- Notes provided by Sony Pictures. -

From the director of The Pursuit of Happyness and starring two-time Academy Award® nominee Will Smith comes the stirring and emotionally suspenseful tale of a man with a haunting secret who sets out to redeem himself by drastically changing the lives of seven total strangers. Once his plan is set in motion, nothing can alter it. Or so he thinks. But what Ben Thomas never expects is that he will fall in love with one of the strangers - and that it is she who will start to change him.

A gripping mystery and surprising love story, Seven Pounds asks provocative questions about life and death, regret and forgiveness, strangers and friendship, love and redemption - and pursues the connections that tie human fates together in surprising ways.

It begins with a list of seven names: Ben Thomas, Holly Apelgren, Connie Tepos, George Ristuccia, Nicholas Adams, Ezra Turner and Emily Posa. The only thing they share in common are that each has reached a turning point and is in dire need of help, from financial to spiritual to medical - and unbeknownst to them, Ben has carefully chosen each to be part of his plan of redemption. But it is Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), a lively cardiac patient, who throws a wrench into the works as she does the one thing Ben thought impossible - grows close to him - and turns his view of the world and what is possible inside out.

Columbia Pictures presents, in association with Relativity Media, an Overbrook Entertainment Escape Artists Production, a film by Gabriele Muccino, Seven Pounds. The film stars Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Michael Ealy, with Barry Pepper and Woody Harrelson. Directed by Gabriele Muccino. Produced by Todd Black, James Lassiter, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, and Will Smith. Written by Grant Nieporte. Executive producers are David Crockett, David Bloomfield, Ken Stovitz, and Domenico Procacci. Director of Photography is Philippe Le Sourd. Production designer is J. Michael Riva. Editor is Hughes Winborne, A.C.E. Costume designer is Sharen Davis. Music is by Angelo Milli.

Seven Pounds has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for thematic material, some disturbing content and a scene of sensuality. The film will be released in theaters nationwide on December 19, 2008.

About the Filmmaking Team

In 2006, with The Pursuit of Happyness, director Gabriele Muccino and star Will Smith happened upon on an extraordinary story - that of a homeless father who courageously rebuilds his life, becoming a corporate success on nothing but grit, love and hope. The film would go on to become a major hit and to garner widespread acclaim and honors, drawing both Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nominations for Smith's deeply affecting performance.

Now, the alchemy of another original, emotional, thought-provoking story brings the pair together again for this year's Seven Pounds, a provocative love story between Ben Thomas, a man preparing to do something extraordinary for seven strangers, and Emily Posa, one of those strangers, whose life-changing effect on him was never part of the plan. The draw for both director and star was the chance to create a different kind of screen love story, one which is not just about an unpredictable and deep romance but about the greater redemptive power of selfless love.

"I was drawn to the story because it's about a very mysterious journey that is itself a declaration of love," says Muccino. "To me, it's about a man who is gripped by loss and gets an unexpected chance to have a newfound experience of life. It's a challenging, unsettling, moving story with an incredible amount of emotion. And the exchange of ideas and exchanges of inspirations that has been so incredibly powerful in this movie could only have happened with Will Smith."

Smith feels similarly. "I was blown away conceptually by the script," he says, "and by its ideas about finding purpose, about the powerful necessity to attach meaning to our lives. It's an incredible modern love story I don't think we've seen before. And this team led by Gabriele has such powerful insight into human emotion - they know how to find it and nurture it. I felt that when you put all that together, and add in people like Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson, it would be a real recipe for success."

Smith continues: "For me, it was also another chance to tell a story about this same central human idea that continues to fascinate me: how do we as humans overcome great trauma? How do we go on when everything goes wrong? In that vein, Seven Pounds is a redemptive story, and one that also has a truly unexpected ending."

Screenwriter Grant Nieporte notes that he sees Ben's urgent quest for personal redemption as something more - as a highly unconventional love story that broadens his horizons far beyond what he ever expected.

"The story began for me as a mystery but it became a back door into a love story that's as unexpected for the audience as it is for Ben," Nieporte says. "Ben's only focus is trying to find good, decent people to help, but in the process he starts to find himself in a place he never imagined happening: being charmed and getting drawn out by and having very strong emotions for Emily. He thinks he is essentially dead to the world, and then he meets her and nothing is the same. I love that when he finally finds this very unusual woman who can bring him back to life, who can open his heart, he has to make a very difficult decision that brings his story full circle."

When producers Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists - who also produced The Pursuit of Happyness -- came across Nieporte's script, it stood out as that rare thing in today's Hollywood: a story they'd never before encountered. Blumenthal recalls, "The minute I read the script, I knew we had something very special. It was unlike anything I had ever read, unlike anything I'd ever seen. I loved that that the deep mystery of it evolves and unfolds before your very eyes. It starts off with an IRS agent who is doing something that most people watching this movie will find foreign-he is actively seeking people to help. Then, as we discover why through the course of the story, it becomes an incredible love story."

Adds Black: "This love story was organically there and the idea of telling a unique love story in 2008 was very exciting. We knew right away we wanted to make it."

Blumenthal, Black and Tisch also intuited that this would be the right project to reunite the team that had been so successful and had become so close to one another on The Pursuit of Happyness. Says Tisch: "We had been able to get Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness because the material was so good. And we felt that as with Pursuit, Seven Pounds would give Will an opportunity to play a character he's never played before, to go into new and exciting territory."

So, in turn, they brought the screenplay for Seven Pounds to producer James Lassiter, Will Smith's partner at Overbrook Entertainment. Lassiter recalls that his reaction was strong and immediate. "I was drawn to Seven Pounds by its unique story of loss, sacrifice, and redemption," he says.

The main character, especially, piqued Lassiter's interest in making the film. "The protagonist is an entirely original character, one that you don't usually see on the screen," Lassiter continues. "I was thrilled by the opportunity to tell this story - as a producer, you don't get those chances every day."

With Smith coming on board, there was a similar consensus that Gabriele Muccino, the Italian director who made such an auspicious Hollywood debut with The Pursuit of Happyness, should again take the helm. Muccino had built an exceptional rapport with Smith during the course of filming The Pursuit of Happyness, even developing a shorthand way of communicating with the actor. Even more importantly, the producers felt Muccino had just the right sensibility to handle the film's mix of raw, romantic feelings, human mystery and larger life questions with both honesty and a vibrant, creative visual style.

"I felt from the very beginning that the film would be in very capable hands with Gabriele at the helm," adds Lassiter. "The Pursuit of Happyness was very rewarding experience for me as a producer, so I was very excited to work with Gabriele again."

Known for his method of using intensive rehearsal and probing conversations to get to the heart of characters, Muccino's temperament was a match with the intensity of the drama. "What Gabriele was able to do so well was evoke the visceral feeling of the love story," says Black, "and bring it to the screen in a passionate, compelling way."

Adds Tisch: "Gabriele brings a non-traditional kind of energy and point-of-view to filmmaking that's very special. And because this was the second time that he and Will were working together, that made it even more intense."

Muccino was equally excited to reunite with the team. "What's so great about this particular team is that they allow me to keep my European approach while making movies in Hollywood," he comments. "As for Will, we have an incredible amount of trust in each other and that makes anything possible. I can easily say I have never worked so well and so easily with anybody in my entire life."

Will Smith Takes on the Role of Ben Thomas

In Seven Pounds, Will Smith plays a man in a search of seven lost souls - and a coming-to-terms with himself. Driven by a tragic accident, Ben Thomas is on a mission to drastically improve the lives of a group of complete strangers. But much as Ben wants to help the world, he is also a man who feels cut off, alone, unable to relate to the very humanity he seeks to help - until he meets Emily, who brings a rush of emotion and exhilaration back to his life, complicating everything.

The role was quite unlike any Smith has tackled in his celebrated career as one of Hollywood's most popular and diverse leading men, including his two Oscar® nominated roles as the iconic Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann's Ali and as the striving father in The Pursuit of Happyness. Smith says he was especially intrigued by the nuances of this role, and because it's about a man who is in the middle of a transformation he doesn't think is possible.

"The interesting thing is that Ben begins this story as someone who's obviously trying to commit to loving acts, but he isn't able to commit to the pain of actually loving someone," he explains, "and then suddenly Emily gets him. She gets him in that way we all get got - in that way that one day you look into someone's eyes and she looks different than she did yesterday. There's a glow and a light that's illuminating and you know your life has changed."

Ben's life is changed in ways he never saw coming - and those entirely internal but profound changes are at the heart of Smith's performance. "The delicate part of the story was revealing how Ben is actually thinking mostly about himself when he begins his plan, but only after meeting Emily does he start to naturally become more self-less. That one little turn on the road to redemption is what makes his story so powerful," he says.

Still, the conflicted perspective and extreme emotional lockdown from which Ben begins to emerge over the course of the film were overwhelming at times, admits Smith. "Ben is so much the complete opposite of who I am, with the darkness of his thoughts and feelings, that it was a very difficult emotional space for me to live in during the production," he says.

Part of what bolstered Smith through Ben's dark night of the soul was the very intense yet organic chemistry that developed between he and Rosario Dawson. He says: "She just captured the heart and humility of Emily and it was very inspirational to watch the way Rosario opened up in the film. The thing about Emily is that she has also experienced trauma, but she reacts to it in a very different way than Ben. She can still laugh and dream about life, whereas Ben has refused for a long time to even imagine the possibilities of a brighter life. I think that's what draws him to Emily. He can't figure out why she's still reaching for life, and the more he sees that, that more it gets to him."

Most of all, Smith was inspired by the larger scope of the story. "The love story between Ben and Emily is beautiful but that's just one layer of it. For both Gabriele and me, Seven Pounds is ultimately not only about a man and a woman who find each other at a moment of crisis for both of them but a love story between a man and humanity."

Rosario Dawson as Emily Posa

Once Will Smith had committed to Seven Pounds, the search was on for an actress to play Emily. It was Gabriele Muccino who suggested Rosario Dawson, who has been emerging as one of today's most sought-after leading ladies, with roles ranging from the action of Eagle Eye and Sin City to the drama of Shattered Glass and The 25th Hour. Says Muccino: "Rosario carries a tangible vulnerability that matches with her sensuality. There's a cleverness that comes across through her attitude - and it was that cleverness that I felt we needed in order to believe that somebody like Ben could be rescued by a woman like Emily."

Dawson fought hard for the role. "This was one of the best scripts that I've read, period," she says. "As soon as I read it, I knew that this was a character that I loved, this was a journey I wanted to take. These characters just really moved me with their authenticity. Every single person was just incredibly real. So, I auditioned like crazy and dedicated myself to making sure I was a part of this."

Those auditions quickly won over the rest of the team. Steve Tisch says, "When Rosario auditioned with Will it was fantastic how those two just took the screen. There was vulnerability, there was honesty, you cared about them, they cared about each other -- the chemistry was fantastic."

Once on the set, Dawson was up for the challenge. "I think the tightrope of this performance was trying to be as true as possible. What this film is trying to achieve in the bigger picture is quite subtle and powerful, and the key to that is allowing the audience to believe in the reality of these people," she says. Muccino made that easier, she explains. "He might be the most emotional person, let alone director, I've ever known," she muses. "And that has been absolutely vital for this project."

It also helped that she had such a strong affinity for Emily. "I love that Emily is stubborn and independent. I love that she's a survivor and she's always found a way to take care of herself," she says. "But now she's feeling alone and there's part of her that realizes she's going to be increasingly at the mercy of others. So the challenge was to show that loneliness while also showing her curiosity, youthfulness and fierce resolve to live."

Another challenge of playing Emily lay in the details of her heart defect, which impacts the way she moves, the way she looks, even the way she breathes. "Someone in her condition would be out of breath all the time, which is a really difficult thing to experience," she says. "But I wanted to give a bit of that feeling that she is wading through water all the time, to remind you of just how difficult this is for her, while at the same time, showing her determination."

All of this, says Dawson, was further inspired by her collaboration with Will Smith. "I've worked with Will before but I was blown away by this experience," she says. "The way he plays Ben, with his emotions hidden away, was an incredible choice. I just appreciated the level of commitment Will was willing to put towards this character."

Like Smith, Dawson ultimately sees the love story of Emily and Ben as part of something larger. She sums up: "I see Seven Pounds as being about a lot of different kinds of love: the love that you hope for, the love that you have to accept, love for yourself, love for strangers and most of all, love for life itself."

The Supporting Cast

Ben Thomas begins his quest for redemption with a list of seven names - each of them desperate in some way, each of them an integral part of his plan. One of those on the list is Ezra Turner, a blind concert pianist, who is played by Woody Harrelson, the versatile actor who has jumped between comedy and drama with ease as witnessed recently by his roles in the Oscar®-winning No Country For Old Men and the comedy Semi-Pro opposite Will Farrell. Harrelson might not appear the obvious choice for such a specific role, but he had all the qualities for which Muccino was searching. "Woody has a gentleness to his soul that was crucial for Ezra, who is very sensitive, who feels shut down because of his blindness, but has a heart ready to dive into life, which Woody is able to reveal," says the director.

Harrelson personally dove into two forms of training for the brief but powerful role: taking lessons from a number of different piano teachers and working with the Braille Institute to experience as accurately as possible how to navigate the world like a blind person. "One of the reasons this part was so rewarding was all the wonderful people I met studying piano and learning to portray a blind character," he says.

Harrelson admits the role was a challenge, one which he feels Will Smith helped him to meet. "I remember the first day on the set I was so nervous about playing a blind piano player and Will came in and he was just patting people on the back and giving hugs, and I thought 'It's pretty amazing that the biggest star in the world is one of the nicest guys in the world' - and that put me at ease. He really was that way the entire time I was on the set. And yet, he was also very focused on the work and always open to trying new things, and I think that helped us all get the full emotional content out of the story."

Harrelson also enjoyed working closely with Gabriele Muccino in developing Ezra and his relationship with Ben, the full nature of which remains a puzzle until the very last moments of the film. "Gabriele is an extremely talented filmmaker," he says. "He really pushes you. He always shoots straight and tells you exactly what he's feeling - and somehow he always seems to know what will make the scene better and your character come out more."

Other vital supporting characters surrounding Ben in the film include Ben's younger brother, played by Michael Ealy - a Golden Globe® nominee for "Sleeper Cell" whose film roles have ranged from Barbershop and 2 Fast 2 Furious to Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna - and Ben's loyal friend Dan, played by Barry Pepper - a Golden Globe® and Emmy nominee for portraying Roger Maris in Billy Crystal's telefilm "61," and known for roles in such films as Flags of Our Fathers, Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile.

Ben's brother, intimately connected to Ben's quest to make amends yet currently estranged from him, is desperately trying to meet with Ben in person through the first part of the film. Ealy recalls how Will Smith came up with an idea to make their telephone conversations crackle with emotional tension. "When we rehearsed our scenes together, it wasn't quite clicking but then Will had the idea that if we actually spoke on the phone during the scene it would make so much more sense. So we tried that and when I couldn't see him, when I couldn't see his reactions, it naturally created all the tension that needed to be there. It was absolutely great."

The role, like many others in Seven Pounds, involved moving through a pendulum range of emotions for Ealy. "Gabriele Muccino loves conflicting emotions," notes Ealy. "With my role, the key was trying to balance anger with love. When Ben's brother finally confronts him it's explosive, it's passionate, but there's a sense that this kind of feeling can only come between two people who really care about each other."

Meanwhile, Ben's oldest friend and lawyer, Dan, faces the dilemma of how to help Ben complete a mission that is remarkable yet fraught with big moral and legal questions. Says Pepper of the role: "Dan is trying to come to terms with an intense struggle within that has him deeply conflicted spiritually, emotionally, and professionally. He is seeing the torment that his friend is going through and wants to honor his request for help, yet it means he has to sign this covenant to orchestrate the most difficult task he could ever imagine."

Working closely with Smith allowed all of this to unfold naturally, says Pepper. "Will is all about finding the truth," he observes." What makes him a great actor to work with is that he's incredibly present and open, no matter what you throw at him. He doesn't use a bag of tricks to help himself emote, he just lives in each moment. I was moved by this script, because it deals with my favorite themes, what we all love about timeless storytelling - sacrifice, redemption, true love - but it's only when you see how it's all going to come together with the other actors and the directors vision that you truly know it's going to work, and this one was electric from the moment I set foot on the set."

Also taking roles as the other members of Ben's enigmatic list is a diverse ensemble that includes Mexican-born actress Elpidia Carrillo (Nine Lives) as Connie Tepos (and popular child star Madison Pettis as her daughter) and Bill Smitrovich (Eagle Eye) as George Ristuccia.

The Style of Seven Pounds

The look of Seven Pounds is suffused with an urgency and unfolding beauty that Gabriele Muccino felt would bring what he calls "an extra layer of storytelling" to the movie. "I wanted the look to be stylized," the director says, "because Ben's mind is somewhat tweaked. He's living in a bubble so he sees the world differently - it's a very beautiful world that surrounds him, yet he feels detached from it. He sees other people experiencing the beauty but he can't, until he meets Emily."

To find the right aesthetic for the movie, Muccino recruited French cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd, who recently shot Ridley Scott's Provence-set romantic comedy, A Good Year. "I had worked with Philippe on a commercial and felt he was unbelievably talented," says Muccino. "Together we used famous paintings as references and I felt that Philippe was almost able to paint the movie. He starts with everything in a very bleak place and unravels that into a very bright and colorful world."

A similar transformation is found in the work of production designer Michael Riva, who previously worked with Muccino on The Pursuit of Happyness. Riva explains: "Initially, the whole design is tainted by Ben's inner vision of the world so we used a very sort of dark, warped palette and details on the sets were drained of color only to later explode into rich magentas. After Ben meets Emily, everything that's dark and bland becomes more and more colorful."

Riva notes that last year's breathtakingly visual screen adaptation of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, directed by the painter Julian Schnabel, had an inspirational effect on him, as did the 1960s French film The Things of Life, a haunting portrait of a man's regrets, directed by Claude Sautet. "They both have a lyricism and a beauty that I wanted to see in Seven Pounds," he explains.

Scouting across Los Angeles, Riva also worked closely with Muccino to develop the personal environs for each of the characters. "Emily and Ezra, for example, each have their own signature environment," he explains, "with different looks and different feelings that speak to their personalities. So the colors in Emily's house are very vibrant and bold, whereas everything around Ezra is very Spartan, organized and simply functional."

One scene where the vision of Muccino, Le Sourd and Riva all come together is the moment when Ben and Emily connect in a lush, wide-open field far from the rush of the city. The scene was always central to Muccino's blueprint of the film and he pushed his artistic team to make it happen in the way he envisioned. Recalls Riva: "Gabriele told us he wanted to create a very Tuscan, romantic, sentimental feeling for that scene. But here we are in the middle of a desert and I didn't know of any place like that in Los Angeles! We looked and looked and looked. And amazingly at last we found this big, beautiful field of tall grass in Charmlee Park in Malibu - and it was just what Gabriele wanted."

Producer Jason Blumenthal says of the sequence: "It's one of the most romantic scenes I've ever seen. The two characters never even touch-that's how powerful the relationship is - and yet now, none of us can imagine the movie without it."

Muccino had long intuited the scene in the field would be a visual linchpin of what drives the romance between Ben and Emily. He says, "For me it was a way to display the sense of life surrounding Ben and Emily, these two humans lost in a moment of profound natural beauty."

For the whole filmmaking team, Muccino's commitment to pulling as much emotion and love out of every scene became an unending source of motivation. "Gabriele was constantly telling the producers, Will, Rosario and the whole cast and crew, this is a love story first and foremost and never lose sight of that," recalls Todd Black. "To his credit, at every turn, from the way he shot the movie to the production design to the music he picked for the film, every single thing he's done always comes back to telling a love story."

Muccino hopes that story of Seven Pounds will evoke both the personal and the higher side of love for movie-goers. He summarizes: "I hope audiences will take away that feeling of how unique life is. Sometimes we take life for granted and sometimes a movie can remind us of how volatile, how fragile and how ephemeral things are - but also how magical. Sometimes a story can remind us about the beauty we're surrounded by, the people we love and the gifts that connect us."

About The Cast

WILL SMITH (Ben Thomas/Producer) has enjoyed success in a career encompassing hit films, his own television series and multi-platinum records. He earned his first Academy Award® nomination and a Golden Globe® nomination for his portrayal of boxing legend Muhammad Ali in Michael Mann's acclaimed biopic Ali. Smith more recently starred in and produced the critically acclaimed, true-life drama The Pursuit of Happyness. His performance brought him his second Academy Award® nomination, his fourth Golden Globe® nomination and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nomination for Best Actor.

Smith most recently starred in the blockbuster Hancock, which earned over $600,000,000 worldwide, and I am Legend, directed by Francis Lawrence.

In 2005, Smith starred in and produced the hit romantic comedy Hitch, directed by Andy Tennant. The year prior, he starred in and executive produced the sci-fi smash I, Robot, adapted from the book by Isaac Asimov and directed by Alex Proyas. Also that year, he voiced the central character of Oscar in the blockbuster animated feature Shark Tale, opposite Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro.

In July 2003, he reunited with Martin Lawrence for Bad Boys II, the sequel to their 1995 hit Bad Boys. Smith had earlier starred in two blockbusters that topped the box office in back-to-back summers. In 1996, he took on alien invaders in Roland Emmerich's science fiction actioner Independence Day. The following year, he starred with Tommy Lee Jones in Barry Sonnenfeld's sci-fi comedy Men in Black, for which Smith also recorded the Grammy-winning title song. In 2002, Smith, Jones and Sonnenfeld reteamed for the sequel Men in Black II.

Smith was already a Grammy-winning recording artist when he made his successful transition to acting in television and films. Following roles in the movies Where the Day Takes You and Made in America, he received widespread critical acclaim for his starring role in the drama Six Degrees of Separation, with Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland. In 1995, he was named ShoWest's Male Star of Tomorrow. His film credits also include Enemy of the State, opposite Gene Hackman; Wild Wild West, for which he also recorded the hit title song; and the title role in Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance.

Smith began his career in the music industry while still in high school. Teaming with his friend Jeff Townes to form DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Smith became a chart-topping rap artist. Together, they recorded several platinum and multi-platinum albums and won numerous awards, including two Grammys and three American Music Awards.

Smith's musical success led to his starring in the hit television sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," which ran for six years on NBC and earned him two Golden Globe nominations.

Continuing to record, Smith released his first solo album, "Big Willie Style," in 1998, for which he won a Grammy and four American Music Awards. In 1999, he was honored at the NAACP Image Awards as Entertainer of the Year. His next CD, Willennium, featured the hit single "Will2K" and went double platinum.

As a producer, Smith is partnered with James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz in Overbrook Entertainment, which has produced such projects as Ali, I, Robot, Saving Face, Hitch, ATL, The Pursuit of Happyness, and, most recently, Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington. Under the Overbrook banner, Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, also co-created and produced the popular television comedy series "All of Us," which recently concluded a four-year run. Smith's upcoming projects as a producer or executive producer include, in addition to Seven Pounds, The Human Contract, which marks the feature directorial debut of Jada Pinkett Smith.

ROSARIO DAWSON (Emily Posa) has garnered praise for her numerous leading roles with today's hottest film actors and directors, making her one of Hollywood's most sought after leading ladies.

Dawson will next be seen in the Weinstein Company's Killshot, directed by John Madden and starring Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane and Johnny Knoxville. The film is based on the best-selling crime novel about a couple who enters a witness protection program, but still find themselves targets of two hit men.

Dawson received critical acclaim for her performance as Mimi Valdez in the Chris Columbus-directed film adaptation of the famed Pulitzer Prize-winning Jonathan Larson Broadway musical Rent, joining many of the original Broadway cast members including Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jesse Martin and Taye Diggs.

Most recently, Dawson starred opposite Shia LaBeouf in the smash hit Eagle Eye, which opened #1 at the box office and went on to take in nearly $100,000,000.

In 2008, Dawson also starred in the political drama Explicit Ills, which premiered at SXSW Film Festival. The film received praise from critics, as well as three awards including the Audience Award at the festival.

Prior to that, she appeared in Deathproof, Quentin Tarantino's half of the horror project Grindhouse. Deathproof" was chosen as an in-competition film for the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and has continued its success overseas.

Dawson starred in and produced the film Descent for director Talia Lugacy. Premiering in 2007 at the Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews, it was Dawson's first self-produced feature film under her production banner, Trybe Films. Dawson also produced a 15-minute short film entitled Bliss Virus, written and directed by Talia Lugacy. Additionally, Dawson hopes to produce Lugacy's first feature sometime in the near future.

Dawson won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Becky in Kevin Smith's Clerks 2 for the Weinstein Company in 2006. She was also seen in A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints opposite Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri and Channing Tatum. The film was honored at the Sundance Film Festival and received the award for Special Jury Prize for a Dramatic Film.

In 2004 and 2005, Dawson carved out memorable performances in three films featuring fabulous ensemble casts. Dawson played Roxanne, wife of Alexander the Great in the Oliver Stone epic Alexander, rounding out an all-star cast including Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Jared Leto; she made a huge impact starring in the Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller film noir drama Sin City starring Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, Clive Owen and Brittany Murphy (and will reprise her role in the highly anticipated Sin City 2).

In 2003, Dawson co-starred with Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott and Christopher Walken in Universal/Columbia's action/comedy The Rundown,. She also appeared in Shattered Glass with Hayden Christensen, Chloe Sevigny and Steve Zahn; and in the indie film This Girl's Life, starring James Woods and Juliette Marquis.

Dawson shone on screen when she starred in the acclaimed Spike Lee film The 25th Hour opposite Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper. She starred opposite Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Columbia Pictures' Men in Black II, and in Chelsea Walls for director Ethan Hawke, based on the play of the same name.

Dawson appeared in Paramount Classics' Sidewalks of New York, a romantic comedy written and directed by the film's star Ed Burns, in which she also co-starred with Heather Graham, Stanley Tucci and Brittany Murphy. She subsequently appeared in Burns' follow-up, Ash Wednesday, along with Burns and Elijah Wood.

She can also be seen in the independent film Love in the Time of Money written and directed by theater director Peter Mattei, which premiered to acclaim at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. The film also stars Steve Buscemi, Carol Kane, Michael Imperioli and Adrian Grenier.

Dawson made her film debut in the highly acclaimed and controversial hit Kids. Directed by photographer Larry Clark with a script by Harmony Korine, Kids depicts a chaotic 24-hour period in the lives of several New York skaters. The film features a group of kids pulled from the streets of New York, as opposed to professional actors. When the film was given a surprise midnight screening at Sundance and a spot in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Dawson's film career was well underway.

Dawson also received critical acclaim for her performance in Spike Lee's He Got Game, in which she starred opposite Denzel Washington.

Dawson's other film credits include Light It Up opposite Forest Whitaker and Vanessa Williams; and Josie and the Pussycats with Rachel Leigh Cook and Tara Reid.

Dawson currently resides in Los Angeles.

WOODY HARRELSON's (Ezra) rare mix of intensity and charisma consistently surprises and delights audiences and critics alike for his work in both mainstream and independent projects.

Further illustrating his diverse appeal, Harrelson recently starred in the comedies Semi-Pro, opposite Will Ferrell and Andre Benjamin, and Surfer, Dude, opposite Matthew McConaughey. At the same time, Harrelson could be seen alongside Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones in the Coen Brothers' Academy Award® winner for Best Picture, No Country for Old Men. For his performance in that film, Harrelson shared in the SAG Award for best ensemble cast.

Harrelson also recently starred in Brad Anderson's Transsiberian, Stuart Townsend's Battle in Seattle, and Zak Penn's The Grand.

Harrelson's critically-acclaimed portrayal of controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt in Milos Forman's The People Vs. Larry Flynt garnered him Academy Award®, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Nominations as Best Actor. Other highlights from Harrelson's film career include After the Sunset, Play It to the Bone, The Thin Red Line, The Hi-Lo Country, Edtv, Wag the Dog, Welcome to Sarajevo, Kingpin, Natural Born Killers, Indecent Proposal, White Men Can't Jump, The Big White, A Scanner Darkly, The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio, and A Prairie Home Companion.

Harrelson first endeared himself to millions of viewers as a member of the ensemble cast of NBC's long-running hit comedy, "Cheers." For his work as the affable bartender Woody Boyd, he won an Emmy in 1988 and was nominated four additional times during his eight-year run on the show. In 1999, he gained another Emmy nomination when he reprised the role in a guest appearance on the spin-off series "Frasier." He later made a return to television with a recurring guest role on the hit NBC series, "Will & Grace."

Balancing his film and television work, in 1999 Harrelson directed his own play, "Furthest from the Sun" at the Theatre de la Juene Lune in Minneapolis. He followed next with the Roundabout's Broadway revival of "The Rainmaker;" Sam Shepherd's "The Late Henry Moss," and John Kolvenbach's "On an Average Day," opposite Kyle MacLachlan at London's West End. Harrelson directed the Toronto premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's "This is Our Youth" at the Berkeley Street Theatre. In the winter of 2005 Harrelson returned to London's West End, starring in Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana" at the Lyric Theatre.

A committed environmentalist, Harrelson joined his activism with his film efforts in Ron Mann's Go Further, a road documentary following Woody and friends on their bicycle journey down the Pacific Coast Highway from Seattle to Santa Barbara.

Along with being a father to his three beautiful daughters, closest to his heart is www.voiceyourself.com, a website Harrelson co-created with his wife Laura Louie which promotes and inspires individual action to create global momentum towards simple organic living and to restore balance and harmony to our planet.

Since gaining critical attention for his remarkable portrayal as Private Jackson in the Academy Award® and Golden Globe-winning feature Saving Private Ryan, BARRY PEPPER (Dan) is one of the most sought after talents in Hollywood. He's since gone on to star in Flags of Our Fathers, as well as The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, for which he was honored at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards with a Best Supporting Actor nomination. In HBO's 61*, Pepper's performance as the New York Yankees' Roger Maris earned him Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominations, as well as a Critic's Choice Award.

Pepper's many other prominent feature credits include The 25th Hour with Edward Norton, We Were Soldiers opposite Mel Gibson, Knockaround Guys, Green Mile with Tom Hanks, and Enemy of the State, the first time he worked with Will Smith.

As well as his big screen portrayals, Pepper has shined on the small screen. When Pepper starred in the title role of ESPN's 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, a biopic of the NASCAR star who died in a crash during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, he was nominated for a SAG Award as Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. Pepper also executive produced the show.

When Pepper executive produced and starred in The Snow Walker, a gripping tale of love and struggle for survival in the hauntingly beautiful Arctic, he received a Best Actor nomination for a Genie, Canada's equivalent of the Academy Award. The film also garnered six awards, including Best Actor for the Leo Awards that celebrate excellence in British Columbia's Film and Television projects.

Next up for the talented actor are the independent features Princess Ka'iulani and Like Dandelion Dust.

From his breakout roles in Barbershop and Barbershop 2, MICHAEL EALY (Ben's Brother) is quickly rising through the ranks as one of Hollywood's leading young actors.

This fall, Ealy starred in Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna. He will soon be seen in the upcoming docu-miniseries The People Speak, based on Howard Zinn's acclaimed book. Most recently, Ealy just wrapped Sony Screen Gems' action-packed, heist film, Bone Deep, in which he stars opposite Matt Dillon, Chris Brown, Paul Walker, T.I. and Hayden Christiansen. Ealy also starred in the Showtime miniseries "Sleeper Cell," in which he portrayed an undercover Muslim FBI agent. He earned a Golden Globe® nomination for his performance.

In 2005, Ealy was handpicked by Oprah Winfrey to star opposite Halle Berry in the ABC and Harpo Films telepic "Their Eyes Were Watching God." The special received rave reviews and was viewed by more than 26 million people. Ealy earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special for his performance.

Ealy kicked off his career on stage with roles in off-Broadway hits "Joe Fearless" and "Whoa Jack," for which he earned an Adelco Award nomination. He followed with guest-starring roles in NBC's "Law & Order" and Showtime's hit series "Soul Food," eventually earning his first feature film role in the critically acclaimed film Kissing Jessica Stein. He also starred in Bad Company alongside Chris Rock for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. His role in Barbershop earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Motion Picture, as well as a People's Choice Award nomination for Favorite Comedy Motion Picture.

His credits also include the films Never Die Alone, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and a stint on the Emmy Award®-winning series "ER" for NBC.

Ealy was named one of People magazine's On the Verge actors in its 2002 "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. He was also named one of E! Entertainment Television's Sizzlin' 16 of 2004 and appeared on the cover of Essence magazine's Hollywood Screen Gems for their April 2004 issue.

About The Filmmakers

Italian-born GABRIELE MUCCINO (Director) made quite a name for himself in the U.S. directing the 2006 blockbuster The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith. Though many directors expressed interest in the film, it was Smith and his producing partner James Lassiter who wanted Muccino for the job. The movie garnered multiple award nominations, including an Academy Award® nomination in the Best Actor category for Will Smith. It also grossed more than $300 million worldwide.

Muccino also directed L' Ultimo Bacio (The Last Kiss), the story of a young man thrust into adulthood when his girlfriend announces she is pregnant. The film was nominated for 10 David Di Donatello awards, Italy's equivalent of the Oscar®, and won five, including Best Director. It was made into an American version and starred Zach Braff. Stateside, the film won the World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance and was cited by Entertainment Weekly as one of the ten best films of 2002.

His follow up film, Remember Me, My Love, starring Monica Bellucci, was admired by critics around the world.

Seven Pounds is the first produced feature film for screenwriter GRANT NIEPORTE. Previously, he wrote episodes for the sitcoms "8 Simple Rules... For Dating My Teenage Daughter" and "Sabrina The Teenage Witch."

A graduate of the UC Irvine Film Studies program, Nieporte began his career coming up with ideas for the "Tool Time" segment of the hit series "Home Improvement." Throughout his eight seasons working in television production, he stayed true to his first love, writing features, and struck gold with Seven Pounds. He has since penned an original dramedy for Tim Allen to star, and is currently writing another original called Rich Love for Escape Artists and Sony Pictures.

TODD BLACK (Producer) most recently produced the critically acclaimed The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington and Forrest Whitaker, which was honored with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture earlier this year. In addition, Black received the Producer's Guild Stanley Kramer Award for The Great Debaters. He previously received the Stanley Kramer Award for Antwone Fisher in 2002. Black is also responsible for The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith, which earned over $300 million in worldwide ticket sales.

Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Los Angeles, Black attended the theatre program at the University of Southern California. He began his entertainment career as a casting associate.

In 1995, Black became President of Motion Picture Production at Sony's Mandalay Entertainment and managed such movies as Donnie Brasco, Seven Years In Tibet, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Les Miserables and Wild Things.

When Black, along with his partner Jason Blumenthal in January of 2000, merged with the Steve Tisch Company to form Escape Artists, an independently financed company, housing at Sony Pictures, their first produced movie was A Knight's Tale, starring Heath Ledger.

In 2002, his film, Antwone Fisher was a ten-year labor of love that marked Academy AwardÒ-winner Denzel Washington's directorial debut and launched the career of screenwriter Antwone Fisher. The film enjoyed critical acclaim.

In 2005, The Weather Man marked Black's second time collaborating with writer Steve Conrad. The pair met when Black discovered Conrad's first screenplay, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, which he produced for director Randa Haines.

Black, along with Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch, his partners at Escape Artists, next serves as producer of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta and directed by Tony Scott. They are also in post-production on Summit Entertainment's Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Alex Proyas.

JAMES LASSITER (Producer) joined forces with entertainment powerhouse Will Smith to create Overbrook Entertainment, a production and management company started in 1998. Lassiter is no stranger to producing hit films, including his most recent successes as producer of this summer's blockbuster Hancock, which early over $600 million worldwide, the 2007 box-office smash I Am Legend, which took in over $580 million worldwide, and the 2006 hit The Pursuit of Happyness, which resonated with audiences around the world, earning Smith an Oscar® nomination for his performance and grossing over $300 million at the box office. In 2005, Lassiter produced the romantic comedy Hitch, also a global hit, earning over $360 million, as well as the award winning film Saving Face, starring Joan Chen. In addition, he was an executive producer on the sci-fi thriller I, Robot, and also served as a producer on the critically acclaimed Ali, for which Smith earned his first Academy Award® nomination, and ATL, starring platinum recording artist T.I.

In television, Lassiter most recently served as executive producer on the CW network's "All of Us."

Other notable achievements include his work as executive producer on the soundtracks for Wild, Wild West and Men in Black, both of which won the American Music Award for favorite soundtracks, as well as the 2001 Outer Critic's Circle Award for "Jitney," an off-Broadway play written by August Wilson. Lassiter recently graced the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine's Top 50 Hollywood Power Brokers edition alongside business partner, Will Smith.

Lassiter most recently produced Screen Gems' Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington, and Fox Searchlight's The Secret Life of Bees, starring Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson. Upcoming films include The Human Contract, a character-driven drama written and directed by Jada Pinkett Smith.

JASON BLUMENTHAL (Producer) was born and raised in Los Angeles and attended Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Communications.

After graduation, Blumenthal joined Wizan/Black Films in 1990. There, he was involved with the development and production of Iron Eagle II, Split Decisions, starring Gene Hackman, The Guardian, directed by William Friedkin, Short Time, with Dabney Coleman and Terri Garr, and Class Act, starring Kid N' Play. They also executive produced Becoming Colette, written by Ruth Graham Black, and Fire in the Sky. Other films include Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, directed by Randa Haines and starring Robert Duvall, Richard Harris and Shirley MacLaine, Dunston Checks In, starring Jason Alexander, Faye Dunaway and Rupert Everett, A Family Thing, starring James Earl Jones and Robert Duvall, and Bio Dome, starring Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin.

In 1995, Blumenthal became Senior Vice President of feature production at Mandalay Entertainment, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, through March 1998. During his tenure, Blumenthal managed Mandalay's production slate which included such films as The Fan starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes, Donnie Brasco starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, Seven Years In Tibet, starring Brad Pitt, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, #1 at the box office for three weeks, grossing more than $130 million worldwide, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Les Miserables, starring Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman, Wild Things, starring Neve Campbell, Kevin Bacon and Matt Dillon, Gloria, starring Sharon Stone, and Deep End of the Ocean, starring and produced with Michelle Pfeiffer.

In April 1998, Blumenthal and his partner Todd Black formed Black & Blu Entertainment and entered into a first look production deal at Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 2001, Black & Blu merged with the Steve Tisch Co. (Forrest Gump) to become Escape Artists while still maintaining their first look deal at Sony Pictures.

Escape Artists has since produced A Knight's Tale starring Heath Ledger, The Weather Man directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine, and The Pursuit of Happyness. Escape Artists' upcoming projects include the Alex Proyas thriller Knowing and the Tony Scott directed film, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

STEVE TISCH (Producer) is responsible for 1994's Academy Award®-winning Best Picture Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks, as well as launching Tom Cruise's career with the sleeper hit Risky Business in 1983. He also served as Executive Producer on Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and the critically-acclaimed American History X, starring Edward Norton.

In 2005, Tisch was named Chairman and Executive Vice President of the New York Giants of the NFL. In 2008, the Giants became Super Bowl Champions for the third time in NFL history. Tisch has the distinction of being the only Hollywood producer with both an Academy Award® and The Lombardi Trophy.

Tisch is a partner in Escape Artists, a production company formed in 2001, based at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Escape Artists released The Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith and Thandie Newton, in December of 2006, and The Weather Man, starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine in the fall of 2005. Other upcoming projects include Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, and Tony Scott's The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

In addition, Tisch contributes his time and financial resources to such organizations as the ERAS Center, Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the Women's Cancer Research Foundation. Tisch is a member of the Board of Advisors at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, Board of Trustees of The Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and is on the Board of Trustees of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Cancer Center at Duke University.

DAVID CROCKETT (Executive Producer) recently executive-produced The Great Debaters, directed by Denzel Washington. The crowd-pleasing film was honored with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture earlier this year.

Prior to that movie, he executive-produced Ben Affleck's directorial debut, Gone, Baby, Gone, starring Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Casey Affleck and Amy Ryan. Amy Ryan received an Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance as the mother of the kidnapped girl in the crime thriller.

In addition, Crockett executive-produced the gymnastics film Stick It, the hit horror remake of The Amityville Horror starring Ryan Reynolds, and Wes Craven's Cursed, starring Christina Ricci. He is also credited with co-producing Bad Santa, starring Billy Bob Thornton, and The Guru, a romantic comedy that was released in 2002.

As a unit production manager and production supervisor, Crockett is credited with such films as 40 Days and 40 Nights and Frequency. Crockett began his career as a production accountant working on Scream, Music of the Heart, and The Corruptor, to name a few.

DOMENICO PROCACCI (Executive Producer) heads Fandango, one of the world's most dynamic production companies, based in Italy. Films produced by Fandango have won numerous awards and have participated at such international film festivals as Cannes, Locarno, Berlin, Venice, Rotterdam, Toronto, Seattle, Tribeca and Sundance.

Procacci won the David di Donatello Best Producer Award for L'ultimo
bacio (The Last Kiss), which also took home awards for director Gabriele Muccino, the supporting actress, editing and sound recording. He also won the same award for Respiro (Grazia's Island). Fandango's productions of La Corsa Dell'Innocente (The Flight of the Innocent) and Come Due Coccodrilli (Like Two Crocodiles) both received Golden Globe nominations for Best Foreign Film during the years of their release.

Other Fandango productions or co-productions which received multiple David
di Donatello or Silver Ribbons nominations and awards include La Stazione (The Station), Radiofreccia (Radio Nights), L'Imbalsamatore (The Embalmer), Velocita' Massima (V-Max) and Ricordati di me (Remember Me). Most recently, Le Conseguenze dell'Amore (The Consequences of Love) won five David di Donatello awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Paolo Sorrentino in 2005, as well as being in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004.

In addition to numerous celebrated Italian films, Fandango has also produced or co-produced movies for such noted international filmmakers as Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby, Epsilon, The Quiet Room and Dance Me to My Song, Jiri Menzel's The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin; Tim Roth's The War Zone; Fernando Trueba's Calle 54; Milcho Manchevski's Dust; Wong Kar-Wai, Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni's Eros; Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami and Ken Loach's Tickets and Silk by François Girard.

More recent films include Quiet Chaos, directed by Antonello Grimaldi, starring Nanni Moretti, that was in competition at the last Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals and Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah which competed at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Fandango also owns a publishing house, Fandango Libri (Fandango books), and a music label, Radiofandango.

PHILIPPE LE SOURD (Director of Photography) is well-known in Europe for his cinematography on feature films, music videos, and commercials. Seven Pounds is his second English-language film as the cinematographer; Ridley Scott's A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe, was his first.

He previously worked with director Gabriele Muccino on Heartango, an Italian short starring Monica Bellucci, which shot last year in Portugal.

For the motion picture screen, Le Sourd directed the photography for the French features Cantique De La Racaille (1998, directed by Vincent Ravalec), Peut-Être (1999) and Atomik Circus: Le retour de James Bataille (2004, reuniting with Les Freres Poiraud). He also worked with Ravalec on two short films: Conséquences De La Réalité Des Morts (1996) and La Merveilleuse Odyssée de L'idiot Toboggan (2002).

Le Sourd, a native of Paris, broke into the business after a chance encounter with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Darius Khondji, whom he met while a university student. He began as a camera loader for Khondji on Delicatessen (directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Mark Caro) before becoming his focus puller on such features as Stealing Beauty (directed by Bernardo Bertolucci), The City of Lost Children (reuniting with directors Jeunet and Caro), Marie-Louise et La Permission, L'ombre du Doute, Prague and Before the Rain.

J. MICHAEL RIVA (Production Designer), who first teamed with director Gabriele Muccino on The Pursuit of Happyness, most recently designed this summer's blockbuster Iron Man and is set to work on the upcoming Iron Man 2. Honored with an Academy Award® nomination for the sets he created on The Color Purple, the talented designer also designed last summer's Spider Man 3.

Other feature film credits for Riva include Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle as well as Ivan Reitman's Evolution. In addition, he designed Dave, Six Days/Seven Nights, Congo, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 4, Ordinary People, Bad Boys and Brubaker, among others. His noteworthy television credits include the Emmy Award-winning telefilm Tuesdays with Morrie, starring Jack Lemmon, and The 74th Academy Awards® for which he received an Emmy nomination, thanks to the innovative look he created. Five years later, in 2007 he won the Emmy for his designs for The 79th Academy Awards®.

Riva has also doubled as 2nd Unit Director for such films as A Few Good Men, Radio Flyer, Scrooged and Goonies while designing the sets of each of these movies. In addition, he directed episodes of Amazing Stories and Tales from the Crypt . He was also nominated for a WGA award for his original teleplay story, Lilly in Winter, produced by Walter Mirisch and Universal Television.

HUGHES WINBORNE, A.C.E. (Editor), who won the Academy Award® for his work on Crash, most recently edited The Great Debaters, the movie directed by Denzel Washington that was based upon the winning debate team of Wiley College in the 1930s. Prior to that, he edited director Gabriele Muccino's The Pursuit of Happyness. In addition, the talented editor is credited with the Academy Award®-winning Sling Blade (Best Screenplay) and Mark Rydell's Jump Shot.

Some of Winborne's other noteworthy films include A Slipping-Down Life, starring Lili Taylor and Guy Pearce, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and Rhythm Thief that won Sundance's Special Jury Prize in 1994. Winborne also edited Employee of The Month, Stark Raving Mad, Nobody's Baby and Buddy Boy as well as Ted Demme's short, The Bet, another movie that debuted at Sundance and launched the late director's feature film career.

For television, Winborne has edited numerous episodes of the hit series Alias, as well as the Emmy-nominated film Walter & Henry.

SHAREN DAVIS (Costume Designer) is a favorite among directors, thanks to her attention to detail. Twice nominated for the Academy Award®, first for her work in Taylor Hackford's Ray and then in Bill Condon's Dreamgirls, Davis first teamed with director Gabriele Muccino on The Pursuit of Happyness.

Some of Davis' other credits include the critically acclaimed The Great Debaters, Akeelah and the Bee, Antwone Fisher, Out Of Time, High Crimes, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Rush Hour, Doctor Doolittle and Devil In A Blue Dress, to name a few. Her first feature film as costume designer was Alan Rudolph's Equinox.

ANGELO MILLI's (Music) score for Seven Pounds marks the major studio debut for the thirty-three year old composer, whose singular talent and some unmistakable good luck brought him to the attention of director Muccino. In early 2007, while searching for a particular sound for the film, Muccino borrowed his brother's iPod and came across some of Milli's early, indie compositions. Impressed by Milli's progressive musical sensibilities, the director contacted the composer.

Recorded at the Warner Bros. Scoring Stage, Milli's score for Seven Pounds required a 60-piece orchestra and choir to capture both the subtleties and the bold sounds composed for the story of an IRS agent (Will Smith) who embarks on an extraordinary journey to change the lives of seven complete strangers. Director Muccino was drawn to Milli's previous work, particularly Milli's fondness for the fusion of classic Hollywood orchestral music with more modern, synthesized elements. The result is what Milli himself refers to as the "off-screen actor" of the film; in the case of Seven Pounds, and Milli feels fortunate have been given the opportunity to bring a new voice through his music to Muccino's film.

A native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, Milli grew up around music and from a young age, showed a natural aptitude for composition and performance, and a passion for mastering various musical instruments. He began formal piano training at age 12 before spending his teenage years in a rock band composing his own songs and learning the guitar. At this time, he also became fascinated by the drums, bass guitar, flute, percussion, and ethnic instruments, such as the Australian didgeridoo, a wind instrument. His ambition to play as many musical instruments as possible is an edict that has served him well throughout his career.

In 1996, at age 21, Milli came to the U.S. to attend the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he received his degree in film scoring. At Berklee, he studied under some of the world's most renowned musicians and theorists, and immersed himself in Stravinski and early 20th Century contemporary music, but also discovered a great affection for modern, digitally-enhanced compositions. While he reveres the familiar conventions of film scoring, he is also adept at using digital effects to manipulate sound. His vision is one of infinite possibilities, a refreshing approach that sets him apart from his Berklee classmates and drives his music till this day.

After graduating Berklee, he moved to Miami and opened an indie recording studio that cultivated emerging artists. There, he produced demos for young musicians and gained invaluable recording experience which he credits with shaping his strong work ethic and craft. During this time, he also worked steadily composing music for on-air promos for MTV Latino, VH1, and Nickelodeon creating inventive promos and bumpers.

Since then, Milli launched a successful composing career and has collaborated with some of the hottest Latin directors, working on scores for five motion pictures including Ricardo de Montreuil's La Mujer de Mi Hermano, Simon Brand's Unknown, and Jonathan Jakubowicz's Secuestro Express (an indie film distributed by Miramax that remains one of Venezuela's top grossers). That film also brought Milli international visibility, including screenings at major film festivals and a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards. He also scored Satanas, the critically acclaimed Colombian film which swept awards at numerous international film festivals and won Milli his first Colombian National Film Award for Best Original Score (that country's equivalent to the Academy Award). His other film credits include the thriller Second Coming, shot mainly in Florida and the romantic drama Paraiso Travel.

As he navigates a burgeoning career in Hollywood, Milli believes that the strong working relationships he has forged with directors will serve as a key ingredient to his longevity in the business. He is completely aware of his role in the filmmaking process which he views as "providing the accents to the large brushstrokes of his directors." He is already working with Secuestro Express director Jakubowicz on an upcoming feature for 2009 and currently divides his time between his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

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