Murder at 1600: About The Filmmakers

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Producer ARNOLD KOPELSON earned the 1986 Best Picture Academy Award for "Platoon." He has been further honored with a Lifetime Achievement in Filmmaking Award from Cinema Expo International, and was named Producer of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners. In 1994, his production of "The Fugitive" was an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture. Kopelson's films have collectively garnered 17 Academy Award nominations.

Most recently, Kopelson produced the action-thriller "Eraser," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams; the crime drama "Seven," starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman and directed by David Fincher; and the medical thriller "Outbreak," starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo and Morgan Freeman under Wolfgang Petersen's direction. He is currently in post-production on "Mad City," starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta; and "Devil's Advocate," starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves.

Kopelson produced "Falling Down," directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall. Prior to that, he produced "Triumph of the Spirit," filmed entirely on location at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. Earlier in his career, Kopelson developed the coming-of-age hit "Porky's." He also produced the Steven Seagal action drama "Out for Justice" and executive produced the action-adventure "Fire Birds" and the supernatural thriller "Warlock."

After graduating from the New York Law School, Kopelson practiced entertainment and banking law, specializing in motion-picture financing. He later formed InterOcean Film Sales, Ltd., with Anne Feinberg, who would eventually become his wife and producing partner. Kopelson also pioneered the concept of international theatrical distribution of movies made for television and represented ABC television in this area.

Kopelson is a member of both the New York and California Bars and is a member of the Board of Trustees of New York Law School. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Producers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Producers Guild of America.


Producer ARNON MILCHAN is the founder of Regency Enterprises and one of the pre-eminent independent film producers in the world. His recent film productions include "A Time to Kill," as well as the upcoming "Venice" and "L.A. Confidential." Milchan's production credits include Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy," Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time in America," Danny DeVito's "The War of the Roses," Sidney Lumet's "Q&A," Garry Marshall's "Pretty Woman," Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" and "JFK"( which was nominated for eight Academy Awards), and the box-office hits "The Client" (directed by Joel Schumacher), "Under Siege" and "Free Willy."

His other producing credits include "Guilty By Suspicion," "Six Degrees of Separation," Stone's "Heaven and Earth," "Striking Distance," "That Night," "Made in America," Schumacher's "Falling Down," "Sommersby," "The Power of One," "The Mambo Kings," "The New Age," "Cobb," "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home," "Copycat," "Heat," "Tin Cup," "Sunchaser," "Bogus," "Carpool," and the upcoming "Free Willy 3," "Goodbye, Lover," "Devil's Advocate" and "Watch That Man."

Milchan was recently named Producer of the Year at the 1997 National Association of Theater Owners' ShoWest convention.


Executive producer ANNE KOPELSON began her entertainment career as assistant to attorney Arnold Kopelson in what was then his entertainment and banking practice. They subsequently formed InterOcean Sales, Ltd., to finance and license films throughout the world and represented such filmmakers as Sergio Leone and John Cassavettes. The Kopelsons later entered into a joint venture with General Cinema Corporation, which produced films such as "Lost and Found" and "Foolin' Around."

Kopelson recently produced "Eraser," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams; and executive produced "Seven," starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman and directed by David Fincher; and "Outbreak," starring Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman and Rene Russo. She is currently in post-production on the upcoming "Mad City," starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta and directed by Costa-Gavras; and "Devil's Advocate," starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, directed by Taylor Hackford.

Anne Kopelson is co-chairperson of Arnold Kopelson Productions, which has been responsible for the development and production of more than 15 motion pictures, including "Platoon," which won the 1986 Best Picture Academy Award. Arnold Kopelson Productions has also produced the box-office hits "The Fugitive" and "Falling Down" as well as "Triumph of the Spirit," "Fire Birds" and "Out for Justice."

Kopelson also serves on the Executive Committee of the Executive Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.


Executive producer STEPHEN BROWN is President of Production at Arnold Kopelson Productions, where he oversees all production activity and is responsible for the administration of the company. Brown served as co-producer on the hugely successful features "Eraser," "Seven," "Outbreak," "The Fugitive" and "Falling Down," as well as the upcoming "Devil's Advocate," starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves; and executive produced the upcoming "Mad City," starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta under Costa-Gavras' direction.

Brown was also a producer of the Showtime original feature "Past Tense."


DWIGHT LITTLE (Director) most recently directed "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home" for Warner Bros. and New Regency. Little also served as executive producer on the Fox action thriller "Broken Arrow," starring John Travolta and Christian Slater, which he co-conceived and developed.

Little's prior features include "Marked for Death," with Steven Seagal, and "Rapid Fire," which starred Brandon Lee. In between these two pictures, Little directed Sega's "Ground Zero Texas," the first live-action, interactive CD video game ever made for a home system.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Little moved to California to study film at the University of Southern California.


RALPH S. SINGLETON's many co-producing credits include "Last Man Standing," "Clear and Present Danger," "Leap of Faith," "Harlem Nights" and "Pet Semetary." He produced and directed "Stephen King's Graveyard Shift" and executive produced "Another 48 Hours." For television, Singleton won an Emmy Award for producing the critically-acclaimed series "Cagney and Lacey."

A 20-year veteran who was head of production at Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Studios, Singleton's career began in New York. His many credits as a production manager and assistant director include such movies as "Taxi Driver," "Network," "The Seduction of Joe Tynan," "Three Days of the Condor," "The Front," "History of the World -- Part I" and "One From the Heart." Singleton is also the author of five highly-respected books on film production: Film Scheduling, The Film Scheduling/Film Budgeting Workbook, Movie Production & Budget Forms...Instantly!, The Filmmaker's Dictionary and Film Budgeting.


Associate producer DAVID EICHLER is a long-time collaborator with director Dwight Little, having served as supervising producer associate on "Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home," associate producer on Sega's interactive CD home-video game "Ground Zero Texas," and production associate on "Rapid Fire."

Eichler is vice-president of development and production of T-Bird Pictures, Dwight Little's company, which he joined in 1991 as story editor. Prior to joining forces with Little, Eichler was a member of the agent training program with Creative Artists Agency.


"Murder at 1600" marks the first produced script for screenwriters WAYNE BEACH and the late DAVID HODGIN. The writers met in high school, following which Beach went to film school at Chicago's Columbia College, and Hodgin studied Russian at Illinois State University. As university students, the writers began their writing collaboration which led to their first script sale in 1991.

Wayne Beach teaches screenwriting as an adjunct member of the film faculty at Northwestern University, and is currently writing a political thriller for 20th Century Fox and a comedy for Disney. He recently relocated to Maine.

David Hodgin,who suffered from a lifelong congenital heart condition, died in March, 1995.


Director of photography STEVEN BERNSTEIN has shot such features as "Curdled," starring William Baldwin; "Underworld," starring Joe Montegna and Denis Leary; "Kicking and Screaming," starring Eric Stoltz; and the acclaimed "Like Water for Chocolate," which he co-photographed with Emanual Lubenski.

For television, Bernstein was director of photography on such series as "The Monroes" for ABC and "South by Southeast" for the Disney Channel, and such telefilms as "The Secretary" and "Killing Time."

Born and raised in England, Bernstein is the author of the bestselling textbook The Technique of Film Production.


Production designer NELSON COATES has designed such motion pictures as Kevin Spacey's "Albino Alligator," Anjelica Huston's "Bastard Out of Carolina" and Gary Fleders' two films, "Kiss the Girls" and "Things To Do in Denver When Your Dead." Coates'other films include "Blank Check," "CB4," "Three of Hearts" and "Universal Soldier." Coates was nominated for an Emmy Award for his production design of the eight-hour Stephen King mini-series "The Stand."

A native of both Tennessee and Texas, Coates' work, as both a designer and a performer, has been seen in theatres across the U.S. As well, he composed and choreographed the opening and closing numbers of the Albert Schweitzer Awards in New York, in honor of the Gorbachevs. An actor, singer and dancer with stage, TV and film credits, Coates has also earned the distinction of performing for Presidents Bush, Reagan, Ford and Carter.


Editor BILLY WEBER most recently worked on the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller "Eraser," also produced by Arnold Kopelson. His impressive list of film credits includes such Walter Hill features as "48 Hours" and "Extreme Prejudice," Tony Scott's "Top Gun," "Days of Thunder," and "Beverly Hills Cop II," Tim Burton's "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," and Martin Brest's "Midnight Run" and "Beverly Hills Cop."

He also edited the recent comedy "Grumpier Old Men" as well as "Virtuosity," "Pure Luck," "The Package" and "Iceman."


Composer CHRISTOPHER YOUNG has scored such features as "Copycat," "Species," "Virtuosity," "Murder in the First," "Sliver," "Jennifer 8," "Dream Lover," "The Dark Half," "Bat-21," "The Fly II," "Hellraiser," "Hellraiser II" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street," among many others. Young received an Emmy nomination for his work on the television movie "Last Flight Out" and has received numerous Saturn awards and nominations for his work in scoring science fiction thrillers. Young is currently scoring "The Flood" and will soon begin work on "Watch That Man."

Born and raised in Rumson, New Jersey, Young studied music composition at North Texas State University and UCLA, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree. He studied with film composer David Raksin ("Laura") while at UCLA, where he began scoring low-budget and student films.