- Notes provided by 20th Century Fox -

Trouble-prone Percy Jackson is having problems in high school - but that's the least of his challenges. It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology texts and into his life. Percy has learned that his real father is Poseidon, god of the sea, which means Percy is a demigod - half human, half god. At the same time, the powerful gods on Olympus are feuding, which could launch a war enveloping our entire planet.
Now, Percy must prepare for the adventure of a lifetime, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
With ominous storm clouds brewing over Earth and his own life now in peril, Percy travels to a special enclave called Camp Half Blood, where he trains to harness his newly discovered powers and prevent a devastating war among the gods. There, Percy meets two fellow demigods - the warrior Annabeth, who is searching for her mother, the goddess Athena; and his friend and protector, Grover, who is actually a brave but untested satyr.
Grover and Annabeth then join Percy on an incredible transcontinental odyssey that takes them six hundred stories above New York City (the portal to Mount Olympus) and to the iconic Hollywood sign, under which burn the fires of the Underworld. At journey's end rests the fate of the world - and the life of Percy's mother Sally, whom Percy must rescue from the depths of Hell itself.
Percy Jackson: Half human. Half god. All hero!
Fox 2000 Pictures presents ``Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the big screen adaptation of author Rick Riordan's 1 New York Times bestseller, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The first of five books in Riordan's series (the final installment, The Last Olympian, hit bookshelves in May 2009) was published in 2005 and won several awards, including a New York Times Notable Book honor of that year; Best Book of 2005 from both the School Library Journal and Child Magazine; and a 2006 Bluebonnet Award nomination from the Texas Library Association.
Chris Columbus (``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, ``Home Alone) directed the epic fantasy-adventure starring a trio of rising young stars -- Logan Lerman (``3:10 to Yuma) as the film's title character, the brave, fearless young warrior, Percy Jackson; Brandon T. Jackson (``Tropic Thunder) as the Satyr Grover, Percy's protector who attempts to earn his very first horns while keeping the young demigod out of harm's way; and Alexandra Daddario (``Bereavement) as another demigod, Annabeth, daughter of Athena, who joins Percy on his quest to prevent a devastating war.
Also starring are Sean Bean (``National Treasure) as Zeus, supreme ruler of the gods of Olympus; Pierce Brosnan (``Mamma Mia) as Chiron, the Centaur who runs the special training ground for these demigods while becoming Percy's mentor in explaining his blood connection to the gods; Steve Coogan (``Night at the Museum) as the greedy lord of the Underworld, Hades, who craves a weapon he believes is in Percy's possession; Rosario Dawson (``Sin City) as the goddess Persephone, Zeus' daughter and Hades' long suffering, imprisoned wife; Catherine Keener (``Capote) as Percy's mom, Sally, who is held hostage by Hades in the Underworld; Kevin McKidd (``Grey's Anatomy) as Percy's father (and Zeus' brother and arch rival), Poseidon, god of the sea; Joe Pantoliano (``The Sopranos) as Percy's slovenly stepdad, Gabe; and Uma Thurman (``Kill Bill) as the mythological Gorgon, Medusa. Jake Abel (``The Lovely Bones) portrays Luke, son of Hermes and one of the demigods who befriend Percy at Camp Half Blood.
``Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief filmed in Vancouver, with additional locations in Las Vegas, New York City and Nashville. Twentieth Century Fox releases the film in theaters everywhere on February 12, 2010.
Author Rick Riordan, who taught Greek Mythology for a many years in middle school in California and Texas, came up with the idea for the first Percy Jackson book, which led to four additional novels and a huge fan base numbering in the millions, after reading the sagas of the ancient Greek heroes as bedtime stories to his son, Haley.
``When I ran out of myths, my son became disappointed, the author relates on his website. ``He asked me if I could make up some new stories with the same characters. I remembered a creative writing project I used to do with my sixth graders, which allowed them to create their own demigod hero, the son or daughter of any god they wanted, while having them describe a Greek-style quest for that hero.
``Off the top of my head, I made up Percy Jackson and told Haley all about his quest to recover Zeus' lightning bolt in modern day America. It took about three nights to tell the whole story and, when I was done, Haley told me I should write it out as a book.
Those three nights ultimately became a yearlong odyssey for Riordan (pronounced Rye-or-dan) in completing his first book for young readers (he was already an established author, having written several prior novels, his first being the Tres Navarre private eye thriller, Big Red Tequila, in 1997).
``I picked a few of my sixth, seventh and eighth graders and asked them if they'd be willing to 'test drive' the novel, Riordan continues. ``I'm used to showing my work to adults, and had no idea if kids would like Percy. I finally understood what it must be like for them, turning in an essay to me and waiting to get their grades back! Fortunately, the kids really liked it. They had some good suggestions, too.
The book was published in 2005, but it would be another five years before Hollywood would bring the first of the Percy Jackson stories to the screen. While the studio explored turning Riordan's first book into a movie, the author continued the series by penning a new novel each year between 2006 and 2009.
Chris Columbus was attracted to ``Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief because, as he relates, ``We haven't seen the world of Greek Mythology in a story like this before, he elaborates. ``I think Rick Riordan tapped into something quite unique, juxtaposing the world of the ancient Greeks with the underbelly of contemporary America.
Columbus is no stranger to the world of fantasy. In addition to launching the ``Harry Potter film franchise by directing the first two films and serving as a producer on the third, he gained a tremendous following with three of his early, original screenplays: ``Gremlins, ``The Goonies and ``Young Sherlock Holmes.
Columbus describes his new genre effort as a contemporary adventure meets Greek-Mythology film, as opposed to a pure period-piece Greek myth with gods in flowing robes sitting on billowy clouds. ``This story has a sense of reality and an epic quality while still portraying a sinister, supernatural battle between good and evil, he explains.
To adapt the book, Columbus chose Craig Titley, with whom Columbus and his producing partners at 1492 Pictures had worked on the hit comedy ``Cheaper by the Dozen. Titley's scholarly background in Greek Mythology was a timely bonus. ``Chris knew I was getting a Ph.D. in mythological studies when he sent the book my way, Titley relates. ``I thought this was a perfect assignment for me because my head was swimming in Greek myths, monsters and heroes. And it's actually the kind of movie I've wanted to see since I was a kid. Mythology has always been hip, and there's kind of a mythology renaissance going on right now in pop culture.
Even before Titley turned in his screenplay, Columbus and producer Michael Barnathan pitched their ideas for a ``Percy Jackson movie to the studio, later designing initial conceptual artwork to further illustrate their ideas. ``This concept art had Chris' vision and tone for the movie, Barnathan says. ``It was important for Chris to design some monsters and creatures based clearly on old Greek mythological art and concepts, but take it in a new and fresh direction. So, we started our approach on paper with conceptual art. The studio got very excited and saw that this could be bigger than just a young adult story.
Once they had a visual motif for the project, the filmmakers next turned to the script. ``It's a wonderful book, but it's impossible to incorporate all the book's elements into the movie, explains Barnathan. ``What we tried to do was retain the essence of the story, characters and the world that Rick created, and put it in a cinematic context.
``One of the big changes we made was upping the age of Percy and his friends, Titley notes. ``In the book, he was twelve years old. It was just much more fun to make him seventeen. With that age, we could play with Percy and Annabeth and their relationship.
``To me, this story was perfect because it had this whole great world of Greek Mythology populated by monsters we could create and design and put in our world, says Columbus. ``And, the heart of the story is about a young man who wants to save his mother and find out who is his father is. So that made it a very emotional story. The kind of story I respond to as a director.
``The movie is very much about parent-child relationships, Barnathan amplifies. ``It's the theme that runs through it and is something that connects many of Chris' movies. At the heart of his films there's family. In 'Home Alone' it's a boy who's lost his parents. In 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' the kids are trying to keep their parents together. Here, it's a boy trying to find his father while rescuing his mother - to put his family back together.
``What drives Percy to go on this huge journey is that he wants to save his Mom, says actor Logan Lerman, who plays Percy. ``For him, that's bigger than saving the world. During the journey, he finds out that his mother is alive and Hades is holding her captive. So, Percy tries to find a way to get to the Underworld and have Hades release his mom. That's what drives him to travel cross country and face the [creatures] Hydra and Medusa and undergo lots of other wild adventures. Yes, he goes on this huge journey with his two friends to retrieve Zeus' stolen lightning bolt, and save the world. But, it's really about getting his mom back.
Lerman nabbed the role of the titular hero after Chris Columbus had caught a screening of the western ``3:10 to Yuma, in which Lerman co-starred, opposite Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. But the wheels were set in motion before then. Columbus recalls the casting process: ``My assistant, who's been with me for several years, told me a couple of years ago that if I was ever looking for a young star to be in one of my films, I should check out this movie, '3:10 to Yuma', in which this young man, Logan Lerman, had a key role. I watched the picture and thought he was an amazing actor. When it came time to cast 'Percy Jackson,' I thought of Logan. When I met him, I thought he had the essence of a potential movie star. Then, he did a screen test and I was completely blown away. Logan is like a forty-year-old person in a seventeen-year-old's body. His instincts are so remarkable. Logan has a sense of reality and intensity about him that I haven't seen in many young people. He's that fantastic.
Lerman relished working on such a large canvas. ``This is a big movie! Lerman exclaims. ``I've never been part of a movie like this, on this level. The size kind of takes you back every day. And, with Chris Columbus attached, this amazing filmmaker, I wouldn't want to put my career in the hands of anybody else.
``I didn't realize what I got myself into when I started, the young actor notes about winning the film's title role. ``I'm like, 'who did I fool to get to this point?' It never really hit me until I got to Vancouver [to begin filming] and saw these amazing sets. They built The Parthenon, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mount Olympus and the enormous Lotus Hotel and Casino.
Keeping a watchful eye on Percy is his best friend, Grover, a mythological creature known as a satyr - a half man, half goat related to the Roman mythological creature Faunus. Grover has been entrusted with protecting Percy on their transcontinental odyssey, which is a challenge for Grover on two fronts: He's a newbie at the protection thing, and in typical satyr fashion, he has a keen eye for the ladies. The latter fact didn't go unnoticed by Jackson during his research for the role. ``Satyrs are wild creatures, Jackson notes. ``Grover has issues with women. In mythology, satyrs always hung around with nymphs. In this story, Grover has a big crush on Persephone [Hades' wife, played by Rosario Dawson] and she has a crush on him. But, he's not used to a goddess liking him because he's just a satyr.
Jackson, who grew a goatee for the role, emulating the slight tuft of hair adorning a goat's chin, also reveals that his character ``has a lot of other issues, like insecurity. He's really immature as Percy's protector. He's a junior protector, not a senior protector. He doesn't even have his horns yet. Then, the performer's comic persona returns when he adds, ``it's weird because the more I did the character, the more I became Grover. I really started to feel like a goat. At home, I was eating cans.
While Columbus knew and greatly admired Jackson's work from Ben Stiller's hit comedy ``Tropic Thunder, the director was initially unfamiliar with the female lead he would ultimately help choose to play the crucial role of the demigod Annabeth -- Alexandra Daddario. Daddario was brought to the filmmaker's attention by his longtime casting directors, Jane Jenkins, CSA and Janet Hirshenson, CSA.
``We had screen tested a lot of women for the role of Annabeth, Columbus relates. ``When I saw a video test Alex had done in New York, I was intrigued. We then put her on film and I had never seen anyone's eyes photograph like that. She was mesmerizing. I also realized she had a tremendous amount of chemistry with Logan and Brandon.
The film marks Daddario's first motion picture starring role in a career dating back to her teen years in New York on the daytime soap ``All My Children. Daddario explains her take on the role within the story's context. ``'Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief' is based on the idea that the Greek gods came down to earth and had children with mortals. Then, their children were left wandering the earth because demigods aren't allowed to meet their parents. Annabeth hasn't met her mother, Athena, but she does hear her speak to her sometimes. She gives her advice. Annabeth has some kind of connection with her mother but also some resentment that she hasn't ever seen her or been able to have her immediately in her life.
Daddario sees much to admire in Annabeth: ``I think that one of the great things about Annabeth is her strength. I've read for a lot of characters for women my age that aren't fully formed or have developed personalities or characters. They're sort of just on the sidelines. But, I think that Annabeth is a very complex, very fully formed, strong character. She has a good balance between emotion and strength.
For Jake Abel, the scenes set at Camp Half Blood were among the high points of the production. ``Camp Half Blood is, in a sense, a foster home for demigods, says Abel. ``It's where my character, Luke, as well as Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and all the demigods get their training. Chiron teaches us to use our best attributes against evil. The demigods are also taught the importance of not letting the powers get out of control because demigods could take over the world - and that would lead to total global destruction. So Chiron teaches us to maintain our powers and use them for the greater good.
Abel and his young castmates enjoyed the camaraderie of shooting those scenes, as well as month-long training sessions that put the actors in demigod shape. ``Every morning we actors had our training with all the stunt guys, Abel recalls. ``And training commenced with sword fighting and flying. It also all helped us bond very quickly.
Percy and his friends' journeys bring them in close contact with gods, both good and evil. While assembling the cast to embody the lofty lot, Columbus and Barnathan found that the Percy Jackson books were a major draw. ``We were very lucky in this movie with our cast, says Barnathan. ``Good things attract good people. And, right from the beginning, people came aboard often because they had a family member who was interested in the book. It certainly happened with Pierce Brosnan, whose kids loved the book.
Brosnan, fresh off the success of the hit movie musical ``Mamma Mia!, plays the role of Chiron the Centaur, the majestic and powerful leader of the special camp for demigod training. ``Actually, I play Percy's teacher, Prof. Brunner and I play Chiron, who are one and the same, Brosnan elaborates. ``I play Prof. Brunner in this world, in this time. He teaches Greek Mythology from a wheelchair. You don't know why he's in a wheelchair until we transport ourselves into the world of Greek Mythology. As Percy goes on his journey, I become Chiron, who is half-man, half-horse -- a Centaur.
``Chiron is somebody who's connected to the mythology of his time, then and now, the actor continues. ``I try to intervene to stop a war from happening, which will upset the balance of nature. If the gods come down and create havoc with the mortals, there will be terrible consequences for the entire planet.
To give the actor the accurate height of a horse's head, Brosnan donned painter's stilts, which measured about a foot high. The prop department manufactured a staff for the character to carry, and from there he tapped into his theatrical roots. ``I had a street theater company called Theater Spiel and we used to do stilt work and fire eating and clowning, Brosnan recalls. ``For 'Percy Jackson' I visited a few horse farms in Canada before I started shooting. Then, you make it up on your own.
While Brosnan works extensively with young actors Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario and Jake Abel, he shares no scenes with the other adult cast members, including Steve Coogan and Rosario Dawson, as the bickering, dysfunctional wedded couple of the Underworld, Hades and Persephone. Coogan's colorful knave is, says Coogan, ``pursuing Percy Jackson for Zeus's lightning bolt, which has gone missing. I played Hades as being addicted to evil. He doesn't really want to be bad, but he can't help himself. But while he's certainly the axis of evil within the movie, there's definitely comedy in the character. The challenge and opportunity with the character was to strike a balance between finding those comedic moments without undermining the gravitas of playing a god.
Coogan also found inspiration for his role in his wardrobe. ``[The filmmakers] wanted Hades to look kind of like a rock god, he explains. ``So I have the snake skin pants, the snake skin boots, the torn t-shirt, the long hair and beard; it was all a very stylized look. The outfit to me was part of the key to the character. There's a vanity about him as well, and I suppose when you are a rock star, you can behave badly with a degree of impunity. All that physical stuff helped me find the character.
If Coogan impersonated a rock god in the guise of Hades, then he was blessed to share his stage - and magnificent mansion fashioned by production designer Howard Cummings - with screen goddess Rosario Dawson, who plays Hades' wife Persephone. Dawson was particularly intrigued by the couple's dynamic. ``Theirs is a very caustic relationship, she notes. ``She's stuck for several months of the year in the Underworld. And she hates it and hates Hades for it. I just see, in these characters, two people who are very comfortable at hating each other.
``Hades and Persephone live in the Underworld under Los Angeles, which is perfect because they're completely narcissistic, Dawson continues. ``Modernizing them into this contemporary world fits so perfectly. I think it's interesting that they would create Hell under Los Angeles. I think it's quite poignant to see these two people, these gods, struggling and hating and fighting in Hell in a disastrous Hollywood-like marriage. Maybe that's what Hell is.
For the role of Persephone's father, Zeus, the supreme ruler of Olympus and the universe, the filmmakers chose the charismatic and commanding British actor Sean Bean. The role represents another epic portrait in Bean's diverse gallery of motion picture characterizations that includes Odysseus, the leader of the Greek Army that overthrows Troy, in Wolfgang Petersen's large-scale adventure ``Troy, and the proud warrior Boromir in Peter Jackson's landmark ``The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
``I've always been quite interested in Greek Mythology, the myths and legends, Bean states. ``I loved Zeus' jealousies and conflicts. It's not very often you get a chance to play the king of the gods, you know. Zeus is quite a charismatic, mischievous kind of god. He likes to have a good time with the ladies, and he likes to have a good time playing games. But he's also very powerful, dignified and regal.
Kevin McKidd, who plays Zeus' brother and arch-rival Poseidon, was drawn to the project by the two of the books' biggest fans - his kids. ``I've never done anything that they've actually been allowed to watch because my earlier projects were far too grown-up, he explains. ``And my son, funny enough, has now read the first three Percy Jackson books; he is completely hooked. He's like a Percy Jackson expert. And I think the story and characters will resonate with all audiences.
Another big Percy Jackson draw is its gallery of creatures, chief among them the deadly Gorgon, Medusa, brought to life before the cameras by Uma Thurman. ``I thought Uma would make a fascinating Medusa, Columbus recalls. ``She is one of the most beautiful women in the world, yet at the same time she can create a real sense of fear and terror. I needed that combination for Medusa, someone who could entice you to look into her eyes because she was so hypnotic.
``Medusa is both a contemporary and classical figure, says Thurman of her role. ``She has a very modern attitude and style, but her head is covered with the traditional vision of Medusa: writhing snakes, which will turn an unfortunate onlooker into stone.
Thurman notes that Medusa is a complex character, whose abilities are both empowering and a curse. ``I liked the idea that she is really being tormented by her loneliness, which is her punishment, Thurman explains. ``You know, you can live forever, but it's not much of a life if every time you look someone in the eye, they turn to stone. Medusa is kind of a mad, lonely person wandering around in the museum of her life.
Barnathan remembers how hypnotic it was listening to Thurman's take on the character: ``When Uma came in, she was like this ball of fire with her ideas. She had really thought about how she would interact with the snakes [that make up Medusa's 'hair']. We were all just in awe of her, listening to her talk about how she saw Medusa and how she would play the character.
While Thurman's mane of snakes is computer generated, Columbus arranged for a wrangler to bring in some live snakes for Thurman to handle during rehearsals. ``I really enjoyed relating to the snakes, Thurman recalls. ``I played Medusa like she's always alone, and so has only her snakes to talk to. The live snakes enabled me to figure out how to move, and how to embrace the crazed, monstrous aspects of the character.
Thurman's coiffure of computer generated snakes is one of many CG enhancements provided by visual effects supervisor Kevin Mack. In addition to transforming Brosnan into the mighty Centaur, the Oscar(R)-winning effects wizard (``What Dreams May Come) also turned actor Brandon T. Jackson into a satyr - a half man, half goat.
To bring the physical world of ``Percy Jackson to life, Columbus turned to veteran production designer Howard Cummings. Among several sets he designed for Columbus' epic fantasy story (he confirms he had, at one point in the schedule, eight different set builds going on simultaneously) was a replica of the Parthenon as it exists in Nashville's Parthenon Park, a massive stage set at Mammoth Studios where Columbus began production. (The company also built several sets on at North Shore Studios, the former Lions Gate lot in North Vancouver).
``The Parthenon was actually a full replica of the interior of the one built in Nashville, Cummings says about the majestic set. ``The Parthenon was fun just for the sheer scale of it. We ended up going with lots of foam and different materials that were easily moveable.
One of the set's key components was an eye-catching, 30-foot statue of the goddess Athena, which was sculpted by Cummings' plasterers out of Styrofoam in four separate sections, then stacked onto each other seamlessly within the massive columns of the Parthenon backdrop. Although comprised of the feathery foam, the entire sculpture, when finished, tipped the scales at over 1000 lbs.
Another of the story's significant sets was Camp Half Blood, the secret, hidden enclave, accessible only to those of immortal birth, where the demigods hone their fighting skills in preparation for their missions. Erected at a popular campsite in Golden Ears Provincial Park on the stunning and serene banks of Lake Alouette, Camp Half Blood's half dozen Greek-inspired tents were replete with swords and shields and armor, where residents of the North Beach area east of Vancouver would ordinarily see RVs and lawn chairs. Down by the lake, Cummings' crew built the most stunning edifice in the entire demigods' camp -- Poseidon's boat house, where Chiron reveals to Percy that his father is the god of the Sea and one of the Big Three Olympians.
Cummings and his team also created two versions of Mount Olympus for the story's climactic moments when Percy confronts the gods about the missing lightning bolt -- one that depicted Percy's point of view as a normal sized human framed against a pair of massive 33foot doors that open onto the Olympians' throne room, and the opposite (180 degree) side of that same setting, that of the gigantic, 30-foot gods' inner sanctum, where the dozen deities wield their sovereignty.
``In telling the story of Mount Olympus, it was all about scale, Cummings states. ``Part of the story is that the gods are thirty feet high in relation to our hero, Percy. I purposely scaled down the gods' set to make the gods seem big. With a bit of trickery, it looks like it is two stories tall. And, the opposite is true for the moment when Percy arrives. Mount Olympus was about texture and age and a sense of feeling like it's been there forever.
The enormous Lotus Hotel and Casino set was built at Mammoth Studios' Stage 2 in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby. ``In Lotus Hotel and Casino, which is also based on Greek Mythology, these kids come into this casino which at first appears to be a regular casino, Columbus explains. ``It's like this gigantic, never-ending amusement park - the ultimate kids' fantasy. Our three heroes are served edible flowers, which when you eat them, induce forgetfulness and make you never want to leave. So, if you stay in Lotus Hotel and Casino, you never age, and you can stay there forever. They realize that they're trapped in Lotus Hotel and Casino, and five days pass like a minute. So they need to get out and recover the lightning bolt.
Cummings turned to the world of fantasy in designing the gothic-like mansion, awash in shades of silver and black, from which Hades rules the Underworld. The spectacular mansion featured a huge fireplace and a modern grand piano worth about a half million dollars. The latter enforced Hades' guise of a burned out rock'n'roller as envisioned by Columbus and actor Steve Coogan.
Another key set was Medusa's Lair, a greenhouse/gardening emporium (named Auntie Em's in the film) where the deadly Gorgon attempts to thwart Percy's search for the missing bolt by turning him into stone with one deadly gaze. The Lair was erected in a shuttered suburban Vancouver greenhouse, where the filmmakers spun some magic with the help of hundreds of dead plants and shrubs, many of which were obtained for free from local growers after a late season frost in early spring rendered the foliage useless; this fit well into the Gorgon's world, where legend has it her stare turns humans to stone.
This set provided the backdrop for Kevin Mack's wizardry with the CGI enhancement of Uma Thurman's depiction of the demonic Gorgon, whose coif is a nest of slithering snakes. Thurman donned a blue screen cap throughout her four days on-set in her embodiment of Medusa, over which Mack's movie magicians created the lock of reptiles. ``During her work on set, you would see Uma touching her head and caressing the snakes, in terms of what they would be doing and how they would key off of her performance, Mack recalls. ``It was just fantastic because she has such great imagination, which also contributes to the performance of the computer-generated aspect of the character.
Mack also created an eleven-foot Minotaur that attacks Percy and his mom on their way to Camp Half Blood. ``The Minotaur won't be the traditional man with a bull's head, but fully half-man, half-bull with a bull-like body that can run on all fours, says Mack. Then, there are the Hell Hounds, the ghastly creatures that resemble deformed prehistoric canines guarding the entrance to Hades' mansion; and the legendary, multi-headed Hydra that attacks the trio inside the Parthenon Museum.
Among all these impressive visual effects, Chris Columbus never lost sight of the story or the characters' journeys. ``Chris is also a storyteller, first and foremost, Mack relates. ``It's always great to have a really strong storyteller like Chris at the helm because he always keeps that in the forefront of the process. And, our work is there to support the story. To which Columbus says, ``I think the main challenge is to not overuse CGI, but to use it in an exciting way. The great thing about CGI and digital effects at this point is that they're getting very realistic and the challenging thing is to show people something they've never seen before.
The veteran filmmaker, having just completed his 15th project from the director's chair in a stellar career dating back over 25 years, reiterates that audiences have never seen anything like ``Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, adding, ``I'm like a little kid who loves to see movies where I haven't seen things before. And, I haven't seen the world of Greek Mythology done like this. I love this world. It's really exciting. And, I'm really excited about this movie.
ABOUT THE CAST
LOGAN LERMAN (Percy Jackson) made his feature film debut playing William, Mel Gibson's youngest son, in ``The Patriot, for which he shared a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Ensemble, from the non-profit Young Artist Foundation. After reuniting with Gibson (playing the actor as a young boy) in the hit comedy, ``What Women Want, Lerman co-starred in Penny Marshall's ``Riding in Cars With Boys.
That performance caught the attention of the producers of the CBS ``Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie ``A Painted House (based on John Grisham's novel), and they cast Lerman in the starring role, resulting in his first Young Artists Award, this time for Leading Young Actor in a TV Movie/Miniseries/Special. He next returned to the big screen, winning critical acclaim opposite Ashton Kutcher, in ``The Butterfly Effect.
He followed this triumph with his television series debut as Bobby McCallister, a bright young boy with a big heart who desperately tries to keep the peace between his mother and his older brother Jack, in The WB's critically-acclaimed series, ``Jack & Bobby. For his performance in the short-lived drama, Lerman won his second Young Artist Award as Leading Young Actor/TV Series.
He returned to the big screen, winning a fourth Young Artists nomination for his starring role in ``Hoot, the film adaptation of Carl Hiaasen's long-running New York Times children's bestseller. Lerman next co-starred opposite Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen in Joel Schumacher's thriller ``The Number 23 before sharing the screen with two of the industry's most respected performers, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, in James Mangold's well-received remake of the 1957 western, ``3:10 to Yuma. For his work in the film, Logan was part of the cast ensemble nomination for the prestigious SAG Award(tm) while also collecting his fifth Young Artists nod.
More recently, he has graced the movie screen with performances in ``Bill with Aaron Eckhart, Jessica Alba and Elizabeth Banks, and starred in two diverse projects -- the period comedy ``My One and Only with Renée Zellweger, Chris Noth and Kevin Bacon, and the sci-fi thriller ``Gamer, alongside Gerard Butler.
Born and raised in Beverly Hills, California (where he still resides with his family), Lerman's desire to act was ignited after seeing a Jackie Chan movie at age 2 1/2. After announcing to his mother that he was going to be an actor, the toddler soon landed an agent and booked two commercials back-to-back, earning his SAG card in the process.
BRANDON T. JACKSON (Grover the Satyr) won acclaim (and his third Black Reel Award nomination) for his performance as the actor-turned-rapper Alpa Chino in Ben Stiller's blockbuster Hollywood satire ``Tropic Thunder.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Jackson grew up (along with six siblings) the son of a church bishop (his father) and pastor (his mother) who developed an affinity for comedy and performing early in life. This natural ``class clown pursued his ambition by appearing at local community and church events (including the Motor City Youth Festival when he was just 14!), where he sowed the seeds of a burgeoning career as a standup comic.
Jackson took an internship at local Detroit radio station 93.1 FM as a teenager and soon found himself as a guest host at 105.9 FM. As his audiences grew, so did his hunger to perfect his comic skills. He began to get calls to work with comedians such as Chris Tucker and Wayne Brady, both of whom, like his idols Sinbad, Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock, served as great inspirations for his work.
A move to Los Angeles led to standup routines at the city's renowned comedy club The Laugh Factory which, in turn, resulted in a series of small parts in films such as Michael Mann's ``Ali, Curtis Hanson's ``8 Mile and Marc Cayce's ``Nikita Blues.
After delivering side splitting performances at New York City's ``Showtime at the Apollo and BET's Comic View, the actor/comedian won his first major movie role as Bow Wow's best friend, 'Junior,' in the 1970s coming-of-age comedy, ``Roll Bounce. His work in the Teitel/Tillman production won him the 2006 Black Reel Award for Breakthrough Performance and a second nomination as part of the film's ensemble cast.
While ``Roll Bounce hit movie screens, Jackson hosted his brainchild Teens of Comedy Tour, presented by BET and featuring Lil JJ' and some of the nations funniest teenage comedians (a film version is currently in development). Jackson also hosted concert tours for young music idols such as Chris Brown, Ne-Yo and T-Pain. In 2006, Jackson hosted the Up Close and Personal Tour, featuring Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Lil Wayne, Juelz Santana, and Dem Franchize Boyz. His sketch comedy special ``The Brandon T. Jackson Show aired on the N Channel and was nominated for a NAMIC Vision Awards. Other television projects include a series regular opposite Nick Cannon on MTV's ``Wild N' Out, BET's ``106 & Park and the MTV pilot, ``Crash My School.
Jackson has also logged roles in such projects as ``House of Grimm, ``This Christmas, ``Big Stan, ``Cuttin the Mustard and the current boxoffice smash, ``Fast & Furious. He had a co-starring role in ``Tooth Fairy opposite Dwayne Johnson, and a lead role ``Rogue's Gallery. His comedy tours include the 2007 ``TPain Tour and the 2005 ``Pepsi Smash.
ALEXANDRA DADDARIO (Annabeth, daughter of Athena) began her career in 2002 with her role of the victimized teen Laurie Lewis on almost four dozen episodes of the long running daytime soap ``All My Children.
After winning the signature role, the 16year-old switched high schools, opting for PCS (Professional Childrens School), which afforded her the opportunity to continue doing series television and pursue her education at the same time.
After leaving the daytime series in 2003, the New York City native began dividing her time between the small screen and feature films. She made her motion picture debut in a featured role in Noah Baumbach's acclaimed drama ``The Squid and the Whale, and appeared in the thriller ``Bereavement. In between, she has appeared in such films as Ethan Hawke's ``The Hottest State, Mary Lambert's ``The Attic, ``The Babysitters and Ian Gelfand's award-winning short film ``Pitch, which screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. She was seen in a featured role in ``Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.
Her series guest roles include ``The Sopranos, two episodes each of ``Law and Order: Criminal Intent and ``Law & Order, ``White Collar, ``Conviction, ``Damages and ``Life on Mars. She also appeared opposite Edie Falco in the pilot episode of Showtime's acclaimed new series, ``Nurse Jackie.
As Zeus, the supreme ruler of Mt. Olympus, the charismatic British actor SEAN BEAN adds another epic portrait to his diverse gallery of motion picture roles that includes Odysseus, the leader of the Greek Army that overthrows Troy, in Wolfgang Petersen's large-scale mythological adventure, ``Troy, and the proud warrior Boromir in Peter Jackson's landmark ``Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Born and raised in Handsworth, Sheffield, in the north of England, Bean was educated at several schools including Rotherham College of Arts and Technology, where he took his first acting class. A handful of notable local performances (in shows such as ``Cabaret and ``The Owl and the Pussycat) earned him a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. After graduating from RADA in 1983 (where he won the silver medal for his graduation performance in ``Waiting for Godot), he made his professional stage debut as Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury.
Launching his career on the English stage, he headed north to Scotland to work with the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. He went on to perform onstage for the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon, notably as the lead in ``Romeo and Juliet, and continued to fill his résumé with performances in plays such as ``Fair Maid of the West, ``A Midsummer Night's Dream, ``Deathwatch and ``Last Days of Mankind.
In 1984, a new medium, television, beckoned the burgeoning talent with his small screen debut in the CH4 film ``Winter Flight. Two years later, he made his feature film debut in Derek Jarman's film "Caravaggio," and reunited with the director two years later in his 1988 drama, "War Requiem. His early film roles also include the Irish janitor in Mike Figgis' moody drama, ``Stormy Monday, and Oscar nominee Richard Harris' repressed son in Jim Sheridan's ``The Field.
He returned to television for the BBC's prestigious ``Lady Chatterley, Ken Russell's lauded adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence classic, and another BBC project, ``Clarissa, proving a charismatic romantic lead in both films. In 1993, Bean gave birth to one of his best known roles, the army lieutenant Richard Sharpe, in ``Sharpe's Rifles. The telefilm was the first of sixteen two-hour episodes in which the actor would reprise his signature role of a British soldier in the Peninsular War during the age of Napoleon.
Returning to the motion picture screen, Bean's career flourished with such villainous, tough-guy roles like the IRA terrorist opposite Harrison Ford's CIA agent in ``Patriot Games, James Bond's nemesis, the hardened double agent 006, in ``GoldenEye, a mercenary weapons expert alongside Robert DeNiro and Jean Reno in John Frankenheimer's thriller ``Ronin, the psychotic ex-con in ``Essex Boys, the malevolent kidnapper-jewel thief who terrorizes Michael Douglas in ``Don't Say A Word, Nicolas Cage's nefarious rival in ``National Treasure, the devious head of a cloning facility in Michael Bay's sci-fi thriller ``The Island, and the psychopathic hitchhiker who preys on a young couple in ``The Hitcher, a remake of the 1986 horror classic.
Bean has also demonstrated his versatility with a slate of sympathetic, heroic protagonists in roles such as the pilot who questions Jodie Foster's sanity in ``Flightplan, the dashing Vronsky opposite Sophie Marceau in ``Anna Karenina, the real-life British soldier Andy McNab, who led a secret mission during the Persian Gulf War, in the British TV drama "Bravo Two Zero," and the compassionate husband of a female miner opposite Oscar nominees Frances McDormand and Charlize Theron in Niki Caro's ``North Country.
Bean's epic characterizations include the aforementioned Boromir in Peter Jackson's historic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth trilogy, "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," and the subsequent sequels, ``The Two Towers and ``Return of the King. Bean was part of the films' ensemble casts to receive the SAG Award for the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 2003, ``Return of the King, and a nomination for ``The Fellowship of the Ring. He also took home a National Board of Review Award for Best Ensemble for the third film, and earned a nomination for England's Empire Award for ``The Fellowship of the Ring. Bean returned to epic-themed filmmaking when he played the legendary Greek hero Odysseus in Wolfgang Petersen's "Troy," the big screen adaptation of Homer's tale of the Trojan War.
Bean's other key credits include the supernatural horror film, ``Silent Hill, the CBS miniseries ``Scarlett, ``When Saturday Comes, ``The Big Empty, ``Equilibrium, the horror thriller ``The Dark and ``Outlaw. He recently completed work on Menno Meyjes' epic love story set against the Viking invasions, ``Last Battle Dreamer, the thriller ``Ca$h and a pair of crime thrillers, ``Red Riding: 1974 and ``Red Riding: 1983. He stars in HBO's upcoming adaptation of the George R.R. Martin fantasy book, ``Game of Thrones, to be directed by Tom McCarthy.
Recognized internationally as one of the most dashing and skilled dramatic actors in Hollywood today, Golden Globe(R) Award nominee PIERCE BROSNAN (Chiron the Centaur/Mr. Brunner) starred opposite Meryl Streep in the smash hit film adaptation of the Broadway hit ``Mamma Mia!
Brosnan received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for his role as Julian Noble in the critically acclaimed film ``The Matador in 2005. Additionally, he received a nomination for this performance for Best Actor in a Lead Role from the Irish Film & Television Academy.
Perhaps best known worldwide as James Bond, Brosnan reinvigorated the popularity of the Bond legacy in box-office blockbusters such as ``Goldeneye (1995), ``Tomorrow Never Dies (1999), ``The World Is Not Enough (1999) and ``Die Another Day (2002). Brosnan's first three Bond films earned over a billion dollars at the international box-office and ``Die Another Day alone garnered almost a half-billion dollars worldwide.
In addition to his four Bond films, three other Brosnan features -- ``The Thomas Crown Affair, ``Dante's Peak and ``The Lawnmower Man have collectively earned hundreds of millions of dollars internationally, cementing him as one of the world's most bankable stars.
Brosnan's other film credits include ``Married Life (2007) in which he starred with Rachel McAdams, Patricia Clarkson and Chris Cooper for director Ira Sachs; the Civil War drama ``Seraphim Falls (2007) opposite Liam Neeson; John Boorman's critically acclaimed film from the John LeCarre novel, ``The Tailor of Panama (2001); Bruce Beresford's ``Mr. Johnson (1990) and Sir Richard Attenborough's ``Grey Owl (1999). Brosnan has also showcased his comedic skills in such films as ``Mrs. Doubtfire (his first project with director Chris Columbus) and Tim Burton's ``Mars Attacks (1996). He had a supporting role alongside Barbra Streisand in ``The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).
In addition to his work in front of the camera, Brosnan has always had an interest in the art of filmmaking. Having achieved international stardom as an actor, Brosnan expanded the range of his film work by launching his own production company, Irish DreamTime in 1996, along with producing partner Beau St. Clair.
Apart from ``The Matador, Irish DreamTime has produced five other films to date -- ``The Nephew (1998), ``The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), ``Evelyn (2002), ``Laws of Attraction (2004) and ``Shattered (2007). ``The Thomas Crown Affair, the company's first studio project, was a critical and boxoffice success. ``Evelyn, directed by Bruce Beresford, opened to critical acclaim at the Toronto and Chicago Film Festivals and also garnered rave reviews. ``Laws of Attraction, a romantic comedy which teamed Brosnan with Julianne Moore, focused on dueling divorce attorneys who fall in love. ``Shattered is a psychological thriller in which Brosnan starred with Maria Bello and Gerard Butler.
His many accolades include the 2007 Goldene Kamera Award for his environmental work, a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 Chicago Film Festival, the International Star of the Year at the Cinema Expo in Amsterdam, an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the Dublin Institute of Technology, an Honorary Doctorate from the University College Cork and an Order of the British Empire bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen.
Brosnan was born in County Meath, Ireland, and moved to London at age 11. At 20, he enrolled in drama school and while in London, performed in several West End stage productions including Franco Zeffirelli's ``Fulimena and Tennessee Williams' ``The Red Devil Battery Sign at the York Theater Royal. Brosnan relocated to Los Angeles in 1982 and immediately landed the role of private investigator Remington Steele on the popular NBC television series of the same name.
STEVE COOGAN (Hades, God of the Underworld) re-teams with filmmaker Chris Columbus, having co-starred as Octavius in Columbus' productions of both the 2006 global blockbuster, ``Night at the Museum and the current hit sequel, ``Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Coogan was on top of the U.S. box-office as part of the ensemble cast in Ben Stiller's hit satire, ``Tropic Thunder. In the film directed and written by Stiller, Coogan played a British film director making a movie about the Vietnam War. He co-starred opposite the star studded cast of Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Brandon T. Jackson, Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey. The film was 1 for two straight weeks and has earned over $100 million domestically.
Coogan was also recently seen in the 2008 Sundance Film Festival breakout hit comedy, ``Hamlet 2. Directed by Andrew Fleming, the film also starred Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler and David Arquette.
Born and raised in Manchester where he trained as an actor at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre, Coogan saw stand-up as a way of obtaining an equity card. He was spotted by a television scout and offered a spot on ``First Exposure, which led to many television appearances including ``The Prince's Gala Trust for the Prince and Princess of Wales, ``Stand-Up, ``Up-Front, ``Paramount City, ``London Underground and ``Word in Your Ear. He was also a regular voice on ``Spitting Image for several years.
In 1992, he won the Perrier Award for his show ``Steve Coogan in Character with John Thompson, where he launched his character 'Paul Calf'. 'Paul' became a regular on ``Saturday Zoo, on which he also introduced a new character, Paul's sister, 'Pauline Calf'. He went on to write and perform in ``The Paul Calf Video Diaries, earning a BAFTA Award Nomination for his performance in Pauline Calf's video diary ``Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral.
While working in radio, he created another memorable character 'Alan Partridge' in ``On the Hour which became the television show ``The Day Today. That, in turn, spawned the radio show ``Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge which also made the transition to television and received huge critical acclaims along with numerous awards. At the 1994 British Comedy Awards, Coogan won Top Male Comedy Performer, Top Comedy Personality while ``Knowing Me, Knowing You won Best New Television Comedy.
Not one to rest, Coogan then completed a sell out tour in the U.K. with his live show ``The Man Who Think's He's It, which won a South Bank Show Award and broke all boxoffice records for a comedy show in London's West End.
Wanting to spend more time on his writing talents, Coogan took a sabbatical from performing to write the film ``The Parole Officer with his business partner, Henry Normal. The film, produced by Duncan Kenworthy and Andrew Macdonald and directed by John Duigan, became one of the top grossing British films of the year.
Coogan and Normal continued their partnership and created their own production company, Baby Cow Production, in 1999. They have since produced a number of award-winning programs such as ``Marion and Geoff, ``Human Remains, ``The Mighty Boosh, ``Gavin and Stacey, ``Sensitive Skin, ``Dr Terrible's House of Horrible, ``A Small Summer Party, ``Up in Town and ``Cruise of the Gods, a TV film made for BBC 2.
In 2002, he released a new series of ``I'm Alan Partridge, which again received rave reviews and earned him two BAFTA Awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Performance.
Other film credits for Coogan include ``Resurrected, ``Indian in the Cupboard, ``Revengers Comedies, ``The Fix Wind in the Willows, Jim Jarmusch's ``Coffee & Cigarettes, ``24 Hour Party People, ``Around the World in Eighty Days (playing the lead of Phileas Fogg), ``A Cock And Bull Story, ``Happy Endings, ``Marie Antoinette, ``The Private Life of Samuel Pepys, ``Finding Amanda. This year, he will also be seen opposite of Hilary Duff and Molly Shannon in ``Safety Glass.
Coogan's most recent television appearance was in the 2007 season finale of HBO's award-winning ``Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing Larry David's psychologist who ends up in jail. He also wrote and starred in a Christmas Special for BBC 2 titled ``Tony Ferrino's Phenomenon (for which he received the Silver Rose of Montreux Award) and the BBC 2 comedy shows ``Saxondale and ``Coogan's Run.
Coogan recently wrapped his second tour entitled ``Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters. The comedy tour was comprised of 40 dates, many of which were sold out, and the show included many of his other comedy creations, such as 'Paul Calf' and his 'sister', Pauline Calf.
ROSARIO DAWSON (Persephone) reunites with director Chris Columbus following her role as Mimi Valdez in the motion picture adaptation of the Pulitzer Prizewinning Jonathan Larson musical ``Rent, in which she starred alongside many of the original stage cast members including Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse L. Martin and Taye Diggs.
Dawson starred in the hit thriller ``Eagle Eye opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Shia LaBeouf, and Gabriele Muccino's mystical drama ``Seven Pounds in which she re-teamed with Will Smith while winning acclaim and praise from critics and fans alike. She stars opposite Kevin James in the upcoming comedy ``Zookeeper and will next star with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine in Tony Scott's thriller, ``Unstoppable, release by Twentieth Century Fox later this year.
Dawson's directorial collaborations over the years include John Madden (``Killshot); Quentin Tarantino (``Death Proof, the second half of the unique double bill entitled ``Grind House, which was screened In Competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival); Robert Rodriguez (his acclaimed film noir thriller ``Sin City, which also screened 'In Competition' at Cannes in 2005); Kevin Smith (the comedy sequel ``Clerks 2); Peter Berg (the action-adventure ``The Rundown with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Christopher Walken); Billy Ray (the highly-praised true-life drama ``Shattered Glass); Spike Lee (``The 25th Hour alongside Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman and ``He Got Game with Denzel Washington); Barry Sonnenfeld (``Men in Black 2 with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones); Ethan Hawke (``Chelsea Walls); and Oliver Stone (``Alexander).
On the independent circuit, Dawson starred in and produced the film ``Descent for director Talia Lugacy. Her first self produced feature film under her production banner, Trybe Films premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews. And, it was her second collaboration with director Lugacy following the 15-minute short film ``Bliss Virus, written and directed by the fledgling filmmaker.
A familiar face on the festival circuit, Dawson recently starred in the political drama ``Explicit Ills, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, garnering critical praise as well as three citations including the Audience Award at the annual Texas event. She was also seen in ``A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints opposite Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri and Channing Tatum, which was honored at the Sundance Film Festival where it received the award for ``Special Jury Prize for a Dramatic Film. Other indie credits include ``Love in the Time of Money, written and directed by theater veteran Peter Marrei, which premiered to high acclaim at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, and another festival favorite, ``This Girls Life.
Other feature credits include the high school drama ``Light It Up opposite Forrest Whitaker and Vanessa Williams; ``Down to You with Freddie Prinze Jr.; ``Josie and the Pussycats with Rachel Leigh Cook and Tara Reid; the futuristic action-comedy ``The Adventures of Pluto Nash with Eddie Murphy; Edward Burns' romantic comedy ``Sidewalks of New York which also starred Heather Graham, Stanley Tucci and Brittany Murphy; Burns' ``Ash Wednesday; and ``The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, written by Jon Favreau and directed by Mick Jackson.
Dawson made her film debut in the highly acclaimed and controversial hit ``Kids. Directed by photographer Larry Clark, with a script by Harmony Korine, the film depicted 24 hours in the life of a group of New York Skaters and the havoc that runs through it. The film features a group of kids actually pulled from the streets in New York, as opposed to professional actors. With a surprise midnight screening at Sundance and a spot in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, her film career was well underway.
CATHERINE KEENER (Sally Jackson) is the Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated actress who built a solid foundation in American independent cinema during the 1990s under the direction of two key collaborators -- Tom DiCillo (``Johnny Suede, ``Living in Oblivion, ``Box of Moonlight, ``The Real Blonde) and Nicole Holofcener (``Walking and Talking, ``Lovely and Amazing, ``Friends with Money).
As her career flourished in the independent arena, her naturalistic style found wider audiences in diverse offerings like Spike Jonze's ``Being John Malkovich (her first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress), Judd Apatow's comedy hit ``40-Year-Old Virgin, and the compelling literary drama ``Capote (her second Best Supporting Actress Oscar nod), in which she essayed the role of legendary author Harper Lee.
Keener hails from the Little Havana section of Miami, Florida. She graduated from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she studied literature and history and enrolled in her first theater course while debuting onstage in the Wendy Wasserstein play, "Uncommon Women and Others. After graduation, she moved to Manhattan and began working for casting agent Gail Eisenstadt. When Eisenstadt relocated to Los Angeles, she helped Keener (who followed her boss west) land a small film role as a cocktail waitress in Ed Zwick's comedy, "About Last Night ..." opposite Rob Lowe and Jim Belushi.
She next flirted briefly with television, playing a young sidekick on ABC's short-lived cop show "Ohara" before returning to the big screen in projects such as "Survival Quest," Dennis Hopper's "Backtrack" and Blake Edwards' "Switch. In 1991, she began her long standing association with the indie film scene and upcoming director Tom DiCillo in his affectionate comedy, ``Johnny Suede. For her starring role opposite then-unknown Brad Pitt, Keener earned the first of three Independent Spirit Award nominations as Best Female Lead.
DiCillo next wrote a part for her as an actress involved in an inept indie film project in the short film "Scene Six, Take One" (1994), which he expanded into the feature "Living in Oblivion" the following year. Not long after, Keener began another key affiliation when she starred as a doubtful romantic opposite Anne Heche in Nicole Holofcener's drama "Walking and Talking, garnering her second Best Female Lead nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards.
That same year, Keener co-starred along with Demi Moore in Nancy Savoca's "1952" segment of HBO's popular series "If These Walls Could Talk." She then reunited with DiCillo on two simultaneous projects -- "Box of Moonlight" (1996) and "The Real Blonde" (1997). Steven Soderbergh then cast Keener in a memorable supporting role as a flamboyant, savvy magician's assistant and ex-wife of bank robber George Clooney in his acclaimed comedy-thriller, "Out of Sight. Back in the indie arena, Keener joined the ensemble cast of Neil LaBute's "Your Friends & Neighbors" then followed with a small role as Nicolas Cage's sympathetic wife in Joel Schumacher's expose of the porn world, "8mm.
Later that same year, Keener landed her breakout role of a no-nonsense boss who manipulates one of her employees in Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich. The role showcased Keener's eclectic talents, awarding her with Best Supporting Actress nominations for the Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award(R, the latter for her singular performance as well as part of the film's ensemble cast).
The actress kicked off the new millennium by reteaming with director Holofcener on ``Lovely and Amazing, for which she captured another Independent Spirit Award nomination. Keener next appeared on the big screen in Soderbergh's experimental ``Full Frontal, Danny DeVito's satire ``Death to Smoochy and Andrew Niccol's thriller "S1m0ne with Al Pacino. She later reunited with actor Edward Norton in the off-Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's romantic drama, ``Burn This. She followed with rave reviews for writer-director Rebecca Miller's independent drama "The Ballad of Jack & Rose" opposite Daniel Day Lewis.
She had a supporting turn in Sidney Pollack's taut thriller "The Interpreter as Sean Penn's sidekick, then completely switched gears to co-star opposite Steve Carell in Judd Apatow's unexpected critical and commercial hit comedy, ``40-Year-Old-Virgin. That same year, Keener earned her second Academy Award(R) nomination (as well as SAG and BAFTA nods) for her work opposite Best Actor Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman in Bennett Miller's acclaimed biopic, ``Capote.
She reunited again with director Holofcener in ``Friends with Money, then reteamed with actor Penn, who this time out directed her in the role of a sympathetic bohemian who takes an idealistic young drifter under her wing in his critically-acclaimed true-life tragedy ``Into the Wild, based on the book by Jon Krakauer. Keener was part of the film's SAG nominated Best Ensemble Cast.
Adding to her long list of laurels, Keener collected her first Emmy(R) nomination and another Golden Globe nod for her starring role in the Showtime drama ``An American Crime, which originally screened at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and tells the true story of Gertrude Baniszewski (Keener), a middle-aged mother who tortured and killed Sylvia Likens in her Indiana home.
More recently, Keener has maintained a busy schedule, co-starring again with actor Hoffman in Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut ``Synecdoche, New York (sharing the Robert Altman Award with the film's ensemble cast); the offbeat indie comedy about a high school drama teacher,`` Hamlet 2; the Italian-set thriller ``Genova; Holofcener's new comedy, ``Please Give; David O. Russell's romantic comedy, Nailed; Spike Jonze's screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's imaginative book ``Where the Wild Things Are; Joe Wright's true-life drama ``The Soloist alongside Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr.; and the Duplass' Brothers' new comedy ``Cyrus, with John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill.
Her work has also captured many film critics awards throughout the country, including Best Supporting Actress honors from the New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Toronto critics circles for ``Capote, and acting nominations for various roles from such organizations as the Broadcast Film Critics, the Chicago Film Critics and Online Film Critics groups.
Scottish actor KEVIN McKIDD (Poseidon) made his feature film debut in 1996, starring in Gillies Mackinnon's ``Small Faces, quickly followed by a starring role alongside Ewan McGregor in Danny Boyle's acclaimed ``Trainspotting the same year.
Presently, McKidd graces the small screen on the hit ABC show ``Grey's Anatomy, playing Dr. Owen Hunt, (introduced in the show's fifth season premiere), an Iraq War medic who comes to Seattle Grace Hospital. While being questioned for his unconventional approach to standard medical procedures, Hunt catches the eye of Sandra Oh's character, Dr. Cristina Yang, a relationship that grows increasingly complicated.
Demonstrating how easily he can transition from television to film, as well as cross genres, McKidd recently co-starred in the 2008 romantic comedy, "Made of Honor opposite fellow ``Grey's Anatomy co-star Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan.
On the big screen, McKidd stars in ``Bunraku, alongside Josh Harnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson and Ron Perlman. In this action packed drama, McKidd plays an outrageous and virulent criminal who terrorizes a town in Guy Moshe's 2009 release. He is next set to portray poet Dylan Thomas in Mick Davis' biopic, ``Dylan.
In 2007, McKidd made his debut on American network television as the star of NBC's drama ``Journeyman, portraying a San Francisco newspaper reporter and family man who inexplicably begins to travel through time and change people's lives. Prior to ``Journeyman, the Scotsman starred as Lucius Vorenus in HBO's Golden Globe and Emmynominated historical drama series "Rome.
McKidd's film credits also include ``Hannibal Rising, Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven, Irwin Winkler's musical biopic "De-Lovely" with Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, ``Sixteen Years of Alcohol (for which he was nominated as Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards), ``Nicholas Nickleby," "Hideous Kinky" with Kate Winslet, and "Max" with John Cusack.
His television credits include ``The Virgin Queen, "Gunpowder, Treason and Plot," "North Square," "The Key," "Anna Karenina," "Richard II" and "Looking After Jo Jo."
McKidd has also established a vibrant career on the stage, with theatre credits that include "Richard III, ``Britannicus (for which he won an Ian Charleston Award) and ``Far Away."
Born and raised in Scotland, McKidd was a member of the Moray Youth Theatre. He became involved in the Bedlam Theatre Company while he was a student at the University of Edinburgh, and it was there that McKidd decided to pursue an acting career, landing his first leading role in the Wild Cat Theatre Company stage production of "The Silver Darlings," for which he won the Gulliver Award.
Recognized as one of the industry's craftiest character actors, JOE PANTOLIANO (Gabe Ugliano, Percy's stepdad) landed his first professional role in 1972 when he played Billy Bibbit in the national touring company of Ken Kesey's ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
After working in regional theater and in over forty off-Broadway productions, the Hoboken, New Jersey, native moved to Hollywood, where he immediately landed the plum role of Angelo Maggio (portrayed by another Hoboken native, Frank Sinatra, in the 1953 movie version) in the NBC miniseries ``From Here to Eternity, starring Natalie Wood, Kim Basinger, Peter Boyle and William Devane.
On the West Coast, he continued working in theatre, winning a Dramalogue Award and a Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Actor in ``Orphans. He received his second Dramalogue Award as Best Actor for ``Italian American Reconciliation, written and directed by John Patrick Shanley. More recently (2003 to be exact), Pantoliano starred opposite Rosie Perez in the Broadway revival of ``Frankie and Johnny.
Pantoliano also triumphed on the small screen, earning a CableACE nomination as Best Actor for his appearance in one of the original episodes of the HBO horror series ``Tales From the Crypt, directed by Richard Donner. His other television credits include the highly acclaimed CBS drama ``EZ Streets, for which he was nominated for a Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Actor; ``The Handler on CBS; and HBO's highly acclaimed series ``The Sopranos, for which he won the 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a drama series.
On the motion picture screen, Pantoliano has appeared in over 100 films, including memorable turns as the pimp Guido opposite Tom Cruise in ``Risky Business, ``The Goonies (written by Chris Columbus), ``La Bamba, Steven Spielberg's ``Empire of the Sun, with Robert DeNiro in Martin Brest's ``Midnight Run, the Oscar-nominated Harrison Ford thriller ``The Fugitive and its sequel, ``U.S. Marshals, Michael Bay's ``Bad Boys and ``Bad Boys II, and ``Daredevil.
Following his starring role in the 1997 thriller ``Bound, Pantoliano re-teamed with the Wachowski Brothers two years later, co-starring opposite Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne in their blockbuster sci-fi hit ``The Matrix. He also starred with Guy Pearce in Christopher Nolan's hit film ``Memento, which was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Editing and won Best Director, Best Feature and Best Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2002.
Donning both actor and producer hats, Pantoliano most recently starred in and produced (along with the series' creator and executive producer, Jack Orman) the CBS drama pilot ``Waterfront. He starred in ``American Standard, which he also produced with Bobby Schwartz, John S. Schwartz and Ross Dinerstein; writer/director Joe Greco's ``Canvas in which he stars opposite Marcia Gay Harden and produced with Adam and Lucy Hammel, Sharon Lane and Bruce Beresford; and also notably produced and starred in ``Taxman and ``Second Best. Other recent projects include ``Wedding Daze, in which he co-stars with Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher, and the voice for the clever chipmunk in Walt Disney's ``Enchanted.
Pantoliano also published his first book, the New York Times bestseller Who's Sorry Now: The True Story of a Stand-up Guy (Dutton Publishing). He is co-president of The Creative Coalition, an organization of artists intending to educate the public about important social issues while influencing the political process. He has also just started his own non-forprofit organization, No Kidding, Me Too!, dedicated to ending the stigma of mental illness.
UMA THURMAN (Medusa) began her career in the company of three of the industry's most celebrated filmmakers in just her second, third and fourth projects -- as the goddess Venus in Terry Gilliam's fantasy ``The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, followed by the 18th century convent girl in Stephen Frears' Oscar-nominated ``Dangerous Liaisons, and her starring role opposite Fred Ward and Maria de Medeiros in Philip Kaufman's controversial biopic, ``Henry & June, in which she essayed the neurotic and exotic bisexual spouse of author Henry Miller.
A few years later (in 1994), she would be on the ballot as Best Supporting Actress for Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA honors for her performance as Mia Wallace, the sexy mobster's wife, in Quentin Tarantino's critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning ``Pulp Fiction.
The daughter of a psychologist and a college professor, Thurman was raised in Amherst, Massachusetts, and Woodstock, New York. She attended a preparatory school in New England, where at fifteen she was discovered by two New York agents. At sixteen, she transferred to the Professional Children's School in New York City in order to pursue an acting career.
She debuted on the motion picture screen opposite Anthony Michael Hall in the 1987 comedy ``Johnny B. Good. Over the next few years, she played one of a trio of Dabney Coleman's spoiled children in John Boorman's comedy ``Where the Heart Is, then starred opposite Richard Gere and Kim Basinger as a conniving therapy patient in Phil Joanou's thriller ``Final Analysis. She next reunited with actor John Malkovich in the thriller ``Jennifer 8, playing Andy Garcia's blind girlfriend, Helena, before switching back to comedy with John MacNaughton's offbeat ``Mad Dog & Glory, playing a barmaid who becomes an indentured servant to Robert De Niro's shy forensic cop after he accidentally saves a gangster's (Bill Murray) life. She followed with yet another unconventional project, Gus Van Sant's ``Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, in which she played Sissy Hankshaw, a big-thumbed, bisexual hippie hitchhiker.
Following her Oscar nomination for ``Pulp Fiction, she was seen in the period romance ``A Month by the Lake with Vanessa Redgrave, and the contemporary romance ``Beautiful Girls, directed by the late Ted Demme. Thurman's slate of film appearances in the latter half of the 1990s included ``The Truth About Cats & Dogs, ``Batman & Robin, Andrew Niccol's ``Gattaca, ``Les Miserables with Liam Neeson, and ``The Avengers, the big screen rendition of the classic 1960s TV series. She closed out the decade with her stage debut in an updated version of Moliere's ``The Misanthrope at the Classic Stage Company in New York.
Thurman's other film works include Woody Allen's ``Sweet & Lowdown opposite Sean Penn and Samantha Morton, Roland Joffe's ``Vatel with Gerard Depardieu and Tim Roth, the Merchant/Ivory film ``The Golden Bowl alongside Nick Nolte and Anjelica Huston, John Woo's thriller ``Paycheck and ``Tape, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as Best Supporting Actress. Thurman garnered more award attention for her starring role in the HBO film, ``Hysterical Blindness, for which she won the 2003 Golden Globe for Best Actress and picked up a SAG nomination as well.
Two more Golden Globe nominations came her way when she reunited with filmmaker Tarantino as the avenging character 'The Bride' in his action-packed twin films, ``Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and ``Kill Bill: Vol. 2. She re-teamed with actor John Travolta in ``Be Cool, the sequel to the hit film ``Get Shorty, then starred with Meryl Streep in the romantic comedy ``Prime before essaying the colorful role of the sexy secretary Ulla in the film version of Mel Brooks' applauded Broadway musical, ``The Producers.
She followed with the romantic comedy ``My Super Ex-Girlfriend, produced and starred in Griffin Dunne's ``The Accidental Husband, starred along with Evan Rachel Wood in Vadim Perelman's ``The Life Before Her Eyes and toplined ``My Zinc Bed, based on the play by David Hare. She recently starred in the indie comedy ``Motherhood, starring with Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards.
One of Hollywood's rising young talents, JAKE ABEL (Luke, son of Hermes) most recently co-starred as Dennis Kearns, the son of embattled inventor Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) in the acclaimed drama, ``Flash of Genius. For his work in the film, Abel was cited with a Rising Star Award (along with a half-dozen other performers) at the 16th Hamptons International Film Festival.
He next graces the screen co-starring opposite Oscar-winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon and nominees Mark Wahlberg and Saoirse Ronan in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel, ``The Lovely Bones.
Abel hails from Canton, Ohio, where, as a youngster, he took improv acting classes. Upon his family's relocation to South Carolina, he continued his acting pursuits, which paid off with his first professional assignment at the age of sixteen -- a commercial for Old Navy.
He debuted on series television with a role in the Disney Channel's ``Go Figure before landing a recurring role on the short-lived CBS series ``Threshold. He has guest-starred on such series as ``Cold Case, ``ER, ``CSI:NY, ``CSI: Miami and just began his role of Adam Milligan on the WB Network's sci-fi fantasy series ``Supernatural.
Abel has also appeared in several independent films including ``Strange Wilderness, ``Tru Loved and ``18. He also co-starred in a 10-episode web series called ``Angel of Death.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
CHRIS COLUMBUS (Director/Producer) is a major force in contemporary Hollywood and one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation. His eclectic gallery of motion pictures over the past 25 years runs the gamut from fantasy (Joe Dante's ``Gremlins) and adventure (Richard Donner's ``The Goonies) to comedy (``Home Alone and ``Home Alone 2) and the launching of one of the industry's most successful franchises ever, in the first two ``Harry Potter films.
Columbus was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, and grew up outside of Youngstown, Ohio. As a youngster, he aspired to be a cartoonist for Marvel Comics, eventually making the connection between comic books and movie storyboards. In high school, he began making homegrown 8mm films from his own storyboards (a practice which he continues to this day). After high school, he enrolled in the Directors Program at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.
The aspiring director first attained success as a screenwriter, selling his first script ``Jocks (a semi-autobiographical comedy about a Catholic schoolboy who tries out for a football team), while still in college. After graduating from NYU, he immediately gained prominence in Hollywood by writing several original scripts produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.
The consecutive box-office hits of ``Gremlins (1984) and ``The Goonies (1985) were both original and entertaining films that intertwined high notes of offbeat, edgy, often outrageous humor against more classic adventure-thriller backdrops. Continuing his association with Spielberg, he next collaborated with director Barry Levinson with another unique take on the genre, the fantasy adventure ``Young Sherlock Holmes.
These screenwriting achievements led Columbus to direct his first two features, the comedy ``Adventures in Babysitting (1987, ironically not from his own script), and his homage to the legend of Elvis Presley, ``Heartbreak Hotel a year later.
A meeting with John Hughes brought Columbus to the helm of the box-office phenomenon ``Home Alone (1990), the first of three collaborations with the prolific filmmaker which included the hit sequel ``Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and another semi-autobiographical story, ``Only the Lonely (1991). The latter, a bittersweet comedy-drama directed by Columbus from his own original screenplay, was praised for featuring one of the late John Candy's best performances, and for the return to the screen of legendary movie star Maureen O'Hara, a role he wrote specifically for the actress.
Columbus' smash hit comedy ``Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), starring Robin Williams and Sally Field, bent genders as well as genres, to great critical and public acclaim. Columbus next directed another comedy ``Nine Months (1995), with Hugh Grant and Julianne Moore, before turning to drama with ``Stepmom (1998) starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. He reunited again with Williams on the poignant fantasy film, ``Bicentennial Man.
Columbus faced a daunting task when he landed the assignment to direct ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), the first film based on J.K. Rowling's monumentally successful series of books. With millions of avid, fanatical readers in a high state of expectation and anticipation, Columbus cast completely unknown youngsters Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the leading roles of Harry Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Once again, he demonstrated his acumen for nurturing and cultivating young talent by turning this inexperienced trio into natural screen performers.
The success of ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone led Columbus to the second movie in the series, ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), resulting in another huge global box-office success (both films sit among the Top 100 grossing films of all time). He served as producer on the third film in the franchise, ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (like the first two, a BAFTA nominee) before directing the film version of the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical ``Rent. He most recently stepped back into the director's chair to helm the romantic comedy, ``I Love You, Beth Cooper, the project which preceded this one.
In addition to his writing and directorial achievements, Columbus and his producing partners at 1492 Pictures have made a series of commercial blockbusters that include ``Fantastic Four and the sequel, ``Fantastic Four: Rise of the Surfer, ``Night at the Museum and ``Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, ``Cheaper by the Dozen, ``Christmas with the Kranks (which Columbus also wrote) and ``Jingle All the Way.
CRAIG TITLEY (Screenwriter) earned his undergraduate degree from Eastern Illinois University and his graduate degree from USC's renowned Peter Stark Producing Program in the university's school of cinematic arts. He is currently studying for his Ph.D. in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate School, home of the Joseph Campbell library and archives.
A native of Mattoon, Illinois, Titley gained early industry experience as a production assistant on such films as ``Mobsters and Joe Dante's ``Matinee. He segued into screenwriting on such films as co-writer on ``See Spot Run, the box-office smash ``Scooby-Doo and both ``Cheaper By the Dozen features (credited with screen story for the 2003 remake and characters for the 2005 sequel).
Titley recently had the opportunity of collaborating with George Lucas on his animated TV series ``Star Wars: The Clone Wars, penning the episode entitled ``Blue Shadow Virus, Titley's first foray in animation.
KAREN ROSENFELT (producer) is a second generation Hollywood veteran following in the footsteps of her father, Frank Rosenfelt, who had a long and distinguished history with MGM Studios, where he rose to become chairman of MGM/UA in the 1980s.
Rosenfelt began her own career at one of the industry's renowned talent agencies, ICM, where she worked as an assistant to agent Sue Mengers. She next became a creative executive at Jerry Weintraub Productions and a senior vice president at MGM.
She then segued to Paramount Pictures where, during a successful fifteen year tenure as one of the studio's production executives, developed the feature films ``Save the Last Dance, ``Coach Carter, ``Mean Girls, ``Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, ``Indecent Proposal, ``First Wives Club, ``Runaway Bride and ``The General's Daughter.
She was also instrumental in spearheading Paramount's partnership with Nickelodeon Movies, overseeing the film adaptations of such Nickelodeon television properties as ``Rugrats and ``SpongeBob SquarePants. Other Nickelodeon films under her province included ``Jimmy Neutron, ``Snow Day and ``Harriet the Spy.
Following her long run at Paramount, Rosenfelt moved into independent producing with a deal at Fox 2000 Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox. Continuing her interest in the teen and family film arena, she executive produced such hit films as ``The Devil Wears Prada and ``Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Rosenfelt produced the vampire epic ``Twilight, based on the globally popular book by Stephenie Meyer, and another box-office smash, ``Marley & Me, from the novel by John Grogan. Currently, she is back in two distinct worlds -- in chipmunkland, executive producing the box-office smash ``Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel while producing the phenomenally popular ``Twilight sequel entitled ``New Moon. She immediately segued onto the third feature in the ``Twlight saga, ``Eclipse.
MICHAEL BARNATHAN (Producer) is president of 1492 Pictures, in which he is a producing partner with Chris Columbus and Mark Radcliffe. The company was formed in May 1994.
Barnathan has served as producer on the Columbus-directed projects ``Nine Months, ``Rent, ``Stepmom and ``I Love You, Beth Cooper. For 1492, he also produced ``Jingle All the Way, ``Cheaper by the Dozen, ``Christmas with the Kranks, ``Night at the Museum and the hit sequel, ``Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
He served as executive producer on the first three installments of the ``Harry Potter franchise -- ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (both directed by Columbus) and ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (which earned a BAFTA Award as Best Children's Film and a second nomination as Best British Film), as well as ``Fantastic Four and ``Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Prior to joining 1492 Pictures, Barnathan was senior vice president of production at Largo Entertainment for four years. His responsibilities there included supervision of both development and production of Largo's feature slate. The N.Y.U. grad (where he first met aspiring filmmaker Columbus during their freshman year) served as executive producer on ``Used People and supervised productions on ``Point Break, ``Dr. Giggles, ``Judgment Night and ``The Getaway.
Before joining Largo, Barnathan spent seven years working for Edgar J. Scherick Associates. During his last two years with Scherick, he served as executive vice president of production, producing and executive producing numerous cable movies, telefilms and miniseries, including ``The Kennedys of Massachusetts, which received eight Emmy nominations and three Golden Globe nods, including Best Miniseries for each.
MARK RADCLIFFE (Producer) continues his long association with director Chris Columbus, which dates back to 1988 when he served as assistant director on Columbus' second directorial effort, ``Heartbreak Hotel.
Since the birth of their partnership, Radcliffe has served as producer or executive producer the Columbus-helmed pictures ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,`` ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (executive producer on both), and ``Mrs. Doubtfire, ``Stepmom, ``Rent, ``Bicentennial Man, ``Nine Months ``I Love You, Beth Cooper (all as producer). He also produced the third installment in the ``Potter franchise, ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (for which he shared a BAFTA Award as Best Children's Film and a second nomination as Best British Film).
Working together in their 1492 Pictures production entity, Radcliffe also produced ``Fantastic Four, ``Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, ``Christmas with the Kranks, ``Jingle All the Way, ``Night at the Museum and the hit sequel, ``Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. His producing duties began on three early Columbus triumphs -- ``Home Alone (on which he also was assistant director and associate producer), ``Only the Lonely (as co-producer and assistant director), and ``Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (executive producer).
A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Radcliffe began his film career as assistant director on the Francis Ford Coppola production ``The Escape Artist, re-teaming with Coppola on ``Rumble Fish and ``Peggy Sue Got Married. Other assistant director credits include John Hughes' ``She's Having a Baby and ``Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Jerry Zucker's Oscar-nominated 1990 hit, ``Ghost, Donald Petrie's ``Mystic Pizza and Paul Schrader's ``Light of Day. He also served as production manager on the 1979 film ``Rock 'n' Roll High School.
THOMAS M. HAMMEL (Executive Producer) reunites with filmmakers Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe and Michael Barnathan after serving as executive producer on their 1492 Pictures project ``Night at the Museum. Hammel reprised his duties on the hit sequel, ``Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
The longtime industry veteran has also executive produced ``Meet Dave, "AVP: Alien vs. Predator, "The Order," "From Hell," "Fair Game" and "Love Potion No. 9." As a producer, Hammel's film credits include "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Firestorm." He also co-produced Roland Emmerich's "The Day After Tomorrow."
Hammel won the Emmy and a CableACE nomination for executive producing the acclaimed HBO telefilm ``Barbarians at the Gate. He earned a Golden Globe and another Emmy nomination for producing John Frankenheimer's widely hailed HBO feature, "The Burning Season. In addition to his career on the set, Hammel spent seven years as vice president of production for HBO Pictures.
The Kansas native graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, with a degree in film. Before graduating to producer, he spent his early years as a unit production manager on Joe Dante's ``Piranha and Francis Coppola's ``Rumble Fish.
GREG MOORADIAN (Executive Producer) is a senior vice president of production at Paramount Pictures. Previously, he was a producer on ``The Stepfather (2009) and an executive producer on ``The Twilight Saga: New Moon and ``Drumline.
GUY OSEARY (Executive Producer) is a principal at Guy Oseary Management and a partner in Untitled Entertainment. His numerous motion picture credits (as producer or executive producer) include ``The Stepfather (2009), ``The Twilight Saga: New Moon, ``Twilight, ``You Don't Mess with the Zohan and ``Charlie's Angels.
MARK MORGAN (Executive Producer) is a partner at Imprint Entertainment. His motion picture credits include ``The Stepfather (2009), ``The Twilight Saga: New Moon, ``Twilight and ``Agent Cody Banks.
STEPHEN GOLDBLATT, ASC (Director of Photography) reunites with director Chris Columbus after their previous association on Columbus' big screen adaptation of the legendary Broadway musical, ``Rent.
Goldblatt received Academy Award nominations (as well as ASC nods) for his work on Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever" and Barbra Streisand's "The Prince of Tides." In his long and distinguished career (dating back to Brian Gibson's 1980 cult musical ``Breaking Glass), the cinematographer has collaborated with directors Mike Nichols (``Charlie Wilson's War, ``Closer, HBO's ``Angels in America), Alan J. Pakula (``The Pelican Brief, ``Consenting Adults), Richard Donner (``Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2), Taylor Hackford (``Everybody's All-American), Francis Coppola (``The Cotton Club), Barry Levinson (``Young Sherlock Holmes), Ulu Grosbard (``The Deep End of the Ocean), Mark Rydell (``For the Boys), John Patrick Shanley (``Joe Versus the Volcano) and fellow Royal Film School alum Tony Scott (``The Hunger). Last year, he shot Nora Ephron's hit comedy, ``Julie & Julia.
In addition to his work on six episodes of HBO's groundbreaking drama ``Angels in America (based on Tony Kushner's play, for which Goldblatt was nominated for both ASC and Emmy honors), Goldblatt also guided the camera work (earning two more Emmy nominations) on two additional HBO projects -- Frank Pierson's expose of the Holocaust, ``Conspiracy, and John Frankenheimer's award-winning ``Path to War.
Goldblatt was born in South Africa and moved to the United Kingdom when he was a boy. Fresh out of art school, he began his career as a news photographer on Fleet Street before enrolling in London's Film School of the Royal College of Art [RCA], where fellow students included Tony Scott and Richard Loncraine. He first pursued work as a still photographer, documentary and commercial's cinematographer, before turning to feature films.
He was also honored for his work in 2007 by the Hollywood Film Festival as Cinematographer of the Year, and received the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from CAMERIMAGE, the International Cinematographer's Film Festival in Poland.
HOWARD CUMMINGS (Production Designer) re-teams with director Chris Columbus for their third project together following his designs for the filmmaker's big screen musical ``Rent and the romantic comedy ``I Love You, Beth Cooper.
Cummings graduated from New York University with an M.F.A. in scenic design. Before segueing into film and television, he spent several years working as a production designer at American Playhouse, creating the look for their 1985 project ``Three Sovereigns for Sarah.
Also a favorite of filmmaker David Koepp (``Ghost Town, ``The Trigger Effect, ``Secret Window), Cummings has collaborated with a who's who of esteemed directors on almost three dozen projects. His affiliations include directors Francis Coppola (``The Rainmaker), Bryan Singer (``The Usual Suspects), Danny DeVito (``Death To Smoochy, ``What's the Worst That Could Happen?), Terry Zwigoff (``Art School Confidential), Stephen Soderbergh (``The Underneath), John Schlesinger (``The Next Best Thing), Bruce Beresford (``Double Jeopardy), Renny Harlin (``The Long Kiss Goodnight) and Alan Rudolph (``Mortal Thoughts), among others.
In addition to the acclaimed ``Indictment: The McMartin Trial, Cummings' television credits include ``The Stalking, ``Assault at West Point, ``Caught in the Act, Forest Whitaker's ``Strapped and ``Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore. He earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1985 for his designs on the ABC Afterschool Special ``Out of Step.
PETER HONESS, A.C.E. (Editor) reunites with director Chris Columbus following their first two collaborations on ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the director's recent romantic comedy, ``I Love You, Beth Cooper.
Honess' editing career began in England at the U.K. facilities of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where his father, a studio manager at MGM, got him a job as a gofer at age
17. With his sights set on a career as an editor, he sustained a long apprenticeship in the craft that included work as an assistant editor, notably on Robert Aldrich's classic WWII adventure ``The Dirty Dozen (1967).
Not long after, he traveled to the U.S. for a five-week job as an assistant editor. Following the brief assignment, Honess subsequently stayed in the States for seven years, cutting commercials and low budget movies, finally earning his first feature credit on the 1974 cult horror film ``It's Alive.
Returning to England, Honess found himself back as an assistant editor on John Irvin's ``Dogs of War, Milos Forman's ``Ragtime and Tony Scott's ``The Hunger (under the tutelage of two renowned British editors -- Tony Gibbs and Thelma Connell). Back in America in the mid-1980s, he sharpened his craft over the next few years on films such as ``Next of Kin and ``The Real McCoy.
Honess has enjoyed long partnerships with directors Fred Schepisi (``Plenty, ``The Russia House, ``Six Degrees of Separation, ``Mr. Baseball), John Schlesinger (The Believers, ``Madame Sousatzka, ``Eye for an Eye, ``The Next Best Thing) and Aussie filmmaker Russell Mulcahy (``Highlander, ``Ricochet, ``The Shadow).
Among highlights of his esteemed forty-year career are the British Academy (BAFTA) Award (along with Oscar and A.C.E. nominations) for Best Editing on Curtis Hanson's acclaimed 1997 drama, ``L.A. Confidential.
Other credits include ``Domestic Disturbance, ``Disney's The Kid, the box-office blockbuster ``The Fast and the Furious, ``Rob Roy, ``Mercury Rising, ``Champions, ``Troy and ``Poseidon (both for director Wolfgang Petersen), ``Aeon Flux, ``The Golden Compass and ``Following the Tundra Wolf, one of his early credits (1974) for which he earned his first A.C.E. nomination.
CHRISTOPHE BECK (Composer) reunites with director Chris Columbus after composing the score for his recent romantic comedy, ``I Love You, Beth Cooper.
The Montreal native started piano lessons at age five and was writing music for his first-ever band, Chris and The Cupcakes, before his teen years. During high school, Beck studied flute, saxophone, trombone and drums, and performed in rock bands. While studying music at Yale University, Beck had an epiphany, discovering that his talent for composing exceeded that for performing. He wrote two musicals with his brother Jason (a.k.a. Chilly Gonzales, the Berlin-based hip-hop recording artist), as well as an opera based on The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
Upon graduation from Yale in 1992, he moved to Los Angeles to attend USC's prestigious film scoring program, where he studied with Oscar winner Jerry Goldsmith, among others. Beck was immediately attracted to the creative challenges unique to the marriage of music and picture, and a personal recommendation from the head of the USC Music Department led to his first professional assignment, the Canadian TV series ``White Fang. Soon thereafter, he was asked to score a new TV series (then in its second season), ``Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, based on the 1992 cult classic film, for which he received the Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition during his three seasons with the show.
The prolific talent has scored 40+ feature films and nearly twenty television shows since 1993. His film compositions include a wide array of projects and genres including the action films ``The Sentinel and ``Elektra, the comedies ``The Hangover, ``Drillbit Taylor, ``What Happens in Vegas, ``Charlie Bartlett, ``The Pink Panther and its 2008 sequel, and ``Bring It On, and the dramas ``Under the Tuscan Sun, ``Year of the Dog, ``Phoebe in Wonderland and the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury nominee ``The Greatest.
Beck has also composed scores for ``The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, ``School for Scoundrels, ``License to Wed, ``Fred Claus, ``We Are Marshall, ``Confidence, ``Yours, Mine and Ours, ``Taxi, ``A Cinderella Story, ``Saved!, ``Garfield and its sequel, ``Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties ``Cheaper by the Dozen, ``American Wedding and ``Just Married. His recent scores are ``Post Grad, ``All About Steve and ``Date Night.
RENÉE APRIL (Costume Designer) reunites with filmmaker Chris Columbus after designing the wardrobe for his production company's 2006 blockbuster comedy, ``Night at the Museum. Immediately prior to her work on the global hit, April earned a Costume Designer's Guild Award nomination for her wardrobe on Darren Aronofsky's ``The Fountain.
Throughout a career encompassing four dozen credits as designer and costumer, April has collaborated the directors as Roland Emmerich (``10,000 B.C., ``The Day After Tomorrow), George Clooney (his directorial debut, ``Confessions of A Dangerous Mind), Alan Rudolph (``The Moderns, ``Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle), Norman Jewison (``Agnes of God), Bruce Beresford (``Black Robe, AFI nominee for costume design), Randa Haines (her Oscar-nominated Best Picture, ``Children of A Lesser God), David Mamet (``Heist), Billy Ray (``Shattered Glass), Sir Richard Attenborough (``Grey Owl) and Vincent Ward (``Map of the Human Heart).
April designed the wardrobes for Marcus Nispel's ``Pathfinder and Fernando Meirelles' Cannes' Palme d'Or nominee, ``Blindness. Her past work also includes Bill Paxton's period sports drama, ``The Most Dangerous Game Ever Played, Chazz Palminteri's fantasy ``Noel, Keith Gordon's thriller ``Waking the Dead, ``The Waking of Little Tree and the award-winning telefilm ``Million Dollar Babies, the infamous true story of a 1930s Canadian family who gives birth to quintuplets. For her work on the TV movie, April shared a Gemini Award (Canada's Emmy) for Best Costumes.
April is a native of Montreal whose work in her native country has garnered her three Genie Awards (Canadian Oscar) for her wardrobe designs -- ``Red Violin; the aforementioned ``Grey Owl; and ``Bay Boy. She earned two additional nominations for the Genie for Pen Densham's ``The Kiss and Beresford's ``Black Robe.
In her addition to her work in film and television, April stepped out of the movie arena for two years to design the wardrobe for Cirque de Soleil's final show in Japan.
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