Metro - About The Filmmakers

Metro: About The Filmmakers

THOMAS CARTER (Directed by) previously directed Hollywood Pictures' "Swing Kids." A five-time Emmy Award nominee, he won the award for Best Director of a Dramatic Series in 1990 and 1991 for his work on the critically acclaimed series "Equal Justice," a series he executive produced and co-created. He is also the recipient of the 1986 Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award for Best Director of a Dramatic Series for his work on "Hill Street Blues." Carter also directed the 1987 Emmy Award-winning miniseries "A Year in the Life."

Among his other credits are the television series pilots for "Miami Vice," "St. Elsewhere," "A Year in the Life," "Call to Glory," "Midnight Caller" and "Equal Justice," as well as the more recent CBS series "Under One Roof" and television movie "Divas," both of which he directed and executive produced. Mr. Carter also directed the powerful 1986 telefilm "Under the Influence," which starred Andy Griffith and Keanu Reeves.

ROGER BIRNBAUM (Produced by) is the head of Caravan Pictures, an independent motion picture company based at The Walt Disney Studios and founded by Joe Roth in January, 1993. Birnbaum is now solely responsible for overseeing all aspects of Caravan Pictures' numerous productions.

Birnbaum, along with Roth, produced "Angels in the Outfield" (Walt Disney Pictures), "I Love Trouble" (Touchstone Pictures), and "While You Were Sleeping" (Hollywood Pictures). Other credits for The Walt Disney Studios include "The Three Musketeers," "Angie," "A Low Down Dirty Shame," "Heavyweights" and "Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill." For the Studio, Birnbaum has also produced the Hughes Brothers' "Dead Presidents," "Powder," as well as such releases as "Before & After" starring Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson, "Celtic Pride" starring Damon Wayans, Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd, "First Kid" starring Sinbad, and "The Rich Man's Wife" starring Halle Berry. His upcoming films include "Grosse Pointe Blank" starring John Cusack, "In Pursuit of Honor" (tentative title) starring Demi Moore, "Washington Square" starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, Maggie Smith and Ben Chaplin, as well as the comedies "Gone Fishin"' starring Danny Glover and Joe Pesci, and "Rocket Man."

Earlier in his career, Birnbaum produced the popular comedy "The Sure Thing" which was directed by Rob Reiner, and "Young Sherlock Holmes" which he presented in association with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. For television, he has been executive producer of the telefilms "Scandal Sheet;" "Happily Ever After," "When Your Lover Leaves" and the Emmy Award-winning "All the Kids Do It."

Birnbaum has helmed several production companies, including serving as president of the Guber/Peters Company where he developed such films as "Batman," "Rain Man" and "Gorillas in the Mist." His association with United Artists on "Rain Man" led to his appointment as president of worldwide production for that studio.

He later became president of worldwide production and executive vice president of Twentieth Century Fox, where he worked closely with Joe Roth, developing such films as "Edward Scissorhands," "Hot Shots!" "My Cousin Vinny," "Sleeping With the Enemy," "Home Alone," "The Last of the Mohicans," "Die Hard 2,""The Crucible" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," among others.

Born in Teaneck, New Jersey and educated at the University of Denver, Birnbaum built a successful career as a vice president of both A&M Records and Arista Records before entering the film business to produce motion pictures.

RANDY FELDMAN's (Written by/Co-Producer) feature film screenwriting credits include "Tango & Cash," starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell, and "Nowhere to Run," which he co-wrote with Joe Eszterhas and Leslie Bohem, and which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, where he currently resides, Mr. Feldman is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in English.

GEORGE W. PERKINS (Co-Producer) produced his first motion picture, "Extremities," starring Farrah Fawcett, in 1985. He then joined Cineplex Odeon Films as Senior Executive, Production, and was instrumental in forming the new company and overseeing the production of its feature films.

In 1987, Mr. Perkins returned to independent producing when he received an offer from The Disney Channel to produce "Save the Dog!" a spirited comedy which starred Cindy Williams, Katherine Helmond, Tony Randall and Tom Poston.

From there, he went on to produce the feature film "Who's Harry Crumb" which starred John Candy, and the NBC television series "Brand New Life," starring Barbara Eden and Don Murray, as well as numerous films for network and cable television, including "Someone Else's Child," "Stop At Nothing," "Face of a Stranger," "Nails," "Kiss of a Killer," "Majority Rule," "The Amy Fisher Story," and "Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story."

In 1994, Mr. Perkins developed (with Andy Adelson and Diana Ross) and produced the television film "Out of Darkness," which marked Miss Ross' return to film after an absence of 14 years, a well as her television acting debut.

He most recently completed work on the feature film "Night of the Running Man" for Trimark Pictures, and the television film "Friends At Last."

RAY MURPHY, JR. (Co-Producer) serves as vice president of production for Eddie Murphy Productions. His credits as co-producer include "Vampire in Brooklyn." His credits as associate producer include "Beverly Hills Cop Ill," "Boomerang," "Another 48 HRS." and "Harlem Nights." He also was involved in the making of "Coming to America," "Beverly Hills Cop II," "Eddie Murphy Raw" and "The Golden Child."

Murphy was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He served in the United States Air Force from 1979 until 1985, when he joined Eddie Murphy Productions.

MARK LIPSKY (Executive Producer) executive produced "Beverly Hills Cop III," "Boomerang," "Another 48 HRS." "Coming to America" and "The Nutty Professor." He also produced "Harlem Nights" and "Vampire in Brooklyn."

Lipsky, a certified public accountant, became a producer following a highly successful career as president of Rochlin, Lipsky, Goodkin, Stoler & Co., a New York City-based financial firm that represented numerous show business clients.

RILEY KATHRYN ELLIS (Executive Producer) most recently produced the comedy "First Kid," starring Sinbad, and executive produced the fantasy/drama "Powder" for Caravan Pictures, the feature film company where she was based as a producer. Ellis previously worked with Sinbad when she executive produced "Houseguest," her first feature with Caravan Pictures.

From 1989 to 1994 she worked with Joe Roth and Roger Birnbaum at Twentieth Century Fox, joining the company as a production vice president. Two years later she was promoted to the position of senior vice president of production in charge of such films as "My Cousin Vinny," "The Last of the Mohicans," "The Beverly Hillbillies," and "The Good Son."

Other features that Ellis worked on while at Fox include "Marked For Death," "Love Potion #9," "The Vanishing," "Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog" and "Rapid Fire," as well as "8 Seconds" which was eventually picked up by New Line Cinema.

Prior to her work as a production executive with Chuck Gordon and then Dan Melnick's Indieprod Company, Ellis worked for producer Joel Silver. During her time with Silver Pictures, Ellis received production credits on "Lethal Weapon," "Predator," "Die Hard" and "Action Jackson."

Ellis started working in the industry as a reader for legendary producer Howard W. Koch, Sr.

FRED MURPHY, A.S.C.'s (Director of Photography) career as a cinematographer spans over 20 years, with more than 30 feature films to his credit, including multiple collaborations with directors such as Peter Masterson, David Anspaugh, John Flynn and Paul Mazursky.

Murphy's feature credits include "Girlfriends," "Heartland," "The State of Things" (co-cinematographer with Henri Alekan for director Wim Wenders), "Eddie and the Cruisers," "The Trip to Bountiful," "Hoosier," "Best Seller," "The Dead," "Five Corners," "Fresh Horses," "Full Moon in Blue Water," "Enemies, A Love Story," "Scenes From a Mall," "Jack the Bear," "The Pickle," "Murder in the First ," "Faithful" and "A Family Thing."

Born in Manhattan and raised in Queens, New York, Murphy studied architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He worked at a variety of feature film production jobs before moving into camera work.

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