Family Room Entertainment Corp. (FMYR)

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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

TODD ROBINSON (Writer/Director) most recently worked on THE LAST FULL MEASURE for New Line Cinema, directed by Shekhar. In addition, he is writing and executive producing his new pilot “Task Force 121” for FX.

Robinson created and executive produced “Astronauts” for ABC and adapted the Nicholas Sparks New York Times bestseller “The Rescue” for CBS and producer Denise Di Novi. Also for CBS and Mirage Entertainment, he wrote and will executive produce “The Third House” with Sydney Pollack, a series centered on Washington lobbyists.

Other network series credits include: “The Young Riders,” “Life Goes On,” “Man of a Thousand Faces,” “The Outsiders,” “The Wings Of Denali,” a pilot for The WB, and Dick Wolf's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

For Hollywood Pictures, Robinson wrote and produced WHITE SQUALL starring Jeff Bridges and directed by Ridley Scott. His screenplay won the Worldfest Special Jury Grand Prize for Best Screenplay. He also wrote and produced THE FOUR DIAMONDS for Disney directed by Peter Werner, and MERMAID helmed by Peter Masterson for Alliance/Atlantis. For Warner Brothers and Wolfgang Peterson, Robinson wrote the military action picture THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE and was also a contributing writer on BAD BOYS II, directed by Michael Bay for Columbia/Tristar.

Robinson wrote, directed and produced THE LEGEND OF BILLY THE KID for the Disney Channel, for which he won a Prime Time Emmy Award, directed the award winning dramatic short subject film ANGEL FIRE, and wrote and directed WILD BILL:HOLLYWOOD MAVERICK, a feature documentary on legendary studio director William A. Wellman. The film was awarded Best Documentary Film by the National Board of Review and was featured at Sundance, London, Berlin, San Sebastian and numerous other film festivals. The film can be seen through 2004 on AMC.

Robinson also directed the documentary series “Stand And Be Counted” for TLC with producing partners Sidney Sherman and singer/songwriter David Crosby. The program traces the history and impact of social activism through popular music.

In 2000, Robinson wrote and directed the feature documentary AMARGOSA about Death Valley artist and recluse Marta Becket. An Academy Award Finalist for Best Documentary Feature, the film premiered at Slamdance, has enjoyed an extended international film festival run and been honored with numerous awards including a 2003 Emmy Award for Best Cinematography. It can currently be seen on The Sundance Channel.

In 2001, Robinson executive produced GO TIGERS!, a film exploring the famed Massillon, Ohio high school football team of the same name. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically by IFC Films.

Robinson received a Suma Cum Laude B.F.A. in drama from the Theatre Conservatory at Adelphi University and is one of the founding members of The Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation where he serves on the board of directors.

Producer HOLLY WIERSMA began her career in 1996 as a casting associate on such films as BLADE, THE RAINMAKER and AMISTAD. Soon after, she developed a strong passion for independent filmmaking and switched her focus from casting to producing.

In 1999, Wiersma was co-producer on the Sundance Film Festival-hit SHADOW HOURS directed by Issac Eaton, starring Balthazar Getty and Peter Weller that was sold to Seven Arts and Blockbuster at the festival for release in theaters later that year.
Wiersma followed that with two films back-to-back, RENT CONTROL and COMIC BOOK VILLIANS. Both films have outstanding ensemble casts that includes Melissa Joan Hart, Carmen Electra, Natasha Lyonne, Michael Rappaport, Cary Elwes, Danny Masterson, and Donal Logue. Lions Gate Entertainment bought VILLIANS shortly after the project wrapped production.

Next in 2003, Wiersma continuing her ongoing relationship with Lions Gate Entertainment with WONDERLAND, directed by James Cox, again with another fantastic ensemble cast that included Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, Dylan McDemott, Josh Lucas and Tim Blake Nelson. WONDERLAND is the true story of the 1981 Wonderland Avenue murders that took place in Los Angeles.

Last year was the busiest yet for Wiersma, having completed production on four films. HAPPY ENDINGS premiered as the opening film of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by Don Roos (THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, BOUNCE), set in contemporary Los Angeles with a multitude of intertwining characters and storylines. The cast includes Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tom Arnold, Laura Dern, Bobby Cannavale, Jesse Bradford, and Jason Ritter.

DOWN IN THE VALLEY, written and directed by David Jacobson (DAHMER), premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and will open the Los Angeles Film Festival this summer. The film stars Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse, and Rory Culkin, and was financed by Element Films. Set in the present-day San Fernando Valley, the film revolves around a delusional man who believes he's a cowboy and the relationship that he starts with a rebellious young woman.

Currently in post-production, THE QUIET was produced in conjunction with the recently formed Burnt Orange Productions, an affiliate of the University of Texas Film Institute. The story of an adolescent girl orphaned and sent to live with a foster family, THE QUIET is directed by Jamie Babbit (BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER) and stars Elisha Cuthbert, Edie Falco, Martin Donovan, Camilla Belle and Shawn Ashmore.

Wiersma just wrapped production in Florida on the film LONELY HEARTS, based on the true story of the ‘Lonely Hearts killers,’ Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, who committed a series of murders during the late 1940’s. It is written and directed by Todd Robinson (AMARGOSA), and stars John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Salma Hayek, Jared Leto, Laura Dern and Scott Caan.

COME EARLY MORNING, written and directed by Joey Lauren Adams, also just wrapped production, with Ashley Judd starring. The film tells the story of a young woman in a small town attempting to reconcile her relationship with her estranged father and resolve her commitment issues with the opposite sex.

Wiersma is currently in pre-production on two films, BUG and BOBBY. BUG is based on the off-Broadway play by Tracy Letts. William Friedkin will direct Letts’ script, a psycho-thriller that explores themes of paranoia and delusion through its two main characters in an isolated motel room. The film will shoot this summer in New Orleans with Ashley Judd starring. BOBBY tells the story of an ensemble cast of characters within the famed Ambassador Hotel on the day leading up to Bobby Kennedy’s assassination in the hotel’s kitchen. The film is written and to be directed by Emilio Estevez and will shoot this summer in Los Angeles.

Wiersma was honored as one of Variety’s Ten Producers to Watch at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and featured in the ‘100 People You Need To Know’ section of the Summer 2004 issue of FADE IN magazine.

BOAZ DAVIDSON (Producer) is a prolific filmmaker who has produced some 75 motion pictures, written over 30 and directed more than two dozen. His many credits include directing such movies as Looking for Lola, Outside the Law, Solar Force, Salsa, Going Bananas, Dutch Treat and The Last American Virgin. Born in Tel Aviv, Davidson began his association with NuImage/Millennium films in 1995, and he currently serves as the company’s Head of Production and Creative Affairs.

With over 270 films to his credit, AVI LERNER (Executive Producer), Co-Chairman of Nu Image, Inc. and Millennium Films Inc., is one of the most experienced producers and distributors of independent films in the motion picture industry.

Born and raised in Haifa, Israel, Lerner studied economics and social sciences at the University of Tel Aviv, and served as a paratrooper and officer in the Israeli Army. His career in the film industry began as the manager of Israel’s first drive-in cinema, which he eventually owned. He then rapidly acquired a chain of movie theatres while simultaneously producing several low-budget features. In 1979, Lerner was the first to recognize the potential of the home video market and pioneered the largest specialized video distribution company in Israel. Shortly after, he became a partner in the largest theatrical distribution company in Israel.

After working in London, Lerner relocated to Johannesburg, South Africa. There he produced over 25 pictures and served as executive producer on King Solomon’s Mines (Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone), which was shot in Zimbabwe. The success of the film led to a sequel, Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold, and Lerner’s decision to sell his Israeli company. After much success with his films Lerner established the Nu Metro Entertainment Group. Nu Metro acquired the Metro cinema chain from CIC and Lerner expanded this from 35 screens to over 140 screens within 5 years. Nu Metro Video became the largest video distributor in Africa and represented studios including Disney, MGM, Warner Bros. Pictures and Fox, as well as the larger independents including Carolco, Morgan Creek, Cannon, New World and others. Nu Metro’s production arm produced over 60 features in Zimbabwe and South Africa, which were sold and distributed by companies such as Warner Bros. Pictures, MGM, Cannon and MPCA (Orion).

In 1992 Lerner sold Nu Metro and took a position as Managing Director of MGM U.K., while continuing to produce movies. One year later, in 1992, Lerner moved to Los Angeles and founded Nu Image together with Danny Dimbort and Trevor Short. Nu Image developed and maintains an enviable reputation as a producer and distributor of high quality action pictures for the international and domestic markets. Nu Image titles include several extremely successful action/hero, creature, sci-fi and disaster films, as well as a number of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Dolph Lundgren titles.

In 1996 Nu Image formed Millennium Films to address the market’s growing need for quality theatrical films and higher budget action features, while Nu Image continued to cater to the lucrative world of the home video market. Between the two divisions, over 200 films have been produced since 1992.

Some of Millennium’s most recent films are Black Dahlia, starring Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank and Josh Hartnett under the direction of Brian De Palma; 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino; The Contract, starring Morgan Freeman and John Cusack; The Wicker Man, starring Nicolas Cage; Death and Life of Bobby Z, starring Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne; and Lonely Hearts, starring John Travolta, Salma Hayek, Jared Leto and James Gandolfini.

Lerner, Nu Image and Millennium Films currently develop, finance, produce and distribute approximately 16 pictures a year with budgets ranging from $20 to $60 million and shooting in locations all over the continent.

DANNY DIMBORT (Executive Producer) was born and educated in Tel Aviv, Israel. He entered the film industry in 1964 as a distribution executive for Golan Globus Films in Israel, where he was responsible for the marketing and exploitation of the company’s film rights in the Israeli market. Within 2 years he was appointed Managing Director of the company and retained this position for 14 years, in which he was responsible for all facets of film distribution.

In 1980 Dimbort moved to Los Angeles where he became head of international sales for Cannon Films, one of the most prolific and flamboyant film production/distribution companies of the home video era. At Cannon, Dimbort held the title of Executive Vice President and developed his reputation as one of the most successful international film salesmen in the business.

With the merger of Cannon and Pathe in 1988, Dimbort became Head of International Sales for the expanded company, and when Cannon/Pathe took over MGM in 1990, he became President of International Distribution for MGM, a position he held until 1992 when he left MGM to start and co-chair, with Avi Lerner, Nu Image Inc., an international distribution company. Nu Image, since its inception, has developed and maintained a solid reputation as a producer and distributor of high quality action pictures for both the international and domestic markets. Nu Image titles include several extremely successful creature, sci-fi and disaster films, as well as a number of action/hero titles starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Dolph Lundgren.

In 1996, Dimbort and Nu Image formed Millennium Films to address the market’s growing need for quality theatrical films and higher budget action features, while Nu Image continued to cater to the lucrative world of the home video market. Between the two divisions, over 200 films have been produced since 1992. Under the Millennium films label, Dimbort and his partners have produced and distributed numerous titles including theatrical quality films such as 16 Blocks, and the two upcoming films: Black Dahlia, starring Hilary Swank, Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson, directed by Brian De Palma; and The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage, directed by Neil LaBute.

Dimbort and Nu Image/Millennium Films currently develop, finance, produce and distribute approximately 15-18 pictures a year with budgets ranging from 3 to 60 million dollars, while shooting in locations all over the world.

As both a producer and distributor of films, Nu Image draws heavily on Dimbort’s input as to the revenue potential for each picture in the marketplace before establishing a budget for the production and before “greenlighting.” The company’s success over the years has been its ability to avoid spending more on its productions then what they can actually be sold for. This ability results primarily from Dimbort’s ability to research the appetite for different films amongst his buyers and to predict the revenues he is likely to obtain once the picture is offered for sale.

Dimbort is perhaps the most experienced film salesmen in the industry. He has been involved directly in international film sales for over 30 years and has been intimately involved in film distribution generally for 42 years. He knows the industry both as a territorial distributor and as an international salesman. His negotiating skills in the international film community are legendary, and he has an uncanny ability to sense the real price potential of his product for each territory in the world.

TREVOR SHORT (Executive Producer) was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and he obtained his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Rhodesia and an MBA from the University of Cape Town. In 1980 he entered the merchant banking industry with Standard Chartered Merchant Bank in Zimbabwe, where he became head of the corporate finance department, responsible for takeovers, mergers and IPOs. In 1984 he moved to South Africa and joined Hill Samuel Merchant Bank in Johannesburg.

Short developed a tax based financing scheme for movies in South Africa which was successful in raising over $200 million from South African private investors to fund the production of international feature films in South Africa.

In 1986 Short moved from Hill Samuel to Investec Merchant Bank as head of corporate finance. He was responsible for 8 IPOs on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, numerous mergers and acquisitions and also continued to secure private financing for motion pictures, most of which were produced by Avi Lerner’s Nu Metro Productions for international film companies. He also became the primary consultant to the government of South Africa regarding film investment and taxation legislation.

In 1989 Short left the banking sector and joined Avi Lerner as a shareholder in and Chief Executive of the Nu Metro

Entertainment group in Johannesburg. He continued to arrange financing for the group’s film production activities and was directly involved in the planning, design, financing and construction of the group’s growing cinema chain. In 1991, Lerner and Short negotiated the sale of the Nu Metro group to CNA Gallo.

Since 1992, Short has been one of the three principals and the CFO of the Nu Image group. In 1995 he moved to Los Angeles where he is primarily responsible for the legal, financing and administrative operations of Nu Image, including the use of various tax and subsidy schemes in many parts of the world and relations between Nu Image and its domestic and international banks.

JOHN THOMPSON (Executive Producer) grew up in Rome where his fine body of work in the Italian film industry throughout the 1980s and 90s includes Franco Zeffirelli’s Otello (two Oscar nominations, Cannes main competition, American Critics Award); Claude D’Anna’s Salome (Cannes main competition); Lina Wertmuller’s Camorra (four Donatello Awards, Berlin Film Fest official entry); Liliana Cavani’s Berlin Interior (Donatello Awards, Berlin official selection); Paul Schrader’s The Comfort of Strangers (Cannes official selection); Ivan Passer’s Haunted Summer (Venice Film Festival official selection); Jerzy Skolimowski’s Torrents of Spring (Cannes official selection) and Giuseppe Tornatore’s Everybody’s Fine (Cannes official selection).

Thompson returned to Los Angeles to helm production for Avi Lerner’s Millennium Films in 1998. With Millennium, he has produced or co-produced Paul Chart’s American Perfekt (Cannes official selection); Susanna Styron’s Shadrach (Venice official selection); Rory Kelly’s Some Girl (LA Independent Film Festival winner for Best Director); Audrey Wells’ Guinevere; George Hickenlooper’s Big Brass Ring, as well as Prozac Nation, Nobody’s Baby, The Replicant, Try Seventeen, Undisputed and other successful productions.

Currently he is working on Jon Avnet’s 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino; as well as The Wicker Man, a remake of the 70s classic, written and directed by Neil LaBute and starring Nicolas Cage

One of the entertainment industry’s most prolific film producers, RANDALL EMMETT (Executive Producer) has produced over 40 feature films. Combining an innate financial sensibility with an equally natural eye for great filmmaking, Emmett is a partner and owner of Emmett/Furla Films, a production company with a ten-picture distribution and financing deal with Nu Image/Millennium Films, that he and his partner, George Furla, rolled into the publicly traded company Family Room Entertainment, for which they serve as co-chairmen.

With a reputation for packaging movies and actually getting them made – no small feat in a town full of good intentions – Emmett’s films have been seen around the world, at festivals such as Sundance, Berlin and Toronto, and many have been nominated for Independent Spirit Awards.

Emmett’s most recent films include The Amityville Horror, with Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George; Edison, starring Justin Timberlake, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey and LL Cool J, which premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival; and Control, a project starring Willem Dafoe, Ray Liotta and Michelle Rodriguez. Among the films currently in post production are the thriller 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino for director Jon Avnet; a remake of the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, starring Nicolas Cage, Leelee Sobieski and Ellen Burstyn, directed by Neil LaBute. The Contract, starring John Cusack and Morgan Freeman, directed by Bruce Beresford; and Borderland, a crime drama with Sean Astin.

Other upcoming films that Emmett is producing include Lonely Hearts, starring John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Salma Hayek, Laura Dern and Jared Leto, and Rambo IV, starring Sylvester Stallone.

Emmett was raised in Miami and graduated from the prestigious performing arts high school, New World School of The Arts. From there he headed to New York to attend The School of Visual Arts for film school with a major in producing. Among his many public speaking engagements, he served as keynote speaker at his high school alma mater commencement ceremony in 2002 and as guest speaker at the Miami Film Festival and UCLA Extension (“Indie Film Business: Getting It Made, Getting It Sold”).

With nearly 40 films to his credit and over two decades of business experience in entertainment and financial services, GEORGE FURLA (Executive Producer) is co-founder of Emmett/Furla Films and co-chairman of Family Room Entertainment. He began his career with Cantor Fitzgerald as a trader in the equity securities area. After a similar stint at Jones and Associates, Furla established his own hedge fund, The Furla Company, which he ran from 1988 until 1999.

In 1998 he partnered with producer Randall Emmett to form Emmett/Furla Films, focusing on financing arrangements and distribution as well as project development.

More recently, Furla served as executive producer of A Love Song for Bobby Long, starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson; co-executive producer of the hit The Amityville Horror; and producer of Edison, the crime drama starring Justin Timberlake, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Kevin Spacey, among other projects.

Among the films currently in post production are the thriller 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino for director Jon Avnet; Lonely Hearts, starring John Travolta, James Gandolfini and Salma Hayek; The Contract, starring John Cusack and Morgan Freeman, directed by Bruce Beresford; and Borderland, a crime drama with Sean Astin. He is also executive producer of The Wicker Man, currently in post-production, with Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn and Leelee Sobieski.

A 1982 graduate of the University of Southern California with a business administration degree, George Furla is a current member of the Producers Guild of America.

GERD KOECHLIN (Executive Producer) is the creative head of Equity Pictures and serves as Director of Production Development and Acquisition. Koechlin started his career at 20th Century Fox in Frankfurt, going on to becoming marketing chief for Senator Film, CBS-Fox Video, Orion Pictures International, VCL Communications and finally Columbia TriStar in Munich.

HADEEL REDA (Executive Producer) most recently founded Purple Pictures, an independent film financing and production company, in 2004. She is currently prepping The Hottie and the Nottie as well as The Fear, a smart, fast-paced horror film. In addition, she is developing the drama Scrolls and Touch of Violence, starring Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub.

In an executive producing capacity, Reda has projects set up at Sony, Paramount, Universal, Fox and Warner Bros. Pictures with A-level talent attached such as Mel Gibson and Lasse Hallström. Her executive producer credits include the number one U.S. box office hit Heartbreakers, starring Sigourney Weaver and Gene Hackman. She also executive produced the comedy Scorched, starring Woody Harrelson and John Cleese, as well as Joel Silver’s Jane Doe, starring Teri Hatcher.

Formerly Chief Executive Officer of Winchester Films, Inc., Reda founded that company in 1998 as the Los Angeles division of the UK publicly-traded Winchester Entertainment, plc. As CEO, Reda established innovative film financing structures, produced quality commercial films and oversaw sales for Winchester Film and Television Sales, Ltd. In this capacity, she managed a team of industry professionals and created overall partnerships with major heavy-hitting production companies including The Donners’ Company (director Richard Donner and producer Lauren Shuler-Donner), Wind Dancer Production Group (What Women Want) and Chuck Gordon (Die Hard). Reda has also overseen production, international sales and distribution on well over a dozen films.

Reda joined Winchester after four years as an executive at The Walt Disney Company, where she got her start in development at the studio and quickly moved up to a position in the International Division for Disney’s feature films, Buena Vista International. Reda was part of the initial team setting up distribution and marketing in Europe. She oversaw the international marketing campaigns for The Lion King, Pocahantas and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Reda graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in film from Emerson College Boston, MA.

ANDREAS THIESMEYER (Executive Producer) started his career in Hamburg in 1969 until 1980, as the Distribution and Artist & Repertoire Manager for the Deutsche Grammophon / Polydor music record company.

From 1981 through 2001 Thiesmeyer was with Bavaria Film, Munich, and its various subsidiaries as a producer and managing director of television features and series, with particular emphasis on music television productions. In addition, he developed and produced a stream of highly successful television sitcoms, as well as variety, music, quiz and game shows for the ARD and ZDF (First and Second German Television Public Broadcasters) and Sat1.

In 2001 Thiesmeyer, together with Gerd Koechlin, Manfred Speidel and Josef Lautenschlager, founded Equity Pictures AG.

JOSEF LAUTENSCHLAGER (Executive Producer) can look back on many years of experience in the field of “closed funds” and financial management.

His career began in the mid eighties as a management consultant for various media, real estate and ship building fund initiators and, since that time, he has worked for and with several leading investment companies.

In 2001 he joined Equity Picture AG as a member of the managing board of directors.

As a result of his fund management expertise, he was instrumental in developing the Equity Pictures media fund investment frame-work. Due to this solid and financially sound concept, the Equity Pictures media fund, in the last four years since its incorporation, has seen a healthy and steady investment growth.

JON KRUYPER (Line Producer) Born in Santa Monica, Jon grew up in New England and graduated from Pomona College. His extensive producing career began at MGM and Paramount where he worked on such pictures as ROCKY V, INTERNAL AFFAIRS and HE SAID, SHE SAID. In 1993 Jon became the full-time Studio Production Manager for Roger Corman’s Concorde/New Horizons where he worked until 1996 when he came Director of Production for Playboy Entertainment Group.

In 1998 Jon produced and Line Produced MEETING DADDY a quirky comedy staring Lloyd Bridges and Beau Bridges.

During this period Jon produced a number of other movies, including work for the BBC and joining Bauhaus Entertainment Group where he was the Managing Partner and COO. Most recently Jon line produced TREMORS IV for Universal and in 2004 Jon line produced HAPPY ENDINGS for Lion’s Gate and a South African Documentary entitled IN THE BALANCE prior to beginning production on THE TENANTS.

© 2007 Millenium Films
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