Identified by The Los Angeles Times as "someone to watch," Ziad's work has earned over thirty trade awards for directing and producing, including the Kennedy Center Meritorious Achievement Award for Directing and The Chairman's Award from Who's Who Among Outstanding Americans. Most recently his work includes the film Eternal Embrace for Unicorn Shadow Productions, Cubs for Mystique Films, and he's currently in development for two other features Pegasus Wings and Addie. Ziad has also been sought out to write and direct highly successful television commercials for Kirin Beer, Pleasant Farms, and Battered Women of America, as well as dramas such as Baal, Poor Murderer, Silent Knock and the film pilots LHR, El Amor Brujo, and The Party Host.

In Los Angeles, Ziad created two extraordinary theatres: The Open Fist Theatre and The Egyptian Arena. As Artistic Director of these award-winning venues, Ziad brought to the Los Angeles theatre community many prestigious international names such as Brecht, Beckett, Artue, Arrabel, Lorca, Gretzky, and Churchill. He has directed and produced over sixty major award winning stage productions, among them Roxy Ventola's After The Bomb, Poor Murderer, Brecht's Baal, Sam Shephard's True West, Car Cemetery, The Architect and Empress of Assyria, Cinders, Shakespeare's Hamlet, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre, Nicholas Kazan's Blood Moon, Low Level Panic, and Dusa, Fish, Stas, and Vi. In addition, Ziad's work has been seen at The Barnsdale Gallery, The Celtic Arts Center, Harmony Gold Studios, The Los Angeles Theatre Center, and The Harvard Film Archive. Ziad also teaches aspiring graduate and undergraduate students in directing, acting and writing for film at many prestigious institutions including The Maine International Film and Television Workshops and Rockport College.

Marc Sandler
Screenwriter/Producer/Actor

Marc has written and co-written six screenplays (Shadow Glories, Ballistic, Working Class Heroes, Neverland, Hangman, Rules For Misbehavior), three television pilots (Doctors in Lala Land, Working Class Heroes, The Underground), and currently in development at Kayenta Productions in France - the animation series Hackland. He's been a contributing writer to the TBS Network children's show Feed Your Mind, worked as script analyst for The USA Cable Network's feature film division, and has taught screenwriting at both the prestigious Maine International Film and Television Workshops and The Grub Street Writers private school in Boston. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Nicholl Foundation and The Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema have honored Marc for his screenplay Shadow Glories. In addition, Marc is currently in the early stages of his first novel, Sunset Rising.

A veteran actor, Marc received the Critics Choice Award for Best Performance by an Actor by the Los Angeles Dramalogue. He's appeared in the original casts of Dalene Young's Night Angels and Roxy Ventola's After The Bomb, as well as the Los Angeles premiere production of The Pixley Caper and the re-staging of Orson Welles' Moby Dick, Rehearsed. He was an original member of the award winning Open Fist Theatre in Los Angeles where he acted, directed, taught acting classes, and served as assistant artistic director. He's worked as both actor and director's assistant with The West Coast Ensemble Company and studied acting and movement with The Philadelphia Company of the Walnut Street Theatre, as well as master classes with Misha Nuchi of The Moscow Art Theatre. Marc has appeared in several independent feature films including Ziad Hamzeh's Baal, Tony Spiridakis' Self Storage, Marek Provost's The Last Supper, and Jordan Ellis' When Tomorrow Hits. As a director, he staged Harold Pinter's The Lover, John Lewis Carlino's Snow Angel, and the American theatre premiere of April de Angelis' Hush.

Kurt Brabbee
Cinematographer

After studying at The American Film Institute, Kurt shot several features for film legend Roger Corman. He soon became the cinematographer of choice for over fifteen films including Showtime's Wilbur Falls, starring Danny Aiello and Academy Award winner Sally Kirkland and Sam Churchill starring John Schneider. For HBO Pictures he shot Westing Game, starring Academy Award winners Ray Walston and Diane Ladd. And he was recently behind the camera for the feature film After Image, starring John Mellencamp, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

In addition to his work as a cinematographer, Kurt has received critical acclaim as a still photographer and painter, with works exhibited in galleries throughout the world including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, and Japan.

Gregory Ruzzin
Film Editor

Prior to editing Shadow Glories, Gregory, a graduate of USC's prestigious School of Cinema-Television, directed two feature films, The Hungry Bachelors Club and Blue Skies Are A Lie.

The Hungry Bachelors Club, produced by Mama's Boys LLC, opened nationally in November 1999. Blue Skies Are A Lie premiered at the 1995 Vancouver International Film Festival and marked his feature film writing, directing, and editing debut. Prior to his feature film work, Gregory directed 13 short films, including the 1993 Sundance Film Festival premiere Hollywood (and Vine).

Bert Brown
Producer

Shadow Glories is the second project Bert has worked on with director Ziad Hamzeh, having previously served as line producer on Eternal Embrace. Bert began his career in Hollywood working with Dove Films on national commercials with Academy Award-winning director/cameramen such as Haskell Wexler, Conrad Hall, and Vilmos Zsigmond. He served as a freelance production coordinator, production manager, assistant director, and line producer for numerous commercial production companies including Wexler-Hall Films, the Maysle Brothers, and Sid Myers Films with such notable directors as Tony Scott and Harold Becker. During this time he was also involved with the feature film Ali-The Greatest, two PBS Network series', and musical videos for A&M Records. Among the hundreds of commercials Bert produced were celebrity spots featuring such luminaries as Orson Welles, George Burns, Pearl Bailey, Carol Channing, Christie Brinkley, and David Copperfield.

In 1985, Bert formed Star Turn Pictures, a multi-director commercial production company. He served as its president and co-executive producer supervising strategic planning, marketing, sales, and production. Star Turn's clients included top advertisers such as McDonald's, General Mills, Pizza Hut, Chevrolet, and Mattel Toys.

Bert has relocated with his family to Connecticut in where he became the director of the Connecticut Film & Video Office. He supervised all aspects of film office strategy and operations. During his tenure he was involved in bringing over 200 film and video projects into the state, 20 of them features. Among these features parrtially or entirely shot in Connecticut during this time were Steven Spielberg's Amistad, Barry Levinson's Sleepers, Rob Cohen's Daylight, and Ang Lee's The Ice Storm. Bert is a member of the Directors Guild of America.

Neringa Bryant
Unit Production Manager

In addition to her work as a Unit Production Manager, Neringa wrote and produced the film Eternal Embrace, directed by Ziad H. Hamzeh. She's penned two romantic suspense manuscripts, Shadowed Winner and Stolen Secrets, the action/fantasy screenplay Crossover, the comedy teleplay Alexandra's Gang, and the medical suspense thriller Twilight Murders. She co-wrote an hour teleplay for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and is currently writing Surrendered Spirit, a two-hour pilot for the new television series The Rogues.

Neringa is an active member of The Romance Writers of America, where she served as the New England Chapter president from 1986-1988, created their Scriptscene/RWA website, and was a speaker and screenwriting competition judge at RWA regional and national conferences. Also a member of The Harvard Square Scriptwriters, Neringa is currently the editor of The Harvard Square Scriptwriters Newsletters.

Eric Allen
Fight Coordinator

Eric has earned a highly regarded reputation as one of the motion picture industry's top fight coordinators. He's taken his over thirty years of experience as a fighter and martial arts instructor to the sound stages of Warner Brothers, Paramount, and Universal Studios. As a personal trainer, he's worked with the likes of film producer Jon Peters, former President of Warner Bros. Billy Gerber, actors James Spader, Eric Stoltz, Ron Perlman, Catherine Oxenberg, Pamela Reed, Cecilia Peck, entertainers Cyndi Lauper and Merv Griffin, and supermodel Vendela. As an actor, he honed his skills at The Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles.

In television, film and on stage Eric has worked as an actor, stuntman, and martial arts fight coordinator. Having staged fight scenes in feature films, television, and commercials, he's often called upon to take actors with little or no fight experience and make them look like professional boxers and martial artists.

In 1967, at the age of ten, Eric excelled as a martial artist under the tutelage of Japanese Masters Okazaki and Nakayama. By the age of fifteen he had earned his First Degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and had already begun teaching a loyal following. After receiving his Fourth Degree black belt at the unheard of age of nineteen, he decided to expand his horizons and study other martial arts, receiving black belts in both Kenpo and Kickboxing.

Kareem Roustom
Composer

Kareem has composed, arranged, and produced music for film, television, multimedia, the concert hall, and album projects. Residing in the Los Angeles area, his credits include works for MTV, Paramount Pictures, VH-1 Entertainment, Fox Pictures, NBC Productions, BBC World Service TV, and others. In 1996 he was the winner of BMI’s Pete Carpenter Fellowship, a composition competition for film composers under the age of 35.

Sharon E. Phillion
Make-up Artist and Esthetician

Sharon has over eleven years experience using an array of make-up, make-up design, and hairstyling techniques for film, television, and stage. She's worked extensively in commercials, corporate video and industrials, the Internet, print, and live performances; and is also a highly skilled practitioner of character and fantasy make-up, blood work, bruises, burns, prosthetics, and wigs. She's lent her skills to Access Hollywood, TV Guide Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The Bravo Channel, NYNEX-TV, WGBH-TV, MTV, and MTV2 among others.

Robert Sweda
Script Supervisor