CHERNOBYL DIARIES Production Notes - Visual Hollywood

CHERNOBYL DIARIES (2012) 

PRODUCTION NOTES 

CHERNOBYL DIARIES 

Production Notes 

Release Date: May 24, 2012 

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures 

Director: Brad Parker 

Screenwriter: Oren Peli, Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke 

Starring: Devin Kelley, Jonathan Sadowski, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Jesse McCartney, 

Nathan Philips, Dimitri Diatchenko 

Genre: Horror, Thriller 

MPAA Rating: R (for violence, some bloody images and pervasive language) 

Official Website: ChernobylDiaries.WarnerBros.com 

STUDIO SYNOPSIS: "Chernobyl Diaries" is an original story from Oren Peli, who first terrified audiences 

with his groundbreaking thriller, "Paranormal Activity." The film follows a group of six young tourists 

who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an "extreme tour" guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them 

into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a 

deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned 

city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone... 

© 2012 Warner Bros. Pictures 1



Synopsis 

"Chernobyl Diaries" is an original story from Oren Peli, who first terrified audiences with his 

groundbreaking thriller, "Paranormal Activity." 

The film follows a group of six young vacationers who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an 

"extreme" tour guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home 

to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 

25 years ago. 

After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves 

stranded, only to discover that they are not alone... 

Brad Parker makes his feature film directorial debut with "Chernobyl Diaries." The screenplay 

was written by Oren Peli and Carey Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke, based on a story by Peli. Peli 

also produces, with Brian Witten. Richard Sharkey, Rob Cowan, Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick 

Johnson, Allison Silver, Milan Popelka and Alison Cohen serve as executive producers. 

The film's cast includes Devin Kelley, Jonathan Sadowski, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Olivia Taylor 

Dudley, Jesse McCartney, Nathan Phillips and Dimitri Diatchenko. 

Parker's behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Morten Søborg, production 

designer Aleksandar Denic, editor Stan Salfas, visual effects supervisor Mark Forker and 

costume designer Momirka Bailovic. The music is by Diego Stocco. 

Alcon Entertainment, FilmNation Entertainment and Oren Peli/Brian Witten Pictures present, an 

Oren Peli/Brian Witten Pictures production, "Chernobyl Diaries." The film opens on May 25, 

2012 and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. 

The film has been rated R for violence, some bloody images and pervasive language. 

www.chernobyldiaries.com 




About the Production 

Ukrainian SSR, April 26, 1986: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant reactor number four explodes, 

releasing radioactive contamination into the atmosphere greater than that of 400 atomic bombs. 

It is a nuclear meltdown of catastrophic proportions, the worst of its kind in history, a Level 7 

event on the International Nuclear Event Scale. 

Neighboring Pripyat, the city that houses the plant's workers and their families, is evacuated 

overnight, with most possessions left behind in the homes, factories, amusement park, schools 

and stores that serve its nearly 50,000 residents. It is initially thought to be a temporary 

situation. 

It was not. Pripyat has remained uninhabited to this day... 

"Welcome to Uri's Extreme Travel" 

Eastern Europe, present day: six twentysomethings on vacation sign on for an "extreme" tour of 

the abandoned Ukraine town of Pripyat, a place secured by national guards and forbidden entry 

to anyone. Despite the warning not to enter, their guide, with Geiger counter in hand, leads them 

into the deserted area, warning them to stay close. 

"Chernobyl Diaries" is the brainchild of writer/producer Oren Peli, who first found success in the 

horror genre with the incredibly popular "Paranormal Activity." Just as that subject was the 

result of a commonplace occurrence—hearing strange noises in his new house—he was again 

inspired while performing an everyday activity: surfing the internet. "The idea came to me when 

I saw a photo blog posted by a girl traveling through Pripyat on a motorcycle," Peli recalls. "That 

was the first time I'd heard about Pripyat, and that it had been evacuated overnight, then left asis, 

sort of like a ghost town imprinted in time and history, basically unchanged except for the 

effects of nature and wild animals. I thought the place looked eerie and beautiful and captivating, 

and a little sad. And that it could be the perfect setting for a very creepy movie." 

He discussed the idea with fellow producer Brian Witten, who remembers, "After Oren 

mentioned the idea to me, I immediately went home and scoured the internet for info on Pripyat. 

I was overwhelmed by the history and visuals, and enthusiastically encouraged Oren to flesh it 

out." 

"My research uncovered rumors that a few people had refused to leave, and had stayed behind 

despite the risks from the high radiation," Peli says. "So that thought, along with evidence of 

wildlife that roamed freely without human interference, made me wonder just what could happen 

during an 'extreme' tour of Pripyat." 

Extreme tourism, also known as shock tourism, is a niche industry that involves travel to such 

treacherous locations as mountains, deserts or caves. It can also include participation in risky 

activities, like swimming with sharks or bungee jumping over a waterfall. The greater the risk, 

the bigger the adrenaline rush. 




Peli notes, "It's for people who don't want to just go to museums or look at the countryside from 

a seat on a bus. They want thrills; they want to risk their lives doing crazy things that 99 percent 

of the population would be very happy to never do." 

In the Ukraine, Pripyat—with its history and its close proximity to Chernobyl's infamous 

reactor—is one of the more popular destinations. "You have to go with an organized tour," Peli 

explains. "They drive you there; you get out and walk around for a couple of hours. The guide 

knows the safer areas and the restricted areas, and has a Geiger counter to make sure no one 

veers into a spot with high levels of radiation." 

"They say that the amount of radiation you're exposed to, if you stay for only a few hours, is no 

greater than what you experience on a flight from Los Angeles to London," Witten adds. 

Peli combined the unforgettable images of Chernobyl's past with the modern-day concept of 

extreme tourism to create his new horror thriller. 

In "Chernobyl Diaries," the group is at first turned away from the locale by armed guards, who 

tell the guide that it's closed for maintenance. Undeterred—and determined to give them their 

money's worth rather than a refund—he takes them in through an unguarded backwoods route. 

After spending a few hours exploring the fascinating abandoned city, they attempt to go, but 

unfortunately the van won't start up again, and they cannot get back out. And, as night falls, it 

becomes clear that something else, or someone else, is out there. 

"Are you sure we're out here alone" 

Once Peli had more fully conceived of the idea, he and Witten brought director Brad Parker on 

board, along with the writing team of Carey and Shane Van Dyke, who penned the screenplay 

with Peli. 

Witten offers, "We knew after our first meeting that Brad was our guy. Even though he hadn't 

directed a feature before, he had a clear idea of how he would shoot it." 

"When Oren first described "Chernobyl Diaries," I knew it was a project I wanted to explore," 

Parker states. "I have a collection of photographs of fascinating locations that I would someday 

like to film, and Pripyat was high on the list. As we discussed the story, setting and tone of the 

film, things just clicked. 

"I wanted to make a movie that grabs them and doesn't let go until the closing credits," he 

continues. "The Pripyat in our story is a haunting place. The thought of being there alone at night 

is frightening, but not being alone is terrifying." 

Peli, known for the "found footage" style of filmmaking, wanted to capitalize on the realism of 

that very notion, but also go in a different direction. "We decided to shoot it almost 

documentary-style." To that end, he says, "we had the actors improvise a lot of their dialog. In 

fact, much of the script was taken from the improv we did in rehearsals, in order to create a very 




authentic feel for the movie." 

The filmmakers even took the element of surprise to the set, often keeping the cast in the dark as 

to some of the shocks to come in the film, in order to capture their natural reactions to the most 

frightening aspects of the story. Parker felt that this technique, paired with these characters left 

vulnerable in a remote location with an unseen threat, "ratcheted up the dread to maximum 

levels. I believed an intimate point of view would be the most immersive for viewers," he relates. 

Because the film is set in a real world location, authenticity was especially important, right down 

to the ride into the desolate town. Peli offers, "They drive into Pripyat in this weird van, a UAZ, 

an old Russian military vehicle. We actually had two of them, one for driving and regular shots 

and one that we had to roll several times, and they were pretty horrible...in a good way. The 

engine is inside between the driver and the front passenger seats, and it smells like gasoline. But 

right away you get this sense of time and place, and of being outside your comfort zone." 

To add to the realism, the production shot in Eastern Europe, in Belgrade, Serbia and outside of 

Budapest, Hungary. "It was necessary to create two worlds," says production designer 

Aleksandar Denic, "today's contemporary world, where they start their journey, and a world 

frozen in time, left to the process of decomposition. It was important to portray this condition as 

realistically as possible—hyper-realistically, even—so that it would both provoke discomfort and 

serve as solid ground for the development of the plot." 

"We shot in these very claustrophobic tunnels underneath Belgrade, which are claimed to have 

been a secret Nazi base for the African front during WWII," Witten states. 

"Aleksandar did a fantastic job making a Serbian tractor factory and a decommissioned 

Hungarian air force base look just like Pripyat," director Parker says. "It would be possible for 

people to believe we actually filmed there. His work is amazing." 

Denic's research uncovered a barren place with mere signs of former life, which helped him 

create the imagery appropriate to the story. "Intense emotions are often rooted in childhood, so in 

order to evoke those feelings in our characters, we included broken toys and dolls, children's 

clothes, decaying bumper cars and the stark image of the Ferris wheel that still stands as a 

symbol of the tragedy the city went through." 

To recreate that particular icon of the locale, Denic's team built the bottom portion of the wheel, 

the part that the characters pose in front of for a picture, while visual effects supervisor Mark 

Forker's team created the rest of the structure digitally. 

Parker, who has a background in visual effects and wanted to use them sparingly on the film, 

turned again to longtime collaborator Forker. "Mark is someone I can trust to have smart, wellconsidered 

answers to tough problems, and who I can count on to deliver truly photorealistic 

effects." 

Forker was eager to contribute to the film. "I liked the idea that it had an historical base and a 

documentary feel combined with the pure horror/thriller aspects of it." 




In addition to enhancing the sets and locations visually, the visual effects team enhanced the 

work the makeup department did as well—and not only on the human actors. "We did some 

work on a few dogs in order to make them appear cut, balding, bruised and matted," Forker 

shares. 

The dogs Forker refers to are among the animals living off whatever they can find on the land in 

Pripyat; a half dozen tourists look very appetizing to them. 

"We had some really good Serbian Special Forces attack dogs who could appear very, very 

vicious," Peli smiles. "They had great handlers, but we were still a little afraid of them. They 

looked pretty nasty, like they weren't kidding around. They could easily hurt you if they wanted 

to." 

The canine crew wasn't the only discomfiting element on set. Though conditions were generally 

clear, the shoot took place in November and was therefore very cold. "It was freezing," Peli 

nods. "Everyone in the crew bundled up in layers and huddled around heaters, but the actors 

often had to lie on the ground in the middle of the night for hours, when it was about 20 degrees. 

They were great sports about it." 

Capturing it all on film was director of photography Morten Søborg, whom Parker calls a 

"master of quiet, artful handheld photography and a true artist. I'm not sure I could have filmed 

such long takes in such difficult locations as beautifully with anyone else." 

Peli has praise for the team he and Witten assembled, both on and off camera. "Brad and Morten 

and the rest of the crew were terrific; they really captured the look and feel we were going for," 

he says. "From the moment the characters drive into Pripyat, we only see what they see and 

know what they know, so we're a part of the trip, we're part of the experience. Brad really got 

that natural, improvisational feeling we wanted, and I think the audience will experience the fear 

along with the characters on screen. 

"That whole feeling of paranoia that begins to sink in when they realize they're stranded, they're 

alone, they're basically screwed," Peli continues. "No one is coming to help them, and there's 

something out there that wants to hunt them, but they don't know what it is or how to defend 

themselves against it. Things just keep getting worse and worse, which means that hopefully, for 

the audience, it just gets better and better." 




About the Cast 

DEVIN KELLEY (Amanda) hails from Minnesota, where she was born and raised. She has a 

degree in theatre from the University of Southern California. Upon graduation, Kelley was 

accepted into the Williamstown Theatre Festival and was soon thereafter cast as a series regular 

in FOX's "The Chicago Code," created by Shawn Ryan. Kelley recently did a romantic arc 

opposite Chris Gorham in the television series "Covert Affairs" for USA, and is currently 

shooting the lead role in the feature film "Anchors" in New York City. She resides in Los 

Angeles. 

JONATHAN SADOWSKI (Paul) most recently starred in the CBS comedy "$#*! My Dad 

Says," alongside William Shatner. It was the first-ever sitcom based on a Twitter feed and 

chronicled the salty and hilarious utterances of curmudgeon Shatner, who dispensed politically 

incorrect opinions and his advice to his son, played by Sadowski. 

Sadowski's film credits include "She's the Man," "Live Free or Die Hard," "Friday the 13th" and 

"The Goods." His television credits include starring roles in the TV movies "Our Show," "Two 

Dollar Beer" and "Courtroom K," as well as the series "American Dreams"; appearances on the 

hit series "Chuck," "House M.D." and "Entourage"; and a recurring role on "Terminator: The 

Sarah Connor Chronicles." 

A Chicago native, Sadowski enjoys writing and playing the piano in his spare time. 

INGRID BOLSØ BERDAL (Zoe) is one of Norway's most acclaimed young actresses and has 

won awards for both her stage and screen work. She started studying music and singing in high 

school, and graduated with a major in music—jazz, singing and improvisation—from the 

University of Trondheim (NTNU). She trained as an actor at Oslo National Academy of 

Dramatic Arts (KHIO), studying the Stanislavski method acting for three years. Since 

graduating, she has been employed at The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo, doing feature films in 

between her stage work. 

Berdal's work in theatre includes "Fräulein Else," a physical theatre monologue which she coproduced 

with The Norwegian Theatre; "Hair"; "The Caucasian Chalk Circle"; "The Troll 

Prince"; "Ivanov"; "Songs from the Beehive"; "Frank"; "Black Milk"; "Yvonne – Princess of 

Burgundy"; "The Experiment," with Jo Stromgren Kompani; and "Kristin Lavransdatter," with 

Sel Teaterlag. 

Berdal's past work in feature films and television include "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters"; 

"Escape"; "Cold Prey" and "Cold Prey 2"; "Sons;" "House of Fools"; "I Travel Alone"; 

"Comrade Pedersen"; "Going Postal"; "Hellfjord"; "Codename Hunter 1 & 2"; "Terje Vigen"; 

"Thomas P"; and "Heart to Heart 2." 

Her radio appearances include "Scream" for BBC Four; a monologue titled "Soulmate.no"; 

"Your Only Friend"; "Money Laundering"; "The Helpful Man"; "Blitz"; "No Echo"; "Respect"; 




and all NRK Radio Drama. 

Berdal has received many awards, such as the Hedda Award at The Norwegian Theatre Awards 

for Best Debut of The Year, and the Amanda Award at The Norwegian Film Awards for Best 

Actress for her role as Jannicke in the feature film "Cold Prey." Berdal was also nominated for 

Best Actress two years later for the same part in the "Cold Prey" sequel. 

OLIVIA TAYLOR DUDLEY (Natalie) was raised in central California before moving to Los 

Angeles to pursue acting. She is a founding member of the prolific online sketch comedy group 

5secondfilms.com, which has gained notoriety through their tireless efforts to post a new, 

original sketch every single day. 

Dudley's acting credits include the upcoming film "The Dictator," "Moneyball" and "Just Go 

With It," as well as appearances in the television series "CSI: Mami," "NCIS" and "Don't Trust 

the B in Apt. 23." 

Dudley is also an avid horseback rider. 

JESSE McCARTNEY (Chris) has been building a career encompassing acting, singing, 

songwriting, and voiceover work since he began performing in local community theatre at age 

seven. He made his Broadway debut in "The King and I" when he was nine years old, and later 

appeared opposite Roger Daltrey of The Who in "A Christmas Carol." 

From the age of 11 to 13, McCartney simultaneously acted on ABC's "All My Children" and 

recorded with the boy band Dream Street, whose debut album, released in 2000, went gold. At 

16, he released his solo debut album, Beautiful Soul, which sold over 1.8 million copies 

worldwide. McCartney's songs have topped the charts in the U.S., Australia, Italy, Japan, the 

Philippines and Taiwan. He was also nominated for Best New Artist by the American Music 

Awards, Best Pop Video at the MTV Music Video Awards, and has won three Teen Choice 

Awards: Choice Male Artist, Breakout Artist and Crossover Artist. 

McCartney co-wrote "Bleeding Love" with Ryan Tedder of One Republic. The breakout smash 

for singer Leona Lewis, it was a number one hit in 34 countries, the only song in over a decade 

to achieve this. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award and won ASCAP's song of the 

year. His single "Leavin,'" from his Departure album, was number one for five weeks and was 

Top 40 Radio's most played song of the year. 

McCartney's film credits include the teen cult classic "Keith," which won five international film 

festival awards, and "Beware the Gonzo." On television, McCartney starred in the series 

"Summerland," which was one of the highest rated shows on The WB during its run in 2004 to 

2005, and appeared in the recurring role of Andy during the third season of "Greek" on ABC. He 

has also guest starred on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and special guest starred on 

"CSI: Las Vegas." He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his work as J.R. on "All My 

Children." 




McCartney has also voiced characters for animated films, including Theodore in all three "Alvin 

and the Chipmunks" films, and JoJo in "Horton Hears a Who," with Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. 

He voiced Roxas and Ventus in the video game series "Kingdom Hearts," and Robin/Nightwing 

in the animated television series "Young Justice." In an upcoming film, "Clockwork Girl," he 

will be voicing the role of Huxley. 

NATHAN PHILLIPS (Michael) had his first leading role in the award-winning film "Australian 

Rules," which screened at Sundance 2002. He then commenced that year by shooting a leading 

role in the American film "Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao" in China, and promptly 

followed that up playing Dave in the Australian comedy "Take Away." He next worked on the 

intense dramatic film by Paul Currie "One Perfect Day," acting alongside Abbie Cornish and 

playing the wild character Trig. He then played the lead role of surfer bad boy Brandon in the 

comedy/drama "Under the Radar." 

2005 saw Phillips explore vast extremes within his craft by playing the lovable Phillip in the 

comedy feature "You and Your Stupid Mate," and Ben Mitchell in the box office hit horror film 

"Wolf Creek," which screened at Sundance and Cannes before opening later that year. 

Phillips' career continued to grow when he was cast opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the thriller 

2006 "Snakes on a Plane," which opened at number one at the box office in the U.S. and 

Australia. He followed that up by working on the gritty dramatic Australian feature "West," 

which screened in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. He filmed his second U.S. feature as 

the action star in Andy Cheng's auto-thriller "Redline," which co-starred Nadia Bjorlin and Eddie 

Griffin. 

In 2007, Phillips shot "Surfer, Dude" on location in Malibu, alongside Matthew McConaughey, 

Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson, and followed that up with "Dying Breed," which was 

filmed in Australia and accepted into the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. He also played journalist 

Malcolm Rennie in Robert Connolly's dramatic true story feature "Balibo," released in 2009, and 

was also involved behind the scenes as the East Timor Unit Director. This was the first time he 

was credited in a creative role on a full length feature. He followed this up by producing, 

directing and starring in "Message from the CEO," a short film that screened at festivals in 2009. 

Phillips returned to his home in Australia in 2010 to play Joey in the picturesque feature 

"Summer Coda," also starring Rachel Taylor, Alex Dimitriades and Jacki Weaver. He directed 

and produced another short film, "Post Apocalyptic Man," in 2011, action-packed with many 

stars from Australia, including Michael Dorman and Angus Sampson. The film will be in 

competition at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2012, where it will have its world premiere; Phillips 

is preparing to direct the feature version in 2013. 

Back in the U.S., Phillips most recently acted in "Satellite of Love," shot in Austin, Texas. He 

plays the lead role of Samuel, alongside Zachary Knighton and Janina Gavankar; the film is set 

for release later this year. 




DIMITRI DIATCHENKO (Uri) recently had guest star roles on "Sons of Anarchy," 

"Perception" and "How I Met Your Mother," coupled with several roles on the 2012 version of 

the hit war game "Ghost Recon/Future Soldier." In March of 2012, Diatchenko travelled to 

Bulgaria to shoot the film "Company of Heroes," a World War II story in which he will be 

starring alongside Tom Sizemore, Vinnie Jones and Chad Collins. 

Prior to appearing in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Get Smart," 

Diatchenko's comedy skills were on tap in the irreverent comedy, "Remarkable Power," starring 

Tom Arnold and Kevin Nealon, in which Diatchenko delivered a hilarious performance as the 

outrageous Czech porno director, Ivan. 

In the World War II film "Miriam," Diatchenko portrayed the leading role of KGB agent Alexi 

Mironov, who falls in love with a Jewish woman in war-torn Europe. 

With a flawless Russian accent, Diatchenko has been quite popular on television, appearing on 

such hit series as "CSI Miami," "Without a Trace," "Criminal Minds," "Burn Notice," "Desire" 

and "Alias." 

Diatchenko has done his share of voiceovers as well, including "The Family Guy" and "The Wild 

Thornberrys." His most recent VO work can be experienced in the blockbuster video games 

"Ghost Recon" and "Uncharted 3." Other major credits include "Iron Man I and 2," "Uncharted 1 

and 2," "Call of Duty: World at War," "Red Alert 3: Command and Conquer" and "Spider-Man: 

Shattered Dimensions," where he voiced the role of Sandman. 

His first acting experience was as the lead in the play "Foxfire," by Hume Cronin, where he 

played the country music star Dillard Nations. He then landed a small role as a Navy Seal in 

Ridley Scott's "G.I. Jane," starring Demi Moore. After that break, Diatchenko moved out to Los 

Angeles and officially started his professional acting career. 

In addition to his acting, Diatchenko performs as a master classical guitarist. As a soloist, he has 

four guitar CDs in release. His original composition for solo guitar, entitled "Tango en Paraiso," 

is featured on the soundtrack for the film "Remarkable Power." Mel Bay Publications has 

published this piece in Master Anthology of New Classic Guitar Solos, Vol. 1, which is available 

worldwide. 




About the Filmmakers 

BRAD PARKER (Director) makes his feature film directing debut with "Chernobyl Diaries." 

He is set to direct the next actioner from producers J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves. 

Prior to segueing into feature directing, Parker was second unit director and visual effects 

supervisor on director Reeves' feature "Let Me In," and also served in both capacities on Steven 

Spielberg's television project "Locke & Key," with director Mark Romanek. 

Parker began his career as an animator and art director at MTV, where he co-founded the 

company's digital animation lab. From there he joined Digital Domain to work on visual effects 

for features, contributing to numerous films, including David Fincher's "Fight Club"; "xXx"; 

"The Time Machine"; and "We Own the Night," for which he was nominated for a Visual Effects 

Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture. 

As a natural extension of his talents, Parker became involved in DD's commercials division as 

both a visual effects supervisor and director. A number of the spots Parker contributed to as VFX 

supervisor became highly recognized in the industry, including "Unstoppable" for Adidas, "23 

vs. 39" for Gatorade, "Toy Boat" for eBay, and several others. During his tenure at Digital 

Domain, Parker frequently collaborated with directors, including Mark Romanek, Joe Pytka, 

Noam Murro, Brian Beletic, and many more. 

Parker next joined Bob Industries to expand his own directorial career. Utilizing his VFX and 

design knowledge as a springboard, he has directed live action, visual storytelling and effects 

projects of all kinds. His comprehensive knowledge of art and technology allows him to bring a 

truly unique style, personality, and creative point of view to all his projects. 

He has directed many commercial projects for all mediums, and his current clients include Nike, 

Nintendo, Sony, Electronic Arts, Chrysler, Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Molson Beer and 

Panasonic. 

OREN PELI (Writer/Producer) is the creator of the highly successful "Paranormal Activity" 

horror franchise, which has grossed more than $576 million at the worldwide box office. The 

first in the series, which he wrote, directed and produced, was his first film. Since then, he wrote 

and produced the hits "Paranormal Activity 2," "Paranormal Activity 3" and "Insidious." He is 

also the writer/director of the upcoming films "Area 51" and "Paranormal Activity 4," and the 

producer of the upcoming horror film "The Bay," from director Barry Levinson, and "Lords of 

Salem," from writer/director Rob Zombie. 

Branching out onto the small screen, Peli is the co-creator and executive producer of the hit ABC 

Show "The River," from executive producer Steven Spielberg. 

Peli is a native of Israel who came to the U.S. at the age of 19. Back home, he had dropped out of 

high school at age 16 to write a highly commercial painting program, then became a full-time 

software designer, using his skills to create animation programs and, ultimately, game software. 




BRIAN WITTEN (Producer) and Oren Peli recently formed Oren Peli/Brian Witten Pictures to 

produce "Chernobyl Diaries." The pair met when Peli arrived in Hollywood with his first feature 

film, the horror success "Paranormal Activity." 

Witten served as executive producer on the successful "Friday the 13th" update, which opened at 

number one at the box office, and as producer on the upcoming horror films "The Barrens" and 

"Silent Night," both due out this year. He is currently producing a remake of the Japanese hit 

film "Death Note," to be directed by Shane Black, and has several other projects in development. 

Previously, Witten spent five years at Paramount Pictures as Executive Vice President of 

Production, where he oversaw such films as "The Longest Yard," "Mission: Impossible III," 

"Four Brothers," "Vanilla Sky," "Elizabethtown" and was responsible for bringing in 

"Transformers'. Prior to working at Paramount, he was at New Line Cinema for five years, where 

he ultimately served as Senior Vice President of Production. While there, he oversaw 

development and production of such films as "The Wedding Singer," which began his 

relationship with Adam Sandler, "American History X," "Dark City" and "Final Destination." 

A graduate of New York University, Witten began his career as an assistant to producer Joel 

Silver. Witten also wrote comic books, which lead to a partnership with Image Comics founder 

Rob Liefleld at Extreme Studios. 

CAREY & SHANE VAN DYKE (Screenwriters) grew up in an entertainment industry family 

as the grandsons of legendary actor Dick Van Dyke. Prior to beginning their writing partnership, 

the brothers acted in several TV series and movies. Carey appeared on the long-running 

"Diagnosis Murder" several times and also penned an episode. He also had parts on "Clueless," 

"JAG," "ER," and in the Hallmark Channel's "Murder 101: New Age," "Meet My Mom," and 

Syfy's "Mega Python vs. Gatoroid." Shane had a regular role on "Diagnosis Murder," and 

appeared in the TV movies "Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses," "Murder 101: New Age" and 

"Shark Swarm" for the Hallmark Channel. 

Their writing career took off in 2011 with the sale of their horror/thriller script "The Watching 

Hour." 

The Van Dykes are currently at work on the script for their upcoming sci-fi project "Dreamland," 

for Will Smith. 

RICHARD SHARKEY (Executive Producer) began his film career working the foley stages 

and transfer bays of London's post production facilities. Craving daylight, he made moves into 

the art department and then onto assistant directing and location management, spending more 

than a decade working in the UK and globally as a location manager. From 1999 to 2001, he 

worked on Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy in New Zealand, as supervising 

location production manager. 




Sharkey has worked on studio pictures that have included three films from the "James Bond" 

franchise, "Mission: Impossible," "Mission to Mars," "Ali," "Timeline," "Doom," "Entrapment," 

Eragon" and "Fantastic 4: The Rise of the Silver Surfer." He has worked with every major studio, 

as well as Dimension Films, the Weinstein Co., Focus Features, Atlas Entertainment, Relativity 

Media and Endgame Entertainment. 

He served in Europe as line producer on HBO's Golden Globe-winning production "John 

Adams," produced by Tom Hanks, and then moved directly on to Australia as unit production 

manager on "The Pacific," a WWII mini-series, also for HBO and Playtone, executive produced 

by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. He worked as UPM on "Season of the Witch," starring 

Nicolas Cage, which was shot in Hungary, Austria and Croatia. Most recently, Sharkey worked 

as co-producer on "The Raven," and he is currently working with Liddell Entertainment on an 

adaptation of Emile Zola's French literary classic "Therese Raquin." 

Sharkey has worked in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, throughout Africa, Thailand, Malaysia, 

the Middle East and extensively throughout Europe, in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, 

Serbia, Croatia, Monaco, France, Holland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and the UK. 

ROB COWAN (Executive Producer) is a 25-year veteran in the film industry who has worked 

on over 30 productions in both features and television. Cowan began his career in Canada in the 

early 1980s, working as an assistant director on such moneymaking films as "Three Men and a 

Baby," with Tom Selleck and Ted Danson, "Stakeout," with Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio 

Estevez, and "Cocktail," with Tom Cruise. 

It was during this time that Cowan worked on the Costa Gavras-directed, Joe Eszterhas-penned 

film "Betrayed," starring Debra Winger and Tom Berenger. The film provided Cowan with an 

introduction to the Academy Award®-winning producer Irwin Winkler, who produced the film. 

Winkler asked Cowan to come to Los Angeles to work not only on his next film, "Music Box," 

starring Jessica Lange and also written by Eszterhas and directed by Costa-Gavras, but to assist 

on Winkler's first directing foray, "Guilty by Suspicion," starring Robert De Niro and Annette 

Bening. Just after finishing the film in 1990, Cowan was asked to come work full time at Winker 

Films as the head of development. 

The next film for the company was "Night and the City," starring De Niro and Lange, which 

Winkler directed and Cowan co-produced. After this successful pairing, Cowan was upped to 

President of Winkler Films. 

A succession of films followed, the first being the successful "The Net," starring Sandra Bullock, 

which he and Winkler later turned into a television series for the USA Network. Then came "The 

Juror," written by Academy Award®-winning writer Ted Tally ("Silence of the Lambs") and 

starring Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin, followed quickly by "At First Sight," starring Val 

Kilmer and Mira Sorvino. 

After producing a Showtime feature for TV entitled "Marciano," which starred Jon Favreau and 




George C. Scott and which was selected as the opening night gala film of the Monte Carlo 

Television festival, Cowan returned to features with the critically acclaimed film "Life as a 

House," starring Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas and Hayden Christensen. Cowan produced 

this film while simultaneously producing "Enough," directed by Michael Apted and starring 

Jennifer Lopez. 

Cowan next turned to the world of musicals with the Cole Porter biopic "De-Lovely," starring 

Kline and Ashley Judd. Cowan not only produced the film, which was selected as the closing 

night film for the 2004 Cannes film festival, but he executive produced the soundtrack album, 

which was nominated for a Grammy that year. 

Delving into the world of DVDs, Cowan next produced two $3 million films for the home video 

market, "Shackles," starring D. L. Hughley, and a sequel to "The Net," "The Net 2.0," which he 

wrote and produced and which was the first American film to shoot entirely in Istanbul. Cowan 

wrapped up his time with Winkler films with the Iraq war film "Home of the Brave," starring 

Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel, Christina Ricci and rapper 50 Cent. 

As head of his own company, POV Productions, Cowan's first project was producing the muchanticipated 

"Righteous Kill," starring Robert De Niro in their third project together, and Al 

Pacino, and directed by Jon Avnet. Cowan was later brought in to produce a George Romero 

remake of "The Crazies," starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell and directed by Breck 

Eisner. The film was released to strong critical reviews and box office performance. Most 

recently, Cowan executive produced the upcoming Miley Cyrus starrer "So Undercover," and is 

currently producing "Saw" creator James Wan's next directorial effort, based on a true story from 

the case files of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. 

Over his career, Cowan has had a wide range of experiences, from producing low budget 

independent films to higher budget studio fare. He's developed projects with such talented 

writers as Joe Eszterhas, Nick Pileggi ("Goodfellas"), Oliver Stone, Jay Cocks ("The Age of 

Innocence") and Academy Award® nominee Nicholas Kazan ("Reversal of Fortune"). He has 

shot extensively throughout the United States and in numerous countries around the world, 

including Canada, England, Luxembourg, Jamaica, Morocco, Turkey, Serbia and Hungary, had 

films accepted into such festivals as Deauville, Toronto and Tribeca, opened at Monte Carlo and 

New York, and closed at Cannes. 

ANDREW A. KOSOVE and BRODERICK JOHNSON (Executive Producers) are Oscar®nominated 

producers as well as co-founders and co-CEOs of Alcon Entertainment, which has 

financed and/or produced a wide range of films. Last year, Alcon released the family hit 

"Dolphin Tale," starring Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. The drama was 

inspired by the amazing true story of Winter, the dolphin who was rescued and learned to swim 

again after losing her tail. 

Alcon also has a variety of projects in production and development, including "Beautiful 

Creatures," currently shooting in New Orleans, based on the bestselling young adult novel and 

starring newcomers Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert, Academy Award® nominee Viola 




Davis, Academy Award® winners Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson, and Emmy Rossum and 

Thomas Mann. Alcon's next film, "Prisoners," starring Hugh Jackman, is scheduled to start 

production in January. 

Kosove and Johnson received an Academy Award® nomination as producers of the 2009 Best 

Picture nominee "The Blind Side," which earned more than $300 million at the worldwide box 

office. Based on a true story, the film was written and directed by John Lee Hancock and starred 

Sandra Bullock, who received a number of Best Actress honors for her performance, culminating 

in an Academy Award®. 

Alcon's recent projects also include the post-apocalyptic action drama "The Book of Eli," 

directed by the Hughes brothers and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis, 

and Richard LaGravenese's romantic sleeper hit "P.S. I Love You," starring Hilary Swank, 

Gerard Butler, Kathy Bates, Lisa Kudrow and Harry Connick, Jr. 

Among Alcon's earlier film releases are Ken Kwapis' ensemble hit "The Sisterhood of the 

Traveling Pants" and its sequel, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"; the Richard Donnerdirected 

action thriller "16 Blocks," starring Bruce Willis; the family film "Racing Stripes," 

which blended animation and live action; Christopher Nolan's thriller "Insomnia," starring Al 

Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank; and Jay Russell's acclaimed family film "My Dog 

Skip," starring Diane Lane and Kevin Bacon. 

ALLISON SILVER (Executive Producer) is Executive Vice President, Worldwide Production 

for FilmNation Entertainment. Silver joined FilmNation in October 2009. Prior to working at 

FilmNation, Silver was Senior Vice President, Production & Post Production for Focus Features 

International. She started at Focus in 2002 as a Production Executive. While at Focus, she was 

responsible for overseeing production on films from some of the world's most acclaimed and 

interesting filmmakers, including Pedro Almodóvar, Fernando Meireilles, Alejandro González 

Iñárritu, Jim Jarmusch, and Michel Gondry. Prior to joining Focus, Silver worked at Miramax 

Films and as a television producer. 

MILAN POPELKA (Executive Producer) is Chief Operating Officer for FilmNation 

Entertainment. Popelka joined FilmNation at its inception in 2008, and oversees all day-to-day 

operations, strategic planning, and finance for the company, including working closely with the 

production/development team to advance the company's internal slate of films. Prior to joining 

FilmNation, Popelka oversaw creative/finance at Samuels Media ("Michael Clayton"), worked in 

the Independent Finance Group at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and served as an analyst in 

the entertainment practice of McKinsey & Company. Popelka received a B.A. in Economics 

from Harvard College. 

ALISON COHEN (Executive Producer) is Executive Vice President of Business & Legal 

Affairs for FilmNation Entertainment. Cohen joined FilmNation in July of 2009 and handles the 

business affairs for all of FilmNation's production and finance titles. Prior to joining FilmNation, 




Cohen was a partner of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, P.C. and Epstein, Levinsohn, Bodine, 

Hurwitz & Weinstein, LLP, two pre-eminent entertainment law firms based in New York. 

During her 13 years in private practice, Cohen represented the specialty divisions of several 

studios as well as independent film producers, production companies, film funds, and individual 

financiers, with credits on over 80 films. Cohen received her JD as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar 

from Columbia University of Law. 

MORTEN SØBORG (Director of Photography) has worked as a cinematographer for more than 

25 year on more than 50 feature films, documentaries and shorts. He is a favorite of director 

Nicolas Winding Refn, having worked with him on the films "Pusher" and its two sequels, "I'm 

the Angel of Death" and "With Blood on My Hands," on "Bleeder," and, most recently, on 

"Valhalla Rising." 

Søborg has also had a long working relationship with director Susanne Bier. The two most 

recently worked together on the upcoming "All You Need Is Love," and he has lensed her films 

"Once in a Lifetime," "Open Hearts," "Brothers," "After the Wedding" and "In a Better World," 

and served as camera operator on "Things We Lost in the Fire." He has worked twice with 

director Nils Grabol, as camera operator on "Det Store Flip" and cinematographer on "The Gift," 

and twice with Jonas Elmer, serving as first assistant camera on his "Let's Get Lost" and DP on 

"Monas Verden." 

His upcoming films include "The Twitchers" and "Operation Zucker," and his other credits as 

director of photography include "In China They Eat Dogs," "The Lady of Hamre," "Nimor 

Mishaps," "Rule No. 1," "Let's Play House," "Niceland (Population 1.000.002)," "How to Get 

Rid of Others," "The Killing Gene," "What No One Knows" and, most recently, "Sønner av 

Norge." Søborg has been honored with seven nominations for Denmarks' Robert Award and in 

2005 received the Bodil Award for his work in cinematography. 

ALEKSANDAR DENIC (Production Designer) began his career nearly 25 years ago, and his 

work on the big and small screens has been honored across the globe. His designs were most 

recently seen in the action comedy feature "Cat Run," from director John Stockwell, and in Ana 

Marija Rosi's crime drama "Some Other Stories." 

Denic's other feature film credits include "Boomerang," from Dragan Marinkovic, as well as the 

director's "Byzantium Blue," for which Denic earned the Golden Knight Award for production 

design from the International Festival of Slavic Film in Russia, the Best Production Design 

Award from the Montenegro Summer Film Festival, and the Crystal Prism—Yugoslavia's 

version of the Oscars®—for Best Production Design; Emir Kusturica's "Super 8 Stories" and 

"Underground," the latter for which he served as set decorator; "Srdjan Dragojevic's "The 

Wounds," for which Denic again received a Best Production Design Award from the 

Montenegro Summer Film Festival, and "We Are Not Angels," which garnered him the Annual 

Award of the Artist Assocation of Serbia's Best Production Design; "Zone of the Dead"; "Die 

rote Zora"; "Agi I Ema"; "Guca!"; "Falling in Paradise"; "Deathwatch"; "A Tempest in the Glass 

of Water"; "Once Upon a Time"; and "A Film with No Name." 




For his work on the television movie "Rasputin," directed by Uli Edel and starring Alan 

Rickman, Denic was part of the design team who earned an Emmy Award nomination for 

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special. His other 

work on TV includes the telefilm "Heidi," from director Michael Rhodes. 

STAN SALFAS (Editor) began his career as a feature film editor more than 20 years ago, and 

has worked on such films as Steven Soderbergh's "Underneath," David Dobkin's "Clay Pigeons," 

and Matt Reeves' "Let Me In" and "The Pallbearer." He most recently cut David Jacobson's 

"Tomorrow You're Gone," and "Wilde Salomé," actor/writer/director Al Pacino's adaptation of 

Oscar Wilde's controversial Salomé. His additional film credits include "Spike of Bensonhurst," 

"Star Time," "Excess Baggage" and "Morning," and the documentary "Metropolitan Avenue." 

He has been nominated for two American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards, for the pilots of the J.J. 

Abrams series "Alias" and "Felicity," and on the latter series, Salfas also served as supervising 

editor, co-producer and director. His additional TV credits include the series "One Tree Hill," 

"What About Brian," "Windfall," which he also produced, "Numb3rs," "Six Degrees," and 

"Gideon's Crossing." 

MARK FORKER (Visual FX Supervisor) has over 25 years of diverse experience in the field 

of visual effects and post-production. Prior to joining the effects house DIVE, Forker spent 13 

years at one of the world's leading effects houses, Digital Domain, and the last eight of those 

years as visual effects supervisor. At DIVE, Forker continues his role as VFX supervisor for 

larger studio projects, as well as applying his talents for independent filmmakers, most recently 

supervising the action thriller "Safe," starring Jason Statham. 

During his tenure at DIVE, he has worked both as VFX supervisor on Matt Reeves' "Let Me In," 

as well as helmed VFX duties for "The Last Airbender." He supervised John Hillcoat's film 

adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalypse epic "The Road," and Mitchell Lichtenstein's 

"Happy Tears." He also worked on such films as Doug Liman's thrillers "Fair Game" and 

"Jumper." 

Before leaving Digital Domain, he supervised the closing sequence of "Charlie and the 

Chocolate Factory," Tim Burton's offbeat take on the Roald Dahl book. Also, in collaboration 

with director Ron Howard, Forker created Depression-era New York, as well as gritty boxing 

animation and effects sequences, for the Academy Award®-nominated "Cinderella Man." He 

also completed work on the eerie thriller from Walter Salles, "Dark Water," and helped create 

Neverland for the production of P.J. Hogan's "Peter Pan." 

His other credits as visual effects supervisor include the 10th installment of the "Star Trek" 

franchise, "Star Trek: Nemesis." Prior to that, Forker supervised the signature "water horse" 

sequence for Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," which 

captured the Academy Award® for Visual Effects. He was also involved in creating 

photorealistic environmental effects as visual effects supervisor for the all-CG film "Stormrider," 




Walt Disney Theme Park Productions' most ambitious large-format film attraction to date. 

Forker's other credits include digital effects supervisor for James Cameron's Academy Award®winning 

"Titanic," where he was responsible for the seamless integration of hundreds of 

elements into a final photorealistic vision. Forker also served as compositing supervisor on "T2 – 

3D," the 65mm stereo three-screen experience directed by Cameron for Universal Studios. As 

lead compositor on Ron Howard's Academy Award®-nominated "Apollo 13," Forker personally 

handled compositing the majority of the launch sequence shots, which are often mistaken for 

NASA stock footage. He also served as compositing supervisor on Digital Domain's 

contributions to "Kundun," "Armageddon" and "Waterworld." 

Prior to joining Digital Domain in 1994, Forker acted as co-visual effects supervisor for Julie 

Taymor's "Fool's Fire," an Edgar Allan Poe TV movie. He also lent his talents as FX 

compositor/director for REBO High Definition Studios in New York. In addition to effects work 

on children's animated specials, commercials, music videos and film featurettes, Forker directed 

various shorts of the Japanese high definition television market. 

MOMIRIKA BAILOVIC (Costume Designer) has won numerous honors for outstanding 

costume design across the globe, in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Germany. Her recent 

credits include design, supervising, and assistant work for films including "Lock Out," "Cat- 

Run," "Human Zoo," "Serbian Scars," "Brothers Bloom" and "Fade to Black." 

Prior to her studies in performing arts costume design at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, 

Bailovic had already built up a resume of design experience from working in theatre and on the 

short film "Sami" and the feature "A Small World." 

Upon completion of her formal training, Bailovic continued to design for feature films and 

collaborate with internationally awarded theatrical productions. Her work won for best costume 

design in Serbia's sixth Joakimfest in 2009, and the following year for best costume design at the 

14th Yugoslav Theatre Festival. 

DIEGO STOCCO (Composer) was born in Rovigo, Italy in 1976. He discovered music at the 

age of six when his parents, hoping to calm him down, gave him his first electronic keyboard. 

That might have backfired! 

Stocco is a composer, music sound designer and performer who creates eclectic compositions 

with custom built instruments, elements of nature and experimental recording techniques. He has 

been a featured soloist on such films as "Sherlock Holmes," and on multiple video games, 

including "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" and Assassin's Creed Revelations." He has been a 

music sound designer on many well-known projects, including the feature films "Immortals," 

"Takers," "Into the Blue," "Crank," and the TV shows "The Tudors" and "Moonlight," and he 

scored the video game "The Conduit." 

Additionally, Stocco's music has been used for many film and video game trailers, including 




"TRON: Legacy," "Terminator Salvation," "2012," "Transformers," "Spider-Man: Shattered 

Universe," "Call of Duty: World at War," "Soulcalibur IV," and numerous television shows and 

promos. 

Stocco is one of the principal creative sound designers for the award-winning Spectrasonics 

virtual instruments Atmosphere, Stylus RMX and the new Power Synth Omnisphere®. His 

sounds from these instruments have been featured on the scores of dozens of feature films, video 

games, TV shows, albums and live shows. He also produces and performs in a series of viral 

videos exploring unique ways of making music. His "Music from a Tree," "Music from Sand," 

and "Music from a Dry Cleaner" have been featured on TV and radio shows, including NBC's 

"Today," Discovery Channel's "Daily Planet," CBS News, NPR's "Living on Earth" and "All 

Things Considered," and internationally on Japan's NHK popular morning show "Ohayou 

Nippon," Canal+ in France on "Oeil de Links," "Global Mag" on German's Arte TV, and several 

shows in Italy on Rai2, Rai3 and Rai4. His works have also been featured online on some of the 

most popular websites and blogs, including Wired.com, Intel's "The Creators Project," Boing 

Boing, and many more. 

Stocco collaborated with legendary producer and songwriter Patrick Leonard, who has worked 

with Madonna, Elton John, Roger Waters and Leonard Cohen. DTS, Inc. wanted them to create 

the first musical project mixed with Neo:X, their new 11.1 surround sound system. Stocco later 

produced the 11.1 DTS Sound Signature. 

&Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, sharing his unique approach and techniques with their 

students. Currently, Stocco is involved with multiple projects, and is busily creating more 

imaginary sounds, music and video performances.

CHERNOBYL DIARIES Production Notes - Visual Hollywood

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