The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 (2014) Production Notes

The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, from an adaptation by Suzanne Collins and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.

Please note: Some production notes may contain spoilers.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

“Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us.” - Katniss Everdeen

OUR LEADER THE MOCKINGJAY

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is the highly-anticipated third installment of the blockbuster phenomenon that blazed across movie screens around the globe. The story now accelerates to new, exhilarating levels as the futuristic chronicle of Katniss Everdeen enters into a new realm. The Games may have been obliterated for good, but the fight to survive is about to intensify. Faced with the most daunting odds - and watched by the eyes of a hopeful nation - Katniss must put into motion courage, strength and empowerment against the all-powerful Capitol. This is the moment when she realizes she has no choice but to open her wings and fully embody the Mockingjay symbol. If only to save Peeta, she must become a leader.

The story begins again as Katniss has just been rescued from the destruction of the Quarter Quell. She awakens in a shocking world she didn’t even know existed: the deep, dark underground of supposedly annihilated District 13. She quickly learns of the devastating reality she must face: District 12 has been turned to rubble; and Peeta is being held, manipulated and brainwashed by President Snow in The Capitol. At the same time, Katniss’s eyes are opened to a secret rebellion rapidly spreading from District 13 throughout all of Panem – a rebellion that will place her at the center of a daring plot to hack into The Capitol and turn the tables on President Snow.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 dives further into the fabric of Panem and into the story’s most powerful emotions as Katniss and the nation enter a harrowing but transformative time. Explains returning director Francis Lawrence: “Emotionally, Katniss is like a foreigner in a strange land as this story begins. This is the time when she realizes she can’t stand by and do nothing. There has been too much deception and the people Katniss loves are in danger. She will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”

The director continues: “The stakes have always been high in The Hunger Games but now the entire world opens up. The Games themselves are gone, but threat of oppression now permeates all of Panem. This chapter gave us a chance to reveal entirely new locations with amazing action sequences. It’s a gigantic movie.”

In her third and most poignant turn as Katniss, Academy Award® winner Jennifer Lawrence relished the chance to portray the character at this heightened juncture as she emerges from distress to take her first steps into leadership. “I was excited for Katniss to come into her own as a leader, but she’s still a very reluctant hero,” Lawrence observes. “In the first movie she wanted to save her family. In the second, she tried to save her friends and herself. Now, she starts to realize the impact she has on the wider world and that she has a choice to lead this battle for what is right.”

That choice does not come easily for Katniss, who recoils at nearly every element of her new life: the militaristic order of District 13, the pressure to perform on cue, and the heart-wrenching reality of war. Katniss remains hopeful that becoming the Mockingjay might truly change things. “As an actor, the challenge was having Katniss wake up in a brand new environment, where she has to rebuild herself from nothing. Katniss has not only left behind her old life as a District 12 victor, she has entered a world unlike any other. Says Lawrence: “She has to get used to a new way of life in District 13. Everything is deeply unfamiliar and it’s all underground, so she can’t even go outside or hunt.”

Lawrence continues about approaching Katniss: “She felt almost like an entirely different character because she is so stripped down and feeling so empty. It’s something that truly does happen to people after traumatic events like she’s been through. Katniss still has the same core, but she’s in a completely different place inside and out.”

As Katniss takes on the public role of the Mockingjay, she is asked by President Coin [Julianne Moore] to appear in a series of “propos” – viral propaganda videos that District 13 uses to communicate with and inspire rebels across Panem.

“She goes into the propos feeling like a pawn, like the Mockingjay is just a symbol she’s not connected to or passionate about,” Lawrence says. “The whole idea of the propos is to get people fired up, to band together – so Katniss faking at being something that she’s not doesn’t work. It’s only when she sees the human cost in District 8 that a true spark is ignited. The more she sees, the more it becomes a personal fight for her.”

Lawrence was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Julianne Moore in the role of President Coin. “When I heard she was going to play Coin, it was the most exciting, unbelievable news in the world. I think Julianne is one of the greatest actresses of all time, just absolutely phenomenal. She was even more impressive in person. She is such a sweet family woman and also hilarious. Working with her was a dream come true.”

While Lawrence and Moore got along, their characters have a cool tension between them. “Their relationship is complicated. They share similar ideals, but with all she’s been through, Katniss feels she cannot fully trust her,” Lawrence comments. “President Coin can see how important Katniss is to leading this rebellion, but she also doesn’t believe Katniss can actually do it. She’s still suffering from post-traumatic stress and President Coin is skeptical that using Katniss is something that she can actually control.”

Also rewarding to Lawrence was the chance for deeper interaction with Liam Hemsworth as Gale, who remains Katniss’s devoted friend and strongest link to her past. “Katniss and Gale have such a rich history,” she acknowledges. “There are so many complexities to it because before Katniss went into the Games, Gale was the only person who really understood her. Following the games, she and Peeta had this experience together that no one else, including Gale, could ever understand. She and Gale are in a very interesting place and it was nice to explore more of that.”

For Francis, one of the highlights of the entire Hunger Games series has been watching Jennifer take Katniss through a vast range of experiences, each one internalized into a character who is now thick with many layers. “It’s incredibly complex to track somebody who is going through so much emotionally,” he says. “Katniss has incurred a lot of damage, and now here she is trying to figure out where she stands in the world, whether or not she trusts the people in District 13, and whether she wants the responsibility of becoming a part of the rebellion. Jen has done the most amazing job with every nuance.”

In thinking about Katniss and reflecting on one of her favorite scenes, producer Nina Jacobson notes: “When Katniss goes to District 8 and says, ‘If we burn, you burn with us,’ for the first time she sees the impact that she has on people. Those moments – where Katniss owns what and who she is – really give me the chills.”

Jacobson says the films biggest astonishment may be how emotionally resonant it is – not just because the story is entering a time of war, with all its accompanying sorrow for the lost and hopes for the future, but because it is also a time when Katniss must change faster than ever. “It’s a very tense and powerful story and the emotions on screen are surprisingly deep,” concludes the producer. “It takes you to places you will not expect to be taken. It’s provocative, thoughtful and up to the last minutes of the film, the way it unfolds is shocking.”

“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is such a fantastic epic,” she summarizes. “This part of the story is important to tell -- about how powerful a person’s voice can be. It is always easier to follow the person in front of you, but I think we all have a Mockingjay in us. We all have the ability to make a stand and do the right thing.”

DISTRICT 13 VS. THE CAPITOL

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 reveals for the first time the most covert place in all of Panem: secretive District 13, where Panem’s rebels have carved out their own rigidly ordered society miles underground.

District 13 and The Capitol are mirror opposites in every way. The Capitol is sensationalist spectacles, over-the-top garish hues and gleaming lights. District 13 is steeped in shades of gray, claustrophobia, conformity and the stark reality of what’s happening in the Districts. While The Capitol has been living high on the hog off the people, District 13 has been biding its time, preparing for the day when they would finally take a stand.

Up until now, only The Capitol knew about District 13, having carved out a non-aggression treaty that allowed it to exist so long as it stayed underground. As rumblings of war begin in earnest, District 13 and The Capitol are pitted against each other in a battle of images designed to win support – and key to it all is the ultimate District 13 symbol and foe of The Capitol: the Mockingjay.

Francis notes that the history of District 13 makes it unique even in dystopian Panem. “What we discover is that 13 was bombed in the Dark Days 75 years earlier. It was a graphite mine with old nuclear facilities. There were survivors, and instead of giving up, they moved underground and created an alternative civilization outside The Capitol, hidden from view. They’ve created a very ordered, militarized civilization, where people are trained as soldiers from a very early age. All this time, they’ve been waiting for a rebellion to start so they could take back The Capitol.”

Creating this clash of two cultures – and dueling visions for the future of Panem – was one of the biggest and most exhilarating tasks of the film.

“There’s really nothing in this movie that you’ve seen before of Panem,” notes producer Jon Kilik. “You’re immersed into District 13 – the one place no one outside has seen, the place no one except The Capitol even knew still existed. It’s a whole new journey for the audience. We’ve been through jungles and plagues in the Games but now to be living miles underground, things are even more intense and it puts an even greater pressure on the characters. It was also an incredible design challenge, and the result is a tribute to the skills of Francis Lawrence and our production designer Phil Messina.”

Katniss might not much like District 13, but she is their long-awaited ideal of a people’s hero, someone who isn’t in it for glory but is motivated by her own pure sense of right and wrong. “She is a simple girl from the lowest of the Districts, so the message of District 13 is that if she can stand up to The Capitol, anybody can do it,” Francis explains. “That’s why they want to use her in the propos. The hope is that if she stirs enough people up and all the Districts begin to unify; they could actually defeat The Capitol.

WHO’S WHO: RETURNING CHARACTERS

Peeta Mellark:
Peeta Mellark is now The Capitol’s precious prisoner. As he comes forth in a series of tell-all interviews with Caesar Flickerman about what happened in the disastrous Quarter Quell, questions arise about his true loyalties. Is Peeta a victim or a traitor and just what does he know?

Returning in the role of Peeta Mellark is Josh Hutcherson, who knew this film would be different. “Where Peeta goes as a character is really dark and really intense,” he says. “It’s actually what I was most looking forward to as an actor from reading the books.”

Hutcherson notes that when Katniss first sees Peeta on TV, she has no way of knowing what is going on with him, which only leaves her feeling even more unanchored and unhinged. “Now that she knows he’s alive, but seeing the state he’s in, and she hears what he is saying - she doesn’t know if he’s a good guy anymore or if he’s completely turned and now believes the words he’s saying in support of the Capitol.”

While Hutcherson is circumspect about where his character is headed, he says what he loves about the entire Hunger Games series is the way it brings of-the-moment themes together with epic, visual entertainment. “They are really smart movies,” he says. “They go to many interesting places with this story of a girl from a small village who is seemingly just fighting to survive and then becomes swept up in this huge uprising, becoming its leader. Francis has done a great job telling Suzanne Collins’ stories with a thrillingly large scope but making it relatable and grounded so that people connect with it.”

Gale Hawthorne:
From the moment Katniss wakes up in District 13, Gale is there – one of her only touchstones to the world she left behind. But he, too, is no longer the same. A hero who saved hundreds during the destruction of their home in District 12, he is now becoming a dedicated soldier in the rebellion and yet his heart is as unsettled by Katniss as ever.

Returning in the role is Liam Hemsworth, who says that in the wake of Catching Fire events, Gale “has reached the tipping point.” Hemsworth explains: “He’s had enough as far as The Capitol’s abuse goes, so he’s not scared to stand up to it. He feels ready to go to war, in spite of the costs, to try to take down The Capitol. He sees the biggest part of his job as being the one to give Katniss the support and courage to become the Mockingjay. He’s now kind of her right-hand man.”

Gale becomes a driving force behind Katniss consenting to appear in the propos films for District 13. “He knows that they have to spread the word that the Mockingjay is alive and that only she can bring people together to stand up to The Capitol,” Hemsworth explains. At the same time, he notes that there is a distance between them. “Gale and Katniss have known each other their whole lives and have a lot of love for each other . . . but the difference between them is that Gale now sees anyone who has anything to do with the Capitol as guilty. Katniss doesn’t have those blinders.”

Hemsworth couldn’t wait to work with Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson again. “You couldn’t ask for better people to work with. Jen & Josh are both amazingly talented and working with them is a blessing and so much fun. We’ve now all known each other for a few years and together we’ve experienced a lot of pivotal points in our lives.”

He also found great enjoyment in working with Francis Lawrence on the nuances of Gale’s development over time and his increasingly complicated feelings for Katniss. “Francis is the consummate director. He is great at all the big action stuff as well as working intimately with actors. He is one of the most well-prepared directors I’ve had the good fortune of working with. He knows the ins and outs of the story and everyone’s character. When you ask him a question, he knows the answer. He’s always willing to listen and collaborate with you on your input and ideas.”

Haymitch Abernathy:
Woody Harrelson returns as a very different Haymitch – one who has not only been changed by recent events but taken some time to recover with a stint in rehab. It gives him a clearer view of what matters. “Haymitch’s thing before was always to emotionally detach himself from the people he was mentoring,” explains Harrelson. “He truly sees how much he loves Katniss and Peeta, and he realizes they’ve become a kind of family to him, in a very real sense.”

Haymitch feels a need to continue to drive Katniss to what he sees as her destiny, no matter how difficult it is to watch her in her anguished state of mind. He is the one who suggests putting her into real peril in the propos videos, knowing the degree to which she can inspire others by her authentic reactions to the world. “He knows exactly how to let the world see Katniss at her best,” Harrelson explains.

Plutarch Heavensbee:
Once the Capitol’s Head Gamemaker, now Plutarch Heavensbee is one of the masterminds behind the rebellion – and he’s also become Katniss’s champion, trying to convince President Coin that Katniss alone can fulfill the Mockingjay role with the passion of the Girl on Fire. “Plutarch has been trying to sell this idea that one of the ways to unite all the districts is through not just propaganda, but through the sheer power of the Mockingjay image – through this one irreplaceable symbol that can unite and inspire everybody in Panem to come together and fight for this cause,” explains Jon Kilik.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, in whose loving memory the film is dedicated, took the key role to new depths. He reveals a Plutarch who finds himself in a dizzyingly different world from The Capitol where he once thrived – and must now try to transform his well-honed skills of manipulation and strategic gamesmanship into weapons against his former boss, President Snow.

Everyone on set was exhilarated by his performance as a man trying to re-imagine the future anew in District 13. “This is the movie where we really get to see who Plutarch is,” says Francis Lawrence, “and Phil was so great, hitting both on Plutarch’s sense of humor and his political maneuvering.”

Effie Trinket:
Elizabeth Banks returns as Effie Trinket in a greatly expanded role. Effie’s presence is one of few departures from the book. With Suzanne Collins as enamored about Banks’ bubbling-over portrait of Effie as movie fans, it was a change that came with the author’s blessing. Recalls Francis: “When Suzanne saw Catching Fire she called and said ‘There’s no way Effie Trinket cannot be in the Mockingjay films.’ Effie brings such warmth, fun and levity to these dark stories – and fans will love how she has adapted to life in District 13.”

Placing Effie in such a contrasting environment allowed the filmmakers to further develop the character’s complicated relationship with The Capitol. “What makes Effie so interesting in this film is that she does not want to be in District 13,” Jacobson says. “Unlike Plutarch, she does not want to be part of any revolution. She has to be convinced to help, and she helps for personal reasons, not political reasons.”

Banks was as surprised as anyone to return as Effie. “I was just so flattered that people enjoy this character as much as they do,” she says. The actress was thrilled by the chance to take Effie into unexpected territory, carving glamour out of the stark, grey-shaded conformity of District 13. “Effie is a true fish out of water in District 13, without her Capitol comforts,” Banks muses. “But of course, she needs to feel fabulous wherever she is, so she applies her style to District 13 and has a little fun with it.” It’s an act of courage for Effie. “In her own way, Effie rebels against the stringency of District 13 by showing her individuality. That’s important to her and an important theme for the movie, because it goes to show that the people in The Capitol are not all evil. Effie might disdain District 13, but she is also grateful to be there rather than feeling the wrath of President Snow.”

If the contours of Effie’s life have changed, her devotion to Katniss remains unsinkable. “Her new job is to ensure Katniss is the ultimate celebrity face of the rebellion, the perfect Mockingjay. Her job hasn’t really changed from the Games. Effie also remains one of the few people who’s never lied to Katniss. She never had to, because she truly didn’t know what was going on, and now she still has Katniss’s trust,” Banks points out.

Beetee:
Tech-savvy former tribute Beetee, having barely survived the Quarter Quell, now pushes his master hacking skills to the edge as he becomes a vital part of the rebellion’s plans to breach the mega-security of The Capitol. Jeffrey Wright takes on the character he describes as “resisting injustice.”

Wright explains where Beetee is now that he is recovering from the Games in District 13. “You really get to see Beetee in action working in his laboratory designing systems and weapons and trying to hack into The Capitol’s communications,” says the actor. “He has a very critical role in the advancement of the rebellion.”

Although, Beetee has his own reservations. “He has a lot of outrage at the conditions in the Districts but, like Katniss, he also is struggling not to become the very thing he is fighting against,” says Wright.

Wright especially loved having the chance to work with Julianne Moore as President Coin. “She is terrific as this very forceful but somewhat mysterious leader in the deep, dark recesses of District 13,” he says. “She came in and just drove into Coin’s personality in a way that was incredibly impressive.”

Finnick Odair: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 also finds former tribute Finnick Odair in an unstable state following the events of the Quarter Quell. Once renown across Panem for his gleaming smile and high-spirits, Finnick now collides with ghastly news at the start of the film. “Finnick finds out that the love of his life, Annie Cresta, has been kidnapped alongside Peeta and Johanna,” Sam Claflin, who debuted in the charismatic role in Catching Fire, explains. “That puts him in a very, very vulnerable position, and he doesn't really know how to deal with that loss.”

Claflin goes on: “What's incredible about Mockingjay is that it picks up at a point when everything has changed drastically, and every character you care about has seemingly gone to hell and back. They hoped that they had escaped from their lives as tributes, but they're actually confined even tighter. Now, they’re in this very regimented, new world of District 13 and it is quite disorienting. I see Finnick as being very broken at the beginning of Mockingjay, but he starts to find his feet again.”

For Claflin, Finnick’s turmoil was a chance to dig deeper and expose more shadings inside the character. “You find out that everything you knew about Finnick, all his bravado and verve, has been largely for show,” he comments. “I think for any actor, playing the underside of a beloved character is incredibly interesting. There are moments where he flashes a smile where you’ll remember he's still the old Finnick, with all those elements everyone knows and loves, but at the same time, there’s a new side I get to reveal.”

Primrose Everdeen:
If there is one person Katniss can trust implicitly it has always been her little sister Primrose. She is no longer a child but an unusually courageous teenager living in District 13 and nurturing her dream of becoming a doctor even in the midst of chaos and wartime. “My character has evolved so much,” observes Willow Shields. “Prim started out a scared child afraid to lose her sister and best friend but now she has become her own strong person who can really be there for Katniss.” Jacobson notes that Shields plays an essential part in Katniss’s evolution. “It’s Prim who reminds Katniss of her power and tells her that she can make her own demands when she agrees to be the Mockingjay.”

More than ever, Prim is also a confidante for Katniss as she grapples with becoming a leader – helping her through her darkest nights. “Prim knows that Katniss feels responsible for all the people who have lost their lives, that she’s struggling with post-traumatic stress from the Games, and with the fact that she still wants to take care of Prim and their mom as war is breaking out. But I feel like Prim now has a unique ability to stand behind Katniss, and you get to see almost a kind of role reversal between them.”

For Shields getting a chance to do all that with Jennifer Lawrence was truly exciting. “With each movie, I feel like we have connected more and more,” she says. “It’s always so fun to be around her, but she is also so smart and sophisticated. She’s constantly teaching me.”

President Snow:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 finds Panem’s authoritarian leader, President Snow, trying to close his grip on a nation that is suddenly rebelling against him and to get to Katniss in the most deviously personal way. Donald Sutherland takes the character into some of his darkest moments as he tries to stay one step ahead of his enemies.

Snow also knows just how to get to Katniss. He knows that she, who has always just wanted to live her life in peace, will be devastated to be the cause of violence. He knows that she will be deeply wounded by seeing a malnourished Peeta on television. “Katniss never wanted a war, with all its suffering, and yet that is what her character appears to have started,” explains Sutherland. “Snow understands the effect that will have on her, just as he knows that he can get to her emotions through Peeta.”

Sutherland sees Snow as playing a game with Katniss, although one with very real consequences for the entirety of Panem. The Golden Globe® Award-winning star observes. “He loves being able to play a shifting chess game with that rare opponent who is truly his match. He doesn’t want her to succeed, of course, but he so enjoys her spirit, he enjoys the game.”

Sutherland especially enjoyed working with Francis on the third installment of the series. “He’s an extraordinarily gifted man, yet so balanced, so comfortable. The way he works is almost like the old days when the director used to squat right beside the camera, and you knew he was right there with you. It’s been a glorious experience.”

Caesar Flickerman:
President Snow enlists the slick impresario Caesar Flickerman to aid him. Only this time he’s not an MC, but a propagandistic talk-show host, leading Peeta through questions designed to repress the rebellion. Taking the character into talk show territory is once again Stanley Tucci, who explains: “Caesar is now very clearly a puppet for The Capitol regime, which I think is really interesting. People like him have existed forever in every political administration, no matter what the administration, but he is as bold as they come.”

Tucci has loved portraying Flickerman’s flamboyance, “It is the kind of thing that you don’t often get to do as actor, this kind of very theatrical performance on film. Caesar is at once horrifying and charming and funny and repellant and it’s great.”

WHO’S WHO: DISTRICT 13

President Coin:
District 13’s steely leader is the enigmatic Alma Coin, a major new role taken to its full potential by one of today’s most sought-after dramatic actresses: Award-winning actress Julianne Moore.

“What amazed me about what Suzanne Collins did with the books is that she wrote a story that has so many substantive things to say about who we are as human beings, how we relate to one another and what standing up for what’s right means,” says Moore. “I was intrigued by Coin because I was very interested in her evolution as a leader.”

Like so many Hunger Games fans, Moore has come to feel a deep connection with Katniss. “What everyone responds to in Katniss is that she carries this moral ambiguity. She doesn't always know what the right thing to do is, so she must act more from her impulses,” she observes. “She’s very much about the idea that you can change your destiny – and other people’s destinies – through your actions.”

Katniss and President Coin start off on shaky ground. Katniss doesn’t trust anyone in authority anymore, but Coin is equally skeptical of Katniss. “Coin is reluctant,” Moore explains. “In the beginning, she’s reluctant to use her as a mouthpiece because she believes that Katniss is too damaged as a person to be able to do the things that they need her to do, but she also identifies this girl as someone who’s done quite heroic things and has galvanized the revolution.”

Because Coin is largely seen through Katniss’s eyes in the books, Moore had the freedom to create much of her interior from scratch. “In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Coin sees herself as a very practical revolutionary, someone who is focused on making the best decisions for her people and for the people in the other Districts. Francis and I talked and while we wanted Coin to feel very real, we also wanted her to be someone who is really hard to get to know.”

Francis was thrilled with how Moore fused with Coin in her performance. “Coin’s singular vision to unite all of the districts in a massive rebellion is no small undertaking, especially when most of the districts have no idea that District 13 still exists. She has to be a tough leader,” the director notes. “Her relationship with Katniss is very complicated as well. Julianne has done an amazing job shaping the character.”

Adds Kilik
“With Julianne you can really see President Coin’s wheels moving – the way she sizes up Katniss, the way she listens to Plutarch. You can see that she has her own plans, but she doesn’t give anything away. Just like with Katniss, there are so many layers to what she’s thinking. It takes a very sophisticated, welltuned instrument of an actor to be able to pull that off.”

Boggs:
President Coin’s right-hand man, Boggs, has lived all his life in District 13 and never known anything other than the rigid life of an underground soldier. Jumping into the character is Mahershala Ali, known best for his film and television roles in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Place Beyond the Pines and the critically acclaimed series House of Cards.

Ali sees Boggs as someone shaped by his environment, and someone who isn’t sure if Katniss can truly become the Mockingjay, though his sworn duty is to protect her. “Boggs is someone who has never lived above ground, and the only thing he’s heard about and trained for his entire life is the coming revolution against The Capitol,” the actor explains. “At first he’s a bit skeptical of Katniss because she’s just this young girl who seems caught in something she knows is much bigger than her. Over time, as he gets to know her and see her in action, he really grows to love and respect her.”

Ali says his role felt organic thanks to Jennifer Lawrence. “I don’t know if you can play a character any better than Jennifer plays Katniss,” he says. “I never saw her strike one false note. Being around actors of the caliber of Jeffrey, Julianne, Phil and Woody, it was all such an education. I was so moved and excited watching people so committed to telling a great story.”

Cressida and Messalla, Castor and Pollux – Squad 451:
As Katniss takes on the role of the Mockingjay, her every public move is followed by a quartet of media-savvy rebels who produce “propos,” a mix of viral advertising, on-the-fly news clips and inspirational messages that are the only way for the rebels to communicate to the outside world.

Playing the sharp propos director Cressida is Natalie Dormer of Game of Thrones. She was enthralled by Cressida’s journey in Mockingjay. “When Cressida first starts filming Katniss with the propos, she’s got quite a cynical idea of what she’s trying to create – she just wants to paste the symbol of the Mockingjay onto Katniss,” Dormer explains. “As she spends time with Katniss, and as the story develops, you see Cressida starting to really believe in Katniss as that galvanizing icon who can unite an oppressed people.”

She also loved bringing in a whole different side of media power from the sensationalized Games. “I think one really interesting thing about Mockingjay is that you see how battles can also be fought in the media. For Cressida and her crew, this is all about winning over hearts and minds,” explains Dormer.

Francis loved the spirit Dormer brought to the role. He says: “Natalie has such an interesting approach to all her characters, I was so excited when she was interested in the part. We talked about Cressida as a sort of war journalist who escaped The Capitol. Natalie has those strong, tough, smart girl qualities that work so well for Cressida, who has to coax a very fragile and damaged Katniss to give the natural performances they need for these propaganda films. She was able to do it in such a compelling way.”

Joining Dormer is rising star Evan Ross. He takes on the role of Cressida’s assistant director, Messalla. Ross says of the character: “He and Cressida have come of age together fighting against The Capitol by putting out information about what’s really going on. They were becoming really big directors in The Capitol but they went against the Capitol by following Katniss. They’ve stuck together to fight for what they believe is right.”

He goes on: “And now their mission is to go to all the different districts and give hope to the people by showing that Katniss has made it through. We’ve got a really incredibly cool squad who know how important it is to get that footage.”

Ross especially loved having the chance to work with Jennifer Lawrence. “It’s incredible to see her disappearing into Katniss,” he says. “Her performance in this film was so emotional. She really sets the tone for everyone else by making it about hard work while at the same time having fun.”

Wes Chatham, recently seen in The Help, also immersed himself into District 13 as the fearless cameraman Castor. He was thrilled by the turns the story is now taking. “What I think is so inspiring about The Hunger Games is how it all started with a person from District 12 who outsmarts President Snow and from that one person has come this huge uprising, this challenge to power, in Mockingjay. Castor is part of the movement hoping to unite all the districts into a rebellion.”

Completing the propos crew is Elden Henson in the unusual role of Pollux, Castor’s twin, who is also an Avox, a Panem rebel who has had his tongue cut as punishment for treason. Henson says playing a mute character was a revelation: “It's actually been amazing, because just really concentrating on emotions alone is so liberating,” he says. As for what sets Mockingjay - Part 1 apart, he sums up: “It’s really a departure from the other movies in every way. It’s been building up but now Katniss and everyone else really has to step up.”

THE UNSEEN PANEM: DESIGN

Bringing District 13 to life – and giving audiences glimpses into the turmoil catching like fire across Panem was one of the most intriguing tasks faced by Francis and his design team, headed by production designer Phil Messina, who also designed The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. The two envisioned taking the scale of the third film beyond anything they had done while relying largely on real locations rather than digital ones. In addition to shooting on soundstages in Atlanta the production went further afield to luxury chateaus and apartment complexes in Paris.

Messina began by turning Suzanne Collins’ flights of imagination into a detailed vision of District 13. He illustrated a series of shadowy, claustrophobic, bunker-style sets for this brave new world amid the rubble. A combination of factory locations and intricate soundstage sets produced the final results. “Our inspiration for the design came from 1960s and 1970s nuclear facilities,” he explains. “The idea is that District 13 has developed as a kind of closed-loop society. They have been completely cut off from The Capitol, so they’ve been adding on new technology on top of old technology. You will see analog push buttons next to high tech – and that mix was very intentional on our part.”

The set designs for District 13 were as desolate as the designs for The Capitol were lavish, transporting the actors into this very raw, austere reality. Says Julianne Moore: “It was rendered so incredibly beautifully. It made me think of what you imagine East Germany was like before the wall came down – very militaristic, really grey with people waiting for the moment of change.”

The underground city is laid out as a kind of multi-level maze that culminates in President Coin’s Command Center. “The Command Center is the brains of the entire operation where all the systems like water, oxygen and power are controlled. We organized it like a military hierarchy where above it all, Coin is at her post kind of overlooking everything,” Messina explains.

Another highlight of District 13’s design is purloined hovercrafts. “We liked the idea that the rebel hovercrafts would be an older generation of The Capitol hovercrafts, maybe something they had stolen previously. We had already seen a Capitol hovercraft previously so it was fun to generate something that was its antecedent and has a lot more texture,” says Messina. “The aesthetic was taken from WWII Russian planes, as well as some submarines and helicopters for cockpit configurations.”

The hovercrafts were hung off of huge cranes to simulate flight. “When we first started designing pieces of the hovercraft, we thought how much fun it would be to fly. It took a lot of calculations to make sure the crane would be safe. The Atlanta special effects department built a steel structure that they were confident about. It had to be rehung at different places and it was a huge pain,” laughs Messina, “but it really paid off with some fantastic footage that looks like a real craft landing from the inside.”

The idea was to use as many practical locations as possible. “Our practical locations give the movie a sense of scope and at the same time a groundedness so that it feels like it readily could be our future,” says Nina Jacobson. “If you tried to do that purely through digital magic you couldn’t get that sense of authenticity we wanted, where you see a real hovercraft land and your characters get out of it and interact with a real environment.” The actors also loved the sense of immersion. “Using locations that were so grounded in a sense of reality only made things that much more truthful,” says Ali.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 also hones in on the other Districts as unrest grows. “We wanted to show the consequences of Katniss joining the rebellion and how the propos start to inspire people in different Districts. So you see the lumber District start to rebel by propelling up trees and then you see the hydroelectric dam getting blown up in an extraordinary sequence. I think like you’re really able to see things in the Districts we haven’t seen before but in a way that is always connected to Katniss,” Jacobson comments.

CHANGE OF FASHION: COSTUMES & MAKEUP

Just as the atmosphere in District 13 is a complete turn-around, so too is the fashion. To encourage communal spirit, everyone in District 13 follows strict rules: no colors, wigs or other stylistic statements, resulting in a look that couldn’t clash more with The Capitol. To create those contrasting looks – along with costumes from the other Districts – newcomers Kurt and Bart came aboard. The duo had just the right pedigree, having gained renown for their work with music and style icons, and making their mark in movies on such films as Dallas Buyer’s Club and Stoker.

They were thrilled to join the franchise but knew this film would be very different. “You don’t have the fanfare of the Games in this film,” says Kurt, “but what was so exciting for us was that this time all of the characters are stripped down to their most basic level and the challenge was to do that while also letting their personalities shine.”

District 13’s grey uniforms have their own distinctive flatness, reminiscent of 1940s-era coveralls. “We did a lot of research,” says Bart. “We looked at Futurist and Socialist design concepts but what we really wanted was clothing that has the feeling of having real utility. Francis wanted there to be a kind of realism and familiarity.”

Adds Kurt: “Francis responded to designs that were inspired by classic American work wear, so that is the direction we went. It makes sense that they’re living in austere times when there are not a lot of resources, there’s certainly not a lot of fabric, so they’ve worked with what they had in District 13.”

The one person who is not at all pleased with what she has to wear there is, naturally, Effie Trinket, who feels naked without her baubles and bubble skirts – but learns, albeit with no shortage of complaints, to make the best of it. “Effie’s been the most fun to dress because you get to ask: what would this woman do with just five pieces of clothing? How would she still maintain that level of style and flare that she’s used to? That was exciting for us as an approach,” Kurt says.

Banks enjoyed the results. “I loved working with Kurt and Bart,” she says. “They are very rebellious and they've seen and done it all. They come from rock 'n roll so they have playful imaginations. And with Effie, you get to play. We called her outfits the Project Runway of District 13, taking the standard issue stuff people wear and turning it inside out. You get a sweater, some tights and a shirt. And it was like, okay, well, the shirt’s now going to be a dress and the tights are going to be sleeves and the sweater’s going to go on my head.”

Though it is still utilitarian, perhaps the most elaborate costume in all of District 13 is Katniss’s special Mockingjay outfit, which was designed by Cinna before his demise. “When we shared references with Francis in the beginning, we were looking at famous woman warriors like Joan of Arc,” explains Bart. “Then we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and looked at their fantastic armor collection for further inspiration. Francis brought up the idea that Cinna was so smart, and he was thinking of her as the leader of this real army, so we should use what the soldiers wear as a starting point and we loved that direction.” Kurt adds: “It was important to us and to Francis that Katniss not look like a superhero but more like a real woman soldier. Both the soldiers and Katniss have protective breast plates, but hers is a little fancier while still being functional.”

President Coin’s outfits, though severe and drab in keeping with District 13, shift subtly through the film. “When Coin first meets Katniss she’s in a shirt and pants, too, so there’s this kind of common equality at that moment,” points out Kurt. “As we go on, you start to see Coin in more of a military suit.”

The Americana theme was continued into the other Districts. “It goes back to Francis saying everything should be relatable even though this is the future. We found that classic American clothing really worked. It’s not a crazy, wild future in the Districts, so we hearken back instead to this classic, simple way of living,” Kurt says.

Kurt and Bart especially had fun working with the propos team of Cressida, Messalla, Castor and Pollux – designing functional gear including camera packs and video-enabled helmets. “We wanted to keep everything light, lean, and really mobile so they can move really fast in the extreme situations which they get their fair share of,” notes Bart. Natalie Dormer was impressed. “They’ve taken the design to a whole other level, with designs that work with that sense of stuffy discipline in District 13,” Dormer says of the duo’s work.

Makeup department heads Ve Neill and Nikoletta Skarlatos returned to the franchise for the third time – but faced their own set of fresh challenges in creating a totally new look. “This movie was a completely different animal from the first two,” says Skarlatos. “It was very exciting from a makeup perspective, because now we’re getting to see more about what Panem is. We get to see the districts. There’s more rawness to the look and the emotions. Before we were focusing on The Capitol and all of its opulence, now we're seeing the people from The Capitol who have come into District 13.”

Adds Neill: “We started out talking with Francis about having a very utilitarian look in this film. We’re mostly in the Districts, and we don’t have all those beautiful, lavish colors of The Capitol to work with, so we really had to rethink the approach. Everything is very natural and subtle, but you still want it to have the feel of a Hunger Games world.”

The two looked at a variety of references for inspiration, from Depression Era photographs to current photojournalism. “The people of District 13 have been living in a very homogenous society, so we looked at examples of those kinds of societies from our own history – from Quakers to Soviet Russia,” explains Skarlatos.

The one tiny glimmer of Capitol glitter left in District 13 is Effie, who retains as much glamour as she can pull together with spit and string. Although Neill had done her makeup in The Capitol she had the idea of now passing the baton to Skarlatos to get a whole new perspective. “I thought it would be a really interesting change to have Nikoletta do Effie because I knew she would bring her own different spin – and she wouldn’t look anything like she has before,” Neil says. “Nikoletta created a look that is more somber but still very ‘Effieesque.’ She still has more flair than anyone else in District 13.”

“She’s a more austere, toned-down Effie,” describes Skarlatos. “She’s in a place where she’s really had to redefine herself. Most of what you see on her face now is just residual tattooing that she would have had done in the Capitol as a base for the rest of her makeup. She still has that white pallor with a bit of a pink sheen, but she’s definitely a different entity.”

Katniss is also different; she wakes up in District 13 stripped bare of everything, including any semblance of her Capitol colorfulness. “We wanted Jennifer’s look to be even more natural than ever at the start of the film,” comments Neill. “We wanted her to look raw and distressed -- and no makeup at all was the best way to do that. Then you see her as the glammed-out Mockingjay for the first propos, and finally you start to see her again as the beautiful young woman she was becoming in Catching Fire.”

The team also had fun with new characters, from Julianne Moore’s coolly refined President Coin to Cressida and Messalla, The Capitol dissidents who have retained some of their punky style in District 13.

“For President Coin, we wanted to break down Julianne’s look into very small, incremental changes – very subtly highlighting her awareness that she is beginning to gain more power,” Neill explains. “Towards the end, there’s a little more eye-liner or shadow, but the changes are almost imperceptible unless you see the looks side-by-side. And Julianne has such beautiful coloring that when I put any makeup at all on her, she very quickly looked too glamorous! So we kept her very au naturel. The only thing she has on at the start is a little bit of foundation.”

For Natalie Dormer’s look as Cressida, the hot young propos director, Neill faced more intricate work. “Since Natalie was coming off Game Of Thrones, we really wanted to give her a completely different look than people are used to,” says Neill. “In the book she is described as having a shaved head and being tattooed with green vines, which could mean a number of different things, so we began to explore from there.”

Ultimately, Dormer partially shaved her own hair... on one side. “Natalie was kind of freaked out about the hair at first, but then she said, ‘You know what? I’m rocking it.’ And she did,” muses Neill. Says Dormer: “We all felt that shaving just half the head was more Capitol -- funkier, edgier, and it gave insight into Cressida’s personality.”

For Cressida’s full-body tattoos, Neill worked with special effects makeup artist Glenn Hetrick. “We wanted the vines to be delicate and decorative, with lots of swirls and beautiful patterns, and Glenn designed the tattoos specifically to fit Natalie’s body, to curve around her,” she explains. “It was actually very difficult to put the tattoos on because you had to make all the curves fit together just the right way. It was a learning process, but I got it down to about an hour in the chair with Natalie each day.”

Likewise, Evan Ross wore prosthetic ears for the prodigiously pierced Messalla. “Messalla has notches cut out of one of his ears, implant piercings and he has quite a bit of Capitol jewelry that would have been typical of someone in his line of work,” Neill points out. “And Evan was actually willing to get all those piercings but we would have had to wait for them to heal, so instead, we used prosthetics that Glenn built – and the result was really cool looking.”

THE MUSIC

The sweeping emotions and volatile moods of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 are evoked not only in the performances and visual designs but in the music, which once again is driven by an original orchestral score from eight time Oscar® nominee James Newton Howard. The music covers the whole breadth of experience from scenes of epic action to moments of epic heartache and intimate poignancy. “James has given us another fantastic, sensitive score that elevates every element of the film,” says Francis.

Having worked with Coldplay on Catching Fire, this time the filmmakers invited another of today’s hottest artists to bring her own personal musical vision to the story: Lorde, the 17 year-old New Zealand sensation whose quadruple platinum selling single “Royals” has earned two Billboard Music Awards, two GRAMMY® awards and the record for the longest standing #1 for any female artist in the Billboard Alternative Chart history. Ultimately, Lorde not only wrote the moving end-credit song but has also curated the entire soundtrack, hand-picking the artists she felt most reflected the story’s overarching themes.

Kismet brought Lorde into the sphere of the franchise. Recalls Francis: “I was already interested in her doing a song for the end of the film – and funnily enough she was performing in Berlin when we were shooting there. She was actually performing right across the street from our set. So she visited with us, met Jen and we all talked.”

The director goes on: “Right away, I was struck by how much she really connected to the ideas in the movies, to the story and its themes. We had a long conversation about all the emotions that are involved, we talked about the kinds of sounds that I imagined for the end of the movie, and she had some great references right away. Then she created the most beautiful song for the end of the movie. She such did an amazing job that we also asked her to curate the soundtrack. She understood the series so well; we thought it would result in something very special if she picked the artists. That way we have one voice for this, somebody who really gets it, and I'm really excited about it.”

"Curating the soundtrack for such a hotly-anticipated film was a challenge, but I jumped at the chance,” says Lorde. “The cast and story are an inspiration for all musicians participating and, as someone with cinematic leanings, being privy to a different creative process has been a unique experience. I think the soundtrack is definitely going to surprise people.”

ABOUT THE CAST

A natural talent, with a striking presence and undeniable energy, Academy Award® winner JENNIFER LAWRENCE [Katniss Everdeen] is one of Hollywood's most gifted actresses.

Recently, Lawrence was seen in Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, reprising her role as Raven and Mystique, opposite Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, and Nicholas Hoult. Prior to that, Lawrence made her X-Men debut in Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, opposite Jackman, Fassbender and McAvoy, as well as Rose Byrne, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz and Kevin Bacon.

Upcoming, Lawrence will reunite with David O. Russell for the biopic, Joy, based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs with her invention of the Miracle Mop. Twentieth Century Fox is set to release the film December 25, 2015. Additionally, Lawrence has signed on to star in and produce The Rules of Inheritance, an adaptation of Claire Bidwell Smith's recent memoir about a woman who loses both her parents to cancer as a young adult. Susanne Bier is set to direct the film which will be written by Abi Morgan. The film marks the second collaboration between Bier and Lawrence who previously completed production on Serena, based upon the novel by Ron Rash, a depression-era story that focuses on a newlywed couple and their timber empire during that time. Lawrence is also attached to star in Gary Ross’ adaptation of the classic John Steinbeck novel, East of Eden, for Universal Pictures.

Lawrence’s critically acclaimed performances include David O. Russell’s American Hustle, co-starring opposite Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper in her portrayal of Roslyn, a contentious suburban housewife to a con-artist husband. Her first collaboration with David O. Russell was on Silver Linings Playbook where she starred alongside Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver as Tiffany, a young widow suffering from depression. Her breakthrough performance came in Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone in which Lawrence starred as Ree, a young girl facing a dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact. To date, those three film credits have garnered Lawrence an Academy Award® for Best Actress, with two additional Academy Award® nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. In addition, Lawrence has received a BAFTA Award for Best Actress and an additional BAFTA Best Supporting Actress nomination; two Golden Globe Awards® for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Motion Picture Drama, as well as a Golden Globe Award® nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama; a Screen Actors Guild Award® for Lead Role, as well two Screen Actors Guild Award® nominations for Lead Actress and Supporting Actress.

Additional film credits include Mark Tonderai’s House at the End of The Street opposite Elisabeth Shue and Max Thieriot; Jodie Foster’s The Beaver opposite Mel Gibson and Anton Yelchin; Drake Doremus' Like Crazy opposite Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones; Lori Petty's Poker House opposite Selma Blair and Bokeem Woodbine, for which she was awarded the prize of Outstanding Performance in the Narrative Competition at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival; and Guillermo Arriaga's directorial debut The Burning Plain, opposite Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. The film premiered at the 2008 Venice Film Festival where Lawrence won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor.

On television, Lawrence’s credits include three seasons of the TBS series The Bill Engvall Show. The comedy, written and created by Bill Engvall and Michael Leeson, follows the life of Bill Pearson (Engvall), a Denver suburban family counselor whose own family could use a little dose of counseling.

Reigning from Louisville, Kentucky with a childhood of local theatre experience to her credit, Lawrence traveled to New York at age fourteen to explore a professional career in acting.

At 21 years old, JOSH HUTCHERSON [Peeta Mellark] has quickly become one of Hollywood's most accomplished young actors. Josh has already received many accolades throughout his career including the 2012 Cinema Con award for “Breakthrough Actor,” MTV Movie Award for “Best Male Performance,” the Teen Choice Award for “Best Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy” and Logo’s New Now Next Award for the “Next Mega Star.”

Josh soon be seen starring alongside Benicio Del Toro in Paradise Lost, a drama about the notorious kingpin, Pablo Escoba which will premiere at 2014 Toronto Film Festival.

Last year, Josh lent his voice to the character of Nod in the animated film Epic. He also starred in Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 classic about a group of teenagers trying to save their town from foreign soldiers, Journey 2: Mysterious Island alongside Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson, the independent feature film Detention, in which Hutcherson also served as Executive Producer, and an omnibus film entitled Seven Days in Havana, which features seven shorts directed by seven different directors.

In 2010, Josh co-starred alongside Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in Lisa Cholodenko’s Academy Award® nominated feature film The Kids are All Right. The film debuted at that year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Focus Features in one of the festival’s biggest deals and premiered to rave reviews. The film went on to garner the feature film prize at the Berlin International Film Festival’s Teddy Awards in addition to Screen Actors Guild®, Independent Spirit Awards® and Golden Globe® nominations.

Additional film credits include The Vampire’s Assistant, opposite John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek, Carmel, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D, the first ever high definition 3-D live performance feature, Bridge To Terabithia, Winged Creatures, Firehouse Dog, RV, Little Manhattan, Zathura, Kicking and Screaming, Howl's Moving Castle and The Polar Express. Josh won Young Artist Awards for “Leading Young Actor” for his roles in Zathura and Bridge to Terebithia.

In addition to acting, Josh is extremely involved with his charity organization, Straight But Not Narrow (SBNN). SBNN is an ally organization that prepares and trains young adults on how to become allies of their LGBTQ peer. For the past three years, Josh has hosted a basketball tournament to raise funds and awareness for the organization. In 2012, he was honored with GLAAD’s “Vanguard Award” for his work with the LGBT community.

Hutcherson currently resides in Los Angeles.

LIAM HEMSWORTH [Gale Hawthorne] has a quiet intensity that transcends the big screen. Demonstrating versatility and skill in a range of performances, Hemsworth has proven to be one of the most sought after actors of his generation.

Hemsworth will next be seen in the crime thriller Cut Bank, starring opposite Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Dern and John Malkovich. He just completed production on the revenge western thriller By Way of Helena, starring opposite Woody Harrelson and he will next begin lensing on The Dressmaker, starring opposite Kate Winslet.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Hemsworth grew up surfing on Phillip Island. The youngest of three boys, Hemsworth always loved movies. Though he never dreamed of becoming an actor as a young kid, he would sit down and watch movies all day long. At the age of 17, having observed his two older brothers Luke and Chris do television shows in Australia, Hemsworth decided he too wanted to pursue acting seriously. He enrolled in acting classes, got an agent and started auditioning. Hemsworth quickly landed his first big acting job on Australia’s popular TV series Home and Away and from there went on to book a role on Australia’s most successful TV show Neighbors.

Landing his first film role in the feature film Triangle, Hemsworth discovered that his true passion was in making movies. “It’s something new and fresh and it’s just a different energy to what I’d worked on before, says Hemsworth. Knowing Los Angeles was the center of movie making, Hemsworth began sending audition tapes to the states. He sent a tape to Sylvester Stallone who within a week of receiving the tape asked Hemsworth to come to Hollywood immediately to play the part of his son in the feature film The Expendables. Shortly before he was to depart for Los Angeles, Hemsworth learned that the part of Stallone’s son had been written out of the script. However, within hours of learning he was no longer working on The Expendables he received a call that Marvel wanted to screen test him for Thor. Though he ended up losing the role of ‘Thor’ to his older brother Chris, it was this audition for Marvel that got Hemsworth to Los Angeles.

Hemsworth soon began to gain attention throughout Hollywood and, while living with his brother Chris in their manager Will Ward’s guest cottage, Liam beat out hundreds of actors for the part of ‘Will Blakelee’ in the film adaptation of Nicholas Spark’s The Last Song, co-starring Greg Kinnear and Miley Cyrus. Hemsworth then went onto star in two of 2012’s biggest box office hits—The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, and Expendables 2, directed by Simon West. Last year, he starred opposite Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman in the high stakes thriller Paranoia, directed by Robert Luketic and Empire State, directed by Dito Montiel and co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Emma Roberts. He also reprised his role as Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, directed by Francis Lawrence.

Hemsworth eagerly looks forward to more film work with quality actors and directors. He says, “I love acting and I love movies. At the moment, I’m just trying to find people who are doing something different and meet people who are as passionate as I am. I have learned the majority of what I know on set, working. You learn from watching people with experience.”

WOODY HARRELSON’s (Haymitch Abernathy) rare mix of intensity and charisma consistently surprises and delights audiences and critics alike in both mainstream and independent projects. His portrayal of a casualty notification officer, opposite Ben Foster, in Oren Moverman’s The Messenger garnered him a 2010 Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was previously nominated by the Academy, the Golden Globes® and SAG Awards® in the category of Best Actor for his portrayal of controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt in Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Harrelson was last seen in the first season of HBO’s critically acclaimed drama True Detective co-starring Matthew McConaughey for director Cary Fukunaga. His riveting performance as Detective Marty Hart garnered him a Primetime Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Drama.

Harrelson most recently completed production on Triple Nine for director John Hillcoat. He is currently shooting By Way of Helena for director Kieran Darcy Smith and will shoot Now You See Me 2 this fall.

In 2013, Harrelson appeared in writer/director Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnace starring opposite Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, Relativity’s animated film, Free Birds with Owen Wilson and Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me.

In 2012 Harrelson starred opposite Julianne Moore and Ed Harris in the HBO film Game Change for director Jay Roach, for which he earned Primetime Emmy®, SAG Awards®, and Golden Globe® nominations for his role as Steve Schmidt.

Other highlights from Harrelson’s film career include Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths; Rampart, which reunited him with director Oren Moverman, Ruben Fleischer’s box office hit Zombieland; Friends with Benefits; 2012; Semi-Pro; The Grand; No Country For Old Men; A Scanner Darkly; A Prairie Home Companion; Defendor; Seven Pounds; The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio; North Country; The Big White; After The Sunset; Play It To The Bone; Battle In Seattle; EDtv; The Hi-Lo County; Transsiberian; The Thin Red Line; Wag The Dog; Welcome To Sarajevo; Kingpin; Natural Born Killers; Indecent Proposal; White Men Can’t Jump and was recently seen as the on screen host for director Pete McGrain’s powerful political documentary Ethos.

Harrelson first endeared himself to millions of viewers as a member of the ensemble cast of NBC's longrunning hit comedy, Cheers. For his work as the affable bartender ‘Woody Boyd,’ he won a Primetime Emmy® in 1988 and was nominated four additional times during his eight-year run on the show. In 1999, he gained another Primetime Emmy® nomination when he reprised the role in a guest appearance on the spin-off series Frasier. He later made a return to television with a recurring guest role on the hit NBC series, Will and Grace.

Balancing his film and television work, in 1999 Harrelson directed his own play, Furthest From The Sun at the Theatre de la Juene Lune in Minneapolis. He followed next with the Roundabout's Broadway revival of The Rainmaker; Sam Shepherd’s The Late Henry Moss, and John Kolvenbach's On An Average Day opposite Kyle MacLachlan at London’s West End. Harrelson directed the Toronto premiere of Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth at Toronto’s Berkeley Street Theatre. In the winter of 2005 Harrelson returned to London's West End, starring in Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana at the Lyric Theatre. In 2011, Harrelson co-wrote and directed the semi-autobiographical comedy Bullet for Adolf at Hart House Theatre in Toronto. In the summer of 2012 Bullet for Adolf made its Off-Broadway debut at New World Stages.

Emmy® nominated actress, producer and director ELIZABETH BANKS [Effie Trinket] has become one of Hollywood’s most sought after and versatile actresses, easily navigating between stage and screen, comedy and drama. In addition to acting, she is currently in production on her feature directorial debut with Pitch Perfect 2, the sequel to Pitch Perfect about a women’s college acapella group where she will reprise her role as commentator Gail. She is also producing the film along with her husband, Max Handelman, through their company, Brownstone Productions.

Elizabeth will next begin production on Magic Mike XXL opposite Channing Tatum. Earlier this year she lent her voice to the global hit The Lego Movie. Upcoming she will be seen in Love & Mercy directed by Bill Pohlad which takes an unconventional look at the life of the celebrated leader of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, and his legendary battle with mental illness. The film recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and will be released by Lionsgate. She has also wrapped production on Every Secret Thing directed by Amy Berg and based on the best-selling novel by Laura Lippman. The story follows a detective who looks to unravel a mystery surrounding missing children and the two young women who are prime suspects.

Banks’ additional feature credits include her breakthrough roles in the Academy Award® winning films Seabiscuit, in which she starred as Marcela Howard opposite Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire, and in Steve Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. She has also appeared in Walk of Shame, Little Accidents, Our Idiot Brother,The Details, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, People Like Us, Man on a Ledge, The Next Three Days, Role Models, Meet Dave, Invincible, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Fred Claus, Sisters, Slither, Heights, The Baxter, The Trade, Ordinary Sinner, The Uninvited, Daltry Calhoun, Sexual Life, John Singleton’s Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson and cult hit Wet Hot American Summer starring Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce. She also appeared as journalist Betty Brant, a role that director Sam Raimi created for her, in Columbia Pictures’ three blockbuster Spider-Man films with Tobey Maguire as the title character.

On the small screen, Banks earned a Primetime Emmy® Award nomination in 2011 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance as Avery Jessup on 30 Rock. She has also appeared on ABC’s Modern Family and in a recurring role as Dr. Kim Porter on NBC’s Scrubs. In 2007 she appeared in the CBS miniseries Comanche Moon, Larry McMurtry’s prequel to Lonesome Dove.

Her production company Brownstone productions upcoming projects include Pitch Perfect 2, White Girl Problems, Tink, a Disney live-action romantic comedy in which Banks will star as Tinkerbell and RA's with Paramount Digital. She has also produced the global hit Pitch Perfect and Disney’s 2009 sci-fi thriller The Surrogates, which starred Bruce Willis.

Her extensive theater credits include many roles in American Conservatory Theatre productions, as well as the Guthrie Theater’s production of Summer & Smoke directed by David Esbjornson. In 2006 Banks played Cherie, the female lead in William Inge’s comedy Bus Stop, as part of the Williamstown Theater Festival.

Originally from Massachusetts, Banks received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Graduate Degree at the American Conservatory Theater. She is involved with many charities which include: LA’s Best, Planned Parenthood, and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

One of today’s most versatile and charismatic actresses, JULIANNE MOORE [President Alma Coin] is known for her breadth of work with many memorable performances in everything from comedy to drama, blockbusters to art house fare, and from the big to the small screen.

Next year she stars opposite Jeff Bridges in the sweeping fantasy adventure The Seventh Son due out on February 6, 2015. Moore was last seen in David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars alongside Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson and John Cusack and Still Alice with Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin and Kate Bosworth which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. She is currently in production on the indie drama Freeheld with Ellen Page and Zach Galifianakis.

Moore is the ninth person in Academy history to receive two acting Oscar® nominations in the same year for her performances in Far From Heaven (Best Actress nomination) and The Hours (Best Supporting Actress nomination), after receiving many critics’ awards as well as SAG Awards® and Golden Globe® nominations for both. Moore is a four-time Academy Award® nominee, eight-time Golden Globe® nominee, six-time SAG Awards® nominee, four-time BAFTA nominee, and a three-time Independent Spirit Awards® nominee winning in 2003 for Far From Heaven. In 2012, she won the Primetime Emmy® award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in the HBO original movie Game Change. This role also garnered wins at the 2013 SAG Awards® and Golden Globe Awards®. Her additional honors include the Excellence in Media Award at the 2004 GLAAD Media Awards, the Silver Bear Award at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, the 2002 Copa Volti as Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, the Actor Award at the 2002 Gotham Awards and the “Tribute to Independent Vision” at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Moore’s notable films include the remake of the cult classic Carrie, Non-Stop, Crazy, Stupid, Love; The Kids Are All Right; A Single Man; The Forgotten; What Maisie Knew; The English Teacher; Laws of Attraction; Chloe; 6 Souls; Blindness; Savage Grace; I’m Not There; Children of Men; Hannibal; Jurassic Park: The Lost World; The Fugitive; Nine Months; Benny & Joon; The Hand That Rocks The Cradle; The End of the Affair; Boogie Nights; Magnolia; Cookie’s Fortune; Short Cuts; Don Jon; Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho; Safe; Vanya on 42nd Street; Surviving Picasso; and The Big Lebowski.

An accomplished author, Moore recently released her fourth book My Mother is a Foreigner, But Not to Me, based on her experiences growing up with a mother from Scotland. Her previous work includes the successful children’s book series– Freckleface Strawberry, Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully, and Freckleface Strawberry Best Friends Forever. Inspired by the book’s main character, Freckleface Strawberry, in 2013 Moore released her Monster Maker app via iTunes which allows users to make their own monster to send to family and friends. Julianne most recently unveiled her second app Dreamtime Playtime, an app that encourages math skills at a very early age. The original book was also adapted into a successful off-Broadway musical.

After earning her B.F.A. from Boston University for the Performing Arts, Moore starred in a number of off-Broadway productions, including Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money and Ice Cream/Hot Fudge at the Public Theater. She appeared in Minneapolis in the Guthrie Theater’s Hamlet, and participated in workshop productions of Strindberg’s The Father with Al Pacino and Wendy Wasserstein’s An American Daughter with Meryl Streep. Moore made her Broadway debut in 2006 in the Sam Mendes production of The Vertical Hour, an original play written by David Hare.

Moore and her family reside in New York City.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN [Plutarch Heavensbee] was recently seen starring in Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man, John Slattery’s feature directorial debut, God’s Pocket and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Previously he appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, A Late Quartet with Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener, The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney and in Moneyball with Brad Pitt, directed by Bennett Miller. Hoffman made his feature directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating, which was produced by Cooper’s Town Productions and based on the play of the same name. Other recent film credits include Synecdoche, NY; Doubt; The Savages; Charlie Wilson’s War and Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead. It was Hoffman’s performance in Capote, also directed by Bennett Miller and produced through his company, Cooper’s Town Productions, for which he earned an Academy Award®.

As an actor, his theater credits include the Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman, a limited run in Othello, LAByrinth’s production of Jack Goes Boating, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Seagull, True West, Defying Gravity, The Merchant of Venice, Shopping and F*cking and The Author’s Voice.

His theater directing credits include the world premieres of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Our Lady of 121st Street, Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings and The Little Flower of East Orange all written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and produced by LAByrinth. Also produced by LAByrinth, Hoffman directed A Family for All Occasions written by Bob Glaudini. Additionally he directed Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living at MCC Theater. He traveled to Australia to direct Andrew Upton’s Riflemind at the famed Sydney Theater Company and later mounted the play in London. He also directed Brett C. Leonard’s The Long Red Road for the Goodman Theater in Chicago and returned to the Sydney Theater Company to direct True West.

Critically acclaimed actor JEFFREY WRIGHT [Beetee] continually pushes the boundaries of his craft with inspiring and celebrated performances in an illustrious career that has spanned the worlds of theatre, film and television.

On the big screen, Wright can currently be seen in in Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics released the film on April 11, 2014.

On television, he was most recently seen on the fourth season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Boardwalk Empire. He plays Dr. Valentin Narcisse, Doctor of Divinity, philanthropist, student of culture and the man who runs Harlem. For his work on the show, Wright was nominated for the 2014 Broadcast Television Journalists Association Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama and the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award® for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. He will reprise his role in the fifth season in the fall of 2014.

Wright was also recently seen in David Rosenthal's A Single Shot and George Tillman Jr.'s The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete. Other recent projects include: Allen Hughes' political thriller Broken City, portraying a New York City police commissioner in the midst of a scandal involving the city's incumbent mayor and Stephen Daldry's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Todd McCarthy from The Hollywood Reporter said of Wright's performance, "the other adult actor here who is terrific is Jeffrey Wright...Portraying a man harboring his own pain and disappointments, Wright has one long scene of incredible emotional delicacy and transparency in which he once again proves his position among the very top American actors." He also starred in Sony's The Ides of March, directed by and co-starring George Clooney. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award® for "Best Picture - Drama."

Wright, a gifted theater actor, was most recently on stage as the lead in John Guare's A Free Man of Color at Lincoln Center, directed by George C. Wolfe, a frequent collaborator. In 2001 and 2002 respectively, he earned an Obie Award and a Tony® nomination for his work in the play Topdog/Underdog. Wright garnered a Tony Award® in 1994 for his portrayal in Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic Angels in America, also directed by George C. Wolfe. Wright reprised his Angels role in HBO's 2003 mini-series adaption of the play, earning both a Golden Globe® and a Primetime Emmy® for his groundbreaking performance.

On film, Wright has portrayed a stunning array of icons and iconoclasts. His brilliant portrayal of the renowned and controversial graffiti artist, Jean Michel Basquiat, in the 1996 film Basquiat, received widespread praise from critics and earned him an Independent Spirit Award® nomination. On the other end of the spectrum, Wright has taken on roles in the 2006 and 2008 James Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and also in 2008, starred as Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records and as Colin Powell in Oliver Stone's W. In 2005, he co-starred in the award- winning film Syriana, and his other credits include Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate; Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers earning another Independent Spirit Award® nomination; Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil, and Shaft. For his portrayal of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in HBO's Boycott, he received a 2001 AFI award.

In addition to acting, Wright is Vice Chairman of Taia Lion Resources and Chairman of Taia Peace Foundation. He also serves on the boards of directors of the Tribeca Film Institute and Resolve. Wright was named by the Government of Sierra Leone as the Peace by Piece Ambassador for the country's 2011 50th Anniversary Independence Celebration, and received the Humanitarian Award at the 2011 Napa Valley Film Festival for his work with Taia Peace Foundation.

Born in Washington, D.C., Wright graduated from Amherst College, receiving a B.A. in political science in 1987 and earned a doctorate of humane letters from his alma mater in 2004. Wright resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Academy Award® nominee STANLEY TUCCI [Caesar Flickerman] has appeared in over 50 films and countless television shows. He has appeared in more than a dozen plays, on and off Broadway, and has been behind the camera working as a writer, director and producer.

In June 2014, Stanley starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in Transformers: Age of Extinction directed by Michael Bay. He has also joined the cast of multiple feature films that are scheduled for a 2014 release, including Wild Card starring Jason Statham and Sofia Vergara, Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant, and A Little Chaos directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet.

Tucci was nominated for an Academy Award®, Golden Globe Award®, BAFTA Award, SAG Award® and received a Broadcast Film Critics nomination for his performance in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones.

Furthermore, Tucci won a Primetime Emmy® and a Golden Globe® for his role in the TV movie Winchell. His performance as the fast-talking tattler, who exposed secrets and scandals, left audiences and critics alike singing his praises. Winchell, directed by Paul Mazursky, provided Stanley with one of the juiciest roles of his diverse career.

He received a Golden Globe® for his role in HBO’s Conspiracy. His brilliant portrayal of Lt. Colonel Adolf Eichmann delivered a truly petrifying experience, where he often deceived others with his all but friendly smile.

Tucci is also a writer, director, and producer. He premiered the film Blind Date at The Sundance Film Festival -- directing, starring, and co-writing this Van Gogh remake. Another directorial endeavor was USA Films’ Joe Gould’s Secret, which starred Ian Holm as bohemian writer Joe Gould and Tucci as Joseph Mitchell, the famed writer for The New Yorker. The film, set in New York’s Greenwich Village in the 1940s, tells the story of the strange meeting and long lasting friendship between Gould and Mitchell, as well as the stories Mitchell wrote about Gould and his life.

Big Night, Tucci’s first effort as co-director, co-screenwriter, and actor on the same film, earned him numerous accolades, including the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, a recognition of Excellence by the National Board of Review, an Independent Spirit Award®, The Critics Prize at the 1996 Deauville Film Festival, and honors from the New York Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics.

His second project, The Imposters, a film which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and starred in, was an Official Selection at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and was acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures later that year. The 1930’s farce starred Tucci and Oliver Platt as a pair of out-of-work actors who find themselves aboard a cruise ship passengered by Steve Buscemi, Alfred Molina, Lili Taylor and Hope Davis.

His work on television includes his appearance as a re-occurring guest star on TNT’s Bull, Equal Justice, Wiseguy, The Equalizer, thirtysomething, and The Street. Tucci received Primetime Emmy® nominations for his work in Murder One and ER, and a Primetime Emmy® Award in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Monk.

Stanley’s theater work includes Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Execution of Hope, The Iceman Cometh, Brighton Beach Memoirs and The Misanthrope. He has also performed in a number of offBroadway plays, at Yale Repertory Theater and SUNY Purchase, where he first studied acting.

Tucci made his directorial debut on Broadway with a revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor starring Tony Shalhoub. The production received a Tony Award® nomination for Best Revival of a Play.

Tucci’s additional film credits include Muppets Most Wanted, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Some Velvet Morning, The Fifth Estate, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Company You Keep, Jack The Giant Slayer, Captain America; The First Avenger, Margin Call, Burlesque, Easy A, Julie & Julia, The Tale of Despereaux, Kit Kitteredge: An American Girl, Swing Vote, What Just Happened, The Devil Wears Prada, Shall We Dance, The Terminal, The Life And Death of Peter Sellers, Spin, Road To Perdition, America’s Sweethearts, Sidewalks of New York, A Mid-Summer Nights dream, The Alarmist, Deconstructing Harry, The Daytrippers, Big Trouble, A Life Less Ordinary, Kiss of Death, Mrs. Parker and The Vicious Circle, It Could Happen To You, The Pelican Brief, Prelude To A Kiss, In The Soup, Billy Bathgate And Slaves of New York.

The Tucci Cookbook was released in October of 2012 where it reached the New York Times Best Sellers List. Stanley will release his second cookbook, The Tucci Table: Cooking with Family and Friends, in November of 2014. The family-focused cookbook includes recipes from Tucci’s traditional Italian roots as well as those of his British wife, Felicity Blunt’s.

Stanley serves on the Board of Directors of The Food Bank for New York City.

Tucci resides in London.

DONALD SUTHERLAND [President Snow] is one of the most respected, prolific and versatile of motion picture actors, with an astonishing resume of well over one hundred and thirty films, including such classics as Robert Aldrich’s The Dirty Dozen; Robert Altman's M*A*S*H; John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust; Robert Redford's Ordinary People; Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900; Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now with Julie Christie; Alan Pakula's Klute with Jane Fonda; Federico Fellini's Fellini’s Casanova; and in Brian Hutton’s Kelly’s Heroes with Clint Eastwood, who later directed him in Space Cowboys.

Sutherland is producer, screenwriter and star (voicing the lead character, Captain Johnson) of Pirate’s Passage, an animated movie based on William Gilkerson’s acclaimed novel, winner of Canada’s Governor General's Award for Children's Literature in 2006. He has also completed filming on John Henry Clayton, a period Canadian Western, co-starring opposite his son, Kiefer; Basmati Blues, shot on location in India; and was recently seen on screen in The Calling with Susan Sarandon.

Sutherland starred in the highly-successful long form adaptation of Ken Follett’s best-seller, The Pillars of the Earth; in the Roman epic adventure, The Eagle, opposite Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell for director Kevin Macdonald; in Simon West’s The Mechanic with Jason Statham and Ben Foster; in Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses as Colin Farrell’s father and in Mary McGuckian’s Man on the Train with U2’s Larry Mullen, Jr. He has appeared as Nicole Kidman’s father in Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain; as Charlize Theron’s father in F. Gary Gray’s The Italian Job and as Mr. Bennett, Keira Knightley’s father, in Pride and Prejudice. For the latter he received a Chicago Film Critics nomination.

Sutherland’s other films include Paul Mazursky’s Alex in Wonderland; Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun; Bud Yorkin’s Start the Revolution Without Me; John Sturges’ The Eagle Has Landed; Herbert Ross’ Max Dugan Returns; Louis Malle’s Crackers; Phillip Borsos’ Bethune; Oliver Stone’s JFK; Ron Howard’s Backdraft; Richard Marquand’s Eye of the Needle; Euzhan Palcy’s A Dry White Season with Marlon Brando; Richard Pearce’s Threshold, for which he won the 1983 Genie Award as Best Actor; Fred Schepisi’s film adaptation of John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation; Robert Towne’s Without Limits; and John Landis’ National Lampoon’s Animal House, in which he made a memorable cameo appearance. He has starred as the voice of ‘General Stone’ in the animated feature of the manga classic, Astro Boy; in Andy Tennant’s Fool’s Gold; in Griffin Dunne’s Fierce People with Diane Lane; in Robert Towne’s Ask the Dust with Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell; in American Gun with Forrest Whitaker; in An American Haunting with Sissy Spacek; in Land of the Blind with Ralph Fiennes and in Aurora Borealis with Louise Fletcher and Juliette Lewis. He is part of a sterling ensemble of on-camera readers in the biographical feature on the life of Dalton Trumbo, Trumbo.

In television, Sutherland won both Primetime Emmy® and Golden Globe® awards as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the HBO film Citizen X and he won a Golden Globe® for his portrayal of Clark Clifford, advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the HBO historical drama Path to War, directed by the late John Frankenheimer.

Sutherland stars alongside an international cast in Tandem’s international action crime series, Crossing Lines, which recently completed filming on its second season in Prague. Sutherland co-starred with Peter Krause in the ABC-TV series Dirty Sexy Money. For his performance as the family patriarch, Tripp Darling, he was nominated for a 2007 Golden Globe® as Best Supporting Actor. Prior to that, he co-starred with Geena Davis in the ABC drama series Commander-in-Chief, and was nominated for a Golden Globe® as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of House Speaker, Nathan Templeton. At the same time, he was nominated for a Golden Globe® as Best Actor for his performance opposite Mira Sorvino in Lifetime Television’s much-lauded miniseries, Human Trafficking.

On stage, Sutherland starred with Justin Kirk and Julianna Margulies in a sold-out, critically acclaimed, Lincoln Center engagement of Jon Robin Baitz’s Ten Unknowns. For that performance he received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Best Actor. He also starred in the London, Toronto and Los Angeles productions of Enigmatic Variations, an English language translation (by his son Roeg Sutherland) of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s French play.

Donald Sutherland was appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in France five years later. In 2012, he was awarded the highest French honor, the Officier des Arts et Lettres.

WILLOW SHIELDS (Primrose Everdeen) born and raised in New Mexico, is most notably recognized for her role as ‘Primrose Everdeen’ in the epic portrayal of the fan favorite book series The Hunger Games. Shields began acting at the age of seven years old and thanks to her unique look, down-to-earth personality and easy to work with demeanor, she has quickly caught the eye of Hollywood big wigs. Shields became interested in acting when she followed her brother to a handful of auditions and her passion and drive quickly shined through. She booked her first guest starring role as ‘Liza Rogan’ on USA’s In Plain Sight. She continued onto roles in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Beyond the Blackboard alongside Emily VanCamp as ‘Grace,’ and R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour as ‘Eve.’ However, it was her role as ‘Primrose Everdeen’ in The Hunger Games that put Shields on the map as one-to-watch. Shields caught the eye of world famous fashion designer Marc Jacobs who was adamant on dressing the young starlet for a variety of events and award shows, even coining her as his muse in Nylon magazine. Shields grew up with her older brother River and fraternal twin sister Autumn in an animal loving home with their four dogs (Jude, Arizona, Polly and Neo) and one pet cat named Clue. During her downtime she enjoys photography, dance and spending time with her family and friends. She dreams of one day learning how to design and create her own clothing—everything from drawing to assembly of the garments. A charity that she holds near and dear to her heart is Operation Smile, which gives children a new lease on life by providing pro-bono surgeries to fix cleft palate, cleft lip and other facial deformities across the globe.

Since graduating from LAMDA in 2009 SAM CLAFLIN [Finnick Odair] has worked on a number of prestigious projects.

2014 is already shaping up to be a huge year for Sam with a number of projects out in cinemas. Sam has most recently been seen in Hammer Horror film The Quiet Ones in which Sam plays opposite Jarred Harris. Sam can currently be seen starring in Lone Scherfig’s new film The Riot Club, based on the London stage play Posh alongside Max Irons, Douglas Booth and Holliday Grainger. The film follows students at Oxford University as they join the infamous Riot Club, where reputations can be made or destroyed over the course of a single evening. This will be followed by Love, Rosie. This film version of Cecilia Ahern’s novel Where Rainbows End sees Sam star with Lily Collins as lovers in this romantic comedy drama set in Dublin and Toronto. The film is due out in October.

In 2012 Sam starred in box office hit Snow White and the Huntsman playing ‘Prince William’ alongside Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth. The previous year Sam made a name for himself as youthful missionary ‘Philip’, the romantic lead in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Sam has also starred in a number of outstanding television projects. Last year he was seen on screens opposite Hilary Swank in Richard Curtis’ BBC One drama Mary & Martha, which was shown to coincide with Red Nose Day and to raise awareness about malaria in Africa. In 2012 Sam played ‘Jack’ in White Heat an epic drama for the BBC charting the lives of seven friends from 1965 to the present day. He starred in United alongside David Tennant, Dougray Scott and Jack O'Connell. In this one off film for the BBC, Sam played the talented footballer Duncan Edwards in the tragic story of the Munich Air Crash of 1958, which killed and injured a number of members in the Manchester United team.

In 2010 Sam was seen in the hit Channel 4 mini-series Pillars of the Earth based on Ken Follett’s novel of the same name. In this drama Sam played ‘Richard’ alongside Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell and Ian McShane. Sam also starred in the critically acclaimed adaptation of William Boyd’s Any Human Heart for Channel 4 which won a BAFTA Award for ‘best drama serial’. Sam played the younger years of lead character ‘Logan’, sharing the role with Jim Broadbent and Matthew Macfadyen. The same year Sam also appeared in The Lost Future, a sci-fi adventure in which he played ‘Kaleb’ alongside Sean Bean and Annabelle Wallis.

As a rising actress distinguished by her versatility and multidimensional roles, JENA MALONE [Johanna Mason] continues to evolve with each new project.

Later this year, Malone can be seen in Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice. Warner Brothers will release the film on December 12, 2014. The film co-stars Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Sean Penn and Joaquin Phoenix.

Malone was also recently seen in The Wait, opposite Chloë Sevigny about two sisters who decide to keep their deceased mother in their home after being informed that she will come back to life.

She most recently wrapped production on Oren Moverman's Time Out of Men starring alongside Richard Gere. The film is about a New Yorker (Gere) who enters a shelter when he runs out of housing options, then struggles to put the pieces of his life back together and fix a troubled relationship with his estranged daughter (Malone). Additionally, Malone recently wrapped production on Mitchell Lichtenstein's Angelica, a psychological thriller set in 1880s London based on the novel of the same name by bestselling author Arthur Phillips (Prague, The Egyptologist). Malone will play Constance, a young shop girl who falls for and marries Dr. Joseph Barton. After the difficult childbirth of their daughter Angelica, doctor-ordered celibacy creates a rift in the Bartons' marriage and a ghostly force enters their home.

She is also attached the highly anticipated film, Lonely Hunter. In this biopic, Malone will star in the title role as Carson McCullers.

Malone was recently cast to play the lead role in Dori Oskowitz's Claire. The American remake of Eric Rohmer's 1982 French pic Le Beau Mariage, follows an eccentric young woman in her twenties living in Long Island with her aunt and teenage cousin. Fed up with her married painter lover, Claire sets her sights on a man she barely knows with aims to get herself married.

In spring 2013, Malone directed her first music video for the band Lavender Diamond. The video for The Incorruptible Heart was released exclusively on MTV Buzzworthy.

Malone starred opposite Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton in the History Channel's mini-series Hatfields & McCoys which is based on a true story, and chronicles the bloody hostilities between two clans that escalated to the point of near war between two states. The mini-series broke cable records and became the new most-watched entertainment telecast of all time on cable and also earned a Primetime Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Mini-Series and a Golden Globe® Nomination for Best Mini-Series.

Malone also recently starred in the independent feature In Our Nature opposite John Slattery and Zach Gilford about an estranged father and son who are forced to share a vacation home with their respective girlfriends after a scheduling mistake. The film premiered at SXSW as well as the Sarasota Film Festival and was released on video-on-demand and DVD in February 2013.

Previously, Malone starred in Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, Ami Mann's Dakota, Oren Moverman's The Messenger, Sean Penn's Into the Wild, Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain, and Brian Dannelly's Saved! and Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice. As a young actress, Malone starred opposite Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon in Stepmom, the cult classic, Donnie Darko and her very first role in the independent film Bastard Out of Carolina which earned her an Independent Spirit Award® nomination for Best Debut Performance.

Malone has guest starred on several television series including Law & Order and Chicago Hope, and her performance in the TV film Hope earned Malone a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV.

Malone is also currently touring with her band, The Shoe. Jena and her bandmate, Lem Jay Ignacio, met in 2008 and shortly after started recording together. Jena built an instrument she plays called “The Shoe” which includes an old steamer trunk with a plethora of electronic instruments inside. Their first EP At Lem Jay's Garage came out in 2009 under Jena's label There Was an Old Woman Records. Their full length album I'm Okay was released in spring 2014.

Malone currently resides in Los Angeles.

MAHERSHALA ALI [Boggs] is fast becoming one of the freshest and most in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill set and wide-ranging background in film, television and theater.

Ali can currently be seen on the award-winning Netflix original series House of Cards, where he will reprise his role as lobbyist and former press secretary Remy Danton for a third season in February 2015.

This fall, Ali will appear in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, the third installment in the critically and commercially acclaimed Hunger Games franchise, alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julianne Moore. As District 13’s Head of Security, ‘Boggs’ (Ali) guides and protects Katniss (Lawrence) through the beginning stages of the district’s rebellion against the Capitol, a partnership that grows even stronger in Mockingjay - Part 2. Lionsgate will release the film in November 2014, and Mockingjay - Part 2 in November 2015.

Ali’s previous feature film credits include Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines opposite Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, Wayne Kramer’s Crossing Over starring Harrison Ford, John Sayles’ Go For Sisters, and David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

On television, he appeared opposite Julia Ormond in Lifetime’s The Wronged Man for which he subsequently received a NAACP Nomination for Best Actor. Ali also had a large recurring role on Syfy’s Alphas, as well as the role of Richard Tyler, a Korean War pilot, on the critically acclaimed drama The 4400 for three seasons.

On the stage, Ali appeared in productions of Blues for an Alabama Sky, The School for Scandal, A Lie of the Mind, A Doll’s House, Monkey in the Middle, The Merchant of Venice, The New Place and Secret Injury, Secret Revenge. His additional stage credits include appearing in Washington, D.C. at the Arena Stage in the title role of The Great White Hope, and in The Long Walk and Jack and Jill.

Originally from Oakland, California, Ali received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications at St. Mary’s College. He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, California. Soon after, he earned his Master’s degree in acting from New York University’s prestigious graduate program.

WES CHATHAM [Castor] was born and raised in North Georgia. At the age of 13, Wes attended the Gift Center in Lawrencville, GA and while attending classes here, a professional theater company out of Atlanta started a mentoring program with the school and Wes was chosen to write a play that was later performed by his classmates. It was from this experience that Wes found his passion for the arts.

After high school, Wes joined the military as an aviation firefighter on the flight deck of the USS Essex, working in crash and salvage for four years. Wes's first break came just three months before his tour was finished when Denzel Washington chose his ship to shoot the movie Antwone Fisher. While searching for authentic military servicemen for the movie, casting director Robi Reed discovered Wes. She soon convinced him to make the move to Hollywood and shortly thereafter cast him in his first series regular role on Showtime's Barbershop.

Wes began to garner attention when Paul Haggis cast him as Corporal Steve Penning in In the Valley of Elah opposite Tommy Lee Jones.

Following this, Wes worked with Oliver Stone in W, David Mamet and Shawn Ryan on the CBS series The Unit, and was part of the SAG Award®-winning ensemble cast of DreamWorks The Help, starring opposite Emma Stone as her brother. The ensemble cast also included Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Mike Vogel and Sissy Spacek.

Wes landed his first title role in Joel Silver's The Philly Kid. Wes dived into the world of mixed martial arts and performed all of his own stunts and fighting in the film.

Recently, Wes wrapped two films; Broken Horses opposite Anton Yelchin and Vincent D'Onofrio, and the upcoming MGM/Blumhouse remake of the cult classic film The Town that Dreaded Sundown. Both are due in theaters late 2013 early 2014.

Actress NATALIE DORMER [Cressida] stars as Margaery Tyrell, the would-be queen, on HBO’s awardwinning series Game of Thrones, which will soon begin production on its 5th Season.

She has also completed work on the indie film, The Riot Club, with Max Irons and Hunger Games cast mate Sam Claflin.

Dormer is well-known for her starring role as Anne Boleyn on Showtime’s hit period drama, The Tudors. She recently appeared in the recurring role of Moriarty, on CBS’ Sherlock Holmes rendition Elementary. Other past television credits includes recurring roles on BBC Television’s series The Fades and Silk.

In film, Dormer recently starred opposite Chris Hemsworth and Olivia Wilde in director Ron Howard’s Rush for Universal, and opposite Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Cameron Diaz in director Ridley Scott’s The Counselor. Additional film credits include The Weinstein’s Company’s W.E., from writer/director Madonna, Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Fencewalker, A Long Way Home, City of Life, Flawless with Demi Moore and Michael Caine, and Casanova.

In March 2010, Dormer made her stage debut at the Young Vic theatre in London as Mizi in the play Sweet Nothings. She returned to the theater in 2012 starring in the title role of After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber.

In March 2013, Dormer played the Lady Door in the radio dramatization of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy.

She currently resides in London.

From his early years as a staple in The Mighty Ducks film franchise to starring in films like The Butterfly Effect, ELDEN HENSON [Pollux] has been a steady force in film & television for over 30 years. In 2013, Henson appeared in the Steve Jobs biopic JOBS. The feature premiered as the closing film at the 2013 Sundance International Film Festival. Henson quickly followed that up with an ensemble role in the CBS Drama Intelligence. That momentum continued into 2014 as Henson is set to appear in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 & 2 the next two installments of the popular global franchise The Hunger Games. Henson will next been seen playing the role of ‘Foggy Nelson’ in the upcoming Marvel/Netflix series Daredevil.

EVAN ROSS [Messalla] most recently wrapped filming his supporting role for the Lionsgate features The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part 1 & 2. In 2013 Ross was seen in the VH1 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story. Prior he shot The Wilderness of James opposite Isabelle Fuhrman and Virginia Madsen. Ross won Breakthrough Performance Award at the 2011 South by Southwest Festival for his performance in the film 96 Minutes opposite Brittany Snow. Ross can also be seen in Paramount’s, Jeff, Who Lives at Home with other recent credits including 90210 (CW), Luck (HBO) and Mooz-Lum opposite Danny Glover and Nia Long.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Over the past two decades, FRANCIS LAWRENCE [Director] has captivated audiences around the world with his creative body of work. A director and producer of film, music videos, and television, Lawrence has established himself as a longstanding artistic visionary that can not only cater to any demographic, but is also able to understand and convey the visions of some of the world’s most influential artists.

Lawrence is currently in post-production on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, the third installment to the hugely popular Hunger Games franchise. The film, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Philip Seymour-Hoffman and Julianne Moore, will be released by Lionsgate in November 2014. Lawrence most recently directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which was released in November 2013 and has earned over $850 million worldwide.

Lawrence made his feature film debut in 2005 with Constantine, based on the Hellblazer comic book, starting Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz. That was followed up by the 2007 hit movie, I Am Legend, a science fiction-horror-action-disaster film adapted from the Richard Matheson novel of the same name, starring Will Smith. In 2011, Lawrence directed Water for Elephants, based on the best-selling novel by Sara Gruen and starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz.

Lawrence is also a noted music video director, having won a GRAMMY® (Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"), Latin GRAMMY® (Shakira, “Whenever Whatever”), and multiple VMA awards. He has worked with artists such as Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Aerosmith, Janet Jackson and many others. Francis has also directed commercials for many high profile clients including The Gap, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, L’Oreal, Bacardi, McDonald’s, Disneyland, Oldsmobile, Covergirl, and Maybelline.

Lawrence is also experienced in the world of television. In 2008, he served as Director and Executive Producer on the pilot and several episodes of the acclaimed series Kings. In 2011, he directed the pilot episode of FOX's Touch, featuring Kiefer Sutherland, which he continued on as Executive Producer for both seasons of the show.

PETER CRAIG [Screenwriter] is a novelist and screenwriter who wrote The Town with Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard. Among his books are Hot Plastic and Blood Father, which he adapted for the screen and will be released in 2015.

As an award-winning filmmaker, DANNY STRONG [Screenwriter] is attracted to powerful and inspiring events that examine and expose the political, social, and cultural fabric of the world we live in. Strong’s recent work with some of today’s most influential creators further showcases his ability to bring complex characters to the fore with his writing.

Strong wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film The Butler starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. Directed by Lee Daniels, it was the sleeper hit of 2013, grossing over 100 million dollars at the US box office. He also wrote and produced the highly acclaimed HBO Film Game Change about the 2008 election. Starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson, the film was nominated for 12 Primetime Emmys® and won for Best Movie/Mini-series. Danny personally won a Primetime Emmy® for Outstanding Writing, a Writers Guild Award, a Golden Globe®, the Producers Guild Award, a Peabody and the Pen Award for the film. His debut script was the HBO Film Recount, a movie about the Florida recount in the 2000 election. Starring Kevin Spacey, Dennis Leary and Laura Dern, the film was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmys® and won for Best TV movie. Danny was nominated for the Primetime Emmy® for Outstanding Writing and he won the Writers Guild Award for the film.

He is currently writing a film remake of Guys and Dolls for FOX Studios. Along with Lee Daniels, he created and will executive produce the upcoming TV series Empire for FOX. The show will star Terrence Howard and Tariji P. Henson and will debut in January 2015, airing after American Idol.

In addition to his thriving career as a screenwriter, Strong is also an actor with extensive credits in film, television and theater, and has appeared in many of the most famous television shows of the last two decades. As an actor he is best known for the five seasons he played Jonathan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the four seasons he played Doyle on Gilmore Girls. His other credits include such iconic projects as Pleasantville, Seinfeld, Nip/Tuck, Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother and many more. Most recently he has been seen on season 4 and 6 of Mad Men playing Danny Siegel, on season 5 of Justified, playing the villainous Prison Guard Albert Fekus, and the recent season of HBO’s Girls, playing Pal, Elijah’s (Andrew Rannells) nasty boyfriend. On stage, he has appeared in over 50 plays and musicals in regional and LA theaters.

Bestselling author SUZANNE COLLINS (Adaptation by, Based on the novel by, Executive Producer) first made her mark in children’s literature with the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles for middle grade readers. Her debut for readers aged 12 and up, The Hunger Games (September 2008), was an instant bestseller, appealing to both teen readers and adults. It was called “addictive” by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly, and “amazing” by Stephanie Meyer on her website. It has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 260 consecutive weeks/more than five consecutive years since publication, and there are more than 65 million copies of all three books in the trilogy, The Hunger Games (September 2008), Catching Fire (September 2009), and Mockingjay (August 2010), in print and digital formats in the U.S. to date. Foreign publishing rights for The Hunger Games trilogy have been sold into 56 territories in 51 languages to date. Year of the Jungle, Suzanne Collins’s picture book based on the year her father was deployed in Viet Nam, with illustrations by James Proimos, was published in 2013 to great critical acclaim. Suzanne Collins also had a successful and prolific career writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy®-nominated hit Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. She received a Writer’s Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa, Baby!

In 2010 Collins was named to the TIME 100 list as well as the Entertainment Weekly Entertainers of the Year list. In 2011 Fast Company named her to their 100 Most Creative People in Business.

NINA JACOBSON [Producer] has built an impressive 20-year career as a senior film executive at three major motion picture studios. Her first film as producer and the first film for her company, Color Force, was Diary of a Wimpy Kid which grossed over $75 million worldwide and led to the production of the successful sequels, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. Jacobson produced The Hunger Games, based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel and its sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The two films have grossed a remarkable $1.5 billion combined worldwide with the next two films in the series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 scheduled for release on November 21, 2014 and November 20, 2015 respectively.

Jacobson and her Color Force partner Brad Simpson are currently developing feature films based on the international best-selling novels Where’d You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple, Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch. They are also in production on a limited television series OJ Simpson: The Run of His Life with FX productions which will air on Fox in 2015.

Prior to forming Color Force, Jacobson was president of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, where she oversaw script development and film production for Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures. During her tenure, 15 of Jacobson’s projects grossed over $100 million domestically, including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Princess Diaries. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise became the highest grossing film in Disney’s history, generating almost three billion dollars in worldwide box office.

Before joining the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, Jacobson was a senior film executive at DreamWorks SKG, where she developed What Lies Beneath and originated the idea of DreamWorks’ first animated feature, Antz. She also held positions at Universal, Parkes/MacDonald Productions, Silver Pictures and began her career at Disney Sunday Movie.

Jacobson is a graduate of Brown University and currently lives in Brentwood with her partner Jennifer and their three children, Noah, Josie and William.

JON KILIK (Producer) has become one of New York’s most notable film producers, collaborating with a wide range of auteur directors to create a body of work with an emphasis on human values and social issues.

In 1988, Kilik began his partnership with Spike Lee and has gone on to produce twelve of Lee’s films. They include Inside Man, Clockers, Malcolm X, and the groundbreaking Do The Right Thing, which was recently selected by The Smithsonian Institute for The National Film Archives. Kilik also produced Robert De Niro’s highly acclaimed directorial debut, A Bronx Tale, based on the play by Chazz Palminteri.

In 1995, Kilik produced Tim Robbins’ Academy Award® winner, Dead Man Walking, based on Sister Helen Prejean’s account of her work with Louisiana death row inmates, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. The same year he produced Julian Schnabel’s directorial debut, Basquiat, starring Jeffrey Wright as Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Bowie as Andy Warhol. Next, Kilik teamed with Gary Ross and Steven Soderbergh to produce Ross’ directorial debut, Pleasantville, a comic look at the alternate worlds of the American family in the 1950s and 1990s featuring Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon.

In 2000, Kilik produced Julian Schnabel’s Before Night Falls, based on the autobiography of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, starring Javier Bardem. Before Night Falls premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Best Actor awards. The same year, Kilik also produced Ed Harris’ directorial debut, Pollock, starring Harris as American painter Jackson Pollock. Ed Harris and Javier Bardem were each nominated for the Best Actor Oscar® at the 2001 Academy Awards®.

Next, Kilik traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he produced Skins, directed by Chris Eyre. The film features Graham Greene as a Native American who returns home from service in Vietnam but cannot survive in his Pine Ridge, South Dakota home. In 2004, Jon produced Oliver Stone’s Alexander.

Kilik returned to New York in 2005 to produce the very personal Broken Flowers, by writer/director Jim Jarmusch, starring Bill Murray and winner of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Jury Prize in 2005.

Kilik began another international production when he partnered with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu to produce Babel. The shoot took place in Morocco, Mexico and Japan. The four uniquely interwoven stories are in Arabic, Spanish, English and Japanese. Babel premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival where it won the prize for Best Director, and went on to win the Golden Globe® Award for Best Feature Film Drama and was nominated for seven Academy Awards®, including Best Picture.

In 2007 Kilik produced Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, based on the inspiring autobiography by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Kilik won his second Golden Globe® for The Diving Bell and the film was nominated for four Academy Awards®.

In 2008 Kilik produced the rock and roll documentary, Lou Reed’s BERLIN, directed by Julian Schnabel as well as executive producing Jim Jarmusch’s Limits Of Control, Spike Lee’s Miracle At St. Anna and Oliver Stone’s W. In addition to Biutiful, most recently Kilik has produced Julian Schnabel’s Miral in Israel and Palestine.

Jon was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in Millburn. He graduated from the University of Vermont and moved to New York in 1979 to pursue a career in filmmaking. He returned to his Vermont alma mater to receive an honorary doctorate and deliver the commencement address to the class of 2003.

PHILIP MESSINA (Production Designer) last designed The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. In 2011, Messina designed Marc Forster’s Machine Gun Preacher starring Gerard Butler. Prior to that Messina worked with M. Night Shyamalan to create the fantasy adventure The Last Airbender.

He has also frequently collaborated with director Steven Soderbergh, designing Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Thirteen, Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Eleven. The latter garnered Messina an Art Director’s Guild nomination. They also teamed up on The Good German, Eros, Solaris, Traffic and Erin Brockovich. They first met when Messina worked as the art director on Out of Sight.

Additional credits include Curtis Hanson’s acclaimed drama 8 Mile starring Eminem and Gregory Jacob’s directorial debut: Criminal.

Born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Messina graduated from Cornell University with a degree in architecture. His initial foray into films was as a set designer on Mermaids, School Ties and Housesitter which were all filmed in the Boston area. Relocating to Los Angeles, he went on to serve as the art director on such films as Hard Target, The Neon Bible, Reckless, The Associate, Trial and Error and The Sixth Sense. For television, Messina was the production designer on the series Freaks and Geeks created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow.

Messina is married to set decorator Kristen Toscano Messina, with whom he frequently collaborates. They live in Los Angeles with their six-year-old son, Luca.

The design team of KURT AND BART [Costume Designers] is a creative collaboration born out of a chance meeting at the University of Colorado in 1983. Formally educated in the notorious NYC club scene of the 1980’s, their sartorial obsession and shared sensibility has traversed the worlds of fashion, music, theatre and film.

In 2014 Kurt and Bart received the Costume Designer’s Guild Award nomination for Excellence in Period Film for their work on the Oscar® winning drama Dallas Buyers Club, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, starring Mathew McConaughey and Jared Leto.

Stoker starring Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska was an opportunity to work with internationally acclaimed auteur director Park Chan-wook. Their costume design work was nominated for the 2014 London Film Critics Circle for Technical Achievement.

Their previous work in film is as varied as the gritty noir Out of the Furnace starring Christian Bale and directed by Scott Cooper for Relativity, to the dance musical Step Up 3D directed by Jon M. Chu for Summit Entertainment and Touchstone Pictures.

Kurt and Bart’s filmography includes Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story with Zach Galifianakis and Emma Roberts, Todd Solandz Dark Horse with Mia Farrow and Selma Blair, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman’s Howl with James Franco and John Hamm, Dito Montiel’s Fighting with Channing Tatum, Daniel Barnz Phoebe in Wonderland with Elle Fanning, and John Cameron Mitchell’s notorious Shortbus.

Their early career included designing their own clothing line called Design Asylum and creating costumes for commercials and music videos. They stood out as styling team with an approach as much about pulling fashion looks as it was about designing and building custom pieces to realize a visual image. As stylists, Kurt and Bart have worked with some of the world’s strongest and most prolific image makers, among them, Steven Klein, Herb Ritts, Patrick Demarchelier, Matthew Rolston, Francis Lawrence, Dean Karr, Mark Seliger, and Mary Ellen Mark. They have created lasting images with such music icons as David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Courtney Love, Pink, and Britney Spears.

As Senior Vice President of Production and Development at Color Force, BRYAN UNKELESS [CoProducer] was a co-producer on The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. He was the development executive on the wildly successful Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, which is based off of Jeff Kinney’s best-selling children’s books. The third film in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days—starring Steve Zahn, Rachel Harris and Zachary Gordon—was released in August of 2012.

Unkeless was a development executive on Lone Sherfig’s adaptation of the best-selling novel One Day by David Nicholls. Starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, One Day was released by Focus Features in 2011.

Prior to joining Color Force, Unkeless worked at Parkes-MacDonald Productions where he was involved with projects such as The Burning Plain—written and directed by Guillermo Arriaga—and The Uninvited— directed by the Guard Brothers.

A graduate of Duke University, Unkeless enjoys art, swimming, running, cycling and watching the Denver Broncos win.

One of the most renowned Makeup Artists in the motion picture business, VE NEILL [Make-Up Designer & Department Head] has set many standards of excellence in the makeup field. Over the course of her career Neill has won three Academy Awards®, two Emmy® Awards, four Saturn Awards, a BAFTA Award, Local 706 Best Character Makeup Award and the first Artist to be awarded Hollywood Foreign Press “Makeup Artist of the Year” Awards well as the first Makeup Artist to be honored as Makeup Artist of the Year by MAC Cosmetics. That is a total of 22 international nominations and wins for her creative and innovative makeups.

From her early career as a rock 'n roll stylist, Neill began to develop her skills as a Designer and Makeup Artist. Specializing in concept, design and execution, Neill entered the film industry and discovered a talent for extreme fantasy makeup.

Neill created space travelers for the first Star Trek film and for the hit comedy Galaxy Quest, rock 'n roll vampires for Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys and visions of The Afterlife for Tim Burton's wacky comedy Beetlejuice. She turned Johnny Depp intoscissors wielding anti-hero for Edward Scissorhands, Robin Williams into a Scottish Nanny for Mrs. Doubtfire, Martin Landau into horror king Bela Lugosi for Ed Wood and brought to life an onslaught of villains, beauties and super-heroes for Warner Brothers' early Batman series. She gave Patricia Arquette the Stigmata, transformed Christine Baranski into the Grinch's sexy girlfriend, aged Johnny Depp 60 years for the film Blow and turned Jude Law into the perfect Love-Robot for Steven Spielberg's A.I. Neill continues her illustrious career with an assortment of new characters ranging from possessed beings in Constantine and a slew of dirty, drunken, barnacle encrusted Pirates for the Pirates if the Caribbean series. She turned Johnny Depp into the infamous Butcher Barber of Fleet Street for the film musical Sweeney Todd and transformed Mike Myers into the The Love Guru. She worked with Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, and Catherine Keener on The Soloist, Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in I Love You Phillips Morris. More Vampires for Priest starring Paul Bettany, Maggie Qu, Carl Urban and Lilly Collins. In 2010 she headed up the Special Makeup FX Department for the film Thor. She swung in to action as the Department Head for The Amazing Spiderman 1 & 2. She also did The Host, a Stephanie Myers book. Throughout her career Neill has worked with many of Hollywood's brightest stars. Jack Nicholson, Keira Knightly, Julia Roberts, Danny DeVito, Sarah Jessica Parker, Johnny Depp, Uma Thurman, Orlando Bloom, Sigourney Weaver, Jude Law, Ethan Hawke, Catherine Keener, Jim Carey, Andy Garcia, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Lawrence and Woody Harrelson, Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger and William Hurt have all called upon Neill for her expertise with Beauty, the Bizarre and lots of Wild Characters. This is a small part of the all-star list of clientele who enjoy the touch of Neill's magical brush.

She has now added the title, The Judge to her resume for the new hit reality TV Show Face Off on the Syfy channel. The show highlights Special Makeup FX and is now gearing up to shoot Season 8.