Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson (/dʒoʊˈhænsən/ joh-HAN-sən; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress, model, and singer. She made her film debut in North (1994). Johansson subsequently starred in Manny & Lo in 1996, and garnered further acclaim and prominence with roles in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and Ghost World (2001). She shifted to adult roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Her subsequent films included A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), Woody Allen's Match Point (2005), The Island (2005), The Black Dahlia (2006), The Prestige (2006), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), He's Just Not That Into You (2009), Don Jon (2013), Her (2013), Under the Skin (2013), and Lucy (2014). She has portrayed the Marvel Comics character Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; appearing in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the 2010 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. As a singer, Johansson has released two albums, Anywhere I Lay My Head and Break Up.

Luc Besson

Luc Besson (French pronunciation: ​[lyk bɛsɔ̃]; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for directing and producing thrillers and action films that are visually rich. Critics cite Besson as a pivotal figure in the Cinéma du look movement, a specific, highly visual style produced from the 1980s into the early 1990s. Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988) and Nikita (1990) are all considered to be of this stylistic school. Besson had been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture César Awards for his films Léon: The Professional and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. He won Best Director and Best French Director for his sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997). His sci-fi thriller film Lucy (2014) is France's biggest export success.

In 1980, he founded his own production company, called Les Films du Loup, and later Les Films du Dauphin. This was superseded in 2000 by his co-founding EuropaCorp film company with his longtime collaborator, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. Besson has been involved with filmmaking for more than 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer. He is also being declared the John Hughes of action films because his screen writing skills are more famous than his directing.

Universal Studios

Universal Studios Inc. (also known as Universal Pictures) is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal Studios is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Universal was founded in 1912 by the German Carl Laemmle (pronounced "LEM-lee"), Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour.

It is the world's fourth oldest major film studio, after the renowned French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, and the Danish Nordisk Film company.

History

Early years

Universal Studios was founded by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane and Jules Brulatour. One story has Laemmle watching a box office for hours, counting patrons and calculating the day's takings. Within weeks of his Chicago trip, Laemmle gave up dry goods to buy the first several nickelodeons. For Laemmle and other such entrepreneurs, the creation in 1908 of the Edison-backed Motion Picture Trust meant that exhibitors were expected to pay fees for Trust-produced films they showed. Based on the Latham Loop used in cameras and projectors, along with other patents, the Trust collected fees on all aspects of movie production and exhibition, and attempted to enforce a monopoly on distribution.

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor and narrator. Freeman won an Academy Award in 2005 for Best Supporting Actor with Million Dollar Baby (2004), and he has received Oscar nominations for his performances in Street Smart (1987), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Invictus (2009). He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Glory (1989), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Seven (1995), Deep Impact (1998), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Bruce Almighty (2003), The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Lego Movie (2014), and Lucy (2014). He is known for his distinctively smooth, deep voice. He got his break as part of the cast of the 1970s children's program The Electric Company. Morgan Freeman is ranked as the 4th highest box office star with over $4.316 billion total box office gross, an average of $74.4 million per film.

Early life and education

Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 1, 1937. He is the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere; 1912–2000), a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died on April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. According to a DNA analysis, some of his ancestors were from Niger. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi. He moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois.

Virginie Silla

Virginie Silla is a French film producer who has made a variety of different films including action films, romantic films, a comic adaptation, a biographical film, and an animation.

Life and career

Virginie Silla is the sister-in-law of Vincent Perez by her sister Karine Silla, who is an actress and was one-time partner of Gerard Depardieu.

Since her marriage in 2004 to Luc Besson, Virginie has been known as Virginie Silla-Besson or Virginie Besson-Silla. The couple has three children: Talia; Satine; and Mao Besson.

In 2010, Time quoted Luc saying she was a more perfect producer than he was and that she hereby enabled him to focus on directing his artistically most demanding, sumptuous film The Lady (2011).

Filmography