People of Amblin Entertainment
by AlexHartsell | created - 10 Oct 2012 | updated - 15 Oct 2012 | PublicA list of famous people involved with Amblin Entertainment.
1. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
Founder and CEO
2. Kathleen Kennedy
Producer | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Eight-time Academy Award®-nominated, Kathleen Kennedy is one of the most successful and respected producers and executives in the film industry today. As President of Lucasfilm, she oversees the company's three divisions: Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. In 1992, she ...
Founder
3. Frank Marshall
Producer | Congo
Frank was born in Glendale, California to musician Jack Marshall. He entered the film world when his parents invited him to a birthday party for the daughter of directing legend John Ford in 1966. There, he met Peter Bogdanovich and soon agreed to work on his first film, Targets (1968), later ...
Founder
4. Stanley Kubrick
Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...
Mentor of Steven Spielberg and the studio's influence.
5. Joe Dante
Director | Innerspace
Joe Dante is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art. After a stint as a film reviewer, he began his filmmaking apprenticeship in 1974 as trailer editor for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with Hollywood Boulevard (1976) (co-directed with Allan Arkush)...
6. John Kricfalusi
Animation_department | The Ren & Stimpy Show
Canadian-born cartoon cartoonist Kricfalusi began his career by working on low end Saturday morning cartoons like The Jetsons (1962) revival and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972). In 1987, Kricfalusi's mentor, Ralph Bakshi, saved him by hiring him as supervising director on his show Mighty Mouse...
7. Bruce Timm
Animation_department | Batman: The Animated Series
Bruce Timm is an American animator, writer, voice actor and director. He is known for creating Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and various installments of the DC Animated Universe. He co-created several DC characters including Harley Quinn and Livewire. He...
8. Robert Zemeckis
Writer | Back to the Future
A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...
9. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
10. Brian Levant
Producer | Still the Beaver
Brian Michael Levant is an American filmmaker and producer known for directing many films such as The Flintstones, Jingle All the Way, Snow Dogs, Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins, The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas, Scooby-Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster, Are We There Yet?, The Spy Next Door and Max 2: ...
11. Matthew Robbins
Writer | Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Matthew Robbins was born in New York City and went to the Johns Hopkins University, where he received a BA degree in Romance Languages. Shortly after getting his MFA at the USC School of Cinema, he began writing screenplays with partner Hal Barwood. Together, in a period of three years, they wrote ...
12. Penelope Spheeris
Director | Suburbia
Spheeris is often referred to as a 'rock 'n roll anthropologist'.
In 1974 she formed the first Los Angeles music video production company, ROCK 'N REEL. She concluded her music video work with the Grammy-nominated, "Bohemian Rhapsody" video for "Wayne's World". Spheeris' feature film debut was the ...
13. Brad Bird
Writer | The Incredibles
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...
14. Tim Burton
Producer | Edward Scissorhands
Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...
15. Brad Silberling
Director | City of Angels
Brad Silberling was born on September 8, 1963 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is a producer and director, known for City of Angels (1998), A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) and Moonlight Mile (2002). He has been married to Amy Brenneman since September 30, 1995. They have two ...
16. Don Bluth
Director | Anastasia
Don Bluth was one of the chief animators at Disney to come to the mantle after the great one's death. He eventually became the animation director for such films as The Rescuers (1977) and Pete's Dragon (1977). Unfortunately, the quality of animation that Disney was producing at this point was not ...
17. Clint Eastwood
Actor | Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...
18. Gil Kenan
Director | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Gil Kenan was born on October 16, 1976 in London, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), Monster House (2006) and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). He has been married to Eliza Chaikin since 2005.
19. Martin Campbell
Director | Casino Royale
Martin Campbell knows how to entertain an audience when he steps behind the camera. When he directed The Mask of Zorro (1998), the movie earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and launched the international careers of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Next, when he helmed ...
20. Richard Donner
Director | Superman
Richard Donner was born on April 24, 1930 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Superman (1978), Ladyhawke (1985) and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980). He was married to Lauren Shuler Donner. He died on July 5, 2021 in Los Angeles, ...
21. Chris Columbus
Producer | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, Chris Columbus was first inspired to make movies after seeing "The Godfather" at age 15. After enrolling at NYU film school, he sold his first screenplay (never produced) while a sophomore there. After graduation Columbus tried to sell his fourth script, "...
22. Barry Sonnenfeld
Director | Men in Black
Barry Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from New York University Film School in 1978. He started work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Blood Simple (1984). This film began his collaboration...
23. Jan de Bont
Director | Speed
Jan de Bont was one of 17 children born into a Roman Catholic Dutch family in Eindhoven on 22 October 1943. Credited with being creative and having a good mentality for camera techniques, he became a popular cinematographer. He worked on a huge number of films before finding himself on the ...
24. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
25. Joe Johnston
Director | Captain America: The First Avenger
Joseph Eggleston Johnston II is an American film director from Texas who is known for directing the cult classic film The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Wolfman, October Sky, The Pagemaster, Jurassic Park III and Captain America: The First Avenger. He was an art director for ...
26. J.J. Abrams
Producer | Lost
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, the son of TV producer parents. At 15, he wrote the music for Don Dohler's Nightbeast (1982). In his senior year of college, he and Jill Mazursky teamed up to write a feature film, which became Taking Care of Business (1990)....
27. Ethan Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...
28. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
29. Simon Wells
Director | The Time Machine
Simon Wells was born on October 19, 1961 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He is a director, known for The Time Machine (2002), The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Flushed Away (2006). He has been married to Wendy Wells since June 1988. They have two children.
30. Michael Apted
Director | Amazing Grace
Michael Apted was born on February 10, 1941 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for Amazing Grace (2006), Gorillas in the Mist (1988) and Rome (2005). He was married to Paige Simpson, Dana Stevens and Jo Apted. He died on January 7, 2021 in Los Angeles,...
31. Kevin Reynolds
Director | Waterworld
Raised as an Air Force brat, Kevin Reynolds' love for cinema inspired him to forsake his law school degree and move to Los Angeles to enroll in the University of Southern California's legendary film school. Reynolds' graduate thesis film "Proof" became the basis for "Fandango" starring Kevin ...
32. Barry Levinson
Director | Rain Man
Barry Lee Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Violet (Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in furniture and appliance. He is of Russian Jewish descent. Levinson graduated from high school in 1960, attended college at American University in Washington, DC. He did well, but decided he ...
33. Richard Benjamin
Actor | Westworld
Although his actress wife Paula Prentiss became a star by the early 1960s, it took Richard Benjamin almost fifteen years to establish his screen persona, but the wait was rewarding. After extensive work in theatre as actor and director, and his participation in the cult TV series He & She (1967)...
34. William Dear
Director | Harry and the Hendersons
William Dear was born on November 30, 1944 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a director and writer, known for Harry and the Hendersons (1987), The Rocketeer (1991) and Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982).
35. Gary David Goldberg
Writer | Family Ties
Gary David Goldberg was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 25, 1944. After a prolonged and checkered collegiate career, which began at Brandeis University in 1962 and ended at San Diego State University in 1975 (with many other schools in between), he moved to Hollywood to try to make it as a ...
36. John Patrick Shanley
Writer | Moonstruck
John Patrick Shanley was born on October 3, 1950 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Moonstruck (1987), Doubt (2008) and Congo (1995).
37. Errol Morris
Director | The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
His documentaries helped spur a rebirth of non-fiction film in the 80s & garnered wide critical success. But until 2003's "The Fog of War," Morris was shunned by the Academy Awards.
Morris' first two films won much acclaim (Gates of Heaven (1978) and Vernon, Florida (1981)). In the second movie, ...
38. Stephen Hawking
Actor | Star Trek: The Next Generation
Stephen William Hawking was born on 8 January 1942 on Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. He was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.
His scientific works include a collaboration with ...
39. Peter Bogdanovich
Director | The Last Picture Show
Peter Bogdanovich was conceived in Europe but born in Kingston, New York. He is the son of immigrants fleeing the Nazis, Herma (Robinson) and Borislav Bogdanovich, a painter and pianist. His father was a Serbian Orthodox Christian, and his mother was from a wealthy Austrian Jewish family. Peter ...
40. Mikael Salomon
Director | Band of Brothers
Mikael Salomon was born and grew up in Denmark. He is originally and primarily a cinematographer. The first feature film he shot was Fantasterne (1967) by Kirsten Stenbæk. After almost two decades as one of his country's finest in the field and only a few foreign productions, he then moved his life...
41. Stephen Gyllenhaal
Director | CBS Afternoon Playhouse
Stephen Gyllenhaal was born on October 4, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is a director and producer, known for CBS Afternoon Playhouse (1978), A Dangerous Woman (1993) and Living with the Dead (2002).
42. Duwayne Dunham
Editor | Twin Peaks
Duwayne Dunham was born on November 17, 1952 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is an editor and director, known for Twin Peaks (1990), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). He has been married to Janet Louise Young ...
43. Beeban Kidron
Director | Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
She came to prominence with the much lauded adaptation of Jeanette Winterson's autobiographical novel 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'. Since then she's directed feature films, television dramas and documentaries. In 2008, she founded the charity called Filmclub with Lindsay Mackie. It has since ...
44. Jocelyn Moorhouse
Director | The Dressmaker
Jocelyn Moorhouse was born on September 4, 1960 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a director and writer, known for The Dressmaker (2015), Proof (1991) and Muriel's Wedding (1994). She is married to P.J. Hogan.
45. David Koepp
Writer | Jurassic Park
David Koepp is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for writing Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spider-Man directed by Sam Raimi and Panic Room directed by David ...
46. Neil Jordan
Writer | The Crying Game
Neil Jordan was born on February 25, 1950 in Sligo, Ireland. He is a writer and producer, known for The Crying Game (1992), Greta (2018) and Breakfast on Pluto (2005). He has been married to Brenda Rawn since June 30, 2004. They have two children. He was previously married to Vivienne Shields.
47. Rob Marshall
Director | Mary Poppins Returns
Rob Marshall was born on October 17, 1960 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Chicago (2002) and Into the Woods (2014).
48. Richard Williams
Animation_department | Who Framed Roger Rabbit
The son of commercial artists, Richard Williams studied at the Ontario College of Art and first worked in animation for Disney Studios in Burbank. His tenure there had a strong influence on his later work but proved somewhat stifling to his own creative flair. In 1955, aged 22, Williams moved to ...
49. Brett Ratner
Director | Red Dragon
Brett Ratner is one of Hollywood's most successful filmmakers. His diverse films resonate with audiences worldwide and, as director, his films have grossed over $2 billion at the global box office. Brett began his career directing music videos before making his feature directorial debut at 26 years...
Upcoming Movie: The 39 Case
50. Lasse Hallström
Director | What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Lasse Hallström inherited his enthusiasm for film from his father, who was an amateur filmmaker. In high school he made his first short film, which was released on Swedish television. Hallström then began working as a director, cameraman and editor for Swedish television. He also made music videos ...
Upcoming Movie: The Danish Girl
51. Rob Minkoff
Director | The Lion King
Rob Minkoff was born on August 11, 1962 in Palo Alto, California, USA. He is a producer and director, known for The Lion King (1994), Stuart Little 2 (2002) and The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). He has been married to Crystal Kung Minkoff since September 29, 2007. They have two children.
52. Barry Cook
Director | Mulan
Barry Cook was born and raised in Nashville, TN, USA. He began making films at the age of ten on the family super 8 camera. He won two prizes in the local PBS-sponsored Young Filmakers Festival with "The Vampire" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" at the age of twelve. During summers, he and his brother...
53. Tom Ruegger
Producer | Animaniacs
Tom Ruegger is the fourteen-time Emmy-winning producer and creative force behind many of the most popular and successful animated television series of all time, including Tiny Toon Adventures (1990), Animaniacs (1993) and Pinky and the Brain (1995) to name only a few.
Over the last decade, Mr. ...
54. Liz Holzman
Art_department | Pinky and the Brain
Liz Holzman was born on February 9, 1953 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was a producer, known for Pinky and the Brain (1995), Animaniacs (1993) and The Zeta Project (2001). She died on August 11, 2014 in Portland, Oregon, USA.
55. Paul Dini
Writer | Batman: The Animated Series
Paul Dini is an American animator and writer known for his contributions to DC Comics, including Batman: The Animated Series, Gotham Girls and fan favorite character Harley Quinn. He also worked on Batman: Arkham Asylum and it's sequel Batman: Arkham City as well as a 2003 animated pilot based on ...
56. Bob Gale
Writer | Back to the Future
Bob Gale is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter-producer-director, best known as co-creator, co-writer and co-producer of Back to the Future (1985) and its sequels. Gale was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Cinema from the University of Southern ...
57. Skip Jones
Animation_department | The Secret of NIMH
Skip Jones is known for The Secret of NIMH (1982), Space Jam (1996) and An American Tail (1986).
58. Berkeley Breathed
Writer | Hitpig
Began his art career in High School when he drew a headless spaceman outside his ship and then spat read paint where the head should have been, causing the illusion of an explosion, and named it "Gesundheit". Went on to draw "filler" cartoons for his local newspaper, and got his editor's front lawn...
59. Michael Crichton
Writer | Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Roslyn, New York. His father was a journalist and encouraged him to write and to type. Michael gave up studying English at Harvard University, having become disillusioned with the teaching standards--the final straw came when he ...
60. Kelly Marcel
Writer | Saving Mr. Banks
Kelly is primarily a writer for film and television but started her career in musical theater with the UK version of "Debbie Does Dallas, the Musical".
She is a co-artistic director of "The Bad Dog Theater Company"; founded in 2010 alongside the actor Tom Hardy and fellow writer Brett C. Leonard.
She...
61. Craig Silverstein
Producer | Pantheon
Craig Silverstein is known for Pantheon (2022), The Invisible Man (2000) and TURN: Washington's Spies (2014).
62. Tobe Hooper
Director | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Honored with many awards for his films and achievement in the horror genre, Tobe Hooper is truly one of the Masters of Horror (2005).
Tobe Hooper was born in Austin, Texas, to Lois Belle (Crosby) and Norman William Ray Hooper, who owned a theater in San Angelo. He spent the 1960s as a college ...
63. Tom Holland
Writer | Fright Night
Tom Holland is an American director and screenwriter of horror and thriller films. His early writing projects include Class of 1984 (1982) and the Robert Bloch- inspired Psycho II (1983), the latter starring Anthony Perkins as the menacing psychopath, Norman Bates.
Tom gained more notoriety, however...
64. Danny DeVito
Actor | Matilda
Danny DeVito has amassed a formidable and versatile body of work as an actor, producer and director that spans the stage, television and film.
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. was born on November 17, 1944, in Neptune, New Jersey, to Italian-American parents. His mother, Julia (Moccello), was a homemaker. ...
65. Burt Reynolds
Actor | Boogie Nights
Enduring, strong-featured, and genial star of US cinema, Burt Reynolds started off in T.V. westerns in the 1960s and then carved his name into 1970s/1980s popular culture, as a sex symbol (posing nearly naked for "Cosmopolitan" magazine), and on-screen as both a rugged action figure and then as a ...
66. Rockne S. O'Bannon
Writer | Farscape
Rockne S. O'Bannon was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Farscape (1999), Alien Nation and Evil (2019).
67. Michael Duggan
Producer | Law & Order
Michael Duggan began his career working in production for Steven Bochco on Hill Street Blues (1981). He began writing on the TV show St. Elsewhere (1982) and continued his career writing and producing at Universal for Michael Mann on Miami Vice (1984) and Law & Order (1990). Duggan has also ...
68. Carol Flint
Producer | ER
Carol Flint is known for ER (1994), The West Wing (1999) and China Beach (1988).
69. Mark Levin
Writer | The Adam Project
Mark Levin is known for The Adam Project (2022), Big Mouth (2017) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008). He is married to Jennifer Flackett. They have two children.
70. Billy Ray
Writer | Captain Phillips
Billy Ray is known for Captain Phillips (2013), The Hunger Games (2012) and Shattered Glass (2003). He is married to Stacy Sherman. They have two children.
71. Judy Blume
Writer | Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
Judy Blume was born on February 12, 1938 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023), Forever and Tiger Eyes (2012). She has been married to George Cooper since June 6, 1987. She was previously married to Thomas A. Kitchens and ...
72. Sherri Stoner
Writer | Animaniacs
Sherri Stoner was born on July 16, 1959 in Santa Monica, California, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Animaniacs (1993), Tiny Toon Adventures (1990) and Casper (1995).
73. Deanna Oliver
Actress | The Brave Little Toaster
Deanna Oliver was born on September 27, 1952 in Spokane, Washington, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Animaniacs (1993) and Casper (1995).
74. David Kirschner
Producer | Hocus Pocus 2
David Kirschner Productions maintains an eclectic slate of projects, focusing primarily on family and genre films. Currently in production is the film adaptation of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning short story, Martian Child, written by sci-fi luminary, David Gerrold (Star Trek's "The Troubles ...
75. Will Finn
Writer | Home on the Range
Will Finn was born on November 1, 1958 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer, known for Home on the Range (2004), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and The Secret of NIMH (1982).
76. David Marshall
Animation_department | Rick and Morty
David Marshall is known for Rick and Morty (2013), Tiny Toon Adventures (1990) and Animaniacs (1993).
77. Phil Robinson
Art_department | Hubert's Brain
Phil Robinson was born on November 13, 1950 in West Glamorgan, Wales, UK. He was a director, known for Hubert's Brain (2001), Casper (1995) and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat (1995). He was married to Jennifer Robinson. He died on January 28, 2015.
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