George Linder | |
---|---|
Born | Salzburg, Austria |
George Linder is a film producer [1] and entrepreneur. [2]
Linder was born in Europe to Austrian parents. His father Bert Linder (1911–1997) was a survivor of both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen death camps. [3]
Linder graduated from California State University Northridge with a degree in anthropology.[ citation needed ]
Linder's first venture after graduation was Euro-Imports, which specialized in distribution of lightweight racing bicycles from overseas and sponsored several teams and events on the nascent American racing circuit. In 1980 Linder segued to building and "selling high-technology, lightweight wheelchairs through his Quadra Medical Corporation." [4] [5] [6] Quadra's models featured "aircraft alloy frames...wheel hubs [that were] frictionized coated [and] adjustable back height." [7]
The development and production of the feature film The Running Man (1987) [8] was Linder's first experience as a film producer. As multiple commentators have recounted, Linder discovered the novel written by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, optioned the film rights, and wrote the first draft of the screenplay. [9] [10] [11] Once the project was green-lit by TriStar Pictures and other companies, Linder's work as producer included the above-the-line decisions in particular the casting of fellow Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger as the lead character Ben Richards. To underscore the parallel between the futuristic world of the film and the actual events of World War II, Linder introduced the actor to his father Bert, the holocaust survivor. [12] In 2019 Linder was interviewed by the New York Post for an article highlighting how 1980s science fiction anticipated many aspects of today's reality, where he pointed out that “the lines have blurred between reality and news and propaganda and entertainment” and the influence of pervasive reality shows, an alumnus of which is now chief executive. [13]
During the same period, Linder partnered with writer/director Richard Rothstein on several projects. Together they developed the idea for the Universal Soldier series of films and the pilot Bates Motel , which Universal aired as a television film. [14] Other projects that Linder has developed include Midnight Graffiti for Peter Guber at Mandalay Entertainment and Club Fed for Bill Mechanic at Pandemonium. In 2002 Linder was Executive Producer of the Austrian feature She Me and Her (German title: Meine Schwester das Biest). Shortly thereafter Linder became a partner with writer/producer/director Alain Silver in Untitled LLC. [15] Their initial project was Nightcomer (aka Blood Cure). [16] Untitled was also a production company on Radio Mary (2017). [17]
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Nestor Paiva, and Whit Bissell. The film's plot follows a group of scientists who encounter a piscine amphibious humanoid in the waters of the Amazon; the Creature, also known as the Gill-man, was played by Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning underwater. Produced and distributed by Universal-International, Creature from the Black Lagoon premiered in Detroit on February 12, 1954, and was released on a regional basis, opening on various dates.
Francesco Maria Columbu was an Italian-American bodybuilder, powerlifter, actor, author, producer, and a licensed chiropractor.
James Mark Burnett is a television producer and author who is the former Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group. He created and produced the reality shows Survivor, The Apprentice, The Voice, and Shark Tank.
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are located in Bungalow 477 of the Universal Studios backlot in Universal City, California. It distributes all of the films from Amblin Partners under the Amblin Entertainment banner.
Michael Christopher White is an American writer, actor and producer for television and film, and reality television show contestant. He has won numerous awards, including the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for the 2000 film Chuck & Buck, which he wrote and starred in. He has written the screenplays for films such as School of Rock (2003) and has directed several films that he has written, such as Brad's Status (2017). He was the co-creator, executive producer, writer, director and actor on the HBO series Enlightened. White is also known for his appearances on reality television, competing on two seasons of The Amazing Race and later becoming a contestant and runner-up on Survivor: David vs. Goliath. He created, writes, and directs the ongoing HBO satire comedy anthology series The White Lotus.
Interscope Communications was a motion picture production company founded in 1982 by Ted Field. It soon became a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Jack Arnold was an American actor and film and television director, best known as one of the leading filmmakers of 1950s science fiction films. His most notable films are It Came from Outer Space (1953), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Tarantula (1955), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
The Return of the Pink Panther is a 1975 comedy film and the fourth film in The Pink Panther series. The film stars Peter Sellers returning to the role of Inspector Clouseau for the first time since A Shot in the Dark (1964), after having declined to reprise the role in Inspector Clouseau (1968). The film was a commercial hit and revived the previously dormant series and with it Peter Sellers' career.
Stroker Ace is a 1983 American action comedy sport film directed by Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds as the eponymous Stroker Ace, a NASCAR driver.
Mark Saltzman is an American script writer who has written films, plays and musicals and for TV. He worked for several years for Sesame Street. He has been given seven Emmy Awards for Best Writing for a Children's Show.
Paul Kohner was an Austrian-American talent agent and producer who managed the careers of many stars and others—like Ingrid Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, John Huston, Liv Ullmann and Billy Wilder—of the golden age of Hollywood, especially those who came from Europe before World War II. He was married to the Mexican-American actress, Lupita Tovar. His brother was Frederick Kohner, a novelist and screenwriter, his daughter was the actress Susan Kohner. His grandsons are the filmmakers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.
The Running Man is a 1987 American dystopian action film directed by Paul Michael Glaser and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Dawson, Yaphet Kotto, and Jesse Ventura. The film is set in a dystopian United States between 2017 and 2019, featuring a television show where convicted criminal "runners" must escape death at the hands of professional killers is very loosely based on the 1982 novel of the same title written by Stephen King and published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.
Michael S. Wilson is an American business executive, video game producer, and film-maker. Beginning his career at DWANGO as Vice President of Development before being hired to lead marketing and publishing at id Software in 1995, Wilson has subsequently co-founded multiple independent video game publishers, including Gathering of Developers, Gamecock Media Group, Devolver Digital, Good Shepherd Entertainment, and DeepWell DTx.
Charles Andrew Parsons is a British television producer known as the creator of the Survivor franchise. He also created The Big Breakfast and The Word.
Hal Lieberman is an American producer and former president of production for Universal Pictures.
Albert Charles Kreischer Jr., nicknamed "The Machine", is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, reality television host and actor. In 1997, he was featured in an article in Rolling Stone while attending Florida State University. The magazine named Kreischer "the top partyer at the Number One Party School in the country." The article also served as inspiration for the 2002 film National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Kreischer has served as host of the television series Hurt Bert on FX as well as Bert the Conqueror and Trip Flip on Travel Channel. He appeared in The Machine, a comedy film loosely based on his life.
Michael D. Akers is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. In 2000, he founded "United Gay Network" (UGN) with his longtime partner, Sandon Berg. Most of his films are LGBT-related.
David Linde is the CEO of the Los Angeles, California-based film production company Participant, a position to which he was appointed in October 2015. Prior to his role at Participant, Linde had leading roles at Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Good Machine, and Lava Bear Films, where films released during his tenures collectively earned more than $14 billion globally, with 158 Oscar nominations and 34 wins.
The Kentucky Derby is a 1922 American silent adventure film directed by King Baggot and starring Reginald Denny. It is based on a Broadway play The Suburban by Charles T. Dazey. It was produced and distributed by Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Denny's first starring feature-length movie.
Barriers of Society is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. Universal based the film on the story written by Clarke Irvine and adapted for the screen by Fred Myton. The feature film stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and an all-star cast of Universal contract players.
• George Linder at IMDb