Ann Louse Bardach is the author of Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana and the editor of Cuba: A Travelers Literary Companion. Her work has been anthologized in KILLED: Journalism Too Hot To Print. She was a staff writer for Vanity Fair for ten years and often writes for The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. She has appeared on 60 Minutes, Today, Dateline, CNN, The O'Reilly Factor, Charlie Rose, and National Public Radio. She has written a column for Newsweek International, writes for SLATE and is a commentator on PRI's Marketplace.

She won the PEN USA Award for Journalism in 1994 for her reporting on Mexican politics, and was a finalist in 1993 for her coverage of women in Islamic countries. Her book Cuba Confidential was a finalist for the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism and the PEN USA Award for Best Nonfiction, and named one of Ten Best Books of 2002 by the Los Angeles Times. She also started the International Journalism course in UCSB's Global and International Studies program where she is a visiting professor.

Paris Barclay received two Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for his work on NYPD Blue. He also took home the DGA Award for the same series (for Jimmy Smits' final episode), and was Emmy® nominated for directing an episode of The West Wing. He also received an NAACP Image Award for Best Drama Series as co-creator, writer and principal director of the groundbreaking drama City of Angels, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Direction in a Drama Series for Cold Case, as well as six DGA Award nominations for ER, NYPD Blue, House and The West Wing.

 

He has directed over 75 hours of television, including such diverse shows as Lost, CSI, ER, Law & Order, House, The Shield, Numb3rs, Huff, Clueless and American Dreams. Barclay also co-wrote and directed the pilot Hate for Showtime starring Marcia Gay Harden, and served as the Co-Executive Producer and principal director of CBS' hit drama Cold Case. Paris co-executive produced and directed 12 episodes HBO's highly acclaimed new series In Treatment.

 

Previously, Paris directed the HBO film The Cherokee Kid, starring Sinbad, Burt Reynolds and James Coburn, and the feature Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, starring Shawn and Marlon Wayans. Paris had his start directing commercials and music videos for the likes of Janet Jackson, Bob Dylan and LL Cool J for whom he directed the MTV and Billboard award winning video for “Mama Said Knock You Out” .

 

Paris currently serves as the First Vice President of the Board for the Directors Guild of America, breaking barriers by serving as the first African-American officer in the history of the Guild. As a producer and director, Barclay has earned three other Emmy® nominations, a Golden Globe® nomination, two Humanitas Prizes, the Peabody Award and the Alma Award, the Robert B. Aldrich Service Award for distinguished service to the guild, joining such illustrious past recipients as Arthur Hiller, Gil Cates, and Robert Wise.

 

 

A founding partner of the recently formed production company BermanBraun, Gail Berman was the first and only female executive to hold the top posts at both a major film studio and television network.  As president of Paramount Pictures, she was responsible for overseeing the annual slate of films including the acquisition of literary properties, development, budgeting, casting and production of motion pictures for Paramount Pictures, MTV Films and Nick Movies.  Immediately prior to joining Paramount, she served as president of entertainment for the Fox Broadcasting Company, where she was the first-ever series producer to hold the top Fox programming post.

 

Before Fox, she was founding president of Regency Television, the studio created in 1998 as a co-venture between Fox Television Studios and New Regency Productions.  Under Berman, Regency Television quickly grew into one of the most prolific and respected suppliers of TV entertainment programming, including the primetime hit "Malcolm In The Middle," which she developed for Fox.  Berman also served as executive producer on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin-off, "Angel."

 

In 2003, Berman was first named to Fortune magazine's list of "50 Most Powerful Women in American Business."  The same year she received the coveted Lucy Award from Women in Film recognizing "women who have revolutionized the television industry."  In 2004 she was included on Forbes' list of "100 Most Powerful Women in the World" and re-appeared on the Fortune list.

Roger Birnbaum founded the Disney-based production and finance company, Spyglass Entertainment with partner Gary Barber, where they share the title of Co-Chairman and CEO. The company develops and finances all of its projects independently. Instinct (1999), starring Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding, Jr. and The Insider (1999), starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, directed by Michael Mann were two of Spyglass' early releases along with The Sixth Sense (1999); the record breaking hit starring Bruce Willis. Spyglass also released Unbreakable (2000), the follow-up film to Oscar-nominated, M. Night Shyamalan, which stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright Penn.

Mr. Birnbaum and Mr. Barber are co-financiers and international rights holders on several films such as SEA BISCUIT which is being directed by Gary Ross and stars Tobey McGuire and Jeff Bridges; Bruce Almighty (2003) which stars Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman and being directed by Tom Shadyac; One Love, an overall history of Basketball; Abandon (2002) starring Katie Holmes and Benjamin Bratt and directed by Steve Gaghan, who wrote Traffic, and recently, Birnbaum co-financed Legend of Zorro (2005) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) which are both scheduled to come out later this year.

Spyglass started a television division and just completed a TV pilot, entitled Miracles. The one-hour drama stars Skeet Ulrich and Angus MacFadyen and will begin airing episodes in January. The division produced the 2-hour back door pilot, The Ranch in 2004, an ensemble drama/comedy about a group of hookers in Nevada, which is being directed by Susan Seidelman for Showtime. Spyglass Television also has a show in development for the 2005 season titled, Weekends.

Prior to founding Spyglass Entertainment, Mr. Birnbaum, through Caravan Pictures (the production company he helped build with partner Joe Roth) was responsible for such box office hits as Rush Hour, Six Days / Seven Nights, Inspector Gadget, Gross Pointe Blank, The Thre Musketeers, Angles in the Outfield, and While you Were Sleeping.

Before joining Caravan, Mr. Birnbaum held the title of President of Worldwide Production and Executive Vice President of Twentieth Century Fox, where he developed such films as Rain Man, Home Alone, Sleeping With the Enemy, Edward Scissorhands, Hot Shots, My Cousin Vinny, The Last of the Mohicans, Die Hard 2 and Mrs. Doubtfire, among others.

Earlier in his career, he produced THE SURE THING, directed by Rob Reiner and Young Sherlock Holmes, which he presented in association with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. For television, he executive produced the telefilms Scandal Sheet, Happily Ever After, When Your Lover Leaves and the award winning All the Kids Do it.

Born in Teaneck, New Jersey and educated at the University of Denver, Mr. Birnbaum built a successful career as Vice President of A&M Records and Arista Records before entering the film business to produce motion pictures.

Cary Brokaw is CEO of Avenue Picture. His credits include:

• 1992 Executive producer on the acclaimed independent film "American Heart" and on the Oscar-nominated Best Picture "The Player".
• 1993 Produced "Short Cuts", directed by Robert Altman.
• 1994 Executive producer of "Amelia Earhart: Her Final Flight", a TNT original movie.
• 1995 Producer on "Restoration" and "Voices From a Locked Room".
• 1996 Executive produced the CBS movie "Two Mothers for Zachary".
• 1997 Executive producer of the controversial HBO original, "Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing".
• 1999 Served as producer of "Wayward Son"; screened at Toronto Film Festival.
• 2001 With Mike Nichols, executive produced the HBO adaptation of "Wit"; won Emmy Award.
• Executive producer on the HBO period drama "Path to War" (lensed 2001), a behind-the-scenes look at the Johnson White House during the Vietnam War.
• One of the producers of "Mindhunters" (lensed 2001-2002), directed by Renny Harlin.
• Mindhunters (2005); William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (2004); Closer (2004); Restoration (1995); Short Cuts (1993); American Heart (1993); The Player (1992); Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (1991); The Object of Beauty (1991); After Dark, My Sweet (1990); Drugstore Cowboy (1989); Cold Feet (1989); Signs of Life (1989); Pascali's Island (1988); Slam Dance (1987); Straight to Hell (1987); Nobody's Fool (1986).

Marcy Carsey is a founder with partner Tom Werner in the Carsey Werner Company, the television production company responsible for a litany of successful shows, including The Cobsy Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and That 70's Show. Marcy and Tom joined forces in 1998 with the former head of Nickelodeon, Geraldine Laybourne, and Oprah Winfrey, to create Oxygen, a multimedia company that fused a new cable channel with an internet base, directed to serve women. Since closing down the production company after 25 years, she and fellow television producer Susan Baerwald recently opened Just Folk, an American folk and outsider art store in Summerland, CA.

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Marcy graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in English Literature, and began her show business career as an NBC tour guide. She worked as a production assistant on The Tonight Show and as a story editor for Tomorrow Entertainment before joining ABC in 1974. She rose to Vice President, Comedy Development and in 1979 was named Senior Vice President of Primetime Series. She left ABC in 1980 and formed her own Production Company, which became the Carsey Werner Company in 1981. In addition to being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as well as the Broadcasting and Cable Magazine's Hall of Fame, the Carsey Werner producing team has received numerous awards including the Emmy, the Humanitas Prize, the Peabody, the Peoples Choice, the Golden Globe, and the NAACP Image Award.

Marcy has three step children and two children, Rebecca and John, both UCSB graduates.

Bruce Corwin, chairman of Metropolitan Theatres, is a longtime friend and major donor to UCSB. Mr. Corwin has served as a trustee at his alma mater, Wesleyan University, as well as at UCLA. He is the founding president of the Los Angeles Children’s Museum and served on the board of the California Community Foundation. Mr. Corwin was a trustee of The UCSB Foundation from 1981 to 1984 and since 1990 is again serving as a trustee. In 1997, Mr. Corwin was selected to receive the Honorary Alumni Award. Bruce’s mother, Dorothy Corwin, was also a major donor and close friend of UCSB and received the Honorary Alumni Award in 1991.

Mr. Corwin and his wife, Toni, reside in Beverly Hills and are members of the Chancellor’s Council and the Lancaster Society. Their son, Danny, graduated from UCSB in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

Andrew Davis has a reputation for directing intelligent action thrillers, most notably the Academy Award nominated The Fugitive (1992), the fourth-highest-grossing picture in Warner Bros. history. Starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, the film received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and earned Jones an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The Fugitive was nominated for both the Golden Globe for Best Director, and the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Direction.

Mr. Davis is the son of parents who met in a repertory theater company in Chicago, Illinois, where he was raised. He received his degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and began his work in motion pictures as an assistant cameraman to renowned cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler on the 1969 classic Medium Cool. Wexler’s ultra-realistic approach was to have a great influence on Davis, who then became a director of photography on numerous award-winning television commercials and documentaries, as well as on 15 studio and independent features. In 1976, joined by many of his fellow cinematographers, Davis challenged the IATSE Union’s restrictive studio roster system in a landmark class-action suit that forced the industry to open its doors to young technicians in all crafts.

Davis’ directorial debut, Stony Island (1979), was a critically acclaimed independent musical that he co-wrote and produced. It was followed by the thriller The Final Terror (1981), which starred then newcomers Daryl Hannah, Joe Pantoliano, Rachel Ward and Adrian Zmed. Davis then co-wrote the screenplay for Harry Belafonte’s rap musical Beat Street before moving into the director’s chair full-time with Code of Silence (1985), starring Chuck Norris. Davis directed, co-produced and co-wrote Above the Law (1988), Steven Segal’s feature debut. Davis then directed and co-produced The Package (1989), starring Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones. In Under Siege, Davis re-teamed with Steven Seagal and Tommy Lee Jones, resulting in fall 1992’s top-grossing picture. Mr. Davis’ other directing credits include Steal Big, Steal Little (1995), starring Andy Garcia and Alan Arkin; Chain Reaction (1996), starring Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman; A Perfect Murder (1998), starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow; Collateral Damage (2002), starring Arnold Schwarzenneger; and recently, Holes (2003), staring Sigourney Weaver and Shylah LeBeouf, which opened at number one in the box office and remained in the top ten for many weeks.

Currently, Davis in production on Under Siege 3 (2005) and will direct The Guardian in 2006.

An actor with over twenty years of experience in theatre, film, and television, Michael Douglas branched out into independent feature production in 1975 with the Academy Award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Since then, as a producer and as an actor-producer, he has shown an uncanny knack for choosing projects that reflect changing trends and public concerns. Over the past twelve years, he has been involved in such controversial and politically influential motion pictures as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The China Syndrome and such popular films as Fatal Attraction and Romancing the Stone.

The son of Kirk and Diana Douglas, Michael was born in New Jersey. Douglas graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA degree in 1968. He then continued his dramatic training, studying at the American Place Theatre with Wynn Handman and at the Neighborhood Playhouse.

Impressed by Douglas’s performance in a segment of The FBI, producer Quinn Martin signed the actor for the part of Karl Malden’s sidekick in the police series The Streets of San Francisco, which earned Douglas three successive Emmy Award nominations for his performance and he also directed two episodes of the series.

Douglas’s film production company, Big Stick Productions, Ltd., produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress, and grossed more than $180 million at the box office. Douglas suddenly found himself in demand as an independent producer.

A Michael Douglas-IPC Films co-production, The China Syndrome (1979) received Academy award nominations for stars Lemmon and Fonda, as well as for Best Screenplay. The National Board of Review named the film one of the best films of the year.

Despite his success as a producer, Douglas resumed his acting career in the late 1970’s starring in Coma (1978), It’s My Turn (1981), The Star Chamber (1983), Running (1979), and A Chorus Line (1985).

Douglas’s career as an actor/producer came together again in 1984 with the release of the tongue-in-cheek romantic fantasy Romancing the Stone, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito, which grossed more than $100 million at the box office. Douglas was named Producer of the Year in 1984 by the National Association of Theater Owners. Douglas, Turner and DeVito reteamed in 1985 for the successful sequel The Jewel of the Nile.

Starman was the sleeper hit of the 1984 Christmas season and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for Jeff Bridges. In 1986 Douglas created a television series based on the film for ABC.

After a lengthy break from acting, Douglas returned to the screen in 1987 appearing in two of the year’s biggest hits, Fatal Attraction and Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, earning him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Douglas next starred in Ridley Scott’s thriller Black Rain and then The War of the Roses which was released in 1989. In 1988 Douglas formed Stonebridge Entertainment, Inc. which produced Flatliners, Radio Flyer, Shining Through and Basic Instinct, one of the year’s top grossing films.

Douglas gave one of his most powerful performances opposite Robert Duvall in Joel Schumacher’s controversial drama Falling Down. That year he also produced the hit comedy Made in America. In 1994/95 he starred in Disclosure and in 1997 starred in The Game directed by David Fincher and co-starring Sean Penn.

Douglas formed Douglas/Reuther Productions with partner Steven Reuther in May 1994. The company, under the banner of Constellation Films, produced The Ghost and the Darkness and John Grisham’s The Rainmaker. They also produced John Woo’s action thriller Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, which proved to be one of ‘97’s major hits.

In 1998, Michael Douglas starred with Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen in the mystery thriller A Perfect Murder, and formed a new production company, Furthur Films, based at Universal. Douglas was also named Messenger of Peace for the United Nations in July of 1998 by Secretary General Kofi Annan. His two areas of concentration are nuclear abolition and small arms proliferation.

2000 was a milestone year for Douglas. Wonder Boys opened in February 2000 to much critical acclaim. USA Films released Traffic in January 2001. Traffic was named Best Picture by New York Film Critics, won Best Ensemble Cast at the SAG Awards, and has been recognized on over 175 top ten lists.

In 2001, Douglas produced and played a role in USA Films’ outrageous comedy, One Night at McCool’s. McCool’s was the first film by Douglas’ company Furthur Films. Douglas starred in Don’t Say a Word for 20th Century Fox.

In 2003, Douglas produced and starred with his father Kirk Douglas, his mother Diana Douglas-Darrid and his son Cameron Douglas in It Runs in the Family, a family drama for MGM/BVI. He also stars in The In-Laws, a comedy co-starring Albert Brooks for Warner Bros.

Michael Douglas has announced three films that he will produce and star in: The Sentinel (2006), co-staring Kim Basinger; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (2005); and Racing the Monsoon (2006).

Michael Douglas resides in Bermuda. Douglas was married to Catherine Zeta-Jones on November 18, 2000. The couple has a son, Dylan, and a daughter Carys. Douglas also has one son, Cameron, from a previous marriage.

Gary Erickson is a native Californian spending most of his youth in Exeter, California. He is a 1963 graduate of UCSB and received his master’s degree from California State University San Diego.

Mr. Erickson is the President and CEO of The Erickson Group, a consulting firm based in downtown Los Angeles. His fundraising consulting firm has directed many of Los Angeles’ major fundraising campaigns.

Mr. Erickson resides in Oxnard, California and has a long history of involvement with UCSB. He is a member of the Chancellor’s Council, life member of the UCSB Alumni Association, and past president of the UCSB Alumni Association Board of Directors. Mr. Erickson currently serves on The UCSB Foundation Board of Trustees.

Scott Frank graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Film and Media Studies in 1982. Twenty years ago, Scott left Santa Barbara with his diploma and a screenplay that he had been working on in the late Paul Lazarus’s screenwriting class, Little Man Tate. The film became Jody Foster’s directorial debut in 1991. He went on to write screenplays for Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again, Malice, and Get Shorty, nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award and a Golden Globe Award.

The latter film was adapted from a story by Elmore Leonard, as was Scott’s screenplay for Out of Sight, the 1998 film directed by Steven Soderburgh and starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. Out of Sight was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and it won major awards from the Writer’s Guild of America, Mystery Writers of America, the National Society of Film Critics, and the Boston Society of Film Critics.

Scott wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, an adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story, starring Tom Cruise. He was the Executive Consultant on the new ABC series, Karen Sisco, a spin-off of his screenplay from Out of Sight. Recently, Scott Frank wrote Flight of the Phoenix (2004) and the Interpreter (2005). His current writing projects include A Walk Among the Tombstones (2005) and The Lookout (2005)

Scott lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children in Pasadena.

Elizabeth Gabler was named President of Fox 2000 Pictures in November 1999. Fox 2000 Pictures, a division of Twentieth Century Fox Filmed Entertainment, has produced such films as The Devil Wears Prada directed by David Frankel, starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, who earned the Best Actress Golden Globe for her role;and Walk the Line staring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, who earned the Best Actress Oscar for her performance.

 

Recent releases include the family film Alvin and the Chipmunks which debuted Christmas 2007, and the romantic comedy 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl and James Marsden.

 

Upcoming Fox 2000 projects include Marley & Me directed by David Frankel (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA) starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston currently in production and slated for a Christmas 2008 release, All About Steve, a comedy starring Sandra Bullock, Bride Wars, an “anti-romantic comedy” starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway,  Ramona, a film based on the award winning best-selling children’s series by Beverly Cleary, The Life of Pi, based on the Booker Prize winning novel, Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief, based on the best selling series of books written by young adult author, Rick Riordan and to be directed by Chris Columbus, and finally, the eagerly awaited sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks!

 

Since taking over Fox 2000 Gabler has also overseen the production of such films as Eragon based on the best selling children’s novel; Family Stone starring an ensemble cast including Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Rachael McAdams; In Her Shoes, directed by Curtis Hanson, starring Toni Collette, Cameron Diaz, and Shirley MacLaine; Flicka directed by Tony Award winning director Michael Mayer; Man on Fire, directed by Tony Scott and starring Denzel Washington; Phone Booth, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, and Kiefer Sutherland; Men of Honor, starring Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding; and the critically acclaimed drama from director Adrian Lyne, Unfaithful, starring Diane Lane and Richard Gere.

Prior to assuming her position as President of Fox 2000 Pictures, Gabler served as Executive Vice President of Production for Twentieth Century Fox. Since joining Fox in 1988, Gabler has overseen films such as Castaway, Mrs. Doubtfire, Entrapment, Waiting to Exhale, Hope Floats, and A Walk in the Clouds.

A 1977 graduate of UCSB, Gabler began her career at ICM, eventually becoming an agent in the Motion Picture Literary Department. She was also a creative executive at Columbia Pictures and a Vice President of Production at United Artists, where she was the executive in charge of Rain Man, winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

She is married to Lee Gabler, executive consultant for Worldwide Pants Inc., David Letterman’s company, and resides in Santa Barbara, California with their daughter Annalise.

Lee Gabler was Co-Chairman CAA’s television business included:  prime-time, late night, syndication, Saturday morning, movies-of-the-week and cable programming.  Gabler also represented many of the most influential creators in prime-time television and has been instrumental in pioneering new ways for advertisers and programmers to work together.

 

In May of 2007 Gabler resigned from CAA to join his longtime friend and partner David Letterman as a consultant to Mr. Letterman and his production company Worldwide Pants.

 

Gabler has been listed as one of the most influential people in the television business by both the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly.

 

A native New Yorker, Gabler began his career over 40 years ago in the mailroom of Ashley Steiner Famous Artists in New York, which later became International Creative Management (ICM), where he became an agent in 1964.  He was promoted to Vice President four years later.  In 1970, Gabler transferred to ICM in California where he worked as Executive Vice President and head of worldwide television.  He joined CAA in 1983.

 

Gabler is on the Board of Directors for the Museum of Television & Radio; the Board of Councilors at the USC School of Cinema – Television; the World Board of Governors for the USO; and the Advisory Board at the UCSB Carsey-Wolf Center for Film, Television, and New Media.  From 1994-1997, he was Vice President of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society.  He is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and a former member of the Board of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

 

Gabler lives in Santa Barbara, Calif., with his wife Elizabeth, who is President of Fox 2000, and daughter Annalise.

Richard Hutton oversees Vulcan Productions and its feature film and documentary units, and also directs all of Vulcan Inc.'s media development projects, including initiatives in the education, museum and entertainment sectors.

 

Under Hutton's direction, Vulcan Productions has produced or co-produced a wide range of shows for PBS: Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, a two-hour program for NOVA chronicling the latest battle in the war over evolution; Strange Days on Planet Earth, a four-part series on the environment; the Emmy Award-winning Rx for Survival, a six-part series on global health; the Peabody and Grammy Award-winning No Direction Home: Bob Dylan; and the Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues. Hutton was also the executive producer of the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated PBS series, Evolution; the Peabody Award-winning Black Sky: The Race for Space; and the blues concert film Lightning in a Bottle.

 

Feature films produced or co-produced under Hutton's direction include the forthcoming Humanitas Prize winner Where God Left His Shoes, starring John Leguizamo; the critically-acclaimed Hard Candy and Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas; and Independent Spirit Award winner for Best Picture, Far From Heaven.

 

Prior to Vulcan, Hutton was senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering. Previous to that, Hutton served as vice president and general manager of the Disney Institute, where he directed the transition of the organization from concept into an operating business.

 

Prior to Disney, Hutton was senior vice president, television programming and production, for WETA Television in Washington, D.C., and, earlier, Director of Public Affairs Programming for WNET Television in New York. There, his projects included the award-winning The Brain and The Mind. Hutton has authored or co-authored nine books and medical texts, as well as articles for national publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Omni and Cosmopolitan.

 

Hutton holds a B.A. degree in history from the University of California at Berkeley.

Tory Metzger is a senior agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a literary and talent agency based in Los Angeles. At CAA, Metzger represents many of the world’s most acclaimed actors, writers and directors in entertainment, including Tom Cruise, Danny DeVito, Ang Lee, Cameron Crowe, Spike Jonze, Gwyneth Paltrow, Denise Di Novi and Callie Khouri.

Metzger began her career in Hollywood as a development executive. Following, she worked as an agent at the United Talent Agency for two years. She joined CAA in 1992. She holds a degree in Film and Media Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jeff Nathanson has worked on a variety of film and television projects in the last ten years, including Twister, both Rush Hour films, and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal. Recntly he worte and directedThe Last Shot, an original comedy for Disney staring Matthew Broderick and Alac Baldwin.

Nathanson spent two years studying screenwriting with Paul Lazarus at UCSB before transferring to UCLA and graduating with a BA in English Literature. He also spent a year in the American Film Institute’s screenwriting program.

Sarah Pillsbury, a film producer and philanthropist, received her bachelor’s degree from Yale in 1974 and moved to Los Angeles where she attended UCLA film school. She began her career working in documentaries and was the associate producer on The California Reich, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

In 1976, she co-founded the Liberty Hill Foundation to support progressive organizing in Los Angeles. In 1979, she produced Ron Ellis’ Board and Care, which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Subject.

Pillsbury joined forces with Midge Sanford in 1981 to form Sanford/ Pillsbury Productions. Together they have produced nine feature films including Desperately Seeking Susan, River’s Edge, Eight Men Out, Love Field, and How to Make an American Quilt. Additionally, they have produced four television films including the Emmy Award-winning HBO film And the Band Played On. Pillsbury has participated in numerous conferences and as a guest speaker at many universities and films schools including UCSB, UCLA, USC, the American Film Institute, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and Yale University, where she received a Tercentennial Medal.

Pillsbury continues to serve on the Board of Directors of the Liberty Hill Foundation, as well as the Board of Trustees of Occidental College and the Board of Directors of Artists for a New South Africa. She is on numerous advisory boards, including the Minnesota Film Board and the Progressive Los Angeles Network (PLAN). She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities.

Pillsbury is a native of Minnesota and has two children, Nora, 18, and Will, 14. She lives in Pacific Palisades.

Dr. Joseph Pollock received a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and trained for the practice of medicine at Washington University Medical School. After earning his M.D. degree in 1938, he practiced abdominal surgery in Beverly Hills, California, serving as chief of surgery at several hospitals. He also taught at the University of Southern California Medical School, served for a time as a deputy coroner, and was a surgery consultant to a Los Angeles medical group with offices in London, Tokyo and Mexico City.

Dr. Pollock also took an active role in business, as chairman and chief executive officer of Triangle Steel and Supply Co. in Vernon, California. He opened branches of the business in San Diego, Ventura, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

Dr. Pollock and his wife, Helene moved to Santa Barbara in 1986. Dr. Pollock has pursued his love of film and theater, having served as president and chairman of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. His wife, Helene, has opened the H. Pollock Fine Art Gallery in Summerland. The Pollocks have three children. Their son Tom, who also resides in Santa Barbara, was formerly chief executive officer of Universal Studios. Tom Pollock is closely involved with UCSB’s Film Studies Department and is co-owner of the Santa Barbara based Montecito Picture Company with Ivan Reitman.

Dr. Pollock serves on the Santa Barbara Roundtable, and on the Santa Barbara City College Foundation, and was chairman of the Channel Island Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

The Pollocks are members of the UCSB Chancellor’s Council and the Lancaster Society. Dr. Pollock was elected as trustee of The UCSB Foundation in 1997.

Thomas P. Pollock served as Vice Chairman of MCA INC. from July 1995 to March 1996. He previously served as Executive Vice President of MCA and Chairman of its Motion Picture Group, Universal Pictures, from September 1986 to July 1995. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of MCA INC. and Cineplex-Odeon Corporation.

One of the most highly-regarded and experienced attorneys in the entertainment field, he was previously the Senior Partner of Pollock, Bloom and Dekom. The firm (now Bloom, Hergott, Diemer, Rosenthal, LaViolette & Feldman, LLP) represents leading producers, directors, writers and actors.

Pollock joined MCA on September 18, 1986. During his tenure as Chairman of the Motion Picture Group, Universal released over 200 films that grossed in excess of $10 billion worldwide including Jurassic Park, the then highest-grossing film of all time, Parenthood, Cape Fear, Twins, The Flintstones, Kindergarten Cop, Back to the Future 2 and 3, Casper, Waterworld, Backdraft, Beethoven, and Beethoven's 2nd, Do The Right Thing, Fried Green Tomatoes, Sneakers, and Lorenzo's Oil.

Also during this time, Universal had seven Academy Award Best Picture nominees, including Schindler's List, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1993. Other Best Picture nominees include Field of Dreams, Born of the Fourth of July, Scent of a Woman, In the Name of the Father, Apollo 13, and Babe.

Mr. Pollock was also responsible for bringing numerous creative talents to the studio including Ivan Reitman, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, George Miller, Jon Avnet, Martin Brest, Rob Cohen, Phil Alden Robinson, Jim Sheridan, James Cameron and Larry Gordon.

Mr. Pollock played a key role in the creation of United Cinemas International (UCI), a joint venture with Paramount Pictures, which has become the largest exhibitor outside North America, with nearly 700 multiplex screens. He also formed Gramercy Pictures with Polygram in 1992.

During his tenure as Vice Chairman, Pollock forged MCA's alliance with Dreamworks SKG and the interactive arcade venture Gameworks among Sega, Dreamworks and MCA.

In 1998, Mr. Pollock together with Director/Producer Ivan Reitman, set up The Montecito Picture Company. Montecito has produced Road Trip (2000), Evolution (2001), Old School (2003), Eurotrip (2004) and Disturbia (2007).

In 2006, Mr. Pollock, together with Director/Producer Ivan Reitman, set up Cold Spring Pictures with Merrill Lynch and other financial partners, which will co-finance pictures produced by Montecito Picture Company.

Mr. Pollock was born April 10, 1943, in Los Angeles, California. He graduated with a B.A. from Stanford University in 1964, and received a J.D. from Columbia University in 1967.

He is a member of the California Bar Association, the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute, a trustee of the American Museum of the Moving Image, Adjunct Professor of Film, University of California at Santa Barbara and a former trustee of the Los Angeles Music Center. Mr. Pollock has three children: Alexandra, Allegra and Luke.

Arthur Allan Seidelman continues to distinguish himself as a director of film, theater, and television. He directed the film The Sisters which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and has won the Best Feature Award from the Sedona, Dixie and Deep Ellum Film Festivals and Best Ensemble Cast from the Phoenix Film Society. It was honored with the Milagro Award from the Santa Fe Film Festival as the Best American Independent Film. The film stars Maria Bello, Chris O'Donnell, Mary Stuart Masterson, Eric McCormack, Erika Christiansen, Elizabeth Banks, Tony Goldwyn, Alessandro Nivola, and Rip Torn.

Mr. Seidelman directed the film of Alan Menken/Lynn Aherns musical of A Christmas Carol for Hallmark Entertainment and NBC starring Kelsey Grammer, Jason Alexander, Geraldine Chaplin, Jane Krakowski, Jesse Martin and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Mr. Seidelman's film Puerto Vallarta Squeeze, based on the Robert James Waller novel, and starring Scott Glenn and Harvey Keitel, was released by New Line.

For Hallmark Hall of Fame, Mr. Seidelman directed The Runaway with Maya Angelou and Dean Cain, The Summer of Ben Tyler starring James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern, Harvest of Fire with Patty Duke, and Grace and Glorie starring Gena Rowlands and Diane Lane.

Other films include: Like Mother, Like Son starring Mary Tyler Moore; By Dawn's Early Light with Richard Crenna; Walking Across Egypt with Ellen Burstyn and Jonathan Taylor Thomas; Miracle in the Woods starring Patricia Heaton and Della Reese; A Friendship in Vienna with Jane Alexander and Ed Asner; Body Language starring Heather Locklear; The Kid Who Loved Christmas starring Cicely Tyson, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Vanessa Williams; and Poker Alice with Elizabeth Taylor.

His honors include two Emmys, five Emmy nominations, the Grand Prize from the New York Film and Television Festival, prizes from the Chicago, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Heartland Film Festivals, Humanitas Award, Peabody Award, three Christopher Awards, and the Western Heritage Award.

Mr. Seidelman's Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include: Richard Alfieri's Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, The Most Happy Fella for the New York City Opera, the concert version of Jerry Herman's Mack & Mabel at Lincoln Center, Billy, Hamp, The Ceremony of Innocence, Awake and Sing, and Tennessee Williams's Vieux Carre. He also directed Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks on London's West End.

Los Angeles theater credits include: the highly acclaimed premiere of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks starring Uta Hagen and David Hyde Pierce; Richard Alfieri's The Sisters at the Pasadena Playhouse, Carousel at the Hollywood Bowl, and Of Thee I Sing, The Boys from Syracuse, Follies, Hair, Kismet, and Mack & Mabel, among many others.

Mr. Seidelman served as the Administrator of the Mitzi Newhouse Theater for the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, chaired the Playwright's Unit of the Actor's Studio and for two years was the host of “Actors on Acting” for PBS.

Michael Shamberg, a partner in Jersey Films with Danny DeVito and Stacey Sher, is now partner in Double Feature Films with Stacey Sher. He produced the Academy Award nominated film Erin Brokovich, as well as Out of Sight, Reality Bites, Eight Seconds, Get Shorty, Sunset Park, Fierce Creatures, Matilda, Feeling Minnesota, Gattaca, Living Out Loud, Man on the Moon, The Caveman’s Valentine, and How High.

Shamberg was executive producer for Drowning Mona, starring Danny DeVito and Bette Midler. Shamberg executive produced the television series Kate Brasher for CBS as well as The American Embassy (NBC) and UC Undercover (NBC), both for the 2001-02 season.

Shamberg was also an executive producer for Jersey’s multi-award winning film Pulp Fiction. He also produced A Fish Called Wanda and received a Best Picture Academy Award nomination as producer of The Big Chill. Recently, he was an executive producer of Garden State, directed by Zach Braff and staring Natalie Portman. Shamberg continues his prolific carreer producing hit the films, Along Came Polly (2004) and Be Cool (2005). Look for Shamberg's upcomming productions: The Skeleton Key (2005); The Battle for Fallujah (2006); A Walk Among the Tombstones (2005); and The Children of The Dust Bowl (2005).

Stacey Sher, a partner in Jersey Films with Danny DeVito and Michael Shamberg, is now partner in Double Feature Films with Michael Shamberg. She received an MFA from the Peter Stark Graduate Program at the USC School of Film and Television. She began her career in the industry as director of development at Hill/Obst Productions in 1985 and was promoted to vice president of production in 1987. After serving as associate producer on Heartbreak Hotel and The Fisher King, Sher became senior vice president at Lynda Obst Productions in 1991.

In 1992, she joined Jersey Films as executive vice president and was promoted to president in 1993. She is the executive producer of Reality Bites (Universal), Pulp Fiction (Miramax) and Drowning Mona (Destination Films.) Sher is the producer of Get Shorty (MGM), Matilda (Columbia Tristar), Feeling Minnesota (Fine Line), Gattaca (Columbia), Living Out Loud (New Line), Out of Sight (Universal), Man on the Moon (Universal), Erin Brockovich (Universal), The Caveman’s Valentine (Universal) and How High (Universal).

Sher was executive producer of the television series Kate Brasher (CBS) as well as The American Embassy (FOX) and UC Undercover (NBC). Recently, she was an executive producer of Garden State, directed by Zach Braff and staring Natalie Portman. Sher continues her carreer producing hit the films, Along Came Polly (2004) and Be Cool (2005). Look for Sher's upcomming productions: The Skeleton Key (2005); The Battle for Fallujah (2006); A Walk Among the Tombstones (2005); and The Children of The Dust Bowl (2005).

Director Brad Silberling most recently directed the Academy Award winning box office smash Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep. He previously wrote, directed, and produced the critically praised Moonlight Mile, starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Jake Gyllenhall and Holly Hunter. He directed the much lauded box office hit City of Angels, starring Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage. The City of Angels soundtrack went five-times Platinum, making it one of the biggest selling soundtracks in motion picture history.

Silberling graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Baccalaureate in English, then went on to earn a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles. At UCLA, he directed his thesis short "Repairs," which landed him a contract from Universal Studios to direct and write movies and television. Silberling's extensive television directing credits include multiple episodes of Steven Bochco's "NYPD Blue," "L.A. Law," "Civil Wars," as well as "Brooklyn Bridge" and the pilot for "Judging Amy," among others.

An award-winning episode of "Brooklyn Bridge" caught the eye of Steven Spielberg which resulted in his backing Silberling's first feature, Casper, which went on to earn over three hundred million dollars worldwide.

Silberling's production company, Reveal Entertainment, is actively developing a slate of projects for him to produce and direct. He is a committed member of the Director's Guild of America where he sits on the Western Directors Council and the Guild’s Creative Rights Committee.

A native Californian, Silberling resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Amy Brenneman, and their daughter.

Dick Wolf, one of television’s most respected drama series creator/producers, is the architect of one of the most successful franchises in the history of television, Law & Order. Wolf serves as creator and executive producer of the three Law & Order branded drama series from Wolf Films and Studios USA — Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent — which air Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m., Fridays at 10:00 p.m., and Sundays at 9:00 p.m., respectively, on NBC. In addition, he is creator and executive producer of the new NBC “dramamentary” Crime & Punishment, and a version of the classic television series Dragnet on ABC.

Crime & Punishment chronicles real-life cases prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney’s office. Oscar and Emmy-winning documentarian Bill Guttentag is executive producer of this compelling new project, which combines the best of “cinema verité” with three-camera production, giving viewers the look and feel of a top-notch drama series.

Meanwhile, Wolf’s Law & Order franchise continues to rewrite the annals of television history. All three of the Law & Order branded series regularly place among the top 30 primetime programs with Law & Order in the top five and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cracking the top ten.

Now entering its 14th season on NBC, Law & Order is the longest-running current drama series on television. It has received a record eleven consecutive Outstanding Drama Series Emmy nominations — the record for most consecutive Emmy nominations in the history of television (tied with Cheers and M*A*S*H) — and it won the coveted Emmy in that category in 1997. With NBC’s unprecedented five year pick up (through 2005), Law & Order will become the longest-running police series and the second longest running drama series in the history of television. Law & Order’s other accolades include: the highly-coveted Peabody Award; multiple Emmys; the Crystal Apple Award from the New York City’s Mayor’s office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting; the Writer’s Guild Award for Television and numerous other high ranking tributes.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has been one of the top-rated drama series for the past three years. It consistently wins its time period on Friday nights by a wide margin in ratings, share and key demographics and it continues to break records with its dual window USA Network showcase.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered in September 2001 and stars Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket, The Cell), Kathryn Erbe, Courtney Vance and Jamey Sheridan. This critically acclaimed drama series breaks from the traditional Law & Order format to reveal the point of view of the criminal, as well as the police and prosecutors.

In addition, the Law & Order franchise includes the highly rated NBC telefilm Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (one of the top-rated telefilms for the 1997­98 season) in which Chris Noth reprised his role as Detective Mike Logan.

Wolf has been a creative force in television for more than 25 years, with an illustrious career as a top advertising executive and continuing as one of television’s most prolific producer/writers with such series as Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, New York Undercover, Arrest & Trial, South Beach, Feds and Players. Among his feature film credits are the screenplay for the hit Paramount release School Ties, writer and executive producer of Masquerade and writer and producer of No Man’s Land.

His personal honors include such awards as: the prestigious Award of Excellence from the Banff Television Festival; the 2002 Creative Achievement Award from NATPE; the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Entertainment Industry Award; the Leadership and Inspiration Award from the Entertainment Industries Council; the Governor’s Award by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; the 1997 achievement award from the Caucus for Producers, Writers, and Directors and the 1998 Television Showman of the Year Award from the Publicist’s Guild of America.

Wolf is also an Honorary Consul of Monaco and is actively involved in the principality’s prestigious annual television Festival, and its primary liaison with the entertainment community.

Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent are Wolf Films production in association with Studios USA Television. Crime & Punishment is produced by Wolf Films, Shape Pictures and Anonymous Content in association with Studios USA Television Distribution.