Curtis Lee Hanson was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles. After dropping out of high school, Hanson worked as photographer and editor for Cinema magazine. In the 1970s, Hanson got involved in filmmaking starting with participating to the writing Daniel Haller's The Dunwich Horror (1970) and his directorial debut Sweet Kill (1973), where he lacked creative control to fulfill his vision. While Hanson continued directing, he rose to prominence by being involved in the writing of critically acclaimed films. This includes Daryl Duke's The Silent Partner (1978), Samuel Fuller's White Dog and Carroll Ballard's Never Cry Wolf (1983).
Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the direct inspiration for the name from Duong, Lee, and Wang came from an equivalent scene in the 1992 Canadian film Léolo.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an American actress. Her first major role was that of Jessica Bennett on the NBC soap opera Passions (1999–2000). She came to wider attention for her roles in the horror series Wolf Lake (2001–2002), the horror films Final Destination 3 (2006) and Death Proof (2007), and the slasher film Black Christmas (2006).
Rebound is a 2005 American sports comedy film directed by Steve Carr. It stars Martin Lawrence as a disgraced college basketball coach who returns to his old middle school to coach the boys' basketball team.
The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, also referred to as NFTE, is an international nonprofit organization providing entrepreneurship training and educational programs to middle and high school students, college students, and adults. Much of NFTE's work focuses specifically on young people in underserved communities.
Mary Mazzio is an American documentary filmmaker, attorney, and a rower for the United States in the 1992 Olympics. She founded the independent film company 50 Eggs.
Digital Harbor High School is a magnet high school located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Occupying the campus of the former Southern High School, it is currently one of two secondary schools and a comprehensive high school that specializes in information technology of Baltimore.
Teresa Mary Palmer is an Australian actress. She began her career with roles in Bedtime Stories (2008), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010), Take Me Home Tonight (2011), and I Am Number Four (2011). She received further recognition for starring in the films Warm Bodies (2013), Lights Out (2016), Hacksaw Ridge (2016), and Berlin Syndrome (2017). She also starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced the drama film The Ever After (2014), with her husband Mark Webber. From 2018 to 2022, Palmer starred as Diana Bishop in the supernatural drama series A Discovery of Witches.
The Nativity Story is a 2006 American biblical drama film based on the nativity of Jesus and directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The film stars Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub, Alexander Siddig, Ciarán Hinds, and Shohreh Aghdashloo.
Taylor Daniel Lautner is an American actor. He is best known for playing werewolf Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga film series (2008–2012).
Steve Mariotti is the founder and former president (1988-2005) of the nonprofit Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), and the author of books and textbooks related to entrepreneurship education. Mariotti was inspired to found NFTE by his early career as a special ed teacher in New York City, as chronicled in his 2019 memoir, Goodbye Homeboy: How My Students Drove Me Crazy and Inspired a Movement, BenBella Books. After retiring as NFTE president in 2015, Mariotti served as Senior Fellow for Entrepreneurship at Philadelphia University (2016-2018), and Senior Fellow at Rising Tide Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey (2018-2020). In 2020, Mariotti executive-produced the PBS docu-series Trauma to Triumph: The Rise of the Entrepreneur. In 2021, he founded the nonprofit Center for Financial Independence, which provides social entrepreneurs with mentorship and fundraising training.
Joyful Noise is a 2012 American musical comedy-drama film, starring Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, and Courtney B. Vance. It is based on an original script, Love The Light, written by Max Myers and was rewritten and directed by Todd Graff, with gospel-infused music by Mervyn Warren. The film was released in U.S. theaters on January 13, 2012. In the film, two strong-minded women are forced to cooperate when budget cuts threaten to shut down a small-town choir. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for its songs and acting but criticism of its script and tone.
Undefeated is a 2011 documentary film directed by Daniel Lindsay and T. J. Martin. The film documents the struggles of a high school football team, the Manassas Tigers of Memphis, as they attempt a winning season after years of losses. The team is turned around by coach Bill Courtney, who helps form a group of young men into an academic and athletic team.
Spare Parts is a 2015 drama film directed by Sean McNamara and produced by David Alpert, Rick Jacobs, Leslie Kolins Small, George Lopez, and Ben Odell. It is based on the Wired magazine article "La Vida Robot" by Joshua Davis, about the true story of a group of students from a mainly Latino high school, who won first place over M.I.T. in the 2004 MATE ROV competition. The film was released by Lions Gate Entertainment on January 16, 2015.
Hits is a 2014 American comedy-drama written and directed by David Cross. The film is the directorial debut of Cross. The film had its world premiere at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2014. The film later screened at 2014 Sundance London Film Festival on April 26, 2014. On February 13, 2015, Hits became the first feature-length film to be released on BitTorrent with a pay-what-you-want model. The Recording Academy's Chapter President Tammy Susan Hurt contributed music to the film via Georgia Music Partners.
3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, also known as 3 1/2 Minutes, is a 2015 American documentary film written and directed by Marc Silver. The film is based on the events surrounding the 2012 murder of Jordan Russell Davis and examines the shooting itself, as well as the subsequent trial, media coverage and protests that resulted from the shooting.
On the Beach at Night Alone is a 2017 South Korean drama film written, produced, and directed by Hong Sang-soo. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival. At Berlin, Kim Min-hee won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award.
I am Jane Doe is a documentary chronicling the legal battle that several American mothers are waging on behalf of their middle-school daughters who were trafficked for commercial sex on Backpage.com, the classified advertising website formerly owned by the Village Voice. The film is narrated by Jessica Chastain, directed by filmmaker Mary Mazzio, and produced by Mazzio along with Alec Sokolow. Fifty percent of the film's profits will go to non-profit organizations which serve children affected by human trafficking.
A Most Beautiful Thing is a 2020 documentary film chronicling the history of the first US African American public high school rowing team, composed of young men from the West Side of Chicago, many of whom were in rival gangs. The film is narrated by Common, directed by filmmaker and Olympic rower Mary Mazzio, and produced by NBA athletes Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade along with 9th Wonder who also did the hip-hop score for the film.
