contributors
These individuals have lent their expertise in their respective fields to help us explore the different viewpoints, opinions and ideas surrounding the questions of responsibility and what it means to do the right thing.
KATHY MCMANUS
Kathy McManus is an award-winning broadcast journalist who has covered stories around the globe during more than 25 years of reporting. At CBS News, Kathy was a producer for the Evening News and 48 Hours, among other shows, and covered the 1991 Gulf War from Tel Aviv. At ABC News, Kathy was a producer for 20/20, Primetime, and World News, as well as other broadcasts. She covered the war in Bosnia and spent four years as ABC's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, reporting extensively throughout the Middle East. She also lived and worked in Liberia as a United Nations volunteer during the country's civil war. Kathy has won numerous awards for journalistic excellence, including an Emmy Award, Peabody Award, duPont Award, three National Press Club awards, Edward R. Murrow award, GLAAD award, Investigative Reporters and Editors award, CINE Golden Eagle award, National Headliner award, Radio and Television News Directors award, Ohio State award, and an ACLU Clarence Darrow Foundation award. Kathy writes the blog for The Responsibility Project.
JÉRÉMY CLAPIN
Jérémy Clapin wrote, directed and designed Good Vibrations. He graduated from Paris’ Arts Décoratifs (1999), since which he has worked as a graphic artist, illustrator for various publishers, and as an indie advert director. In 2004, he directed his 1st animated short, “A Backbone Tale”, which had great success in festivals. “Skhizein” is his second film; released in 2008, it has already been short-listed for the 2009 Oscars and Cesar, awarded at Cannes, Annecy and has taken more than 70 other awards in international festivals. He's currently working on several commercials and preparing his next short.
TONY GOLDWYN
Born in Los Angeles, Tony Goldwyn is the director of The Sound I Saw. Goldwyn began his career as an actor, appearing on television, the stage, and in films. His breakthrough feature was Ghost and he has also appeared in American Gun, The Last Samurai, An American Rhapsody, Bounce, Kiss the Girls, The Substance of Fire, Nixon, The Pelican Brief, Gaby: A True Story, From Earth to the Moon and The Last House On the Left. Goldwyn's directing credits with A Walk on the Moon, which features Viggo Mortensen, Diane Lane, Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin. Goldwyn has worked with many of today¹s leading talents including Ashley Judd, Hugh Jackman, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei, Zach Braff, Hilary Swank and many others. He has directed numerous films including Someone Like You, The Last Kiss, and Betty Anne Waters. Goldwyn has also forayed into directing television with episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Without a Trace, Law & Order, Dirty Sexy Money, as well as two of Showtime’s critically acclaimed series, The L Word, and Dexter, starring Michael C. Hall.
BRANDON CAMP
Brandon Camp is the director of Prodigy. He recently completed his feature length directorial debut, Love Happens, which he also wrote. Scheduled for release this September, the film features Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart, Sasha Alexander, Martin Sheen and Judy Greer. Additionally, Camp is currently in development on several projects and is set to direct Relativity and Steinbeck¹s Point of View starring Denzel Washington. Camp wrote the screenplay for Choose which is set for release later this year, directed by Academy Award®-winner Robert Legato, and featuring Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Pollak, Richard Short and Bruce Dern. Camp also penned the script for Minutemen, which is currently in development. Camp began his career as a screenwriter, writing Dragonfly, which stars actor Kevin Costner. He created and executive produced the television series John Doe, and produced A Lawyer Walks into a Bar, a documentary about American litigiousness.
MICHAEL APTED
Michael Apted is the director of Party Guest. Apted has directed and achieved critical acclaim in numerous films including, Coal Miner¹s Daughter, which won an Academy Award® and two Golden Globes®, including Best Picture. Coal Miner¹s Daughter was nominated for an additional six Oscars, two BAFTAs, two Golden Globes, as well as a DGA nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. Apted began his career in television as a six-months research trainee. One of his first project was to research and aid in casting for the Up! series, originally a profile on fourteen seven-year-old children. Although the Up! series was conceived as a singular show, Apted turned the show into a monumental documentary achievement by revisiting the subjects every seven years into their lives. Apted took the reins and directed each of the following installments: 14 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up. Apted demonstrated his skill in narrative feature filmmaking with the tense war era drama,Triple Echo, his directorial feature film debut. Following Triple Echo, he went on to direct Gorky Park; the acclaimed feature drama Gorillas in the Mist; the high-stakes drama Class Action; the thriller Thunderheart; and the critically acclaimed film, Nell, which was nominated for an Academy Award® and three Golden Globes.® He also directed The World Is Not Enough, Amazing Grace and Enough, and documentaries that include Bring on the Night, Me and Isaac Newton, and Married in America. Apted is currently in pre-production on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. A native of England, Apted is the current president of the Directors Guild of America, and attended the City of London School and Cambridge University.
RON SHELTON
Ron Shelton has made a career writing and directing numerous well-known feature films. The Montecito, Calif., native is the director of The Home Run. Shelton’s first produced screenplay was the political drama Under Fire, about a journalist (Nick Nolte) covering the Nicaraguan revolution. The Oscar-nominated screenplay, Bull Durham, was Shelton¹s directorial debut. The film garnered critical acclaim for Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, while Shelton was honored by the Writers Guild of America (Best Original Screenplay), the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics. Blaze starred Paul Newman as Louisiana Governor Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Star, the stripper for whom Long jeopardized his political career. Shelton then teamed up with Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in the playground basketball comedy White Men Can¹t Jump. Cobb, starring Tommy Lee Jones, was Shelton’s uncompromising depiction of one of baseball’s darkest heroes. Shelton and Costner re-teamed with the romantic gold comedy Tin Cup. Play It To The Bone starred Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas, Lolita Davidovich and Lucy Liu in a road movie about boxing. Shelton directed Dark Blue with Kurt Russell and also co-wrote and directed Hollywood Homicide as well as co-writing Bad Boys II. Shelton¹s ties to sports include his own receipt of baseball and basketball scholarships to college and five seasons playing minor-league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles farm system prior to moving to Los Angeles to begin writing screenplays and directing feature films.
INDEPENDENT MEDIA
Independent Media is renowned for introducing feature film talent to the advertising marketplace. In addition to the directors mentioned above, the company exclusively represents Guillermo Arriaga, Peter Chelsom, Mark Forster, David Frankel, Francois Girard, Scott Hicks, Bronwen Hughes, Janusz Kaminski, Richard Kelly, Danny Leiner, Doug Liman, Elias Merhige, Wally Pfister, David Wain, and Baillie Walsh, among others. Independent Media has garnered some of the most coveted awards in the advertising industry including multiple Gold Lions at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, a Primetime Emmy Award, numerous AICP Awards, and pencils at the British D&AD Awards. Perhaps most meaningfully, work produced by Independent Media has been included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Independent Media is based in Santa Monica, California.
For more information on Independent Media, visit their website here.
GRANT HESLOV
Grant Heslov is the producer and co-writer of the George Clooney helmed "Good Night, AND Good Luck." He served as director and executive producer of the critically acclaimed series "Unscripted", and co-executive producer of "K Street," both for HBO. He also served as producer on the recently-released film "Leatherheads." Heslov is currently directing the feature film "The Men Who Stare at Goats." Along with producing, writing, and directing, Heslov has had a long career as an actor. Some of his feature credits include roles in "The Scorpion King," "Dante's Peak," "The Birdcage," "Congo," and "True Lies." Grant Heslov directed The Responsibility Project film, Tony. Watch the interview to learn more about his take on responsibility.
J. HOPALONG BOGGS
Mr. Boggs is a senior financial analyst in the accounting department of Watership Down Comforters in Racine, Wisconsin. The recipient of several Gold Carrot Awards, Mr. Boggs is a graduate of Johns Hopper University and lives in Racine with his wife and 3,728 children. He is regarded by his coworkers as one of the most responsible bunnies in the organization. Mr. Boggs stars in one of The Responsibility Project's animated films, Hot Seat.
ACME FILMWORKS
Acme Filmworks is an Academy-Award nominated animation studio responsible for some of the most artistic and technically sophisticated animated commercials being created in the world today. Their creative philosophy has led to such milestones as the Emmy nominated spot United Airlines Interview; the poignant Clio Award-winning AT&T Long Distance spot; the phenomenally popular "Bears" campaign for Charmin. Recently the company has moved into the area of longer-form productions, notably as the producer of the Oscar nominated short film, Nibbles, and with 12 episodes of the animated improvisational comedy Drew Carey's Green Screen Show for The WB Network. Currently, Acme is developing an animated feature based on the award-winning short, Overtime. Acme Filmworks was the production partner for The Responsibility Project film, Hot Seat. To learn more about them, visit their website.
PAUL SPEAKER
Paul Speaker is President of Time Inc. Studios, which produces a variety of projects across multiple platforms including online, television, and mobile. Prior to joining Time Inc. Studios, Speaker spent several years as an independent film consultant to Robert Redford and Sundance, and served as President of the independent entertainment company the Shooting Gallery where he was responsible for creative development, marketing, advertising, production and distribution for all Shooting Gallery Entertainment divisions television, film and music. While there Paul produced Academy Award nominees Sling Blade and You Can Count on Me, and distributed the sleeper hit Croupier as well as many other critically acclaimed and internationally awarded films. Speaker currently resides in New Jersey with his wife and four daughters. Paul collaborated with Geoffrey O'Connor and Ken Yagoda to create The Responsibility Project film, Growing Up. Watch his interview to learn more about their collective vision for the film.
GEOFFREY O'CONNOR
Academy Award nominee, Geoffrey O'Connor, is a writer, director and cinematographer whose credits include award-winning collaborations with Michael Moore, CBS News, and the BBC's Documentary Features Unit. In 2003, Geoffrey wrote and directed a comedic film "Four Simple Rules," which was nominated for "Best Short" at the 2004 The Deauville Film Festival. He is currently shooting a documentary feature for Sony Pictures Classic in Russia entitled "Exporting Raymond." Geoffrey collaborated with Paul Speaker and Ken Yagoda to create The Responsibility Project film, Growing Up. Watch the interview to learn more about their collective vision for the film.
KEN YAGODA
Ken Yagoda is Vice President and Executive Producer for Time Inc. Studios, where he has produced/directed many projects for Time Inc. brands, such as People, Essence, Time Inc. Corporate as well as a This Old House special for PBS. Ken began his career in broadcasting at Young & Rubicam after he graduated from the University of Wisconsin. At Y&R, he served as Director of Broadcast Productions from 1997 until 2005. Ken has been the recipient of numerous awards including Andys, Clios, Lions, and Effies, and has also produced many public service spots for UNCF, Teach for America, A Better Chance, The World War II Memorial Fund, and NYC 2012. Ken collaborated with Geoffrey O'Connor and Paul Speaker to create The Responsibility Project film, Growing Up. Watch the interview to learn more about their collective vision for the film.
NELL MINOW
Nell Minow has been reviewing movies as Movie Mom since 1995. She writes about movies, television, the Internet, and parenting and reviews movies each week for Beliefnet.com and 20 radio stations across the US and Canada. Her articles have appeared in USA Today, Family Fun, Daughters, Parents, and the Chicago Tribune, and she was Yahoo's movie critic for six years. Nell is also a contributor to The Responsibility Project's Blog..
CHARLIE SHORT
Born in Boston, Massachusetts Charlie defected to the other coast in his mid-twenties. Charlie headed to Los Angeles to write screenplays. A short film that Charlie co-wrote and associate produced was selected for the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and he recently wrote the screenplay for an animated short that was selected for the 2006 One Dot Zero festival in England. Charlie is currently a writer and creative strategist at Los Angeles based Exopolis. Charlie co-directed The Responsibility Project film, Lighthouse.. Watch his interview with co-director, Ming Hsiung.
MING HSIUNG
Ming was born and raised in New York, and moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, majoring in Philosophy. He started his visual arts career at V12, where he began working in the web department. By the end of his tenure, he was designing and animating for motion graphics. Since then, Ming has freelanced extensively in the Los Angeles area, started his own company called Helix, and directed a short film. He received an Emmy award nomination for his work in ESPN's X-Games graphics package, and currently works across all media platforms as a director, illustrator, designer/animator and photographer. Ming co-directed The Responsibility Project film, Lighthouse.. Watch his interview with co-director, Charlie Short.
LAURENCE DUNMORE
Laurence Dunmore began his directing career over 18 years ago, when he started directing music videos. A full-time director for the last 10 years, Laurence has worked with companies such as Liberty Mutual, American Express, AT&T, Adidas, BMW, Cadillac, Diesel, Heineken, Hermes, ING, Johnnie Walker, and Peugeot. Laurence has been awarded numerous industry accolades, including Cannes Film Festival's Gold Lion as an AICP Award for his work with Fallon for BMW. In 2004 Dunmore directed the feature film 'The Libertine' starring Johnny Depp and John Malkovich, for which he was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Director. He currently is working on several feature projects including 'I, Fatty', a first person account of the 1920's Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal. Laurence wrote and directed The Responsibility Project film, Father's Day. Watch his interview with us to hear what inspired the film, as well as his thoughts on the responsibility of the film industry.
LENA BEUG
Born in County Cork, Ireland, Lena Beug studied law, German and, later, painting at Ireland's national college of art and design before moving to New York at the age of 23. She started her career in her new city as a graphic designer and photographer's assistant. From there she moved to MTV as full-time on-air designer and oversaw the massive redesign of the MTV2 network. Her first hand at directing was a teaser, "Intro Guy," for the Video Music Awards that later became a full-blown promo campaign for MTV. It won her Gold, Silver and Bronze Pencils at the 2005 One Show. From there she went on to win Best International New Director at the 2005 Shark Awards and was listed as a "Director to Watch" by both Boards and Creativity magazines that same year. Among her other work, Lena directed and co-created the infamous character "Chunky Pam" for MTV. Her 2006 Christmas video "Merry X.X.X.L.MAS" was a huge viral hit and was voted "funniest video of the year" by Rolling Stone magazine. Lena's recent work includes anti-smoking PSAs for the state of Colorado and a hilarious campaign for an Irish Internet start-up featuring a naked man shaving. Lena Beug wrote and directed The Responsibility Project film, Mandy & Lester. Watch her interview with us to hear what inspired the film, what responsibility means to her and about her upcoming work.
CALEB GUSS
Currently 11 years old and just finishing the fifth grade, Caleb Randel Guss lives with his family in the LA area. Caleb started taking acting classes in second grade. But otherwise he's just another kid. He plays little league baseball, loves the drums and music, knows everything about skateboarding, and mostly spends his free time in the neighborhood with other kids. He's been in ten commercials, two music videos and even had a role in a feature film! Caleb stars as Lester in the Responsibility Project film, Mandy & Lester.
CAMERON CAMPMAN
Cameron Campman was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and moved to LA with her family in early 2007. She is currently enrolled in 2nd grade at Third Street Elementary School, where she earns the best grades. Cami loves to sing, dance, and act and is always the life of the party. She is an avid cat lover with an infectious sense of humor and a drive to win at everything she attempts. Cami and her family recently walked the LA Marathon together, finishing in 7.5 hours. Cameron stars as Mandy in the Responsibility Project film, Mandy & Lester.
JANET PERLMAN
Based in Montreal, Janet Perlman is an animation director, writer and illustrator. Her humorous short films have received international acclaim, including an Oscar nomination, an Emmy and many festival grand prizes. Her extensive work with the National Film Board of Canada includes The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, Why Me?, Dinner for Two, and Bully Dance. Penguins Behind Bars, Hulascope's TV special for Cartoon Network, was voted Best TV Film at Cartoons on the Bay, Italy. Her independently directed short film, My Favorite Things That I Love, won the coveted "Best Bad Taste" award at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In 2007 the Ottawa Animation Festival featured a retrospective of her work, during which she premiered her latest film, The Nose, which features scratch and sniff cards distributed to the audience for a complete naso-sensory experience. Janet also writes and illustrates children's books. Cinderella Penguin, The Emperor Penguin's New Clothes and The Penguin and the Pea are published by Kids Can Press. Her latest book, The Delicious Bug, based on her film, Dinner for Two, will be published in 2008. In addition, she has taught animation at Harvard University and at the Rhode Island School of Design. Janet is the writer and animation director for two of The Responsibility Project films, Dinner for Two and Hot Seat. Read our latest interview with her to hear what what inspired Hot Seat and about her upcoming work. To learn more about Janet, visit her website.
ADAM GOLDSTEIN
Adam Goldstein directed his first video at the age of 11, in the 6th Grade at Strathmore Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. A "Kids to Kids" PSA, it ran on the highly regarded "Captain 20 After School Hour" after UltraMan, but before the Banana Splits. After taking his degree in English and Creative Writing at the University of Michigan, he became a copywriter in New York City. In 2006, Goldstein was named to Shoot Magazine's New Director Showcase. His commercial work has been honored by the AICP and Adweek. Adam wrote and directed The Responsibility Project film, Table Guardians.
STEPH GREEN
With just two years of directing under her belt, Steph Green's work has already been featured at the Cannes Lions Young Director's showcase and Young Guns Advertising Awards. Recently, she was recognized for New Boy when the film received an Irish Film Board Loan. It has gone on to win Best Irish Short at the Foyle Film Festival 2007, a Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival and Best Short Film at the prestigious Irish Film and Television Academy Awards 2008 amongst other wins. Steph has worked along side Spike Jonze and Alan Poul on numerous projects. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and University College Dublin and currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Dublin, Ireland. In addition to New Boy, Steph also wrote and directed The Responsibility Project film Transit. Watch Steph's interview with us to hear what inspired the film Transit, and what responsibility means to her and about her upcoming work.
HUMAN
Human is one of America's pre-eminent original music composition and sound design companies specializing in unique and compelling music for the international advertising industry. Founded in 2001 by renowned composers Morgan Visconti, Andrew Bloch, Gareth Williams and Managing Partner, Marc Altshuler, Human is a multi-award winning collective with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Paris. For the Responsibility Project, Human created the original music for the film Father's Day. To learn more about them, visit their website.
RSA FILMS
RSA Films was founded in 1968, by Sir Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and is now one of the leading film, television advertising commercials and music video production companies in the world. Headed by President Jules Daly, RSA has an established reputation for creating innovative and groundbreaking commercials for some of the world's most recognized corporate brands. Headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York and London, RSA has a roster of over thirty directors. Among the prestigious awards RSA has garnered are an Emmy Award for Best Commercial for "Nike Move" and the announcement in TV Guide that Ridley Scott's "1984" Apple Computer spot was voted The Best Commercial of All-Time. RSA has collected numerous GOLDEN LIONS, EMMYS, BAFTA, AICP, Cleo, MTV and MVPA awards since its inception. RSA Films was the production partner for the Responsibility Project films Transit, Table Guardians, Mandy & Lester and Father's Day. They are currently hard at work on another short film for the Project. To learn more about them, visit their website.
BRAINCLOUD
Braincloud is a Los Angeles based music composition and sound design studio. Founded in 1999, Braincloud has maintained a commitment to producing music and sound for the love of the experience. Having worked extensively in television and film production, they possess a comprehensive, first-hand knowledge of how sound interacts and relates to visual media, and how to achieve a synergy that will move and excite the viewer. For the Responsibility Project, Braincloud created the original music for the film Lighthouse. To learn more about them, visit their website.
EXOPOLIS
Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Los Angeles, Exopolis has created award-winning interactive and broadcast work for networks, studios, agencies and consumer brands. Exopolis was the production partner for The Responsibility Project film, Lighthouse. To learn more about them, visit their website at www.exopolis.com.
