BRAD BIRD (Director/ Screen Story Writer) started his first animated film at age 11, finishing it at age 13. The film brought him to the attention of Walt Disney Studios where, at age 14, Bird was mentored by Milt Kahl, one of Disney’s legendary animators known as the Nine Old Men. Bird eventually worked as a animator at Disney and at other studios.
Bird includes among his credits serving as executive consultant to the hit animated television series "King of the Hill," "The Simpsons" and "The Critic." He is also creator (writer, director and co-producer) of the "Family Dog" episode of Steven Spielberg’s "Amazing Stories." In addition, Bird co-wrote the screenplay for the live-action feature "*batteries not included." (Click here to watch clips from our exclusive interview with Brad, and go here to read his answers to questions submitted to him by visitors to this site.) ALLISON ABBATE (Producer), a native of New York, began working at Disney in 1989, serving in various capacities on several animated releases, including "The Rescuers Down Under" and the Oscar-winning "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast." She then served as artistic coordinator on "Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas," the first feature-length stop-motion film. She next worked in Paris for the Disney Company, setting up a satellite animation studio that completed the Academy Award-nominated Mickey Mouse short, "Runaway Brain," on which she also served as associate producer. Abbate came to Warner Bros in 1996, where she most recently co-produced the animation on Warner Bros.’ international hit feature "Space Jam"; the film combined classic animated Warner Bros. characters with live action sequences starring a cast headlined by Michael Jordan. (Click here to watch clips from our interview with Allison at the Warner Bros. Feature Animation offices in sunny Los Angeles.) DES McANUFF (Producer) most recently directed the film "Cousin Bette," with Jessica Lange. His upcoming projects include directing "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (starring Jason Alexander, Rene Russo and Robert De Niro) and "Monterey Pop" (with Claire Danes and Ethan Hawke). Previously, he served as Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California; during his tenure, the Playhouse earned a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and national recognition for his production of new and classic works. On Broadway, McAnuff directed the revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and received Tony Awards for Outstanding Direction for "Big River" and "The Who’s ‘Tommy’" (which he adapted for the stage with Pete Townshend). Fifth-generation Texan TIM McCANLIES (Screenplay Writer) began writing, performing and directing live theatre. While working on his MFA in the Graduate Cinema program at SMU, he completed several shorts including "Nicole et Claude," which tied for first place at USC's Student Film Awards and was sold to cable. After relocating to Los Angeles, McCanlies signed a deal at the Walt Disney studios and, in 1987, his screenplay, "North Shore," was filmed for Universal (on which he also received Associate Producer credit). In 1998, he made his feature film directorial debut on his script, "Dancer, Texas Pop. 81"; the film met with acclaim, played continuously for seven months in his home state and premiered internationally at the prestigious London Film Festival. McCanlies' upcoming projects include screenplays for the Nickelodeon Movies animated feature "Hank the Cowdog" and the live-action "The Night We Liberated Paris," which he also plans to direct. His additional feature film screenwriting credits include "Dennis the Menace Strikes Again." TED HUGHES (Author) (1930-1998) published more than 35 poems and collections of verse, three works of prose, two opera libretti and four plays. He also wrote for children–five poetic works and seven short stories, including The Iron Man, which was published in 1968. He served as editor on several collections of other poets’ verse (including two collections of his late wife’s, Sylvia Plath’s, work). One of his last published works was a collection of 88 poems entitled "Birthday Letters," in which he deals with his tortured relationship with Plath (1932-1963). He was awarded the OBE in 1977 and created Poet Laureate in 1984. PETE TOWNSHEND (Executive Producer), award-winning musician and composer, is one of the founding members of the seminal rock band The Who. While with The Who, Townshend collaborated on such groundbreaking albums as "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" and on such classic anthems as "My Generation," "I Can See For Miles," "Won’t Get Fooled Again" and "Who Are You." Townshend began releasing solo albums in 1980 and, in 1983, became an editor for the venerable British publishing house of Faber & Faber. He wrote a collection of fiction entitled Horse’s Neck and, in 1989, released an album of his musical adaptation of Hughes’ The Iron Man (a staging of the musical occurred at London’s Old Vic in 1993). "The Who’s ‘Tommy’" opened on Broadway in that same year, garnering five Tony Awards, including Best Original Musical Score. MICHAEL KAMEN (Composer) started his musical life at the age of two experimenting on the piano. He went on to study the oboe at the Juilliard School of Music, where he founded the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble, a seminal music group fusing rock and classical music. He continued his work blending classical and pop music and composing ballet scores for companies as illustrious as the Joffrey Ballet, Alvin Ailey and La Scala. Kamen began writing film scores in 1974 and has written the music for more than 80 feature films. His action film scores include all four of the "Lethal Weapon" series (where he collaborated with both Eric Clapton and David Sanborn) and the "Die Hard" trilogy. His romantic scores include "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," for which he wrote the number one, Grammy-winning song, "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" (which also received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations), as well as the hit song from "Don Juan De Marco," "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman," (which earned an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song). Kamen has also written scores for such films as Terry Gilliam’s "Brazil" and "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," Neil Jordan’s "Mona Lisa," Disney’s "101 Dalmations" and the Emmy-nominated theme from HBO’s award-winning series, "From the Earth to the Moon." Kamen’s American Symphony from the critically acclaimed "Mr. Holland’s Opus" garnered him a Grammy and sparked his inspiration to start the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which is dedicated to keeping music alive in the schools by donating instruments and providing the same opportunities that Kamen enjoyed as a student. Always mindful of his relationship to popular music, Kamen has maintained his ties with the rock world, working with such legends as Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Kate Bush and The Eurythmics. Kamen recently arranged, orchestrated and conducted two sellout performances with the group Metallica and the San Francisco Orchestra, which will be released on CD and video in the fall of 1999. Kamen is currently writing his first symphony for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., which will be premiered in January 2000 with Leonard Slatkin conducting. (Click here to hear an exclusive interview with Michael Kamen, in which he talks about film composing in general and The Iron Giant in particular.)

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