Production Notes
Runtime: 110 minutes
IMMORTALS
SYNOPSIS
Visionary director Tarsem Singh and producers Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton
(300), and Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter) unleash an epic tale of treachery, vengeance and
destiny in Immortals, a stylish and spectacular 3-D action adventure. As a power-mad king razes
ancient Greece and threatens to destroy mankind, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a
thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful.
The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous army are
rampaging across Greece, demolishing everything in their wake with ruthless efficiency. Village
after village falls to Hyperion’s legions and each victory takes him one step closer to his goal:
unleashing the power of the sleeping Titans to vanquish both the Gods of Olympus and all of
humankind.
It seems nothing will stop the evil king’s mission to become the undisputed master of the
world, until a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother
in one of Hyperion’s raids. When Theseus meets the Sibylline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her
disturbing visions of the young man’s future convince her that he is the key to stopping the
destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny
in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.
Immortals stars Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner Mickey Rourke
(The Wrestler, Iron Man II), Academy Award nominee John Hurt (The Elephant Man, Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Kellan Lutz (the Twilight saga), Henry Cavill (“The Tudors”),
Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans), Isabel Lucas
(Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and Stephen Dorff (Somewhere).
Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) directs from a script by Charley Parlapanides and Vlas
Parlapanides. It is produced by Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton (300) and Ryan Kavanaugh
(The Fighter). Director of photography is Brendan Galvin (Flight of the Phoenix). Production
designer is Tom Foden (The Cell). Costume designer is Academy Award-winner Eiko Ishioka
(The Fall). Editors are Wyatt Jones (Tron: Legacy) and Stuart Levy (Wall Street: Money Never
Sleeps). Executive producers are Craig J. Flores (300), Tucker Tooley (Limitless), Tommy Turtle
(The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Jeff G. Waxman (The Fighter).
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
When producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton first met with Charley and Vlas
Parlapanides, the Greek-American brothers who wrote the script that would become Immortals,
they knew immediately they had found a compelling and original property. “They gave a great
pitch, very precise and detailed,” says Nunnari. “We really liked it, but we didn’t know if we
were ready to jump on another historical epic.”
Their reservation was that they had just wrapped the groundbreaking period action
blockbuster 300. “Obviously, 300 was a landmark in both our careers,” adds Canton. “It was
unprecedented for the industry. It showed you can make a historical movie in a very modern way
with themes that are connected to contemporary feelings and emotions and morality. But for our
next project we had planned to stay away from material that was similar in nature. However,
Gianni is a master at recognizing great material, and we are both students of history, as well as
mythology and literature. We decided Immortals should be the second part of our partnership in
making a group of historical, mythological movies.”
Canton and Nunnari were drawn to what they call the film’s “Homer meets Joseph
Campbell” sensibility. “The message is to find your responsibility in life,” says Nunnari. “Once
you do, you realize it’s a privilege. You can live a larger life that goes beyond just yourself.”
The tale of Theseus, a youth born into poverty who rises to hold the fate of civilization in
his hands, Immortals began as a short story written by Charley Parlapanides. Eventually the
manuscript evolved into a screenplay on which he collaborated with his brother, Vlas. Both
brothers had previously worked in front of and behind the camera, but Immortals was the first
time they had written a big-budget feature film. Using traditional Greek mythology as a jumpingoff point, they fashioned a story that begins when the gods of Olympus conquer their
predecessors, the Titans, and imprison their surviving enemies in a mountain.
“In our script, everyone’s forgotten, until one man, Hyperion, finds a dead Titan,” says
Charley. “He decides that he will free the Titans and conquer the world. We pictured Hyperion as
the Charlie Manson of ancient Greece. He starts a murderous cult and convinces people to believe
in his plan. Not only is mankind in jeopardy, but the gods are as well.”
The Parlapanides brothers created an original narrative that remains true to the spirit of
Greek mythology. “We use familiar archetypes, but they’re spun on their heads,” says Charley.
“At the heart of the story is a man who starts off as a nonbeliever and then goes on a journey that
transforms him into a hero and a martyr.”
Their protagonist, Theseus, was inspired by one of ancient Greece’s most prolific heroes.
In this telling of the story, Theseus has been recast as a poverty-stricken youth whose mother was
slaughtered in one of King Hyperion’s raids. With the only person he cared about gone, the young
man is bent on avenging her death.
“Theseus has been dealt a terrible hand in life,” says Vlas. “He was born a bastard and
then is thrown into an extraordinary circumstance. How he deals with that defines him. And at
first he’s very angry, but there comes a point when he realizes the struggle is about more than just
him.”
Theseus and King Hyperion are in many ways two sides of the same coin, says Vlas.
“Parallels can be drawn between Theseus and Hyperion. They’ve both been persecuted and
subjugated. But one embraces the dark side, while the other takes a different route.”
Or as Canton puts it, “Hyperion has drunk from the well of evil. But he has his own
ethics. It’s a chess game between good and evil. That’s what all our movies really are. We don’t
always want to have to come to the conclusion that good wins, because we know the world is not
like that. We like the journey of characters through a time that impacts the future.”
The producers knew they had the basis for something special, and a great deal would rest
on finding a director who could fulfill its unique promise. “Based on our experience, we felt the
most important component would be finding a brilliant filmmaker,” says Canton. “Gianni and I
both knew Tarsem Singh and wanted to work with him. He is an extraordinary talent.”
“The best case scenario for a producer is when your director understands the role that
everyone plays,” adds Nunnari. “But if you're not a team player, you shouldn't be in this business
at all. Tarsem has a real vision of what he wants to achieve, and he is also very collaborative.”
Producer Ryan Kavanaugh, the CEO of Relativity Media, calls Singh, whose previous
work includes two visually arresting films, The Cell and The Fall, a visionary. “He’s brilliant, not
just as a director, but as an artistic mind. This is a huge commercial epic, but he never treated it
like that was all it was. He considered every frame of every scene and knew before we started
shooting the color of sandals every person had on and what their sword would look like.”
Singh’s vision for the film went far beyond simply making a Hollywood blockbuster
version of a Greek myth. He says the project served as a “Trojan horse,” a vehicle to realize his
personal vision on a grand scale. “I love reading Greek myths,” says Singh. “But I was not
interested in making a film based on the originals. I was intrigued by the relationship between
gods and humans. So I thought, we could take some traditional tales and, like in Renaissance
painting, use the mythology as the basis, but add things that are relevant to our time.”
Singh’s creative drive and personal insights into the script began to transform the story,
but the filmmakers never lost sight of the fact that Immortals is also an adrenaline-fueled action
adventure, and in that spirit they have packed it with daredevil stunts, state-of-the-art effects, and
the added excitement that only 3-D can deliver. “Tarsem was always looking for something that
hasn’t been seen before,” says Nunnari. “I was often surprised myself. He is exploring a new way
to bring images to the screen in a fantastic ride. It’s young, it’s fresh, it’s original. And there’s a
lot of testosterone in this movie.”
“It’s in your face,” says Canton. “We’re not playing it safe. History is not safe.
Mythology is not safe. And we’re really not interested in safe.”
CASTING IMMORTALS: HEROES AND MONSTERS
The story of Immortals is driven by three larger-than-life figures: King Hyperion, a halfmad warrior bent on conquering the world; Theseus, a young adventurer set on destroying
Hyperion to avenge his mother’s death; and Zeus, the ruler of Mount Olympus and ultimate
authority among the gods of ancient Greece. Their conflict sets off an epic battle between
humans, gods and demi-gods that could annihilate humankind. In casting the leads, Nunnari says,
“We needed amazing actors, but they also needed to understand that the movie is the star here.”
As they began the process of finding the perfect ensemble, producers and director agreed
that, to play Theseus, they wanted an actor whose fame wouldn’t overshadow the character.
Henry Cavill had begun to gain recognition for his starring role as Charles Brandon on the
Showtime Network series “The Tudors,” but had not yet been cast in the title role of the Zack
Snyder-directed Superman: Man of Steel.
“The script was still in development when we met with Henry,” recalls Singh, “so we
took one page and had him read it one way. Then I gave him some adjustments. He did three
reads altogether, each in a completely different direction. He was so versatile. I knew whatever
the script evolved into, Henry would be able to go there.”
Both the mythological setting and the prospect of working with Singh captivated Cavill.
“I’ve always been into the mythology of the ancient world,” he says. “When I first read the script,
it was very much in its infancy, but Tarsem’s vision for the movie and his passion were second to
none.”
The character’s growth through his ordeal made Theseus a satisfying challenge for the
actor. “He has been ostracized by society and he, in turn, rejects society,” says Cavill. “The only
person he has any kind of love for is his mother. But he’s also intelligent. He asks questions, as
opposed to just following blindly. A mysterious old man takes him under his wing and teaches
him aspects of philosophy, as well as the martial arts. By the time he’s an adult, he has become a
very well-trained fighter.”
Cavill says his previous knowledge of the myths and legends that inspired the film played
only a small part in creating his character. “You can draw some parallels to the popular
mythology of Theseus,” he says. “But this certainly is not the traditional story. This is a battle of
men versus men. There are gods and there are Titans, but they do not take a direct hand in man’s
affairs.”
So rather than conducting extensive historical research, Cavill steeped himself in the
world Singh created for the movie. “Tarsem showed me where his inspiration was coming from
and where his visuals were going to lie,” the actor continues. “He gave me important character
points for Theseus. It was only a few days before shooting that we actually got a finalized script,
but Tarsem always had it all in his head. To research anything else would have been a risky
game.”
The director’s passion for the project was infectious, says Cavill. “You’d do anything for
him, because he’s doing it, too. And he’s throwing 10 times more energy into the project than
anyone else on set. His ability to present his vision of each moment is incredible.”
The filmmaker made an exception to his no-movie-stars rule by casting Mickey Rourke
as the monstrous King Hyperion. His reputation as a mercurial Hollywood icon only adds another
dimension to the villain’s malevolent luster. The role marks another step along the impressive
comeback trail blazed by Rourke since his Oscar®-nominated turn in The Wrestler. “In real life,
Mickey Rourke is self-effacing and very honest,” says Canton. “He’s been able to come back
because of his talent. Now he’s getting the respect and the opportunities that he’s long deserved.
The kind of questions he asks, only the really great ones ask. They’re not really about him.
They’re about what he can bring to the movie. But when Mickey comes on the set, you better
know how to act, because he will mow you down if you’re not at the top of your game.”
Rourke brought a well-earned reputation for hard living and movie star antics to the set,
which made Singh even more convinced he was the right actor for the role. “You won’t find a
more original bad boy than Mickey Rourke,” says Singh. “He’s the real deal and I let him go with
it. I had very definite direction for the other actors, but Mickey was allowed to bring whatever he
wanted. He took the simplest of lines and added to them.”
Theseus has several companions on his journey, including Phaedra, a priestess and seer
(played by Freida Pinto), an unsavory character named Stavros (Stephen Dorff), and a monk who
protects Phaedra. “A thief, a slave, a monk, a priestess,” says Singh. “They don’t seem to belong
together. But that’s the classic quest, isn’t it?”
Canton knew they’d found their Phaedra in Pinto, a young English actress of Indian
descent who had just made her film debut in the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog
Millionaire. “It was time for her to step up and be a real movie star,” he says. “She’s phenomenal
looking. She’s very dedicated and a real professional. She felt like the most natural part of the
movie for us. There was no question that we wanted Freida Pinto.”
Nunnari agrees: “There are certain actors or actresses that grow within the time of the
shooting and that was Freida,” says the producer.
Pinto’s striking beauty and otherworldly air won Singh’s immediate approval. “Phaedra
needed to be exotic compared to most of the people in her world,” says Singh. “People might
expect that because it’s a Greek film, she would be Greek, but that’s not what I envisioned. When
I met Freida I just said, she’s it.”
Pinto had been a fan of Singh’s since seeing his 2006 fantasy, The Fall. “I was impressed
by the way it appealed to all the senses,” she says. “I thought this film had the potential to do the
same. When I first met him, I did not know what to expect. He explained the reason behind doing
this film, what he expected the film to look like, and what was expected of me and the other
actors. It all sounded larger-than-life and fantastical. I really wanted to be part of it.”
Phaedra has lived all of her life in the company of her fellow priestesses and is reputed to
have an especially strong gift for clairvoyance. But her visions, while accurate, are ambiguous.
“It’s a very disturbing experience for her, because she doesn’t know exactly what will happen,”
explains Pinto. “She first sees Theseus in a vision, but she doesn’t know who this person is. He is
holding the emperor’s belt, which means he could be the savior. But she doesn’t completely trust
him, because she doesn’t know what the vision really means. It’s only as things progress that she
begins to believe he is going to save the people.”
For her first big studio film Pinto says she feels lucky to have had Singh to guide her.
“Tarsem is one of the most encouraging directors you will ever meet,” she says. “Working on a
big-budget project like this, time is literally money, but he was always patient and open to
suggestions. When you work on a film like this, the emotions that you go through are so
explosive. I’m just so excited, and that’s exactly what I want the audience to feel.”
Stephen Dorff, who impressed audiences and critics alike as a Hollywood playboy in
Sofia Coppola’s 2010 film Somewhere, plays Stavros, Theseus’ eventual ally and friend. “He’s an
out-of-the-box character who says what he wants to say and does what he wants to do,” says
Dorff. “I liked Stavros’ sense of humor. I liked his mystery. We don’t really know who he is, and
whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy. He and Theseus butt heads for a while. But at a certain
point, Theseus realizes Stavros has got his back—and he can use the help.”
Singh immediately knew that Dorff was perfect for the role. “Stavros is the kind of guy
who thinks he’s special, but you can’t figure out why,” says Singh. “I saw something in Stephen
that was right for this. He’s the right kind of cocky for the role.”
Singh’s boundless energy, commitment and efficiency made him the ideal director for
Immortals, says Dorff. “The only way to get this kind of film made is with a captain like him. He
never stops. You can see him cutting in his head on the fly. There’s no waste. When you do a film
like this you want the audience to feel like they got their money’s worth. I think this delivers what
it promises.”
CASTING IMMORTALS: GODS AND GODDESSES
Singh had an original take on casting the gods of Mount Olympus, who watch with
interest the action taking place on earth. “I wanted all the gods to be young,” says the director.
“Wisdom is implied with age, so Renaissance painters gave the gods the features of older people,
but then painted a perfect body beneath that. In a film, you can’t do that unless you make all the
characters CGI. But my idea was that, if you are a god, there’s no reason to look old. If I were up
on Mount Olympus and I could look any age I wanted, I wouldn’t want to have that white beard.”
A posse of beautiful up-and-comers, including Luke Evans, recently seen starring
opposite John Cusack in The Raven, Kellan Lutz of the Twilight series and Isabel Lucas of
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, play Singh’s gods and goddesses. As Zeus (Evans), the
head of the gods, attempts to keep his fellow Olympians from interfering in the problems of
humankind, his daughter Athena (Lucas), goddess of wisdom and war, is strategizing ways to
help find peaceful resolutions for the humans, and his brother Poseidon (Lutz) is mischievously
aiding the humans by devious means.
Zeus’ role as king of the gods is to observe, not act, notes Evans. “Whatever nature’s
course is, that’s what has to happen. He sticks to it as much as he can and tries to keep the other
gods in order, but they don’t listen.”
The young actor was excited to be working with both Cavill and Singh. “I have a lot of
respect for Henry,” Evans says. “I’ve known his work for a while and we’ve known each other
for a while as well, it’s always nice to work with somebody you’ve met outside of a job. And I
defy anybody to watch Tarsem’s work and not be astounded by the visuals. He has an ability to
tell a story I’ve never seen before in a director. Working with him was a very enticing prospect.”
Kellan Lutz grew up reading Greek mythology and had developed a particular fondness
for the avuncular Poseidon. “I’m a Pisces and I love swimming,” he explains. “My parents used
to call me a fish. Poseidon is like the favorite uncle. He’s the brother of Zeus and uncle to all the
younger gods. He and Zeus have a brotherly rivalry. Zeus can tell him not to do something, but as
you see in the movie, he finds ways around it.”
Lutz particularly likes the way the script takes an idea from Greek mythology and gives it
a fresh slant. “It’s original, dark and edgy,” he says. “The movie has amazing visuals, great fight
techniques, and great fight scenes. And it’s a new twist on the stories I love.”
As played by Isabel Lucas, Athena tries to sidestep her father’s prohibition against
helping Theseus and his comrades. “In all the stories, Zeus and Athena are always very close.
She’s always her father’s daughter and the favorite of his children, so she thinks she can get away
with it.”
Lucas describes Singh as generous and extremely patient. “With all he was dealing with
on set, just before he called action, he would always say, ‘In your own time.’”
The ensemble Singh and the producers assembled helped make the sometimes arduous
shoot a pleasure for actor Henry Cavill. “It was a stunning group of people to work with,” he says
of his Immortals co-stars. “It was a grueling shoot and I enjoyed every second of the exhaustion,
all because of who I got to work with.”
THE FINGER OF GOD
Director Tarsem Singh arrived for his first meeting with the producers of Immortals
armed with a portfolio packed with reproductions of museum-quality paintings to illustrate his
unusual vision for the film. Relativity Media’s Tucker Tooley, an executive producer of
Immortals, recalls that this first meeting wasn’t quite what he expected. “He brought in this big
canvas and it looked like something you’d see in a museum,” says Tooley. “At first blush, the
painting looked very different from how we had imagined the movie, but when Tarsem started to
explain, it really made a lot of sense to us.”
He proposed basing Immortals’ visual profile on the work of Caravaggio, the bad-boy
painter of the Italian Baroque period. A rule breaker who pioneered the use of live models for
religious and mythological subjects, Caravaggio employed a saturated color palette, dramatic
lighting, and a feeling of dynamic movement and overt emotion in his paintings. His style broke
from the more static work of the Renaissance and earned him both praise and criticism in his
lifetime. Singh’s ambitious concept impressed the producers as perfect for the subject matter.
The director worked closely with both the production designers and crew to recreate the
luminosity typical of Caravaggio’s work for the overall look of the film. “We call it ‘finger-ofGod lighting,’” says Singh. “It’s very focused and seems to come from a far-away source.”
Supervising art director Michael Manson says Singh’s vision and creative courage make
Immortals a new and different kind of epic. “We in the art department have a long history with
Tarsem, which we cherish,” he says. “I’ve worked with him for close to 15 years, so
communication comes fairly easy. It always starts with Tarsem’s interpretation of the script. We
take that initial information to research libraries, the Internet and museums. We’ll pull from our
collective files for wardrobe, makeup, prosthetics and special effects. Everybody brings
something to the table.”
Rather than setting their story in an actual historical epoch, Singh and his designers
created an original world for Immortals. “It’s not the Minoan Age or the Bronze Age,” says
Charley Parlapanides. “This is the Tarsem Age. It uses the Olympian gods and the Titans, but it
has a unique point of view. It’s not a world you will necessarily recognize. For the most part, it is
straight out of Tarsem’s mind. He’s made something new and breathtaking, and yet dark and
brutal at the same time.”
Costume designer Eiko Ishioka, who earned an Oscar for the spectacular costumes in
Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, is well known for her designs for film, theater, television and
commercials. Ishioka is also a respected visual artist whose work is in the permanent collection of
the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Her iconoclastic worldview falls into the same
imaginative territory as Singh’s.
“As far costumes were concerned, we decided early on not to go ‘Classic Greek,’” says
Singh. “It would have been counterproductive to hire somebody like Eiko and then tie her hands.
There’s no point in telling her, ‘Think outside the box.’ She has no idea what a box is. She comes
from a parallel universe.
“At the same time,” the director adds, “this is an action film. I had to make sure that she
didn’t make costumes that looked great but couldn’t be moved in.”
The Japanese costume designer, who studied design and art before she started working in
film, says she approached the costume design for Immortals as a creative collaboration set in a
fantasy world. But she realized that her flights of fancy needed to be based in physical reality and
enjoyed collaborating with the actors to make her ideas work in a practical sense. “During the
fitting process, my ideas are pretty crazy,” she says. “To make sure the costumes are functional, I
ask the actors for help. I feel the actor and designer should collaborate.”
Freida Pinto found the process exhilarating and ultimately essential to the creation of her
character. “Eiko designed these beautiful costumes for everybody,” says Pinto. “But it took some
effort to make them your second skin. You had to maintain a certain posture in order to make
them look that beautiful at all times, but they were essential to taking the film into that largerthan-life realm. I wear this amazing red corset with a sheer red skirt and a black veil. When I put
it on, I felt it against my skin and I was very confident about it. There was nothing vulgar about it.
It was revealing in the right spots and just the way it needed to be. Her idea of female sexuality
and sensuality is so beautiful.”
Kellan Lutz found Poseidon’s ornate costume challenging, especially during the film’s
battle sequences. “I wore a big Pisces helmet that was very tedious to fight in,” he says. “It was
actually difficult just to act in. I couldn’t really hear because I had these seashells on my head. It
sounded like the ocean. I also kept hitting myself with Poseidon’s trident.”
For Ishioka, the most difficult task in creating the costumes was achieving realistic
armor. “I wanted to use shiny materials for a mask or helmet,” she says. “But the reflective
surfaces would have interfered with shooting on a green screen. I didn’t want it to look fake, like
a breast of armor made of wood or that kind of thing. It had to be not too shiny but I also want the
audience to believe that this armor is made of metal.”
Ishioka’s original designs are complemented by the work of makeup designer Nikoletta
Skarlatos. “Tom Foden, the production designer, sent me a visual tour of the sets so I could start
to visualize the people,” she says. “I did a massive amount of research before presenting ideas,
because I’m a huge fan of both Tarsem and Eiko. They both inspire me and I knew this would be
a chance to do something really extraordinary. In terms of references, I looked at mythology, but
I also wanted to create something that had not been seen before.
“It’s a very makeup-intensive movie,” says Skarlatos, explaining that advances in
technology have raised the bar for her craft. “3-D is very specific and you see things more
obviously. High-def and digital shooting magnify that effect. We tried to be very precise.”
Skarlatos worked closely with Pinto to create Phaedra’s look. “The eye make-up is not a
traditional Indian look, nor is it a contemporary look. It’s a very different and mysterious look,
with certain little nuances that allude to the fact that she is an Oracle, a very special being.”
Hair and make-up helped Pinto slip into the skin of the mystical Phaedra. “They tried
these colors in my hair that I’d never had done before,” she says. “We added some extensions and
a braid. It made me feel like I was from that period. I would come in with my jeans and T-shirt,
get into my robe, and there would be a completely different person there: Phaedra.”
Skarlatos, whose previous credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and
Thor, was also involved in creating the blood and special effects makeup. “It can be darkened, but
what you see is what you get, so we had to work with the DP to create the right blood for night
and the right blood for day.”
BUILDING A SPECTACULAR NEW WORLD
Immortals is loaded with visual effects, action, adventure—and nearly everything else
under the sun. The filmmakers used the latest 3-D and VFX technology to seamlessly join layers
of digitally created worlds and physical reality. “We kept seeing surprises on the set,” says
Nunnari. “The technology is an exciting part of the audience ride.”
To make the creation of Singh’s imaginary world easier technically and logistically, the
producers decided to house everything at Cité du Cinéma Studios in Montreal. Production offices,
special effects, art department and visual effects were all under one roof.
On the technical side, Singh worked with his long-time colleagues, director of
photography Brendan Galvin and production designer Tom Foden. “I move at breakneck speed,”
the director says. “The learning curve can be a bit steep. This gang moves very fast with me. So
while the look of this film is completely different from what we’ve done before, the practical
support they’re able to provide is critical.”
Jack Geist, VFX producer, and Raymond Gieringer, VFX supervising producer, were
added to the team to oversee Immortals’ spectacular visual effects. “Just taking the environments
into account, we had a large-scale effects show,” says Gieringer. “Then within the environments
we had a lot of effects: enormous battle scenes, mountains collapsing, gods and Titans battling.
There are over 100 shots that involve special effects.”
There was also a large physical component that supported the effects. About 20 sets were
built, each containing a different virtual world, some with 360-degree views. Gieringer says the
departments worked hand in hand to make sure things ran smoothly. “Their world is practical and
they’re going to build these sets. We need to take these sets and build the environments around
them. Tom Foden and art director Michael Manson worked with us to make the process
seamless.”
Geist and Gieringer became involved early in the development process to help Singh
conceptualize his film. The director was very precise about what he wanted, according to
Gieringer. “Tarsem is very specific in terms of his framing, and his composition is amazing,
unlike that of any director I’ve ever seen before. We made a very beautiful, somewhat stylized
film, with plenty of bang for the buck in terms of the virtual.”
Immortals utilized several cutting-edge systems to achieve its unparalleled visual style.
During pre-production, the filmmakers implemented a system called InterSense, previously used
on the movie Avatar. “It allowed Tarsem to see exactly what would be green screen and what
would be set,” says Jeff Waxman, who served as both line producer and executive producer. “We
were then able to build our sets to exactly the size that we would need. We designed everything
months in advance. We had matte painters design all the environments on computers. Across the
hall, the art department was designing the physical sets that would fit into those environments.
Having it all under one roof, Tarsem could bounce between them and make changes on the spot.”
Because the technology is developing so fast, Kavanaugh says they were able to go one
step beyond what was possible for James Cameron when he was making Avatar. “Tarsem could
sit in front of a computer before he shot the scene, with it all mapped to scale,” says the producer.
“He could actually see the shot before he shot it and make decisions about how to shoot and what
lenses to use. It also allowed him to create the perfect 3-D reality and understand which parts of
what scene were going to be popping out.”
During filming, the director used another high-tech system, called Moses, which gave
him even more control of the shoot. “Moses is one of several systems that enable you to previsualize, so you can see beforehand what it will look like within the CG extension or a CG
world,” explains DP Brendan Galvin. “Tarsem could see a person’s head come over a mountain
that doesn’t exist. We used it in the monastery shoot, looking down from the monastery onto the
encampment with the Heraklions, so you can see where all the stuff that’s not actually there will
be.”
Singh says the Moses System, along with his attention to detail in pre-production,
allowed him to create shots that are perfectly composed. “I was able to construct a tableau,” he
explains. “If some films are like comic strips, this is a painting strip. The system sees past the
green screen, so I could control the composition.”
WORKING IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
Bursting with Olympian deities, sweeping battles and breathtaking vistas, Immortals
demanded a larger-than-life production style. From its inception, the film’s creators knew that to
bring the dynamic story fully to life, it would have to be a 3-D movie—and not just an ordinary
3­D movie. “Tarsem has a rare kind of vision,” says Tucker Tooley of Relativity Media. “He
looks at the world through a different lens and brings something to the story you would never
anticipate. To realize that unique point of view, we designed the movie in 3-D from the
beginning. We tailored everything about the film to maximize the stereo effects.”
However, shooting the film using conventional 2-D cameras and creating the 3-D effects
in postproduction gave the director more control of the depth and dynamic range than would have
been possible shooting in 3-D. “Every element had to be considered,” says Tooley. “Before we
shot a single frame, we designed our foreground and background elements in a way that
optimized the dimensionalization process.”
Singh worked with senior stereographer David Stump of 3DCG to develop a detailed
depth budget and depth script that helped ensure that the look of the picture conformed to the
director’s vision. “You can see the difference immediately,” says the director. “We took the time
and, most importantly, put in the planning to do it properly. Some people are calling this a gamechanger.”
The movie’s groundbreaking look was executed by Prime Focus, the 3-D effects house
that had previously dimensionalized such blockbusters as Star Wars: Episode One – The
Phantom Menace and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Recent advances in
technology, including Prime Focus’ proprietary View-D software, allowed Singh the flexibility to
create visuals unlike any that have been seen before.
With 4,000 artists and technicians spread across three continents, Prime Focus dedicated
significant resources to realizing Singh’s ambitious vision. “The great challenge in every movie is
really adapting an entire team of artists to meet the needs of that director,” says Prime Focus
marketing executive Bobby Jaffee. “What George Lucas or Michael Bay want for their movies
has nothing to do with what Tarsem Singh wants.”
“Tarsem’s input was the basis for everything we did,” Stump says. “He asked us to give
the characters a sense of volume and form. The key word was sculpture. We wanted the
characters to look like they were really right there in front of you as opposed to on a screen.”
For Singh, the technology proved an organic extension of the unique visual style he has
developed over an award-winning career as a commercial and feature film director. “The story
could have been told in many different ways,” he says. “But my aesthetic really lends itself to 3D. My shots tend toward tableaux and I normally shoot longer masters, both of which are very
effective in 3-D. I don’t do a lot of fast cutting or extreme close ups, which don’t work well in
this format. So in the end, I didn’t have to adapt my vision for 3-D; it was a perfect fit.”
The dimensionalization process can be slow and arduous, Stump acknowledges, but it
brings big payoffs in the final product. “It took months and months of work. But creating
stereoscopic 3-D content in postproduction gave us more control. We could place anything
anywhere we wanted. In fact, we not only could, we had to, because nothing lands in the right
place accidentally.”
As Singh anticipated, 3-D ultimately suited his inspired visuals perfectly. “It was a quite
a benchmark we had to reach,” says Merzin Tavaria, co-founder and chief creative director of
Prime Focus. “The detailing of the sequences, particularly the Titan sequences, was an exciting
challenge. In the end, we were very happy with the product and that we were able help Tarsem
achieve his vision.
“At every interval we would send shots to him and confer on how he would like to shape
it in 3-D,” Tavaria explains. “We worked with the depth of each image, foreground to
background, and how it could be positioned in 3-D. That enabled us to push quality to an
extremely high level.”
The finished film has depth and volume never before seen on screen, according to Ken
Halsband, executive in charge of production for Relativity Media. “What’s new and unique about
this particular picture is that we succeeded in creating an artistic looking 3-D movie,” says
Halsband. “Everything from sets to costumes was designed for the ultimate 3-D experience. We
used the technology better this time, more painstakingly and artistically than it has been used
before.”
Luminous and encompassing, Immortals raises the bar for stereoscopic effects in film.
“Tarsem has created an entirely new world,” says Tooley. “With an environment that the
audience hasn't seen, the more you integrate them into the experience, the better it is. The 3-D
technology gave us an amazing opportunity to do that.”
GOD SPEED
Singh’s immortal heroes, the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, are a world apart
from their human counterparts in beauty, strength and speed. The director envisioned them as
idealized, larger-than-life creatures. “In the end, the gods have very little wardrobe,” says Singh.
“They had to be fit. That had to be a factor in casting.”
Some of their seemingly superhuman abilities are the result of Singh’s innovative use of
the camera. “I wanted to take them to another level,” says Singh. “So during the battle scenes, the
gods move much faster than the humans, which adds to the action. All our fights are quite
different. Those that pit humans against humans take place in real time. And when gods go up
against gods, they match each other’s superior speed, so the difference between their speed and
the humans’ is imperceptible and it still appears to be real time. But when gods go up against
humans, humans are revealed to be like putty. They're frozen.”
And at times, all three types of battle are taking place simultaneously. “There are a
couple of sections where all the fighting sequences are differently done,” Singh says. “I think it’s
pretty magical.”
Making the director’s brainstorm into reality took patience and persistence. “We shot the
whole thing from the gods’ perspective,” he says. “Then we then shot the whole thing again from
the human point of view. We shot something like four days of plates to make it right for each
perspective. The humans practically freeze, while the gods are like lightning. It’s not a fair fight.”
Galvin explains that the magic was created by changing the camera speed. “Five hundred
frames is starting to really slow things down and if you up that to a thousand, sometimes even the
simple movements people make can look static,” says Galvin. “It’s an unreal speed, you’re
entering a different dimension in your head when you’re going into those speeds because you see
things. Most people are familiar with high speed from sports events. When you slow things down,
it’s quite different.”
Canton finds the “god speed” effect an excellent example of the way the special effects
have been woven throughout the film to become part of the story and storytelling. “Seeing the
gods moving at hyperspeed and the humans moving in slow motion is more than just an effect,”
he says. “No one’s ever attempted to manipulate time for two different characters in the same
movie. It’s not a movie; it’s an experience. It’s a life-changing event, like Star Wars was when
we all saw it for the first time.”
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION…AND MORE ACTION
Pulling off the scope, quantity and sheer daredevilry of the ambitious battles of
Immortals required an army of fight choreographers, trainers and stunt people trained in
everything from swordsmanship to karate. Choreography began six months in advance of
shooting to make it as gritty, explosive and dangerous looking as possible.
At the outset, Singh decided he wanted the fight scenes to have a more realistic, less
stylized feel than is typical of many contemporary films. “I wanted actual physical fighting with
the weapons that they have. Some of it was done with wires, but there’s just no substitute for
physical combat. You can feel the impact.”
The filmmakers brought in Artie Malesci, who worked on Miami Vice, some of the
Transporter films and television’s “Burn Notice,” as stunt coordinator. A core group of 13
fighters from Montreal trained and rehearsed for three months so when the filmmakers got on the
set, all the stunts were ready to go.
The result is non-stop, beginning-to-end action, says Malesci. “We taped everything we
did in advance for Tarsem to view. He’d say yes or no, and tweak it his way. All the time we
were choreographing, we were also training the cast to get them prepared. The stunt people
trained all day, five days a week. They really worked hard. If their bodies weren’t right, they
didn’t have a job.”
For Henry Cavill, intense physical training started six months prior to shooting. “When I
met Henry, he was fit,” says Singh. “But as I told him, it can’t be a six-pack. You’ve got to come
with an eight-pack. There has to be no body fat, because I don’t have too many clothes for you to
wear. He put himself through an incredible regime. I took one look at him and I knew that he had
embraced the role.”
Cavill was given what he calls “certain briefs for training” and asked to supply
photographic evidence of his progress. “When we got our final brief of what they wanted me to
look like, we just trained and trained and trained. It was eight hours a day in the gym, five days a
week.”
All that training paid off, according to Pinto. “Tarsem told me that the actors were
undergoing this transformation, that their bodies were going to be really ripped,” says Pinto. “But
until I met Henry for the first time, I had no idea that this was what he meant. He looked godlike.”
“I have never seen anybody in such a great shape,” agrees Nunnari. “He dedicated
months to sculpting his body.”
The training also gave Cavill an array of skills to use in combat. “Every day was
something new, so in the end, we had a big tool box to work with,” he notes. “If anything was
thrown at me on the day, which it was, I could go into my tool box and pick out the right stuff.”
Still, he is mindful to say that the battle scenes could not have been accomplished without
the expert stunt team. “They were mind-blowingly good. Some of the fight choreography was so
complex and so difficult, and I had to get it exactly right every time because a lot of it was done
in one continuous shot and if anyone messed up anything, we would have had to do it again. But
we never did.”
Theseus’ final faceoff with King Hyperion was his most difficult scene, says Cavill,
because it is so realistic. “The fight is brutal and messy. These are two exhausted, desperate men
who want to tear each other’s throats out. It’s a non-stylized, painful experience in a very small
space and they’re throwing each other against the walls and hitting each other with anything they
can get their hands on. It’s the human representation of the conflict between the gods and the
Titans. There’s some jujitsu, some Greco-Roman grappling, but mostly it’s two guys kicking the
crap out of each other.”
Singh says he intentionally shot this climactic scene in a confined area. “If we had people
fighting outside in the open, that would have been very difficult for me,” explains the director. “I
like tighter places, so I created what I would call a bottleneck. We have this tunnel, and outside of
it is the bigger army. Inside the tunnel, it becomes a personal fight.”
The tunnel fight sequence is spectacular, according to Cavill. “So much hard work went
into it by all the departments. The choreography was pretty complicated, but it looks fantastic,
which made it all very rewarding. I was broken and exhausted at the end of day two. I just had to
go home and collapse.”
Singh posed himself an additional challenge in filming the film’s denouement by creating
three separate skirmishes within the larger battle. “I’ve got three fights happening simultaneously
in the tunnel,” explains Singh. “Theseus and Hyperion are fighting ‘mano-a-mano,’ humans are
trying to stop the non-humans from coming through, and the gods are trying to contain the Titans.
We have three different schools of fighting—one’s got all the emotion, one’s got all the wow
factor, and the third one’s got the scale.”
The array of fighting styles posed additional challenges for the stuntmen. “When gods
fight with humans, it’s a completely different school. Then when gods fight with other gods or
with Titans, which have the same power, how do we define that so they’re completely different
schools of fighting?” the director asks. “For stunt guys, it’s been quite difficult. They crack one
scene, but the next scene does not have the same rules at all.”
But, say the producers, Singh never challenged anyone more than he did himself.
“Tarsem was the first on the set and the last to leave,” says producer Mark Canton. “He didn’t sit
and he didn’t use a trailer. He came to paint his masterpiece and that’s what he did. We’re just
happy that we brought the brushes for him.
“All of our movies are special,” he adds. “But this one has something I can’t put into
words. It’s an epic ride and that’s something that only a visionary could have put together.”
CHARACTERS
Theseus (Henry Cavill) – A fatherless child raised in a provincial village, Theseus has
faced ostracism and ridicule since birth, until a mysterious old man appears and patiently trains
him in combat and philosophy. After his mother is cruelly murdered and he is enslaved by the
vicious King Hyperion, the downtrodden peasant uses those skills to transform himself into an
invincible warrior. Escaping his captors, the people’s hero leads his followers into battle against
Hyperion’s deadly forces to try and save mankind from a Titan uprising.
King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) – Horribly disfigured after a brush with the vanquished
Titans, Hyperion is a power-mad despot with plans to conquer the world. Legendarily brutal, he
forces his soldiers to scar themselves in homage to him as he leads the ferocious Heraklion
legions on a rampage through Greece to locate the long lost Bow of Epirus. With it, he will seek
to resurrect the Titans, demi-gods who ruled the earth until their defeat by the Olympians. With
their support, he will wage a war that will change the future of both gods and men.
Zeus (Luke Evans/John Hurt) – The all-powerful King of the Olympian Gods, Zeus has
foreseen King Hyperion’s vicious campaign against his fellow mortals and tried to prepare
Theseus by secretly training him to become a fearless warrior destined to save mankind. But
despite his sympathy for Hyperion’s victims, he forbids the other Olympians from taking sides in
the conflict and has his hands full wrangling a rebellious band of Gods as the combat unfolds.
Phaedra (Freida Pinto) – Trained as a priestess since birth, Phaedra is a gifted Oracle,
capable of divining glimpses of the future, but unable to control or even interpret her visions.
Sought by Hyperion as a means to find the Bow, she hides in plain sight as a slave in his
encampment. Her beauty, wisdom and kindness capture the heart of Theseus and he aids her
escape from the Heraklions, while she and her visions help to guide him to his destiny.
Stavros (Stephen Dorff) – A thief and a rogue, Stavros has been enslaved by Hyperion
alongside Theseus and Phaedra. Defiant, irreverent and sly, he becomes Theseus’ loyal friend and
confidant, valiantly fighting by his side against seemingly insurmountable odds.
Athena (Isabel Lucas) – The Goddess of Wisdom and Zeus’ favorite daughter, Athena is
her father’s trusted ally, protector and advisor. But when deadly warfare on earth threatens to
destroy mankind, she defies Zeus and puts her wits to work building support for Theseus and his
rebels among the divine inhabitants of Mount Olympus.
Poseidon (Kellan Lutz) –The God of the Sea, Poseidon is ordered by his brother Zeus to
allow mankind to settle its own scores, no matter the consequences. But like Athena, Poseidon
has a mind of his own, and he finds an ingenious way to aid Theseus and his supporters.
ABOUT THE CAST
HENRY CAVILL (Theseus) has already made quite an impact in both film and
television. Born in the United Kingdom, the actor made his feature film debut in The Count of
Monte Cristo. He went on to star in Tristan & Isolde and Stardust. He starred for director Joel
Schumacher in Blood Creek and for Woody Allen in Whatever Works, which premiered at the
Tribeca International Film Festival. Cavill is set to play Superman in Zack Snyder’s muchanticipated reboot of the beloved superhero franchise, Superman: Man of Steel.
Cavill will next be seen in The Cold Light of Day alongside Bruce Willis and Sigourney
Weaver. The film is directed by Mabrouk El Mechri and is scheduled for release in 2011.
On the small screen, Cavill starred for four seasons on the Showtime series “The Tudors”
as the Duke of Suffolk, Charles Brandon, an elevated commoner, backroom schemer and close
confidant of Henry VIII.
MICKEY ROURKE (King Hyperion) received widespread acclaim for his
performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which earned him an Academy Award
nomination for Best Actor and wins for Best Actor at the Golden Globe Awards, BAFTAs and
Independent Spirit Awards. The film was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Rourke’s career is characterized by his ability to create riveting performances and to
leave indelible impressions on audiences. His extraordinary list of feature credits includes John
Madden’s Killshot, Tony Scott’s Domino and Man on Fire, Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City and
Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Larry Charles’ Masked and Anonymous, Steve Buscemi’s Animal
Factory and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker.
Rourke earned a place for himself in Hollywood with his stellar ability to mesmerize
audiences in earlier films, including Michael Cimino’s Desperate Hours, Alan Parker’s Angel
Heart, Mike Hodges’ A Prayer for the Dying, Adrian Lyne’s Nine ½ Weeks, Cimino’s Year of the
Dragon, Stuart Rosenberg’s The Pope of Greenwich Village, Barry Levinson’s Diner, Lawrence
Kasdan’s Body Heat, Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish, Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate and Steven
Spielberg’s 1941.
Rourke recently starred in the blockbuster sequel Iron Man 2, directed by Jon Favreau,
with Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson. He was also
seen in The Expendables, directed by Sylvester Stallone and co-starring Jason Statham, Jet Li,
Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Rourke recently completed shooting Passion Play, directed by Mitch Glazer, in which he
stars opposite Megan Fox.
LUKE EVANS (Zeus) is a Welsh actor primed to turn heads among U.S. moviegoers
with his upcoming starring roles. Evans will next be seen in Paul W.S. Anderson’s star-studded 3D spectacle The Three Musketeers. Evans stars as Aramis, one of the disgraced musketeers taking
on Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz) and The Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) in the
hope of restoring their reputation as a force to be reckoned with. The film also stars Logan
Lerman and Milla Jovovich.
Evans will start the year 2012 as Detective Emmett Fields, who partners with Edgar
Allan Poe (John Cusack) to help find his missing fiancée in James McTeigue’s The Raven. He
recently completed his second turn with director Mat Whitecross in the contemporary film noir
Ashes, alongside Ray Winstone, Jim Sturgess, Lesley Manville and Jodie Whittaker.
The actor is currently in production on No One Lives, directed by Ryûhei Kitamura,
which tells the story of a ruthless gang of killers who are surprised by their victims’ resistance.
Next, Evans begins filming his role as Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey.
Evans is slated to play music maestro Antonio Vivaldi opposite Jessica Biel in the period
romance Vivaldi, directed by Patricia Riggen. He has also signed on to play an American in Paris
framed for a murder in filmmaker Ross Katz’s The Amateur American.
Prior to his film career, Evans was an established star on London’s West End, carving out
an enviable stage career starring in West End plays and musicals such as “La Cava,” Boy
George’s “Taboo,” “Avenue Q,” “Dickens Unplugged,” “A Girl Called Dusty” and, at the
acclaimed Donmar Warehouse, “Small Change” and “Piaf.” His powerful, trained voice and
engaging stage presence made him the perfect choice for leading roles such as Chris in “Miss
Saigon” and Roger in “Rent.”
Evans made his feature film debut in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Mat Whitecross’
BAFTA-nominated biopic about Ian Dury, a founder of the London punk scene. It was the
American blockbuster Clash of the Titans, however, that put Evans on the map when he portrayed
charismatic god Apollo. He was next seen in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, playing the Sheriff’s top
henchman opposite Russell Crowe.
In 2010, Evans returned to Britain where he played a lead role in acclaimed director
Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drewe, based on the hugely successful Guardian newspaper comic strip
and graphic novel of the same name.
Evans currently lives in London.
STEPHEN DORFF (Stavros) is one of the most respected actors in Hollywood and has
been greatly sought after since his powerful performance in Sofia Coppola’s drama Somewhere,
which won a Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 2009, Dorff teamed with
Somewhere producer G. Mac Brown on Michael Mann’s gangster drama Public Enemies, starring
opposite Johnny Depp.
The Atlanta native has been acting in movies for over two decades. In 1990, he was one
of 2,000 actors who auditioned for the lead role in John G. Avildsen’s The Power of One. Dorff
got the part, starring with Morgan Freeman, John Gielgud and Fay Masterson. Additionally, the
National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) honored him with the ShoWest Male Star of
Tomorrow Award.
Dorff then portrayed two real-life pop culture figures: “the fifth Beatle,” musician Stuart
Sutcliffe, in Iain Softley’s Backbeat, and cross-dressing film star Candy Darling in Mary
Harron’s I Shot Andy Warhol. He was also seen in Bob Rafelson’s Blood and Wine, opposite Jack
Nicholson and Michael Caine; John Irvin’s City of Industry, with Harvey Keitel; James Lapine’s
telefilm “Earthly Possessions,” opposite Susan Sarandon; and Stephen Norrington’s Blade,
opposite Wesley Snipes. For the latter role, Dorff won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
Other film credits include Ric Roman Waugh’s Felon (which Dorff also executiveproduced), John Waters’ Cecil B. DeMented (in the title role), Lee Daniels’ Shadowboxer, Oliver
Stone’s World Trade Center, Mike Figgis’ Cold Creek Manor, Scott Kalvert’s Deuces Wild, Phil
Joanou’s Entropy, Tony Kaye’s Black Water Transit and Tom Brady’s Bucky Larson: Born to Be
a Star. Upcoming projects include Alan and Gabe Polsky’s The Motel Life, opposite Emile
Hirsch, and David Jacobson’s Boot Tracks, opposite Michelle Monaghan.
FREIDA PINTO (Phaedra) has quickly become an international film star since she
burst onto the scene in Danny Boyle’s critically and commercially successful Slumdog
Millionaire. For her debut role as Latika, Pinto was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a
Motion Picture at the 2009 BAFTA Awards. The movie itself won eight Academy Awards
including Best Picture.
Pinto recently co-starred in the surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes, alongside
James Franco and John Lithgow. She will next be seen in Black Gold with Antonio Banderas.
The film makes its world premiere in Qatar at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival. She recently
finished shooting Trishna in India for director Michael Winterbottom. The film is a modern day
retelling of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles.
Previously, Pinto was seen in Julian Schnabel’s Miral, a drama focusing on an orphaned
Palestinian girl who finds herself drawn into the Arab-Israeli conflict. Pinto also starred in
Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins, Naomi
Watts and Josh Brolin.
Before hitting the big screen, Pinto made her mark anchoring “Full Circle,” a travel show
airing on Zee International Asia Pacific. She went on assignment to Afghanistan, Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Fiji, among other countries.
Pinto currently divides her time between residences in Mumbai and London. She is a
spokesperson for L’Oréal Paris.
JOHN HURT (Old Man) is one of Britain’s best known, most critically acclaimed and
versatile actors. It was his defining film roles as Max in Midnight Express (1978) and as John
Merrick in The Elephant Man (1980) that thrust him into the international spotlight with Oscar
nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, respectively.
A trio of roles in 1984 rewarded Hurt with the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor
for that year for The Hit, Champions and 1984. His other notable film credits include A Man for
All Seasons, The Field, Scandal, Rob Roy and John Boorman’s Two Nudes Bathing (for which
Hurt received a CableACE Award in 1995), as well as an acclaimed performance in Richard
Kwietniowski’s Love and Death on Long Island.
Hurt was born in 1940, the son of Arnold Herbert (an Anglican vicar) and Phyllis Massey
(an engineer and amateur actress). He was a stagehand with the Lincoln Repertory and studied at
St. Martins School of Art, London, before winning a scholarship to RADA.
Initially a stage actor, Hurt made his West End debut in 1962 and went on to take the
1963 Critics’ Award for Most Promising Actor in Harold Pinter’s “The Dwarfs.” He also
appeared in Pinter’s “The Caretaker,” O’Casey’s “The Shadow of a Gunman,” Stoppard’s
“Travesties” for the RSC and Turgenev’s “A Month in the Country.”
The year 2000 saw his greatly acclaimed performance in Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last
Tape” in London’s West End. In 2002, Hurt shared the Variety Club Award for Outstanding
Performance in a Stage Play with Penelope Wilton for their performances in Brian Friel’s
“Afterplay.”
Hurt’s impressive body of television work commenced in 1961 and has included such
noteworthy roles as Caligula in “I, Claudius,” Raskolnikov in “Crime and Punishment” and, most
memorably, as Quentin Crisp in the autobiographical “The Naked Civil Servant,” a role for which
Hurt received a Best Actor Emmy Award® and a BAFTA Best Television Actor Award.
In 1999, Hurt filmed Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, directed by Atom Egoyan, and in
2000 came Tabloid TV, directed by David Blair. The year 2001 was spent filming Miranda,
directed by Marc Munden; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, directed by Chris Columbus;
and Owning Mahowny, directed by Richard Kwietniowski.
This was followed by the film Hellboy, directed by Guillermo del Toro; “The Alan Clark
Diaries,” for the BBC; Skeleton Key, directed by Iain Softley; Beyond the Gates, directed by
Michael Caton-Jones; and The Proposition, directed by John Hillcoat.
Hurt was next seen in V for Vendetta, written and produced by the Wachowski brothers;
heard as the narrator in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer; and seen as Professor Oxley in
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He portrayed U.S. Secretary of State Warren
Christopher in the HBO film “Recount,” directed by Jay Roach. Hurt was also seen as Dr. Iannis
in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, directed by John Madden.
More recently, Hurt appeared in Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control as well as 44 Inch
Chest, directed by Malcolm Venville. He reprised his role as Quentin Crisp in the 2009 feature An
Englishman in New York, an official selection at both the Berlin International Film Festival and
the Tribeca Film Festival.
Hurt was seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1 and 2 and Late
Bloomers, opposite Isabella Rossellini, with Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia soon to come.
ISABEL LUCAS (Athena) possesses a captivating and magnetic on-screen presence
that has put her at the forefront of the next generation of young Hollywood actors. Lucas will next
be seen starring in Dan Bradley’s remake of Red Dawn, the story of a group of teenagers who
form an impromptu insurgency when enemy soldiers invade their town.
Lucas recently wrapped production on a pair of Australian films, Gale Edwards’ A
Heartbeat Away and Amanda Jane’s The Wedding Party (previously known as Kin). In The
Wedding Party, a warm-hearted and upbeat romantic comedy that dares to paint a family portrait
of a most unusual kind, Lucas plays Anna Petrov, a beautiful young Russian woman desperate to
stay in Australia with the man she loves.
Lucas starred in director Michael Bay’s blockbuster hit Transformers 2: Revenge of the
Fallen opposite Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. The film was the highly anticipated second
installment of the action adventure franchise and grossed approximately $850 million worldwide.
Other film credits include Daybreakers, opposite Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe, and
The Waiting City, opposite Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell.
On the small screen, Lucas starred in the HBO miniseries “The Pacific,” an epic 10-hour
event chronicling the lives of three U.S. marines stationed in the Pacific during World War II.
Lucas plays the role of Gwen, the love interest of Private Sid Phillips (Ashton Holmes). The
series was executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman.
In Australia, Lucas may be best known for her starring role on the hit television series
“Home and Away.” In 2004, she received the Australian TV Week Logie Award for Most Popular
New Female Talent.
Lucas is an active animal rights advocate and supporter of The Whaleman Foundation
and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. These oceanic research and conservation
organizations are dedicated to preserving and protecting the ocean’s habitat. She is also involved
with the non-profit organization OzQuest and, in 2006, spent two months as a volunteer
community worker in Namibia. Additionally, in 2010 she participated in the Summit on the
Summit hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro to bring awareness to the global clean water crisis.
Lucas currently divides her time between Los Angeles and her hometown of Melbourne,
Australia.
KELLAN LUTZ (Poseidon) is known to worldwide audiences for his role as Emmett
Cullen in the global box office phenomenon The Twilight Saga, based on the bestselling novels
by Stephenie Meyer. The fourth installment, Breaking Dawn, hits theaters in November 2011.
Lutz was last seen in a starring role in Love, Wedding, Marriage opposite Mandy Moore,
James Brolin and Kathy Bates. The film is about a happy newlywed marriage counselor whose
views on wedded bliss are thrown for a loop when she finds out her parents are getting divorced.
Lutz also stars with Samuel L. Jackson and Nina Dobrev in the action-thriller Arena (previously
known as Fury), in which he plays a man kidnapped and forced to fight in a digital arena where
the brutal gladiatorial battles to the death are an Internet sensation.
Lutz recently completed filming the dramedy Syrup, starring alongside Shiloh Fernandez
and Amber Heard. It centers on several twenty-somethings trying to climb the corporate ladder of
a top soda manufacturer. Based on the novel by Max Berry, the film takes a humorous look at the
world of marketing and American consumerism.
In 2010, Lutz appeared with Rooney Mara in the remake of the 1984 horror classic A
Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Samuel Bayer. He also starred in Michael F. Sears’ indie A
Warrior’s Heart, opposite Ashley Greene; and Josh Sternfeld’s crime drama Meskada, alongside
Rachel Nichols and Nick Stahl.
Other film credits include Prom Night, with Brittany Snow; the indie film Deep Winter,
opposite Michael Madsen; Stick It, with Missy Peregrym; and Accepted, alongside Justin Long.
On the small screen, Lutz guest-starred on the CW series “90210” as recurring character
George Evans, one of the school’s best and most arrogant athletes. He was also seen in HBO’s
Emmy-winning miniseries “Generation Kill.” Previously, Lutz appeared on the NBC series
“Heroes” and played recurring characters on the PAX series “Model Citizens” and the WB’s
“Summerland.”
In addition to acting, Lutz has been seen in several high-profile modeling campaigns,
including the coveted job as cover boy of Abercrombie & Fitch’s 2004 summer catalog. He also
appeared in a Levi’s jeans ad campaign and was recently seen as the new Calvin Klein underwear
model.
Lutz teamed up with fashion designer Danny Guez of Dylan George to launch the men’s
line Abbot + Main. The line offers tops, hoodies and cardigans inspired by the intersection in
Venice, California where Lutz lives.
Lutz’s charitable activities include Royal Family KIDS Camps (RFKC), a nationwide
network of camps for abused and abandoned children. Each camp organizes a summer camp
experience for boys and girls who have experienced difficult life situations.
Although his dreams are coming true, Lutz still hasn’t quenched his desire to learn and
create. He has patented two inventions and is currently waiting for prototypes to be created.
JOSEPH MORGAN (Lysander) got his big break in 2009 when he was cast as Judah
Ben-Hur in the miniseries “Ben Hur,” based on the classic novel and film and directed by Steve
Shill. In 2010, Morgan was cast in a co-starring role in the independent drama Drift, alongside
Thomas Dekker, Jeremy Piven and Mira Sorvino.
Morgan attended Morriston Comprehensive School before moving to London to study
acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Upon graduation, he was hired by acclaimed
film director Peter Weir to co-star opposite Russell Crowe in Master and Commander: The Far
Side of the World. Soon after the film’s completion, director Oliver Stone hired Morgan for a
supporting role in the feature film Alexander.
After Alexander, Morgan spent time working on stage in the West End of London. He
starred in the first series of Sky One’s “Hex,” in the role of Troy. Morgan also starred in the BBC
miniseries “The Line of Beauty.” Other television credits include the series “Doc Martin” and the
telefilm “Mansfield Park,” in the role of William opposite Billie Piper.
PETER STEBBINGS (Helios) is the Canadian actor and filmmaker who wrote and
directed Defendor, starring Woody Harrelson, Elias Koteas, Kat Dennings and Sandra Oh. The
film made its debut at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Other projects in the works
include feature films The Wrasslers, Kids on Fire, Bait and Tackle and Charlatan (based on The
New York Times bestseller by Pope Brock). Stebbings has several television series in
development including an adaption of Defendor with partners Darius Films and Prospect Park.
As an actor, his credits include leading roles in Kardia and The Limb Salesman, which
premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival; the lead role of Marcus Alexander in the
Showtime series “Jeremiah”; series lead Kevin Sharp in the Vancouver-based teen series
“Madison”; Paul Deeds, the shrewd investment banker seen in the final two seasons of “Traders”;
series lead Harley McPherson in “Rabbit Fall”; and series lead Billy Beckett in a two-hour
backdoor pilot called “S.I.S.,” for Spike TV. Stebbings also played recurring roles in “Cra$h &
Burn” and “Murdoch Mysteries.”
In his work for the silver screen, Stebbings has had the privilege of working with
Canadian film directors Mina Shum (Drive She Said), Bruce McDonald (Picture Claire) and
Anais Gronofsky (On Their Knees, The Limb Salesman), among others. He has been nominated
on three separate occasions for a Gemini and once for a Leo. In 2007, Stebbings co-wrote and
produced Jack and Jill vs. the World, with Taryn Manning and Freddie Prinze Jr.
Stebbings currently splits his time between Los Angeles and Toronto.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
TARSEM SINGH (Director) is one of the most highly acclaimed and sought-after
directors working in the worldwide advertising community today. Known for his attention to
detail, stunning art direction, and highly developed visual storytelling abilities, Singh has made
his mark in the feature film world as well.
His first major breakthrough was the music video Losing My Religion for REM, which
won a Grammy® and eight MTV Video Music Awards including Best Music Video. Over the
years, he has garnered numerous other awards including two Press Grand Prix awards in Cannes,
the D&AD, the DGA and BAFTA Britannia Award.
Singh’s first feature film was The Cell, a beautiful, shocking and hallucinatory
psychological thriller. His inspired, unrelenting visual imagery elevated the film far beyond its
genre roots. In his second feature, The Fall, Singh expanded his directorial role into that of
producer and co-writer. Part heroic journey, part celebration of storytelling, The Fall, with its
exotic locations spanning 25 countries, was both visually stunning and one of the most original
releases of 2006.
Singh was educated at a boarding school in the Himalayas (Shimla, India). He came to
the United States when he was 24 years old and graduated from the Art Center College of Design,
Pasadena. Today he splits his time between Los Angeles and London.
VLAS AND CHARLEY PARLAPANIDES (Writers) are a writing team with feature
film projects currently set up at Universal, Warner Bros., Columbia, Paramount and Mandate
Pictures. They have been working professionally as writers for almost five years now. They
previously wrote, directed and produced the indie comedy Everything for a Reason, which
premiered at the AFI International Film Festival and was acquired for distribution by The
Shooting Gallery.
Before entering the entertainment industry, Vlas worked on Oppenheimer’s foreign
equity desk while Charley attended Loyola Law School, graduating in the top 15 percent of his
class.
The brothers are a part of a large Greek-American family and originally hail from Seaside
Park, NJ. Growing up, they often spent summers in Patras, Greece, and took part in both Greek
school and Greek folk dancing. Both brothers went on to study economics and theater in college.
Vlas attended Villanova University while Charley studied at Swarthmore College.
GIANNI NUNNARI (Producer) is president, founder and CEO of Hollywood Gang
Productions. He was a producer of the action epic 300, based on the Frank Miller graphic novel
and directed by Zack Snyder for Warner Bros. 300 opened to record-setting box-office numbers
and amassed a worldwide theatrical gross of more than $450 million.
In addition to 300, Nunnari's producing credits include both Martin Scorsese’s The
Departed, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, and
Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Sir Ben Kingsley. Other producer
credits include David Fincher’s Se7en and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn series.
MARK CANTON (Producer) has been a preeminent force in the entertainment
industry, helping to bring more than 300 pictures to the screen in his capacity as a senior studio
executive and producer. Canton controls a large number of high-profile projects in various stages
of development, pre-production, production and post.
The prolific producer had two movies released in 2010. The first, Piranha, was a 3-D
horror comedy directed by Alexandre Aja and the second, Letters to Juliet, was a romantic drama
directed by Gary Winick.
In pre-production for Relativity are Den of Thieves, a bank heist drama to be directed by
writer Christian Gudegast; Tunnels, to be directed by Vincenzo Natali, which may be the next
sensation to follow in the footsteps of the Harry Potter franchise; and Silver Cord, a supernatural
romantic thriller to be distributed by Summit Entertainment.
Amongst Canton’s credits is the mega-hit 300, based on the Frank Miller graphic novel
and directed by Zack Snyder. The film opened to record-setting box-office numbers, grossed
more than $450 million worldwide and set the record for highest-grossing March release ever.
The 300 DVD release set sales records around the world.
Canton also produced The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on the bestselling children books
by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, with Mark Waters (Mean Girls) directing. It was the
highest-grossing family film of early 2008.
Previously, Canton was the president of Worldwide Theatrical Production at Warner
Bros., where he was instrumental in creating the Batman, Lethal Weapon and National
Lampoon’s Vacation film franchises, and Chairman of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture
Companies, where he greenlit numerous popular, widely acclaimed and award-winning films
including As Good as It Gets, Jerry Maguire and Men in Black.
In 1997, Canton returned to Warner Bros. to create his own production entity, The
Canton Company. In early 2002, he joined Artists Production Group as a partner, chairman and
CEO. In December 2003, he launched Atmosphere Entertainment MM, an entrepreneurial
venture that develops, produces and finances theatrical motion pictures and television
programming.
A native of New York, Canton is a 1971 UCLA graduate (magna cum laude) and a
member of UCLA’s National Honor Society for American Studies.
In addition to serving on the UCLA Board of Councillors and the Dean’s Advisory Board
for the School of Theater, Film and Television, Canton is vice chairman of the Board of Directors
of the American Film Institute and founder and chairman emeritus of AFI’s Third Decade
Council.
RYAN KAVANAUGH (Producer) is the CEO and founder of Relativity Media
(Relativity), as well as a successful producer and highly regarded expert in film finance. In
addition to executive producing David Fincher’s Oscar-nominated drama The Social Network, his
credits as producer include Neil Burger’s Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro;
and David O. Russell’s The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale.
Kavanaugh produced the upcoming Untitled Snow White film starring Julia Roberts, Lily
Collins, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane, and is now in preproduction on Nicholas Sparks’ Safe
Haven. Other film credits include Despicable Me, Mamma Mia!, Brothers, 3:10 to Yuma, Grown
Ups and Dear John.
With Kavanaugh at the helm, Relativity is now an established media and entertainment
company engaged in creating, financing and distributing first-class, studio-quality entertainment
content and intellectual property across multiple platforms. Relativity has produced, distributed
and/or structured financing for more than 200 motion pictures generating more than $16 billion in
worldwide box-office revenue and earning 60 Oscar nominations.
Kavanaugh received the 2009 Hollywood Producer of the Year Award at the 13th Annual
Hollywood Awards gala. Daily Variety published a special issue honoring Kavanaugh as a
billion-dollar producer. In 2010, The Hollywood Reporter bestowed its Leadership Award to
Kavanaugh and devoted a special issue to his career. He has also been named Variety’s Showman
of the Year for 2011 and was honored at the most recent Cannes Film Festival. Kavanaugh was
also named one of Fortune’s “40 Under 40: Most Influential People in Business” and Forbes’
“Future 400: Ones to Watch.”
Kavanaugh has created business and financial structures for a number of studios,
production companies and producers, introducing more than $10 billion in capital to these
structures. During Relativity’s first year of operation, Kavanaugh executed a groundbreaking
finance deal for Marvel Studios that led them to launch the successful Iron Man film franchise.
He went on to structure business deals for companies as Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and many
others.
Kavanaugh has acquired a wealth of strategic assets, including the marketing and
distribution operations of Overture Films, the film unit of John Malone’s Liberty Media/Starz. He
reached a first-of-its-kind pay television deal with Netflix. In addition, Kavanaugh forged a
marketing and production partnership with Richard Branson’s Virgin brands, Virgin Mobile and
Virgin Produced, in which Relativity owns a stake. Kavanaugh also brokered an innovative crossplatform marketing partnership with Clear Channel Radio, the leading media company in
America with more reach in the U.S. than any radio or television outlet.
Kavanaugh was also instrumental in launching Relativity’s historic partnership with
China’s Huaxia Film Distribution Co. Ltd. to become equal partners in SkyLand Entertainment
and handle the production and distribution of films in China and the U.S. This joint venture is the
first and only government-sanctioned pact of its kind.
TUCKER TOOLEY (Executive Producer) is the co-president of Relativity Media and
oversees day-to-day operations alongside president and CFO Steve Bertram. He also oversees
Relativity’s film slate. In September 2011, Tooley was promoted from his previous post as
president of worldwide production.
Since joining the company in 2007, Tooley has teamed with Ryan Kavanaugh to build
the single-picture films division into a full-fledged studio that develops, finances, produces,
acquires and distributes eight to 10 films per year. Tooley most recently worked on the
company’s untitled Snow White project, 21 and Over and Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire.
Tooley has also executive-produced such films as Neil Burger’s Limitless, starring
Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro; David O. Russell’s The Fighter, with Mark
Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo; and Lasse Hallström’s Dear John,
starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried.
During Tooley’s time at Relativity, the company’s single-picture films division has
earned recognition with Golden Globe and Oscar nods for such films as The Fighter, Brothers
and Nine. In 2009, Tooley was honored with the Ischia Global Film Festival’s Executive of the
Year Award.
Prior to joining Relativity, Tooley served as CEO of Tooley Productions. There, he
independently produced television shows and feature films for more than a decade. Tooley was
able to consistently produce commercial films, package A-list talent and deliver films both on
budget and on schedule. His credits include Shadowboxer, starring Helen Mirren and directed by
Lee Daniels, and the critically acclaimed Felon, directed by Ric Roman Waugh.
In 1999, Tooley established production shingle Newman/Tooley Films with thenproducing partner Vincent Newman. Over the next seven years, the duo produced a successful
slate of both independent and studio films, working with much of the top talent in Hollywood.
Tooley began his producing career as a creative executive at Interlight Pictures. He
received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
TOMMY TURTLE (Executive Producer) guides and collaborates with directors,
creative talent and clients to develop and produce the next generation of entertainment for his
company, @radical.media. In collaboration with brands and agencies, Turtle works deftly across
multiple forms of media and across all delivery platforms imaginable, constantly exploring and
expanding the boundaries.
In his role as executive producer, Turtle’s breadth of experience spans international
television production, live entertainment, digital platforms, feature films and literally hundreds of
award-winning TV commercials produced in over 70 countries. Throughout his 20-year career as
producer and executive producer, Turtle has worked with directors such as Tarsem Singh, Terry
Gilliam, Antony Hoffman, Lenny Dorfman and Chris Milk.
Included in his extensive list of award-winning commercials are spots for brands such as
Pepsi, Nike, Orange, Mastercard, Gatorade, Coca Cola, Adidas, HSBC, Guinness, Sony, Toyota
and GM, to name but a few. His experience means Turtle is often the first choice for projects that
demand experience on the global stage, sometimes in extreme conditions. So far this has
encompassed filming far and wide, in areas ranging from the deserts of Namibia and the Sahara
to the Arctic Circle and even the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, for a recent TV special (Summit on
the Summit).
As @radical.media has continued to break new ground in the global arena, Turtle’s
international experience and expertise have seen him involved in the development of new
business opportunities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including the opening of
@radical.media’s London and Shanghai offices.
With his directing partner Tarsem Singh, Turtle has also produced the feature films The
Cell and The Fall. He collaborated with David Fincher on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
where Turtle produced the sequences that needed to be shot in distant locations such as India and
Cambodia.
The producer considers it his ongoing challenge to further establish and develop
opportunities in the entertainment arena from a truly global perspective.
JEFF G. WAXMAN (Executive Producer, Line Producer) has an enviable track
record in the motion picture industry. He is a quintessential industry hyphenate, having worked as
an executive producer, producer, co-producer, line producer, production supervisor and director
on acclaimed motion pictures. He has worked with some of Hollywood’s most revered talent,
including actors Anthony Hopkins, Jamie Foxx, Christopher Walken, Marisa Tomei, Philip
Seymour Hoffman, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler, as well as directors such
as Michael Mann, Sidney Lumet, David O. Russell, Tony Kaye, Taylor Hackford and F. Gary
Gray.
Waxman’s recent projects for Relativity include The Fighter, for which Waxman served
as co-producer, and Law Abiding Citizen, the 2009 hit he co-produced for The Film Department.
Before Law Abiding Citizen, Waxman gained other freelance credits including associate
producer on Reign Over Me (2007), starring Adam Sandler, and production supervisor on
Michael Mann’s Miami Vice (2006), starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx.
Leading up to his current producing career, Waxman worked with several production
companies. As the head of production for Capitol Films, Waxman oversaw films like Sidney
Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan
Hawke; Five Dollars a Day, starring Christopher Walken; Black Water Transit, starring Laurence
Fishburne; and Taylor Hackford’s Love Ranch, starring Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci.
Prior to his move to Capitol, Waxman was senior vice president of production for Los
Angeles-based Cutting Edge Entertainment, presiding over several important pictures such as Joe
Carnahan’s highly acclaimed crime drama Narc (2002) starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric,
which Waxman co-executive produced with Tom Cruise.
Waxman also produced The Devil and Daniel Webster (a.k.a. Shortcut to Happiness) for
Cutting Edge, which starred Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Anthony Hopkins, and
marked Baldwin’s directorial debut. Additional credits with Cutting Edge include In the Shadows,
starring James Caan and Cuba Gooding, Jr.; Cutaway, starring Tom Berenger and Ron Silver; and
Fait Accompli, starring Rosanna Arquette and Michael Madsen.
In 1996, Waxman received his first directing credit and also produced the concert film
Freebird, which documented the critically acclaimed Southern-rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Waxman’s film chronicled the original members’ heyday, including the events leading up to their
tragic plane crash in 1977.
Waxman began his career supervising a number of films for Connecticut-based Cabin
Fever Entertainment including The Hunter’s Moon, starring Burt Reynolds, and a pair of Houston
Film Festival Gold Award winners: 1995’s Painted Hero, starring Dwight Yoakam and Bo
Hopkins, and 1994’s Sioux City, starring and directed by Lou Diamond Phillips.
Waxman was born in Queens, New York, and now lives on Long Island with his wife,
Lauren, and their two children.
BRENDAN GALVIN (Director of Photography) began his career shooting music
videos and commercials, most notably collaborating with directors Tarsem Singh and John
Moore. Galvin’s first feature film assignment came in 2000 when he shot Steve Barron’s dark
comedy Rat.
John Moore’s directorial debut Behind Enemy Lines, starring Gene Hackman and Owen
Wilson, marked Galvin’s breakthrough as director of photography. He has since shot Joel
Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin, Jonathan Frakes’ Thunderbirds and John Moore’s follow-up
feature, Flight of the Phoenix.
TOM FODEN (Production Designer) has worked on a wide range of feature films,
commercials and award-winning music videos for some of the world’s biggest musical stars. His
talent for creating a stunning, eye-catching aesthetic has led him to work with some of
Hollywood’s best directors on an array of visually stunning films.
Foden’s credits include M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, Ridley Scott’s Matchstick
Men, Gus Van Sant’s Psycho and Mark Romanek’s One Hour Photo.
Foden worked with director Tarsem Singh on The Cell, which was nominated for an
ADG Award. For @radical.media, the two have also collaborated on commercials for Pepsi,
Acura and Nokia.
Working on commercials for ESPN Mobile, Nike, Motorola, Lexus and HBO, Foden has
collaborated with directors Roman Coppola, Robert Rodriguez, Stacy Wall and Mark Romanek.
He is well known for his work on music videos, including one for Hanson that was directed by
Gus Van Sant.
Foden often works closely with director Mark Romanek, designing videos for Nine Inch
Nails, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Lenny Kravitz that were nominated for or won MTV
Video Music Awards. Working with Jake Scott, Foden has helped to create videos for
Soundgarden, Madonna, U2 and Radiohead.
STUART LEVY, A.C.E. (Editor) has lent his editing talents to a variety of film and
television projects. He has worked on two of Oliver Stone’s films, Wall Street: Money Never
Sleeps and Any Given Sunday. His other film credits include Antti Jokinen’s The Resident, Tim
Story’s Hurricane Season, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin’s Nim’s Island, William Maher’s
Sleepwalking and Wes Craven’s Red Eye. Levy was nominated for an A.C.E. Award for his work
on Brett Morgen’s documentary Chicago 10.
Levy has also edited two TV pilots, “Faceless” for FOX and “The Dennis” for NBC. He
edited the promotional trailers for Gummo and Monument Ave. He worked on three music videos
for director Ted Demme and worked with Denis Leary on the music video “Love Barge.”
EIKO ISHIOKA (Costume Designer) is a multidisciplinary designer whose
internationally acclaimed work for stage, film, advertising and graphic design have made her one
of the world’s premier visual artists. Her long list of accolades includes an Academy Award for
costume design for Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula and the Award for Artistic Contribution at
the Cannes Film Festival for her production design of the film Mishima. She won Outer Critics’
Circle Awards and Tony Award® nominations for the sets and costumes of the Broadway play
“M. Butterfly.” Ishioka received a Grammy Award for her artwork on Miles Davis’ album
“Tutu.”
Ishioka’s creative vision has made its indelible mark on everything from Hollywood to
the Olympics. She designed the costumes for the film The Cell, directed by Tarsem Singh;
directed a music video for the singer Björk; designed the costumes for Pierre Audi’s production
of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” at De Nederlandse Opera; created racing wear for the 2002 Winter
Olympic Games in Salt Lake City; and in 2003 designed the team logo for the NBA’s Houston
Rockets, which is still in use today. Ishioka was also the director of costume design for the
opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Ishioka’s costume design for the Cirque du Soleil production “Varekai” earned her a
Drama Desk Award nomination. She designed the costumes for the second feature film directed
by Tarsem Singh, The Fall, which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her
costume design work is now seen on Broadway in the musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,”
accompanied by music from Bono and The Edge.
Ishioka is a laureate of the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame. Her work is
included in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among other cultural institutions.
Ishioka has published two retrospectives of her work, Eiko by Eiko in 1983 and Eiko on
Stage in 2000, both published by Callaway Editions in New York. In 2005, she published I
Design, a behind-the-scenes account of her work on 12 international projects.
Ishioka was born in Tokyo and resides in New York City.
RAYMOND GIERINGER (Visual Effects Supervisor) has employed his FX magic in
a diverse variety of films that range from family movies and comedies to horror. He started out as
lead 3-D animator on movies such as David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ, The Planet of Junior Brown
and Tarsem Singh’s The Cell.
Other film credits include Adam Shankman’s Hairspray, Marc Forster’s Stranger than
Fiction, Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Doug Liman’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, David Fincher’s
Panic Room and Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell. Gieringer also worked on the Oscar-winning film
Chicago as VFX supervisor.