BlackTree TV covers The 80th Annual Academy Awards

Best Supporting Actress

Tilda Swinton

The iconoclastic gifts of the visually striking and enigmatic actress Tilda Swinton, who was born on November 5th, 1960, in London, have been appreciated by a more international audience of late. Born into a patrician Scottish military family, she was educated in an English boarding school along with Princess Diana. Tilda subsequently studied at Social and Politcal Science Cambridge University, but changed courses and graduated in 1983 with a degree in English Literature. She performed a season with the Royal Shakespeare Company. A decided rebel when it came to the arts, she left abruptly after a year as her approach shifted dramatically

Cate Blanchett

Ruby Dee

Saoirse Ronan

Amy Ryan

Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. At the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), Clayton, a former prosecutor from a family of cops, takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work. Clayton cleans up clients' messes, handling anything from hit-and-runs and damaging stories in the press to shoplifting wives and crooked politicians. Though burned out and discontented in his job, Clayton is inextricably tied to the firm.

At the agrochemical company U/North, the career of in-house chief counsel Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the settlement of the suit that Kenner, Bach & Ledeen is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. When the firm's top litigator, the brilliant Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has an apparent breakdown and tries to sabotage the entire case, Marty Bach sends Michael Clayton to tackle this unprecedented disaster and, in doing so, Clayton comes face to face with the reality of who he has become.

Cast

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Samuels Media and Castle Rock Entertainment, a Mirage Enterprises/Section Eight Production, "Michael Clayton," starring Academy Award winner George Clooney ("Syriana"), Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson ("In the Bedroom"), Tilda Swinton ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe") and Sydney Pollack ("The Interpreter").

Production Team

The film was written and directed by Tony Gilroy (screenwriter, "The Bourne Identity," "The Bourne Supremacy"). Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, Steven Samuels and Kerry Orent served as producers, with Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, James Holt and Anthony Minghella serving as executive producers.

Joining the director behind the scenes were director of photography Robert Elswit, production designer Kevin Thompson, editor John Gilroy and costume designer Sarah Edwards. The music is by James Newton Howard.