Entertainment Magazine

THE PACIFIER

MOVIE PRODUCTION NOTES

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ADAM SHANKMAN (Director) is an artist who as a master of comedy also captures the sensitivity of his stories, making him one of the most loved and commercially successful filmmakers of his generation. Shankman most recently directed Disney’s box office hit “Bringing Down the House.”

This comedy, starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, was number one at the box office for three weeks in a row, grossing over $131 million.

Shankman began crafting an enviable career with his directorial debut, Columbia Pictures’“The Wedding Planner.” The Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConnaughy film was the heart-felt hit of 2001. Shankman’s following grew with his next film “A Walk to Remember,” distributed by Warner Bros., starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. “A Walk to Remember” was nominated for a 2002 Phoenix Film Critics Award for Best Live Action Family Film.

Shankman and producing partner Jennifer Gibgot recently renewed their overall deal with Walt Disney Studios and their Offspring Entertainment. The duo have several high-profile comedies in development including a retelling of “Topper” starring Steve Martin with Mandeville Films with Shankman attached to direct, “The Other Guy,” “The Fiance,” “Overparenting” and an untitled dance comedy, which is being re-written by Melissa Rosenberg (“The O.C.”).

In the world of television, Shankman and Gibgot have sold “The Assistants” to NBC through 20th Century TV. Bryan Fuller (“Wonderfalls”) will write the project and executive produce along with Shankman and Gibgot. The project is about the “upstairs, downstairs” world of assistants and their bosses. Prior to directing, Shankman was one of the entertainment world’s premiere dance and physical comedy choreographers, putting his creative stamp on many well-known comedies, dramas, thrillers, and animated films.

His projects include “The Addams Family,” “Casper,” “Inspector Gadget,” “Anastasia,” “George of the Jungle,” “Boogie Nights,” “Miami Rhapsody,” and “The Flintstones,” for which he was nominated for a Bob Fosse Award. Shankman won the Bob Fosse award for his work with Simon West. At age 24, Shankman teamed up with influential video director Julian Temple as a music video choreographer. One of the first videos as choreographer was Whitney Houston’s “I’m Your Baby Tonight.” He has also choreographed videos for The B-52’s, Barry White, Aaron Neville, Chic and Stevie Wonder.

A native of Los Angeles, where he currently resides, Shankman developed a love for the theater at an early age. After high school, he moved to New York and attended Juilliard in the dance program for two years. After five years of work as an actor and dancer in New York and regional theater, he moved back to Los Angeles and began dancing in music videos, including videos for Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. He also performed at the 1989 Academy Awards ®.

THOMAS LENNON (Writer), originally from Chicago, began his career as a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts experimental theater wing. It was here that he co-founded the sketch comedy troupe “The State.”

This group went on to critical success with their self-titled hit series on MTV, of which he was one of its stars, producers and writers. “The State” was nominated for a 1995 Cable ACE award for Best Comedy Series and ran for three seasons.

Tom then created, produced and starred in Comedy Central’s “Viva Variety” which was an instant critical smash for the new network. The show garnered a CableACE nomination for Best Comedy Series in 1997 and, like “The State,” enjoyed three successful seasons. He has had guest roles on NBC’s “Friends,” “Jesse,” and “MDs”; as well as having co-created and starred in the pilot, “Hey Neighbor!” for FOX. Tom has appeared in the films “Memento” (NewMarket), “Out Cold” (Disney/Spyglass), “A Guy Thing” (MGM), “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” (Paramount) and most recently in “Taxi” (Fox).

Lennon has also built a strong career as a screenwriter with partner Robert Ben Garant. They have written the comedies “12 Days of Christmas” for Universal, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” starring Eddie Murphy for Imagine, “Taxi” with Queen Latifah for FOX and “Starsky & Hutch” starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson for Warner Bros. Tom is currently attached to star in “Balls of Fury” for New Line and Spyglass, which the duo also wrote. Tom Lennon currently resides in Los Angeles and is the co-creator, Executive Producer, and star of the critically acclaimed Comedy Central show “Reno 911!” which just aired its second season.

ROBERT BEN GARANT (Writer) was born in Cookeville, Tennessee. He spent the early nineties appearing in Off-off Broadway theaters (bars) in New York City with the comedy group “The State.” “The State” then had a three-year run on MTV, which led to a forty-fourminute run on CBS. He then created, wrote, produced, and occasionally appeared in three seasons of “Viva Variety” on Comedy Central. The show’s last season was relocated to Los Angeles, California.

Since relocating, he and his writing partner, Thomas Lennon, have become two of the most in-demand screenwriters in Hollywood. A few of the features the combo have penned are “12 Days of Christmas” for Universal, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” starring Eddie Murphy for Imagine, “Taxi” with Queen Latifah for FOX and “Starsky & Hutch” starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson for Warner Bros.

Robert is currently attached to direct “Balls of Fury” for New Line and Spyglass, which the duo also wrote. Robert Ben Garant currently resides in Glendale and is the co-creator, Executive Producer, and star of the critically acclaimed Comedy Central show “Reno 911!” which just aired its second season.

ROGER BIRNBAUM (Producer) founded the production and finance company Spyglass Entertainment with partner Gary Barber where they share the title of Co-Chairman and CEO. Their company develops and finances all of its projects independently, with such blockbuster hits as “The Sixth Sense,”

“Bruce Almighty” and last year’s critically acclaimed film “Seabiscuit” to their credit. Upcoming for the successful company is the adaptation of the best-selling book series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Spyglass is also co-financing two highly anticipated films, “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “The Legend of Zorro,” both of which are scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Formerly, Birnbaum was Chairman of Caravan Pictures, where he produced “Rush Hour,” “Six Days/Seven Nights,” “Inspector Gadget,” “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Angels in the Outfield” and “While You Were Sleeping.” Prior to that, Birnbaum was President of Worldwide Production and Executive Vice President of Twentieth Century Fox where he developed such films as “Home Alone,” “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Hot Shots,” “My Cousin Vinny,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Die Hard 2” and “Mrs. Doubtfire,” among others. When he was President of Production for United Artists, he developed the Oscar ®-winning film, “Rain Man.”

Earlier in his career, he produced “The Sure Thing,” directed by Rob Reiner and “Young Sherlock Holmes.” Prior to entering the film business, Birnbaum was Vice President of A&M Records and Arista Records. GARY BARBER(Producer) founded Spyglass Entertainment with partner Roger Birnbaum, where they share the title of Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Spyglass released the blockbuster film “The Sixth Sense,” starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment. With its still-talked-about surprise ending, “The Sixth Sense” earned $661 million worldwide and garnered six Academy Award ®nominations, including Best Picture. In the summer of 2003, Barber executive produced the highly acclaimed and Oscar ®nominated film “Seabiscuit,” directed by Gary Ross and starring Tobey Maguire, and the mega-hit “Bruce Almighty,” starring Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston, which grossed over $485 million in worldwide box office and is one of the all-time blockbuster comedies.

Spyglass is currently in post-production on the adaptation of Douglas Adams’bestseller “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” starring Sam Rockwell, Mos Def and Martin Freeman. Spyglass is co-financing and Barber is executive producing another adaptation, this time of Arthur Golden’s best-selling novel “Memoirs of a Geisha,” starring Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai”) and Zhang Ziyi (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), directed by Rob Marshall (“Chicago”); and “The Legend of Zorro,” starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Antonio Banderas, and directed by Martin Campbell.

Spyglass Entertainment’s motion picture slate also includes such critical and box office successes as: “The Recruit,” starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell, directed by Roger Donaldson; “Shanghai Noon” starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson; “The Count of Monte Cristo,” a remake of the classic, directed by Kevin Reynolds (“Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”) starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, and Richard Harris; and “Keeping the Faith,” a romantic comedy starring Ben Stiller and Edward Norton.

Barber also served as an executive producer on the hit film “Unbreakable” written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, starring Bruce Willis. Barber has produced or executive produced over 45 feature films including “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” and its highly successful sequel, “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls”; the 1991 blockbuster, “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” starring Kevin Costner; “Young Guns II”; and “Pacific Heights.”

JONATHAN GLICKMAN (Producer), President of Spyglass Entertainment Group, is responsible for the development and production of all Spyglass films. In 1993, Glickman joined Caravan Pictures as an intern and by 1997 he had worked his way up to President of the company. During this time, he helped to bring in such projects as “The Jerky Boys” and “While You Were Sleeping,” serving as associate producer on both films. Later, Glickman executive produced “Grosse Pointe Blank” and Walt Disney’s “Inspector Gadget.” In addition, he also produced the international smash hits “Rush Hour” and its sequel “Rush Hour II.”

In 1998, Glickman was named President of Production for Spyglass Entertainment. While at Spyglass, Glickman has produced “Shanghai Noon,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” “Connie & Carla” and “Mr. 3000.” Upcoming projects include “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Glickman, who is married to television writer Christy Callahan, graduated with honors in English from the University of Michigan and attended University of Southern California’s Peter Stark program.

JENNIFER GIBGOT(Executive Producer) began her career as a producer running Tapestry Films in 1995. Over the course of her eight years at Tapestry, she set up numerous projects and produced successful films such as “She’s All That” and “The Wedding Planner.” Gibgot hired her brother, Adam Shankman, already an established choreographer, to helm “The Wedding Planner,” which ultimately launched his directing career.

In 2003, Shankman and Gibgot formed Offspring Entertainment and signed a first-look deal at Disney, where they have set up and are developing several projects such as “Topper,” “The Other Guy,” “Overparenting,” “The Fiancé” and “Sugar Rum Cherry.”

DEREK EVANS (Executive Producer) is Executive Vice President of Production of Spyglass Entertainment and is responsible for the acquisition, development and production of Spyglass films. He began his career in the motion picture industry in 1995 working as an assistant to producer Scott Rudin on such films as “Clueless,” “Sabrina,” “First Wives Club” and “Ransom,” among others. The following year, he was hired at Sandollar Productions (“Father of the Bride”) as an assistant/story editor.
After only five months, Evans was hired as Creative Executive at Caravan Pictures where he helped develop films such as “Rush Hour” and was quickly promoted to Director of Development. In 1998, Evans was named Vice President of Production at the newly created Spyglass Entertainment and brought “Keeping the Faith” to the company soon after. After finding and co-producing “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Reign of Fire,” he was promoted to Senior Vice President. Most recently, Evans was promoted again to Executive Vice President and co-produced “Mr. 3000,” starring Bernie Mac.

Currently, he is also executive producing “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” based on a Douglas Adams novel that he brought in and developed. Evans graduated with honors in Political Science from Union College.

GARRETT GRANT’s (Executive Producer) film credits include nine films with longtime collaborators Bobby and Peter Farrelly: the upcoming “The Ringer,” “Stuck on You,” “Shallow Hal,” “Osmosis Jones,” “Say It Isn’t So,” “Me, Myself & Irene,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Kingpin” and “Dumb and Dumber.” He also served as co-producer on “Like Mike” and as line producer for “The Locusts.” Additionally, he was the unit production manager on “Freddy Got Fingered” and “Gun Shy” and served as production supervisor for “Beverly Hills Ninja.” Garrett began his film career as a location manager for such films as “Killing Zoe” and “Albino Alligator,” among others.

GEORGE ZAKK (Executive Producer), a native of Montreal and born of Greek immigrants, began his entertainment industry career in music as a roadie and assistant road manager on tours for bands spanning the smallest road acts to the largest stadium concerts.

After meeting Vin Diesel ten years ago through a mutual friend, in 1995 Zakk became Diesel’s producing partner in his One Race Films production company. He also produced Diesel’s directorial debut, “Strays,” which was in competition in the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

Since then Zakk has been instrumental in films such as “Pitch Black” and its sequel, “The Chronicles of Riddick,” as well as “A Man Apart,” “The Iron Giant” and “The Fast and the Furious.” He also served as executive producer on the summer 2002 blockbuster “XXX” and is producer on Sidney Lumet’s upcoming film “Find Me Guilty,” also starring Diesel.

PETER JAMES, ACS, ASC (Director of Photography) is perhaps best known for his longtime collaboration with director Bruce Beresford. James served as cinematographer on Beresford’s Oscar ®-winning “Driving Miss Daisy,” as well as the director’s “Bride of the Wind,” “Double Jeopardy,” “Paradise Road,” “Last Dance,” “Silent Fall,” “Rich in Love,” “Black Robe” and “Mister Johnson.”

James and Beresford recently collaborated again on the television film “And Starring Pancho Villas as Himself,” starring Antonio Banderas. James’numerous other film credits include “The Man Who Sued God,” the runaway hit “Meet the Parents,” “The Newton Boys,” “Diabolique,” “My Life,” “The Thing Called Love,” “Alive,” “Echoes of Paradise” and “Rebel,” among many others. James was inducted into the Australian Cinematographers Society’s (ACS) Hall of Fame in 1999, after winning three Cinematographer of the Year awards (1971, 1992, 1993).

James has also been honored with three Australian Film Institute Awards (1986, 1988, 1992), as well as a Canadian Genie Award for “Black Robe.” He is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the New Technologies committee of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

LINDA DeSCENNA (Production Designer) began her career as a set decorator and was one of the first three women to join the set decorators union as a set dresser. She received her first Academy Award ® nomination in 1980 for “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” Four nominations for set decoration followed for her work on “Blade Runner,” “The Color Purple,” “Rain Man” and “Toys.” She became a production designer on Barry Levinson’s “Jimmy Hollywood” and went on to design “Bye Bye, Love,” “A Family Thing,” “Father of the Bride: Part Two,” “Liar, Liar,” “Mouse Hunt,” “Patch Adams,” “Galaxy Quest,” “Dragonfly,” “Bringing Down the House” and “Bruce Almighty.”

CHRISTOPHER GREENBURY(Editor) won a BAFTA Award and received an Academy Award ®nomination for his work on Alan Ball’s Oscar®-winning film, “American Beauty.” Greenbury is considered one of Hollywood’s premiere comedy editors and is a frequent collaborator with the Farrelly Brothers, having worked on “Stuck on You,” “Shallow Hal,” “Me, Myself & Irene,”

“There’s Something About Mary,” “Kingpin” and “Dumb and Dumber.” His numerous other film credits include “Lost and Found,” “Booty Call,” “Where the Buffalo Roam,” “The Next Karate Kid,” “The Naked Gun 2: The Smell of Fear,” “National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon,” “Doctor Detroit,” “The Muppet Movie,” “Liar’s Moon,”

“Some Kind of Hero,” “Serendipity” and “Daddy Day Care,” among many others. A native of England, Greenbury began his career as an assistant editor on films such as John Schlesinger’s “The Day of the Locust” and “Marathon Man,” and David Hemmings’ “Running Scared.” His first credit as editor came on Gene Wilder’s spoof “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’Smarter Brother.” He went on to collaborate with Wilder on “The Woman in Red,” “Haunted Honeymoon” and “The World’s Greatest Lover,” on which he also served as co-producer and the author of the film’s novelization.