Seth Zvi Rosenfeld
Encyclopedia
Seth Zvi Rosenfeld is an American
playwright
, screenwriter
and director
whose work often deals with the collision of cultures in urban environments. Early on in his career, Rosenfeld broke fresh ground by incorporating hip hop culture into his theatre works like Writing on the Wall (1985). This caught the attention of hip hop pioneer Russell Simmons
, Andre Harrell
, and producer George Jackson who opened the doors for much of Rosenfeld's early work.
His plays, films and teleplays have been performed and broadcast all over the world. He has taught Screenwriting and the History of Urban Film at Columbia University
's MFA Film School. He is a member of the Dramatist's Guild.
and the now defunct Double Image and Angel Theatre companies. His first project was the play entitled The Writing on the Wall (1985), produced by the Westbeth Theatre Center and for which New Line Cinema
purchased the rights. Other plays include The Blackeyed Brothers, which won the Samuel French short play award and was produced by Double Image Theatre; A Brother's Kiss (1988) and After the Marching Stopped (1988), produced by Angel Theatre at Intar and retitled Brothers Mothers and Others; Servy-n-Bernice 4ever (1991), directed by Terry Kinney and produced commercially Off-Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse
; A Passover Story, commissioned by the late Joseph Papp
for The Public Theatre; The Flatted Fifth (1997) and Everything is Turning Into Beautiful (2006) produced by The New Group; and the tiny plays La Familia (1997), My Starship, and PS: I'm glad you sent your hair for Naked Angels
and the Hip-Hop Theatre festival. Many of his plays have been published by Samuel French. In 2011, his play Handball was produced by New York Stage and Film and was featured in their 2011 Powerhouse Theatre Workshop. Currently, his musical-play Super Fly is being directed by Bill T. Jones
and produced by Tommy Mottola
and The Dodgers, aiming for Broadway in 2013. He is a member of the New York Playwright's Lab.
starring John Leguizamo
and Rosie Perez
. Rosenfeld is currently adapting the book The Wrecking Crew
for screen with Artie Nelson. It is to star Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Indian Paintbrush is attached to produce.
(2010). He has developed TV shows for Fox
, A&E
, FX, HBO, SHOWTIME, The CW
and CBS
. He wrote and Executive Produced with Danny Hoch the HBO pilot Wyclef Jean in America starring Wyclef Jean
and featuring Mary J. Blige
. Rosenfeld wrote and directed "The Listener," executive produced by Jonathan Demme as a segment for his award-winning film Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
for HBO.
Sunset Park (1996)
A Brother's Kiss (1997)
"The Listeners" from Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
(1997)
King of the Jungle
(2000)
Wyclef Jean in America (2006)
How to Make it in America
(2010)
A Brother's Kiss (1997)
"The Listeners" from Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
(1997)
King of the Jungle
(2000)
We Deliver (2001)
The Black Eyed Brothers (1987) produced by Double Image Theatre and winner of the Samuel French short play award
A Bother's Kiss (1988) produced by Angel Theater / Brothers Mothers and Others Off Broadway
A Passover Story (1990) commissioned by the late Joseph Papp for the Public Theater
Servy-n-Bernice 4ever (1991) produced Off-Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse
The Flatted Fifth (1997)
After the Marching Stopped (1997)
La Familia (1997) for Naked Angels and the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival
My Starship for Naked Angels and the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival
Gloucester Revisited
PS: I'm glad you sent your hair (2004) for Naked Angels and the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival
Iron Cheffin' it
Everythings Turning into Beautiful (2006)
Handball (2011) produced by New York Stage and Film and Powerhouse Theatre
Superfly (2011/2012) produced by Tommy Mottola and The Dodgers
Reviews:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
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:...
whose work often deals with the collision of cultures in urban environments. Early on in his career, Rosenfeld broke fresh ground by incorporating hip hop culture into his theatre works like Writing on the Wall (1985). This caught the attention of hip hop pioneer Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
, Andre Harrell
Andre Harrell
Andre Harrell is founder of the now defunct record label, Uptown Records. Harrell also served as president/CEO of Motown Records. He was also the first half of the hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde.-Biography:...
, and producer George Jackson who opened the doors for much of Rosenfeld's early work.
His plays, films and teleplays have been performed and broadcast all over the world. He has taught Screenwriting and the History of Urban Film at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's MFA Film School. He is a member of the Dramatist's Guild.
Early life
Rosenfeld was born in New York City and was raised between the Bronx and Manhattan. His early interests included graffiti, poetry, and basketball, all of which figure prominently in Rosenfeld's work. Incorporating his strong interest in music, Seth frequently uses his films’ soundtracks as a key illustration of their urban themes.Theatre
Rosenfeld began his career as a playwright with the Ensemble Studio TheatreEnsemble Studio Theatre
The Ensemble Studio Theatre is a membership-based, developmental theatre located in New York City. It has a dual mission of nurturing individual theatre artists and developing new American plays.-Overview:...
and the now defunct Double Image and Angel Theatre companies. His first project was the play entitled The Writing on the Wall (1985), produced by the Westbeth Theatre Center and for which New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
purchased the rights. Other plays include The Blackeyed Brothers, which won the Samuel French short play award and was produced by Double Image Theatre; A Brother's Kiss (1988) and After the Marching Stopped (1988), produced by Angel Theatre at Intar and retitled Brothers Mothers and Others; Servy-n-Bernice 4ever (1991), directed by Terry Kinney and produced commercially Off-Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse
Provincetown Playhouse
The Provincetown Playhouse is a theater in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. It is named for the Provincetown Players, who converted the former bottling plant into a theater in 1918. Much of the original building was torn down in 2009 as New York University School of Law planned a new building on the...
; A Passover Story, commissioned by the late Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
for The Public Theatre; The Flatted Fifth (1997) and Everything is Turning Into Beautiful (2006) produced by The New Group; and the tiny plays La Familia (1997), My Starship, and PS: I'm glad you sent your hair for Naked Angels
Naked Angels (theater company)
Naked Angels is an American theater company founded in 1986 and based in New York City. It was named after John Tytell’s book about the Beat Generation, Naked Angels...
and the Hip-Hop Theatre festival. Many of his plays have been published by Samuel French. In 2011, his play Handball was produced by New York Stage and Film and was featured in their 2011 Powerhouse Theatre Workshop. Currently, his musical-play Super Fly is being directed by Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer.-Early life:Jones was born in Bunnell, Florida and his family moved North as part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. They settled in Wayland, New York, where Jones attended Wayland High School...
and produced by Tommy Mottola
Tommy Mottola
Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
and The Dodgers, aiming for Broadway in 2013. He is a member of the New York Playwright's Lab.
Film
His directorial debut, A Brother's Kiss (1997), was based on the Off-Broadway play he wrote in 1988 and tells a gritty tale of sibling love and loyalty set in East Harlem. Reviews praised the performances and attributed Rosenfeld’s upbringing and knowledge with the language of the streets as creating “a realistic sense of street life with hardly a false note.” His films have appeared in many national and international festivals including Venice and Deauville. He was invited to participate in the Sundance Institutes Writers and Directors labs. His award-winning short Under the Bridge (1995) ran for several years on BRAVO. He wrote the feature film Sunset Park (1996) for Jersey Films/TriStar and has worked extensively as a writer and script doctor in film and television for most of the major studios. In 2000, Rosenfeld wrote and directed King of the JungleKing of the Jungle (film)
King of the Jungle is a 2000 drama film starring John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, Julie Carmen, Cliff Gorman, Michael Rapaport, Marisa Tomei, and Rosario Dawson. It was written and directed by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld....
starring John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
and Rosie Perez
Rosie Perez
Rosa María "Rosie" Pérez is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, director and community activist.- Early life :...
. Rosenfeld is currently adapting the book The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (novel)
The Wrecking Crew is a spy novel by Donald Hamilton first published in 1960. It was the second novel featuring Hamilton's ongoing protagonist, counter-agent and assassin Matt Helm. In this book Hamilton continued the hard-headed and gritty realism he had built up around Helm in the first novel of...
for screen with Artie Nelson. It is to star Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Indian Paintbrush is attached to produce.
Television
In 2001, Rosenfeld directed ten episodes of an internet series called We Deliver (2001), partnered with Geebee Dajani, which followed the travails of a marijuana delivery service. This project was an early pioneer using the internet as a delivery platform for episodic dramas. Rosenfeld just completed work as a Writer/Producer on the second season of HBO's comedy How to Make it in AmericaHow to Make It in America
How to Make It in America is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on February 14, 2010. The series follows the lives of Ben Epstein and his friend Cam Calderon as they try to succeed in New York City's fashion scene...
(2010). He has developed TV shows for Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
, FX, HBO, SHOWTIME, The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. He wrote and Executive Produced with Danny Hoch the HBO pilot Wyclef Jean in America starring Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
and featuring Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
. Rosenfeld wrote and directed "The Listener," executive produced by Jonathan Demme as a segment for his award-winning film Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
Subway Stories
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground was a film made in 1997 and produced by Home Box Office for television. It began as a contest among New Yorkers who submitted stories about their experiences within the New York City Subway. HBO picked ten of the stories and cast mostly well-known or...
for HBO.
Writer
Under the Bridge (1995) (short)Sunset Park (1996)
A Brother's Kiss (1997)
"The Listeners" from Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
Subway Stories
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground was a film made in 1997 and produced by Home Box Office for television. It began as a contest among New Yorkers who submitted stories about their experiences within the New York City Subway. HBO picked ten of the stories and cast mostly well-known or...
(1997)
King of the Jungle
King of the Jungle (film)
King of the Jungle is a 2000 drama film starring John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, Julie Carmen, Cliff Gorman, Michael Rapaport, Marisa Tomei, and Rosario Dawson. It was written and directed by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld....
(2000)
Wyclef Jean in America (2006)
How to Make it in America
How to Make It in America
How to Make It in America is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on February 14, 2010. The series follows the lives of Ben Epstein and his friend Cam Calderon as they try to succeed in New York City's fashion scene...
(2010)
Director
Under the Bridge (1995) (short)A Brother's Kiss (1997)
"The Listeners" from Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground
Subway Stories
Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground was a film made in 1997 and produced by Home Box Office for television. It began as a contest among New Yorkers who submitted stories about their experiences within the New York City Subway. HBO picked ten of the stories and cast mostly well-known or...
(1997)
King of the Jungle
King of the Jungle (film)
King of the Jungle is a 2000 drama film starring John Leguizamo, Rosie Perez, Julie Carmen, Cliff Gorman, Michael Rapaport, Marisa Tomei, and Rosario Dawson. It was written and directed by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld....
(2000)
We Deliver (2001)
Plays
The Writing on the Wall (1985) produced by the Westbeth Theatre CenterThe Black Eyed Brothers (1987) produced by Double Image Theatre and winner of the Samuel French short play award
A Bother's Kiss (1988) produced by Angel Theater / Brothers Mothers and Others Off Broadway
A Passover Story (1990) commissioned by the late Joseph Papp for the Public Theater
Servy-n-Bernice 4ever (1991) produced Off-Broadway at the Provincetown Playhouse
The Flatted Fifth (1997)
After the Marching Stopped (1997)
La Familia (1997) for Naked Angels and the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival
My Starship for Naked Angels and the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival
Gloucester Revisited
PS: I'm glad you sent your hair (2004) for Naked Angels and the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival
Iron Cheffin' it
Everythings Turning into Beautiful (2006)
Handball (2011) produced by New York Stage and Film and Powerhouse Theatre
Superfly (2011/2012) produced by Tommy Mottola and The Dodgers
External links
- Vassar and New York Stage and Film Announcement for Powerhouse Theater's Summer 2011 Play Workshops, Vassar Office of Communications News article, 24 June 2011
- Direct Route From The City With Gritty `Brother's Kiss,' Zvi Rosenfeld Proves That Mean Streets Can Lead To Powerful Career, NY Daily Times Interview, 5 April 1997
- Seth Zvi Rosenfeld Author Bio and Info at Playscripts, Inc.
Reviews:
- Flattened Fifth, New York Times
- Everything is Turning into Beautiful, New York Times
- Everything is Turning Into Beautiful, Theater Mania
- Servy n Bernice 4ever, New York Times
- Sunset Park, New York Times
- Sunset Park, Sun Times, Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
- Sunset Park, VarietyVariety (magazine)Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
- A Brother's Kiss Sun Times, Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
- King of the Jungle New York Times
- We Deliver Vice MagazineVice (magazine)VICE is a free magazine and media conglomerate founded in Montreal, Quebec and currently based in New York City.Vice is available in 27 countries...
- How to Make It in America Season 2, New York Times