Jonathan Sanger
Jonathan Sanger | |
---|---|
Born | Brooklyn, New York,U.S. | April 21, 1944
Occupation(s) | Film director,producer,media consultant |
Years active | 1971–present |
Notable work | The Elephant Man,Vanilla Sky,Flight of the Navigator,Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall,Frances |
Spouse | Carla Sanger |
Children | 2 |
Jonathan Sanger(born April 21, 1944) is an American film, television, and theater producer and director.
Early life and career
[edit]Sanger was born inBrooklyn, New York,but spent much of his early childhood traveling with his family around Central and South America. Sanger's interest in theater stemmed from his undergraduate years at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,where he was chairman of the Board of The Pennsylvania Players, and President of the Performing Arts Council. At the graduate level, Sanger attended the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, studying documentary and biography based filmmaking. After graduating, Sanger joined thePeace Corpsin a special program with an emphasis on television and film production. Sanger was assigned to help create an Educational Television station inMontevideo,Uruguay.He later transferred toBogotá,Colombia,to make films for ICODES, the Colombian Institute of Social Development. After his Peace Corps term was completed, Sanger worked on documentary films inEcuador,ChileandMexicoforNBC's International Zone. Soon after, he became Associate Editor forAmericás,a cultural magazine published by The Organization of American States, where he wrote and translated articles. Sanger was contracted by theEncyclopædia Britannicato write the article on Bogotá, Colombia forBritannica 3.[1][2][3]
Film
[edit]In 1971, Sanger was accepted as a member of theDirectors Guild of America Training Program,and worked on several films shot inNew York City,among which wereAcross 110th Street,Harry and TontoandNext Stop, Greenwich Village.Moving to Los Angeles in 1976, Sanger worked forLorimar Televisionon the network Television seriesThe Blue KnightandEight Is Enough.In 1978, he wasMel Brooks' Assistant Director onHigh Anxiety,which led to a long professional association. For Brooks' wife,Anne Bancroft's feature directorial debutFatso,Sanger served as Associate Producer. During this period, Sanger had acquired the rights to the script ofThe Elephant Man.[4] Sanger brought the script to Brooks' newly created independent production company, andThe Elephant Manwas chosen as the company's first project; it was Sanger's debut feature film producing credit. It received eightAcademy Awardnominations, includingBest Picture,and was awarded theBAFTA Award for Best Filmin 1980 and the FrenchCésar Awardfor Best Foreign Film.[5][6][7]
Film producing
[edit]Sanger has produced over fifty films, shorts and documentaries, including the 1982 filmFrances,[8][9][10]a biography starringJessica Lange,Kim StanleyandSam Shepard.Sanger joinedCruise/Wagner Productions(Tom CruiseandPaula Wagner's production company) in 1996. He executive producedWithout Limits,[11]Suspect ZeroandVanilla Sky[12][13]as well as supervising production onMission: Impossible 2[14]as well as all the Cruise/Wagner Productions over his six years with that company. Other films produced by Sanger includeFlight of the Navigator[15]forWalt Disney Productions,The Doctor and the DevilsforTwentieth Century Fox,The Producers,[16]100 Feet,and Paraíso Travel[17][18][19][20]
Directing career
[edit]Among Sanger's directing credits are:Code Name: Emerald,[21]a World War II spy drama;Down Came a Blackbird[22][23]a television film forShowtime Networks,nominated for threeCableACE Awards;and several movies-of-the-week forNBC,CBSandABC.In addition to writing numerous episodic television shows, Sanger also wrote and directed the short filmPeacemaker,withLukas Haas,forPBS'American Playhouse,which was awarded the Best Short Subject at theHouston International Film Festival.[24][25]
Chanticleer Films
[edit]In the late 1980s Sanger partnered with fellow producerJana Sue Memelto create Chanticleer Films as an umbrella company for The Discovery Program. The mission statement of this company was to create an opportunity for film professionals (writers, editors, actors, sound mixers, cinematographers, etc.) to direct a 35mm feature-quality short film. Hundreds of professionals applied for the five directing spots available annually. In the eight years of Sanger's involvement, over forty five films were made; ten were nominated for an Academy Award, and three won. The first film produced by Sanger for the program,Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall,won theAcademy Awardfor Best Short Film in 1988.[26][27][28]
The Academy Film Archive houses the Chanticleer Films Discovery and Directed by Shorts Collection, consisting of 35mm prints and elements for more than sixty short films.[29]
Theater
[edit]In 2008, Sanger produced his first musical, the true story ofFlorence Greenberg,pioneer rock and roll record producer, entitledBaby It's You.[30]The musical started as a workshop production in a West Hollywood theater before moving to thePasadena Playhouse.Warner BrothersTheatrical Ventures andUniversal Music Groupbecame producing partners, and the show made its Broadway debut in March 2010. Sanger has several other musicals in development and also directed his first play, the dystopian drama, The Birthday Present - 2050 in 2010.[20][31]
Filmography
[edit]He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film
[edit]Year | Film | Credit |
---|---|---|
1979 | A Force of One | Associate producer |
1980 | Fatso | Associate producer |
The Elephant Man | ||
1982 | Frances | |
1985 | Code Name: Emerald | Co-producer |
The Doctor and the Devils | ||
1986 | Flight of the Navigator | Executive producer |
1988 | The Jogger | |
1991 | Without a Pass | Executive producer |
1993 | House of Cards | Co-producer |
1994 | Sherwood's Travels | |
1998 | Without Limits | Executive producer |
2001 | Vanilla Sky | Executive producer |
2004 | Suspect Zero | Executive producer |
2005 | The Producers | |
2008 | Paraiso Travel | Executive producer |
100 Feet | ||
2013 | Altered Minds | Executive producer |
2016 | Chapter & Verse | |
2017 | Marshall | |
2024 | Cabrini |
- As director
Year | Film | Notes |
---|---|---|
1985 | Code Name: Emerald | |
1989 | Peacemaker | Short film |
- Second unit director or assistant director
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
1976 | Next Stop, Greenwich Village | Second assistant director |
One Summer Love | ||
Hawmps! | ||
1977 | Thieves | |
Nasty Habits | Assistant director:US | |
High Anxiety | Assistant director | |
1978 | Movie Movie | |
1980 | Below the Belt | |
1998 | Without Limits | Second unit director |
2001 | Vanilla Sky |
- Production manager
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
1978 | Movie Movie | Unit production manager |
The Brink's Job | Production manager | |
1979 | A Force of One | Unit production manager |
1980 | Fatso | |
2000 | Mission: Impossible 2 | Executive in charge of production:USA |
2008 | 100 Feet | Unit production manager |
- As an actor
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | Flight of the Navigator | Dr. Carr | |
2001 | Vanilla Sky | Frozen Pediatric Cardiologist | |
2008 | 100 Feet | Man on Bus with Newspaper | Uncredited |
- As writer
Year | Film | Notes |
---|---|---|
1989 | Peacemaker | Short film |
- Miscellaneous crew
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
2001 | The Others | Production consultant |
- Thanks
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
2007 | Americanizing Shelley | Grateful acknowledgment |
Television
[edit]Year | Title | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | Teach 109 | Executive producer | Television short |
Open Window | Executive producer | Television short | |
1990 | The Showtime 30-Minute Movie | Executive producer | |
1991 | American Playhouse | Executive producer | |
The Letters from Moab | Executive producer | Television short | |
1992 | The Washing Machine Man | Executive producer | Television short |
Fifteenth Phase of the Moon | Executive producer | Television short | |
Another Round | Executive producer | Television short | |
1993 | The Last Shot | Executive producer | Television short |
Lush Life | Television film | ||
The Great O'Grady | Television short | ||
Night Driving | Executive producer | Television short | |
1994 | Missing Parents | Executive producer | Television short |
18 Minutes in Albuquerque | Executive producer | Television short | |
1995 | Take Out the Beast | Executive producer | Television short |
1996 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Co-executive producer | |
1998 | Grandpa's Funeral | Executive producer | Television short |
2015 | The wHOLE | Executive producer |
- As director
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1986 | L.A. Law | |
1988 | Hothouse | |
1989−90 | Wiseguy | |
1990 | Children of the Bride | Television film |
The Flash | ||
Broken Badges | ||
1991 | Twin Peaks | |
American Playhouse | ||
The Commish | ||
Chance of a Lifetime | Television film | |
1992 | Obsessed | Television film |
Just My Imagination | Television film | |
On the Air | ||
1993 | The Secrets of Lake Success | |
1994 | seaQuest DSV | |
1995 | Down Came a Blackbird | Television film |
The Marshal | ||
1996 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith |
- Production manager
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | Eight Is Enough | Unit production manager | |
1993 | 12:01 | Television film |
- As an actor
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | Love Matters | Therapist | Television film |
Other achievements
[edit]In addition to twenty Academy Award nominations and three wins, Sanger has won aChristopher Award,aBAFTA(BAFTA Award for Best Film), aCésar Award,Scholastic Magazine's Bell Ringer Award, and a Cine Golden Eagle AwardCINE.Sanger was named Filmmaker-in-Residence atChapman University's Dodge College of Film And Media Arts during the Spring semester of 2010, and was made adjunct professor in 2011, teaching a course in Creative Producing. He has been a member of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencessince 1981, and a member of theDirectors Guild of America(DGA) since 1971, serving on its National Board. His other professional organizations include The Producers Guild of America (PGA),The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA). In 2016, McFarland & Co. Inc. published Sanger's new book, Making The Elephant Man: A Producer's Memoir.
Family
[edit]Sanger is married to Carla Sanger, and has two sons: David and Christopher Sanger. He has two grandsons, Harrison and Miles Sanger and two grand daughters, Zada and Liliana.
References
[edit]- ^Binstine, Brabra. "Interview of Jonathan Sanger with President Uribe of Colombia".CARAS Magazine,September 2006, p.92-94.
- ^Encyclopædia Britannica.Bogota, Colombia.Encyclopædia Britannica, Macropedia Volume 2, 1978, p. 1183-1184 .
- ^George Godwin, Kenneth.Jonathan Sanger.Cagey Films December 10, 1981, p. 39.
- ^Kuhn,Joy.The Elephant Man – The Book of the Film.Virgin Books, 1980, p. 22.
- ^Kael, Pauline. "Elephant Man". New Yorker, October 27, 1980, p. 178.
- ^Summers,Jimmy. "Elephant Man". Box Office, October 1980, cover story.
- ^Academy Awards.Retrieved November 1, 2012.
- ^Kilday, Gregg "Frances".L.A. Herald Examiner,December 2, 1982, cover story.
- ^Benson, Shiela. "Frances".L.A. Times Calendar,December 3, 1982, cover story.
- ^Pollack, Dale. "Frances".L.A. Times Calendar,December 3, 1982, p. 21.
- ^Greg, Kilday. "Without Limits".The Hollywood Reporter,March 16, 1998, p. 14.
- ^Turan, Kenneth. "Vanilla Sky".L.A. Times,December 14, 2001, p. 32.
- ^Todd, McCarthy. "Vanilla Sky".Variety,December 9, 2001, p. 10.
- ^"Mission: Impossible II (2000) - IMDb".IMDb.
- ^"Flight of the Navigator (1986) - IMDb".IMDb.
- ^Sternbergh, Adam. "The Producers Movie".New York Magazine,December 2005, pp. 45, 51.
- ^Singer, Michael.Film Directors – A Complete Guide.Lone Eagle Publishing Company, August 1992, p. 331.
- ^Padgett, Tim.An Honest Look at Illegal Immigration.Time Entertainment, 2008
- ^Wallenstein, Joe.Practical Moviemaking, A Hand Book For The Real World.McFarland & Company Publishing, October 25, 2012, pp. 177–178.
- ^abCassell, A.R. "Producer Jonathan Sanger Directs The Birthday Present 2050".LA Stage,March 18, 2011.
- ^IMDbIMDb.Retrieved November 1, 2012.
- ^Scott, Tony. "Down Came A Blackbird".Variety,October 15, 1995, p. 6.
- ^Frink, Jon-Stephen.Cluck! The True Story of Chickens in the Cinema.Virgin Books, October 15, 1981, pp. 60, 128–130.
- ^"American Playhouse Peacemaker".Daily Variety,October 1989, p. 27.
- ^Singer, Michael.Film Directors – A Complete Guide.Lone Eagle Publishing, November 11, 1990, p. 331.
- ^Lieberman,Jane.Chanticleer Films, Discovery Program.L.A.Times, Jan,1,1988,p.28.
- ^Wilson,John M.Chanticleer Films, Discovery Program.L.A.Times, Jan,6,1991,p.33.
- ^Singer,Michael.Film Directors - A Complete Guide.Lone Eagle Publishing Company, August,1992,p.331.
- ^"Chanticleer Films Discovery and Directed by Shorts Collection".Academy Film Archive.13 October 2015.
- '^Cox,Gordon.Sanger and Sica say 'It's You.Variety, Oct,20,2010,p.12.
- ^L.A.Weekly Theater Critics.The Birthday Present 2050.L.A.Weekly, Mar, 2011,p.21.
- Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners (2012).1981 Oscars ceremonies(Film production). Los Angeles, US: Academy Awards.
- Academy Awards (1988) Nominees and Winners (2012).1988 Oscars ceremonies(Film production). Los Angeles, US: Academy Awards.
- "TV REVIEW: 'Imagination' an Irresistible Love Story".Los Angeles Times(Print/Web). Los Angeles, US. 2012.
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