North Country - Production Notes |
| Last Update: 25 Oct 2005 |
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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS NIKI CARO (Director) is one of the most original and inventive filmmakers to emerge from New Zealand in recent years. Her first feature film, Memory and Desire, was selected for Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. It was voted Best Film in the 1999 New Zealand Film Awards, also winning a Special Jury Prize for Caro’s work as both writer and director. Her short films have been similarly honored: Sure to Rise in competition in Cannes in 1994; and Footage at the Venice Film Festival in 1996. Caro completed a BFA at Elam School of
Fine Arts in Auckland and a Postgraduate Diploma in Film from
Swinburne in Melbourne. Returning to New Zealand, she wrote and
directed several highly regarded television dramas: Plain Tastes,
a one-hour television drama commissioned by the prestigious Television
New Zealand Montana Sunday Theatre slot; The Summer the Queen
Came, a half hour television drama; and a half-hour episode for
the 1995 New Zealand Film and Television Awards best drama series
winner, True Life Stories. Caro and Whale Rider have won or been
nominated for over fifty international awards, including audience
awards at prestigious international film festivals including
Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam, San Francisco, Seattle, Maui and
Lake Placid. Caro was also awarded the Audience Choice Best Director
Award at Seattle. Most recently, she won a Humanitas Award, an
American-based prize for film and television makers whose work
offers insight into contemporary society. Her screenplay for
Whale Rider also won the Sundance Feature Film Category. |
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NICK WECHSLER (Producer) was a founder and co-chairman of Industry Entertainment (formerly Addis-Wechsler and Associates) and recently left Industry to focus exclusively on production. Wechsler recently produced Fierce People, directed by Griffin Dunne and written by Dirk Wittenborn, based on his novel. Fierce People premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and stars Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, Anton Yelchin and Kristin Stewart. He is an executive producer on the upcoming
The Fountain, directed and written by Darren Aronofsky and starring
Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Ellen Burstyn. |
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MICHAEL SEITZMAN (Screenplay) has been
very busy since writing the script for North Country. He is currently
adapting Mary Doria Russell’s classic space epic The Sparrow,
for Warner Bros. Pictures, which is set to star Brad Pitt; writing
an adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s The Chancellor Manuscript,
to star Leonardo DiCaprio; as well as an adaptation of the upcoming
book Storming the Court, which Seitzman will write and direct
next year, also for Warner Bros. Pictures. Originally from New Jersey, Seitzman currently resides in Los Angeles, California. |
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Born in Washington, D.C., HELEN BARTLETT
(Executive Producer) went to Madeira School and then to Trinity
College. At Trinity, she created an interdisciplinary major in
creative writing and dance, where she graduated with Honors in
1981 and won the John Curtis Underwood Memorial Poetry and Trinity
Fiction prizes. She was chosen to be the Trinity Poet at the
Glascock Poetry Reading, Mount Holyoke College and also studied
poetry with poets Galway Kinnell and Sharon Olds at New York
University’s MFA Creative Writing Program. In 2001, Bartlett executive produced In the Time of the Butterflies, based on the award-winning novel by Julia Alvarez. Also in 2001, she produced Last Call with Jeremy Irons, Neve Campbell and Sissy Spacek. Before her involvement with film, Bartlett was a journalist and a published poet. She worked for The Paris Review, where she continues to be a contributing editor and has written articles for Los Angeles Magazine and The Los Angeles Times. As for Bartlett’s hobbies, she prints on an 1889 Chandler & Price letterpress and raises Bantam chickens. She collects first editions of 20th century American Women’s fiction and has soloed in a Tomahawk single-engine plane. Other productions – also in association with Tony Bill – include daughters Madeline and Daphne. |
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NANA GREENWALD (Executive Producer) worked as an in-house production executive/producer at Industry Entertainment from 2002-2004. Before joining the company, she worked at Kopelson Entertainment from 1989-1995 as Executive Vice President and from 1997-2001 as President of Creative Affairs, where she co-produced Don’t Say A Word, A Perfect Murder, Seven, Outbreak, the Academy Award-nominated The Fugitive and Falling Down. She was also a production executive on U.S. Marshals and Eraser, and produced a Showtime movie, Past Tense, starring Scott Glenn and Lara Flynn Boyle. Between her Kopelson tenures, she served as Vice President of Production at Paramount-based Douglas-Reuther Productions. While there, she worked on The Ghost and the Darkness, The Rainmaker and Face/Off. Greenwald began her career at Vestron Pictures in Stamford, Connecticut and Los Angeles, where she was involved in numerous film projects including the independent hit Dirty Dancing; the remake of And God Created Woman, directed by Roger Vadim; and Parents, directed by Bob Balaban. She is currently developing several Industry projects including Sealand and World Record Man at Warner Bros. Pictures. |
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DOUG CLAYBOURNE (Executive Producer)
came into the film business from a background of advertising
and art direction studies. Thereafter, came two years of post
graduate study at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles
before Claybourne turned to film. It took a six month stint as
an assistant art director on The City of San Francisco magazine
and a working relationship with its owner, Francis Ford Coppola,
to convince Claybourne to make the switch official. In July of 1998, Claybourne completed work on The Mask of Zorro, which was nominated for two Golden Globes, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Antonio Banderas. Claybourne met Rob Cohen during the making of The Legend of Billie Jean. This meeting led to a three picture producing association with the Taft/Barish Company and to the first picture in the franchise of The Fast and the Furious with Cohen directing. Other movies with Cohen were Light of Day and The Serpent and the Rainbow. In 2003, Claybourne executive produced
his 23rd feature, the family adventure Duma, directed by Carroll
Ballard in over 60 locations in South Africa. |
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JEFF SKOLL (Executive Producer) founded Participant Productions in January, 2004 and serves as Chairman and CEO. Skoll has been a leader in technology and philanthropy for many years. In 1996, Skoll joined eBay as its first president and first full-time employee, and developed the business plan that the company still follows. In the months before eBay went public in 1998, Skoll led the company’s effort to give back to the community, creating the eBay Foundation through an allocation of pre-IPO shares, an innovation that inspired a wave of similar commitments nationwide. But Skoll didn’t stop there. In
1999, he launched his own philanthropic organization, the Skoll
Foundation for which he serves as chief visionary and chairman.
He created the foundation in alignment with his core belief that
it is in everyone’s interest to shift the overwhelming imbalance
between the “haves” and “have-nots.” The
foundation takes up this challenge by focusing on social entrepreneurs
– people who couple innovative ideas with extraordinary
determination, tackling the world’s toughest problems to
make things better for us all. In five short years, Skoll and
the foundation have emerged as social sector leaders; in 2002
through 2004, Skoll was recognized as one of today’s most
innovative philanthropists by Business Week, and he is frequently
cited for his leadership in advancing the work and field of social
entrepreneurship. His recent honors and awards include Canada’s 1999 Leafy Award for his contributions to high technology; a 2001 Visionary Award from the Software Development Forum; the 2002 Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the Silicon Valley chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; the 2003 Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the International Association of Fundraising Professionals; and, in 2003, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto. In 2004 the Commonwealth Club Silicon Valley awarded him its National Leadership Award. |
| Classmates CLARA BINGHAM and LAURA LEEDY GANSLER (Book Authors) graduated from Harvard University in 1985. Currently a freelance journalist, Bingham has served as White House correspondent for Newsweek and is also the author of Women on the Hill: Challenging the Culture of Congress. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and their three children. Gansler has taught law at American University and is now counsel for a dispute resolution firm. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and sons. |
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CHRIS MENGES (Director of Photography) has lent his cinematography talents to film for over three decades. He is a two time Oscar winner for Best Cinematography for his work on The Mission and The Killing Fields, for which he also won the BAFTA Award. Menges was also nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Michael Collins. Menges’ numerous credits as director of photography include Criminal; Dirty Pretty Things, for which he was nominated for Best Cinematographer at the European Film Awards; The Good Thief; The Pledge; The Boxer, for which he was nominated for an ASC Award; Shy People; Marie; Kes; and Local Hero and Angel, both of which were Evening Standard Award winners for Best Technical Achievement. His upcoming films include Tickets and
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. |
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RICHARD HOOVER’s (Production Designer)
designing credits encompass film, television and stage. Currently,
he is working on the feature film Drunk Boat. Hoover’s other recent feature film credits include Mothman Prophecies, The Prime Gig, Girl Interrupted, The Cradle Will Rock, Payback, Twilight: Los Angeles, Apt Pupil, Blackout, Nightwatch, Dead Man Walking, Panther, Ed Wood, You So Crazy, Dream Lover, Bob Roberts, Storyville, Torch Song Trilogy and It Takes Two. His credits as art director include Checking Out, Miracle Mile, In the Mood and The Sure Thing. For the small screen, Hoover has worked as a production designer on Numb3ers, Hamburg Cell, Entourage, Street Boss, Failsafe, Twin Peaks and Heat Wave, among many others. In theatre, Hoover’s design talents on Not About Nightingales won him a Tony Award, Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Award, as well as nominations for an Olivier Award and a Drama Desk Award. Additionally, Hoover has worked on music videos for Bruce Springsteen and the Traveling Wilburys. Other music video and commercial credits include collaborating with directors such as David Lynch, David Fincher and Mark Pellington, to name a few. |
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DAVID COULSON (Film Editor) most recently worked on Niki Caro’s critically acclaimed Whale Rider, winner of the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award in 2003 and an Independent Spirit Award in 2004. Coulson’s credits as editor include Broken English, Desperate Remedies, The Footstep Man, User Friendly, Illustrious Energy, Trespasses and Strata. He won New Zealand Film and TV Awards for Best Editing for his work on Broken English, The Footstep Man and Illustrious Energy, and was nominated for his work on Whale Rider. For television, he edited Amazon High. Couslon has also edited numerous documentaries including Man of the Trees, Every Dancer’s Dream, I’m in Concert, The Fastest Gun Downunder, Cold Feet, Gold Sheep, Inquiry, Mikhail Lermontov, Haka, American Pie, Behind Closed Doors, Peter Peryer – Portrait of a Photographer and Visible Evidence. |
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In February 2005, GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA (Music) was awarded the British Academy Award for outstanding achievement in film music for The Motorcycle Diaries. In 2004, he was awarded the music industry’s most prestigious award, the Grammy, for his work as a producer of Café Tacuba’s “Cuatro Caminos.” He also won a Latin Grammy for his work with Café Tacuba and was nominated for Producer of the Year for his work with Juanes, Molotov, Bersuit Vergarabat and countless other influential artists, as well as his own critically-acclaimed project Bajofondo Tango Club. Santaolalla solidified his reputation as one of America’s premiere record producers in 2003 by virtue of three Grammy nominations. Between himself and his label, Surco (a joint venture with Universal), his nominations included albums by Juanes and Orishas in the Latin Rock / Alternative Album category and as producer of the Kronos Quartet album Nuevo as best Classical Crossover Album. Santaolalla settled in the U.S. from his native Argentina in the 1980s. In 1995, he released the album Gas featuring the smash hit “Todo Vale,” which was frequently rotated on MTV Latino. His breakthrough as a solo artist came with the release in 1996 of the album Ronroco by the prestigious Nonesuch Label. The album earned rave reviews and put Santaolalla at the forefront of the Latin music world. As a producer, Santaolalla has also worked with such artists as The Gypsy Kings, Maldita Vecindad and many others. Santaolalla has become a sought-after film composer, writing original scores for such films as the Oscar-nominated 21 Grams and Amores Perros, as well as The Motorcycle Diaries and Ang Lee’s upcoming Brokeback Mountain. He has also been featured on the original soundtracks for the films Shrek 2, The Insider and Star Maps. |
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