- DERICK MARTINI (Director)
- ANDREA PORTES (Screenwriter)
- STEVEN SIEBERT (Producer)
- CHRISTIAN TAYLOR (Producer)
- CHARLES DE PORTES (Producer)
- JON CORNICK (Producer)
- FRANK GODWIN (Director of Photography)
- MARK YOSHIKAWA (Editor)
- ROSHELLE BERLINER (Production Designer)
- ERIKA MUNRO (Costume Designer)
- EYDE BELASCO (Casting Director)
- LARRY CAMPBELL (Composer)
At twenty three years old, DERICK MARTINI (Director) made his feature film debut as the producer, co-writer and co-star of the multiple award winning, critically acclaimed feature film SMILING FISH AND GOAT ON FIRE. The micro budget film caught Martin Scorsese's eye and he endorsed the film for its theatrical release by allowing the distributor to attach his name to the film as "Martin Scorsese Presents".
LYMELIFE, an original screenplay written by Martini, marked his directorial debut. This time the film was produced by Martin Scorsese, who has become a champion of Martini's work. Lymelife earned Martini a Gotham Award nomination as "Breakthrough Director", it also won the International Critic's Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and landed on several critic's top ten lists after its theatrical release in 2009.
HICK is Martini's second produced feature film as a director and his first time directing material he did not write.
His other produced feature film writing credits include the soon to be released BOLDEN directed by Dan Pritzker and starring Anthony Mackie as the mythical jazz legend Buddy Bolden. LOUIS, another collaboration with director Dan Pritzker, a silent film chronicling the early day of Louis Armstrong. This unique project was received with high acclaim when it was released in 2010 on a very special, limited engagement tour where Wynton Marsalis and a 10-piece orchestra accompanied the film while projected on screen.
Martini currently has a first look writing directing deal with Ivan Reitman's Montecito Picture Company and Paramount Pictures with one script, a comedy starring Emma Roberts of "Lymelife" and Craig Roberts of "Submarine", in the final stages of development. His other development titles are the crime drama "The Day Trader", an original screenplay by Martini at Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures and the thriller "Selling Time" which is set up at 20th Century Fox.
ANDREA PORTES (Screenwriter) is the bestselling novelist of the critically lauded novel, HICK. The book was her debut novel and Portes was honored to actually write the screenplay adaptation.
Portes grew up shuffled around between such disparate locales as Nebraska, Texas, Brazil, Maryland, North Dakota, California, Wisconsin and North Carolina. Finally, she was granted relief from this nomadic existence when she was accepted to Bryn Mawr College, where she attended on full scholarship and later graduated cum laude, with a major in English Literature. She then earned her Masters in Fine Arts degree from UC-San Diego.
After her relentless education, Portes moved to the neighborhood of Echo Park in Los Angeles, where she spent years mostly getting into trouble and living in a world far beyond the ivory tower existence she had led for so long.
It was in this period of vague nothingness that Andrea penned her debut novel, in longhand in three notebooks, somewhere amidst the hurly burly of those reprobate days.
Currently, she lives in the Franklin Hills of Los Angeles and is finishing up her second novel. Portes was discovered and continues to be represented by Sally Van Haitsma of the Van Haitsma Literary Agency and is a proud member of the Unbridled Books family, under the care of editor Fred Ramey.
STEVEN SIEBERT (Producer) is the founder of Lighthouse Entertainment, a production and personal management company. Siebert’s producing credits include A GOOD WOMAN. The film was adapted from Oscar Wilde’s play LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN. The period piece, set in 1935, was filmed along the coast of Italy and starred Scarlett Johansson, Tom Wilkinson and Helen Hunt. Siebert obtained the rights, developed and packaged the film, which was sold throughout the world in all territories and distributed in the United States by Lionsgate Films. Siebert also produced the gritty drama GRIDLOCK’D that starred Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, and the late Tupac Shakur. The film was distributed in the United States and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The soundtrack was highly successful.
In 1990, Siebert produced the Warner Bros. buddy drama THE ROOKIE, which starred Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen. Siebert developed the script with scribes Boaz Yakin and Scott Spiegel.
Siebert helped package and is producing, along with Donald Zuckerman, the bio pic, BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY based on the novel “Can’t you Hear Me Callin” about the legendary musician and often called the father of Blues Grass music, Bill Monroe. The $10 million dollar budget film will be shot in Tennessee and Kentucky. The screenplay was adapted by Oscar® winner Callie Khouri and director Finn Taylor. Olivia Wilde is set as “Bessie Monroe” and John C. Reilly, Ed Helms, Sam Shepherd, Ashley Judd, Tim Blake Nelson are being talked to about roles. An offer is out for the role “Bill Monroe.” Academy Award® winning music supervisor T-Bone Burnett and Ronnie McCoury produced the soundtrack for the film and have already recorded music in Nashville. Hanway Films is handling the sale of the film.
Other indie films produced by Siebert include CHERISH, which was in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and starred Tim Blake Nelson, Robin Tunney and had an art house release by Fine Line Pictures. Studio Canal distributed the film internationally.
Siebert is set to produce THE CRYING HEART TATTOO written by Jim Piddock based on the novel by David Martin. THE CRYING HEART TATTOO is the story of a lifelong, but intermittent, affair between Sonny, a 16-year-old boy, and Felicity, a 36-year-old woman, which lasts until her death two and a half decades later.
Siebert is also developing an edgy cable series with THE WATCHMEN, HELLBOY, THE GREENZONE, BOOGIE NIGHTS, UNITED 93 producer Lloyd Levin.
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR (Producer) began his career as an actor in New York, studying his craft at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and The Neighborhood Playhouse. After nearly a decade of film, stage, and television work, his interest in producing led him behind the scenes where he worked in talent and literary management at Lighthouse Entertainment and Industry Entertainment, and subsequently for president of production Kim Roth at Imagine Entertainment.
In 2008 Taylor founded Taylor Lane Productions, where he focuses on developing notable works of literature and graphic novels for film and television.
Projects in development at Taylor Lane include adaptations of the award winning young adult novels "Half Brother" by Kenneth Oppel and “One Fat Summer” by Robert Lipsyte (adapted by A SINGLE MAN scribe David Scearce), and an adaptation of “The Epoch Index” by science fiction author Christian Cantrell.
CHARLES DE PORTES (Producer) is the founder of Stone River Productions, Ltd.; President of Hick Picture Productions, Inc. and the primary financier of HICK. He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University in 1991 specializing in International Economics.
He served as a Officer in the US Army and then worked for the US Department of Treasury prior to attending the INSEAD MBA programme in France. De Portes subsequently worked for Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division in London, Paris and New York. From 1998 to present, he has supervised capital raising, structuring and acquisitions for several international funds across Europe and Asia, raising over $3 billion in capital from institutional and sovereign investors throughout the US, Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific.
He continues to manage and raise funds for projects across multiple sectors and supervising funds management and operational offices in Japan, Singapore, China and the US.
JON CORNICK (Producer) graduated in 1990 with a Marketing degree from American University in Washington, DC, then moved to Los Angeles to begin his career in the motion picture business.
Cornick worked his way up through physical production, and was soon working with filmmaker Roland Joffe (THE KILLING FIELDS, THE MISSION) producing such films as THE SCARLET LETTER and GOODBYE, LOVER directed by Joffe.
Cornick spent five years with Joffe, before leaving to produce the independent feature film, WATERPROOF, written and first-time directed by Barry Berman (BENNY AND JOON) and starring Burt Reynolds. Soon after, Cornick partnered with actor/producer Alec Baldwin in Baldwin’s production company El Dorado Pictures. For six years, they produced a number of projects including the Emmy® Award nominated ”Nuremberg”, a mini-series for Alliance Atlantis and TNT, and the David Mamet film STATE AND MAIN for Fine Line Features. Last year, Cornick produced the award winning film LYMELIFE, written and directed by Derick Martini.
Recently, Cornick completed production on a large jazz related project consisting of two movies: the feature film BOLDEN (Anthony Mackie); and the silent film LOUIS. Both films are written and directed by Dan Pritzker. LOUIS was released on a very special, limited engagement tour where Wynton Marsalis and a 10-piece orchestra accompanied the film while it is projected on screen.
LOUIS was shown in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and DC. BOLDEN is in its final stages of post-production and will be ready in early 2012.
FRANK GODWIN (Director of Photography) has worked in the film and television business for over twenty years. His credits range from features such as DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA YA SISTERHOOD, MUPPETS FROM SPACE and EVAN ALMIGHTY to TV series such as the WB's "Dawson Creek,” NBC's "Surface" and the CW's "One Tree Hill.” HICK marks his second collaboration with Derick Martini.
MARK YOSHIKAWA (Editor) s an editor who has worked in motion pictures over the last decade and a half with notable directors such as Tom Hanks, Christopher Guest, and Terrence Malick.
His editing work includes films such as THE NEW WORLD, LYMELIFE and TREE OF LIFE.
ROSHELLE BERLINER (Production Designer) has, over the last decade or so, helped a “who’s who” of the brightest directing talents on the East Coast independent film scene create the look for such breakout films as PRECIOUS (Lee Daniels), LIFE DURING WARTIME (Todd Solondz) and the dot com bust drama AUGUST (Austin Chick).
Berliner also designed the big screen adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s CHOKE and the evil kid drama JOSHUA, both released by Fox Searchlight Pictures after debuting at Sundance. Berliner most recently served as production designer for the Sundance thriller SILENT HOUSE, directed by Laura Lau and acquired by Lionsgate, and the family drama TOUCHBACK starring Kurt Russell as a High School football coach. Berliner resides in New York.
ERIKA MUNRO (Costume Designer) previously collaborated with Derick Martini on LYMELIFE. Her recent credits as costume designer also include RETURN, CHOOSE, THE ART OF GETTING BY and THE GOOD GUY. She is currently at work on Jake Schrier’s independent drama ROBOT AND FRANK, starring Liv Tyler, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber, Susan Sarandon and Frank Langella. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, her earlier credits include THE TREATMENT, BLACKBIRD, THE KILLING FLOOR, TURN THE RIVER, THE FUNERAL PARTY and AUGUST. She also served as wardrobe supervisor on TRANSAMERICA and PRETTY PERSUASION.
EYDE BELASCO (Casting Director) worked on the independent feature films LIKE CRAZY, PARIAH and HERE, all of which screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, she cast SASSY PANTS, THE WORDS and the forthcoming Drake Doremus project.
Other recent films include DIRTY GIRL, FINAL DESTINATION 5, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, LYMELIFE, DON’T LET ME DROWN, YELLING TO THE SKY, DON MCKAY, SPOONER, and LOVELY STILL as well as THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, BECAUSE I SAID SO, SLITHER, MEET THE SPARTANS, SPECIAL and RESCUE DAWN. She also cast HALF NELSON for which she won the Artios Award for Independent Feature Film Casting. Prior to this, Belasco spent two and a half years at Twentieth Century Fox as an in-house casting director where she cast DAREDEVIL and BEHIND ENEMY LINES. She is currently in her 16th year as the West Coast casting director for Sundance Institute.
LARRY CAMPBELL (Composer) is a multi-instrumentalist who has been a studio musician and a respected sideman since the seventies. He moves freely between rock, blues, country, folk and Celtic, playing guitar, fiddle, mandolin, pedal steel, cittern, dobro and banjo. In 2005, he released his first solo acoustic guitar album called Rooftops. In 2008, Campbell was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his instrumental work from the Americana Music Association.
Campbell has had extensive experience as a studio musician. Over the past decade, Campbell has recorded with Levon Helm, Judy Collins, Sheryl Crow, B. B. King, Willie Nelson and The Black Crowes just to name a few. As a sideman, Campbell is probably best known for his time spent in Bob Dylan's band. Campbell was a member of Bob Dylan's "Never Ending Tour" band from March 31, 1997 until November 21, 2004. Campbell replaced J.J. Jackson as a guitarist and expanded his role to multi-instrumentalist, playing other instruments such as cittern, violin/fiddle, pedal steel guitar,lap steel guitar, mandolin, banjo and slide guitar. He also contributed vocals. When introducing Campbell and the rest of the band, Bob Dylan often referred to them as some of the finest musicians in the country.
When Campbell was not performing with Bob Dylan, he often made guest appearances with other artists including Richard Shindell, Buddy and Julie Miller, Levon Helm and Little Feat. Prior to 1997, Campbell toured with other artists, including Cyndi Lauper, K. D. Lang, and Rosanne Cash. Since Campbell's departure from Bob Dylan's band, he has continued to make guest appearances with various artists including Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Phil Lesh and Rosanne Cash. He presently tours regularly with Levon Helm. In addition, Campbell performs with singer Teresa Williams.
In addition to performing and recording with other artists, Campbell has been called on by numerous musicians to produce their albums. In 2007, he produced (along with Amy Helm) Dirt Farmer for Levon Helm, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. In June of 2009, Campbell produced a follow up album to Dirt Farmer titled Electric Dirt, which received a Grammy for Best Americana Album. In 2010, Campbell also produced Helm's cover of Bob Dylan's "It Takes Alot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.” This year, Campbell produced Hot Tuna's album Steady As She Goes, Tara Nevin's album Wood and Stone, and co-produced Garland Jeffreys' The King Of In Between. He also produced 2 songs for David Bromberg's album, Use Me , and 4 songs for Carolyn Wonderland's forthcoming album. In addition, Campbell and Levon Helm completed the lyrics and wrote the music for "You'll Never Again Be Mine,” a song half finished by Hank Williams, to be included on The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams,. Campbell is currently working on producing The Gourd's next album, and is also producing some songs for Corky Laing and The Memory Thieves. In 2008, Campbell served as the Musical Director for the PBS show “Lomax: The Hound of Music.”
Campbell was born and raised in New York City. He is a self taught musician, never having had a formal lesson on any instrument. An early interest in Hank Williams, George Jones, Jimmy Rodgers and country music from the 1920s and 1930s led him to learn to play fiddle, mandolin, banjo and pedal steel.