Height: 5′ 9″ (1.75 m)

Mini Biography:

Niranjan Pal was the son of Indian nationalist Bipin Chandra Pal. In his teens he was attracted to the young extremist movement in Calcutta, and in an altercation with a British officer, beat him up and stole his gun. With an arrest warrant out on him, he escaped to London, where he was lived with nationalists Veer Savarkar and Madanlal Dhingra (later executed for assassinating a British officer).He studied script-writing in London, and was eventually discovered by Franz Osten and Himansu Rai, with whom he went set up Bombay Talkies, one of India’s first and most important film studios. His autobiography “Aye Jibon” won the President’s National Award in India in 2001.

Spouse:

Lily Bell (? – ?) 1 child

Trivia:

His father, Bipin Chandra Pal was one of India’s most important nationalist leaders – part of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio. Niranjan Pal was himself a fugitive from the law for several years for pulling a gun on a British officer in his youth. His son, Colin Pal, was a leading film publicist in India.

Birth Name: György Pál Marczincsák

Mini Biography:

George Pal was born on February 1, 1908, in Cegled, Austria-Hungary. Later, when he was still a child, his stage-entertainer parents divorced, and he was raised by his grandparents.In 1928, Pal graduated from the Budapest Academy of Arts with a degree in Architecture and highly developed drawing skills. There were no opportunities for an Architect when he left the University, so, putting his other talents to work, he found employment at Hunnia Films in Budapest. Later on, through his films, Pal became an architect of worlds, but first…At Hunnia, Pal drew lobby posters and created embellished titles for silent movies. He also quickly learned the craft of motion picture cartooning.In 1930, George married Elisabeth Josepha (Zsoka) Grandjean, with whom he later had two sons, David (born, 1937) and Peter (born, 1941). Seeking work with better pay, the young couple moved to Berlin, a center for film innovation. Pal’s talents were soon noticed.From 1931-1932, Pal worked at UFA Studios in Berlin where he became head of the cartoon department. Then, he set up his own film studio elsewhere in Berlin. His credentials attracted orders from companies for animated advertising. Instead of the cartoon approach, he developed his own take on making inanimate objects move, even dance, using the still evolving art of stop-motion photography. Advertisements featuring, for instance, Overstolz cigarettes, outfitted with faces, arms, and legs, were shown on theater screens strutting and singing as if drawn by a cartoonist. These “puppets” without strings would later evolve into animated characters made of wood who would have names and star in their own films.When the Nazi regime installed itself in Germany, George and Zsoka left for Prague for a short time. Then it was on to Paris where they received an invitation from Sies Neuman, head of Philips Radio’s advertising, to move to Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands, and work there. Before long, he had his own studio and made commercials for Dutch, English, and American firms.It was in Eindhoven that George and American film maker, Dave Bader, invented a name for the three-dimensional cartoons that George was also now producing: “Puppetoons.” George made many films in Holland, including “The Ship of the Ether.” He changed his last name from Marczincsak to Pal, and, in 1937, George and Zsoka’s first son, David, was born.During the 1930s, George and Zsoka applied for an American emigration visa, only to be told each time that the small Hungarian quota was filled. Then, in 1939, the American consulate granted a visa for them and their young son to leave for New York.First, Pal made a solo trip to New York. Not long after arriving, Columbia University offered him a lectureship on the process of making stop-motion films. Coincidentally, Barney Baliban, the president of Paramount Pictures’ New York office, saw one of Pal’s Puppetoon films at a party. He was so impressed by it that he contacted Pal and offered him a contract to make them for Paramount, either in New York or at their animation studio in Florida.Pal returned to Holland and made arrangements for his family to leave Europe and move to America. Then, Frank Freeman, the President of Paramount Studios in Hollywood offered him a studio of his own and a staff of 25 film makers. The Pals arrived in New York early in 1940 and were soon settled in Beverly Hills, California.In 1941, George and Zsoka’s second son, Peter, was born.From 1941 to 1947, Pal created more than 40 Puppetoon films, and received a special Academy Award in 1943. His studio staffers included Willis H. O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Wah Chang, and Gene Warren. He was also close friends with animation producer, Walter Lantz, as well as film pioneer, Walt Disney.From 1948 to 1949, he began work on his first full-length motion pictures that combined live action with special photographic and sound effects. In the 1950s and 1960s, six of his films received Academy Awards. He worked with many gifted talents, including: director Byron Haskin; writers Robert A. Heinlein, Barré Lyndon, and David Duncan; cinematographers George Barnes, and Paul Vogel; visual-effects masters Gordon Jennings and his crew at Paramount, plus A. Arnold Gillespie, Wah Chang, and Gene Warren at MGM.Pal also worked with sound-effects wizards Gene Garvin, Harry Lindgren, Franklin Milton, and Van Allen James; art directors Albert Nozaki, Hal Pereira, Ernst Fegté, and William Ferrari; film editors Everett Douglas and George Tomasini; composers Leith Stevens and Russell Garcia; space artist Chesley Bonestell; many animation craftsmen, including his son, David Pal, (who brought the elves to life in “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm”) and Don Sahlin who would later go on to design the original Muppet characters; plus countless actors and actresses, many of whom are remembered to this day.Throughout the 1970s, Pal worked on several film proposals, but only one was distributed. He passed away on May 2, 1980 while working on “The Voyage of the Berg” for AIP Filmways. It was never finished, but his other films endure.

Spouse:

Zsoka Pal (7 June 1930 – 2 May 1980) (his death) 2 children

Trivia:

Pal and his crew (Galaxy Films and, at Paramount, the Cauliflower Ear Gang) worked special-effects miracles at a time when there were no computers to help and very little precedent on which to go. Martian military hardware, time travel, and spaceship launch systems were designed from scratch. These were high-risk ventures that required considerable imagination (genius, really), ingenuity, determination, tenacity, and courage.
Is co-author (with Joe Morhaim) of a novel, Time Machine II, a sequel to the H.G. Wells classic.
Unfinished or unmade film projects to which George Pal committed his personal time, money, and energy include “After Worlds Collide” (Paramount, 1955) – a sequel to When Worlds Collide (1951) – unmade due to the poor returns of Conquest of Space (1955); “Logan’s Run” (MGM, 1968) – unmade due to poor returns of The Power (1968), eventually made by Saul David as Logan's Run (1976); “When The Sleeper Wakes” (MGM, 1972), based on the science-fiction novel by H.G. Wells – unmade due to Woody Allen’s parody version then in production, Sleeper (1973); “Doc Savage II” (Warner Bros., 1976) – unmade due to poor returns of Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975); “The Time Traveler” (MGM, 1977-78) aka “Time Machine II,” a sequel to his movie of H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine (1960) – unmade due to MGM rejecting three scripts submitted by George Pal and Nicholas Meyer’s film Time After Time (1979) in production; “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (MGM-Cinerama, 1979) – a sequel to MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939) – unmade due to MGM not committing to a new deal with Cinerama Corp. to make this as a multi-million-dollar Cinerama film (in Super Panavision 70mm) and no script approval; “The Voyage of the Berg” (IPA-Filmways, 1979-1980) – in production several months, unfinished due to George Pal’s death in May 1980; and “The Disappearance” (WB, 1980) – in pre-production planning in early 1980.
All of his movies feature a cameo appearance from Woody Woodpecker somewhere because he and Walter Lantz were close friends. The exception is Andy Panda, another Lantz character, who appears in Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975).
The estate of H.G. Wells was so impressed with The War of the Worlds (1953) that they offered Pal an option on any of Wells’s science fiction stories. Pal choose The Time Machine (1960).
He was one of Ray Harryhausen’s early employers and mentors.
Despite being born to theater parents, Pal was said to have despised the stage.
Once designed art subtitles for silent films in the 1920s to keep food on the table.

Personal Quotes:

After viewing Star Wars (1977) in 1977: “A special effect is as big a star as any in the world.”
[On February 12, 1979, in a telephone interview with the Orson Welles Theater (Cambridge, MA), Pal was asked what film of his was his favorite.] His reply: “The next one.”
None of my past films are my favorites. My next film is always my favorite. I don’t like to cry over something that didn’t turn out. I always try to do better the next film.

Birth Name: George Sies Pal

Mini Biography:

David Pal (born George Sies Pal) was born in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands, on January 30, 1937, to George and Zsoka Pal.The family lived and worked in Eindhoven by invitation of Philips Radio for whom George Pal made animated film advertisements (which, at that time, were shown in movie theaters). He also created his first Puppetoon films in Eindhoven.In 1939, with a reference from Paramount Pictures which had taken an interest in George’s work, the Pals were granted an exit visa to emigrate to America, which they did early in 1940 on the ocean liner, Normandie, which relied on its speed to outdistance any U-Boat near its sea lane.After arriving in New York City, the Pals traveled by train to California and settled in Beverly Hills where George began producing and directing new Puppetoons for the 1940s.In 1941, the Pal family had a new addition in the person of son, and brother, Peter.By the 1950s, George Pal was producing his first full-length feature films that combined live action with increasingly elegant special effects.David attended Los Angeles schools, including the Hollywood Professional School — a highly-respected school for the children of film makers and film artists and for young people who were already working in some capacity. At the age of 16, he changed his name to George David Pal and expressed his preference to be called simply David Pal.In his mid-teens, David began an 8-year-long interest in motor racing, specializing in the improvement of high-performance motorcycle and automobile engines. He also did paintwork for Von Dutch — the famous artist and pin striper. Eventually, he became the machine shop foreman at Tattersfield Speed Equipment — owned by Schraeger Engineering.In his late teens and early 20s, he developed interests in the aesthetics of film — especially still photography, through a friendship with Ralph Gibson, and also in the use of the animation camera. In this endeavor he worked with Wah Chang and Gene Warren at Projects Unlimited, where he did stop-motion animation on MGM’s The Time Machine (1960), “The Cobbler and the Elves” sequence in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), The Power (1968), and the television shows, Star Trek and The Outer Limits (the original).While in Germany, working on the Brothers Grimm project, he was introduced to the operation and technology of Cinerama’s three-strip process by Thomas Conroy, Cinerama’s Vice President.Throughout the 1960s, as various wide-screen systems fought for market dominance, David was very much involved in the photographic aspects of film. He tested and evaluated a number of optical and photographic systems, as well as projection and display systems.At Cinerama, he became Assistant Head of the Photographic Department, and, at Cinemiracle, Head of the Photographic Department.After Cinerama acquired the Benson and Lehrner Company, David evaluated the prototypes developed there and tested both experimental 360-degree, wide-screen systems and ultra-high speed cameras.As a part-time director of photography at ABC’s Wide World of Sports, he introduced the use of ultra high-speed photography of car and motorcycle races, filmed at 128 to 600 frames per second. He also applied this film method to Evel Knieval’s motorcycle stunts, cliff divers in Acapulco, downhill ski races, and air races.At a Fairchild Optical subsidiary, he worked on the development of their new 180-degree field-angle lens and methods of using it. The lens was later used for an exhibit in 70-mm film format at the Seattle World’s Fair “Spacarium.” He also tested prototypes, designed by Felix Bednarz, for wide-screen motion picture systems.He went on to be a project manager for the New York World’s Fair, Government Exhibition, where he designed and prototyped display ideas.At Walt Disney Studios’ Camera Department, he worked with Scene Planning and developed a simplified method of numerically calculating camera movements that gave a filmed scene a fluid and natural look.He worked at the CBS Studio Center (formerly Republic Films) Camera Department on such productions as Gunsmoke, The Wild West, Rawhide, Gilligan’s Island, Big Valley, and many others.In the 1960s and 70s, David worked on feature films (where, for instance, he developed camera masks to give George Stevens’s The Greatest Story Ever Told a “Rennaisance look”). He also worked on several television series, including The Smothers Brothers Show, where he was director of photography for the opener. He also worked on documentaries, commercials, and special effects projects.After working as an art director for MGM-Europe, David worked as art director and animator on the Philips Cavalcade “History of Music” show, produced at Joop Geesink Studios (Amsterdam, Netherlands). He did various commercials for German and Dutch markets, as well as second-unit camera work for MGM Europe, and was on call to do automobile stunts.He was third partner, along with Gene Warren and Wah Chang, at Excelsior Films — an Academy Award winning special effects company. He did the character and set design for a combined live-action and animated version of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.After leaving the motion picture business in the mid-1970s, David turned his attention to other areas of interest: The design and construction of furniture in partnership with Farhad Ebrahimi, co-owner of Quark Software; the importing of antiques and decorative objects of art from Austria and Hungary — which required living three months of the year in Vienna; the opening of an Antique Conservation Facility specializing in the conservation (via museums and sales to private collectors) of Biedermier furniture, 18th and 19th Century time pieces, and scientific instruments. In the late 1970s, David was awarded the Burlington House Annual Award for “Best Interior Design.”David, now retired, lives in Northern, California with his wife, Mariam.He has four children, Alison, Daniela, Jeff, and Jeremy.Mariam is an accomplished performing cellist specializing in chamber music, and is also a performer of classical mandolin music. She was Manager of the Los Angeles Mandolin Orchestra for over a decade. She is an accomplished painter who’s work is frequently exhibited and had a well-known drawing and painting workshop in Los Angeles for 11 years. She is also an avid antique car collector.Alison is in Minnesota, finishing her doctorate in post-war German film.Jeremy is employed by the International Center for the Study of Advanced Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy and has recently accepted a professorship at Loyola University in Los Angeles.Daniela is a Physician’s Assistant in cardiac surgery and resides in Phoenix, Arizona.Jeff is an MD working as an anesthesiologist in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.And now (in 2006) David is happily busy pursuing still-photography (including shows which exhibit his pictures), and, as part of his continuing interest in Art History — classical drawing and painting.

Trivia:

Son of famous filmmaker George Pal and his wife Zsoka Pal.
In the 1960s, he worked as a visual effects assistant and stop-motion animator on The Time Machine (1960), The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), and The Power (1968). In “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm”, he animated the Puppetoon sequence called “The Cobbler And The Elves”. In “The Power”, David animated a squadron of wooden toy soldiers seen by actor George Hamilton in a store window.
He has a younger brother, Péter Pál, who was born in America in 1941.

Mini Biography:

Born 1950 in Heidelberg, Germany. Since 1970 TV movies, feature films, shorts, documentaries, specials, worked on various theatrical feature films as co-director, editor, trailer and dubbing director in Germany, England, USA and Africa. MICHAEL PAKLEPPA Born 1950 in Heidelberg, Germany. Since 1970 TV movies (children films, shorts, documentaries, specials), worked since 1972 on various theatrical feature films as co-director, editor, trailer and dubbing director in Germany, England and Africa. 29 years of experience in editing, camera, production, directing and special effects. BACKGROUND Pakleppa has started working in New GermanCinema in 1972, co-operating in the creative center of author’s cinema Filmverlag der Autoren with directors like R.W. Fassbinder, Werner Herzog or Wim Wenders. In the 80′s he developed a European network of co-operation in production and distribution through which he was distributing and/or co-producing major works of the New British and American Cinema including some films of John Carpenter, Neil Jordan, Monty Python, the animation hits “When The Wind Blows”, “The Last Unicorn” (German version) and Valhalla and independent German films. He is currently working on four new projects as a producer: “The Last Unicorn”, “Lila The Werewolf”, “Charley Herring” – all written by fantasy novelist Peter S. Beagle and the bizarre love story “Unusual Requests”. On all four projects for 2000 and 2001 he is co-operating with ‘Ray Cooper’ former creative head of George Harrison’s HandMade Films and co-operator of Terry Gilliam, Bob Dylan and Elton John, and Joe Dreier, former treasurer of UIP as producer. As a director he is preparing currently two of his projects: “The Last Unicorn” and “Unusual Requests”.

Trivia:

39 years of experience in editing, camera, production, directing and special effects.
Son Gabriel Pakleppa, 32, works as a film and music producer in Munich, Germany and heads Continent Film GmbH.
First wife Fabienne Pakleppa is a novelist and award-winning writer of novels, short stories and biographies in Munich/Germany, she writes occasionally for Süddeutsche Zeitung, Cosmopolitan and other publications.
Worked with Neil Innes (Monty Python, The Rutles, Scottish-English comedian, musician and writer) on “The Barkers” and the new “Rutles” Album. Develops European feature films and TV programs with Ray Cooper, former head of HandMade Films and percussionist, close friend of the late George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Elton John (Grammy Award for his film “Concert For George”).
As a documentary director he portrayed the psychic healers Tom Johanson and Yolanda Betegh and the psychic artist Coral Polge and produced a 2 h special about modern and ancient Tibetan culture, rituals and spiritual basics of Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama.
His son Gabriel Pakleppa, 32, is working as a film and music producer in Munich, Germany.
First wife Fabienne Pakleppa is a novelist and award-winning writer of novels, short stories and biographies in Munich/Germany, she writes occasionally for Süddeutsche Zeitung, Cosmopolitan and other publications.
He has also worked as a film critique, film editor, press and publicity director, screenwriter and art director in Germany and created in the ’70s a unique series of art house cinemas with an inventive programming.

Birth Name: Aleksandra Nikolayevna Pakhmutova

Nickname: Alya

Mini Biography:

Composer Alexandra N. Pakhmutova was born on November 9, 1929 near Stalingrad (now Volgograd), the Soviet Union. She began playing the piano and composing music at an early age. Although WW2 interrupted her studies, Pakhmutova moved to Moscow, where she was admitted to the Moscow Conservatoire’s central musical school – the educational establishment which gave the world such renowned musicians as Rostropovich, Kogan, Rozhdestvensky, and many others. In 1953, Alexandra Pakhmutova graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire, and in 1956 she finished the post-graduate course led by the outstanding composer Vissarion Shebalin.Alexandra Pakhmutova has devoted her professional career to different genres. She has composed pieces for the symphony orchestra (The Russian Suite, the concerto for the trumpet and the orchestra, the Youth Overture, the concerto for the orchestra); the ballet Illumination; music for children (cantatas, a series of choir pieces, and numerous songs); as well as music for different movies. The above list of Pakhmutova’s works comprises only the repertoire compositions which are performed most often. Songs hold a special place in Alexandra Pakhmutova’s creative work. Their total number is more than four hundred, including such widely-popular songs as The Melody, Tenderness, Hope, The Old Maple Tree, The Song of the Perturbed Youth, a series of the Gagarin Constellation, and Good-Bye Moscow (the farewell tune of the Games of the 22nd Olympiad in Moscow, 1980). Alexandra Pakhmutova’s name is known to the broad public and deeply respected by the listeners. Her art became an imprescriptible part of the Soviet and Russian history. She has received several Government Awards and State Prizes and was the Secretary of the USSR and Russian Unions of Composers for a long time. The name of Alexandra Pakhmutova was given to the minor planet # 1889, which was officially registered by the planetary center in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Spouse:

Dobronravov, Nikolai (22 November ? – present)

Mini Biography:

Ms. Pak is among the newer voice actors in the anime industry. She is of Korean descent and was born in Tokyo in 1972. Among her works is for the TV series “Dejimon adobenchâ 02″ (2000), in which she is the voice of Ken Ichijouji / Digimon Kaizer.

Trivia:

Father is second-generation Korean-Japanese and mother is Korean.
In addition to to knowing Japanese, she is very in touch with her Korean roots and can speak that language fluently.
Among her many hobbies, she particularly prides herself on swimming, doing Shaolin Kempo martial arts, and playing the piano.
Was rated as the number one Seiyuu (voice actor, male or female) in Animage Magazine’s 26th Annual Reader’s Poll in June, 2004. The character of Edward Elric, who Ms. Pak plays, was also rated as the number one male character in the same poll.
Graduated from the Toho Gakuen College of Drama & Music.

Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)

Mini Biography:

Korean-American born Ho Sung-Pak is best known for two accomplishments in martial arts. A wushu champion, Ho was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 1991. His first accomplishment was that he played both Liu Kang and Shang Tsung in the video game that started a fad and 2 movies, Mortal Kombat. In 1994, he was invited by Jackie Chan to star as the evil foreman Henry in Drunken Master II. Originally cast as the main fighting villain, he was replaced by Ken Lo in terms of the finale. But that didn’t stop Ho. After starring in the WMAC Masters show in 1995, Ho starred and choreographed the action for Epoch of Lotus in 2000. Ho appears in two movies in 2002, Honor Among Thieves and The Book of Swords.

Trivia:

A member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame since 1991
Earned an MBA from the University of Illinois
Has been a top-ranked competitor in the Professional Karate League (1989) and the North American Sports Karate Association (1991)
Ho Sung means “superstar” in Korean
Brother of Hoyoung Pak.
Together with Wayne Kennedy and Matthew E. Chausse, created the film company GenOne, established in 2005.
He worked with Madonna on her World Drown Tour that was nominated for best choreography.
Is a fan of Sherilyn Fenn’s performance in Boxing Helena (1993). Fenn later co-starred alongside Ho-Sung Pak in Lesser of Three Evils (2005), which he co-produced.

Personal Quotes:

Who I look up to actually is Bruce Lee. He’s the first person that, you know, really, before him there were no other Asian actors. He was the first and only one at the time. He’s tremendous in so many ways, and so charismatic and energetic. And I would like to see maybe, you know, some other Asian people, you know, strive to take his place and do the things that he does. So, in terms of person I look up to is Bruce Lee. He was awesome, and I hope, what he opened up for us, I hope we take advantage of it and do something good with it. – (interviewed by Stefanie Bae, AAN News, February 9, 2009)

Greg Pak is an independent film director whose feature film, Robot Stories (2003), has won many honors, including “Best Feature Film” at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. His short films Asian Pride Porn (2000) and All Amateur Ecstasy (2002) are some of the most popular, downloadable pieces available at AtomFilms.com. Greg’s short film Fighting Grandpa (1998) has won twenty prizes, including a Student Oscar, and has been an official selection in over 50 film festivals. His other shorts include: “Mouse,” “Po Mo Knock Knock,” “Po Mo Love Doc,” “Cat Fight Tonight,” and “The Penny Marshall Project”; many of which have won honors and have been screened in film festivals all over the world. He was also the cinematographer of The Personals (1999) an Oscar-winning documentary short, and was recently cited as one of the “25 Filmmakers to Watch” by Filmmaker Magazine. Greg majored in Political Science at Yale University, and was a Rhodes Scholar, studying History at Oxford University. Mr. Pak also played “Archie” the android in the segment “Machine Love” of Robot Stories (2003). Greg currently serves as editor and moderator for the sites http://www.filmhelp.com and http://www.asianamericanfilm.com.

Trivia:

Majored in Political Science at Yale, and was a Rhodes Scholar. He studied History at Oxford.
He is half-Korean, half-Caucasian