Prior to forming Stars Road, Donen was co-head of CAA's motion picture department where he worked with Sam Raimi, David Fincher, Mark Romanek, Red Wagon producers Lucy Fisher and Doug Wick, John Dahl, Tom Tykwer and Andrew Niccol.
Before joining CAA in 1998, Donen produced Raimi's The Quick and the Dead starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman as well as The Great White Hype directed by Reginald Hudlin and exec produced Steven Soderbergh's The Underneath.
Donen started as a talent agent at the William Morris Agency, but left to work as a production executive at ABC Motion Pictures and later Universal Pictures, where he was an exec VP. He returned to WMA in 1996 to head the motion picture directors department, where he remained until joining CAA.
GRADY HALL – CO-PRODUCER, DIRECTOR
Grady Hall is a screenwriter who became a top commercial and music video director, and has now returned to film and television as a producer-director. He is co-producer and director of “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” a Starz original action-adventure drama series set in the brutal Roman gladiator era.
Hall’s work includes award-winning commercials and international campaigns for companies such as Sony, EA Sports, Gatorade, Budweiser, Nike, HP, O2, Cadillac and Discovery Channel, as well as music videos for R.E.M., Beck, Modest Mouse and more. His work has been honored by the Clios, the Art Directors Club, D&AD and the MVPA Awards.
He began his career at Warner Bros and Columbia Tri-Star, eventually creating a one-hour pilot for Universal, rewriting television movies, and staff-writing a full season of “The Outer Limits” for the SCI FI Channel. He also guest lectures at the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies.
STEVEN S. DEKNIGHT – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/HEAD WRITER
Steven S. DeKnight attended the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. He went on to earn an M.F.A. in playwriting from UCLA. He has written, directed, and produced on the television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Smallville,” and Joss Whedon’s new show “Dollhouse.”
SAM RAIMI – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Known for his imaginative filmmaking style and offbeat sense of humor, Sam Raimi first achieved fame as the writer and director of the cult classic The Evil Dead, which was an immediate sensation following its debut at the 1982 Cannes International Film Market. The success of The Evil Dead spawned the equally impressive Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn. Raimi completed and reinvented the trilogy with Army of Darkness, a sword-and-sorcery fantasy. The Evil Dead films have become an institution among horror enthusiasts, who have created a Broadway musical and comic books inspired by Ash, the series’ iconic hero.
A Simple Plan, Raimi’s critically acclaimed suspense thriller, received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor Billy Bob Thornton. The director’s additional credits include the supernatural thriller The Gift, starring Cate Blanchett, Hilary Swank and Keanu Reeves; Darkman, starring Liam Neeson and Frances McDormand; and The Quick and the Dead with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe and Gene Hackman.
Raimi also directed the Spider-Man trilogy. The internationally beloved franchise broke box-office records and garnered five Academy Award® nominations. The three Spider-Man films starred Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco.
Along with longtime producing partner Rob Tapert, Raimi formed Ghost House Pictures in 2002. Ghost House is dedicated to the financing, development, and distribution of high-concept genre films. Ghost House’s impressive roster of releases includes The Grudge, 30 Days of Night, The Messengers and Boogeyman.
Tapert and Raimi were executive producers on the landmark syndicated series “Xena: Warrior Princess,” which starred Lucy Lawless in the title role and ran for six seasons. Raimi and Tapert also executive produced the enormously popular “Hercules: Legendary Journeys” as well as the CBS series “American Gothic.”
Raimi also served as executive producer for John Woo’s Hard Target, and co-wrote (with Joel and Ethan Coen) The Hudsucker Proxy, starring Tim Robbins, Paul Newman and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Raimi’s interest in filmmaking began as a youngster in Michigan, where he directed his own Super-8 films. Later, he left Michigan State University to form Renaissance Pictures with Tapert and longtime friend and actor Bruce Campbell.
ROB TAPERT – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Rob Tapert is executive producing “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” for Starz with his longtime producing partner, director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), and Joshua Donen (The Quick and the Dead).
Tapert and Raimi have been working together since they met at Michigan State University where they formed the Society for Creative Film Making. After producing the horror cult classic Evil Dead, Tapert continued to collaborate with Raimi on Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, Darkman and Army of Darkness.
Tapert went on to serve as executive producer on the action features Hard Target and Timecop, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. He also executive produced the long running TV series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.” He then returned to features to executive produce Raimi’s suspense thriller The Gift, starring Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves and the action western The Quick and the Dead, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman.
In 2002, Tapert and Raimi formed Ghost House Pictures with Mandate Pictures. Ghost House was conceived to produce feature films that would deliver great scares and offer horror fans a roller coaster ride experience. Tapert has since produced a string of box office hits that started with The Grudge, which grossed more than $187 million worldwide, and continued with Boogeyman, The Messengers and 30 Days of Night. Ghost House’s latest release is Raimi's Drag Me to Hell. Recently, Ghost House teamed with Grindstone Entertainment Group to form a new film acquisitions venture called Ghost House Underground.
Tapert and Raimi are also executive producers on “Legend of the Seeker” for Disney-ABC Domestic television and ABC Studios.