MATTHEW KADISH (Writer/Director): Born at
Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, Matthew Kadish
grew up in many places, from Washington, D.C. to Germany, as
his father’s career in the Air Force took the family to
far flung locations, but he has always considered Ohio home.
His mother, Cindy, a movie buff, instilled her love of the medium
to her sons, Matthew, Paul and Brian, and they watched cartoons
and videos that were a continuing thread in their lives as they
moved around. The one film that stood out from the pack and
to this day holds a special place in Kadish’s heart was
STAR WARS, the first film Matt owned. When they moved back to
Ohio, Kadish’s list of favorite movies expanded, and when
he saw TERMINATOR II and its dazzling special effects, he knew
what he wanted to do for the rest of his life – work in
the movies.
Going to his local library to find out everything he could
about special effects, the only book available was a large,
heavy book called, Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of Special
Effects. Inspired by the book, he took his dad’s 1985
GE VHS camcorder and started making stop motion movies with
his Transformers. Spending hours and hours making these movies
(instead of doing school work), the end product would usually
be a crude animation that lasted 30 seconds. As he learned more,
he realized he didn’t want to be the guy to execute the
special effects, but the guy who wanted to tell the special
effects artists what he wanted – in a word, the Director.
When it came to deciding what to shoot, again, his mother, an
English teacher who loved to write and tell stories, influenced
Kadish. Her love of the written word led Kadish to write his
own stories. Taking a page out of Hitchcock’s book, he
would storyboard them, gather his friends to join him as cast
and crew, and he soon became known as the local filmmaker. In
high school, involved in A/V and theatre, he began producing
a weekly show that he wrote, edited, and directed, and produced
his first film, a 30-minute black and white crime drama, THE
HIT – all on the whopping production budget of $100.
Kadish then wrote his first feature-length script, a continuation
of the cult classic Evil Dead series. While researching the
series online in the Evil Dead newsgroup, Kadish met actor Bruce
Campbell, who called the young filmmaker, giving him advice
on everything from film school to writing tips (at the time,
Campbell was working on a script called the NUTTY NUT) to industry
gossip. He was the first celebrity to take an interest in Kadish,
and his support has continued to be an inspiration to this day.
In fact, Kadish always includes a special thanks credit for
Campbell on all of his films for the inspiration he gave Kadish.
Helped by using purloined equipment from the local public access
station in his high school, Kadish shot an 85-minute horror
movie called THE THANATOS MASK, which he finished by skipping
classes and staying after school. Although not the recommended
way to get into college, it paid off for Kadish, who went on
to Penn State University, attending the College of Communications,
where he directed 4 short films. In his senior year, he again
purloined equipment from the school to shoot his own project,
not endorsed by the school, where he acted as Director, Producer,
Writer, Cinematographer, Sound Man, and Editor. The process
was so fulfilling that Kadish decided to submit another script
he had written, THE OUTSIDEMAN, to Project Greenlight. While
not making the cut there, Kadish used the script as his calling
card, which paid off when he was accepted into the Los Angeles
Film School program. It is under the auspices of the school
that Kadish wrote and directed his stand-alone short, THE OUTSIDEMAN,
soon to be developed as a feature film project.
ROSALEE MAYEUX (Producer): The multi-talented
producer Rosalee Mayeux started her career as a print model
with Eileen Ford in New York and Johnny Casablancas in Europe
before returning to New York to study with Robert Modica at
Carnegie Hall. Remarkably, in her first audition as an actress,
Mayeux was awarded a comedy development deal with Columbia Pictures
Television, and another contract with ABC soon followed. But
acting didn’t satisfy all of Mayeux’s talents. While
doing a staged reading of the dark comedy by Marion Gallo, CHRISTMAS
NOIR, at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, Mayeux was so impressed
with the writer that she promoted Gallo until the play became
a screenplay, for which Mayeux helped negotiate several option
deals. Gallo subsequently secured representation with agent
Scott Penney at the Chasin Agency, and CHRISTMAS NOIR will most
likely be produced in New York in 2004 under Mayeux’s
company banner, SAH Productions, in conjunction with Richard
Wenk (JUST THE TICKET). It will be directed by award-winning
helmer Jim McBride (THE BIG EASY, SIX FEET UNDER), and will
star Joe Mantegna.
Her next project, the comedy BLEEP THE PARENTS, is in development
with Grand Illusions, a company founded by Ed Elbert (ANNA AND
THE KING), Jonathan Sanger (THE ELEPHANT MAN, VANILLA SKY),
and Sarah Black, a former senior vice president at Tom Cruise’s
production company, Cruise/Wagner.
Mayeux, scholarshiped in the Los Angeles Film School’s
Feature Development Program as a producer, has selected two
terrific young writer/directors to work with on development
of their features. In addition to THE OUTSIDEMAN, Mayeux’s
second project under the aegis of the film school is Vincent
Foster’s THE NAKED RUN..
While consumed by her producing career, Mayeux continues to
perform in front of the camera and on stage. In addition to
numerous appearances in such diverse commercials as Aqua Fresh,
Hefty, T.J. Maxx, Charles Schwab, and a Visa spot where she
co-starred with Shirley MacLaine, Mayeux will be seen on the
big screen in P.J. Hogan’s WHO KILLED VICTOR FOX, starring
Kathy Bates. She is also part of the permanent actors group
for PKE, the reading series at the Coronet Theatre, run by Dee
Gee Entertainment. An accomplished writer, Mayeux’s credits
include several short stories, one of which won the Moondance
Film Festival’s 2002 Columbine Award for promoting non-violent
conflict resolution. COYOTE NIGHTS is now being made into a
documentary, and her soon-to-be published short story, MAMA’S
EYES, will be read by Mayeux at Spoken Interludes in Los Angeles
in June 2003. Mayeux is represented by Buzz Halliday & Associates
for theatrical, and Special Artists Agency for commercials.
MARCO FARGNOLI (Cinematographer): Marco Fargnoli
began his film career after graduating from Wright State University
in Dayton, Ohio. He began shooting low-budget features and music
videos in Chicago, before relocating to Los Angeles six years
ago. His 2nd Unit Director, 1st Camera Operator and Director
of Photography work can be seen in REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES; the
recent HBO action film A BETTER WAY TO DIE; and his TV and documentary
work includes such clients as NBC, the History Channel, Travel
Channel, Gameshow Network, and the Sundance Institute. His features
and short films have picked up awards at Houston Worldfest,
BACA, Cinequest, and he has won the HBO Short Film Award. Fargnoli¹s
latest projects are the independent features SOLITUDE, THE DOGWALKER,
and STRING THEORY (Winner, Audience Award - Dances With Films
Festival 2002).