Finn Taylor
Encyclopedia
Finn Taylor is an American
film
writer and director
.
, and lived in Norway
for a few years in his childhood. He attended the University of Montana and later San Francisco State University
. He studied poetry and playwriting at San Francisco State before moving into screenwriting in 1994.
Taylor frequently works and produces films in the San Francisco bay area rather than for major studios in Hollywood and Los Angeles
. Taylor told the San Francisco Chronicle
, "I feel really strongly that I stay based up here. My roots in San Francisco go way back to when I ran a literary series at Intersection for the Arts. I see no reason to work anywhere else." Taylor has also cited the greater creative control and the ability to make unconventional films as a reason for remaining independent. In 1994, Taylor wrote his first feature film, Pontiac Moon.
. The film follows a suicidal man who forms a friendship with a terminally ill man. Taylor has claimed that the film is loosely autobiographical. Taylor himself once spent six years traveling around the country with a friend. In one interview, Taylor claimed, "When I was 19, I contemplated suicide and attempted to hold up a drug store." The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival
, and would go on to earn $460,000 in limited release. The film also received a relatively positive reception from critics. Roger Ebert said that the film, "shows some of the signs of unchained ambition." The Los Angeles Times said "of all the towering blockbusters this summer, 'Dream With The Fishes' has more heart than the lot of them.
, a romantic comedy about a female animator who is implicated in a murder. Taylor conceived the film while studying people under house arrest
in the bracelet program. The film is also recognizable for its soundtrack of pop music from the 1970s and 1980s, including Modern English
, Soft Cell
, The Turtles
, and Tom Petty
. The film debuted at Sundance and would receive mixed reviews from critics and had mediocre box office success.
The San Francisco Chronicle said "Cherish is a film of real beauty".
, which Taylor began writing in 1999. The film is set around a forensic detective investigating a potential Darwin award
winner. It was also Taylor's highest budgeted film to date, and boasted a cast of well known actors including Joseph Fiennes
, Winona Ryder
, and David Arquette
. In January 2006, The Darwin Awards
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
. The film was the first to feature actor Chris Penn
to be released after the actor's death. Taylor would say of Penn, "he gave an incredible performance in the film that's going to make a lot of people laugh for a years to come."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
writer and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
.
Background
Taylor was born in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, and lived in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
for a few years in his childhood. He attended the University of Montana and later San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
. He studied poetry and playwriting at San Francisco State before moving into screenwriting in 1994.
Taylor frequently works and produces films in the San Francisco bay area rather than for major studios in Hollywood and Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Taylor told the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, "I feel really strongly that I stay based up here. My roots in San Francisco go way back to when I ran a literary series at Intersection for the Arts. I see no reason to work anywhere else." Taylor has also cited the greater creative control and the ability to make unconventional films as a reason for remaining independent. In 1994, Taylor wrote his first feature film, Pontiac Moon.
Dream with the Fishes
Taylor's directorial debut was in 1997 with Dream with the FishesDream with the Fishes
Dream with the Fishes is a 1997 film directed by Finn Taylor. The film is Taylor's directorial debut.-Plot:The film follows Terry, a suicidal voyeur who doesn't seem to be able to kill himself. While preparing for jumping off a bridge, he meets Nick who ends up saving his life. Terry discovers that...
. The film follows a suicidal man who forms a friendship with a terminally ill man. Taylor has claimed that the film is loosely autobiographical. Taylor himself once spent six years traveling around the country with a friend. In one interview, Taylor claimed, "When I was 19, I contemplated suicide and attempted to hold up a drug store." The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, and would go on to earn $460,000 in limited release. The film also received a relatively positive reception from critics. Roger Ebert said that the film, "shows some of the signs of unchained ambition." The Los Angeles Times said "of all the towering blockbusters this summer, 'Dream With The Fishes' has more heart than the lot of them.
Cherish
Taylor's next film would be 2002's CherishCherish (film)
Cherish is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Finn Taylor. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 14, 2002 and had a limited theatrical release June 7 of that same year...
, a romantic comedy about a female animator who is implicated in a murder. Taylor conceived the film while studying people under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
in the bracelet program. The film is also recognizable for its soundtrack of pop music from the 1970s and 1980s, including Modern English
Modern English (band)
Modern English are an English rock band best remembered for their songs "I Melt with You", "Hands Across the Sea", and "Ink and Paper". The group disbanded for a period in 1991, but later recorded in 1995 and 2002 with new members...
, Soft Cell
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
, The Turtles
The Turtles
The Turtles are an American rock group led by vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The band became notable for several Top 40 hits beginning with its cover version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" in 1965...
, and Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
. The film debuted at Sundance and would receive mixed reviews from critics and had mediocre box office success.
The San Francisco Chronicle said "Cherish is a film of real beauty".
The Darwin Awards
Taylor's next film would be The Darwin AwardsThe Darwin Awards (film)
The Darwin Awards is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name.Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival...
, which Taylor began writing in 1999. The film is set around a forensic detective investigating a potential Darwin award
Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor, created by Wendy Northcutt to recognize individuals who contribute to human evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool through putting themselves in life-threatening situations...
winner. It was also Taylor's highest budgeted film to date, and boasted a cast of well known actors including Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes is an English film and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his portrayals of William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love, Sir Robert Dudley in Elizabeth, Commisar Danilov in Enemy at the Gates, Martin Luther in Luther, Merlin in Camelot, and his portrayal of Mark Benford in the...
, Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...
, and David Arquette
David Arquette
David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and...
. In January 2006, The Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards (film)
The Darwin Awards is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name.Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival...
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. The film was the first to feature actor Chris Penn
Chris Penn
Christopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider.-Early life:Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn,...
to be released after the actor's death. Taylor would say of Penn, "he gave an incredible performance in the film that's going to make a lot of people laugh for a years to come."
Filmography
| Year | Film | Production role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 1994 in film 1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time... |
Pontiac Moon Pontiac Moon Pontiac Moon is a 1994 adventure film directed by Peter Medak, and produced by Robert Schaffel and Youssef Vahabzadeh.The film stars Ted Danson as Washington Bellamy, a "pigheaded" science teacher in a small California town, and Mary Steenburgen as his wife Katherine. Danson was also one of 3... |
Writer | |
| 1997 1997 in film -Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*... |
Dream with the Fishes Dream with the Fishes Dream with the Fishes is a 1997 film directed by Finn Taylor. The film is Taylor's directorial debut.-Plot:The film follows Terry, a suicidal voyeur who doesn't seem to be able to kill himself. While preparing for jumping off a bridge, he meets Nick who ends up saving his life. Terry discovers that... |
Writer and director | |
| 2002 2002 in film The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of... |
Cherish Cherish (film) Cherish is a 2002 comedy-drama film written and directed by Finn Taylor. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 14, 2002 and had a limited theatrical release June 7 of that same year... |
Writer and director | |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
The Darwin Awards The Darwin Awards (film) The Darwin Awards is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name.Written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival... |
Writer and director |
External links
- Finn Taylor at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Finn Taylor at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...