE DURRAN (Costume Designer) won the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Costume Design for Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina,” starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law, as well as the BAFTA Film Award for Best Costume Design, the Costume Designers Guild Award, and the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical Achievement, shared with Sarah Greenwood and Seamus McGarvey.  Her previous collaborations with Joe Wright include “Pride & Prejudice,” “Atonement,” both earning Durran Academy Award and BAFTA Film Award nominations, “Hanna” and “The Soloist.”  “Pride & Prejudice” additionally brought Durran a Satellite Award, and “Atonement” a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination, and an Evening Standard British Film Award for technical achievement (shared with the film’s cinematographer and production designer).

Durran has also enjoyed a long collaboration with Mike Leigh on such films as “All Or Nothing,” her first feature as costume designer, “Vera Drake,” for which Durran won the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Another Year,” and his latest opus, “Mr. Turner,” an exploration of the artist Turner’s life, nominated for the Palme D’Or at 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Her other credits include the upcoming “Macbeth,” starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard; Richard Ayoade’s “The Double”; Tomas Alfredson’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” for which Durran received a BAFTA Film Award nomination; and Susanna White’s “Nanny McPhee Returns.”  Her earlier credits include David Mackenzie’s “Young Adam” and Sally Potter’s “Yes” and, prior to those, as assistant costume designer, Mike Leigh’s Academy Award-winning “Topsy-Turvy,” Simon West’s “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,” and Lee Tamahori’s “Die Another Day.”

IVANA PRIMORAC (Makeup & Hair Designer) has been BAFTA Award-nominated for Best Makeup and Hair six times, for her work on Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Sweeney Todd,” both starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter; Anthony Minghella’s “Cold Mountain,” starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger; Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours,” starring Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman; and “Atonement” and “Anna Karenina,” both for director, Joe Wright.  She also worked with Wright on the action thriller “Hanna.”

Her work will next be seen in the Danny Boyle-directed biopic, “Steve Jobs,” starring Michael Fassbender, and was most recently seen in “The Imitation Game,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch.  Other films for which Primorac has been the hair and make-up designer include Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day,” starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin; Lone Scherfig’s “One Day,” starring Anne Hathaway opposite Jim Sturgess; Rowan Joffe’s “Brighton Rock”; Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” and “The Reader,” the latter starring Academy Award winner Winslet; Justin Chadwick’s “The Other Boleyn Girl”; Anthony Minghella’s “Breaking and Entering”; M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender”; and Milos Forman’s “Goya’s Ghosts,” starring Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem.  The latter earned her a Goya Award nomination.

She has also worked on such films as Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”; Laurence Dunmore’s “The Libertine,” starring Johnny Depp; Shyamalan’s “The Village”; Patrice Chéreau’s “Intimacy”; Daldry’s “Billy Elliot”; Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning “Gladiator”; Tim Roth’s “The War Zone”; Shekhar Kapur’s “Elizabeth”; Kenneth Branagh’s “A Midwinter’s Tale”; Nancy Meckler’s “Sister My Sister”; Chris Menges’ “Second Best”; and “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead,” written and directed by “Anna Karenina” screenwriter Tom Stoppard.

Her recent work on the stage includes designing the makeup for the Tony Award-winning revival of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” directed by Mike Nichols and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.

JOHN POWELL (Composer) was catapulted into the realm of A-list composers by displaying an entirely original voice with his oft-referenced scores to the Matt Damon/“Bourne” film trilogy.  He has become the go-to writer for family animated films, scoring such hits as “Shrek,” “Chicken Run,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” “Bolt,” “Rio,” “Happy Feet,” “Happy Feet 2,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”

His pulsating action music has provided the fuel for “Hancock,” “Green Zone,” “Stop Loss,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “The Italian Job.” Powell’s music has also sweetened the romance of “Two Weeks Notice” and “P.S. I Love You,” empowered “X-Men: The Last Stand,” lent tenderness to “I Am Sam” and gripping drama to “United 93.”

 Powell’s infectious score for “How to Train Your Dragon” earned him an Academy Award nomination, and his work on the sequel, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” garnered him an Annie Award.  He received BAFTA nominations for “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Happy Feet” and “Shrek” and was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for his work on “Happy Feet.”  Powell is the recipient of five Ivor Novello Awards for Best Original Film Score from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, for “Shrek,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2.”

A native of London, Powell was an accomplished violinist as a child, wrote music for commercials out of school, and assisted composer Patrick Doyle in the early 1990s.  He moved to the U.S. in 1997, scored the film “Face-Off,” co-wrote the score for “Antz,” and quickly became one of the most desirable, versatile and exciting composers in town.

The 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival: Director Ava DuVernay to Head the International Competition Jury

Mumbai, October 5, 2015 -- Ava DuVernay will head the International Competition jury at the upcoming  17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival to be held in Mumbai from October 29th to November 5th, 2015.

Ava DuVernay is the filmmaker behind SELMA, which chronicles Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership in the historic 1965 voting rights campaign. The critically acclaimed American director, screenwriter, film marketer, and film distributor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, for the film.

DuVernay previously wrote, produced and directed the dramatic feature, MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which earned her the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Best Director Award.

Jio MAMI Festival Director, Anupama Chopra said, "Ava DuVernay is one of the most exciting talents working in cinema today.  I watched Selma at a theatre in LA.  At the end, the audience broke into applause.  I still remember the goose-bumps and tears.  Ava's presence will inspire our filmmakers and energise our festival.”

Ava DuVernay said,  "I'm thrilled to have been invited to head the international jury for MAMI and look forward to celebrating the work of a diverse array of filmmakers with energetic, engaged audiences in the dynamic city of Mumbai."

In 2010, DuVernay wrote, financed, produced and directed her first narrative feature, I WILL FOLLOW. The family drama was hailed by critic Roger Ebert as "one of the best films I've seen about coming to terms with the death of loved one."

DuVernay made her directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed 2008 hip hop documentary, THIS IS THE LIFE. She has since directed several network documentaries, including VENUS Vs. for ESPN. In 2013, she directed an episode of ABC's top-rated SCANDAL, as well as acclaimed fashion and beauty films for Fashion Fair and Prada.

Prior to filmmaking, DuVernay worked as a marketer and publicist for 14 years. Her award-winning firm provided strategy and execution for more than 120 films and television campaigns for acclaimed directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann and Bill Condon.

A graduate of UCLA, DuVernay is the founder of ARRAY, a community-based distribution collective dedicated to the amplification of films by people of color and women filmmakers. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She sits on the board of both Film Independent and the Sundance Institute. DuVernay is based in Los Angeles.

The 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival will be held in Mumbai from October 29^thto November 5^th 2015. The film screenings will take place at PVR Versova, PVR Citi Mall, Andheri, PVR LP, Phoenix Mills and Regal – Colaba. To register for the festival, viewers can register online at http://in.bookmyshow.com/mami/ or at registration counters at the festival venues listed above.

Along with Chairperson, Kiran Rao and Festival Director, Anupama Chopra, the members of the new Board of Trustees of MAMI are Filmmakers Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Vikramaditya Motwane, Actor Riteish Deshmukh, Actress Deepika Padukone, Mr. Anand Mahindra, Chairman & MD, Mahindra Group, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD, PVR Ltd, Mr. Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Disney and Mr. Manish Mundra, Founder and CEO, Drishyam Films. These eminent personalities, outstanding achievers in their respective fields, are bringing together their expertise and experience to give Mumbai and India a bigger, better and even more exciting 17th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

Jio MAMI VISION 2015

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is an inclusive movie feast. We showcase the latest cutting-edge, independent cinema - art house fare alongside genre movies from Bollywood and Hollywood and cult international movies. We offer the best of world cinema to the people of Mumbai and we offer the best of Indian cinema to the world. The festival is run by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image popularly known as MAMI. This is a space where we revel in the sheer pleasure of cinema, the joy it gives us and how much it enhances our lives. The goal is to nurture and ignite a passion for movies. We want Jio MAMI to be shorthand for excellence in cinema.

ABOUT Jio MAMI

Mumbai - the financial capital of India is also the epicentre of the Indian film industry. The city plays such a major role in production and dissemination of Indian films and television programs that it is widely known by its acronym 'Bollywood'. In 1997, a group of film industry stalwarts headed by late Hrishikesh Mukherjee founded the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) as a not-for-profit Trust. Their main objective was to organize an annual International Film Festival which the film industry and the country could be proud of. MAMI has been organizing the festival for the last 16 years and aims to foster a climate of good cinema. MAMI engages people from all walks of life across the city and country who enjoy and love good cinema. It is Mumbai’s only film festival that is entirely created and run by film professionals and a group of members from corporate India. Appreciation of good cinema, stripped off all the limiting labels of art and commercial, can only come about through exposure to the best of films the world has to offer. The Festival is the first step in that direction.

In their Mission Statement in 1997, the MAMI Board of Trustees said, "We feel it is the need of the hour to disseminate and inculcate good cinema among Indian audiences. The only way to achieve this is to celebrate cinema by hosting an International Film Festival in Mumbai, India's film and entertainment capital. MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image) is committed to start Mumbai's first independent international film festival organised by practicing film makers."

For more information on the 17^th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival scheduled to be held from 29th October- 5th November 2015, do visit our Website, Twitter handle, Facebook Page, Instagram and YouTube.

Website: www.mumbaifilmfestival.com

#JioMAMI2015

Twitter: @Mumbaifilmfest

Facebook: /MumbaiFilmFestival

Instagram: /mumbaifilmfestival

YouTube: Mumbai Film Festival

मुंबईच्या “चाळ संस्कृती” चे दर्शन “दगडाबाईची चाळ”

साधारणपणे ऐंशीच्या दशकापर्यंत, गिरगाव, लालबाग, परळ या मुंबईच्या गजबजलेल्या लोकवस्तीतील टोलेजंग चाळी आणि त्यात दाटीवाटीने राहणारा मध्यमवर्गीय, निम्न मध्यमवर्गीय मराठी माणूस, त्याचे चाळकरी जनजीवन यांनी मुंबई शहराला एक वेगळी ओळख मिळवुन दिली होती. याच मुंबईच्या चाळकरी लोकवस्तीचे दर्शन घडवणारा “दगडाबाईची चाळ” हा चित्रपट येत्या २३ ऑक्टोबर २०१५ ला संपूर्ण महाराष्ट्रात प्रदर्शित होत आहे.

"दगडाबाईची चाळ" चित्रपटाचा "म्युझिक लॉंच" सोहळा, 3 ऑक्टोबर २०१५ रोजी, सर्व कलाकारांच्या उपस्थितीत,मुंबईत संपन्न झाला.

जय भोले फिल्म्स प्रोडक्शनची निर्मिती असलेल्या या चित्रपटाचे निर्माते आहेत दत्तात्रय भागुजी हिंगणे, तर कथा, पटकथालेखन, आणि दिग्दर्शन सुनील वाईकर यांनी केले आहे. चित्रपटासाठी संवाद लेखन, अभिजित पेंढारकर यांनी केले आहे.

या चित्रपटातली “दगडाबाईची चाळ” ही मुंबईच्या परळ भागातील आहे आणि “दगडाबाई” ही या चाळीची मालकीण आहे, खरं तर चाळीतल्या सर्व खोल्या, दगडाबाईने भाडेकरुना, भाडेतत्वा वर दिल्या आहेत, पण दगडाबाईच्या प्रेमळ, दयाळू स्वभावाचा गैरफायदा घेऊन, चाळीतील एकसे एक नमुनेदार भाडेकरूनी, वर्षानुवर्षे खोलीच्या भाड्याचे पैसे थकवले आहेत. त्यातच दगडाबाई एका कोर्टकेस च्या अडचणीत सापडली आहे, ती अडचण कशीबशी निस्तरते की नाही तोच दगडाबाईच्या दोन्ही भाच्या अचानक घरातून गायब झाल्या आहेत.या सगळ्या अडचणीतून दगडाबाई सुखरूप बाहेर पडते का ? आणि कशी? तसेच चाळीतील  भाडेकरूंच्या उपजत स्वभाव वैशिष्ट्यांमुळे,  निर्माण होणारे विनोद या भोवती चित्रपटाची कथा फिरत राहते.

या चित्रपटासाठी, गीते नचिकेत जोग यांनी लिहिली आहेत तर त्यांच्या गाण्यांना स्वरसाज चढवला आहे केदार पंडित आणि अजय-अद्वैत या त्रयींनी. सध्याच्या तरुणाई मध्ये लोकप्रिय असणारे आवाज,  स्वप्नील बांदोडकर, वैशाली सामंत, यांनी गाण्यांना आपला आवाज दिला आहे. तसेच आदर्श शिंदे, योगिता गोडबोले, प्रतिभा थोरात, शलाका चांदवडकर या गायकांनीही,पार्श्वगायन केले आहे, तर दिलिप मेस्त्री यांनी नृत्य दिग्दर्शनाची बाजू सांभाळली आहे.

चित्रपटात, राजपाल यादव, विशाखा सुभेदार, संग्राम साळवी, मोहिनी कुलकर्णी, भूषण कडू, श्वेता पगार, कमलाकर सातपुते, किशोर चौगुले, माधवी जुवेकर, सुनील गोडबोले, जॉनी रावत, प्रशांत तपस्वी, संतोष चोरडिया या कलाकारानी विविध भूमिका रंगवल्या आहेत.   

हिंदी चित्रपट सृष्टीत, मालामाल विकली, भूतनाथ, फिर हेरा फेरी सारख्या असंख्य हिंदी चित्रपटांतून विनोदी अभिनयाने स्वतःचा ठसा  उमटवणारे “राजपाल यादव” यांनी या चित्रपटात रंगवलेला “जिलेबीवाला” प्रेक्षकांसाठी नक्कीच, खास आकर्षण ठरेल.

Here is how Farhan Akhtar's MARD is making a difference

Farhan Akhtar, who is one of India's most Influential Men as bestowed with the title by GQ India, has set out to fulfill a social responsibility.

Farhan Akhtar launched the social campaign MARD – Men Against Rape and Discrimination and has been constantly working towards making a difference in the society with it.

Men Against Rape and Discrimination (MARD), is a social initiative designed by 
Farhan to create awareness to instill gender equality and respect towards women.

The multi talented personality has been investing a lot of his efforts into spreading awareness about the cause among people, especially the youth and encouraging them to step in and support it.

The actor chose music to be the vehicle of taking the message across to the masses.

Farhan established a band called Farhan Akhtar LIVE to create awareness amidst the youth of the society.

Farhan has a massive youth connect and the multi talented personality of the industry has been doing music concerts across the globe, spreading awareness of the cause.

At every concert, Farhan interacts with the crowd and spreads awareness of the social issue and how they can contribute to it.

The youth has the power to act as a catalyst to bring about the change that is required in the society.

Farhan has also been chosen by the UN as UN Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia and he also serves as an advocate for UN Women’s HeForShe campaign, 

MARD is a cause which is very close to Farhan's heart and he chooses to work towards bringing about a positive change in the society through his many efforts.

Piku is as beautiful as Deepika : Sourav Ganguly

Deepika Padukone may have earned a new fan in former Indian Skipper Saurav Ganguly.

Sourav Ganguly, the new president of the Cricket Association of Bengal is roped in as the brand ambassador of Senco Gold.
On a recently launched event pertaining to the brand, Sourav was directed with a question on Deepika who herself had previously endorsed the brand in the past.
While commenting on Deepika,  he instantly took reference to her last release and said, “I have watched Piku and it is as beautiful a film as Deepika Padukone is in real life.”
The Prince of Kolkata, famously known as ‘Dada’  held a great curiosity for the film which has majorly been shot in his Hometown Kolkata.
So much so that, Sourav even dropped by on the sets of Piku with wife Dona in tow.
The cricketer watched the film a few months ago and was left praising Deepika's acting which was enhanced by her beauty.

Seems like Deepika is making a strong fan base in Kolkata.
The actor is now busy with Tamasha followed by Bajirao Mastani.

Eros International & Hansal Mehta’s ‘Aligarh’ selected to open the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival

Mumbai, October 3, 2015 – Eros International’s ‘Aligarh’, the latest film from National award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta, has been selected as the opening film at the 17^th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival on October 30^th 2015. This pivotal film marks the first time that a Hindi film will open the festival since 1997, the inaugural year of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

Set in a small town in Uttar Pradesh from which the film takes its name, ‘Aligarh’ is the story of a professor (Manoj Bajpayee) fired for his sexuality and a young journalist (Rajkummar Rao) who tells his story to the world. Based on true events, the film follows Dr. S R Siras, a professor at the Aligarh Muslim University who, when discovered to be homosexual, was fired from his position.  The film depicts the unlikely friendship between Dr. Siras and a reporter investigating his first big story, a relationship that will change them both forever.

Aligarh has been selected to screen at the 20^th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and the 59^th BFI London Film Festival, this October. This will mark the first time in almost two decades that a Hindi film will open the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

"I am overjoyed that Aligarh, my first film about a city other than Mumbai is the opening film of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. This is a befitting reward for a team that has worked selflessly to make a film they are passionate about. This festival holds a very special place in my heart as it began a journey of awards for Shahid which was until then an unheralded dark horse in a year of sparkling indies. We (Eros International, my team and me) are looking forward to the night and to sharing this special film with the amazing MAMI audience," said  Hansal Mehta, who won the National Award for Best Direction in 2013 with his critically acclaimed Shahid.

Producer Sunil Lulla, Managing Director, Eros International added, "We are delighted at the selection of Aligarh for this recognition at a significant film platform like Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. This strengthens our belief at Eros International in backing the vision of directors like Hansal who tell meaningful, humane stories through their films." 

Upon announcing the decision to open the festival with Aligarh, Anupama Chopra, Festival Director, said, “Aligarh is a powerful film that tells an important story on a sensitive subject. Hansal Mehta has a unique ability to tell uncommon human stories on the celluloid screen. Our mission is to showcase exciting and thought-provoking stories and I am sure our audience will enjoy our festival opener.”

Hansal Mehta’s illustrious career began in television, where he directed the cooking show Khana Khazana (1993–2000) starring Sanjeev Kapoor. Mehta made his feature film debut with  Jayate (1999), which screened at the International Film Festival of India in Hyderabad as part of the Indian Panorama (1999-2000).  He followed up his debut with the cult hit Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar in 2000, and spent the next decade making feature length and short films. He is best known for his moving biopic Shahid in 2013. The film, starring Rajkummar Rao, chronicles the life of Shahid Azmi, a human rights lawyer murdered in 2010. Mehta and Rao continued to collaborate in Mehta’s next film, City Lights, an adaptation of Metro Manila, a British independent film.   

The 17th Jio MAMI’s Mumbai Film Festival will be held in Mumbai from October 29^th to November 5^th 2015. The film screenings will take place at PVR Versova, PVR Citi Mall, Andheri, PVR LP, Phoenix Mills and Regal – Colaba. To attend the festival, viewers can register online at http://in.bookmyshow.com/mami/ or visit registration counters at the festival venues listed above.

Along with Chairperson Kiran Rao and Festival Director Anupama Chopra, the members of the new Board of Trustees of MAMI are Filmmakers Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar and Vikramaditya Motwane, Actors Riteish Deshmukh and Deepika Padukone, Mr. Anand Mahindra, Chairman & MD, The Mahindra Group, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD, PVR Ltd, Mr. Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Disney and Mr. Manish Mundra, Founder and CEO, Drishyam Films. These eminent personalities, outstanding achievers in their respective fields, are bringing together their expertise and experience to give Mumbai and India a bigger, better and even more exciting 17th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.

Jio MAMI VISION 2015

The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is an inclusive movie feast. We showcase the latest cutting-edge independent cinema, cult international films and art house fare alongside genre movies from Bollywood and Hollywood. We offer the best of world cinema to the people of Mumbai and the best of Indian cinema to the world. The festival is run by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, popularly known as MAMI. This is a space where we revel in the sheer pleasure of cinema, the joy it gives us and the way it enhances our lives. Our goal is to nurture and ignite a passion for movies. We want Jio MAMI to be shorthand for excellence in cinema.

ABOUT Jio MAMI

Mumbai - the financial capital of India is also the epicentre of the Indian film industry. The city plays such a major role in production and dissemination of Indian films and television programs that it is widely known by its acronym 'Bollywood'. In 1997, a group of film industry stalwarts headed by late Hrishikesh Mukherjee founded the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) as a not-for-profit Trust. Their main objective was to organize an annual International Film Festival of which the film industry and the country could be proud . MAMI has been organizing the festival for the last 16 years and aims to foster a climate of good cinema. MAMI engages people from all walks of life across the city and country who enjoy and love good cinema. It is Mumbai’s only film festival that is entirely created and run by film professionals and a group of members from corporate India. Appreciation of good cinema, stripped of all the limiting labels of art and commercial, can only come about through exposure to the best of films the world has to offer. The Festival is the first step in that direction.

In their Mission Statement in 1997, the MAMI Board of Trustees said, "We feel it is the need of the hour to disseminate and inculcate good cinema among Indian audiences. The only way to achieve this is to celebrate cinema by hosting an International Film Festival in Mumbai, India's film and entertainment capital. MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image) is committed to start Mumbai's first independent international film festival organised by practicing film makers."

For more information on the 17^th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival scheduled to be held from 29th October- 5th November 2015, do visit our MAMI Website, Twitter handle, Facebook Page, Instagram and YouTube as follows:

Website: www.mumbaifilmfestival.com

#JioMAMI2015

Twitter: @Mumbaifilmfest

Facebook: /MumbaiFilmFestival

Instagram: /mumbaifilmfestival

YouTube: Mumbai Film Festival

Aanand L Rai involved in the marketing and promotional activities of Nil Battey Sannata

After delivering Rs 150-crore-plus super hit this year – Tanu Weds Manu Returns, director-producer Aanand L Rai has already started working on his next, which he’s currently shooting in Punjab. 

The creative maverick will also be presenting the Swara Bhaskar-starrer Nil Battey Sannata, helmed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari. Aanand, who delivered a successful hattrick at the box office – Tanu Weds Manu, Raanjhanaa and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, saw Nil Battey Sannata and was impressed with the heartwarming story of a mother-daughter relationship, to the extent that he decided to present the inspiring tale.

It’s learnt that Aanand is very confident about Nil Battey Sannata and is personally looking after the marketing and promotional activities of the film. A source says, “Aanandji is confident about Nil Battey Sannata. He's someone who understands the pulse of films that work with the common man and believes that this inspiring story needs to reach as many people as possible." 

“He’s working closely with the marketing and promotional team to figure out what works best for the film,” the source adds.  

Aanand L Rai says, “Nil Battey Sannata is a wonderful story of a mother-daughter relationship. I want the audience to see the film as it’s an inspiring subject that needs to be told.”

Nil Battey Sannata which was screened at the 2^nd Silk Road International Film Festival in China received a long standing ovation and Swara also won Best Actress award for the film.

Director Prabhudheva and Amy Jackson visits Gaiety Galaxy in Bandra and PVR juhu!!

The director and actress duo have been quite excited about their film, Singh is Bliing which has won a million hearts!!

The duo was recently spotted at Gaiety Galaxy and PVR juhu to catch the reactions of the audience watching the film!

Well, we must say the audiences are loving the movie and the theaters were house full!!