Cassian Elwes

Cassian Elwes (born 7 August 1959) is an independent film producer and agent, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential people in the independent film industry.^[1]

Early life and education

Cassian Elwes is a son of Dominic Elwes, a portrait painter, and Tessa Kennedy, an interior designer. He is the brother of actor Cary Elwes and artist Damian Elwes. He is the stepson of Elliott Kastner, an American film producer.

Career

Elwes began his producing career with 1983's Oxford Blues starring Rob Lowe and Ally Sheedy and quickly went on to make another 29 films, including Men at Work, with Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, and The Chase with Sheen.

In 1995, Elwes joined William Morris. His first effort was the long stalled project The English Patient which won best picture that year. He quickly followed up with such indie hits as Sling Blade and The Apostle, both of which were nominated for multiple Oscars. Monster's Ball was their follow up, which won Halle Berry the Best Actress Oscar.

The Hollywood Reporter has said that Elwes was "involved in a virtual who's who of every great independent film of the last ten years" with films such as Thank You For Smoking, Half Nelson, and Frozen River (the last two of which garnered Oscar nominations for Ryan Gosling and Melissa Leo respectively).

"What people lose sight of," Elwes said to Screen International, "is that these films cost a tenth of the films that they competed against at the Academy Awards. The privilege was the recognition."

Elwes is an expert in the field of arranging financing and distribution for independent films having done so for 283 films during his tenure at William Morris Independent.

Since leaving William Morris Independent, Elwes has been involved in arranging financing and distribution for 23 films including Lawless, directed by John Hillcoat, (The Road), starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy, and the thriller The Paperboy, directed by Lee Daniels (Precious), starring Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron. Elwes produced the period drama The Butler, which was directed by Lee Daniels and featured an ensemble cast, including Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Terrence Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, Alan Rickman, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Williams, among others.

Additionally, he produced Dallas Buyers Club starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, Saints starring Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster, and Hateship, Loveship starring Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, Hailee Steinfeld and Nick Nolte.

On 29 October 2013 Elwes launched the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriter Fellowship, in conjunction with The Black List, to award one writer an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and mentorship from Elwes. Elwes and The Black List plan to award the fellowship annually.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

William Morris years

From 1994 to 2009, he co-headed William Morris Independent as an agent at The William Morris Agency, representing independent films and independent film producers; a position he held until the merger of that agency with Endeavor.^[7][8]

Producer

Ancestry

References

External links

• Cassian Elwes at the Internet Movie Database