Best Picture Oscar Nomination: Milk

Gay Rights Activist. Friend. Lover. Unifier. Politician. Fighter. Icon. Inspiration. Hero. His life changed history, and his courage changed lives.

In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America.

His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum.

From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.

Milk - 8 Academy Award Nominations

[ Milk Movie Review & Trailer ]

Academy Award winner Sean Penn stars as Harvey Milk under the direction of Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant in the new movie filmed on location in San Francisco from an original screenplay by Dustin Lance Black and produced by Academy Award winners Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen.

The film charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood that was soon to become a haven for gay people from around the country.

With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change. He seeks equal rights and opportunities for all, and his great love for the city and its people brings him backing from young and old, straight and gay, alike – at a time when prejudice and violence against gays was openly accepted as the norm.

With vitalizing support from Scott and new friends and volunteers, Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. He also mentors young street activists like Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch). Bolstering his public profile with humor,

Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words. Soon, he is known all across the city and even beyond, but his persistent determination to be a part of city government drives him and Scott apart. While making his fourth run for public office, Milk takes a new lover, Jack Lira (Diego Luna). The latest campaign is a success, as Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5. Milk serves San Francisco well while lobbying for a citywide ordinance protecting people from being fired because of their orientation – and rallying support against a proposed statewide referendum to fire gay schoolteachers and their supporters; he realizes that this fight against Proposition 6 represents a pivotal precipice for the gay rights movement.

At the same time, the political agendas of Milk and those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin), increasingly diverge and their personal destinies tragically converge.

Milk’s platform was and is one of hope – a hero’s legacy that resonates in the here and now.

Milk About the Cast

SEAN PENN (Harvey Milk)

Sean Penn’s career as an actor spans nearly three decades. He has been nominated four times for the Best Actor Academy Award; for Tim Robbins’ Dead Man Walking (for which he was named Best Actor at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival), Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown, Jessie Nelson’s i am sam, and Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River. The latter performance brought him the Oscar and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

His over two dozen other films include Harold Becker’s Taps; Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Richard Benjamin’s Racing with the Moon; John Schlesinger’s The Falcon and the Snowman; James Foley’s At Close Range; Dennis Hopper’s Colors; Brian De Palma’s Casualties of War and Carlito’s Way; Neil Jordan’s We’re No Angels; Phil Joanou’s State of Grace; Nick Cassavetes’ She’s So Lovely (for which he was named Best Actor at the 1997 Cannes International Film Festival); Oliver Stone’s U-Turn; Anthony Drazan’s hurlyburly (for which he was named Best Actor at the 1998 Venice International Film Festival); Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams (for which he was named Best Actor at the 2003 Venice International Film Festival); Sydney Pollack’s The Interpreter; Steven Zaillian’s All the King’s Men; and Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line and upcoming Tree of Life.

Mr. Penn’s feature film directorial debut came with The Indian Runner (1991), which he also wrote and produced. This was followed by The Crossing Guard (1995), which he also wrote and produced, and The Pledge (2001), which he also produced. The latter, starring Jack Nicholson, was cited as one of the year’s 10 Best by the National Board of Review. Representing the United States, he wrote and directed a short film for 11'09"01, the compilation feature which united directors from around the world to create short films in response to the horrific events of September 11, 2001. In 2003 the feature was nominated for a César Award in the best European Union Film category, and received a Special Recognition award from the National Board of Review.

As writer, producer and director, his most recent work was Into the Wild (2007), adapted from Jon Krakauer’s best-selling nonfiction book. Mr. Penn was a Directors Guild of America and Critics Choice Award nominee for his helming of the picture, and was also cited as Director of the Year by the Palm Springs International Film Festival; his screenplay adaptation brought him a Writers Guild of America Award nomination. Into the Wild also earned four Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for its cast, including Emile Hirsch (who also stars in Milk); and two Academy Award nominations.

Mr. Penn has appeared on stage in productions including Alfred Hayes’ Girl on the Via Flaminia and Albert Innaurato’s Earthworms in Los Angeles. On Broadway, he performed in Kevin Heelan’s Heartland and John Byrne’s Slab Boys. He starred in David Rabe’s hurlyburly and Goose and Tom-Tom, at the Westwood Playhouse and Lincoln Center, respectively, with both productions directed by the author. His most recent stage work was opposite Nick Nolte and Woody Harrelson in The Late Henry Moss, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard.

In 2002, he was presented with the Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In 2003, became the youngest-ever recipient of the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 2004, he received the John Steinbeck Award, given to outspoken torch-bearers in the creative arts. Most recently, he served as president of the jury at the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival.

As a journalist, Mr. Penn has written for Time, Interview, and Rolling Stone. In 2004, he wrote a two-part feature for The San Francisco Chronicle after a second visit to war-torn Iraq. In 2005, he wrote a five-part feature for the same paper, reporting from Iran during the election which led to the Ahmadinejad regime there.

EMILE HIRSCH (Cleve Jones)

In 2007, Emile Hirsch garnered attention for his captivating performance in Into the Wild, directed by Sean Penn (Milk). Based on the best-selling book by Jon Krakauer and adapted for the screen by Mr. Penn, Into the Wild starred Mr. Hirsch as real-life adventurer Christopher McCandless. The portrayal earned him the National Board of Review award for Breakthrough Performance by an Actor; the Rising Star Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival; Gotham and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Actor; and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, in the lead actor category as well as (shared with his fellow cast members) the ensemble category.

The Los Angeles native’s additional film credits include two more true-life stories, Nick Cassavetes’ Alpha Dog and Catherine Hardwicke’s Lords of Dogtown (opposite Heath Ledger).

Mr. Hirsch’s other features include the Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer; Dan Harris’ Imaginary Heroes (with Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels); Luke Greenfield’s The Girl Next Door; Michael Burke’s The Mudge Boy; Michael Hoffman’s The Emperor’s Club; and Peter Care’s The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys.

He has most recently filmed a role in Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, also for Focus Features, with Demetri Martin.

JOSH BROLIN (Dan White)

Josh Brolin will next be seen starring as George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s biopic W. He most recently starred in Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director; and in Ridley Scott’s blockbuster American Gangster. Mr. Brolin was a Screen Actors Guild Award nominee as part of the ensemble for the latter film, and was honored with a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the winning ensemble for the former.

He is currently producing – with Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, and Howard Zinn – a documentary entitled The People Speak, based on the latter’s influential 1980 book A People’s History of the United States. The feature looks at America’s struggles with war, class, race, and women’s rights; appearing in the documentary will be Matt Damon, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Penn of Milk, and David Strathairn, among others.

Mr. Brolin’s other film credits as actor include Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah; Robert Rodriguez’ “Planet Terror” portion of Grindhouse; John Stockwell’s Into the Blue; Victor Nunez’ Coastlines; Paul Verhoeven’s Hollow Man; James D. Stern’s All the Rage; Guillermo del Toro’s Mimic; David O. Russell’s Flirting with Disaster; and Richard Donner’s The Goonies, which marked his film debut.

In early 2008, his film directing debut, a short entitled X, which he also wrote and produced, premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival before screening at such festivals as South by Southwest and the AFI Dallas Film Festival. He also directed the behind-the-scenes documentary for the No Country for Old Men DVD.

Mr. Brolin made his mark in television starring in two Western dramas; the epic miniseries Into the West, and the popular series The Young Riders. He has also starred in the series Mister Sterling and Private Eye; in the telefilms Gang in Blue, with the late J.T. Walsh and directed by Mario and Melvin Van Peebles, and Prison for Children, directed by Larry Peerce; and in the telefilm remake of Picnic, directed by Ivan Passer.

He spent five years with actor/director Anthony Zerbe at the Reflections Festival at the GeVa Theatre in Rochester, New York. While there, Mr. Brolin directed and performed in several of the festival’s plays, including Pitz and Joe; Life in the Trees; Forgiving Typhoid Mary; Oh; The Innocents; Peep Hole; Ellen Universe Joins the Band; Lincoln Park Zoo; and Hard Hearts.

His additional stage work includes starring opposite Elias Koteas on Broadway in Sam Shepard's True West; appearing off-Broadway in The Exonerated; The Skin of Our Teeth, The Crucible, and A Streetcar

Named Desire, all at the Kennedy Memorial Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at the Lebrero Theatre; and Dark of the Moon, at the Ann Capa Ensemble Theatre

DIEGO LUNA (Jack Lira)

Audiences worldwide took note of Diego Luna with his starring role in Alfonso Cuarón’s Academy Award-nominated Y Tu Mamá También, opposite Gael García Bernal. The two lifelong friends have joined with producer Pablo Cruz to form the production and distribution company Canana Films. Canana’s upcoming Rudo y Cursi, written and directed by Carlos Cuarón, reteams the two actors onscreen as well.

Canana’s other feature projects thus far have included Gerardo Naranjo’s Drama/Mex and Mr. Luna’s directorial debut, the documentary J.C. Chávez. The latter, exploring the life of legendary boxer Julio César Chávez, world-premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Canana’s El Bufalo de la Noche (The Night Buffalo) and Sólo Dios Sabe (Only God Knows) both premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and were directed, respectively, by Jorge Hernandez Aldana and Carlos Bolado. Mr. Luna appeared in both films, and next stars for the company in Agustin Diaz Yanes’ Sólo quiero caminar.

He began his professional acting career on the stage, at age seven. At age twelve, he made his television debut in El Abuelo Y Yo, which led to roles in such shows as El Premio Mayor, El Amor De Mi Vida, and La Vida En El Espejo.

Mr. Luna continued his stage work in such productions as De Pelicula; La Tarea (based on Jaime Humberto Hermosillo’s movie of the same name); Comedia Clandtina; and El Cantaro Roto, for which he accepted the 1996-1997 Masculine Revelation Award from the Association of Theatre Reviewers. Under the direction of Antonio Serrano, he performed Sabina Berman’s Molière. He recently produced The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in Mexico, after winning the 2001-2002 Best Comic Actor award from the Association of Theatre Reviewers for starring in the same show.

His early movie appearances included Julian Schnabel’s Before Night Falls; Luis Estrada’s Ambar, Erwin Neumaier’s Un Hilito De Sangre; Gabriel Retes’ Un Dulce Olor A Muerte (which took second prize at the Havana Film Festival); José Buil and Marisa Sistach’s El Cometa; and Fernando Sariñana’s Todo El Poder and Ciudades Oscuras.

Mr. Luna has since been seen in such movies as Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal; Julie Taymor’s Frida; Kevin Costner’s Open Range; Gregory Jacobs’ Crminal; David Attwood’s telefilm Fidel; Hugo Rodríguez’ Nicotina; David Trueba’s Soldados de Salamina; Oliver Parker’s Fade to Black; and Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely.

Mr. Luna has also starred in a number of short films made by students at CUEC and CCC, including Javier Bourges’ El Último Fin Del Año, which won a Student Academy Award.

ALISON PILL (Anne Kronenberg)

A rising star on stage and screen, Alison Pill was most recently seen in the off-Broadway world premiere of Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty, directed by Terry Kinney. She had previously starred in the same playwright’s The Distance from Here, in its U.S. premiere, for which she shared the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble.

Her Broadway debut in The Lieutenant of Inishmore brought her a Tony Award nomination, and she starred last season on Broadway in Mauritius. Off-Broadway, she was a Lucille Lortel Award nominee for both On the Mountain and Blackbird (opposite Jeff Daniels), and starred in None of the Above.

Ms. Pill’s film work includes Peter Hedges’ Dan in Real Life (opposite Steve Carell) and Pieces of April (opposite Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson); Thomas Vinterberg’s Dear Wendy (opposite Jamie Bell); and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (opposite Lindsay Lohan).

Television audiences have seen the Toronto native in the series The Book of Daniel; and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (as the young Lorna Luft, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman) and Plain Truth (with Mariska Hargitay, directed by Paul Shapiro), among other works.

VICTOR GARBER (Mayor Moscone)

Victor Garber is an actor equally at home on film, stage, or television. For the latter medium, he currently stars on the series Eli Stone, which is in its second season.

He began acting at the age of ten, in children’s productions at the Grand Theatre in his hometown of London, Ontario, Canada. At age sixteen, he moved to Toronto, where he joined the singing group The Sugar Shoppe, which was then featured on the Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson TV shows.

One of his first film roles was for director George Bloomfield in the telefilm Paradise Lost. Soon after, he landed the lead role in the Toronto production of the musical Godspell, which he then reprised in the film version directed by David Greene.

Broadway beckoned, and over the decades Mr. Garber has earned four Tony Award nominations; these came for his performances in Damn Yankees, Deathtrap, Little Me, and Lend Me a Tenor. He starred in the Tony Award-winning play Art opposite Alan Alda and Alfred Molina, on both the East and West Coasts; performed in Sam Mendes’ workshop of Stephen Sondheim’s Wiseguys, with Nathan Lane; and was in the original Broadway casts of Arcadia, The Devil’s Disciple, Noises Off, and Sweeney Todd.

More recently, he starred in two more notable stagings of Stephen Sondheim’s works, A Little Night Music at the Music Center in Los Angeles and Follies for City Center’s “Encores!” in New York City (directed by Casey Nicholaw); and in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, at the Huntington Theatre, directed by Nicholas Martin.

His portrayal of Jack Bristow on the television series Alias garnered him three Emmy Award nominations. Mr. Garber was also an Emmy Award nominee for his guest appearances on Frasier and Will & Grace, as well as for playing Sid Luft in the miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (directed by Robert Allan Ackerman). He was a Gemini Award nominee for his performance as Lord Mountbatten in John Smith’s telefilm Dieppe, and for his work in Sheldon Larry’s telefilm The First Circle.

Also among his notable telefilm credits are the musicals Annie, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, directed by Rob Marshall, Robert Iscove, and Jeff Bleckner, respectively. He next stars opposite Mira Sorvino in the miniseries The Last Templar, directed by Paolo Barzman.

In James Cameron’s multi-Oscar-winning blockbuster Titanic, Mr. Garber starred as the great ship’s architect Thomas Andrews. His many other films include Robert Luketic’s Legally Blonde; Hugh Wilson’s The First Wives Club; Atom Egoyan’s Exotica; and Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle.

DENIS O’HARE (John Briggs)

Denis O’Hare is one of today’s busiest actors in the movie, television, and stage worlds.

Recently seen opposite George Clooney in the award-winning Michael Clayton, he again stars for that film’s director Tony Gilroy in the upcoming Duplicity. In addition to Milk, his 2008 film appearances include John Erick Dowdle’s Quarantined, David Ross’ The Babysitters, Michael McCullers’ hit Baby Mama, and Clint Eastwood’s Changeling. Among his other films are Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson (opposite Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling), Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart, Mike Nichols’ Charlie Wilson’s War, Jeffrey Blitz’ Rocket Science, Hilary Brougher’s Stephanie Daley, Chris Terrio’s Heights, Zach Braff’s Garden State, Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh’s The Anniversary Party, Woody Allen’s Sweet and Lowdown, and (also for Focus Features and with Sean Penn) Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams.

Mr. O’Hare is best known to television viewers for his second-season recurring role on Brothers & Sisters; he has also appeared several times on Law & Order, among other guest roles. His telefilms include Marion Meyer’s Alexander Hamilton, Michael Pressman’s Saint Maybe, and Kathleen Marshall’s musical Once Upon a Mattress (with Carol Burnett and Tracey Ullman).

The Kansas City native got his BS from Northwestern University. He has since starred onstage in both the

U.S. and the U.K. In both countries, he originated the role of Mason Marzac in Richard Greenberg’s play Take Me Out, under the direction of Joe Mantello. His portrayal brought Mr. O’Hare the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Obie Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Audience Award as voted through www.broadway.com, and the Clarence Derwent Award.

He was again a Tony Award nominee under Mr. Mantello’s direction for Stephen Sondheim’s musical Assassins. His other Broadway appearances include the recent revivals of Sweet Charity (which earned him a Drama Desk Award), Inherit the Wind, Major Barbara, and Cabaret. He has twice won Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award, for his performances in Voice of the Prairie and Hauptmann. He starred in the latter, as Richard Hauptmann, in both the U.S. and the U.K.

Mr. O’Hare’s next stage work is off-Broadway, starring in the title role of the Classic Stage Company’s winter 2009 production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, under the direction of Austin Pendleton.

JOSEPH CROSS (Dick Pabich)

One of today’s most promising young talents, Joseph Cross is also already a film veteran.

Prior to Milk, he portrayed real-life figures in Ryan Murphy’s Running with Scissors, as memoirist Augusten Burroughs; and in Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers, as WWII soldier Franklin Sousley.

Mr. Cross’ other films include Gregory Hoblit’s Untraceable, opposite Diane Lane; M. Night Shyamalan’s Wide Awake; Barbet Schroeder’s Desperate Measures; Troy Miller’s Jack Frost; Paul Dinello’s Strangers with Candy; and David M. Rosenthal’s upcoming independent feature Falling Up, with Sarah Roemer.

He is currently producing another independent feature, writer/director Yaniv Raz’ Son of Morning, in which he stars with Lorraine Bracco, Heather Graham, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler.

Mr. Cross made his stage debut in 2003 at the Williamstown Playhouse, in John Guare’s Landscape of the Body, in a production directed by Michael Grief and starring Lili Taylor and Michael Gaston.

STEPHEN SPINELLA (Rick Stokes)

Stephen Spinella won two Tony and Drama Desk Awards for the original Broadway productions of Tony Kushner’s epic Angels in America plays, directed by George C. Wolfe; he was honored for playing the role of Prior Walter in both the first part (Millennium Approaches) and the second (Perestroika), which marked his Broadway debut(s).

Mr. Spinella has since starred on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening; revivals of A View from the Bridge, Electra, and Our Town; and James Joyce’s The Dead, for which he was again a Tony and Drama Desk Award nominee, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award one.

His feature credits include Roger Spottiswoode’s Emmy Award-winning telefilm And the Band Played On; Brett Leonard’s Virtuosity; Joe Mantello’s Love! Valour! Compassion!, adapted by Terrence McNally from his own play; John Kent Harrison’s top-rated telefilm What the Deaf Man Heard; Antonia Bird’s Ravenous; Tim Robbins’ Cradle Will Rock; Blair Hayes’ cult movie Bubble Boy, with Jake Gyllenhaal; Michael Lembeck’s Connie and Carla; and Richard Schenkman’s And Then Came Love.

Mr. Spinella has guest-starred on such popular television series as Frasier, Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Nip/Tuck, and Alias. He was a series regular on The Education of Max Bickford, and was seen in a guest arc on the Emmy Award-winning fifth season of 24.

A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Mr. Spinella also attended the University of Arizona.

LUCAS GRABEEL (Danny Nicoletta)

Springfield, Missouri native Lucas Grabeel began his acting career when he responded to a call for the local high school’s stage production of The Secret Garden. He soon began auditioning for plays and musicals at the community theater, ultimately starring in productions of Oliver!, Romeo and Juliet, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, among other shows.

In 2003, Mr. Grabeel made a trip to Los Angeles to look into becoming a professional actor. After landing a few commercial jobs, he was chosen for a role in Mark Dippé’s telefilm Halloweentown High. He reprised the part in David Jackson’s Return to Halloweentown.

Since then, he has guest-starred on such television series as Boston Legal, ‘Til Death, Smallville, and (in a recurring role) Veronica Mars; and appeared in such movies as Roger Kumble’s College Road Trip, Sandy Tung’s Alice Upside Down, Dane Cannon’s The Adventures of Food Boy, and Chris Grismer’s Lock and Roll Forever.

Cast as Ryan Evans in the 2006 Disney Channel telefilm High School Musical, he became an active part of an ongoing media phenomenon that has encompassed a 2007 telefilm sequel (High School Musical 2) and a 2008 movie sequel (High School Musical 3: Senior Year); all three features were directed by Kenny Ortega, who also shepherded Mr. Grabeel and other cast members through a 42-city tour of the U.S.

He was recently cited as one of Teen People’s “Top 25 Hottest Teen Stars Under 25;” Teen Vogue’s Most Exciting Teen Stars; and Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” of musical prodigies.

When not acting, Mr. Grabeel enjoys painting; and writing music and playing the guitar, piano, and drum

BRANDON BOYCE (Jim Rivaldo)

Brandon Boyce is an accomplished screenwriter whose films include Apt Pupil (1998; directed by Bryan Singer), Wicker Park (2004; directed by Paul McGuigan), and Venom (2005; directed by Jim Gillespie). His adapted screenplays include Killing Floor, The Mayor of Castro Street, and Serpentine (the latter for director William Friedkin).

Mr. Boyce will be making his feature directorial debut on Jonah, from his original screenplay, in 2009. His most recent original screenplay is The Shepherd. His short fiction has appeared in several publications and his non-fiction work appears in a bi-monthly online column (under a pseudonym).

Milk marks Mr. Boyce’s return to acting after a ten-year hiatus to concentrate on writing. An actor since age ten, he has appeared in dozens of plays, several television shows, and films; most notably, Public Access, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival.

ZVI HOWARD ROSENMAN (David Goodstein)

Zvi Howard Rosenman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and grew up on Long Island. He began his career working on Broadway for Katharine Hepburn and Sir Michael Benthall, who was directing Miss Hepburn in the André Previn musical Coco. He then worked on Bob Guenette’s independent movie The Tree, as a driver for Jordan Christopher, George Rose, Eileen Heckart, and Miss Ruth Ford.

He then became a producer of commercials for the ad agency Benton and Bowles, winning Clio Awards for his work on behalf of such products as Cool Whip, Cool ‘n Creamy and Texaco’s Havoline Oil. He went to Hollywood in 1973, where he worked under the aegis of the legendary ABC telefilm unit created by Barry Diller and run by Michael Eisner and Deanne Barkley.

Mr. Rosenman founded Robert Stigwood’s RSO Films along with Ron Bernstein and Deanne Barkley, and the production company made highly-rated MOWs (Movies of the Week) for the broadcast networks. Among them were first or early features directed by John Badham (Isn’t It Shocking?), Randal Kleiser (All Together Now), and Joel Schumacher (Virginia Hill). RSO also produced Curtis Harrington’s Killer Bees, starring Gloria Swanson, and Richard T. Heffron’s Death Scream, starring Raul Julia.

He has gone on to produce a number of feature films, including Daniel Petrie’s Resurrection, for which Ellen Burstyn and Eva Le Galliene received Academy Award nominations; Charles Shyer’s hit Father of the Bride update starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton; Sam O’Steen’s Sparkle; Howard Zieff’s The Main Event, starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal; Gross Anatomy, for which Mr. Rosenman also co-wrote the story; Buffy the Vampire Slayer, written by Joss Whedon; Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us; Brett Ratner’s The Family Man; Chazz Palminteri’s Noel; John Dahl’s You Kill Me; and the

soon-to-be-released Breakfast with Scot, directed by Laurie Lynd and starring Tom Cavanagh and Ben Shenkman.

His next projects as producer are writer/director Bill Guttentag’s Jonah, slated to star Tim Roth and Tony Shalhoub; Betsy and the Emperor, in which Al Pacino will play Napoleon; and a host of feature films and television series currently in development.

For television, Mr. Rosenman executive-produced the series John from Cincinatti; John Watkin’s documentary Bond Girls Are Forever; and the telefilm Tidy Endings, which was directed by Gavin Millar from Harvey Fierstein’s adaptation of his own play and which won a CableACE Award for Stockard Channing.

He executive-produced Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and a George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Journalism, and The Celluloid Closet. The latter documentary feature received both Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nominations, and won the filmmakers a second George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Journalism. He reteamed with the writer/directors on Paragraph 175 which he co-produced and which won the Best Direction of a Documentary Feature award at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.

Mr. Rosenman is co-founder of Project Angel Food in L.A., which provides meals-on-wheels for AIDS/HIV patients. He has served on the board of directors of the AIDS Research Alliance, Bet Tzedek Legal, DIFFA, and Youth AIDS Services; and on the advisory board of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). He lectures or has lectured at USC’s Stark Program, UCLA, the AFI, NYU, Dan Gordon’s Documentary School in Sedona, and Columbia University. For the past six years, he has taught a Master Class in Creative Film Producing at Tel Aviv University under the auspice of the Jewish Federation’s Los Angeles-Tel Aviv Cultural Partnership. He currently serves on the board of the Center for Jewish Culture & Creativity

KELVIN YU (Michael Wong)

Kelvin Yu was recently seen in Matt Reeves’ hit Cloverfield, and was then directed by that film’s producer J.J. Abrams in the highly anticipated Star Trek, which will be released in May 2009.

His other films include Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown and Nicholaus Goossen’s Grandma’s Boy. He has made recurring and guest appearances on a number of television series, including Dirty Sexy Money, ER, The Closer, The Shield, Felicity, and Popular.

A native of Los Angeles, Mr. Yu attended UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and was in the pre-Broadway workshop of Flower Drum Song for David Henry Hwang. He continues to write and direct his own short films and plays.

JAMES FRANCO (Scott Smith)

James Franco’s portrayal of screen legend James Dean in Mark Rydell’s telefilm of the same name brought him rave reviews, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Awards, and Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Mr. Franco is well-known to movie audiences worldwide for his starring role as Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s blockbuster Spider-Man trilogy alongside Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and Willem Dafoe.

His other features include David Gordon Green’s Pineapple Express, opposite Seth Rogen; Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah; Tommy O’Haver’s An American Crime; Karen Moncrieff’s The Dead Girl; Tony Bill’s Flyboys; Justin Lin’s Annapolis; Kevin Reynolds’ Tristan + Isolde; Robert Altman’s The Company; John Dahl’s The Great Raid; Nicolas Cage’s Sonny; Scott Kalvert’s Deuces Wild; Michael Caton-Jones’ City by the Sea; and, most recently, George C. Wolfe’s Nights in Rodanthe, opposite Richard Gere.

Milk About the Filmmakers

GUS VAN SANT (Director) – Audiences and critics alike have taken note of Gus Van Sant’s movies since he made his feature film directorial debut in 1985 with Mala Noche, which won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for Best Independent/Experimental Film.

His body of work also includes Drugstore Cowboy, starring Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch; My Own Private Idaho, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves; Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, starring Uma Thurman; and To Die For. The latter, screened at the Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals, earned Nicole Kidman a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

Mr. Van Sant’s next feature, Good Will Hunting, brought him a Best Director Academy Award nomination. The film was nominated for eight other Oscars including Best Picture, winning for Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams) and Best Original Screenplay (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon).

He followed that up with his controversial remake of Psycho, which was the first feature shot-for-shot recreation of a film, and Finding Forrester before returning to his independent film roots with Gerry. He scripted the latter film with its actors, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. That filmmaking experience in turn inspired him to write and direct Elephant, shot on location in his hometown of Portland with a cast of novice actors. Elephant won both the top prize (the Palme d’Or) and the Best Director award at the 2003 Cannes International Film Festival.

At the 2005 Cannes International Film Festival, Last Days, starring Michael Pitt and Lukas Haas, was honored with the Technical Grand Prize (for Leslie Shatz’ sound design) at Cannes. Mr. Van Sant once again cast novice actors to star in his next project, Paranoid Park, which he adapted from Blake Nelson’s novel of the same name. The film earned him the 60th Anniversary Prize at the 2007 Cannes International Film Festival.

Throughout his career, he has continued to make short films. These works include an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ short story “The Discipline of D.E.,” which screened at the New York Film Festival. In 1996, he directed Allen Ginsberg reading his own poem, “Ballad of the Skeletons,” to the music of Paul McCartney and Philip Glass; this short premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His other shorts include Five Ways to Kill Yourself, Thanksgiving Prayer (a re-teaming with William S. Burroughs), “Le Marais” (a segment of the feature Paris, je t’aime), and “Mansion on the Hill.” The latter is part of this year’s U.N.-funded project 8, which was created to raise awareness about essential issues that our world is facing today.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Van Sant earned a B.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design before moving to Hollywood. Early in his career, he spent two years in New York creating commercials for Madison Avenue. Eventually he settled in Portland, Oregon, where in addition to directing and producing, he pursued his other talents – painting, photography, and writing.

In 1995 he released a collection of photos entitled 108 Portraits (Twelvetrees Press) and in 1997 he published his first novel, Pink (Doubleday), a satire on filmmaking.

A longtime musician himself, Mr. Van Sant has directed music videos for many top recording artists including David Bowie, Elton John, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Hanson.

DUSTIN LANCE BLACK (Screenwriter; Executive Producer) – Dustin Lance Black grew up in a devout Mormon military household in San Antonio, Texas. A remarriage occasioned a family move to Salinas, CA. He finished high school there, and became deeply immersed in the Central Coast’s theater world. He apprenticed with stage directors, worked on set and lighting crews, and acted. He graduated UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television with honors.

Mr. Black started out as an art director before transitioning into directing documentaries, commercials and music videos. The success of his documentary features On the Bus and the Saturn Award-winning My Life with Count Dracula (the latter about sci-fi legend Dr. Donald A. Reed) led to two years producing and directing the hit BBC reality series Faking It, which aired on TLC in the US. Back in the U.S., he wrote and directed the short film Something Close to Heaven, which garnered him industry attention including the AMC channel documentary Gay Hollywood, wherein he was cited as one of “Five Filmmakers to Watch.”

In 2004, he commenced work on the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated television series Big Love as a writer and producer, working with the program for three seasons. The first season aired in the spring of 2006; the second aired in the summer of 2007; and the third airs in the winter of 2009. He was the sole Mormon writer and producer on the like-themed show.

Mr. Black’s other works as writer include screenplays for Pedro, profiling the late AIDS activist and reality television star Pedro Zamora, which world-premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival; the feature A Life Like Mine, which Paris Barclay will direct; and the big-screen adaptation of the celebrated Tom Wolfe book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

He will soon make his narrative feature film directorial debut on What’s Wrong with Virginia, to star Jennifer Connelly, from his own original screenplay.

DAN JINKS and BRUCE COHEN (Producers) – Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen won Best Picture Academy Awards as the producers of American Beauty. It was their first picture from The Jinks/Cohen Company, which they established in January 1998. The film won four other Oscars; Best Director (Sam Mendes), Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Original Screenplay (Alan Ball), and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall). Among the movie’s many other honors around the world were Best Picture BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Producers Guild of America Awards; the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay; the DGA Award for film direction; and the top prize from the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Mr. Jinks and Mr. Cohen next produced Peyton Reed’s Down with Love, starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. This was followed by Tim Burton’s Big Fish, which was nominated for Best Picture BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards; that film starred Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Billy Crudup, and Ewan McGregor and was scored by Milk composer Danny Elfman, who was an Academy Award nominee for his work on the picture.

Their other feature films as producers include Joseph Ruben’s The Forgotten, starring Julianne Moore, and writer/director John August’s The Nines, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis.

For television, The Jinks/Cohen Company currently produces the acclaimed series Pushing Daisies, which is in its second season; the show stars Emmy Award nominees Lee Pace and Kristin Chenoweth, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Ellen Greene, and Swoosie Kurtz. The Company’s past television projects include the series Traveler and Side Order of Life, and has an ongoing first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television.

Mr. Jinks’ earlier credits as producer include writer/director Steve Oedekerk’s Nothing to Lose, starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins; and (as executive producer) Phillip Noyce’s The Bone Collector, starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Mr. Jinks is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Mr. Cohen’s past producing credits include Brian Levant’s blockbuster The Flintstones and prequel The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, and Gore Verbinski’s debut feature Mousehunt; (as executive producer) Beeban Kidron’s To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar!; and (as co-producer) Frank Marshall’s Alive. A graduate of Yale University, he began his film career as the DGA trainee on Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple and was later the director’s associate producer/first assistant director on

Hook. Recently, with Kathleen Kennedy, he produced the all-star Movies Rock concert event (celebrating the music of film) that was telecast last December.

MICHAEL LONDON (Executive Producer) – Michael London is the principal and founder of Groundswell Productions, an independent production and financing company formed in February 2006 with a mission to create a thriving home for filmmakers with singular voices that reach broad audiences. The company’s slate mixes films from established directors and emerging talent alongside comedies and genre films with an original sensibility. Since its inception, Groundswell has produced writer/director Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor (a co-production with Participant Productions), starring Richard Jenkins and Hiam Abbass; Appaloosa, directed by Ed Harris, who starred in the film opposite Renée Zellweger and Viggo Mortensen; Noam Murro’s Smart People, starring Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Ellen Page; Rawson Marshall Thurber’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, based on the Michael Chabon novel and starring Sienna Miller, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jon Foster; Todd Louiso’s The Marc Pease Experience (co-financed by Paramount Vantage), starring Jason Schwartzman, Anna Kendrick, and Ben Stiller; Andrew Jarecki’s All Good Things, starring Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Frank Langella; and (co-financed with Participant Productions and Warner Bros.) Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant, starring Matt Damon.

Mr. London’s other features as an independent producer include Alexander Payne’s Sideways, which won the Golden Globe for Best Picture [Musical/Comedy] and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture, and which was a Best Picture nominee at the 2005 Academy Awards, where it won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor); writer/director Thomas Bezucha’s The Family Stone, starring Diane Keaton; writer/director Mike Cahill’s King of California, starring Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood; writer/director Neil Burger’s The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, and Rufus Sewell; House of Sand and Fog, directed by Vadim Perelman and based on Andre Dubus III’s novel, starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, and Shoreh Aghdashloo; and Catherine Hardwicke’s thirteen, starring Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed, and Holly Hunter.

Previously, Mr. London spent five years as an executive at Twentieth Century Fox, which he departed as executive vice president of production. Films made under his supervision there included David Fincher’s Alien³, Renny Harlin’s Die Hard 2, and Joseph Ruben’s Sleeping with the Enemy. He started his career as a staff writer for The Los Angeles Times, after receiving his undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

BRUNA PAPANDREA (Executive Producer) – Bruna Papandrea has been president of Michael London’s independent production and financing company Groundswell Productions since its inception in February 2006.

At Groundswell, Ms. Papandrea has produced Andrew Jarecki’s upcoming All Good Things, Noam Murro’s Smart People, and Todd Louiso’s The Marc Pease Experience; and executive-produced Rawson Marshall Thurber’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

Born and raised in Australia, she began her career there as a film and commercials producer. In the mid-1990s, she moved to New York to co-produce the independent film Lifebreath, directed by P.J. Posner and starring Luke Perry; and then returned to Australia, where she produced Jonathan Teplitzky’s Better Than Sex, starring David Wenham and Susie Porter. The latter was nominated for eight Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, including Best Film.

In 2001, Ms. Papandrea moved to London. As production executive at Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack’s Mirage Enterprises, she oversaw Philip Noyce’s The Quiet American; acquired several high-profile properties including The Ninth Life of Louis Drax; and developed a number of features. Two that were recently completed were Triage, based on the novel by Scott Anderson, directed by Danis Tanovic, and starring Colin Farrell and Paz Vega; and The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, which was the last film directed by Mr. Minghella.

She next worked in New York City as creative director at GreeneStreet Films, a leading independent production company, developing and acquiring movies. Among them were the upcoming Invisible

Woman, written and to be directed by Matt Reeves; John Polson’s Tenderness, starring Russell Crowe. She also executive-produced Michael Ian Black’s Wedding Daze [a.k.a. The Pleasure of Your Company], starring Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher, before moving to Los Angeles and joining Groundswell.

BARBARA A. HALL (Executive Producer) – In addition to Milk, Barbara A. Hall has been executive producer on Terry Zwigoff’s Art School Confidential, George Clooney’s Leatherheads, and Andrew Jarecki’s upcoming All Good Things.

She earlier co-produced Mr. Clooney’s award-winning Good Night, and Good Luck., as well as Jessie Nelson’s i am sam, for which Milk star Sean Penn was an Oscar nominee; and Zach Helm’s Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.

For over a decade, Ms. Hall has worked in features in all production capacities. She was line producer on such films as Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World, Robert Downey Sr.’s Hugo Pool, Kevin Spacey’s Albino Alligator, and Taylor Hackford’s Academy Award-winning Ray;

Prior to producing, she was a unit production manager, and worked on Robert Altman’s Cookie’s Fortune, Don Roos’ Bounce, and the Oscar-winning The Cider House Rules (directed by Lasse Hallström) and What Dreams May Come (directed by Vincent Ward).

Ms. Hall began her career as a production manager and associate producer for PBS projects (at Philadelphia affiliate WHYY-TV) as well as commercials and industrial films. She also had a stint at HBO Pictures as a production consultant for the physical production department.

WILLIAM HORBERG (Executive Producer) – William Horberg was for the past three years president of production at Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (SKE), the Los Angeles and New York-based production, finance, and distribution company that works with esteemed filmmaking talent to create quality commercial films. Mr. Horberg recently signed a first-look producing deal with SKE.

SKE, in association with Universal Pictures, financed Academy Award nominee Paul Greengrass’ critically acclaimed United 93, as well as executive-produced Billy Ray’s Breach. Universal also released Nick Cassavetes’ controversial Alpha Dog, which SKE produced and financed. The company’s other productions have included Kasi Lemmons’ Talk to Me (a Focus Features release), starring Don Cheadle and Independent Spirit Award winner Chiwetel Ejiofor; Frank Oz’ Death at a Funeral; Jon Poll’s Charlie Bartlett; Ira Sachs’ Married Life, starring Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, and Rachel McAdams; Craig Gillespie’s Lars and the Real Girl, starring Ryan Gosling, Patricia Clarkson, and Emily Mortimer, and written by Academy Award nominee Nancy Oliver; Marc Forster’s The Kite Runner; and Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Samantha Morton.

Recently completed in post-production under Mr. Horberg for SKE are Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, and Ryan Reynolds; and Stephen Belber’s Management, starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, and Woody Harrelson.

Mr. Horberg joined SKE after heading his own independent feature production company, Wonderland Films. Prior to forming Wonderland, he was partnered for 11 years with Academy Award-winning filmmakers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella in their film and television production company Mirage Enterprises.

During Mr. Horberg’s tenure at Mirage, he produced such films as Mr. Minghella’s Cold Mountain (for which Renée Zellweger won an Academy Award) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (starring Matt Damon and Academy Award nominee Jude Law); Phillip Noyce’s The Quiet American, starring Academy Award nominee Michael Caine; Tom Tykwer’s Heaven, starring Cate Blanchett; Peter Howitt’s Sliding Doors, starring Gwyneth Paltrow; and Steven Zaillian’s Searching for Bobby Fischer.

For television during that time, he created and produced the acclaimed anthology series Fallen Angels (episodes of which were directed by Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Steven Soderbergh, among others); and executive-produced Bob Rafelson’s telefilm Poodle Springs, starring James Caan as Phillip Marlowe.

Before partnering in Mirage, Mr. Horberg spent several years at Paramount Pictures, beginning in 1987 as a creative executive. He was later promoted to senior vice president of production, and oversaw the development and production of such films as Jerry Zucker’s Academy Award-winning smash Ghost; David Zucker’s The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear; Kenneth Branagh’s Dead Again; Mike Nichols’ Regarding Henry; Michael Hoffman’s Soapdish; Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams Family; and Francis Coppola’s The Godfather Part III.

HARRIS SAVIDES, A.S.C. (Director of Photography) – Milk marks cinematographer Harris Savides’ fifth feature collaboration with director Gus Van Sant. Their prior works together include Gerry and Elephant, for which Mr. Savides won a New York Film Critics Circle award (for both films) and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards (for each film); Last Days, for which he was again an Independent Spirit Award nominee; and Finding Forrester.

Mr. Savides’ recent films as director of photography include David Fincher’s Zodiac; Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, for which he was a BAFTA Award nominee; Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding; Martin Scorsese’s Hitchcock homage short The Key to Reserva; and Woody Allen’s upcoming untitled 2009 release.

He received his degree from the School of Visual Arts, where he studied film and photography. After a career as a still photographer, he made the transition into cinematography; his other features include David Fincher’s The Game, James Gray’s The Yards, and Jonathan Glazer’s Birth.

 

 

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The Movie "Milk" - Academy Award Best Picture Oscar Nomination

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