Star Wars Crew(1977-Present)
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- Writer
- Producer
- Director
George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar driver. However, a terrible car accident just after his high school graduation ended that dream permanently. The accident changed his views on life.
He decided to attend Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school. As a film student, he made several short films including Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967) which won first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival. In 1967, he was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the making of Finian's Rainbow (1968) which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas and Coppola became good friends and formed American Zoetrope in 1969. The company's first project was Lucas' full-length version of THX 1138 (1971). In 1971, Coppola went into production for The Godfather (1972), and Lucas formed his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd.
In 1973, he wrote and directed the semiautobiographical American Graffiti (1973) which won the Golden Globe and garnered five Academy Award nominations. This gave him the clout he needed for his next daring venture. From 1973 to 1974, he began writing the screenplay which became Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). He was inspired to make this movie from Flash Gordon and the Planet of the Apes films. In 1975, he established ILM. (Industrial Light & Magic) to produce the visual effects needed for the movie. Another company called Sprocket Systems was established to edit and mix Star Wars and later becomes known as Skywalker Sound. His movie was turned down by several studios until 20th Century Fox gave him a chance. Lucas agreed to forego his directing salary in exchange for 40% of the film's box-office take and all merchandising rights. The movie went on to break all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. It redefined the term "blockbuster" and the rest is history.
Lucas made the other Star Wars films and along with Steven Spielberg created the Indiana Jones series which made box office records of their own. From 1980 to 1985, Lucas was busy with the construction of Skywalker Ranch, built to accommodate the creative, technical, and administrative needs of Lucasfilm. Lucas also revolutionized movie theaters with the THX system which was created to maintain the highest quality standards in motion picture viewing.
He went on to produce several more movies that have introduced major innovations in filmmaking technology. He is chairman of the board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. In 1992, George Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his lifetime achievement.
He reentered the directing chair with the production of the highly-anticipated Star Wars prequel trilogy beginning with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) . The films have been polarizing for fans and critics alike, but were commercially successful and have become a part of culture. The animated spin-off series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) was supervised by Lucas. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, making co-chair Kathleen Kennedy president. He has attended the premieres of new Star Wars films and been generally supportive of them.Creator/Director/Producer/Screenwriter /Editor/Creative Consultant- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Executive
Eight-time Academy Award®-nominated, Kathleen Kennedy is one of the most successful and respected producers and executives in the film industry today. As President of Lucasfilm, she oversees the company's three divisions: Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. In 1992, she co-founded the production company The Kennedy/Marshall Company with director/producer Frank Marshall, and in 1982 she co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Marshall and Steven Spielberg. Altogether, Kennedy has further produced or executive produced more than 70 feature films, which have collectively garnered 120 Academy Award nominations and 25 wins.
For much of the past 20 years, Kennedy served as a governor and officer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the board of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. She also sits on the boards of numerous educational, arts, and philanthropic organizations.President/Producer - The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise Of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Mandalorian and Untitled Rogue One TV Show, Untitled Kenobi Mini Series, Johnson Trilogy, Ahsoka(2023), Untitled Mandoverse Film and Untitled Rey Skywalker Film, Untitled Dawn Of The Jedi Film- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Dave grew up in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was in the marching band, and was the starting goaltender for half of his senior year on the hockey team. He graduated from high school in 1992 and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1996, where he played club hockey.
He served on animation staff on The Oblongs (2001) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) before working his way up to director on episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005). His work there stood out to Lucasfilm Animation when he was hired to oversee direction on Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008). Due to his love for the franchise, he thought the initial phone call for the job was a practical joke. He worked alongside George Lucas on creating the series, which was canceled after six seasons when the Walt Disney Company acquired the studio. He was kept on staff to create Star Wars: Rebels (2014), which continued the character arc of fan favorite Ahsoka Tano, originally introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008). In 2017, he became the executive producer of all animated Star Wars series, including Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017).Head Of Animation/Showrunner/Director/Supervising Director/Producer/Writer -Star Wars:The Clone Wars(2008-2013,2019)/ Star Wars Rebels(2014-2018) and Star Wars:Forces Of Destiny(2017-2018), Star Wars Resistance(2018-2020),Producer/Director-The Mandalorian(2019-present) Ahsoka(2023), Untitled Mandoverse Film- Director
- Cinematographer
- Actor
Irvin Kershner was born on April 29, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the University of Southern California film school, Kershner began his career in 1950, producing documentaries for the United States Information Service in the Middle East. He later turned to television, directing and photographing a series of documentaries called "Confidential File". Kershner was one of the directors given his first break by producer Roger Corman, for whom he shot Stakeout on Dope Street (1958). The main theme that runs through many of his films is social alienation and human weaknesses - although his biggest commercial success was the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Irvin Kershner died at age 87 of lung cancer in his home in Los Angeles, California on November 27, 2010.Director-The Empire Strikes Back- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Richard Marquand was born on 22 September 1937 in Llanishen, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He was a director and producer, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Nowhere to Run (1993) and Jagged Edge (1985). He was married to Carol Bell and Josephine Marquand. He died on 4 September 1987 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, UK.Director-Return Of The Jedi- Animation Department
- Writer
- Editorial Department
As one of the industry's top female writers, Jennifer Muro has quickly made a name for herself through the stories she has crafted for film and TV projects over the last decade. Through her writing, Muro is on a mission to make women of all ages feel strong and empowered through the characters she creates, and it's her refreshing perspective that has made her a go-to name in the writing world today.
Muro serves as the sole writer for Lucasfilm's animated series "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny." The series consists of 24 episodes and celebrates the inspiring stories of iconic Star Wars heroes, and will feature previous film and series talent to reprise their roles including Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones, Lupita Nyong'o, Mark Hamill, and John Boyega to name a few.
In addition to working on "Star Wars", Muro is in development with her female-driven comedy adventure series at Nickelodeon, and an original web series at Jim Henson Studios. Other writing credits include: Marvel's "Spider-Man", Netflix's "Stretch Armstrong", "Buddy Thunderstruck", "Legend Quest", DC's "Lego DC Super Hero Girls", "Justice League Action", WB's "Wacky Races", and the Netflix series based on the New York Times bestselling book, "Last Kids on Earth".
Born and raised in New York as a first-generation Italian-American, Muro studied film production at the USC School of Cinema Television and landed her first job in 2002 working in development for Nickelodeon. Her knack for production and script writing have landed her recognition over the years, including serving as a 2015 quarter-finalist in the Script Pipeline Contest for her science fiction pilot "Tellura," and as a 2016 first-round finalist in the Austin Film Festival for her comedy pilot "Zebra."
Muro also has a knack for film composition, and has been playing music by ear since the age of four. She was even in an all-female rock band in New York City, before she found her passions in writing and production. Muro is involved in multiple philanthropic efforts to benefit charities such as Best Friend's Animal Society, World Food Program USA.
Muro lives in the Los Angeles area.Jennifer Muro-Showrunner/Writer -Star Wars:Forces Of Destiny(2017-2018)- Director
- Art Department
- Producer
Justin Ridge is known for Star Wars: Resistance (2018), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Storks (2016).Supervising Director- Star Wars Rebels(2016-18)/ Star Wars:Resistance(2018-Present)- Producer
- Writer
- Music Department
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, the son of TV producer parents. At 15, he wrote the music for Don Dohler's Nightbeast (1982). In his senior year of college, he and Jill Mazursky teamed up to write a feature film, which became Taking Care of Business (1990). He went on to write and produce Regarding Henry (1991) and Forever Young (1992). He also co-wrote Gone Fishin' (1997) with Mazursky. Along with other Sarah Lawrence alumni, he experimented with computer animation and was contracted to develop pre-production animation for Shrek (2001).
Abrams worked on the screenplay for Armageddon (1998) and co-created (as well as composing the opening theme of) Felicity (1998), which ran for four seasons. He founded the production company Bad Robot in 2001 with Bryan Burk. He created and executive-produced Alias (2001) and Lost (2004), composing the theme music for both, and co-writing episodes of "Lost". He also co-wrote and produced thriller Joy Ride (2001). He made his feature directing debut with Mission: Impossible III (2006), reinvigorating the series. He produced the hit mystery film Cloverfield (2008) and co-created Fringe (2008).
He directed the Star Trek (2009) reboot, proving successful with fans and newcomers to the franchise. He next directed Super 8 (2011), co-produced by Steven Spielberg and produced Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011). He returned to direct the follow-up to his reboot, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Disney and Lucasfilm announced J.J. as their choice for director of the first episode in the new 'Star Wars' trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). He initially resisted, as he didn't want to travel away from his family to London, but Kathleen Kennedy convinced him that his voice would be the best to reinvigorate this franchise, as he had done with two others before. He also produced Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) and Star Trek Beyond (2016), and executive-produced Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). When it was announced that Colin Trevorrow would no longer direct Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), it was announced that J.J. would return to complete the trilogy he started.Director/Writer/Producer/Executive Producer - The Force Awakens,The Last Jedi and The Rise Of Skywalker- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Rian Johnson was born in Maryland and at a young age his family moved to San Clemente, California, where he was raised. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His first feature film, Brick (2005), was released in 2005 and was the metaphorical building block that launched his career. He is a director, writer, and musician, among other areas of expertise.
His second feature, The Brothers Bloom (2008), proved his ability to tell an exciting story with A-list actors, and the visionary Looper (2012) cemented him as a modern science-fiction icon. Among his highest-rated work are three episodes of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad (2008). His filmography made him a strong candidate to write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017), the penultimate episode of the 'Star Wars' series. Lucasfilm was pleased with his work and announced that we would write and direct a 'Star Wars' trilogy separate from the main Skywalker story.Director/Writer -The Last Jedi and Untitled Johnson Trilogy- Visual Effects
- Director
- Writer
Gareth James Edwards was born on June 1, 1975 in the English town of Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Growing up, he admired movies such as the 1977 classic "Star Wars", and went on to pursue a film career. He even cites George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as his biggest influences. Edwards studied BA (Hons) Film & Video at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham (formerly the Surrey Institute of Art & Design), graduating in 1996. In 2012, he received an honorary Master of Arts from UCA.
Edwards got his start in special visual effects, working on visual f/x for programs that aired on networks such as PBS, BBC and the Discovery Channel. In 2008 he entered (and won) the Sci-Fi-London 48-hour film challenge, where a movie had to be created from start-to-finish in just two days, within certain criteria. Edwards wrote and directed his first full-length feature, "Monsters", which was shot in only three weeks. Edwards personally created the film's special effects by using off-the-shelf equipment. Asides from the two main actors (real-life couple Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able), the crew consisted of just five people. The $500,000 thriller received a riotous reception at the South by Southwest festival, and was released by Veritgo Films to great success.
The success of "Monsters" resulted in Edwards getting offers from the major studios, especially Warner Bros., who tapped him to direct an English-language reboot of the 1954 Japanese classic "Gojira". Produced by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, "Godzilla" began development in 2011 with Edwards at the helm, and was released on May 16, 2014 to mixed reviews and tremendous box office success, grossing $529 million worldwide against a $160 million budget.
Following the success of "Godzilla", producer Kathleen Kennedy tapped Edwards to helm a spin-off of "Star Wars" for Lucasfilm Limited. In 2015, it was revealed that Edwards' "Star Wars" spin-off, written Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, would be titled "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", set for release on December 16, 2016. The film boasts an ensemble cast including Felicity Jones, Donnie Yen, Mad Mikkelsen and James Earl Jones among others.Director-Rogue One:A Star Wars Story- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.
Howard made his directorial debut in 1978 with the comedy Grand Theft Auto (1977). He began his career in film as an actor. He first appeared in The Journey (1959) and The Music Man (1962), then as Opie on the long-running television series The Andy Griffith Show (1960). Howard later starred in the popular series Happy Days (1974) and drew favorable reviews for his performances in American Graffiti (1973) and The Shootist (1976).
Howard and long-time producing partner Brian Grazer first collaborated on the hit comedies "Night Shift" and "Splash." The pair co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 to create independently produced feature films.
Howard's portfolio includes some of the most popular films of the past 20 years. In 1991, Howard created the acclaimed drama "Backdraft", starring Robert De Niro, Kurt Russell and William Baldwin. He followed it with the historical epic Far and Away (1992), starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Howard directed Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise and Delroy Lindo in the 1996 suspense thriller Ransom (1996). Howard worked with Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise and Kathleen Quinlan on "Apollo 13," which was re-released recently in the IMAX format.
Howard's skill as a director has long been recognized. In 1995, he received his first Best Director of the Year award from the DGA for "Apollo 13." The true-life drama also garnered nine Academy Award nominations, winning Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It also received Best Ensemble Cast and Best Supporting Actor awards from the Screen Actor's Guild. Many of Howard's past films have received nods from the Academy, including the popular hits Backdraft (1991), "Parenthood" and Cocoon (1985), the last of which took home two Oscars.
Howard directed and produced Cinderella Man (2005) starring Oscar winner Russell Crowe, with whom he previously collaborated on "A Beautiful Mind," for which Howard earned an Oscar for Best Director and which also won awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. The film garnered four Golden Globes as well, including the award for Best Motion Picture Drama. Additionally, Howard won Best Director of the Year from the Directors Guild of America. Howard and producer Brian Grazer received the first annual Awareness Award from the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign for their work on the film.
Howard was honored by the Museum of Moving Images in December 2005, and by the American Cinema Editors in February 2006. Howard and his creative partner Brian Grazer, were honored by the Producers Guild of America with the Milestone Award in January 2009, NYU's Tisch School of Cinematic Arts with the Big Apple Award in November 2009 and by the Simon Wiesenthal Center with their Humanitarian Award in May 2010. In June 2010, Howard was honored by the Chicago Film Festival with their Gold Hugo - Career Achievement Award. In March 2013, Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. In December 2015, Howard was honored with a star in the Motion Pictures category, making him one of the very few to have been recognized with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Howard also produced and directed the film adaptation of Peter Morgan's critically acclaimed play Frost/Nixon (2008). The film was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and was also nominated for The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures by the PGA.
Howard has also served as an executive producer on a number of award-winning films and television shows, such as the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (1998), Fox's Emmy Award winner for Best Comedy, Arrested Development (2003), a series which he also narrated, Netflix's release of new episodes of "Arrested Development," and NBC's "Parenthood."
Howard's recent films include the critically acclaimed drama Rush (2013), staring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, written by Peter Morgan; and Made in America (2013), a music documentary he directed staring Jay-Z for Showtime.
Howard's other films include In the Heart of the Sea (2015), based on the true story that inspired Moby Dick; his adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novels Angels & Demons (2009), and The Da Vinci Code (2006) staring Oscar winner Tom Hanks; the blockbuster holiday favorite "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)" starring Jim Carrey; "Parenthood" starring Steve Martin; the fantasy epic Willow (1988); Night Shift (1982) starring Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton and Shelley Long; and the suspenseful western, The Missing (2003), staring Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones.
Recently, Howard directed Inferno (2016), the third installment of Dan Brown 's Robert Langdon franchise and The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (2016), a documentary about the rock legends The Beatles. He also produced the second season of Breakthrough (2015), Mars (2016), and directed the first episode of Genius (2017), based on the life of Albert Einstein, all for NatGeo.Director - Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Gary Kurtz was born on 27 July 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer and assistant director, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), American Graffiti (1973) and The Dark Crystal (1982). He was married to Stephanie Clare Gabriel, Roberta Jimenez and Meredith Marie Alsup. He died on 23 September 2018 in London, England, UK.Producer- A New Hope & Empire Strikes Back- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Howard G. Kazanjian was born on 26 July 1942 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a producer and assistant director, known for Demolition Man (1993), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). He has been married to Carol Anne Eskijian since 29 May 1970. They have three children.Producer-Return Of The Jedi- Producer
- Additional Crew
Allison Shearmur was born on 23 October 1963 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. She was a producer, known for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) and The Hunger Games (2012). She was married to Edward Shearmur. She died on 19 January 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA.Producer-Rogue One & Solo- Producer
- Writer
Bryan Burk was born on 30 December 1968. He is a producer and writer, known for Lost (2004), Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Trek (2009).Producer- The Force Awakens- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Editor
David Tattersall is well-known as a versatile cinematographer who frequently collaborates with top directors. An expert in both film and digital photography, David is passionate about his art, and is equally at home on feature films and television series in all genres, from big-budget blockbusters to thrillers, sci-fi fantasy, drama, action, comedy, and small intimate romances. His extensive international experience includes work on five continents in more than 20 countries.
Tattersall has worked on studio, independent, and streaming films. As cinematographer for director George Lucas, he worked on the Star Wars prequel Episodes I, II, and III: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. His features with Frank Darabont include the Oscar®-nominated drama The Green Mile and the romantic drama The Majestic. With filmmaker Martin Campbell, Tattersall served as cinematographer on The Foreigner and Vertical Limit.
Tattersall's credits as DP are substantial, including films such as: the Netflix film Death Note for Adam Wingard; the James Bond film, Die Another Day; Con Air; Tomb Raider II; Speed Racer; Romeo and Juliet; Journey 2: The Mysterious Island; The Matador; The Longest Ride; The Day the Earth Stood Still; and Tooth Fairy.
His work in television has been outstanding, as seen the Robert Kirkman TV series Outcast and his work with television productions: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (for which he received a nomination for an Emmy and the American Society of Cinematographers Award); the pilot episode for the AMC series The Walking Dead; and the TNT series, Mob City.
A member of the British Society of Cinematographers, David received a first class BA in Fine Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London, then studied at Britain's National Film and Television School. His student films were highly regarded, including King's Christmas, which was nominated for the BAFTA Best Short in 1987; and Metropolis Apocalypse, which was shown at Cannes in 1988. Tattersall has lived in the U.S. for twenty years, and resides in California. He is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Cinematographer- The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith(1999-2005)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Peter Suschitzky was born on 25 July 1941 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Dead Ringers (1988), Eastern Promises (2007) and Naked Lunch (1991).Cinematographer- The Empire Strikes Back- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Gilbert Taylor was born on 21 April 1914 in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Flash Gordon (1980) and The Omen (1976). He was married to Dee Vaughan and Eileen Donnelly. He died on 23 August 2013 in Newport, Isle of Wight, England, UK.Cimetographer- A New Hope- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Alan Hume was born on 16 October 1924 in London, England, UK. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Lifeforce (1985), Runaway Train (1985) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). He was married to Sheila Nevard. He died on 13 July 2010 in Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.Cinematographer-Return Of The Jedi- Cinematographer
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Greig Fraser was born on 3 October 1975 in Melbourne, Australia. He is a cinematographer and producer, known for Dune (2021), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). He is married to Jodie Fried. They have three children.Cinematograher-Rogue One(2016), The Mandarian(2019-Present)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Visual Effects
Steve Yedlin was born on 29 September 1975 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a cinematographer, known for Looper (2012), Knives Out (2019) and San Andreas (2015).Cinematographer- The Last Jedi(2017)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Bradford Young is an American cinematographer. His feature films as director of photography include White Lies, Black Sheep (2007), Pariah (2011), Restless City (2011), Middle of Nowhere (2012), Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), Mother of George (2013), and Arrival (2016).
In January 2017, Young became the first African-American cinematographer to be nominated for an Academy Award, for his work on Arrival. He is also the first person of color to be nominated in the Academy Award cinematography category since 1998 when Remi Adefarasin was nominated for Elizabeth.Cinematographer-Solo: A Star Wars Story(2018)- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
As one of the best known, awarded, and financially successful composers in US history, John Williams is as easy to recall as John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein, illustrating why he is "America's composer" time and again. With a massive list of awards that includes over 52 Oscar nominations (five wins), twenty-odd Gold and Platinum Records, and a slew of Emmy (two wins), Golden Globe (three wins), Grammy (25 wins), National Board of Review (including a Career Achievement Award), Saturn (six wins), American Film Institute (including a Lifetime Achievement Award) and BAFTA (seven wins) citations, along with honorary doctorate degrees numbering in the teens, Williams is undoubtedly one of the most respected composers for Cinema. He's led countless national and international orchestras, most notably as the nineteenth conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980-1993, helming three Pops tours of the US and Japan during his tenure. He currently serves as the Pop's Conductor Laureate. Also to his credit is a parallel career as an author of serious, and some not-so-serious, concert works - performed by the likes of Mstislav Rostropovich, André Previn, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, Leonard Slatkin, James Ingram, Dale Clevenger, and Joshua Bell. Of particular interests are his Essay for Strings, a jazzy Prelude & Fugue, the multimedia presentation American Journey (aka The Unfinished Journey (1999)), a Sinfonietta for Winds, a song cycle featuring poems by Rita Dove, concerti for flute, violin, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, cello, bassoon and horn, fanfares for the 1984, 1988 and 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a song co-written with Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman for the Special Olympics! But such a list probably warrants a more detailed background...
Born in Flushing, New York on February 8, 1932, John Towner Williams discovered music almost immediately, due in no small measure to being the son of a percussionist for CBS Radio and the Raymond Scott Quintet. After moving to Los Angeles in 1948, the young pianist and leader of his own jazz band started experimenting with arranging tunes; at age 15, he determined he was going to become a concert pianist; at 19, he premiered his first original composition, a piano sonata.
He attended both UCLA and the Los Angeles City College, studying orchestration under MGM musical associate Robert Van Eps and being privately tutored by composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, until conducting for the first time during three years with the U.S. Air Force. His return to the states brought him to Julliard, where renowned piano pedagogue Madame Rosina Lhevinne helped Williams hone his performance skills. He played in jazz clubs to pay his way; still, she encouraged him to focus on composing. So it was back to L.A., with the future maestro ready to break into the Hollywood scene.
Williams found work with the Hollywood studios as a piano player, eventually accompanying such fare such as the TV series Peter Gunn (1958), South Pacific (1958), Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), as well as forming a surprising friendship with Bernard Herrmann. At age 24, "Johnny Williams" became a staff arranger at Columbia and then at 20th Century-Fox, orchestrating for Alfred Newman and Lionel Newman, Dimitri Tiomkin, Franz Waxman, and other Golden Age notables. In the field of popular music, he performed and arranged for the likes of Vic Damone, Doris Day, and Mahalia Jackson... all while courting actress/singer Barbara Ruick, who became his wife until her death in 1974. John & Barbara had three children; their daughter is now a doctor, and their two sons, Joseph Williams and Mark Towner Williams, are rock musicians.
The orchestrating gigs led to serious composing jobs for television, notably Alcoa Premiere (1961), Checkmate (1960), Gilligan's Island (1964), Lost in Space (1965), Land of the Giants (1968), and his Emmy-winning scores for Heidi (1968) and Jane Eyre (1970). Daddy-O (1958) and Because They're Young (1960) brought his original music to the big theatres, but he was soon typecast doing comedies. His efforts in the genre helped guarantee his work on William Wyler's How to Steal a Million (1966), however, a major picture that immediately led to larger projects. Of course, his arrangements continued to garner attention, and he won his first Oscar for adapting Fiddler on the Roof (1971).
During the '70s, he was King of Disaster Scores with The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Earthquake (1974) and The Towering Inferno (1974). His psychological score for Images (1972) remains one of the most innovative works in soundtrack history. But his Americana - particularly The Reivers (1969) - is what caught the ear of director Steven Spielberg, then preparing for his first feature, The Sugarland Express (1974). When Spielberg reunited with Williams on Jaws (1975), they established themselves as a blockbuster team, the composer gained his first Academy Award for Original Score, and Spielberg promptly recommended Williams to a friend, George Lucas. In 1977, John Williams re-popularized the epic cinema sound of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman and other composers from the Hollywood Golden Age: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) became the best selling score-only soundtrack of all time, and spawned countless musical imitators. For the next five years, though the music in Hollywood changed, John Williams wrote big, brassy scores for big, brassy films - The Fury (1978), Superman (1978), 1941 (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ... An experiment during this period, Heartbeeps (1981), flopped. There was a long-term change of pace, nonetheless, as Williams fell in love with an interior designer and married once more.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) brought about his third Oscar, and The River (1984), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Accidental Tourist (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) added variety to the 1980s, as he returned to television with work on Amazing Stories (1985) and themes for NBC, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (1970). The '80s also brought the only exceptions to the composer's collaboration with Steven Spielberg - others scored both Spielberg's segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and The Color Purple (1985).
Intending to retire, the composer's output became sporadic during the 1990s, particularly after the exciting Jurassic Park (1993) and the masterful, Oscar-winning Schindler's List (1993). This lighter workload, coupled with a number of hilarious references on The Simpsons (1989) actually seemed to renew interest in his music. Two Home Alone films (1990, 1992), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Sleepers (1996), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Angela's Ashes (1999), and a return to familiar territory with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) recalled his creative diversity of the '70s.
In this millennium, the artist shows no interest in slowing down. His relationships with Spielberg and Lucas continue in A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), the remaining Star Wars prequels (2002, 2005), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and a promised fourth Indiana Jones film. There is a more focused effort on concert works, as well, including a theme for the new Walt Disney Concert Hall and a rumored light opera. But one certain highlight is his musical magic for the world of Harry Potter (2001, 2002, 2004, etc.), which he also arranged into a concert suite geared toward teaching children about the symphony orchestra. His music remains on the whistling lips of people around the globe, in the concert halls, on the promenades, in album collections, sports arenas, and parades, and, this writer hopes, touching some place in ourselves. So keep those ears ready wherever you go, 'cause you will likely hear a bit of John Williams on your way.Composer -The Phantom Menace,Attack Of The Clones,Revenge Of The Sith,A New Hope,The Empire Strikes Back,Return of The Jedi and The Force Awakens,The Last Jedi, Solo Main Title and The Rise Of Skywalker and Kenobi Main Theme- Composer
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Kevin Kiner was born on 3 September 1958 in San Bernardino, California, USA. He is a composer, known for CSI: Miami (2002), Narcos: Mexico (2018) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008).Composer- Star Wars:The Clone Wars(2008-2013,2019),Star Wars Rebels(2014-18), The Bad Batch(2021-Present) , Ahsoka(2023)- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
John Powell was born on 18 September 1963 in London, England, UK. He is a composer, known for How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), Happy Feet (2006) and Shrek (2001). He was previously married to Melinda Lerner.Composer- Solo:A Star Wars Story (2018)- Music Department
- Composer
- Sound Department
Gordy Haab is a multi award-winning film, video game and television composer who has written music for many well-known titles, including most recently: Microsoft's "Halo Wars 2, and EA's "Star Wars: Battlefront", which won Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, and Best Instrumental Score at the 2016 GDC G.A.N.G. Awards, and was nominated for a BAFTA for Excellence in Audio Achievement. Haab also recently scored Activision/AMC's "The Walking Dead", based on the #1 hit TV series and Microsoft's "Kinect: Star Wars", which won "Best Music" at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. Haab continues to compose the music for EA and Bioware's "Star Wars: The Old Republic," for which he was awarded "Best Original Soundtrack" and "Best Instrumental Music" at the 10th Annual GDC G.A.N.G. Awards.
Haab's music has received the highest praise from numerous industry publications and many of the world's leading media outlets, including the Huffington Post, who said, "This new Star Wars (Battlefront) music will light your saber". Hardcore Gamer said, "Star Wars Battlefront features the best game score John Williams never wrote". And the Los Angeles Times said Haab created "the B-side to John Williams' score".
Haab is known for his unsurpassed understanding of the orchestra as well as his unique ability to blend contemporary and traditional sounds into one - often times conceiving and creating brand new musical instruments to feature in his scores. He has recorded and conducted his music with orchestras from all around the world, including The London Symphony Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, The Nashville Symphony and the Hollywood Studio Orchestra.
A few of Haab's other film, television and video game credits include: Anchor Bay's "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon"; MTV's "The Truth Below"; Dave Barry's "Guide to Guys"; Lionsgate's "War"; The Oprah Network's "The Judds"; Roadside Attractions' "Shrink"; TLC's "Little People Big World"; ABC's "Greek"; NBC's "Kath and Kim"; VH-1's "Scream Queens"; Endeavor's "At the Edge of the World"; LucasArts' "Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings", and many others.
Haab is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he received his master's in Scoring For Motion Pictures, Television and Other Media. Prior, he received a bachelor's degree in Music Composition at Virginia Commonwealth University. While he learned from many composers in university and conservatory settings, Haab says that most of his music education comes simply from, "Playing in 100's of rock bands and being an avid fan of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Lucas and Spielberg films . . . "B" Horror Movies of the 70's and 80's . . . and all of their great scores."Compser-Star Wars:Battlefront(2015), Star Wars Battlefront II(2017) and Jedi:Fallen Order(2019)- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Michael Giacchino is an American composer of music for films, television and video games.
Giacchino composed the scores to the television series Lost, Alias and Fringe, the video game series Medal of Honor and Call of Duty and many films such as The Incredibles (2004), Star Trek (2009), Up (2009), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Jurassic World (2015), Inside Out (2015), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and Coco (2017).
For his work on Up he earned an Academy Award for Best Original Score.Composer -Rogue One:A Star Wars Story(2016)- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Actor
Paul Hirsch, A.C.E. has edited over 40 films, among them the first "Star Wars" written and directed by George Lucas, for which he received an Academy Award in 1978, and "The Empire Strikes Back"; 11 films for Brian De Palma, including "Carrie", "Blowout" and "Mission: Impossible"; four for Herbert Ross, including "Footloose", "The Secret of My Success" and "Steel Magnolias"; three for John Hughes, including "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Planes, Trains & Automobiles"; and "Falling Down" for Joel Schumacher. In 2005, he received his second Academy Award nomination for "Ray", a biopic based on the life of Ray Charles, directed by Taylor Hackford. The various genres in his resume include drama, action, horror, musical comedy, fantasy, suspense, mystery and comedy. In 2008, he reunited with Hackford on "Love Ranch." More recently, he edited "Source Code", directed by Duncan Jones, "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol", directed by Brad Bird, "Warcraft", his second picture with Duncan Jones, and has served as additional editor on numerous films. Hirsch was born in NYC. His father, Joseph Hirsch, was a well-known painter whose works are in the permanent collections of major museums in the US, including the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. His mother and stepfather, Ruth & Leonard Bocour, were important collectors of 20th Century American painting. He spent part of his childhood growing up in Paris and is fluent in French, as well as somewhat conversant in Italian and British. He studied music at the High School of Music & Art in NYC. He majored in Art History at Columbia University. He is married, with two grown offspring both in the film business, and lives in Pacific Palisades. He is the author of a memoir titled "A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away."Editor-A New Hope,The Empire Strikes Back- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Though he's cut celluloid for some of the best in the business, chances are many film lovers wouldn't even recognize the name Pietro Scalia in a lineup of Hollywood's best film editors. Born in Sicily in 1960, Scalia resided in Switzerland before heading to Los Angeles to continue his education. After receiving his M.F.A. in Film and Theater Arts from U.C.L.A. in 1985, Scalia began his career as an assistant editor to Oliver Stone on such features as Wall Street (1987) and Talk Radio (1988). Later coming into his own with such films as JFK (1991) (for which he received a Best Editing Oscar) and Sam Raimi's The Quick and the Dead (1995), Scalia continued to work on such high-profile films as Stealing Beauty (1996) and G.I. Jane (1997). Scalia also received Best Editor Oscar nominations for Good Will Hunting (1997) and Gladiator (2000), though he would have to wait until the following year for his next win at the Oscars, as he received the Best Editing Award for director Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001).Editor-Solo:A Star Wars Story(2018)- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Cinematographer
Richard Chew was born on 28 June 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an editor and cinematographer, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Conversation (1974). He is married to Liv Torgerson. He was previously married to Barbara Chew.Editor- A New Hope- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Producer
Marcia Lucas was born on 4 October 1945 in Modesto, California, USA. She is an editor and producer, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), American Graffiti (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976). She was previously married to Tom Rodrigues, George Lucas and George Michael Cooper.Editor -A New Hope,Empire Strikes Back- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Leigh Douglass Brackett was born in 1915 in Los Angeles. She was the author of numerous short stories and books regarding science fiction and has been referred to as the Queen of Space Opera. Hollywood director Howard Hawks was so impressed by one of her novels that he had his secretary call in "this guy Brackett" to help William Faulkner write the script for The Big Sleep (1946). As a screenwriter, she is best known for her work in The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo (1959), and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). She died of cancer in 1978 in Lancaster, California.Writer-The Empire Strikes Back- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Christopher John Weitz is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter who is known for Antz, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, American Pie, About a Boy, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and The Golden Compass. He is married to Mercedes Martinez since 2006 and has three children.Writer -Rogue One:A Star Wars Story(2016)- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Gary Whitta is known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), After Earth (2013) and The Book of Eli (2010).Writer-Story/ Writer/ Rogue One:A Star Wars Story(2016) and Star Wars Rebels(2014-18)- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Lawrence Kasdan is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He directed Body Heat, Grand Canyon, The Big Chill, Silverado and Dreamcatcher. He wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bodyguard, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens and Solo: A Star Wars Story. He is married to Meg Goldman since 1971 and has two sons.Writer/Consultant- The Empire Strikes Back,Return Of The Jedi,The Force Awakens and Solo:A Star Wars Story- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Chris Terrio is an American filmmaker and screenwriter who had written the Ben Affleck film Argo and the Zack Snyder DC Extended Universe films Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League before Joss Whedon rewrote the script during re-shoots when Snyder stepped down as director. Terrio's original screenplay was restored for Zack Snyder's Justice League, a critically acclaimed director's cut of the panned film.Co Writer- The Rise Of Skywalker- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Sound Department
T.M. Christopher is known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Howard the Duck (1986) and Willow (1988).Editor(The Empire Strikes Back,Return Of The Jedi)- Editor
- Director
- Editorial Department
Duwayne Dunham was born on 17 November 1952 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is an editor and director, known for Twin Peaks (1990), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). He has been married to Janet Louise Young since 3 September 1983. They have two children.Editor(Return Of The Jedi)- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sean Barton was born on 29 March 1944 in Hampton Court, Surrey, England, UK. He is an editor and assistant director, known for Mutant Chronicles (2008), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Chaos (2005).Editor(Return Of The Jedi)- Costume Designer
- Additional Crew
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
John Mollo was born on 18 March 1931 in Lambeth, London, England, UK. He was a costume designer, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Alien (1979). He was married to Louise Alexandra Mary Pongracz and Ann Mollo. He died on 25 October 2017.Costume Designer(A New Hope,Empire Strikes Back)- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Aggie Guerard Rodgers was born on 26 December 1943 in California, USA. She is a costume designer, known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Rent (2005) and The Color Purple (1985). She has been married to Peter Buckley Laxton since 29 June 1980. They have two children. She was previously married to David Rodgers.Costume Designer(Return Of The Jedi)- Producer
- Visual Effects
- Production Designer
Nilo Rodis-Jamero was born in Cebu, Philippines. He is known for Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).Costume Designer(Return Of The Jedi)- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Actor
Michael Kaplan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is known for Armageddon (1998), Blade Runner (1982) and Star Trek (2009).Costume Designer - The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi And The Rise Of Skywalker(2015-19))- Art Department
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
Glyn Dillon is known for The Batman (2022), The Creator (2023) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Costume Designer
David Crossman was born on 12 February 1970 in London, England, UK. He is a costume designer, known for The Batman (2022), Napoleon (2023) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016).^^
Costume Designers- Rogue One & Solo:A Star Wars Story- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Carrie first came to Lucasfilm in November 2012 as a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, with a focus on content strategy. At Lucasfilm, Carrie co-created the Emmy-nominated, animated series Star Wars Rebels and served as a producer on the show. She also produced the Emmy-nominated animated series LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. Currently as Vice President, she oversees all animated and live action series development on behalf of Lucasfilm, including Star Wars Resistance and Star Wars Forces of Destiny.
Carrie began her career at Dimension Films before joining MTV Films in 2003, where she became a feature development executive. When MTV Films was disbanded, she continued to develop projects with another producer, working on several features and executive producing the pilot for Ghosts/Aliens at Comedy Central. In 2011, driven by her curiosity around the future of storytelling, Carrie went to work at the Sundance Institute, putting together the very first New Frontier Story Lab. As the lead manager of that program, she collaborated with teams across the Institute to establish the innovative Lab offering interdisciplinary support to artists exploring the storytelling possibilities offered by new technologies.
Here at Lucasfilm, Carrie provides ongoing creative support to artists committed to excellence in storytelling.President/Creative Content Strategy- Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Visual Effects
Pablo Hidalgo was born on 12 October 1974 in Santiago de Chile, Chile. He is an actor, known for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015).Brand Commucations Manager-Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
Diana Williams is known for Monsters and Men (2018), Star Wars: Rebels (2014) and Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series - Episode II (2019).Producer/Franchise Synergy -Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Leland Chee was born on 1 March 1971 in San Mateo, California, USA. He is a writer, known for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Lego Star Wars: All-Stars (2018) and Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures (2016).Keeper Of The Holocron-Lucasfilm Story Group- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Kiri Hart is known for The Creator (2023), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017).Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Writer
Matt Martin is known for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017).Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Writer
Steve Blank is known for Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge (2020), Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021) and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019).Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Executive
Douglas Reilly oversees Lucasfilm's games and interactive business. He started with the company in 2006 as a member of the Business and Legal Affairs team and moved over to the interactive team in 2012.
Prior to joining Lucasfilm, Reilly spent over a decade in the interactive software industry at Cosmi Corporation, where he was Vice President and General Counsel and Broderbund/The Learning Company where he was Associate General Counsel. While at Broderbund/The Learning Company, Reilly led development and licensing deals for gaming franchises Myst, Prince of Persia and Close Combat, among others.
Reilly earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco, School of Law.Lucasfilm Story Group- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Director
Rayne Roberts has been a development executive at Lucasfilm since 2012. She was instrumental in the development and production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo, and The Rise of Skywalker. Her film background includes several years as a development executive at Gold Circle Films, a role as an Associate Producer on the award-winning documentary The Fair Trade, and time spent as a contributing Story Analyst for Alcon Entertainment, and The Kennedy/Marshall Company. Prior to working in film, Rayne produced and art-directed fashion, portrait, and documentary photography as a photo editor at Vibe Magazine, and also at Teen People Magazine. Roberts received her BFA in Photography & Imaging from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and holds a Certificate in Producing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.
Rayne continues to photograph and exhibit fine art photography, and in 2018 she directed her first short film, It's Snowing Outside.
Rayne is currently focused on developing new films for Lucasfilm's theatrical slate, and is also co-developing the upcoming Leslye Headland-created Star Wars series for Disney+.Lucasfilm Story Group- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.
The amiable, husky-framed actor with the tight, crinkly hair was born in Queens, New York on October 19, 1966, the only child of Madeleine (Balkoff), an elementary school teacher, and Charles Favreau, a special education teacher. His father has French-Canadian, German, and Italian ancestry, and his mother was from a Russian Jewish family. He attended the Bronx High School of Science before furthering his studies at Queens College in 1984. Dropping out just credits away from receiving his degree, Jon moved to Chicago where he focused on comedy and performed at several Chicago improvisational theaters, including the ImprovOlympic and the Improv Institute. He also found a couple of bit parts in films.
While there, he earned another bit role in the film, Rudy (1993), and met fellow cast mate Vince Vaughn. Their enduring personal friendship would play an instrumental role in furthering both their professional careers within just a few years. Jon broke into TV with a role on the classic series, Seinfeld (1989) (as "Eric the Clown"). After filming rudimentary roles in the movies Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), Notes from Underground (1995) and Batman Forever (1995), he decided to do some risk taking by writing himself and friend Vaughn into what would become their breakthrough film. Swingers (1996), which he also co-produced, centers on Jon as a luckless, struggling actor type who is emotionally shattered after losing his girlfriend, but is pushed back into the L.A. social scene via the help of cool, worldly, outgoing actor/buddy Vaughn. These two blueprint roles went on to define the character types of both actors on film.
In 1997, Jon appeared favorably on several episodes of the popular TV sitcom, Friends (1994), as "Pete Becker", the humdrum but extremely wealthy suitor for Courteney Cox's "Monica" character, and also appeared to fine advantage on the Tracey Takes On... (1996) comedy series. He later took on the biopic mini-movie, Rocky Marciano (1999), portraying the prizefighter himself in a highly challenging dramatic role and received excellent reviews. Other engagingly offbeat "everyman" films roles came Jon's way -- the ex-athlete in the working class film, Dogtown (1997); a soon-to-be groom whose bachelor party goes horribly awry in the comedy thriller Very Bad Things (1998); a newlywed opposite Famke Janssen in Love & Sex (2000); a wild and crazy linebacker in The Replacements (2000); as Ben Affleck's legal partner in Daredevil (2003); and another down-and-out actor in The Big Empty (2003). He wrote and directed himself and Vaughn as two fellow boxers who involve themselves in criminal activity in Made (2001). Both he and Vaughn produced. He also directed the highly popular Will Ferrell comedy Elf (2003), in which he had a small part.
Jon went on to re-team favorably with his friend, Vince Vaughn, who enjoyed a meteoric rise into the comedy star ranks, in such light-weight features as The Break-Up (2006), Four Christmases (2008) and Couples Retreat (2009), the last of which he co-wrote with Vaughn.
Jon has made even greater strides as a writer, producer and/or director in recent years with the exciting mega-box office action-packed Iron Man (2008), starring Robert Downey Jr., and its sequels, Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013). Jon's character of "Happy Hogan" would be featured in a number of Marvel Comic adventures. Other offerings behind the scenes have included the adventure dramedy Chef (2014), in which he also starred in the title role; the revamped film version of The Avengers (2012) also starring Downey Jr., and it's sequels Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019); and the animated Disney features The Jungle Book (2016) and The Lion King (2019) and the TV series The Chef Show (2019).
Favreau's marriage to Joya Tillem on November 24, 2000, produced son Max and two daughters, Madeleine and Brighton Rose. Joya is the niece of KGO (AM) lawyer and talk show host, Len Tillem. On the sly, the actor/writer/producer/director enjoys playing on the World Poker Tour.Showrunner/Producer/Writer - The Mandalorian(2019-Present),The Book Of Boba Fett(2022), Ahsoka(2023), Untitled Mandoverse Film- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Philip A. Lord is an American filmmaker, producer and writer who collaborates with Christopher Miller. They both worked on Clone High, a cult classic animated sci-fi teen comedy show, The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Into the Spider-Verse is considered one of the best animated films of the 2010s and won Best Animated Feature.Executive Producer-Solo:A Star Wars Story(2018)- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Christopher Miller is an American filmmaker, producer and writer who collaborates with Philip A. Lord. They both worked on Clone High, a cult classic animated sci-fi teen comedy show, The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Into the Spider-Verse is considered one of the best animated films of the 2010s and won Best Animated Feature.^- Director
- Actress
- Producer
Born and raised in New York, Mahoney developed her debut feature film "Yelling to the Sky" through the Directors and Screenwriters Sundance Institute Labs and was named an Auerbach Fellow, Annenberg Fellow, Cinereach Fellow, Maryland Fellow, Tribeca Fellow and IFP Narrative Lab fellow. She was named one of, "25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine, one of ShadowAndAct/IndieWire's "Filmmakers to Watch" and one of, "3 Filmmakers to Watch" in Elle Magazine's, Women In Hollywood issue.
Yelling to the Sky, World Premiered in 'Main Competition' at the Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Bear.
In 2018, JJ Abrams hired Victoria to direct second unit for him on Star Wars Ep IX "The Rise of Skywalker".
Victoria is an AMPAS and BAFTA member.2nd Unit Director -Star Wars:The Rise Of Skywalker- Writer
- Producer
- Music Department
Nicole Dubuc was born on 6 November 1978 in Orange County, California, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Transformers: Rescue Bots (2011), R.L. Stine's the Haunting Hour (2010) and Young Justice (2010). She has been married to Brian Hohlfeld since 31 May 2014.Writer/Showrunner -Star Wars:Forces Of Destiny(2018)- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Dan Mindel was born on 27 May 1958 in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Spy Game (2001), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). He has been married to Lisa Fallon since 6 June 1992. They have four children. He was previously married to Paula Hamilton.Cinematographer- The Force Awakens & The Rise Of Skywalker- Editor
- Director
- Actor
Stefan Grube is known for 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) and Prey (2022).Editor-The Rise Of Skywalker(2019)- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Casting Department
As Senior Vice President of Live Action Development & Production, Michelle Rejwan oversees all theatrical and direct-to-consumer live-action content and is responsible for identifying and delivering future projects for Lucasfilm. Working closely with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, Rejwan shapes and implements the creative strategy for Star Wars and Lucasfilm.
Rejwan is currently producing the final installment of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams. During her time at Bad Robot productions in Los Angeles, Rejwan served as Co-Producer on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Trek Into Darkness and Associate Producer on Super 8. Rejwan has been a key member of the Lucasfilm Creative Brain Trust since 2015.Co-Producer/Producer- The Force Awakens & The Rise Of Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)- Writer
- Producer
- Director
David S. Goyer was born on 22 December 1965 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Dark City (1998), The Dark Knight (2008) and Batman Begins (2005). He is married to Marina Black. They have two children. He was previously married to Jessika Borsiczky.Writer- Shadows Of The Empire/ Vader Immortal- Dylan McGill was born on 9 April 2003 in Perth, Australia.Composer-Star Wars:Resistance(2018-2020)
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and is the son of Robin (Cohen), a teacher, and Taika Waititi, an artist and farmer. His father is Maori (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui), and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish, Scottish, and English descent. Taika has been involved in the film industry for several years, initially as an actor, and now focusing on writing and directing.
Two Cars, One Night is Taika's first professional film-making effort and since its completion in 2003 he has finished another short "Tama Tu" about a group of Maori Soldiers in Italy during World War 2. As a performer and comedian, Taika has been involved in some of the most innovative and successful original productions seen in New Zealand. He regularly does stand-up gigs in and around the country and in 2004 launched his solo production, "Taika's Incredible Show". In 2005 he staged the sequel, "Taika's Incrediblerer Show". As an actor, Taika has been critically acclaimed for both his Comedic and Dramatic abilities. In 2000 he was nominated for Best Actor at the Nokia Film Awards for his role in the Sarkies Brother's film "Scarfies".
Taika is also an experienced painter and photographer, having exhibited both mediums in Wellington and Berlin, and a fashion designer. He attended the Sundance Writers Lab with "Choice", a feature loosely based on "Two Cars, One Night".
Taika became a blockbuster director with his film Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and received critical acclaim, and a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, for his film Jojo Rabbit (2019).Director-The Mandalorian(2019-Present) , Co- Writer Untitled Star Wars Film- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Rick Famuyiwa was born on 18 June 1973 in the USA. He is a producer and director, known for Dope (2015), The Mandalorian (2019) and The Chi (2018). He has been married to Gienita Mosley since 1999.Director-The Mandalorian(2019-Present)- Director
- Producer
- Actress
Deborah Chow is known for The High Cost of Living (2010), Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) and The Mandalorian (2019).Director-The Mandalorian(2019-Present)
Showrunner-Obi Wan Kenobi(2022)- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Bryce Dallas Howard was born on March 2, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. She was conceived in Dallas, Texas (the reason for her middle name). Her father, Ron Howard, is a former actor turned Oscar-winning director. Her mother is actress and writer Cheryl Howard (née Alley). Her famous relatives include her uncle, actor Clint Howard, and her grandparents, actors Rance Howard and Jean Speegle Howard. She also has two younger twin sisters, Jocelyn and Paige Howard (also an actress), born in 1985, and a brother, Reed Howard, born in 1987. Her ancestry includes German, English, Scottish, and Irish.
Howard was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, because her parents decided to raise their four children as far away from the trappings of showbiz milieu as possible. During most of her childhood, she really did not have much access to a TV. She attended Greenwich Country Day School, and Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York. At that time, she discovered existentialism and devoured books by Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. She attended the prestigious Steppenwolf School and Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts camp at Catskills, together with her friend, Natalie Portman. She applied to drama school as Bryce Dallas, dropping her last name to eschew special treatment because of association with her renowned father. From 1999-2003, she studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory and at the New York University Tisch School of Arts and graduated with a BFA degree in Drama in 2003. At that time, she performed in Broadway productions of classical plays by George Bernard Shaw, William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov.
Young Howard appeared in three of her father's films as an extra, including her appearance as a child together with her mother in Apollo 13 (1995). She made her feature-film debut as Heather, a supporting role in Book of Love (2004) by director Alan Brown. Director M. Night Shyamalan was impressed by her performance in a Broadway play and cast her, without an audition, as a female lead in his two thrillers: The Village (2004) and Lady in the Water (2006). Howard replaced Nicole Kidman in the Dogville (2003) sequel, Manderlay (2005). She starred as Rosalind in As You Like It (2006), a reprise of her stage role that made such an impression on Shyamalan. She also played Gwen Stacy in the third installment of the Spider-Man franchise, Spider-Man 3 (2007), and the female lead, Claire, in the sequel Jurassic World (2015). Both films broke the records for highest openings weekends at the time of their release. Among Bryce's other major films are Terminator Salvation (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Help (2011), and 50/50 (2011).
Howard became a devoted vegan, after Joaquin Phoenix showed her Earthlings (2005), a documentary about animal cruelty. After seeing that, she has consumed no animal products, not even milk or eggs. Her other activities outside of the acting profession include playing basketball and writing.
On June 17, 2006, in Connecticut, she married her long-time boyfriend, actor Seth Gabel, whom she met at New York University and had dated for five years. On February 16, 2007, Bryce and her husband, Seth, became parents of their first child, a son named Theodore Norman Howard Gabel. Their second child, a daughter named Beatrice Jean Howard Gabel, was born on January 19, 2012.Director-The Mandalorian(2019-Present), The Book of Boba Fett(2022) and Skeleton Crew(2023)- Producer
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- Editorial Department
Executive Producer-The Mandalorian(2019-Present)- Producer
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Co-Executive Producer-The Mandalorian(2019-Present)- Additional Crew
- Producer
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Jason McGatlin is known for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Planet of the Apes (2001).Executive Producer-The Force Awakens,Rogue One,The Last Jedi,Solo and The Rise Of Skywalker- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
Ludwig Göransson is a Swedish composer known for composing Black Panther, the Creed films, Venom, Fruitvale Station, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Turning Red, New Girl, Community, Top Five, Central Intelligence, 30 Minutes or Less and Tenet. He had a son from Serena McKinney, who was married to him since 2018.Composer-The Mandalorian(2019-)- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Stephen Barton was born on 17 September 1982 in Preston, England, UK. He is a composer, known for Star Trek: Picard (2020), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) and Apex Legends (2019).Composer-Jedi:Fallen Order(2019)- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Born September 30, 1979, Jonathan Peter Kasdan's first acting performance in a major motion picture was at the tender age of 3 in "The Big Chill" as the son of Harold, played by Kevin Kline.
Then at age 5, Jonathan Kasdan went on to play an outpost boy in what many critics consider to be the best Western of the 1980s: "Silverado," also starring Kevin Kline as misfit-turned-sheriff Payden, Kevin Costner's character, Jake, Scott Glenn's portrayal of Emmett, and of course, Danny Glover as Malcolm "Mal" Johnson, in their oft awkward efforts to bring justice to the Old American West.
Jon played the 'boy' in a doctor's office in "The Accidental Tourist" alongside William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis.
In 1990 Jon was a lovable Dominic in the John Kostmayer comedy "I Love You to Death," again with Kevin Kline.
But instead of having a big breakaway role in the 1994 neo-classic Western "Wyatt Earp," the 14-year-old played the role of Bar Boy with leading man Kevin Kline. Alas, Jon had to settle for winning the trifecta of his third-in-a-row boy role.
In 2002, he acted in two films as a trainee in "Big Trouble" and Barry in "Slackers".
Continuing the dream in 2003, Jon played a bit part as Defuniak in "Dreamcatcher" with Morgan Freeman.
But in 2007 Jon Kasdan bypassed mere acting, taking the helm of the dramatic romantic comedy, "In the Land of Woman," as its 27-year-old writer/director. In an impressive finish for his directorial debut, his $11 million budget movie earned $12 million at the box office.
Then lightning struck twice as 32-year-old Jonathan Kasdan had two films released the same week in January of 2012, as writer/director of "The First Time" with Dylan O'Brien and Britt Robertson, and back as an actor in the role of Officiant in the Sony Pictures Classics "Darling Companion" with Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline who all got upstaged by a dog named Freeway.
But if anything, Jonathan Kasdan is a survivor. Having been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 17, he went on to act, direct and write films. His television presence is memorable as an actor in Dawson's Creek and noteworthy is his writing of Freaks and Geeks.
Jonathan is the brother of actor Jake Kasdan and son of Lawrence and Meg Kasdan, both famous directors and writers who, remarkably, have been married since 1971.
And what's next for Jon Kasdan? And action Comedy called "My Spy" co-written with his brother Jake. Oh, and a yet unnamed 2018 Han Solo Star Wars Anthology starring Alden Ehrenreich as Han, where Jon shares the screenplay credit with his father Lawrence Kasdan.
It all goes to show that in an industry that sometimes is faulted for having a dearth in creativity, with a family like the Kasdans, there's hope for Hollywood.Co-Writer Solo:A Star Wars Story(2018)- Producer
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Kevin Feige is an American film producer who has produced every Marvel Cinematic Universe film since Iron Man. He got his start as an associate and executive producer for the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, Daredevil, The Punisher, Ang Lee's Hulk, the original X-Men trilogy, Blade: Trinity and Tim Story's Fantastic Four films. Avengers: Endgame, one of his produced films is one of the highest grossing superhero films.Producer-Untitled Kennedy/Feige Star Wars One Shot Theatrical Film- Writer
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Tony Gilroy was born in Manhattan, New York, New York, USA; and raised in upstate New York. His father, Frank D. Gilroy, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, director, and screenwriter. Tony has penned many films, including The Devil's Advocate (1997) and The Cutting Edge (1992).Showrunner- Star Wars:Andor(2022-2024)- Ashley Boone was born on 8 December 1938 in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He died on 1 May 1994 in Santa Monica, California, USA.Marketing
- Additional Crew
- Executive
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Asad Ayaz is known for Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) and Encanto (2021).Marketing- Producer
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Robert Anthony Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, USA, to Rebecca (Villegas), a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. His family is of Mexican descent.
Of all the people to be amazed by the images of John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi parable, Escape from New York (1981), none were as captivated as the 12-year-old Rodriguez, who sat with his friends in a crowded cinema. Many people watch films and arrogantly proclaim "I can do that." This young man said something different: "I WILL do that. I'm gonna make movies." That day was the catalyst of his dream career. Born and raised in Texas, Robert was the middle child of a family that would include 10 children. While many a child would easily succumb to a Jan Brady sense of being lost in the shuffle, Robert always stood out as a very creative and very active young man. An artist by nature, he was very rarely seen sans pencil-in-hand doodling some abstract (yet astounding) dramatic feature on a piece of paper. His mother, not a fan of the "dreary" cinema of the 1970s, instills a sense of cinema in her children by taking them on weekly trips to San Antonio's famed Olmos Theatre movie house and treats them to a healthy dose of Hollywood's "Golden Age" wonders, from Sergio Leone to the silent classic of Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
In a short amount of time, young Robert finds the family's old Super-8 film camera and makes his first films. The genres are unlimited: action, sci-fi, horror, drama, stop-motion animation. He uses props from around the house, settings from around town, and makes use of the largest cast and crew at his disposal: his family. At the end of the decade, his father, a salesman, brings home the latest home-made technological wonder: a VCR, and with it (as a gift from the manufacturer) a video camera. With this new equipment at his disposal, he makes movies his entire life. He screens the movies for friends, all of whom desperately want to star in the next one. He gains a reputation in the neighborhood as "the kid who makes movies". Rather than handing in term papers, he is allowed to hand in "term movies" because, as he himself explains, "[the teachers] knew I'd put more effort into a movie than I ever would into an essay." He starts his own comic strip, "Los Hooligans". His movies win every local film competition and festival. When low academic grades threaten to keep him out of UT Austin's renowned film department, he proves his worth the only way he knows how: he makes a movie. Three, in fact: trilogy of short movies called "Austin Stories" starring his siblings. It beats the entries of the school's top students and allows Robert to enter the program. After being accepted into the film department, Robert takes $400 of his own money to make his "biggest" film yet: a 16mm short comedy/fantasy called Bedhead (1991).
Pouring every idea and camera trick he knew into the short, it went on to win multiple awards. After meeting and marrying fellow Austin resident Elizabeth Avellan, Robert comes up with a crazy idea: he will sell his body to science in order to finance his first feature-length picture (a Mexican action adventure about a guitarist with no name looking for work but getting caught up in a shoot-'em-up adventure) that he will sell to the Spanish video market and use as an entry point to a lucrative Hollywood career. With his "guinea pig" money he raises a mere $7,000 and creates El Mariachi (1992). But rather than lingering in obscurity, the film finds its way to the Sundance film festival where it becomes an instant favorite, wins Robert a distribution deal with Columbia Pictures and turns him into an icon among would-be film-makers the world over. Not one to rest on his laurels, he immediately helms the straight-to-cable movie Roadracers (1994) and contributes a segment to the anthology comedy Four Rooms (1995) (his will be the most lauded segment).
His first "genuine" studio effort would soon have people referring to him as "John Woo from south-of-the-border". It is the "Mariachi" remake/sequel Desperado (1995). More lavish and action-packed than its own predecessor, the movie--while not a blockbuster hit--does decent business and launches the American film careers of Antonio Banderas as the guitarist-turned-gunslinger and Salma Hayek as his love interest (the two would star in several of his movies from then on). It also furthers the director's reputation of working on low budgets to create big results. In the year when movies like Batman Forever (1995) and GoldenEye (1995) were pushing budgets past the $100 million mark, Rodriguez brought in "Desperado" for just under $7 million. The film also featured a cameo by fellow indie film wunderkind, Quentin Tarantino. It would be the beginning of a long friendship between the two sprinkled with numerous collaborations. Most notable the Tarantino-penned vampire schlock-fest From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). The kitschy flick (about a pair of criminal brothers on the run from the Texas Rangers, only to find themselves in a vamp-infested Mexican bar) became an instant cult favorite and launched the lucrative film career of ER (1994) star George Clooney.
After a two-year break from directing (primarily to spend with his family, but also developing story ideas and declining Hollywood offers) he returned to "Dusk till Dawn" territory with the teen sci-fi/horror movie The Faculty (1998), written by Scream (1996) writer, Kevin Williamson. Although it's developed a small following of its own, it would prove to be Robert's least-successful film. Critics and fans alike took issue with the pedestrian script, the off-kilter casting and the flick's blatant over-commercialization (due to a marketing deal with clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger). After another three-year break, Rodriguez returned to make his most successful (and most unexpected) movie yet, based on his own segment from Four Rooms (1995). After a string of bloody, adult-oriented action fare, no one anticipated him to write and direct the colorful and creative Spy Kids (2001), a movie about a pair of prepubescent Latino sibs who discover that their lame parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) are actually two of the world's greatest secret agents. The film was hit among both audiences and critics alike.
After quitting the Writers' Guild of America and being introduced to digital filmmaking by George Lucas, Robert immediately applied the creative, flexible (and cost-effective) technology to every one of his movies from then on, starting with an immediate sequel to his family friendly hit: Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) which was THEN immediately followed by the trilogy-capper Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003). The latter would prove to be the most financially-lucrative of the series and employ the long-banished movie gimmick of 3-D with eye-popping results. Later the same year Rodriguez career came full circle when he completed the final entry of the story that made brought him to prominence: "El Mariachi". The last chapter, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), would be his most direct homage to the Sergio Leone westerns he grew up on. With a cast boasting Antonio Banderas (returning as the gunslinging guitarist), Johnny Depp (as a corrupt CIA agent attempting to manipulate him), Salma Hayek, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe and Eva Mendes, the film delivered even more of the Mexican shoot-'em-up spectacle than both of the previous films combined.
Now given his choice of movies to do next, Robert sought out famed comic book writer/artist Frank Miller, a man who had been very vocal of never letting his works be adapted for the screen. Even so, he was wholeheartedly convinced and elated when Rodriguez presented him with a plan to turn Miller's signature work into the film Sin City (2005). A collection of noir-ish tales set in a fictional, crime-ridden slum, the movie boasted the largest cast Rodriguez had worked with to that date. Saying he didn't want to mere "adapt" Miller's comics but "translate" them, Rodriguez' insistence that Miller co-direct the movie lead to Robert's resignation from the Director's Guild of America (and his subsequent dismissal from the film John Carter (2012) as a result). Many critics cited that Sin City was created as a pure film noir piece to adapt Miller's comics onto the screen. Co-directing with Frank Miller and bringing in Quentin Tarantino to guest-direct a scene allowed Rodriguez to again shock Hollywood with his talent.
In late 2007, Rodriguez again teamed up with his friend Tarantino to create the double feature Grindhouse (2007). Rodriguez's offering, Planet Terror (2007), was a film made to be "hardcore, extreme, sex-fueled, action-packed." Rodriguez flirts with his passion to make a showy film exploiting all of his experience to make an extremely entertaining thrill ride. The film is encompassed around Cherry (Rose McGowan), a reluctant go-go dancer who is found wanting when she meets her ex-lover El Wray (played by Freddy Rodríguez) who turns up at a local BBQ grill. They then, after a turn of events, find themselves fending off brain-eating zombies whilst trying to flee to Mexico (here we go off to Mexico again). Apart from directing, Rodriguez also involves himself in camera work, editing and composing music for his movies' sound tracks (he composed Planet Terror's main theme). He also shoots a lot of his own action scenes to get a direct idea from his eye as the director into the film. In El Mariachi (1992), Rodriguez spent hours in front of a pay-to-use, computer editing his film. This allowed him to capture the ideal footage exactly as he wanted it. Away from the filming aspect of Hollywood, Rodriguez is an expert chef who cooks gourmet meals for the cast and crew. Rodriguez is also known for his ability to turn a low-budgeted film with a small crew into an example of film mastery. El mariachi was "the movie made on seven grand" and still managed to rank as one of Rodriguez' best films (receiving a rating of 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes film review site).
Because Rodriguez is involved so deeply in his films, he is able to capture what he wants first time, which saves both time and money. Rodriguez's films share some similar threads and ideas, whilst also having differences. In El Mariachi (1992), he uses a hand-held camera. He made this decision for several reasons. First, he couldn't afford a tripod and secondly, he wanted to make the audience more aware of the action. In the action sequences he is given more mobility with a hand-held camera and also allows for distortion of the unprofessional action sequences (because the cost of all special effects in the film totaled $600). However, in Sin City (2005) and Planet Terror (2007), the budget was much greater, and Rodriguez could afford to spend more on special affects (especially since both films were filmed predominately with green screen) and, thus, there was no need to cover for error.
Playing by his own rules or not at all, Robert Rodriguez has redefined what a filmmaker can or cannot do. Shunning Hollywood's ridiculously high budgets, multi-picture deals and the two most powerful unions for the sake of maintaining creative freedom are decisions that would (and have) cost many directors their careers. Rodriguez has turned these into his strengths, creating some of the most imaginative works the big-screen has ever seen.Director- The Mandalorian & The Book Of Boba Fett- Actor
- Director
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Carl Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A famous and successful football star at San Diego State, he played with the Oakland Raiders and retired from the sport in 1974, in order to give full attention to his goal: to be a real actor.
Weathers first played small parts in two blaxploitation flicks, Friday Foster (1975) (in which he played "Yarbro") and Bucktown (1975) (playing "Hambone"), both made in 1975 and directed by Arthur Marks. However, his big break came the following year when producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff chose him to play "Apollo Creed" in the blockbuster "sleeper" Rocky (1976) (real-life boxing legend Ken Norton was originally signed for the part, but it eventually went to Weathers). He went on to play "Creed" in three other "Rocky" movies, and the characters' adversarial relationship eventually evolved into a warm friendship. After Creed's death in Rocky IV (1985), Weathers met with producer Joel Silver and agreed to play an important supporting role in Predator (1987), an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The following year, Silver produced Action Jackson (1988), a first starring role for Weathers, but it performed poorly at the box office and was panned by the critics.
During the 1990s, Weathers starred in four In the Heat of the Night (1988) two-hour TV specials that were much better received by critics and viewers alike. In 1996, he played the part of "Chubbs Peterson" in the blockbuster Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore (1996). He returned to his "action roots" in two TV-movies with Hulk Hogan: Assault on Devil's Island (1997) and Assault on Death Mountain (1999).
In addition to his acting career, Weathers is also a member of the Big Brothers Association and the U.S. Olympic Committee, handling the career of athletes of various sports such as gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and judo.Director -The Mandalorian- Producer
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Stephen Schiff was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Stephen is a producer and writer, known for The Americans (2013), Andor (2022) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010).writer-Star Wars Andor(2022)- Producer
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- Director
Leslye Headland was born on 26 November 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Bachelorette (2012), Sleeping with Other People (2015) and Russian Doll (2019). She has been married to Rebecca Henderson since 18 September 2016. They have one child.Showrunner-The Acolyte(2024)- Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA Award-winning screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns was born in Glasgow, she attended the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Filmmaking, and the National Film and Television School, where she earned her MFA in Screenwriting. Shortly after graduating from the NFTS, she sold her first film script, AETHER, to FilmNation and joined John Logan for the third and final season of Showtime's PENNY DREADFUL.
1917, which she co-wrote with director Sam Mendes for Amblin and Universal, earned Krysty an Academy Award and Writers Guild Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay. The film won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year and, in addition to Best Original Screenplay, was nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Motion Picture and the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture, Drama.
She recently co-wrote with director Edgar Wright the BAFTA-nominated, psychological thriller LAST NIGHT IN SOHO for Focus Features, which starred Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie and Matt Smith.
Krysty's latest film is the BAFTA-nominated thriller THE GOOD NURSE based on the book by Charles Graeber, starring Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Chastain, Nnamdi Asomugha, Noah Emmerich and Kim Dickens. Premiered in 2022, the film, which marks Krysty's first sole writing credit, tells the true story of the pursuit and capture of Charles Cullen, one of the most prolific serial killers in history who is suspected of murdering up to 400 patients during his 16-year career as a nurse.
In 2020, Krysty formed Great Company Entertainment in partnership with Universal Pictures to create and develop high caliber entertainment, scripts and original concepts while collaborating with top talent. She has several projects in various stages of development and production under her banner, including an untitled projects with Margot Robbie's LuckyChap Entertainment, and AETHER for Genre Pictures and AppleTV+.Co-Writer Untitled Star Wars film - Director
- Producer
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Peyton Reed is an American film director, screenwriter and producer who is known for directing Bring It On, Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He also directed Yes Man, Down with Love and The Break-Up. He directed episodes of The Mandalorian and Back to the Future.Director-The Mandalorian- Director
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Toby Haynes is working on the as yet un-named Star Wars: Cassian Andor series for Disney+. In 2020, he was nominated by BAFTA for his work on Brexit: The Uncivil War for both Best Director and Best Single Film. Brexit written by James Graham and starring Benedict Cumberbatch was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie in 2019.
In 2019, Toby's Black Mirror episode USS Callister received seven Emmy nominations and went on to win four, including Outstanding Television Movie. He also won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) for his work on the acclaimed Doctor Who season five finale, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.
Toby directed and exec produced all seven episodes of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell for Cuba Pictures and BBC ONE. This project received four BAFTA nominations and went on to win two.
Toby's audacious finale to series 2 of Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall ignited a media frenzy around Sherlock's apparent death plunge. Andrew Scott went on to win a best supporting actor BAFTA for his work in the episode. In his review of the episode Andrew Billen of The Times wrote, "This detective story so transcended its genre, it should be considered alongside British TV drama's highest achievements."
Toby has opened a number of hit series for the BBC including The Musketeers starring Peter Capaldi, Tom Burke and Denise Gough; Being Human - winner of the Broadcast Award for Best New Programme, starring Aidan Turner, Leonora Crichlow and Russell Tovey; and the acclaimed series three finale of Wallander: An Event in Autumn, starring Kenneth Branagh.Director-Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)- Writer
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Joby Harold is known for Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022), Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) and Edge of Tomorrow (2014). He has been married to Tory Tunnell since 14 April 2001. They have three children.Writer -Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)- Casting Director
- Casting Department
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Carmen Cuba's career began in 1999 with filmmaker Larry Clark (Bully and Ken Park) which led to a long-standing collaboration with Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh casting everything from his experimental film Bubble to last year's Magic Mike's Last Dance. Additionally, her work with Ridley Scott includes The Martian, Alien Covenant, All the Money in the World. Cuba's recent film highlights include: Leos Carax's Annette, The Matrix Resurrection by Lana Wachowski, The Power of the Dog by Jane Campion and NOPE by Jordan Peele. In 2022 she worked on Pedro Almodovar's first English-language film, Madonna's autobiographical epic, as well as Zoe Kravitz and Finn Wolfhard's feature directorial debuts, and Haunted Mansion for Justin Simien.
In television she has worked with filmmakers Soderbergh (Behind the Candelabra, The Knick), Luca Guadagnino (We Are Who We Are), Alex Garland (Devs), Patty Jenkins (I Am The Night), and on highly acclaimed series by Tarrell McCraney (David Makes Man), Tanya Saracho (Vida), Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience), Lena Waithe (The Chi) and Andrew Haigh (Looking) as well as on all four seasons of Stranger Things with the Duffer Brothers. 2023 highlights are Swarm for Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, and another Glover series Mr. and Mrs Smith, as well as Soderbergh's upcoming limited series Full Circle, the Star Wars series The Acolyte for Leslye Headland, and the Marvel limited series Wonder Man for Destin Cretton all in post.
Among other awards and nominations, she's been nominated for five Emmys for Outstanding Casting, winning one for Behind the Candelabra and another for Stranger Things.Casting-Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)- Director
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Patty Jenkins is a writer/director best known for directing Wonder Woman, the Warner Bros./DC Comics blockbuster of 2017, and her debut feature Monster. Patty also works in television where she is best known for the pilot and finale episode of AMC's hit show The Killing.
Patty began her career as a painter at The Cooper Union in New York City. Upon transitioning to filmmaking, she spent eight years as an Assistant Camera Person/Focus Puller on commercials and music videos. After attending the AFI in Los Angeles, she wrote and directed Monster.
Roger Ebert named Monster as The #1 Best Film of 2004 and #3 Best Film of the decade. AFI named it on the Ten Best Films of the Year. Patty also garnered a number of awards and nominations, including winning Best First Feature at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. Charlize Theron went on to sweep the awards circuit winning the Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG Award, and numerous critics' awards in the Best Actress category.
Jenkins went on to direct many commercials and TV programs including Fox's Arrested Development and HBO's Entourage and the pilot episodes for ABC's Betrayal and Exposed. She won the DGA award for best directing for The Killing pilot, as well as being nominated for an Emmy. She also received an Emmy nomination for her work on the final segment of FIVE - a series of short films about breast cancer.
In 2017, Jenkins broke the record for Biggest Grossing Live-Action Film Directed by a Woman, Domestic and Worldwide, with Wonder Woman. The film also received critical acclaim, broke several records and went on to become highest grossing film of the summer of 2017.Director-Star Wars:Rogue Squadron(????)- Composer
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Natalie Holt is a multi-award-winning British composer, known for her work on Marvel Studios' Loki and the acclaimed Lucasfilm series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Upcoming projects include DC's Batgirl as well as Fox's female super hero feature The Princess.
Her film and television credits include the BAFTA Award-winning series Wallander (BBC), Knightfall (History Channel), the BAFTA Award-winning series Three Girls (BBC), mini-series Deadwater Fell, the Emmy Award-nominated series The Honourable Woman (HBO Max), Victoria (PBS), Saul Dibb's World War I feature Journey's End, and the Netflix/Claudia Llosa's drama feature Fever Dream, to name just a few.
Natalie's numerous awards nominations and wins include the Primetime Emmy Awards, World Soundtrack Awards' "Television Composer of the Year", BAFTA, SCL Awards, the Royal Television Society Craft and Design Award, the HMMAs, and "Best International Score" at the Beijing International Film Festival.Composer -Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)- Composer
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Three-time Academy Award-nominated composer and pianist Nicholas Britell is known for his critically acclaimed scores on feature films with Academy Award winning writer-directors Barry Jenkins and Adam McKay. In 2018, Britell wrote the highly acclaimed score for Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk. Britell received his second Academy Award nomination as well as BAFTA and Critics' Choice nominations for the score and was awarded Best Original Score by numerous critics' groups, including LA, Boston, Chicago, and Washington DC Film Critics Associations, New York Film Critics Online, and the Online Film Critics Association. In 2018, he also wrote the score for McKay's Vice, starring Christian Bale, which went on to receive eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Britell's most recent film work is the score for Netflix's The King, starring Timothée Chalamet. In 2019, Britell was honored by the World Soundtrack Awards as the Film Composer of the Year for his scores for If Beale Street Could Talk and Vice.
In 2016, Britell was responsible for the world-renowned score for Best Picture winner Moonlight, written and directed by Jenkins. Britell received his first Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Critics' Choice nominations for Moonlight as well as the 2016 Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score (Dramatic Feature). The year prior, he wrote the score for McKay's much-nominated The Big Short, based on Michael Lewis's best-selling book.
For television, Britell re-teamed with McKay for the HBO series Succession. McKay directed the pilot and executive produces along with writer-showrunner Jesse Armstrong. Britell won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme as well as the 2018 Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score (TV Show/Limited Series) for Succession Season 1. Britell's score and main title theme have become some of the most talked about music for television on social media, with audience demand leading Britell to produce a remix of the main title theme with lyrics from legendary hip-hop artist Pusha-T (their remix ''Puppets" was released in October 2019 by Def Jam Recordings).
Britell's upcoming projects include writing the score for Amazon's Underground Railroad series, directed and adapted by Barry Jenkins from Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. He is also composing the score for Succession's upcoming Season 3 on HBO.
Britell's music featured in Steve McQueen's Best Picture winning 12 Years A Slave, for which he composed, researched, and arranged the on-camera music, including the violin performances, spiritual songs, work songs, and dances. He went on to work with McQueen on McQueen's art installation Caribs' Leap, which featured as part of the "Master of Light - Robby Müller" retrospective at the Eye film museum in Amsterdam. Other original film score credits include Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton's Battle of the Sexes, for which he also wrote and produced original song, "If I Dare" with singer Sara Bareilles; Natalie Portman's A Tale of Love and Darkness; Adam Leon's Gimme the Loot (winner of the 2012 SXSW Grand Jury Prize); Leon's Tramps; Gary Ross' Free State of Jones, and Jack Pettibone Riccobono's documentary The Seventh Fire.
In 2017, Britell won the Discovery of the Year Award at the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent, Belgium and also received the Distinguished Composer Award from the Middleburg Film Festival. In May 2019, he was awarded - with music supervisor Gabe Hilfer - the first-ever ASCAP Harmony Award celebrating outstanding collaborative achievement between composers and music supervisors for If Beale Street Could Talk. In 2012, he was the recipient of a Henry Mancini Fellowship from the ASCAP Foundation and also won the ASCAP/Doddle Award for Collaborative Achievement.
Britell is a Steinway Artist and is also a Creative Associate of the Juilliard School; he speaks often and gives masterclasses at conservatories and universities including the Eastman Conservatory, Harvard University, Columbia University, New York University, the Mannes School of Music, and Vassar College. In December 2018, it was announced that Britell will be part of Esa-Pekka Salonen's newly formed creative collective "brain trust" as Salonen takes the reins as music director of the San Francisco Symphony. His recent public performances have included concerts at London's Barbican Hall, the Million Dollar Theatre in Los Angeles, Chicago's Ravinia, and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
As a producer, Britell produced Damien Chazelle's short film Whiplash, which won the Jury Award for Best US Fiction Short at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Following the initial success of the short, he served as co-producer on the Oscar-nominated feature film Whiplash which won Sundance's 2014 Jury Prize and Audience Award.
Britell is an honors and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard University, as well as a piano performance graduate of the Juilliard School's Pre-College Division. He returned in May 2016 as the Pre-College's commencement speaker.Composer-Andor(2022-2024)- Producer
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