The Huntsman: Winter’s War is much lighter in its tone than the first film and takes us out of the dark woods of the last film and into a world bursting with color, magic, romance, action adventure.
Filled with stunning set pieces, intense fight sequences inspired by ancient martial arts, a forbidden love for the ages and an epic battle of good versus evil, the film gives audiences more of the adventure and sweeping romance they long for.
As Eric and Sara journey into this world that is filled with devious goblins, whimsical fairies and fantastical creatures never before captured on film—and evil Ravenna and good Freya face off—we are shown just how thrillingly magical this universe can be.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War was shot at both the U.K.’s Shepperton and Pinewood Studios over the course of 16 weeks, as well as at landmark historical venues Wells Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace, in Somerset. Additionally, some of U.K.’s most beautiful green spaces including Windsor Great Park (Bears Rails, South Forest, Manor Hill, Johnson’s Pond), Frensham Common, and the magical woodlands of Stockwood and Puzzlewood were used for settings.
These proved to be unique and enchanting places, where the unit explored paths spread over bewildering woodland in and amongst rock formations. This was the perfect place to set the Goblin Forest, where Eric’s journey to retrieve the Magic Mirror comes to its exciting apex.
Distinct, yet familiar. Those were the watchwords when it came to defining the look of this chapter. “Of course, this is different from the first movie, but it’s in the same world,” explains Nicolas-Troyan. “Rupert Sanders and I have a very similar sensibility, style-wise, but I was also working with [director of photography] Phedon Papamichael, who brought his own style to the table, and he has been a huge partner.”
Roth was impressed by the Icelandic influence to the design, which the director imagined alongside production designer Dominic Watkins, who worked in the same capacity on the first film. For example, where you’d normally have your traditional medieval courtyard, this movie has quite the Nordic influence. “What Cedric wanted to do was get out of the forest and into the ice,” says Roth. “We’ve changed the color palette from the greens that are typically prevalent in these kinds of movies.”
Explains supervising art director FRANK WALSH: “The challenge was to put the film into the kind of perspective that had been established on Snow White and the Huntsman, but to create a new world, too. Freya’s world is a dominant character in the film, and probably represented the largest elements of the build.”
Her style was about betrayal and deceit, Walsh continues. “She’s taken herself away to another world, and Cedric was very keen on design that evoked a feminine quality. Usually when you see castles on screen, there’s a dominant male influence.”
For Queen Ravenna’s home in the beginning of the film, audiences will note a great deal of wood, beautiful detail and craftsmanship that establishes the Great Halls.
Although trademarks of the fairy tale genre, icy worlds needed to have a fresh take with The Huntsman: Winter’s War. The challenge became about how to make ice, which often takes on a magical quality in fantasy, somehow threatening. “You have to be cautious that it doesn’t end up looking too beautiful,” states Walsh. “The film is still grounded in reality, so we’ve used ice in an aggressive way rather than go the Winter Wonderland route.”
Nicolas-Troyan’s visual effects background was always going to play a huge role in the production design; but to add to the reality and give the actors something from which to work, many of the sets were built by hand. “When you have a set that’s partially practical,” explains visual effects supervisor PAUL LAMBERT, “it’s a great reference for visual effects. If you’ve gone completely green-screen, it can be much more challenging for everybody.”
“We built the courtyard of the castle up to a level of about 30 feet,” states Walsh. “The actual castle goes for hundreds of feet above that. Collectively, we designed the whole space and then our department figured out what we had to build physically on the backlot. When it went over to visual effects, they had the full brief and a visual reference.”
Working with a former visual effects supervisor elevated the experience for Lambert. “Cedric knows exactly what he wants, and this film has a little of everything,” he says. “We have CG creatures, huge environment builds and magical effects. It was my first time working with him, and he has such great visual style. He lives, breathes and dreams beautiful imagery.”
While Nicolas-Troyan prefers not to pre-visualize or storyboard character scenes, preparation such as this is essential for action sequences, such as the Goblin King battle. This fight among the Goblins and Eric, Sara and the dwarves was fully pre-visualized as a simple-animatic and played back on set to allow the cast and crew a constructed reference on which to base the action. Explains Lambert: “It lets us know exactly the kind of shots we need to bring in.”
For the actors, having so much of the production design built and so many stunning locations intricately dressed made the experience of shooting the film all the more memorable. Raves Chastain: “I love that the sets are spectacular, so that you feel you’re in another world or another time. I’m excited to see what Cedric does with the special effects, and I love what Colleen has done with the costumes.”
Atwood’s Costumes
For her part, Colleen Atwood needs little introduction. A three-time Oscar® winner, her costume design credits include Alice in Wonderland, Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha. She doesn’t need any prompting to deliver costumes of the highest creativity and construction. Atwood returns with an extraordinary array of costumes that could only be worn by a tragic Ice Queen such as the good Freya and all-new gorgeous designs worn by her sinister sister, Ravenna.
“If I’d asked Colleen to step up her game, I’d be in a hospital somewhere,” jokes producer Roth. “She’s been Oscar®-nominated 11 times and won three of them. All you need to tell her is that this film has a different palette than the first, and that there’d be an ice theme, and she was off.”
Melding together designs that are both modern and period, the designer’s aesthetic is unmatched. “The first thing Cedric and I talked about was Freya’s world,” remembers Atwood. “He explained the ice theme and the owl theme, and so I took those and worked them into my ideas.”
For the actors, wearing Atwood originals was a treat. “They are the most beautiful costumes,” enthuses Blunt. “Not only am I playing a queen, but I’m a Snow Queen, so there’s so much fun to be had with the materials and Colleen’s attention to detail. She truly is an artist. What was exciting was to look up close at the effects of ice, metal and silver, and see how she’s interwoven all of these different materials to create a look that is like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
No stranger to the House of Atwood, Theron relished the ideas that her designer would have for Ravenna this time around. “There’s something about the clothes Colleen makes that, when you put them on, they change everything about you,” lauds Theron. “It’s impossible not to feel like you’re in control of the whole world. The clothes inform the character so much.”
Atwood employed a team whose numbers reached some 120 people—not including additional contractors—to prepare the number of costumes the production demanded. These included cutters, fitters, craftspeople, and a whole room of people who specialized on the Huntsmen’s leather armor.
Advances in technology since the first film helped Atwood when it came to the dwarves’ costumes, which had to be constructed in two sizes—for the principal actors and their body doubles. “The dwarves are close to my heart because of the group of people that make their costumes for me,” says Atwood. “They can take a scrap of fabric and a piece of leather and some thread and create the borders like you see on Nion’s costume. Little elements that make it feel tribal.”
She explains the technical process for the dwarves’ costumes: “The challenge is always scale, because you’re using both a full-scale costume and one that’s about two-thirds-scale. They both have the same kind of shoulder measurements. Technically, it’s about cheating lengths and widths, but it’s certainly been much easier on this film that the last.”
Atwood specified individual traits in each of the characters and based their costumes on those traits. “With Freya, it was built around the idea of this soft queen behind an icy veneer,” she explains. “She’s hidden behind this armored façade; but then, as the story progresses, we see into her internal world.”
With Ravenna, it was all about scale. “She’s an operatic character, making her entrance through the mirror, so I did a dress that looked like molten gold on her body. Charlize can wear a costume like that like no other.”
Sara, on the other hand, is a warrior, so her costume reflected her active life. “She came from a place of family, and I felt that was a strong place,” Atwood expands. “I wanted to keep a feminine quality and reflect that in the strength of her costumes.”
Her costume also needed to allow Chastain movement for the film’s multiple action sequences. The actress, who had trained in Krav Maga when she worked on The Debt, relished the chance to do even more combat on this film. “We worked for a few weeks with the stunt team to learn the fights,” Chastain recalls. “I had so much fun learning, and I love the weapons I was able to use. I used to be a dancer, so it was great to work at the fighting because it felt like choreography—just like doing a dance.”
****
Universal Pictures presents—in association with Perfect World Pictures—A Roth Films production of The Huntsman: Winter’s War, starring Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, Nick Frost, Sam Claflin, Rob Brydon and Jessica Chastain. The film’s music is by James Newton Howard, and its costume designer is Colleen Atwood. The editor is Conrad Buff, ACE, and the production designer is Dominic Watkins. The action adventure’s director of photography is Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC. The executive producers are Sarah Bradshaw, Palak Patel. The Huntsman: Winter’s War is produced by Joe Roth, p.g.a. It is based on characters created by Evan Daugherty and written by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin. The film is directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan. © 2015 Universal Studios. www.thehuntsmanmovie.com
ABOUT THE CAST
CHRIS HEMSWORTH (The Huntsman/Eric) has become one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood. Hemsworth recently starred in the fifth highest-grossing film of all time, Marvel’s The Avengers, alongside an all-star cast including Robert Downey, Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson. He previously starred in Universal Pictures’ Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron, which debuted at No. 1 at the box office. This year, Hemsworth will be seen in Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters, which stars Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy.
Hemsworth recently starred in Academy Award®-winning director Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea and previously worked with him in Rush, as Formula 1 driver James Hunt in 2013. In 2015, he starred in the second installment of the global juggernaut The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Hemsworth had earlier been introduced as the hammer-wielding superhero in the 2011 hit Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh. He reprised the title role in Thor: The Dark World, the second installment of the franchise.
Hemsworth made his U.S. film debut in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, playing the pivotal role of George Kirk, alongside Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana. His additional credits include the comedy Vacation; Michael Mann’s Blackhat; The Cabin in the Woods, co-scripted by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard; and Dan Bradley’s remake of Red Dawn.
Hemsworth was born and raised in Australia, and supports the Australian Childhood Foundation.
South African-born and Oscar®-winning actress CHARLIZE THERON (Queen Ravenna) is one of the most celebrated actresses of our time, captivating audiences with her ability to embody a range of characters. Over the years, Theron has appeared in numerous films including The Devil’s Advocate; The Cider House Rules; the critically acclaimed Monster, for which she earned an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award and two Independent Spirit Awards; North Country, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe Award, a SAG Award and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award; Hancock; Young Adult, for which she garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination; HBO’s The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, for which she received a Golden Globe Award, SAG, and Primetime Emmy Award nominations; Snow White and the Huntsman; and A Million Ways to Die in the West. Theron was most recently in the Warner Bros. film Mad Max: Fury Road, directed by George Miller; and Dark Places, based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn. Theron is currently filming The Coldest City and can be seen next in The Last Face, expected to hit theaters in 2016.
In addition to Theron’s acting success and principal involvement with her production company Denver & Delilah, she serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and founder of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP). CTAOP’s mission is to help keep African youth safe from HIV through its support of on-the-ground, community-engaged organizations. CTAOP serves as a vehicle for communities to empower themselves and their youth in order to prevent the spread of HIV.
Golden Globe Award-winning actress EMILY BLUNT’s (Queen Freya) transformative ability and versatile performances make her one of the most in-demand actresses of today. Blunt rose to international prominence with her outstanding performances in films such as My Summer of Love and The Devil Wears Prada.
Blunt most recently wrapped production on The Girl on the Train, the film adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel of the same name. Blunt will play Rachel, a divorcée who spends her daily train commute fixated on a seemingly perfect couple her train passes, until one day something shocking occurs. The film, which also stars Rebecca Ferguson and Haley Bennett is directed by Tate Taylor for DreamWorks.
Blunt received rave reviews as FBI agent Kate Macer in Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, which also starred Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin, centered around the escalating war against drugs. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned the best theater average of the year when it opened in September. Blunt previously earned a Golden Globe Award nomination and critical praise as the Baker’s Wife in Rob Marshall’s film adaptation of the musical Into the Woods, which was released by Walt Disney Pictures in December 2014. In June 2014, Blunt starred alongside Tom Cruise in Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow, which was many critics included on their list of the best films of 2014 and for which Blunt won a Critics’ Choice Movie Award. Blunt previously appeared alongside Ewan McGregor in Lasse Hallström’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, for which she earned a Golden Globe Award nomination; and she was the female lead in the time-travel thriller Looper, which also starred Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Other notable films include Your Sister’s Sister, Arthur Newman, The Adjustment Bureau, Charlie Wilson’s War, Sunshine Cleaning and The Wolfman. Blunt played the title role of Queen Victoria in the critically acclaimed film The Young Victoria, for which she received British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award and Golden Globe Award nominations.
Blunt started her career at the 2002 Chichester Festival Theatre, where she played Juliet in a production of Romeo and Juliet. Her London stage debut was a production of The Royal Family, opposite Dame Judi Dench. In addition to her Golden Globe Award win for the BBC television movie Gideon’s Daughter, Blunt has been nominated for four additional Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two British Independent Film Awards.
NICK FROST (Nion) first came to prominence as the gun-mad character Mike Watt in the award-winning Channel 4 sitcom Spaced. Since then, Frost has become one of the U.K.’s most sought-after actors. He earned a nomination for Most Promising Newcomer from the British Independent Film Awards for his role in the cult zombie movie Shaun of the Dead, which also starred Simon Pegg. Frost again starred with Pegg in the hugely successful hit comedy Hot Fuzz. Frost’s other film credits include Richard Curtis’ The Boat That Rocked, Julian Jarrold’s Kinky Boots and Nick Moore’s Wild Child.
Frost demonstrated his acting prowess in Money, the BBC’s adaptation of Martin Amis’ best-seller Money: A Suicide Note, directed by Jeremy Lovering. His lead performance garnered acclaim from critics and the author alike. He has also appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, alongside Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey; and hosted the Channel 5 series’ Danger! 50,000 Volts! and Danger! 50,000 Zombies! Frost starred in Hyperdrive, a sci-fi British comedy series for BBC Two, and starred in two seasons of the BBC sketch-comedy series Man Stroke Woman.
In 2011, Paul, which starred and was written by Frost and Pegg, debuted at the top of the U.K. box office and went on to become an international box office smash. Following Paul, Frost appeared as Ron in Joe Cornish’s award-winning Attack the Block. That same year, Frost also appeared as one-half of cartoonist Hergé’s beloved detectives Thomson and Thompson in Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s epic motion-capture feature The Adventures of TinTin, which also starred Pegg.
In 2012, Frost lent his voice to the fourth installment of the Ice Age franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and he also starred in Rupert Sanders’ blockbuster Snow White and the Huntsman, alongside Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron and Ian McShane.
In July 2013, Frost starred in The World’s End opposite Pegg. This film completed what Pegg and Edgar Wright refer to as “The Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy,” which also consists of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The film also starred Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike and Paddy Considine and reached the top ten in the U.S. box office.
In February 2014, Frost was seen in Cuban Fury. Frost served as an executive producer on the feature, which is based on an original idea from Frost about a shabby, down-on-his-luck man (Frost) who reignites his long-dormant passion for salsa dancing thanks to a newfound love for his gorgeous, American boss played by Rashida Jones. The movie also starred Chris O’Dowd and Olivia Colman. That same year, Frost starred in Sky Atlantic’s six-episode comedy series Mr. Sloane, from writer/director Robert B. Weide (Curb Your Enthusiasm). The bittersweet romantic comedy centered on Mr. Sloane’s buttoned-down man in crisis. Frost played the titular role in Mr. Sloane alongside Olivia Colman and Ophelia Lovibond.
Since graduating from the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in 2009, SAM CLAFLIN (William) has worked on a number of prestigious projects.
Claflin will next be seen in the role of William opposite Emilia Clarke in the adaption of Jojo Moyes best-selling book Me Before You. In the film, Claflin plays a recently paralyzed man whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of Louisa who is sent to care for him. Me Before You will be released in June. He will also star in Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest Hour and a Half, which also stars Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy. The romantic comedy follows a British film crew as they attempt to create a morale-boosting film during the Blitzkrieg.
In 2015, Claflin was seen as Finnick Odair for the last time in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 2. The final film in the box office phenomenon franchise was released last November and saw Claflin reprise the role he played in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay–Part 1 opposite Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson. Last year, Claflin starred in Friday, a film which follows the enigmatic British footballer Robin Friday.
In 2014, Claflin had a number of projects out in cinemas. He starred in Lone Scherfig’s film The Riot Club, based on the London stage play Posh, alongside Max Irons, Douglas Booth and Holliday Grainger. The film which followed students at Oxford University as they joined the infamous Riot Club, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. That same year, Claflin starred in Love, Rosie. This film version of Cecelia Ahern’s novel “Where Rainbows End” also starred Lily Collins. Claflin and Collins played friends and lovers in the romantic comedy drama set in Dublin and Boston. Earlier that year, Claflin appeared opposite Jarred Harris in Hammer Films’ horror The Quiet Ones.
In 2012, Claflin played the role of Prince William alongside Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth in the box office hit Snow White and the Huntsman. In 2011, Claflin made a name for himself as the youthful missionary Philip, the romantic lead, in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Claflin’s television credits include the BBC One drama Mary and Martha, which starred Hilary Swank, was written by Richard Curtis and coincided with the worldwide fundraiser event Red Nose Day to raise awareness about malaria in Africa; the BBC epic drama White Heat, which charted the lives of seven friends from 1965 to the present; and the BBC film United, which also starred David Tennant, Dougray Scott and Jack O’Connell. In this one-off film for the BBC, Claflin played the talented footballer Duncan Edwards in the tragic story of the Munich Air Crash of 1958, which killed and injured a number of members of the Manchester United team.
In 2010, Claflin was seen in the hit Channel 4 mini-series Pillars of the Earth, based on Ken Follett’s novel of the same name. In this drama Claflin played Richard alongside Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell and McShane. Claflin also starred in the critically acclaimed adaptation of William Boyd’s Any Human Heart for Channel 4 which won a (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial. Claflin played the younger years of lead character Logan and shared the role with Jim Broadbent and Matthew Macfadyen. That same year Claflin also appeared in The Lost Future, a sci-fi adventure in which he played Kaleb alongside Sean Bean and Annabelle Wallis.
ROB BRYDON, MBE, (Gryff) is an award-winning actor, comedian, writer and producer with accolades, including two British Comedy Awards, a Royal Television Society award and four British Academy Television Award nominations. He studied at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before joining BBC Wales as a radio and television presenter. Brydon first came to the public’s attention in 2000 with the television shows Marion & Geoff and Human Remains, for which he won British Comedy Awards for both.
Since then, his extensive television credits have included The Rob Brydon Show, Live at the Apollo, Rob Brydon’s Annually Retentive, QI, Have I Got News for You, Little Britain, Rob Brydon’s Identity Crisis, The Best of Men, Would I Lie to You? and the BAFTA award-winning BBC series Gavin & Stacey. Brydon’s film credits include 24 Hour Party People, Mirrormask, Cinderella and the critically acclaimed two-hander A Cock and Bull Story, alongside Steve Coogan. In addition to this, Brydon and Coogan teamed up with director Michael Winterbottom for the BAFTA nominated BBC Two comedy series The Trip and The Trip to Italy.
In 2009, Brydon completed an 87-date tour of the U.K. with his stand-up show, Rob Brydon Live, which included a three-week run in London’s West End. Brydon returned to the stage in the autumn of 2011 alongside Kenneth Branagh in The Painkiller at The Lyric in Belfast. In the autumn of 2012, Brydon made his West End debut in Alan Ayckbourn’s celebrated A Chorus of Disapproval, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn. Brydon played the long-suffering amateur dramatics director and received huge critical acclaim for his performance. In 2015, Brydon also appeared in the U.S. HBO television series The Brink, alongside Jack Black and Tim Robbins; and starred on stage at The Old Vic in the topical play Future Conditional.
Brydon will next be seen reprising his role in The Painkiller, alongside Branagh at the West End at The Garrick. Brydon is also re-teaming with Winterbottom and Coogan in The Trip to Spain for Sky Atlantic.
Two-time Academy Award® nominee JESSICA CHASTAIN (Sara) has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses of her generation. Chastain has received several nominations and accolades for her work from the LA Film Critics Association, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, National Board of Review, Screen Actors Guild, Film Independent and the Academy.
She is currently in production for her leading role in John Madden’s political thriller Miss Sloane. The film centers on a political strategist who exposes the cutthroat world of Washington D.C. lobbyists on both sides of the gun-control debate.
Chastain recently wrapped production for Niki Caro’s adaptation of Diane Ackerman’s novel The Zookeeper’s Wife, opposite Daniel Brühl. She is also set to star in Susanna White’s period drama Woman Walks Ahead and Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, alongside Natalie Portman and Kit Harington.
Last year, Chastain starred in Ridley Scott’s The Martian, alongside Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kate Mara. The film recently received a 2016 Academy Award® nomination and won the 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical. She also starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak, opposite Charlie Hunnam, Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska.
In 2014, Chastain’s riveting performance in A24’s A Most Violent Year, opposite Oscar Isaac, proved successful after the film garnered acclaim from many critics, including an award from the National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and an Indie Spirit Awards nomination. In addition, she could be seen as the lead in Ned Benson’s indie darling The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, opposite James McAvoy; Liv Ullmann’s film adaptation of August Strindberg’s play Miss Julie, opposite Colin Farrell; and Christopher Nolan’s critically acclaimed film Interstellar, alongside Matthew McConaughey, David Oyelowo and Anne Hathaway. This followed her 2014 MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Scared as Sh*t Performance from her performance in Andrés Muschietti’s horror Mama.
Chastain starred as the lead in Terrence Malick’s Academy Award®-nominated drama The Tree of Life, opposite Brad Pitt and Sean Penn; John Madden’s The Debt, alongside Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington; Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter, opposite Michael Shannon; and John Hillcoat’s Lawless, alongside Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy. She also starred in DreamWorks’ Academy Award®-nominated adaptation of the best-selling Kathryn Stockett novel The Help, which won numerous awards in 2011, including Chastain’s Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild nomination and Critics’ Choice nomination. This was followed by her theatrical debut in the revival of The Heiress. That same year, she starred as the lead in Kathryn Bigelow’s groundbreaking film Zero Dark Thirty. Her prolific performance garnered several awards, including the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama, and her second consecutive Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
CEDRIC NICOLAS-TROYAN (Directed by) was born in France in a small town near Bordeaux on March 9, 1969 to William, a fisherman, and Jocelyne, a physical therapist. From a very early age, Nicolas-Troyan was an avid comic book reader and fan of American movies and television shows. He thought he would become a comic book artist, but instead joined the military academy and served as a commanding officer for a couple of years. After leaving the army, Nicolas-Troyan moved to Paris to attend film school. His first job in the business was as an unpaid intern on the French version of Wheel of Fortune. He quickly moved up, becoming a broadcast news editor for Canal+ for a few years, before turning to visual effects.
In 2001, Nicolas-Troyan was hired by Method Studios, a renowned visual effects company in Los Angeles, California. There, he became one of their top artists and visual effects supervisors. He built himself a very successful career in commercials, working alongside high-profile directors like Gore Verbinski, Francis Lawrence and Rupert Sanders. His work was recognized with numerous awards, including Association of Independent Commercial Producers Awards, Clio Awards, and Visual Effects Society Awards.
In 2008, Nicolas-Troyan began to direct commercials full time, until his long-time friend Sanders asked him to come on board Snow White and the Huntsman for one more round of visual effects, which earned him an Academy Award® nomination. Shortly after, Nicolas-Troyan made the transition to directing features. He was attached to various projects such as Highlander with Summit/Lionsgate, until producer Joe Roth offered him to helm The Huntsman: Winter’s War, making it his feature directorial debut.
Nicolas-Troyan currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Sue and son Taj.
Born in Greece, EVAN SPILIOTOPOULOS (Written by) moved to the United States after high school. Shortly after graduating from American University in Washington, D.C., Spiliotopoulos began pursuing his career as a writer.
In 2000, Spiliotopoulos was hired by Disney as a staff writer in their animation department. Over the next decade, he wrote over a dozen animated features for Disney, the Weinstein Company and independent producers. Battle for Terra, written for Snoot Entertainment, received the Ottawa International Animation Festival’s prestigious Grand Prize in 2008.
After his stint in the animated world, Spiliotopoulos made the transition into live-action writing for Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment. In addition to creating The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Spiliotopoulos wrote on Snow White and the Huntsman, which led to the casting of Chris Hemsworth and got the project greenlit.
Subsequently, Spiliotopoulos wrote Hercules for MGM Studios, which was directed by Brett Ratner and starred Dwayne Johnson, as well as Walk Disney Pictures’ upcoming live-action production of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson and directed by Bill Condon.
Spiliotopoulos’ future screenplays include Young Sherlock Holmes for Paramount Pictures, produced by Chris Columbus; Seven Wonders for 20th Century Fox, produced by Ratner and Beau Flynn; Dishonourables for Sony Pictures, produced by Joe Roth; and Charlie’s Angels, for Sony Pictures, to be directed by Elizabeth Banks.
Writer and producer CRAIG MAZIN (Written by) has made a name for himself as a great comedy writer with a knack for appealing to broad audiences. In 2011, he co-wrote The Hangover Part II, which quickly became one of the highest-grossing, live-action comedies of all time. In 2013, he co-wrote The Hangover Part III, with director Todd Phillips.
Other writing credits for Mazin include Seth Gordon’s Identity Thief, which starred Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy; and Superhero Movie, which he wrote and directed.
Mazin co-wrote the hit comedies Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4, also serving as a producer on the latter. He previously co-wrote the live-action feature RocketMan. The films on which he has collaborated have collectively grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
Mazin co-hosts the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes, with fellow writer John August.
With his work at the center of a number of highly anticipated projects, EVAN DAUGHERTY (Based on Characters Created by) has established himself as a blockbuster screenwriter in Hollywood.
Daugherty’s Snow White and the Huntsman was released in the summer of 2012. Daugherty wrote the film when he was a college student at New York University (NYU), and in 2010, his screenplay created a bidding war and became one of the biggest studio spec sales in years. A twist on the classic fairy tale, Daugherty’s adaptation brought the mysterious Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to life to be called upon by the Queen (Charlize Theron) to kill Snow White (Kristen Stewart). In Daugherty’s tale, the Huntsman teaches Snow White to become a warrior, and together they set off on a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.
In the summer of 2013, Daugherty’s independent action-thriller Killing Season, which starred John Travolta and Robert De Niro, was released. The gritty, character-driven film tells the story of two veterans of the Bosnian War—one American, one Serbian—who clash in the remote wilderness to settle an old score in a cat-and-mouse game, with battles both physical and psychological.
In 2014, Daugherty also penned the adaptation of Veronica Roth’s best-selling young-adult book, “Divergent.” Produced by Summit Entertainment, Divergent is set in a dystopian future in which society is divided into five factions based on personality traits: honesty, bravery, intelligence, selflessness and kindness. The story focuses on a 16-year-old girl who leaves her family to join a rival faction, which changes her life forever. That same year, Daugherty wrote Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Paramount Pictures and producer Michael Bay.
Born in New York, Daugherty grew up in Dallas in constant creative pursuit. He attended film school at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied filmmaking before settling on screenwriting. He won the 2008 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Contest with Shrapnel, which garnered him recognition in the industry. Shrapnel and Snow White and the Huntsman made Franklin Leonard’s Black List of the best unproduced screenplays, in 2008 and 2010, respectively.
JOE ROTH, p.g.a. (Produced by) is an independent film producer whose film Alice in Wonderland grossed over $1 billion, making it the fifth-highest grossing film at that time. Together with new partner Jeff Kirschenbaum, they are currently producing xXx: The Return of Xander Cage for Paramount Pictures, which stars Vin Diesel. For Roth Films and Walt Disney Pictures in 2016, he is completing James Bobin’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, which stars Johnny Depp.
He most recently produced Miracles from Heaven, which is the follow-up to Heaven Is for Real and starred Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah for Sony Pictures Entertainment; and Robert Stromberg’s Maleficent, which starred Angelina Jolie for Walt Disney Pictures.
Over the past 40 years, Roth founded both Morgan Creek Productions and Revolution Studios, was chairman of 20th Century Fox, Caravan Pictures and Walt Disney Studios and directed six films, all while producing or supervising more than 300 films. Megahits Home Alone and The Sixth Sense, as well as the Academy Award® nominated film The Insider and the Academy Award® winner Black Hawk Down, were made on his watch. He also produced the Primetime Emmy-nominated 2004 telecast The 76th Annual Academy Awards®.
Roth is the owner of the Seattle Sounders Football Club. The 6th most successful team in America’s soccer history, the Sounders were awarded 2010 Professional Sports Team of the Year in all sports by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily. They were awarded the Supporters’ Shield in 2014 and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014.
Noted equally for his diverse civic and charitable activities, Roth has received various awards such as the 1991 Variety Club’s Man of the Year award, the 1996 Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice and the 1997 Museum of the Moving Image award. He was honored in 1998 by AIDS Project Los Angeles and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and he is an active supporter of the SIDS Alliance. He is also the recipient of the 2004 Dorothy and Sherrill C. Corwin Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee.
Share this:
