Filmmaking (often referred to in an academic context as film production) is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program. Filmmaking takes place all over the planet in a huge range of economic, social, and political contexts, and using a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques. Typically, it involves a large number of people, and takes from a few months to several years to complete, although it may take longer if there are production issues, and the record for the longest production time for a major film is ''The Thief and the Cobbler'''s 28 years development.

Parts [link]

Film production occurs in three stages:

Pre-production—Preparations are made for the shoot, in which cast and film crew are hired, locations are selected, and sets are built. This is also the stage in which the ideas for the film are created, rights to books/plays are bought, etc.

Production—The raw elements for the finished film are recorded.

Post-Production—The film is edited; production sound (dialogue) is concurrently (but separately) edited, music tracks (and songs) are composed, performed and recorded, if a film is sought to have a score; sound effects are designed and recorded; and any other computer-graphic 'visual' effects are digitally added, all sound elements are mixed into "stems" then the stems are mixed then married to picture and the film is fully completed ("locked").

Development [link]

In this stage, the project's producer finds a story, which may come from a book, play, another film, a true story, original idea, etc. After identifying a theme or underlying message, the producer works with writers to prepare a synopsis. Next they produce a step outline, which breaks the story down into one-paragraph scenes that concentrate on dramatic structure. Then, they prepare a treatment, a 25-to-30-page description of the story, its mood, and characters. This usually has little dialogue and stage direction, but often contains drawings that help visualize key points. Another way is to produce a scriptment once a synopsis is produced.

Next, a screenwriter writes a screenplay over a period of several months. The screenwriter may rewrite it several times to improve dramatization, clarity, structure, characters, dialogue, and overall style. However, producers often skip the previous steps and develop submitted screenplays which investors, studios, and other interested parties assess through a process called script coverage. A film distributor may be contacted at an early stage to assess the likely market and potential financial success of the film. Hollywood distributors adopt a hard-headed business approach and consider factors such as the film genre, the target audience, the historical success of similar films, the actors who might appear in the film, and potential directors. All these factors imply a certain appeal of the film to a possible audience and hence the number of "A.I.S." (or "Asses in Seats") during the theatrical release. Not all films make a profit from the theatrical release alone, so film companies take DVD sales and worldwide distribution rights into account.

The producer and screenwriter prepare a film pitch, or treatment, and present it to potential financiers. If the pitch is successful, the film receives a "green light", meaning someone offers financial backing: typically a major film studio, film council, or independent investor. The parties involved negotiate a deal and sign contracts. Once all parties have met and the deal has been set, the film may proceed into the pre-production period. By this stage, the film should have a clearly defined marketing strategy and target audience.

Pre-production [link]

In pre-production, every step of actually creating the film is carefully designed and planned. The production company is created and a production office established. The production is storyboarded and visualized with the help of illustrators and concept artists. A production budget is drawn up to plan expenditures for the film. For major productions, insurance is procured to protect against accidents.

The producer hires a crew. The nature of the film, and the budget, determine the size and type of crew used during filmmaking. Many Hollywood blockbusters employ a cast and crew of hundreds, while a low-budget, independent film may be made by a skeleton crew of eight or nine (or fewer). These are typical crew positions:

The director is primarily responsible for the storytelling, creative decisions and acting of the film.

The assistant director (AD) manages the shooting schedule and logistics of the production, among other tasks. There are several types of AD, each with different responsibilities.

The casting director finds actors to fill the parts in the script. This normally requires that actors audition.

The location manager finds and manages film locations. Most pictures are shot in the controllable environment of a studio sound stage but occasionally, outdoor sequences call for filming on location.

The production manager manages the production budget and production schedule. They also report, on behalf of the production office, to the studio executives or financiers of the film.

The director of photography (DoP) is the cinematographer who supervises the photography of the entire film

The director of audiography (DoA) is the audiographer who supervises the audiography of the entire film. For productions in the Western world this role is also known as either sound designer or supervising sound editor.

The production sound mixer is the head of the sound department during the production stage of filmmaking. They record and mix the audio on set - dialogue, presence and sound effects in mono and ambience in stereo. They work with the boom operator, Director, DoA, DoP, and First AD.

The sound designer creates the aural conception of the film, working with the supervising sound editor. On some productions the sound designer plays the role of a director of audiography.

The composer creates new music for the film. (usually not until post-production)

The production designer creates the visual conception of the film, working with the art director.

The art director manages the art department, which makes production sets

The costume designer creates the clothing for the characters in the film working closely with the actors, as well as other departments.

The make up and hair designer works closely with the costume designer in addition to create a certain look for a character.

The storyboard artist creates visual images to help the director and production designer communicate their ideas to the production team.

The choreographer creates and coordinates the movement and dance - typically for musicals. Some films also credit a fight choreographer.

Production [link]

In production, the video production/film is created and shot. More crew will be recruited at this stage, such as the property master, script supervisor, assistant directors, stills photographer, picture editor, and sound editors. These are just the most common roles in filmmaking; the production office will be free to create any unique blend of roles to suit the various responsibilities possible during the production of a film.

A typical day's shooting begins with the crew arriving on the set/location by their call time. Actors usually have their own separate call times. Since set construction, dressing and lighting can take many hours or even days, they are often set up in advance. The grip, electric and production design crews are typically a step ahead of the camera and sound departments: for efficiency's sake, while a scene is being filmed, they are already preparing the next one.

While the crew prepare their equipment, the actors are wardrobed in their costumes and attend the hair and make-up departments. The actors rehearse the script and blocking with the director, and the camera and sound crews rehearse with them and make final tweaks. Finally, the action is shot in as many takes as the director wishes. Most American productions follow a specific procedure:

The assistant director (AD) calls "picture is up!" to inform everyone that a take is about to be recorded, and then "quiet, everyone!" Once everyone is ready to shoot, the AD calls "roll sound" (if the take involves sound), and the production sound mixer will start their equipment, record a verbal slate of the take's information, and announce "sound speed" when they are ready. The AD follows with "roll camera", answered by "speed!" by the camera operator once the camera is recording. The clapper, who is already in front of the camera with the clapperboard, calls "marker!" and slaps it shut. If the take involves extras or background action, the AD will cue them ("action background!"), and last is the director, telling the actors "action!".

A take is over when the director calls "cut!", and camera and sound stop recording. The script supervisor will note any continuity issues and the sound and camera teams log technical notes for the take on their respective report sheets. If the director decides additional takes are required, the whole process repeats. Once satisfied, the crew moves on to the next camera angle or "setup," until the whole scene is "covered." When shooting is finished for the scene, the assistant director declares a "wrap" or "moving on," and the crew will "strike," or dismantle, the set for that scene.

At the end of the day, the director approves the next day's shooting schedule and a daily progress report is sent to the production office. This includes the report sheets from continuity, sound, and camera teams. Call sheets are distributed to the cast and crew to tell them when and where to turn up the next shooting day. Later on, the director, producer, other department heads, and, sometimes, the cast, may gather to watch that day or yesterday's footage, called ''dailies'', and review their work.

With workdays often lasting 14 or 18 hours in remote locations, film production tends to create a team spirit. When the entire film is ''in the can,'' or in the completion of the production phase, it is customary for the production office to arrange a wrap party, to thank all the cast and crew for their efforts.

Post-production [link]

Here the video/film is assembled by the video/film editor. The modern use of video in the filmmaking process has resulted in two workflow variants: one using entirely film, and the other using a mixture of film and video.

This is the final stage, where the film is released to cinemas or, occasionally, to consumer media (DVD, VCD, VHS, Blu-ray) or direct download from a provider. The film is duplicated as required for distribution to cinemas. Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published and the film is advertised and promoted.

Film distributors usually release a film with a launch party, press releases, interviews with the press, press preview screenings, and film festival screenings. Most films have a website. The film plays at selected cinemas and the DVD typically is released a few months later. The distribution rights for the film and DVD are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits.

Independent filmmaking [link]

Filmmaking also takes place outside of the mainstream and is commonly called independent filmmaking. Since the introduction of DV technology, the means of production have become more democratized. Filmmakers can conceivably shoot and edit a film, create and edit the sound and music, and mix the final cut on a home computer. However, while the means of production may be democratized, financing, traditional distribution, and marketing remain difficult to accomplish outside the traditional system. In the past, most independent filmmakers have relied on film festivals to get their films noticed and sold for distribution. However, the Internet has allowed for relatively inexpensive distribution of independent films. As a result several companies have emerged to assist filmmakers in getting independent movies seen and sold via mainstream internet marketplaces, oftentimes adjacent to popular Hollywood titles. With internet movie distribution, independent filmmakers who fail to garner a traditional distribution deal now have the ability to reach global audiences.

See also [link]

Audiography

Cinematic techniques

Cinematography

Director of audiography aka Sound Director, Director of Sound

Film crew

Film director

Film editing

Film producer

Film school

Film studies

Film

First look deal

List of film-related topics

Movie production incentives in the United States

Post-production

Pre-production

Screenplay

Screenwriter

Television studies

References [link]

Campbell, Drew: Technical Film and TV for Nontechnical People. Allworth Communications 2002.

External links [link]

Wikibooks [link]

Movie Making Manual

Wikiversity [link]

Wikiversity Courses in Filmmaking

Category:Film Category:Film making Category:Film production Category:Film techniques

cs:Filmová produkce da:Filmproduktion de:Filmproduktion es:Producción audiovisual fr:Réalisation id:Pembuatan film it:Produzione cinematografica no:Filmproduksjon pt:Produção cinematográfica ro:Procesul de producție al unui film ru:Кинопроизводство sv:Filmproduktion uk:Кіновиробництво

Birth name	Quentin Jerome Tarantino
Birth date	March 27, 1963
Birth place	Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, actor
Years active	1988–present
Notable works	''Pulp Fiction'', ''Jackie Brown'', ''Reservoir Dogs'', ''Kill Bill'', ''Inglourious Basterds''
influences	Sergio Leone, Brian De Palma, Howard Hawks, John Woo, Jim Jarmusch, Jean-Luc Godard, Elmore Leonard, Samuel Fuller, Steven Spielberg,Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Sam Peckinpah, Jack Hill, Douglas Sirk, Jean-Pierre Melville, Sergio Corbucci
influenced	Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Sriram Raghavan, Dan Glaser }}

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence. His films include ''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), ''Jackie Brown'' (1997), ''Kill Bill'' (2003, 2004), ''Death Proof'' (2007), and ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009). He has earned an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and the Palme d'Or, as well as Emmy and Grammy nominations. His movies are generally characterized by stylistic influences from grindhouse, kung fu, and spaghetti western films. Tarantino also frequently collaborates with his friend and fellow filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.

Early life[link]

Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Tony Tarantino, an actor and amateur musician who was born in Queens, New York, and Connie McHugh, a nurse. Tarantino's father is of Italian descent and his mother is of Irish and Cherokee ancestry. He was raised by his mother, as his parents separated before his birth. When he was two years old, he moved to Torrance, California and later to the Harbor City neighborhood where he went to Fleming Junior High School in Lomita and took drama classes. He attended Narbonne High School in Harbor City for his freshman year before dropping out of school at age 15, to attend an acting class full time at the James Best Theater Company in Toluca Lake. Quentin grew bored with the James Best Acting School and quit after two years, although he made a point of keeping in touch with all his acting friends. Then he landed a job which threatened to interfere with his long-term acting ambitions.

As an employee of the Video Archives, a now-defunct video rental store in Manhattan Beach, he and fellow movie enthusiasts, including Roger Avary, discussed cinema and customer video recommendations at length. He paid close attention to the types of films people liked to rent and has cited that experience as inspiration for his directorial career. Tarantino has been quoted as saying, "When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.'"

Film career[link]

After Tarantino met Lawrence Bender at a Hollywood party, Bender encouraged him to write a screenplay. Tarantino directed and co-wrote a movie called ''My Best Friend's Birthday'' in 1987. The final reel of the film was almost fully destroyed in a lab fire that occurred during editing but its screenplay would form the basis for ''True Romance''. In January 1992, Tarantino's ''Reservoir Dogs'' screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was an immediate hit. The film garnered critical acclaim. ''Reservoir Dogs'' was a dialogue-driven heist movie that set the tone for his later films. Tarantino wrote the script in three and a half weeks and Bender forwarded it to director Monte Hellman. Hellman helped Tarantino to secure funding from Richard Gladstein at Live Entertainment (which later became Artisan). Harvey Keitel read the script and also contributed to funding, taking a co-producer role, and a part in the movie.

Tarantino's screenplay ''True Romance'' was optioned and eventually released in 1993. The second script that Tarantino sold was ''Natural Born Killers'', which was revised by Dave Veloz, Richard Rutowski and director Oliver Stone. Tarantino was given story credit, and wished the film well. Following the success of ''Reservoir Dogs'', Tarantino was approached by Hollywood and offered numerous projects, including ''Speed'' and ''Men in Black''. He instead retreated to Amsterdam to work on his script for ''Pulp Fiction''. After ''Pulp Fiction'' was completed, he then directed Episode Four of ''Four Rooms'', "The Man from Hollywood", a tribute to the ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' episode that starred Steve McQueen. ''Four Rooms'' was a collaborative effort with filmmakers Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, and Robert Rodriguez. The film was very poorly received by critics. He appeared in and wrote the script for Robert Rodriguez's ''From Dusk Till Dawn'', which saw mixed reviews from the critics yet led to two sequels, for which Tarantino and Rodriguez would only serve as executive producers.

Tarantino's third feature film was ''Jackie Brown'' (1997), an adaptation of ''Rum Punch'', a novel by Elmore Leonard. A homage to blaxploitation films, it starred Pam Grier, who starred in many of that genre's films of the 1970s. He had then planned to make the war film provisionally titled ''Inglourious Bastards'', but postponed it to write and direct ''Kill Bill'' (released as two films, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), a highly stylized "revenge flick" in the cinematic traditions of ''Wuxia'' (Chinese martial arts), ''Jidaigeki'' (Japanese period cinema), Spaghetti Westerns and Italian horror. It was based on a character (The Bride) and a plot that he and ''Kill Bill's'' lead actress, Uma Thurman, had developed during the making of ''Pulp Fiction''. In 2004, Tarantino returned to Cannes, where he served as President of the Jury. Although ''Kill Bill'' was not in competition, Vol. 2 had an evening screening, while it was also shown on the morning of the final day in its original 3-hour-plus version with Quentin himself attending the full screening. Tarantino then went on to be credited as "Special Guest Director" in Robert Rodriguez's 2005 neo-noir film ''Sin City'' for his work directing the car sequence featuring Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro.

The next film project was ''Grindhouse'', which he co-directed with Rodriguez. Released in theaters on April 6, 2007, Tarantino's contribution to the ''Grindhouse'' project was titled ''Death Proof''. It began as a take on 1970s slasher films, but evolved dramatically as the project unfolded. Ticket sales were low despite mostly positive reviews.

Among his producing credits are the horror flick ''Hostel'' (which included numerous references to his own ''Pulp Fiction''), the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's ''Killshot'' (for which Tarantino was credited as an executive producer although Tarantino was no longer associated with the film after its 2009 release.) and ''Hell Ride'' (written and directed by Larry Bishop, who appeared in ''Kill Bill Vol. 2'').

Tarantino's 2009 film ''Inglourious Basterds'' is the story of a group of guerrilla U.S. soldiers in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Filming began in October 2008. The film opened on August 21, 2009 to very positive reviews and the #1 spot at the box office worldwide. It went on to become Tarantino's highest grossing film, both in the United States and worldwide.

In 2011, production began on ''Django Unchained'', about the revenge of a slave on his former master. The film stemmed from Tarantino's desire to produce a spaghetti western set in America's Deep South; Tarantino has called the proposed style "a southern", stating that he wanted "to do movies that deal with America's horrible past with slavery and stuff but do them like spaghetti westerns, not like big issue movies. I want to do them like they're genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it's ashamed of it, and other countries don't really deal with because they don't feel they have the right to". Tarantino finished the script on April 26, 2011, and handed in the final draft to The Weinstein Company. Agency William Morris Endeavor reported Christoph Waltz was cast to play a German bounty hunter, with Stacey Sher, Pilar Savone, and Reginald Hudlin producing. Although Will Smith and Idris Elba were heavily rumored to be up for the title role, Jamie Foxx has since been confirmed to play Django. Tarantino regular Samuel L. Jackson will play Stephen, a house slave. Leonardo DiCaprio has also been officially cast in the role of Calvin Candie, the primary antagonist in the film. Kevin Costner had been cast as Ace Woody, a "vile and sadistic trainer of slaves who are forced to fight in death matches for a plantation owner (DiCaprio)" before he later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, and has been replaced by Kurt Russell. Kerry Washington has been cast as Broomhilda, the "long-suffering slave wife of Django." Other cast members include Dennis Christopher as Candie family lawyer Leonide 'Leo' Moguy, Laura Cayouette as Candie's sister, Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly, M.C. Gainey and Tom Savini as Big John and Ellis Brittle, two of the slave owners who separate Django and Broomhilda, Anthony LaPaglia and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Australian brothers, Jano and an unnamed character, respectively, who encounter Django while escorting slaves to a fight. However, Gordon-Levitt has not fully committed to the film, due to possible scheduling issues, and Gerald McRaney and Michael K. Williams in unknown roles. Tarantino-collaborator RZA was cast as a slave named Thadeus. According to ReservoirWatchDogs.com, Sacha Baron Cohen was cast in the role as gambler Scotty Harmony who wishes to purchase Django's wife from Calvin Candie. Reportedly, Tarantino is also interested in including Lady Gaga in the film to some degree. The film is said to be inspired by the 1966 film ''Django'', directed by Sergio Corbucci. James Remar is also involved in the film. The film is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2012.

Producer[link]

In recent years, Tarantino has used his Hollywood power to give smaller and foreign films more attention than they might have received otherwise. These films are usually labeled "Presented by Quentin Tarantino" or "Quentin Tarantino Presents". The first of these productions was in 2001 with the Hong Kong martial arts film ''Iron Monkey'' which made over $14 million in the United States, seven times its budget. In 2004 he brought the Chinese martial arts film ''Hero'' to U.S. shores. It ended up having a #1 opening at the box office and making $53.5 million. In 2006, the latest "Quentin Tarantino presents" production, ''Hostel'', opened at #1 at the box office with a $20.1 million opening weekend, good for 8th all time in January. He presented 2006's ''The Protector'', and is a producer of the (2007) film ''Hostel: Part II''. in 2008 he produced the Larry Bishop helmed ''Hell Ride'', a revenge biker film.''

In addition, in 1995 Tarantino formed Rolling Thunder Pictures with Miramax as a vehicle to release or re-release several independent and foreign features. By 1997, Miramax shut down the company due to "lack of interest" in the pictures released. The following films were released by Rolling Thunder Pictures: ''Chungking Express'' (1994, dir. Wong Kar-wai), ''Switchblade Sisters'' (1975, dir. Jack Hill), ''Sonatine'' (1993, dir. Takeshi Kitano), ''Hard Core Logo'' (1996, dir. Bruce McDonald), ''The Mighty Peking Man'' (1977, dir. Ho Meng-Hua), ''Detroit 9000'' (1973, dir. Arthur Marks), ''The Beyond'' (1981, dir. Lucio Fulci) and ''Curdled'' (1996, dir. Reb Braddock).

Other potential projects[link]

Before ''Inglourious Basterds'', Quentin Tarantino had considered making ''The Vega Brothers''. The film would have starred Michael Madsen and John Travolta reprising their roles of Vic (Mr. Blonde) from ''Reservoir Dogs'' and Vincent from ''Pulp Fiction''. However in 2007, because of the age of the actors and the onscreen deaths of both characters, he claimed that the project (which he intended to call ''Double V Vega'') is "kind of unlikely now".

In 2009, in an interview for Italian TV, after being asked about the success of the two ''Kill Bill'' films, Tarantino said "You haven't asked me about the third one", and implied that he would be making a third ''Kill Bill'' film with the words "The Bride will fight again!" Later that year, at the Morelia International Film Festival, Tarantino announced that he would like to film ''Kill Bill: Vol. 3''. He explained that he wanted ten years to pass between The Bride's last conflict, in order to give her and her daughter a period of peace.

Personal life[link]

Tarantino has been romantically linked with American actress Mira Sorvino, directors Allison Anders and Sofia Coppola, actresses Julie Dreyfus and comedians Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho. There have also been rumors about his relationship with Uma Thurman, whom he has referred to as his "muse". However, Tarantino has stated that their relationship is strictly platonic. Tarantino stated "I'm not saying that I'll never get married or have a kid before I'm 60. But I've made a choice, so far, to go on this road alone. Because this is my time to make movies." He also has said that he plans to retire from filmmaking at age 60, to focus on writing novels and film literature. He also is skeptical of the film industry going digital, saying, "If it actually gets to the place where you can't show 35 mm film in theatres anymore and everything is digital projection, I won't even make it to 60."

On February 18, 2010, it was announced that Tarantino had bought the New Beverly Cinema. Tarantino allowed the current owners to continue operating the theater, but he will be making programming suggestions from time to time. He was quoted as saying: "As long as I'm alive, and as long as I'm rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing films shot on 35mm."

Influences and style of filmmaking[link]

In an awards ceremony in the Critics Choice Awards celebrating Tarantino, he said he got his start in filmmaking in his 20s. Music is an important part of his filmmaking style. He said he would listen to music in his bedroom and create scenes that correlated to the music playing.

In the 2002 ''Sight & Sound'' Directors' poll, Tarantino revealed his top-twelve films: ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''; ''Rio Bravo''; ''Taxi Driver''; ''His Girl Friday''; ''Rolling Thunder''; ''They All Laughed''; ''The Great Escape''; ''Carrie''; ''Coffy''; ''Dazed and Confused''; ''Five Fingers of Death''; and ''Hi Diddle Diddle''. In 2009, he named Kinji Fukasaku's violent action film ''Battle Royale'' as his favorite film released since he became a director in 1992.

In August 2007, while teaching a four-hour film course during the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival in Manila, Tarantino cited Filipino directors Cirio Santiago, Eddie Romero, and Gerardo de León as personal icons from the 1970s, citing De Leon's "soul-shattering, life-extinguishing" movies on vampires and female bondage, particularly ''Women in Cages''. "It is just harsh, harsh, harsh," he said, and described the final shot as one of "devastating despair". Upon his arrival in the Philippines, Tarantino was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, 'I'm a big fan of RP [Republic of the Philippines] cinema.'

Actor Steve Buscemi has described Tarantino's different style of film making as "bursting with energy" and "focused," a style that has earned him many accolades worldwide. According to Tarantino, a recurring hallmark in all his movies is that there is a different sense of humour in all his movies, which gets the audience to laugh at things that aren't funny. Michael Winner, whilst appearing on an episode of Piers Morgan's Life Stories (an ITV production), stated that Quentin Tarantino was a "big fan" of Death Wish.

Racial epithets in Tarantino's work[link]

Spike Lee questioned Tarantino's use of racial epithets in his films, particularly the racially offensive epithet, "nigger". In a ''Variety'' interview discussing ''Jackie Brown'', Lee said: "I'm not against the word... and I use it, but Quentin is infatuated with the word. What does he want? To be made an honorary black man?" Tarantino responded on ''Charlie Rose'' by stating:

|}}

In addition, Tarantino retaliated on ''The Howard Stern Show'' by stating Lee would have to "stand on a chair to kiss my ass." Samuel L. Jackson, who has appeared in both directors' films, defended Tarantino's use of the word. At the Berlin Film Festival, where ''Jackie Brown'' was being screened, Jackson responded to Lee's criticism by saying:

|}}

Tarantino has defended his use of the word, arguing that black audiences have an appreciation of his blaxploitation-influenced films that eludes some of his critics, and, indeed, that ''Jackie Brown'', another oft-cited example, was primarily made for "black audiences".

According to a 1995 ''Premiere'' magazine article, actor Denzel Washington also confronted Tarantino on his usage of racial slurs in his pictures, but mentioned that Tarantino was a "fine artist."

Recurring collaborators[link]

Awards[link]

''Reservoir Dogs'' was given the Critic's Award at the 4th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in 1993.

''Pulp Fiction'' won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. The film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning one for Best Original Screenplay, which was shared jointly by Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary.

In 1996, Tarantino was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor in ''From Dusk till Dawn'', but lost against Marlon Brando in ''The Island of Dr. Moreau''.

In 2005, Quentin Tarantino won the Icon of the Decade Award at the 10th Empire Awards.

On August 15, 2007, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presented Tarantino with a lifetime achievement award at the Malacañang Palace in Manila.

In 2009, his film ''Inglourious Basterds'' was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, winning one for Best Supporting Actor.

In March 2010, Tarantino was awarded the ''Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic'' along with Lucy Liu and Andy Vajna for producing the 2006 movie ''Freedom's Fury''.

In February 2011, Tarantino received an honorary César from the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma.

Filmography[link]

Reception[link]

Critical[link]

92% 95% 86% 85% 85% 64% 88%

rowspan="2"	Film	Rotten Tomatoes		Metacritic	IMDB
! Overall	! Top Critics
''Reservoir Dogs''	96%	|	78	8.4
''Pulp Fiction''	|	100%	94	9.0
''Jackie Brown (film)	Jackie Brown''	|	61%	64	7.6
''Kill Bill Volume 1''	|	78%	69	8.4
''Kill Bill Volume 2''	|	81%	83	8.0
''Death Proof''	|			7.1
''Inglourious Basterds''	|	74%	69	8.3
! Average !! 85% !! 80% !! 76 !! 8.1

See also[link]

Quentin Tarantino Film Festival, a film festival in Austin, Texas hosted by Tarantino.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

}}. }}.

External links[link]

Main reference sites[link]

Quentin Tarantino at Rotten Tomatoes

ReservoirWatchDogs.com Quentin Tarantino news blog / fan community

Quentin Tarantino discography at Discogs

Quentin Tarantino at Last.fm

Quentin Tarantino on AnyClip

Interviews and essays[link]

Collection of Quentin Tarantino interviews on YouTube at ReservoirWatchDogs.com

Anatomy of a Tarantino Film at BrokenProjector

FilmFocus Interview

"I call the shots here" by Quentin Tarantino, March 4, 2007

Remaking History: An Interview with Quentin Tarantino by Rene Rodriguez, August 18, 2009

Quentin Tarantino: A Life in Pictures, filmed career retrospective by BAFTA, January 11, 2010

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez discuss their double feature, "Grindhouse", on Charlie Rose April 5, 2007

''The Unbearable Lightness of Being Cool: Appropriation and Prospects of Subversion in the Works of Quentin Tarantino''

7 Stylistic Trademarks by Quentin Tarantino Thorough essay on the essential stylistic trademarks in each of Quentin Tarantino's films

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Birth name	Kevin Patrick Smith
Birth date	August 02, 1970
Birth place	Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Director, screenwriter, producer, actor, comedian, author, podcaster
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Jennifer Schwalbach Smith (1999–present) }}

Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob. Although primarily known for the ''View Askew'' film series, Smith also wrote, directed and produced films such as the buddy cop action comedy ''Cop Out'', as well as the horror film ''Red State''. His first several films were mostly set in his home state of New Jersey, and while not strictly sequential, they frequently feature crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon in what is known by fans as the "View Askewniverse", named after his production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier.

Smith is also the owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic book and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey. He hosts a weekly podcast with Scott Mosier known as SModcast. Smith is well known for participating in long, humorous Q&A; sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with ''An Evening with Kevin Smith''.

Early life[link]

Kevin Smith was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, the son of Grace (née Schultz), a homemaker, and Donald E. Smith (1936–2003), a postal worker. He has an older sister, Virginia, and an older brother, Donald Smith, Jr. He was raised in a Catholic household, and attended Henry Hudson Regional High School in Highlands.

Career[link]

As a filmmaker[link]

In an interview with Robert K. Elder for ''The Film That Changed My Life'', Smith attributes the film ''Slacker'' as his main inspiration to becoming a director.

It was the movie that got me off my ass; it was the movie that lit a fire under me, the movie that made me think, “Hey, I could be a filmmaker.” And I had never seen a movie like that before ever in my life.

His first film, ''Clerks'', was shot for the sum total of $27,575 in the convenience store where Smith worked. It went to the Sundance Film Festival in 1994, where it won the Filmmaker's Trophy and was picked up by Miramax before the festival's end. In May 1994, it went to the Cannes International Film Festival where it won both the Prix de la Jeunesse and the International Critics' Week Prize. Released in October 1994 in two cities, the film went on to play in 50 markets, never playing on more than fifty screens at any given time. Despite the limited release, it was a critical and financial success, earning $3.1 million. Initially, the film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, solely for the graphic language. Miramax hired Alan Dershowitz to defend the film, and at an appeals screening, a jury consisting of members of the National Association of Theater Owners reversed the MPAA's decision, and the film was given an R rating instead.

Smith's second film, ''Mallrats'', did not fare as well as expected after the remarkable success of ''Clerks''. It received a critical drubbing and earned merely $2.2 million at the box office, despite playing on more than 500 screens. The film marked Jason Lee's debut as a leading man. Despite failing at the box office during its theatrical run, ''Mallrats'' proved more successful in the home video market.

Widely hailed as Smith's best film, ''Chasing Amy'' marked what Quentin Tarantino called "a quantum leap forward" for Smith. Starring ''Mallrats'' alumni Jason Lee, Joey Lauren Adams and Ben Affleck, the $250,000 film earned $12 million at the box office and wound up on a number of critics' year-end best lists, and won two Independent Spirit Awards (screenplay and supporting actor for Lee).

In 1996, Smith worked on a script for a Superman movie. He did a couple of drafts but his script was dropped when Tim Burton was hired to direct. Burton brought his own people to work on the project. Smith still sees the whole experience on working on the Superman project as a positive one however; he has said that he was well paid and it was a lot of fun. (In April, 2009, Smith discussed his ''Superman'' experiences at Clark University—a YouTube video critic A.O. Scott of the ''New York Times'' called "extraordinary." ) In the end, neither Smith's nor Burton's vision for Superman was filmed. In the 2007 Direct-to-DVD animation release of ''Superman: Doomsday'', Smith has a cameo as an onlooker in a crowd. After Superman defeats The Toyman's giant mechanical robot, Smith scoffs, "Yeah, like we really needed him to defeat that giant spider. Heh. ''Lame!''" This was a reference to a giant spider that producer Jon Peters wanted Smith to put in the Superman movie when he was attached, that was later put into the 1999 feature film flop ''Wild Wild West'', which Peters also produced.

In 1997, Smith was hired by New Line to rewrite ''Overnight Delivery'', which was expected to be a blockbuster teen movie. Smith's then-girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams almost took the role of Ivy in the movie, instead of the female lead in ''Chasing Amy''. Eventually she lost out to Reese Witherspoon, and ''Overnight Delivery'' was quietly released directly to video in April 1998. Kevin Smith's involvement with the film was revealed on-line, but he remains uncredited. He has said that the only scene which really used his dialogue was the opening scene, which includes a reference to long-time Smith friend Bryan Johnson.

Smith's fourth film, ''Dogma'', featured an all-star cast and found itself mired in controversy. The religious-themed 1999 comedy, which starred a post-''Good Will Hunting'' Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, as well as Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, George Carlin, Alan Rickman, Linda Fiorentino, and Smith regulars Jason Lee and Jason Mewes, raised criticism by the Catholic League.

The film debuted at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, out of competition. Released on 800 screens in November 1999, the $10 million film earned $30 million.

Smith then focused the spotlight on two characters who had appeared in supporting roles in his previous four films, ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'' featured an all-star cast, with many familiar faces returning from Smith's first four films. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon appear as themselves filming a mock sequel to ''Good Will Hunting''. The $20 million film earned $30 million at the box office and received mixed reviews from the critics.

In 2004, Smith wrote a screenplay for a new film version of ''The Green Hornet'', and announced prematurely that he had originally intended to direct as well. The project, however died after the film was placed into turn around following the poor box office of ''Jersey Girl''. Smith's screenplay was turned into a ''Green Hornet'' comic book miniseries.

''Jersey Girl'' with Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, George Carlin and Raquel Castro, his first outside of the View Askewniverse, was meant to mark a new direction in Smith's career. However, the film took a critical beating as it was seen as, in Smith's own words, "''Gigli 2''", due to the fact that it co-starred Affleck and his then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez. Despite Smith heavily re-editing the film to reduce Lopez's role to just a few scenes, the film did poorly at the box office. Budgeted at $35 million, it earned only $36 million.

In the 2006 sequel, ''Clerks II'', Smith revisited the Dante and Randal characters from his first film for what was his final visit to the View Askewniverse. Roundly criticized before its release, the film went on to win favorable reviews as well as two awards (the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival and the Orbit Dirtiest Mouth Award at the MTV Movie Awards). It marked Smith's third trip to the Cannes International Film Festival, where ''Clerks II'' received an eight minute standing ovation. The $5 million film, starring Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran, Rosario Dawson, Jason Mewes, Jennifer Schwalbach and Smith himself – reprising his role as Silent Bob – earned $25 million.

That same year, Smith was featured in ''This Film Is Not Yet Rated'', a 2006 documentary about the Motion Picture Association of America process of rating films. Smith's interview was in reference to ''Jersey Girl'' receiving an R rating, and ''Clerks'' originally receiving an NC-17 rating.

''Zack and Miri Make a Porno'' was originally announced in March 2006 as Smith's second non-Askewniverse comedy. The film, which began shooting on January 18, 2008 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, and wrapped on March 15, 2008, stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as the title characters who decide to make a low-budget pornographic film to solve their money problems. The film, which was released on October 31, 2008, ran into many conflicts getting an "R" rating, with Rogen stating: Smith took the film through the MPAA's appeals process and received the R rating, without having to make any further edits. ''Zack and Miri Make a Porno'' was considered a box office "flop" in part because of "tepid media advertising for a movie with the title PORNO", and, in the aftermath of the film's "flaccid" performance, the business relationship between Smith and producer Harvey Weinstein became "frayed".

It was announced in 2009 that Smith had signed on to direct a buddy-cop comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan called ''A Couple of Dicks'' and written by the Cullen Brothers. Due to controversy surrounding the original title, it was changed to ''A Couple of Cops'', before reverting back its original title, ''A Couple of Dicks'', due to negative reaction, before finally settling on the title ''Cop Out''. The film, which was shot between June and August 2009, involved a pair of veteran cops tracking down a stolen vintage baseball card, and was released on February 26, 2010 to poor reviews; it was the first film that Smith has directed but not written. With a worldwide domestic gross of $55,583,804, ''Cop Out'' is Smith's highest grossing film to date.

In September 2010, Smith started work on ''Red State'', an independently-financed horror film inspired by the Westboro Baptist Church and their Pastor Fred Phelps. In February 2010, he talked about his project with Cinssu, Film producers and moguls Bob and Harvey Weinstein who had thus far been involved in the distribution of most of Smith's films, with the exception of ''Mallrats'' and ''Cop Out'', declined to support ''Red State''. The film stars Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo and Stephen Root. Smith had indicated that he would auction off rights to the $4 million film at a controversial event following the debut screening of the film at Sundance but instead, kept the rights to the film himself with plans to self-distribute the picture "under the Smodcast Pictures" banner. The film was released via Video on Demand on September 1, 2011 through Lionsgate, will be released in select theaters again for a special one-night only engagement on September 25, 2011 (via Smodcast Pictures), and was released on home video October 18, 2011. Kevin Smith listed Mel Gibson as a role-model he looked up to, and his inspiration, for how he planned to distribute this movie, citing Gibson's ''The Passion of the Christ'' as an example of a successfully self-distributed movie. He further explained his decision as a way to return to an era when marketing a film did not cost four times as much as the film itself, a situation he has described as "both decadent and deadening". The film was released in January 2011. The premiere drew protests from a half-dozen members of the church, along with many more who counter-protested Westboro members.

Smith will direct a hockey drama-comedy based on the song "Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)" by Warren Zevon. The song, which is about a hockey player famous for fighting in the rink, was co-written by ''Tuesdays With Morrie'' author Mitch Albom, who is working with Smith on the film.

Although Smith had previously mentioned other projects he had planned, he announced at the Sundance premiere of ''Red State'' that ''Hit Somebody'' will be the last movie he ever directs, and that he will continue to tell stories in other media. In August ''Hit Somebody'' was announced as a two part film titled ''Hit Somebody: Home'' and ''Hit Somebody: Away'' with part one being PG-13 and part 2 being Rated R.

Smith further explained his retirement from directing, citing distribution politics, and the manner in which making films like ''Zack and Miri'' "adulterated" his own identity as a filmmaker, saying, "I don’t have the same passion for it I used to. I don’t have any stories left to tell." Smith further emphasized that he sees himself as a writer rather than a director, and that Harvey Weinstein developed his career as a celebrity auteur because "my films were never strong enough to stand up on their own." ''Daily Beast'' writer Chris Lee reported in September 2011 that those close to Smith cite the failure of ''Zack and Miri'', and Smith's constant marijuana consumption as a contributing factor to his categorization of those around him into "friendly or enemy camps", his tendency to sequester himself from those he perceives as being against him, and his retirement from the film industry. Smith states that he is merely reinventing himself as an artist, which he refers to as "Kevin Smith 2.0", and cites his 70 lb. weight loss, his deals for a book and two television pilots, and his starting an online radio station.

Comics and magazines[link]

Smith has been a regular contributor to ''Arena'' magazine. In 2005, Miramax Books released Smith's first book, ''Silent Bob Speaks'', a collection of previously published essays (most from ''Arena'') dissecting pop culture, the movie business, and Smith's personal life. His second book, ''My Boring-Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith'', published by Titan Books, was another collection of previously published essays (this time blogs from Smith's website www.silentbobspeaks.com) and reached #32 on the ''New York Times'' Best Sellers List. Titan released Smith's third book ''Shootin' the Sh*t with Kevin Smith: The Best of the SModcast'' on September 29, 2009.

A life-long comic book fan, Smith's early forays into comic books dealt with previously established View Askew characters, and were published by Oni Press. He wrote a short Jay and Silent Bob story about Walt Flanagan's dog in ''Oni Double Feature'' #1, and followed it with a Bluntman and Chronic story in ''Oni Double Feature'' #12. He followed these with a series of ''Clerks'' comics. The first was simply ''Clerks: The Comic Book'', which told of Randal's attempts to corner the market on ''Star Wars'' toys. The second was ''Clerks: Holiday Special'', where Dante and Randal discover that Santa Claus lives in an apartment between the Quick Stop and RST Video. Third was ''Clerks: The Lost Scene'', showing what happened inside Poston's Funeral Parlor. This story was later animated in the TV series style and included as an extra on the 10th Anniversary ''Clerks'' DVD.

Smith then wrote the mini-series ''Chasing Dogma'', which tells the story of Jay and Silent Bob between the films ''Chasing Amy'' and ''Dogma''. He has also written the trade paperback ''Bluntman and Chronic'', published by Image, which purports to be a collection of the three issues of the series done by Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards (of ''Chasing Amy''). It includes a color reprinting of the story from ''Oni Double Feature'' #12, purported to be an early appearance by ''Chasing Amy'' characters Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards. These stories have all been collected in ''Tales From the Clerks'' (Graphitti Designs, ISBN 0-936211-78-4), which also includes a new "Clerks" story tying in to the ''Clerks 2'' material, and the story from ''Oni Double Feature'' #1. They were previously collected by Image Comics in three separate volumes, one each for ''Clerks'', ''Chasing Dogma'' and ''Bluntman and Chronic''. In 1999, Smith won a Harvey Award, for Best New Talent in comic books.

In 1999, Smith wrote "Guardian Devil", an eight-issue story arc of ''Daredevil'' for Marvel Comics, which was illustrated by Joe Quesada. Kevin Smith followed this by producing a 15-issue tenure on ''Green Arrow'' for DC Comics that saw the return of Oliver Queen from the dead and the introduction of Mia Dearden, a teenage girl who would become Speedy after Smith's run had ended.

Smith returned to Marvel for two mini-series: ''Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do'' and ''Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target'', both of which debuted in 2002. The former was six issues long, but after the third issue was published two months after the initially scheduled release date, the final issues were delayed for at least three years, prompting Marvel to release an "in case you missed it" reprinting of the first three issues as one book prior to the remaining issues' release. The delay in part was due to Smith's movie production schedule (in this case, work on ''Jersey Girl'' and ''Clerks II'') causing him to shelve completion of the mini-series until the films were completed. In 2007 he was announced as the writer of an ongoing ''Black Cat'' series and ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' in early to mid-2002. However, because of the delays on ''Evil That Men Do'' and ''The Target'', the plan was switched so that Smith would start a third Spider-Man title, launched in 2004 by Mark Millar instead. While ''Spider-Man/Black Cat'' was ultimately completed in 2005, ''Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target'' remains unfinished, with one issue published.

Smith wrote the limited series ''Batman: Cacophony'', with art by friend Walt Flanagan, which ran from November 2008 to January 2009. As announced at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, the series featured the villains Onomatopoeia (a character created by Smith during his run at Green Arrow), The Joker, Maxie Zeus, and Victor Zsasz. The trade paperback of ''Batman: Cacophony'' became a New York Times Bestseller in their Hardcover Graphic Books section.

In 2010 Smith subsequently wrote a six-issue Batman mini-series called ''The Widening Gyre'' for DC, and a Green Hornet story for Dynamite Entertainment, the latter of which was based on an unused script he wrote for a ''Green Hornet'' film project that never came to fruition.

In August 2011, Dynamite Entertainment debuted ''The Bionic Man'' by Smith, which was based on a 1998 script he wrote that was rejected by Universal as being "more like a comic book than a movie."

Television[link]

In 2000, Smith and Mosier teamed up with television writer David Mandel to develop an animated television show based on ''Clerks.'' called ''Clerks: The Animated Series'' that aired on ABC in May 2000. It aired only two episodes before being canceled as a result of poor ratings. The six produced episodes were released on DVD in 2001.

During the mid-1990s Smith directed and starred in a series of commercials for MTV, alongside Jason Mewes, in which they reprised their roles as Jay & Silent Bob. In 1998 he directed best friend Jason Mewes as "Gary Lamb – Ground Activist" in a series of Nike commercials. That same year, he also shot commercials for Diet Coke. Two years later, he directed "Star Wars" toy commercials for Hasbro. He has also directed and starred in commercials for Panasonic. In 2004 he also shot a public service announcement for the Declare Yourself organization. These advertisements brought Jay and Silent Bob out of their "semi-retirement."

On February 27, 2002 Kevin released a short film for ''The Tonight Show'' called "The Flying Car".

Acting roles and other appearances[link]

As an actor, Smith is known for his role as Silent Bob in ''Clerks'', ''Mallrats'', ''Chasing Amy'', ''Dogma'', ''Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back'', and ''Clerks II''. He made a cameo appearance in the horror film ''Scream 3'', and was featured along with Jason Mewes in several ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' episodes, including a special, "Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi" (also as a fictional version of himself).

Smith also appeared in an mtvU show titled ''Sucks Less With Kevin Smith''. The show gives college students ideas for things to do on the weekends. Smith also played the role of Paul, a cynical divorced man, in a Showtime television series pilot, "Manchild", filmed in December 2006. However, it was not picked up by the network.

From 1995 to 1997, Smith played small roles in the View Askew movies ''Drawing Flies'', ''Vulgar'', and ''Big Helium Dog''.

In 2001, he appeared in friend Jeff Anderson's ''Now You Know''. After an August 2001 appearance on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' to promote ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'', Smith returned to the show for monthly segments as a correspondent. The "Roadside Attractions" segments featured Smith traveling to random locations around the country and showcased places like Howe Caverns in upstate New York and the Fish Market in Seattle. While five of these segments were included on the ''Jersey Girl'' DVD, at least twelve were aired on the actual show. Smith regularly appeared on the program to introduce the pre-taped pieces.

In 2003, Smith appeared in a cameo role as coroner Jack Kirby in the film ''Daredevil''. In 2006, he voiced the Moose in the CGI cartoon ''Doogal''.

In early 2005, Smith appeared in three episodes of the Canadian-made teen drama ''Degrassi: The Next Generation''. In the episodes, Smith, portraying a fictionalized version of himself, visited the school to work on the (fictional) film ''Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!'' Smith wrote all his dialogue for the shows he appeared in. All three episodes were collected on a DVD entitled ''Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi''. Smith and Mewes also appeared in two more episodes the following season, when they returned to Degrassi for the Toronto premiere of the fictional ''Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!'' movie.

From July 2006 on, Smith has guest reviewed on ''Ebert & Roeper'', in place of Roger Ebert, who was recovering from thyroid cancer treatment. These spots have been notable for the arguments between Smith and Richard Roeper over certain films, with Smith often citing Roeper's poor review of ''Jersey Girl'' to discredit his review of the film at hand. On his most recent appearance, Smith compared Craig Brewer's ''Black Snake Moan'' to the works of William Faulkner.

In addition to appearing on ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'', Smith is an avid fan of the original ''Degrassi'' series, ''Degrassi Junior High'' and ''Degrassi High'' and references to the original are present in some of his early films. He also appeared in the 2009 made for TV movie Degrassi Goes Hollywood.

Smith directed the pilot for The CW Television Network show ''Reaper''. TV.com's summary of the show is "A twenty-something slacker finally scores a job as the devil's bounty hunter." He describes it as "less ''Brimstone'' or ''Dead Like Me'' and more like ''Shaun of the Dead'' than anything else". He went on to say that the reason he took the job was that he has always wanted to direct something he did not write, but never had an interest in doing it on the big screen.

At the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Smith would write and direct an episode of the ''Heroes'' spin-off, ''Heroes: Origins'', but the project was canceled because of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike. That year, Smith appeared in a number of films. He co-starred as Sam in the film ''Catch and Release'', starring Jennifer Garner. Later that year, he appeared as a hacker called The Warlock in the fourth installment of the Die Hard franchise, ''Live Free or Die Hard''. At year's end, he appeared briefly in friend and fellow writer-director Richard Kelly's ''Southland Tales'', in which he played the legless conspiracy theorist General Simon Theory. That same year, Smith also did voicework for the CGI film ''TMNT'' as a diner chef. He was also seen as Rusty (a friend of lead Jason Mewes) in ''Bottoms Up'' with co-star Paris Hilton.

Smith has also cameoed in the second season premiere of the sitcom ''Joey'', where he played himself, on an episode of ''Law & Order'' in 2000 (episode "Black, White and Blue"), ''Duck Dodgers'' (2003 as Hal Jordan, voice only) and ''Yes, Dear'' (2004, as himself and Silent Bob). Smith appeared in the second episode of season two of ''Veronica Mars'', playing a store clerk. He stated on his Web site that ''Veronica Mars'' is some of the best television work ever produced.

Smith has also done small roles on television in shows such as ''Law & Order'', ''Veronica Mars'', ''Joey'', ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'', ''Phineas and Ferb''. In an episode of ''Yes, Dear'', he appeared as Silent Bob, standing while smoking a cigarette as the end credits rolled.

Smith has appeared in five Q&A; documentaries: ''An Evening with Kevin Smith'', ''An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder'' and ''Sold Out: A Threevening with Kevin Smith''. The fourth installment, ''Kevin Smith: Too Fat for 40'' was broadcast on epix on October 23, 2010. The fifth Q&A;, ''Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell'' also broadcast on Epix beginning February 11, 2012. The first is a collection of filmed appearances at American colleges, while the sequel was shot at two Q&A; shows held in Toronto and London. The third and fourth were filmed in Red Bank, New Jersey at the Count Basie Theater on Smith's 37th and 40th birthdays, respectively. The fifth was filmed in Austin, Texas at the Paramount Theater. The first two DVD sets were released by Sony Home Video, while the third was put out by the Weinstein Company. Smith appears with Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee in ''Marvel Then & Now: An Evening With Stan Lee and Joe Quesada, hosted by Kevin Smith''. The film is similar in tone to the ''Evening with Kevin Smith'' series. Proceeds from the sale of the film benefit The Hero Initiative, a charitable organization that aids ill or aging comic book creators.

Public appearances[link]

Smith's longest Q&A; session took place April 2, 2005, at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. The sold-out event was over seven hours long, took place from 8 pm through 3 am (which due to daylight saving time, was actually 4 am). Following the Q&A;, he opened Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash for a meet-and-greet with the numerous remaining audience members, which ended around 6:30 am. Smith then hopped a plane and did another Q&A; at the Raue Center For The Arts in Crystal Lake, Illinois, that night. Planned for two hours, it lasted just over five hours, ending a little after 1 am Central time.

In 2009 Smith made a sold out appearance at Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House in 2010.

On the Internet[link]

Smith has a website, The View Askewniverse, which opened in late 1995. He also has an online blog, "My Boring-Ass Life", the contents of which were published in a book by the same name. ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'''s fictional website MoviePoopShoot.com became real in 2002. It became Quick Stop Entertainment and was the home of SModcast until it was sold and Smodcast moved to a dedicated website Smodcast.com, which also carries the other Smodcast network podcasts in early 2010.

On February 5, 2007, Smith and Scott Mosier began SModcast, a regular comedy podcast. SModcast has since spawned into a podcast network called the SModcast podcast network and its own digital radio station called SModcast internet radio (S.I.R).

Secret Stash[link]

Smith owns and operates Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey, a comic book store largely dedicated to merchandise related to his films and comics. The current location is its second. The store was moved to a defunct ice cream parlor on Broad St. after Smith sold the Monmouth St. property. The New Jersey location is managed by Smith's long time friend Walt Flanagan, who appears frequently in Smith's films. A second Secret Stash in the Westwood section of Los Angeles was opened in September 2004 and was managed by long-time associate Bryan Johnson, who has appeared in Smith's films as Steve-Dave. Smith had announced that he would close after his lease expired and Johnson wanted to resign, but eventually relocated to Laser Blazer, a DVD store in Los Angeles. In January 2009 the West Coast Store closed, leaving the east coast store as Smith's only operating store.

Controversies[link]

2010 Southwest Airlines incident[link]

On February 13, 2010, Kevin Smith was on board a Southwest Airlines flight in Oakland bound for Burbank when he was removed from the plane, allegedly over concerns he was too obese to fly safely. Per Smith, he was able to put both armrests down in accordance with Southwest Airlines policy, and both passengers on either side did not object to his presence. Smith was then removed from the flight after being told he was a safety concern. After being booked on a later flight and being offered a $100 Southwest Airlines voucher, which he turned down, Smith lashed out at Southwest Airlines on his Twitter account.

Southwest Airlines representatives later released two statements regarding the incident via their blog. In the first statement, Southwest claimed that Mr. Smith "has been known to (...) purchase two Southwest seats" and cited its "Customer of Size" policy which requires that customers who cannot put their armrests down purchase two seats. In his podcast, Smith stated that he regularly purchased two seats, and had done so the previous week, because he preferred not having to sit next to anyone, not due to his size. In releasing this statement, Southwest disclosed Smith's personal travel details without his permission. The first statement also claimed that the flight captain has personally determined that Smith was too large to fly. In its second statement, Southwest contradicted this claim, stating that the captain had not singled out Smith.

Smith later released an entire episode of SModcast devoted to the subject, giving a lengthy description of the incident, in which he claimed that he had been able to lower the armrests completely and comfortably and claimed to have been repeatedly lied to by airline personnel. He also referred to the airline as the "Greyhound of the Air" and vowed to never fly the airline again.

In his podcast, Smith stated that on his return flight a large female passenger was told to ask him if it was all right that she was sitting next to an empty seat he had bought between them, and it was suggested by Southwest staffers that she may need to purchase an additional seat due to her size, even though she had been placed next to an already-purchased empty seat. She was also the subject of an episode of SModcast.

Smith also released 24 video statements on YouTube further describing the incident. A year after the incident, the media reported that he had lost 65 pounds through controlled diet and regular exercise, including walking up and down a hill near his home in the Hollywood Hills, but Smith refuted this notion, saying that he had simply put on more weight and then lost it.

''Cop Out'' controversy[link]

A talent rep associated with the production of ''Cop Out'' reported conflicts on set between Smith and Bruce Willis, saying of Smith, "He smokes way too much pot. He sat behind his monitor. He didn't interact with the actors. The actors felt they were on their own." Smith defended his use of marijuana while working, claiming "I dealt with every actor who wanted to be dealt with on that set" and pointed to the amount of projects he worked on while making ''Cop Out'' to counter claims he was unproductive because of marijuana. Smith admitted in an interview that heavy marijuana-smoking had become an integral part of his work ethic after claiming that he watched actor Seth Rogen on the set of ''Zack and Miri Make a Porno'' use marijuana as a tool to become a more creative and "productive" worker, saying "The moment I start smoking, I start working. ... That way, no one could ever take it away from you."

}}In response to the critical drubbing his 2010 film ''Cop Out'' received, Kevin Smith lashed out at the community of film critics on his Twitter account saying, "Writing a nasty review for ''Cop Out'' is akin to bullying a retarded kid. All you’ve done is make fun of something that wasn't doing you any harm and wanted only to give some cats some fun laughs." Smith also implied on Twitter that he may charge critics for advance screenings of his films, a service which has typically been provided free; this subsequently ignited a strong response from some critics condemning his stance as "dishonest" and "disingenuous".

Personal life[link]

Smith is married to Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, and photographed her for the magazine ''Playboy''. Their daughter, Harley Quinn, was born June 26, 1999, and was named after the character from ''Batman: The Animated Series'', who was created by friend and fellow writer Paul Dini. They live in the Hollywood Hills, in a house Smith purchased from longtime friend Ben Affleck in 2003.

Although Smith was raised Catholic, he has said on "Back to the Well", the ''Clerks II'' documentary, that now he only goes to Mass on the day before he starts production of a movie, and the day before it premieres. He never smoked until his debut film, ''Clerks'', in which he used the cigarettes as a prop, but never actually inhaled. In fact, he has said that prior to filming ''Clerks'', he was a staunch non-smoker. He quit smoking cigarettes in 2008 after taking up smoking cannabis. Smith only began smoking pot at age 38 after working with Seth Rogen on ''Zack and Miri Make a Porno''.

Kevin Smith is a hockey fan and loyal New Jersey Devils fan. Smith has also expressed an admiration for his second-favorite team, the Edmonton Oilers.

Filmography[link]

Recognition[link]

Bibliography[link]

Books[link]

Books by Smith include:

''Silent Bob Speaks'' (2005)

''My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith'' (2007)

''Shootin' the Sh*t with Kevin Smith'' (2009)

''Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good'' (2012)

Comics[link]

''Daredevil: Guardian Devil'' (with Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics, 1998–1999)

''Green Arrow: Quiver'' (with Phil Hester, DC Comics, 2001–2002)

''Green Arrow: Sounds of Violence'' (with Phil Hester, DC Comics, 2002)

''Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do'' (with Terry Dodson, Marvel Comics, 2002, 2005–2006)

''Batman: Cacophony'' (with Walt Flanagan, DC Comics, 2008–2009)

''Batman: The Widening Gyre'' (with Walt Flanagan, DC Comics, 2009–2012)

''Green Hornet'' (with Jonathan Lau, Dynamite Entertainment, 2010)

''The Bionic Man'' (with Jonathan Lau, Phil Hester, Dynamite Entertainment, 2011–2012)

Trade paperback introductions:

''Hitman: 10,000 Bullets'' (by Garth Ennis, DC Comics, 1996)

''Preacher: Until the End of the World'' (by Garth Ennis, Vertigo Comics, 1995)

References[link]

External links[link]

View Askew Production

Smith's blog

Kevin Smith explains what happened to his ''Superman'' movie

Huffington Post blog

Category:1970 births Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:American bloggers Category:American comics writers Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American podcasters Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American screenwriters Category:American television actors Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:Harvey Award winners for Best New Talent Category:Living people Category:People from Monmouth County, New Jersey Category:People from Red Bank, New Jersey Category:Science fiction fans Category:The New School alumni Category:View Askewniverse Category:Writers from New Jersey

bs:Kevin Smith ca:Kevin Smith cs:Kevin Smith da:Kevin Smith de:Kevin Smith es:Kevin Smith fa:کوین اسمیت fr:Kevin Smith (réalisateur) hr:Kevin Smith is:Kevin Smith it:Kevin Smith he:קווין סמית' hu:Kevin Smith nl:Kevin Smith (regisseur) ja:ケヴィン・スミス no:Kevin Smith nn:Kevin Smith uz:Kevin Smith pl:Kevin Smith pt:Kevin Smith ru:Смит, Кевин simple:Kevin Smith sr:Кевин Смит fi:Kevin Smith sv:Kevin Smith tr:Kevin Smith uk:Кевін Сміт zh:凯文·史密斯

name	Francis Ford Coppola
birth date	April 07, 1939
birth place	Detroit, Michigan, United States
parents	Carmine Coppola Italia Coppola
occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter
years active	1963–present
spouse	Eleanor Jessie Neil (1963–present)
children	Sofia Coppola Roman Coppola Gian-Carlo Coppola
influences	Ingmar Bergman, Sergei Eisenstein, Werner Herzog, Roger Corman, Alfred Hitchcock, Michelangelo Antonioni, Akira Kurosawa, Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams }}

Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors. He epitomized the group of filmmakers known as the New Hollywood, that included Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, Robert Altman, Woody Allen, William Friedkin, and George Lucas who emerged in the early 1970s with unconventional ideas that challenged contemporary film-making.

He co-wrote the script for ''Patton'' (1970), which won an Academy Award for Original Screenplay. His directorial fame escalated with the release of ''The Godfather'' (1972), a film which revolutionized movie-making in the gangster genre, earning praise from critics and public alike. It won three Academy Awards, including his second, for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was instrumental in cementing his position as a prominent American film director.

Coppola followed it with a critically successful sequel, ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974), which became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was highly praised and won him three Academy Awards—for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. ''The Conversation'', which Coppola directed, produced and wrote, was released that same year, winning the Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. He next directed ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979); notorious for its overlong and strenuous production, but critically acclaimed for its vivid and stark depiction of the Vietnam War, winning the Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. To this day, Coppola is one of only six filmmakers to win two Palme d'Or awards, and is the only filmmaker to win both in the same decade.

Many of Coppola's ventures in the 1980s and 1990s were critically lauded, but he has never quite achieved the same success as in the 1970s.

Early life[link]

Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family of Italian ancestry (his paternal grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata). He received his middle name in honor of Henry Ford, as he was born at the Henry Ford Hospital. His parents were Italia (née Pennino) and Carmine Coppola, who was the first flautist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He was the second of three children (his older brother was August Coppola and younger sister is actress Talia Shire). Two years later, Carmine became the first flutist for the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the family moved to New York City, finding a home in Woodside, Queens, where Francis spent the remainder of his childhood.

Coppola had polio as a boy, leaving him bedridden for large periods of his childhood, and allowing him to indulge his imagination with homemade puppet theater productions. Reading ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' at age 15 was instrumental in developing his interest in theater. Eager to be involved in film-craft, he turned out 8mm features edited from home movies with such titles as ''The Rich Millionaire'' and ''The Lost Wallet''. As a child he was a mediocre student but was very much interested in technology and engineering; so much, in fact, that his friends nicknamed him “Science”. Initially he trained for a career in music and became so proficient on the tuba that he won a musical scholarship to the New York Military Academy. After graduating from the Great Neck North High School, However, after he chanced to see Sergei Eisenstein’s ''October'', which impressed him profoundly, particularly the quality of editing in the movie, Coppola decided that he would not go into theater but would opt for cinema. Among his classmates were James Caan and Lainie Kazan. While a graduate student, one of his teachers was Dorothy Arzner, whose encouragement Coppola later acknowledged as pivotal to his film career. He graduated from the University in 1959.

Career[link]

1960s[link]

After obtaining his bachelor's degree from Hofstra University, Coppola enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles, where he met Jim Morrison. Coppola would later use Morrison's well-known song "The End" in ''Apocalypse Now''. Very soon he enrolled in UCLA Film School for graduate work in film. At UCLA, Coppola directed a short horror film called “The Two Christophers” inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "William Wilson". He also directed “Ayamonn the Terrible”, a film about a sculptor’s nightmares coming to life. It was then he decided to experiment as a serious film director and ended up directing a softcore porn film ''Tonight for Sure'' in 1962. His first job for Corman was to dub and re-edit a Russian science fiction film ''Nebo zovyot'', which he turned into a sex-and-violence monster movie entitled ''Battle Beyond the Sun'', released in 1962. Impressed by Coppola's perseverance and dedication, Corman hired him as dialogue director on ''Tower of London'' (1962), sound man for ''The Young Racers'' (1963) and associate producer of ''The Terror'' (1963).

While on location in Ireland for ''The Young Racers'' in 1963, Corman, ever alert for an opportunity to produce a decent movie on a shoestring budget, persuaded Coppola to make a low-budget horror movie with funds left over from that movie. Coppola wrote a brief draft story idea in one night. It incorporated elements from Hitchcock's ''Psycho'', and it impressed Corman enough to give him the go-ahead. On a budget of $40,000 ($20,000 from Corman and $20,000 from another producer who wanted to buy the movie's English rights), Coppola directed in a period of just nine days, ''Dementia 13'', his first feature from his own original screenplay. Somewhat superior to the run-of-the-mill exploitation films being turned out at that time, the film recouped its shoestring expenses and went on to become a minor cult film among horror buffs. It was on the sets of ''Dementia 13'' that he met his future wife Eleanor Jessie Neil.

In 1965, Coppola won the annual Samuel Goldwyn Award for the best screenplay (Pilma, Pilma) written by a UCLA student. This secured him a job as a scriptwriter with Seven Arts. In between, he co-wrote the scripts for ''This Property Is Condemned'' (1966) and ''Is Paris Burning?'' (1966). However fame was still eluding him, and partly out of desperation, Coppola bought the rights to the David Benedictus novel ''You're a Big Boy Now'' and fused it with a story idea of his own, resulting in ''You're a Big Boy Now'' (1966). This was his UCLA thesis project that also received a theatrical release via Warner Bros.. The studio went on to become an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV. In his book ''The American Cinema'', Andrew Sarris wrote, "[Coppola] is probably the first reasonably talented and sensibly adaptable directorial talent to emerge from a university curriculum in film-making... [He] may be heard from more decisively in the future."

1970s[link]

''Patton'' (1970)[link]

Coppola co-wrote the script for ''Patton'' in 1970 along with Edmund H. North. This earned him his first Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. However, it was not easy for Coppola to convince Franklin J. Schaffner that the opening scene would work. Coppola later revealed in an interview: Even after the director was persuaded to keep the scene intact, George C. Scott refused to do it, as he believed it would overshadow the rest of his performance. The director lied and assured him that it would be shown at the end. The movie opens with Scott's rendering of Patton's famous military "Pep Talk" to members of the Third Army, set against a huge American flag. Coppola and North had to tone down Patton's actual language to avoid an R rating; in the opening monologue, the word "fornicating" replaced "fucking" when criticizing the ''The Saturday Evening Post''. Over the years, this opening monologue has become an iconic scene, and has spawned parodies in numerous films, political cartoons and television shows.

''The Godfather'' (1972)[link]

The release of ''The Godfather'' in 1972 was a milestone in cinema. The near 3-hour-long epic, which chronicled the saga of the Corleone family, received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, and fetched Coppola the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which he shared with Mario Puzo, and two Golden Globe Awards- for Best Director and Best Screenplay. However, Coppola had to face a lot of difficulties while filming ''The Godfather''. He was not Paramount's first choice to direct the movie; Italian director Sergio Leone was initially offered the job, but declined in order to direct his own gangster opus, ''Once Upon a Time in America''. Peter Bogdanovich was then approached but he also declined the offer and made ''What's Up, Doc?'' instead; Bogdanovich has often said that he would have cast Edward G. Robinson in the lead had he accepted the film. According to Robert Evans, head of Paramount Pictures at the time, Coppola also did not initially want to direct the film because he feared it would glorify the Mafia and violence, and thus reflect poorly on his Sicilian and Italian heritage; on the other hand, Evans specifically wanted an Italian-American to direct the film because his research had shown that previous films about the Mafia that were directed by non-Italians had fared dismally at the box office, and he wanted to, in his own words, "smell the spaghetti". When Coppola hit upon the idea of making it a metaphor for American capitalism, however, he eagerly agreed to take the helm.

There was disagreement between Paramount and Coppola on the issue of casting; Coppola stuck to his plan of casting Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, though Paramount wanted either Ernest Borgnine or Danny Thomas. At one point, Coppola was told by the then-president of Paramount that "Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture". After pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed to cast Brando only if he appeared in the film for much less salary than his previous films, perform a screen-test, and put up a bond saying that he would not cause a delay in the production (as he had done on previous film sets). Coppola chose Brando over Ernest Borgnine on the basis of Brando's screen test, which also won over the Paramount leadership. Brando later won an Academy Award for his portrayal, which he refused to accept. Coppola would later recollect: After it was released, the film received widespread praise. It went on to win multiple awards, including Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola. The film routinely features at the top in various polls for the greatest movies ever. It has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In addition, it is ranked third, behind ''Citizen Kane'', and ''Casablanca'' on the AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies list by the American Film Institute. It was moved up to second when the list was published again, in 2008. Director Stanley Kubrick believed that ''The Godfather'' was possibly the greatest movie ever made, and had without question the best cast.

''The Conversation'' (1974)[link]

Coppola's next film, ''The Conversation'', further cemented his position as one of the most talented auteurs of Hollywood. The film generated a lot of speculation and interest when news leaked that the film utilized the very same surveillance and wire-tapping equipment that members of the Nixon administration used to spy on political opponents prior to Watergate. Although Coppola insisted that this was purely coincidental, for not only was the script for ''The Conversation'' completed in the mid-1960s (before the election of Richard Nixon) but the spying equipment used in the film was discovered through research and the use of technical advisers and not, as many believed, by revelatory newspaper stories about the Watergate break-in. However, the audience interpreted the film to be a reaction to both the Watergate scandal and its fall-out. The movie was a critical success, and won Coppola his first Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival.

''The Godfather Part II'' (1974)[link]

Coppola shot ''The Godfather Part II'' parallel to ''The Conversation''. It was the last major American motion picture to be filmed in Technicolor. George Lucas commented on the film after its five-hour-long preview, telling Coppola: "You have two films. Take one away, it doesn't work", referring to the movie's portrayal of two parallel storylines; one of a young Vito Corleone and the other of his son Michael. In the director's commentary on the DVD edition of the film (released in 2002), Coppola states that this film was the first major motion picture to use "Part II" in its title. Paramount was initially opposed to his decision to name the movie ''The Godfather Part II''. According to Coppola, the studio's objection stemmed from the belief that audiences would be reluctant to see a film with such a title, as the audience would supposedly believe that, having already seen ''The Godfather'', there was little reason to see an addition to the original story. The success of ''The Godfather Part II'' began the Hollywood tradition of numbered sequels. The movie was released in 1974, and went on to receive tremendous critical acclaim, with many deeming it superior to its predecessor. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and received 6 Oscars, including 3 for Coppola: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director.

''The Godfather Part II'' is ranked as the #1 greatest movie of all time in TV Guide's "50 Best Movies of All Time", and is ranked at #7 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time". The film is also featured on movie critic Leonard Maltin's list of the "100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century", as well as Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list. It was also featured on Sight and Sound's list of the ten greatest films of all time in 2002, ranking at #4.

''Apocalypse Now'' (1979)[link]

Following the success of ''The Godfather'', ''The Conversation'' and ''The Godfather Part II'', Coppola began filming ''Apocalypse Now'', an adaptation of Conrad’s ''Heart of Darkness'' set in Cambodia during the Vietnam War (Coppola himself briefly appears as a TV news director). Before production of the film began, Coppola went to his mentor Roger Corman for advice about shooting in the Philippines, since Corman had filmed several pictures there. Coppola said that all the advice Corman offered was "Don't go". The production of the film was plagued by numerous problems, including typhoons, nervous breakdowns, the firing of Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen's heart attack, extras from the Philippine military leaving in the middle of scenes to go fight rebels, and an unprepared Brando with a bloated appearance (which Coppola attempted to hide by shooting him in the shadows). It was delayed so often it was nicknamed ''Apocalypse When?''. The 1991 documentary film ''Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse'', directed by Eleanor Coppola (Francis's wife), Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper, chronicles the difficulties the crew went through making ''Apocalypse Now'', and features behind-the-scenes footage filmed by Eleanor. After filming ''Apocalypse Now'', Coppola famously stated: "''We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane.''"

The film was overwhelmingly lauded by critics when it finally appeared in 1979, and was selected at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or, along with ''The Tin Drum'', directed by Volker Schlöndorff. When the film screened at Cannes, he quipped: Roger Ebert considers it to be the finest film on the Vietnam war and included it on his list for the 2002 ''Sight and Sound'' poll for the greatest movie of all time.

In 2001, Coppola re-released ''Apocalypse Now'' as ''Apocalypse Now Redux'', restoring several sequences lost from the original 1979 cut of the film, thereby expanding its length to 200 minutes.

1980s[link]

''One from the Heart'' (1982)[link]

''Apocalypse Now'' marked the end of the golden phase of Coppola's career. far from enough to recoup the costs incurred in the production of the movie, and he was forced to sell his 23-acre Zoetrope Studio in 1983. He would spend the rest of the decade working to pay his debts. (Zoetrope Studios finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990, after which its name was changed to American Zoetrope).

''Hammett'' (1982)[link]

Following the disastrous ''One from the Heart'', Coppola co-directed ''Hammett'' along with Wim Wenders in the same year. Although Coppola was not credited for his effort, according to one source, "by the time the final version was released in 1982, only 30 percent of Wenders' footage remained, and the rest was completely reshot by Coppola, whose mere 'executive producer' credit is just a technicality."

''The Outsiders'' (1983)[link]

In 1983, he directed ''The Outsiders'', a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton. Coppola credited his inspiration for making the film to a suggestion from middle school students who had read the novel. ''The Outsiders'' is notable for being the breakout film for a number of young actors who would go on to become major stars. These included major roles for Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, and C. Thomas Howell. Also in the cast were Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, and Tom Cruise. Matt Dillon and several others also starred in Coppola's related film, ''Rumble Fish'', which was also based on a S. E. Hinton novel and filmed at the same time as ''The Outsiders'' on-location in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Carmine Coppola wrote and edited the musical score, including the title song "Stay Gold", which was based upon a famous Robert Frost poem and performed for the movie by Stevie Wonder. The film was a moderate box-office success, drawing a revenue of $25 million against a budget of $10 million.

''Rumble Fish'' (1983)[link]

''Rumble Fish'' was based on the novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Shot in black-and-white as an homage to German expressionist films, ''Rumble Fish'' centers on the relationship between a revered former gang leader (Mickey Rourke), and his younger brother, Rusty James (Matt Dillon). The film bombed at the box office, earning a meagre $2.5 million against a budget of $10 million, and once again aggravated Coppola's financial troubles.

''The Cotton Club'' (1984)[link]

In 1984 Coppola directed Robert Evans-produced ''The Cotton Club''. The film was nominated for several awards, including Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Picture (Drama) and the Oscar for Best Film Editing. However the film failed miserably at the box-office, recouping only $25.9 million of the $47.9 million privately invested by brothers Fred and Ed Doumani. The same year he directed an episode of ''Rip Van Winkle'', where Harry Dean Stanton played the lead role. The next year, along with producer George Lucas, he was able to indulge himself by making ''Captain EO'' (1985), a 12-minute space fantasy for Disney theme parks starring pop superstar Michael Jackson. At a cost of about one million dollars per minute of film, it was, minute-for-minute, the most expensive motion picture of all time.

''Peggy Sue Got Married'' (1986)[link]

In 1986 Coppola released the comedy ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' starring Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage and Jim Carrey. Much like ''The Outsiders'' and ''Rumble Fish'', ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' centered around teenage youth. The film earned Coppola positive feedback and provided Kathleen Turner her first and only Oscar nomination. It was the first box-office success for Coppola since ''Apocalypse Now''. The film later ranked number 17 on Entertainment Weekly's list of "50 Best High School Movies."

''Gardens of Stone'' (1987)[link]

The following year, Coppola re-teamed with James Caan for ''Gardens of Stone''. The film was overshadowed by the death of Coppola's eldest son Gian-Carlo Coppola during the film's production. The movie was not a critical success and performed poorly at the box office, earning only $5.2 million.

''Tucker: The Man and His Dream'' (1988)[link]

Coppola directed ''Tucker: The Man and His Dream'' the following year. A biopic based on the life of Preston Tucker and his attempt to produce and market the Tucker '48, Coppola had originally conceived the project as a musical with Marlon Brando after the release of ''The Godfather Part II''. Ultimately it was Jeff Bridges who played the role of Preston Tucker. The film received positive reviews, earning three nominations at the 62nd Academy Awards. In addition, Martin Landau won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Dean Tavoularis won the BAFTA Award for Best Production Design.

''New York Stories'' (1989)[link]

In 1989 Coppola teamed up with fellow Oscar-winning directors Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen for an anthology film called ''New York Stories''. Coppola directed the ''Life Without Zoe'' segment starring his sister Talia Shire, and also co-wrote the film with his daughter Sofia Coppola. ''Life Without Zoe'' was mostly panned by critics and was generally considered the segment that brought the film's overall quality down. Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote a particularly scathing review, stating that "It's impossible to know what Francis Coppola's ''Life Without Zoe'' is. Co-written with his daughter Sofia, the film is a mystifying embarrassment; it's by far the director's worst work yet."

1990s[link]

''The Godfather Part III'' (1990)[link]

In 1990, he released the third and final chapter of ''The Godfather'' series: ''The Godfather Part III''. Coppola successfully managed to get Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Talia Shire to return to the franchise, but Robert Duvall refused to reprise his role as Tom Hagen over salary disagreements. While not as critically acclaimed as the first two films, it was still a box office success, earning a revenue of $136 million against a budget of $54 million. Some reviewers criticized the casting of Coppola's daughter Sofia, who stepped into a role abandoned by Winona Ryder just as filming began. Despite this, ''The Godfather Part III'' went on to gather 7 Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture. The film failed to win any of these awards, the only film in the trilogy to do so.

''Dracula'' (1992)[link]

In 1992, Coppola directed, co-produced and co-wrote ''Dracula''. Adapted from Bram Stoker's novel, it was intended to be more faithful to the book than previous film adaptations. Coppola cast Gary Oldman in the film's title role, with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins in supporting roles. The movie became a box-office hit, grossing $82,522,790 domestically, making it the 15th highest-grossing film of the year. It fared much better overseas grossing $133,339,902 for a total worldwide gross of $215,862,692, making it the 9th highest grossing film of the year worldwide. The film won Academy Awards for Costume Design, Makeup, and Sound Editing.

''Jack'' (1996)[link]

Coppola's next project was ''Jack'', which was released on August 9, 1996. It stars Robin Williams as Jack Powell, a ten-year-old boy whose cells are growing at four times the normal rate, so at the age of ten he looks like a 40-year-old man. Jack persuades his parents (Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin) to let him attend regular school, based upon a recommendation from his tutor, Mr. Woodruff (Bill Cosby). The rest of the film deals with Jack's failures and successes as a student in a regular elementary school in the fifth grade, through the end of his life in high school. ''Jack'' also featured Jennifer Lopez, Fran Drescher and Michael McKean in supporting roles. Although a moderate box-office success, grossing $58 million domestically on an estimated $45 million budget, it was panned by critics, many of whom disliked the film's abrupt contrast between actual comedy and tragic melodrama. It was also unfavorably compared to the 1988 film ''Big'', in which Tom Hanks also played a child in a grown man's body. Most critics felt that the screenplay was poorly written, not funny, and the dramatic material was unconvincing and unbelievable. Other critics felt that Coppola was too talented to be making this type of film. Although ridiculed for making the film, Coppola has defended it, saying he is not ashamed of the final cut of the movie. He had been friends with Robin Williams for many years and had always wanted to work with him as an actor. When Williams was offered the screenplay for Jack he said he would only agree to do it if Coppola agreed to sign on as director.

''The Rainmaker'' (1997)[link]

The last film Coppola directed in the 90s, ''The Rainmaker'' was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham. An ensemble courtroom drama, the film was well-received by critics, earning an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave ''The Rainmaker'' three stars out of four, remarking: "I have enjoyed several of the movies based on Grisham novels ... but I've usually seen the storyteller's craft rather than the novelist's art being reflected. ... By keeping all of the little people in focus, Coppola shows the variety of a young lawyer's life, where every client is necessary and most of them need a lot more than a lawyer." James Berardinelli also gave the film three stars out of four, saying that "the intelligence and subtlety of ''The Rainmaker'' took me by surprise" and that the film "stands above any other filmed Grisham adaptation". Grisham said of the film, "To me it's the best adaptation of any of [my books]. ... I love the movie. It's so well done." The film grossed about $45 million domestically. This would be more than the estimated production budget of $40 million but a disappointment compared to previous films adapted from a Grisham novel.

''Zoetrope: All-Story''[link]

In 1997, Coppola founded ''Zoetrope: All-Story'', a literary magazine devoted to short stories and design. The magazine publishes fiction by emerging writers alongside more recognizable names, such as Woody Allen, Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami, Alice Munro, Don DeLillo, Mary Gaitskill, and Edward Albee; as well as essays, including ones from Mario Vargas Llosa, David Mamet, Steven Spielberg, and Salman Rushdie. Each issue is designed, in its entirety, by a prominent artist, one usually working outside his / her expected field. Previous guest designers include Gus Van Sant, Tom Waits, Laurie Anderson, Marjane Satrapi, Guillermo del Toro, David Bowie, David Byrne, and Dennis Hopper. Coppola serves as founding editor and publisher of ''All-Story''.

Dispute with Warner Bros.[link]

In the late 1980s, Coppola started considering concepts for a motion picture based upon the 19th century novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio''. In 1991, Coppola and Warner Bros. began discussing the project and two others involving the life of J. Edgar Hoover and the children's novel ''The Secret Garden''. These discussions led to negotiations for Coppola to both produce and direct the ''Pinocchio'' project for Warner, as well as ''Secret Garden'' and ''Hoover''. However, in mid-1991 Coppola and Warner came to disagreement over the compensation to be paid to Coppola for his directing services on ''Pinocchio''. The parties deferred this issue, and finally a settlement was reached in 1998, when the jurors awarded Coppola $20 million as compensation for losing the film project, ''Pinocchio''. This was the largest civil verdict ever against a Hollywood studio. It was made for about $19 million, and was given a limited release. As a result, Coppola announced his plans to produce his own films in order to avoid the marketing input that goes into most films (trying to make them appeal to too wide an audience). The film managed $2,624,759 at the box-office.

''Tetro'' (2009)[link]

In 2009, Coppola released ''Tetro''. It was "set in Argentina, with the reunion of two brothers, the story follows the rivalries born out of creative differences passed down through generations of an artistic Italian immigrant family." The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the film has an average metascore of 63% based on 19 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 68% of critics gave positive reviews based on 71 reviews with an average score of 5.6/10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television, and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 71% based on 24 reviews. Overall, the Rotten Tomatoes consensus was: "A complex meditation on family dynamics, ''Tetro'''s arresting visuals and emotional core compensate for its uneven narrative."

Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave the film 3 stars, praising the film for being "boldly operatic, involving family drama, secrets, generations at war, melodrama, romance and violence". Ebert also praised Vincent Gallo's performance, but claimed Alden Ehrenreich is "the new Leonardo DiCaprio". Todd McCarthy of ''Variety'' gave the film a B+ judging that "Coppola finds creative nirvana, he frequently has trouble delivering the full goods." Richard Corliss of ''TIME'' gave the film a mixed review, praising Ehrenreich's performance, but claiming Coppola "has made a movie in which plenty happens but nothing rings true."

Other ventures[link]

Coppola co-produced George Lucas’s first film, ''THX 1138'', in 1971. Shortly after completion of production Lucas and Coppola brought the finished film to Warner Bros., along with several other scripts for potential projects at American Zoetrope. However, studio executives strongly disliked all the scripts including ''THX''. Warner demanded that Coppola repay the $300,000 they had loaned him for the Zoetrope studio, and insisted on cutting five minutes from the film. The debt nearly closed Zoetrope, and forced Coppola to (reluctantly) focus on ''The Godfather''. His winery produced its first vintage in 1977 with the help of his father, wife and children stomping the grapes barefoot. Every year, the family has a harvest party to continue the tradition. After purchasing the property, he produced wine under the Niebaum-Coppola label. He purchased the former Inglenook Winery chateau in 1995 and renamed the winery Rubicon Estate Winery in 2006. The company also produces a line of pastas and pasta sauces. He owns the Turtle Inn in Placencia, Belize. For 14 years he co-owned the "Rubicon" restaurant in San Francisco along with Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. The restaurant closed in August 2008. Coppola also owns Francis Ford Coppola Winery near Geyserville, California where he has opened a family-friendly facility with swimming pools, bocce courts and a restaurant. The winery displays several of Coppola's Oscars along with memorabilia from his movies including a desk from ''The Godfather'' and a restored 1948 Tucker Sedan. This winery is located on the former Chateau Souverain Winery. Coppola is also the owner of Francis Ford Coppola Presents, a lifestyle brand under which he markets goods from companies he owns or controls. It includes films and videos, resorts, cafes, a literary magazine and a winery. He brought out the San Francisco-based ''City Magazine'' in the '70s. He lost 1.5 million dollars in this venture. Coppola serves as the "''Honorary Consul H. E. Francis Ford Coppola''" for the Central American nation of Belize in San Francisco. He was the jury president at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. He also took part as a special guest at the 46th International Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece.

Coppola stated that ''The Godfather Part IV'' was never made as Mario Puzo died before they had a chance to write the film. Andy Garcia has since claimed the film's script was nearly produced.

Coppola is currently living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also spends considerable time in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is establishing a subsidiary of his production company. In San Francisco, Coppola owns a restaurant named Cafe Zoetrope, located in the Sentinel Building. It serves traditional Italian cuisine and wine from his personal vineyard and bottling company.

Over the years, Francis Coppola has given political contributions to several candidates of the Democratic Party, including Mike Thompson, Nancy Pelosi for the U.S. House of Representatives and Barbara Boxer and Alan Cranston for the U.S. Senate.

For quite some time, he had been planning to direct an epic movie named Megalopolis, but for some reason or the other, the project hasn't come to fruition. In 2007 he stated that "I have abandoned that as of now. I'm now going to...I plan to begin a process of making one personal movie after another and if something leads me back to look at that, which I'm sure it might, I'll see what makes sense to me."

Personal life[link]

In February 1963, Coppola married Eleanor Neil, whom he met on the set of ''Dementia 13''. They had three children: Sofia Coppola, Roman Coppola and Gian-Carlo Coppola. Sofia Coppola is an Academy Award-winning writer and nominated director. Her films include ''The Virgin Suicides'' and ''Lost in Translation''. In 2004, she became the first American woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, for ''Lost in Translation''. Coppola's eldest son, Gian-Carlo, was in the early stages of a film production career when he was killed on May 26, 1986 in a speedboat accident. Coppola's surviving son, Roman, is a filmmaker and music video director whose filmography includes the feature film ''CQ'' and music videos for The Strokes, as well as co-writing the Wes Anderson film ''The Darjeeling Limited''.

Coppola often works with family members in his films. His sister, Talia Shire, played Connie Corleone in all three ''Godfather'' films. His daughter Sofia also appeared in all three (the first two movies uncredited): as the infant being baptized at the end of the first movie, as a young child on board ship in the second, and in a supporting role as Michael Corleone's daughter Mary in the third. He cast his two sons in ''The Godfather'' as extras during the street fight scene and Vito Corleone’s funeral. His father Carmine, a composer and professional musician, co-wrote much of the music in ''The Godfather'', ''The Godfather Part II'', and ''Apocalypse Now''.

Coppola's nephew, Nicolas Cage, starred in Coppola's film ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' and was featured in ''Rumble Fish'' and ''The Cotton Club''. Other famous members of Coppola's family include nephews Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman, sons of Talia Shire. Jason Schwartzman has starred in several films, including ''Rushmore'' and ''Slackers''. He also co-wrote (along with director Wes Anderson and cousin Roman Coppola) and starred in the 2007 film ''The Darjeeling Limited''. Robert Schwartzman is the lead singer in the band Rooney and appeared in ''The Princess Diaries'' as well as having small appearances in several films, including his cousin Sofia's ''The Virgin Suicides''.

Honors[link]

In the 2002 poll of the Sight and Sound publication, Coppola ranked #4 in the directors' top ten directors of all time and #10 in the critics' top ten directors of all time. He featured at #17 in MovieMaker Magazine's 25 most influential directors of all-time. He also ranked #9 in toptenreviews' list of top directors of all time, and at #21 in Entertainment Weekly's top fifty directors of all time. Four of Coppola's films- ''The Godfather'', ''The Godfather Part II'', ''Apocalypse Now'' and ''Patton'' featured in WGAW's list of 101 greatest screenplays ever. Three of his films feature in AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies: ''The Godfather'' (#2), ''Apocalypse Now'' (#28) and ''The Godfather Part II'' (#32). ''The Godfather'' also ranks at number #11 in AFI's 100 Years…100 Thrills.

The following Coppola films were also nominated for the list:

''American Graffiti'' (1973) - Producer

''The Conversation'' (1974) - Director/Producer/Screenwriter

''Patton'' (1970) - Screenwriter

1991, he was honored with the Berlinale Camera at the Berlin International Film Festival. In 1992, he was awarded a Golden Lion – Honorary Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1998, the Directors Guild of America honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was honored with a special 50th anniversary award for his impressive career at the 2002 San Sebastián International Film Festival. The same year he received a gala tribute from Film Society of Lincoln Center. In 2003, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Denver Film Festival. He was given an honorary award at the 2007 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. In 2010, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to honor him with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 2nd Governor's Awards in November. The honor was bestowed on him on November 13, along with Jean-Luc Godard, Kevin Brownlow and Eli Wallach. George Lucas said that he based the Han Solo character in ''Star Wars'' on Coppola.

Filmography [link]

+ Film
! Year	! Title	Contribution	Notes
1962	''Tonight for Sure''	Director/Writer	First film
1962	''''	Director/Writer
1963	''Dementia 13''	Director/Writer	First feature film
1963	''''	Director/Producer
1966	''You're a Big Boy Now''	Director/Writer	Nominated — Palme d'OrNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or ComedyNominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best American Screenplay - Comedy
1968		Director	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
1969	''''	Director/Writer	Golden Shell at San Sebastián International Film Festival
1970		Writer	Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
1971	''THX 1138''	Executive Producer
1972	''''	Director/Writer
1973	''American Graffiti''	Producer	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best FilmNominated — Academy Award for Best PictureGolden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
1974	''''	Director/Producer/Writer	Palme d'OrPrize of the Ecumenical Jury- Special MentionKansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best DirectorNational Board of Review Award for Best DirectorNominated — Academy Award for Best Original ScreenplayNominated — BAFTA Award for Best DirectionNominated — BAFTA Award for Best ScreenplayNominated — Video Premiere Award at DVD Exclusive AwardsNominated — Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature FilmNominated — Best Motion Picture ScreenplayNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Motion PictureNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best DirectorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best ScreenplayNominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the ScreenNominated — Academy Award for Best Picture
1974	''''	Director/Producer/Writer
1979	''Apocalypse Now''	Director/Producer/Writer/Music	Palme d'OrFIPRESCI PrizeGolden Globe Award for Best DirectorBAFTA Award for Best DirectionDavid di Donatello for Best Foreign FilmGolden Screen at Golden Screen Awards, GermanyLondon Film Critics Circle Award for Best FilmNominated — Academy Award for Best PictureNominated — Academy Award for Best DirectorNominated — Academy Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated — BAFTA Award for Best FilmNominated — Best Foreign Language Film at Cinema Brazil Grand Prize (2002)Nominated — César Award for Best Foreign FilmNominated — Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature FilmNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Motion PictureNominated — Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television SpecialNominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
1979		Executive Producer
1980	''Kagemusha''	Executive Producer	David di Donatello for Best Producer
1982	''One from the Heart''	Director/Writer
1983	''''	Director
1983	''Koyaanisqatsi''	Executive Producer
1983	''Rumble Fish''	Director/Producer/Writer
1984	''''	Director/Writer
1986	''Peggy Sue Got Married''	Director	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or ComedyNominated — Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
1987	''Gardens of Stone''	Director/Producer
1988	''Tucker: The Man and His Dream''	Director
1989	''New York Stories''	Co-director/Co-writer
1990	''''	Director/Producer/Writer	Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) at Fotogramas de PlataNominated — Academy Award for Best PictureNominated — Academy Award for Best DirectorNominated — Directors Guild of America Award#Winners
1992		Director/Producer/Writer	[[Saturn Award for Best DirectionSaturn Award for Best Horror FilmBest Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) at Fotogramas de PlataNominated — Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
1993	''''	Producer
1994		Producer	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Horror Film
1995		Executive Producer
1996		Director/Producer	Nominated — Best Family Feature - Musical or Comedy at Young Artist Awards
1997	''''	Director/Writer	Nominated — USC Scripter AwardNominated — Political Film Society Award for Democracy
1999	''''	Producer
1999		Producer
		Producer
	Producer
2003	''Jeepers Creepers 2''	Producer
2006		Producer
2007		Director/Producer/Writer
2009	''Tetro''	Director/Producer/Writer
2010		Producer
2011		Executive Producer
2011		Director/Producer/Writer

See also[link]

Coppola family tree

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

List of wine personalities

Further reading[link]

Jeffrey Chown. ''Hollywood Auteur: Francis Coppola''. New York: Praeger Publishers, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1988. ISBN 0-275-92910-8.

References[link]

External links[link]

Francis Ford Coppola: Texas Monthly Talks, YouTube video posted on November 24, 2008

2007 Francis Ford Coppola Video Interview with InterviewingHollywood.com

Bibliography at the University of California Berkeley Library

Francis Ford Coppola Presents

Perfecting the Rubicon: An interview with Francis Ford Coppola

June 10, 2009 Francis Ford Coppola discusses new film Tetro on Adam Carolla podcast Link

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:American film directors Category:American screenwriters Category:American film directors of Italian descent Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:Coppola family Category:English-language film directors Category:Golden Orange Honorary Award winners Category:Hofstra University alumni Category:Jamaica High School (New York City) alumni Category:New York Democrats Category:New York Military Academy alumni Category:People from Long Island Category:People from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:UCLA Film School alumni Category:Viticulturists Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:American people of Italian descent Category:David di Donatello winners‎

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Birthname	George Walton Lucas, Jr.
Birth date	May 14, 1944
Birth place	Modesto, California, U.S.
Residence	Marin County, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Modesto Junior College
Alma mater	University of Southern California (B.A. and B.S.)
Occupation	Chairman & CEO of Lucasfilm
Years active	1965–present
Influences	Frank Herbert, Joseph Campbell, Akira Kurosawa, John Ford
Net worth	US$3.2 billion (2011)
Home town	Central Valley, California, U.S.
Spouse	Marcia Lucas (1969–1983)
Partner	Mellody Hobson (2007–present) }}

George Walton Lucas, Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American film producer, screenwriter, director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise ''Star Wars'' and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones. Lucas is one of the American film industry's most financially successful directors/producers, with an estimated net worth of $3.2 billion as of 2011.

Early life and education[link]

George Lucas was born in Modesto, California, the son of Dorothy Ellinore (née Bomberger) and George Walton Lucas, Sr. (1913–1991), who owned a stationery store.

Lucas grew up in the Central Valley town of Modesto and his early passion for cars and motor racing would eventually serve as inspiration for his USC student film ''1:42.08'', as well as his Oscar-nominated low-budget phenomenon, ''American Graffiti''. Long before Lucas became obsessed with film making, he wanted to be a race-car driver, and he spent most of his high school years racing on the underground circuit at fairgrounds and hanging out at garages. However, a near-fatal accident in his souped-up Autobianchi Bianchina on June 12, 1962, just days before his high school graduation, quickly changed his mind. Instead of racing, he attended Modesto Junior College and later got accepted into a junior college to study anthropology. While taking liberal arts courses, he developed a passion for cinematography and camera tricks. George Lucas graduated from USC in California.

As a child, Lucas never learned to swim, which became a source of embarrassment and frustration as he became older. Lucas has expressed in several interviews that his inability to swim was "the passion that drove me to succeed in filmmaking... [It] gave me the chip on my shoulder that I think was critical to my later success"

During this time, an experimental filmmaker named Bruce Baillie tacked up a bedsheet in his backyard in 1960 to screen the work of underground, avant-garde 16 mm filmmakers like Jordan Belson, Stan Brakhage and Bruce Conner. For the next few years, Baillie's series, dubbed Canyon Cinema, toured local coffeehouses. These events became a magnet for the teenage Lucas and his boyhood friend John Plummer. The 19-year-olds began slipping away to San Francisco to hang out in jazz clubs and find news of Canyon Cinema screenings in flyers at the City Lights bookstore. Already a promising photographer, Lucas became infatuated with these abstract films.

"That's when he [George] really started exploring" Plummer recalled. "We went to a theater on Union Street that shows art films, we drove up to San Francisco State for a film festival, and there was an old beatnik coffeehouse in Cow Hollow with shorts that were really out there." It was a season of awakening for Lucas, who had been an uninterested slacker in high school. At an autocross track, Lucas met his first mentor in the film industry — famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler, a fellow aficionado of sleek racing machines. Wexler was impressed by the way the shy teenager handled a camera, cradling it low on his hips to get better angles. "George had a very good eye, and he thought visually," Wexler recalls.

Lucas then transferred to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. USC was one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to motion picture film. During the years at USC, George Lucas shared a dorm room with Randal Kleiser. Along with classmates such as Walter Murch, Hal Barwood and John Milius, they became a clique of film students known as The Dirty Dozen. He also became very good friends with fellow acclaimed student filmmaker and future ''Indiana Jones'' collaborator, Steven Spielberg. Lucas was deeply influenced by the Filmic Expression course taught at the school by filmmaker Lester Novros which concentrated on the non-narrative elements of Film Form like color, light, movement, space, and time. Another huge inspiration was the Serbian montagist (and dean of the USC Film Department) Slavko Vorkapich, a film theoretician comparable in historical importance to Sergei Eisenstein, who moved to Hollywood to make stunning montage sequences for studio features at MGM, RKO, and Paramount. Vorkapich taught the autonomous nature of the cinematic art form, emphasizing the unique dynamic quality of movement and kinetic energy inherent in motion pictures.

Lucas saw many inspiring films in class, particularly the visual films coming out of the National Film Board of Canada like Arthur Lipsett's 21-87, the French-Canadian cameraman Jean-Claude Labrecque's cinéma vérité ''60 Cycles'', the work of Norman McLaren, and the documentaries of Claude Jutra. Lucas fell madly in love with pure cinema and quickly became prolific at making 16 mm nonstory noncharacter visual tone poems and cinéma vérité with such titles as ''Look at Life'', ''Herbie'', ''1:42.08'', ''The Emperor'', ''Anyone Lived in a Pretty (how) Town'', ''Filmmaker'', and ''6-18-67''. He was passionate and interested in camerawork and editing, defining himself as a filmmaker as opposed to being a director, and he loved making abstract visual films that create emotions purely through cinema.

''Star Wars'' quickly became the highest-grossing film of all-time, displaced five years later by Spielberg’s ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. During the filming of ''Star Wars'', Lucas waived his up-front fee as director and negotiated to own the licensing rights (for novelizations, T-shirts, toys, etc.) —rights which the studio thought were nearly worthless . This decision earned him hundreds of millions of dollars , as he was able to directly profit from all the licensed games, toys, and collectibles created for the franchise. This accumulated capital enabled him to finance the sequel himself.

Over the two decades after the first ''Star Wars'' film, Lucas worked extensively as a writer and/or producer, including the many Star Wars spinoffs made for film, TV, and other media. He acted as executive producer for the next two ''Star Wars'' films, assigning the direction of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' to Irvin Kershner and ''Return of the Jedi'' to Richard Marquand, while receiving a story credit on the former and sharing a screenwriting credit with Lawrence Kasdan on the latter. Lucas also acted as executive producer and story writer on all four of the ''Indiana Jones'' films, which he convinced his colleague and good friend, Steven Spielberg, to direct. Other notable projects as a producer or executive producer in this period include Kurosawa's ''Kagemusha'' (1980), Lawrence Kasdan's ''Body Heat'' (1981), Jim Henson's ''Labyrinth'' (1986), Godfrey Reggio's ''Powaqqatsi'' (1986) and the animated film ''The Land Before Time'' (1988). There were also some less successful projects, however, including ''More American Graffiti'' (1979), the ill-fated ''Howard the Duck'' (1986), which was arguably the biggest flop of his career; ''Willow'' (1988, which Lucas also wrote); and Coppola's ''Tucker: The Man and His Dream'' (1988). Between 1992 and 1996, Lucas served as executive producer for the television spinoff ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles''. In 1997, for the 20th anniversary of ''Star Wars,'' Lucas went back to his trilogy to enhance and add certain scenes using newly available digital technology. These new versions were released in theaters as the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. For DVD releases in 2004, this series has received further revisions to make them congruent with the prequel trilogy. Besides the additions to the Star Wars franchise, Lucas released Special Edition director's cuts of THX 1138 and American Graffiti containing a number of CGI revisions. The animation studio Pixar was founded as the Graphics Group , one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm. Pixar's early computer graphics research resulted in groundbreaking effects in films such as ''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' and ''Young Sherlock Holmes'', and the group was purchased in 1986 by Steve Jobs shortly after he left Apple after a power struggle at Apple Computer. Jobs paid U.S. $5 million to Lucas and put U.S. $5 million as capital into the company. The sale reflected Lucas' desire to stop the cash flow losses from his 7-year research projects associated with new entertainment technology tools, as well as his company's new focus on creating entertainment products rather than tools. A contributing factor was cash-flow difficulties following Lucas' 1983 divorce concurrent with the sudden dropoff in revenues from ''Star Wars'' licenses following the release of ''Return of the Jedi''.

The sound-equipped system, THX Ltd, was founded by Lucas and Tomlinson Holman . The company was formerly owned by Lucasfilm, and contains equipment for stereo, digital, and theatrical sound for films, and music. Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic, the sound and visual effects subdivisions of Lucasfilm, respectively, have become among the most respected firms in their fields . Lucasfilm Games, later renamed LucasArts, is well respected in the gaming industry .

In 1994, Lucas began work on the screenplay for the prequel ''Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace'', which would be the first film he had directed in over two decades. ''The Phantom Menace'' was released in 1999, beginning a new trilogy of ''Star Wars'' films. Lucas also directed ''Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' and ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' which were released in 2002 and 2005, respectively. Numerous critics considered these films inferior to the previously released ''Star Wars'', ''The Empire Strikes Back'', and ''Return of the Jedi''.

In 2008, he reteamed with Spielberg for ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull''.

Lucas currently serves as executive producer for ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', an animated television series on Cartoon Network, which was preceded by a feature film of the same name. He is also working on a so-far untitled Star Wars live-action series.

For the film ''Red Tails'' (2012), Lucas serves as story-writer and executive producer. He also took over direction of reshoots while director Anthony Hemingway worked on other projects. Lucas is working on his first musical, an untitled CGI project being produced at Skywalker Ranch. Kevin Munroe is directing and David Berenbaum wrote the screenplay.

Semi-retirement[link]

}} In January 2012, Lucas announced his retirement from producing large-scale blockbuster films and instead re-focusing his career on smaller, independently budgeted features. He did not specify whether or not this would affect his involvement with a fifth installment of the ''Indiana Jones'' series.

Philanthropy[link]

In 1991, The George Lucas Educational Foundation was founded as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. The Foundation's content is available under the brand Edutopia, in an award-winning web site, social media and via documentary films. Lucas, through his foundation, was one of the leading proponents of the E-rate program in the universal service fund, which was enacted as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. On June 24, 2008, Lucas testified before the United States House of Representatives subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet as the head of his Foundation to advocate for a free wireless broadband educational network.

In 2005, Lucas gave US$1 million to help build the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to commemorate American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

On September 19, 2006, USC announced that George Lucas had donated $175–180 million to his alma mater to expand the film school. It is the largest single donation to USC and the largest gift to a film school anywhere. Previous donations led to the already existing George Lucas Instructional Building and Marcia Lucas Post-Production building.

Awards[link]

The American Film Institute awarded Lucas its Life Achievement Award on June 9, 2005. This was shortly after the release of ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'', about which he joked stating that, since he views the entire ''Star Wars'' series as one film, he could actually receive the award now that he had finally "gone back and finished the movie."

On June 5, 2005, Lucas was named among the 100 "Greatest Americans" by the Discovery Channel.

Lucas was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Directing and Writing for ''American Graffiti'', and Best Directing and Writing for ''Star Wars''. He received the Academy's Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1991. He appeared at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony in 2007 with Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola to present the Best Director award to their friend Martin Scorsese. During the speech, Spielberg and Coppola talked about the joy of winning an Oscar, making fun of Lucas, who has not won a competitive Oscar.

On June 17, 2006, the Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted George Lucas and three others.

On January 1, 2007 George Lucas served as the Grand Marshal for the 2007 Tournament of Roses Parade, and made the coin toss at the 2007 Rose Bowl.

On August 25, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced that Lucas would be one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum's yearlong exhibit. The induction ceremony was on December 1, 2009 in Sacramento, California.

On September 6, 2009, Lucas was in Venice to present to the Pixar team the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during the 2009 Biennale Venice Film Festival.

Personal life[link]

In 1969, Lucas married film editor Marcia Lou Griffin, who went on to win an Academy Award for her editing work on the original ''Star Wars'' film. George and Marcia adopted a daughter, Amanda, in 1981, and divorced in 1983. Lucas has since adopted two more children: Katie, born in 1988, and Jett, born in 1993. All three of his children have appeared in the three ''Star Wars'' prequels, as has Lucas himself. Lucas had been in a long relationship with and engaged to singer Linda Ronstadt. He has been dating Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments, since 2006 and she has accompanied him to several events including the 79th Academy Awards ceremony in February 2007, an American Film Institute event in October 2007, the 2008 Cannes Film Festival held in May, and the 2010 Golden Globes.

Lucas was born and raised in a strong Methodist family. The religious and mythical themes in ''Star Wars'' were inspired by Lucas' interest in the writings of mythologist Joseph Campbell, and he would eventually come to identify strongly with the Eastern religious philosophies he studied and incorporated into his films, which were a major inspiration for "the Force." Lucas eventually came to state that his religion was "Buddhist Methodist". Lucas resides in Marin County.

Lucas has said that he is a fan of Seth MacFarlane's hit TV show ''Family Guy''. MacFarlane has said that Lucasfilm was extremely helpful when the ''Family Guy'' crew wanted to parody their works.

Lucas has pledged to give half of his fortune to charity as part of an effort called The Giving Pledge led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to persuade America's richest individuals to donate their financial wealth to charities.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Sources[link]

Rinzler, J.W. "The Making of Star Wars, The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film", Ebury Press, 2007.

Silberman, Steve "Life After Darth" Wired, November, 2005

"George Lucas: Interviews" University Press of Mississippi (February 16, 2007)

The Cinema of George Lucas (Hardcover) by Marcus Hearn, Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (March 1, 2005)

Michael Rubin, "Droidmaker: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution" (2005) [ISBN 0937404675]

External links[link]

George Lucas biography at Lucasfilm.com

George Lucas biography at World Business Forum where Lucas is a featured speaker for the 2009 event

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