橫掃奧斯卡得獎電影《芝加哥》導演洛馬素最新力作 藝伎回憶錄 1月12日 體驗美豔柔情 故事大綱: 改編自戈爾登的暢銷小說《藝伎回憶錄》，一個發生於二次世界大戰前、 一場女人的干戈 小小的千代(大後壽花飾)因為家貧被父親輾轉賣到祗園，一個風花雪月的集中地，在那裡，置屋(藝伎屋)的買家看中千代那雙半透明的灰色眼珠，千代得到了成為藝伎的機會，亦遇上了她人生的敵人--新田置屋最受歡迎的初桃小姐(鞏俐飾)。 初桃出於妒忌與厭惡，處處為難千代，然而在命運的安排下，千代成為初桃的對頭實穗(楊紫瓊飾)的"妹妹"(學徒)。實穗成為千代的師傅，教授千代一切待人接物以及吟唱舞蹈的技巧。 千代獨特的眼睛註定了她擁有不平凡的人生，灰色的眼睛標示了千代命相帶水的特性，實穗形容千代像水一樣的比喻最貼切：水會不停流動著，更會隨著流經的物體而改變形狀，是最靈活的元素。千代亦不負所望，其努力加上天賦讓她成為日後祗園巨星---小百合(章子怡飾)。 在藝伎的路上，實穗對小百合傾囊相授，教會小百合認知一個藝伎於感情上面對的限制，最好的藝伎必定要壓抑自己的情感，因為一旦與任何人發展感情，藝伎身價都會因此被貶。 多年來，小百合緊遵教誨，然而，風光背後收藏住一段隱藏的感情。童年時代一次意外的相遇，一個溫柔的男人(渡邊謙飾)從此侵佔了千代的心。命運再次安排他們相遇，小百合會否衝破枷鎖，追求自己的所愛的人？ 另一方面，隨著小白合的走紅，初桃對小白合的妒忌越發嚴重，只要有實穗和小百合出現的場合，初桃必會帶著其"妹妹"南瓜(工滕夕貴飾)現身攪局，非要拼過你死我活不可。 小百合在實穗的安排下，一步步邁向成為祗園最紅的藝伎，可是一場戰爭，卻摧毀了京都祗園的繁華。這場祗園之戰，最後到底誰勝誰負？命運會對小百合、初桃以及實穗作出怎樣的安排？ 製作龐大 陣容鼎盛 《藝伎回憶錄》的創作事源於1982年，當時他在東京一家英文雜誌社工作，其中一位日本同事的父親是當地有名的實業家，母親是藝伎。戈爾登說"因?當時我正處於好奇的年紀，所以我對她的與慾ㄕP感到非常著迷，隨後，我發現藝伎這個世界是帶著自己獨特規則的亞文化。" 1992年的4月，戈爾登得到一個探訪藝伎岩崎的機會，岩崎對藝伎世界的洞悉和回憶，?戈爾登的小說提供了無價的資料。戈爾登於5年後出版了《藝伎回憶錄》，頓時引起轟動，在成?暢銷書的同時也備受爭議。《紐約時報》評價此書為"一個反常又消失於世界的完整畫卷"。小說對藝伎獨特文化的描寫及鮮明的人物刻劃，絕對是電影改編的上佳材料。 迄今?止，小說的英文版本已經賣出了400萬冊，並被翻譯成了32種語言。 位於洛杉磯的藝伎世界 為了重現藝伎這個獨特的亞文化，導演洛馬素及製作隊伍多次往返京都取材，參考材料包括日本有名的建築清水寺、春祭、茶屋表演以及相撲賽事等。導演洛馬素在考慮過拍攝的進度及規模後，認為於繁華的京都作長時間的拍攝是個不可能任務，繼而決定於洛杉磯建造一個藝伎的世界。 製作隊伍共用了14個星期於洛杉磯重新打造一個祗園，重建藝伎區中常見的古老街道，其中的一草一木都經過專人悉心設計。單是為了電影四季的變化，便用了1.75畝帆布覆蓋整個場景，在10,000個門栓及60呎高的射燈協助下，成功製造出四季光陰的變化。此外，戲中四季不同的櫻花樹全為人手製作，特別製作還包括一條長250呎的河流，配以流水系統，效果逼真猶如真河流。 為了貼近置屋的原貌，屋內的一切佈置小至草蓆，大至障子(紙門)、窗框等都由日本空運到美國。場景的龐大，屬近年少見。置身其中，很難想像這個其實是座落加洲凡吐拉市電影場景。 華麗的造型 現實中的藝伎至少擁有10套和服，當紅的藝伎服飾想當然的更為華麗。戲中各主角相互有一番明爭暗鬥，比姿色、比智慧，一襲又一襲的美輪美奐的和服是這場女人戰爭不可或缺的武器，服裝造型師歌蓮艾活連同為數30人的設計隊伍共同手製了250套美不勝收的和服。 《藝伎回憶錄》的服飾以大正(1912-1926)及昭和(1926-1990)年間的式樣為藍本，各主角的造型及和服都反映了艾活的用心及細緻，製作甚至包括和服的襯衣及連趾襪。戲中小百合的遭遇及命運都與"水"的形態互相呼應，亦因此小百合身上每件和服都包含了水的原素，最名貴莫過於電影尾部看到的一套下擺印有瀑布設計的和服；而另一主角初桃的和服無論於顏色、花紋甚至手袖的長度都比真的藝伎來得大膽，以表現初桃剛烈的性格及帶領潮流的品味。 戲中和服的材料除了從日本搜購外，更從世界各地包括英國、丹麥等地，甚至Ebay中購得。除了戲服外，單是主角們的白臉妝，便特別以6星期的時間訓練了100位化妝師，讓他們在拍戲現場大顯身手。 通往藝伎之路 藝伎必須精通各種歌舞樂器，傳統的藝伎需要經過嚴格的舞蹈、樂器的訓練。為了讓演員投入角色，在正式拍攝前，導演特別安排演員進行為期6星期的密集式的特訓及綵排，以專人指導演員們一些琴瑟舞蹈的技巧。 在特訓開始前，演員們首先要適應的就是和服的重量。有別於平常服飾，和服的重量限制了穿著者的靈活性，故此，演員須身穿和服作舞蹈練習，以學習一個藝伎應有的身體語言以及架勢。 舞蹈的練習是不可或缺。基於藝伎必定能歌善舞，選角時導演特別考慮演員是否具備舞蹈根基，否則不足以應付戲中高難度的舞蹈場面，特別是千代/小百合一角，在其中一幕，章子怡必須穿上8吋高的木屐表演一場優雅而又氣勢磅礡的獨舞，難度甚高。難怪導演盛讚子怡表現一流，更笑說天下間沒有事可以難倒她。 舞蹈以外，三味線的學習同樣重要，戲中的演員為了演出，用心學習加上她們的天份，拍攝時已能演得似模似樣，楊紫瓊更在老師的協助下，真正學會了演奏三味線，老師對於其靈敏的耳朵嘖嘖稱奇。 鑽石陣容 鬼才導演洛馬素 導演洛馬素2003年憑《芝加哥》技驚四座，為《芝加哥》贏得6個奧斯卡殊榮及多個提名包括奧斯卡、金球獎以及全國影評人協會等。洛馬素藉此片獲得紐約網絡影評人選為最突破導演；全美電影評論學會選為最佳新晉導演。 洛馬素深深被《藝伎回憶錄》小說打動，特別是書中希望與奮鬥的主題，千代的人生的巨變同樣震撼人心。導演如何將小說的異色世界呈現銀幕？精彩的故事加上洛馬素的鬼才，《藝伎回憶錄》令人期待。 監製--點石可成金的史提芬史匹堡 電影業其中一位最成功及最具影響力大導演亦為《藝伎回憶錄》動容！小說雖然是日本藝伎的故事，但史匹堡認為書中人與人之間的鬥爭及友情，皆是人性的描述，這是一個超越種族與文化的課題，每個人都能從中找到共鳴。電影《藝伎回憶錄》本屬意由史匹堡執導，礙於導演檔期問題，史匹堡最後決定出任此片監製一職。 史大導作品包括《侏羅紀公園》、《E.T》、《舒特拉的名單》及《雷霆救兵》等等。 章子怡飾演小百合 章子怡於《藝伎回憶錄》中演活了15歲至30歲的小白合，由少女到光芒四射的藝伎。其中反映了小白合內心世界的獨舞，演出教人嘆為觀止。 章子怡於李安導演的《臥虎藏龍》中演出令人難忘，該片更為她帶來多個獎項，包括獨立精神獎最佳女配角，及獲提名英國學院獎的最佳女配角及香港電影金像獎最佳女主角。 章及後參與多位知名導演作品，包括張藝謀導演的《十面埋伏》、王家衛導演的《2046》及日本導演鈴木清順作品《狸禦殿》。 楊紫瓊飾演實穗 楊紫瓊戲中飾演傳奇藝伎實穗，收千代為徒的決定改寫了小百合的遭遇，是故事中不可或缺的人物。楊的演出使實穗的高貴典雅立體化。 楊紫瓊曾參演李安導演的《臥虎藏龍》，憑此片被提名英國學院獎及香港電影金像獎的最佳女主角獎。楊紫瓊憑《新鐵金剛之明日帝國》中邦女郎的演出，早為美國觀眾認識。 鞏俐飾演初桃 鞏俐扮演處處與小百合作對的初桃，多層次的演繹為初桃一角增添幾分哀怨與淒美。 鞏俐早年與張藝謀導演合作無間，憑精湛的演技得到國際間的認同，1992年憑《秋菊打官司》獲得威尼斯電影節及金雞獎最佳女主角殊榮；1993年憑《霸王別姬》獲得紐約影評人協會獎最佳女配角。 《藝伎回憶錄》為鞏俐第一部美國電影。 渡邊謙飾演岩丸健(會長) 渡邊謙於《藝伎回憶錄》飾演岩丸健。有別於以往的硬朗型象，渡邊飾演溫柔深情的會長，以柔情俘虜了小百合的心。 渡邊謙為知名日本演員，早期作品包括《蒲公英》及《探偵物語》，近年，渡邊謙憑《最後的武士》獲提名奧斯卡及金球獎最佳男配角；同年，渡邊謙夥拍導演基斯杜化路倫出演《蝙蝠俠俠影之謎》。 役所廣司飾演野司 役所廣司為日本知名演員，更獲選了9次日本電影賞最佳男主角獎。役所於《藝伎回憶錄》中飾演對小百合情深一往的野司，與渡邊謙有多場精彩的對手戲。 役所最為港人熟悉的是1996年《談談情跳跳舞》，該片打破了日本電影於美國的票房紀錄。其他參演電影包括《赤橋下的暖流》。 藝伎小檔案 日本藝伎最早出現於日本元祿年間（1688年至1704年），至今已有300多年的歷史。日本藝伎行業已日漸式微，20年代日本有8萬藝伎，現今只餘下為數不足8000名！且多於京都的旅遊區中表演為生，很有風光不再的況味。 自17世紀，在茶屋的酒宴上，已有彈奏三味線、聞歌起舞的舞子(舞娘)，藝伎則陪酒在達官貴人旁。 從前日本藝伎是從小7-8歲的訓練，她們學習琴棋書畫，接受良好的禮儀及教育，直到10~19歲之間才能成?舞子。 藝伎的和服與普通日本婦女所穿的有些不同，其中最明顯的就是後領。普通婦女穿的和服後領很高，把整個脖頸遮蓋起來；然而，藝伎和服的後領則開得很大，並且刻意地向後傾斜，露出整個後頸，後頸並塗上一層白色的厚厚脂粉，在《藝伎回憶錄》中後頸後頸化妝的經過修飾，使造型更具時尚感。 藝伎業是表演藝術，不是賣弄色情，更不賣身。她們陪客飲酒作樂，濃妝的臉上幾乎看不出喜怒哀樂，在客人面前保持著委婉而堅決的矜持。同時行業有規定，藝伎在從業期內不得結婚，否則，必須先引退，以保持藝伎"純潔"的形象。 藝伎小字典 置屋─藝伎屋 Memoirs of GEISHA <藝伎回憶錄>演職表
"My world is as forbidden as it is fragile; In 1997, novelist Arthur Golden offered readers an intoxicating and riveting story of a hidden world in his acclaimed novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. The sweeping romantic epic spent two years on The New York Times best-seller list, sold more than four million copies in English, and has been translated into 32 languages. Now, Oscar -nominated director Rob Marshall (Chicago) and producers Lucy Fisher, & Douglas Wick and Steven Spielberg, along with an acclaimed international cast and an award-winning behind-the-camera team have brought this mesmerizing fable to the screen. SYNOPSIS Set in a mysterious and exotic world which still casts a potent spell today, the story begins in the years before World War II, when a Japanese child is torn from her penniless family to work as a servant in a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri. Beautiful and accomplished, Sayuri captivates the most powerful men of her day, but is haunted by her secret love for the one man beyond her reach. Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment Present An Amblin Entertainment/Douglas Wick & Lucy Fisher Production Memoirs of a Geisha starring Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh, Kaori Momoi, Tsai Chin, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Suzuka Ohgo and Gong Li. The film was directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay by Robin Swicord based on the book by Arthur Golden. The producers are Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick and Steven Spielberg. The executive producers are Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Patricia Whitcher and Bobby Cohen. The co-producer is John DeLuca. The director of photography is Dion Beebe, ACS, ASC. The production designer is John Myhre. The editor is Pietro Scalia, A.C.E. The costume designer is Colleen Atwood. The music is by John Williams. Butterflies of the Night Geisha have long been figures of fascination in Japan and throughout the world. For centuries, they have emerged from their homes at dusk like butterflies from a cocoon for a night's round of teahouse engagements. Social evenings have always been an important part of business in Japan, and the presence of geisha reflects well on the host who can afford such glamorous companions. Neither wife nor prostitute, a geisha is an artist who earns her living entertaining powerful men. The word gei (pronounced gay) means "art" in Japanese. A geisha is a trained dancer, singer and musician, as well as a witty conversationalist. She laughs at her client's jokes - and never tells his secrets. She creates drama with a simple flick of her fan. Years of hard work and self-discipline have transformed her into this refined creature, but underneath her binding layers of kimono and neutral mask of make-up is a flesh and blood woman with her own history, disappointments and dreams. The secrets she guards most closely belong to her own heart. The geisha districts described so vividly in Arthur Golden's novel still exist today, and authentic geisha continue to entertain in elegant old teahouses. They dress, groom themselves and perform as geisha have for centuries. Women who become geisha today are often drawn to the profession through an interest in the traditional arts and may remain in it only a few years. Once their country's most fashionable women, top geisha were the supermodels of their day until "modern" came to be defined as Western in Japan. Memoirs of a Geisha begins in 1929, near the end of the geishas' golden era. Told as a fable from a disappearing world, the film is set in a fictional hanamachi or geisha district. As Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) enters this hidden world, she is taught that a geisha is not free to love, or to pursue her own destiny. Her mentor, the legendary geisha Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), understands the limits of an intimate relationship with a special patron or danna, and teaches Sayuri to keep her feelings tightly reined. Unlike Sayuri's defiant rival Hatsumomo (Gong Li), Mameha knows that a proper geisha cannot afford to indulge her passion for any man. Yet Sayuri cannot forget a moment of unexpected kindness she experienced at an early age. The memory of that moment shimmers like a mirage, and sustains her through years of suffering. Looking back at her life, she remembers "a little girl with more courage than she knew," and reflects, "These are not the memoirs of an Empress, nor of a Queen. These are memoirs of another kind." The Perfect Fit Ziyi Zhang experienced a not uncommon reaction after reading Arthur Golden's novel Memoirs of a Geisha. "I couldn't believe that a man wrote this book about the life of a woman," said the actress. "And I couldn't believe it was an American man writing with such detail about a little-known Japanese sub-culture." Director Rob Marshall savored the exotic world in which the story unfolds, but said he was just as taken by the universality of the young orphan Chiyo's plight, and her eventual triumph after an accidental meeting changes the course of her life. "This story lives in a very specific world, and yet the underlying theme of the triumph of the human spirit against all odds connects to any culture," said Marshall. "The fact that this one child, after being taken from her home and sold into slavery, can survive and ultimately find love is deeply moving to me. Especially when that love is forbidden to her." The novel's themes of hope and survival inspired producers Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher, partners in Red Wagon Entertainment, in their quest to adapt the novel for a feature film. "It was about a triumphant character in a strange and sumptuous world," said Wick, "and it just cried out for the big screen." Wick, the Academy Award -winning producer of Gladiator, acquired the film rights soon after the novel was published, and gave a copy to Columbia Pictures chairman Amy Pascal (then head of production at the studio). Fisher, who was then vice chairman of the Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Group, said, "It was so captivating, I just could not put the book down. We all believed it had such vivid movie potential in terms of its roles and its visual life." Among the book's great strengths were Sayuri's keen observations as she encounters a world that she (along with most readers) had never even imagined. "We knew that capturing the essence of her interior monologue would be a challenge," said Fisher, "but it was also an opportunity. We were recounting the reminiscences of a woman whose life took an amazing turn when she was just nine years old. Much of what she shares is first seen through the eyes of a child, which gave us freedom to tell her story as more of a fable." After working as an executive on many films with Steven Spielberg, Fisher anticipated that he would also fall under the novel's spell. He signed on as director, and preliminary pre-production work began. "Culturally, it was one of the most fascinating stories I had ever encountered," said Spielberg. "I was very moved by the love story, by the rivalry between Sayuri and Hatsumomo, and by the test of friendship between the Chairman and Nobu. I thought audiences all over the world would be fascinated because it's not just culturally significant as legend or history from Japan. It's relevant to people in every country. It was certainly relevant to me." However, after several near-starts, it became clear that Spielberg's calendar could not accommodate the demanding project, so he stepped aside, remaining on board as a producer. With the director's chair open and dozens of candidates vying for the project, Wick and Fisher began their search for the perfect fit. An Impression of Time and Place As soon as Fisher and Wick saw an advance screening of Chicago, they knew they had found their director. A boldly modern presentation of a tale from an earlier era, Rob Marshall's feature film debut was a critical and commercial sensation recognized with a string of major awards including the Oscar for Best Picture and five additional Academy Awards . Marshall himself received a Best Director OscarR nomination and the Director's Guild Award. When Fisher and Wick first sat down with Marshall and heard his vision of the movie, "it was exhilarating," said Wick. "Transforming a beloved work of art from one medium to another is a huge challenge, but Rob had absolute clarity about his path through the novel. The look and feel of the film would reflect that it is a memory piece told years later - an impression of a time and place experienced at a young age rather than a literal recreation. We could almost see the movie as he talked about it. Rob would not be afraid to bring his own aesthetic vision to the material, just as he demonstrated with his innovative approach to Chicago. He wanted the audience to experience the wonder Sayuri felt as she discovered the geisha world." Author Arthur Golden was similarly enthused when he heard that Marshall would be directing the film. "I was madly in love with Chicago," he said. "It was a better version of the play that I had loved. So when I heard that Rob was interested in directing the movie of my novel, I was thrilled!" The first thing Marshall did to prepare for the project was reread the book. "I needed to take the journey from the beginning and see what hit me," he said. The director was well aware that he was not preparing to make a geisha documentary. "I knew that the drama of these characters combined with the allure and exoticism of their world would allow us to achieve something unique and compelling," he said. "And while I knew I would veer from tradition when it was necessary to serve my vision of the story, I needed to thoroughly understand the reality first." Soon after, Robin Swicord (Little Women, Matilda) came on board to write the screenplay. Marshall and the producers stayed in regular contact with Golden as the script took shape. "Rob said to me very early on, 'I want to make a movie you love,'" Golden recalled. "We spent many hours talking about how the story is put together and ways to make things better for the film. He sent me every draft of the screenplay." Marshall then gathered the key members of his team for a trip to Japan. "I had decided to tell Sayuri's story as an impression of a time and place, but needed to thoroughly understand the reality first," the director explained. "We all agreed that total immersion in Sayuri's world was the only way to begin, so we traveled to Kyoto together to experience everything we could." The group of 10 visited museums and shrines, toured a kimono factory, attended a sumo match, rode in rickshaws, scouted the coast of the Sea of Japan, attended spring festival dances and watched an apprentice geisha (maiko) apply her makeup and dress. Marshall and John DeLuca, the film's co-producer and choreographer, were invited backstage to witness the legendary actor-dancer Tamasaburo Bando prepare for a Kabuki performance. Their Japanese hosts also arranged for an evening of geisha entertainment at the exclusive Ichiriki Teahouse. Absorbing the atmosphere of Gion and other hanamachi (geisha districts) was essential to their mission. "Dion (Beebe, the film's director of photography) and Rob and I would let ourselves get lost and just take photographs," said OscarR-winning production designer John Myhre. "When it came time to construct our buildings, we'd go through our pictures and say 'that roof would look really nice with this type of window, which would look great with this type of door.'" Potential locations for filming were identified, but Marshall, Myhre, Beebe and executive producer Patricia Whitcher realized they could not shoot the entire movie in Japan. "When we analyzed the amount of work we had to do in the streets," Whitcher explained, "there was just no way we could disrupt an active community for that long to recreate what we needed to tell this story." Also, Japan's hanamachi, or geisha districts, had changed greatly since the period during which the film occurs. "Even in the beautiful ancient cities, we could not find an area of businesses that was untouched by modern elements," Marshall said. But the group came home inspired by their shared experience and by the collective set of references that they would draw from over the coming months. Finding Sayuri Portraying the geisha Sayuri had been the dream of many actresses, but the role had several demanding requirements. The actress playing the luminous adult Sayuri would also have to portray her as the adolescent housemaid Chiyo. "We see this character blossom from girl to woman, and from servant girl to superstar, and we didn't want to split that into two different parts," Marshall emphasized. "Our actress had to be credible as a 15-year-old and as a 30-year-old. She also had to be a strong actress, and speak English. And we needed a brilliant dancer because dance is so important in the geisha world and a key element in Sayuri's personal story." Zhang followed up her memorable performance in Ang Lee's Oscar -nominated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which she won the Independent Spirit and Toronto Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress, with roles in House of Flying Daggers and the Oscar -nominated Hero for director Zhang Yimou. She was nominated for BAFTA's Best Actress Award for House of Flying Daggers, and won the Hong Kong Film Critics' Society's 2005 Best Actress Award for her performance in Wong Kar-Wei's critically acclaimed 2046. Zhang sang and danced in Raccoon Palace, the latest film from 82-year-old Japanese director Seijun Suzuki. The pivotal roles of Mameha (Sayuri's mentor) and Hatsumomo (Sayuri's nemesis) went to two superstars of Asian film, the glamorous Michelle Yeoh, who had appeared with Zhang in the popular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and the legendary Gong Li. Gong, who also starred in 2046, makes her debut in a major American film as Sayuri's rival. Her screen work includes a string of astonishing performances in films for director Zhang Yimou including Ju Dou, Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern and Shanghai Triad. Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern were the first Chinese films to be nominated for Academy Awards . Gong won the Best Actress prize at the Venice International Film Festival and China's Golden Rooster Award for her performance in Zhang Yimou's The Story of Qiu Ju. Her credits also include The Emperor and the Assassin, Temptress Moon and Farewell My Concubine. Yeoh, who was Zhang's co-star and sparring partner in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, portrays the elegant and experienced geisha who guides Sayuri. Yeoh's work in Crouching Tiger brought her Best Actress nominations for the Taipei Golden Horse Award, the Hong Kong Film Award and the BAFTA Award. She is also known for her starring role in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. The fact that both Zhang and Yeoh were dancers was a big bonus for Memoirs of a Geisha, giving John DeLuca the freedom to create more demanding choreography. This was particularly true for a sequence featuring Zhang that became a centerpiece of the movie. "Playing Sayuri would be too hard for an actor who isn't a dancer," said Marshall. "A geisha's dance training shows in all her movements, and Ziyi and Michelle picked that up like a sponge." As for the gorgeous but treacherous Hatsumomo, Marshall knew the pitfalls an actress might face with this character. "It would have been easy to play her as a one-dimensional villain. But Gong Li gives her a three-dimensionality with a sadness and fragility that make Hatsumomo incredibly compelling." Five of the film's key roles were cast with some of Japan's top actors. Ken Watanabe, an Oscar nominee for his portrayal of the warrior 'Katsumoto' in The Last Samurai, anchored the cast as The Chairman, the man who claims Sayuri's heart. Watanabe recently starred in the critically acclaimed Batman Begins and in the Japanese film Kita No Zeronen. His many film and television credits include the popular comedy Tampopo. Koji Yakusho, a leading man in Japan long before Western audiences discovered him in the original Shall We Dance?, portrays the man who seeks to become Sayuri's patron. Yakusho has starred in many internationally acclaimed films, such as The Eel and Warm Water Under a Red Bridge, and has won Japan's top film acting award for an Actor in a Leading Role nine times to date. He next stars in Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's Babel. Kaori Momoi, another beloved star in Japan, landed the role of Mother. Momoi made her 1971 screen debut in Kon Ichikawa's Ai Futatabi. Since then, she has starred in more than 40 films, working with such legendary Japanese directors as Akira Kurosawa and Shohei Imamura. Youki Kudoh, a star of the American film Snow Falling on Cedars, was cast as Pumpkin in Memoirs of a Geisha. Nominated for Japan's Best Actress award for the film War and Youth, she received the International Actress of the Year Award from the Japan Film Critics for Picture Bride. She received a Best Actress nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards for Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train. A protmgm of Ken Watanabe's, young Suzuka Ohgo was also awarded a leading role in the film. After making her feature film debut opposite Watanabe in Kita No Zeronen, she was cast as Chiyo, the child destined to become Sayuri. About the Production Principal photography of Memoirs of a Geisha began last fall at Sony Pictures' Culver City lot with a traditional Japanese blessing led by Ken Watanabe, and wrapped under a rainy sky in the Shizuoka prefecture of Japan. The very first scenes were shot inside Nitta okiya, the fictional geisha household where much of the story takes place (Nitta is the family name). Young Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo), frightened and exhausted, has been dropped at the okiya doorstep by the icy Mr. Bekku (Thomas Ikeda). As Auntie (Tsai Chin) leads her through the house to be sized up by Mother (Kaori Momoi), Chiyo's new life - far from home and loved ones - begins. Marshall and his crew created the film's exotic and elaborate world on three soundstages in Los Angeles and also constructed an entire period geisha district, recreating ancient streets and even building a serpentine river on a sprawling ranch in Ventura County, California. In addition to the ritualized life of the okiya, the team depicted lavish parties, spring festival dance concerts, crowded streets scenes, a sumo match, formal teahouse entertaining, an explosive fight between Sayuri and Hatsumomo, the wartime occupation of a village, the post-war transformation of that village and much more. After moving to Northern California, the company continued filming at the Sacramento Railroad Museum, in the streams of the American River in California Gold Rush country, and on rugged coastal cliffs. The production continued on to Japan to capture authentic locations, rarely, if ever, seen in Hollywood films. These sites included Kiyomizu-tera, a Buddhist temple on stilts founded in 778 and rebuilt in 1633, and the Buddhist Yoshimine-tera, which dates back to 1029. The still waters at the Shinto Heian Jingu shrine in the heart of Kyoto provided an eloquent visual equivalent to Sayuri's mood in one of the film's final sequences, while the magical Fushimi Inari, where miles of orange Torii gates climb into the hills of Kyoto, was a fitting backdrop for a transformative scene with young Chiyo. The energy and spirit of this legendary Shinto shrine, where pilgrims pray for relief from their burdens, reflected the child's hope, determination and joy on the day she met the Chairman. Memoirs of a Geisha completed principal photography in a remote tea and tangerine-growing region near the town of Kawane-cho. The star of the final day's work was a vintage steam engine that crossed an old bridge over the Ohi River. At wrap, the American and Japanese crew gathered in a noodle shop-general store near the river to warm up and toast director Marshall. Mastering the Geisha's Art Over the course of her life, a geisha spends many hours in classes perfecting the arts that define her as a symbol of Japanese culture. In Sayuri's time, dance training and mastery of the three-stringed shamisen began long before a girl became a maiko, or apprentice geisha. By the time she was a full geisha, her subtle trademarks - the way she lowers herself to the floor, rises from the table, glides across a room and pours sake - have become second nature to her. To help his actors with these fundamentals, Marshall brought them to Los Angeles six weeks early for "Geisha boot camp," an intensive period of rehearsals and classes with a team of experts who guided the actors through the world of the geisha. "It was something very new to me," said Gong Li, a star in China since her 1987 debut in Red Sorghum. "We rehearsed every single scene, every word." The actresses rehearsed in kimonos to adapt to the weight, feel and flow of the elaborate garments. Dance classes helped them perfect geisha body language. "You cannot move like you are wearing jeans," observed Youki Kudoh, who plays Pumpkin. "You are restricted, so you reconstruct yourself. You learn to be elegant." Technical consultant Liza Dalby, the primary consultant to Arthur Golden on his novel, introduced the cast to the nuances of geisha demeanor. An author and cultural anthropologist, Dalby is the only Western woman to have lived and worked as a geisha in Japan. "Some of the things that were very difficult for me to learn then, like walking properly in a kimono, are things that I could help explain to the actresses," she said. She also coached them on playing the shamisen. "I was impressed by their ability to make their playing look real," said Dalby, an accomplished player herself. "Michelle Yeoh actually did learn to play - she has an incredible ear." Yeoh was motivated by her teacher: "Since Mameha is the epitome of geisha," she said, "I knew I had to be convincing to play the role. So I spent a lot of time watching Liza, whose geisha demeanor has remained with her." Dressing a geisha in a formal kimono is labor-intensive. Actor Thomas Ikeda, who plays geisha dresser Mr. Bekku, worked with kimono consultant Yuko Tokunaga and a fit model to learn the draping, drooping, criss-crossing, cupping and other technical fine points of the ritual. Marshall wanted Ikeda to master every step even though only parts of it would be filmed. "Rob told me my character was probably the son of a geisha," Ikeda confided. Sayuri's World Bringing Memoirs of a Geisha's textured atmosphere to the screen was a major challenge, as well as a rare opportunity to take the audience into a vanishing world. After realizing the obstacles to filming in an actual hanamachi, and after further scouting on several continents, the filmmakers decided to build their own geisha district. Production designer Myhre devised a detailed floor plan for the village with Marshall. Next came a full set of technical drawings for some 40 buildings and the construction of a quarter-inch model of the hanamachi, complete with toy cars and rickshaws and the carved path of a serpentine river. The model provided a frame of reference for many production decisions. "We put a small 'lipstick' camera inside the model so we could view on a monitor what it was like to be in there," said Myhre. "Rob and Dion played with it all the time, and even used it to plan a complicated crane shot." The geisha district or hanamachi was built at Ventura Farms, an immense horse ranch about an hour outside Los Angeles with mountains in the distance and 360 degree green valley views. In 14 weeks, a grazing pasture was transformed into five meandering blocks of cobblestone streets and alleyways. Construction coordinator John Hoskins and his crew began by grading a 400 foot x 400 foot pad, then cut a river through the center. About 250 feet long, 22 feet across and eight feet deep, the river had a re-circulating system that created the illusion of running water. Making the hanamachi user-friendly was imperative. "We marked it all out on the ground with stakes and strings so we could walk through it," said Myhre, "then acted out the scenes so that we could design around the action." The set was built with cedar, bamboo and clear fir. Black bamboo and sheets of cedar bark, both unavailable in the U.S., were shipped from Japan, along with fences made of woven grass and bamboo. Set decorator Gretchen Rau, a veteran of The Last Samurai, bought huge quantities of window coverings, reeds and mats while shopping for the film in Kyoto. To accommodate the shooting schedule's seasonal shifts, greens foreman Danny Ondrejko created four hand-made cherry trees for each time of year. Another major seasonal consideration was light. Although the location had many charms, it did not offer the flat winter light of Kyoto - another test of the filmmakers' creative mettle. Altering light by filtering it through a "silk" is a common technique, but covering an enormous set with a retractable silent grid cloth (aka "silk") was a bold undertaking. Key grip Scott Robinson and his crew had to cover nearly two acres with the largest freestanding structure ever built over a set. The fabric itself - 1.75 acres of sailcloth divided into six separate "rags" - moved across Kevlar lines suspended between two trusses. The rags could subdue light by day or keep out the dark at night, which allowed the filmmakers to shoot night for day. Anchored by tanks holding a million gallons of water and held together with 10,000 bolts, the trusses spanned 250 feet and were tall enough to accommodate 60-foot Condor lights. "A lot of thought went into the logistics and engineering," said Beebe. "We knew that wind would be an issue out there, and noise, with so much flapping material above us. We only got it done because a lot of brave people took a chance. It contributed immensely to the look of the film." Most buildings at the Ventura Farms set were only exteriors, but several had fully executed interiors on Sony soundstages. These included the Nitta okiya, the Yukimoto teahouse, Dr. Crab's clinic, the public baths and Mameha's apartment. The two-story okiya was designed to look about 150 years old. Much of Sayuri's story unfolds in its rooms - from her arrival as Chiyo on her first night in the city to the explosive fight between Hatsumomo and Sayuri years later. Many of the walls of these rooms were formed from paper-covered doors of the period - shoji - from Japan. The ranma, or intricately carved wooden grills above the shoji, were also Japanese antiques, along with most of the furnishings in the okiya. Myhre's team even found and reproduced vintage Japanese newspapers from the period to plug holes in the okiya walls for scenes when the household has fallen on hard times. Chairs were an anomaly in a world where everyone sat on the floor, so Myhre viewed his sets from that vantage point while designing, defining eye level as three feet from the floor. Beebe enjoyed the opportunity to explore the story's contrast between electricity and oil lamps on this set. "Rob loves a faded, aged aesthetic, an almost tobacco-stained world of layers and textures," he said. "We lit a lot of things in the okiya from oil lamps and flame. Those warm, flickering light sources added mystery and depth." Eight Yards of Fabric Sayuri's life journey was often likened to the flow of a river and her affinity for water was a constant visual motif in the film. "There are water aspects in almost all of her kimonos," said OscarR-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood. "The best one was at the end, a transparent blue-gray with a waterfall design that flowed from the obi to the hem." Marshall chose to tell Sayuri's story as if we were seeing the film through the prism of her memory, her long-hidden impressions of a bygone world, and wanted the feeling of a fable in the look of the principal characters. "She is sharing her youthful memories, the most dramatic episodes of her life," he said. "We wanted our lead characters to look the way Sayuri saw them - larger than life." Hatsumomo, played by Gong Li, wore much stronger colors and patterns than a real geisha would. Even her sleeve-length defied regulations. "Hatsumomo is a fashion character," said Atwood, "which to me means a person who doesn't wear fashion, but creates it. She wore kimonos with a huge amount of attitude. "The 1930s were a high point of the geisha world, so the principal characters had a lot of kimonos," Atwood continued. "It is a fairly simple garment - just eight yards of fabric - but what creates value are all the layers of technique involved. A really high-end kimono would have hand painting and shibori, a very specific dyeing technique, as well as hand-embroidery and a hand-woven, hand-designed obi. In Japan, it takes about a year to make one." In addition to creating exquisite kimonos for the film's leading ladies, Atwood outfitted hundreds of other characters including the peasants in a fishing village, the denizens of the thriving hanamachi, aristocratic party guests in Western finery, Japanese soldiers and desperate war evacuees and the post-war hanamachi population. "It seemed that almost every day we shot a huge scene that was completely different than the day before," she said. Atwood's department made more than 250 hand-finished costumes with a key crew of about 30 people at her Culver City workshop. Kimonos were made for characters of every socio-economic level, and for every season. The women's department even made geisha underwear and their white cotton tabi socks, which fasten on the side and separate the big toe. The liberties taken in designing for the principal characters did not apply to the hundreds of smaller characters and background players. "It was very important to us to know what was real in the time and place we were examining," Atwood emphasized. "I went to the archives at the Fashion Institute in Tokyo and saw great journalism from the period, images that were incredibly helpful." Kimonos for many background characters were rented from the Yuya Collection in Kyoto, which specializes in Japan's Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1990) periods. Other vendors were far-flung: England, Denmark, New York, Los Angeles. "I even bought beautiful antique kimonos from a Russian collector on eBay," Atwood said. The screening techniques of an on-site crew of textile artists headed by Matt Reitsma allowed Atwood to replicate and embellish designs from antique fabrics on new material. This team also dyed, stenciled, hand-painted and embroidered Sayuri's blue-grey waterfall kimono. The fabrics they created included the print used for the robes worn at the hot springs. The film's leading men wore western suits custom-made by Atwood's men's department - whose creations ranged from military uniforms for the General and his aides to banana fiber skirts for the village fishermen. Key specialty costumer Deborah Ambrosino created the spectacular eight-inch-high lacquered black sandals for Sayuri's dance solo. Today's geisha represent traditional, rather than modern Japan, but there was a time when they were trend-setters in their country, and elements of their unique style still recur in Western fashion. "It is a very special and beautiful look," said Atwood. "I think the low neckline in back will definitely be noted by the fashion world again soon." Every Hair in Place A geisha's pale skin, jet back hair and jewel red lips have been part of her signature for centuries, handed down inside the okiya from one generation to the next. Japanese-born make-up designer Noriko Watanabe followed the principles of traditional geisha make-up with the film's lead actresses, but she also softened some aspects of the look and exaggerated others to heighten the impact of their beauty. "To be geisha, they had to be chosen," she noted. "To be chosen, they had to be so beautiful and intelligent that they almost seemed untouchable." Watanabe anticipated the challenges that the geisha's white foundation would present on an American set. "Its texture and consistency are different from foundations we normally use for film," she said. "It dries fast and will streak if you don't work quickly." Watanabe spawned a new generation of geisha make-up experts by hosting workshops in Los Angeles before pre-production. "In the course of six weeks, we trained more than 100 people including about 65 high-level union technicians." The white foundation, worn by full geisha only for the most formal occasions, and by maiko whenever they appear in public, is applied to the face, neck, upper back and hands. The neck's seductive appeal is heightened by leaving two V-shaped peaks of bare skin at the nape - three for special occasions. Hair designer Lyndell Quiyou subtly updated classic geisha and maiko hair for the film. After steeping herself in historical books, prints and paintings, she spent the pre-production period creating looks with her team for a large cast of principals, dancers and extras. "Rob said, think of geisha on a Paris runway, and that's what we did," she said. "We made the shapes and silhouettes more modern and geometric." Overall, the look for the principals was a small head, except for Hatsumomo. "I made her wig really, really high," said Quiyou. "The higher it got, the better it looked, which is closer to traditional style. The extras also had a more traditional look." Finding the right look for Sayuri's dance solo was a special challenge. "I had been creating gigantic hairdos with big ornaments until I looked at what she had to do," Quiyou recalled. "I got a really long wig, parted it down the center, put it in a ponytail, and wrapped it in red. Then I added long pieces to make it very kabuki-looking and let it hang over her face like a curtain - really simple and quite beautiful." The Most Revered of the Geisha's Arts In the film, the heart and soul that Sayuri pours into her coming-out dance establish her as the brightest light in the hanamachi. Although a real-life apprentice would rarely if ever be featured in a solo, let alone dance with such abandon, Marshall opted for a Kabuki-influenced choreography for Sayuri's dramatic solo. The importance of dance in the geisha world resonated with Marshall and choreographer John DeLuca. "I wanted this one dance to convey to the audience the passion and turmoil in Sayuri's heart. It was incredibly exciting for us to blend our vision as artists with the beautiful traditions of Japanese dance in telling Sayuri's story." DeLuca, Marshall's supervising choreographer on Chicago, headed the Memoirs of a Geisha dance team. Denise Faye, also a Chicago veteran, was DeLuca's associate choreographer, and Miyako Tachibana, a teacher at Fujima Kansuma School in Los Angeles, was the Japanese dance consultant. The collaboration produced a unique hybrid, modern and new. "Japanese dance is very controlled and based on subtle, refined movements," said Tachibana. "Rob and John and Denise absorbed our fundamentals, then added their own experienced theatricality. It is magical." A picture of eight-inch-high, lacquered platform sandals, which courtesans wore to lead parades in ancient festivals, was a key element for DeLuca in creating Sayuri's dramatic solo. In his scenario, a grieving courtesan, abandoned by her lover, has decided to kill herself - a familiar theme in Japanese dance. "The first part of the dance I taught Ziyi was in the shoes, and she jumped right on them," DeLuca recalled. "She was fearless." The winter-themed dance is performed on a narrow runway or hanamichi (not hanamachi), making it more Kabuki-like. "That was Rob's idea," said DeLuca. "The narrowness made it even more difficult with the lights and the snow." Zhang agreed. "It was definitely a challenge, and I ended up swallowing huge mouthfuls of fake snow. When I first saw the eight-inch platform shoes, I thought they were props. Then John told me I had to dance in them!" "The dance involved a high degree of acting," she continued. "It was theater within theater. The music was haunting and very much suited the mood of the jilted woman." Zhang's commitment endeared her to Marshall. "I wonder if anything is too difficult for Ziyi," he mused. Tachibana felt the same way. "Being graceful in those shoes, making it look effortless, having the kimono flow and the parasol fall into place is a lot to think about. She handled it magnificently." DeLuca chose to make a statement with fans in the spring-themed maiko dance that precedes Sayuri's solo. "I decided to mix huge fans with small traditional ones and make the big ones see-through. It was another way of communicating that we are telling Sayuri's story as a fable, rather than strictly replicating geisha culture of the 1930s." A Dance Between Giants Nobu, the disfigured businessman played by Koji Yakusho in Memoirs of a Geisha, makes this bold declaration in his first conversation with Sayuri: "Three things matter in life: sumo, business and war. Understand one and you know them all." The sumo scenes in Memoirs of a Geisha were grand spectacles, befitting the reverence Nobu accorded the sport. The film's sumo stadium, with an 800-person capacity, was built on Sony's largest soundstage and filled with extras dressed in period finery. Mainoumi and Dewaarashi, who portray the lead sumo combatants, came to the film with a legacy as sumo superstars in Japan. The scene's referee was another real-life Japanese sumo celebrity, a living treasure among the nation's fans, known in the ring by the ceremonial title Kimura Shonosuke. Mainoumi, now a popular sumo commentator, was living proof of the sumo principle that a small man can use a large man's weight against him. Because his weight hovered around 220 pounds, he typically faced much larger opponents. Although there are no weight classes in Japanese pro sumo, there is a height requirement and Mainoumi fell short at the start of his career. Rather than give up his dream, he gained the height he needed with a silicone implant in his scalp. "Pound for pound, Mainoumi may be the greatest sumo wrestler ever," said Andrew Freund, the film's sumo technical advisor. "In every single match, he was fighting someone virtually double his size. It's really an honor to have had him in this movie." A sumo match usually lasts a matter of seconds and its outcome is determined by psychological as well as physical skill. "You release all of your power or ki in the moment of the charge," said Freund. "Anything can happen in that explosive moment." Of Special Note Creating music to underscore the drama of Sayuri's journey was an enormous enterprise that called for a composer who could convey the story's emotional intimacy, exotic setting and epic sweep. Marshall was thrilled when John Williams, a five-time OscarR winner, agreed to compose the score. "I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to compose a musical score for Rob Marshall's film, Memoirs of a Geisha," said Williams. "For year's I've admired Arthur Golden's remarkable book and it has been a wish come true to collaborate with my friends Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman on this extraordinary film." Williams' compositions feature both Eastern and Western instrumentation, and masters of the shamisen, koto, shakuhachi, taiko drums and other Japanese traditional instruments were among his Memoirs of a Geisha musicians. For several days at UCLA's Royce Hall, the ensemble also included Itzhak Perlman, the legendary violinist, and world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma - two concert musicians who have created many memorable moments on film. In Memoirs of a Geisha, Perlman's violin gives voice to "The Chairman's Waltz," while Ma's cello elegantly sets forth "Sayuri's Theme." "There were moments of pure magic at every stage of this project," reflected Marshall. "The sense of discovery was exhilarating, from the early days of research, through principal photography, and all during post-production. The scoring sessions were an absolute joy. To collaborate with artists of this caliber was a personal milestone for me, and their contributions added another wonderful layer of texture to the film." "My hope is that we have done justice to Memoirs of a Geisha," Marshall concluded. "Making the film was challenging, thrilling, sometimes frightening and always rewarding. We chose to tell the story as a fable, set in a world as enticing and unattainable as Sayuri herself." Geisha Glossary
The Cast ZIYI ZHANG (Sayuri) has, with each successive role, built on her unique reputation as an actress who can balance ethereal grace with uncommon intensity on the big screen. Zhang recently starred as a blind dancer/martial artist in House of Flying Daggers, a story of love and betrayal set in 859 A.D. Directed by Zhang Yimou and co-starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau, House of Flying Daggers was an official selection at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and received a Best Foreign Film nomination at the 62nd Golden Globe Awards. This year she starred in 2046 from critically acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wei. Zhang won the Hong Kong Film Critics' Society's 2005 Best Actress Award for her work in the film. An exploration of a writer's remembrance of things past, set against the backdrop of his efforts to write a futuristic novel, 2046 was in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and also stars Tony Leung and Gong Li. Zhang sang and danced opposite her male lead, Joe Odagiri, in Raccoon Palace, the new film from 82-year-old Japanese director Seijun Suzuki. Based on a traditional Japanese folk tale, the film's flights of fantasy are the trademark of this legendary director. Raccoon Palace was released in Japan in May. Zhang's most recent work also includes Jasmine Women, released in China this year. The film from first-time director Hou Yong also stars Joan Chen. Zhang won a Best Actress Golden Rooster Awards for her portrayal of three characters in this generational family saga set in Shanghai in the 1930s, 1960s and 1980s. In 2003, Zhang was seen in Zhang Yimou's first martial arts film Hero alongside Jet Li, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. The Rashomon-like tale of how a nameless assassin came to be sitting across from the omnipotent first Emperor of China was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, the Berlin Film Festival, and the 2003 Academy AwardsR. That same year she was also seen in Purple Butterfly from award-winning Chinese director Lou Ye. Purple Butterfly competed for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Zhang won the hearts of critics for her depiction of a young woman caught between love and duty during Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the 1930s. In 2002, Zhang was seen opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the audience favorite, Rush Hour 2. Prior to that, Zhang delivered a critically acclaimed performance in director Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Released in 2000, the epic martial arts tale of true love, adventure and intrigue also starred Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was nominated for an astonishing 125 awards. Zhang herself received 14 nominations, winning the 2001 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress and the 2000 Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress, among others. Zhang's first appearance on screen was also her first star turn. While still a student at Beijing's Central Drama College, she was offered the lead in Zhang Yimou's 1998 film The Road Home. Set at the start of China's Cultural Revolution in the 1950s, the film is an intimate account of a young girl's first love. The Road Home was awarded the Grand Jury Silver Bear at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Zhang grew up in Beijing. Her father is a government economist and her mother a retired kindergarten teacher. She has an older brother. At the age of 11, she was sent to boarding school at the Beijing Dance Academy where she began a six-year study of traditional folk dance. Upon graduation, she decided, on a lark, to take the entrance exam at the prestigious Central Drama College. She was immediately accepted. KEN WATANABE (The Chairman) gained worldwide recognition and a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination in 2004 for his memorable portrayal of "Kasumoto," the warrior and last leader of the Samurai in the epic The Last Samurai. Playing opposite Tom Cruise, Watanabe also received a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his Hollywood film debut. This year, Watanabe joined Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Michael Caine in Batman Begins. Watanabe played the immortal criminal genius Ra Al Ghul for director Christopher Nolan. Watanabe began his career with the Tokyo-based theater troupe, Madoka. His lead performance in the company's production of "Shimodani Mannen-cho Monogatari," directed by Yukio Nigawara, caught the attention of critics and the Japanese public alike. He also starred in the international comedy hit Tampopo directed by Juzo Itami. He made his television debut with "Michinaru Hanran" ("Unknown Rebellion") in 1982. His formidable screen presence in the Samurai drama series "Dokuganryu Masamume" led to additional roles in historical shows, such as "Oda Nobunaga" and "Chushingura," and the film Bakumatsu Junjyo Den. Other credits include "Ikebukuro West Gate Park," Space Travelers and Oboreru Sakana (Drowning Fish). In February 2003, Watanabe was seen in Shin Jinginaki Tatakai/Bosatsu (Fight Without Loyalty/Murder), an updated version of the popular Yakuza movie series. Upcoming for Watanabe are the Japanese films T.R.Y. and Memories of Tomorrow. MICHELLE YEOH (Mameha) is best known to international audiences as the intense swordswoman in Ang Lee's gripping Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the charming secret agent in the James Bond hit Tomorrow Never Dies, but the Malaysian-born actress has been knocking audiences out in Asia for more than two decades. Since stepping into the action-packed Hong Kong film world in 1984, she has starred in 20 films and challenged traditional views of Asian women with her portrayals of strong female characters. She clearly demonstrated that she is more than the world's action queen in the epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a performance that brought her Best Actress nominations at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards and the BAFTA Awards in 2001. She was also named Showest's International Star of the Year in 2001. Yeoh also received a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the 1997 Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in the historical drama The Soong Sisters. In addition, Yeoh is a film producer. In 2000, she established Mythical Films to nurture creative talent and produce high-quality Chinese films. She produced and starred in The Touch, a contemporary romantic action-adventure set in China and released in 2002. She also starred in and produced Silver Hawk, a comic superhero film released in 2004. Yeoh studied ballet in England before beginning her acting career. She lives in Hong Kong. KOJI YAKUSHO (Nobu) was a leading actor in Japan long before Western audiences discovered him in the 1996 original Japanese version of Shall We Dance? Yakusho's portrayal of the overworked businessman with a secret passion helped the romantic comedy break box office records for Japanese films released in the U.S. He has had leading roles in many important Japanese films and many of his films have been shown at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1997, Shohei Imamura's Unagi (The Eel) won the Palme d'Or, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Karisuma (Charisma) was selected for Director's Fortnight at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. In 2000, Shinji Aoyama's Eureka received both the Fipresci and Ecumerical Jury Awards, and Shohei Imamura's Akai hashi no shita no nurui mizu (Warm Water Under a Red Bridge) was shown the following year. Yakusho won the Tokyo International Film Festival Best Actor Award for his performance in the crime thriller Kyua (Cure) from writer-director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (a frequent collaborator) in 1997. Akai hashi no shita no nurui mizu also brought him the Best Actor Award at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2001. In Japan, Yakusho's performances in Shall We Dance?, Nemuru otoko (Sleeping Man) and Shabu gokudo brought him Best Actor Awards from nearly all the domestic film festivals in 1996. He's won Japan's top film acting award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role nine times to date. Other films starring Yakusho, which have been featured at overseas festivals include Nemuru Otoko (1996), Shitsurakuen (1997) and Dora-heita (2000). His recent film credits also include Jubaku: Spellbound (1999), Totsugekiseyo! Asama sanso jiken (The Choice of Hercules) (2002), Doppelganger (2002), Warai no daigaku (2004) and Lakeside Murder Case (2004). He most recently filmed the World War II drama Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean for director Shinji Higuchi. YOUKI KUDOH (Pumpkin) has been acting since the age of 12, when she made her film debut in the black comedy, The Crazy Family (Gyakufunsha kazoku), a cult favorite in Japan. For the next few years, Kudoh worked steadily in Japanese film, television and stage roles and lent her singing voice to the theme song of a popular animated television series. She made her American film debut in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train (1989), playing a rockabilly-loving Japanese tourist on a pilgrimage to Memphis. She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination in the Best Actress category for Mystery Train. In 1992, Kudoh became the youngest person ever nominated for the Japanese Academy's Best Actress Award for her performance in War and Youth (Senso to Seishun, 1991), the last film from the prolific and provocative director Tadashi Imai. Kudoh played two roles in Imai's social drama - a contemporary girl and a woman who loses her husband and child in the fire bombing of Tokyo. She was voted Best Actress of the Year by the Japan Film Critics for War and Youth and won the Blue Ribbon Award, among others. Kudoh was named International Actress of the Year by Japan's Film Critics for her work in Picture Bride (1994). Kudoh portrayed a frightened young woman who travels to Hawaii to marry a man she has never seen (a sugarcane worker played by Cary Tagawa) in this period drama, which won the Audience Award for Best Dramatic Picture at Sundance. In 1997, she and Russell Crowe starred as lovers on the run in the quirky thriller Heaven's Burning. Kudoh received her second Independent Spirit Best Actress nomination and a Golden Satellite nomination for her performance opposite Ethan Hawke in Scott Hicks' 1950's-era drama Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). In 2003, Kudoh starred in the family drama Kaze no Jutan (The Wind Carpet), a story set in Japan and Iran. Kudoh was also a producer on the film, which took three prizes at Iran's Fasil Film Festival. This past summer, she starred on stage in the musical "Claudia" with the popular Japanese rock band, the Southern All-Stars. Born in Tokyo, Kudoh lives in Los Angeles. She plays shamisen and guitar. KAORI MOMOI (Mother) was born in Tokyo and traveled to London at the age of 12 to study dance at the Royal Ballet Academy. After graduating from Japan's Bungakuza School of Dramatic Arts, she made her film debut in 1971 and has since become one of Japan's leading film and stage actresses, winning countless awards for her unique performances. Momoi has starred in more than 40 films since her 1971 screen debut in Kon Ichikawa's Ai Futatabi. She has worked with some of the best directors in Japan, including Akira Kurosawa (Kagemusha, 1980), Tatsumi Kumashiro (Seishun no Satetsu, 1974), Yoji Yamada (The Yellow Handkerchief, 1977 and Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, 1979), Shohei Imamura (Why Not?, 1981), Shunji Iwai (Swallowtail Butterfly, 1996), Jun Ichikawa (Tokyo Yakyoku, 1997), Koki Mitani (Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald, 1997), Yoshimitsu Morita (Like Asura, 2003) and, most recently , Takashi Miike in the film IZO. Momoi is also recognized as a fashion leader, popular among Japanese women and designers. Gakken Publishers recently published a series of magazines called "MOMOIKAORI" dedicated entirely to Momoi and her celebrated sense of style. In Japan, she is spokeswoman for SK-II, Max Factor's luxury cosmetics line. She currently divides her time among Tokyo, Paris, London and Los Angeles. TSAI CHIN (Auntie) is best known to American audiences as strong-willed "Auntie Lindo" in The Joy Luck Club. Her comic-tinged performance in Wayne Wang's critically acclaimed film adaptation of Amy Tan's novel was singled out for praise. A stage, film and television actress for more than four decades, Chin left her home in Shanghai for England at age 16. As the daughter of Peking Opera superstar Zhou Xinfang, she grew up loving theater and was the first Asian student to enroll at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Chin had her first theatrical success starring in the title role of "The World of Suzie Wong" in the West End. Years later, she showed London audiences a very different side playing Chairman Mao's wife in "Madame Mao's Memories." On Broadway, Chin starred in "Golden Child," which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play in 1998. Chin won an Obie Award for her performance in the drama by David Henry Hwang. She won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for her performance in "The Woman Warrior," a play based on Maxine Hong Kingston's classic memoir. Chin was on the London stage with Anthony Hopkins in Hwang's "M Butterfly" when Amy Tan brought a copy of The Joy Luck Club to her dressing room. Two years later, she took on the role of "Auntie Lindo" in the film version. Chin's early film roles included the daughter of Ingrid Bergman's character in Inn of the Sixth Happiness and Sean Connery's assassin in You Only Live Twice, as well as appearances in four Fu Manchu movies opposite Christopher Lee. Later credits include Red Corner, Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity and Sydney Pollack's The Interpreter. She has guest-starred on many television series including "Chicago Hope," "Sisters," "Strong Medicine" and most recently, "Grey's Anatomy." Chin first returned to her roots in 1981 to teach at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing where she directed the premiere production of "The Tempest" in China. Her best-selling autobiography, Daughter of Shanghai, was published first in England, and later in the U.S. by St. Martin's Press. Chin now lives in Los Angeles. CARY-HIROYUKI TAGAWA (The Baron) was born in Tokyo and sees his early life as great material for a movie about an immigrant kid in search of the "Promised Land" in 1950s America. His father, a Japanese-American career U.S. Army soldier, drove his wife and two sons in a '56 Chevy from California to his first mainland post, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. An Army brat's life gave Tagawa the background in drama that eventually lead to his acting career. His mother, Ayako, was an accomplished stage actress in Tokyo's Takarazuka Theatre during World War II. Although she inspired him to act, she was not supportive of his choice, knowing from experience how slim his chances to succeed would be. But Tagawa went from his first and only job as an extra to a S.A.G. card and a featured role in The Last Emperor within nine months. The film, which the Taiwanese government banned, won nine Academy Awards . It was the first of several controversial films early in Tagawa's career, which also included American Me, Rising Sun and Mortal Kombat. From eunuch to Japanese playboy, from evil sorcerer to surfing grandfather in Disney Channel's "Johnny Tsunami," from a silver back gorilla in Planet of the Apes to Pearl Harbor, Tagawa's film life has been as colorful as his own life experience. His latest project, "Faith of My Fathers" for A&E Television, represents another aspect of his career, a serious role with historical significance. Senator John McCain's life and Vietnam experience are the subject of the film. SUZUKA OHGO (Chiyo) was born on August 5, 1993 in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. She made her feature film debut this year in Kita no Zeronen (Year One in the North) opposite Ken Watanabe, who played her character's father. After working with her, he recommended her for the role of Chiyo. Her television credits include the dramas "Hitoni Yasashiku" (2002), "Dr. Kotoh's Clinic" (2003) and "Ai No Ie" (2003). She appeared onstage in "Oydipus" for director Yukio Ninagawa and has also appeared in commercials. GONG LI (Hatsumomo) is an acclaimed international star, who is making her American film debut as Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha. Gong's performances have been thrilling audiences around the world since her screen debut in Red Sorghum, which won the Golden Bear at the 1987 Berlin Film Festival and marked the beginning of a new era in Chinese film. Director Zhang Yimou, one of the first post-Cultural Revolution filmmakers (known as the Fifth Generation) to emerge from the Beijing Film Academy, made six more films with Gong after Red Sorghum. His Ju Dou (1990) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991), were the first Chinese films to be nominated for Academy Awards . Their collaborations also included The Story of Qiu Ju (1992), which brought Gong the Best Actress prize at the Venice International Film Festival and China's Golden Rooster Award, as well as To Live (1994) and Shanghai Triad (1995). Gong has made three films with Chen Kaige, another leading Fifth Generation director. The first, Farewell My Concubine (1993), was Oscar -nominated and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for Best Foreign Film, and prizes from top critics' groups. Gong Li received the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress for Farewell My Concubine. She also starred in Temptress Moon (1996) and The Emperor and the Assassin (1999) for Chen Kaige. She was seen last year in Zhou Yu's Train, her second film with director Sun Zhou, who also directed her in Breaking the Silence (1999). She won the Golden Rooster for Best Actress for Breaking the Silence. Gong has starred in two projects for Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, 2046 and The Hand, his segment of the three-part anthology film, Eros. She will next be seen in Michael Mann's Miami Vice opposite Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx and recently began filming, in Prague, Young Hannibal: Behind the Mask, written by Thomas Harris and directed by Peter Webber. Born in northeastern China in the Shenyang province, Gong graduated from Beijing's Central Drama College in 1989. She has headed juries at the Berlin (2000), Venice (2002) and Tokyo (2003) International Film Festivals, and in 1998 was honored by the French government with the title "Officier Des Arts et Lettres" for her contributions to cinema. She lives in Beijing. ZOE WEIZENBAUM (Young Pumpkin) was born in Seattle, Washington in 1991, but has grown up mostly in Amherst, Massachusetts. She began performing in a local African dance troupe, Umoja Too, under the instruction of the late Earline Robinson, and in local theater. She made her film debut opposite Danny Glover in Missing in America, filmed in 2003. She also had a lead role in 12 and Holding directed by Michael Cuesta in 2004, before being cast as Pumpkin. Since wrapping Memoirs of a Geisha, she has enjoyed studying in a performing arts middle school and preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. THOMAS IKEDA (Mr. Bekku) was born in Chicago and grew up in San Mateo, California. He graduated from the Universities of California and Michigan. He has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theaters. His favorite stage roles include: Tireisias in "Euripedes," "The Bacchae" at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Feste in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" at Buffalo's Studio Arena Theater, Chief Sitting Bull in Irving Berlin's "Annie Get Your Gun" at Atlanta's Alliance Theater, the Porter in Ugo Betti's "The Queen & The Rebels," Snug the Joiner (Lion) in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Baltimore's Center Stage, the Madam and Russian Admiral in the Off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's "Pacific Overture," the Coolie/Judge in Leonard Bernstein-Stephen Sondheim-John Guare's "The Race to Urga," an adaptation of Brecht's "The Exception & the Rule," directed in workshop by Jerome Robbins, and Rookie Carroca in Stephen Flaherty-Lynn Ahrens-Joseph Dougherty's musical adaptation of "My Favorite Year." Ikeda has also worked in film, television and commercials. He has three favorite film roles: The Instructor for corporate screw-ups in Ron Howard's Gung Ho, for which he learned his entire role in Japanese, the Master in Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon, for which he learned Zen archery, and most recently Mr. Bekku, for which he learned the art of dressing a geisha. The Filmmakers ROB MARSHALL (Director) most recently directed the award-winning film Chicago (winner of six Oscars , including Best Picture). For his work on Chicago, he received the Director's Guild Award, an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA nomination, as well as the National Board of Review Award for best directorial debut, the NY Film Critics Online Best Breakthrough Director Award and the American Choreography Award for achievement in film. Prior to that, Mr. Marshall directed and choreographed the critically acclaimed musical telefilm "Annie," which received 12 Emmy nominations and won the prestigious Peabody Award. For his work on "Annie," he received an Emmy Award, a Director's Guild Award nomination and an American Choreography Award. A six-time Tony Award nominee, Marshall co-directed and choreographed the worldwide award-winning production of "Cabaret," and directed and choreographed the Broadway revival of "Little Me" starring Martin Short. He made his Broadway choreographic debut with "Kiss of the Spider Woman" directed by Hal Prince, which also played London's West End, Vienna, Argentina, and Japan. He followed that with productions of "She Loves Me" (Broadway, London), "Damn Yankees" (Broadway, National Tour, London), Blake Edwards' "Victor/Victoria" (Broadway), "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (Broadway), "Company" (Broadway) and "The Petrified Prince" (Public Theater). In addition, Marshall has received the Outer Critics Circle Award, the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award and the Civil Rights Award, as well as nominations for the Emmy, the Olivier and the Drama Desk awards. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. ROBIN SWICORD (Screenplay by) is primarily known for her work as a screenwriter (Little Women, Matilda, Shag, The Perez Family, Practical Magic) and off-Broadway playwright ("Last Days at the Dixie Girl Cafm," "Criminal Minds"). The feature short film she wrote and directed, The Red Coat, starred veteran Oscar winner Teresa Wright and Annabeth Gish and premiered at the Aspen Film Festival. Her spec screenplay The Rivals, about the famed clash between actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse, will be produced by Dan Jinks & Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Big Fish) with Nicole Kidman to star as Bernhardt. Swicord is currently working on an original screenplay, The Jane Prize, about a family of Jane Austen scholars, which will be her feature-directing debut. Jinks & Cohen are set to produce for Columbia Pictures. She is also adapting Karen Joy Fowler's novel The Jane Austen Book Club for Columbia for producer John Calley. Born in South Carolina, Swicord grew up in rural north Florida and southern Georgia. Her plays, as well as her screenplay Shag (which takes its title from a Southern coastal dance contest), are centered on this part of the world. She began writing and making short films while studying English literature and theater at Florida State University. A short film Swicord made for IBM led to a "day job" in New York City, and allowed her to pursue her dream to work in theater and feature films. In 1979, she helped produce her play "Last Days at the Dixie Girl Cafm," which moved to Off-Broadway. In 1984, Norman Rene's theater company, The Production Company, presented "Criminal Minds" Off-Broadway. Both plays are published by Samuel French. In 1980, she sold her first screenplay, Stock Cars for Christ. In 1983, Swicord married fellow playwright and screenwriter Nicholas Kazan. They have two daughters and live in Santa Monica, California and Vashon Island, Washington in Puget Sound. Swicord is active in the Writers Guild of America West's Screenwriters' Council, and has also served on the WGA Foundation's board, where she helped start the WGA's educational outreach program. She has also been involved in the development and expansion of the Wildwood school in Los Angeles and, for 10 years, led the school's strategic planning. ARTHUR GOLDEN (Based on the Book by) was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and educated at Harvard College, where he received a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art. In 1980, he earned an M.A. in Japanese history from Columbia University, where he also learned Mandarin Chinese. Following a summer at Beijing University, he worked for a time in Tokyo. After returning to the United States, he earned an M.A. in English from Boston University. In 1994, after six years of work, he began the manuscript that would eventually become his first published novel, Memoirs of a Geisha. After its release in 1997, the novel spent two years on The New York Times bestseller list and, to date, has sold more than four million copies in English and been translated into 32 languages. LUCY FISHER (Producer) the former vice chairman of the Columbia Tri-Star Motion Picture Group, is partnered with OscarR-winning producer Douglas Wick as co-head of Red Wagon Entertainment. Together they have worked with some of the most accomplished filmmakers in the world. In addition to Memoirs of a Geisha, Fisher and Wick have another high-profile movie in release this year: Academy Award -winner Sam Mendes' Jarhead, from the acclaimed best-selling memoir by Anthony Swofford starring Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard. Their upcoming comedy RV, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld features Robin Williams' return to family comedy, and will be released in early 2006. Fisher served as vice chairman at Sony Pictures from 1996-2000. During her tenure, the studio broke all-time industry records for biggest domestic and worldwide gross in history with films she supervised, which included Men in Black, My Best Friend's Wedding, Air Force One, Jerry Maguire, Zorro, As Good As It Gets and Stuart Little. After leaving the executive suite in 2001, Fisher's first producing effort with Wick was Stuart Little 2, which reunited the original creative team and cast from the blockbuster Stuart Little. Fisher and Wick and their Red Wagon Entertainment then produced Peter Pan and Nora Ephron's Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Before moving to Sony, Fisher served 14 years as executive vice president of worldwide production at Warner Bros. There, she developed and supervised a diverse range of commercially successful, critically acclaimed films, including The Fugitive, The Color Purple, Gremlins, The Goonies, Malcolm X, The Bridges of Madison County, Space Jam, Empire of the Sun, The Outsiders, The Witches of Eastwick and The Secret Garden. She also shepherded the pickup of Michael Moore's debut, Roger and Me. Fisher began her career as a reader at United Artists. She then served as vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox before being named Head of Worldwide Production for Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Studios. In addition to her creative achievements, Fisher is considered a pioneer for women and working mothers in the entertainment industry. She was the driving force behind the on-site Warner Bros. Studio Children's Center, which opened its doors in 1992. It has since provided care for over 1000 children and served as a prototype for day care centers at other studios. Fisher's many awards include this year's Hollywood Film Festival "Producer of the Year" award as well as the Hollywood Award for Outstanding Achievement in Producing, the prestigious Crystal Award from Women in Film, Premiere magazine's Icon Award and the Jewish Image Awards' Industry Leadership Award. She was also listed as one of Fortune magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business and one of Mirabella magazine's 25 Smartest Women in America. A cum laude graduate of Harvard University, Fisher founded and serves as board member of the Peter Ivers Artist-in-Residency Program at Harvard. She is an advisor to the Los Angeles Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and is Co-Founder of CuresNow, an organization that promotes regenerative medicine and stem cell research, and was Co-Chairman of The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative (Prop 71, which was passed in the November 2004 election). She is now is on the board of the Alliance of Stem Cell Research. DOUGLAS WICK (Producer) has produced movies that have cumulatively earned more than $1.5 billion at the box office and been nominated for 20 Academy Awards with seven Oscar wins. Wick is partnered with Lucy Fisher, former vice chairman of the Columbia Tri-Star Motion Picture Group, as co-head of Red Wagon Entertainment. Together they have worked with some of the most accomplished filmmakers in the world. In addition to Memoirs of a Geisha, Fisher and Wick have another high-profile movie in release this year: Academy Award -winner Sam Mendes' Jarhead, from the acclaimed best-selling memoir by Anthony Swofford starring Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard. Their upcoming comedy RV, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld features Robin Williams' return to family comedy, and will be released in early 2006. In 2000, Wick produced Gladiator, which was directed by Ridley Scott and starred Russell Crowe, and received 12 Academy Award nominations and won five Oscars , including Best Picture for Wick. Gladiator also won two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture for Wick; four British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA), again including Best Film; AFI's Movie of the Year, the MTV Movie Awards' Best Movie and the Producers Guild's Golden Laurel Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award. Wick's beloved blockbuster Stuart Little, released in 1999, starred Academy Award winner Geena Davis and featured the voices of Michael J. Fox and Nathan Lane. Stuart Little became an instant classic, a top-selling video, and a family franchise. Together, Wick and Fisher produced Stuart Little 2, which reunited the entire original creative team and cast, earned a BAFTA nomination, and like its predecessor, became a worldwide hit. Wick and Fisher and their Red Wagon Entertainment produced Peter Pan and Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Wick's other films include Spy Game, which paired movie icons Robert Redford and Brad Pitt under the direction of Tony Scott. Hollow Man directed by Paul Verhoeven and Girl, Interrupted, which won Angelina Jolie both an Academy AwardR and a Golden Globe for her breakthrough performance. Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols, marked Wick's first solo producing effort. Starring Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl earned six Academy Award nominations, one Oscar and five Golden Globe Awards, including a first Best Motion Picture for Wick. Nichols later teamed with Wick to produce Wolf starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. Wick followed it with The Craft, the original teenage witch sensation. After graduating cum laude from Yale University, Wick began his career as a coffee boy for filmmaker Alan Pakula. He earned his first credit as associate producer on Starting Over. Wick has served on the Board of Trustees for The Center for Early Education in Los Angeles, and the Board of Directors for the Producers Guild of America. He is Co-Founder of CuresNow, an organization that promotes regenerative medicine and stem cell research, was Co-Chairman of The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative (Prop 71, which was passed in the November 2004 election). He is now is on the board of the Alliance of Stem Cell Research. Wick has been awarded the Saturn Award, the Los Angeles Father of the Year Award, Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Producer of the Year, the Motion Picture Club's Producer of the Year, the 2002 NATO ShoWest Producer of the Year, and 2002's Hollywood Award for Outstanding Achievement in Producing and most recently, this year's Hollywood Film Festival "Producer of the Year" Award. STEVEN SPIELBERG (Producer) One of the industry's most successful and influential filmmakers, Steven Spielberg has directed, produced, or executive produced some of the top-grossing films of all time, including Jurassic Park and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Among his myriad honors, he is a three-time Academy AwardR winner, earning two OscarsR for Best Director and Best Picture for Schindler's List, and a third OscarR for Best Director for Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg won his first DGA Award for his work on The Color Purple, and won again for Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. He has also been honored with Academy Award nominations for Best Director for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Additionally, he earned DGA Award nominations for those films, as well as for Empire of the Sun, Jaws and Amistad. With nine in all, Spielberg has received more DGA Award nominations than any director in history, and in 2000, he received the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute and the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Spielberg's newest film, a modern version of H.G. Wells' science fiction thriller War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto and Tim Robbins, opened in theaters June 29, 2005 He most recently directed The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, and Minority Report. Spielberg also wrote, directed and produced A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, which was realized from the vision of the late Stanley Kubrick. In 2000, Spielberg won the Stanley Kubrick Brittania Award for Excellence in Film, presented by BAFTA - Los Angeles. Born on December 18, 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg was raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona. He started making amateur films while still in his teens, later studying film at California State University, Long Beach. In 1969, his 22-minute short Amblin was shown at the Atlanta Film Festival, which led to his becoming the youngest director ever to be signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio. Four years later, he directed the suspenseful telefilm Duel, which garnered both critical and audience attention. He made his feature film directorial debut on The Sugarland Express from a screenplay he co-wrote. His other earlier film credits as director include Always, Hook, and the Raiders of the Lost Ark sequels Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1984, Spielberg formed his own production company, Amblin Entertainment. Under the Amblin banner, he has served as producer or executive producer on more than a dozen films, including such successes as Gremlins, Goonies, Back to the Future I, II, and III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, The Flintstones, Casper, Twister, The Mask of Zorro, Men in Black and Men in Black II. Amblin Entertainment also produces the hit series ER with Warner Bros. TV. Spielberg is a principal partner of DreamWorks SKG, which he co-founded with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen in October 1994. Under their leadership, the studio has enjoyed critical and commercial success, and has been responsible for some of the most honored films in recent years, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy AwardR winners: American Beauty, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind (the latter two co-productions with Universal). Spielberg has also devoted his time and resources to many philanthropic causes. The impact of his experience making Schindler's List, led him to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation using all his profits from the film. He also founded Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which has recorded more than 50,000 Holocaust survivor testimonies. More recently, Spielberg executive produced The Last Days, the Shoah Foundation's third documentary, which won the Academy AwardR for Best Documentary Feature. In addition, Spielberg is the chairman emeritus of the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, which combines the efforts of pediatric health care, technology and entertainment to empower seriously ill children. ROGER BIRNBAUM (Executive Producer) founded the production and finance company Spyglass Entertainment with partner Gary Barber, where they share the title of co-chairman and chief executive officer. Their company develops and finances all its projects independently, with such blockbuster hits as The Sixth Sense, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, the Vin Diesel comedy The Pacifier and the adaptation of the best selling book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Spyglass co-financed and Birnbaum executive produced the Columbia Pictures release The Legend of Zorro. For 2006, Spyglass has produced, financed and will internationally distribute three films: Stay Alive is a horror film set in the world of "gamers" and Stick It is a coming- of-age story with gymnastics as a backdrop. Both films are in post-production. The third film is Invisible, a psychological thriller helmed by acclaimed writer-turned-director David Goyer, and is currently filming in Vancouver. Also in 2006, Spyglass will start production on the live-action feature of the beloved classic cartoon series Underdog with Walt Disney Pictures, as well as the drama The Lookout with OscarR-nominated writer Scott Frank directing. Formerly, Birnbaum was chairman of Caravan Pictures, where he produced Rush Hour, Six Days/Seven Nights, Inspector Gadget, Grosse Pointe Blank, The Three Musketeers, Angels in the Outfield and While You Were Sleeping. Prior to that, Birnbaum was president of worldwide production and executive vice president of Twentieth Century Fox, where he developed such films as Home Alone, Sleeping with the Enemy, Edward Scissorhands, Hot Shots, My Cousin Vinny, The Last of the Mohicans, Die Hard 2 and Mrs. Doubtfire, among others. When he was president of production for United Artists, he developed the Oscar -winning Rain Man. Earlier in his career, he produced The Sure Thing directed by Rob Reiner and Young Sherlock Holmes. Prior to entering the film business, Birnbaum was vice-president of A&M Records and Arista Records. GARY BARBER (Executive Producer) founded Spyglass Entertainment with partner Roger Birnbaum, where they share the title of co-chairman and chief executive officer. Spyglass released the blockbuster film The Sixth Sense starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment. With its still-talked about surprise ending, The Sixth Sense earned $661 million worldwide and six Academy AwardR nominations, including Best Picture. Barber has also executive produced the highly acclaimed and OscarR-nominated Seabiscuit directed by Gary Ross and starring Tobey Maguire, as well as the mega-hit Bruce Almighty starring Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston. One of the all-time blockbuster comedies, Bruce Almighty grossed more than $485 million worldwide. In 2005, Spyglass produced the family comedy hit, The Pacifier starring Vin Diesel and directed by Adam Shankman (Bringing Down the House, The Wedding Planner) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based on the best-selling Douglas Adams book series. Spyglass also co-financed and Barber executive produced The Legend of Zorro starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas, directed by Martin Campbell. The year 2006 is shaping up to be a busy one for Spyglass with the release of three films: Stay Alive, is a horror film set in the world of "gamers" and Stick It is a coming- of-age story. Both films are in post-production. The third film is Invisible, a psychological thriller with acclaimed writer-turned-director David Goyer at the helm is currently in production. Disney's Touchstone label will release all three films domestically, while Spyglass with handle international markets. Also in 2006, Spyglass will start production on the live-action feature of the beloved classic cartoon series Underdog, as well as the drama The Lookout with OscarR-nominated writer Scott Frank directing. Spyglass Entertainment's motion picture slate also includes such critical and box office successes as: The Recruit starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell, and directed by Roger Donaldson, Shanghai Noon starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, The Count of Monte Cristo, a remake of the classic directed by Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce and Richard Harris and Keeping the Faith a romantic comedy starring Ben Stiller and Edward Norton. Barber also served as an executive producer on the hit film Unbreakable written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Bruce Willis. Barber has produced or executive produced more than 45 feature films including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and its highly successful sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, as well as the 1991 blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner, Young Guns II and Pacific Heights. PATRICIA WHITCHER (Executive Producer) most recently served as an executive producer on Steven Spielberg's dramatic comedy The Terminal starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. She is currently executive producing the feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls for writer-director Bill Condon. Whitcher's producing credits also include Brad Silberling's Moonlight Mile starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon, Where the Heart Is starring Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd and P.J. Hogan's smash hit My Best Friend's Wedding starring Julia Roberts, as well as How to Make an American Quilt, High School High and A Dangerous Woman. Before producing, Whitcher was the unit production manager on True Lies, The Meteor Man, The Lawnmower Man, Iron Maze and Darkman. Whitcher is a life-long Los Angeles resident and the mother of two children. BOBBY COHEN (Executive Producer) has, as President of Red Wagon Entertainment, combined filmmaker's sensibility with an executive's eye for detail as he oversees the company's wide-ranging slate of projects from pre-production through release. Cohen served as Executive Producer on Nora Ephron's Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. He also serves as executive producer on OscarR winner Sam Mendes' Jarhead starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Jamie Foxx and is currently overseeing Barry Sonnenfeld's comedy RV starring Robin Williams as a man who takes his dysfunctional family for a road trip to the Colorado Rockies, where they encounter a bizarre community of campers. The Columbia Pictures release also stars Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth. Prior to joining Red Wagon, Cohen co-produced Don Roos' Happy Endings starring an ensemble cast including, Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gylenhaal, Steve Coogan, Tom Arnold, Bobby Cannavale, Jason Ritter and Jesse Bradford. The film was the Opening Night selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. In 1999, Cohen founded Cohen Pictures, which had a multi-picture deal at Miramax. During that time, he produced the comedy View From the Top starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate, Candice Bergen, Kelly Preston, Mark Ruffalo and Mike Myers. He also was a co-producer on the romantic drama Bounce starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow. He executive produced the romantic comedy Down to You starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Julia Stiles and Lasse Hallstrom's The Cider House Rules starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Paul Rudd and Michael Caine, which took home Academy AwardsR for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Caine. Previously, Cohen was the Senior Vice-President of Production at Miramax Films. During his tenure at Miramax, Cohen served as executive producer on Rounders starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton and 54 starring Mike Myers, Neve Campbell and Salma Hayek. In addition, he was the executive on many other films including Clerks, Wide Awake, Smoke, The Pallbearer, Scream and Beautiful Girls. Cohen began his career at The Writers and Artists Agency in New York. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Katie and children Jack and Molly. JOHN DELUCA (Co-Producer, Choreographer) is a choreographer for stage, film and television, who collaborated with Rob Marshall on the choreography for the Academy Award -winning film Chicago and also choreographed the Chicago production number for the 75th Academy Awards telecast. His most recent credits include The Terminal for director Steven Spielberg and the recent national tour of "The Boy Friend" directed by Julie Andrews. He is a recipient of the American Choreography Award and the American Musical Theatre Award. For Broadway, DeLuca has choreographed "Minnelli on Minnelli" and directed and staged "Broadway Sings Elton John," as well as "Deborah Voight on Broadway." His New York credits also include "Sweet Adeline" for City Center Encores!, "Two Gentleman of Verona" for the New York Shakespeare Festival, and the premiere of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Old Globe. His national tours include "Chita and All That Jazz," "Brigadoon" and Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Music of the Night," while his regional credits include directing premieres of "Oedipus," "Private Eye," "Lucky Guy" and "The Gig," as well as productions of "Camelot," "Company," "Desert Song," "The King and I," "She Loves Me," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Mame," "West Side Story" and "Finian's Rainbow." DeLuca has also coached lead performances in many Broadway shows including Natasha Richardson in "Cabaret," Donna Murphy in "The King and I" and Rosie O'Donnell in "Seussical." A New Jersey native, DeLuca studied music at Boston University's School for the Arts. He began his dance training at the age of 17. His many performance credits include the Broadway productions of Bob Fosse's "Dancin'" and Michael Bennett's "A Chorus Line." DION BEEBE, ACS, ASC (Director of Photography) earned Academy AwardR and BAFTA Award nominations for his work on Rob Marshall's OscarR-winning Best Picture Chicago. This year, he received the BAFTA award for his work on Michael Mann's dark thriller Collateral and was nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers Award. He is currently director of photography on Mann's Miami Vice. Beebe's other recent film work includes Gillian Armstrong's biopic Charlotte Gray starring Cate Blanchett and Jane Campion's thriller In the Cut starring Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo. Beebe was honored with the Australian Cinematographers Society's Golden Tripod Award for In the Cut. Beebe was previously recognized by the Australian Cinematographers Society for his lensing of John Curran's Praise (which also brought him an Australian Film Critics Circle Award nomination) and the short films Down Rusty Down and Black Sorrow. In addition, Beebe won an Australian Film Critics Circle Award for John Hughes' What I Have Written and earned another nomination for his work on Clara Law's The Goddess of 1967. He is the winner of two Australian Film Institute Awards for his work on Eternity and The Space Between the Door and the Floor. In 2003, the Institute honored him with the prestigious Byron Kennedy Award, marking the first time that award had ever been presented to a cinematographer. Additional credits include Kurt Wimmer's sci-fi thriller Equilibrium and an earlier collaboration with Jane Campion, Holy Smoke. He also shot the films My Own Country, Memory & Desire, Floating Life and Crush. Born in Brisbane, Australia, Beebe grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and now lives in Los Angeles. His proudest moment is becoming a father for the first time on the production of Memoirs of a Geisha. JOHN MYHRE (Production Designer) previously collaborated with Rob Marshall on Chicago and won the Academy Award for his work on the 2002 film. Four years earlier, he received an Oscar nomination as production designer of Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth. He also received a BAFTA nomination for the sumptuous historical drama. Myhre has designed for contemporary and fantasy films, as well as period productions. In the fantasy realm, his credits range from Bryan Singer's superhero epic X-Men to Rob Minkoff's whimsical Haunted Mansion. His contemporary work includes Michael Mann's biographical Ali, John Duigan's social satire Lawn Dogs and the teen drama Foxfire. He designed the film adaptation of the classic Anna Karenina for director Bernard Rose. Earlier in his career, Myhre art directed Lasse Hallstrom's What's Eating Gilbert Grape? PIETRO SCALIA, A.C.E. (Film Editor) received his second Academy Award in 2002 for his work on Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down. It was Scalia's fourth film with the director for whom he also edited Hannibal, Gladiator and G.I. Jane. Black Hawk Down also earned him his third A.C.E. "Eddie Award" for best-edited dramatic feature film as well as a third BAFTA nomination. He also collaborated as music producer with composer Hans Zimmer and Ridley Scott on the soundtracks of Gladiator, Hannibal and Black Hawk Down. In 1992, Scalia won AcademyR, A.C.E. and BAFTA awards for editing Oliver Stone's JFK. In 1998, he received an Academy Award nomination for Gus Van Sant's Good Will Hunting. In 2001, his work on Gladiator was honored with his second A.C.E. and BAFTA Awards as well as a third Academy Award nomination. In October 2001, Scalia received the Hollywood Film Festival's Award for Outstanding achievement in film editing. Scalia's other editing credits include Little Buddha and Stealing Beauty for Bernardo Bertolucci, The Quick and the Dead for Sam Raimi and Playing By Heart for Willard Carroll. Last year he completed Levity, Ed Solomon's directorial debut, and joined the team of Masked & Anonymous as supervising editor and executive producer. He recently edited John Dahl's The Great Raid. The Italian-born Scalia moved from Switzerland to the United States to pursue a filmmaking education and received his MFA in Film and Theater Arts from UCLA in 1985. He began his career as an assistant editor for Oliver Stone on Wall Street and Talk Radio. He went on to contribute as an associate editor on Born on the Fourth of July and as an additional editor on The Doors. COLLEEN ATWOOD (Costume Designer) is an Academy Award winner for her work on Chicago. She was also Oscar -nominated for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sleepy Hollow, Beloved and Little Women. Atwood grew up in rural Washington state and understood from an early age that clothing can make a powerful statement. She began her film career as an assistant to designer Patrizia von Brandenstein on Ragtime in 1981, and earned her first solo credit as a costume designer three years later on Michael Apted's Firstborn. She collaborated with Apted again on the 1985 Sting concert film Bring on the Night, and also designed costumes for several subsequent Sting concerts and music videos. Atwood has demonstrated her versatility on a wide variety of films since then, collaborating with many top filmmakers. She has worked on four films with director Jonathan Demme, including Philadelphia, The Silence of the Lambs and Married to the Mob, in addition to Beloved. Her many collaborations with director Tim Burton include Big Fish, Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks!, Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands, which brought her a BAFTA nomination. Atwood's film credits also include The Mexican, Gattaca, Mumford, That Thing You Do!, The Juror, Wyatt Earp, Lorenzo's Oil, Love Field, Rush, Joe Versus the Volcano, Torch Song Trilogy, Someone to Watch Over Me, Manhunter, among others. JOHN WILLIAMS (Composer) is one of the most esteemed and prolific film composers of all time and the recipient of numerous honors, including five Academy AwardsR, three Golden Globe awards, a British Academy award, four Emmys and 18 Grammys. He won three of his five Oscars for his work on the Steven Spielberg films Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler's List. His other Academy Awards came for the unforgettable Star Wars score and the screen version of Fiddler on the Roof. Williams has also earned a remarkable 38 additional Oscar nominations, the most recent coming in 2004 for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The year before he was nominated for Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can and prior to that received dual nominations for his scores for Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence and the blockbuster Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. A master of every genre, he has created many of the most familiar themes in movie history, including the Oscar -nominated scores for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, and all three of Spielberg's Indiana Jones movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Williams' other Academy Award nominations have included Best Original Score nods for The Patriot, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Nixon, Sabrina, JFK, Home Alone, Born on the Fourth of July, Empire of the Sun, The River, The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, to name just a few. Williams' long association with Spielberg began with the director's first feature, The Sugarland Express, and has encompassed almost all of Spielberg's films, recently including Minority Report. Williams' latest film franchise credits include all three Harry Potter movies and George Lucas' second Star Wars trilogy. In addition to his feature film work, Williams has created themes and fanfares for several Olympic games, and also wrote an orchestral work to accompany Spielberg's film tribute to the new millennium, American Journey. He has also composed numerous concert pieces, including two symphonies, and a cello concerto premiered by Yo Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1994, as well as concertos for flute, tuba, violin, clarinet, bassoon and trumpet. Williams was also Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 14 highly successful seasons from 1980 to 1993. He still holds the title of Laureate Conductor of that famed ensemble, as well as that of Artist in Residence at Tanglewood. As a guest conductor, he appears regularly with many of the world's most renowned orchestras. LIZA DALBY (Geisha Consultant) is an anthropologist, writer and American geisha, was born in Rye, New York and grew up in Indiana. Graduating high school early, she first went to Saga, Japan in 1966 for a year before entering Swarthmore College. She spent several more years in Japan, including a year at Sophia University in Tokyo before getting a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Stanford University in 1978. Geisha were the subject of her dissertation and subsequent book, Geisha, first published in 1983. As part of her research, Dalby has the unique distinction of being the only American to have been accepted into their world and worked as a geisha herself. She has since written a book about Japanese clothing called Kimono - Fashioning Culture and a novel, The Tale of Murasaki. "ACADEMY AWARD(R)" and "OSCAR(R)" are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." |
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