Sandy Stern
Encyclopedia
Sandy Stern is an American
film producer
, best known for his work on the films Pump Up the Volume
(1990), Being John Malkovich
(1999) and Saved!
(2004).
Pump Up the Volume
, which was nominated for a 1990 Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
. He subsequently became executive producer of Equinox
and Red Hot
, released direct-to-video in 1992 and 1993 respectively. He met rock band R.E.M.
's lead singer Michael Stipe
through Stern's friend Samantha Mathis
' boyfriend, River Phoenix
. At the time, Stern was producing with Sean Penn
, and teamed up as producing partners with Stipe looking for a change. Together they executive produced Velvet Goldmine
in 1998 and Freak City
in 1999. They formed a production company
, Single Cell
, and their next project was Charlie Kaufman
and Spike Jonze
's 1999 film
Being John Malkovich
. Being John Malkovich won a 2000 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
, and Stern and fellow producers Stipe, Steve Golin
and Vincent Landay
were nominated for two Producers Guild of America Award
s: the Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award and the Vision Award, winning the latter.
Stern and Stipe, teamed with producers Michael Ohoven
and William Vince
, produced the 2004 independent teen-comedy film Saved!
, having spent years trying to persuade major financiers to fund the film, which, according to Stern, was a controversial film "that dealt with religion, that dealt with comedy and religion, that dealt with a gay storyline, and that was basically, it was all a kind of ensemble cast that did not have a Julia Roberts
starring in the movie." After its US$
9 million-grossing theatrical release through United Artists
, Stern approached Elephant Eye Theatrical's CEO Stuart Oken about adapting the film into a musical, which premiered Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons
, New York City
in May 2008.
Stern and Stipe are also set to produce the upcoming comedy film Runner-Up, written by Saved! screenwriters Brian Dannelly
and Michael Urban and directed by Dannelly, about a beauty pageant contestant who fulfills a community service obligation by holding a pageant at a women's prison.
by Jewish
parents. He attended New York University
, completing a Ph.D.
in clinical psychology
, but left to pursue filmmaking instead at Vassar College
, where he came out
as gay
. He now resides in Los Angeles
, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, best known for his work on the films Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
(1990), Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...
(1999) and Saved!
Saved!
Saved! is a 2004 teen comedy-drama film involving elements of religious satire. It was directed by Brian Dannelly and written by Dannelly and Michael Urban. It stars Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker...
(2004).
Career
Stern's first project, released in 1990, was the teen filmTeen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...
Pump Up the Volume
Pump Up the Volume (film)
Pump Up the Volume is a 1990 comedy-drama film written and directed by Allan Moyle and starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis.- Plot summary :...
, which was nominated for a 1990 Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Film is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:* 1985: After Hours - Martin Scorsese** Blood Simple - Joel and Ethan Coen** Smooth Talk...
. He subsequently became executive producer of Equinox
Equinox (1992 film)
Equinox is a 1992 film written and directed by Alan Rudolph. It stars Matthew Modine in dual roles, along with Lara Flynn Boyle, Marisa Tomei, Lori Singer and Fred Ward. The film was shot in Minnesota and Utah and is set in the fictional urban city of Empire...
and Red Hot
Red Hot (film)
Red Hot is a 1993 Canadian drama film directed by Paul Haggis. The film was Haggis' feature film directorial debut.-Cast:*Balthazar Getty ... Alexi*Carla Gugino ... Valentina*Jan Niklas ... Yorgi*Hugh O'Conor ... Yuri*Armin Mueller-Stahl ... Dimitri...
, released direct-to-video in 1992 and 1993 respectively. He met rock band R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's lead singer Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
through Stern's friend Samantha Mathis
Samantha Mathis
Samantha Mathis is an American actress. The daughter of actress Bibi Besch, Mathis made her film debut in Pump Up the Volume , opposite Christian Slater...
' boyfriend, River Phoenix
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
. At the time, Stern was producing with Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, and teamed up as producing partners with Stipe looking for a change. Together they executive produced Velvet Goldmine
Velvet Goldmine
Velvet Goldmine is a 1998 British/American drama film directed and co-written by Todd Haynes. The film tells the story of a pop star based mainly on David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' character and is set in Britain during the days of glam rock in the early 1970s.Sandy Powell received another Academy...
in 1998 and Freak City
Freak City
Freak City was a Public-access television cable TV show syndicated across America that featured electronic music from raves and clubs. The show was created by the now-defunct Arcade America recording label, which also put out the popular Trance Global Nation series as well as plenty of other...
in 1999. They formed a production company
Production company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
, Single Cell
Single cell
Single cell and similar can mean:*Single-cell thunderstorm*Single cell organism*Single Cell , a comic*Single Cell Orchestra, run by Miguel Fierro*Single Cell Orchestra , a music album*Single cell protein...
, and their next project was Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman
Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. His film work includes Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York...
and Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...
's 1999 film
1999 in film
The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...
. Being John Malkovich won a 2000 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is usually given to the director and producer . The "first feature" designation is applied to the director not the producer...
, and Stern and fellow producers Stipe, Steve Golin
Steve Golin
Steve Golin is the founder and CEO of Anonymous Content LLP, a multimedia development, production and talent management company and co-founder and former CEO of Propaganda Films.-Propaganda Films:...
and Vincent Landay
Vincent Landay
Vincent Landay is an American film producer. He mostly works with Spike Jonze on his music videos and feature films. He has worked with Jonze since 1993...
were nominated for two Producers Guild of America Award
Producers Guild of America Award
The Producers Guild of America Award was originally established in 1990 as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product...
s: the Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award and the Vision Award, winning the latter.
Stern and Stipe, teamed with producers Michael Ohoven
Michael Ohoven
Michael Ohoven is a Film Producer and the founder and CEO of Infinity Media.He is the son of German Investment Banker Mario Ohoven and UNESCO Ambassador Ute-Henriette Ohoven.-Life and career:...
and William Vince
William Vince
William Vince was a Canadian film producer who produced Air Bud , Dead Heat , Saved! and Capote – for which he shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. His alternate name are Bill Vince and William D...
, produced the 2004 independent teen-comedy film Saved!
Saved!
Saved! is a 2004 teen comedy-drama film involving elements of religious satire. It was directed by Brian Dannelly and written by Dannelly and Michael Urban. It stars Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Martin Donovan, and Mary-Louise Parker...
, having spent years trying to persuade major financiers to fund the film, which, according to Stern, was a controversial film "that dealt with religion, that dealt with comedy and religion, that dealt with a gay storyline, and that was basically, it was all a kind of ensemble cast that did not have a Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
starring in the movie." After its US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
9 million-grossing theatrical release through United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, Stern approached Elephant Eye Theatrical's CEO Stuart Oken about adapting the film into a musical, which premiered Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in May 2008.
Stern and Stipe are also set to produce the upcoming comedy film Runner-Up, written by Saved! screenwriters Brian Dannelly
Brian Dannelly
Brian Dannelly is an American film director and screenwriter best known for his work on the 2004 film Saved!.-Early life:Dannelly was born in Würzburg, Germany before moving with his family to Baltimore, Maryland aged eleven. He attended a Catholic elementary school, Arlington Baptist High School...
and Michael Urban and directed by Dannelly, about a beauty pageant contestant who fulfills a community service obligation by holding a pageant at a women's prison.
Personal life
Stern was raised in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
parents. He attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, completing a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in clinical psychology
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
, but left to pursue filmmaking instead at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
, where he came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. He now resides in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.