Fathers' Day - About The Filmmakers

Fathers' Day: About The Filmmakers

IVAN REITMAN (Director/producer) as a producer and director, has created many of American cinema's most successful and best-loved feature film comedies and has worked with Hollywood's acting elite.

Reitman currently heads Northern Lights Entertainment, a film and television production company. Among his most recent productions are Warner Bros.' hit live action/animated feature film, "Space Jam," starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny, and "Private Parts," starring Howard Stern as himself.

Reitman has produced such other hits as the ground-breaking sensation "National Lampoon's Animal House," which introduced John Belushi to American filmgoers, and the family features "Beethoven" and "Beethoven's 2nd." His directing credits include "Meatballs" and "Stripes," films which helped launch the career of Bill Murray; the two "Ghostbusters" films, starring Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd and Harold Ramis; and "Dave," which starred Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.

With "Twins," Reitman created an entirely new comedic persona for action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and forged a personal and professional relationship that continued with "Kindergarten Cop" and "Junior." Acclaimed dramatic actors such as Robert Redford, Debra Winger, Sigourney Weaver and Emma Thompson have also revealed untapped comic talents under Reitman's direction.

In 1984, Reitman was honored as Director of the Year by the National Association of Theater Owners and the next year received a Special Achievement Award at the Canadian Genie awards. In 1979 and again in 1989 Reitman was honored with the People's Choice Award, for his films "Animal House" and "Twins." In November, 1994, Reitman became the third director honored by Variety magazine in a special Billion Dollar Director issue.

Reitman will soon begin producing and directing "6 Days/7 Nights," a romantic comedy starring Harrison Ford.

In addition to his achievements in film, Reitman has also forged a formidable career on television. He recently produced the HBO telefilm "The Late Shift," based on Bill Carter's non-fiction book about the late-night television wars; the production received seven Emmy nominations. Other recent producing endeavors include "Commandments," starring Aidan Quinn.

His television projects include the Emmy-nominated children's show "The Real Ghostbusters" and the Saturday morning animated series "Beethoven" for CBS. He is presently working on a new animated children's show, "Mummies."

Reitman was born in Czechoslovakia and fled with his family to Canada at the age of four. He attended Canada's McMaster University, where he produced and directed several television shorts. He followed with a live television show, "Greed," with Dan Akyroyd as its announcer.

"Spellbound," which Reitman produced for the live stage, evolved into the Broadway hit "The Magic Show," starring Doug Henning. He continued producing for the stage with the Off-Broadway hit "The National Lampoon Show," and returned to Broadway to produce and direct the musical "Merlin," earning a Tony nomination for directing.

JOEL SILVER (Producer) is one of the most successful producers in the motion picture industry today. Silver most recently produced "Conspiracy Theory," starring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, directed by Richard Donner and scheduled for release this summer. His Silver Pictures is currently in production on "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," based on John Berendt's best-selling book and directed by Clint Eastwood.

With the success of "Executive Decision," Silver saw the eleventh of his films earn a worldwide box-office total of more than $100 million. The others are "Lethal Weapon," "Lethal Weapon 2," "Lethal Weapon 3," "Die Hard," "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," "Predator," "Commando," "48 HRS." "The Last Boy Scout" and "Demolition Man."

Raised in South Orange, New Jersey, Silver attended New York University, where he produced his first film, a short entitled "Ten Pin Alley." Shortly after the completion of his studies, he moved to Los Angeles, where his first job in the film industry was as an assistant to producer Lawrence Gordon. Within a short time, Silver was named President of the Motion Picture Division of Lawrence Gordon Productions.

Silver's first projects with Gordon involved the development, production and marketing of "The Driver," written and directed by Walter Hill, as well as the Burt Reynolds films "Hooper" and "The End." Silver served as associate producer on Hill's next film, "The Warriors," and continued his association with the director as he and Gordon produced "48 HRS.," "Streets of Fire" and "Brewster's Millions."

Silver's first independent production was "Commando," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, followed by "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and another Schwarzenegger hit, "Predator." Silver then produced (with Richard Donner) "Lethal Weapon," "Lethal Weapon 2" and "Lethal Weapon 3" (all directed by Donner), as well as "Die Hard," "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," "The Last Boy Scout," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "Richie Rich," "Assassins" and "Fair Game."

Silver shares executive producer credit with Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill and Robert Zemeckis in the HBO series "Tales From the Crypt," which has garnered 10 ACE Awards, including Best Dramatic Series, from the National Academy for Cable Programming. The partnership released the hit film "Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight," the first feature film based on the series, and the second "Crypt"-based film, "Bordello of Blood."

In 1990, Silver was honored by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), who named him Producer of the Year. He also received an Image Award from the NAACP in recognition of his utilization of minority actors in a wide variety of roles. In 1993 Silver received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring his contribution to filmed entertainment.

JOE MEDJUCK (Executive producer) taught for 12 years at the University of Toronto before beginning his long association with Ivan Reitman. Medjuck served as associate producer on the Broadway musical "Merlin" and the films "Stripes" and "Ghostbusters"; as executive producer on "Legal Eagles," "Twins," "Ghostbusters II," "Kindergarten Cop," "Dave," "Junior" and Howard Stern's "Private Parts"; and as producer of "Big Shots," "Stop...Or My Mom Will Shoot," "Beethoven," "Beethoven's 2nd," the live action/animated feature "Space Jam," starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny, and the soon-to-be-released "Commandments," starring Aiden Quinn.

He also executive produced the Emmy-nominated children's show "The Real Ghostbusters" and co-executive produced the Emmy-nominated HBO telefilm "The Late Shift."

Presently, Medjuck is in pre-production as executive producer on "6 Days/7 Nights," a comedy starring Harrison Ford, and as producer on the upcoming children's animated series, "Mummies," with DIC Entertainment.

Executive producer DANIEL GOLDBERG, a longtime colleague of Ivan Reitman's, served as writer/producer on the films "Stripes" and "Meatballs" and as a writer for "Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone." He wrote and directed "Feds" and was second-unit director on "Beethoven's 2nd" and executive producer on "Junior." In 1996, Goldberg was nominated for an Emmy for HBO's telefilm, "The Late Shift," which he co-executive produced.

Goldberg's recent producing credits include the live action/animated feature, "Space Jam," with Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny; Howard Stern's "Private Parts"; and the soon-to-be-released "Commandments" with Aidan Quinn.

Presently, Goldberg is in pre-production on "6 Days/7 Nights," starring Harrison Ford, for which he is an executive producer. He is also producing the upcoming children's animated series, "Mummies," with DIC Entertainment.

FRANCIS VEBER (Executive producer) is a writer, director and producer. His screenplay of "La Cage Aux Folles" was recently remade in the United States as "The Birdcage," starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. His other French screenwriting credits include "My Father, the Hero," "Three Fugitives," "Partners," "Fear Over the City," "Father's Day" (the French version) and "The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe."

Among the films Veber has directed are "Le Jaguar," "Out On A Limb," "Welcome to Buzzsaw," "Three Fugitives" (which he also produced) and "Father's Day."

Co-producer GORDON WEBB served in the same capacity on "Space Jam," "Junior," "Beethoven" and "Beethoven's 2nd." He was an associate producer on Reitman's "Dave," "Kindergarten Cop," "Ghostbusters II" and "Twins." He co-produced "The Couch Trip" and was associate producer on such other films as "Brubaker," "Modern Problems," "Fletch," "Wildcats" and "The Golden Child."

The son of the late producer/director Harry S. Webb, Gordon Webb began his career as an assistant director on "Jubal Troop." In the '60s and '70s, his television credits as a producer include movies-of-the-week and television pilots and, as an assistant director/production manager, the "Perry Mason" series, "Gunsmoke," "The Wild, Wild West" and "Mission: Impossible."

Webb's other feature-film credits include "An Enemy of the People," "Making Love," "The Buddy System," "The Evil That Men Do," "SSSsss," "Night Train" and "Macho Calahan."

Co-producer KARYN FIELDS most recently co-produced "Executive Decision" for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros.

A communications graduate of the University of Southern California, Fields joined Silver Pictures immediately after completing her studies. She worked her way up through the ranks there on a variety of film projects. Fields associate produced "Assassins" and is currently associate producer on the HBO series "Tales From the Crypt."

LOWELL GANZ & BABALOO MANDEL (Screenwriters), among the industry's most successful comedy screenwriters, have been partners for 15 years. Their collaborations include "Night Shift," "Splash," "Spies Like Us," "Parenthood," "City Slickers," "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold," "A League of Their Own," "Mr. Saturday Night," "Greedy," "Forget Paris" and, most recently, "Multiplicity."

Their television credits include "The Odd Couple," "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley" and the "Parenthood" pilot.

STEPHEN H. BURUM (Director of Photography) has photographed several Brian De Palma films, including "Carlito's Way," "Raising Cain," "Casualties of War," "The Untouchables" and "Body Double."

Among his other credits are "Nutcracker, the Motion Picture," "Hoffa," "I Love You to Death," "The War of the Roses," "Arthur II: On the Rocks," "Uncommon Valor," "Rumble Fish" and "The Outsiders." Burum was second-unit director of photography on "The Black Stallion" and "Apocalypse Now."

TOM SANDERS (Production Designer) made his debut as a production designer on Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula," for which he was honored with an Academy Award nomination. He also served as production designer on "Maverick," which starred Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner. Previously, Sanders served as art director on a number of motion pictures, including Steven Spielberg's "Hook," "Days of Thunder," "Naked Tango" and "Revenge."

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