Freaky Friday - Crew Biographies
The Filmmakers
MARK WATERS (Director) first gained Hollywood’s attention by adapting the screenplay and directing the 1997 Sundance favorite “The House of Yes” starring Parker Posey.
Waters went on to direct the comedy “Head Over Heels” starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Monica Potter. In 2002, he directed the VH1 Original Movie “Warning: Parental Advisory.”
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Dina Waters, and their daughter Zoe.
HEATHER HACH (Screenwriter) began her career as journalist working for the Denver bureau of the New York Times and was then editor of InLine: The Skate Magazine. While living in Colorado, in addition to her writing, she was a self-professed movie buff and a parttime improvisational comic. In 1998, she moved to Los Angeles to follow her interests and in 1999 won the Disney screenwriting fellowship. Upon completion of her fellowship, she landed her first screenwriting job—adapt the classic comedy “Freaky Friday” for modern audiences. “Freaky Friday” is her first produced screenplay. Hach is currently at work on several scripts. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
LESLIE DIXON’s (Screenwriter) writing credits include the feature films “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Pay It Forward,” “That Old Feeling,” “Overboard” and “Outrageous Fortune.”
An accomplished author, screenwriter and composer, MARY RODGERS (Based on the book by) began her Broadway career as the composer of the 1959 musical “Once Upon A Mattress” starring Carol Burnett. She has been a popular author of fiction for young people ever since her first book, the award-winning “Freaky Friday,” was released in 1972. Four years later, Disney Studios adapted “Freaky Friday” into a movie starring Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster and John Astin, with a screenplay by Mary Rodgers. Rodgers also wrote the screenplay for the Walt Disney film “The Devil and Max Devlin.” Currently, Rodgers is Chairman Emeritus and serves on the Board of the Juilliard School. She also serves on the board of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is the Rodgers family representative in its privately held partnership with the Hammerstein family, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.
ANDREW GUNN (Producer) recently produced Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Country Bears,” and is currently in post-production on the feature “The Haunted Mansion” starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Rob Minkoff.
His slate of upcoming productions also includes a remake of Walt Disney Pictures’ “Escape To Witch Mountain,” which Gunn envisions as an “X-Files”-type movie for teenagers to be directed by David Nutter; an “Untitled Kung Fu Adventure Project” that will be shot in China in the fall of 2003 and directed by Master Yuen Wo Ping, the choreographer of all three of “The Matrix“ movies, as well as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon;” and “Sky High,” about a high school for kids of superheroes, to be directed by Mike Mitchell (“Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,” “Surviving Christmas”) and scheduled to go into production in November.
Through his Disney-based GUNNfilms, which was started in July of 2000, he has been charged with creating ideas and developing material with universal charm—not just for kids, not just for adults—for the Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures labels. Gunn is also involved in the Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship Program, where he mentors young writers just beginning in the film business.
He is currently shepherding several other projects he hopes will develop into broadappeal event pictures. These include: New Orleans-set “Sugar Rum Cherry” with director Adam Shankman and a football movie called “Defense” with Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez.
Before starting his own company, Gunn spent four years in charge of development and production for John Hughes and Ricardo Mestros at their Disney-based Great Oaks Entertainment. During this time he contributed to such films as “101 Dalmatians,” “Flubber,” “Home Alone 3” and “Reach the Rock.” He was also the co-producer of Hollywood Pictures’ “Eddie,” starring Whoopi Goldberg.
Prior to that, Gunn rose through the ranks at David Permut’s Permut Presentations over a two-year period. He joined the company as a story editor and eventually became a production vice president responsible for running all feature film and television development and production. Gunn oversaw projects such as “Face/Off,” starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Gunn made the move to Los Angeles to attend The Annenberg School for Communication at The University of Southern California, where he graduated at the top of his class with a Master of Arts degree in 1995.
He now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Julia, who is Vice President of Current Programming for Warner Bros. Television, along with their daughter Isabelle and son Connor.
MARIO ISCOVICH (Executive Producer) recently produced the hit Walt Disney Picture “The Princess Diaries” starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, as well as co-produced “Runaway Bride” starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, both directed by Garry Marshall. He is currently executive producing Garry Marshall’s next comedy “Raising Helen,” starring Kate Hudson.
His long association with Marshall includes serving as producer on “The Other Sister” starring Diane Keaton and Juliette Lewis, and serving as executive producer for “Dear God” starring Greg Kinnear and Laurie Metcalf. Earlier in his career, Iscovich was the Touchstone Pictures production executive on Marshall’s smash romantic comedy “Pretty Woman.”
Iscovich co-produced Whoopi Goldberg’s box office hit comedy “Sister Act.” He also served as the executive producer on “Mulholland Falls,” on the Academy Award®- nominated “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” and on the comedy sequel “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.” As a production executive at The Walt Disney Studios, he oversaw the live-action adventure comedy “The Rocketeer.”
Born in Argentina, Iscovich began his motion picture career as an assistant to Steve McQueen, with whom he worked on two successive films, “The Reivers” and “Le Mans.” He subsequently worked for over six years with the renowned director Stanley Kramer, serving as his associate producer and co-producer on various projects.
OLIVER WOOD (Director of Photography) is a well-respected and talented cinematographer with well over two decades of experience to his credit. Wood most recently crafted the distinctive looks for “The Bourne Identity” starring Matt Damon, Columbia Pictures’ “I Spy” starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson, and the comedy “National Security” starring Martin Lawrence. He is currently working on the comedy sequel “Scooby 2.”
His diverse roster of film credits includes the underwater drama “U-571” starring Matthew McConaughey, John Woo’s “Face/Off,” “Mighty Joe Young,” John Herzfeld’s “2 Days in the Valley,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” “Terminal Velocity,” “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” “Rudy,” “Die Hard 2,” “Alphabet City,” and “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” among others. Wood’s television credits include several seasons of “Miami Vice.”
CARY WHITE (Production Designer) has worked on both television and film productions for almost two decades. In 2002, he worked with director Mark Waters on “Warning: Parental Advisory” for VH1. Other recent projects include the television movie “Beyond The Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder.”
He collaborated with director Robert Rodriguez on “Spy Kids” and “The Faculty.” White’s other feature film credits include “American Outlaws,” “Why Do Fools Fall In Love,” “Selena,” ”Gettysburg,” and “The Hot Spot.”
His television filmography includes several award-winning miniseries: “The Temptations,” “Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy,” “Buffalo Girls,” “Son of the Morning Star” and the original 1989 classic miniseries “Lonesome Dove.” White earned two Emmy Award nominations for his work on “Lonesome Dove” and “Buffalo Girls” as well as two CableAce Award nominations for “Final Verdict” and “The Good Old Boys.”
White resides in Austin, Texas.
BRUCE GREEN, A.C.E. (Editor) edited director Garry Marshall’s hit comedies “The Princess Diaries,” starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, and “Runaway Bride,” starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, as well as Marshall’s “The Other Sister” starring Diane Keaton and Juliette Lewis.
Green’s other film credits include the hit comedy “Big Momma’s House,” starring Martin Lawrence, “The Guru,” “Phenomenon,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “Cool Runnings,” “Angels in the Outfield,” “The Vanishing,” “Young Guns II,” “Three Fugitives,” “Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael,” “Punchline” and “Square Dance.”
Born and raised in New York City, Green attended Bard College and then graduated from the California Institute of the Arts, where he studied painting and film. While pursuing a career in animation and documentary filmmaking, he began freelancing in a special effects house and working as an assistant cameraman. This led him to the cutting room, where he soon discovered a love for the process of editing.
Green earned an assistant editing position on “Star Wars,” where he was able to apply his knowledge of special effects. He moved to London and realized another goal through his work on documentaries. Returning to the United States, he met Michael Kahn, Steven Spielberg’s editor, who became Green’s mentor. Green worked as an assistant to Kahn on “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Poltergeist” and “Table for Five.”
GENEVIEVE TYRRELL (Costume Designer) has an impressive list of credits, including the cult hit “Swingers.” She also designed director Doug Liman’s subsequent feature “Go.” Her most recent credits include Walt Disney Pictures’ family comedy “The Country Bears” and the soon-to-be-released “The United States of Leland” starring Kevin Spacey and Don Cheadle.
Other feature film credits include: “Suicide Kings,” “Guinevere,” “Drive Me Crazy” and “The Way of the Gun.”
Genevieve began her career as a commercial and music video stylist where she quickly made a name for herself among the industry's top directors. Her clients range from Adidas, AT&T, Budweiser, and Coca-Cola.
She is currently designing the independent feature “Employee of the Month” starring Matt Dillon, Christina Applegate and Steve Zahn; and the soon-tobe- aired TV crime drama “Cold Cases” for Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS.
ROLFE KENT (Composer) was born in Paris and raised north of London in the Roman and Elizabethan city of St. Albans, England. After giving up the violin as a child, Kent discovered he preferred writing music for various school ensembles and playing piano and bass in peculiar bands. After receiving a BS with honors in psychology, and a one-year stint teaching psychology, Kent returned to his first love, composing music, and his dream of composing music for film.
After moving to Los Angeles, Kent soon developed relationships with emerging new filmmakers such as Alexander Payne, for whom Kent composed the score for Payne’s first feature-length film, “Citizen Ruth.” This quickly led to such composing assignments as “The House Of Yes,” for director Mark Waters, “The Slums Of Beverly Hills” for Tamara Jenkins, “The Theory Of Flight” for Paul Greengrass, and Payne’s second film, “Election.” He also produced Richard Shepard’s “Mercy.”
The overwhelming critical success of “Election” brought more attention to Kent, and the opportunity to score films for such directors as Neil LaBute (“Nurse Betty”), Tony Goldwyn (“Someone Like You”), James Mangold (“Kate & Leopold”), Michael Lehmann (“40 Days & 40 Nights”), Robert Luketic (“Legally Blonde”), and Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (“Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde”).
Kent’s most recent collaboration with Alexander Payne, “About Schmidt,” received five Golden Globe Award nominations and two Academy Award® nominations, and numerous accolades for Kent’s score, which the New York Times (March 2, 2003) praised as worthy of an Oscar® nomination. In 2002, Kent’s score for “Legally Blonde” was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for Outstanding Musical Score.
LISA BROWN (Music Supervisor) launched her music supervision company, Five Mile Radius Entertainment, in 1999 following a successful stint at Ocean Cities Entertainment where she worked on more than a dozen films, including “The Parent Trap,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Chasing Amy,” “Flirting With Disaster,” and “Pleasantville.” In 1999, Brown won an NAACP Image Award for her role as co-music supervisor and executive producer on the urban soundtrack album “The Best Man,” which sold more than a million copies. Brown went on to music supervise “Where the Heart Is” in 2000, her first film as head of Five Mile Radius Entertainment, that showcased the music of some of Nashville's hottest country music artists. Since then, she has been busy working on a variety of film and television projects that include Comedy Central’s first original movie “The Chicken Club,” “Warning: Parental Advisory” for VH1, and Touchstone Pictures’ “Corky Romano.”
Disneyland Attraction Posters at
The LaughingPlace Store
The LaughingPlace Store now carries a Disneyland Attraction Posters from Sanders CC Gallery
Now Playing
Disco Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse Disco (Mickey Mouse)
LP Live Recent Picture
Posted: 1/7/09