Chris Bender (film producer)

Last updated
Chris Bender
Born1971 (age 5253)
Occupation Film Producer

Chris Bender (born 1971) is an American film producer whose beginnings were through developing and co-producing American Pie film series based on his and writer Adam Herz' own high school experiences. [1] In November 1998, he established the management and production company Benderspink with partner J.C. Spink, a fellow alumnus of Bucknell University. Benderspink had a successful first look deal with New Line Cinema [2] for over 15 years and a first look deal with Universal Cable Productions and before that, CBS Studios and Fox 21. [3] [4]

Contents

In 2016, Bender and Spink split [5] up to pursue forming their own companies. J.C. Spink died in 2017 [6] and was celebrated at a memorial service attended by industry friends and family. [7]

Chris Bender founded Good Fear Content [8] in 2016 with Jake Weiner. The company produces clutter-busting media across theatrical, TV and emerging digital platforms with a focus on nurturing and establishing new voices aspiring to be generation-defining talent. Under the company’s banner, Bender’s most recent release was as producer on David Robert Mitchell’s Under the Silver Lake with Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, and Topher Grace. The film was screened in competition in Cannes and was released by A24 domestically in April 2019. In 2020, Amazon Studios released My Spy . The film is directed by Pete Segal with Dave Bautista and Kristen Schaal starring. That project was followed by Mulan , a live action version of the classic adventure of a young Chinese maiden who disguises herself as a warrior in order to save her father. Released by Disney, the film is directed by Niki Caro and stars Yifei Liu, Jet Li, Gong Li, and Donnie Yen.

Other projects produced by Bender include the hit comedy We're the Millers , [9] starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis; Horrible Bosses 2 , starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day; and Vacation , starring Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, and Chris Hemsworth, all for New Line.

Bender has produced or developed projects that have grown into six franchises in various genres: Final Destination , American Pie , The Ring , Cats & Dogs , The Butterfly Effect , and The Hangover series. Eight of his movies have opened to number one, and Bender was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for A History of Violence . [10]

Filmography

Producer

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999 American Pie co-producer
2000 Final Destination associate producer
2001 Cats & Dogs executive producer
American Pie 2 co-producer
2002 Cheats producer
2003 American Wedding producer
Blind Horizon co-executive producer
2004 The Butterfly Effect producer
2005 The Ring Two co-executive producer
Monster-in-Law producer
A History of Violence producer
Red Eye producer
Just Friends producer
2006–09 Kyle XY executive producerTelevision series
2006 The Butterfly Effect 2 producerDirect to video
2008 The Ruins producer
2009 The Hangover executive producer
2010 Leap Year producer
2011 I Am Number Four executive producer
Arthur producer
The Hangover Part II executive producer
2013 The Incredible Burt Wonderstone producer
The Hangover Part III executive producer
We're the Millers producer
2014 Zombeavers producer
2015 Vacation producer
2016 Criminal producer
Tracktown executive producer
2017 Rings executive producer
2018 Under the Silver Lake producer
2019 Polaroid producer
2020 My Spy producer
Mulan producer
2024 Hysteria! executive producerTelevision series [11]
TBAThe Callingproducer
The Parenting producer

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rawson Marshall Thurber</span> American film director

Rawson Marshall Thurber is an American filmmaker and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drew Goddard</span> American screenwriter and director

Andrew Brion Hogan Goddard is an American screenwriter, director, and producer most closely associated with the horror genre. He began his career writing episodes for the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Alias, and Lost. After moving into screenwriting in film, he wrote Cloverfield (2008), World War Z (2013), and The Martian (2015), the latter earning him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2011, he made his directorial debut with The Cabin in the Woods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Kinberg</span> American screenwriter

Simon David Kinberg is an American filmmaker. He wrote or produced a number of films in the 20th Century Fox X-Men film franchise, and has also written such films as Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Sherlock Holmes. He has served as a producer on others, including Cinderella and The Martian, the latter of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. His production company Genre Films had a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox. Kinberg made his directorial debut in the 2019 X-Men film Dark Phoenix from a script he also wrote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Lee</span> Korean American film producer (born 1969)

Roy Lee is a Korean-American film and television producer. His production company, titled Vertigo Entertainment, has a first-look deal with Lionsgate.

<i>Horrible Bosses</i> 2011 American comedy film

Horrible Bosses is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis, alongside Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, and Jamie Foxx in their supporting roles. The plot follows three friends, played by Bateman, Day, and Sudeikis, who decide to murder their respective overbearing, abusive bosses, portrayed by Spacey, Aniston, and Farrell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Lord and Christopher Miller</span> American filmmakers

Philip Anderson Lord and Christopher Robert Miller are American filmmakers. They are the creators and co-stars of the adult animated sitcom Clone High, and the writers and directors of the animated films Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and The Lego Movie (2014), as well as the directors of the live-action comedy film 21 Jump Street (2012) and its sequel, 22 Jump Street (2014).

Undying Love is a limited comic book series created and written by Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman. The first issue was published in March 2011 by American company Image Comics. Originally meant to be 2 arcs published as an 8-issue limited-series, only 4 issues and a collected edition were ever published.

<i>Were the Millers</i> 2013 film by Rawson Marshall Thurber

We're the Millers is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Rawson M. Thurber and starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn, and Ed Helms. The film's screenplay was written by Bob Fisher, Steve Faber, Sean Anders, and John Morris, based on a story by Fisher and Faber. The plot follows a small-time pot dealer (Sudeikis) who convinces his neighbors to help him by pretending to be his family in order to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the United States.

Jeffrey Christian Spink was an American talent manager and film producer.

Stephen Christy is an American film and television producer, entertainment executive, and former graphic novel editor. He is the President of Development at graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios, where he oversees Boom!'s first look deals with Disney/20th Century Studios and Netflix. He was formerly editor-in-chief at Archaia Entertainment, where he won two Eisner Awards, as the editor of Jim Henson's Tale of Sand and Return of the Dapper Men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Muschietti</span> Argentine film director and screenwriter

Andrés Walter Muschietti is an Argentine film director and screenwriter who had his breakthrough with the 2013 film Mama. He gained further recognition for directing both films in the It film series, the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel and its 2019 sequel, It Chapter Two. In 2023, he directed the DC Extended Universe film The Flash.

Vertigo Entertainment is an American film and television production company based in Los Angeles, founded in 2001 by Roy Lee and Doug Davison.

Walter Hamada is an American film executive and producer. He joined New Line Cinema in 2007, where he served as an executive producer on horror films such as The Conjuring (2013), Annabelle (2014), The Conjuring 2 (2016), Lights Out (2016), and It (2017). In January 2018, he was appointed the President at Warner Bros. Pictures for DC-based film production before departing from the company in October 2022. He was hired by Paramount Pictures to oversee their horror film franchises beginning in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brownstone Productions</span> American film and television production company

Brownstone Productions, Inc. is an American film and television production company founded by actress, director and producer Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman. It is known for producing films in the Pitch Perfect franchise, Charlie's Angels (2019) and Cocaine Bear (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Bay's unrealized projects</span>

The following is a list of unproduced Michael Bay projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, American film director and producer Michael Bay has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in "development hell" or are officially canceled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's unrealized projects</span>

The following is a list of unproduced Phil Lord and Christopher Miller projects in roughly chronological order. During their career, film-making duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under their direction. Some of these projects are officially cancelled or fell in development hell.

References

  1. Graham, Mark (June 9, 2009). "How Many Films Have Been Made About Your Life? Chris Bender Has Three". Vulture .
  2. KIT, BORYS (May 31, 2011). "New Line Reups First-Look Deal with Benderspink (Exclusive): The management-production company is seeking to be a more prominent supplier of projects for the studio". The Hollywood Reporter.
  3. NG, PHILIANA (Oct 8, 2014). "'Hangover' Producer Benderspink Inks Deal With Universal Cable Productions: The first project under the pact is 'Five Ghosts' for Syfy". The Hollywood Reporter.
  4. Adalian, Josef (2007-07-06). "Benderspink heats tube". Variety . Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  5. Kit, Borys (May 17, 2016). "Producer-Managers Chris Bender and J.C. Spink Split After 18 Years (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . The duo were involved in the making of comedies such as 'The Hangover' and 'We're the Millers,' as well as 'A History of Violence' and more recently, 'Criminal.'
  6. KIT, BORYS (Apr 19, 2017). "J.C. Spink, Producer and Master of the Script Sale, Dies at 45 (Updated)". The Hollywood Reporter . He founded Benderspink with college buddy Chris Bender, and they were behind such films as 'The Hangover,' 'We're the Millers' and 'A History of Violence.'
  7. GALUPPO, MIA (May 4, 2017). "Donna Langley, Toby Emmerich and More Honor J.C. Spink at Hollywood Memorial: Neal Moritz, Tucker Tooley and former partner Chris Bender were also in attendance at the Thursday morning memorial". The Hollywood Reporter.
  8. McNary, Dave (May 23, 2016). "Chris Bender Launches Good Fear Film + Management". Variety .
  9. We're the Millers
  10. "Chris Bender". Produced By Conference. June 11–12, 2022. Retrieved Dec 8, 2023.
  11. Petski, Denise (February 28, 2024). "Garret Dillahunt, Nolan North, Elijah Richardson Among 6 Cast In Peacock's Satanic Panic Thriller Series 'Hysteria!'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.