S A N A T K O P

Production Information

People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates—sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. It’s an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don’t exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer (BRUCE WILLIS) discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.

Touchstone Pictures presents “SURROGATES,” a gripping action thriller directed by Jonathan Mostow (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “Breakdown”) which also stars RADHA MITCHELL, ROSAMUND PIKE, BORIS KODJOE, JAMES FRANCIS GINTY, MICHAEL CUDLITZ, JAMES CROMWELL and VING RHAMES.

“SURROGATES” is produced by Mandeville Film’s David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman (“The Proposal,” “Traitor,” “Wild Hogs”) along with Brownstone Productions’ Max Handelman. Executive producers are David Nicksay (“Legally Blonde,” “The Negotiator,” “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”) and Brownstone Productions’ Elizabeth Banks (acting credits: “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” “W.,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”). The screenplay is by John Brancato & Michael Ferris (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “The Game”), based on the popular and inventive Top Shelf Comix graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.

The creative team includes production designer Jeff Mann (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “Transformers,” “Gone in Sixty Seconds”), Emmy Award®-winning costume designer April Ferry (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “U-571,” HBO’s “Rome”), veteran cinematographer Oliver Wood (“The Bourne” trilogy, “Fantastic Four,” “U-571”), seasoned film editor Kevin Stitt (“The Kingdom,” “Cloverfield,” “Breakdown”) and Oscar®-winning visual effects supervisor Mark Stetson (“Superman Returns,” “2010,” “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”). The behind-the-scenes team includes three additional Academy Award® winners—makeup artist Howard Berger (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Transformers,” “Grind House”), makeup artist Jeff Dawn (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “Batman & Robin”) and sound designer Jon Johnson (“U-571,” “Breakdown”).

“SURROGATES” was filmed on location in Massachusetts, primarily in Boston and surrounding suburbs.

THE BIRTH OF SURROGATES

The Future Is Now

First the computer. Then email, tiny cell phones and the Internet. Today, sexy robotic surrogates fill in for their less attractive human counterparts—regular people who no longer have to venture out into the real world themselves. In the world of “SURROGATES,” has technology gone too far?

“The premise of the movie is that surrogacy has taken over the world like cell phones and computers,” says director Jonathan Mostow. “Surrogates are new devices that offer users the opportunity to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. In our film, surrogates represent the ultimate freedom, from both physical harm and the mental toll of everyday life. Pleasure is achievable simply by plugging in.

“But for some, surrogacy feels like the abandonment of humanity itself,” Mostow continues. “In a world where actual physical contact is increasingly rare, does the very notion of love threaten to lose its meaning? Those are some of the ideas we explore in our story.”

First-time author Robert Venditti came up with the unique premise while working at Top Shelf Publications in their shipping warehouse in suburban Atlanta. Looking for a new spin on the graphic novel, Venditti recalled a sociology book he had read for one of his graduate school courses which depicted “an actual study of people who played one of those early community-type online games,” says Venditti. “I was fascinated by how these people just became so involved in this game, creating these alternate personas for themselves. They became so identified with them that they would lose their jobs, their marriages, because they just couldn’t separate their lives from this persona that they created. It was an idea that stuck with me—the basic human desire to be something other than oneself.”

The author fleshed out his idea further by imagining various reasons people would have for using a surrogate. “My idea was to create this persona that would go to work and earn money for you, a practical reason for having a surrogate. I looked at the idea of self-improvement, where these surrogates represent plastic surgery to the extreme where you could maintain yourself as forever young, or be more muscular—look like your dream self.”

“The story has always spoken to me about technology versus humanity,” producer Hoberman says. “I am someone who has come very late to computers, the Internet, email and iPhones. Until recently, I knew nothing. This story addressed, in a compelling manner, what would happen if everybody basically lived inside a computer, and their lives were being lived by someone else out there. It just spoke to where technology is going. I think it also spoke to plastic surgery and things people do to their bodies. I thought it was an interesting idea to explore in a film.”

Bruce Willis (“Die Hard,” “Twelve Monkeys,” “The Sixth Sense”) and Radha Mitchell (“Man on Fire,” “Melinda and Melinda,” “Pitch Black”) star as FBI agents Thomas Greer and Jennifer Peters, newly teamed partners charged with investigating a murder. It’s the first murder in years for their utopian society, and one that triggers questions about the ethics of surrogate technology and the future of society.

Says Mostow: “This movie is a mystery, a detective story, with Bruce Willis as an FBI agent whose investigation into the mysterious murder of a surrogate finds the hero confronting a conspiracy that calls into question the very definition of humanity.”

“It’s a cautionary tale about how people live their lives in this technological world of today,” adds Hoberman.

In the film, Dr. Lionel Canter is a reclusive billionaire and M.I.T. genius whose groundbreaking experiments have led to the creation of the surrogate population. Confined to a wheelchair, Canter began experimenting with prosthetic limbs while at M.I.T. His research led to a new technology for decoding brain impulses, which he discovered could be transferred as signals to synthetic humans. These remotely operated “surrogates” are distinguishable from their flesh-and-blood counterparts primarily by their physical perfection. Each surrogate is linked directly to a human being, blocks or hundreds of miles away, who control their replicants neurally. Without a human mind sending and receiving impulses while sitting in a special device called a “stim chair,” these robotic doubles are completely inert.

So, the world of surrogacy was born—to the applause of millions—and the regret and contempt of others. Ving Rhames (“Pulp Fiction,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Con Air”) portrays The Prophet, the self-styled leader of a group of disaffected citizens who passionately oppose the inhumanity of this technological lifestyle.

“The core idea of ‘Surrogates’ is how we retain our humanity in this increasingly, relentlessly technological world that we live in,” says Mostow. “Technology is great. The fantasy of technology is that it frees us to be creative, productive and to do all these wonderful things. The flip side to that is that we wind up being servants to it in a certain way. We’re tethered to our cell phones, to our BlackBerries. It’s great to have email, but when you spend hours a day returning emails, it becomes an obligation. So, these new opportunities and possibilities in life also restrain us in certain ways.”

“Technology becomes a lifestyle,” says producer Todd Lieberman. “That seems to happen with a lot of technology. It pervades society and people then depend on it in their lives. What would we do today without the Internet? Without cell phones? It’s hard to imagine. In this world, what would they do without surrogates?”

“The story’s just meant to raise such questions,” Venditti concludes. “I don’t know the answers to the questions. When I wrote the story, I wanted people to see the good uses surrogates would present to society, as well as the bad ones. Ultimately, I wanted the readers to make that determination for themselves.”

SENDING “SURROGATES” TO THE BIG SCREEN

A Graphic Novel Becomes a Movie

Producer Max Handelman, a lifelong comic book aficionado, optioned the graphic novel from Venditti. He found the story’s themes compelling. “The story really moves along at a great pace and allows you to imagine something that could impact our society someday. Are we all going to have surrogates? Probably not. But it’s a metaphor for our society’s increasing reliance on technology and increasingly virtual communication.”

Handelman brought the comic to a college friend, veteran producer Todd Lieberman, who is partnered with longtime industry producer and studio executive David Hoberman at Mandeville Films.

“I was looking for something with an edge, a film noir-type story and I found that in Robert’s story,” says Lieberman. “The movie starts with two really attractive people outside of a club. All of the sudden, some guy approaches and they fall dead. You have no idea what’s going on. In comes a detective, Bruce Willis’ character, and his partner. And you realize pretty quickly that we’re living in a world that’s not our world.

“The two people who’ve been killed are actually surrogates,” continues Lieberman. “Not only are the surrogates getting destroyed, but the people controlling them at home have been murdered, which is something that’s never happened in the history of surrogacy. The entire world of surrogates is at risk because the fail-safe of not harming the user is the cornerstone of the technology.”

Jonathan Mostow agreed to direct the film; his longtime writing partners, John Brancato and Michael Ferris (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” the 1991 telefilm, “Flight of Black Angel”), were tapped to tackle the script, marking a professional reunion for the trio of Harvard University alums.

“As soon as Mike and I read the graphic novel, we felt it could make a great film,” says Brancato. “The concept of surrogacy speaks to the modern condition in ways direct and oblique, a metaphor at once for the Internet, plastic surgery, addiction, role-playing games. Not to mention outer versus inner selves.”

To capture the flavor the writers sought to depict in this present-day/near-future universe populated almost exclusively by robots, the pair began to research the technology that reflected Venditti’s ideas in the graphic novel.

Their studies led the scripters to a Japanese scientist named Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has been using a plastic version of himself to lecture around the world without leaving his Osaka office. They also uncovered a rhesus monkey in North Carolina that has been wired to make a robot in Kyoto walk, merely by thinking. The technology continues to improve with groundbreaking advances that are already benefiting people with debilitating diseases.

CASTING “SURROGATES”

Bruce Willis Takes the Lead

“SURROGATES’” roster of characters includes idealized robots as well as real-life humans. Most cast members were asked to play both.

To bring “SURROGATES’” conflicted FBI agent to life, the filmmakers turned to global superstar Bruce Willis. “He’s really one of the great film actors of his generation,” says Mostow. “It’s a very specific skill to be able to pull off movies that have a very high-concept idea behind them. Here, it’s an alternative reality, and yet he makes it credible. That’s really his gift.”

“The thing about Bruce is he plays a great cop, but he also plays a great Everyman,” says producer Hoberman. “Both from a philosophical and theoretical perspective, that’s what this character is. As he goes through this journey, he discovers what humanity versus surrogacy is, which leads his character to a great crisis. The movie also has action and all the things you’d want to see in a Bruce Willis movie.”

“In the movie, the humanity comes through in Bruce’s character,” Mostow says. “Like everyone else, he goes about his daily grind using this technology. He’s an FBI agent who stays at home, in the safety of his apartment, and allows his robotic surrogate to go out and perform all the dangerous tasks that are involved with his work. At a certain point, he loses his surrogate and is forced to go out as himself and experience life as a human being again in a world that is completely technological and robotic.

“At the same time, he discovers feelings that have been building up inside of him about his own disconnection from his wife, who’s addicted to using her surrogate,” the director continues. “He’s a man who’s in an existential crisis. As he begins to live as a human being, he realizes how warped the world is. He begins to see the world totally differently.”

“I see Greer as someone who has lived in and embraced the surrogate world for some time,” adds producer David Hoberman. “Once his surrogate is destroyed and he can’t get another one, he’s a man, a human, out there in the world. Eventually he has to make a choice.”

Filmmakers called on Australian actress Radha Mitchell for Greer’s FBI partner Jennifer Peters. “Peters is an interesting character because she is actually three different people in the movie,” says producer Lieberman. “She’s the Peters surrogate who is a slightly newer, naïve cop, partnered up with Greer. There’s the real Peters character, a frumpier version of the surrogate, a painter, more of an artistic person. And, there’s a third Peters that’s part of the mystery. It’s a challenge for Radha because of the subtle changes that happen among these three versions.”

“Radha’s casting was an interesting process,” Hoberman says. “She has a great pedigree. We’ve seen her in ‘Finding Neverland,’ ‘Man on Fire’ and ‘Feast of Love,’ which Robert Benton directed. She’s a really good actor and she’s beautiful. She fit the bill perfectly.”

“Through the character of Jennifer Peters, the whole concept of identity is constantly in question,” says Mitchell. “It’s such an interesting character, or characters, to play. Who is Jennifer Peters? She is a character who sits at home in her stim chair, one we never really get to meet as a human. She has brown hair, bad skin, a big bum, funny teeth and stringy hair. She never wants to leave this enclosed reality that she lives in, so she experiences life through this robot, who is an FBI agent. We see her surrogate, who is also Jennifer Peters.

“It’s a little confusing, fascinating and it can be tricky to play a robot with the same voice and the same movement as your human character, even though the intent and motivation of that robot changes the characterization,” Mitchell continues.

“Your surrogate can look like whatever you desire,” director Mostow says. “For the sake of psychological continuity, most users choose surrogates which resemble their real selves in some way, albeit trimmer and better looking. The more adventurous may opt for completely different bodies—a new race or gender. Those with less money to spend can operate generic surries, which lack the facial detail and expressiveness of more expensive units.”

Rosamund Pike was tapped to portray Maggie, Greer’s surrogate-obsessed wife. “Maggie is beautiful, but sees only imperfections,” says Hoberman. “She wants to look in the mirror and see only beauty. For Greer, beauty is about what’s on the inside, not what’s on the outside. He fell in love with her for who she was, not for what she looked like.”

“Greer and Maggie are a very real couple who’ve lost a child, which he deals with by immersing himself in work, so she has to deal with it all on her own,” says Pike. “Because she feels so inadequate, her surrogate offers her perfection. Their interactions become all about two robots meeting, not the two real people.”

“Their relationship is the soul of the movie,” Hoberman adds. “We start off with two people who have gone separate ways in dealing with the death of a child—all during the advent of surrogacy.”

“The whole idea of surrogacy makes for a kind of kooky and original world,” says Pike. “It speaks on many levels about peculiar addictions and paranoia regarding self-image. On another level, it’s a very human story. Maggie and Greer’s relationship is at the heart of that struggle between perfection and reality.”

Pike says she saw Maggie’s surrogate as a “1950s air hostess—you know, Pan Am at its height with those little suits.” Her human counterpart was far less put-together. “You feel pretty vulnerable when you strip it all away to bring out all the imperfections.”

To embody the role of Canter, the mastermind behind the groundbreaking surrogate phenomenon, the filmmakers turned to two actors: James Francis Ginty portrays the youthful version of Canter, while James Cromwell serves as the older Canter.

“The whole idea for Canter is this aging guy with a debilitating disease who lives in a wheelchair, which also doubles as his stim chair,” director Mostow says. “And, the basic story is that Canter, who created surrogacy, believes it has gone beyond his original intentions.”

“Canter is not a messiah,” says Ginty. “In fact, I think his overriding motive was very selfless. Early in his life, he was afflicted with a dreadful condition. From that experience, he focused his energy towards bettering the world. So, he created surrogates to help people who were sick.”

“What an amazing thing to be able to give that gift to people that can’t live life like everyone else,” says producer Hoberman. “Canter thought it would help law enforcement and our soldiers so they wouldn’t have to die—they’d be safe while their surrogates got blown up in battle. But the technology got exploited when a big conglomerate took it over and made it for everyone. Canter feels the surrogacy technology has gotten out of hand.”

On the other side of the surrogate controversy is the mad seer who calls himself The Prophet. “He’s a fascinating character because he’s meant to be this kind of mythological figure that all these human beings follow,” producer Lieberman says. “He preaches pro-humanity, anti-technology, anti-surrogacy.”

The filmmakers called on Ving Rhames to portray the passionate character. “Ving Rhames is such a phenomenal actor and strong presence that he was perfect for the role,” says Lieberman. “He just emotes strength and leadership.”

Adds Hoberman, “Ving is powerful with a great voice. We also thought he would be a good foil for Bruce, too.”

“The Prophet is a cult leader who represents this faction of people who object to the use of surrogates, be it for religious or maybe even economic reasons,” says author Venditti. “These disenfranchised citizens don’t take part in the surrogate culture, so they live on the fringe in a place called ‘The Reservation’ where humans who’ve decided to disconnect from this technological world live.”

Rounding out the cast are Boris Kodjoe as FBI supervisor Andrew Stone, Michael Cudlitz as Colonel Brendon, and Jack Noseworthy as a local thug named Strickland who helps jump-start the story.

“In this fast-changing 21st century, where the technological changes of the Internet and all these things are happening at warp speed, there’s this generalized anxiety in people as to how to adapt in that environment,” Mostow says. “And this story about surrogates speaks to that. It becomes an allegory for life in the technological age. People identify with different aspects of the story immediately because they see it in their own lives.”

MAKING “SURROGATES” A REALITY

On Location with Veteran Behind-the-Scenes Talent

“SURROGATES” marked a homecoming of sorts for director Mostow, a Connecticut native who graduated from Harvard University 25 years ago.

In addition to mounting the film in several neighborhoods around Boston—the Leather District, the Financial District, the South End, Chestnut Hill, and the home of his alma mater, Cambridge, among them—Mostow also filmed in such Boston suburbs as Worcester, home to the FBI headquarters in the city’s shuttered downtown courthouse; Taunton—its abandoned Dever State Hospital mental institution doubled for The Prophet’s Reservation commune; and Hopedale, where the former Draper Mill loom factory was the site for the film’s more climactic moments.

Says producer Hoberman, “The interesting thing about Boston, from a filmmaker’s point of view, are these historic structures and buildings that were built in the 1800s. It has this classic American brick-and-stone architecture alongside these glass monoliths. And the one thing Boston’s done better than any city in the country is have it fit together. Our story is not really futuristic, but sort of in the present. And Boston, in its architecture, gives you that sense of both past and future, and we rode that line with it.”

To create this imaginative world pitting technology against humanity, Mostow recruited top filmmaking veterans, including production designer Jeff Mann and his art department, notably set decorator Fainche MacCarthy.

“One of the things I really liked about this movie was the wide range of looks and sets and locations and environments that we created and visited,” Mostow says. “In terms of all the looks and designs, we spent six months before we ever started building, just talking and conceptualizing, making sure that things were based in logic, which was satisfying both for myself and for our production designer, Jeff Mann. A lot of thought went into this, and a lot of really talented people did some great work.”

“This world is thrilling and interesting and visceral,” says Mann. “The graphic novel is a very moody, dark story set in this futuristic environment. In the movie, we set the story in a kind of parallel world. This technology of surrogacy is extremely advanced, but the surrogates in our story are tools. Their operators are absolutely responsible for the actions of this machine, just like you would do to any other machine.”

Mann designed several large set builds for the film, notably the DMZ habitat where a renegade band of humans have taken refuge from this technological world devoid of humanity and sensitivity.

There, one of the story’s central action sequences takes place in a mammoth maze of rusted, rotting shipping containers piled atop each other like huge building blocks rattled in a massive earthquake. An apocalyptic wasteland framed against a rotting loom factory abandoned three decades ago that provided a stark backdrop to a society that Mann calls “extremely bleak.”

“The DMZ zone is a trashladen slum,” says Mann. “It’s a kind of commerce area for the Dreads, where they’re recycling or stripping copper wire. They use these things to barter with in the surrogate world for the necessities they can’t manifest for themselves in order to live in their isolated state.”

“The DMZ is this kind of war zone that surrounds the Reservation where the Dreads live and disconnect from society,” says Mostow. “It was full of burned-out vehicles and parts where these people try to make their living by manufacturing items that they can live on. This, along with the Reservation, were two sets in the movie that help make for a different experience for the audience.”

In stark contrast to this post-apocalyptic backdrop was the serenity of the Dever State Hospital, a sprawling, abandoned medical campus in far south-suburban Taunton that became the perfect setting for The Prophet’s isolated Reservation commune where the Dreads “sort of live life the way we probably did in the ’30s and ’40s,” says Hoberman. “A simpler life, without any technology, where humans farm their own food.”

“It had this urban quality to it that felt kind of city adjacent,” adds Mann. “It had an overgrown feeling as if reclaimed by nature. We put solar cells on the roofs and created these cisterns to affect the reclaiming of rainwater. We also planted vegetable gardens like public green spaces.”

The place where surrogates actually went for their own robotic facelifts was fabricated in Boston’s downtown Leather District in a chair manufacturing plant that became Maggie’s beauty salon in the film.

“Maggie is a beautician and the beauty in this world involves technology,” Rosamund Pike says about her character. “My beauty shop is almost like an auto-body shop. We’re doing blasting and sanding—industrial beauty is what we call it.”

Fainche MacCarthy’s crew dressed the set with power tools and belt sanders—all with dainty pink flowered handles.

“There’s a scene where Rosamund has this beautiful woman who’s come in to get a face replacement,” prosthetic makeup artist Howard Berger says. “We built a replica of the actress that had a face that you could peel off. It was a very thin silicone face that fit over an endo-skull over this upper torso of the actress. It’s a seamless blend of the actress talking, while the face is being pulled off, revealing the robot’s endo-skull underneath. Mark Stetson’s visual effects department pulled it all together.”

One of Mann’s eye-catching creations included the “stim chair,” the device from which humans neurally operate their robotic doubles. “The stim chairs were a challenge because I didn’t want them to look too dental,” Mann says. “It’s a comfortable, exposed lounge chair with these sensor devices that are supposed to articulate nerve reactions and other muscle stimulus.”

“The initial concept in the script for the stim chair was this very comfortable seat where you were attached to wires and electrodes,” Mostow adds. “We didn’t want something that felt claustrophobic, so I came up with the idea that essentially you are in something like a massage chair—which already creates a sense of relaxation. And there are lasers reading your skin temperature and reading your body movements and neural impulses. The only thing you have to wear is a very light headset that’s modeled on something like a Bluetooth. The idea was to create something one wouldn’t mind sitting in for 16 hours a day.”

To complement the stim chair, Mann also fabricated another key set piece—the charging cradle. “When you buy your surrogate, it’s shipped to you in this dual-purpose container that’s both the shipping container and the charging cradle for it,” Mostow says. “So, at the end of the day, you come home and you back into your charging cradle and plug in to recharge.”

The actual robotic look of the main cast and hundreds of extras appearing in the film came to life through the combined efforts of the film’s two makeup departments—the key makeup under the guidance of Oscar®-winner Jeff Dawn (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”), and the special prosthetic designs courtesy of another Oscar winner, Berger (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”).

Because most of the main cast portrays two or more versions of their characters, Dawn and Berger utilized their many years of trickery to distinguish between the perfect surrogates and their rather imperfect human counterparts.

“The challenge for makeup and hair on this film from day one was determining what differentiates a human from a surrogate,” says Dawn. “Surrogates—are they plastic? Are they hyper real? Are they better looking than normal attractive people? The challenge was to make people who are already good looking look spectacular in every shot.

“The idea of surrogates touches on vanity that we all have, especially in this industry,” continues Dawn. “It touches on the technological advancements that we’ve made in the last few decades. You combine the two and you come up with a seemingly wonderful idea—the perfect man. I’ll make myself younger or taller or better looking.”

Dawn says that Willis had no trouble accepting himself in his own skin—even when the artisans added less-than-ideal details. “The human Greer character is a little older, a little rougher, a little more wrinkled,” says Dawn. “And Bruce was very good about that. When I needed to add a little age, some wrinkles, a salt-and-pepper beard, he was game for all of that. Now the surrogate Bruce had to be perfect, which we accomplished using a full head of blonde hair and these blonde eyebrows.”

Prosthetic makeup creator Berger needed to decipher the evolution of surrogates in his approach to designing a wide assortment of makeup applications and animatronic puppets for the film.

“There were a tremendous amount of challenges in trying to figure out how surrogates evolved,” he says. “I sat down with Jeff Mann and Jonathan to work out ideas, which presented us with many questions. Are they more robotic? Are they made of plastic or metal? Are their skins silicone? Are they something organic? Are they carbon fiber? The most important thing was what their endoskeletons were like. What’s inside of a surrogate? They’re all synthetic, made out of plastics and carbon fiber. Completely mechanical. Robots.”

Some of Berger’s unique designs included the crucified corpse of the surrogate Greer after it’s destroyed; shotgun wounds that graphically reveal the mechanical innards of the robotic doubles—KY jelly and green food coloring worked well as the hydraulic fluid that circulates through the surrogates; and eight animatronic “drone” puppets that operate the surveillance monitors inside FBI headquarters.

Casting Boston as the locale of this parallel reality created a challenge for the film’s visual effects gurus, here under the supervision of Oscar® winner (and three-time nominee) Mark Stetson. The film marked a homecoming for Stetson (honored in 2006 as one of Hollywood’s “Digital 50” content creators by the Hollywood Reporter and the P.G.A.), another Massachusetts native among the crew.

Stetson, who began his career 30 years ago, calls his role on “SURROGATES” a supporting one. “Our job was to help integrate the concept of surrogates into the everyday reality portrayed in the film. Because the movie takes place in the present, we tried to integrate some of the more advanced technologies in the story into everyday scenes to make everything look real.”

Making a perfect robotic version of a high-profile actor was a tricky business, he says. “The differences between the surrogate and its human owner/operator were established primarily with costume and makeup, live on the set,” Stetson says. “We enhanced those differences with VFX technologies beyond the limit of practical stage techniques by using a combination of 2D compositing and 3D CG techniques.”

Mostow also called on veteran cinematographer Oliver Wood (“The Bourne” trilogy), the longtime journeyman whose lighting and camera work enhanced the claustrophobic atmosphere of Mostow’s 2000 Oscar®-winning WWII thriller, “U-571.” Emmy®-winning costume designer April Ferry (HBO’s “Rome”) returned for her third project with the director, one in which she created dual worlds as illustrated by a combination of store-bought threads and custom-made clothing which vividly distinguished the state of surrogates versus that of humans among the film’s cast. The director also tapped veteran film editor Kevin Stitt, who cut Mostow’s big screen debut, “Breakdown,” over a decade ago.

ABOUT THE CAST

BRUCE WILLIS (FBI Agent Greer) has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” (1994 Palme D’Or winner at Cannes), the philandering contractor in Robert Benton’s “Nobody’s Fool,” the heroic time traveler in Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys,” the traumatized Vietnam veteran in Norman Jewison’s “In Country,” the compassionate child psychologist in M. Night Shyamalan’s Oscar®-nominated “The Sixth Sense” (for which he won the People’s Choice Award) and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the “Die Hard” series.

Following studies at Montclair State College’s prestigious theater program, the New Jersey native honed his craft in several stage plays and countless television commercials, before landing the lead role in Sam Shepard’s 1984 stage drama “Fool for Love,” a run which lasted for 100 performances off-Broadway.

Willis next won international stardom and several acting awards, including Emmy® and Golden Globe® honors, for his starring role as private eye David Addison in the hit TV series “Moonlighting,” winning the role over 3,000 other contenders.  At the same time, he made his motion picture debut opposite Kim Basinger in Blake Edwards’ romantic comedy “Blind Date.”

In 1988, he originated the role of John McClane in the blockbuster film “Die Hard,” one of the highest-grossing releases of the year. He later reprised the character in three sequels: “Die Hard: Die Harder” (1990), “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” (1995’s global box-office champ) and “Live Free, Die Hard” (one of the box-office hits of summer 2007)

His wide array of film roles includes collaborations with such respected filmmakers as Michael Bay (“Armageddon”), M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable”), Alan Rudolph (“Mortal Thoughts,” “Breakfast of Champions”), Walter Hill (“Last Man Standing”), Robert Benton (“Billy Bathgate,” “Nobody’s Fool,”), Rob Reiner (“The Story of Us”), Ed Zwick (“The Siege”), Luc Besson (“The Fifth Element”), Barry Levinson (“Bandits,” “What Just Happened”), Robert Zemeckis (“Death Becomes Her”) and Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City,” “Grind House”) .

Other motion picture credits include “The Jackal,” “Mercury Rising,” “Hart’s War,” “The Whole Nine Yards” (and its sequel “The Whole Ten Yards”), “The Kid,” “Tears of the Sun,” “Hostage,” “16 Blocks,” “Alpha Dog,” “Lucky Number Slevin” and “Perfect Stranger.”  He also voiced the character of the wise-cracking infant, Mikey, in “Look Who’s Talking” and “Look Who’s Talking Too” as well as the lead character RJ & Spike in the animated hit features “Over the Hedge” and “Rugrats Go Wild!”

Willis most recently completed work opposite Tracey Morgan in the Kevin Smith directed action/comedy feature “A Couple of Dicks.”

In addition to his work before the cameras, Willis produced “Hostage” and “The Whole Nine Yards” and executive produced “Breakfast of Champions,” adapted from Kurt Vonnegut’s best-selling novel. With brother David Willis and business partner Stephen Eads, he co-founded Willis Brothers Films, a film production company based in Los Angeles.

Willis also maintains a hand in the theater.  In 1997, he co-founded A Company of Fools, a non-profit theater troupe committed to developing and sustaining stage work in the Wood River Valley of Idaho, and throughout the U.S.  He starred in and directed a staging of Sam Shepard’s dark comedy “True West” at the Liberty Theater in Hailey, Idaho.  The play, which depicts the troubled relationship between two brothers, was aired on Showtime and dedicated to Willis’ late brother Robert.

An accomplished musician as well, Willis recorded the 1986 Motown album “The Return of Bruno,” which went platinum and contained the No. 5 Billboard hit “Respect Yourself.”  Three years later, he recorded a second album “If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes You Stronger.”  In 2002, he launched a U.S. club tour with his musical group, Bruce Willis and the Blues Band and he traveled to Iraq to play for U.S. servicemen.

RADHA MITCHELL (FBI agent Peters) recently starred in Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Children of Huang Shi,” opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Chow Yun-Fat, as well as “Henry Poole Is Here” for director Mark Pellington.  She starred in the Lakeshore Entertainment romantic comedy “Feast of Love” alongside Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. Mitchell has also been seen in films such as the lead role in “Silent Hill” with Sean Bean; “Finding Neverland,” starring opposite Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman; “Man on Fire” with Denzel Washington; the innovative feature film “Phone Booth,” opposite Colin Farrell; and “Pitch Black,” starring Vin Diesel. Mitchell will be seen in “The Crazies” with Timothy Olyphant, opening February 26, 2010.

Other recent film credits include “When Strangers Appear” with Josh Lucas; the independent feature “Dead Heat,” opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Anthony LaPaglia; Woody Allen’s “Melinda and Melinda”; “Nobody’s Baby” with Gary Oldman and Skeet Ulrich; Rodrigo Garcia’s “Ten Tiny Love Stories”; and “Mozart and the Whale,” opposite Josh Hartnett.  On television, she starred with Hank Azaria and Donald Sutherland in NBC’s critically acclaimed mini-series “Uprising” for director Jon Avnet. Mitchell gave a memorable performance as Syd, the young editorial assistant who falls in love with Ally Sheedy’s heroin-addicted photographer character in Lisa Cholodenko’s critically acclaimed drama “High Art.” Her role in Emma-Kate Croghan’s romantic comedy “Love and Other Catastrophes” was highly praised at both the Cannes and Sundance film festivals.

Originally hailing from Australia, Mitchell currently resides in Santa Monica, Calif.

ROSAMUND PIKE (Maggie Greer) began her career at the age of 16 when she discovered her love of the stage while starring as “Juliet” in “Romeo and Juliet.” After starring in many other stage productions such as “The Taming of the Shrew” and “The Libertine,” she eventually found herself starring in her first BBC production “Wives and Daughters,” opposite Michael Gambon, in which she received critical acclaim for her performance.

Pike’s first blockbuster appearance was in the MGM / James Bond film “Die Another Day,” alongside Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan. After Bond, Pike returned to the London stage starring in the Royal Court Theatre production of “Hitchcock Blonde,” directed by Terry Johnson. Due to its enormous success, the play eventually moved to the Lyric Theater in the West End, which was quite an achievement.

In 2004, she began work on Laurence Dunmore’s film version of “The Libertine,” opposite Johnny Depp. She portrayed Elizabeth Malet, wife to Depp’s Earl of Rochester. The film also starred John Malkovich and Samantha Morton.  Pike was rewarded for her extraordinary performance in this film with a 2005 British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress.

Pike then starred alongside Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn and Judi Dench in the Focus Features’ film adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel, “Pride & Prejudice,” directed by Joe Wright. Pike earned rave reviews as well as a 2006 London Film Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Jane Bennett.

In 2007, Pike was seen opposite Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins in the New Line legal thriller “Fracture,” directed by Gregory Hoblit.  She also starred in the Jeremy Podeswa-directed independent film “Fugitive Pieces,” which opened the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. She then starred in the independent film “Devil You Know,” directed by James Oakley and co-starring Lena Olin.

Pike returned to the theater, starring at the Old Vic Theater in Patrick Hamilton’s Victorian thriller “Gaslight,” directed by Peter Gill. She followed that performance by starring in the independent film “An Education,”directed by Lone Scherfig, which was well-received at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009. Pike was also featured in the independent film “Burning Palms,” directed by Christopher Landon, about five vignettes of life in Los Angeles.

Pike then starred at The Wyndham Theater’s “Madame de Sade,” opposite Judi Dench. Shortly after completing this production, she began pre-production on the independent film “Dagenham Girls,” opposite Sally Hawkins and directed by Nigel Cole.

Next up for Pike is the independent film “Barney’s Version,” opposite Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman.

BORIS KODJOE (FBI Supervisor Andrew Stone) was born in Vienna, Austria, and raised in Freiburg, Germany. The handsome performer, born to a German mother (a psychologist) and African father (a physician from Ghana), came to America in 1992 on a tennis scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where his aspirations to play professionally were derailed by a back injury.  Before earning a marketing degree in 1996, he was approached by an agent of the Ford Modeling agency in New York, which he joined right after college graduation. He worked with renowned photographers like Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, and Mathew Rolston, and his impressive track record brought him a Supermodel Award at the Fall ’98 fashion shows. Kodjoe graced the pages of some of the globe’s most popular men’s magazines while capturing the attention of Hollywood casting agents in search of a fresh, new face.

Kodjoe made his movie debut in the Spike Lee production “Love and Basketball,” co-starring opposite Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. He guest-starred on such TV shows as “The Steve Harvey Show,” “Boston Public” and “Eve” before landing his biggest role at the time—Damon Carter, the delivery man who falls for one of three African-American sisters (Nicole Ari Parker) on Showtime’s “Soul Food.”  Based on the hit 1997 film, Kodjoe starred in the ensemble drama for five seasons.

Kodjoe and Parker (who married in 2005 and have two children) next co-starred together in the film “Brown Sugar” alongside Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan.  The real-life couple next reunited onscreen as a divorced and remarried couple on the UPN show “Second Time Around.” Kodjoe has also done guest roles on “Nip/Tuck” and “Crossing Jordan.” Other movie credits include “Doing Hard Time,” “The Gospel,” “Madea’s Family Reunion,” “All About Us” alongside Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman and Oscar® nominee Ruby Dee, and two recently completed projects—“Starship Troopers 3: Marauder” and “The Confidant.”

For his screen work, Kodjoe has received four NAACP Image Award Nominations — three as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama for “Soul Food” and the other for his supporting performance in “Brown Sugar.”

In addition to his career in front of the cameras, Kodjoe has also recently triumphed onstage. In April 2008, he made his Broadway debut when he took on the role of Brick in Tennessee William’s classic drama, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” starring opposite James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose.

But Boris’ true passion and his lifetime mission is to raise awareness about Spina Bifida. He and his wife Nicole established the Sophie’s Voice Foundation (www.sophiesvoicefoundation.org) in honor of their daughter Sophie who was diagnosed at birth. Their efforts include prevention, care, and surgical studies, and they are committed to improving the lives of children and adults with Spina Bifida as well as finding a cure for the most preventable of all birth defects.

JAMES FRANCIS GINTY (Canter) is a second-generation performer following in the footsteps of his parents, actor-writer-director Robert Ginty and actress Francine Tacker.

Ginty is currently workshopping the Bill C. Davis play “Mass Appeal” for off-Broadway and heads back to UCLA in the fall to finish his degree in history. Last year, he worked on the campaign for Barack Obama and recently completed a college internship at the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) in Washington, D.C.

Born in Los Angeles, Ginty grew up in D.C. Destined for the performing-arts arena, he attended high school at the famed Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Mich. (after a stint at Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania), then enrolled in The Juilliard School in New York City, where he concentrated his studies in acting and ballet. He also studied classical ballet for seven years at several different schools, including The American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada. He formally began acting while in high school, later attending such renowned programs as the British American Drama Academy and The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before entering Juilliard.

Ginty left Juilliard early to make his motion picture debut opposite Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson in “K-19: The Widowmaker.” While future roles would include guest spots on “ER” and “Private Practice,” Ginty next pursued work in the theatre, with credits such as Tom Stoppard’s “Night and Day” at Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater, Romeo in the Shakespeare classic at the Seattle Rep, and another work by The Bard, “All’s Well That Ends Well,” at the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C.

JAMES CROMWELL (Older Canter) received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® nomination for his memorable performance as Farmer Hoggett in the smash-hit, “Babe.” Cromwell’s recent motion picture work includes Oliver Stone’s “W.,” Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” Clint Eastwood’s “Space Cowboys,” Frank Darabont’s critically acclaimed “The Green Mile,” “The General’s Daughter,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “The Bachelor,” “The Sum of All Fears,” DreamWorks SKG’s “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Becoming Jane” and “Spider-Man 3.”

He starred as Grandpa in “The Education of Little Tree,” and Police Captain Dudley Smith in “L.A. Confidential.”

Cromwell has earned Emmy® nominations for his work on the HBO original series “Six Feet Under,” the HBO movie “RKO 281,” and the NBC drama “ER.” His body of work encompasses dozens of miniseries and movies-of-the-week, including a starring role in TNT’s “A Slight Case of Murder,” a cameo appearance in HBO’s “Angels in America,” “West Wing,” “Picket Fences,” “Home Improvement,” “L.A. Law” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Cromwell has also performed in many revered plays, including “Hamlet,” “The Iceman Cometh,” “Devil’s Disciple,” “All’s Well That Ends Well,” “Beckett” and “Othello” in many of the country’s most distinguished theatres, including the South Coast Repertory, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, the American Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, the Long Wharf Theatre and the Old Globe. He recently played A. E. Houseman in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard’s “The Invention of Love” at A.C.T. in San Francisco. He is currently working on a production of King Lear.

Cromwell has directed at resident theatres across the country and was the founder and Artistic Director of his own company, Stage West, in Springfield, Mass.  He also co-directed a short film, which was shown at the London Film Festival.

Born in Los Angeles, Cromwell grew up in New York and Waterford, Conn., and studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Tech). His father, John Cromwell, an acclaimed actor and director, was one of the first presidents of the Screen Directors Guild. His mother, Kay Johnson, was a stage and film actress.

VING RHAMES (The Prophet) reunites with actor Bruce Willis for the first time since their appearance together in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 Oscar® winner, “Pulp Fiction.”

Rhames hails from Harlem, New York, where he began his career studies at the New York High School for Performing Arts and the Juilliard School of Drama. After earning his B.F.A. degree from Juilliard in 1983, Rhames made his professional debut in Joe Papp’s acclaimed Shakespeare in the Park production of “King Richard III.”

In 1984, he made his screen debut in the PBS telefilm “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” which led to small guest spots on such TV series as “Miami Vice,” “Tour of Duty,” “Spencer: For Hire,” “The Equalizer” and “Crime Story.” In ensuing years, Rhames has had recurring roles on such popular TV series as “ER” (eight episodes between 1994-96), “UC: Undercover” and “The District” (as Attorney General Troy Hatcher on five episodes over two seasons).

On the motion picture screen, Rhames debuted in “Native Son” in 1986, then won attention and acclaim as S.L.A. leader Cinque whose gang of militants kidnaps the famous heiress in Paul Schrader’s “Patty Hearst.” After supporting roles in such projects as Brian De Palma’s “Casualties of War,” Adrian Lyne’s “Jacob’s Ladder,” David Mamet’s “Homicide,” Ivan Reitman’s “Dave” and John Milius’ “Flight of the Intruder,” Rhames co-starred as the thug Little Leroy in the drama “The Saint of Fort Washington,” which vividly depicted the plight of homeless men on the streets of New York City.

In 1994, Rhames embodied the role of the merciless drug dealer, Marsellus “Big Man” Wallace, in Tarantino’s acclaimed, award-winning “Pulp Fiction.” Not long after, he reteamed with director De Palma as the crafty computer hacker, Luther Stickell, in “Mission: Impossible,” a role he reprised in the franchise’s two sequels, “M:I-2” and “M:I-3.”

His big screen credits also include Steven Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight,” Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead,” the Jerry Bruckheimer production “Con Air,” John Singleton’s “Rosewood” and “Envy,” “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Kiss of Death,” “Striptease,” “Entrapment,” and the voice of the animated character Cobra Bubbles in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” (reprising the role in the video sequel, “Stitch: The Movie”).

His upcoming projects include “The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard” and “Master Harold…and the Boys.”

Another career highlight for Rhames came in his performance as the world’s most infamous boxing promoter in the HBO production “Don King: Only in America.” The actor was honored with the Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Miniseries (as well as SAG and Emmy nominations) for his work in the film. At the 1998 Globe ceremonies, he surprised audiences by giving his award to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon live on the stage, as a tribute to Lemmon, whom he felt was a more deserving winner.

During his career, Rhames has also been honored as the Showest Supporting Actor of the Year in 2000 by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) and has earned seven NAACP Image Award nominations for his film and TV work over the years.

MICHAEL CUDLITZ (Colonel Brendon) stars in the highly acclaimed new NBC series “Southland,” which is executive produced by John Wells, who also produced “ER.” Cudlitz portrays Senior Officer John Cooper in this new spin on a police drama set in Los Angeles, where he plays an experienced 20-year veteran assigned to train a young rookie, Ben McKenzie’s Officer Ben Sherman.

Born and raised on the east coast, Cudlitz graduated from the California Institute of the Arts Theatre program and has established himself as a versatile actor in both television and film. Although his first love was the stage, Cudlitz found early success working in front of the camera.

Since then, Cudlitz has appeared in more than 20 films, including “A River Runs Through It,” “Gross Point Blank,” “Running Scared,” “The Mighty Ducks: 3,” “The Liars Club,” “The Negotiator” and “Crossing Over,” starring Harrison Ford and directed, written and produced by Wayne Kramer. Some of his notable television credits include roles on “Life,” “Lost,” “Prison Break,” “24,” “Without a Trace,” “Standoff” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.” He is most known for his role as Sgt. Denver “Bull” Randleman on HBO’s Emmy Award®-winning miniseries “Band of Brothers.”

Cudlitz will next be seen in “Tenure,” a comedy with Luke Wilson and directed by Mike Million.

JACK NOSEWORTHY (Miles Strickland) reunites with director Jonathan Mostow for the fifth time in his career, having worked with the fellow New Englander on his features “Breakdown,” “U-571,” the FOX Network’s extraterrestrial thriller “Them” and his cameo in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (which was excised from the film’s theatrical release but restored for the DVD cut).

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Noseworthy graduated from The Boston Conservatory. A triple threat, Noseworthy has starred in films, television and Broadway. He began his career on stage in the national tour of the musical “Cats.” He made his Broadway debut in the original company of “Jerome Robbins Broadway,” was the final actor to be cast in the recent revival of “A Chorus Line,” and most recently played opposite John Lithgow in the Broadway musical “Sweet Smell of Success.” In addition to his New York stage work, he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics prize and a Drama-Logue Award as Best Actor for his starring role as Alan Strang in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles production of “Equus.”

In the motion picture arena, his credits include the upcoming release “Pretty Ugly People” as well as “Phat Girlz,” “Undercover Brother,” “Poster Boy,” “Unconditional Love,” “Event Horizon,” “The Brady Bunch Movie,” “Barb Wire,” “Trigger Effect,” “Cecil B. DeMented,” “Alive” and “Encino Man,” his movie debut. In addition to his longtime association with Mostow, Noseworthy’s resume also boasts affiliations with directors such as P.J. Hogan, Paul Anderson, Betty Thomas, David Koepp and John Waters.

On television, Noseworthy recently starred in the Hallmark-Hall-Of-Fame western “Aces ‘N Eights” and appeared opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the CBS miniseries “Elvis.” Other television credits include guest spots on such hit shows as “CSI,” “The District,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Judging Amy” (four episodes). He also has the distinction of being the series lead on MTV’s first scripted series, “Dead at 21.”

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

JONATHAN MOSTOW (Director) made his motion picture debut as writer and director on 1997’s “Breakdown,” the taut thriller starring Kurt Russell as a man whose wife mysteriously vanishes in the desert after their car breaks down. The critically acclaimed film debuted atop the U.S. box office its opening weekend.

He followed with another No. 1 box office success—the WWII submarine action-thriller “U-571,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Harvey Keitel. The film, which he also wrote, garnered two Academy Award® nominations, winning an Oscar® for Best Sound Editing.

Mostow next directed “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which earned $450 million in global receipts in the continuation of one of Hollywood’s most fruitful franchises.

He executive produced David Fincher’s 1997 thriller “The Game” (on which he also developed the script with longtime collaborators and Harvard classmates John Brancato and Michael Ferris), then returned to the director’s chair for the Emmy award-winning HBO miniseries, “From the Earth to the Moon,” directing Tom Hanks in the finale segment entitled “La Voyage Dans La Lune.”

In 2004, Mostow was voted “Action Director of the Year” by the World Stunt Association. Most recently, he served as executive producer on the blockbuster Will Smith superhero drama, “Hancock.”

Mostow began his filmmaking career as a student at Harvard University, where he directed numerous award-winning shorts and documentaries. His first writing and directing breakthrough was the 1991 Showtime television thriller “Flight of Black Angel,” which earned him a Cable ACE nomination for Best International Movie or Special.

In addition to his film and television work, Mostow also recently created, for Virgin Comics, The Megas, a four-issue graphic novel series set in an alternative reality, in which the United States is ruled by a monarchy.

DAVID HOBERMAN (Producer) is one of the leading producers in the entertainment industry today, having made his mark on more than 100 movies. In 2002, after three years at MGM, Hoberman re-formed Mandeville Films and Television at The Walt Disney Studios. Hoberman produced the recent hit film “The Proposal,” starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

In 2008, Hoberman released the popular family adventure film “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and international spy thriller “Traitor,” starring Don Cheadle. “Kill Point,” a TV series starring John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg, premiered in summer 2007 for Spike TV. In 2006, Hoberman released the arctic adventure “Eight Below,” starring Paul Walker, and “The Shaggy Dog,” starring Tim Allen.

In 2005, “Beauty Shop” starring Queen Latifah was released. In 2003, Mandeville released the box-office hits “Bringing Down the House,” “Raising Helen,” starring Kate Hudson, “The Last Shot,” starring Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin, and “Walking Tall,” starring The Rock at MGM.

The award-winning “Monk,” a one-hour series for USA Network, is currently shooting its eighth and final season.

In 1999, while at MGM, Hoberman co-financed and produced “Antitrust,” “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?,” and the critically acclaimed “Bandits.” Prior to this, Hoberman was the founder and president of Mandeville Films, where he produced “The Negotiator,” and signed an exclusive five-year pact with The Walt Disney Studios. During this time, Hoberman produced “George of the Jungle,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Senseless,” “The Other Sister,” “Mr. Wrong” and “The Sixth Man.”

Prior to forming Mandeville Films, Hoberman served as president of the Motion Picture Group of Walt Disney Studios, where he was responsible for overseeing development and production for all feature films for Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures. During Hoberman’s tenure, Disney was the No. 1 studio, “Pretty Woman” was the No. 1 picture and the studio released the No. 1 soundtrack of the year. Hoberman was also behind the releasing of major blockbusters including “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Father of the Bride,” “What About Bob?,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Dead Poets Society,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Jungle Book,” “Ed Wood,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Ruthless People,” “Beaches,” “The Rocketeer,” “The Doctor,” “Sister Act,” “Alive,” “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” “Cool Runnings,” “Three Musketeers,” “Tin Men,” “Stakeout,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Cocktail,” and “Three Men and a Baby.” He broke through the Disney live-action ceiling with “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and championed the first-ever stop-motion-animated full-length feature, Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Today, Hoberman is also a professor with UCLA’s Graduate School in the Producers Program. He’s been a member of the Board of the Starlight Starbright Foundation for more than 10 years, is a member of the Board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and sat on the Board of the Los Angeles Free Clinic for six years. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Hoberman began his career in the mailroom at ABC and quickly ascended in the entertainment business, working for Norman Lear’s Tandem/T.A.T. in television and film. He worked as a talent agent at ICM before joining Disney as a film executive in 1985.

TODD LIEBERMAN (Producer) oversees more than 30 film and television projects for Mandeville’s ever-growing slate. He recently produced hit films “The Proposal,” starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds; “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” directed by Raja Gosnell and starring Piper Perabo and the voices of Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia and George Lopez; “Traitor,” starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce; “The Lazarus Project,” starring Paul Walker; “Wild Hogs,” starring Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy (the film generated more than $250 million worldwide); and Spike TV’s hit show “The Kill Point,” starring John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg. Lieberman also executive produced “The Shaggy Dog” with Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr. and Kristin Davis and directed by Brian Robbins, “Eight Below,” starring Paul Walker and directed by Frank Marshall, and the independent political thriller “Five Fingers,” written by Laurence Malkin and Chad Thumann, directed by Malkin and starring Laurence Fishburne and Ryan Phillipe.

Lieberman executive produced “Beauty Shop,” starring Queen Latifah, Djimon Hounsou, Kevin Bacon and Alicia Silverstone, and Jeff Nathanson’s directorial debut “The Last Shot,” starring Matthew Broderick and Alec Baldwin. He co-produced “Bringing Down the House,” starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, and “Raising Helen,” starring Kate Hudson and directed by Garry Marshall.

Lieberman is currently producing “The Fighter,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and directed by David O. Russell for Paramount Pictures.

Prior to joining Mandeville, Lieberman acted as senior vice president for international finance and production company Hyde Park Entertainment, which produced and co-financed such films as “Antitrust,” “Bandits” and “Moonlight Mile.”

Lieberman established himself at international sales and distribution giant Summit Entertainment, where he moved quickly up the ranks after pushing indie sensation “Memento” into production and acquiring the Universal box-office smash “American Pie.”

In 2001, Lieberman was named one of the “35 under 35” people to watch in the business by The Hollywood Reporter. He holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

MAX HANDELMAN (Producer) holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his Masters degree from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

Before switching gears to become a movie producer (“Surrogates” marks his Hollywood debut), the Portland, Oregon native worked as an investment banking analyst at Salomon Smith Barney. Later, he helped launch Fox Sports’ fantasy sports division while an associate at News Corporation in the company’s News Digital Ventures group. The group conducted investments and acquisitions in the digital arena as well as business development for Fox’s websites—Foxsports.com, Fox.com, and Foxnews.com.

As an avid fantasy player himself, Handelman co-authored “Why Fantasy Football Matters—And Our Lives Do Not.” The book, released in 2006 by Simon & Schuster, is in its second printing.

Handelman is currently partnered in the motion picture production company, Brownstone Productions, with his wife, actress Elizabeth Banks.

Brownstone is developing a slate of projects that includes the collegiate competitive a cappella comedy “Pitch Perfect” for Universal, action-adventure “Expedition Six,” the true-story account of three astronauts stranded in space following the 2003 space shuttle disaster for Universal, and the romantic comedy “Forever 21” for DreamWorks.

JOHN BRANCATO and MICHAEL FERRIS (Screenplay) reteam with director Jonathan Mostow after having penned the original screenplay for the filmmakers’ last big-screen hit, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” The pair first worked with Mostow (a fellow Harvard classmate) on his 1991 telefilm, “Flight of Black Angel.”

Although the budding writers first met at Harvard University in the early 1980s (both edited the esteemed Harvard Lampoon), they come from diverse backgrounds and opposite coasts. Brancato was born and raised in New York, working as a cartoonist and journalist after college before eventually finding his way to Los Angeles. Ferris is a native of Southern California, returning home after his Harvard film studies to team up with his college classmate.

They began earning a living as screenwriters on several successful low-budget films, working with such legends as Roger Corman, Oliver Reed and Bruce Campbell. In 1991, the pair wrote a spec script called “The Game,” which resulted in a high-profile sale to MGM at the time. Six years later, David Fincher directed the clever thriller starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. Meanwhile, their high-tech thriller “The Net,” which starred Sandra Bullock, was produced at Columbia.

Brancato and Ferris created and executive produced the NBC series “The Others.” They were among the 26 writers on the comicbook actioner “Catwoman,” and penned the monster movie “Primeval.” They have also written the next installment in “The Terminator” series—“Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins,” starring Christian Bale under the direction of McG.

ROBERT VENDITTI (Graphic Novel Author), a native of Hollywood, Florida, received a B.A. in Political Science and English from the University of Florida in Gainesville and an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Aspiring to be a novelist, he published a short story in 2002 (in the Berkeley Fiction Review) before getting hooked on comic books and changing his focus to graphic novels. With the help and guidance of his employer, Top Shelf Publications, he hoped to submit story ideas to the industry when publishers Chris Staros and Brett Warnock chose to retain the rights to The Surrogates (his first long-form publication) for their own company.

Venditti recently finished work on the prequel to the book (set 15 years earlier), which will be released in the Summer of 2009. He also envisions a third tome, which will be set 15 years after the initial story.

BRETT WELDELE (Graphic Novel Illustrator) has worked in a wide range of comic book genres since bursting onto the scene in 2000. His work has been published by Oni Press, Image, Marvel and AIT. His unique fusion of pen-and-ink and toner-and-paint has been acclaimed by fans and critics alike.

The Montana native now resides near Sacramento, California, where he completed his most recent project, Southland Tales, with author/filmmaker Richard Kelly. Other graphic novel publications include Couscous Express (authored by Brian Wood), Shot Callerz (written by Garry Phillips) and Julius (with Anton Johnston). The Surrogates represents his first work in color.

Weldele began pursuing his interest in illustration while in high school, later earning a bachelor’s degree in “sequential art” from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

DAVID NICKSAY (Executive Producer) has served in a variety of production capacities (independent producer, studio production exec, executive producer, assistant director) in his three decades in the entertainment arena.

A native of Massachusetts, Nicksay graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, where he was a performing arts major. Following an affiliation with one of America’s oldest entertainment institutions, Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, he began his career in Hollywood as part of the Director’s Guild of America training program. As an assistant director, he honed his skills on such projects as “Raid on Entebbe,” “Rich Man, Poor Man,” “Oh God!,” “The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training” and the TV series “How the West Was Won,” among others, quickly moving up to unit production manager.

In 1986, Nicksay joined Paramount Pictures as Vice President of Production, graduating to Senior V.P. the following year. During his tenure at Paramount, he oversaw a diverse slate of films including “Scrooged,” “Coming to America,” “Ghost,” “The Two Jakes,” “The Untouchables” and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.”

Three years later, he joined Morgan Creek Productions as President and Head of Production, departing the company three years later to return to the freelance production ranks. His affiliation with Morgan Creek resulted in executive producer duties on “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, “Pacific Heights” with Michael Keaton, Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith, “Young Guns II,” “Freejack,” “Stay Tuned” and “White Sands.”

On the big screen, Nicksay produced the coming-of-age film, “Lucas,” the drama “Up Close and Personal” starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer, the true-life period drama, “Mrs. Soffel,” with Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, the contemporary thriller “Antitrust” starring Tim Robbins and Ryan Phillippe, the romantic comedy, “A Guy Thing,” the hit sequel, “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde,” and “Agent Cody Banks” and the sequel “Agent Cody Banks: Destination London.”

As executive producer, his credits include “The Addams Family Values,” “Legally Blonde,” the Robin Williams hit comedy, “Flubber,” the highly acclaimed police thriller “The Negotiator” with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, “The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle,” “What’s the Worst That Can Happen?,” the recent thriller “Married Life” with Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper, and the recent hit sequel, “Step Up 2: The Streets.”

ELIZABETH BANKS (Executive Producer) marks her first foray into the production ranks with “Surrogates,” which she developed with her husband, producer Max Handelman, who optioned the graphic novel after discovering it on the Internet.

Together, Banks and Handelman head Brownstone Productions, whose current slate of projects includes the film adaptation of Ann Rowe Seaman’s nonfiction book, “America’s Most Hated Woman: The Life and Gruesome Death of Madalyn Murray O’Hair”; “Expedition Six,” which is based on Chris Jones’ book about a trio of astronauts stranded on the International Space Station following the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion in 2003; the romantic comedy “What About Barb,” which is about a socialite who allows her cousin to be her maid-of-honor so her wealthy uncle will pay for the wedding; and “Pitch Perfect,” a comedy set in the world of competitive collegiate a cappella singing. Most recently, they began work on “Forever 21,” a film developed for Banks at DreamWorks.

In addition to her role as film producer, Banks’ career in front of the cameras over the past few years has marked her as one of Hollywood’s emerging talents. She first won acclaim for her starring role of Marcela Howard opposite Jeff Bridges and Toby Maguire in the Oscar®-nominated “Seabiscuit” (sharing a Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination for Best Ensemble Cast).

The year prior, she appeared opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Steven Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can,” which followed on the heels of her performance as journalist Betty Brant in Sam Raimi’s record-setting blockbuster, “Spider-Man.” Raimi created the role specifically for the actress, who reprised the character in his two hit sequels, “Spider-Man 2” and “Spider-Man 3.” She continued to score at the box office as a playful bookstore employee who seduces Steve Carell’s “40-Year-Old Virgin,” the Judd Apatow comedy hit of 2005.

More recently, Banks starred along with Ryan Reynolds and Rachel Weisz in the romantic comedy “Definitely, Maybe,” Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti in the holiday comedy “Fred Claus,” Eddie Murphy in the sci-fi comedy “Meet Dave,” David Strathairn in “The Uninvited,” a remake of the cult Korean horror film, the holiday fable “Lovely, Still” with Oscar® winners Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn, Kevin Smith’s new comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” with Seth Rogen; and the romantic comedy “Mentors,” reuniting with co-star Paul Rudd. She most recently won acclaim as First Lady Laura Bush opposite Josh Brolin in Oliver Stone’s new biopic, “W.”

Other motion picture credits include the inspirational football drama “Invincible,” the horror/comedy “Slither,” the Merchant/Ivory drama “Heights,” “The Baxter” with Rudd and Peter Dinklage, “The Sisters” (from Anton Chekov’s “Three Sisters”) with Maria Bello and Erica Christensen, and Guy Ritchie’s remake of “Swept Away.”

Equally busy on the small screen, Banks continues her recurring role of Dr. Kim Griggs, physician J.D.’s (Zach Braff) love interest, on NBC’s quirky hit comedy, “Scrubs.” She recently co-starred opposite Val Kilmer and Steve Zahn in the CBS miniseries “Comanche Moon” (the prequel to “Lonesome Dove”) and has also guest-starred on such series as “Third Watch,” “Sex and the City,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Without a Trace.”

The Pittsfield, Massachusetts native is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania who later received her M.F.A. from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Her stage career includes two famous regional playhouses—Minneapolis’ renowned Guthrie Theater, where she appeared in Williams’ “Summer and Smoke,” and the Williamstown Theatre Festival (in her home state) in Inge’s memorable drama “Bus Stop.”

OLIVER WOOD (Director of Photography) reteams with director Jonathan Mostow following their collaboration on the WWII thriller, “U-571.”

Born in England, Wood began his motion picture career as a camera assistant in British television series, commercials, documentaries and feature films. After moving up to cinematographer on a small 1967 English satire, “Popover,” he relocated to the U.S. and entered the American film industry on the 1970 cult classic, “The Honeymoon Killers,” and followed early in his career a variety of small features such as “Alphabet City,” “Don’t Go in the House” and “The White Slave.”

In addition to his early feature film credits, Wood’s camera work as director of photography for three seasons on Michael Mann’s innovative NBC television series “Miami Vice” helped define the groundbreaking show’s acclaimed visual style.

Over the past two decades, Wood has compiled over 30 motion picture credits, most recently earning a BAFTA nomination for his camera work on “The Bourne Ultimatum” (for the record, Wood also directed the photography on all three “Bourne” titles, including “The Bourne Identity” for director Doug Liman and “The Bourne Supremacy,” his first collaboration with filmmaker Paul Greengrass).

He worked with director Renny Harlin on two projects (“Die Hard 2: Die Harder” and “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane”) and also counts among his big-screen credits such films as “Rudy,” “2 Days in the Valley,” “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” “Face/Off,” “Switchback,” “Mighty Joe Young,” “I Spy,” “National Security,” “Fantastic Four,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Scooby Doo 2” and the recently completed “Step Brothers.”

JEFF MANN (Production Designer) reunites with director Jonathan Mostow after having designed his previous feature film, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.”

The San Diego, California, native traveled the globe following school, making contacts in the music and art scenes that led to work in the art departments on a variety of music videos and television commercials.

By 1995, at the young age of 30, he had achieved a reputation as one of the top commercial designers in the industry, with a weighty resume of award-winning ads for such diverse directors as Michael Bay, Antoine Fuqua, Dominic Sena, Lance Acord, Jonathan Glazer and the late Herb Ritts, to name a few. His client roster included such brand names as Kodak, Nike, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, American Express and more.

Having established a relationship with director Sena on the eerie 1994 thriller, “Kalifornia” (serving as the film’s art director), he graduated to production designer on Sena’s hit actioner, “Gone in Sixty Seconds” and reteamed with Sena again on the technological thriller “Swordfish.” More recently, he designed Michael Bay’s sci-fi blockbuster, “Transformers,” Doug Liman’s blockbuster adventure, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” and Ben Stiller’s forthcoming action-comedy, “Tropic Thunder.”

APRIL FERRY (Costume Designer) teams up with director Jonathan Mostow for the third time following their collaborations on “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” and “U-571.”

The North Carolina native (raised in New Orleans) debuted as costume designer on John Carpenter’s 1986 actioner, “Big Trouble in Little China,” and followed with Alan Rudolph’s romantic drama, “Made in Heaven.” A favorite of director Richard Donner, Ferry has designed the wardrobes for four of his projects, including “Radio Flyer,” “Free Willy,” “Maverick” (earning an Oscar® nomination as well as an Apex Award nomination) and “The Shadow Conspiracy.”

Other big-screen credits include three projects with John Hughes—“Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “She’s Having a Baby” and his production of “Flubber”—and three features with Jonathan Kaplan—“Immediate Family,” “Unlawful Entry” and “Brokedown Palace.”

She has also worked on Arthur Hiller’s biopic “The Babe,” Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Mask” and “Child’s Play,” “Three Fugitives,” Bill Paxton’s directorial debut, “Frailty,” “15 Minutes,” “National Security” and “Playing By Heart.” She collaborated with filmmaker Richard Kelly on three projects—the cult favorite “Donnie Darko,” the big-screen adaptation of his own graphic novel, “Southland Tales,” and his upcoming sci-fi thriller “The Box.” She also designed the period wear for the WWII romantic drama “Edge of Love” starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller.

On the small screen, Ferry designed the wardrobe for the TV miniseries “The Sophisticated Gents,” received an Emmy nomination for the CBS/Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, “My Name Is Bill W,” designed two “Rockford Files” telefilms (1995’s “Punishment and Crime” and 1996’s “A Blessing in Disguise”) and the HBO biopic “Don King: Only in America.”

More recently, she spent four years on location in Italy for the HBO series “Rome” for which she won the 2006 Emmy Award and earned another nomination the following year. She was also twice honored for the series by the Costume Designers Guild for her period creations, with a third nomination in 2007.

KEVIN STITT, A.C.E. (Film Editor) reunites with director Jonathan Mostow after editing his acclaimed 1997 thriller “Breakdown.”

Stitt, who has compiled over 20 years in the editing room, has also collaborated with such filmmakers as Mel Gibson (“Apocalypto”), John Badham (“Drop Zone,” “Nick of Time,” “Another Stakeout”), Brian Helgeland (“A Knight’s Tale,” “The Order,” “Payback”), John Woo (“Paycheck”), Richard Donner (“Lethal Weapon 4,” “Conspiracy Theory”), Brian Singer (“X-Men”) and Peter Berg (“The Kingdom”).

Over the past decade, Stitt has also edited such feature films as Renny Harlin’s “Deep Blue Sea” (additional editor), Rod Lurie’s “The Last Castle,” Rob Bowman’s
“Elektra” and former editor (and mentor) Stuart Baird’s directorial debut, “Executive Decision,” which marked his first collaboration with longtime editor Frank Urioste. He most recently completed work on the hit horror film, “Cloverfield.”

The Los Angeles native majored in communications at Cal State Northridge before beginning his career in the 1980s (“Twilight Zone: The Movie”) in an era he calls “the golden age of Hollywood action movies.” He cut his teeth as an assistant editor, apprenticing with the likes of Frank Morriss (“Romancing the Stone,” “Short Circuit,” “Point of No Return”), Donn Cambern (“Big Trouble,” “Harry and the Hendersons”) and Stuart Baird (“Lethal Weapon 2,” “Maverick,” “The Last Boy Scout”).

MARK STETSON (VFX Supervisor) won the Academy Award® for Visual Effects for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of the filmmaker’s landmark trilogy. He earned his first Oscar® nomination for Peter Hyams’ 1984 sequel, “2010,” and collected his most recent nod for Bryan Singer’s reimaging of the Marvel Comic classic, “Superman Returns.”

In addition to his Oscar® win and nominations, Stetson has garnered two British Academy (BAFTA) Awards—for “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and Luc Besson’s futuristic thriller “The Fifth Element” (his first credit as Visual Effects Supervisor), with a third nomination for “Superman Returns.”

Stetson began his career in the visual effects arena in 1978 as a model maker on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” learning the arts and techniques of VFX as the industry transitioned from the triumphs of clever mechanical gizmos and photochemical alchemy into the digital age. He first gained international recognition for his landmark miniature work on Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic, “Blade Runner.” Later, he founded his own miniature effects studio, Stetson Visual Services, Inc., with partner Robert Spurlock, which he operated from 1989-94.

He has worked on over 50 films as a model shop/prop shop/creature shop supervisor, a designer/illustrator, an effects facility founder, and an art director (under the tutelage of such VFX giants as Douglas Trumbull, Richard Edlund and Robert Abel) before becoming a visual effects supervisor in 1995 on Besson’s “The Fifth Element” at Digital Domain. Other VFX supervisor credits include Walter Hill’s “Supernova” (also at Digital Domain), “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and P.J. Hogan’s “Peter Pan,” both at Sony Pictures Imageworks, and, most recently, the comedy “Meet Dave.” He also spent a year and a half in New Zealand, supervising effects during pre-production and production for Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

In the miniature effects world, Stetson’s credits include such films as Trumbull’s “Brainstorm,” “Poltergeist II: The Other Side,” “Masters of the Universe,” “Die Hard,” “Total Recall” (Saturn Award nomination), “Dick Tracy,” Tim Burton’s “Batman Returns,” “Ghostbusters,” “Honey I Blew Up the Kids,” the Coen Brothers’ “The Hudsucker Proxy,” James Cameron’s “True Lies” and “Waterworld.”

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Stetson studied industrial design at Connecticut’s University of Bridgeport from 1972-74. He then relocated to California to continue his studies at the renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Complementing his numerous industry awards, Stetson was elected to a place on the Hollywood Reporter/PGA’s first annual “Digital 50” list of digital content creators in 2006.

JEFF DAWN (Makeup Artist) is a third-generation Hollywood makeup artist. Dawn follows in the footsteps of his grandfather, Jack Dawn, whose 35-year career included overseeing MGM Studios’ makeup department from 1935 to 1950 (his 100+ films include the landmark “The Wizard of Oz”) and his father, Robert Dawn (“Missouri Breaks,” “Christine,” TV’s “Mission: Impossible”), an Emmy-winning® film and TV veteran of over 35 years.

His industry lineage also includes an uncle, Wes Dawn, also a 35-year industry makeup veteran. In the fall of 2007, Dawn’s own son, Patrick, started film school at Chapman University in Los Angeles, and will likely become a fourth-generation filmmaker in the family empire.

Dawn himself has served as makeup department head on more than 40 films in a busy career spanning 25+ years and four dozen films. Specializing in action/adventure, futuristic/fantasy, war and period films, his longtime industry collaborations encompass seven films with the actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and 19 features with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which includes an Oscar® for his work with Stan Winston on “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”

He began with California’s current Governor on the first “Terminator” in 1984 and also completed the trilogy on “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” his first collaboration with “Surrogates” director Jonathan Mostow. Other Schwarzenegger projects include “Total Recall,” “Predator,” “The Running Man,” “The 6th Day,” “Collateral Damage,” “End of Days,” “Batman & Robin” (the “Mr. Freeze” character), “End of Days,” “Red Heat,” “Twins,” “Kindergarten Cop,” “Eraser,” “Last Action Hero,” “True Lies,” “Jingle All the Way” and Schwarzenegger’s director debut, the telefilm “Christmas in Connecticut.”

Dawn also counts among his credits William Friedkin’s 1985 thriller “To Live and Die in L.A.,” “Star Trek IV: Voyage Home,” “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” Renny Harlin’s “Deep Blue Sea” and “Cliffhanger,” “Teen Wolf,” Dennis Hopper’s “Colors” and “Let’s Get Harry.” With actor Johnson, he created his makeup for “The Scorpion King,” “Walking Tall,” “The Rundown,” “The Game Plan,” “Gridiron Gang,” “Be Cool” and “Doom.”

For his innovative makeup designs, Dawn has also been nominated for six Saturn Awards (“T2: Judgment Day,” “T3: Rise of the Machines,” “The 6th Day,” “Batman & Robin,” “Total Recall,” “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home”), handed out by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA.

KNB EFX Group founding partner HOWARD BERGER (Special Makeup Prosthetics) won the 2005 Academy Award® for Best Achievement in Makeup (shared with Tami Lane) for his innovative character creations, animatronics and creature prosthetics on Andrew Adamson’s “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” With partner Greg Nicotero, the pair also shared the BAFTA Award for the film’s makeup as well as a Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. Berger most recently returned to C.S. Lewis’ world of Narnia for the highly anticipated second chapter, “Prince Caspian.”

KNB EFX Group was formed in 1988 by partners Nicotero and Berger, and has become the industry’s effects house of choice for cutting-edge directors such as Quentin Tarantino (“Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and 2”), Robert Rodriguez (“Spy Kids” trilogy, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “Sin City”), Steven Spielberg (“Amistad,” “Minority Report”) and Jay Roach (“Austin Powers in Goldmember,” “Meet the Fockers”), among many other filmmakers.

The pair formed their partnership after collectively working on Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead II.” They continued their affiliation with Raimi on such projects as “Army of Darkness,” “A Simple Plan” and, most recently, “Spider-Man 3” and have also maintained an ongoing association with director Tarantino that began with “Reservoir Dogs.” They supplied the creature and special makeup effects on the Tarantino-scripted vampire thriller, “From Dusk Till Dawn,” directed by Robert Rodriguez, which led to their continued association with both filmmakers, culminating most recently with their shared directorial effort, “Grindhouse.”

KNB recently completed work on the current remake of the 1986 thriller “The Hitcher,” the Jim Carrey starrer, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (an Oscar® winner for makeup), “House of Wax” for producer Joel Silver, “Serenity” for director Joss Whedon, Michael Bay’s “The Island” and “Transformers,” George Romero’s “Land of the Dead” and “Diary of the Dead,” Wolfgang Petersen’s “Poseidon,” Eli Roth’s “Hostel” and the sequel, “Hostel II,” and the remake of the 1977 Wes Craven cult classic, “The Hills Have Eyes.” The company also designed and applied the character makeup on Jamie Foxx, transforming the actor into singer Ray Charles in Taylor Hackford’s Oscar®-winning biopic, “Ray.”

Their innovative makeup effects are also on display in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia,” Martin Scorsese’s “Casino,” Frank Darabont’s “The Green Mile” and his most recent project, “The Mist,” Rob Reiner’s “Misery,” Eli Roth’s horror hit, “Cabin Fever,” David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive,” Kevin Costner’s “Dances with Wolves” and Simon Wells’ “The Time Machine,” which earned an Academy Award® nomination for Best Makeup. KNB also worked on “The Cell,” another Best Makeup Oscar® nominee. KNB also devised both the superhero and the super villain appliances for “Spawn,” an ambitious adaptation of Todd McFarlane’s bestselling comic book, which included the prosthetic makeup and body suits for John Leguizamo’s Clown character and a 12-foot hydraulic puppet of the Violator, Spawn’s demonic arch nemesis.

Although most of their work (600 titles and counting) is on the big screen, KNB has also excelled in the television arena, lending their talents not only to “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess,” but Showtime’s “The Outer Limits,” FOX-TV’s cult favorites, “The X-Files” and “24,” NBC’s “Law & Order,” HBO’s “Deadwood” and the telefilm “Desperation” based on the Stephen King novel. The pair won an Emmy for their work on the Sci-Fi Channel’s “Dune.”

KNB’s partners come from disparate backgrounds. Berger grew up in Los Angeles (the son of a post-production sound mixer) and spent his younger years visiting the studios of Oscar winners Stan Winston and Rick Baker, the renowned animatronic and makeup effects innovators, with whom he would later collaborate on “Aliens,” “Pumpkinhead,” “Predator,” “Harry and the Hendersons” and “Men in Black.” The company currently resides in a 22,000 sq. ft. studio in Van Nuys, California, with a staff of 82 artists.

Nicotero hails from Pittsburgh, where he began his career under the tutelage of acclaimed horror director George Romero and makeup effects master Tom Savini. He most recently continued his ongoing affiliation with Romero on “Land of the Dead,” serving as 2nd unit director and animatronic and creature makeup supervisor.

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