Filmmakers

Joaquin Phoenix

Two-time Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (Ethan Learner) first starred for his Reservation Road writer/director Terry George in the Academy Award-nominated Hotel Rwanda.

For his performance as legendary singer/songwriter Johnny Cash in James Mangold's Walk the Line, Mr. Phoenix was nominated for the Academy, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Awards; and won the Golden Globe Award, among other honors.

Mr. Phoenix was born in Puerto Rico. Living and working in California, began his acting career at the age of 8. As a boy, he made appearances on such hit television shows as Hill Street Blues, The Fall Guy, and Murder, She Wrote. He was a regular on the 1986 television series Morningstar/Eveningstar, and that same year starred in his first feature film, Harry Winer's SpaceCamp. He next starred with his sister Summer in Rick Rosenthal's Russkies, before being cast in Ron Howard's smash hit Parenthood opposite Academy Award nominee Dianne Wiest.

After an acting sabbatical of several years, Mr. Phoenix returned with a starring role opposite Nicole Kidman in Gus Van Sant's To Die For. He then made his first movie with fellow Reservation Road actor Jennifer Connelly, Pat O'Connor's Inventing the Abbotts.

His subsequent movies have included Oliver Stone's U Turn; Joseph Ruben's Return to Paradise and David Dobkin's Clay Pigeons (both of which starred Mr. Phoenix with Vince Vaughn); Joel Schumacher's 8MM; M. Night Shyamalan's Signs and The Village; Gregor Jordan's Buffalo Soldiers; Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker's Brother Bear (in voiceover); Jay Russell's Ladder 49; and, James Gray's We Own the Night.

Mr. Phoenix' performances in several 2000 film releases earned him both the National Board of Review and Critics' Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor; the three films were James Gray's The Yards, Philip Kaufman's Quills, and Ridley Scott's Academy Award-winning Gladiator. The latter film earned him Academy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award nominations, among other honors.

Mark Ruffalo

Actor/director/producer/writer Mark Ruffalo (Dwight Arno)'s performance opposite Academy Award nominee Laura Linney in Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me earned him an Independent Spirit Award nomination; the New Generation Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; and Best Actor honors at the 2000 Montreal World Film Festival.

He most recently was seen starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey, Jr. in David Fincher's critically acclaimed Zodiac. Among his other films as actor are Michel Gondry's Academy Award-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (also for Focus Features); Michael Mann's Collateral; Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me; Jane Campion's In the Cut; Gary Winick's 13 Going on 30; Mark Waters' Just Like Heaven; Steven Zaillian's All the King's Men; Austin Chick's xx/yy; John Woo's Windtalkers; Rod Lurie's The Last Castle; and Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil. His upcoming films include Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret, Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom, and Fernando Meirelles' Blindness.

Mr. Ruffalo co-wrote the screenplay for Michael Hacker's independent feature The Destiny of Marty Fine, which was first runner-up at the Slamdance Film Festival; has directed several plays, including Timothy McNeil's Margaret (at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles, in early 2001); and executive-produced John Curran's independent feature We Don't Live Here Anymore, in which he starred with Laura Dern, Peter Krause, and Naomi Watts.

The Wisconsin native trained with Joanne Linville at the Stella Adler Conservatory before beginning his acting career on the stage. He gained entertainment industry attention starring in the off-Broadway production of This is Our Youth for playwright/director Kenneth Lonergan, for which Mr. Ruffalo won a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Actor. He has also been honored with Dramalogue and Theatre World Awards. More recently, he made his Broadway debut in Bartlett Sher's revival of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing!and received a Tony Award nomination.

Jennifer Connelly

Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly (Grace Learner) previously starred opposite fellow Reservation Road actor Joaquin Phoenix in Pat O'Connor's Inventing the Abbotts.

For her portrayal of Alicia Nash in Ron Howard's Academy Award-winning A Beautiful Mind, Ms. Connelly was honored with the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Award, the American Film Institute (AFI) Award, and the Critics' Choice Award.

She most recently starred in Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou.

Ms. Connelly is currently working on another film for Focus Features, voicing one of the main characters in Shane Acker's animated epic 9.

Her other film credits include Todd Field's Little Children; Walter Salles' Dark Water; Vadim Perelman's House of Sand and Fog; Ang Lee's The Hulk; and Ed Harris' Pollock.

Ms. Connelly was widely praised for her haunting portrayal of a drug addict in Darren Aronofsky's critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream. The role earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

She is also well known for her roles in Keith Gordon's Waking the Dead; John Singleton's Higher Learning; Joe Johnston's The Rocketeer; and Jim Henson's Labyrinth. Her first film was Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America.

Mira Sorvino

Mira Sorvino (Ruth Wheldon) won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Critics' Choice Award, and the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle citations, among other honors, for her performance in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite.

She was recently a Golden Globe Award nominee for her performance in Christian Duguay's miniseries Human Trafficking; and had previously been nominated for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Tim Fywell's Norma Jean and Marilyn, which also earned her an Emmy Award nomination.

Ms. Sorvino's other features include Robert Redford's Quiz Show; Spike Lee's Summer of Sam; David Mirkin's Romy and Michele's High School Reunion; Clare Peploe's The Triumph of Love; Whit Stillman's Barcelona; Gary Winick's Sweet Nothing; Ted Demme's Beautiful Girls; Rob Weiss' Amongst Friends, which she associate-produced; and Brooks Branch's recently completed Multiple Sarcasms.

Additionally, she produced Griffin Dunne's acclaimed independent feature comedy [Lisa Picard is] Famous, which world-premiered at the 2000 Cannes International Film Festival; and associate-produced the documentary Freedom to Hate, tracing anti-Semitism in the former Soviet Union.

Onstage, Ms. Sorvino has appeared in Joyce Carol Oates' Greensleeves; in Best of Schools, as part of UBU Repertory's Festival of New Plays; and off-Broadway in the Classic Stage Company's adaptation of Naked, among other productions.

She is the official ambassador for the worldwide human rights organization Amnesty International's "Stop Violence Against Women" program. Her work with Amnesty was recognized at the Artivist Film Festival, which acknowledges socially conscious filmmakers, activist celebrities, and charitable organizations. In March of 2006, she was honored with Amnesty International's Artist of Conscience Award, which is given to those who have displayed strong philanthropic and humanist efforts. Through her work with Amnesty, she has lobbied Congress on such topics as human trafficking and the atrocities in Darfur, Sudan.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Ms. Sorvino is the daughter of veteran actor Paul Sorvino. She attended to Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude in East Asian studies and received the Hoopes Prize for her thesis. She has also won the National Italian American Foundation's Achievement Award.

Elle Fanning

Elle Fanning (Emma Learner) is, at age 9, already a film and television veteran.

At age 3, the Conyers, Georgia native appeared as the younger version of her older sister Dakota's character in Jessie Nelson's I Am Sam, opposite Sean Penn. The Fanning sisters again played the same character at different ages in Taken, the Emmy Award-winning epic SciFi Channel miniseries.

Ms. Fanning's subsequent films include Alejandro González Iñárritu's Academy Award-nominated Babel, alongside Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza; Tod Williams' The Door in the Floor (also for Focus Features); Steve Carr's Daddy Day Care; Wayne Wang's Because of Winn-Dixie; Tony Scott's Déjà Vu; and David Fincher's just-wrapped The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

She next stars in the lead role of Daniel Barnz' independent feature Phoebe in Wonderland, with Patricia Clarkson, Felicity Huffman, and Bill Pullman; and in Andrei Konchalovsky's musical fantasy Nutcracker – The Untold Story, with John Turturro and Nathan Lane.

On television, Ms. Fanning has appeared in episodes of such popular shows as House, Law & Order: SVU, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, Judging Amy, and Criminal Minds. She recently starred in her second SciFi Channel miniseries, The Lost Room.

Eddie Alderson

Eddie Alderson (Lucas Arno) is making his motion picture debut in Reservation Road, which is only his second professional acting assignment.

The 13-year-old Pennsylvania native has been part of the cast of the daytime drama One Life to Live since 2001. For his portrayal of Matthew Buchanan, Mr. Alderson has received the Fan Club Best Younger Actor Award two years in a row.

Since filming Reservation Road, he has shot a Verizon Fios infomercial in which he plays a principal role.

He attends a performing arts school, and loves to play sports; he is a Yankees fan.

Sean Curley

Sean Curley (Josh Learner), age 12, makes his motion picture debut in Reservation Road.

The New Jersey native was drawn to acting at age 5, after attending a workshop in the town of Red Bank. He landed a spot in the cast of the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast, and performed in the stage show for six months. This was followed by an 18-month stint in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Recently, he was invited by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman to be part of the special benefit performance of their musical adaptation Zhivago, in London.

Mr. Curley can currently be heard on the popular animated television series The Backyardigans, as the singing voice of the character Pablo.

Terry George

Terry George (Director/Screenplay) was most recently an Academy Award nominee in the Best Original Screenplay category (with Keir Pearson) for Hotel Rwanda, which he also directed and produced (with Reservation Road producer A. Kitman Ho). Stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo also received Academy Award nominations for their performances in the film, among other honors. The film was also the first in which he directed Reservation Road star Joaquin Phoenix.

The drama about the brutal genocide of the Tutsis that consumed the African nation in the 1990s also received Best Picture nominations from the Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, and NAACP Image Awards, as well as the People's Choice Award at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, among other accolades. The screenplay also earned BAFTA and Writers Guild of America Award nominations.

Mr. George earlier received Academy Award and BAFTA and WGA Award nominations for his very first produced script, In the Name of the Father. He adapted the screenplay with director Jim Sheridan from wrongfully imprisoned Irishman Gerry Conlon's autobiography Proved Innocent. The film received six additional Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and its stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, and Pete Postlethwaite, among other honors.

Mr. George made his directorial debut with Some Mother's Son, the drama about the mothers and sons affected by the real-life 1981 hunger strike in Britain protesting the treatment of jailed IRA members. The film, written by Mr. George and Jim Sheridan and starring Helen Mirren and Fionnula Flanagan, won the Audience Awards at the Angers European First Film Festival and the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The picture won Mr. George a European Film Award for Best Young Film.

He was next in the director's chair with the Emmy Award-nominated telefilm A Bright Shining Lie, which he adapted from Neil Sheehan's Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnam War book of the same name. Star Bill Paxton earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his portrayal of John Paul Vann, the Lt. Colonel who was forced out of the military because of his outspoken opinions about the war in Vietnam but who later returned as a civilian advisor.

Mr. George's other screenwriting credits include The Boxer, written with director Jim Sheridan, which starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, and Brian Cox; and Gregory Hoblit's Hart's War.

With Jack Maple, he co-created and produced the television drama series The District, starring Craig T. Nelson. The program ran for four years, during which time Mr. George wrote and directed several episodes.

Before writing and directing films, the Belfast native wrote and produced plays at NYC's Irish Arts Center in the 1980s. It was there that Mr. George first collaborated with Jim Sheridan, on his 1985 play The Tunnel, based on Mr. George's own experiences as a prisoner in British jails in Northern Ireland.

He was recently given the U.S.-Ireland Alliance's Oscar Wilde Award, honoring screenwriting.

John Burnham Schwartz

John Burnham Schwartz has written the novels Bicycle Days (1989); Reservation Road (1998); and Claire Marvel (2003). His fourth novel, The Commoner, will be published in January 2008 by Random House, Inc.'s Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group imprint Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. His works have been translated into fifteen languages.

Reservation Road was cited as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. It was published in hardcover by Random House, Inc.'s Alfred A. Knopf imprint; the Vintage Books paperback edition was issued in 1999. To coincide with Reservation Road's release, Vintage is reissuing the book in both mass market and trade paperback as movie tie-in editions.

The NYC native's writing has also appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Boston Globe, DoubleTake, Vogue, and Newsday.

A past winner of the Lyndhurst Foundation Award, Mr. Schwartz has taught his vocation at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Harvard University (from which he graduated), and Sarah Lawrence College. He is currently deputy director of the Sun Valley Writers' Conference.

Nick Wechsler

Nick Wechsler (Producer; Novel) has, for over two decades, brought both independent and studio motion pictures to the screen.

He has made three films prior with Reservation Road star Joaquin Phoenix, as producer of Philip Kaufman's Quills, which was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review; and James Gray's The Yards and We Own the Night.

Mr. Wechsler's previous projects with other stars of Reservation Road also include producing Omar Naim's The Final Cut, which starred Mira Sorvino; and executive-producing Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, which starred Jennifer Connelly. He recently reteamed with the latter director, as executive producer of The Fountain.

His other notable credits as producer include Robert Altman's The Player, which won him the Golden Globe Award, New York Film Critics Circle award, and Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture; Gus Van San's Drugstore Cowboy, named Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics; Michael Tolkin's The Rapture and The New Age; Theodore Witcher's Love Jones, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival; and Niki Caro's North Country, for which stars Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand both received Academy Award nominations.

Mr. Wechsler has executive-produced such notable films as Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape, which won the top prize (the Palme d'Or) at the Cannes International Film Festival; James Gray's Little Odessa, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival; and Kasi Lemmons' Eve's Bayou, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature; and Spike Lee's 25^th Hour.

His current producing project is the feature adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel The Time Traveler's Wife; Robert Schwentke is directing Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana in the lead roles.

He recently optioned Cormac McCarthy's newest best-seller The Road, with John Hillcoat attached to direct the film version; plans to reteam with Reservation Road executive producers Dean M. Leavitt and Gina Resnick's Volume One Entertainment on a feature adaptation of Frank Miller's classic graphic novel Ronin; and, also following Reservation Road, plans to reteam with the Focus Features/Random House Films filmmaking partnership on a feature based on Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Bob Drogin's nonfiction book Curveball, named after the code name for the Iraqi informant whose deceptive information about biological weapons was used by the U.S. government to justify the war in Iraq. The latter book is scheduled for publication in fall 2007 by the Random House imprint.

Mr. Wechsler, a Great Lakes area native, was educated at USC, Loyola, and the University of Pennsylvania before beginning a career as a lawyer. In 1985, he became president of the motion picture division of Northcorp, a company created by Frank Yablans and the Producers Sales Organization. He left Northcorp to develop and produce motion pictures as well as manage such musicians as The Band's Robbie Robertson. He co-wrote the story for Ken Friedman's Made in USA before making his first movie as producer, Paul Mones' The Beat.

He was also the founder and co-chairman (with Keith Addis) of Industry Entertainment, a management and production company representing writers, directors, and actors in feature films and television.

A. Kitman Ho

A. Kitman Ho (Producer) most recently produced, with director Terry George, Hotel Rwanda, in which Reservation Road star Joaquin Phoenix appeared. The film earned honors around the world, including three Academy Award nominations; Best Picture nominations from the Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, and NAACP Image Awards; and the People's Choice Award at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.

Born in Hong Kong, Mr. Ho emigrated with his family to the United States when he was 5 years old, and grew up in NYC's vibrant Chinatown neighborhood. After graduating from Goddard College in Vermont with a Masters degree in Cinema, he continued his studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

He has been involved in all aspects of film production, beginning his career as a New York-based location manager on such films as Walter Hill's The Warriors. He moved up to production manager on such projects as Richard Benjamin's My Favorite Year, Richard Pearce's Heartland; Robert M. Young's One Trick Pony; and Academy Award winner Warren Beatty's epic Reds, on the New York portion of the shoot. His first credit as producer came with Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery's independent feature The Loveless, starring Willem Dafoe. Some 16 years later, Mr. Ho would reunite with Kathryn Bigelow, as producer on her film The Weight of Water.

He enjoyed a lengthy association with Academy Award-winning writer/director Oliver Stone, working with the filmmaker on several projects, beginning as co-producer of the Oscar-winning Platoon and Wall Street, starring Academy Award winner Michael Douglas. Their subsequent projects together were produced by Mr. Ho, including Talk Radio; the Oscar-winning Born on the Fourth of July, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and was an Academy Award nominee in the respective Best Picture categories; The Doors; JFK, for which he again earned Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations in the respective Best Picture categories; and Heaven and Earth. The duo also collaborated on the miniseries Wild Palms, which they executive-produced.

Mr. Ho's other credits as producer include Stephen Hopkins' The Ghost and the Darkness, which reteamed him with star Michael Douglas; and Michael Mann's Ali, for which stars Will Smith and Jon Voight received Academy Award nominations. The latter film was named Best Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.

Dean M. Leavitt

Dean M. Leavitt (Executive Producer) is chairman and senior managing member of Volume One Entertainment, LLC, a New York and Los Angeles-based investment company engaged in the financing, acquisition, and production of feature films. Volume One is a majority-owned subsidiary of Unicorn Partners, LLC, a New York City holding company of which Mr. Leavitt is the founder and chairman.

Prior to forming Unicorn in 2004, he served as chairman and CEO of publicly traded U.S. Wireless Data, Inc., an enabler of wireless transactions for the electronic payments industry.

Before his five-year tenure with USWD, Mr. Leavitt founded and was president of U.S. Data Capture, a New York-based credit card processing company serving the institutional marketplace. Prior to forming U.S. Data Capture, he served as a principal at a real estate development and investment banking organization, where he was responsible for securing equity capital from third-party investors.

Away from the corporate world, Mr. Leavitt serves on the boards of various charitable and civic organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors in economics, psychology, and art history from Atlanta's Emory University, at which he currently sits on the school's Alumni Board of Trustees.
Reteaming with Reservation Road producer Nick Wechsler, Volume One is currently developing a feature adaptation of Bruce Bauman's novel And the Word Was as part of its slate of films.

Gina Resnick

Gina Resnick (Executive Producer) currently serves as president, and is a principal, at Volume One Entertainment, LLC, a New York and Los Angeles-based investment company engaged in the financing, acquisition, and production of feature films.

Ms. Resnick's film business career has encompassed not only the corporate suites but also the movie sets. Prior to becoming an independent producer, she served as executive vice president of acquisitions, co-productions and business affairs at Columbia/Tri-Star Home Video. During her decade-long tenure at CTHV, she supervised an annual acquisitions and production portfolio in excess of $150 million, which was the feature film industry's largest independent acquisitions "war chest" at that time. Ms. Resnick was also responsible for all theatrical acquisitions on behalf of Columbia/Tri-Star International and the Triumph Films label.

She then segued into the production end of the business, as co-producer of Triumph's Solo, starring Mario Van Peebles and directed by Norberto Barba; and as executive producer of Susan Streitfeld's Female Perversions, starring Tilda Swinton, Karen Sillas, and Marcia Cross. The latter feature world-premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

Ms. Resnick next produced Jill Sprecher's Clockwatchers, starring Toni Collette, Lisa Kudrow, Parker Posey, and Alanna Ubach. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the top prize at the Torino International Film Festival of Young Cinema. She reteamed with Ms. Sprecher on Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, starring Matthew McConaughey, Alan Arkin, John Turturro, and Clea DuVall. The film had a Gala Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival; was cited as one of the year's best by the National Board of Review; was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards; and won three awards from the San Diego Film Critics Society, among other honors.

Her recent credits as producer include Alex Steyermark's Prey for Rock & Roll, starring Gina Gershon, Drea de Matteo, and Lori Petty; and Dan Harris' Imaginary Heroes, starring Emile Hirsch, Sigourney Weaver, and Jeff Daniels.

A graduate of New York University's School of the Law, Ms. Resnick has been admitted to the New York State Bar Association.

John Lindley

During a feature film career spanning over two decades, JOHN LINDLEY, ASC (Director of Photography) has established longstanding creative collaborations.

These include multiple features that he has shot for directors Mel Damski (the telefilms An Invasion of Privacy and Badge of the Assassin); Nora Ephron (Michael, You've Got Mail, Lucky Numbers, and Bewitched); Jonathan Kaplan (Immediate Family and the telefilms The Gentleman Bandit and Girls of the White Orchid); Phil Alden Robinson (the Academy Award-nominated Field of Dreams, Sneakers, The Sum of All Fears, and In the Mood); Joseph Ruben (The Stepfather, Sleeping with the Enemy, The Good Son, Money Train, and True Believer); and Charles Shyer (Father of the Bride and I Love Trouble).

Mr. Lindley's work on Gary Ross' Pleasantville, in both black-and-white and color, brought him acclaim as well as awards nominations from the Online Film Critics Society and the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, among others.

After studying his craft at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the native New Yorker began his career in documentaries for the BBC and in U.S. television. His early credits included the TV series Nurse, starring Michael Learned; and Emile Ardolino's Academy Award-winning documentary feature He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (about Jacques d'Amboise).

Mr. Lindley's other feature credits as cinematographer include Laurie Anderson's Home of the Brave; Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow; Jon Amiel's The Core; Jeff Nathanson's The Last Shot; and, most recently, Bruce A. Evans' Mr. Brooks.

He has also shot music videos (notably, the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere," now included in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection) and commercials (including the award-winning FedEx "Desert Island" spot).

Ford Wheeler

Ford Wheeler (Production Designer) was most recently production designer on writer/director James Gray's We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix of Reservation Road.

His other credits in this capacity include the independent features Sleeping Together (written and directed by Hugh Bush) and Into My Heart (written and directed by Sean Smith and Anthony Stark); and the television series Queens Supreme.

As set decorator, Mr. Wheeler has worked extensively with production designer Kevin Thompson. Their features together include James Gray's Little Odessa and The Yards (the latter also starring Joaquin Phoenix); Marc Forster's Stranger than Fiction; Jonathan Glazer's Birth; David O. Russell's Flirting with Disaster; Ismail Merchant's The Proprietor; Cindy Sherman's Office Killer; and Larry Clark's Kids.

Mr. Wheeler has also worked as set decorator or art director on such features as Philip Haas' The Music of Chance (which was his first movie project) and The Blood Oranges; Spike Lee's She Hate Me and Bamboozled; Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday; and Nigel Finch's Stonewall.

For director Jonathan Demme, he has worked as set decorator, on Beloved; as set dresser, on Philadelphia; and as art director, on The Truth About Charlie.

Mr. Wheeler hails from the Southern California coastal town of Corona del Mar. He studied fine art at Brigham Young University. Prior to beginning his motion picture design career, he owned and operated a major retail wholesale store in Manhattan's SoHo that was the largest importer of traditional African utilitarian items in the U.S., supplying stores, museums, and dealers worldwide.

Naomi Geraghty

Naomi Geraghty previously teamed with director Terry George as editor on Hotel Rwanda; editor on episodes of the television series The District; and assistant editor on Some Mother's Son.

Born in Dublin, Ms. Geraghty moved to New York in 1993. She first worked, as an associate or assistant film editor, on such features as James Mangold's Cop Land; Joseph Ruben's Return to Paradise; and Angus Gibson and Jo Menell's Academy Award-nominated documentary Mandela.

Her credits as film editor include Jim Sheridan's In America, starring Academy Award nominees Samantha Morton and Djimon Hounsou; Scott Elliott's A Map of the World; John A. Gallagher's Blue Moon; and, most recently, Neil Burger's acclaimed The Illusionist.

Ms. Geraghty is reteaming with the latter filmmaker as editor on a new movie, The Return (the title of which is subject to change), starring Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins, and Michael Peña.

Catherine George

Belfast native Catherine George (Costume Designer) initially studied fashion before going on to design in London. She began her career in film on Jim Sheridan's The Boxer, which was co-written by her brother Terry.

Ms. George went on to work as wardrobe supervisor on In America, again for Jim Sheridan; the "Cousins" segment of Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes, with Cate Blanchett in a dual role; and Jon Favreau's Elf.

As assistant costume designer, her credits include Zach Braff's Garden State; Dan Harris' Imaginary Heroes; and, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's The Nanny Diairies.

She made her costume-designing debut with Yale Strom's musical drama On the Q.T. She has since designed the costumes for Katherine Dieckmann's Diggers; Lodge Kerrigan's award-winning Keane; Peter Mattei's Love in the Time of Money; and Amos Kollek's Angela.

Ms. George's current project as costume designer is Clark Gregg's Choke, based upon the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston.

Mark Isham

Mark Isham (Music) has scored dozens of feature films. In addition to the traditional orchestral approach, he has explored other musical styles.

Soon to be released are several movies for which he has composed the scores; Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs, Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah, and Gavin O'Connor's Pride and Glory.

Mr. Isham's previous film scores include the ones for Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It, for which he received Academy Award and Grammy Award nominations, and Quiz Show; Paul Haggis' Academy Award-winning Crash; Gavin O'Connor's Miracle; George Tillman Jr.'s Men of Honor, for which he was a Grammy Award nominee; Robert Altman's Short Cuts and The Gingerbread Man; Carroll Ballard's Never Cry Wolf and Fly Away Home; Michael Apted's Nell, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination; Jodie Foster's Home for the Holidays and Little Man Tate; Rob Epstein's Academy Award-winning The Times of Harvey Milk; and nine films for Alan Rudolph (The Moderns [for which he was honored by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association], Trouble in Mind, Made in Heaven, Love at Large, Mortal Thoughts, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Afterglow, Breakfast of Champions, and Trixie).

He won an Emmy Award for scoring Paul Haggis' television series EZ Streets; and has been Emmy-nominated three additional times. He also won a Clio Award for his television commercials work. In 2006, Mr. Isham was honored with the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards' Henry Mancini Award.

A recording artist who explored electronic music early on, he also gained renown as a trumpet player. In that capacity, he has collaborated with such musicians as Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Ziggy Marley, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, and The Rolling Stones.

Mr. Isham continues to record solo albums, spanning jazz to New Age to world music. These have included such celebrated works as Miles Remembered and Blue Sun. He received Grammy Award nominations for his albums Castalia and Tibet, and won the Grammy for Mark Isham.