Randal Kleiser
Randal Kleiser (born
July 20,
1946 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an
American film director and
producer.
Randal Kleiser has been an internationally known film director since the release of his first feature
Grease (
1978), the most successful film musical ever made. Other features include
The Blue Lagoon (1980) with
Brooke Shields,
Summer Lovers (1982) with
Daryl Hannah,
Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) with
Jamie Lee Curtis,
Flight of the Navigator (1986), featuring the first use of digital morphing in a film,
Big Top Pee-wee (1988),
White Fang (1991) and
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992).
In London, Kleiser directed the critically acclaimed comedy
Getting It Right (1989), starring
Lynn Redgrave,
Helena Bonham Carter,
Jane Horricks and Sir
John Gielgud. In 1996, he wrote and directed
It's My Party, starring
Eric Roberts,
Gregory Harrison,
Lee Grant,
Bruce Davison and
Marlee Matlin. As a writer-producer, he was responsible for the surfing classic
North Shore (1987) for
Universal Pictures. He also directed the thriller
Shadow of Doubt (1998) with
Melanie Griffith and
Tom Berenger. Working in 70mm 3-D, he directed
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (1995) at the Disney Theme Parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo and Paris. His television films include
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) with
John Travolta, the Emmy-Award winning
The Gathering (1977) and
Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976).
As a freshman at the
University of Southern California, Kleiser appeared in
George Lucas' first student film
Freiheit. Kleiser's award winning Master's thesis film
Peege launched his career. He has taught a graduation workshop at USC and Masters Directing Classes for European students at film festivals in Deuville and Sarlat, and Malaga. He serves as a judge on the Student Awards for the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and as chairman of the Academic Subcommittee for the
Directors Guild of America, he inaugurated a videoconferencing program to connect film classes with working directors. Working with the Graphics Lab at USC's
Institute for Creative Technologies, he has co-invented a digital Cinerama-like process called Vistarama HD.
Kleiser is developing
Silver Metal Lover for
Dimensional Pictures, is currently in post-production with an original movie musical shot on virtual sets,
Red Riding Hood starring
Joey Fatome and
Lainie Kazan, and is in post-production on
Lovewrecked starring
Amanda Bynes, shot in the
Caribbean. His house was used in the film
Scream 3.
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Randal Kleiser has been an internationally known film director since the release of his first feature, Grease, the most successful movie musical ever made. The film was the highest-grossing film of 1978 garnering over $340 million in its initial release. Following the success of its 20th anniversary DVD, Paramount will release a new version in 2006 with extended scenes and a director's commentary.
Following Grease, he directed The Blue Lagoon, with Brooke Shields and Summer Lovers, starring Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah. He also directed Grandview U.S.A., featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, Flight of the Navigator; Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and White Fang for Walt Disney Pictures; the critically acclaimed comedy, Getting It Right, starring Lynn Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter, Jane Horrocks and John Gielgud; and the 1996 drama It's My Party, starring Eric Roberts, Gregory Harrison, Lee Grant, Bruce Davison and Marlee Matlin. He directed Shadow of Doubt with Melanie Griffith and Tom Berenger.
Working in 70mm 3-D, he directed Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which has been drawing record crowds at the Disney Theme Parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo, and Paris.As a writer-producer, Randal Kleiser was responsible for the surfing classic, North Shore for Universal Pictures, directed by William Phelps. He is also an Emmy Award-nominated telefilm director. His television movies include The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, with John Travolta; the Emmy Award-winning The Gathering, starring Ed Asner and Maureen Stapleton, and Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway starring Eve Plumb.
As a freshman at USC, he appeared in George Lucas' first student film Freiheit. Kleiser's Master's thesis film, Peege, was honored at festivals and launched his professional career.
Kleiser is a judge for the Student Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He has served on the National Board and Western Director's Council for the Directors Guild of America, as well as the Editorial committee for their monthly magazine, and the Special Projects committee, where he co-produced a short film for the Guild entitled, Directing: How to Get There, with advice for film students from successful working directors. As chairman of the Academic Subcommittee he inaugurated a videoconferencing program to connect film classes with working directors. He is also Chairman of the event Digital Day at the DGA for the past two years.
A frequent seminar and symposium participant, he has lectured at the American Film Institute, California Institute of the Arts, the Los Angeles Film School, California State Universities, and the Academy of Creative Media at the University of Hawaii.He has taught a graduate production workshop at the University of Southern California, as well as Master Directing Classes for French students at film festivals in Deauville and Sarlat, Spanish students at the Malaga Film Festival and Israeli students at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.His interest in cutting edge technologies led him to direct episodes of a made-for-internet streaming video series for Digital Entertainment Network in the late nineties.Working with Paul Debevec at the Graphics Lab at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, Kleiser co-invented a digital Cinerama-like process called Vistarama HD. Red Riding Hood, an original movie musical shot on virtual sets, starring Joey Fatone and Lainie Kazan, had its debut showing in the summer of 2006 at the 1st International Digital Cinema Festival in Europe, held in Lisbon. It is being distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.
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Red Riding Hood: An Inside Look; from HighDef.COMLovewrecked starring Amanda Bynes and Chris Carmack, shot in the Caribbean will be distributed by the Weinsteins company.
