Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.
Mark Lee Romanek is an American filmmaker and photographer.
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. His accolades included an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the only Canadian recipient of the "Triple Crown of Acting". He also received a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.
Bradford Claude Dourif is an American semi-retired actor. He is known for voicing Chucky in the Child's Play franchise (1988–present), portraying Gríma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings film series and his Oscar-nominated role as Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
Some Kind of Wonderful is a 1987 American teen romantic drama film directed by Howard Deutch and starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Lea Thompson. It is one of several successful teen dramas written by John Hughes in the 1980s. Blue-collar teen Keith goes out with the popular Amanda, a girl he's always dreamed of dating. Her ex-boyfriend plots revenge on him, while Keith's tomboy best friend Watts realizes she has feelings for Keith. The film had its premiere in Hollywood on February 23, 1987, and widely released theatrically in the United States on February 27.
A Lie of the Mind is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike. The music was composed and played by the North Carolina bluegrass group the Red Clay Ramblers.
Amanda Michael Plummer is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her film roles, including Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), The Fisher King (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013). Plummer won a Tony Award in 1982 for her performance in Agnes of God. She most recently appeared in the third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023).
Bob Gunton is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama The Shawshank Redemption, Chief George Earle in 1993's Demolition Man, Dr. Walcott, the domineering dean of Virginia Medical School in Patch Adams, and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in Argo. He also played Leland Owlsley in the Daredevil television series, Secretary of Defense Ethan Kanin in 24, and Noah Taylor in Desperate Housewives.
Keith Gordon is an American actor and film director.
Prachya Pinkaew is a Thai film director, film producer and screenwriter. His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior and Tom-Yum-Goong, both martial arts films starring Tony Jaa.
Chris LaMont is an American screenwriter, independent filmmaker, and film professor, who co-founded the Phoenix Film Festival in 2000. He has written and co-written several feature films, including Soul Mates,The Inheritance, The Au Pair Nightmare, The Locksmith. and the Bruce Willis-starrer Hard Kill. He has also produced and directed several independent films, My Apocalypse,Netherbeast Incorporated, and The Graves.
The Wolfman is a 2010 American gothic horror film directed by Joe Johnston, from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self. A remake of the 1941 film of the same name, it stars Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving. The film’s story follows an actor based in America who, after his brother's brutal murder, returns to his ancestral homeland in England, where he gets bitten by a werewolf and is cursed to become one.
The Shadow Box is a play written by actor Michael Cristofer. The play made its Broadway debut on March 31, 1977. It is the winner of the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. The play was made into a telefilm, directed by Paul Newman in 1980.
Gary Wheeler is a North Carolina–based film producer. He is the founder and president of Level Path Productions. Wheeler's recent projects include Final Solution, which was shot in South Africa and stars Tony Award winner John Kani, Midnight Clear, a Christmas Special starring Stephen Baldwin and The List, a legal thriller starring Malcolm McDowell, Hilarie Burton and Will Patton which was based on the novel of the same name by Robert Whitlow. Gary Wheeler has also directed the courtroom drama The Trial. This has actors like Bob Gunton and Matthew Modine.
Never Let Me Go is a 2010 British dystopian romantic drama film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Mark Romanek from a screenplay by Alex Garland. Never Let Me Go is set in alternative history and centres on Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy, portrayed by Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield, respectively, who become entangled in a love triangle. Principal photography began in April 2009. Filming locations included Andrew Melville Hall and Forest School, Walthamstow. The film was produced by DNA Films and Film4 on a US$15 million budget.
Gideon "Gidi" Raff is an Israeli film and television director, screenwriter, and writer. He is best known for his creation of the Channel 2 thriller drama series Prisoners of War, from which he later co-developed the American version of the series, Homeland.
American filmmaker Mark Romanek directed his first music video in 1986, for The The's "Sweet Bird of Truth". He earned his first MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction nomination for "Free Your Mind", performed by En Vogue, in 1993. Romanek later directed "Closer" for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, which contains imagery involving terror, sexuality, and animal cruelty. In 1995, he directed the video for "Scream", set in space and performed by Michael and Janet Jackson, as well as the New Age surrealistic "Bedtime Story", performed by Madonna. They are two of the most expensive music videos ever made, costing $7 million and $5 million, respectively. "Scream" gained 11 nominations at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including Romanek's second Best Direction nomination, and his first Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form.
"Picasso Baby" is a song by American hip hop artist Jay-Z from his twelfth studio album Magna Carta... Holy Grail. It is the second track on the album and features additional vocals by The-Dream and Zofia Borucka Moreno. The song was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and contains a sample of "Sirens" by Adrian Younge. Following the release of the album, the song peaked at number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 based on downloads only.
Jimmy is a 2013 drama film directed by Mark Freiburger and based on the novel by Robert Whitlow, who co-wrote the adaptation with Freiburger and producer Gary Wheeler.
Xu Xiaoxi is a Chinese film director and screenwriter. He belongs to a new generation of filmmakers from China that are educated in the West. Since 2010, he co-directs all his films with the Spanish director Roberto F. Canuto and together open a film production company in China, Almost Red Productions.
