BRAD ANDERSON BIO
The Darien Gap, Brad Anderson’s first feature, screened in competition at the ‘96 Sundance Film Festival. Because of this film he was honored by Variety in ‘97 as one of the “Ten Leading New Independent Directors to Watch.” In 1998 his film Next Stop Wonderland, featuring Hope Davis and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, was picked up at Sundance by Miramax. It won the Grand Prix and Audience awards at the Deauville Film Festival, as well as the Excellence in Filmmaking Award by the National Board of Review.
In 2001 he had the unusual experience of having two of his films simultaneously hit theaters, both to overwhelming critical praise: the romantic comedy Happy Accidents (IFC Films), which stars Marisa Tomei and Vincent D’Onofrio; and the psychological thriller Session 9 (USA Films), which stars David Caruso, Josh Lucas and Peter Mullan.
In 2005 he made The Machinist (Paramount), which was produced and shot in Spain. It stars Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh and premiered at Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival. It won the 2006 Silver Melies as part of the European Fantastic Film Festival.
His newest film: the Hitchcockian thriller Transsiberian, which he co-wrote and directed, premiered at Sundance and Berlin, 2008. It was shot in Lithuania, Spain, and China and stars Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley and Eduardo Noriega.
Projects in development include: an adaptation of J.G..Ballard’s novel Concrete Island;and a musical called Non Stop to Brazil.
His television credits include episodes of Homicide; The Wire; The Shield; Surface; Sounds Like, an hour long film which he wrote and directed for Showtime’s “Masters of Horror”; as well as an episode of this season’s NBC horror anthology “Fear Itself”.
DARREN LYNN BOUSMAN
Darren Lynn Bousman is quickly becoming one of the most sought after directors in the film industry after his first three major films (“Saw II,” “Saw III” and “Saw IV”) opened at #1 at the box office three years in a row.
Bousman has recently completed production on what he calls his “passion project.” He calls “REPO! The Genetic Opera” “indescribable” – but characterizes it as “’Blade Runner’ meets ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’.” The futuristic gothic opera, based on the original stage play which Bousman directed in 2002, stars Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Sarah Brightman & Paris Hilton.
“REPO! The Genetic Opera” takes place in the year 2056 -- the not so distant future –when an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. GeneCo, a biotech company begins to offer organ transplants -- for a price. Those who miss their payments are scheduled for repossession and hunted by villainous Repo Men. There is no spoken dialogue in the film, and all the actors performed their own songs. The eclectic soundtrack features songs by artists from Filter, Jane’s Addiction, Slipknot, Guns & Roses, Bauhaus and Love & Rockets.
Bousman will next helm an episode of the new NBC horror anthology series “Fear Itself” and then begins working with Dimension on two upcoming features – the first of which will be a remake of David Cronenberg’s 1981 cult hit “Scanners.”
BRECK EISNER-- Bio
Director, “The Sacrifice”
Fear Itself
Thursdays (10-11 p.m. ET) on NBC
Breck Eisner directed an episode of NBC’s FEAR ITSELF entitled “The Sacrifice.” FEAR ITSELF is a provocative, new 13-episode suspense and horror anthology series from the Emmy-winning team behind “Masters of Horror.”
Eisner is currently planning to direct remakes of both “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and “George Romero’s The Crazies.” Eisner made his feature film directorial debut in 2005 with “Sahara,” starring Matthew McConaughey, Penelope Cruz, William H. Macy, and Steve Zahn.
In television, Eisner previously directed the 2006 pilot “Beyond,” starring Adrian Lester, Seth Gabel, and Rachel Stirling. He directed and executive produced the two-hour drama “Thoughtcrimes.” Eisner also directed an episode of the acclaimed Sci-Fi Channel drama “Taken,” winner of an Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries, a Saturn Award for Best Single Television Presentation, a Golden Globe nomination, and numerous other honors. In 2000, he directed the pilot of Sci-Fi Channel’s Saturn-nominated comedy thriller “The Invisible Man.”
Over the past 10 years, Eisner has directed over 100 national television commercials for clients such as Budweiser, Coke, Coors, Heineken, Kodak, McDonalds, Pepsi, and Sony, among others.
Eisner received an M.F.A. from the USC School of Cinema / Television and a B.A. from Georgetown University.
April 2008
MARY HARRON
Director, “Community”
Fear Itself
Thursdays (10-11 p.m. ET) on NBC
Mary Harron directed the episode of NBC’s FEAR ITSELF entitled “Community.” FEAR ITSELF is a provocative, new 13-episode suspense and horror anthology series from the Emmy-winning team behind “Masters of Horror.”
Harron’s most recent film was “The Notorious Bettie Page” for Picturehouse/ HBO Films and Killer Films. She previously directed the internationally successful “American Psycho,” which she adapted from Brett Easton Ellis’ notorious bestseller. For her work on this film, she was nominated for “Director of the Year” by the London Film Critics Circle.
Harron made her debut as a feature-film writer / director in 1996 with “I Shot Andy Warhol.” The film won star Lili Taylor a Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best first feature film. It was also chosen to open the “Un Certain Regard” section of the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.
Harron has also directed episodes of many television series including “Homicide,” “Oz,” “The L Word,” “Six Feet Under,” “Big Love,” "The Nine" , "Six Degrees", and “Fear Itself”. She is currently creating an original television series for IFC which she will write and direct with her husband, writer/director John C. Walsh (“Ed’s Next Move”, “Pipe Dream”). They live in Brooklyn with their two daughters.
June 2008
JOHN DAHL -- BIO
Director JOHN DAHL’S 1993 film “Red Rock West” was hailed as modern film noirfilled with humor and twists. The picture starred Nicolas Cage as a man who is mistakenfor a contract killer hired by Dennis Hopper to do in a seductress played by Lara Flynn Boyle.
Dahl followed “Red Rock West” with another critically acclaimed thriller, “The LastSeduction”, starring Linda Fiorentino as a femme fatale who ditches her husband, Bill Pullman, in New York City after stealing money he made from a drug deal. She then wreaks havoc on a small town man, Peter Berg, using him as a patsy.
In 1994 Dahl received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association New Generation Award for “Red Rock West” and “The Last Seduction.”
Dahl’s credits also include “Kill Me Again” starring Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley-Kilmer; “Unforgettable,” a thriller starring Ray Liotta and Linda Fiorentino; and “Rounders,” a drama set in the world of high stakes poker, starring Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich; “Joy Ride” starring Steve Zahn and Paul Walker as brothers who use a CB radio to prank a truck driver. “The Great Raid," a true story about the 6th Army Ranger’s rescue of 511 POW’s being held in a Japanese Prison Camp in the
Philippines at the end of WWII.
Dahl moved from Montana to Los Angeles in 1982 to attend the American Film Institiute. He got his start in the industry as a storyboard artist on films such as “Something Wild,” “RoboCop” and “Married to the Mob.” He also directed music videos.
Dahl’s most recent film "You Kill Me," a black comedy staring Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson and Bill Pullman, was released by IFC in June of 2007.
John Landis Biography
John Landis made his feature debut as a writer-director at age 21 with Schlock, an affectionate tribute to monster movies. Clad in a Rick Baker-designed gorilla suit, Landis starred as "Schlockthropus", the missing link. After working as a writer, actor and production assistant, Landis made his second film, The Kentucky Fried Movie, in collaboration with the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams. Landis rose to international recognition as director of the wildly successful Animal House. With blockbusters such as The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Spies Like Us, ¡Three Amigos! and Coming to America, Landis has directed some of the most popular film comedies of all time. Other feature credits include Into the Night, Innocent Blood and the comedy/horror genre classic An American Werewolf in London, which he also wrote. In 1983 Landis wrote and directed the groundbreaking music video of Michael Jackson's Thriller, created originally to play as a theatrical short. "Thriller" forever changed MTV and the concept of music videos, garnering multiple accolades including the MTV Video Music Awards for Best Overall Video, Viewer's Choice, and the Video Vanguard Award - The Greatest Video in the History of the World. In 1991 "Thriller" was inducted into the MVPA's Hall of Fame. In 1991, Landis collaborated again with Jackson (I) on Black or White, which premiered simultaneously in 27 countries with an estimated audience of 500 million. Although it was not the first motion picture or music video to do so, "Black or White" popularized the use of "digital morphing", where one object appears to seamlessly metamorphoses into another; the project raised the standard for state-of-the-art special effects in music videos. Landis has also been active in television as the executive producer (and often director) of the Ace- and Emmy Award-winning HBO series Dream On. Other TV shows produced by his company, St. Clare Entertainment (St. Clare is the patron saint of television), include Weird Science, Sliders, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Campus Cops and The Lost World. In 2004 the Independent Film Channel broadcast his feature-length documentary about a used-car salesman, Slasher. Deer Woman, an original one-hour episode written by Landis and his son Max Landis, inaugurated the Masters of Horror series in the fall of 2005 on Showtime.
RONNY YU
Born in Hong Kong, Ronny Yan-Tai Yu dreamed of making films since he was a child. At only 9 months of age Yu contracted polio, resulting in a long recovery that prevented him from developing an active childhood. As a result he spent much time in isolation. To cope with the loneliness, Yu created fantasy worlds of his own with furniture as props. As he grew older, his world of escape became the cinema, where he could immerse in grander, more exciting adventures. It was then that his passion to become a director began to grow.
Soon after graduating college, a pivotal turning point occurred for Yu. His friend, a police lieutenant with acting ambitions, persuaded Yu to direct “THE SERVANT.” Yu seized the opportunity and learned the craft as the filming proceeded. The film became the No. 1 box office hit for the summer.
Throughout the 1980s Yu directed and produced many box office successes in Hong Kong. In 1993, the romantic swordplay epic “THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR” established his signature style of kinetically-paced story telling through sumptuous imagery. Bride was a huge summer hit in Hong Kong, and also became an art house theater favorite in the U.S. and Europe, leading to international critical acclaim.
In 1995 came the equally ravishing “THE PHANTOM LOVER,” a love story inspired by the original novel of The Phantom of the Opera, and the Chinese movie Songs of Midnight from the 1920s.
Following these two films, Yu launched his Hollywood career. His flair for visually rich narration appealed immediately to broader Western audiences and has been associated mostly with the horror film genre, as he has revived three franchises – with “BRIDE OF CHUCKY” (the fourth film in the Child’s Play franchise), which he infused with dark humor; then “FREDDY VS JASON” (of the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises, respectively) where its box office gross totaled more than any single film in either franchise.
Never one to confine himself to a genre, Yu followed with “FEARLESS,” starring Jet Li as martial arts legend Huo Yuan Jia, who became the most famous fighter in China at the turn of the 20th Century. The film was Yu’s attempt at reinventing the “chopsocky” genre by having a film that not only consists of high-energy fight scenes, but one that is rich in character and story combined with a universal theme audiences can relate to. Rogue Pictures picked up the film and released it in the US in 2006. It became at the time the highest grossing picture Rogue released.
Rupert Wainwright – Director
Rupert Wainwright is the director of 4 features, over 200 commercials and more than 100 music videos. Winning numerous awards for his work, including several MTV Video Music Awards, Adweek’s Effie and a Grammy, he has shot all over the world, from the Great Wall of China to the Mexican jungle, from the Italian Alps to the Caribbean. Before his move into features and television, Wainwright founded his own production company, Fragile Films, which he successfully sold to Propaganda Films in 1995.
Originally from England, Rupert Wainwright studied at Oxford University and put himself through college by acting in such 1980s British films as “Another Country” and “Dreamchild”. In 1986, he attended UCLA on a Fulbright scholarship to study film and started directing music videos while still at film school.
In the feature world Wainwright is perhaps best known for his 1999 work, “Stigmata” starring Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce. The picture – number #1 in the US box office opening weekend - was a worldwide hit and praised for its striking imagery and controversial themes.
Wainwright’s first feature, “Blank Check”, was a bona fide hit for Disney Studios. His second feature, “The Sadness of Sex”, starring Peta Wilson, was later serialized on the Web on ifilm.com and was one of the most successful launches of a short film series ever.
One of Wainwright’s recent spots, “Dunk Driving”, was part of nationally publicized increase in Drunk Driving prevention, and was highlighted on The Today Show, US Today and The New York Times.Recently, Wainwright wrote and directed the spot “Sochi: The Door Is Open” for the Russian Government that was the centerpiece of Russia's successful campaign for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The spot garnered Wainwright a Mobius award for outstanding international commercial.
In Television, Wainwright directed “Dillinger”, a two-hour TV movie for Warner Brothers and ABC starring Mark Harmon, Sherilyn Fenn and Will Patton and “Wolf Lake”, a highly regarded pilot for CBS which went to series. Wainwright also directeda presentation for the Jeff Rake project, “Secret Service” for 20th Century Fox TV.
Today, Wainwright continues to successfully straddle the worlds of features and commercials with a unique visual style and driving sense of storytelling. His most recent feature was “The Fog” for Revolution Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, which opened at #1 in theatres in Oct 2005.
STUART GORDON
Director/Writer/Producer
In 1985, winning the Critics’ Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Stuart Gordon surprised audiences with his first feature film RE-ANIMATOR. With its stunning box office success, RE-ANIMATOR has become a cult classic and Stuart Gordon has developed a strong and loyal following.
His professional career began in 1970 as artistic director of The Organic Theater Company of Chicago, a position he held for fifteen years. The ensemble, which included actors Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz, produced original plays and adaptations. Gordon was able to work directly with Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Mary Renault and Kurt Vonnegut bringing their works to the stage. And in 1974 he produced and directed the world premiere of David Mamet’s SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO. The company performed on and off-Broadway, and toured the US and Europe. Gordon left Organic in 1985 when he was offered a three picture deal in Los Angeles after the success of RE-ANIMATOR.
Gordon followed RE-ANIMATOR with another H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, FROM BEYOND (1986), solidifying his notoriety in the horror genre. His subsequent directing credits include DOLLS (1987), ROBOT JOX (1990), PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1991) starring Lance Henricksen, FORTRESS (1993) starring Christopher Lambert, CASTLE FREAK (1995) which won a Golden Chainsaw Award from Fangoria Magazine and SPACE TRUCKERS starring Dennis Hopper. In 1998 in an astonishing change of pace, he directed Ray Bradbury’s comical fable THE WONDERFUL ICE CREAM SUIT starring Edward James Olmos and Esai Morales for Disney Studios. The film premiered at the Sundance Festival and won the Best Director award at Rome’s Fantafestival. Joe Mantegna played the same role he had performed onstage at Organic almost twenty five years earlier.