Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is a public interest lawyer and single father raising his daughter in the tranquil suburbs of Albany, New York. Grant's world is turned upside down,when a brash young reporter named Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) exposes his true identity as a former 1970s antiwar radical fugitive wanted for murder. After living for more than 30 years underground, Grant must now go on the run. With the FBI in hot pursuit, he sets off on a cross-country journey to track down the one person that can clear his name.
Shepard knows the significance of the national news story he has exposed and, for a journalist, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. Hell-bent on making a name for himself, he is willing to stop at nothing to capitalize on it. He digs deep into Grant's past. Despite warnings from his editor and threats from the FBI, Shepard relentlessly tracks Grant across the country.
As Grant reopens old wounds and reconnects with former members of his antiwar group, the Weather Underground, Shepard realizes something about this man is just not adding up. With the FBI closing in, Shepard uncovers the shocking secrets Grant has been keeping for the past three decades. As Grant and Shepard come face to face in the wilderness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, they each must come to terms with who they really are.
One of Hollywood's most acclaimed filmmakers and actors, Oscar®- winning director Robert Redford (Ordinary People; Quiz Show; The Sting) directs and heads an all-star ensemble that includes Shia LaBeouf (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as determined reporter Ben Shepard, and Academy Award®-winner Julie Christie (Red Riding Hood) as Mimi Lurie, the woman inescapably linked to Grant's past and his future. The cast also includes various figures tied to Grant's previous life as an antiwar radical: Sam Elliot (Up In The Air) as Mimi Lurie's current partner, Mac McLeod; Oscar®-nominee Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) as respected history professor Jed Lewis; Oscar®-nominee, Nick Nolte (Warrior) as the ever-loyal Donal; and Oscar®-winner Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise; Dead Man Walking) as housewife-cum-fugitive, Sharon Solarz, whose dramatic arrest sets the story in motion.
Additional cast members include: Oscar® winner,Chris Cooper (Adaptation) as Grant's brother, Daniel Sloan; Jackie Evancho (America's Got Talent) as Grant's daughter, Isabel; Golden Globe nominee Brendan Gleeson (The Guard; In Bruges) as Henry Osborne, a retired police chief harboring secrets of his own; Brit Marling (Another Earth; Sound of My Voice) as Osborne's daughter, Rebecca; Oscar® nominee Anna Kendrick (50/50; Up in the Air) as Diana, a junior FBI agent; Oscar® nominee Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games) as Shepard's editor, Ray Fuller; and Oscar® nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) as Cornelius, a senior FBI agent determined to bring Grant to justice.
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP is based on the novel by Neil Gordon and adapted for the screen by Lem Dobbs (Haywire). The film is directed by Robert Redford. It is produced by Academy Award® winner Nicolas Chartier (The Hurt Locker), Robert Redford and Bill Holderman (The Conspirator; Lions for Lambs). The executive producers are Craig J. Flores (Immortals) and Shawn Williamson (50/50).
"Secrets are dangerous things, Ben. We all think we want to know them. But if you've ever kept one yourself then you understand to do so is not just knowing something about someone else, it's discovering something about yourself."
JIM GRANT
Filmed in and around Vancouver, BC, principal photography for THE COMPANY YOU KEEP began on September 19, 2011 and continued through late November of that year. Redford worked with many of his key production collaborators for the first time, including the award-winning director of photography, Brazilian Adriano Goldman (Sin Nombre), and production designer Laurence Bennett (best known for his work with Paul Haggis and, most recently, Michel Hazanavicius on The Artist).
"I'd never worked with these guys before, but this is a terrific crew," says a beaming Redford of his team. "Film is a collaborative medium despite the auteur theory and all that. Each role is really important. It's important to show respect for these roles and let them know how important they are and how important they are to us to get a project completed."
"I work pretty hard to show a crew that respect and yet you still have to be pretty demanding of them," says Redford of his approach on set. "I've always been fortunate to have good ones and this is certainly the best I've ever worked with."
So too did the director arrive in Vancouver well prepared. "We had all of the conversations that we had to have before we got there," LaBeouf explains. "Redford knew that he wouldn't have the time to have conversations about character motivation, etc., in the middle of the fight – you know, when he's on set it's got to be about that."
While many members of the all-star ensemble would come in and out of Vancouver to shoot their scenes, owing to their own additional filming commitments, LaBeouf would remain with Redford for the whole of the shoot. "I was sort of the set mascot," jokes the actor.
"What happened was I read with most of the other actors on my own time with Bob's ‘homework list,'" says LaBeouf of his prep work. "For me, there was a lot of rehearsal. There was a lot of rehearsal for Bob too, but there wasn't a lot for Julie Christie or most of the other actors because no one was available. So I'd track these dudes down, sometimes when they arrived on their travel day, and get to it. I actually got the majority of my rehearsal in, selfishly, without Bob even knowing."
"For example, my stuff with Stanley could be six or seven pages," LaBeouf explains, noting his onscreen run-ins with Stanley Tucci who plays his boss in the film, the editor-in-chief of a financially besieged local newspaper, The Albany Sun-Times. "It was all run and gun, so I'm happy that I had that rehearsal time with Stanley - that way, we could actually play the scenes."
"That scene with Susan Sarandon is eight pages long," LaBeouf continues, citing another sequence in which his character interviews Sarandon's, Sharon Solarz, the woman whose arrest sets the story in motion. "Even with rehearsal that's a heavy pressure," says LaBeouf. "But that's why you had pros around. It was really wild to be a part of all that."
"It's an amazing thing when you really trust your director because you let go and you feel really free," says Marling. "You trust him to locate you in the story. You trust him to be your guide. And that's a beautiful feeling because that's the only way you can really be free enough to do your job... It was really a special thing to work on this movie."
For Redford, the onscreen pyrotechnics in THE COMPANY YOU KEEP wouldn't come from elaborate effects or CG-work, but instead the explosive interaction between his characters – a throwback, he agrees, to a different era in filmmaking.
"You have new technology now that's driving a lot of films," says Redford. "You have a lot of amazing stunts that are done to the point where you don't even know what's virtual and what's real. Some of that can be wildly entertaining – there may not be a lot of story there, but there's a lot of action and a lot of entertainment. That wasn't there in the 70s. It was much more of a storytelling time and that of course appeals to me. I think I still fall on the humanistic side of cinema."
Redford continues, "When I was a kid I loved Frankenstein, I loved The Three Stooges, I loved musicals. I still love all of it. But when you become an artist, you do what's important to you. What's important to me are stories about American life. It's a great country, but let's look at the gray area of our country too. And that's what interests me because I've lived through it."
THE COMPANY YOU KEEP can be seen as a cat and mouse game between two men – journalist Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf) and fugitive Jim Grant (Robert Redford) – both attempting to expose the truth and, in the process, redefine their lives. While the film, which is set in the present day, recalls the history and aftermath of the radical antiwar protest movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s (and in particular one of its most violent manifestations, The Weather Underground), it remains a work of fiction. Indeed it was the dramatic potential of the story itself, even more so than the meticulously researched underpinnings of Neil Gordon's 2003 novel, which first attracted Robert Redford to the project.
"I thought it was a good story and it gave you a chance to look inside of an event that is a piece of American history," says Redford of the film, his first as both actor and director since his 2007 drama, Lions for Lambs. "It truly gets inside how people were living their lives thirty years later... underground and with a false identity."
"For me it was a bit like Les Misé́rables, with the character Jean Valjean sentenced to nineteen years for a loaf of bread," Redford explains. "He escaped from prison, built a false identity, had a daughter, had a good life, but the pain of that time was always going to haunt him. So how do these people deal with that? Do they change? Do they not change? That was the interesting story to be told. It wasn't so much about the antiwar movement itself, because that belongs to history."
Working with fellow producers Bill Holderman, who previously collaborated with Redford on Lions for Lambs and his most recent directorial effort, The Conspirator (2010), and Nicolas Chartier (The Hurt Locker), the project was developed over the course of four years. Adapted by Lem Dobbs, who scripted Haywire and The Limey for Steven Soderbergh, the screenplay centers on Grant's journey as he reconnects with the ghosts of his past – many still living underground – with the hope of ultimately exonerating himself from the murder charges he fled as a student linked to the radical fringe of the antiwar movement. All the while, Ben Shepard and the FBI pursue him, never more than a few steps behind his trail.
"This is about a group of people that were underground," Redford explains. "They were very close, bonded by the styles of their time, the passions of their time, and now they've grown older and they've taken different paths. Some resent that they did it. Others have remorse. Some believed in it at the time, but feel they have to spend the rest of their lives paying for it. Others feel it was a just cause at the time and still is a cause for today. So there's also all these multiple feelings and relationships – how they all interacted fascinated me."
While Redford planned both the scenario and the production itself down to the finest detail, he also left considerable elements of the story open to the actors' own interpretations. Indeed, as an actor himself, he encouraged each individual's input.
"It was a skeletal script at the beginning that he was fleshing out through rehearsal," explains Shia LaBeouf (Transformers; Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) of the collaboration between the director and his cast. "I think it was like 80 pages when I first received it – and then he just started pumping life into it," says LaBeouf. "He allowed twenty pages for the script to evolve. He was still comfortable enough to pull the green-light-trigger on it... And he had the confidence in himself and his team to be able to move forward."
LaBeouf points to a scene shared with Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) by way of example, one in which his journalist prods Gleeson's retired police chief for information at an Ann Arbor, Michigan diner. "That scene didn't even really exist initially," explains LaBeouf. "Then you bring in somebody like Gleeson and you start riffing a bit... Redford allows it to breathe, but it's structured. It's not just ad-libbed – it's very structured as to what needs to be explained and why."
He acts as though he's completely in control, but he allows his film to be as free as something that has no control or boundaries at all, which allows life to exist... which allows real moments to happen and he maintains structure," says LaBeouf of Redford. "It's really amazing what he does and he does it so easily, it seems. That's the beauty of him."
For his 9th film as director, Robert Redford tapped some of the top talent working in film today. To a considerable extent, the appeal of THE COMPANY YOU KEEP comes from watching its remarkable ensemble of veterans in action, performers including Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Terrence Howard, Richard Jenkins, Chris Cooper and Nick Nolte – former Oscar® winners or nominees, all.
Redford also turned to some of the brightest young actors working today, including Shia LaBeouf in the leading role of Ben Shepard, and rising stars Brit Marling (Another Earth) and Oscar®-nominee Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), in supporting roles.
"In a selfish way I find working with these young artists inspiring," says Redford. "They have new ideas and you learn from them. You're never too old or too successful to not be learning something. It keeps you alive and it keeps you questioning."
For the central role of Jim Grant, however, Redford decided to play the part himself. "Because I'm nuts," laughs the legendary star. "To step in and out of both roles is not easy for me," he says of performing double duty as actor and director. "I can do it. But it's definitely not easy."
Jim Grant.....Robert Redford
Ben Shepard.....Shia LaBeouf
Mimi Luri.....Julie Christie
Sharon Solarz.....Susan Sarandon
Donal Fitzgerald.....Nick Nolte
Daniel Sloan.....Chris Cooper
FBI Agent Cornelius.....Terrence Howard
Ray Fuller.....Stanley Tucci
Jed Lewis.....Richard Jenkins
Diana.....Anna Kendrick
Henry Osborne.....Brendan Gleeson
Rebecca Osborne.....Brit Marling
Mac Mcleod.....Sam Elliott
Billy Cusimano.....Stephen Root
Isabel Grant.....Jackie Evancho
With over 52 years in the business, 30 films as a producer, nine as director and an estimated 66 screen-roles to his credit, Robert Redford is one of the most influential figures in the film industry. He has received two Oscars®; the first for his directorial debut, Ordinary People in 1980, the second for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. He is also the founder of The Sundance Institute, and with it, The Sundance Film Festival, known for their passionate commitment and immeasurable contribution to independent cinema. For THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, Redford would call upon his experience and passion to bring the film and central character to life, shepherding his own independent project forward over the course of several years with his producing partners.
Though clearly captivated by the character of Jim Grant – his sense of loyalty, nobility and integrity – Redford is nevertheless quick to point out the differences between himself and the man we see on screen. "At that time, I was raising a family and starting a career, so I wasn't involved politically," he says. "The activism in my life was centered around the environment. On the other hand, I had a lot of friends who were involved. I saw what was happening; I could see the good of it. The reason people were so passionate was because there was a draft then... People didn't want to fight a war they didn't believe in and so they rebelled against it. I sympathized with that at the time, but I didn't get involved."
Although Redford ultimately welcomed the task of directing and simultaneously playing the leading role on screen, he did have his initial reservations – along with his own unique approach.
"I think you have to be schizophrenic in a controlled way," he explains. "To act and direct is not something that I'm particularly drawn to. When I act, I like to be free to act and when I'm directing I like to be free to look at the situation in the way the conductor of an orchestra would. Instead of being a single instrument, you're looking at how they all come together and create a story."
"I was just in awe of him," says rising star, Brit Marling, who stars as Brendan Gleeson's daughter, Rebecca Osborne, of working with Redford. "It was an incredible experience just to be a part of it."
"He's just a great guy, a wonderful guy," says Richard Jenkins, who plays one of Grant's former cohorts, the former radical and now ‘respectable,' history professor, Jed Lewis. "You can tell that just by this cast. He asks you to do something and you go, ‘Sure...'
"I would say he's one of the sweetest people I've ever met," says Julie Christie, who plays Redford's former lover and fellow underground fugitive, Mimi Lurie, on screen. "He has an enormous sweetness which is quite striking. But he also knows what he wants and as a director he's absolutely single-minded about getting it."
"I met him as a fan and that stayed throughout the entirety of our whole working relationship," says Shia LaBeouf of his close collaboration with Redford as director and co-star. "But he also has a way of diminishing that fan bubble and getting right to work. I got my script on the very first day I met him. And it was right to work."
ROBERT REDFORD has won wide acclaim for his work as an actor, producer, director, champion of independent film and environmentalist. He won an Academy Award®, a DGA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for best direction for his feature directing debut, the intensely emotional family drama Ordinary People. He was also nominated for an Academy Award® for directing Quiz Show.
As an actor, he earned an Academy Award® nomination for his performance in The Sting. In 2002, he received an honorary Academy Award® recognizing his achievements as an actor, director, producer, and the creator of Sundance Institute. Redford also directed and produced The Milagro Beanfield War, A River Runs Through It, The Horse Whisperer, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Lions for Lambs, and The Conspirator, and served as executive producer and narrator of Incident at Oglala, a documentary about the Native American activist Leonard Peltier.
Born in Santa Monica, California, Redford attended the University of Colorado but left school after two years to travel through Europe, studying art in Paris and Florence. He continued his art studies when he returned to the U.S. by enrolling at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. At the suggestion of an instructor, Redford moved to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where a passion for acting superseded his interest in pictorial art. A small part on Broadway led to roles in several major live television dramas, and, in 1961, he made his feature debut in War Hunt.
Later that year, he starred in his first Broadway show, Sunday in New York, which was soon followed by Barefoot in the Park. It was the film version of Barefoot in the Park that first brought him both public and industry notice. Redford went on to portray an array of characters in a spectrum of films, many from his own production company, Wildwood Enterprises.
Under the Wildwood banner, Redford starred in Downhill Racer and The Candidate, and he produced and starred in All the President's Men. Other film roles include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, The Three Days of the Condor, Brubaker, The Natural, Out of Africa, Indecent Proposal, Up Close and Personal, The Last Castle, Spy Game, The Clearing, and An Unfinished Life. Redford received the 1997 National Medal for the Arts from President Clinton. In December 2005, Redford accepted the Kennedy Center Honors for his "distinguished achievement in the performing arts and in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the life of our country."
Shia LaBeouf came to international prominence thanks largely to his roles in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the immensely popular Transformers film series. With THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, the actor saw a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with Robert Redford, along with an incredible role in Ben Shepard.
"When I read the script, I saw Ben as an idealist," says LaBeouf. "I looked at Redford and Dustin Hoffman in All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula's 1976 film on the Watergate scandal); there was a bit of both of them there. To me, Ben was an amalgamation of those two men. I pitched that idea to Bob and he was very comfortable with it."
"Still, Ben's a complex character and, admittedly, a bit of a fame-whore too," says LaBeouf, with a smile. "In a sense, he's living in a turtle shell. He's all about him. He's all about making that turtle shell bigger – and it's all self-propelled insanity, really. He's all about getting famous for being the best reporter in the world and he's got the story... But at the same time his life doesn't have a lot of love in it. He's in solitude. He's the kind of guy who googles himself every night for self validation. Ben is like that, and then he finds a woman like he's never known and he chases that dream in the midst."
"In the story I meet Shia's character who's a reporter and I'm guarded; I don't exactly trust him," says Brit Marling, who plays Rebecca Osborne, of their relationship on screen. "And then we sort of get to know one another and it turns out I may have a right to be guarded."
"It's a very political movie, but it's also just very fundamentally human," Marling continues. "I don't think it works to make a movie that's just about politics, because movies are ultimately about moving people. When you talk about politics, but it's buried within a human story, the audience is more willing to open up and let those ideas in along with the emotions."
Ultimately for LaBeouf, there was also the attraction of playing a role unlike any he's done before. "I'm playing the antagonist for the first time, which is really fun for me," says the young star. "It's sexy as hell to do that. And for the protagonist to be Robert Redford is really wild for me. To be on the same poster as Robert Redford is really wild for me... Throw in that cast that we had, those really amazing actors who brought so much cool stuff to the table and really fleshed out the script – it was just an amazing ride. "
Shia LaBeouf has secured his place as one of the new generation of Hollywood leading men.
In addition to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Shia can be seen in the crime drama Lawless for director John Hillcoat. The film, set against the backdrop of Depression-era bootlegging, also stars Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska, and debuted in Cannes to a standing ovation.
Following Lawless, Shia stars in The Company You Keep, directed by Robert Redford. The story centers on a former Weather Underground activist who goes on the run from a journalist who has discovered his identity. The film co-stars an award-winning ensemble cast that includes Robert Redford, Julie Christie, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon and Chris Cooper.
Shia most recently wrapped production in Romania on The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman opposite Evan Rachel Wood and Melissa Leo. The film focuses on Charlie and his romantic exploits with a girl who was previously claimed by a mob boss with a penchant for violence and a gang at his disposal.
In 2011, LaBeouf was seen in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which marked his third and final turn as Sam Witwicky. Also in 2011, he starred opposite Michael Douglas in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, directed by Oliver Stone. In 2008, he starred in the fourth installment of Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones" series, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opposite Harrison Ford; teamed with director D.J. Caruso for a second time on the thriller Eagle Eye, co-starring Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson and Michael Chiklis; and appeared with Julie Christie and John Hurt in the Anthony Minghella-scripted segment of New York I Love You, a romantic anthology. Additional film credits include: Disturbia; the Oscar® nominated animated film Surf's Up; A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints; Bobby; The Greatest Game Ever Played; I, Robot; Constantine; Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle; and HBO's Project Greenlight feature The Battle of Shaker Heights, produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. He made his feature film debut in the 2003 comedy Holes, based on the best-selling book by Louis Sachar.
In 2007 Shia was named the Star of Tomorrow by the ShoWest convention of the National Association of Theater Owners, and in February 2008, he was awarded the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award, which was voted for by the British general public. In addition, he was nominated for four Teen Choice Awards for Transformers, winning the Breakout Male Award; the Teen Choice Award for Movie Actor in a Horror/Thriller for his performance in Disturbia, as well as a Scream Award. In 2004, he was nominated for the Young Artists Award for Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film and the Breakthrough Male Performance at the MTV Movie Awards for his performance in Holes.
On television, LaBeouf garnered much praise for his portrayal of Louis Stevens on the Disney Channel's original series Even Stevens. In 2003, he earned a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for his work on the highly rated family show.
LaBeouf currently resides in California.
Since bursting onto the scene in 1965 with her Oscar®-winning performance in John Schlesinger's Darling, Julie Christie has remained a perennial force in motion pictures. With a career spanning over fifty years and over fifty film and television projects, the British actress has starred in such popular and critically acclaimed hits as David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, Francois Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451, Schlesinger's Far from the Madding Crowd, Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now, Hal Ashby's Shampoo, along with more recent films like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (for director Alfonso Cuaró́n) and Catherine Hardwicke's 2011 film, Red Riding Hood, with Amanda Seyfried.
Still, it was Christie's performance as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's in Away From Her which caught the attention of Robert Redford (the film was featured at Sundance), the industry and audiences alike. It also marked Christie's fourth Oscar® nomination in 2008, along with Golden Globe, SAG and National Board of Review awards for her performance.
"I had always admired Robert Redford for his work, his environmental activities and of course, his amazing achievement with Sundance," says Christie, who welcomed the overdue opportunity to work with Redford on screen. Indeed, while the two veteran performers had started their careers at roughly the same time, neither had worked together until Redford cast the British actress in THE COMPANY YOU KEEP.
Here, Christie stars as committed radical Mimi Lurie. Like Redford's Jim Grant, Lurie is also a former member of the Weather Underground, living under various false identities since becoming a fugitive as a young woman. Unlike Grant, however, she remains unrepentant about her past, while holding the key to her former lover's future.
"In the film, she's perceived as a terrorist because of her activities in the 70s," says Christie of the character. "They were targeting these particular institutions, to cast light on what was going on in Vietnam, because the nonviolent action they were involved in seemed to be going nowhere."
"From her own perspective she's gone underground and remained underground because she believes that to hand herself over would be collaborating with those very forces she's been fighting; an acceptance of their mores, which she deplores," Christie explains. "She would be perceived by a lot of people as having tunnel vision, when in fact she has enormous vision. The problem with ‘enormous vision' though is that you can see all sides of the equation and you have to choose out of all those sides... You choose what you think is the most effective way of operating, whereas most people follow what they are told to follow. That's the real tunnel vision."
Known for her own, at times controversial, political views, Christie could empathize with the character while simultaneously noting the need of making a "stretch" to portray her. "In the end what she has is enormous integrity," says the acclaimed actress. "I would say, ‘painful' integrity, because integrity is a painful business."
Born in Assam, India, Julie Christie attended school in England, but at sixteen moved to Paris to study art. Later she became a drama student in London, gained experience on stage, and appeared on television before making her screen debut in John Schlesinger's Billy Liar. Just two years later, she re-teamed with Schlesinger for Darling, which earned her an Academy Award® for Best Actress, and that same year she starred in David Lean's epic, Dr. Zhivago, as the beautiful, love-torn Lara.
In 1971, Christie garnered her second Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress for her role in Robert Altman's western McCabe & Mrs. Miller, a film which also was her first of three screen collaborations with Warren Beatty, the other two being Shampoo and Heaven Can Wait.
After slowing her output of films in the 1980s, Christie returned to mainstream movies with a string of more recent high-profile releases, including Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, Afterglow (for which she received her third Academy Award® nomination), Troy, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Finding Neverland, and Away From Her, for which she received her fourth Oscar® nomination for Best Actress.
Christie stars among an all-star ensemble cast in Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013) as Redford's former lover, an unrepentent former 1970s radical who has been living underground for thirty years.
Prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Sam Elliott most recently provided the voice of Chupadogra in Twentieth Century Fox's family comedy Marmaduke and then starred in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie November Christmas as Jess Sanford.
Additionally, he starred with Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy Did you Hear About the Morgans? as Clay Wheeler. Elliott also had a cameo role as Maynard Finch in the 2010 Academy Award® Best Picture Nominee, Up in the Air.
In the past, Elliott appeared as Lee Scoresby in New Line Cinema's fantasy adventure The Golden Compass directed by Chris Weitz and starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. He was seen as the Caretaker in the hit film Ghost Rider opposite Nicolas Cage, and costarred in Thank You for Smoking directed by Jason Reitman. He also provided the voice of the patriarch in the animated comedy Barnyard and starred opposite Joan Allen in Off the Map, which premiered at the 2003 Sundance Festival.
Elliott first gained acclaim with his performance in the title role of Lifeguard. Other feature film credits include The Hulk, We Were Soldiers, The Contender, The Hi-Lo Country, The Big Lebowski, Tombstone, Gettysburg, Rush, Prancer, Fatal Beauty and Mask.
On television, Elliott was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role in Buffalo Girls. Other television credits include Fail Safe; You Know My Name, which was a movie for TNT that won the first Golden Boot "Best of the West" Award'; the miniseries Murder in Texas; Gone to Texas, The Sam Houston Story; The Yellow Rose and Fugitive Nights.
Born in 2000, Jackie Evancho first gained fame as a 10-year-old on NBC's variety show America's Got Talent. Almost immediately after the competition ended with Jackie winning second place, she signed with Columbia Records, and has recorded three albums showcasing her ability to perform both classical and pop music. Recently, she has tried her hand at both acting and modeling. She was selected by GUESS owner, Paul Marciano, to star in the Fall 2012 GUESS Kids clothing campaign.
Jackie makes her acting debut as part of an all-star ensemble cast in Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), playing Redford's resilient young daughter.
As a singer, Jackie participated in the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., where she sang for President and Mrs. Obama. Two months later she again performed for the President and Congressional leaders during the National Prayer Breakfast.
In early 2012, Jackie was selected to travel to Russia to perform in front of 100,000 people prior to the opening of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. Jackie, representing the United States, was honored to sing with two opera stars, Dmitri Hvorostovsky of Russia and Sumi Jo of Korea. In Japan, Jackie was invited to perform for the Royal Family at the Imperial Palace. She tours regularly with the Tokyo Philharmonic to sold- out venues. Her U.S. shows are sell-outs as well and have been taped for broadcast on PBS for the Great Performances series.
Brendan Gleeson most recently received raves and accolades such as Golden Globe Award and British Independent Film Award nominations for John Michael McDonagh's The Guard opposite Don Cheadle. He also received Golden Globe, BAFTA and British Independent Film Award nominations for his performance in Martin McDonagh's In Bruges opposite Colin Farrell. Mr. Gleeson won an Emmy and received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the 2009 HBO movie Into the Storm.
Prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Gleeson recently starred opposite Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in the Universal hit film Safe House; the period dramedy Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close; the fictionalized account of the final days of Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven and Aardman Animations' The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Upcoming for Gleeson is The Smurfs 2 for Sony Animation. Gleeson is perhaps most recognized now as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the role he first played in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and reprised in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and in the penultimate movie of the blockbuster series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
Gleeson made his feature film debut in Jim Sheridan's The Field, followed by small roles in such films as Mike Newell's Into the West and Ron Howard's Far and Away.
He first gained attention for his performance in Mel Gibson's Oscar®-winning Best Picture Braveheart. He went on to appear in Neil Jordan's films Michael Collins and The Butcher Boy, and starred in the independent film Angela Mooney, executive produced by John Boorman.
In 1998, Boorman directed Gleeson in the role of real-life Irish folk hero Martin Cahill in the biopic The General. For his performance, Gleeson won several acting honors, including the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. He has since collaborated with Boorman on the films The Tailor of Panama, In My Country and The Tiger's Tail.
Gleeson's additional film credits include John Woo's Mission: Impossible II, Harrison's Flowers, Wild About Harry, Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later..., Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain, Wolfgang Petersen's Troy, M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto, Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, Paul Greengrass' Green Zone and Perrier's Bounty.
Born in Ireland, Gleeson started out as a teacher, but left the profession to pursue an acting career, joining the Irish theater company, Passion Machine. His stage credits include productions of King of the Castle, The Plough and the Stars, Prayers of Sherkin, The Cherry Orchard, Juno and the Paycock, and On Such As We.
Terrence Howard is best known for his Golden Globe and Academy Award ® nominated work in Hustle & Flow, as well as for his supporting role in Crash, for which he received a National Board of Review Award for Best Breakthrough Performance. Born in Chicago, IL, Howard began his acting career as Jackie Jackson in the ABC miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, which was quickly followed by several notable TV appearances on shows such as Living Single and NYPD Blue. He made his film debut in 1993 in Who's the Man? which he followed with the role of Cowboy in the period saga Dead Presidents. In 1995 Howard was noticed for his role as a star high school athlete in Mr. Holland's Opus, and soon after was offered a lead role in the UPN TV series Sparks. In 1999, Howard was honored with the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, an Independent Spirit Award nomination and a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination for his role as Quentin in The Best Man.
Prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Howard's feature film credits include diverse roles in the Academy Award® nominated Ray, Pride, The Brave One, August Rush, and Iron Man. He also appeared on Broadway with the legendary James Earl Jones in Debbie Allen's revival production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
A self taught musician, Howard plays both the piano and the guitar. He displays his musical talents in Ray as Ray Charles' one-time guitarist Gossie McKee, and in Hustle & Flow as the rapper Djay. For the movie, Howard performed all the tracks for his ® character, including "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Howard was recently seen in Law and Order: Los Angeles, where he won an NAACP award for best supporting actor in a drama series. Howard recently starred alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Bryan Cranston in George Lucas' Red Tails.
Howard will be seen playing Nelson Mandela alongside Jennifer Hudson in Winnie; and in On the Road alongside Garrett Hedlund and Viggo Mortensen. In 2013, Terrence will star alongside Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace in the thriller Dead Man Down, as well as The Butler alongside Oprah Winfrey, Forrest Whitaker, Liam Neeson and Nicole Kidman, House of Bodies along with Queen Latifah and Peter Fonda, Lullaby alongside Garrett Hedlund, Jennifer Hudson and Fellini Black and White. Howard will also be one of the many All Stars appearing in an upcoming Untitled Farrelly Brothers comedy which includes Gerard Butler, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet, Josh Duhamel, Elizabeth Banks, Uma Thurman and Hugh Jackman.
Terrence has become an Ambassador for Stand Up To Cancer and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). Howard has been very involved in cancer research, and done many public service announcements for the cause. Earlier this year South Carolina State University conferred an honorary doctorate upon Dr. Terrence Dashon Howard. He is the father of three.
Academy Award® nominated Richard Jenkins is one of the most in-demand character actors in Hollywood, having made over sixty feature films.
Jenkins received an Oscar® nomination for Best Actor for his highly praised performance in director Tom McCarthy's The Visitor. The film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival and the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Prix at the 34th Deauville Festival of American Film. Richard's performance as 'Walter Vale', a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City, made The Visitor the independent film hit of 2008 and also earned him Independent Spirit Award and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Jenkins has appeared in a number of films released in 2012, including Drew Goddard's horror thriller, The Cabin in the Woods for Lionsgate, also starring Chris Hemsworth and Bradley Whitford; Lawrence Kasdan's Darling Companion opposite Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton and Dianne Wiest; Killing Them Softly by Andrew Dominik with Brad Pitt; and Christopher McQuarrie's film, Jack Reacher, opposite Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall. In addition, he appears opposite Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen and Allison Janney in Radnor's film, Liberal Arts, which premiered to rave reviews and a standing ovation at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film is set for theatrical release on September 14th.
Jenkins recently wrapped filming on Andrew Levitas' Lullaby, where he played an emaciated father slowly dying of cancer. In July 2012 he started filming One Square Mile, starring opposite Channing Tatum. From there, he will go into filming the much anticipated Roland Emmerich film, White House Down.
In 1997 Jenkins received an Independent Spirit Award nomination as Best Supporting Male for his performance in David O. Russell's comedy, Flirting with Disaster, appearing with Ben Stiller, Tea Leoni, Josh Brolin and Lily Tomlin.
In 1986, Richard had his first starring film role in Oscar®-winning writer Horton Foote's On Valentine's Day. Numerous film roles followed, including George Miller's The Witches Of Eastwick, opposite Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Cher and Michelle Pfeiffer; Richard Benjamin's Little Nikita opposite River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier; Sea Of Love with Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin; Mike Nichols' Wolf, appearing again with Jack Nicholson; with Charlize Theron in 2005's North Country; opposite Jim Carrey and again with Tea Leoni in the Judd Apatow comedy Fun With Dick & Jane; and in Peter Berg's 2007 film, The Kingdom.
More recent credits include Overture's Let Me In, written and directed by Matt Reeves; Ryan Murphy's Eat, Pray, Love alongside Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem; Will Gluck's Friends With Benefits opposite Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis; Lasse Hallstrom's Dear John, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel; the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich and Frances McDormand (his third collaboration with the writing / directing duo); and Adam McKay's hit comedy, Step Brothers, alongside Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Mary Steenburgen.
Over the years Richard Jenkins has worked with such esteemed filmmakers as Clint Eastwood in Absolute Power; the Farrelly Brothers in There's Something About Mary; Me, Myself & Irene and Hall Pass; and Sydney Pollack in Random Hearts opposite Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas.
In 2001, Jenkins began a collaboration with Joel and Ethan Coen when he appeared with Billy Bob Thornton, James Gandolfini and Scarlett Johansson in The Man Who Wasn't There. He went on to work again with the Coen Brothers in 2003's Intolerable Cruelty opposite George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
On television, Jenkins is best remembered as Nathaniel Fisher, the deceased patriarch of the Fisher family on HBO's immensely successful drama, Six Feet Under. His occasional appearances as the heart of this often dysfunctional family help earned the cast a Screen Actors Guild nomination in 2002 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He also appeared in numerous made-for-television films, including Sins of the Father and the Emmy-winning HBO film, And the Band Played On.
In theater, Richard has amassed an impressive list of credits as a company member for 14 years at Rhode Island's Trinity Repertory Company and served an additional 4 years as its Artistic Director.
In 2012, Anna Kendrick has voiced a character in the Focus Features animated feature ParaNorman, she also stars in the David Ayer film End of Watch opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, slated to open nationwide September 28th. Next, Kendrick stars in the comedy/musical Pitch Perfect, out October 5th.
In addition to her participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Kendrick recently wrapped filming Dylan Kidd's comedy Get a Job with Bryan Cranston. Anna is currently in Chicago filming the comedy Drinking Buddies opposite Olivia Wilde and Ron Livingston.
Last year Kendrick starred in Summit Entertainment's dramatic comedy 50/50 with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film received rave reviews from fans and critics alike as well as several prestigious award nominations. In 2010, Kendrick starred opposite George Clooney and Jason Bateman in the film Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman. Kendrick earned a best supporting actress Oscar® nomination and was honored as best supporting actress by The National Board of Review and best breakout star at the MTV Movie Awards. She also earned nominations from the Critic's Choice Movie Awards, the Golden Globes, BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild.
Anna was seen in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World opposite Michael Cera. Kendrick also appeared in the blockbuster Twilight and its sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn Part 1. She was recently seen in the ensemble romantic comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting (Lionsgate), based on the bestselling book series.
Kendrick also notably starred in PictureHouse's Rocket Science directed by Jeffrey Blitz. Her performance as an ultra-competitive high school debate team member garnered critical acclaim and the film received a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. For her work in the film, Anna was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Kendrick made her feature film debut in director Todd Graff's Camp. Her performance earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination, as well as a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Annual Chlotrudis Awards.
An accomplished theater veteran, Kendrick began her career as Dinah Lord in the 1997 Broadway musical production of High Society, for which she received a Tony Award Nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. At 12 years old, the honor made her the second youngest Tony nominee in award history. Kendrick also garnered Drama League and Theatre World awards as well as Drama Desk and FANY award nominations.
Kendrick's additional theater work includes a featured role with the New York City Opera's production of A Little Night Music, starring Jeremy Irons, My Favorite Broadway/The Leading Ladies: Live at Carnegie Hall, and Broadway workshops of Jane Eyre and The Little Princess.
She currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Brit Marling is an actress, writer and producer, who made a mark at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival as the first female multi-hyphenate to have two films premiere side by side. She co-wrote and co-produced Fox Searchlight's Sound of My Voice, in which a young couple fall under the spell of a cult leader played by Marling. Marling's first feature length narrative film, Another Earth, premiered at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category. Directed by Mike Cahill, Marling stars, co-wrote and coproduced the film.
Marling can next be seen in Nicholas Jarecki's financial thriller Arbitrage, starring opposite Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Laetitia Casta. The film follows a desperate hedge fund magnate (Gere), trying to complete the sale of his financial empire before it's revealed that he is guilty of fraud. A grave error forces him to turn to an unlikely ally for help. The film will be released on September 14, 2012.
Marling is currently in post-production in The East, which she also co-wrote and co- produced. Starring alongside Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgá̊rd, Marling plays Sarah, a contract worker who is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group, only to find herself falling for its leader.
Prior to that, Marling wrapped production on The Company You Keep (2013), directed and coproduced by Robert Redford. The thriller, also featuring Redford, Shia LaBeouf, and Stanley Tucci, centers on a former Weather Underground activist who goes on the run from a journalist who has discovered his identity.
Marling's foray into filmmaking started during her college years at Georgetown University, as she began writing and starring in projects that her friends were working on. This introduction led Marling to take a leave of absence from school, moving to Havana, Cuba to co-direct the documentary Boxers and Ballerinas, which followed young artists and athletes living in the communist country. Marling graduated valedictorian from Georgetown, having studied Economics and Studio Art. Her work experience included a stint as an investment-banking analyst at Goldman Sachs.
Realizing that acting and filmmaking was what she found most fulfilling, Marling followed her passion and moved to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.
Stanley Tucci has appeared in over 50 films, countless television shows, and over a dozen plays, on and off Broadway. Tucci's multiple talents have led to a very diverse career as actor, writer, director and producer.
In 2012, prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast for Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Tucci starred in the blockbuster The Hunger Games, and recently wrapped Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Killer, a modern day fairy tale. Tucci will be seen next in the remake of the 1966 film Gambit, an American/British comedy caper film directed by Michael Hoffman. Currently, Tucci is filming the fantasy- adventure film Percy Jackson & The Olympians: Sea of Monsters, the sequel to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
In 2008, Stanley appeared in Julie & Julia, opposite Meryl Streep and directed by Nora Ephron, and The Lovely Bones, for which he earned his first Academy Award® nomination along with Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG and Broadcast Film Critics nominations. At The Sundance Film Festival in 2008, Stanley premiered the film Blind Date, in which he starred, directed, and co-wrote. Also in 2008, Tucci partnered Steve Buscemi and Wren Arthur to form OLIVE Productions, a New York-based film and television company. OLIVE has film projects currently in development at HBO, Sony and Fox Searchlight and is developing a show at AMC.
Big Night, Tucci's first effort as co-director, co-screenwriter and actor on the same film, earned him numerous accolades, including the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, a recognition of Excellence by the National Board of Review, an Independent Spirit Award, The Critics Prize at the 1996 Deauville Film Festival and honors from the New York Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics. Tucci's second project, The Imposters, a film which he wrote, directed, co- produced and starred, was an Official Selection at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and was acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures later that year. Another directorial effort was USA Films' Joe Gould's Secret (2000).
In 2009, Tucci made his Broadway directorial debut with a revival of Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor starring Tony Shalhoub. The production received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play.
In 2002 Tucci received critical acclaim for his work in DreamWorks' Road to Perdition, co-starring Tom Hanks, Jude Law and Paul Newman, directed by Sam Mendes. Stanley was also seen in the ever-popular Disney comedy Big Trouble, co-starring Tim Allen and Rene Russo and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld; in Paramount Classics' Sidewalks of New York, written and directed by Edward Burns; and Sony's America's Sweethearts, opposite Julia Roberts and Billy Crystal. He also appeared alongside Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in the highly acclaimed HBO drama, Conspiracy, a film for which Tucci earned both an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Made-for-TV-Movie or Miniseries.
Tucci's previous film credits include: Margin Call, Captain America, Easy A, Burlesque, Swing Vote, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, Robots, The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers, Shall We Dance, Spin, The Terminal, The Tale of Despereaux, Deconstructing Harry, A Mid Summer Night's Dream, The Alarmist, A Life Less Ordinary, The Daytrippers, Kiss of Death, Mrs. Parker And The Vicious Circle, It Could Happen To You, The Pelican Brief, Prelude To a Kiss, Billy Bathgate, In The Soup, and Slaves of New York.
Stanley has worked extensively in television: in 2008 he was nominated for an Emmy for his guest role as Dr. Moretti on "ER." In 2007, his appearance on Monk, received critical attention as well as an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2002, Stanley won a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Lt. Colonel Adolf Eichmann in the television film entitled Conspiracy. He also received a Golden Globe, as well as an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Walter Winchell, a founder of American gossip, in the HBO original film, Winchell directed by Paul Mazursky.
His work on television includes his appearance as a reoccurring guest star on TNT's Bull. His other television credits include appearances on Equal Justice, Wiseguy, The Equalizer, Thirtysomething and The Street. Tucci also starred as Richard Cross in the Steven Bochco drama Murder One, a performance for which he earned an Emmy Nomination.
Tucci has appeared in many plays including Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Execution of Hope, The Iceman Cometh, Brighton Beach Memoirs and The Misanthrope. He has also performed in a number of off-Broadway plays, at Yale Repertory Theater, and SUNY Purchase, where he first studied acting.
Stanley serves on the Board of Directors of The Food Bank for New York City and has served as a Creative Advisor at the Sundance Institute Screenwriters and Directors Labs.
Tucci resides in New York.
Prior to his participation in the ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), three-time Academy® Award nominee Nick Nolte was most recently seen in Lionsgate's coming-of-age mixed-martial arts drama Warrior, which earned him his third Oscar® nomination. Other recent films include lending his voice in Warner Bros animated feature Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore as Butch and as the voice of the Gorilla in MGM's The Zookeeper. He was also seen in the Ben Stiller directed Hollywood spoof Tropic Thunder; Paramount Pictures' Spiderwick Chronicles; Sony Pictures Classics' The Beautiful Country, directed by Hans Petter Moland and executive produced by Terrence Malick; the Olivier Assayas directed Clean, co-starring Maggie Cheung; Peaceful Warrior, adapted from the Dan Millman novel "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" and directed by Victor Salva and Neverwas, directed by Joshua Michael Stern and co-starring Ian McKellen, Jessica Lange and William Hurt. He also voiced the character of Vincent the Bear in DreamWorks' animated feature Over the Hedge.
Nolte's additional film credits include playing the United Nations commander in the critically acclaimed feature Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadle, as well as director Neil Jordan's crime caper The Good Thief, Ang Lee's The Hulk for Universal Pictures and the Polish Brothers' Northfork for Paramount Classics. Nolte also re-teamed with director Alan Rudolph to film Investigating Sex, in which he starred opposite Neve Campbell and Robin Tunney. Nolte returned to his acting roots when he starred along with Sean Penn, in the stage production of Sam Shepherd's play The Late Henry Moss.
In recent years, Nolte has successfully added to his credit top contending films such as director Paul Schrader's Affliction, in which he received Academy Award®, Golden Globe and Independent Film nominations for Best Actor; Oliver Stone's U-Turn, co- starring Sean Penn and Jennifer Lopez; Afterglow, produced by Robert Altman; Jefferson In Paris, where he portrayed Thomas Jefferson, Martin Scorsese's thriller remake, Cape Fear, and The Prince of Tides, in which he starred opposite Barbra Streisand and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Actor and won the Golden Globe as Best Actor from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. He starred opposite Julia Roberts in I Love Trouble, and as a basketball coach in Blue Chips, for director William Friedkin. Additionally, Nolte starred in I'll Do Anything for writer/director James L. Brooks and in the critically acclaimed Lorenzo's Oil, co-starring Susan Sarandon.
His production company Kingsgate, currently has in development, White Jazz, based on the James Ellroy script based on his best selling film noir novel, and The Last Magic Summer, an adaptation of the Peter Gent novel of the same name.
Nolte, an Omaha, Nebraska native, played college football before he discovered theatre and began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse. He then studied briefly with Bryan O'Byrne at Stella Adler's Academy in Los Angeles. Soon following, he traveled for several years performing in regional theatres.
Landing a breakthrough role in the legendary television series, Rich Man, Poor Man, marked only the beginning for Nolte, launching him into international fame. Following its success, he made his feature film starring debut in The Deep, opposite Jackie Bisset.
Diversity of character became Nolte's signature in his early film career, with roles as a drug-smuggling Vietnam veteran in Who'll Stop the Rain...a disillusioned football star in North Dallas Forty which he developed with author Peter Gent, as free-spirited beat-era writer Neal Cassady in Heart Beat and as a reclusive marine biologist in Cannery Row. Nolte continued to challenge himself with such character roles as the philosophical vagrant in Down and Out in Beverly Hills, a tough cop in 48 Hours, an American photojournalist in Under Fire and a determined lawman in Extreme Prejudice. He created another unique character in Weeds, as an ex-con turned playwright. Other Nolte film credits have included: Three Fugitives, Farewell to the King, Scorsese's segment of New York Stories, Karel Reisz' Everybody Wins and Sidney Lumet's Q&A.
Chris Cooper was recognized in 2003 with an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of John Laroche in Columbia Pictures Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) and directed by Spike Jonze. Cooper was also recognized for his performance in this film by numerous critics associations including the Broadcast Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Toronto Film Critics Association.
Prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Cooper was most recently seen in the 2011 Walt Disney Pictures film The Muppets as the villain, Tex Richman. In 2010, Cooper was seen in John Wells' The Company Men with Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. Also in 2010, Cooper co-starred in Julie Taymor's version of The Tempest alongside Djimon Hounsou and Helen Mirren; in the Warner Bros. feature film The Town alongside Ben Affleck, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Hall; and in Allen Coulter's romantic drama Remember Me, with Robert Pattinson, Pierce Brosnan and Emilie de Ravin.
In October 2009, Cooper was featured in the drama New York, I Love You, a collaboration of vignettes created by some of today's most imaginative filmmakers including Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Brett Ratner and Allen Hughes. Cooper starred alongside Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke and Maggie Q in a storyline written and directed by Yvan Attal. Also in October 2009, Cooper voiced "Douglas" in the big screen adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze and screenplay by Dave Eggers.
In 2007 Cooper starred alongside Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman in the Universal film The Kingdom, directed by Peter Berg; in the Universal Pictures film Breach directed by Billy Ray; and also starred with Pierce Brosnan, Patricia Clarkson, and Rachel McAdams in Married Life for Sony Classics, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was also accepted into the New York Film Festival.® Cooper has had strong supporting roles in a score of earlier films, including Sony Classics' Capote, Universal's Jarhead, for director Sam Mendes and Warner Bros.' Syriana, for writer and director Stephen Gaghan. In 2005, Cooper reteamed with director and friend John Sayles in New Market Film's Silver City. In 2003, Cooper starred in the Universal Pictures film, Seabiscuit based on the best-selling novel. In the same year, Cooper was nominated for an Emmy Award for his supporting performance in the HBO film My House in Umbria starring Maggie Smith.
Cooper's earlier films include The Bourne Identity (2002) and the second Bourne installment, The Bourne Supremacy (2004); The Patriot (2000); Me, Myself and Irene (2000); American Beauty (1999), for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award for his supporting performance; and October Sky (1999). He had previously earned a Best Actor nomination in 1997 from the Independent Spirit Awards for his work in John Sayles' Lone Star. Nearly a decade earlier, Cooper made his feature film debut in Sayles' Matewan. Among his other film credits are: Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer, Great Expectations, A Time to Kill, Money Train, This Boy's Life, Guilty by Suspicion and City of Hope.
On the small screen, he has had roles in a number of long-form projects, including the miniseries Lonesome Dove, and Return to Lonesome Dove. He starred in HBO's Breast Men, and includes among his other credits Alone; One More Mountain; Ned Blessing; Bed of Lies; Darrow; In Broad Daylight; A Little Piece of Sunshine; Law and Order; and Journey to Genius.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Cooper attended the University Of Missouri School Of Drama and started his professional career on the New York stage. His theater credits include Of the Fields Lately on Broadway, The Ballad of Soapy Smith and A Different Moon.
Cooper resides in Massachusetts with his wife.
Susan Sarandon received Oscar®-nominations for her performances in Thelma and Louise, Lorenzo's Oil, The Client, and Atlantic City and won both an Academy Award® and a SAG® Award for her role in Dead Man Walking as Sister Helen, a nun consoling a death-row inmate.
Prior to her participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), film credits include Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, The Lovely Bones, Enchanted, Speed Racer, Elizabethtown, Shall We Dance?, The Banger Sisters, Mr. Woodcock, In the Valley of Elah, Alfie, Moonlight Mile, Igby Goes Down, Romance and Cigarettes, Twilight, Step Mom, The Hunger and Jeff Who Lives at Home.
Sarandon made her acting debut in the movie Joe, which she followed with a continuing role in the TV drama A World Apart. Early film credits include The Great Waldo Pepper, Lovin' Molly, Billy Wilder's The Front Page, the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Louis Malle's controversial Pretty Baby. She went on to receive her first Oscar® nomination in Malle's Atlantic City.
Her additional feature credits include The Witches of Eastwick, Cradle Will Rock, King of the Gypsies, Compromising Positions, The January Man, White Palace, The Buddy System, Sweet Hearts Dance, A Dry White Season, Bob Roberts, Light Sleeper, Little Women, and Safe Passage.
The hard-working actress has made a career of choosing diverse and challenging projects both in film and television. In 2008, she received an Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries for her role in the HBO film Bernard and Doris, as well as a Golden Globe® and SAG® nomination. She received an Emmy and SAG nomination for her work in Barry Levinson's You Don't Know Jack with Al Pacino for HBO.
She starred in the 2003 CBS Movie Ice Bound; in the Syfy Channel Mini Series Children of Dune; in the TV Movie The Exonerated; in HBO's Earthly Possessions; in the CBS Movie Women of Valor and the HBO Miniseries Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce. She has made guest appearances on 30 Rock, The Big C and in the "Mother Lover" video on Saturday Night Live.
Upcoming films include Robot & Frank, with Frank Langella; The Wedding, with Robert DeNiro and Diane Keaton; The Company You Keep, for director Robert Redford; That's My Boy with Adam Sandler; Arbitrage with Richard Gere and Cloud Atlas with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry for the Wachowskis.
Stephen Root is one of Hollywood's most prolific character actors with more than 100 film and television credits on his extensive resume.
Prior to his participation in the all-star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep (2013), Root was most recently seen in Universal Pictures' Big Miracle, opposite John Krasinski, Kristen Bell and Drew Barrymore, for director Ken Kwapis.
2011 saw Root in a variety of roles including Clint Eastwood's bio-pic J. Edgar opposite Leonardo DiCaprio released by Warner Bros.; Kevin Smith's Red State; Cedar Rapids with Ed Helms; Everything Must Go with Will Ferrell, and the voices of ‘Doc' and ‘Merrymack' in Paramount's animated feature Rango, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Gore Verbinski. In 2010, he appeared in Robert Redford's The Conspirator.
Root has earned rave reviews for bringing a variety of characters to life in such films as O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country For Old Men, Leatherheads, Men Who Stare At Goats and Dodgeball – A True Underdog Story. He received positive noticse as the put- upon Milton Waddams in Mike Judge's Office Space. His animated features include the aforementioned Rango, Ice Age 1 & 2, Finding Nemo and The Country Bears. Recent Videos include Fox and the Hound 2, Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare and Dr. Doolittle: Million Dollar Mutts.
Root starred as the eccentric station owner, Jimmy James, on NBC's NewsRadio. Stephen has recently recurred on True Blood, 24, West Wing & Pushing Daises. He is currently recurring in Justified on FX. His many guest appearances include: Californication, The Defenders, CSI and Louie.
Root was the voice of Bill and Mr. Strickland on FOX's Emmy-winning hit animated series King of the Hill for 13 seasons. He has also lent his voice to a number of animated series including American Dad, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Syfy's ‘R' rated Tripping the Rift.
Born in Sarasota, Root majored in acting and broadcasting at the University of Florida. After three years of touring the U.S. and Canada with the National Shakespeare Company, Root settled in New York, honing his craft in many regional theatres and starring off-Broadway in Journey's End and The Au Pair Man. His Broadway debut came in So Long on Lonely Street, which was followed by the Tony award-winning production of All My Sons, with Richard Kiley. A starring role as Boolie, in the Broadway national touring company of Driving Miss Daisy with Julie Harris, brought Root to Los Angeles where he currently resides. Back on the boards, he recently starred with Helen Hunt and Lyle Lovett in Much Ado About Nothing, an LA Shakespeare Production.
Directed by Robert Redford
Screenplay by Lem Dobbs
Based on the novel by Neil Gordon
Produced by Nicholas Chartier, Robert Redford, Bill Holderman
Executive Producers.....Craig J. Flores, Shawn Williamson
Director of Photography.....Adriano Goldman
Production Designer.....Laurence Bennett
Editor.....Mark Day
Costume Designer.....Karen Matthews
Music by Cliff Martinez
Casting by Avy Kaufman, C.S.A.
With over 52 years in the business, 30 films as a producer, nine as director and an estimated 66 screen-roles to his credit, Robert Redford is one of the most influential figures in the film industry. He has received two Oscars®; the first for his directorial debut, Ordinary People in 1980, the second for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. He is also the founder of The Sundance Institute, and with it, The Sundance Film Festival, known for their passionate commitment and immeasurable contribution to independent cinema. For THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, Redford would call upon his experience and passion to bring the film and central character to life, shepherding his own independent project forward over the course of several years with his producing partners.
Though clearly captivated by the character of Jim Grant – his sense of loyalty, nobility and integrity – Redford is nevertheless quick to point out the differences between himself and the man we see on screen. "At that time, I was raising a family and starting a career, so I wasn't involved politically," he says. "The activism in my life was centered around the environment. On the other hand, I had a lot of friends who were involved. I saw what was happening; I could see the good of it. The reason people were so passionate was because there was a draft then... People didn't want to fight a war they didn't believe in and so they rebelled against it. I sympathized with that at the time, but I didn't get involved."
Although Redford ultimately welcomed the task of directing and simultaneously playing the leading role on screen, he did have his initial reservations – along with his own unique approach.
"I think you have to be schizophrenic in a controlled way," he explains. "To act and direct is not something that I'm particularly drawn to. When I act, I like to be free to act and when I'm directing I like to be free to look at the situation in the way the conductor of an orchestra would. Instead of being a single instrument, you're looking at how they all come together and create a story."
"I was just in awe of him," says rising star, Brit Marling, who stars as Brendan Gleeson's daughter, Rebecca Osborne, of working with Redford. "It was an incredible experience just to be a part of it."
"He's just a great guy, a wonderful guy," says Richard Jenkins, who plays one of Grant's former cohorts, the former radical and now ‘respectable,' history professor, Jed Lewis. "You can tell that just by this cast. He asks you to do something and you go, ‘Sure...'
"I would say he's one of the sweetest people I've ever met," says Julie Christie, who plays Redford's former lover and fellow underground fugitive, Mimi Lurie, on screen. "He has an enormous sweetness which is quite striking. But he also knows what he wants and as a director he's absolutely single-minded about getting it."
"I met him as a fan and that stayed throughout the entirety of our whole working relationship," says Shia LaBeouf of his close collaboration with Redford as director and co-star. "But he also has a way of diminishing that fan bubble and getting right to work. I got my script on the very first day I met him. And it was right to work."
ROBERT REDFORD has won wide acclaim for his work as an actor, producer, director, champion of independent film and environmentalist. He won an Academy Award®, a DGA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for best direction for his feature directing debut, the intensely emotional family drama Ordinary People. He was also nominated for an Academy Award® for directing Quiz Show.
As an actor, he earned an Academy Award® nomination for his performance in The Sting. In 2002, he received an honorary Academy Award® recognizing his achievements as an actor, director, producer, and the creator of Sundance Institute. Redford also directed and produced The Milagro Beanfield War, A River Runs Through It, The Horse Whisperer, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Lions for Lambs, and The Conspirator, and served as executive producer and narrator of Incident at Oglala, a documentary about the Native American activist Leonard Peltier.
Born in Santa Monica, California, Redford attended the University of Colorado but left school after two years to travel through Europe, studying art in Paris and Florence. He continued his art studies when he returned to the U.S. by enrolling at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. At the suggestion of an instructor, Redford moved to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where a passion for acting superseded his interest in pictorial art. A small part on Broadway led to roles in several major live television dramas, and, in 1961, he made his feature debut in War Hunt.
Later that year, he starred in his first Broadway show, Sunday in New York, which was soon followed by Barefoot in the Park. It was the film version of Barefoot in the Park that first brought him both public and industry notice. Redford went on to portray an array of characters in a spectrum of films, many from his own production company, Wildwood Enterprises.
Under the Wildwood banner, Redford starred in Downhill Racer and The Candidate, and he produced and starred in All the President's Men. Other film roles include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, The Three Days of the Condor, Brubaker, The Natural, Out of Africa, Indecent Proposal, Up Close and Personal, The Last Castle, Spy Game, The Clearing, and An Unfinished Life. Redford received the 1997 National Medal for the Arts from President Clinton. In December 2005, Redford accepted the Kennedy Center Honors for his "distinguished achievement in the performing arts and in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the life of our country."
Lem Dobbs, son of distinguished American artist R.B. Kitaj, was born in Oxford and raised in London, England. A year spent in Hollywood, where his father was visiting professor at the University of California (Los Angeles), fueled his lifelong passion for movies, and he was able to meet such filmmaking legends as John Ford, Billy Wilder, George Cukor, and Jean Renoir. As a child ("actor"), he appeared in The Boy Who Turned Yellow, the final film of the great Powell & Pressburger.
While a student at the American School in London, Dobbs worked part-time in the famed Cinema Bookshop, just down the street from the British Museum. He returned to LA at the age of 18 to write screenplays. One of them, Edward Ford, is considered among the finest unproduced scripts in Hollywood, and contributed to his early reputation. Another script, The Marvel of the Haunted Castle, led to a tenure at 20th Century Fox as the youngest writer ever put under long-term contract by a studio.
During this period, among other assignments, Dobbs did uncredited rewrites on location in Mexico for the influential hit movie Romancing the Stone. Dobb's first produced screenplay (which in turn was rewritten to his distaste by others) was the psychological suspense drama Hider in the House, starring Gary Busey and Mimi Rogers.
Prior to his work adapting the screenplay for Robert Redford's The Company You Keep from the novel by Neil Gordon, his other films include director Steven Soderbergh's Kafka, filmed on location in Prague, starring Jeremy Irons and Sir Alec Guinness; John Badham's The Hard Way, starring Michael J. Fox and James Woods; and the science fiction thriller, Dark City, directed by Alex Proyas, which was chosen by movie critic Roger Ebert as the best film of 1998, and also won science fiction's prestigious Saturn Award as best film, as well as the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association of America, and the Australian Film Critics Circle Award for best screenplay of the year.
A second collaboration with director Soderbergh resulted in the critically- acclaimed The Limey, starring Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda. Both The Limey and Dark City the year before were honored as official selections of the Cannes Film Festival. Dobbs next co- wrote the heist movie The Score, directed by Frank Oz, which teamed acting heavyweights Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, and Edward Norton. A Dobbs/Soderbergh "trilogy" was completed with Haywire, starring Gina Carano, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, and Michael Douglas. As a film historian, Dobbs has contributed articles to such journals as the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound and provided DVD commentaries for various films, in addition to his own, including Double Indemnity, Von Ryan's Express, and The Sand Pebbles.
Bill Holderman is Robert Redford's producing partner and runs development and production for Redford's production company, Wildwood Enterprises. Over the course of his film career, Bill has worked with an amazing array of talented people on a multitude of films including: The Motorcycle Diaries, Spy Game, The Last Castle, An Unfinished Life, The Clearing, Lions for Lambs, The Conspirator and the recently completed The Company You Keep. Prior to his career in film, Holderman worked in both television and the dotcom world. He is a graduate of Northwestern University where he majored in Economics and Communications. He was born and raised in Chicago, and currently resides in Santa Monica with his wife and two kids.
Nicolas Chartier, the Academy Award®-winning producer of The Hurt Locker, has been involved in the financing, production and sales of a diverse range of films for the past 10 years. In 2005, he founded Voltage Pictures, an international financing, sales and production operation. He has handled over 150 movies in the past 6 years. The Hurt Locker was Voltage Pictures first in-house production and claimed 6 Oscars in 2009, including Best Picture. Killer Joe was Voltage's second in-house film, directed by William Friedkin and starring Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch, which was released by LD Entertainment. Recently Nicolas produced The Company You Keep, directed by Robert Redford and starring Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie and Brit Marling, which will premiere at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. More recently Nicolas executive produced The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman directed by 4-time nominated DGA director Fredrik Bond, starring Shia LaBeouf and Evan Rachel Wood. Nicolas currently is producing Zero Theorem to be directed by Terry Gilliam, and also executive producing Cali written by Michael Diliberti, to be directed by Nick Cassavetes and will star Kristen Stewart and Alex Pettyfer.
Prior to forming Voltage, Chartier was VP of sales and acquisitions at Myriad Pictures. He has been involved in the sales of a diverse range of films there such as The Good Girl and Van Wilder. As the president of Vortex Pictures, he sold titles such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Nicolas Cage's Sonny. As head of sales and acquisitions at Arclight Films, Chartier acquired Dean Devlin's The Librarian, 2006 Academy Award®-winner Crash and The Matador starring Pierce Brosnan. During his time at Arclight, Chartier also sold Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage and The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino.
In January 2011 Craig J. Flores co-founded Voltage Pictures with Nicolas Chartier, Oscar®- winning producer of The Hurt Locker. His first picture under the Voltage banner was Academy Award®- winning Robert Redford's The Company You Keep starring Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Academy Award®- nominated Stanley Tucci, Academy Award® - winning Susan Sarandon, Academy Award®-winning Chris Cooper, Academy Award®- nominated Terrence Howard and three-time Academy Award®- nominated Nick Nolte. Their second film The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, again starring LaBeouf alongside Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Til Schweiger, and Melissa Leo is currently in post-production.
Craig was a former partner of Hollywood Gang Productions, a first look company at Warner Brothers, under which he produced the Zack Snyder directed box office smash hit, 300 starring Gerard Butler and Michael Fassbender, the comedy Everybody's Fine starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale, and the Relativity Media production Immortals starring Henry Cavil and Mickey Rourke which grossed over $200 million worldwide.
With over 25 years in entertainment, Shawn Williamson has risen to the forefront of the Canadian film and television industry as a leading independent film and television producer. A native of Vancouver, Shawn began his career as a stage manager in live theatre in 1983 and has since produced live events, live television, television series, television movies as well as feature films.
Shawn has filmed in many international destinations including Croatia, Romania, Ireland, Singapore, France, England, South Africa and Australia. Fifty Dead Men Walking (Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess), a Canada/UK co-production with Future Films and Handmade Films was shot in Belfast and had a Gala Premiere spot at the 2008 Toronto International Film. The TV series Stormworld, a Canadian/Australian co-production filmed in Australia, Singapore and Canada is currently airing on CTV's Space Channel and The Nine Network in Australia.
Shawn executive produced Frankie and Alice (Halle Berry, Stellan Skarsgá̊rd), Apollo 18 (for The Weinstein Company), along with of the television series The Guard for Global TV, produced the Canadian western Gunless (Paul Gross) with Rhombus Media, the Sam Raimi Horror Project for Mandate Pictures/Lionsgate and The Company You Keep with Voltage Pictures, directed by Robert Redford (Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Anna Kendrick, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon).
Shawn's producing credits include Brightlight Pictures' most successful co-production to date, White Noise (starring Michael Keaton), which was a Canada/UK coproduction and has grossed more than $100 million since its release in 2005. Other past producing credits include: Alone in the Dark (Christian Slater, Tara Reid, released by Lions Gate Films), The Long Weekend (Chris Klein, Brendan Fehr) and Edison (Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J, Justin Timberlake). Shawn also produced In the Name of the King (Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman, Leelee Sobieski, Burt Reynolds), White Noise II (Nathan Fillion) with Gold Circle Films and Rogue, and the television series Saved (Tom Everett Scott) for Fox 21 and TNT.
Shawn has line produced both Wicker Man (Nicholas Cage, released by Warner Bros.) and 88 Minutes (Al Pacino) for Millennium Films, as well as Whisper (Josh Holloway, Joel Edgerton, Dule Hill) and Slither (Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker, released by Universal) for Gold Circle Films. He has also line produced the independent features Possession (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace) for Yari Film Group, Vertigo Entertainment and Spitfire Pictures, along with Passengers (Anne Hathaway) and 50/50 (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen) both for Mandate Pictures.
Shawn chairs the City of Vancouver Film Industry Task Force and the Whistler Film Festival, and sits on boards of each The Leo Awards, Capilano University Film Advisory, BC Film Commission Advisory Committee, Vancouver Theatresports League and Odd Squad (Vancouver City Police Production). Shawn has received several awards including: The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006 (for Brightlight Pictures Inc.) and Business Vancouver's 40 under 40 Award in 2004.
São Paulo-born Adriano Goldman is currently working with John Wells on August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. In addition to his work as DP on Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, Goldman recently wrapped Closed (starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall) directed by John Crowley. Goldman also shot Fernando Meirelles' 360, starring Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Anthony Hopkins. Goldman's previous credits include Jane Eyre, which stars Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska, and marks his second collaboration with director Cary Fukunaga. They first partnered on the immigrant thriller Sin Nombre that earned Goldman his first Independent Spirit Award nomination and the Excellence in Cinematography Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Goldman also shot Tony Goldwyn's Conviction, starring Hilary Swank, which received a number of nominations and awards.
The award-winning Goldman got his start as a camera operator for director/producer Fernando Meirelles' company and soon after directed and photographed his first short, Is Renaldo Still Swimming? which won top prizes at both the São Paulo Fotoptica Video Festival and the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano in Havana, Cuba. Over the next decade, he earned his stripes in the commercial and music video world by forging a strong relationship with MTV Brazil, where he directed the inaugural acoustic program Unplugged for the popular music network as well as Sepultura's rendition of Orgasmatron, which took home the International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. Goldman's musical prowess enabled him to capture the raw spontaneity on the live concert films Emories, Chronicles and Declarations of Love for acclaimed female vocalist Marisa Monte, and Kaya N'Gan Daya for Brazilian superstar Gilberto Gil. In 2002, he reteamed with Meirelles to shoot the first of eventually four seasons of the TV Globo/O2 Filmes smash hit television series City of Men, based on the visionary filmmaker's City of God.
Goldman's dazzling work in spotlighting two teens living in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro earned him the ABC Trophy for Best Cinematography in a Television Series. The team embarked on the feature film version helmed by Paulo Morelli in 2006, which was released domestically by Miramax and served as a fitting coda for the 35 million faithful viewers. Goldman's color-infused, handheld camerawork was instrumental in depicting the emotional plight of these sympathetic characters.
Amongst his other credits are the Brazilian version of the popular Canadian Shakespeare series Slings & Arrows for Fernando Meirelles, and two high-profile series for HBO Latin America: the 13-episode arc Alice and the Cao Hamburger-helmed Sons of Carnival, for which Goldman garnered his second ABC trophy. Other notable films include Romance by Guel Arraes, Casseta & Planeta: The Cup is Ours directed by Lula Buarque, Bruno Barreto's Romeo & Juliet Get Married, and Hamburger's The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, which netted Goldman his third ABC trophy win for Best Cinematography, this time for a feature film.
Laurence Bennett has been designing for film and television for over 25 years. Bennett has designed several films for Director Paul Haggis including The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe, In the Valley of Elah starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, and Crash, which won the Academy Award® for Best Picture, as well as a nomination for Laurence for Excellence in Production Design from the Art Directors Guild. In addition to his work designing Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, other films Bennett has designed include Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank, and Traitor starring Don Cheadle. He is currently in pre-production on Haggis' next feature project Third Person.
Mr. Bennett recently received an Academy Award® Nomination for Best Art Direction on Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist starring Jean Dujardin.
He has designed numerous television pilots and series, including Grey's Anatomy, Once and Again, EZ Streets, Thief and most recently the pilot for the upcoming season of Infamous.
Bennett was educated at Occidental College, Los Angeles and Waseda University, Tokyo. He then lived in Ireland for ten years before returning to Los Angeles to work in film. In Dublin he had a design practice, worked in fringe theatre, exhibited his paintings, and taught at the National College of Art and Design.
He and his wife Nina live in Clackamas County, Oregon in a 1904 farmhouse they renovated. They share the former homestead property with their dog, cats, chickens, and rabbits.
Avy Kaufman is a casting director in New York City. In addition to her work on the all- star ensemble cast of Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, she is proud to have worked with an array of talented directors such as Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, Jim Sheridan, Ridley Scott, Robert Redford, Michael Mann, Norman Jewison, Jodie Foster, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton and Wong Kar Wai (to name just a few) – and on such acclaimed films such as Capote, The Sixth Sense, Garden State, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Dancer in the Dark, Syriana, American Gangster as well as the upcoming features Life of Pi and Lincoln.
Avy was honored in 2005 as the Casting Director of the Year at the Hollywood Film Festival. She was awarded an Emmy in 2008 for her work on the pilot of Showtime's Damages and received another Emmy nomination for the HBO mini-series Empire Falls. She has also been the recipient of several Artios awards from her colleagues and is featured in Helena Lumme's book, "Great Women of Film".
Prior to his work editing Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, Mark Day has previously collaborated with many directors on a wide range of film and television projects, including David Yates' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts One and Two.
An award-winning editor, Day won a BAFTA Award and also earned a nomination for a Royal Television Society (RTS) Award for his collaboration with Yates on the 2003 miniseries State of Play. The following year, Day won a BAFTA TV Award and an RTS Award for Best Editor for his work on the Yates directed miniseries Sex Traffic. Day's work with Yates has also brought him RTS and BAFTA Award nominations for the miniseries The Way We Live Now, another RTS Award nomination for the telefilm The Young Visiters and an Emmy Award nomination for the television movie The Girl in the Café̀. Day has also worked with Yates on the miniseries The Sins and the short film Rank.
Day has also had multiple collaborations with other directors, including David Blair on the feature Mystics, and the television projects Anna Karenina, Split Second and Donovan Quick; Paul Greengrass on the feature The Theory of Flight and the television movie The Fix; and John Schlesinger on the telefilms The Tale of Sweeney Todd, Cold Comfort Farm and A Question of Attribution.
Day's additional television credits include such long-form projects as Julian Farino's Flesh and Blood, Paul Seed's Murder Rooms, Richard Eyre's Suddenly Last Summer, and Jack Clayton's Memento Mori, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award. He is currently editing About Time, written and directed by Richard Curtis, due for release in 2013.
Cliff Martinez, who was born in the Bronx, but raised in Ohio, moved to California in 1976 landing in the middle of the punk movement. After stints as the drummer for The Weirdos, Lydia Lunch and Foetus front-man Jim Thirlwell, and the final incarnation of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, Martinez joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers (playing on the band's first two albums) and later The Dickies. It was during his tenure with The Chili Peppers that Cliff began exploring the new technologies of that era, which would eventually guide him towards the film music world.
A tape Martinez had put together using these new technologies made its rounds, leading him to score an episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse. The same recording also ended up in Steven Soderbergh's hands and Martinez was hired to score the famed director's first theatrical release 1989's sex, lies, and videotape. Martinez's longstanding relationship with Soderbergh has continued through the years and they have worked together on ten theatrical releases including Kafka, The Limey, Traffic, Solaris and 2011's Contagion.
Perhaps it is because of his time in the punk scene that Martinez's approach to scoring is nontraditional. His scores tend towards being stark and sparse, utilizing a modern tonal palette to paint the backdrop for films that are often dark, psychological stories like Pump Up the Volume (1990), The Limey (2009) Wonderland (2003), Wicker Park (2004), and Drive (2011). Martinez has been nominated for a Grammy Award (Steven Soderbergh's Traffic), a Cesar Award (Xavier Giannoli's A L'origine), and a Broadcast Film Critics Award (Drive).
Still the drummer at heart, Martinez's use of audio manipulations, particularly for percussive sounds, has been evolving through the years and is evident by the hammered dulcimer of Kafka (1991), the gray-areas between sound design and score for Traffic (2000), the steel drums and textures of Solaris (2002), what Martinez called ‘rhythmi- tizing pitched, ambient textures' of Narc (2002), and ‘using percussion performances to trigger and shape the rhythmic and tonal characteristics of those ambient textures,' as he described his score for 2011's The Lincoln Lawyer.
Cliff Martinez was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2012 with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He recently served as a juror for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and served on the International Feature nominating committee for 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Martinez's upcoming films include Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, Nicholas Jarecki's Arbitrage, Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers (co-composed with Skrillex), and Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives.
"You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows..."
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" - Bob Dylan, 1965
The Weather Underground Organization-colloquially known as the Weathermen-was the most radical and militant faction of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the left-wing activist movement that shook university campuses across the United States in the 1960s and early '70s. Advocating armed revolution, the overthrow of the U.S. government, and an end to the war in Vietnam, the Weather Underground was formed in 1969 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by SDS leaders impatient with the protest rhetoric and civil disobedience tactics of the mainstream organization. The new group was both clandestine and high-profile; membership was secretive, but they seized the public stage with the "Days of Rage"riots during the 1969 trial of the Chicago Seven co-conspirators, and went on to carry out bombings and jailbreaks.
Weather Underground vowed to "bring the war home." Their stated targets were politics and property, not people. Weather Underground bombings and arson attacks targeted banks, police stations and government centers including the U.S. Capitol, State Department, and the Pentagon. To protect against human casualties, Weather Underground always issued evacuation warnings, and no fatalities have ever been conclusively tied to a Weather Underground action. They did, however, lose three of their own members when a nail-bomb they were building accidentally detonated in 1970, destroying a Greenwich Village, NY safe house.
In the post-Vietnam era, the movement contracted to a small number of fugitives. One faction, calling themselves the Prairie Fire Coalition (most famously married couple Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers) came out of hiding in 1980 to face criminal charges, do time briefly and move on to lives in academia, law, and organizing. Another faction, the May 19 Coalition, combined former Weathermen and Black Liberation Army members in an underground guerrilla campaign funded by armed robbery. The 1981 holdup of a Brink's armored car near Nyack, NY ended in the death of a Brink's guard and two police officers (including the first African-American on the Nyack police force). Former Weather Underground members Judith Clark, Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert were among those apprehended.
Boudin and Gilbert's infant son was brought up by Dohrn and Ayers; Judith Clark's infant daughter by her grandparents. Boudin was paroled in 2007; Gilbert and Clark remain incarcerated.
Fictional versions of these real life stories resonate in The Company You Keep.
"This gripping drama provides an absorbing reflection on the courage and cost of dissent. The storytelling is robust and thematically rich, strengthened by a fine cast." -David Rooney, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"Robert Redford's best film in years. He manages to infuse so many ideas and passions into an engaging thriller."
-Monika Bartyzel, MOVIES.COM
"Essential viewing"
- Erica Abeel, HUFFINGTON POST
"Redford's ninth film as a director and one of his knottiest and most involving...a welcome mixture of juice and grit...Evoking the government-chase thrills of Three Days of the Condor, the questioning of journalistic ethics in Absence of Malice and the radicals-in-hiding premise of Running On Empty - in other words, movies for thoughtful adults -...a pulsating drama of a man who goes on an intricate, often interior journey to outrun his past."
-Mary Corliss, TIME