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Henry Selick is a film director, specializing in films with stop-motion animation. He has formal training as an animator.

Selick was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, son of Charles H. Selick and Melanie Molan. He was mostly raised in Rumson, New Jersey. As a child, Selick took up drawing as a hobby. He became fascinated with animation at a young age, after viewing two specific films. One was the silhouette animation feature film "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926) by Lotte Reiniger. It was one of the earliest animated feature films (the first had been released in 1917), the first produced in Europe, and the earliest one that has been preserved. The other film was the live-action film "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958), which featured stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen.

Selick started his college studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he studied science. He next studied art in Syracuse University, arts and design in the Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, and animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Two of his student films won so-called "Student Academy Awards", awards by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for promising student films.

In the 1970s, after completing his college studies, Selick was hired by Walt Disney Productions, (the animation studio of the Disney corporation). He started his career there as an in-betweener, generating intermediate images for key frames in animated works. This is typically a low-level position at the animation department and the work goes uncredited.

At Disney, he started working as an animator trainee, one of several trainees under an aging crew of directors and supervisors. His first (uncredited) high-profile works was as part of the animation crew in the feature film "Pete's Dragon" (1977) and the featurette "The Small One" (1978). Among his associates at the time were other animator trainees, such as Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The man mainly responsible for their training was veteran animator Eric Larson (1905-1988), one of "Disney's Nine Old Men" (an old guard of senior animators and directors that had long careers with the studio).

The young animators of the studio, Selick among them, completed a single film, the drama film "The Fox and the Hound" (1981). Then many of them left the studio to pursue careers elsewhere. Selick spend most of the 1980s as a freelancer. He directed animation for television commercials, for products such as the Pillsbury Doughboy, and Ritz Crackers. He also worked as a sequence director or storyboard artist for a number of films, such as "Twice Upon a Time" (1983), "Return to Oz" (1985), "Nutcracker: The Motion Picture" (1986). His television work also included some animation work for a television channel called "MTV".

Selick's big break in the animation world came when he was approached by an old acquaintance, director Tim Burton. Burton was producing a stop-motion animation feature film for Disney, but did not have the time to direct it himself, and needed someone to direct and to supervise the developing process. Selick was hired as the director for "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993), the first full-length, stop-motion feature from a major American studio.

"Nightmare" was a relatively low-budget film, but became a minor box office hit, earning about 76 million dollars at the worldwide box office. It also earned critical acclaim, particularly praise for then-revolutionary visual effects. It earned a number of awards and nominations, including a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and an Annie Award. It was no surprise that Selick would be asked to direct again.

His next film was the novel adaptation "James and the Giant Peach" (1996), based on a work by Roald Dahl. The film combined live-action with stop-motion animation. It was another critical success, but a box office flop. It was overshadowed in the Annie Awards (for animation) by two competitors: "Toy Story" (1995) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996).

Selick attempted a comeback with a comic book adaptation. He secured the rights to the graphic novel "Dark Town" (1995) by Kaja Blackley. The story was about a comatose cartoonist whose soul ends up in a limbo-like realm called "Dark Town". The original story ended in a cliff-hanger and never received a sequel. Selick and his crew further fleshed out the limbo realm, added new characters, and developed an original ending. The result was the dark fantasy film "Monkeybone" (2001). An ambitious, big-budget film, it turned out to be a box office bomb. It earned about 7.5 million dollars at the worldwide box office, much less than the film's budget.

Selick's next project was developing stop-motion visual effects the live-action film "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004), directed by Wes Anderson. The film was an ambitious comedy-drama film, loosely inspired by the life of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997). It under-performed at the box office, and received moderate critical acclaim. The film and its cast were nominated for a number of awards, but failed to win any major awards.

In 2004, Selick was hired as a supervising director by Will Vinton Studios, a minor animation studio that focused on stop-motion animation. In 2005, Will Vinton Studios was replaced by a new studio called "Laika". Selick retained his position. For Laika, Selick developed and directed his first computer-animated short film: "Moongirl" (2005). The premise is that a young boy is transported to the Moon, where he helps a Moongirl repair the Moon.

"Moongirl" turned out to be a critically acclaimed short film and won a number of awards, including an award by the Ottawa International Film Festival. Selick was next hired to write a children's book based on the film, which was released in 2006.

Laika next started work on its first feature film, an adaptation of a novel by Neil Gaiman. Selick was assigned as the director of the film. Selick was reportedly necessary for the company to secure the rights to the novel, because Gaiman happened to be a fan of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and trusted him to adapt his work for film. The film was dark fantasy "Coraline" (2009). It earned about 125 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming the most commercially successful film in Selick's career.

"Coraline" was critically acclaimed winning or receiving nominations for several major awards. It even received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, though it lost to "Up" (2009) by Pete Docter. It served as a comeback for Selick. Selick left Laika shortly after the release of the film.

In 2010, Selick signed a long-term contract with Disney, where he was supposed to create new stop-motion animation films to be released by the company. He formed a new studio called "Cinderbiter Productions" to produce the films. He worked for a number of years on a project called called "ShadeMaker", but this has been in development hell since 2013. Selick is reportedly working on several other projects, but has not released a new feature film following "Coraline".

Rudy Mancuso was born on 28 February 1992 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Rim of the World (2019), A Celebration of the Music from Coco (2020) and The Flash (2023).

David Henesy was born on 20 October 1956 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Dark Shadows (1966), House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Another World (1964).

Richard Kim Milford was an actor-singer-songwriter-composer-dancer who first appeared in SummerStock Theatre in Chicago at age 10. At age 17 he was in the original staging of Hair (he played Woof and Claude). In 1970 he was awarded the Faith and Freedom Award by the Religious Heritage of America for his portrayal of the Prodigal Son in ABC Directories series "Round Trip". He later performed in the first concert tour of Jesus Christ Superstar playing Jesus and Judas, and in the first production of The Rocky Horror Show as Rocky (Roxy Cast in LA, and in NYC on Broadway). He was also in the plays Henry Sweet Henry, 1776, Your Own Thing, Rockabye Hamlet, More Than You Deserve, and Sunset. Later Kim was the lead singer for the Jeff Beck Group (Aug-Sept '72) and then worked on television (TV movies: Song of the Succubus [with Brooke Adams] and Rock-A-Die-Baby (aka Night of the Full Moon), both in 1975 on ABC's Wild World of Entertainment, and on Mannix (Portrait in Blues). Kim was also in the feature films Laserblast, Bloodbrothers, Corvette Summer, Escape, Nightmare at Noon, and Wired to Kill. Kim had 2 singles, "Muddy River Water" (Decca) and "Help is on the Way, Rozea." He is also on the Sunset soundtrack, Roxy Cast album of Rocky Horror Show, and wrote and performed a song "Justice" produced by Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil on the 'Ciao! Manhattan' (Edie Sedgewick) movie; in addition, he's on some bootlegs of the Aug-Sept '72 Jeff Beck concerts. He performed with the made-for-TV group Moon in the two TV movies above. Richard Kim Milford died in Chicago on June 16, 1988 of heart failure, after having undergone heart surgery several weeks earlier. He was 37 years old.

Jon Brion was born on 11 December 1963 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Other Guys (2010) and Step Brothers (2008).

Sonia Satra was born on 17 December 1967 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Intrepid (2000), Pride & Loyalty (2002) and Baywatch (1989). She was previously married to Robert Udet.

Kacy Catanzaro is an American professional wrestler, gymnast and athletics-based television personality. She is signed to WWE, where she competes on the NXT brand. She was the first woman to qualify for the finals of the television sports show American Ninja Warrior and the first woman to complete a City Finals course. Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Catanzaro grew up and attended high school in nearby Belleville and is of Italian descent. She is a small woman, standing only 5 ft (1.524 m) tall and weighing only 95 pounds (43 kg). She began doing gymnastics at age 5. She attended Towson University in Towson, Maryland, from 2009 until 2012, studying early childhood education on an athletic scholarship. Catanzaro was a Junior Olympic gymnast, having started training at age 6. She reached level 10 in 2007 and competed at the 2007 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed fifth in the Senior-A division. The following year Catanzaro competed at the 2008 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed third and advanced to the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships. She finished 23rd overall but finished 6th on the uneven bars. he worked for Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in San Antonio, Texas, from February 2013.

Catanzaro spent two years training for American Ninja Warrior alongside her then-boyfriend and co-competitor Brent Steffensen. She did not complete the qualifying course in Venice, California, but was an invited wild card at the 2013 finals, where she fell early on the Giant cycle/ring.

In 2014, Catanzaro became the first woman to complete the qualifying course of American Ninja Warrior (Season 6), making it up the warped wall on her second try at 5:26.18 at the Dallas qualifiers, ranking her 21 out of 30; this also makes her the first woman to make it up the warped wall in competition. Later in 2014, Catanzaro competed in the Dallas finals of American Ninja Warrior. She was the first woman ever to complete a city finals course (and the second woman to attempt it after Jessie Graff in season 5), qualifying for the national finals in Las Vegas with a time of 8 minutes, 59 seconds. (Through 2017 she remains the only woman to have ever completed a City Finals course.) Host commentator Akbar Gbaja-Biamila remarked "I've seen greatness during my NFL career...And I've been in awe of people, but I am really in awe of Kacy" The run had been especially notable because due to her short stature, many of the obstacles looked difficult to manage and in one case, she had to leap between boards whereas other competitors could traverse them. Her achievement made her a social media phenomenon, with her run being viewed over 100 million times; supporters on Twitter coined the hashtag #MightyKacy. Kacy Catanzaro failed to complete the first round of the National Finals in Las Vegas. She made it past the first three obstacles, including the Giant Ring and the Silk Slider, before she fell attempting the Jumping Spider, where her full extension was simply too short to hold the position. In the 2015 Houston Qualifying round (Season 7), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on the cargo crossing. She was given a wild card spot in Vegas and she failed due to a mistimed trampoline jump at the Propeller Bar at Stage 1 of The Finals on September 7. By this time the pressure she felt to live up to her broadcast reputation as Ninja's greatest female competitor was reportedly showing and she was tearful in the post-run interview. In 2016, Catanzaro was invited to compete in the 32nd competition of the original Japanese version of ANW, Sasuke. Catanzaro performed well, completing 8 of the stage 1 obstacles before timing out on the final obstacle, the Lumberjack Climb. Since the course's renewal and increased difficulty, Catanzaro set the record for the furthest a female athlete has gone and the closest a female athlete has gotten to completing stage 1 since the 2nd competition (until 2017 when Jessie Graff completed stage 1 and became the first woman ever to complete stage 2.) In the 2016 Oklahoma City Qualifying round (Season 8), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on an early obstacle, the Log Runner, on June 20; however, she was again given a Wild Card spot in Las Vegas. In the Las Vegas National Finals, Stage 1, she fell on the second obstacle. In December 2016 Catanzaro co-hosted as a broadcaster the Team Ninja Warrior College Madness series of shows. In 2017, Catanzaro competed in American Ninja Warrior season 9 in the San Antonio city qualifier and finals. In the former she failed on the fourth obstacle, but did well enough to qualify for city finals under the show's new rules. In that latter run she had her best performance since 2014, making it past the Sky Hooks and the fifth obstacle to get the now-higher Warped Wall, which she failed to surmount. Nonetheless she qualified for the national finals. At the national finals, she failed on Stage 1 at the Double Dipper.

In 2017, Catanzaro announced her retirement from American Ninja Warrior, with season 9 being her last.

Lee Kazista was born on 4 July 1971 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. Lee is known for Surrogates (2009), The Forgotten (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

Tommy Page was born on 24 May 1967 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Dick Tracy (1990), Latin Boys Go to Hell (1997) and Shag (1988). He was married to Charlie. He died on 4 March 2017 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

Justin Sintic is a film, television and stage actor that grew up in a small suburban town in New Jersey, just outside of New York City. He was a competitive ice hockey player into his twenties before being encouraged to move to Hollywood where he was quickly signed by Iris Grossman at ICM Partners who said Justin reminded her of Paul Newman in the Rocky Graziano film Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

Justin honed his craft in local theaters, leaving audiences in awe of his natural ability to embody complicated characters. His gravitas quickly set him apart as a talent to watch as noted by Iris Mann of Backstage who said, "Sintic has a magnetic stage presence and projects a fascinating sense that there is turmoil boiling beneath the surface." His years on the ice have instilled in him a discipline and tenacity which characterize his approach to acting, while his athleticism and vulnerability infuse performances with a unique physicality and authenticity.

As a true New Jersey native, Justin has embraced a bicoastal lifestyle, seamlessly navigating the worlds of both New York and Los Angeles. His connection to the energy of the East Coast has shaped him into a dynamic and adaptable actor, equally at home in the gritty realism of urban dramas and the sun-soaked glamour of Hollywood.

Known for his humility and genuine appreciation for his craft, which he continues to explore with acting coach Greta Seacat, Justin has emerged as a captivating force in the realm of entertainment, reminiscent of the timeless charm and talent embodied by the throwbacks of the industry.

Growing up in Huntington, her father worked as an engineer and her mother worked as a teacher. As a child she discovered her penchant for dressing up and her preference for the bad guys she read. Later, while studying at the State University of New York at Buffalo, she developed her passion for art. After painting, Sherman began taking photographs. The "Hallwalls" exhibition was founded at this time. In 1975 and 1975 she created the photo series "Untitled A - D" and "Bus Riders". She graduated from college in 1976 and settled in New York. They represent her famous self-portraits, in which she slips into different roles through disguise and make-up and portrays different types of women. In particular, the "Untitled Film Stills" created between 1977 and 1980 made Sherman known as a photographer, self-director and disguise artist.

The photographic works in black and white show her as an actress. The artist wanted to draw attention to the role clichés of women - based on the films of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1995, the Museum of Modern Art paid more than a million dollars for it. With the photo series "History Portraits" Cindy Sherman turns to the role of women in the history of art. In real life she fills a dual role, being a model and photographer (artist) at the same time. The intentions of her works include not only the staging of one's own body, but also critical messages about identity, feminine role clichés, violence, sexuality, play and reality, ugliness and beauty, as well as the revelations of the topics addressed. Another thematic focus of her work relates to the image of the body, which she alienated for the first time in the series "Disasters" (1985 - 1989).

In these works, she herself is no longer the subject of her work, but rather a mix of repulsive materials such as prosthetic body parts or rotting food. They represent temporality and decay and are intended to evoke feelings of disgust in the viewer. For the artist, the grotesqueness of the body is based, among other things, on the alienation in the photography of models. Cindy Sherman was named one of the ten best living artists by ARTnews magazine. Today she still lives in New York. After two marriages to the video artist Michel Auder, she is dating the musician David Byrne. In 2008, a Sherman work fetched a record $2.85 million at a Christie's auction. In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York showed a large-scale exhibition entitled "Cindy Sherman. A retrospective". Under the title "Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s from the Verbund Collection, Vienna", it was on view in 2016/17 at the Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe.

In 2016, Sherman was honored with the prestigious "Praemium Imperiale" and in 2019 she was awarded the Max Beckmann Prize. In the same year, 2019, her retrospective followed at the National Portrait Gallery (London).

William LeMassena was born on 23 May 1916 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for All That Jazz (1979), Carousel (1956) and The Tempest (1960). He died on 19 January 1993 in New Suffolk, New York, USA.

Robert Lydiard was born on 28 April 1944 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Law & Order (1990), The Paper Chase (1973) and The Finger Lakes (2009).

Gregory DePetro is a New Jersey native and was inspired by his sister's friend at a birthday party who asked "if you could do anything you wanted and would be guaranteed success, what would it be?". His answer was acting, and he subsequently submitted to a casting call in a local theater and won the part of Capt. Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He had found his passion and continued to work in local theater and starred in a small production in New York City which packed the tiny venue every show. He landed several roles immediately in independent films in New York, one short film about an aging super hero titled The Protector earned him "Best Actor in Show" in a small film festival. This inspired him to make the move to Hollywood where he began studying film acting at the Ivana Chubbuck studio in Hollywood. He has written, produced, and starred in a short film starring Michael Monks and Todd Bridges, and starred in a ground breaking horror film titled Hate Crime that created quite a stir in the horror genre. He can be seen in the lead role of Detective Howard in the feature film RIFT. Greg seems to have found a niche portraying characters that outwardly appear normal, but ultimately reveal a darker side. Greg continues to return to the stage in live theater as well and in his role of Jack Rossi, the powerful Hollywood producer in Michael Leoni's new play "Famous", he has been referred to as "Terrifying". Famous has been developed into a feature film scheduled for release in the fall. In Greg's latest project portraying Dr. Simon in the thriller No Second Chance he continues to delve deeper into the layers of complex characters.

Jennifer Ritchkoff hails from New Jersey. She first began studying acting and performing at a young age, doing 30+ plays over the years. Jennifer graduated Cum Laude from Monclair State University with a B.F.A. in Theater. Jennifer moved from New York to Los Angeles, California in 1998. She had a starring role as Tricia in both Camp Blood 1 & 2 horror slasher pictures. She has done several other films, including a small part as a marine captain in David Mamet's Spartan. Jennifer has also had costar and guest roles in TV projects. And in recent years, she's been doing VoiceOver Work. She has also been a professional acting coach and writer, with a background in various areas of the arts.

Keith Birkfeld is a Media and Business Development Executive, specializing in the development, production and distribution of TV Series and Films, working in management roles for MGM, and serving as General Manager for Empire Network KVCR (PBS and NPR for the Inland Empire) and Indigenous network, First Nations Experience (FNX). TV Series involvement includes The History Channel's Vikings, MTV's Teen Wolf, PBS' Hopefuls and numerous award-winning feature films.

Richard Farrell was born on 12 November 1943 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for The Final Countdown (1980) and Starring the Jolly Rogers (2004). He died on 31 March 2014 in Collierville, Tennessee, USA.

Before coming to ABCNEWS, Stewart was a correspondent for CBS News' Sunday Morning, since 1998. While reporting for Sunday Morning, Stewart also contributed to other CBS News broadcasts, including This Morning, the Evening News, and 48 Hours. She first joined CBS as a general assignment correspondent in December 1996. At CBS News, Stewart reported on a wide range of topics, including the rights of the disabled, abortion clinic terrorism and an inner-city Baltimore student exchange program with Africa, as well as several profiles of legendary artists, including John Lee Hooker. Stewart joined CBS News from MTV News, where she was a reporter since January 1993. For MTV News, Stewart reported on the 1992 and 1996 presidential election campaigns. Stewart was awarded a Peabody Award for her work on the channel's 1992 Choose or Loose election coverage. While at MTV News, Stewart also hosted Unfiltered and reported for Megadose, the channel's alternative health program. In addition, Stewart served as anchor for MTV News' On the Radio, a syndicated daily radio broadcast. From 1991 to 1993, Stewart was a segment producer for MTV News. Prior to joining MTV News, Stewart was the music director for WBRU Radio at Brown University, the nation's largest commercial college radio station (1988). She also hosted PBS's Act Against Racism Campaign, anchored the news for WHTZ Radio in New York, and served as a contributing writer for Swing Magazine. Stewart graduated from Brown University with a degree in English and American Literature. She lives in New York City.

Barbara Dillon was born on 2 September 1927 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. She was a writer, known for The Magical World of Disney (1954) and A Mom for Christmas (1990). She died on 28 March 2018 in Darien, Connecticut, USA.

John's career path was a little unorthodox. A starving actor for years, he tripped over an opportunity to launch a production company on a whim in 1997 and through trial by fire created Café Digital - a weekly hosted documentary/variety series on the cultural impact of digital technology. He served as the show's executive producer and went on to a successful launch. The program aired across the US in broadcast syndication (1998 - 2001) before securing second window distribution deals on Discovery Science Channel and Discovery Channel - Asia & Latin America.

Over the years he has had a consistent record of success in production, and content development, encompassing a diverse career. He is known as a team builder with applied development, creative, technical, organizational and leadership skills across a wide range of TV genres.

Now, with over 20 years in the business, he has fostered a solid foundation in the development, launch and enduring production of large-scale syndicated reality strips, soft-scripted, documentary and format reality series for major broadcast and top cable television networks topping $300 Million in total output. He has had direct oversight of nearly 1,500 hours of programming in various genres and acquired hands-on experience in directing, writing, original content development, producing, show running and creative production supervision.

Charles G. Mortimer Jr. was born on 12 February 1926 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), Last of the Red-Hot Dragons (1980) and King of the Beasts (1977). He died on 9 February 2015.

Born Thomas Carter Padgett in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Son of John W. Padgett and Shirley T. Padgett. His father, of English and Scottish descent, grew up in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma and was a chemical engineer/inventor. His mom, of English and Swiss descent, grew up in rural Illinois. Padgett has two older siblings -- one brother and one sister. The family lived in Upper Monclair, NJ, a sleepy little NYC suburb. In 1955, the family moved to Bernardsville in north central New Jersey connected to NYC by the Erie-Lackawana commuter rail system.

Padgett attended the Bernardsville public schools from K through 11. The family moved the New Canaan, Connecticut in 1967 where Tom graduated from New Canaan High School in 1968. Padgett completed his B.S. degree in 1973 and graduated from PSC/University of New Hampshire. He was a hotel executive for nearly 30 years with 3 different upscale full service hotel corporations. He is currently (2015) retired and lives in Gilbertsville on Kentucky Lake.

Famed composer ("Trumpeter's Prayer"), conductor, trumpeter, record company executive and author, educated at Juillard and a student of Bernard Wagenaar, Joseph Littau, Cesare Sodero, and Jan Meyerwitz. He was a trumpeter in dance orchestras, and scored films in England. In 1952, he became the music director for Walt Disney and Disneyland Records, for which he made many records. He also recorded other albums, including the popular "Tutti's Trumpets" and "Tutti's Trombones" titles which featured his compositions and arrangements. Joining ASCAP in 1948, his popular songs and instrumentals include "Mutiny in the Brass Section", "Story of the Stars", "Hollywood Pastime", "Dixieland Detour", "Moonlight Masquerade", "Louis", and "No More". He also composed the work "Verdiana Suite".

Matthew Cost was born on 26 May 1979 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for Summer Blink (2010) and Working Stiffs (2008).

Salvador Camarata was born on 11 May 1913 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, USA. He is a production designer, known for Lejana como el viento (2002) and Como tú, ninguna (1994). He was previously married to Dorene Camarata.