David R. Ellis (Director)
David R. Ellis made his directorial debut on Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco and Final Destination 2 marks his second feature credit. Bringing over thirty years of experience as a stuntman, stunt coordinator and second unit director, Ellis is one of the most sought-after action second unit directors in Hollywood, garnering an impressive list of box office hits as second unit director on features such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Perfect Storm and the upcoming Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions.
Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber (Writers)
Both native New Yorkers, Jonathan Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress met in Los Angeles in 1994. Their first feature film, Blunt, was completed three years later, written by Eric and directed by Jonathan.
The controversial independent film toured the festival scene and won many accolades, including "Best Comedy" from the 1998 New York International Independent Film Festival and later the prestigious Lumieres in the 1998 New Orleans Film Festival, an award distinguishing it as one of the Top Ten Films.
The next year, Bress and Gruber sold their first one-hour pilot to Disney/ABC. From there, they sold their first major feature film script, Frozen, to Phoenix Pictures.
Bress and Gruber recently co-wrote and co-directed The Butterfly Effect, a supernatural drama starring Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart. New Line Cinema will release the film in 2003.
Jeffrey Reddick (Executive Producer/Original Story Creator)
Jeffrey Reddick's first industry experience was working in New York as an Executive Assistant at New Line Cinema to Robert Friedman, then Co-Chairman, Worldwide Theatrical Marketing. It was a fortuitous arrangement, as Reddick sold his original treatment for Final Destination to New Line Cinema. Reddick shared final screenplay credit on the film with Glen Morgan and James Wong.
In 2001, New Line purchased Reddick's treatment for Final Destination 2, and made him an Executive Producer on the project. With this sale, Reddick decided to leave New Line after eleven years in the summer of 2001 to pursue writing and acting full time. Reddick's first produced TV Movie, "Return to Cabin by the Lake," recently aired on USA Networks. Reddick currently has several features and TV movies in development and recently joined with writer/director David Sporn to form Short End Productions. Their first film will be a horror film penned by Reddick.
Warren Zide (Producer)
Warren Zide partnered with Craig Perry in 1997 to form Zide/Perry Entertainment. Their first production was the successful action film The Big Hit, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christina Applegate. In 1999, Zide/Perry served as producers on Universal's comedy smash American Pie. In 2000, Zide/Perry produced New Line Cinema's sleeper hit Final Destination. In 2001, Zide/Perry produced Warner Bros. ' Cats & Dogs; American Pie 2 for Universal, and the romantic comedy RepliKate for Helkon Media AG. Zide/Perry's upcoming projects include American Wedding, the third in the American Pie series; Crash and Burn for Fox Searchlight; and Westward for New Line Cinema. The company currently has a first-look production deal with MGM to develop and produce feature films.
Zide is also one of the leading literary managers in the business, representing many talented young screenwriters.
Craig Perry (Producer)
Craig Perry partnered with Warren Zide in 1997 to form Zide/Perry Entertainment. Their first production was the successful action film The Big Hit, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christina Applegate. In 1999, Zide/Perry served as producers on Universal's comedy smash American Pie. In 2000, Zide/Perry produced New Line Cinema's sleeper hit Final Destination. In 2001, Zide/Perry produced Warner Bros. ' Cats & Dogs; American Pie 2 for Universal, and the romantic comedy RepliKate for Helkon Media AG. Zide/Perry's upcoming projects include American Wedding, the third in the American Pie series; Crash and Burn for Fox Searchlight; and Westward for New Line Cinema. The company currently has a first-look production deal with MGM to develop and produce feature films.
Justis Greene (Co-Producer)
Justis Greene has produced for both film and television. His most recent credits include co-producing Mission to Mars, I'll Be Home For Christmas and Mr. Magoo. In television he produced the TV series "Breaking News" and "The Outer Limits. "
Other feature co-producer credits include Walt Disney Pictures' Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco and White Fang II: Myth of the White Wolf. Greene was the associate producer on Another Stakeout for Touchstone Pictures, and produced the last two seasons of "Neon Rider" for the CTV network in Canada. His other film credits include Alive, Ernest Saves Christmas, Earth Star Voyager, Return of the Shaggy Dog, Davy Crockett, Wings, Agnes of God and The Clan of the Cave Bear.
Gary Capo (Director of Photography)
Gary Capo met director David R. Ellis during the first season of "Baywatch. " Since then Capo has paired up with Ellis as the second unit cinematographer on numerous films, including The Kid, The Perfect Storm, Deep Blue Sea, Soldier, The Negotiator, Sphere, Desperate Measures, The Devil's Own and Waterworld. Since then, Capo directed and photographed second unit on K-19: The Widow Maker, The Thin Red Line, Message in a Bottle, Fly Away Home and White Fang, and was the second unit director of photography for Mission Impossible and Face/Off.
Among Capo's many television credits, he was the main unit director on "Baywatch Hawaii: The Boiling Point," and second unit director of photography on "Nash Bridges" and "Thunder in Paradise. "
Michael Bolton (Production Designer)
Michael Bolton adds his talents to the creative mix after recently working on Out Cold, Saving Silverman, Wrongfully Accused and Romeo Must Die. Bolton has also worked on several Disney projects including Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco and White Fang. Other feature films include The Fly II, Short Time, The Vagrant, Weekend at Bernie's II, The Crush, Look Who's Talking Now, Hideaway and Golddiggers.
Eric Sears, A. C. E. (Film Editor)
After graduating from the USC School of Cinema in 1975, Eric Sears began his career as an Assistant Editor for Director Martin Scorsese on the films New York, New York and The Last Waltz. Over the past twenty-six years he has worked in both the feature film and television/cable industries, earning such credits as Dad, Encino Man, Hot Shots and, most recently, Original Sin. His work in cable television includes HBO's "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom," "The Rat Pack," "Cheaters," and "Gia. "
Currently Eric is on the Board of Directors of the American Cinema Editors, an Editor's Peer Group member for the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is an Active Member in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 1998, he was honored by both the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and The American Cinema Editors, receiving an Emmy and an Eddie award for his outstanding work on "Gia. "
Jori Woodman (Costume Designer)
Jori Woodman has worked on numerous feature films including Mystery Date, The Guilty, Stay Tuned, Lake Placid and Mr. Magoo. Woodman designed the costumes for the Emmy-nominated miniseries "Titanic," starring Catherine Zeta Jones. Her television credits include "Season of Fear," "The Laurie Samuels Story," "The Substitute" and "Lake of the Woods. "
Shirley Walker (Composer)
Shirley Walker composed the spine-tingling score for the original Final Destination. She will be frightening moviegoers with her equally chilling score for New Line Cinema's remake of Willard, which will be released in 2003.
Television audiences were treated to Walker's dark, atmospheric underscore for the short-lived but highly-acclaimed NBC/Dreamworks series "The Others," about a team of psychics. But it was her signature, high-energy, big-action, additional music that saved the day in Universal's 1999 film Mystery Men.
Walker broke industry ground with her work on 1995's Escape from L. A. , a score she co-wrote with the film's director, John Carpenter, which captures the dark, futuristic feel and industrial action of the film while blending dashes of both "old west" and world music. She then firmly established herself as a leading talent among Hollywood film composers with her score for MGM's suspense thriller, Turbulence. However, the most heralded is her gothic score for the animated film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, arguably the finest Batman film music to date.
Widely credited as a pioneer for women composers in the film industry, Walker has maintained her status as one of today's most respected members of the composing community with her scores for the award-winning "Batman" and "Superman" animated series' from Warner Bros. , which have earned her multiple Daytime Emmy nominations and one win. In 1999, she added to her legacy the highly acclaimed "Batman Beyond," with its futuristic, techno/grunge rock underscore, for which she garnered a Daytime Emmy award, the soundtrack now available from Kid Rhino.
Other recent TV credits include underscores for "Disappearance," a TBS film starring Harry Hamlin and Susan Dey; and HBO's popular "Spawn" series.
Walker began her professional music career as a piano soloist with the San Francisco Symphony while still in high school, and later got her first big break as a synthesist on Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 feature Apocalypse Now, and co-composing credit on Coppola's Black Stallion in that same year. Award nominations have included a CableACE nomination for the Blair Brown film "Majority Rule," a Prime Time Emmy nomination for the Fox series, "Space: Above and Beyond," and two Annie nominations; one for the animated "Superman" Main Title Theme and, more recently, for her original score for HBO's "Spawn" series.
Joe Bauer (Visual Effect Supervisor)
Joe Bauer began his career in Visual Effects as a Supervisor/Coordinator on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" for Paramount Pictures Television. His relationship with the franchise continued for a two-year stint on "Star Trek Voyager," where he received a Primetime Emmy award for the series' pilot episode.
His first feature was the action adventure Double Team, directed by legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark. He then worked with Walt Disney Pictures and director Mark Steven Johnson on the feature Simon Birch. He followed that drama with the sci-fi thriller The 13th Floor, produced by Roland Emmerich. He worked again with Tsui Hark and premiere action choreographer Yeun Wo Ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix series) on the Miramax fantasy The Legend of Zu. Most recently, he supervised visual effects for Bill Paxton's directorial debut, Frailty.
Joe Conmy (Visual Effects Coordinator)
Joe Conmy began his career working for Ivan Reitman's Northern Lights Entertainment. He moved into the Visual Effects arena on "Hercules, The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena, Warrior Princess," where he had an opportunity to work with legendary Matte Painter and Visual Effects Supervisor Harrison Ellenshaw. Next, he worked with Joe Bauer on the Miramax feature The Legend of Zu, for director Tsui Hark and action director / fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping. Conmy was one of four Americans working on the picture, which was shot entirely in Hong Kong and Beijing. Most recently, he worked on Dimension Films' Scary Movie 2, with visual effects supervised by one of the early pioneers of digital effects, Ariel Velasco Shaw.
