A director and screenwriter who quickly established himself as a purveyor of action-oriented films that have a deeper psychological investigative base, Jonathan Mostow made his feature debut with 1997's "Breakdown". This taut thriller, with Kurt Russell as a man whose wife seems to have vanished in the desert, proved to be a surprise box-office hit. Mostow went on to co-found a production company with former executive Hal Lieberman and signed a four-year deal with Universal.

A graduate of Harvard, Mostow also trained at the American Repertory Company and NYC's Lee Strasberg Institute. He helmed