Rick Rosenthal

Rosenthal helped launch Sean Penn's career when he cast the then-unknown actor in the title role of the 1983 film Bad Boys . Rosenthal worked on the Emmy-winning ABC series Life Goes On as well as such series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Providence, Buffy the Vampire Slayer , and Smallville .

In recent years, Rosenthal has turned to the independent film world, continuing to direct, but also producing as well, giving opportunities to first time directors. The first production under the Whitewater Films banner was the Sundance Film Festival hit Mean Creek .

Mean Creek was followed by writer-director Scott Prendergast's first feature, Kabluey , starring Lisa Kudrow.