UNIVERSAL PICTURES and

GOLD CIRCLE FILMS Present

AN H2F ENTERTAINMENT/DEACON PICTURES Production

HELLIONHELLIONEL ÁNGEL CAÍDOEL ÁNGEL CAÍDO

JOSH HOLLOWAYSARAH WAYNE CALLIES

BLAKE WOODRUFFJOEL EDGERTONJOHN KAPELOS

TERYL ROTHERYwith

DULÉ HILL and

MICHAEL ROOKER

Executive ProducersSCOTT NIEMEYER NORM WAITT and CHRIS FENTON

Produced byPAUL BROOKS

DAMON LEE and WALTER HAMADA

Written byCHRISTOPHER BORRELLI

Directed bySTEWART HENDLER

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THE CAST

MAX…....…………………………………………………………….JOSH HOLLOWAY

ROXANNE………………………………………………….SARAH WAYNE CALLIES

DAVID SANDBORN..…………………………………………….BLAKE WOODRUFF

VINCE.………………………………………………………………..JOEL EDGERTON

DETECTIVE WHITLEY…………………………………...…………..JOHN KAPELOS

MS. SANDBORN.……………………………………………………TERYL ROTHERY

DETECTIVE MILES…………………………………………………………DULÉ HILL

SIDNEY.……………………………………………………………MICHAEL ROOKER

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THE FILMMAKERS

DIRECTED BY…………………………………………………...STEWART HENDLER

WRITTEN BY……………………………………………...CHRISTOPHER BORRELLI

PRODUCED BY…………………………………………………………PAUL BROOKS

DAMON LEE

WALTER HAMADA

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS………………………………………..SCOTT NIEMEYER

NORM WAITT

CHRIS FENTON

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY………………………..DEAN CUNDEY, ASC, CSC

EDITOR…………………………………………………………….ARMEN MINASIAN

PRODUCTION DESIGNER……………………………………………..MICHAEL JOY

COSTUME DESIGNER……………………………………………………MAYA MANI

CO-PRODUCERS………………………………………………………….JEFF LEVINE

ZAK KADISON

LINE PRODUCER……………………………………………...SHAWN WILLIAMSON

MUSIC BY…………………………………………………………………...JEFF RONA

CASTING DIRECTOR…………………………………………EDYE BELASCO, CSA

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SYNOPSIS

A petty criminal and ex-felon named Max (JOSH HOLLOWAY, star of TV's

Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning hit Lost) struggles to walk the straight and

narrow after a lifetime of living on the wrong side of the law. But Max’s best intentions

get sidelined when, after a failed attempt to apply for a bank loan to start a new life with

his fiancée Roxanne (SARAH WAYNE CALLIES), he gets a call from his old friend

Sidney (MICHAEL ROOKER), an ex-con who’s got one last job for Max. A simple

kidnapping-for-ransom job, says Sidney, no big deal at all. Max is tempted by the quick,

easy money and the opportunity it presents to fulfill his lifelong dream of opening a

restaurant. It’s risky but the job will give him enough cash to make a clean break as well

as put his checkered past behind him once and for all. And besides, how much trouble

can a ten-year-old boy be?

David Sandborn (BLAKE WOODRUFF), the only son of a wealthy Vermont

socialite, is a seemingly innocent child, living a quiet life of comfort and privilege until

the day of his 10th birthday, when a man dressed up as Santa knocks on the front door.

Max, posing as the entertainment for David’s party, distracts the other children and their

parents with a huge sack of toys, then quickly spirits David out of the house unnoticed.

Max delivers David over to Sidney and one of his goons, Vince (JOEL EDGERTON).

The criminals – along with the faithful Roxanne – flee with David to an eerie, deserted

cabin deep in the woods. Roxanne is adamantly against the kidnapping but since she is

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concerned for the welfare of the young kidnap victim, she decides to look after David

while he’s in their “care.”

As they await payment of the ransom, the group begins to turn on each other as

past suspicions, betrayals and secrets inexplicably surface. The tension builds and a series

of unexplained and frightening occurrences befall the isolated conspirators as howling

wolves seemingly close in around the cabin. Strangest of all, David seems to

preternaturally know the chilling fate of each of the criminals and turns the table on the

captives as they become his prisoners in the cabin. Unaware of David’s powers, the

kidnappers controlled by the mysterious Hellions are succumbing to David’s demonic

visions.

David illustrates his visions of the vivid blood-chilling fate that awaits each ex-

con. The grisly images predict one by one how each kidnapper will meet a gruesome

end, but only David knows how or when. As the horrific images come to pass, Max

realizes David is not the innocent boy he first appeared to be.

Meanwhile, a couple of savvy detectives trace the boy to the remote cabin in the

woods and they race against time to free him. But whose life really hangs in the balance?

The detectives have no idea that something or someone has taken over the cabin and

supernatural forces are at work.

Max clamors out onto the ice-covered cabin roof, knowing he must face David

and his supernatural forces of evil. As the cold wind chills Max, David beckons him, for

the final reckoning. Max’s only chance for survival depends upon unveiling the secrets

of the Hellions.

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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Hollywood has been in the midst of a horror renaissance, much to both audience

and filmmaker glee. “I keep coming back to the horror genre but I like to try to keep it

fresh,” says PAUL BROOKS of Gold Circle Films, perhaps best known for their mega

hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, one of the highest grossing independent films ever made,

though this company is no stranger to terror. They produced supernatural thriller and

box-office hit White Noise, and a sequel has just been completed.

Their latest film is Hellion, a supernatural thriller that offers a tweak on a classic

horror concept. “It’s Ransom meets The Omen,” says Brooks, who serves as one of the

producers. “It’s a throwback to directors like Richard Donner (The Omen) and Mervyn

LeRoy (The Bad Seed) but with a modern twist. It’s about what happens when people

become trapped by their own actions.”

The gripping story about a kidnapping gone bad didn’t just catch the eye of the

producers; it also resonated with a young, up-and-coming director, STEWART

HENDLER. Hendler was already set to direct another Gold Circle film when he

stumbled upon the screenplay that already had a director attached. It kept him up reading

until 3:00 AM. “After I read it, I remember thinking, Oh my God, this is the film I want

to direct,” he says. What really caught his eye was a horror movie where the “monster”

is locked inside rather than outside of house. Already committed to direct that other film,

Hendler was unable to act on his passion for the script – until that film hit some snags.

At the same time, by a twist of fate, Hellion became available, as the initial director

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dropped out. Hendler wasted no time when he heard the news. “When my other project

didn’t look like it was going to happen, I immediately called my agent who called Gold

Circle Films. I said to them: what do I have to do to direct this film, because I will do

anything to get a shot at this,” Hendler recalls. His enthusiasm and determination paid off

when Gold Circle Films agreed to hear his pitch on his ‘take’ of the film.

Producer DAMON LEE was convinced that Hendler had the vision Universal

Pictures and Gold Circle Films’ executive team was looking for. He dazzled them with

his presentation. “He had it right—the film was about the boy. He knew that in order to

make his version of the film stand out, it had to be built on characters that people can

relate to and that are smart,” says Lee. It wasn’t just the overall tone that won the

executives over. Hendler knew that he had stiff competition. In order for them to give

him a shot, he had to take it a few steps further.

“This being my first feature, I knew I had to really know my stuff when I took

that meeting,” states Hendler. This same focused, determined approach helped him

launch his career back when he was a film school student at USC.

“In film school, we were not really encouraged to just go out there and start

working. It was more about intellectualizing film rather than working on a set, but I

wanted to get that hands-on experience. I knew I would learn so much more on a set than

I would just sitting in a classroom. All my friends thought I was crazy when I told them I

wanted to start as a PA because it was assumed you would bypass this after graduation. I

decided the only way, without any real connections, was to crash a film set, and I found

one. It was an independent film shooting in Los Angeles and it was a bit disorganized, so

it was easy to sneak on. I found the producer in charge and went right up to him and said,

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I’ll do whatever you need me to do and for free. Right then and there I was a working

PA. That’s when things really began for me,” Hendler explains.

Now, at age 26, Hendler has made his first feature film while his peers are just

starting out as PA’s. Hendler applied this same tenacity and bold approach to his meeting

with the executives of Hellion.

“I pitched the movie as A Simple Plan meets The Omen. The Omen obviously

being sort of a hallmark evil child movie, and A Simple Plan being a great psychological

thriller, which is all about people making terrible decisions for the right reasons. I didn’t

want to forget that there is this lineage of old movies about devil children that people

remember instantly, and I wanted to acknowledge what was great about them. At the

same time, I did not want to mimic those films. This one had to be different and

interesting. I even stayed up half the night constructing how I saw the trailer for the

movie,” remembers Hendler. The inventive approach to the film’s material and the

imaginative trailer he put together won them over.

The casting of the film presented a couple of considerable challenges: how to find

both a sympathetic yet crooked kidnapper and a compelling and dynamic eight-year-old

boy. The casting of Josh Holloway for the character of Max would be the first choice

they made and much easier than casting for the part of the boy. “Josh was actually the

easiest to cast,” says Hendler. “We all sort of met him during the first season of Lost and

his career was just beginning to skyrocket. His character on the show, Sawyer, is a bad

guy, but is incredibly likable. He has this sort of built-in humanity to him that you watch

and no matter what he does, you still feel for him and root for him.”

Holloway’s casting may have been easy for the filmmakers but it was decidedly

more difficult for the actor himself. “It’s my first film and they were very adamant about

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booking the Max character first,” Holloway recalls. “When I met with Universal and the

Gold Circle Films team, I told them I wanted to know who’s in it first, but that wasn’t an

option. I was the first one on board. It was quite a scary move for me to go ahead and

say, all right, I trust you guys. I’m gonna go for it.”

He also wasn’t sure he wanted to play a character that might be too similar to the

one he plays on TV. He later realized there were fundamental differences between the

two characters. “There’s no cockiness in Max. There’s no attitude. Max is more coming

from a place of love, where as Sawyer’s coming from a place of anger and shame,”

Holloway declares. Max’s straight shooter approach and heart are what convinced

Holloway that the challenge would be finding that vulnerability in the character.

Brooks likens Holloway to the all-American movie star of the 70s’. “He’s got that

special thing that I think stars have; he has gravitas. He’s part Kris Kristofferson and part

Clint Eastwood bundled into one. He emanates that classic American charm, complete

with the drawl!,” says Brooks.

Holloway’s good looks and Southern allure did not always open doors for him in the

past as it did for this role. “For eight years, I’ve been pounding against a wall. No one

would let me in the door and when I did get in they hated my accent,” he says. “I paid

good money to get rid of it. Now I go on auditions and the first thing they ask is, where

is the accent?”

The casting of the eight-year-old, on the other hand, was the hardest thing the

filmmakers had to do as the movie hinged on the casting of this crucial role of the child.

They had hundreds of auditions and saw kids across the U.S. and Canada. They needed

an actor that could show the duality of the character. It was important that he could flip

his persona quickly and effectively.

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Hendler recalls the difficulty of casting David. “It took us so long to find BLAKE

[WOODRUFF], he admits. “When we launched into the movie, our first question was

how the heck are we going to find a kid that can pull this off? It’s a nearly impossible

role to play. One of our ideas was to even rewrite the role for Dakota Fanning!” Then,

the audition tape showed up. “His tape was amazing. But his first in-room audition blew

us away,” the director says.

Woodruff nailed the audition and impressed the team. “I think he’s really got

something special,” says Brooks. “He consumes the screen and in such a tiny way and I

don’t mean literally, I mean in the way he performs. He knows his character intimately.”

For Woodruff, acting is just about having a good time on set and not over preparing

for the role. “I don’t do too many preparations. I act around stuff that I goof up on. And

just when it’s time to go I just turn around and hopefully I do a good job,” Woodruff says

with confidence. It doesn’t hurt that at a young age he already has a big feature film to

his credit. Coming off of the set Cheaper by the Dozen to Hellion is quite a change of

character. To prepare for the role in this film, he worked with his acting coach and

watched some old movies. “I watched this very old movie called The Bad Seed and

watched how the little girl flipped from nice to scary. I wanted to be able to do that as

well so I talked with my acting coach Jackie, and we worked on my character based on

that idea.”

Woodruff does more than rehearse with his acting coach. He also has a habit of

sitting back and absorbing what the other actors are doing while on set. He takes a little

bit from each of them. Lee recalls how cast mate DULÉ HILL (West Wing) made an

indelible impression on the young actor. “Dulé was the tap dance kid on Broadway and

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to get ready before a scene he does a little tap dance to get himself going. And I noticed

that pretty soon Blake was doing the same thing. He really learns from others on the set.”

Hill taught Woodruff how to do a simple tap dancing step called a cramp roll. “It

helps me clear my mind. I saw that Blake was interested so I taught him a few things,”

notes Hill.

“A cramp roll is really cool. It helped kill the time while waiting to do a scene. I can

tap dance. It’s fun,” say Woodruff.

There’s another role that played a crucial part in casting, and that was the part of

David’s minions - the wolves. Wolves have been a symbol of malevolence in western

culture for centuries and for writer CHRISTOPHER BORRELLI, that’s exactly what he

wanted to evoke in his script. “The wolf is a singularly sinister creature - one associated

with mystery, power, danger and sheer evil. It was a natural fit that I would write them

into the script to serve David and be a part of his ‘flock, ’” says Borrelli.

Working with the “sinister” creatures was a completely surprising and pleasant

experience for the director. “I couldn’t believe how the animal trainers could cue the

wolves up to snarl, howl or run in an instant. One minute they would be growling and

spitting in the actors face, and then the animal trainers yells “alright” and they are

wagging their tails looking for affection,” says Hendler.

A group of trainers handled all the wolves on set and made sure everyone was

comfortable working with them. “The biggest misconception about wolves is that they

are aggressive animals prone to attack. They are actually very cautious around people, so

we gradually and gently introduce them to ensure a positive experience,” states one of the

wolf trainers Dana Dubé of Animal Insight. “They are highly intelligent and extremely

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affectionate once they get to know people,” Dubé says. Putting the wolves in the snowy

setting made the film look all that more real and frightening.

There couldn’t be a better setting than the Yukon and locations around Vancouver to

recreate the isolated, woodsy feel of the New England countryside, though renowned

Director of Photography DEAN CUNDEY, ASC, CSC, a master in the horror genre,

finds re-enacting winter throughout the film challenging. “One of the greatest challenges

is certainly to recreate winter for the main exterior sequences throughout. We picked the

Yukon in spring because it’s surrounded by lush trees and lots of snow. Back in

Vancouver Cundey was able to reconstruct the cold bone-chilling effect of an isolated

cabin in a rural part of Maine. He worked closely with Special Effects Coordinator Jak

Osmond and Production Designer MICHAEL JOY whose job it was to make sure the

snow looked real.

“Because audiences are becoming more sophisticated all the time, the special effects

have to be very realistic,” explains Osmond. “We used several different kinds of material

to make the snow, but we used mostly paper snow and potato starch.” This created the

secluded and lonely effect both Hendler and Cundey were going for. Realism is

extremely important and for Hendler, it was about returning to the original genuine feel

of the horror classics rather than the big studio CGI effects.

“The advancement of CGI technology has allowed filmmakers to do almost anything

but for Hellion, it was back to the basics,” Hendler states. “The idea we wanted was to

do absolutely anything you can for real and then enhance what you need to with CGI.

Working with someone like the legendary Cundey was great because he completely

understands the realism I was going for.”

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Cundey agrees: the realer the better. “The more you can do actual effects in front of

the camera, the more believable you think they are,” he says. In keeping it realistic, the

filmmakers were returning to the tone of the old thriller classics. This is also what drew

Cundey to the project. “Hellion for me was appealing because it was similar to the genre

films that started my career like Halloween and The Fog,” the DP says. Like those films,

Hellion relied on the camera to create the mood and the style, which gives it that retro

horror feel.”

Brooks comments, “We have tried to make a disturbing thriller that feeds off the best

of those classis films but hopefully has some contemporary edge.”

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ABOUT THE CAST

JOSH HOLLOWAY (Max)

Josh Holloway has caught nearly everyone’s attention in Hollywood with his

devastating good looks and southern gentleman charm, announcing his arrival on the

smash hit Lost. The show was nominated by both the Golden Globes and the People's

Choice Awards for Best Television Series and the American Film Institute listed it as one

of the Top Ten Shows of 2005. Holloway stars alongside fellow marooned crash

survivors Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly and has received critical review, with his

feature episode rated one of the highest yet for the mega hit drama.

Holloway began his career lighting up the runway and fashion magazines but

soon realized that his calling was to the performing arts. He returned to Los Angeles

after a stint in New York and ignited the small screen with appearances on CSI: Crime

Scene Investigation and Navy NCIS: Navel Crime Investigation Service. He garnered

praise and considerable attention for his performance in the title role of Sci-Fi Channel's

original movie Sabretooth. Holloway developed his craft further, appearing in the feature

film Dr. Benny and enjoyed success in the Indie world, appearing in such films as Mi

Amigo, Moving August, and Cold Heart with Natassja Kinski.

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Proclaimed by People Magazine as one of 2005's Most Beautiful, Holloway is a

born adrenaline junkie, longing for the thrill of extreme sports like skydiving,

snowboarding and motorcross. He is also known to tone it down on occasion by sailing

and playing guitar. He currently resides in Hawaii with his wife Yessica.

SARAH WAYNE CALLIES (Roxanne)

Sarah Wayne Callies has quickly established herself as a talent to watch. Callies currently

stars on the Prison Break, which follows the struggles of a man (Wentworth Miller) who

purposely orchestrates his own incarceration in order to save his brother (Dominic

Purcell) wrongly convicted on Death Row. Callies plays the prison's doctor, Sara

Tancredi, who Miller's character winds up visiting more often than he'd like.  

Callies also recently completed production on The Celestine Prophecy, directed

by Barnet Bain.

Additional television credits include the role of Officer Jane Porter on the WB's

Tarzan as well as a recurring role on Queens Supreme with Oliver Platt. Callies has also

appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Numb3rs and Dragnet.

  Callies earned a MFA degree from the National Theatre Conservatory.      

BLAKE WOODRUFF (David Sandborn)

Blake Woodruff began acting at the age of six in 2002 with a role in Blind

Horizon with Val Kilmer. He quickly followed that film with a role in Cheaper by the

Dozen, starring Steve Martin.

In 2004, Blake won a series regular role on the pilot Mr. Ed. Blake then did a

voice over role on the animated pilot Romper Rangers.

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During much of 2005, Blake was a very busy actor. He started the year with the

Hallmark Channel movie Back to You and Me. Next, Blake garnered a recurring role on

The Young and the Restless, and then segued into reprising his role of Mike Baker in

Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

JOEL EDGERTON ( Vince)

Joel Edgerton is a three-time Australian Film Institute nominee (for The Hard

Word and The Secret Life of Us) and two-time nominee of the Film Critics Circle of

Australia for Best Actor (The Hard Word and Ned Kelly). 

Edgerton was last seen in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (reprising

his role from Episode II) and earlier, Jerry Bruckheimer's King Arthur.  Forthcoming

films include Open Window, produced by Lasse Hallstrom and directed by Mia Goldman,

and Kinky Boots.

Named one of Variety's 10 ACTORS TO WATCH, Edgerton was born in

Melbourne, Australia.

JOHN KAPELOS (Detective Whitley)

Within the last 18 months, John Kapelos has completed five feature films: Stick

It, Phil the Alien, Fifty Pills, The River King and Aurora Borealis. He is currently in

production on the miniseries Category 7: The End of the World, and has appeared in the

dramas Without A Trace, Cold Case, CSI, Boston Legal and Crossing Jordan and as the

cantankerous Captain Russell in 29 Down for Discovery Kids Network.  His 2005

performances also include six episodes of Showtime's Queer as Folk and an appearance

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on Gilmore Girls.  In addition, the MTV Movie Awards honored Kapelos and "the brat

pack" for their performances 25 years earlier in The Breakfast Club.

While Canadian-born Kapelos has been lauded for his compelling dramatic

performances, he honed his craft by way of The Second City, Chicago. In his eight years

at Second City, Kapelos covered every comedy base: three years in the Second City

National Touring Company, six revues in the Resident Company, and a triumphant off-

Broadway run in Orwell That Ends Well at Art D'Lugoff's legendary Village Gate.

A generation of filmgoers remember his Brat Pack trilogy with director John

Hughes: Sixteen Candles (as the oily bohunk, Rudy Rizczyk), The Breakfast Club (as

Carl the all-knowing janitor) and Weird Science (as Dino, the Greek owner of a Blues

club).

Other episodic dramatic appearances included Miami Vice, Murder She Wrote,

L.A. Law, Nash Bridges, The Practice, Angel, The Dead Zone, Judging Amy, ER and the

short-lived series, Boomtown, to name but a few.

TERYL ROTHERY (Ms. Sandborn)

Vancouver native Teryl Rothery always knew she wanted to be an entertainer.

Her career began as a dancer at age 13 when she performed her first musical, Bye Bye

Birdie.  At age 18, Rothery made her first television appearance in the CBC Halloween

Special, Boo. It was at this time she decided that she was meant to perform.  Since then,

Rothery has become a dynamic and accomplished actress landing roles in television, film,

animation and theatre. 

Most people will recognize her from the television series Stargate where she has

had a recurring role for seven years. Some of her film credits include Best in Show,

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Magic in the Water and Mastermind. Rothery is a 2003 Leo Nominee “Best Supporting

Lead in a Series” for Stargate SG-1 and a 2004 Leo Nominee “Best Performance in a

Guest Star Role” for the TV series The Collector.

Rothery is currently rehearsing for the play Julius Caesar at the Jericho Arts

Centre in Vancouver and enjoys horseback riding and playing the guitar in her free time. 

DULÉ HILL (Detective Miles)

Nominated for an Emmy Award for “Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series,”

Dulé Hill has just completed the sixth season on the award winning drama, The West

Wing, as Charlie Young, the former Personal Aide to the President turned Assistant to the

Chief of Staff.

Hill was last seen on the big screen in Disney’s Holes, based on the award-wining

children’s novel by Louis Sachar. Hill co-starred with Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight

and Patricia Arquette. Other film credits include She’s All That with Freddie Prince Jr.,

Sugar Hill, playing the young version of Wesley Snipes character, Sexual Life and the

recently completed David Mamet black comedy Edmond, starring William H. Macy in

the title role.

Last year, Hill co-starred in the highly rated miniseries 10.5, with Kim Delaney,

Beau Bridges and John Schneider.

He began attending dance school when he was 3 and got his first break years later

when producers of Broadway’s The Tap Dance Kid called the school in search of child

dancers who could sing and act for the production. As the understudy to Savion Glover

in The Tap Dance Kid, he went on to perform the lead role in the musical’s national tour

working with Harold Nicholas (of the famed Nicholas Brothers) for the next 16 months.

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He also later appeared with Gregory Hines and Jimmy Slyde. More roles followed in the

musicals Shenandoah, Little Rascals and Black & Blue. Hill’s next career boost came

with his starring role in the original cast of Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk” on

Broadway, re-teaming with Glover.

MICHAEL ROOKER (Sidney)

Michael Rooker is known for his long list of diverse and distinguished credits,

including Oliver Stone’s JFK, Renny Harlin’s Cliffhanger, Anjelica Huston’s Bastard out

of Carolina and Gold Circle Films/Universal Pictures’ Slither.

Rooker received high praise for his striking performance in the critically

acclaimed Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Some of his other outstanding

performances have included: baseball great Chick Gandil in John Sayles’ Eight Men Out,

a brutish KKK member in Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning and Jessica Lange’s blue

collar brother in Costa Gavras’ Music Box.

Rooker has created a collection of indelible characters in such hits as George

Cosmato’s Tombstone, John Singleton’s Rosewood, a psychopathically jealous husband

in Harold Becker’s Sea of Love, the Pate Brothers’ Deceiver, and The Replacement

Killers. Also, he’s appeared in Newsbreak, The Bone Collector opposite Denzel

Washington, directed by Phillip Noyce, Here on Earth, The 6th Day opposite Arnold

Schwarzenegger, Replicant and Undisputed.

His television credentials include Numb3rs, JAG, Lucky, CSI: Miami, Las Vegas

a recurring role on Thief and a one-hour pilot entitled HRT. Rooker also appeared in the

television movies On Thin Ice opposite Diane Keaton, and Saving Jessica Lynch.

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Born in Jasper, Alabama, Rooker moved with his family to Chicago in the mid-

1960’s. He studied the Japanese martial art of Aikido and earned his BFA from the

Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. After graduating in 1982, he quickly began to

make a name for himself in the Chicago theatrical community, appearing in Union Boys,

The Crack Walker and The Hostage, among others. Off-Broadway, he performed in Beth

Henley’s Abundance.

Rooker has proved that his talents go beyond just acting. In the feature Table for

One, not only does Rooker star opposite Rebecca De Mornay, but his credits also include

that of producer. He followed suit with Brown’s Requiem for which he also received a

producer’s credit.

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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

STEWART HENDLER (Directed by)

At the age of 26, Hellion is Stewart Hendler’s first feature film. After graduating

from the USC School of Film, he wrote and directed the short film One. Winner of the

Audience Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and a Gold winner at the Worldfest

Houston, the elaborate and visually stunning 35mm short quickly connected him with

theatrical agents at the prestigious Creative Artists Agency and with a commercials agent.

Since then, Hendler has directed commercials for clients including Budweiser,

Adidas, Amstel Light, and the national Anti-Drug campaign, which have been recognized

in Shots Magazine, Boards Magazine, and Shoot Magazine, as well at Young and

Rubicam's "Young Guns," the 2003 Clio awards and the 2003 Cannes/Kodak New

Directors showcase.

CHRIS BORRELLI (Written by)

After graduating from Chapman University with a major in film and a minor in

business, Chris Borrelli spent the next four years shooting still photography and video as

a staff member of Disney’s visual effects division. During that time, he shot material for

feature films including Con Air, Armageddon, George of the Jungle, Kundun, Mighty Joe

Young, Inspector Gadget and many others.

Hes subsequently left Disney to write and direct the independent feature Empty

Places, which was screened at several festivals. He spent the next four years working in

film production and development and in 2003, he co-produced and directed second unit

on the feature film Deepwater, starring Lucas Black, Peter Coyote, Leslie Ann Warren,

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Mia Maestro and Michael Ironside. The film recently competed at the Seattle Film

Festival and received raving reviews from publications such as Daily Variety and The

Seattle Times.

Hellion is the very first script Borrelli wrote. Borrelli now lives in a castle in the

Hollywood Hills, concentrating on what he loves – writing full time.

PAUL BROOKS (Produced by)

Paul Brooks left London University with a humanities degree in

English/philosophy/psychology and sociology and then went into real-estate development

before moving into film.  

With over 15 years producing and distributing films in both the U.K. and the U.S.,

Brooks founded Metrodome Group, a U.K.-based production company and distributor

that he took public in the mid-’90s. As a distributor, Brooks’ films included the likes of

Buffalo 66, Palookaville, Chasing Amy and Chopper.   As a producer, Brooks’ credits

include such films as Shadow of the Vampire and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, both of

which received Oscar® nominations (Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay,

respectively), as well as the supernatural thriller White Noise (Universal Pictures),

starring Michael Keaton; the romantic comedy The Wedding Date (Universal Pictures),

starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney; the offbeat comic murder-mystery Jiminy

Glick in Lalawood (MGM), starring Martin Short; the edgy horror film with a wry sense

of humor Slither (Universal Pictures), starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks and

Michael Rooker; and the love story Griffin & Phoenix, starring Amanda Peet and Dermot

Mulroney.

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Upcoming releases include the dynamic family comedy Because I Said So

(Universal Pictures), starring Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht and Lauren

Graham; the supernatural thriller sequel White Noise: The Light (Rogue Pictures),

starring Nathan Fillion; and the romantic comedy How I Met My Boyfriend’s Dead

Fiancée, starring Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell and Jason Biggs.

Currently in production is the romantic comedy My Sassy Girl, with Elisha

Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford. Upcoming productions include the supernatural thrillers

Town Creek and A Haunting in Connecticut, followed by the romantic comedies 32 and

Single and Cougars.

He is currently president of Gold Circle Films.

DAMON LEE (Produced by)

Damon Lee is President of Deacon Entertainment, a feature film production

company with a first look deal at Focus Features/Rogue Pictures.  Prior to forming

Deacon Entertainment, Lee produced the critically acclaimed comedy Undercover

Brother starring Eddie Griffin and Dave Chappelle. 

  A graduate of the Peter Stark Program at USC, Lee began his career as a

production assistant on John Singleton's controversial film Higher Learning.   He also

worked as a production executive at Silver Pictures and MGM where he produced

Double Tap for HBO and shepherded the teen thriller Disturbing Behavior starring Katie

Holmes and James Marsden into production.

  Lee was a member of Teach for America and is an active member of B-DADS.

WALTER HAMADA (Produced by)

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Walter Hamada runs production and development at H2F Entertainment. He

previously held the same position at MBST Entertainment where he produced Sorority

Boys for Touchstone Pictures. Hamada formerly served as Vice President of Production

for Columbia Pictures. While there, he oversaw the development and production of such

movies as The Big Hit starring Mark Wahlberg, As Good as it Gets, Godzilla, Vertical

Limit and Swat.

SCOTT NIEMEYER (Executive Producer)

Scott Niemeyer has more than 17 years of entertainment industry experience in

production and distribution. Niemeyer has been involved with the successful production

and distribution of over 100 feature films including Dumb and Dumber; Kingpin; White

Noise; and the blockbuster hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the most successful romantic

comedy of all time.

Niemeyer has held various executive positions with such companies as Motion

Picture Corporation of America, Orion Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. As a

producer, Niemeyer’s credits include Eddie Griffin’s DysFunktional Family, White

Noise, The Wedding Date, Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, The Long Weekend, Slither and

Griffin & Phoenix, as well as the upcoming films Because I Said So, White Noise: The

Light, How I Met My Boyfriend’s Dead Fiancée and My Sassy Girl.

NORM WAITT (Executive Producer)

Along with his brother, Norm Waitt formed Gateway Computers, Inc., which

began as a dealer in computer components and evolved into a worldwide multibillion-

dollar company.  After working with his brother for five years, Waitt left his active

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management role with Gateway Computers, Inc., and shortly thereafter formed Gold

Circle Entertainment and Waitt Media, which collectively own and operate over 70 radio

stations, five TV stations and more than 600 billboards. 

Gold Circle Films was formed to produce high-quality films in a wide range of

genres for domestic and international distribution.  Since its commencement, Gold Circle

Films has amassed a library of over 20 titles, anchored by the mega-hit My Big Fat Greek

Wedding. 

  As an executive producer, Waitt’s credits include films such as The Man from

Elysian Fields, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Poolhall Junkies, Sonny, Eddie Griffin’s

DysFunKtional Family, White Noise, The Wedding Date, Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, The

Long Weekend, Slither, and the upcoming films Because I Said So, How I Met My

Boyfriend’s Dead Fiancée and My Sassy Girl.

CHRIS FENTON (Executive Producer)

Chris Fenton runs the talent & literary management division of H2F Entertainment

and is the North American GM of Dynamic Marketing Group, an independent full-

service advertising agency and communications company headquartered in Beijing,

China. With a keen eye for talent, he has assembled an impressive list of promising

actors, writers and directors. His actor clients include Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights),

Sam Huntington (Superman Returns), Ryan Pinkston (Full of It), and Blake Woodruff

(Hellion). His writer/director list includes Chris Borrelli (Hellion), Chris Morgan (Fast &

Furious, Tokyo Drift), Jonathan Davis (Dukes of Hazzard), Rob McKittrick (Waiting),

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and Greg Coolidge (Employee of the Month). The brand clients of Dynamic Marketing

Group include Nike, VW, China Mobile, Mazda, Johnson & Johnson, and the Beijing

Olympic Committee.

He is also a co-producer on Waiting, starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Ferris, and

an executive producer on the Chinese version of The World’s Strongest Man Competition

for CCTV5. He and his partner, Walter Hamada, have several other film and television

projects in development. Prior to a two year stint at MBST Entertainment, he served

seven years as an agent at the William Morris Agency in the Feature Literary, Feature

Talent, and TV Packaging departments. His diverse list of clients included Michael

McCullers (Austin Powers), Koppelman & Levien (Rounders), Geoff Rodkey (Daddy

Day Care), The WWE, Tony Hawk, Snoop Dogg, Dwight Yoakum, Ryan Phillippe and

Enrique Iglesias. The experience and relationships he developed at William Morris have

proven to be a major asset to the company.

DEAN CUNDEY, ASC, CSC (Director of Photography)

Dean Cundey grew up in Alhambra on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He studied

architecture and cinema at the UCLA, but his interest shifted to cinematography when he

took a class taught by James Wong Howe. After graduation, Cundey worked odd jobs as

a gaffer and technician. He finally got a chance to shoot when a cinematographer who

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was scheduled to work on a film canceled at the last moment. Initially, he worked on

horror genre flicks with minuscule budgets.

Cundey first attracted attention in 1978 when he and John Carpenter collaborated

on the production of Halloween. Their other collaborations include The Fog, Escape from

New York, The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China. He garnered an Oscar® nomination

for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and has earned Outstanding Achievement

Award nominations from the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) for Hook

and Apollo 13.

His body of work also includes such notable films as Romancing the Stone, the

Back to the Future trilogy, Death Becomes Her, Jurassic Park, What Women Want,

Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Garfield, and Sakura: Blue Eyed Samurai.

Cundey also lensed The Face, an artful two-hour documentary which awarded

him an Emmy it is focusing on the history and role of art in the Christian religion for

WNET-TV, a PBS affiliate. He also directed the 3-D Disneyland film Honey We Shrunk

Ourselves and occasional narrative films and numerous commercials as a director/

cameraman and as a cinematographer.

ARMEN MINASIAN (Edited by)

Born in San Francisco and raised in the Los Angeles Area, Minasian attended

USC School of Cinema-Television. He has worked on a wide variety of features,

including the box office hits I, Robot and Daredevil. Minasian has collaborated with

director Gary Fleder on many occasions, including the feature projects Kiss the Girls,

Imposter, Don’t Say a Word, and Runaway Jury and the TV pilots for L.A. Doctors and

Falcone. Minasian and Fleder are currently working on the pilot for October Road

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together for the 2006/2007 season. Some of his other feature credits include Fearless,

1492: Conquest of Paradise, Just Cause, City Slickers II, and At Play in the Fields of the

Lord.

MICHAEL JOY (Production Designer)

Born in Montreal, Michael Joy attended Loyola High School, The New School of

Montreal and graduated from The National Theater School of Canada in 1979. While at

the School, he designed theater productions in both English and in French.

After completing studies in set, lighting and costume design, he spent five years

designing plays at regional professional theaters throughout Canada including the Theatre

d’Aujourdui and the Centaur Theater in Montreal and Theater Calgary and ATP in

Calgary, Alberta. He assisted noted designers François Barbeau and Glenn Bydwell as

well as Carol Spier on David Cronenberg's seminal film Scanners. He taught Theater

Design at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Quebec and at Concordia University in

Montreal, and was Assistant Head of Design at the National Theater School between

1983 and 1985. He also served for three years on the executive of the Associated

Designers of Canada, Canada’s professional theater designers governing body.

In 1993 he relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he continued to work

on television movies and feature films, notably Creature, Heads and The Escape.

He designed Joan of Arc, a prime time, two part miniseries shot in the Czech

Republic that was nominated for twelve Primetime Emmy® Awards including Best

Production Design or Art Direction for a Movie or Mini-Series.

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His last feature film was Kart Racer starring Randy Quaid, described by one

critic as The Fast and the Furious for the under sixteen set. In 2004 he designed the

fantasy mini-series Earthsea last year on the Sci-Fi Network.

MAYA MANI (Costume Designer)

Maya Mani is an accomplished costume designer whose feature film credits

include Antitrust, Screwed, Free Willy 3 – The Rescue, Andre and Sam and Me. In

addition to film, Mani’s skills can also be seen on various television shows such as Still

Life, John Doe, Secret Agent Man and The Marshal. She also had the pleasure of

working on the Showtime TV movie Reefer Madness.

JEFF LEVINE (Co-Producer)

Born in Miami, Florida, Levine studied law, film and music at Tulane University

in New Orleans. After living in New York and London for a time, he returned to Miami

to begin working in physical film production.

Moving to Los Angeles in the late 1970s to pursue his goals in the entertainment

business, Levine studied and taught acting, built a still-operating state-of-the-art music

recording studio and advanced his work in motion pictures as a producer of – among

other films – Face/Off, City of Angels, Snake Eyes, and The Family Man.

After co-founding Saturn Films with actor Nicolas Cage, Levine produced

Shadow of the Vampire for Saturn and Lionsgate Films. Following its release, he left

Saturn to write and produce independently. After setting up a screenplay he co-wrote at

Crusader Entertainment, he joined Gold Circle Films as a producer and consultant. Now

the head of production, Levine has co-produced and/or overseen several films, including

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White Noise, Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, The Long Weekend, Slither, Because I Said So,

Griffin & Phoenix, How I Met My Boyfriend’s Dead Fiancée and is currently overseeing

My Sassy Girl which begins shooting in New York.

ZAK KADISON (Co-Producer)

Zak Kadison is Senior Vice President of Production at Gold Circle Films. Prior to

joining Gold Circle in 2003 as a Creative Executive, Kadison worked for Jerry

Bruckheimer Films and Spyglass Entertainment. He graduated from The University of

Denver with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Kadison’s upcoming films include the romantic comedy My Sassy Girl with

Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford, followed by the thriller Town Creek, to be directed

by Joel Schmucher.

In addition, Kadison is also overseeing Soundless at New Line Studios and a

remake of the Korean hit, The Host.

SHAWN WILLIAMSON (Line Producer)

A native of Vancouver, Williamson began his career as a stage manager in live

theatre in 1983. He has since produced live events, live television, series, television

movies and feature films. In 2001, Shawn combined his film production expertise with

the talents of independent producer Stephen Hegyes to form Brightlight Pictures Inc. In

addition to producing at Brightlight Pictures Shawn sits on the board of the Whistler Film

Festival and the B.C. Film Commission Advisory committee.

Williamson’s producing credits include: Universal and Gold Circle’s White Noise,

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starring Michael Keaton and Deborah Kara Unger; Lion’s Gate Films’ Alone in the Dark,

with Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff; Alliance Atlantis’ Going the

Distance; The Long Weekend, with Chris Klein and Brendan Fehr; American Venus,

directed by Bruce Sweeney and starring Rebecca De Mornay; and Edison, with Kevin

Spacey, Morgan Freeman, L.L. Cool J. and Justin Timberlake.

Most recently, Williamson line produced Slither, starring Nathan Fillion,

Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker; and, with Gold Circle Films, Hellion, starring Josh

Holloway, Joel Edgerton and Dulé Hill. Williamson has also recently produced Dungeon

Siege, a BOLL KG film, with Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, John Rhys-Davies, Ron

Perlman, Leelee Sobieski and Burt Reynolds; and, for Millenium Films, Wicker Man,

starring Nicolas Cage, and 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino.

JEFF RONA (Music by)

Jeff Rona is one of the unique, contemporary musical voices in today's film

world. A student of photography, arts and music in college, he quit to pursue music as his

life's work. He recorded and performed as a member of Jon Hassell's highly regarded

ensemble in collaboration with Brian Eno. He also worked closely with composer Philip

Glass on film, opera and concert performances, and was a close protégé and long time

collaborator with film composer Hans Zimmer.

A highly in-demand electronic musician for numerous films and records, he

landed his first solo composing project, scoring the acclaimed television series Homicide:

Life On The Street, with director Barry Levinson. This was followed by other TV projects

including Steven Spielberg's first TV series High Incident, Robert Altman's award

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winning Gun anthology, Frank Darabont on his Black Cat Run film for HBO, and the

award-winning Traffic TV adaptation. He composed music for international auteur Wong

Kar Wai's film The Following for BMW Films.

His feature film work includes Ridley Scott's White Squall, Mark Pellington's The

Mothman Prophesies, Joel Silver's Exit Wounds, Mary Lambert's The In Crowd, and

significant music contributions to Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, Schizopolis and Kafka,

Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down and Gladiator, John Woo's Mission: Impossible 2,

Richard Donner's Assasins, Barry Levinson's Toys, Terrance Malick's Thin Red Line,

Tony Scott's The Fan, as well as The Net, Chill Factor, The House of Yes and many

more.

In addition to his album work with Hassell, his music is also on the critically

praised world-beat Transplanet series, the electronica compilation Leaves from the Tree,

and albums for the eastern electronic ensemble Nyaz. His collaboration with Dead Can

Dance's Lisa Gerrard, A Thousand Roads, is on permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian in

Washington and on DVD. He recently arranged and conducted the orchestra for the Dead

Can Dance world tour.

EYDE BELASCO, CSA (Casting by)

Belasco has recently completed work on the feature film Rescue Dawn, directed

by Werner Herzog. Other recent work includes Because I Said So for Gold Circle Films,

as well as the independent features Half Nelson and Special which both premiered at the

2005 Sundance Film Festival. Prior to this, she spent two and a half years at Twentieth

Century Fox as an in-house casting director where she cast the feature films Daredevil

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and Behind Enemy Lines. She is currently in her tenth year as the West Coast casting

director for the Sundance Institute.

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