When Spacey and Mendes began to explore collaborative opportunities following their work together on the Oscar-winning film American Beauty, The Bridge Project really began to take shape.  The Bridge Project is a major transatlantic initiative, producing classical work in an international partnership between the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York and The Old Vic, London.

Kevin Spacey, Director

Kevin Spacey is Artistic Director of The Old Vic Theatre Company. He directed its inaugural production Cloaca, before appearing in National Anthems, The Philadelphia Story, Richard II, A Moon for the Misbegotten, which subsequently transferred to Broadway and most recently Speed-the-Plow, with Jeff Goldblum, directed by Matthew Warchus. Previous theatre includes The Iceman Cometh(Evening Standard and Olivier Awards for Best Actor) directed by Howard Davies (Almeida, Old Vic and Broadway); Lost in Yonkers (Tony Award, Best Supporting Actor); Long Day’s Journey into Night, with Jack Lemmon, directed by Jonathan Miller (Broadway and West End) and The Seagull (Kennedy Center). Films include Superman Returns, Beyond the Sea (director and actor), The Usual Suspects (Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor), American Beauty (Academy and BAFTA Awards, Best Actor), Swimming with Sharks, Se7en, LA Confidential, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Negotiator, Hurlyburly, K-Pax and The Shipping News. His production company Trigger Street has produced the films The United States of Leland, The Big Kahuna, 21 for Sony Pictures, Bernard And Doris starring Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon, which was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards and Fanboys which will be released in early 2009. His latest film Shrink with Robin Williams will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. In addition he will be seen in Nick Moran’s film Telstar opposite Colm O’Neil and Pam Ferris, which recently debuted at the London Film Festival. He was most recently nominated for an Emmy as Best Actor for his performance as Ron Klain in Recount, a co-production between Trigger Street and HBO, which revealed the behind-the-scenes account of the 36-day battle for the Presidency in 2000 between George W Bush and Al Gore and won the Emmy for Best Film of the Year. He is currently Professor of Contemporary Theatre atOxford University. He was recently honored with a special Evening Standard Theatre Award for bringing new life to the Old Vic.

Sam Mendes, Director

Sam Mendes began his theater career as assistant director at the Chichester Festival Theatre and was the first artistic director of the Minerva in 1989. In 1992 Mendes founded the Donmar Warehouse in London where he was the artistic director until 2002. While at the Donmar Warehouse, he directed Assassins (Olivier and Evening Standard awards), Translations, Cabaret, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Glass Menagerie (Olivier Award), Company (Olivier Award), Habeas Corpus, The Front Page, The Blue Room, To the Green Fields Beyond, and Uncle Vanya (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards) and Twelfth Night (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards), both at BAM in 2003. In the West End: The Cherry Orchard (Critic’s Circle Award), The Plough and the Stars, Kean,London Assurance, and Oliver!, which ran for four years at the London Palladium. RSC: Troilus and Cressida, The Alchemist, The Tempest, Richard III. NT: The Sea, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice(Evening Standard Award), The Birthday Party, and Othello (BAM, 1998). Broadway productions include, (as producer) The Real Thing and Take Me Out (Tony Awards), and Shrek, the Musical. As director The Blue Room, Gypsy, The Vertical Hour, and Cabaret (Tony Award). Film credits include American Beauty (Academy Award—Best Director and Best Picture, Golden Globe, DGA Award),Road to Perdition, Jarhead. Revolutionary Road, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is currently in theaters. His next film, entitled Away We Go, opens in the US next summer. He has been the recipient of the Director’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in the theater. He was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2000.

Please RSVP to Nicola Middleton if you would like to attend this event as spaces are limited.

Nicola Middleton

nm@picapital.co.uk

( 020 7529 5662