RICHARD SHEPARD (Director) (click here for Shepard's latest bio)
"OXYGEN was the hardest thing I've ever done," says director Shepard. "Mentally, phsyically. I started the film when I was 33 and finished on social security. Only recently am I feeling in my mid-thirties again." Richard Shepard was born and raised in New York City and attended N.Y.U.'s film school. Prior to OXYGEN, Shepard directed two feature films: THE LINGUINI INCIDENT, 1992, with David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette, and the 1996 indie thriller, MERCY. Shepard has directed twelve episodes of REMEMBER WENN, the Emmy and Ace-award winning filmed sitcom on American Movie Classics. AMC's THE ROYALE, directed by Shepard, was nominated for an Emmy for Best Children's Special. Along with directing, Shepard has written screenplays for Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000, Nickelodeon, Zoetrope, Penny Marshall and Propaganda Films among others. His story for BELOW UTOPIA inspired a recent film starring Alyssa Milano and Ice T, and ABC is currently producing ALICE IS FALLING, a script co-written by Shepard. "All that being said, OXYGEN is the passion of my life" says Shepard. "I got to work with one of my best friends in the world (Maura Tierney), shooting in the city I love, with a crew composed with many people who I have enjoyed working with before." After turning down many offers of "normal" financing for OXYGEN which would have pre-cluded Tierney from starring or forced Shepard to use talent he didn't want, the writer/director raised the money independently. "It's not the money I care about, it's the creative freedom. I could make the film as dark as I wanted, I could cast who I wanted. That freedom gave me the freedom to experiment and challenge myself and cast," says Shepard.
JONATHAN STERN (Producer)
The day after graduating from the film school at New York University, Jonathan began work in the world of New York film production, and he never left it for a moment. Eventually, Stern's path brought him to Line Producing, and then Producing. Along with a series of HBO films, his credits include the indie hit THE DAYTRIPPERS, and a soon-to-be released comedy LOVE & FANTASY. He first crossed paths with Richard Shepard while producing the Emmy-nominated American Movie Classic's movie THE ROYALE, which Shepard directed. "I'll always remember the sweltering heat of the old theater we filmed THE ROYALE in," Stern muses. "It was such a difficult shoot that afterwards, Richard and I felt like we could handle any challenges that future ambitious productions could bring. OXYGEN put that to the test. And I am happy to say we ended up with a remarkable work." Stern continued to work with Shepard on several seasons of the AMC series REMEMBER WENN, and later with a new sitcom for AMC called THE PARAMOUR. Simply the quantity of material we tackled on those shows was great preparation for the indie filmmaking to come," Stern reflects. "I remember when Richard handed me the first draft of the OXYGEN script one day on the beach. It was a beautiful day, but I couldn't make my eyes look away from the script until I finished it. It defined the word 'riveting.' From that day on, we were running with OXYGEN and never slowed down."
SARAH CAWLEY (Director of Photography)
"Sarah is God" or so says writer/director Richard Shepard who also used cinematographer Sarah Cawley on this previous feature MERCY. "She's a complete collaborator," says Shepard. "We shot-list together, location scout together. I trust her instincts completely." Shepard trusts Cawley so much that they made the unusual decision not to use a video-assist on the film. "I find the distracting for the actors," says Shepard. "After we sign off on a set up, I trust Sarah to tell me if each individual take works visually. I want the actors to see my face when I yell out. Not see me looking into a monitor. The only way you can do that is if you believe in your DP completely." Cawley adds, "The trust Shepard places in me makes me want to do an even better job than normal. I want every shot to be riveting for him." Cawley has shot such features as VIG starring Peter Falk, Tim Hutton and Lauren Holly, MYTH AMERICA and A REASON TO BELIEVE, along with shooting hundreds of commercials and music videos for such bands as REM.
ROLFE KENT (Composer)
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
www.richardshepard.com