About The Filmmakers

PETER BERG (Director) is a prolific talent with a taste for challenging, compelling material, whether as a writer, director, producer or actor. He made his feature directorial debut with the cult favorite Very Bad Things, starring Cameron Diaz, Jon Favreau and Christian Slater. Berg went on to direct the action hit The Rundown, starring The Rock, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson and Christopher Walken, and the critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights, based on the bestselling novel about Texas football by H.G. Bissinger, starring Billy Bob Thornton. The latter film was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of the year and was named one of the top ten films of 2004 by David Ansen of Newsweek.

Berg's most recent feature is The Kingdom, a Michael Mann-produced political thriller set in Saudi Arabia starring Academy Award® winners Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper with Jennifer Garner. The film was released in September 2007.

Film 44, Berg's and producing partner Sarah Aubrey's Universal-based development/production company, developed and produced The Kingdom, and is developing several additional features for Universal and other studios. Film 44 is also actively producing for television. Its first project is the critically hailed NBC-TV hour-long drama "Friday Night Lights," based on the film and book. Last year, Berg was nominated for an Emmy award for his outstanding directing of the pilot of this show. Film 44 is also developing for NBC "Deadline," a one-hour dramatic thriller told in reverse time. The Company has several additional titles in active development.

For television, Berg previously created, wrote, produced, and directed the ABC drama series "Wonderland." Berg also wrote and directed episodes of David Kelley's critically acclaimed series, "Chicago Hope," in which he also starred for three seasons. He made an indelible impression as the cocky, hockey-playing surgeon Dr. Billy Kronk on the medical drama. Most recently, he was seen in a recurring role on the ABC action series, "Alias."

As an actor, Berg gained considerable notice for his starring role opposite Linda Fiorentino in John Dahl's neo-noir The Last Seduction. He won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a naive local who falls for the dubious charms of Fiorentino's femme fatale. He was also seen in Michael Mann's Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. He was most recently seen in Joe Carnahan's Smokin' Aces, a Universal release. Other notable acting film credits include James Mangold's independent drama, Cop Land with Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel; The Great White Hype opposite Samuel L. Jackson; Spike Lee's Girl 6; Wes Craven's Shocker; Late For Dinner with Marcia Gay Harden; Keith Gordon's A Midnight Clear; and Fire in the Sky.

Berg's interest in performing was inspired as a child attending Broadway plays twice a month with his parents. He studied theater at Macalester College in Minneapolis, where he appeared in several theatrical productions, including "Flibberty Gibbet" and "Tartuffe."

VY VINCENT NGO (Screenwriter) was born in Vietnam and moved to the U.S. when he was seven years old. He graduated from UCI with a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and received his Master of Fine Arts degree in screenwriting at UCLA.

VINCE GILLIGAN (Screenwriter) grew up in Virginia, born in Richmond and raised in the little town of Farmville. He attended NYU, graduating with a degree in film production. In 1989 at the fledgling Virginia Film Festival, he won a screenwriting award which garnered him the attention of producer Mark Johnson (Rain Man, The Chronicles of Narnia). For Johnson, Gilligan wrote Wilder Napalm, starring Debra Winger and Dennis Quaid; and Home Fries, starring Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson. Both are available in finer bargain bins everywhere.

In 1995, Gilligan switched over to television as a staff writer for the hit series "The X-Files." He stayed with the show for seven years, ultimately becoming one of its executive producers and winning two Golden Globes®. He also helped create a spin-off, "The Lone Gunmen." For his fellow "X-Files" producer Frank Spotnitz, he wrote an episode of the short-lived CBS series "Robbery Homicide Division." This brought him to the attention of Hancock producer Michael Mann.

Splitting his writing between the big and small screens, Gilligan's current project is the Sony/AMC television series "Breaking Bad." The critically acclaimed series stars Bryan Cranston ("Malcolm in the Middle") as a straight-arrow chemist who, upon being diagnosed with terminal cancer, chooses to cook crystal meth in order to support his family.

For Sony Pictures and producer Mark Johnson, Gilligan is also working on 2FACE, a comedy about racism.

AKIVA GOLDSMAN (Producer) received the 2001 Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, and Writers Guild Award for his screenplay A Beautiful Mind. Focusing on the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, the film was directed by Ron Howard, produced by Brian Grazer, starred Russell Crowe, and won four Oscars®, including Best Picture.

Goldsman also earned BAFTA and WGA nominations for his screenplay Cinderella Man, which re-teamed him with Howard, Grazer, and Crowe.

Goldsman most recently wrote and produced the megahit I Am Legend, which starred Will Smith and took in more than $250,000,000 domestically and more than $580,000,000 worldwide.

In 2006, his adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller The Da Vinci Code, directed by Howard, produced by Grazer, and starring Tom Hanks, became an international phenomenon, taking in more than $750,000,000 worldwide. Goldsman is also credited with the adaptation of Brown's novel Angels & Demons, which Howard, Grazer, and Hanks are now filming for release on May 15, 2009.

In addition to Hancock and I Am Legend, Goldsman also teamed with Will Smith as the screenwriter of I, Robot, suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov. The film was directed by Alex Proyas.

Goldsman's many other writing credits include The Client, starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, Batman Forever, starring Val Kilmer, Jim Carrey, and Tommy Lee Jones, A Time to Kill, starring Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock, Lost in Space, starring William Hurt and Mimi Rogers, and Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock.

As a producer, Goldsman founded Weed Road Pictures. Prior to Hancock and I Am Legend, Goldsman produced the smash hit action film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and directed by Doug Liman. One of the top hits of summer 2005, the film took in more than $450 million worldwide. Through Weed Road Pictures, Goldsman also produced the hit films Deep Blue Sea, Starsky & Hutch, and Constantine.

Goldsman grew up in Brooklyn Heights, the son of two psychotherapists, who ran a group home for emotionally disturbed children. His experiences there inspired him to become a writer, and, ultimately, informed his adaptation of A Beautiful Mind, due to his deep connection to the material.

Goldsman graduated from Wesleyan University and attended the graduate program in creative writing at New York University. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Rebecca, and their dogs, Fizz, Mouse and Echo.

MICHAEL MANN (Producer) has earned numerous honors for his work as a director, writer and producer, including four Academy Award® nominations for The Insider and for producing The Aviator. A Chicago native, Mann is recognized for his groundbreaking and cinematically captivating dramas, including Thief, Manhunter, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, Ali and Collateral.

In the mid-1970s, Mann began a career as a television writer, working on Police Story, the first episodes of Starsky & Hutch and the series Vega$, which he created. In 1979, he directed and co-wrote his first dramatic movie-of-the-week, The Jericho Mile, starring Peter Strauss. It garnered four Emmys and a Directors Guild Award for Best Director.

In 1981, Mann made his theatrical film debut with Thief, a crime story starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson and Jim Belushi that was nominated for the Palme d'Or Award at Cannes. He followed this in 1983 with The Keep, starring Gabriel Byrne, Scott Glenn and Ian McKellen. In 1986, he directed Manhunter, from the first of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter books, Red Dragon, featuring William Petersen, Joan Allen, and Brian Cox as Lecter.

Throughout the 1980s, Mann continued to work in television with the revolutionary series Miami Vice and the acclaimed Chicago and Las Vegas drama Crime Story, starring Dennis Farina. In addition, he produced the 1990 Emmy-winning miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story and the 1992 Emmy-nominated sequel, Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel.

In 1992, Mann directed, co-wrote and produced The Last of the Mohicans, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe. He next directed the 1995 film Heat, from his original screenplay. The film depicted the taut relationship between an obsessive detective (Al Pacino) and a professional thief (Robert DeNiro) and also starred Jon Voight, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd and Amy Brenneman, the latter two having their first major roles in the film.

In 1999, Mann earned Oscar® nominations for co-writing, directing and producing The Insider, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino. Based upon Marie Brenner's "Vanity Fair" article, the film tells the true story of Jeffrey Wigand, a tobacco-industry executive who blew the whistle on the tobacco industry and 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman's conflict with CBS.

In 2001, Mann took audiences into the heart and struggles of Muhammad Ali in Ali, starring Will Smith and Jon Voight, both of whom received Oscar® nominations for their performances. Additionally, in 2002, Mann produced Robbery Homicide Division for CBS, which starred Tom Sizemore.

In 2004, Mann directed Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx. Mann earned numerous awards and nominations for this film, including the David Lean Award for directing at the 2004 BAFTAs.

Also in 2004, Mann produced the Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett. This film led the 2004 Academy Awards® contenders with 11 Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture. Blanchett won a Supporting Actress Oscar® for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn.

More recently, Mann wrote, produced and directed the big-screen version of Miami Vice, starring Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Chinese actress Gong Li and Naomie Harris.

He is currently in production directing, producing, and co-writing Universal Pictures' Public Enemies, about the Depression Era's gangsters and the formation of the FBI, starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, and Stephen Graham.

JAMES LASSITER (Producer) joined forces with entertainment powerhouse Will Smith to create Overbrook Entertainment, a production and management company started in 1998. Lassiter is no stranger to producing hit films, including his most recent success as producer of the 2007 box-office smash I Am Legend, which took in over $580 million worldwide, and the 2006 hit The Pursuit of Happyness, which resonated with audiences around the world, earning Smith an Oscar® nomination for his performance and grossing over $300 million at the box office. In 2005, Lassiter produced the romantic comedy Hitch, also a global hit, earning over $360 million, as well as the award winning film Saving Face, starring Joan Chen. In addition, he was an executive producer on the sci-fi thriller I, Robot, and also served as a producer on the critically acclaimed Ali, for which Smith earned his first Academy Award® nomination, and ATL , starring platinum recording artist T.I.

In television, Lassiter most recently served as executive producer on the CW network's "All of Us."

Other notable achievements include his work as executive producer on the soundtracks for Wild, Wild West and Men in Black, both of which won the American Music Award for favorite soundtracks, as well as the 2001 Outer Critic's Circle Award for "Jitney," an off-Broadway play written by August Wilson. Lassiter recently graced the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine's Top 50 Hollywood Power Brokers edition alongside business partner, Will Smith.

In addition to Hancock, Lassiter's current projects include Screen Gems' Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington. Upcoming films include Sony's Seven Pounds, which reunites Smith with director Gabriele Muccino, the director of The Pursuit of Happyness, and the entire producing team of that film; Fox Searchlight's The Secret Life of Bees, starring Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson; and The Human Contract, a character-driven drama written and directed by Jada Pinkett Smith.

IAN BRYCE (Executive Producer) recently produced DreamWorks' blockbuster hit, Transformers, for director Michael Bay. The film, which starred Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox and highlighted the newest in computer-generated imagery from ILM, grossed more than $634 million worldwide. He is currently at work on the next installment of the series, set to go before cameras this summer.

Bryce previously worked with Bay on The Island, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, which earned box office receipts over $160 million. Prior to that, he produced Antoine Fuqua's drama Tears of the Sun, starring Bruce Willis as well as Sam Raimi's mega-blockbuster action adventure Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire, which was the top-grossing film in the U.S. in 2002.

As a producer on Steven Spielberg's widely acclaimed World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, Bryce won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Academy Award® nomination for his work. The movie won Best Picture honors from numerous critics' organizations, including the New York, Los Angeles, and Broadcast Film Critics associations. He also shared a Producers Guild of America Award for the film. Bryce went on to produce Cameron Crowe's nostalgic comedy-drama Almost Famous, which won a Golden Globe® for Best Picture - Musical or Comedy, and garnered a BAFTA nomination for Best Picture.

Other producing credits include Forces of Nature starring Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock; the action thriller Hard Rain with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater; Penelope Spheeris' big-screen version of the classic television series The Beverly Hillbillies; and Jan de Bont's blockbusters Twister as well as his directorial debut film, Speed.

Born in England, Bryce started his career as a production assistant on the third installment of the first Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi. He moved up to second assistant director on Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and later served as a production manager on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In addition, Bryce served as the line producer/production manager on Philip Kaufman's Rising Sun.

He was also an associate producer/production manager on Tim Burton's smash hit Batman Returns, and worked as a production manager on such films as Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Ron Howard's Willow and Joe Johnston's The Rocketeer.

JONATHAN MOSTOW (Executive Producer) is currently directing the sci-fi thriller Surrogates starring Bruce Willis for Disney. The movie derived from the popular graphic novel is scheduled for a Thanksgiving 2009 release.

Mostow directed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines which grossed over $450 million worldwide. He previously directed and wrote the action thriller U-571, starring Matthew McConaughey. The WWII submarine drama opened #1 and garnered two Academy Award® nominations and an Oscar® for Best Sound Editing. He is currently developing a feature film adaptation of his sci-fi comic book, "The Megas" (co-written by John Harrison) published by Virgin Comics.

Mostow's theatrical film debut was as writer/director of the critically acclaimed 1997 thriller Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell. The same year, he executive produced The Game, starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. Both films opened #1 in North America.

In 1998, Mostow directed Tom Hanks in "La Voyage Dans La Lune," the finale episode of the Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon."

Mostow began his filmmaking career as a student at Harvard University, where he directed numerous award-winning shorts and documentaries. His 1991 feature-length directorial debut, the Showtime television thriller "Flight of the Black Angel," earned him a CableACE nomination for Best International Movie or Special.

RICHARD SAPERSTEIN (Executive Producer) has run or co-run the production activities for three of the most successful independent film companies of the last 15 years. Most recently, he served as president of production of The Weinstein Company's Dimension Films, turning out the hit movies 1408, starring John Cusack, and Rob Zombie's Halloween, starring Malcolm McDowell and Brad Dourif. Upcoming Dimension films which Saperstein acquired and packaged include Youth in Revolt, starring Michael Cera, the remake of Scanners, as well as the three-D remake of Piranha.

Prior to Dimension, Saperstein served as president of production for independent studio Artisan Pictures. Previously, he was senior executive vice president of worldwide production at New Line Cinema, which he was instrumental in building into a mini-major studio. In addition to his managerial responsibilities within the production division, Saperstein served as executive producer on numerous New Line films including Seven, John Q and Frequency.

Saperstein began his career as a motion picture literary agent at ICM. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1985.

TOBIAS SCHLIESSLER (Director of Photography) previously collaborated with director Peter Berg on the high school football drama Friday Night Lights and the action/drama The Rundown .

Schliessler's motion picture credits also include Dreamgirls, directed by Bill Condon and Bait, directed by Antoine Fuqua.

He also served as the cinematographer on numerous telefilms, including "The Long Way Home," "Outrage," "The Escape," "The Limbic Region," and "Mandela and de Klerk."

A native of Germany, Schliessler studied cinematography at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. He began his career shooting documentaries, and then segued into independent features, television movies, music videos and commercials. Schliessler was honored in consecutive years by the Association of independent Commercial Producers(AICP) for his cinematography on two celebrated television spots, in 2000 for Audi's "Wake up" commercial, and the following year for the Lincoln Financial spot "Doctor" Both are now part of the permanent archives of The Museum of Modern Art's Department of Film and Video in New York City. His commercial work also includes ads for such products as Lexus,Ford,AOL, and AT&T.

Schliessler is currently in production on The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, directed by Tony Scott.

NEIL SPISAK (Production Designer) designed the blockbuster adventures Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3, which have grossed $2.5 billion worldwide to date. He also designed director Sam Raimi's The Gift starring Cate Blanchett, Hilary Swank, Keanu Reeves, Greg Kinnear and Giovanni Ribisi and For Love of the Game starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. Spisak also served as production designer for Nora Ephron's Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell.

Spisak also designed John Woo's Face/Off starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta as well as Heat, directed by Michael Mann and starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer. His other film credits include Disclosure, My Life, Benny & Joon, Pacific Heights and The Trip to Bountiful.

A graduate of the prestigious Carnegie-Mellon University, Spisak began his career in the wardrobe department. He was the costume designer on director Sidney Lumet's crime drama Q & A starring Nick Nolte as well as on writer John Patrick Shanley's thriller January Man starring Kevin Kline and Susan Sarandon. Spisak was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work as a costume designer on the American Playhouse drama Roanoak.

PAUL RUBELL, A.C.E. (Editor) last worked for director Michael Bay and producer Steven Spielberg on the science-fiction action-adventures Transformers and The Island.

He earned Academy Award® nominations for his work on Michael Mann's dramatic thriller Collateral, as well as for Mann's true-life drama The Insider. He also received Eddie nominations from his peers at the American Cinema Editors Guild for his work on both films, along with a BAFTA nomination for Collateral. Most recently, he was the editor on Mann's big-screen version of Miami Vice.

Among his other film credits are the live-action 2003 version of Peter Pan, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, S1m0ne, XXX, The Cell, Blade, The Stone Boy and The Island of Dr. Moreau.

For television, Rubell has edited a number of acclaimed long-form projects. He was nominated for an Emmy Award and received an Eddie Award for his work on the miniseries "Andersonville"; earned both Emmy and Eddie Award nominations for the ABC telefilm "My Name is Bill W," and gained an additional Eddie nomination for HBO's "The Burning Season." His other made-for-television movie editing includes "David," "The Jacksons: An American Dream," "Stay the Night," "Finding the Way Home," "Challenger," "Home Fires Burning," "Echoes in the Darkness," and "Dress Gray."

He is currently at work on Michael Mann's crime drama, Public Enemies.

COLBY PARKER, JR. (Editor) has been a longtime collaborator with filmmaker Peter Berg, with Hancock representing their sixth project together. After working with Berg on his original ABC television series, "Wonderland," he served as an additional editor on the action hit The Rundown, and co-edited both Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom. The pair first worked together on a music video produced in conjunction with Berg's big screen directorial debut, the black comedy Very Bad Things.

Parker grew up in Brooklyn and studied film at SUNY at New Paltz. He began his professional career editing sports segments for WPIX-TV in New York before branching out on his own. He opened his own music video and commercial editing facility, where he cut over 100 videos for such musical artists as Missy Elliot, Green Day, P. Diddy and Alien Ant Farm.

In addition to his feature film work, Parker is also a resident editor at Whitehouse Editorial, one of the industry's top commercial editing houses.

Two-time Academy Award® winner JOHN DYKSTRA (Visual Effects Designed by) came to the entertainment industry from a background in industrial design and still photography. At age 22, he worked as part of a team headed by Doug Trumbull on such films as The Andromeda Strain and Silent Running, designing and building models and doing effects photography.

Dykstra also helped design, build and operate a computer-controlled camera system for the National Science Foundation at UC Berkeley. Equipped with what would later be acknowledged as the foundation of motion control technology, he went back to work for Doug Trumbull in the development phases of amusement park simulator rides and other advanced image-based entertainment schemes.

Dykstra next teamed with Gary Kurtz and George Lucas, with whom he created Industrial Light and Magic, assembling the creative group that would design and build the miniatures and camera systems used to create the Academy Award®-winning visual effects for Star Wars. Dykstra was also presented with the Academy's Technical Achievement Award for the Industrial Light and Magic facility itself.

Following the ground-breaking Star Wars venture, Glen Larson hired Dykstra as a producer and visual effects supervisor on the popular television program, "Battlestar Galactica." Gathering his key players, he founded special effects company Apogee. Using Apple's first personal computers as the basis for its motion imaging systems, the team garnered an Emmy for the series.

Dykstra, Trumbull and the rest of the effects team went on to earn an Academy Award® nomination for their work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Through Apogee, Dykstra contributed visual effects to many feature films and directed commercials, theme park entertainments and video games. Under his guidance, Apogee developed benchmark motion control and blue screen technologies.

Dykstra went on to supervise the visual effects for the Batman series of films including Batman, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, and was the visual effects supervisor and second unit director on Stuart Little, subsequently nominated for an Oscar® for its visual effects. In 2000, Dykstra joined director Sam Raimi to design the visual effects for Spider-Man, garnering him another Academy Award® nomination for Best Visual Effects, an award he won four years later for his work on the sequel, Spider-Man 2.

Walden Media has signed Dykstra to direct a feature film, based on a true story, about a male tortoise who becomes a reluctant mother to a baby hippopotamus orphaned during a tsunami.

LOUISE MINGENBACH's (Costume Designer) eclectic motion picture and television credits include The Heartbreak Kid, School for Scoundrels, Superman Returns, Spanglish, and Starsky & Hutch. She has also collaborated with Superman Returns director Bryan Singer on X-Men, X-Men 2, Apt Pupil, and The Usual Suspects.

Other film credits include K-PAX, The Rundown, Gossip, Permanent Midnight, Nightwatch, and The Spitfire Grill.

Mingenbach's television credits include the series "The Naked Truth" and several movies of the week.

British-born composer JOHN POWELL's (Composer) list of film credits exemplifies his ability to transcend genre. Since moving to the United States less than ten years ago, he has demonstrated his unique talent by scoring over 38 feature films. His versatile talent can be heard in animated films, comedies, action films and drama.

Powell's ability to compose in a variety of genres stems from the wide array of styles present in his early musical studies. By the time he reached his late-teens, he had already been exposed to soul, jazz, rock and world music, as well as having a deep classical music background from the age of seven courtesy of his father, a musician in Sir Thomas Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. In 1986, he began studies in composition at London's Trinity College of Music. During his time there, his skill was recognized with both the John Halford and the Boosey and Hawkes Bursary Music College Prizes.

While at Trinity, Powell studied composition, percussion and electronic music, and experimented within the new medium of performance art. He joined the group Media Arts and, with longtime collaborator Gavin Greenaway, composed music and sound for the group's performances. Although the group disbanded, Powell and Greenway continued to create many mixed-media installation pieces with artist Michael Petry in the following years.

Powell's first foray into professional composing came soon thereafter, when he landed a job writing music for commercials and television at London's Air-Edel Music. There, he met other composers including other Air-Edel alumni, Hans Zimmer and Patrick Doyle.

Later, with Greenaway, the two co-founded London-based commercial music house Independently Thinking Music (ITM), where they collaborated on more than 100 scores for commercials and independent films.

Powell shifted his focus away from commercials to longer form composition with the opera "An Englishman, Irishman and Frenchman," also co-created with Greenaway and Petry. After a series of successful performances at the Germany state-funded art gallery, Powell moved to Los Angeles to take on more film projects.

Arriving in the States in 1997, he immediately scored two DreamWorks TV projects: the second season of Steven Spielberg's "High Incident" and the pilot "For the People." He also arranged songs composed by Stephen Schwartz for DreamWorks' animated feature The Prince of Egypt (1998).

It was Powell's hair-raising score for John Woo's Nicolas Cage/John Travolta blockbuster Face/Off that garnered critical acclaim. He composed one hour and forty-five minutes of riveting music, which utilized unresolved harmonies, tragic melodies and thundering percussion to build a heightened state of tension.

He has since scored a wide variety of films in different genres, including animated hits Antz, Chicken Run, Robots, Shrek, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Happy Feet, in addition to the actioners Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Italian Job, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy. His interest in musical diversity continued in the creation of scores for Drumline, I am Sam and Alfie (with Dave Stewart and Mick Jagger). He also scored the superhero blockbuster X-Men: The Last Stand and United 93.

Last year he completed the final segment in the Bourne trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum. He also scored Stop Loss, P.S. I Love You and Jumper, directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). This year he scored the animated Horton Hears a Who!, starring the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell and, most recently, Kung Fu Panda.

Powell is the recipient of two Ivor Novello Awards for Best Original Film Score from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters for Shrek in 2001 and Ice Age: The Meltdown in 2006. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 for his work on Happy Feet.

John Powell lives with his wife Melinda and son in Los Angeles, CA.

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