SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ (Writer Director)

GREG SHAPIRO (Producer)

CARSTEN LORENZ (Executive Producer)

ROB TAPERT (Executive Producer)

JOE DRAKE (Executive Producer)

NATHAN KAHANE (Executive Producer)

JOHN TOLL, ASC (Director of Photography)

JERRY FLEMING (Production Designer)

DENISE WINGATE (Costume Designer)

LISA BROMWELL, A.C.E. (Editor)

FILMMAKERS BIOS

Venezuelan writer director SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ previously directed the crime thriller JUDAS KISS, starring Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman and HBO's SHE CREATURE, starring Carla Gugino and Rufus Sewell. His screenwriting credits include the Sam Jackson starrer SNAKES ON A PLANE, GOTHIKA, starring Halle Berry, the Owen Wilson comedy THE BIG BOUNCE and the upcoming horror film THE EYE, starring Jessica Alba.

GREG SHAPIRO (Producer) produced the cult comedy hit, “Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle” as well as “Rules of Attraction.” In addition, he produced the upcoming drama, “Neverwas,” starring Sir Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart, and Brittany Murphy, which made its world premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival.

Partnered with Nick Nolte, their company, Kingsgate Films, has produced the critically acclaimed “Affliction,” “Simpatico,” and “Investigating Sex.” They currently are developing “The Rum Diary,” based upon the book by Hunter S. Thompson which will star Johnny Depp.

CARSTEN LORENZ (Executive Producer) first worked with Producer Greg Shapiro on “Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle.” They went on to team together on “Neverwas,” which made its world premiere in 2005 at the Toronto Film Festival. Lorenz also co-produced Wim Wenders’ 2005 Cannes competition entry, “Don’t Come Looking.”

Previously, Lorenz served as president of physical production at Senator International where he oversaw production on all features from development to release, including the blockbuster hit, “The Grudge” and “Boogeyman.” As an independent producer/writer, Lorenz produced such films as the Lola Award Winner “The Little Vampire,” “Prince Valiant” and “Invasion of Privacy.” In addition, Lorenz served as Head of US Operations for Senator from 1991-94, where he shepherded such films as “Heavenly Creatures,” “The Crying Game” and “Fried Green Tomatoes,” among others.

ROB TAPERT (Executive Producer) is Sam Raimi's longstanding producing partner who formed Ghost House Pictures with Raimi and Mandate Pictures. For the Ghost House label, Tapert has produced the box office hits “The Grudge,” which has grossed over $188 million in worldwide box office and “Boogeyman” which set a box office record for the highest grossing film opening over Super Bowl weekend in 2005. Tapert and Raimi have worked together since they met at Michigan State University, where they formed the Society for Creative Film Making. After producing the hit horror cult film “The Evil Dead,” Tapert collaborated with friend and partner Raimi on The Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn,” “Darkman” and “Army of Darkness.” Tapert went on to become an executive producer of the action features “Hard Target” and “Timecop,” starring Jean Claude Van Damme, as well as two direct-to-video “Darkman” sequels. He was also executive producer of Raimi's theatrical film “The Gift,” starring Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves and executive producer of Raimi's high-action “The Quick and the Dead,” starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman. Together, Tapert and Raimi executive produced the two-hour series pilot of Fox's “M.A.N.T.I.S.,” the CBS series “American Gothic,” the ABC series “Spy Game,” the Fox Kids Network series “Young Hercules,” “Hercules” and “Xena: The Animated Movie,” and four “Hercules” telemovies. In addition, they executive produced the syndicated TV series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Cleopatra 2525” and “Jack of All Trades.

JOE DRAKE (Executive Producer) is owner and president of Mandate Pictures, an independent company dedicated to the self-financing, development and production of filmed entertainment. Drake has been the driving force since launching the company (previously Senator International) in 2005, which aims to deliver broad-appeal films to studios and major independents worldwide. In the company’s recent years, Drake greenlit “Stranger Than Fiction,” Zach Helm’s directorial debut “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman, as well as Danny Leiner’s outrageous comedy “Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle.” Drake also launched Hollywood's preeminent horror label Ghost House Pictures with partners Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, which produced the box office hits “The Grudge” and “Boogeyman.” Drake also served as executive producer on Catherine Hardwicke's “Lords Of Dogtown” and Josh Stern’s “Neverwas.”

Formerly president of Lionsgate International, Drake established the division as a premier supplier of theatrical feature films to the independent world. He oversaw worldwide sales and distribution of Lionsgate’s international programming and championed such projects as Nicolas Cage’s “Shadow of The Vampire,” the highly controversial “American Psycho” and the Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominee “Amores Perros.” Before joining Lionsgate, Drake served as senior vice president of international theatrical at Rysher Entertainment and also held positions at Moviestore Entertainment.

NATHAN KAHANE (Executive Producer) is the creative force responsible for the established relationships with high-level talent for Mandate Pictures and oversees the development and production of the company’s growing feature slate. He also oversees the daily creative operations of Ghost House Pictures, Mandate's joint venture with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert.

While at Mandate, Kahane has produced or overseen the productions of “Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle,” and the $188 million box office worldwide hit “The Grudge.” Currently, he is overseeing Zach Helm’s “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” with Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman and Jason Bateman, “The Messengers” directed by Danny & Oxide Pang, and preparing for upcoming productions on the Jonas Akerlund film “Horsemen” starring Dennis Quaid and Ziyi Zhang, as well as “Juno” to be directed by Jason Reitman starring Ellen Page.

Kahane started his career at ICM in their agent-training program after graduating from the Hass School of Business at The University of California, Berkeley. Following that, he worked for four and a half years as the Canton Company's Executive Vice President of Motion Pictures.

JOHN TOLL, ASC (Director of Photography) has the distinction of winning back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Cinematography: the first in 1995 for Edward Zwick's sweeping romantic drama “Legends of the Fall,” and a second in 1996 for his work on Mel Gibson's epic drama “Braveheart,” which additionally won him a BAFTA Award. His work on Terrence Malick's World War II drama, “The Thin Red Line,” earned him both the New York Film Critics Circle and Chicago Film Critics Association awards for Best Cinematography and a Jury Special Mention at the Berlin Film Festival, as well as an Oscar nomination and a nomination from the British Society of Cinematographers.

Toll has collaborated three times with writer/director Cameron Crowe, photographing “Almost Famous,” “Vanilla Sky” and “Elizabethtown.” He also filmed “The Last Samurai,” and the romantic drama “Captain Correlli's Mandolin.” Among his additional credits as a director of photography are “Simpatico,” the Francis Ford Coppola films “The Rainmaker” and “Jack,” and Carroll Ballard's “Wind.”

JERRY FLEMING (Production Designer) marks his third collaboration with Writer/Director Sebastian Gutierrez on “Rise.” They previously worked together on “Judas Kiss” and “She Creature.” Some of his other movies are “Crank,” Lies and Alibis," “Breakin’ All The Rules,” “Green Dragon,” “It's the Rage,” “Things You can Tell Just By Looking At Her,” “The Big Brass Ring,” and “Jaw Breaker.” Fleming also designed the sets for the critically acclaimed “Permanent Midnight” and “Live Nude Girls.” For television, he is credited with “Teenage Caveman,” “The Day The World Ended” and “Earth vs. the Spider” among others. His commercial work is equally extensive, with such clients as Pepsi, Dell Computers, Discover Card, and Sony Playstation.

DENISE WINGATE (Costume Designer) marks her second collaboration with Writer/Director Sebastian Gutierrez on “Rise,” having previously worked on his directorial debut, “Judas Kiss.”

Wingate is currently working on “Live Free Die Hard” (aka Die Hard 4) with Bruce Willis and also did the summer comedy “Employee of the Month” with Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson. Other credits include “Wedding Crashers,” “Paparazzi,” “Radio,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr., “The Sweetest Thing,” with Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate and Selma Blair and the black comedy “Novocaine,” starring Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern. Some of her other feature credits are “Soul Survivors,” “Blue Streak,” “Cruel Intentions,” “She’s All That,” and “The Alarmist.”

A Southern California native, Wingate began her career designing costumes for such hit television shows as “Melrose Place” and “Models, Inc.” before moving into feature films.

LISA BROMWELL, A.C.E. (Editor) recently completed the first season of Showtime’s hit series, “Weeds,” prior to joining the team of “Rise.” Her feature credits include “The Outsider,” “The Disappearance Of Garcia Lorca,” “Sprung,” and “Sticks And Stones.” She also edited the feature length documentary, “Champion,” which chronicles the career of heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield. In addition, Bromwell was an additional editor on “Silence Of The Lambs” which received an Academy Award nomination for Editing. Her notable honors include cutting the Academy Award-winning “Lieberman In Love,” for Director Christine Lahti which won as Best Live Action Short. Bromwell also edited “Little Surprises” for Director Jeff Goldblum and “On Hope” for Director Jobeth Williams of which both received Oscar nominations in the Live Action Short category. In addition, she received an A.C.E. nomination for her work on the television movie, “In His Life: The John Lennon Story.”

For television, Bromwell has worked on such television shows as “The Practice,” “Medical Investigation,” “Thieves” and “Popular,” among others.