The Peacemaker - About The Filmmakers

The Peacemaker: About The Filmmakers

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MIMI LEDER (Director) makes her feature film directorial debut with "The Peacemaker," having already gained success as one of the premiere producer/directors of dramatic television.

She was still completing post-production on "The Peacemaker" when she began her second feature film directing assignment, "Deep Impact," a co-venture between DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures.

Leder has been honored with two Emmys for her work on the top-rated drama series "ER," the first in 1995 for her direction of the powerful, critically lauded "Love's Labor Lost" episode. The following year, she received another Emmy for her contributions as a producer of "ER" when it was named Best Drama Series.

She has also gathered three other Emmy nominations for Best Director, another for "ER" and two earlier nods for segments of "China Beach," on which she also served as a producer. In addition, she has been recognized by her peers for her work on "ER" with three Directors Guild of America Award nominations.

Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, Leder attended Los Angeles City College. She went on to become the first female cinematographer accepted to the prestigious American Film Institute. She began her directing career with an episode of "LA Law," and went on to helm segments of several other dramatic series, as well as a number of telefilms.

A three-time Academy® Award nominee, WALTER PARKES (Producer) heads DreamWorks Pictures, the motion picture arm of DreamWorks SKG, along with co-head Laurie MacDonald. As a producer, Parkes scored a major hit this summer with the sci-fi comedy blockbuster "Men in Black," teaming Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.

Parkes earned his first Oscar® nomination as the director/producer of the 1978 documentary "California Reich," which exposed neo-Nazi activities in California. His second nomination came in 1983 for writing (with Lawrence Lasker) the original screenplay for "WarGames." He garnered his third Academy Award® nod as a producer of the Best Picture nominee "Awakenings."

More recently, Parkes served as executive producer of the films "Twister," "How to Make An American Quilt" and "Trigger Effect." His other producing credits include "Sneakers," which he also co-wrote (with Phil Alden Robinson), "Volunteers," "Project X" and "True Believer."

Parkes is also an executive producer on the upcoming films "The Mask of Zorro" and "Amistad."

LAURIE MacDONALD (Executive Producer) is the co-head (with Walter Parkes) of DreamWorks Pictures, the motion picture division of DreamWorks SKG.

This summer, MacDonald enjoyed success as a producer of the mega-hit science fiction buddy comedy "Men in Black." As an executive producer, her upcoming films include "The Mask of Zorro" and DreamWorks' "Amistad."

MacDonald began her producing career as a documentary and news producer at KRON, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco. She later joined Columbia Pictures, where she served as a Vice President of Production for five years. In 1994, she was named Executive Vice President of Amblin Pictures, where she executive produced the films "How to Make an American Quilt," "Twister" and "Trigger Effect."

BRANKO LUSTIG (Producer) earned an Academy Award® for his work as a producer of the Best Picture winner "Schindler's List," which was the highlight of a career spanning over three decades and encompassing over 110 feature film and television projects.

Born in Osijek, Croatia, Lustig survived two years in Nazi concentration camps. Following the war, he began his career as an assistant director at Jadran Films, Croatia's largest film and television studio. He subsequently left Jadran Films to work as a production manager on various productions filmed in Europe, including "Sophie's Choice" and "Fiddler on the Roof."

He went on to serve as assistant director on "The Tin Drum," and as assistant director, associate producer and European production manager for the acclaimed mini-series "Winds Of War" and its sequel "War and Remembrance." Later, he worked as both a producer and assistant director on the Emmy-winning telefilm "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story."

In addition, Lustig was a producer on the mini-series "The Great Escape: The Final Chapter" and "The Intruders," and also served as producer and assistant director on the 1991 sci-fi thriller "Deadlock."

MICHAEL GRILLO (Executive Producer) currently heads the Feature Production Department of DreamWorks SKG.

Grillo's career has encompassed more than 30 feature films as a DGA trainee, assistant director, production manager and producer. He had a long association with Lawrence Kasdan, beginning with "Body Heat" and "The Big Chill," on which he was assistant director. He was later executive producer on "Wyatt Earp," "Silverado" and "I Love You to Death," and co-produced "Cross My Heart." Grillo produced the contemporary comedy "Grand Canyon," winner of the Berlin Film Festival; and "The Accidental Tourist," for which he received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Picture (along with Kasdan and Charles Okun).

In addition, he also produced the comedy "Defending Your Life," written and directed by Albert Brooks, and starring Meryl Streep, Lee Grant and Rip Torn. He later produced the drama "The Trigger Effect," written and directed by David Koepp.

Earlier in his career, Grillo served as assistant director on such films as "The Deer Hunter," "New York, New York," "The Woman in Red," "Cat People," "Heavens Gate" and "Breaking Away."

JOHN WELLS (Co-Executive Producer) is the executive producer of the series "ER," which has earned him an Emmy, the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, the Producers Guild Award, four People's Choice Awards and the Television Critics Society Award. In addition, he has been nominated for four more Emmys, two Writers Guild of America Awards and a Humanitas Award, and has received numerous awards and commendations from health care organizations across the country.

Previous to his work on "ER," Wells served as a writer and producer for three seasons on the critically acclaimed series "China Beach." During his tenure on that show, he received a Peabody Award, a Humanitas Award, three Writers Guild of America Award nominations, and three Emmy nominations.

During the 1980s, Wells also produced a number of award-winning plays in Los Angeles, including "Judgment," "Balm in Gilead," "Batter," "She Also Dances," "Steaming," "Femme Fatale," "Ground Zero," "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea," "Troy Evans' Montana Tales and Other Bad Ass Business" and "Tanzi." He also produced the feature film "Nice Girls Don't Explode," the telefilm "The Nightman" and the series "Angel Street," as well as writing for and producing numerous other television programs.

ANDREW COCKBURN (Co-Producer), a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a respected investigative journalist for over 20 years, is considered an expert on defense and intelligence matters. He and his wife, Leslie, co-authored the original investigative piece and subsequent film story treatment which led to the screenplay for "The Peacemaker."

A graduate of Oxford University, Cockburn has produced numerous documentaries for British and American television. They include the Peabody Award-winning "The Red Army," which led to his best-selling book The Threat: Inside the Soviet Military Machine. He served as the New York editor for Defense Week and has written extensively on nuclear weapons and Russia for The New York Review of Books, The New York Times and Esquire. The Cockburns most recently co-authored the book One Point Safe, about Russian nuclear smuggling, due out from Anchor/Doubleday in early September.

In partnership with his wife, Cockburn has produced four documentaries for PBS' "Frontline," including "The War We Left Behind" about Iraq after the Gulf War. Together, the Cockburns braved the dangers of the Colombian drug wars to cover the cartels for both "Frontline" and Vanity Fair.

LESLIE COCKBURN (Co-Producer) has covered foreign affairs as a journalist for more than 20 years and, like her husband Andrew, is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. She has also produced and directed two dozen documentaries for CBS and ABC News, and for four years, she was a regular correspondent for PBS' "Frontline."

She has won numerous honors for her journalism, including the George Polk Award, the Dupont Colombia Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Emmy Award, the Writers Guild Award (for her film "The Nuclear Battlefield"), the Sidney Hillman Award and the National Press Club Award.

A graduate of Yale University, with a Masters Degree from the University of London, Cockburn now makes her home with her husband and three children in Washington D.C. and Ireland. She has just finished writing her memoirs, Looking for Trouble: Six Wars and a Revolution, to be published in March by Anchor/Doubleday. She is also the co-author of One Point Safe, a book on Russian nuclear smuggling, and is presently producing a segment for the television newsmagazine "60 Minutes" on the same subject.

PAT KEHOE (Co-Producer/Production Manager) has served in a variety of capacities, including first assistant director, production manager and co-producer, on more than 35 major motion pictures. His credits include "The Phantom," "Cobb," "Matinee," "What's Love Got to Do With It?," "Final Analysis," "Always," "The 'burbs," "Suspect," "The Color Purple," "Fandango," "Crimes of Passion" and "Poltergeist."

He earned his Bachelors Degree in Literature at Ricker College, and went on to receive his Masters Degree in Television and Film from Syracuse University. He began his career as a stagehand and later became executive production manager at Channel 11 (KTTV) in Los Angeles before segueing into feature films.

MICHAEL SCHIFFER (Screenwriter) is known for being able to evoke the high stakes drama of people caught in real-life crisis situations. His screenplay for the 1995 hit "Crimson Tide," starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, captured the claustrophobic tension of a U.S. Navy submarine crew embroiled in a mutiny that could start-or prevent-a nuclear war. He had earlier scripted "Colors," an uncompromising glimpse inside the world of gang/police warfare in Los Angeles, teaming Robert Duvall and Sean Penn; and "Lean On Me," starring Morgan Freeman as an unconventional New Jersey high school principal whose contested methods inspired his inner-city students to attain unprecedented scholastic achievements.

Hailing from Philadelphia, Schiffer attended Harvard University during the tempestuous 1960s, where he directed student theater projects and first considered a career as a writer. Following graduation in 1970, he studied law at the University of California at Berkeley for one year before heading to France and then hitchhiking through Central Asia. His travels became the subject of his first book, Lessons of the Road, published in 1980. His second book, the novel Ballpark, was published by Simon and Schuster in 1982.

After a stint teaching freshman composition at Montgomery County Community College and Philadelphia's Temple University, Schiffer moved to Los Angeles to pursue a screenwriting career. He was down to his last $65 when he was given the opportunity to research and write the script for "Colors," for which he spent long hours with L.A. Sheriffs, the police, and gangs.

Painstaking authenticity has continued be the one of the hallmarks of his work. Schiffer did extensive research into the workings of nuclear submarines for "Crimson Tide," and delved into the world of nuclear security and weapons smuggling to write "The Peacemaker."

Since completing "The Peacemaker," Schiffer has started his own production company, BallPark Productions, to produce feature films.

DIETRICH LOHMANN (Director of Photography) grew up in Germany, and originally thought he would become a doctor, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Instead he became interested in filmmaking, and studied at the Berlin Film School. His career as a director of photography began in 1968, and he has since worked with many award-winning directors from the New German Cinema, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Peter Patzak and Volker Schlöndorff.

Since moving to Los Angeles, he has worked predominantly with such American, British and French directors as Dan Curtis, Lewis Teague, Carl Schenkel, John Schlesinger, Richard Rush, Francois Dupeyron, Vera Belmont and Chantal Akerman. His recent film and longform television credits include "War and Remembrance," "The Joker," "The Great Escape," "Silence Like Glass," "The Rose and The Jackal," "The Serbian Girl," "Dark Shadows," "Ted and Venus," "Silhouette," "Deadlock," "Knight Moves," "Salt On Our Skin," "The Innocent," "Me and The Kid," "The Color of Night," "La Machine," "Hollywood Boulevard," "Snakes & Ladders" and "In The Lake of the Woods."

LESLIE DILLEY (Production Designer) is a two-time Academy Award® winner for his work as art director on "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." He also earned Oscar® nominations for his art direction on "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Alien," and another nod for his work as a production designer on "The Abyss."

His more recent credits as production designer include "Diabolique," "How to Make an American Quilt," "Casper," "The Distinguished Gentleman," "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid," "What About Bob?" "Guilty By Suspicion" and "The Exorcist III."

Dilley was born in South Wales and raised in Wembly, Middlesex, England, where he attended Willesden Technical College. Recognized as a prodigy, he began his film career at age 15 as an indentured apprentice in the plaster shop at Associated British Studios, and by age 21, he was a supervisor of 40 plasterers. His first film as a draftsman was "Doppleganger," and he subsequently stepped up to assistant art director on "Kelly's Heroes," "The Devils," "The Boy Friend," "Macbeth," "Sitting Target," "Scorpio," "Jesus Christ, Superstar," "The Man With the Golden Gun" and "Lucky Lady."

Becoming an art director, his early credits include "The Three Musketeers," "The Last Remake of Beau Geste," "Superman" and "An American Werewolf in London." He was also the supervising art director on "Eureka," "Never Say Never Again" and "Legend." Dilley's first production designer credit was for "Bad Medicine," starring Steve Guttenberg and Julie Hagerty.

DAVID ROSENBLOOM (Editor) counts among his additional film credits "Primal Fear," "Moonlight and Valentino," "A Pyromaniac's Love Story," "Blue Chips," "Rudy," "Fresh Horses" and "Best Seller."

Raised in Los Angeles, he studied dramatic arts at U.C.L.A. While still in college, he began working in an editing-related position in animation and decided to pursue a career in the field. He secured an apprenticeship at Universal Pictures and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming an assistant editor in 1976.

Rosenbloom earned his first credit as an editor on the award-winning television series "Hill Street Blues," and went on to edit a number of successful television shows, including the pilots for "Miami Vice," "Equal Justice" and "I'll Fly Away." He made his feature film editing debut in 1987 with the thriller "Best Seller."

SHELLEY KOMAROV (Costume Designer) has won three Emmy Awards for her costume designs for the miniseries "The Kennedys of Massachusetts," "Sinatra" and "Peter the Great." She also earned an Emmy nomination for her creation of the 160 costume changes required for the portrayal of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy in the miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie." She has also designed the costumes for such feature films as "Three Wishes," "My Girl 2," and "Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers."

Komarov is currently creating the Western garb for the upcoming feature "Newton Boys," starring Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, Vincent D'Onofrio and Julianna Margulies.

Born and raised in Russia, Komarov received a degree in science and economics from the Leningrad Industrial Engineering College, and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Leningrad Academy of Fine Arts. As a designer for the internationally renowned Kirov Ballet and the Soviet Opera Company, she won the prestigious Leningrad Award, as well as the USSR National Award for Design. In 1977, she and her family emigrated to the United States.

JESSICA STERN consulted with the filmmakers on the dangerous reality of nuclear weapons smuggling. She is currently writing a book on terrorism involving nuclear, chemical and biological weapons for Harvard University Press, entitled Risk and Dread: Preempting the New Terrorists.

From 1994 to 1995, Stern worked on the President's National Security Council staff as the Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs. Responsible for nuclear smuggling and fissile materials security, she led several interagency groups at the NSC, including the Nuclear Smuggling Group. She also helped oversee the final stages of Project Sapphire, an operation to transfer over half a ton of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan to safe storage in the United States.

Born in New York and raised in Boston, Stern received her Bachelors Degree in Chemistry from Barnard, and went on to a earn a Masters in chemical engineering/technology policy from MIT and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University. She lived and worked in Moscow for a number of years, and is fluent in Russian.

Prior to joining the National Security Council, Stern worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where she assessed political developments in Russia that might affect the security of nuclear weapons and of fissile materials. She is also the author of numerous articles on nuclear and chemical weapons policy and terrorism and was a national fellow at the Hoover Institution in 1995-96.

HANS ZIMMER (Composer) is undeniably one of the most successful and prolific film composers in the industry today. In 1994, he won both the Academy Award® and Golden Globe for his score for the phenomenally successful animated film musical "The Lion King." The highest grossing film of its kind, "The Lion King" also spawned one of the most successful soundtrack albums ever released, selling more than 12 million copies around the world. The composer has also been honored with Oscar® nominations for his scores for "Rain Man" and, most recently, "The Preacher's Wife."

In only the last 15 years, Zimmer has composed music for over 60 diverse feature films, as well as additional television projects. His credits include "Smilla's Sense of Snow," "The Rock," "Muppet Treasure Island," "Broken Arrow," "Nine Months," "Crimson Tide," for which he won a Grammy, "Beyond Rangoon," "Cool Runnings," "A League of Their Own," "Black Rain," "Thelma & Louise," "Backdraft," "Green Card," "True Romance," "Days of Thunder," "Driving Miss Daisy," "My Beautiful Launderette" and "Moonlighting," to name only a portion. His current projects include "Old Friends," for director James L. Brooks.

In addition to his composing duties-which include DreamWorks' own upcoming animated feature "Prince of Egypt"-Zimmer heads DreamWorks' film music division. His appointment marks the first time that a composer has headed the music department of a major studio since the days of Dimitri Tiomkin at MGM and Alfred Newman at 20th Century Fox.

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