Production Information
Global action star LIAM NEESON (Taken series, Unknown) is U.S. Air Marshal
Bill Marks in Non-Stop, a suspense thriller played out at 40,000 feet in the air. During a
transatlantic flight from New York City to London, Marks receives a series of cryptic text
messages demanding that he instruct the airline to transfer $150 million into a numbered
account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20
minutes.
Struggling with his personal demons has drained Marks of any passion for the
heroic calling of his profession. He has come to view his important assignment as merely
a desk job in the sky. However, another day at the office becomes a high-stakes crisis
when shortly into a routine transatlantic flight, Marks’ world is upended.
Surrounded by only a couple of people he initially believes are trustworthy—
including his fellow passenger, Jen Summers (Golden Globe Award winner JULIANNE
MOORE of the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 and Part 2)—the
resourceful air marshal must use every nuance of his training to uncover the killer
traveling on board the aircraft. What follows is a nail-biting cat-and-mouse game with
the lives of hundreds of passengers hanging in the balance.
The suspense thriller reunites Neeson with Unknown director JAUME COLLETSERRA and JOEL SILVER (Unknown, The Matrix series, Sherlock Holmes series), who
produces the film with ANDREW RONA (Unknown, Project X, upcoming The Gunman)
and ALEX HEINEMAN (Project X). The filmmakers craft Non-Stop from a story by
JOHN W. RICHARDSON & CHRIS ROACH and a screenplay by Richardson & Roach
and RYAN ENGLE (upcoming Rampage).
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Co-starring alongside Neeson and Moore are MICHELLE DOCKERY
(television’s Downton Abbey) and Academy Award® nominee and Screen Actors Guild
Award winner LUPITA NYONG’O (12 Years a Slave) as Nancy and Gwen, respectively,
lead flight attendants on British Aqualantic flight 10; NATE PARKER (Arbitrage) as
Zack, SCOOT MCNAIRY (Argo) as Tom, COREY STOLL (Netflix’s House of Cards)
as Austin and OMAR METWALLY (Rendition) as Dr. Nasir, all fellow passengers under
Marks’ suspicious gaze; LINUS ROACHE (Batman Begins) as David, the pilot of the
aircraft, and JASON BUTLER HARNER (Changeling) as Kyle, his co-pilot; SHEA
WHIGHAM (American Hustle) as Agent Marenick, Marks’ TSA contact on the ground;
and ANSON MOUNT (TV’s Hell on Wheels) as Jack, the second air marshal on the 767.
Non-Stop’s behind-the-scenes team is led by director of photography FLAVIO
LABIANO (Unknown, upcoming The Gunman), editor JIM MAY (The Chronicles of
Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), production
designer ALEXANDER HAMMOND (Red, Flightplan), costume designer CATHERINE
MARIE THOMAS (The Heat, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) and composer JOHN
OTTMAN (Unknown, upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past).
The film’s executive producers are STEVE RICHARDS (Unknown), RON
HALPERN (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), OLIVIER COURSON (Inside Llewyn Davis),
HERBERT W. GAINS (Watchmen) and JEFF WADLOW (Kick-Ass 2).
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Preparing for Takeoff
Non-Stop Is Greenlit
Non-Stop proved to be an apt title for the reunited team of director Jaume ColletSerra, star Liam Neeson and producer Joel Silver, whose Unknown took the worldwide
box office by storm. Their latest collaboration began with one of those instances in
which a spec screenplay gained instant momentum. Although writers Chris Roach and
John Richardson had not had a script produced, their high-adrenaline whodunit garnered
attention from many executives among the industry…especially Silver.
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In this story of a man in need of redemption, we are introduced to the tortured Bill
Marks, who, by all appearances, has given up on life. The ex-NYPD cop sits in his filthy
car at the airport finishing off the last of his scotch…and then we realize this is actually
his pre-work routine as he attempts to muster up any interest to do his job. Clearly, this is
a man who is lost. As he prepares to board the 767 for what should be a routine flight,
the alcoholic Marks is on edge. He just wants to punch his time card and fly to Europe
and back as fast as possible without any aggravation.
During the check-in and boarding process, bleary-eyed-but-surprisingly-sharp
Marks encounters some fellow passengers who will soon become quite familiar to us, and
he exchanges knowing glances with flight attendant Nancy, whom he seems to know
well. As the plane lifts off for London, nothing seems out of the ordinary, and he settles
in for a six-hour trip.
Shortly into the flight, we discover that Marks is a U.S. Air Marshal. He begins
receiving text messages over the plane’s secure network, demanding that he force the
airline to transfer $150 million into a secret account or a passenger will be killed every 20
minutes. When he realizes that the sender is someone on board and deadly serious, the
race to solve the mystery begins. The rest of the story plays out almost in real time as
Marks—without the support of a ground team—wrestles with who is actually
trustworthy, while the terrified crew and passengers wonder whether it is Marks who is
trying to take down their plane.
Silver quickly sent the script to Neeson to gauge his interest, and the star had a
similar reaction as his producers. Explains Silver, who has produced such legendary
actioners as Die Hard and Die Hard 2, as well as all of the films in the Lethal Weapon
and The Matrix series: “When Liam read the script, he said, ‘I couldn’t put it down. Let’s
make this movie.’ He knew that it grabs you and it doesn’t let you go. It has an
incredible mystery in the middle of it, and you don’t know who to trust. You are left
suspecting anybody and everybody.”
Rona, the then-president of Silver Pictures, recalls that the script the team
received was the definition of a page-turner: “The minute you started reading it, you
couldn’t stop. On every other page there was a twist you couldn’t see coming. It is rare
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that you have a script where you sit down on the first read and say: ‘This is a movie.’
Non-Stop was that.”
As Silver offers, filmmakers have an incredible opportunity with and a unique gift
in Neeson: “Liam is a phenomenon. He has been thought of as this great actor for his
entire career, and suddenly, later in his life, he has become an action star. You never take
your eyes off him.”
The producer reflects that not only is Neeson’s ferocity plausible—the former
boxer has an imposing physicality that matches his intense line readings—but his
vulnerability makes the audience love to see him in this kind of role: “Liam is an actor
who the audience supports the second they see him. They want him to succeed and not
get hurt. They want him to be okay and to get rid of the bad guys and do what he has to
do. You go on this ride with his character, Marks, and sense his despair in not knowing
what to do or where to go. Then you realize how good he is when he figures it out, which
is what makes for an exceptional cinema experience.”
Silver appreciated the manner in which the story’s puzzle elements evoked classic
Hitchcock whodunits, and how writer Ryan Engle’s contributions made the screenplay
perfect for Neeson as their leading man. The producer knew that audiences would enjoy
being taken on the journey with Marks and watching as the mystery unfolds through his
perspective. Indeed, the filmmakers designed the film so that there would be only a mere
eight minutes from the second that Non-Stop opens until the hatch of the plane closes and
our passengers are inside. When that door shuts, the audience is locked into the story
alongside the characters, on a speeding bullet at 500 miles per hour.
Set against the backdrop of a claustrophobic environment—traveling at high
speeds over the middle of the ocean—the killer is somewhere inside this plane with us.
Indeed, although there are a number of red herrings, the discovery of who is behind the
crimes is left until the very end. Silver sums: “There are a couple of scenes in the airport
at the beginning of the movie, but virtually every scene takes place on this plane. The
film is a heart-pumping ride and a visual spectacle that puts you on the edge of your seat.
You don’t know who to trust, and you’re left suspecting everyone.”
Neeson’s transition early in his career from serious dramatic actor to global action
star has been well documented by the press and marveled at by his peers. Still, he takes
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nothing for granted. “I was thrilled when Joel called me up about this,” the actor says. “I
literally couldn’t stop turning the pages.”
The performer admits that he was drawn to the role of Bill Marks because of the
character’s flaws and the fact that the ex-cop has to earn the trust of the passengers and
the audience at the same time. Neeson observes: “When we see Bill in the start of the
film, he’s a guy on the edge and someone you don’t want to sit beside on a long-haul
flight. The finger of suspicion points to him for quite a period. But I was drawn to him
because in a very basic, cinematic, iconic-figure way, he fits that mold of someone who
does what he has to do to save the day. He’s an everyday guy who rises to the
challenge.”
Silver was certain that the combination of Collet-Serra directing and Neeson
starring would make for the perfect pairing to tell this type of pulse-pounding story.
“Jaume’s talent is his ability to create tension and delve into character,” commends the
producer. “He knows how to create those moments of tension, and he puts us into a
plane in a way that we’ve never seen before. He’s becoming a very important director,
and I’m proud that we’ve been able to do these four movies with him.”
For Collet-Serra, who has worked with Silver on three previous films—House of
Wax, Orphan and Unknown—the fast-paced mystery of Non-Stop was quite appealing, as
was the chance to conquer his own fears. Says the director: “I’m terrified of flying, and
this is one of the reasons why I did this movie. I wanted to explore my fear of flying and,
as a director, my fear of doing a movie in one location.”
He appreciated the psychological elements of the script that explore human
behavior in a confined space. Says the director: “I’m a big fan of movies like Murder on
the Orient Express, where there’s a number of people traveling and everybody has an
agenda. This is a movie like that where you meet a bunch of people and you don’t know
who they are. You know what they appear to be, but in this movie they reveal who they
really are. When you’re in the plane and things go wrong, that forces you to reveal your
true personality. Who are you going to choose to be? Are you going to be the hero? Are
you going to confront the problem?”
Collet-Serra was also thrilled to have another chance to work with his Unknown
leading man. In fact, their third film together, Run All Night, recently wrapped
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production. The filmmaker shares: “When I read the script, I couldn’t imagine anybody
but Liam playing this part. We had such a great creative partnership on Unknown. Liam
brings a lot of credibility to the characters that he plays, and he has this gift that you just
believe him. You like him right away, and in the kind of movies that I like to do—fastpaced and energetic ones—we don’t have a lot of time for extended character
development at the film’s beginning. It’s important to have an actor who can speak to the
audience emotionally from the start. Liam is the perfect actor for these types of movies.”
Neeson appreciates all that the Spanish-born director brings to a set. He explains:
“Jaume’s a passionate filmmaker. His knowledge of cameras and the accoutrements of
shooting a movie is phenomenal.” In addition to his director’s technical expertise, what
Neeson appreciates is Collet-Serra’s sensitivity to performances. “Jaume has an innate
sense of the truth in front of the camera with his actors. He knows if something is too
much or too little and can convey that information in a very concise way. It’s always
very comfortable working with him.”
Non-Stop marks producer Alex Heineman’s third project with Silver. He agrees
that the intensity of Roach, Richardson and Engle’s screenplay is enhanced by the ticking
clock and confined space of the situation in which Marks finds himself. Indeed, the idea
of being trapped on a flight-gone-wrong is a very tangible one for the audience. He
shares: “Many people have fears about going on a plane and something happening during
the flight. This taps right into that.” In this thriller, as Heineman says, “Jaume puts you
in the mind of Marks. From the opening frame, you feel like you’re in his head and
experiencing this ride with him.”
Passenger Manifest:
Supporting Cast
With their leading man set, it was time for the filmmakers to find the supporting
cast. The first stop on the search would be for Non-Stop’s leading lady, Jen Summers,
played by incomparable Golden Globe Award winner Julianne Moore.
After boarding the plane, Marks is soon seated next to Summers, and Collet-Serra
explains the character’s role in the thriller: “Normally, when you get on a flight you’re
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sitting next to a person who you’re probably never going to see again. Sometimes a
conversation happens, sometimes not. In this movie, Liam and Julianne play two
strangers who are forced to work together because of the events on the flight.” ColletSerra was thrilled to have Moore, who had previously co-starred with Neeson as his wife
in Chloe, portray Marks’ seatmate: “They have incredible chemistry.”
Having a performer of Moore’s caliber play opposite Neeson elevated the scenes,
suggests Silver, who had first worked with the actress years ago: “Julie’s an incredible
person. She’s funny, beautiful and a phenomenal actress. She has known Liam for some
time, and it was his idea to go after her for the part. They’re perfectly paired together in
the film, and she loved the role. For a period of time, you actually believe her character
might be responsible for what’s going on.”
Moore feels as if the script for Non-Stop is reminiscent of disaster films like The
Towering Inferno, thrillers in which the characters are trapped in high-stakes peril. She
explains: “I like the idea of everybody in a tight space experiencing the drama at the same
time. It reminded me of a ’70s movie where you have all these people in a dangerous
situation, and it moves very quickly. You don’t know what’s going to happen; you don’t
know who the bad guy is. There’s a high level of suspense.”
Discussing her draw to the character, Moore offers that she was curious about
Jen’s mysteriousness: “She is someone who comes on with a lot of presence and is
actively seeking a window seat, but you don’t know why. You get to know her as the
movie unfolds, but you don’t know what her complete backstory is because she’s elusive
in telling it.”
For Moore, Collet-Serra’s commitment to specificity and respect for his team
permeated the production: “Jaume is a wonderful director, and he clearly put a lot of time
and effort into the direction of this film. He knows exactly where his edit points are, and
he shoots to that. He’s not somebody who shoots and shoots and says, ‘I’ll figure out
where this goes later.’ He’s editing as he goes, and he knows how each shot cuts to the
next. Because of that there’s very little time wasted. He’s a master at building suspense
and drama and was absolutely delightful to work with.”
She extends those sentiments to her fellow lead. Moore reflects on Neeson’s
draw: “Liam is a tremendous actor, a wonderful talent and a great person. In a piece like
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this, where he’s this big action hero, you need to believe him. You believe him as this
character—somebody with integrity and a desire to solve the problem.”
In Non-Stop, Neeson and Moore are supported by a stellar troupe of fellow
performers, known for their work in film and television alike. Producer Silver, an
admitted fan of Downton Abbey, was excited to have Emmy-nominated Michelle
Dockery aboard the production. For the actress, now famous for the role of the
sometimes-haughty Lady Mary, playing a less-patrician flight attendant was refreshing.
The character, Nancy, she explains, “is this very tough, working-class northern girl who
seemingly is fresh and smiley, as most flight attendants are. But from her background,
she has a real toughness underneath.”
As for Nancy’s connection to the air marshal, it’s at first unclear what their
relationship entails. Dockery explains: “Nancy and Bill have a familiarity. They’ve been
on the same flights together, and she has witnessed a few of his drunken states during
those times. She’s aware of his issues, and that’s why she becomes someone that he
reaches out to as an ally; she knows him so well.”
Although the actress has not previously appeared in a thriller, she admired ColletSerra’s ability to juggle multiple technical challenges while still keeping his primary
focus on his actors. Dockery notes: “Jaume gives you the freedom to play around with a
scene. He encouraged us all to have fun with it, even if it was an intense, serious scene or
moment. I was impressed with how he dealt with the constraints and the technical
challenges that were set in his way.”
Several of the supporting cast members—and potential terrorists—aboard the
harrowing flight add to the tension and provide what producer Silver commends to be “a
fantastic ensemble.” The key cast include Corey Stoll, who has received critical praise as
a drug-addicted politician on the Netflix original series House of Cards (and will soon
star in Guillermo del Toro’s television series The Strain), as the flight’s NYPD cop
Austin; Scoot McNairy, the stellar character actor in such films as 12 Years a Slave and
Argo, as the nebbish Tom; and another rising star, Nate Parker of The Great Debaters
and Arbitrage, as technology expert Zack.
Tony-nominated New York-based performer Omar Metwally portrays passenger
Dr. Fahim Nasir, a role that plays upon audience expectations. Metwally shares: “Fahim
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is a doctor from England and an observant religious Muslim, so he starts to attract the
suspicion of some of the other passengers. Rather than shying away from the stereotype,
Non-Stop explores it. I imagine the audience will be thinking, ‘It can’t be him because
he’s too stereotypical, but then maybe it’s so obvious that it is…’ The film is cool in the
way in which it sets up these different passengers, and we get to know them piece-bypiece. Jaume takes us on a journey with each character so that we’re going back and
forth. We trust them, and then we don’t.”
Anson Mount, star of the popular television series Hell on Wheels, plays Jack
Hammond, the flight’s second air marshal, and the thorn in Marks’ side. Mount enjoyed
the chance not only to act opposite Neeson, but to engage in stunts on set: “It’s great to
work with Liam in an action capacity, because he’s infinitely patient and likes nailing all
the physical stuff. You have to be willing to work when you do action. You have to be
willing to rehearse and deal with the choreography and prepare for some slow, slow
days.”
As for those slow days, McNairy, who plays passenger Tom Bowen, jokes that
spending 12 hours a day on the plane set was akin to “waking up every morning and
flying to Australia.” But he was grateful for the opportunity to work with the filmmakers
and his fellow cast, who developed a solid rapport with one another. Truly, on technical
days, they would spend downtime together in the trailers watching such comedies as
Airplane!.
Wrapping the supporting cast are Oscar® nominee and Screen Actors Guild
Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, who has received many additional critical lauds for her
work in 12 Years a Slave, as Nancy’s fellow flight attendant Gwen, as well as her
crewmen: English performer Linus Roache as David, the pilot of the 767; American actor
Jason Butler Harner as Kyle, his co-pilot; and Silver Linings Playbook’s Shea Whigham
as Agent Marenick, Marks’ TSA contact at headquarters who refuses to allow a paranoid
alcoholic to run his show.
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Terror at 500 MPH:
Designing and Filming the Thriller
Shooting on an accurately sized airplane was a potential hardship for both the cast
and crew, but production designer Alexander Hammond explains that it helped that the
director understood how it would affect everyone’s work—in front of and behind the
camera: “Jaume is wonderfully straightforward about story and action; he is a great
director for saying, ‘This has to be a space that works for me and the actors.’ He was
most concerned with where, physically, all the people on the plane would go. He needed
to see how the blocking worked and if the space was conducive to the action that’s
written in the script. In addition, he wanted to know how you create this thing.”
From Die Hard and Die Hard 2 to Executive Decision, Silver has a long history of
lensing blockbuster thrillers set partially or mostly on aircraft. The producer believes
Collet-Serra and his team—led by cinematographer Flavio Labiano—have broken new
ground with the techniques they used to lens Non-Stop. He compliments: “Jaume puts us
into the story and characters—as well as into the plane—in a way we’ve never seen
before. Because of the manner in which the team has built cameras into the plane,
they’ve given us a unique way of showing this kind of story. They are supported by a
top-notch visual effects team led by Prime Focus World, allowing us to believe
everything we’re seeing is real.”
As well, Collet-Serra’s use of modern cameras supports the decision to have the
audience stay on the craft the majority of the time, as opposed to intercutting back and
forth with the outside world. That was a choice that set well with Silver. He says:
“Usually in these types of thrillers, the director is always cutting away. We don’t cut to
mission control. There are people who communicate with our crew and Marks, but you
rarely leave the people that we’re dealing with on the flight. Although we start the film
outside and it ends outside the plane, the rest of the movie we don’t leave it. That
confines the audience, and you realize that everything that’s happening is in this space.”
The director was not intimidated by the idea of creating action scenes on a small
set. He envisioned that the contained environment would actually make for a more
visceral film experience. Says Collet-Serra: “Shooting action in tight places presents a
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technical challenge, but ultimately that pays off exponentially because people feel they
are much closer to the action. The audience is going to feel like they’re on this plane, and
the action involves them and feels like it’s happening all around them. You can do a lot
of car chases and motorcycle chases, but having fights happen around you in a tight space
is much more intense than your regular action movie.”
Aside from a few scenes lensed at JFK Airport and an airport runway on eastern
Long Island, Non-Stop was filmed entirely at a soundstage in Brooklyn, New York, that
was just large enough to house the airplane set. For the design team, it was a bit like
building a ship in a bottle. The 158-foot-long movie aircraft, modeled on a 767, had 29
first-class seats and 159 coach seats, and was constructed so that the sides of the plane
could be raised up for a variety of camera placements. As Hammond, the production
designer behind Flightplan, sums, “just like an old Gullwing Mercedes.”
Although it was a vessel that would never have to take off, the Non-Stop plane
needed to be able to move. A thrilling sequence involved tilting and shaking the plane,
and suspending the actors on cables to simulate their being thrown around the cabin. All
of this work, done at the end of the shoot, had to be well-planned in advance, says the
production designer. “The back third of the aircraft was on a teeter-totter rig, so it could
go up and down and jerk. It went about 13 degrees because of how big our stage was and
how much rigging we had up on top of the set.”
The special effects department attached shakers to multiple places around the
perimeter of the plane that moved out of sync with one another, resulting in a harmonic
vibration. Reflects Hammond: “Between that and camera shake, and even some visual
effects shake at the end, the special effects rig shook this set as hard as I’d want a set to
be shaken.”
In building the plane, Hammond and his team made modifications to the standard
airplane aisle width to allow for film equipment and to the ceiling height to allow for the
film’s quite tall leading man. As Hammond explains, “You’re dealing with an actor
who’s in shoes, 6 foot 5, in an airplane…which is a very small set. You don’t want him
right at the ceiling. You have to set up the volume of the space so you can film him and
the other actors without getting crazy eye lines, but also so you feel every shot isn’t
claustrophobic for him.”
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After giving the crew and the cast extra room to breathe, Hammond used a bit of
design trickery to visually shrink the plane to standard size. He explains: “We put lights
on the floor that were always illuminated, which gives you a visual compression of space
in the aisle. So when you’re thinking about how big the aisle is, your eye actually picks
up the lighted floor strip, and it makes it feel smaller.”
From the beginning of preproduction, it was important to the design team to
incorporate elements of a plane that an average flier wouldn’t know were there but would
definitely experience. Continues the production designer: “We wanted to do this in a
way that’s a bit similar to what Virgin Airlines does now. With new international
aircraft, there’s a different kind of thought put into lighting systems. There are moods for
when you first enter the aircraft: when you’re all bright and announcements are on, and
then when it is night and people are sleeping.”
The lighting incorporated into the plane was also a way for Collet-Serra’s crew to
expedite moving smoothly from scene to scene during the course of a shoot day. Shares
Hammond: “We had about 3,000 practicals [lights] on the plane, if you include all the
LED strips. The built-in light was basically controlled by the DP and the gaffer, so we
didn’t have to do a lot of lighting of the environment. You still had to light actors, but
the environment lit itself once all of those systems were in place. It made it fairly quick
to go from setup to setup: night in one and day in the other and dawn in the next.”
There was one small piece of the set that was separate from the body of the plane:
a duplicate of the airplane bathroom, in which a key fight scene occurs between our hero
and another passenger. To shoot the sequence, the filmmakers used both the bathroom on
the plane and the duplicate, which resembled a wooden box the size of a phone booth, to
enable better camera positions for DP Labiano’s crew.
Hammond explains that the script had unique opportunities and took advantage of
the plane’s character: “That made it fun to design the actual plane with surprising
choices. One of the biggest fights in the film takes place in an airplane bathroom with
Liam and another guy who is not a small guy, either. They put two large men in that tiny
bathroom and Jaume wanted to go for it. The idea of a fight in a small space was
something he very much embraced, and instead of saying, ‘No, let’s make a really large
Non-Stop—Production Information
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bathroom,’ he said, ‘Let’s make it real,’ because it gave an energy to that fight and a
different kind of choreography than would have happened otherwise.”
Silver knew that the technical accuracy would only add to the believability of the
story and worked with Collet-Serra’s team to ensure authenticity. The filmmakers took
great pains to make sure that what the audience sees is authentic. By drawing upon
professional relationships and consulting with TSA officials, flight attendants, pilots and
former U.S. Air Marshals, they were able to get into the minds of those who have served
on board an aircraft and find out exactly the manner in which they would behave if a
terroristic threat came about mid-flight.
Experts were also on hand to advise the key cast on how to handle weapons on an
aircraft and how they could be deadly in a quick, confined way. Stunt coordinator
MARK VANSELOW, who has worked on many films with Neeson, shares how he
worked with Hammond’s set: “We reverse-engineered the bathroom scene from what
those characters would be able to do and what their skill set would be. They aren’t
necessarily martial-art experts, but the airplane is their home and where they train, so we
created a scenario where you have two evenly matched people and we demonstrated how
surprising that would be. Then you take into consideration the space. A lot of techniques
work great in open space, but when you’re confined, they don’t work at all because your
elbow doesn’t work this way or the force of a hit is different in tight quarters.”
The special training extended to the film’s in-flight crew, says Dockery: “We had
a flight attendant who came in to do a seminar with us. We were taken through various
things—mainly safety procedures, how you present yourself, how you would deal with
someone who was being aggressive and the things that you would and wouldn’t know. I
learned a lot about protecting the cockpit. Actually, the flight attendants are very wary of
anyone getting close to the cockpit door, and there are various methods in how they deal
with that.”
****
Universal Pictures and Studiocanal present a Silver Pictures production—in
association with Anton Capital Entertainment S.C.A. and Lovefilm—of a Jaume ColletSerra film: Liam Neeson in Non-Stop, starring Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle
Dockery, Nate Parker, Jason Butler Harner and Anson Mount. The casting is by Amanda
Non-Stop—Production Information
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Mackey, Cathy Sandrich Gelfond, and the costume designer is Catherine Marie Thomas.
Non-Stop’s co-producers are Richard Mirisch, Adam Kuhn, and its music is by John
Ottman. The suspense thriller is edited by Jim May, ACE, and its production designer is
Alexander Hammond. The director of photography is Flavio Labiano, and the executive
producers are Steve Richards, Ron Halpern, Olivier Courson, Herbert W. Gains, Jeff
Wadlow. Non-Stop’s producers are Joel Silver, Andrew Rona, Alex Heineman. The
story is by John W. Richardson & Chris Roach, and the screenplay is by John W.
Richardson & Chris Roach and Ryan Engle. The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
©2014 Universal Studios. www.nonstopthefilm.com
ABOUT THE CAST
LIAM NEESON (Bill Marks) has become one of the leading international
motion picture actors today. Whether it is his Academy Award®-nominated role of Oskar
Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed Schindler’s List (1993), his awardwinning portrayal of legendary Irish Republican hero in Michael Collins (1996) or his
role as controversial sex therapist Alfred Kinsey in the critically acclaimed Kinsey
(2004), Neeson has continued to display an acting range matched by few.
Neeson was very busy in 2012, appearing in five films, including Joe Carnahan’s
The Grey. In the film, Neeson fought for survival against the elements, and rabid wolves,
in the Alaskan wilderness. In March 2012, he starred alongside Sam Worthington and
Ralph Fiennes in Warner Bros.’ Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to the popular Clash of
the Titans. In May 2012, Neeson appeared in Peter Berg’s action sci-fi Battleship. In
July 2012, he appeared in The Dark Night Rises for director Christopher Nolan, and in
October 2012, he starred in Taken 2, the sequel to the worldwide box-office sensation
Taken.
In February 2011, Neeson starred in the psychological thriller about stolen
identity titled Unknown, opposite Diane Kruger and January Jones. In 2010, Neeson costarred in the Warner Bros. remake of the 1981 film Clash of the Titans, which tells the
myth of Perseus and his quest to battle both Medusa and the Kraken monster in order to
save the princess Andromeda. Additionally in 2010, Neeson appeared in After Life,
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opposite Christina Ricci. The film involves a young woman caught between life and
death and a funeral director who appears to have the gift of transitioning the dead. That
same year, he was seen in the feature film remake of the popular TV series The A-Team,
alongside Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel; as an ex-con in Paul Haggis’ The Next Three
Days; and as the voice of Aslan the Lion in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the
Dawn Treader.
Neeson starred in the BBC film Five Minutes of Heaven, which debuted in 2009
and received rave reviews at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
In 2008, Neeson starred in Taken, the runaway box-office hit about an ex-soldier
trying to track down the Albanian slave masters who have kidnapped his daughter.
Additionally that year, Neeson teamed up with Laura Linney in Richard Eyre’s The Other
Man. In May 2008, Neeson reprised his role as the voice of the Aslan in Disney’s boxoffice success The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the sequel to the 2005 hit The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. That same year he
returned to the stage at the Lincoln Center Festival in Gate/Beckett, directed by Atom
Egoyan.
In 2006, Neeson graced the screen in the classic revenge drama Seraphim Falls,
opposite Pierce Brosnan. In 2005, he appeared in Ridley Scott’s crusades epic Kingdom
of Heaven. He also co-starred that year in Batman Begins, directed by Nolan.
Neeson’s portrayal of Alfred Kinsey in Bill Condon’s Kinsey, which co-starred
Linney, garnered him a Best Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics
Association. Prior to that, Neeson co-starred with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson and
Keira Knightley in Working Title Films’ Love Actually (2003), written and directed by
Richard Curtis.
Neeson returned to Broadway in 2002, co-starring with his friend Linney in
Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible. Neeson’s performance as John Proctor earned him
a Tony Award nomination.
In 2001, Neeson starred opposite Harrison Ford in K-19: The Widowmaker, the
true story of Russia’s nuclear submarine tragedy. He also starred in the black comedy
Gun Shy (2000), opposite Sandra Bullock.
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Neeson starred in the box-office phenomenon Star Wars: Episode I–The Phantom
Menace (1999) in the role of Qui-Gon Jinn, the Master Jedi Knight who bestows his
“force”-ful wisdom upon Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young Anakin Skywalker. In the same
year, he starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in Jan de Bont’s The Haunting.
In 1998, Neeson starred as Jean Valjean in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s
“Les Misérables,” which co-starred Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes, and
played Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s The Judas Kiss, which opened in London’s West End
and subsequently on Broadway.
Neeson starred in the title role in Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins (1996), for which he
received Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture—Drama and London’s prestigious Evening
Standard Award for Best Actor. The film also received the highest honor at Venice, The
Golden Lion Award.
Neeson received worldwide attention in 1993 for his starring role in the Academy
Award®-winning film Schindler’s List. In addition to receiving an Academy Award®
nomination for Best Actor, he was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher after majoring in
physics, computer science and math at Queen’s University Belfast. Neeson set teaching
aside and, in 1976, joined the prestigious Lyric Theatre in Belfast, making his professional
acting debut in Joseph Plunkett’s The Risen People. After two years with the Lyric Players,
he joined the famed national theater of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Neeson
appeared in the Abbey Theatre Festival’s production of Brian Friel’s Translations, and a
production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars for the Royal Exchange Theatre in
Manchester, England, where he received a Best Actor Award.
In 1980, John Boorman spotted him playing Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and
Men and cast him in the epic saga of the Arthurian legend, Excalibur. Following this
motion picture debut, Neeson has appeared in more than 40 films, portraying a wide range
of characters, including Dino De Laurentiis’ epic remake of The Bounty (1984), directed by
Roger Donaldson and which co-starred Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins; the critically
acclaimed Lamb (1985), for which he received an Evening Standard Drama Award
nomination for his haunting portrayal of a priest tormented by doubts about his faith; Andrei
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Konchalovsky’s Duet for One (1986), which co-starred Julie Andrews; as a political terrorist
in A Prayer for the Dying (1987), with Mickey Rourke and Bob Hoskins; and as a Jesuit
priest in Roland Joffe’s The Mission (1986), which co-starred Robert De Niro and Jeremy
Irons.
Neeson received critical acclaim as a deaf and mute Vietnam veteran, opposite Cher,
in Peter Yates’ courtroom drama Suspect (1987); as a passionate Irish sculptor, opposite
Diane Keaton, in The Good Mother (1988); and as scientist Peyton Westlake, whose
disfiguring accident forces him into hiding, in Sam Raimi’s fantasy-thriller Darkman
(1990).
Neeson next starred in David Leland’s gritty contemporary drama Crossing the Line
based on William McIlvanney’s acclaimed novel, “The Big Man,” about an unemployed
Scottish miner desperate for money who is thrust into the high-stakes world of bare-knuckle
boxing.
In 1992, he starred as a Nazi engineer in David Seltzer’s adaptation of Susan Isaacs’
best-selling novel “Shining Through,” opposite Michael Douglas, and as a disgraced
policeman accused of murder in the erotic thriller Under Suspicion.
Neeson then continued to star in a succession of films, most notably playing the
sensitive art historian vying for the affections of Mia Farrow and Judy Davis in Woody
Allen’s controversial Husbands and Wives (1992).
His other credits include Ethan Frome (1993), with Joan Allen; Michael Apted’s
Nell (1994), opposite Jodie Foster and Natasha Richardson; Before and After (1996), with
Meryl Streep; and in the title role of Michael Canton-Jones’ Rob Roy (1995), which costarred Jessica Lange.
Neeson made his Broadway debut in 1993 in the Roundabout Theatre’s revival of
Eugene O’Neill’s 1921 drama Anna Christie, which co-starred Richardson, and received a
Tony Award nomination for his performance.
One of today’s most versatile and charismatic actresses, JULIANNE MOORE
(Jen Summers) is known for her breadth of work, with memorable performances in
everything from comedy to drama, blockbusters to art-house fare and from the big screen
to the small screen.
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Moore recently starred in Kimberly Peirce’s remake of the cult-classic horror film
Carrie. In 2014, she will be seen as President Alma Coin in Lionsgate’s popular
franchise The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, with Jennifer Lawrence and Philip
Seymour Hoffman, which will be released on November 24, and opposite Jeff Bridges in
the sweeping fantasy-adventure Seventh Son. She recently wrapped production on David
Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars alongside Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson and John
Cusack.
Moore is the ninth person in Academy history to receive two acting Oscar®
nominations in the same year (2003), for her performances in Far From Heaven (Best
Actress) and The Hours (Best Supporting Actress), after receiving many critics’ awards
as well as Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Golden Globe awards nominations. Moore is
a four-time Academy Award® nominee, eight-time Golden Globe Award nominee, 10time SAG Award nominee, three-time BAFTA nominee and three-time Independent
Spirit Award nominee, winning in 2003 for Far From Heaven. In 2012, she won the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her
role as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the HBO original movie Game Change. This role
also garnered wins at the 2013 SAG and Golden Globe awards. Her additional honors
include the Excellence in Media Award at the 2004 GLAAD Media Awards, the Silver
Berlin Bear Award at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, the 2002 Coppa Volpi
for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, the Actor Award at the 2002 Gotham
Awards and the Tribute to Independent Vision Award at the 2001 Sundance Film
Festival.
Moore’s notable films include Crazy, Stupid, Love., The Kids Are All Right, A
Single Man, The Forgotten, What Maisie Knew, The English Teacher, Laws of Attraction,
Chloe, 6 Souls, Blindness, Saving Grace, I’m Not There, Children of Men, Hannibal, The
Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Fugitive, Nine Month, Benny & Joon, The Hand That
Rocks the Cradle, The End of the Affair, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Cookie’s Fortune,
Short Cuts, Don Jon, Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho, Safe, Vanya on 42nd Street,
Surviving Picasso and The Big Lebowski.
An accomplished author, Moore recently released her fourth book “My Mom is a
Foreigner, But Not to Me,” based on her experiences growing up with a mother from
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Scotland. Her previous work includes the successful children’s books “Freckleface
Strawberry,” “Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully” and “Freckleface
Strawberry: Best Friends Forever.” In 2013, Moore released her Freckleface Strawberry
Monster Maker app via iTunes which was inspired by the book’s main character and
allows users to make their own monster to send to family and friends. The original book
was also adapted into a successful off-Broadway musical.
After earning her bachelor of fine arts from Boston University for performing
arts, Moore starred in a number of off-Broadway productions, including Caryl
Churchill’s Serious Money and Ice Cream with Hot Fudge at the Public Theater. She
appeared in Minneapolis in the Guthrie Theater’s Hamlet, and participated in workshop
productions of August Strindberg’s The Father, with Al Pacino, and Wendy
Wasserstein’s An American Daughter, with Meryl Streep. Moore made her Broadway
debut in 2006 in Sam Mendes’ production of The Vertical Hour, an original play written
by David Hare.
Moore and her family reside in New York City.
MICHELLE DOCKERY (Nancy) trained at the Guildhall School of Music &
Drama in London. Dockery can currently be seen starring in the award-winning
television series Downton Abbey. For her role in the show, she was nominated for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Television Series—Drama at the 2013 Golden Globe
Awards, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series at the 2013
Screen Actors Guild Awards and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 2012
and 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Dockery’s television credits include Restless (BBC); Henry IV (BBC,
Shakespeare Productions Ltd.); The Turn of the Screw (BBC); Cranford (BBC); The
Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (CBS); Waking the Dead (BBC); Red Riding: In the
Year of Our Lord 1983 and Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (Revolution
Films); Heartbeat (ITV); Poppy Shakespeare (ITV); Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC); One
Night (Century Films/Channel 4); Hogfather (Sky One); and Fingersmith (ITV).
Dockery’s theater credits include Hamlet (Crucible Theatre); Burnt by the Sun
(Royal National Theatre); Pygmalion (The Old Vic), for which she was nominated for
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Best Newcomer at the 2008 Evening Standard Awards; Dying for It (Almeida Theatre);
Pillars of the Community (National Theatre); The UN Inspector (National Theatre);
Henry IV (National Theatre); and His Dark Materials (National Theatre).
Dockery’s film credits include Anna Karenina, Hanna, Shades of Beige and the
upcoming Selfless.
In fall 2013, LUPITA NYONG’O (Gwen) made her feature-film debut in Steve
McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, alongside Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Based on the best-selling book, the film tells the story of Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a
free black man from upstate New York who was abducted and sold into slavery.
Nyong’o plays the role of Patsey, Master Epps’ (Fassbender) slave who comes into
contact with Solomon. Produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Dede Gardner and
New Regency, Fox Searchlight Pictures released the film in October 2013. For her
performance, Nyong’o has received a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as Golden
Globe and Academy Award® nominations, the New Hollywood Award at the 2013
Hollywood Film Awards and was named one of Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch.
Nyong’o is also a filmmaker, having served as the creator, director, editor and
producer of the award-winning feature-length documentary In My Genes. The
documentary follows eight Kenyans who have one thing in common: They were born
with albinism, a genetic condition that causes a lack of pigmentation. In many parts of
Africa, including Kenya, the condition marginalizes, stigmatizes and even endangers
those who have it. Though highly visible in a society that is predominantly dark-skinned,
the reality of living with albinism is invisible to most. Through her intimate portraits,
Nyong’o enables us to see albinos’ challenges, humanity and everyday triumphs.
A recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama’s acting program, Nyong’o’s
stage credits include playing Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (Yale Repertory Theatre),
Sonya in Uncle Vanya and Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, as well as performing
in the original production of Michael Mitnick’s Elijah.
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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
JAUME COLLET-SERRA (Directed by) was born in Barcelona, Spain, in
1974. In the early 1990s, Collet-Serra moved from Barcelona to Los Angeles to attend
film school at Columbia College Hollywood. Soon after graduating, he began his career
as an editor.
From there, Collet-Serra moved into directing music videos, then commercials for
the global brands PlayStation, Budweiser, MasterCard, Miller Lite, Pontiac, Smirnoff Ice,
Renault, Verizon and 7UP, working with such agencies as McCann Erickson, J. Walter
Thompson (JWT), BBDO and TBWA\CHIAT\DAY. Collet-Serra’s stylized, surreal and
often dark imagery quickly caught the eye of producer Joel Silver, who hired him to
direct 2005’s House of Wax.
In 2007, Collet-Serra’s love for soccer took him back to Spain to shoot Goal II:
Living the Dream. He collaborated with Silver again for both the horror film Orphan,
which grossed $76 million, and the Liam Neeson thriller Unknown, which grossed $130
million. Currently, Collet-Serra is in active development on the remake of the cult classic
Akira, with Appian Way for Warner Bros. Pictures, and in postproduction on Run All
Night, starring Neeson, Ed Harris and Joel Kinnaman.
In addition to directing, Collet-Serra produces films with Juan Solá through their
production company, Ombra Films. Among Ombra’s recent projects are Mindscape,
with Studiocanal; Curve, with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions and Universal
Pictures; and Eden, with Voltage Pictures. Ombra’s next production will start principal
photography in February in Budapest.
JOHN W. RICHARDSON (Screenplay by/Story by) studied film production at
Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. For several years, Richardson worked in Los
Angeles as a television and documentary editor before beginning a writing partnership
with Christopher Roach. He continues to collaborate with Roach on several projects.
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CHRIS ROACH (Screenplay by/Story by) first learned about screenwriting at
Columbia College Chicago. After moving to Los Angeles, Roach worked his way up in
television, writing for WWE Monday Night Raw and becoming co-executive producer of
Big Brother. He started writing with John W. Richardson in 2010. Non-Stop is the duo’s
first produced screenplay.
Non-Stop is RYAN ENGLE’s (Screenplay by) first produced screenplay. He is
currently working on the feature adaptation of the video-game series Rampage, for New
Line Cinema; a feature-film adaptation of the graphic novel “The New West,” for New
Regency; and a live-action adaptation of the TV series Ben 10 for Silver Pictures and
Cartoon Network.
JOEL SILVER (Produced by), one of the most prolific and successful producers
in motion picture history, has produced more than 65 films, including the groundbreaking
The Matrix franchise, the blockbuster four-part Lethal Weapon franchise and the seminal
action films Die Hard and Predator. To date, Silver’s catalog of films has earned more
than $13 billion worldwide.
In September 2012, Silver purchased the historic Venice Beach, California, post
office and is currently renovating it to function as Silver Pictures’ new office space. Built
in 1939 by the federal Works Progress Administration, the 22,000-square-foot
neoclassical building will be transformed into a state-of-the-art production facility,
housing offices, editing suites and a screening room.
Silver Pictures recently wrapped production on the action thriller The Gunman,
starring Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba. Based on Jean-Patrick Manchette’s
novel “Prone Gunman,” the movie stars Penn as an international operative who is
betrayed by the organization he worked for, and must go on the run in a relentless game
of cat and mouse across Europe. Other films currently in development include Gypsy,
Weird Science, Sherlock Holmes 3 and Escape From New York.
In 2009, Silver produced the hit Sherlock Holmes, which earned more than $518
million at the worldwide box office. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the film starred Robert
Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson. More recently, Silver produced the
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film’s sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which reunited Downey Jr. and
Law, again under the direction of Ritchie. The second film grossed more than $545
million worldwide. In addition, Silver Pictures produced the outrageous hit comedy
Project X, which grossed more than $100 million worldwide.
Previously, Silver’s 1999 production The Matrix grossed more than $456 million
worldwide. At the time of its release, the film earned more than any other Warner Bros.
Pictures film in the studio’s history. Universally acclaimed for its innovative storytelling
and visuals, The Matrix won four Academy Awards®, including Best Visual Effects. It
was also the first DVD release to sell one million units, which helped power the initial
sale of consumer DVD machines. The second installment of the epic The Matrix
franchise, The Matrix Reloaded, earned more than $740 million at the worldwide box
office, making it the highest-grossing “R”-rated film of all time. The opening weekend
box-office receipts for The Matrix Revolutions, the final chapter in the explosive trilogy,
totaled a staggering $203 million worldwide. To date, The Matrix franchise has grossed
$3 billion worldwide.
While overseeing production on The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix
Revolutions, Silver produced the integral video game Enter the Matrix, which featured
one hour of additional film footage written and directed by the Wachowskis and starred
Jada Pinkett Smith and Anthony Wong, who reprised their roles from the films. He also
executive produced The Animatrix, a groundbreaking collection of nine short anime films
inspired by the visionary action and storytelling that powered The Matrix.
Silver also produced the action thriller V for Vendetta, based on the acclaimed
graphic novel, which starred Natalie Portman; Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the action comedy
thriller from writer/director Shane Black, which starred Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and
Michelle Monaghan; Romeo Must Die, which starred Jet Li and Aaliyah; Exit Wounds,
which starred Steven Seagal and DMX; and Swordfish, which starred John Travolta,
Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.
Silver Pictures’ earlier credits include the breakout hits Commando and Jumpin’
Jack Flash. In the late 1980s, Silver Pictures solidified its status as one of the industry’s
leading production companies, with the beginning of the Lethal Weapon series and the
action blockbusters Die Hard and Die Hard 2: Die Harder. Following the success of
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these films, the company went on to release The Last Boy Scout, Demolition Man, Ri¢hie
Ri¢h, Executive Decision and Conspiracy Theory.
Beginning with the record-breaking opening of House on Haunted Hill in 1999,
Silver produced a string of hit films under his Dark Castle division of Silver Pictures. He
continued with Thir13en Ghosts in 2001, Ghost Ship in 2002, Gothika in 2003 and House
of Wax in 2005. Dark Castle more recently released Ritchie’s critically acclaimed
actioner RocknRolla, with an ensemble cast led by Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson,
Thandie Newton and Mark Strong; the horror thriller Orphan, which starred Vera
Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard; and Jaume Collet-Serra’s Unknown, which starred Liam
Neeson, January Jones and Diane Kruger.
Silver is also a successful television producer. He served as executive producer
on the CBS series Moonlight, which won the People’s Choice Award for Favorite New
TV Drama in its debut year. He was previously an executive producer on the critically
acclaimed television series Veronica Mars, which starred Kristen Bell, and will serve as
executive producer on the upcoming feature film adaptation. Silver executive produced,
with Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill and Robert Zemeckis, seven seasons of
the award-winning HBO series Tales From the Crypt, as well as two Tales from the Crypt
films.
Silver began his career as an associate producer on The Warriors, and then
produced 48 Hrs., Streets of Fire and Brewster’s Millions.
Prior to his producing career, Silver and a group of his friends developed a game
called Ultimate Frisbee while attending Columbia High School in Maplewood, New
Jersey. The fast-moving team sport has since become a global phenomenon with
tournaments in 50 countries.
ANDREW RONA (Produced by) is a producer on Pierre Morel’s international
action-thriller The Gunman, starring Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba, which is
currently in postproduction. He is currently in postproduction on the micro-budget
horror-thriller Home Invasion. Rona also serves as executive producer on the soon-to-bereleased remake of The Loft, directed by Erik Van Looy, and is in pre-production on
Cash Truck, to be directed by Albert Hughes.
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Rona served as president of Silver Pictures from 2006 until the end of 2013,
where he produced several films for the company, including the comedy hit Project X,
with Todd Phillips, and Unknown, which starred Liam Neeson. During his tenure, Silver
Pictures released the worldwide hit Sherlock Holmes, its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A
Game of Shadows, and The Hughes Brothers’ The Book of Eli, which starred Denzel
Washington.
Rona is currently developing Universal Pictures’ remake of Weird Science; The
Lionhunters, by Will Beall, at Warner Bros.; the remake of Escape From New York; Ben
10, based on the Cartoon Network series; Harper, based on the Ross Macdonald novel;
and Envoy, an international action-thriller.
Prior, Rona was co-president of Rogue Pictures (then a division of Universal
Pictures) from 2005 to 2009, where he was responsible for overseeing a slate of pictures,
including The Strangers and the animated hit Coraline.
From 2000 to 2004, Rona served as co-president of Dimension Films. He began
his career at Dimension’s parent company, Miramax Films, in 1993 as an assistant to
Harvey Weinstein. He quickly moved up the ladder, eventually becoming a production
executive and helped to form the Dimension Films banner. During his tenure, the
company produced a number of hits, including the hugely successful Scream, Scary
Movie and Spy Kids franchises; Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City; and the comedy Bad Santa.
In 2004, Rona was featured on Bravo’s Project Greenlight.
Rona is a member of the executive branch of AMPAS and was born and raised in
New York.
ALEX HEINEMAN (Produced by) grew up on Long Island, New York, and
graduated from Marist College in 2000.
Heineman officially began his career at Dimension Films’ New York office as an
assistant in 2001, working for the president of production, Andrew Rona. He became a
creative executive at Dimension Films in 2004, learning the process of film development
and production on films such as Sin City and the Spy Kids and Scary Movie franchises. In
2005, Heineman became vice president of production at Rogue Pictures, overseeing
several films, including The Strangers and the remake of the Wes Craven classic The
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Last House on the Left. Heineman worked with several filmmakers while at Rogue,
fostering relationships with Bryan Bertino, Neil Marshall and Dennis Iliadis, among
others. At the studio, Heineman was instrumental in setting up the animated hit Coraline,
which was released under the Focus Features banner.
In January 2009, Heineman moved to the Warner Bros. Studios lot as senior vice
president of production for Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures. During his time with Silver at
Warner Bros., Heineman developed and executive produced the Todd Phillips comedy
Project X. He also hatched the original idea for the movie, which grossed more than
$100 million worldwide since its release in 2012. He set up several other projects at
Warner Bros., including Line of Sight, a script he developed from an original idea with
screenwriter F. Scott Frazier. Mike “Mouse” McCoy is attached to direct.
Additionally, Heineman developed an adaptation of The Galton Case, an elevated
period detective story from the highly acclaimed Lew Archer series by Ross Macdonald,
in partnership with Random House Films. Peter Landesman wrote the script. Heineman
is currently producing the micro-budget horror film Home Invasion, with first-time
director Sean Carter and Voltage Pictures financing. Bella Thorne is set to star.
Next up, Heineman is working on a remake of Weird Science at Universal
Pictures, with a script from Michael Bacall, a remake of Escape From New York and
Sanctuary, a supernatural thriller project for Paramount Pictures. He is also serving as
executive producer on the live-action feature-film adaptation of Ben 10, Cartoon
Network’s popular sci-fi series, with Non-Stop’s Ryan Engle penning the script.
STEVE RICHARDS (Executive Producer) is co-president of Silver Pictures. A
film-industry veteran, Richards is in his 16th year working with producer Joel Silver.
Richards was instrumental in launching the Dark Castle Entertainment brand and forging
the financial partnership with CIT Group Inc. and JP Morgan, producing a slate of films
that includes Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla and Jaume Collet-Serra’s Orphan. Richards
serves as executive producer on all of the films under the Dark Castle banner, including
the supernatural thriller The Apparition. He was also an executive producer on The Book
of Eli, Ninja Assassin, Whiteout, Orphan, The Reaping, Thir13en Ghosts, Ghost Ship,
Gothika and House of Wax. During the formation of Dark Castle in 1999, Richards
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organized the foreign financing and distribution of the shingle’s first film, the remake of
William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill.
Richards joined Silver Pictures in 1995. His additional film credits with the
company include Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Matrix Reloaded, The Animatrix and two
installments of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game film adaptations.
Richards earned an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and an
undergraduate degree from Temple University. He began his career in film and
distribution at the International Movie Group. Wanting to transition to the production
side of the film business, he moved to Scott Free Productions, Ridley and Tony Scott’s
company, where he worked on White Squall, among other projects.
As executive vice president at Studiocanal, RON HALPERN (Executive
Producer) oversees all international productions and acquisitions for Europe’s largest film
company, with distribution in the U.K., France, Germany and Australia.
Halpern’s current productions include the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis;
Susanne Bier’s Serena, starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence; The Gunman,
produced by Joel Silver, directed by Pierre Morel and starring Sean Penn, Javier Bardem
and Idris Elba; The Two Faces of January, written and directed by Hossein Amini and
starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac; and Paul King’s Paddington,
produced by David Heyman, and starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville and Colin
Firth. Previous productions include BAFTA-winning and Academy Award®-nominated
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Halpern also oversees the theatrical adaptations and productions of Studiocanal,
which have included Mel Brooks’ The Producers, The Graduate and The Ladykillers.
Before joining Studiocanal in 1996, Halpern worked for CBS Sports at three
Olympic Games.
Halpern holds a BA and an MBA from Columbia University.
As chairman and CEO, OLIVIER COURSON (Executive Producer) developed
Studiocanal in six years. Today, the European studio is a leader of feature film
production, acquisition and distribution, distributing directly on all media, across three
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main countries in Europe—France, the United Kingdom and Germany—as well as
Australia and New Zealand.
Courson strongly advanced Studiocanal’s productions, with such films as Tomas
Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was adapted from John le Carré’s novel,
produced by Working Title and which starred Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy;
the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, with Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Carey
Mulligan and John Goodman, produced by Scott Rudin; Working Title’s The Two Faces
of January, based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, directed by Hossein Amini and starring
Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac; Paddington, produced by Harry
Potter’s David Heyman, based on the famous and hugely popular bear in the duffle coat,
loved by families worldwide, and starring Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Hugh
Bonneville; and Shaun the Sheep, in partnership with Aardman Animations, bringing one
of their most popular animated characters to the big screen.
In 2012, Courson made a strategic move for Studiocanal’s television business by
taking a majority stake in Tandem Communications (World Without End, The Pillars of
the Earth, Crossing Lines). In November 2013, he expanded Studiocanal’s ambitions in
television, investing in U.K.’s RED Production Company, one of the leading independent
companies, with the objective of becoming a European leader in content.
HERBERT W. GAINS (Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager) most
recently served as executive producer on Jon M. Chu’s GI Joe: Retaliation, which starred
Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum, for Paramount Pictures, and on
Martin Campbell’s film adaptation of DC Comics’ Green Lantern, which starred Ryan
Reynolds and Blake Lively, for Warner Bros. Pictures. Gains’ prior executive producer
credentials include Zack Snyder’s Watchmen and Neil Jordan’s The Brave One, which
starred Jodie Foster.
Gains previously produced the horror thriller The Reaping, which starred Hilary
Swank, and Michael Tollin’s poignant sports-drama Radio, which starred Cuba Gooding,
Jr. and Ed Harris.
Gains’ additional executive producer credits include House of Wax, which starred
Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray; the 2004 romantic comedy Little Black Book,
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which starred Brittany Murphy; Cradle 2 the Grave, which starred Jet Li and DMX; Jake
Kasdan’s comedy Orange County; Hardball, which starred Keanu Reeves and Diane
Lane; and Summer Catch, which starred Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jessica Biel.
Gains counts Varsity Blues, with James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight and Amy
Smart; Ready to Rumble; and Rob Cohen’s Daylight, which starred Sylvester Stallone,
among his co-producing credits.
A production manager for such films as The Negotiator and Mousehunt, Gains
worked as an assistant director on a variety of films, including Natural Born Killers,
Heaven & Earth, Point Break, Pacific Heights, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Dirty
Dancing, Manhunter and The Fan.
Gains is currently executive producing Warner Bros. Pictures’ star-studded drama
The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera
Farmiga, Melissa Leo and Vincent D’Onofrio.
After Quentin Tarantino saw JEFF WADLOW’s (Executive Producer) latest
writing and directing effort, Kick-Ass 2, he named it one of 2013’s best films, stating it
demonstrated a “real auteur approach.” A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Peter
Stark Producing Program at USC, Wadlow directed tHE tOWeR oF BabBLe, a short film
narrated by Kevin Spacey. The film won dozens of awards before taking the top prize at
the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival. Wadlow used the $1 million grant to make his
first feature, Cry_Wolf, which was released theatrically by Rogue Pictures and made
more than 15 times its budget in theaters. His next film as a director, the actiondrama Never Back Down, which starred two-time Academy Award® nominee Djimon
Hounsou, beat out big-budget competition to win Best Fight at the 2008 MTV Movie
Awards.
In television, Wadlow’s first pitch, which eventually went to pilot, sold in a
competitive situation to CBS and Warner Bros. Television, with Joel Silver producing.
Wadlow followed that up with his character-based procedural Hail Mary, a made-fortelevision movie on CBS which starred Minnie Driver. This past spring, he collaborated
with Carlton Cuse (Lost) to launch the A&E series Bates Motel.
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In addition to his film and television work, Wadlow has directed award-winning
short subjects, featuring actors as acclaimed as Meryl Streep and Danny DeVito.
Each fall, Wadlow returns to his hometown of Charlottesville to lead The
Adrenaline Film Project, a program he founded nine years ago to help filmmakers of all
ages to write, shoot and screen a short film at the Virginia Film Festival, all in just 72
hours.
Wadlow is currently writing the X-Men feature film spin-off, X-Force, with an
eye to direct.
FLAVIO LABIANO (Director of Photography) is a prolific cinematographer
who marks his third feature-film collaboration with Jaume Collet-Serra, having
previously worked with the director on Goal II: Living the Dream and Unknown. The
two developed a close relationship over many years, working together on cutting-edge
commercial projects in their native Spain.
Labiano has lensed numerous commercial and feature-film projects, including
several with another long-standing collaborator, the provocative Spanish director Álex de
la Iglesia. Together, they filmed Muertos de Risa (Dying of Laughter), El Dia de la
Bestia (The Day of the Beast), for which Labiano was nominated for a Goya Award,
Perdita Durango and 800 Balas (800 Bullets). He also served as director of photography
on the film Los Cronocrímenes (Timecrimes), directed by Nacho Vigalondo.
In the U.S., Labiano shot the cult classic Bones, a comedy-horror film which
starred Snoop Dogg, as well as the made-for-television movie Harlan County War, which
starred Holly Hunter. He served as the second unit director of photography on Steven
Spielberg’s box-office hit Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Most recently, Labiano served as director of photography on Pierre Morel’s The
Gunman, starring Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba.
ALEXANDER HAMMOND (Production Designer) most recently designed
Universal Pictures’ R.I.P.D., which starred Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon
and Mary-Louise Parker for director Robert Schwentke. Hammond is currently working
with Schwentke on The Finest Hours, based on the small boat rescue of 32 stranded crew
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members on the crippled tanker Pendleton in 1952. He has previously collaborated with
Schwentke on the films Red and Flightplan and the first season of FOX’s Lie to Me.
Hammond has frequently collaborated with writer/director Richard Kelly, most recently
designing The Box, which marked their third film together. He previously designed cultfavorite Donnie Darko, the futuristic drama Southland Tales, the thriller Man on a Ledge,
David Ayer’s crime drama Street Kings, Alan Poul’s 2010 romantic comedy The BackUp Plan, Rod Lurie’s The Contender, Forest Whitaker’s First Daughter and the liveaction animated feature Garfield.
On the small screen, Hammond served as production designer on Len Wiseman’s
Sleepy Hollow, for K/O Paper Products, and Lurie’s first television pilot, Capital City.
Hammond’s other television credits include pilots for the HBO series 12 Miles of Bad
Road and Wedding Chapel.
Before becoming a production designer, Hammond worked as an art director on
several feature films including Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, Men in Black II, K-Pax,
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Lost & Found and Tinseltown.
In addition to his film career, Hammond has worked as a theater set and costume
designer. He most recently designed To Kill a Mockingbird, for the Intiman Theatre in
Seattle. Hammond has designed scenery and costumes for stage directors Bartlett Sher,
JoAnne Akalaitis, James Bundy, Tazewell Thompson and Fracaswell Hyman, among
others. His designs have been seen at The Juilliard School, Yale Repertory Theatre,
Indiana Repertory Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Williamstown Theatre
Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Great Lakes Theater Festival and off-Broadway
productions.
Hammond was awarded the Princess Grace Foundation-USA inaugural Fabergé
Award for Scenic Design in 1995 and, in 2008, was awarded their highest honor, the
Statue Award, for continuing excellence in the arts. He is a summa cum laude, Phi Beta
Kappa graduate of Amherst College. He received his MFA at the Yale University School
of Drama, where he was the Donald M. Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design winner.
JIM MAY, ACE (Edited by) recently served as an editor on James DeMonaco’s
The Purge and as an editing consultant on Adam Wingard’s You’re Next. May co-edited
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Jon Chu’s blockbuster G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Prior to that, May served in editing
positions on Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens and Joe Carnahan’s The A-Team. May has
teamed up with Stephen Sommers on four films, serving as an editor on G.I. Joe: The
Rise of Cobra and Van Helsing, and as a visual effects editor on The Mummy and Deep
Rising. He has also worked with producer Jerry Bruckheimer on three projects: as coeditor on Kangaroo Jack, as an additional editor on the Oscar®-nominated epic Pearl
Harbor and as visual effects editor on Armageddon, which received an Oscar®
nomination for Best Visual Effects.
May has edited a variety of films in different genres, including the thriller
Horsemen; Andrew Adamson’s Oscar®-winning blockbuster The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; the horror films The Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
The Beginning and The Hitcher; and the futuristic animated film Battle for Terra (as
additional editor).
May’s additional feature-film credits include Frank Oz’s fantasy film The Indian
in the Cupboard, Steven Spielberg’s Oscar®-winning Jurassic Park, James Cameron’s
Oscar®-winning Terminator 2: Judgment Day and John McTiernan’s Die Hard and The
Hunt for Red October. May also edited the short film The Same, which won the Best
Editing Prize at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, and the independent feature
Cookers, which collected Best Film and Best Editing honors at the 2001 Milan
International Film Festival.
A native of Denver, Colorado, May attended film school at Loyola Marymount
University in Los Angeles. Following graduation, he entered the specialized world of
visual effects editing, working at such renowned visual effects companies as Industrial
Light & Magic, Boss Film Studios and Sony Pictures Imageworks.
CATHERINE MARIE THOMAS (Costume Designer) began working in film in
1994. Thomas’ influential designs have defined some of the most memorable film
characters of the past two decades. Among her most notable achievements have been the
cutting-edge bright yellow fight suit designed for Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino’s
Kill Bill, the folksy attire donned by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin in Robert Altman’s A
Prairie Home Companion and her Costume Design Guild Award-winning and Primetime
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Emmy Award-nominated designs worn by Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange in
Michael Sucsy’s Grey Gardens, for HBO.
Thomas has designed more than 24 feature films, including Anne Fletcher’s hit
comedies, 27 Dresses and The Proposal, and Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It. Her
filmography also includes Neil Jordan’s The Brave One, Richard Shepard’s The Matador,
Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State and Chelsea Walls and four collaborations with
writer/director Edward Burns: Purple Violets, The Groomsmen, Ash Wednesday and
Sidewalks of New York.
In October 2012, Thomas’ work was featured in a 100-year retrospective of
Hollywood costume designers at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
In addition to the recognition of her work in Grey Gardens, Thomas earned
Costume Designers Guild Award nominations for Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2 and was
profiled in Deborah Nadoolman Landis’ “Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume
Design” (Harper Collins, 2007). She received a career achievement award from New
York Women in Film & Television and Variety, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from
the Chicago Academy for the Arts. Her media appearances have included television’s
The Talk, Access Hollywood, NPR’s Eight Forty-Eight, Clothes on Film and TBS’
Dinner and a Movie, and the publications Interview, Vogue (U.S., U.K., Japan), W,
Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Wear Daily, The New York Times, USA Today, Variety and
The Hollywood Reporter.
A Brooklyn resident and Chicago native, Thomas studied at the Chicago
Academy for the Arts and the Kansas City Art Institute before starting her career as a
designer in New York City in the costume shop at The Juilliard School.
JOHN OTTMAN (Music by) is the right-hand man—as both composer and
editor—for filmmaker Bryan Singer. Ottman has scored such iconic modern films as The
Usual Suspects, X2, Superman Returns and Valkyrie. He has proven himself equal to the
challenge of horror (Gothika, Orphan), comedy (The Cable Guy, Bubble Boy) action
(Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), thriller (Unknown, The Resident), superhero (Fantastic Four,
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and animation (Astro Boy) films. He was
nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his score to the ABC series Fantasy Island.
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Ottman recently finished Singer’s large-scale fantasy film, Jack the Giant Slayer, which
he both edited and scored. Currently, Ottman is working on Singer’s X-Men: Days of
Future Past.
Ottman’s childhood in San Jose, California, was marked by a love for both music
and film. After graduating from the University of Southern California School of
Cinematic Arts, Ottman connected with Singer and forged a fateful collaboration that saw
Ottman enter the field of film scoring—resulting in the crime-thriller classic The Usual
Suspects. Of Ottman, Singer says: “John astounds me with his seemingly endless ability
to do anything. Not only does he constantly surprise me with his genius as a film editor,
but he has invariably gone on to flabbergast all of us with his evocative and inspiring
music.”
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