Down with Love : About The Filmmakers


PEYTON REED (Director) made his feature film directing debut with the critically praised box office success "Bring It On," starring Kirsten Dunst in a behind-the-scenes look at the world of high school cheerleading championships.

A native of Raleigh and a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Reed began his career as an editor at Zaloom-Mayfield Productions. On the strength of his award-winning short "Almost Beat," he began writing and directing for the company as well. He directed numerous behind-the-scenes documentaries, including "The Secrets of Back to the Future Trilogy," "Through the Eyes of Forrest Gump," and CBS's "The Honeymooners Anniversary Special. "

He then went to work for Walt Disney, where he directed two successful television movies, "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and "The Love Bug," for the studio's Wonderful World of Disney series on the ABC network. He has also directed episodes of Comedy Central's "Upright Citizens Brigade" and HBO's "Mr. Show with Bob and David," as well as music videos for such alternative bands as Superchunk and The Connells.

Producers BRUCE COHEN and DAN JINKS won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2000 for producing "American Beauty," starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. "American Beauty," which took in a total of five Oscars, was the first film produced through the JINKS/COHEN Company, which has a first-look deal at DreamWorks Pictures. For producing "American Beauty," the two have also won the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Chicago Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics, London Film Critics, Producers Guild and National Board of Review awards.

The JINKS/COHEN Company currently is in production on "Big Fish," starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney, directed by Tim Burton for Columbia. They have additional projects in development at Dreamworks, Revolution Studios and Regency Enterprises. They are also producing "Livin' Dolls," an original musical for television for The Wonderful World of Disney and ABC.

Previously, Dan Jinks ran producer Martin Bregman's company for five years. During that time, he produced the hit Touchstone comedy "Nothing to Lose," starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins, written and directed by Steve Oedekerk. Jinks is also the executive producer of "The Bone Collector," starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. He was also involved in "Carlito's Way," starring Al Pacino, "The Shadow," starring Alec Baldwin, as well as "Matilda," starring Danny DeVito. Jinks also ran producer Aaron Russo's company for three years. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he began his career working in the theatre in New York.

Bruce Cohen produced the blockbuster hit "The Flintstones" and the prequel "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" for Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures. He produced DreamWorks' "Mousehunt" and executive produced Universal/Amblin's "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. " Prior to that, he was co-producer of "Alive," directed by Frank Marshall for Touchstone Pictures. A graduate of Yale University, Cohen began his film career as the DGA trainee on Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple," and went on to serve as first assistant director on Touchstone's "Arachnophobia" and the associate producer/first assistant director of Spielberg's "Hook. "

Executive Producer PADDY CULLEN served in that capacity on director Peyton Reed's "Bring It On. " Cullen recently produced Gary Hardwick's "Deliver Us From Eva," starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union as well as Hardwick's directing debut, "The Brothers. " She is executive producer of the upcoming David Zucker comedy ""The Boss's Daughter" and producer of Mark Brown's "Two Can Play That Game. " Cullen co-produced "Go," directed by Doug Liman, and "Under Heaven," directed by Meg Richman. She was associate producer on "My Best Friend's Wedding. "

She was production supervisor on "True Lies," "How to Make an American Quilt" and "A Dangerous Woman. " Cullen holds a B. A. degree from the University of Arizona.

Executive Producer ARNON MILCHAN is widely renowned as one of the most prolific and successful independent film producers of the past 20 years, with over sixty feature films to his credit. Born in Israel, Milchan was educated at the London School of Economics and the University of Geneva. His first business venture was to transform his father's modest business into one of his country's largest agro-chemical companies. This early achievement was a harbinger of Milchan's now legendary reputation in the international marketplace as a keen businessman.

Soon, Milchan began to underwrite projects in an area that had always held a special interest for him - film, television and theater. Early projects include Roman Polanski's theater production of "Amadeus," "Dizengoff 99," "La Menace" and "The Medusa Touch. " By the end of the eighties, Milchan had produced such films as Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy," Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time In America" and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil. "

After the huge success of "Pretty Woman" and "The War of the Roses," Milchan founded New Regency Productions and went on to produce a string of films, including "J. F. K. ," "Sommersby," "A Time to Kill," "Free Willy," "The Client," "Tin Cup," "Under Siege," "L. A. Confidential," "The Devil's Advocate," "The Negotiator," "City of Angels," "Entrapment," "Fight Club," "Don't Say a Word," the blockbuster comedy "Big Momma's House" and "Daredevil," which has grossed $100 million in the U. S.

Upcoming projects include the courtroom thriller "The Runaway Jury," based on the John Grisham best-seller, starring John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman; "First Daughter," directed by Forest Whitaker; "The Girl Next Door," toplining Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert; "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman; and "Man on Fire," starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott.

Milchan brought on board some powerful investors and partners who shared his vision: Australian businessman Kerry Packer's Nine Network and Twentieth Century Fox. Fox distributes Regency movies in all media worldwide (excluding output arrangements Regency has in Germany, Italy and Korea with its other strategic partners), except U. S. pay television and international pay and free television.

Milchan also successfully diversified his company's activities within the sphere of entertainment, most specifically in the realm of television through Regency Television ("Malcolm in the Middle," "The Bernie Mac Show"), and sports through an alliance and significant equity investment in PUMA, the worldwide athletic apparel and shoe conglomerate based in Germany.

Screenwriters EVE AHLERT & DENNIS DRAKE make their screenwriting debut with their original script DOWN WITH LOVE, having previously written for the theatre and for several TV series.

Director of Photography JEFF CRONENWETH, ASC studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California and began his career serving on the camera crews of some of the film industry's greatest cinematographers, including Sven Nykvist, ASC, John Toll, ASC, Conrad Hall, ASC, as well as his father, the late Jordan Cronenweth, ASC.

Over the past ten years Cronenweth has risen to the top of the commercial and music video industries, working with innovative directors like Mark Romanek, Spike Jonze, Stephane Sednaoui, Geoff Barish, and Phil Joanou. In feature films, Cronenweth's first invitation to serve as a director of photography came from director David Fincher and the result was the visually haunting "Fight Club. " Before filming DOWN WITH LOVE, Cronenweth completed the features "One Hour Photo," starring Robin Williams, directed by Mark Romanek, and "K-19: The Widowmaker," starring Harrison Ford, directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Production Designer ANDREW LAWS has been working in film since l995 when he left the field of architecture, a training which has supported him in his new vocation. His films include the critically acclaimed "Tigerland," directed by Joel Schumacher and "The Minus Man," directed by Hampton Fancher. Laws' recent work includes "Phone Booth," directed by Schumacher and the upcoming David Zucker comedy "The Boss's Daughter. "

Prior to becoming a production designer, he served as art director on the films "Swordfish," "Gone in Sixty Seconds," "Simpatico" and "Rushmore. " Born in the U. K. , Laws moved to the U. S. as a child. He received his BFA from the University of California at Santa Cruz and did his Masters degree studies in Architecture at UCLA.

Costume Designer DANIEL ORLANDI began his career assisting designer Bob Mackie on his many television specials, on the film "Pennies from Heaven" and on Mackie's couture collection. Orlandi's recent work includes Joel Schumacher's "Phone Booth," the David Zucker comedy "The Boss's Daughter" and the action comedy "Down and Under" for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. He also designed the first 15 episodes of the series "Ed. "

For Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's company, Tribeca Films, Orlandi designed costumes for "Meet the Parents," the hit comedy starring Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro; "Flawless" directed by Joel Schumacher, starring De Niro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and the acclaimed mini-series "Witness to the Mob. " Orlandi's earlier films include Tony Scott's "The Fan" (also starring De Niro), "Rocket Man" and the independent feature "Quick. "

In 1989, Orlandi won an Emmy for Best Costume Design for "The Magic of David Copperfield. " His other television credits include "Crazy From the Heart," "Marilyn and Me," "Fatal Friendship" and "Cab to Canada. " Born in New Jersey, Orlandi holds a BFA degree in Drama from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

LARRY BOCK (Editor) served as editor on DOWN WITH LOVE director Peyton Reed's "Bring It On. " Bock edited the comedy "How High" for Jersey Films. His earlier credits include "The Santa Clause," "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," "The Mighty Ducks," "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead," "Pump Up the Volume," "Rock 'n Rock High School" and "Breakin'. "

For television, Bock has edited Steve Herek's "The Gifted One," Ralph Bakshi's "Cool and the Crazy," and the pilot "Miss Miami" directed by Steve Surjik.

MARC SHAIMAN (Music) Marc Shaiman just won a Grammy Award for producing and writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the cast album of the Broadway hit "Hairspray. "

Shaiman has composed, adapted the music, appeared in and/or wrote lyrics for over 50 films. He has been nominated for an Academy Award five times, for his work on "South Park - Bigger, Longer & Uncut," "Patch Adams," "The First Wives Club," "The American President" and "Sleepless In Seattle. " Other film credits include "When Harry Met Sally," "Beaches," "City Slickers," "The Addams Family," "A Few Good Men," "Sister Act," "In & Out," "George Of The Jungle," HBO's "From The Earth To The Moon," and "61*. " Upcoming is "The Cat in the Hat" starring Mike Myers.

Shaiman started his career as vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director and producer. He brought to Midler the Grammy winning songs "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From A Distance," and collaborated on her Emmy Award winning performance for the final "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. "

Shaiman was an Emmy nominee for writing on "Saturday Night Live" (The Sweeney Sisters) and an Emmy winner for co-writing Billy Crystal's "Oscar Medleys" for one of Crystal's stints as emcee of the Academy Awards. He won two Grammy nominations for his arrangements for Harry Connick Jr.

Shaiman has worked with many other artists including Peter Allen, Eric Clapton, Lauryn Hill, Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Andrea Martin, Martin Short and Barbra Streisand. He has also appeared in many films, including "South Park - Bigger, Longer and Uncut," "Beaches," "Hot Shots " and James L. Brooks' "Broadcast News. "

Author : Twentieth Century Fox