BARRY LEVINSON (Director) has crafted an enviable reputation as
a filmmaker who blends literate and intelligent visions into motion pictures.
An Academy Award®-winning director, screenwriter and producer, Levinson
was awarded the 1988 Best Director Oscar for the multiple award-winning
Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, and in 1991 his production
of Bugsy was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture and
Best Director. As a screenwriter, he has earned three nominations for the
pictures Avalon and Diner, both of which he directed, and ...And Justice
For All.
Currently, Levinson is directing Sphere, starring Dustin Hoffman and Sharon
Stone. Most recently, he produced the much-praised drama, Donnie Brasco,
starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Anne Heche, as well as produced and
directed the critically acclaimed feature Sleepers, based on the best-selling
book by Lorenzo Carcaterra, starring Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric,
Kevin Bacon and Dustin Hoffman.
His other credits include directing and producing Disclosure; writing, producing
and directing Jimmy Hollywood and Toys; directing Good Morning Vietnam,
Young Sherlock Holmes and The Natural; and writing and directing Tin Men.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Levinson has used his hometown as the setting
for various projects from the semi-autobiographical Diner, which marked
his directorial debut, to his hit television series "Homicide: Life
on the Streets." His work on this critically acclaimed drama earned
him an Emmy for Best Individual Director of a Drama Series. The show has
also received two Peabody Awards, two Writers Guild Awards and an Excellence
in Quality Television Founders Award for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. In addition,
Levinson served as an executive producer on the HBO drama "Oz,"
which won the Cable Ace Award in 1997.
After graduating from American University in Washington, D.C., Levinson
moved to Los Angeles where he began acting as well as writing and performing
comedy routines. He went on to write for several television variety shows
including "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine," which originated
in England, "The Lohman and Barkley Show," "The Tim Conway
Show" and "The Carol Burnett Show." A meeting with Mel Brooks
led to a collaboration with the veteran comedian on the features Silent
Movie and High Anxiety. Levinson made his film acting debut in High Anxiety,
and continues to act with small cameo roles in many films.
JANE ROSENTHAL (Producer) founded Tribeca Productions along with
Robert De Niro in 1988. As president, she oversees all aspects of project
development and serves as producer with De Niro.
Tribeca's motion picture productions include Marvin's Room, the screen adaptation
of Scott McPherson's award-winning play, starring Meryl Streep and Diane
Keaton, A Bronx Tale, Panther, The Night We Never Met, Night And The City,
Mistress, Cape Fear and Thunderheart.
Prior to her partnership with De Niro, Rosenthal served as vice president
of movies and miniseries at Warner Bros. Television. She also spent two
years at Walt Disney as vice president in charge of motion pictures and
television where she was involved in the production of such films as The
Color Of Money, Adventures In Babysitting and The Good Mother.
Previously, Rosenthal was vice president of feature production at Universal
Studios, following a five-year stint at CBS as director of motion pictures
for television. During that time, she developed such critically praised
telefilms as "Gideon's Trumpet," "Silences of the Heart"
and "The Burning Bed."
DAVID MAMET (Writer) is lauded as a playwright and screenwriter,
having penned more than 20 award-winning works. Mamet authored the motion
pictures The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables and
Hoffa. He also wrote and directed House of Games, Oleanna, Homicide and
The Spanish Prisoner.
Among the plays he scripted are "Oleanna," "Glengarry Glen
Ross" (which won a 1984 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics
Circle Award), "American Buffalo," "A Life in the Theater,"
"Speed-the-Plow," "Edmond," "Lakeboat," "The
Water Engine," "The Woods," "Sexual Perversity in Chicago,"
"Reunion" and "The Cryptogram"( which won the 1995 Obie
Award).
His translations and adaptations include "Red River" by Pierre
Laville and "The Cherry Orchard," "Three Sisters" and
"Uncle Vanya" by Anton Chekhov.
Mamet wrote Warm and Cold, a book for children with drawings by Donald Sultan,
as well as two other children's books, Passover and The Duck and the Goat.
He has also written four volumes of essays: Writing in Restaurants, Some
Freaks, The Cabin and Make-Believe Town, a book of poems entitled The Hero
Pony, plus the titles Three Children's Plays, On Directing Film, True and
False and the novel The Village.
HILARY HENKIN (Writer) recently completed a project for director
Joel Schumacher and Matthew McConaughey. Among her previous screenplays,
she wrote and produced the drama Romeo Is Bleeding, starring Gary Oldman
and Lena Olin.
EZRA SWERDLOW (Executive Producer) has served as producer on such
films as Copland, January Man and the box office hit Waiting To Exhale,
directed by Forest Whitaker. He executive produced The First Wives Club,
starring Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Better Midler; The Good Son, starring
Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood; Alien 3 directed by David Fincher and starring
Sigourney Weaver; and Mel Brooks' Life Stinks.
Swerdlow co-produced Brooks' Spaceballs and was the associate producer on
Woody Allen's Radio Days and Hannah and Her Sisters. He also worked for
Allen as a production manager and location manager on such pictures as Broadway
Danny Rose, Zelig and Stardust Memories. He was the production manager for
both Heartburn, directed by Mike Nichols, and The Muppets Take Manhattan,
directed by Frank Oz.
ROBERT RICHARDSON, A.S.C. (Director of Photography) won an Academy
Award® for his cinematography on Oliver Stone's J.F.K. and was nominated
for his work on the films Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon. He has
served as Stone's director of photography for many projects, including Salvador,
Wall Street, Talk Radio, The Doors, Heaven and Earth, Natural Born Killers
and Nixon. He has also worked with Martin Scorsese on Casino, John Sayles
on Eight Men Out and City of Hope, Rob Reiner on A Few Good Men and with
Penelope Spheeris on Dudes. Richardson's next project is Robert Redford's
adaptation of Nicholas Evan's best-selling novel, The Horse Whisperer.
His other film credits include second unit work on Repo Man, Nightmare on
Elm Street, Making the Grade and Breakin'.
He began his professional career filming documentaries and docudramas such
as "America, America" for Disney cable, "God's Peace"
for the BBC and "The Front Line: El Salvador" for PBS.
WYNN THOMAS (Production Designer) first worked for Tribeca Productions
as the designer on Robert De Niro's directorial debut, A Bronx Tale.
Thomas has also designed the films The Five Heartbeats, To Wong Foo, Thanks
for Everything Julie Newmar and Mars Attacks! As an apprentice under production
designer Patrizia von Brandenstein, he worked on The Money Pit and Brighton
Beach Memoirs as well as Beat Street where Thomas first met Spike Lee. When
Lee began making films, he tapped Thomas to create the settings for She's
Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, Jungle
Fever, Malcolm X and Crooklyn.
Thomas began working in theatre at age 15. He studied theatre design at
Boston University and went on to create sets for the Negro Theatre Ensemble
in New York for two years. Before moving on to film, he worked on a number
of theatre productions for the New York Shakespeare Festival and the New
York Public Theatre.
STU LINDER (Editor) began his career in the early 60's as an apprentice
editor at Paramount Studios. His first assignment as an editor was working
for John Frankenheimer on Grand Prix as one of four editors who jointly
won the Academy Award. He went on to work as an assistant editor for director
Mike Nichols on Catch 22, Carnal Knowledge and The Day of the Dolphin and
as editor on The Fortune.
In 1975, Linder took a five-year respite from the movie business and sailed
around the world on an ocean racer. He returned to work on My Bodyguard,
Six Weeks and First Family. His next film, Diner, was the first of many
collaborations with director Barry Levinson. The two have worked together
on The Natural, Young Sherlock Holmes, Tin Men, Good Morning Vietnam, Rain
Man, for which he received an Academy Award nomination, Avalon, Bugsy, Toys,
Disclosure and Sleepers. He also cut Robert Redford's Quiz Show.
RITA RYACK (Costume Designer) made her debut in motion pictures soon
after receiving nominations for a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award and a Los
Angeles Drama Critics Award for her designs in the Broadway musical hit,
"My One and Only," starring Tommy Tune and Twiggy.
Her list of film credits include The Fan, Apollo 13, Casino, The Paper,
A Bronx Tale, Mad Dog & Glory, Cape Fear, Class Action, Penn and Teller
Get Killed, An Innocent Man, Crossing Delancy, Mr. Jones, Suspect, The House
on Carroll Street and After Hours.
She has also designed for the television movies "Ghost Writer,"
"Gideon Oliver" and "Dinner at Eight," as well as for
the pilot for "Steel Magnolias." Ryack also designed the costumes
in Michael Jackson's video hit, "Bad."
In 1986, Ryack was honored with the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence
in Costume Design. Her Broadway credits include "The Human Comedy"
and her off-Broadway credits include "A Lie of the Mind," "The
Foreigner," "It's Only a Play," "Hunting Cockroaches,"
"Anteroom" and "The Vampire."
Ryack has also won several awards for her work in illustration and film
animation.
A graduate of Yale Drama School, Ryack was invited to join the American
Repertory Theatre at Harvard as the principal costume designer. After doing
a dozen plays, she went on to design wardrobe for several theatres, including
Chicago's Goodman Theatre, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory
Theatre, the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Playwright's Horizon
Theatre, before tackling the New York stage.
DALE DYE (Technical Advisor) is a highly decorated retired U.S. Marine
captain who survived 31 major combat operations in Vietnam. He served as
technical advisor for Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning Platoon, also
acting in the film as Captain Harris.
He has also served as technical advisor for Brian De Palma's Casualties
of War (in which he also acted), 84 Charlie Mopic, The Beast, The Fourth
War, Born on the 4th of July, Dogfight, Jacob's Ladder, Fire Birds, J.F.K.,
The Last of the Mohicans, Heaven and Earth, Guarding Tess, Blue Sky and
Natural Born Killers.
Dye has also performed in such motion pictures as Steven Spielberg's Always,
and on the small screen in "The Neon Empire," "The Court
Martial of Jackie Robinson" and "Mission of the Shark," among
others.
Dye authored several screenplays and three books, including Run Between
the Raindrops and Platoon, a novelization of Stone's screenplay.
Dye served in Vietnam between 1967-1970 and was decorated for his action
in the battle of Hue in 1967. He ended his career with the Marines in 1984
after completing a tour in Lebanon.
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