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SYNOPSIS

MILES AHEAD, inspired by events in his life, is a wildly entertaining, impressionistic, no-holds barred portrait of one of 20th century music's creative geniuses, Miles Davis, featuring a career defining performance by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle in the title role. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Cheadle makes his bravura directorial debut.

In the midst of a dazzling and prolific career at the forefront of modern jazz innovation, Miles Davis (Cheadle) virtually disappears from public view for a period of five years in the late 1970s. Alone and holed up in his home, he is beset by chronic pain from a deteriorating hip, his musical voice stifled and numbed by drugs and pain medications, his mind haunted by unsettling ghosts from the past.

A wily music reporter, Dave Braden (Ewan McGregor) forces his way into Davis' house and, over the next couple of days, the two men unwittingly embark on a wild and sometimes harrowing adventure to recover a stolen tape of the musician's latest compositions. Davis' mercurial behavior is fueled by memories of his failed marriage to the talented and beautiful dancer Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). During their romance and subsequent marriage, Frances served as Davis' muse. It was during this period that he released several of his signature recordings including the groundbreaking "Sketches of Spain" and "Someday My Prince Will Come."

The idyll however, was short lived. The eight-year marriage was marked by infidelity and abuse, and Frances was forced to flee for her own safety as Miles' mental and physical health deteriorated.

By the late '70s, plagued by years of regret and loss, Davis flirts with annihilation until he once again finds salvation in his art.

THE MAKING OF MILES AHEAD

"To make an entertaining, "rock and roll" movie about a multi-talented musician in a non-traditional, subversive way. To attempt to DO Miles Davis rather than simply chronicle the highlights and low-lights of his life. That process felt like Miles to me."
Don Cheadle

After several setbacks, including one of the largest recessions in global history, Don Cheadle's MILES AHEAD finally locked down partial financing before turning to IndieGoGo to raise the funds to make up for the shortfall. "It actually felt right that we used a social platform to complete the film," observes Cheadle, "since Miles was someone who made 'social music.'"

The stop and start financing, however, was not the only hurdle for the low-budget project. Many of Cheadle's co-stars in the film, including Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg and Emayatzy Corinealdi, had limited windows of availability before they had to depart for other commitments. "We only had Ewan and Michael for three weeks and Emayatzy for three weeks, so we had to complete all their sequences in the film during that period," says Cheadle. "We had to get it right the first time. No second bites of the apple."

Though set mostly in New York, MILES AHEAD was filmed mostly in Cincinatti, Ohio and Cheadle commends the city filmmaking commission for "pulling out all the stops. Only three features have ever been shot there and we were very lucky because they had recently wrapped Todd Haynes' film Carol and they were in a good place. Still, there were days when we had two cameras and only one operator available, because the other was working on another project. We also didn't have use of the Steadicam for the first week. But fortunately everyone was totally committed."

Producer Pamela Hirsch also has kind words for Cincinatti's film commission, particularly its cooperation during one of the film's set pieces, a frantic car chase. "We knew it was going to be challenging," says Hirsch, "but when you want to take over the streets, it helps to have a city that is happy to have you there. It just makes it easier."

Given the complexity of the sequence, it had to be completely planned out on storyboards, she says. "It was all there on the page and we knew the stakes, the pace and the action and, like much of the film, we wanted to push the envelope," says Hirsch. "And to do that, first we had to carefully map it out."

In addition to being a first-time director, Cheadle is also in every scene in the film, so his preparation had to be meticulous and he needed a top flight crew, which in addition to Hirsch and her producing partner Lenore Zerman included director of photography Roberto Schaefer (QUANTUM OF SOLACE, FINDING NEVERLAND), production designer Hannah Beachler (FRUITVALE STATION), costume designer Gersha Phillips (HOUSE OF CARDS, LIFE), editor John Axelrad (THE IMMIGRANT, CRAZY HEART), sound designer/sound editor Skip Lievsay (several Coen brothers movies including NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), and composer Robert Glasper.

"Don knew it was going to be complicated, so he arrived well prepared and hired the right team and had a lot of trust in them," says Hirsch. "It was a passion project across the board and Don was one-hundred-percent open to ideas. It was a completely creative environment from top to bottom."

Cheadle and Baigelman's script was visually oriented and keyed to certain music cues, which made for a unique read, according to Hirsch. "The script was like a piece of music. I would get calls from crew members telling me that when they read it in conjunction with the piece of music that would be used, it changed the whole experience. It enabled them to visualize the pacing of the script because everything flowed like a piece of music."

The sound of the film is rich and layered and seamless, says Hirsch. "Anytime you have Miles Davis scoring a movie, you're in the hands of a master." In addition to Davis' compositions, the underscoring includes original music by Glasper and sound design by Lievsay that flow effortlessly around and through each other.

As an entertainment, Hirsch concludes, MILES AHEAD is engaging and enjoyable purely as filmmaking, a treat both for aficionados of Miles Davis's life and music as well as audiences who know very little about him. "Don has created a film that is truthful to Miles' spirit, a film he would have starred in. He was a complex character who lived a fascinating life, and it's all in there."

GOGO NATION

Thank you to the following Gogo Nation contributors:

Shawn White
John McCaa
William Morris
Pia Logan
Teddy Roberson
June Stoddard
John Pickering
Julie Bryant
Arnold Hamilton
Joseph Gorman
David Yorkin
Stephanie Lucas
Dave Haddock
Mauricio Salla
Scott Mallory, Jr.
Renee Maslikhov
Joe Palanca
Winston H. Jordan Jr.
Adekunle Ilori
Bruce Moore
Tanisha Agee-Bell
Jeff Mallory
Mark Fuller
Anthony D. Paul
Tom DeMarchi
Robert Ward
Chenney Chen
Bobby Dove
Joseph Joyce
Jeremy Grelle
Malgorzata Kaczmarek
Damion A. Junk
Sonia Dawson
Sir Donald M. Keegan
Shaun W. Thomas
Tamala Hutcherson
Antwan Smith
Dianne K. Webb
Giovanni Tafi
Paula Phelps-Weaver
Jason Cohen
Justin Parra
Direk Boswell
Todd Thompson
Alan Teder
Jeff Hershauer
Mike Ogurek
Deborah Griffin
Margaret LePique
Jackie Falk
Andrea Conrad
Neal Hammond
Nitin Shenoy
Caterina Bristol
Colin Ettinger
Dwight E. Moore
Christopher Owens
James Sutton
James Earl Hardy
Richard Ferrie
Jim Livecchi
Michael Cunningham
Gunes Erkan
Michael Whitehead
Claudette A. Moody
Stephen Smith
Kelli Fritts
Joseph Soria
Stacey Walsh
Rika Nakajima
Yvette Lee Kang
Susan de Jong
John Foley
Jennifer Sammons
Dave Rolfes
Zatella Beatty
Brian Murray
Yune Tran
Andrea Canny
Kate Harvie
Randolph Fisher
Tony Parsons
Lorenzo Preston
Lerato Anz
Adam Sherman
Phillip & Toni Reeder
Anthony James
Beverly Prather
Ashley Heuvel
Matthew E Beasley
Stephanie Corley
Matthew Bowman
Deena Anderson
Jimmie Julion
Charlotte Hunter
Ora Nadrich
Colin Tew
Troy Burgess
David Knepp
Michael Ashby
Erik Wessel-Berg
Scott Butler
Starr M. Rayford
Susan McDevitt
Monty Brandenberg
Zbyszek Koziol

Don Cheadle

Director, Co-Writer, Producer and Star

With a resume that's as varied and expansive as it is rich in depth of the characters he brings to life, Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle is, without question, one of the most highly sought after and premier actors of his generation.

Turning in consistently powerful performances, Don has not only taken on challenging roles, but put his talents into producing projects he believes in as well.

Don currently stars as 'Marty Kaan' on the critically acclaimed Showtime series HOUSE OF LIES. HOUSE OF LIES has earned multiple nominations for the series and Don himself, including three Emmy Nominations, a Golden Globe® Award and two additional Golden Globe® nominations and SAG Award nomination. In addition to starring, Don also is Executive Producer of the series, and has stepped behind the camera as director.

2014 was a busy year for Don. In addition to shooting Season 4 of HOUSE OF LIES he directed his first feature, MILES AHEAD, which he also co-wrote and produced. Don also stars in the film, based on the life of legendary jazz artist, Miles Davis, along with Ewan McGregor.

Cheadle also produced the feature ST. VINCENT OF VAN NUYS, which stars Bill Murray and Naomi Watts, and recently wrapped filming AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, reprising his role as 'Colonel James Rhodes' from the 2010 and 2013 Marvel mega-box-office-hit films IRON MAN 2 and 3.

Don is well known for his passionate performances on stage and screen, stemming from his breakout performance opposite Denzel Washington in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, where he was named Best Supporting Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics.

In 2012 Cheadle garnered critical acclaim for his role in Robert Zemeckis' FLIGHT, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and was released by Paramount Pictures. In 2011, Cheadle produced and starred in THE GUARD, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics, and in 2008, he starred opposite Guy Pearce in Overture Films' TRAITOR, an international thriller which he also produced. Cheadle was honored by both the CineVegas Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival and in 2007, receiving the ShoWest Male Star of the Year Award.

Additional film credits include TALK TO ME; the 2006 Oscar® winning Best Picture, CRASH, which Cheadle also produced; HOTEL RWANDA, for which his performance garnered Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, Broadcast Film Critics Award and Screen Actors Guild® Award nominations for Best Actor; OCEAN'S ELEVEN, OCEAN'S TWELVE and OCEAN'S THIRTEEN, directed by Steven Soderbergh; Mike Binder's REIGN OVER ME with Adam Sandler; the Academy Award® winning film TRAFFIC and OUT OF SIGHT, both also directed by Soderbergh; Paul Thomas Anderson's critically acclaimed BOOGIE NIGHTS; BULWORTH, SWORDFISH, MISSION TO MARS, John Singleton's ROSEWOOD, for which Cheadle earned an NAACP Image Award nomination; FAMILY MAN, directed by Brett Ratner and starring Nicolas Cage; COLORS, HAMBURGER HILL, and the independent features MANIC and THINGS BEHIND THE SUN.

For his work on television, Cheadle received a Golden Globe® Award and an Emmy® nomination for his remarkable portrayal of Sammy Davis Jr. in HBO's THE RAT PACK in 1999. That same year, he received an Emmy® nomination for his starring role in HBO's adaptation of the critically-acclaimed, best-selling novel A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines. He also starred for HBO in REBOUND: THE LEGEND OF EARL 'THE GOAT' MANIGAULT, directed by Eriq La Salle. Cheadle is also well-known for his two-year stint in the role of "District Attorney John Littleton" on David E. Kelley's critically-acclaimed series PICKET FENCES, and an Emmy® nominated guest-starring role on ER and a series regular role on THE GOLDEN PALACE.

Don also participated in Showtime's multi-part television event YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY which tells the story of our time: climate change and the impact it is having on people right now in the US and all over the world. The series reports on the crippling effects of climate change-related weather events and the ways individuals, communities, companies and governments are struggling to find solutions to the biggest threat our world has ever faced. News correspondents Thomas Friedman, Chris Hayes and Lesley Stahl report from across the globe and Don, Harrison Ford and Matt Damon, among others, share the stories of people and places impacted by a warming planet.

An accomplished stage actor, Cheadle originated the role of "Booth" in Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize winning play Top Dog Underdog at New York's Public Theatre under the direction of George C. Wolfe. His other stage credits include Leon, Lena and Lenz at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; The Grapes Of Wrath and Liquid Skin at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis; Cymbeline at The New York Shakespeare Festival; 'Tis Pity She's A Whore at Chicago's Goodman Theater; and Athol Fugard's Blood Knot at The Complex Theater in Hollywood. He also directed Cincinnati Man at the Attic Theatre and The Trip at Friends and Artists Theater in Hollywood.

In addition to his many acting honors, Cheadle was nominated for a Grammy® Award in 2004 for Best Spoken Word Album for his narration/dramatization of the Walter Mosley novel Fear Itself.

Cheadle's philanthropic work includes serving as a U.N. Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme. He also produced the documentary film, DARFUR NOW, an examination of the genocide in Sudan's western region of Darfur and, in 2007, he and George Clooney were recognized for their work for Darfur. The pair shared a Peace Summit Award at the 8th Annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Rome.

Steven Baigelman

Co-Writer

Steven Baigelman is Co-Writer/Executive producer of MILES AHEAD. The Toronto native has worked on numerous projects in both the feature film and television worlds. On the feature side, he wrote and directed FEELING MINNESOTA, starring Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz. He also co-wrote the James Brown bio-pic GET ON UP. In TV, Steven is currently the Creator and EP/Co-Showrunner for the upcoming drama series WICKED CITY, premiering 10/27/15 on ABC.

Darryl Porter

Producer

Darryl Porter has 30 years of executive level media experience in the areas of film, television, advertising, music, music publishing, new media, sports, and litigation management. He has expertise in business, legal and operations.

Darryl is a founder and principal of Iconic Spectrum, LLC, a multi-media production and intellectual property management company that focuses on licensing, developing marketing and exploiting intellectual properties, including copyright, trademark, name, likeness, and branding. He currently works with the Miles Davis Estate, the William "Count" Basie Trust, and The George Duke Music Trust. Darryl and his producing partners recently completed production on MILES AHEAD, a feature film inspired by Miles Davis, starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor. He formerly worked with Don Cornelius Productions/Soul Train, Inc., The Norman Whitfield Trust, and The Estate of Charles Stepney.

Porter co-founded and managed Underworld Entertainment, Inc., the film, television and record label in which he partnered with the celebrated directing twins, the Hughes Brothers. Underworld was distributed and financed by Hollywood Pictures, Universal Films, Capital Records and Interscope Records. In addition to overseeing operations, legal and shared creative matters, he was the principal liaison with the studios and record labels. While working with the Hughes Brothers, the group produced "Dead Presidents" and the critically acclaimed, "Menace II Society". The affiliated soundtracks achieved gold and platinum status, respectively.

Prior to Underworld, Porter was Senior Vice-President of Tribune Entertainment Company, where he headed the business group. He oversaw all business aspects relating to talent and production deals, the production and maintenance of network and syndicated television programming, including talk shows, late night variety, news/information, children's programming, annual award shows, mini-series, and movies-of-the-week. Tribune's owned and/or distributed properties included GERALDO, THE JOAN RIVERS SHOW, THE DENNIS MILLER SHOW, and SOUL TRAIN. Tribune also owned the Chicago Cubs.

Porter began his career as an attorney in prominent Chicago law firms. He practiced in the areas of entertainment, advertising, sports and securities litigation. Porter earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois, College of Law. Porter received his Bachelor of Science in Business from De Paul University.

Porter currently serves as Vice-Chairman of The Rheuben Allen Education Foundation and has served on the Boards and/or associations of I Have a Dream Foundation and the Los Angeles County Fair.

Vince Wilburn, Jr.

Producer

Vince Wilburn, Jr., nephew of late jazz icon Miles Davis, oversees Miles Davis Properties, LLC, along with Erin Davis (son of Miles) and Cheryl Davis (daughter of Miles). Wilburn, Jr. is a highly accomplished drummer and producer, who has both toured and recorded with Miles on many legendary recordings from 1984 through 1987, including: The GRAMMY-Award winning album AURA -- which he co-produced; DECOY - which he also co-produced; YOU'RE UNDER ARREST, and the 2008 GRAMMY nominated MILES FROM INDIA – which hit #8 on the Billboard jazz charts. Wilburn, Jr. also toured internationally with the All-Star MILES FROM INDIA ensemble to sell-out crowds.

More recently, Wilburn, Jr. performed with the Miles Electric Band to sold-out crowds at Lotos Jazz Festival (February 2014), SF Jazz Center (August 2014) and at the Hollywood Bowl (June 2012). The Bowl event celebrated the launch of the USPS and La Post (France) issued Miles Davis/Edith Piaf Forever stamps. To date, the stamp has sold more than 23 million units and is by far the top selling celebrity stamp of 2012.

Wilburn, Jr. is also a key participant on industry panels taking place at the GRAMMY Museum, GRAMMY Career Day, SXSW, SF MusicTech Summit and CMJ, in addition to partnering with Apple for their "Meet The Musicians" series at Apple SoHo. He is also a co-host of Miles Davis House at SXSW with Erin Davis, an annual day party featuring the widest cross genre of visionary buzz bands hitting Austin.

In 1989, he founded Nefdrum Productions and has been busy with numerous projects, featuring all-star performances by music icons Billy Preston, Ray Parker, Jr., Bernard Fowler, Darryl Jones, Charley Drayton, Ivan Neville, Wah Wah Watson, Freddie Washington, Randy Hall and Phil Upchurch among others.

He is currently assembling a full length hip-hop, remix tribute to honor the classic recordings of Miles Davis. This was influenced by the great success of a re-mix EP that he co-produced with Nas and Santana called EVOLUTION OF THE GROOVE. He serves as producer of the forthcoming MILES AHEAD film starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor. He's an active member of NARAS.

Daniel Wagner

Producer

Daniel Wagner is CEO and founder of Beverly Hills-based Bifrost Pictures, a production and financing company founded in 2013 to promote independent filmmakers and director-focused projects.

He recently completed production on MILES AHEAD, a Miles Davis bio-pic starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor, which marks Cheadle's feature film directorial debut. It was recently acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and will be the closing film at the upcoming New York Film Festival. Wagner also recently completed production of SHELTER, starring Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, directed by Paul Bettany in his directorial debut. SHELTER was acquired by Screen Media and will be released in theaters and VOD November 13th of this year. His next film will be the comedy DRUNK PARENTS starring Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek as two drunk parents attempt to hide their ever increasing financial difficulties from their daughter and social circle through elaborate neighborhood schemes.

The company's recent slate of projects include REASONABLE DOUBT staring Samuel Jackson and Domenic Cooper, and THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT, directed by David Burris and starring Minka Kelly, Haley Joel Osment, and Noah Wyle, based on the award-winning novel by Ron Rash.

Wagner executive produced WE'LL NEVER HAVE PARIS, written, starring and directed by THE BIG BANG THEORY's Simon Helberg; AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS starring Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster, and has executive produced major studio projects including Twentieth Century Fox's BROKEN CITY starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, directed by Allen Hughes and written by Brian Tucker and FIRE WITH FIRE, staring Josh Duhamel and Bruce Willis, written by Tom O'Connor and directed by David Barrett.

He currently sits on the board of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce, based in Los Angeles.

Prior to starting BiFrost, Wagner served as President of Production at Paradox Entertainment from 2007 to 2012, overseeing all aspects of physical production for Paradox's slate of films.

Before relocating to the US, Daniel worked in Europe for Tre Vänner AB, where he was responsible for development and production of several films and television shows. Daniel also produced several feature-length films for Sonet film AB, the largest independent film distribution and production company in Sweden, and worked as a stockbroker and financial analyst for Omega Partners in London. With a background in finance and physical production, Daniel understands every aspect of film financing, in both domestic and international spheres.

Robert Ogden Barnum

Producer

Recently recognized as one of Variety's "10 Producers to Watch", Robert Ogden Barnum is an Independent Spirit award-winning feature film producer whose most recent films include MILES AHEAD, the Don Cheadle directed film about Miles Davis, starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor, THE BRITS ARE COMING starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Sofia Vergara and Stephen Fry, and ELVIS & NIXON starring Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey. Other recent projects include Paul Bettany's directorial debut, SHELTER, starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, and Mike Binder's BLACK AND WHITE, starring Kevin Costner, both of which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival. Barnum also Executive Produced, which premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival.

Some of Barnum's past films include Peter Bogdanovich's SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, as well as the Academy Award® nominated Sundance hit, MARGIN CALL, starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto and Stanley Tucci. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and the Robert Altman Award. In addition to the award season success of MARGIN CALL, it is considered as one of the most successful "day-and-date" releases of all time. Barnum also Executive Produced John Hillcoat's LAWLESS – starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Jessica Chastain – which premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and went on to gross over $40M at the US box office; Sundance hit AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS, starring Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster; the critically acclaimed Cannes selection, ALL IS LOST, starring Robert Redford, and HATESHIP LOVESHIP, starring Kristin Wiig, Guy Pearce, Hailee Steinfeld and Nick Nolte that premiered at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.

Upcoming projects include Fred Wolf's DRUNK PARENTS, starring Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek.

Barnum is partnered in e2b Capital, with former head of William Morris Independent, Cassian Elwes. e2b Capital represents a variety of financiers for films, actively helping them select investments and overseeing the production and delivery of the films. Additionally, he's a partner in Fortitude International, the foreign sales and finance company that was launched in early 2014 with partners Nadine de Barros and Daniel Wagner.

Pamela Hirsch

Producer

Pamela Hirsch is a NYC-based producer with close to two decades of experience in the film industry. She's produced over 2 dozen films, and has screened at every prestigious major film festival - both domestic and international (Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, SXSW, Tribeca, etc.).

After producing several films on her own, she joined Plum Pictures in 2006 where she served as head of production until 2010. The company produced 13 films in 4 years. She went on to found Naked City Films, which she now runs.

Throughout Hirsch's career she has worked with some the world's finest filmmakers, including John Cameron Mitchell, Mira Nair, Joshua Marston, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Shekhar Kapur, The Hughes Brothers, Brad Anderson, Brett Ratner, Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Shari Springer Berman & Bob Pulcini, and Craig Lucas.

Most recently, Hirsch produced MILES AHEAD - an impressionistic tribute to the life and spirit of Miles Davis – directed by Don Cheadle (Sony Pictures Classics). Prior to that she collaborated, for the second time, with director team Berman & Pulcini to produce TEN THOUSAND SAINTS (Sundance 2015).

Her company, Naked City Films, recently produced the documentary REQUIEM FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM (featuring Noam Chomsky), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2015, to be distributed by NETFLIX.

She is currently producing CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?, written and to be directed by Nicole Holofcener; as well as THE OPTIMIST, which she will be producing with Nina Tassler, President of CBS network.

Lenore Zerman

Producer

After brief stints in book publishing and corporate fundraising at Carnegie Hall, Lenore Zerman began her entertainment career as a talent agent in her native New York at a boutique, bi-coastal agency. After moving to Los Angeles and working another six years as an agent, she opened her own management company with partner Kay Liberman in 1994. Liberman Zerman continues to represent long-time clients Julie Bowen, Ryan Stiles, David Anders, Doug Savant and Brenda Strong, as well as many others. In 2006, Zerman and Liberman founded Crescendo Productions with Don Cheadle, who had been one of their first clients.

In addition to MILES AHEAD, Zerman and Crescendo produced THE GUARD, starring Brendan Gleeson and Cheadle, and the documentary feature DARFUR NOW. She is also co-executive producer of the acclaimed Showtime series HOUSE OF LIES. Other Crescendo projects include last year's sleeper hit ST. VINCENT, starring Bill Murray, and the 2008 thriller TRAITOR.

Roberto Schaefer, ASC/AIC

Director of Photography

Roberto Schaefer, ASC/AIC, attended art school and received a BFA degree in multimedia and conceptual art with a minor in photography. He has been making moving images since childhood using his father's 8mm camera. These included early music videos, dramatic and experimental shorts. After a 4 year hiatus traveling the world and discovering life Roberto started as a producer of TV commercials in New York. At the same time he took side jobs shooting feature news documentaries for European TV outlets and short films for friends and filmmakers in the city.

In 1982 Roberto moved to Roma, Italy to shoot a feature film for a friend. In 1992 after 3 features, hundreds of TV commercials, music videos and documentaries while based in Roma and Milano he moved to Los Angeles to try the Hollywood film world.

Since then he has shot more than a dozen films, many hundreds of music videos and TV commercials, documentaries and more. Roberto has always continued to do his still photography and art.

He was nominated for a CableAce award for Best Cinematography for the 1994 Showtime movie of the week ROADRACERS.

In 2000 the AFI honored his work on BEST IN SHOW as one of the top 10 Movies of the Year. He was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Cinematography for the 2003 film FINDING NEVERLAND.

Roberto has continued his work in the motion picture industry on many independent and studio pictures including STRANGER THAN FICTION, THE KITE RUNNER, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, LEAVES OF GRASS, and THE HOST.

In 2013 he received the Golden Frog for Cinematographer-Director duo Award with Marc Forster for their 9 film, 15 year collaboration. Roberto also collaborated for the umpteenth time with Christopher Guest on the HBO series FAMILY TREE. In 2014 he has gone on to photograph TERM LIFE, MILES AHEAD and the upcoming GEOSTORM.

John Axelrad, ACE

Film Editor

After editing MILES AHEAD, John Axelrad, ACE switched gears and cut the comedy-horror-fantasy KRAMPUS for Legendary Pictures and Universal, which is to be theatrically released before Christmas 2015. Prior to working for Mr. Cheadle, Axelrad edited the comedy-dramas BEFORE WE GO (dir. Chris Evans) and RUDDERLESS (dir. William H. Macy). Axelrad has a frequent collaboration with director James Gray, having edited three films with him, which all premiered at the Cannes Film Festival: THE IMMIGRANT, TWO LOVERS, and WE OWN THE NIGHT. In between those films, Axelrad edited the thriller GONE for Lakeshore and Summit Entertainment, the romantic comedy SOMETHING BORROWED for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros, and the Miramax romantic comedy THE SWITCH. In 2009, Axelrad edited Fox Searchlight's critically acclaimed CRAZY HEART (starring Jeff Bridges) for director Scott Cooper.

Earlier credits for Axelrad include James Gunn's horror/comedy SLITHER, directors Danny and Oxide Pang's horror/thriller THE MESSENGERS, and Sony Screen Gems' horror/thriller BOOGEYMAN. He was also an additional editor on David Koepp's STIR OF ECHOES in 1999. In 2002, Axelrad served as editor on the pilot and 11 episodes of CBS' crime drama television series HACK.

Axelrad began his editing career mentored by some of the best editors in Los Angeles, including working as an assistant editor for Anne V. Coates, ACE on OUT OF SIGHT, ERIN BROCKOVICH, and UNFAITHFUL; Debra Neil-Fisher, ACE on UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL; and for Bruce Green, ACE on HOME ALONE 3 and WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING. He made the move to editor by cutting several independent feature films and television movies in between assisting jobs.

Kayla Emter

Film Editor

Kayla Emter was born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota and graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Film. Wanting to continue refining her editing skills she moved to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute, with a specialty in Film Editing.

Following AFI, Kayla began her journey as an Assistant Editor and worked for some of the most highly respected Film Editors around, including Dody Dorn, ACE on Casey Affleck's critically acclaimed film I'M STILL HERE starring Joaquin Phoenix. She then worked with another top Film Editor, John Axelrad, ACE, on Warner Bros' romantic comedy SOMETHING BORROWED starring Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. With the help of Axelrad's vision and support, Emter earned her first Addt'l-Editing credit, on the Summit Entertainment thriller GONE. This was followed by a Co-Editing credit on James Gray's THE IMMIGRANT which was in competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. And most recently, the two collaborated on Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic, MILES AHEAD.

Emter has cut several solo features including the Anchor Bay crime thriller 7 MINUTES and is currently cutting the Susan Sarandon, JK Simmons, Rose Byrne dramedy THE MEDDLER, directed by Lorene Scafaria.

Gersha Phillips

Costume Designer

Gersha Phillips' merits an international eye for fashion. Born in England to parents of Caribbean and African descent, she and her family moved to Canada when she was twelve years old. Since then her work has carried her all over the world.

Formally trained in fashion design, Gersha's earliest work experience includes; window display, store merchandising, pattern making and manufacturing for an independent Canadian label, as well as launching her own line of clothing. One fateful day, while watching the credits for the film BEACHES, the title "Costume Designer" rolled across the screen and a seed was planted. Initially a volunteer for the Canadian Film Center, Gersha graduated from assistant to lead costumer over the course of that first production. Theatre, music videos and photo shoots quickly followed before she became immersed in stage, film and television series that have kept her moving at full speed ever since.

Recent accomplishments include Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Syfy Pilot INCORPORATED; (Sean Teale, Julia Ormond, and Dennis Haysbert); MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 (Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Rita Wilson and John Stamos); Lifetime mini-series THE SECRET LIFE OF MARILYN (Kelli Garner, Susan Sarandon, and Emily Watson. These costumes are currently featured in The Hollywood Museum: Marilyn Monroe exhibit; MILES AHEAD where Gersha teams up again with Don Cheadle, this time as Director, premiering at Nyff , (Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, Keith Stanfield and Emayatzy Corinealdi); Anton Corbijn's LIFE premiered at the Venice Film Festival,(Robert Pattinson, Dane DeHaan, and Ben Kingsley); feature film BLACK NATIVITY (Forest Whittaker, Angela Basset); and Netflix original hit series HOUSE OF CARDS (S2 eps 1-6).

Gersha was nominated for a Canadian screen award for her work on the feature film MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES (Lily Collins, Jamie Bower Campbell, and Lena Heady).

In 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival, both FOXFIRE directed by Laurent Cantet, and HOME AGAIN (Tatyana Ali, & CCH Pounder), had their international premier. THE WHISTLEBLOWER (Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci, David Stathairn); TV Series FALLING SKIES SEASON 1 (Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton); DEFENDOR (Woody Harrelson, Kat Dennings); TRAITOR (Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce); HURRICANE SEASON (Forest Whitaker, Taraji P Henson); FIRST SUNDAY (Ice Cube, Tracy Morgan); A RAISIN IN THE SUN (Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan); TALK TO ME (Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Taraji Henson); NARC (Ray Liotta, Jason Patrick); WALKING TALL (The Rock, Johnny Knoxville) and ARE WE THERE YET? (Ice Cube, Nia Long) and OWNING MAHONEY (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver) are some other well-known works she has designed.

For the stage, Gersha received a Dora award nomination for her work on Florence Gibson's Belle (Ken Gass). She is a tireless designer, often crafting visions of an unknown upcoming feature in her mind when inspiration hits.

Hannah Beachler

Production Designer

Hannah Beachler is a prolific production designer with an affinity for realistic design that emphasizes emotional drama.

She recently designed sets for CREED, the upcoming spinoff from the ROCKY film series for director Ryan Coogler. The action drama stars Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan and will be released by Warner Bros. on Nov. 25.

Last year alone, Beachler wrapped production design work on three films: Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic MILES AHEAD (closing this year's New York Film Festival), starring Cheadle as Davis alongside co-stars Ewan McGregor and Emayatzy Corinealdi; the Darren Aronofsky-produced ZIPPER, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and opened in theaters Aug. 28, starring Patrick Wilson and Lena Headey; and Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum's horror remake of THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN which was released in October 2014.

Beachler designed the sets for FRUITVALE STATION, 2013's Sundance Film Festival breakout, which won both the Grand Jury and Audience Prize. FRUITVALE went on to take home the Prix de l'avenir (Prize of the Future) in the Un Certain Regard competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Best First Film at the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards, as well as 44 other nominations and awards.

She also provided production design expertise on: HATESHIP LOVESHIP starring Kristen Wiig and Guy Pearce, which opened in April, following its 2013 Toronto Film Festival premiere; and the thriller SAMUEL BLEAK, directed by Dustin Dugas Schuetter.

In 2011 Beachler saw the release of no less than eight features, including After Dark Originals HUSK, SECONDS APART, FERTILE GROUND and SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE, as well as QUARANTINE 2: TERMINAL and WORST. PROM. EVER.

Beachler has worked with high profile directors including Renny Harlin, Peter Hyams, Gabriele Muccino and directors of photography Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, Dean Cundey, ASC, Roberto Schaeffer, ASC, Michael Goi, ASC and Peter Menzies Jr., ACS.

She is represented by Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA).

Robert Glasper

Composer

Growing up in Houston, Texas, Robert Glasper had a strong musical influence in his mother, who played piano and sang gospel music in church as well as in jazz and blues clubs in Houston. By the age of twelve, he was playing piano in church and often accompanied his mother in clubs. Raised on gospel, Motown, and R&B, by his teens he was listening to jazz, rock, pop and hip hop. He attended the Houston High School for the Performing Arts and moved to New York City to study at New School University. While still in school he was already playing with Christian McBride and Kenny Garrett, and went on to play with Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard, and Roy Hargrove.

After releasing his debut album MOOD on the Fresh Sound label in 2003 followed by two buzzed about Blue Note albums with his acoustic Trio—CANVAS (2005) and IN MY ELEMENT (2007)—Glasper perfectly captured his unique duality with DOUBLE-BOOKED (2009), an album that juxtaposed his Trio and Experiment bands, and earned the keyboardist his first GRAMMY nomination.

The 2012 release of BLACK RADIO, the first full album from the Experiment, laid out a new paradigm for creative music, reaching beyond entrenched genre boundaries to create a singular vision that drew from all reaches of contemporary black music and beyond. The album was met with both commercial success (a #10 debut on Billboard's Top Current Albums chart) and wide acclaim, with Rolling Stone declaring "Glasper heads down the fraught path of hip-hop jazz and gets it right," adding that "with music this smart and inviting, the implied diss of mainstream doesn't feel like sour grapes; it feels like a blueprint forward."

BLACK RADIO featured collaborations with vocalists including Erykah Badu, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Musiq Soulchild, and yasiin bey, and Glasper followed the album release with TV appearances on CBS LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, NBC TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO and NBC LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON. The album kept earning accolades all the way to the 2013 GRAMMY Awards where BLACK RADIO was awarded Best R&B Album.

The Experiment upped the ante with the release of BLACK RADIO 2, another genre-defying effort that took the BLACK RADIO blueprint and built to even greater heights. The core remained the Experiment, as astoundingly versatile a band as has ever existed, featuring Robert Glasper on keyboards, Derrick Hodge on bass, Mark Colenburg on drums, and Casey Benjamin on vocoder and saxophone. Providing the vocals throughout was another jaw-dropping roll call of vocalists including Common, Patrick Stump, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Emeli Sandé. Lalah Hathaway and Malcolm-Jamal Warner were featured on a spine-tingling cover of Steve Wonder's "Jesus Children of America" which was dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. The track was awarded the GRAMMY for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2015.

Now, ten years after making his BLUE NOTE debut, Glasper will has return to his acclaimed acoustic jazz trio for his new album, COVERED (THE ROBERT GLASPER TRIO RECORDED LIVE AT CAPITOL STUDIOS), which will be released in June 2015. COVERED features covers of some of Glasper's favorite songs by Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Jhené Aiko, John Legend, as well as a powerful version the Kendrick Lamar track "I'm Dying Of Thirst." Glasper has also drawn wide attention for his prominent role on the rapper's acclaimed new album TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY.