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Joey McFarland
Biography
Joey McFarland is an American film producer. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he attended the University of Louisville. In 2010, with producing partner Riza Aziz, McFarland co-founded Red Granite Pictures. McFarland oversees the company's day-to-day operations, its business divisions, personnel and all matters relating to Red Granite Pictures' film slate. Under his leadership, Red Granite has developed, produced and structured financing for a slate of films representing more than $600 million in revenue. In 2011 Variety named McFarland in their list of Top 10 Producers to Watch.
McFarland's first production under the Red Granite banner was the hit romantic comedy Friends with Kids, written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt.
In 2012 McFarland went on to executive produce the dramatic thriller Out of the Furnace, directed by Scott Cooper and starring Christian Bale.
Next McFarland produced The Wolf of Wall Street. The Wolf of Wall Street is based on Jordan Belfort's best-selling novel of the same name. The book was adapted into a screenplay by Terence Winter. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew Mcconaughey and Margot Robbie. Released on December 25, 2013 by Paramount Pictures, The Wolf of Wall Street achieved tremendous box office success and garnered critical acclaim - including a Golden Globe win for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy for Leonardo DiCaprio and five Academy Award nominations including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture for which McFarland received a nomination.
In 2013 McFarland completed production on Horns, a supernatural thriller directed by Alexandre Aja and starring Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple. The film is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Joe Hill and was released October 31, 2014 by Dimension-RADiUS.
McFarland was also a producer on the sequel Dumb and Dumber To, directed by Pete and Bobby Farrelly, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. It was released on November 14, 2014 by Universal Pictures. Dumb and Dumber To opened number one at the box office.
Currently McFarland is an executive producer on the film Daddy's Home. Shooting in New Orleans, the film is being directed by Sean Anders and John Morris. It re-teams Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg for the first time since 2010. Red Granite Pictures is co-producing and co-financing the film with Paramount Pictures, in association with Gary Sanchez Productions. Paramount Pictures is also the worldwide distribution partner.
McFarland's current development slate includes The Brigands of Rattleborge and The General. The Brigands of Rattleborge, the blacklist's number one script of 2006, is a western revenge story and The General is a gritty look at the story of George Washington.
- IMDb Mini Biography
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Morjana Alaoui
Biography
Morjana Alaoui (born November 30, 1982) is a Moroccan actress. She starred in Marock, Pascal Laugier's horror film Martyrs, and Rock the Casbah.
Alaoui spent her early life in the Anfa neighborhood of Casablanca, Morocco, and studied at the Casablanca American School. At 18, Alaoui moved to Paris, France, where she studied at the American University of Paris. While attending the university, she met director Laila Marrakchi, who offered her a role in the film Marock (2005). Marock was critically acclaimed and provided Alaoui national fame. In 2007, she began filming Martyrs, for which she is also known. In 2016 Alaoui starred in psychological thriller Broken directed by Shaun Robert Smith.
Source: Article "Morjana Alaoui" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Abdelhalim Rais
Biography
Abdelhalim Rais (birth name Boualem Raïs) is an Algerian actor and comedian, born January 4, 1924 in the casbah of Algiers and died November 8, 1979.
Boualem Raïs, chose the pseudonym "Abdelhalim" after the name of Abdelhalim Hafid whom he adored so much, grew up alongside the mujahideen and worked as a postman, public writer and was also employed in an electricity and gas company. However, what fascinated him was song, music and comedy. From time to time, he went to the Mahieddine-Bachtarzi rehearsal room (located rue du Lézard in Algiers) where he began to meet and know the artists. At the beginning of his career, when he was only twenty years old, he began writing ditties and participating in theatrical plays. At this time in 1934 he wrote the play "El Yatime" (the orphan) and joined the troupe El Hilal El Djazairi of which he was a founding member.
In 1946, he left for Morocco where he played in two films "Chadad El Adil" alongside Djeloul Bach Djarah and Maarouf with Mohamed Touri. Back in Algiers, he joined the Algerian Radio team and began preparing programs on police theater. In 1947, Mahieddine Bachtarzi, who initiated the Arab theater season at the former Algiers Opera (currently the National Theater), presented the play "Monserrat" with Mustapha Kateb. The latter was presented for the first time to the Algerian public by the MTLD troupe (of which Raïs was a member) in November 1949 and, let us emphasize, in the presence of the French author Emmanuel Roblès. Raïs will subsequently play in the play "Chemchoum El Djazair" by Mohamed Ouadah, "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" by Molière... He then writes several plays including "Hya El Hayat" (C'est La Vie) and "Bin Narain" (Entre Deux Feux) at a time when theater had a good relationship with the National Movement. In 1950, the MTLD troupe had participated in several festivals in communist countries (Berlin in 1952, Budapest in 1953, Warsaw 1955...).
In 1953, Raïs wrote, "Sidi El Hadj", "Mourad Wahid" and "Hadi Hya Dounia". In 1954, at the outbreak of the war of national liberation, the FLN ordered the cessation of all artistic and cultural activities. At the beginning of 1956, Raïs was forced to leave for France like many Algerian artists of the time and joined the Algerian theater troupe founded by Mustapha Kateb in 1940. At the end of 1956, the Federation planned to found the FLN artistic troupe and at the beginning of 1957 , Boumendjel contacted Mustapha Kateb to set up this troupe which was formed and gave birth to the epic Nahw Ennour in 1958. At this time, Raïs began to write plays on the Revolution and the Algerian people. The most famous of his plays "Les Enfants de la Casbah" (May 10, 1959), "El Ahidoun", "Dam Elahrare" tour throughout the country. After independence in 1962, Raïs joined Algerian Radio and Television and played in several films such as "The Night Afraid of the Sun" (1965), "Hassan Térro" (1965), "Chronicle of the Ember Years", "Opium and the Stick", "El Moukafeh"...
And while he was in the middle of shooting a film in Bousaâda in 1979, Raïs suffered a cardiac arrest and died on the spot. He is buried in the El Kettar cemetery in Algiers.
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Chafia Boudraa
Biography
Chafia Boudraa (in arabic : شافية بوذراع), real name Atika Boudraa born April 22, 1930 Constantine is an Algerian actress. She is the widow of Shahid (an FLN fighter during the war of independence, who died in combat in 1960).
She left Constantine, her hometown, for Algiers in 1964. She began by working in different professions to provide for the needs of a family of eleven children: caregiver, switchboard operator, housekeeper, before contacting the RTA to work there, at stamp in several films. Chafia Boudraa will be revealed to the general public, thanks to the television series “El Hariq” (Fire) by Mustapha Badie, adapted from the novel by Mohammed Dib.
She will even play the role of the widow in “The Taming of the Shrew” produced by the National Theater of Algiers. Since these beginnings, his face has stood out with talent in Algerian and international television and cinema productions. During a rich career spanning over fifty years, she also played in the film "Hors-La-Loi" by Rachid Bouchareb, which represented Algeria at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. In this political thriller which follows destiny of three brothers torn apart by the Algerian war.
She died on May 22, 2022.
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Katherine Banks
Biography
Katherine Banks is an actor, teacher, and communications specialist. You can catch Katherine onscreen in NO SUDDEN MOVE or in the Netflix drama MINDHUNTER. Katherine spent ten years in Chicago where she appeared in the Jeff Award winning Men Should Weep with Griffin Theatre and in Buzz 22 Chicago’s sold-out production of She Kills Monsters at the Steppenwolf Garage. Other Chicago theatre credits include The Real Thing (Illinois Theatre Center), Leaving Iowa (Fox Valley Repertory), and A Christmas Carol (Provision Theater). She is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan and the School at Steppenwolf.
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Adam Aidani
Biography
Adam Aidani was born and raised in Aarhus, carrying proud roots deeply tied to the sun-drenched landscapes of Tunisia. This unique cultural duality permeates everything he does, blending the grounded pragmatism of the Danish soil with the boundless horizons of the Mediterranean. Within his character, Nordic introspection melts seamlessly with southern vitality and passion.
As a true man of the sea and the sun, he draws his deepest inspiration from the elements of nature. The constant motion of the ocean and the relentless radiance of the sun are not merely poetic imagery, but the very foundation of his worldview. He seeks out the water for clarity and the sun to recharge an inexhaustible reservoir of energy.
Beneath his charismatic exterior lies a deeply reflective soul. Adam is not only a young, up-and-coming actor with an immense talent for commanding the stage and the screen; he is also a philosopher. He views art as an existential laboratory where the shadows, drives, and potentials of human nature can be examined and laid bare. For him, acting and philosophy are two sides of the same coin an uncompromising quest for the truth of what it means to be human.
Alongside his artistic and intellectual pursuits, he acts as a motivator. With his contagious presence, sharp intellect, and unwavering belief in human potential, he has a profound impact on those around him. He does not merely talk about change; he embodies it, inspiring others to break past their own limitations. Adam Aidani is a rare voice in his generation—a modern polymath with one foot in art, one in philosophy, and his heart set firmly beneath the open sky, destined to leave a lasting mark on the world.
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Nanako Mori
Biography
Nanako Mori (森 なな子, Mori Nanako) is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She is signed to the Mausu Promotion agency.
In 2005, she joined the Takarazuka Revue under the stage name Chihaya Saeki (冴輝 ちはや, Saeki Chihaya) and played male roles (otokoyaku) in the Snow Troupe. She left the Takarazuka Revue in 2009 and worked as an office worker for two years. In 2012, she was finalist in the Miss Universe Japan competition, which she applied for at the recommendation of his boss. She started her voice acting activities in 2013 and joined Mausu Promotion in 2015.
Not to be confused with AV actress of the same name Nanako Mori.
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Mercedes Pascual
Biography
She moved to Mexico at the age of nine, when her family had to leave Spain as a result of the Spanish Civil War, where she began attending ballet classes, participating in the Ballet Moderno de Bellas Artes and the Ballet de Opera de Bellas Artes. She later studied acting with maestro Seki Sano and at the Andrés Soler Theater Academy. Her debut as an actress was in the play La soga in 1952. The following year she became a Mexican citizen. She was the driving force and founder of the National Theater Company, and joined the stable cast when it was restructured in 2008; in 2012, she was distinguished as a Number One actress.
She had an extensive career as an actress, participating in films such as Persíguelas y alcánzalas, El retrato de Anabella, Jóvenes delincuentes, Ángel de fuego, Novia que te vea (for which she was nominated for an Ariel) and Cilantro y perejil, among many others. In television she has participated in several telenovelas, including Mi esposa se divorcia, Maximiliano y Carlota, El manantial del milagro, Viviana, Cuna de lobos, Teresa, Muchachitas, Retrato de familia and El candidato. She also acted in plays such as Miércoles de ceniza, Las criadas and El vestidor.
Mercedes married diplomat Víctor Flores Olea with whom she had her only daughter, actress Mercedes Olea. She was previously married to actor Claudio Brook, with whom she had her daughter Claudia Brook.
Her last participation was in the TV Azteca soap opera Emperatriz, where she played Doña Leonor Bustamante.
At the age of nine she began attending ballet classes, "I started in the art because I saw some great ballet artists on a ship going from Finland to I don't know where. I saw them doing their warm-up and they fascinated me, I put myself in a little corner to do the same steps they did and they told me: come here to the bar and do it with us.
At the age of 12. Mercedes Pascual entered dance classes with a Russian teacher Zakharov, later with Nina Shestakova and Sergio Unger.
The actress did not give up professional dance until she was 25 years old and even then, she continued taking dance classes because she was certain that "many things could be translated from dance to theater".
She received a scholarship from the French government to study drama in Paris, France, from 1960 to 1961 with Tania Balachova and mime with Jacques Lecoq. He was a founding member of the Université du Théâtre des Nations created in Paris in 1960.
After her studies in France, she was called by Benito Coquet, Ignacio Retes and José Solé to join the Social Security Company from 1960 to 1964,
The actress received a scholarship from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes for a postgraduate course in drama in London, England, at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with Peter Hall and Liziz Picks in 1970. This scholarship was possible thanks to the support of Héctor Azar and the architect Luis Ortiz Macedo, director of INBA at the time.
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Sean Connery
Biography
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer. He won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (one being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His films also include Marnie (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), and Finding Forrester (2000).
Connery was polled in a 2004 The Sunday Herald as "The Greatest Living Scot" and in a 2011 EuroMillions survey as "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure". He was voted by People magazine as both the “Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999. He received a lifetime achievement award in the United States with a Kennedy Center Honor in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.
On October 31, 2020, Connery died at the age of 90.
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Michael Patrick McGill
Biography
Michael Patrick McGill is the first of two sons born to Anne McGill and the late Gerald F. McGill, Jr. His brother Patrick was born in 1976. Mike grew up in the Fox River Valley and graduated from Appleton East High School in 1991. He attended The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point from 1991 to 1993, when he took a break from his studies and enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve. He attended Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and A.I.T. at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He transferred to The University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh upon his return, where he graduated in 1995 with a degree in Radio/TV/Film.
Mike belonged to the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His Army Reserve Unit was one of the first to be activated for Operation Joint Endeavor after the Dayton Peace Accord was signed. He spent January through July 1996 stationed overseas in Durdevik, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
After his tour was over, Mike found work in the production department for WLUK-TV 11, the FOX affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His duties included running the audio board during the newscasts and inserting local commercial breaks in-between programs. One of the perks that came along with the job was getting paid to witness The Green Bay Packers march towards their Super Bowl XXXI victory over the New England Patriots.
Fittingly, Mike's first full day as a resident of Los Angeles was April 1st, 1998 (April Fool's Day). His first TV program appearance was a small role as "Babe Ruth" in a flashback on an episode of "Touched by an Angel" (1994). He lives with his wife Amy, their son Jake and their dog Elvis in the San Fernando Valley, where he continues to further his acting career.
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