LEN WISEMAN (Director)
MARK BOMBACK (Screenplay, Story)
DAVID MARCONI (Story)
MICHAEL FOTTRELL (Producer)
ARNOLD RIFKIN (Executive Producer)
WILLIAM WISHER (Executive Producer)
SIMON DUGGAN, ACS (Director of Photography)
PATRICK TATOPOULOS (Production Designer)
NICOLAS de TOTH (Editor)
MARCO BELTRAMI (Music)

 

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

LEN WISEMAN’s (Director) experience in the film industry began in the art department on the blockbuster hits Godzilla, Stargate, Men In Black and Independence Day. With his natural visual flair and eye for design, he was soon behind the lens directing commercials for PlayStation, Time Warner, Oracle, Intel and Activision, which quickly lead to a career in music videos. A host of award nominations followed, including Best Art Direction at the 2002 MTV Video Awards™ for Quarashi’s “Stick ‘Em Up” and Best Director at the 2002 MVPA Awards for the Rufus Wainwright video “Across the Universe.” In addition, Wiseman has directed groundbreaking music videos for Megadeath, En Vogue, Static X, Paul Oakenfold and Brooke Allison.

Director Len Wiseman lines up a shot of Bruce Willis on the set of LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD

With his distinctive style and growing reputation, Wiseman came to the attention of Skip Williamson, President of Lakeshore Records, who saw Wiseman at work and made the push for him to direct his first feature film Underworld.

Wiseman and writer Danny McBride met through their agent, Nick Reed, at ICM. The two hit it off upon discovering they had a common love and knowledge of genre films. The screenplay for Underworld was so well received that Wiseman and McBride were able to set up another project, tentatively called Black Chapter, with Antoine Fuqua attached to produce for Disney. Wiseman went on to direct Underworld: Evolution.

MARK BOMBACK’s (Screenplay, Story) credits include Godsend, starring Robert DeNiro and Greg Kinnear, and The Tourist, now in post-production, starring Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor.

Bomback is adapting Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford’s books The Sportswriter, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land for HBO. In addition, his screenplay Unstoppable is in development at Twentieth Century Fox.

In 2002, Bomback was selected to participate in the Sundance Institute's prestigious Filmmakers Lab, where he workshopped his screenplay for Disturbing the Peace, based on the Richard Yates novel, with which he hopes to make his directorial debut this year.

Bomback teaches an annual course in screenwriting at his alma mater, Wesleyan University.

DAVID MARCONI (Story) wrote and directed the upcoming film Kaleidoscope, a gritty geopolitical thriller set in present day Europe. Inspired by true-life events, Marconi describes the film as "a character-driven love story told against the background of political intrigue.”

A native of Highland Park, Illinois, Marconi was passionate about film making from an early age. After winning several high-school film making competitions, Marconi was awarded an alumni merit scholarship to attend the University of Southern California's film school. Upon graduation, he landed his first job as Francis Ford Coppola's assistant on The Outsiders. Following that, Coppola promoted Marconi to production supervisor/2nd unit on Rumble Fish.

In 1993, Marconi wrote and directed his first feature, The Harvest, a visually detailed stylish noir starring Miguel Ferrer and Leilani Sarelle. Shortly thereafter, Simpson/Bruckheimer commissioned Marconi to write his original screenplay Enemy of the State starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman. A high-tech thriller dealing with privacy issues, the film grossed over 250 million dollars worldwide. On the heels of Enemy of the State, Marconi redeveloped Jerry Bruckheimer's television series Soldier of Fortune.

Marconi has co-authored with Flint Dille three serialized novels: Agent 13, The Midnight Avenger, Agent 13 and the Serpentine Assassins and Agent 13 and the Acolytes of Darkness, all from Random House. An action-adventure series set in the 30's, the stories deal with a secret society manipulating the events leading up to the Second World War, and the one man, Agent Thirteen, who tries to foil their plans.

MICHAEL FOTTRELL (Producer), a graduate of the USC School of Cinema, has served in various executive and co-producing roles on the high-profile films You, Me and Dupree, Herbie: Fully Loaded, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Catwoman, Sweet Home Alabama, Sorority Boys, The New Guy, Rock Star, Blue Streak, Cruel Intentions and A Very Brady Sequel.

In addition to his producing credits, Fottrell served as production manager for Mighty Joe Young, Volcano, Crimson Tide, Gross Anatomy, Warlock, and Shy People, among others.

His executive production manager credits at Disney include Father of the Bride, When a Man Loves a Woman, Sister Act, What About Bob?, and Pretty Woman.

ARNOLD RIFKIN (Executive Producer) is a partner at Rifkin/Eberts, LLC, which has a number of films in development at various studios.

Previously, he produced film and television projects through Cheyenne Enterprises LLC. Since the company’s inception in January 2000, Cheyenne produced such feature films as Bandits, Hart’s War, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Tears of the Sun, Hostage and 16 Blocks.

Before founding Cheyenne Enterprises, Rifkin had been a talent agent for over 20 years. He started his career at Rifkin-David and was a founding partner of Triad Artists. In 1992, Triad Artists was acquired by the William Morris Agency and Rifkin was named worldwide head of the WMA Motion Picture Department. In 1996, he became president of the agency where he remained until September 1999. In January 2000, Rifkin formed Cheyenne Enterprises, LLC.

In addition to his work in the creative community, Rifkin sits on the Board of Directors at the American Cinematheque and serves as the co-chair of the Producers Program at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film & Television, where he has been teaching for 12 years.

WILLIAM WISHER (Executive Producer) is no stranger to Die Hard films. In the summer of 1994, Wisher spent two weeks working on Die Hard With a Vengeance, which had just begun shooting. Those two weeks turned into five months as Wisher and Bruce Willis continued to collaborate through the end of production.

When director Len Wiseman and Bruce Willis asked Wisher to come aboard LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, he didn't hesitate.

A native of Los Angeles, Wisher attended Catholic School in Inglewood, and finished High School in Brea, California, and attended College in nearby Fullerton.

During the past twenty years, Wisher has penned several films, including more than a few as an uncredited script doctor. His credits include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Judge Dredd, and The 13th Warrior.

SIMON DUGGAN, ACS (Director of Photography) won the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award in 1998 for his work on the feature film The Interview. He was also nominated for an Australian Film Institute Award and an Australian Cinematographers Society Award.

Duggan previously worked with LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD director Len Wiseman on Underworld: Evolution. Other film credits include I, Robot and Garage Days with filmmaker Alex Proyas, Allan White’s Risk, starring Bryan Brown, and Craig Monahan's The Interview starring Hugo Weaving.

Duggan has filmed over 2000 national and international television and cinema commercials. He garnered a first place cinematography statuette for a Volkswagen spot at this year’s 32nd International Mobius Advertising Awards. He won the first place award in 2001 for the Ford Global Hello/Goodbye Millennium Campaign, which was filmed across nine nations. Other awards include first place at the 28th International Mobius Advertising Awards for the Philip Morris Adventure Tours Campaign, and an Outstanding Creativity Award at the 26th International Mobius Advertising Awards for National Australia Bank.

Duggan makes his home in Sydney, Australia where he has lived most of his life.

PATRICK TATOPOULOS’ (Production Designer) designs and creations have influenced the quality and direction of contemporary cinematography for over a decade. His creative achievements in Production Design as well as Creature Effects have left a lasting impression in the Motion Picture industry, with a unique style that is rich, complex and diverse. His growing body of work has a distinct visual style that attests to his boundless imagination.

Tatopoulos’ signature style is recognizable in such noted feature films as Independence Day, I Robot, Underworld: Evolution, Silent Hill, Dark City, Underworld, Pitch Black, Stuart Little, Stargate and Godzilla. The environments and creatures created for these films have resulted from the unique combination of Tatopoulos’ artistry and his collaboration with talented, visionary directors.

He has designed/directed several commercials and music videos in the past few years in addition to his many other projects. Three of his most recognized music video designs were done for the popular rock band Linkin Park; with the first video, In the End, taking the coveted Best Rock Video award at the 2001 MTV Music Awards™, and the second, PTS. of Authority – Remix, taking the Favorite Video award at the 2002 MTV Asia Music Awards.

On the commercial front, Tatopoulos designed the look in many ads for such highly branded industry names as Nintendo, Reebok, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Cingular Wireless, Intel Pentium and Footlocker.

Born in Paris, Tatopoulos is of Greek and French heritage. He studied at the Art Decoratif De Paris, the Art Appliques De Paris, and the famous Beaux Art De Paris. Prior to moving to the United States in 1989 to work in the entertainment industry, Tatopoulos spent several years in Rome and Athens working as a fine artist and freelance illustrator. Another interest of his is the mentoring of new and upcoming young artists. In 2001 Tatopoulos was honored to have one of the prized Hellenic Times Scholarship given in his name.

Tatopoulos continually strives to discover new challenges in all areas of the entertainment world. In turn, his efforts, contributions, and artistic style continue to be sought after. Patrick’s website, www.tatopoulos.net features drawings and photos from his many film, TV, and commercial projects.

NICOLAS de TOTH (Editor) has edited a wide variety of films including Underworld: Evolution with director Len Wiseman, as well as Eye of the Storm; Universal Soldier, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme; the action-packed Hellbound, starring Chuck Norris; the science fiction adventure Stargate; Street Fighter; Showgirls, starring Gina Gershon and Elizabeth Berkeley; the dramatic Moll Flanders, with Robin Wright Penn and Morgan Freeman; The Edge with Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin; and Stepmom, starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon.

He was editor on the science fiction fantasy Bicentennial Man, starring Robin Williams, the comedy Dirk and Betty, starring Marisa Tomei and Thomas Haden Church, the action thrillers Along Came a Spider, starring Morgan Freeman, and The Sum of All Fears starring Ben Affleck. More recently, de Toth edited the box office hits Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and The Covenant directed by Renny Harlin.

Born in Italy, MARCO BELTRAMI (Music) began his pursuit of music composition studying in Venice with Italian master Luigi Nono before entering the Yale School of Music on a scholarship. Among his most important influences, he counts acclaimed composers Ennio Morricone and Jerry Goldsmith.

In 1992, Beltrami moved to Los Angeles to undertake a fellowship with Jerry Goldsmith. While learning the technical aspects of film scoring, he also completed orchestral compositions for the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the Sao Paulo State Orchestra and the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Since then, Beltrami has tried to balance concert pieces with a film scoring career.

Beginning with a Sony-funded short, The Bicyclist, in 1994, Beltrami has worked consistently on film and television scoring projects, including the features The Omen (2006), Captivity, The Invisible, 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, I, Robot, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Faculty, all three of the Scream films, Blade 2: Bloodhunt, The Watcher, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, XXX 2: The Next Level, Red Eye, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and Underworld: Evolution.

Beltrami’s work has earned awards from the American Academy of Arts.