ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
HIDEO NAKATA (Director) has emerged as one of the world’s most influential horror film directors since directing the original “Ringu” in his native Japan. Based on a trilogy of novels by Japanese fright-master Suzuki Koji, the film went on to become the most successful horror movie in the history of Japanese cinema.
The film also inspired a trend in what is commonly referred to as “J-Horror” films, emphasizing mystery and dread over such common contemporary horror mainstays as gore and special effects. Nakata followed up in 1999 with the second film in the series, “Ringu 2.” Three years later, “Ringu” spawned DreamWorks’ successful American remake, “The Ring.”
Born in Okayama, Japan in 1961, Nakata studied both applied physics and journalism at the University of Tokyo. Upon graduating, he landed a job as an assistant director at Nikkatsu Studios where he worked for seven years under the mentorship of director Masaru Konuma. Moving to the UK in 1993, he began making an independent documentary film entitled “Joseph Losey: The Man With Four Names.” After a year and a half, he returned to his native Japan. In 1996, he directed his first feature film, “Joyu-rei” (aka “Ghost Actress”), which incorporated many of the trademark supernatural elements for which he would become best known.
In 1999, the same year he directed “Ringu 2,” Nakata switched gears to direct the crime-drama “Kaosu” (aka “Chaos”). Returning to his roots in 2002, he directed “Honogurai mizu no soko kara” (aka “Dark Water”), based on a novel by “Ringu’s” Suzuki Koji. American versions of both “Chaos” and “Dark Water” are currently being produced. In 2000, between feature films, Nakata directed a documentary film on his mentor Masaru Konuma entitled “Sadistic and Masochistic.”
“The Ring Two” marks Nakata’s American film directing debut. He is currently in development on several upcoming features, including a crime thriller entitled “Out,” and a remake of the paranormal horror film “The Entity.”
WALTER F. PARKES (Producer) is one of today’s most active motion picture producers, in addition to being the co-head of DreamWorks Pictures with his wife and partner Laurie MacDonald. Parkes most recently produced the fantasy adventure hit “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep and Jude Law under the direction of Brad Silberling.
Parkes’ upcoming films as a producer include “The Legend of Zorro,” the sequel to the earlier hit “The Mask of Zorro,” which reunites Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones; the futuristic action thriller “The Island,” directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson; and the tentatively titled “Just Like Heaven,” which stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo under the direction of Mark Waters.
Together with MacDonald, Parkes previously produced “The Ring,” directed by Gore Verbinski, which became one of 2002’s biggest sleeper hits. That same year, Parkes served as a producer on “Minority Report,” starring Tom Cruise, and “Catch Me If You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, both for director Steven Spielberg. He and MacDonald more recently produced Spielberg’s dramatic comedy “The Terminal,” starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They also produced the sequel “Men in Black II,” which re-teamed stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld. The couple had earlier produced the 1997 blockbuster “Men in Black,” for which they were named ShoWest Producers of the Year.
Parkes’ additional credits as an executive producer or producer include the Oscar®- and Golden Globe-winning Best Picture “Gladiator,” Sam Mendes’ “Road to Perdition,” the Jackie Chan starrer “The Tuxedo,” the recent remake of “The Time Machine,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Deep Impact,” “Amistad,” “The Peacemaker,” “Sneakers,” which he also co-wrote, “Volunteers,” “Project X” and “True Believer.”
As co-head of DreamWorks Pictures, Parkes has also overseen such successes as Michael Mann’s dramatic thriller “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise; the Oscar® and Golden Globe-winning Best Picture “American Beauty”; and the Academy Awardâ and Golden Globe-winning drama “Saving Private Ryan,” which was the top-grossing film domestically of 1998.
A three-time Academy Awardâ nominee, Parkes earned his first nomination as the director/producer of the 1978 documentary “California Reich,” which exposed neo-Nazi activities in California. He garnered his second Oscarâ nomination for writing (with Lawrence Lasker) the original screenplay for “WarGames,” and his third nod for his work as a producer on the Best Picture nominee “Awakenings.”
Laurie MacDonald (Producer), the co-head of DreamWorks Pictures with Walter F. Parkes, is also a prolific motion picture producer. She recently teamed with Parkes as a producer on the family hit “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep and Jude Law, under the direction of Brad Silberling. They are also producing a number of upcoming films, including “The Legend of Zorro,” the sequel to their earlier hit “The Mask of Zorro,” which reunites Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones; Michael Bay’s futuristic action thriller “The Island,” starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson; and the tentatively titled “Just Like Heaven,” which pairs Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo under the direction of Mark Waters.
Last year, MacDonald and Parkes, together with Steven Spielberg, produced Spielberg’s “The Terminal,” starring Tom Hanks. In 2002, MacDonald served as an executive producer on Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. She and Parkes also produced that summer’s sequel “Men in Black II,” which reunited stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and director Barry Sonnenfeld. The duo had earlier produced the 1997 sci-fi comedy smash “Men in Black,” which brought them Producers of the Year honors at ShoWest.
In addition, MacDonald was an executive producer on the Oscar®-winning Best Picture “Gladiator,” which was one of the most honored and successful films of 2000. Her credits as an executive producer also include the recent remake of “The Time Machine,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “The Peacemaker,” “Amistad” and “Twister.”
During her tenure as co-head of DreamWorks Pictures, MacDonald has overseen such hit features as the Michael Mann drama “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx; “American Beauty,” which won numerous honors, including the Best Picture Oscarâ; and Steven Spielberg’s Oscarâ-winning drama “Saving Private Ryan,” which was 1998’s most successful film at the domestic box office.
MacDonald began her producing career as a documentary and news producer at KRON, the NBC affiliate in San Francisco. She later joined Columbia Pictures, where she served as a Vice President of Production. After four years, she started a production company with Walter Parkes. Immediately prior to joining DreamWorks, MacDonald oversaw development and production at Amblin Entertainment.
EHREN KRUGER (Screenwriter) has quickly become one of the industry’s most sought-after screenwriters. He previously scripted the first “The Ring,” for director Gore Verbinski, which was one of 2002’s biggest surprise hits. Kruger has also written a number of upcoming films that are in different stages of production and development, including: “The Brothers Grimm,” starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger under the direction of Terry Gilliam, which is due out in November; “The Talisman,” adapted from the novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub; the thriller “The Skeleton Key,” for director Iain Softley; the horror film “Blood and Chocolate,” based on the book by Annette Curtis Klause to be directed by Katja von Garnier; and the science fiction fantasy film “John Carter of Mars,” based on the book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, to be directed by Kerry Conran.
Raised in Alexandria, Virginia, Kruger attended college at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 1996, he received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ prestigious Nicholl Fellowship—presented through an international competition for new screenwriters—for his screenplay “Arlington Road.” Three years later, the suspense thriller “Arlington Road” became a major feature film, starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack, and directed by Mark Pellington.
Kruger’s subsequent credits include the hit horror sequel “Scream 3,” directed by Wes Craven and starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox; John Frankenheimer’s action thriller “Reindeer Games,” starring Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise and Charlize Theron; and the sci-fi thriller “Impostor,” directed by Gary Fleder and starring Gary Sinise.
MIKE MACARI (Executive Producer) has been actively developing, packaging and producing numerous studio and independent film and television projects while serving as an executive producer on both “The Ring” and “The Ring Two.” He is currently producing the comedies “No Place Like Home,” starring Vince Vaughn under the direction of Amy Heckerling, and “Balls of Courage,” to be directed by Jim Abrahams; the dramatic thriller “The Invisible,” to be directed by David Goyer; and a horror thriller written by Andrew Klavan called “Cold Hand in Mine.” Macari also has more than a dozen other projects set up at different studios.
Macari was previously at Fine Line Features where he was responsible for overseeing the development and production of projects. While at Fine Line, one of the projects he initially discovered was the original Japanese feature “Ringu.” Among the other projects he handled during his tenure there were “The Anniversary Party,” starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kline, and Gwyneth Paltrow; and “Human Nature,” starring Patricia Arquette and Tim Robbins. He also covered various domestic and international film festivals and tracked independent feature films at all stages of production for potential domestic and international distribution.
Prior to joining Fine Line, Macari was an agent trainee at United Talent Agency where he worked with such clients as Joel and Ethan Coen, Wes Anderson, and Curtis Hanson. He is a graduate of Duke University, the University of Texas Law School, and the University of London - Kings College, in addition to being a member of the California State Bar.
ROY LEE (Executive Producer) made his producing debut with 2002’s “The Ring,” but has since set up a number of other film projects that are in various stages of development and production. In addition to developing original scripts, Lee has successfully imported films from Japan, Korea and Hong Kong to be remade in the United States, the most recent being the horror thriller “The Grudge,” starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, on which Lee served as a producer. He is also producing the American remake of Hideo Nakata’s “Dark Water,” starring Jennifer Connelly, which is due out in late summer 2005.
Partnered with Doug Davison, Lee heads up Vertigo Entertainment and is currently serving as a producer or executive producer on a wide range of motion pictures. His upcoming films include the drama “The Departed,” to star Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio under the direction of Martin Scorsese; “Chaos,” a thriller starring Robert De Niro, being directed by Jonathan Glazer; Hideo Nakata’s remake of the paranormal thriller “The Entity”; and the adventure film “Antarctica,” to be directed by Frank Marshall. Lee’s future producing slate also includes a remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” the romantic comedy “My Sassy Girl,” the drama “Il Mare,” an as-yet-untitled comedy to star Diane Keaton, and the thrillers “Oldboy,” “The Eye” and “Addicted.”
Lee earned a Bachelors degree from George Washington University and a law degree from American University, before moving from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. His first job was with the production company Alphaville, where he worked on films such as “The Mummy,” “The Jackal” and “Michael.” After working under the producers of Alphaville, he set out on his own as an independent producer.
NEIL MACHLIS (Executive Producer) has been one of the film industry’s busiest producers during a career spanning more than 30 years. He has collaborated a number of times with director Mike Nichols, serving as a producer or executive producer on Nichols’ films “What Planet Are You From?,” “Primary Colors,” “The Birdcage,” “Postcards From the Edge” and “Wolf.” Machlis’ additional credits as an executive producer include “Dr. Dolittle 2,” “Bedazzled,” “Flawless,” “Honeymoon in Vegas,” “Chances Are” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” He most recently executive produced the family hit “Garfield: The Movie,” which combined live action and animation.
Born and raised in Belle Harbor, New York, Machlis earned a B.A. degree from American University, and he began his film career at Astra Films in Washington, D.C. During the social unrest of the late ‘60s, Machlis found himself at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago filming commentary for the U.S. Senate during that seminal period in history. The following year, Machlis moved back to New York and entered the Directors Guild of America’s training program, becoming one of only ten trainees accepted from more than 1,500 applicants. After graduating from the program, he began his career working on such films as “Lenny” and the original “The Stepford Wives.”
Machlis’ early credits also include working as an associate producer or unit production manager on such films as “Grease,” “American Gigolo,” “Johnny Dangerously,” “Mommie Dearest” and “Cujo.”
MICHELE WEISLER (Executive Producer) served as an executive producer on the 2002 hit “The Ring.” Also that year, she produced the feature “Try Seventeen,” directed by Jeff Porter and starring Elijah Wood, Franka Potente and Mandy Moore, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Currently, Weisler is in development on several projects, including “The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle,” adapted from the Newbury Award-winning novel by Avi; and “Mooch,” adapted from the novel by Dan Fante.
Her earlier credits as an executive producer include “Novocaine,” starring Steve Martin, Laura Dern and Helena Bonham-Carter, which opened the 2001 Toronto Film Festival; “Soul Survivors,” starring Wes Bentley and Casey Affleck; and “Stir of Echoes,” starring Kevin Bacon, which marked her second collaboration with director David Koepp. Weisler had earlier served as an associate producer on Koepp’s directorial debut feature “The Trigger Effect,” starring Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue and Dermot Mulroney. Weisler’s film work also includes co-producing DreamWorks’ family film “Paulie.”
Weisler graduated with a degree in film from the University of Wisconsin, and then began her career as an intern working on Roger Corman’s horror movie “The Nest.” Rising through the ranks of Corman’s Concorde Pictures, she co-produced over 20 feature films, including Jeff Porter’s “The Liar’s Club.” She eventually became responsible for all physical production for the company before branching out on her own.
GABRIEL BERISTAIN (Director of Photography) includes among his latest film credits “Blade: Trinity” and “Blade II,” and the actioner “S.W.A.T.” In 1987, Beristain was honored with the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his lensing of Derek Jarman's “Caravaggio,” only his third feature as a cinematographer.
Born in Mexico, Beristain is the son of famed Mexican actor Luis Beristain. Moving to Europe, the younger Beristain worked as a documentary and newsreel cameraman covering sensitive political, social and ecological issues. He later settled in England where he attended the prestigious National Film and Television School.
His first major feature as a director of photography was Mike Newell’s “The Good Father,” starring Anthony Hopkins. Beristain’s more recent film work includes “The Spanish Prisoner,” “Dolores Claiborne,” “Bound by Honor,” “The Distinguished Gentleman” and “K2.”
JIM BISSELL (Production Designer) began his motion picture career as production designer on Steven Spielberg’s enduring classic “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” Bissell was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Production Design for his work on that film. He later reunited with Spielberg on the film “Always.”
Bissell more recently served as the production designer on George Clooney’s feature film directorial debut “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” He is currently collaborating again with Clooney on the actor/director’s new feature “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
His subsequent credits have included “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” “The Falcon and the Snowman,” “The Boy Who Could Fly,” “Harry and the Hendersons,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Twins,” “Arachnophobia,” “The Rocketeer,” “Jumanji,” “Tin Cup,” “My Fellow Americans,” “Cats & Dogs,” “The 6th Day” and “Hollywood Homicide.”
Early in his career, Bissell won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Director for a Series for his work on “Palmerstown, U.S.A.”
Bissell graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with a BFA in Theatrical Design. He continues to teach seminars at the American Film Institute and UCLA on the art of production design.
WENDY CHUCK (Costume Designer) has collaborated with filmmaker Alexander Payne on three films, including his most recent award-winning hit “Sideways.” She previously designed the costumes for Payne’s acclaimed films “About Schmidt,” starring Jack Nicholson, for which she earned a Costume Designers Guild Award; and “Election,” with Reese Witherspoon. She also served as the costume designer on the comedy hit “Bad Santa,” starring Billy Bob Thornton, and “Saved!,” starring Jena Malone and Macauley Culkin.
Chuck won an Australian Film Institute Award nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design for her very first feature film as a costume designer, “Country Life,” starring Sam Neill and Greta Scacchi. Her film credits also include “Strange Hearts,” “Sugar & Spice” “Auggie Rose” and “Varsity Blues.”
Chuck began her career in her native Australia working in theatre, opera, and television. After working on Jane Campion’s telefilm “Two Friends,” she collaborated with Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Janet Patterson on Campion’s “Portrait of a Lady” and “The Piano.”
She is currently working on the movie “Jumpshot,” for director Mark Rydell, starring Danny De Vito, Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker.
MICHAEL N. KNUE (Editor) has edited both film and television projects. He most recently worked on the top-rated miniseries “10.5,” which dramatized a devastating earthquake. His recent television work also includes the series “The Guardian,” and the Horton Foote drama, “Lily Dale,” for which Knue was honored by his peers with a nomination for an Eddie Award from the American Cinema Editors.
Knue’s film credits include the Sylvester Stallone films “Lock Up” and “Rocky V.” He has also edited numerous science fiction and horror films, including the cult favorite, “The Hidden,” the live-action version of Todd McFarlane’s “Spawn,” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.” His other films include “Highlander: Endgame,” “House,” and “Bones,” with Snoop Dogg. In addition, he directed second unit photography for “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.”
A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Knue started out making documentaries and producing and directing local educational television. For the past 13 years, he has taught editing courses in UCLA Extension’s Department of Entertainment Studies.
HANS ZIMMER (Composer - Themes) is one of the film industry’s most prolific composers, with more than 100 film scores to his credit. Having scored 2002’s hit “The Ring,” he returned to compose the music for the sequel.
In 1994, he won both the Academy Award® and a Golden Globe Award for his score for the animated blockbuster “The Lion King,” which also spawned one of the most successful soundtrack albums ever. The composer’s music for “The Lion King” continued to draw applause in the award-winning stage production of the musical. The show earned the 1998 Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album.
Zimmer has garnered six additional Academy Award® nominations, the latest for his “Gladiator” score, for which he also won a Golden Globe Award and earned a Grammy Award nomination. He has also been Academy Award®-nominated for “The Prince of Egypt,” “The Thin Red Line,” “As Good As It Gets,” “The Preacher’s Wife” and “Rain Man.” This year, he earned his seventh Golden Globe nomination for his score for James L. Brooks’ comedy “Spanglish.” He had previously earned Golden Globe nominations for his work on “The Last Samurai,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” “Pearl Harbor” and “The Prince of Egypt.”
Zimmer has several films upcoming, including “The Weather Man” directed by Gore Verbinski; the highly anticipated “Batman Begins”; and DreamWorks’ next animated feature, “Madagascar.” His long list of film credits goes on to include “Pearl Harbor,” “Matchstick Men,” “Shark Tale,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Hannibal,” “Crimson Tide,” for which he won a Grammy, “Thelma & Louise,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Mission: Impossible 2,” “Riding in Cars With Boys,” “A League of Their Own,” “Black Rain,” “Backdraft,” “True Romance,” “Days of Thunder” and “My Beautiful Launderette.”
In addition to his composing work, Zimmer heads DreamWorks’ film music division. His appointment marks the first time that a composer has headed the music department of a major studio since the days of Dimitri Tiomkin at MGM and Alfred Newman at Twentieth Century Fox.
RICK BAKER (Special Effects Makeup) is one of the most honored makeup artists in motion picture history. He has won six Academy Awards® in the category of Best Makeup for his work on the films “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Men in Black,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Ed Wood,” “Harry and the Hendersons” and “An American Werewolf in London.” In addition, he has been Oscar®- nominated for his work on the films “Life,” “Mighty Joe Young,” “Coming to America” and “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.”
Baker’s makeup transformations have also been seen in such films as “Hellboy,” “The Haunted Mansion,” “The Ring,” “Men in Black II,” Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes,” “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,” “Wolf,” “The Rocketeer,” “Gorillas in the Mist” and “The Fury.” He also lent his talents to the memorable cantina sequence in the original “Star Wars.”
Baker won an Emmy Award for his work on the acclaimed miniseries “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” and earned an Emmy nomination for the series “Beauty and the Beast.” His other television credits include the series “Harry and the Hendersons” and “Werewolf.” In addition, he did Michael Jackson’s makeup for the award-winning “Thriller” video, as well as “Captain Eo.”
PETE CHESNEY (Special Effects Coordinator) won a BAFTA Award for his work on Randal Kleiser’s comedy “Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.” He also earned BAFTA Award nominations for Best Special Effects for his work on Peter Weir’s drama “The Truman Show” and Barry Sonnenfeld’s sci-fi comedy hit “Men in Black.”
Chesney has also worked on a long list of features, including the recent remake of “The Ladykillers,” “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” “The Mothman Prophecies,” “Cats & Dogs,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Vampire in Brooklyn,” “Waterworld,” “Forever Young,” “Pet Sematary I & II,” “The People Under the Stairs,” “Graveyard Shift,” “Young Guns II,” “Child’s Play II,” “Pacific Heights,” “Raising Arizona” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”