Debra Hill
Encyclopedia
Debra Hill was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

, who co-wrote the horror film Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...

, its first sequel Halloween II
Halloween II
Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to...

, and The Fog
The Fog
The Fog is a 1980 horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins and Janet Leigh...

.

Early life

Hill was born in Haddonfield, New Jersey
Haddonfield, New Jersey
Haddonfield is a borough located in Camden County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a total population of 11,593....

 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. She entered the movie business in 1975 and was unhappy with the level of condescension she experienced because of her gender. She started as a production assistant
Production assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...

 on adventure documentaries, and progressed through jobs as a script supervisor
Script supervisor
A script supervisor is a member of a film crew responsible for maintaining the motion picture's internal continuity and for recording the production unit's daily progress in shooting the film's screenplay...

, assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...

 and second unit director. Hill first worked with John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...

 in 1975, as the script supervisor and assistant editor of Assault on Precinct 13
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film)
Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 American action-thriller film written and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Austin Stoker as a police officer who defends a defunct precinct against an attack by a relentless criminal gang, along with Darwin Joston as a convicted murderer who helps him. Laurie...

. This led not only to further professional collaborations between Hill and Carpenter, but also marked the beginning of their personal relationship.

Career

In 1978, she and director Carpenter co-wrote the horror movie Halloween
Halloween (1978 film)
Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...

. Following its success, Hill and Carpenter worked together on Halloween II
Halloween II
Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to...

 (1981) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 science fiction horror film and the third installment in the Halloween film series. It is the only Halloween where the story does not revolve around Michael Myers. Directed and written by Tommy Lee Wallace, the film stars Tom Atkins as Dr. Dan Challis,...

 (1982) Their other credits together include: The Fog
The Fog
The Fog is a 1980 horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins and Janet Leigh...

 (1980), Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...

 (1981) and its sequel, Escape from L.A.
Escape from L.A.
Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...

 (1996). In 1986, Hill formed an independent production company with her friend Lynda Obst
Lynda Obst
Lynda Rosen Obst is a feature film producer. She was born in New York and is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, CA. She worked as an editor at The New York Times before moving to Los Angeles with her then-husband David Obst...

. Together, they produced Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures in Babysitting is a 1987 American comedy film written by David Simkins, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, and a brief cameo by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins...

, Heartbreak Hotel, and The Fisher King. In 1988, she entered a contract with Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

 under which she produced Gross Anatomy, short films for the Walt Disney theme park, and an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 special for Disneyland's 35th anniversary. She also produced The Dead Zone
The Dead Zone (film)
The Dead Zone is a 1983 horror-thriller film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Directed by David Cronenberg, the film stars Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, and Tom Skerritt...

 (1983), Head Office (1985), and Clue (1985).

She was honored by Women in Film in 2003 with the Crystal Award. After years of having people not taking her seriously because she was a woman, Hill became one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood. She recalled the transition from being called "sweetheart" and "darling" in her early years as a producer to the respectful "ma'am" many years later on the DVD commentary for Escape From New York with production designer Joe Alves
Joe Alves
Joe Alves is an American film production designer, perhaps best known for his work on three of the Jaws films. He directed Jaws 3-D....

.

Health

Despite being diagnosed with cancer in February 2004, Hill continued to work on several projects. She worked with John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell
Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...

 on a comic adaptation of the Snake Plissken
Snake Plissken
S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken is a fictional character in John Carpenter's films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A., played by Kurt Russell. He is an ex-special forces commando/war hero in World War III turned criminal...

 character as well as a proposed Snake Plissken video game. She reunited with Carpenter to produce the remake of The Fog
The Fog
The Fog is a 1980 horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins and Janet Leigh...

. At the time of her death in 2005, she was working on the Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...

 film World Trade Center
World Trade Center (film)
World Trade Center is a 2006 American disaster-drama film directed by Oliver Stone and based on the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center. It stars Nicolas Cage, Maria Bello, Michael Peña, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon. The film was shot from October 19, 2005 - February 10, 2006...

.

After her death Carpenter told Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 working with Hill was "one of the greatest experiences of my life - she had a passion for not just movies about women or women's ideas but films for everybody".

Producer

  • World Trade Center
    World Trade Center (film)
    World Trade Center is a 2006 American disaster-drama film directed by Oliver Stone and based on the September 11 attacks at the World Trade Center. It stars Nicolas Cage, Maria Bello, Michael Peña, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon. The film was shot from October 19, 2005 - February 10, 2006...

     (2006) (producer)
  • The Fog
    The Fog (2005 film)
    The Fog is a 2005 horror film directed by Rupert Wainwright and starring Tom Welling, Selma Blair and Maggie Grace. It is a remake of John Carpenter's 1980 film of the same name, but this time made more in the vein of a "teen horror film" .Both Carpenter and Debra Hill The Fog is a 2005 horror film...

     (2005) (producer)
  • Crazy in Alabama
    Crazy in Alabama
    Crazy in Alabama is a 1999 comedy-drama film directed by Antonio Banderas, written by Mark Childress , and starring Melanie Griffith as an abused wife who heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially-motivated murder involving a corrupt...

     (1999) (producer)
  • Chow Bella (1998) (executive producer)
  • Escape from L.A.
    Escape from L.A.
    Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...

     (1996) (producer)
  • Rebel Highway
    Rebel Highway
    Rebel Highway was a short-lived revival of American International Pictures created and produced by Lou Arkoff, the son of Samuel Z. Arkoff and Debra Hill for the Showtime channel in 1994. The concept was 10-week series of 1950s "drive-in classic" B-movies remade "with a '90s edge"...

     (1994) (TV series) (9 episodes) (producer)
  • Cool and the Crazy
    Cool and the Crazy
    Cool and the Crazy is a 1994 film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi and starring Jared Leto and Alicia Silverstone as an unhappily married couple in the late 1950s who both lead separate affairs...

     (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Jailbreakers (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Dragstrip Girl (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Shake, Rattle and Rock!
    Shake, Rattle and Rock!
    Shake Rattle and Rock! is a 1994 television movie starring Renée Zellweger, Howie Mandel and members of the Grammy-nominated R&B band For Real. The film was produced by Lou Arkoff Shake Rattle and Rock! is a 1994 television movie starring Renée Zellweger, Howie Mandel and members of the...

     (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Girls in Prison (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Runaway Daughters
    Runaway Daughters (1994 film)
    Runaway Daughters is a 1994 television film by Joe Dante, a loose remake of an American International Pictures production from 1956, the year in which both the original and the remake are set...

     (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Motorcycle Gang (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Confessions of a Sorority Girl
    Confessions of a Sorority Girl
    Confessions of a Sorority Girl is a 1994 television film directed by Uli Edel. It stars Alyssa Milano and Jamie Luner, who were also together in the sixth season of Melrose Place in 1997. The movie is loosely based on the 1957 film Sorority Girl starring Susan Cabot and Barboura Morris...

     (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Roadracers
    Roadracers
    Roadracers is a 1994 made-for-television film directed by Robert Rodriguez, his second feature film following the success of his 1992 debut, El Mariachi...

     (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Reform School Girl (1994) (TV) (producer)
  • Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman
    Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993 film)
    Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman is a 1993 made-for-TV movie based on the 1958 film of the same name. Directed by Christopher Guest and starring Daryl Hannah and Daniel Baldwin, the film premiered on HBO on December 11, 1993, and was later theatrically released in the UK, France, and Germany.- Plot:The...

     (1993) (TV) (producer)
  • The Fisher King
    The Fisher King (film)
    The Fisher King is a 1991 American comedy-drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer and Michael Jeter...

     (1991) (producer)
  • Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Special (1990) (TV) (producer)
  • Gross Anatomy
    Gross anatomy
    Gross anatomy is the study of anatomy at the macroscopic level. The term gross distinguishes it from other areas of anatomical study, including microscopic anatomy, which is studied on a microscopic scale, typically with a microscope....

     (1989) (producer)
  • The Lottery
    The Lottery
    "The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. Written the same month it was published, it is ranked today as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature"....

     (1989) (producer)
  • Heartbreak Hotel
    Heartbreak Hotel (film)
    Heartbreak Hotel is a 1988 comedy film written and directed by Chris Columbus and starring David Keith and Tuesday Weld. Set in 1972, the story deals with one of the many "legends" involving Elvis Presley about his fictional kidnapping, and his subsequent redemption from decadence.The film was...

     (1988) (producer)
  • Big Top Pee-wee
    Big Top Pee-wee
    Big Top Pee-wee is the 1988 American family comedy sequel to the 1985 film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, Penelope Ann Miller, Valeria Golino, and Kris Kristofferson. The original music score is composed by Danny Elfman. The film is marketed with the tagline...

     (1988) (producer)
  • Adventures in Babysitting
    Adventures in Babysitting
    Adventures in Babysitting is a 1987 American comedy film written by David Simkins, directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton, Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, and a brief cameo by blues singer/guitarist Albert Collins...

     (1987) (producer)
  • Head Office
    Head Office
    Head Office is a 1985 American comedy film, produced by HBO Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners. It stars Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, Lori-Nan Engler, Jane Seymour, Richard Masur, Michael O'Donoghue, Ron Frazier, Merritt Butrick and was directed and written by Ken...

     (1985) (producer)
  • Clue
    Clue (film)
    Clue is a 1985 comedy mystery film based on the board game of the same name . The film is a murder mystery set in a Gothic Revival mansion, and is styled after Murder by Death and other various murder/dinner parties of mystery...

     (1985) (producer)
  • The Dead Zone
    The Dead Zone (film)
    The Dead Zone is a 1983 horror-thriller film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. Directed by David Cronenberg, the film stars Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, and Tom Skerritt...

     (1983) (producer)
  • Halloween III: Season of the Witch
    Halloween III: Season of the Witch
    Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a 1982 science fiction horror film and the third installment in the Halloween film series. It is the only Halloween where the story does not revolve around Michael Myers. Directed and written by Tommy Lee Wallace, the film stars Tom Atkins as Dr. Dan Challis,...

     (1982) (producer)
  • Halloween II
    Halloween II
    Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to...

     (1981) (producer)
  • Escape from New York
    Escape from New York
    Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...

     (1981) (producer)
  • The Fog
    The Fog
    The Fog is a 1980 horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins and Janet Leigh...

     (1980) (producer)
  • Halloween
    Halloween (1978 film)
    Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...

     (1978) (producer)

Writer

  • Halloween
    Halloween (2007 film)
    Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a remake/reimagining of the 1978 horror film of the same name, the first in the rebooted Halloween film series and the ninth Halloween film in total. The film stars Tyler Mane as the adult Michael...

     (2007) (1978 screenplay)
  • The Fog
    The Fog (2005 film)
    The Fog is a 2005 horror film directed by Rupert Wainwright and starring Tom Welling, Selma Blair and Maggie Grace. It is a remake of John Carpenter's 1980 film of the same name, but this time made more in the vein of a "teen horror film" .Both Carpenter and Debra Hill The Fog is a 2005 horror film...

     (2005) (1980 screenplay)
  • Halloween: Resurrection
    Halloween: Resurrection
    Halloween: Resurrection is a 2002 American horror film and eighth installment in the Halloween film series. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, who had also directed Halloween II, the film builds upon the continuity of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later...

     (2002) (characters)
  • Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
    Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
    Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later is a 1998 slasher film and is the seventh installment in the Halloween film series. It is directed by Steve Miner and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, and Michelle Williams. The screenplay, based on a story by Kevin Williamson further developed by Robert...

     (1998) (characters)
  • Escape from L.A.
    Escape from L.A.
    Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...

     (1996) (written by)
  • Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
    Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
    Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is a 1995 American horror film and the sixth installment in the Halloween series. Directed by Joe Chappelle from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands, the plot involves the "Curse of Thorn", a mystical symbol first shown in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers...

     (1995) (characters)
  • Jailbreakers (1994) (TV) (written by)
  • Confessions of a Sorority Girl
    Confessions of a Sorority Girl
    Confessions of a Sorority Girl is a 1994 television film directed by Uli Edel. It stars Alyssa Milano and Jamie Luner, who were also together in the sixth season of Melrose Place in 1997. The movie is loosely based on the 1957 film Sorority Girl starring Susan Cabot and Barboura Morris...

     (1994) (TV) (written by)
  • Rebel Highway
    Rebel Highway
    Rebel Highway was a short-lived revival of American International Pictures created and produced by Lou Arkoff, the son of Samuel Z. Arkoff and Debra Hill for the Showtime channel in 1994. The concept was 10-week series of 1950s "drive-in classic" B-movies remade "with a '90s edge"...

     (1994) (TV series) (1 episode)
  • Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
    Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
    Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is a 1989 American slasher film and the fifth installment in the Halloween film series. It was directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard and starred Donald Pleasence, who again portrayed Dr. Sam Loomis and Danielle Harris, who returned to play Jamie Lloyd...

     (1989) (characters)
  • Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
    Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
    Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is a 1988 slasher film and the fourth installment of the Halloween film series, directed by Dwight H. Little and written by Alan B. McElroy. The central plot focuses on Michael Myers returning home to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd , the daughter of Laurie...

     (1988) (characters)
  • Halloween II
    Halloween II
    Halloween II is a 1981 slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, and written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the second installment in the Halloween series and is a direct sequel to the Halloween set on the same night of October 31, 1978 as the seemingly unkillable Michael Myers continues to...

     (1981)
  • The Fog
    The Fog
    The Fog is a 1980 horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins and Janet Leigh...

     (1980) (written by)
  • Halloween
    Halloween (1978 film)
    Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...

     (1978) (screenplay)

Miscellaneous crew

  • Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog (2002) (V) (archival material)
  • Satan's Cheerleaders
    Satan's Cheerleaders
    Satan's Cheerleaders is a 1977 comedy-horror movie starring John Ireland, Yvonne De Carlo, and John Carradine.-Plot:Benedict High School's cheerleaders aren't shy and sweet. The football team knows them well - and Billy, the school's disturbed janitor, would like to. In the locker room, the girls...

     (1977) (script supervisor)
  • Assault on Precinct 13
    Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film)
    Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 American action-thriller film written and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Austin Stoker as a police officer who defends a defunct precinct against an attack by a relentless criminal gang, along with Darwin Joston as a convicted murderer who helps him. Laurie...

     (1976) (script supervisor, assistant editor)
  • Goodbye, Norma Jean (1976) (script supervisor)
  • The Streets of San Francisco
    The Streets of San Francisco
    The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...

     (1972) (TV series) (script supervisor) (unknown episodes)

Director

  • Dream On
    Dream On (TV series)
    Dream On is an American adult-themed situation comedy about single New Yorker, Martin Tupper. The show used a gimmick where old black and white clips were used to punctuate the main character's feelings or thoughts...

     (1990) (TV series) (unknown episodes)
  • Monsters
    Monsters (TV series)
    Monsters is a syndicated horror anthology series which originally ran from 1988 to 1991 and reran on the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s. As of 2011, Monsters airs on NBC Universal's horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller in sporadic weekday marathons.In a similar vein to Tales from the...

     (1988) (TV series) (unknown episodes)

Actress

  • Escape from New York
    Escape from New York
    Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...

     (1981) - Computer
  • The Fog
    The Fog
    The Fog is a 1980 horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins and Janet Leigh...

     (1980) (uncredited) - Extra in Benediction scene

External links

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