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Joe Dante

 
Director: Joe Dante
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  • Born: Nov 28, 1946 in Morristown, New Jersey
  • Occupation: Director, Actor, Writer
  • Active: '70s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Horror
  • Career Highlights: Matinee, Innerspace, Rock 'n' Roll High School
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Movie Orgy (1968)

Biography

Born and raised in New Jersey, Joe Dante was a garrulous, semi-obsessed "movie nut." As a teenager, Dante wrote articles and criticism for "#Castle of Frankenstein," a popular "fanzine" for horror-film aficionados. While attending the Philadelphia College of Art, Dante and his friend Jon Davidson put together The Movie Orgy (1968), a 7-hour compilation of kitschy film clips that was screened on the college-campus circuit under the sponsorship of Schlitz beer. Dante went on to write for The Film Bulletin, then joined Roger Corman's New World Pictures, starting out editing trailers. When Dante made noises about becoming a director, Corman challenged him to whip up a picture for $50,000; the result was Hollywood Boulevard, an elongated (and frequently sidesplitting) inside joke about low-budget moviemaking. With Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1980), Dante began attracting critical attention as a director to keep an eye on. For producer Steven Spielberg, Dante directed his most profitable film, Gremlins (1984), a funny and frightening compendium of filmic "quotes" from past movie classics, full of cameo appearances by such pop-culture icons as Chuck Jones, Dick Miller, and Robby the Robot. For television, Dante has directed episodes of Police Squad, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone and Tales from the Crypt. While Dante is best known for his stylish "scare" pictures, one of the director's finest and most personal projects was Matinee (1993), a nostalgic (and very movie-savvy) glance back at what it was like to grow up as a film buff in the early 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Joe Dante
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Joe Dante

Joe Dante as member of the jury for the 2009 Venice Film Festival
Born Joseph Dante Jr.
November 28, 1946 (1946-11-28) (age 62)
Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation film director, producer and actor
Spouse(s) Sylvia Dante

Joseph James "Joe" Dante (born November 28, 1946) is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and scifi content.

His films include Piranha (1978) and The Howling (1981), both from scripts by John Sayles; Segment 3 of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983); Gremlins (1984), his first major hit, and its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990); Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987); The 'Burbs (1989), Matinee (1993), Runaway Daughters (1994), The Second Civil War (1997), The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy (1998), Small Soldiers (1998), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and Homecoming (2005). In 1995-1996, Dante worked on The Phantom, and when he was removed from the film, he chose screen credit (as executive producer) rather than pay. He wished he had chosen pay when he saw the results[citation needed]. He was creative consultant on Eerie, Indiana (1991-1992) and directed five episodes. He played himself in the series finale.

Contents

Early life

Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey. Dante began his movie career working for Roger Corman, similar to Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron. He worked as an editor on films such as Grand Theft Auto before codirecting Hollywood Boulevard with Allan Arkush. His first full feature film, Piranha, was released in 1978. After the release of The Howling, he was noticed by Steven Spielberg for whom he directed the third segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie, wherein a woman is 'adopted' by an omnipotent child. His first really big hit, Gremlins, which was also produced by Steven Spielberg, was released in 1984. He would work with Spielberg again on Innerspace and Gremlins 2. His films are well known for their movie in-jokes and their special visual effects.[1]

Dante's wife, Sylvia, portrays one of the nuns at the concert in Arkush's Rock 'n' Roll High School, which Joe co-wrote and directed five scenes when Arkush was ill. Joe's garage is frequently mentioned in audio commentaries as holding many of the props from his various films, such as the Peltzer Peeler Juicer from Gremlins, and where the mock-pornographic scene in The Howling was shot.

Career

Because Dante rarely writes his own screenplays, he has developed a reputation as an auteur in the "a posteriori" Bazinian sense of utilizing and transforming existing works toward his own artistic vision. Dante also developed a stock company of actors who worked with him over a long period of time, in the Woody Allen mode. Dick Miller, for example, has been in all of Dante's feature films and most of his television work, while Belinda Balaski, Archie Hahn, and Robert Picardo come in at close second, third, and fourth, with one less production each, respectively. Other actors Dante has worked with more than once include John Astin, Paul Bartel, Phoebe Cates, Roger Corman, Cory Danziger, Rick Ducommun, Kevin Dunn, Corey Feldman, Carrie Fisher, Joe Flaherty, Courtney Gains, Zach Galligan, Henry Gibson, Charles S. Haas, Heather Haase, Phil Hartman, Bob Holt, Rance Howard, Chuck Jones, Jackie Joseph, Omri Katz, Denis Leary, Sarah Lilly, Kevin McCarthy, Mark McCracken, Michael McKean, Don McCloud, Cathy Moriarty, Shawn Nelson, Ron Perlman, Jason Presson, Kathleen Quinlan, Neil Ross, Diane Sainte-Marie, John Sayles, Wendy Schaal, William Schallert, Michael Scheehaan, Dan Stanton, Don Stanton, Christopher Stone, Dee Wallace-Stone, Meshach Taylor, Kenneth Tobey, and Alexandra Wilson.[2] In addition, he "discovered" Ethan Hawke in the grand Hollywood tradition.[3] His respect for the screenwriter extends to the point where, in order to make sure he can confer with the writer on-set and provide some minor, additional remuneration, he always casts the writer in a small part of the production itself. The studio is normally unwilling to pay to have the writer on-set in any other way.[4]

He has cited among his major influences Roger Corman, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, James Whale, and Jean Cocteau, as well as an admiration for the film, Hellzapoppin', from which he frequently borrows jokes because of how difficult the film is to see in the United States.[5]

Dante's 2009 film "The Hole 3D"[6] was awarded the first Premio Persol at the 2009 Venice Film Festival's for the "3-D feature deemed the most creative among those produced globally between September 2008 and August 2009."[7]

Dante produced also alongside Roger Corman the web series Splatter for Netflix, the serie stars Corey Feldman.[8]

Filmography

Director

Season 1, Episode 2: Ring of Fear (A Dangerous Assignment)
Season 1, Episode 6: Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh)
Season 1, Episode 10: The Shadow Man/The Uncle Devil Show/Opening Day
Season 1, Episode 17: Boo!
Season 2, Episode 6: The Greibble
Season 1, Episode 1: Foreverware
Season 1, Episode 2: The Retainer
Season 1, Episode 4: The Losers
Season 1, Episode 7: Heart on a Chain
Season 1, Episode 13: The Hole in the Head Gang
episode "Lightning"
Season 1, Episode 6: Quiet Please
Season 1, Episode 12: The Occupant
Season 1, Episode 6: Homecoming
Season 2, Episode 7: The Screwfly Solution
  • (2007) The Greatest Show Ever
  • (2007) CSI NY (1 episode)
Season 4, Episode 6: Boo
  • (2009) The Hole 3D

Producer

Actor

Episode 19: "Reality Takes a Holiday"

References

  1. ^ Joe Dante talks about his career at Den of Geek
  2. ^ Suicide Girls interview
  3. ^ The Onion A.V. Club interview
  4. ^ A Career-Spanning Conversation with Joe Dante
  5. ^ Interview with Joe Dante on set of The Hole 3D
  6. ^ Video from the set of Joe Dante's "The Hole"
  7. ^ 'Hole' wins Venice 3-D film prize: Dante horror pic nabs first ever Premio Persol - Variety
  8. ^ Netflix's Splatter Launching on October 29th

External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Joe Dante
1970s
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) · Piranha (1978)
1980s
The Howling (1981) · Gremlins (1984) · Explorers (1985) · Innerspace (1987) · The 'Burbs (1989)
1990s
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) · Matinee (1993) · Small Soldiers (1998)
2000s
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) · The Hole (2010)
v • d • e
Episodes directed by Joe Dante



This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Director. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Joe Dante".  Read more

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