Rick Rosenthal
Encyclopedia
Richard L. "Rick" Rosenthal, Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is an American film
and television director
. He is also a producer, actor, and writer.
) and the American Film Institute
.
Rosenthal helped launch Sean Penn
's career when he cast the then-unknown actor in the title role of the 1983 film Bad Boys
. Rosenthal worked on the Emmy-winning ABC series Life Goes On
as well as such series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
, Providence
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Smallville
. He is a winner of the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
.
In recent years, Rosenthal has turned to the independent film world, continuing to direct ("Nearing Grace"), but also producing as well, giving opportunities to first time directors. The first production under the Whitewater Films banner was the Sundance Film Festival
hit Mean Creek, winner of two Independent Spirit Awards as well as a Humanitas Prize
. The film was invited to the Directors Fortnight at Cannes and launched the filmmaking career of writer-director Jacob Estes.
Mean Creek was followed by writer-director Scott Prendergast's first feature, Kabluey
, starring Lisa Kudrow
.
The fall of 2007 saw Ocean Grove, New Jersey
become the site of Whitewater Films' Greta, video director Nancy Bardawil's feature debut, starring Hilary Duff
and Ellen Burstyn
.
Rosenthal started his career by directing Halloween II
and returned to the genre 20 years later helming Halloween: Resurrection
. In between he has directed films such as American Dreamer (1984), Russkies
(1987), Distant Thunder (1988), Just A Little Harmless Sex (1999), and Nearing Grace (2005).
He met his wife, actress Nancy Stephens
, while filming Halloween II. They have worked together on some films including American Dreamer (1984), Russkies (1987), and Mean Creek (2004).
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:...
and television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
. He is also a producer, actor, and writer.
Biography
Rosenthal was born in New York, New York, the son of Hinda (née Gould) and entrepreneur Richard L. Rosenthal, Sr. He is a graduate of The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary HallChoate Rosemary Hall
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school located in Wallingford, Connecticut...
) and the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
.
Rosenthal helped launch Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
's career when he cast the then-unknown actor in the title role of the 1983 film Bad Boys
Bad Boys (1983 film)
Bad Boys is a 1983 American crime drama film primarily set in a juvenile detention center, starring Sean Penn, Esai Morales, and Ally Sheedy in her film debut. The film is directed by Rick Rosenthal. The original music score was composed by Bill Conti....
. Rosenthal worked on the Emmy-winning ABC series Life Goes On
Life Goes On (TV series)
Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12, 1989 to May 23, 1993. The show centers on the Thacher family living in suburban Chicago: Drew, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Paige, Rebecca, and Charles, who is known as Corky...
as well as such series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
, Providence
Providence (TV series)
Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Smallville
Smallville (TV series)
Smallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The television series was initially broadcast by The WB Television Network , premiering on October...
. He is a winner of the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award
The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000 by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers...
.
In recent years, Rosenthal has turned to the independent film world, continuing to direct ("Nearing Grace"), but also producing as well, giving opportunities to first time directors. The first production under the Whitewater Films banner was 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...
hit Mean Creek, winner of two Independent Spirit Awards as well as a Humanitas Prize
Humanitas Prize
The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...
. The film was invited to the Directors Fortnight at Cannes and launched the filmmaking career of writer-director Jacob Estes.
Mean Creek was followed by writer-director Scott Prendergast's first feature, Kabluey
Kabluey
Kabluey is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Scott Prendergast. It stars Prendergast, as well as Lisa Kudrow, Teri Garr, Christine Taylor, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Angela Sarafyan...
, starring Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow is an American actress, best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the television sitcom Friends, for which she received many accolades including an Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards...
.
The fall of 2007 saw Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Ocean Grove, New Jersey
Ocean Grove is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Neptune Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. It had a population of 3,342 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean Jersey Shore, between Asbury Park to the north and Bradley Beach to the south...
become the site of Whitewater Films' Greta, video director Nancy Bardawil's feature debut, starring Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
and Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
.
Rosenthal started his career by directing Halloween II
Halloween II
Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to...
and returned to the genre 20 years later helming Halloween: Resurrection
Halloween: Resurrection
Halloween: Resurrection is a 2002 American horror film and eighth installment in the Halloween film series. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, who had also directed Halloween II, the film builds upon the continuity of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later...
. In between he has directed films such as American Dreamer (1984), Russkies
Russkies
Russkies is a 1987 film starring Whip Hubley and Joaquin Phoenix . It was directed by Rick Rosenthal, with cinematography by Reed Smoot...
(1987), Distant Thunder (1988), Just A Little Harmless Sex (1999), and Nearing Grace (2005).
He met his wife, actress Nancy Stephens
Nancy Stephens
Nancy Stephens is an American actress who has starred in many films and television shows. She is best known for her appearances in John Carpenter films; her most well-known being in the 1978 hit horror movie Halloween as Nurse Marion Chambers, who assisted Dr. Loomis in treating Michael Myers and...
, while filming Halloween II. They have worked together on some films including American Dreamer (1984), Russkies (1987), and Mean Creek (2004).
Selected television series directed
- Early EditionEarly EditionEarly Edition is an American television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996 to May 27, 2000. Set in the city of Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each Chicago Sun-Times newspaper the day before it is actually published, and who uses this...
(2 episodes, 1996–1997) - The PracticeThe PracticeThe Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...
(1 episode, 1997) - WastelandWasteland (TV series)Wasteland is an American television drama on ABC network created by Kevin Williamson. The show debuted in 1999, a Miramax Films production....
(1 episode, 1999) - Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
(2 episodes, 1999–2000) - Strong MedicineStrong MedicineStrong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series was created and produced in part by comedienne and...
(1 episode, 2000) - ProvidenceProvidence (TV series)Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
(6 episodes, 2000–2001) - The DistrictThe DistrictThe District is a television police drama which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000 to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s Police Department .-Premise:...
(6 episodes, 2001–2003) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2 episodes, 2002)
- Crossing JordanCrossing JordanCrossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
(1 episode, 2002) - She SpiesShe SpiesShe Spies is an action-adventure television show that ran from September 9, 2002 until May 17, 2004, in two seasons. The show was sold into syndication but the first four episodes premiered on the NBC network, whose syndication arm was one of the producers. Disappointing ratings during the show's...
(1 episode, 2003) - SmallvilleSmallvilleSmallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
(7 episodes, 2003–2008) - Tru CallingTru CallingTru Calling is an American television supernatural drama series that premiered on Fox Network on October 30, 2003. It ran for two seasons before being canceled....
(2 episodes, 2004–2005) - Point PleasantPoint Pleasant (TV series)Point Pleasant is a television series that first aired on the Fox Network in January 2005. It was cancelled in March 2005 due to poor ratings....
(1 episode, 2005) - ReunionReunion (TV series)Reunion is an American television series that aired on FOX in late 2005. The series was intended to chronicle 20 years in the lives of a group of six high school friends from Bedford, New York, with each episode following one year in the lives of the six, beginning with their high school graduation...
(3 episodes, 2005–2006) - Veronica MarsVeronica MarsVeronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
(1 episode, 2006) - Flash GordonFlash Gordon (2007 TV series)Flash Gordon is an American science fiction television series that debuted on Sci Fi in the United States on August 10, 2007 and continued airing new episodes through February 8, 2008. It has also appeared on the United Kingdom Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada...
(1 episode, 2007) - The Dresden FilesThe Dresden Files (TV series)The Dresden Files is an American television series based on the books by Jim Butcher. It premiered January 21, 2007 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States and on Space in Canada. It was picked up by Sky One in the UK and began airing on February 14, 2007.The series ran for a single season of...
(1 episode, 2007) - 9021090210 (TV series)90210 is an American teen drama television series developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS...
(1 episode, 2009) - Being Erica (1 episode, 2009)
- GreekGreek (TV series)Greek is an American comedy-drama television series, which follows students of the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University , located in Ohio, who participate in the school's Greek system...
(1 episode, 2009) - MentalMental (TV series)Mental is a television series produced by Fox's subsidiary Fox Telecolombia, which aired in the summer and fall of 2009 on FOX international channels for Latin America, Europe and Asia, starring Chris Vance and Annabella Sciorra...
(1 episode, 2009) - Life on MarsLife on Mars (U.S. TV series)Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC...
(1 episode, 2009) - Drop Dead DivaDrop Dead DivaDrop Dead Diva is an American legal comedy-drama/fantasy television series that debuted on Lifetime on July 12, 2009. The hour-long series, which was created by Josh Berman, is produced by Sony Pictures Television...
(1 episode, 2010)