FILMMAKERS
BIOS

Kevin Costner (L), director Bruce A. Evans (next to Costner) and William Hurt
(R) on the set of MR. BROOKS
MR.
BROOKS marks a major departure for Academy Award®-nominated
screenwriter BRUCE A. EVANS (Director, Co-Screenwriter) and
his second outing as a director. Evans previously directed
the comedy “Kuffs,” starring Christian Slater and
Mila Jovovich, which he also co-wrote with his long-time partner
Raynold Gideon.
Evans
and Gideon have been a screenwriting team since 1979's "A
Man, A Woman and a Bank.” They went on to co-write the
popular sci-fi romance “Star Man,” about an alien
who takes the form of a young widow’s husband, directed
by John Carpenter and starring Jeff Bridges in the title role.
This was followed by “Stand By Me,” their adaptation
of Stephen King’s novella “The Body,” which
would become a classic coming-of-age story directed by Rob
Reiner and starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix and Kiefer Sutherland.
The screenplay garnered Evans and Gideon an Oscar® nomination,
the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay and a Writer’s
Guild Award nomination, among other accolades.
Next
came the fantasy “Made In Heaven,” directed
by Alan Rudolph and starring Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis; “Kuffs,” on
which Evans made his directorial debut; and the pirate adventure “Cutthroat
Island” directed by Rennie Harlin. The duo also served
as production consultants on the box-office hit “Honey,
I Shrunk The Kids.” Continuing in the comedy vein, Evans
and Gideon adapted the French film “Un Indien Dans La
Ville” into the hit Tim Allen comedy “Jungle 2
Jungle.”
Evans
has also served as a producer on Richard Donner’s
critically admired “Assassins” starring Sylvester
Stallone, Antonio Banderas and Julianne Moore.
RAYNOLD
GIDEON (Co-Screenwriter, Producer) received an Academy Award® nomination, along with his partner Bruce A. Evans,
for “Stand By Me,” their adaptation of Stephen
King’s novella “The Body,” which became a
classic coming-of-age story directed by Rob Reiner and starring
Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix and Kiefer Sutherland. He also received
an Academy Award® nomination for the short film “Frog
Story,” which he wrote, coproduced, and acted in.
Gideon’s partnership with Evans began in 1979 with “A
Man, A Woman and a Bank.” They went on to cowrite the
popular sci-fi romance “Star Man,” about an alien
who takes the form of a young widow’s husband, directed
by John Carpenter and starring Jeff Bridges in the title role.
This was followed by “Stand By Me,” which also
garnered the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay and
a Writer’s Guild Award nomination, among other accolades.
Gideon
also co-wrote with Evans “Made In Heaven,” directed
by Alan Rudolph and starring Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis; “Kuffs,” on
which Evans made his directorial debut; and the pirate adventure “Cutthroat
Island” directed by Rennie Harlin. Most recently, Gideon
and Evans co-wrote the hit Tim Allen comedy “Jungle 2
Jungle,” adapted from the French film “Un Indien
Dans La Ville.” The duo also served as production consultants
on the family adventure “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.”
Gideon
has also served as a producer on many of the films he and
Evans have written, including “Star Man,” “Stand
By Me,” “Made In Heaven,” “Kuffs” and
now MR. BROOKS. He also was a producer on “Assassins,” directed
by Richard Donner and starring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio
Banderas and Julianne Moore.
Academy
Award®-winning producer JIM WILSON (Producer) is a graduate of Antioch College and the Berkeley Film Institute.
After college, he went on to found American Twist Productions,
where he produced and directed numerous short films for clients
such as The U.S. Tennis Association, Congoleum, Volvo, The
Robert F. Kennedy Foundation and Kodak.
Wilson's
first directorial effort in feature films was 1983's “Stacy’s
Nights,” written by Michael Blake and starring Costner
in his first leading role. Wilson then directed “The
Movie Maker” in 1985 and served as associate producer
on “Revenge,” which also starred Costner. More
recently, he has directed “Head Above Water,” a
comedic thriller starring Harvey Keitel, Cameron Diaz and Craig
Sheffer; “Laffit: All About Winning,” a documentary
chronicling the inspirational story of jockey Laffit Parcay,
Jr. and, most recently, the youthful romance “Whirlygirl” starring
Monet Mazur and Julian Morris.
In
1988 Wilson partnered with Costner to form Tig Productions.
In 1990, the duo produced the epic “Dances With Wolves,” which
Costner both starred in and directed. Written by Michael Blake,
the film went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best
Picture.
Wilson
produced the blockbuster “The Bodyguard” with
Lawrence Kasdan, who also wrote the screenplay, and Costner,
who starred with Whitney Houston. He then produced “Wyatt
Earp” with Kasdan directing and Costner, Dennis Quaid
and Gene Hackman starring. Wilson and Costner also produced “Rapa
Nui” starring Jason Scott Lee and served as executive
producers on the eight-hour television documentary “500
Nations.” They next produced the sci-fi adventure “The
Postman” which Costner directed, followed by the hit
romance “Message In A Bottle,” directed by Luis
Mandoki and starring a cast that included Costner, Robin Wright
Penn and Paul Newman.
JOHN
LINDLEY, ASC (Director of Photography) most recently photographed “Reservation Road” for director Terry
George and “Catch and Release” starring Jennifer
Garner. He has photographed four films for director Nora Ephron – “Bewitched,” “You’ve
Got Mail,” “Michael” and “Lucky Numbers” – and
has also enjoyed a long collaboration with director Joseph
Ruben, including the films “Money Train,” “The
Good Son,” “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “True
Believer” and “The Stepfather.” Lindley’s
additional credits include “The Sum of All Fears,” “The
Core,” “Pleasantville,” “Father of
the Bride,” “Sneakers,” “The Serpent
and the Rainbow” and “Field of Dreams.”
After
completing his training at New York University Film School,
Lindley began working in television. His credits include
the telefilms “The Gentleman Bandit,” “An
Invasion of Privacy,” “Badge of the Assassin,” “Rockabye,” “LBJ:
The Early Years” and “Poor Little Rich Girl.” Lindley
also filmed numerous rock videos, including The Talking Heads’ “Road
to Nowhere.”
JEFFREY
BEECROFT (Production Designer) has received numerous awards
and nominations throughout his career, including an Academy
Award® nomination for the Production Design of
Dances With Wolves. Among other films Beecroft has created
a singular look for are David Fincher's, “The Game,” Terry
Gilliam's “Twelve Monkeys” and “Message in
a Bottle.” Currently he is completing work on the feature
film Mr. Brooks.
In
1994, 1995, 1999 and 2005 Beecroft received The Museum of
Modern Art's Designer of the Year Award for commercial and
music video work. Beecroft has also received two Art Director’s
Guild nominations and the 2006 Art Directors Guild Award.
Having
Received an MFA from New York University and a fellowship
to Oxford University, Mr. Beecroft’s designs have been
seen extensively in both theater and opera. On Broadway, he
received two Tony Nominations for the Royal Shakespeare Company
productions of “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Much
Ado About Nothing.” Among Beecroft’s West End productions
are “Playboy of the Western World” for the Abbey
Theater, the RSC’s “Troilus and Cressida,” “Hamlet,” “The
Cherry Orchard,” the Old Vic's “After Aida” and
the Royal Exchange productions of “Three Sisters” and “Oedipus
Rex” for which he won the Evening Standard Award.
Beecroft's
architectural and interior design work has appeared in Architectural
Digest, The World of Interiors, Elle Décor,
Cote Sud, Coastal Living, HG and Vanity Fair. He is currently
designing the Otto Project for the Fondazione Prada Museum
in Milan, Italy.
She
also designed the costumes for “National Treasure,” “The
Legend of Bagger Vance,” “For the Love of the Game,” “Gloria,” on
which she designed the costumes for Sharon Stone, “Practical
Magic,” “Great Expectations,” “The
Devil’s Three-time Academy Award nominee JUDIANNA
MAKOVSKY (Costume Designer) has 17 years of experience in the industry,
where she is regarded as one of the most talented costume designers
working today. Her artistry has been recognized with three
Academy Award® nominations for her work on the period drama “Seabiscuit,” on
the innovative film “Pleasantville,” and for her
imaginative work in the blockbuster “Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which also earned her a
BAFTA nomination. She was honored by her peers as she received
a Costume Designers Guild Award for both “Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Pleasantville,” as
well as a nomination for “X-Men 3: The Last Stand.”
Advocate,” “Lolita,” “White Squall,” “A
Little Princess,” “The Quick and the Dead,” “The
Ref, “The Specialist,” again costuming Sharon Stone, “Six
Degrees of Separation,” “Reversal of Fortune,” “Big” and “Gardens
of Stone.”
Her
telefilm costuming credits include “Wild Palms,” “Miss
Rose White, Margaret Bourke-White” and the pilot for
Robert DeNiro’s series “Tribeca.” She is
currently costume designing for “National Treasure 2.”
RAMIN
DJAWADI (Composer), an accomplished and rising film composer,
recently received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Main
Title Theme Music for “Prison Break.”
Born
in Duisburg, Germany, Djawadi began his musical career as
a guitar player in numerous bands in Germany. In 1995, he
decided to move to the U.S. to earn a bachelor’s degree
in film scoring and guitar performance at the prestigious Berklee
College of Music. In 2000, Ramin moved to California to join
Media Ventures, home of Academy Award® winner Hans Zimmer,
which led to collaboration with Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer
on such feature films as “Something’s Gotta Give,” the
blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Thunderbirds.” He
went on to compose the scores for the action hit “Blade:
Trinity,” Robert Towne’s “Ask The Dust” and
the animated feature “Open Season.” For television,
he has composed for “Threshold,” “Blade:
The Series” and “Prison Break.” The film’s
soundtrack will be released on Milan Records on May 22nd.
ABOUT ELEMENT FILMS
Los
Angeles-based Element Films, a subsidiary of SBE Entertainment
Group, is committed to financing and producing motion pictures
for theatrical distribution. Element also strategically partners
with other production entities and studios on select motion
pictures. Element’s founding partners are CEO Sam Nazarian,
chairman of SBE Entertainment Group, and Element President
Adam Rosenfelt. Element has a long-standing production and
financing relationship with the state of Louisiana, and Element
productions filmed in the state include not only MR. BROOKS,
but also the comedy hit “Waiting,” starring Ryan
Reynolds, “Five Fingers,” a drama starring Laurence
Fishburne and Ryan Phillippe; “Freshman Orientation,” starring
John Goodman; “The Last Time,” a comedic-drama
currently in post production starring Michael Keaton and Brendan
Fraser; and the genre film "Evil Remains," starring
Estella Warren. Element also produced “Down in the Valley,” starring
Edward Norton and Evan Rachael Wood, and “Pride,” starring
Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac.