PETER HEWITT (Director) grew up in Brighton, England, and graduated from the National Film School. While in college, he directed and wrote the short film “The Candy Show,” which won the prestigious BAFTA Award in 1989. Cowritten by editor David Freeman, this off-beat tale follows the pitiful life of an obsessed fan who lives and breathes for the bright, colorful sitcom, “The Candy Show.”
In 1992 Hewitt directed “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey,” starring Keanu Reeves. Shortly thereafter, he directed the television miniseries “Wild Palms,” produced by Oliver Stone.
Hewitt lives in London with his wife, Sophie, and 3-year-old daughter Molly.
LAURENCE MARK (Producer) has traveled through the ranks of the motion picture industry from executive trainee at United Artists to head of publicity and vice president of production at Paramount Pictures to executive vice president of production at Twentieth Century Fox. He now heads his own company, Laurence Mark Productions, headquartered at The Walt Disney Studios.
As producer or executive producer, Mark’s credits include “Black Widow,” “Working Girl,” “Cookie,” “True Colors,” One Good Cop,” “Sister Act 2,” “The Adventures of Huck Finn,” and “Cutthroat Island.”
During his tenure at Paramount and Fox, Mark was closely involved in the development and production of such films as the Academy Award®-winning Best Picture “Terms of Endearment,” “Trading Places,” “Falling in Love,” “Lady Jane,” “The Fly” and “Broadcast News.”
He is making his debut as a Broadway stage producer with a musical version of “Big” which is due to open at the Shubert Theatre in New York in April.
JOHN BALDECCHI (Producer) graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and then interned for producers Joe Wizan and Todd Black on the MGM Studio lot. Baldecchi then landed his first job for Laurence Mark Productions as director of development. He was later promoted to vice president, and in 1993 was named president of creative affairs.
Baldecchi co-produced “The Adventures of Huck Finn,” and “Gunmen.” Most recently, he co-produced “Cutthroat Island,” directed by Renny Harlin, starring Geena Davis and Matthew Modine.
He resides in Brentwood with his wife, Marti.
STEPHEN SOMMERS (Screenplay by/Executive Producer) was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He attended Saint John’s University in his home state before going abroad to the University of Seville in Spain.
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, Sommers traveled throughout Europe managing rock ‘n’ roll bands and working street theatre groups.
Shortly therafter, Sommers moved to the West Coast and attended the graduate program at the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television. While there, he wrote and directed the short film “Perfect Alibi,” which won several student honors including The Focus and the Student Academy Awards.
In 1988, after graduating from USC, Sommers wrote “Gunmen,” which starred Christopher Lambert and Mario Van Peebles. The film was released in 1993.
Recently, Sommers co-wrote and directed Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action classic “Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.” He also wrote and directed “The Adventures of Huck Finn,” and will soon direct his screenplay, “Tentacle.”
Sommers resides in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife, Jana and their
young daughter, Samantha June.
DAVID LOUGHERY (Screenplay by) has become one of Hollywood’s most successful screenwriters with such feature film credits as “The Good Son,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Passenger 57,” and “Star Trek: The Final Frontier.” His other screenplay credits include “The Stepfather,” “Coup d’ Etat,” as well as the upcoming “Tarzan” and “The Money Train.”
Born in Chicago, he studied writing at Ball State University, where he wrote
numerous plays before entering graduate study at the University of Iowa and joining the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. He was chosen as a member of Columbia Pictures’ New Talent Program for screenwriters in 1978 and wrote several screenplays including “Flashback” and “Dreamscape.”
GEMMA JACKSON (Production Designer) most recently designed two live-action adventure films for The Walt Disney Studios. “Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale,” a period film set in the 17th century, and the panoramic “A Far Off Place,” built on locations in Africa. Among her other successful credits are Hollywood Pictures’ “Blame It On the Bellboy” and two films for Bernard Rose, “Paperhouse” and “Chicago Joe and the Showgirl.” Having art-directed “Mona Lisa” for Neil Jordan she later went on to production design “The Miracle” for him. Also included in her many credits are “The Girl in the Picture,” “Varda,” “The Clock” and “Friendships Death.”
Born in England, Jackson graduated in painting from St. Martins School of Art and went on to complete a post graduate course in theatre design. This lead her into a successful career designing over 60 stage productions before embarking on a career in film.
Currently, Jackson is in Prague designing “Snow White in the Black Forest,” set in the gothic 15th century, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Sam Neill.
BOBBY BUKOWSKI (Director of Photography) gained critical attention with his first feature film “Anna” starring Sally Kirkland and Pauline Porizkova. Since then he has served as director of photography on numerous films including director Leonard Nimoy’s “Holy Matrimony,” “Thousand Pieces of Gold” for director Nancy Kelly, “Men of Respect” for director Bill Reilly, “Dogfight” and “Household Saints” for director Nancy Savoca, and “Ethan Frome” and “Golden Gate” for director John Madden. He also shot “Search and Destroy” for director David Salle, which Martin Scorsese produced. He is currently shooting “Til There Was You,” starring Jeanne Tripplehorn and Dylan McDermott, for director Scott Winant.
His television films include “Oedipus Rex,” “The Last Mile,” “Without Warning: The James Brady Story,” “Largo Desalato,” “Andre’s Mother” and “Life
Under Water.”
BARRY BERNARDI (Executive Producer) attended California Institute of the Arts as a music major, before beginning his production career as a story editor and producer’s assistant. In 1979 he teamed with director John Carpenter to associate produce “The Fog,” “Escape From New York,” and “Christine.” Bernardi continued with Carpenter co-producing such hit commercial successes as “Halloween II,” “Halloween III,” and “Starman.” In addition, Bernardi produced “Poltergeist III” for MGM, and New World Pictures’ “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”
In 1987 Bernardi became senior vice president of production at New World Pictures for two years. During his stint he was instrumental in overseeing the development, production and release of such films as “Heathers,” “Meet the Applegates,” “Warlock,” and “18 Again.”
Shortly thereafter, Bernardi co-founded Steve White Productions where, with
White, he produced over 25 made-for-television films including “Amityville: The Evil
Escapes,” “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” “The Chase,” “The Carolyn Warmus Story,” “She Stands Alone,” and “A Mom for Christmas.”
In 1992, Bernardi and White executive produced Walt Disney Pictures’ liveaction film “The Adventures of Huck Finn.” Bernardi and White then teamed on “Cabin Boy,” produced by Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi.
Bernardi, a native of Los Angeles, resides in Pacific Palisades, California
with his wife Robin and their two children Nick and Hailey.
DAVID FREEMAN (Editor) has worked on many critically acclaimed motion pictures from the film festival circuit and the British film community. His credits include “Sunday on Mars,” “Camela Campo,” and “Harman” all for the BBC. He also edited “Kleptophilia,” “The Boy’s Story,” “On the Wire,” “Palesa,” and “Swords at Teatime,” which he also directed.
He previously worked with director Peter Hewitt on “The Candy Show,” an original screenplay written by Freeman and Hewitt.
Most recently Freeman worked on director Michael Verhoeven’s “My Mother’s Courage,” Sony Classics “A Man of No Importance,” and Warner Bros “War of the Buttons.”
MARIE FRANCE (Costume Designer), a graduate of Fine Arts and Literature from the School of Beaux Arts and the Sorbonne in Paris, has been designing costumes for feature films for 15 years. She began her career collaborating with musician-composer Prince, designing costumes for his features “Purple Rain” and “Under the Cherry Moon,” and for his music videos. While designing for music videos, she worked with such artists as Natalie Cole, Don Henley, Tina Turner, Ron Stewart, Steve Winwood and George Clinton, to name a few.
Marie France subsequently designed costumes for studio comedies such as “Coneheads,” “Buffy, The Vampire Slayer,” “Encino Man,” and for the pilot of the hit series “Beverly Hills, 90210.” “Tom and Huck” is her second feature with director Peter Hewitt, having worked with him on “Bill 8 Ted’s Bogus Jourriey.” She recently completed the ITC thriller “Keys To Tulsa,” starring Eric Stoltz and James Spader, and is currently working on Walt Disney Pictures’ live action feature “That Darn Cat.”
STEPHEN ENDELMAN (Music by) has composed film scores for such recent hits as director Christopher Monger’s “The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain” and director John Duigan’s “Journey of August King,” both for Miramax; director Christopher Ashley’s “Jeffrey,” and Robert DeNiro’s “A Bronx Tale.” His other credits include the upcoming “Reckless” starring Mia Farrow, Scott Glenn and Penelope Ann Miller, “Keys to Tulsa,” “Cosi,” and “Ed.” In addition, Endelman composed the music for “Household Saints,” “The Good Policeman,” “Desperate Trail,” “Imaginary Crimes,” “Camilla,” and “Postcards From America.”