2 GUNS
Release Date: 20-Sep-13
Language:
Censor Rating: A
Duration:
Genre:
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Cast:
Academy
Award® winner Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg lead an all-star cast
in 2 GUNS, an explosive action film that tracks two operatives from
competing bureaus who are forced on the run together. But there is a
big problem with their unique alliance: Neither knows that the other is
an undercover federal agent.
For
the past 12 months, DEA agent Bobby Trench (Washington) and U.S. naval
intelligence officer Marcus Stigman (Wahlberg) have been reluctantly
attached at the hip. Working undercover as members of a narcotics
syndicate, each man distrusts his partner as much as the criminals they
have both been tasked to take down.
Academy
Award® winner DENZEL WASHINGTON (Safe
House, Flight) and MARK WAHLBERG
(Contraband, Ted) lead an all-star cast in 2 Guns, an explosive action film
that tracks two operatives from competing bureaus who are forced on the run
together. But there is a big problem
with their unexpected partnership: Neither knows that the other is an
undercover federal agent.
For
12 months, DEA agent Robert “Bobby” Trench (Washington) and U.S. naval
intelligence officer Michael “Stig” Stigman (Wahlberg) have been reluctantly
attached at the hip. Working undercover
as members of a narcotics syndicate, each man distrusts his partner as much as
the criminals they have both been tasked to take down.
When
their attempt to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel and recover millions goes
haywire, Bobby and Stig are suddenly disavowed by their respective
superiors. Now that everyone wants them
in jail or in the ground, the only person they can count on is the other. Unfortunately for their pursuers, when good
guys spend years pretending to be bad, they pick up a few tricks along the way.
Starring
alongside Washington and Wahlberg in 2
Guns are PAULA PATTON (Mission:
Impossible—Ghost Protocol, upcoming Baggage
Claim) as Agent Deb Rees, Bobby’s handler at the DEA who further blurs the
lines between on- and off-duty; BILL
PAXTON (Apollo 13, television’s Big Love) as Earl, a honey-tongued CIA
asset who is even tougher than the men he takes down; FRED WARD (Sweet Home Alabama, Tremors) as Adm. Tuwey, the Navy bigwig who could be Stig’s last
shot at staying alive; JAMES MARSDEN (X-Men
series, upcoming The Butler) as
Lt. Cmdr. Quince, Stig’s point man in naval intelligence and permanent thorn in
his side; and EDWARD JAMES OLMOS (television’s Battlestar Galactica, Stand
and Deliver) as Papi Greco, an underworld drug warlord who is out to make
Bobby and Stig regret the day they set foot on his ranch.
BALTASAR
KORMÁKUR (Contraband, The Deep) reteams with Wahlberg to
direct 2 Guns from a screenplay that
is written by BLAKE MASTERS (television’s Brotherhood)
and based on the BOOM! Studios graphic novels by STEVEN GRANT.
Supporting
Kormákur is a behind-the-scenes team of action-film veterans who are led by director of photography OLIVER WOOD (Safe House, The Bourne Ultimatum), production designer BETH MICKLE (Drive, Only God Forgives), editor MICHAEL TRONICK (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Act of
Valor), costume designer LAURA JEAN SHANNON (Iron Man, Scott Pilgrim vs.
the World) and composer
CLINTON SHORTER (District 9, Contraband).
2 Guns
is produced by MARC PLATT (Wanted, Drive), RANDALL EMMETT (End of Watch, upcoming Lone Survivor), NORTON HERRICK (The Devil’s Double, Lone Survivor), ADAM SIEGEL (Drive,
upcoming How to Catch a Monster),
GEORGE FURLA (End of Watch, Rambo), ROSS RICHIE (upcoming Talent) and ANDREW COSBY (TV’s Eureka).
Executive
producers of the film are MARK DAMON, MOTAZ M. NABULSI, JOSHUA SKURLA, STEPAN
MARTIROSYAN, REMINGTON CHASE, JEFF RICE, JEFFREY STOTT, SCOTT LAMBERT, BRANDT
ANDERSEN, TAMARA BIRKEMOE, VITALY GRIGORIANTS.
MARK DAMON & TAMARA BIRKEMOE of
Foresight Unlimited represented the international distribution rights for the
picture.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
2 Guns
Is Developed
BOOM!
Studios published the first issue of writer Steven Grant and artist MATEUS
SANTOLOUCO’s explosive five-issue miniseries, “2 Guns,” in 2008. Grant told the intriguing tale of Bobby
Trench and Michael Stigman, two undercover agents who discover that the amount
of cash locked in the bank vault that they are robbing is not remotely what
they expected. When the two find
themselves double-crossed by the very men who set them up to do the job, they
must go on the run from the organizations they vowed to serve.
Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of BOOM! Studios Ross Richie walks us through the
source material: “It’s a story about characters ground up by the system, set
within the framework of government agencies that pursue their goals, no matter
the consequences. Steven took the
familiar noir trope of an undercover cop tale, and he deconstructed that. He also included lots of comedy and action to
make it incredibly entertaining.”
The
series of graphic novels is written by a man with a curious take on this style
of writing. “I like doing crime comics,”
admits Grant, who calls 2 Guns an
“anti-buddy” story. “I don’t actually
believe in good and evil. From my
perspective, people walk a line, fall on this side or that, and wobble back and
forth. It’s just a natural
existence. I tend to view my material
not as dramas, but as situational comedies where everybody in the story thinks
they know what’s going on, and actually nobody in it knows what’s going on.”
Producer
Marc Platt, who has shepherded to the big screen action hits such as Wanted and Drive, was keen to develop the graphic novel series brought to him
by his colleague, fellow 2 Guns
producer Adam Siegel. Platt discusses
his initial interest in the source material: “I always love stories where there
are two characters who are seemingly very different, and the journey of the
story is the way in which those two characters find their way to each
other. Here were two guys who don’t want
to be in the same general vicinity of each other, but who are forced to work
together and learn something about each other and themselves in the process.”
Siegel
recalls what drew him to the project, and the manner in which he worked with a
talented screenwriter to flesh it out: “When I read Steven Grant’s graphic
novel, I was blown away by the great characters and the clear concept that
these were two guys who were undercover from each other.”
To
develop the story into a film, Platt and Siegel found a writer who could turn
this crime story series—replete with much humor and multiple twists—into a taut
script. Explains Siegel: “I was a big
fan of Blake Masters’ work on the television drama Brotherhood, which I thought had two great masculine roles: two
people on both sides of the law. Blake
sparked to the graphic novel immediately, especially the Butch & Sundance
elements that he saw in them.”
Fresh
off of three seasons on an award-winning show, Masters jumped at the chance to
work on fare that was a bit lighter. “2 Guns is twisted in its own way, but I
instantly saw the spine of the story and the chance to create some great characters
in this world that the graphic novel set up,” he offers. “The characters and the humor of the movie
are inextricably bound together. The
humor is coming out of each character’s worldview and the way in which those
views clash. Everybody has their own
code, and they can’t believe everyone else doesn’t share their code.”
Platt
was pleased with the direction in which Masters’ script was headed, and he flew
through a review of the initial treatment.
The producer recalls: “I read the first draft of the screenplay on an
airplane between Los Angeles and New York, and got to around page 80 just
before landing. I shot off an e-mail
from the plane to Adam that said, ‘I love these first 80 pages, and if the last
40 are just as good, we’re in!’”
Early
on during the script’s development, Mark Wahlberg expressed interest in joining
2 Guns. He came aboard as Navy Petty Officer Michael
“Stig” Stigman, a fast-talking sharpshooter who is as awkwardly charming as he
is cunning. For more than a decade, Stig
has served the Navy honorably. But when
he does six months in the brig after attacking a military police officer (MP),
Stig is drafted into one of the Navy’s shadier ops and officially considered
AWOL. He can maneuver in the dark, and
he’s now dispensable if he decides to go off the Navy’s playbook.
The
actor describes what drew him to the role: “The story goes back to those great
buddy action comedies that I’ve always been a huge fan of. Stig’s that guy who just goes on
impulse. Going into the bank heist,
they’ve both been playing each other; neither has been completely honest about
who they are or their motivations. Even
though he’s playing Bobby, and Bobby’s playing him, Stig’s still honest about
how he feels. He’s up for a good time,
but if he gets rubbed the wrong way, he can go dark pretty quick.”
Although
their mission has them planning to steal approximately $3 million of drug
kingpin Papi Greco’s cash when we are introduced to the reluctant partners,
Stig and Bobby get much more than they bargained for. When they open (read: blow up) the safety
deposit boxes at Tres Cruces Savings & Loan, they discover more than $43
million—money that will most definitely be missed when they go on the run.
Wahlberg
brings us up to speed with the moment when it all goes to hell with the agent
and the operative: “After the heist is over, unfortunately it’s either Bobby or
Stig, and Stig gets the upper hand. Stig
doesn’t want to kill Bobby because he’s very fond of him, but he has a job to
do. In the scuffle, Bobby’s DEA badge
drops and Stig is upset—even though he’s been double-crossing Bobby—that Bobby
had the nerve to double-cross him.”
For
his part, DEA agent Robert Trench is called many names. And depending upon the role you play in his
world, you may know him as Agent Trench, Bobby B. or Bobby Beans. He’s spent three years infiltrating Manny
“Papi” Greco’s Sonora, Mexico-based empire, and in the past 12 months, he’s
brought in Stig to work the job. Bobby’s
latest deal has him trading 500 American passports for cocaine, and Greco has
come up with cash, not coke. As Bobby
and Stig head back into the U.S.—happy to still have their heads attached to
their bodies—they are hauled into custody.
Both of their superiors are less than pleased they’ve come back empty-handed.
Masters
expanded upon this rich world that Grant created and underscored that when
you’re in deep with a drug lord, your handlers are bound to wonder if you are
on the take, or as Papi puts it, you “skim a little cream.” After Bobby and Stig are questioned
separately at immigration control, Bobby is given two more weeks before the DEA
pulls the plug on his operation. Stig’s
plan of robbing the bank where the drug lord stashes his cash is looking like
Bobby’s best option for nabbing the criminal.
Until they make the heist and realize they’ve actually stolen the CIA’s
money.
As
the screenplay developed, producer Randall Emmett was sent the script by
Wahlberg, with whom he collaborated on projects including Broken City and the upcoming Lone
Survivor. Emmett was enthusiastic to
come aboard and help finance the project starring his longtime friend. “The script was a page-turner for me; it had
tight dialogue and skillfully balanced drama and comedy,” recalls the producer,
who is partnered with George Furla in the production company Emmett/Furla
Films. “Watching the relationship
between the two characters evolve, I knew it was the kind of film audiences
would welcome.”
When
it came time to seek out a director for 2
Guns, the production team agreed with Wahlberg’s assessment that his
previous director Baltasar Kormákur would be a
good match for the material. Indeed,
when Wahlberg introduced Kormákur to Masters’
explosive screenplay, the director knew it should be his next project.
2 Guns
is a natural progression of expression for Kormákur,
a critically acclaimed actor and director in his native country of Iceland who
made his American studio film debut in 2012’s hit Contraband, which starred Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. Known for finding a story’s strength in dark
humor, his films include 101 Reykjavík,
A Little Trip to Heaven, Jar City, Inhale and The Deep. Commends Wahlberg: “Balt comes from that
school of guerilla filmmaking. He never
goes to the trailer. He’s always on set,
always moving stuff himself, getting in there and making it happen.”
Discussing
his choice to join the team, Kormákur says:
“The script had this modern Western feel, which felt like something that I
could play with and be stylized in finding ways of visualizing the story. There’s a lot of
humanity to the characters. We like them
as we follow them, even though they’re living in an elevated, but not
necessarily unrealistic, criminal world.”
He sums: “Ultimately, 2
Guns is a character-driven film that pays homage to Westerns through the
feel and scope of the landscape.”
Kormákur readily admits that he is drawn to action scripts, but
not simply for the sake of delivering adrenaline-fueled moments. “I look at what I can add
to it, and I ask myself if I connect with the material or if it will just be
another day at work,” he states. “I get
attached to material that I feel I can put myself into and help the actors;
that gets me excited.”
Platt
knew it would take just the right director to walk that line between delivering
the explosive set pieces of the screenplay and actually exploring the
characters’ comedy and drama. “2 Guns is an action movie with humor,
but it’s also about real people.
Underlying Balt’s work is tremendous humanity, which is vital to
creating a movie that is entertaining and one that people care about,” explains
the producer. “From day one, he saw the
tone of 2 Guns and understood the
masculinity of it: the nature of male friendship and the notion of two guys
doing jobs that they believe in.”
The
production partners on 2 Guns were
rounded out by two fellow producers, financier Norton Herrick and BOOM! Studios
partner Andrew Cosby, and this proved to be the right group to finance and
bring to life Kormákur’s vision. “Balt is an innovator,” sums Furla. “As an actor, as well as a director who has
come up through the system, he knows how to accomplish creative shots that tell
the story.”
With
one of the leads set for the action film, it was time to cast the fellow actors
who could bring 2 Guns to life. And that began with one of the only
performers working today who could wholly embody the complex Bobby Trench,
whose motto is “When this is over, I’m going to kill you”: two-time Academy
Award® winner Denzel Washington.
The
Guy Fighting Next to You:
Casting
the Film
After
portraying a series of intense characters in recent years, Washington was
searching for some humor in his next role.
He found that in agent Bobby Trench.
“I was looking to depart from heavier roles, and when I read this script
it really made me laugh,” the performer reports. “Bobby does whatever is necessary to get the
job done. He says there is no code; you
do whatever you got to do, whatever it takes.
I think he is an honest cop, but he doesn’t live by the honor codes.”
Working on both sides of the law for
so many years has allowed Bobby to effortlessly maneuver between the
worlds. Washington explains:
“‘I-know-a-guy Bobby,’ my undercover character, can get anything for you that
you need: a ’63 Chevy, a ’59 bottle of wine, a condo in the Himalayas. Whatever it is, he knows a guy; that’s his
modus operandi.” Still, Bobby’s not
beyond being duped himself. “Bobby and
Stig are lying to each other for half the picture. I’m not what I told him I am, and he’s not
what he told me he is.”
Partnering
these two performers was an exciting prospect for Kormákur, who initially
suggested to the team that Washington’s Bobby would be the perfect foil for
Wahlberg’s Stig. “I hadn’t seen Denzel
play light,” says the filmmaker. “But
the comedy in 2 Guns is based on
reality, like De Niro in Midnight Run. Denzel has such an immense presence, but
actors with good drama sense have good timing.
That timing is everything when it comes to comedy.”
For
his part, Emmett was thrilled that Washington signed onto the project. He says: “We really wanted Denzel to be a
part of this, and we pushed to present the project to him. Once he said, ‘Yes,’ we knew both Mark and
Denzel would make for an explosive combination!”
Wahlberg was glad that the stars
finally aligned for the two men to work together. Discussing Washington, he states: “We have
great chemistry. We’ve known each other
for a while, and this was the perfect piece of material for both of us to show
a different side of ourselves. People
would be very surprised to see how playful Denzel can be. I remember shooting our first scene, and
every take I would do something completely different. He said, ‘Oh, I see what’s happening here,’
and he jumped right on board.” Wahlberg
admits that he had a bit of an ulterior motive, and that was to get Washington
to laugh. “There’s nothing better than
seeing Denzel smile. Usually you get to
see that once or twice in a movie; in this film, we see it a lot.”
The only other thing Bobby can’t get
straight is his relationship with his control officer, Agent Deb Rees. Portrayed by Paula Patton—who reunites with
Washington for the first time since their pairing in Tony Scott’s 2006 sci-fi
thriller, Déjà Vu—Deb is torn between
her feelings for Bobby and her desire to do right by herself. Patton shares graphic novelist Grant’s take
on one of the story’s key themes: “I’ve always had a theory that the line
between a crook and a good guy is a very fine one. Still, it’s challenging to work undercover
and to pretend to be a crook. What is so
great about 2 Guns is that it’s
rough, rugged, shoot-’em-up action with a bit of romance. But, more importantly, it also has a sense of
humor about itself.”
The
attraction between Deb and Bobby is palpable in the border interrogation room,
where Bobby is grilled by his handler and Marlon Jessup (played by ROBERT JOHN
BURKE of television’s Rescue Me and Army Wives) about Bobby’s last encounter
with Papi Greco. Their
on-again/off-again relationship is best summed up by Bobby’s bedroom comment to
Deb that he “really meant to love her.”
Washington
is quick to remind the audience that, even though Deb is more subdued than some
of Patton’s other roles, his co-star is the same ass-kicker from Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol. He commends: “Paula’s the toughest one in the
bunch. She has a pretty face, but
there’s a tough element in there. She
loves competition and fighting, and was always ready to jump right into
it. She’s, I dare say, one of the
guys.”
During
preproduction, Kormákur worked with Masters on
developing the character beyond being just a femme fatale. Recalls the screenwriter: “Balt wanted to
create a real humanizing context for Deb, where we understood what it did to
her to watch drug dealers walk every day for 10 years—the feeling that you are
fighting an avalanche with a teaspoon—and the choices it can lead you to
make. She may be duplicitous, but just
like the men, she’s doing it from a place where she feels justified in her behavior.”
Throughout
the casting process, the director brought on actors to play against
typecast. That was the case with the
character of Manny “Papi” Greco, the powerful drug cartel leader whom both
Bobby and Stig are attempting to capture.
Just because Greco has to make deals with other devils in order to get
his product across the border, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t bristle at the
inequity. Still, he bides his time,
plays the game and pays off a mysterious partner at the Tres Cruces Savings
& Loan.
Edward
James Olmos, who portrays the dangerous drug lord, was taken by the powerful
script. He commends: “It’s a very
well-written action-comedy between two ‘buddies’ that connects with the
public. What drew me to the story is the
humoristic, but very honest, look at the contributions of different parts of
the American government in the actual drug situation.”
Villains
live on both sides of the 2 Guns drug
war, and nowhere is that more evident than with Earl, a shadowy CIA affiliate
whom everyone calls “God’s S.O.B.” Earl
is fond of preaching to his victims, meting out punishment to the “guilty,
ignorant or unlucky” as he deems fit.
Earl is played by action-film staple Bill Paxton, who discusses his
interest in the meaty role: “When I read the script, I was struck with its
central theme of honor. I liked the idea
of all these supposedly honorable men who are loyal to these supposedly
honorable organizations, but at the end of the day the only two men in the
movie who have true honor are Bobby and Stig—because they're honorable to each
other.”
After
the bank heist goes south and our heroes take $40 million more than they
intended out of the CIA’s pockets, Earl arrives on the scene to “properly
incentivize” anyone in his way and set things right. Everyone, including the FBI, scurries out of
his path, especially when Earl starts playing Russian roulette with his
prey. “He may or may not work for the
CIA,” says Paxton. “Earl’s likely an
independent contractor that they have to rely on occasionally when they’re in a
jam. He’s somebody they don’t want to
call up because he creates a lot of paperwork for them. I describe him as a ‘human bloodhound.’”
The
man pulling Stig’s strings is none other than Quince, a spit-and-polish naval
officer and the undercover agent’s superior at Naval Air Station Corpus
Christi. Stig considers Quince above
suspicion, but Quince might not be the straight arrow he appears. Action-film veteran James Marsden discusses
his reasons for joining the film: “There’s a great sense of fun to the action,
and the tone of the movie is similar to Lethal
Weapon.”
Because
Quince holds Stig’s future over his head, the undercover agent bristles
whenever his superior is around. Marsden
explains their dynamic: “They joined the Navy around the same time, but my
character shot up the ranks through the academy, aced every test. He’s a bit of a sociopath and very into his
power; he’s the puppet master, the intellectual behind the plot. Quince has got his muscle behind him, but
there are times when he gets his guns out and isn’t afraid to get his uniform
dirty.”
Rounding
out the principal cast of 2 Guns is
Fred Ward, who portrays Navy Adm. Tuwey, the only person whom Stig believes can
get to the bottom of the cover-up. Ward
brought a personal spin on the role; he had served as an enlisted airman when
he was a young man. Discussing his
process with Kormákur, Ward offers: “Balt was very detailed with me during the
shoot. The admiral’s speech to Stig is a
long one, and Balt was very patient.
What I like about directors like him is that they’ll pick up my ideas
and give me theirs; it’s a respectful conversation.”
You’re
My People:
Going
Undercover
While neither Washington nor
Wahlberg are strangers to the action genre, they knew that understanding the
world of deep undercover would take expert educators. When the production brought on board DEA
technical advisor RICHARD WOODFORK and Navy SEAL technical advisor JAMIE WALL,
the cast and crew alike learned more about the drug war than they could have
imagined.
Recalls
Washington: “Just observing Richard’s personality and his style was
important. I was able to ask him
questions like ‘How do you not get shot on the job?’ I think a lot of those men and women are, to a
degree, adrenaline junkies because they put themselves in very dangerous situations. They thrive on that.”
From Three Kings to Shooter,
Wahlberg has spent a good deal of time undergoing military-style training for
his film career. 2 Guns represents his latest effort, and he was up for the
challenge to train as and to portray Petty Officer Michael Stigman. Wahlberg states that it was Stig’s commitment
to his code that was most reflective of the military the performer has grown to
know: “I had this mantra throughout the movie that I wrote on the front of my script,
which was ‘duty, honor, loyalty and trust.’
Those things are very important to Stig; there isn’t anything that he
wouldn’t do for his brothers, for his people.”
With
this project and the upcoming epic Lone
Survivor, Wahlberg shot two military-inspired films back to back. About his experience, he offers: “I went into
Navy SEAL training immediately after shooting 2 Guns, and I’d been doing a lot of research into and reading
about that world before this film. I’ve
been lucky enough to have played military guys before, and I’ve had quite a bit
of military training for other roles.”
For her part, Patton shares that
working for the DEA is not remotely what she expected it to be. It turns out her role as Bobby’s controller,
Agent Deb Rees, would be one involving more intense questioning than
action. The performer explains a few
steps in her preparation: “I like to start in a place of truth because it’s so
difficult to step in someone’s shoes just on imagination. From there, you also want to make it
entertaining and put your instincts into the character. Richard introduced me to an incredible woman
who allowed me to have intense discussions with her about her job. She worked for many years in the DEA and
brought down many narcotics syndicates during her time as an agent. I was able to learn not just about the work,
but about her personal life as well.”
As
Patton surmised, a female undercover operative gets nowhere with her contacts
by simply cracking their heads, although she has to be prepared for that
distinct possibility. The actress
reflects: “A woman’s experience as a DEA agent is very different from a
man’s. It takes a great deal of
fearlessness to go into a dark room and handle a drug deal. What I found fascinating about my contact is
that she has this very sweet voice. In
order for her to become friends with her marks and lead them to believe that
she’s one of them, she couldn’t be too brusque or off-putting. This agent used her femininity to help
infiltrate these places, and yet she was fully confident in her strength,
intelligence and wit.”
Learning
how to think and act like a double agent wasn’t the only challenge on set for
the performers. Figuring out what they
would do to get out of being tortured was another matter entirely. All veterans of action films, our players
would be required to rob banks, get thrown out of moving trucks and dodge
bullets raining down upon them. Artfully
choreographed by stunt coordinator DARRIN PRESCOTT and 2nd unit
stunt coordinator WADE ALLEN, these sequences paled in comparison, however,
when it came time to maneuver around some very angry livestock.
As
Papi Greco runs a steer ranch in Sonora, Mexico, multiple scenes in 2 Guns—from our introduction to the drug
kingpin to the film’s explosive finale—occur there. Wahlberg walks us through what it was like to
be strung up by his feet and pummeled by the land baron with a baseball
bat. He laughs: “I didn’t like being
upside down. Edward loved it because
there are different times in the movie where he has the upper hand, or we have
the upper hand; we were always pushing it a little too far. He was milking it for everything it was
worth. Denzel didn’t want to hang upside
down too long either. So we shot the
essentials and got out of there. Working
with cattle is a completely different ball game.”
Although
bull handlers MARSHALL DESOUGE
and REGINALD PURRIS kept the cast and crew out of harm’s way, Washington would
have preferred the two trainers were the ones with feet over heads during an
interrogation. He dryly adds: “My back
is better now, much better, but I had fun doing that scene. Mark and I were both game and went for
it. Still, with a bull snorting at you,
that’s enough to tell your secrets.”
Washington notes that they had a bit of unexpected competition on
screen: “That bull tried to steal the scene.
He actually kicked his feet and started snorting at us, but thank
goodness that the fence was between us.
That was one big, mean animal.”
New
Mexico to Louisiana:
Design,
Shooting and Locations
2 Guns
was shot on location in New Mexico and Louisiana, the latter doubling for
Texas. Although the actioner was
conceived as a Western in the classic sense—i.e., most of the exteriors were
filmed in the wide-open spaces of New Mexico—much of the intense interaction
was captured in and around New Orleans.
States Emmett: “We have shot many films in both New Mexico and
Louisiana, taking advantage of their tax incentives. We felt that these locations not only could
provide beautiful backdrops for 2 Guns,
but also help the production’s budget.”
Discussing
his collaboration with production designer Beth Mickle,
Kormákur says: “Our vision for finding the balance between a modern film
and a Western was in sync from day one.”
The
director had seen Mickle’s fantasy version of Los Angeles in Drive, and he was certain that they
would work with one another. The
designer recalls: “When we first got together, Balt said he wanted to take that
concept to the Southwest and see what we could do with New Mexico for Mexico,
and Louisiana for the Texas settings. As
reference, we drew upon the naturalistic feel of landscapes portrayed in films
like No Country for Old Men and Once Upon a Time in the West, but we
wanted to charge up the colors and bring in graphic elements—play with it and
push it a bit more. One of the best
things about Balt is that he’s always happy to push the envelope.”
As
well, director of photography Oliver Wood was an early key hire. Wood not only created the reality-based
aesthetic featured so prominently in the first three chapters of the Bourne series, he also lensed Washington
in Safe House and Wahlberg in The Other Guys. Together, the cinematographer and director
decided to let the vistas speak for themselves and go anamorphic. Commends Platt: “Oliver is one of our great
creative cinematographers, and he has such an intuitive feel for where to place
the camera to best tell the story.”
“There’s
a prestigious look to shooting anamorphic, or wide angle,” adds Emmett. “Balt and Oliver were going for the beautiful
vistas and incredible close-ups. The
location was elemental in telling the story; the fantastic landscape was as
much a part of the film as the fantastic actors we were working with.”
For
the cast’s part, there is nothing like getting offstage and going into the
world to embody their characters. Sums
Patton: “I love it when a film shoots on location. It adds to the authenticity of the project
and for you as an actor. Listen, we can
act on green screen if we must, but it’s more challenging and so fun to be able
to come to New Mexico and New Orleans to shoot in these incredible
locations. It helps you immerse yourself
in a character and in the scene.”
Lensing in New Mexico
The
company spent more than two weeks shooting exteriors throughout New
Mexico. Outside of Santa Fe, the High
Plains vistas of Lamy and La Bajada provided mythic backdrops for the
double-crossing, double-crossed heroes, as they struggle to make sense of the
massive pile of heist cash in the back of Bobby’s Bronco, and then face off
with one another when identities are revealed.
This
region also established the setting for an ill-advised call to naval
headquarters, when Stig realizes he’s been set up by his bosses. It also served as the backdrop for Bobby when
he staggers through an unforgiving Texas desert and hijacks an ATV from a
couple of stunned rednecks—played by JASON KIRKPATRICK and TONY SANFORD—in
“Freedom Ranger” jackets. Sums Kormákur: “I wanted to have the scope and the vision
of the desert, and that’s what I fought for.”
Emmett appreciates his director’s eye:
“There’s a tone and authenticity that comes from a location such as New
Mexico. I liked setting a contemporary
action movie in this type of setting.”
At
the Oxbow Overlook of the Rio Chama, which doubled for the Rio Grande, Papi
Greco’s coyotes herd Bobby and Stig, along with a group of immigrants, across
the ragged Mexico outback. With only 24
hours to deliver the heist money to the drug lord, Bobby and Stig are in a race
against the clock to rescue Deb.
Washington
recalls the exhausting filming sequence: “For the Rio Grande scene, we shot in
this semidry lake bed to get the Western feeling and broad landscapes that Balt
wanted. I’m a good swimmer, so it wasn’t
that big of a deal. The water wasn’t
that deep, but the current was strong and it would sweep you down river pretty
quickly. Fortunately, the stuntman I was
playing opposite was also a good swimmer.”
He pauses and laughs. “Swimming a
bit, walking across the desert, shooting some bad guys and wearing gold teeth:
all in a day’s work.”
Albuquerque’s
overpass at Lead Avenue and Broadway Boulevard was the perfect place to play
out the colossal traffic jam one often finds at a Mexico-Texas border
crossing. Framed by a steady stream of
extras playing day laborers crossing on foot, Bobby and Stig sit in an idling
car in dead-stop traffic. But when their
purposefully flimsy explanation for their south-of-the-border travel provokes a
swarm of Kevlar-clad customs agents with itchy trigger fingers, our boys are
hauled into the arms of the DEA.
Kormákur pushed for authenticity in the Mexico
settings, so Mickle and New Mexico location manager REBECCA PUCK STAIR spent
weeks searching for Papi Greco’s ranch, a private kingdom nestled high in
northern Mexico’s desert plains. Although it was more than an hour’s drive
southeast of Albuquerque, it was very much worth it. “At the end of this long driveway sat a
stunning house that hit all the right notes,” Mickle recalls. “It had perfectly whitewashed stone walls,
wrought-iron accents and nothing but blue sky and beautiful, tan sand as far as
the eye could see.”
Off
to the side of the ranch is a circular driveway, where Bobby skids to a stop in
a ’63 Impala convertible for a three-way, heavily armed standoff. Beyond that driveway is a long house where
ranch hands were slinging dominoes. It
is in this Greco ranch barbecue scene at the beginning of the film that Bobby
and Stig’s cover begins to unravel.
Filming in Louisiana
Another
eight weeks of photography took place in Louisiana, where existing locations
brought life to the rich interior world of 2
Guns. Emmett /Furla Films had shot
several movies in Louisiana, and Emmett felt it was a good location for this
project. He states: “I brought it up
with Balt and discussed with him the pros of filming there. A location scout also thought it would be a
good place; thus, the decision was made to film the movie in Louisiana.”
One
of the key scenes of the film is when we first meet Bobby and Stig in a
picturesque, small Texas town at a diner across the street from the Tres Cruces
Savings & Loan. As luck would have
it, this S&L they’re preparing to rob happens to be across the street from
a police station.
Bobby and Stig stake out the bank from a
well-worn window booth at Mama Maybelle’s Diner (where you can get the best
doughnuts in three counties). These
street-corner scenes were shot in Amite City, Louisiana, and they represented a
substantial build for Mickle’s crew. To
achieve the proper perspective on the bank, her team built the diner as a
façade around the front of a historic house.
She explains: “That set was such a wild challenge because we weren’t
allowed to anchor anything onto the roof of the existing historic house behind
it; it was just a miracle in engineering.”
For
the S&L, Mickle’s crew completely rebuilt the building interior and turned
back the clock on the approximately 80-year-old former bank, which is currently
the Amite Chamber of Commerce. On the
opposite corner, the city’s police station, which is also seen in 2 Guns, is perfectly positioned
alongside train tracks. Explains Kormákur: “I wanted to use the train to cut through
the scene in a couple of places, and it’s relevant because there are trains
coming through those small towns like crazy.
It’s a wink at the Westerns.”
After
he wings Bobby in the shoulder, Stig dutifully delivers the entire take from
the heist to Lt. Cmdr. Quince in San Antonio.
For these scenes, the fictional Camino Royale hotel was re-created in a
penthouse suite at Harrah’s New Orleans, as well as the lobby of the
century-old Le Pavillon Hotel —a few blocks from the infamous French Quarter.
Various
neighborhoods in New Orleans filled out the characters’ personal lives: the
sober, yet elegant, home of dedicated veteran DEA agent Marlon Jessup was found
near Audubon Park. DEA agent Deb Rees’
bohemian ranch-style home was lensed in the River Ridge neighborhood. Finally, the neatly kept stucco-and-brick houses
of Kenner provided a cushy neighborhood for Papi Greco’s mistress, Daisi (Snitch’s DORIS MORGADO), and their son,
Javier (newcomer SAMUEL BACA-GARCIA).
No
location offered more reality in Louisiana than Amite City’s stockyard, which
became Papi Greco’s ranch stockyard interior.
Located just two miles from the Tres Cruces bank set, the stockyard
gives us our first glimpse of the deceptively charming drug lord. When Bobby attempts to make a deal with Papi
Greco that will secure evidence and contribute to the takedown of the cartel,
both their fates are sealed.
The
crew returned to the stockyard to capture the unconventional interrogation of
Bobby and Stig, with Papi Greco determined to recover his share of the heist
from the now-fugitive operatives. The
stockyard’s maze of catwalks, chutes and cattle pens provided the perfect setting
for an element of the film’s dramatic finale, a Mexican standoff among Earl,
Quince, Bobby and Stig.
For
the scenes in which our heroes must race to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi to
steal back money they believe is hiding in Quince’s office safe, the production
was off to its next locale. Federal
City, a 155-acre former naval support facility on New Orleans’ West Bank,
hosted the cast and crew for five days as mayhem ensued. While Stig plays decoy on a tire-squealing
chase with the MPs, Bobby discovers more than he bargained for in Quince’s
office and must concoct a not-so-discrete, three-alarm exit strategy.
****
Tristar Pictures and Stage 6 Films
present in association Universal Pictures Emmett/Furla Films and Foresight
Unlimited, a Marc Platt production in
association with Oasis Ventures Entertainment Limited/ Empyre Media Capital/
Herrick Entertainment/ Envision Entertainment/
BOOM! STUDIOS a Baltasar
Kormákur film: 2 Guns, starring
Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden,
Fred Ward and Edward James Olmos.
Casting is by Sheila Jaffe, and
the costume designer is Laura Jean Shannon.
2 Guns’ music is by Clinton
Shorter. Music Supervisor is Scott
Vener. The film is edited by Michael Tronick, ACE, and the production designer
is Beth Mickle. The director of
photography is Oliver Wood. The co-producers are Brandon Grimes and Robert
Dohrmann, and the executive producers are Mark Damon, Motaz M. Nabulsi, Joshua
Skurla, Stepan Martirosyan, Remington Chase, Jeff Rice, Jeffrey Stott, Scott
Lambert, Brandt Andersen, Tamara Birkemoe, and Vitaly Grigoriants. The film is produced by Marc
Platt, Randall Emmett, Norton Herrick, Adam Siegel, George Furla, Ross Richie,
Andrew Cosby. 2 Guns is based on the BOOM! STUDIOS graphic novels by Steven
Grant, and its screenplay is by Blake Masters.
The action film is directed by Baltasar Kormákur. © 2013 Georgia Film Fund Fifteen, LLC and
Universal Pictures. URL
2Guns-Movie.net
ABOUT THE
CAST
Two-time Academy Award®-winning
actor DENZEL WASHINGTON (Robert
“Bobby” Trench) is a man constantly on the move. Never comfortable repeating himself or his
successes, Washington always searches for new challenges through his numerous
and varied film and stage portrayals.
From embittered runaway slave Trip, in Glory, to South African freedom fighter Steve Biko, in Cry Freedom; from Shakespeare’s tragic
historical figure Richard III to rogue detective Alonzo Harris, in Training Day, Washington has amazed and
entertained audiences with a rich array of characters distinctly his own.
Washington started off 2012
starring in Universal Pictures’ action-thriller Safe House, directed by Daniel Espinosa. The film opened to more than $40 million in
its first weekend and was the second largest of Washington’s career. In his most recent role, Washington starred
in Robert Zemeckis’ Flight, for Paramount Pictures. His performance in Flight brought him Academy Award®, Golden Globe and
Screen Actors Guild nominations.
In the spring of 2010,
Washington made his return to Broadway where he appeared opposite Viola Davis
in a 14-week run of August Wilson’s Fences. His powerful performance as Troy, a one-time
baseball star turned sanitation worker who struggles to reconcile his past and
present, earned him his first Tony Award, as well as a Tony Award for both the
play and Davis. Also in 2010, Warner
Bros. Pictures released Book of Eli,
a postapocalyptic Western that tells the story of one man’s fight across
America to protect a sacred book that contains the secrets to rescuing
mankind. Prior to that, Washington
appeared alongside John Travolta in Tony Scott’s remake of the 1974 film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, for Columbia
Pictures. Pelham tells the dramatic story of a subway dispatcher (Washington)
who receives a ransom call from a hijacker (Travolta) who has taken control of
one of the trains.
In late December 2007,
Washington directed and co-starred with Academy Award®-winning actor
Forest Whitaker in The Great Debaters,
a drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson—a professor at Wiley
College in Texas who, in 1935, inspired students from the school’s debate team
to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
In
November 2007, Washington starred alongside Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster. The film grossed $43.6 million in its first
weekend and earned Washington his largest opening weekend to date.
In
March 2006, Washington starred in Spike Lee’s Inside Man. The film, which
co-starred Clive Owen and Jodie Foster, took in $29 million in its opening
weekend. As 2006 came to an end,
Washington thrilled audiences yet again in Touchstone Pictures’ Déjà Vu, which reteamed him with
director Tony Scott. In this flashback
romantic thriller, Washington plays an ATF agent who travels back in time to
save a woman from being murdered, falling in love with her in the process.
Washington
returned to his theater roots in 2005, where he starred on Broadway as Marcus
Brutus in Julius Caesar. The show was well received by critics and
fans alike.
In
2004, Washington collaborated with Tony Scott for Man on Fire, in which Washington plays an ex-marine who has been
hired to protect a young girl, played by Dakota Fanning, from kidnappers. That same year, Washington was seen in
Jonathan Demme’s The Manchurian Candidate,
a modern-day remake of the 1962 classic film for Paramount Pictures, which
co-starred Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber.
In the film, Washington starred in the role made famous by Frank
Sinatra.
In
2003, Washington was seen in MGM’s murder-mystery thriller Out of Time, which was directed by Carl Franklin and co-starred Eva
Mendes and Sanaa Lathan. He played a
Florida police chief who must solve a double homicide before he falls under
suspicion for the murders himself.
December 2002 marked Washington’s feature film
directorial debut with Antwone Fisher. The film, based on a true-life story and
inspired by the best-selling autobiography, “Finding Fish,” follows Fisher, a
troubled young sailor played by Derek Luke, as he comes to terms with his
past. The film won critical praise, was
awarded the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America and won
NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Supporting
Actor. Also in 2002, Washington was seen
in John Q, a story about a
down-on-his-luck father whose son is in need of a heart transplant. The film established an opening-day record
for Presidents’ Day weekend, grossing $24.1 million. The film garnered Washington an NAACP Image
Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.
One
of Washington’s most critically acclaimed performances to date was his Academy
Award®-winning performance in Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day. The story
revolves around a grizzled LAPD veteran (Washington), who shows a rookie narcotics
cop (Ethan Hawke), the ropes on his first day of the soul-city beat. The film was only one of two in 2001 that
spent two weeks at the No. 1 spot at the box-office.
In
September 2000, Washington starred in Jerry Bruckheimer’s box-office sensation Remember the Titans, which took in $115
million at the domestic box-office.
Earlier that year, he starred in Universal Pictures’ The Hurricane, reteaming with director
Norman Jewison. Washington received a
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture–Drama
and his fourth Academy Award® nomination for his performance.
In
November 1999, Washington starred in Universal Pictures’ The Bone Collector, the adaptation of Jeffery Deaver’s novel about
the search for a serial killer, which co-starred Angelina Jolie and was
directed by Phillip Noyce.
In 1998, Washington starred
in the Warner Bros. Pictures crime thriller Fallen
for director Greg Hoblit, and in Spike Lee’s He Got Game, for Touchstone.
He reteamed with director Ed Zwick in the 20th Century Fox
terrorist thriller The Siege, which
co-starred Annette Bening and Bruce Willis.
In
the summer of 1996, Washington starred in the critically acclaimed military
drama Courage Under Fire, for Glory director Edward Zwick. Later that year, he starred opposite Whitney
Houston in Penny Marshall’s romantic comedy The
Preacher’s Wife.
In
1995, Washington starred opposite Gene Hackman as Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ron Hunter in
Tony Scott’s underwater action-adventure Crimson
Tide; as Parker Barnes, an ex-cop released from prison to track down a
computer-generated criminal, in the futuristic thriller Virtuosity; and as World War II veteran Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins, in
the 1940s romantic thriller Devil in a
Blue Dress, which Washington’s Mundy Lane Entertainment produced with
Jonathan Demme’s Clinica Estetico.
Another
critically acclaimed performance was his portrayal of Malcolm X in director
Spike Lee’s biographical epic, Malcolm X. For his portrayal, Washington received a
number of accolades, including an Academy Award® nomination for Best
Actor.
In
addition to his accomplishments on screen, Washington took on very different
types of roles in 2000. He produced the
HBO documentary Half Past Autumn: The
Life and Works of Gordon Parks, which was subsequently nominated for two
Primetime Emmy Awards. He served as
executive producer on Hank Aaron: Chasing
the Dream, a biographical documentary for TBS, which was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award. Additionally,
Washington’s narration of the legend of John Henry was nominated for a 1996
Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children, and he was
awarded the 1996 NAACP Image Award for his performance in the animated
children’s special Happily Ever After:
Fairy Tales for Every Child.
A
native of Mt. Vernon, New York, Washington had his career sights set on
medicine when he attended Fordham University.
During a stint as a summer camp counselor, he appeared in one of their
theater productions. Washington was
bitten by the acting bug and returned to Fordham that year seeking the tutelage
of Robinson Stone, one of the school’s leading professors. Upon graduation from Fordham, Washington was
accepted into San Francisco’s prestigious American Conservatory Theater. Following an intensive year of study in their
theater program, he returned to New York after a brief stop in Los Angeles.
Washington’s
professional New York theater career began with Joseph Papp’s Shakespeare in
the Park and was quickly followed by numerous off-Broadway productions,
including Ceremonies in Dark Old Men; When the Chickens Came Home to Roost,
in which he portrayed Malcolm X; One
Tiger to a Hill; Man and Superman; Othello; and A Soldier’s Play, for which he won an Obie Award. Washington’s more
recent stage appearances include the Broadway production of Checkmates and Richard III, which was produced as part of the 1990 Free
Shakespeare in the Park series hosted by Joseph Papp’s Public Theater in New
York City.
In
1979, Washington was “discovered” by Hollywood when he was cast in the
television film Flesh & Blood. But it was Washington’s award-winning
performance on stage in A Soldier’s Play
that captured the attention of the producers of the NBC television series St. Elsewhere, and he was soon cast in
that long-running hit series as Dr. Philip Chandler. His other television credits include The George McKenna Story, License to Kill and Wilma.
In
1982, Washington recreated his role from A
Soldier’s Play for Norman Jewison’s film version. Retitled A
Soldier’s Story, Washington’s portrayal of Pfc. Peterson was critically
well-received. Washington went on to
star in Sidney Lumet’s Power; Richard
Attenborough’s Cry Freedom, for which
he received his first Academy Award® nomination; For Queen and Country; The Mighty Quinn; Heart Condition; Glory,
for which he won the Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor; and
Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. Washington also starred in the
action-adventure film, Ricochet, and
in Mira Nair’s bittersweet comedy Mississippi
Masala.
Additional
film credits include Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing; Jonathan Demme’s controversial Philadelphia, with Tom Hanks; and The Pelican Brief, based on the John
Grisham novel.
MARK WAHLBERG (Michael “Stig” Stigman) earned both Academy Award®
and Golden Globe nominations for his standout work in the family boxing biopic The Fighter and Martin Scorsese’s
acclaimed drama The Departed. Wahlberg has enjoyed playing diverse
characters for visionary filmmakers such as David O. Russell, Tim Burton and
Paul Thomas Anderson. His breakout role in Boogie Nights established Wahlberg as one of Hollywood’s most
sought-after talents.
Wahlberg’s remarkable film
career began with Renaissance Man,
directed by Penny Marshall, and The
Basketball Diaries, with Leonardo
DiCaprio, followed by a star turn opposite Reese Witherspoon in the thriller Fear.
He later headlined Three Kings
and The Perfect Storm, with George
Clooney, and The Italian Job, with
Charlize Theron. Wahlberg then starred
in the football biopic Invincible,
with Greg Kinnear, and Shooter, based
on the best-selling novel “Point of Impact.” He reunited with The Yards director James Gray and
co-star Joaquin Phoenix in We Own the
Night, which he also produced. Other
projects include The Happening, Max Payne, The Lovely Bones, Date Night
and The Other Guys. He most recently starred in Allen
Hughes’ Broken City, with
Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones; Seth MacFarlane’s Ted; Baltasar Kormákur’s Contraband, with; and Michael Bay’s Pain
& Gain, with Dwayne Johnson.
Next, Wahlberg can be seen in Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor.
Also an accomplished film
and television producer, Wahlberg has received a Peabody Award, two Oscar®
nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and five Primetime Emmy
nominations. In addition to Broken City, Contraband, The Fighter
and We Own the Night, Wahlberg is
executive producer of the HBO series Boardwalk
Empire. He also executive produced
HBO’s Entourage, In Treatment and How to Make
It in America.
A committed philanthropist,
Wahlberg founded The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in 2001 to benefit
inner-city children and teens.
PAULA PATTON (Deb Rees)
emerged as an unforgettable talent with her leading roles in Tony Scott’s Déjà Vu, where she starred opposite
Academy Award®-winning actor and 2
Guns co-star Denzel Washington, and Bryan Barber’s original musical Idlewild. However, it was Patton’s memorable
performance as the compassionate Ms. Rain in the critically acclaimed drama Precious that quickly made her a
household name. Patton’s body of work is proof that she is one of today’s
most gifted actresses.
Patton was last seen in the
fourth installment of the popular Mission
Impossible franchise, Mission:
Impossible-Ghost Protocol, where she starred alongside Tom Cruise and
Jeremy Renner. The film grossed more
than $693 million worldwide. She
recently starred in the independent drama Disconnect,
which was directed by Henry Alex Rubin and co-starred Alexander Skarsgård and
Jason Bateman.
Patton will soon be seen in
David E. Talbert’s comedy Baggage Claim,
with Taye Diggs, where she plays flight attendant Montana Moore who, in
pledging to keep herself from being the oldest daughter and the only woman in
her entire family never to wed, embarks on a 30-day, 30,000-mile expedition to
charm a potential suitor into becoming her fiancé.
In May 2011, Patton
co-starred in the wedding-themed comedy Jumping
the Broom, opposite Angela Bassett, Laz Alonso and Loretta Devine. Patton received a 2012 NAACP Image Award nomination
for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in the film. Patton also appeared opposite Queen Latifah
and Common in Just Wright.
Patton starred in the critically acclaimed and
award-winning film Precious, directed
by Lee Daniels. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
where it won both the Grand Jury
Prize and the Audience Award. Additionally, it was shown at the Cannes
Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. Precious is the story of Claireece Precious Jones, a young African-American girl who
has endured unimaginable hardships in her life. Patton played the
challenging role of Ms. Rain, a teacher who tries to make a difference in
Claireece’s life and reveals to her the opportunity that still awaits
her. The film garnered numerous award nominations including six Academy
Award® nominations, a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Motion
Picture–Drama, a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding
Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and a BAFTA Award nomination for Best
Film. Patton was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her pivotal role in the film.
In 2008, Patton appeared in the thriller Mirrors, opposite Kiefer Sutherland. That same year, audiences saw Patton in the light-hearted
political satire Swing Vote,
alongside industry veterans Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper and Kelsey Grammer.
In August 2006, Patton starred in Idlewild, alongside Outkast’s André
Benjamin and Antwan A. Patton, Terrence Howard, Ving Rhames and Patti
LaBelle. The musical, set in the Prohibition-era American South, was
directed by Bryan Barber and produced by Charles Roven. Patton
played a diva from St. Louis who travels to Idlewild and, with the help of Benjamin’s
character as her piano man, the two develop a stage act as well as a love
affair. Patton was previously seen in
the romantic comedy Hitch, in which
she co-starred opposite Will Smith, Eva Mendes and Kevin James.
Patton grew up in Los Angeles, attending the
Hamilton High School for the Performing Arts. She always had a passion
for acting and filmmaking. Upon
graduating from high school, Patton was chosen as one of four young filmmakers
for a PBS documentary series titled The
Ride, which followed the four filmmakers as they directed their own
documentary films about young people across America. After spending her
freshman year of college at UC Berkeley, with an increasing passion for
filmmaking, Patton transferred to the prestigious USC Film School, where she graduated
magna cum laude. Upon graduation, she
began doing various production assistant work and eventually worked her way up
to shooting and producing a show titled Medical
Diaries, for the Discovery
Channel. When the show was completed, Patton realized her love of acting
and immediately enrolled in acting classes.
After a year of studying, she decided to pursue a career in professional
acting.
Patton currently resides in Los Angeles.
BILL PAXTON (Earl) was last seen in the History Channel mini-series Hatfields & McCoys, opposite Kevin
Costner. The show set a ratings record
as the top-rated entertainment telecast ever for ad-supported basic cable. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
and a SAG Award for his work as Randall McCoy.
His upcoming films include
Doug Liman’s All You Need Is Kill,
opposite Tom Cruise, and Jeff Renfroe’s The
Colony, starring Laurence Fishburne.
Paxton was honored with
three Golden Globe nominations for his work on HBO’s critically acclaimed
series Big Love, where he played Bill
Henrickson, a loving father and a husband to three wives, played by Jeanne
Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin.
After gaining critical
attention in John Hughes’ comedy Weird
Science and James Cameron’s sci-fi Aliens,
Paxton’s performance as the small-town sheriff in Carl Franklin’s One False Move marked his emergence as a
leading man. He went on to star in a
host of blockbusters, including Tombstone,
True Lies, Apollo 13, Twister, Mighty Joe Young, Titanic, U-571 and Vertical Limit.
In 1998, Roger Ebert cited
Paxton as his Best Actor choice for his turn as Hank Mitchell in Sam Raimi’s A Simple Plan. In addition, Paxton received a Golden Globe
nomination that same year for his performance as Lt. Colonel John Paul Vann in
HBO’s A Bright Shining Lie.
Paxton segued from being on
camera to directing feature films. In
2001, Paxton made his directorial debut with the gothic thriller Frailty, in which he also starred
alongside Matthew McConaughey. In 2005,
he directed the sports drama The Greatest
Game Ever Played, which starred Shia LaBeouf. Both films are considered modern classics of
their respective genres. In 2002, Frailty received special recognition
from the National Board of Review for excellence in filmmaking. Additionally, Paxton served as a producer on
the features The Good Life and Traveller, in which he starred along
with Mark Wahlberg and Julianna Margulies.
Paxton began his career as a
set dresser on producer Roger Corman’s Big
Bad Mama in the mid-’70s. After
working in the art department on several features, Paxton moved to New York to
study acting with Stella Adler.
Returning to Los Angeles in 1980, he met James Cameron while
moonlighting as a set dresser on the low-budget sci-fi movie Galaxy of Terror. Subsequently, Paxton landed acting jobs in
movies such as Mortuary and Night Warning. He earned a cult following for his work in
movies such as Near Dark, Boxing Helena, The Dark Backward and Broken
Lizard’s Club Dread. His other
credits include Trespass, Indian Summer, The Evening Star, Streets of
Fire, Frank & Jesse, Navy Seals, Predator 2, The Vagrant, Pass the Ammo and Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire.
In addition to his awards
for acting and directing, Paxton holds the distinction as the only actor to
have visited the wreck site of the Titanic with Cameron for the documentary Ghosts of the Abyss. Paxton completed four descents to the site,
2.5 miles below the surface of the North Atlantic.
A native of Fort Worth,
Texas, Paxton resides with his wife and children in California.
Having appeared in a wide range of films over the course of his career, JAMES
MARSDEN (Quince) continues to carve out a distinctive place in Hollywood.
Marsden will next be seen in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, in which he
portrays the iconic John F. Kennedy. The
Weinstein Company film is set to be released on August 16.
This fall, Marsden will star opposite Elizabeth Banks in FilmDistrict’s
comedy Walk of Shame, to
be released on September 20. Finishing
off a busy year, Marsden will also appear in Paramount Pictures’ highly
anticipated Anchorman: The Legend Continues alongside, Will Ferrell,
Paul Rudd and Steve Carell, which will hit theaters on December 20.
Most recently, Marsden was seen in Jack Schreier’s critically acclaimed Robot
& Frank, opposite Frank
Langella, Liv Tyler and Susan Sarandon.
He also starred in Leslye Headland’s hit comedy Bachelorette,
opposite Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Adam Scott. The film, which was released on iTunes and
Video on Demand prior to its theatrical release, quickly climbed to No. 1 on
iTunes.
In 2011, Marsden appeared in Sony Screen Gems’ remake of Straw Dogs
for director Rod Lurie, opposite Kate Bosworth.
He was also seen in Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s
box-office hit Hop, in
which he played the lead role opposite Russell Brand. The film grossed more than $180 million
worldwide. That same year, Marsden was
honored with the Spotlight Award at the Savannah Film Festival alongside fellow
honorees Oliver Stone, Lily Tomlin and Ellen Barkin.
Other film credits include the box-office smash Enchanted; 27
Dresses, opposite
Katherine Heigl; X-Men, X2 and
X-Men: The Last Stand, in which he
starred as Scott Summers/Cyclops; Adam Shankman’s musical Hairspray;
Nick Cassavetes’ romantic drama The Notebook; Superman Returns, opposite Bosworth; the comedy Death
at a Funeral; the romantic comedy Sex Drive; The Box, opposite Cameron Diaz; Disturbing
Behavior, alongside
Katie Holmes; the crime drama 10th & Wolf; and Sugar & Spice. Beyond film, Marsden appeared in NBC’s hit
comedy series 30 Rock, for a multi-episode arc as Tina Fey’s love
interest.
Marsden currently resides in
Los Angeles.
Known
for giving consistently well-wrought, realistic performances, FRED WARD (Admiral
Tuwey) became an actor after a three-year Air Force stint and time spent
studying at New York’s Herbert Berghof Studio and in Rome. In Italy, he dubbed Italian movies and worked
as a mime until he made his acting debut in a Roberto Rossellini film. Upon
returning to the U.S. in the early ’70s, Ward spent time working in
experimental theater with Sam Shepard.
His first major film role came in the 1979 film Escape From Alcatraz, in which Ward played fellow escapee John
Anglin, alongside Clint Eastwood. For
Ward, 1983 was a very good year as he played key roles in three major films: Uncommon Valor, as an anguished Vietnam
vet-turned-sculptor; Silkwood, as a
brave union activist; and, in a scene-stealing performance, as Virgil “Gus”
Grissom in Philip Kaufman’s The Right
Stuff. In 1985, Ward starred in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, a
James Bond-like spy thriller. Notable
performances include Ward’s role as Sgt. Hoke Moseley, a beaten-down,
humiliated cop in 1990’s Miami Blues,
which he co-produced; a fascinating portrayal of author Henry Miller in1990’s Henry & June; and as Walter Stuckel,
the studio security chief, in 1992’s The
Player. Ward co-starred with Kevin
Bacon in the 1990 comedy Tremors; in
Tim Robbins’ 1992 satire Bob Roberts;
in 1994’s The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final
Insult; and in the 1996 Keanu Reeves thriller Chain Reaction. Increasingly
busy into the new millennium, Ward continued to move effortlessly between
television and film roles, displaying his sense of humor in 2001’s Joe Dirt and Corky Romano, as well as his penchant for action in The Chaos Factor and Full Disclosure. He worked continuously in projects such as Enough, Sweet Home Alabama and the Bob Dylan vehicle Masked and Anonymous, and appeared briefly on the
hit television series Grey’s Anatomy. In 2010 and 2011, Ward was part of the cast
of Showtime’s United States of Tara
and the comedy 30 Minutes or Less,
with Jesse Eisenberg.
EDWARD JAMES OLMOS (Papi Greco) has achieved extraordinary success as an
actor, producer and humanitarian. The
Tony-, Primetime Emmy- and Academy Award®-nominated actor is
probably best known to young audiences for his work as Admiral William Adama on
the Syfy television series Battlestar
Galactica. Although the series kept the actor busy during its run in
2003-2009, it didn’t stop him from directing the HBO movie Walkout in 2006, for which he earned a DGA Award nomination in the
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series
category.
Olmos’ career in
entertainment spans more than 30 years.
In that time, he has created a signature style and aesthetic that he
applies to every artistic endeavor, often grounding his characters in reality
and gravitas. His dedication to his
craft has brought him attention from the industry and audiences worldwide.
Originally a musician, Olmos
branched out into acting, appearing in many small theater productions until he
portrayed the iconic El Pachuco in Zoot
Suit. The play moved to Broadway and
Olmos earned a Tony nomination for the role, which he reprised in the 1981 film
version.
Olmos went on to appear in
the films Wolfen, Blade Runner and American
Playhouse’s The Ballad of Gregorio
Cortez, before starring in his biggest role to date: Lieutenant Martin
Castillo in the iconic ’80s television series Miami Vice, opposite Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.
During his time on the Michael Mann series, Olmos earned two Golden Globe and
Primetime Emmy Award nominations, resulting in a win from each.
In 1988, Olmos was nominated
for an Academy Award® and won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of
teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and
Deliver. He directed and starred in
his film directorial debut, American Me,
in 1992.
Olmos’ passion for the arts
grows every year, and he never forgets to give back to the communities that
support him. He is an international
advocate, spokesman and humanitarian working with organizations such as Thank
You Ocean, Project Hope Foundation, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Boys &
Girls Clubs of America, Riverkeeper and the Diabetic Foot Global
Conference. Olmos speaks at schools,
universities and corporations up to 150 times a year.
Olmos’ other acting credits
include the motion pictures My Family;
Selena, opposite Jennifer Lopez; and In the Time of Butterflies, in which he
played Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. On
television, he enjoyed a recurring role as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Roberto
Mendoza in the NBC drama The West Wing;
portrayed a widowed father in the PBS drama American
Family: Journey of Dreams; and directed the YouTube phenomenon “The Short
Film BP Doesn’t Want You to See,” featured on CNN’s Larry King Live.
ABOUT THE
FILMMAKERS
BALTASAR KORMÁKUR (Directed by) is an actor, producer and director whose
work spans theater, movies and television.
Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Kormákur graduated as an actor from the
Iceland Academy of the Arts in 1990. He
immediately signed on with the National Theatre of Iceland, where he worked as
one of the leading young performing artists until 1997. During the last two years of his assignment,
Kormákur also directed several ambitious works, after producing and directing
highly popular independent stage productions alongside his acting projects with
the National Theatre.
In 2000, Kormákur wrote,
directed, acted in and produced the feature film 101 Reykjavík, which became an international hit and earned the
Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Subsequently, Variety selected him as one of the 10 Directors to Watch, with
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Lukas Moodysson and Christopher Nolan, among
others. Soon after, Kormákur started
Blueeyes Productions and, since then, has maintained his focus on writing,
producing and directing feature films.
His films The Sea, A Little Trip to Heaven, Jar City and Brúðguminn have all been very successful in Iceland and won
numerous international awards.
Kormákur’s The Deep, which
eerily captures the tragic real-life story of the lone survivor of a capsized
fishing boat off the frigid Icelandic coast, premiered at the 2012 Toronto
International Film Festival. The film went on to become Iceland’s Official
Oscar® entry for nominee and the foreign language category. It opened in Iceland on September 21, 2012,
and took in more than 50% of the country’s box-office receipts that weekend.
Since 2008, Kormákur has
directed two other feature films in the U.S.
Inhale, an independent film
produced by the Los Angeles-based 26 Films that starred Dermot Mulroney, Diane
Kruger and Sam Shepard, was released in October 2010. Universal Pictures and Working Title Films’ Contraband,
which starred Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, and Kate Beckinsale, took first place
at the U.S. box-office during its opening weekend in January 2012. Contraband
was a remake of Óskar Jónasson’s Reykjavik-Rotterdam,
written by Arnaldur Indridason. Kormákur
played the leading role and produced with Agnes Johansen through Blueeyes
Productions.
Kormákur’s next projects
include the HBO pilot The Missionary,
a spy thriller he directed, to be produced by Wahlberg, Steve Levinson and
Malcolm Gladwell; and Everest, a
cautionary tale about the 1996 disaster on the mountain that killed eight
climbers died over two days amid horrific mishaps and bad decisions. Working Title Films will produce Everest with Kormákur. His other
upcoming projects are Viking, a
big-budget action-adventure set in the world of the famed Norse warriors, which
will film in Iceland; the American remake of Jar City,
which Kormákur will produce along with the CEO of Lava Bear Films, David Linde;
and Dagur Kári’s Icelandic drama Rocketman,
which Kormákur will produce. Recently,
Kormákur optioned Iceland’s beloved Nobel Prize-winning book “Independent
People” to develop as a feature film.
Kormákur also partnered with CCP Games, the world’s leading
independent developer of massive multiplayer games, to bring the EVE Online game to television. The new series will take its
inspiration from the millions of people who have left their mark on the EVE
universe via stories submitted to the Web site truestories.eveonline.com. The RVK Studios team, in collaboration with
CCP, will create an original concept and storyline set in the EVE universe, a
future history of rival societies trapped beyond a wormhole in a dystopian
sci-fi world.
All of Kormákur’s films are
made under his Blueeyes Productions, which recently opened a television arm and
partnered with Dadi Einarsson and the Icelandic team at the visual effects
company Framestore.
BLAKE MASTERS (Screenplay by) was raised in New York City and Mill River,
Massachusetts. During college, Masters
landed his first job in the film industry, working as a grip for low-budget
maestro Roger Corman on such genre fare as Body
Chemistry II: Voice of a Stranger and The
Liars’ Club. Later, Masters borrowed
lighting equipment from Corman’s studio and shot a short film that opened the
door for an internship at Sam Raimi’s production company, Renaissance
Pictures. While working there, he wrote
a script that was optioned by Warner Bros. Pictures. That script, in turn, allowed him to become a
full-time writer.
Some years later, Masters
pitched a nascent film idea to a producer who suggested that it might make a
good television show instead. That idea
became Brotherhood, a critically
lauded drama about two Providence, Rhode Island brothers, one a local
politician, the other a local gangster. Brotherhood ran for three seasons on
Showtime and won the network its first Peabody Award for drama.
After Brotherhood, Dick Wolf tapped Masters to write the pilot for Law & Order: Los Angeles, which ran
for one season on NBC. Currently,
Masters is working on Line of Sight
at AMC and has multiple projects in active development at Showtime.
A fixture in the world of
comics since the late ’70s, STEVEN GRANT
(Based on the BOOM! Studios Graphic Novels by) has written for Marvel, DC
Comics, First Comics, Dark Horse Comics and Wildstorm. Grant is perhaps best known for his seminal
collaborations with Mike Zeck on “The Punisher,” which transformed the
superhero genre and generated numerous imitators.
Grant has written film and
television reviews, short stories and teen novels. In addition, he wrote two long-running Web
columns, “Master of the Obvious” and “Permanent Damage,” at
www.comicbookresources.com, in which he covered comics, culture, politics and
writing.
Grant is the creator of
several crime comics, including “Whisper” and “Badlands,” and is currently
working on the sequel to 2 Guns, as well as several other series and film projects.
MARC PLATT (Produced by) stands among the few producers who have
successfully bridged the worlds of theater, film and television. His projects have garnered eight Oscar® nominations,
16 Tony nominations, 13 Golden Globe nominations and 19 Primetime Emmy
nominations.
Platt’s
most recent
film was Drive, which starred Ryan
Gosling and its director, Nicolas Winding Refn, was awarded the Best Director
prize at the 64th Annual Cannes International Film Festival in
2011. Among the other films Platt has
produced are Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, directed by Edgar Wright;
the smash hits Legally Blonde and its sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, which starred Reese
Witherspoon; the critically acclaimed Rachel
Getting Married, which was directed by Oscar®-winner Jonathan
Demme and starred Anne Hathaway; the 2008 summer hit Wanted, which starred
Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman; the musical Nine,
which was directed by Rob Marshall and starred Daniel Day-Lewis; Cop Out, which starred Bruce Willis and
Tracy Morgan; Charlie St. Cloud,
which starred Zac Efron; The Other Woman,
which starred Natalie Portman; Honey; Josie and the Pussycats; and The
Perfect Man.
Platt’s upcoming films are Winter’s Tale, starring Colin Farrell
and Russell Crowe, and written and directed by Academy Award® winner
Akiva Goldsman; Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, How to Catch a Monster, starring
Christina Hendricks; Rob Marshall’s Into
The Woods, starring Meryl Streep
and Johnny Depp; and Song One, starring Anne Hathaway.
Platt is the producer of
Broadway’s blockbuster Wicked, which The New York Times called
“the defining musical of the decade.”
The musical has four companies now playing worldwide including Broadway,
London and two North American tours, with three additional companies opening
internationally later this year. He also
produced the Broadway debut of Three
Days of Rain, which starred Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper;
Matthew Bourne’s musical theater adaptation of Edward Scissorhands, which
won two Drama Desk Awards; and the 2008 Broadway revival of Pal Joey,
which starred Stockard Channing.
In
television, Platt executive produced HBO’s Empire Falls, which won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries. He also
executive produced Once Upon a Mattress for
ABC; the Primetime Emmy Award-winning miniseries The Path to 9/11, also for ABC; and the MTV hit series Taking the Stage.
Prior to establishing his
company, Marc Platt Productions, he served as president of production for three
movie studios (Orion, TriStar and Universal Pictures). Platt is a member of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts & Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and
The Broadway League.
As one of the entertainment industry’s most prolific
film producers, RANDALL EMMETT
(Produced by) has produced more than 50 feature films since his start as Mark
Wahlberg’s assistant in the 1990s. Combining financial acumen with
an incisive creative sensibility, Emmett is partner and co-founder alongside
George Furla of Emmett/Furla Films, a production company dedicated to the
development, financing and production of top-tier filmed entertainment for the
theatrical marketplace with its own equity fund. He is also founder and
partner of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s production company, Cheetah Vision Films.
In
the past decade, Emmett’s ability to package films with well-known actors and
filmmakers has resulted in major box-office success—netting more than $250
million dollars at the U.S. box-office alone.
Additionally, he has forged strong partnerships with major Hollywood
studios to finance and distribute commercial films to audiences both
domestically and internationally. Aside
from high-concept films, Emmett has produced smaller, critically acclaimed
indie fare such as Narc and Wonderland. These films, and others, have played at acclaimed
film festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, Venice and
Telluride. Many have also been nominated
for Independent Spirit Awards and Golden Globe Awards.
In the past year, Emmett finished shooting Peter
Berg’s Lone Survivor, starring Mark
Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch and Emile Hirsch; Empire
State, which was written by Adam Mazer, directed by Dito Montiel, and
starred Liam Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson and Emma Roberts; The Tomb, written by Miles Chapman, directed by Mikael Håfström
and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone; and The Frozen Ground, written and directed
by Scott Walker, starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens and 50
Cent.
Most recently, Emmett signed on to finance and produce
Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated Silence;
as well as Expiration, starring Bruce
Willis.
Other projects he is set to finance and produce include Everest for Universal Pictures and
Working Title, and The Last Witch Hunter
for Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate, starring Vin Diesel.
Emmett/Furla’s recently released films include End of Watch, written and directed by
David Ayer, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña; Lay the Favorite, directed by two-time
Oscar®-nominated Stephen Frears, which starred Bruce Willis, Catherine
Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall and Vince Vaughn; and Freelancers, which starred Robert De Niro, 50 Cent and Forest Whitaker.
Emmett/Furla’s past films include Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Righteous Kill, 88 Minutes,
King of California, 16 Blocks and The Contract.
Born and raised in Miami, Emmett graduated from the
respected performing arts high school New World School of Arts. As an undergraduate, he attended the
prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York City. Presently, he
speaks at various industry conferences and mentors up-and-coming filmmakers at
UCLA’s school of continuing education.
Emmett lives in Los Angeles with his family.
NORTON HERRICK (Produced by) is chairman and CEO of The
Herrick Company, Inc., one of the nation’s most successful real estate
investment firms. Several years ago, the
company formed Herrick Entertainment and began its foray into the financing and
production of major motion pictures with My
One and Only, which starred Renée Zellweger and Kevin Bacon. Herrick Entertainment’s coming-of-age film, Very Good Girls, was written and
directed by Naomi Foner. The film
starred Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen and Demi Moore, and premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival. Herrick
Entertainment is currently in postproduction on the action-thriller Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg
and set for a December 27 limited release, as well as the horror-thriller Nightlight.
Other films
Herrick produced include Lee Tamahori’s The
Devil’s Double, which featured Dominic Cooper’s chilling interpretation of
Saddam Hussein’s son and his body double; Vanishing
on 7th Street, which starred Hayden Christensen; Madison, which starred Jim Caviezel; and
The Moth Diaries, directed by Mary
Harron.
Herrick was the
producer of the Las Vegas stage show Hairspray,
which was performed at the Luxor hotel; and the theater adaption of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
Herrick produced the Broadway revivals of Exit the King, which starred Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon;
Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms,
which starred Brian Dennehy and Carla Gugino; American Buffalo; Promises,
Promises, which starred Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes; Hair; and Pippin. Herrick won Tony
Awards for each show for Best Revival of a Musical. Herrick produced Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; and the
currently running Spider-Man: Turn Off
the Dark. He is an investor in the
Broadway revival and touring show of West
Side Story.
Announced in
early 2013, HerrickTV will develop, produce and deficit finance both scripted
and unscripted programming, including adaptions of international formats.
With offices in
Boca Raton, Florida; Cedar Knolls, New Jersey; New Hampshire and Norwalk,
Connecticut, The Herrick Company, under Herrick’s direction, has become a major
force in the real estate marketplace over the last 45 years with income
property transactions totaling more than $5 billion. Throughout the 1980s and
1990s, Herrick managed, purchased and sold hundreds of apartment complexes
throughout the eastern United States. Today, he is considered a foremost
authority on net lease real estate transacting and financing, as well as the
construction, structuring and financing of net lease and sale-leaseback
transactions that include hospitals and power plants.
An affiliate of
The Herrick Company has been involved with the financing, construction and
ownership of the world’s largest, and the first in the United States, electric
producing power plants, which utilize biomass (turkey manure) to generate
electricity. The Herrick Company has
been involved in transactions involving plants and manufacturing facilities
that produce ethanol and utilize biomass for building materials. He has earned the reputation as one of the
fastest builders, acquisition decision makers and closers in the country.
Another
affiliate of The Herrick Company has investments in thoroughbred horse racing,
which reached new heights in 2011 when Animal Kingdom, trained by Graham
Motion, won the Kentucky Derby and won $10 million at the 2013 Dubai World Cup.
Herrick is a
longtime supporter of progressive and humanitarian causes. He has served on the board of directors of
the People For the American Way, the advisory board of the Make-A-Wish
Foundation and the advisory committee of the National Multi Housing
Council. Herrick is the recipient, along
with former President Ronald Reagan and Isaac Stern, of the Jerusalem 3000
Award, presented by Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He is the recipient of
the President’s Medal from the University of Miami, which was presented by its
president, Donna E. Shalala, and the Guardian Award from The Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.
ADAM SIEGEL (Produced by) currently serves as president of Marc Platt
Productions in Los Angeles. Siegel previously
produced Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, which starred Ryan Gosling, Carey
Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks and Christina Hendricks. The film earned Best Film nominations at the
2012 BAFTA Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards, in addition to the Best
Director prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Prior to Drive, Siegel executive
produced films including Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted, which starred
Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the
World, directed by Edgar Wright.
Siegel
is currently producing Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, How to Catch a
Monster.
GEORGE FURLA (Produced
by) began his career with Cantor Fitzgerald, after graduating from the
University of Southern California with a degree in business
administration. At Cantor Fitzgerald,
Furla served as an equity trader from 1982 to1985. After his run with Cantor Fitzgerald, Furla
worked in a similar capacity with Jones and Associates for three years. In 1988, he left Jones and Associates to run
a hedge fund, that he established, specializing in risk arbitrage and equity
trading. Furla ran the hedge fund for 10
years, after which he jointly formed a film production company with his
partner, Randall Emmett.
At Emmett/Furla Films, Furla
utilizes his hedge fund approach to model out film-financing scenarios. Furla and Emmett share responsibility in both
concept development and arrangement of the financing of the films. Emmett/Furla Films has produced a large
number of films, including End of Watch, Broken City, Lone Survivor, Rambo, Conan the Barbarian and 16 Blocks.
ROSS RICHIE (Produced by) founded the comic book and graphic novel
publisher BOOM! Studios in 2005, out of a spare bedroom in his apartment. Since then, BOOM! has become an industry
powerhouse, twice winning Best Publisher from Diamond Comic Distributors’
prestigious Gem Awards, as well as numerous Eisner and Harvey awards. BOOM! series have been translated into 30
different languages.
Richie is currently
producing, with Arnold Rifkin (Live Free
or Die Hard), the feature film Jeremiah
Harm, based on the BOOM! graphic novel Richie co-created, directed by Timo
Vuorensola (Iron Sky).
BOOM! publishes an array of
original and licensed properties, with more than 20 different original series
sold to film and television. BOOM! works
with some of the most recognizable brands in the world, including Charles
Schulz’ “Peanuts” and Jim Davis’ “Garfield,” along with some of the greatest
names in fantasy literature—from Clive Barker to Philip K. Dick and Michael
Moorcock. BOOM! currently publishes work
with 20th Century Fox Television and Cartoon Network.
A prolific screenwriter,
producer and comic book creator, ANDREW
COSBY’s (Produced by) career was jump-started in 2001 with his first
television series, Haunted. This was soon followed by Syfy’s Eureka, which just ended its five-year
run with a record-breaking season.
In 2005, Cosby created his
first comic book, “Damn Nation,” which was immediately set up at Paramount
Pictures with Cosby attached to write and produce. Since then, he’s been involved in numerous
other feature film projects for 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney
Studios Pictures, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros.
Pictures, New Regency Enterprises, Spyglass Entertainment, Phoenix Pictures,
Weed Road Pictures, The Canton Company, The Jim Henson Company and Casey Silver
Productions. In 2005, Cosby co-founded
the award-winning BOOM! Studios, which has since gone on to become the seventh
largest comic book publisher.
Cosby is currently producing
BOOM! Studios’ first forays into film, television and animation. In 2010, he helped launch Big Air Studios, an
innovative motion picture production, distribution and acquisition company focused
on providing genre-targeted, high-quality entertainment at lower budgets. Currently, Cosby is launching a number of new
series and film projects, as well as preparing for his feature directorial
debut.
MARK
DAMON (Executive Produced by) is a
leading independent feature film producer credited with having invented the
foreign sales business, as we know it today. Considered one of the
world’s leading authorities on international distribution, Mr. Damon has played
a successful role in various facets of the entertainment
industry for over 50 years.
Mr.
Damon has produced or executive produced over 70 films, and his films have
received 10 Oscar nominations including the 2005 Oscar winner, Monster, starring Charlize Theron,
the critically acclaimed, multi-Oscar nominated World War II drama, Das Boot, directed by Wolfgang
Petersen, and The NeverEnding Story,
also directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Other acclaimed films include The Upside of Anger, starring
Oscar nominee Joan Allen and Kevin Costner; 9 1/2 Weeks, directed by Adrian Lyne; 8 Million Ways to Die, directed by
Hal Ashby; Short Circuit,
directed by John Badham; High
Spirits directed by Neil Jordan; Choirboys directed by Robert Aldrich; The Lost Boys, directed by Joel
Schumacher; Rudyard
Kipling’s The Jungle Book, directed by Stephen Sommers; The Musketeer directed by Peter
Hyams; Beyond A Reasonable Doubt,
also directed by Peter Hyams, and starring Michael Douglas.
Over
the past 25 years, Mark Damon’s productions have grossed over $2 billion in
theatrical box office worldwide.
Mr.
Damon is a producer of the upcoming Universal Pictures release Lone Survivor, starring Mark
Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg. He is currently producing the comedy And So It Goes…, currently in
production starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton and directed by Rob Reiner
and the Neil Bogart biopic Spinning
Gold starring Justin Timberlake who also produces the film alongside
Mr. Damon and Academy Award nominated Laurence Mark (DREAMGIRLS, JERRY
MAGUIRE) and Boardwalk Entertainment’s Timothy Scott Bogart and Gary A. Randall.
Mr. Damon has been directly involved in the
international licensing of over 300 feature length pictures, including such
noteworthy box-office titles as the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, directed by Irvin Kershner and starring
Sean Connery; Prizzi’s Honor,
directed by John Houston and featuring Jack Nicholson and Angelica Houston; Once Upon A Time In America,
directed by Sergio Leone and featuring Robert De Niro and James Wood; Cotton Club, directed by Francis
Ford Coppola and featuring Richard Gere; and The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas.
Today,
he is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Foresight Unlimited, a
company he founded in October of 2004. Mr. Damon is one of the original
founding members of AFMA and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the
Independent Film and Television Alliance. His biography, From Cowboy To Mogul To Monster,
was published in May 2008, chronicling his 50 years in the entertainment
industry. Mark received his M.B.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of
California, Los Angeles and resides with his wife in Beverly Hills.
STEPAN MARTIROSYAN (Executive Produced by) was born in Armenia in 1959,
moved to Russia in 1977 to study business and international finance at Moscow
University. After graduating with honors in 1981, Stepan accepted a job at one
of Russia’s most prestigious law firms where he was tasked with
financially restructuring the company and doubled their profit margin within
two years, a feat he repeated several times at other legal firms over the
ensuing years.
Riding his newly minted
reputation as a “financial guru” but desperate for a change of scenery, in 1989
Stefan accepted a job as Chief Financial Officer for one of Russia’s fastest
rising oil companies where he oversaw their expansion of drilling and
production of oil and gas in multiple new territories including Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iran and Iraq.
In 1989, while flirting with
the prospect of retirement after 20 years working in the oil business, Stepan
opted instead to follow his childhood dream of making movies in Hollywood.
Teaming with old friend and fellow movie lover, Stepan became partner and CFO
of Envision Entertainment.
REMINGTON CHASE (Executive produced by) Mr. Remington Chase, CEO &
President of Envision Entertainment, a onetime child actor from Hollywood, CA.,
grew up in and around the film business, becoming friends with several legends
such as Gregory Peck, George C. Scott and Shelley Winters.
Pressured by his parents into focusing on business and
International Finance while attending college at UCLA and later USC, Remington
still found time to study and try his hand at every aspect of filmmaking.
Intent on understanding the business from the ground up, he gladly accepting any
and every position in every university production available, from production
assistant to line producer, from production designer to best boy to grip, to
even trying his hand at acting in front of the camera.
Chase never abandoned his love and interest of films
and the entertainment industry, even while working for over 20 years as an
international financier in the petroleum, ship building and commercial real
estate industries where he worked out of offices in both London and
Moscow. Then, in 2010, while dining and lamenting the collapse of the US
real estate market with old friends, which included screen legend Jane Russell
and director Richard Rush, it was suggested he return back to his first love,
the film business.
After pondering the near ridiculousness of the idea,
Chase finally decided to broach the subject with Stepan Martirosyan, his
partner of over 20 years in the Russian petroleum industry as well
as numerous residential and commercial real estate developments around the
globe, from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands to Moscow and London. To his surprise,
Stepan, also a lifelong film fan, loved the idea and jumped on board with both
feet. Within weeks, Envision Entertainment was born and only a few weeks after
that, Envision’s first film was in pre-production.
TAMARA BIRKEMOE (Executive produced by) is the President and Chief Operating
Officer of independent feature film production company Foresight Unlimited
where she oversees the production, development, sales, and acquisition of all
feature films.
Tamara is currently executive producing the comedy And So It Goes…, currently in
production starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton and directed by Rob Reiner
and the Neil Bogart biopic Spinning
Gold starring Justin Timberlake. Tamara executive produced the upcoming feature film Lone Survivor, starring Mark
Wahlberg and directed by Peter Berg, set for theatrical release through
Universal Pictures.
She previously executive produced The Ledge, directed by Matthew
Chapman and starring Charlie Hunnam and Liv Tyler and Flypaper, directed by Rob Minkoff
and starring Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd. Both films premiered at the 2011
Sundance Film Festival – The Ledge
in Dramatic Competition and Flypaper
in the Special Premieres section.
Tamara co-produced Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, directed by Peter Hyams and
starring Michael Douglas and Captivity,
directed by Roland Joffe and starring Elisha Cuthbert.
Tamara was integral in the development and sales of numerous other projects including Oscar-winner Monster, starring Charlize Theron;
Running Scared, starring
Paul Walker; Havoc,
starring Anne Hathaway and The
Upside of Anger, starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner. In addition,
she was an associate producer on Lovewrecked,
It’s Alive, and Universal Soldier: Regeneration.
OLIVER WOOD’s
(Director of Photography) recent projects include Universal Pictures’
action-thriller Safe House, which
starred Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, and Adam McKay’s cop comedy The
Other Guys, which starred Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Prior to that, he served as director of
photography on director Jonathan Mostow’s Surrogates. He just completed production on McKay’s
much-anticipated Anchorman: The Legend
Continues. Wood’s other
collaborations with McKay include Step
Brothers and Talladega Nights: The
Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Born
in England, Wood began his motion picture career as a camera assistant on
British television series, commercials, documentaries and feature films. After moving up to cinematographer on a small
1967 English satire, Popdown, he
relocated to the U.S. and entered the American film industry with the 1970 cult
classic The Honeymoon Killers. He then made a variety of small features such
as Alphabet City, Don’t Go in the House and The
White Slave.
In
addition to his early feature film credits, Wood’s camera work as director of
photography, for three seasons, on Michael Mann’s innovative NBC television
series Miami Vice helped define the
groundbreaking show’s acclaimed visual style.
Over
the past two decades, Wood has compiled more than 30 motion picture credits,
most recently earning a BAFTA nomination for his camera work on The Bourne Ultimatum. Wood also directed the photography on The Bourne Identity, for director Doug Liman, and The Bourne Supremacy, his first collaboration with filmmaker Paul
Greengrass.
Wood
worked with director Renny Harlin on two projects (Die Hard 2: Die Harder and The
Adventures of Ford Fairlane) and also
counts among his big-screen credits such films as Rudy, 2 Days in the Valley, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Mr.
Holland’s Opus, U-571, Face/Off, Switchback, Mighty Joe Young,
I Spy, National Security, Fantastic
Four and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters
Unleashed.
MICHAEL TRONICK, ACE (Edited
by) was twice nominated for an ACE Eddie Award from the American Cinema Editors
for his work on Adam Shankman’s Hairspray
and Martin Brest’s Scent of a Woman.
Tronick most recently served
as editor on Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh’s Act
of Valor, Garry Marshall’s New Year’s
Eve, Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet
and the 3D feature documentary Jonas
Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.
His film editing credits include Shankman’s Bedtime Stories, the highly successful Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, S.W.A.T., The Scorpion King, Remember
the Titans, Blue Streak, Meet Joe Black, Volcano, Eraser, True Romance, Days of Thunder, Midnight Run,
Less Than Zero and Beverly Hills Cop II. Tronick also served as an additional editor
on the box-office smash Iron Man.
Prior to his film editing
career, Tronick was a successful film music editor, with notable credits
including Marshall’s feature directorial debut, Young Doctors in Love, as well as Predator, Outrageous Fortune,
Nobody’s Fool, Ruthless People, A Chorus
Line,
Streets of Fire, Star 80, 48 Hrs., Reds, Xanadu and All That Jazz,
among others.
Tronick is a member of the
Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
representing the Film Editors Branch.
BETH MICKLE (Production Designer) is a New York-based production
designer. Mickle recently wrapped
production on Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, How to Catch a Monster. Her two films with director
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive and Only God Forgives, premiered in
competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Drive was later released to
critical acclaim. Warner Bros. Pictures
will soon distribute Only God Forgives.
Additionally, Mickle has had
five films in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, including Cold Souls, in 2009, Sugar, in 2008 and Half Nelson, which starred Gosling and garnered him an Academy
Award® nomination, in 2006.
Next, she begins preproduction on Warner Bros. Pictures’ Focus, starring Will Smith.
LAURA JEAN SHANNON’s (Costume Designer) most recent credits include Little Boy, a soon-to-be-released period
drama; Craig Brewer’s remake of Footloose;
Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the
World; and Jon Favreau’s Iron Man. The latter earned Shannon a nomination for
Excellence in Contemporary Film at the Costume Designers Guild Awards.
Shannon’s work has a wide
range. She began her career in New York
City designing independent cult classics such as Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream; Rose Troche’s The Safety of Objects; and Favreau’s Made.
Over the years, she has had the pleasure of designing many genres
including family favorites such as Zathura
and Elf, which afforded Shannon a
spot on the prestigious costume exhibition “50 Designers/50 Costumes: Concept
to Character,” curated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Shannon enjoys working all
over the globe and calls a farm in central New York her home, which she shares
with her family.
CLINTON SHORTER (Music by) was recently hailed by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the
“Young Composers to Watch,” and his original music for the blockbuster District 9 was described by film critic
Kirk Honeycutt as a “magnificent score.”
Shorter followed that success with his score to the Mark Wahlberg
box-office hit Contraband. With nearly a dozen feature films to his
credit, Shorter has also worked on more than 300 episodes of television,
numerous commercials, as well as original music for the 2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens.
The award-winning Vancouver
native developed a love for music at a young age. Shorter entered college as a music major,
specializing in jazz studies, but left to pursue writing music with an
experimental rock trio, only to return years later to study music composition
and synthesis.
Shorter’s first break came
when he landed a job as an assistant to a prolific Canadian film and television
composer. After several years of honing
his skills, he left to pursue projects of his own. His first film, Come Together, turned out to be an indie hit and led to more work
on the indie scene in Vancouver, including a short directed by Neill Blomkamp, Alive in Joburg, which was the catalyst
for District 9. Academy Award®-winning director
Peter Jackson saw the short and came in as the producer of the feature. Jackson
referred to Shorter’s music as a “brilliant score.”
Shorter currently resides in
Vancouver and Los Angeles.
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