Banger Sisters, The : About The Filmmakers


ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

BOB DOLMAN (Writer/Director)

THE BANGER SISTERS marks the directorial debut of award-winning writer Bob Dolman, who also penned the film's screenplay. In addition to his uncredited work on numerous screenplays, Dolman's writing credits include WILLOW and FAR AND AWAY.

His career as a writer began when he joined the staff for the '70s sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati. " He went on to write for SCTV and won two Emmy Awards®. Following the creation of the Showtime comedy series "Poison," Dolman shifted to writing screenplays.

Dolman was raised on Vancouver Island.

MARK JOHNSON (Producer)

The release of THE BANGER SISTERS marks Academy Award-winning producer Mark Johnson and his production company Gran Via's third film to open in 2002. In March, Universal released the Kevin Costner suspense drama DRAGONFLY and Disney released THE ROOKIE, starring Dennis Quaid. Johnson will round out the year with the release of the Brad Silberling-directed MOONLIGHT MILE, starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Jake Gyllenhaal, due in September from Disney. He is currently preparing THE NOTEBOOK.

In television, Johnson serves as an executive producer for CBS' "The Guardian," which is the highest rated new drama of the season and was picked up for 2003.

Johnson began his career in feature films after being accepted into the Directors Guild training program and working on Paul Mazursky's NEXT STOP, GREENWICH VILLAGE. Over the next few years, he worked on such films as MOVIE, MOVIE, THE BRINKS JOB, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ and HIGH ANXIETY, where he first met Barry Levinson, one of the film's writers.

Shortly thereafter, Johnson began working on Levinson's debut film, DINER, which Johnson executive produced. That film was the start of a long and successful collaboration between Johnson and Levinson, as they went on to make THE NATURAL (1984), YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES (1985), TIN MEN (1987), GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM (1987), and RAIN MAN (1988), which won four Academy Awards including a Best Picture Oscar for Johnson. The 1990 film AVALON was the first film under the pair's Baltimore Pictures banner, followed by BUGSY (1991), nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, TOYS (1992), QUIZ SHOW (1994) and JIMMY HOLLYWOOD (1994). Johnson was also honored with Golden Globe Awards for his work on both RAIN MAN and BUGSY.

In November 1998, Johnson produced the quirky comedy HOME FRIES, starring Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson. Over the past few years he has produced films such as the gangster drama DONNIE BRASCO, with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp; A PERFECT WORLD,

starring Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood; GALAXY QUEST, starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver; the critically acclaimed family film MY DOG SKIP, with Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane and Frankie Muniz; and he executive produced the thriller WHAT LIES BENEATH, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford.

ELIZABETH CANTILLON (Producer)

Elizabeth Cantillon has served as senior vice president of production at MGM since December 2001.

THE BANGER SISTERS marks the second feature film Cantillon produced while serving as president of production at Mark Johnson Productions. The first was GALAXY QUEST, a Dreamworks film starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman. Cantillon co-produced her first feature film, HOW I GOT INTO COLLEGE, in 1989 with Michael Shamberg and produced the 1996 film SUNSET PARK with Jersey Films. For television, Cantillon and Johnson produced "L. A. Doctors" and "Falcone," both for CBS.

Cantillon has held posts as president of Jersey Films and executive vice president of Turner Feature Pictures and Turner Feature Animation.

DAVID BUSHELL (Executive Producer)

A producer of feature-length films since 1994, David Bushell served as executive producer on THE BANGER SISTERS and is currently producing DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, which is set to be directed by MONSTER'S BALL-helmer Marc Forster for Universal Pictures.

Bushell's producing credits include critically acclaimed films such as: Billy Bob Thornton's Academy Award-winning SLING BLADE, Bob Gosse's NIAGARA, NIAGARA, Nick Gomez's ILLTOWN, Hampton Fancher's THE MINUS MAN and ONCE IN THE LIFE, written, starring and directed by Laurence Fishburne.

KARL WALTER LINDENLAUB (Director of Photography)

Since moving to the U. S. in 1991, award-winning German Director of Photography Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC, bvk, has worked steadily on a wide variety of feature films. Before serving as director of photography on THE BANGER SISTERS, Lindenlaub shot Director Michael Caton-Jones' CITY BY THE SEA, starring Robert DeNiro and Frances McDormand. He is currently shooting THE CHAMBERMAID, directed by Wayne Wang and starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes.

Lindenlaub's recent credits include: THE HAUNTING, with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones, directed by Jan de Bont; ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOL'S, with Liv Tyler and Matt Dillon; and Garry Marshall's THE PRINCESS DIARIES, starring Julie Andrews. For Director John Avnet, Lindenlaub shot UP CLOSE & PERSONAL, starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer and the Chinese courtroom drama RED CORNER, starring Richard Gere. He served as cinematographer on Michael Caton-Jones' epic romance ROB ROY, starring Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange and as director of photography on his thriller THE JACKAL, starring Richard Gere, Bruce Willis and Sidney Poitier.

Lindenlaub has also had a long-standing relationship with Director Roland Emmerich, having collaborated on six films in total including: INDEPENDENCE DAY; the sci-fi adventure STARGATE starring Kurt Russell and James Spader; UNIVERSAL SOLDIER; MOON 44, for which Lindenlaub won the German Camera Award for Best Cinematography; GHOST CHASE and EYE OF THE STORM, which Emmerich produced.

MAIA JAVAN (Production Designer)

Maia Javan has designed numerous films, commercials and music videos. Her feature film credits include: CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL, THE WAY OF THE GUN and THE CROW: SALVATION. She recently designed the first season of CBS's hit drama series "The Guardian" for THE BANGER SISTERS' producer Mark Johnson.

ARAM NIGOGHOSSIAN (Editor)

THE BANGER SISTERS marks Aram Nigoghossian's feature film debut as an editor. Previously, Nigoghossian served as apprentice editor on the Brian Robbins-directed, Keanu Reeves-starrer HARDBALL and edited a documentary on Cabrini Green that has yet to be released. He began his film career working as a P. A. on Robbins' READY TO RUMBLE after graduating with honors from UC Santa Barbara's film program. Nigoghossian's next assignment will once again pair him with Robbins on THE PERFECT SCORE for Paramount Studios.

JACQUELINE WEST (Costume Designer)

One of Jacqueline West's early forays into film - as a creative consultant on HENRY & JUNE - drew the attention of award-winning director Philip Kaufman. She has since costumed several of his pictures including Fox Searchlight Pictures' QUILLS - starring Kate Winslet, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix - for which West received numerous nominations for Best Costume Design including an Academy Award nomination; and RISING SUN with Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.

West also served as Costume Designer for Director Alan Jacobs' JUST ONE NIGHT, starring Timothy Hutton and Maria Grazia Cucinotta. She recently completed LEOPOLD BLOOM, starring Joseph Fiennes, Elisabeth Shue, Sam Shepard and Dennis Hopper; and is currently working on THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN for Twentieth Century Fox.

From 1988 to 1997, West ran her own clothing company and designed a nationally acclaimed line of clothes. She owned retail stores and had a contemporary department in Barney's New York and Japan.

MAUREEN CROWE (Music Supervisor)

Music Supervisor Maureen Crowe has worked on several recent blockbusters including HEARTBREAKERS and THE PERFECT STORM, directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg. Her greatest career success to date was the Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner starrer, THE BODYGUARD, which boasts the biggest selling soundtrack of all time, is the fifth best selling record of all time and received every major award of that year including Grammys® for Best Album of The Year and Record of the Year, multiple awards from Billboard and the American Music Awards, and two Oscar nominations for best song. In addition to supervising the music for the entire soundtrack, Crowe is credited with finding the song "I Will Always Love You. "

Previously, Crowe was vice president of A&R Soundtracks for Arista Records, where she was involved in the release of MONEY TALKS and THE PREACHER'S WIFE. Before that, she was vice president of soundtracks for Columbia Records, where she was responsible for such noteworthy soundtracks as DEAD MAN WALKING, BAD BOYS, READY TO WEAR, THE MASK, CLERKS, NOW AND THEN and COOL RUNNINGS.

Crowe is currently at work on A GUY THING starring Jason Lee, Julia Stiles and Selma Blair and is wrapping up work on the film version of the musical CHICAGO.

JOHN BISSELL (Music Supervisor)

John Bissell has served as Music Supervisor on a wide variety of films that feature artists ranging from Duke Ellington to Bob Dylan to George Strait. He has twice worked with the legendary director Robert Redford, for whom he supervised the soundtracks for THE HORSE WHISPERER and THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE.

For release in 2002, in addition to THE BANGER SISTERS, Bissell also worked on the soundtracks for THE ROOKIE and THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS. For 2001 release, Bissell worked on HEARTS IN ATLANTIS and Twentieth Century Fox's JOY RIDE. His early films include: TAIL LIGHTS FADE, THE HI LINE, SHEGALLA, MY FATHER'S ANGEL, RUPERT'S LAND and KITCHEN PARTY.

Bissell also music supervises the ABC-TV series "Push, Nevada," and has overseen the music for commercial campaigns for Nike, Major League Baseball, Lycos and Price Waterhouse.

TREVOR RABIN (Composer)

Included on the list of recent blockbusters Trevor Rabin has scored are CON AIR, ARMAGEDDON, ENEMY OF THE STATE, DEEP BLUE SEA, GONE IN 60 SECONDS, REMEMBER THE TITANS and BAD COMPANY, for Joel Schumacher.

Rabin's first work in film was composing additional music for Joel Silver's production of FAIR GAME. He later wrote and produced the end title music and a song for Arnold Schwarzenegger's ERASER. His first score was for the Stephen Segal thriller THE GLIMMER MAN, which he followed with a dynamic score for the Nicholas Cage adventure CON AIR.

A year later, he showed his skill with quirkier subject matter on the comedy HOMEGROWN, while completing the spectacular Jerry Bruckheimer epic ARMAGEDDON and providing an intricate, unnerving electronic score for the fascinating techno-thriller ENEMY OF THE STATE. At the opposite end of the spectrum was a lyrical orchestral score for the Michael Keaton family story, JACK FROST. In 1999, Rabin provided a pulsating, overpowering thriller score for Renny Harlin's tale of super-intelligent sharks, DEEP BLUE SEA. Rabin also returned to his South African roots, drawing on traditional African instrumentation, vocal performances and rhythms in his atmospheric score to the documentary WHISPERS.

A member of the rock group YES since 1983, Rabin played guitar for the group and wrote most of the material on the group's best-selling album "90125," including the No. 1 single "Owner of a Lonely Heart. " He also penned the majority of the songs and served as co-producer on YES's next album, "Big Generator," which sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Prior to YES, Rabin co-produced Manfred Mann's "Chance" album and released three solo albums on Chrysalis records. Rabin also wrote or co-wrote all the songs, played every instrument but drums and produced and engineered most of the recordings on his solo albums.

In his native South Africa, Rabin studied classical piano and was trained as a conductor and arranger. His first professional band performed original anti-apartheid songs and his family was heavily involved in anti-apartheid activities. Rabin later founded a band called Rabbit, which became the most popular South African rock band in history, rivaling the Beatles in the scale of their local popularity.