TriStar Pictures and Peter Hoffman present an Alliance Production, Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi, Ice-T, Dina Meyer, Udo Kier, Denis Akiyama, Henry Rollins and Barbara Sukowa. Directed by Robert Longo in his feature debut and written by William Gibson based on his own story, Johnny Mnemonic is the first of Gibson's best-selling "cyberpunk" works to be brought to the screen. The producer is Don Carmody. The executive producers are Staffan Ahrenberg, B.J. Rack, Victoria Hamburg and Robert Lantos. The production team includes director of photography Francois Protat (Switching Channels, Winter People), production designer Nilo Rodis Jamero (Poltergeist, The Empire Strikes Back) and costume designer Olga Dimitrov. On the run and weakening, Johnny learns that he's been betrayed by Ralfi (Udo Kier), his agent who brokered the deal, and discovers that Jane (Dina Meyer) -- a tough, beautiful, technologically-enhanced "street samurai" bodyguard -- is the only person he can trust. Jane inadvertently leads him to Spider (Henry Rollins), a renegade doctor who realizes the true importance of the data Johnny's carrying. With Street Preacher and the Yakuza closing in, Spider orders Jane to take Johnny to Heaven, the stronghold of the LoTeks, a band of anarchic urban guerrillas lead by J-Bone (Ice-T). Strung high in the girders beneath an abandoned bridge, Heaven is a bristling hornet's nest of improvised weaponry. With the help of J-Bone and the dolphin Jones (an ex-Navy codebreaker), Johnny races against time to "hack his own head" and unlock a secret that can change the world. "We wanted something that was as gritty as it was stylish," says author and screenwriter William Gibson. "This is the Information Age -- but with the gloves off. Our good guys are up against a particularly brutal kind of terminal capitalism, so they have to show real heart." "I think this movie is a view of today, taken from a short distance into the future," adds director Robert Longo. "It uses the future to criticize what's happening now. As an artist whose paintings, drawings and sculptures are exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, Longo says he is "totally obsessed" with the idea of human values. Whether in his art or on film, Longo says that in his work he wants to "pose certain questions about society and the pressures of living today. Longo believes an artist can't hide in his studio. "He has to have a strong awareness of what's happening in the world," he says. "We all have to be very careful not to lose ourselves, our humanness, in this age of information and speed." Johnny Mnemonic is a project that Longo has been working on since he first met author William Gibson in 1989. "I have always liked Gibson's work" says Longo. "When I met him, I asked him if I could bring one of his stories to the screen. It's exciting that this is one of the first stories that he wrote, and that it's going to be the first one brought to the screen." Gibson has been described as a visionary who foresaw the current information explosion. "I wrote the short story on a little clockwork typewriter," he notes. "But I must've sensed that something else was on the way. I could feel the PC's lurking in the wings. In some ways, the story feels more contemporary today than it did when I wrote it." Gibson's vision of the future illustrates a world peopled by characters of vastly divergent backgrounds. "The one thing Robert and I were really determined to do from the beginning was to present a completely poly-racial future," he notes. Longo explains: "I wanted an eclectic cast so that it didn't reflect a specific genre. The casting is specifically structured around the idea of presenting a very bizarre and unusual picture, so the film features an incredible range and variety of talent, from Keanu Reeves to Dolph Lundgren and Barbara Sukowa (who plays the mysterious founder of Pharmakom) to Ice-T. Keanu Reeves, one of the screen's most charismatic actors, stars in the title role of Johnny Mnemonic. Hot off his runaway hit Speed, Reeves previously received critical acclaim for his roles in Bram Stoker's Dracula, My Own Private Idaho and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. "Johnny is like a low-grade 007 with a bunch of high-tech gadgets," Longo says. "The uploader (the device by which he loads data into his brain) is hidden inside candy wrappers, cigarette packages and sunglasses, which he assembles like a conjuring trick. He carries a briefcase, which contains all this paraphernalia and several subtle disguises. He is stealthy, enigmatic and definitely unpredictable. He's somewhere between a yuppie gone berserk and an exotic Fed-Ex guy." "One of the biggest challenges about playing Johnny was the fact that he has no past," says Reeves. "It was taken out of his head. Later in the film, he has to deal with his childhood memories coming back. He also faces the choice of living or dying. For Johnny, it's the birth of compassion. He has to break down and get a heart. Playing the demonic Street Preacher is Dolph Lundgren. After a string of successful films including Rocky IV; Universal Soldier and the soon-to-be-released Joshua Tree. "It was his height and his presence but also the way he played the part," the director says. "He took it way past what I expected; he was like a bizarre combination of Ted Nugent and Jesus." "Street Preacher is a very powerful man" Lundgren notes. "I think he's interesting because he is a popular spiritual leader. He is the TV evangelist of the future. He is one of those charismatic people who lie to themselves. One of the most respected rap music artists in the world, Ice-T, stars as J-Bone. "When Ice-T agreed to do the movie I was very happy," says Gibson. "My anxiety was that I would have to write dialogue for this guy, and I knew that whatever he would do would probably be better. So we gave him an unusually free reign on his dialogue, and he came up with some really wonderful stuff." "He is a true wordsmith," adds Longo. Also starring are the famous Japanese actor Takeshi (Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence), who plays Yakuza sector chief Takahashi; top punk-rock and spoken word artist Henry Rollins stars as Spider, a renegade doctor who helps Johnny; and newcomer Dina Meyer stars as Jane, Johnny's bodyguard. In addition, Udo Kier plays Ralfi, Johnny's treacherous agent; acclaimed German actress Barbara Sukowa (Rosa Luxemburg, M. Butterfly) appears as Anna K, the mysterious founder of Pharmakom; and Denis Akiyama (Ghost Mom, Guilty As Sin) plays Shinji, a Yakuza member who clashes with his boss, Takahashi, while pursuing Johnny. AB0UT THE PRODUCTION Johnny Mnemonic was filmed in 12 weeks on location in Toronto and Montreal, with sets constructed to represent Beijing, China, and Newark, New Jersey, in the 21st century. Production designer Nilo Rodis Jamero relied heavily on his degree in industrial design and his experience as an automotive designer to create the complex sets. "I've focused on three parts of the film that make crucial statements as to what the future is," says Jamero. "The first is the upload device, which gives us a sense of the advanced technology and its place in society and the world. The next one is when Johnny and Jane rifle through a video computer store, which is another statement about the increased sophistication of hardware which is imminent. And finally, I've focused on the LoTeks' hardware, which represents where we've been. The design of this film reflects a philosophical view of the future as well as a very strong visual statement on where we could be headed." "Technology is taken so casually yet desecrated by those fighting against it," adds Longo. "The free city of Newark is like the Wild West," says screenwriter Gibson. "The government's gone bankrupt, and the only law that's left is the Yakuza. It's not the Third World ... it's the Fourth World. It's America's conceptual nightmare on the brink of a new century, a savage experiment in social Darwinism where God seems to be a bored lab worker with his thumb permanently on technology's fast forward button." Johnny Mnemonic marks the first time that author William Gibson has brought one of his world-famous stories to the screen. He says that to actually see his words transformed into a tangible set was an experience that he wasn't quite prepared for. "I was speechless," smiles Gibson. "The first time I saw the set, I was on the verge of tears for about two hours. It was just emotionally, completely overwhelming. I went away and realized that for 13 years I've gone on describing environments like this, and I never expected to see one realized to this degree of resolution. Especially the set for Heaven. It was absolutely incredible!" Heaven was one of the most technically challenging sets for the design and construction crews. To look as though it was suspended on the underbelly of an old bridge, this LoTek headquarters was built 15 feet above the floor of an old Toronto warehouse. A maze of railway cars, pickup trucks, busses, boats, campers and airplane parts were joined together through an intricate web of cables and platforms, totaling the length of a football field. Each recycled set piece was built to function as a room. The old school bus served as the schoolhouse; a rail car, as the hydroponic garden. A caboose was transformed into J-Bone's home, and various pieces of the structure were used as lookouts and living quarters for the LoTeks. When the Heaven set was built, the bridge structure was the first to be constructed. The art department sought out some of the best riggers in the city and had them paint the bridge by swinging from the ceiling of the building one end to the other, splattering the colors over the wood and plastic to match the actual bridge in Montreal. One of the most important areas of the Heaven set is the "node," where a four-ton water tank serves as home to Jones. A techno-enhanced, armor-plated war machine dolphin, Jones was rescued from the Navy by the LoTeks. His brain augmentation enables him to emit "infrasound" bursts that penetrate and analyze heavily protected software. Easily mistaken for a real dolphin, Jones is actually a state-of-the-art animatronic creation composed of several thousand pounds of latex and a fully articulated stainless steel skeleton. Computer-driven hydraulics allow him to complete head-to-tail motion. Designed to resemble some strange organic hive or nest, the Node employs over a hundred fifty vintage TV sets to represent the LoTek's street-smart response to corporate media. The LoTeks constantly monitor "the 500-channel universe," chopping up network material and spitting it back out as graffiti-broadcast interrupts meant to shake up a worldwide audience and counter routine brainwashing. "The LoTeks want the viewer to respond," says Longo. "In contemporary TV, the audience is delivered to the advertiser. The LoTeks rebel against TV programming by reprocessing it and spitting it out in a new form." Heaven, with its many specialized areas suspended high above the ground, meant that safety was a big concern for the production team. The cast and crew learned to balance with spider-like agility as they carried cameras and equipment over the tops of cars, trucks and planes. The entire length of the set was connected by catwalks with each piece carefully reinforced for stability. The set was so well built, in fact, that in the film when portions of Heaven are destroyed, explosives could not topple it. The caboose had to be blasted three times before it finally fell! Suspended past the node is the Heaven lookout consisting of the nose of an old Army aircraft, several steel catwalks and a large contraption holding three trashed VWs. In the film, the LoTeks protect their fortress by dropping these VW fire bombs on intruders, and accidentally manage to drop one on Johnny and Jane. The filming of this extremely dangerous stunt had to be conducted in three stages. The special effects crew rigged the VW launcher on the stage in Toronto where the shots of it being triggered could be done in a controlled setting. The reaction shots of the guards were filmed on the stage, with the magic of lighting simulating the blasts. The car was dropped only 15 feet in the studio and did not explode. The exteriors for the VW drop took place at the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, Canada, the setting for some of Johnny Mnemonic's most thrilling scenes. As the cast and crew huddled to keep warm, the car bomb was hoisted by crane to just below the level of the bridge, one hundred and fifty feet in the air. On cue, the car was dropped, bursting into a ball of flames, falling onto Spider's van and exploding again. Safety was particularly important for the scenes shot at the bridge, scenes such as J-Bone's (Ice-T) descent from the top of the bridge on a platform suspended by a crane more than 100 feet up; Shinji (Denis Akiyama) and the Yakuza rappelling up to Heaven; and Johnny and Jane diving for cover from the VW explosion. With the shortened nights of May and the tedious job of checking and double-checking all the rigging for these action shots, the crew had to race against time. As producer Don Carmody joked, "The heat you feel is not me breathing down your neck, it's the sun coming up!" Ice-T says he enjoyed his "heavenly" descent, but he was not the only cast member who did his own stunt work. Keanu Reeves and Denis Akiyama found themselves dangling 50 feet from the floor of the old Toronto warehouse without a net, just a blue screen below (the water to be added in post). As Johnny and Shinji battle for their lives inside a cargo-container, a Yakuza missile strikes, up-ending the container and hurling them out, to dangle, still fighting, high above the river. Since Longo wanted to shoot the fight from all angles, a gimbaled system was built for the container to allow it to move safely from side to side and back and forth. The camera was placed at one end of the container, and the actors were secured by safety harnesses as they hung on for dear "It was a physical film for me," says Reeves. "I had a few intense fight scenes, and I did a lot of running around on top of the Heaven set, outside through the allies and fighting all the bad guys in the node." Reeves enjoyed the challenge of his "death defying" stunt work. "It was fun" he smiles. As well as being very physical, Johnny Mnemonic is very visual film. The special effects department was kept busy throughout the shoot, not only creating the amazing Jones dolphin, but also several life-sized replicas of the actors. "The film is very graphic, much like my (art) work" says Longo. "It's solid and straightforward so that you can follow the story -- a story that should be told." ABOUT THE CAST KEANU REEVES (Johnny) has proven himself to be one of today's most versatile young actors. Last seen in An De Bent's Speed, Reeves has amassed an impressive list of motion picture credits. He recently starred in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker 's Dracula, Kenneth Branagh's version of Shakespeare's classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing, Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, based on Tom Robbins's best selling novel, and Bernardo Bertolucci's spiritual saga Little Budha. Raised in Toronto, Reeves first received recognition for his role in Tim Hunter's drama River 's Edge. He went on to star in the hugely successfUl comedies Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Ron Howard' s Parenthood, and then turned in a critically-hailed performance in Stephen Frears's drama Dangerous Liaisons. He continued to broaden his range by starring in the action-adventure Point Break, followed by Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho. Reeves will be seen next in Alfonso Arau's period drama, A Walk in the Clouds, to be released in August. Reeves is currently in production on Steven Baigelman's independent film Feeling Minnesota, and is set to star in Andrew Davis's upcoming film, Dead Drop. DOLPH LUNDGREN (Street Preacher) grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, where he attended the Royal Institute of Technology. He received a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1982, and the next year was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT. While on his way to Boston to continue his studies, he stopped in New York City and there his life took a radical turn. He met with noted drama coach Warren Robertson, and decided to give acting a try. After winning the role of Drago opposite Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV, Lundgren went on to star in several feature films including Masters of the Universe, Red Scorpion, The Punisher, Cover Up, I Come in Peace, Showdown in Little Tokyo and Universal Soldier, opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. A world-class athlete and winner of several international karate competitions, Lundgren has a second-degree black belt in karate and is currently training for his third-degree black belt. His personal exercise video, Maximum Potential, was released in 1987. Lundgren recently announced the formation of Thor Pictures, which produced the dramatic thriller Pentathlon. Other starring roles in feature films include the upcoming Men of War and the upcoming release The Shooter. He is also a member of the theater group, Group of Eight, which recently performed Another Octopus in New York City. TAKESHI (Takahashi) is best known in the U.S. as the brutal Sergeant Hara in the World War II drama Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. A former stand-up comedian who gained fame as an actor and host on Japanese TV, Takeshi has directed four films since 1989, each illustrating his unique point of view. Violent Cop, in which he also stars in the title role, is Takeshi's take on the "renegade cop" genre; Boiling Point is an offbeat look at what happens when a Yakuza gang clashes with a youthful baseball team; A Scene at the Sea is a sensitive film about two deaf teenagers who teach themselves to surf and Sonatine sees Takeshi returning to a starring role as a gangster. ICE-T (J-Bone) is known by music critics internationally as the voice of L.A. hip hop and the inventor of gangster rap. Chosen by Rolling Stone magazine readers as 1992's best male rapier, he has a string of hit records, including his latest, Home Invasion. A diverse performer, Ice-T and his metal band Body Count were highly acclaimed during the 1991 Lollapalooza tour, and have continued to tour worldwide since then. His feature film credits include a starring role as a police detective opposite Judd Nelson and Wesley Snipes in New Jack City. Other credits include Ricochet, Trespass, Surviving the Game and Tank Girl. One of rap's most articulate spokesman, Ice-T has toured the U.S. on a college lecture circuit and has published a book, The Ice Opinion. Making her feature film debut, DINA MEYER stars in the physically demanding role of Jane, a tough, computer-enhanced street samurai "bodyguard" assigned to protect Johnny. Meyer has also just completed production on the feature film Dragonheart, starring opposite Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis and Sean Connery. For television, Meyer starred as Lucinda, the young two-timing professor in twelve episodes of the hit television series Beverly Hills 90210. Born in Queens, New York, Meyer began studying acting with Ron Stetson after attending Long Island University. UDO KIER (Ralfi) has been making films since 1969 both in Europe and the United States. Born in 1944 in Cologne, Germany, Kier has worked with some of the most talented filmmakers of his generation. He has appeared in several films for Rainer Werner Fassbinder (including a role in Fassbinder's masterpiece, Berlin Alexanderplatz) and has been featured in films by Gustav Hamos and Lars Von Trier. Kier is probably best known to American audiences for his appearances in Andy Warhol's Frankenstein and Andy Warhol's Dracula. He was also featured in the cult classic Suspiria and appeared as the billionaire in the hit comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Other credits include My Own Private Idaho, Zentropa and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. DENIS AKIYAMA (Shinji) was born and raised in Toronto, and started out in show business as a musician, playing and singing with a rock 'n' rock roll band for several years. He began working as an extra in films and TV shows, then landed his first leading role in The Exile, a telefilm for the CBC. Since then, he has guest-starred in many series in Canada and U.S., including Street Legal, Counterstrike and the new Kung Fu. In addition, he was a regular on Rin Tin Tin, Canine Cop, which aired in the U.S. on the Family Channel, and starred with Jean Stapleton in the television movie Ghost Mom. Akiyama's film credits include Dead Ringers and Guilty As Sin. Currently, he is doing voice work for the new animated series Wild Cars. HENRY ROLLINS (Spider) got his break in the music scene in 1981 when he spontaneously jumped on stage and sang at a rock concert by the legendary L.A. punk band Black Flag. Now lead singer with his own Rollins Band, he is known around the world as not only a singer and songwriter, but also as an author, poet and spoken word performer. Rollins's own 2.13.61 Publishing company has released 9 of Rollins's own titles, including "Get In The Van" his own story of his life on the road with Black Flag (the audio version of which has recently been awarded the 1995 Grammy for best spoken word performance), as well as books by Iggy Pop, Nick Cave and Don Bajema. In addition to his hectic international touring schedule with Rollins Band (which has played over 300 shows in Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S. over the last three years), Rollins has toured the world since 1983 doing spoken word appearances. As well as being a regular host for MTV, Rollins has made several appearances over the last year on both the Jay Leno and Dennis Miller shows, as well as appearing in Rolling Stone, Spin, The New York Times, Entertainment weekly, and on the cover of Details Magazine as 1994's Man Of The Year. Rollins made his feature film debut last year in The Chase, opposite Charlie Sheen, and is currently filming Michael Mann's Heat. BARBARA SUKOWA (Anna K) has enjoyed a distinguished career on the stage but is best known in the United States for her powerful performances in latter-day masterpieces of the New German Cinema. Sukowa played the victimized Mieze in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz, for which she won the German Actors' Award as best young actress. She was also named best actress at the Berlin Film Festival for her title role in Fassbinder's Lola. Equally memorable were her portrayals of fiercely independent radicals in two films directed by Margarethe von Trotta -- Marianne and Julianne, which earned her the Golden Phoenix Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Rosa Luxemburg, for which she won the Palme d'Or for best actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Sukowa's other credits include The Sicilian, The Lovers, Zentropa (co-winner of the Jury Prize at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival), Voyager, L'Africana and, most recently, M. Butterfly. ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS ROBERT LONGO (director) has been called one of America's most provocative artists. His paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations have been displayed in major galleries around the world. Although he has worked extensively with both film and video Johnny Mnemonic marks his first feature film. Longo received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the State University College in Buffalo, New York. In 1974, while still in Buffalo, he co-founded the renown "Hallwalls," an exhibition and studio space for contemporary art. His first solo exhibition at Metro Pictures in 1981 brought him to the attention of the international art world. Longo's work has been shown and collected by prominent museums and galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Tate Gallery in London, Pompideau Centre in Paris and the Los Angeles County Museum. In 1986, Longo began to direct music videos, including R.E.M.'s The One I Love and New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle. He also directed several short films, including Arena Brains, starring Eric Bogosian, Ray Liotta, Michael Stipe and Sean Young, which premiered at the New York Film Festival. In 1989, an exhibit of Longo's art work was the subject of a major retrospective organized by the L.A. County Museum which traveled to other museums throughout the United States. His television directorial credits include Tales From the Crypt: This'll Kill Ya, an HBO series premiere in 1992. Last year, all of Longo's films and videos were showcased at the Espace Lyonnais D'Art Contemporain in Lyon, France. DON CARMODY (producer) has been producing films for nearly twenty years. He was executive in charge of production for Canada's Cinepix, where he co-produced David Cronenberg's first films, They Came From Within and Rabid, as well as the comedy classic Meatballs. As head of production for Astral Films, he oversaw Terror Train, Death Ship and the miniseries A Man Called Intrepid. Founding his own production company in 1980, Carmody produced Porky's and Porky's II, A Christmas Story, The Big Town, Switching Channels, Physical Evidence, Welcome Home and Whispers. Recent producing credits include Payoff for Showtime; The Hitman, starring Chuck Norris; SideKicks; the sequel to the hit comedy Weekend at Bemie's and the suspense thriller Guilty) As Sin with director Sidney Lumet. Prior to Johnny Mnemonic, Carmody completed Squanto, A Warrior 's Tale, " a family-oriented action/adventure for Walt Disney Productions. STAFFAN AHRENBERG (executive producer) studied at Hautes Ettudes Commerciales in Switzerland where he grew up, and at Stockholdm's School of Economics, before joining the Alexander Salkind organization in 1981, where he served as a senior executive involved in the productions of Superman III, Supergirl and Santa Claus I The Movie. In 1987, he founded Electric Pictures Corporation, to develop, finance and produce feature films. Under the Electric Pictures banner, Ahrenberg has produced several feature films, including Waxwork, Waxwork II N - Lost in Time, Sandal, starring Nicolas Cage, Jersey Girl, a romantic comedy starring Jami Gertz, and Turn of the Screw, starring Julian Sands and Patsy Kensit. Ahrenberg is currently executive producing Total Eclipse, written by Christopher Hampton, starring Leonardo Di Caprio and directed by Agnieszka Holland, to be released by New Line Cinema. In development are two William Gibson novels: Neuromancer (with Peter Hoffman) and Virtual Light. Also in development is The Quiet American by Graham Green, with Sidney Pollack. B.J. RACK (executive producer) began her relationship with William Gibson as producer of Burning Chrome, a sci-fi thriller in development based upon a story written by the cutting-edge cyberpunk writer. While developing this project at Carolco Pictures, Rack was asked to produce the visual effects for the motion picture Total Recall. The crew she hired and supervised created such outstanding visual effects that the film was honored at the 1990 Oscars with the rare and prestigious Special Achievement Award. Her work on Total Recall led her to join forces with director James Cameron to co-produce the blockbuster hit, Terminator 2, Judgment Day. In the mid-'80s, Rack served as the executive producer for Omnibus, the mother company of Robert Abel & Associates, as well as Digital Productions. This select group of filmmakers, physicists and mathematicians, as well as visual artists, used the legendary Cray supercomputer for the first time ever to artistic ends. This consortium emerged as a major force in the advancement of high resolution computer graphics, being the first to employ such hi-tech resources, both human and machine, for the creation of simulated motion picture imagery. The technology Rack assisted in developing during this period continues to infuse the motion picture and television fields, leading to the ground-breaking effects seen in Johnny Mnemonic. Rack is currently president of production and production finance for RCS Films and TV. RSC is a large international media company based in Italy, most notable in Hollywood as a strategic investor in such production entities as Carolco, Percy Main and Trilogy. Under the RCS banner, Rack most recently completed a co-production with New Line Cinema of My Family/Mi Familia. She currently has four films in development independently, including Kalispell, which she also wrote. VICTORIA HAMBURG (executive producer) is an independent film and television producer. In 1987, with partner Robert Longo, she formed Pressure Pictures. She optioned and developed the short story Johnny Mnemonic, by William Gibson, into this film. Hamburg also produced Arena Brains, a short film directed by Robert Longo, which was shown at the New York Film Festival. She produced numerous music videos for artists such as REM, Reuben Blades and Megadeth, with Longo directing. In 1989, she produced Dream Jumbo, a theatrical performance at UCLA's Royce Hall, directed by Longo. In 1985, Hamburg produced the first AIDS benefit in this country for AMFAR at the Shubert Theater in New York City. It was called Comic Relief and starred Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Steve Martin, Penny Marshall, Gregory Hines and Joan Rivers. It was directed by Lorne Michaels. Continuing her support of AIDS research and education, in 1992, she line produced the ABC special In a New Light, featuring Gloria Estefan, Anita Baker, Clint Black and others. Hamburg is presently writing a screenplay and developing interactive entertainment for new media. As chairman and chief executive officer, ROBERT LANTOS (executive producer) steers the diverse production, distribution and financing of Alliance Communications Corporation. He attended McGill University, where he first obtained a bachelor of arts in English literature in 1970 and completed his post-graduate studies in 1972. His first venture was the forming, in 1972, of Vivafilm (with Victor Loewy), a feature film distribution company for the purpose of importing foreign films for the Canadian market. In 1975, he added RSL Entertainment, a production company through which he produced in 1976 his first movie, L'Ange et la Femme, starring Carole Laure. It was the winner of the Critics Prize at the Avoriaz Film Festival. His subsequent productions included In Praise of Older Women, starring Tom Berenger and Karen Black; Agency, starring Robert Mitchum and Valerie Perrine; and Joshua, Then and Now, starring James Woods and Alan Arkin. After producing 15 films under the RL umbrella, in 1985 Lantos founded Alliance Communications Corporation. Subsequently, both Vivafilm and RSL Entertainment became affiliated with Alliance. Alliance feature film productions and production financing activities include Whale Music, starring Maury Chaykin (opening night gala at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival), and Exotica (winner of the International Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival). Other films include When Night Is Falling, Leolo, Black Robe, The Adjuster and I Love a Man in Uniform. The company's television production slate includes the series Due South, Taking the Falls, North of 6o and Mighty Jungle. Other series produced include E.N.G., Counterstrike, The Adventures of the Black Stallion, Night Heat, Bordertown, Fly by Night and Diamonds. Made-for- television movies include the Harlequin romance movies Rugged Gold, starring Jill Eikenberry, and Frost Fire. Other TV movies and miniseries include Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story, starring Tatum O'Neal; Family of Strangers, starring Patty Duke, Melissa Gilbert and William Shatner; Ordeal in the Arctic, starring Richard Chamberlain; and Sword of Gideon, starring Rod Steiger, Michael York and Steven Bauer. These programs are broadcast in the United States, Canada and around the world. Lantos is the recipient of the 1991 Air Canada Award for outstanding contribution to the business of filmmaking in Canada and of the CFTPA Chetwynd Award for entrepreneurial excellence. He and Alliance have been the recipients of many film and television industry awards. Lantos is on the board of directors of the Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Film Centre. He is a member of the competitiveness and job creation working group for the federal Information Highway Advisory Council. He is the past chairman of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, a member of the board of governors at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and a member of the Academy of Mlotion Pictures Arts and Sciences of America. WILLIAM GIBSON (screenwriter) was born in Conway, South Carolina, in 1948. Raised in Virginia and Arizona, he has lived in Canada since 1969. He is the author of four novels, a collection of short stories and co- author, with Bruce Sterling, of The Difference Engine. His first novel, Neuromancer, won the Hugo, the Nebula and the Philip K. Dick awards in 1984. His most recent novel, Virtual Light, was a New York Times bestseller in hardcover. Credited with inventing the concept and coining the term "cyberspace," Gibson has been cited as a visionary who both predicted and influenced the emerging technology of virtual reality. His non-print activities have included Hollywood screenplays, musical collaborations Deborah Harry, Ryuichi Sakamoto), texts for a major Robert Longo performance piece and the 1992 release of Agrippa, a limited edition artwork involving text. Johnny Mnemonic is the first of his screenplays to be produced. FRANCOIS PROTAT (director of photography) was born and raised in France. After receiving his degree from the National School of Cinematography in Paris, he moved to Canada to begin work on the first of his over 44 feature and television credits. Joshua Then and Now won him a Genie Award for best cinematography in 1985. A few of his many feature credits include Winter People, Weekend at Bernie's, CrissCross and Switching Channels. Television credits include The Return of Eliott Ness, Bury Me in Niagara Falls and the MOW Last Wish. NILO RODIS JAMERO (production designer) has worked on some of the most technically challenging movie of all time, including The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Star Trek IIl, IV, V and VI. With an industrial design degree from San Jose State, Jamero's first job was designing cars for General Motors. He moved on to join Richardson-Smith Design and became fluent in product design, later working for FMC designing military tanks. His career took a radical turn when LucasfiLm/lLM contacted him to work on The Empire Strikes Back. He then went on to design for many features including Poltergeist, Howard the Duck, Explorers and Not quite Human II. OLGA DIMITROV (costume designer) has a diverse range of experience with over 360 costume design credits for theater, opera and ballet, and forty feature films and television. Born in Czechoslovakia, Dimitrov studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague. She received a Genie Award in 1991 for best costume design for the feature Bethune - Making of a Hero and in 1993 for Shadow of the Wolf. Dimitrov was nominated for her design skill on several other films, including Millennium, One Magic Christmas and Silence of the North. Other film credits include Woman on the Run, starring Tatum O'Neal, Family Pictures with Anjelica Huston and, most recently, Walt Disney Productions' Lone Brave with Adam Beach. RONALD SANDERS (editor) grew up watching movies from the booth where his father worked as a projectionist. Sanders served as a camera assistant on several student films and began working professionally as a sound editor before becoming a picture editor. His feature film credits include M. butterfly, Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers, The Fly, The Dead Zone, and Firestarter, to name a few. His television credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Phillip Marlowe - Private Eye and The Park Is Mine. TriStar Pictures and Peter Hoffman present an Alliance Production, Johnny Mnemonic, starring Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi, Ice-T, Dina Meyer, Udo Kier, Denis Akiyama, Henry Rollins and Barbara Sukowa. Directed by Robert Longo in his feature debut and written by William Gibson based on his own story. Johnny Mnemonic is the first of Gibson's best-selling "cyberpunk" works to be brought to the screen. The producer is Don Carmody. The executive producers are Staffan Ahrenberg, B.J. Rack, Victoria Hamburg and Robert Lantos. The production team includes director of photography Francois Protat, production designer Nilo Rodis Jamero and costume designer Olga Dimitrov.