- Notes provided by Warner Bros. -

Directed by Kevin Smith, Cop Out features two longtime NYPD partners on the trail of a stolen, rare, mint-condition baseball card who find themselves up against a merciless, memorabilia-obsessed gangster. But before they can recover the prized `52 Pafko, they must first rescue a Mexican beauty who holds the key to millions of dollars in off-shore bank accounts-and who has already witnessed one high-profile murder because of them.
Veteran detective Jimmy Monroe (Bruce Willis) needs to cash in on his perfect Pafko in order to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding, but in the tradition of everything that can go wrong...it's pilfered before he has a chance to collect. Paul Hodges (Tracy Morgan) is Jimmy's ``partner-against-crime, whose preoccupation with his wife's alleged infidelity makes it hard for him to keep his eye on the ball, or his mind on the crime. Already in trouble and with nothing left to lose, Jimmy and Paul will have to break all the rules-including enlisting the aid of stoner thief Dave (Seann William Scott), who's working Paul's last nerve as Paul and Jimmy try to work the case.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, A Marc Platt Production, ``Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith from a screenplay by Robb Cullen & Mark Cullen, and starring Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Adam Brody, Kevin Pollak, Guillermo Diaz, Ana de la Reguera and Seann William Scott. The film is produced by Marc Platt, Polly Johnsen and Michael Tadross. Adam Siegel, Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen serve as executive producers.
The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography David Klein, production designer Michael Shaw, costume designer Juliet Polcsa and Academy Award(R)-nominated composer Harold Faltermeyer. As he frequently does, Smith serves as his own editor on the film.
``Cop Out will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film, scheduled for release on February 26, 2010, is rated R by the MPAA for "pervasive language including sexual references, violence and brief sexuality."
www.copoutmovie.com
For downloadable general press information, please visit: http://press.warnerbros.com
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
CAPTAIN ROMANS
``There's a right way to do
police work, and a wrong way.
Then there's the way you two do it.

``Cop Out stars action favorite Bruce Willis and comedy king Tracy Morgan as Brooklyn-based NYPD detectives Jimmy Monroe and Paul Hodges, partners on the trail of a stolen piece of valuable memorabilia...and this time, it's personal: the collectible, a rare baseball card, belongs to Jimmy, and is his only hope to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding. Along the way, however, the duo stumbles into the path of a seriously dangerous neighborhood gang leader looking to expand his trade.
From director Kevin Smith, ``Cop Out is in many ways a throwback to the classic buddy cop movie-one of cinema's most popular film genres-with Smith's own slightly skewed view. Directing for the first time from someone else's script, Smith's initial reaction to the screenplay was that it was ``steeped in movie cop heritage. When I read it, I thought, 'Wow, if I'd ever written a buddy cop movie, it would be like this.'
States producer Marc Platt, ``One of the things Kevin does so well in his films is the relationships, particularly between the guys. There's an honesty to it, a relatability to it, they feel like guys that we all know.
Producer Michael Tadross agrees. ``Bruce, as Jimmy, is the straight man and Tracy, as Paul, is this crazy guy, and it just works.
``The script just made me laugh out loud when I read it, says Willis. ``It was really funny...the kind of film you tell your friends to go see.
Having previously worked with Smith nearly a decade ago, Morgan says of the director, ``He knows it, he gets it. He's a comedian's comedian. He directs in a way where you think you know the scene, but he'll say, 'Yo, do this or do that, say this or say that,' and it gives it a whole different spin. I love the way he directs.
"Kevin has a rapport with his audience that is magic, states producer Polly Johnsen. ``His films allow viewers to relate to the characters as the funnier versions of themselves, and take them along for the ride. It's an awesome entertainment experience. I want to come back in my next life as Kevin Smith."
Teaming Willis and Morgan, Smith notes, ``My forte is really two dudes talking to each other, says Smith. ``This film has that, plus more action than anything I've done before. Though there are no action figures for this one...yet. I'll find a way, quips the director, who is also famous for being a collector.
Smith continues, ``For me, the biggest influence I drew from in making 'Cop Out' was Abbott and Costello. This is very much like an Abbott and Costello movie...with guns. If I made this movie, and my father was still alive and saw it, he'd say, 'You do make movies! I just thought it was you and your friends running around with a camera talking about not being able to get laid, but this has a plot, there are guns...Bruce Willis is in it!' He would've been so proud.
Combined with Smith's subversive comic talent and skill for improvising while shooting, and the fast and very real dialogue written by Mark Cullen and Robb Cullen, who also serve as executive producers, the result is, according to Smith, ``exactly the kind of movie my dad would've taken me to see when I was 13.
The Cullen brothers, who penned the script, have known Smith for a while. ``The second we met him, we loved him, says Mark. ``He's the smartest, sweetest guy I know.
Adds Robb, ``There was no better choice for us than Kevin, because when you talk about funny and dark and wonderfully mean-spirited, there's probably nobody funnier, darker, more wonderfully mean-spirited than Kevin Smith. So, it was a natural for us; our senses of humor and our sensibilities are very similar.
``I instantly fell in love with the chemistry on the page between the two characters, Platt says. ``Their relationship as cops and their friendship-they were instantly relatable as guys going through their own stuff at home, and trying to be good cops at the same time. But it was their friendship and loyalty in spite of their sort of personal differences that really made me root for them.
The film is set in the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, where the NYPD is dealing with the steadily increasing violence and robberies coming largely from the Mexican drug cartel gangs. The writers spent many hours with contacts at the LAPD, which gave them insight into the real problems police and detectives face in their line of work as they developed the narrative flow of the storyline.
``Some of the things that we kept on hearing, beyond the challenges of the job, were, 'Oh, we're getting divorced, my wife's cheating on me, I'm cheating on my wife,' says Mark. ``It's a recurring theme among cops because of the hours they spend away from their families. It's a very hard job to have and keep a relationship going, because you're risking your life every second of the day, then going home. And you don't want to talk about how your day was, 'cause it's horrifying. All you want to do is just decompress.
The writers wanted to create a humorous base for the action to play off. As Robb describes it, ``Funny is funnier coming out of something tragic or painful.
Tadross reveals that the secret of portraying a cop in a comedy is to take it seriously. ``You have to first have respect for the cops going in, whether you're a writer or an actor. Then you can play them in a comedic sense, and it's humorous. If you're going to write a goofy cop role, like the Cullens did with Paul, or play a goofy cop, like Tracy does, you still have to show respect for the job. Then it's believable. Then it works.
PAUL
I'm gonna be the bad guy.

JIMMY
No. Not again. Last time
you screwed it all up.

PAUL
I've been working on it...
In front of the mirror. I have
a whole back story and everything.

In ``Cop Out, Smith takes on both high comedy and high action, and lets them play off each other as equal partners. Paul and Jimmy, partners on the police force for nine years, are like an old married couple: they bicker, they gripe, they disagree just to disagree. But they are in synch working together, know each other's families, and are like family themselves. The pairing of quintessential, rough-edged-but-wry action hero Bruce Willis with the zany nuttiness and sensitivity of consummate funnyman Tracy Morgan seemed almost too good to be true.
Tadross, who produced two of the ``Die Hard movies, asserts, ``I jumped at the chance to work with Bruce again. The man is brilliant, he knows what he wants and he's a friend, so it's always a pleasure to be around someone like that. Put Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan and Kevin Smith in the same room? I couldn't wait to see what would come out of that. Those three guys are at the top of their game.
Tadross was not the only one who'd worked with Willis on a ``Die Hard film. Offers Smith, ``I'd worked with Bruce as an actor on 'Live Free or Die Hard,' and he called me at one point and said, 'I'm an actor, you're a director, we're both from Jersey...we should do something together some day.' So when Marc Platt said to me, 'Hey, there's a chance we can get Bruce Willis,' I thought that would be amazing.
Platt concurs, ``Bruce Willis is iconic in any kind of action movie. Casting him as Jimmy was a tremendous coup.
``Jimmy is a cranky, irritable cop with a wisecracking sense of humor, offers Willis. ``He shoots first, asks questions later, and cracks jokes whenever he can.
Says Smith, ``During production, I sat around set all day and watched the movie in a little monitor, as directors do, seeing what the camera sees. So in reality, I sat there all day watching a Bruce Willis movie, which is what I do at home anyway for free.
The Cullen brothers describe Willis' character, Jimmy, as someone who's been a detective for over 20 years, is divorced and somewhat lonely. ``He hasn't gotten the breaks to move ahead in the department. He's more like the gunslinger of the old West, who has his own code of conduct, says Mark.
Robb adds, ``Jimmy's very conflicted because his ex-wife has married up and is doing very well, his daughter now is participating in that wealthy lifestyle, and he's still living in an apartment by himself. And, on top of that, his daughter's insufferable stepfather is practically shaming Jimmy into letting him pay for his daughter's wedding. I think all of that is adding up to making him feel less of a man at times.
Not about to be upstaged at his own daughter's wedding, Jimmy has made the decision to cash in his priceless '52 Pafko baseball card to pay for something even more priceless-his daughter's happiness. However, mid-sale, the Pafko becomes the ``victim of a robbery, right under the not-so-watchful eye of Jimmy's partner, Paul. Paul is in the midst of his own family drama...even if it is of his own making. In addition to trying to catch criminals, he is also trying to catch his wife in the act with another man.
Tracy Morgan, who plays the role of Paul, says he was drawn to the project because ``the script was hilarious, and I loved the character. I took to him like a fish to water. Paul has some insecurities, deep down. 'Is she cheating, is she not cheating?' He loves her, but he just takes it too far.
Says Platt, ``Tracy Morgan is just so hilarious and his mind works in such a random fashion-the dots don't always seem like they'll connect, but the way they ultimately do is part of his comedy.
``People kept asking me, 'Is Tracy really that crazy?' and I just said to them, 'Crazy like a fox.' He knows how to use it selectively, relates Smith. ``He's acting. Anybody can stand out there and say goofy things, but Tracy can sell it. It's a gift, and he came into this role loaded for bear.
``The fact that Kevin allowed him to go there created just the kind of comedy that is very unique to Tracy, but also gave Bruce something to play off of and react to, adds Platt.
``The chemistry's there, states Smith. ``The Bruce-of-it-all gives you the gravitas; you add Tracy and that's funny, that's fresh, that's different.
``It was impossible to know what was going to come out of Tracy's mouth. Much of the comedy was derived from that improv and from the kind of environment Kevin fostered between all of the actors on the set, says Platt.
``We started with a great script, and had brilliant ad-libbers in the cast. We always knew there'd be the scripted take, and then the takes where we would deviate and see where it went, says Smith. ``Some of the coolest stuff in the movie is the flights of fancy that happened on set.
One of the best ad-libbers turned out to be Seann William Scott, who plays Dave, the accidental third stooge in the Jimmy-Paul partnership and a thief who employs the physical discipline of Parkour as one of the tools of his trade...and who makes off with Jimmy's precious baseball card.
``Seann had the role of Dave, says Smith. ``It's just a great, enjoyable part and I think Seann made it a pitch-perfect, 21st-century version of a kind of Bugs Bunny: he's both charming and an instigator. Of course, Seann is the first to say that he's not a comedian, he's just cast in comedic parts. But I've seen Seann's movies and his performance in this flick, and if he's not a comedian I don't know who is. Like Bugs, he's effortlessly charming.
``Dave's just a really fun, really weird guy, says Scott. ``It's a character I love because he's different from other characters I've played. He's not this jock jerk frat boy, but he's still inappropriate, and just as nuts.
``In a way, Dave is to Paul what Paul is to Jimmy, so Jimmy kind of loves Dave, because he frustrates Paul so much, Smith grins.
Jimmy and Paul's unorthodox style of nailing perps like Dave has two other detectives in their precinct, Hunsaker and Mangold, thinking they're a little too independent for the greater good. They are cut from a different cloth and think that they are smarter, better cops who do things the right way-by the book.
Kevin Pollak plays the role of Hunsaker, something of a mentor to the greener Mangold. ``Our characters think they are the ones who are doing everything correctly, and that Jimmy and Paul are wildly wrong, and we take a lot of pleasure in telling them so. When Jimmy and Paul are suspended for ridiculous behavior unbecoming an officer, Mangold and Hunsaker relish the opportunity to rub their faces in it.
Adam Brody, who plays Mangold, agrees. ``It's a competitive thing. I don't think that deep down Hunsaker and Mangold hate them. I think they're all brothers on the force, if you will. But I do think that they're competitive and fancy themselves as the better cops, absolutely. They're not fans of sloppy police work. Those guys don't even file a report. They just do what they want.
Pollak, who has made four films with Willis, offers, ``I enjoy it each and every time, even a little bit more each time. It's always like playing in the big leagues. Everybody's bringing the best they have at all times. And any time that sort of talent creates that sort of energy on the set, it gets a lot more exciting.
According to Brody, Pollak himself brought a lot of entertainment to the set. ``Offstage, Kevin doesn't shut up, Brody smiles. ``He walks around doing impressions all day. He does everyone from Alan Arkin to Christopher Walken. He's hilarious.
Brody garnered a lot of attention during production, as well, though of a different sort, according to Tadross. ``I'd walk down the street with him and young girls were all over him, he recalls. ``He pretended not to notice but I told him, 'Hey, they're not looking at me.'
Brody's character, however, is not quite so humble. ``A guy like Mangold has more ambition than a bagful of boy scouts, and that's his downfall, but it's also what got him where he is, observes screenwriter Mark Cullen.
Jimmy and Paul and Hunsaker and Mangold end up on the trail of one man: murderous Mexican gang leader Poh Boy, played by Guillermo Diaz. ``He's a mobster who's making a lot of money running drugs and running this corrupt business that he has, but he's also a guy that's completely obsessed with baseball.
``I really wanted Guillermo for the part of Poh Boy, says Smith. ``He's so talented. He's always doing something out of the ordinary; he never makes the obvious choice. He's such a good bad guy.
``I think there's something off about Poh Boy, notes Diaz. ``He's got what I call a crazy eye-I got a crazy eye when I played him, or at least I feel like I did. He just had something about him that was really interesting to play.
Diaz is no stranger to villainous roles. ``I love it, he continues. ``I feel like it's a form of therapy, in a way, when I'm playing a hard ass. I go home calm and mellow, not angry at all. I've gotten it all out. And Poh Boy, he was just so mean and angry and he did a lot of yelling and he was killing people. So I felt great at the end of the day.
One thing Poh Boy's got his crazy eye on is Gabriela, a Mexican beauty who has something the gangster wants, but who isn't eager to give it up-and it's not what one might think. When Jimmy and Paul stumble upon her, however, there isn't much she can tell them about her troubles. Ana de la Reguera, who plays the role, explains, ``Gabriela doesn't speak a word of English, and Paul and Jimmy don't speak a word of Spanish. One thing the cops do know is that she's in a lot of trouble. ``They take Gabriela to see a buddy of theirs at a Mexican restaurant, so he can translate, adds the actress.
Smith declares, ``Ana not only looks amazing, but she is so talented and she brought so much humor to the role. The director reveals that even he took awhile to catch on to just how creative the actress was. ``After about a week of working with her, I pulled her aside and said, 'I have a theory that your portrayal is a subtle homage to Diane Franklin in ``Better Off Dead,' and in a perfect imitation she said, 'Eet ees.' It rocked! I could see it. She found her own `80s homage to include in our homage to `80s buddy cop movies, and she played Gabriela with spine and with sass. It was a delight to have her around.
Of course it isn't just the wily thieves, drug cartels, competition on the force and language barriers that are giving Paul and Jimmy headaches in ``Cop Out. On the home front, Paul is convinced his beautiful wife, Debbie, played by Rashida Jones, is having an affair. Meanwhile, Jimmy needs to come up with some fast cash to pay for his daughter Ava's wedding. Ava, played by Michelle Trachtenberg, needs a cool $48,000 for the nuptials, and Jimmy's at risk of losing out on the opportunity to cover the cost to ex-wife Pam, played by Francine Swift, and her wealthy, obnoxious second husband, Roy, who has offered to pay for the wedding in full...if only to see Jimmy fail to deliver. The role of Roy, one of several cameos in the film, was filled by veteran Smith star Jason Lee, who has appeared in nearly every feature Smith has directed.
Smith appreciated what his entire ``Cop Out cast brought to set. ``They all came to elevate, not just execute.
JIMMY
``10-34, shots fired, eighteen hundred
block of Linden Avenue. One man down--

``Cop Out is set in various parts of Brooklyn and Queens, and shot in both of those boroughs, as well as in Yonkers. ``We interacted with the people of the city on a regular basis, and they embraced us and we embraced them right back, remembers Smith. ``There's nothing like making a movie in New York. The city was so good to us.
Production designer Michael Shaw received very specific instructions from Smith at the beginning of the project. ``The first thing that Kevin said to me is that he wanted everything to be real so the comedy and action would play against a very authentic palette, and be grounded in reality. That's always an interesting challenge because your work has to be invisible.
Being set in Brooklyn and Queens, ``Cop Out gave Shaw the opportunity to work with one of the most familiar skylines in the world, New York City. ``It's not as often you do the boroughs, said Shaw, ``and we kept saying, 'This is where Jimmy grew up, this is where Paul grew up, this is where they work and this is where they live,' and we wanted to capture that.
``We were so happy to make an outer boroughs movie, says Smith. ``Everybody romanticizes Manhattan, but how many people romanticize Queens?
Notes Shaw, ``Queens and Brooklyn are working-class neighborhoods. We wanted it to feel like you always were aware of the Hudson separating you from Manhattan. There were a lot of locations that incorporated bridges and skylines so that you always see that the center of the city is really in the distance, and that we are in the heart of a different environment.
Shaw and his team scoured to find locations in the boroughs that had that sense of authenticity Smith requested. ``Big Al's Card Shop is our neighborhood card shop, but we wanted it to feel a little bit like a fly-by-night operation. Chris Hyannis, the set decorator, found a wonderful collectibles shop in Brooklyn and we modeled a lot of our look on that. The pizzeria is actually a place that detectives and cops go to all the time in Brooklyn, and we liked the idea that it was a real place; we didn't do anything to it.
While much of the visual look of the film is based on reality, there were two specific scenes where Shaw was able to enjoy considerable creative freedom: Poh Boy's memorabilia room and his batting cage in the basement. ``Poh Boy, we assume, has been collecting since he was a little boy and he's got a fixation with baseball memorabilia. In this rundown house, the room has a pristine, museum-like quality to it. So here is somebody who is clearly ruthless and rough, but at the same time he's taking care of all of these priceless possessions. It's a quirky quality.
Before he could create the room, Shaw needed to do his homework. ``We did a lot of research in order to be as authentic as possible. We probably spent six weeks seeing what collectors collect, and how they preserve their collectibles. The items in the room itself were all created by the art department. Shaw continues, ``We had to buy new jerseys that looked old-fashioned and then we had to age them. We used a lot of our own creative license with all of it. And Major League Baseball gave us permission to use some of their stuff, but much of it we just created. I think it looked pretty convincing from afar, but if a real collector got close to it, he could tell that it's not the real thing.
One item that would be seen up close was Jimmy's cherished `52 Pafko card. For this prop, Shaw sought advice from an unexpected source. ``I didn't know anything about Andy Pafko, says Shaw, ``but my nine-year-old son is a huge baseball fan so he kind of helped fill me in on a lot of this. He was very excited that I was doing this project, so I told him he could be an advisor to us. He was thrilled to come in and look at the memorabilia room. He was a true critic, telling me what looked real and what didn't. We created a lot of cards with different names and pictures and stats. The Andy Pafko card was the only one that we had to get permission to use because he was an actual player.
Says Smith, ``Poh Boy's trophy room was kind of our showpiece, essentially a little Cooperstown in the middle of this tenement house they run their gang out of. Michael Shaw and the art department did a wonderful job. I had one major request for them: I said, 'Do me a favor, make me a giant painting of Jesus teaching little Poh Boy how to bat.' And out of a 12-second conversation, they did it perfectly.
``It's a wonderful thing to work with a director who's so encouraging, says Shaw. ``We painted a portrait of Poh Boy as a kid playing baseball with Jesus, and that kind of gives you an idea that he's a genuine fan.
JIMMY (CONT'D)
``--Suspect, Hispanic male, black T-shirt,
blue jeans. Undercover officer dressed
like a giant cell phone in foot pursuit.

Like he did with Shaw, Smith wanted costume designer Juliet Polcsa to keep her designs very real. ``When we talked about Bruce and Tracy's characters, recalls Polcsa, ``we knew they'd be casual. They're undercover, and we didn't want anything spectacular about them; we didn't want them to be GQ cops. So they had a very kind of normal, everyday guy look.
On the other end of the fashion spectrum were Hunsaker and Mangold, detectives who take their image a little too seriously. ``These guys had a bit more of the suit-and-tie look going on, she continues. But there was one distinct exception. ``I had Kevin Pollak in a sport coat, but he decided he wanted Hunsaker to wear cowboy boots, no tie.
Once Pollak got Polcsa on board with the boots, they took on a life of their own. ``At first it was just boots for Kevin Pollak's character, but the younger guy, Mangold, who is a 'striver,' looks at those and of course thinks, 'I want to do that,' but he completely gets it wrong. So we decided to completely get it wrong in the most obvious way. I found this boot store in Brooklyn called Zapateria Mexico, and they speak absolutely no English, but they have these great cowboy boots. I went in there, and I can't even tell you how few words of Spanish that I know, but somehow I pulled it off, she laughs.
Polcsa found her research for this film particularly fascinating. To clothe the wrong side of the law, she says, ``We contacted a New York City corrections officer who also teaches about gangs; he came and did a PowerPoint presentation for us that just kind of blew us all away. When I really looked at their clothing, one of the things that was clearly important was having a specific gang color.
The designer went to Smith to establish the color choice for Poh Boy and his ``crew. ``I felt we should choose from the Mexican flag: red, white or green. He chose green, but it was harder than I thought to find green stuff out there, where red and blue are readily available, she observes.
Perhaps the most memorable costume in the film took the form of a giant, foam cell phone, donned by Tracy Morgan's character during an undercover operation. It was also one of Polcsa's biggest challenges.
``The hardest thing about the cell phone was that Tracy had to be able to move. He had to be able to ride a bike, he had to run, and it was going to be hot in there as well. So, those are the things that I really had to think about and then make it look like a cell phone costume that somebody made up. We decided that it needed to be a flip phone, because that way I could have a hinge so he could bend, and the key pad could be around his crotch, where when he gets kicked. Movement and a minimal amount of targeted protection weren't her only concerns. ``He gets attacked in the arm by a pitbull while he's in this costume, continues Polcsa, ``so I talked to the animal trainer about what kind of padding we would need, and it was huge. Up until then, I had him in a tight sleeve, but for those scenes we would have to use this thick protective sleeve, so I had to make the sleeves big and massive throughout. It was such a comical costume, it looked quite Gumby-ish, she smiles.
Once the costume designer hit upon the prototype and tested it, her crew had to make 16 of them. ``It's perfect in the first scene, and in the next he's tripped up a little, and so on so that by the time he's done, the whole thing was really dirty and falling apart. Luckily I have a wonderful costume maker who I've worked with before and she just thrives on making odd, weird things, so it worked out really well.
Morgan confesses he did quite a bit of preparation for the scenes in which he would wear the suit, with great results. ``I sat by the phone a lot, I opened a couple of them up, and then I just channeled a phone. Everybody watching us film loved the phone, but I don't want the phone to be the star of the movie, he deadpans.
Willis did not envy Morgan's time in the heavily padded costume. ``Those were a few very hot days for Tracy, the actor recalls, ``but he was still hilarious. That was one of the many times you could hear the crew laughing, which is generally a pretty good sign.
DAVE
``Knock knock.

While the cast and crew of ``Cop Out were making a buddy movie, they were becoming good buddies themselves. Offers producer Michael Tadross, ``From the bottom of my heart, I've never had a greater, more wonderful experience than I had on this movie. I was so sad when it ended. Kevin Smith is brilliant and just the nicest man, and everything about making this movie excited me and made me want to see it on the screen. I think it's hysterically funny, and it's got a lot of action. We laughed every day and I hope that the audience will, too.
Producer Marc Platt agrees. ``I think that the relationship between Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, the diversity in the cast, the sheer fun everyone's having in this movie added to the film. I know when I watch the film, remembering the ride I took with those characters and the cast, and especially Kevin Smith, is exciting to me.
``I felt like I used different muscles directing 'Cop Out' than I do on the movies I normally write and direct, declares director Kevin Smith. ``It's like I've been training my whole life to make this movie-it was a genre I grew up watching, I've seen all of these types of films multiple times. And I think enough time has gone by since this kind of movie has been made, that we got a chance to kind of reinvent it...well, not so much a reinvention as homage, total homage.

ABOUT THE CAST
BRUCE WILLIS (Jimmy) has demonstrated remarkable versatility in a career that has included such diverse roles as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino's ``Pulp Fiction; the philandering contractor in Robert Benton's ``Nobody's Fool; the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam's ``Twelve Monkeys; his Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison's ``In Country; and the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan's Oscar(R)-nominated ``The Sixth Sense, for which Willis won the People's Choice Award. He has also starred in what could be considered his signature role, detective John McClane, in the blockbuster ``Die Hard film franchise: ``Die Hard, ``Die Hard 2: Die Harder, 1995's global box office champion ``Die Hard: With a Vengeance and ``Live Free or Die Hard.
Willis will be seen later this year in Sylvester Stallone's action adventure thriller ``The Expendables, and in Robert Schwentke's ``Red, also starring Morgan Freeman and based on the graphic novel from Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. His wide array of film credits also includes Michael Bay's ``Armageddon; ``Sin City, directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, as well as Rodriguez's ``Grind House; Antoine Fuqua's ``Tears of the Sun; Barry Levinson's ``Bandits and ``What Just Happened; ``Unbreakable, which reunited him with director Shyamalan; Jon Turteltaub's ``The Kid; Rob Reiner's ``The Story of Us; ``Breakfast of Champions and ``Mortal Thoughts, both for director Alan Rudolph; Edward Zwick's ``The Siege; Luc Besson's ``The Fifth Element; Walter Hill's ``Last Man Standing; Robert Zemeckis's ``Death Becomes Her; and Blake Edwards' ``Blind Date.
His additional film credits include ``The Jackal; ``Mercury Rising; ``Hart's War; ``The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, ``The Whole Ten Yards; ``Hostage; ``16 Blocks; ``Alpha Dog; ``Lucky Number Slevin; and ``Perfect Stranger. He also provided the voice of the wise-cracking baby in ``Look Who's Talking and ``Look Who's Talking Too, and more recently lent his voice to the animated features ``Over the Hedge and ``Rugrats Go Wild!
In addition to his work before the cameras, Willis produced ``Hostage and ``The Whole Nine Yards and executive produced ``Breakfast of Champions, adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's bestselling novel. With brother David Willis and business partner Stephen Eads, he co-founded Willis Brothers Films, a film production company based in Los Angeles.
Willis first achieved international stardom when he won the starring role of irreverent private eye David Addison on the groundbreaking hit television series ``Moonlighting. His work on the show brought him several acting honors, including an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2000, Willis won another Emmy for his guest appearance on ``Friends.
A native of New Jersey, Willis studied with Montclair State College's prestigious theatre program and began his career on the stage. His first major leading role came in the 1984 off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's ``Fool for Love, which ran for 100 performances. Still maintaining a hand in the theatre, Willis co-founded A Company of Fools, a non-profit theatre troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in the Wood River Valley of Idaho and throughout the U.S. He also starred in and directed a staging of Shepard's dark comedy ``True West at the Liberty Theater in Hailey, Idaho. The play, which depicts the troubled relationship between two brothers, was aired on Showtime and is dedicated to Willis' late brother, Robert.
An accomplished musician, Willis recorded the 1986 Motown album The Return of Bruno, which went platinum and featured the 5 Billboard hit ``Respect Yourself. Three years later, he recorded a second album, titled If It Don't Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger. In 2002, he launched a U.S. club tour with his music group, Bruce Willis and the Blues Band, and traveled to Iraq to play for U.S. troops.
TRACY MORGAN (Paul) can be seen this spring in director Neil LaBute's comedy ``Death at a Funeral, a remake of the 2007 British movie of the same name, alongside Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence, and later this year will appear in David O. Russell's romantic comedy ``Nailed, opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel. This past summer, Morgan made his animation debut lending his voice to Jerry Bruckheimer's ``G-Force, a combination live action/CG film that opened number one at the U.S. box office and was adored by audiences worldwide.
``Cop Out marks Morgan's second feature with director Kevin Smith, having previously appeared in Smith's ``Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Morgan's other feature film credits include the ensemble action comedy ``Superhero Movie; ``First Sunday, opposite Ice Cube and Katt Williams; Peter Segal's ``The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler; the Wayans brothers' ``Little Man; and Chris Rock's ``Head of State.
Morgan can currently be seen starring on NBC's Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series ``30 Rock, opposite Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. As Tracy Jordan, the unpredictable star of a hit variety show, Morgan's performance recently earned him his first Emmy Award nomination in the Supporting Actor category, and he has twice been nominated for the NAACP Image Award for his work in the role. Along with the cast, Morgan also won a 2009 Screen Actors Guild Award(R) for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
A stand-up comic who has headlined across the country, Morgan was first introduced to television audiences in the role of Hustleman on the hit comedy series ``Martin. In 1996, he joined ``Saturday Night Live, on which he appeared for seven seasons and created such memorable characters as Astronaut Jones and Brian Fellows. After leaving ``SNL, Morgan went on to star in his own comedy series, ``The Tracy Morgan Show, and as the voice of ``Spoonie Luv on Comedy Central's ``Crank Yankers. In 2009, he was tapped to be part of the famed ``New York Comedy Festival alongside comics Bill Maher, Andy Samberg and Patton Oswalt, among others. For the occasion, Morgan performed his live stand-up show, ``Tracy Morgan's Hard Knock Life, at Carnegie Hall. In addition, Morgan recently released his first book, I Am the New Black.
ADAM BRODY (Barry Mangold) is a dynamic actor who can soon be seen in writer/producer Galt Niederhoffer's directorial debut, ``The Romantics, opposite Katie Holmes, Academy Award(R) winner Anna Paquin and Josh Duhamel. Brody was most recently seen opposite Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried in ``Jennifer's Body, a film written by Oscar(R) winner Diablo Cody, and in the independent dramatic feature ``Death in Love, from director Boaz Yakin, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and which also starred Josh Lucas, Lukas Haas and Jacqueline Bisset.
Brody previously starred opposite Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy ``In the Land of Women, directed by Jonathan Kasdan, and appeared in two independent feature films, ``Smiley Face, with Anna Faris and John Krasinski, and ``The Ten, starring Paul Rudd and Jon Hamm. Both films premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Brody's other feature film credits include Jason Reitman's critically acclaimed satire ``Thank You for Smoking; Doug Liman's box office hit ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; ``Missing Brendan; ``Grind; and the hit horror thriller ``The Ring.
On television, Brody starred in the celebrated ensemble drama series ``The O.C. His additional TV credits include recurring roles on ``Once and Again and ``Gilmore Girls, and standout guest-starring roles on ``Judging Amy, ``Family Law and ``Smallville.
KEVIN POLLAK (Hunsaker) has captured the attention of audiences worldwide with his range of both dramatic and comedic roles. Over the past two decades, he has appeared in more than sixty films, as well as numerous television projects, and has established himself as one of the few stand-up comedians to have a successful dramatic film career. In addition to his acting talents, he has also proven himself as both a writer and producer.
Pollak started performing stand-up comedy at the age of ten and became a touring professional stand-up at age twenty. In 1988, he landed a role in Ron Howard's ``Willow, after which he co-starred in his first dramatic role, in Barry Levinson's ``Avalon. His work in Rob Reiner's 1992 film ``A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, proved his ability to share the big screen with dramatic heavyweights. Pollak next co-starred with icons Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in ``Grumpy Old Men and its sequel, ``Grumpier Old Men. In 1994, he was offered a plum role opposite Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro and Chazz Palminteri in ``The Usual Suspects, which debuted to tremendous acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to win two Academy Awards(R) and a special award from The National Board of Review for ``Best Ensemble Cast. Later that same year, Pollak got the call from Martin Scorsese to join Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone in his Vegas epic, ``Casino.
As the 20th century came to a close, Variety named its Top Ten hardest-working film actors, the criteria of which was having done at least three films per year throughout the 1990s; Pollak made the list.
With a 2001 stand-up comedy tour, Pollak returned to his first love while subsequently continuing to co-star in numerous films, including ``End of Days, ``The Whole Nine Yards, ``Hostage, ``The Santa Clause 2 and ``The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
Next up for Pollak is George Gallo's ``Middle Men, which debuted at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and co-stars Luke Wilson, Gabriel Macht, Giovanni Ribisi and James Caan. He is currently in post-production with ``Columbus Circle, which he cowrote with Gallo, the film's director, and in which he stars with Jason Lee, Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Antoon and Beau Bridges.
Pollak will direct ``Three Nights in August from a script he wrote based on the New York Times bestseller by Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger; Billy Bob Thornton will star in the film, with Pollak producing along with Bissinger and St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa. Additionally, Pollak and his producing partners recently acquired the feature rights to the life story of boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard, with Bissinger set to write the screenplay.
In addition to his extensive television work, Pollak was recently hired by producer Mark Burnett to host ``Our Little Genius, a quiz show which will debut in Spring 2010 on Fox. He has also starred in two of his own HBO stand-up comedy specials, the more recent being ``Kevin Pollak: Stop With the Kicking, directed by David Steinberg.
Pollak has been hosting his own Internet talk show, ``Kevin Pollak's Chat Show, since March 2009. Streaming live at http://Kevinpollakschatshow.com every Sunday at 5PM PST, the show can also be seen in archived episodes at both that site and www.Youtube.com/Kevinpollakschatshow.
Comedy Central named Pollak one of the Top 100 Comedians of All Time.
ANA DE LA REGUERA (Gabriela) is perhaps best known in the U.S. for her role as Sister Encarnación in the hit comedy ``Nacho Libre, starring Jack Black. Born in Veracruz, she has also appeared in numerous films in her native Mexico, including ``Paraiso Travel, with John Leguizamo; ``Backyard, opposite Jimmy Smits; ``Dust to Dust; ``A Beautiful Secret; ``Ladies' Night; ``El Caco; ``Asi del precipicio; and ``Sultanes del Sur. She will next be seen in the Spanish feature ``Di Di Hollywood.
De la Reguera studied acting at Instituto Veracruzano de Cultura and at the Centro de Formación Actoral (CEFAC) de TV Azteca. She began her career on the popular Spanish-language soap opera ``Azul, and has since appeared in numerous television productions in Mexico. In the States, she most recently starred in the TV movie ``Empire State, from director Jeremy Podeswa.
GUILLERMO DIAZ (Poh Boy) has been a favorite of indie audiences for years, and continues to broaden his mainstream fan base. He can currently be seen in his third season on the award-winning Showtime series ``Weeds, and starring in NBC's freshman nursing drama ``Mercy.
On the big screen, Diaz will soon be seen in the ensemble indie comedy ``Peep World, with Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson and Kate Mara. Previously, he made a big splash with film audiences starring as Scarface in the cult classic film ``Half Baked, opposite Dave Chappelle and Jim Breuer. His other past film credits include Steven Spielberg's ``The Terminal, with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones; ``200 Cigarettes, with Christina Ricci, Kate Hudson, Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck; Ethan Hawke's feature directorial debut, ``Chelsea Walls, with Uma Thurman, Natasha Richardson and Marisa Tomei; and numerous independent films such as ``Stonewall, ``Across the Hall, ``Dirty Love, ``Nowhere, ``Girls Town, ``I'm Not Rappaport, ``Fresh, ``Party Girl and ``High School High.
Diaz's additional television credits include a recurring role on ``Cane, as well as guest appearances on ``ER, ``Royal Pains, ``Law & Order, ``Chappelle's Show, ``The Shield, ``Without a Trace, ``Criminal Minds, ``Third Watch, ``The Sopranos and ``The Closer.
MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG (Ava) can currently be seen in the hospital drama ``Mercy as well as the hit show ``Gossip Girl. She is well known for her role on ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where her work garnered her a Young Artists of Hollywood Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Trachtenberg began acting at the age of three when she appeared in her first television commercial. Her feature film credits include a starring role in ``Harriet the Spy; the live action feature film ``Inspector Gadget, opposite Matthew Broderick; the ensemble comedy ``EuroTrip; ``17 Again, alongside Zac Efron, Matthew Perry and Leslie Mann; and ``Ice Princess, opposite Kim Cattrall and Joan Cusack. She also appeared with Rita Wilson and William Hurt in ``Beautiful Ohio, based on the short stories of acclaimed writer Ethan Canin and directed by Chad Lowe, and co-starred in Gregg Araki's critically acclaimed independent drama ``Mysterious Skin, opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt, based on the novel by Scott Heim. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, screened at the Sundance Film Festival, and won the Jury Award at the BIFF Film Festival.
Her additional work on the small screen includes a recurring role on HBO's critically acclaimed series ``Six Feet Under. Trachtenberg also starred in the telepic ``The Dive from Clausen's Pier. Based on the bestselling Ann Packard novel of the same name, the film was one of the highest rated made-for-television movies of the year for the Lifetime network. Trachtenberg was also the host/narrator for Discovery Network's hit show ``Truth or Scare, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
In addition to her TV and film career, Trachtenberg is a designer, having recently created a bag with Monica Botkier called the ``Michelle Satchel; half of the proceeds from sales go to benefit OXFAM. Trachtenberg has also designed a jewelry line with Coach Poppy that will be released in February 2010.
SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT (Dave) recently starred opposite Paul Rudd in the hit comedy ``Role Models, and lent his voice to the animated feature ``Planet 51, along with Dwayne Johnson and Jessica Biel. ``Cop Out marks Scotts' second outing with director Kevin Smith, having made a cameo in Smith's comedy ``Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Scott's first appearance in a feature film was in the blockbuster comedy ``American Pie, in which he created the memorable Steve Stifler, a character he would revisit in two hit sequels, ``American Pie 2 and ``American Wedding. Scott also starred in the feature film version of the popular '80s television series ``The Dukes of Hazzard; ``Road Trip, with Breckin Meyer and Amy Smart; and the hit comedy ``Dude, Where's My Car? opposite Ashton Kutcher.
One of Hollywood's more prolific working actors, Scott's other film credits include Richard Kelly's ``Southland Tales, opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar and Dwayne Johnson; the action adventure film ``The Rundown, from director Peter Berg, again starring opposite Johnson; ``Bulletproof Monk, with Chow Yun-Fat; the thriller ``Final Destination; the sci-fi comedy ``Evolution, directed by Ivan Reitman and co-starring Julianne Moore, David Duchovny and Orlando Jones; ``The Promotion, co-starring John C. Reilly; ``Mr. Woodcock, alongside Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon; and an unforgettable cameo in the hit comedy ``Old School, starring Will Ferrell. Scott has also lent his voice to the smash hit animated films ``Ice Age: The Meltdown and ``Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
A native of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, Scott was discovered at a talent competition in Los Angeles. Since beginning his film career just over 10 years ago, he has appeared in nearly 25 features.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
KEVIN SMITH (Director/Editor) has spent the last 15 years as a writer/director, making ``Clerks, ``Mallrats, ``Chasing Amy, ``Dogma, ``Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, ``Jersey Girl, ``Clerks II, and ``Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
Mystifyingly, Smith also sports three DVD releases of his various college Q&A's: ``An Evening with Kevin Smith; ``An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder; and ``A Threevening with Kevin Smith. He's published two books full of essays and blog postings, Silent Bob Speaks and the New York Times bestselling My Boring-Ass Life, as well as Shootin' the Sh*t with Kevin Smith, a collection of the best material from SModcast, Smith and producer Scott Mosier's weekly podcast. Smith has also written for both of the major comic book giants, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, including the
award-winning Daredevil, Spider-Man and the Black Cat at Marvel, and the award-winning Green Arrow, Batman: Cacophony, and Batman: The Widening Gyre at DC.
Aside from the films he's directed, Smith has served as a producer on indie efforts, including Bryan Johnson's ``Vulgar, the multiple Academy Award(R) winner ``Good Will Hunting, and a pair of Sundance-selected documentaries, ``Reel Paradise and ``Small Town Gay Bar.
In addition to filmmaking, Smith occasionally moonlights as an actor, appearing in ``Live Free or Die Hard and ``Catch and Release. He also voiced the animated role of the farting Moose in ``Doogle.
One of the first filmmakers to venture into cyberspace, Smith has built his fan base primarily on the web, via the 13-year-old binary village at www.viewaskew.com. And if the film thing doesn't pan out, there's always retail: Smith owns a comic book store named Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey.
As for the hood ornaments he's collected, there's plenty of tin on display: the Filmmaker's Trophy at Sundance, the Prix de la Jeunesse and the International Critic's Week Award at the Cannes Film Festival, all for ``Clerks; the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for ``Chasing Amy; and a Humanitas Award for ``Good Will Hunting. Smith also received the Defender of Democracy Award from Norman Lear's People for the American Way organization for his production of ``Dogma. ``Clerks II won the prestigious Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival as well as the Orbit Dirtiest Mouth Moment at the MTV Movie Awards. For his writing in the comics field, Smith has received a Harvey Award, a Wizard Fan Award and an Eagle Award, and saw his Green Arrow: Quiver named one of 2003's Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association's Young Adult Library Service. In the fall of 2002, the town of Paulsboro, New Jersey named a street after him: Kevin Smith Way. In 2004, the Video Software Dealers Association gave Smith the DVD Visionary Award, and in 2005 he collected the Independent Spirit Award from Britain's Empire Magazine. In April of 2006, this award whore was given UCLA's Jack Benny Award for Comedy, and in 2008 Smith was given the Maverick Award by the Woodstock Film Festival, as well as the Vision Award from the DGA-affiliated Filmmaker's Alliance.
But he'd chuck it all for his wife and kid-Smith married Jennifer in April `99 and celebrated the birth of their daughter, Harley Quinn, in June of that same year. The wedding was not white, to say the least.
ROBB CULLEN & MARK CULLEN (Screenwriters/Executive Producers) were born and raised in South Philadelphia, but took two very different paths into the film world. Mark graduated from UCLA and then went on to Boston University to pursue his Masters Degree in Political Philosophy under Howard Zinn. After cutting his teeth in the magazine world at Conde Nast, Mark turned his sights to the film and television world, working at Fox Broadcasting Company before beginning to write full time.
Robb is a high-functioning moron with no formal education or training. Mark invited Robb to join him, mostly because Mark was running out of money for Robb's bail bondsmen, and they formed Cullen Brothers Television.
For their first series together, FX's ``Lucky, the brothers Cullen received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, earning the first-ever comedy writing Emmy nomination for a basic cable show.
The Cullens most recently wrote the script for a remake of the film ``Uptown Saturday Night for Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment, and are currently working on several projects for both film and television.
Mark has a beautiful wife, Rebecca, and two beautiful boys, Aidan and Beckett.
Robb has a Bulldog named Mrs. Buttersworth and a slight gambling problem.
MARC PLATT (Producer) stands among the few producers who have successfully bridged the worlds of theatre, film and television. Among the films he has produced are the musical ``Nine, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson and Fergie; the critically acclaimed ``Rachel Getting Married, which reunited Platt with Oscar(R)-winning director Jonathan Demme, starring Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger; the hit actioner ``Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman; and the ``Legally Blonde movies, starring Reese Witherspoon.
Platt's upcoming films include ``Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, starring Natalie Portman and directed by Don Roos; ``Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Michael Cera; and ``The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, starring Zac Efron.
In theatre, Platt is the producer of Broadway's blockbuster musical ``Wicked, which now has eight companies playing worldwide and has earned a Grammy Award, three Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards. He also produced the Broadway debut of Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg's play ``Three Days of Rain, starring Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello; Matthew Bourne's ballet ``Edward Scissorhands, a smash hit in London, Asia and the U.S., for which Platt won his second Drama Desk Award; and ``Pal Joey, starring Stockard Channing.
For television, Platt won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries for HBO's ``Empire Falls, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Ed Harris, Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Platt also executive produced ``Once Upon a Mattress, starring Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman, and the Emmy Award-winning miniseries ``The Path to 9/11. His newest series is an MTV hit entitled ``Taking the Stage, entering its second season.
Born in Maryland and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Platt studied law at New York University and began his career as an entertainment lawyer. He began producing in theatre before moving into film, and served as president of production for three movie studios: Orion, TriStar and Universal. His company, Marc Platt Productions, is based at Universal Studios.
POLLY JOHNSEN (Producer) has a three-year first-look deal with Warner Bros. She is a producer of ``Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, due for release next summer, and has over a dozen active projects in development at Warner Bros., including ``Excalibur, with Bryan Singer; ``Alpha Moms, with Katherine Heigl; ``Abstinence Teacher, based on the novel by Tom Perotta; ``Time Bomb, by David and Janet Peoples; and ``Marry Him!, written by Jill Soloway.
Prior to forming her own company, Johnsen was president of Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) from 2006 to 2008. She was responsible for production, marketing and distribution of the company's slate of films, which included ``The Painted Veil, ``A Scanner Darkly, ``For Your Consideration, ``In the Valley of Elah, and the final picture to come out of Warner Independent Pictures, ``Slumdog Millionaire, which won eight Academy Awards(R), including Best Director and Best Picture.
Before joining WIP, Johnsen spent nearly a decade at Warner Bros. Joining the company as a creative executive in 1997, she was promoted to production executive in 1998. A year later she became vice president of production, and in 2003 she was elevated to senior vice president. Johnsen was named executive vice president of production in February of 2006. During her tenure, Johnsen was the executive on the first four ``Harry Potter movies, ``Superman Returns, ``Blood Diamond, ``I Am Legend, ``P.S. I Love You, ``Scooby Doo 1 & 2, ``Starsky & Hutch, ``The Perfect Storm and ``Three Kings, among others.
Johnsen began her motion picture career at Jersey Films, where she was involved with such films as ``Out of Sight and ``Erin Brokovich. Prior to beginning her career in entertainment, she received her undergraduate degree in Chinese Studies from the University of California at San Diego, and lived and worked in Southeast Asia. Johnsen later received her MFA from the University of Southern California's Peter Stark Producing Program.
MICHAEL TADROSS (Producer) most recently served as executive producer on Guy Ritchie's action-adventure mystery ``Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Tadross also served as an executive producer on two Will Smith hits: the sci-fi action thriller ``I Am Legend and the comedy ``Hitch.
Tadross has also produced or executive produced a wide range of motion pictures, including ``Basic, starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson; ``Tony n' Tina's Wedding; ``Rollerball, with Chris Klein, LL Cool J and Jean Reno; ``The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo; ``Jack Frost, with Michael Keaton; ``The Devil's Advocate, starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves; ``Eraser, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams and James Caan; ``Indecent Proposal, with Robert Redford and Demi Moore; ``School Ties, with Brendan Frazier, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck; and ``Die Hard: With a Vengeance, starring Bruce Willis, Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson, which was the top-grossing film of 1995.
For television, Tadross produced the telefilms ``When Will I Be Loved? starring Stephanie Powers, and ``Deadly Illusions, starring Billy Dee Williams.
Tadross served as Senior Vice President of Feature Production at Paramount Pictures from 1991 to 1994. During this time, he oversaw such films as ``Forrest Gump, ``The Naked Gun, ``The Firm, ``Clear and Present Danger, the ``Wayne's World franchise, ``Searching for Bobby Fischer, ``Beverly Hills Cop III, ``Blue Chips, ``Coneheads and ``Sliver.
He also worked as a unit production manager/first assistant director on such films as ``Coming to America; ``Black Rain; ``Ghost; ``Trading Places; ``Masquerade; ``Cocktail; and ``Death Wish 3, as well as numerous miniseries and movies of the week.
Tadross was born and raised in Brooklyn. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Wagner College, and was an award-winning photojournalist before starting his film career as a camera trainee and assistant film editor.
ADAM SIEGEL (Executive Producer) is President of Marc Platt Productions. He joined the company in 2000 after graduating from Wesleyan University, and was promoted to his current position in 2006. Siegel was an executive producer on Timur Bekmambetov's feature ``Wanted, based on the popular comic book series and starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Siegel is currently executive producing ``Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, based on another highly acclaimed comic book, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Michael Cera.
Upcoming Marc Platt Productions movies on which Siegel is serving as executive producer include ``Wanted 2, to be directed by Bekmambetov; the action comedy ``Family Bond; the action drama ``Drive; and ``Sweet Valley High, written by Oscar(R)winning screenwriter Diablo Cody and based on the series of young adult novels by Francine Pascal.
DAVID KLEIN (Director of Photography) is a long-time collaborator with Kevin Smith, having previously worked with him on the feature films ``Zack and Miri Make a Porno, ``Clerks, ``Clerks II, ``Mallrats and ``Chasing Amy. Klein and Smith also teamed up on the pilot for the TV series ``Reaper, as well as on a handful of commercials for clients such as MTV and Diet Coke.
In addition to his work with Smith, Klein has also worked as a director of photography with actor/director James Franco on the projects ``Good Time Max and ``The Ape, which he also produced. Klein's additional credits include ``The Five, ``Novel Romance, ``Fool's Gold, ``Wild Roomies, ``Wish You Were Dead, ``Tattoo, a Love Story, ``Eyes to Heaven, ``Carlo's Wake and the short films ``Sons of God and ``The Devil's Hand.
Klein's additional television work includes the series ``Pushing Daisies, ``Flight 29 Down and ``State of Grace.
He was recently accepted into the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
MICHAEL SHAW (Production Designer) has an impressive list of design credits that includes Kimberly Peirce's ``Boys Don't Cry, starring Hilary Swank in her first Academy Award(R)-winning role, Chloë Sevigny and Peter Sarsgaard; Kenneth Lonergan's ``You Can Count on Me, starring Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo; ``August Rush, with Robin Williams and Freddy Highmore; and the recently released and highly acclaimed ``The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, starring Robin Wright and Keanu Reeves and directed by Rebecca Miller. His first feature as a production designer was the 1994 film ``Heavy, directed by James Mangold and starring Liv Tyler. The film won the Special Jury prize at Cannes and the New York Times singled out Shaw's designs.
He settled in New York City after studying painting, sculpture and film at the Rhode Island School of Design. While constructing scenery by day to support his fine art career by night, one of his first design jobs, a short film titled ``The Room, won top prizes at Cannes, Sundance and MOMA. Once bitten, Shaw realized production design was the perfect career to mold all his creative interests under one roof.
Shaw balances his design career between feature films, commercials and television. His television work includes the police comedy ``The Job, starring Denis Leary, and ``A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa.
Shaw's work on the big screen will next be seen in the film ``Trust, directed by David Schwimmer and starring Clive Owen and Catherine Keener.
JULIET POLCSA (Costume Designer) has worked in the field of costume design since 1985. A Fashion Design major from the Fashion Institute of Technology, she began her career in the New York theatre, designing for many off-Broadway productions, as well as the Broadway musical ``Metro.
For several years, Polcsa worked as an assistant costume designer on such films as ``Sabrina, ``A Simple Twist of Fate, ``Unfaithful, ``The Good Son, ``The Preacher's Wife, ``Escape and ``Little Man Tate, working under such noted designers as Ann Roth, Hope Hanafin, Cynthia Flynt, Bernie Pollack and Sysan Lyall.
Polcsa's own work in film includes ``Jersey Girl, her first outing with director Kevin Smith; ``Return to Paradise; ``Summer Catch; ``Welcome to Collinwood; ``Julian Po; ``Brooklyn Rules; ``Brooklyn's Finest; ``Paper Man; and three features with actor/director Stanley Tucci, ``Big Night, ``The Imposters and ``Joe Gould's Secret.
Polcsa's work is probably best known in television; as the Costume Designer on HBO's hit show ``The Sopranos, she designed 82 of the show's 86 episodes, from 1998 to the series finale in 2007. Her work on the show garnered her four Emmy nominations and a Costume Designers Guild Award, and in 2002 she was an honoree at the New York Women in Film and Television's annual ``Designing Hollywood event. Polcsa's additional work for the small screen includes the ABC TV movie ``Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day and the pilot for the upcoming AMC series ``Rubicon.
HAROLD FALTERMEYER (Composer) is an award-winning composer who is perhaps still best known for his score for Martin Brest's ``Beverly Hills Cop, containing one of the most memorable movie themes in film history, ``Axel F, named for the movie's central character, played by Eddie Murphy. Faltermeyer won a Grammy Award for the ``Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack album, and also received Grammy nominations for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Pop Instrumental Composition. He also garnered a BAFTA Award nomination for the film's score. Faltermeyer went on to score Tony Scott's hit sequel ``Beverly Hills Cop II, earning Oscar(R) and Golden Globe nominations for Best Song for ``Shakedown from the film. He had also received a Golden Globe nomination for his score for Scott's 1986 blockbuster ``Top Gun, and received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the main theme ``Top Gun Anthem.
Born in Germany, Faltermeyer studied at Munich's prestigious Hochschule für Musik. After honing his skills, including in the emerging field of electronic music, he got his first big break, working alongside composer and disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who was Donna Summer's producer. Faltermeyer worked with Moroder for nearly two years before getting the chance to write songs for Summer's album Bad Girls. His song ``Hot Stuff is still considered a disco classic.
It was while working with Moroder on the film ``American Gigolo that Faltermeyer met producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. In 1983, they offered him the opportunity to compose the music for their film ``Thief of Hearts, which was immediately followed by ``Beverly Hills Cop.
Faltermeyer's subsequent film credits include ``Fletch, ``Fire and Ice, ``Fatal Beauty, ``The Running Man, ``Fletch Lives, ``Tango & Cash, ``Kuffs and ``White Magic. Many movies have also featured his songs and music, including the enduring ``Axel F. In 2005, more than 20 years after the tune's debut, the Crazy Frog cover of ``Axel F become the top-selling ring tone and the CD release of that version went to 1 on the English charts. He most recently scored the independent feature ``High School, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Apart from his film work, Faltermeyer has written songs and produced numerous albums for various artists, both in the U.S. and Europe. He has also composed several musicals, including ``Wake Up, which premiered in September 2002 at Vienna's Raimund Theatre and played through January 2004.