Bruce Cohen: A career full of ‘Silver Linings’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on February 19, 2013

Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann honored at Berlin film festival

Published on February 14, 2013

French documentary filmmaker and producer Claude Lanzmann will be honored at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, where he spoke about filming his famous "Shoah" documentary.

Acclaimed writer Nora Ephron dead at 71

Published on June 26, 2012

Writer and film director Nora Ephron, known for work on movies such as "When Harry Met Sally," has died in New York at age 71, according to media reports Tuesday night, hours after it was first revealed that she was gravely ill and near death.

An Afghanistani and Mel Gibson…sounds like the Maccabees

By Lauren Bottner
Published on November 14, 2011

Gil Cates, film producers, proud Jew, dies at 77

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 1, 2011

Q & A with Howard Gordon

Published on January 18, 2011

Running a television show is the sort of job that rarely leaves you with free-time on your hands, but during the writers' strike of 2007, “24” executive producer Howard Gordon suddenly found himself with just that – free time, and no scripts to write. So he decided to try his hand at a novel instead. Gordon's debut effort, an international thriller titled “Gideon's War,” hits shelves this month.

Producer Arnon Milchan’s goal: Broker Mideast peace

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 24, 2008

"I really, really believe that I have the skills, the courage, the conviction and the know-how to make a difference in the peace process in the Middle East."

Producer David Heyman and the lives of outsiders, from ‘Potter’ to ‘Pajamas’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 11, 2008

The story is told from the perspective of 8-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield), who is chagrined when his father (David Thewlis, who plays Remus Lupin in the "Potter" films) takes over as commandant of a remote labor-turned-death camp.

Wise moves jazz up Chabad telethon

Published on September 11, 2008

While taking violin lessons at The Juilliard School, Wise became interested in musical theater. He has since followed two paths in that field -- as a creative producer, responsible for some projects from conception to staging, and as an international presenter of successful Broadway shows.

Dreayer finds ‘Suite’ success with talented twins

By Danielle Berrin
Published on May 17, 2007

"I kiss 400 people everyday," says Irene Dreayer, executive producer of Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." "From day one, I hugged and kissed everybody, and it allowed everyone on the show to become family. That's the Jewish producer in me; family is everything."

“Wicked” producer Platt flies across another bridge

By Shoshana Lewin-Fischer
Published on February 15, 2007

Platt has crossed more than a few bridges himself. After he graduated from Penn, where he produced a small off-Broadway musical titled, "Francis," about St. Francis of Assisi, Platt studied entertainment law at NYU, while interning with agent Sam Cohn at International Creative Management, Inc. in New York.

Michael Tolkin takes on L.A. excess, family dysfunction and private-school politics in sequel to his

By Tom Teicholz
Published on September 14, 2006

Eighteen years ago, in "The Player," Tolkin introduced us to Griffin Mill, a studio executive who gets away with murder -- literally.

Tommywood - Great Scott

By Tom Teicholz
Published on June 1, 2006

Scott Steindorff is a happy man. A successful movie and TV producer, his NBC series, "Las Vegas," just got picked up for another season; he won an Golden Globe for the HBO miniseries, "Empire Falls," starring Paul Newman, and produced the feature film of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain" with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman. Upcoming on Steindorff's slate are adaptations of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera," TC Boyle's "The Tortilla Curtain," Michael Connolly's "The Lincoln Lawyer," "Penelope" starring Reese Witherspoon and remakes of the classic films "Ikiru" and "Rififi." All this and he's only been in the film business six years.

Ex-Movie Exec Isn’t Silent About Films

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on May 18, 2006

Roger Mayer lounges in the living room of his house on Benedict Canyon Road, a comfortable two-story clapboard structure in Beverly Hills. The newly minted octogenarian, who looks at least 10 years younger, effortlessly recalls dates, numbers and deals from decades ago.

‘Steins’ Skewers Simcha Rivalry

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 27, 2006

"Keeping Up With the Steins" proves that you don't have to be Jewish to make a funny, insider Jewish film, or that if you grow up in the Bronx or went to school in North Hollywood, you become a Jew by osmosis.

Director Pays Price in Making ‘Capote’

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on February 23, 2006

Caroline Baron, the film's producer who worked with Hoffman on "Flawless" and has known screenwriter Dan Futterman and Miller for a number of years, said that all films present challenges, but that from the outset, she had "100 percent confidence in Bennett as a director and Phil as an actor."

Obituaries

Published on January 26, 2006

Obituaries

U.S. Studios Court Israeli Programmers

By Orit Arfa
Published on December 22, 2005

Hollywood exports are a big business, and U.S. studios sometimes rake in more from international licensing than domestic. Even though Israeli acquisitions account for only 2 percent of overseas television exports, Stern thinks Israel gets special attention.

The Bighearted Showbiz Dealmaker

By Gaby Friedman
Published on November 17, 2005

Let My People Merlot

Published on April 14, 2005

In the beginning, there was sweet wine. Really, really sweet wine. But as the kosher market broadened, a trickle of new wines targeted to a more sophisticated audience began to raise expectations among Jewish wine lovers.

Was Is Back

By Tom Teicholz
Published on February 3, 2005

In case you missed them the first time around, Was (Not Was) had a good run in the 1980s as Ze recording artists, with two notable hits: "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Spy in the House of Love." Their songs veered from funk classics to art-house wit (i.e., turns out "Dinosaur" is a pop song about nuclear destruction -- who knew?).

You’ll Do Lunch in This Town Again

By Amy Klein
Published on October 21, 2004

Powerful women in Hollywood, back in 1978, were as prevalent as communists during the blacklist. Probably even less so. That's when Loreen Arbus came to town.

The Tao of Woody

By Amy Klein
Published on October 14, 2004

First came God. Then came Godot. Then came Woody Allen. Actually, none of them ever showed up -- not in the play "Waiting for Godot" or the newly acclaimed short feature film parodying it, "Waiting for Woody Allen."

The Kid Still Stays in the Picture

By Tom Teicholz
Published on July 1, 2004

Producer Robert Evans' best-selling autobiography, "The Kid Stays in the Picture," was chosen by the Library of Congress as a required text for every branch. The audio version of "The Kid" voiced by Evans has become a cult sensation, passed from hand to hand, making Evans an idol to a new generation.

The Circuit

By Andrea Adelson
Published on May 6, 2004

As a boy growing up in Los Angeles, Eugene Brown recalls no fondness for the Orthodox shul he was expected to attend after school even though his parents were not members.

Producer Channels

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on February 5, 2004

Gays weren't even on the radar in Ilene Chaiken's Jewish community in Philadelphia back in the 1960s.

Book Unpacks Shoah Memories

By Beverly Gray
Published on December 11, 2003

Karen Levine never had plans to write a book.

Then in 2001, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio producer came across an article in the Canadian Jewish News about a young Japanese woman, urged on by Tokyo schoolchildren studying the Holocaust, who traveled halfway round the world to find the owner of a child's battered suitcase. That child, Hana Brady, had died in Auschwitz at age 13, but the determined young woman tracked down Hana's brother George, who had survived Auschwitz and found a new life in Toronto.

Levine made a radio documentary chronicling the meeting between Fumiko Ishioka and George Brady, and that led her to write a children's book, "Hana's Suitcase," a gripping detective story and an inspirational saga.

Community Briefs

Published on November 20, 2003

Senior City of Los Angeles officials, visiting Israel under the auspices of the L.A. Jewish Federation, presented a proclamation from the L.A. City Council to Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai praising Israel as a "bedrock of stability, democracy and modernity with shared common values of pluralism and cultural diversity."

New Producers Join Chabad Telethon

By Gaby Wenig
Published on September 4, 2003

Chabad's annual "L'Chaim -- To Life!" telethon will look a little different this Sept. 14 since two new producers are helming the 23-year-old fundraiser.

Capturing Yiddish Theater

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 26, 2003

A Family Affair

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 24, 2003

In his 86th year and in his 86th movie, Kirk Douglas has fulfilled a long-cherished dream by uniting his clan in the film, "It Runs in the Family."

Kicking it Old World

By Marcus Moraes
Published on February 20, 2003

"Guib a click, dos is YidishMusic."

Joining ‘Gangs’ to Work With the Best

By Gary Rosenblatt
Published on January 2, 2003

When the now-legendary film director Martin Scorsese first discovered Herbert Asbury's book, "Gangs of New York," in 1970 and decided to make it into a film, Rick Schwartz was a 2-year-old growing up in a modern Orthodox home in Teaneck, N.J.

Marvin Mirisch

By Jewish Journal Staff
Published on November 28, 2002

Marvin Mirisch, one of three brothers who formed the Mirisch Co. motion picture production company, died on Nov. 17 of undisclosed causes at UCLA Medical Center.

The ‘Kid’s’ Staying Power

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on July 18, 2002

Every day during the summer of 1942, 12-year-old Robert Evans set out with a copy of Radio Registry under his arm and hit every audition room in New York.

The Art of Hollywood Survival

By Michael Aushenker
Published on January 10, 2002

Mike Medavoy's quote on the back of his new book, "You're Only as Good as Your Next One" (Pocket Books), sums up what makes a successful producer or studio chief: "If I had a talent for anything, it was a talent for knowing who was talented." "It sums up what makes a good anything," Medavoy told The Journal. "If I weren't in this business, I probably would have been a teacher, which would have been fine."

Courageous Acts

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 1, 2001

On April 18, 1943, as the vaunted German army marched in to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto, a few hundred Jewish resistance fighters, armed with pistols, rifles and homemade Molotov cocktails, confronted the Nazi soldiers and held them at bay for almost a month.

The Lamb is Sure to Go

By Mike Levy
Published on September 6, 2001

Mallory Lewis grew up with a very famous sister, but she laughs if you ask about sibling rivalry. "She slept in a shoebox in the closet, I had my own room, it was fine by me."

But this is no horror story of an evil stepsister. Mallory Lewis' sister is Lamb Chop, the adorable, perpetually 6-year-old puppet of children's entertainer Shari Lewis. Beloved by millions since their 1957 debut on "The Captain Kangaroo Show," Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop would go on to entertain generations of kids with their PBS series and videos. Mallory Lewis began writing her mom's newspaper column for kids at the age of 12, and by the early '90s, she was head writer and producer for mom's series.

Survivor: The Musical

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 14, 2001

It was early June, and the clock was ticking ominously for composer William Goldstein.

Stanley Kramer, 87

By Michael Aushenker
Published on March 1, 2001

Legendary filmmaker Stanley Earl Kramer, best known for films such as the classic western "High Noon," died on Feb. 19 of pneumonia. He was 87.

Divine Inspiration

By Ellen Sandler
Published on January 11, 2001

Why do most people want to believe that a successful career in show business happens by luck? Maybe it's because for people who haven't made it, that's a good explanation or excuse.

Through a Child’s Eyes

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 14, 2000

All the time Deborah Oppenheimer was growing up, her grandparents remained silent, one-dimensional portraits in a silver frame in the living room. "They were always there but never referred to," says Oppenheimer, who is in her 40's and the executive producer of "Norm" and "The Drew Carey Show." "I knew virtually nothing about them."

The Lady Behind the Dancing Man

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on August 24, 2000

Around the end of August, every year for the past 20 years, the Chabad Telethon comes around. It gets so you can't drive anywhere without seeing the purple banners featuring the silhouette of a man wearing tzitzit and dancing joyously to some unheard song.

Coming Attractions

By George Robinson
Published on March 23, 2000

If the mark of a fully matured film industry is that directors have logged enough time behind the camera that one can spot personal styles emerging over several films, then this year's Israel Film Festival proves that the Israelis have definitely reached that plateau.

Community Briefs

Published on July 22, 1999

Even for an international film producer and inveterate traveler, Arthur Cohn has covered a lot of territory recently.
During the last week in October, the winner of a record five Oscars and producer of "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" and "Central Station" was feted in Shanghai at his very own "Arthur Cohn Day" by the Chinese government and film industry.

It’s Like…Not ‘Seinfeld’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 15, 1999

Peter Mehlman, the former writer and co-executive producer of "Seinfeld," is sitting at a corner table at Shutters on the Beach, wearing mismatched sweats and a day's worth of stubble.

The Producer

By Ivor Davis
Published on January 14, 1999

There isn't much Irwin Winkler doesn't know about making movies, which is maybe why, unlike a lot of the young hotshots who've been in the business five seconds, his favorite subject is not his own genius.

Community Briefs

Published on November 26, 1998

Community Briefs

Surviving Hollywood

By Ivor Davis
Published on November 12, 1998

On the old Paramount Ranch deep in the San Fernando Valley, Woodstock has returned -- as in the world's greatest love-in, the '60s festival that affected a generation. Producer Lynda Obst, who is responsible for this unnerving flashback, watches intensely from the sidelines with a proprietary eye.

Film Screenings

By William Yelles
Published on April 2, 1998

Makers of short films routinely encounter the difficulty of getting their movies seen by an audience greater than their parents, cast and crew. But the makers of "Visas and Virtues"have had better luck than most.

‘Watts Side Story’

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 5, 1998

Michele Ohayon was nursing her 2-month-old baby when the phone rang at 5:45 a.m. and the caller answered a silent prayer: Ohayon's film, "Colors Straight Up," had been nominated as one of five documentary features in contention for an Academy Award.

A Wolf Among ‘Sheep’

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 16, 1997

From the Tube to the Big Screen

By Tom Tugend
Published on August 28, 1997

Veteran television writer/producer Saul Turteltaub had to wait 44 years for his first film credit, "For Roseanna," starring Mercedes Reuhl and Jean Reno.

Saul Turteltaub, a name-brand television comedy writer and producer for 44 years, remembers submitting his first movie screenplay.

Keeping in Rhythm

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 19, 1997

Doctorow was wary when the call from Toronto came four years ago. Garth Drabinsky, the maverick theater producer who runs his company like a 1930s movie mogul, had a proposition: He wanted to turn Doctorow's 1975 best seller, "Ragtime," into a musical. Drabinsky had won Tonys and made millions with "Show Boat" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman," and wanted to repeat with "Ragtime."