Safe (10/28/2011) The Movie in Toulouse, France

• Info
• Cast & Crew

• Genre: Action,Thriller
  
  Synopsis:
  A cage fighter (Jason Statham) protects a 12-year-old math prodigy from mobsters and corrupt cops, who are all prepared to kill for the priceless numerical code she carries in her head.
  
  Release Date: 05/04/2012
  Running Time: 95
  
  Rating: R - Restricted
  
  http://www.safethefilm.com/
  
• Cast:
  Luke Wright: Jason Statham,Capt. Wolf: Robert Burke John,Mayor Tramello: Chris Sarandon,Alex Rosen: Anson Mount,Han Jiao: James Hong,Quan Chang: Reggie Lee,Emile Docheski: Sándor Técsy,Vassily Docheski: Joseph Sikora,Julius Borkow: Danny Hoch,Det. Lasky: Matt O'Toole,Mei: Catherine Chan
  
  Crew:
  Director: Boaz Yakin,Screenwriter: Boaz Yakin,Producer: Lawrence Bender,Producer: Dana Brunetti,Executive Producer: Stuart Ford,Executive Producer: Brian Kavanaugh-Jones,Executive Producer: Kevin Spacey,Executive Producer: Deepak Nayar,Cinematographer: Stefan Czapsky,Production Design: Joseph Nemec,Film Editor: Frédéric Thoraval,Costume Designer: Ann Roth,Costume Designer: Michelle Matland,Casting: Douglas Aibel,Original Music: Mark Mothersbaugh,Art Director: Jesse Rosenthal,Set Decoration: Bryony Foster
  
  Production Companies:
  Trigger Street Productions,Lawrence Bender Productions
  
  Distributors:
  Lions Gate Films,Momentum Pictures
  
  Notes:
  Production Notes - Notes provided by Lionsgate Films - A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change...until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with will also be killed. But when he witnesses a frightened twelve-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action...and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. Mei, he discovers, is no ordinary girl, but an orphaned math prodigy forced to work for the Triads as a "counter." He discovers she holds in her memory a priceless numerical code that the Triads, the Russian mob and a corrupt faction of the NYPD will kill for. Realizing he's the only person Mei can trust, Luke tears a swath through the city's brutal underworld to save an innocent girl's life...and perhaps even redeem his own. Lionsgate and IM Global present in association with Automatik a Lawrence Bender production in association with Trigger Street Productions and 87Eleven, Inc. Written and directed by Boaz Yakin. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Action star Jason Statham has built a legion of enthusiastic fans for his charismatic portrayals of hard-boiled men in favorites like The Transporter series, The Italian Job and The Expendables. But audiences will experience a new depth of his talent in writer/director Boaz Yakin's new action-thriller, SAFE. Statham brings a gritty, haunted intensity to Luke Wright, a former NYPD cop cum second-rate cage fighter whose wife has been murdered and his life destroyed by the Russian mob. With nothing to live for, Luke finds himself on a subway platform, staring at an oncoming train and contemplating suicide, a moment of hollow-eyed despair that Statham inhabits fully. ``Luke is probably in the lowest position he could ever be in his life, explains Statham. ``He's about to commit suicide. He's ready to throw in the towel and there's nothing worth living for. That's how we first meet him. But before Luke can end his misery, a chance encounter changes the course of his life and sends him down a path of brutal violence...and possibly redemption. His unlikely savior is a ten-year-old Chinese math prodigy named Mei. Kidnapped by Triad boss Han Jiao for her flawless numerical memory, Mei has been brought to America and forced to act as the organization's ``human ledger, thereby eliminating the need for incriminating financial records of any kind. But the information Mei holds in her memory is also coveted by the Russian mob, and a botched abduction attempt sends her on the run...and right into Luke's path. ``Mei actually saves me, says Statham. ``I won't explain how or we'd give too much away, but she's being chased by the Russian mafia, the same guys who are responsible for murdering my wife. SAFE's writer/director sees the film as a relative rarity among action movies: an all-out genre piece that is powered by a full-blooded emotional core. ``This is a film about a guy who has lost everything in his life, says Yakin, ``and through this chance encounter, he finds a reason to live again. This little girl is in need and this broken character finds a way to help her. From the project's inception, Yakin and his producer, Lawrence Bender, agreed Statham was the actor who could embody Luke's gritty physicality and also capture the depth of his grief. ``I've always been so impressed with how dynamic Jason is, what a big presence he has on screen, says Bender. ``He has this unwavering authenticity to his characters. ``This is a film where Jason is in his wheel house, adds Yakin. ``He plays a tough guy, and with the stunts and the action he's meticulous to a crazy degree. But this is a much more vulnerable character than he usually plays. He really went for it and I think that's going to surprise people. ``Jason's very focused, very concentrated in what he's doing, adds Bender. ``At this moment in the story, Luke is completely empty inside, just blank, a black hole. His pain is so severe that he can't even allow himself to feel it. Jason portrays that void brilliantly. Early in his career, Boaz Yakin made a name for himself as an action writer - he wrote the screenplays for The Punisher (1989) and Clint Eastwood's The Rookie - but he'd never directed an action movie himself. After making the sobering, emotionally exhausting drama Death In Love in 2008, Yakin was ready to try his hand at a genre piece. ``I wanted to make something that had a broader appeal, so I thought, 'Let me see if I can write one of these scripts the way I used to write when I was starting out.' As the story developed, I started to identify with the main character quite a bit, the process of pulling himself out of a dark place, putting one foot in front of the other and finding a reason to live and connect to life again. For Yakin, SAFE's vivid central relationship between Luke and Mei is the driving force of the film. ``The idea of directing an action film was interesting, but unless there's a strong emotional motivation for the action, it can be a lot like directing traffic, admits the director. ``I wanted every action scene in this film to come from an emotional need in the character. When he had finished writing the script, Yakin approached his friend and colleague, Lawrence Bender, with whom Yakin had made his debut feature, Fresh, and the Renee Zellweger-starring A Price Above Rubies. While he and Yakin hadn't worked together in over ten years, Bender was eager to find something to rekindle their partnership. ``Boaz has a great style as a writer and he's a wonderful director, says Bender. ``So when he told me he wanted to make an action film that had an intense emotional through line, I couldn't wait to read the script. Bender, who has also produced some of the most original and successful action films in history, including Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill: Vols. 1 and 2 and Inglourious Basterds, immediately took on the project and approached Statham with an offer. Finding the right 10-year-old actress to play Mei was the task of casting director Douglas Aibel, who worked with Yakin on Fresh and already demonstrated his extraordinary gift for casting children in films such as Signs, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Squid and the Whale. Catherine Chan walked in on the first day of auditions and made a lasting impression on the filmmakers. ``We auditioned many, many girls, recalls Bender. ``Catherine had the right amount of vulnerability but the right amount of fire, too. Her character moves from innocent to depressed to 'Let's do this!' and that's a lot of personality for a twelve-year-old. ``It was exciting; because it was my first time auditioning for a real movie, remembers Chan, who is appearing in her debut feature film. ``I was a little nervous, but I gave it my best shot. I was so happy when I got the part. ``One of the charming aspects of working with Catherine is she's only twelve, so she doesn't have the baggage, all the layers of falseness that you can build as you spend years being an actor, says Statham. ``She has such purity. She's not self-conscious in any way so she brings something really fresh. It was a pleasure to be around. Yakin agrees. ``She doesn't feel like an 'actor;' she feels like a real kid. She's very powerful in her stillness. For me that's one of the most important things: to find kids who can act when they're not acting. Listening is the hardest thing you can do as an actor. Veteran actor James Hong plays Han Jiao, the Triad boss who uses Mei as the guardian of his most valuable assets. ``I was extremely glad that Boaz chose me to do this role, says Hong. ``It was a challenge, as Mandarin is not my first language. But upon seeing footage of the film, I was very happy with my performance. Han Jiao comes across as a mean Triad boss, but with a very business-like sense of humor. ``It was important for the film that you feel an almost mythical presence to the part of Han Jiao, says Yakin. ``I needed someone who felt a little bit bigger than life, and James really brought that. Quan Chang, Mei's guardian, is a slick Triad gangster - played by Reggie Lee - who adopts Mei to make her legal in the US. Lee explains, ``After a year of fostering her in the US, my character begins to develop a fatherly instinct for her. At the same time, I still have to fulfill my job, which involves using her in very dangerous situations to get what Han Jiao wants. I've done action films before, but never one with a character that had as much depth and nuance as Chang. Credit goes to Boaz Yakin for making the characters in this action film have so many colors and emotional challenges. ``Reggie is a very talented actor, reports Yakin. ``He would walk on the set and start doing his scene and everyone would just stop what they were doing to watch him. On the run from the Triads and the Russian mob, Luke reaches out to his old boss and nemesis, NYPD Police Captain Wolf, played by Robert John Burke. Wolf, however, has his own interests in mind. ``Captain Wolf is Captain Nefarious, really, chuckles Burke. ``Wolf doesn't feel he's gotten his due. His City Police check isn't cutting it any longer so he's going do whatever it takes to supplement it. He cleverly plays one side against the other until Luke gets the last word. Burke raves about his experience working with Statham. ``He's a consummate professional - smart, funny, sharp, creative, hard-working, and does not settle for mediocrity. He is gifted and extremely generous. He brings more energy to a scene than any ten actors put together. Rounding out the supporting cast is veteran stage and film actor Chris Sarandon as corrupt Mayor Tramello, who holds the classified information for which the Triads are willing to pay $30 million in cash. ``Chris has done so much great work in his career, says Yakin. ``This film's inspirations are definitely The Seven-Ups and The French Connection, and Chris did some great work in a few of those movies. So I liked bringing his energy to the film. With the cast in place, the filmmakers began to tackle all of the logistical challenges that Yakin's action-packed script posed to the production. Recalls Bender, ``As we started to work together, it became clear that Boaz had some really original ideas about the action. His storyboards were amazing. In an effort to give the film a unique feel, Yakin chose to film most of the choreographed action in long takes rather than resorting to edits to create action effects. Recalls Statham, ``It's a very difficult thing to do because there are so many elements that can go wrong. But Boaz had the tenacity to get it right and it was just brilliant. Some of the sequences that we did were quite lengthy. Yakin relied heavily on the expertise of stunt coordinators Chad Stahelksi, Brad Martin and J.J. ``Loco Perry from the company, 8711 Action Design. Says Yakin, ``They came up with new and different ways of doing things that really worked and were unexpected. They would go off and shoot test scenes and pre-visualizations and take our ideas and bring them to another level. The collaboration was fantastic. The action is really good. I don't think there's anyone better at it than they are. Statham, who is certainly no stranger to action filmmaking, agrees. ``Chad, J.J. and Brad all come with such amazing experience. They know what they're doing and have spent years going through every type of martial art, every aspect of choreography, all the dangerous stunts. They live and breathe what they do. Working alongside them was very inspiring. Crafting the look of the film involved many hours of discussion between Yakin, Bender, Director of Photography Stefan Czapsky, ASC and Production Designer Joseph Nemec III. ``We looked at some '70s New York films together, says Yakin. ``I like to use very long and wide lenses so that the film sort of bounces back and forth between a very intimate look and a more revealing look, but not give that comfortable middle ground. ``We were often working with more than one camera, Yakin continues, ``and Stefan had a way of getting the second camera to tell the story as well as the first camera. I work with a very specific shot list that I put together before filming, and Stefan was able to take the ideas from that shot list and bring something else to it. A different look or take on it. It was extremely effective. He is really, really, really good and the film looks great. Production Designer Nemec was faced with the challenge of creating a world that is textured and gritty and evokes New York as it appears in the films of the '70s and early '80s. ``There's a certain quality about the film The French Connection that Boaz liked, and we wanted to keep that in mind, explains Nemec. ``We took out a lot of the greens, a lot of the blues and kept things more browns and tans and creams. Though the film is set in New York, filming took place in both New York and Philadelphia. We shot all our exteriors in New York, explains Yakin. ``We wanted to shoot everything in New York, but it's difficult. The streets are hard to control and the people are a little jaded with film crews working here. But the Mayor and the city of Philadelphia went out of their way to accommodate us. They would let us shut down streets. They were always asking us what they could do to help as opposed to making us feel we were a burden. Shooting there turned out to be great and I'm grateful for the help they gave us. One of the largest sets was the Triad's casino, which was built inside of Girard College. ``We used one of the buildings and some of the existing structure that was there, and basically built a stage set inside that, says Nemec. ``It's an illegal underground gambling establishment that kind of looks like a speakeasy. Back in the days of Prohibition, they'd have hidden clubs that you would come in through a very non-descript entrance, but once inside it was a nice place. Other locations included Luke Wright's home, which was filmed in Holmes, PA, a casino in Bensalem, PA, and The Bellevue Hotel in downtown Philadelphia. The Bloomfield Estate in Villanova filled in for New York's mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion. Statham particularly enjoyed working in New York, which is Yakin's hometown. ``We had such a good time working there, says the actor. ``It's Boaz's city and he knows it so well. One of the best experiences you can have as an actor is to work with a writer/director. There's no substitute for that because they're constantly enhancing the script, taking out what doesn't work. It's just honed and honed hour by hour and you only get that collaboration with a guy who's in control of his own material. Academy Award(R)-winning costume designer Ann Roth impressed Yakin with her strong, character-driven designs. ``Ann was a revelation, says the director. ``I've worked with some really good costume designers in the past. But when Ann costumes someone, that costume contributes to the character's inner-life. I've never quite seen someone do it the way she does it. An actor that would do good work in rehearsal would come in wearing her costume and suddenly it was - bang - that's the character. I was just knocked out by her work. When production was completed, Bender and Yakin approached Frederic Thoraval to edit the film. ``Frederic edited Taken, says Yakin. ``I saw it and what really impressed me was the editing. Frederic has a way with editing not just action, but pace and a combination of real French New Wave looseness, jump-cutting and all that, with an eye on keeping the emotional focus on what's going on that I just love. I would work with Frederic again in a heartbeat. The director was equally thrilled to have the prolific Mark Mothersbaugh on board to compose the score. ``I would never have thought of Mark for this film, admits Yakin. ``He's known for his charm, lightness and humor. He's done all of Wes Anderson's movies. But Mothersbaugh was eager to try his hand at a different film genre and even offered to compose a temp score to prove he was the man for the job. ``Boaz gave me a script and I looked at some scenes. We talked a little conceptually about it and I went and did some sketches for it - music sketches that I recorded in my studio on electronic instruments, samplers, guitars, things like that. Yakin and Bender were immediately convinced upon hearing Mothersbaugh's work. ``The music was just really exciting, says Yakin. ``Mark really proved that he had the range. Mothersbaugh created a final score that mixed orchestral sounds ``reminiscent of '70s chase movies with contemporary elements. ``I've worked with a lot of directors and I found Boaz to be really refreshing, Mothersbaugh says. ``It's nice when you find a director who knows what he wants to hear. He was always very enthusiastic and he brought a lot to the project. He's someone I hope I get to work with again. Now that post-production is complete, writer/director Boaz Yakin hopes the final film will readily satisfy action fans while also offering audiences a central character they can relate to deeply. ``Luke's journey is an extreme one, but it's one that I think people will recognize and understand and hopefully invest in, says the director. ``When you have that kind of connection with the central character, then the stakes are higher, the action hits harder. If I manage to make that happen, I'm happy. ABOUT THE CAST Born in Sydenham, England, JASON STATHAM (Luke Wright) was one of the top divers on the British team, eventually placing 12th in the world. While training at the famed Crystal Palace National Sport Center in London, film crews and photographers pursued him as new talent and he eventually met the executive producer of the film ``Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Jason then met with director, Guy Ritchie, who gave him his first role. He went on to work with Ritchie again in ``Snatch, starring opposite Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro. In 2002, he was cast by Luc Besson in the title role of 'Frank Martin' in ``The Transporter. He starred as 'Handsome Rob' in the summer 2003 blockbuster remake of ``The Italian Job, and as the adrenaline-compromised action hero of ``Crank. Statham then returned as 'Frank Martin' in ``Transporter 2. In 2008, Statham starred in Roger Donaldson's ``The Bank Job, the critically acclaimed true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery. Statham also starred in the Universal Pictures remake of ``Death Race, before returning for the third installment in ``The Transporter franchise. He next reprised the role of 'Chev Chelios' in ``Crank 2: High Voltage, and then teamed up with some of the world's biggest fellow action stars for Sylvester Stallone's ``The Expendables, followed by the remake of ``The Mechanic which originally starred Charles Bronson as the profession hit man 'Arthur Bishop.' Statham filled the shoes of Ken Bruen's creation of "British Detective Brant" in the adaptation of the UK crime thriller ``Blitz. Statham was last seen in ``Killer Elite, and most recently wrapped production on ``The Expendables 2. He has upcoming ``Parker, written by John McLaughlin, based on the series of novels by Donald Westlake, which co-stars Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte, and is directed by Taylor Hackford. ROBERT JOHN BURKE (Captain Wolf) - Bio Forthcoming Born in West Virginia of Greek parentage, CHRIS SARANDON (Mayor Tramello) had his first major theatrical experience at West Virginia University in his junior year. "I took a theater class for what I thought would be an easy credit, while I was more or less majoring in popularity and school politics. That changed quickly." Sarandon subsequently attended the MFA program at Catholic University and became a member of the University's National Players, a troupe that toured the U.S. for a year presenting plays by Shakespeare and Moliere. Following work with an improv theater company in Washington, D.C., and the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Sarandon moved to New York where he began working on stage, in television and movies. On Broadway he appeared in the original production of the musical "The Rothschilds" and the highly successful ``Two Gentlemen of Verona, and ``Censored Scenes from King Kong with Carrie Fisher. In his first film appearance, his brief but unforgettable performance as Al Pacino's lover 'Leon' in "Dog Day Afternoon" garnered him an Academy Award(R) nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Following that less-than-humble beginning, Sarandon has gone on to a career that has spanned four decades, appearing in over 100 films, television shows, and theater productions, building a body of work that includes numerous iconic performances including 'Prince Humperdink' in "The Princess Bride," 'Jerry Dandridge' in the original "Fright Night," and 'Jack Skellington' in ``The Nightmare Before Christmas." Most recently Sarandon has returned to his roots, appearing in a string of productions on Broadway including "Cyrano" with Kevin Kline, "The Light in the Piazza," and in Off Broadway starring with Carrey Mulligan in the highly acclaimed "Through a Glass Darkly." Chris Sarandon lives in Connecticut, and is married to actress/writer Joanna Gleason. They have four grown children between them and don't take things too seriously. ANSON MOUNT (Alex Rosen) - Bio Forthcoming With a career spanning nearly 60 years, JAMES HONG (Han Jiao) has appeared in over 500 feature films and television shows. Starring in celebrated films such as ``Blade Runner, ``Chinatown, and cult classic ``Big Trouble in Little China, James has created countless iconic characters throughout his career. Most recently, this in-demand actor can be seen in blockbusters such as ``Kung Fu Panda along ``Kung Fu Panda 2, along with ``The Day the Earth Stood Still. He just finished principal photography on the new Ryan Reynolds film, ``R.I.P.D. As a veteran to both the big and small screens, James Hong has proven to be one of the world's most prolific actors. James has appeared in some of the most unforgettable films such as ``Balls of Fury, ``The Golden Child, ``Black Widow, ``Wayne's World 2, ``The In-Laws, ``Red Corner, ``Mulan, ``Airplane!, ``The Two Jakes, ``Revenge of the Nerds 2 and ``Breathless. James also made his mark in current and classic television hits such as ``The West Wing, ``The Big Bang Theory, ``Chuck, ``Bones, ``The X-Files, ``Law & Order, ``Malcolm in the Middle, ``Friends, ``Seinfeld, ``The Rockford Files, ``Charlie's Angels, ``Taxi, ``Dynasty, ``The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, ``Starsky & Hutch, ``All in the Family, ``Hawaii Five-O and ``Mission Impossible, to name but a few. Already a living legend in the Asian American community, this Minnesota native and USC graduate co-founded The East-West Players, the first and oldest Asian American Theater group in Los Angeles. He is currently preparing to shoot a film of his own. REGGIE LEE (Quan Chang) - Bio Forthcoming SÁNDOR TÉCSY (Emile Docheski) - Bio Forthcoming JOSEPH SIKORA (Vassily Docheski) just completed filming a major role in Paramount Pictures' ``One Shot starring Tom Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Born in Chicago, he studied improv and acting at Columbia College and scored a Jefferson nomination for one of the many plays he starred in within the prestigious Chicago theatre community. In Los Angeles, he worked at the Geffen Playhouse and won an L.A. Theatre Ovation Award for his performance in ``Killer Joe at the Lost Angeles Theatre. In television he's been seen guest starring in over two dozen television programs, including Martin Scorsese' pilot episode of ``Boardwalk Empire, ``CSI: NY, ``CSI: Miami, ``Criminal Minds, ``Law and Order: SVU and ``Grey's Anatomy and starred opposite Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson in the highly controversial HBO film ``Normal. Sikora who was also seen in Scorsese ``Shutter Island was last featured in David Schwimmer's directorial debut ``Trust opposite Clive Owens. Sikora, based in New York, has an uncanny ability to speak with just about any accent necessary. DANNY HOCH (Julius Borkow) - Bio Forthcoming MATT O'TOOLE (Detective Lasky) was born in Hartford, Connecticut and grew up close by in the sleepy Farmington River Valley with his grandparents, mother and three brothers. His passions were swimming, perhaps the Olympics, and theatre, perhaps Broadway and Hollywood. He holds a B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross and his law degree from Antioch School of Law. He credits his playing the violin through high school and singing in the church choir for his musical ear and the nerve to audition and work in summer stock musical theatre. A brief time as an attorney working at the American Medical Association brought him to Chicago. It was there that his theater interests led him to improvisational theater studying with Del Close at Second City. In N.Y.C. he studied with Geraldine Page and Carlin Glynn while also enrolled at H.B. Studios studying with Stephen Strimpell. Also in New York, he was on stage at the Mirror Repertory directed by John Strasberg and at the Actor's Studio with Peter Masterson directing. In Los Angeles, he continued to study and work on stage productions mentored by Peter Flood, among others. Included in his many TV and film roles, Matt can be seen riding into Dodge in ``Wyatt Earp or making his ``stand in ``Last Man Standing. However, Matt is especially known for his villainous recurring character arch of 'Paul Millander' on ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Often being shot at or doing the shooting, Matt feels fortunate to have played a wide range of characters in his work. Watch for him in a comic turn with Will Ferrell in ``Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. CATHERINE CHAN (Mei) - Bio Forthcoming ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS A writer and director with a gift for dealing with controversial issues on personal, human terms, BOAZ YAKIN (Writer/Director) was born in New York City. Yakin's parents had a creative bent - they met in Paris while both were studying mime and movement for actors with Etienne Decroux. After graduating from high school, Yakin opted to study filmmaking at New York City College. He soon moved on to New York University and made his first deal for a screenplay at the age of 19. Yakin worked in the film business helping to develop projects for several companies and saw his first screenplay reach the screen when ``The Punisher, a vehicle for Dolph Lundgren, was released. A year later, Yakin's next screenplay, ``The Rookie, arrived in theatres, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen. Wanting to take on more personal material, Yakin directed his own screenplay, ``Fresh, attracting talent such as Samuel L. Jackson and Giancarlo Esposito to star in it. The film won critical raves, earning the Filmmaker's Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival, as well as prizes in the Tokyo film festival and other festivals throughout Europe. Yakin's experiences with the Chassidic community informed his next directorial effort, ``A Price above Rubies, which was released by Miramax Films. Yakin next took on his first studio project; ``Remember the Titans, starring Denzel Washington, for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The film was a box-office success, and a perennial audience favorite. He then made a foray into comedy with ``Uptown Girls, starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. As a producer, Yakin formed the company ``Raw Nerve with partners Eli Roth and Scott Spiegel, from which they unleashed the ``Hostel films on the world. Most recently he wrote, produced and directed ``Death in Love, a controversial film that had its premiere at the 2009 Sundance film festival. LAWRENCE BENDER (Producer), producer and political activist, has a career that spans two decades of producing highly successful films. His films to date, including such hits as ``Inglourious Basterds, ``Pulp Fiction and ``Good Will Hunting, have been honored with 29 Academy Award(R) nominations, including three for Best Picture, and have won 6. His film ``An Inconvenient Truth, which raised unprecedented awareness about climate change, won the Academy Award(R) for Best Documentary Feature. His new documentary, ``Countdown to Zero, which features Tony Blair, Presidents, Musharef, Gorbachev, De Klerk, and Carter among others, details the urgent risk posed by proliferation, terrorism, and accidental use of nuclear weapons. Other films include ``From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), ``Anna and the King (1999), ``The Mexican (2001), ``Innocent Voices (2004), and Quentin Tarantino's ``Reservoir Dogs (1992),Jackie Brown (1997), ``Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and ``Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004). Lawrence has also produced ``Havana Nights: Dirty Dancing 2, ``Knockaround Guys, ``A Price above Rubies, ``White Man's Burden, ``Killing Zoe and ``Fresh. Bender is also a passionate social and political activist. In 2003, Bender co-founded the Detroit Project, targeting the gas-guzzling SUV. He also traveled to the Middle East with the Israeli Policy Forum. In addition, Bender is on the Advisory Board to the Dean at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and serves on the board of The Creative Coalition. He is a member of Council on Foreign Relations the Pacific Council. He is a recipient of the Torch of Liberty Award from the ACLU and spends much of his time throwing fundraisers for political and social causes in Los Angeles, where he calls home. DANA BRUNETTI (Producer) - Bio Forthcoming STUART FORD (Executive Producer) - Bio Forthcoming BRAIN KAVANAUGH-JONES (Executive Producer) - Bio Forthcoming KEVIN SPACEY (Executive Producer) - Bio Forthcoming DEEPAK NAYAR (Executive Producer) - Bio Forthcoming A New York native and twenty year veteran of the film industry, JOSEPH N. ZOLFO (Co- Producer) has amassed a wealth of experience having worked on over 50 film and television projects. Mr. Zolfo's feature film producing credits include ``Marie and Bruce written by Wallace Shawn, starring Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick; ``Wedding Daze directed by Michael Ian Black, starring Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher; ``The Girl in the Park written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn starring Sigourney Weaver and Kate Bosworth Mr. Zolfo collaborated with ``Safe writer/director Boaz Yakin on the 2008 Sundance Premiere ``Death in Love, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Josh Lucas. Mr. Zolfo's television producing credits include the HBO series ``How to Make it in America starring Bryan Greenberg, Lake Bell, Kid Cudi and Luis Guzman. His other credits include ``Life on Mars starring Jason O'Mara, Michael Imperioli and Harvey Keitel; HBO's ``Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis; ``Blue Bloods starring Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg. Currently Mr. Zolfo is in pre-production with IM Global and Original Films for the feature film ``Dead Man Down, which will be directed by Niels Arden Oplev and stars Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace. STEFAN CZAPSKY, ASC (Director of Photography) - Bio Forthcoming JOSEPH NEMEC III (Production Designer) began his film career in October1978 at Un