Mel Damski

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Melvin "Mel" Damski (born July 21, 1946 in New York City , New York ) is an American film and television director and film and television producer .

life and career

Childhood, training and start of the film and television career

Born in 1946 in the cosmopolitan city of New York as a descendant of Russian Jews , Damski grew up in his hometown and finally attended Colgate University in Hamilton , New York , where he received a football scholarship. After graduating from college, Mel Damski, who has three siblings (two brothers and one sister), worked as a reporter for New York's Long Island Newsday before moving to Los Angeles , where he started his career in film and television. He finally joined the American Film Institute in 1972 , which was a huge step in the business for him. Damski had his first well-known work in a film in 1974 in Summer School Teachers as a second unit next to the director Barbara Peeters . In 1975 he also worked in the film Cover Girl Models and worked alongside the Filipino director Cirio H. Santiago, who died in 2008 . Damski's first directorial career was in 1976, when he directed three episodes of Barnaby Jones and was hired to direct one episode of The Seven Million Dollar Woman that year and the following year . In 1977 he also directed an unknown number of episodes from the television series The Andros Tagets .

First successes with the series "Lou Grant" and "American Dream"

He finally celebrated success with the television series Lou Grant , in which he directed a total of seven episodes in 1977 and 1978 and in 1979 for the Emmy in the "Category: Best Director for a Drama Series" ( Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series ) was nominated for work on the episode Murder . After directing one episode each of Having Babies and the hit series M * A * S * H in 1978, from the following years his work was increasingly divided between activities as a film director and activities as a television director . After directing one episode each of Big Shamus, Little Shamus (1979) and Kaz & Co (1979), there followed engagements in the films The Child Stealer (1979), A Perfect Match (1980), for which he also did the Screenplay wrote and The Unknown Witness (1981). Damski was able to record another success in 1981, when he was again nominated for an Emmy in the "Category: Best Director for a Drama Series". This time for the pilot episode American Dream in the television series of the same name , whose production was discontinued after only a short season.

Increased use as a film director

After directing the TV movie For Ladies Only that same year and then directing three episodes of Zoff at the Hoover Academy in 1982 , he worked almost exclusively in film productions for the next ten years. He directed several films that were also broadcast in German-speaking countries under German-language dubbing. Among other things, he directed the film The nine days wanders in 1982 , followed by the film An Invasion of Privacy in 1983. In the same year he was the director of the film Captain Dotterbart , during which the British-American comedian was filming , Actor, writer and director Marty Feldman died, responsible. In the following years he directed films such as Attack on Fear (1984), Full of Stress Before the First Date (1985), The Ace Up Your Sleeve (1985), A Winner Never Quits (1986), DC Cops (1986), In Search of the Mysterious Crystal (1986), Irre hagen Irre (1987) or The Three Kings (1987), where he worked as a producer on the latter film. Furthermore, this year was the director of the film The Hope Division , where he also directed the productions and thus occupied his first position as a producer.

Shared career as a film and television director

After a rather quiet year in 1988, Damski got back into his work as a film and television director in 1989 and was engaged as a director in two episodes of Dolphin Cove and Happy Together . With The Rescue of Jessica McClure and A Yankee from Connecticut at King Arthur's Court , two more films followed this year that were directed by Mel Damski. In addition, during this period he also worked as a director of the television series Life Goes On . After directing in 1990 traces of the past , he also did the same in 1991 in the film Bloody River , in which he was, among other things, an executive producer . Shortly after directing the films The Revenge (1991), The Marie Hilley Case (1991) and Back to the Streets of San Francisco , he was again active in 1992 in the same activity as he was with the film Bloody River had been. In addition to his work as a director, he also worked as a producer of the film for the film Wild Card . This was followed by a more or less successful time with the television series Picket Fences - Tatort Gartenzaun , in which he directed eight different episodes from 1992 to 1996 inclusive. In the last year of his activity there, he was also a senior producer in four episodes.

Tried to establish itself in the production of television series

After his years as a director, which were very much influenced by films, Damski tried to re-establish himself in working with television series from the 1990s. In addition to his work at Picket Fences - Tatort Gartenzaun , he was also in the television series Class of '96 (1993; 1 episode), A Strauss of Daughters (1993-1996; 7 episodes), Superman - The Adventures of Lois & Clark ( 1994; 1 episode), Go West (1994; 1 episode), Alles Schön und Recht (1995; 2 episodes), American Gothic - Prince of Darkness (1995; 1 ​​episode), Chicago Hope - Endstation Hope (1995; 1 ​​episode) and Nowhere Man - Without Identity! (1996; 1 episode) in action as a television director. In 1995 he was also involved in the television series Alles Schön und Recht in six episodes as a co-executive producer. Mel Damski finally had his most successful time in 1997, having previously emerged as director of the films An almost successful affair (1996) and your second chance (1997). That year he worked as a director in an episode of LA Affairs and also held this position in the 38-minute documentary short film Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies . For the film, together with the producer of the film Andrea Blaugrund, he was nominated for the “ Oscar for the best documentary short film ” at the 1998 Academy Awards, but in the end had to admit defeat to the film A Story of Healing . In addition, Damski was also one of three executive producers who worked alongside Blaugrund for the Oscar-nominated film.

Continued television career after failed Oscar nomination

Damski also began directing the television series Alone Against the Future in 1997 , in which he directed nine episodes until 2000, and Ally McBeal , in which he also served as director in nine episodes until 2001. It was around this room that he worked as a director in an unknown number of episodes on the television series Michael Hayes . In 1998, an equally unknown number of episodes of Any Day Now followed . Further engagements as a television director in 1998 and 1999 included the television series Rache nach Plan (1998; 1 episode), Love Boat: The Next Wave (1998 and 1999; 2 episodes), Practice - The Lawyers (1998, 1999 and 2000; 3rd episode) Episodes), Jack & Jill (1999; 4 episodes) and Allymania: The Best of Ally McBeal (1999;? Episodes), an offshoot of the hit television series Ally McBeal . Damski also spent a very successful time on the multi-award-winning television series Charmed - Magic Witches , in which he worked as a director in a total of 14 episodes from 1999 until it ran out in 2006. Other television series Damski directed in the new millennium included Rawley High - The First Semester (2000; 1 episode), Titans - Dynasty of Intrigues (2000; 1 episode) and Boston Public (2000, 2002 and 2003; 3 episodes). After directing the film The Clark Family in 2001 , he largely withdrew from the film sector or as a film director in the years that followed and focused more on working on television series.

Mainly used as a television director and success with "Psych"

So it came about that Mel Damski directed a number of internationally known television series and sitcoms in the following years. Until his next major production, which started work in 2006, these were the television series The Fugitive (2001; 1 episode), Ed - Der Bowling-Anwalt (2001 and 2002; 2 episodes), Girls Club (2002; episodes ), The Tick (2002; 1 episode), Dawson's Creek (2002; 1 episode), The Guardian - Retter mit Herz (2002; 1 episode), Everwood (2003; 1 episode), Without a Trace (2003; 1 episode), Missing (2003; 1 episode), Just in Case Amy (2003; 1 episode), Darcy's Wild Life (2004;? Episodes), Kevin Hill (2004; 1 episode), Boston Legal (2004 and 2005; 2 episodes), Point Pleasant (2005; 2 episodes), The Book of Daniel (2006; 1 episode), Las Vegas (2006; 1 episode) and Beautiful People (2006; 1 episode). Another successful phase of his career followed for Damski in 2006 when he joined the production team for the television series Psych . There he is currently (as of January 2011) with 16 episodes, which he directed, the most successful director of the series. In addition, Damski was at the side of a number of different producers in 30 episodes as co-executive producer from 2006 to 2008 and was promoted to executive producer from 2008, where he has participated in 41 episodes so far. Parallel to his time at Psych , Damski, who was descended from Russian Jews, directed an episode of The Wedding Bells and Women's Murder Club in 2007 and also directed the 2010 film Legendary - There is a Hero in Everyone (in the leading role among others with John Cena ) directed. To date (January 2011) this was his last well-known production.

Filmography

As a director

as a second unit

As a producer

as executive producer
as co-executive producer
as a senior producer

Nominations

Web links

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ↑ M * A * S * H: Out of Gas (English), accessed on January 29, 2011
  2. ↑ also as a screenwriter
personal data
SURNAME Damski, Mel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Damski, Melvin (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and television director and film and television producer
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York, USA