A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Indiana Jones` Latest Adventure Source: Paramount Pictures Official Website: Indiana Jones Special Thanks to Joy O`Brien

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details for a new film. The following production notes were created by Paramount Pictures for INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, opening in theaters this Thursday, May 22. The text is © 2008 Lucasfilm Ltd. His exploits are the stuff of legend and his name has become the very definition of adventure. Indiana Jones. The whip-toting, punch-packing, snake-hating, globe-trotting archaeologist with a fedora is back on screen in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” debuting worldwide Thursday, May 22, 2008. This newest adventure begins in the desert Southwest in 1957 – the height of the Cold War. Indy and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have barely escaped a close scrape with nefarious Soviet agents on a remote airfield. Now, Professor Jones has returned home to Marshall College – only to find things have gone from bad to worse. His close friend and dean of the college (Jim Broadbent) explains that Indy’s recent activities have made him the object of suspicion, and that the government has put pressure on the university to fire him. On his way out of town, Indiana meets rebellious young Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), who carries both a grudge and a proposition for the adventurous archaeologist: If he’ll help Mutt on a mission with deeply personal stakes, Indy could very well make one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in history – the Crystal Skull of Akator, a legendary object of fascination, superstition and fear. But as Indy and Mutt set out for the most remote corners of Peru – a land of ancient tombs, forgotten explorers and a rumored city of gold – they quickly realize they are not alone in their search. The Soviet agents are also hot on the trail of the Crystal Skull. Chief among them is icy cold, devastatingly beautiful Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), whose elite military unit is scouring the globe for the eerie Crystal Skull, which they believe can help the Soviets dominate the world ... if they can unlock its secrets. Indy and Mutt must find a way to evade the ruthless Soviets, follow an impenetrable trail of mystery, grapple with enemies and friends of questionable motives, and, above all, stop the powerful Crystal Skull from falling into the deadliest of hands. Paramount Pictures Presents a Lucasfilm Ltd. Production “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” starring Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, Jim Broadbent and Shia LaBeouf. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp. Story by George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson. The film is produced by Frank Marshall. The executive producers are George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy. The co-producer is Denis L. Stewart. The director of photography is Janusz Kaminski. The production designer is Guy Hendrix Dyas. The film is edited by Michael Kahn, A.C.E. The costume designer is Mary Zophres. The music is by John Williams. The visual effects and animation are by Industrial Light & Magic. This film has been rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THE RETURN OF THE GREAT ADVENTURE

Spielberg, Lucas and Ford Re-Team for an Adventure Worthy of the Name INDIANA JONES Like its predecessors, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is distinguished from anything else in the cinema landscape by Steven Spielberg’s unparalleled vision, George Lucas’s limitless imagination and Harrison Ford’s embodiment of a timeless adventure hero.

From his first appearance nearly 27 years ago, Indiana Jones has become one of the most beloved heroes of the silver screen, and almost since the day 1989’s “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was released, audiences all over the world have announced their collective desire for another Indiana Jones adventure. “We created Indiana Jones, but it belongs to the world,” says director Steven Spielberg. “And now we’re the custodians. Our job really is to serve up a huge helping not only of what Indiana Jones means to audiences who grew up with it, but to introduce the character to those who haven’t. This new film is for the fans.” Executive producer and co-story writer, George Lucas, says his goal was to create an experience that will transport audiences into an all-new adventure set in a familiar world – a world that generations of fans have come to know and love. “The style is the same, the humor is the same. Everything feels the same. But we’ve also been able to build on it. The relationships we have on the set and the ones on the screen are stronger and better and more fun than they’ve ever been,” Lucas says. Few actors have been as inextricably identified with a character as Harrison Ford is with Indiana Jones – and he returned to the role with all the style and swagger that helped turn the archaeologist-adventurer into a cinema icon. “Having been out in the world making all kinds of other movies, I was happy to do another Indiana Jones film, just because they’re so damned much fun to do,” Ford says. “I love being in business again with Steven and George and I’ve had a great time on this one.” Spielberg calls Ford’s casting the most important element in the unique alchemy of Indiana Jones. “More important than my directing it, more important than all the writers that came in, more important than almost the sum of all of its parts, was the fact that this series would not have been as successful as it was if it were not for Harrison Ford playing that role,” says Spielberg. “Harrison is at home in the skin of Indiana Jones.”

For years after the release of “Last Crusade,” Spielberg harbored a belief that the time for Indiana Jones had ended. “I shot Indiana Jones riding a horse into the sunset because I thought that brought the curtain down on the story,” he remarks. “And in a sweet, nostalgic way, that was fine with me at the time. But there were some people who weren’t fine with it – and this movie really started with the fans.” It took the energy, enthusiasm and persistence of Harrison Ford to inspire the team to reunite for another adventure. “Harrison called me and said, ‘Why don’t we make another one of these pictures? There’s a fan base out there that wants it,’” Spielberg recalls. “He was tenacious. He called George, and George got to thinking about it, and then George called me and said, ‘Well, Steve, what do you want to do? It could be fun to make another movie.’” “I have to give the credit to Harrison for starting the ball rolling and then to George for working to get me to consider the possibility of at least one more story,” Spielberg says. Together, Spielberg, Lucas and Ford agreed that they would only pursue a fourth Indiana Jones adventure if the idea – and the execution – were up to the standards of the first three movies. It took 19 years to find just the right script – and one of the first points of agreement between the three was that 19 years should pass for Indiana Jones, too. “He is certainly older, if not wiser,” Ford jokes.

ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER QUEST

Indiana Jones Ventures Into the Amazing World of the 1950s When we last saw Indiana Jones on screen, it was 1938, and the world stood on the brink of war as Dr. Jones chased down evildoers to find the Holy Grail.

Nineteen years later, he’s cracking his whip again, and many things have changed ... but some have remained the same. Again, the world is at a precipice, this time caused by the specter of nuclear annihilation, and Indy’s struggle is once again to ensure that a precious, mysterious object remains safe from those bent on destroying humanity. The story of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” as created by George Lucas, Jeff Nathanson and written by David Koepp moves the era forward, and their decisions led to some unexpected – and creatively rewarding – choices about the feel of the fourth Indiana Jones adventure. The genesis of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was inextricably tied to Spielberg and Lucas’s respective love for movie serials from the 1930s. Those adventure classics were enormously influential on the action, adventure and suspense of first three Indiana Jones movies. But 19 years after those serials had ended, a new entertainment age had dawned. Serials gave way to television, but their sensibilities weren’t gone from the screen. By the mid-1950s, science-fiction films had become ubiquitous, especially for younger audiences craving action and adventure. Often breathtaking, despite the fact that they were usually filmed on shoestring budgets, they were movies filled with suspicion and paranoia about the rapidly changing scientific and technological world. Though imbued with dread fueled by the Cold War, they were also optimistic about the ingenuity of mankind to overcome attacks from outer space, under the sea – or from within. The spirit of those movies is felt throughout “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

“It was important for me that the character move into the Atomic Age,” says Spielberg. “Our film takes place in 1957, which is totally informed by the Cold War, by McCarthyism, by hot rods, and girls wearing letter sweaters, ponytails, and saddle shoes. For me, the ‘50s were emblematic of music, of the very beginning of rock and roll. It was Technicolor. The Fifties means the bright young faces that Norman Rockwell loved to paint.” Executive producer Kathleen Kennedy concurs, “The ‘50s were an interesting period, because it was still an age of innocence, a time when we were coming out of World War II and people were excited about moving into the future.” The changes also meant the filmmakers could explore a different kind of villain. As Spielberg explains, “Setting the story in 1957 planted us firmly in the middle of the Cold War with the threat of nuclear annihilation and the Red Menace, as it used to be known in America. Those were things that were in the headlines on a daily basis, so when it came to who the villains would be, the Russians got the job.” Despite the changes in setting and tone, some things remain undeniably the same. “All the traditions of Indiana Jones are back again,” says Spielberg. “We’ve got the map; we’ve got the plane and the vehicles with the little red line showing you how you’re hop-scotching across the globe – and it’s just part of the milieu that we’ve spent many years establishing.” The end result is a movie for both old fans and new ones. “There’s a tremendous feeling among everyone to hit the high bar and live up to the huge expectations for this movie,” says producer Frank Marshall. “And when people ask me, ‘What’s the new movie like?’ the only thing I can say is: It’s Indiana Jones!”

HEROES AND VILLAINS ...

Familiar Faces and Talented Newcomers Sign Up for the Adventure of a Lifetime “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” would be nothing without its iconic title character. But while Indy may fancy himself a solitary scholar and a lone wolf, his travels always seem to couple him with an eclectic assortment of friends, enemies and every questionable alliance in between. “There is a certain amount of comfortable melodrama that always takes place in the storytelling,” says executive producer Kathleen Kennedy. “There’s the villain – and this one definitely has a great villain. There’s the banter with Indy and whoever his counterpart is – and we have a great sidekick. Indy always has a love interest, he’s got buddies along the way, people who betray him, and people who are not what they appear to be, and that’s what makes it fun.”

For the latest Indiana Jones adventure, the filmmakers assembled an impressive international cast – led, of course, by the inimitable Harrison Ford. Director Steven Spielberg calls Ford “the secret weapon. From the very beginning, Harrison was and is the center of Indiana Jones.” In Dr. Jones, Ford has created a screen hero whose enduring appeal is a unique combination of no-nonsense toughness and snake-fearing humility. “Harrison’s a man’s man,” says co-star Shia LaBeouf, who portrays Indy’s unwitting sidekick as they go in search of the legendary Crystal Skull. “So when you put him into these situations where he’s vulnerable, it’s hysterical. Any vulnerabilities Indy has – and there are a lot of them – are funny. Indiana Jones is very rough around the edges, but he’s actually a really good person, and that’s also just the way Harrison is. He’s an action man, and he makes an art form out of it. No one else is Indiana Jones.” Returning to the unforgettable role of the intrepid archaeologist, Ford knew that there would be tremendous stunt demands put on him, so he went into training to ensure he’d be up to the task and that a stunt double could be used as rarely as possible. “He wants to be Indiana Jones and doesn’t want anyone else doing those stunts,” says producer Marshall. “In this movie, there’s a lot of running around, chasing, jumping, whipping, rolling around in the jungle, and Harrison did it all. It’s a real testament to his passion for the character, and it comes through on the screen. You see that it’s him, and you know that it’s real.” Ford has been one of the silver screen’s most iconic actors for more than three decades, and his biggest break (after a walk-on role as a bellhop in 1966’s “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round”) came in George Lucas’s “American Graffiti” in 1973. Lucas then cast Ford as Han Solo in “Star Wars,” even though the actor originally only intended to help read lines with auditioning actors. Likewise, Ford wasn’t the original choice for Indiana Jones – but today, it would be nearly impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. That’s doubly true, Lucas says, now that Indy has aged as a character. “In this movie, Harrison gets to portray a huge evolution of the character, as he moves from the 1930s to the 1950s,” he says. “Pushing the plot forward has been a bit of an adventure in more ways than one, because we’re breaking the mold while keeping the films consistent. The reason it works this time is the same reason it has always worked: Harrison Ford.” The actor’s return to the role brought feelings of excitement and nostalgia to everyone on the set – especially to Spielberg. “To see Harrison walk on the set, pick up the whip, snap it and wrap it around one of the bad guys was pretty incredible,” he says. “It was amazing to see how fast Harrison was with it – and then be on the set to see Indy’s rucksack and his other props ... well, it wasn’t just nostalgia. That was when I realized that we were bringing this character and everything he’s about back to the audience that grew up with him, as well as to new audiences.” For his part, LaBeouf thinks that once they see Indiana Jones back in action, audiences of all ages in theaters will share the excitement the actor experienced on set. “Maybe people my age never saw them in the theater, but Indiana Jones is huge for us,” he says. “It’s huge for all generations.”

LaBeouf’s character, Mutt, is integral to Indy’s newest escapade, and bringing the character to the screen proved to be an adventure in itself for the actor. The rising star of “TRANSFORMERS,” “Disturbia” and this fall’s “Eagle Eye,” found himself thrust into the action from the moment he learned he got the part. “Steven wrote a little note on my script that said, ‘OK, now it’s time to transform yourself into Mutt! Signed, Steven,’ and then he gave me three movies to watch,” LaBeouf says of his preparation for the role. The movies: “The Blackboard Jungle,” “Rebel Without a Cause” and “The Wild One.” The latter still makes LaBeouf chuckle. “As though I was supposed to go home and watch ‘The Wild One’ and go, ‘Oh, yeah, I see how Marlon Brando did it!’” Nonetheless, he soon found himself learning about his unique character. “Mutt’s a kid who’s never really had a normal upbringing. He quit school and became obsessed with motorcycles and machinery,” he says. “There’s so much about Mutt that he never really got to talk about, so now he prefers not to. He’s like a man-boy, a person who on the outside is presenting himself to be something he’s really not.” Mutt’s isolated, solitary ‘50s rebel proves to be an interesting counterpoint to Dr. Jones himself, LaBeouf says. “In some ways, this quest is really about forging and re-creating a family. First with Indiana, then with the others they meet, their unit becomes stronger as all this insanity happens – you know, each punch is bringing them closer together!” Preparing the character was only part of LaBeouf’s Indiana Jones adventure. As soon as he signed on, he says he knew there would be more – much more. “You just know that you’re going to get it coming onto an Indiana Jones movie – you know you’re going to get it! That was one of my first thoughts: Something horrible is going to happen to me.” Through it all – snakes, swords, knives and motorcycles – LaBeouf found his most exciting moment came when he first laid eyes on Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. “You get breathless,” he says. “Your breath literally leaves you. For me, though, part of that reaction had to do with the way I saw him in full costume for the first time. We were on an Air Force base, and we were doing vehicle training. Harrison flew in on a helicopter. He got out of the helicopter, took five or six steps, then reached back for something. It was his whip! It’s weird, because in that moment, he wasn’t Harrison Ford – he was Indiana Jones. I was watching him pulling out that whip, untangling it, putting grease on it, and then he held it and I thought, ‘Oh, my God. This is real.’”

But Indiana Jones isn’t the only returning screen favorite in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” To Indy’s surprise, he also reunites with the greatest love of his life, a woman he’s never completely been able to forget: Marion Ravenwood, again played by Karen Allen. For the story, bringing back Marion made complete sense, says screenwriter David Koepp. “The thing about Marion and Indy is that they so clearly belong together.” Executive producer Kathleen Kennedy adds, “The minute Karen smiles, she’s right back to when we were shooting the first movie. There’s very little that’s changed about her spirit.” Allen does smile when she reflects on Marion’s fiery spirit, which illuminated “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” “She’s a very strong character,” Allen says. “I think she’s somebody who fell very hard for Indy when she was a teenager, and in that wonderful, old-fashioned, romantic way, Indiana Jones is the love of her life. “But,” Allen observes, “he wasn’t the kind of person who could be around, and she understood that from the beginning. She was a modern girl. A lot of people said she was ‘spunky.’ It’s not just spunk - she’s resourceful. She knows how to take care of herself and take care of other people. She didn’t want to stop Indy from being who he is.” Allen’s return to the screen is something her fellow actors were eager to see. “Everyone just cheered at the end of her first take,” says co-star Cate Blanchett. “She’s just this extraordinarily liberated presence onscreen. I remember seeing her for the first time and thinking there was no other heroine I’d ever seen as free and feisty as that. Karen is just so buoyant. You fall in love with her both as a person and a screen presence.” For Lucas, there’s a good reason audiences have found Marion to be the most memorable, and perhaps formidable, of Indy’s on-screen loves. “Marion has got a great sense of humor, and that’s really Karen,” he says. “She’s fun to be with, she’s strong, she’s up to Indy and you believe that only she could put him in his place. They’re a real team together.” Marion isn’t the only strong female character he encounters this time around – indeed, the story’s ruthless villain is Soviet agent Irina Spalko. Oscar and BAFTA Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett plays Spalko, leader of the Soviet Army’s quest for the Crystal Skull. It’s the first time she’s played what she terms an “out-and-out baddie,” and she says it turned out to be gleeful fun. “Spalko has an almost impenetrable steel-like quality to her – you know, not a hair out of place, no matter what she’s doing, never anything on her boots no matter what mud she’s walking through,” Blanchett says. “There’s a remarkable precision about her. She’s penetrating and, therefore, potentially lethal.”

While on set, Blanchett says, “You’ve got to be ready for anything, because Steven often changes things in the moment.” Blanchett learned to fence for an intense sword fighting scene that took place in the jungle – on top of moving vehicles. And if that wasn’t enough, the director decided to throw one more thing in the mix. “We were doing a chase sequence through the jungle in Hawaii and all of a sudden, he wanted to introduce a karate-chop sequence,” Blanchett recalls, “so we had to get that together very quickly. It’s a great way to work, actually, because it means that everything you do is really fueled and focused by adrenaline.” Executive producer George Lucas thinks audiences will have a fantastic feeling when watching Blanchett. “Movie stars don’t get a chance to play villains very often, so it’s a fun, juicy, exciting thing,” he says. “Spalko is somebody who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and that’s what makes a good villain. As the audience, you have to believe it, you have to be afraid of it, and the way Cate plays this, you’re definitely afraid of her.” As an Indiana Jones newcomer, Blanchett says she was amazed by the intense curiosity that surrounded the project. “I don’t think I realized before we began just how many people were desperate for another installment. It’s really a fantastic feeling.” As seriously as Blanchett took the task of playing a formidable villain, she says part of her was always giddy about being in an Indiana Jones movie. “Everyone at my primary school wanted to kiss Harrison Ford, but I actually wanted to be Harrison Ford. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! When Harrison and Karen Allen were on screen together it was utterly electric, utterly transporting. The ‘Raiders’ theme still gives me goose bumps.”

... FRIENDS AND SIDEKICKS

A Talented Cast Brings to Life Old Acquaintances and New Companions

Behind every great adventurer are equally great friends, and in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” they are portrayed by some of the most renowned actors in the world, who populate the story with indelible characters. “The beauty of having Steven direct an action/adventure movie like Indiana Jones is that he’s capable of attracting a very high caliber of talent,” explains executive producer Kathleen Kennedy. “That’s never been truer than in ‘Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.’” The movie’s distinguished cast includes Oscar-nominated actor John Hurt, who portrays an old colleague of Indy’s who is reported missing as “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” begins. Hurt’s character has spent much of his life pursuing the Crystal Skull of Akator, and the endless search has nearly driven him mad. Director Steven Spielberg says he hoped from the start that Hurt would accept the role, which was inspired by the character Ben Gunn in the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Treasure Island. “I sent the script to John and said, ‘Please, John, think of Ben Gunn when you read the script.’ And he did. And he plays the part brilliantly.” Hurt elaborates: “He’s the man who was left on the island for 20 years before they came back for him. But, as it turns out, my character isn’t a man who was simply left on his own – he is a man who has become possessed, which comes out as a kind of madness. Of course, the Russians have also now become interested in the skull for completely different reasons, and that’s where the story picks up.”

Veteran actor Ray Winstone, who gained the attention of international audiences in the gritty gangster film “Sexy Beast,” is also new to the Indiana Jones cast. Indy regards “Mac” George Michale as a friend, but screenwriter Koepp says Winstone’s character isn’t quite as simple as that. “The fun part about Mac is that you never quite know whether to believe him. He bends the truth to suit his purposes. But it’s utterly charming, and he’s really good at it, so just like Indy, we like him and, against our better instincts, we trust him.” Winstone was Spielberg’s first and only choice to play Mac. “I knew Ray Winstone from seeing him in “Sexy Beast.” When I saw that film, I said, ‘I want to work with that actor!’ I think he is one of the most brilliant actors around.” Winstone himself says he sympathizes with Mac, who finds himself walking a jagged line between the competing powers of the Americans and the Soviets. “There was a lot of confusion after World War II, with the rise of the Iron Curtain and the start of the Cold War. Figuring out who you were working for and who you were working against must have been crazy.” A favorite character from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was Marcus Brody, the museum curator and longtime friend of Indy and his father. While Denholm Elliott, who portrayed Brody, died in 1992, the character receives a fitting tribute in “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”– and Indy has a new, trusted adviser at Marshall College. Dean Charles Stanforth, played by Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, is also “a close friend and colleague of Indiana’s, and they have known each other for many years at the university,” Broadbent says. “Dean Stanforth is Indy’s immediate supervisor, but they have a good, humorous and close-sharing relationship. Harrison is a lovely actor to work with, so that makes it easy.” Spielberg says Broadbent “brings a beautiful camaraderie in replacing the loss of Denholm Elliott. Jim brings the same kind of humanity that Denholm lent to the character of Marcus. The deep, deep friendship Dean Stanforth has with Indiana Jones is very important, and plays a major role in the story.” To accompany evil Agent Spalko, this adventure introduces a new character, Col. Dovchenko, the leader of Spalko’s traveling henchmen. Igor Jijikine, who had been a high-wire trapeze artist for Cirque du Soleil, plays Dovchenko. His comrades-in-arms include Dmitri Diatchenko and, from the hit television series “Lost,” Andrew Divoff. “Pat Roach, who was our iconic muscleman villain, passed away, and we were very sad not to have him in this picture,” explains Spielberg. “I was looking for someone to fit the kind of role he used to play. Debbie Zane, our casting director brought Igor in, and I thought he’d be a terrific villain.” Good guys and bad guys, sidekicks and rivals – they’re familiar territory, and Spielberg says he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I wasn’t trying to make this movie bigger or better,” he says. “I wanted this to be a blood relative to the other three ‘Raiders’ pictures – which is what I love to call them. The world knows them as ‘Indiana Jones films.’ I call them ‘Raiders pictures.’”

NEW MEXICO ... NEW HAVEN ... NEW INDY

Finally, Cameras Roll On the First Indiana Jones Adventure for a New Generation

It happened at Ghost Ranch, north of Santa Fe, N.M. Indiana Jones came back. Following tradition on his movies, director Steven Spielberg broke out bottles of Champagne and offered a toast as cameras got ready to capture the first images of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” “It was like we dropped back to the end of the last one,” says producer Frank Marshall. “It was exactly the same. The relationships, the creative atmosphere that was on the set, the respect – all these elements were there once again.” “There wasn’t one person there who didn’t believe they were witnessing magic,” says co-producer Denis L. Stewart. “Everyone was so happy and full of adrenaline just to see everyone together again making these movies. That carried the day and helped us move through an aggressive schedule.” The first leg of production unfolded in the stunning and desolate desert landscapes of New Mexico. From Ghost Ranch, the company traveled 300 miles southwest to Deming. There, hangers at an old World War II Army Air base were virtually unchanged since their heyday, and with a little set dressing and some War-era army Jeeps and Soviet soldiers, the area was transformed to provide the backdrop for the opening sequences of the movie. From New Mexico, production traveled east to the home of Professor Jones and Marshall College. “One of the challenges we had on this movie,” Marshall explains, “was that we had established a lot of locations in the first three movies which we had to duplicate.” Indeed, the interior of the classroom in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was shot in London, while the exterior was shot at the University of the Pacific in Northern California. For “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the filmmakers would need to reproduce both. The solution, says Marshall, was found at an iconic Ivy League school in New Haven, Conn.

The filmmakers were delighted to find the unique personality and flavor for Marshall College at Yale University. “The exteriors were perfect for the period, the classrooms were great and we had wonderful cooperation from the university and the town,” Marshall says. From the classroom to a motorcycle chase through campus halls, quads and town, Yale and New Haven provided a perfect backdrop for Professor Jones, Dean Stanforth and the introduction of Mutt. As the film’s producer, it was easy, in the midst of production, to forget that Indy’s workplace had a very familiar name. “I started seeing ‘Marshall’ everywhere when I got to New Haven’ and then I realized that, way back on ‘Raiders,’ we had come up with the incredibly inventive name of Marshall College,” he jokes. Some of the most critical and challenging sequences in the story take place within the dense jungles of the Peruvian rainforest. “Iquitos is referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Amazon,’” says screenwriter David Koepp. “It’s the last city before you move into intense jungle, the border where the wild and the civilized meet. It’s the perfect place for an Indiana Jones adventure to begin.” In a small town at the jungle’s entrance, Indy and Mutt locate important clues that draw them deeper into the mysteries of the Crystal Skull. While the exterior of the town was shot on the Universal backlot transformed by production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas into a dusty Peruvian street, the jungle itself was a more difficult find. The filmmakers scouted far and wide for an ideal location that would reflect that primeval forest. “It’s hard to find untouched jungle,” co-producer Stewart says. “We searched Mexico, Guatemala, South America, Puerto Rico.” Finally the production found what they were looking for a little closer to home. “We looked all over for the right location, and finally decided to look at Hawaii.” The company found their jungle in the southeast corner of the Big Island of Hawaii. On a private tract of land, under the dense canopy of old jungle growth, the filmmakers spent several weeks filming some of the more challenging sequences of the film, including a swordfight atop moving cars. “The Hawaii location became an excellent place for us to pull off some very difficult scenes,” says Marshall “We had a lot of action, a lot of stunts with the actors themselves, so it was important to be in a place where we could pretty much operate without any outside interference.” From Hawaii, the company traveled back home to Southern California and resumed shooting, using nearly every studio lot for dozens of vast and varied sets skillfully crafted by Dyas and his team. Indiana Jones’ home was built on Stage 29 on Universal Studios’ famous backlot. “It’s one of those archetypal sets that allowed us to show our main character`s more private side,” says Dyas. The production designer and his team worked hard to replicate Jones’ home, carefully pouring over images from the previous films. “We meticulously tried to recreate the style of Indiana Jones` 1930`s home interior while keeping in mind the fact that we`re now in 1957," says Dyas. Working with set decorator Larry Dias, Dyas sought to create a home that would both reflect Indy`s personal style and interests and convey to the audience a real sense of passage of time since the last film. “We filled his living room and study area with beautiful & intriguing archaeological artifacts, objects that Indy has collected over the years during some of his other faraway adventures.”

Dyas’s team also created several exterior sets at Universal Studios, including the dangerous town where Indy and Mutt land on the first leg of their journey; and a massive, nearly 80-foot-tall, structure that’s part of the temple seen in the film’s climax. A disappearing “stone” staircase built around a 35-foot cylinder went up on a soundstage on the other side of Los Angeles, at Sony Studios, formerly the legendary MGM backlot. The task of creating practical stairs that would retract as our heroes swiftly make their way down, fell to special effects coordinator Dan Sudick. (As opposed to the visual-effects work of Industrial Light & Magic, “special effects” refers to practical effects created on set.) Sudick had handled special effects on Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” and the director was so impressed with his work, he invited him back. “I walked onto the set and it was one of the most exciting things I have seen since I walked onto Joe Alves’ set on ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ in that dirigible hanger in Mobile, Ala.,” recalls Spielberg. Across the road, Universal’s Stage 27 housed another piece of the production puzzle – a Peruvian cemetery set. It was a large, multi-level construction that would allow the characters to crawl amid dusty ruins and ancient artifacts under the treacherous eyes of the keepers of the cemetery and its secrets. Running from a ghoulish mob, Indy and Mutt make their way down to the deepest part of the pit that links up to another set built 20 miles away in Downey, California. At Downey Studios, a number of sets were erected in a massive hangar that, at more than 600,000 square feet, once served as a home to the development of the Apollo spacecraft and the Space Shuttle. Downey would serve as the home of several notable sequences in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” – among them, a series of cave tunnels in which portions of the adventure unfold, and an experimental military-style bunker that’s related to another location filmed in New Mexico. A 1950s diner, inspired by the Edward Hopper painting Nighthawks, was built on Paramount’s sprawling backlot, augmenting scenes filmed in Connecticut.

Of all the sets, one stood out as being of particular interest to longtime fans of the Indiana Jones movies: the warehouse. Twenty-seven years ago, it was created with the help of a detailed matte painting and great camera trickery, but in “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Spielberg wanted to bring to life his matte painting. "I still remember watching that last scene from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark, as a kid,” says Dyas, “and wondering how they did it. Little did I know that one day I`d be having real conversations with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas about it, it was very exciting to try and capture the spirit of that scene from the very first Indiana Jones film.” On the Warner Bros. lot, the production took over the massive interior of Stage 16 to build some of the most elaborate sets for the climax of the film. “Guy had a tremendous challenge because we wanted to do all the sets for real,” says Marshall. “He had to build sets that looked ancient, had history behind them, were scary and foreboding – and then had to put them on stages all around Los Angeles. We couldn’t do the whole movie on one lot, like we did in London with the other three, so for the first time in my career, we were on five different studio lots, which may be some sort of record.” Despite their disparate locations, walking around on Dyas’s sets gave Spielberg a familiar thrill. “I’d walk on each set and say, ‘I’m on the set of an Indiana Jones movie – how lucky am I that I get to direct another one of these?!’”

SKULLS, WHIPS AND LEATHER JACKETS

Intricately Designed Props and Costumes Bring Indiana Jones to Life The Fifties. Indiana Jones. There can’t be more iconic imagery than that, and it proved a challenge to the talented team assembled to create the props and costumes for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” From Indiana Jones’ whip and fedora to Mutt’s biker jacket, they had a complex task of creating a new and yet still familiar world.

Costume designer Mary Zophres, co-costume designer and collaborator Jenny Eagen and costume designer for Harrison Ford, Bernie Pollack, had a challenging balancing act of hewing closely to the look of the first three films while adding new touches. The era provided no shortage of inspiration in the creation of new characters. Producer Frank Marshall explains, “Each of our new characters has been inspired by the ‘50s, and Mary seemed to have a terrific time creating the look of these characters.” Zophres pored through old Life magazines, 1950`s college yearbooks, vintage Russian military handbooks, photos of Mayan ruins and history books to get inspiration for the design of “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. “I got every yearbook I could get my hands on from the Northeast, and from Yale in particular,” she says. For Zophres, who received a BAFTA nomination for her costumes on Spielberg’s 1960s-era film “Catch Me If You Can,” the thrill of designing costumes for the film was partially derived from the enthusiasm of the director. “His body of work means a great deal to me, so when I make him excited and enthusiastic, it’s very rewarding. When you make Steven smile it makes your day.” Zophres had her work cut out for her. She had to develop a signature look for femme fatale Irina Spalko, and to do it, Zophres took inspiration from 1930s screen siren Marlene Dietrich. “She had a lot of charisma with a certain amount of edginess and toughness, which I thought would be appropriate for Spalko,” Zophres explains. She and her team found a stock of genuine Russian military uniforms to dress Spalko’s nefarious crew. “I almost had a heart attack when we found them, but they were only in size 40 and 42, so we found fabric, dyed it to match and then made the rest of the sizes for all the other Russian soldiers,” she says. “But we found the real thing. You open up the jackets and there’s a real Soviet stamp inside of them.” For the return of Marion Ravenwood, Zophres drew inspiration from a previous era, incorporating the look of 1930s adventurers like Amelia Earhart. “Marion’s a little bit of a tomboy,” Zophres explains, “but extremely courageous, beautiful and feminine at the same time.”

For Mutt, Zophres helped actor Shia LaBeouf express the character through a rebel “uniform” of leather jackets and motorcycle boots. “Mutt was inspired by Marlon Brando in ‘The Wild One,’” says Zophres. She and cocostume designer Jenny Eagen found authentic vintage motorcycle jackets and had LaBeouf try them all on until they found the one they liked best – then they recreated it to have the multiple versions they would need as the on-screen adventure progresses. “We had to make about 30 of those motorcycle jackets, because Shia does a lot of stunts and his costume got worn and dirty,” Zophres says. The far-flung inspiration for the movie’s characters continued with Mac, played by Ray Winstone. “Mac has one of my favorite costumes in the movie,” Zophres says. “There’s this picture I have of Ernest Hemingway, and he’s got his foot kicked up in the air with these great high boots on. I found a pair of these high boots with this really interesting sole, so Mac wears his pants tucked in and he’s rocking those boots through the whole movie.” As if Zophres’ hands weren’t full enough, she and Egan also had to create costumes for the scores of extras that populate the film, including more than 200 in the sequences set in Peru – for which Zophres had to send a buyer to the South American country itself and bring back textiles to use when making the costumes. "Because it’s a story that travels the globe, I wanted to go there with the costumes as well. We achieved that through changes in color palettes and stylistic differentiations, giving each locale a distinctive look." Pollack, who has worked with Ford for 15 years, went on an odyssey of his own to recreate – and update – Indy’s wardrobe, both as an academic and as an adventurer. “Bernie took Indiana Jones as he was in the earlier movies and then stepped him up into the Fifties,” Marshall says. Pollack says some of his task was easy. “Indy is a classic guy who sets his own style and has his own look, and doesn’t change it.” As it turned out, Indiana Jones wasn’t the only person who hadn’t changed much in the time between. “I hadn’t worn the Indiana Jones costume for 18 years,” says Ford. “Bernie sent that original costume to my house for me to try on, to see where we would have to change sizes. I put it on and it fit like a glove. I felt really comfortable and ready to go!”

While Indy may only seem to wear one costume on screen, in reality, Pollack ultimately had to make 60 pairs of pants and 72 shirts. He also decided to make Indy’s jacket slightly bigger, in order to accommodate the padding Ford would need when doing his stunts. Using stills from the original films, he meticulously designed the instantly recognizable leather jacket, then searched for someone who could make it. That search spanned the U.S., the U.K. and Europe. Finally, costume supervisor Bob Morgan brought in a leather clothier named Tony Novak from El Segundo, Calif. Novak said he needed only a sample jacket to make a prototype overnight. But the Lucasfilm Archives, which had kept the original jacket safe for more than two decades, required tight security; Pollack had an assistant accompany the jacket to Novak’s offices. “About nine o’clock that night, the jacket was back,” Pollack says. “And it was perfect. I couldn’t believe it. So, I asked him to make 30 of them! I love that guy.” Recreating the famous fedora was more difficult. Pollack worked his way through numerous designs, multiple fabrics and scores of hatmakers. While he seemed to find the right haberdasher in Germany, the quick turnaround was daunting – Pollack had only a month to have someone make and ship the hats to the set. That’s when Pollack’s German contact suggested Steven Delk of Adventurebilt Hat Company in Columbus, Miss. “Steven ended up making a lot of different hats, and refining them until he came up with exactly the perfect hat,” Pollack recalls. Award-winning prop master Doug Harlocker’s job encompassed finding, buying or making everything from bullwhips to mummies, motorcycles to llamas. And while procuring the wide range of things that fall under the umbrella of film props, Harlocker worked to remain true to the film’s legacy while introducing a few new things. “We constantly talk about how to reprise little things from the previous movies that the audience would enjoy discovering,” says Kennedy. “Doug Harlocker has done a great job bringing in several things from the previous movies that the audience can have fun with and, at the same time, he’s contributing all sorts of new ideas.” For “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Harlocker and his team assembled a treasure trove of goodies including a Bobber-style motorcycle for Mutt, AK47s and Tacarov pistols for the Russians, a cache of fencing swords, a barn house of animals and, one other indispensable “prop.” “Indiana Jones’s one weakness is an absolute pathological fear of snakes,” says Harrison Ford. “So, of course, we had to have snakes.” When shooting “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1980, he recalls, “there were laundry tubs of snakes. In one of those containers, you can put maybe 8,000 snakes. We had dozens of these containers in the original scene in the temple in the first ‘Raiders.’” Luckily, there’s only one snake in “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” But it’s a doozy: a giant Olive Python. “We had the requisite snake, a beautiful snake to us but not to Indy, of course,” Spielberg says with a laugh. “It was a rather large python. The audience wouldn’t forgive us if we didn’t have at least one snake in the movie.” In addition to the real snake (two for shooting purposes), Stan Winston’s studio worked with Harlocker to create a perfect replica out of rubber.

With the help of the Lucasfilm Archives, Harlocker was able to pull together samples of all the original props and build on them. Indiana’s personal items included the whip, the haversack, his gun belt, his whip keep, his journals, his father’s pocket watch and his glasses – and while the glasses would evolve for the film, Indy’s haversack would be the very same one he carried through his last adventure. Harlocker had Indy’s bullwhips custom-designed by an Australian company to be more versatile for Ford. That made re-mastering the fine art of whip-cracking a bit easier for Ford. “It’s a relatively uncommon skill,” Ford says. “And I wasn’t terribly good at it – but I guess I was good enough for show business when I did it the last time. We had a new whip trainer on this movie who had a different technique. So after a couple of weeks of pretty diligent practice, I was able to get it all back.” Seeing Indy’s trademark bullwhip brought feelings of nostalgia and excitement to everyone on the set, Spielberg says. “To see Harrison walk on the set, pick up the whip, snap it and wrap it around one of the bad guys was pretty incredible,” he says. “It was amazing to see how fast Harrison was with it – and then to be on the set and see Indy’s rucksack and his other props, well, it wasn’t just nostalgia. That was when I realized we’re bringing this character and everything he’s about back to the audience that grew up with him and to new audiences.”

THE HISTORY BEHIND THE MYSTERY

Eighty Years of Exploration and Study Reveal the Secrets of Crystal Skulls ... Maybe In 1924, the famed British banker-turned-adventurer F.A. Mitchell-Hedges led an expedition deep into the Central American jungles of British Honduras (now Belize). His mission: to find evidence of the lost continent of Atlantis. But it was Mitchell-Hedges’ adopted daughter, Anna, who made a find for which this quest was to become famous. On Anna’s 17th birthday, as Mitchell-Hedges and his crew were excavating the ancient ruins of a Mayan temple at Lubaantun, Anna spied an object glinting in the soil under a collapsed altar: a beautiful sculpted human skull carved with uncanny craftsmanship out of a single block of translucent quartz crystal.

When she first touched the artifact, Anna reported experiencing strange sensations. And any time she placed the skull near her bed at night, she reported vivid dreams of the Mayan Indians who had lived thousands of years ago, and of their everyday life and ritual sacrifices. According to the few remaining Indian, in the area, she said, the skull had been used by the high priest of that culture to will death. Her father asserted the skull was 3,600 years old and dubbed it “The Skull of Doom,” because of its supposed supernatural powers and the misfortune that befell those who handled it. News of the startling discovery caused a sensation in the art and antiquities world. Subsequently, a number of other crystal skulls surfaced, some of which found their way into museums around the world, while others have remained in private ownership. To this day, speculation about the origins of these artifacts ranges far and wide. Some say the skulls are relics of Atlantis and may have been wrought by space aliens. Believers maintain they are matrices of radiant psychic energy with the power to cast spells, conjure spirits, cure illness and foretell the future. In many hypotheses, the number 13 features prominently. One such theory maintains that the skulls were left behind by a society that lived at the hollow center of the Earth, and that 13 “master skulls” contain the history of these people. Others theorize that each of the 13 master skulls has a specific property, and that bringing all 13 together will make all these abilities available to everyone at once, thus ushering in a new age.

Most of the other crystal skulls that rose to fame after Mitchell-Hedges announced his discovery are of a more stylized structure, with teeth etched onto a single skull piece, as opposed to the Mitchell-Hedges skull which had a detachable lower jaw. Examples include a pair of skulls — known as the British Crystal Skull and the Paris Crystal Skull — currently on display at the Museum of Mankind in London and the Musée de L’Homme in Paris, respectively. Another pair of famous skulls—the Mayan Crystal Skull and the Amethyst Skull— were reportedly brought to the United States by a Mayan priest. Two well-known skulls in private collections are nicknamed “Max” and “ET.” Max, also known as the Texas Crystal Skull, reportedly passed from a Tibetan healer to JoAnn Parks of Houston in the early 1980s. The skull gained its nickname after Parks claimed the skull told her its name was Max. The E.T. skull — so named because its pointed cranium and exaggerated overbite make it resemble the skull of an alien — is part of a private collection belonging to Joke van Dieten Maasland, who claims the skull helped heal her of a brain tumor. The only crystal skull with a comparable level of craftsmanship to the Mitchell- Hedges skull is the Rose Quartz Crystal Skull, which also includes a removable jaw, but is slightly larger and not translucent. But the Mitchell-Hedges skull — weighing 11.7 pounds and standing 5 inches high, 7 inches long and 5 inches wide — remains most famous to this day. In 1970, the Mitchell-Hedges family reportedly loaned the skull for testing to Hewlett-Packard Laboratories — a leading facility for crystal research in Santa Clara, California. The testing produced some startling findings, according to Frank Dorland, an art restorer who claims to have overseen the examinations. He reported that HP researchers found that the skull had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal sculptors always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal’s molecular symmetry, because carving “against the grain” causes the crystal to shatter — even with the use of lasers and other high-tech cutting methods. Furthermore, Dorland claimed, HP could find none of the microscopic scratches on the crystal typically caused by carving with metal instruments. This led Dorland to hypothesize that the skull was roughly hewn with diamonds, with the detail work being done with a gentle solution of silicon sand and water— a near-impossible task he estimated would have required up to 300 years in man hours to complete. Dorland also claimed the skull originated in Atlantis and had been carried around by the Knights Templar during the Crusades.

But there is no documented evidence to support the claims of the skull’s exotic origins and some authorities have claimed that Mitchell-Hedges purchased the skull at an auction at Sotheby’s in London in 1943 — an allegation supported by documents at the British Museum, which reportedly had bid against him for the artifact. That would also explain why Mitchell-Hedges apparently never spoke of the skull before 1943 — even though he claimed Anna had found it nearly 20 years earlier. However, Mitchell-Hedges claimed he was actually buying back the skull after leaving it in the care of a friend, who put it up for sale at Sotheby`s. There is also some doubt as to whether the tests at Hewlett-Packard were ever carried out, since no evidence of such testing has been provided by the company. Furthermore, later tests determined that the skull was carved using 19th century jeweler’s tools, making its supposed pre-Columbian origin even more dubious. But Anna Mitchell-Hedges, who possessed the skull until her death in 2007 at the age of 100, stood by her father’s story and was loyally supported by others who are convinced that the crystal skulls possess important mystical powers. Note: Among the resources used to research this article are the following websites: http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6_1.htm http://www.si.edu/opa/insideresearch/articles/V9_CrystalSkulls.html http://www.mitchell-hedges.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTOe7c0n-oc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrGQuFyRDQ

ABOUT THE CAST

HARRISON FORD returns to the role of Indiana Jones in his latest adventure after having embodied the iconic archaeologist adventurer in the legendary series that began with the blockbuster “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and continued through “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” In the Indiana Jones series and as cocky rebel starship pilot Han Solo in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, Ford came to embody the quintessential American hero for moviegoers around the world. His body of work encompasses over 40 feature films – 11 of which have exceeded $100 million at the box office – including such films as “The Fugitive,” “Air Force One” and “Patriot Games.” An Oscar and Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor for his performance in the acclaimed suspense thriller “Witness” (1985), Ford also earned Golden Globe nominations for his starring roles in “Sabrina” (1995), “The Fugitive” (1993), and “The Mosquito Coast” (1986). He was named Star of the Century by The National Association of Theatre Owners in 1994 and “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine in 1998. He has won three People’s Choice Awards and, in 2000, garnered the prestigious Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. In 2002, the Golden Globes honored him with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement. Born in Chicago, Ford attended Ripon College in Wisconsin before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He began as a contract player with Columbia Pictures, making his film debut in the crime drama “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round” (1966). After a small role in “Getting Straight” (1970), he resolved not to let his career choices be dictated by financial concerns, so he turned to carpentry while he waited for the right role. In 1973, after a three-year hiatus from the screen, Ford was cast by George Lucas as drag racer Bob Falfa in the coming-of-age classic “American Graffiti.” The next year, he landed a prominent supporting part in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation,” which was followed by an important role in Stanley Kramer’s television production of “Judgment: The Court Martial of Lt. William Calley.” Ford returned to features in 1977 when Lucas cast him again, this time as Han Solo, a renegade starship pilot who becomes a hero by default, in “Star Wars” – and the rest is history. As the film shattered box office records around the world, Ford’s performance came to define a new brand of scrappy hero for generations to come. He went on to star in the World War II era love story “Hanover Street” (1978) and “The Frisco Kid” (1979), and had cameo roles in “Apocalypse Now” (1979) and “More American Graffiti” (1979) before Steven Spielberg cast him as intrepid adventurer Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981). The movie became another of the highest-grossing films of all time.

Between the “Star Wars” sequels “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “Return of the Jedi” (1983), and the Raiders sequels, Ford starred in a number of other memorable films. In “Blade Runner” (1982), he delivered a gritty performance as a cop in the nihilistic future of L.A. He earned critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his role as a cop on the lam, hiding out in Amish country, in “Witness” (1985). Ford followed that with a daring portrayal of an eccentric idealistic inventor in “The Mosquito Coast” (1986). He went on to play a Hitchcockian protagonist in “Frantic” (1988) before showing his flair for romantic comedy in “Working Girl” (1988). He played a lawyer accused of murder in “Presumed Innocent” (1990); an arrogant yuppie transformed by a mugger’s bullet in ”Regarding Henry” (1991); the heroic ex-CIA agent Jack Ryan in “Patriot Games” (1992) and “Clear and Present Danger” (1994); a doctor wrongly convicted of murdering his wife in “The Fugitive” (1993); a deeply committed New York City cop in “The Devil’s Own” (1997); and President James Marshall in “Air Force One” (1997). He also starred in the remake of “Sabrina” (1995) in the role originated by Humphrey Bogart. Ford’s more recent credits include the high tech thriller “Firewall” (2006), the romantic action comedy “Six Days Seven Nights” (1998), the romantic drama “Random Hearts” (1999) and the thriller “What Lies Beneath” (2000). In 2002, he portrayed a Russian submarine captain opposite Liam Neeson in “K-19: The Widowmaker,” a drama directed by Kathryn Bigelow. June of 2003 saw the release of “Hollywood Homicide,” which was directed by Ron Shelton and starred Ford along with Josh Hartnett. He will next be seen starring in Wayne Kramer’s “Crossing Over,” with Sean Penn. Strongly committed to environmental concerns, Ford is actively involved in a number of conservation groups. He serves on the Board of Directors of Conservation International. In Jackson, Wyoming he has donated 389 acres of his property for a conservation easement to the Jackson Hole Land Trust. His most recent awards are: Heart of the City Award from City Harvest for fighting hunger; NRDC – Forces for Nature; the Lindbergh Foundation for balance between technology and the environment; the Distinguished Humanitarian Award from B’nai B’rith, also for his environmental work; the World Stunt Awards; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Laguna Playhouse; and on May 30, 2003, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

CATE BLANCHETT, who plays Irina Spalko, was nominated for two Oscars this year, as Best Actress for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and as Best Supporting Actress for “I’m Not There,” making her only the fifth performer in the Academy’s 80-year history to be nominated in both acting categories in the same year. Additionally, for “The Golden Age” she received SAG and BAFTA nominations. For “I’m Not There” she also received SAG and BAFTA nominations and won an acting award at the Venice Film Festival, the Golden Globe as supporting actress and an Independent Spirit Award for her work. Blanchett previously won an Academy Award® as Best Supporting Actress for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator.” She was also honored with BAFTA and SAG Awards and a Golden Globe nomination for the role. In 1999, Blanchett earned her first Oscar® nomination and first BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of another famous figure, Queen Elizabeth I, in Shekhar Kapur’s “Elizabeth.” She subsequently received Academy Award®, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for her performance in “Notes on a Scandal,” opposite Dame Judi Dench. Blanchett most recently starred in the films “The Good German,” directed by Steven Soderbergh, opposite George Clooney and Tobey Maguire; and “Babel,” opposite Brad Pitt. She will next be seen in David Fincher’s drama “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” again opposite Pitt. Blanchett has also earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress for the title role in Joel Schumacher’s “Veronica Guerin” and her work in Barry Levinson’s “Bandits.” Among her other film credits are “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy; Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”; Jim Jarmusch’s “Coffee and Cigarettes,” for which she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination; Ron Howard’s “The Missing,” opposite Tommy Lee Jones; “Charlotte Gray,” directed by Gillian Armstrong; Lasse Hallstrom’s “The Shipping News” with Kevin Spacey; Rowan Woods’ “Little Fish” with Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving; Mike Newell’s “Pushing Tin” with John Cusack; Oliver Parker’s “An Ideal Husband”; Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress; Sam Raimi’s “The Gift”; and Sally Potter’s “The Man Who Cried,” for which she was named Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review. A graduate of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Blanchett includes among her earlier film credits Bruce Beresford’s “Paradise Road”; “Thank God He Met Lizzie,” for which she won both the Australian Film Institute (AFI) and the Sydney Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actress; and Gillian Armstrong’s “Oscar and Lucinda” opposite Ralph Fiennes, for which she also earned an AFI nomination for Best Actress. Blanchett’s extensive theater work includes productions with Company B, an ensemble including Geoffrey Rush, Gillian Jones and Richard Roxburgh, based at Belvoir St., under the direction of Neil Armfield. Her roles included Miranda in “The Tempest,” Ophelia in “Hamlet,” for which she earned a Green Room Award nomination, Nina in “The Seagull” and Rose in “The Blind Giant is Dancing.” For the Sydney Theatre Company, she appeared in Caryl Churchill’s “Top Girls,” David Mamet’s “Oleanna” (winning the Sydney Theater Critics Award for Best Actress), Michael Gow’s “Sweet Phoebe” and Timothy Daly’s “Kafka Dances,” for which she received the Critics Circle Award for Best Newcomer. For the Almeida Theatre in 1999, Blanchett played Susan Traheren in David Hare’s “Plenty” in London’s West End. In 2004, Blanchett returned to the Sydney Theatre Company for the title role in Andrew Upton’s adaptation of “Hedda Gabler.” The play was a critical success, earning her the prestigious Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play. The production moved on to a sold-out run at Brooklyn’s Academy of Music in 2006, Blanchett’s New York stage debut. Blanchett made her directorial debut with the play “A Kind of Alaska” at the Sydney Theatre Company, which she followed with a production of “The Year of Magical Thinking.” She and her husband, Andrew Upton, were recently named co-directors of the Sydney Theatre Company. Their debut season begins in 2009.

KAREN ALLEN returns to the role of fiery adventurer Marion Ravenwood, which she originated in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’s phenomenal box office record-breaker “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Allen started her acting career when she joined the Washington Theatre Laboratory Company in Washington, D.C. in 1974. Two years later, she made her film debut in the award-winning short film “The Whidjitmaker.” The following year, Allen moved back to New York to study at the Lee Strasberg Institute and, over the years, has appeared on and off-Broadway in such productions as “Extremities,” “The Country Girl,” “The Miracle Worker,” “Speaking in Tongues” and “Miss Julie.” Her studies paid off in 1978 when she made her major film debut as Katy in “National Lampoon`s Animal House,” which became one of the biggest hits of that year. She followed this with roles in Philip Kaufman’s “The Wanderers” (1979), “Cruising” (1980) and Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” (1979) before her performance in Rob Cohen’s 1980 drama “A Small Circle of Friends” caught the attention of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, who cast her as feisty bar owner Marion Ravenwood in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” She followed that with her 1982 Broadway debut in “The Monday After the Miracle,” for which she won the Theatre World Award for Best New Actress. In 1984, Allen starred in “Until September” and John Carpenter`s “Starman,” opposite Jeff Bridges. Allen won the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films’ Saturn Award for Best Actress in 1982 for “Raiders” and was nominated again in 1985 for “Starman.” In 1988, she was nominated for Best Supporting Female at the Independent Spirit Awards and for Best Foreign Actress at Spain’s Sant Jordi Awards in Barcelona for her performance in Paul Newman’s screen adaptation of “The Glass Menagerie.” Allen’s more recent credits include “The Basket” (1999) and Wolfgang Petersen’s “The Perfect Storm” (2000), in which she co-starred with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane. She also appeared in “Shaka Zulu: The Citadel” (2001) for television and in Todd Field`s acclaimed drama “In the Bedroom.” Her most recent film, “Poster Boy,” was featured at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. Allen, who has a son, Nick — born in 1990, teaches and directs theater at Simon’s Rock College of Bard. She also founded Berkshire Mountain Yoga, started a knitwear design studio in 2003 called Karen Allen – Fiber Arts Studio and, in 2005, opened a knitwear design shop in Great Barrington, MA, Karen Allen Fiber Arts.

RAY WINSTONE, who plays “Mac” George Michale, was born in Hackney in the East End of London. He started boxing at the age of 12, was three times London Schoolboy champion and fought twice for England. He studied acting at the Corona School before being cast by director Alan Clarke as Carlin (“the Daddy”) in “Scum.” This BBC Play production made Winstone’s name and since then he has appeared in numerous TV series and movies. After playing a starring role in Franc Roddam’s “Quadrophenia” and being cast by Ken Loach in “Ladybird, Ladybird,” he was cast by Gary Oldman in the lead role in the gritty biographical drama “Nil by Mouth,” for which he won a British Independent Film Award for Best Actor and earned a BAFTA Award nomination. His mesmerizing performance led to a succession of challenging roles, including Dave in the gangster movie “Face” and Dad in Tim Roth’s disturbing drama “The War Zone.” He also played in the comedy drama “The Mammy” and “Fanny & Elvis” before delivering one of the finest performances of his career opposite Ben Kingsley in “Sexy Beast.” Winstone’s television credits include “Our Boy” (for which he was awarded an RST award for Best Actor) and “Births, Marriages and Deaths” – both by writer Tony Grounds. His credits for Granada/ITV are “Tough Love,” its sequel “Lenny Blue” and the title role in “Henry VIII” (which went on to win Best Miniseries/TV Movie at the International Emmy Awards. In 2006, Winstone won an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his eponymous role in “Vincent” (Granada/ITV). His film credits include “There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble,” “Last Orders,” “Ripley’s Game,” “Cold Mountain,” “King Arthur,” “The Proposition,” the Oscar-winning “The Departed,” directed by Martin Scorcese, Anthony Minghella’s “Breaking and Entering,” the title role in Robert Zemeckis’s “Beowulf” and Warner Bros.’ “Fool’s Gold.” In December 2007, Winstone received the Richard Harris Award for outstanding contribution at the British Independent Film Awards. Winstone recently completed filming on “The Changeling,” a co-production with ITV and the third film for television from his company, Size 9 Productions.

Playing Professor Oxley is JOHN HURT, who was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and lived until the age of 12 in the industrial countryside of the Midlands, in a small village named Woodville. The son of a Church of England clergyman, he first went to Grimsby Art School and St. Martin’s School of Art in London before winning a scholarship to RADA. Hurt made both his professional stage debut (as Knocker White in “Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger” and his film debut (“The Wild and The Willing”) in 1962, going on to take the Critics’ Award for Most Promising Actor in Harold Pinter’s “The Dwarfs” the following year. It was his work in a 1966 London production of “Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs” that secured his role as Richard Rich in the Academy Award-winning film version of Robert Bolt’s “A Man for All Seasons” the same year. Hurt’s stage appearances include Pinter’s” The Caretaker,” Sean O’Casey’s “Shadow of a Gunman,” Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” (for the RSC in which he originated the role of Tristan Tzara) and Turgenev’s “A Month in The Country.” The year 2000 saw his greatly acclaimed performance in Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape” in London’s West End. Later that year, Atom Egoyan made a film adaptation of this "definitive" stage performance, and he reprised the role as part of the 2006 Becket Festival at The Barbican. His impressive body of television work commenced in 1961 and has included such notable roles as Caligula in “I, Claudius,” Raskolnikov in “Crime and Punishment,” the title role in Jim Henson`s “The Storyteller” and, most memorably, Quentin Crisp in the autobiographical “The Naked Civil Servant,” for which he received a Best Actor Emmy and a BAFTA Best Television Actor Award. It was his defining film roles as Max in “Midnight Express” (1978) and as John Merrick in “The Elephant Man” (1980) that thrust Hurt into the international spotlight with BAFTA awards and Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor respectively. His other film work includes a trio of roles in 1984 for which he received the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for that year – “1984,” “The Hit” and “Champions.” His many other films include “10 Rillington Place,” “Alien,” Sam Peckinpah’s last film, “The Ostermann Weekend,” “Scandal,” “The Field,” “Rob Roy,” John Boorman’s “Two Nudes Bathing,” for which he received a Cable Ace Award in 1995, and an acclaimed performance in Richard Kwietniowski’s “Love and Death on Long Island.” He was also seen as Dr. Iannis in “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” directed by John Madden, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” directed by Chris Columbus and “Owning Mahowny” directed by Richard Kwietniowski. Hurt has always been well-known for his very individual voice which has been used to great effect in documentaries, animated films (such as Ralph Bakshi’s “Lord of The Rings,” “The Tigger Movie,” “Watership Down” and “Valiant”), radio (including Tom Stoppard`s “Albert`s Bridge,” which won The Italia Prize, “The French Lieutenant`s Woman” and “Madame Bovary”), and in the hugely acclaimed public awareness campaign for AIDS. In 2002, he recorded the narration for Lars von Trier’s “Dogville” and, in 2004, his “Manderlay.” In 2006, he was the narrator for the long-awaited screen version of “Perfume” directed by Ton Tykwer. In 2003, Hurt won the Variety Club Award for Outstanding Performance in a Stage Play, along with his co-star Penelope Wilton for Brian Friel’s “Afterplay.” This was followed by the film “Hellboy” directed by Guillermo del Toro for Revolution Studios, and “The Alan Clark Diaries” for the BBC. The same year, he was awarded the inaugural Richard Harris Award at the British Independent Film Awards.

The year 2004 saw Hurt film “The Skeleton Key” for Universal, “Shooting Dogs,” directed by Michael Caton-Jones for BBC Films, and “The Proposition” directed by John Hillcoat. He was also awarded a C.B.E. In 2005, he filmed “V for Vendetta” for Warner Bros., appeared in Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of “Heroes” by Gerald Sibleyras, at Wyndham’s Theatre. The play was directed by Thea Sharrock and won the 2006 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. That year, he filmed “Boxes,” written and directed by Jane Birkin, and “Outlander.” In 2007, Hurt filmed “Oxford Murders” directed by Alex de la Iglesia, “Lecture 21” directed by Alessandro Baricco, “Recount” directed by Jay Roach, in which he played Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, and “Hellboy II — The Golden Army” for Guillermo del Toro. Hurt recently completed a new project with director Jim Jarmusch and is currently in preparation for “44 Inch Chest” written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto (“Sexy Best”), to be directed by Malcolm Venville. Oscar winner JIM BROADBENT joins the “Indiana Jones” cast as Dean Charles Stanforth. A quintessential British character actor, Broadbent starred in a trio of films in 2001 that launched him onto the global stage. First, he starred as Bridget Jones’s father in “Bridget Jones’s Diary.” He also won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Harold Zidler in the Oscar®-nominated musical sensation “Moulin Rouge.” The third film was the biographical drama “Iris,” about the British novelist Iris Murdoch (played by Dame Judi Dench) who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Broadbent won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Murdoch’s devoted husband John Bayley. Broadbent’s most recent films include Edgar Wright’s action comedy “Hot Fuzz” (2007), opposite Simon Pegg and Bill Nighy. He has also starred as W.S. Gilbert in Mike Leigh’s “Topsy-Turvy” (1999). Before that, he lit up the screen with performances in Richard Loncraine’s “Richard III” (1995), Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway” (1994), Mike Newell’s “Enchanted April” (1992), and Neil Jordan’s “The Crying Game” (1992).

Broadbent began studying art before pursuing his career as an actor and applying to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He performed on stage with the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company. He worked steadily on stage and in television and made his film debut in 1978 in Jerzy Skolimowski’s “The Shout.” Broadbent will next be seen opposite Colin Firth in “And When Did You Last See Your Father?” He will also make his debut in the Harry Potter series as Horace Slughorn in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” and appear in Iain Softley’s fantasy adventure “Inkheart.” SHIA LaBEOUF stars for the first time in an “Indiana Jones” film as Mutt Williams. LaBeouf recently took international audiences by storm when he starred in D.J. Caruso’s popular thriller “Disturbia” and again as Sam Witwicky in Michael Bay’s blockbuster “TRANSFORMERS” executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. He also lent his voice to the character of a young penguin, Cody Maverick, in the Oscar nominated animated film “Surf’s Up” alongside Jeff Bridges, James Woods and Zooey Deschanel. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, LaBeouf began acting as a way to entertain his mother and father at the tender age of three. He later attended the Magnet School of Performing Arts at USC before beginning his career as an actor by hiring an agent at the age of 11. LaBeouf made his debut in the TV film “Breakfast with Einstein” (1998) before being cast in the award-winning Disney series “Even Stevens.” Over the next four years, LaBeouf’s performance in the popular series earned him a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Daytime TV Series (2003) and a nomination for the Young Artist Awards Leading Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series three years running (2000-2002).

In 2003, LaBeouf made his feature film debut opposite Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight in the comedy “Holes,” based on the best-selling book by Louis Sacher. For this performance, LaBeouf was nominated for the Young Artists Award in 2004 for Leading Young Actor in a Feature Film and the Breakthrough Male Performance at the MTV Movie Awards. That same year, he was cast as Bosley’s protégé in “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and starred in HBO’s “Project Greenlight” feature “The Battle of Shaker Heights” produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Since his early work as a young actor, he has begun to take on more challenging roles, like that of the young Robert Downey Jr., in “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” (2006), which won Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Film Festival, and as part of the ensemble in Emilio Estevez’s acclaimed drama “Bobby” (2006). In 2005, LaBeouf played amateur golfer Francis Ouimet in “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (2005) directed by Bill Paxton and based on Mark Frost’s best-selling book. He starred alongside Will Smith in “I, Robot” in 2004, followed by a supporting role the same year in “Constantine,” the sci-fi thriller based on the comic book Hellblazer, opposite Keanu Reeves. On the heels of his performances in “Disturbia” and “TRANSFORMERS,” LaBeouf was given the 2007 ShoWest Award for Male Star of Tomorrow and nominated for four Teen Choice Awards for “TRANSFORMERS,” winning the Breakout Male Award. He also won the Teen Choice Award for Movie Actor in a Horror/Thriller for his performance in “Disturbia,” and also won a Scream Award. LaBeouf will again team up with his “Disturbia” director D.J. Caruso for his next role in the DreamWorks action thriller “Eagle Eye.”

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

STEVEN SPIELBERG (Director) is a three-time Academy Award® winner, having earned two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for “Schindler’s List” and a third Oscar for Best Director for “Saving Private Ryan.” He has also received Best Director Oscar® nominations for “Munich,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

In 1994, Spielberg’s internationally lauded “Schindler’s List” emerged as the year’s most honored film, receiving a total of seven Oscars, including the aforementioned nods for Best Picture and Best Director. The film also collected Best Picture awards from many of the major critics’ organizations, in addition to seven BAFTA Awards, including two for Spielberg. He also won the Golden Globe Award and received a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award. Spielberg’s critically acclaimed World War II drama “Saving Private Ryan” starring Tom Hanks, was the highest-grossing release (domestically) of 1998. The film also won five Oscars, including the one for Spielberg as Best Director, two Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture (Drama) and Best Director, and numerous critics’ groups awards for Best Picture and Best Director. In addition, Spielberg won a DGA Award and a Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award. That year, the PGA also presented Spielberg with the prestigious Milestone Award for his historic contribution to the motion picture industry. Spielberg won his first DGA Award for “The Color Purple” and also earned DGA Award nominations for “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Empire of the Sun,” “Jaws,” “Amistad” and “Munich.” With 10 in all, Spielberg has received more DGA Award nominations than any director in history and, in 2000, he received the DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Kennedy Center Honor. For television, on the heels of “Saving Private Ryan,” Spielberg and Tom Hanks executive-produced the miniseries “Band of Brothers” for HBO and DreamWorks Television. Based on the book of the same name by the late Stephen Ambrose, the fact-based World War II project won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Miniseries. Spielberg and Hanks are currently in development on “The Pacific,” a World War II miniseries focusing on the battles in the Pacific theatre.

Spielberg won another Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries for “Steven Spielberg Presents Taken,” a SciFi Channel drama about alien abduction, which he executive produced. He is currently developing another miniseries to air on the SciFi Channel called “Nine Lives.” Also for television, Spielberg executive-produced “Into the West,” an original limited series Western which aired on the TNT cable network. Amblin Entertainment produced, with Warner Bros. Television, the award-winning, groundbreaking series “E.R.,” which begins its 15th season on NBC this fall. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg was raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona. He started making amateur films while still in his teens, later studying film at California State University, Long Beach. In 1969, his 22-minute short “Amblin’” was shown at the Atlanta Film Festival, which led to a deal with Universal, making him the youngest director ever to be signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio. Four years later, he directed the suspenseful telefilm “Duel,” which garnered both critical and audience attention. He made his feature film directorial debut on “The Sugarland Express” from a screenplay he co-wrote. In addition to the aforementioned films, his earlier film credits as a director include “Always” and “Hook.” In 2006, Spielberg produced, with Clint Eastwood and Rob Lorenz, “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima,” the latter of which earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The dual films, directed by Eastwood, explored the battle of Iwo Jima from American and Japanese perspectives. In 2005, Spielberg directed two films: “War of the Worlds” starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, and “Munich” starring Eric Bana, Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush, which earned five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Spielberg. Spielberg’s other recent films include “Catch Me If You Can” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, the futuristic thriller “Minority Report” starring Cruise, and “The Terminal” starring Hanks. He also wrote, directed and produced “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” which was realized from the vision of the late Stanley Kubrick. In 2000, Spielberg won the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film, presented by BAFTA -Los Angeles.

In 1984, Spielberg formed his own production company, Amblin Entertainment. Under the Amblin banner, he has served as a producer or executive producer on more than a dozen films, including such successes as “Gremlins,” “The Goonies,” “Back to the Future” and its two sequels, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “An American Tail,” “The Land Before Time,” “The Flintstones,” “Casper,” “Twister,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Men in Black” and “Men in Black II.” In October 1994, Spielberg partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to form the new studio DreamWorks SKG, which was sold to Paramount Pictures in early 2006. Under their leadership, the studio has enjoyed critical and commercial success, and has been responsible for some of the most honored films in recent years, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award winners: “American Beauty,” “Gladiator” and “A Beautiful Mind” (the latter two co-productions with Universal), and the recent blockbuster “TRANSFORMERS.” Spielberg has also devoted his time and resources to many philanthropic causes. The impact of his experience making “Schindler’s List” led him to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation using all his profits from the film. He also founded Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation (now the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education), which has recorded more than 50,000 Holocaust survivor testimonies. In addition, Spielberg executive produced “The Last Days,” the Shoah Foundation’s third documentary, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He is also the Chairman Emeritus of the Starbright Foundation, which combines the efforts of pediatric health care, technology and entertainment to empower seriously ill children. DAVID KOEPP (Screenplay by) has written and directed the films “Secret Window,” “Stir of Echoes,” “The Trigger Effect,” “Suspicious” and the upcoming DreamWorks comedy “Ghost Town.” He wrote or co-wrote “War of the Worlds,” “Zathura,” “Spider-Man,” “Panic Room,” “Snake Eyes,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Mission: Impossible,” “The Paper,” “Jurassic Park,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Bad Influence” and “Apartment Zero.” Koepp was born in Wisconsin and went to film school at UCLA. He lives in New York City. GEORGE LUCAS’s (Story by/Based on Characters by/Executive Producer) devotion to timeless storytelling and cutting-edge innovation has resulted in some of the most successful and beloved films of all time.

Lucas’s film career started in 1971. With San Francisco-based American Zoetrope and long-time friend Francis Ford Coppola as executive producer, Lucas transformed an award-winning student film into his first feature, “THX 1138.” Lucas’s second feature film, the low-budget “American Graffiti” (1973), became the most successful film of its time and garnered the Golden Globe®, the New York Film Critics’ and National Society of Film Critics’ Awards. Pushing the boundaries of storytelling, “American Graffiti” was the first film of its kind to tell multiple stories through interweaving narratives backed by a soundtrack of contemporary music. It was Lucas’s third film, 1977’s “Star Wars,” that changed everything — breaking box office records, setting new standards for sophistication in film visuals and sound and garnering eight Academy Awards. The success of “Star Wars” allowed Lucas to remain independent and continue operating in Marin County, CA. Lucas has been the story writer and executive producer of a series of other box office blockbusters, beginning with the continuation of the “Star Wars” Saga: “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “Return of the Jedi” (1983). In 1981, he created the classic adventurer Indiana Jones, and co-wrote and executive-produced the successful series consisting of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” (1984) and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989), a trilogy that won eight Academy Awards. Lucas has also served as executive producer on such widely varied films as “Willow,” based on his original story and directed by Ron Howard; and “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Each received three Academy Award nominations. As executive producer, Lucas’s films also include Akira Kurosawa’s “Kagemusha” (1980); “Mishima” (1985); “Latino” (1985); “Howard the Duck” (1986); “Labyrinth” (1986); and “Radioland Murders” (1994).

In the early 1990s, his passion for both history and educating young people drove the creation of “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones” and its rich combination of exciting episodes and companion documentaries. During its original television run in the 1990s, the series was critically acclaimed and won 12 Emmy Awards and 26 Emmy nominations. Lucas returned to directing in 1999 with the first of three new episodes of the “Star Wars” Saga: “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” the year’s biggest box office hit, which was also the first major live-action film to be projected digitally. Three years later, “Episode II — Attack of the Clones” broke new ground as the first major movie shot using entirely digital media. In 2005, “Star Wars: Episode III —Revenge of the Sith,” the final movie in the epic saga, was the top-grossing film worldwide. Lucas is currently supervising the creation of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which premieres as an all-new feature film on August 15, followed by the television series debut in the fall. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” takes audiences on incredible new “Star Wars” adventures, combining Lucasfilm’s traditions of storytelling and quality with a signature animation style. Lucas has also taken a leadership role in applying his technical and storytelling expertise to the classroom, engaging students through interactive multimedia environments. He is chairman of the board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation and also serves on the board of the Film Foundation and is a member of the USC School of Cinematic Arts Advisory Board. JEFF NATHANSON (Story by) has two previous collaborations with Steven Spielberg, ”The Terminal” and ”Catch Me If You Can,” for which he earned a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. In 2007, his production company, Invisible Ink Entertainment, signed a first-look deal at DreamWorks SKG. His other recent film credits include ”Rush Hour 3,” ”The Last Shot,” which he also directed, and “Rush Hour 2.” He is currently writing the biopic “Milli Vanilli” for producer Kathleen Kennedy. Nathanson graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles before entering the American Film Institute`s screenwriting program in 1989. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” marked the beginning of FRANK MARSHALL’s (Producer) epochal collaboration with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy, a partnership that encompasses “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and, now, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

With over 50 films to his credit, as a visionary producer who has helped shape American film, Marshall is also an acclaimed director and active participant in public service and sports. Marshall’s credits as a producer include some of the most successful and enduring films of all time, including “Poltergeist,” “Gremlins,” “The Goonies,” “The Color Purple,” “An American Tail,” “Empire of the Sun,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “The Land Before Time,” the “Back to the Future” trilogy, “The Sixth Sense,” “Seabiscuit” and the recent “Bourne” trilogy. His films have been nominated for a multitude of Academy Awards, including Best Picture nominees “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1982; “The Color Purple” in 1985 (which he produced with Spielberg, Quincy Jones and his wife Kathleen Kennedy); M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 box office smash “The Sixth Sense”; and the critically acclaimed “Seabiscuit.” As a director, Marshall recently helmed the critically acclaimed box office smash “Eight Below,” as well as the thriller “Arachnophobia,” the compelling true-life drama “Alive,” the 1995 hit adventure “Congo” and an episode of the Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon.” Marshall began his motion picture career as assistant to Peter Bogdanovich on the director’s cult classic “Targets.” He was then asked by Bogdanovich to serve as location manager for “The Last Picture Show” and “What’s Up, Doc?” before graduating to associate producer on the filmmaker’s next five movies, which included “Paper Moon” and “Nickelodeon.” Marshall was line producer on Martin Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz,” the heralded musical documentary on The Band. He then began a two-film association with director Walter Hill, first as associate producer on “The Driver,” then as executive producer on “The Warriors,” both of which have also attained cult status among cineastes. Marshall was also line producer of Orson Welles’ legendary unfinished film “The Other Side of the Wind,” to which he periodically returned from 1971 through 1976.

His lengthy and fruitful collaboration with Spielberg and Kennedy began in 1981 with “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Following the productions of “E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial” (for which he was production supervisor) and “Poltergeist” in 1981, the trio formed industry powerhouse Amblin Entertainment. During his tenure at Amblin, Marshall produced such films as Kevin Reynolds’ “Fandango,” Barry Levinson’s “Young Sherlock Holmes,” Joe Dante’s “Gremlins,” Robert Zemeckis’s “Back to the Future” trilogy and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and Spielberg’s “Always,” “Hook” and “Empire of the Sun,” as well as his own directorial debut, “Arachnophobia.” Marshall left Amblin in the fall of 1991 to pursue his directing career, and formed the Kennedy/Marshall Company with Kathleen Kennedy. The company’s productions include such diverse films as “The Indian in the Cupboard,” directed by Frank Oz; “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” based on the popular series of children’s book about the unseen world of magical creatures that exist all around us; “Snow Falling on Cedars,” directed by Scott Hicks; “A Map of the World” starring Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore; “The Sixth Sense” starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment; “Olympic Glory,” the first official large format film of the Olympic Games; Shyamalan’s “Signs”; “Seabiscuit,” the dramatic true story based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling book, directed by Gary Ross; and the three blockbuster films in the “Bourne” franchise starring Matt Damon in the title role — “The Bourne Identity” directed by Doug Liman, “The Bourne Supremacy” and last year’s “The Bourne Ultimatum,” both directed by Paul Greengrass; “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” an adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s moving memoir, directed by critically-acclaimed artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel and written by Oscar-winner Ronald Harwood, for which Schnabel was awarded the prize for best director at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for best director, which was among four nominations the film received; the English-language version of the French animated film “Persepolis,” which is based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel about a young girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution, which tied for this year’s Jury Prize at Cannes and picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film; and “Crossing Over,” directed by Wayne Kramer. Another recent release is “Roving Mars,” the IMAX documentary about the exploration of the red planet, which he produced with director George Butler. Upcoming releases from the Kennedy/Marshall Company include “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” an epic romance directed by David Fincher, written by Oscar winner Eric Roth and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. An L.A. native and son of composer Jack Marshall, Marshall ran cross-country and track while a student at UCLA, and was a three-year Varsity letterman in soccer. Combining his passion for music and sports, he, along with America’s premiere miler Steve Scott, founded the Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, which debuted in 1998 in San Diego as the largest first-time marathon in history. For over a decade, Marshall was a board member of the United States Olympic Committee and is the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Olympic Shield, awarded in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the USOC organization. Currently, he is on the board of the Los Angeles Sports Council, Athletes for Hope and The Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, as well as Co-Chairman of Mentor LA and a member of the UCLA Foundation Board of Governors. He is a recipient of the acclaimed American Academy of Achievement Award, the UCLA Alumni Professional Achievement Award and the California Mentor Initiative’s Leadership Award. He and Kennedy are the recipients of the 2008 Producers Guild of America’s David O. Selznick Award for Career Achievement. One of the most successful executives in the film industry today, who includes among her credits three of the highest-grossing films in motion picture history (“E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jurassic Park” and “The Sixth Sense”), KATHLEEN KENNEDY (Executive Producer) counts “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as one of her early credits, when she worked as an associate producer with director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas. Her relationship with the legendary series continued through “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” which she produced with Frank Marshall and George Lucas and, most recently, as executive producer, with Lucas, of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” produced by Frank Marshall. Kennedy currently heads The Kennedy/Marshall Company, which she founded in 1992 alongside director/producer Frank Marshall. Under their banner, she has produced such films as “Congo,” “The Indian in the Cupboard,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “A Map of the World,” “The Sixth Sense” and “Seabiscuit.”

Kennedy began a successful association with Spielberg when she served as his production assistant on “1941.” In addition to “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” she went on to become his associate producer on “Poltergeist” and producer on “E.T.” While “E.T.” was becoming an international phenomenon, Spielberg, Kennedy and Marshall were already in production on “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” In 1982, Kennedy co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Spielberg and Marshall, for which she produced or executive-produced such films as “Hook,” “Always,” “Gremlins,” “Gremlins 2: The New Batch,” “An American Tail,” “The Land Before Time,” “Young Sherlock Holmes,” “The Goonies,” “Innerspace,” “The Money Pit,” “*batteries not included,” “Dad,” “The Flintstones,” “Joe Versus the Volcano,” “Noises Off,” “An American Tail: Fievel Goes West,” “Cape Fear,” “Poltergeist III” and “Arachnophobia,” Frank Marshall’s directorial debut in 1990. Kennedy also teamed with Spielberg, Marshall and Quincy Jones to produce “The Color Purple,” which earned eleven Academy Award nominations in 1985, including Best Picture. Later that same year, Kennedy, Spielberg and Marshall produced 1985’s highest-grossing film, “Back to the Future,” and later produced its two highly successful sequels, “Back to the Future, Part II” and “Back to the Future, Part III.” In 1988, Kennedy again earned the distinction of having produced the top-grossing film of the year for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” which she produced with Marshall and Robert Watts. She then went on to produce “Empire of the Sun,” with Spielberg and Marshall, which the National Board of Review named Best Picture of the Year. Kennedy served as executive producer on the critically acclaimed Spielberg-directed Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List,” which garnered seven Academy Awards in 1993, including Best Director and Best Picture. That same year she also re-teamed with Robert Watts to produce Marshall’s second film, “Alive.” In 1995, Kennedy produced the Amblin Entertainment/Malpaso Production “The Bridges of Madison County,” directed by Clint Eastwood. It was followed by Amblin Entertainment’s Jan DeBont-directed action thriller “Twister,” which Kennedy produced with Ian Bryce in 1996. Kennedy also served as executive producer on the Spielberg-directed “Jurassic Park” sequel “The Lost World.” In 1999 and 2000, three films produced by The Kennedy/Marshall Company were released. The first, Universal’s “Snow Falling on Cedars,” was directed by Scott Hicks, award-winning director of “Shine.” It was followed by “The Sixth Sense,” which starred Bruce Willis and received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The next release was “A Map of the World” starring Sigourney Weaver and Julianne Moore. The Kennedy/Marshall Company also produced the IMAX film “Olympic Glory,” which was released in May 2000. In 2001, Kennedy produced the Spielberg-directed “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” with Bonnie Curtis. That same year, she produced “Jurassic Park III” with Spielberg and Gerald Molen. In 2002, she served as executive producer on M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs,” starring Mel Gibson. In 2003, Kennedy produced (along with Marshall, Gary Ross and Jane Sindell) the critical and popular hit “Seabiscuit,” which was nominated for seven Academy Awards® and proved to be the biggest-selling drama on DVD for the year.

In 2005, Kennedy and Colin Wilson produced “War of the Worlds,” which was directed by Spielberg and starred Tom Cruise. Later that year, Kennedy re-teamed with Wilson, Barry Mendel and Spielberg to produce the Spielberg-helmed “Munich,” which received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. In 2007, she produced “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” an adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s moving memoir directed by critically acclaimed artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel and written by Oscar-winner Ronald Harwood, for which Schnabel was awarded the prize for best director at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and received an Oscar® nomination for Best Director, along with another for Harwood’s screenplay, one for editing and a fourth for cinematography; and the English-language version of the French animated film “Persepolis,” which is based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel about a young girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution. The latter film tied for last year’s Jury Prize at Cannes and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Kennedy recently produced “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” based on the popular series of children’s book about the unseen world of fairies that exist all around us, and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” an epic romance directed by David Fincher, written by Oscar®-winner Eric Roth and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, due for release later this year. Upcoming, Kennedy will produce “Tintin,” a series of motion pictures directed by Spielberg and Peter Jackson. The two acclaimed filmmakers will use state-of-the-art performance capture technology to bring Tintin, the iconic character created by Georges Remi (better known to the world by his pen name “Herge”) to the screen. Kennedy is chair of the Academy of Motion Pictures’ Producers Branch Executive Committee and is a member of the Academy’s Board of Governors. She recently completed her tenure as President of the Producers Guild of America, which bestowed upon her its highest honor, the Charles Fitzsimons Service Award, in 2006. She and Marshall are the recipients of the 2008 Producers Guild of America’s David O. Selznick Award for Career Achievement. JANUSZ KAMINSKI (Director of Photography), a two-time Academy Award winner, took home his first Oscar for his black-and-white cinematography on Steven Spielberg`s “Schindler`s List.” For his work on that film, Kaminski was also honored with a BAFTA Award and numerous critics’ awards, including the Los Angeles and New York Film Critics Awards for Best Cinematography. He won his second Academy Award® for his work on Spielberg`s World War II drama “Saving Private Ryan.” In addition, Kaminski received his third Best Cinematography Oscar nomination for Spielberg`s “Amistad” and a fourth in 2007 for Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” for which he won the Best Cinematography Award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

Kaminski more recently collaborated with Spielberg on the `60s-era dramatic comedy “Catch Me If You Can,” the futuristic thriller “Minority Report,” “The Terminal” and the politically charged “Munich.” He also served as the director of photography on the Spielberg-directed films “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” and “The Lost World: Jurassic Park.” Kaminski`s other film credits as the director of photography include “The Adventures of Huck Finn,” “How To Make An American Quilt,” Cameron Crowe’s “Jerry Maguire” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “Mission Zero.” A native of Poland, Kaminski came to the United States in 1981. He studied cinematography at Columbia College in Chicago, receiving his B.A. in 1987. After graduating, he relocated to Los Angeles to become a cinematography fellow at the prestigious American Film Institute, and began his professional career on the feature “Fallen Angel.” He also lensed two television projects: the Amblin production “Class of `61” and the acclaimed cable movie “Wildflower,” directed by Diane Keaton. In 2000, Kaminski made his feature film directorial debut with the thriller “Lost Souls,” starring Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin and John Hurt. He has since also directed the Polish drama “Hania.” ”Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” marks GUY HENDRIX DYAS’s (Production Designer) first film with director Steven Spielberg and first production design assignment for George Lucas, for whom Dyas worked while serving as an art director at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Dyas began his career in Tokyo working as an industrial designer for Sony, and he moved to Japan after graduating from the Royal College of Art in London with a Masters Degree in Industrial Design. In 1994, an invitation from ILM to join its creative team introduced Dyas to the film industry in California and he served as a visual effects art director on “Twister.” Dyas then worked as a concept artist on such films as “King Arthur,” Tim Burton`s “Planet of the Apes,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “Vanilla Sky” and “Pearl Harbor,” and he was an assistant art director on “Swordfish” and “The Cell.” In 2003, Dyas was given the opportunity to execute the production design for Bryan Singer’s “X2: X-Men United” and, since then, Singer and Dyas have collaborated on various projects, most recently “Superman Returns,” for which he was nominated for an Art Directors Guild Award for Achievement in Production Design. Dyas also worked with director Terry Gilliam, designing the sets for “The Brothers Grimm” and, in 2006, he did the production design for the Cate Blanchett-starrer “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” which brought him a BAFTA nomination and a second nomination from the Art Directors Guild. Dyas is currently working with Oscar-winning Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar, designing his upcoming film ”Agora,” a 4th Century Roman/Egyptian epic starring Rachel Weisz and Max Minghella.

MICHAEL KAHN, A.C.E. (Editor) also edited the three previous films in the “Indiana Jones” series: “Raiders of The Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Kahn has won three Academy Awards for Best Editing for his work on films directed by Steven Spielberg. He won his first Oscar® in 1982 for the blockbuster “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and was also honored by his peers with an Eddie Award from the American Cinema Editors. In 1994, he received his second Oscar® for “Schindler`s List,” for which he also won a BAFTA Award. His most recent Oscar came for his work on Spielberg`s World War II drama “Saving Private Ryan,” which brought him an additional Eddie Award. In addition, Kahn has garnered Oscar nominations for his work on Spielberg`s “Empire of the Sun” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” as well as Adrian Lyne`s “Fatal Attraction,” which also garnered the editor a BAFTA Award. Kahn has edited nearly all of Steven Spielberg`s films, most recently working with the director on “Munich,” “War of the Worlds,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Minority Report” and “The Terminal.” His other Spielberg collaborations include “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” “Amistad” and “Jurassic Park” and its sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” as well as “Hook,” “Always,” “1941” and “The Color Purple.” He has also edited a wide range of films for other directors, including “The Haunting,” “Twister,” “Casper,” “Alive,” “Arachnophobia,” “The Goonies,” “Poltergeist,” “The Eyes of Laura Mars” and “Lemony Snicket`s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” A member of American Cinema Editors, Kahn’s editing career goes back to television films such as “Hogan’s Heroes” and “Eleanor and Franklin,” for which he won an Emmy. Michael Kahn most recently edited Mark Waters’ “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” which was released earlier this year.

MARY ZOPHRES’ (Costume Designer) award-winning career includes Spielberg films “The Terminal” and “Catch Me If You Can,” for which she received a BAFTA award nomination for Best Costume Design. She has also designed costumes for several Coen brothers films, including “The Ladykillers” with Tom Hanks, “Intolerable Cruelty” with George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, “The Man Who Wasn’t There” starring Billy Bob Thornton, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring George Clooney, “The Big Lebowski” with Jeff Bridges, and the Academy Award-winning hits “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” Zophres has also worked with the Farrelly brothers as costume designer on “There’s Something About Mary,” “Dumb & Dumber” and “Kingpin.” Her other film credits include “Bewitched,” “Moonlight Mile,” ”Ghost World,” “View from the Top,” “Any Given Sunday,” “Paulie,” “Digging to China” and “Playing God.” Her most recent designs have been seen in Joe Carnahan’s “Smokin’ Aces” and Robert Redford’s political drama “Lions for Lambs” with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. She recently completed work on the latest Coen brothers’ effort, “Burn After Reading” starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich, which is due for release in the fall. Thirty-year film veteran DENIS L. STEWART (Co-Producer) previously worked with Steven Spielberg as an assistant director on “Amistad” and as a unit production manager on “Munich.” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” marks Stewart’s third film with producer Frank Marshall, after having served as production manager on “Eight Below,” which Marshall directed, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” Stewart has been first assistant director on over 20 feature films, including the Jim Carrey comedy “The Mask,” “Speed 2: Cruise Control” and Sydney Pollack’s “Random Hearts,” starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas. Other credits include, as production manager, “Panic Room,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,” “Bewitched” and both “Spider-Man” sequels. JOHN WILLIAMS (Composer) is one of the most esteemed and prolific film composers of all time and the recipient of numerous honors, including five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Awards, four Emmys and 20 Grammy Awards. He won three of his five Oscars for his work on the Steven Spielberg films “Jaws,” “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and “Schindler’s List.” His other Academy Awards came for the unforgettable “Star Wars” score and the screen version of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Williams returns to the world of Indiana Jones after having composed Oscar-nominated scores for all three previous films: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Williams has earned a remarkable 45 Oscar nominations, the most recent coming in 2005 for “Memoirs of a Geisha” and Spielberg’s “Munich.” The year before, he was nominated for “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” and the year prior to that for Spielberg’s “Catch Me If You Can.” In 2002, Williams received dual nominations for his scores for Spielberg’s “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence” and the blockbuster “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

A master of every genre, he has created many of the most familiar themes in movie history, including the Oscar-nominated scores for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Superman.” Williams’ other Academy Award nominations have included Best Original Score nods for “The Patriot,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Amistad,” “Nixon,” “Sabrina,” “JFK,” “Home Alone,” “Born on the Fourth of July,” “Empire of the Sun,” “The River,” “The Towering Inferno” and “The Poseidon Adventure,” to name just a few. Williams’ long association with Spielberg began with the director’s first feature “The Sugarland Express” and has encompassed almost all of Spielberg’s films, recently including “War of the Worlds” and “Minority Report.” Williams’ latest film franchise credits include three “Harry Potter” movies and George Lucas’s second “Star Wars” trilogy. In addition to his feature film work, Williams has created themes and fanfares for several Olympic Games, and also wrote an orchestral work to accompany Spielberg’s film tribute to the new millennium, “American Journey.” He has also composed numerous concert pieces, including two symphonies, and a cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1994, as well as concertos for flute, tuba, violin, clarinet, bassoon, horn and trumpet. Williams was also Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra for 14 highly successful seasons from 1980 to 1993. He still holds the title of Laureate Conductor of that famed ensemble, as well as that of Artist in Residence at Tanglewood. As a guest conductor, he appears regularly with many of the world’s most renowned orchestras. In 2004, Williams was a recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. PABLO HELMAN (Visual Effects Supervisor) is a native of Buenos Aires who joined Industrial Light & Magic in 1996 as the Sabre Department Supervisor. Prior to joining the company, he was a compositing supervisor on “Independence Day” for Pacific Ocean Post, a digital compositor on “Apollo 13” and “Strange Days” for Digital Domain, and a Quantel Domino compositor on numerous projects for Digital Magic. Helman received a Masters of Arts in Education from Cal Poly Pomona, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition from UCLA. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Star Wars: Episode II -“Attack of the Clones.” He was also nominated for “War of the Worlds” and won a Visual Effects Society Award for Best Single Visual Effects of the Year for the same film.

On the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, Helman served not only as Visual Effects Supervisor but is also credited as Aerial Director, Brazil/Argentina Second Unit. Additionally, he served as visual effects supervisor on “The Pledge,” “Star Wars: Episode One -The Phantom Menace,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” “The Chronicles of Riddick, “The Bourne Supremacy,” “Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil,” “Jarhead,” “Munich” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles.” BEN BURTT (Sound Designer) was the sound designer and supervising sound editor of all six films in the “Star Wars” saga, including the Special Editions of "A New Hope," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." An accomplished filmmaker, Burtt has written, directed and served as film editor on a vast array of projects in the three decades since “Star Wars” was originally released. Among his many credits are the upcoming Disney-Pixar film “Wall-E,” “Willow,” “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Alien,” “Munich,” “The Dark Crystal,” “Howard the Duck,” “More American Graffiti” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers" — in addition to all three "Indiana Jones" movies. He also was sound designer on such IMAX films as “Blue Planet,” “Alamo: The Price of Freedom,” “Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic” and “The Dream is Alive.” Additionally, Burtt was editor on the three "Star Wars" prequel films. Television work includes serving as second-unit director on several episodes of “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles,” and as writer on “The Adventures of Mungo Baobab,” “The Great Heep,” and writer/director of “Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen.” Among his directorial credits are: "Blue Planet", "Destiny in Space," “The American Gangster,” “The True Story of Glory Continues” and “In the Footsteps of Fremont.” He recently directed and provided the sound design for “Manassas: End of the Innocence” for the National Park Service. He served as film editor on “Alamo, The Price of Freedom” and “The Living Seas" at the EPCOT theme park in Florida, and provided the sound design and special sound effects for “Wellington’s Victory.” Burtt was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA Award for Best Sound Effects Editing for “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," "Return of the Jedi" and for “Willow.” Burtt picked up another Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject, for writing, directing and serving as picture editor on “Special Effects: Anything Can Happen.” He won an Oscar for his Sound Effects Editing for "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and both an Academy Award and a Golden Reel Award for “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” In addition, he won a BAFTA award for Best Sound for “The Empire Strikes Back” and a Special Achievement Oscar for “Alien,” Creature and Robot Voice Creation.