Derek Frey

Last updated

Derek Frey
Born (1973-04-23) April 23, 1973 (age 50)
Education BA in Communication studies
Alma mater West Chester University, Upper Darby High School
Occupations
  • Producer
  • director
Years active1995–present
Organization Tim Burton Productions
Notable work
Website derekfreyfilms.com

Derek Frey (born April 23, 1973) is an American film producer and director who is the current head of Tim Burton Productions and Lazer Film Productions. He has been a producer on numerous Tim Burton-directed films including Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children , Frankenweenie , Big Eyes , Alice in Wonderland , Dumbo , and others.

Contents

Early life and education

Frey was born on April 23, 1973, in the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. He graduating from Upper Darby High School. [1] Frey attended West Chester University and graduated with a BA in communication studies. [2] [3]

Career

Derek Frey (right) recording at Air Studios with Andy Richards, Mike Higham & Ric Levy, 2011. Photograph c/o Leah Gallo Andy Richards, Mike Higham, Derek Frey and Ric Levy at Air Studios, 2011.jpg
Derek Frey (right) recording at Air Studios with Andy Richards, Mike Higham & Ric Levy, 2011. Photograph c/o Leah Gallo

Frey began his career in the film industry in 1996 as an assistant for Tim Burton and an employee of Tim Burton Productions. He worked as Burton's assistant on Mars Attacks! , Sleepy Hollow , Planet of the Apes , and Big Fish . [4] [5] In 2001, he became the head of Tim Burton Productions. He would go on to earn producer credits in a variety of Tim Burton films including Alice in Wonderland, Big Eyes, Frankenweenie, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Corpse Bride , and Sweeney Todd . [2]

Frey also directs and produces under the banner, Lazer Film Productions. The company largely produces short films and music videos. His 2016 short film, Green Lake, was shown at over 40 film festivals at which it earned 47 awards including "Best Horror" at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. [3] [6] [7] Other short films produced and directed by Frey include Kill the Engine, [8] Motel Providence, Sky Blue Collar, The Day the Dolls Struck Back, The Ballad of Sandeep (starring actor, Deep Roy), and numerous others. [2] [9] [10] Frey produced Burton's live-action adaptation of Dumbo , which was released in March 2019. [4] [11]

Filmography

Feature films

YearTitle
[12]
RoleNotes
2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Associate producer
Corpse Bride
2007 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2010 Alice in Wonderland
2011A Conversation with Danny Elfman and Tim Burton ProducerDocumentary
2012 Dark Shadows Associate producer
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Frankenweenie Co-producer
2014 Big Eyes Executive producer
2016 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
2019 Dumbo Producer
TBA Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz

Short films

YearTitle
[12]
DirectorProducerWriterNotes
1995Verge of DarknessYesYesYesAlso actor
2001The Upper HandYesYesYes
2002The Day the Dolls Struck BackYesYesYes
20074th and 99YesNoNo
2010The Curse of the Sacred StoneYesYesYes
2011The Ballad of SandeepYesYesNo
2012Vampires Kiss/Blood InsideYesYesNo
The Killers: Here with Me NoYesNoMusic video
2013Sky Blue CollarYesYesNo
Captain Sparky vs. The Flying Saucers NoNoYes Stop-motion
2014Motel ProvidenceYesYesNo
2016Green LakeYesYesYes
2017Kill the EngineYesYesNo
God Came 'RoundYesYesNo

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Burton</span> American filmmaker and animator (born 1958)

Timothy Walter Burton is an American director, producer, writer, and animator. Known for pioneering goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his gothic horror and fantasy films. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and three BAFTA Awards. He was honored with the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and was given the Order of the Arts and Letters by Culture Minister of France in 2010.

<i>Dumbo</i> 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney

Dumbo is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., an elephant who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo", as in "dumb". He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.

<i>Pee-wees Big Adventure</i> 1985 film by Tim Burton

Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his feature-film directing debut. It stars Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol, along with E.G. Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, and Judd Omen. Described as a "parody" or "farce version" of the 1948 Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, it tells the story of Pee-wee's nationwide search for his stolen bicycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard D. Zanuck</span> American film producer (1934-2012)

Richard Darryl Zanuck was an American film producer. His 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Zanuck was also instrumental in launching the career of director Steven Spielberg, who described Zanuck as a "director's producer" and "one of the most honorable and loyal men of our profession."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Goldman</span> British screenwriter and producer

Jane Loretta Anne Goldman is a British screenwriter and producer. She is mostly known for collaborating with director Matthew Vaughn on the screenplays of Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), as well as X-Men: First Class (2011), Kick-Ass (2010) and Stardust (2007). Goldman also worked on the story of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), the sequel to First Class, again in partnership with Vaughn. Both met high critical praise for their work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John August</span> American film director and screenwriter

John August is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films Go (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Frankenweenie (2012), the Disney live-action adaptation of Aladdin (2019), the novels Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire (2018), Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon (2019) and Arlo Finch in the Kingdom of Shadows (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Dickens</span> American actress

Kim Dickens is an American actress. Her film debut was in the 1995 comedy film Palookaville. Dickens played lead roles in the films Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997), Zero Effect (1998) and Mercury Rising (1998). Her other films include Great Expectations (1998), Hollow Man (2000), House of Sand and Fog (2003), Thank You for Smoking (2005), The Blind Side (2009), Gone Girl (2014), Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), Lizzie (2018), Land (2021), and The Good Nurse (2022).

Bennett Roberts was a Welsh actor most famous for his portrayal of Chief Inspector Derek Conway in the ITV British television series The Bill.

<i>Alice in Wonderland</i> (2010 film) Film directed by Tim Burton

Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American period adventure fantasy film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Matt Lucas, and Crispin Glover, while featuring the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. A live-action adaptation and re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's works, the film follows Alice Kingsleigh, a nineteen-year-old who accidentally falls down a rabbit hole, returns to Wonderland, and alongside the Mad Hatter helps restore the White Queen to her throne by fighting against the Red Queen and her Jabberwocky, a dragon that terrorizes Wonderland's inhabitants.

Julie Hickson is an American film producer and screenwriter. She helped write a 43-page story treatment for Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman in 1986. Prior to this, she produced Burton's 1983 television special Hansel and Gretel and his 1984 short film Frankenweenie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison Abbate</span> American film producer and animator

Allison Therese Abbate is an American film producer and animator, primarily of animated films.

<i>Frankenweenie</i> (2012 film) 2012 stop-motion animated film by Tim Burton

Frankenweenie is a 2012 American 3D stop-motion animated science fiction horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by John August, and starring Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, and Winona Ryder. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, it is a feature-length remake of Burton's 1984 short film of the same name, and is also both a parody of and homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein, based on Mary Shelley's 1818 book Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Set in 1957, the film follows a boy named Victor Frankenstein who uses the power of electricity to resurrect his dead Bull Terrier, Sparky, but his peers discover what he has done and reanimate their own deceased pets and other creatures, resulting in mayhem.

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

The following is a list of unproduced Tim Burton projects, in roughly chronological order. During a career that has spanned over 30 years, Tim Burton has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Burton filmography</span>

Tim Burton is an American film director, producer, artist, writer, animator, puppeteer, and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Nicholson (production designer)</span>

Andy Nicholson is an English production designer who has worked on various films, including Gravity, Divergent, Assassin's Creed, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Nicholson has also worked as an art director for numerous films, including several by director Tim Burton.

<i>Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children</i> (film) 2016 fantasy film

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a 2016 fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and written by Jane Goldman, based on the 2011 novel by Ransom Riggs. The film stars Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O'Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell, Judi Dench, and Samuel L. Jackson.

<i>Dumbo</i> (2019 film) 2019 film by Tim Burton

Dumbo is a 2019 American fantasy period adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Ehren Kruger. It is a live-action adaptation and reimagining of Walt Disney's 1941 animated feature film of the same name, which is based on the novel by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, the film stars Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Alan Arkin, and follows a family that works at a failing traveling circus as they encounter a baby elephant with extremely large ears who is capable of flying.

Michael John Higham is a British sound editor, record producer, audio engineer, and composer known for his work in film and television. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special for his work on the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.

The Zanuck Company is an American motion picture production company. It is responsible for such blockbusters as Jaws, The Sting, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland.

References

  1. "Alumni Wall of Fame / Derek Frey". http. Retrieved January 30, 2020.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  2. 1 2 3 Umland, Samuel J. (September 28, 2015). The Tim Burton Encyclopedia. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN   9780810892019.
  3. 1 2 "Noteworthy News". West Chester University. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Wheels, Helen (March 7, 2018). "Interview: Derek Frey". Cult Critic. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  5. Lammers, Tim (October 1, 2016). "Interview: Derek Frey talks Tim Burton, 'Miss Peregrine,' 'Green Lake'". Direct Conversations. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  6. Ringo, Diana (July 22, 2017). "Interview with director Derek Frey". Indie Cinema. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  7. "April 2016 Awards". Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  8. "Review of 'Kill The Engine'". Independent Shorts Award. May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  9. Tustin, Kevin (October 3, 2017). "Delco-based filmmakers bring work to Philly's FirstGlance Film Festival". Delco Times. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  10. "The Minor Prophets & Derek Frey unveil their latest film in Cannes, 4th and 99". FilmFestivals.com. May 15, 2007. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  11. Ramos, Dino-Ray (August 7, 2017). "Tim Burton's 'Dumbo' Adds Joseph Gatt To Live-Action Adaptation of Disney Classic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Derek Frey". IMDb. Retrieved June 6, 2018.