Cincinnati-Born Directors
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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, producer or writer since launching the summer blockbuster with Jaws (1975), and he has done more to define popular film-making since the mid-1970s than anyone else.
Steven Allan Spielberg was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Leah Frances (Posner), a concert pianist and restaurateur, and Arnold Spielberg, an electrical engineer who worked in computer development. His parents were both born to Russian Jewish immigrant families. Steven spent his younger years in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Phoenix, Arizona, and later Saratoga, California. He went to California State University Long Beach, but dropped out to pursue his entertainment career. Among his early directing efforts were Battle Squad (1961), which combined World War II footage with footage of an airplane on the ground that he makes you believe is moving. He also directed Escape to Nowhere (1961), which featured children as World War Two soldiers, including his sister Anne Spielberg, and The Last Gun (1959), a western. All of these were short films. The next couple of years, Spielberg directed a couple of movies that would portend his future career in movies. In 1964, he directed Firelight (1964), a movie about aliens invading a small town. In 1967, he directed Slipstream (1967), which was unfinished. However, in 1968, he directed Amblin' (1968), which featured the desert prominently, and not the first of his movies in which the desert would feature. Amblin' also became the name of his production company, which turned out such classics as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project, Duel (1971), with Dennis Weaver. In the early 1970s, Spielberg was working on TV, directing among others such series as Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969) and Murder by the Book (1971). All of his work in television and short films, as well as his directing projects, were just a hint of the wellspring of talent that would dazzle audiences all over the world.
Spielberg's first major directorial effort was The Sugarland Express (1974), with Goldie Hawn, a film that marked him as a rising star. It was his next effort, however, that made him an international superstar among directors: Jaws (1975). This classic shark attack tale started the tradition of the summer blockbuster or, at least, he was credited with starting the tradition. His next film was the classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), a unique and original UFO story that remains a classic. In 1978, Spielberg produced his first film, the forgettable I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), and followed that effort with Used Cars (1980), a critically acclaimed, but mostly forgotten, Kurt Russell/Jack Warden comedy about devious used-car dealers. Spielberg hit gold yet one more time with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), with Harrison Ford taking the part of Indiana Jones. Spielberg produced and directed two films in 1982. The first was Poltergeist (1982), but the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point was the alien story E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. The concept, while not uncommon, was still relatively low-key when Spielberg raised the practice to almost an art form with his famous (or infamous) placement of Reese's Pieces in "E.T." Spielberg was also one of the pioneers of the big-grossing special-effects movies, like "E.T." and "Close Encounters", where a very strong emphasis on special effects was placed for the first time on such a huge scale. In 1984, Spielberg followed up "Raiders" with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which was a commercial success but did not receive the critical acclaim of its predecessor. As a producer, Spielberg took on many projects in the 1980s, such as The Goonies (1985), and was the brains behind the little monsters in Gremlins (1984). He also produced the cartoon An American Tail (1986), a quaint little animated classic. His biggest effort as producer in 1985, however, was the blockbuster Back to the Future (1985), which made Michael J. Fox an instant superstar. As director, Spielberg took on the book The Color Purple (1985), with Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, with great success. In the latter half of the 1980s, he also directed Empire of the Sun (1987), a mixed success for the occasionally erratic Spielberg. Success would not escape him for long, though.
The late 1980s found Spielberg's projects at the center of pop-culture yet again. In 1988, he produced the landmark animation/live-action film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The next year proved to be another big one for Spielberg, as he produced and directed Always (1989) as well as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Back to the Future Part II (1989). All three of the films were box-office and critical successes. Also, in 1989, he produced the little known comedy-drama Dad (1989), with Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson, which got mostly mixed results. Spielberg has also had an affinity for animation and has been a strong voice in animation in the 1990s. Aside from producing the landmark "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", he produced the animated series Tiny Toon Adventures (1990), Animaniacs (1993), Pinky and the Brain (1995), Freakazoid! (1995), Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain (1998), Family Dog (1993) and Toonsylvania (1998). Spielberg also produced other cartoons such as The Land Before Time (1988), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), Casper (1995) (the live action version) as well as the live-action version of The Flintstones (1994), where he was credited as "Steven Spielrock". Spielberg also produced many Roger Rabbit short cartoons, and many Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and Tiny Toons specials. Spielberg was very active in the early 1990s, as he directed Hook (1991) and produced such films as the cute fantasy Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller Arachnophobia (1990), Back to the Future Part III (1990) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). While these movies were big successes in their own right, they did not quite bring in the kind of box office or critical acclaim as previous efforts. In 1993, Spielberg directed Jurassic Park (1993), which for a short time held the record as the highest grossing movie of all time, but did not have the universal appeal of his previous efforts. Big box-office spectacles were not his only concern, though. He produced and directed Schindler's List (1993), a stirring film about the Holocaust. He won best director at the Oscars, and also got Best Picture. In the mid-90s, he helped found the production company DreamWorks, which was responsible for many box-office successes.
As a producer, he was very active in the late 90s, responsible for such films as The Mask of Zorro (1998), Men in Black (1997) and Deep Impact (1998). However, it was on the directing front that Spielberg was in top form. He directed and produced the epic Amistad (1997), a spectacular film that was shorted at the Oscars and in release due to the fact that its release date was moved around so much in late 1997. The next year, however, produced what many believe was one of the best films of his career: Saving Private Ryan (1998), a film about World War Two that is spectacular in almost every respect. It was stiffed at the Oscars, losing best picture to Shakespeare in Love (1998).
Spielberg produced a series of films, including Evolution (2001), The Haunting (1999) and Shrek (2001). he also produced two sequels to Jurassic Park (1993), which were financially but not particularly critical successes. In 2001, he produced a mini-series about World War Two that definitely *was* a financial and critical success: Band of Brothers (2001), a tale of an infantry company from its parachuting into France during the invasion to the Battle of the Bulge. Also in that year, Spielberg was back in the director's chair for A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), a movie with a message and a huge budget. It did reasonably at the box office and garnered varied reviews from critics.
Spielberg has been extremely active in films there are many other things he has done as well. He produced the short-lived TV series SeaQuest 2032 (1993), an anthology series entitled Amazing Stories (1985), created the video-game series "Medal of Honor" set during World War Two, and was a starting producer of ER (1994). Spielberg, if you haven't noticed, has a great interest in World War Two. He and Tom Hanks collaborated on Shooting War: World War II Combat Cameramen (2000), a documentary about World War II combat photographers, and he produced a documentary about the Holocaust called Eyes of the Holocaust (2000). With all of this to Spielberg's credit, it's no wonder that he's looked at as one of the greatest ever figures in entertainment.- Director
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- Cinematographer
Randall Einhorn was born on 7 December 1963 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Abbott Elementary (2021), The Office (2005) and Shameless (2011).- Actor
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In 2015, an adaptation Todd and his writing partner created of Shakespeare's Macbeth for See-Saw Films (The King's Speech and Shame) premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The film, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, was released by The Weinstein Company this past December.
Todd's third directorial feature, Hello I Must Be Going was in competition and selected the Opening Night film at the Sundance Film Festival. Oscilloscope Laboratories released the film, which was named one of the Top Ten Independent films of 2012 by the National Board of Review. The film also garnered a Best Screenplay award at the Nantucket Film Festival for screenwriter Sarah Koskoff. Other directing credits include: Love, Liza (Sony Classics) with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates, The Marc Pease Experience (Paramount Vantage) with Jason Schwartzman, Anna Kendrick and Ben Stiller and his short film The Fifteen Minute Hamlet starring Austin Pendleton, which screened at Sundance and won Best Short at The New York Comedy Film Festival.
He is a recipient of an Annenberg Grant, as well as being a Sundance Fellow and Directing Advisor. As an actor, he has appeared in many films, including Scent of a Woman, Jerry Maguire, High Fidelity, School for Scoundrels and Thank You for Smoking.- Director
- Writer
- Animation Department
Ashley Miller was born on 11 August 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Ashley was a director and writer, known for The Moral Code (1917), Infidelity (1917) and The Quest of Life (1916). Ashley was married to Ethel Browning. Ashley died on 19 November 1949 in New York City, New York, USA.- Director
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- Actor
Burton L. King was born on 25 August 1877 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Won in the Stretch (1917), The Master Mystery (1918) and When Lightning Strikes (1934). He was married to Adele Lane. He died on 4 May 1944 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
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Theodore Reed was born on 18 June 1887 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Lady Be Careful (1936), The Nut (1921) and Those Were the Days! (1940). He died on 22 February 1959 in San Diego, California, USA.- Director
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Leon Benson was born on 9 November 1909 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Sea Hunt (1958), West Point (1956) and Science Fiction Theatre (1955). He died on 27 December 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Animation Department
- Director
- Art Department
John Lounsbery was an American animator and animation director from Cincinnati, Ohio. He eventually became one of "Disney's Nine Old Men", a group of senior animators who were in charge of the Walt Disney Animation Studios from c. 1945 to 1977. Lounsbery died in 1976, with his death leading to the dissolution of the group. He was the first of the Nine to die, and also had the shortest lifespan among them.
Lounsbery was born in Ohio, but spend much of his childhood in Colorado. He attended the East Denver High School, then received art lessons at the Art Institute of Denver. He continued his art education in Los Angeles, taking lessons at the ArtCenter College of Design. The College was a private art school established in 1930, and initially only trained visual artists and designers. The curriculum later expanded to include lessons in photography and technical illustrations.
One of Lounsbery's college instructors arranged a job interview for him, as a prospective animator for the Disney studios. Lounsbery was hired in early July 1935. He was put to work as an uncredited assistant animator for the animated feature film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937).
Lounsbery quickly became one of Disney's "star animators", because he was considered unusually skilled as a draftsman. His first major assignment was animating two of the villains in "Pinocchio" (1940), the conman duo of J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon. He served as one of the main animators in a ballet-themed segment of "Fantasia" (1940), the "Dance of the Hours". He was tasked with animating one of the main dancers of the segment, Ben Ali Gator.
Lounsbery made his debut as a directing animator in the feature film "Song of the South" (1946), an adaptation of the "Uncle Remus" stories of Joel Chandler Harris. His subsequent credits as a directing animator included the feature films "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947)., "Melody Time" (1948), "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949), "Cinderella"" (1950), "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), "Peter Pan" (1953), "Lady and the Tramp" (1955), "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961), "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), "The Jungle Book" (1967), "The Aristocats" (1970), and "Robin Hood" (1973). He was often tasked with animating key supporting characters of these films. His most memorable work as an animator included animating the allied kings Huber and Stefan in "Sleeping Beauty", the villainous tiger Shere Khah in "The Jungle Book", and the heroic fox Robin Hood in "Robin Hood".
Lounsbery co-directed the anthology feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977), which was released a year following his death. It was his debut as a director. In the film, he was also the main animator for the depressed donkey Eeyore. At the time of his death in 1976, Lounsbery was working in the upcoming feature film "The Rescuers" (1977). He was one of the three credited directors of the film, though he did live not long enough to complete it.
On February 13, 1976, Lounsbery suffered a sudden heart attack while working. He died shortly after, at the age of 64. He died about a month before his 65th birthday. At the time, most of the other "Nine Old Men" were considering retirement and a new generation of animators were in training. Lounsbery was buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Lounsbery was posthumously awarded with a "Winsor McCay Award" in 1986. and was named a "Disney Legend" in 1989. His work is still highly regarded by fans of classic animation, though he is possibly the least famous among "Disney's Nine Old Men". Relatively little is known about Lounsbery's personal life.- Director
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- Producer
Tall, dignified-looking Newland began in show business as a song-and-dance man with a vaudeville troupe ('The Vikings'), whose trade-mark was wearing gold capes. He acted in stock with the Stuart Walker Company, then found work on the New York stage in tandem with Milton Berle at the Roxy, Capitol and Loew's State Theatres. He also acted in radio and resumed touring nationally on the vaudeville circuit, as well as performing on the legitimate stage in such respected plays as "The Petrified Forest". After wartime service in the Army Air Corps, Newland embarked on a short film career under contract to Warner Brothers, which -- by his own account -- was an 'immediate failure'.
He instead turned his hand to directing early television and became best known for his paranormal anthology series One Step Beyond (1959), which he also hosted in his distinctively mellifluous voice and deadpan fashion. This was a good (though rather less well-known) contemporary of The Twilight Zone (1959). It was shot on the MGM lot with full access to the studio's wardrobe department and with a respectable budget of $30,000 to $50,000 per episode. In addition to high production values, the series consistently boasted good actors, including a young Warren Beatty, William Shatner and Suzanne Pleshette. An attempt to resurrect the franchise (The Next Step Beyond (1978)) nearly twenty years later with the same production team failed to re-ignite public interest.
Though he considered his work on 'One Step Beyond' as the highlight of his career, Newland continued to be in demand for many more years as a busy television director in a variety of other genres: from soap opera (Peyton Place (1964)), to espionage (The Man Who Never Was (1966)); from westerns (Daniel Boone (1964)) to cop shows (Police Woman (1974)). Until the mid-70's, his sonorous voice also continued to resound on radio's CBS Mystery Theater.- Producer
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Charles Guggenheim was born into a wealthy Cincinnati family (his father was a furniture manufacturer). While studying agriculture in college in 1943, Guggenheim was drafted into the army. Upon discharge from the service he decided against an agricultural career and moved to New York to pursue a career in broadcasting. He founded Charles Guggenheim and Associates, a film production company. He developed an interest in politics, and soon moved the company from New York to Washington, DC, where he became a media adviser to many Democratic political figures. After Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, Guggenheim put together a tribute to him culled from the thousands of feet of film he had shot of Kennedy over the years. The resulting film, Robert Kennedy Remembered (1968), won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. Although Guggenheim occasionally ventured into feature film production, he stayed mostly with documentaries, where he received his first Academy Award for 1964's Nine from Little Rock (1965), about the desegregation effort in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. He won two more Oscars for documentary filmmaking, in 1989 and 1994. His last documentary, Berga: Soldiers of Another War (2003), was about a group of 350 American soldiers captured by the Nazis during the Battle of the Bulge who, because they were either Jewish or the Nazis thought they "looked Jewish", were sent to concentration camps instead of POW camps (Guggenheim had been assigned to the unit that was captured, but a severe illness resulted in his being left behind when it was sent to the front lines so he was not with them when the men were captured). He finished the film just a few months before his death in October of 2002.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Steve Gebhardt was born on 6 January 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Escalator Over the Hill (1999), Ten for Two: The John Sinclair Freedom Rally (1972) and Up Your Legs Forever (1971). He died on 15 October 2015 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.- Director
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Mark Burchett was born on 20 April 1960 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Evil Ambitions (1996), Hell-O-Ween (2011) and Star Trek Phase II (2004). He died on 12 July 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.- Director
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- Editor
Terry is an award-winning filmmaker with over thirty years experience. "American Icon", a doc about NYC's Naked Cowboy, marked Lukemire's directorial debut where he also fulfilled the roles of producer, cinematographer and editor. This was followed by "The King of Karaoke", Best Comedy Short winner at the 2002 Hollywood Film Festival and "Limelight", premiering at the 2003 Seattle International Film Festival as one of only nine selections in the New American Cinema category. He has also developed several television projects including the doc-series "American Fighter" starring UFC's Rich Franklin, "Reality Racing" and "The Naked Chronicles" as well as feature docs; "Rebound" A Basketball Story", "How We Lookin'?" & "4192: The Crowning of the Hit King". "4192" tells the playing career of one of MLB's most controversial players, Pete Rose. It won Best Documentary Feature at the 2010 LA All Sports Film Festival and garnered critical acclaim. Lukemire's narrative film work as Editor includes, "Seven Below", a supernatural thriller starring Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames; "Blood Heist", a grind house style action film starring James Franco and "The Silent Natural". He also has directed several shorts including the award-winning "Trash Polka", comedy-heist "All In", the thriller "With This Ring" and "The Pivot", being developed as a feature. He is wrapped up his latest, "The Pirates of Pinellas County", a 5-part doc-series about marijuana smuggling.- Writer
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Joe Zappa was born on 1 November 1988 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Clever Girl (2015), 75 (2017) and The Ladies Next Door (2016).- Producer
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Michael Webber is an American motion picture producer/director who has produced numerous films for studios such as 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate. Webber is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose film The Elephant in the Living Room received the highest praise by top critics, won 5 Best Documentary Awards, and premiered in the U.S. as the #1 independent film in the country.
His 2022 investigative film, The Conservation Game, premiered in the U.S. with a bang - winning a Social Justice Award and Best Director Award. Four years in the making, the expose sent shock waves through the animal entertainment industry and is attributed to the swift demise of several of the world's most famous celebrity conservationists, including Jack Hanna and his flagship Columbus Zoo.
Michael has been the featured guest on countless television and radio talk shows including NPR, The Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, and Nightline. His investigative work was the subject of an ABC 20/20 special by Emmy Award-winning journalist Jay Schradler.
Webber's films have been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The Hill, Politico, The Wrap, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Deadline, People, Entertainment Weekly, and many more.
Michael has become known for his significant contribution to animal welfare causes. He was awarded the coveted Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States, was the keynote speaker for the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, and is an outspoken advocate in Washington D.C. for animal protection legislation.- Director
- Editor
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Jeff Winner was born on 28 April 1971 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He is a director and editor, known for Satellite (2005), You Are Here* (2000) and Hamlet (2000).- Producer
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- Director
Jon D. Wagner was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and studied Film Production and Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH. He relocated to Los Angeles, CA in 2005 and has actively written, produced, and directed since then. He has been married to his wife, the poet Sara Moore Wagner, since 2014, and they have three children.- Director
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- Actor
Douglas Reese is an independent filmmaker and actor located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Reese has gathered small attention for his work as a "no-budget" filmmaker, releasing his features and shorts on social media websites without any intention of financial profit. Since 2008, Reese has released nearly fifty short films and twenty features, some of his work garnering divisive reactions from both critics and viral audiences; many arguing the filmmaker's relevance as an "amateur auteur".