A Faster Horse

DAVID GELB
Director

Born in Manhattan, David Gelb came of age amidst Broadway shows, Metropolitan Opera performances, adventures in the Marvel universe and the first wave of Japanese comics translated into English.

After graduating from USC's film program 2006, Gelb went on to direct a variety of both fiction and non-fiction projects, most notably the critically acclaimed documentary JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI. His narrative feature debut, THE LAZARUS EFFECT, starring Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass, was released by Relativity Media in 2015 and has so far grossed over 20 million dollars domestically.

Gelb most recently directed A FASTER HORSE, a documentary about the creation of the legendary Ford Mustang, is premiering at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. He is currently working on a Netflix original documentary series CHEF’S TABLE featuring six of the world’s most renowned international chefs, which will launch later in 2015.

GLEN ZIPPER
Producer

Glen Zipper is a founding partner with Zipper Brothers Films and formerly the Head of Documentary Features for Exclusive Media’s Spitfire Pictures.

In addition to producing the Academy Award®-winning documentary UNDEFEATED, Glen recently produced the non-fiction horror film THE NIGHTMARE for director Rodney Ascher ("ROOM 237"), which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

in 2015 Glen is producing the upcoming films DEEP WEB for director Alex Winter, A FASTER HORSE for director David Gelb (“JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI”), TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE for director Nick Berardini, BODYSLAM: REVENGE OF THE BANANA for directors Ryan Harvie and JP Horstmann, THE UNTITLED HERBALIFE DOCUMENTARY for director Ted Braun (“DARFUR NOW”), and executive producing Colin Hanks' directorial debut ALL THINGS MUST PASS.

Glen’s prior additional credits include Billy Joel’s THE LAST PLAY AT SHEA, the Grammy Award®-winning FOO FIGHTERS BACK AND FORTH and the Formula 1 documentary ONE narrated by Michael Fassbender. Glen was also the Executive in Charge of Production on Martin Scorsese’s Emmy Award®-winning GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD.

GUY EAST
Executive Producer

Guy East launched White Horse Pictures in 2014 with longtime business partner, Nigel Sinclair. Prior to launching White Horse, East was Co-Chairman of Exclusive Media, an independent film company which owned Spitfire Pictures and Hammer Films, and which financed, produced and distributed feature films as well as documentaries on a global basis.

With Exclusive, East’s recent producer credits include Ron Howard’s Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated RUSH, starring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl; Academy Award nominated The Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling; End of Watch starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena; Snitch starring Dwayne Johnson; A Walk Among the Tombstones starring Liam Neeson; Begin Again starring Keira Knightley and Adam Levine; and Hammer’s The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radclifffe.

East’s documentary credits include Spitfire’s Academy Award® winning documentary Undefeated; the Grammy Award® winning Foo Fighters: Back and Forth and Martin Scorsese’s BAFTA nominated George Harrison: Living in the Material World; and Scorsese’s Bob Dylan: No Direction Home.

East’s other film credits include Sliding Doors, starring Gwyneth Paltrow; Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Alan Parker’s The Life of David Gale, starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet; The Quiet American, starring Michael Caine; and The Wedding Planner, starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.

NICHOLAS FERRALL
Executive Producer

Nicholas Ferrall serves as Head of Production at White Horse Pictures, and manages a slate of films, documentaries and television. Prior to joining White Horse, Nicholas worked in development at Handler Entertainment where he produced By Osmosis TV, a documentary series detailing the lives of artists and musicians in and around Los Angeles. He began his career working at Strike Entertainment (CHILDREN OF MEN, DAWN OF THE DEAD). Nicholas is a graduate of the Department of Film & Media Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara.

ISAAC HAGY
Editor

Isaac Hagy has edited ten feature films, both narrative and documentary, many of which he also helped write and produce.  Combined, his films have played at more than 100 festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, Venice, AFI, Hot Docs, and Tribeca, where his feature documentary TOMORROW WE DISAPPEAR premiered in 2014.   Additionally, he has edited nearly 50 music videos and commercials for artists as diverse as Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, Bruno Mars, and Justin Bieber.

NIGEL SINCLAIR
Producer

Nigel Sinclair acts as lead producer on A FASTER HORSE. In 2014, he launched White Horse Pictures with longtime business partner, Guy East. Prior to launching White Horse, Sinclair was the CEO and Co- Chairman of Exclusive Media, a global independent film company that financed, produced and globally distributed feature films and documentaries.

His documentary producer’s credits include such award-winning films as Martin Scorsese’s GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD and NO DIRECTION HOME: BOB DYLAN, AMAZING JOURNEY: THE STORY OF THE WHO, THE LAST PLAY AT SHEA, 1 and both the Oscar-winning UNDEFEATED, the Grammy-winning FOO FIGHTERS: BACK AND FORTH. Sinclair has won a number of awards, including a Peabody, a Dupont, and multiple Emmys and Grammys.

With Exclusive, Sinclair produced PARKLAND starring Zac Efron, Billy Bob Thornton and Paul Giamatti; Snitch, starring Dwayne Johnson; and END OF WATCH, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera.

Sinclair’s other film credits include RUSH, starring Chris Hemsworth; SLIDING DOORS, starring Gwyneth Paltrow; TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Alan Parker’s THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE, starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet; THE QUIET AMERICAN, starring Michael Caine; and THE WEDDING PLANNER starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.

In 2000, Sinclair was awarded Commander of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of England. Sinclair attended Cambridge University in the U.K., and earned a Master of Law from Columbia University in New York.

ALESSANDRO F. UZIELLI
Executive Producer

Alessandro (Al) Uzielli created and heads up Ford Motor Company’s Global Brand Entertainment (FGBE) office in Los Angeles. In 2004, when the FGBE office opened, it was the first internal product placement outfit for any of the American automotives. Uzielli and his team execute placements in film, television, and digital media for the Ford and Lincoln brands, as well as engaging the entertainment community as a marketing extension for all of their vehicles. FGBE has managed integrations into

top network and cable television shows such as Alcatraz and The New Girl, as well as motion pictures like CASINO ROYALE, MEN IN BLACK 3 and NEED FOR SPEED. He has also brought such relationships as Ryan Seacrest and Matthew McConaughey to the Ford and Lincoln brands.

After graduating from Boston University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Art History, Uzielli moved to California where he attended The American Film Institute, and produced the award winning short film, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, which won numerous international film festivals and awards.  Uzielli graduated from The AFI with a Masters in Fine Arts.

After AFI, Uzielli set up numerous projects at the major studios and produced such films as THE PROPOSITION starring Kenneth Branagh, and BONGWATER starring Jack Black and Luke Wilson. He produced the extreme sports documentary, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN (Lionsgate), featuring seven world champion extreme athletes and a score from former Beastie Boy, Mike D.  While an executive at Destination Films, Uzielli contributed to the development and production of numerous feature films, including THE WEDDING PLANNER, BATS AND DROWNING MONA.

Uzielli owns the UK luxury brand, Halcyon Days.  Based in the Bond Street area of London, Halcyon Days is a purveyor to England’s Royal Family and its products are sold globally.  Halcyon Days is one of only 15 companies in the world to hold all three Royal Warrants.

In 2003, Al bought the classic Beverly Hills restaurant, La Dolce Vita. On the verge of bankruptcy, he restored the Rat Pack hang out to its original luster and it now enjoys a new found success as one of the area’s hot spots.

Uzielli serves on the Photography Councils for The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty Center, and the acquisition committee for the Detroit Institute of Art. He serves on the board of The Henry Ford Museum, The Brooks School, and The Lollipop Theater Network, a non-profit organization that brings first run family films to hospitals.

MARK MONROE
Writer

Mark Monroe is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose theatrical writing credits include:  A FASTER HORSE, RACING EXTINCTION (Sundance 2015), MISSION BLUE (Netflix 2014), FED UP (Sundance 2014); THE SUMMIT (Winner, Best Editing Sundance 2013); WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL?, (Winner, Best Cinematography, Sundance 2013); SOUND CITY (Sundance 2013); THE COVE (Winner, Best Documentary 2010 Academy Awards & Best Documentary Script, W.G.A. 2010); THE TILLMAN STORY; CHASING ICE (Winner, Best Cinematography Sundance 2012); STOLEN SEAS; LAST PLAY AT SHEA, ONCE IN A LIFETIME:  THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE NEW YORK COSMOS, (W.G.A. nomination "Best Documentary Script", 2007); AMAZING JOURNEY: THE STORY OF THE WHO, and writer/director, MORNING LIGHT, Disney Pictures. A journalism graduate from the University of Oklahoma, Mark began his career in television as a news writer for CNN in Atlanta.  Before writing for film, he produced more than sixty hours of biography-style programming for TV.

DAVID PERICAK
Director, Global Ford Performance

If you reverse engineered the characteristics of the Ford Mustang to help define the person who should lead the team who creates the car, few people would be a better fit than Dave Pericak. As chief nameplate engineer for Mustang since mid-2008, Pericak has led the ongoing development of the fifth-generation model as well as the creation of the all-new sixth-generation Mustang that launched in 2014.

As a car, Mustang has always been about putting drivers in control and keeping them involved. As an engineer and a manager, Pericak also believes in being hands-on and involved. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University and a master’s in engineering from Lawrence Technological University, he joined Ford as a manufacturing engineer in 1994. Pericak has gained experience in all aspects of vehicle development - from initial feasibility studies to sorting issues on the assembly line during launch.

Pericak is not the type of manager to just sit in the office and go to meetings all day long. He prefers to be in the garage, laboratory, driving on the test track or out on the factory floor where he can be aware of what’s happening on the program and help keep it moving forward.

“What I think is unique about me is knowing how to motivate the team and set the visions, be accessible and involved without micromanaging - that’s a great balance and it’s what makes our team so successful,” said Pericak. “I don’t accept no for an answer, I’m the ‘we will do it, this is how we’re going to get it done kind of guy.’ “I don’t just bark orders and won’t ask someone to do something I don’t know how to do myself, and if I don’t know how to do it I’ll roll my sleeves up and help them do it.”

Pericak sees his role as doing what is necessary to enable all of the smart people on his team to keep moving forward toward their goal of meeting and exceeding their targets and creating the best car they can. “My job is to blow through the roadblocks and pave the ground and then say ‘drive baby’ and then they do it. “Mustang always had my attention from the first time I laid my eyes on one,” added Pericak. “My 2000 GT convertible was the first new car I ever bought after driving a long series of older cars.”

TOM BARNES
Chief Technical Officer of Mustang 2015

When customers go into a Ford showroom to buy a new Mustang, they are looking for a single vehicle, not a bucket of parts and systems. As vehicle engineering manager, it’s Tom Barnes’ job to ensure that customers get a cohesive vehicle where all of those thousands of parts work in harmony. It takes a team of hundreds of people to design, develop and test an all-new car like the Ford Mustang from the ground up, and most of them are focused on only a single system or function. Modern vehicles are packed with interdependent systems that share sensor data over networks. Even more traditional mechanical systems like engines, transmissions, suspension and brakes have interactions that affect how the whole car feels.

Barnes and his team take a high-level view, testing dozens of prototypes on the track, road and in the lab over more than three years before the first car is delivered to a customer. “A sports car always has to be fun to drive and put a smile on the driver’s face,” said Barnes. “Our team strives to make the car both fun and functional for our customers.”

Barnes has been immersed in car culture from an early age and continues to devour all things automotive. As a child he was into the vehicles he saw on television such as Speed Racer’s Mach 5, the Batmobile, Magnum P.I.’s Ferrari 308GTS and the self-driving and smart-talking K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. Barnes’ father worked for an automotive supplier, and family vacations were always road trips where counting car brands from the car window was a favorite way to pass the time. After earning master’s degrees from both Michigan State and the University of Michigan, Barnes followed his passion into the auto industry, starting his Ford career in research before moving into chassis engineering and vehicle integration.

Barnes now has been part of the Mustang team for more than 10 years, helping to bring both the current-generation Mustang to market in 2004 and the all-new model in 2014. “My vision for the new Mustang was to create a car that transforms the world to a better place.”

DANNY BENSI and SAUNDER JURRIAANS
Music Composition

Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans are contemporary film composers working together in New York.  Danny is an internationally-raised musician who studied the cello and received a music degree from Northwestern.  Saunder is a guitarist heralding from the grunge and hard rock music scene in Seattle.  For several years, Danny and Saunder played in a unique instrumental cinematic rock band called Priestbird which toured extensively in N. America and Europe.  They were invited to open for several reputable bands including Pearl Jam.  In 2010, they were approached to score their first feature movie TWO GATES OF SLEEP directed by Alistair Banks Griffin which premiered in Cannes (Director's Fortnight).  The film demanded a unique sounding orchestral score that quickly garnered the attention of several other directors.  From Johnny Greenwood-esque Avant-Garde Classical music to sweeping epic orchestral scores, the composer duo have since scored an array of award-winning edgy films and documentaries including MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE directed by Sean Durkin, SIMON KILLER directed by Antonio Campos, THE ONE I LOVE directed by Charlie McDowell,  BLUEBIRD directed by Lance Edmands, and ENEMY directed by Denis Villeneuve (starring Jake Gyllenhaal) which recently won the award for best Musical Score at the Canadian Screen Awards.  For Sundance 2015 they scored LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT directed by Rodrigo Garcia (starring Ewan McGregor), NASTY BABY directed by Sebastian Silva, and THE WOLFPACK PROJECT directed  by Crystal Moselle award-winner for Best Documentary.  Their latest work will be premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival including "Franny" Dir. Andrew Renzi (starring Richard Gere), THE DRIFTLESS AREA directed by Zachary Sluser, and A FASTER HORSE directed by David Gelb.

CREDITS

A White Horse Pictures Production, in Association with City Room Creative and in association with Diamond Docs. A film by David Gelb.

DIRECTED BY: David Gelb

PRODUCERS: Nigel Sinclair, Glen Zipper

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Guy East, Nicholas Ferrall, Alessandro F. Uzielli

WRITTEN BY: Mark Monroe

EDITED BY: Isaac Hagy

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Will Basanta

CO-PRODUCER: Ross Girard

MUSIC BY: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurrians

MUSIC SUPERVISORS: Laura Katz, Chris Piccaro

SALES: John Sloss/Cinetic Media

CAST

Kemal Curic

Gale Halderman

Jack Telnack

Hal Sperlich

Art Hyde

Hau Thai-Tang

Dave Percak

Marcy Fisher

Tom Barnes

Prakash Patel

Edsel Ford Ii

Frank Davis

Steve Denby

Rich Hansen

Amy Hansen

John Clor

Julie Roehner

Bob Kreipke

Arjay Miller

Bob Fria

Diane Rittmueller