Gigli : About The Filmmakers


MARTIN BREST (Director, Screenwriter, Producer) previously produced and directed Scent of a Woman starring Al Pacino in 1992. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards® — Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Actor. Al Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar® as well as a Golden Globe for his performance. The film, which was nominated for four Golden Globes, also won for Best Picture and Best Screenplay.

In 1998, Brest produced and directed Meet Joe Black starring Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, Claire Forlani, and Marcia Gay Harden. In 1988, he produced and directed Midnight Run starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. In 1984, he directed the blockbuster Beverly Hills Cop starring Eddie Murphy and in 1979, he made his feature film debut by writing and directing Going In Style starring George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg.

Brest was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He graduated in 1973 from New York University's School of the Arts. In 1977, Brest wrote and directed the short film Hot Tomorrows while attending the American Film Institute.

CASEY SILVER (Producer) first was associated with Martin Brest when he was director of development at Simpson-Bruckheimer Productions and the director was preparing Beverly Hills Cop. Later, Silver’s first project as an executive at Universal Studios was Brest’s acclaimed comedy Midnight Run. Silver subsequently collaborated with the director on Scent of a Woman and Meet Joe Black.

In October 1999, Silver formed Casey Silver Productions, a motion picture company fully funded through Universal Pictures. In addition to Gigli, the company has produced Hidalgo directed by Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III, Jumanji) and starring Viggo Mortensen as well as Ladder 49 starring John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix. The company has an additional 30 properties in various stages of development.

Silver previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Pictures. In that position, Mr. Silver was responsible for all divisions of Universal Pictures, including its production, marketing and distribution operations. He supervised all activities worldwide concerning Universal’s partnerships with United International and domestic distribution activities through Universal’s partnership with October Films.

Additionally, Silver oversaw Universal Studios Home Video, Universal Pictures Animation and Visual Effects, and Universal Family & Home Entertainment Production, including Universal Cartoon Studios.

During his tenure at Universal, the studio developed, produced and released such critically acclaimed films as Schindler’s List, Shakespeare in Love, Apollo 13, Babe, Jurassic Park, Out of Sight, Field of Dreams, The Nutty Professor, Twelve Monkeys, Casper, In the Name of the Father, Do the Right Thing, Scent of a Woman, Beethoven, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cape Fear, Backdraft, Born on the Fourth of July, Parenthood, Midnight Run, The Mummy, Casino, American Pie, October Sky, Erin Brockovich, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Gladiator and sequels to the worldwide hits Jurassic Park and The Nutty Professor.

Prior to his appointment as chairman in November 1995, Mr. Silver served as president, Universal Pictures and before that, president of production, from January 1989 to June 1994. He joined Universal Pictures as executive vice president of production in 1987.

Silver began his career in the motion picture industry as a screenwriter. After serving as assistant to director Adrian Lyne on Flashdance, he became director of development and production for Simpson-Bruckheimer Productions, where he was instrumental in developing the original Beverly Hills Cop. Prior to joining Universal, he served for several years as TriStar Picture’s vice president of production, and was then promoted to senior vice president of production.



JOHN HARDY (Executive Producer) most recently served as executive producer on the blockbuster Ocean’s Eleven. The film marked his eighth collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh, a relationship that began in 1989 when he produced sex, lies, and videotape. The film went on to win the 1989 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The two subsequently teamed on seven additional films: Erin Brockovich, The Limey, Out of Sight, Schizopolis, Gray's Anatomy, The Underneath and King of the Hill.

Hardy was raised in Honolulu, Washington, D.C. and London where he was graduated from the Bushy Hall American School. He received a B.A. in history from Louisiana State University before entering the London Film School.

His first producing credit was The Wooden Gun, which was filmed in Israel in 1979. Written and directed by Ilan Moshenson, the film was shown at festivals in Berlin, Toronto, Locarno and Cannes. In addition Hardy produced two films with Morgan Mason No Secrets and Twenty-One, which was presented at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.

ROBERT ELSWIT, ASC (Director of Photography) has more than two dozen films to his credit, including such recent efforts as director David Mamet’s neo-noir drama Heist starring Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito and Delroy Lindo and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love starring Adam Sandler. He most recently completed production on The Runaway Jury with Hackman, John Cusack and Dustin Hoffman.

Among Elswit’s prolific credits are three other films for Anderson: Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Hard Eight (for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination). He photographed three films for Curtis Hanson, The River Wild, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Bad Influence. For director Stephen Gyllenhaal, he served as director of photography on Dangerous Woman, Waterland, “A Killing in a Small Town” and “Paris Trout.”

More recently, he photographed Bounce starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow, Gary Fleder’s Impostor, 8MM directed by Joel Shumacher and the James Bond adventure Tomorrow Never Dies.

Additional film credits also include The Pallbearer, How I Got Into College, Desert Hearts, Moving Violations and The Sure Thing.

Elswit studied film at UCLA, USC and the American Film Institute. He then began work as an assistant cameraman on NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory films making documentaries and IMAX wide-screen movies.

As an effects camera operator he worked for Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic division on such blockbuster movies as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Empire Strikes Back, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Return of the Jedi, Poltergeist and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

His first films as a director of photography were Waltz Across Texas and End of August. He won an Emmy Award for his work on the ABC After School Special, “The War Between the Classes.”

GARY FRUTKOFF (Production Designer) established himself as a top designer with such diverse films as Devil in a Blue Dress directed by Carl Franklin and three films with distinctive looks -- King of the Hill, Out of Sight and The Limey – all directed by Steven Soderbergh. Most recently, Frutkoff designed Orange County for Jake Kasdan, with whom he had also collaborated on Zero Effect.

Among his additional film credits are Howard Deutch’s Grumpier Old Men, Four Rooms (the anthology feature directed by filmmakers Quentin Tarentino, Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders and Alexandre Rockwell), Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, John Schlesinger’s Pacific Heights and Sam Raimi’s Darkman.

He also designed Inventing the Abbots, K-9, Rat Race, Chain of Fools, D2: The Mighty Ducks and Best of the Best II: By the Sword.

Frutkoff’s eclectic background includes cartooning, book illustration and design, glass etching, residential construction and portrait painting.

BILLY WEBER (Film Editor) received an Academy Award® nomination for his editing work on The Thin Red Line for director Terrence Malick, with whom he previously collaborated on Days of Heaven. Earlier in his career, Weber earned an Oscar® nomination for Top Gun.

Most recently, he edited Showtime for director Tom Dey. Among his numerous feature film editing credits are Iceman, Beverly Hills Cop and Beverly Hills Cop 2, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Midnight Run, Days of Thunder, Pure Luck, Grumpier Old Men, Murder at 1600 and Miss Congeniality. Additionally, Weber contributed to a number of films as additional editor, among them Warriors, 48 Hours, Extreme Prejudice, The Cowboy Way and Bulworth. Both Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run were produced and directed by Martin Brest, who also produced Weber’s directorial effort Josh and S.A.M., a Columbia Pictures release.

Weber was born and raised in Los Angeles. While working at UCLA as a researcher, he met film editor Sid Levin, who introduced him to the craft. Beginning his film industry career in 1966 in the print shop at MCA, it was not long before Weber found his way to the editing room as an apprentice on the television series “Name of the Game.” He wrote two scripts before his next editing job as an assistant on The Candidate. An introduction to editor Bob Estrin then led to Weber being hired as an assistant on Terrence Malick’s acclaimed Badlands.

JULIE MONROE (Film Editor) most recently edited My Life as a House for director Irwin Winkler, for whom she had previously edited At First Sight. Prior to that, she edited Diane Keaton’s Hanging Up and worked as co-editor on The Patriot for director Roland Emmerich.

Monroe’s career includes long working relationships with several well-known Hollywood filmmakers. She was an assistant editor for Oliver Stone on his films The Doors, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, Platoon and Salvador. Later she was an associate editor on Stone’s JFK.

She cut director Adrian Lyne’s controversial remake of Lolita with editor David Brenner after previously working with Lyne as an additional editor on Indecent Proposal.

Other feature film credits include assistant editor assignments on Gregory Nava’s A Time of Destiny, Curtis Hanson’s The River Wild and James Foley’s Fear.

MICHAEL KAPLAN (Costume Designer) was born in Philadelphia and studied drawing and sculpture at the Philadelphia College of Art before moving to Los Angeles. His early work as a costume designer includes Ridley Scott’s futuristic Blade Runner, for which Kaplan received the British Academy Award.

Kaplan has designed the costumes for close to 30 features. He most recently reteamed with director David Fincher on Columbia Pictures’ Panic Room. He previously designed the costumes for the director’s films Seven, The Game and Fight Club. He also designed the costumes for Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men starring Nicolas Cage.

He collaborated with director Michael Bay on the blockbuster Pearl Harbor, as well as the director’s earlier film, Armageddon.

Kaplan’s other credits include his influential designs for Flashdance, which created a trend that swept the country, as well as the films Against All Odds, Perfect, Tough Guys Don’t Dance, Big Business, Malice, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Keeping the Faith.



JOHN POWELL (Music) has composed a series of acclaimed motion picture soundtracks since arriving in America seven years ago. He composed the score for John Woo’s Face/Off and co-wrote the scores for Antz, as well as Chicken Run and Shrek. He was the creative force behind the scores for Forces of Nature and Endurance, and most recently composed the scores for The Italian Job starring Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Edward Norton, the hit family comedy Agent Cody Banks and I Am Sam starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. His score last year for The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon, received rave reviews.

Powell was a classical music aficionado until the age of 13, when he began playing everything from rock ‘n’ roll to jazz. In 1986, he exchanged the violin for the viola to gain entrance to London’s Trinity College of Music, where he studied composition, earning the John Halford and Boosey and Hawkes Bursary Music College Prizes. In 1988, he landed a job composing music for commercials and television at London’s Air-Edel Music. There he worked alongside composers Hans Zimmer and Patrick Doyle and made his first foray into feature films, assisting Doyle with the score of Into the West and writing cues and working as an electronic music programmer for Zimmer on White Fang.

Powell left Air-Edel in 1995 to co-found, with Garvin Greenaway, the London-based commercial music house Independently Thinking Music (ITM). Together they scored more than 100 advertising campaigns for clients such as Coca-Cola, BMW and Sega. ITM also collaborated with Paris-based music house Vol de Nuit, composing music for French commercials and independent films.

Arriving in the U.S. in 1997, he wrote additional music for Hans Zimmer for The Thin Red Line and arranged songs composed by Stephen Schwartz for Prince of Egypt. His musical diversity was proven by scores for the comedies Evolution and Rat Race. Last Christmas, he scored two major holiday boxoffice successes, Drumline and the Sandra Bullock/Hugh Grant romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice.