Executive Decision - Filmmakers

Executive Decision: Filmmakers

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STUART BAIRD (Director) makes his directorial debut on "Executive Decision" after building a respected career as an editor on some of Hollywood's most successful films, many of them for producer Joel Silver. These include"Lethal Weapon" "Lethal Weapon 2," "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," "Tango & Cash," "The Last Boy Scout" and "Demolition Man."

Baird began his editing career on Ken Russell's "Tommy" after working as an assistant editor, music editor, and a supervising sound editor. Since then he has edited films including "The Omen," the first and second "Superman" films (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), "Outland," "Altered States," "Revolution," "Gorillas In The Mist" (for which he received his second Academy Award nomination), "Five Days One Summer," "Ladyhawke," "Radio Flyer" and "Maverick." He has worked as a second unit director on many of the films he has edited.

Between 1990 and 1992, Baird was the full-time staff editor at Warner Bros., where he oversaw editing on "New Jack City" and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," among other pictures.

JOEL SILVER (Producer) is one of the most successful producers in the motion picture industry today, with the combined gross of his films at well over $2 billion. Silver most recently produced "Assassins," a contemporary action-thriller starring Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas; and "Fair Game," starring William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford.

With the success of "Demolition Man," Silver saw the tenth of his films earn a worldwide box-office total of over $100 million. The others are "Lethal Weapon," "Lethal Weapon 2," "Lethal Weapon 3," "Die Hard," "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," "Predator," "Commando," "48 HRS." and "The Last Boy Scout."

Raised in South Orange, New Jersey, Silver attended New York University, where he produced his first film, a short entitled "Ten Pin Alley." Shortly after the completion of his studies, he moved to Los Angeles, where his first job in the film industry was as an assistant to producer Lawrence Gordon. Within a short time, Silver was named President of the Motion Picture Division of Lawrence Gordon Productions.

Silver's first projects with Gordon involved the development, production and marketing of "The Driver," written and directed by Walter Hill, as well as the Burt Reynolds films "Hooper" and "The End." Silver served as associate producer on Hill's next film, "The Warriors," and continued his association with the director as he and Gordon produced "48 HRS.," "Streets of Fire" and "Brewster's Millions."

Silver's first independent production was "Commando," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, followed by "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and another Schwarzenegger hit, "Predator." Silver then produced (with Richard Donner) "Lethal Weapon," "Lethal Weapon 2" and "Lethal Weapon 3" (all directed by Donner), as well as "Die Hard," "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," "The Last Boy Scout," "The Hudsucker Proxy" and "Richie Rich."

Silver shares executive producer credit with Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill and Robert Zemeckis in the HBO series "Tales From the Crypt," which has garnered 10 ACE Awards, including Best Dramatic Series, from the National Academy for Cable Programming. The partnership released the hit film "Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight," the first feature film based on the series, and the second "Crypt"-based film, "Bordello of Blood."

In 1990, Silver was honored by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), who named him Producer of the Year. He also received an Image Award from the NAACP in recognition of his utilization of minority actors in a wide variety of roles. In 1993 Silver received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring his contribution to filmed entertainment.

STEVE PERRY (Executive Producer) has had a long and varied career in feature film production, much of it in collaboration with Joel Silver. Perry started out as an assistant director on two Academy Award-winning films, "Rocky" and "Ordinary People," the latter of which earned him the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement, and most recently served as a producer on the Warner Bros. suspense thrillers "Just Cause" and "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory."

Perry's credits with Joel Silver include all three "Lethal Weapon" films (as associate producer on the original, co-producer on the second and producer on "Lethal Weapon 3"), "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" (co-producer), "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" and "The Last Boy Scout" (producer on both). His television projects with Silver include directing a "Tales From the Crypt" episode for HBO entitled "Werewolf Concerto" and directing the telefilm "Parker Kane" for NBC.

In addition he also produced "True Romance," served as second unit director on "A River Runs Through It."

Co-producer KARYN FIELDS is a communications graduate of the University of Southern California who joined Silver Pictures immediately after completing her studies. She worked her way up through the ranks there on a variety of film projects. Fields associate produced "Assassins" and is currently associate producer on the HBO series "Tales From the Crypt." "Executive Decision" marks her first co-producing credit.

JIM and JOHN THOMAS (Screenwriters) are brothers who grew up in Bakerfield, California, where both had outstanding careers as high-school and college athletes. They also pursued their interest in drama from an early age in local community theater.

Although both were English majors, their subsequent careers diverged: Jim settled in northern California, where he worked as a photographer and then put on multi-image film and slide shows. He also published a book about the small cattle ranchers of California. John settled in Los Angeles, where he wrote short stories. The brothers eventually re-teamed there to write screenplays, while working as lifeguards on every beach from San Pedro to Zuma.

Their first produced screenplay was "Predator," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, for Joel Silver. They went on to write "Predator 2" and "The Rescue," on which they were co-producers. They wrote a screenplay for the popular HBO series "Tales From the Crypt," directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Kirk Douglas, and wrote both the pilot and 12 episodes of the TV series "Hard Time on Planet Earth."

ALEX THOMSON, B.S.C. (Director of Photography) previously collaborated with Joel Silver on the photography for "Demolition Man," and was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on John Boorman's "Excalibur." Thomson has also shot such features as "Cliffhanger," "Alien3," "Mr. Destiny," "The Rachel Papers," "High Spirits," "Duet For One," "Date With an Angel," "The Sicilian," "Raw Deal," "Legend," "Year of the Dragon," "Labyrinth," "Electric Dreams," "The Keep" and the cult hit "The Krays."

TERENCE MARSH (Production Designer) is a two-time Academy Award-winner for his art direction on the motion pictures "Dr. Zhivago" and "Oliver."

Born in London, Marsh attended the Hornsey College of Art, then joined the art department of Rank Studios. There, he worked as an assistant art director on such films as "The Prince and the Showgirl," "A Night to Remember" and "Northwest Frontier."

He left Rank after six years to work with production designer John Box on the Oscar-winning "Lawrence of Arabia" before serving as art director on "Dr. Zhivago," "A Man for All Seasons" and "Oliver!"

He won two more Oscar nominations, for his designs on the films "Scrooge" and "Mary, Queen of Scots." He also earned a trio of British Academy Award nominations, for "Scrooge," "The Hunt for Red October" and "A Bridge Too Far."

Marsh's other motion picture credits include "A Touch of Class," "Magic," "The Looking Glass War," "Absence of Malice," "The Mackintosh Man," "Juggernaut," "Basic Instinct," "Havana," "Spaceballs," "To Be Or Not To Be," "Clear and Present Danger," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Forget Paris."

Marsh also co-wrote and produced Richard Lester's "Finders Keepers." He has maintained a close association with actor/director/writer Gene Wilder, serving as designer of "The Frisco Kid" and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," co-producing "The World's Greatest Lover" and co-writing "Haunted Honeymoon," in addition to production designing both films.

Editor DALLAS PUETT previously worked with Joel Silver as an additional editor on "Demolition Man." and "Lethal Weapon 3." He was also assistant editor on "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home," "Radio Flyer," "Bird on a Wire," "Disorganized Crime" and "Inchon." His other additional editor credits include "Maverick," "The Hard Way," "Hot to Trot," "Short Circuit" and "American Flyers."

Editor FRANK J. URIOSTE, A.C.E. received an Academy Award nomination for his work on "Die Hard," which also represented his first collaboration with Joel Silver. Urioste was nominated for an Oscar for "Robocop" and includes among his many other credits "The Jazz Singer," "Conan the Destroyer," "Red Sonja," "The Hitcher," "Road House," "Total Recall," "Basic Instinct," "Cliffhanger," Tombstone," "Terminal Velocity" and "Cutthroat Island."

Oscar and Emmy Award-winner JERRY GOLDSMITH is one of film and television's pre-eminent composers. He won an Academy Award for the score of "The Omen" and earned additional nominations for Best Score for "Hoosiers," "Under Fire," "Poltergeist," "Star Trek -- The Motion Picture," "The Boys From Brazil," "The Wind and the Lion," "Chinatown," "Papillon," "Patton," "Planet of the Apes," "The Sand Pebbles," "A Patch of Blue" and "Freud."

Goldsmith has also received numerous Golden Globe and Grammy nominations during a career that includes more than 125 film scores. His more recent credits include "The Russia House," "Not Without My Daughter," "Sleeping With the Enemy," "Medicine Man," "Basic Instinct," "Mom and Dad Save the World," "Mr. Baseball," "The Public Eye," "Love Field," "Forever Young," "Matinee," "The Vanishing," "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" and "Gremlins 2: The New Batch."

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