Production Notes PDF - Visual Hollywood

THE MECHANIC (2011) PRODUCTION NOTESMary Steenburgen, Hayden Christensen and Jena Malone; The Shipping News, based onthe Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx, and starred Kevin Spacey, JulianneMoore, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, and was directed by Lasse Hallstrom; and thethriller Enough, which starred Jennifer Lopez, Billy Campbell, Juliette Lewis and NoahWylie, and was directed by Michael Apted.Winkler made his directorial debut in 1989 with Guilty By Suspicion, a drama he alsowrote about a blacklisted Hollywood director in McCarthy-era Hollywood. The film,which starred Robert DeNiro, Annette Bening, Patricia Wettig and Martin Scorsese, hada profound impact in the United States and abroad, and was the official United Statesentry that year at the Cannes Film Festival.Winkler‟s second feature as a director, Night and the City, based on Jules Dassin‟s1950s noir film, reunited Winkler with stars Robert DeNiro (for their seventh timetogether) and Jessica Lange (who was nominated for her role in Winkler‟s 1989 filmMusic Box). The critically acclaimed film was the closing night attraction at theprestigious New York Film Festival in 1992.Winkler produced and directed the romantic drama At First Sight (1 99 9), which starredVal Kilmer and Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, and the suspense thriller The Net, whichstarred Sandra Bullock. The Net was presented at both the Deauville and San Sebastianfilm festivals.Winkler started his producing career in 1967 with the legendary director NormanTaurog at MGM with the Elvis Presley starrer Double Trouble. Winkler and producingpartner Robert Chartoff followed up their debut with the Lee Marvin thriller, PointBlank, a film which is now considered a cult classic and the one that introducedfilmmaker John Boorman to the American film community. They then went on toproduce the multi-nominated They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (for which Gig Youngearned the Oscar as Best Supporting Actor), Leo the Last and The Strawberry Statement.Each of these films was honored at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival: Leo the Last won theBest Director prize for John Boorman, Strawberry Statement received the Jury Award,and Horses garnered the closing night honors.Highlights of Winkler‟s films of the „70s and „80s include the Robert DeNiro and LizaMinnelli starrer, New York, New York ; Best Picture nominee Raging Bull, consider bymany to be the classic American film of the last twenty-five years or so and highlightedby DeNiro‟s Oscar-winning performance; and Goodfellas, which was named 1990‟sBest Film by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film CriticsAssociation and the British Academy, as well as receiving numerous other honors,including Winkler‟s fourth Best Picture nomination.Other outstanding films produced by Winker include Up the Sandbox, which starredBarbara Streisand, The Gambler, which starred James Caan, Comes a Horseman, whichstarred James Caan and Jane Fonda, True Confessions, which starred Robert DeNiro andRobert Duvall, and Round Midnight, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, which wasWinkler‟s homage to the jazz era, and which earned Herbie Hancock an Oscar for his© CBS FILMS, All Rights Reserved 19