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EXPERT BIOGRAPHYS:

JAMES DALESSANDRO:

Since its publication in April, 2004, James Dalessandro’s 1906, an epic novel of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, has fulfilled the prediction of the Chronicle’s Heidi Benson and become “a publishing sensation,” appearing regularly on Northern California Best Seller Lists for nine months.  Mr. Dalessandro has appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, The Ronn Owens radio show on KGO radio, and twelve regional television stations.

Warner Brother’s Films began production in 2005 on a $150 million film version of 1906, from a script also written by James Dalessandro.

         

On January 25, 2005, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to set aside the city’s official death count of 478 from the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, based on a resolution that he wrote and presented.  It gives Mr. Dalessandro, Chairman of the Board of the City Museum of San Francisco, and Gladys Hansen, founder of the museum and Historian Emeritus of the City, until the Centennial on April 18, 2006 to produce a more accurate death count.  The current list of casualties, assembled by Gladys Hansen in more than 40 years of research, is 3,400 and counting.

         

In 1999, he published Citizen Jane, the story of a Marin County woman who founded a national victim’s rights group and has helped solve 14 cold case murders.  James is the screenwriter and co-executive producer of a Court TV Movie of The Week also called Citizen Jane.

         

Mr. Dalessandro has been a member of the Writer’s Guild of America since 1983, has sold more than a dozen feature length screenplays.   He is currently touring California, showing a 19 minute clip of his documentary on the great 1906 Earthquake entitled THE DAMNDEST, FINEST RUINS.

         

Mr. Dalessandro is owner/founder of San Andreas Films (“It’s Not Our Fault”) and is the only man ever to climb the Golden Gate Bridge in a Gorilla suit.  

Leighanne Haddock:

Leighanne Haddock studied Interior Design at Southwest Texas State University. Since moving to LA, she's worked as a Production Designer/Set Decorator in the Art Department for indie projects, and as a Buyer in Set Decorating for big budget companies such as Dreamworks, Columbia Pictures, and Warner Entertainment. Her film and TV credits include Alias, Bones, Invasion, Disturbia, Kite Runner, and Enchanted.

 

Marilyn R. Atlas:

An award-winning producer and personal manager, Marilyn R. Atlas is equally at home in the worlds of film, television, and live theater. Among her credits as film producer are “Real Women Have Curves” for HBO, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, “A Certain Desire,” starring Sam Waterson, and “Echoes,” which won the Gold Award at the 1991 Texas International Film Festival. In addition to producing a variety of programming for the cable/ pay TV market, Marilyn has served as a

production consultant on the film “Call Me.” She was also involved as a producer in the development of the MOW “Nightwalker” and “Playing for Keeps.”

 

Marilyn has served as Casting Director for feature films, including John Frankenheimer’s “The Equals” and “The Whiz.” She is a founding member of Women in Film’s Luminas Committee which supports the portrayal of women in non-stereotypical roles in film and television. Along with director and actress Dorothy Lyman, Marilyn founded ADT, a director’s theatre, and served on its advisory board.   

 

Marilyn is a member of NALIP, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. She has spoken at their Writers’ and Producers’ retreats, the DGA-sponsored LA Asian Film Festival, as well as various other symposia for the Sherman Oaks Experimental College, Santa Fe Screenwriters Conference, and Richard Krevolin’s USC Screenwriting Retreat covering such topics as: “Creating for the Actor: Carving Memorable, Inhabitable Characters” and “Ever-Evolving Marketplace: What’s Hot, Why and for How Long…” Marilyn has also taught several actor workshops on creating “Multiple Viewpoints – One Core” for actors as well as “Acting and Auditioning for Producers.”  She has spoken at the Texas Bar Association and was a guest lecturer at Whittier Law School. 

 

Marilyn is working on a development slate that includes “Lola Goes to Roma,” “Suburban Turban,” and “Chasing the Jaguar” a film adaptation with Denise DiNovi Films based on the Harper Collins YA book, written by actress Michele Greene.  For television, she’s in development on the pilot “MacArthur Park,” first developed for Showtime, and recently sold the pilot “Untitled Posse Project” to ABC Family.  She set up the MOW “Bitterroot” at the Hallmark Channel and Starz for production in late 2008.  “Suburban Turban” is set for late 2008 production.  She is also presently developing a musical adaptation of “Real Women Have Curves” with the Goodman Theatre in Chicago to be part of their Latino Festival in 2008.

 

Marilyn is committed to projects that reflect diversity and portray non-stereotypical characters.