Courtney Solomon

Born: September 1st 1970
Where: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Immersed in the business since the age of five, Courtney practically grew up on film sets with his mother, Fran Solomon, who spent 22 years as a production co-ordinator in Toronto.

While still at school, Solomon's cinematic eye foresaw the potential of the world famous role-playing game phenomenon, Dungeons & Dragons.

"I grew up with a true love for Steven Spielberg and George Lucas films and I immediately knew I wanted to direct D&D in an unknown universe similar to Star Wars, and with the roller-coaster adventure of Indiana Jones."

He raised the money needed for filmmaking by taking part-time jobs after school and borrowing money from his grandfather.

By the age of 19, he had worked on over twenty productions in film and television as everything from production assistant to First Assistant Director.

It was then that he started up his production company - Sweetpea Entertainment - named, bizarrely, after Elvis Presley's mother's dog.

In 1991, by the age of 21 and after eighteen months of active negotiations, Solomon had obtained the film rights to Dungeons & Dragons.

He'd never made a film before and he realised the enormity of the task in hand, but he wasn't deterred.

In 1993, Courtney had purchased all media and co-merchandising rights to Dungeons & Dragons and by 1994, he had completed the first draft screenplay for the movie.