Prince Of Persia
FROM THE PRODUCER OF “PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN”
Disney.com/PrinceOfPersia©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disney.com/PrinceOfPersia©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CAST
WALT DISNEY PICTURES
and
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS
Present
PRINCE OF PERSIA
THE SANDS OF TIME
A Film by
MIKE NEWELL
Directed by MIKE NEWELL
Screenplay by BOAZ YAKIN
and DOUG MIRO
& CARLO BERNARD
Screen Story by JORDAN MECHNER
Based on the Video Game Series
PRINCE OF PERSIA Created by JORDAN MECHNER
Produced by JERRY BRUCKHEIMER
Executive Producers MIKE STENSON
CHAD OMAN
JOHN AUGUST
JORDAN MECHNER
PATRICK MCCORMICK
ERIC MCLEOD
Director of Photography JOHN SEALE, ACS, ASC
Production Designed by WOLF KROEGER
Film Editors MICHAEL KAHN, A C E
MICK AUDSLEY
MARTIN WALSH, A C E
Costume Designer PENNY ROSE
Visual Effects Supervisor TOM WOOD
Music by HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS
Casting by SUSIE FIGGIS
Unit Production Managers PATRICK MCCORMICK
ERIC MCLEOD
First Assistant Director SIMON WARNOCK
Associate Producer PAT SANDSTON
Unit Production Manager SARAH BRADSHAW
Key Second Assistant Director SALLIE HARD
2nd Unit Director/Director of Photography ALEXANDER WITT
Creature Concept CRASH MCCREERY
Dastan JAKE GYLLENHAAL
Tamina GEMMA ARTERTON
Nizam BEN KINGSLEY
Sheikh Amar ALFRED MOLINA
Seso STEVE TOUSSAINT
Garsiv TOBY KEBBELL
Tus RICHARD COYLE
King Sharaman RONALD PICKUP
Bis REECE RITCHIE
Hassansin Leader GISLI ORN GARDARSSON
Hassansin Porcupine CLAUDIO PACIFICO
Hassansin Whip Man THOMAS DUPONT
Hassansin Giant Scimitar DAVID POPE
Hassansin Double-Bladed Halberd DOMONKOS PARDANYI
Hassansin Long Razor MASSIMILANO UBALDI
Hassansin Grenade Man FURDIK VLADIMIR
Regent of Alamut CHRISTOPHER GREET
Young Dastan WILLIAM FOSTER
Young Bis ELLIOT JAMES NEALE
Persian Captain SELVA RASALINGHAM
Asoka DAUD SHAH
Young Guardian Girl DAISY DOIDGE-HILL
King Sharaman (Boy) CHARLIE BANKS
Nizam (Boy) JESSE MATHEWS
Bloodied Alamut Soldier ROHAN SIVA
Head Servant DIMITRI ANDREAS
Roham STEPHEN POPE
Mounted Herald TRAMPAS THOMPSON
Garsiv’s Lieutenant JOSEPH BEDELEM
Rafa RACHID ABBAD
Tamina’s Maid Servant FARZANA DUA ELAHE
Mughal Sultan AZIZ EL KIBACHI
General SIMON DE SELVA
Spy FELIX AUGUSTO QUADROS
Musicians AMIN MOHAMMAD FOULADI
MASOUD ABBASI
MEHRDAD AZMIN
ZARTOSHT SAFARI
ALI NOURBAKHSH
PARHAM BAHADORAN
EHSAN PARVIZIAN
SHOHREH SHOJAEIFARD
BABAK BABAKINEJAD
Stunt Coordinators GEORGE AGUILAR
GREG POWELL
Co-Stunt Coordinator - Mor STEPHEN POPE
Co-Fight Coordinators THOMAS DUPONT
BEN COOKE
Parkour Double Dastan MARK FICHERA
Dastan Stunt Double BOBBY HOLLAND HANTON
Tamina Stunt Double JO MCLAREN
Dastan Stunt Riding Double EDUARDO GAGO MUNOZ
Tamina Stunt Riding Double GUIOMAR ALONSO SANCHEZ
Sheikh Amar & King Sharaman—
Stunt Riding Double ALVARO QUIROGA GUADILLA
Young Dastan Double MARC MAILLEY
Young Bis Double DAVID HOLMES
1
Stunt Riders JUAN DIEGO MONTOYA GARCIA
RAMON JIMENEZ MONTOYA
ANTONIO ONA SANCHEZ
LUIS MIGUEL ARRANZ VILLAREAL
MARTIN CALDERON
Seso Double MARK NEWMAN
Sheikh Amar Double/Core 1 DANIEL NAPROUS
Bis Double/Core 1 MAREK TOTH
Amar’s Men 2/Core 1 MAURICE LEE
Hassansin Leader Double /Core 1 TOMAS EREMINAS
Nizam Double/Core 1 BRANISLAV MARTINAK
King Sharaman Double/Core 2 MARCO STEFANELLI
Amar’s Men 1/Core 1 JASON HUNJAN
Amar’s Men 3/Garsiv Double/Core 1 BRUCE CAIN
Stunt Perf/Core 1 TAD GRIFFITH
Stunt Perf/Core 1 RICK LE FEVOUR
Amar’s Men 4/Core 1 RICHARD HANSEN
Amar’s Men 5/Core 1 CEDRIC PROUST
Parkour Choreographer DAVID BELLE
Parkour Consultants BENOIT LAVELATTE
ROMAIN MOUTAULT
KATIA SOURZAC
Production Supervisor SIMONE GOODRIDGE
Production Associate TYLIE COX
Supervising Art Director - Morocco JONATHAN MCKINSTRY
Supervising Art Director - UK GARY FREEMAN
Art Directors LESLIE TOMKINS
ROB COWPER
Art Directors - Morocco PIERLUIGI BASILE
MARK SWAIN
LUCA TRANCHINO
Art Directors - UK DAVID ALLDAY
MARC HOMES
VFX Art Director TINO SCHAEDLER
Standby Art Director SU WHITAKER
Assistant Art Director - Morocco DIMITRI CAPUANI
Assistant Art Directors PETER DORME
GUY BRADLEY
GAVIN FITCH
TOM STILL
Senior Set Designer PETER DORME
Senior Digital Set Designer OLIVER ZELLER
Set Designers DANIELA GIOVANNONI
GARY JOPLING
DAVID WOOD
TOBY BRITTON
TOM WHITEHEAD
WILL COUBROUGH
Digital Concept Artist KIM FREDERIKSEN
Concept Artists JULIAN CALDOW
PETER POPKEN
LAURENT BEAUVALLET
NEIL CAMPBELL ROSS
Storyboard Artists JANE CLARK
JAMES DANIEL CORNISH
JOHN GREAVES
NICHOLAS PELHAM
TONY WRIGHT
Graphic Designer HELEN KOUTAS
Set Decorator ELLI GRIFF
Costume Supervisor KENNY CROUCH
Assistant Costume Designers TIMOTHY JOHN NORSTER
MARGIE FORTUNE
MARIA TORTU
Costume Supervisor - Ouarzazate CLARE SPRAGGE
Costume Coordinator SARAH ROBINSON
Wardrobe Master MARK HOLMES
Wardrobe Master - UK ADAM ROACH
Set Costumers PHILIP GOLDSWORTHY
TERENCE FACER
CAMERON PETER HORNBUCKLE
CIARA MCARDLE
NANCY THOMPSON
MAURIZIO TORTI
Set Costumers - Morocco BEAU DESMOND
JIMMY JAY
ANTHONY TUFF
NATHALIE KARNI
Supervising Principle Costumer Armourer SIMON BRINDLE
Make-Up Designer SALLIE JAYE
Make-Up Artists SHARON MARTIN
NIAMH O’LOAN
CHARLOTTE HAYWARD
Make-Up Artist to Jake Gyllenhaal REBECCA LAFFORD
Make-Up Artist to Sir Ben Kingsley ANN BUCHANAN
Crowd Supervisors CHRISTINE WHITNEY
SUSAN PARKINSON
Chief Prosthetic Make-Up Artist DAVID WHITE
Assistant Prosthetic Make-Up Artist JOSH WESTON
Hair Designer JAN ARCHIBALD
Hair Dresser to Jake Gyllenhaal NICOLA CLARKE
Hair Dresser to Gemma Arterton BEA ARCHER
Hair Dressers MARC PILCHER
BARBARA TAYLOR
Camera Operator/Steadicam DANIELE MASSACCESI
Camera Operators DES WHELAN
KEN WILSON
1st Assistant Camera STEVEN BURGESS
DAVID COZENS
ROBERT PALMER
WILL HUMPHRIS
2nd Assistant Camera MICHELLE PIZANIS
CHRIS CLARKE
THOMAS TAYLOR
Video Assist DAVE DEEVER
Script Supervisor BEVERLEY WINSTON
Script Coordinator JASMIN MORADIAN
Sound Mixer PETER LINDSAY
Boom Operator KATE MORATH
Cable Man THEOTIME PARDON
Supervising
Location Manager ALEXANDER MICHAEL WILLIAM SHARP
Location Manager SIMON CROOK
Location Manager - Morocco CHRISTIAN MCWILLIAMS
Executive in Charge of Production for JBF MELISSA REID
2
Post Production Supervisor TAMI R GOLDMAN
Post Production Coordinator DAPHNE LAMBRINOU
US Editorial – Associate Editor PATRICK CRANE
Assistant Editors SARAH BROSHAR
DEVIN LUSSIER
Post Production Assistant JASON FIELDS
UK Editorial – VFX Editor DEREK BURGESS
VFX Assistant Editor SIMON DAVIS
1st Assistant Editors MATTHEW TUCKER
PANI AHMADI-MOORE
Assistant Editors NATASHA WESTLAKE
JO DIXON
Apprentice Editor THORA WOODWARD
Post Production Assistant ANDREW SAMUELS
Supervising Sound Editor GEORGE WATTERS II
Supervising Sound Editor/Designer TIM NIELSEN
Re-Recording Mixers KEVIN O’CONNELL
BEAU BORDERS
Sound Designer CHRISTOPHER BOYES
Sound Effects Editors JACK WHITTAKER
BRENT BURGE
KEN FISCHER
JR GRUBBS
DAVID C HUGHES
ADAM KOPALD
Supervising Dialogue Editor TERI E DORMAN
Dialogue Editors DAVID ARNOLD
JIM MATHENY
Supervising ADR Editor DANIEL LAURIE
ADR Editor BJORN OLE SCHROEDER
Supervising Foley Editor VICTORIA MARTIN
Foley Editors MATTHEW HARRISON
JAMES LIKOWSKI
THOMAS SMALL
Assistant Sound Designer DEE SELBY
Assistant Sound Editors DOUGLAS PARKER
ROB KILLICK
MELISSA LYTLE
Foley by ONE STEP UP, INC
Foley Artists DAN O’CONNELL
JOHN CUCCI
Foley Mixer JAMES ASHWILL
ADR Mixers DOC KANE
PETER GLEAVES
ADR Voice Casting BRENDAN DONNISON
Re-Recording Services Provided by TODD-AO
Mix Tech STEVE SCHATZ
Re-Recording Engineers GARY SIMPSON
DAN SHIMIAEI
Gaffer MORRIS FLAM
Gaffer - Morocco STEFANO MARINO
Gaffer - UK STEVE COSTELLO
Best Boy - UK STEPHEN ROBERTS
Key Grip TOMMASO MELE
Best Boy Grip MASSIMILIANO DESSENA
“A” Camera Dolly Grip CLAUDIO DEL GOBBO
“B” Camera Dolly Grip MASSIMO RINELLA
Property Master DAVID BALFOUR
Assistant Property Master JOHN WELLS
Armourer RICHARD HOOPER
Armoury Supervisor TRACEY MILLAR
Special Effects Supervisor TREVOR WOOD
Assistant SFX Supervisor TREVOR NEIGHBOUR
Make-Up Prosthetics ALTERED STATES FX
Production Manager - UK MARIANNE JENKINS
Production Coordinator DONALD SABOURIN
Assistant Production Coordinators THOMAS FORBES
JOANNA WALLETT
MATTHEW JENKINS
2nd Assistant Directors WILLIAM DODDS
RICHARD GOODWIN
2nd 2nd Assistant Director DAVID PINKUS
3rd Assistant Director JAE SUNG OH
HANNAH BROWN
3rd Assistant Director - Morocco DARWIN BROOKS
Set PAs ANGUS WATTS
DAVID BLYTH
Executive Assistant to Mr Bruckheimer JILL WEISS
Assistants to Mr Bruckheimer JESSICA JADRON
DAN CAMINS
KENT ROTHERHAM
IVAN LOVEGREN
Assistant to Mr Stenson PAUL LYONS
Assistant to Mr Oman TARA AHAMED
Assistants to Ms Reid LAUREN KENNEY
KATY ROZELLE
Assistant to Mr McCormick BERENICE PERCIVAL
Assistant to Mr McLeod JAMI CHAN
Assistant to Mr Gyllenhaal IZZY HYAMS
Assistant to Mr Kingsley TODD HOFACKER
Jake Gyllenhaal Personal Trainer SIMON WATERSON
Gemma Arterton Personal Trainer NATALIE NICOLL
Construction Manager - Morocco JOHN MAHER
Construction Manager - UK BRIAN NEIGHBOUR
Construction Coodinator - UK NANCY SCOTT
Head Scenic Artist JAMES GEMMILL
Scenic Artist ROY MONK
Key Greensman JONATHAN MARSON
Greens Supervisor PETER HOOPER
Production Assistants ANDREW SCOTT
PAULA HIND
Production Secretary JON ROPER
Dialogue Coach BARBARA BERKERY
Production Controller CYNTHIA QUAN
Production Accountant EMMA BENDELL
1st Aassistsnt Accountant JODY BEAUDIN
Location Accountants CLAIRE ROBERTSON
JIM BREITHAUPT
3
Assistant Accountants – Morocco SANDRA YEARY
FIONA MCLAREN
AZIZ BOUSFIHA
GAMBARINO BONAVITA
Assistant Accountants – UK BECKY MAXWELL
JACKIE GILBEY
NICHOLA KERR
Construction Accountant ANDREW PYKE
Post Accountants TANYA NIENHOUSE
JOHN PARKER
Unit Publicist MICHAEL SINGER
Stills Photographer ANDREW COOPER
Transport Coordinator - Morocco GERRY GORE
Transport Manager - UK PHIL ALLCHIN
L A Casting Associate CHARLEY MEDIGOVICH
Casting Assistant KIRSTY KINNEAR
Animals Provided by BIRDS & ANIMALS, UK
Animal Coordinator GILL RADDINGS
Horse Master RICARDO CRUZ MORAL
Lead Horse Trainer HERNAN ORTIZ REDONDO
Assistant to Horse Master DONOVAN LIBRING
Horse Master - UK STEVE DENT
Ostrich Head Trainer BILL RIVERS
Ostrich Additional Trainer JENNIFER HENDERSON
AHA Representative - Morocco GINA JOHNSON
AHA Representatives - UK MARISA BELLIS
DANIELLE MACDONALD
Unit Nurse DIANA PERKO
Health and Safety Advisor DOUGLAS YATES
Health and Safety Advisor - Morocco SIMON HARPER
Health and Safety Advisors - UK MICK HURREL
ANDY CLARK
Technical Advisor HARRY HUMPHRIES
Security Advisors TONY SMITH
LAHCEN BOUHADDI
Caterer/Craft Services - Morocco FOR STARS CATERING
Caterer/Craft Services - UK CREW CATERING CREW
Music Consultant KATHY NELSON
Additional Music by HALLI CAUTHERY
Music Editors RICHARD WHITFIELD
MARK JAN WLODARKIEWICZ
MERI GAVIN
KIRSTY WHALLEY
JOHN WARHURST
Orchestrations by LADD MCINTOSH
JENNIFER HAMMOND
GEOFF STRADLING
Music Preparation JILL STREETER
BOOKER WHITE, WALT DISNEY MUSIC LIBRARY
Score Recorded and Mixed by PETER COBBIN
Score Recorded and
Mixed at ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS, LONDON
Musician Contractor ISOBEL GRIFFITHS
Concert Master PERRY MONTAGUE MASON
Choir Master CHRIS FOSTER for the APOLLO VOICES
Featured Musicians MARTIN TILLMAN – ELECTRIC CELLO
HUGH MARSH – ELECTRIC VIOLIN
TONY MORALES – OUD & ELECTRIC GUITAR
ANTHONY LLEDO – SITAR & ELECTRIC GUITAR
HANDS ON’SEMBLE – ETHNIC PERCUSSION
KHOSRO ANSARI – VOCALS
Additional Arrangements by ANTHONY LLEDO
& MATTHEW MARGESON
Additional Programming HYBRID AND TOBY CHU
Assistant Engineers COSTA KOTSELAS
LEWIS JONES
PAUL PRITCHARD
STANLEY GABRIEL
Title Design JUSTIN BLAMPIED
ROBERT HESKETH
Map Design SIMON CASSELS
End Titles SCARLET LETTERS
DI Color and Dailies by ASCENT 142
Digital Colorist STEFAN SONNENFELD
Digital On-Line Editor EMILY GREENWOOD
Digital Intermediate Head of Department PATRICK MALONE
Digital Intermediate Producers MARIE FERNANDES
ROB FARRIS
Digital Film Technical Supervisor LAURENT TREHERNE
Digital Intermediate Assistant AURORA SHANNON
Negative Cutter WALT DISNEY STUDIOS NEGATIVE CUTTING,
MARY BETH SMITH
Color Timers KURT SMITH
JIM PASSON
SECOND UNIT
Production Supervisor STEVEN WAYNE
Production Coordinator RUSSELL ALLEN
Production Secretary SAMANTHA GARDNER
Supervising Armourer PETER CHRISTOPHER
1st Assistant Director ROBERT GRAYSON
2nd Assistant Director STEWART HAMILTON
3rd Assistant Director RAY KENNY
Key Set PA - Morocco RICK BROWN
Key Set PAs - UK SAM ROOK
EMMA MCGETTRICK
Camera Operators CLIVE JACKSON
ROBERTO CONTRERAS-DOHERTY
MARTIN HUME
1st Assistant Camera JEM RAYNER
2nd Assistant Camera BEN PLANT
Set Costumers CAROLINE HICKMAN
TOM HORNSBY
Gaffer - Morocco FRANCESCO ZACCARIA
Gaffer - UK ALAN MARTIN
Best Boy - Morocco MARCO STICCHI
Best Boy - UK TERRY MONTAGUE
Key Grip - Morocco CARLO POSTIGLIONE
Key Grip - UK DAVE APPLEBY
Best Boy Grip - Morocco MARCELLO TROIANI
Dolly Grip - Morocco FRANCESCO BIAONI
Dolly Grips - UK JIM CROWTHER
MALCOLM HUSE
4
Chief Hair Artist NATASHA ALLEGRO VFX Accountant GINNETTE WILSON
Chief Make-Up Artist MARILYN MCDONALD
Unit Nurse MARTINIO BOLGER
Script Supervisor JULIE BROWN
Sound Mixer CHRISTIAN JOYCE
Boom Operator ANTHONY BELL
Video Assistant - Morocco BRYCE SHIELDS
Video Assist - UK JOHN BOWMAN
AERIAL UNIT
Helicopter Pilot MARC WOLFF
Aerial DOP ADAM DALE
Engineer/Safety Coordinator STEPHEN NORTH
WESCAM Technician CHARLES WOODBURN
Helicopter Engineer NICOLAS KHELIF
MOROCCO UNIT
Line Producer - Morocco KARIM ABOUOBAYD
Production Coordinator HIND HANIF
Production Accountant SANA EL KILALI
Animals Facilitators ZAKARIA LAHLALI
HICHAM SOUAB
Veterinarian SI MOHAMED CHAKIB
1st Assistant Director NOUREDDINE ABERDINE
2nd Assistant Director MUSTAPHA GRUMIJ
2nd 2nd Assistant Director LATIFA NAOURI
3rd Assistant Directors RACHID DOUHA
MEHDI EL KHAOUDY
Casting SALAHEDDINE BENCHEGRA
Costume Supervisor ZINEB EL IDRISSI MENDILI
Key Grip ABDELAZIZ BIZZI
Moroccan Head Hair Stylist ZAINEB BENDOULA
Moroccan Head Make-Up Artist NAZHA AOUIS
Location Managers KHALID BOULASRI
TOUFIQ ABOUOBAYD
EL MAHJOUB AHBID
Location Manager - Ouarzazate DRISS GAIDI
Doctor HOUDA JABRANE
Doctor - Ouarzazate MLY EL MUSTAPHA OIKIL
Morocco Props Supervisor AHMED ABOUNOUOM (JIMMY)
Moroccan Props Coordinator NAZHA KAJJA
Sound Assistant NOURDINE ZAOUI
Cable Man AISSA ZAOUI
Transport Coordinator MOHAMED HICHAM REGRAGUI
Transport Captains JALAL AZIZ
OMAR DRIOUCH
Transport Coordinator Assistant MOUNIR DINE
Transportation Captain - Ouarzazate EL MAHJOUB NAJMA
Production Services DUNE FILMS S A R L
VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects Producer SHARON LARK
VFX Production Manager VICTORIA MCDOWELL
VFX Coordinators ANNA PANTON
SARAH MICALLEF
VFX Set Coordinator SUSAN LUCIANI KANE
VFX Assistant Coordinator RICHARD WILSON
PIERS CLIFTON
KATRINA BARTON
Post Visualization Artist MATTHEW TINSLEY
Lead Data Wrangler FELIX POMERANZ
Lead Data Wrangler (2nd Unit) MIKE WOODHEAD
Data Wranglers GILES HARDING
SAMANTHA TOWNEND
Texture Photographer TAYLOR TULIP-CLOSE
Visual Effects by DOUBLE NEGATIVE
VFX Supervisor MICHAEL ELLIS
VFX Producer JOANNA NODWELL
3D Supervisors PETER BEBB
JUSTIN MARTIN
2D Supervisor ANDREW LOCKLEY
3D Leads CHRISTOPH AMMANN
BECKY GRAHAM
MARK HODGKINS
CHRIS LAWRENCE
MAXX LEONG WAI IN
GAWAIN LIDDIARD
VIKTOR RIETVELD
ADRIAN THOMPSON
EUGÉNIE VON TUNZELMANN
PIETER WARMINGTON
2D Leads KAMILLA BAK
ROBIN BEARD
TOM ROLFE
IAN SIMPSON
BEN TAYLOR
Matchmove Leads SIMON PYNN
SAM SCHWIER
CHRISTOPHER SWEET
Line Producers EMMA LARSSON
KATE PHILLIPS
Production Coordinators MARTIN LAKE
MAUREEN YEO
3D Artists ARILD ANFINNSEN
MICHAEL ATKIN
JAMES BENSON
MUHITTIN BILGINER
JAMIE BRIENS
DANIELLE BROOKS
ROBERT BRUMBY
PAUL BURTON
ANDREW CADEY
DOMINIC CARUS
MARKUS DAUM
JONATHAN DAVIES
SANDRO DI SEGNI
BRUNO EBE
TOSH ELLIOTT
ALISON FARMER
RICHARD GAVIN
PABLO GIMENEZ
ALEXIS HALL
CHRIS HART
DAVID HYDE
KRIS JASPER
JULIEN LASBLEIZ
XAVIER LESTOURNEAUD
ADRIEN LOURDELLE
5
STUART LOVE
HOWARD MARGOLIUS
ANDRE METELLO
DANIEL NICHOLSON
LUKAS NIEMCZYK
TIMO-PEKKO NIEMINEN
CENAY OEKMEN
CARLOS POON
ABNER SANCHEZ
MARKUS SCHMIDT
HENRIK SODER
JONATHAN STYLES
CLAUDIA TORRES
OLEG TROY
ERIK TVEDT
CHARLES VARENNE
ANNA YAMAZOE
PATSY YUEN
Compositors SUSANNE BECKER
MICHAEL BELL
FRANK BERBERT
PATRICK BURKE
ERIC CHAN
IAN COPELAND
ALASTAIR CRAWFORD
ANDI DORFAN
GEOFFROY GIVRY
SEAN HEUSTON
TOM HOCKING
ALEX IRELAND
RAFAL KANIEWSKI
MARCIN KOLENDO
TONY YIU KEUNG MAN
NAVEEN MEDARAM
ANA MESTRE
MARTIN MUELLER
ALEXANDRA PAPAVRAMIDES
AMI PATEL
TRAVIS PORTER
JOHN PURDIE
JACQUI PURKESS
GARTH REILLY
STEVE SANCHEZ
CARLO SCADUTO
MARKUS SCHNEIDER
TAMMY SMITH
ROY TAY
SHAHIN TOOSI
SANJU TRAVIS
2D Prep Lead OLIVER ATHERTON
Matte Painter TIMOTHY WARNOCK
Concept Artists SIMON GUSTAFSSON
LUDOVIC IOCHEM
GUREL MEHMET
Dagger Time Previs CHRISTOPHER LENTZ
NIGEL RAFTER
DARREN RODRIGUEZ
Editorial ED CROSS
Dagger Time R&D OLIVER JAMES
TED WAINE
Visual Effects by THE MOVING PICTURE COMPANY
VFX Supervisor STEPHANE CERETTI
VFX Producer OLIVER MONEY
CG Supervisor MATT MIDDLETON
2D Supervisor MARIAN MAVROVIC
VFX Production Manager SABRINA SCALFARI
VFX Photographer JAMES KELLY
Production TOBY LANGLEY
ALED ROBINSON
AMIE COX
CRAIG SKERRY
ROSS JOHNSON
Layout THOMAS DOW
JULIAN HOWARD
SOEREN PEDERSEN
Lead Assets LISA GONZALES
CAROLINE DELENGAIGNE
Asset Artists MARTIN HESSION
SALLY WILSON
STEPHEN MOLYNEAUX
LEIGH VAN DER BYL
ABNER MARIN
SIMON BRITNELL
REBECCA MELANDER
FX ADRIANO RINALDI
OLIVER WINWOOD
ROBB HOPPER
Lead Digital Environment MARCELL NAGY
OLIVIER PRON
EDDY RICHARD
Digital Environment Artists MARCO ROLANDI
YANICK BOURGIE
LEE MATTHEWS
ZORAN ARIZANOVIC
EGLANTINE BOINET
ISABELLE ROUSSELLE
EVE CHAUVET
KIERAN BELSHAW
RAFI MAJID
Crowd ADAM DAVIS
FRANCESC IZQUIERDO
MARCO CARBONI
Lighting Lead DANIELE BIGI
Lighting Artists JON ATTENBOROUGH
CHRISTOPHER WILSON
SYLVIA KRATZSCH
FEDERICO GHIRADINI
RICCARDO CIOCCIA
ALAN MCCABE
Lead Compositors RICHARD LITTLE
HENRY BADGETT
SUZANNE JANDU
IVAN BUSQUETS
Compositors SAM BASSETT
OLIVIER JEZEQUEL
HAYLEY COLLINS
VAIBHAV MARATHE
LEO NEELANDS
PENG KE
6
IZET BUCO
MIKE BRAZELTON
VLADISLAV AKHTYRSKIY
KEITH JONES
SCOTT TAYLOR
MIODRAG COLOMBO
ANTHONY PECK
Digital Artists CHRISTINE TROIANELLO
JIGESH GAJJAR
LUCY BAILEY
SCOTT PATTON
JONATHAN MILLER
ANTHONY ABEJURO
GREG MEERES-YOUNG
RICHARD BAILLIE
MARC JONES
JAMES LEANING
Visual Effects by FRAMESTORE
Visual Effects Supervisor BEN MORRIS
Visual Effects Producer RICHARD GRAHAM
CG Supervisor ANDY KIND
CG Supervisor LAURENT HUGUENIOT
Visual Effects Art Director KEVIN JENKINS
Effects Supervisor CIARAN DEVINE
Compositing Supervisor CHRIS ZEH
Animation Supervisor PABLO GRILLO
Visual Effects Line Producer CLARE HOWELL
Animators VINCENT AUPETIT
MAGALI BARBE
STUART ELLIS
JAMES FARRINGTON
MIKE FORD
DON MAHMOOD
BARTH MANOURY
MARIANO MENDIBURU
CRAIG PENN
BRAD SILBY
ARDA USYAL
Lead TDs ROB ALLMAN
STUART PENN
NEIL WEATHERLEY
TDs JASON BAKER
CARL BIANCO
NICHOLAS CHOMBERT
SYLVAIN DEGROTTE
HOWARD FULLER
JULIAN HUTCHENS
RICKY KANG
PATRICK LOWRY
TALLI PELED
SAGAR RATHOD
PENN STEVENS
Lead Effects Artists ALEX ROTHWELL
RANGI SUTTON
ALEXIS WAJSBROT
Effects Artists LOUIS DUNLEVY
SELCUK ERGEN
HORACIO MENDOZA
STEPHEN MURPHY
PREMAMURTI PAETSCH
ALEX PANASKEVYCH
DIEGO PRILUSKY
ROB RICHARDSON
PAUL SIMPSON
Lead Compositors MARK BAKOWSKI
ADRIAN METZELAAR
JOHN PECK
Compositors BERT DERUYK
LUKE DRUMMOND
ANDREW HOGDEN
MIKE MARCUS
MANUEL PEREZ
ALED PROSSER
OSCAR TORNINCASA
NICK WHITELY
Digital Matte Painters PAUL CHANDLER
DAMIEN MACE
JOE MCLAMB
Modelers MATT BEALE
BEN LAMBERT
ROMAIN SEGURADO
JAMES SUTTON
Riggers MATTHIEU GOUTTE
RIKKI KNIGHT-TREMBATH
MATTHIAS ZELLER
Texture Artists MICHAEL BORHI
CEDRIC MENARD
LAZSLO MOLNAR
MARK TAYLOR
Visual Effects Coordinators DANIELLE MORLEY
KATY MUMMERY
Visual Effects Editors ILONA BLYTH
TUREA BLYTH
VFX & Animation by CINESITE
VFX Supervisor SUE ROWE
VFX Producer CLARE NORMAN
VFX Coordinators LEE CHIDWICK
JANE ELLIS
LOUISE HUTCHINSON
JAN MEADE
CG Supervisors ARTEMIS OIKONOMOPOULOU
STEPHANIE PARIS
Compositing Supervisor MATT KASMIR
Executive Producer COURTNEY VANDERSLICE-LAW
Model & Texture Artists LAURENT CORDIER
ADAM DEWHIRST
GRAHAME CURTIS
DAN MASON
JAMES STONE
ANDY WHEATER
TDs RICK BOYLE
ADAM LUCAS
7
Animation Supervisor QUENTIN MILES
Animators CATHERINE ELVIDGE
BENN GARNISH
JASON IVIMEY
Lighting TDs NIKOS GATOS
GRAHAM HOUSTON
CLARE PAKEMAN
JEAN-PAUL ROVELA
JENSEN TOMS
ANTHONY ZWARTOUW
Effects TDs ZOHAIB AHSAN
CHAS CASH
COEN KLOSTER
Lead Crowd TD JANE LISA WILD
Senior TDs MICHELE SCIOLETTE
MICHAEL WORTMANN
AVIV YARON
Lead Matchmover JOEY HARRIS
Digital Matte Painting Supervisor SEVENDALINO KHAY
Digital Matte Painters ROGER GIBBON
CYRILLE NOMBERG
Lead Compositors OLIVER ARMSTRONG
ALLAN TORP JENSEN
HELEN NEWBY
SARAH NORTON
JAMIE WOOD
Compositors SIMON J ALLEN
DAVE BANNISTER
SULE BRYAN
LORAINE COOPER
GERT VAN DERMEERSCH
THOMAS DYG
CHRIS ELSON
GUY ELSON
DAN HARROD
STEVE HAWKEN
SANDRO HENRIQUES
TOM KIMBERLEY
DAVID SJÖDIN
VENETIA PENNA
ALEX SMITH
OLLIE WEIGALL
KAI WOYTKE
ABUBAKAR HABIB ABRAR
PETER BLACKBURN
Visual Effects by PEERLESS CAMERA COMPANY, LONDON
Visual Effects Supervisor JOHN PAUL DOCHERTY
Visual Effects Producer DIANE KINGSTON
Senior Visual Effects Coordinator LAURA FITZPATRICK
Head of 3D DITCH DOY
Lead TD PATRICK LEDDA
Animators TIM CHAUNCEY
DANIEL JENKINS
TIM OLLIVE
EMANUELE PESCATORI
JAMIE TREMELLING
Senior Compositors PAUL ROUND
GAVIN DIGBY
Compositors IAN HOLLAND
CHRISTOPHER MCDERMOTT
JIM RUSSELL
Digital Matte Painter JIM BOWERS
Digital Paint Artists STELLA AMPATZI
MARTIN BODY
SARAH MARCHANT
CHRISTOPHER PAGE
Visual Effects by NVIZIBLE
VFX Supervisor PADDY EASON
VFX Producer SALLY SPENCER
VFX Coordinator GINA DEUTERS
2D Supervisor HUGH MACDONALD
CG Supervisor MARTIN CHAMNEY
Digital Artists DAVID EMENY
ELYSIA GREENING
DYLAN WYN OWEN
CAROLINE PIRES
MATT W B PLUMMER
ABIGAIL SCOLLAY
VILMOS THERNESZ
ADAM ROWLANDS
NATALIE MACDONALD
Visual Effects by BAIN VFX
Digital Compositors RICHARD BAIN
ANGELA BARSON
Visual Effects by MOBIUS
VFX Supervisor ROD MCFALL
VFX Producer KIM PHELAN
Compositing Lead MIQUEL UBEDA
Compositors PATRICK O’CASEY
HASRAF DULULL
JOSS FLORES
ALEX GURI
GARRETT HONN
HUMAYUN MIRZA
SANDRA ROACH
Insert Shoot RSA FILMS LTD
LUKE SCOTT
EWEN BROWN
“I Remain”
Written by Alanis Morissette and Mike Elizondo
Strings Arranged by Bruce Fowler
Produced by Mike Elizondo
Performed by Alanis Morissette
“Whirling”
Written and performed by Azam Ali and Loga Ramin Torkian
8
Soundtrack available on
American Humane monitored the animal action.
(AHAD 01741)
Filmed in Part at Pinewood Studios
In Memory of Tomi Pierce
Filmed with
PANAVISION®
Cameras and Lenses
Aerial Cameras Provided by
Flying Pictures, Ltd.
Motion Effects (MFX) by
D-BOX Technologies, Inc.
Color by TECHNICOLOR®
Domestic Prints by DELUXE®
International Prints by TECHNICOLOR®
Lighting Equipment
Supplied by PANALUX
Lighting Equipment Supplied by
PANALIGHT SPA-ROME (Morocco)
MPAA # 45718
Copyright ©2010 DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.
AND JERRY BRUCKHEIMER, INC.
All Rights Reserved
For the purposes of United Kingdom copyright,
Disney Enterprises, Inc. was the owner of copyright
in this film immediately after it was made.
JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS™, JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS Tree
Logo™, and JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS Moving Image Design®
are all trademarks. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Distributed by
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES
9
Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films present “Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time,” an epic action-adventure set in the
mystical lands of Persia A rogue prince named Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess Tamina
(Gemma Arterton) and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time—a
gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world
Directed by Mike Newell (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”) with a cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina, and a
screenplay by Boaz Yakin and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Jordan Mechner, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
hits theaters Memorial Day weekend 2010
The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, John August, Jordan
Mechner, Patrick McCormick and Eric McLeod The associate producer is Pat
Sandston The extraordinary behind-the-scenes artists include Academy Award®winning
(and four-time nominee) director of photography John Seale (“The English
Patient,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “The Perfect Storm”), production
designer Wolf Kroeger (“The Last of the Mohicans,”“Enemy at the Gates”), costume
designer Penny Rose (“Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy), and film editors Michael
Kahn (three-time Oscar® winner for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,”“Schindler’s List” and
“Saving Private Ryan”), Martin Walsh (Academy Award winner for “Chicago”) and
Mick Audsley (Newell’s “Mona Lisa Smile” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire”) The visual effects supervisor is Tom Wood (“Sunshine”), special effects supervisor is Trevor Wood (Oscar winner for “The Golden
Compass”), and stunt coordinator George Aguilar (“American Gangster,”“Die Another Day,” Newell’s “Donnie Brasco”) The second unit
director/director of photography is Alexander Witt (“Robin Hood,” “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3”) and the composer is Harry Gregson-
Williams (“The Chronicles of Narnia” trilogy, “Kingdom of Heaven”)
THE STORY
Filmmakers Take Jordan Mechner’s Exotic World to New Heights
“We love bringing audiences into new worlds they haven’t yet explored,”says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “and ancient Persia is one
of the most wonderful of them all It has such a rich heritage of imagination and fantasy, and we’ve tried to honor that in ‘Prince of Persia:
The Sands of Time ’We tackle epic films, from ‘Armageddon’to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’and ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’falls right
in line with those kinds of movies It’s got enormous imagination, enormous scope and phenomenal action ”
Jordan Mechner created his seminal “Prince of Persia”video game in 1989 “I was looking for a universe that hadn’t yet been done
in video games,” says Mechner “The early days of video games were like the early
days of cinema We looked to previously established genres, like sword-and-sorcery
and science fiction, to find things that would work in this new medium ”
Adds director Mike Newell: “I love the idea of it being a living myth that you are
watching This is a story that’s absolutely real and extraordinary—a non-rational,
non-physical universe as we now understand it These things happen in this film ”
It wasn’t Dastan’s birthright to become a prince—it was his destiny As a boy
in 6th century Persia—one of the greatest empires the world has ever known—
young Dastan is a street urchin, parentless and penniless Threatened with severe
punishment by a Persian Army captain after defending a youngster caught stealing
an apple, Dastan is first spared, and then adopted, by the noble King Sharaman,
who detects a touch of greatness in Dastan Raised alongside Sharaman’s sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and taught
the ways of wisdom and nobility by his adoptive father and beloved uncle, Nizam (Kingsley), Dastan retains his rough edges while
growing into a strong young warrior
“What appealed to me about the story is the notion that everybody has great potential,” says Kingsley “And this is where I thought it
10
would be a very affirming film, particularly for young people—to realize that whilst you might be a child of the streets, it doesn’t mean
that your potential is any less than that of a child from the palace Our film is an examination of the potential of a child coming into
adulthood, and the choices he has ”
Dastan, driven to prove his worth, leads the attack on Alamut, a peaceful holy city which is
reported by spies to be hording weapons that are supplied to Persia’s enemies But in fact, Alamut
holds a much deeper and greater treasure—the legendary Sands of Time, which gives mortals the
ability to turn back time Dastan comes into possession of an ancient glass-handled dagger, the key
to accessing the Sands of Time, but King Sharaman is assassinated and Dastan is accused of the crime
Now on the run and desperate to clear his name, Dastan finds himself in an uneasy alliance with
Tamina, a feisty young Alamut princess whose family has guarded the Sands of Time for centuries, and
who will do whatever it takes to protect it
Dastan and Tamina, who are like oil and water from the start, are challenged to survive the
unforgiving desert and some even more unforgiving enemies—from the wily Sheikh Amar (Molina)
and master African knife thrower Seso (Steve Toussaint) to the deadly attempts of the Hassansins—
each one trained to kill with their own lethal techniques It will take all of Dastan’s bravery and fighting
skills, as well as Tamina’s cunning, in order to uncover the one truly responsible for the king’s death,
and for him to discover the nobility that truly lies within
According to Gyllenhaal, the filmmakers had an interesting perspective about the film’s fantasy
backdrop “It was Mike Newell and Jerry Bruckheimer’s initial and brilliant idea that this film be based in reality Mike said, ‘I want this
movie to be based in the mentality of sixth-century Persia, where they believed in fantasy becoming reality, that you could find a
dagger that could turn back time and have no doubt in the possibility of that happening because that’s what they would have believed
back then ’”
At a time when European civilization was but a dim gleam on humanity’s
horizon, mighty Persia was creating great cities and buildings throughout its vast
and mighty empire: Persepolis, Baghdad, Susa, Pasargadae, Arg-é Bam, Isfahan
The Persian Empire at its height stretched from the Euphrates in the west to the
Indus River in the east, and from the Caucasus, Caspian, and Aral seas in the north
to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south In addition to Iran itself,
the empire included what are now the modern nations of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the eastern parts of Turkey and
Iraq and their surrounding regions
Two great works of Persian literature greatly influenced Mechner: the
Shahnameh, a massive work written by the great poet Ferdowsi in approximately 1000 AD and considered to be the national epic of
Iran, and One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of stories dating back to the ninth century that incorporated ancient Persian, Middle
Eastern and Indian folktales and legends Mechner recognized that he could build an alternative world based upon the historical realities
of ancient Persia, creating new mythologies about a culture that had created so many of its own fantasies for thousands of years
Mechner created a protagonist who defied gravity with his acrobatic acumen, yet remained governed by the laws of physics and
human capability “With ‘Prince of Persia,’I wanted to create a character that felt like flesh and blood—like if he missed the jump, it would
really hurt,” he says
Mechner was not only creating a character who leapt from one precipice to another; the young video-game genius was also taking
a giant leap himself, seeking new technologies to bring his world of “Prince of Persia” to life as fully as possible “The world of the ‘Prince
of Persia’video game was fascinating,”says executive producer Mike Stenson “It had a wonderful fantasy aspect about it, and the Sands
of Time element introduced in the 2003 game was perfect for the big screen
We felt that we should have elements of the game, but, just as we did with
‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ develop our own story, taking off from what was
given us But we think we’re being true to Jordan Mechner’s vision of the
game ”
Newell was, of course, tapped to direct the big screen’s “Prince of Persia:
The Sands of Time ” Says Bruckheimer, “Mike can do just about any kind of
movie, from ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ which is a dramatic comedy, to
‘Donnie Brasco,’ a hard-edged, gritty street movie And then he goes and
does ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,’ which had just the right blend of
adventure and mystical fantasy that we were looking for Mike has a really
wonderful palette that he paints from, and that’s very important to us We want an entertaining film that appeals to a broad audience,
but also something special, that concentrates on character and story ”
11
“The more exquisite, the more dark, the more agonized, the more true to our fallible human natures a film can be—that’s a good
Brit picture,”says Newell “But lately, I’ve been really interested in great, big entertainment—‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’is exactly
that—great, big entertainment—and I’m very pleased to have it ”
THE MAKINGS OF AN ACTION HERO
Jack Gyllenhaal Leads a Powerful Cast
What qualities make a hero? The role of Dastan required an actor who could be multi-layered: dashing in the classic-movie mode;
wily, with a sense of raffish fun; burdened with the underlying gravitas of poverty; and driven to
become a better man Jake Gyllenhaal had already demonstrated his serious acting chops in such
films as David Fincher’s “Zodiac,” Sam Mendes’ “Jarhead” and Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,”
which brought Gyllenhaal an Academy Award® nomination and a BAFTA Award
“Jake Gyllenhaal is an actor that I’ve been watching and wanted to work with for a very long
time,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer “He’s a wonderful actor, exceedingly handsome and a
great gentleman Jake is also incredibly dedicated He did an amazing job training himself for
‘Prince of Persia,’ putting on an enormous amount of muscle—fight training, sword-fighting,
parkour training, horse-riding And he continued to work out and train every single day of the
more than 100-day shoot ”
Adds director Mike Newell: “Jake has a man-of-the-people quality He’s curious, open, gentle,
very tough, and has great comic abilities, and in ‘Prince of Persia,’he uses all of that I saw pretty
much everything he had made and thought him a marvelous actor, with terrific charisma But
what I didn’t know about Jake was that he would be an absolutely God-given action hero He can
fight, hold a sword, run, clamber, jump and ride a horse as if he were glued to the back of it And
that I didn’t expect It’s no small thing ”
Gyllenhaal also received a ringing endorsement from the man who created the prince: Jordan
Mechner “Any time you have a character
that an audience has connected to through another medium, whether it’s a novel
or a video game, people are going to have strong feelings about it,” says Mechner
“But I think that if you have a good actor and a good movie, then after the first
minute it’s no longer an issue I think Jake is a fantastic choice for the role Once you
see him in costume and in action, you have no doubt that he is a prince in sixth-
century Persia He’s strong, heroic, humorous, sensitive and vulnerable, and you
have no doubt he’s going to do the right thing ”
When offered the role by Bruckheimer and Newell, Gyllenhaal was overwhelmed
by the sheer scope of the project “‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’was just so
different from anything that I had been involved in,”says Gyllenhaal “I thought that
creating an iconic character like Dastan could be both fun and a huge challenge I’ve always loved movies in which the hero has the
capability to do almost anything, but still be a human being, and not a superman
“The development of the character was massively physical at first,” Gyllenhaal continues, “getting in shape and learning parkour,
sword-fighting and the mentality of a warrior I knew that if I got through that, I’d be halfway there And when it was decided that Dastan
would speak in a standard British accent to be consistent with the rest of the performers, I worked hard at that as well with a dialect
coach named Barbara Berkery ”
After a worldwide search, Gemma Arterton was summoned by to star as Tamina
in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ”“Gemma is a wonderful young actress whom
we found in London—a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts,”
says Bruckheimer “She had a small part in ‘Quantum of Solace,’ and we cast her
before that picture hit the big screen, so we feel very fortunate that we got in on
the ground floor, because she’s been turning a lot of heads ever since the Bond film
was released Gemma is going to be a really big star ”
Adds Newell: “What I loved about her is that—and long may she retain the quality—
Gemma has none of those layers of artifice, defense and arrogance that build up in
a young actor who quickly becomes successful ”
“The scale of it, creating a new world on-screen—something that’s never been done before—and the action, were really exciting to
me,”Arterton says “I’ve always wanted to do an action movie and kind of fancied myself as a bit of a stunt girl When I first heard about the
film, though, I never thought I’d get it I hadn’t yet done‘Quantum of Solace,’so being cast in an even bigger film was a far-fetched idea
12
“She’s a great character for me to play,” Arterton continues, “because Tamina is
more than a typical action figure She’s spiritual, very wise, thoughtful and sensitive
as well The most beautiful thing about Tamina is that she’s a character with faith
and really believes in what she’s trying to do But she also gives the guys a run for
their money and really kicks some butt ”
Filmmakers called on Ben Kingsley to portray Dastan’s uncle, Nizam, the brother
of Dastan’s adoptive father, King Sharaman “You always try to populate your film
with fantastic actors,” says Bruckheimer “And when you get somebody like Sir Ben
Kingsley, you’re very fortunate to be able to entice him to do the project He was, in
every way, the perfect choice to play Nizam ”
Veteran actor Alfred Molina was enlisted to play Sheikh Amar “He’s a sort of
roguish opportunist,” says Molina of the character “He really doesn’t care whether he breaks the law He’s quite dangerous at times
Sheikh Amar describes himself as an entrepreneur His methods are unusual, unconventional, and he’s basically a thief But although he
starts off as sort of a bad guy, Sheikh Amar becomes a reluctant ally of Dastan, and in the end, they join up and have the same quest,
although for very different reasons ”
A coterie of fine British actors round out the cast, including Richard Coyle and Toby Kebbell as Dastan’s brothers, the troubled Tus and
militant Garsiv; Steve Toussaint as the imposing African warrior Seso; Ronald Pickup as Dastan’s beloved adoptive father, King Sharaman;
Reece Ritchie as his servant and sidekick Bis; and Will Foster as Young Dastan, the first role for the parkour-studying British boy
TACKLING STUNTS AND PARKOUR
Filmmakers Go Right to the Source
From fantastic parkour displays of gravity- and death-defying leaps and acrobatics to outrageous ostrich races to medieval Near
Eastern battles on a grand scale, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” gave its stunt coordinators an epic canvas The daring team was
comprised of first-unit stunt coordinator George Aguilar, second-unit stunt coordinator Greg Powell, Morocco co–stunt coordinator
Stephen Pope, co–fight coordinators Thomas Dupont and Ben Cooke, and parkour choreographer David Belle
For the actors, preparation began several weeks before the cameras rolled,
with rigorous training programs designed to whip them in shape and get
them on horseback Jake Gyllenhaal was already in prime physical condition
as an avid runner, cyclist and all-around athlete
“There’s no reason to do a movie like this if you can’t do the stunts,” says
Gyllenhaal “It was all about functional fitness, being able to do everything
that was asked of me So I got into the best
shape I could, with a whole lot of running,
parkour training, circuit-training and
horseback-riding ”
Along with the other cast members,
Gyllenhaal did extensive training with horses under the tutelage of Ricardo Cruz Moral, one of Spain’s
top equestrians, at his ranch outside of Madrid For Gemma Arterton, it was a revelation “I’d never
ridden a horse in my life, so I was sent away with the others on a kind of horse-riding boot camp before
we started the film It was brilliant, and now horseback-riding is one of my hobbies One of the stunts
in the film that I do myself is when I’m swept onto a horse as it’s coming towards me, and I was really
proud of that ”
Thomas Dupont, whose credits include all three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, served on “Prince
of Persia: The Sands of Time” as co–fight coordinator, with Ben Cooke He also portrayed the lethal
Hassad, a Hassansin who fights with two blade-tipped whips Dupont was charged with shooting a big
action scene at an elevation of 8,200 feet “As far as the altitude was concerned, the hardest part was
the sustained fighting We had to do a lot of things at once for up to a minute at a time Now, that may
not seem like a long time, but if you’re performing at full energy, with strikes, running and jumping, that
tends to wind you And if you’re already up 8,000 feet and the oxygen is scarce, it really takes its toll ”
Filmmakers incorporated one aspect of Jordan Mechner’s creation that promises to set “Prince of
Persia: The Sands of Time” apart “In the video game, the prince can run up walls and has other skills
which are based on parkour,” explains director Mike Newell “Parkour started in the suburbs of Paris,
where the kids were so bored that they started to use what was available to them as some kind of test I watched documentaries about
them and saw that they really do walk up walls and leap from rooftop to rooftop They are extraordinary athletes So we brought some of
13
the great world experts of parkour to teach us what to do and how to make it look
good ”
“We decided to go right to the source,” says Bruckheimer “We wanted the best
of the best, and that’s David Belle ”
Belle is a young legend and the originator of parkour ”This is the kind of film that
makes me wish I was in the movie industry,”says Belle “When you watch this type
of movie, it’s so magnificent that you want to be a part of the scene And all of a
sudden, I find that I am It’s like a child’s dream come true ”
In French, parkour is also known as “l’art du déplacement,” or the art of
movement And indeed, to its practitioners and those who observe the astounding
feats of traceurs—practitioners of parkour—it is nothing less than wondrous The
action of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” incorporates both parkour and its offshoot, free running
Says Bruckheimer, “It’s really an art form It’s so exciting to watch people literally bouncing off of walls, all done without wires, doing
it through their own physical force ”
Belle’s own description of parkour is, as one would imagine coming from the man responsible for its present form, perfectly concise
and lucid “To make it simple, parkour is a training method that allows a person to develop their physique so that they can overcome
obstacles The more you train, the faster and more efficient you become When training, you can create a wide range of movements
These movements help you to get through difficult passageways, between buildings and over rooftops It’s a different way to learn to
move your body ”
Belle was impressed by Gyllenhaal’s parkour abilities and the enthusiasm with
which the actor quite literally threw himself into the action “Jake certainly had me
convinced,”he says “I’ve seen his work, his movements in various scenes, and I have
no doubt ”
Particularly thrilled to work with David Belle was Will Foster, a junior parkour
student portraying young Dastan “I was quite nervous when I heard that I was
going to be training with him,”Foster admits, “but he really put me at ease He’s also
really easy to talk to, because I speak a little French David showed me quite a lot of
jumps and basic vaults If he sees I’m doing something good, he’ll say so, but then
he tells me how to improve it, which is really helpful It’s really important to David
that kids know that parkour isn’t about getting your camera and filming yourself jumping off the highest thing you can find You have to
study for a long time and become very strong ”
SURVIVING SUMMER IN MOROCCO
On Location with Triple-Digit Temps
“Everybody said to us, ‘Morocco’s a great place,’”recalls director Mike Newell “‘Just don’t go there in July and August ’So of course,
we shot all the way through July and August ”
“I couldn’t understand why my hotel was empty when I got to Morocco,” says Alfred Molina “I kept thinking, isn’t everybody in Europe
on holiday in August? And the local people were looking at me as if to say, What are you doing here? And then I quickly discovered that
you don’t go to Morocco, ’cause it’s too bloody hot! Nobody works in Morocco in August So, yeah, mad dogs and Englishmen, I guess ”
“It makes perfect sense to film a movie about the ancient world in Morocco,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “because the ancient
and the modern coexist side by side Even with chic restaurants, elegant clubs and
boutique hotels springing up all over Marrakesh, artisans in the medina are still
hand-tooling their products just as they have for thousands of years And outside
of the cities, life is even more traditional amidst Morocco’s mountains and valleys,
plains and deserts With so many films having been made there, there’s a great
infrastructure with skilled technicians and workers, and the Moroccan government
is always very welcoming Moroccans are great craftsmen, and we used an
enormous number of artisans They did an amazing job ”
Cast and crew braved temperatures in excess of 120 degrees Fahrenheit, high
altitudes, countless lamb burgers and lethal critters in harsh desert landscapes .
Following six months of active preparation, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
began principal photography on July 23, 2008, in suitably epic fashion, with the first two weeks of filming occurring at an altitude of
8,200 feet in Oukaimden, 75 kilometers above the sizzling hot city of Marrakesh To access this remote location in the High Atlas range,
one had to ride through the verdant Ourika Valley and then ascend a winding, rustic mountain road with perilous drops and switchbacks .
14
But it was a perfect site for the film’s Hidden Valley location
It took 20 Moroccan laborers three and a half weeks to build a road
into the secluded location Meanwhile, the first of many base camps that
included a massive catering tent and cooking facilities was created, plus
all of the production vehicles—from the actors’ trailers to tech trucks
An armada of four-wheel-drive Land Rovers was brought in by Morocco
transportation coordinator Gerry Gore to ferry the company from the base
camp at the foot of the ski lift to the Hidden Valley site—a ride bumpy
enough to compete with the Indiana Jones attraction at Disneyland
Temperatures in midsummer in North Africa rarely drop below 100
degrees Fahrenheit, and during shooting, the average loomed at about
110–115 degrees During many days of the shoot, the Moroccan locations were either the hottest places on Earth, or something very
close to it
Approximately 18 miles north of Izergane is a flat, dusty, windless stretch of desert called Agafay, where nearly 500 background
players portrayed a large chunk of the Persian army as it approaches Alamut The film’s technical and security adviser Harry Humphries
and his Moroccan associate Lotfi Saalaoui (a police officer assigned to work with the film’s security team) trained the hundreds of local
extras Humphries, a former Navy SEAL and longtime Bruckheimer associate is one of the motion-picture industry’s most experienced
technical, military and security advisers “We had to turn 400 people into a marching army within a very short period of time,” says
Humphries “Luckily, Sergeant Lotfi is an excellent drill sergeant, so although none of the extras had ever seen a drill field before, he
turned them into an excellent marching force in just three days ”
Twenty kilometers southwest of Marrakesh, Tamesloht is a dusty, unpaved village consisting of a few shops, some humble dwellings,
a gendarme station, friendly townspeople and walls of an ancient kasbah reputed to be 700 years old It was chosen as the site for the
film’s fictitious city of Alamut, as designed by “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” production designer Wolf Kroeger The imaginary
locale features a magnificent square with a Taj Mahal–like palace rising 50 feet above the ground, an adjacent red-and-white structure
festooned with balconies, and a central fountain spouting water—all flanked by elephant statues Streets abound with architectural and
decorative detail: scroll shops in a narrow alley bedecked by small, tinkling bells, a
pale yellow temple adorned with garlands of vividly colored flowers, arches carved
with floral designs in bas relief, plus stalls selling shoes, dried herbs and flowers,
and ancient mud walls festooned with imaginative frescoes of men and beasts
“There aren’t many sets,” says screenwriter Carlo Bernard, “that are so big that you
can actually get lost in them!”
“Wolf Kroeger is a real artist,” says Bruckheimer “He has great vision, amazing
attention to detail, and isn’t afraid to think big and build big ”
Newell agrees: “Wolf has a wonderful ability to tune himself He’s fantastic with
two things: one is the big overall concept, and the other is expressing the concept
through minute detail He has a painterly eye, and, like myself, he was inspired by
Orientalist art But Wolf also did an enormous amount of research into ancient Persian and Near Eastern architecture We spent days and
days looking at pictures of Iran ”
Kroeger’s creations for “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” weren’t just sets,
but complete environments that enveloped the cast and created an alternate
world that combined history and fantasy with truly unleashed imagination
Working alongside Kroeger were supervising art director Jonathan McKinstry
(for Morocco), supervising art director Gary Freeman (U K ), set decorator Elli Griff,
prop master David Balfour, armorer Richard Hooper, construction managers John
Maher (Morocco) and Brian Neighbour (U K ), and an entire army of artists and
technicians
The version of pre-Islamic, sixth-century Persia created by Kroeger and his
cohorts comes from a deliberate attempt to interweave authentic architecture
and meticulously researched design elements with a high degree of fantasy, as
dictated by the fanciful and supernatural element in the story Alamut is entirely
fictitious, a kind of Shangri-la, with a noticeable Indian influence “From a design
point of view,” says Jonathan McKinstry, “the sets, set dressing and props are historical-looking pieces However, because we’re not
making a factual historical film, we haven’t locked ourselves into any one particular style And since we are relying on a lot of Moroccan
locations, there’s admittedly some North African flavor in the designs as well ”
Every design department would rely heavily on the extraordinary skills of Moroccan artisans, craftsmen and builders Nearly every
15
single piece required by Griff’s set-decorating team, Balfour’s prop department
and Hooper’s armory crew was made in massive workshops in the Marrakesh
industrial zone Items like King Sharaman’s ornate horse-drawn hearse and the
overweight Mughal’s palanquin were created and constructed by Stuart Rose
“Visiting the set-decoration and props warehouses was one of the most amazing
experiences I’ve had on any location of any of our movies,” says executive
producer Chad Oman “They were gigantic warehouses filled floor to ceiling
with props and production-design elements, from lamps to swords to saddles
to all sorts of elaborate weaponry—all of it made right there on the spot, by
hand, by local artisans Really, I can’t think of any other place in the world where
you can get this kind of craftsmanship and artistry ”
Whether working from his specially tricked-out truck in the burning heat
of Morocco or from a chilly and drafty corrugated-metal workshop at Pinewood Studios, Hooper was the go-to guy for weapons “For
the film,” Hooper says, “everything was created from scratch, designed or concept-approved by the art department, the producer, the
director or the actor, and then executed
“The main design influence of the Persian weaponry came from research of sixth-century design and also was influenced by the
‘Prince of Persia’ video game,” Hooper continues “I tried to find a balance between historic authenticity and fantasy, because Jerry
Bruckheimer and Mike Newell wanted us to travel that fine line We researched the collections in museums in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt,
the British Museum in London, the Smithsonian And we found various books containing the armor and weapons of Persia at that time
We chose various styles and elements, then created our own designs of the swords, daggers and shields ”
Hooper and his department created nearly 3,500 individual items, including swords, shields, spears, axes, arrows, bows, quivers,
scabbards, bow cases, daggers and Hassansin weapons The weaponry was fabricated from iron, wood and rubber, or whatever was
required for an individual scene And like other creative department
heads on the film, Hooper would rely on the fine artisanship found
in Morocco “We utilized the great skills of the country’s artisans,” says
Hooper “From leather workers to metal engravers and cloth makers,
there are many skills which many have completely forgotten in
developed countries like England and America ”
Of all the thousands of items under the domain of Balfour, none
was more important than the single most iconic object in the film:
the Dagger of Time As was the case with nearly everything in the
movie, creating the final version of the Dagger of Time was a process
of research, development and experimentation “Initially, we looked
at an old-style Indian dagger as a model,” says Balfour, “but Jerry
Bruckheimer wanted the Dagger to more closely resemble the one in the video game The problem was when we turned the hilt of the
Dagger from the game into something three-dimensional, it couldn’t perform the functions that it had to do in the film We had to do a
bit of work to redesign the hilt, with its glass handle, metal filigree and jewel button on top that releases the sand from the blade
“I think the end result was successful,” continues Balfour “The handle is still elegant, as it was in the game, and we enhanced the
blade with a lot of engraving ”Balfour created 20 different versions of the Dagger of Time, all identical but serving different functions “The
main, literal version actually has a metal blade,” explains Balfour “It’s fabricated
from brass and is gold-plated The weight is there, and it’s picture-quality ”There
was a considerable amount of maintenance that had to be constantly performed
on this version of the Dagger, because of the film’s many action sequences “It’s
thrown around, kicked out of Dastan’s hands, knocked into the dirt,” says Balfour
“There’s a lot that goes on with the Dagger, so it’s had its fair share of repairs But
we also had exact duplicates made in both hard and soft rubber for stunts and
one that actually lights up ”
The hard work made an impression on the cast “When we went to Morocco
in the first week, we visited some of the sets which had been built,”recalls Gemma
Arterton “That was when I realized, ‘Whoa, this is a big deal ’They were like cities
I’d never seen anything like it You don’t have to imagine anything It’s right there,
and it’s a real luxury, especially in these times of green screen It was the world that really interested me in doing this film, and when you
walk onto sets like ours, that world has already been created ”
“Everywhere we looked, we saw the most exquisitely carved walls, drapes, ramparts,”says Ben Kingsley “And in Morocco, nature itself,
the camels, thousands of horsemen, the dust Our sets were so detailed that even if you’re pausing, halfway in a line and just breathing
16
in, the amount of energy and information you’re breathing in is extraordinary Hours and hours of work went into the environment It’s
really uplifting and it honored our craft to such a degree ”
The lunar-like landscape of Bouaissoun, 45 kilometers northwest of Marrakesh, was perfectly suited for Sheikh Amar’s desert
kingdom The scenes involving his ostrich racetrack required four days of shooting with the temperamental birds
Ostriches have a reputation for being ornery, smelly, scary and dangerous, which might explain why the birds have rarely been
featured on screen “I never thought that ostriches would ever end up in one of my
films,” says Bruckheimer, “but it’s a really funny and exciting sequence ”
Brought in to supervise the extraordinary birds were ostrich experts Bill Rivers
and Jennifer Henderson Stunt coordinator George Aguilar and his team, with
Rivers’ assist, enlisted eight professional Moroccan jockeys to ride the ostriches in
the racing sequences, requiring two solid weeks of training “None of the jockeys
ever rode an ostrich before,” says Rivers “It’s a lot different than riding a horse,
because ostriches are not as stable It takes a lot of practice You also have to
dismount properly so you don’t get run over, kicked or stepped on ”
Alfred Molina portrayed the ostrich-adoring Sheikh Amar, and the actor did
his best to get in character Molina recalls: “I show off my ostrich Anita to Dastan
and talk to him lovingly about this particular bird These animals are very unpredictable and rather quixotic in their movements and
decisions I noticed Jennifer Henderson would constantly stroke their necks to keep them calm So I thought, I’ll try that, maybe it will
help the scene
“I was praying that Anita would be still, so I stroked her neck—which was actually very soft and sinewy—did the dialogue, and it
went beautifully for two or three takes And then, on one take—and I don’t know
what possessed me—but in the middle of the dialogue praising Anita, I just leaned
forward and kissed her on the neck, thinking that I would either get my eye poked
out or get away with it And it went great! But at the end of the day, Jennifer told me
that Anita, who I thought was a female, was actually Alan, a male Hopefully, they’ll
create an MTV Award for that category ”
The company next hit the road for the 200-kilometer, two-and-a-half-hour
drive through the 7,415-foot Tizi n’Tichka pass in the High Atlas range, journeying
southeast to Ouarzazate, the self-proclaimed “Hollywood of North Africa ”
The call sheet of the first day of filming at the Little Fint oasis, 40 minutes outside
of Ouarzazate, held two warnings, one more terrifying than the other: “PLEASE DO
NOT TOUCH THE OSTRICH ON SET TODAY”and, even worse, “BEWARE—SNAKES & SCORPIONS CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LOCATION UNDER
AND AROUND THE ROCKS BE CAUTIOUS ”
There was nothing to fear, however, because “Snake Dude” (per his T-shirt) was on the case This ever-smiling Moroccan man was
greatly experienced in the ways of vipers and venomous beasties He was
responsible for clearing the shooting areas of the deadly pests before the cast
and crew arrived and during shooting It didn’t take long for Snake Dude’s glass
jars to become filled with the pernicious creatures, all of which were released at
the end of the workdays
Two days into the location, high winds kicked up ferocious sandstorms
followed by rain “When we first scouted in Morocco,”recalls Mike Newell, “there
was a 50-mile-per-hour wind blowing, but the locals would not dignify it with
the name sandstorm They said, ‘This isn’t a sandstorm, just a little breeze ’ A
sandstorm is a hell of a terrifying thing, because everything goes black—you
can’t see a thing—and it chokes you And one of the great scenes in the movie takes place in a sandstorm ”
Constant maintenance of equipment in such extreme weather conditions would bedevil Australian director of photography John
Seale and his camera crew throughout filming in Morocco, but he had already experienced similar conditions shooting in Tunisia on “The
English Patient,”for which he won an Academy Award® “We were able to acclimatize to this heat, and the cameras were equipped for it,”
says Seale “But even so, we had a continual fogging of the negative Its origin eluded us for weeks, but eventually we had to agree that
it was the incredible heat that was fogging the film Nothing we did could get rid of it A lot of preparation went into the equipment The
dust storms and sand dervishes wreaked havoc with sand in the cameras, which can cause scratches and, consequently, reshoots, so the
camera crew was particularly careful ”
The next location for “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” was truly special Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, the
towering ancient ksar (fortified city) of Ait Ben Haddou was built with brown pisé (earth and rubble) tighremt (granary) structures
designed with Berber motifs Adjacent to the ksar was a perfect place for Wolf Kroeger to build the magnificent Nasaf marketplace,
17
incorporating elements of Ait Ben Haddou in the background
While filming in Ouarzazate, both the first and second units also shot within
the extraordinary pisé walls of the Kasbah Taourirte, an ancient dwelling right in
the center of town In fact, the Kasbah was once all that existed of Ouarzazate,
before the French overlords built their new garrison town around it, and it still has
the beautiful and primitive atmosphere exuding strength and exoticism in equal
measure It’s still the beating heart of Ouarzazate, its narrow alleyways teeming
with residents coming and going, playing cards or dominoes, buying, selling and
haggling in tiny shops
After filming in the dramatic Tiwiyne Gorge, the company packed up and
drove 322 kilometers due east along the Route of a Thousand Kasbahs to Erfoud
At a stone’s throw from the Algerian border, the filmmakers selected a stretch of desert to serve as the forbidding entrance to the Valley
of the Slaves, where Sheikh Amar and his raggedy bandits hold sway
The final two days of filming in Morocco took place among the famed Merzouga Sand Dunes, mountains of sand rising like a golden-
hued mirage to heights of 450 feet from a black, rocky, unforgiving plain “I think it’s really appropriate that a movie titled ‘Prince of Persia:
The Sands of Time’ ends its Morocco shoot in sand dunes,” said executive producer Eric McLeod These are the classic dunes of every
Arabian Nights fantasy, sculpted, shaped and rippled by the hot winds, their colors changing with the movement of the sun On the
final day in Morocco, the thermometer topped out at 125 degrees Fahrenheit Crew members from the Western Hemisphere wrapped
themselves in indigo Tuareg head coverings and went shoeless to make walking easier among the deep dunes
“My DNA now has the Moroccan desert in it, because I definitely breathed in my share of sand,”says Jake Gyllenhaal “I grew up in
Southern California, and the weather and topography of Morocco are actually quite similar, so it wasn’t too rough for me I had shot here
before, but I’d never actually gone as far into the desert and seen as much of Morocco as I did on ‘Prince of Persia ’ It’s a really beautiful
country There were times, on off days, when I’d just drive and drive, just amazed at the landscapes and the culture Moroccan people are
the sweetest, kindest people, and the hardest workers ”
FILMING IN COOLER, CALMER GREAT BRITAIN
Filmmakers Create a Magical World on Pinewood Studios Sound Stages
The sudden transition from ruthlessly hot and routinely chaotic Morocco to the staid, cool, controlled confines of Pinewood Studios
was a kind of culture shock for the company The fully fabricated but no less wondrous sets designed by Wolf Kroeger were constructed
on nine soundstages of the historic studio in the bucolic burg of Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire
“There’s nothing better than being in a real environment, being in a place where you feel like you go back centuries,” says Jake
Gyllenhaal “When we were filming in Morocco, we were all in the middle of the
desert, dirty and dusty I can’t recall the amount of times between takes you had to
just get the sand out of your eyes, mouth and ears so you looked like you weren’t
literally made of sand The realism of it all was indelible But onstage in London, we
could mix reality with fantasy, which is all the more interesting to watch ”
At Pinewood, the company settled into a routine utterly different from what
they had experienced in Morocco It was more predictable, more controllable and
certainly cooler “It’s as if you’re running a long race and Morocco was the uphill
part,”says executive producer Patrick McCormick “We could walk from one location
to the next just by going from one soundstage to another, and we didn’t have
weather to contend with And instead of catering an average of 700 people a day,
we dropped down to just 250 or 300 In Morocco, we had 300 drivers alone!”
While the company was filming in Morocco, U K supervising art director Gary Freeman’s team of art department and construction
personnel were readying 35 complex sets on nine soundstages
The jaw-dropping Eastern Gate of Alamut occupied nearly the entire length, breadth and height of the 007 Stage at Pinewood, with
walls nearly 50 feet high and palm trees imported from southern Spain and then carefully maintained by greensman Jon Marson and his
team The set was large enough for the filming of a massive battle scene involving hundreds of extras and 25 horses charging through
gates and barriers of fire “The primary reason for building this set was for night work involving lots of parkour and other stuntwork,
which would have been difficult to shoot in Morocco,” says Freeman U K construction manager Brian Neighbour built the Alamut
Eastern Gate complex in just 14 weeks, utilizing 3,000 sheets of 8x4 and 70,000 feet of 3x1 timber, as well as 40 tons of casting plaster for
the moldings
The Alamut Great Hall on S Stage was a lustrous amalgamation of Indian styles, all in cream tones with flecks of gold “I didn’t want to
use candlelight for this set,”says set decorator Elli Griff “I was determined to use only oil light, which turned out to be a bit of a feat But
18
John Seale, our cinematographer, felt that he got interesting light from it I used jeweled colors, low-level dressing, canopies and things
of that nature that could reflect the light ”
The versatile Alamut Palace interior was utilized for several environments, including Tamina’s throne room, Tus’ chambers and the
banquet room in which King Sharaman is assassinated “I wanted to make the base
of Tamina’s throne a crystal lotus flower, which almost subconsciously links to the
crystalline Sandglass of the Gods,”says Griff “She has a huge, golden canopy above
her throne with a hole in it so that the light can come down as if she has a direct
connection with the gods and heaven Everything about Tamina and her culture is
accepting, soft and humorous ”
A sumptuous fantasia of color, with its peacock bed and wall ornamentation
resembling ancient illuminated manuscripts, inlaid with precious jewels, Tamina’s
chambers is a bedroom truly befitting a princess “Mike Newell and Wolf Kroeger
had a discussion in which they decided that Tamina’s boudoir needed to be a
fantastic, very feminine space,” says Freeman
“You have to do something that just begs belief, that’s surreal and opulent,”adds Griff “Tamina’s bedroom is very jewel-encrusted so
that the low-level lights would cast an enchanted glow ”
Constructed on the same soundstage as the Alamut Palace interior and Tamina’s chamber was the Sky Chamber, an aerie high
above Alamut where the sacred Dagger of Time is kept in a beautifully designed tabernacle With its carved wooden statuary and stone
pillars—all of the figures were hand-carved, then molded and cast—it has a temple-like feeling, which was accentuated during filming
by cinematographer Seale’s artful shafts of light illuminating the object with a spiritual glow
The Alamut Temple Garden was an intentionally idyllic slice of paradise, with lorikeets, macaws, parrots and toucans in ornate cages,
topiary elephants, a working fountain decorated with colorful statues of unicorns, rams and peacocks, an arch with jewel-encrusted
frescoes, trees with pale, translucent leaves (each one meticulously applied by hand), golden lanterns and small, tinkling bells “Wolf
wanted to steer away from a purely realistic period garden,” says Freeman “Since
it’s for one of the most important scenes of the movie, he wanted to make it kind of
a magic garden, using several Russian expressionist artists for inspiration ”
Other major sets constructed at Pinewood included the Temple of the Dagger,
a cave with waterfalls spilling into a pool, and a shrine bedecked with treasures
and spiritual offerings—the site of a major action sequence with Jake Gyllenhaal,
Gemma Arterton and Thomas Dupont as Hassad, the whip-blade Hassansin The
interior had to tangentially match exteriors shot in Oukaimden back in Morocco
Sets were also constructed in great detail replicating the Avrat Bazaar, as well as
streets and rooftops of the city, all designed for thrilling parkour action “We knew
from day one that there was a key action sequence that needed to be filmed on this
set featuring lots of parkour,” says Freeman “Wolf wanted to create a series of vertical and horizontal structures which could contain the
acrobatics We took a team of plasterers to Morocco to get the textures as true as possible, and they took molds for the wall finishes The
real difficulty was in reinforcing the walls for the stunt players, so there’s lots of metal hiding beneath the earthen structures ”
DRESSING PERSIA
Costume Designer Penny Rose Cuts A Rug…Literally
A nondescript street in a Marrakesh neighborhood known as the Zone Industrielle has a building that could be a warehouse or
factory But in the months leading up to the filming of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,”and during the duration of its Morocco shoot,
this building was a dream factory, housing a small army of cutters, costumers, cobblers, seamstresses, milliners, dyers, armorers and
artisans, all working under the supervision of costume designer Penny Rose
“There’s no one in her field like Penny,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who enlisted her for the entire “Pirates of the Caribbean”
trilogy “Her attention to detail almost defies description, and her ability to find the exact right costumes to define characters is fantastic
Penny can organize anything, anywhere in the world She’s a tough taskmaster, but we love her artistry ”
“Orientalist paintings were part of the influence,”says Rose “Most of those images were painted in Victorian times, so they’re 19thcentury
impressions of scenes from hundreds of years previous to that The scale of the Orientalist pictures was the most significant
thing to us: the shapes of the garments, the flowing cloaks, the amount of people crushed into small spaces ”
For “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” Rose had to create no fewer than 7,000 costumes, nearly all of them built from scratch Assisting
Rose were assistant costume designers Timothy John Norster, Margie Fortune and Maria Tortu, as well as costume supervisor Ken Crouch,
costume designer assistant Lucy Bowring and wardrobe master Mark Holmes Rose also relied on a veritable army of wardrobe masters,
on-set costumers, workshop supervisors, dyers, metalworkers, shoemakers and artisans from all over the world
19
Another trick of Rose’s trade, unimaginable to those outside the craft, is the breakdown department “Very few people on the films
I do go to set in a new costume,” explains Rose “We always have to break it down first I want costumes to look real, even in a fantasy
film like this Our breakdown department employed tools like a cement mixer Once the leather goods are newly made, we put them in
the cement mixer for a couple of hours with a few stones, and they come out looking well used They also use cheese graters to distress
costumes, believe it or not ”
To obtain the materials for so many thousands of costumes, Rose scoured the four corners of the globe, discovering fabrics from
as far away as Turkey, Thailand, Afghanistan, China, Malaysia, Great Britain, Paris, Rome and, of course, Morocco These materials were
then utilized in surprising ways For example, to create Sheikh Amar’s shabby but colorful coat, Rose fabricated it from three Indian
bedspreads sewn together “Then we took a cheese grater to it until we got this fantastic ragged look, revealing layers of different fabrics,
colors, and designs,” says Rose “The sheikh also has a headdress, and his boots are made from an old carpet ”
HIGHLY VISUAL EFFECTS COMPLETE THE PICTURE
Filmmakers Look to the Pros for Rewinds and Extensions
“Just when you think that you’ve seen just about everything,” says producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “we stand visual effects on their
ear and do things that haven’t been seen before Hopefully, what you’ll see on screen in ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ will be
something fresh, interesting and innovative ”
Tom Wood and his extensive team of producers, managers, coordinators, data wranglers, and technicians were called upon to
create nearly 1,200 visual-effects shots for the film Some were long and involved—such as
the time rewinds, the massive sandstorm in the climactic sequence at the Sandglass of the
Gods, and the Lead Hassansin’s vicious pit vipers—and some were minor little fixes at the
edge of a frame
Wood enlisted all of the modern technologies and techniques at his command Among
the most important effects for Wood were the four time rewinds, caused when the jewel on
the hilt of the dagger is pushed, releasing the Sands of Time “We decided immediately that
we couldn’t just run the film backwards,”explains Wood “We didn’t want it to look like a VCR
rewind We had to develop an original and visually interesting approach What we aimed for
was a kind of slit-scan effect where everything would be warped by time and space
“What we’ve done for the time rewind was designed by the visual-effects house Double
Negative,” Wood continues “They call it ‘event capture ’ We pre-visualized the sequence
thoroughly with ‘animatics’resembling animated storyboards We then came onto the main
unit set and shot the forward-running action, followed by four days of effects coverage,
putting cameras in the positions that we wanted to capture the shot from
“We have nine Arriflex 435 cameras shooting with identical lenses, up to 48 frames a
second at a 45-degree shutter angle, which has caused a lot of challenges with relighting
the set,”Wood continues “That’s to get as sharp an image as possible We have a number of people from Double Negative who have laid
out the cameras each time, surveyed into position They have to be very precise It takes about two hours to set up each array of cameras
“We had to have our principal actors do 20 minutes of acting, go away for two hours, come back for another 20 minutes, and
remember where they were It’s a challenge, trying to keep it fresh for each time that we see it ”
The arduous filming of the time rewind sequences obviously challenged the actors’ abilities of recall and concentration “I’d never
done visual-effects sequences before, and it’s a really, really long process,”admits Gemma Arterton “But when you see it, it looks magical,
adding a whole other dimension to the film ”
20
ABOUT THE CAST
Academy Award®-nominated JAKE GYLLENHAAL (Dastan) has established himself as one of the most
promising actors of his generation His poignant and diverse performances have garnered the attention of
audiences and critics alike
Winner of the 2006 Best Supporting Actor awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
(BAFTA) and the National Board of Review, Gyllenhaal also earned Oscar® and SAG Award® nominations for
his poignant performance as Jack Twist in Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain ” Gyllenhaal recently wrapped
production on Duncan Jones’“Source Code”opposite Michelle Monaghan, and Ed Zwick’s “Love and Other
Drugs” opposite Anne Hathaway, which will be released by Twentieth Century Fox on November 24, 2010
Other film credits include Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers,” opposite Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire;
Gavin Hood’s “Rendition,” opposite Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Reese Witherspoon and Peter Sarsgaard;
David Fincher’s critically acclaimed “Zodiac,” opposite Robert Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo; Sam Mendes’
“Jarhead,” opposite Jamie Foxx and Peter Sarsgaard; John Madden’s “Proof,” opposite Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow; Miguel
Arteta’s “The Good Girl,” opposite Jennifer Aniston and John C Reilly; Brad Silberling’s “Moonlight Mile,” opposite Dustin Hoffman and
Susan Sarandon; Nicole Holofcener’s “Lovely and Amazing,” opposite Catherine Keener; Richard Kelly’s cult hit “Donnie Darko”; and Joe
Johnston’s “October Sky,” opposite Chris Cooper and Laura Dern
On stage, Gyllenhaal starred in Kenneth Lonergan’s revival of “This Is Our Youth” opposite Anna Paquin and Hayden Christensen
The show ran in London’s West End for eight weeks and garnered Gyllenhaal the Evening Standard Theater Award for Outstanding
Newcomer
Rising star GEMMA ARTERTON (Tamina) made her feature-film debut in “St Trinian’s,” directed by
Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson Arterton played Kelly, the head girl, in this modern version of the
1950s film classic In 2008, Arterton was seen in the role of Agent Fields in “Quantum of Solace,”which stars
Daniel Craig in his second outing as Agent 007, as well as in the title role in BBC’s adaptation of Thomas
Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles ”Arterton had a supporting role in Guy Ritchie’s “RocknRolla,”and she also
appears in “Pirate Radio” (aka “The Boat that Rocked”), directed by Richard Curtis
Arterton’s starring roles include “The Disappearance of Alice Creed,” “Clash of the Titans” and “Tamara
Drewe ”
Television credits include Stephen Poliakoff’s “Capturing Mary”(BBC) and “Lost in Austen”(ITV) Among
her stage credits are “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” directed by Dominic Dromgoole at the Shakespeare’s Globe
Theatre Arterton graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in the summer of 2007
After earning an Academy Award®, two Golden Globes® and two BAFTA Awards for his riveting portrayal
of Indian social leader Mahatma Gandhi, SIR BEN KINGSLEY (Nizam) continues to bring unequaled detail
and nuance to each role In 1984 Kingsley was awarded the Padma Sri by Indira Gandhi and the government
of India Kingsley went on to earn three additional Oscar® nominations for “Bugsy”(1991), “Sexy Beast”(2000)
and “House of Sand and Fog”(2003) His roles have been as diverse as his talents, from a sturdy vice president
in “Dave”to the scheming Fagin in “Oliver Twist ”Since being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the New Year’s
Eve Honors List 2001, Kingsley has continued to earn honors as a truly international star
Kingsley can currently be seen starring in Martin Scorsese’s 1950s drama “Shutter Island,” with Leonardo
DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Michelle Williams Also upcoming is “Teen Patti,” an emotionally riveting and
razor-sharp thriller set in India and England that revolves around greed, deception and giant feats of
imagination in which he stars with Amitabh Bachchan
He recently was the star of the sexually charged “Elegy”opposite Penelope Cruz, directed by Isabel Coixet, for which he was nominated
British Actor of the Year by the London Critics Circle Film Awards He starred in two films at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, which give
further perspective to his work: The Audience Award-winning and Grand Jury Prize-nominated “The Wackness,”in which he plays a drug-
addled psychiatrist opposite Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby and Mary-Kate Olsen; and the crime thriller “Transsiberian,” as a
mysterious traveler opposite Woody Harrelson He also starred in “50 Dead Men,”a thriller set against the dangerous backdrop of 1980s
Ireland, and the more lighthearted crime comedy “War, Inc ” opposite John Cusack
Steeped in British theatre, Kingsley marked the beginning of his professional acting career with his acceptance by the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1967 From roles in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,”“The Tempest,”“Julius Caesar”(as Brutus) and the title roles in
“Othello” and “Hamlet,” among others, his more recent and diverse stage roles include those in “The Country Wife,”“The Cherry Orchard,”
“A Betrothal” and “Waiting for Godot ”
Kingsley’s film career began in 1972 with the thriller “Fear Is the Key,” but his first major role came a decade later in the epic “Gandhi,”
21
directed by Richard Attenborough He followed this Oscar®-winning performance with such early films as “Betrayal,” “Turtle Diary,”
“Harem,”“Pascali’s Island,”“Without a Clue”(as Dr Watson to Michael Caine’s Sherlock Holmes) and “The Children,”opposite Kim Novak
During the ’90s, Kingsley distinguished himself through such roles as Meyer Lansky in “Bugsy,”“Sneakers,”“Searching for Bobby Fischer”
and “Dave ”In 1994 he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his memorable supporting role as Itzhak Stern in Steven Spielberg’s seven-
time Oscar® winner “Schindler’s List ”
During the past decade, Kingsley has remained a coveted and ubiquitous talent Beginning with such films as “Rules of Engagement,”
“What Planet Are You From?” and an Oscar®-nominated role as a brutal gangster in “Sexy Beast,” he received his most recent Oscar®
nomination in 2004 for his performance as a proud Iranian emigrant in the highly acclaimed “House of Sand and Fog ”Among his films in
the last several years are Roman Polanski’s “Oliver Twist,”the crime drama “Lucky Number Slevin,”John Dahl’s “You Kill Me”and the Roman
Empire saga “The Last Legion ”
ALFRED MOLINA (Sheikh Amar) is an accomplished London-born actor whose diverse and
distinguished gallery of performances has led to a lengthy and triumphant career in film, television and the
stage Last fall he opened in the critically acclaimed movie “An Education” and filmed a comedy series for
the BBC opposite Dawn French In late fall 2009 Molina opened in the U K in the highly celebrated Donmar
Warehouse production of “Red,” which opens on Broadway in April 2010 He co-stars with Nicolas Cage in
this summer’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice ”
In 2002 Molina won rave reviews and nominations for the British Academy Award (BAFTA), the Screen
Actors Guild Award®, the Broadcast Film Critics prize and the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for his
Best Supporting Actor turn as the hedonistic Mexican artist Diego Rivera in “Frida,” the docudrama about
the life of Frida Kahlo starring Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek Recent screen roles include “Pink Panther 2,”
opposite Steve Martin; “The Little Traitor,” an adaptation of the Amos Oz novel “Panther in the Basement,”
directed by Lynn Roth and produced by Marilyn Hall; and “The Tempest,”once again teaming up with director Julie Taymor in her version
of the Shakespearian play in which the gender of Prospero has been switched to female, Prospera
Following Molina’s education at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, he quickly gained membership in England’s
prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, where he performed both in classics like “Troilus and Cressida” and new original works like
“Frozen Assets” and “Dingo ” In 1979 he won acclaim (and a Plays and Players Award as Most Promising New Actor) as The Maniac in
“Accidental Death of an Anarchist” at London’s Half Moon Theatre
Two years later, Molina found himself on the big screen making his American debut in “Raiders of the Lost Ark ” And in Stephen
Frears’ 1987 drama, “Prick Up Your Ears,” Molina won great notices for his portrait of a vengeful, murderous Kenneth Halliwell, playwright
Joe Orton’s gay lover
Molina’s career continued to soar in the following decade, with roles as an unhappy upper-class husband in Mike Newell’s “Enchanted
April,” the joyous painter Titorelli in David Jones’ 1993 adaptation of Kafka’s novel “The Trial” and the duplicitous Persian spouse in “Not
Without My Daughter ” He reteamed with director Donner in the comic western “Maverick” and played the small but pivotal role of a
crazed drug dealer in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar®-nominated “Boogie Nights”(1997) Molina joined Anderson once again for his epic
ensemble drama “Magnolia”(1999), collecting SAG Award® nominations for both as part of the films’ensemble casts He also continued
to display his ability to embody a variety of nationalities, playing a Cuban immigrant in Mira Nair’s “The Perez Family”(1995) and a Greek-
American lawyer in Barbet Schroeder’s drama “Before and After” (1996) Other films over this 10-year span include Roger Donaldson’s
sci-fi thriller “Species,”Jon Amiel’s comic thriller “The Man Who Knew Too Little,”Bernard Rose’s “Anna Karenina,”Woody Allen’s “Celebrity”
and Stanley Tucci’s “The Impostors ”
During the current decade, Molina collected his third SAG Award® Ensemble Cast nomination for Lasse Hallström’s whimsical,
Oscar®-nominated romantic comedy “Chocolat”and reunited with Hallström opposite Richard Gere in “The Hoax ”He also turned heads
as the villainous Dr Otto Octavius, a k a Dr Octopus, in Sam Raimi’s blockbuster sequel, “Spider-Man 2 ”Molina co-starred in such films
as “Identity,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Coffee and Cigarettes,” Ron Howard’s adaptation of one of the most popular books of all time, “The Da
Vinci Code,” Isabel Coixet’s “My Life Without Me,” Eric Till’s biographical drama “Luther,” the bilingual suspense thriller “Crónicas,” Kenneth
Branagh’s Shakespeare adaptation “As You Like It,” François Girard’s “Silk” and John Irvin’s “The Moon and the Stars ”
On television, Molina starred in two CBS sitcoms He played a washed-up writer sought out by his estranged daughter in “Bram and
Alice”(2002) and Jimmy Stiles in “Ladies’Man,”on which he also served as one of the producers His other television work includes the
acclaimed 1983 miniseries “Reilly: Ace of Spies,”“Miami Vice,”the BBC telefilm “Revolutionary Witness,”Granada TV’s “El C I D ,”the BBC
miniseries “Ashenden” (based on Peter Mayles’ bestseller, “A Year in Provence”), the Hallmark Channel’s “Joan of Arc” (as narrator), and
guest appearances on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Monk ”
Despite his thriving film and television career, Molina has never wandered far from the stage He returned to the RSC to give a
much-praised performance as Petruchio in “Taming of the Shrew” (1985) and earned an Olivier nomination for his work in the British
production of David Mamet’s “Speed the Plow ”In his Broadway debut as the good-natured Yvan in Yasmina Reza’s “Art”(1998, starring
with Alan Alda and Victor Garber), Molina collected the first of his two Tony Award® nominations (for Best Actor in a Dramatic Play)
22
He made his Broadway debut as the Irish chatterbox Frank Sweeney in Brian Friel’s play “Molly Sweeney” (1995-96) and most recently
triumphed as Tevye in the 2004 revival of “Fiddler on the Roof,”for which he earned his second Tony nod (Best Actor in a Musical) He also
completed a run at the Mark Taper Forum of “The Cherry Orchard” (2006) opposite Annette Bening
STEVE TOUSSAINT (Seso) has enjoyed considerable success on screen and television On TV in both his
native Britain and in the U S , he’s been either a series regular or recurring character on Jerry Bruckheimer’s
“CSI: Miami,”“Silent Witness”, “The Bill,”“Broken News,”“My Dad’s the Prime Minister,”“Family Affairs,”“Doctors”
and “The Knock ” He’s made guest appearances in “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes,”“Backup,”“Dangerfield,”
“Casualty,”“Murder in Mind,”“Murphy’s Law,”“Holby City,”“New Tricks” and “Spooks ”
Toussaint’s feature films include “I D ,” “Judge Dredd,” “Dog Eat Dog,” “The Order,” “Shooting Dogs,”
“Roadblock,” “The Mutant Chronicles” and “Broken Lines ” His stage appearances include Kwame KweiArmah’s
“Fix Up” at the National Theatre in London
One of the fastest-rising young actors in Britain, TOBY KEBBELL (Garsiv) appears in this summer’s “The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice” with Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina Later this year, Kebbell will be seen in director
Robert Redford’s “The Conspirators,” based on the Lincoln assassination Opposite James McEvoy and Robin
Wright, he plays the pivotal role of John Wilkes Booth
Kebbell was born in Pontefract, North Yorkshire, and grew up in Newark, Nottinghamshire He developed
a voracious interest in acting from the time he was in grade school, encouraged by a drama teacher who
nonetheless warned him that a professional career would be tough to achieve Attending the Central
Television Workshop in Nottinghamshire, Kebbell’s youthful skills were noticed by independent filmmaker
Shane Meadows, whose chronicles of British working-class life in the Midlands had developed a devoted
following Meadows cast Kebbell alongside Paddy Considine and Gary Stretch in “Dead Man’s Shoes” as
Considine’s mentally challenged brother, garnering Kebbell considerable critical and audience acclaim, as
well as a Best Newcomer nomination from the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA)
Introduced to casting agent Lucinda Syson by Gary Stretch, Kebbell met with filmmaker Oliver Stone, who cast him in the small but
pivotal role of Pausanius, King Philip of Macedon’s assassin, in the epic “Alexander,” which starred Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer,
Anthony Hopkins and Jared Leto This led to a role on the West End stage in a production of R C Sheriff’s “Journey’s End,” directed by
David Grindley
Kebbell branched into television by doing voiceover work for The Disney Channel in the United Kingdom as a program introducer
before being cast in director Michael Attenborough’s production of “Enemies”at the famed Almeida Theatre in Islington He then returned
to feature films in director Anton Corbijn’s lauded “Control,” playing the role of Rob Gretton in the screen biography of Joy Division’s Ian
Curtis For this role, Kebbell received a British Independent Film Award (BIFA) for Best Supporting Actor, as well as the Edinburgh Film
Festival’s Trailblazer Award He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor from the London Critics Choice Awards
Kebbell was director Guy Ritchie’s first choice to portray the drug-addled Johnny Quid, the title character in “RocknRolla,” winning
yet more enthusiastic critical and audience response for his role in the film, which also starred Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton, Tom
Wilkinson, Idris Elba and Gemma Arterton Recently, Kebbell was nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2009 He makes his home
in London’s East End
RICHARD COYLE (Tus) is an accomplished actor perhaps best known for his role as Jeff Murdock in
the television series “Coupling ” Born and raised in Sheffield, England, he began his career when, studying
politics at York University, he became interested in drama instead In addition to “Coupling,” Coyle also
starred in the title role of “Strange”and in “The Whistleblowers ”Television movie credits have included “The
Life and Crimes of William Palmer,”“Lorna Doone,”“Sword of Honour,”“Othello,”“Gunpowder, Treason & Plot,”
“Ultra,”“The Best Man” and “Cracker,” as well as the miniseries “Up Rising” and “Wives and Daughters ”
Coyle’s feature films have included Mike Leigh’s “Topsy-Turvy,”“The Libertine” and Ridley Scott’s “A Good
Year ”
23
RONALD PICKUP (King Sharaman) was born in Chester, England, educated at King’s School and gained
a BA in English at Leeds University He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1962-64 and then
joined the Leicester Repertory Company to appear in two plays, “Virtue in Danger” and “All in Good Time ”
After three months he joined the Royal Court Theatre and played Octavius in “Julius Caesar” and in 1965, at
the invitation of William Gaskill, played the title role in “Shelley ” Interspersed with appearing at the Royal
Court, he played at the National Theatre in “Juno and the Paycock ”
In 1967 Pickup appeared in the television versions of “Much Ado About Nothing”and “Romeo and Juliet ”
He then played Ariel in the TV production of “The Tempest” and Brother Martin in “Saint Joan ” During the
1967-68 season at the National Theatre, he appeared in the all-male production of “As You Like It,” playing
Rosalind, and in Peter Brook’s production of “Oedipus,” with Sir John Gielgud and Irene Worth The season
finished with John Lennon’s play “In His Own Write,” in which he played the leading role Pickup’s many
roles at the National Theatre under Sir Laurence Olivier included Guildenstern in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” St Just in
“Danton’s Death”and Edmund in “Long Day’s Journey into Night ”In 1972 he played the lead in “Richard II”and Joseph Surface in “School
for Scandal ”
Pickup’s theatre credits include “The Norman Conquests” at the Globe Theatre, “Madras House” at the National Theatre, “Hobson’s
Choice”and “Little Eyolf”at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, “The Cherry Orchard”at the Aldwych Theatre, “Amy’s View,”“Peer Gynt,”“The
Party”and “Romeo and Juliet”at the Royal National Theatre, “Proof”at the Donmar Warehouse, “Look Back in Anger”at the Theatre Royal
in Bath, and Peter Hall’s productions of “Uncle Vanya” and “Waiting for Godot” at The Haymarket
On screen, Pickup has appeared in “Joseph Andrews,”“Zulu,”“Nijinsky,”“Never Say Never Again,”“Eleni,”“The Mission,”“A Dry White
Season,”“Bethune: The Making of a Hero,”“Lolita,”“Tulse Luper Suitcase,”“Greyfriar’s Bobby”and many more His television credits are
wide-ranging and include his starring role as Randolph Churchill opposite Lee Remick in Thames TV’s production of “Jennie,”“Wagner,”
“Giuseppe Verdi,”“Pope John Paul II,”“Einstein,”“Chekhov in Yalta,”“The Hound of the Baskervilles,”“The Nightmare Years,”“Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde,”“Silent Witness,”“Ivanhoe,”“The Bill,”“Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil,”“Dalziel and Pascoe,”“Holby City” and others He
was the voice of Aslan in the BBC productions of “Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and “Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver
Chair ”
REECE RITCHIE (Bis) is a young British actor who has already made his mark in Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely
Bones,”Roland Emmerich’s “10,000 B C ,”and Denis Tanovic’s “Triage ”On television, he stars in “Atlantis”and
has appearances in “Pete Versus Life”, “Saddam’s Tribe”and “Silent Witness ”On stage, he appeared opposite
Judi Dench as Puck in Peter Hall’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”and in Athol Fugard’s “Victory”at the Theatre
Royal Bath Ritchie began his career with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain
GISLI ÖRN GARDARSSON (Zolm, Lead Hassansin) is a highly innovative performer, director, writer
and producer who has excelled on stage and screen in his native Iceland, Great Britain and around the world
Gardarsson was born in Iceland, but grew up in Norway, where he began his acting career He was
accepted at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts in 1997, graduating in 2001 During his last year at the Icelandic
Academy of the Arts, he co-founded a small theatre, Vesturport, in an empty electrical shed in downtown
Reykjavik Since that time, under the leadership of Gardarsson, Vesturport has become recognized as one of
the best theatre groups in Europe
Gardarsson’s productions have been seen around the world, winning numerous prestigious awards and
nominations, many of them either starring or directed by Gardarsson, or both Among these are his circus-
inspired “Romeo and Juliet”; “Brim,” which was also adapted as a feature film starring Gardarsson (2010);
George Buchner’s “Woyzeck” with an original score and lyrics by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, most recently
performed at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music in October 2008; and another collaboration with Cave and Ellis for his production of
Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” which will also be staged at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2010, with Gardarsson
playing Gregor Samsa His credits also include the heartwarming musical “Love”and a stage version based on the Lucas Moodyson film
“Together”in February 2008, with Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal playing one of the leads His most recent theatre production, “Faust,”
with music by Cave and Ellis, will be seen at the Young Vic theatre in London in October 2010
Gardarsson has frequently performed under the direction of Emma Rice of the famed Kneehigh Theatre where he starred in “A
Matter of Life and Death” at the National Theatre in London, and played the lead in “Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus” at the Lyric
24
Hammersmith In December 2008 Gardarsson starred in the title role of “Don John,”an updating of the classic story to 1970s England
The show was performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s base in Stratford-upon-Avon and at the Battersea Arts Centre in London
Gardarsson has been seen in the films “Country Wedding,” “Beowulf and Grendel,” and Vesturport Films’ own productions of “Born”
(Children) and “Foreldrar” (Parents) His latest release as an actor is the film “Kings Road,” directed by Valdis Oskarsdottir, in which he stars
opposite the German actor Daniel Bruehl
Gardarsson trained as a gymnast for 15 years, competing with the national team of Iceland until the age of 22, when he was accepted
at Icelandic Academy of Arts for a four-year actor’s education
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
MIKE NEWELL’s (Director) wide-ranging output has alternated between London and Hollywood, from film to TV
A Cambridge graduate, Newell began directing at age 22, working on numerous plays for TV, both for the BBC and for most of the
ITV companies His television feature “The Man in the Iron Mask” (1977), which was ultimately released as a feature film, served as the
springboard to international success His formal theatrical debut, “The Awakening” (1980), starring Charlton Heston, began to cement
Newell’s reputation for getting the best results from his actors
He worked in many genres with films such as “Dance with a Stranger”(1984) and “Enchanted April”(1991), among others In 1994 he
made “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the record-breaking romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell
Returning to America, Newell made the Mafia thriller “Donnie Brasco” (1997), delivering outstanding performances from Johnny
Depp and Al Pacino, followed by such films as “Pushing Tin”(1999), starring Cate Blanchett, John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina
Jolie, and “Mona Lisa Smile” (2003), with Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Newell served as executive producer on several projects, including “Traffic”(2000) and “High Fidelity”(2000) As the director of “Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005), Newell became the first British director to helm an installment of the hugely popular franchise
Newell’s recent credits include Colombia’s “Love in the Time of Cholera,”an adaptation of the classic novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
starring Julio Bardem
Great stories, well told They can be for audiences in darkened movie theatres or home living rooms They can feature great movie
stars or introduce new talent They can be true adventure, broad comedy, heartbreaking tragedy, epic history, joyous romance or searing
drama They can be set in the distant or recent past, an only-imagined future or a familiar present Whatever their elements, though, if
they begin with a lightning bolt, they are stories being told by JERRY BRUCKHEIMER (Producer), and they will be great stories, well
told
The numbers—of dollars and honors—are a matter of often-reported record Bruckheimer’s films have earned worldwide revenues
of over $15 billion in box-office, video and recording receipts In the 2005-6 season, he had a record-breaking 10 series on network
television, a feat unprecedented in nearly 60 years of television history His films (16 of which exceeded the $100 million mark in U S box-
office receipts) and television programs have been acknowledged with 41 Academy Award® nominations, six Oscars®, eight Grammy®
Award nominations, five Grammys, 23 Golden Globe® nominations, four Golden Globes, 88 Emmy® Award nominations, 18 Emmys, 23
People’s Choice Award nominations, 15 People’s Choice Awards, 12 BAFTA nominations, two BAFTA Awards, numerous MTV Awards,
including one for Best Picture of the Decade for “Beverly Hills Cop,” and 20 Teen Choice Awards
But the numbers exist only because of Bruckheimer’s uncanny ability to find the stories and tell them on film He is, according to
The Washington Post, “the man with the golden gut ” He may have been born that way, but more likely, his natural gifts were polished to
laser focus in the early years of his career His first films were the 60-second tales he told as an award-winning commercial producer in his
native Detroit One of those mini-films, a parody of “Bonnie and Clyde”created for Pontiac, was noted for its brilliance in Time magazine
and brought the 23-year-old producer to the attention of world-renowned ad agency BBD&O, which lured him to New York
Four years on Madison Avenue gave him the experience and confidence to tackle Hollywood, and, just about 30, he was at the helm
of memorable films like “Farewell, My Lovely,”“American Gigolo”and 1983’s “Flashdance,”which changed Bruckheimer’s life by grossing
$92 million in the U S alone and pairing him with Don Simpson, who would be his producing partner for the next 13 years
Together, the Simpson/Bruckheimer juggernaut produced one hit after another, including “Top Gun,” “Days of Thunder,” “Beverly
Hills Cop,”“Beverly Hills Cop II,”“Bad Boys,”“Dangerous Minds”and “Crimson Tide ”Box-office success was acknowledged in both 1985
and 1988 when the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) named Bruckheimer Producer of the Year And in 1988 the Publicists
Guild of America chose him, along with Simpson, Motion Picture Showmen of the Year
In 1996, Bruckheimer produced “The Rock,” re-establishing Sean Connery as an action star and turning an unlikely Nicolas Cage into
an action hero “The Rock,”named Favorite Movie of the Year by NATO, grossed $350 million worldwide and was Bruckheimer’s last movie
with Simpson, who died during production
Now on his own, Bruckheimer followed in 1997 with “Con Air,” which grossed more than $230 million, earned a Grammy® and two
Oscar® nominations and brought its producer the ShoWest International Box Office Achievement Award for unmatched foreign grosses
Then came Touchstone Pictures’megahit “Armageddon,”starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and Steve Buscemi
25
Directed by Michael Bay, it was the biggest movie of 1998, grossing nearly $560 million worldwide and introducing legendary rock band
Aerosmith’s first number-one single, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing ”
By the end of the millennium, Bruckheimer had produced “Enemy of the State,” starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman, and “Gone
in 60 Seconds,” starring Cage, Angelina Jolie and Robert Duvall, both grossing more than $225 million worldwide; “Coyote Ugly,” whose
soundtrack album went triple platinum; and the NAACP Image Award-winning “Remember the Titans,” starring Denzel Washington His
peers in the Producers Guild of America acknowledged his genius with the David O Selznick Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motion
Pictures
He began the 21st century with triple-Oscar® nominee “Pearl Harbor ”Starring Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale and directed
by Bay, the film was hailed by World War II veterans and scholars as a worthy re-creation of the event that brought the United States into
the war In addition to multiple award nominations and the Oscar® for Best Sound Editing, it earned over $450 million in worldwide box
office and has topped $250 million in DVD and video sales
“Black Hawk Down,” the story of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, starred Hartnett, Eric Bana and Ewan McGregor and was directed
by Ridley Scott The adaptation of the Mark Bowden bestseller was honored with multiple award nominations, two Oscars® and rave
reviews
Turning his hand toward comedy in 2003, Bruckheimer released the raucously funny “Kangaroo Jack,” a family film that won an MTV
Award for Best Virtual Performance for the kangaroo
And later in 2003, Bruckheimer unveiled “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ” Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando
Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightley and directed by Gore Verbinski, the comedy/adventure/romance grossed more than $630
million worldwide, earned five Academy Award® nominations and spawned two sequels: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” both of which were to become even bigger hits than the first
Following “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” The Films That Begin With The Lightning Bolt have included “Bad
Boys II”; “Veronica Guerin,” starring a luminous Cate Blanchett as the Irish journalist murdered by Dublin crime lords; and “King Arthur,”
with Clive Owen starring in the revisionist retelling of the Arthurian legend
In 2004 “National Treasure,” starring Cage and Sean Bean in a roller-coaster adventure about solving the mystery of untold buried
treasure, opened to cheering audiences and grossed more than $335 million worldwide
“Glory Road,”the story of Texas Western coach Don Haskins, who led the first all-black starting lineup for a college basketball team to
the NCAA national championship in 1966, debuted in early 2006, starring Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Al Shearer, Mehcad Brooks and Emily
Deschanel The film was honored with an ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie of the Year for 2006, while the writers received a Humanitas
Prize for work that “honestly explores the complexities of the human experience and sheds light on the positive values of life ”
Summer 2006 brought the theatrical release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which sailed into the record books by
becoming not only Bruckheimer’s most financially successful film, but the highest-grossing movie opening ever in the history of the
medium at that time: $132 million in its first three days Shattering projected estimates, the film earned $55 5 million the first day of
release Seizing $44 7 million on the second day, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”became the first movie to top $100 million
in only two days The final worldwide take of $1 07 billion placed “Dead Man’s Chest”in third position among the highest-grossing films
of all time and is still only one of five films to ever top the billion-dollar mark
Teaming for the sixth time with director Tony Scott, Bruckheimer released “Déjà Vu” in late 2006, the story of an ATF agent who falls
in love with a complete stranger as he races against time to track down her brutal killer The film starred Denzel Washington, Jim Caviezel,
Paula Patton and Val Kilmer
In May 2007 “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” third in the blockbuster trilogy, opened around the world simultaneously
Shattering more domestic and international records in its wake, “At World’s End” became the fastest film in history to reach half a
billion dollars in overseas grosses By early July the film had crossed the $300 million mark domestically and amassed $625 million
internationally, with its total of $960 million giving “At World’s End”hallowed status as the number-one worldwide movie of the year and,
at that time, the sixth-biggest film of all time in total box-office receipts
Collectively, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy brought in close to $2 7 billion at the worldwide box office, marking it as a truly
international cultural phenomenon
Released on December 21, 2007, “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”—the followup to Bruckheimer’s 2004 hit, again starring
Nicolas Cage and directed by Jon Turteltaub—opened to a smash number-one weekend of nearly $45 million, almost $10 million more
than the first film “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”remained in the number-one box-office position for three consecutive weeks and
surpassed the first film’s total U S box-office total of $173 million after only 18 days in release It sailed past the $200 million domestic
landmark just a little over a month after it first appeared in theatres and was hugely successful overseas as well, with the combined box-
office total reaching $440 million In addition to reuniting Cage with “National Treasure”stars Jon Voight, Diane Kruger and Justin Bartha,
Academy Award®-winning actress Helen Mirren and four-time Oscar® nominee Ed Harris were also welcomed to the cast
Next up from Jerry Bruckheimer Films in February 2009 was “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” a romantic comedy based on the bestselling
novels by Sophie Kinsella, starring Isla Fisher and directed by P J Hogan (“My Best Friend’s Wedding”)
Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ most recent release was the international box-office hit “G-Force,” a technically innovative 3D adventure
26
film which combined live action and computer imagery under the innovative direction of Academy Award®-winning visual effects
wizard Hoyt Yeatman The film featured the voice talents of Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau and
Steve Buscemi and live-action performances by Bill Nighy, Zach Galifiankis and Will Arnett Wrote Entertainment Weekly magazine after
the July 2009 release of “G-Force,” which saw the film reach number one at the box office, besting the second weekend of “Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince”: “Forget Voldemort: Harry Potter’s biggest foe at the box office was a team of supersmart guinea pigs Their
PG-rated adventure pushed the boy wizard out of the top spot…”
For release in July 2010 is “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” starring Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer and Monica
Bellucci, directed by Jon Turteltaub (“National Treasure,”“National Treasure: Book of Secrets”)
Could the master film storyteller make the same magic in 47 minutes for the living-room audience? Apparently As Time magazine
wrote, “The most successful producer in film history…is on his way to becoming the most successful producer in the history of TV ”
Indeed, by mid-2008 Jerry Bruckheimer Television celebrated its 1,000th episode of network television, a remarkable feat by any standard
of the medium And every week a staggering 240 million people in the U S and around the world watch Jerry Bruckheimer Television
programs
Bruckheimer brought the power of the lightning bolt to television in 2000 with “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” starring William
Petersen and Marg Helgenberger It quickly became the number-one show on television, averaging 25 million viewers a week and, along
with its two spin-offs, “CSI: Miami”—distinguished as the biggest television series hit on a global scale in 2005 as well as being broadcast
TV’s #1 primetime series for the summer of 2006—and “CSI: NY,”helped catapult languishing CBS back to the top of the broadcast heap
Jerry Bruckheimer Television broadened its imprint by telling compelling stories and delivering viewers in huge numbers with “Without a
Trace,”“Cold Case”and seven-time consecutive Emmy® Award-winning “The Amazing Race”on CBS The Fall 2009 season returned current
JBTV series “C S I : Crime Scene Investigation,”“CSI: Miami,”“CSI: NY,”“Cold Case”and “The Amazing Race”to the schedule, and added three
more, including “Dark Blue” on TNT (Jerry Bruckheimer Television’s first foray into cable), and “Miami Medical,” which premiered on CBS
in April 2010, which continue Bruckheimer’s trademark of provocative, investigative drama
In 2004 Bruckheimer made the “Time 100,”a list of the most influential people in the world Also in 2004 Bruckheimer was named
number one in the Power Issue of Entertainment Weekly The following year, he was the first recipient of the SEAL Patriot Award in
recognition by the SEAL community for his outstanding representation of the U S military in motion pictures and television
In 2006, Bruckheimer was honored with a Doctor of Fine Arts degree from The University of Arizona, his alma mater “Bruckheimer is
unique in the industry in that his creative vision spans both large and small screens We are pleased to recognize his work through this
honor,” said Maurice Sevigny, dean of the UA College of Fine Arts
Variety selected Bruckheimer as its Showman of the Year for 2006 This award—determined by Variety’s top editors and reporters—is
presented to an individual who has had significant economic impact, innovations and/or breakthroughs in the entertainment industry
Bruckheimer was presented with the Salute to Excellence Award from The Museum of Television and Radio for 2006 for his contribution
to the television medium And, in 2007, the Producers Guild of America presented him with the Norman Lear Achievement Award in
Television for his extraordinary body of work in television
The Los Angeles Times listed Bruckheimer as number eight in its 2006 The Power Issue, which features 100 people who wield the
most influence in Southern California Premiere magazine ranked Bruckheimer as number ten on its list of 2006 power players, while
Forbes magazine positioned the producer at 42 on its 2006 Celebrity 100 List Bruckheimer placed number 24 on Vanity Fair’s 2008 New
Establishment, an annual list of the world’s most powerful people, moving up a couple of notches from number 26 on the 2007 list;
and he placed a high number 14 on Entertainment Weekly’s The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood issue in December 2007 This was the
month in which the lightning bolt struck several times, and in new directions, including the major announcement that Bruckheimer had
entered into a collaboration with MTV to develop videogames, establishing a games incubation studio in Santa Monica to create and
develop titles; and then the blockbuster opening of “National Treasure: Book of Secrets ” On the last day of 2007, The New York Times’
“Most Wanted” section on its Arts and Leisure page noted that Bruckheimer had both the number-one film (“Book of Secrets”) and
number-one-rated television program (“CSI: Miami”) in the United States
In 2010, ShoWest honored Bruckheimer with their Lifetime Achievement Award, his fifth honor from that organization following
his awards as Producer of the Year in 1985, 1988 and 1999, and Box Office Achievement Award in 1998 Also in 2010, Bruckheimer joins
nearly 200 distinguished entertainment industry celebrities by putting his hand and footprints into wet concrete in front of the famed
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on May 17, the night of the Hollywood premiere of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ” The American Film
Institute pays tribute to Bruckheimer with “A Cinematic Celebration of Jerry Bruckheimer,” showcasing several of his blockbusters with
introductions by the actors or directors who helped make the films so memorable
In her 2008 autobiography, “In the Frame,” Dame Helen Mirren recalls Bruckheimer, during the course of filming “National Treasure:
Book of Secrets,”as “gentle, supportive and courageous, proving the saying ‘he who dares, wins ’”Jerry Bruckheimer has been successful
in many genres and multiple mediums because he’s a great storyteller, takes dares…and almost always wins
Look for the lightning bolt The best stories are right behind it
27
MIKE STENSON (Executive Producer) is president of Jerry Bruckheimer Films for which he supervises all aspects of film development
and production Before joining the company, he was an executive in charge of production at Disney, responsible for many Bruckheimer
films including “Armageddon,”“The Rock,”“Crimson Tide”and “Dangerous Minds ”More recently, Stenson served as a producer on “Bad
Company” and “Gone in 60 Seconds” and as an executive producer on “Glory Road,” “National Treasure,” “King Arthur,” “Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Bad Boys 2,” “Veronica Guerin,” “Kangaroo Jack,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Coyote
Ugly,”“Remember the Titans,”“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,”“Déjà Vu,”“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,”“National
Treasure: Book of Secrets,”“Confessions of a Shopaholic,”“G-Force”and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice ” Next up for Stenson is serving as
executive producer of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the next chapter of the blockbuster franchise
Born and raised in Boston, Stenson graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master of
Business Administration After his undergraduate stint, he started as a production assistant in New York and worked for two years in
independent film and television as an assistant director and production manager before returning to Boston to complete his graduate
education
After completing business school, Stenson moved to Los Angeles where he began his tenure at Walt Disney Studios in Special
Projects for two years before moving into the production department at Hollywood Pictures as a creative executive He was promoted
to vice president and subsequently executive vice president during his eight years with the company, overseeing development and
production for Hollywood Pictures as well as Touchstone Pictures In addition to the many Bruckheimer films, Stenson also developed
several other films and nurtured them through production including “Rush Hour,”“Instinct,”“Six Days, Seven Nights” and “Mr Holland’s
Opus ”
While at Disney, many filmmakers attempted to woo Stenson away from the studio, but not until 1998 did he entertain leaving
With his newest position at the helm of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Stenson spearheaded Bruckheimer’s plan to expand the company’s film
production schedule
CHAD OMAN (Executive Producer) is the president of production for Jerry Bruckheimer Films, for which he oversees all aspects
of film development and production Oman produced, along with Bruckheimer, “Remember the Titans,”starring Denzel Washington for
Walt Disney Pictures, and “Coyote Ugly,” starring Piper Perabo and John Goodman, for Touchstone Pictures
His most recent executive-producer credits for Jerry Bruckheimer Films include “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,”“G-Force,”“Confessions
of a Shopaholic”and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets ”He also executive-produced the critically acclaimed “Veronica Guerin,”starring
Cate Blanchett, as well as the blockbuster hits “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” directed by Gore Verbinski and
starring Johnny Depp; “Bad Boys II,” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence; “Black Hawk Down,” directed by Ridley Scott and starring
Josh Hartnett; “Pearl Harbor,” starring Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett; “Gone in 60 Seconds,” starring Nicolas Cage,
Angelina Jolie and Robert Duvall; “Enemy of the State,” starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman; “Armageddon,” starring Bruce Willis and
Ben Affleck; “Con Air,” starring Nicolas Cage and John Malkovich; “Glory Road” ; “Déjà Vu,” starring Denzel Washington; “National Treasure:
Book of Secrets,” again starring Nicolas Cage; and both “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World’s End,”again starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley He will next executive produce “Pirates of
the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth entry of the franchise
In addition to his work on JBF’s many motion picture projects, Oman also supervised production on several television projects
including ABC’s drama “Dangerous Minds,” starring Annie Potts, and the ABC drama “Swing Vote,” written by Ron Bass and starring Andy
Garcia
Prior to joining Simpson Bruckheimer in 1995, Oman was a founding employee of the Motion Picture Corporation of America After
six years, he left the independent production company as senior vice president of production
Oman served as an associate producer on “Dumb and Dumber,”starring Jim Carrey; executive-produced Touchstone Pictures’“The
War at Home,” starring Emilio Estevez, Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen; and co-produced “The Desperate Trail,” with Sam Elliott, and “The
Sketch Artist” starring Drew Barrymore and Sean Young Oman produced “Hands That See,” with Courteney Cox, and “Love, Cheat and
Steal,” with John Lithgow and Eric Roberts
Oman graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in finance He also attended the University of California at
Los Angeles, where he studied screenwriting, and New York University, where he participated in the undergraduate film production
program He was born and raised in Wichita Falls, Texas
JOHN AUGUST (Executive Producer) has written such films as “The Nines” (which he also directed), “Corpse Bride,”“Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory,”“Big Fish,”“Charlie’s Angels”and “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,”“Titan A E ”and “Go ”For TV, he was executive producer
of “D C ” and “Alaska ”
28
Author, screenwriter and video-game designer JORDAN MECHNER (Executive Producer/Screen Story By) is best known as the
creator of the “Prince of Persia” franchise, with more than 14 million games sold to date and the feature-film adaptation due in 2010
Mechner’s first graphic novel, “Solomon’s Thieves” (First Second Books, May 2010) , is a swashbuckling action-adventure about
the historical Knights Templar, illustrated by LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland Mechner also penned a new “Prince of Persia” graphic
novel, “Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm”; Disney Book Group published it in April 2010 to tie it in with the film’s release Mechner
previously collaborated with First Second, Pham & Puvilland on the 2008 “Prince of Persia” graphic novel written by A B Sina
Mechner began his career as a video-game creator in the 1980s with “Karateka” and “Prince of Persia,” two of the first games to
combine arcade action with realistic animation and cinematic storytelling Both titles became number-one bestsellers and are now
considered all-time classics Created and programmed by Mechner on an Apple II and published by Brøderbund Software, “Prince of
Persia” was adapted for nearly every computer and console platform and was a major influence in the development of the action-
adventure video-game genre Mechner designed and directed a successful sequel, “Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame ”
Mechner next founded independent developer Smoking Car Productions, where he led a 30-person creative team in the production
of the critically acclaimed 1997 CD-ROM adventure game “The Last Express,” still considered one of the most ambitious and artistically
successful interactive narratives ever attempted “Karateka,”“Prince of Persia,”and “The Last Express”secured Mechner’s reputation as
one of the video-game industry’s most highly regarded original creators
In 2001 Mechner relaunched his decade-old “Prince of Persia”for a new generation of gamers With Mechner as game designer, writer
and creative consultant, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” was one of the biggest hits of 2003, sweeping the Interactive Achievement
Awards (DICE) with 12 nominations and eight awards and making “Prince of Persia”one of the most successful and enduring video-game
franchises of all time
In 2004 Mechner pitched “Prince of Persia” to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who challenged him to adapt his own creation as a
feature film Three more “Prince of Persia”sequels have since been published, bringing total game sales to more than 14 million; the next
title is “Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands” (May 2010)
Mechner wrote and directed the documentary film “Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story ” It won the 2003 IDA award for Best Short
Documentary, was short-listed for an Academy Award® nomination and received its broadcast premiere on PBS Independent Lens in
2005
Mechner’s upcoming projects include writing a feature-film adaptation of Michael Turner’s comic-book series “Fathom” for Fox
Studios and actress Megan Fox, as well as a new original graphic novel for First Second
He received his B A from Yale University
“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” marks PATRICK McCORMICK’s (Executive Producer) second collaboration as executive producer
with director Mike Newell, the two having worked together on “Donnie Brasco,” starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp Most recently,
McCormick was executive producer with director Tim Burton on “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” starring Johnny
Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen Prior to that, McCormick was executive producer for
Tim Burton on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” also starring Johnny Depp
McCormick produced the Sony/Universal release of “Peter Pan,” directed by P J Hogan and starring Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter,
Rachel Hurd-Wood and Lynn Redgrave His many other credits as executive producer include three films directed by Barry Levinson:
“Bandits,” the comic caper starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett; “An Everlasting Piece,” a comedy set in 1980s
Belfast starring Barry McEvoy, Brian F O’Byrne, Anna Friel and Billy Connolly; and “Liberty Heights,” the fourth in the director’s Baltimore
series, starring Adrien Brody, Bebe Neuwirth and Joe Mantegna
McCormick was also executive producer of “Stepmom,” directed by Chris Columbus and starring Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and
Ed Harris; “The Juror,” starring Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin and James Gandolfini; and “Boys on the Side,” starring Drew Barrymore, Whoopi
Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Matthew McConaughey As producer, McCormick’s previous credits include “Angie,” starring Geena
Davis and James Gandolfini, and “A Shock to the System,” starring Michael Caine
ERIC McLEOD (Executive Producer) has a wide range of production experience as a producer, executive producer and unit
production manager He served as an executive producer for Jerry Bruckheimer’s blockbuster productions of both “Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” which he followed up by producing the highly anticipated
summer 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder ” Following his work on “Prince of Persia,” McLeod segued to Tony Scott’s “Unstoppable,” starring
Denzel Washington
Previously, McLeod produced the smash hit “Mr and Mrs Smith”and was executive producer of “The Dukes of Hazzard,”“The Cat in the
Hat,”“Showtime,”“Bubble Boy”and “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery ”He also produced “Austin Powers in Goldmember,”“The
Cell” and “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me ”
Earlier in his career, McLeod was co-producer of “Feeling Minnesota” and “Now and Then,” line producer of “Corrina, Corrina” and
“Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”and associate producer of “Live Wire ”He also served as unit production manager on several of the above
films, as well as on Jerry Bruckheimer’s production of “Enemy of the State,”“Wag the Dog,”“Wide Sargasso Sea”and “The Rapture ”McLeod
began his work in motion pictures as a production coordinator on “Cry-Baby,”“Drugstore Cowboy” and “8 Seconds ”
29
PAT SANDSTON (Associate Producer) has been the associate producer for Jerry Bruckheimer Films for more than a decade He
oversees all post-production and has worked closely with such top directors as Michael Bay, Ridley Scott, Gore Verbinski, Tony Scott, Joel
Schumacher and Jon Turteltaub, to name a few
Since his time at Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Sandston’s department has been nominated for 14 Academy Awards® From those
nominations, “Black Hawk Down” won for Best Editing and Best Sound, “Pearl Harbor” won for Best Sound Editing and “Pirates of the
Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” won for Best Visual Effects
Sandston’s credits for Jerry Bruckheimer Films include “National Treasure” and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” the “Pirates
of the Caribbean” trilogy, “Déjà Vu,” “Glory Road,” “King Arthur,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Bad Boys II,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,”
“Armageddon,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” “G-Force,” “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and the upcoming “Pirates of the Caribbean: On
Stranger Tides ”
His career began at Paramount Pictures as a production executive Sandston discovered his true calling in post-production when he
began to work at Walt Disney Studios, where he was rapidly promoted to vice president of post-production and visual effects for aspects
of post-production on more than 35 feature films, three EPCOT Center shorts and four Walt Disney Tour films A partial list of Sandston’s
credits while at Disney includes “James and the Giant Peach,”“Operation Dumbo Drop,”“Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,”“Mr Destiny,”“Miami
Rhapsody” and “Beaches ”
A writer and director with a gift for dealing with controversial issues on personal, human terms, BOAZ YAKIN (Screenplay By) was
born in New York City Yakin’s parents had a creative bent—they met in Paris while both were studying mime with Marcel Marceau—and
after graduating from high school, Yakin opted to study filmmaking at New York City College He soon moved on to New York University
and made his first deal for a screenplay at the age of 19 Yakin worked in the film business helping to develop projects for several
companies and saw his first screenplay reach the screen when “The Punisher,”a vehicle for Dolph Lundgren, was released A year later,
Yakin’s next screenplay, “The Rookie,” arrived in theaters, starring Clint Eastwood and Charlie Sheen
Wanting to take on more personal material, Yakin directed his own screenplay, “Fresh,” attracting talent such as Samuel L Jackson
and Giancarlo Esposito to star in it, and the film won critical raves, earning the Filmmaker’s Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival,
as well as prizes in the Tokyo film festival and other festivals throughout Europe Yakin went back to his youth for inspiration on his next
project; his experiences with the Chassidic community informed his next directorial effort, “A Price Above Rubies,”which was released by
Miramax Films
Yakin next took on his first studio project; “Remember the Titans,” starring Denzel Washington, for producer Jerry Bruckheimer
The film was a major box-office success, and a perennial audience favorite He then made a foray into comedy with “Uptown Girls,”
starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning As a producer, Yakin formed the company “Raw Nerve” with partners Eli Roth and Scott
Spiegel, from which they unleashed the “Hostel”films on the world Most recently, Yakin wrote, produced and directed “Death in Love,”
a controversial film that had its premiere at the 2009 Sundance film festival
DOUG MIRO & CARLO BERNARD (Screenplay By) co-wrote two of this summer’s most highly anticipated films for producer
Jerry Bruckheimer, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” based upon the video game series, directed by Mike Newell and starring Jake
Gyllenhaal, and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” an action adventure starring Nicolas Cage, directed by Jon Turteltaub
Miro and Bernard’s credits also include “The Uninvited” for DreamWorks and producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and
“The Great Raid” for Miramax They are currently at work on “National Treasure 3” for Bruckheimer and Turteltaub
Miro and Bernard first made their mark with “Motor City,” an adaptation of the novel “Edsel” (Loren Estleman), a film noir set in
1950s Detroit The team also adapted Dean King’s “Skeletons of the Zahara: A True Story of Survival,” which chronicles the wreck of a
Connecticut merchant ship and the crew’s subsequent adventures in the Sahara Desert in 1815 After reading their adaptation, Steven
Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy hired the writing team to work on the script for the upcoming “Tintin ”
Miro and Bernard grew up together in suburban Detroit and have known each other since they were 8 years old Miro received an
MFA from the USC Film School and a BA from Stanford; Bernard graduated from the University of Michigan They are both long-suffering
Lions fans, but remain certain the team is headed in the right direction
JOHN SEALE (Director of Photography) won the Academy Award®, American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award, British
Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award and other honors for his work on the late Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient ”
Seale also received Oscar® nominations for “Witness,” “Rain Man” and “Cold Mountain ” His additional BAFTA Award nominations were
for “Witness,”“Gorillas in the Mist,”“The Talented Mr Ripley”and “Cold Mountain,”and he received ASC Award nods for “Rain Man,”“The
Perfect Storm” and “Cold Mountain ” Seale has also won numerous critics awards for his extraordinary body of work through the years
Seale began his career as a camera operator in his native Australia on such films as Peter Weir’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock,”“The Last
Wave”and “Gallipoli,”becoming second-unit cinematographer on the director’s “The Year of Living Dangerously ”Seale had already been
director of photography on several moderately budgeted Australian features before more notable films such as “Careful, He Might Hear
You ” In 1985 Seale’s many years of work with Peter Weir paid off when he was selected as director of photography on the celebrated
30
“Witness ”Since that time, Seale’s work has been seen in such films as “Children of a Lesser God,”Weir’s “The Mosquito Coast”and “Dead
Poets Society,”“Lorenzo’s Oil,”“The Firm,”“The Paper,”“The American President,”“Ghosts of Mississippi,”“City of Angels,”“Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “Spanglish,” in addition to the aforementioned titles and many others
WOLF KROEGER (Production Designer) has enjoyed a long and distinguished career Following work as an art director for several
films, including Robert Altman’s “Quintet,” Kroeger was asked to design the extraordinary crazy quilt settings for Altman’s film version of
“Popeye ” Kroeger’s subsequent work has been remarkably versatile, including such projects as “First Blood,” Altman’s “Streamers,”“The
Bay Boy,” Richard Donner’s “Ladyhawke,” Michael Cimino’s “Year of the Dragon,”“The Sicilian,”“Let It Ride,”“Brian De Palma’s “Casualties of
War,”“We’re No Angels,”Michael Mann’s “The Last of the Mohicans,”Disney’s “The Three Musketeers,”“The Edge,”Jean-Jacques Annaud’s
“Enemy at the Gates,” “Reign of Fire,” “Equilibrium,” “Beyond Borders,” “Racing Stripes,” “Eragon” and Mike Newell’s “Love in the Time of
Cholera ”
PENNY ROSE (Costume Designer) has designed the costumes for Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”
trilogy, as well as for “King Arthur ” For “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” Rose received Costume Designers Guild
nominations for all three “Pirates” films, and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations for “The Curse of the Black
Pearl” and “Dead Man’s Chest ”
Rose had received a previous BAFTA nomination for her work on director Alan Parker’s acclaimed screen version of Andrew Lloyd
Webber and Tim Rice’s musical “Evita,”starring Madonna and Jonathan Pryce Rose is a longtime collaborator of Parker’s and has designed
costumes for three of his other films: “The Road to Wellville,”“Pink Floyd: The Wall” and “The Commitments ”
Rose’s additional credits include “The Sleeping Dictionary,” Neil Jordan’s “The Good Thief,”“Just Visiting,”“Entrapment” and Disney’s
hit remake of “The Parent Trap,” directed by Nancy Meyers, and Gore Verbinski’s “The Weather Man ” Earlier in her career, she designed
costumes for Brian De Palma’s “Mission: Impossible” and worked with Academy Award®-winning director Lord Richard Attenborough on
“Shadowlands”and “In Love and War ”Her resume also includes Christopher Hampton’s “Carrington,”Vincent Ward’s “Map of the Human
Heart,” Bill Forsyth’s “Local Hero,” Pat O’Connor’s “Cal,” Marek Kanievska’s “Another Country” and Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “Quest for Fire ”
Rose designed the costumes for the Walt Disney Pictures comedy “Wild Hogs,”starring Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and John Travolta, “St
Trinian’s,” starring Gemma Arterton, and “Made of Honor ”
Rose was trained in West End theater and began her career there and also in television, designing for commercials where she first
met such directors as Alan Parker, Adrian Lyne, Ridley and Tony Scott, and Hugh Hudson She was born and raised in Britain and is fluent
in French and Italian
GEORGE AGUILAR (Stunt Coordinator), following years of work as a stuntman, became one of the film industry’s most prominent
stunt coordinators His innumerable feature credits in that capacity have included Mike Newell’s “Donnie Brasco,” Martin Scorsese’s “The
Departed,”“Gangs of New York”and “Bringing Out the Dead,”Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster,”“Enchanted,”“Before the Devil Knows
You’re Dead,”“The Good Shepherd,”“The Pink Panther,”“Ladder 49,”“Elf,”“Die Another Day” (co-stunt coordinator) and many more
For television, Aguilar was stunt coordinator on multiple episodes of “Oz”and “Homicide: Life on the Street,”as well as “Homicide: The
Movie” and “Wanted Dead or Alive ”
MICHAEL KAHN (Film Editor) is a legendary artist in his field who won Academy Awards® for his work on Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders
of the Lost Ark,”“Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” and was nominated for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,”“Fatal Attraction,”
“Empire of the Sun” and “Munich ” Kahn has collaborated with Spielberg on films both directed and produced by the filmmaker, among
them “Poltergeist,”“The Goonies,”“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,”“Jurassic Park,”“Twister,”“Amistad,”“Minority Report,”“Catch
Me If You Can,”“War of the Worlds” and “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull ”
Kahn’s honors have also included British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards for “Fatal Attraction” and “Schindler’s
List” and nominations for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and
“Saving Private Ryan,” and ACE (American Cinema Editors) Awards for “Eleanor and Franklin” (for which he also won an Emmy®), “Raiders
of the Lost Ark,”“Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” along with four other nominations
MARTIN WALSH (Film Editor) won an Academy Award® for his work on “Chicago,” as well as an Eddie (American Cinema Editors)
Award and a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nomination
Born in Manchester, England, Walsh’s numerous credits have included “Inkheart,”“V for Vendetta,”“Bridget Jones’s Diary,”“Mansfield
Park,”“Feeling Minnesota,”“Backbeat” and “The Krays,” among others
31
MICK AUDSLEY (Film Editor) has previously edited Mike Newell’s “Love in the Time of Cholera,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire,” “Mona Lisa Smile,” “Soursweet” and “Dance with a Stranger ” His other credits include Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor
Parnassus”and “Twelve Monkeys”; Stephen Frears’“Dirty Pretty Things,”“High Fidelity,”“Hero,”“The Grifters,”“Dangerous Liaisons,”“Sammy
and Rosie Get Laid,” “Prick Up Your Ears,” “My Beautiful Laundrette” and “The Hit”; and Neil Jordan’s “Interview With the Vampire” and
“We’re No Angels,” among others
TOM WOOD (Visual Effects Supervisor) was visual effects supervisor for Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine” and “Sylvia,” as well as visual
effects supervisor for MPC on Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Close Your Eyes ”
Previously, Wood had worked as a sequence supervisor, compositor or digital effects supervisor on such films as “Event Horizon,”
“Lost in Space,”“The World Is Not Enough,”“Snatch,”“Enemy at the Gates,”“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,”“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
and “Ali G Indahouse ”
TREVOR WOOD (Special Effects) won both the Academy Award® and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award
for his work on “The Golden Compass ”His work as special effects supervisor and coordinator has traversed many diverse films, among
them “The Last Legion,”“Syriana,”“Alexander,”“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow,”“Cold Mountain,”“Spy Game,”“Gladiator”(Malta
only), and “Event Horizon ”Wood was special effects workshop supervisor on “Entrapment,”“Saving Private Ryan,”“The Fifth Element”and
“Stargate ”
Earlier in his career, Wood served in various special-effects capacities on “Dune,”“King David,”“Young Sherlock Holmes,”“Casualties of
War,”“Henry V,”“Memphis Belle,”“1492: Conquest of Paradise,”“Mission: Impossible” and “Dragonheart ”
HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS (Composer) is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after composers, working on a variety of high-profile
projects, both animated and live-action Over the last few years, Gregson-Williams has scored some of the industry’s biggest blockbusters,
including “Shrek the Third,”“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (for which he received nominations for a
Golden Globe® and Grammy®), “Shrek”(for which he received a BAFTA nomination), “Shrek 2,”and “Chicken Run ” He most recently wrote
the scores for the blockbuster “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” directed by Gavin Hood, and “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” directed by Tony
Scott
He has worked on several movies with director Tony Scott, including “Man on Fire,”“Domino,”“Spy Game” and “Déjà Vu ” For director
Joel Schumacher, he has scored “Phone Booth,”“Veronica Guerin,”“The Number 23” and the upcoming “Twelve ” His other film credits
include “Gone Baby Gone,”which marked the directorial debut of Ben Affleck, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,”“Seraphim Falls,”
“Kingdom of Heaven” (nominated for a Classical Brit award and winner of a Golden Satellite award), “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,”
“Enemy of the State,”“The Replacement Killers,”“Smilla’s Sense of Snow” and “Antz ”
Born in England to a musical family, Gregson-Williams earned a scholarship from the music school of St John’s College in Cambridge
at the age of seven By age 13, his singing had been featured on over a dozen records, and he subsequently earned a coveted spot at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London He started his film career as an orchestrator and arranger for composer Stanley Myers
and went on to compose his first scores for the veteran English director Nicolas Roeg Gregson-Williams’initiation into Hollywood film
scoring was then facilitated by his collaboration and friendship with Oscar®-winning composer Hans Zimmer This resulted in Gregson-
Williams providing music for such films as “The Rock,”“Broken Arrow,”“The Fan,”“Muppet Treasure Island,”“Armageddon,”“As Good as It
Gets,”and “The Prince of Egypt ” Gregson-Williams has conducted acclaimed concerts of his music from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in Madrid in 2006 and in Denver in 2007
Other upcoming projects for Gregson-Williams include “Shrek Forever After,”“The Town”(with composer David Buckley), written and
directed by Ben Affleck, and the dramatic thriller “Unstoppable” from director Tony Scott
OSCAR® and ACADEMY AWARD® are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences .
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD® and SAG AWARD® are the registered trademarks and service marks of Screen Actors Guild .
TONY AWARD® is a registered trademark and service mark of The American Theatre Wing .
32
(C) MBN 2010