Cunningham was born in New York City and raised in Connecticut. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College and later earned an MFA from Stanford University.
Early life
Sean S. Cunningham
Sean S. Cunningham | Early life
New York City New York City New York City New York City.
who directed the first friday the 13th movie
user
Sean S. Cunningham
assistant
where was he born?
user
Cunningham went on to co-create and direct the slasher film "Friday the 13th" (1980), which was a major box-office success. He produced several horror films throughout the 1980s, including "House" (1986) and its sequel "" (1988).
Sean S. Cunningham | Introduction
Cunningham was born in New York City and raised in Connecticut. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin & Marshall College and later earned an MFA from Stanford University.
Sean S. Cunningham | Early life
Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Cunningham attended Crosby Middle School and the Youth Performing Arts School (duPont Manual High School) where he was a Vocal Performance Major. Later he attended Middle Tennessee State University He then moved to Los Angeles in early 2005, where he began work with Producer Hank Linderman (The Beach Boys, Eagles).
Sean Cunningham (musician) | Early life and education
Cunningham is best known for his involvement of multiple films in the "Friday the 13th" franchise, which introduced the fictional mass murderer Jason Voorhees. Of the 12 films in the series, the ones that had Cunningham's involvement were the original, "", "Jason X", "Freddy vs. Jason", and the 2009 reboot. He has also produced many horror films, such as the "House" series and Wes Craven's debut feature, "The Last House on the Left". He is the founder and CEO of Crystal Lake Entertainment. Cunningham is set to produce the CW series adaption of "Friday the 13th" and served as a producer of "".
Sean S. Cunningham | Career
Cunningham was born in San Luis Obispo, California. Cunningham grew up on the Central Coast. Cunningham graduated from Atascadero High School.
Jordan Cunningham | Early life
"Friday the 13th" was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously worked with filmmaker Wes Craven on the film "The Last House on the Left". Cunningham, inspired by John Carpenter's "Halloween", wanted "Friday the 13th" to be shocking, visually stunning and "[make] you jump out of your seat." Wanting to distance himself from "The Last House on the Left", Cunningham wanted "Friday the 13th" to be more of a "roller-coaster ride." The original screenplay was tentatively titled "A Long Night at Camp Blood". While working on a redraft of the screenplay, Cunningham proposed the title "Friday the 13th", after which Miller began redeveloping.
Friday the 13th (1980 film) | Development
The original "Friday the 13th" was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously worked with filmmaker Wes Craven on "The Last House on the Left" (1972). Cunningham, inspired by the success of John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978), wanted "Friday the 13th" to be shocking, visually stunning, and "[make] you jump out of your seat". Distancing himself from "The Last House on the Left", Cunningham wanted "Friday the 13th" to be more of a "roller coaster ride". The first film was meant to be "a real scary movie", and at the same time make audiences laugh. The concept for "Friday the 13th" began as nothing more than a title.
Friday the 13th (franchise) | Production
Cunningham was born and raised in Los Angeles to a Dutch mother and American father, David Cunningham. His father died in November 2017, at the age of 82. After Donar's third national championship in a row in May 2018, Cunningham dedicated the victory to his father.
Sean Cunningham (basketball) | Personal life
Sean Sexton Cunningham (born December 1941) is an American filmmaker, director, producer, and writer. He is best known for directing and producing several horror films, beginning in the early 1970s. Raised in Connecticut, Cunningham graduated from Franklin & Marshall College before earning an MFA from Stanford University. After completing his education, he worked as a manager for various theater companies, including New York City's Lincoln Center and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. While working for a documentary company in New York, Cunningham made his feature film directorial debut with "The Art of Marriage" (1970). While editing his second film, he met Wes Craven, with whom he collaborated as a producer of Craven's exploitation horror film "The Last House on the Left" (1972).
Sean S. Cunningham | Introduction
Phil Scuderi—a co‑owner of Esquire Theaters with Steve Minasian and Bob Barsamian and a producer of the original film—insisted that the sequel must have Jason Voorhees, Pamela's son, even though his appearance at the end of the original film was only meant to be a joke. Steve Miner, associate producer of the first film, believed in the idea, and he ultimately directed the first two sequels after Cunningham opted not to return to the director's chair. The studio continued to generate sequels over the years, based on the financial success they produced compared to their relatively low budgets. With every film repeating the same basic premise, the filmmakers came up with subtle adjustments so the audience would return.
Friday the 13th (franchise) | Production
Sean Patrick Cannon (born December 31, 1981) is an American film director and screenwriter based in Sherman Oaks, California, best known for the film "American High School".
Sean Patrick Cannon | Introduction
Friday the 13th is a 1980 American slasher film produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, written by Victor Miller, and starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, and Kevin Bacon. Its plot follows a group of teenage camp counselors who are murdered one by one by an unknown killer while attempting to re-open an abandoned summer camp. Prompted by the success of John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978), director Cunningham put out an advertisement to sell the film in "Variety" in early 1979, while Miller was still drafting the screenplay. After casting the film in New York City, filming took place in New Jersey in the summer of 1979, on an estimated budget of $550,000.
Friday the 13th (1980 film) | Introduction
Cunningham rushed out to place an advertisement in "Variety" using the "Friday the 13th" title. Worried that someone else owned the rights to the title and wanting to avoid potential lawsuits, Cunningham thought it would be best to find out immediately. He commissioned a New York advertising agency to develop his concept of the "Friday the 13th" logo, which consisted of big block letters bursting through a pane of glass. In the end, Cunningham believed there were "no problems" with the title, but distributor George Mansour stated, "There was a movie before ours called "Friday the 13th: The Orphan". It was moderately successful.
Friday the 13th (1980 film) | Development
He was born in Aintree, Liverpool, on 24 July 1908.
Gordon Parry (film director) | Early life
Carruth was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on January 1, 1972. He attended Stephen F. Austin State University as a Mathematics major. Before becoming a filmmaker, he worked as a developer of flight-simulation software.
Shane Carruth | Early life
Allmovie gave the film a mildly favorable review, writing "Sean Cunningham's first post-"Friday the 13th" film was shrugged off by most critics, but it is better than its reputation might lead one to believe."
A Stranger Is Watching (film) | Critical reception
Greene was born and raised in Irving, Texas. After watching Evel Knievel videos as a child, Greene aspired to be a stuntman.
Sean Greene | Early life
Foley was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, the son of a lawyer. He graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a flagship school of the SUNY system, in 1978. He continued his education earning an M.F.A in film study and production from the University of Southern California.
James Foley (director) | Early life
Cunningham's first jobs after graduating from Stanford included managing theater companies such as New York's Lincoln Center, the Mineola Theater in Long Island, as well as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the latter of where he briefly studied. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America. While working for a documentary company in New York City in the late 1960s, Cunningham made his directorial debut with "The Art of Marriage" (1970). While editing "Together", he met Wes Craven, who was working as an editor at the time. The two collaborated on Craven's directorial debut, the exploitation film "The Last House on the Left" (1972), which Cunningham produced.
Sean S. Cunningham | Career
Stewart was born in Tucson, Arizona.
Jackson Stewart (film director) | Early life
Steve Miner, associate producer on the first film, believed in the idea and would go on to direct the first two sequels, after Cunningham opted not to return to the director's chair. Miner would use many of the same crew members from the first film while working on the sequels. Cunningham had mixed feelings about the entire "Friday the 13th" enterprise that he outlined for film critic and author Stephen Hunter in an interview for a book Hunter wrote on violent films. Hunter stated that Cunningham "wasn't particularly proud" of his work on these films, and Cunningham bluntly said that the only thing that seemed to reach a teenaged audience at that time involved high levels of gore and graphic violence.
Friday the 13th Part 2 | Development
Trost was born in 1981 in Los Angeles, California, to Karen (née French) and Ron Trost, a special effects coordinator. His grandfather, Scott Maitland, was an assistant director, and his great-grandfather was a stuntman. His uncle was actor Victor French. He attended Frazier Mountain High School and later graduated from Los Angeles Film School. He grew up in Frazier Park, California with his brother Jason and sister Sarah.
Brandon Trost | Early life
Reynolds was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of former Baylor University President Herbert H. Reynolds.
Kevin Reynolds (director) | Early life
Vanaman was born and raised in Cork, Ireland. He and his family moved from Ireland to the United States.
Sean Vanaman | Early life
He was born in Los Angeles County, California, the son of director John Huston and Enrica Soma.
Tony Huston | Early life
Swinderman was born in Dover, Ohio and grew up in New Philadelphia, Ohio. A graduate of Cleveland State University's School of Communication, he studied film and television production
Eric Swinderman | Early life
Ryan Dunlap was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he studied film at the University of Tulsa. According to Dunlap himself, he made his "directorial debut" at the age of four, having loved to fiddle with his parents' camcorder and filming his surrounding.
Ryan Dunlap | Early life and career
James Redford was born in New York City on May 5, 1962.
James Redford (filmmaker) | Early life
Cunningham was born in Clinton, Maryland, to Searcy Blankenship and Ron Cunningham. His older sister Davalyn played in the WNBA.
Dante Cunningham | Early life
Richard was born in Hove, in Sussex, and grew up in the small village of Wisborough Green before going on to train as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Richard Cunningham (actor) | Early life
Cunningham was born to a large family in the Ballybricken area of Waterford City on Christmas Day in 1916. Brought up in the middle of 15 (13 survived childhood), Cunningham was schooled at the local Christian Brothers and was named after his godfather John Redmond, the former leader of Ireland's Home Rule party. Cunningham's father was an election agent for the Home Rule party in Waterford and a staunch supporter of its goals.
Redmond Cunningham | Early Days
Gordon was born in New York City to Anita Gordon, a nurse and Jeffrey Gordon, a political activist and lawyer. Gordon moved to Berkeley, California and then to Los Angeles where he attended The Oakwood School. Gordon attended New York University, where he studied screenwriting and film.
Josh Gordon (director) | Early life
Fialkov was born in Sacramento, California, on 19 August 1979, but raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended college at Emerson in Boston, Massachusetts, where he received a B.F.A. in writing and directing. After working in film in Boston, he moved to Los Angeles in 2001.
Joshua Hale Fialkov | Early life
Sean O'Dwyer was born 11 September 1941. He was educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Sean O'Dwyer | Early life
Producer Sean S. Cunningham originally conceived an action-horror film in which Jason Voorhees would battle Freddy Krueger of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series. Paramount Pictures, who had released the previous eight "Friday the 13th" films, negotiated with New Line Cinema over the rights to the series, and ultimately granted New Line rights to the Jason Voorhees character, but retained control of the "Friday the 13th" title. New Line placed Cunningham's idea for a Freddy-versus-Jason film on hold, prompting him to generate a different script to precede that plot line. Cunningham's original idea would later manifest as "Freddy vs.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday | Development and writing
As a child, Cunningham traveled around the world visiting orphanages, refugee camps, and many other isolated locations with his parents in their work with NGOs. His parents, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, are the founders of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the University of the Nations, an international, interdenominational Christian organization with campuses in over 100 countries with a special emphasis on education for the developing nations. These childhood experiences would greatly influence Cunningham's world view as a filmmaker. Cunningham studied film and graduated from both the University of Southern California and University of the Nations (Hawaii, Amsterdam, and Santiago, Chile campuses).
David L. Cunningham | Background and early work
Hogan notes that, "throughout the film, teenage boys are hideously dispatched, but not with the same buildup and attention to detail that Cunningham and makeup wiz Tom Savini reserved for nubile young girls."
Friday the 13th (1980 film) | Teen sexuality
Born on May 1, 1893 at Blairsville, Pennsylvania, Cunningham was educated at George Washington University and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1916.
Julian Cunningham | Early life and education
An Irish-American, Dungan was born in Barton, Ohio, USA on May 11, 1909. He attended St. Clairsville High School in St. Clairsville, where he played quarterback on the school football team. He bought his first box camera to take pictures for the school yearbook, for which he was editor-in-chief. He later enrolled at the University of Southern California in 1932 in the newly established Cinema Department.
Ellis R. Dungan | Early life
Born in Rusholme, Manchester on 15 August 1910, the son of Patrick William Cunningham and Elizabeth Maye, his father was a native of Sligo. The family owned and operated a laundry business at Nelson Street, Rusholme. Cunningham was educated at St Edward's Catholic Elementary School, and St Joseph's College, Upholland where he was ordained to the priesthood on 22 May 1937.
James Cunningham (bishop) | Early Life
McCarthy was born in New Hampshire to an Irish-American Catholic family. His family relocated to the Boston area when McCarthy's father took a position as headmaster at Brookline High School. His mother also worked in education as a schoolteacher. McCarthy began shooting films at the age of 10 with a Super 8 camera inspired by scary movies that he saw. One of McCarthy's first movie theater outings was seeing the shark-fear movie "Jaws" with his older sister, and he later frequented Boston's many repertory cinemas, such as the Coolidge Corner Theater, which screened 35mm prints of older American and foreign films.
Nicholas McCarthy (director) | Early life
Development of "Jason X" began in the late 1990s while "Freddy vs. Jason" was still in development hell. With "Freddy vs. Jason" not moving forward, Jim Isaac and Sean S. Cunningham decided that they wanted another "Friday the 13th" film made to retain audience interest in the character. The film was conceived by Todd Farmer, who plays "Dallas" in the film, and was the only pitch he gave to the studio for the movie, having suggested sending Jason into space as a means to advance the film series. The film was filmed during the summer of 1999 in Toronto. The film score was composed and conducted by Harry Manfredini.
Jason X | Development
Harrington was born on September 17, 1926 in Los Angeles, the son of Isabel (Dorum) and Raymond Stephen Harrington. He grew up in Beaumont, California. His first cinematic endeavors were amateur films he made while still a teenager. He attended Occidental College and the University of Southern California, then graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a film studies degree.
Curtis Harrington | Early life
Dunn was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. He later studied at the Canadian Film Centre and at Ryerson University.
Stephen Dunn (director) | Early life
Cunningham was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and was a member of Troop 12 in Waterloo, Iowa in what was then Wapsipinicon Area Council.
Edgar Cunningham | Birth
McCann was born in Windsor, Ontario, on September 24, 1935.
Sean McCann (actor) | Early life
Kanan was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His family later relocated to New Castle, Pennsylvania. He attended Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, Boston University and UCLA where he earned a degree in political science.
Sean Kanan | Early life
Cunningham was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He graduated "magna cum laude" from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1974, with degrees in Political Science and Psychology.
James B. Cunningham | Early life and education
Jay Sandrich was born February 24, 1932 in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of director Mark Sandrich. Sandrich attended the University of California Los Angeles, graduating with a B.A. in 1953.
Jay Sandrich | Early life
"A Long Night at Camp Blood" was the working title Victor Miller used while he drafted a script, but Cunningham believed in his "Friday the 13th" moniker and rushed to place an advertisement in "International Variety". Worrying that someone else owned the rights to the title and wanting to avoid potential lawsuits, Cunningham thought it would be best to find out immediately. Cunningham commissioned a New York advertising agency to develop his visual concept of the "Friday the 13th" logo, which consisted of big block letters bursting through a pane of glass. In the end, Cunningham believed there were "no problems" with the title, but distributor George Mansour contends that there was an issue: "There was a movie before ours called "Friday the 13th: The Orphan".
Friday the 13th (franchise) | Production
He was born Seán McGinley in Gweedore, County Donegal. His mother, Grainne, would survive him.
Seán Mac Fhionnghaile | Early life
Cunningham said in "Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th" (2005) he believed that the film cost $250,000 to make, "if that. It could be much lower. It was guerrilla filmmaking. It was all kids from the little leagues; it was like being on a three-week field trip with a bunch of sixth-graders. It was good and bad, frustrating and exciting. I loved it." Victor Miller, who wrote the film under the pseudonym Arch McCoy, said: "Those were the days when everybody said, 'What America needs is a good G-rated movie.' I guess "Here Come the Tigers" made its money back, but they lied about America wanting G-rated films."
Here Come the Tigers | Production
Cunningham was born in Portland, Oregon to father Isaac Burns Cunningham and mother Susan Elizabeth Cunningham (née Johnson). Her parents were from Missouri, though both of their families originally came from Virginia. Cunningham was the fifth of 10 children. Although art was not included in the traditional school curriculum, as a child Cunningham took art lessons on weekends and during vacations. She grew up in Seattle, Washington and attended the Denny School at 5th and Battery Streets in Seattle. In 1901, at the age of eighteen, Cunningham bought her first camera, a 4x5 inch view camera, via mail order from the American School of Art in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Imogen Cunningham | Early life
Winfield Cunningham was born on February 16, 1900 in Rockbridge, Wisconsin. He was the son of Frederick Michael and Ruth Ella (Moore) Cunningham. Cunningham attended high school at Camp Douglas.
Winfield S. Cunningham | Early life
Branscum was born in Dayton, Ohio. He studied Film at the University of Toledo.
Eric Branscum | Early life
Cunningham was born in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Overland High School. After his star football career in high school, Cunningham attended college at the University of Colorado Boulder, playing football there as well.
T. J. Cunningham | Early life and education
Cunningham was born November 26, 1955, in Springfield, Massachusetts. She attended Classical High School in Springfield. Fleeing the Genovese family's oppressive treatment of women, she moved to New York City in 1973, where she attended Hunter College. The following year, she performed in “Emily Likes the TV” with Christopher Knowles and Cindy Lubar at The Kitchen in Manhattan. She holds a master's degree in communication from Barry University in Miami and is certified as an art, video and film production instructor.
Gina Cunningham | Early life and education
Cunningham’s "Friday the 13th" (1980). 1980 alone saw the release of "Friday the 13th," as well as two New Year's Eve-themed horror movies, "Terror Train" (1980) and "New Year’s Evil" (1980), as well as Christmas-themed films "To All a Goodnight" (1980) and "Christmas Evil" (1980), the wedding-themed "He Knows You’re Alone" (1980), "Prom Night" (1980), and "Mother’s Day" (1980) (followed by "Graduation Day" and the Thanksgiving-based "Home Sweet Home" the following year). Because everyone has a birthday, Dunning and Link believed that "Happy Birthday to Me" could have universal appeal. They hired John Saxton, a University of Toronto English professor, to develop the story.
Happy Birthday to Me (film) | Concept and pre-production
Kevin Ranaghan was born in New York City in 1940 to parents of Irish Catholic descent.
Kevin Ranaghan | Early life
Young was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Donald Young, Jr., a television producer and journalist, and Lee Guthrie (born Mary Lee Kane), a screenwriter, public relations executive, and journalist. Young graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, followed by the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. She also attended the School of American Ballet in New York City. Before becoming an actress, Young worked as a model and ballet dancer.
Sean Young | Early life
Fuller was born in Lewiston, Idaho, and raised in Clarkston, Washington. He was brought up Roman Catholic. After graduating from Clarkston High School, Fuller attended Lewis–Clark State College in Lewiston. He later transferred to the USC School of Cinematic Arts, but dropped out and began working as an office temp.
Bryan Fuller | Early life
Penn was born in Santa Monica, California, to actor and director Leo Penn, and actress Eileen Ryan ("née" Annucci). His older brother is musician Michael Penn. His younger brother, actor Chris Penn, died in 2006. His paternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire, while his mother is a Catholic of Irish and Italian descent. Penn was raised in a secular home in Malibu, California, and attended Malibu Park Junior High School and Santa Monica High School, as Malibu had no high school at that time. He began making short films with some of his childhood friends, including actors Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, who lived near his home.
Sean Penn | Early life
Cunningham's father died when Cunningham was 13, whereupon he enrolled in Girard College, the boarding school for poor orphans in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduation, he worked full-time to put himself through his home-state school, University of Delaware. He graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law "magna cum laude" in 1988.
Lawrence A. Cunningham | Early life
William Ball was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 29, 1931. His parents were Russell Ball and Catherine Gormaly. He has two brothers and a sister: Russell Ball, Donald Ball and Cathie Ball. He attended Iona Preparatory School and Fordham University. From 1953 through 1955, he studied acting, design, and directing at Carnegie Mellon University.
William Ball (director) | Early years
The son of actress and radio host Margaret Christensen, Scully was born in Sydney, New South Wales.
Sean Scully (actor) | Early life
Vulich was born in Fresno, California. During high school he experimented with special effects and began corresponding with Tom Savini. Savini brought Vulich in as a personal assistant for the "Friday the 13th" series.
John Vulich | Early life
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Jason attended film school at Chapman University in Orange, California.
Jason Wise (director) | Early life and education
Aaron Lopresti was born January 7, 1964 in Portland, Oregon. After studying business for a year at Oregon State University, Lopresti left to pursue his passion for film. After two years of community college, went to study at USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles.
Aaron Lopresti | Early life
Both men were impressed with Graham's presence, and he was hired to film the remainder of Jason's scenes. "Jason Lives" is the only film in the franchise to contain no nudity; the characters in the film's sole sex scene are both fully clothed, a conscious move on McLoughlin's part to distance the "Friday the 13th" films from their perception as morality tales in which premarital sex is punished by death. McLoughlin was pressured by the film's producers to have Darcy Demoss remove her shirt during the RV sex scene, but he only suggested the idea to Demoss, who refused. "Jason Lives" was filmed in Covington, Georgia, an area close to Atlanta.
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives | Filming
McGinley was born in Pettigo, County Donegal, in Ulster, Ireland, where his father was a customs officer, and raised in nearby Ballyshannon. He is a graduate of University College, Galway, and was a member of the Druid Theatre Company from 1977–1989. McGinley later starred in various movies.
Seán McGinley | Early life
Gordon Davidson was born on May 7, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1956, studying electrical engineering, and received a master's in theater from Case Western Reserve University in 1957.
Gordon Davidson (director) | Early life
Gray was born in New York City and grew up in the neighborhood of Flushing. He is of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, with grandparents from Ostropol, Western Ukraine. His father was once an electronics contractor. Gray attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where his student film, "Cowboys and Angels", helped him get an agent and the attention of producer Paul Webster, who encouraged him to write a script which he could produce.
James Gray (director) | Early life
Gallagher was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, to Desmond and Margaret Gallagher. He worked at Domino's Pizza as a wash man to assist with drama-school tuition fees.
Sean Gallagher (actor) | Early life
Cunningham was born in Ireland, perhaps in 1807, though his age has been disputed. A coroner estimated his age as 65 at the time of death, though he was said to have self-reported his age as 50 in the 1870 US Census. He possibly lived in the state of Virginia before moving to Cincinnati. He was said to have fought in the Mexican–American War.
William Cunningham (body snatcher) | Early life
Norman was born on 25 February 1911 in Fulham, London, the second youngest of eleven children. Leaving school at 14, Norman worked in the film industry from the age of 16, working his way up from sweeper of the cutting-room floors at Ealing Studios to become an editor at 19.
Leslie Norman (director) | Early life
Leonard was born in Westwood, New Jersey, to Joyce Patricia (née Peterson), a nurse, and Robert Leonard, a teacher at Collier High School. He grew up in Ridgewood, where he attended Ridgewood High School before moving on to Fordham University and later the Columbia University School of General Studies. He studied theatre at HB Studio.
Robert Sean Leonard | Early life and education
William Bowman was born in Bakersville, North Carolina, in 1884. As "a boy" he moved with his parents to California, where he later attended Lordsburg College, then located in Pomona. Bowman in college studied architecture and spent a short time working as a draftsman until his career interests turned to acting and the management of stage productions.
William Bowman (director) | Early life
Dobkin was raised in Washington, D.C., where he attended Lafayette Elementary School, and later was raised in the suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where he attended Walt Whitman High School.
David Dobkin (director) | Early life
Baker was born and raised in Summit, New Jersey. He has a sister who is a professional synth-pop musician and production designer who has contributed to his films in both capacities. He graduated from Gill St. Bernard's High School in 1989. He received his B.A. in film studies from New York University through the Tisch School of the Arts. Prior to NYU, he studied Intensive Editing at The New School in Greenwich Village. Baker's first feature film was "Four Letter Words", a film revolving around the looks, views, attitudes and language of young men in America. Baker wrote, directed, and edited the film.
Sean Baker (filmmaker) | Life and career
McMurray was born in New York City, the son of Jane (née Hoffman) and Richard McMurray, both actors. Lesley Woods was his stepmother. McMurray is Jewish on his mother's side of the family and Irish on his father's side of the family. He lives in Bell Canyon, California.
Sam McMurray | Early life
Curtiss was born on June 22, 1915, in New York City, the son of Roy A. Curtiss and Ethel Quinn. He attended the Bovee School for Boys, a private day school on New York's Upper East Side, where he was friends with Louis Auchincloss. He graduated from the Browning School in New York in 1933. He studied film and theater in Vienna and Moscow, where he was a student of the film director Sergei Eisenstein.
Thomas Quinn Curtiss | Early life
He was born in London, England.
Norman Spencer (producer) | Early life
Sean Bobbitt was born in Corpus Christi, Texas on November 29, 1958.
Sean Bobbitt | Early life
Fields was born in New York City and attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he started his first film company running film festivals in the school auditoriums.
Adam Fields | Early life
Stone was born in New York City, New York, United States. He is the son of Elizabeth Burkit Cox and film director Oliver Stone. His paternal grandmother was French. He has acted in films since he was a child, including several of his father's films such as "The Doors", "JFK", "Natural Born Killers", and "". Stone has become a director in his own right with "Graystone," a movie based on Stone's experiences exploring haunted mental asylums. A convert to Shia Islam in 2012, in an interview with CNN, Stone said that he accepted Muhammad as the seal of the prophets.
Sean Stone | Personal life
Burtt was born in Jamesville, New York, on July 12, 1948. The son of a chemistry professor and a child psychologist, Burtt made films as a child, and later studied physics at Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1970.
Ben Burtt | Early life
Carhart was born Timothy Grunig in Washington, D.C. and attended junior high and high school in Evanston, Illinois. He travelled to Izmir and Ankara in Turkey, and to Verdun in France, before returning to the U.S. and studying theater.
Timothy Carhart | Early life
Jennings was born in Hollywood, California. He grew up making Super-8 movies and screening them for friends and family. He graduated from Beverly Hills High School and then attended film courses at Columbia College Hollywood (CCH), UCLA, and the American Film Institute.
Jay Jennings | Early life
Born in Belfast in 1967, he studied at Clare College, Cambridge and graduated (1989) with a First Class degree in Classics.
David Kerr (director) | Early life
Walsh was born in Lewisham in London, but was brought up in Brighton. He left school with one GCSE examination pass, in Drama.
Seann Walsh | Early life
Naughton was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Rosemary (née Walsh) and Joseph Naughton, both of whom were teachers. He is the elder brother of actor David Naughton. He graduated from Conard High School. Jim began singing during his years at Conard High School "with the high school band and at parties."
James Naughton | Early life
Sean Mullin (born January 13, 1975), is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer.
Sean Mullin | Introduction
John was born in Drogheda, Ireland in 2000.
John Farrelly (director) | Early life
Williams was born in Dublin, Ireland, and went to school at Oatlands College, a Christian Brothers school between Mount Merrion and Stillorgan. He then pursued studies in graphic design for print, TV and film at the College of Art and Design within the Dublin Institute of Technology, at Mountjoy Square. He graduated from the four year degree course in Advanced Visual Communications in 1991.
Brian Williams (director) | Early life
Linda Gross of the "Los Angeles Times" referred to the film as a "silly, boring, youth-geared horror movie," though she praised Manfredini's "nervous musical score," the cinematography, as well as the performances, which she deemed "natural and appealing," particularly from Taylor, Bacon, Nelson, and Bartram. "Variety", however, deemed the film "low budget in the worst sense—with no apparent talent or intelligence to offset its technical inadequacies—"Friday the 13th" has nothing to exploit but its title." "The Miami News"s Bill von Maurer praised Cunningham's "low-key" direction, but noted: "After building terrific suspense and turning over the audience's stomachs, he doesn't quite know where to go from there.
Friday the 13th (1980 film) | Original theatrical reviews
McCarthy was raised in New Providence, New Jersey, one of five children of Carol and Eugene F. "Gene" McCarthy; Gene worked in the textile industry. McCarthy was raised Catholic, in a family of Irish descent. McCarthy is a graduate of New Providence High School in New Providence, New Jersey; Boston College, Class of 1988, where he was a member of the improv comedy troupe My Mother's Fleabag; and the Yale School of Drama, where he studied under Earle R. Gister.
Tom McCarthy (director) | Early life
David L. Cunningham, born in Switzerland (February 24, 1971) and raised in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, is an international filmmaker. Besides his documentary credits in more than 40 countries, Cunningham has also directed several feature films including "To End All Wars" (2001) and the TV miniseries "The Path to 9/11" (2006). Cunningham is represented by the United Talent Agency.
David L. Cunningham | Introduction
Laurie Holden was Adam Marcus' and Dean Lorey's choice for the role of Jessica Kimble, but Sean Cunningham overruled them and pushed for Kari Keegan instead. The film marked Adam Marcus' debut feature; having just graduated from film school, Marcus was originally attached to direct "My Boyfriend's Back" (1993) for Touchstone Pictures, but the studio's parent company, Walt Disney Studios, did not want to hire a first-time director, and Marcus was dropped from the project. Marcus, who was a lifelong fan of the "Friday the 13th" series, developed a story in which Voorhees is destroyed at the beginning of the narrative, only to manifest in the bodies of other people and continue his rampage.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday | Development and writing
James Cunningham (born 1973) is a New Zealand film director and animator. He has directed twelve award-winning short films. He is based in Auckland, New Zealand.
James Cunningham (director) | Introduction
Shephard grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey and the surrounding New York area. She attended Metuchen High School, which was used to film scenes from her movie "Blame".
Quinn Shephard | Early life