Laura Ziskin

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Laura Ellen Ziskin (born March 3, 1950 in San Fernando Valley , California , † June 12, 2011 in Santa Monica , California) was an American film producer . She achieved particular fame as the producer of the three Spider-Man films . In addition, she was the first woman to produce a broadcast of the Oscar events on her own with the Oscar awards in 2002 and 2007 .

Life

Ziskin was born in 1950 to Elaine and Jay Ziskin and grew up in San Fernando Valley, California . Her stepmother, Mae Lee, was a psychologist and her father, Jay Ziskin, was a psychologist and attorney. She came from a Jewish family. After graduating from the University of Southern California , USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1973, Ziskin began working on game shows. She later became the personal assistant to film producer Jon Peters . There she soon reached the position of Development Executive and gained her first experience in the production of feature films at Peters' film production company. So she was involved in the production of the remake A Star Is Born in 1976. Two years later she worked as an associate producer on the making of the film The Eyes of Laura Mars .

In 1984, Ziskin and her partner Sally Field founded the production company Fogwood Films and produced the film The Second Choice - A Romance . She hired the then relatively unknown actors Kevin Costner and Sean Young as well as the star Gene Hackman to produce the hit No Way Out for Orion Pictures Corporation . In 1988 she and Ian Sander produced two films with Dennis Quaid in the lead role: the remake DOA - Murder On Arrival and Taylor Hackford's A Life Full of Passion .

She had one of her greatest successes in 1990 with the love story Pretty Woman , which Ziskin produced for Touchstone Pictures . The following year the success waned and the films she produced What about Bob? and The Doctor - An Ordinary Patient fell short of the studio's expectations. After moving to Columbia Pictures , she produced Stephen Frears ' A Normal Hero in 1992 , which Ziskin and her husband Alvin Sargent also wrote the script for.

In 1994 she performed for the short film Oh, What a Day! First director in 1914 . The following year Ziskin produced the black comedy To Die For with Nicole Kidman in the lead role for her production company Laura Ziskin Productions.

After its release, Ziskin was named president of 20th Century Fox subsidiary Fox 2000. In this role, Ziskin worked with a wide variety of directors and screenwriters. The films produced by Fox 2000 include Edward Zwick's Gulf War drama Courage to Truth , the romantic comedy Days Like This , the drama The Abbotts - When Hatred Kills Love and the disaster film Volcano . Ziskin and FOX Filmed Entertainment CEO Tom Rothman were also involved in the development of the script for The English Patient , before Fox Filmed Entertainment studio boss William M. Mechanic gave the rights to Anthony Minghella , who then produced the film with Miramax .

Ziskin then produced the film It couldn't be better in 1997 . The film received 7 Oscar nominations, including the one for best picture. He could win two of the awards: Jack Nicholson for Best Actor and Helen Hunt for Best Actress.

After nearly five years, Ziskin resigned from Fox 2000 in November 1999 and signed a new deal with Columbia Pictures within a month . After being the first female producer to be solely responsible for the production of the Academy Awards, she dedicated herself to the production of the comic book adaptation of Spider-Man . Ziskin were accused of a lack of experience with comic book adaptations and CGI films; her decision to sign Tobey Maguire was also heavily criticized. Despite all the critics, the film, which was released on May 3, 2002, received good to very good reviews and was extremely successful at the box office, with grossing over $ 820 million worldwide. Ziskin also produced the subsequent sequels Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 , which were also very successful.

In 2002, Ziskin received the Crystal Award for her achievements as a woman in the entertainment industry.

In February 2004, Ziskin was diagnosed with breast cancer. On May 28, 2008, Ziskin and Katie Couric , Sherry Lansing , the Entertainment Industry Foundation , the Noreen Fraser Foundation and Ellen Ziffren announced the establishment of the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) cancer research initiative .

Most recently, she worked on the fourth Spider-Man film, The Amazing Spider-Man, scheduled for 2012 . When, after creative differences, neither director Sam Raimi nor main actor Maguire were available for another part, Ziskin made the controversial decision to restart the franchise with Marc Webb as director and Andrew Garfield in the role of the eponymous superhero. At the end of the credits you will find a dedication that applies to her.

On June 12, 2011, Ziskin died at the age of 61 from complications from cancer in Santa Monica, California .

Personal

At the age of 27, Ziskin married the writer Julian Barry and moved with him to Connecticut to raise his three children from a previous marriage. The couple later had their own daughter.

After the divorce from Barry, Ziskin was married to the screenwriter Alvin Sargent since 1991 , with whom she has worked on various productions since 1990.

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Contemporary theater, film, and television. Gale Research Co., 2002, ISBN 978-0-7876-5112-1 , p. 388
  2. ↑ Jay H. Ziskin; Psychologist and Lawyer . In: Los Angeles Times . June 21, 1997
  3. ^ Paula Hyman & Deborah Dash Moore: Volume 1 of Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. American Jewish Historical Society / Taylor & Francis, 1997, ISBN 978-0-415-91934-0 , p. 448
  4. ↑ Steven Zeitchik & Nicole Sperling: Laura Ziskin dies at 61; producer of "Spider-Man" film franchise . In: Los Angeles Times . June 13, 2011
  5. ↑ Sharon Waxman: Rebels on the backlot: six maverick directors and how they conquered the Hollywood studio system. HarperCollins, 2005, ISBN 978-0-06-054017-3 , p. 257
  6. ↑ Laura Ziskin at lukeford.net, accessed June 14, 2011
  7. ↑ Spider-Man at boxofficemojo.com, accessed June 14, 2011
  8. ^ Sharon Waxman: She's Producing as Fast as She Can . In: The New York Times . January 7, 2007
  9. ↑ Cynthia Littleton: Producer Laura Ziskin dies at 61 . In: Variety . June 12, 2011
  10. ↑ Elizabeth A. Schick: Current Biography Yearbook. HW Wilson Co., 1997, ISBN 978-0-8242-0938-4
personal data
SURNAME Ziskin, Laura
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ziskin, Laura Ellen (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film producer
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH San Fernando Valley , California, United States
DATE OF DEATH June 12, 2011
Place of death Santa Monica , California, United States