PRODUCTIONS BIOS DAN BLATT (Executive Producer)
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‘THE WISHING TREE’ PRODUCTIONS BIOS DAN BLATT (Executive Producer) – Daniel H. Blatt was born in Haverstraw, N.Y. to German Holocaust survivors. He graduated from Andover, Duke, and Northwestern Law School, served in the U.S Army and is a member of both the New York and California Bars. Upon his discharge from the Army he practiced law at Livingston, Livingston and Harris, a downtown New York City law firm specializing in commercial transactions. In the summer of 1964 he represented Freedom Summer as a member of the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee arriving in Jackson, Mississippi, two days after Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman disappeared. Upon returning to New York he joined the Legal Aid Society (criminal division) and tried at least 1000 criminal cases over the next three years. Thereafter, he worked as an attorney for ABC Pictures, became Executive Vice President at Palomar Pictures (“Sleuth,” “Heartbreak Kid,” “Stepford Wives,” “The Taking of Pelham 123”) and then moved to California to produce commercial feature films such as “Cujo,” “The Howling,” “The Boost,” “ I Never Promised You A Rose Garden,” and acclaimed television films such as “Raid On Entebbe” (11 nominations ), “Common Ground,” (Humanitas Award), “Sadat” (1 Emmy ® nomination), “Sworn To Silencek,” (1 Emmy ®), “Saving Millie,” (Humanitas nominee), “The Virginian,” three Christmas movies starring Peter Falk and the groundbreaking mini-series and series “V.” The Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “The Wishing Tree” is Blatt’s homage to his days at Andover. ### SHAWN WILLIAMSON (Executive Producer) – With over 20 years experience, Shawn Williamson has risen to the forefront of the Canadian film and television industry as a leading independent film and television producer. A native of Vancouver, Williamson began his career as a stage manager in live theatre in 1983 as has since produced live events, live television, television series, television movies as well as feature films. In 2001, Williamson combined his film production expertise with the talents of independent producer Stephen Hegyes to form Brightlight Pictures, Inc. Williamson has filmed in many international destinations including Romania, Ireland, Singapore, France, England and South Africa. “Fifty Dead Men Walking” (Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess), a Canada/Ireland coproduction with Future Films and Handmade Films shot in Belfast and had a (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘THE WISHING TREE’ – Production Bios – Page 2 Gala Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Williamson recently completed shooting the TV series “Stormworld,” a Canadian/Australian co-production which filmed in Australia, Singapore and Canada. Williamson’s producing credits include Brightlight Pictures’ most successful co-production to date, “White Noise” (starring Michael Keaton), which was a Canada/UK coproduction and has grossed more than $100 million since its release in 2005. Other past producing credits include “Alone in the Dark” (Christian Slater, Tara Reid, released by Lions Gate Films), “The Long Weekend” (Chris Klein, Brendan Fehr) and “Edison” (Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J, Justin Timberlake). Williamson also produced “In the Name of the King” (Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman, Leelee Sobieski, Burt Reynolds), “White Noise II” (Nathan Fillion) with Gold Circle Films and Rogue, and the television series “Saved” (Tom Everett Scott) for Fox 21 and TNT. Williamson has line produced both “Wicker Man” (Nicholas Cage, release by Warner Bros.) and “88 Minutes” (Al Pacino) for Millennium Films, as well as “Whisper” (Josh Holloway, Joel Edgerton, Dule Hill) and “Slither” (Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker, released by Universal Pictures) for Gold Circle Films. He has also line produced the independent features “Possession” (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lee Pace) for Yari Film Group, Vertigo Entertainment and Spitfire Pictures, along with “Passengers” (Anne Hathaway) for Mandate Pictures. Williamson produced “They Wait” (Jamie King), and executive produced the television series “About A Girl” aired by the N Network and Global TV. Williamson executive produced the recently wrapped “Frankie and Alice” (starring Halle Berry, Stellan Skarsgard) along with season two of the television series “The Guard” with Halifax Film and Global TV. He produced the Canadian western “Gunless” (Paul Gross) with Rhombus Media and “Battle of the Bulbs” for the Hallmark Channel. Williamson chairs the City of Vancouver Industry Film Task Force and sits on the boards of each of the Whistler Film Festival, The Leo Awards and the BC Film Commission Advisory Committee. Williamson has received several awards including: The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006 (for Brightlight Pictures Inc.), and Business Vancouver’s 40 under 40 Award in 2004. ### TERRY INGRAM (Director) – Terry Ingram is a Canadian citizen with over 30 years experience in the industry. After years as a theatrical stage manager and an AD, Ingram crossed over to film and television as a director. His movies include “The Woodcarver” (John Ratzenberger), “Christmas Lodge” (Erin Karpluk), “Concrete Canyons” (Polly Shannon), “Angel and the Bad Man” (Lou Diamond Phillips, Deborah Kara Unger, Luke Perry), “All the Good Ones are Married” (Daryl Hannah), “Nightmare” (Haley Duff), “Stranger Game” (Mimi Rogers), the sci-fi Greek tragedy “Odysseus and the Isle of Mysts”, starring Arnold Vosloo (“Blood Diamond”, (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘THE WISHING TREE’ – Production Bios – Page 3 “The Mummy”) and most recently, “Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Miracle” (George Canyon). Ingram has directed multiple episodes of “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour,” “Health Nutz,” “La Femme Nikita,” “Total Recall,” “Kung Fu: The Legend Continues,” “Relic Hunter” and Peter Benchley’s “Amazon” to name a few. He has also worked on several feature films, including 2nd unit directing on the outrageous comedy “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.” Ingram 's renowned for his extraordinary imagination and command of his craft. ### MICHAEL J. MURRAY (Writer) - Michael J. Murray began his career in television and film as a writer for the 1988 film “The House of Usher.” Since then he has gone on to write numerous projects for NBC, CBS, Lifetime Movie Networks, TBS, Paramount, USA, and 21 st Century Films. These features include “Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders,” “Madonna: Innocence Lost,” “The Christmas Wish,” “A Recipe for Living,” “Witches,” and “When Angels Come to Town.” Murray co-executive produced and wrote the television movie “My Neighbor’s Secret.” He also was a supervising producer and writer for “Finding John Christmas,” “A Town Without Christmas” and “Michael Jordan: An American Hero.” He recently wrote “Desperately Seeking Santa” for ABC. --HALLMARK CHANNEL-- .