Built in 1954, the majestic ocean liner Antonia Graza was the pride of the Italian Line. A vision of modern, sleek sophistication, the ship was nothing less than a work of art. Amenities provided for her passengers ensured that they would enjoy unrivaled luxury during their stay at sea; when guests were not unwinding in their spacious staterooms, they could socialize in one of the stylish lounges, enjoy sports and relaxation atop the liner’s broad decks, or take a refreshing dip in the stately swimming pool. The centerpiece of the Antonia Graza was its opulent grand ballroom, where couples would dance the night away to the romantic strains of a live orchestra. Chefs labored night and day in the galley preparing superb Italian cuisine to be served in the ship’s elegant dining room, and attentive crewmembers were always available, eager to provide their guests with anything they should desire. It was truly the journey of a lifetime.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment, a Dark Castle Entertainment production, Ghost Ship, starring JULIANNA MARGULIES, RON ELDARD, DESMOND HARRINGTON, ISAIAH WASHINGTON and GABRIEL BYRNE. Directed by STEVE BECK, the film is produced by JOEL SILVER, ROBERT ZEMECKIS and GILBERT ADLER. The screenplay is by MARK HANLON and JOHN POGUE, from a story by Mark Hanlon. The film is executive produced by BRUCE BERMAN and STEVE RICHARDS, and co-produced by RICHARD MIRISCH and SUSAN LEVIN. Music by JOHN FRIZZELL. The director of photography is GALE TATTERSALL; the production designer is GRAHAM “GRACE” WALKER; and the editor is ROGER BARTON.
But when the Antonia Graza set sail for America in the spring of 1962, her passengers were blissfully unaware of the unspeakable evil that would soon befall them, sealing their fates and ensuring that this journey would be their last…
Ghost Ship will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Although this film is not yet rated, Warner Bros. Pictures anticipates an “R” rating and is marketing accordingly.
“These Italian liners, they couldn’t compete for speed, so they built these floating art palaces instead. She was reported missing on the 21st of May, 1962 off the coast of Labrador. Funny thing is, there was no distress signal, no contact... she just disappeared, she was gone. Ever since that day, every captain and his mother’s been looking for her, hoping that she hasn’t gone down.”
The salvage crew aboard the tugboat Arctic Warrior is the best in the business. Under the leadership of Captain Sean Murphy (GABRIEL BYRNE), and with the expertise of salvage team leader Maureen Epps (JULIANNA MARGULIES), First Mate Greer (ISAIAH WASHINGTON) and technicians Dodge (RON ELDARD), Munder (KARL URBAN) and Santos (ALEX DIMITRIADES), they can locate any abandoned vessel, patch her up ‘till she’s seaworthy and drag her back to shore…for a price.
When Canadian Air Force pilot Jack Ferriman (DESMOND HARRINGTON) recruits the team to investigate a mysterious vessel he has spotted floating adrift off the coast of Alaska in a remote region of the Bering Sea, they discover the remains of the fabled Antonia Graza, thought lost at sea for more than 40 years. It’s a hell of a find – the salvage rights alone could be worth a fortune. And by the law of the sea, any vessel discovered on international waters can be claimed by whomever is fortunate enough to find her and skilled enough to haul her back to port.
But once onboard the eerie, cavernous ship, the crew of the Arctic Warrior discovers that the decaying vessel is anything but deserted. It’s home to something more deadly and horrific than anything they’ve encountered in all their years at sea.
Now the crew must uncover the truth about the ship’s past and unlock the mystery that threatens their very survival.
“The sea and the people who sail it are an endless source of mystery and fascination,” observes renowned producer Joel Silver, who along with his Dark Castle Entertainment partner Robert Zemeckis originated HBO’s classic late-night-fright series Tales of the Crypt and produced the hit feature films House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts. “Similarly, ghost stories are perennially captivating, but there has never been a satisfying marriage of the two. Ghost Ship appeals to the dark side of our nature that loves the thrill of being scared, that craves that adrenaline rush, and it also fuels our enduring curiosity about the mysterious and the unexplained.”
Indeed, Ghost Ship combines breathtaking high seas action with a sinister supernatural story set aboard the Antonia Graza, an errant luxury liner thought lost for more than 40 years. “With Thirteen Ghosts, we put a twist on the conventional haunted house narrative and heightened the tension by setting the film in a structure made almost entirely of glass,” Silver explains. “In Ghost Ship, the structure in question is a derelict cruise liner that was reported missing in 1962 and is recovered by an ambitious salvage team. Not only does the audience take a harrowing journey through this haunted vessel with our heroes, but they experience the same terrifying claustrophobia as the characters because escape is not an option. They’re out in the middle of the ocean where there’s nowhere to run and no place to hide.”
Add a cargo hold containing a fortune in unmarked gold bullion and eerie visions of the doomed ship’s original passengers and crew…and the stakes are raised to chilling depths for a land-starved cast of characters whose judgment is increasingly clouded by temptation.
Informed by legends like that of the Marie Celeste – described in the film as a twin-masted brigantine that departed Charleston, South Carolina bound for London only to be discovered 59 days later, abandoned and sailing off the coast of Tripoli with no one at the helm, no sign of distress and its cargo intact – Ghost Ship delves into thematic territory explored in both House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts: the effect of greed on ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.
“In Ghost Ship, House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts, the characters are ultimately undone by their own desire for some form of material gain,” Silver notes. “In one sense they’re the victims of the evil they encounter, but at the same time, it’s their own avarice that conjures up that evil and empowers it to destroy them.”
When the salvage team aboard the Arctic Warrior recovers the hulking remains of the once-magnificent Antonia Graza, they appear to have hit a potential jackpot. If they can repair and tow her back to shore, the ship could bring in the biggest payday they’ve ever seen. Although the crew had been headed for Anchorage after six months at sea, the possibilities are too rich to ignore…especially when they discover that the ship holds a priceless secret.
“This small group of people finds enough gold to change their lives a hundred times over,” muses Ron Eldard, who plays cynical salvage technician Dodge. “Put under this kind of pressure, people reveal their true selves: Who are you really? And what really matters to you?”
What the crew finds is that they are no less susceptible to the lure of ill-gotten gold than the ship’s original inhabitants seem to have been. But will they meet with the same nightmarish fate?
Salvaging is tricky business and extremely dangerous work; damage to sunken or abandoned vessels is repaired via underwater welding and construction, often executed in rough waters and usually in the freezing cold.
The crew onboard the tugboat Arctic Warrior has been sailing together for years, hunting down ocean-going vessels lost or abandoned at sea and raising them from the dead in the hopes of returning the craft to its owners, or claiming lucrative salvage rights. It takes a collaborative effort to succeed, and each crewmember has their own specialty that makes them integral to the operation.
Salvage team leader Maureen Epps is “the heart and backbone of the crew,” according to Ghost Ship director Steve Beck, who also helmed Dark Castle’s successful 2001 Halloween release Thirteen Ghosts. “Epps is strong as a hurricane. She co-exists well with the guys because she’s forced them to understand that she’s their equal, if not their leader. They accept this fact completely and she’s able to push them to whatever limits are necessary to carry out their operations.”
In casting this crucial role, the filmmakers needed to find an actress who could convincingly embody the crew’s tough yet compassionate leader. They found everything they hoped for and more in Julianna Margulies, best known for her Emmy-winning role as Nurse Carol Hathaway on the celebrated television series ER. “Julianna has tremendous strength and intelligence, as well as the empathy that the role requires,” says Silver. “At the end of the day, you know she can hold her own on a salvage tug, under water or in the face of an otherworldly evil.”
“Epps is the crew’s Jack-of-all-trades,” Margulies describes. “She’s second in command on the Arctic Warrior and part owner of the salvage business, as well as a diver and navigator. Her nature is to jump into something when she probably shouldn’t and take on the challenge of making it work. Unlike the others, she doesn’t have much of a family, which is why the boat has become her life. She spends days at sea and it’s rough and dirty and smelly out there, but she really loves it.”
Epps’ partner in the salvage operation and the commander of the Arctic Warrior crew is Captain Sean Murphy, played by internationally acclaimed actor Gabriel Byrne. “The audience has got to have immediate faith in Murphy – he’s been at sea his whole life, he knows all its lore and he’s seen things the others haven’t seen,” says Silver. “Gabriel Byrne exudes a strong sense of authority and the confidence that comes from a life rich with experience.”
“I always had Gabriel in mind for Murphy,” Beck admits. “He has that intensity that the role demands, and a genuine sense of sorrow in his eyes that brought increased depth to the character.”
According to Byrne, Murphy is “somewhat cynical and jaded – a man who has become a little bit tired of life. He’s a seafaring man who’s addicted to travel and restless in the way that many sailors are. In the early days it was sailors who created history by pushing the limits of the known world further and further. The impermanence is very attractive to them – I find people who live like that quite fascinating. In fact, I’m a bit like that myself.”
Byrne was also drawn to the film by his appreciation for the Dark Castle genre. “I enjoy spooky films that are eerie and a little unsettling,” he reveals. “I also thought that the central idea of this film was very intriguing: the notion of a haunted ship that brings out the worst in people.”
For the pivotal role of Jack Ferriman, the pilot who spots the Antonia Graza floating in the Bering Sea and conspires with the Arctic Warrior crew to claim her, the filmmakers cast Desmond Harrington, who has appeared in the films We Were Soldiers and Riding in Cars with Boys.
“Ferriman is a fairly reclusive guy,” Harrington says. “He flies weather patrol in very remote areas and he’s a bit timid in regards to interacting with people. So when he suddenly finds himself out at sea with this incredibly tough salvage crew, it’s quite a shock for him. But at the same time, they intrigue him – particularly Epps.”
Epps has another admirer aboard the Arctic Warrior. Dodge, played by Ron Eldard, is “somewhat of a joker,” says Beck, “but he’s harboring serious feelings for her. He’s there to give the story humor and edge and Ron does all of that and more.”
“Dodge is just one of guys,” comments Eldard. “He’s pretty easy-going, but he’s always watching Epps’ back. While some of the crewmembers are being visited by these apparitions, Dodge is only concentrating on trying to get the ship working again – he’s not aware of the supernatural goings-on.”
Isaiah Washington was drafted to play Greer, the tugboat’s First Officer and by far the most straight-laced member of the team. “Greer is a gentleman who’s searching for his place in the sun,” says Washington. “He’s at that point where he wants to strike out on his own, but while he’s there on the boat he knows he has to toe the line. He gets caught up with a very mysterious character on the ship, which takes him in a different direction than the rest of the crew.”
New Zealand actor Karl Urban and Australian actor Alex Dimitriades were cast as crewmembers Munder and Santos. “Santos is the tug’s engineer,” says Beck. “He can fix anything onboard the boat – with the exception of his somewhat combative relationship with Captain Murphy.
“Munder is the crewmember whose technical skills are most valued aboard the boat,” Beck continues. “He’s a bit of a genius at the mechanical aspects of life, but he dresses like a slob, eats like a slob, acts like a slob – he’s pretty much a slob, period.”
“Munder’s a really laidback guy but he’s very good at his job,” comments Urban. “He’s a marine engineer and his area of expertise is the structure of the ship and how to repair and salvage. I was attracted to that contrast of him being quite a slacker yet also being so capable with his work.”
Rounding out the principal cast is Australian actress Emily Browning as Katie, the ghost of a young girl who may be the key to unlocking the mystery of the Antonia Graza. “Katie is really a very sweet girl,” says Browning, who had to perfect an English accent for the role. “She’s completely innocent but at the same time she wants to take revenge on the people who hurt her. She’s been hoping someone would come onto the ship to be her friend, so when Epps arrives she’s very excited – they develop a real friendship.”
“Emily did an amazing job,” Beck enthuses. “She gave Katie a real complexity. Although her motivation is ostensibly to help the crew escape, she’s not just a little girl caught up in a ghost story – underneath it all, Katie is looking to take her revenge.”
In characteristically sinister Dark Castle style, Ghost Ship is rife with tension from beginning to end. At its core, the film is a haunted house story set on the open sea, and the production design for the Antonia Graza sets needed to invoke an appropriately unsettling atmosphere.
“These characters are not simply trapped in a dangerous situation that they have to escape from,” Silver emphasizes. “They’re literally in the middle of nowhere. There’s no help coming and there’s no way to escape. The sets are crucial in creating an extremely menacing, foreboding sense of being trapped not only on the ship, but in the vastness of the ocean.”
Early on, the filmmakers made the decision not to film onboard an actual ship. “The temptation was always to shoot on the real thing,” Beck says. “We actually visited a few of them, but every time we thought, ‘How are we ever going to get a dolly through this alley? Or down this hallway?’ When you’re shooting you often have to punch through a wall in order to get the shot you need, and on a steel ship that’s impossible. We knew the real thing would be far too limiting.”
Instead, they decided to build a ship of their own. Finding a production designer who could rise to this unique challenge was key. “Our production designer, Grace Walker, built some truly incredible sets,” says Silver. “We first see this majestic ocean liner in all its glory, then we see it after it has been sitting derelict in the ocean for forty years, and it’s believable in both of its incarnations. It’s an amazing transformation.”
Walker, whose credits include Queen of the Damned and The Island of Dr. Moreau, says that constructing the various parts of an ocean liner was an enormous undertaking. “I’ve never been asked to build a ship before – it was very interesting! Among the sets we built were a life-size foredeck and bow, an engine room and an elaborate ballroom.”
The Antonia Graza’s bridge was one of the director’s favorite set pieces. “I think it is atmospheric, very bizarre and creepy – it has the air of a graveyard,” says Beck. “I was thrilled with the entire design work.”
Walker also enjoyed creating the ship’s opulent ballroom. “All the ocean liners of the day had fantastic ballrooms that were extraordinary in their detail – they employed Italian designers to transform their ships into works of art. We modeled ours on the Andrea Doria, which was one of the great Italian liners of the 1950s. The design was just magnificent, and we had a good deal of reference books that we were able to draw from.”
Parts of the sets were actually used out on the open seas, so it was imperative that the design met certain criteria. “We enlisted the assistance of naval architects,” says Walker, “to help us with the design of the ship’s hull, to make sure we got the shape right and that it would be seaworthy.”
The ship’s sizeable foredeck had to be built out on location. “It was a full scale replica, so it wouldn’t have fit into a studio,” Walker explains. “It also needed to have sky backgrounds surrounding it, so we built it on a hill to achieve the desired effect.”
Another major challenge that Walker and company faced was ensuring that the Graza’s engine room set could endure being repeatedly flooded with water for days on end. “We built the engine room in a water tank on one of the stages. I had some concerns about the amount of water that it needed to withstand, but in the end it held up very well.”
To accommodate the movie’s 40-year time span, the Antonia Graza had to be built to look as it would have in its glamorous heyday, then be aged into its present state of total decay. This process – which is often much more time-consuming than creating the illusion of a new and pristine set piece – required an art department crew of over 250 people working round the clock to age the sets.
According to Gabriel Byrne, Walker’s sets “are the most impressive that I’ve ever worked on. A work of brilliance when you consider they built an entire ship.”
“They really did an amazing job,” agrees Julianna Margulies. “When you spend twelve hours a day on a cold, damp, dark, smoky set it does have a very spooky effect. It really puts you in the moment.”
Visual effects, including CGI and the use of miniatures, played a large part in the creation of Ghost Ship. “We had to create an immense ocean liner and a big tugboat with a macho personality all its own,” says producer Gilbert Adler. “We felt the best way to retain the scope of the film in the special effects shots would be through the use of miniatures. Of course, our ‘miniature’ ocean liner was in fact about thirty-five feet long and weighed several tons.”
“I personally think miniatures photograph much better than CGI,” Beck says. “You have more control over the texture and the detail.”
Visual effects supervisor Dale Duguid had a litany of reasons not to create an entirely computer-generated ocean liner. “The Antonia Graza is very complex,” he explains. “In both its brand-new and thoroughly disintegrated conditions it’s immensely detailed, and the geometry required to replicate something like that in a 3D CGI model would be enormous. Then there’s the complexity of creating a realistic-looking ocean. So we decided that to create a convincing boat and achieve the rich texture that Steve really wanted, it would be far better to use a miniature ship on a real ocean.”
The film’s effects were created through the combined effort of multiple 3D CGI teams, a compositing team, a motion control team and all of the miniature builders. Duguid stresses the importance of collaboration in the creation of a credible illusion. “When all of these elements come together, the end result is that anyone watching the film won’t notice the majority of the special effects at all.”
The various spirits inhabiting the Antonia Graza have quite an impact on their mortal visitors and the filmmakers went to great pains to give them the impression of corporeality. “Ghosts should always be as shockingly realistic as possible,” asserts Beck, “because that’s when they have the most power. The minute you introduce an effect on top of that I think the beast essentially loses its fangs.”
“All of our ghost effects are derived from physical props or actors,” Duguid adds. “Their grace and beauty is a result of how we took that live action footage and effected it. We wanted to give the ghosts a greasy, transitional quality. Things of the real world are generally solid and warm and rich, but things from the ghost world are bled of color saturation and their presence is temporal – they’re there, then you blink and they’re gone. It’s that kind of dynamic and movement that we wanted to evoke.”
Prosthetic designer Jason Baird and special effects makeup artist Howard Berger were on board to provide the blood and gore that gives the film some of its shock value. Beck values the team’s ability to “induce those instantaneous frights at the appropriate moments. They both have a great understanding of what I call the ‘sticky red’ medium.”
“We certainly had our work cut out for us,” Berger says. “There’s a pretty good body count, which required lots of major make-up effects and blood and guts.”
“We also had to make dummies of some of the characters,” says Baird, “such as a full-size waterproof replica of Captain Murphy to use whenever there was an effect that Gabriel Byrne couldn’t do himself.”
The considerable amount of visual effects in Ghost Ship also meant a good deal of “green-screen” work for the actors. In this technique, an actor is filmed in front of a pure green background. In post-production the green areas are removed and replaced with a background scene photographed at another time, giving the realistic illusion that the actor is actually “in” that scene. While convincing to audiences, this method presents a unique challenge to the actors.
“My green-screen work was the most exciting aspect of the project for me,” recalls Isaiah Washington, “because it really drives home this art form called acting. You have nothing there in front of you to work off of and there are a lot of technical things you have to abide by – everything has to be pinpointed, which forces you to be even more focused. It was a huge challenge for me to work in that way, but Steve was very clear on what he wanted and I trusted him completely.”
The filmmakers found the perfect shooting location for Ghost Ship at the Warner Roadshow Studios on Australia’s Gold Coast. “I had an excellent experience making all three Matrix films in Australia,” Silver recalls. “The country is very diverse and conducive to film production, and Australian crews are some of the best that you’ll find in the world. It’s a great place to shoot a movie.”
ABOUT THE CAST
Emmy and Screen Actors Guild award winner and Golden Globe nominee JULIANNA MARGULIES (Maureen Epps) gained recognition for her portrayal of Nurse Carole Hathaway in the critically acclaimed series ER. Margulies received her sixth straight Emmy nomination for the 2000 season and twice won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in a Dramatic Series for the program.
RON ELDARD (Dodge) made his screen debut in Nancy Savoca’s independent fable True Love. His most recent work includes Fisher Steven’s Just A Kiss with Kyra Sedgwick and Marisa Tomei and Ridley Scott’s box office hit Black Hawk Down.
DESMOND HARRINGTON (Jack Ferriman) booked the first film that he ever read for, Joan Of Arc starring Mila Jovovich, John Malkovich and Dustin Hoffman and directed by Luc Besson. He then starred with Ben Affleck and Giovanni Ribisi in Boiler Room. He starred with James LeGros and Amber Valetta in Stacy Cochran’s Drop Back Ten, which competed at the Sundance Film Festival, and recently completed the independent film, Massholes.
ISAIAH WASHINGTON (Greer) has been featured in four acclaimed films directed by Spike Lee: Clockers, Get on the Bus, Girl 6 and Crooklyn. Washington can currently be seen alongside Sam Rockwell and William H. Macy in Warner Bros. Pictures’ Welcome to Collinwood, directed by the Russo brothers, and will soon star alongside Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett in Revolution Studios’ Hollywood Homicide, written and directed by Ron Shelton.
GABRIEL BYRNE (Captain Sean Murphy) is not only a gifted and highly acclaimed actor, but an Academy Award nominated Producer and Tony Award nominated stage actor as well. Returning to Broadway in 2000, he was nominated for the prestigious Tony Award for his lead role as James Tyrone Jr. in Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten in a hugely successful revival.
At the age of 18, after an Australia-wide search, ALEX DIMITRIADES (Santos) was chosen for the lead in the feature film The Heartbreak Kid. This critically acclaimed hit film went on to become the launching pad for an illustrious film and television career.
KARL URBAN (Munder) will next be seen as the character Éomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson’s acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
EMILY BROWNING (Katie) commenced her acting career at a very young age. She appeared in several productions for The Learning Co-op in Hurstbridge, Victoria, including Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Her professional debut was in the role of Opal Ritchie in The Echo of Thunder, which starred Judy Davis. Other work includes the children’s series Thunderstone; High Flyers and Forest of Dreams; Something in the Air for the ABC; the recurring guest role of Hayley Fulton in Blue Heelers for Channel 7; the guest lead of Christie in Halifax f.p. - Playing God and the miniseries After the Deluge, starring Rachel Griffiths and Hugo Weaving.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
STEVEN BECK (Director) helmed his first full-length feature film with Dark Castle Entertainment’s Thirteen Ghosts. Previously Beck served as visual effects art director for such films as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; The Hunt for Red October and the Academy Award-winning The Abyss.
JOEL SILVER (Producer) is one of the most successful producers in the motion picture industry today. His films have earned a combined gross of over $3.8 billion worldwide, averaging over $100 million per picture. His 1999 production The Matrix grossed over $456 million worldwide, earning more than any other Warner Bros. Pictures release in the history of the studio. Universally acclaimed for its groundbreaking storytelling and visuals, The Matrix also won four Academy Awards, including the award for Best Visual Effects.
A master artisan, Academy Award winning director ROBERT ZEMECKIS (Producer) is quickly securing his place in history as one of the preeminent filmmakers of our time. His films, which include Romancing the Stone, the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Death Becomes Her, Contact and the critically acclaimed Forrest Gump – for which he received both an Academy Award and a Globe for Best Director – have achieved worldwide grosses in excess of $2 billion.
GILBERT ADLER (Producer) is a multiple CableACE Award-winner, having served as writer, director and producer on a long list of television and motion picture projects. Adler’s 10-year relationship with Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver has produced four films: Thirteen Ghosts; House on Haunted Hill and Demon Knight, all of which Adler produced, and Bordello of Blood, which he produced, directed and co-wrote.
MARK HANLON (Screenwriter) was born in San Francisco, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology from UCLA in 1984, after which he worked as a cinematographer and editor in television news and documentaries for clients such as Britain’s ITN and CBS News.
JOHN POGUE (Screenwriter) graduated from Yale in 1987, and currently lives in Los Angeles. In 2001, he served as executive producer on The Fast and the Furious, directed by Rob Cohen, starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. He also co-wrote Rollerball, directed by John McTiernan, starring Chris Klein, LL Cool J and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. In 1999, he produced with Neal Moritz and wrote the secret society thriller The Skulls, also directed by Rob Cohen. The Skulls starred Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker. Pogue directed the 2nd Unit on the film. Prior to The Skulls, Pogue wrote Warner Bros. Pictures’ U. S. Marshals, the spin-off of The Fugitive. U.S. Marshals starred Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes and was directed by Stuart Baird.
BRUCE BERMAN (Executive Producer) joined the production division of Warner Bros. Pictures and rose through the executive ranks to become President of Worldwide Theatrical Production. Under his aegis, the studio produced and distributed such titles as the Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy, as well as GoodFellas, Presumed Innocent, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, Batman Forever, Malcolm X, The Bodyguard, JFK, The Fugitive, Dave, A Time To Kill and Twister.
“This production required us to be out on the water for quite some time,” Adler adds, “so it made a lot of sense to film in a place that had those facilities. The Gold Coast was ideal – we were able to film out on the water with relative ease, and in very good conditions.”
Since the bulk of Ghost Ship takes place out at sea and beneath the surface, the actors took on the additional challenge of performing stunts in and under water. “I really had to get into shape to play Epps and I trained throughout filming on top of the fourteen-hour workdays,” says Margulies, who enjoyed the physical challenges the role afforded her. “There was a lot of underwater work that involved scuba diving – luckily I was already a fully qualified scuba diver. I did have an amazing stunt double and I was in awe of what she was able to do. At one point when we were out filming in the water they had to put the shark nets out because apparently several sharks had been seen in the area.”
Unlike his co-star, Byrne didn’t relish the stunt work. “To be honest,” he admits, “I really don’t like stunts at all because I’ve had some bad experiences in the past; being lit on fire and thrown into the water, things of that nature. But it turned out to be a very good shoot and the crew was just incredible. I really loved Australia – I’m very keen to work there again.”
Margulies recently completed filming Bruce Beresford’s Evelyn opposite Pierce Brosnan. Last winter, Margulies completed a successful run at Lincoln Center in Jon Robin Baitz’s Ten Unknowns, for which she won the Lucille Lortel Award. She was last seen with Anjelica Huston and Joan Allan in TNT’s original The Mists of Avalon, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Margulies will next star opposite Andy Garcia and Mick Jagger in the upcoming film The Man From Elysian Fields.
Margulies’ feature film credits include What’s Cooking, an ensemble drama directed by Gurinder Chadha, which opened the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, Richard Linklater’s The Newton Boys, Boaz Yakin’s A Price Above Rubies, Jack Green’s Traveller and Bruce Beresford’s Paradise Road.
Theater credits include The Vagina Monologues, both off-Broadway and the Los Angeles premiere, Fefu and Her Friends for the Yale Repertory Theatre, The Substance of Fire at the Aolso Theatre, Living Expenses, Dan Drift and Book of Names at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, and Intrigue with Faye at the NY Stage and Film Festival. She also appeared on stage in The Lover, In the Boom Boom Room and Balm in Giliad.
After a brief appearance in Marty Brest’s Scent Of A Woman, Eldard starred opposite Cameron Diaz and Courtney B. Vance in Stacy Title’s black comedy The Last Supper. He then starred opposite Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt and Billy Crudup in Barry Levinson’s Sleepers, followed by a role in the blockbuster Deep Impact, with Morgan Freeman and Robert Duvall. Eldard then turned again to comedy, starring opposite Russell Crowe in the light-hearted Mystery Alaska.
Recent stage work includes his performance in the Tony Award-winning production of Death Of A Salesman. In 1999, Eldard perfomed in Neil LaBute’s BASH, with Calista Flockhart and Paul Rudd, which was filmed and aired on Showtime.
His work in off-Broadway theater included productions of Aven U Boys, directed by Fred Zollo and Servy ‘n’ Bernice 4ever, directed by Terry Kinney. Eldard wrote a one-man show, Standing Eight Count, which he performed at Naked Angels, then went on to star in the Broadway production of On The Waterfront.
On television, Eldard starred in the series ER opposite Julianna Margulies, and the NBC half hour comedy Men Behaving Badly. He starred opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in Angelica Huston’s critically acclaimed Bastard Out Of Carolina, and as the lead in the HBO original movie When Trumpets Fade, directed by John Irvin.
In 2001 audiences saw Harrington co-star in Christine Lahti’s feature film directorial debut, My First Mister, opposite Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and in Riding in Cars with Boys opposite Drew Barrymore and Brittany Murphy for director Penny Marshall.
Harrington has since completed filming three more projects. He stars in Taken, a 10-part, 20-hour miniseries executive produced by Steven Spielberg, which airs on the Sci-Fi Channel this December and the independent films Love Object and Wrong Turn.
He can also be seen in HBO’s critically acclaimed Dancing in September for which he was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor, Andrzej Bartkowiak’s Romeo Must Die with Jet Li and Aaliyah, Clint Eastwood’s True Crime, Warren Beatty’s Bulworth and Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight with Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney. Other credits include Love Jones, Dead Presidents, Stonewall and Strictly Business.
Washington has guest-starred on several top TV shows including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street, Ally McBeal, New York Undercover, Living Single, Soul Food and Touched by an Angel.
Beginning his acting career with the Abbey Theater, Byrne later joined the Royal Court Theater in London. The Dublin-born actor made his feature film debut in John Boorman’s Excalibur. Other European films include the acclaimed Defense of the Realm and Hannah K. During this time, he worked for several noteworthy European directors including Costa-Gavras, Ken Russell and Ken Loach. In 1990, he made his American debut in the Coen brothers’ film Miller’s Crossing.
In 1998 and 1999, Byrne starred in three number one box office successes in a row: End of Days as the Devil, Stigmata, and as D’Artagnan in The Man in the Iron Mask opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Gerard Depardieu.
In 1995 he starred in the groundbreaking The Usual Suspects, and then in Smilla’s Sense of Snow with Julia Ormond. He was then seen in Wim Wenders’ End of Violence and Polish Wedding with Lena Olin and Claire Danes.
In 1993, Byrne produced the film In the Name of the Father, which earned several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Then in 1994, he produced and starred in Into the West opposite Ellen Barkin.
Byrne has been dividing his time between writing, producing, and acting. His first book, Pictures in my Head, was published in Ireland where it became a critically acclaimed best seller.
Dimitriades’ raw filmic energy was subsequently put to good use as the lead in the highly successful internationally released television series Heartbreak High. Award-winning director Michael Jenkins then handpicked him for the lead in the television cult hit Blue Murder, a miniseries that still sets the standard in Australian television history.
From 1995 through 1997 Dimitriades ignited the film and TV world with rare performances in numerous films and television until it all climaxed with the featurefilm Head On in 1997. Head On was chosen to lead the Australian film industry to the Cannes Film Festival where it received critical acclaim and Dimitriades an army of international fans. Dimitriades was nominated for an AFI award for Best Actor in Head On and went on to receive the coveted Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Actor Award.
Dimitriades continued to forge a varied and eclectic career in theatre, film and television. Year 2000 was a huge year for Dimitriades with three feature films and the pilot of a new series titled Young Lions.
2002 has seen Dimitriades playing the lead in the exciting prime-time series for Network 9, Young Lions, which was shot from April until September.
Dimitriades has cemented a reputation in Europe and the U.K., and continues to stun audiences with a mixture of charisma, sensuality and passion.
Urban, a native New Zealander, had his first taste of professional acting at the age of eight but then suspended his career until he had completed his education. He has also appeared on stage in various productions and in the New Zealand film Via Satellite.
Emily’s feature film work to date includes the role of Rebecca Myers in The Man Who Sued God starring Billy Connolly and Judy Davis; the role of young Caitlin in Revolution Studios’ Don't Peek (aka The Tooth Fairy) starring Emma Caulfield; and the role of Grace Kelly in Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger.
Born and raised in southern California, Beck attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena with the intention of becoming an illustrator.
In 1983 Beck joined Robert Abel & Associates, then the world leader in visual effects for commercial production. After winning several Clios there, he was offered the chance to re-establish Industrial Light & Magic’s art department in 1988. Beck went on to become one of the world’s most acclaimed commercial directors. Consistently ranked among the best in the commercial world each year, Beck’s work has garnered more than 50 awards.
He makes his home in San Francisco.
Silver is currently producing the next two highly anticipated chapters in the Matrix trilogy, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The Matrix Reloaded is scheduled for release on May 15, 2003, with Revolutions to follow later in the year.
He also supervised the release of The Matrix Revisited, a special-edition DVD that includes extensive behind-the-scenes footage of the making of The Matrix, as well as an exclusive preview of Reloaded and Revolutions.
Most recently, Silver produced the hit films Swordfish, starring John Travolta,Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry; Exit Wounds, starring Steven Seagal and DMX; and Romeo Must Die, featuring Jet Li and Aaliyah. Silver is currently producing the action thriller Cradle 2 the Grave, starring DMX and Jet Li, due in theaters in early 2003.
Silver began his career at Lawrence Gordon Productions, where he ultimately ascended to president of motion pictures for the company. He associate produced The Warriors and, with Gordon, produced 48 HRS., Streets of Fire and Brewster’s Millions.
Silver’s first independent production under his Silver Pictures banner was Commando, followed by Jumpin’ Jack Flash and Predator. Silver then produced Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3 and Lethal Weapon 4, as well as Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, The Last Boy Scout, Demolition Man, Richie Rich and Conspiracy Theory. He executive produced, with Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill and Robert Zemeckis, eight seasons of the award-winning HBO series Tales From the Crypt, as well as two Tales From the Crypt films.
Silver has also overseen the successful launch of Dark Castle Entertainment, a production entity he formed with Robert Zemeckis in the spirit of the late William Castle, which they launched with the record-breaking release of House On Haunted Hill, which opened at number one on Halloween of 1999, and the successful 2001 release Thirteen Ghosts.
While a student at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey in 1967, Silver and some of his friends invented a game called Ultimate Frisbee. The fast-moving team sport has since become a global phenomenon supported by tournaments in 42 countries. One of the fastest growing sports in the world, Ultimate Frisbee was played as a medal sport in the 2001 World Games held in Akita, Japan. In 2002, well over two thousand players representing twenty-four countries competed in the World Flying Disc Federation’s World Ultimate Club Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii.
With Forrest Gump, which also garnered Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and earned in excess of $600 million worldwide, Zemeckis utilized the latest technological wizardry, as he had done with his earlier films, to tell the story of the amiable Forrest Gump as his life crisscrossed in and out of some of our nation’s most significant events – and he interacted with some of our most significant people.
Over the course of two decades, the films of Robert Zemeckis have tapped into the American psyche, and resulted in a list of motion pictures which are not only monetary blockbusters, but cultural blueprints.
Now, under the banner of ImageMovers, his production company formed with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, Zemeckis teamed once again with Tom Hanks for Cast Away, a contemporary drama about a man isolated on a remote island and his efforts to survive. Zemeckis has also directed the supernatural suspense drama What Lies Beneath, starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Adler’s recent television credits include co-executive producing and directing the WB series The Strip. His other series work includes directing, producing and writing episodes of Fantasy Island, Charmed and episodes of Perversions of Science and Tales from the Crypt. Additionally, he served as producer of the cable film Double Tap, co-executive producer and co-writer of the telefilm Weird World and producer of the series Freddie’s Nightmares. Adler also recently served as co-executive producer and director of HBO’s Vietnam War Stories.
In 1999 Hanlon marked his feature directorial debut with Buddy Boy, produced by Cary Woods (Kids, Gummo, Copland) from Hanlon’s original screenplay. Starring Aidan Gillen, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Susan Tyrrell, Buddy Boy was an official selection of the Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in 2000 by Fine Line Features.
Hanlon is currently adapting the Harry Crews novel The Knockout Artist for director Sean Penn and will next direct his own screen adaptation of the Simon Maginn novel Methods of Confinement.
In 1996, Berman started Plan B Entertainment, the Warner Bros. Pictures-based independent production company that was later acquired by Village Roadshow Pictures. Village Roadshow Pictures, where Berman now holds the post of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, currently has 20 projects in various stages of development at Warner Bros. Pictures. Most recently, Berman executive produced the immensely successful Ocean’s Eleven, Eight Legged Freaks, Showtime, Training Day, Cats & Dogs, Three Kings, The Matrix, Analyze This, Deep Blue Sea, Practical Magic and Space Cowboys through Village Roadshow’s partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures, as well as the hit comedy Miss Congeniality, produced jointly with Warner Bros. Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment.
Berman will serve as executive producer for the two highly anticipated sequels to the international blockbuster The Matrix, currently in post-production.
STEVE RICHARDS (Executive Producer) began his career as a production executive for Ridley Scott and Tony Scott’s production company, Scott Free, where he supervised, among other projects, White Squall. In 1995, upon joining Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures, Richards aided in the launch of Decade Pictures and served in producing capacities on Double Tap and Made Men. When Silver and Robert Zemeckis launched Dark Castle Entertainment in 1999, Richards organized the foreign financing and distribution of Dark Castle’s first film, the remake of William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill. Since then, Richards has produced Jane Doe for USA Networks and has served in various producing capacities on Dungeons & Dragons, Thirteen Ghosts, and Proximity.
RICHARD MIRISCH (Co-Producer) most recently co-produced Dark Castle Entertainment’s Thirteen Ghosts. Prior to that, he served as associate producer on Warner Bros. Pictures’ acclaimed film The Matrix, and associate produced the highly successful HBO series Tales From the Crypt. Other Silver Pictures films that Mirisch has worked on include Ricochet, The Last Boy Scout and Tales From the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood.
SUSAN LEVIN (Co-Producer) began working at Silver Pictures in 1999, when she joined the company as Vice President of Production, overseeing the development and production of such projects as Thirteen Ghosts and Swordfish. In addition to her current role as Senior Vice President of Production at Silver Pictures, she also oversees development for Dark Castle Entertainment, the production entity formed by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis to produce a diverse slate of horror films. Prior to her tenure at Silver Pictures, Levin worked on the hit films Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, spearheaded the development of its spin-off live action and animated TV series, and associate produced the feature film Beowulf for Dimension Films.
In 1993, JOHN FRIZZELL (Composer) orchestrated for Academy Award winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto on Oliver Stone’s landmark miniseries Wild Palms. After hearing his aggressive integration of synthesized sounds with traditional orchestra, Los Angeles producer John Sacret Young hired him to score the Fox television series VR5.
GALE TATTERSALL (Director of Photography) most recently worked with Steven Beck on Thirteen Ghosts. Prior to that he photographed Pushing Tin for director Mike Newell and received an Emmy nomination for his outstanding cinematography on Tom Hanks and Ron Howard’s acclaimed miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.
GRAHAM “GRACE” WALKER (Production Designer) is one of Australia’s most talented production designers. His feature film credits include Warner Bros. Pictures’ Queen Of The Damned; Pitch Black, starring Vin Diesel; The Island Of Dr. Moreau, directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer; George Miller’s Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and Mad Max II; Peter Faiman’s Crocodile Dundee; Phillip Noyce’s Dead Calm, starring Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill; Geoff Burton and Kevin Dowling’s The Sum Of Us; Yahoo Serious’ Reckless Kelly; George Miller’s Around The Bend and Sons Of Steel; Les Patterson Saves The World; Dusan Makavejev’s The Coca Cola Kid; The Winds Of Jarrah; Hoodwinked; Chain Reaction; Break Of Day and Summerfield. Walker also served as design consultant on the animated feature Fern Gully.
ROGER BARTON (Editor) most recently served as editor on Jerry Bruckheimer’s Pearl Harbor and as associate editor on Armageddon, both directed by Michael Bay, and as editor on Dominic Sena’s Gone in 60 Seconds.
Mirisch started in the business working for The Avnet/Kerner Company, where he served as director Paul Brickman’s assistant on Men Don’t Leave, starring Jessica Lange.
Levin is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema/Television.
After moving to Los Angeles he met composer James Newton Howard, who became an encouraging mentor to John’s young film scoring career. Howard composed the main themes, which Frizzell incorporated into his scores for The Rich Man’s Wife, starring Halle Berry, and Dante’s Peak, directed by Roger Donaldson.
These scores led to Frizzell’s work on Alien Resurrection, starring Sigourney Weaver and directed by France’s esteemed filmmaker, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Twice he has collaborated with director Mark Rydell, scoring HBO’s Crime of the Century and James Dean, the latter featuring the Golden Globe-winning performance by James Franco. Frizzell has also worked with writer/director Mike Judge on the hit animated feature Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the cult comedy classic Office Space, starring Jennifer Aniston and Ron Livingston. In addition, Frizzell scored Sally Field’s romantic comedy, Beautiful, Kevin Williamson’s Teaching Mrs. Tingle, and Mafia!, a comedy from director Jim Abrahams.
Most recently, Frizzell scored Joel Silver’s Thirteen Ghosts, Josie and the Pussycats starring Tara Reid, Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson, and Scorched, a comedy directed by Gavin Grazer and starring John Cleese, Woody Harrelson, and Alicia Silverstone. Frizzell has just completed co-composing, with Randy Edelman, the score for Ted Turner Pictures’ epic Civil War drama (and prequel to Gettysburg) Gods and Generals, produced, directed and written by Ron Maxwell and based on Jeff Shaara’s best-selling novel. Frizzell is currently scoring Cradle 2 the Grave, an action film featuring Jet Li and DMX coming out the first quarter of 2003.
Additional feature credits for the British-born Tattersall include the smash hit independent film The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker. He also filmed The Jack Bull; Virtuosity; Hideaway; Homeboy and Wild Orchid. Other credits include The Addams Family; Robert Altman’s Aria and the critically lauded British films Comrades and My Ain Folk, directed by Bill Douglas, which earned him the Cork International Film Festival award for Best Photography, whilst still at film school, in 1974.
He began his career as a camera operator on John Boorman’s Emerald Forest; Sweet William and several films directed by Bruce Beresford, including Don’s Party and The Getting of Wisdom.
Tattersall has numerous international music videos and commercials including the Nike Brazil Soccer spot with John Woo, the Nike Marshall Falk Football spot with Dominic Sena and the highly praised First National Bank spots with Steven Beck.
Barton’s additional credits include working with James Cameron as associate editor on Titanic, which won an Oscar for Best Editing; Detroit Rock City as additional editor and That Darn Cat as editor.
Barton began his career in editing as a First Assistant in long-form television shows, later moving into features. His early television credits include Love, Honor & Obey for CBS, Not Without My Children for ABC and Indictment for HBO, which won an Emmy for Best Achievement in Editing. His early feature credits include Needful Things, Rough Magic and Alaska.