Andrew J. Kuehn
Encyclopedia
Andrew J. Kuehn September 24, 1937 - January 29, 2004, is notable for revolutionizing the American film trailer in the early 1960s and for producing and directing featurette films for television like Lights, Camera, Annie! Getting in Shape for the "Main Event", Behind the Scenes: Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, documentaries and feature-length motion pictures, including D.O.A.
, Get Bruce
and Terror in the Aisles
.
, produced a local radio show and worked as a floor manager for a local sports television show. In 1961, Kuehn started working with National Screen Service
, which was the predominate, if not singular, provider of motion picture trailers to Hollywood. At the time, their trailers typically featured a great deal of copy, slowly-paced editing, bold graphic treatment of titles and cast information, and a presentational style borrowed from circus pitchmen and carnival barkers
, and Blowup
," and in 1964, Andrew J. Kuehn distributed his independently-produced trailer for Night of the Iguana
, using stark, high-contrast photography, fast-paced editing and a provocative narration by a young James Earl Jones
. His format was so successful, he began producing this new form of trailer with partner Dan Davis.
Kuehn opened the west coast office of Kaleidoscope Films in 1968 and Kuehn and his company became a major player in the trailer industry for the next three decades. As Hollywood began to produce bigger blockbuster films and invest more money in marketing them, directors like Steven Spielberg
, Oliver Stone
and Barbra Streisand
began to depend on Kuehn and Kaleidoscope for their ability to create the best trailers theater-goers could see. Kuehn alumni include leading trailer makers and marketing creatives.
Mr. Kuehn developed trailers for films including the original Jaws
, the Indiana Jones
trilogy, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
, Schindler's List
, The Lost World: Jurassic Park
, The French Connection
, The Sting
, Funny Girl
, Aliens
, Top Gun
, Back to the Future
, JFK
, and Witness
.
"A trailer is two or three minutes long - about the length of a song - and I think of trailers as songs," said Kuehn, who was noted for his clever writing, use of music and sharp editing. "One of the hardest things to do when looking at a movie is to determine the overall tone, tempo, mood, pacing and rhythm of the trailer. They may not be the same as the tone and rhythms of the picture itself."
In a trade interview, Kuehn said, "A trailer has but one goal: to draw audiences out of their houses and into a theater. To do that you have to set up a sense of urgency. In the process of arriving at that forced pace, we advanced the style of editing. We really pushed the envelope in terms of what audiences would accept."
"Andy was a kaleidoscope, never repetitious, always visually original, and above all, he was a lovely man: fun to be with, fun to work with. Andy understood the rhythms of editing and the important role music plays in telling a story. He never relied on the same creative idea twice. I also treasured that there were so many other dimensions to him as a person that enriched our time together. His passion for his art, his passion for his country, and for life in general, will be very sorely missed." - Barbra Streisand
"...Over the years, they worked on so many of the films that I directed or produced, and I remember not just with ET or Schindler´s list, but also the times when the campaigns may have even been better than some the films I produced, and that´s as much a salute to Andy´s talent as his long list of tremendously successful pictures. Andy did it by building relationship with filmmakers, he did it by setting high standards of creativity, and he did it because he had good taste. And although he´s now no longer in the cutting room, there are so many people who have learned him and worked with him, that his legacy of coming attractions goes on and on and on." - Steven Spielberg
In l994, Kuehn was honored by the Cannes Lions with a lifetime achievement award. On the tribute reel dedicated to his career, more than 1000 trailers were credited to Kuehn, including re-releases for "Casablanca," his favorite film, and the 1927 silent epic "Napoleon."
As well as making trailers, Kuehn co-produced the feature films Coming Apart and D.O.A.
, directed Flush
and produced and directed the documentaries Terror in the Aisles
(a thriller- horror anthology hosted by Donald Pleasence
and Nancy Allen
), Get Bruce
and The Great American Songbook (a PBS television study of American popular music, in 2003.
. Michael Camp headed the trailer department at Paramount Pictures
, Tom Kennedy at MGM, Jeff Werner and Vince Arcaro all started their own successful trailer companies and Bob Harper began his career as a messenger at Kaleidoscope before becoming a producer and quickly Vice-Chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment
and, in 2007, Chairman of Regency Entertainment. Top industry trailer composer John Beal
credits his career success to the thirty-year collaboration with Kuehn and their revolutionary approach of creating original scores using a whole new musical template.
On March 15, 2006, the Andrew J. Kuehn Foundation released Coming Attractions: The History of Movie Trailers, which he inspired, financed and guided through development. As mandated by the Andrew J. Kuehn, Jr. Foundation, "Coming Attractions" is to be freely-distributed to film schools, film archives and film-related institutions nationally and worldwide. Produced, written and shot by long-term collaborators of his, "Coming Attractions" features rare archival footage and interviews with the top creative and executive talent in the industry, as well as the insights and discoveries of leading academics, archivists and collectors.
D.O.A. (1988 film)
D.O.A. is a 1988 very loose remake of the 1950 film noir of the same name, sharing the same premise but otherwise having a different story and characters....
, Get Bruce
Get Bruce
Get Bruce is a 1999 documentary film starring Bruce Vilanch, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin, Shirley MacLaine, Steven Seagal, Carol Burnett and Michael Douglas. The film is directed by Andrew J. Kuehn.-Synopsis:...
and Terror in the Aisles
Terror in the Aisles
Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by...
.
Early life
Andrew J. Kuehn was raised on the South side of Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of MiamiUniversity of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, produced a local radio show and worked as a floor manager for a local sports television show. In 1961, Kuehn started working with National Screen Service
National Screen Service
National Screen Service was a company which controlled the distribution of theatrical advertising materials in the United States from approximately 1940 through the 1980s....
, which was the predominate, if not singular, provider of motion picture trailers to Hollywood. At the time, their trailers typically featured a great deal of copy, slowly-paced editing, bold graphic treatment of titles and cast information, and a presentational style borrowed from circus pitchmen and carnival barkers
Move to Hollywood
Tapped by MGM to come to Hollywood, he contributed to the success of such important films such as Doctor ZhivagoDoctor Zhivago
-Original creation:*Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, published in 1957**Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago, a fictional character and the main protagonist of the book Doctor Zhivago-Adaptations:There are several adaptations based on the Doctor Zhivago book:...
, and Blowup
Blowup
Blowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
," and in 1964, Andrew J. Kuehn distributed his independently-produced trailer for Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana (film)
The Night of the Iguana is a 1964 film based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston, it starred Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best...
, using stark, high-contrast photography, fast-paced editing and a provocative narration by a young James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
. His format was so successful, he began producing this new form of trailer with partner Dan Davis.
Kuehn opened the west coast office of Kaleidoscope Films in 1968 and Kuehn and his company became a major player in the trailer industry for the next three decades. As Hollywood began to produce bigger blockbuster films and invest more money in marketing them, directors like Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
and Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
began to depend on Kuehn and Kaleidoscope for their ability to create the best trailers theater-goers could see. Kuehn alumni include leading trailer makers and marketing creatives.
Mr. Kuehn developed trailers for films including the original Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, the Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
trilogy, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
, Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
, The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a 1997 science fiction thriller film, directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was produced by Bonnie Curtis, Kathleen Kennedy, Gerald R. Molen and Colin Wilson...
, The French Connection
The French Connection
The French Connection or French Connection may refer to:* French Connection, an infamous 1960s-70s drug trafficking scheme* The French Connection , a 1969 non-fiction book about the drug trafficking scheme...
, The Sting
The Sting
The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936 that involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters to con a mob boss . The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who previously directed Newman and Redford in the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.Created by...
, Funny Girl
Funny Girl
Funny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway, film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein...
, Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun may refer to:* Top Gun is a 1986 film starring Tom Cruise.**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie**Top Gun , a number of games based on the movie...
, Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
, JFK
JFK (film)
JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...
, and Witness
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
.
"A trailer is two or three minutes long - about the length of a song - and I think of trailers as songs," said Kuehn, who was noted for his clever writing, use of music and sharp editing. "One of the hardest things to do when looking at a movie is to determine the overall tone, tempo, mood, pacing and rhythm of the trailer. They may not be the same as the tone and rhythms of the picture itself."
In a trade interview, Kuehn said, "A trailer has but one goal: to draw audiences out of their houses and into a theater. To do that you have to set up a sense of urgency. In the process of arriving at that forced pace, we advanced the style of editing. We really pushed the envelope in terms of what audiences would accept."
"Andy was a kaleidoscope, never repetitious, always visually original, and above all, he was a lovely man: fun to be with, fun to work with. Andy understood the rhythms of editing and the important role music plays in telling a story. He never relied on the same creative idea twice. I also treasured that there were so many other dimensions to him as a person that enriched our time together. His passion for his art, his passion for his country, and for life in general, will be very sorely missed." - Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
"...Over the years, they worked on so many of the films that I directed or produced, and I remember not just with ET or Schindler´s list, but also the times when the campaigns may have even been better than some the films I produced, and that´s as much a salute to Andy´s talent as his long list of tremendously successful pictures. Andy did it by building relationship with filmmakers, he did it by setting high standards of creativity, and he did it because he had good taste. And although he´s now no longer in the cutting room, there are so many people who have learned him and worked with him, that his legacy of coming attractions goes on and on and on." - Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
In l994, Kuehn was honored by the Cannes Lions with a lifetime achievement award. On the tribute reel dedicated to his career, more than 1000 trailers were credited to Kuehn, including re-releases for "Casablanca," his favorite film, and the 1927 silent epic "Napoleon."
As well as making trailers, Kuehn co-produced the feature films Coming Apart and D.O.A.
D.O.A. (1988 film)
D.O.A. is a 1988 very loose remake of the 1950 film noir of the same name, sharing the same premise but otherwise having a different story and characters....
, directed Flush
Flush
Flush has several meanings:* Flush , to become markedly red in the face and often other areas of the skin, from various physiological conditions* Flush , a hand in card games** Flush , a hand in poker...
and produced and directed the documentaries Terror in the Aisles
Terror in the Aisles
Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by...
(a thriller- horror anthology hosted by Donald Pleasence
Donald Pleasence
Sir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
and Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
), Get Bruce
Get Bruce
Get Bruce is a 1999 documentary film starring Bruce Vilanch, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Lily Tomlin, Shirley MacLaine, Steven Seagal, Carol Burnett and Michael Douglas. The film is directed by Andrew J. Kuehn.-Synopsis:...
and The Great American Songbook (a PBS television study of American popular music, in 2003.
Legacy
Top trailer companies have all been run by former Kaleidoscope creatives, like The Cimarron Group (Chris Arnold), Ant Farm, Aspect Ratio (Mark Trugman), Trailer Park (Benedict Coulter) and Motor Entertainment, run by Greg McClatchy, who previously headed up the film marketing division at 20th Century Fox20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. Michael Camp headed the trailer department at Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, Tom Kennedy at MGM, Jeff Werner and Vince Arcaro all started their own successful trailer companies and Bob Harper began his career as a messenger at Kaleidoscope before becoming a producer and quickly Vice-Chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
and, in 2007, Chairman of Regency Entertainment. Top industry trailer composer John Beal
John Beal (composer)
John Beal is an American film composer working in Hollywood, California, and is notable for composing the music for numerous hit television series, such as Vega$ and Eight is Enough, as an orchestral conductor, composer of movie trailer music, and for his work with the Hollywood Symphony...
credits his career success to the thirty-year collaboration with Kuehn and their revolutionary approach of creating original scores using a whole new musical template.
On March 15, 2006, the Andrew J. Kuehn Foundation released Coming Attractions: The History of Movie Trailers, which he inspired, financed and guided through development. As mandated by the Andrew J. Kuehn, Jr. Foundation, "Coming Attractions" is to be freely-distributed to film schools, film archives and film-related institutions nationally and worldwide. Produced, written and shot by long-term collaborators of his, "Coming Attractions" features rare archival footage and interviews with the top creative and executive talent in the industry, as well as the insights and discoveries of leading academics, archivists and collectors.