Barry Sonnenfeld (born 1
April 1953) is an American
filmmaker and television
director. He worked as
cinematographer for the
Coen Brothers, then later he directed and
produced big budget films such as
Men in Black.
Biography
Sonnenfeld
was born and raised in New York City
, the son of Kelly, an art teacher, and Sonny
Sonnenfeld. He graduated from New York
University
of 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 (1985). This film
began his collaboration with the Coen Bros., who used him for their
next two pictures,
Raising
Arizona (1987) and
Miller's Crossing (1990). He also
worked with
Danny DeVito on
Throw Momma from the
Train (1987) and
Rob Reiner on
When Harry Met Sally
(1989) and
Misery
(1990).
Sonnenfeld gained his first work as a director from
Orion Pictures on
The Addams Family, a
box-office success released in November 1991. Its sequel,
Addams Family Values
(1993), was not as successful at the box office, but he received
critical acclaim for his fourth directorial outing,
Get Shorty (1995). Produced by
Jersey Films and based on a novel by
Elmore Leonard, the film won a
Golden Globe for
John Travolta (Best Actor in a Comedy or
Musical). In 1996
Steven Spielberg
asked him to direct
Men in
Black (1997). Starring
Tommy
Lee Jones and
Will Smith, the movie
was a critical and financial smash. Producer
Jon Peters then asked Sonnenfeld to direct
Wild Wild West
(1999), an adaptation of an old TV series. He also directed the
comedy
Big Trouble (2002),
after which he made his most successful film sequel,
Men in Black II (2002). He is also a
contributing editor for
Esquire
magazine. In 2008, Sonnenfeld earned an Emmy for directing
"Pushing Daisies."
Filmography
His works include:
He has also done advertising:
Future Projects
Things A
Man Should Never Do Past 30: single-camera comedy from
executive producer/director
Sonnenfeld, the Tannenbaum Co. and
Sony Pictures TV. The project
mostly is based on the personal experiences of
David Katz and
Esquire editor at large
A.J. Jacobs. The show
is about a guy working at men's magazine who is reluctant to
embrace adulthood and his friend who is an immersion journalist.
Al Higgins ("
Malcolm in the Middle"), is set to
serve as
showrunner/
head writer if the project is picked up.
He has become attached to a movie adaption of
The Spellman
Files by
Lisa Lutz, about a
family of private investigators.
References
- Barry Sonnenfeld Biography (1953-)
-
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ic50f77eca50ca545cb4645c8000c901b
-
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002034.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562
External links
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