John Hancock Director John Hancock's early interest was music. As an adolescent, he was an accomplished violinist, and concertmaster of the Chicago Youth Orchestra. He became interested in the theatre while attending Harvard College and directed a number of plays there. Because of the promise he exhibited, he received a grant from Harvard to study theatre in Europe. He spent the time observing Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble. His directorial debut was the hit Off-Broadway production of Brecht's A Man's A Man. This was followed by Robert Lowell's Endicott and the Red Cross at the American Place Theatre, and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Theater de Lys with sets by Jim Dine, for which Hancock received the Obie Award. Cue Magazine noted, "This brutal, vulgar, and erotic production of Shakespeare's sex fantasy is the most original and arresting I've ever witnessed. This is the best of all the Dreams and an important pioneering effort in re-interpreting the play." His success on the New York stage led to his being appointed Artistic Director of the famed San Francisco Actors Workshop and later to directing assignments at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and the New Repertory Theatre Company in New York. Hancock has received widespread critical acclaim for his approach to the work of many contemporary and classic playwrights. He worked closely on several occasions with Tennessee Williams, who says in his autobiography that of all the directors he ever worked with, Hancock was "the most gifted for cuts and transpositions." In 1970, with a grant from the American Film Institute, Hancock directed the short film, Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Hancock's feature film credits include Bang The Drum Slowly (Paramount), California Dreaming (AIP), Let's Scare Jessica to Death (Paramount), Baby Blue Marine (Columbia), Weeds (DEG), and the Christmas classic Prancer (Orion), starring Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda and Rebecca Harrell, which he shot on his family's fruit farm in LaPorte County, Indiana. His current production brings him home again, physically and emotionally. He says he "tried to catch the sense of returning to this place where you grew up, and falling in love with what you were not truly able to see before." He particularly enjoyed filming the U-Pick sequences that climaxes the movie. "I always loved U-Pick as a kid. Our orchard would be filled with picnickers, fish fries, sing-alongs. Happy families. Buses from inner city Chicago would arrive so city kids could experience country living. Buddhist groups had services under the trees. It was like the United Nations. Of course afterwards you'd have to pick up some pampers, but so what? For the movie, we were lucky to have perfect weather. The orchard was big with big red apples. Twelve hundred extras showed up. It was clear they were enjoying themselves. There was even a nice wind to bend the boughs." He says, "I've made films in many places, but there's no place like home. Childhood memories, the way the light falls on the barn at a certain time of day in Indian Summer, the naked orchards in winter, the ghosts of loved ones. I feel rooted in the Midwest, centered. Because of that I feel free of Hollywood's fashions of the moment. This is a personal story about farmers, families, the simple, bittersweet stuff of life. My life, my family. "It's hard to say why you choose to do a given film. But Willa Cather put it better than I can: 'What is any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining, elusive element which is life itself ­ life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.'" Ken Kitch Ken Kitch, co-producer, has known and worked with Hancock since 1965 and greatly respects his filmmaking abilities. "John understands the acting process. He recognizes what the actors have got and he knows how to use it. He also has a streak of craziness, a willingness to take risks with concepts you think wouldn't work, but ultimately do in the end." A Piece of Eden adds to the many film and theatre projects on which they have collaborated. Kitch was the associate producer on Hancock's film Weeds, and HBO production Steal the Sky. He worked with Peter Yates on the Disney prison thriller An Innocent Man, with Tom Selleck and F. Murray Abraham. Sharing roots in the theatre, Kitch also worked with Hancock at The San Francisco Actors Workshop, The Pittsburgh Playhouse, Off-Broadway, and in Los Angeles. Kitch enjoyed the time he spent working with the people he met in Indiana. "We had one of the best working atmospheres, theatre included, that I've ever seen." he proclaims. "This is a film that was made by a community. Everyone pitched in. Local car dealers provided vehicles for cast and crew, people provided housing, construction materials, office space, legal services. The mayor's wife did props. Forty restaurants fed us on a rotating basis. All without any pay unless the film makes money." Dorothy Tristan Dorothy Tristan, John's wife and professional partner, is a versatile artist. She's acted, modeled, sung, painted, and is now pursuing her love of writing. She has written three of her husband's films: Steal the Sky, Weeds, and A Piece of Eden. She is currently finishing the screenplay for his next project. Born in New York City, Tristan began her acting career in theatre, playing Charlotte Corday in the national touring production of Marat/Sade. She was Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream and Lady Macduff in Macbeth at Stratford, Connecticut. She played Blanche Dubois opposite Jon Voight in Streetcar Named Desire. She had leading or supporting roles in six major motion pictures including Klute, Man on a Swing, and End of the Road with James Earl Jones and Stacy Keach. Reflecting on her career change, Dorothy Tristan explained, "Writing is more fulfilling than acting. In acting, you're always an applicant, always looking for a job. With writing, I sit in my little room, my dungeon, and just do it. I don't have to ask anybody. And they're not so different really. Creativity is a spring that isn't easily stopped. If you block one way, it will go another. It has to flow. I felt like this was it. This is what I'm going to do. And so I changed midstream, went from acting to writing. And never turned back." Tristan almost always bases aspects of the characters or events in her works on people she knows or things she's experienced. "You have to" she explains. "Somewhere in you, it has to be youor how can you write about it?" She is disturbed by the emphasis on technology in a lot of current Hollywood screenwriting. "It started with Star Wars, which was a wonderful movie, but it was too successful, and it skewed the creative aspect of the business. Too many things now are targeted at a very young audience. Well, I don't want to write for a very young audience. I want to write for grown-ups." Robert Hiler Executive Producer Robert Hiler is a graduate from the University of Notre Dame. He joined FilmAcres with our most recent completed film project, "A Piece of Eden". He brings a comprehensive history, having served as Director and Treasurer of three successful manufacturing facilities, as well as a Member of the Board of directors of six other corporations. During 21/2 years active duty in Foreign Service, Republic of Viet Nam, he served as Captain, Infantry, in the United States Army. He received high honors that include 3 Bronze Stars and 3 Army Commendation wards, with "V" Device, as well as the Purple Heart. He is currently associated with numerous civic organizations and active in both state and national politics. Dean Jacobson Associate Producer Dean Jacobson is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He served as Managing Director of the Photography Department, School of The Art Institute of Chicago. His non-feature film credits include the position of President, Producer/Director and co-owner of Mothlight Pictures, Chicago, IL, a commercial film and video production company. His fifteen-year partnership concentrated in regional and national commercials, documentaries and business films. His feature film credits include the position of Associate Producer, 2nd Unit Director for "A Piece of Eden". Beth Behler Assistant to the Director, Beth Behler, a graduate of Indiana University, began working with John Hancock at the onset of FilmAcres in June of 1998. Being her first introduction into film making, the opportunity to learn from John quickly sparked her interest in the industry. Prior to joining the FilmAcres team, she worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency in Chicago and freelanced in photojournalism. In addition to the multiple roles she and her associates filled during the production of "A Piece of Eden", she collaborated with Dean Jacobson in capturing behind the scenes footage and interviews which they are currently editing into a documentary. She assists with commercial film, video and still photography while continuing to work closely with John Hancock in all phases of FilmAcres. Margaret Clifford Production Office Manager, Margaret Clifford, came out of retirement to work with FilmAcres after 34 years in education as a teacher and principal. She is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, School of Business and has her Master's Degree in Education, as well as, a Principal's License from I. U. She is currently President of the Delta Mu Chapter of Tri Kappa. JOHN HANCOCK DIRECTING CREDITS FILMS: BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY WEEDS PRANCER A PIECE OF EDEN LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH STEAL THE SKY BABY BLUE MARINE CALIFORNIA DREAMING Academy Award Nomination for short STICKY MY FINGERS, FLEET MY FEET TELEVISION: Episodes of HILL STREET BLUES, TWILIGHT ZONE, CRACKER, COVER UP, I HAD 3 WIVES, ETC. COMMERCIALS: 400 + KMART ads OFF-BROADWAY: Obie Award for MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the Theatre de Lys, sets by Jim Dine Brecht's A MAN'S A MAN Robert Lowell's ENDECOTT AND THE RED CROSS at the American Place Theatre Ostrovsky's THE STORM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: The San Francisco Actor's Workshop The Pittsburgh Playhouse The New Repertory Theatre, NYC STAGE: Shakespeare's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Saul Bellow's THE LAST ANALYSIS Brecht's EDWARD II Strindberg's THE FATHER Williams' MILK TRAIN Brecht's GALILEO Shakespeare's AS YOU LIKE IT Anouilh's ANTIGONE Brecht's A MAN'S A MAN O'Casey's THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS Williams' THE GLASS MENAGERIE Brecht's THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE Strindberg's DREAM PLAY Sartre's THE RESPECTFUL PROSTITUTE Holberg's CHRISTMAS PARTY and HEALING SPRING Cervantes' THE JUDGE OF THE DIVORCE COURT Williams' THE TWO-CHARACTER PLAY Mr. Hancock grew up in the Midwest, attended public high school, and graduated from Harvard. He studied theater in Europe on a grant from Harvard, taught directing at the Circle in the Square, and was a member of the The Directors Unit of Actors Studio. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute. Besides the Obie and the Academy nomination, he received the Brandeis Citation in Film, the Christopher Award, first prize at Karlovy Vary, and other awards. ON "BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY": "Easily one of the best of the year in any category, and very possibly the best movie about sport ever made in this country. Director Hancock has great, knowledgeable fun with the game, but the genius of his movie lies in its introduction of the one subject that superbly conditioned young men rarely think about: death." Richard Schickel, Time Magazine "John Hancock's 'Bang the Drum Slowly' is a remarkably faithful rendering of the well-known baseball novel by Mark Harris, and one of those rare instances in which close adaptation of a good book has resulted in possibly an even better movie. Hancock's background is mainly in the theatre, and that background shows to stunning advantage. We are not so used to performance -- as opposed, say, to 'presence' -- -in movie acting. But if Hancock prospers, as he should, we may get used to it. This will be everyone's good luck." Roger Greenspun, New York Times "Bang the Drum Slowly' is the ultimate baseball movie. Yet as its shape begins to be visible, we realize it's not so much a sports movie as a movie about those elusive subjects, male bonding and work in America. The director, John Hancock, is good with his actors and very good at establishing a lot of supporting characters without making a point of it. In its mixture of fatalism, roughness, tenderness and bleak humor, his movie seems to know more about the ways we handle death than a movie like 'Love Story' ever guessed. Four stars." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times "Best sports film ever made? As honest, mature, and genuine a picture as I have seen in a while. Without straining, it achieves a kind of dignity that is all too rare in movies today." Bruce Cook, National Observer "John Hancock's direction is as intelligently understated as Harris's script. Hancock, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his short film about touch-football fanatics, 'Sticky My Fingers, Fleet My Feet,' has moved with this film (his second feature) into the first rank of American film directors. Besides his technical poise, Hancock exhibits all the crucial ingredients -- a keen intelligence, a fine eye for structure, wit, and, most important, a dogged resilience." John Lahr, Vogue Magazine "****! Highest rating! 'Bang the Drum Slowly' bats a perfect 1,000! Thanks to director John Hancock for an honest, straight-hitting movie, full of insight into human behavior." Kathleen Carroll, N.Y. Daily News "Beautiful to watch... superbly done, it evokes honest emotion made of laughter and tears, deep sentiment and great humanism." Judith Christ, People ON BRECHT'S EDWARD II: "John Hancock is a great director, and this is the great play he needs to show off his best talents. It is as remorselessly theatrical as a trapeze or lion taming act, with the stunning punch of a kind of high-brow 'Ice Follies.' In some mysterious way Hancock has managed to meld what must have been little better than a pickup cast into one smoothly functioning organism, all inhabitants of 'one world' of hallucination. His direction is not just rhythmic, with a beat, but the beat swings, so the result is like a ballet to music by Theolonius Monk. Costume and design give just the right tone of lunatic ragamuffins to king and clown alike. The stage is not just mobile (turntables are not that important), it is always dynamic." Kenneth Rexroth, Chronicle/Examiner "...igniting the new season with a shattering and historic production...a brilliant and persuasive piece, boldly imaginative, superbly staged and acted, and of such significance that we must regard director John Hancock with considerable pride. He has combined in exciting fashion various bright theatrical effects with a most uncompromising disintegration of a young, ill-prepared, irresponsible monarch. Not only tough and relentless, this is a rich production that successfully reflects the spirit of Brecht." Knickerbocker, Chronicle "...made especially memorable by the bold, brilliant staging of John Hancock, who has, in essence, devised a fascinating side show, with flashing lights, brassy music, and earthy, weathered settings. The effect is ruggedly stunning." Eichelbaum, Examiner ON MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM: "This brutal, vulgar, and erotic production of Shakespeare's sex fantasy is the most original and arresting I've ever witnessed. Director John Hancock cuts through the 19th Century pieties which have covered this play and restores it to its original randiness.. This is the best of all the Dreams and an important pioneering effort in re-interpreting the play. Hail to director Hancock for presenting daring, freshness, and delight." Cue Magazine "Upon my arrival I was confronted by John Hancock's strange version of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' with sets and costumes by the Pop artist Jim Dine. As the play began a tarpaulin was jerked off a large object prominently placed downstage right, revealing a gaudily lit-up juke box which emitted Mendelssohn and Mahler at intervals throughout the evening. Hippolyta, Theseus' captive mistress, wore only a loincloth, a bra, a great deal of black body make-up, some chains, a sullen expression and perhaps a wig; she played her first scene in a cage. Demetrius, one of the interchangeable youths, had a light bulb in his codpiece which flashed on and off whenever he was feeling amorous. And Helena, a maiden, was played by a man 6 feet 4 inches tall. These innovations were lively and theatrical; they got laughs; they "worked." But, surprisingly enough, they were not just gimmicks, not mere effusions of irresponsible cleverness, not simple futzing around; they were the expressions of a consistent artistic intention. Love, he's saying, is half itch and half obsession; it is productive of foolishness, confusion, cruelty and grief; yet in the end these things are transitory, and the production, like the play, ends with a powerful blessing on the wedding bed. Perhaps the most theatrically exciting piece of work I saw on my travels, it propounds with consistency and clarity (as well as vividness and wit) the notion that man's sexuality makes him ridiculous and grotesque and betrays his pretensions to high-mindedness and beauty, and in so doing it fulfills Matthew Arnold's grand old criterion for a work of art: it is a criticism of life. It is often said (though not by me) that the best directing is the least obtrusive. John Hancock, in the tradition of Reinhardt, Meyerhold, and Tyrone Guthrie, is clearly not letting that worry him unduly." Julius Novick, The Nation "Directed by John Hancock, the production is imaginative and beguiling -- a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Lest it be inferred that Mr. Hancock's innovations are gaucheries that change an enchanting fantasy to a grotesque venture in theatre of the absurd, be assured they do not. They are as expertly mortised in the play's structure as original stage directions. Your reporter has a feeling that the author, from his celestial balcony seat, looks down on Mr. Hancock's production with approval." American Magazine "...a thoroughly fascinating affair: resourceful, amusing, imaginative a high wire walk of considerable audacity by Hancock, and a triumph. While a revolving stage assists Hancock, the fertility of his theatrical invention is his greatest ally." Knickerbocker, S.F. Chronicle "If John Hancock's unusual production is typical of the new program, excitement seems well on the way. Ingenious...uproarious." Henry Hewes, Saturday Review "The staging is nothing short of amazing. It's a revelation of what an imaginative director-craftsman can do... With all these devices you might think the players would be submerged. Not so, Director Hancock sees to it that the winged words of Shakespeare are not lost in the tumults and storms of emotion." Pittsburgh Press "...the healthiest of theatre attitudes: The application of a director's creative imagination to a work of classic stature; the interrelating of Elizabethan theatre with modern modes in art. Such an attempt is rare because too few directors are capable of even conceiving it. And directors like Mr. Hancock are to be treasured in this country." Gottfried, Women's Wear Daily   ON A MAN'S A MAN: "John Hancock has stamped his appropriately bold signature on Bertolt Brecht's tin-pan hymn to the world that hate makes, and he has done it at two different levels. He has got the tinsel look and the saxophone sound of Brecht's cabaret-style sermon. . . has been directed by John Hancock with such sympathy and authority that our eyes do open wide." Walter Kerr, New York Herald-Tribune "Under John Hancock's direction, this production approaches the manner and mood of the Brecht theater in East Berlin. . . Although the Masque Theater's stage is small, it has been used with imagination to provide a Brecht production of character. See this one!" Howard Taubman, New York Times "has been directed so imaginatively by John Hancock that it comes to life vividly on the stage, and it brings out the virtues of stage craftsmanship that must be the ones on which most of the Brecht fame rests." Richard Watts, Jr., New York Post "The excitement of Brecht is stylishly projected from the stage of the Masque Theatre, where A MAN'S A MAN has been given a taut and inventive production." Time Magazine "Effectively staged by John Hancock, it is worthy of praise under any conditions, not just in comparison to the rival pro-duction. . . the first success of the off-B'way season, MAN'S A MAN should have a long and healthy run." Variety "The New Repertory production has found the heart and genius of Brecht. , . director John Hancock is a rarity: an Ameri-can with firm grip on the Epic style." Cue Magazine "...the production of A MAN'S A MAN under John Hancock's direction is intelligent and to the point." Harold Clurman, Nation "Style was precisely the virtue of the Hancock-Bentley pro-duction. Most important was the detached and lively intelli-gence that Hancock brought to his work." Encore Magazine, London